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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2018 19:21:41 GMT -8
Valance’s expression hardened behind his helmet as the droid made its statement. Affirming that it did not serve the Eternal Empire. He pulled his shield closer to his torso as the droid lunges forward, reaching for his throat. It’s metallic fingers wrapping around a couple layers of fabric before tightening. Valance swung his shield outward, hoping to push the droid back enough to manoeuvre his spear into a position to stab at it.
Such close quarters were not ideal for his usual fighting methods. If anything, he’d need to switch out his shield and spear for the special lightsaber stored on the back of his belt. He would just have to assess what the droids reaction was first
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2018 13:26:20 GMT -8
The positioning of the shield effectively held back the droid, making the grip on Valance's throat weak. With ease was the Knight of Zakuul able to push the droid away. And the follow up attack met its target as well. With the swift movement of the push into the thrust, the spear met the left side of its chest. Had it been human, the battle would have been over right then. But the droid's make up allowed it to continue on. Its left hand rose to meet the spear, seeking to remove it from its body. The strength of Valance made it a much more difficult task before having to rip it away, damaging itself further, leaving it barely hanging on though still somewhat usable.
The moment it had solid footing, it moved back in, reaching for the shield with both hands to steal it away. It wouldn't give Valance the chance to better his situation. Without the shield, he'd be much easier to bring down with his current choice of weapon.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2018 4:41:56 GMT -8
Valance's strike hit home, damaging the droid's torso chassis. But even as he gained a moment of victory, his spear was ripped from his hand. Torn away by the GEMINI's superior mechanical strength. He let go of the weapon, allowing it to more freely be tossed aside. Giving him a moment to reach for the lightsaber hilt attached to his belt as the GEMINI recovered its stance.
As the droid grabbed hold of his shield, he slipped his arm free of the grips. Allowing his disarmament as he depressed the activator button on his lightsaber. The Golden blade snapping to life as he brought it up in a diagonal slice from the droids lower left hip to it's right shoulder. In hopes he might be able to bisect the mechanical menace
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2018 9:05:57 GMT -8
Valance's lightsaber hit him as it cut through the droid as it pulled away with the shield. In the blink of an eye, the GEMINI fell to the ground in two pieces. Not quite the fight one might have expected from such the droid, yet it would be unknown as to the factors that played into the Knight's swift victory.
As it laid there, it shifted and glitched for a moment or two before finally losing all its power. From here, it's mind would have returned and remained within the hive mind, yet it was yet another unknown considering how it responded to Valance. Questions that might only be answered by analyzing it further.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 6:54:32 GMT -8
Valance could only thank the Force for his strikes hitting home and bringing him victory. GEMINI droids were not to be scoffed at. Unlike an organic mind, GEMINI's processed thousands of bits of data per second. Meaning that it should have had the advantage. But today, the Force had been enough to reward him for his dedication to justice.
He stood over the dying GEMINI, watching as it glitched out on the ground. He kept his lightaber blade pointed right at the droids center of mass, in case it tried ti rise once more. But it did not. It remained splayed out on the floor before losing all power. His HUD alerting him a few moments later that the danger had passed.
He deactivated his lightsaber and placed the hilt back upon his belt as he regarded the droid. He had questions, far too many to simply let this ancient relic remain here without trying to learn more about it. He moved over the droid then and retrieved his lightsaber pike. The blade activating a few moments later before he bisected the head from the remaining body. A clean up crew could deal with what remained here.
He deactivated the blade and placed the spear across his back before collecting his shield and the head of the GEMINI droid. His comm link came back on a few moments later as he exited the storage room, carrying his prize. Reports were streaming in regarding victory for the Eternal Empire. Bakura had been pulled from the chaos, and now law and order would rule "Sabrina... I found our prize. Meet me back aboard the Hammer. We have some work to do...." "Very well, I'll leave Exarch Aubre in charge of our forces to oversee the remaining change over..." Valance headed to the nearest landing pad and grabbed a shuttle up to the Hammer of Justice in orbit
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2019 20:18:18 GMT -8
The embers of the war for Bakura finally died down as the new government took its seat of power in Salis D'aar. Knights of Zakuul quickly deployed across the world in a flash purge to capture those that had fought back. Those with the ability to use the Force were offered the chance to join the Knights of Zakuul, while those who refused or were not Force Sensitive were sentenced to prison time. For some, that involved actual confinement, while others were forced into public service work as field hands and miners.
As the trials and sentences were carried out, the Sky Troopers began to become a more frequent sight. Their imposing image working to dissuade further large scale rebellions. Couple that with the fact that the Eternal Empire was actually taking steps to improve the general well being of Bakura. Life seemed to improve, it might not have been perfect, but it was better than what it had been
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Post by Xander Savage on Feb 24, 2019 18:01:17 GMT -8
Improvements continued to be made, while everything settled back to a semblance of normalcy for the Bakuran people. Now integrated into the Eternal Empire, Bakura flew the while and gold colors of the Empire. Life continued on, ever improving as the Empire continued to aid in the prosperity of the Bakuran people.
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Post by Xander Savage on Nov 8, 2019 13:21:45 GMT -8
The Eternal Empire has brought peace, justice and prosperity to Bakura. Adding the Empire's tech to the existing infrastructure of Salis D'aar, the city was transformed into a white and gold masterpiece of technology. Skytrooper patrols kept the order, while the Knights of Zakuul ensured justice was carried out. And the orbital defenses ensured the planet remained secure from hostiles.
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Post by Xander Savage on Jan 20, 2020 16:08:29 GMT -8
Bakura. The first world to fall under the sway of the Eternal Empire. Prosperous and powerful, the Bakuran people accepted the Empire's rule with little objection. Given the nature of the Empire, upholding justice and ensuring there was order, the Bakuran people were much more compliant to its rule, than previous, oppressive regimes. Ruling with an iron fist may have worked for some, but allowing the natural order to flourish, the Empire's rule remained strong and its subjects, loyal.
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Post by Xander Savage on Oct 13, 2020 9:16:07 GMT -8
Bakura had been the first planet to fall under the Eternal Empire's sway. It remained as such even to this day. Rather than oppress and exploit the population of Bakura, the Empire protected its citizen and delivered swift, but harsh justice to those deserving. So long as nothing threatened the unity and cohesion of the Empire and its subjects, the remained loyal to the throne, and their Emperor.
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Nem Yin
The First Order
The dark expanse of the intergalactic void is not as empty as they would have you believe...
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Post by Nem Yin on Nov 4, 2021 12:02:28 GMT -8
After its rapid descent from orbit, the 'Oozing Pustule' set down in a remote area just outside the capital. Arrest tentacle punctured the terrain and performed the Yuuzhan Vong equivalent of mag-clamping the organic transport to the ground. Inside, Jark was ready for his mission. He donned the humanoid ooglith masquer, now disguised as any other citizen of Bakura, with plain clothes to match. Both his coufee and his tkun were concealed up the sleeves of his outfit, hidden but close at hand. He practised a few routine facial gestures with the layer of second skin as he disembarked.
From what the Praetorite had gleaned from the holonet, Bakura had the most advanced organ grafting technology among the infidels. Jark Anor's mission was to infiltrate one of their medical facilities, steal or copy what information he could, then tamper with the current organs stored on the planet or replace them with ones altered by the Yuuzhan Vong. He didn't know the purpose of the plan in its entirity, but that wouldn't effect his ability to carry out the mission to completion. His kind was bred for this sort of infiltration work.
After he crossed the west river the disguised attendant made his way into the city.
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Nem Yin
The First Order
The dark expanse of the intergalactic void is not as empty as they would have you believe...
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Post by Nem Yin on Nov 14, 2021 6:46:11 GMT -8
A few weeks later.
In the time since Jark had first entered the city, disguised as just another Bakuran human, he had found employment at a local hospital where much of the organ grafting technology the Praetorite Vong were interested in was utilized. Without proper medical credentials his access to the data he sought was somewhat limited, they currently had him working in the maintenance department. Fortunately that provided him with a set of keys to most of the building, including the offices of the senior administration responsible for the facility. He pushed a garbage cart through the halls, occasionally pausing to sweep the floors here or there. He had to wait until he was on the night shift to make his move.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
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Post by Dragus on Apr 20, 2023 9:46:46 GMT -8
Twin-ion engines shrieked above the capital of Salis D'aar as the twenty-four TIE Bombers of Black and Gold Squadrons made their descent through the clouds, streaking over the energy shielded city. Inside each cockpit, hypno-indoctrinated cultists with cybernetic augmentations and varying signs of mutation, piloted their screaming bombers towards the strike zone. They occasionally veered to avoid anti-aircraft fire from turbolaser emplacements situated across Salis D'aar, protected in turn by the city-wide encompassing defensive shield. As they reached the target destination, each pilot rested a black gloved hand on the toggle for the ordnance bay, then flipped the switch. The bay on the left pod of each bomber flipped open beneath the bombers and released their deadly oval shaped packages. Seismic charges fell towards the barely visible energy dome, the seconds ticking away as the bomber pilots pulled up and to the side on their steering yokes, desperate to put as much distance between their ships and the shield before those charges detonated. Mere meters from the surface of the barrier, they detonated, exploding outwards in concussive waves of brilliant blue light. The impact of each eruption was like a kinetic hammer striking the surface of the energy shield, hitting as hard as meteorites. Bit by bit, that protective force field began to fizzle out, struggling to recharge after every impact. That's when the second set of charges were dropped.A boom sounded from the city's shield generator station as its power supply overloaded and erupted in a crackling flash of electricity and acrid smoke, followed by a deafening roar as the energy barrier collapsed and the concussive waves began to shatter the tops of skyscrapers, burying the streets below in ferrocrete rubble. Wet tongues licked dry pale lips inside the flight helmet of each pilot as the ghoulish occupants salivated at the death and destruction they had created. Pzobian black-script appeared across their HUD screens as they received updated orders from Krell to switch over to proton bombs and focus their runs on the outskirts of the city, cutting off any avenues of escape. Lucius Gog, the umbaran hunger cultist and leader of Gold Squadron, flipped a toggle to change ordnance packages and then peppered rooftops with emerald green laser fire, leading his squadron on a path of carnage around the perimeter of Salis D'aar. Black Squadron did much the same, heading in the opposite direction. Duracrete corners of buildings and flaming debris collapsed on top of fleeing citizens running for their lives in the streets. Many attempted to take shelter inside, only to find themselves washed away by an avalanche of broken buildings.LAATs swarmed across the sky next, nearly a hundred in total, spilling their verminous loads over the capital even before setting down on roof tops or the ground far below. Ranats wearing leathery membranous wings and goggles, commonly referred to as banats due to their appearance, blotted out the sun overhead as the surging vermintide descended onto the city. They dropped glass globules full of poisonous gas that caused every orifice to bleed and ones lungs to melt inside their chest. Some of the feral rodents even fell upon the backs of fleeing citizens, tearing at them with gnarled claws and diseased fangs. Rodent pilots raced without care or caution towards the slave meat, eager to fill their bellies and prove themselves worthy to the new Famine Lord, Dark Lady Wart, the Dune Dragon of Pzob. As LAATs set down on cracked streets littered with refuse and debris, their doors slid open and a verminous tide of greasy fur and beady eyes poured out of the inner holds. Albino furred storm vermin wielding rusted pikes and tooth edged swords forged in the pits of decay in the under-kingdom of Dragusblight, marched in disordered ranks, battering any human or kurtzen they came across, forcing the panicked crowds towards the city center.Dark iron pods swathed in orange flame and black smoke hurtled towards the surface from orbit, launched from the Covenant's pod bay, huge hexagon shaped containers with thick armoured panels on the sides. Appearing as streaking missiles, these objects exploded outwards just as they reached the uppermost heights of the city's circularly spaced buildings, projecting those armoured panels through transparasteel windows, crushing buzy-body office workers watching the commotion outside. Large black scaled wings unfurled to reveal a dozen mutant Arkanian dragons, with gleaming white fangs the size of sword blades and throats that belched smoke. Seated on the back of each of the twelve beasts was a shadowy apparition in tattered shadowsilk robes, gripping the reigns connected to each dragons head while they leaned back in their dark leather saddles, reaching with boney shadow swathed claws towards energy lances thrust through loops near their legs. Crimson eyes flared like motts of witch-fire in their darkness shrouded hoods, obscuring the verminous phantom features of each Wraith-Rat. Former Far Squeakers that had succumbed to the same hungering affliction as the Great Devourer, they had one foot in the living realm and the other in chaos. The only thing driving them now was their enslavement to the Famine Lord, whomever held that title, and their relentless thirst. With those large conical black spears in hands the spectral rodents thumbed the activation studs, bringing each electromagnetic generator to life, causing the ends of each lance tip to crackle with electrical current. Then they fired bolts of lightning at the fleeing peasants below, laughing in sinister screeching delight as the peons turned to ash with every sizzling strike.As the TIE Bombers of Black and Gold squadrons made the roads leading in and out of the city impassible, more pods fell from the heavens above, kicking up scorched dirt as they struck the ground just inside the perimeter of the city. As the pods hydraulics kicked in and they unsealed with a steaming hiss, glowing red saurian eyes glared out from the dark, displaying mouthfuls of pink stained incisors as their fangs bit into their own black gums and misted crimson flecks with every ragged breath. Practically identical physical copies of the Hungering One, these black scaled barabels lacked the one thing that made Dragus special: sentience. Each and every one of the creatures known as the Children of Dragus was feral, driven mad by the darkside while still in the egg. They snarled and clicked as they emerged from their pods, nostril slits flaring and forked tongues flicking the air as they began to scent their prey. Five thousand of these monsters had been loosed, hunting in packs as they entered buildings and sated their gluttonous appetite on the citizens of Bakura. With obsidian claws they tore up the coward-meat, filling the air with competing smells of spilt blood and released bowels. Occasionally the snap of a neuronic whip would send the packs scattering as storm vermin marched by, gathering up any survivors they could find along the way.Finally, the worst of the worst arrived. Gamma-class assault shuttles cleared their own landing zones with rakes of heavy blaster fire followed up by a concussion missile for extra spice. They touched down at near full speed, scraping across the ruined street as they grinded to a halt. Jet engines connected to thrust packs on the back of giant armoured Space Troopers screamed to life, propelling powered armoured members of the Eternal Corps into the air where they began rained down death on any fledging resistance. Armed with twin-barreled assault cannons, they liquified paramilitary styled law enforcement members attempting to fight back with pathetic small arms fire. Blaster bolts plinked harmlessly off their armour as the hannite zealots inside of each suit of Imperial steel used the sophisticated aiming software of their suits to select targets and coordinate attack patterns. As one of the Space Troopers landed, a wookiee emerged from a bank and threw its furry self at the power-armoured cultist, only to half its lower jaw torn off as the soldier drove its piston powered pneumatic fist into the alien's chin, pulping it in a single blow.When Krell's transport set down, the towering nightmare knight in spiked Sith iron plate walked malevolently down the street leading to the central plaza. In his left barbed gauntlet he held the long handle of Morkai, his alchemized crystal ostrine greatsword, that seemed to draw all heat from the air around it. His right gauntlet gripped the cursed handle of the dreaded black mace of Dragus, Exsanguinator. Forged in the fires of Mt. Tawntoom using gathered spiritual power from a wide variety of sources, the maul was a truly terrifying weapon that seemed to have an appetite for blood to match that of the Great Devourer himself. Sulphuric stinking sorcerous smoke poured from the head of the flanged mace, trailing a dark miasma that seemed to spill from its evil core, occasionally crackling with discharges of Force Lightning. Though Morkai was a two-handed weapon, the brutal warbot wielded it single handedly, cracking the frigid fat face of the blade against the backs of running cowards. Its icy surface blistered flesh with searing cold upon contact, while Exsanguinator seemed to drink the blood of any victim it struck. In fact, every time the mace made contact with a victim they erupted in a gory spray, practically vanishing from existence.The Eye had come to Bakura.
Hours later... Blood congealed in drying pools across the city as the forces of Famine finished gathering up the last of the citizens in a large stadium like structure at the heart of Salis D'aar. With a population of 7 million in total, it was quite an undertaking, keeping in mind that at least two million had been culled already in taking the capital. Hunger cultists in filthy smocks, that at one point in time had been white before being used as napkins for their questionable diets, walked around pens constructed from bone and sinew. The emaciated and cruel eyed umbarans in bdsm style studded leathers, broke bones and smashed fingers of any of the gathered slave meat that hung out too close to the cages sides. Meanwhile, members of the Black Legion in tall snarling mechanical suits of Inquisitorium dark trooper armour stood by like motionless statues, power-mauls or giant vibro-axes held in their monstrous metallic mitts. The stench of burning metal and scorched ozone rose off their whining joints, mingling with the pungent scent of defecation and unwashed bodies that was growing more pronounced as the last of the chattel were gathered up.Even the dead were utilized, as corpse piles were heaped as tall as buildings, forming grizzly wet towers swarming with black flies. Storm-vermin captains had to work extra hard to maintain the orders of their Claw-Packs with such a fine feast before them. The ranats salivated as the delightful rancid notes of flavour wafted across their snouts. Interestingly enough, it was a pile of objects that seemed to have the demonic droid Krell more occupied than anything else. Snatched from around the necks of the dead and living alike, the forces of Famine gathered every available life trinket they could find into a pile near the centre stage. The gruesome gore covered general supervised as the pile buzzed with collected life energies next to a throne being constructed from discarded body parts. The flesh sculptors had really come up with something special this time. Leprous ghouls in soiled robes put the finishing touches of a seat made entirely out of the endangered kurtzen population. It was still dripping wet with pestilent ichor by the time the jaundiced creatures completed their work.In the skies above, shrieks were expelled with long scouring plumes of flame from the scaled throats of the mutant dragons, as the Wraith-Rats whispered vile words of power into their ear holes. Dragarys...
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Apr 21, 2023 8:17:21 GMT -8
Descending from heavens and parting the clouds above the city the mutated drexl Spite came careening down, slowing its descent by pulling upward and twisted and weaving skillfully through the ruined buildings of the city that remained standing high enough to still be obstacles this far up after the blitzkrieg invasion of the peaceful world. Atop the mount was the new dread lord Famine, the possessed Tusken child Kr'Naan, smiling through gritted teeth and eyes wide as saucers as the stimulants recently injected to keep her in the game had fully taken affect. Seated alongside her was the former Famine, Dragus, with Lil'Havok guiding the reins. Wrapped in the tail of Dragus like a safety belt was also Lil'Mort, clinging to the scaled scourge with one hand and the ewok spear of powa! in the other, for surely they would need such a mighty tool at their disposal.By the time they had fully slowed and came to a stop on the ground where a command outpost had been set up overlooking a giant prison camp that had been set up. Survivors of the massacre of the city were constantly being rounded up and gathered here for whatever the diminutive demon-spawn had planned though none of them knew it. Dismounting the Drexl in a hurry Kr'Naan was met by Krell, who had been picked to lead this culling and collection. "My lord Famine, our assault has been successful, but we are still rounding up survivors." The terrifying automaton handed the Tusken a datapad with an account of those being held in the camp below. From a city of nearly seven million these numbers were far too low for the liking of the cypher. Just a few hundred thousand were captured thus far. The Tusken terror threw the computer pad onto the ground and growled menacingly at Krell. "I warned you not to disappoint me, Krell. I need more. Sack the other cities, scour the countryside, search the sewers for all I care! Just bring me more!" Kr'Naan brought a hand up to her head and her legs buckled for
a moment before steadying herself against a half-crumbled wall. With a slight nod the nightmarish knight stood and went off to gather up more of the living for the plot of his new master. The sinister cypher scowled and snapped her fingers at Dragus, who was compelled to come closer and kneel before the terrible taskmaster "Begin setting up. If Krell is stalled we will have to make do with what we have." Moving over to a table with a few of the life trinkets on it, the cypher picked up one of the doo-dads and looked it over before tossing it at Dragus. "Find out what these things are. Krell seemed to think them important." Making its way to the stage, the Tusken tyrant would assume it's place on the stage with its new flesh-throne, picking off a piece of it and nibbling on it. Patient was something it needed, but time was slowly counting down and it was becoming more and more limited. The sky darkened and thunder boomed in the distance mixed the ongoing sounds of killing, capturing and conquering.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
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Post by Dragus on Apr 22, 2023 4:59:15 GMT -8
Snatching the life trinket from the air, the vile velociraptor pinched it between his thumb and middle talon, holding it before the amethyst gem set in his eye. A whirring click sounded inside the implant as he manipulated its lens to increase the zoom on the object held in his claw. The trinket was unremarkable, seeming to be little more than a glossy green stone to the naked eye, but the truth was revealed by the rakatan device. Inside the plain looking rock was what appeared to be life essence, captured in a clever if not primitive weave of arcane threads. His nostril slits flared wide, expelling poisonous wisps of rancid breath after scenting the alien trinket, detecting clearly the aroma of soul-matter. Next he brought the object in front of his snout and extended his slimy forked tongue, dragging its rough wet surface over the smooth oval shape. He felt a delightful jolt sting the tip of his tongue, as though he had just licked a battery. Going even further, he placed the charm into his mouth and ground it apart between the gnashing knives that served for teeth in the twisted terrorsaur's jaws. As the fragile stone shattered, it released it ethereal soup directly into the Blood Wyrm, causing both his real and false eye to flare a sinister sorcerous green as though possessed by witch-fire. He expelled a virulent cloud from his throat from which phantoms seemed to writhe, desperate to escape the quickly dissipating belch of soul smoke.For his next experiment he rested his serpent staff against a table that had been setup nearby so Famine-Junior could monitor his work, then removed the ceremonial wintrium dagger from his satchel. He flipped it over in his hand and used the flat butt end of the handle to grind and mash one of the trinkets into a fine powder, which he then divided into two lines on a metallic surgical tray. Lowering his snout to the tray, he covered his left nostril with a claw, then inhaled with his right until he had snorted up the first line of powdered life trinket. Dragus stood straight up and pounded his chest with a fist and thumped the ground with his tail. He felt a hot rush of rejuvenation flowing through his weary body, imbuing his joints and limbs with stolen power, dispelling any aches and pains he might have. It seemed the life energies captured in the trinkets were transferable, and he suspected as well, transmutable. Retrieving a mortar and pestle he began to crush another trinket into a fine powder, which he then poured into a beaker full of translucent fluid that was bubbling over a portable burner. He took a few minutes to cook off the residual water until the solution was concentrated. Dragus then took a syringe and filled its reservoir with the concoction, flicking the needle tip with a talon to free any air pockets trapped inside.Holding out his arm, the mad alchemist placed the tip of the needle against the rigid armour hard scales of his right forearm and slid the somewhat sterile piece of surgical steel directly into his vein, then pressed down on the syringe's plunger. He immediately felt a euphoric rush of fresh vitality expand to fill every corner of his body the second the substance hit his bloodstream. Electrical discharges of Force Lightning crackled from his talon tips, scorching the air and filling it with mingled scents of burnt ozone and sulphur. Even his forest of fangs seemed to light up as green jolts of current evaporated the constant stream of rancid saliva flowing from his glands, which he blew from his lips as though he had just inhaled the most sensuous toke of narcotic spice, only the sensation was much better. He felt reinvigorated, restored even, though he could tell the effect was fleeting. The fathomless pit at the centre of his being gurgled and groaned, already desirous for the next scrap or morsel. Scowling, he gathered up a handful of the trinkets and placed them on the surgical tray beside the remaining line of ground powder. He then picked up the tray and carried it over to Wart's grizzly throne, placing the platter down on a small table set beside it, then stepped back to address his demonic desert lily."Krell haz a keen eye, indeed, my Massster." Hissed the Dark Apothecary, plucking one of the trinkets from the tray and playing with it between his claws. "The life trinketz at firssst glance might appear to be naught but sssuperstitious tribal charmz, but the truth of their nature haz been revealed to me. The kurtzen that cultivate thessse stonez are a weak race, profoundly religiouz, who believe thessse trinketz contain the focusssed energiez of life. Utterly foolish, yet faith can be a powerful tool, if properly utilized. Like river rapidz sssmoothing a fallen boulder with centuriez of erosssion, the kurtzen's belief that thessse objectz contain life energy haz in fact imbued them with power, which haz been concentrated over the generationz as the trinketz have been passsed down from one family member to another." He returned the trinket in his hand to the platter, placing it next to the remaining line of ground powder. "Sssee for yourssself. The sssensation iz quite...ssstimulating, az well az ressstorative."At face value it might seem hard to accept, but one must keep in mind that every being in the galaxy had midi-chlorians in their blood, though concentrations were typically small. It was why they were all connected by the Force but only those with a strong enough concentration of the microscopic lifeforms could harness its currents. It did not mean, however, that those with low M-counts could not manipulate the Force at all. Simply by willing it over the course of near-endless family generations, the kurtzens transferred several lifetimes of spiritual essence into each and every trinket. It was a remarkable feat, centuries if not millennia in the making.By now the Hungering One had retrieved his staff, leaning on the arcane shaft whose inscriptions pulsed with a malevolent red light that seemed to bleed from its hollow core. The meltmassif orb held in the jaws of its cobra shaped head continued to emit a crimson mist, briefly flashing as the sphere released caustic discharges any time one of the buzzing flies drawn by the corpse piles and revolting smells came too close."If you wish it, I can dissstill the trinketz gathered thuz far into a sssolution. A potion really, one that unnaturally extendz life well beyond itz yearz." One of his toe talons began to tap on the ground as he fidgeted beneath the wilting stare of the new Hakusar. "Sssuch a concentration of ssspiritual esssence may even impart sssome ability to manipulate the arcane currentz of the fey." He held up a talon, making a point. "But, like a flame, burn too brightly and you will quickly ussse up what fuel remainz." He dangled his claws in the wind to exaggerate the point.Dragus came close enough so that only Kr'Cypher'Kar could hear his next words, leaning in with his snout until his rotten breath washed over the Dune Demon. "It will all be for nothing if that rakatan device iz not..." His amethyst gem crackled, stinging his scales with fresh jolts of pain, but he grit his teeth and fought through the searing distraction. "...removed. There iz no missstaking the obviouz signz of your current body'z rejection of the implant. I'd give it another day, maybe two at mossst before your organz shut down permanently. Sssay the word, Massster." He hissed hatefully. "And I will remove..." Very briefly the amethyst eye flared, then abruptly ceased as a click echoed from inside of it. Finally, he'd managed to shut off that insidious feature. Say what you would about how sophisticated rakatan hardware was, you'd broker no argument from Dragus, but without question their software was shit. Coughing into his hand, he cleared his throat with a wet rattle. "Az I waz sssaying, I can remove the device, though I sssuspect we will require the life extending potion to ensssure your current body'z sssurvival of the procedure."Despite every motivation to deceive, the devious drake was quite sure the promised potion would deliver as expected. What went unsaid was that it would also very likely awaken the Cypher's true nature. An astute observer, He-Who-Hungers had been paying close attention each and every time the Sand Serpent had addressed him. He recognized its origins by the inflection of its tone and the sheer arrogance with which it conducted itself. The Cypher wasn't superior to Dragus, it was younger, it hadn't yet faced a lifetime of obstacles and defeats. It thought itself above temptation because it hadn't yet been reduced to desperate need, but the hunger was still in there. He recognized the signs of the curse, his affliction, that would only grow with time. If she indulged in the powdered essence, it would start her down that inescapable path. And if she drank the promised potion, so much delicious soul-matter all at once...Siss Siss Siss.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Apr 24, 2023 12:11:52 GMT -8
A pleased smile slowly spread across the face of Kr'Naan as she listened with growing interest at the results of Dragus's investigation into the items collected by Krell; even leaning forward and running her fingers along her chin as the possibilities danced across the insidious mind of the cypher. It had little interest in what happened to this body in the long term, as evidenced by the cocktail of drugs it had injected, that were rapidly losing their effectiveness as well. Also it would become far more dangerous as time went on. More and more drugs for diminishing returns and only masking the problems, not solving them. If this could buy her more time without causing issues further down the line, it was indeed a boon. But something that sounded too good to be true usually was.Giving this body, even temporarily, the ability to use the Force was of little consequence. Helpful in the short term, but useless once the cypher moved to the body of its desires with that of Dragus's, at least to start. To do that it would need power, but more in the form of bolstering itself mentally. The hope was that by consuming so much life, it would take everything from every single living thing it absorbed. It's existence would become a tidal wave against the small island of Dragus's mind and engulf it in its entirety in one fell swoop. The Tusken tyrant's eyes narrowed to give the saurian Sith a suspicious look over. Was he being too helpful? No, of course not. It had ordered him to do everything to help her, after all. The faux Famine scoffed at the suggestion of removing the control device. There it was: the play for his free will returned. All under the guise of caring for his master's well-being of course. How blatant and obvious.Still, the thought of consuming the raw power instilled in these religious charms did cause it to salivate and lick its lips. It could provide insights into creating a more permanent solution for manipulating the ethereal forces when it had decided to find another new body after discarding Dragus's. At that point it would likely create its own. Paired with the knowledge it would gain by consuming its creator, who already had experience creating such vessels, it could create a body truly becoming of its power. A truly perfect form."What happens to this body after I am through with it is of no importance. It can turn to dust for all I care. All I need is time. It will take days to gather enough of the populace for the sacrifice. And more days after that to prepare for your devouring..." The diminutive despot eyes stared hungrily at Dragus, already thinking of the pleasure at all of the knowledge that would soon belong to it. "No, I will take this...potion, was it? But the device shall remain. You will remain my pet until your time has come, or I am dead." A smug grin formed on the Tusken terror's face, who tapped her index finger to her chin tauntingly. "I do wonder what would happen if I were to die? To you, I mean. Surely the Rakatan wouldn't allow their bonded slaves to live beyond their masters?" The insidious cypher said mockingly to Dragus. "From what I have learned about them from your ship's records as well as this child's rudimentary understanding of the "demons", they tended favor more...scorched earth tactics." It was a bluff based on a theory based on incomplete information, but the execrable entity inhabiting Kr'Naan's body thought it was a good one. Enough to make Dragus think twice about stalling. Enough to make him realize that it held all the cards and if it did not get what it wanted, it would flip the table with all the bets on it and leave the pieces for whoever remained to pick up. There were no plays for him to make other than to give in completely to its desires and demands. To give it what it wanted.Kr'Naan ran a finger through the ground powder that had once been the life-trinkets rubbed it between her fingers."Make this potion of yours. Use all of these baubles and concentrate that essence as much a-" Kr'Naan stopped mid-sentence and blinked uncomfortably, looking past Dragus as if he were not there. This went on only for not evne a moment before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. In an instant she slumped over in her flesh-throne and began seizing. Compelled by orders previously given Dragus would have no choice but to save her life, using whatever means available to him. The potion would take much too long, at least to immediately be useful. A thin line of blood streaked from the corner of her eye down her face when she finally stopped. Whatever means Dragus would use to sustain Kr'Naan's body, when her eyes opened, for a moment, it was as if the true Kr'Naan was looking upon her Master with the love and adoration towards one's god that he was used to. But quickly reality came crashing back as he held his little black melon in his arms and the face of blind faith contorted and twisted into rage and anger."GET OFF ME!" The cypher yelled as she weakly pushed away from the dreaded draconian and struggled to lift herself up. Even this small task seemed to drain her stamina greatly, as even leaning upon the arm of her throne of death she was unsteady on her feet and struggled to climb back atop the seat. Kr'Naan weakly lifted a hand and waved Dragus away. "The potion. Make it." The cypher rasped faintly as it smeared the blood trail on its face in an attempt to wipe it off.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
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Post by Dragus on Apr 26, 2023 6:11:10 GMT -8
While he hated to admit it, Kr'Cypher'Kar had a point. There was every reason to believe the rakata would have built such a failsafe into the device in the event of a slave uprising. Then again, the height of their arrogance was a large part of the reason their empire eventually crumbled. Could arrogance alone allow for such an oversight, and more importantly, was he willing to stake his life on it? As he had no answer with the rakatan knuckle bones still in his possessed pupil's possession, his only reply was the balling of his fists and the sinking of his toe talons into the ground as he flexed his autonomously restrained digits. He was somewhat relieved when the dune princess told him to make the potion he had suggested, until she stopped mid sentence, keeled over and began convulsing. The curious and more sadistic side of his bitter nature wanted nothing more than to watch with a coroner's curiosity and a back-alley organ harvester's greed. Unfortunately he found his body already in motion, his re-hardwired brain forcing him into action as he leapt to the throne's side and scooped her little body up into his hard scaly arms. Dragus carried the Sand Child over to his work station and swept the oaken table free of debris with a sweep of his tail, scattering the contents onto the floor."Slavez!" Beckoned the Hungering One to a sinister gaggle of umbaran Hunger Cultists sitting near the door of the slave pen, gnawing on rotten bones. They looked up at the Dark Apothecary, then back at each other. There was understandable confusion. After all, was it not declared that their new master was the Tyrannical Tusken, Wart? Should they even be following the Blood Wyrm's orders? Wasn't he a relic at this point? "Now!" Snarled the drake lord, facing the group of leather strapped cannibals with one eye that glowed a hateful red and the other flaring with with a brilliant amethyst light as the saurian Sith's cold blood boiled in his veins. Anger transformed into projected fear, his terrible hungering aura manifesting itself as a chill on the air, hardening the cultists exposed nips and raising goose pimples on their flesh. As he grit his gnarly set of prehistoric pleurodonts at the pack of cultists, they finally jumped into motion and selected six famished looking humans from the bone pens, then led them up onto the platform near the table where Kr'Naan's body lay.Drawing in a deep breath, the serpentine sorcerer and alchemist extreme opened his ethereal senses and looked directly into the malevolent fey, finding the hidden threads that glistened like strands of finely spun gold in a random chaotic woven tapestry. Kr'Naan's thread was dark, dripping in blood and growing thinner by the minute. A small flick from his astral claws might be enough to push her over the edge and banish the apparition inside of her to chaos. Doing so, as already suggested, might lead to his demise. In truth his reluctance to take that risk was more than a simple aversion to death; however, he refused to dwell on the direction those uncomfortable thoughts and feelings led. He would save her because he was compelled to do so, not because he also kind of wanted to...definitely not. What a laughable suggestion. He felt a little bit silly thinking himself subject to sentimentality. The twisted terrorsaur turned towards the offering of slave meat, three males and three females. Two were old, two were young, and two were somewhere in between. Their clothing was soiled and their emaciated forms looked sickened with disease, having suffering both in the invasion and possibly due to being housed next to several towering stacks of corpses festering in the hot midday sun.Examining the skeins of fate, he found each of their wyrds and bound them in his claws, sinking his psychic talons deep into their spiritual essence. Then he began to pull, reeling in each thread like a fisherman drawing in their catch, swallowing up their remaining years as his expanding aura of hunger greedily feasted on their life energy. The slaves, standing in place at this point out of fear alone, began to shriek in agony and fell to the floor, holding their bodies as their skin turned ashen and began to desiccate as all their life energy were stolen. The two oldest slaves were the first to collapse into pillars of ash, blown away in the wind as even their bones had eroded. The two in the middle expired next, their hair turning grey and falling out in clumps at their feet before they too fell over and scattered as dust. The worst sight was the children, who seemed to experience a lifetime full of aging in a matter of seconds, finally falling after a minute of excruciating suffering. All of this energy he harvested, first pulling it in to himself, before redirecting it. He-Who-Hungers stood over Kr'Naan's prone body and brought the end of his snout to her lips. With his claws he tilted her head back and opened her airway, then he began to breath a mixture of poisoned breath and gathered up souls into her throat.Ghastly green wisps of spiritual essence passed from Dragus into the body of his demonic dune daughter, filling out the core of her small being, likely inadvertently feeding the Cypher while also restoring some of the vitality of Wart's body. It wasn't much, just a patch job really, but he gave her every last drop of the life force he had just stolen and used it to repair some of the damage. Like everything the darkside touched, this sort of healing was a double edged blade. Healing with soul matter was really no different than feeding off of it. There was an associated cost that the former Famine Lord was all too familiar with. He lifted the tiny tusken's body off the table, cradling her in his arms as he lowered her to the ground and held her there, waiting for her to awaken. Slowly his right claw came up, reaching towards the device implanted in her throat. Perhaps he could rip it out while she was still incapa..."GET OFF ME!" The cypher yelled as she weakly pushed away from the dreaded draconian and struggled to lift herself up. Even this small task seemed to drain her stamina greatly, as even leaning upon the arm of her throne of death she was unsteady on her feet and struggled to climb back atop the seat. Kr'Naan weakly lifted a hand and waved Dragus away. "The potion. Make it." The cypher rasped faintly as it smeared the blood trail on its face in an attempt to wipe it off. Wait, was this all a part of his ploy or was he under the affects of the rakatan device? Unclear...
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Apr 26, 2023 13:02:57 GMT -8
Strength had returned to the body of Kr'Naan fueled by the sacrifices of six other lives; ripped from their bodies by Dragus and breathed into the child of sand to sustain her. Still, even now the cypher in control of Kr'Naan's body could feel the strength was fleeting. The gem embedded in her throat was a growing corruption that had no end. Its rejection of her bonding with the command crystal was final, and as time went on its retaliation for defying its creator's safeguards would only worsen. A corruption limitless in potential powered by the Dark Side, a staple of almost all ancient Rakatan technology. A flash of a revelation in Dragus's form, or was it, caused confusion. No, the crystal must be beginning to effect its mind as well. Every breath became harder than the last, but the unscrupulous uli-ah stood anyway, moving to look over the return of Krell with many more souls for it to wrench from their vessels and absorb. The black eyes had begun to sink more into their sockets, but the desperate, longing hunger was clearly visible. This was the only way it would survive in the longer term, potion or no.The despot of the dunes turned to look down on Dragus as he presented the bubbling green brew to her. Taking it in both hands to hold the weight and inspecting it with a sniff. Its not like it could take its chances and NOT drink it, but still. Placing one hand on the bottom of the beaker and the other holding the side, the cypher began to tilt back the spuming stew, rolling its eyes at Dragus. Yes, it was well aware of... The faux Famine froze as if she had been replaced instantaneously with a statue replica by forces unseen. A look of bewilderment, but at what was unclear to the onlookers.That was it. The final puzzle piece to its complete and utter victory. The dreaded dune demon's head lowered, eyes bright with an insidious idea as they looked lovingly upon Dragus. Still holding the puttering potion with one hand, the other reached out and lifted the chin of the saurian sorcerer, staring past the sockets of the rishii skull he wore and into the his eyes. No into his very core. "I now know what I must do." A look of pure, desperate madness twisted and contorted Kr'Naan's face as she stayed lock-eyed with the sinister serpentine Sith. "How could I have not put it together sooner?" As her hand holding the concoction began to shake she removed her one supporting Dragus's chin and brought it back to support the life-force elixer. "I...No, we are going to hunt down the Eye. With its power...." The cypher practically giggled at the scheme developing inside its twisted mind. "...none would be able to stop me." Letting out a single laugh before lifting the beaker to her lips and knocking the entirety of the contents back with an audible gulp following by a gag and shudder. The cypher then placed the now empty beaker atop the rishii skull Dragus wore, balancing it on his head. It didn't feel any different. Maybe it didn't work? Maybe those baubles were all superstitious babkas. The cypher continued with its thoughts aloud as it slowly circled Dragus."I have read of this Eye in scripture and records aboard the Covenant. If its power is real, I shall take it for myself." The Tusken terror stopped in her tracks, raising an eyebrow and licking her lips before continuing once more. "Who knows? It would likely be a far superior vessel, in comparison to your disgusting scaly hide." The cypher stuck it's nose up in the air. "While all that you hold within your mind shall be mine, your form is unworthy for my coming glory. I'll be sure to dispose of it after I hollow you out, though." The mind of the corrupt cypher was filling with possibilities and plots. But it needed to attend too the matter at hand first. Sustaining its life, then devouring gods. Not before. "Take advantage of its power for the ritual." Kr'Naan began salivating at the thought of devouring and overtaking by what all it read was a god. An actual god, and not the show that it knew that Dragus used to enslave its primitive host. Her paled brown skin seemed to gain a dark green hue to it for a moment, that is until she fell to her knees, a strong churning in her head and stomach making her collapse. Covering her mouth, the odious entity could not hold back the tide of black ooze being expelled from its body and all over the ground. A foul smelling, putrid and thick liquid with the stickiness of tar poured like a roaring faucet from the tiny Tusken's mouth. Despite the obvious agony of this amount of wretching, Kr'Naan's body was healing. The black trackmarks that had stretched nearly everywhere across her body from the crystal receded, though not entirely. Youthful plumpness returned to her cheeks and eyes. Still, the vomiting continued for some time.To make room for all of that life, it had to expel all the death that had taken root. And there was much of it.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,406
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Apr 27, 2023 8:07:46 GMT -8
Despite his predicament, he couldn't help but feel a wee swelling of pride in his cold black heart when he heard the Cypher monologuing out loud with grand ambitions to dominate the most powerful entity in the galaxy. It took him back to his youth, as though he were living vicariously through wayward Wart. There had been a time in his life where he had felt much the same. You should have seen the look on his face when he finally comprehended what the Eye truly was and the fathomless distance between his own immense command of the malevolent fey and the sentient battle moon's immeasurable psychic might. Years later, wizened by the experience, he was not about to try talking the creature inhabiting Kr'Naan's body out of pursuing such a course of action. Failure was an important part of the learning process, even if he was unwilling to tolerate it in most of his underlings. He just hoped he would be around to see it happen, not a certainty at this point by any measure if the Cypher had its way.So he did the only thing he could; he obeyed. With much of the planet in flaming ruins and the vast majority of its remaining citizens now in captivity in Salis D'aar, the hordes of verminous rat-men returned from their insidious pursuits and gathered in the stands of the arena surrounding the slave pen. There was at least a hundred thousand of them, more probably, a sea of greasy fur and scabrous flesh that filled the arena to near completion. Mutant arkanian dragons with diamond hard black scales and teeth like sword blades were perched atop the structure, with their Wraith-Rat riders leaning over the saddle to get a better view at what was happening below. The soul addicted phantoms glared hungrily from their tattered shadow silk hoods, watching with eager anticipation. Gangs of Hunger Cultists walked through the furry horde, bullying their way towards the best seats, though most of the closest spots were occupied by the towering powered armoured suits of Space Troopers of the Eternal Corps and the brutal looking Inquisitorium darktroopers of the Black Legion. Krell was there of course, standing grimly near the new Famine Lord like a statue of fused metal and bone, a filthy ichor pooling near his spiked greaves as pus dripped from a string of fresh scalps secured to his waist just above his metallic skirt of Sith iron.Last to arrive were the Dark Missionaries, former galandans from Rishi that had been altered by the Dark Apothecary's elixir and had undergone reeducation by the Sith Eternal. They walked in a long procession through the crowd, each garbed in an obscuring robe of tanned man-hide, and swinging a burning brazier that bled off narcotic incense. In fact, several fires burned around the arena, with burlap sacs full of harvested psychedelic mushrooms from the Deep Woods on blessed Pzob used as fuel. As the penned up slave meat were exposed to he hallucinogenic fog, they wailed and cried as their worst fears appeared before their eyes and tormented them, perpetuating an air of negative emotion that Dragus found oh-so-satisfying as he made the final preparations. Demon Wart's throne had been carefully placed at the base of one of the leaning towers of corpses, this one the thickest and almost completely swarmed in buzzing flies drawn to the spoiled psychic fragment's rotting citizen buffet. The black scaled barabel found himself salivating, though the implant and the commands he was under wouldn't allow him even a spare second to indulge himself.Raising his cobra headed staff up high in both claws, he drove the spear tipped butt into the ground, sinking it several inches. The ground was unusually hard, possibly consisting of a duracrete base over which the small layer of dirt and grass had been grown for whatever sport the stadium usually facilitated. That made it quite difficult to secure the magical amplifier in place. Even as he twisted it like a screw, the top heavy part of the staff would begin to list to the side. Scowling, he looked around on the ground until he found a chunk of ferrocrete that looked like it should do the trick. He scooped it up in his claw and placed it against the base of the staff, leaning it just enough onto the broken chunk of building so that it was aimed properly at the throne. The staff wobbled slightly as a breeze blew in, but not enough to destabilize the setup. "That should do it." He said stepping back, squinting his real eye as he made a last minute calculation, nodding when he was pleased that it was right. ♪♫♪ ♪♫♪ ♪♪ ♪♫♪ ♪♫♪ ♪♪ ♫♪♫ ♪♪ ♪ Upon hearing his malefic melody, the shadowy Wraith-Rats snapped the reigns of their dragon mounts and took briefly to the air, flapping large scaled wings as they swooped in from their higher perch and landed atop of the bone pen where the slaves were claustrophobically stuffed. A rodent parody of the Force Drain addicted Sith Assassins of old, the Dark Apothecary's Wraith-Rats shrieked indecipherable curses in overlapping layers of rapid rat-speech and Pzobian black tongue. Inside their hoods, twin motes of sinister green witch-fire blazed brightly, focused on the buffet spread out beneath them. Like the addicts they were, the very presence of these corrupted former Far Squeakers began to siphon some of the life energy bleeding off the tormented chattel, drawing it away from the pen and into the air where it began to swirl counter-clockwise in a visible funnel. Every time one of the verminous phantoms shrieked, another surge of stolen power rose from the gathering, causing those weakest to begin to expire.Lowering his flute, Dragus returned the musical instrument to his robe and raised his claws, catching one of the swirling ethereal ribbons of rising power before it could escape. Carefully he wrapped it around his arm and dragged it towards his staff, treating the thread like a pull rope attached to a heavy load. Technically it had no actual physical weight, though that didn't make the task any easier. Pulling hand over hand, the black scaled barabel brought one of the strands connected to the spiraling vortex all the way to his wobbling staff still planted insecurely in the ground. He looped the immaterial rope around the meltmassif sphere held in the cobra shaped heads fangs, feeling small satisfaction as the orb began to glow a rich crimson light as power flowed into the transmitter. The staffs ruby red heart continued to grow brighter with each passing second, until the intensity of the orb was so overwhelming that the mad alchemist was forced to close his natural eye, watching through the amethyst implant alone."Now!" He roared over a deafening pitch of wailing despair that was projected from the penned enclosure. Many of the slaves inside began to realize what was happening as their loved ones collapsed around them into piles of ash. One after the other they dropped, scattering into desiccated powder as they were rapidly aged in a matter of minutes. Squeakers, standing nearby on its haunches, heard the command and hurry-scurried like a gutter-runner over to a set of clay pots that were lined up between the slave pen and the staff. The ranat knocked each pot over as he scampered past, swatting them with his tail nub so that each smashed open in turn, spilling their contents onto the ground. The foul concoction produced an acrid smoke and seemed to scorch the grass with unnatural black flames, creating a path from the enclosure to the staff for the stolen power to travel. Whatever the potion consisted of, it created a sort of funnel that seemed to repel the swirling green soul-matter as the last was siphoned from the gathered victims and drawn up into the air.Extending a claw towards the sky, Dragus called the power to him, his own astral form rising from his physical body as the dark abyss at the centre of his being swelled. Coiling wisps of sorcerous green energy spiraled down from the vortex overhead, draw towards his reaching claw as the tip of the swirling funnel touched his talons, causing his glistening teeth to crackle as forks of Force Lightning jumped between his incisors. Every second the power passed into him, his scales began to smoke, his body struggling to adjust to the raw tidal wave of energy flowing through it. Raising his other claw towards the planted staff, he allowed the flowing energy to pass through him and out his other claw, being drawn towards the path Squeakers had created with the pots, using the thread of power he had secured around the staff as a guide for the unrelenting surge of souls that penetrated him and poured towards the glowing orb. Spiraling phantoms struck the core of the staff and erupted out the other side as the transmitting properties of the meltmassif focused like a laser beam on Kr'Naan, seated upon ther cadaverous throne.He-Who-Hungers watched as a mad rush of power blasted from the staff into Kr'Cypher'Kar, beginning to fill her small poisoned frame with more life energy than even Dragus had attempted to ingest at once. He scowled, helpless to prevent this from happening, watching what were sure to be the last few minutes before his demise. Squeakers, who had finished knocking over the clay pots, made its way back to the Dark Apothecary's side. As it scampered across the platform back towards the Blood Wyrm, it passed by the staff serving as the soul-matters conduit, bumping the base of the planted staff ever so slightly with its wire thin tail nub. As a phantasma of streaming green flowed from the staff into the seated tusken, it began to tip to the side, subject to gravity as the heavier weighted head eventually caused the hollow shaft of rune-etched Sith iron to lean over, redirecting the stream of power from the ambitious dune despot into the tower of rotten corpses stacked directly behind her seat. The staff leaned back in such a way as to not topple completely over, but now the channeled energy was being focused over the tiny tusken's head.As the last of the slaves was drained dry, the winds kicked up by the churning vortex of stolen souls caused the corpse dust to blow into the air and obscure the stadium floor in chocking particles, making it nearly impossible to see more than a few feet ahead of oneself. Even the warmth was drawn from the air as every last iota of spirit juice was harvested and blasted in one final surge into the mushy mountain of rot, imbuing the festering tower with raw life energy. Blinded by bright lights and sight obscuring cadaver particulate, the sinister sultan of sin wasn't able to see what was happened, but he could feel a change in the aether around him. A dark shadow fell over the arena as the air turned cold and all colour seemed to vanish, replaced by a lifeless grey that Dragus nearly mistook for Otherspace. It wasn't, they were very much still on Bakura, but the transfer of so much life energy had created a chasm in the fey that collapsed in on itself. It altered the very fabric of reality, bending sound as even bacteria had been leached of their essence. At first he thought it was a wound in the Force, a void created by harvesting so much life, but this was something else. With his physical senses compromised by the veil of dust, he attempted to focus his otherworldly senses, closing his eye to do so.! That was when he felt it...an awakening sentience. Then he heard a distorted echoing creak coming from behind Wart's thone, as the tower of buzzing flies and rotting flesh began to shift. Well, that's not good.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Apr 28, 2023 10:25:24 GMT -8
As preparations for the ritual came underway the defiler of the dunes sat atop her flesh throne in nettled silence. The Tusken terror seemed distracted, curiously looking at her hands as everything moved around her. She felt different, but she could not quite put her finger on it. It was as if her senses were extended beyond her body, as if she were connected to everything around her. The cypher felt as though it could feel the presence of those around her. Dragus had mentioned the concentrated power of the life trinkets may giev her abilities to manipulate the arcane, but had also warned it would be fleeting as the power dissipated. Strangeness aside, it was quite a pleasant feeling, but the fledgling Famine dared not test any possible abilities and risk using up the absorbed power. Even now it could tell the feeling was fading as the crystal took more and more of the life force as punishment for using it. All efforts had to focused on sustaining her life for now. After it had solved that, it could work on acquiring more power. Still, the thought brought a mischievous smile to her face and she enjoyed the thoughts that formed in her mind of plots to be enacted once this power was hers permanently.Ready for the ritual to commence, the throne of the Tusken tyrant was moved with her still sitting atop it into position. A slight harrumph was given in the form of an irritated growl at the unbalancing shifting of the movement "I am sitting on this thing, stop jostling so much!" Thankfully it did not last long, and the throne was sat in front of the largest pile of corpses. The devious dune demon made a square with her fingers and lined up Dragus within her sight to make sure she was aligned from her end. The smell of the bodies had already become a sickeningly sweet aroma that's scent was much stronger this close. It was very distracting, causing her mouth to water at the thought of having a little snack. It had already nibbled away about half of the arm of one of her thrones away, but having something even fresher with the taste of death made the hunger return in force. Perhaps she had time to hop off the throne for a quick snack? But the desire was dashed away just as she was beginning to climb down from the throne by Dragus who signaled that everything was in place. A huff of annoyance escaped the cypher's lips followed by fully retaking her previous position on the throne, staring at Dragus with disdain as he played his little magic flute, recoiling slightly at tune played as if it caused the entity physical discomfort. One of Kr'Naan's hands lifted to the crystal on her neck as if in pain. Breathing a sigh of relief after the miserable melody ended and awaited the incoming flux of souls for it to devour. The demonic despot rubbed her hands together hungrily.As the ritual came into full swing and the life force was drained from the captured citizenry, the cypher licked its lips as it watched energy flow into the staff Dragus had planted into the ground with the look of a predator spying its next meal. As the energy shot out from the staff and into her body, the force of the energy hitting her held her firmly back against the back of the flesh throne. A guttural scream of agony echoed out from the tyrannical Tusken's mouth as thousands of lives were poured into her being. As she screamed white beams of light burst forth from her mouth and eyes as powerful as spotlights. With great struggle the arrogant adolescent closed her mouth and eyes to retain as much as the energy being shoved into her as possible. Not a drop of it would escape if she could help it. Instead of a look of pain there was only a gritted smile as the cypher relished every moment of what was only the first victory of many to come.
Inside the mind of Kr'Naan, locked away in the vault to protect her soul, the real Kr'Naan lifted her hand up at the void of blackness as a tiny mote of light appeared in the ceiling of her confines. By the time she stood, what was but a small hole because a gaping entryway in the prison she had known for these...actually she did not know how long it had been. A great cacophonic laughter permeated her essence, forcing her to clasp her head in her hands and cover her ears to try and drown out the sound that existed everywhere. I've foooound youuuu! A familiar voice boomed. Was it her master? No, it was different. Barely but enough she could tell. As more and more holes forms black tendrils of smoke pierced the constructed mind cage and grabbed a hold of Kr'Naan's very soul. A great serpent's head burst through the damaged walls and drifted towards her. He thought he could protect you from me, but now there is no escape. The wispy serpent arched its head upward, its form solidifying slightly as the light grew brighter from outside the confines of the cage made by Dragus to protect Kr'Naan's mind. All in my path shall be devoured, starting with you. The entity proclaimed as ethereal acid dripped from its mouth, disappearing before they hit the ground. Fear rose within Kr'Naan as she struggled against the tentacles of smoke that held her in place, closing her eyes and thinking of her master and what he would do in this situation. The answer was quite simple really. With anger turning to rage, with all of her might the uli-ah brought one of the tendrils up to her face and ripped bite out of it with her teeth, tearing into the spiritual energy of the entity and feeling it flow within her. You think YOU can eat ME?! It hissed in pain, and the cypher recoiled for a moment before fully moving into the mind prison to devour the Tusken's soul. Just as it was within striking distance, Kr'Nana broke free from the tendrils holding her in the air.
What was going on? Why was this happening? The serpent-headed cypher looked back up at the life force shining through the holes it had pierced in the container for the child's mind. Translucent eyes widened in rage and its face snapped back to look at Kr'Naan as she grasped onto a tendril as it tried to contain her and bit into it as well.
No!
By breaking into this protective prison for Kr'Naan it had opened pathways for the life force it was absorbing to find its way into her as well. Exposed to the same energy, they were on close to equal footing. The cypher held the advantage as Kr'Naan did not know what sort of power she had, but it could not take the risk of harm in eliminating her at this time. How DARE you! The parasitic cypher snarled. That is MINE! Rife with rage but fearing what could happen, the tendrils began to retreat from the hole they had made, which began to close back up behind them. I will be back for you, I promise. After I have dealt with your master. Taunting laughter as it's head began to retreat through the opening.
Kr'Naan looked up in fury at the entity as it retreated, trying to contact her master Kr'Naan bellowed out with all of her might to call her master.
MASTER!
Just before the final hole closed behind it, the entity that had attacked her flinched as she screamed out as if struck. But then she was alone once more in the darkness where she had been stashed away without her understanding. Kr'Naan prayed to her unholy lizard liege that he had heard her.
"MASTER!" Screamed Kr'Naan through the force of the energy being pumped into her. The crystal in the Tusken's throat grew bright in blinding light created by either some sort of overload or feedback until finally a fine hairline crack appeared and the device dimmed slightly. Kr'Naan's eyes opened and stared at Dragus. It was a look of rage as the cypher took back control in an instant. The Tusken tyrant's body began to levitate off the throne, the cypher spreading its arms with a face of glee as it continued to absorb the life force like an all you can eat buffet. It was a look that disappeared the instant it saw the staff tilt, the beam of soule energy slowly shifting to a new target."No!" The cypher fell out of the air, impacting and bouncing off of the throne and onto the ground, losing consciousness momentarily. When it awoke, it was already too late.Slamming a fist into the blood soaked dirt and through gritted teeth the tiny Tusken yelled in outrage at the failure. Looking up at both Dragus and Squeakers in blind rage as its vision tunneled and focused on the ranat. The cypher slowly started to climb uneasily to its feet and stumble in the direction of the pair."I am going to DESTROY YOU!" The deranged dictator from the dunes fell to the ground as it shook beneath her bare feet. Looking around for the cause to strikee it down, the passionate fury disappeared as it felt the presence before it saw it. Turning her head to look back at the mountain of corpses that had been piled behind her throne....and that had just received the concentrated power of thousands of lives pumped into it. All the blood drained from the Tusken terror's face as she scrambled backward and repeatedly tried and failed to stand back up while doing so. It had never felt something like this before, but it was enough to strike fear straight into its very core.The cypher stammered try to force out the words. Clearing it's throat and doing its best to exude authority it screeched at Dragus over the suddenly rising winds. No, not winds, pulse waves coming from the shifting collection of carcasses. Even while trying to put on a tough face the cypher's fear was visible in the black eyes of its host's body.
"What did you do?!"
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