Battle of Zigoola

[Clayton]

Sisk's head impacted against the rebar with such force that bone fragments and bits of brain exploded out of the impact site, and the rebar even punched through the rear of the helmet, stained a vivid scarlet. Confident that nobody, even a God if there was one, could survive such a blow, Rook began to feel the all-controlling rage that had gripped him start to slip away. Where one sensation left, another rose to take its place. Pain filled the void that wrath had left behind. His shoulder ached something terrible, and the bullet was still lodged inside. Rook knew that he was in no condition to engage in saber combat, and with the throbbing pain, force combat was going to be iffy as well.

So he took the only reasonable course of action: he would retreat. Geist had a medical center on the second floor where he could get patched up. With the force, he snapped the sticky bonds that constrained him to one spot. The snapping sticky substance stung as it recoiled as his feet peeled off the stone floor. With a jump, he cleared the glop pile. With another twist of the force, he pulled Sisk from the rebar with a sickening squelch. He removed Sisk's helmet as a trophy, along with two weapons from Sisk's belt. The weapons were guided to the magnetic plate on his back, and the helmet hung on his fist. The body of Sisk Renelo was thrown up the stairs along Rook's path. THe corpse was a potentially invaluable propaganda tool, and he would be damned if he let any of Sisk's Mandalorian brothers recover the body.

With a waddling walk as the glop started to slowly harden, Rook stumbled rather unceremoniously up the stairs that led to the medical center. With a flick of his thoughts, he sent Geist a telepathic message, though no doubt the Dark Lord had been paying attention to the swirling power that had erupted int he lethal contest. "Sisk Renelo is dead. Others went on ahead into the palace, though I'm sure you're aware of that. I'm not in the best condition to fight, so I'll leave the others to you." A minute later he found himself sitting awkwardly on a medical table while a droid probed at his wound. He winced with the pain, but it was tolerable. He had won a massive victory today. Rook closed his eyes and cast his senses out through the palace to observe the actions of Geist and whoever else was foolish enough to attack the Dark Lord's sanctum.

 

[Mistress]

Lutomi's eyes widened as she felt Larik slipping from coherency. She didn't come all this way to get her own arse trapped by this new Dark Lord in his creepy fortress. For a second she actually thought what might happen if the tyrant recognized who she is from her involvement on Reckoning. She shook it off, thankful of the fact that entire station had been blown to smithereens.

The two Jedi swayed where they stood. Lutomi sneered and zapped both Jedi with a pulse of Electric Judgement. "Focus! You hear me?!" she growled. "I may need you two to fight along side me with tooth and nail to get out of this. I don't care if you lose your religion to get off this planet, we are leaving it together." The look on Sionann's face made Lutomi feel that the girl might just up and bite the enemy. She snickered, pondering how it probably would feel quite good to actually do something of that sort.

Two-Bits shrieked over her earpiece, so shrill that Lutomi impulsively scoffed and smacked her ear. She stood still for a moment listening to the little Droid relay the recent development. "The leader of our rescue has fallen." Lutomi attempted to hide her sudden surge of turbulent emotion from the empathic nature of her friends, her only indication being that her voice faltered next. "The...main ship is returning..." She wriggled a finger in the direction illuminated on her HUB. "A Transport is rounding the building for us, this way." She pointed out their new heading. "It is closer." Two-Bits and her Apprentices were on board along with a number of Crew members from the Zephira. The Jedi vessel had been safely waiting off in the distance, now begun its return to receive them.

Arms tightly interlocked, Lutomi felt Sionann sucking in power like a vortex. She could not imagine what her soul sister could be planning, but she knows there is nothing going to occur here today that can't be fixed! The area was so thick with the Darkside of the Force, that it caused her to grow anxious, and increasingly accepting of entertaining the wild scenarios which continued to bombard her mind. Something outside of the building just felt completely out of control, eerily worse than here inside. She knew they must make haste to get out of here immediately.

Lutomi lead Sionann and Larik through the dark labyrinth, nothing short of feeling like a bat fleeing Hell. The Crystal foundation cracked under their feet as they ran past.

Up ahead the path depicted on her HUD became skewed. She stopped suddenly in her tracks, clinging tightly to Larik and Sionann, barricading her body against their forward motion, assisting her objective with the Force. Then she struggled to erect in her stance where her feet planted, and without stepping so much as an inch further forward. The three stood before what Lutomi perceived as a shift in physical reality as they knew it to be, just beyond the tip of their toes. She cursed aloud. The sudden stop caused her HUD to fly off her face, which she almost instinctively reached out to grab but felt someone swiftly stop her from doing so as the momentum could have drawn her to plunge forward into the strange abyss. The HUD did not make a noise at all as if it simply vanished into the absolute darkness. A chill crept over her spine.

Xotomi once again came into view before her eyes, this time much more vivid from the phantasm she witnessed only moments before, upon her arrival. The apparition pointed out the direction in which they should continue. She pointed forward.

"This is it," she said to the other Jedi. "We have to trust that through this is our way out. It's psychological as much as a sensory deterrent." Lutomi refused to be the one to choose to erect her own barricade between this demented existence and that of outside freedom. "Shall we?" She reinforced her hold upon Sionann, and reached across for Larik as well. She cannot anticipate what they might experience as they push forward, but they will exit this dark prison together.

 

[TAC]

A maze.

And not the enjoyable kind.

Larik felt a bit of frustration as Lutomi essentially guided him like a child through the dark and twisting corridors of the vile fortress. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the Dark Lord's abode seemed to churn just as he took his eyes off of them, his peripheral constantly spinning and moving in a distracting manner. Every so often the building would take a stab at his mental defenses, and a pressure was beginning to build up in the back of his skull.

Something was amiss with Lutomi, some sort of pain, but the Jedi Master couldn't pin it. Something to do with the pressure in his head, and perhaps now a slight buzzing noise that seemed to be permeating the walls. The man made a mental note to speak with her about it when they got out of there, but the thought was lost in the white noise.

"Yes," was Larik's simple response to Lutomi's questioning. The man had faced this sort of perceptual mayhem in the fortress before, and he wasn't about to be slowed now. Plunging through first, holding on to Lutomi's hand, the Corellian found himself on the outside of the building that he had been stuck in for the better part of the month.

He released Lutomi's hand, bending down on one knee. Although the planet still clawed as his conscious, being free of the Illusionist's fortress itself did wonders for his concentration and ability to think clearly. "Thank God," he breathed, picking up a handful of dirt as he stood. Letting the dirt fall from his hand he smiled and wiped the remainder of it on his green robe.

Pulling out his lightsaber, he looked around. Best to be prepared now that he could think straight. From around the corner of the building the hum of a transport could be heard, and it quickly whipped around into their view, slowing and opening the appropriate hatches to allow the three Jedi in.

Allowing the others to go first, the Jedi turned back to face the fortress. From within the man could feel the presence of the Dark Lord, growing closer to the escapees. It was certainly time to go. 'Till next time,' the Jedi thought with a smile, bordering the ship last.

 

[Emerald Iris]

Sionann let out a breath to say something in her haze, but then Larik grabbed her arm, there was pain, there was violence, there was shadow....and then there was light. It was a pulsating and pressurized light, but light none the less. Deep inside, the walls broke and a hand from within reached out and grabbed that light, grabbed the storm and took a firm grasp of it. This was the moment the sage knight needed, however it came with a cost.

She lurched forward in Larik's and Lutomi's embrace as her head felt like it had hit against the side of a brick wall as her senses truly became hers once again. Logic and understanding came back int full as the light side pushed her back towards her own peculiar sense of balance. There was anger, however, a lot of anger, as Sionann became furious once her haze was lifted. How could she let this happen again? How could she have been so arrogant? How?!

The illusions were twisting around again as her senses came back to normal, and all she could see was the image of the Sith Wookiee that had bested her, bearing his weight down upon her chest, mocking her. The electric current that that Lutomi had sent through the sage knight was transformed and made considerably more volatile through her anger cracking outward, away from them. "I won't make the same mistake," She gritted through her teeth willing her legs to move passed the wookiee, a monster to be dealt with on a different day. Those were the only words that she had said throughout their trek through the fortress.

It was difficult keeping a straight path through the fortress and if it wasn't for Larik and Lutomi, Sionann would certainly have been drawn to the images of Rookwrr the Black that plagued her every which way. Her hands clenched into fists as the dark sided anger didn't subside like it should have, but then the breeze of fresh air hit her, they were outside. She finally stood without their assistance, uplifted by the feeling of freedom and letting it overpower her anger. Sionann Ione had remembered who she was enough by this point and took a deep breath as the three made their way to a waiting transport that Lutomi had called earlier.

Dirt gave way to metal once again, but this time she could see clearly, turning with the others back towards the fortress "There is a lot of work to be done,," She shook her head and gave a faint smile to the two, showing that she was at least alright on the surface, before turning and walking up the ramp of the transport so the Jedi can depart, and recover.

 

[Dmitri]

Pests found their way into his humble abode. Mandalorian rodents eager to make holes where they didn't belong and scurry around irritatingly. However, there was a slice of cheese that was too tempting to pass by for the lead rodent: Rookwrr.

In truth, Darth Somnus would have preferred someone else had come. Sisk and he were old acquaintances, having fought side by side to stop a Force scion during the Battle of Lacrima. He had hoped to be able to reason with Sisk when the second Mandalorian civil war blossomed, but Clan Renelo hid well, and Darth Somnus was otherwise preoccupied elsewhere. During the Summit, Darth Somnus held hope for relations to be restored between the Mandalorians and the Sith. But to no avail. The Mandalorians choose war. He didn't blame them, from a subjective standpoint. They had been used time and time again. Hell, he was even responsible for manipulations himself, having framed the Galactic Alliance in an assassination attempt against Corden Vencu. However, Andraste's pawn Corden Vencu was no more, and the Mandalorians were deemed a threat. The empress had them eradicated, only a few stragglers remaining, too stupid to know when to die.

While thousands and millions of Mandalorians perished, one Mandalorian survived that genocide. Sisk Renelo. Darth Somnus had petitioned for the man's survival, but even to this day he still wasn't sure why Sisk Renelo was allowed to live, whether by Somnus' request, or to insult the Mandalorian pride by keeping him alive rather than supplying him the warrior's death. The Dark Lord suspected the latter.

Sisk Renelo escaped, thanks to the aid of others. Now he came to the rescue of others. The Rebellion revealed itself in order to rescue Sisk Renelo and capture Darth Vereor. Sisk Renelo was the man who got away. But now he willingly came back into the Sith's hands. Vengeance was the way of the Sith, and hoped he could defeat the Sith with their own medicine. But hatred had not consumed his heart, and the darkness had not yet empowered his heart. His metaphorical heart lay only in ruins. And now, by the power of his wife's killer, Sisk's real and bleeding heart was about to be in ruins too.

Sisk wasn't the only Mandalorian present. As Sisk engaged Rookwrr, other Mandalorians fled into the Phantom Palace. The Force user among the group navigated straight to the dungeon and sought out the Jedi captives. A few engaged the Kovallons. However, a few, either foolish or brave, ran straight toward the throne room. They probably thought they could take out the Dark Lord. With such arrogance, they should have aided Sisk in his fight with the newly christened Sith Master. Instead they left him abandoned in order to take on a stronger foe. Their mistake had been lethal, for both them and Sisk.

The Mandalorians didn't stand a chance. Their technology helped them persevere past many layers of illusions, but they still managed to stumble about. Darth Somnus simply overwhelmed their minds. Most resisted at first, but the last Mandalorian caved in quickly. It was a quiet process, to dominate the Mandalorian named Tsozin. The man barely gave a fight. In a matter of seconds, his body was the Dark Lord's marionette, body and mind willing to do the Sith's bidding. Darth Somnus had Tsozin level the playing field. Before Tsozin's comrades knew what was going, Tsozin began firing at the Mandalorians. A male Mandalorian avoided a fatal shot though collapsed to the ground while the female Mandalorian died before she hit the floor. The others turned to face the attacker. However, Darth Somnus wasn't done yet. He fed more of his power into the Phantom Palace. The illusions became more focused on the Mandalorian party. It was a risk, as it lessened his focus on the rest of the Phantom Palace, making it easier for others to get around. However, the Mandalorian party right outside his throne room held no chance. He altered their perceptions, to make it appear that each other were the attacker, someone was firing at someone, except Tsozin. The Mandalorians slaughtered themselves in a matter of minutes.

The brass doors to the throne room swung open. Only one man walked into the throne room. Tsozin. His strode was uneasy, as if in a trance. Well, he is, Geist chuckled amusingly to himself. No longer focused on Tsozin's deceased comrades, his senses broadened once more. Sisk Renelo was dead, confirmed by a telepathic message from Rookwrr. The Mandalorian ship was fleeing, the Jedi captives on board. Darth Somnus debated having the palace's defenses fire on the ship, but reconsidered.

Let us see if the seeds shall bear fruit, Darth Somnus decided. Whatever happened, it was evident in the Force that it would be amusing. Larik had escaped Darth Somnus' Phantom Palace, but he would never be able to escape its memories.

"Ebberla Daw was captured and escaped. Her time in captivity forged her into the woman she became. Lamia Kressh was captured and escaped, and her time in captivity forged her into the woman she became too, short as it was," Darth Somnus muttered aloud. "What path shall you take?"

"My liege?"

Darth Somnus had almost forgotten that Tsozin was still there, a prisoner of his own mind. Larik had been a good drinking partner, and Sisk had been a former friend. But as strong as friendship could be, friends could be replaced. As could pawns.

The Dark Lord stood up from his throne and walked down the steps. He walked past the zombified Mandalorian. Tsozin was useful, if only amusingly, only to neutralize his comrades. But his comrades were gone, either dead or fled. With a flip of his wrist, Tsozin's neck snapped audibly and the man wilted onto the floor. The small death was absorbed by the Dark Lord, as were the deaths of Tsozin's comrades as he walked by the corpses. The Dark Lord coalesced the power and kept it in reservoir as he made his way to the medical center. For such an isolated enclave, it held an impressive medical facility. The best money could buy. Having personal wealth had its advantages after all. Already they were being used on the Wookie, as evident when he walked into the room.

The Dark Lord motioned for Wookie to remain where he was, to neutralize any possibility of the Wookie trying to get up to pay any respects. The warrior had already demonstrated his respect to the Dark Lord by fighting for him and his sanctuary, his haven away from the fighting. However, war had found its way here so it was no longer secure. He would have to decide later on what to do with the Phantom Palace.

"The vermin that plagued these halls have been eradicated," Darth Somnus stated aloud. "A few escaped. Your recent prize, Sionann, was among the escaped, as did my other captive. It is of little consequence now. The largest threat has been eliminated." Darth Somnus looked at Rookwrr. "By your hands."

Darth Somnus wasn't sure what to feel. It was true he and Sisk Renelo had at once been grudgingly good friends. Darth Somnus had hoped to mold Sisk Renelo into a man of comprise, to have Sisk Renelo return the Mandalorians to the empire. Sisk succeeded in uniting the Mandalorians, but as enemies of the state. No matter of friendship could overcome the betrayal Darth Somnus felt. And his own failure. Was there no other way than death for Sisk? The Dark Lord wished he could lie to himself and say that there was, but rationality said otherwise. Sisk's actions had been irredeemable. The man had sought pandemonium, to destabilize the empire. Rookwrr had done nothing wrong in executing the criminal.

"You did well, Rookwrr," Darth Somnus said. "The closest anyone has been to eliminating a Mandalorian leader." Granted he had fired a shot that struck a few inches from Corden Vencu's head, but that was an entirely different matter. "Sisk Renelo sought to unite the Mandalorians. Instead he only obtained death. With Sisk Renelo dead, it will be some time before another candidate arises to claim the title of Mandalore. The Mandalorians shall squabble amongst themselves again and in the process weaken themselves. You killed one man, and caused the death of hundreds more." The Dark Lord chuckled, with slight humor in his voice, though a tiny hint of hollowness. "An assassin's creed." The Dark Lord's attention wavered to the severed head on a nearby table. "A souvenir?" It would probably serve as the Wookie's trophy. Or at least he hoped so. Wookies didn't eat human flesh, right?

 

[Clayton]

This was the second time in the same day that he had received praise from the Dark Lord. He bowed his head in acknowledgement of Geist's words. "Sionann may have escaped, but she isn't free of the dark side. She's a wreck that will either explode in her brethren's faces, or take up their time and attention to ensure that she doesn't fall."

Up until now, he had been mentally replaying his fight with Sisk, going over it blow by blow. It was a habit he had forced himself into as an acolyte. Review what mistakes had been made, what would have been a more appropriate response. Moves and counter-moves. He had been immobile, an easy target. He had tried playing with Sisk when he should have overpowered him with the force at the beginning. Rook had felt Somnus' approach just as the medical droid was finishing up applying a salve to the stitched skin. Thanks to bacta, he would be almost perfectly healed in just over a day.

"I would call that a win for us," he said slowly, the Jedi had escaped, but one was damaged and fighting a corruption. She would not be leading any attack soon, nor would her caretaker. Sisk had been killed, one of the most important leaders the Rebels had. As had many mandalorians. Soldiers so few in number, these 24 were a not-so-insignificant number. Then Geist inquired to the head.

Rook chuffed and patted the helmet. "This is it. Getting it off his head was trickier than one would think. But yes, a trophy. And a reminder that no matter how well prepared I might be for a fight, there might be someone better on the other side." Sisk's body, still in his armor, lay on another table under a cloth. "I brought it here in case you wanted to do something with it. The body...isn't in very good shape. His armor might be of some use, either for propaganda or your own experiments."

The wookiee rolled Xotomi's former lightsaber in his hands, and let out a sigh. He was starting to come down off of the adrenaline rush from the battle. "So now what?" It was a fairly broad question, one that could mean what the Dark Lord expected of Rook in the weeks to come, or what was to be done about the Phantom Palace, now that the rebels and Jedi knew it could be breached.

 

[Dmitri]

Darth Somnus placed his hand on the Wookie's shoulder and transfused the energy he had been accumulating from the Mandalorians into the Sith. The power would replenish his reserves and help heal a bit, the Dark Lord seeding some of his own energy as well to help that process. Revitalized, the Wookie would have a better time healing.

Sisk Renelo's head was more than just a reminder to Rookwrr. It was also to Geist. Friends could become enemies. Enemies could become friends. War had a tendency of changing the battlefield, alignments shifting. "I can take care of the body. Do as you wish with the head and helmet." Still, they may have ended off as enemies, but that did not mean they necessarily had to disrespect their old friendship. He would give Sisk a proper Mandalorian burial. The armor though he could use. The Dark Lord was still debating whether to modify it or just use it as part of Wars' End.

The Dark Lord's calculations were already in motion. Rookwrr was aware of such changes to come, and inquired. "Your next assignment is to heal. I do not want you leaving until you are clear. To not heal properly prevents the body from returning to its premier state. Carry out training that you require. When you are back to full health, we shall talk." Geist examined the medical center. He was going to miss this place. He had put a lot in the Phantom Palace, both time and resources. But as the war waged, Zigoola was no longer safe. Its isolation was its primary defense, but it was also its weakness. Reinforcements took too long to get to Zigoola, and he was not arrogant as to pull defenses from planets who needed them. Letting out a breath, he said, "Phantom Palace shall be abandoned. It shall be my promise to myself. As long as the Jedi and insurgents fight us, this place is not safe. As such, I will not return here until the war is over." Geist turned to Rookwrr. "If you ever need a private place to train or recuperate, you are free to the palace's facilities. I will largely leave it automated with droids. I'll give you the access codes when they're in place."

 

[Clayton]

Rook nodded slowly, the Palace would be useful in training an apprentice. Picking apart what was real and what was not, survival in the wastes, both useful skills. And there was no doubt that he would find an isolated planet with medical facilities very useful in the months to come. He accepted the gift of energy from the Dark Lord with a small nod of gratitude. He did not dwell on the similarity of the action to that of the traitor Xanthus. Ages ago under the blazing sun, an upstart gungan acolyte had accurately called Xanthus for what he was, or what he was to become. Rook did not try to draw any similar conclusions, this time, Geist was just probably grateful, or wanted to do the proper thing and reward a tremendous deed.

He chuffed lightly, "Too bad I couldn't get much information out of the Jedi. She might have known something, locations, names, ships..." He paused at looked at Somnus. The man had mentioned training after all, and a lesson from the Dark Lord seemed like a fair reward for killing a symbol of the enemy's. "There's a way to obtain information from another's mind when there isn't time to do a proper interrogation, I understand. If it's largely a mental exercise, I think I'd like to practice that while my body recovers." He blinked slowly. "If you think I should wait, that is fine. I can use the time to plan lessons for an apprentice."