On a shuttle in hyperspace, the mission to infiltrate the Imperial Remnant capital of Bastion was finally underway. "So we all remember the plan? We get in; steal any data worth risking our hides over. Get out." Gcarin said impatiently, Chewbacca roared back. "Yes I know I've covered it a hundred times! But we put so much time in getting the personnel and equipment. Not to mention THWARTING A FIRST ORDER RAID ON CORUSCANT... sorry. But after all this time, I really... REALLY want to give the First Order a proper kick in the pants. And I'm more then certain that you'd all like to get some blood from the First Order." Gcarin said.
"Your not wrong Gcarin. But you must be careful of your anger. We can only hazard to guess at what could be on Bastion, and the last thing we need. Is some hothead itching for a fight we don't need to fight." Luke said.
"Does that actually make sense to you?" Finn asked of Rey, who merely shrugged her shoulders.
"R2? Are we near to dropping out of hyperspace?" Luke asked of his faithful astromech droid. R2 beeped in response.
"Really R2-D2, we're already there? I thought we'd be in hyperspace longer. Regardless, Chewbacca! Get ready to drop out, and raise the cloaking device. With any luck, P'dis and her team have already taken out the scanning equipment." Gcarin said as the shuttle exited hyperspace over Bastion.
The shuttle flew in a casual manner onto the planet's surface, landing on the outskirts of Bastion's capital city. "So the databanks we're looking for should be inside the city?" Rey asked.
"It should be. We keep to the shadows, and try not to draw attention to ourselves... so I'm sorry to say. Chewbacca, stay behind and guard the shuttle." Gcarin said, Chewbacca roared in objection.
"No Chewie he's right. A Wookie not in bondage on this planet would draw attention. Besides, you're more than a match for any Storm Trooper that could come snooping around." Luke reasoned, Chewbacca calmed down as our heroes departed the shuttle.
They made their way through the alley ways and streets towards the central government building. "So... how'd your date go last night?" A storm trooper asked his squad mate.
"Could have gone a whole lot better... trust me. Never go on a blind date." The second storm trooper said.
"How you mean?" The first storm trooper asked.
"Well... she turned out to be a Clawdite." The second storm trooper said.
"Well that's embarrassing." The first storm trooper said.
"Well it's not that. It's just... she went nuts when I told her I was a storm trooper. Changed into a Talz and tried to strangle me." The second storm trooper said.
"Ouch... can't say I blame her. This armor doesn't exactly inspire the safety and order the old propaganda holos make it out to be, especially with those First Order nuts running amok across the galaxy. To say nothing of that Starkiller Base they had." The first storm trooper said.
"Yeah... what is this galaxy coming to?" The second storm trooper asked.
"No idea, but here's me. Hoping that we at least get to see what it'll look like when things finally settle down." The first storm trooper said.
However, in the midst of their bantering, they didn't realize that our heroes were eavesdropping. "Well... I dare say we found a more subtle way of getting inside." Gcarin said as he put away the rocket launcher that he had initially planned to use to blow open the entrance.
"And how would using a rock or two to distract them not going to work?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, we're lost. What are you suggesting?" Finn asked.
"Well, I had the foresight to bring some Hologram Disguise Matrix's." Gcarin said.
"And the reason these weren't plan A?" Rey asked. "Well I was planning to use them to more easily infiltrate the compound when we got inside. Maybe misdirect any Imperials that investigate the uproar... but a storm trooper or two that seem to have more brain then the average bucket head. No offence Finn." Gcarin said.
"Are you going somewhere with this?" Finn asked.
Within the next minute, Rey, disguised as a 'concerned citizen' led the two storm troopers off, and knocked them unconscious with her deactivated lightsaber. "We're in." Gcarin said as he disguised himself, Fin, Rey and R2-D2 as storm troopers and a newer model Imperial astromech droid. And they entered the building.
"Access the buildings computers." Rey said to R2 as they entered the buildings main computer room.
"So far so good, no major screw ups so far, and there aren't any First Order personnel that we've seen." Gcarin said as R2 hacked into the systems.
"Still, we should keep up the charade. No telling what could happen... R2 you did disengage the monitoring equipment right?" Luke asked, R2 beeped in confirmation to his old friend.
"Oh thank the Force... I was getting anxious that we'd been found out." Finn said.
"Agreed... think they'll notice that the guards were lured off and never came back... or wonder why a new squad of storm troopers and a droid entered as we did?" Rey said.
"If anyone says 'I have a bad feeling about this'. Or anything like that, I will-"
"Excuse me, but who are you?" A storm trooper said from outside of the room.
"Someone stall!" Gcarin said as Rey hastily left the room to meet with the storm trooper.
"What do you want?" Rey asked.
"Yeah, we found Titus and Dronicus outside. They said they were knocked out by a concerned citizen with some kind of bow staff. So I need to check the security room to make sure that nobody sneaked in while they were out." The storm trooper said.
"Well it's all fine... everything's okay. How are you?" Rey said.
"I'd be feel better if I knew for certain there weren't infiltrators in the capital building." The storm trooper said agitated.
"Well... you can't come in. We're... having the room swept for... womprats!" Rey said.
"Womprats?... the harmless little rodents from Tatooine?" The storm trooper said in disbelief.
"Yes! Big ones! At least the size of nexu's!" Rey said.
"... I don't believe you. I don't believe that womprats of unusual size got into inside of one of the most secure building on Bastion." The storm trooper said as he forced his way past Rey.
"Hello there." Luke said to the storm trooper.
"Okay, what is really going on in here? And does it actually have anything to do with womprats, or any other pests for that matter?" The storm trooper said impatiently.
"That's none of your concern." Gcarin said harshly.
"On the contrary, it is my concern. So either let me access the security feeds, or I'm going to report you to-"
The storm trooper was cut off as Gcarin as punched him into a wall, and held him up by the throat. "Well... looks like I'll have to make a deal." Gcarin as his holo-disguise vanished.
"Well... poodoo." The storm trooper said in resignation.
"So you know who I am?" Gcarin asked.
"Yeah, you're that Autarch guy, leader of the Phoenix Legion. Guys talk about you a lot." The storm trooper said.
"And would you be open to a simple deal?" Gcarin asked.
"That depends, how simple of a deal are we talking about?" The storm trooper asked.
"You tell no-one that we were here. And I allow you to live." Gcarin said.
"Gcarin!" Luke said.
"Alright fine, you tell no-one that we were here. And we won't take you prisoner to work hard labor in the C'hol system." Gcarin said.
"And what exactly are you looking for?" The storm trooper asked.
"Files on anything and everything regarding the First Orders plans, literally everything that there currently working on." Gcarin said.
"And you figured that they would keep the Remnant abreast of whatever nefarious schemes they'd be up to?" The storm trooper asked.
"... You are surprisingly calm about this. But yes, yes I figured that the First Order would keep the Remnant notified." Gcarin said.
"Not a bad idea... but nobody here even knew about Starkiller till it destroyed the Hosnian system. Wouldn't surprise me either way franl;y." The storm trooper said. R2 then beeped excitedly.
"You got the files?" Luke asked, R2 then beeped in confirmation.
"You got ALL the files?! Can you even still handle files like that?" Luke asked, R2 then beeped in clarification.
"Oh, just files marked from the First Order. And you're right, if you can handle fifty year old military data from the Clones Wars. You can handle, what are effectively memos." Luke said.
"Now... we were never here. Come! We've got to get P'dis and her team!" Gcarin said as he and the others left the room in a hurry.
"Well... got to cover my part in this." The storm trooper said as he went about deleting the security footage.
XXXX
Later on, on of Bastion's orbiting facility's. Our heroes were hastily extracting P'dis and her team from the station. "So you were a droid this whole time?" Rey asked of P'dis, who had a number of internal components exposed from battle damage.
"I will answer your questions on the matter when we're not being shot at. For now, just focus on getting us out alive!" P'dis said in annoyance. "
You did remember to plant the bombs in the stations core right?" Finn asked as he dogged a volley of blaster shots.
"Aye, it was the first thing we did after we got on-board... and the bombs are set to blow in a few minutes." P'dis said as she fired back.
Eventually our heroes plowed their way to the shuttles. Escaping right as the bomb went off, destroying the space station. "I hope you had an easier time on the surface." P'dis said over a comm.
"We did... in fact we didn't kill anyone. Worse that happened was Gcarin threatening a storm trooper." Rey said, P'dis looked annoyed.
"Seriously?" P'dis asked in disbelief.
"Yep, knocked out two storm troopers, and convinced a third to look the other way. No one dead and we got what we came for." Gcarin said.
"Lucky you." P'dis said sardonically.
"Not luck P'dis, the Force was with our mission. Now let's get back to C'hol Palantine and get those files decoded and red." Gcarin said.
XXXX
Later on, on C'hol Palantine. The files we're being decoded. "So what have we got so far?" Gcarin asked as he met up with Padme and Jorma as they did their job.
"It seems that the First Order is interested in getting their hands on old Sith and Jedi artifacts. Not particularly surprising." Padme said.
"But what is surprising is where they are looking. Not amidst the tombs of Moriban, or the swirling maelstroms of sand and dust of Abbadonia, or even the ancient battlegrounds of Malachor." Jorma said.
"Well that eliminates three obvious possibilities. So where are they looking?" Gcarin said.
"The planet doesn't have a name. None that the files say, but it does show the planets coordinates." Padme said as she gave Gcarin a copy of the coordinates.
"Do the files say anything else? What specifically there looking for? Who's there?" Gcarin asked.
"They didn't say, but still. Whatever the First Order has found, it can't be good. Or at the very least, it can't fall into their hands." Padme said.
"I'll have my fleet ready within the day, and see to this... archaeology personally." Gcarin said as he left the room.
"Is it me, or does he seem to lose his mind day by day?" Jorma asked.
"No... No it's not just you. Can't say I blame him. You know as well as I and everyone else that he's been under this kind of stress since he was born. I'd go on, but we have some work to do." Padme said as she and Jorma returned to decoding the First Order files.
XXXX
A week later, Gcarin was on-board his flagship alongside Harq Lu and Barriss. "Barriss, can you sense what's down there?" Gcarin asked.
"I'm not certain... the dark side has clouded this world. I can sense malevolence... and one that seems to be jumping at random across the planet." Barriss said.
"I see... de-cloak and begin the attack. I want to be down on the planet's surface, ruining their day within the hour." Gcarin said.
"It will be done." Harq Lu said.
XXXX
Down beneath the planet's surface, Appolyious and Commander Be'serk were walking down a large hallway. "Be'serk, it's rare for you to be so quiet. What troubles you my friend?" Appolyious asked.
"It is not my place to speak." Be'serk said.
"It's also not your place to try to eat your foes like a feral nexu. That never stopped you. Speak freely." Appolyious said.
"Well... is it wise that we came here? We received the coordinates for this forgotten world from a relic sold to us by that deviant Tyber Zahn." Be'serk said.
"Yes, to be honest. It was a bargain compared to its proper worth. That holocron not only promised an army of the galaxies most powerful and loyal soldiers from the height of the Sith's power in the days of the Old Republic. But a champion of the dark side, with these assets, we'll have the means to crush the New Republic, and the Phoenix Legion beneath our boots." Appolyious said.
"But my lady, this place... it leaves me ill at ease." Be'serk said in an uncharacteristic show of fear.
"This place is soaked with the dark side. Your worry is neither unusual, nor unfounded. But we must be cautious none the less. They holocron spoke of a guardian, a Jedi that suffered some manner of strange temporal accident." Appolyious said.
"You talkin' about me love?" A woman said, inexplicably popping into existence. She was had dark skin, long black hair in a ponytail, blue eyes, a few cybernetic implants across her face, and she wore black and red cloths.
"Yes, you must be the Sundancer the holocron spoke of." Appolyious said sardonically.
"That I am love. Now you mind-" Then the Sundancer vanished.
"What the? - Ghosts I could handle without complaint! But this is a completely different ball park!" Be'serk said.
"Regardless, with any luck we'll find what we're looking for before we end up running into her again. In the meantime, we should watch our backs." Appolyious said.
"Admiral Holden to Appolyious, the Legion is here! I repeat the Legion is here!" Admiral Holden said over Appolyious's comm unit.
"Well, our window of opportunity has been cut in half, move!" Appolyious said as she, Be'serk and a number of Storm Troopers ran into the compound.
XXXX
A number of Phoenix Legion dropships sped into the atmosphere around the Imperial camp. "If it's in Storm Trooper armor, kill it. Take anything that looks valuable and burn everything else!" Gcarin said as he exited the dropship with his Padawan and sister behind him. Eventually they and a small team of Phoenix Legionaries entered the ancient building.
"-the caval... again! Really?!" The Sundancer said in frustration.
"Barriss, is she the weird jumping you sensed from orbit?" Gcarin asked.
"Yes... undoubtedly." Barriss said in awe.
"Look you, are you here to help me or aren't you?" The Sundancer asked impatiently.
"Yes, do you know which way our enemies went?" Gcarin asked.
"There inside, trying to find Darth Coorva's Tomb, and the army that was buried with her!" The Sundancer said as she vanished.
"Well... does anyone know anything about a Darth Coorva?" Gcarin asked.
"She was a Sith Assassin from the height of the ancient Sith Empire. Said to be as cunning as she was ruthless." Barriss said.
"And you knew this off hand?" Gcarin asked of his green skinned sister.
"Oh no, it was among the notes our men found while looking through the Imperial camp." Barriss said.
"Are there any notes about... well her?" Gcarin asked.
"Not enough to satisfy your curiosity I'm afraid brother Gcarin." Barriss said in apology.
"We move in, secure the tomb of this Darth Coorva, and make certain the Imperial's don't awake her army... assuming that 'tomb' isn't some kind of euphemism." Gcarin said.
XXXX
"So... this place really is a tomb?" Be'serk asked as he and Appolyious stood before Darth Coorva's sarcophagus.
"Well... there must be some way to harness the power of this place. I'm not returning to Snoke empty handed!" Appolyious said unaware that the sarcophagus moved slightly, a figure inside trying to break free.
"But you can't restore life to the dead, especially someone who's been dead for at least thirty-five hundred years!" Be'serk said.
"I know! But with the dark side at our command, there has to be a way!" Appolyious said.
Then the sarcophagus's lid flew off, and out stepped a Sith Pureblood women, or at least the husk of a Sith Pureblood women. "Power... I crave the power!" She said as she stood up from her resting place.
"Well... you must be Darth Coorva?" Appolyious said, unperturbed by the undead Sith Lord.
"Be silent whelp! Where is the power that awoke me?" Darth Coorva demanded as she ignited her double bladed lightsaber.
"... Gcarin, it has be his raw power that has awoken you. Not sure how, but he must be here." Appolyious said.
"Then I have my quarry!" Darth Coorva said as she offhandedly deflected a hit from the Sundancers lightsaber from behind.
"Ah Diiran, my old… dear friend." Darth Coorva said condescendingly.
"Get. Back. In. Your. Sarcophagus!-" Diiran said as she vanished again.
"Some guardian, can't even be around long enough to make a proper killing blow." Be'serk said.
"Oh, I think I'm going to LOVE you." Darth Coorva said flirtatiously.
"One thing at a time, isn't there an army down here?" Appolyious asked.
"Be patient... I can tell that we will not recover them right away. We find a way off this planet, and then we wait to return and recover my legions." Darth Coorva said.
XXXX
"So the First Order has taken to grave robing." Harq Lu said as she and the others arrived at the broken open sarcophagus.
"Tomb raiding Harq, if it was just a marked hole in the ground, then it would be common grave robing. As it stands, we're in a tomb. So its tomb raiding that they've done." Gcarin said at length.
"This is no time for semantics brother. This sarcophagus was clearly opened from the inside. So it's likely that the malevolent presence I sensed from orbit has broken free." Barriss surmised.
"Yes! That's exactly what's happened! Those... those people found her! They didn't awake her. Your presence here actually did that. But Darth Coorva, is dangerous! Even for Sith!" Diiran said.
"Then I for say we put this hellspawn out of her misery. Are you with me on this?!" Gcarin said, his entire squad responded in agreement.
"That's good but there's something about Darth Coorva you don't know! She-" Diiran then vanished again.
"... If we end up recruiting her, I'm putting Padme and Jorma to figure out how to control that. Or cure it; I could work with either one really." Gcarin said.
Then without warning, Darth Coorva bolted through the shadows, grabbing Barriss. "WHAT THE, MEN! BRING THAT SITH FILTH TO HER KNEE'S!" Gcarin shouted as he saw Darth Coorva flee through the shadows of her tomb. Eventually she and the surviving First Order Storm Troopers boarded a shuttle to flee from the unnamed planet. "Destroy that shuttle!" Gcarin said as the shuttle took off... with Appolyious standing in the back.
"So... this is how I get beneath your skin." Appolyious said, sencing Gcarin's anger.
"So we have one of the Autarch's siblings as a hostage. What do we do with her?" Be'serk asked.
"It's been centuries since any have stumbled on my tomb... I need a good drink." Darth Coorva said as she licked her lips as she drew a knife, removed Barriss's lightsaber from her person. Then she began to draw blood... to drink.
"Admiral Holden! We have only part of the tombs valuables. Fall back to the rally point; I'll meet up with you later on." Appolyious said as the First Order ship hit a hasty retreat into hyperspace as the shuttle left as well.
"Gcarin... I am beyond sorry that she took your sister." Diiran said apologetically.
"Master, we must move on." Harq Luu said, trying to reason with her enraged master.
"Appolyious... there will be blood for this insult." Gcarin said.
"And I will help you. My duty was to keep Coorva and her army from escaping this world." Diiran said.
"Then come if you are able. We must return to C'hol to regroup, and plan our next move. Harq, keep this planet within our objectives. We haven't actually found the army that's buried here, and when they inevitably return. The last thing we need is an army of hardened Sith soldiers from the ancient galaxy!" Gcarin said as his forces departed the planet.
"So... the Galactic Republic still around?" Diiran asked.
"We'll explain when we get to C'hol Palantine. For now just try not to temporally fluctuate." Harq said.
