The Maw's Open Orbit

[Aboard the Or'dinii Intelligence Hub, Codename Shelter Station.]

The intelligence nerve center of the Ordinii continues to buzz with activity, both of the electronic sort, and of the physical, starships-coming-in-with-spies-on-board variety. The progress of a dozen separate missions is being tracked at any one time, and the location of a half dozen or more Ordinii naval fleets. All in all, for such a backwater, unknown location, there was a lot happening. But unless you were right on top of it, you would never even know it was there, for sensor readouts taken this close to the black hole cluster were almost impossible to decipher accurately, and the mass of even a star destroyer was irrelevant compared to the shifting gravatic fields that surrounded the Maw. It was a dangerous, inaccessible place to operate, offering safety to the Ordinii, but even they were not immune it its dangers, either. It was the tradeoff they had all agreed to make.

Macario Genchi, accompanied by Nilda Maly, approaches the shuttle and answers Nicolina with a terse, "No one now. As Nilda makes her way aboard the Upsilon-class shuttle after motioning for her flight crew to follow, Macario says in a louder voice to address both the Imperial Knights and the Shadow troopers, We will all board the shuttle momentarily. The initial part of our mission, navigating through the cluster to what is left of Maw Installation, may prove to be the hardest for some of us as it requires putting our lives into the hands of the flight crew. No different than any other combat drop, perhaps, but in light of the unique level of risk involved in the . . . challenging navigation of the cluster, I think it only fair that I offer everyone, as he knows that the Imperial Knights selected have already been given what he will offer the Shadowtroopers Macario glances towards Faina and the other troopers as he continues, one last chance to back out of the mission."

Striding towards the boarding ramp, Faina falling into step behind him with a customarily grim expression, Macario tells Nicolina and the other Shadowtroopers, "You have a moment to make your decision. Once we are underway there is no turning back."

Macario, looking away from a pair of his fellow Imperial Knights that are speaking together in hushed tones, shakes his head when Nicolina asks if they have any idea how long it will take to reach the remains of Maw Installation, "I'm afraid not. It will take as long as it takes, and we'll just have to settle for not knowing, won't we?" So there is no mistake that he is not trying to belittle the question, Macario adds an apologetic shrug.

"Do we know if we'll have any defenses to contend with when we're approaching or inside the station? Shura Losev, one of the Imperial Knights Macario had seen whispering, is a dark haired human female with blue eyes that restlessly twirls her lightsaber hilt in her left hand as she goes on, Records of the changes Calrissian made when he used the remains of the Maw Installation to build Shelter are pretty sketchy, and . . ."

Raising a hand and interrupting his fellow Imperial Knight, Jaska Kostin, a bald, blonde bearded human, says, "Speaking of that whole remains part, are we sure the records we're looking for are even still there to find at all? Wouldn't they have . . ."

Macario lifts a hand to stop everyone from talking at once as other Imperial Knights start asking questions over one another, "We knew going in that a certain degree of uncertainty is involved. So far as we know, we'll be the first to set foot in what's left of Maw Installation in who knows how long. Pausing as the shuttle can be felt lifting off and beginning to depart from the hangar, Marcario continues after a moment, We're assuming that there are no external or internal defenses left, but we'll have to be ready in the event there are, which is why we're in an armed and shielded shuttle, and why we have the Shadowtroopers along for the mission. We'll start by searching what's left of Shelter, under the assumption that if any records from Maw Installation have survived, odds are they were hidden somewhere in the Hub's operating systems. If that wind up not being the case, we reassess, come up with a Plan B."

Faina cannot help but shake her head and smile in amusement when Commander Foresi refers to Nilda and Konstantyn as whatshisname and whatshername. As irritating as she can often find the Shadowtrooper's almost constant irreverent sense of humor, Faina finds herself cheered by it now, or as cheered as she can be considering all that has happened. Her smile soon fades as she thinks of Macario, Nirav, and the other fallen, some who fell in more ways than one.

Shaking her head and waving a hand to dismiss Commander Foresi's thanks, Faina suggests, "Let's call it even for now, and tries to match the Shadowtrooper's light tone as she jests, Besides, I'm sure we'll both have many more opportunities to add to the tally of who has saved who in the future. Reflecting on all that Commander Foresi had said, Faina realizes that the Shadowtrooper, somewhere along the way, truly has became a friend as well as a comrade in arms, for which she is grateful. Rising to go and check on Nilda and Konstantyn, Faina tells Commander Foresi, You really should let Bedros check you out, you took a few nasty blows back there."

In the cockpit, Faina silently stands back from the pilot and co-pilot's seats, not wanting to break Nilda and Konstantyn's concentration as they continue piloting the shuttle back towards the Star Destroyer waiting to take them back to Muunilinst.

There was no silence here - though it felt no less empty.

The pull of the surrounding wormholes created a subconscious sound of roaring, though the abyss never uttered a whisper- even so, the mind felt the pull of the deeper abyss in this area.

Here was where he was imprisoned - tucked in the darkest corner of the Maw, where none would dare look for him.

- Ages before -

It was a circular room, with high walls surrounding a shallow pit. In the pit stood a man clasped and chained. He had ashen hair, though his face is hard to discern as the individual is looking at his feet. Suddenly a bell rings a low and ominous tone, soon it became clear that what surrounded the pit was not walls, but a series of obsidian podiums. There were seven, to be exact, while only three were manned. One podium stood taller than the rest were of equal height.

At the tallest podium was a muscular man with wild brown hair and a beard to match- the intensity in his eyes was nearly palpable. He spoke first, in a loud, booming voice, accompanied with a heavy albeit obscure accent.

" Malakaii Concordia, we bring you here in the eyes of our brotherhood, to question your past transgressions."

The figure in the pit remained silent, as did the remainder of the room. The figure at the high podium, identifiable as An Tiarna Dubh, continued to speak with no less intensity.

"You stand accused for treason, in your actions at [planet name redacted]. You disobeyed direct orders, mutinied the Dark Tide by taking your units, capturing a fortified location and repelled loyal forces, claiming it under your name. How do you plead?"

The figure looked up slowly. His hair was damp and matted, yet his eyes were vividly feral. His grin was wide, with sharpened canines to make it all the more unsettling - he spoke in a voice that was proud, echoing his bass chords over the cavern like room with each word.

"I plead that....I enjoyed every moment of it! You should have seen your face. An Tiarna, Ard Ri, can't keep control of his favorite attack dog."

The last words were filled with spite, and followed by the figure (Now Identified as Nexus) spitting on the ground at An Tiarna's feet. The Ard Ri stared with an unwavering glare for a moment, then suddenly one of the figures at the lower podium slammed his fist against the podium and shouted.

"You are a traitor to this brotherhood. You shed the blood of not only our men, but many of our brothers! You will answer for their absence today. I will see it done myself, your blood will grease the floors where you stand. Your name will be stricken from our charter and your memory will..."

The figure grew silent suddenly as An Tiarna raised a hand, cutting him off promptly, yet the hate filled words seemed to leave the room in an awkward silence. Lowering his hand, An Tiarna addressed Nexus once more.

"While you may have violated your honor, we shall not let your acts taint this Order. As such, I will not spill yours. And nor will you, Pyros,"

An Tiarna gazed in the direction of the man, then back at Nexus, showing a remarkable degree of calm, which was most unlike him.

"Instead, I shall imprison you for eternity. You will be cast in the darkest corner of the galaxy, forced to remain as an obscurity. Your legends shall be nullified as will your deeds. You shall be forgotten. Forever."

And with that, the figure stood. Nexus, whose eyes never left An Tiarna, even when Pyros broke the calm of the room, grew noticeably angered. His smile had turned into a scowl, and then a snarl. His shoulders lifted and fell heavily as his breathing grew heavy.

"You can't stop me, An Tiarna. Dason couldn't, Isis couldn't! I am the Dark Lord of Chaos and I WILL NOT BE BOUND BY ANYONE!"

His ending note went from an anger filled voice into rabid screaming. With that, he suddenly yanked at his chains, and for one brief moment, the room grew still, as though waiting for him to break free, but he didn't. His rebellion had been quelled as a guard came from behind, giving him a merciless strike in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious.

- Present Day -

The forgotten prison was on a large asteroid, which seemed to drift between the blackholes as though on an orbit. The asteroid itself was the size of 2 Executor Class Star Destroyers, which made the actual prison facility look small in comparison, yet the facility was quite large. Built with the objective of housing the prison of Darth Nexus, as well as with the capability to prevent someone from breaking in and freeing the warlord. Yet, many years had passed - and the once advanced droids that guarded the sith had become obsolete and in dire need of repair. But few remembered the name Darth Nexus, and as such, there was no need to travel to the most dangerous region of the galaxy outside of the Deep Core.

There he slept in silence, bound by sith rune lined chains, in an induced state of stasis. The Dark Lord slumbered - and yet, he would never know peace. His sentence was not a vacation, afterall, but a punishment. The sith sorcery that bound him also inflicted mental torture on Nexus, forcing him to relive his worst memories on repeat eternally.

Perhaps An Tiarna would have the last laugh.

~Some time after Sinistra left Jabiim, yet prior to her arrival on Myrkr~

A CR92a Assassin-class corvette dropped from hyperspace, crewed by a small expeditionary force of soldiers of fortune. Clothed in swathes of black cotton and bits of body armor, Sinistra kept her face hidden from the crew, and instructed them to address her as Lady Black. Investing a small fortune, she promised them pay as well as any gear they could salvage from the mission after she had looted the main vault of the prize she sought. Of course, she was expecting they were going to betray her, if would have surprised her if they don't turn on her and demand the valuable in the vault, but she had neglected to share that the thing she was after was the liberation of her former comrade, Malakaii Concordia.

Standing on the bridge of the corvette, she reached out with the force. The tendrils of darkness brushed against her mind, elusive to her searches but there nonetheless. She let the crew do the driving, while she monitored the position of the coordinates. They were still some distance away from where they were supposed to be going, but the crew was readying themselves for landing already.

As they drew closer, the radar officer alerted her to the presence of a vessel and landing craft near where she had instructed them to go. She bit her cheek inside the mask. She did not believe in coincidences.

"Prepare for landing and possible resistance from hostiles. I do not know who is here or what they hope to find, but they will only be disappointed."

She headed down to the hangar to brief the teams, her lightsabers on her hips as she was ready to start a new chapter of her life. One she was going to define for herself, the tenets of the Sith and Jedi be damned this time. She would walk the path she saw fit and let the pieces fall where they may. A new day was coming to her and she would relish it.