Sion Remained on board his shuttle, on approach Ziost, a place now known to only a few, a world hidden in the shroud of the darkside, indeed he could focus himself, and expand upon his power. He remebered Kreia's voice from his dream....."He will meet you there, that is where you will find him, he awaits one strong enough to join him in the darkness that is to come."..............He thought hard on theses words that the old witch had once spoken. "So Revan has gone there? Far from the grasp of the republic, a world where only he could go, I will find him there, and if he is still a Sith, then perhaps, he gathers strength in the dark, to destroy that which surrenders itself to weakness. will he remember The Exile? will he remember his hatred of the Jedi Order? Time will tell, for if Revan has become weak, I will strike his presence from this galaxy forever." Sion Lays down on the small bed, and drifts to sleep, awaiting his arrival at ZIOST.
What was she thinking?? Elron thought irritably. D*mn that hurt!
Sitting upright, his head in a hand, he looked around, his vision blurring and focusing at intervals. Everyone was out cold. He looked outside, seeing the surface of Onderon looming. I was out that long?!?!
He felt everyone's pulses. They were all there, although the girl and the man were weaker than Tadrick's and the Exile's.
"Exile?" he whispered as he felt her pulse. "Exile?" No response.
Exile, awaken. he said, proding her mind and forming a connection, Awaken, for you have slumbered too long.
The young man woke up, rubbing his head.
"What the hell did she do?"
(OOC: Bah, the flashback will have to wait. :P)
Took 'em long enough. As Lussk stood up, Elron glanced over to the corner.
"Something wrong Elron?" the unnamed young man said. (jeez jokemaster, give him a name! >XD) "What is it?" Lussk smirked as he hit a button, creating a beam of electricity, shocking both of the awakened. The younger one quickly fell, the smell of burnt flesh rising within the ship. Elron, on the other hand, was quick to shield himself.
"What's this now? So you're a Jedi as well?"
"Not quite," Elron grinned as he unsheathed both of his sabers, and lunged at the Trandoshan. Moving nothing but his eyebrows, Lussk stared as poisonous gas rose up around Elron. "What the hell? This again?" The Sith Lord quickly shielded himself from the poison, and laughed at Lussk. "Don't underestimate the force."
"I never do," the hunter muttered. Elron gaped at Lussk as he suddenly fell to his knees, his body ever weakening.
"But... how?!" the Sith managed to gasp.
"It seems that you are the one who is underestimating me. This poison is much more deadly than you could possibly imagine. It attacks anyone who is even the slightest bit sensitive to the force, being more deadly to those more powerful in the force. Anyone and everyone who is affected will fall into a coma. Even that broken Sith earlier fell to the poison, which I'm quite sure that you had noticed." Lussk roared with laughter as Elron fell flat on his face, cursing the Trandoshan. "However, this ordeal isn't over yet." He jabbed the Exile with a syringe and injected a vaccine to his poisons into her. Now I play the waiting. (Yes, all this means that all of you on this ship will be affected by the poisons, except Syscha)
He crept towards the shadows once again, snatching one of Elron's sabers on the way, and he meditating, masking his presence once again.
Next time, I'm staying asleepthought the kid as he lay on the floor, not moving so nothing else would happen to him.
Syscha felt hot fury rise up within her. Blast! she shouted to
herself. I was just about to explain the Vy'takht trial to Elron,
and everyone else as soon as they woke up. What in Nal Hutta
is going on? As soon as I find out, I'm going to--wait. Huh?
She sensed something else was wrong, something even more
sinister than the Vy'takht trial had been.
Elron, Tadrick, the unnamed escape pod pilot, and Falya
were all still asleep, which was par for the Vy'takht course,
according to Darth Traya. However, as Tysyacha checked
their pulses and inspected their bodies, she noticed that each
person on the ship had a sickly green tinge to their skin tone.
By the Force! They've been poisoned! Syscha knew she
could be wrong, but knowing how many times she herself had
been affected by poison fumes throughout her travels, it
wasn't likely. She vowed to find the source of the poison
as she rummaged through the tiny space of the escape pod.
"Whoever it was that poisoned everyone can't have gotten far,"
Tysyacha mumbled. "They might be wearing a stealth generator,
so I'll have to be careful. Who else is on this ship, though? Sion?"
She hissed in her breath and prayed it wasn't him. Even a concealed
bounty hunter would be a more welcome guest than that Sith Lord!
She continued to search the pod, wishing it had a lab station on
board so she could make antidote kits. Wait--she could heal with
a Master's skill through the Force! Quickly, she used her Force
Power on everyone around her. Nothing happened. The three
continued to sleep, that lime-green hue still tainting their skin.
"Oh, no! I've never encountered a poison that Master Heal
couldn't cure. Why have I been spared, and the others haven't?
Who's after me besides Sion?!" The more she thought about it,
the more furious Tysyacha became. She wanted answers, and fast.
Sion awakened, just as his shuttle came into the ZIOST system. He quickly sprung from his resting place, and made his way back intot he cockpit to guide his ship down onto the planet below.
The shuttle sped towards the Dark forest that covered the ancient Sith planet. Sion flew just above the treetops, searching for the clearing with the enormous temple from his dream. The planetscape seemed to be a neverending green blanket filled with trees, and unexplored depths of darkness. After scanning the perimeter as he flew, he finally saw it, a massive structure, sticking out of a clearing in the forest, it was as large as the Senate chambers on Coruscant. He touched down for a landing about 300 yards from the structure. He could feel the dark power eminating from the Ancient monolith. He made his way through some uncut underbrush, and finally came into the courtyard of the enormous place. It looked like a palace. "THis structure looks like a palace of some kind, perhaps even a fortress." Sion continued towards the building, and stood now looking directly towards up, as he saw the long straight steps leading to the main entrance. He took his first step,onto the stairs of this ancient place.
"There was a rumbling, the sound of a stone door opening. The structure, like all of the ancient sith places, was protected by the darkside. Two huge beasts emerged behind sion, from a ramp underground. He turned and ignited his saber. The beasts began charging, and then suddenly, stopped, and bowed down before Sion. "Terentateks. I have not see one of you since Korriban....you are right to fear me, serve me now, or return to your darkness. Guard my ship beasts." As Sion turned to ascend the stairs towards the maingate. The Terentatek lumbered toward his vessel, and guarded it from any potential trespassors.
"Oh, that's simple, I've given you the antidote." The enraged Jedi glared at Lussk.
"Who are you? What have you done to the crew? And why have you spared me?"
"Spared you? Oh no, that poison won't kill them, it'll merely keep them unconscious for a while. As for who I am, I am Lussk, a Trandoshan bounty hunter from Nar Shaddaa, come to exact my revenge one you."
"Lussk? You wouldn't happen to be related to Vrussk, would you?"
"Cousin, I'm his cousin."
"Anyways, I don't know any 'Lussk,' so there's no chance you should be coming to get revenge on me."
"Oh yes, I figured that you wouldn't remember. But why would you? I'd bet all of my earnings that you don't know the names of over 95% of those that you've killed or badly injured over time. Do you remember the Jekk'Jekk Tarr? Of course you do," Lussk hissed, spitting at Syscha's feet. "You remember when all of those mercs and hunters were trying to kill you. Yes, I was in the one room that didn't lead to the private lounge, and whether you knew that, I don't care. What I'm saying is that despite all that, as soon as you entered the room, you looked at me and jumped over all of your other opponents, who were obviously trying to kill you, and attacked me, the only person in the entire Tarr who was minding his own business, knowing that you'd just kill me anyway. Of course I naturally guarded myself from a fatal blow, letting you slice my arm off instead, and then you wielded the force to try to destroy me. I managed to live, yes, but what happened afterwards was a bit more painful."
Lussk watched Syscha closely, and recieving nothing but a stunned look, he went on, "I eventually became the laughingstock of the Smuggler's Moon, being the only one who hadn't been able to fight back against you, according to them at least. And then you had to go and destroy half of the people who live on Nar Shaddaa's main source of income. Goto. After he died or whatever, some Hutt took over the Bumani Exchange, but it was obvious that he was a simple puppet. A very, simple puppet. Unfortunately, the puppeteers didn't like me very much, and gave me no possible choice of income. So I became Vogga's little errand boy. I despise you very much. Anyways, how would you like to die?" Lussk grinned.
Syscha, without missing a beat, quickly struck Lussk and attempted to kill him, but it was parried by a double-sword. "Cortosis Weave is oh so useful." The two dueled for a short while, but Syscha quickly snapped the blade in two, and attempted to force push Lussk into a wall. Eyes widened, the girl was infinitely shocked by her inability to wield the force. "I only gave you enough antidote to prevent you from falling into another coma." Lussk grinned yet again. The Exile snarled and brought her saber down upon the cocky little trandoshan. Once again, he shocked her, parrying her blade with another saber. And the two began dueling once again. "Do not underestimate me Jedi. Throughout my life I've trained with sabers, ever since I was a youngling. I may be immune to the force, but my body moves quite well enough. I've assassinated countless Jedi in the Civil War, and I could do the same to you and your friends. And also, I suppose I should add, that I am a master of all of the seven lightsaber forms." Syscha then cut him off by knocking the saber out of his hands, tapping deep into her fury. But before she could restrike, Lussk activated a number of spikes that popped out of his mechanical arm, and he slashed Syscha's blade hand, causing her to drop her weapon.
Snatching the saber from midair, Lussk quickly rounded about and sliced off Syscha's left arm. "An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, arm for arm." Syscha yelped in pain, and fell to her knees, awaiting the death blow. But it never came. Instead, Lussk knelt down before her. "I yield to you Jedi, forever I put myself in your service. Your servant, am I, forever in all things."
"B-what?"
"Here, take these," Lussk muttered as he handed her some items. "It's the antidote. Give yourself a few more pricks, and give the two Jedi full shots, the girl half a shot, and the young male of your race a small amount. Everything that you'd need to create a prosthetic arm is set up in the workbench already. Oh and, your saber." Lussk sighed as he deactivated the blade and took the liberty to place it in Syscha's hilt.
"But, why?"
"I've already exacted my revenge, I have no more to do. You may have me killed, or you can accept my aid and see how things turn out." He helped her up to her feet and sent her off on her way. "I shall be at the cockpit, manuevering the Hawk towards the Iziz port."
"Um, Trandoshan?"
"Lussk, I figured you'd forget by now, and I already know your name."
"Right... and um, who awoke first?"
"The Sith. And also, mistress, are you sure you wish to head to Onderon? Or shall I land elsewhere?"
After the antidotes were administered, the young man woke first. He saw Syscha and asked.
"What the hell did you do to us, and who was that guy who poisoned us?"
Syscha was absolutely stunned by this sudden turn of events.
"Onderon...would be fine," she told the Trandoshan humbly,
"and as for accepting your help, I shall. I--I mean--back when
I was on Nar Shaddaa the first time," she said, feeling that
ominous gnawing in her stomach return, "I chose to let my anger
against the Exchange control me, allow me to attack innocents.
I'm sorry for what I've done to you, and as for a prosthetic arm--!"
Syscha winked ruefully. "I've always wanted to do what Bao-Dur
could!" She fondly remembered the Zabrak tech who had served her.
As she quickly injected the antidote serum to Lussk's poison into
the others' arms, Tysyacha asked the Trandoshan, "Have you heard
of Bao-Dur? He was a tech specialist who served with me in the
Mandalorian Wars before all of this happened. In them, he lost his
own arm, and he had a prosthetic made that could bash Force fields!"
She smiled at Lussk. "Now I hope I can, because I'm not very strong."
As Lussk piloted the escape pod toward the Onderon system and
the others rested, allowing the antidote to work, the Exile constructed
her new prosthetic arm. Her old arm, flesh and blood, was no more
than a charred mass of carbon. The Trandoshan had indeed proven
very skilled with his lightsaber. What a fine Jedi he would have been!
"I didn't want to kill you," said Syscha softly. "I need all the help
I can get against a resurrected Sith Lord. His name is Darth Sion,
and he trained under the same Dark Lady that betrayed me. Besides,
how can I call myself a servant of the Light if I slaughter the wounded
or the innocent? Hypocrisy gets discovered, as you have proven to me."
(OOC: Lussk, OMGZ! You are so great at writing duel scenes! :)
What did all of you think of the Vy'takht trial? I wanted a decisive
turning point in the story before the series of big climaxes. I'm
also planning a "Climactic Text Crawl" when Sion and/or Revan
are ready to begin their biggest assault upon us. Great work! ;) )
The man stood up now, wanting to be taken seriously.
"OK, for real, why did you do that to us?
Sion continued is climb towards the temple's summit. After what seemed like an eternity he had reached his goal, he turned and looked back down the stairs, he had to be almost a mile up. He turned again, to enter the structure, and found that the door was wide open. "What...how....." He ignites his saber....."It matters not."
Sion takes his first step and enters the darkness of the monolith. As he enters, the musty smell of the place fills his nose. The air was dry and cool. He could feel the power of this place, it tugged at his being with great force. He smiled, and let the darkness flow through him, he felt his perceptions expand, his strength double, everything seemed enhanced. He continued down the long dark hallway with his saber ignited, and could faintly see ancient sith writings on the wall, under the red glow of his Lightsaber. he could see the faint glow of a torchlight, fur ther down the hallway, in what appeared to be an open chamber.
Sion moved quicker, towards the light, and entered a huge room with Hieroglyphics, and writings all over the gold plated walls. At the front off this room, there was a large golden chair, on top of a pedastal. "This...is a throneroom....this must be where the heart of the Ancient Sith Empire, where the dark lords sat and ruled." He takes a step forward, and sits down in the chair and closes his eyes.
In his mind he can see all the ancient Sith scurrying about doing the will of their dark lord, who sat as he did now, and commanded mighty armies. A voice interupts his vivions.
"That seat holds great power, for one who can bring the Darkness under his command, and destroy those who obey the light."......Sion recognized the voice. "YOU"
A man appeared from the shadows draped in a black cloak, and an all to familiar mask.
The face that was missing for 5 long years stood before Sion. That face was Darth Revan.
"Darth Sion. Why have you come to this place? Have you sought me here? Did mistress Traya send you." Revan questioned.
"She did not. Kreia is dead. Killed by Syacha, the exile who served you on Malachor."
"Yes I know. I have felt it." Revan responded confidently.
"After all that has happened....still you live, you are difficult to kill." Sion growled
"For those as limited as the Jedi, and Malak.....perhaps." Revan laughed coldly.
"I can sense no light within you, I see those you have killed etched upon you being. You are a Sith." Sion stated confidently.
"Yes I like you Sion, am a Sith Lord. I served the jedi during the Civil war, as means to confront and destroy my treacherous friend Malak. After which, there was no purpose for my remaining in the galaxy at that time."
"You could have made the fractured Galaxy strong again, our chance at an empire, gone. You could have destroyed the Jedi and The republic, yet you surrendered the Galaxy to weakness and ran away.....like a coward." Sion Angrily snapped
"It would seem that way from a certain point of view Sion. Our victory will come Sion, sooner than you think. It was all part of my plan, Traya, Nihilus, You. It was I who lured Kreia to Malachor, so that she could teach those, powerful enough, and vicious enough to take on the republic, and the jedi, in my absence, for appearances had to be maintained. You Sion proved more than up to the task. Your actions crippled the jedi. The republic is fractured ruined. After the destruction of the Star forge, I commanded all the ships in my fleet to return to the unknown, and await my return. I also have another army keeping an eye on things. The Mandalorians have been reforged, loyal to me and to my New Sith Empire, when we strike, nothing in this universe will stop us." Revan Laughed menacingly.
"I care nothing for ruling an empire Revan, that is your function, never mine. All I care about is destroying The Exile, and the remainder of the jedi, that is all that ever mattered." Sion Declared.
"Patience Sion....Patience, In time she will seek you out, and you will break her, and after you do she will be one of us, her will was always weak. She can be coerced very easily. Just remeber Malachor, when I convinced her to kill Millions of disloyal republic troops, and jedi. She is a pawn, and nothing more. Do what you will with her, it matters not, the galaxy is mine now."
"Very well Lord Revan, a brotherhood bound in blood, and the darkside." Sion extends his hand and concedes the throne to Revan.
Revan sits calmly on his seat of power. "To My new Empire Sion. You will be the hand of death, dealt upon all of our enemies, the darkside flows through you, you cannot die, that is why she sent you to me."
"The Sith know no pain, The Sith no no fear, The Sith shall reign triumphant." Both Revan and Sion stated at the same time.
"Syscha..." Elron groaned as he got up, "The Trandoshan..."
"Aye, he's already been taken care of." the Exile replied.
"Wha...what happened to your arm??" he asked, stuned by the prosthetic arm that now hung at Syscha's side.
"The Trandoshan..." she said, leaving the impliments to him to figure out.
Rage built up in Elron's blood, streaming through his veins and swallowing him whole, "Where is he?!? First he insults me, knocks me out with that poison, then severs your arm! I'll kill him!"
The Sith know no pain, The Sith know no fear, The Sith shall reign triumphant.
Elron fell to the ground seconds after he stood up.
What the h*ll???
Closing his mind off, he stagered to his feet again.
"Oh, my head," Falya muttered, bringing her right hand up. She sat up slowly and stared at Syscha. A sudden feeling of distrust made its way into her and she frowned.
"What did you do?" she hissed.
The man noticed the girl.
"That's what I'm trying to find out, but so far she's been ignoring me."
Falya suddenly took notice of the man when he spoke to her. Her suspicion suddenly included him. "Who are you?"
He was wary of her, she seemed to be with the jedi. But she seemed nice enough, and he needed to relate to someone on the ship, so he gave a partial answer.
"I'm the owner of this escape pod. You?"
Meanwhile on Ziost, Revan and Sion began plotting the final destruction of the Jedi, and the republic. Revan paced slowly back and forth accross the huge Throneroom, his thoughts centered and focused on one outcome.....The forging of his new Empire. his thought was cut short, by the familiar, and icy tone of Sion. "I grow weary of sitting here Revan, against the two of us, there can be no victory for them, why not assemble the fleet and Mandalore, and strike now, while they wait."
Revan turned slightly toward Sion, who stood up against the wall with his arms folded accross his chest. "Patience my friend, in time we will strike them, but for now I must plan every possible scenario, so that there can be no unknowns."
Sion in a burst of rage punches the wall so hard, he cracks the stone, and gold plating. "Then let me go forth, myself, and crush her." He stares intently at Revan.
Revan maintains his perfect composure "Your rage is a great weapon Sion, do not lose it, but hold on to it, so it builds, and gives you determination and focus. Use it with the pain, and noone, not even I could stop you."
Revan walks up to Sion "She will come to us Sion, they all will, be it here, or when we invade the republic. either way it is her destiny to confront us, and it is your destiny to break her, just as it is my destiny to RULE."
"As you wish." Sion mumbles.
Falya caught his partial answer.
"A former slave just recently escaped," she answered, responding with a partial answer.
The young man grinned. "So how did you get caught up in all this?"
"Stowed away on Syscha's ship," Falya answered. "Ended up staying... I don't need to ask how you got caught up... you said this is your escape pod. So you crashed into us. Nice job..."
"Hey, not my fault the guys who launched me didn't care where I landed." She seemed pretty nice, and he was starting to relax. "So what's up with the guy you hang out with, the Jedi?"
"What do you mean?" Falya wondered.
"I dunno, what's a former slave doing with him?"
"I was with her..." Falya said, pointing to Syscha. "He came along later..."
The man nodded. He spoke again, figuring that they would probably die soon so he should do it sooner than later. "You're beautiful"
"You're handsome," Falya shot back.
The young man smiled. "So what do you think's gonna happen to us if the guy catches up with us?"
"Oh, I figure we'll either be burned to death or chopped into tiny pieces," Falya said cheerily. "More likely the tiny pieces, I think..."
"I was betting on heads lopped off, actually" Said the young man in the same cheery voice
"Even better!" Falya exclaimed. "That way, we'll know a little of what happens after we're considered dead... don't the eyes, ears, and other stuff function for a little after the head's off?"
She shook her head in partial disgust. "I can't believe we're talking about this so lightly."
The young man smiled wider "You're right, we're terrible people, we should have our heads lopped off"
Darth Revan and Darth Sion stood outside, on the temple terrace, overlooking the forets and courtyard. They both ignited their sabers, Revan ignited both of his red bladed weapons, and Sion Ignited his lone saber.
Without a word they charged one another, and began striking blow after blow, each blocking and deflecting the others strikes. It was a whir of red energy as the two Sith engaged one another in a training bout, with the speed and ferocity of actual combat, for what seemed like and eternity, the two Sith continued their bout, each displaying a different form of lightsaber mastery. Revan engaged Sion very aggressively, but with finesse, Revan's strikes, had almost an art in their movement. Sion on the other hand attacked equally as aggressively,though not pretty to the eye as Revan, Sion attacked without the artistic touch, but with a cold calculated efficiency, each strike with a solid purpose, to cause as much harm as possible. THe two locked sabers and with equal force broke away, and spun around.
Sion turned to have Revan's blade near his throat. "And there....Sion.....you would have fallen." Revan panted. "Look at your chest Lord revan, you to are defeated."Sion arrogantly stated. Revan Looked down snd saw the tip of Sion's blade over his heart.
"Well met my friend." Revan turns his saber off, and steps away. "come Sion we have much work to do, the time is almost set for our return to the galaxy. Preparations must be made." The two Sith headed down the hallway back into the throne room.
Falya laughed. "Perhaps we're in luck... that may just happen!"
"So, you've got a few hours to live, what should we do now?"
"I might start by asking your name..." Falya answered. "What? It seems like a rather important piece of information at the moment!"
The young man laughed. "So we got a few hours to live and the most important thing is my name? I'm falttered. Most people would mention writing a will"
"What's there to leave behind?" Falya laughed. "And who's there to leave it to?" She shook her head. "No, the most important thing is a name."
"Well, I usually don't tell, but since you appealed to my ego enough......It's Kint Threepwood."
"It seems only fair that, since you've given me your name, I should give you mine... I'm Falya."
"Falya. Wow you've got a beautiful name, beautiful face, beautiful laugh. You've got it all. We should put you on the escape pod and launch you to safety."
((Weren't we on the escape pod? Oh, well.))
"Well it would get a little lonely, don't you think?" Falya asked. "I think you should join me... with two people, I don't think it'll be too cramped."
"What makes you think I'm worth saving?"
"A couple of things..." Falya answered. "First, you're a good looking guy. Second, you've got a very active sense of humor."
"All right. Where would we head?"
"I donno... where do you suggest?"
"I don't care. As long as I'm with you."
((Good Idea Joke Master))
"So then the middle of empty space would work?" Falya laughed. "No, let's actually go somewhere... what's a good vacation destination? If we find one, I have the perfect plan for survival once we make it."