HoloNet News The Dark Lord of the Sith

[The Eternal]

OOC: Open to Reactions Only​

The holonet camera settled on a mask that had long ago been forgotten. Its image had been all but erased from the histories of anyone but the Sith as the Republic had hoped to erase the memory of the Sith from the galaxy.

But the Sith remembered. Building and growing in the Unknown Region, the memory of the Sith had not been forgotten, and the Eternal had not been forgotten.

For a moment, the masked figure said nothing as it stared into the camera, and when it finally did speak its voice was garbled by an electronic voice scrambler.

People of the galaxy, your governments have lied to you, the voice said.

The Old Republic tried to wipe out the memories of the Sith from your history, but we are not ancient history. We have held dominion over the galaxy before, and we will do so again. Even a prison in the heart of your space that was designed to hold and defend against Force-users couldn't stop a fraction of our power. Your governments are weak and fragile, but we will make you strong and unified, it said.

The Jedi are creators of chaos, always warring against order and considering themselves outside the laws of your lands simply because they wield a lightsaber. They speak of the best interest of the people, but ultimately only pursue their own power. And yet, these same lawless individuals work hand in hand with the Sector Rangers, showing the corruption that has reached into your governments, the voice continued. It wasn't a secret that the Jedi had worked outside the law, been arrested, and then become allies to the Rangers.

I am the Dark Lord of the Sith and I am the Eternal. I will not be stopped or intimidated by the likes of an inept government or a deceptive cult of Jedi. Summon your fleets and your armies, but you will never hit what you cannot see. The revolution of order is coming. All those who stand in our way will be destroyed. Submission will bring you salvation, but resistance will bring you only loss. The Sith Order remains, and we will not be stopped. This is your warning.

As quickly as the broadcast had begun, it was over. The Sith Order had returned. The Eternal's Darths would bring the galaxy to its knees, and the Eternal itself would see to the destruction of any world that deemed to stand in its way. They would be defiant and they would hold out, but submission was preferable to death. When millions were killed, they would reconsider. They'd have no choice. Once more the Sith would rule the galaxy, and with it the peace and order that had accompanied years of Imperial rule throughout the millennia.

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

From within Kai's ship, the holobroadcast played.

A cool, amber-eyed stare focused in on the mask, cigara smoke filling the air as she calmly took another drag, then slowly exhaled. The Sith, huh? Funny, Kai mentioned them before... she took in another deep breath, letting it linger another beat while she contemplated the message. The Knights of Ren...The Eternal. She hit record, and, when the recording was over, she watched it again, until the cigara was a stub, and she lit another one, focusing on their face.

They have everything you want, don't they?

The cool, insidious voice hissed in her ear, as familiar as her own. The answer was already clear. Her eyes tracked to the left, where a familiar shape laid on the bolted-down table, for now abandoned by her companion. So much knowledge there... but was it really enough?

She had no doubt that these Jedi, whatever they were, would be quaking in their boots at such a threat, but honestly the Doctor didn't care. Their galaxy had gone to shit ever since the beginning of the Empire, even before the fall of the Republic. You simply had to look at the Core worlds to know the depths of corruption throughout history, the very corruption this being spoke of.

Inwardly, she was mildly amused. They spoke as though there would be a sudden jolt of paranoia, that people would begin clutching pearls and crying in panic, that this wasn't old news and it was hardly exciting news at the latest. So long as her flow of credits and knowledge went on uninterrupted, she hardly cared. But...

Again, her gaze panned to stare into the depths of the mask. Even from here, there was a feeling... like what Kai had shown her before, but stronger. Deeper.

She wanted that power. Needed to understand all the deepest secrets of the galaxy... and with the presentation of a being in the shadows, at least ballsy enough to make such an unsurprising threat, she was keenly aware of a new emotion rising to the surface. One that left something shocking; a wicked smile on the Doctor's lips, cold and cruel.

She took another drag.

What she felt was... Anticipation.

No.

Hunger.

 

[Oren Zapan]

Jedi Master Oren had been traveling across the galaxy since Nash's death, it was true that the Jedi had taken losses that day. But, the combined efforts of both the Rangers and the Jedi prevented thousands within the prison from dying. They all knew that the Sith had returned, Oren was no longer foolish to such matters as he may have been years ago.

He had been training his body and his mind for the coming fight, and made sure that both his former apprentice (@Nara Allam ) and his current ( @Fiach Dubh ) had been prepared for the realities of what the galaxy was coming to. He watched the holo-image flicker, his eyes focused on the words. He felt at peace with the situation at hand, and knew what he had to do.

"He kind of contradicted himself there..Jedi are the creators of chaos..when earlier he mentioned blowing up a prison?" The Jedi Master mused over the thoughts. "Even if I die, I know that I will live on, and that one day your Empire will fall like all the ones prior to it have...M'lord.." It was time to keep the Jedi prepared, he needed to get in touch with @Maxims Tionson amd @Hannibal Grayza. You're thinking of the old Jedi my friend..

 

[It0]

It0 was feeling particularly misanthropic tonight. And this wasn't helping.

The HoloNet feed sputtered and fizzled to static after the enigmatic figure in the enigmatic mask issued his enigmatic threats. From the comfort of Zentripoli’s droid repair shop on Nar Shaddaa, It0 processed what he had just seen. These HoloNet interruptions had become increasingly frequent over the past several months and he began to wonder if there was a lucrative business in securing frequencies from criminals and religious whackos with mask fetishes.

He scanned the dingy cityscape outside the shop’s windows, servos whirring thoughtfully. The force-zealots certainly struck him as a bit self-important, always interrupting broadcasts to inform the public of their high and mighty comings and goings. He had been on Nar Shaddaa for over a month now and had yet to encounter anyone doing combat acrobatics or flinging rubbish with their minds. And from the looks of the news reports, he was better off for it.

A slathering, snarling plague-victim lurched up against the window, gnashing a rotting set of teeth at him from the other side of the glass. The medical droid flickered his photoreceptors in response. At least this was about as weird as it got on the Smuggler’s Moon. A plague that reduced the organics to murderous husks. They mostly chewed on other organics, so it didn’t immediately concern him. If anything, business had only picked up!

Still, eventually he would run out of people to pay him and that could be...problematic.

Outside, the creature slathered an arc of particularly viscous slobber across the window. It0 issued an amplified sigh and picked the blaster rifle up from its place beneath the counter.

“Blasted organics.” he muttered, heading towards the front door. “Just sentient wads of disease and hubris. Off the glass meat-rot!”

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

As usual, Hannibal was sitting somewhere completely ordinary when extraordinary news came up on the Holonet. He watched and listened as this masked figure proclaimed himself the Dark Lord of the Sith and the Eternal and The Biggest Doomiest Big Bad Evil Guy of All Time and made a large number of dramatic proclamations. Hannibal's response was also usual.

In the middle of a bar on Nar Shaddaa amidst the confused masses, Hannibal gave the dark figure the finger and a choice collection of extra-dirty curses in Epicant that somehow involved a goose, a lawnmower, and the masked man's mother. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Deceptive cult of Jedi? The red sabers had been attacking people left and right the entire time!

Of course, it was a little obvious he was actually speaking to the galaxy at large in an attempt to sew confusion, which would probably work. The galaxy at large wasn't particularly clever when it came to certain things. Even now, few people had seen Jedi doing anything overtly, and Rangers were rare enough as well. Divide and conquer, is it?

Well kriff you too. This 'Dark Lord' was not the only guy who was good at clever tricks and misdirection. Hannibal stood up, downed his drink, swiped his credit chit at his table, and headed on out. It was time to get to work on a plan, to contact his contemporaries among the Jedi and get to giving the Sith hell.

If Hannibal had anything to say about it, he was going to find a way to kick the Eternal right in the dangly bits, figuratively and literally.

 

[Oota Boan]

Deep within the temple of Ajan Kloss in his private chambers, the Grandmaster was sunk deep into meditation. Even as the Jedi Order buzzed around him with activity in response to the attack on the prison and the deaths of two of their own, he was an anchor that kept the Order grounded. Though he was a Jedi, Grandmaster Boan was a healer, a peaceful and spiritual man, and about as orthodox of a Jedi as one could get these. He was patient and kind, always happy to lend a hand or an ear to someone in need no matter who they were. He was contemplative and often sought answers and visions through the Unifying Force, as he was doing now, and hoped to guide the Order along their path as peacekeepers and knowledge seekers.

Recent events had been alarming, but as always he had advised caution and care in all things. Like in healing or medicine, rushing things was rarely the right choice. Quickness, yes, but not haste or recklessness. The overt actions of the Sith had left him troubled, but he didn't feel that rushing forward was the correct choice. There was much discussion with the rest of the Council on how to handle things, but they never quite seemed to wholly agree on anything beyond that they would need to be ready to protect others the next time the Sith revealed themselves.

Then his holoscreen beeped an alert, drawing him from his meditations. Oota's eyes slowly opened and his head turned to look at it, leaning forward as the masked man began to speak. The Grandmaster listened in silence to the message, taking in the threats and promises he made and the attempts at spreading fear and panic.

He rose slowly from his seated position and switched the holoscreen off, moving over to his comms terminal. From it he sent a message to the rest of the Council to call an emergency meeting. Though the situation was very serious, Oota Boan was a patient man. They would need to make plans going forward now that the ancient enemy of the Jedi Order had returned in force and declared the existence of a new Dark Lord. They needed to discuss, to contact their allies among the Free Worlds and the Republic. Oota would task Sada-Nau with contacting the Rangers, as she had the most interaction with them.

The Grandmaster was a patient man, but the Sith were declaring war against the galaxy. They would burn and kill and conquer everything in their path unless they were stopped, as they always had. Perhaps it was time he took up his lightsaber once more, after all these years, as much as it pained him to fight. He was a peacekeeper and a healer, but like most Jedi he was a warrior as well.

Perhaps it was time for the Sith to learn to beware the fury of a patient man.

May the Force be with us all.

 

[Kai]

A day would pass from the time of the original broadcast, where Malakai rested. He was still recovering from his injuries with his bout against Ender. Even after he had ventured to the Sith Temple on Bal'demnic he needed time to heal. Not all of his time awake could be done researching. Watching the news sometimes felt like a chore but eventually he watched the recording.

"Are we a part of this boss?" The voice of one of his men asked. They had been to Bal'demnic, seen his wounds and were not complete morons. It was not a surprise they pieced things together enough to ask that sort of question.

"Your deal is with me..." He said simply. Malakai was not the Eternal's biggest fan and knew he was not alone in his feelings. Ender had been captured, a prison break for the same man had occured and now this. You lose a duel for supremacy, get knocked out for a couple days, this is what happens... He took a deep breath, feeling the tired ache. "...same goes for everyone else. Anybody wants to voice their political opinions are free to do so." There was a lot to process and there was a lot of sleep to be had. Somewhat satisifed with the answer Malakai was left once alone in the medical suite of his ship.

Looking at the broadcast image of the Eternal frozen in place he stared at it for a moment. The baleful eyes of the being staring out of the device while Malakai stared back. Only one of them could blink. With a sigh he set the datapad aside and leaned back into his reclined position. "this week just keeps getting better and better." He hoped he wasn't going to get some kind of sleeper cell activation call to start doing stuff in Hutt space. He liked doing things at his own speed. But this bold move was definitely adding to his headaches. Wonder what the Doc is going to ask about now...

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

The dart flew across the room, and it landed a bit short of the board that Laeonas had aimed for. Whistling a bit, the boy sighed. The dart flew back across the room and into his outstretched, tired palm.

He was on a ship. Bound for... well, he couldn't remember where the ticket was taking him, but he had plans. A few things he had written down were... gone, really, but he still remembered most of his plans. If he stuck to them was really and truly a matter of if though.

The boy threw the dart again, this time concentrating a bit harder-- and using the force to shift the dart upwards just a few milliseconds ahead of contact.

Without a hitch, there was a bull's eye, and Laeonas grinned a bit before grabbing a glass of water and drinking. His cabin was small, but it was enough. Still, he wanted to see the rest of the ship.

Sliding into a jacket and some pants, he stepped out the door and walked into the main mess haul. Not many people were onboard-- it had been a one way trip for most, and in his case, it would be... for a couple of weeks. The holonet was on, and he watched idly as he moved to grab some food.

"What'll it be?" The cook grumbled, leaning on the wall behind the counter. "Just'a soup. Regular. Mae ticket covers it-- third class, ai think?" Laeonas would say, finishing with a question that the cook answered to with a simple nod. "Yeah, basic meals are covered. Good deal if you ask me, but that's up to you."

Laeonas gave him a nod after being handed the soup, and he made his way over to a table. He sipped at the soup, bringing the spoon to his lips and taking it in. It was hot, and he was content, and he was tempted to head back to his cabin. Yet the holo had interested him earlier, and now he wanted to get a better look.

But it hadn't been the same as before. The holo had...changed.

There was some... mask. A figure, and some strange, strange voice. Laeonas was confused. Irritated, even. Yet there was no remote... so he listened.

And when the broadcast was finished, when the Eternal had proclaimed his intent, for the Sith to make their glorious return, to rule the galaxy, and establish their little Sith empire all over again, Laeonas was absolutely livid.

His bowl launched from the table, and it shattered the projector's lens.

"Kriffin' 'ell, can I watch the holo for more than a week without it changin' to some freak, or about the force, or about some kriffin' shite that I wish I didn't know about?!" the boy exclaimed, gritting his teeth together. The cook was startled, but also pretty frustrated by the look on his face. Before he had the chance to chew him out, the boy in question was already heading back to his cabin.

"So the fae tales are real. Just kriffin' great. Guess that freak in the mask I met in the slums is chums with that freak in the mask on the holo. How many other freaks in masks am I gonna meet or see in tha next couple'of weeks? Or months, or kriffin' YEARS!" Laeonas shouted, finally arriving at his cabin door and slamming it behind him.

This trip was going to be longer than he had thought.