Fiction Gallery

Manually added by Augur Rian Taldrya

Manually added by Augur Rian Taldrya

Manually added by Augur Rian Taldrya

Manually added by Augur Rian Taldrya

Southern Ice Cap Aliso, Aliso System

The wind howled eerily in the lengthy daylight of Aliso’s perpetual autumn. It blew across the glacial shelf, intermittently kicking up small flurries of snow. It pierced through the armor of the figure trekking through the icy wastes as he continuously scanned the horizon. Each footstep created a soft crunch on the frozen landscape. Each exhale of breath gently hissed into the wind with plumes of steam. The bag of marker beacons clacked on his back with the sway of his strides as Furios Morega scouted the area for the Ascendant Clan.

The Quaestor had been walking this glacial formation all morning in search of anything noteworthy. His face was wrapped and his body cloaked to help shield the cold. Many months of training on Morroth had been enough to familiarize him with arctic temperatures but compounded with the winds, he felt the need to steadily draw on the Force to maintain homeostasis regardless.

The winds were steadily picking up and it seemed as if a storm was on the horizon. He approached a rise in the ice and hiked up the slope with ease. On the other side was a large, sunken hole. He slid into the crater, seamlessly shifting back to his stride. Peering into the hole, the Obelisk saw a snow-covered ledge and immediately dropped down to it. Discovering the sizeable depths of the glacial cavern below, the Epicanthix dropped a beacon and vaulted to the next ledge. Away from the entrance the caverns were made of ice and slippery, but he navigated them steadily, sliding along the dimly blue-lit tunnels with grace. Eventually he came across a fork in the icy depths. Placing a beacon at the left tunnel entrance, he continued on. After a time of travelling his chosen passage, he came upon a wide and final pocket in the ice, littered full of glowing red mineral formations. Furios placed another beacon and grabbed a couple of samples to take back.

After returning to the fork he’d decided upon earlier, the Battlelord set down another two markers in front of the right tunnel entrance and set out to explore its mysteries. This side went much deeper and further than the other one. After what felt like hours of navigating tunnels, searching individual branches, and overcoming obstacles in the ice, the light had grown much dimmer and the temperature steadily lower. Suddenly he noticed a faint humming sound that gradually increased as he continued on.

The noise had reached a low roaring by the time Furios reached the next obstacle, a tunnel the size of a small air duct. By now he was curious as to the source of the noise and so crammed his shoulders into the icy crevice and crawled through. When he reached the next sizeable pocket, he stood and looked around to see nothing but a small rockslide in one corner of the small cavern, yet the noise was loud enough that he knew he was close. Listening to the echoes, he found it was louder by the pile of frozen rubble and purposefully cleared them away. When he finally excavated a hole into the next area, the Quaestor peaked in to find a big drilling operation going on. He recognized some of the faces overseeing the operation as Collective agents and came to the conclusion that he’d better get some help. He covered the hole he’d made and ran back the way he came, hoping to get back to communications range for his ship.

Manually added by Augur Rian Taldrya

Manually added by Augur Rian Taldrya

Prologue Nancora Collective Stronghold

Amidst the ruin of a barren world blared a message of hope, inclusion, of equality; Liberation and freedom from the Force fed influence of foreign rulers. Leaders who still cling to “hokey religions” and carry an air of self importance which to the average man, means little to nothing. The message would sweep the plains and reach into the hearts of the depressed occupants of less than adequate dwellings. They were humbled by poverty and could easily be manipulated. To liberate was to rebuild, the Capital Enterprise Administration knew this all too well and would follow the money even if it led to their own downfall.

A new target was in the Collective’s sights. An government inspired by Palpatine himself, chock full of resources and ripe for the picking.

—————- Nancora Collective HQ

It rose from the burnt landscape, a dead spire, but in appearance alone was it abandoned. The charred walls and carbon scoring told tales of the many battles fought over the Stronghold. But if one were to venture deeper. They would find that inside was abuzz with activity.

Associates of The Collective paced the corridors and their ceaseless chatter created a constant background noise. Droids carried out their menial tasks, slaves to their programming. Traveling merchants, the nomads of Nancora peddled their goods and Smugglers delivered their cargo. Inside was like a small city where most, if not all accommodations could be met.

((The turbo-lifts at the center of the plaza lead straight up, ascending to the highest point which was where the office of Rath Oligard could be found. Few could make it to the top without the proper credentials. But if you were the man of shadow, you were able to walk freely.))

“What have you brought me?” Said Rath Oligard, his back turned to the door as he peered out the large windows of his office.

The dark presence slithered towards Rath but remained in the shadow.

“I bring you an opportunity.”

One of Oligard’s bushy eyebrows crested with intrigue as he spun in his chair and leaned in.

“Tell me more.”

—————— Onboard Decimator

“My lord, we’re receiving a transmission.” Said Impryss as she pressed a series of buttons which were linked to the mainframe of the Decimator. “Uploading the coordinates.”

“Let’s hear it.”

((static Helix 5 to Decimator id #4215, Commander, I know of your Brotherhood. I can give you a glimpse into the future.))

“Hmph.” Impryss grunted. “A glimpse into the future, fool. This Informant also claims to be a seer?”

“Easy.. let’s hear him out.” Said The Colonel. “Send me your coordinates, Captain.” He added, redirecting his message to the strange vessel. “Chart a course, Iggy.”

His faithful Droid responded with a series of sharp whistles.

“Be careful, use that Droid programming of yours, compute what I am saying to you or I”ll have you scrapped and jettisoned from the airlock.”

The Droid’s conical head merely rotated back and the Decimator’s engines whirred and increased in power. Cold metallic fingers punched in the coordinates to the informants ship and the crew’s mission was underway.

————————

Caperion System Ragnath Orbit

“Sir, on your command.”

“Glass it.”

As a series of vessels broke from hyperspace, main cannons of Oligard’s warships were locking on to Caelestis down below.

“Sir?”

“Destroy… it” Rath commanded with a long draw. “Their Empire will soon belong to me.”

The turbo-laser battery rained down terror and fighter craft took to the skies. The attack was a complete surprise as the Collective fleet slipped into Scholae Palatinae space.

However they were not left unmet as Imperium Squadrons could be seen bursting through the atmosphere.

“This is not a drill, we are under attack. Repeat, this is not a drill.”

“All wings report on me.” Ordered Kell Dante as he banked sharply to group up and take the lead. “Engage their fighters. We need to hold out until the Sidious can get here. Patch me through to Grand Admiral Mune immediately.”

———————-

Venenum Orbit

Quejo sat in the Captain's chair of his vessel, stroking his beard with his forefinger and thumb as the Decimator reached Venenum space. He found it strange to be in Scholae space but it wasn’t foreign to him.

“Why are we here?” Impryss questioned the Colonel.

“That’s why,” He smirked, seeing an unmarked vessel, motionless in a sea of black.

A series of chirps broke the eerie calm as IG-86 performed a scan of the ship and relayed the information to his owner.

“An information broker perhaps?” Q pondered. “Bring us closer and link up. I’m anxious to hear what he has to say.”

It only took a matter of seconds for the two vessels to become one. The airlock hissed and slid open allowing a lithe human to stride onboard, his face covered with a unique mask which was engraved with Sith and Jedi hieroglyphs.

“Colonel.” The man spoke, offering a bow which was returned by a nod from the Colonel before he jumped up from his chair and stopped within a foot of the stranger.

“Let’s skip the pleasantries. Who are you and why are we here?”

“Who I am is of little importance, where I’ve come from however may be of some use to you.”

Q clenched his teeth and eyed the being for a moment. He was normally good with reading expression but the masked figure had none.

“Very well. Where have you been?”

“I’ve been to many places throughout the Galaxy. I’ve seen things, I hear things.”

“Enough of this.. Tell us why we’re here?!” Impryss shouted, sliding her porcelain colored hand to the hilt of her saber as her fleeting patience created unrest.

“You’re here to learn of deception, betrayal, the coming war.”

“War?”

“Oh yes, a war wages as we speak.”

“Where, with who, tell me?!” Q shouted and reached in to grip the man by his cloak but was thrust away by an invisible force.

Impryss roared, instinctively igniting her lightsaber and lunged forward only to be frozen in place.

“You never shoot the messenger,” The monotone voice continued as he released Impryss. “Caelestis is under attack by Collective forces and your precious Clan will be next. You cannot hide from the growing storm.”

The Rollmaster’s expression instantly changed as he sprang to his feet. The room erupted in bright light and as quickly as the encounter began, it ended.

“Where did he go, find him!” Q shouted, clawing at his sockets.

IG-86 chimed in once again, this time with a frantic tone.

“What do you mean you can’t detect any lifeforms?” Q roared in anger. He was just as confused as the others but was not going to ignore the warning. He wondered why this ‘being’ approached him instead of Rian, maybe it was just dumb luck. Maybe the reason would present itself at a later time, as of that moment it mattered little.

“Rian, Rian!,” Q shouted through the commlink. “I’m not sure why, but I was singled out by a strange apparition?”

“Apparition?” Rian finally replied

“Scholae is under attack and I have reason to suspect that we are next.”

There was a long pause and a bit of static. The Consul of Taldryan was undoubtedly weighing his options.

“Are you sure of this?”

“No, but surely you can feel something with that Force of yours.”

There was another long pause.

“Fine, we will come to their aid,” Rian sighed. “If we are next, maybe we can stop this threat before it reaches our Fleet.” Taldryan had already been struggling to secure their own place in the Galaxy. He would not allow this ‘setback’ to determine his Clan’s fate.

“For your sake, this had better not be a trap.” Rian added.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Q snapped back “Looks like we’re headed to Ragnath.”

———————

Caperion System Caelestis City, Ragnath

“Collective ships are breaking through, how did we not see them coming?!”

“The majority of our Fleet is scouting outside of our system. We must take a stand!”

Two soldiers tried to boost each other’s morale as the surgical strike took everyone by surprise. Starfighters zipped between large skyscrapers as they strafed for effective bombing runs. Shuttles unloaded the enemy onto the Moon’s surface with little resistance as tanks blaring propaganda spilled into the streets.

“Join the Collective, the tyrannical rule of those touched by the Force must end. They are few, we are many. Join us and you will not be harmed.” The message played over and over again as people of the City were rounded up and separated from their families.

Members of Scholae Palatinae pushed back but with most of their military spread out, their numbers were thinning.

Screams and confusion filled the air. People scrambled to their safe havens only to be ripped from their comforts as Oligard’s shocktroopers destroyed any and all acts of defiance. Those who refused the liberation were killed and the ones who defected were given status as they betrayed their own people in the hopes that their lives would be spared.

“Sir,” spoke a high ranking official of the Collective army into his wrist-link. “Everything is going as planned. They had no idea we had such a large fleet. Their stockpiles are nearly defenseless.”

“Good,” Rath replied, “Section off the City and begin to setup checkpoints. We will control Caelestis by nightfall.” He finished with an overwhelming optimism.

“The Force will bend to my will. I will free these poor souls. They will rise and be more powerful than their Masters.” He laughed.

—————————-

ISN Sidious Unknown Space

“What do you mean Ragnath is under attack?!” Shouted the Consul and Empress of Scholae Palatinae.

“It’s true, we didn’t see the attack coming. We need assista..” The message was cut short.

“Put me through to Mune, immediately” The Consul demanded.

“My lord, I’m aware of the attack.” Said Mune “I’ve already ordered our fleet to return to Caperion. I hope they can hold out.” Just as Mune finished her sentence. An Officer stormed up to Elincia from the bridge.

“Someone named Quejo needs to speak to you urgently. He claims to be Taldryan’s Rollmaster”

Elincia’s brow lifted with intrigue.

“Yes, I've heard of him, put him through”

“Yes ma’...”

“Now

Asteroid K-45-31A Secret Medical Facility Jervada System

The hissing of the airlock filled the cargo ring. This isolated portion of the asteroid station was packed to the gills with food supplies, medical equipment, and various other items. A lone younger male technician, who had drawn the shortest stick and was assigned to log the new shipment, began to contemplate exactly how he was expected to stow all of this new shipment. They had barely used anything from the previous shipment.

Maybe the powers that be had decided to go with cheaper chemicals, he thought, Guess we could space the excess, or better sell it.

The control panel next to the circular metallic hatch changed colors from red to green, prompting the man to enter his access code. The hatch hissed once more with a higher pitch and slid upwards revealing a completely empty pod. Surprised, the Technician withdrew a glow rod from his equipment belt and activated it, leaning into the darkness of the supply craft. The man raised an eyebrow.

Inquisitively the tech keyed his comms. “Cargo control this is Tech 4. I think we have a dud pod here.”

“Not another one,” A woman’s voice replied, “Do you want me to vac it Jax?”

Taking a step back out and turning around, the man named Jax shook his head.

“We’ll load it with waste, for transport back to Coruscant.”

“Roger that, I’ll send a couple of the guys down to help load it. Leave something for the Core Worlds in it for me too.”

Jax could almost see the sly smile on the voice of the woman in control as he walked towards the waste storage area of the ring.

After a couple of moments from the top of the hatchway, Len Iode poked his masked head down and surveyed the main cargo hold.

“Time to go to work,” the Chiss whispered to his droid.

The “Special Forces” droid chirped and flew off the soldier’s back and entered the room. The very top of the droid extended a few inches higher and a blue line swept around. After a few moments Len checked his datapad for the scan results and confirmed what his eyes saw: the room was empty and the only recording devices in this were were deactivated. Dropping to the deck quietly Len crossed the threshold of the facility immediately took cover behind some thermoplastic food crates.

Keying his comms he whispered, “Bird, this is Legs, I’m in.”

A low reply came back. “I read you son. You really need to come up with better callsigns. I thought I taught you better.”

Len shifted his weight from one foot to the other, checking the rest of his equipment. “You did, but crappy callsigns are my thing.”

The elder Iode sighed in resignation, “Very well. I am on station near the second largest asteroid as planned. I have a targeting solution on the first turret. I do not think they have detected either of us.”

“Confirmed here. If they are on alert, then they are running silent alert. If they go into alert take out the first turbolaser, then go for the shuttle’s engines.”

“Understood. Good luck so...Legs.”

Len hesitated only a moment as he deactivated the connection, drawing his pistol and making his way to one of the ancillary entrances. As the Chiss approached one of the exit hatches the droid companion drifted silently into his back.

The white reflective halls remind the Chiss of the Kaminoan capital of Tipoca City. Staying in the shadows wouldn't not be an option. Passing into the corridor, Len checked both ends.

Clear.

Checking his datapad, Len brought up a map constructed from ID-10’s scan. While not 100% accurate, the scan map was better than the alternative of none. The right turn would take the soldier further into the cargo ring, left would take him towards the central command center, but he would have to pass through the security checkpoint along the way.

“Ten,” the man whispered, “Stick close to the ceiling and scan ahead, give me your thoughts on the scene. Push all the information to my datapad.”

The droid seemed to nod and flew down the hall, hugging the ceiling, stopping occasionally to hide near the light sources. As the droid carried out its task, Iode studied the map and marked alcoves he could take cover in. The first one, Len could see, was only a quick sprint away. Standing up, the Chiss took off for the first alcove, taking cover as soon as he reached the location. He repeated this process until he was almost out of the cargo area. So far no staff had been present, Len’s calculation in the mission briefing was correct.

Len’s comm buzzed, and text appeared.

Two security guards are located in the command center near the central terminal. There are holocameras observing the entrance. I was able to evade them, however you will not be able to. The life support ductwork is too small in this area for you to fit. I would recommend a direct assault, if you had brought the team with you Alethia and Aura wanted.

The soldier rolled his eyes. “I did ask didn’t I? You knew the risks to that as well as I did if we sent a whole team in. This data could point us to who both of these companies really are, we can’t risk that.”

The text resumed. Indeed, Lieutenant Colonel. I will relocate and scan again, do not be detected.

The sound of voices and boots on durasteel, brought Len back to reality. Peering carefully around the corner he saw three technicians heading up from the cargo ring. Silently, the man took his aim and switched to stun. His first target was the man in the back. Squeezing the trigger slowly, Len felt something in his gut and lowered his weapon as a volley of blaster bolts ripped through the techs, some the men letting out screams as the bolts found their marks. Switching the blaster to kill, the soldier carefully checked pied the corner. All the Chiss saw was the back of one of the assailants.

Keying his comm to link ID-10 and his father on one channel, Len took as best of a defensive position as he could.

“Dad, the poodoo has hit the fan. Guavian Death Gang is here.”

Ken started his engines for his attack run. “Roger that, I did not see anything dock.”

“They may have been on board already. There isn’t an…” A quiet, pained moan interrupted the Chiss, “Be right back.”

Taking aim in front of himself, Len walked backwards approaching the technicians. The human who had opened Len’s cargo pod weakly motined the soldier closer.

“Help us,” The man tried to breath deep, but failed to.

Len lowered his face covering, tearing it to improvise a bandage. “What happened?”

Jax gasped, “I only heard rumors. The stims! We have to evacuate!”

“Shhh. We will evacuate.” Len put the improvised bandage on the man’s chest wound and started to drag the man towards cover.

I really need to start carrying medpacks. Len thought as he saw the man’s wounds were beyond what he had and really what he could do.

An explosion rocked the base and alarm klaxons rang.

“All personnel, we are under attack, Turbolaser two is damaged, intruders in the command ring!”

“Strike completed, new orders?” The elder Iode said flatly.

“Y-you’re one of them??” Jax tried to pull away. Distant blaster fire and more screams confirmed what Len was afraid of. He was in the middle of a purge.

“ID-10, is the command center sealed?”

Negative.

Len lifted the technician to his feet, moving under the man’s arm to support him from below.

“I’m one of the good guys. You help me and we both get out alive.” Len handed the man his pistol and drew the DH-17 off of his back.

“I don’t feel so good,” The man coughed, “I’m as good as dead.”

“Not if we can get you to that shuttle.”

The man shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. “They would have left us already.”

Hauling the man over into the command center ring, the chaos was clear. Fires were burning on multiple levels of the command ring and the central hub doors were broken.

Len’s comm buzzed

I count only 15 gang members, they have divided themselves up into groups of three. Only one is in the command center.

“Good.”

Turning to Jax, “I need you to stay here, make sure they don’t get through, our ride is the pod I came in. I’m going to the command center.”

The gathered most of his strength and aimed held the blaster at the low ready. Something seemed off about it, Len thought.

Making his way across the mostly open six or seven meters felt like an eternity. Distant shots rang out as the elder Iode commed the younger.

“I believe I figured out how they got in. It appears they were invited by the staff. A possible buyer?”

The Chiss thought a moment. “That would make sense if this is truly a super soldier serum of some type. The GDG loves their serums.”

The soldier came up to the shattered alcove and doors, a couple of humans and a few near humans lay at the door. They had been trying to seal the doors, but a GDG grenade took care of that. Cautiously, the younger Iode made his way up the steps, stopping half way. A few quick taps of the datapad and ID-10 drifted up past Len scanning the area ahead.

It appears there are five in the command center. The droid typed back and then sent an image.

Len analyzed the men’s position and settled on his plan. Brining his DH-17 to the high ready, he activated the door. The closest soldier was watching the door with no cover and was nailed directly in the faceplate by a single shot. Quickly, the Odanite took cover behind the nearest cover. The second soldier had taken cover behind what Len guessed was the communications terminal and was now taking pot shots at the Chiss. The other three, from the image, were huddled around the main terminal. Following around the console, Iode drew a bead on the second soldier and fired three times. The first hit it’s mark, but the second and third missed giving the wounded gang soldier time to fire back, pushing the OEF trooper back behind cover. Standing up, Len’s target was exposed and he fired.

Two down.

The last three were making their way towards one of the other entrances, and were now suppressing the Chiss with blaster fire. Console by console, the Odanite fought his way closer to the central terminal until finally he reached it. Pulling out his spike kit, he rammed the device in and opened the proper prompt on the display.

More blaster fire kept Len honest and behind cover, but it was obvious the GDG soldiers were making their escape. The spike sunk into the port faster than the Chiss expected, quickly checking Len’s worst fears were realized. The Guavian Death Gang now had the only copy of whatever had been in the stations system.

“ID, I need to you to track a group of three GDG troops, they should have been headed towards the shuttle.” Buzzing affirmatively the droid flew off as Len headed back where he came from. To his surprise, he noticed one GDG member face down near the cargo ring entrance. Jax, half conscious had another in front of him.

“I thought you were dead.” the man coughed, “Glad to see you made it. Can we leave?”

Len nodded, “One last thing.”

The Chiss bent over and began searching the two dead troops and got lucky. The man right in front of the Technician was the slicer and in his pocket was the dataspike.

Turning around to pick Jax up, Len was only partially surprised to realize the man was standing, his own blaster pointed at him.

Ken’s voice broke the silence. “Len, the First Order is here! We have to get out NOW!”

“Indeed we are.” Jax pulled off his top and revealed a Stormtrooper’s plastoid plate beneath.

The Chiss tried his best to fully realize what was going on when suddenly ID-10 flew in and smacked the spy knocking him over. Quickly Len aimed and fired, killing the man. His heart racing, Len sprinted back into the cargo area and keyed the return code into the console by the pod. Ramming himself in with the items being returned to Coruscant, Len remotely sealed and launched the pod, which rocked as the central station exploded. The explosion provided decent cover as the pod made the automated jump to lightspeed followed quickly behind by Ken’s X-Wing

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk

“See the real trick is never to lose focus!”

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk

“Which means I really shouldn’t be talking while doing this!”

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk

Silvon’s knife dived between every one of his fingers in order, and when it went through he’d flip his hand over and repeat the process, constantly maintaining a dizzying speed. This, he did to the awestruck looks of an entire tavern full of onlookers, all of them in varying states of inebriation.

He’d heard one or two whispering this man simply must have the Force, as no ordinary man could possibly do this without losing a finger or three. Which was completely false of course, as Silvon had seen men without the Force perform this game far faster than he would ever be able too, but he’d let the backwater hicks have their fun. The odds of any of these people on this little Outer Rim mining colony would ever see a Jedi or a Sith were about as high as his chances of becoming the next Grandmaster of the Brotherhood.

Hmmmmm… Mav does get an awesome ship, but all the paperwork, the endless meetings, the assassination attempts? But the ship…

In any event, his lack of Force ability was half the reason Silvon did stuff like this to begin with. Sure, anyone with mystically enhanced reaction times could’ve done what he was doing, but it required real skill and patience to do it without some kind of pseudo magical crutch.

Jon had spent years perfecting this little crowd pleaser, practicing in his off hours on whatever pirate or smuggling vessels had been willing to hire him that particular month. Always with a plasteel blade of course. The pirate captain who taught him about this used to mock him for that, saying that it was braver to perform with a real blade, but Silvon appreciated having all his appendages attached. Prosthetics were expensive after all,unlike toy knives, and back then he really couldn’t afford to waste even one credit.

Finally stopping, Silvon took a moment to twirl the knife in his fingers as an added bit of flare for his appreciative audience.

“Yeah, so the guy who taught me that called it “Five Finger Fillet” but apparently that’s considered racist by species with a different number of appendages,” Silvon said casually. He took a moment to appreciate the looks on his audience members faces as they apparently tried to determine if he was serious about that or not. That’s what made Silvon love being out in the backwaters of the galaxy. The people out here would believe anything.

“Now,” Silvon said loudly, over the clamor of his adoring audience (which proved unnecessary, as people immediately hushed to hear what ridiculpus but just barely plausible thing he would say next) “who wants to show me the way to your dart boards, so I can show you lot some really impressive blade work, hm?”

Spending a slow night at Hak's Drinking near a bowl of snacks Cooling off after a day at the yards None here but me and two guys playing cards My whiskey's half gone and the ice slowly melts When two Force-users walk in, sabers on belts You can often spot them by their way of dress Showing up to get drunk almost daily no less At times I envy their lives of great power But alcohol's all their misdeeds won't sour Though that's the cost for the stability we get And safety from the next murderous threat It reminds me my life's not a waste But this beer has a metallic taste

I happened upon a planet today, a smaller one along my way. From space it seemed so beautiful and green, It hid the wonders of what was to be seen.

I guided my craft to the surface below, and watched through my screen as the view began to grow, of rolling grasses both tall and short, and plains of a very interesting sort.

There were hills and valleys, the typical fare, but certain things not of the world were there. A tall shiny complex of towers and such, Were a blot on the landscape, a more alien touch.

A bustling town I happened to find, Aliso City which muddled the mind. A sprawling place with fares from far and wide, a frontier city, no doubt, and I headed inside.

Construction yards and docks gave a stench, causing people at some times to retch, bustling streets, the smell of the wares, the scurrying creatures underfoot unawares.

I meandered out through the gates once again, headed back to the places i'd already been, and happened across more valleys and plains, And looked for more things for my knowledgeable gains.

A monastery i saw in the distance too, in a sheltered cove mainly hidden from view, rock spires and structures so elegant and tall, I knew that this could never be all.

The planet seemed marred with old structures and new. It had temperate weather and oceans of blue, But I realise now as I depart this place, Aiiso is a marvel, an oasis in space.

Calenhad stood in silence within the confines of the Low Altitude Assault transport. The LAAT carried himself as well as 12 troopers of Clan Naga Sadow’s line infantry. They were under the command of Sergeant Anderson, a man Calenhad met during the siege of the Collective base on Ruuria. Calenhad held respect for this man who survived the Shikari huntress ambush alongside himself. The lights within the cabin flickered on as the LAAT continued its descent towards the planet Ryloth. Calenhad took a deep breath as he prepared to address his men. “Our orders are to rendez-vous will Tasha’vel upon the planets surface. I have been told that further instructions will be given then. You men have all been tested through combat. The fires of Ruuria forged you into soldiers. Now I ask you all to follow me into the unknown on Ryloth. Who is with me?!” There was a brief pause before Anderson called “We’re with you sir!” The call was echoed by the 11 other soldiers. “Glad to hear the excitement boys” the LAAT pilot exclaimed. “Approaching the LZ in 3...2...1.” The LAAT touched down upon the dusty ground. The doors of the LAAT opened and the soldiers exited the aircraft. Calenhad stepped out the vehicle as the pilot called out to him. “I’ll remain within comm range just in case you need a bit of fire support.” Calenhad nodded towards the man. “I appreciate it.” Calenhad and the infantrymen began to move north across the rocky ground. After a few minutes a blue figure could be seen sitting beside a heavily modified X-wing. Calenhad approached the figure and inclined his head respectfully. “You requested my presence Tasha’vel?” The sapphire Twi’lek glanced at Calenhad and the soldiers behind him. “I take it that you have heard of the Blackguard unit?” Calenhad paused in thought. “They are an organization that guard the Consul and Proconsul.” Tasha’vel nodded. “We are currently holding exams for two positions within the Blackguard. I figured as an up and coming member of Clan Naga Sadow you would appreciate the chance to take the exam.” Surprise flickered across Calenhad’s face. “I’m honored.” Tasha’vel smiled. “Your assignment is to retrieve the Blackguard Token that was stolen by a group of bandits. You may use any means necessary to achieve your mission but keep in mind that I will be watching you to assess your abilities.” “Where is this camp of bandits?” Calenhad replied. “Continue northward, they are a bit difficult to miss.” Calenhad nodded and began walking northward alongside Anderson and his men. Tasha’vel was soon proven right. 4 Flarestar class Weequay ships sat in a semicircle. Dozens of Weequay were visibly drunk and singing around a large table. Calenhad and the troopers looked at the scene in disbelief. Anderson twitched beside him. “Are we truly seeing this sir?” Calenhad looked at the sergeant then looked back at the scene. “I believe we are Anderson. Either way it makes things easier for us.” Calenhad turned to address his men. “We are going to go in quickly and with maximum fire power. We lack the means to take prisoners so don’t bother leaving any alive. The objective is to recover the Blackguard Token above all else.” “Sir, yes sir!” the men called. Calenhad activated the commlink on his right ear. “It looks like we could use that fire support after all. There is a camp of Weequay bandits north of my position. Do you mind softening them up for us?” “Right away sir” the pilot replied. Calenhad turned toward his men. “Once the LAAT makes its gun run we are going in. Remember keep your eyes peeled for the Blackguard Token.” “Yes sir!” the men replied. The LAAT came screaming into view. It soared past the soldiers and unloaded its rocket pods into the Weequay camp. Explosions filled the camp alongside pools of blood and missing limbs. Calenhad grabbed his saber with his right hand and his electrowhip in his left. “For the Brotherhood!” Calenhad yelled as his saber ignited into a beam of crimson. Calenhad moved briskly toward the camp deflecting blaster shots from the few bandits coherent enough to respond the the attack. Any opposition was swiftly dealt with by the 12 men behind him. The battle was anticlimactic and lasted for less than 3 minutes. Calenhad looked at the devastation around him. “Anderson, I want the bodies brought back to my lab for further study.” The sargeant looked up from his search. “Of course sir.” Calenhad closed his eyes and immersed himself in the Force. He let his senses wash over the bodies until he felt a unique signature. He held his hand out towards the strange feeling out grasped it with the Force, pulling it toward him. A small object flew from the neck of the dead Weequay into Calenhad’s outstretched hand. Calenhad opened his eyes to view the Blackguard Token sitting in his palm.

Kadrol Hauen had been fascinated with extinct species of Fauna since he was a young boy. Learning about the ancient beasts let Kadrol drift into his own imagination where he lived alongside these mythical beasts. An imagination where even the most dangerous of beasts could become his friend. Through the years, his imagination would become focused on hyper-realistic scenarios and less on more fantastical things. Though his general love for these creatures would eventually fade, the memories were stored away and Kadrol unknowingly took a liking to History.

When Kadrol was twelve, he was reintroduced to the world of these beasts in a class at school. During this unit, Kadrol also learned about Paleontology’s sentient-based counterpart: archaeology. At this point in his life Kadrol was more intrigued by the empires of the past, such as the Old Republic and the Sith empire. He also found ancient battles quite intriguing: ones before droids were able to be mass produced as they were in the Clone Wars. The Jedi and Sith orders and the evolution of the lightsaber were, in his opinion, the most fun to learn about.

The following year, Kadrol was recruited to the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. In his first few months, he had begun to notice all kinds of Brotherhood funded archaeology digs to uncover ancient artifacts from the ancient Sith as well as the ancient Jedi Order, as well as to fill in holes in what was known about these Force users of old. He had immediately asked his master, Brimstone, if he could take leave and participate in a few of these archeological digs. While on these archeological digs, Kadrol himself never actually discovered anything particularly special, but he did try to gather information about them based on where they were found and the things they were found with.

That was two years ago. Now the Pantoran had returned from a self-inflicted exile from the Brotherhood, and was now going on archaeological digs again. Today he had arrived at one of the newest dig sites the Brotherhood set up, and Kadrol was assigned a much more hands-on role. The site was located on the ancient Sith homeworld of Korriban. Many graves of the ancient Sith Lords had already been excavated by groups from as early as a thousand years ago, but this expedition wasn’t focused on the graves of the ancient Sith, but rather the places thought to be the site of long forgotten temples and other ritual sites.

When the Acolyte arrived from the moon of Ragnath in the Caperion System, the dig site had already been marked off into a five by five grid by a series of metal rods stuck into the ground periodically and tied to another rod with a thin twine of sorts. This method helps the archaeologists record where each artifact was found to try to formulate a story to piece together the past. It also helped with delegating others by assigning them a section to dig in. From the location of the camp, the sections were marked vertically with letters, and horizontally with numbers. Kadrol was one of five people assigned to section B5.

Day after day, the team would go into the section and dig. When an artifact was found, the person who unearthed the object would call for a mapper to record the location, and then they would carefully uncover the object using a brush, chisel, and other small tools. Usually the object was a piece of pottery or simple jewelry, but a special item would come up every once in a while. Whenever something special was found, Kadrol was rejuvenated with a thirst to discover something unique once more.

Two Weeks after Kadrol arrived on Korriban

Kadrol enjoyed digging on the site. He found the job like a sort of a game: whoever found the coolest or rarest thing was the “winner.” The morning was just like any other on the site: everyone would wake up at the brink of dawn to eat and get dressed before heading out to the dig. Kadrol woke up wearily. The constant early mornings were not something he was used to. When he was training, his master, Kylex, usually didn’t come to get him for training until midday. As he headed out, he couldn’t help but watch in awe at the sunrise over the reddish planet.

Reaching the site with his tools, the Acolyte started in the same spot he had left off on the previous night. He needed to dig down about two meters for this dig. He dug for about an hour, as everybody else arrived and started digging their spots, when he thought he saw something shining in the ground. He climbed out of his hole, which was a waist high hemisphere in the earth, and grabbed his trowel.

The Pantoran jumped into the hole excitedly and began to dig out the dirt on top of the shimmering golden object. It took him another hour or so uncover the object, revealing it to be a scepter of some sort. It was around one and three quarter meters in length. The half Kadrol had dug out so far had something engraved in it: probably some ancient language used by the Sith. The golden rod was adorned with rubies and it had a dragon’s head shaped on the top. Excitedly, Kadrol used his comm link to report in his findings. A few minutes later, a vehicle drove up to his section, and the mapper designated to his section stepped out with a map of the findings in the section. He used a measuring device to mark the location of the scepter from the side of the section, and made a mark on the map. Kadrol now had permission to finish digging out the scepter. The vehicle stayed where it was parked until Kadrol had painstakingly dug out the rest of the beautiful scepter.

He and another archaeologist put on fresh latex gloves and carefully wrapped up the scepter to insure it wouldn’t be damaged on the way back to camp where it would be analyzed. If the head of the project deemed it of enough value, Kadrol might even be assigned to learning about his discovery, but for now, he would continue to excavate.

Calenhad sat with legs crossed in the center of his room. The room was blissfully silent for once as Calenhad's droid S4-Dow was currently undergoing maintenance. The droid was a trusty companion but sometimes did not know when to be quiet. Calenhad closed his eyes and began to sink into the vast living Force upon Sepros when a shiver traveled down his spine. Calenhad immediately opened his eyes and sent a pulse of the Force outward toward his door. The Force had sent him a warning with that shiver, something that he would not take for granted. As the pulse traveled through the door Calenhad felt 3 beings standing outside his door. One seemed nervous as his finger twitched over the trigger of his blaster rifle. The others seemed to exude hatred into the very air around them as they planted an explosive upon the door. The door exploded inward and the soldiers began to breach the room. Calenhad was already on his feet with lightsaber in hand. The first soldier entered the room only to receive a red blade through the abdomen. The nervous soldier fired at Calenhad in a panic. Calenhad brought his lightsaber up to deflect the shot which ricocheted into the other soldier due to the close proximity. Calenhad stepped forward and lashed out with his left fist, shattering the windpipe of the nervous soldier. Calenhad stood over the soldier, who squirmed in pain as he struggled to breathe. Calenhad placed his right foot upon the soldier's knee and gradually applied his weight. The bone began to creak until it broke with a Snap! The soldier wheezed in pain from his knee and lack of air. Calenhad watched the soldier squirm with a smirk upon his face. The soldiers struggles ceased as he lay still with wide eyes. Calenhad looked around him at the three bodies. 'Hmm' he thought 'Erik mentioned a interest in the technological implants utilized by the Collective. I suppose that I could recover some from these soldiers after my investigation.' Calenhad dragged the 3 bodies into the corner of his room. Well, room was a bit of a misname. Calenhad lived in a small shack built outside the ruins of the Temple of Shadow. A shack that was now missing its door due to the actions of the dead Collective soldiers. Calenhad grabbed his medical backpack and slung it over his back. Calenhad exited the shack and began to walk into the forest. Periodically he would use the Force to probe the jungle for signs of life. Calenhad stilled as he felt a massive amount of hatred concentrated in a small area. Calenhad crouched down and began to make his way toward the area. Calenhad proceeded slowly and mindful of any twigs that would cause a sound if stepped on. After a few minutes Calenhad came upon a horrifying sight. Dozens of transports sat upon the forest floor surrounded by hundreds of Collective foot soldiers. There was no way for Calenhad to contact DarkHawk or the other higher ranking members of Clan Naga Sadow, at least not with his meager commlink. Calenhad’s gaze was drawn to the transport nearest him. If he could manage to steal the ship he would be able to contact DarkHawk and inform him of the impending assault. Calenhad took a deep breath and began to wrap the Force around him like a cocoon. He started by wrapping his feet, then slowly spiraled the Force around his body like a snake. A minute later and the cocoon was formed and Calenhad had vanished from view. Calenhad began to walk toward the transport. He moved at a snail’s pace, unwilling to risk detection by the Collective. He successfully managed to approach the back of the transport without alerting the Collective. He then steeled himself and grasped the ramp with the Force. He began to pull the ramp down with Force, inch by agonizing inch. A shrill scraping sound echoed throughout the camp alerting the soldiers to Calenhad’s position. The ramp hit the ground as pain blossomed in Calenhad’s left shoulder. Blasterfire filled the air as Calenhad ignighted his saber. The blade swung in crimson arcs, intercepting blasts that would have ended Calenhad. He began to slowly move backward up the ramp. His right knee buckled as a blaster shot slammed into it. Calenhad forced himself to his feet and swirled the Force around his knee to dull the pain. His shoulder ached as Calenhad entered the ship. He slammed his right hand onto the button to close the ramp, only for nothing to happen. Calenhad realised in horror that forcing the ramp down broke the locking system that would hold it in place. “Frack!” Calenhad yelled as he threw himself in the pilots seat and began to start the ships systems. He flipped on the autopilot as he heard footsteps approaching behind him. Calenhad slipped a throwing knife into his left hand which he threw at the nearest Collective soldier approaching him. The blade sunk deep into the soldiers eye, who fell to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut. Calenhad’s left shoulder exloded in agony and he grit his teeth in pain. Calenhad focused upon that pain, allowing it to consume him. Force Lightning arced out of his left hand and slammed into a Collective soldier. The soldier flew into the air and out of the ascending transport. The last Collective soldier jabbed his electrostaff into Calenhad who began to spasm wildly. Calenhad fell to the floor gasping in pain. The Collective soldier raised his staff to bring it down upon Calenhad. Instincts screaming at him, Calenhad grabbed the soldiers ankle and reinforced his grip with the Force. The soldiers ankle shattered and he fell onto the starship floor. Calenhad grabbed his vibrodagger with his right hand and fell upon the soldier hacking and slashing. Blood painted the walls of the ship as the soldier valiantly tried to block the blade with his hands. Those bloodied hands hit the ground as blood pooled on the floor. Calenhad rolled off the man and proped his body against the wall. His body tremored from pain and adrenaline. Calenhad forced himself into a healing trance as the ship continued to fly through the jungle.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xOHwxZprudekiMN_skXxE4d2qisJDTpfNyRLCrx_2bE/edit?usp=sharing