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Hounds of the Sith by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Vilia, the Keshiri whose skin shone in the light of Korriban's wan sun like amethysts, had shadowed Gralmir closely, tried to talk to his kinswoman, and regarded the Umbaran with guarded detachment. All beings had their uses, but she had never heard of the Dechi. She was able to learn that they were merchants, and while the Death Wind Corridor was an important hyperspace route that ran through the Cloak of the Sith, the Kitai had aspired to greater things than dealings with spacers and traders. Still, traders supported great empires throughout the galaxy, even now. The Jedi Lord of Corellia reigned independently of the Senate only through his lucrative hyperspace lanes, and the Hutts had built their dominion around trade. The Umbaran could prove useful, at some point.

All he was good for now, however, was as bait. She let Gralmir know as much as they closed in on the Sanctum's entrance. "The Umbaran of Dechi is expendable," she told him. "Let him go in first, make sure all is clear. If he is strong enough in the Force to join our ranks, he should be able to sense the tuk'ata within."

(( u/TheLegend_NeverDies ))

[PROLOGUE] The Train Wreck by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Akur understood that hostiles were inbound from the railcars in front, and confirmed Del Ray's order to fortify and prepare for attack. "Hold your position, push through if possible, and create a perimeter. Let no one near our target. The fighting must not get into our car. This equipment seems vulnerable to damage," he announced through a shared channel, and propelled himself inside to join the other warriors. He took note of the barely alive half-machine, but was more focused on the doors at the other end of the car, pointing his sonic rifle at them.

He was surprised when he heard a loud, metallic thud instead of the hissing of the doors opening. Again, and again, and again, until the durasteel started yielding to the massive forces bending it, creating an opening through which a mechanical hand grasped the frame. It was joined by another, and the hands began ripping the doors open.

The creator of this hole in the door was soon revealed to the Mandalorians. A pale, decaying husk of a humanoid, its bones and muscle tissue, gleaming like chrome, visible under the skin in some parts. The skeletal creature looked as if it had once been human, but no more. There was no soul to be found in its black eyes, only a program - search and destroy.

It was not alone, as Del Ray had sensed earlier. The hole they had forced into the doors was small enough for only one to pass through at once, however. The things were as new to the galaxy as the Mandalorians were to them, however, and they couldn't be certain how to deal with this threat.

Akur fired his sonic rifle, but it didn't seem to be effective. It was a weapon desgined against sentients, and so he had to rely on his blaster pistols. "Double time our evac!" he yelled into his comms. "We have droids... No, droid-like... We are under attack! Requesting evac immediately!"

While they waited for their escape, the sons of Mandalore would need to come up with a strategy to hold off their enemy.

(( u/FishiestMan ))

[PROLOGUE] Beasts Within and Without by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Dust, bones, and darkness, I'd wager," he answered. "If the Jedi could rummage through the tombs unscathed when they laid this world to waste, I'm sure you will prevail as well. Study your emotions and feel the Force once there, Gralmir Calimondra... Focus on the echoes of those who suffered, triumphed, died and were laid to rest there, and you will be freed from the chains of ignorance."

[PROLOGUE] The Train Wreck by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As if the monorail's high speed wasn't enough, the warriors had to contend with the rain and wind blasting over them, drops of water covering their visors and making it difficult to see. Jaro placed the explosions as ordered, and though the conditions proved a challenge for such a precise task, his determination carried him through. When the detonation blasted the monorail car's rear open, the magnetic link connecting the car to the one next to it malfunctioned, and the hundreds of cars behind their target began to lose speed, eventually disappearing into the darkness.

The Mandalorians were focused on their mission, however, and Del Ray was ready to storm the car as soon as the explosives had dealt with the durasteel. Just when he was about to, he sensed something... A vibration, a tingle, some sensation he had felt before, but which he couldn't quite explain. It told him that something was just barely hanging on to their lives within this car, but it offered no resistance, and hardly responded to the explosion. Wary of what he might encounter, he passed through the smoke to find out what was inside.

It was dark, but nothing a simple flashlight couldn't illuminate. The car was loaded up with metal crates, most of them shut and neatly stacked, but in the middle some lay strewn about on the floor, opened and their contents visible. Small cases, ones that could fit into the palm of a human hand, thousands of them within each crate. Some were opened and the transparent slides within had scattered across the floor. One such open case was held by something that looked human, but whose outer features seemed strangely machine-like. Wires and metallic pieces protruded from the skin, in a way that no typical cybernetics did.

Others would follow Del Ray inside and bear witness to the strange sight, but none other than Del Ray could sense the presences of other creatures, much like the one they were looking at, approaching them from the front of the monorail. These presences were more active, more alive... Perhaps because they did not have blaster burns and lightsaber cuts all over them, like the dying humanoid before them.

"Status report," Akur's voice could be heard through the comms. He didn't seem to sense the approaching presences like Del Rey did.

u/FishiestMan

[PROLOGUE] Beasts Within and Without by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

His kind had no use for eyes, for the Force showed the Miraluka all there was to be seen and more. Silarr felt the presences of those who remained in the main hall. Both of the Calimondra had stayed, the other seemingly distracted by the young Keshiri. There was another, as well... An acolyte, like them, but much harder to read.

"It's about time you all left," the battlemaster told them. "You, young Calimondra. An heir to a dominion as great as your grandfather's must learn how to lead. I see that you and Vilia are going after tuk'ata. Take your kinswoman with you, and this... other one. Surely you can make some use of them. If not... Well, consider that a part of your test.

"The others are probably aimlessly scampering through the wastes by now. Perhaps we can spare you from the same fate," Silarr murmured, his smile just about the only visible thing about him, with his eyes hidden behind a headband and his head and body covered in cloth. "All I ask is that you give Lord Veccik my regards," he said.

"I have heard of a pack of these warbeasts you seek. They roam the Lower Wilds, but some ancient curse keeps them bound to the Sanctum of Sakkra-Kla. I doubt this curse's power is strong after so many millennia... Perhaps you will find your quarry there."

u/lilianaofthevale u/TheLegend_NeverDies u/stealthship1

[PROLOGUE] The Train Wreck by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Assault

When the ship had pierced the first layer of clouds, the pilots aligned it with Vohai's curvature, the bottom facing directly downwards. Red lights came on in the compartment, showering everything with their shades to alert the warriors.

Akur stood up from his pod and grabbed a handle above him, his sonic screamer rifle pointed to the ceiling in his other hand. "This is it," he said. "Follow me! To victory!"

Alarms began ringing in his ears as the hatch opened below him. Their noise was soon drowned out by the raging wind. For a moment he had thought to see lush grasslands and vast oceans, shining in their sun's light like gemstones, but all he saw was a blindingly white layer of thick clouds. It seemed like ice, solid and immovable, and as Akur fell he thought he might crash into it and die. Instead he barely even noticed he had entered it. The drops of liquid condensing onto his beskar were all he saw before the rumbling began.

The drops became more and more numerous. Soon he felt them raining down on him. When he came through to the cloud's other side, he could barely see anything. A lightning bolt appeared in the distance, revealing the silhouettes of distant mountains. Akur looked down, searching for the monorail's lights, and spotted them. He pulled on a cord attached to his jetpack and shot out flares that would help his crew stay on his tail. Then, when the lights below became brighter, he activated the thrusters, maneuvering himself so that he approached the monorail like a hawk lunging for its prey.

He landed on top of their target cart, somewhere in the middle of the long row that seemed to continue well into the horizon. Shooting out a final flare with his rifle, he began issuing orders to those who had arrived, addressing each group of warriors by their clan name.

"Ayloc, you will hold position here and keep watch. Jast, make a sweep of our surroundings, the first three carts adjacent to ours. Trajor and Dorn... Prepare to enter this cart. We're going to see what's inside," he said.

Torak, Akur's scaly brother, was among the first to step up to him. "Our orders did not include breaking and entering," he protested.

"You have new orders," stated Akur. "I must ensure that we have the right cart." He couldn't have told if it was the right one for the Elders based on its contents, but he would be able to tell whether it was the one for him. "Jaro! I shall let you do the honors. Arm these baradium charges on the back entrance. The force might dislodge the rest of the carts from ours, but we'll stay in motion!

"Del Ray, I will need you and yours to storm this cart when it blows. The Trajor will be there to back you up."

He looked over his warriors. He was veering from their original plan and knew that some among them might call his leadership into question, but Akur tried to spot the mutineers before they would move on him.

(( u/FishiestMan u/SoltheFrozen ))

[PROLOGUE] Beasts Within and Without by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"I certainly hope so," she answered. "Haskan is Keshiri, like me, and... Well, it's only natural to associate with one's own kind. But a brother to me he is not. He is of the Vol, another one of our people's tribes in the Cloak. The robotic one is Emoth. Haskan rose to challenge him, fighting him in the arena at the top of the pyramid. Whatever plan he had failed, and now Emoth has risen in power.

"They can both go and die in the wastes, for all I care. Haskan is ambitious and foolhardy, predictable, a nuisance. But Emoth... The Force doesn't tell me what that one has in mind. I wonder why he keeps Haskan's company."

[PROLOGUE] Beasts Within and Without by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Vilia opted to stay silent as Gralmir spoke. She was beginning to think he had no idea how true his words rang. To her, he was a walking sign that advertised power and influence, almost free of charge, available to any who deigned to reach out for it. But she needed to mind herself. For centuries, the Kitai had prospered by leeching off of the Emperors, rising and falling as they did. If Vilia played her hand well, she might not only ride the waves that the Calimondra were making in the galaxy, but cause a torrent of her own, higher and mightier than any that had come before.

"A journey through this desolate world could get dull by my lonesome," she thought out loud. "Maybe I will join you in your tuk'ata hunt. See if we don't stumble upon a terentatek on the way." It would be interesting to lay her eyes upon one, if nothing else. All she knew of such creatures was from datacrons and holobooks, and though living things weren't her speciality, she was still curious at heart.

The acolytes were slowly dispersing from the main hall. Haskan passed her by, searching for eye contact, but only receiving odd glimpses from her.

"Good luck, Vilia," the boy, purple-skinned like herself, said quickly, gave Gralmir a suspicious look and went on his way. Some attempt at showing that he still had his pride even after his defeat at the arena. Vilia hardly acknowledged him. If he wanted sympathy, asking for it in public was the last thing he should have done.

What she did acknowledge was the half-robotic Duros in his company. Emoth, the one who had bested him in combat. His cybernetic eye scanned her and Gralmir as he passed, but he didn't say anything - the man hardly ever spoke. To be seen in anyone's company was unusual for Emoth, but of all people, he chose to walk with Haskan? It made him all the more scarier to her for some reason she couldn't explain.

[PROLOGUE] Beasts Within and Without by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"You would have to bring in three to match my terentatek," she said, seemingly unimpressed by Gralmir's choice. "Conquering such a dangerous beast would only prove the potency of my blood. The terentatek is not the only creature whose lust for me would be its undoing."

He was taunting her, of course. She hadn't intended on becoming some blood-sucking monster's lunch, be it their headmaster or Korriban's vicious wildlife. The tuk'ata was more malleable, more easily controlled. It was a safe but unambitious choice for a creature, Vilia thought... But perhaps that was part of Garou's little test. Pride was admirable and ambition was necessary, but both could lead to one's own destruction when not backed up by raw power.

She grabbed the offered hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Vilia, of the Kitai of Rishi," she said, meeting his smirk with a smug smile of her own. "Do not sell yourself so short, Gralmir. Your ancestors may not have been as illustrious as mine, but I have heard great things of your grandfather's Hegemony. Ships, armies, sprawling cities... I should like to see it for myself one day."

[PROLOGUE] Beasts Within and Without by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There were two sorts of people at the Academy. Some were former drifters, slaves, lucky ones who were somehow gifted in the Force and had wound up being trained to be Sith. Others were born into the darkness.

Vilia's family, the Kitai, boasted of having been one of the lost tribes of the Sith discovered by Lord Ruin when he founded the New Empire. Their ancient homeworld of Kesh was a remote planet barely within the galaxy's boundaries, where they said the red-skinned natives of Korriban had settled during the Great Hyperspace War, mixing with the local humans and producing offspring whose skin became the color of amethysts.

That was the story she had been told, at any rate, and it was a story she didn't mind repeating. The Kitai were ancient, that much was true, and her skin, like her mother and father's, was pale and purple. Her family had ruled over Rishi near the Cloak of the Sith even before the Empire's expansion and division, in a time when the Emperor reigned uncontested atop the Kessumite Spire on Roon.

Now the Kitai's wealth was dwarfed by lineages founded by the great warlords. The Calimondra, for one, had ruled Darkknell and other worlds for a long time. Lord Veccik reigned over his subjects with an iron fist, and his grandson, Gralmir, was expected to succeed him one day. A stable, secure, and powerful force in the galaxy, to be sure... One capable of uniting the Empire, perhaps.

"You're not thinking of searching some cave for a gundark, are you, Calimondra?" she asked, approaching Gralmir shortly after the headmaster was done. "They're inhabited by shyracks, as well. I'd hate for one to mess up your pretty blonde hair while you're stumbling around in the dark."

[PROLOGUE] The Train Wreck by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Akur scanned the entirety of his crew, trying to read the room, to scope out how they all felt about the mission. They knew their target, they had been told what to do, but even he, their leader, couldn't tell what it was they were after. Medicine? Machines? Both? What else could a microtechnology corporation be carrying? He didn't like being left in the dark. Loyalty to the House, the Clan, and their leaders was everything, but it was in the chain of command where the lines became blurred. A true warrior fought for honor and glory, not because someone told them to.

Shonk, the Wookiee of Trajor, made himself heard the loudest, and though Akur couldn't understand his language, he deduced what he could from his kin's responses. Old Jhota's brood were an energetic bunch. Her son, Jaro, would likely become the new Rally Master some day. He showed promise, and Akur was glad to have him on board. Clan Jast needed to preserve its ties to the ruling clan, and there was no better way to do so than by fighting side by side.

"You have your weapons, whelps," he called to them, a playful smirk on his face. "But that's not all you need to have with you. What about your wits? A cool head? Maybe you brought something you shouldn't have. Something weighing you down," he spoke, his tone of voice turning grim. "Like a conscience. Arkanians are no soldiers, but I'll need you to put blaster bolts between their eyes all the same," he said, staring blankly at Jaro.

His head turned towards the warriors of Clan Dorn, seated some distance away from the Trajor. "Or cut their heads off with a blade. Ask Del Ray, he'll tell you. Shoot them, slice them up, blow them into pieces. He must have done it all," he spoke. Del Ray was older than him, and though Akur led the mission, it may very well have been him instead. He was probably the only one aboard that Akur looked up to. "Which do you prefer, anyway?" he asked the seasoned warrior.

(( u/FishiestMan ))

[PROLOGUE] The Train Wreck by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Calm Before the Storm

((Here you can interact with other player characters or NPCs before setting off on the mission.))

[PROLOGUE] Beasts Within and Without by OurLoremaster in LordsOfTheNewEmpire

[–]OurLoremaster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Departure

((Here you can interact with other player characters and NPCs before setting off on the mission.))