Homecoming
Battlelord Ric Hunter (Sith) / House Acclivis Draco of Clan Scholae Palatinae [SA: VI] [GMRG: IV] [SYN: V] [ACC: Q] [INQ: VII]
3160

Sitting alone in the dark, Ric Hunter gazed out of the small window in his cabin, his mind was lost to memories. Ric had been in seclusion for almost eighteen months while he tried to rid himself of the destructive programming that the Sith cult had left in his mind. The torment was sometimes almost too much for him to bear as he recalled the things he had done.
The fall of Imperium had been a brutal event that he had not only planned, but had carried out. His clan had understood what had happened to him but he could feel the lack of trust towards him now. They had made the choice to spare him and try to bring him back to who he once was, something he never thought he could do. Yet here he sat on his ship on the way back towards home.
Ric reached over and turned on the holonet to try and catch up on the news. He fast forwarded through the slow months until he was a bit shocked by the news of a vendetta on Dandoran. Last he had heard, years ago as a matter of fact, that it had been a minor Imperial outpost during the days of Empire. Ric had never even been near the place in his sixty-plus years and wasn’t sure where it was even located.
As he looked around for information about the events leading to and during the Rite, he really couldn’t find many details. With a shrug of his shoulders, he figured that it hadn’t been that big of a deal. He scrolled on.
As he surfed through some personal messages, the small glass of whiskey he had been sipping slid from his hands and shattered on the deck. He had finally been made a Palpatine. It was a total shock and an honor to be sure, but he had given up on it years ago.
“You ok?” said a voice. Ric looked up at the hatchway as Malodin poked his head inside.
“Yeah, just something totally unexpected happened. I guess I’m going to need my good robes when we get home,” Ric chuckled at the confused expression on his friend's face. “And yes, we are headed home. Looks like we are going back to House Acclivis Draco of all places. Might want to call ahead and find out where it is…” So many things have changed in the time he had been away.

ISN Palpatine - Hanger Bay

Ric began to feel dread since Flight Control had issued the clearance to land. He mentally prepared himself just in case he had to fight for his life. He had done some terrible things the last time he had been home, although they were not his fault. He still had done them.
As the Holdout touched down, he rose from the co-pilots seat and headed for the landing ramp. Ric slapped the controls and with a hiss of escaping air, the ramp began to lower.
Ric walked down the ramp alone, Malodin was finishing up the shut down of the ship and would follow later. Besides, Ric didn’t want him to get caught in the crossfire if things went badly.
Lined up at the bottom of the ramp, there was a platoon of Imperial Guardsmen dressed in their red armor. Ric had not seen so many of them together in a long time and marvelled at the sight. They split into facing ranks without a word and parted for the Empress.
Ric knelt down. This would be the moment he would live or die.
“Rise, you have nothing more than normal to fear from here. We are glad you are home,” Shadow said.
“My Empress, it is so good to see you. Its been a while,” Ric rose.
“We have much to do, I hope you are ready,” Shadow turned and bade Ric to follow.
“It is good to be home,” Ric said as they left the hanger.

Besides Ood, the rest are nameless NPC preset in the prompt!

The sky above Dromund Kaas was dark with the black clouds of the turbulent storm raging across the deserted valley. Sinya’ni pulled the hood of her red nightsister robes more tightly over her cyan lekku as she picked her way through the rubble of yet another failed Sith temple.

“They never learn,” she mused aloud. The Rutian may have been working under a Sith regime; however, her own beliefs stayed closer to grey. She avoided the cult-like adherence to what was called the Dark Side. To truly empower oneself, you had to let go of the foolish duality of the Force and accept it as one unified source. The darkness comes from the user. To accept that means you can no longer view yourself as a guiltless pawn of a dark agenda and take responsibility for who you are.

A flash of lightning lit up the valley, followed by a deafening thunder. The entrance to the ruins lay only a dozen meters ahead. Malevolent creatures were lurking in the shadows, and the diminutive Twi’lek could feel their eyes watching her. She paused–the archeologist should be nearby, if he was still alive. She reached out with her senses, pushing past the abhorrent creatures now tensed with anticipation, past the dark energies emanating from the mute walls...there, she felt it. The fear, the loathing. She could sense him deep in the ruined temple. She closed her eyes and thought at him *”Hang on, help coming.”*

The creatures were getting impatient. She hadn’t entered their trap yet. Drawing back from her probe and communication with the target, she shifted her focus to the creatures. Three of them were hunkered down in a small cave just to the left of the temple entrance. It was a simple thing really. A tug on a couple stones in strategic spots and the rock face over the cave collapsed. The three unknown hunters pinned beneath and behind several feet of rubble.

Moving on, Sinya’ni entered the temple. It looked much like most other Sith structures. Severe, foreboding, and completely Brobdingnagian. She carefully picked her way through the ruined halls to the waiting scholar. He was truly helpless hiding behind a downed pillar.

“Doctor Livingston, I presume? Come, let’s get out of here,” she said and offered a him a hand out from behind the rubble. “Stay close, we aren’t alone in here.”

“You think? What gave you that impression?” mocked Dr. Livingston, but he accepted the help and followed closely. They were only about halfway to the exit when an angry mutated creature attacked.

“Ahhhhhhhhh! Save me!” cried the cowardly archeologist as he started to run again. But Sinya’ni had the beast sliced in two before he had even rounded the corner.

“Get back here, you big baby!” The Twi’lek called out to him. Reluctantly he came back and they escaped the temple without another incident. Outside however–that’s a different story.

The three pinned gundarks were no longer buried and charged the two sentients exiting the temple. The scholar ran off once more. This time towards the ships.

“Fine! Run off and leave, why don’t you?” Sinya’ni called after him before fading from view. The gundarks circled a few times, trying to figure out where she went. She slowly walked all the way back to her ship. She didn’t even check to see if he made it to his ship safely. She made the liftoff as soon as possible.

“So long you ugly pile of Rocks…”