Corva sector
Oricon system
A young, female voice crackled through all open channels. "Please help! Anyone!"
In orbit above Oricon, Proselyte Kandri Madas of Clan Odan-Urr gripped the controls of her KUDF marked T-65 X-Wing tightly, turning hard to avoid the laserfire of two Plagueis A-Wings giving chase, her astromech droid blaring her message across all possible frequencies. She had already been hit by a stray shot, one that disabled her hyperdrive, and the situation was looking more and more desperate with each passing moment. Kandri was running out of options, and yet, despite her fear, she put her faith in the Force, silently trusting that it had the ability to save her, no matter the situation. And even if the Force didn't move to her defense this day, and she were to be killed, then she would rejoice in that transformation.
But the Force did move.
At the edge of the system, dropping out of hyperspace, was an entire squadron of T-70 X-Wing fighters, recently acquired and as of yet unmarked, but Kandri knew exactly who they were. These belonged to the Knights of Allusis, and at their head was former Knight-Commander Raiju Kang. Locking their s-foils, they descended into the dogfight, and the Plagueians broke to engage. The initial exchange was fierce, but before the minute was up, the battle was over.
One of the Knights' sharpshooters had taken an A-Wing down, and the second A-Wing, which managed to evade fire from the entire squadron, escaped the system with a quick jump to lightspeed. There was a collective cheer from among the Knights, and a sigh of relief from Kandri. The Force was with them today, and this was the first victory they've had for a long while. Raiju, however, knowing the uncertainty of these recent days, wasted little time in opening a comm channel directly to the lone T-65, Kandri's ship.
"Are you okay?" The Nautolon's voice came to life in Kandri's headset. She was a little worse for wear, but happy to hear a friendly voice.
She took a shaky breath before responding, "Yes, I'm okay. I can't make a jump though, my ship is damaged."
Raiju frowned. That complicates things.
A moment of silence passed, until one of the Knights chimed in, "Should we call in the carrier?"
Raiju interjected right away, "No. Those were recon fighters. If we stay here for too long, they'll come back with the main force." Sighing, he started to formulate a plan. "It would be best if the group returned to the carrier. I'll stay with Apprentice, um..." The Nautolon hesitated, searching his mind for the girl's name.
Recognizing the pause, Kandri spoke up, "Kandri Madas. And I'm a Proselyte."
Raiju promptly repeated himself, "Excuse me—I'll stay with Proselyte Madas." He was just a slightly bit annoyed at her addendum. "We'll land on the moon and try to get her hyperdrive up and running again."
"And if you can't?", started the Knight from earlier.
"Then," he answered with a hint of a smirk. "We'll figure out a way to cram two people into a T-70."
Oricon
Outside the Dread Fortress
Having landed in the badlands surrounding the Dread Fortress, the two Odanites opened the canopies of their X-Wings and climbed out. Kandri was a human girl in her teenage years, standing two heads shorter than the 1.8 meter giant that was Raiju. She wore traditional Jedi robes, and her black hair was in a gently wavy bob. He, on the other hand, had head-tresses decorated with copper rings, and he wore what appeared to be an armored flight suit.
"It's nice to meet you in person, Proselyte Madas! My name is Raiju Kang." Not bothering with a bow or handshake, Raiju gave the girl a brief nod as he headed straight to the rear of the T-65's fuselage. Sliding underneath, he deftly popped open a maintenance panel. "So... What happened?"
"I was in a training exercise with some of the other Novitiates. We were ambushed, and I tried to escape by making a jump to the nearest system." Kandri paused, feeling a little sorrowful that she hadn't fought with the others. "How did the Knights find me?"
Raiju didn't answer right away, focusing intently on what he was seeing in the hyperdrive motivator, a burnt-out coil. "We had been monitoring the exercises just in-case, when one of the Novitiates in your group sent out a signal." The Nautolon pulled out the entire coil, setting it aside. "After we drove the Brotherhood off, we were told that you had jumped somewhere in this direction, and we figured you went to Oricon, the nearest system." Raising his hand to his head-tresses, Raiju took his copper rings off one-by-one, carefully arranging them in the motivator to form a new coil. If that held for more than one hyperspace jump, it'd be a miracle. "One thing I'm confused about though, is why Plagueis would be here waiting for you."
"What do you mean? Didn't they follow me from the ambush?"
"No. The fighters at the ambush were Brotherhood Legion, but the A-Wings we encountered here were Ascendant Fleet."
Kandri went quiet, thinking, watching as Raiju finished his work and rolled out from under the X-Wing. Standing up, he dusted himself off, glancing back at the T-65 and the Dread Fortress looming behind it, mentally noting that an abandoned ruin like that could serve as a good hiding place. Realizing that the Nautolon's attention was elsewhere, Kandri followed his gaze to the Sith ruin. Shivering at the sight, she stepped close to Raiju's side, guessing at his thoughts. "Could it be that Plagueis was here for some other reason?"
"That's what I'm intent on finding out."
Dread Fortress
Throne Room
After spending quite a bit of time searching, Raiju found himself at the rear of the palace, ascending a tall stairway. Not far behind him was Proselyte Madas. The Nautolon had tried to convince her that this would be a dangerous mission, but she had insisted on coming, saying that she wasn't about to abandon another Jedi so soon. So far, though, aside from the heat and lava flows, there had been little in the way of danger.
Reaching the top of the stairs, they were greeted by not much else than a cool view. It was a slightly disappointing sight for two Odanites seeking to uncover Plagueian secrets, but they tried to stay positive, enjoying their self-guided tour through the ruins. Or at least, that's what Kandri's thoughts were. Raiju, however, a former member of Clan Tarentum, found the palatial fortress to be much more ominous. And for them to get this far without finding anything, well, it made him a little worried.
Moving to the center of the massive platform, they began to notice a set of footsteps that wasn't their own. Approaching from the stairs, the room's only exit, was a hooded creature that stood around a meter in height, its glowing eyes piercing through the darkness of its hood. On its belt was a sword, and in its hand was a lightsaber of a peculiar, but ancient design, its ragged blue blade and quillons growling on ignition.
Raiju drew his own lightsaber, putting Kandri behind him with a sweep of his off-hand. The girl reached for her armory lightsaber in the same instant, ready to fight, but as Raiju put his hand on her shoulder, keeping his eyes fixed on the approaching Sith, she knew she would be in over her head. Nodding in acceptance, Kandri moved away, taking a position near one of the thrones, where she would watch the battle from the sidelines.
Sith.
Funny, Kandri didn't actually know for sure whether the hooded creature was actually a Sith, but even here, where the flow of the Force was twisted, she could feel the dark side rolling off its form. Raiju, though, had heard the tales of a Jawa-like swordsman among Plagueis' ranks in Florrum. This was Alishu, an Inquisitor, and based on his reputation, perhaps much more.
The moment Kandri was in relative safety, Raiju cut loose, "I'm surprised someone like you can even make it in the Inquisitorius, you're about as Undesirable as they come."
Alishu didn't respond, at least, not with words. Breaking into a sudden, lightning-fast charge that seemed to cover the distance between them in a single step, he smashed his saber against Raiju's, forcing it to the side and causing the Nautolon to backpedal. Switching to a one-handed grip and angling his body away, Raiju efficiently deflected a follow-up thrust and a series of quick, hammering blows. It reminded him all too well of Shii-Cho, and sensing an opening, Raiju swept his saber downward in an defensive probe. But just when he thought he had figured Alishu out, the dynamic changed, and his blade cut nothing but air. Moving obliquely, the small Inquisitor had both twirled around the weapon and moved around to the Nautolon's right side.
Turning on his heel, Raiju twisted his torso and swept the saber towards Alishu's legs, but only to be met by his blade, already in position to parry the compound attack. Not one to give up, Raiju raised his saber once more and brought it downward in another straightforward slash, but again, Alishu narrowly evaded it, this time by angling his body, the blade moving past a target that was no longer there. Continuing this unsophisticated assault, the Nautolon made another sweep for Alishu's legs, but this was a mistake, and with a short hop, the small Inquisitor leapt over the weapon, maneuvering behind him.
Kandri was in awe.
