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Post by Professor Arachnus on Jun 8, 2023 6:06:17 GMT -8
Swiveling on its base, Professor Arachnus' dome shaped spinning head locked it multitude of glowing red photo-receptors on the advancing lines of the Siege Skytroopers. He kept a running tally on the disposition of their own forces in case the Forge Master required it, though from his calculations their victory was all but assured, though it would come at a significant loss of combat units unless something was done. One magnified lens zoomed in on Valefor, who appeared to be absorbing all incoming blaster fire directed toward him. His master's sorcerous abilities never failed to amaze the SD-K4 assassin droid. With the Fabricator General otherwise occupied, it fell to his most loyal servant to create an opening. Stealthily the cyber-arachnid stalked through the shadows along the border of the room, until he had successfully flanked the marching Seige robots spewing hot laser from their arm mounted blaster cannons. When the last had marched past him, he sprang into action.Scurrying on all eight of his razor tipped metallic legs, the Professor slipped behind the last droid marching out of the Eternal Throne room, matching its slow advance. Then his body lowered into a spidery squat, before leaping onto the back of the war machine. It immediately spun to try and dislodge him, but his incredibly sharp legs penetrated the siege droid's chassis, securing him to its backside. Finding an access port on its back, he plugged himself into the machine's data-port and began to hack into its programming.Even though the empire on Zakuul had fallen countless centuries ago, at the time, they had reached a pinnacle of technology. While most of the hardware would seem dated by todays standards, the alloy composition and advancements of that period actually placed these droids on relative par with their modern day equivalents. That said, their software was ridiculously outdated, allowing a cybernetic entity such as Arachnus who possessed a cyber-warfare suite to easily slice his way into the droid's controls.The Seige Skytrooper's singular red lens flared as Arachnus infected its circuits like a virus, taking over its body. Now under his direct command, he ordered the war machine to begin opening fire on its comrades. It raised its right arm and began to open up with its heavy blaster into the backs of its former comrades. Several of the machines went down in smoking ruin before the advancing line caught on and began to turn, but by that point it was already too late. Between the might of the Fabricator General's mechanical horde, Valefor swallowing all incoming fire, and Arachnus' subterfuge, the forces arrayed against them fell in short order.All that remained in the way of Valefor's advance on the throne room was smoke strewn detritus, bleeding sparks and coolant across the floor. Professor Arachnus shut down the seige droid he had hacked into and leapt from its backside, scurrying over the debris covered hall to join his master at his red winged side."All nearby threats neutralized, Master." Screeched the cyber-arachnid, his combat sensors no longer picking up any active hostile energy signatures. "The throne room is yours. Shall I have the combat engineers begin setting explosive charges for when we depart, or would you prefer the cyber-automata to pacify the Spire floor by floor?"Sparing the remaining organics and their enslaved machines had not even crossed the Professor's merciless programming.
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Valefor
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 177
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Post by Valefor on Jun 10, 2023 7:16:21 GMT -8
While Valefor had been incapable of turning one of the Siege Skytroopers against its fellows, Arachnus managed to find an opening and did just that. Within moments the fight was over as the Zakuulan forces were brought to their knees and beheaded. He stood just before the gaping open doors into the Throne Room as the spider droid finally joined his side and asked for directives on what to do next. There was still plenty of artefacts left to liberate and it mattered not how often the Spire was destroyed, for it was always rebuilt. Wasting explosives on such a fruitless task did not make much sense Pacify the Spire and collect whet ever you find of interest... With his orders given, Valefor headed into the Throne Room. The giant doors swung closed behind him, leaving the Sorceror alone in the giant space as he made for the Throne itself where he felt the Tempest was strongest. His close proximity to the Nexus allowed him to draw upon the Darkness and reinvigorate the spent energy from the fight to get inside. It was like stepping into a hot shower after a long day of work and feeling the stress wash away. So too did the exhaustion wash away.
But his work was not over yet. He strode up the stairs toward the Throne, but came short of sitting upon the ancient chair. Instead, he got to work marking out the spot upon which Valkorion had been killed. As he drew the outer most circle, he could feel the presence of the Nexus slowly forming it's own defensive apparition. By the time Valefor had finished marking out the ritual circle, a ghostly formed projection of the Eternal Emperor sat upon the Throne Most Curious... I'm surprised you did not sit upon my Throne and claim it for yourself...
Zakuul holds nothing worth claiming through the Throne. The Eternal Fleet was destroyed aeons ago, and its people have fallen from grace... I have no need of it, only the power that is maintaining you right now...
Hmmm... Very interesting... The Avatar of Valkorion rose from the Throne and walked around the edges of the ritual circle as Valefor marked the runes within the circle and slowly mapped out the ritual You're not like the others... They were compelled and drawn by the allure of the Throne, thinking it the most powerful thing here...
They were fools, oblivious to the Nexus that swirled around before their very eyes... Amateurs...
They all lacked Vision... But not you... Valefor stood up from his work, the Runes inscribed as required almost like upon Dromund Kaas but with subtle differences to account for Zakuul Exactly. The Throne is just a red herring. Just like yourself... An echo of the real Valkorion whom died here and created this Nexus. Now I shall claim its power, as I did upon Dromund Kaas... The Avatar merely inclined its head, with its arms held behind its back, not giving into a fit of rage or challenge. Merely accepting of the challenge set to it before disappearing. Valefor raised his gauntleted hand palm side up out in front of himself as he began to chant the modified incantation. The almost still air of the Throne Room slowly started to get whipped up into a storm as dark energy crackled to life. Arcs of Electricity reached out from the storm and shimmered against the protective field built into the ritual circle.
Flows of energy started to get leached away from the storm and through the protective barrier toward a point in the air above his outstretched palm. As the focused energy was condensed and slowly crystallized, Legions of Knights of Zakuul started to materialize. Their shields held out whilst their saber pikes were replaced by spears of darkside energy. They began their futile assault as the gem of power formed for the Sorceror. A blue glow emitted from the crystal as more of its form took shape and the Nexus was drained of its strength. The Legions of Knights disappeared and the storm died down as the last of the Nexus was pulled down into the Stone of Zakuul.
As with Dromund Kaas, he reached out with his right hand and plucked the blue gem from the air whilst turning his gauntlet over. The raw energy of the Stone lashed out against the organic material touching it before being set into the second slot upon the Caestus. As with the first Eternus Gem, the second also seemed to take on a liquid like state as it melted into place and threw off a blast of brilliant blue light as its power joined that of the first Gem in the Gauntlet Four left to go...
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Post by Professor Arachnus on Jun 11, 2023 8:26:47 GMT -8
Following the Red Sage's instructions without question or further consideration, the Professor led the droid legions of the Forge Master on a meticulous cleansing of the Spire, murdering their way floor by floor. Bordering on genocidal, Arachnus' path left congealing pools of corpse water in his wake, sparing none a painful and unnecessarily brutal death. Mercy was not in his programming. Practically salivating coolant and oil as his plethora of sinister red photo-receptors lingered over mouldering banners and books from a long forgotten era, he gathered up everything of worth in the time worn structure, leaving not so much as a scrap of cloth or sacred text to be pilfered by future scavengers.
The BX-series droid commandos proved among the most effective at their task. In an effort to prevent the unnecessary or accidental destruction of valuable relics, the Professor had sent a string of machine-code commands to the cyber-automata legions to refrain from blaster fire. They drew their vibroswords instead, weaving a deadly web of vibrating steel that severed limbs whenever stealthily slitting throats was not an option. A red ruin followed wherever they went, almost seeming to enjoy the task save for the fact that they were entirely without emotion, cold killers encased in cortosis plated titanium.
As with Arachnus, these machines produced by the Dark Forge were far more ruthless than their original programming dictated. Something about the cursed energies flowing through that malevolent assembly line made machines that were, for lack of a better word...evil.
Some even collected trophies of their victims. Strings of ears hung from fire blackened chassis', partially cleaned skulls still dripping fresh ichor were threaded from belts, which wasn't even to speak of the flaying that occurred. A symphony of screams filled the Spire, a fitting tribute by the horde of machines devoted to the will of the Sith Sorcerer Supreme, Valefor the Red.
By the time Fabricator General had finished his dark ritual, a gore spattered Professor Arachnus arrived at his side, his effluence sticky razor tipped legs lowering in deference to his beloved lord. "The Spire has been pacified, Master." As his dome shaped head bowed, Valefor would be able to glimpse the porous holes in the cyber-arachnid's head, overflowing with cooling crimson vitae in which his miniature mechanical spider offspring appeared to be bathing themselves like children at play. Blood seeped down his chassis, soiling the floor where he prostrated before the Demon of Hypori.
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Valefor
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 177
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Post by Valefor on Jun 12, 2023 19:16:36 GMT -8
Just as he had been busy pacifying the Nexus, so too had his mechanical Legions been doing the same across the Spire as ordered. The doors of the Throne Room retracted open to reveal Arachnus waiting in the hallway beyond covered in the gore of those unfortunate souls that had been found. He gave a slight incline of his head to his mechanical underling and the commander of his forces Good... Let us be gone from this sad monument to a bygone era... Mark everyone for cleaning, I will not have my ship sullied by them in death... He did not wait for a response, certain Arachnus would see to it that his orders were followed. There was a power to be gained from life essence for certain, but some beings were far below what was worth the effort with how little return there would be. The Zakuulan defenders fell into that group. His shuttle docked with the airlock on the Spire, allowing the Sorcerer to board with Arachnus and a handful of his droid guards before it took off back to the Felstorm. From there he could review their next destination while his forces undertook their cleaning routines
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Post by Professor Arachnus on Jun 13, 2023 5:27:40 GMT -8
After undergoing decontamination before returning to the Felstorm, which seemed to be routine at this point, the Professor visited his precious repository of knowledge to supervise the installment of several new show pieces. A completed set of armour once belonging to a Knight of Zakuul was mounted on a mannequin, posed to grip a matching burnished gold lightsaber pike before being sealed away behind a transparasteel case. His swarm of repurposed miniature assassin spiders assisted in putting away volumes and reorganizing shelves to accommodate these latest acquisitions. Arachnus' numerous red robotic lenses studied each new tome greedily, creating a digital entry for each with tags on anything related to the Red Sage's current work. These were then transmitted to Valefor's private inbox for dissemination at his leisure. Utmost caution was taken with any damaged or disintegrating books. Several of the SD-K4's arachnid drones were acting as scribes, penning what could be recovered into new books of chemically preserved vellum bound in scale and leather.
When the meticulous work requiring his direct supervision was done, the Professor escorted the last of the scavenged items from the Spire into an off-limits area of the library, only accessible by two beings aboard the Star Pyramid. One of them was Arachnus, as required for his duties as chief librarian, and the other was the Sith Sorcerer Supreme, Valefor the Red. Here was stored the Fabricator General's collection of talismans and holocrons, objects too dangerous to sit outside on display. Many were locked away behind ray shields or encased in lead lined safes.
With his duties completed for now, the academically inclined mechanical spider scurried up the side of a massive bookshelf, concealing his shadow black arachnid form in one dark corner of the ceiling with an available outlet for recharging. The sinister red lights speckling his chassis flickered off as he went in standby mode.
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Valefor
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 177
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Post by Valefor on Jun 16, 2023 19:47:44 GMT -8
When the last transports arrived back to the Felstorm, the Star Pyramid had begun moving away from Zakuul and toward the outer reaches of the system to put them beyond scanner range. This would help them avoid detection as well as accidentally being discovered by someone else on their way to the ancient home of the Eternal Empire. It was a brief reprieve to both allow Arachnus to complete his work, but also provide Valefor some rest and recovery from the fight. The Caestus had augmented his powers considerably already, but the rituals from which each stone was made took a considerable toll. Chaotic nexi of energy compressed and crystallised to create Eternus Stones, a task he had not known for sure was possible before he did it.
The break and travel time away from Zakuul provided a moment to review the remaining four worlds which he knew Nexus-class events had occurred upon from which he would make the next stones. Two for Krayt and Two for Sidious. It also meant that when Arachnus had completed his work in the library, Valefor could review the texts that had been tagged and forwarded to him. Holographic representations of the tagged texts filled the air in his private laboratory as he walked among them, skimming over passages.
For the most part there was little of use or relevancy to his current quest and work. However, one particular item caught his attention. The piece dated from the time of Valkorion and detailed an experiment the ancient Sith Lord had once conducted upon a member of the Shard race. He hypothesized that similarly to a Kyber Crystal, one could bleed and turn a Shard to the Darkside. Judging by the treatise he wrote, Valkorion had managed to successfully perform such an experiment and had included details upon how to repeat it. As he exopanded out the file to better understand what was required, the crew upon the bridge of the Felstorm received orders to head for Orax. Within minutes of receiving the order, the Star Pyramid disappeared in a flash of motion
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