Fiction Gallery

TAPHOS

Breaths of fire, as if my last, For I am almost gone Naught but death still lingers here, Moments ago - the stone

Old souls watch, helpless Will anybody recall Where I am buried?

We fight and die, Together with another. The ghosts of the past, Defending? Repelling? Saving? Why? Will we triumph? Will we? perish Only time will tell.

Creeping to the base of one of the Geonosian tunnels, Malice gestured for her group to follow her. Ora had been left at home with a majority of the droids. Only Aiya, Mortem, Edward, Imp, and the spiders had joined her. Receiving the call to go investigate had been a mission she'd been hoping to get. Geonosians were a species she'd thought dead. Now they were here and she couldn't help being a little curious.

"Get in, get information, get out," she reminded herself, Aiya huffing in agreement. Malice turned to the group, looking around to make sure they were alone before speaking.

"Mortem and Imp, you'll both be staying out here to stand watch, understood? If any of the Geonosians show up, signal us through the comlink, don't just start fighting. Amelie, Aran, you'll be coming with Aiya and Edward and I. You're two of the fastest, so if something happens to us, you take the information straight back to Selika."

A chorus of acknowledging beeps and whistles followed, mixing with the few affirmatives of those who could speak. Giving the groups a nod, they split, and Malice took her team into the catacombs beneath.

Once inside, Malice found an empty room to dish out more instructions.

"Spiders, you stick together. Aran, you can mimic the sound of their battle droids?"

"Roger Roger."

"Excellent. You protect each other, ok? Don't get caught, and if you run into trouble, buzz them and get out to the others, ok?"

"Roger Roger."

The two of them scurried off, their task to gather information about the source of the droids themselves one they were clearly excited for. Malice and Aiya would be investigating the species, sending her information back home to Alexa, who would compile it and send it to Selika, as well.

She'd expected the caves to be dark, so it was no surprise when they entered areas that were pitch black. Keeping close to Aiya, the two twisted through the cave system, searching for any signs of life. It was awhile before they found it, and the noise was unlike any language that Malice had ever heard. A melody of chirps and clicks made her tilt her head, and a quick look at the Nexu nearby confirmed that neither of them recognized the language. Malice made a mental note to look into the language further. If it was only these silly noises, surely it wouldn't hurt to learn it herself?

Peering through a window-like hole in the side of the wall, she was finally able to see what the species looked like. Somewhat tall, bipedal creatures with insect wings and faces that looked almost like someone had come along and smashed them. They weren't especially appealing, but she could see how they could be a problem. With the amount of droids they had and their mastery of flight, or at least what one could assume was mastery, based on their use of wings, could prove a deadly combination. Nothing that the clan couldn't take care of, though.

Malice began to notice a few behaviors that she recognized from other, smaller insects that she'd encountered. While some were clearly guards and warriors, holding weapons of some sort and making their rounds below, many others were joined together on different tasks., most notably digging deeper into the ground, perhaps to create more housing rooms. Their behavior mirrored that of bees or ants, which meant they likely had a queen somewhere at the heart of their colony.

"Time to go, Aiya, that's a key piece of information that master will need to continue her plan progression," she whispered, quietly calling to the spiders to return. When they came scuttling from the shadows, they both appeared fine and whirred excitedly with their own information. Seems they had also found what they were looking for.

"Let's go. Good job, team."

Hand in hand, cavorting. Spooks and spectors howl loudly Soiled shorts, we flee.

We should not have come The terror within is out In darkness we are

Incorporeal Shadows assault the living To absorb their life

Shades of old now full posess'd From both Clans, our fighting best Only together will we survive To overcome our foes and thrive.

Chaos distilled in Guardians in the Temple hall Spectres roamed in

Spectres lurking in the shadow Chaos instilled in the minds of fellow Peace was nowhere to found below Dead Tarenti and Naga Sadow

Magik waited eagerly on his ship docked in near space with his fello Tarenti. They were waiting to hear news of the Temple incursion from members of Naga Sadow. At last the com links were ringing, members of both houses had taken on the mission to descend the Temple, not knowing the outcome. The wait was over, news was abound. Magik waited for the conversation to end, with a smile on his face as his fellow Tarenti discussed the outcome with members of Naga Sadow. The conversation ended fifteen minutes later. The air was quiet, Magik could feel the disturbance. He braced himself, for the bad news. Not knowing what to expect next. Had our plans gone to hell, he griped his teeth. He felt pain and death.

"Magik", the expedition has gone out of control, people are dead. The bad news had just hit his ears. Nothing enexpected he thought to himself."The expedition has been ambushed, the Temple was not secure", Saitou repeated as sweat dripped down his forehead, "we must make our way down to the Temple and secure our allies". The whole mission had gone south, people were dead. Magik, set forth plans to leave his post in near by space with other fellow Tarenti, to come to the aid of the other members down at the Temple. "We must go now, they need us, fire up your cruiser, we are going to the Temple, see down below", Magik commanded with dreadful thoughts.The Tarenti fleet of cruisers left the near by station en route to the Temple.

As the cruiser fleet landed upon the Temple, there were only a couple of survivors in the clearing. Magik didn't know what to expect, his mind was clear, but ready for the worst. "Magik, thank god you came to our rescue", cried Frosty. He was one of the only survivors of the failed mission. The bad news was yet to come. "Ok Frosty, explain to me what had happend here", Magik was in a state of surprise and shock.

Frosty tried to explain what had happend inside, but he was trembbling with fear and agony. "Magik, the Temple was guarded by ghost and the others have been possesed and they turned onto us", Frosty repeated with tears in his eyes. "My brothers are dead", he sceamed unto me as I clinched my teeth in discust. "Frosty explain to me what had happend inside, I must know", Magik spoke to Frosty calmly, yet worried and fearful. Frost had calmed himself and wad ready to talk.

"Magik, members from both Tarenti and Naga Sadow have been possesed by the ghost of the Temple, their minds have been corrupted and manipulated by the ghost of the Temple, they are gone now, dead to us, turned against us in battle, our own friends", Frosty was shaking with fear as spoke. "Exploring inside the Temple, their mind turned and chaos broke out, blasters rang out like hell, it was a nightmare, no one is alive, they turned into ghost and started attacking everybody. I barely made it out with my lightsaber", Frosty was panicked as told his story. "There are no survivors just me", Frosty reiterrated. Magik was stupified, he didn't know what to do. He tried to calm himself as much as he could, knowing that members of his clan had died in the Temple. The Guardians had killed them all. The Temple was guarded heavily, it was time to retreat.

It should have been mine, She lied about the helmet, What should I believe?

You better not run you better watch out, There's a ghost over there so you better not shout, Shoot it in the face and it doesn't work, What do you expect, It's a ghost you birk!

I see and feel them turn in to something else. Now fear takes over.

Evil surrounds me, Fear nurtures my power. We must keep fighting.

The spirits arise. The Force will not help you here. You will all perish.

There is an evil devouring me, and nothing I do can set me free. As allies cower and try to flee, I embrace the spirit inside of me.

The heat is rising, The odds are turning, While they turn in to them, I'll be no longer me, Possessed by pure evil.

Balance and beauty Lethal or defensive use Yours be the choice

If Jax would've been able to feel the Force, he might have shivered at the emotions that would then have coursed through his mind. As he could not, all he felt was slightly damp stone as he ran his hands across the walls of the tunnel through which the Sadowan forces wandered.

Multiple status reports came in through the commlinks, as teams of 3 or 4 spread throughout the superstructure. They had chosen the largest of the ruins to explore for what the Force-gifted members called 'a disturbance'. It was unclear to many, including Jax, what this disturbance actually was, but according to the Elders, they'd know it when they see it.

Suddenly one of the status reports was interrupted by triumphant yelling and screaming, followed by a sudden comms blackout. Curiosity getting the better of them, both Sanguinius and Jax agreed to send in a vanguard group which would be armed to the teeth in both scanning equipment, weapons, and experience.

What happened next was pure chaos. The encrypted communication channel with the party remained active, though there was a lot of interference. Screaming, panicked yells, and even weapon's fire translated through the communication devices disturbing the people in charge of the expedition.

With a simple gesture of his hands, Sanguinius ordered a group of Elders to investigate, but they too never returned. Until they emerged from the tombs, attacking their own friends and even family. It was time for a new solution, to call for aid from friends.

Raikou examined the stone door blocking entry to the chamber where the spectre incident happened. The party, himself included, had tried everything to get past it, from blaster fire to thermal detonators. Not a scratch. The Raider didn’t care much for the Sith whore that was trapped behind the door, but being appointed as the new Quaestor of House Shar Dakhan meant losing her would disturb the state his Clan was finally in, ordered and disciplined.

The sound of hastened footsteps coming from behind him broke the silence. The Keibatsu turned his attention toward the sound, only to see an enormous Dashade, whom he immediately recognized as the Consul of Clan Tarentum, making his way toward him alongside a handful of troops.

“I believe there is a situation here?” The Warlord’s presence was ominous. “Would you mind if we gave it a shot?”

“Knock yourself out,” Raikou replied, stepping out of the way. “We’ve tried everything, it won’t budge.”

Frosty Romanae Tarentae stood two meters tall in front of the stone barrier, his eyes closed, his arms wide open, and his lips moving as he muttered something silently under his breath. All of a sudden, he let out a deep, loud cry that made the atrium tremble and started running at his target. With a loud crack, his clenched fist made contact with the door, leaving a deep dent in it.

The Tarentae turned toward Raikou, blood running from his knuckles. "I suppose you haven’t tried that yet?"

"We are here live at the Ruins on Qirool VI. Your fearless reporter, Anna Tanaka, will bring you the events and exploits of Clan Naga Sadow as they happen. Unfortunately, due to the structure and our equipment, we cannot broadcast a full holovid, just audio only. So bare with me folks, I will try to describe everything in detail!"

"Now Peter, as far as we can tell there hasn't been anyone here in quite a long time. Dust coats everything. If you... wait. We are hearing that the Quaestor of Shar Dakhan has found some type of ghosts in a room nearby!" The reporter moves several rooms over towards the Quaestor, Evelyenn Wrym.

"As we converge on the Shar Dakhan Quaestor, we see spectral...Oh, my! There's a screech of some... wait. THEY'RE attacking!" Heavy breathing is heard as the reporter is running for her life. "The ghosts are attacking everyone.. I'm trying to find safety! I'm not sure if you can hear me, Peter, but this is a disaster! I'm trying find a.. wait. NO! STAY AWAY! NO! AAHHHHHH!!!" Ghastly screams can be heard for several more seconds before the comm unit cuts out.

"Anna? Anna? Apparently Clan Naga Sadow's first run in with the Temple isn't going well. Uhh, we'll be right back folks."

The sun scorched the sandy surface of the planet, creating a haze that blurred the ruins below them. As the transport approached the landing site, the newly appointed Quaestor of House Shar Dakhan stood up to debrief her fellow Sadowans. She had demanded leadership of the expedition, and Sanguinius had given her the opportunity to prove herself. Who better to lead an artifact hunt than the power hungry Human Sorceress?

The plan was simple: get in, extract the artifacts, get out. It was so simple that most of the Clan was puzzled as to why we needed half of the warhost present, but Evelynn knew better. Years of solitude had twisted the evil that lies beneath those ruins, creating a power unimaginable by any Sadowan. One wrong step and the whole endeavor could be compromised.

As the transport landed, the Battlemaster stepped onto the hot sand and made her way toward the entrance, closely followed by her clanmates. The stairs led down to a vast open chamber. Pillars with ancient Sith markings prevented the ceiling from collapsing upon them. Evelynn had no idea what they meant, nor did anyone present, but she was sure they would soon find out.

"Flashlights out, we're splitting up," she told the group as she made her way to the left-most doorway. "Keep your comms at the ready, you see anything weird - you report immediately."

With that, she took a step into the darkness ahead, not knowing whether she herself could withstand what lies ahead.