Into the Abyss

[Vardon Galland]

Daupherm, equatorial regions. Local time: 06:00

Joe Bethersonton and Vardon Galland had just set down on the planet of Daupherm, known for its cold temperatures, vast plains and numerous far reaching cave systems. The two friends sat inside the cabin, but instead of playing a game of dejarik like they normally would, they simply sat there in relative silence. The padawan had felt something drawing him to the planet for quite some time but it wasn't until he entered its atmosphere that he discovered that it was a dark presence which drew him there.

The strong winds could be heard from inside the shuttle as a few leaves blew past the ship's windows. The sun had appeared not too long ago and cast it's rays on the dewy grass on which the ship stood. If it weren't for the dark presence dampening his mood, the young man would surely have been more enthusiastic about the day, but for now, he mostly wanted it to pass quickly. At least he wouldn't be braving the darkness himself - the Thyferran had another padawan who was going to join him, a Miralukan named Samael Aeveroth. At least there would be something which make the day a little more bearable.

To his deep regret, Vardon and Joe Bethersonton had arrived early and the wait felt much longer than it actually was. Despite usually being a patient man, the padawan was feeling rather restless, he wanted to do something. With that, he suddenly stood up from his chair and looked down at his friend "Joe, watch the ship for me, will ya'? I think I need some fresh air." he said, managing to keep a friendly tone - Joe Bethersonton deserved nothing less. After the older man gave him a nod, Vardon left the cockpit and headed out of the ship.

The harsh winds and cold dry air assaulted the young man as soon as he stepped out of the comforts of his ship. He frowned as he kept walking down the ramp and took care to have it raised back up once he was out. There was no point in sharing the cold with his friend inside the cockpit. Galland walked around in the wet ankle-tall grass in front of his ship with both his arms crossed. He wore a warm and fluffy white shirt along with grey pants. While his lightsaber was attached to the belt at his right, he also had one knife attached to each side of belt too. Since his shirt went down a little longer than his belt, the weapons weren't visible upon first glance.

Vardon looked up to the skies and muttered "Common, how long are you going to take?" slightly frustrated as another harsh wind swept across the plains.

@samdragon

 

[Samael Aeveroth]

The Dragoness slowly got through the atmosphere of the planet, piloted by Samael's astromech while the Jedi himself was meditating in its sleeping quarters. As soon as they got through the atmosphere, Samael shivered as he felt that presence, to the point that he somehow had a slight red glow in his vision, a sign of the dark side presence. The astromech beeped some as they landed, and Samael sighed as he stood up, put on his robes and then walked out of the ship.

That reddish hue in his vision was still there, even stronger than before, and he sighed feeling that. He smiled seeing the fellow Jedi, and approached him. "Hey Vardon, you're sort of lucky that you're not a Miraluka like me. It isn't a pretty sight" he tried to joke a bit on that. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

 

[Vardon Galland]

Vardon was glad to see a ship approach from the distance but there was still a noticeable sense of bitterness, restlessness and darkness weighing him down. Even though it was only a matter of minutes until the Dragoness would touch down, the young man still felt like it was taking well too slow, almost as if everything was going in slow-motion. He looked on the ship as it descended upon the plains next to him with crossed arms and his feet standing rather far apart creating a rather imposing image for anyone to see - his stance was taken rather subconsciously, matching the mood which the area projected rather well. He had a frown plastered on his face but tried to make it go away as it didn't seem like the best way to greet his new ally.

He stood there looking onto the man who walked down the ramps of the newly arrived light freighter. The man was smaller than Vardon in stature, but there was an unmistakable light emitting from the man, a light which Galland thought would be invaluable in keeping him sane during their time together in the area. A soft smile grew on his lips as he felt hopeful that it might not be so bad after all. The two men didn't have to take many steps until they were close enough to talk comfortably.

"Greetings Samael Aeveroth" he said in response to the greeting by the Miraluka. The Thyferran felt bad for his ally - while Vardon's mood was just dampened by the darkness around them, Samael had to live with it filling his sight too. With that, he put a his right hand on Samael's shoulder "I suppose you're right, I am lucky in that regard. But, I'm sure that we can do this together" he said confidently and compassionately as he tried to bolster the other's morale.

Along the plains ran a thick line of trees, around 200 meters away from where the two allies stood. And along the tree line, a large rock formation could be seen, perhaps 400 meters away. Vardon pointed at the large rock formation "There's supposed to be a cave entrance on the other side of those rocks" he said before giving his ally a wave as in let's go. With that, the young man started walking towards their destination, feeling how it constantly got colder and colder while the darkness just grew. "I don't like this" he remarked as his right hand slowly traveled down to his belt where the lightsaber hung.

@samdragon

 

[Samael Aeveroth]

Samael smiled a bit as he said so, and looked towards the rocks Vardon talked about as they walked. "I guess you don't know what it's expecting us down there? It could be anything from a darkside-tainted creature to a gathering of Sith, to a dark cult" he said as they proceeded. "What's your guess? In my opinion, we'll find some dark cult with maybe a few Sith too" he sighed, the Miraluka's pace slightly slower than Varon's due to that injury that still bothered him from Hoth.

 

[Vardon Galland]

The padawan's hand finally landed on the lower part of his shirt which covered the lightsaber and his other soon started to reach for the same spot on the opposite side to be able to draw one of his vibroknives quickly too. It wasn't normal for him to be so twitchy but considering the eerie circumstances, he felt like it was justified. In fact, the young man was surprised that Sam didn't seem more on edge than this. Vardon looked to the man who seemed to be perfectly neutral about the whole situation - not seeing or sensing any hints of concern at all.

Galland shrugged as he truly didn't know what they'd find. "I've met Sith before, Samael. I truly hope we'll be spared from any such experience this time" he said, not at all very fond of the idea of meeting a Sith. "But whatever we encounter, I'm sure the light will see us through. It always has." he noted as they started to near the cave. By this time, his fellow padawan was lagging behind a bit, seemingly because of an injury, but Vardon figured that it might be for the best that he lead their slow charge.

The trees by the entrance of the rock were all dead, with their leaves already having fallen off while some of the trees were rotten enough to already have fallen. The grass seemed to have been dead for a rather long time already, as much of the ground outside the cave entrance just seemed to be dirt and mud while anything living was long since gone. Three kath hound-like creatures stood outside the cave but these beasts seemed much larger and much more aggressive than the planet's wildlife was expected to be.

It didn't take long for the four-legged beasts to pick up the padawan's scents and with that, they charged at the target they could see: Vardon. Already having prepared for battle, he quickly threw a knife at one of the charging beasts which to his good fortune died almost immediately. Igniting his lightsaber, Galland managed to kill another beast with a slash with his blue blade. The third beast, however, jumped at him as he was occupied with the second and the Thyferran suddenly found himself on the ground with the large beast tried to bite Vardon's face off while standing above him.

@samdragon

 

[Samael Aeveroth]

Samael chuckled. "I did too, but didn't have the opportunity to fight one yet... Who knows though" he said as they approached the cave, and gritted his teeth seeing the hounds, which seemed kath ones, but they somehow reminded them of some other species he heard about... "Careful, these are tuk'ata!" he shouted as he took his own lightsabers. As Vardon got pinned down by the third hound, Samael literally jumped on his back and stabbed its head with both his lightsabers while sort of mounting him, as the hound was quite larger than the other two!

 

[Vardon Galland]

The beast which had been attacking Vardon died, apparently not very lightsaber-resistant at all. The padawan didn't enjoy being under the large creature and pushed it to the side with a grunt, regardless of whether Samael was still ontop of it or not. Normally, he would've been a bit more gentle and made sure that his ally wasn't going to fall or anything before acting, but it seemed as if the darkness had a strange effect on him. "Thanks" he muttered as he rose back to his feet. The man's shirt and lower parts of his pants were torn at he had some minor bleeding all over the his front as the beast's claws had been scratching at him furiously while it tried to bite his face off.

After sadly observing how his white clothes got growing red bloodstains on then, the Thyferran simply looked at his ally "Common, let's end this" he said before walking over to the first beast to pick up his vibroknife. Galland didn't even bother cleaning it this time, and instead simply re-attached it to his belt. With a drawn saber, he looked down the cave mouth - it was a relatively narrow entrance, barely enough for two people to enter at the same time and it was extremely dark.

Using his ignited saber as a torch, Vardon ventured into the cave. It was damp and drips of water could be heard at an irregular rate. There was a certain stench in the cave which just became harder and harder to ignore as they went deeper down the paths. "We better stay close, Aeveroth. Whatever happens down here, I don't think getting separated would be a good idea" he said with a rather intense voice.

Finally, they reached a lighter areas - it was not, however, thanks to natural light slipping into the cave, it was because of a series of torches which highlighted some wicked paintings portraying rather strange and dark topics, including anything ranging from human sacrifices to talking beasts. The paths weren't completely lit, however, as there were still plenty of dark spots in between the light sources.

Vardon slowly walked as he regarded the paintings, even putting away his weapon while doing it. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, two crazed and lightly clad humans appeared with what seemed like primitive daggers, one heading towards Samael and the other towards Vardon. The appearances was so sudden that there weren't really any time to reach for the sheathed lightsaber, which forced the Thyferran to quickly take hold of his assailant's arm, preventing him from being stabbed. The young man then proceeded to throw a heavy punch against the cultist which knocked the person out quickly. After that, he turned to see if his ally needed any help.

@samdragon

 

[Samael Aeveroth]

The Miraluka didn't need the light for obvious reasons, but he still carefully walked through the corridors as they got in the cave. His lightsabers were drawn and humming softly, and he swiftly managed to dodge the attack and cleanly decapitate his attacker! He looked at Vardon to see if he's in need of help, but noticing that he was ok, he chuckled some and walked forward, careful about any suspicious sounds. "Are you ok?" he asked with a low voice as they proceeded.

 

[Vardon Galland]

The person who attacked Samael was dead, his head no longer connected to the body which laid on the cave floor. The one who attacked Vardon, however, was still knocked out on the floor. The Thyferran hovered above the unconscious man, staring at him furiously with closed fists. The anger didn't come naturally to him, but there he was - he was angry that the person had attacked him, angry that they'd caught him by surprise and angry that he had put away his lightsaber. Vardon kneeled down and in his fury, he truly wanted the assailant to die and with that, he put both his hands around the defenseless man's neck. Before he started to squeeze, however, the young man took a deep breath and then exhaled, trying to let out his anger - killing a man in cold blood was not the way of the jedi. With that, he stood up again, leaving the unconscious man alone. Looking at Samael, he let out a short "Yeah, I'm fine" with a rather shaken voice as he moved to catch up with his ally.

The two kept walking deeper and deeper into the cave, getting closer and closer to the dark presence by each step until they finally reached a larger chamber inside the cave system. Except for the smaller torches by the walls, there was a large stone platform in the middle of the room on which a man and a woman stood, surrounded by 16 people dressed just like the ones who attacked the padawans before. Between the man and the woman was a large fire pit which burned viciously. The 15 people looked as if they were enthralled by the people in the middle and stood there looking on the two like drones.

"Oh, I thought it would be our hounds returning, but it seems like we've got visitors" the woman said as she saw the two newcomers approach. Her voice suddenly turned more vicious as she looked at them with piercing eyes "You two will become ours, just like the others in here!" Her voice turned into a scream as she spoke and after a raised hand, she invited the padawans up to the stone platform "We are going to duel, you two, versus my husband and myself. If you refuse, we're all going to slaughter you" she continued, first pointing at herself and the man next to her, and then at the entire room.

Not seeing much of a choice in the matter, Vardon looked to Samael before walking up to the stone platform to draw his lightsaber. Despite sensing that the two opponents seemed force sensitive, they didn't carry any lightsabers, but instead drew two vibroswords each. "I've seen your kind before. You may not wear the badge or wield the weapon, but you two are Sith - a taint upon this planet. We will defeat you, for the light will see us through" Vardon said with determination as he stared first at the woman and then at the man. The fight would break out at any moment now, and all parties on the platform seemed to be quite ready for it.

@samdragon

 

[Samael Aeveroth]

The Miraluka remained quiet for the entire conversation, not wanting to interfere with Vardon's bold speech, his lightsabers ready to fight. Once they said that they would do a duel, Samael looked at his friend, waiting for his response. The Miraluka in the meantime started to focus the Force to get ready for the upcoming fight. "What do you want to do? Whatever decision you take, I'll follow you" he said with a calm tone.

 

[Vardon Galland]

The two padawans didn't have much of a choice in whether to duel or not as they would be forced to kill the followers of the hostile couple if the elected to not participate. Despite the small mass of enthralled people seeming to be relatively easy to defeat as their untrained nature and simple blades would hardly be a match against Vardon and Samael, the young man didn't want to risk hurting the people who had clearly been influenced by the woman and her husband.

As soon as his ally arrived on the stone platform, Vardon ignited his lightsaber, letting the blue light shine in the chamber, proving to be in stark contrast to the hues of red and orange created by the torches and the bonfire. Their foes' dark presence felt overwhelming as the Thyferran felt an aggressiveness build within him. The large padawan gritted his teeth as he prepared to charge at the enemies. But, after a short glance at Samael, he started to calm down as his fellow padawan's presence provided him with enough light to see through the darkness which shrouded his mind. Instead of charging, he took a defensive position while the woman approached with both her blades at the ready. Vardon turned his head a little to speak to his ally "The light shall see us through" he said, repeating the mantra which he had been using during the day.

Vardon raised his saber in defence against the two swords swung down at him. The momentum which the woman had made him flinch a little, but he knew that he was the stronger one of the two and soon managed to push her blades away as he gripped the his lightsaber with both hands. She rolled away, casually slicing up two of the thralls while at it. Galland was distraught as he saw her casually killing her followers without any of them even reacting to it and pressed on with three slashes against her which were all deflected. The woman saw the horror in his eyes as she killed the two bystanders and had an evil smirk grow on her lips.

The fight continued for a good long while as she fenced against the padawan with one hand whilst casually stabbing innocents with the other. The mental pressure it put on Vardon was immense as he felt powerless against the woman who matched him in fencing kept killing what he perceived to be innocents. The threat of her second vibroblade had forced Galland to fight conservatively as any wrong move could result in the second blade bypassing his defences. With that in mind, he pulled out his vibroknife and consequentially fought more boldly as he knew that he could use the second weapon to defend himself with if needed.

Eventually, the two fighters found themselves in a grand blade lock where all their blades were locked together above their heads. Quick on taking the opportunity, Vardon kicked the woman hard in the stomach making her fall back a few meters. She flew a little too far back, however, as the evil woman was thrown into the centrally located bonfire. Engulfed in flames, the woman screamed in pain and knowing that he couldn't save her, the young man stabbed her in the heart with his lightsaber, ensuring that the suffering wouldn't go on for too long.

Vardon the threw a glance over at his ally who was attacked by the now dead woman's husband. He was naturally wondering if Samael needed any assistance.

@samdragon

 

[Samael Aeveroth]

Samael took a deep breath and then climbed on the platform, taking a ready stance, and looked at the male Sith that was charging towards him. The Miraluka steadied himself until the man was like a meter or so away, and at that point he quickly moved to the side, making the man miss him and stumble almost off the platform. Samael then leaped towards the man while screaming and slashed against the man, who somehow managed to dodge thw two lightsabers, which will cut deep in the stone platform underneath them.

The Sith attempted to stab Samael with both the vibroswords, almost managing to do so, but the Miraluka gave the man a not-so-fair kick in the gut, knocking the air out of the man and leaving him the time to dislodge the lightsabers from the stone, damaging the platform further and even cutting a piece off. He caught a slight shine of something under it, but he couldn't check as he was still fighting! The two found themselves crossing their blades a few times, until their swords got locked. The man tried to push Samael off the platform, and the Miraluka attempted to do the same, and at some point the blind Jedi pushed the Sith away and then stabbed the man's chest with both lightsabers, impaling him and killing him swiftly.

After pushing the man's corpse off the platform, he looked at his companion, who had just finished his own fight. He smiled softly and asked: "Everything alright?"

 

[Vardon Galland]

It appeared as if the Miraluka got out of his fight unscathed as the man turned to look on Vardon and ask if he was alright. The Thyferran gave his ally a weak smile and a meek and sad "Yeah, I'm fine" He looked down from the platform at the woman's now dead victims. It was a horrible sight to see and even worse for Vardon to know that it was his failure to save them - in truth, he didn't feel very fine at all.

The surviving onlookers looked at the burning corpse of their former leader, realizing that she was quite dead. They then turned to look at the one who defeated her and kicked her into the fire pit - Vardon. The young man stared out at the crowd for a while, not sure why they were looking at him. He then walked over to Samael and pointed at the broken stone platform. "There appears to be some thing bright in there" he noted while looking down the hole. Galland then knelt down to see what was inside. What he saw stunned him for a moment - it was a rather sizable treasure inside.

He looked up at Samael "Aeveroth, have a look! I think we should pick this up." he said with a hint of enthusiasm weaved into his otherwise sad voice. Suddenly, the former followers of the woman followed his command. Vardon looked surprised as they obeyed him and reached the conclusion that it must've been because he accidentally threw the woman into the fire.

The padawan looked at his mate with an unknowing shrug "I'll, uh, I'll take these people with me onto the Solange. Perhaps we could set the treasure in your ship?" he asked as the enthralled people worked away. When they were done, they all started walking out of the cave until they reached the surface.

The young man took out his comm "Joe Bethersonton, can you ask CJ to come down here please? We have a few passengers to pick up" he said before looking back at Samael "Let's go back to the ships"

@Samael Aeveroth

 

[Samael Aeveroth]

He smiled and turned off his lightsabers, and stepped down the platform to give a look at the treasure in question, and whistled. "Wow, that's quite the find: apparently these Sith hid a series of what look like holocrons and books belonging... to the Jedi? That's... unexpected" he commented, examining one of the cubic holocrons that was stored in there. "I'm sure that the masters will be happy with this find. I'll take the treasure to Ifrane" he concluded, using the Force to lift the quite hefty chest the treasure was stored in, and followed Vardon outside.

 

[Vardon Galland]

The group walked to the two ships which were waiting for them outside. Vardon was carrying a larger bag of items himself whilst his ally simply used the force. The Thyferran looked back at the followers who just stood there looking at him as they arrived by the two ships. "Let's, uh, unload the stuff onto that ship over there" he said awkwardly, not at all comfortable with using whatever spell or whatever it was which bound them. They didn't have to wait long until everyone dumped the treasure they carried inside Samael's ship and then returned to Vardon.

Galland looked to Samael "Taking the treasure there makes sense. I wish you safe travels, Samael Aeveroth. It has been an honour to undertake this mission with you. May the light guide your path." he said, right as the two allies were about to part ways. At the same time as the Dragoness headed towards the skies, the large Solange headed towards the ground slowly. CJ handled the ship well and soon set the large ship down on the sprawling plains, right next to the Leger. "That's our ride everyone" he said, with a light sight of relief as the rather horrible day was about to have a better conclusion than he had expected.

With a short hand signal, Vardon had Joe Bethersonton fly the Mynock into the Solange's hangar while the others boarded the ship. Leading the semi-liberated people onto the heavy freighter, they soon took off towards the skies too. While Joe Bethersonton went to the bridge to help CJ; Lowe Sorken and Phil Baharnd tended to their new passengers. Looking out the window, the young man felt hopeful as he looked back on the planet which was constantly shrinking as they got further and further away from it. These lost souls which he had found would either be returned to their families if they could be found, or welcomed to the Solange's crew.

As they were leaving the planet, Vardon noticed how he no longer felt the disturbing dark presence which he noted when they first arrived. It seemed as if he and Samael had ended it at its source. What remained now was for everyone affected by it to heal, and Vardon knew that the people which they had picked up would be the best place to start.

/end thread

@samdragon