Darth Traya
Lady of the Sith, the Saarai-Kaar, the Dark Sun
CLOSED RP
Location: Enroute to Malachor II
With great reluctance Darth Illium commissioned a more traditional ship to her add to her fleet. This was the maiden voyage of The Ravager II, modeled after the Centurion class ship hijacked by Darth Nihilus and held together by his will. The Ravager II, she’d requested to be exact in its design and weaponry, but scaled down to the class of a mere battleship. She couldn’t possibly fathom how to command anything larger that wasn’t Vong tech. These trappings of machinery and steel were no place for a witch. The only solace she found within its corridors was that here the fragmented spirit clinging in symbiosis found calm and silence. As though the malevolent presence was satiated.
Those who knew Illium would be shocked by the lack of gizka within the ship. Than they might began to feel an oppressive weight pressing upon their shoulders, feel their minds clouding , and sense their life energy beginning to fade. They might notice the half dead mummified beings standing blankly at the control counsels, victims to the Dark Ladies increasing hunger. Darth Illium herself stood on the bridge of the Ravager II as the battleship dropped from the hyperspace tunnel. She looked out the vast window, although she couldn’t physically see the system sprawled before her.
But she could perceive it, two planets circling a malicious sun that rippled with dark energy. Another planet was fractured into three massive asteroids, which desperately pulled toward one another, as though trying to pull themselves back into a whole. This was the Malachor system, a system rife with mystery, misery and agony. She could hear the echo before she sensed it, a wail of shrieking agony...but it’s scream in the fabric of the Force was but a whimper in comparison to the Dread barracks of Nilrebmah XIII.
Without moving her face she motioned toward a man standing beside her, a Hapan member of the Royal Guard of the Hapes Queen Mother. The man was dressed completely in black, blonde hair falling to his waist, only his elegant beskar armor gave him the impression he was a Queen's Guard. He alone seemed unaffected by the draining presence of the Queen Mother of Hapes.
“Dhe, come hither, and tell me what your eyes see.” She asked of her guardian.
“Of course, my Lady.” Bid the Hapan, in a low and reserved voice. The voice of a man who rarely speaks unless given a command to speak. He didn’t outwardly exhibit that he was a Sith Master, nor brag of his chosen Darth title. “There is one sun of normal lumosity, the dark energy is not visible but anyone with any energy sensitivity can feel it. There are two terrestrial planets, Malachor II is the smaller planet, it’s a deep emerald color with light wisps of white clouds. It’s appears to be a jungle world. Malachor III is about a quarter larger, and a deep rusted red and tan, with deep fissures visible even from this distance. The remains of Malachor V are split into three large masses, green energy crackles between them, as though they are trying to pull each other back together. They are rocky, pitted and utterly barren. A ring of space debris and bodies from the Battle of Malachor V encircles it. And yes, my Queen Mother. I can hear the echo ...distantly, muted by the actions of the Exile, but the wound still weeps. Finally everywhere I see distortions in space time...bends in gravity. Shadows etched upon the fabric of space. I know from my talents these are not tricks to my sight. This phenomenon is the natural gravitational anomalies which the Malachor system is known for.”
Illium nods, comparing his description to what she felt within the Force. “Thank you, I will summon my apprentices and brief them on the mission. Please inform the crew to prepare our shuttles.”
The Hapan guard nodded, and typed into his datapad.
Illium clicked her holoprojector and sent a message to apprentices, Spade and Reganaye Dimir. They would likely be resting in their barracks a few halls down from the bridge. “My apprentices, come forth and meet me on the bridge. We have approached our destination, a place few Sith have dared to explore.” She said briefly, and shut off the communication.
IC: Spade
Spade slept uneasily in his barrack. He was on a new mission with his Master and her other apprentice, Reagnaye Dimir. He had only spoken with her a few times, but she seemed to be wise and strategic. He was excited to be doing a mission alongside her.
Spade’s uneasiness in his room was not because of nerves. Nor was it because of a dream he was having. It was the ship itself. It felt as though he was cutoff from his clear connection with the Force, almost like a shortness of oxygen was here. It was hard to breath, and he wished nothing more than to arrive at the destination.
But aside from this, he was also excited and happy in a way. He knew that his being here was to start a new mission where he could prove himself to his Master. He had grown very fond of her teachings. Lady Illium had a way with her lessons that made him learn the lesson on his own through the events that transpired as the quest carried on.
Spade finally gave up on sleeping and sat up. He looked to his side and frowned a bit. He was told he couldn’t bring his new gizka with him, which made him a little sad. Remy was his new companion, gifted to him by his Master herself. But he wasn’t too sad about leaving him behind, as for the pressure and Force-shortness wouldn’t be a fun environment for him.
Suddenly, his comlink activated and Lady Illium appeared on the screen. She stated that they had arrived and to meet her on the bridge. He nodded as the message cut off quickly.
Spade got up and pulled on his tunic and bottoms. He then fitted himself in his new Dark Void armor, and slipped on his boots and loaded belt. He attached his blaster and new curved saber to it, looking down at his bed.
His bag lay open, revealing two other lightsabers resting on extra clothes and few other electronics. His yellow-bladed one, that he had crafted himself, and his fathers blue one, the one Spade had only used in emergencies growing up as a Cartel Hunter. The sight of it now angered him a bit after the encounter with his father on Nar Shaddaa. He shook his head, and closed the bag, flinging it onto his back, exiting his chambers.
He arrived at the bridge soon after and saw Lady Illium standing there with a man he had not met before. He had very long blonde hair and very exquisite armor. He reached his Master and bowed deeply.
“Good day, Master Illium,” he said, as he rose back up. His eyes flickered at the window, as he noticed the small emerald planet, with a light ring surrounding it. His eyes quickly darted back to his Master, as he awaited her mission briefing.
IC: Dimir
Reagnaye had slept as peacefully as her fellow apprentice, not due to restless dreams but of visions..... visions of the past coming to haunt her, something that has always and might forever hover over the Sephi. Yet that is not the only thing that weighed on the young apprentice, her back still stung from the mark formation and the bandages were changed every so often.
Hearing a message that would request that they were needed at the bridge, the apprentice slowly sat up to groan from the sudden movement and sighed. The pain was there to remind her who was alive and who wasn't, thus she was grateful in some way. But to know that it wasn't just her needed was a bit of a surprise, she hadn't yet met her fellow apprentice and in all honesty, the Sephi was curious to get such a chance to work along side him.
So she began to get ready, tying up her silver locks into a soft curled bun and washed her face as to begin her process. A cleaned form equals a ready form and she desired to look presentable in some sense for her mistress and comrade in Illium's teachings. When that was all said and done, she went about to put on her dark robings that hugged her form well enough before heading over to the bridge as to stand next to Spade, bowed down for their mistress and stood back up. "Mistress.... Y-you beckoned us?"
GM Update
The apprentices would notice more and more of the half drained victims of the crew, as they progressed meet their Master at the bridge. The victims possed eyes either torn out from sockets or devoid of all life and vigor, their skin shriveled and dry. When the apprentices knelt before their master one half drained crew member reached out to grab Dimir’s shoulder, his shrunken hands digging into the Sephi’s slender shoulder “The Queen….She….she’s infected...she’ll….”
Illium didn’t allow the half consumed being to continue speaking and flung it from her apprentice with a telekinetic hurl. “The victim speaks truly, I just didn’t wish to hear his raving. My arrival here is not a mere coincidence, I have deep ties to the Malachor system, especially with Malachor V. To be fair the ties are not wholly mine, but belong to the infection the victim was raving about, but I think of it more as symbiosis. A fragment of Darth Nihilus spirit lives within me, forcing me to crave energy...and to uncover his story. I know his name...his area of origin...his motives...his legacy...and now I have come here in search for what my part is in this story. If I have one at all. Was it just a chance connection that I was infected, or was it predetermined? That is what I hope to uncover here. Malachor V cannot speak it’s secrets, but I have reason to believe Malachor II holds many forgotten secrets.” Illium explained moving to regard her apprentices.
She motioned for her royal guard, the Hapan in gleaming armor, with a black cape draping to the ground. “This is Dhe Ta’ Dlav, a Sith Master, and my most trusted royal guard, and overseer of Hapan - Dathomirian Intelligence. Dathomir and Hapes are within the same political Sphere, as I have taken the throne of Dathomir, I Am also Queen Mother of Hapes. Shortly after swearing his loyalty to me, Dhe sent a scouting team to Malachor II. They never returned but their reports before the anomaly held much promise.”
She nodded for her guardian to speak,
his tone was low and reserved. The voice of a man not accustomed to speaking unless he must speak. “ The scanner report there is a plethora of life forms on Malachor II, but no concentrated population. No star ports, no cities or known villages. There is but a singular antiquated communications tower...and it’s subject to….anomomies. A temple is located on the surface. No indication of it was built by Sith or Jedi...or something else. That temple is our ultimate destination. The knowledge the Queen Mother sees is something she glimpses within the Force. I don’t have that particular power, as I am not a sorcerer, nonetheless the Queen Mother desires exploration of the communications tower, and the temple. Do you feel your up to these tasks, young ones?” the Hapan guard propted.
Darth Illium turned back to the viewing window, sensing her ship sliding past the ruins of Malachor V and edging closer to Malachor II. She also sensed a wave of darkness stretching its tendrils across the vast reaches of space. She smiled bitterly, all was going according to plan.
GM update for new player:
In an abandoned sector of the ship, in which only mummified corpses remained of the helpless crew, sat one being still quite full of life. A copper skinned togrunta in dark robes, seemingly unfazed by the death that encircled her, encircled instead by piles of decaying books entrapping ancient lore beneath musty pages. Perhaps memories of her final task under Darth Illium’s apprenticeship danced across her mind, perhaps memories of the rigors is Kaggath, or the gauntlet of ascension dwelled within her thoughts, but none of these were privy to Illium.
The newly elected Dark Councillors eyes opened as she felt a presence approaching within the Force, but heard no footsteps and sensed no vibrations within her montrals. One eye was shouldering amber, typical of her species, the second was gleaming purple, due to a Lorridan precognitive crystal implanted within the eye. The Togrunta shifted her head to regard the illusion of her former Master, as it was clearly an illusion sense Illium didn’t bother to create the illusion of sound as she approached.
Her voice was hardly above a soft whisper although none lingered in these chambers that might have leaked information. “Perhaps you have sensed the nature of the mission I have asked of my apprentices, and my royal guardian. But what none of them know is that I have lied to them. I will not by accompanying them on the journey…my path diverts from theirs, as they will soon find out. I would ask, my most worthy of former apprentices...that you protect my new generation if you deem them worthy Sith. I am sending my guard Dhe Ta Dalv to spearhead the mission, but I do not trust him, with good reason. He was sent to assassinate me...a common occurrence to those on the Hapan throne. He came very close to killing me, only my prowess of the mind broke him. He swore an oath to protect me, and while I feel no lie within his mind as of now…when that oath is tested by the rigors of Malachor II, I don’t know where his true loyalty lies. This is my mission to you…protect my students from their leader. Do you wish you accept this duty?”
IC: Darth Noxia
Aalihya shifted her attention to the illusion of her former master. “Hail Lady Illium,” she said feeling the desire to properly greet even the illusion of a Dark Councilor. The togruta stood, her armorweave robes falling into place around her slender form. She folded her hands behind her back as she listened to the Dark Lady’s instructions.
A wry smirk graced her lips at Lady Illium’s deception. “I accept the mission, my lady. I will accompany your apprentices,” she said finding the mission an interesting endeavor. “And I will keep my eye on the Hapan.” Aalihya had no congeniality for one who would attempt to do Lady Illium harm. She would watch him closely, though she new that keeping her attitude civil would be important to the success of the mission.
As she made her vow, she stretched her fingers to the floor where her lightsaber lay, the sleek metal picking up small reflections in the dim light. The weapon flew up, resting itself in her hand before she placed it on her belt. She bowed to the Dark Lady.
IC: Spade
Spade watched as Reagnaye joined him at the bridge. He nodded as she arrived and turned back to his master. There was a lot more death and decay that he had previously realized. A lot of the crew were basically dead, only living through slavery to Master Illium and the Force itself it seemed.
Suddenly, one of the shipmates grabbed Dimir’s arm, which made Spade suddenly jump up. He didn’t like this “thing” grabbing on to his new partner. His hand quickly reached for his saber, but Lady Illium was much faster. She flung him across the area and into a wall with a loud “thud.” Spade watched it fly into the wall and smiled. He loved how his master was so quick-witted.
The focus came back to the mission as hand. Lady Illium explained the mission and her ties to Malachor and also Dathomir. Is the studying her had been doing on his master. He had read some about her upbringing there, and wished to someday visit the planet.
She spoke of her companion on this mission, Sith Master Dhe Ta’ Dlav, and his involvement in the mission. As he now described what the quest entailed, Spade realized something. After the Hapen man had finished, Spade spoke up.
“Wait, Master Illium? Are you not coming with us?” he asked, slightly disappointed. He was excited for her presence on the mission, so he had more chances to prove himself. He awaited her reply, quickly looking over at Dimir, who also seemed swept up in to the details of the mission.
Tags: @SpadeDecrescent @Reagnaye Dimir @DarthNoxia