Abandon all Hope, Ye Who Enter

[Darth Inheris]

​

Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven. And if the stories of Iego were true, while their compatriots would seek the angels above, it was tasked to her and Darth Victress to face the Demons below.

Not true demons, of course. Nor emanations of the Force or strange corruptions like the Sith Abominations of times gone by. No, these demons were creatures like any other, and that meant they respected certain traits. Like the Sith, it seemed they respected strength.

A champion then, their leader, had stepped forward. A duel, between himself and the chosen of the Sith, would determine their place on this planet: Subjugated, or destroyed. She didn't choose to hate these demons, but by failing to simply forfeit they had brought this upon themselves. Atleast it would be settled here. No protracted war of conquest, no losses to fuel flames of war or insurrection. But a clear contest, one she and Victress were to win,

"And so, we have arrived" she announced, as the pair pushed through the twisting cave systems of the planet till they arrived at the decided place. A great arena opened before them, the place they'd make their stand. And surrounding them on the wall a multitude of the creatures watched the spectacle to come.

Drawing the force to herself, the battle being one of wills than on blades, Darth Inheris looked across the stands, and prepared for the arrival of the challenger.

@Faded Truth @Cinderella (DM)

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress had personally selected this mission, desiring to face off against this Alpha as it was called. It was a testament to her will and the powerful Sith Lord rarely gravitated away from a worthy challenge. And so these demons thought they could contest Imperial rule? Even manage to combat against the prowess of the finest Sith in a battle of wits? They would be sorely mistake and she was here to rectify their grave errors. The dark councilor would place these vermin in their rightful slots, underneath the ever growing heel of Imperial Might.

Clad in her force forged armor, the fallen blade nestled at her side but not drawn or activated as of yet. Apparently, this was a battle of force fortitude rather than of blades. So these creatures dared take her on in sorcery? So be it.. She thought to herself. Darth Victress soon emerged alongside Darth Inheris, two of the order's most promising figures as they stood alone in the bustling arena. Screams and shouts from a myriad of creatures filled this underground coliseum to near capacity, liquor and food being tossed to the ground as the patrons hungered for combat.

Darth Victress smirked and allowed Inheris to announce their arrivals, her anger and hatred already channeling as it granted her a beacon of focus and strength. The force rippled in her wake, bending to her dark will and pulsated within the palm of her left hand. Slowly, she paced to her side, creating some gap between her and Inheris as the dark councilor's eyes scanned the arena in anticipation of their adversary.

@Nightfall @Cinderella

 

[Darth Inheris]

She could sense Victress preparing herself for whatever lay ahead. The creatures in the stands were no slouches it seemed, the Demons of Iego were clever, powerful things, the ones watching on seemed confronting enough. And yet, none of them, she assumed, were their challenger. Whomever it was that they were to face, it would not be an easy fight she reckoned.

From what she had found researching during the long dark trip through hyperspace to join the Imperials here, the Demons were possessed of razor like claws, teeth, and horns that had no doubt earned them their moniker, and the strength of creatures far greater size then they.

It would be interesting, to say the least,

"We represent the Sith Empire. It is my understanding that a deal has been made, and we are to face a challenger to determine our right to the planet" she announced to the crowd. The event itself was theatrical, it seemed only fair to lean into it, make what was to be an act of violence into a formal, even ritual affair. That was what would give their victory here power anyway, the performance of strength, the suggestion of greater behind them, played through a lens it worlds people would respect,

"We are ready to face them"

@Cinderella @Faded Truth

 

[The Storyteller]

Spoiler: OOC

Replacing Cinderella to help with her workload - Maelibus Alpha is level 3

The assembled Maelibi were unimpressed by the speech of Inheris but that was to be expected - for the most part the race didn't really understand Basic. What they understood was strength and that was the only reason that this spectacle might actually work out for the Sith.

Once Inheris had spoken there was absolute silence for a moment before the creatures within the stands began to sing. The species sang with their minds, their emotions running through the air and filling the entire area in a matter of seconds. They saturated the air, the very atmosphere, with their pulsing emotions.

Anticipation being key among them.

Without warning the ground roughly ten meters in front of Victress erupted upwards and the Alpha of the Maelibi, a species of capable burrowers, launched itself from the ground before landing upon it's feet. It's golden skin shone with it's metallic sheen, it's claws were sharp, it's teeth sharper still.

It reared it's head back and roared to the ceiling, both physically and with it's mind.

It's hunger and strength and rage vibrated towards Victress and Inheris, worming into their minds unless they actively guarded against it. That was, after all, the truly terrible thing when facing a Maelibus; they sang and you felt it in your mind before you felt it anywhere else.

You felt it as it wrapped around your mind and squeezed your sense of self, holding you captive. The Alpha turned to face Victress, slapping it's right hand against it's chest in a beat. The beat was taken up by those watching until it rattled the ground, the metal drumbeat of the Maelibi. During this, the Alpha reached out with his right hand.

One of the other Maelibi arrived at his side, handing the towering (8 foot tall) Maelibus Alpha a warharmmer the size of a reasonably sized child. The Alpha swung the weapon a few times before grinning, his golden lips peeling back to expose even more metallic fangs. He bashed his free hand to his chest one last time before gesturing for Victress to attack.

While this was going on, the Maelibi around the arena were still singing, their voices layering and layering into a thunderous noise.

@Faded Truth @Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

And so it appeared before them now, the Maelibus Alpha, armed with a truly cruel looking weapon in its hand and a vicious power within it that she could feel even from her position. And as the creature beat its chest and begun the wave of noise around the arena, it was clear they would not be cowed, the boisterous song filling the space.

Fine then, it would be violence. It was always going to be.

Inheris knew from their campaign on Centares that Victress had become stronger than her in the force, and good thing too if were to be their powers against this things physical blows.

However, there was one thing first before she opened. The Alpha's roar, she could feel it move over to her and try to access her mind. With the Force already gathered to her, Inheris erected a defense in her mind against the things call, keeping her thoughts free of its influence so she and Victress could fight uninhibited.

Inheris then moved in closer and reached out with force, finding the creatures legs and wrapping her grip around it, yanking to tear them out from under the Alpha so it would fall flat onto its back. If the thing was this large they needed to use that against it, make sure it couldn't even get a swing in.

Hopefully Victress had the same idea.

@Faded Truth @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress relished the sight before her, thousands of Maelibi chanting and singing with their hypnotic voices. Even if they were cheering for her demise, the very rush that she received invigorated and pulsed through her veins as a channeling focus for strength and power. The dark councilor fed on her emotions, darkness seeping from the pores of her skin as she utilized the very planet to harness her vile magics. Kneeling to the ground, armored hand traced through the dirt and collected a sizable fistfull of it, allowing it to drain and seep in between her fingers. It was a calming effect, lips curling into a wicked smile though hidden fully underneath the visage of her fear inspiring helm.

She could feel it, the Alpha's presence as the thundering continued and then suddenly exploded 10 meters in front of her. Rock and debris splashed outwards, Darth Victress took a step backwards to escape its epicenter as her eyes glanced at the menace before her. Golden skin and a radiance of power that matched her own; considerably smaller physically, the Darth however showed no hesitation or concern in her posture. Grabbed in her Black Hades, the force forged armor glistened in the arena's pale sunlight, as the Councilor appeared woefully confident standing against the towering behemoth. The creature sent off a chilling rage, vibrating to cloud her mind though Darth Victress was quick to defend against it. The force coming to her aid, shielding her mind against the manipulating assault as she cleared her thoughts and gazed upon the adversary at hand.

Darth Victress did not remain still but rather began to circle the arena, her cone of vision keeping her adversary in clean sight as the force began to pulsate and brew in her left palm. The thundering of voices continued to escalate, it was evident that the citizens were here to witness a worthy challenger for their champion and the Darth too was reeling with excitement. Suddenly, she squeezed the fingers of her left hand into a fist and bashed it forwards. The simple gesture would release a corresponding telekinetic attack, sending a column of force energy towards the diaphragm region of the beast as her counterpart yanked its legs forward. The attack served as a force push, hoping that the offensive combination would flatten the creature squarely on its back.

@Nefieslab @Nightfall

 

[The Storyteller]

The Alpha roared.

While Inheris was busy forming the mental barrier to keep the song of it's people from affecting her too badly, he threw the warhammer directly at her chest. This meant she would have to focus on that rather than getting her attack on his legs off, allowing the Alpha to pivot his body to one side, taking Victress' Force push to his right shoulder rather than directly in the chest.

There was a sound not unlike a hammer striking a metal gong... and the Alpha barely moved.

It smiled with sickeningly sharp teeth as he sprinted towards Victress. With it's naturally long stride and quickness, it would cross the distance almost unnaturally quickly and swing upwards with it's right-hand claws in an attempt to use it's razor-sharp metal claws to cleave right through her torso from waist to neck.

@Faded Truth @Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

It was a good thing that her eyes were ever on the enemy since it appeared, for while she had managed to clear her mind of the sound of its song, it had chosen to take a more direct approach with the both of them.

It's great warhammer, that it seemed to swing with ease, suddenly left its hand and shot straight for Saorise's chest. While her plan had been to tear at its legs, but she wasn't foolish enough to take a hit from that thing just to knock it around. Instead she leapt to the side, closer to Victress, to avoid the thing, as the hammer whipped past where she once stood.

She kept her body side to it, keeping the hammer in the corner of her eye as she otherwise took in the Alpha's renewed charge at Victress. The push had done little, the metallic thud and twang as it knocked the things body echoed in the arena.

As it rushed at Victress, Saorise splayed her fingers toward the creature, bolts of lightning ripping out toward the thing. As the creature had so thoroughly given its attention to Victress and committed to going in to her, it would be hard pressed to do anything about the lightning that now shot towards its side.

@Faded Truth @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress narrowed her eyes as the force push connected but didn't have nearly the impact she was hoping for. It appeared that this Alpha was considerably stronger than she had anticipated, but no matter. The dark councilor thought to herself, a wicked grin lacing across her face as well to match that of her adversary.

Darth Victress was already in movement and so as the creature lurched forwards rapidly, she too mobilized her defense. Planting with her left, she quickly strafed to her right and burst into a full sprint; her lightly armored form was quick and powerful, adding distance between herself and the creature as it came in for its melee attack. The alpha's right handed claws slashing through air at the position she was previously in, allowing her to effectively dodge the blow. As Darth Victress moved, the fingers of her right hand curled into a claw and with a sudden jerking motion, she released another force attack on the beast. Realizing its skin was hardened she figured the flesh underneath however would be vulnerable. Targeting the ligaments and blood vessels lying adjacent to its right knee, she yanked them outwards in a singular application, hoping to tear the knee's support architecture and thus immobilize the creature as her comrade released the burst of lightning towards its chest.

Her movements continued in a counter-clockwise motion, placing herself around 10 meters from the Alpha; Darth Victress circled the arena such that the location of both Sith Lords was on either side of their opponent, hopefully making it that much harder for the Maelibi to defend against their successive attacks. Simultaneously, dark energies began brewing in her left palm, gathering and pulsating in preparation.

@Nefieslab @Nightfall

 

[The Storyteller]

The Alpha was already beginning to get frustrated but that probably just meant that it was going to be furious - and fury gave strength to creatures such as the Demons of Iego. Victress dodging the blow was irritating but hardly unexpected. Even if the Demon did not respect her strength, it could recognize her as a wily prey regardless.

With Victress having dodged out of it's attack, the Alpha was committed to nothing by the time the lightning crossed the distance between itself and Inheris. Snarling angrily, the Alpha flung itself into a dive to one side to avoid the lightning, watching as the power scorched the ground.

As it rose to it's feet again, the demon paused as it felt the Sith Lord Victress gripping it's right knee... and she accomplished absolutely nothing.

Unlike the armour of Sith and humans, the skin of the Maelibi was what was armoured and, powerful or not, the Sith was unable to affect it's muscles and blood vessels directly. So instead of a painful attack to disable it, the Alpha felt as though someone had merely given the back of his knee a squeeze, akin to a man wearing a suit of armour feeling it when someone punched him through it.

He felt it - he just didn't care.

The Alpha scoffed, an all-too human expression that was conveyed through it's continued song, hammering his amused disappointment into the minds of both Sith women as he began to advance on them slowly, keeping them both in his sight. He began to open and close his mouth, snapping the air with his powerful jaw and terrifying teeth.

@Faded Truth @Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

Seeing the creature dive from her lightning wasn't the most satisfying image she could have seen, that would have been the damn hulking monstrosity get hit by it, but it did give her time to ready herself and pull once again force energies to her, focusing on her emotions, her strength to refuel her powers once more as they moved into the next stage of the fight, maintaining what mental wards she needed to keep the song out of her head, and keep her mind focused on what was to come.

If it had dodged them once, she would make sure it did not do so again.

Keeping a keen eye on it as it paused after standing back up, Saorise adjusted her position to ensure that her and Victress would once again be on either of the creature, meaning it would have to split its attacks and focus in order to try anything, giving them, hopefully, the upper hand.

As it began to advance, she instead released the energy she had been storing, wrapping the creature and holding it in place with an application of Force Stasis. As powerful as it was, it would take a bit to break, it would be held for at least some time. And given it hadn't worked up any speed or momentum moving toward either of them it couldn't push through with sheer force (and similarly, meant it took less to hold it where it was).

Holding the beast in time, she quickly looked to Victress, now was the time to destroy this thing and end it.

@Faded Truth @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress watched as her attack did not have the intended effects she desired, the creature's molten skin providing more of a barrier to block her force sight on its inner ligaments and flesh. Her armored figure continued in movement, circling their adversary and placing it in between her and Inheris to further heighten its difficulty in guarding against their successive attacks. It would appear that even after all this time apart, the two female Sith Lords seemingly were on the same page when it came to combat. It was a rarity really, considering that the last time they had fought together, they had been enemies.

Force energies brewed in her right hand, bubbling with heat as her face cast a sinister smile and realized it was now time to unleashed her prepared attack. As Darth Inheris' force stasis took a hold of the Alpha, Darth Victress gestured with her right hand into a claw like formation. The air surrounding the creature heated suddenly, creating a gust of flame that spew forth to engulf the Maelibus in entirety. Fire would scorch at is golden flesh and armored skin, utilizing its own defenses as a conductor for its demise.

Darth Victress kept her distance around 7 meters from the creature, focus channeled to completing her Force Fire but also kept partial concentration on defense. In case her opponent found a way to distract or attack offensively, she would be prepared to defend.

@Nefieslab @Nightfall

 

[The Storyteller]

The Alpha might have come out unscathed so far due to being a clearly superior physical specimen but that was not to be the case going forwards. The stasis effect from Inheris snapped into effect, an attack focusing on every inch of his powerful form. It was a strong hold, to be sure, but the Alpha was stronger.

Had he nothing else to contend with, he would have broken through the effect totally but in point of fact he had something else to focus on; Victress.

Having chosen to face Victress, as the stronger of the two and the only one who had presented any kind of offensive threat to him during their bout so far, the Alpha was able to see the attack coming. The stasis wasn't strong enough to hold the Alpha's pure strength completely but it was enough that he was slowed, causing his leap to be delayed just enough that his upper right side, including the entire length of his right arm, was caught in the heat.

The Alpha roared, his powerful voice cutting deeply into the minds of both Victress and Inheris as a neural attack decided to inflict pain, even as his left hand dipped to the ground, tearing a large chunk of rock from the floor and flinging it at Victress' head.

@Faded Truth @Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

As the fire burned the beast, Saorise gritted her teeth as she felt her grip slip and the thing break through her grasp. Victress's flames had seared away at the Alpha's right side, catching its armour and flesh in the flames. Still though, it fought on.

The duel had gone on longer than she had expected, they'd need to end it soon, for both their sakes. Unless they kept doing damage quick they'd tire their Force abilities out, and there was little time for respite in the arena it seemed, not when the Maelibi's calls rung in your ears and you had to keep constantly aware to make sure you didn't fall to their song.

And as the Alpha wailed an roared from the fire, again the voice went straight to her head. She had kept a low level ward on her mind since the song started, so Inheris bolstered it to hold up against the roar, a little easier than forming a whole new one, but not by much.

But her attack now would be simple. The Alpha still looked away at Victress, and kept its right arm open on its side. Reaching out she gripped the Alpha's right arm, and crushed it with the Force. What once might have been taken easily by the beast armour would hopefully now cause it intense pain, her force power digging in directly into the fresh, bubbling wound from the fire.

If it worked it'd split its attention and lock it down with pain, hopefully then Victress could get in for the kill.

@Faded Truth @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress always enjoyed a worthy challenge, and so far, this Alpha had lived up to its potential. She had heard rumors that it had a younger sibling, a Maelibus Omega, perhaps she would find this one and persuade it to join her cause in case this Alpha succumbed to its injuries. Teeth grinning excitedly during the midst of combat, the dark councilor continued with her predatory speed and weaved around the battle field. The distance she maintained enabled her agile figure to react on a moment's notice and so as the piece of rock came hurling at her, she rapidly side-stepped away as it sailed through air and slammed into the ground behind her. Those damn singing voices, she could feel them slither and prode at her mind once again, but luckily, partial concentration was maintained in defense and for now, it would not cause the pain it sought.

Darth Victress realized her force fire had partially injured her adversary but as the flames were created, she simply did not let them extinguish so easily. The attack was prepared previously and so she remained committed to it; as her armored figure continued in its movements, allowing the Alpha to squarely focus on her, she manipulated the flames to act in concert with Inheris' force crush, rivulets of fire streaming towards the neck and face of her opponent. She hoped the close proximity to vital organs would cause burn injuries to Demon's eyes and throat.

During the course of this attack, the Dark Councilor maintained a distance of close to 7 meters, continually circling the arena to make her a difficult foe to subdue.

@Nefieslab @Nightfall

 

[The Storyteller]

The reason why the Force Fire attack had harmed the Alpha was because the energy was conducted so well by it's metal skin, burning the muscles and the blood vessels within the metal. In addition, it burned and melted some of the metallic skin, warping it and fusing it together. The skin of the demons of Iego was metal, hence why the heat had actually caused it so much damage and hence why Inheris' Force Crush caused just as much damage to it's arm as it would have done before the Force Fire hit; almost none.

Inheris' attack was conducted while she was splitting her attention between defending her mind against a mental attack and the attack itself - and she was attempting to crush solid metal. It wasn't liquid from the Force Fire, even if it had been warped badly, so it was still a full and total armour covering.

Still, the attack from Victress was nothing to be ignored and Inheris' attack (while not accomplishing what she intended) still acted almost like a hand squeezing his arm in place. It failed to squeeze through the metal skin but it did do a remarkable job of holding the arm in place, limiting the Alpha's movement options against the fire.

In the end it chose pain and life.

Twisting, it dislocated it's right shoulder with a roar of pain - just so it could turn it's back to Victress' flames. The attack connected to the back of it's head and neck. It roared mentally again as it sank forwards onto it's knees, the metal of it's skin around it's head and rear of the neck fusing oddly, fixing it's head in one position.

It hissed both in pain... and defeat.

If it were a battle between itself and one of the Sith at a time? It would have liked it's odds better. As it was? It knelt down with it's right arm limp by it's side. It's left hand touched the ground as it's knees hit the ground and it knelt.

@Faded Truth @Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

In her mind she could still hear the violent roar from the Alpha as Victress' fire melted away at its back, their foe unable to escape from her grip and her allies attack. The hulking figure of the Alpha dropped to the ground, its strength expended and finished. This was the end of the duel, and soon, the end of it.

How that would affect the Maelibi remained to be seen, but such was the deal that had been struck, she had no plan of risking any change in its terms.

Inheris strode over the the kneeling creature that had dropped to the ground across from her. She could scarcely tell how it felt, bar the roar of pain she couldn't read its thoughts, emotions, its body language for that matter, the effect of Victress's attack had stunted its capabilities in that department.

The crowd around still looked on intently, watching the conflict draw to a close.

Inheris herself took one last look at the Alpha, gazing into its eyes. All before returning her gaze to the crowd,

"Your champion is defeated" she spoke to the audience, keeping her mind at the ready for any more mental provocations. Their collective power very may well overwhelm them if the worst occurred,

"We hope this proves our strength" she finished, turning to leave the arena. Victress could do what she liked with the creature.

The duel, she hoped, and the loyalty of the Maelibi, were won. There was no reason to reside in this hell any longer.

@Faded Truth @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress watched as the Alpha took the brunt of her flames towards the back of its skull and neck, pain submitting the creature to its knees, secondary to the damage from scorching fire on molten gold. Bubbling sorcery channeled in the palm of her right hand, slowly dissipating as the duel drew to its conclusion. Shadows flurried around the councilor's armored figure, a reflection of her deathly aura as she slowly advanced towards her adversary. Her body partially visible, as if the shadows and death itself had contorted a portion of her presence, making her very appearance a silhouette of the dark side.

Opening her left hand, force drew around the shaft of the fallen war hammer and brought it into her grasp with a snapping thud. Golden eyes scanned over the weapon before tossing it towards the ground in front of the kneeling alpha. Darth Victress gestured with her hand, voice projecting through her duraplast helm and addressed the crowd that now grew into silence as their champion was defeated. Her tone was corrupted and near robotic, echoing with a certain intimidating graze as it spoke at a high enough volume so she was heard clearly.

"Your champion fought well, but in the end, Maelibus Alpha has been defeated. Your courage in fighting us has not gone unnoticed. Join us, partner the strength of your warriors with the dark side, and we will rule the galaxy!".

@Nightfall @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

The Maelibi of Iego were a simple people in many ways.

What they respected was strength and they respected those who recognized it and those who wielded it. The Sith had proven that they could respect those with it and still defeat them with a greater strength. It was enough that the opinion of the majority of the 'demons' was simple and fully in line with their thinking.

The thunderous sound of a several hundred of the demons roaring in approval was enough to break through the mental barriers of both Sith Lords but it was clearly a sign of approval so there would be no pain from it.

It was as close to an accepting embrace as they were capable of.

/End Thread

@Faded Truth @Nightfall