Ask Two

[Wodan]

Death Enabled​

The cold winds whipped across the barren wastes of Malachor, slapping the loose fabric back and forth into his skin. Wodan stood a few metres in front of the Upslion Class shuttle which had brought him to the planet, the small crew staring at the Sith from inside their warm cockpit. The Firrerrian couldn’t sit idly inside the cockpit and wait for Arla to arrive, the nerves were eating into him and at least the cold and the stinging whip of the fabric kept his mind fully off the Dathmorian’s reaction.

His scars, the cause of his nerves were partly hidden behind an eyepatch which covered what was the small cavity of his left eye. The leather and durasteel piece helped cover the worst of the scarring and also kept the corse Malachor sand from the small pooling in the depression. His right hand as always fiddled with the shard around his neck, it was noticeably worse today, the almost sentient darkness inside had begun to flow faster and stronger since they arrived on the planet. Did it detect another piece? Was his intel correct? It brought some relief, but also some concern, Wodan already had to fight daily to make sure the Shard did not corrupt his thoughts or actions, would two be twice as difficult?

The dark red jacket whipped at his neck as he waited, pulling his mind out of deeper thoughts and onto the horizon as another ship approached. The crew inside hadn’t called out to him, so it must be her, must be Arla.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla was in a pretty good mood. Although she had been frustrated for a time over the hex of this "bro code" that Wodan had apparently cast on Altair, that had been quite some time ago now, and the anger had mostly died. Truth was, it had been a long time since she'd seen Wodan, and she was looking forward to it again.

She also felt good about the fact that this wasn't her first time on Malachor. Her recent trip here with Renata seemed that it may have been a preparation for what she was about to impart on with Wodan.

She had left her ship and headed out to the lone figure standing on the precipice of the area leading underground. She had heard only rumors of these artifacts they were looking for, but she hoped to learn more as their journey unfolded. Her hunger for knowledge and power was voracious and only growing by the day.

She had a small smile on her face as she approached, only to see the way in which he had evidently been mangled. Even his presence in the Shadow seemed... darker now. He was different, and it was almost hard to imagine that he was the same person she had been on the boat or on Nal Hutta.

What happened? she asked, her usual, incredibly blunt and undiplomatic self.

It's good to see you again, she added a moment later, genuine and unbidden in the response.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

He watched her approach with a small tingling of nerves inside his chest, as soon as she opened his mouth a small smile cracked across his lips when as usual Arla got straight to the point. “It’s good to see you as well Arla.” He replied, not sure what he was supposed to do, it had been a while, do they shake hands? Hug? Or just nod at each other from a distance as they met near the entrance to the underground section of the planet.

“Corellia, I was part of the failed landing. Plasma shot, hit a Duracrete wall next to me.” Wodan answered with a forced smile, he was lucky to be wearing a helmet otherwise the steel shard which cost him his eye would have easily pierced his brain. “How have you been?” He asked, wanting to move away from talking about Corellia and his face.

Once she replied he would gesture towards the entrance of the underground labyrinth. “Ladies first.”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

She smiled as he mentioned it was good to see her and threw out caution, throwing her arms around him.

Glad you made it, she said. Corellia had been brutal from what she had heard, but she hadn't followed the reports closely. Despite being a Sith, the war actually held relatively little interest to her. The attack against the ISC had been... perhaps a bit hasty.

I've been good. Quite busy, she said with a nod. It seemed almost every day was packed with work and the next job, but she wasn't complaining.

She pulled back after a moment and just proceeded to press onward, looking down into the hole before dropping inside, letting the Shadow slow her as she hit the ground.

Been here before, she explained, giving a reason for why she was so confident in her forward movement.

She walked past the ashes and bodies of those who had been vaporized by the super weapon.

I didn't see this thing in the main temple, you know where we're supposed to go looking for it? she asked curiously.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan returned the hug in kind, he wasn’t expecting the show of affection from the Dathmorian but wasn’t caught so off guard as to leave her standing there without returning the gesture. He watched her disappear into the darkness, walking to the edge. Wodan spotted her soft landing on the ground, a puzzled look on his face, before she confirmed she had been here before.

The Firrrerrian followed suit, using The Force to cushion his landing though not as gracefully as Arla did, having to quite aggressively bend his needs to avoid them shattering. “I doubt it would be in the temple. It at best only came here a hundred years ago.” He replied, stepping up next to her as they passed the entombed bodies.

The darkness here was oppressive, like the crypts of Korriban or the Castle on Mustafar, concentrated and malicious in intent. The shard around his neck hummed like a happy school child, the inanimate object seemingly to relish the presence of all this corrupt energy. “Did you see any lifeforms when you were here last?”

Although he was confident it wasn’t at the temple, he headed that way anyway. It dominated the landscape and would at least be a good place to start the hunt from.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla walked past the dead as they headed for the temple. Nothing alive around here, she said. Malachor was many things, but hospitable wasn't one of them.

How do you know it's even here? she asked, turning back to look at him over her shoulder. It didn't seem like they had much to go on here, and she didn't really want to just flounder around in confusion.

So Sidious, huh? He your new point of study? she asked. For all his faults, he had done some pretty incredible things. A cautionary tale in some ways, and a thing to look up to in others.

She passed by the temple, and kept going. Though the fighting had evidently been fiercest at the temple's foot, it had spread beyond that to the other side as well. The caverns seemed to stretch on for an eternity, and Arla wondered what secrets the Sith might have hidden out there.

All the focus is around the temple, but there had to be some Sith who wanted to head off on their own and study by themselves. I know there was an academy here at one point, and I doubt that'd be the only thing, she said.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Well that made it a little less simple, Wodan had hoped that whatever brought the Shard here, either the person in question or a descendant was alive, giving the pair an easier chance to locate them and the object in question. “A lot of digging through old Eternal archives, it was either here or Malastare or Mustafar. One of the three, but now I am here, I am pretty confident.” He replied, tapping the shard he already owned. “Kind of feels like they are calling out to each other.”

Wodan stopped for a moment when she mentioned Sidious’ name, it made sense that Arla had figured out what he was after. The Firrerrian had purposefully kept most people who worked with him on the Shard’s in the dark about their nature and point of origin. Mostly because the Sith were naturally greedy and it wouldn’t take much for one of them to turn on him and go chasing after the shard on their own. “I guess so, though I kind of fell on it originally. Only after I found it did I really learn about what it was and how it was connected to the old Sith Emperor.”

“The nature of the Shards is to protect themselves, so I would say if we find the deepest darkest corner in here, it's probably there.” He replied, heading in the direction Arla pointed out was the old academy. “I guess we will try the Academy first. From my experience they seem to normally have at least one or two hidden rooms for the teachers to punish disobedient students in.”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

She turned back to look at the shard he had, squinting at it and pulling closer, reaching out to put a finger against it. Yes, it was... vibrant. Almost electric. Hmm, well I guess that's a step in the right direction, she said.

Well the academy we'll have to get back in our ships, she said. But maybe we should check the caverns out between them first, she suggested.

And what do you think of the Sith Emperor who nearly wiped out the Jedi and then nearly ended the Sith Order? she said with a snort. He really had changed the face of the galaxy, that much was sure.

She headed on as they came to the first of the caverns, raising her hands and casting several small orbs of green light over her head, dancing around to light her way as she proceeded inside.

So... does the shard vibrate or something when we're close? she asked him, feeling like she was somewhat flailing around in the dark here. And all the while she couldn't break the feeling that... they weren't alone. Not that she'd seen anyone or could even really sense anyone past the Darkness here, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

He went rigid as Arla reached out to touch the Shard, every ounce of his being wanted to snap her fingers for attempting to touch it. His back teeth clamped down hard against each other, an ache flowing across his jaw, a small glimmer of his fangs evident to the Dathmorian. But luckily for both of them she only touched it for an instant before turning away. Wodan let out a breath as the fear of losing the Shard fled from his mind, the normal calm returning as she asked her question about Sidious.

“Well he is probably second to Andraste in the success of his plan.” He replied, they both had wiped almost all traces of the Jedi from the Galaxy however one lasted centuries the other only decades. “Though he was a little too self centric for his grand dream to ever last. He would have died eventually, doesn’t matter how strong in The Force you are, you can’t outrun time. The Empire would have just collapsed then, there was no succession plan, everything ran through him. So once he left the whole thing came crumbling down.”

The caverns were dry and musty as they slowly descended into them, he wondered how much of the floating debris was sand or vaporised sentients? “I wouldn’t know, but I doubt it. When searching for this one, I just followed the thick scent of Darkness and it was at the epicentre. Although that’s a bit harder here.” An itch on the back of his neck, forced him to turn slightly to get a good scratch. Did he see something? Stopping he turned around in place, then it appeared through the stone before him. A ghostly spector a vicious look upon its face.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla was not oblivious to the flash of fang in his mouth, and she tensed for a moment before pulling away. Perhaps she wasn't as safe around him as she had considered. Maybe she was being foolish, and she could sense the power that flowed off of the item.

Arla agreed with what he said about the Galactic Empire and nodded, but her mind was still elsewhere. Still on their interaction and the shard. She almost wondered if he planned to kill her and take the shard for himself. While that sort of betrayal wasn't usually the way of the Sith anymore... she'd be a fool to assume it couldn't happen.

She finally shook herself from the thoughts.

Yeah, no plans beyond the present. Very Sith in a way, she said. In truth, she didn't plan for much beyond herself either. After all, the Sith Code was about breaking your own chains, not the chains of the galaxy. To inspect one's self was to be Sith.

She was once again shaken from her thoughts by a ghostly specter. Her foot slid back slightly, hands glowing faintly in green as she prepared to defend herself.

He's dead, not any sort of primal spirit, she said to Wodan as she watched the being. She could sense it on him, his shape, form, and just... impression in the Shadow telling her a great deal.

Are you Sith? she asked the spectral figure.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

A breath caught in his throat as the creature stopped a few inches from Wodan’s face. What was this? Was it from the Shard? Wodan hadn’t had the pleasure of corresponding with the dead, even on Korriban his time tomb diving on the ancient world had been nil. Arla’s word brought some comfort to the Firrerrian and he began to relax, at least if the Dathmorian knew what this ‘thing’ was knowing her she probably knew how to deal with it.

The Ghost’s head snapped towards Arla as she addressed it. “The Sith are Dead.” It said with not one voice but three layered over each other, one high and squeaky like a teen, one raspy and cracked like a pensioner, and one filled with thick misery. “Only pitiful remnants remain, they call themself Sith, but they are just pups playing with things they cannot understand.” Replied the ghostly figure, its lips weirdly moved out of time with the visible jawline beneath.

“Are you one of these half-Sith?” He asked Arla, his head spinning quickly to face Wodan. “Are you?”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla didn't even flinch in the face of this... being. Though, the way the voice sounded made her wonder if it was, in fact, more than one. Could their souls have been blended together? A mixed consciousness in the Shadow? No, that seemed unlikely. Such a thing shouldn't have been possible, and even something like Force Walking required an actual body, right?

Arla squinted for a moment, thinking about what he had said. Evidently it didn't care much for the modern Sith, and she had to assume that would mean it was probably hostile to them. Her mind already started ticking off the magicks she might need to employ to keep them at bay if it came to it.

And you are dead, she replied. You claim the Sith are dead, and you are dead, therefore, you have not answered my question, she said. Spirits could be tricky, and it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that this was just that: a test. They liked to turn people's words back on them, though the dead were slightly less likely to do that than some of the Primal Spirits from what Arla had read.

I am a servant of the natural order: predator and prey, she said. That was... well, that was technically true. She was a Nightsister and a Sith, and one thing both held in common was that the strong should not be cowed by the opinions of the weak.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan’s mouth opened to reply to the spirit when Arla spoke up. Something in the woman’s tone gave the Firrerrian cause to ponder his exact words to the spirit. The fact she also claimed to be neither Sith or a Nightsister confused and concerned him, was there something he was missing from this?

A crooked smile appeared on the spirits lips as his face turned back towards Arla, then came a bellowing laugh which echoed off the walls of the small cavern they were in, sending a shiver down Wodan’s spine. “You are a smart girl.” He began, his corporal form worked its way around Wodan to come face to face with Arla. “So if you are the predator, is he your prey?” It lent in closer whispering into her ear. “Will kill him and take what’s inside?” The creature’s words were followed by an icy blast of air directly into Arla’s face.

Wodan stood there unsure of how to act, could he even damage a spirit such as this? A lightsaber wouldn’t work, would a Force attack? If so what could he do which wouldn’t his Arla, the space was too compact for anything substantial. As he chewed on his action The Dark Side slowly began to flow into his body, his muscles tightening ready to burst into action. His right hand slowly creeped up his chest towards the shard.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla was unflinching in the face of the spirit, though her jaw tightened as the blast of cold breath hit her face. The more it spoke, the more convinced she was that it wouldn't help them, but she still remained steadfast, holding out to see just what would happen.

I wouldn't bring prey with me to a place like this. They have no use for it, she said, pressing on with the "conversation" before it could inquire further. She was losing her patience with this game, and wasn't going to let it sit in the driver's seat.

She could feel the ebb of the Shadow as it flowed into Wodan, a telltale sign that he, too, was either losing patience or sensed the danger this creature posed.

Do not toy with me, specter. You ask questions and offer no answers. We will find what we came for, and we do not answer to you. You are dead, she said. Well... there was a good chance that that would enrage it, but well... you never knew.

It was not uncommon for powerful Sith to treat the spirits of the dead with contempt, and Arla had been more patient than most in this case.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

A grimace quickly took over the face of the spectral creature, as Arla verbally lashed out at it. The Dathmorian and Wodan would both begin to feel the air grow cold, a cackle slowly beginning to rumble from the dead thing’s chest.

Wodan’s hand instinctively reached the Shard around his neck; he had always felt more powerful when he had the metal grasped, perhaps he could use that power to damage the creature? The ghost’s neck snapped towards Wodan as soon as his fingers laced around the object. “You.” Quicker than either of them could react the ghostly spector spun and charged at Wodan, its greenish blue hands seemingly becoming solid as they clasped themselves around Wodan’s neck attempting to squeeze all life from him.

“Why do you have that? Why did you bring it here?” He spat into his face, the ice cold wind of his voice eating away at the Firrerrian’s skin.

Wodan kicked and thrashed as he was pinned a foot up in the air. His hands tried to grasp at the ghostly fingers around his neck but they just slipped right through him. Wodan’s vision began to go dim as the spector continued to shout obscenities in his frostbitten face.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

And there it was. The being was never going to help them. Sith spirits weren't known for their generosity, but they were known for being able to be coerced under the right circumstances.

It lashed out at Wodan, and for the briefest moment as she saw him there, she considered letting the specter do it, taking both shards for herself, and leaving. The thought, however, was gone in a flash, and Arla brought her power to bear on the creature.

Izgnat, sushchestvo smerti! she shouted, her words echoing so that they could be almost felt through the Force. As she said them, she brought her hands up and lashed out, letting green ichors pummel into his body, though as they passed over Wodan they didn't even seem to touch him. Despite the energy crackling through the air, it wasn't, evidently corporeal.

The fact was that the incantation was a simple banishing ritual, though it was evident that whatever this was - or rather whoever this was - was not someone weak even after death.

Still, the blast of "energy" weakened his grip on Wodan, allowing him time to scramble away as the ghost-man turned and "lunged" at the Nightsister.

A mixture of runes and glyphs burst into a wall of green in front of her that he slammed into, momentarily aggravated at having been thwarted as Arla stood there with a surprisingly smug grin on her face.

It had - for the moment - turned its attention entirely away from Wodan and even left its back exposed if he could find a way to capitalize.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

It was so cold, the frosty breath upon his face, the circulation slowing around his body. Wodan could feel the chill touch of death approaching an internal sigh, was this it, strangled to death by a ghost what a way to go.

Then heat slammed into him as the hands disappeared from his throat causing him to plummet to the floor, his knees crashing into the stone. Deep gulps of air burned his lungs as he tried to catch breath, warm was coursing through his body as it slowly came back from the brink of death.

Looking up at the figure it loomed over Arla, who seemed remarkably smug considering an undead creature was trying to kill them both. Wodan slowly pulled himself to his feet, using the wall as an anchor. The pain of near death was slowly giving way to anger, a deep growl came from his chest snapping out his left hand, bolts of black lightning crashed into the spector and the surrounding stone. Shards of rock scattered in dozens of different directions as the Dark ability crashed into the spine of the ghost, it let out a terrifying scream caught between both his and Arla’s abilities.

Its lips tried to move, though Wodan wasn’t sure if it was asking for mercy or cursing Arla for banishing it back to where it came from.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla was glad that Wodan had taken the cue, giving in to the power that flowed through this place and beginning to crush the creature of ichor. Shouted another spell in Dathomiri, focusing the runes and glyphs down and compressing them, letting Wodan hold the creature in place as she continued to crush it down. With a final flash of green and an "explosion" that knocked her back several steps and onto her butt, the creature was gone, defeated by the duo of Sith.

Arla let out a quiet groan and reached up to rub her eyes and scratch the top of her head before brushing back some of her hair.

You still alive? she asked, though from the movement, it looked like he wasn't nearly as dead as their attacker.

Well, that was fun, she said, though her tone didn't make it clear whether that was a joke or actually a serious take on the topic.

We always manage to find the most interesting things, don't we? she asked, just sitting there for a moment and not bothering to get back up yet as she thought back about the Nal Hutta creature they had crossed paths with.

You just like the creepy stuff, don't you? she asked with the faintest hint of a smirk.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

The lightning continued to crack and smash into the surrounding stonework, as the spirit was slowly crushed and consumed by the power coming from Arla. The growl continued to grow as he began to enjoy the suffering on the face of the Spirit, then it was gone. An explosion of energy sent the pair flying, the black lightning disappearing in a flash. Wodan collapsing forward onto all fours, taking great gulps of air as he tried to recover from what just happened.

He looked up to spot the figure of Arla sitting on her but pushing strands of hair away from her face. How did they always seem to end up in situations like this and how was she always pulling his arse from the fire. Wodan couldn’t help but smile at her, pushing himself up onto his feet. “That is saying it lightly.” He said walking over to her and offering out his hand to help her up. “Not just creepy stuff.” He added, if she allowed him to pull her up, she would find herself pulled into a kiss.

Maybe a near death experience was what he needed to be as direct as the Dathmorian, no more beating around the bush.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla was more than a little surprised when, after helping her to her feet, he abruptly kissed her. In fact, it wasn't even on her radar at all, and as he pulled back for a moment, she just stared at him, her eyes a bit wild.

I didn't tell you that you could do that, she snapped. There was a hint of anger there, but before he would even have a chance to respond, she reached out with the Force and shoved him to the ground, not gently by also not hard enough to do harm.

Without saying another word she threw her leg over him, and he would be able to figure out very quickly where this was going as her lips now locked with his, hungrily and with more zeal. He would recall from their boat trip how she felt about being in control during moments like this, and she had no problems asserting herself, particularly with him having instigated things.

And she had no intention of stopping. The fact that they were surrounded by danger and things others would consider creepy only seemed to drive her onward all the more.

@Braden