Open Invasion The Blood Tithe of Nixor

[Julius Drake]

It was still an unorganised mass of flesh that followed the whims and wishes of Darth Raze, the legions had yet to be fully formed, the fleets drawn up into perfect lines. But still, the ferocity of The Exalted made up for much when enacting a planetary assault. Like Byblos before it, there was no grand arrival of ships in the atmosphere, only a cluster of small freighters, all coincidentally arriving at the same time. Where Byblos had been a hundred or so creatures, Nixor would be over a thousand of Raze’s children descending upon the hapless masses.

Marcellus stood in the window of one of the descending freighters, flashing lights signalling the location of the other transports dotted around the port and the sky above. The back of his neck began to itch, the beast lurking beneath the surface was trying to claw its way out of his skin. In the back Marcellus could already hear his brethren smashing against walls and floors, the smell of a fresh world driving them insane. “Time to feast.” He said, looking at the two pilots, who gave him a quick nod before stepping out of their chairs. All three of them began to shift, bones cracking, muscles popping and tearing as their feral sides appeared. A desperate cry was heard over the comm as the Control Tower tried to stop their ship from crashing into the side of the building. But Marcellus was beyond reasoning, smashing through the cockpit window, The Exalted climbed onto the top of the ship as it belly flopped onto the landing pad. In the distance, screams and flashes of fire began to erupt, the Blood Tithe had begun.

@Sreeya @Versok

 

[J’aver Shi’eth]

Thread

The Dark Side called to J’av it pulsed cruel omens to it’s servant. The warrior was beginning to become disillusioned with the Sith Order, recognizing them for what they had become and not what they were meant to be. On Kashyyyk, J’aver had fought until their body collapsed, sowing fear, death, and misery until they exhausted themself. Their allies had fled once injured or at a disadvantage. On Prakith, they had acted and destroyed a Sith Master while the others had gawked at the spirit possessing the Kel’dor. J’aver had taken stock of the Order, they had found the Sith wanting.

It was for that reason they had follows this Siren’s call that echoed through the Dark Side. The song pulsed from Nixor, it called to them and beckoned their hunger to join its own. J’aver had responded by influencing the simple mind of a Gammorean spice smuggler. They had forced the Gammorean to take them to planet and intended to make the creature stay and wait for them. As the pair entered Nixor’s orbit it became clear the Gammorean had no intention of staying.

On every channel, the sound of a charnel slaughter flooded the onboard communications system. It unnerved Gammorean and that burgeoning fear gave the being the willpower it needed to offer some resistance to the mental influence J’aver had taken over it. This caused the Dark Side adherent to seethe and spend precious energy reinforcing their mental hold on the worthless beast.

“You will land us in that wooded clearing outside of the city.” J’aver instructed as they pointed to the makeshift landing area.

The Gammorean responded with a series of unintelligible squeals and oinks as it struggled against J’aver’s hold on its mind. Tears built in the corners of its eyes as it tried in vain to resist the growing dominant influence in its own head. However, it couldn’t break free and as such, felt nothing but horror as it was forced to guide the vessel towards where it was instructed.

The freighter landed with a dull thud, the echoed above the slaughter in the communication’s system. J’aver leaned forward and shut the system off, they had grown tired of hearing being beg for help in their final moments. It would be only then that J’av would dip their scarred visage to gaze down to regard their mind slave.

They knew the Gammorean would flee the moment they left the vessel and that simply wouldn’t do. J’aver would need their craft to get off world if they survived the test the Dark Side had presented to them. As such, the sound of cracking and snapping vertebrae would fill the cabin. The Gammorean’s head would violently be twisted backwards, snapping the spinal column, and leaving the creature morally wounded and and paralyzed but not dead. J’aver‘s corrupt red eyes would only linger for a moment more. They callously regarded the dying creature as it slumped from its chair and limply to the floor.

Then, J’aver would return their helmet to cover their face, double check the ammunition on their blaster pistol, and secure their lightsaber. Once this last minute check of their weapons and supplies were complete, they would leave their ship and begin to follow the Siren’s call to its center. Anything that got in their way be it civilian, solider, or monster would be destroyed.

@Sreeya @Braden @Versok

 

[Julius Drake]

Blood, the intoxicating red liquid of life, poured down Marcellus’ gullet as devoured another victim. This was the pleasure of being an Exalted, the pure release of morality allowing one to completely revel in the nightmarish desires of mankind. His hands held tightly the corpse of the young woman he had recently decapitated with a single blow from his talon-like fingers. Taking another bite from the torso he ripped the flesh free from bone covering more of his body in the thick red liquid. Around him his brethren Exalted feasted upon their kills, whilst in the distance others continued the indiscriminate killings.

The death and destruction would continue for a while yet as Marcellus and the others got their fill on the innocent’s around them. Only once the former Imperial got his fill would he slowly retreat back into his weak humanoid form. From there he would mount the steps to the city’s capital and take the world, its people and resources for his ‘Father’. A blood tithe would be paid, more soldiers and food for Raze’s armies and in return they would receive the blessing and protection of Darth Raze, a benevolent trade.

But for now, Marcellus would continue his feast, this one was growing cold and he truly loved the taste and smell of warm pumping blood. Dropping the body, he sprinted off down the street, in search of some more food.

@Apollyon

 

[J’aver Shi’eth]

Two families, three security officers, one abominable creature, four mercy kills later and J’av had finally reached the outskirts of the city. They crouched down in the last vestiges of cover before they would have to make a dash into the edges of the cityscape. Their eyes scanned the flatland approach it was littered in the dead who had tried to flee from bloodthirsty monsters, they had been scythed down by their pursuers.

J’av watched as one of these more vaguely humanoid creatures lifted its gore-slicked head from the remains of a cadaver. They listened as the creature’s jaw cracked, distending and allowing it to choke an organ down its gullet. The beast didn’t seem to notice them, it shoved it’s back into the corpse, digging with its face as it greedily hunted for more organs within its prize. After a moment, the creature let out a pained howl, the blood still caught in its throat caused the bellow to twin in an inhuman manner.

J’av felt a pain of sympathy for the creature, they understood the agony of a need unmet. Almost in reply, the edges of their consciousness began to fray and blur. A need for death that mirrored the beasts own hunger for flesh was slowly creeping to the surface. J’av tried to suppress these urges for a moment, they tried to bury them for just a moment longer, but it was in vain. The call of the Dark Side within them was too strong, too overpowering, it couldn’t be denied.

As the creature rose from the hollowed out shell of its victim, its howl turned into a pitiful mewling that stopped short. Its eyes locked with J’av’s visor as they stepped into the clearing, strange clicking noises echoed from the beast’s throat as it studied the newcomer for a moment. Then the crimson blade of J’av’s lightsaber ignited with a sharp hiss which was followed by a dull, persistent thrum.

An unmistakable challenge.

The creature screeched in reply, the bellow echoing across the space between them and churning up the earth in its destructive glory. This was the last thing J’av consciously saw before the blood haze shrouded their mind, their hunger left unsated for far too long. Their body would shudder and twitch more a moment. With that, instinct and bloodlust overtook J’av, leaving nothing but a feral creature where a person had once been.

The Need that overtook J’av unleashed a chilling birth cry that matched the creature’s fury. The two beasts charged one another as the Force Screams connected and…

There was nothing. J’av lost their last grasp of consciousness and surrendered fully to the Dark Side.

They awoke some time later, their helmet was gone and the wind of a dying world blew on their bare face. J’av’s orange eyes fell to the creature’s stilled heart that was gripped in the palm of their hand. Their gaze shifted upwards, several smaller creatures in the distance had stopped grazing on corpses and gazed at them. They were nervous, J’av could feel it.

“More…More…MORE!” The Dark Side echoed in J’av’s mind.

As they staggered towards creatures, barks of alarm echoed out in almost human voices. They called for something greater than them.

As they became lost to their bloodlust again, J’av would silence each of them.

@Braden

 

[Julius Drake]

His body was caked in dried blood, as Marcellus stood atop of a crashed speeder truck. Around him a few of his brethren finished the last of their meals, screams still echoed through the streets in the far distance but this section of the city. The parts directly around the initial crash site had been cleansed of sentient life. All bar one it seems. A cry was heard through the psionic connection that bound Marcellus and The Exalted’s minds together. A blade of crimson red, Force potency, the strength to kill. “Ha, a Sith here. Interesting. Leave him to me.” Marcellus spoke through his psionic link. J’aver would find that the rest of the Exalted would retreat from his advance, keeping a close eye on the man, but never engaging him.

A moment later and pain began to eclipse Marcellus' entire body, bones began to shatter and muscles pull, stretch, rip and contract as his body retreated back in on itself. Only his right arm, the one Raze had replaced, felt normal as he shifted back into his humanoid form. It was not a quick process, it took at least a minute for him to shift back, a minute of pure pain, but in the end he stood naked, covered in blood on top of the broken speeder. First he would need to find himself some clothes, then the Sith.

@Apollyon

 

[J’aver Shi’eth]

There were always moments of clarity, pockets of sanity when the haze overtook them. It was in those moments that J'aver realized how deep their slavery to the Dark Side was. It would gift them with these moments, memories of slaughter, glimpses of death caused by their own hand. Before, they had given in willingly to the call of murder, the need for bloodshed. Things were different now, on Kashyyyk the blinding and blistering rage had cost J'av their rightful kill, it had cost them victory. What had once been a boon was proving to be a handicap and had to be dealt with.

Frustration. Hate. Sanity.

J'av felt their senses return to them, they were in the midst of howling in rage at the creatures that continuously retreated from them. It was an animalistic howl that would be clipped short. J'av could still feel the Dark Side pulsing within their veins, the warmth of power coursing through them before fading. Helmetless, J'av blinked grit and gore from their eyes and felt an unsteady moment of weakness rush in to take the place of raw power. Their form swayed slightly but they didn't collapse and instead took a moment to recover.

As they gazed at these smaller creatures J'av could see a fel cunning behind their glittering eyes. They had all clearly been men, women, and potentially children at some point but now were twisted creatures of a new design. J'av wondered why the Dark Side had called them here, was it to guide them to new power? Or was this a new, twisted object lesson? It didn't matter, these creatures kept their distance but watched them, J'av realized they were waiting for something...or someone.

J'av slowly walked towards where their helmet laid on the ground and placed it back over their head. It's dented durasteel covered their ugly, scarred visage once again. Their face once again hidden from the world, the elements, and the creatures that surrounded them J'av would do the only thing they could...they would wait for whatever was coming.