Jorran Cine, known to his sub-ordinates as Darth Malum, walked slowly through the deserted area on the Immortal Gallows, a Space Station still in construction. His head was bowed and his feline brow furrowed in concentration as he recieved premonitions from the Force. They were becoming more frequent with every passing second, great disturbances. So deep was Malum in thought that he didn't notice the lighting fizzle out, and he didn't hear the explosions wracking the station. He only came out of his meditation when a voice sounded in his ear.
"Don't move a muscle."
Malum spun and ignited his lightsaber, sweepng it wide to defend a series of sword blows and slashing out at an attacker in his style of Niman. He fell back into a defensive pose when he realised he was surrounded. A blaster sounded and he wheeled to deflect the bolt, but a stun bolt hit him in his undefended flank. With a cough he fell to his knees, too powerful to be taken out by one. Tentatively, an attacker reached out and grabbed the saber, throwing it away to a dark corner. A night-vision goggle wearing face was thrust into the Cathar's face.
"He's worthless. Kill him."
The face moved away and a blade pressed against his neck.
"Sweet dreams," a new face said. His next words were cut off as a violet saber blade protruded through his chest. killing him instantly. The saber withdrew itself and cut down two bewildered attackers. The saber was joined by two more, and Jorran's was flung into his hand. As if nothing had affected him, he swiftly stood and cut down the last nearby saboteur. He then turned and looked towards the source of the mysterious lightsabers.
Darth Crozeus, Dark Warrior, cloaked, hooded and menacing, stood in the doorway. He moved his hand and the three lightsabers chased after the terrified assassins, cutting them down. The one who has first spoken to Jorran was now the last one left. The sabers surrounded him, pointing at his neck, and Crozeus and Malum walked up to his cowering body.
One Prophet looked to another and Crozeus smiled. "We're taking you to see the Supreme Prophet."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Kitsch Manor, Anomid, Naboo
Praxeum shifted his weight as he read over the finical transactions left in front of his chair. But now that his meeting was finished, he was having to deal with more issues.
“Aeon, make sure you pick him up before nightfall.” Praxeum whispered into his small hush-98 comlink as he sensed the Muun walk out the manor. Praxeum knew that he was beginning to enjoy these types of occasions, a trait he assumed he was picking up from Prognie.
Prognie. Praxeum had been too often getting word from the Bothawui Chapter dealing with questions that always seemed to lead to Prognie’s secretive Order. Praxeum was starting to get paranoid. When he first began his collaboration with Prognie, he assume he always had the upper-hand. But now as their deadly game progressed, Praxeum feared that his fellow Dark Lord was more cunning then the Supreme Prophet anticipated. Praxeum spent day and night focusing on both the pairs plans and Praxeum’s own.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud buzz coming from the comlink he had just sat down. He recognized the code as the Dark Warrior’s. “Yes?” Praxeum asked. Then, he spent the next few moments listening to Crozeus explain the events on The Immortal Gallows. Then, he quickly said,
“I’ll meet you at the Sith Temple on Korriban.”
High Prophet Crozeus
The temple on Korriban, deep within the Valley of the Dark Lords, was in the midst of a sandstorm when the Omicron class shuttle landed. Crozeus and Malum closed their eyes as the raw Dark Side energy of the world filled their veins. Their prisoner, scarred and beaten by the Prophet's as they endured the long hyperspace trip from Tython to Korriban, whimpered as he was dragged down the boarding ramp. Crozeus and Malum had put face masks on, he was given no such protection.
They dragged him effortlessly through the sand, his shell of a body letting out small gasps of pain as old scars were broken and sand filled the rips in his pasty skin. When they reached the temple three red-cloaked Guards nodded to them and parted to allow them through.
The claustrophobic sense of the temple made Crozeus smile as he walked through the dark halls. It was a good ten minutes before they reached an intricate web of stone, and Crozeus thumped on it.
"Lord Praxeum, are you there?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
The stone slowly moved away, rising dust as it moved. Dark Lord Praxeum was standing in the middle of the dimly lit room. Three small torches lit the room and created the image that the Korriban Temple was known for. Three younger men, all adorned with the robes of Prophets, scurried back and forth through the room. Malum strained his neck as he looked over Praxeum’s shoulder at the items laid on the table behind him. Malum saw another table directly behind that one, which he assumed was for the prisoner.
“I am sure you know where you are.” Praxeum said in a darker tone. Far darker then the man Malum was used to.
The traitor tried to speak to the Supreme Prophet, but his broken body only murmured a whelp. Praxeum then drew close to the prisoner and said,
“And I’m sure you know its reputation.” Then Praxeum quickly turned around, his heels kicking dust into the face of the prisoner. As Praxeum reached towards some of the apparatus on the table behind him, he commanded, “Strap him to the other table.”
Crozeus and Malum quickly threw the traitor onto the table, binding him with leather straps hanging from the lip of the stone table.
“Sir,” A quiet voice whispered to Praxeum. The Dark Lord turned to see the youngest of the Prophets with him, Mae’rlh, leaning into him. “I know him. He served on the Endor Chapter with me. His name is Leonel Cervantes.”
Praxeum only acknowledged the young Prophet with a nod, though he was truly happy to know this information. Then, the Dark Lord took some sort of iron prong in his hand and slowly walked to Leonel. He set the prong into the mouth of the traitor, wedging it open. Then, he slowly rose a white cloth to Leonel, and was the group watched, let it slide down the traitors throat.
Leonel tried to scream, but his open mouth and gags from the cloth made him only sling saliva and yell intangible screams of horror. Praxeum then looked at his Prophets, and gave them a nod. And they slowly walked towards Leonel with fifteen pints of water.
High Prophet Crozeus
Darth Crozeus watched with a cruel smile as, one by one, the pints of water were poured down his throat. All kinds of noises were being emitted from him, coming from his throat and elsewhere. After the third pint, the treacherous Prophet retched and vomited, yet the straps holding him in place refused to budge.
As a result, the vomit merely dribbled down his face and body, much of it returning to his flooded system. Crozeus nodded and the Prophets moved in again. Pint after pint was administered, and his screams died out. Crozeus could see his bloated stomach thrashing through the straps as he desparately tried to free himself with the Force.
Fourteen pints had been poured into him, and Darth Malum stepped forward with the last jar. The Prophet strained feebly and his eyes opened a fraction.
His lips parted but no sound was emitted, merely a weak bubble of mucus. Malum stepped forward and poured the last jar down his throat. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, yet the Prophets waited in stoic silence, not willing to show weakness in front of the Supreme Prophet.
At a flick of his wrist, the straps were loosened and Cervantes fell off, thumping to the ground. The sloshing of water in him was unmistakable, and heard by all in the chamber. Crozeus knelt down beside him, grabbed him by his hair and shoved him into the wall. Trickles of blood, water and other liquids dribbled from the corner of his mouth.
Crozeus looked him straight in the eye, which was shying away from the light.
"Perhaps you would like to tell us where you came from."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum stood, frozen and glaring at Leonel. He watched his Dark Warrior slammed the prisoner against the wall, but the prisoner’s only reply was more screams in agony. Praxeum nodded once to Crozeus, and then watched the Dark Warrior throw his knee directly into Leonel’s gut, a blow so powerful Praxeum knew it was aided by the Force. Leonel suddenly vomited all over the floor where he was about to land, something that should have relived, but he was already in far too much pain.
Suddenly, Lenoel rose from floor and his back slammed into the support of the stone table. Another cry of agony was heard when the Dark Lord then used his mind again to move the traitor and put him on his knees. Then, with another nod, Praxeum watched Mae’rlh and his brother Dair’rlh grab the arms of Leonel and bend them behind his back. Then, Praxeum saw Crozeus roll the sleeves of his robes up before walking to the prisoner, bucket of water in hand. Praxeum watched as the eyes of the prisoner grew as he thought they were about to repeat the process. Which brought a cruel smile to Praxeum’s face.
Then, once the bucket was over Lenoel, Praxeum watched Crozeus slowly pour the water on Lenoel’s face. He watched as confusion struck the traitor for a few moments, but then horrible fear overcame him. Suddenly, his body began to believe he was drowning and he couldn’t help but let out a blood-curling shriek. Praxeum watched Lenoel’s body twitched and pull to free themselves from the Prophet’s grasp, but Praxeum made sure that his third Prophet, Tarou, was sending his strength to the others through the Force. Praxeum watched as Crozeus quickly began to pour another bucket of water the moment the first ran out. Praxeum could also feel his eyes change from their bright blue, to a twisted, horrible yellow.
High Prophet Crozeus
Crozeus' eyes also changed their colour to a blood red. He raised a fist.
"Stop." Instantly, the others released Leonel, and Crozeus flicked his wrist. The traitor was thrown onto the table again, and at the nod of the Supreme Prophet he was once again strapped down. Crozeus gestured and the table flicked backwards on it's hinges, until the traitor's hair was almost touching the floor. Crozeus put the gag in once again, and then proceeded with pouring the buckets of water on his face.
Water boarding elicits the gag reflex in a person who believes that they are drowning and that death is imminent. The traitor was now experiencing one of the worst pains anyone can go through, yet Crozeus felt no remorse, only a grim sense of satisfaction that punishment was being handed out.
He poured two more full buckets of water on his face, enough to kill a non-force sensitive through dry drowning. When he was finished Crozeus leant in close to the traitor, who was moaning incomprehensibly.
"Have you an answer for us?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
“Don’t bother.” Praxeum loudly spoke his first words since this ordeal began. “He is merely a pawn, lest he would not fall to our power with such little fight. With such weak mental prowess, you may do what you need Crozeus, and let us be done with him.”
Crozeus nodded slowly, but Praxeum could see the satisfaction glow in his crimson eyes. Praxeum signaled his three Prophets to him while Crozeus began his procedure. Praxeum whispered a few orders and watched the three Prophets run out of the stone room to prepare Praxeum’s shuttle to take him into orbit. Malum slowly walked through the room, collecting all of their tortuous apparatus, trying not to disturb Crozeus.
Crozeus outstretched his hand, opened his palm towards Leonel and sudden burst of orange light sprayed from his hand. Once Praxeum saw Crozeus had began, he slowly turned and began to exit to his vehicle. By the time Praxeum reached the boarding ramp of his vehicle, he saw Crozeus and Malum walking out of the Temple. Praxeum reached out to sense the death of Leonel, but rather then any corpse, he sent a living being slamming himself against a closed stone door, trapped. Praxeum couldn’t help but grin at Crozeus’ imagination.
High Prophet Crozeus
The Masar's Revenge dropped out of hyperspace outside the Alderaan ruins. Ever since the planet had been destroyed by the first Death Star, numerous groups had based themselves on the asteroids. It was actually little surprise to Crozeus that that was where the traitor's saboteurs were based.
Crozeus had activated the cloaking systems on his ship and carefully buzzed around, zoomed in on the facility located on a large asteroid. He watched carefully before activating his comm.
"Supreme Prophet, the operation is larger than we expected. Much larger. I count at least twenty Interceptor V frigates and two, no, three Kedalbe battleships, and I think that's an Aggressor Destroyer. Countless more fighters and skipray blastboats." Crozeus paused a second. "One more thing, there is a presence here... it's strong in the Force." Crozeus swallowed. "What are your orders?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Tears of Remembrance floated just on the teetering edge of the Alderaan sector. The Dark Lord was becoming restless. They had to take a two day detour from their course to change from his titan ship, The Cataclysm, into the smaller Empire-Class Star Destroyer, hoping to avoid at least some attention. Their advanced communication system relayed Crozeus’ message to the bridge crew, Praxeum taking note of every detail.
He could faintly see The Graveyard floating in the distance, like grey specks on an eternally black canvas.
“Report back to Tears.” Praxeum said, before he checked to make sure they were on a tight-beam communication. “Then, we will quietly insert a small team into the base. I truly don’t want to have to wait for reinforcements.”
Praxeum heard a faint chuckle from the Dark Warrior. Then Crozeus’ said, “We’re enroute to the ship.
High Prophet Crozeus
The Revenge zipped towards the Empire class Destroyer. As soon as he came in range Crozeus recieved the hail from the ship, and Crozeus sent back his personal code, so that the crew would recognise him as a Prophet.
"Proceed to Hangar 3, sir," the tinny voice of the Dock Officer said. Crozeus did as he was bid and disembarked, moving rapidly through the ship. He soon arrived at the bridge and was pleasantly surprised with a salute from the Guards outside. He entered and walked to Praxeum's side, who didn't look round. Needing no gesture to speak, Crozeus began without haste.
"Are you sure about this? The screening is so tight they would see us even if they didn't get our signature. We should just send a few destroyers in to keep them occupied and then send a shuttle in."
Crozeus paused. "If the presence I detected is as strong as I fear, we will need more than a handful to take out whoever is leading this operation."
Despite his words, the young man held no signs of fear in his voice, simply excitement.
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum had to use the Force to warm his blood as they continued to drift in space and the temperature in the ship dropped. They had been waiting for near an hour and a half for five ships from The Third Fleet that were in the Azure sector. They should be arriving very soon.
“Sir?” A voice came from inside Praxeum’s cloak, his comlink. Praxeum quickly pulled out his comlink and looked at the identification. Once he saw it, he used the Force to quickly switched off the recording device he had began to keep within his offices.
“Yes, Jaxx?” Praxeum quickly asked.
“Sir, reporting in as asked. We’re on board and arriving in moments. Orders, sir?” The voice asked.
“Stand by.” Praxeum quickly said, and then turned off his comlink, sensing Crozeus on his way. Praxeum slowly set down his comlink on the table in his personal room and moved to the other side. Waiting for Crozeus to enter.
High Prophet Crozeus
Crozeus entered the bridge once more, having eaten in the mess hall. He walked up to the Supreme Prophet and bowed. Behind him came a team of Prophets, including Darth Malum. Each had been picked for their skills in lightsaber combat. Crozeus turned to them.
"So the plan, one more time, is to take a shuttle into the base when a suitable distraction has been caused by the Destroyers. We find two things: first, whatever, or whoever it is that has the information about our plans. Second, the source of Force energy I detected. Hopefully, they may well be the same thing, but if not, we will have to split up."
He looked at the Grand Vizier. "Anything you wish to say, sir?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
“Move to your stations now.” Praxeum quickly said. The ships should be there any second, they had to be prepared. “Malum and Dritha, with me. The rest, I leave you with Crozeus.” The two groups quickly separated and arrived at Hangers One and Two. Praxeum, with his group in Hanger One, boarded the ramp onto a small shuttle. The only female of the group, Dritha, quickly moved into the pilots’ seat, while Malum sat next to her. Praxeum stood behind them, his comlink in hand, awaiting for contact from his men.
Now waiting in the cockpit seemed to take forever. Various men throughout the hanger scurried to get all the fighters prepared for the soon-to-be-battle. Pilots donned their flight suits and droids rushed to their ships. Suddenly, as the Sith group waited in silence, a beep rang out. Praxeum checked to see that it was from Jaxx, but didn’t even answer it. Simply switched channels to speak to the bridge and said,
“Engage.”
High Prophet Crozeus
Crozeus, with his larger group, boarded a heavy lander and buckled in. Praxeum's voice rang out throughout the ship, amplified by the bridge crew.
"Engage."
The six Star Destroyers of the Third Fleet accelerated into the Graveyard of Alderaan. Almost immedietly they were set upon by the frigates and cruisers that defended the base, the Kedalbe class battleships pounding the shields constantly, the Agressor class destroyer shredding the armour of the lead Guardian class with it's dual mega cannons. Aboard Tears of Remembrance, Crozeus swore as the ship jolted under the continuous assault, yet he could hear cheers as the gunner crews directly above the hangar took out fighters, blastboats and frigates alike.
Then, with a deafening scream, wave upon wave of TIE fighters streaked from the hangars, engaging the SkipRays and StarVipers and utilizing their superior mobility to defeat them. The shuttles took off and streaked towards the base in the midst of the dogfights, relying on the shielding and heavy armour to get them through, rather than the two dual laser cannons on the wing hinges.
The shuttles emerged unscraped and sped towards the base. Crozeus and the Prophets aboard could feel the Force presence grow larger, and it was clear now that it was on the light side. Light anti-aircraft fire shot up at them, but the base was designed for anti-capital ship duties, so the heavy turbolaser fire fired at them was thicker, but easily avoided. It was not long before the shuttle landed in a hangar in the base. A lone StarViper was being lowered, it's impatient pilot turning to see the heavy lander blow him, and his craft, to pieces.
The boarding ramp lowered and Crozeus and the other Prophets rapidly disembarked, heading to a map on the wall. They began to study it intently, looking for a control center where the data might be.
The light side Force presence was almost overwhelming, and Crozeus did his best to drown it out.
Mage Superior Odin
"I sense a tricky Jedi" Elric told others suspiciously while his master Crozeus was inspecting the ship map. "Whatever it is, playing with our minds. Apprentices, inject your stimulants i gave you. They will protect you from mental attacks for a few hours." Elric was strong enough to resist the temptation as Crozeus, but younger and inexperienced ones could quickly fall into the trap of Jedi.
For a second, Elric sensed a strong vibration coming not from too far. He hold his breath and touched the cold steel of starship with his palm to feel the resonance. He closed his eyes
"Guards... about 20... coming here" He quickly removed his hand from steel and grabbed his saber, he was followed by other prophets. They took a defensive stance as Elric formed. Now the footsteps were echoing between the iron corridors, getting louder and closer.
"Just few more seconds.." Crozeus told, while still scanning the map
High Prophet Crozeus
"Got it." Crozeus turned and opened the hangar door, the route cemented in his mind. The door slid open to reveal a pirate solider.
He was instantly thrown back with the Force, but Crozeus was pushed back by a stream of blaster fire. A large amount of pirates stormed the hangar, firing all manner of weapons. Jumping into the defensive circle of Prophets, Crozeus ordered them forward.
They cut down rows of pirate forces unhindered, but they began to tire. The light side presence began to wear them down further as they couldn't draw on as much of the Dark Side to strengthen them. Crozeus hoped that Praxeum's team would soon find the Jedi, and kill him. Or her.
Mage Superior Odin
"KEEP YOUR FORMATION!" Elric shouted to the team. Under the rain of heavy fire, the prophets were trying to advance further. Hangar was breached easily but now they were trying to break through the deeper halls of the base. As prophets were marching towards with haste, never-ending guards were exhausting their power and at the same time, the twisting curse of the Jedi were breaking their mental barriers as well. Their will were depleting as their muscles.
Those so-called pirates were more than basic scavengers. They were armed with heavy weapons and strong armors. It was obvious now. This was a deception...
"We need to reach that elevator!" Crozeus pointed with his finger of saber wielding hand while the lasers were raining like hell. Behind each door they have opened, more guards were "welcoming" them and now there was only a corridor left to reach their current objective, the small service elevator. It was a narrowly confined lift and it was looking like only 2-3 people should have fit in at the same time, so others were had to guard it at all costs while others were using it.
In a second, another big hydraulic door had opened with a swift sound on the far end of the corridor. Another wave of guards were marching towards the infiltrators.
"Get in position! Dont let them pass this line!" Elric shouted before 4 prophets had formed a straight line corridor-wide to let others transport at their back. "Master Crozeus, you go first - I will hold here as much as I can!"
High Prophet Crozeus
Crozeus cursed. It would seem that these 'pirates' were far better prepared than they expected... a Jedi's hand was certainly at work. "There's no time!" He yelled. Hurtling into the elevator he cut a hole in the middle and pushed the circular metal piece out, before clambering up into the shaft. While other Prophets blocked blaster shots he ushered the others through, and soon they were all standing atop the elevator.
"Grappling hooks!" Crozeus ordered, and obligingly the Prophets dug into their equipment and sent their grapples to latch onto a doorway high up. They moved to the wall - thankfully the shaft was very wide - and started to climb up. It would be long, and Crozeus was sure to plug the hole they had climbed through to prevent any blaster fire coming up at them. Just to be safe, he cut through the wires holding the elevator up.
*
Master Krek Talor, a Twi'lek from Ryloth, expected some Sith to be present, and he had prepared - Leonel had told him enough. He certainly did not expect anyone of more strength than an apprentice or minion to come, such was the arrogance of the Sith. So he was very surprised when his statis field was ignored by the leading Sith of the three he had gone to face. He was so taken aback, he had barely enough time to draw his saber when that Sith crashed into him, his fierce red blade crackling against his cool blue.
Praxeum backed off, dropping lightly into a fighting stance. It had been a long time since he had duelled anyone other than another Sith, and he certainly needed a test of his skills. He could tell that this Jedi was powerful in the Force, and he could feel the Light Side tugging at his strength, weakening him... though not enough.
He instantly began a vicious array of attacks, combining speed and strength in the Form he had devised himself - Impitus. Naturally, this Jedi had never faced it before, and was forced to use Shii-Cho - the most defensive but least aggressive of all Forms, and Praxeum was constantly forcing him back. He noticed that he was forcing him back almost too easily, and when he saw the open door at the end of the corridor, and the blockade behind it, he knew why.
Reacting on instinct he pulled a window frame off, hurling it like a javelin towards them. It soared over the heads of the pirates, but he wasn't aiming for them. It struck the window with such force they both shattered, and the whole corridor suddenly became a vacuum. Men and equipment were sucked into the vortex before the shutter came down, and both Praxeum and the Jedi had to shield themselves... but Praxeum let himself slip past a bit, and when the shutter came down, and the Jedi removed his hand from his face, Praxeum was nowhere to be seen.
Praxeum casually stabbed the Jedi Master in the back, watching with a satisfied glint in his eye as the Twi'lek gurgled and died. Malum and Dritha were released from there stasis and ran to help the Supreme Prophet, but only to stop in their tracks and admire his handiwork. They looked to him for orders. He simply walked forward, and they followed wordlessly, eyes wide.
Mage Superior Odin
"Without a doubt, they sure got alerted from entrance. We cannot just leap in. We should throw grenades in first after we breach the elevator door or we can increase the way up by climbing to air shafts up there" Elric told while prophets were slowly climbing up. "Whats your suggestion, Master?"
High Prophet Crozeus
"Wait..." The lights went out. "Go. Now." Crozeus whispered. They could take the enemy by surprise while they were distracted.
Mage Superior Odin
"Ready your flashbangs and throw them inside after Master opens the door. I believe we just have few seconds to generator would get online. We have to blitz in!. With my command. Three.. Two... One... GO!"
As Master Crozeus crushed the doors with force, prophets quickly hurled their flash grenades to inside then with the lead of Odin, they leaped from their ropes and maneuvered against blinded guards in position. The sound of random blasters went into silence just a few seconds later, slaying the guards like banthas in a slaughterhouse.
High Prophet Crozeus
Praxeum had found what he was looking for. In the command centre of the base, a small datachip, barely noticable, contained all he needed to know - where the traitor came from, where he made contact, and who it was who funded them. His objective complete he nodded to the other two Prophets and they headed back to their shuttle, en route to Tears.
*
Crozeus was frantically rummaging through endless files on a computer, the other Prophets with him either doing the same or defending against the attacks. It wasn't them that bothered him - it was the thudding of the Third Fleet's Destroyers on the base. He finally found what he was looking for and copied it to his datapad, before deleting all files, and hacking through the hard drive with his saber for safe measure. He then shouted "Go!" At the other Prophets and led them out, tearing down the halls and back to their shuttle, where they finally regrouped on Tears of Rememberence.
There, the Prophets compared what they had retrieved as the battlegroup eliminated the remaining opposition, and finally destroyed the asteroid base.
"The funding came from all sorts of places... crime consortiums and the like. But some of it came directly from the Empire." Praxeum was saying, looking at a map of the galaxy, complete with coloured lines to show the movements of their enemy.
"They had amassed data about every one of us, our Chapters, our ships. They knew everything about us, and if this data was given to someone, who knows what they can do with this power?" Crozeus murmured. He looked with concern. "We need to go to Bothawui."
