Sa Tiva
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Post by Sa Tiva on Jan 4, 2021 12:37:14 GMT -8
*The Heretic's Hearth slid through space like a knife through butter. Sa Tiva allowed the ship to go where it would and that is where they would be. She was tinkering with her seeds and cell lines in the back Vivarium, taking inventory of her stocks. So far, no one was following from Zonama Sekot, but there was no guarantee that would remain the status. She patted the ship fondly then got back to her inventory.
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Kaine Australis
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Kaine Australis on Jan 4, 2021 23:57:37 GMT -8
Wayland, Zero Hour, W-Day.Surprise was only useful when you still possessed it, and if the enemy knew there was danger, the enemy might escape. Kaine wasn't going to chance that. They had to hit hard now, and end this threat before it grew.Bombers on station above Mount Tantiss began making attack runs on the fortress. Heavy ordnance fell away from the strike craft, wreathing the entire mountain and surrounding forests in flame and smoke, as the ground below was blasted down to the bedrock in a colossal conflagration of destruction.This was the scene to which the Australis assault force descended at speed. Into the fire, with swift and devastating fury, the Wild Boar shot through the smoke, landing barely in the wake of the carpet bombing of the external surfaces of Mount Tantiss. Ramps dropped, and the vessel began emptying of its warlike cargo. The area was deserted, with no enemy in evidence, as Kaine came down to Wayland's scorched surface along with the commandos from the various units that poured from the Wild Boar. Units spread out on various missions, efficiently taking control of and securing their landing zone with no opposition to prevent them.
Kaine didn't like the silence one bit. A foreign legionary commented on the lack of enemy.Maybe we got them all?Kaine grunted. We're not that lucky. And wandered over, his practiced eye having noted corpses. One of them had a living biot attached which Kaine had recognized. A master villip, still clinging to life. Kaine tore it free from the former owner, and the ball-like organic communicator activated to his presence, folding in on itself to facilitate communications. Kaine dug deep into his own memory for words he had learned in a war long ago. The horrid language of the extragalactic invaders.::Meat-maggot dung Vong:: Kaine began, cursing the Yuuzhan Vong as godless by omitting the prefix Yuuzhan.::Your gods are false, and you are lower than droids.:: That ought to do for insults, Kaine figured, knowing exactly how to enrage the old enemy.::Manda'yaim sends her regards.:: He added, wanting the scum to know who it was who was coming for them, vengeance for the destruction wrought upon the homeworld so long ago by the Vongese.The villip expired, and Kaine tossed the detritus aside.I guess that counts for knocking. A cave mouth gaped before Kaine and his assembled commandos. From within, perhaps in response to Kaine's diplomatic overtures, roaring and screaming could be heard.Ok, we didn't get them all. Said the legionary, lifting his blaster rifle. Kaine drew the ancient lightsaber hilt that was on a belt hook, and ignited the black glowing blade.Let's hunt. Kaine charged into the darkness, among a chorus of answering "OYA!"s from the Mando'ade.Sa Tiva
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Kaine Australis
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Kaine Australis on Jan 8, 2021 0:06:29 GMT -8
Wayland, Zero Hour, W-Day.Kaine charged into the darkness, among a chorus of answering "OYA!"s from the Mando'ade.
Deep in the dark tunnels of the mountain, unlit by light, natural or otherwise, the two foes met; Mandalorian and Yuuzhan Vong. The only faint light was provided by Kaine's black-bladed lightsaber as his forces charged in to meet an enemy that was charging out to meet them. Kaine's challenge and insults had goaded the Vongese as he had hoped; instead of facing the cannon fodder of the Vong's slaves and Chazrach servants, the Warriors of the Great Enemy instead trampled and even killed their own servants in a rage to get at the Mandalorian interlopers. Just as Kaine had wished.
This was not the war of old, he thought. Kaine planned for this to be a cathartic experience for himself. Righting some old wrongs, oh yes, to be sure. In their invasion, he had been almost a child, a young warrior, always outmatched, his own side's forces constantly retreating, outdone by the enemy's superior arms, or tactics, or sheer numbers and ferocity. Today, the tables would be turned. Kaine was now a Field Marshal, at the head of an army he had personally built, created root and branch to be an elite fighting force. Anathema to the Great Enemy, now they were tested for true.The Yuuzhan Vong did not appear to enjoy their first meeting with the armed forces of a fully armed and operational Mandalorian Clan, led by a warrior forged in their invasion of the galaxy. On the left flank, a crimson clad warrior with two swords cut and slashed, taking down warriors as quickly as they came forth, thud bugs pinging off the beskar of his armor or deflected by swinging, whirling blades. On the right flank, a titan in green and gold charged through the attacking Yuuzhan Vong, towering over them in heavy plate, long, sharp beskar claws tearing mercilessly into enemy flesh, shredding Vonduun Crab armour like it was cloth, misting the cave's air with alien blood. Two Slayers, the super elite chimaeric gene-bred fighters of the Vongese came down the center at Kaine. Each held a long amphistaff that hissed and spat.
JEEDAI! One cursed at Kaine in a low growl. Kaine flourished the lightsaber once, and settled into a combat crouch.You're not that fortunate. I am a son of Mandalore. They didn't give any sign that they had heard or cared, but came at the Field Marshal from left and right simultaneously, striking high and low in turn. Kaine chose the left one, sidestepped, measuring the cut, and took the Slayer's head off with a two handed slash, also cutting the throat of its amphistaff as he swung. One down.
The other recovered fast, and thrust at Kaine, the amphistaff biting his chestplate and slamming Kaine back, knocking some of the wind from him. Kaine recovered too, slashing upward to decapitate the second amphistaff and taking the face off the second Slayer, neatly killing the Vongese where he stood. Reyn and Konig had also finished off their attackers, and the three Australis commanders were faced with three directions.
Konig charged right, into the deepest part of the Mountain, pursued by his Lion Guard of the Copad; Reyn took off left, into the outer tunnel, pursued by his Stormwolves. That left Kaine with the rest to go down the central tunnel, which formed the middle portion of the mountain fortress. He didn't hesitate, but led the way, Clan Australis leaving only Yuuzhan Vong corpses in their wake.
That soon changed as the three individual advances of the Mandalorian assault ran into more determined and prepared enemy positions. Faced with imminent death, the Enemy were unleashing everything they had.In the outer chambers, Reyn's forces ran into mainly slaves and Chazrach, so much so that he ordered his soldiers to set weapons to stun rather than murder the thralls of the Enemy, many of whom could well have been enslaved against their will. Vongese got the blade or the blasterbolt, no mercy was shown to an enemy the Mando'ade knew well would never surrender.
In the middle sections of the Mountain, Kaine's ragtag force of mixed Commandos and Militia ran into more determined resistance. Full cadres of Yuuzhan Vong Warriors accompanied by some of the deadly Voxyn abominations, creatures Kaine had rarely faced, and knew well the danger of.
::VOXYN!:: He called to the others. A chill went through Kaine as he heard Reyn shout a similar warning. Konig called back. ::Looks like this was the birthing chamber. It's deserted.. now.:: That only amplified the chill for Kaine. There were only a couple of Voxyn here, and none where Konig was.
He watched as the Yuuzhan Vong and their Voxyn came under a hail of fire from his own Mandalorian commandos, well disciplined fire taking down one of the beasts immediately, though the second moved lightning fast to avoid volleys of fire and leapt upon a militia soldier, biting through his plasteel armour to get at the meat below as he screamed his last.
A warrior charged at Kaine, and died on the point of Kaine's glowing black blade, the tip sinking into the Vonduun Crab armour to pierce the chest below. Then Kaine had to duck to avoid a glob of acid belched out by the nearby Voxyn. A scream behind him told him someone hadn't been so fast or lucky. Bad way to go, Kaine thought, before a scream over the comm chilled him to the bone. Reyn's scream.Oh, osik. No. Then the dread call came from one of Reyn's stormwolves, as Kaine, and Konig, via their HUDs, saw Reyn's vitals spike and his stress levels skyrocket further than they had ever seen before.::MEDEVAC, URGENT PRIORITY!::No.Sa Tiva
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Sa Tiva
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Post by Sa Tiva on Jan 9, 2021 14:22:38 GMT -8
The Heratic's Hearth exited hyperspace somewhere in the inner rim. Sa ran her fingers over the ships navibrain nodule and listened to it purr the new location to her. The planet they were nearing was a green jewel. She breathed out a sigh of wonder. She was not accustomed to space travel yet.
The villip next to the navibrain purred and transformed into a grizzled man speaking the rough words of Basic into the creature. She understood most Basic, but she winced at his accent. The villip shuddered as it lost the connection, seemingly violently. Sa cooed and patted at it gently. She wondered if the creatures had come from the same bush. Occasionally they developed significant bonds within the genetic lines. Those bonds made long term communication more stable, but could also cause psychic feedback if mishandled.
Sa was not able to baby the villip for long before the ship hissed. There appeared to be yorrik-et in orbit around the planet. Sa went pale and looked to the ships vitals. They needed to attend to the biological components of the ship before they could jump back into hyperspace. That meant landing on the planet. But if there were yorik-et, there were Yuuzhan Vong... would they have heard of her escape?
She sank to her knees, hands clutching at her shallow cheeks as she pondered on what to do."Hera, you need to land...I'll think of something." Kaine Australis
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Sa Tiva
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Post by Sa Tiva on Jan 18, 2021 12:25:55 GMT -8
*The ship touched down on Wayland. The area where the Heretic's Hearth settled was an clearing in the canopy large enough for the ship to perch with just enough space to barely brush the outerbulkheads against the fronds of passing trees. The mottled green of the ship was decent enough to camouflage it with the surrounding scenery. Hera, as Sa Tiva affectionately called the ship, let down root like tendrils into the soil.
Some tendrils dug deeper into the soil to connect to subsurface water reserves, while other stayed just below the dirt to pull in essential nutrients- or in some cases raw minerals that various symbiotes throughout the ship could turn into more useful constituents. The green skin of the ship it self held molecules that could put the starlight radiating down on Wayland to use for food stuffs and basic fuel for the ship's organic systems.
The hyperdrive was another matter. It worked on some other scale Sa Tiva wasn't fully able to comprehend. She assumed it was some kind of mineralized radiation field, a bit like how a star radiated out it's energy, but instead of smashing together hydrogen to helium and so on down the line, the energy radiated off in random by mostly consistent intervals until it broke itself apart into something more stable.
She tapped the shield. Sa Tiva's particular form of heresy was far more sinister than most others - she could not bare to understand a thing. Simply hating a mechanical construct was not enough - she needed to know why it was hated. Could the device work better than a dovin basal? Was it more efficient? So many questions. Reasons she presumed why she had not risen farther in the ranks of the shapers.
After checking through the inventory one last time, she descended to the planet below and started scouting for a few odds and ends.*
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Kaine Australis
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Kaine Australis on Jan 19, 2021 2:33:04 GMT -8
The moments between finding Reyn and the others in that dark hell and finding their way outside were a blur of horror for Kaine Australis. When they'd reached Reyn's position, the young man was being carried by four of his comrades, his helmet off, what was left of it, melted to slag across one side. Kaine's son was half covered by a blanket, with sprays of bacta salve being constantly applied by two of the four carrying the fallen warrior.Konig had to push Kaine several times as their father stumbled trying to look at Reyn, but they didn't fail to keep pace. Exiting the cave, Kaine looked for the medivac. ::Five minutes to touchdown.:: The report chilled Kaine's blood. Reyn did not in all likelihood have five minutes. Konig caught his arm and drew his attention to a blip on the local area display. A vongese ship, or something that looked like one. Nearby. One passenger, who looked from the feed to be of the Shaper caste to Kaine's experienced eye. Kaine knew of them, they were the ones that worked wonders with biotechnology.
All at once, he cursed the perverse humour the universe found in testing him; this scion of his mortal enemy might now be his son's only hope for life. OSIK. Kaine swore at the shabla Force and the galaxy and everything else. His pride was not worth his son's life.
Konig. He said, all the meaning intent in the word. Konig tapped the bearers that held Reyn, and motioned for them to follow. Confused, but obedient, the six of them bore Reyn through the jungle towards the only potential hope. It wasn't far, they'd get there inside the five minutes the medivac shuttle would take. Kaine wracked his brain for the Yuuzhan Vong words he might need. He'd only really paid attention to the curses and insults, and now he might have to beg for his son's life from this Yuuzhan Vong. He didn't even want to think about what price might be asked, though he planned to offer sparing their life at the very least.Sa Tiva
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Sa Tiva
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Post by Sa Tiva on Jan 19, 2021 17:12:22 GMT -8
*Sa Tiva breathed in the air of the new planet. It was full of the smell of blood. Well, a faction of her people were still there, so she supposed it was par for the course. She tapped a spurred thumb against her teeth. The scent of burned flesh bore down on her position. Not good.
She clearly had the worst luck. If it weren't the children of Children of Yun-Yuuzhan, then it was another enemy. She turned to make her way back to the ship. But what good would that do? Hera was still feeding and would likely be unable to take off for several hours. She dithered back and forth. Surely Un-Harla was laughing at her predicament.
In the end she ran right into the party of Mandalorians bearing down on her.* "Phahg tiu..."
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Kaine Australis
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Kaine Australis on Jan 20, 2021 3:12:15 GMT -8
Before Kaine knew it, the small party of Mando'ade had stumbled upon the Yuuzhan Vong. Kaine called to the troops, who were reaching for weapons with their free hands.
Udesii! Hold fast! The commandos obeyed, though they didn't like the order much. That the Yuuzhan Vong were the ancient enemy had been drilled into them, but orders were orders, and Kaine was in command. They didn't know what Kaine hoped to gain here, but they were all desperate to save Reyn's life.
Osik'la shab, Kaine cursed inwardly, trying to recall the words he would need. Helmet translation software didn't do Yuuzhan Vong. Yun. The Australis Alor began, lowering his head and spreading his hands in an obvious gesture of supplication and submission. Meant God, or something like that, all the Vongese deities had the prefix Yun, so it couldn't be taken as insult, he hoped. Polite words weren't the ones he'd paid attention to during the war.Shel .... Shel tanna tiz! That was as close as he was going to get. Kaine pointed to his half covered son, borne by the helmeted commandos. 'Make him live long', or as close as Kaine could get with the words he had, and he'd probably butchered the tense and verbiage, not to mention the pronunciation. It wasn't a nice language, though those aruetiise who'd learned Mando'a said the same about that vernacular.
Despair and desperation clutched at the father's heart, as he begged this strange alien of the enemy to help save his son's life.Sa Tiva
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Sa Tiva
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Post by Sa Tiva on Jan 20, 2021 16:39:37 GMT -8
*The creatures in armor surrounded her, words assaulted, but they were her words. Weren't they? Through the terror, the barked words settled in her mind and she tried to parse together their meaning. She blinked as it sounded like this creature was asking her to shape him... no, not him. She peered at the prone creature being carried on some heretical lifting device.
Dangerous. She made to take a step towards the man on the floating bed, just to check his condition. Even for master shapers, there were some wounds that could not mend. It was difficult to see in the mottled light of the forest. It would be better to asses in the vivarium.* "You will offer protection from my brethren while I tend to him, and you will let me leave, with my ship, in one piece when we are done, nom-yammka." *She did not make this a question. This would be the required payment. Her basic was rough, unpracticed for some time.
It had been a condition of the treatise with the Sekotans that the young learn the standard language, so she had learned. But it had also been a condition to keep the gods and her tongue, though those might as well be slipping away.
She did not move back towards the ship until the man acknowledged the deal.*Kaine Australis
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2021 23:55:20 GMT -8
The hours passed by as the fleet went through their maneuvers, working to keep their skills sharp and formations ready. It was all apart of the duty that was being a fleet of the Coalition. As their time ended, all fighters returned to their ships to undergo another set of checks as the fleet prepped itself to return to its patrol routes. Once all ships were accounted for, the 7th Fleet jumped to hyperspace.
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Lord Nexus
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Lord Nexus on Jan 26, 2021 6:58:37 GMT -8
Aboard the Shen'Paak
- Course Charted: Mykyr to Manaan
-Estimated time till arrival: 14 hours
The monotonous hum and pulse of hyperspace was a strange feeling to the Sith Lord, as the vessel known as Shen'Paak made its way through the hyperspace lanes. Their course was set for Manaan - it had been long since Darth Nexus had stepped foot on the sapphire gem of the Inner Rim. It made him uneasy - the memories of the ancient home of the Warriors of the Iron Fist, the wars he fought with him, and finally his trial and imprisonment- all of these flooded his mind, compounding his anxiety.
The Dark Lord took a sip from his glass, hoping the alcohol would help calm him. The amber liquid disappeared from the glass, only to be replaced with another batch, as he poured another drink. It had been only a few hours into the trip, yet Nexus was already halfway through the bottle - not that you could guess such by his demeanor. He was not drunk or cheery, but rather ever stoic and solemn.
The steady pulsation of the vessel would lull most passengers into a sense of ease and security, but not him. He was alert, thinking - no - planning on what he was going to do when he landed. Lord Sinistra, one of his older colleagues, had mentioned an alliance with Clan Australis - while Nexus did not have any prior history with the mandalorian. As a Dar'Manda, the Sith had not interacted with his people in many years - most had disregarded the fact that he was once a member of Clan Vhett during the rule of Cassus Fett, his foster uncle.
Given Nexus' lack of equipment, and the precarious nature that would be involved in retrieving it, he made a mental note to seek out Kaine when he arrived on Manaan, and hopefully use the alliance to arm himself for the fight to come. With Beskar'gam, and the help of Dolmin -assuming the Helgric would be willing to help- he knew it would only be a matter of time before the galaxy remembered to fear his name. He would arm himself, then enter Dun Na Manaan, deal with any potential opposition, and find what ever An Tiarna decided to keep as a trophy for his 'victory'.
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Dolmin Teague
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Dolmin Teague on Jan 26, 2021 7:44:55 GMT -8
Aboard the "Shen'Paak"
-Course Charted: Myrkr to Manaan
-ETA: 14 hours
Dolmin had taken the initial hours of the trip to make sure that his plot was locked in promptly, as well as setting up his autopilot function to drop them out of Hyperspace in high orbit over Manaan, well-clear of any of the known countermeasures on the approach. Once that was done, he stood from his Captain's chair and made his way out of the cockpit. The door to the common area stood before him, and he wondered for a moment if he should check on his passenger, but decided instead to go and rest for a while in his room. Dolmin had fashioned pretty much all of the cabins on the port side into a Captain's cabin worthy of the name, decorating it with shelves and displays holding different trappings from his times as a mercenary, as well as items from his homeworld. One of which was a massive pearl the size of Dolmin's fist that he received from his mother before his exile. It was considered the "Eye of Giju", one of five massive pearls distributed amongst the tribal Herglic clans, found in the gullet of the gigantic mollusks that lined the ocean floors of the planet. It was one of a few things that Dolmin had taken with him from his home planet. The rest of what he had accrued was what he had found in markets across the galaxy. Small reminders of home, a salve on the wound that still hounded him to this day.*
*Dolmin's room held his massive bed, which was designed to help his skin feel hydrated by holding purified seawater in a comfortable, pliable sponge that was supplied by an aquifer running the course of the kip. It also held a few tables, some comfortable chairs, a large computer terminal that linked up to the rest of the ship, and a massive spa pool that Dolmin had specifically installed so he could relax between journeys. Beyond the spa was the entrance to his spacious refresher, and all the niceties therein which made it all Herglic-friendly. The sonic shower in his own quarters had cost him a shiny pile of creds, but, it was large enough to easily facilitate him, and the functionality of it was karking near divine. Dolmin had even taken great pains to ensure that all of his investments like these in his vessel were fully-insured in case of any accident or loss, and had doubled-down by already securing replacements for everything and having them stored at a facility in the O'pahz system on Carratos; which he had bought and secured for a song. One massive vault, several security droids, an automated security system and a Chadra-Fan named "Mo" that would let him know if anything went awry.
And so, for those next couple of hours, Dolmin decided to allow his passenger some space to get comfortable with his surroundings. If he should find need of Dolmin, the Cetacean was sure his hume passenger could operate a simple VI like Shaara. So, he sat there with a Herglic-sized container of berry-flavored seltzer, and a datapad that had his favorite hologames installed, whiling the time away as they continued through the stars toward Manaan.
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Lord Nexus
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Lord Nexus on Jan 27, 2021 5:56:16 GMT -8
Aboard the "Shen'Paak"
-Course Charted: Myrkr to Manaan
-ETA: 12 hours
The warmth of the Whiskey had finally spread through the Sith's entire body - as the alcoholic lullaby of relaxation lured Nexus into a waking sleep, occasionally jostled by a bump of interference in the hyperspace lane. At this point, Nexus allowed sleep to take hold, and he slipped into its dark embrace. Yet there was no peace in these dreams, as the years of torture had scarred his mind.
While his captain relaxed, he could sense momentary spikes in anxiety, and brief bouts of panic. Nexus - who was still in the common area, was reclined with his eyes shut on the large couch, his hand still firmly gripping his empty glass as his eyes dashed back and forth beneath his eye lids. While on the surface, the only indication of stress was seen in his frantic eye movements, beneath, there was true horror.
~The Dream~
Smoke and fire were all that he could see and feel, on the battle torn streets of Cloud City, and all that could be heard was blaster fire and explosions. Chaos, this was his element, and yet for some reason the Dark Lord was uneasy. This was not a noble war, but the Warriors of the Iron's fists response to treason. With him, stood his brothers in arms, and his uncle, the looming figure that was Iniquitous.
=Iniquitous=
"We are losing this war, you know what to do."
The Dark Lord, who was much younger in this memory, felt the knot in his stomach grow alarmingly - it was a sensation that he had not felt in years. Dread. Iniquitous noted his trepidation with disgust.
=Iniquitous=
"Prove your loyalty - do your duty."
Suddenly there was silence. No more explosions, no more blaster fire. The smoke and fire had been replaced with cold steel - all that remained was that sense of dread rising. Nexus stood before several warriors, each with a saber ignited in defiance. But a voice called out, beckoning peace. The voice of a woman. For a brief instant, the dread was gone - and it was replaced with something that felt completely foreign. But the moment was fleeting, and suddenly true, palpable pain was all that could be felt.
Slow steps, that was what the Dark Lord took, each echoing as his armored boots met the durasteel floor. The warriors parted, leaving a beautiful woman, clad in fierce armor. Her eyes met his. Nexus was the first to speak.
"Why did you have to fight, Isis?"
He closed the gap between them, reaching up with a slow, though steady hand. He touched her cheek - the woman that he loved, who stood between him and his duty. His duty, and his brethren were what brought them here - as a political marriage had driven a wedge between the two. Her eyes were defiant, yet not resentful. Then suddenly, her eyes were black - then empty, replaced by two burning rings - as a snap hiss broke what seemed like an endless silence. She mouthed the word
"Traitor."
~~~~
While the Dark Lord relived this pained memory, the Herlgic captain felt the same feelings that Nexus felt - the intense anxiety, the dread, and finally the resonating gut punch of guilt. This was accompanied by a sudden, intense turbulence that reverberated through the entire ship - shaking it with an alarming intensity as a guttural, almost unnatural voice bellowed through the halls.
"NO!"
And then the shaking stopped, at least throughout the ship - though if the Captain ventured into common, he would witness a disturbing scene. Furniture was overturned - sparks from previously concealed electronics now filled the room, as wires and plates of metal were laid bare. Amidst the carnage, there kneeled the "Broken Chalice", trying to suppress violent tremors that racked his body, clutching a bloodied hand that held the shards of what was once a glass - and if the captain saw his eyes he would note that the Sith's previously pale blue eyes had shifted to an unnatural mixture of crimson and amber. The room seemed to spin with confusion for a few moments - but that subsided with the Sith's tremors.
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Dolmin Teague
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Dolmin Teague on Jan 27, 2021 7:12:33 GMT -8
Aboard the "Shen'Paak"
-Course Charted: Myrkr to Manaan
-ETA: 11 hours
Dolmin was unsure of what he was feeling...even though he was playing one of his more frightening games in Black Souls, he felt a sense of horror grip him in a way that he'd not been prone to feeling before. Then came the otherworldly-bellow that echoed throughout the halls of his ship as he felt it somewhat shake. Then, the sensation of a cold, icy knife stabbing straight through his heart, and, even with his waking eyes, he saw them - burning orbs, spaced like eyes, gazing at him. And suddenly, the singular, haunting word that was spoken...
"...Traitor..."
What was this sensation? Almost as quickly as it had gripped him, it departed.Dolmin flew out of his chair, the thud of his boots clashing against the clang of metal beneath his feet as he ran towards the common area. Opening the doors, he squeezed in there, and looked around at the wreckage wrought by some unknown force. And there at the center of it, kneeling in the floor, was Nexus, himself. He saw the bloodied hand, and the haunting look of his eyes. Although the outward anxiety had calmed, Dolmin could tell by the man's tremors that he wasn't in the best of health. Quickly going behind the bar, Dolmin grabbed a medkit that he had stashed there. Making his way over to Nexus, he knelt beside him, placing the kit on the ground and opening it up to reveal its contents before finally uttering something to the shaking hume.
"...You'll forgive me for stating the obvious, but, I've noticed you're bleeding. Let's get you cleaned up."
The showers of sparks here and there caused him to flinch a bit, but, he wasted no time going to grab for the medical spanners in his kit. He needed to try and get the glass out of Malakaii's hand if he was to effectively treat him. He was gripping the tool, but, he waited for the hume to acknowledge him before he dared make a move to assist him.
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Lord Nexus
The Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Lord Nexus on Jan 27, 2021 8:54:02 GMT -8
As his captain entered the room, Nexus seemed to look past him - as though not looking at him at all. The Sith was fixated on something behind him - something the captain couldn't see, but could potentially sense. The aberration had returned, this time she had those same burning eyes, pointing at Nexus, repeating the words. The Dark Lord saw smoke rising from the wound on her head, where he had delivered the killing blow for her execution.
Traitor...Traitor...Traitor....TRAITOR...
The only thing that eventually broke the sith from his trance like condition was the captain speaking. His eyes shifted from the iconic sith colors, reverting to their original pale blue in a flash. The horror in his face became apparent, as did the confusion. He looked around at the damage, before looking at his hand - then his eyes fell to the floor, and finally he gazed up at the Herglic captain. He took a moment to put everything together, before giving the man a nod to affirm that he was safe to approach and mend the wounds.
He lifted the bloodied hand, which had stopped shaking, allowing his captain to pull out the jagged shards of glass.
"When we arrive on Manaan, I will see that you are compensated for the damage."
And that was all he said - in a droned monotone, devoid of emotion.
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Dolmin Teague
The Vegemite Enclave
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Affiliation: Mercenary for Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Dolmin Teague on Jan 30, 2021 7:50:01 GMT -8
The pair of them kneeling on the floor as though one of them had lost some small trinket must have looked like a bit of an oddity, but Dolmin knew the actual nature of their situation was quite a bit more dire. Dolmin really didn't know how to broach the subject of what exactly had happened in his common area, although he would be lying if he said that the thought didn't vex him somewhat. What could have possibly caused such a violent reaction in the man? Dolmin didn't know much of the faction known as the Dark Tide. All records of them ceased some odd ten years ago, leaving Dolmin to wonder if their clash with the Iron Fist was their "aihwa song" - their last cry to the dark that they once stood against them. Regardless, the past remained where it was, shrouded in mystery; and Dolmin had a job to do now.Grabbing a roll of sterile gauze, Dolmin quickly fashioned a pad with which to accept the injured hand into, then set about with the medspanner to administer a numbing agent and then adjusting the tool's output to where it was able to use its nimble robotic appendages to grasp the pieces of glass in Malakaii's hand, slowly removing them and setting them in a metal surgical bowl that resided in the kit.
"Quite the wreck you've managed here...and no worries. I'm less hung up over the damages, more concerned that this may not be the worst I can expect. What is it that's causing this to trigger in you, if I may ask?"
With the glass pieces removed, Dolmin adjusted the medspanner to its bactaid rinse mode, where it would use the chemical solution to both clean the wounds and administer a bacta salve that would allow it to heal much more quickly. Once that was done, he set about using the suture mode to administer the bioadhesive, stitching the lacerations back together, and then wrapped the hand deftly with a clean bandage to give the adhesive time to do its work.
"...Apologies. You don't have to answer that. We won't have too much longer out here in the black. But maybe you can tell me how I can best help you when the time comes? I'm curious as to how I might do so."
Once the hand was taken care of, Dolmin began putting the kit back together, waiting on his passenger's response. He really didn't know how the Sith would react to his queries - but he hoped that Nexus was the amicable type, especially when it would do nothing but benefit him to enlist the Herglic mercenary's help.
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Kaine Australis
The Vegemite Enclave
Consuming Copious Coopers
Posts: 1,036
Affiliation: Vegemite and Mandalore
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Post by Kaine Australis on Jan 31, 2021 5:13:49 GMT -8
*The creatures in armor surrounded her, words assaulted, but they were her words. Weren't they? Through the terror, the barked words settled in her mind and she tried to parse together their meaning. She blinked as it sounded like this creature was asking her to shape him... no, not him. She peered at the prone creature being carried on some heretical lifting device.
Dangerous. She made to take a step towards the man on the floating bed, just to check his condition. Even for master shapers, there were some wounds that could not mend. It was difficult to see in the mottled light of the forest. It would be better to asses in the vivarium.* "You will offer protection from my brethren while I tend to him, and you will let me leave, with my ship, in one piece when we are done, nom-yammka." *She did not make this a question. This would be the required payment. Her basic was rough, unpracticed for some time.
It had been a condition of the treatise with the Sekotans that the young learn the standard language, so she had learned. But it had also been a condition to keep the gods and her tongue, though those might as well be slipping away.
She did not move back towards the ship until the man acknowledged the deal.*Kaine Australis |
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Sa Tiva
Member
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Affiliation: TBD
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Post by Sa Tiva on Jan 31, 2021 11:16:57 GMT -8
*Sa Tiva nodded her head and lead him quickly to the Heretic's Hearth. The Sekotan vessel immediately auto targeted the mandolorians as they enterted the clearing. Sa Tiva barked at the ship to stand down and lower the boarding platform. The ship whispered an apology to the mandolorians as it turned it's minor armament in other directions.
Once in the vivarium, she instructed Kaine to lay his son on the molded flesh bunks. She turned lambents towards the young man to get a clear look at his face and clucked her tongue.* "Does he want to see, or does he want to be a weapon?" *She asked while she prepared a neutralizing agent for the acid drenching the man's face.* "Hold him down, I do not wish to damage him further with my restraint methods..." *she wanted to go on about discipline to pain, but it was not the time. She pointed to his arms, chest, and legs to indicate where they should hold the man.
Once he was restrained, she squeezed the creature that contained the neutralizing cocktail over his head where the acid was reacting to his tissues. She grabbed several pads of cloth from another vestibule in the ship and pressed them to liquid from the creature. She used it dab around the delicate and raw edges of his face.* "He is lucky. This is rather clean for an acid burn. I can stabilize him if you would rather have your own medics look at him- though I caution you not to use bacta immediately." *She paused, wondering if she should tell him why. After a moment's deliberation* "I don't know if the effect is permanent, but this creature has been known to cause bacta allergies after use. It is the best for neutralizing the acid he was sprayed with, but it does have side effects."
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Lord Nexus
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 174
Affiliation: Chaos
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Post by Lord Nexus on Feb 1, 2021 8:24:06 GMT -8
The Sith was accustomed to projecting a facade of being cold, calm, and collected - even though mere seconds ago, Dolmin had seen that facade fall away, the sudden return of his composure made that seem unnatural - clearly there was an instability in the mind of the sith. He blinked in silence for a few moments, showing no expression as the captain removed shards from his hand - he didn't even flinch. His breaths were slow and steady.
"Quite the wreck you've managed here...and no worries. I'm less hung up over the damages, more concerned that this may not be the worst I can expect. What is it that's causing this to trigger in you, if I may ask?" "No. You may not." "...Apologies. You don't have to answer that. We won't have too much longer out here in the black. But maybe you can tell me how I can best help you when the time comes? I'm curious as to how I might do so." "Concern yourself with getting us to Manaan - the rest will be taken care of upon arrival." And with those cold words, the Dark Lord rose to his feet once more. He was not hunched as he was before, but instead rose to his full height - as though tasting the force in his outburst seemed to breath life into him, though in truth, the pain from his hand was what fueled him."I will give you more information on the job when I can assess the situation in earnest. Once I have satisfactory intel, I can brief you. Now if you would excuse me, I will retire to my quarters." He kept his eyes on the ships captain for a brief moment, assessing him, before nodding once and turning towards the entrance way. As he made his way to the threshold, he paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant, then entered the corridor that led to his quarters.
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Dolmin Teague
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 24
Affiliation: Mercenary for Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Dolmin Teague on Feb 4, 2021 13:52:08 GMT -8
Aboard the "Shen'Paak"
-Course Charted: Myrkr to Manaan
-ETA: 11 hours
The Sith's cold demeanor was no different than he'd heard from hardened spacers, mercenaries, warlords and despots a hundred times over. Still, Dolmin was somewhat put off by how he was so callously rebuffed. After all, the hume did just wreck his entire common area, promise to fix it notwithstanding. That would usually be enough for Dolmin to play "how much pressure will it take to make your head splatter like a manza fruit when I squeeze it?" He had done it for far less egregious offenses. But, Malakaii was still his passenger, under his employer's protection and care; and Dolmin wasn't one to hold grudges for very long when profit was on the line.As the Sith had politely excused himself from the room, Dolmin gave him a curt nod in response, allowing him to leave in peace without suffering Dolmin's retort. Instead, Dolmin was already busying himself with cleaning the room, picking up the bent metal panels and such, clearing away the tidbits of debris little by little. He used the barely-functioning ship's VI intercom to activate the cleaning droids in his hold to come and help with the mess. With the droids taking over, he stepped out of the room to focus on other endeavors. Compiling shipping manifest data packets for the Manaan port authorities, maintaining his weapons and armor, finishing his earlier game.*
*The hours would whittle down, but they would soon be near enough to Manaan's space that Dolmin could return back to the cockpit and prepare them for the drop out of Hyperspace. Dolmin activated the ship's private intercom channel to Nexus' room. The polite chime would go off before Dolmin's dulcet tones would eke forth from the speakers in his personal quarters.
::"Master Malakaii, we're nearing the final drop-out point for Manaan. The last entry in the traveler's guide suggests that there may be some leftover defenses still active in orbit. I'll pull us out of Hyper far enough out that we don't trigger them to confirm, then we'll head in from there. Shouldn't be but a couple more hours. If you'd like to stretch your legs a little or need to gather your things, now is the time. Dolmin, out.::
He'd close the intercom, and then let the ship's computer complete the auto-sequence to disengage the Hyperdrive and drop them back into real-space.
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