Imperial Army Chronicles: Tipping the Balance -Jento & Pyrria

[Originally written by Jento and Pyrria]

1. Chapter 1 - Scene 1

Vaiken Spacedock The war with the Republic has been occupying the minds and resources of the citizens of the Empire for months now. At first, it was only skirmishes in the border worlds, on the edges of established space. Now, it’s full-scale attacks on Imperial allies and industry. The Sith and the Imperial Military are focused on bringing the rest of the galaxy under Imperial rule. Blatent power plays have been forced under wraps – for now. Darth Caly'n, Sith Pureblood and warrior, has been absent from the center of Imperial space for some months. She has led a defense of some of the Empire’s more remote resources. The latest battle wiped out the remnants of the Republic’s forces in the area but left the Imperial Military with less than half their original numbers. She has returned to Vaiken to request reinforcements and to ask for some additional help in exploring a mysterious planet in the sector. As soon as Darth Caly'n’s ship reentered Imperial space, it broadcast several coded messages on various channels. One went to an estate on Korriban. Two went to Darth Marr’s people. One went to the Relentless. One more went to Imperial Intelligence. The Fury has docked and Caly'n has exited the ship. The ship and its Lord are battered, clearly exhibiting the signs of battle. But Caly'n’s stride is strong and her eyes set. She has a very definite purpose in mind and an idea of who can help. The Relentless remains still in low orbit above Korriban having moved away from the main fleet a month ago to take on new Sith adepts and perform fighter training. Most of the crew, including their leader, Darth Obsidius, were a bit stir crazy not used to waiting this long before making a move, any kind of move. “My Lord, you have a message coming in from Darth Caly'n,” one of the Chiss officers announced slightly spinning in her chair. Sweeping his cape behind him as he turned to leave the dark lord’s voice mechanically muffered behind his mask replied, “In my chambers,” and the doors swiftly closed and sealed behind him. The message is prerecorded. It is clear that Caly'n was unsure when she would be able to send the message and when it might reach him. Her holo-image shimmers into view. “Obsidius, my dear. I have missed you. I need your assistance. We have found…something. A planet that is…” She shakes her head. “It simply exudes the Dark Side. I have sent several probes and two explorations teams. This is what the last team transmitted before the signal died.” The image jumps to a soldier. “My Lord, we have made our way from the landing site. There are clear signs of Exploration Group One, but they have not made contact. Our satellite reception is poor. Lord Welyt has been complaining of an itch inside his head. I am concerned that he is becoming unstable-” The image turns sideways as the unmistakeable sound of a lightsaber is heard. The audio continues, “-scratching, clawing, just inside there, I can make it stop, if you would just be still-” The image returns to Caly'n. “The Force readings are off the chart. I’ve attached what I can to this message. I could use your expertise. I have to return to Fleet for repairs and to pick up reinforcements. I will speak to Darth Marr – or whomever is handling things for him – about this. If you are interested, perhaps you will do the same.” The image smiles, relaxing a bit. “If not, well, let us at least meet for a short while. It has been too long.” The recorded message blips away and Obsidius presses a button on the control panel. Back on the intelligence deck of the Relentless, Obsidius' masked face appears in the center of the room. “Assemble a full analysis team for these readings,” he pauses as he transfers the data to the rows of seated chiss intellegence officers, “I want everything there is to know within the hour.” The hologram vansihes with no further word. Rising from his seat he walked over to the more formal scene of his office and typed in his security code requesting a secure holo to the dark council control center. After a few moments the control panel acknowledged his request and he stood to face the image. “Obsidius, I expected to hear from you soon, with you lurking above. How interesting that we should learn of a mysterious dark side planet while you are conviently nearby,” Darth Marr’s voice carried its normal low and even keel demeanor. Obsidius crossed his hands behind his back, “Darth Marr, a pleasure as always.” He gestured with his left hand, “I assure you I became aware of all of this no sooner than you did. I am, however, greatly interested in finding exactly what is going on down there, with your authorization of course, my Lord.” Unmoving and unwavering Marr continued on, “How formal of you. Very well, I know you will go anyway, I would prefer be allied in this matter. Take whatever extra resources you require and send me updates,” Marr points at the screen, “Discreet, as always.” Obsidius offers a half bow, “Naturally. It shall be done. Relentless out.” The Relentless silently breaks orbit of Korriban and slowly makes its way back towards Vaiken spackdock to enter parking orbit with the rest of the Imperial Fleet. The two Sith sentinels outside of Obsidius' inner chamber snapped to as he walked out. “We are going to the station, alert my shuttle for departure.” The left sentinel nodded and presses a finger to his ear making preperations as they walked along the cooridors to the launchbay. Seated in the command chair Obsidius' modified Fury headed toward the station. He pressed the com on the armrest of his chair. “Caly'n, I’m inbound for Vaiken if you would like to meet me in the upper lounge. I think we’ve got some catching up to do.” “Indeed. I shall be there.” Caly'n turned to the military aide at her elbow. “We are approved. Continue with the reinforcements and provisioning. See if you can pick up a few Apprentices as well. Expendable ones.” The man nodded and went about his business. The Imperial war machine was in full swing and finding soldiers was not going to be a problem. Caly'n hoped they would at least have some training. The Pureblood turned her feet towards the upper lounge. There had been time for a meal and to change but that had been all. Details of repairs and reinforcements had occupied the hours. Her replacement armor had not yet arrived from Korriban, so she was making due with a slim flightsuit. All the same, there was something in her manner both weary and dangerous. The crowds in the lounge areas melted out of her path. As she stepped off the lift into the VIP section, Caly'n reached out with the Force for familiar presence. Seated at one of the side tables Obsidius spotted her as she stepped off the lift. He smiled, concealed by his helmet, but echoes of his emotion rippled with the chaotic waves of the Force which were flowing off him. He’d been stiffled in hiding for weeks previous, paradaing around as Jento aboard the Relentless as military visitors had come and gone. It had been exhausting and he was a bit out of practice. This was a welcome reunion. He’d not realized just how much he’d missed seeing Caly'n till he felt her pressence as she was looking for him. Caly'n turned on her heel and made her unerring way towards Obsidius. She did not bother to hide her smile – let any watching think what they would. She paused at the table, inclining her head almost formally. “Darth Obsidius.” And then she slipped into a seat next to him, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. She sat there, not saying a word, for some time. A serving droid delivered a cloudy pink drink and placed it in front of the Pureblood. She waited for the droid to go before taking a small sip. “How have you been, dear?” Caly'n turned her eyes towards him. “What have you been occupied with these past few months?” He gave her hand a tender squeeze back before answering. “Before today, I’ve been a bit bored to be rather honest.” He gestured with his hand, “There’s been conflicts and strife but nothing that really interests me going on.” He dropped his hand looking at her. “You know how easily I bore with just standard military operations…. so predictable.” Toying with an empty glass to his left he cotinued, “But that doesn’t seem to be the case with you, my dear. I sense that you’ve been finding many things of interest.” “For a remote assignment, we were rather in the thick of things.” Caly'n shrugged a bit. “If it wasn’t for this planet, I would have said it was a relatively routine defense. But we kept running into natives who refused to even fly past the damned thing.” She shook her head. “According to the local legends, the ‘Dark Planet’ is just that. Absorbs all light, home to great and terrible creatures, all the usual stuff. Except, there seems to be some truth to the rumors.” The Pureblood leaned back in her chair, eyes on her drink. “The locals on the near-by planets say that hunters from all over have come to explore the planet. None have ever come back. Even if one did, they seem to think he’d be so far gone as to be unrecognizable.” She looks back over at Obsidius. “You saw those readings. Two teams and countless probes gone. What do you think?” Obsidius crossed his hands on the table, “It sounds a lot like the early stories of Voss or perhaps some of the reports we received from Oricon. Dark legends, no one returning, you know the standard terror routine.” He paused for a second thinking and then continued, “There is always bits of truth laced in the legends though. Usually someone or something gone mad or crazed with dark side energy and affecting anyone who comes around…. but, I’ve not ever heard of it absorbing light before. That’s a new one and not a normal phenomenon that a planet can have.” He then sat back in his own chair glancing around the room, “I’m not even sure how we’d approach something like that. Sounds like some sort of gravitational event.” “It could account for the issues we had maintaining communications. Transmissions were spotty at best, as you saw. If it’s localized, it would be a matter of finding an entry point.” Caly'n paused. “If there is something that powerful on the planet, I want it to be found by us. The Republic will do something stupid, like destroy it.” She smiled at him, noting the use of the plural. “So you’ll join me in this? I can’t think of anyone better qualified.” Obsidius chuckled under his mask, “Of course I’ll join you, in fact you’d have a hard time keeping me away from such a thing. If history holds true when things are dark and forboding the dark side of the Force is twisted and bound to their nature. This may be a very important discovery… or a deadly one. A discovery none the less.” He pushed back a sleeve and started pecking on his wrist com, “A gravitational force of this magnitude shouldn’t be approached with a smaller ship till we can determine the exact nature of the area. I’ll have the Relentless take us out there and hold orbit in case we start running in to trouble.” “Excellent. Do you have room for another Fury? Mine could use a break. Her repairs should be finished shortly, and it can’t hurt to have two available, just in case.” Caly'n polished off her drink. “My reinforcements should mobilize in a few days. Colonel Trumbull can handle them, but I should be getting a few Apprentices in the set as well. Canaries, if you will. We can transfer them to the surface whenever we’re ready.” He nodded his head, “My personal hangar can squeeze in three so there is plenty of room.” Obsidius reached down and pulled free his datapad and punched up the Relentless' crew manifest. “We look to have our normal full compliment on board and there is extra room on decks 2 and 3 for any extra personnel you are bringing, so we look good there.” He tapped a few extra things, “I’ve got most of my Sith on a training excersize so your apprentices should make a nice bolster to the regular troops.” “I’ll have the Apprentices assigned to the Relentless then. The regular troops can come along behind; they’ll need to go to their assigned defense areas anyway. We can pull from them if we need to.” Caly'n withdrew a datapad of her own and updated the orders she’d laid out earlier. A notice told her that her replacement armor and equipment had arrived from Korriban. She arranged to have it packed on her own Fury and then sent along to the Relentless. “I sincerely hope this is a person or an object that we can retrieve. If it’s the planet itself…” she shrugged, trailing off. After a moment, the Pureblood shook herself and pushed back her chair. “Either way, one for the books, no?”

1. Chapter 1 - Scene 2

The Dark Planet Reprovisioned and reinforced, Caly'n’s forces have left for their assigned locations in this strange backwater corner of the galaxy. According to Colonel Turnbull, there have been no more Republic incursions, but he continues to patrol the area. A cadre of Imperial Diplomats keeps an eye on the planetary governments, ensuring that none of them get any ideas about independence. The Relentless had an uneventful journey into the area and has taken up orbit at a safe distance from the Dark Planet. In addition to Obsidius' own forces, three Apprentices have joined them along with a handful of military commandos. The commandos have integrated well with the Relentless' forces. The Apprentices are learning their way around. For now, everyone on the ship is focused on learning more about the planet and what they might face on the surface. As the Relentless settled into orbit the intelligence crews readied the probes to try to learn more about this mysterious planet. Standing on the bridge, Obsidius feels the pressure of the planet heavy on his mind. “Hold launching the probe until I signal… there is more here than just a dark planet.” He turned with this normal dramatics and left the room bound for his own chambers. Sitting down in the center of his meditation chamber and closing his eyes Obsidius began reaching out.. the chaotic tendrils of the Force splaying out from his body and mind out into the cold of space towards the ominious dark planet. Focusing furher he can feel the Force being pulled towards the planet as his mind probed closer.. he moved along the planet finally locating a single spot which was colder then the rest. Still focusing Obsidius presses his ear, “Lieutenant set your probe’s course for the western continent at coordinates,” he opened an eye and looked at the holomap of the planet nearby, “227 by 14, launch when ready.” “Yes my Lord,” the Chiss woman replied, quickly configuring the probe and launching it. Obsidius reached out making sure the probe avoided the darkness and landed safely in the narrow clearing… and began transmitting. The data from the probe started streaming in and Obsidius made his way back toward the bridge. On his way he pressed his comm. “Caly'n, we’ve managed to get a probe to the ground and should be receiving data any moment now if you want to join me on the bridge.” He didn’t wait for a reply as the bridge doors opened. The high resolution holoprojector flickered to life as he approached. The projection slowly panned showing what looked once to be a grassland but instead the foilage was dead or dying. In the distance the light seemed to be drown out as if a storm cloud was reaching all the way to the ground and even the probe couldn’t penetrate far into the inky blackness. “The highest concentration of the Force cloud seems to be coming north of the probe’s location,” the chiss woman volunteered as Obsidius seemed lost in the holoimage. “Does it move, I wonder? Or is it stuck in place?” Caly'n joined Obsidius on the bridge, moving comfortably in more familiar clothing. She eyed the holoimage carefully. “There…that looks like newer growth. Dead now, but not as old as that tree over towards the south.” Next to a large fallen tree, there was a smaller sapling. Both were dead, but it was clear evidence that things were still trying to grow on the planet. Scattered among the dead underbrush were a few skeletons of smaller lizards and mammals. “Samples? What sort of a planet is this normally?” Caly'n laid a light hand on Obsidius' arm. “What are you sensing?” Obsidius seemed in a trance… still hearing what Calyn’s was saying and watching the image pan around showing various different angles, his mind had wandered to skim along the surface of this mysterious place. As she spoke to him he gathered himself clearing his throat. “There is something down there. I can’t tell if its an object or a living thing but its there in the darkness trying to pull in anything it can.” He pointed at the screen, “But you are right, whatever it is, it does not seem absolute, even the planet is fighting against its influence, trying to break free.” Data started to come in from the probe where it had been taking soil and air samples while panning the optical scanners. “Lord Obsidius, according to these readings there doesn’t appear to be unusual readings,” Doctor Canto piped up from his corner terminal. “In fact the reading directly contradict what we are seeing both from orbit and on the probes sensors. The soil contains adequent moisture and minerals to support a wide variety of flora and the sunlight should be sufficient. Whatever is killing the plantlife down there isn’t the environment.” Obsidius looked in the Doctor’s direction as he spoke and then back to Caly'n after. “More mystery.” “A leech…” Caly'n breathed, eyes drifting back to the holoimage. “Now the question is, did it develop here or did it come from elsewhere? The natives in the system had no solid records about the planet. Only the folklore about great hunters coming to try their skill against the beasts on the surface. I wasn’t able to trace any of them through normal means, but now that we have some data…” She tilted her head to the side. “While I doubt we’ll find anything in the Archives, it cannot hurt to look. We should see if we can find any artifacts that show similar behavior. That might give us an idea of how to combat its effects.” “In the meantime…let’s see how close we can get with that probe.” Obsidius pointed across the room, “Lieutenant direct the probe northwards towards the darkness. Engage a full spectral anaysis both on the surface and from orbit. I want every bit of data which can be had.” “Yes Lord Obsidius,” the chiss woman responded nodding her head and typing into the console. The holoimage focused in one direction and the constant stream of data along the side double and trippled in activity. As the probe glides along edging closer and closer to the edge of the light the data stream seems to falter. “My lord, we are having trouble maintaining a steady link with the probe. Gravimetric and magnetic interference is increasing exponentially the closer the probe heads northward.” A warning sound alarms as the probe’s view is enveloped by the darkness, the image flips to the rear view and all can see as the probe is completely obscured. “The probe is loosing structural integrity, Lord Obsidius. It won’t,” she stopped as the data stream ended and the holo image blinked off. “The probe has ceased to transmit.” Obsidius nodded his head, “Well that was exactly what I expected to happen. Look here,” he pointed to a screen to his left showing the ship’s sensors. “Both the probe and the onboard sensors pick up a surge in gravimetric distortion here,” he circled an area on the screen with his finger. “Although we don’t have a reading on how far further north it goes. I would hazzard a guess that it spreads out in a cone from whatever the orgin point is, but it can’t be far.” He turned to the deck officer, “Depoly a battery of sensor drones, see if we can pick up any other concetrations of distortion.” The man nodded and headed for the lift. “Now my dear, lets see if we dig up anything in my library which might explain what the hell that is down there,” he extended an elbow to Caly'n. “We’ll set up an interlink to the Sith archives at the Citadel to cross reference.”

1. Chapter 1 - Scene 3

Caly'n took Obsidius' proffered elbow with a smile. “Let’s see what my collection might offer as well. I usually travel with a condensed version of what I’ve had scanned, just in case.” She gestured to one of her few staff, who bowed and scurried off to retrieve the miniature archive. He caught up to them as they arrived at the door to Obsidius' library. Caly'n took the case and, once inside, opened it up on an empty table. Inside were several holovolumes of reference material, connected to a simple datapad for searching. “Broad terms to start with,” she said, typing on the datapad. Obsidius slipped his full mask from his head and placed it on the table and seated himself at a nearby search terminal. “Broad terms…” he repeated as he began punching up several different terms and combinations to try to find something which would match up at all. “There are a few mentions in the Sith archives which are similar but directly relate to the Emperor so the information is sealed… afraid thats not going to go anywhere. Hmm..” he continued on finding a reference to a tome in his library which he pulled from the shelf and started russling through the pages. “Mmm.” Caly'n responded, sorting through her results. Her sources were being obtuse, yielding nothing better than half-baked theories and hearsay. She glanced up from her work and paused, eyes on her lover’s profile. More than simply a lover and powerful ally, she realized, now that they had been reunited. There was something else, a level of comfort that was rare for Sith. Her portable archive dinged and she turned back to the machine. “This sounds promising. It’s a record of a theoretical lecture delivered to the Academy about a method to manipulate the Force in other living creatures and to siphon off their health and vitality.” Caly'n scrolled through the entry. “Hrm. Little more than a footnote, really.” Obsidius set down the tome he was examining and looked over her shoulder. “A footnote perhaps but an accurate description of what is going on down on the planet. Who gave the lecture and does it list what sources they used?” He quickly moved over to the computer terminal linked to the archives. “If it was used at the Academy, chances are we can find it in the archives,” he began typing. “Sith rarely would expose their own personal knowledge or research in such a public forum… unless he is incredibly stupid or obsessed. Either way we should be able to find more.” Caly'n typed a few commands, bringing up the footnote’s attribution. “Now isn’t that interesting. I don’t think he was a Sith, Obsidius. His title is Chief Force Researcher Andrassy Kilkirk. Apparently he conducted a series of experiments on both Force sensitives and regulars alike. Enlightening, I’m sure.” She turned towards him. “Anything in the Archives?” “Killkirk,” he repeated typing into the terminal. “There is a record of a researcher… hmm, not much on what he discovered but it does look like he was rather unpopular.” Obsidius traced a finger on the screen, “There are cross accounts here… people gone missing, very upset Lords loosing apprentices, and a lot of unanswered questions.” He cleared the screen and started entering an inquiry, “If my suspicion is correct…” he paused as he waited for the answer. “Just as I thought, his record on Korriban lists him as missing.” He pressed a button and the man’s holo appeared on the projector. “At least we have a holo of him with that we can track him or at least find where this started… There doesn’t seem to be any indication that he has any Force affinity himself, so if he is doing this he must have found someone or something that is helping him. My guess would be some sort of artifact since any Sith with this sort of power wouldn’t easily share.” Obsidius stroked his beard thinking. “I think if we set the intelligence deck on the path they can uncover something which might put us on the right course and find a way to overcome the darkness.” Caly'n stood and wandered over to the holo. “Not particularly imposing, is he?” She frowned. “Yes, let’s put your Chiss on it. At least they have a direction now.” As Obsidius mentioned the artifact, she pondered. “Or he found someone corruptible. A slave maybe, or a Force sensitive neither the Sith nor the Jedi had located yet. That could be why this planet was chosen. Three hundred years ago this area didn’t even have spaceflight. He could have operated with impunity. And if he found someone very talented but unskilled, well…” Caly'n spread her hands. “We still have to get down to the surface. How the hell do we protect ourselves from whatever it is that’s down there?” “That my dear is a good question,” he flipped off the hologram and the research terminal. “One which hopefully will be answered with a little more digging.” He rose from his desk and gestured to Caly'n and the door. “Time for a little song and dance show,” he winked slipping his helmet back onto his head and walked to the turbolift with Caly'n close in tow. “Intelligence deck,” Obsidius said to the lift console. It briefly scanned him and Caly'n and then proceeded to its designation. The doors opened and the pair stepped out onto the dimly lit and slightly cold secret deck of the Relentness. Not a soul moved or looked up to see who’d entered, but the pair of Sith guards had fixed their gaze upon them but made no other movement. Obsidius led the way down the center isle to a desk manned by an older Chiss officer donned in a nondescript but Imperial uniform. “Get me the Brigadier, Captain. I have an assignment for the intelligence team.” Obsidius said in a calm and steady voice. The Chiss nodded tapping a few commands into the console and then gestured to the main holoprojector to his left. A full sized hologram of Jento blinked into view. As the image turned to face them he bowed, “Lord Obsidius how may I be of service,” the Jento holo asked. “Brigadier, I need every intelligence asset at our disposal assigned to locating this man,” Obsidius pulled out his datapad and tapped on the screen. “I want to know where he is, where he’s been, who he knows, and all research he’s ever done. Cross reference with the Sith and onboard archives, see if any connection points can be tied to the planet below. We need to find a way to penetrate the darkness barrier.” Jento nodded his head, “At once Darth Obsidius.” The holo turned to his left, “Captain, you heard the instructions, put every operative to on it, including the imbedded agents on Korriban. I want an update every hour.” He turned back to the pair. “I will keep you informed, my Lord.” “Very good Brigadier, that will be all,” Obsidius said flicking his finger at the Captain’s desk and terminating the hologram. He turned to Caly'n, “We should start getting some information very soon, our agents here are quite good.” Caly'n kept her expression measured during the exchange. She knew the charade that was playing out in front of her, but very few others on the ship did. Jento was useful as an alter ego for Obsidius, but she wasn’t particularly fond of the deception. She hoped, though she would never say so, that eventually he would no longer be needed. “I have no doubt,” she replied as he cut the connection. “Shall we leave them to it? No sense in hovering.” She smirked. “We should start thinking about our next steps.”

1. Chapter 1 - Scene 4

The Relentless Training Deck The training deck of the Relentless is never empty. Whether it’s being used for target practice or hand to hand combat exercises, there’s always someone there. Today, the three Apprentices Caly'n picked up on Vaiken are in the specially shielded area for Sith. “We should see how they’re progressing. I think whatever is down there is probably going to eat them alive, but we’ll learn something from it.” The Pureblood shrugged, glancing over at the trio. One Twi'lek male and two humans, one male, one female, faced off against training dummies. The Twi'lek was attacking with a training saber, while the human male tried to fry his opponent with lightning. The human female spun a double-bladed training saber absently, apparently thinking through her next move. Caly'n leaned against the door frame. “Let’s watch a minute.” Nodding Obsidius stood by her side watching silently. The Twi'lek and male human didn’t seem to interest him instead he seemed to focus on the human female. The apprentice spun her saber around her body then struck the dummy across the neck, then jumped back defensively. She repeated the move twice more, each time shaking her head at the end as if repeating a learned move in her mind before trying again. Obsidius stepped into the room quietly, moving behind her as she planned her forth attempt at the dummy. Just as she started to make her saber spin he reached out and pulled the saber from her grip, spinning in his hand to nearly strike her across the head. “You are thinking too much, as if you are trying to be an actor. You lack the guidance of the Force in your motions.” He flicked the training saber off and handed it back to her. “What is your name apprentice?” The fear striken woman hesitated briefly, “Thana Vey, my Lord,” she quickly recovered realizing she was about to fall over. The other two apprentices stopped their practice and watched from afar. “Hesistation is lethal for a Sith,” Obsidius said raising an open hand propelling her up and against the wall holding her a foot from the floor. “Your saber is just a tool, without the Force you are nothing.” He cocked his head watching her as she fought against his grip. “What will you do now Thana Vey? Just die? No fight in you, no connection to the Force?” The woman closed her eyes and screamed out, breaking free of his grip. As she landed on the floor, she ignited her training saber and swung at Obsidius. He moved his head to the side avoiding the blow. “Good… there is some fight in you after all.” He turned to walk back towards Caly'n. “A pity about the other two.” Caly'n hadn’t moved from her position against the doorjamb. She watched Obsidius' lesson carefully, smirking at the apprentices' reaction. It was clear they had not realized just whose ship they were on. “Don’t go getting attached, my dear,” she smirked as he rejoined her. “Canaries, the lot of them. Of course, if she survives, you could take her on.” Her gaze drifted over to the two males, who were clearly seething at being dismissed so quickly. “You do inspire fear and jealousy so well…” She pushed off the door, taking a step into the room. “However, that’s for another discussion.” Caly'n pitched her voice to carry. “Come here, children. Since you seem to have managed to miss some basic information, allow me to introduce Darth Obsidius. You are on his ship. I am Caly'n. I am responsible for the defense and security of this sector. You may have noticed that there is a rather large anomaly nearby.” The Pureblood hid her smirk as the Apprentices made their bows and then tried to look like they were not sizing up the two Darths. The Twi'lek was convincing himself that he could take Caly'n on. The human male was probably thinking he could gain favor with Obsidius if he got rid of Thana. For her part, Thana was trying to figure out if being singled out by a Darth was good or very very bad. “Now, introduce yourselves, and we will review some basics, such as shielding. And I don’t mean from sabers and projectiles. Shielding your mind from other Force users. Hopefully they still teach that at the Academy.” The Twi'lek straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. He clearly had a lot to prove. “Apprentice Marus, my Lords. I can’t speak for my fellows, but I was taught shielding by my instructors.” The human male glared at the Twi'lek for a brief moment before turning back towards Obsidius. He’d decided that Caly'n was just another flunky and that the ship’s owner was the one to impress. “Apprentice Riquerd, my Lord. Shielding was most certainly covered, and in detail.” Thana Vey nodded solemnly at the two Sith. She planned to tread more cautiously than her fellows. “Apprentice Thana Vey, my Lords. It was covered, but more practice would be welcome.” Obsidius stood at the doorway with his arms crossed. “One honest answer to a clearly rhetorical question.” He pointed towards a holo which had flipped on while Caly'n had been speaking of the mission. “Do the two of you honestly think, Darth Caly'n and I are not aware of what they teach at the Academy? And do you think she would have brought it up if the teachings there were going to be enough to deal with THAT,” he pointed more deliberately at the dark planet. Obsidius walked into the center of the room and gestured with his hands as he spoke. “Right now your complete focus needs to be on what we are going to find down there on that planet, and for that, you are going to need shielding.” He turned and pointed at Riquerd, “Especially you.” Riquerd was unable to hide his startled expression. The whole room could see him trying to recalculate his odds. “Lesson one. Not everything will advertise its true nature to you right away,” Caly'n purred, striding over to join Obsidius at the center of the room. “Thus, you need to protect yourselves and your teammates.” She grinned at the Apprentices. “Make no mistake, this is a dangerous mission and we will accomplish it by working as a team. You three will lead the advance scouting. We can only learn so much from droids.” Caly'n gestured at the holo, which zoomed in on the images the probe had transmitted earlier. “Note the complete devastation of the area. Anyone walking into that without adequate preparation and protection will be destroyed.” “Now. Weapons away. Center, and show us what you have learned.” “Computer lower the light level to 10%,” Obsidius said towards the door. Looking towards the trio, “Pull yourself into your mind, focus, let the Force surround all that is you. Let it protect you, shield you from everything. Forget hate, forget ambition, let go of all feelings and only focus on your shield.” Obsidius looked to Caly'n, “I’m sorry about this my dear.” Hidden within his mask he closed his eyes and pressed the first two fingers of each hand to his temples. The normal chaotic nature which surrounded him lept out in all directions like cold tendrils flicking icy tongues along the skin of everyone in the room. His voice seemed to echo in the darkness, “Fear… The darkness, it is closing in around you. Where will you run? Can you feel it, it’s there behind you… will you shout out? You are defenseless…can you feel it creeping into your mind?” Caly'n merely nodded, steeling herself for what was to come. She, too, needed practice with shielding. With a breath and hand movement, she wrapped herself in the Force. Obsidius' previous lessons would serve her well here. The Apprentices, however, were not so lucky. Thana Vey stood in a defensive stance, eyes closed, fists clenched. As the first tendrils of Obsidius' chaos reached her, she gasped, instinctively taking a step back. Then, as the two Darths watched, she set her jaw and pushed back, tapping into the Force. It wasn’t enough to make a dent, but it was something. Marus was not dealing well with the exercise. He fidgeted, and when the tendrils touched him, he swatted at the imaginary hand. As they crept on and upward, he swung wildly, unable to focus. “I’m not afraid! I’m not!” Riquerd, surprisingly, seemed the most calm. He had dropped into a meditation position, palms up and breathing slowed. He seemed to shrug off the chaos that Obsidius directed at him with ease, smirking at his fellows. Lip curling, the Pureblood stepped forward and hauled Riquerd up by the front of his robe. “Do you really think, in the middle of a battle, you can simply sit down?” His concentration broken, he flailed for a moment before Caly'n placed him on his feet. That was enough time for Obsidius' words and Force to reach him. He struggled to push back, to free himself from the sense of fear that was permeating the room. Obsidius didn’t stop despite what was going on. He pressed harder probing at the three apprentices as their defenses faltered. He laughed and it echoed in their minds. “I have you all now… you will never leave this place. This darkness will consume you.” Obsidius pressed harder, his arms extended and he lifted off the floor an inch or two. “Cry out! Give into your fear, it is pointless to resist,” it is starting to become less clear if Obsidius is still speaking or the thoughts of words were leaking out in the chaos spilling out into the room. Caly'n took a deep breath, shoring up her shield. Though not the target of Obsidius' testing, she was still taking a great deal of what was dished out. Her job here, however, was to analyze the Apprentices. Marus was lost in fear. No longer swinging wildly, he had dropped to his knees and was curled up against himself, whimpering. The Pureblood shook her head sadly. Physical strength had to be matched by mental fortitude and it seemed this Twi'lek lacked it in large doses. Riquerd’s face showed panic, but he was trying, still grasping at the Force and shoving back at the fear that threatened to invade his thoughts. Unfortunately, his shield was spotty, with great holes, and the tendrils of chaos kept slipping through. Thana Vey had kept her feet, though her hands and eyes were still clenched shut. Her shield had held up the best of the three. She no longer shuddered when a wisp of fear made it through, but redoubled her effort to patch the hole. It was clear she was tired; sweat ran down her face and her legs were starting to shake. “I think, Obsidius, that will do for now, my dear.” Caly'n’s voice is calm and soft. She maintains her shield but reaches out to him with the Force, an anchor if he needs it, a reminder of why they are here. Latching onto her pressence in the Force, “As you wish…” his voice echoed out into the room. He clapped his hands together and the chaos immediately withdrew back into him. He lowered to the floor as his armed crossed back in front of him. “Lights,” he barked out and the room’s lighting returned to normal. Obsidius remained quiet for several minutes finding himself again and binding the chaos which always threatens to pour out of him and attack those around him. Returning to Caly'n side, “We have work to do if we expect most of these to do anything useful down there. However, this little excersize has reminding me of something from my past which might lead us to a useful technique. We’ll investigate it more later.” “That sounds promising,” Caly'n replied, observing the three exhausted Apprentices. Marus was slowly climbing to his feet, humiliation and anger clear on his face. Riquerd kept his head down, though he was casting sidelong glances at Thana. Perhaps he was reevaluating his peer’s abilities. For her part, Thana was shaking slightly, though she seemed composed. Her eyes seemed slightly haunted and Caly'n wondered briefly what she had seen in the chaos. “You all need practice with this. For now, skip the weapons exercises and focus on your shielding techniques. Thana, instruct the others. It may prove helpful. Riquerd, Marus, figure it out. I have no qualms about letting whatever is down there have its way with you, but I would prefer it if you lasted more than two breaths. You are of more use to us if you can walk untouched on the surface of the planet than if you can kill every beast you see. Do you understand?” The Apprentices nodded, exchanging glances. It was clearly they were only now beginning to grasp the danger of the mission. “We will return later. Rest and practice.” Caly'n turned towards Obsidius, gesturing towards the door to the training area. “Shall we check in with your Brigadier?” With a nod Obsidius turned toward the door, tucking his cape back, and strode towards the turbolift. In reality he was probably the most eager to get out of that room. Opening up that much darkness and chaos is envigorating.. putting it back is increadible taxing and causes mixed emotions. Fortunately he had something important to focus on, overpowering the want to rip apart the minds of the apprentices earlier. The pair stood quietly in the lift as it made its way to Obsidius' chambers. Walking out he gestured to allow her to enter first. As the doors closed behind him, he pulled off his helmet, running his fingers through his hair. “It has been a long time since I’ve done that. A bit too long,” he commented setting down the helmet and depositing himself in a chair. “Or perhaps the perfect example of why keeping things in check is important,” he continued pinching the bridge of his nose. “But at least now the suspicions are confirmed and they have something to practice.” He looked up suddenly, “Oh right, the technique,” he perked up. “I almost forgot why we came here. On Tython, there is whispers of a technique, known by very few, described as a shielding technique. Its very similiar to my own but its more defensive, designed to prevent mental intrusion. It’s not taught generally, but record of the technique should be in the Jedi archives.” He looked to Caly'n, “At least that’s what I was lead to believe last time I was there, and thats been a very long time ago.” Concern showed on Caly'n’s face as the door to Obsidius' chambers closed behind them. She watched him carefully, smiling as he seemed to relax a bit. Stepping over to him, she gave him a brief kiss on the forehead before dropping into a chair of her own. “The Jedi? Interesting. And deliciously ironic, given that they are so fond of persuading people with the Force.” She frowned, thinking. “I imagine you’re correct, there will be a holocron somewhere with the technique described, if not demonstrated. If it’s linked in with the general Jedi Archives, so much the better. Your resources ought to be able to dig it up in short order. Or I can ask Miran-dala to have a quick look with her contacts.” The Pureblood looks over at Obsidius, meeting his gaze. “So what exactly where you doing on Tython, my dear?” He chuckled, “Ah the tale of Obsidius the fallen Jedi,” he winked. “At least that’s the way the Republic records it. “Many years ago, when the Emperor’s gaze focused on the world of Voss, Darth Jadus sent me on a long term undercover assignment, even Imperial Intelligence wasn’t made aware of. It was a test, in my opinion, to see just exactly how far my own abilities could be stretched before they broke.” He looked over to a shelf and Force pulled a small necklace to his hands as he continued to speak. “I was deposited on Tython by an independant trader, wounded, disoriented, but obviously Force sensitive to some degree. We knew the Jedi wouldn’t be able to resist taking me in, and it was the perfect cover to infiltrate the Jedi.” He laughed again, “In reality much of what they were told was the truth. I told them I’d been pulled from the Sith Academy. Had to embelish a bit on those details and that my name was Obsidius. They were all too eager to ‘covert’ me to the light side of the Force.” He looked to Caly'n, “Which I admit their light side abilities felt very familiar to me, and that is how I trully discovered that my shield was not of the dark side.” He set the necklace down, the small symbol carved in wood, resembled a child’s version of the Jedi crest, he pushed it to the center of the table. “The weight of the Jedi council’s probing at me was tremendous, unrelentless day and night, trying to pry secrets from me. They are more like Sith then they realize. Little did they know they were helping me become stronger, learning more of the One Emotion and striking a balance in Force disciplines letting the division of light and dark be the use of the abilites rather than the abilities themselves.” “My journey there was cut short when I journied to Voss with Master Vars Tanor and we encountered an Imperial research team led by a Sith Lord.” His brow furrowed as he kept going, “Tanor never expected my betrayal.. in fact the Jedi attribute it to the influences of Voss itself.” Caly'n shook her head at the story. “You never cease to surprise, Obsidius.” Her gaze dropped to the necklace, but she wasn’t focused on it. “The Jedi are hypocrites of the worst sort. They cannot even admit it to themselves. Things are never so black and white as they’d like to believe.” She paused, a feral grin creeping across her face. “Do they believe you totally lost? Or do they still seek you out to ‘redeem’ you?” “At any rate, this shielding sounds like what we need. I don’t have much hope for Marus, but the other two might last longer. Sadly, with a war on, the Academy is rushing the acolytes through their trials.” She looked back up at Obsidius. “We need to get our hands on the documentation.” “Oh I’m sure they still believe I could be redeemed, but war got in the way of their endeavors to find me,” he smirked. “Unfortunately I don’t have any direct contacts any longer on Tython, at least not with full access to the Jedi archives so if Miran-dala can be of some help that might be the right way to go.” He stroked his beard thinking, “If this doesn’t pan out, our only other avenue would be to try to speak with someone who’s been aboard the Emperor’s station. Thats a very short list, and they most likely won’t be cooperative.” He ran his fingers through his hair again. “Lets just hope we can find something with the Jedi. That shielding technique was impressive.” Caly'n laughed. “I’d almost welcome their attempt, if only to be the one to corrupt you again.” She sank back in her chair, thinking. “Let us see what Miran-dala can obtain. She has cultivated some academic contacts within the Republic that ought to have the access we need.” Caly'n pulled her comm off her belt and typed a lengthy message, keys clacking in the quiet. With a soft sigh, she sent the communication, placing the device on the table. “I don’t know how long this will take, however. If your officers have found some more information on the Researcher, that will help.” She looked over at Obsidius. “Do you remember what the shielding felt like? How exposed to it were you, while you were on Tython?” Obsidius pressed a button on his pauldron, “We are due an update soon, at least Jento is. We should limit our time on the Intel deck. Its a tricky agreement with the Chiss and they aren’t very fond of outsiders, even ones who are personal guests,” he grinned raising from his seat and shrugging off his cape. “As for the shielding… it was a very curious feeling really. You know the instinctive reflex you have to feel something from any Force user. Sometimes its strong others its just a twinge, but you are always drawn to touch the other. This shield seems to repel that ability. I didn’t put much effort into probing the shielded but the attempts I did make just bounced off, almost like a ray shield would a hand blaster.” He set his chest plate on a stand and pulled on his Imperial uniform jacket. “The person I was exposed to with the ability.. I never learned his name, but he worked with the council, always leaving Tython one mission after another.” “You and should be able to assimilate the technique easily, since you are already familiar with ‘shielding’,” he gestured as he spoke the word smiling softly. “The apprentices will all perish in the darkness. The woman will last the longest but she will fall but not before giving us some insight into the source.” Caly'n rocked her chair back, watching him dress for his other role. She pondered his statement about how the shielding worked, considering. An ability like that could make one almost invisible to Force users who weren’t particularly skilled. But at the same time, wouldn’t it be extremely noticeable to one who was skilled? She glanced up at him as he noted the anticipated success rate of the Apprentices. “Agreed. I was starting to like her. A shame.” Caly'n shrugged. “But we are not here for that. We are here to keep the Empire safe.” She stayed in her seat, out of sight of the holoprojector that Obsidius would use to communicate with the Intelligence deck. Meanwhile, on the Intelligence deck, the senior Chiss officer was compiling the information that was slowly trickling in. This challenge that Darth Obsidius had put before them was more complicated than he had thought. A simple search of archives was not enough. He had deployed slicers and on-ground assets to accelerate the discovery process. So far, Obsidius' intelligence network had discovered that the Researcher had vanished overnight from Korriban almost three weeks after his lecture. Spaceport records indicated that he had a ship docked there at one time, but he did not seem to have used it to leave. The ship was eventually returned to the Academy’s pool of transport vehicles. A list of missing Apprentices from the time the Researcher had been active was compiled. None showed any particular promise; it seemed the complaints from the Lords were more that their “property” had been taken than from any great loss of skill. A cross-reference of every record ever accessed by the Researcher while he was on Korriban had been started. The officer in charge indicated that it would take another five hours to complete. On top of that, the senior Intelligence officer had been putting together a psychological profile of the Researcher. Andrassy Kilkirk was turning out to be a rather interesting person. Obsidius now dressed as Jento pressed a button on the com panel contacting the Intel deck. “Intelligence,” the Chiss answered simply. Jento pursed his lips, “Has there been any update on the search? We have other pressing matters and I would like to get this resolved as soon as possible.” “Affirmative Brigadier, we have just finished compiling a psych profile along with a broad search query. I will forward the information to your terminal. We will continue to look for additional leads in addition to the record query which will take another five hours to complete,” the Chiss man said with a nod and the signal ended before Jento could respond leaving him standing there with his mouth agape. “I hate it when they do that…” He walked back to the table and pulled the terminal over to him. “But they are more than worth the irritation, lets see what they dug up.” The terimal’s holo came on and displayed all the data collected from Korriban’s spaceport and Academy activities, which Jento poured over for several minutes, then he flipped over to the profile. “Well well… this rather odd. Interesting but odd. No doubt we are dead on about his interests being a perfect match for what is going on down there on the planet but if he’s behind it there is nothing here to indicate why he would,” he stroked his beard leaning back in the chair. “Perhaps it was envy… or he thought he could transfer power into himself. Hmm, a mystery,” he was forced to admit grudgingly. Caly'n frowned, standing and pacing. Being idle for long usually drove her to this, walking the length of the room like a caged animal. “If it was envy, then he would need someone malleable. A Force sensitive slave or acolyte with even bigger delusions of grandeur than him.” She drummed her fingers on her hips as she walked. “And he would have come here to be uninterrupted while he figured things out.” Caly'n paused for a half-step, then continued. “What if he brought several someones with him? Hell, if he used even two moderately decently powered acolytes, he could have infused an artifact with some significant power.” Her circuit of the room brought her behind Obsidius' chair. She flicked a finger at the lapel of his jacket. “I usually like a man in uniform, but…” She continued her pacing, thinking through the possibilities. “It’s not a permanent effect. It doesn’t completely drain whatever it comes up against, or there would be no regrowth. That likely means it has to be renewed. Which might explain why it seems to move all over the planet.” Caly'n growled softly. “We’re going to need one hell of a stasis field.” Nodded his head slowly as he listened to her. “Or… we will have to approach the problem in the same way he did.” He spun his chair around, “There is nothing stopping us from channeling the power from our three aprentices together to create one field. It would take some doing but nothing is impossible.” Folding his hands in his lap he smiled slightly, “They would of course eventually be used up, depending on how strong their connection to the Force is, but might give us the time we need to find this researcher.” Caly'n halted, mid-stride. She tilted her head slightly, thinking through the permutations of his suggestion. “That might be our best option. If we use the human female…Thana…as the center, we might have a better chance at success.” She turned on her heels to look at him. “The other two won’t last long, but we can bolster them for a short period of time. What sort of a range do you expect we can get?” Caly'n’s fingers drummed on her hips again. “Could we test it with the probe? You were able to guide it quite a ways down. If we took it with us, we might get more distance out of it.” The Pureblood resumed her pacing, though she moved more slowly, her energy more focused. “We’ve still got five hours to go on that search and who knows how long before Miran-dala gets back to me.” “Hmm, well we will certainly take a variety of things with us to try to pin point where we need to go,” he tried to catch her face as she paced. “We’ll be there too, I feel that I can most likely harness the three’s shielding and push it to its limits for us to get a reading, but we’d be immobilized while I did so. Together you and I might be able to reach out and feel something as well when the darkness is pushed back to the maximum… well that will probably fall on you as I’ll be consumed with focusing on the darkness itself.” He dropped off thinking for a few minutes. “Hopefully the fear I’ve instilled will keep the three alive longer than before. If they were at all frightened of me earlier, they will know terror when they join with me as I push the barrier outwards…” He looked away, “You will need to be careful.. and pull me back if needed. I won’t be able to direct myself away from you.” The moment of concern passed and a smile formed on his lips, “This will be…. fun.” Caly'n came to a halt in front of him, listening. She nodded, confident in her own abilities and in Obsidius'. She gave him a slight smile. “I shan’t let you get away, I promise.” They spent the next several hours together, waiting, without being idle.

1. Chapter 1, Scene 5

Bridge of the Relentless On a starship, the term “day” starts to lose its meaning. When enough time passes, tasks begin again, officers and crew change shifts, and the business of the ship continues. It’s been long enough for the Intelligence deck to complete their searches. The Apprentices have rested and begun training again. And Caly'n has heard back from Miran-dala, one of her Mechanics. The Pureblood arrives on the bridge of the Relentless to update Darth Obsidius and see what has been learned. Obsidius is seated on his observation platform which hangs above the operational bridge area. He hears footsteps on the stairs behind him and spins around to meet the pressence he feels. “Good morning, my dear. I trust I didn’t disturb you when I left several hours ago? I find the sounds of the bridge calming when there is a problem weighing heavy on my mind.” He was smiling, though few would know as it was well hidden inside his helm. She would know. Caly'n smiles back at him, taking up a position close to his left hand. “Not at all. I had a call not long after you left. Miran-dala has confirmed the existence of a holocron that describes the shielding technique, but there’s a complication. Apparently it was located in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and in very bad shape. When the Archivists attempted to access it, the housing was completely melted. They think they can extract the data, but it’s going to be a time-consuming process.” She glances down at him. “I don’t think we’ll get anything useful by the time we need to take action. Where there any more results from the searches?” Obsidius idly started tapping his finger on the armrest, “Some. Korriban’s records show that our researcher was very keen on researching all about our Emperor. Those queries didn’t go very far since all data on the Emperor beyond public record is redacted completely.” He punched a button on an arm control and a small holo list popped up. “Beside that we’ve got, Force draining, Force absorbing, healing, various other common training topics, and navigational charts for the system we are in right now.” “Hmm.” Caly'n read down the list, pondering. “You know, for someone with no Force Sensitivity, these are some pretty detailed topics.” She smirked slightly. “It’s almost like he’s the opposite of you – looking for a way to express a connection and build up power.” She shrugged. “He must be our guy. Somehow he found a way to combine all this training and make a perpetual machine or artifact or something that steals the Force and channels it into him. What other explanation could there be? Unless…he couldn’t control it, and is dead. Whatever’s out there could have no direction at all. It could account for the devastation we saw.” Obsidius shook his head. “I don’t sense chaos from the planet, only darkness, so there has to be something directing it down there.” He rose from his chair and leaned on the railing looking outward at the planet in the main viewport. “He’s down there, and whatever is giving off this power is under his control, albeit he may have no idea what to do with it or when to stop.” His grip tightened on the railing, “If he is indeed my opposite, then he may get a very unfortunate lesson on what happens when opposing forces collide.” He spins around on his heel and raises a clentched fist, “And why the Force is not to be trifled with by outsiders. We shall crush this insect and seize whatever he has down there.” Seething with anger he stormed down the stairway and off the bridge towards his chambers. She watched him go, pondering his words. Caly'n had no doubts about their abilities – working together they’d already proven to be a formidable pair – but some doubts were creeping in. What if she wasn’t strong enough to pull him back? Worse, what if she had only enough strength to strike at whatever was down there OR pull Obsidius back to himself? Caly'n had asked him to be here because of his knowledge and strength, but also because of his dedication to the Empire. And if push came to shove, she knew what he would choose. Caly'n felt pretty sure she knew what she would choose as well. Her boots rang out as she descended the stairs, even in the hustle of the bridge. She made her way to Obsidius' chambers, knocking before entering. “We should put that to good use,” she said, gesturing vaguely. “The Apprentices could use another session.” Obsidius turns to face her and approaches, pushing a holocom into her hands. “If you can’t reach me, call Scelestus… he is immune to my effects, and should be able to do something. Just watch him, he’s… not stable anymore. It shouldn’t come to that.” Obsidius fought the anger so he was at least appearing to still be in control. “Call your apprentices,” he turned and walked out of the room. Caly'n stared at the comm in her hands. Like hell she would call in Scelestus. He was a loose cannon and, if Obsidius' descriptions of him were right, his first instinct would be to kill his brother. If it came to that, she had better be dead. For a moment, it crossed her mind that such an outcome was a distinct possibility, but she pushed it away. More rationally, she had to agree that having a backup plan was critical. The Pureblood hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. She tucked the comm away and went to summon the Apprentices. Relentless Training Deck Back inside the shielded training room, Obsidius stood on the far side, arms crossed, facing away from the door, completely still. Caly'n entered the room, the Apprentices filing in behind her. None of them looked like they had slept much. Thana Vey’s eyes darted around the room nervously. Riquerd tried to maintain a mask of smug superiority, but no one was fooled. Marus, the Twi'lek, moved hesitantly. He was not looking forward to a repeat of yesterday’s experience. At a gesture from Caly'n, the three took up positions across from Obsidius, arrayed in a line. Caly'n remained behind them. Her voice was even and neutral as she spoke. “Today you will practice supporting each other with your energy. It was clear yesterday that Thana has the best shielding technique. Since we are lacking in time, we cannot get the rest of you up to her level fast enough. Therefore, you will loan her your energy and she will shield you in return.” The Apprentices exchanged glances, uncomfortable with this turn of events. It was no wonder – the Academy rarely encouraged this type of teamwork, preferring each student to fend for his or herself. “I will demonstrate.” The Pureblood stepped forward, placing a hand on Thana’s shoulder. “Watch closely. Use the Force to see what I am doing.” Caly'n reached out, bolstering Thana’s scant reserves with her own power. “Shield us both, Apprentice.” Thana’s eyes widened at the sensation. She quickly complied, wrapping both Caly'n and herself in a Force shield, one that was much stronger than yesterday. This time, she kept her eyes open. Riquerd and Marus looked on, straining to understand what was happening. After a moment, Caly'n stepped back and the shield dropped. “Now. Assist each other.” She looked across to Obsidius. “Whenever you are ready, my dear.” Obsidius nodded to Caly'n and pointed to the light controls dimming the room. Closing his eyes he let his anger boil over into the chaos of the Force that always petrudes from him. It poured out of him as if water spilling onto the floor creeping towards the others, latching onto them. “Surrender to the darkness Marus… you can feel it, can’t you? I can see into your mind, I can taste your fear.” Obsidius smiled beneath his mask, “the others don’t even know what you did… do they? Would they ever trust you if they did?” The Twi'lek took a step back, eyes wide and staring. How did he know? How could this Darth have found out about his past? His betrayal, his compromises, his broken promises – they were all laid bare before this man. Marus took another step back and another, turning to run. Caly'n shoved him hard, knocking him into Riquerd. “He will shred your mind if you let him. Since you cannot shield, find one who can. Lend your meager strength and maybe you will be safe.” Her eyes raked over Riquerd and then she jerked her head towards Thana. He bared his teeth, but struggled to his feet, hauling Marus after him. Riquerd’s own shield was flickering badly. He latched on to Thana and focused, tension visible in his arms. Caly'n wrapped her own shield around her tightly. Her worry and fear had no place here, except to fuel her own strength. Thana drew on Riquerd’s Force, the shield around both of them growing stronger. Marus staggered to his feet, clasping a hand on Thana’s shoulder. She staggered under his physical strength but the shield held. Obsidius' laughter fills the room, echoing in the darkness. “That’s right, reach out for them… it’s your only hope,” Obsidius took a step towards the three and extended his hands. Strands of darkness twisted their way towards the three apprentices, swirling around the Force shielding. “Unless they know you might betray them… or maybe they will betray you. Maybe you should surrender and give into the darkness,” Obsidius droned on as he concentrated on Marus lifting him up so he is standing on his toes. Obsidius laughed again, “Come on! Resist me! Your young minds will taste that much sweeter when I shatter your defenses and rip them from your skulls.” He dropped Marus back to his feet, “You need not worry about the planet below if you cannot make it past ME.” Marus' eyes were wide. Whatever the darkness was showing him, it wasn’t pleasant. Images flashed by: young Marus hiding from slavers by locking his best friend out of a secure space; a slightly older Marus selling out his guardian to Imperial Intelligence; literally stabbing a fellow student at the Academy in the back and stealing his work; bending his knee to whoever seemed most powerful at the time; switching sides without hesitation. Thana held her ground inside the center of the shield. “Get him to focus!” she hissed at Riquerd, who still had a hand on the Twi'lek. The human sneered but complied, delivering a swift slap to the man’s face. “Snap out of it, you idiot! We’re doing all the work here; pull your weight!” Riquerd was indeed supplying Thana with his strength through the Force, but Marus was already touched by Obsidius' darkness and it was seeping through the shield. Marus struggled, closing his eyes and gripping Thana’s shoulder tighter. It was no use. He could feel the darkness closing in on him, saw the mocking faces of those he had betrayed and killed sneering at him, taunting his abilities. He reached instinctively for his training saber, desperate to shut the shadows up. Seeing this, Thana punched the Twi'lek in the stomach. He barely doubled over, but it was enough to loosen his grip. She shoved him, hard, outside of the range of the shield, leaning heavily on Riquerd to patch up places where the darkness had come through. Caly'n watched as Marus stumbled back. He struggled, trying to form a shield of his own, but it was as flimsy as a soap bubble. As if smelling blood, the tendrils of darkness shot towards him, wrapping around his body. He screamed, unable to free himself and unable to protect his mind. It took only seconds for the Twi'lek to be reduced to a whimpering shell. “One down…disappointing.” Caly'n turned her red eyes on the other two Apprentices. “I will presume you have found the lesson from this.” She kept her gaze on the two humans, reaching out to Obsidius with the Force. “They will need more training, dear, or none of them will be useful.” Obsidius withdrew from Marus, slightly tempted to try to test the shield of the other two… but resisted. Clapping his hands together the darkness left the room and the lights came back up to normal levels. He walked to Marus, still laying on the floor and kicked his leg. “Where’s all that assured academy training? Get to your feet coward!” Obsidius lifted him up leaning him against the wall. “I told you to empty your mind focus on only your shield. Do you think what we are going to face down on the planet will hesistate, that you’ll be able to strike it down with your weapon?” Obsidius walked to the other two. “You shield held ths time, but only because I didn’t test it directly. I felt it faltering, you allowed his,” he pointed at Marus, “weakness to weaken your defenses. But you shed the weak link and held.” He returned to Caly'n’s side, “But what you are doing will not be enough I’m afraid. You will have to push back against the darkness, not let it invade so closely to your defenses. For that you will have to balance offense with defense.” Caly'n brushed a hand against Obsidius' back, a gesture unnoticed by the others in the room. She examined the trio she had picked up on Vaiken, wondering how she always managed to find the interesting but easily distracted or power-hungry Apprentices. The two human Apprentices looked tired, but not as exhausted as the day before. They listened to Obsidius carefully, exchanging glances as he described how close their own shield had come to falling. Neither hid their looks of disgust as Marus managed to keep his feet. The Twi'lek stayed by the wall, using it to hold himself up. The fear and humiliation rolled off him in waves. As Obsidius mentioned balancing offense with defense, he shook himself once and limped over to stand with the other Apprentices. Offense was something he knew. Thana Vey frowned, considering the Darth’s words. “My Lord, do you mean that while one of us is shielding, the other should be…seeing to attack whatever is attacking us?” Obsidius reached down and unclipped his lightsaber, igniting both blades. “The Force can be like this saber, if you allow it. The sight intimidates many foes,” he walks towards them, the saber held out in front of him horizontally pointing away from the three. “My saber has been focused by the red crystal to give it form, its power enhanced by the power crystal inside… with my saber I can easily defend myself against an attack,” he moved the saber slightly from side to side as he spoke. “However, no one ever wins with defense alone. If my saber is simply pushed towards my foes.. that same defensive power additionally become offensive,” he walked towards them, the saber in front of him. As the saber got close enough to strike, all three took a step back. Obsidius extinguished the blade and returned it to his belt. “The three of you are like the parts of the saber,” he points as he continues. “Thana, the focus, able to form the shield. Riquerd the power crystal feeding the focus,” Obsidius walked to the end and stopped. “And you Marus, unknown even to you, you are the hilt.. the hilt which will push the blade towards your foe, to extend the shield that you yourself are unable to either form or enhance. You are prey to your emotions, we can use that emotion to push the shield outward.” Obsidius pressed a finger to Marus' still heaving chest. “Do this or I shall kill you the next time and find someone else who can.” “You have got to be kidding! We’re supposed to…to…trust our safety to that…washout?!?” Riquerd was livid. His face flushed and his voice rose. Thana put a warning hand on his arm, but he shrugged her off. Marus looked shell-shocked. The fact that he might actually be able to contribute hadn’t quite penetrated his brain yet. What had was Obsidius' warning. He managed to choke out an affirmative, “Yes, my Lord.” Caly'n took a step forward. “Apprentice Riquerd.” Her voice was soft. “Would you like to reconsider your statement?” She took a second step towards him. Marus had enough presence of mind to stumble away from the seething would-be sorcerer. The Apprentice glared at the Pureblood, but his anger faltered. “My…My Lord, I simply don’t trust his…a-ability.” Another step. “Noted. And you can do this all by yourself?” “N-no, My Lord.” Riquerd’s eyes darted to the side, looking for support or an exit. He found neither. Caly'n was right in front of him. “Noted. So if you were leading this expedition, what would you do?” “…ah…I would have executed him.” Riquerd swallowed. “For failure to perform.” A smile. “Should we do the same then?” Riquered nodded hesitantly. “Then we should execute you, as well.” The Apprentice opened his mouth to protest. “Silence. Your shielding is atrocious. Your inability to recognize the weak link and shore it up is pitiful. You lack the intelligence to see past your own petty concerns and do what is necessary for the Empire.” Caly'n leaned in. “You, Apprentice, swallowed everything the Academy taught you and yet you learned nothing. Everyone has a purpose and a use.” She straightened. “Darth Obsidius has outlined your uses. You will spend the day practicing. Use the training simulators as targets. We will check back in later.” Just before Obsidius turned to leave, “Oh and Apprentice Riquered,” he flicked his wrist and the Apprentice slid across the room, his toes barely touching the floor. “I have a ship full of Apprentices who would gladly give their lives at my command. I do not require your approval, your support, or you to trust anyone. However, you can trust this.. if you ever do what you just did again, you won’t need to worry about further training.” He dropped the man flicking him back onto his heels. “Ask around, see how many times I’ve given warnings to the other Sith on board.” Obsidius turned on his heel and offered his elbow to Caly'n as they walked to the turbolift. Arriving at Obsidius' quarters he removed his mask and rubbed his tired eyes. “Now its very clear why I never taught anything at the Academy.” He set down the helmet and sunk down on a loveseat. “Envigorating though, their fear. Many Sith would fight against it tooth and nail or focus on something else… hmm, maybe it’s just been too long since I let the darkness out.” Caly'n moved to a sideboard and poured two glasses of wine from a crystal decanter. She was still twitchy from holding back and not decapitating the arrogant Apprentice. He had his use, and as true as Obsidius' statement had been, there was no point in wasting his well-trained and intelligent Apprentices on this mission. She joined him on the loveseat and handed him the second glass. “I don’t know, you’d have been an excellent instructor. Challenging. Frustrating.” Caly'n smirked. “I’d have probably avoided your class like the plague. Younger me would have missed out.” The Pureblood toyed with the stem of her wineglass before taking a sip. “Speaking of balancing…it’s likely exactly that. You’ve been cooped up too long.” She stretched out her legs. “Whereas I…” Caly'n shrugged. “Rather the opposite, really. No time to regroup.” Obsidius took a long drink, then stared at the glass thinking about her words. “Actually, I spend more time walking around like this then cooped up as Jento. True I don’t get to expound Forcewise often, but I did enjoy quite a bit of action down on Oricon. I’ve been honing my defensive skills lately.” He tossed a holocron in the air and it hovered breaking apart and squirling around the pair for a few moments before coming back together and landing in his hand. “It sounds like we both need a change of pace. Maybe this little adventure is just that,” he took another drink smiling. He set his glass down and kicked a foot up on the coffee table. “So what shall we do with this researcher and whatever he is chanelling to him when we do manage to get ahold of him. Interrogate him? Kill him? Keep him locked away somewhere?” “I think it depends on what we find. If it…or he…can be easily controlled, directed against our enemies, then we need to bring it back and deploy it.” Caly'n leaned her head on the back of the loveseat. “If it can’t be controlled…or it’s too dangerous…then maybe we destroy it. Or whittle it down until we can use it.” “Who knows? Maybe there’s other useful things on the planet. If it’s that mineral rich, it would make a good addition to our resources. Besides, all those hunters and explorers over the years…something might have survived. If the Researcher or his creation had any direction, it’s possible he held on to some "visitors” as a future power source." She wrinkled her nose, thinking about the possibilities. If the Researcher had managed to subvert some powerful hunters or other Force users, they would have significant work to free them from his influence – and then convert them to the Imperials. “Hmm, thats true,” Obsidius stroked his beard. “You know, if he is indeed keeping people as future power sources… we might be able to bait him to us if we are able to make a large enough pressence on the planet.” He set his empty wine glass down and cross his hands, “A great part of me hopes whatever we find down there is too dangerous to recover. We’d be placing a great deal of trust into someone else’s hands to weild a weapon this powerful… even though we’d be able to strike terrible blows to the Republic. There would be nothing stopping anyone from turning the weapon on the Empire and trying to seize control.” Caly'n drained her glass and let it dangle from her fingers. “I have the same thought. I don’t know that I’d trust it to anyone other than you or me. And both of us are still open to influence.” She stared at the ceiling, thinking through options. “I wonder…” she gestured at the holocron he’d been playing with. “We could reverse engineer it. Make it safer, more controllable. Give it to people we trust or whose loyalty we can ensure.” She tilted her head a bit to look at him. “As for making a large enough presence…I’m sure we could make enough noise to attract the attention of whatever’s out there.” “WE could, yes. But we need him to not attack us so we can focus our attention on attacking rather than defending,” he points with his index finges in opposite directions. “If all goes as planned he won’t be expecting us with the other three and we can catch him or whatever he’s using off guard.” Obsidius sat up straight, “But I don’t know about reverse engineering it. Many a Sith Lord has gone crazy or worse meddling with something not fully understood. But it’s an option we can look at further when we’ve taken possession.” “Fair enough. They are expendable, after all.” She smirked. “Though we might want to take some time and practice ourselves, just in case.” Caly'n stretched, reluctant to stand up just yet. “Well, we certainly can’t have you going mad. That would just ruin my plans for the future,” she said teasingly. “…I suppose we should check on the children.” Obsidius chuckled, “Well I certainly have no intention of going mad, it’s just so unbecoming.” He grinned tucking his holocron back onto his belt. “I don’t think we’ll loose all of the apprentices, depending on how closely what I’m doing is to the darkness down on the planet.” He walked from the room and into the turbolift pressing a button, “They are adapting as I hoped they would and putting them together as a team should limit the losses.” The lift doors opened and the pair walked onto the training deck where the apprentices were still practicing on the pratice dummies. “Which of you is now feeling prepared? Ready to face the darkness?” Obsidius asked looking at the three. Caly'n scanned the faces of the three Apprentices. Thana Vey looked as determined as ever. Riquerd had adopted an expression of grudging acceptance; he didn’t like not being the pointy tip of the spear, but he didn’t want to lose his mind either. Marus still looked shaky, keeping his gaze focused on the floor. Thana Vey spoke for them. “We have been practicing, my Lords. We may not be entirely prepared, but we will face it.” The tension between the trio had changed…

1. Chapter 1, Scene 6

The Relentless Training Deck The Apprentices took up their stances in the center of the room. They kept their eyes on Darth Obsidius, tracking his progress around the space. Thana Vey stood in the middle of the trio, Riquerd to her left and Marus to their right. Marus continued to hold on to his training saber, though it seemed to function more as a focus than as a weapon. Caly'n nodded, just barely. She wrapped the Force around her, shielding herself from what was to come. She stepped back, out of the line of sight of the Apprentices, prowling silently behind them as they faced the darkness yet again. “Remember your role… focus only on your role.” Obsidius pointed to Marus, “Use your emotions to bolster your offensive power, push against the darkness, fight it, fight me. Push the shield outwards.” This time he didn’t dim the lights in the room, insead immediately crossed his arms and began to concentrate. A faint cloud of black mist started to form around Obsidius growing darker and more dense. It crept across the floor until it found the three. The darkness twisted around them testing the shield eventually robbing the room of almost all light. The Twi'lek nodded absently, already shifting into an offensive stance. Caly'n noted that, like her own use of the Force, the Apprentice used his physical attributes to channel his power. But whereas Caly'n had learned to expand her abilities, Marus would not likely live long enough to do the same. That fear was clearly written on his face. As the room plunged into darkness, Thana and Riquerd clung to each other, trying to maintain the shield. Riquerd mumbled something as he focused. “Peace is a lie…there is only passion…” Marus shook himself. Without releasing his grip on Thana, he shifted his weight forward. Just outside the shield the Force twisted and began to probe, weaving through the darkness to look for the source of the assault. “Yesssss…” Obsidius voice echoed through the darkness, his cold pressence pushing against the shielding which was in turn moving towards him. He put his hands out in front of him, dark tendrils of darkness shooting out from his fingertips like ribbons, assaulting the trio and hitting the shield and passing around them like stream of water. The stray darkness bounces off Caly'n’s shielding. “Resist me!” Obsidius bellowed out doubling the attack. He could feel the shield waver in places only to be sured up again. He was finished helping now. “And now… you will meet your end. Your fear will be your undoing. Which will be the first to falter? Who shall cause you all to perish?” Obsidius surged forward causing wave after wave of dark energy to be projected at the apprentices. Marus growled, pushing forward. The Force he projected slashed and cut at the darkness, trying to clear a path towards Obsidius. Time and time again, the shadows seemed to recede, only to be replaced by even more tendrils. He was making no headway. Thana Vey stood stoically. She was breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down her face from the exertion, but each incursion, each crack was sealed quickly. She had looped arms with the would-be sorcerer, practically holding him up. Riquerd was faltering. He had not rationed his strength well, pouring nearly all his power into Thana and Marus at the beginning. He was beginning to shake from the strain. As he faltered, the shield slipped more often. Cracks appeared in the Force controlled by Marus, splintering down towards the shield. If Riquerd collapsed, it would be only a matter of time before the other two were overrun. Obsidius let up the assault but allowed the darkness to surround the pair, instead he probed at the shield and waited for the right moment. When a crack formed he reached into the shield and yanked Riquerd from Thana’s grip and pulled him through the cloud of darkness to be held in front of him. As Obsidius' concentration shifted the darkness faded in the room remaining only as a mist around his body, like steam on a cold morning. “You,” his voice was cold and uncharacteristc. “It is always the proud one, the sure one.. the one who thinks that power comes from himself.” Obsidius held out his fist in front of him and began to choke Riquerd as he lifted him into the air. “All of that talent, all of the Force being chanelled in this room and yet you still try to rely only on yourself,” Obsidius cocked his head as he watched the man struggle being unable to catch a full breath. “Do you want to die that badly? Did you think I was joking about the darkness or about you meeting your end right here, right now?” Obsidius squeezed a little harder. “I am struggling to find a reason why we should keep you alive. Darth Caly'n or myself could accidently provide the meager boost of power you were doing just now. And look at you now, even as you face your end you won’t fight back.. pitiful, and you were so proud at the start.” Obsidius flicks his wrist and throws the apprentice against the training room wall and he falls to the floor. Obsidius slowly walks towards him. “Now get up…” Riquerd struggled to his feet, his face a mask of pain and anger. He coughed, steadying himself against the wall. “Without me they would have fallen to you even faster,” he rasps. “I gave them all my strength.” He doesn’t bother with manners. A surge of Force leaps out from the Apprentice towards Obsidius. “If you go without me, they will die!” The young man sneers. “And you would lose your precious Thana.” Obsidius braces himself as Riquerd’s Force wave hits him and disapates the remainer of the dark mists which had surrounded him. Across the room, the other two Apprentices huddle together. At Riquerd’s words, Thana straightens. “Yes, you provided support,” she spits, “but you were not the only one. Marus supported the shield as well as attempting to go on the offensive.” The Twi'lek nudges her and she frowns. “…fine. He made it easier, but that’s all!” A pause. “My Lord.” Caly'n hides a smirk. The Apprentices will serve their purpose on the planet. They might even survive more than one day. She shoots a look at Obsidius to see if his assessment is the same as hers. “All of your strength, hmm?” Obsidius straightened up, “Seems you are mistaken, or that came from someone else in the room perhaps?” He walked over to the Apprentice. “Learn to accept guidance. Draw from the Force like you did just now, do not simply draw from yourself.” He pointed back at the other two, “Without you drawing on the Force to channel power into Thana’s shield you will all die, it has nothing to do with you,” he dropped his hand, “or your pride. Now join the others.” Obsidius nodded as he walked to Caly'n’s side, “That was an acceptable excersize. All three of you performed exactly as I expected. I will have Darth Xionia join you later and help you hone your specific roles so you are most tuned and give us the best chance for success.” He smiled beneath his mask, “Well done.” The Apprentices exchanged glances, Thana hurriedly pulling the other two into deep bows. “Thank you, my Lord. We will continue to practice.” The trio waited for the two Darths to exit the practice space before they started a heated and whispered discussion amongst themselves. Caly'n allowed herself a smirk at the Apprentices before she joined Obsidius on a stroll about the Relentless. “I hope I was never that young and naive, though I surely was.” She laughed quietly. “I was beginning to despair they’d ever pull it together.” After a moment’s pause, she continued. “I received another message from Miran-dala. They’ve made progress on removing the holocron’s housing, but she anticipates it will be several more days before they can begin to reconstruct the data. We’re not going to get anything there.” The Pureblood turned her head to look at Obsidius, still matching his steps. “There’s not much more we can do from here. We need to get down to the surface of the planet.” Obsidius chuckled, “I know I was that naive when I was that age and only interested in pulling off pranks and clever flirtations, definately not the plans of a couple of Darths around a mysterious planet.” He listen as she told about the Jedi holocron and the lack of progress and shook his head, “I feared that route was going to turn out futile, but still worth investing in as a possible backup. Guess we’ll just need to make sure the primary plan works.” Obsidius walked along in silence for several moments. “Getting to the surface will be the easy part. Getting back off the surface is the bit that concerns me.” “Clever flirtations?” Caly'n raised an eyebrow. “Some day you’ll have to tell me more.” Her smirk spoke volumes. “I left her instructions to contact us immediately if anything was extracted. Miran-dala is nothing if not thorough, however. She won’t send us something half-reconstructed.” The Pureblood tilted her head a bit as he voiced his concern. “If we can control or destroy what is down there – and avoid any treachery – I should think getting back will be the easy part. What is it that concerns you?” Obsidius shook his head leaning against a corner, “Several things concern me about this planet but formost the stories the natives of this part of space told of hunters coming here. The way they spoke it makes me wonder that they’d been coming here long before this planet was contaminated by this researcher. There could be some inherent darkness, similar to that on Voss.” He turned and looked at her, “I don’t know how Voss effects others, but I found it very hard to leave that planet. The call of the powerful darkness was constant and soothing and very tempting.” He paused choosing his words, “If the call of the darkness is similiar down there and the shield falters, I’m not sure what will happen,” he pushed off from the corner and started the pace. “I already feel the want for the relic down there, hell, even if its a person he’s using, I want it. It’s more than my regular craving for relics and old things, this is just pure power… intoxicating power.” He steadied himself taking a deep breath, “But…” he shook his head, “these are just temptations, just like others I’ve fault before.” Caly'n considered his words carefully, eyes tracking his pacing. For a long while, she did not speak, her thoughts racing through scenarios, options, possiblities. In the end, she swept it all off the table and thought about what she wanted to have happen. What she needed the outcome to be. “I found Voss…unsettling. I had a feeling of a constant tingling across my skin. So while I had no wish to stay, I can see why it would fascinate you. If the planet has the same innate darkness, it would make whatever relic or artifact that much more powerful. It might even be the reason the Researcher chose this place.” Caly'n crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him. “If it’s that powerful of a relic, it will fight us. So I am not surprised that already it’s trying to win you over. It will look for every advantage. But it does not know what you can do. It hopes you will be a typical greedy Sith. But you are not.” She leaned forward, reaching out to catch his arm as he paced. Her tone was solemn, her expression sober. “Remember, you are not alone in this. I will not let you go. You will come home.” Stopping when she touched his arm he turned to listen, “I know,” he covered her hand with his own. “There is one good thing about tempting someone seeped in darkeness with more darkeness. Both party’s vision is obsured by the dark. We’ll have the same advantage and disadvantages he has. Hopefully our trio will make enough noise that he won’t notice you and I coming.” Patting her hand he continued walking down the hallway, “We should have these little adventures more often. It livens up the place. We’d been holding position in the fleet for weeks waiting for something interesting to come along.” Caly'n arched an eyebrow. “It’ll be your turn to find something next, dear. I don’t have anything else in the queue.” She fell into step beside him. “I will check in with my troops and then we can begin preparations to go down to the surface. Your Chiss have likely figured out a pattern to the artifact’s path by now, which will make it easier for us to land.” She gave his hand a quick squeeze before stepping down a different corridor. “Anything you have left to do, now’s the time. Once we’re down there, time is not our ally.”