Hello everyone! Here is chapter twenty-eight, resuming from the arrival on Dromund Kaas. Descriptions of Dromund Kaas are based off of Star Wars: The Old Republic - well, my memory of it anyway - with some minor artistic liberties taken.
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act III.
The Hunters and The Hunted.
Chapter XXVIII.
The Ruins of The Capital City.
There aren't many situations that a Jedi would feel truly useless in, whether as a peacekeeper, a warrior, a mediator, or some other kind of active figure, but I must admit, I don't think the Jedi Council would have ever imagined me in my current position. Why was that? Well, first of all, I was on the former capital world of the Sith, which was already a pretty big red flag for the Jedi. Second of all, I'm in a red leather jacket, a tank top, black tights, and knee high boots, hanging on a rope off the side of a building, rappelling down to an old electrical panel tied to the city's power grid. Finally, as if all of that wasn't questionable enough, I'm doing all of this to help a Sith Grand Duchy rebuild and resettle on this ancient planet. Bizarre circumstances, I know, but here I am, with Schweva standing above me, holding the rope - well, the rope had one end tied to an old light pole and the other end tied around my waist, but the Chiss was standing up there helping me, ready to grab the rope if anything went wrong.
I repelled down and reached the panel, holding onto the wall with my legs as I let go of the rope, needing both hands for this. I used my left hand to open the panel, finding the old, depleted power core from thousands of years ago. I one-handedly disconnected a few large, industrial grade wires and then removed the power core from the frame, before holding onto it with the Force and levitating it up to Schweva. I suppose that, if I was irresponsible, I could have just let it fall to the ground, but, honestly, I don't think it's particularly safe to let an industrial grade battery fall to the ground. In any case, once Schweva grabbed the depleted power core, I turned my attention to the thing I was holding in my right hand.
The useful thing of Taaszon being an offshoot of the Sith Empire is that there are technological similarities so, while this world has been abandoned, Taaszon's technology has developed from this point, therefore, while higher capacity and more efficient, the modern power cores are still compatible with this Dromund Kaas power grid. This was similar, in many ways, to how some of the infrastructure on Coruscant, particularly on the lower levels, was tens of thousands of years old, but still in use because replacing it would be massively expensive and time consuming, so, even in the heart of the Republic, technology has to comply to these thousands of years old standards. So, because it's going to work, I transferred the power core from my right hand to my left, before slotting it into the frame. I reattached each of the wires then turned a pair of red levers on the power core, one on the top and one on the bottom of the battery. Once the power core was locked in and prepared to transfer power, I followed Phanza's instructions and punched in a sequence of keys on a maintenance keyboard on the panel. I heard the panel fire up and watched electricity begin flowing from the battery out to the panel and this part of the Kaas City power grid. I then grabbed back onto the rope and looked up at Schweva, hoping this worked.
"Alright, the lights are working, come on up!" my fellow apprentice called out, her words confirmed as I saw the light pole come to light, a white light activating over the main square of Kaas City. One more small section of the city was operational, and, piece by piece, we were beginning to make Kaas City a viable place to live once again. So, walking my legs up the walk and pulling myself up by the rope, I started working my way back up as Schweva helped pull me up to the surface. I yelped and suffered a bit of a moment as my left leg tried to find a footing before slipping on the wet metal - it was still raining here on Dromund Kaas, in fact, it never seemed to have stopped raining since we've gotten here - but, thanks to the rope and Schweva, plus my other leg holding on, I was safe. I slowly found my footing again and kept climbing up, now somewhat more cautious, given that I've already had a slip over what seemed to be an endless abyss.
Between this main square of the city and the Citadel on the other side, there was a massive abyss, one that I couldn't see the bottom of. I'm sure the ground was somewhere down there, perhaps paved, perhaps wild jungle, but I couldn't see it from up here, the ground obstructed by deep, gray fog. I tried not to look down, still not having the confidence and skill of Phanza to levitate by my own power, so, instead, I kept walking up the wall, eventually reaching a high level near the surface. I straightened up and grabbed the ground, pulling myself up, and then, finally, I reached up to the top of the railing over the edge of the square, pulling myself up. At the same time, Schweva came over and grabbed me under the shoulder, helping pull me over the railing and getting down to real, flat ground. Well, real, flat metal surface somewhere high above the actual ground level, which seemed to be the bottom of the abyss. Then again, the surface level of the jungle was just as high as the surface level of the city, so perhaps this abyss was a canyon before the city was built. I was happy on the ground now and, after taking a moment to get my bearings, I turned to Schweva.
"Come on, you're going to repel down on the next one." I replied, untying myself and having Schweva be the one to work her way down next. I handed the rope over to her and untied it from the lamp post, letting her coil it into a rope, before we both walked over to grab another power core. A set of power cores, brought in from the Silent Fleets on hoverlifts, was placed in the center of the square, allowing us to grab them as we distributed them across the city, where they were needed. We were just two of many people working around the city, trying to apply power to the important parts of the city. We weren't going to get the whole city operational immediately, we didn't have the people to do that, and we didn't have the population to require it, thus, we were working on getting a few relevant sections of the city under power. Phanza and the Dark Council agreed the area around the main square, the areas between the main square and the Silent Fleet landing zone, and at least the center of the Citadel, are to be electrified and settled for our use. Thus, Schweva and I were working to accomplish just that.
Schwevaa'aphere'enda was also not dressed in her usual robes, wearing a more practical outfit instead. Schweva was dressed in a black, belted jacket, matching tights, and black leather boots, trimmed in a thin red stripe, which went up to her thigh. It was, admittedly, a rather monochrome outfit, but it was something other than Sith robes, and, besides, I don't think any of us are really in a position to make fashion choices right now. I also shouldn't be concerned about such things, considering that I was a former Jedi, so I decided to just let that be. Schweva and I were, then, just walking towards the floating carts carrying the batteries, about to install another power core when I saw HK-107 approaching us, the assassin droid's metal feet mechanically marching across the metal ground. I'm not sure how stealthy that was, but I do think it was part of his functionality as an assassin droid, a menacing walk to instill fear in his targets before he killed them. I'm sure he could walk silently, I've heard him do it before, but he was choosing not to, likely part of HK's sadistic personality.
"Instruction: Lady Attam has instructed you meatbags to meet her in the Expansion District." HK-107 instructed, Schweva and I looked at each other, both hoping that the other knew where that was, but, when neither of us had the answer, we turned back to the HK droid. The assassin droid wasn't exactly expressive, he couldn't be, but he somehow still managed to look exasperated, which wasn't exactly helped by him using that exact word in his peculiar and distinctive speech pattern "Exasperated Declaration: Very well, follow me, uneducated meaty filth."
Ignoring HK's grumbled - which weren't really grumbled considering he couldn't do so as a robot - comments, Schweva and I followed him as he led us to the west side of the city. Assuming the Citadel to be north, since I really wasn't sure how to orient myself on this world, the Silent Fleet was to the southwest, while HK was taking us true west. This part of the city wasn't being cleaned up or repaired in the same way that the part of the city we were using was, so the effects of three to four thousand years of erosion and decay were taking place. As we got further out, crossing a bridge at one point and then taking a tall staircase over a natural ridgeline, it became apparent that parts of the city were never completed. Heavy machinery and construction supplies were a tell, but the infrastructure declined and the amount of building soon declined as well. At one point, somewhere past the ridgeline, the paved road even disappeared, and I finally saw three female Sith standing next to a metal gate, likely what was supposed to be the edge of the city at one point, as wild jungle extended beyond this point.
"Schweva, Zaliza, you remember Darth Rezivara and Inquisitor Baracyn," Phanza introduced everyone, gesturing to the bald, ivory-skinned Rattataki and the red and black skinned Zabrak woman, the Sith Assassins. Phanza was dressed in robes, a purple set with her red-skinned waist, arms, and cleavage exposed, evidently unbothered by the rain and the cold, her tattooed head-tails unprotected as well as four of them hang out over her front, unprotected by her hood. Rezivara was similarly dressed, albeit in a black and gray set of robes with red trim, while Baracyn was somewhat more covered up, the Zabrak wearing black robes without a hood. Baracyn's sharp, bone-colored horns were open to the air as they stuck out from above her black hair. Schweva and I both bowed as we came up to the group, both playing the role of the proper apprentices, and neither of us wanting to let the other stand out as better.
"Apprentices," Rezivara spoke, addressing the two of us, plus Baracyn, her own apprentice "When the Sith first came to Dromund Kaas, thousands of years prior to even the exodus, a Sith Temple was built. Deep in the jungle, this Sith Temple was, at one point, the site of horrific Dark Side ritual. The Sith Emperor of that time summoned all his enemies to the temple and, once they were here, he siphoned their power through the Force and drained their bodies, killing thousands of them. This place was henceforth known as the Dark Temple, known as a place of insanity, darkness, and even possession from the wild Force Ghosts left behind from the slaughter of the Sith by the ancient Emperor. Now, we are standing just a few miles from that dark place."
"We cannot expose our own people to that kind of darkness, they aren't used to it, but, on the other hand, I don't trust the other Dark Councilors with this information. Right now, the existence of the Dark Temple is a secret known only to the six of us, and I want to keep it that way. So, the few of us are going to need to get to the Dark Temple and seal it ourselves, protecting us from the evils inside of it." Phanza explained, giving us a very reasonable purpose out here. I could also agree with her decision to keep this operation small, after all, who knows what Darth Mesiphis, Darth Xelecon, or Lord Korzytkos would do with this information? They could decide they wanted to use this place, strong in the Dark Side, for their own power and their own nefarious purposes. That being said, considering what Phanza and Rezivara have said about this place, it seemed a bit frightening to know that it would just be Phanza, Rezivara, Baracyn, Schweva, HK-107, and I going into that Temple, but I suppose this was a necessary evil. We could probably trust Yevenna with this as well, but, to be fair, she was still in the city, and Phanza seemed to imply there was a sense of urgency to this, like the longer we waited, the greater a chance someone would be driven insane by the Dark Side or her political rivals would learn about the location of the Dark Temple, thus, the six of us had to carry on alone.
"Tactical assessment: the top of this cliff face provides a view over the approach to the Dark Temple. Statement of Intent: I shall climb the cliff and provide sniper cover to you meatbags...and you too Master." HK announced before abruptly turning around, not waiting for permission as he began climbing up the cliff face, his metal hands and feet evidently not struggling to find traction. It was a bit hard to tell, considering her solid red eyes, but I imagined Schweva shot me an amused look as I watched him climb, comparing his ability to my earlier struggles on the building side. This moment didn't lost any longer though, because Phanza, Rezivara, and Baracyn hadn't stopped, and we were not about to be separated from our masters on the grounds of an ancient Sith Temple haunted with the spirits of long dead Sith. We quickly caught up with Phanza and I took the chance to take in my surroundings.
There was a little stream off to the left, and the ground on the banks was rather swampy as a result, meanwhile, on the right, the great stone architecture began. An old, somewhat crocked stone obelisk stood just to our right and, a few yards beyond that, the a stone wall. My eyes moved left along the length of the wall, seeing some strange writing I couldn't read on it - probably the very same Sith characters Phanza had once tried to teach me, before I denied her - but, then I saw a staircase, right where our path was leading to. This staircase would take us up to the temple grounds proper. There was another cliff on the opposite side, and, even from down here, I could see the top of the Sith Temple looming over this little valley. The Dark Temple was a steep pyramid build against the cliff face, with ornamental spikes rising towards the sky. It was an obviously evil, unwelcoming place and, well, we were about to walk right into it. Phanza, however, stopped to read them, and, as the Rattataki Rezivara stopped as well, I wondered if she could read the ancient Sith tongues as well.
"Here, the Sith Emperor gathered all who would oppose him, all who would use his name to damn him, and here, the Sith Emperor left alone. The Sith Emperor destroyed his enemies, siphoned their power, and bound their spirits to this place. The Sith Emperor, henceforth nameless, erected this temple on the site of the slaughter, to mark the spot where he rose to power and his Empire was truly born." Phanza read out, revealing the inscription of the Dark Temple, and giving an insight into the twisted mind of the Sith Emperor and the state he created in his image. An image which left me with an uncomfortable realization: Taaszon was an offshoot of that state. Phanza, either through our Force bond or her own intuition, seemed to sense my discomfort, so she started walking, moving us away from the inscription, and climbing the steps to the temple grounds, which honestly didn't do much to comfort me.
The Dark Temple was now fully in site, with a wide entrance way and, above that, a tall, rectangular tower, connected to the sloping wall behind it, further bringing grandeur to the entranceway and making us quake in comparison to the scale of the architecture of the old Sith Empire. The Jedi and the Republic were at war with this state once, a state which could produce that city and this temple, and we were barely even aware of what truly existed behind enemy lines. I am one of the first Jedi to see this place with my own eyes and, unless something radically changes, I may be the last. The Sith Empire was always stronger than we could have imagined and, even under Palpatine, they were strong enough to subvert and conquer the Republic from within. As I took in this temple, I couldn't shake the thought that the Sith had won, they had evaded us time and time again and been able to maintain far more strength than we could've possibly known. My eyes then trailed down to the bottom of the grounds, seeing that, as if the Temple itself wasn't enough, we still had another level of stairs to climb, one of two sets on either side of the compound. This place was massive, frighteningly so.
"How are we going to seal it?" Baracyn asked, the most senior of us three apprentices asking the question we were all thinking: how do we shut an entrance that large, and how do we do that in such a way to stop even the corruption of the Dark Side? Based on the inscription, the actual spirits were bound to the temple itself, but, based on what Phanza and Rezivara have said, the spirits have had the ability to influence and corrupt people beyond the actual temple grounds. How do we put an end to that? Is such a thing even possible? I didn't know, but, then again, I must accept there is a lot of things here that I don't know about. We're dealing with the Dark Side, we're coming intimately well educated in the ancient evils of the Sith Empire, and we're looking at a place where a Sith Emperor killed literally everyone who he perceived as a threat to him. This is not my area of expertise and, if anything, I should be thankful for that. This was, quite frankly, a type of evil, a manifestation of the Dark Side, that I didn't want to know about.
"Well, presumably what the Sith Emperor did was create a ward to keep the spirits bound to the Dark Temple, so, what we can do is create another ward which will also block them from using the Force beyond the entrance to the Dark Temple itself. It's not exactly going to be easy, but, considering the Sith Emperor's existing ward, and the fact that we have five Force users between us, I think we might just be able to accomplish it." Phanza explained, using the Force to effectively block out the Dark Side energy from leaving the Dark Temple grounds. That was another frightening revelation: the fact that the five of us might be as powerful as the one Sith Emperor of the ancient era. That means that this Sith Emperor from four thousand years ago was even more powerful than Palpatine. Phanza managed to hold her own against Darth Vader, I pushed him over the edge during the Battle of Taaszon, Schweva was powerful enough to train as both a Sith Sorceress and a Sith Marauder, and Rezivara and Baracyn were powerful enough that Phanza considered them her equals. We weren't insignificant Force users, I mean, I'm not saying I'm particularly strong or anything, but I don't think any Force user is more than five times as strong as I am.
"Very well, up the stairs." Rezivara replied, the tattooed Rattataki's voice indicating that she didn't want to be here any longer than she had to be. I could emphasize with that, thus, we walked up the stairs on the right side and emerged into the main courtyard before the temple. I took a tentative step forward, knowing that we had to get in position in front of the door at one point, but then, I heard a strange, grumbling sound in the distance. I instantly froze up, only managing to turn to Phanza, having no idea what I just did or what sound I even triggered, or even if it was my fault or merely an unfortunate coincidence. Phanza, unfortunately, didn't seem all that much more aware, but she wasn't frozen up, so, instead, what she did was scan the temple grounds, both in front of us and behind us, searching for threats. I relaxed, but only a bit, when Phanza identified no obvious threat, and watched as she changed tactics.
"HK, report in. We're hearing a strange sound, likely bestial - what do you see?" Phanza asked over the comlink, hoping that the assassin droid providing us sniper cover would have more context from his perch. I feared, for a moment, that the sound could have come from up there, because maybe some kind of wild, jungle beast, half monster, half product of the Dark Side, emerged from the green and ambushed HK, but he then answered over the com and that fear disappeared. It's strange that, by now, I even feel some sort of connection to the weird and abrasive assassin droid, a hunter-killer who I once would have thought of as an enemy of the Republic, a necessary evil to destroy, yet now, I worry about him. I suppose this change was a long time coming, as it was already during the Clone Wars when I started feeling guilty over killing the battle droids constantly, over and over again in these Outer Rim battles.
"Battlefield Observation: I have no visual on any creatures in your area. Thermal scan initiated. Scan Results: A large heat signature is stirring from within the walls of the Dark Temple. Observation: It appears to be heading in your direction. Happy hunting, Master." HK-107 reported, and, as the droid spoke, I heard rumbling footsteps break out, the sound of a hulking monstrosity of a creature advancing through the temple, coming out to confront the perceived intruders on its territories. As it got closer and closer, I realized that this had to be something the size of a rancor, if not bigger. On top of that, based on everything else that was becoming apparent on Dromund Kaas, this was some sort of Sithspawn as well, a creation of Sith Alchemy. Phanza gave silent hand signals, instructing us to fan out and take defensive positions as I heard a crashing sound from inside the Dark Temple. I finally snapped out of my shock and took cover behind the remains of a stone pylon, hearing the titanic creature stumble down the interior steps, about to emerge out into the courtyard.
"By the Force..." I whispered in shock, seeing the massive, gray, black, and brown creature emerge from the Dark Temple. A monster with a giant, spiky head, small eyes beneath an armored brow, and a wide maw of deadly sharp teeth revealing itself. The monster sniffed the air before roaring out, its voice echoing across the valley, shaking us to our bones. I turned my attention then to the monster's stumpy legs and its long, spiky arms, culminating in massive, deadly claws, claws large enough that it seemed like the beast could eviscerate all five of us with one hand. This wasn't a rancor, oh no, this was something else, something, I expected, that was far, far worse. The roar itself seemed to spread like a shockwave, because, right after I heard the sounds, I felt my body quake with fear, my fingers twitched, and I felt a wave of nausea hit my stomach, all no doubt a result of this monster. This monster was to cripple its enemies with fear, terror, and disgust, leaving them helpless as the beast devoured them. It was as much as an ancient Sith killing machine as it was a beast.
The beast lumbered forward and grabbed two stone pillars with its claws, pulling itself forward and then looking more closely, watching for any sign of movement across the Dark Temple grounds. The beast smelled us, it knew that we were here and, depending on how aware the beast was of its Force-sensitive, it may even be aware of the fact that it affected us with its Force-attuned roar. The five of us stayed perfectly still behind these pillars at the opposite end of the main courtyard, even Rezivara and Baracyn because, while they did have the ability to make themselves invisible, they weren't sure if they could hide from the beast. Force cloaking made them invisible to eyesight and from the Force, but the beast seems to have a powerful sense of smell as well. In short, even the stealthy Sith Assassins didn't want to risk it with this kind of beast up against us. Even the bloodthirsty HK-107 didn't risk shooting this beast, both because he didn't want to risk exposing us and because he knew his sniper would be nothing more than an annoyance to this kind of Sithspawn.
"Phanza...what is that?" I asked through our mental bond, hoping that my Master would have an answer. I knew that it was infantile, the scared child asking someone who is allegedly older and wiser for help, effectively passing responsibility to someone else, and leaving myself vulnerable in exchange, but it was the only thing that I could think of right now. Phanza was a well experienced, read, and trained Sith, she might even know exactly what we're facing and how to deal with it, but I don't know what this is or how to kill it, if such a thing is even possible. Phanza might know, I hoped that she knew, because, well, if she didn't, then...how were we going to win this battle? The beast seems linked to the Dark Temple someone, so we would probably be fine if we fled this place forever, but then, we would have to leave the Dark Temple open and remain vulnerable to the Dark Side corruption. It was a lose/lose situation, and perhaps we should have accepted this, because this is what it's like on a Dark Side planet, evil reigns supreme no matter what and there is never a good option.
"That...that is a Terentatek, the greatest of Sith beasts. They're supposed to be extinct." Phanza answered, her mental tone conveying shock and panic, showing both that she did not expect this, and that she was just as terrified as I was. The greatest of Sith beasts...I can't imagine that Phanza uses that particular title lightly, so this must be an incredibly fearsome monstrosity. Then she said that they're supposed to be extinct. One on hand, that meant that, at very least, it's possible to actually kill these things. On the other hand, it means that someone, at some point, tried killing off all of the Terentatek and failed, now we were left to deal with the survivor...of, Force forbid, survivors.
"Tactical Assessment: Master, I recommend reaching a safe distance and calling in a missile barrage from the Silent Fleet. Frank Statement: The beast will skewer you meatbags with ease if you try fighting it head on." HK offered up. I hated to admit it, but HK's idea is sounding pretty good right now, having the Silent Fleet blanked this courtyard with artillery seems significantly more likely to hurt this beast than anything we could do on the ground here. I looked over at our allies, seeing Schweva clinging to the stone pillar and breathing erratically, clearly just as affected by the beast as the rest of us, if not more so, and having no answer as to how to even begin fighting it. Then I looked over to the Rattataki Darth, Rezivara herself looked tense, not daring to move a muscle. I would imagine that Rezivara, next to Phanza, knows the most about the Terentatek, and she knows that we are justifiably scared of it. Baracyn, meanwhile, seemed to be glancing at her master and at Phanza, seemingly more shaken up by how worried they were than at the actual threat itself. I could honestly understand that though, if Phanza, the woman who fought against Darth Vader and lived, was scared of this, than what chance did common apprentices like she or I have?
"Negative HK, we cannot risk an artillery barrage destroying the Dark Temple and leaving the spirits free." Phanza whispered in reply, trying not to get the beast's attention, but it was too late. I froze as I saw the beast perk up, evidently having advanced hearing as well, and I saw the spiky beast's eyes zero-in on exactly the pillar Phanza was standing behind. Our goal was to contain the spirits and we couldn't do that with an artillery strike but, now that we were caught by the Terentatek, we had no choice by to fight. Thus, five Force users and a distant sniper faced off against one of the most fearsome and infamous beasts in the galaxy. The Terentatek, the beast among beasts in the Sith world.
Phanza, seeing she was exposed, strolled out from behind the pillar. Lady Attam, in her skin-showing purple robe displaying her red skin and ancient Kallig tattoos, stood confidently in the face of the greatest monster the Sith world had ever seen. Not only that, but I watched as Phanza yelled at it, getting its attention and making a powerful boast about the Line of Kallig as a whole.
"I do not fear you beast! My name is Phanza Attam, Grand Duchess of Taaszon, Mistress of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, and daughter of the Line of Kallig! Kallig, who, with the Dashade assassin Khem Val, slayed a Terentatek on Korriban when she was only an acolyte! Your kind holds nothing against our ancient lineage!" Phanza cried out while summoning red lightning at her fingertips, calling out her own boasts, and the boasts of Darth Imperius, the progenitor of the Line of Kallig. Kallig killed one of these beasts when she was only a Sith Acolyte, barely trained from being a Twi'lek slave in the pits of the Sith Empire, and she killed one of these things. That prompted Schweva and I to look at one another and nod, stepping out from behind the stones and standing side-by-side with Phanza. We were of the Line of Kallig, together, we could do what Darth Imperius had done.
The beast growled and raised its claw, likely wanting to swing at Phanza with it. I watched as Phanza rose her hand in turn and shot Force Lightning at the beast, which didn't do much to hurt it, as it seemed to be immune or at least resistant to the Force, but at least the impact of the red lightning against its claw halted the beast's movement. Not apparently one for honor, the Terentatek merely stomped, shaking the ground and upsetting Phanza's balance, before hitting her with back of the other claw. I watched as Phanza flew back and made impact with the stone pillar behind her, getting worried for a moment. I was, however, relieved to hear her grumble, meaning that she was at least conscious. I would check up on her once the very obvious threat in front of us was dealt with. I ignited my purple and black lightsaber, drawing the beast's attention, and decided to try and attack its stomach, hoping it was a weak point.
I ran towards the beast, well aware of its large claws and they risk they posed, so, as soon as I heard him swing it, I dropped to the ground, letting my momentum and the slick pavement carry me forward. I dropped to the ground watching the beast's claw swing clean over me, and I knew that I had an opening now, and I knew that I had to take the opportunity. I threw the Force behind me, lifting me back up, my feet finding the ground, and, using the coming momentum of my slide and my Force-assisted rise, I threw my lightsaber against the Terentatek's stomach. The lightsaber made contact and it almost seemed to spark against the beast's stomach as it bounced off, albeit not entirely harmless, leaving a scorch mark and causing the monster to cry out, but it was not nearly as successful as I was hoping. Not only that, but now, I was basically just beneath a horrible Sith monster.
"Zaliza! Go left!" Schweva called out. Not exactly being in a position to question this order, I dashed directly to the left, clearing the beast's range of motion, and only then did I turned around to see its right arm being held down my Schweva's lightwhip. The blue and black whip was wrapped around its wrist and Phanza was needing to use the Force to amplify her strength, even then, as soon as I was clear, I watched Phanza deactivate her weapon and run for cover, exhausted by grappling with a massive Sithspawn many times her size. I hoped that, just maybe, the lightwhip would have down some lasting damage to the monster, but, as it slammed its right hand down on the ground and shook the earth, the Terentatek seemed completely unaffected. There was definitely a scorched burn on its wrist, and it even seemed pretty deep in some places, but the depth of the injury didn't seem to be slowing down the beast at all. This was going to be a long fight.
The Force wasn't having much of an effect on this thing, but, nevertheless, Inquisitor Baracyn tried anyway. I watched as the senior-most apprentice summoned a Force Storm, releasing lightning into the air and bringing it down on the Terentatek, getting a growl in response. Perhaps it really was a growl of pain, or maybe just an angry growl in response to such an attack, but, whatever it was, it quickly became apparent that the Inquisitor was only playing the role of the direction. Once Baracyn's lightning subsided, I watch Rezivara uncloak and the Rattataki uncloaked right in front of it, striking at its stomach with her double-bladed lightsaber, hoping that she could take advantage of the wound I already put on it. Rezivara attacked, scoring a few hits in rapid succession, but she didn't seem to actually be penetrating its tough hide, and the monster was about tor respond. I saw the beast swing its right claw again.
Fortunately, this was all part of Rezivara's plan. The Sith Assassin cloaked again and the Terentatek lost track of her, disappearing from sight and moving somewhere, all the while the beast kept swinging, hoping its claw would find Rezivara before its eyes did. The Terentatek swung all the way until its own claw hit its stuck, clawing into its own skin with disastrous results. The beast stood straight and howled in pain, further revealing its stomach, and just how deeply its own claws had penetrated. For a moment, perhaps a naive one on my part, I hoped that maybe, just maybe, this Sith creation could have just killed itself, but then, I saw an even more horrifying sight. I watched as the Terentatek pulled its own claw out of its stomach, revealing a bloody mess, but a bloody mess that was doing nothing to discourage it. In fact, it only seemed angrier as it laid its eyes on Phanza, who it identified as the leader, and it charge at her.
Finally seeing an opportunity, I watched as a sniper bolt rang out from HK-107, hitting the beast right in one of its eyes, making it lose its attention as it kept charging. The rest of us got out of the way as Phanza stayed right there, looking to face down the now partially blinded and injured Terentatek. A red and black blade entered one of the gaping wounds as Phanza hit the ground, letting the beast travel over her. The Sithspawn cried out in pain and kept charging, passing Phanza, bashing into the stone pillars, and then crashing into the lower courtyard below, fall into a stone ground a few decrepit pillars. My master got to her feet, red-skin and purple robes rising despite the rain, and she walked over to the edge, the rest of us following her. We looked down and saw the Terentatek was rather seriously injured now, struggling to get up and bleeding on the ground. That being said, the beast was definitely still alive, and, I got the impression that, if it did get up, the Terentatek would be far from happy. Therefore, I looked over to Phanza, wondering how we were going to deal with this thing while we had the chance.
"Rezivara, Baracyn, Schweva - cover me. Zaliza and I are heading down to finis this." Phanza ordered, telling the three to watch the monster and keep it under control as she moved to the side, letting me follow her. We walked down the stairs into the lower courtyard and circled around to the front of the Terentatek, watching the monster try to lift itself up with its claws. I looked in its eyes, one of which was red and scarred from HK's sniper bolt, and the other was struggling to focus as the beast was bleeding and struggling to stand up. Part of me thought that the monster was weak and defenseless right now, but the rest of me knew that was far from the truth, seeing its giant maw, and its deadly claws which would have easily swiped us aside if it wasn't struggling to stand up. I turned to Phanza, wondering what she was going to do to stop this creature, but she quickly answered my question with her actions.
I watched as the Nautolan Sith Lord walked up to the Terentatek and, almost remorsefully, she rested her hand on the monster's spiky head. The Terentatek stopped, seeming legitimately confused at her action, and then, after a moment, closed its eyes, allowing Phanza to ignite her black and red lightsaber and slit its throat, cutting from the relatively softer skin between the armored plates. The Sithspawn went limp and its body hit the ground in the lower courtyard, a great beast defeated, and Phanza seeming almost merciful as she went and killed the suffering creature. I didn't address it though, instead, I just silently waited for Phanza and then followed her up the stairs, rejoining our allies in the upper courtyard.
"Come on, we need to cast the ward and close off the Dark Tomb forever. Let the Terentatek be the last evil to be released from it." Rezivara took control of the situation, seeing that Phanza was still a bit affected by killing the creature. I was genuinely surprised by seeing her affected by this, after all, I've seen Phanza kill quite a few people, mostly clones to be fair, but still a lot of people, and she never seemed to have been affected like this. To be fair, Phanza rarely, if ever, had to actually execute one of those clones, so maybe that's the difference here, but I don't know. It's just weird to see Phanza going from boasting about how Darth Imperius killed a Terentatek as an acolyte to being gentle as she mercy-killed the monster after it took the five of us plus HK-107 to bring it down. The red-skinned Nautolan did follow the rest of us up to the Dark Temple entrance though, and she took control of the situation once again once we were ready to cast the ward.
"Alright, to create this kind of ward and block off the Dark Side, we need to go through a very particular Force ritual. A Force ritual that I have done before, but never to this scale, and never against such a powerful concentration of Dark Side energy. This isn't going to be easy, but I need all of us to work together on this, so, follow my directions exactly." Phanza explained, before closing her black eyes and raising her hand in the direction of the entrance, I followed her lead, and as did the rest of us. Phanza then explained what we were going to do next "Now, picture a big, red barrier blocking out the entrance, like a rayshield, and try to conjure that idea through your hand. Eventually, if you all do this right, between the five of us, a wars should form."
I groaned as I felt the power flow through me, beginning to form the barrier in front of us. This was a very strange use of the Force, probably rooted in the Dark Side, and honestly seeming more like something the commoners of the galaxy would call magic, rather than any use of the Force I would have learned at the Jedi Temple, but it was having results. I felt the barrier beginning to form in front of me, and I could feel one forming in front of each of us, Phanza making the largest part so far, followed by Rezivara, which made sense considering her experience, but then the next three were all rather close, and fairly surprising. Schweva was up next, likely the result of her being trained as a Sith Sorceress, and I was next, making a larger bit, then, surprisingly, Inquisitor Baracyn was still last. The Zabrak was a Sith Sorceress who could also turn herself invisible, the signature tactic of Sith Assassins, which should have made her one of the more powerful Force users, yet, right now, she was struggling the most. Perhaps that didn't mean she was weak, maybe it just meant that I was stronger than I thought I was, but still, it was surprising to see I was doing well. Doing well, but it wasn't easy, still a very weird way to use the Force for me.
"It's not enough!" Rezivara called out, the Darth seeing that the barrier wasn't going to form at this rate. We were struggling a lot and, I feared that, even if we did manage to cover up the entrance with this ward, it wouldn't hold once we let go of it. I looked over at Phanza, wondering how the Nautolan was going to react to what her counterpart just said, and I watched her throw her free hand back towards the courtyard. At first, I didn't realize what Phanza was doing, but then, I saw her right hand curl into a claw as she pulled something with the Force. Just what she was pulling was revealed a moment later when a beam of red energy started flowing into Phanza's hand. I kept up my part of the barrier while turning back to see that Phanza was draining the dead body of the Terentatek, in essence, she was harvesting the energy of the Sithspawn to build the barrier. The Terentatek was a creation of the Force, a beast of the Dark Side, and Phanza was taking the power that made the beast out of it and throwing it into the barrier. The Terentatek left the Dark Temple, now, its power was making sure that it would be the last thing to ever leave it. Applying the energy of the Sithspawn, Phanza was able to form the rest of the ward.
"It's done." Phanza stumbled back, having just exerted a lot of her own power and sent the corrupt power of the Dark Side through her own body. The Nautolan tried to form a satisfied smirk and take control of the situation, but I could tell that she was breathing heavily and exhausted. I was just about to raise a hand to her should to steady her when the Nautolan collapsed. I had already been moving to grab her, so I reacted quickly, kneeling down and grabbing her head before it could hit the ground, the other hand reaching for her waist and trying to steady her fall. I brought Lady Attam down to the ground, kneeling over her and practically cradling her. I watched as Phanza blinked her big black eyes and, eventually, life returned to the glassy orbs. Always one for appearances, I watched as Phanza looked down on herself on the ground, having just fainted out of overexertion, yet still managed to lay her body down in such a way to still appear perfectly comfortable, confident, and in control of the situation. It was as if Phanza wanted to lay on the cold ground, rain washing over much of her exposed skin, totally nonchalant about the fact that she had just fainted as the rest of our group looked over her.
"The ward has blocked off the Dark Temple. What now, my mistress?" Schweva asked, worry very much evident in her speech. Telling her about the ward was Schweva's way of making sure Phanza didn't have any memory loss or disorientation from the faint. At the same time, I let go of Phanza's head, now confident that she was awake and okay, and I put her hood back on, covering the red and black tattooed head-tails. Phanza then started answering her other apprentice's question as she got to her feet, with me still hovering at her side, ready to help her in case anything else went wrong.
"Well, we return to the city. We still have a new home to prepare." Phanza answered, stretching as she walked around us, making it very clear that she was fine, despite the faint, despite the fact that she still seemed slightly disorientated. Lady Attam completed her circle, getting relieved expressions from Rezivara and Baracyn, convincing the two older women that she was alright, before leading us back towards the city, leaving the unsettling grounds of the Dark Temple. That being said, some distance into the walk back, Phanza slowed her walk just slightly so that we were next to each other, and she whispered over to me. Phanza addressed the faint "Thank you, Zaliza. I appreciate the fact that you were there for me."
"Of course, my master." I whispered in response.
Hope you enjoyed!