Storm's Calling

[Elijah Brockway]

Malachor
​

Bucking angrily in the storms that pervaded the ancient planet's atmosphere, a single Icarus-class Star Courier - piloted by an M7-series droid - slowly approached the surface of Malachor. The sky outside the viewports was as dead and grey as the parched ground the ship was descending to, barely any different from the empty, nearly-starless expanse of space that the planet was situated in, nearly lying in the great void between the arms of the galaxy. Complementing the few dim stars that wasted their energies attempting to light the empty sky came the rush of energy that constantly emanated from the planet, a pulsing, icy wave of immaterial intent - the legacy of the millenia the dark side had laid claim to the planet, taking root down nearly to the core.

"What wonders we had accomplished," muttered Torker, standing at the helm of the ship. His eyes slowly scanned the cracked wastelands before him, coming to rest on the centerpiece of the landscape - a massive temple complex, that not even he knew in full truth what lay inside. None in the Sith of this day and age did, as the temple far predated Torker...let alone any of the young whelps who were barely fit to be named to his sacred order. "And how far have we now fallen from the wonders of old." The elderly Sith snorted in disgust at the current state of the order.

It was a sentiment he hadn't spared anybody from who thought to ask him. In his view, the current Sith were weak, ill-advised, plagued more by short-sightedness and a lack of conviction than any of the infighting that had filled the order in ages before. They held nothing of the vision or the sheer, unadulterated power than had been known even a century beforehand, when Torker himself was young. In his mind, it was disgraceful.

But he was making his mark on the order, and slowly working to better it. The Dark Lord herself had been taken under his wing, a Force-drunk Jedi dropout who thought herself worthy to be named head of the order...and others agreed; Torker, at least, could not deny that she had potential to be molded into something more than any recent Sith had ever managed to be. Now he travelled with another, a moment's diversion from his work with Kira Elan. A chance to continue influencing the younger generation down the proper path.

"Neophyte," he called out, his hoarse, reptillian voice vibrating the floor panels he stood on. Dzia - a Sith, not only of the order but the ancient species - did not stand with him, though hopefully she had learned enough to know to come when he called. "Before we begin on our twofold task, I would appreciate it if you would tell me what you know of this planet. I need to see if your instructors have been faithful in their duties."

@Apollyon

 

[Apollyon]

"Neophyte," Came the reptilian voice of Dzia’s elder.

A ripple of distaste coursed through Dzia’s body at her fellow Sith’s call. While Dzia respected Torker’s race as one of superior stock, having decimated their homeworld before conquering another planet and subjugating the lesser life forms of the world. In Dzia’s eyes, the Annoo-dat Prime had proven themselves taskmasters, they were Masters of their own fate and brought the lesser races to heel before their might. Alongside the Sith and a handful of other races, the Annoo-dat Prime were destined to inherit the galaxy and bend it to their whims.

However, this particular Annoo-dat Prime, while intelligent, perceptive, and knowledgeable in the ways of the Dark Side, was a thorn in Dzia’s side. Typically, her knee jerk reaction would be to remove such a thorn from existence, something she wondered the difficulty of as she gazed at the imbued warblade that sat in her lap. This thought was quickly purged from her mind, despite lusting for vengeance against the elder lizard, attempting to strike him down before they disembarked onto a world shrouded in the darkness would be very foolish of her.

Instead, Dzia inhaled sharply through her predatory teeth, closed her eyes, and focused solely on her rage for a moment. While this wouldn’t calm her, feeding on her outrage towards Torker’s insult would help her with finding her center and hopefully allow her to tolerate the Annoo-dat Prime long enough to accomplish the first of her many goals. When Dzia finally allowed her eyes to reopen she had found her center, her emotions controlled once more but certainly not hidden from Torker.

The first lesson in being Sith was to embrace your own emotions and to accept hostilities between each other. This was what Dzia had been taught by the instructors on Korriban, this is a lesson she had applied to her life. To her, Torker and most other Sith were more likely to be potential rivals then friends or allies. However, circumstance had forced her to bind herself to Torker in a dualfaced venture to one of the oldest Sith bastions in the Galaxy, Malachor.

“Yes Torker.” Dzia replied in faux politeness, her Imperial accent tinged with undertones of her Ch’hodosian ancestry.

While not directly an insult to her fellow Sith, Dzia refused to address the Annoo-dat Prime as her superior and she wanted him to recognize a single fact, even if he hated it, they were equals. While she acknowledged the fact that Torker stood miles ahead of her in his understanding and power in the Dark Side, but he was a simple Sith, as was she. Making this fact known to the elder Sith caused a tinge of pleasure to surge through her being, something else she made no effort to hide.

"Before we begin on our twofold task, I would appreciate it if you would tell me what you know of this planet. I need to see if your instructors have been faithful in their duties." Torker questioned.

“What I know of Malachor?” Dzia asked rhetorically, her voice betraying her slight insult at the question. “Malachor was a Sith stronghold generations ago.” She began. "This was a place where one of our first temples was built before the Jedi assaulted our strongholds.” She continued. “What occurred in the ensuing battles is obscure, the only thing we truly know is that the world is almost completely void of life and is a powerful Dark Side nexus.” Dzia stated before she paused. “I have even heard rumors that Jedi refuse to step foot upon the planet, but that could be simple rumors.” She concluded, her orange eyes shifting towards her partner on this mission.

“And my ‘instructors’ had little to do with that knowledge, they were poor teachers but I am a diligent student.” Dzia added, emphasizing the word instructors with a hint of hostility at their memory, then she turned her gaze back to the planet.

@Elijah Brockway @Marf

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Torker reaction to Dzia's subtle attempt at a slight was one of barely-veiled amusement. It was just as obvious to him as when the current Dark Lord had acted similarly - yet in this case, it was even more pointless. However, he did decide that he would wait to say anything until the girl had finished speaking.

"Very good," he replied after Dzia had relayed her knowledge. "You have made sure to learn quite a bit...though if your instructors neglected to properly teach you, I must wonder why they still live, if they do. You should consider engineering either their deaths or exiles as an exercise in your abilities, to prove how inept they are." He fell silent for a moment, remembering the murders he had commited, removing his former instructors from the galaxy one by one. It would be good to see a return to our proper ways. The strong exterminating the weak, ensuring the fitness of our order.

"Don't forget, however, that while any normal life has long since perished, there are still beasts, changed by the Force, living on this planet's surface...nor should you forget that the Force itself is alive in the core of this rock. With the tests it might throw at us, this planet is nearly more dangerous to us than to any Jedi." Finished speaking about the planet, he turned his predatory gaze over to Dzia herself, mildly baring his teeth.

"As well, apprentice, you would do well to remember that you are currently barely more than an acolyte...and that neither your previous life nor your current ranking within our order mean anything compared to the experience and power some others hold. Until recently, Vereshin himself was considered only a simple Sith amongst our ranks, our current Dark Lord much the same." Leading into his next statement, he quickly gestured to himself with a single claw.

"Or, myself; I was already a fully fledged Sith, my teeth wet with blood from the battlefield, before your parents were born...likely even when your grandparents were swaddling babes. I've lived as long as I have through my power, my experience, and my cunning combined. I'm not so much a fool to seek out unnecessary titles that invite nothing but foolishness and attempts at murder, and I know just what to say and to whom it can be said...a lesson I hope you can learn yourself, and quickly." As the ship came near to the ground and started to properly land he turned again, this time towards the back end of the ship.

"As well, given that the Darth Solum herself requested I join you on this venture, you would be wise to mind your tongue. Or did your instructors also fail to teach you to be respectful? You really should kill them, if that's the case." He started to walk towards the exit ramp of the ship, senses both physical and metaphysical on high alert in case Dzia decided to do something stupid. "Now, don't let your personal task distract you from what we're doing here. We must clear these beasts from the temple grounds. Pay attention to your surroundings, keep a weapon handy, and don't expect me to feel sad if you get yourself killed."

 

[Apollyon]

Torker’s praise was as expected; Dzia was no fool and had researched the destination the Dark Side had guided her to. She wouldn’t step onto a place, much less a world as saturated in the Dark Side as Malachor without being cautious at the very least. Dzia had survived in a culture that glorified and worshiped the Dark Side as a God, she knew of it volatility and danger first hand. Despite this fact and her personal use of caution around sites steeped in the Dark Side, Dzia didn’t fear the chaotic and destructive nature of the Force. Instead, the young Sith relished every moment she dwelt within it, embracing whatever aspect of the Dark Side the place embodied and accepting the challenge the world brought to bear against her.

"You have made sure to learn quite a bit...though if your instructors neglected to properly teach you, I must wonder why they still live, if they do. You should consider engineering either their deaths or exiles as an exercise in your abilities, to prove how inept they are." Torker’s next words caught Dzia off-guard.

The young Sith had always fantasized about slaughtering the foolish instructors who had done little more than teach her the barest of minimums in the ways of her Order. However, in Dzia’s mind this would always be merely a fantasy, as regulations prevented her from even touching another Sith. If she were to be caught in the act of murdering them, the punishments would be great…IF being the keyword in the sentence her mind brought to bear.

“I will keep your sound advice in mind, Torker.” Dzia replied, a wry smirk slowly stretching across her crimson face.

Dzia then listened to the warnings about both the world of Malachor that Torker brought to bear; his words fell upon deaf ears. Not out of apathy, haughtiness, or ignorance but out of how deeply unnecessary they were in Dzia’s eyes. While still young in the Dark Side, Dzia as a being was no fool, she had been trained to watch, research, and learn about her enemies or environments long before she set foot against or on them.

While there were many unknowns on Malachor, Dzia wasn’t stepping onto this world haphazardly. She understood how deeply this world would attempt to break both her and her companion on a mental, emotional, and physical level. She also understood another fact about this journey, it was about more than securing mere objects to create her weapon with, they Dark Side had shown her this place for her to learn and grow from her experiences here. This was an opportunity that Dzia couldn’t pass up, even at the threat of her very life.

As Torker began to explain the spread of power inside the Rank of Sith within their Order, Dzia’s mind began to wander. While she respected the elder Sith’s words and power, she had found a button to needle against him in the future. Instead of completely paying attention to his words, she allowed her senses to spread outwards, past Torker and his annoyed state and towards the planet of Malachor’s surface. She wanted to feel the world; she wanted to sense what it would bring against her.

A small inhalation of air escaped Dzia’s lips, her eyes rolled back into her skull for a brief moment as the ecstasy of the Dark Side rolled over her. Madness, Hatred, Cruelty all of it were what Malachor embodied but the most domineering of sensations that Dzia felt as her mind was overwhelmed by the presence of the planet, was Hunger. A billion dying screams echoed through the Dark Side, threatening to break her mind and overwhelm her soul as Dzia began to withdraw from the planet, attempting to break the connection between her and it.

Sweat began to form on Dzia’s brow as she struggled against the exerting force of Malachor itself, her eyes snapping shut as she collapsed to her knees. Dzia’s hands writhed in her hair, gripping and pulling at what was once a neat and well-groomed until it was the nest of a crazed woman. Then as suddenly as the presence of doom and despair had overwhelmed her, it vanished. Withdrawn from her mind almost completely, leaving only the sensation of a cackle at her brazen foolishness behind.

"As well, given that the Darth Solum herself requested I join you on this venture, you would be wise to mind your tongue. Or did your instructors also fail to teach you to be respectful? You really should kill them, if that's the case." Were the first words Dzia heard as she slowly came to her senses.

Dzia gazed up at the Annoo-dat Prime Sith, he had not broken as she had, and the presence of this world had not almost consumed him as it had her. Malachor’s first lesson had been brought to bear against her; she understood that there was truth in his words. Their titles meant little in the face of the Dark Side; the only thing that mattered to it was their power and potential.

Dzia knelt motionless for a moment, her eyes yellowed from the depth of corruption that had touched her and still blurred by tears that she refused to let fall from their confines. A world had nearly broken her, not a being, not a Jedi nor a Sith but the depth of corruption within a place. She had allowed arrogance to break her caution and Malachor almost consumed her.

Dzia slowly and shakenly stood back on her feet. She watched as Torker slowly made his way towards the exit ramp of their vessel and said nothing. Her contempt towards the Sith vanished, any want to murder him on this world vanished from her presence completely. Malachor had shown her what would become of her without Torker, it would add her cries to it's chorus of the damned, it would devour her very soul.

"Now, don't let your personal task distract you from what we're doing here. We must clear these beasts from the temple grounds. Pay attention to your surroundings, keep a weapon handy, and don't expect me to feel sad if you get yourself killed." Torker instructed as he made his way off of the vessel.

“Yes...” Dzia’s voice paused as she grasped the hilt of her Sith Warblade in her hand. “…Master.” Was the raspy whisper that echoed from her throat as she slowly followed Torker from the ship’s confines and out onto the hungry world of Malachor.

@Elijah Brockway

 

[Elijah Brockway]

In the seconds between when Torker had finished his minor description of his own life compared to Dzia's and when he brought up Kira, he had the minute pleasure of watching the effect Malachor would have on the unwary. He wasn't surprised that Dzia'd had to learn his lesson the hard way - most younger Sith did. Caution, in Torker's eyes, was a skill that needed to be learned, and few ever learned it in their primary learning, be it academy based or a proper apprenticeship. Torker himself had only learned it as young as he had due to the rigors his own master had seen fit to put him through. If there's one thing that old fool did right, it was teach me how to be a better hunter...and nothing else.

Not much later he smiled slightly - as much as his reptillian mouth could approximate the mammalian expression - at Dzia's last acknowledgement. The haughty child had finally been broken just enough to submit and actually learn. That was good. Hopefully her short experience would not detract from her need to remain focused, and their goals could be accomplished easily. That want in mind, Torker finally made his way down the exit ramp, a deep breath of the cold air coupling with a widening of his senses in the Force letting him experience the world in a way he hadn't in nearly a century.

Wild emotions and sensations buffeted him, the lingering remnants of ages worth of battle's bloody madness whipping about like a storm, centered on the very grounds on which he and Dzia stood. His eyes closed as he drank in what was being thrown at him; the scent of blood filled his mind, visions of battles long since won or lost flashed through like a dream, visions of beasts, of Jedi, and of Sith all meeting a violent end on the planet. All of them were underlayed by a cacophonous chorus, as the winds clarified into voices. Screams of pain, of triumph, of hatred and of bitter sadness all came together in a singular song of ecstatic madness, trying to draw his own voice into its center as the planet itself seemed to open up like a hungry maw in front of him.

For millenia, Malachor had been a site of battle, of strife and sacrifice. Now, through the Force, it had become a nearly-sentient well of energy that hungered for more empowered beings to be fed to it. In such a way, it had long since surpassed Korriban and Morriban as a true nexus of the Dark Side.

Torker stood still a moment more, allowing the Force and all that lingered within it and gave it substance to play a tug-of-war with his own soul for a few more seconds, before bringing his own considerable will to bear against the maelstrom that surrounded him. With a single discordant noise the storm dispersed from around his mind, the planet under his feet slipping back into its typical existence of nothing but a barren lump of rock. But after that short exercise, Torker's senses would no longer be clouded by the Dark Side residing here, subject to its whims; only he would be the master of his fate and his mind. Now he could properly see what he was after.

With an almost imperceptible movement, his primary lightsaber appeared in his dominant hand, while he still walked with his cane in his left. He could sense one of the mutated beasts on the planet nearby, the monstrosity watching himself and his current charge with predatory intent. However, unlike the beast, Torker could control the Force, subjecting it to his will...rather than being controlled by its will. A small flick of his fingers sent a large piece of stonework - a fallen pillar, most likely, of the decorations surrounding the temple - flying into the creature. It crumpled with a pitiful squeal, although that was soon replaced by a howl as another of the beasts sensed the disturbed currents of the Force, calling down a hunt upon Torker and Dzia. His weapon activated quickly, shining a red light out to challenge the lackluster shine of the planet's dim sun.

"Dzia, your species was one of empowered hunters, the same as mine," he said relaxedly, as he started to walk eastward, towards the nearest of the howls. "Now is the time to prove yourself worthy of your ancestral name of Sith."

@Apollyon

 

[Apollyon]

Dzia followed Torker out into the wilds of Malachor silently, her mind busy reflecting on what she had sensed from the world and why she had let her guard down as she had. The only answer that resonated within her was not one she wanted to accept, it spoke to her about how foolish she truly was, she had underestimated the Dark Side. She thought herself it’s better, she thought herself it’s master, when in reality the intangible force merely allowed her to accomplish parlor tricks when compared to the depths of it’s true power. A single understanding was born from this realization, she was Sith in title only, she was no master of the Dark Side and barely worth the title she had “earned” before this moment.

Despite this revelation Dzia did not despair, instead her golden eyes came alight with a single emotion, determination. In her eyes, Malachor had issued its challenge to her daring her to stand against it and to test herself against its might, to prove herself worthy of the vision bestowed upon her. Dzia would answer this challenge, unlike lesser Sith she would not back down, she would not allow this insult to not only her heritage but her person to go unanswered for. While breaking the entire planet to her control was impossible, she would instead take a memento of this world not only to accomplish what her vision entailed but to remind herself to break whatever held this heart of darkness and force it to bend to her own will.

But that day would not be today and Dzia was not foolish enough to think otherwise, she had a task to accomplish with Torker presently. After exiting the ship she stood a mere step behind Torker, diagonal to his right hand. She gazed at the first of many beasts they were to slaughter in accordance to Darth Solum’s own directive.

She watched as the creature charged recklessly towards both her and Torker and sensed the aged Sith draw deeply on the Dark Side before flicking his fingers. In response the remnants of an ancient pillar flung itself in the path of the creature, crushing it beneath the weight of stone and only giving it a moment to whimper before expiring.

Dzia’s eyes rolled momentarily in their sockets at this turn of events. She almost laughed at herself for fearing Malachor’s might if this is what it had to send at her, mindless beasts that rushed to their own demise. However, this thought process was cut short by a chorus of wails and howls from deep within the remnants of the ruined Sith temple.

Dzia’s grip on her Sith Warblade tightened; electricity leapt from her fist and encompassed the blade of her weapon. Dzia once again extended her senses but this time she kept her mental guards high and focused solely on what dwelt within the darkness of the temple. It was within those walls that she could sense countless abominations twisted by generations of exposure to the Dark Side. The thing Torker had slaughtered was amongst the weakest of the brood, the creatures within had sensed its demise, and they were angry.

Once again Dzia’s iridescent yellow eyes focused into a glare as she drew upon the Dark Side, shifting the structure of her blade to harden the metal and refine its keen blade. This was the instrument of her people, she had been raised with Warsword in hand, and shifting the molecular structure of the weapon was second nature to the Pureblood at this point in her life. She knew every inch of the weapon as if it were an extension of her own arm and she also knew it’s destructive capabilities.

"Dzia, your species was one of empowered hunters, the same as mine," Torker stated to her as he began to walk eastward and into the den of the beasts. "Now is the time to prove yourself worthy of your ancestral name of Sith."

Dzia didn’t need encouragement, her moment of reflection brought her to a singular conclusion, she had to best the challenge this world laid before her. She couldn’t allow a mere rock with a gluttony problem defeat her, otherwise she would never be worthy of the title bestowed upon her. These creatures would not just die at her hand, she would make them suffer.

@Elijah Brockway

 

[Elijah Brockway]

The temple itself was large, and the entrance was a ways away from where Torker and Dzia currently stood. Their task was to remove the beasts from the temple's grounds overall, not just the temple proper, so Torker had directed his pilot droid to land them on the opposite side of the temple from the entrance. Now he and Dzia were in for a long walk around the side of the temple until they reached the entrance, likely harried by beasts the entire way. Not that Torker was much bothered by the possibility, given that removing the beasts was his goal. So he walked along purposefully, walking stick still in hand - he had no reason, yet, to reveal that it was merely an affectation. Perhaps if the fight got challenging he would do so, but not now.

It did not take long to run into another beast. Some few had been prowling around outside of the temple, searching for prey, or keeping watch for any interlopers - the planet had seen visitors recently, among the Sith themselves. The fact that they didn't report back was what led to Torker being sent along with Dzia. Send the proven one and the one with potential, just to ensure the job gets done. Thus far Dzia was already proving herself to at least be a more astute learner than most other Sith of her current generation. Hopefully her skills would match, given the creatures that surrounded them.

A gestured hand, a short movement to bring Torker's will to bear on the environment, was enough to stop one of the beasts in its tracks, while its partner that had thought to meet Torker head on continued to move forwards. A quick slash with his lightsaber was enough to send it crumpling to the floor, head split in twain, while a blast of lightning subdued the other without killing it. As he walked towards it, he took a few moments to wonder what its progenitors might originally have been - they seemed superficially similar to overgrown cannoks, although years of corruption on the planet had changed them quite a bit. Their hide was much thicker than a cannok's would be, as well as their being much larger, and the forelimbs had grown similar to arms, with the beasts able to take on a semi-bipedal stance and gate. Although, there really was no telling just what they'd originally been. It was simply an academic guess by Torker.

Reaching out a hand and laying it on the subdued creature's brow, Torker started to explore the beast's primitive mind, curious and determined intent carried along on tendrils of Force-energy that burrowed their way through the lackluster mental defenses the animal possessed. Torker was trying to learn everything he could of what the temple was currently like, where the beasts were residing in there, and whatever other minor information he could find. To his own suprise, he found that the beasts themselves had learned little about the temple itself, though the aged Sith could find knowledge of some collapsed areas within the temple. Instead, it seemed the beasts weren't native to this area, normally giving it a wide berth...and something else had recently caused them to come to it, a different presence entirely.

Withdrawing his own mind, Torker slammed his fist downwards, the first demonstration of his prodigious physical strength to be made in front of another Sith in decades. The spine of the creature snapped instantly, as well as its cranium collapsing inwards, leaving the body twitching on the ground. "Interesting," he muttered to himself, widening his senses considerably. Faintly, he could feel the same presence the creatures had taken note of, residing within the temple. "Very interesting." He glanced around, seeing more bodies than the two he'd just killed - likely more had come upon them and Dzia had taken care of them. He nodded with short approval.

"We may have company other than these beasts."

 

[Apollyon]

The thickened hides of the beasts protected them from the first stroke of Dzia’s warblade, however it did not aid them against the thunder that fell behind each stroke. Corrupt lightning leapt from her blade as it connected with the twisted abominations, overloading their nervous systems and causing temporary paralysis. In all rights, each blow from Dzia’s blow was a death sentence to the creatures, while the first strike would incapacitate, the second would prove far more fatal.

As Torker read the mind of the beast before him, gathering what shreds of information he could from the creature, Dzia made short work of its pack. She carved through the animals with callous indifference, leaving their stunned bodies on the ground and utilizing the burning agony the creatures experienced to fuel her rampage. Finally, when the last creature fell incapacitated at her feet did Dzia pause, she allowed herself to relish in their suffering for a brief moment. After enjoying her moment of victory did Dzia begin about the work of finishing the creatures who had dared oppose her off.

By the time Dzia had finished with her grisly task her robes, hands, and face would be splattered in the thick, oily, black corrupted blood of the creatures. Her golden eyes would fall upon her handiwork; she was pleased with herself and pleased with the result that years of training with a blade had produced. As Dzia turned to face Torker she brought her hand to the surface of her warblade, the lightning leapt up towards her hand and was absorbed seamlessly back into her, re-energizing her.

"We may have company other than these beasts." Torker stated to her after crushing the creature before him in a single brutal strike.

Dzia brushed strands of hair that had fallen into her face during her conflict to the side as he dwelt on Torker’s words for a brief moment. The thick blood smeared across her forehead due to her own negligence in her action, it elicited an annoyed sigh from the young Pureblood. Her eyes broke contact with Torker as she gazed around at the corpses of what had once been the pack of creatures that assaulted them once again.

“I would hope so.” Dzia stated as she pointed the tip of her blade at the corpse behind Torker, gesturing to draw attention to it. “If this was all we were to face I would be more concerned about the future of our Order than I already am.” She stated simply before returning her golden gaze to her temporary mentor. “How deep is this secondary presence within the ruins?” She asked him. “And do you think it could be a survivor of the first task force?”

 

[Korvo]

"Ahk ahnȋr o'nahr mur'thur", he said, keeping his eyes shut as he focused on the Sith spell. His eyes, again. Moments before, he had sealed his presence inside the fleshly shell, but the eyes were ever the window into the soul that claimed the Jedi. With the Jedi campaign to 'cleanse' the planet, here was too much turbulence in the Force on Malachor as it was, and the difficulty was only compounded by the stark difference of presence the Sith had from Taox.

Tâshurhak still stood in the temple of Malachor, at the center of the long stairway before the shrine, near the base of the superstructure. The recent violence and slaying of the two Sith and the Jedi Knight aided in his focus, but time would be the only true remedy. He couldn't return to the Jedi until his presence was fully contained, sealed and buried away, hidden from their notice. It was for his own well-being to be sure, but it was also intrinsic for his plans to be carried out. After countless thousands of years of restless rage in the grasp of the void, fighting away death's hold for his insatiable desire for vengeance, that he could easily stand to wait a bit longer. Unlike many Sith, those trained in the dogma of the assassins were disciplined to retain their sense of patience. Just as it was when it came to touching the lightsaber again, the affinity returned in kind.

Like one carefully sewing a delicate tapestry, Tâshurhak came near to finalizing his Sith spell on Taox's body as a new presence reverberated through the Force. As if from the shock of electricity, the Sith assassin's eyes burst open, with his eyes returning to their unnaturally ethereal glow. Releasing a sharp exhalation in a hiss-like sigh, Tâshurhak narrowed his gaze as he stared off into the distance of the temple grounds. Something, or rather someone, was approaching. It was no beast, the likes of which Tâshurhak hadn't observed before his 'rebirth'.

The Storm Beasts were indeed peculiar, but obviously twisted by the Dark Side, either from the superweapon that went off, or the presence of Dark Side energies that perpetually stemmed from it in the centuries after. Whatever species they were before could have been one of several, but it mattered little to him. The creatures were too savage to be of any use, which made their existence forfeit should he ever encounter them.

Cracking his neck, the 'Jedi General' donned his hood, concealing the features of his face, save for his glowing eyes, as he sought out the nature of the disturbance. By this point, it was just as possible that he himself was detected, but what mattered was which side detected the other first, in the physical sense. Touching his hand to the interior wall of the cave-like system that houses the temple, Tâshurhak took in the chill of the stone as he bonded with it. His left hand came next, as did his feet.

One after the other, the Sith assassin used the Force to empower a bonding force between himself and the cave walls, allowing him to scale them like a crawling creature. Perhaps the disturbance was coming his way. Perhaps they would seek him out. Or perhaps their path would lead them his way. Regardless of what was the case, Tâshurhak would act in predation... and wait.

 

[Elijah Brockway]

"Unlikely," Torker replied to Dzia's final question. "It is too dissimilar to anything I've experienced among the current Sith...and all too similar to this planet's own presence in the Force. I think we're dealing with what caused the probably demise of the previous group." The howling of the creatures picked up again, as more seemed to start coming. These were deeper, more guttural, more menacing...probably the Storm Beasts that were the dominant species on this planet, unlike the other mutated beasts that Torker and Dzia had been dealing with. They were stronger in the Force, and more able to cause a threat for any wandering sentients...and all the more enjoyable a challenge to kill. He focused for a moment more, roving out with his senses to find the same presence that had initially drawn the mutant creatures over, intentionally or unintentionally.

It wasn't long. Any being that was strong in the Force would stand out like a sore thumb, even on a planet such as Malachor...add onto that their own direct useage on the Force, and they would be easy to locate. "It is not far from us now, nor deep within the temple. It lies nearer to the base at the main stairway. Hurry your feet and keep your blade at the ready. Deal with any of the creatures that come near you, but don't focus on them. We have to deal with this first. I'll catch up with you shortly." That said, he withdrew his focus from the material world, retreating into the Force. It wouldn't do well to have this being he sensed following either of their movements through the Force, so Torker had a different plan in mind.

He threw all of his mental weight, with his considerable force of will behind it, right at the soul of his current quarry. For now, it was nothing but a blunt-force attack - he'd batter through this being's defenses as quickly as possible, especially with the element of surprise on his side, and leave them mentally reeling for a short time. It'd distract them from any far-ranging applications of the Force, which would serve to hide Torker and Dzia for a time, and would hopefully cause problems when the two groups met. He also doubted that it would be quite that easy, but until such time as it was obvious that the energy expended in this pursuit would exceed any gain, he'd go forth with this duel of minds.

 

[Apollyon]

“Unlikely.” Came Torker’s blunt response to Dzia’s question. "It is too dissimilar to anything I've experienced among the current Sith...and all too similar to this planet's own presence in the Force. I think we're dealing with what caused the probably demise of the previous group." Torker continued, his voice picked up slightly to overwhelm the howls of distant Dark Side beasts.

As the howl echoed outward from the ruins of the ancient Sith temple, Dzia felt their power. It was far greater than the beasts that she and Torker and annihilated moments earlier, their connection deepened through prolonged exposure to an even darker presence. Dzia felt her heartbeat quicken, not out of fear for what lay within the temple for them, but out of excitement to face down what had slaughtered the Sith that had come before them.

Dzia instinctively probed forward with the Dark Side, allowing invisible tendrils to leak from her body and stretch forth into the ruins. Like an invisible spiderweb, Dzia felt the beasts within, she felt their hearts beating quickly, she felt their hunger, and she felt their agonizing rage. However, something deeper within the ruins caught her attention and made her lust for the power it possessed.

It was inanimate, no pulse, no breath, but it radiated in the glory of Malachor. This object called to Dzia, not in the same siren’s song Malachor had before but in a more direct sense. This was a presence she had felt on Korriban, it was the same one she had sensed in her vision. This object’s lust to consume everything around it and sated Dzia’s own almost as soon as she realized what it was and its importance to her.

"It is not far from us now, nor deep within the temple. It lies nearer to the base at the main stairway. Hurry your feet and keep your blade at the ready. Deal with any of the creatures that come near you, but don't focus on them. We have to deal with this first. I'll catch up with you shortly." Torker barked as he commanded Dzia forward and into the maw of the temple.

Dzia showed no hesitation in following Torker’s order, she quickly memorized the direction she had sensed the object within the temple before withdrawing her senses from the interior of the ruins. Dzia’s hand once again ran down the length of her warblade, causing Lightning to leap from her finger tips and coat the edge of her weapon in its damning embrace. Dzia then sprinted towards the temple, disregarding Torker’s words of caution, her mind focused solely on her purpose here, nothing else mattered to her in that moment.

Dzia dealt with the Stormbeasts as they came upon her, the warblade in her grasp elegantly slicing through their underbellies as they reared up to strike, or cleaving into their skulls with precision and grace. The young Sith seldom broke her stride towards the temple unless it was to remove a creature from her path permanently from her path. Soon Dzia would breach the temple’s entrance and pause for a moment, allowing herself to regain her breath while she turned to gaze back at Torker.

Her eyes narrowed at the ancient Sith as he stood motionless, his physical presence all but gone from her senses. Pathetic was the only word she could describe him with in that moment. In her mind, the aged Sith was utilizing her as bait for whatever laid within or simply wanted to utilize it to remove her as a potential rival. She sneered at him in disgust before stepping into the temple and taking a hard right towards the object she had sensed less than a handful of minutes earlier.

The young Sith hurriedly made her way through the darkened corridors of the ruins, utilizing the sparks of electricity on her blade to illuminate the shadows around her. Without caution she drew nearer not only towards her goal but possibly whatever was awaiting her arrival within the temple. Here, secluded, Dzia felt the power she had lusted for; here she would take her first step towards her ultimate goal.

That is when her senses sparked to life, alerting the young Sith to a singular haunting fact. She was not alone within the temple. She could not sense what it was, she could not see where it was, she just felt killing intent and hatred towards her.

“Torker…” Dzia cautiously whispered, fear born from regret bubbling up like a fountain in her voice.

 

[Korvo]

The paces of his steps echoed in the silence. One quiet yet booming clop against the stone ceiling, following by another. A gleam of light from above, the only true source in the light-forsaken chamber, bore his silhouette as the possessed Jedi slowly paced his inverted walk. It was so quiet, at first, like an inaudible trace of a voice at the back of his mind. And then, came the shout. His mind

Ful nu til los aan kro daar kriist voth niin, the undead assassin mused, consolidating his mental powers. It had been, literally, countless centuries since he'd engaged in a battle of wills, through the Force, but he still recalled enough that he was not completely taken aback. His focus was like a vibroblade's edge; blurred and entropic. Whoever the sorcerer was, they were telepathically experienced.

Hahdrim. Morah. Zii. Fen, he said, using the words to refocus his mind and reattain clarity of thought. A force had struck into the depths of his mind. Now, the depths would strike back.

His eyes, formerly clinched shut from the impact of the telepathic blast, now opened wide and with fierce intent. Shadows seemingly washed over him, the walls, the ceiling at his feet, the ground over his head, even the opening that bore the light. Walls were torn asunder, crumbling down into a dark abysmal void, as if everything around him shattered to glass and faded, until there was only him... and the presence of the mind that had dared to touch his.

⁝⁝ Til hi los ⁝⁝

The mental plane spiraled around the fallen Sith, as his mental projection appeared no less than a meter behind the one that now approached him. The appearance was like being surrounded in a lightness eye of a storm, with quaking booms like thunder resounding as the scene suddenly became Malachor's surface. Desolate, dark, cold and lifeless, the ground was like onyx, glassed and crystallized. The skies were windless, as if the air had become perpetually stagnated. And the dim light of a dying sun cast a dour ambiance over it all.

⁝⁝ Ful daar los nu lost meyz do fin Sith? ⁝⁝

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Torker remained aware of his physical body, though compared to the speed at which the mind - free from biological constraints and limited only to the Force - could work, it was as though every heartbeat of his might take its own private eternity to be completed. Satisfied with that fact, he took in the details of his mental world as they changed.

Once the presence he had sensed drew itself into the mental plane, the surroundings coalesced - no longer were they a formless, shifting mess of energy, but the spirit imposed its will and forced an image upon the area. Torker 'turned,' staring down the mind of the being he now faced, and spat in response to them. "The Sith of these days are a mockery of what we once were," was his reply, entirely unconcerned with the insult inherent in the question he was asked. "Though I try to return them to their proper state." Within a moment his own presence properly coalesced, presenting an image similar to that of the real world, a reptillian being gazing at what was currently his prey.

Thus far, it appeared that his blunt attack had mostly managed what he wished. This being's defenses had been battered aside for a moment, drawing their attentions away from the physical world; now it would fall to Torker to blind their mind as well, prior to returning to common matter and advancing upon the temple. "Perhaps you'll be the first in a century to give me a proper challenge," he muttered after a moment more, before attacking again; this time, Torker's will flashed out like a bolt of lightning, another brunt and brutal attack to test his target's defenses - and hopefully soften them - before Torker could make a return to his usual surgically precise method of offense.

 

[Apollyon]

Ancient words of power echoed throughout the chamber Dzia stood in, she recognized them, and she understood them as the language of her people. The fear that crept up her spine turned to steel as the being spoke aloud. Dzia utilized the wells of emotion in her body to subtly manipulate the Dark Side, stirring the dust and particles of sand that had accumulated over the course of decades, perhaps centuries.

“Kein wah Smoliin.” Words of power, escaped her lips as her corrupt eyes scanned the room.

Dust fell from the crevices of the walls; it floated upwards at as she deftly twisted the Dark Side to her command. It was as the dust glided back downwards from the ceiling of the room that Dzia felt the presence of Torker and the presence of the additional being warring mentally between one another. The yellow irises of Dzia turned upwards; they would search for the form of her unknown enemy.

“Smoliin wah Mulaag.” She uttered, continuing the mantra of her kind.

Her eyes caught a mere glimpse of what she thought was a form before it seemed to vanish from the plane of existence. Her eyes searched the walls of the room for a brief moment, looking for her assailant. However, nothing would be found there would be no trace of the being she has merely glimpsed. Instead, she would feel the cold grasp of Malachor dissipate, nothing would move even the howling winds would completely fall silent.

“Mulaag wah Suleyk.” Dzia stated, as she forced the fear attempted to creep up her spine to die away.

With focused restored, Dzia felt the presence that had battled Torker once more, even before it’s voice rang out in the old tongue. Her grip on the hilt of her warblade tightened moments before she turned bringing it to defend against the possible strike of her foe. Her golden eyes finally falling upon the form of her enemy.

“Ful daar los nu lost meyz do fin Sith” The being shrouded by thunder and lightning of a chaotic storm stated, it’s voice echoed throughout the chamber.

“Brendon.” Dzia stated, as she mocked the being before her, she identified it as a mere echo of the past.

“Suleyk wah Krongrah.” She continued as she lowered her blade's defensive guard.

Her eyes glowered upon the form with a lack of empathy and pity. To her the echo of the being before her was a failure, it had died eons ago and still vainly clung to its dominion, it grasped at the mere illusion of power. The young Sith was unafraid of the ghost before her, she foolishly refused to acknowledge the power it held in life to goad the being.

“Krongrah bolaav Stin.” She stated, her words almost hissed at each syllable.

Before her words finished its echo throughout the chamber, Dzia’s eyes would narrow. The Dark Side filled her breast, her hand extended towards the being, as she attempted to twist the tethers that bound it to this world. She projected the will of her mind onto the being inadvertently opening a connection between the pair as she vainly attempted to banish the spirit to Chaos.

“Unslaad Folook.” Dzia stated as she declared what she believed would be the being’s before her fate.

However, in her passion and lust for victory, Dzia had not closed the door to her mind. Instead of her will being projected onto the being in a one way ticket, she had left naively left her defenses down. Her inexperience would show to the ghost, the advantage even if she didn’t realize it would be the specter’s. She had inadvertently let her mind and life fall into it’s grasp. Without realizing it, Dzia had shown her raw power but also her inexperience and ineptitude.

Spoiler: translation

1. Conflict to Passion
2. Passion to Strength
3. Specter
4. Strength to Power
5. Power to Victory
6. Victory to Freedom
7. Everlasting Torment