Palatial Congress, Part II
Posted on Fri Oct 19th, 2012 @ 12:15am by Axion & Nala Sao & Thane & Bomoor Thort & Sev Rezer & Mentis & Berry & Trey†
Edited on on Fri Jul 26th, 2019 @ 1:30pm
1,749 words; about a 9 minute read
Chapter:
Chapter I: Web of Fate
Location: Grogga's Palace, Nar Shaddaa
Timeline: Late, Day Two
Thane grinned at Sev and the others' entrance to the palace, and wasted no time in relying upon the Force heavily to guide from the top of tree and quickly across to the wall where the Vault lay within. A quick blur, the Jedi wasted no time in finding the correct spot and using his lightsaber to cut his way in, its purple blade slicing through the many layers the palace's walls had been reinforced with. Certainly, Grogga had taken great care with the materials used, but even he was not wealthy enough to afford an entire structure built of lightsaber-resistant alloys.
With Grogga's security force and network distracted by the attacks at the entrance, they would be paying little attention to a small breach around this area - or so the plan went. Regardless, it would take them too long to respond and with too few guards to stop him.
Kicking in the incision, itself clanging heavily to the ground of the next room - which was slightly lower, given the size of the Vault left it to be partly beneath ground level - and the Human hopped in, silent compared to the metal piece.
Immediately, Thane was in awe at the collection the elderly Hutt had amassed in his lifetime. In nearly every foot of the Vault, something was golden, and almost every article glinted, with the exception of the fantastical works of art and sculptures that adorned the walls, hanged from the ceiling and were littered about liberally. Grogga had so much, it was impossible to have it organised.
Having to work hard to resist the urge to look around at the various pieces, Thane closed his eyes and began to focus on the Force to lead him to what he sought. The second he had stepped inside the Vault, he had felt the strength of something within calling to him; something mysterious and of great power had been tugging at his senses, and now that he narrowed his mind, dipping deeply into his Force sensitivity to detect his quarry, he found himself immediately drawn to one particular area of the room. His eyes opening instantly, he hopped silently over to where the Force was calling him.
As he drew closer to the location he could feel - in fact an ornate, black-and-red gilded box - trepidation began to grow within him, but so did a sense of urgency and strength, his fingers and lips tingling slightly as he slowed in his approach. When he finally reached the box, it was an overpowering sensation, and one he recognised the origin of immediately: it was the dark side. Making his decision quickly, he unlatched the box and opened it. Once open, the trepidation and large build-up was swept away, and just replaced by simple power at the sight of what was within.
A four-sided pyramid sat silently, almost waiting, within. Thane knew what it was immediately: a holocron. An ancient form of repository for Force knowledge, and its red-and-black styling, in keeping with the container that had held it, declared itself as a Sith artefact. The Reborn Jedi Order, in its fear of the threat of dark side since its supposed-rejuvenation via the Grand Proclamation, had destroyed every dark side relic they had come across, although they had never actively sought any out, through concern that those seeking the pieces would turn to the dark side in their mission. Knowing this, Thane still outstretched his palm to clasp the piece, unable to ignore its allure. What could only be described as whispers began to mutter in the corners of the room, and the holocron suddenly a bright red from within its core as he made contact with its cool surface.
Within, dark knowledge of great power, promise - and destruction - was kept, and it was already responding to the Jedi's presence. Time seemed to slow as Thane inspected the piece, turning it to examine it. A temptation to activate it was growing within, with no desire to bring harm to it present. As he contemplated going against his teachings - although nothing new to the Jedi Guardian - a new presence was suddenly made clear to him.
Pocketing the relic without thinking, he rose and activated his purple blade and faced the new presence coming closer - and he immediately sensed the power of the Force within them.
Nala took great satisfaction as she felt the life leave the Twi'lek Cartel guard, his entire essence being dragged from his body and into her own being, the wounds across her left shoulder disappearing, although her clothing remained burnt where blaster bolts had skimmed across her. Instinctively, she blamed Trey for the mishap; she had expected the fool to serve in a team capacity, as Axion had all act within the Cult, and one of his targets had managed to almost land a shot against her.
As she continued to rejuvenate, Master Axion strode forward, making quick but extravagant swoops with his arms and hands, throwing several of Grogga's guards about the room, smashing them into walls and the ceiling, cracking pieces here and there. Their allies, Zorbo's forces, kept back as Axion moved ahead to lead them, apparently enjoying destroying so much of Grogga's expensive property - even without his lightsaber being active. Nala had noted before that, whilst he had a taste for the expensive, nothing gave him as much pleasure as ruining such objects that belonged to others.
The lower-ranking cultists were hanging back with the bulk of Grogga's forces, whilst the more experienced and powerful Dark Jedi led the vanguard. Whilst Axion had informed Zorbo that this was to ensure success and prove commitment, it was in fact to ensure he could lead the mission the way he wanted to, dependent on how things progressed.
Drawing close to a massive set of black marble double doors, Axion raised his gloved hand for everyone to stop, and is if on cue, the doors blew open and what must have been Grogga's elite stood before them. Led by a burly Trandoshan with several cybernetics, each of the heavily-armoured and well-equipped guards lifted their massive weapons at Axion and his forces.
Grinning, the Dark Jedi Master's tattooed face became a visage of pure malicious enjoyment as he unleashed a massive barrage of red-hued Force Lightning upon the henchmen; screaming in agony, the red hell crawled all across each of them, their skin and features deforming, their skeletons becoming visible every few seconds. All light seemed to be drained into the lightning, leaving only a smattering of reds flashing about the massive room. In just a few seconds, each of them were dead, smouldering and steaming corpses littering the floor.
"Let us continue," he declared as if nothing had happened, tugging at one glove as he stepped over the dead Trandoshan.
Deep into the facility and a few more cultists and Grogga's guards later, Berry, Sev and Boomor were starting to hear the sounds of fighting not too far way. "We're getting close", Sev said, checking his rifle power. "Axion is just ahead, carving his way to Grogga."
Along the way there several guards dead, cut in pieces or crushed into the walls. Axion was everything but subtle.
"Yes, we can certainly see that," Bomoor spoke in a low tone, alert to the furious force spikes in the distance, "Let's hope that Thane is getting on all right on his own - this Axion certainly packs quite a force..."
The group was walking up a hallway, alert to ambush with their weapons drawn and ready for combat. As they came towards the end of the end of the corridor, they found smouldering corpses - burnt and charred but still recognisable, "A very powerful Dark Jedi has been through here," Bomoor warbled, "These fools never stood a chance..."
"..and neither do you," came a cold voice from the shadows ahead as a red lightsaber ignited and illuminated the pale face of the near-human female wielding it, "Master Axion does not want any disturbances while he guts the slug so I shall take great pleasure in removing you, Jedi."
Several of Zorbo's armed thugs also crept out of the shadows, their barrels trained on Sev and Bomoor.
Sev Rezer cleared his throat. "Big mistake, adii'ka." Without making any sudden moves, his jetpacks activated, filling the air between them with smoke. The Mandalorian took the air, firing his rifle, taking as went up, three of the five armed goons. Laser fire was fired blindly in every direction as Zorbo's guards got panicked.
The Dark Jedi jumped towards Boomor, red blade at front.
The Ithorian leapt aside and caught her shoulder with his viridian blade as she slipped past landing near to Berry. She screeched in pain and looked at her wound, "Damn Jedi - I shall destroy you!"
She then noticed Berry's presence and held her blade out, "But I shall kill this one first - you can watch her die!"
Berry frowned at the mean lady. She was really really bad, bad enough to have Tall Guy, who usually was so nice, to hurt her. "Stop talking, you're mean!" the part-Aquar shouted before running toward her, fist pulled back. A burst of speed shot her toward the Dark Jedi, but the mean lady again just stepped aside, racing toward Tall Guy with her blade brandished.
Bomoor reacted quickly and send a surge of force energy into the Dark Jedi, knocking her back before her blade could come down. He kicked off the ground with the power of his great feet and came down upon his opponent quickly with a quick swoop that cut into her chest as she lay on the ground, killing her in a instant.
He stepped back, "People shouldn't make threats they can't live up to," he sighed, trying to lighten the situation after his actions, "I'm sorry you had to see that, young Bería. We must be getting close though, I doubt these cultists stray too far from their master."
Sev landed easily at Boomor's side after finishing off the other two guards. "They shouldn't but they do and end up like that, and yes, we're getting close. Now that we are finished talking, let's go." He walked forward leaving the Ithorian and Berry behind.
Berry jogged after him, not the bit perturbed at her recent failure and being called by her real name. "But I wanna see some lasers!!"
TBC
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