[IC] A Galaxy in Twilight[Lord Gressh/Zarkun]

[Zarkun]

Darth Imperious

I frown at this news and begin to reconsider as Gendry asks his question. "I suppose that's no longer of your concern now. Khem?"

"Of course, Mistress." The Dashade moves towards the young Sith with a grin and I stand nearby, my thumb ready to activate my saber at a moment's notice.

"You see, Lord Hexxus, my visit here today served two purposes. One, to ask one of Malori's own pet projects if you knew where she was, but it would seem she's keeping you in the dark. The other was to take care of you." Khem grew closer with each word. "Salazaar was, of course, tainted by the Emperor and unstable in his own right, but his Sith understood restraint and control." Flicking the activation switch on, the twin black-cored red blades snap hissing to life. "You, however, are making it harder for Sith like me to do what we do best with your unabashed and uncontrolled slaughter."

Spinning my saberstaff, I assume a ready stance as Khem leapt forward, his vibrosword slicing through the air. "And I can't let those resources continue to get wasted."

[Lord Greshh]

Darth Hexxus

As the Deshade leaps forward, I backflip over the railing and drop to the level below. I draw my lightsaber and thumb the activation switch, causing its unstable crimson blade to crackle to life. I look up to the balcony above with a grin. “This is turning into a lovely morning!”

The Deshade throws itself after me with a roar, holding it’s vibrosword over its head as it plummets. I roll aside as the monster crashes feet first into the landing, driving its blade into the spot I once stood. I take advantage and aim a slash at it’s upper arm (I could go for the throat, but what’s the fun in that?)

[Zarkun]

Darth Imperious

Khem avoids the slice by rolling to one side as I come down from above, forcing Gendry to dodge a pair of thrown lightning balls. Khem follows it up with a slash that he manages to avoid, but not without the blade drawing a thin line of blood across his arm. Moving forward to compliment him, I thrust forwards with the point of one side of the staff before spinning to make a wide slash.

[Lord Greshh]

Darth Hexxus

I deflect as many of her blows as I can, and the ones I can not I dodge. With both the Sith Assassin and the Deshade attacking me at once, I do my best to divide my attention between them, twisting and spinning, trying to draw them close to each other. I focus most of my offensive strikes on the monster. If I can kill it, Imperious will be easier to handle. "I've tamed more fearsome beasts then you, Deshade!" I sidestep a downward swing of it's blade, than leaps over it's head and plants a kick into the base of it's skull, staggering it.

[Zarkun]

Darth Imperious

In response, Khem spins around and yanks Gendry towards him with the Force, planting a powerful left hook into his nose to knock him away again. "This one's flesh is weak for Sith." I step up to Khem's side, spinning my saberstaff.

"Sucal's Sith aren't driven to survive the way I was." In this moment, my Imperial accent becomes far more pronounced. "Trained on dead planets or amongst weak minded fools, instead of competing against your peers, many of whom are favored above you for their strength or their race while you were consistently put to nearly impossible to complete tasks, others underestimating your strength and intelligence. It's sad really." I lash out with a Force Lightning Ball, aiming square for Gendry's chest. "These are simply shadows of a former glory."

[Lord Greshh]

Darth Hexxus

Cartwheels backwards, narrowing dodging Imperious' lightning. "Well, seeing as how Sucal killed most of your Sith and enslaved the rest..." Grins. "Ah! Slave. Now, that's a term I know you're familiar with." Spins lightsaber in a taunting figure eight, raising it both handed over my head in a Djem So stance.

Behind Imperious, a door opens and a small unit of five Revolution members (or rather, Republic soldiers dressed in Revolution uniforms) enter. Without looking at them, Hexxus calls, "Kill the beast. The alien is mine." The immediately open fire on the intruders, focusing mostly on Khem Val, but some taking pot shots at Imperious.

[Zarkun]

Darth Imperious

I growl in annoyance at Gendry's barb as the five start shooting and Khem turns, ducking a couple of bolts. "I will deal with them, Mistress. Teach this pup his place." The Dashade dives to the right to avoid a particularly focused blast of bolts and then charges the group while I turn back to Gendry. "Is this how you killed Salazaar? Drew in Hayden while pushing away her family? Barbs made of things we've all had time to move past? Pity, I had hoped that since Sucal had given you such an illustrious name as Hexxus," with a rather unexpected burst of Force Speed, I close the gap with Gendry and swing viciously down at his head, "you'd be able to live up to it."

[Lord Greshh]

Darth Hexxus

Catches her blade in an overhead block, causing sparks to rain down from my unstable blade. "I rather like the name, to be honest. It makes me feel like a lethal toxin, infecting everything it touches and corrupting it." Pushes upwards with an added burst of Force energy, creating a brief opening in which I drive a lighting charged fist into Imperious' stomach. "And you can't deny, I've gotten results. Salazar Greshh IS dead. Hayden IS separated from her family. Xanthippe Naberrie has been disgraced and chased into hiding." Smirks. "And all those children from Theed Elementary? They've all been converted into the good doctor's latest test subjects."

[Lord Greshh]

And meanwhile, the soldiers are trying very hard NOT to get eaten by Khem Val.

[Zarkun]

Darth Imperious

I grunt from the blow and ignore the pain from the lightning, instead charging my saber and arcing the lighting into Gendry from there. "Are you so sure? Gressh may be gone, but Hayden can be reconvinced and Senator Naberrie regain her status. At most, Darth Hexxus, you've caused them all a minor inconvenience." Picking him up with the Force, I throw Gendry into the wall behind him and then vanishing from sight with my Force Cloak. My voice now seems to echo around the chamber. "I do appreciate you dealing with Gressh, he was the last remnant of a time when Vitiate meant something to our Empire. But the rest? Quite the impotent poison, I must say." An illusion appears to his right, though he doesn't know it's an illusion, rushing him with it's saberstaff aiming to slice him in two.

Meanwhile, Khem has dispatched two of the Republic soldiers and had a third by his throat, using him as a shield against the shots of the other two.

[Lord Greshh]

Darth Hexxus

I am done playing around. I wait until the last possible moment, then flip over Imperious’ strike, twisting around in mid air so that I land right behind her. With Force augmented speed, I drive my lightsaber hilt deep into her back, grinding savagely. After a moment, though, I realize something giant quite right. The blade passed through her an unsatisfying lack of resistance. Not to mention the fact that she is still standing. “Ah, an illusion. That’s cheap.” Turns towards the Deshade. “Well, at least you stuck around to play.”

[Zarkun]

Darth Imperious

The Dashade simply grins as he heaves the now dead soldier at the last one on the left, leaving the right to back away in panic. "Don't dismiss my mistress so quickly, little thing." In tandem with Khem's warning, I appear in Gendry's face and plant my palm to his chest.

"Here's a lesson in pain, little boy." A pulse wave of lightning erupts from the point of contact between my hand and his chest, sending him flying across the room and through the door the soldiers came in through. "Come Khem, he might actually prove useful to us after all." Snapping the neck of the last soldier, Khem Val and I run to the edge of the balcony and jump, landing on the roof of my Fury as it flies underneath us and then using a hatch to get inside. Gendry would stumble back through the door way just in time to see us jet into the upper atmosphere.

[Lord Greshh]

Darth Hexxus

Hexxus recovers quickly from Imperious' final attack, staggering outside just as her ship takes to the sky. There is a hand print burned into his bare chest, still smoking. Hexxus looks down it in surprise, then begins to slowly laugh out loud. When more Revolution men arrive on the scene, they find their master in high spirits indeed. "Oh, I LIKE her!" One of the men points out that Hexxus is injured, and offers to fetch him a kolto patch. "What? For this?" Points at the hand print scarred into his chest. "Oh, I shall wear this as a badge of honor! That was the most fun I've had in months!" Shakes head, grinning and pointing up into the sky. "She's good. She's VERY good." Turning to the troopers, he commands, "Ready my ship. My blood is hot. I need to find a new outlet."

- END OF SCENE

[Lord Greshh]

Millu'ci'vanda

Aboard the Shadow Stalker, we (I) stare out of the window into the swirling blue of hyperspace. Some say watching the tunnels for too long can drive people insane. Fortunately, our connection to the Oroboro Hive keeps us safe. One cannot lose their mind if they have no mind of their own to lose. We share our mind with the Killiks. All our thoughts and memories are shared. It's better this way. Much more pleasant. The galaxy would be a better place if everyone joined the nest.

Absently, we reach into our pocket and remove a small wax ball filled with golden liquid. We lift the ball to our lips and gently lip the skin, causing the golden liquid to ooze into our mouths. Membrosia; Killik honey.

In my mind's eye, I can see thousands of consciousnesses: the shared memories of the hive. One thought pattern I pick up on in particular is that of a Fingerling, no larger than a common fly. It is purposely broadcasting it's memories to the rest of the hive in a sort of scouting report. It's seen something it finds interesting and wants the rest of the Killiks of Oroboro to know.

Mentally, it explains the events it had just witnessed...

[Lord Greshh]

Hayden Twilight

On the planet Kessel, Caalin Daemon and I walk among the ruins of an abandoned spice mine. There are charred bodies laying among the rubble, and the smell of smoke still fresh in the air, leading me to believe whatever happened here was very recent, and it fills me with dread. As I walk, I swat away a fly that is buzzing around my head.

Caalin Daemon

Looks around, horrified. "We're too late. This was the vision I had." The bodies at our feet are too burned to identify, but I can tell that most of them are at least near-human. Most likely, they were Sith Purebloods, and that this abandoned mine was one of Salazar Greshh's old bases. "What could have done this?"

Hayden Twilight

"Who do you think? Sucal and his lackeys." I try to reach out with my senses to see if I can pick up any sighs of life. There are none.

Caalin Daemon

"But to wipe out the settlement so thoroughly... it doesn't seem possible. They should have been able to fight back! They should have sensed an attack coming!"

Hayden Twilight

"Unless something was blocking their senses out." I raise a hand to signal Caalin to stop walking. Nearby, I hear the sound of servos and gears moving. A moment later, I feel a slight tremor in the ground as something big begin to stomp towards us. "We aren't alone. Whatever did this is still here. Prepare to fight or flee in necessary." As I reach for my lightsaber, the fly still buzzing around me finally clears off, likely sensing my agitation. Caalin also readies his weapon just in time for a massive Sith Hunter Battle Droid to stomp around from behind the ruined facility. In a deep, metallic voice, it says 'Scanning Targets. Profile Match Confirmed. Enemy Hostiles Detected. Top Priority Targets Identified. Instant Kill Mode Activated.'. It raises it's arms and opens fire with blaster cannons and rocket launchers.

The fly, a Killik Fingerling, hovers high about the action, observing the confrontation with great interest...

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

After several minutes, a knock sounds on the door to the room Luci was inside. I, on a personal level, could move past her Joiner status and accept she was gone, but for the sake of the others, I had to at least try and wake up the real Luci, the one who cared about us. After a moment, I would enter. "So, that was a rush. Holding up?"

[Lord Greshh]

Millu'ci'vanda

Turns away from the window and looks at Jerus. The images of Hayden and Caalin, two young human we knew from before our joining, still dance through our mind. With minor effort, we close off our connection to the greater hive and focus on our current surroundings. "Yes. We did not expect to face combat in the space above Dantooine. Your flying ability are very impressive. We remember you were always a very skilled pilot. Hopefully, the others have likewise escaped the ambush of your enemy."

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"OUR enemy. What Sucal doesn't just affect us, it affects all living things, and not in a good way." I sigh as I mentally brace myself. "Put Oroboro aside for thirty seconds, talk to me like the Luci Jakito trained, who helped train Hayden, would have."

[Lord Greshh]

Milu'ci'vanda

We lower our head, tipping it slightly to the side as if listening to something Jerus can't head. "You... do not know what you ask, Jerus Je'and. The joining is difficult to break. We can... I can, perhaps, attempt to isolate the thoughts and memories of Millu'ci'vanda, my own memories, and speak to you that way. The hive may still be able to listen, but they will not interfere. Anything you have to discuss is likely beyond their concern." We shake our head, clenching our eyes shut tightly. There is a sound like buzzing insects, and we begin muttering quietly to the Oroboro voices in our head. After a moment, we look up at Jerus again. Not with the vacant expression of a joiner, but with a look of recognition. For the first time in a while, Luci seems to have returned.

At least in some form.

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

I can't help but grin softly as I see some of the light return to Luci's eyes. "Close enough for now. How are YOU doing? No bug included answers."