Dark, Darker, Darkest

High Mage Serratus · Dark, Darker, Darkest

To the Office of High Mage Serratus
From the Desk of His Darkest Knight, Lord Magisto:

His Majesty's Darknest Knight has requested the presence of High Mage Serratus at 16:00 hour Kuati time. The Darkest Knight will be departing on a mission that he has requested the High Mage to assist him with.

Signed,

Office of the Darkest Knight...

Serratus arrived at the hangar, his cloak billowing around his ankles. Unlike the last time he had encountered Magisto, the High Mage was heavily armed, not only did he have his staff, Arbiter and his saberstaff but also his pair of E-11 blasters, his pair of crushgaunts and a belt of Vrakolian spin-blades. Anyone who didn't know him, of which they were few given his position as a deputy Order Head, would have mistaken him for a Military man given his heavy armament.

Serratus quickly located the Darkest Knight's ship and stood by it, awaiting Magisto's arrival.

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

A young officer came marching toward the High mage, his hair sleeked back with a greasy appearance. Stopping in front of the High Mage he extended his hand, "High Mage, I am Captain Borge, Lord Magisto is already waiting for us on his ship. I'll be accompanying you on the shuttle there." Turing toward the ship the Captain began toward the shuttle that would carry them to the Darkest Knight's awaiting ship.

Once the Serratus had taken his seat the Captain directed the pilot to lift off and take them to their destination. The shuttle roared to life and made its way out of the private hangar and out into the Kuati sky. "I see you are well armed today High Mage Serratus, do you fear what we'll run into?" He smirked, Lord Magisto was never against people carrying their own protection. To him it meant they were more than ready for any strike, a wise decision if one were to stay prepared against the enemy.

"I must say it's an interesting staff, what is it made of?" the Captain asked curiously, attempting to create small talk on their journey up.

High Mage Serratus

"The main body of the staff is made from the wroshyr wood wrapped in a weave of cortosis. The staff and the orb at the top are heavily imbued with the Force. On the bottom, I have an electrical discharger and a button that activates a lightsaber concealed within the orb."

Serratus was suddenly beginning to think he should have brought another weapon or two. His chain-shoto or his b'hedda perhaps.

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

The Officer nodded, "An interesting choice of weaponry, most sith go for the blade. It is such a common weapon of choice that it has become a symbol of the Sith Order." Borge was not a force sensitive so his choice in weaponry was much different, though being with Lord Magisto meant that the heat of battle wasn't a familiar turf.

The rest of the short ride was spent with small talk, just casual discussions to keep the High Mage interested until they arrived. The large ship belonging to Lord Magisto finally came into view, it's design was unique and only its designers could ever think to remake it. It almost held the appearance of a large dagger, piercing the unknown with its sleek design.

The shuttle finally landed in one of the hangars, a group of officers had come to meet the High mage and escort him to the bridge where Lord Magisto waited. When Borge and Serratus had exited the shuttle the officers gathered at the foot of the ramp not allowing Serratus to go further. "High Mage Serratus, we must ask that your weapons, and all weapons, be left here. You will not need them."

Before Serratus could protest Borge had already stepped forward, "Do not insult Lord Magisto's guest, he would be most displeased if High Mage Serratus left because of your disrespect here. Unless of course you fear for Lord Magisto's life, if so then you also indirectly insult the Darkest Knight." The officers all looked between one another before finally relenting. "My apologies Captain Borge, we were simply accustomed to this now."

Borge scoffed, "Follow me High Mage, I will personally escort you to Lord Magisto." Borge marched away from the other officers hoping that Serratus would indeed follow and ignore his other escorts.

High Mage Serratus

Serratus allowed Borge to escort him, from their conversations on the ride here he had grown to quite like Borge. He wondered what idiotic men would attempt to stop him carrying weaponry. Surely if he had been asked to come on a mission with the Darkest Knight, weaponry would be expected? And besides that, Serratus would be more than capable of striking all of them down, armed or unarmed.

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Borge finally stopped in front of two large blast doors, motioning before him he did not follow Serratus. "Lord Magisto awaits you inside," the blast doors opened revealing the bridge where Lord Magisto stood in the center of it all.

The bridge appeared small from the outside, it stuck out only slightly but in the inside it sank in deeper into the ship like a pit. The final checks were being done before the ship left, reports regarding the ships care were being presented to Magisto who personally oversaw every aspect of how his ship was run.

"High Mage, enter please." As Serratus neared he motioned for the others around him to disburse. "Welcome, as you know I have requested for you to come on a mission with me. A mission for which I see you have overly prepared yourself." Magisto smirked as eyed the visible weaponry on Serratus. "I regret to inform you that our mission won't force us to engage any enemies, at least that's the point of a recon mission."

"You're very familiar with what happened above Aeron, am I correct?" An obvious answer was to be expected but Magisto waited for the confirmation. "Excellent, we'll be exploring something that we've discovered and I'd be interested on your thoughts on what we'll encounter."

High Mage Serratus

"Anyway I can help m'lord. Where are we headed?"

Serratus quietly thought to himself that weapons were not only useful against enemies.

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

"To an interesting location that my lot discovered, but I am curious High Mage Serratus, the reports regarding what occurred above Aeron are a bit fuzzy. Can you tell me exactly what happened, and even how a rebel fleet escaped one of the finest ships in the Empire?" Magisto stared at Serratus, he was waiting to hear his story, but he was also attempting to detect any lies he might attempt to weave into his story.

High Mage Serratus

"As I recall, we received a mayday call from one of our ships and I was sent to investigate with a portion of the Mage fleet. As we neared Aeron, another fleet hyperjumped between us and Aeron. I was addressed by the commander of the enemy fleet, Fahr, and agreed to go with him to the planet's surface to "have a look at some ruins". I was not fooled by the pretense, leaving command of the Mage fleet to the extremely competent Darth Amideus and launching a direct attack on the bridge of the enemy flagship. I was unable to get Fahr but all in all, I killed somewhere in the region of 100 enemy men. Unfortunately, Fahr trapped me in the bridge after evacuating it. With great difficulty, I just about managed to cut the bridge away from the rest of the ship before it was destroyed by the 10th Fleet and was subsequently resuced by said 10th Fleet while Fahr and the majority of his forces hyperjumped away."

Serratus thought back over what he'd said to see if he'd left anything out.

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Magisto had taken a seat in the seat that sat in the center of the room, his eyes never leaving the High Mage. The recount was brief and barely useful, but Magisto would not hold it against him for the military had always been detailed oriented and he was not familiar with how things ran there. One single name struck a cord, it was a name that Magisto had read in the reports given to him, one that he had become familiar with years ago.

"That name, Fahr-" Magisto motioned for Serratus to sit beside him as he recalled the story. Once the mage had taken his seat he continued, "you are not familiar with the name Fahr are you?" When the mage shook his head Magisto responded, "Of course not, the name doesn't really exist in Imperial Records, not as the name and pride it carried years ago."

Holding in his hand was a confidential file, it was all hand written, meaning the Empire took greater pride in keeping it safe. "Admiral Fahr as he was known was one of the galaxy's finest tacticians, he had bested the sith empire at every front. The Republic saw him as a hero, he had inspired his troops in a way the Sith could never imagine. The Life of Admiral Fahr was an interesting one, his accomplishments and victories were the bed stories of households.

Now the Fahr you encountered is a lie, Admiral Fahr was defeated many and I mean many years ago."

High Mage Serratus

Serratus frowned.

"Are you quite sure? There was something about this Fahr that makes me think he's the real deal. And when I was using battle meditation, I could only demoralise his men for minutes before he rallied them again. He seems an awful lot like the Fahr you're talking about."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Magisto smirked, "I am confident that it's not as the Fahr I have recounted to you died over five hundred years ago, not before having lost his own will." The final recount of Fahr's life before he died were amusing, what the sith did to him amused him despite how honorable Fahr had been as an admiral.

High Mage Serratus

Serratus nodded.

"That would probably eliminate him from being the Fahr I encountered. A descendant maybe?"

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

"Also not possible, the Sith out of anger and spite killed Fahr's relatives, though Fahr himself never had any children of his own having dedicated his life to the military." Motioning for the officers to jump the ship he turned back to the High mage, "Why would anyone choose to name themselves after a hero?" Magisto was hoping the High Mage understand as well as he did, but this was part of the test.

High Mage Serratus

Serratus chewed his answer and the inside of his cheek before responding.

"He could be masquerading as Fahr reborn, a descendant of Fahr's or simply trying to inspire his men with pride and inspire us with fear by taking the name of a legendary warrior who was the scorn of the Sith Order."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

"Exactly" Magisto nodded, he was pleased that the High Mage had that much understanding. "I am of the belief that this man is attempting to do what you have just stated, he's trying to rally those behind him under the banner of such a legendary hero."

"But to able to say he is Fahr, he would have to have had such confidence in his ability because anyone looking to be Fahr would have to carry his tactical genius." Looking down at the file he was holding he looked back at Serratus, "Which is why I believe he was able to handle you so well and so tactfully."

"But High Mage, the purpose of this mission isn't Fahr, not yet at least. While investigating what happened above Aeron, one of my reconnaissance ships saw something very interesting. This very interesting thing is what we're going to be watching, assuming you're able to come. I see the Grand Mage keeps a leash on his subordinates, I wouldn't like you to be yanked back."

High Mage Serratus

High Mage Serratus chewed the inside of his mouth.

"That was a rare occasion. For the most part, Lord Aequitas leaves me to my own devices as long as I get the work done, which I always do. If it is not Fahr, then what is it we will be watching Lord Magisto?"

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Magisto nodded and opened up the file he had, "Very well then High Mage, the things you will encounter and will eventually discover must be held in complete secrecy. Revealing any information that you have seen, heard, read, touched, or otherwise have come into contact would be a breach of security and a violation of the Emperor's Will. You're an intelligent man, you can understand this to mean that no one, not even the Grand Mage, not the moffs, not any living soul beyond this ship and those designated by the Emperor can know."

"Is this a path you're willing to thread?" He looked at the High Mage waiting to hear his response, each individual here understood the purpose of what they were doing and where it would take them. It was time for the High Mage to accept as well or return into the shroud of darkness.

High Mage Serratus

The High Mage nodded.

"You will find that the Inquisitors aren't the only Order well-versed in secrecy. I understand the conditions Lord Magisto."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

"Very well, go and rest High Mage Serratus, our trip will have us gone for a couple days. I will send word to your offices that you are currently on short leave helping the Darkest Knight settle an agricultural issue on Dathomir. I will summon you once we have arrived at our destination and at that point, I will explain to you what we're doing." Magisto closed the file he had been going through and stood up, without turning back to the High Mage he walked away to begin issuing his final commands.

High Mage Serratus

Serratus got directions from Borge and made his way to his designated quarters. Instead of waiting for himself to drift off, he have himself a sleeper hold with the Force and quickly entered bizarre dreams of being stuck in a puppet show duel with Fahr and the towering figure of Magisto pulling both their strings...

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Several days had passed since the Darkest Knight's ship had departed Kuati space, Magisto had remained hidden the entire time having avoided most contact with anyone besides his officers. Time had come for the High Mage to rejoin the Darkest Knight in the bridge where he would inform them of their trip. His summon had been sent out through Borge who would escort him back. While waiting, Magisto stood at the end of the bridge, staring out from the viewports of the tunnel of hyperspace that the ship sailed through.

High Mage Serratus

Serratus was mediating in his quarters when Borge arrived. He had been pondering on a recent vision he had received, the first he had received in over seven years, when the officer arrived.

"High Mage, Lord Magisto requests your presence."

Serratus had roused from his trance immediately and allowed Borge to escort him to the bridge of Magisto's ship. As Borge left and returned to his duties, the High Mage stepped forward.

"Lord Magisto, you summoned me?"

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Magisto felt Serratus enter the bridge, he had felt him nearing it way before that as well but even still the dark knight had not turned to greet his guest. "Yes, indeed I have summoned you for we are about to arrive." Moving away from the viewport, Magisto planted himself upon his seat and motioned for the mage to take the one beside him. "I have kept you in the dark long enough, the purpose of this mission is to observe what my group and I have encountered.

When the skirmish above Aeron had ended I had been given a task to study the rebels you encountered, a job outside of the orders knowledge. Since the Inquisitors refused to work with the Mages regarding Aeron after the Grand Mage refused them access, I took the liberty to freely explore the surrounding space, what one of my scouts discovered while preparing their next jump was something interesting. A ship had jumped right into the area where my scout was, the scout ship was undetected as the ship then jumped out of the area."

Magisto looked at Serratus who was still following what the dark lord said and questioned him, "What would you reason a ship would be doing out in the unknown regions High Mage?"

High Mage Serratus

Serratus raised is eyebrows slightly.

"They could be scouting for the Chiss, scouting for an attack on the Chiss, exploring for new planets, trying to throw off someone who's chasing them or, given the most recent events of the area, scouting out Aeron. What they're scouting for though, is it an attack or did they leave something behind, buried so deep beneath the surface that the nuclear holocaust didn't wipe them out? Or is it a completely different reason altogether?"

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Magisto nodded, he was glad that the mage had a more keen eye that most and had caught multitudes of reasons that the ship could be doing out there. "I am of the opinion that this ship has something to do with Aeron. The Chiss are not the galactic secret they once were, the Emperor has kept great ties with them for many years so it's no secret to where they are." Magisto looked out at the viewport of the tunnel of hyperspace before looking back at Serratus. "This ship was not a lost traveler or some scout, it had purpose, and its jump wouldn't have lead it to Aeron, not based on our calculations. This ship was jumping else where, to where? I've no clue, but it jumped somewhere and I believe others are jumping from that point to that point as well. Would you reason the same?"

High Mage Serratus

Serratus considered the information.

"It's perfectly plausible. It would explain why Fahr was set up on Aeron. His base had at least some function as a gateway planet on a hyperspace jump. The enemy's ships were equipped to detect whatever signal Fahr was broadcasting and from Aeron they could jump to another location."

The High Mage nodded.

"You think that they could be jumping to their headquarters?"

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

"Possibly, it could be anything but if many ships are going there then it means it's important," Magisto spoke as the bridge awoke with life, "Lord Magisto, we're exiting hyperspace now!" Magisto stood up and moved toward the center of the bridge, "Begin all scans as soon as we're able to, put the ship in stealth immediately before that. Check for hostiles, and prepare any fighters in case we're discovered."

Magisto turned back to Serratus, "Our job today is to discover if more than one ship are using this route, if it proves to be important then we'll begin planning for fighters to attempt to extract the coordinates of the jump before the ships can leave." The large ship left hyperspace, all that was before them was an endless surrounding of black dotted with the small existences in distances far away. The ship's life seemed to die down to few lights and the engines closed. The ship remained still as officers relayed information to one another regarding what they were scanning.

"If we were to locate Fahr, what would you do High mage?" Magisto questioned the Sith, he knew the man hungered for something and needed to be sure of his suspicion.

High Mage Serratus

Serratus let out a heavy sigh, but one not of sadness or regret, but one of seething anger.

"I would squeeze every pain sensor on his body until he screamed to die and then I would refuse to let him. I would sear away his skin with my lightsaber until he screamed to die and then I would refuse to let him. I would torture him until he became completely numb and no longer screamed to die. And then I would let him. Because of Fahr's actions, many fine Mages perished. Fahr is a terrorist but I will not let him bring terror to the Empire. I will show him true terror."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Magisto smirked, "Such hunger, but be aware that these hungers can some times destroy us. Do not allow yourself to lose control Serratus, it could be a deciding factor in whether or not you win a fight or lose." Waving the man over to follow him to the end of the bridge for a closer view of space from the viewports, he stood still, hands clasped behind his back awaiting whether or not his suspicions might be true.

The ship had settled into a quiet state, people were still working but no one was talking, it was all a waiting game and Magisto had come to wait it out. "I hope you are not bored with this suspense Serratus, I don't expect immediate results yet."

High Mage Serratus

Serratus shook his head.

"Don't worry Lord Magisto, I have patience. I spent five years inside a suit of armour, I'm able to wait."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

( Going to slowly get this started again Serratus, sorry for it's hiatus. )

Magisto had been discussing things with Serratus when the force flickered, he wasn't sure if Serratus had felt it but he did. Like a blanket, he consumed the lives of the ship in a bubble, sucking the presence of each from being sensed or felt by anyone that might be looking. And then it happened, a large imperial ship appeared before them, it stopped unaware of their presence as the ship had gone into it's cloak and with Magisto working to shield the lives in the force it was blissfully unaware.

Everyone in the ship had grown silent, everyone watched carefully and finally the ship was gone. "Jumped" Magisto said as everyone let out their breaths and everything reverted to normal procedure. The strain on him to hide so many lives had begun to take a toll, so he released them and sat back in his chair. Taking a deep breath he turned to Serratus. "What did you feel?" Magisto had not been able to extend his senses outward, he was too busy shielding his own ship from having anyone probe it.

High Mage Serratus

((I think the statement in my previous post oddly matches my response right now. Except I wasn't stuck in a suit of armour.))

Serratus had been preparing for the arrival of such a ship and had sent out a probing tendril of thought through the Force, which he had then expanded like a bubble around the other ship. He had sensed a great deal of people, but only two had seemed significant to him.

"Two Force-sensitives, both dark siders. One was on the bridge, the other was in an on-board dojo."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

"Significant, but what do you think an Imperial ship is doing out here?" He was curious himself, holding a hand out to Serratus for a second he looked at the closest officer. "Did we get read on it?" He doubted it.

"No sir, they jumped before we could get a good read on their transponder code. It was jumbled so we couldn't get who the ship was registered too, or at least which officer." Just as Magisto anticipated, they would have to get closer and with better scanners.

The dark lord turned back to Serratus, "Go on, tell me what you think."

High Mage Serratus

Serratus inhaled sharply before giving his answer.

"Rather than give you a whole spiel about all the possibilities and potentials of the situation, I'll be perfectly frank. I think that ship was full of traitors. Last time I checked, offical Imperial vessels all code their jumblers exactly the same, so that we can read each other's ships. The only ships that don't are stealth ships and the personal vessels of the High Council. That ship was too big to be a stealth ship and the two dark siders were no where near the scale of power of a High Council member. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I think it's highly possible given the recent climate."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

Magisto nodded, "Force users... hm." The darkest knight pondered quietly to himself as he analyzed what was before them. "Commander, jump the ship away, we'll be back." Turning back to look at the mage Magisto stood up, stretching his legs. "I intend to continue watching this spot but not now, next time we'll get closer.

May I remind you, nothing you've seen, been a part of, or heard shall leave this ship. If it does, you'll learn why the Emperor chose me as his darkest knight."

High Mage Serratus

Serratus nodded at the Dark Lord.

"I understand secrecy, Lord Magisto. I've learned things as High Mage that would cause mass hysteria if their existence was known. All that has transpired here will remain here."

Grand Inquisitor Prognie

"High Mage, I would like to then make a request for your office. I am going to be sending men to pick up information from the planet the rebels inhabited, or at least whatever information remains and I need you to cover this. The Inquisitors have all but left the mess in your hands, I wish to study whatever is left." Magisto was interested in piecing whatever he could from whatever he could get.