Ask Tracking A Sith

[Drow Venn]

The Outer Rim world of Carajam was a hostile one, where the inhabitants of it had to oftentimes fend for themselves. Unfortunately, this left them very vulnerable to exploitation as Jedi Shadow Master found out as he touched the ground on Sky Village - a settlement near the poles that was now completely uninhabited. What used to be a somewhat thriving village was now a desolate collection of ruins, blaster burns still smoldering on the walls and the heat bearing down unbearably on the Ishi Tib as he scoped through the area, looking for either survivors or Sith. Fortunately, his moisture farmer outfit he'd picked up on his last mission to Tatooine did its job at protecting him from the worst of the heat but it was still grim work.

He'd received word from his intelligence channels that a Sith had begun occupying the village, using it both as a temporary base of operations and also as a prime source for human resources. From slaves to soldiers, whichever Sith had been occupying Sky Village had picked it completely dry - Drow hadn't seen hide nor hair of any living thing in...

Wait a minute.

He saw two inhabitants but they weren't villagers. They wore Sith battle uniforms and they were digging through the rubble of Sky Village too. Drow crept closer in an alleyway for a closer look but accidentally stepped on a piece of junk. The sound of him stepping on it rang out through the ghost town and the two soldiers snappped to attention and looked up.

"You there! Halt!" the soldier ordered. Drow quickly ignited his yellow-bladed lightsaber and the two soldiers opened fire. The alley was a bit cramped so deflecting all the bolts back at the source was difficult but Drow's training and cool head prevailed and the two Sith troopers lay as dead as the rest of the town around them. Drow stepped out of the alley onto the open main street of Sky village and inspected the two troops. Odd. Their armor was fairly new looking - not at all what one would suspect from an occupying force. Did these troopers belong to an unrelated Sith outfit nearby?

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

Artorigas was sober, it was maybe the first time in two weeks that the Sith Councillor's blood was clean of alcohol. It was not because he wanted to change his ways, or that he had gone off alcohol, no he still travelled with a full cellar of the finest wines, brandy's and whiskey's the galaxy had to offer on his personal Starship. But today was not a day for bleary eyes or a slow mind, for death was on the horizon.

Smouldering ruins stood before Noble, the embers adding heat to the baking sun overhead, Artorigas was sweating hard, the past month of debauchery quickly evaporating from his skin. Behind him his command shuttle hummed, the idle engines ready to fire into action at the sign of any escaping foes. Spread throughout the burning buildings were his personal guard, clad in bright red armour searching for signs of their prey.

A single trooper marched up to Artorigas giving a stiff salute as he reached him. "No sign of them Mi'Lord. It seems they have moved on." Late again, this was the second time they had heard rumours of their target but arrived too late. At least this one was warm. "Call back the men, no need to hang around on this sandbar forever." He replied back before turning to head back to the ship.

Two steps was all he got before the sounds of blaster fire echoed past the spitting timbers. Turning quickly on his heel Artorigas pulled his lightsaber free from his belt and made towards the village. "Secure the perimeter, have communications open with 'The Valkyrie' if we have found them they may try to escape atmosphere." He called before heading through the smoke.

It took him a while to find the source of the shots, for they ended far to quickly for his liking. No call out on the radio meant that his men where probably dead. Rounding the corner he entered the main street, there standing over the dead bodies of two of his men was an Alien, his hand grasping the identifiable silhouette of a Lightsaber. Holding his own out to one side he kept the blade unlit, instead pulling the surrounding Force Energy into himself ready to lash out if required. "Surrender now and I will not kill you." He called out The Force amplifying his voice so all in the village could hear.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"Could say the same thing to you. Your men shot first." Drow shot back at Artorigas, turning to face the new arrival, standing in a classic Makashi defensive pose. The man's uniform and lightsaber just screamed that he was the Sith that Drow was looking for. The Ishi Tib tried his best to restrain the jubilation coursing through his body. He always relished the chance to fight a Sith but he knew that a clear head was what would win the day, not childish excitement at the thought of combat. As he stood, prepared for battle, Drow cleared his mind and readied the Force around him for whatever came next.

As he was talking though, he was suddenly struck by how familiar the human standing before him sounded. Humans could blend together a bit for Drow - their fleshy faces and lack of eyestalks made it difficult for the Ishi Tib to identify Human strangers by sight alone. But voices were definitely distinctive and this one's voice sounded very familiar indeed.

Drow was suddenly struck by a series of images flashing into his mind all at once. An X-Wing rising out of the water. Porgs flying by Drow's ship. A clash of sabers. Being submerged underwater. An army of droids opening fire upon him. And lastly, the same man standing before him today fleeing Ahch-To.

"Hang on a second - didn't I send your ass into an X-Wing cockpit before? Funny thing, us meeting again. This is the second time I've received a call about a Sith menacing a place, only to find you here when I investigate." Drow said, referring to the duel that the two men had engaged in on the watery world.

"Of course, back then, I was a Jedi. But the Council's exiled me now. They didn't like how gung ho I was about killing Sith."

@Braden Drake ​

 

[Darth Caelestis]

Artorigas ignored his comment about his men shooting first, they had only followed orders. His blade still held by his side, he slowly made his way forward step after step. He doubted the Alien had brought backup, but he was being cautious, the target was Human so this, this Ishi Tib was not it, but he could be an associate or apprentice. Then it spoke about a previous meeting, it took the Sith Noble much longer to remember it seemed than the Alien, he had seen far to many faces and far to many Aliens since that encounter a lifetime ago.

As the memories came back to him he laughed, yes the X-Wing. It was were he had found the Wayfinder, that little day had lead to everything since. "I remember Jedi, I have to thank you. What I found in that little X-Wing has given me more than you can imagine." He replied.

So the Jedi had been exiled, was he now working for his prey, had he fully switched sides. "And back then I was but a lowly Acolyte, now I stand at the head table, a Councillor in my own right. I say again surrender and you will not be harmed, I owe you to much."

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"Well belated congrats on the promotion. If you've made Councillor, I guess the Sith's standards are slacking even worse than I thought." Drow said, not knowing what exactly Artorigas was referring to. The Sith hadn't captured the X-Wing so what the hell could he have gained from their little encounter on the watery planet? He dismissed such thoughts from his mind as a Sith's blatant attempt to confuse him.

"But I don't think I will surrender." Drow said, shifting his stance from a defensive Makashi position to an offensive one. "You don't have any droids backing you up this time."

With that, Drow pulled the support beam of one of the smoldering ruins closest to Artorigas. Already crumbling, the structure would fall on Artorigas if the Sith wasn't quick enough. In the meantime, Drow would start sprinting to close the distance between the two men and once he reached Artorigas, he'd deliver an overhead blow to the Sith.

"Didn't like fighting Jedi, huh? Had to attack harmless villagers." Drow said, some anger rising to his voice.

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

"A hundred systems and a thousand worlds says otherwise Jedi, actually if you were exiled from the Order what should I call you now?" If he was honest with himself Artorigas was curious as to what had gotten the Ishi Tib removed the Jedi Order, also if he was no longer with The Jedi, where did he stand in the galaxy. On what side of the coin? There were many questions and many possibilities that could arise from this meeting.

Though it seemed he would have little time to digest or ask questions as like all 'Jedi' they attacked first. He felt the heat of the building come towards him, good Fire is what he craved. The Force Energy already built up in his muscles fired, the Sith launching backwards away from the Jedi allowing the building to crash in-between the pair. As it crashed and the embers and flames rose into the sky they became imbued in the energy of The Force. The power channelled through the Sith Councillor caused the smouldering ruins to become engulfed in flames, a beautiful mixture of Red's and Yellow's from the timber mixed with the Blue of Artorigas' own magical flame.

As the inferno grew he extended his arm sending a wave of fire towards the advancing Jedi. "I thought you said you weren't a Jedi anymore?"

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"Call me Luke fucking Skywalker for all the good it'll do you." Drow said confidently. As he sprinted and started his attack, he could immediately see that the young human had dramatically improved his skills since their last meeting. Sith he may be but game recognizes game and Drow had to admit the man was strong in the Force. He was able to deftly avoid the Ishi Tib's attack and Drow was forced to slide tackle his way behind a larger piece of rubble that had fallen on the street in order to avoid Artorigas' wave of fire.

His moisture farmer disguise was already showing singe marks and he was feeling hot taking cover behind a burning building so he waited for the sound of Artorigas' flame attack to stop before leaping up over the piece of the rubble that separated him and Artorigas. Once he made contact with the ground, he'd throw a feint to the Sith's left rib while actually slashing towards Artorigas' neck.

"I may not be a Jedi but that doesn't mean I like seeing filth like you wiping out villages like this." Drow shouted angrily.

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

"You Jedi love to live in the past." He replied as the Jedi dodged out of the way of his flames. He kept them going for a few moments longer than necessary, as a display of power. He was not the Acolyte he had almost maimed on Ahch-To, as the flames began to die down he felt more than saw the Jedi moved. His pupils too dilated from the bight flames to see clearly through the smoke.

Artorigas blade was still unlit, as the Ishi Tib jumped over the fallen building looking to remove his limbs from his body. But he was not in the mood to die, nor to end this quickly. Instead of blocking the attack to his ribs, he used The Force to once again allow him to easily move quickly back away from the attack. It seemed that it was a feint however the yellow blade clipping the edge of his beard as he moved away.

As he moved out of range the seemingly slaughter made Jedi screamed at him about the village. "Why does every Jedi I meet jump to conclusions." He spoke more to himself than the Jedi. Finally he ignited the blade a crimson line of plasma humming at his side. Darting his blade in he went for a light stab at the alien's right hand side, before swiping the blade up towards the left shoulder.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"I get a report that a Sith torched this village and I see you standing here with a platoon. What other conclusion am I supposed to draw?" Drow snarled, sidestepping the stab towards his right hand side and catching the crimson blade with his yellow one before it could hit his left shoulder. Next, he'd continue to exert force to press the crimson blade down into the ground, trying to use his formidable upper body strength to knock the saber out of Artorigas' grip.

"Impressive display. You've gotten better at fighting." the Ishi Tib admitted. As he continued to press down on Artorigas' lightsaber, he also gave a quick headbutt to the Sith's exposed head. It wasn't particularly powerful - more of a spiteful blow than anything - but it would probably smart a bit due to the Ishi Tib's beak.

"But not at listening. I keep telling you, I'm no Jedi."

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

"If you had opened your cloistered eyes, you would have seen my men moving through the village looking for information on what happened, not burning houses." He called back through gritted teeth, the Alien had the physical edge on him, the fact they could both use The Force to impower their bodies made a contest of strength a moot point. Smack, the bonny beak of the creature smashed into his head, it was enough to break the skin above his left eye, not much but a little crimson to match the blade.

That was perhaps a mistake though on the non-Jedi's part, for that little bit of pain helped Artorigas concentrate and pull The Force once again into him. From his right arm, flames once again appeared coating his hand, wrist and forearm in a magical blue flame. He flared the flames, if the Ishi Tib did not back away from the saber lock he would be burned. "You tell me you are no Jedi, but you still act like one. You demonise all those who do not follow your creed, then strike to kill those who do not bow."

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Artorigas did raise a good point, although Drow struggled to overcome his natural urge to disbelieve anything a Sith said. These were men and women who almost worshipped lies and deception so why in the Force would this one be any different? Truthfully, Drow had seen the two troopers from earlier digging through the rubble of the village. True, they could have been looking for information here but they could have just as easily been looking for survivors to eliminate too.

He had to ponder that later for at the peak of the saber lock, when Artorigas' saber was almost wrenched free from his hands when the human unleashed another flame attack. Drow was able to disengage from the saber lock in time and dodge it but not perfectly. Perhaps, when he was younger, he might have been able to dodge completely and unleash a devastating counterattack but he was slower in his old age and so a portion of his tunic caught fire and he was forced to stop, drop and roll away from the Sith to extinguish the flames. He got up quickly though - ready to bat away any attack the Sith might have wanted to make while the Ishi Tib was rolling.

"Don't act like the Sith are innocent lambs being terrorized by the Jedi. I was there on Byblos and Sullust and Ossus - I know what you all are capable of." Drow said once he was on his feet, choosing not to attack for now but rather, wanting to listen instead.

"But if you're telling the truth, where is the Sith that did this?"

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

The flames had brought him space and a chance to let the blood flow easily back into his aching wrist. The Alien had used the roll to extinguish the flames to create some distance between the pair, however he did not push the attack for it seemed like this Non-Jedi might be after the same thing he was. "I do not claim we are saints, everyone in this galaxy is a sinner one way or another. We however do not hide our sins behind a pride filled ideology." Artorigas replied, stretching his wrist with a few spins of his blade.

He moved slowly to the side clearing the sightlines between the pair, the smoke blowing to the east away from the two. "Why do you assume it is Sith, did your report give a name, a description. I don't see any eye witnesses. Or like any other evil action in the Galaxy you 'Jedi' 'Non-Jedi' blame it on us?" Artorigas had a good idea who did actually cause this, but the Alien had gotten his blood up and he didn't want to let it just fade away, yet.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow twirled his saber in his hands as he also circled, eyeing Darth Caelestis up and down but still refraining from attacking for now.

"Gods above, shut the hell up! Why does every Sith want to play the 'we're not so different' card? Be original. You guys glassed a planet for fuck's sake!" Drow said exasperatedly. Arguing with Sith was like arguing with a rock. Actually, scratch that - he'd met Vintians who put together arguments better than Sith. Sure, Jedi occasionally did things like "neglect an apprentice" or "became overly preachy" while the Sith did things like "genocide" so those false comparisons really irritated the Ishi Tib. Doubly so because Drow had actually been to Firerre after the glassing to assist with the relief effort.


"My source isn't the untrustworthy one here. Either answer my question or finish the fight - where is the man who did this?"

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

"And why does every Jedi or whatever you claim to be, believe that just because we stand on this side of the line, we are all homicidal maniacs who wish nothing but death and destruction upon the galaxy." He was getting angry, every Jedi acted the same, as soon as you say you a different they become aggressive, saying that there is no way you could be. "If you were a real Jedi, then you could ask your Grandmaster about me." He paused for a moment, looking to see if anything would read on the sweaty alien's face about the Grandmaster. "I have already spoken to her and convinced her that I am not the same as Darth Raze, the man which glassed your precious planet. I do not wish harm upon the galaxy and upon innocents."

He had placed the lives of his older sisters and their families in the hands of the Jedi Grandmaster, a peace offering and payment for his release. In exchange Avillion would not attack the Republic or the Jedi. He was not like the others, he wished to build not to burn. "If I knew where he was, I wouldn't be here talking to you would I. I came for answers, this man is a traitor to our order. He is my enemy as much as he is yours."

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

" My momma always told me that your choice of friends says a lot about you. And I sure as hell don't know anybody who's glassed a planet." Drow said. As he spoke, the winds begin to pick up and a cloud of dust began blowing towards them. Drow remembered from reading up on the area that this place was known for frequent sandstorms - a fact that would make it a perfect hideaway for a Sith Lord.

"If this is true, I need a name. Sith or not, if there's someone torching towns in the galaxy, I want him gone as much as you." Drow said, still not attacking for the moment. As much as he might want to put down a Sith, he knew Intel was worth more than a dead Sith as First Shadow.

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

"I would say calling us friends is a push, Darth Raze is cordial at best to his brethren in The Order." The Jedi/Non-Jedi seemed to be less aggressive in his nature, his posture, the waves of Force Energy and the tone of his voice signalled that at least some of Artorigas' words had snuck through the Alien's impressively thick skull. "Viritan, a survivor of the Old Eternal's reign. He must be removed and I need to remove him."

Ossus had harmed some of Artorigas' image, his little treaty with the Jedi Grandmaster equally so, his powerbase was still strong within the Western reaches of the Empire, Avillion was loyal to him alone, but factions within the Greater Empire were forming and some were hostile against him. He needed power and influence and the removal of this 'traitor' was a sure fire way of doing so. "All I know is that he is in the Outer Rim, a large contingency of his power base still follow him loyally. As such he needs resources, like those he would have found here on in this village." He replied his hand pointing out the burning embers of the village.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"You're a different flavor of Sith then huh? Well, maybe I'm a different flavor of Jedi come to think of it. Heh." Drow chuckled sadly, still holding his saber blade. The sandstorm was really starting to pick up steam now as debris and sand pelted both men as they stood in the ruins of the village.

"I need more than that to go on!" Drow shouted over the roar of the storm. "Anyone who used to work for him? Former followers? Ex girlfriends?"

Truthfully, this was taking a bit of a turn for the poor old Ishi Tib. He'd grown a bit inflexible in his old age and had just been expecting a pretty standard "show up, kill the Sith" type of mission. This was already shaping up to be much more than that. Of course, this was a great piece of intel for the leader of the Jedi Shadows to receive but Drow was still finding his way from being a blunt instrument of death to the Sith to a more finely refined one. As it was, his old instincts very much wanted to kill Artorigas but his experience as First Shadow wanted to wait and see what the man had to say further.

@Darth Caelestis @Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

"I thought you said you weren't a Jedi?" Artorigas replied back with a smirk. As the sand began to whip around them he knew they had little time before they would be pushed to find shelter and the last thing he wanted was to spend a few hours in a half burned down ruin with the Jedi Non-Jedi. "I know perhaps as little as you, he has contacts all over the Outer Rim."

He wasn't going to give away every source he had, he still needed to remove Viritan's head himself, but perhaps letting the Jedi smoke him out might be of some benefit. "I've heard of some rumours around Bespin and Endor. Though I would not get your hopes up." Disengaging his lightsaber he clipped the metal handle on his belt. "Now if you please I would head back to my ship before the winds get to messy."

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"I don't know what I am anymore pal." Drow answerd Artorigas. He tried taking some steps forward to close the gap as the storm was rapdily getting worse and was starting to make even movement difficult, let alone a duel. This Sith might have been more helpful than most he'd encountered before but he'd still very much like to take him into custody at the very least.

"Hey wait!" the Ishi Tib called out "I'm not done with you yet!"

But it was futile. The Force could do a great many things and Drow was a capabable combatant but a sandstorm was still a sandstorm. Plus, with most of the buildings in town burned down, the two men were essentially standing bare in the storm with no shelter to take cover from him. As sand and wind whipped around him, Drow was forced to disnegage his lightsaber as well and furiously watch the Sith walk away. He got to low to the ground and used the Force to ground himself and preven being blown off the cliff the town stood on.

"Sparky, fly the Y-Wing over my coordinates - we need to go." Drow said a bit grumpily into his comm. His loyal astromech beeped in the affirmative and the First Shadow waited for his ship to fly overhead. This trip wasn't a total loss - he'd gained some valuable intel but he would have preferred to have Artorigas in custody. As it was, the Sith had escaped him again and Drow found himself wondering why the Force continued to bring him and the Sith together.

Once they were out of the storm, he'd send a quick message to @Alexandria Voran letting her know about the rogue Sith Councilor and asking for a team to assist him on Bespin as he continued to search for answers.

@BradenDrake

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