Rhen Var - The Hunt for The Fallen

[Tulos]

Rhen Var
Target; Usik Kerris

​

"I have another assignment for you and your new apprentice, Baigo..."

The Sith stood at attention, the young Twi'lek woman at his side.

"A Jedi by the name of Usik Kerris has been reported to have fled to one of our own worlds to escape from the destruction and crush of the Jedi morality. On Rhen Var, at an abandoned temple deep in the tundra wastes, he is reported to have made his lair. He strikes at our patrols whenever the opportunity is presented, driven mad by the belief that he alone can expel our forces on his own with the aide of a small pirate band he has recruited. While Rhen Var is hardly a world worthy of noting, we can not allow a Jedi to cause disruption behind our lines again. Find him. Kill him. Bring me his head."

Baigo and Zeriana both took a deep bow before the cloaked Lord.

"Of course, my Master. It shall be done..."

 

[Tulos]

The shuttle dropped out of hyperspace over the tundra world below, slowly spinning as though it was frozen to it's core. Zeriana looked outward from the cockpit with a blank stare, taking in everything she could see. Her time on Korriban wasn't much of a switch from the Thalassia surface despite the lack of snow, and Rhen Var provided another similary world to what she had known all her life.

"Attention, woman. We are not here to gawk," Baigo said plainly as the ship descended. "Lord Tulos wants us to guarentee that there are no survivors. A lone Jedi and some scum bag pirates shouldn't be much of a challenge. I do hope you have your wits about you,"

His Twi'lek apprentice nodded slowly. "Indeed, Master. I am ready."

"Excellent. My Master has informed me he may be able to send some reinforcements, but it is not a guarentee. This mean's we will move forward as though we do not expect any. There, land the ship in that valley, pilot."

The shuttle swooped down and set down on the snowy surface, the landing struts sinking into the fresh powder. The ramp descended and came to a rest, allowing the Sith and his apprentice to walk forward. While Baigo's mask covered his face and protected him from the chilling winds, Zeriana drew a black shawl and covered herself as best as possible. Ahead about a kilometer was the target. An old, run down and abandoned temple from ancient times on the frozen world.

"I find it odd that this world was once able to support a civilization..." The Twi'lek said quietly, scanning her surroundings. Baigo chuckled in response.

"Rhen Var was once a hospitable climate, like most extreme worlds. The temples before you are the remnants of those times, built with utmost quality like that of the Sith Tombs on Korriban. They will stand for eternity. I have sent a message to the nearest outpost of our order for a couple speeders. We'll approach from the north, and enter through the back of the complex. Hopefully this blizzard holds so we can infiltrate undetected..."

 

[Jade the Protector]

Jade gripped the harness as the Anooba lead her down the halls. "Cold, little to no life. Perfect." She chuckled. Echo, her owl, hooted in response. "I know, girl. Night Eyes, let us find our Jedi."

She was sent to find the runaway Jedi and get his senses back into him. This wasn't gonna be an easy task, but she was game. Plus, this was one of the few missions she was alone. Which was rare, considering she was blind.

 

[Tulos]

Baigo and Zeriana sped through the frozen wasteland with a loud hum coming from the two speeders they had finally been provided. The added cold from the incredible wind was next to unbearable, but they continued on. In mere moments they would be arriving at the temple ruins, and their mission would truely begin. The Sith did his research on the trip to Rhen Var, discovering that this human Jedi Usik Kerris had been with the order for approximately fifty years, so he was not going to be a simple push over. Partner in the pirates, and things would get interesting.

They slowed as soon as they arrived at the edge of the complex, the dark stone that the walls consisted of were covered in a thick layer of frost, short the door they would be entering through. The frost had clearly been broken apart, signifying the entrance was frequently used. Baigo dropped one of his hilts into his hand from his sleeve, and advanced, running his free hand along the cool rock.

"It's locked... Odd. They didn't know we were coming..." Baigo tapped his fingers in succession against the wall as he considered what could have caused them to lock down, before shrugging and igniting his teal blade, slamming it into the door. He pushed his weapon around, cutting a large hole slowly as sparks flew to each side. The molten rock began to drip from the incision, before the sound of blaster fire peppering the other side caused him to stop. It was then that Zeriana ignited her own staff blade, and nodded to Baigo.

"Your move, Master," she said quietly, stanced and ready for combat. Baigo chuckled and reached out for the Force, collecting its power for a few moments, before unleashing an incredible wave, pushing the mangled door deep into the facility hall. The rubble wound up showering the pirates inside, which allowed the pair of Sith to enter the building. The Twi'lek chrged, cutting down three of her opponents in rapid succession, as Baigo continued to pull the remnants of the door around, smashing it into those that opposed him. Clearly the pirates and the Jedi knew of this invasion, and were prepared.

"Apprentice, find us a security console."

 

[Jade the Protector]

Jade silently crept her way into the building. This was way too easy, like something else got the attention. Oh well, it works. She smiled as the force flickered. "A Sith? Interesting. Let the games begin."

 

[Tulos]

Zeriana drew her blade back from the skull of a Rodian, and as the weapon deactivated, she returned her hilt to her belt. Her lekku swung from side to side as she searched, checking each body for the indicator of which dead man was the one in charge. Locating the captain, as it were, she kneeled down and took an access card from his pack.

"There, in the corner of that room. Cover me, Master, and I'll see what I can figure out."

Baigo leaned against the door frame and kept his arms crossed while one of hilts stayed firmly in his palm. He could hear the clicking away as his Apprentice worked her way through the system, searching for layouts, security plans, and the location of their Jedi target. It was then that two droids, each armed with a light repeater, arrived from around the hallway corner.

His attention snapped over, and the second hilt flew from his belt to his hand, both of the weapons igniting in a dazzling gleam as he spun them at his sides.

"We got company! Hurry up!"

Blaster fire rained down on him, causing the Sith to dancing from side to side to deflect and dodge the oncoming assault. The weapon's fired at too rapid a rate for him to defend against, however, so he ducked out into the security room. One hilt quickly returned to his belt, and his handstretched out, grabbing the bulk of the remnants of the frozen exterior door and holding them in place as a sort of shield as Zeriana worked. The halls were getting far colder from the open hole, and Baigo began to desire to push further into the facility for the possibility of warmth.

"Are you done yet, woman?" he exclaimed as the door began to crumble from the onslaught.

"Just finished, Master. My best guess is that Usik will be here, in what used to be a throne room, up on the fifth floor. This 'small' pirate band is actually about one hundred members strong, and that's just the sentients. Somehow, they were alerted to our attack and activated the droid defence protocols. Anyone who isn't registered in the system is going to come under heavy fire, to say the least."

The door finally gave way, causing Baigo to step into the fray of combat once more. He deflected three shots back, and they managed to tear into the chassis of one of the defence droids. The second took cover, but continued to lay down suppression fire.

"Did you find us a way there at least?" Baigo deactivated his blade and took cover as he was forced back by the opposing droid.

"Yes, the ventilation systems above here can take us directly to the lifts, but each lift only goes up on floor. It's going to be a nasty push..."

Baigo began to realise that the woman had finally been broken. Her growly attitude from her life as a slave seemed to have, at least temporarily, been pushed behind her. Her eyes were on fire with anger, and it was going to be put to good use.

"Very well, lead the way, Apprentice," Baigo said as he grasped the vent cover with the force and tearing it downwards. He brought it close to the door, and fired it at the droid, smacking it in what would be it's face. The machine's photo receptors shattered, leaving it blind.

 

[Gazer]

"...2 klicks east and things should get interesting." Zeke stood high on a snowy hill that overlooked a small valley. The snow started to come down heavily and Zeke was starting to miss his home on Onderon. This place was far to cold for him, even if he had dressed for the occasion. With a heavy scarf over his nose and mouth and a coat as think as Bantha hide, he looked down from staring off into the snow and looked at his map. The small device showed the waypoint of the temple as the location blinked. Good, he was close but was running out of time.

Zeke quickly put away the small device and hopped on his speeder that was still running. He had to move quickly, the Order wanted Usik Kerris alive and retrieved as soon as possible. He pushed the throttle on the bike and the speeder roared with life as he entered the valley at great speeds. Zeke thought that the Sith would act quickly in disposing of Usik and orders were to not let that happen. With that in mind, Zeke raced towards the temple, thinking the worst.

He soon found himself closing in on the temple, watching as the massive structure stood strong in the bellowing wind. As he got close, he jumped off his speeder and found himself walking up to it, placing his hand on the cold walls. Something didn't feel right. Somebody was already here. He had to quickly find an entrance. He tugged his lightsaber off of his belt and ran around the temple, looking for something that resembled a door.

 

[Tulos]

"This dust on my robes is going to take forever to come off..."

"Silence, Apprentice. They have guards in place..."

Below the ventilation shaft where the two Sith were holed up was the lifts to the second floor, protected by two Aqualish guards. They searched around at full readiness, knowing that the Temple had finally be infiltrated, and believed they were prepared for anything that could come their way. While Baigo wanted so much as to simply jump down and decapitate them both, he decided to take this moment to instruct his Acolyte with one of his more refined tecniques in the force. With a sharp nudge to draw her full attention, his hand waved slowly in the direction of the two guards below. Seconds later, one of the guards turned to face the other, and pushed him directly into the wall, unprovoked. They begin to grunt and growl in the tongue native to their people, until finally the aggressor drew a knife from his belt, and stabbed it directly in to his partner's forehead, twisting it slowly as the other fell to the ground. The guard then stood, his breathing heavy from his unexpectedfit of anger, before finally coming to realise what he had down. The Aqualish fell to his knees, staring at his blood covered hands, when the door to the vents above slid open and the masked man above fell to the ground, accompanied by a deep hum. Not even a second passed before the dull 'thud' of his head hitting the ground filled the hall.

Zeriana quickly dropped out shortly after, and stood while running her hands along her now dirty robes.

"Perfect... I just cleaned these damn things..." she growled as she continued to pat the filth away.

"Your robes are your last concern. Use your head, woman. You need to be focused, not worrying about how you look," Baig growled in reply as he began pushing buttons on the lift pad. "For all we know, this lift could be full of Pirates, and your too busy dusting yourself off to deal with them,"

"Well no shit. How stu-" Zeriana began to snap in reply, but the door to the lift slid open, revealing three pirates, blasters drawn. She immediatly stopped speaking and raised her hand towards the man. Small bursts of lightning erupted forth, causing each of them men to shake uncontrollably. It was then that Baigo unleashed his own version of the assault, causing the three men to fall to the ground in a smoking pile.

"Don't say a damn word..." Zeriana muttered under her breathe as she boarded the lift. With a small smirk beneath his mask, Baigo followed her silently. The doors closed, and the lift began to ascend to the second floor.

 

[Gazer]

Zeke quickly found himself circling the temple, looking for clues and a hint at a way inside. The place was solid and locked down, from the looks of it. The front entrance was sealed shut and the only indication of any life at all was the force giving him whispers of the death inside. He could feel the disturbances near-by. The loss of life. That made him anxious. He didn't think he was too late but the intruders must have gotten here far sooner than Zeke could have imagined. He clicked his teeth in irritation. A bad habit. He needed to find a way in!

Zeke quickly rounded the place. The snow was coming down so hard he couldn't see any clue's in the snow for footprints. It came to the point where he was looking more for shelter than actually looking for life but he found himself at the back of the temple, looking straight at a sealed door that might not have been as sealed as the pirates thought. This startled the man but didn't throw him off of his guard. A giant hole sat in the wall meters away from him that he could barely make out through the falling snow but it was as clear as day. He quickly trudged through the snow and up to the sealed wall wear the door had been blown open. He stood next to the hole and ran his gloved hand across the entry wound. No, this was a lightsabers doing. The clear signs of melted metal had the distinct characteristics of lightsaber marks. The Sith were here.

Zeke didn't ignite his blade, however. He put his shoulder onto the door and peaked around the corner. Bodies littered the floor. "Eh... Can't tell how many from here but they were slaughtered quickly. Sith tend to not clean up there messes." The Jedi thought to himself, coming to the conclusion that whoever did this weren't going to sit around and wait for him to show up. They had a mission to carry out. Zeke took the hood off of his head and took his first few steps in. He looked at the death that laid before him.

"Sad... Unnecessary deaths." His voice echoed against the temple halls.

He thought for a moment and started his way towards the end of the hallway. They couldn't have gotten to far. All these bodies were still warm, even with the wind hollowing through the hole in the door behind him. His lightsaber in hand, he quickly had to regain some ground here and figure out where they headed. But he was cut short.

He heard the sounds of blaster fire ring through the halls and Zeke was instantly on alert. Two peaked out of cover and began firing on his position. Zeke quickly activated his lightsaber and began parrying and dodging blaster fire. Ah... They got light repeaters... I can't block all of them!" He quickly gathered the force and jumped about 10 yards down the hall as he continued to parry and deflect blaster shots. He quickly found himself rolling down the entrance of another hall and he pushed his back against the stone. "A droid with a repeater, thanks for the welcoming party Usikk." He peaked around the corner and saw blaster fire spraying all around his position. "I'm completely suppressed here... That droids going to blast me to pieces if I go out..."

Zeke quickly found himself looked at the large pieces of metal door that stuck out from the ground. Zeke got an idea quickly, breathing in and slowly breathing out. He stretched his hand out towards the biggest piece he could find and used the force to lift it high off the ground. He quickly spun around the corner and tossed the giant piece of door down the hall and sent it crashing into the droids cover. He used this opportunity to run as fast as he could towards the droid, hopping over the piece of metal and quickly spinning his lightsaber in his left hand. Mid air, he took the saber's hilt be both hands and swung down, cutting the droids head clean off. He heard the mechanical mumbling of something behind him and he quickly leaped at the droid, quickly cutting that droid down as well.

"...This droid seemed like it was blinded by something... It couldn't have hit me even if it wanted too... Guess I didn't need to go that far." Zeke wasn't taking any chances, however, and he quickly deactivated his lightsaber. He put the hilt on his belt and went back towards the middle of the hallway, when he seen a room to his left. He entered the room and saw a ventilation grill crumpled and laying on the floor. He found his first clue.

 

[Tulos]

The sudden the door of the lift opened on the second floor, Baigo and Zeriana both ignited their weapons only to see an empty hall. He stepped forward while the blade returned to the hilt and began to let out a soft whistle. His pace was slow as he searched around, the dark tune could be heard clearly as the hall was silent otherwise. Zeriana watched with curiosity as her Master advanced, but remained silent. Finally he had made it about twenty paces outwards when he came to a sudden stop and turned to stare at a closed door.

"What is it? What do you hear?" Zeriana asked quietly as she approached Baigo's side.

"A corpse,"

The door slid open and revealed a huge Trandoshan who came rushing forward and tackled the Sith, pushing him back into the wall. It's claws found their way to his wrists and began to pin them above his head as he struggled to over power the alien. Trandoshans strength was far superior to that of practicaly any human however, so there wasn't much he could do. Zeriana had advanced into the room to deal with the other slavers, confident that Baigo could handle the assailant. The lizard leaned in close, the sounds of saliva in its repitllian mouth could be heard clearly moving around between his tongue and cheeks before he hissed in the Sith's ear behind his robes. Then, just as the Trandoshan was leaning back to lunge in and bite down on his shoulder, he came to a stop as he strangled on thin air. The lizard released Baigo's arms and began to attempt to tear the invisble force from his throat, which soon ended as Baigo switched his attention to throwing his foe back. Now it was the Trandoshan with his back to a wall, but Baigo did not advance. Instead, he twirled one of his hilt's forward and ignited the teal blade. In a defencive stance, he motioned for the alien to make his move.

A long double bladed sword was the Trandoshan's weapon of choice. He sprinted in towards the Sith and pulled the bottom blade up and to the right aimed for Baigo's hip. The Sith was too fast however, spinning off to his right and lunging forward with his weapon. The blade pierced through the Trandoshan's armour and severed the flesh by his waist, causing him to release a nerve shaking scream before he lifted his elbow toward's Baigo's chin. Yet it was too late once the mysterious lightning poured from Baigo's finger tips. The lizard hit the ground in a quivering mess, held in place with the buzzing tip of the lightsaber behind his head. Zeriana returned to her Master's side with a cocky grin.

"My four to your one. What? You can't handle a reptile?" she said with a smart ass tone.

"My one Trandoshan is worth at least three of your dead Rodian's... Do you understand Dosh, Zeriana?" Baigo didn't take his eyes of the heavily breathing lizard at his feet. The Twi'lek nodded in response. "Good. Lizard! Care to let me know how your pathetic band and failure of a Jedi were privy to our little visit here?" He kicked the Trandoshan in the ribs after asking.

The gutteral hissing of the Trandoshan's language meant nothing to Baigo. It was one of the languages he had no care to understand. The slaver race typically only had primitive, violent thoughts by his observations. Not one he would wish to socialize with.

"He says they had a contact working as maintenance in one of our outposts. He overheard our Officers relaying information, and reported back to Usik," Zeriana replied cooly. "He says if your going to kill him, then do it. That is all the information he will give us, and he wishes to die an honourable death."

Baigo chuckled and deactivated his weapon.

"Too bad,"

Once again, the Trandoshan became enveloped in the lightning caused by Baigo's teachings. He held the assault for far longer than necessary to kill his foe, watching as the writhering body began to vacate it's bowels and bladder. Finally, it all came to an end as Baigo spun on his heels and continued walking toward's the next lift. Zeriana scowled at the mess before her and quickly fell in line with her Master.

 

[Jade the Protector]

Jade followed the voices up ahead. She guessed that it was the Sith, but she would be happy with the Jedi rouge as well. Jade stayed hidden, waiting.

 

[Gazer]

Zeke found himself crawling through the ventilation shafts of the old temple. The dark place held more heat then he expected and he wiped the sweat from his brow, flicking it towards the vents wall. He was only off by a few minutes, they couldn't have gotten far. He searched the control panel in the security room, finding that a likely place to barricade oneself would be the Throne room. There was a few more places he would have to check. Like the chapel on the fourth and the mess hall on the third which would be likely candidates as well. But he would get to those when he came to them. Lucky for him, however, that the Sith didn't destroy this panel and leave him clueless. That lead him to the conclusion that they didn't know he was there, which was good. He was also told before hand that there was another Jedi in this temple but he had no means to contact the person. Which was disappointing, he could of rallied with his fellow Jedi and had a better chance of fighting off the Sith. Too bad, if only he knew the other Jedi's location. He couldn't dawdle with finding the Jedi anyway, he had to get to Usik before the Sith did.

After crawling for a couple minutes, a light peaked out of a hole in the vent and he quickly looked through. Two dead Aqualish men laid steady, blood pooling around one of them. He clicked his teeth. "Too late." The Sith must have taken them out quickly, as it seems if they didn't even pull their blasters. He quickly dropped down and pulled his hilt from his belt, expecting a battle. But everything was quiet and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, besides the two bodies that laid close to him. He missed them again.

There were two lifts near-by, which was one way they could have went. He looked down the brightly lit hallways and couldn't come to a conclusion. He didn't know these hall's in the least and they could have went anywhere. There could have been numerous ways up to higher floors. Zeke looked back towards the lifts.

"Since their in such a hurry to kill Usik, it would mean they would take the quickest route..." The halls echoed his voice softly as he analyzed his surroundings and thought of a decision. Find Usik first or find the Sith first. He decided if he could get to Usik first, they could flee this place without any trouble from the Sith. The only problem was, he hasn't found Usik. Zeke walked over to the lifts and pressed the button. "I guess I'll follow these breadcrumbs, just like tracking lost Dalgo back home." After a few moments, the doors swooshed open and he walked in. He pressed the button on the inside and began his travel upwards. Hopefully, the Sith didn't kill anyone else. There was too much blood already spilled for one man.

 

[Tulos]

"And when we're done here, we must find this leak and silence him. If he's giving information to these pirates, he's not going to be too picky about what he reveals to anyone once he discovers that his friends are all dead..." Baigo said quietly as he approached the lifts that would take them to the third floor. They progressed along the dark corridor of the abandoned temple, only for more pirates to reveal themselves all to face their imminent deaths again the Force wielding invaders. Now the immediate area surrounding them was silent with an eerie chill as death clung to the frosty air. The Sith waved his hands before the door and they slid open, allowing him and his Apprentice to enter. The doors shut behind them, and the lift began to ascend slowly to the next floor.

"Apprentice, once we reach the fourth floor lifts I want you to remain on guard. More of this scum may have missed our scourge, and I don't want any disturbances while I slay Usik," Baigo said as he faced the Twi'lek. She turned to face him with a twisted look as though she had been deeply insulted by her grandmother.

"But Master... I believe I have earned this. I can handle the Jedi, I know I can. I'm not going to get in your way, and you may need my help," she pleaded. Baigo sighed and shook his head.

"I know you can, woman. But your wrong in believing I need your help. I can handle this man on my own. You will do as I have instructed."

Before she could respond, the doors slid open and revealed twelve pirates of varying species, two of which were arming portable turrets. Both of the Sith activated their weapons, the combination of the red and teal setting the room of the lift a glow. Zeriana charged forward first and deflected the oncoming blaster fire with elegance before she came to a stop next to two of the Devaronians in the squad. She quickly pushed the left side of her staff into the man's waist then pulled it backwards with a full 180 degree spin, cutting the second Devaronian into two at waist level. The turrets had finally turned to face her, but now was Baigo's turn. With his single hilt pointed behind him as he ran, he leapt into the air and started to come down head first over top of one of the turret operators. Instead of colliding into him, however, Baigo rested his hand on top of the human's head and pushed off so he could flip once more to land directly before him. Before the man could reover from his head being pushed down into his chest, Baigo's blade sliced through the air and cut off the man's left arm. He screamed in pain but the weapon was soon pointed towards his gaping mouth and pierced forward, protruding from the back of his head.

Zeriana was left with the other turret. It fired powerful blasts of energy but in slow succession. With well timed movements, she had managed to deflect the incoming fire from causing her harm, but it was enough to keep her from advancing as well. Each shot had to be braced against or it would force her back and leave her open for attack. Instead, she began trying to aim where the deflections were directed. One hit the wall down the corridor she had rushed down from the lift, and a second fried to access panel, leaving the lift unfunctional and stuck on the third floor. It was the third shot that managed to find it's target, hitting the Rodian gunner, pushing him back into the wall behind him. A Nikto went for an overhead strike against the woman, but she spun her weapon from her right to her left hand to deflect it. Her weapon seared it's way through the primitive blade which caused the tip to fall to the ground. The Twi'lek bent at her knees and swept the legs out from beneath the alien before grabbing the severed tip of the sword and plunging it into his chest.

Baigo had taken a place behind the turret he de-manned, firing it against the four pirates who took position a few paces down the hall for a ranged assault. They hadn't fired a shot as they watched their allies being decimated by their Sith invaders, and quickly were gunned down by the turret that had turned against them. Three pirates remained and each began to step back with their swords held forward in a defencive stance, but they were trembling with fear. Baigo and Zeriana came side to side and slowly began to advance on the retreating enemies, but maintained a constant distance from them.

"A simple hello would have worked much better, boys. What just happened back there? That's no way to treat a lady," Baigo's concerned tone caused Zeriana to smirk as one of the pirates whimpered in response. "I think you should apologize," The human dropped his sword and fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I swear I'll never come against the Brotherhood again! Please!" His sobbing grew louder as he pleaded for his life, but the display began to disgust Baigo. A true warrior should not be begging to be spared when he entered combat prepared for death to sneak up on him at any moment.

"What do you think, Zeriana? Do you accept his apology?"

The Twi'lek stopped with the crying man at her feet, and crouched down before him. She got in close to his ear and whispered in a seductive tone, "Your already dead, sweetie," It was then that he looked down and saw the red lightsaber emitting in his chest. In his fear, he hadnt noticed the woman place the hilt at his chest and activate the weapon once more.

"It's a no! Everybody dies!" Baigo exclaimed with excitement as he raised both hands in the air, and lowered them to shower the remaining two pirates with lightning. As they died, Baigo turned to face Zeriana.

"Anyway, as I was saying. Your position at the bottom of the lift is necessary. I will find you a Jedi to duel with one day, woman. I swear to you."

"Yes, My master..."

 

[Jade the Protector]

Jade slipped put of hiding and acknowledged the Siths. "Gentleman, Lady. How's the hunt?" She gave a mock sigh. "Sadly I'm will looking for the prize."

 

[Gazer]

The doors of the lift swooshed open and Zeke pulled his pistol from his belt. He swung the weapon down both halls, looking for any threats that may stand before him but to no avail, it was all quiet. He lowered his weapon but seen no signs of a battle, until he glanced down the hallway and noticed a door in the temple had remained opened. Zeke held his weapon to the side and took precaution as he advanced towards the room.

As he got close to the open door, he could smell the burnt flesh that lingered in the air. It made him a little nauseous but it didn't throw him off guard. This was another breadcrumb that he stumbled open in the wake of a massacre. Zeke wondered if he should contact the Jedi Order and ask for back up but time was running short. The slaying of these pirates would definitely alert this pirate gang. All out war could be a product of this disaster.

Zeke quickly ran towards the door, his gun at his side. He quickly swung his weapon into the room, his gun pointed at the ready should there be any threat there. But his instincts told him all was lost here and that the invaders had quickly moved past this point. As he looked into the room, he could smell the tang of blood and bowel movements seep through the air. It stunk of fresh death, something that wasn't uncommon to him. He walked into the room and knelt down at the crispy Transdoshan that lay before him. Something was different about the chase. He needed a few answers before he ran into the fight blind.

"...Burnt to death?" Zeke put his hand on the back of the giant creature and pulled a piece of cloth from under his armor. It broke off easily and flaked like rust off a fender. He examined it for a moment, taking in it's details. He tossed aside the crispy piece of cloth once he got what he wanted and examined the body a little closer.

"...No signs of scorch marks around the body..." Zeke poked and felt the skin on the Trandoshan's arm that laid lifeless. He noticed an intricate pattern of scars that seemed to be embedded everywhere on the creature. Zeke spit on the ground next to him, the taste of toasted skin making his way into his mouth.

"...No, he was electrocuted..." Zeke looked around the room, noticing the bodies that laid dead.

"...The Sith here are skilled. Someone of this power could take out a room full of armed criminals..." He analyzed the situation a little further, holstering his pistol.

"...The Transdoshans are a fierce race... One Transdoshan could potentially have the strength to take down 4 men..." He got up and walked around the room, taking in the situation. He looked at the position of the bodies scattered across the room, thinking heavily. He rested his left arm across his chest and put his free palm against his mouth, gently massaging his face as he thought. It made no sense, even if the the Sith was skilled in aerial combat such as Ataru, he doubted the Sith could have done so much damage by hopping all about the room with the bodies scattered so far apart. He also noticed that most of the bodies were facing in a certain direction, like they never stopped facing the doorway. Almost like whoever cut them down, systematically went in at two different lines of attack at the same time.

"...So, how did one man or women take on a room full of pirates, cut down every one in succession while the Transdoshan never took his view off towards the door...?" Zeke pieced together this situation quickly but heard the footsteps of someone running in the distance, the echoes bouncing off the walls in the hallway behind him.

"...Unless there's two..." Zeke quickly pulled his hilt from belt as three men ran into the room, blasters at the ready.

"There he is! Kill the Sith bastard!" The pirates quickly raised there weapons at Zeke and Zeke put his hands above his head.

"Don't shoot! I'm with the Jedi Order! I'm here to stop this nonsense with the Sith!" Zeke replied, hoping that these pirates would listen.

"Don't listen to him...! He's up to his Sith mind games!" The shaky human proclaimed, trying to get them to fire on Zeke.

"Listen to me, I'm not here to kill you. I'm here trying to save Usik and get him back to the Order!" Zeke tried to talk sense into the three men.

"I don't believe him!!" The shaky human cried.

"...Eh, he probably have killed us by now if he was Sith... Everything is bat-shit..." The rodian said in his language.

"...And wasn't there suppose to be a girl with him? Something doesn't seem right." An Aqualish said in basic, looking at his partners. So Zeke was right, there was another Sith here.

"Listen, take me to Usik. Let me talk to him and we can get him out of here. If you don't want to risk your lives, just tell me where he is and you can go free. If you don't believe me fine but I'm not here to kill you. I will defend myself, however... The choice is your's." Zeke said, lowering his hands and feeling the tension leave the conversation.

They all looked at each other. They were scared to death. The temple was on high alert and it would make anybody not trained to deal with Sith uneasy. Zeke just had to get the location out of these men and he could start his way towards him. There was a pause between the men and Zeke awaited an answer.

"...Look, if you a Jedi, it wouldn't hurt to tell you where he is..." The Rodian got confirmation from his two cohorts from a simple nod, all of them lowering their weapons.

"...We'll tell you the way... but we're not going with you." The shaky human said quickly. Zeke sighed lightly. Luckily for him, they weren't total idiots.

"Look... Go down the hallway towards the left and past the lifts. The lifts on this floor will take you to the third floor but the fourth floor lifts have been under maintenance for a while now. We've had to go up and down the servant halls to get to where Usik is..." The shaky human started to make his way out of the room.

"...Once you go past the lifts, there's a room with an old shrine in it. Once you go in there, there's an open doorway right past the shrine... This will take you to the third floor. Once your there, go into the mess hall and look for the door on the east wall inside the kitchen... It's a long way up but it's the quickest way to get to Usik..." The shaky human motioned his way towards the door and the other two pirates got the cue. They looked at Zeke for a moment and scurried off. But before they could leave, Zeke said his thanks. He may have an advantage now.

He quickly made his way to the room in question and saw that the pirates weren't lying to him. Now, he could make his way up to Usik. He just hopes he would get there in time.

 

[Tulos]

Baigo and Zeriana turned to face the woman who had appeared out of thin air with great disdain. The Force swirled around the girl and Baigo knew right away she was a member of the Jedi Order. His right hand rested with a firm grasp against one of the lightsaber hilts on his belt and took a couple steps forward, then pointing at the girl with his free hand.

"You have no place here, Jedi. Not now. Not after the travesties your vaunted Order have taken part in!" How he wanted to simply tear the girl apart where she stood and leave nothing but a blood streak across the cold stone floor. He wanted to drag her body to Usik's feet and cast her corpse before him to show that even though he may not view himself as a Jedi any longer, his pathetic 'allies' would die time and time again for his actions on this wintery world. But most of all, he wanted her to pay for her crimes. While she herself may not have been present at the explosion on Korriban, Baigo knew that every Jedi had to suffer. Innocent or not.

"I had brothers and sisters in that Temple! Their bodies were hardly even recognizable!" He fumed with anger, his shoulders rising and falling with each of his heavy breathes. "Jedi preach peace and serenity and then murder hundreds of people in cold blood! You and your Order are nothing more than a pack of savage rancors with lightsabers!" Baigo knew this girl probably had nothing to do with the assault, but at that moment, none of that mattered. She was the first Jedi he had seen since the attack, and she was catching the brunt of his anger. Just as he was about to lunge foreward to begin to attack the young woman before him, Zeriana took a few steps ahead of him.

"Master, you promised me I'd get a Jedi. Don't be greedy, and go get your own," The Twi'lek never took her eyes off the Miraluka as she spoke, but her voice remained calm. This was her moment. Baigo was taken back by his Apprentice's interruption, but she was completely correct. And besides, with the Jedi woman distracted, there was nothing keeping him from killing Usik.

"Make her suffer, Apprentice..."

Baigo turned and walked down the halls towards the lifts that would take him to the fourth floor, but as he pushed the access button, nothing happened. He turned back and placed his hand to his chin as he considered his options. Old temples like this typically used stairwells instead of lifts, so that was always an option. But with the amount of pirates and droids in the facility, he knew it would be a difficult option, to say the least. He turned back to the lifts and pulled his weapon from its clip, igniting the teal blade and slamming it into the obstacle before him. Slowly he made his way around, until the giant slab of rock fell in and down the shaft with a deafening bang. The dust settled and Baigo looked up to see that the fourth floor access doors weren't a great distance, and seemed to be pried open only slightly for maintenance. It was then that he looked down to see that the door slab had landed on top of the defunct lift pad, and blood began to spill from under the rubble.

"Hm. Well that's an unpleasant way to die, now isn't it? Poor maintenance workers always have the worst luck," Baigo muttered to himself before bending at the knees and launching himself to the far wall of the lift shaft. As he came in close, he rested his hand and right foot against the wall, and pushed off once again before rolling through the doors and onto the fourth floor. As he stood, he clipped his hilt back to his belt and began to walk foreward. The Temple had become silent, as though the remaining pirate forces had retreated. He knew that wasn't the case, however. He had been lucky evading patrols, but Usik would most definitely be well guarded...

 

[Jade the Protector]

"Well, no intros. OK, straight to a fight seems rather fast." Jade got her sabers ready, Night Eyes and Echo ready to attack. "Warn ya, young one, I k ow how Sith fight."

Jade was hoping not to kill these two, she had developed a respect for the Sith, although she was still a mite afraid of them.

 

[Gazer]

Zeke made his way through the servant hallways of the temple, using the force to augment his speed and hopping staircases in no time. He found that these hallways were dank and to cramped to even go through but still managed to find his way through the darkness. As a light peered through the top of the last staircase he ran up, he found himself staring into another shrine that had unlit incense and candles everywhere. This must have been another place of worship that the ancient servants used to practice their faith. He walked in slowly, the smell of wax and dankness flowed through the still room. He quickly ran through the room out into another hallway. This place was like a maze. Now he had to find the mess hall.

BANG!!

There was a loud explosion that made the whole temple shiver. Zeke looked down the hallway where the sound seemed to come from and took off. "What was that?!" He thought to himself and raced down the halls as fast as he could. He made a couple of rights and lefts before coming to a stop where two young woman stood at a stand still. He could feel the dark side taint the hallway as it seemed to radiate past the pony tailed women. He quickly made the assumption that the small pale skin women was the other Jedi... but he didn't have time to sit around and make conversation.
If the Twi'lek woman was apart of the Sith, where was the other one? He walked up behind the person, keeping his distance and seen the sabers in her hand.

"Don't worry, I'm here as a friend of the Order. But I don't think I'll be able to join in this one..." He could see the Twi'lek over the right shoulder of the smaller woman, who seemed calm and ready.

"Which way did the other Sith go? I need to catch whoever it is before he reaches Usik... If you could keep her busy, I can go and cut off the other Sith..." He kept his eye's on the Sith woman, holding his hilt calmly in his right hand. It was going to come down to if he could pass this Sith. Hopefully the young woman in front of him could create an opening he could go through.

 

[Tulos]

Zeriana ignited her staff blade but kept it at her side, staring at the young woman who was before her, the two animals preparing to defend their Master at her sides. The odds were against the Sith woman, but it was her opportunity to impress her Master and she intended to take it.

"You know nothing of the Sith, girl. And do you even know anything of the Jedi? I was there when Korriban's temple was destroyed as I completed my initial training. I could have died, you know," Zeriana didn't show any sign of anger. Instead, she remained calm and spoke as softly as a cool summer breeze as she took a couple steps towards Jade. "The Sith may kill people, but at least we know who and what we are. We do not pretend that everything we do is for some greater good, as you and your Masters do. The Jedi have pushed their beliefs on small children since the earliest years of recorded history, where as the Sith are joined by those who flock to us in search of greater power. They join us by their own free will," Zeriana stopped with ten feet between her and the girl. "So perhaps, before you decide to attack me, consider why your doing it. Usik has discovered the truth. You should too,"

"Don't worry, I'm here as a friend of the Order. But I don't think I'll be able to join in this one... Which way did the other Sith go? I need to catch whoever it is before he reaches Usik... If you could keep her busy, I can go and cut off the other Sith..."

The second Jedi showed up but showed no signs of hostility. Zeriana averted her attention to this man, and motioned with a wide open arm towards the corridor behind her.

"If it is my Master you seek," She stopped for a moment before giving the man a small smile "He will be waiting for you,"

 

[Jade the Protector]

Jade kept her sabers ready. "Hey, I don't feel like fighting, so how about we go our separate ways and I will get the person I came her for."