Well, if the popularity of this story couldn't have proven me any more of its success, just the simply act of putting a note on PotDS has jump started it once again. Welcome to the many new readers to the madness, postings will remain consistently on every other Tuesday, alternating with ANP 7, feel free to check that Arc out if you are so inclined. Anyway, without further sidetrack, lets continue with the show!
Chapter Four
The Threat Unveiled
The Assassin sprinted away from his successful kill, not waiting to find out what the Jedi's reaction was to the power of the Killing Curse. He had to reach a spot close enough for him to apparate back to his hidden speeder, but as he rounded the next corner an alarm rang out, shattering the subdued quite of the Temple.
Cursing, he ran faster, stunning the next Jedi he encountered with a quick spell. His disillusionment charm shimmered as he ran, but speed was more important than stealth at this point, and while it would help his master to eliminate extra Jedi here and there, Colin had been specifically ordered to not kill a single one. The Emperor wanted them to live to see this Galaxy fall to the brink of destruction before finally annihilating their Order.
Sprinting down a long corridor back toward the maintenance passage, Colin skidded to a halt as several armored and robed Temple Guards appeared, igniting their yellow Saberstaffs and calling for him to cease hostility and surrender.
'Not likely,' Colin thought as he pulled the picture of the passageway beyond into his mind. As the four guards leapt at him, Colin spun on his heel, disapparating with a sharp crack and reappearing in the corridor beyond the trap. Laughing to himself as the underestimating nature of Jedi, Colin ran on, making it back to the deserted passage in record time. As no alarms had been triggered on his entry, the Jedi were less than likely to guess where his way in was hidden, not that he needed to use it as an exit point.
He reached the closest range for apparation, and concentrated hard on his speeder, parked just past the base of the mountain temple. With a sharper cracking sound, the shrill alarm disappeared, to be replaces by the bustle of Coruscant's thousands of speeders overhead.
Removing his spells, Colin stepped into his speeder, smirking as he looked up at the Temple while the speeder lifted off. Let the Jedi chew on that breach in their security for a while, there was little they could do to prevent it happening again, but the attempts to prevent it would keep them busy for a time.
All that was left to do was go collect his payment from Malfoy, and Colin could return to his 'normal' life of cantinas and petty Bounty Hunting on the metropolis planet.
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Master Coven sighed wearily as the last team of Jedi warriors reported in with no sign of the hostile intruder. It appeared that the assassin had vanished as effectively as he had appeared, which lead to the bigger questions: how had the assailant gotten into and out of the Temple without triggering a signal alarm or other Jedi, especially with the intent to kill someone being protected by the Order, and who had sent for this attack.
Just as Fae started to spread her senses outward, trying to locate the presence she had felt in the Sith Elder's room, a signal came in over the temple's communication, broadcasting a docking signal that was several months old. Fae had been present when that code was issued for Nrin Dyz and his Padawan when they departed for Lighthouse station.
Dashing from the scene of the murder, where a droid guarded to prevent anyone from entering aside from Council Members, Master Coven made her way to one of the upper hangars. The small freighter that set down looked next to nothing like the one that left, battle worn and barely hanging together as it in part landed and in part crashed onto the pad.
The Quarren Jedi Knight staggered out of the cockpit, his robes burned and torn and looking thoroughly battered and bruised.
"Knight Dyz," Fae said as she rushed forward to help the exhausted Jedi get inside, "what happened to you?"
"Master," the Quarren gasped, "Lighthouse station, Watchman Drald, the Sith!"
Fae Coven froze at those words. They lost one survivor of the attack, and gained another, possibly with more information than the last. Realizing what a danger Dyz was in as of now, with the assassin about, in most precarious danger. "Quickly," she commanded to the nearest temple guards, "get him to the medical center."
They had been delayed from getting the truth once by this unknown attacker, but Fae was not going to stand idly by and let it happen again. Thankfully, due to his Jedi training, Dyz healed far faster than the old Sith had, and was able to communicate within hours of arriving at the Temple. Fae still refused to leave the Quarren's side, just in case their mysterious assailant reappeared for him.
"Master Coven," Dyz stated as he awoke after being removed from the Bacta tank.
"I am here, Knight Dyz, what has happened?" she replied quickly.
"The station was attacked, Sith ships from the old days. A pair of Sith Lords fought us. Drald told me to run and warn you all. Barely got away but was chased half way across the sector by Sith fighters. Had to make several emergency landings and repair the ship before continuing."
Fae could already tell that Dyz needed more rest, as his line of thought was slipping and his eyes were closing on their own. "You rest now," she insisted, putting a hand on his chest, "you'll be safe here at the Temple."
But as Dyz slipped into a healing trance, Fae was still worried. Was the Quarren truly safe here, or would he wind up the next target of the assassin?
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Zhar stood triumphant over the vast horde of treasure that had been retrieved from the tomb of Lord XoXaan, waiting for a representative of the Emperor to come and transport it back to Dromund Kaas.
From what he had briefly studied in the Sith Lord's Holocron, XoXaan was one of the original Dark Lords of the Sith that came to Korriban and enslaved the red Sith species. How the tomb and Holocron had survived for what had to be easily approaching ten thousand years undisturbed was simply miraculous, only to be discovered now, during their time.
Zhar got small tastes of the dark secrets that XoXaan was capably of sharing via the gatekeeper of the data device, but he had respectfully refrained from delving too deeply into the archive of the Sith Holocron, knowing that the Emperor would be angered with him if he discovered that Zhar claimed knowledge from the Holocron before the Emperor himself had the opportunity to appraise its worth.
Even now he could sense the great power of his Master coming through the atmosphere of the graveyard world. Within moments the sleek Sith shuttle descended from the sky, and settled gently upon the topmost landing pad of the Sith Academy.
With a sickening hiss the boarding ramp lowered, and black armored Arcanamach descended, Saber-pikes clanking on the metal and stone as the formed up in a semi-circle precession to herald the arrival of the Sith Emperor. All work on the upper terrace ceased as all who were touched by the Force's gift turned as one when the black robed figure appeared at the top of the ramp.
Zhar had to inwardly applaud the touch of dramatics that Veneficus had added to his personal arrival. Bringing no less than ten Arcanamach guards, despite the fact that none of them could defend him better than he himself, along with unleashing probably about half of his potential Force aura to daunt and awe those Force users here and quite possibly throughout the system.
Zhar knelt, as did those nearest to him when he did, and Emperor Veneficus descended the ramp to the stonework of the temple housing those hopefuls that wished to follow in his footsteps. "My Lord, Emperor…" Zhar began, laughing inwardly at the drama they portrayed, as though he was no more familiar with the Dark Lord than another.
"Rise, Lord Zhar," Veneficus commanded, raising a single hand and unleashing a wave of Dark Side energy to enthrall all others around them. "Show to me what you've uncovered in the tombs of the ancient Sith Lords."
Obeying, Zhar turned toward the great horde of treasure, which was packed in crates and ready to depart to whatever destination that the Emperor decided. All expect for one small box, which Zhar took and returned to Veneficus. Opening the lid, he watched the flare of lust and greed flash in the red eyes of the Dark Lord of the Sith.
"XoXaan's Holocron…" he purred, lifting the device out of the box and into the air. "One of the very first of the Sith Lords, and all her knowledge are at last restored to us. We will become more powerful than ever before, with knowledge of the origins of the Jedi and their accursed Order."
With that the Emperor replaced the Holocron in the box and handed it off to an Arcanamach, and the guards started lifting the crates of treasure with the Force for loading into the shuttle, "Walk with me." Veneficus stated to Zhar, leading them away from the prying ears of the Academy's students and to the far more secluded dormitories for the teachers and trainers, including Zhar's own quarters.
"War will begin soon, old friend," Veneficus said bluntly, "the board is at last set, and the pieces are moving into their first forays, it'll be black days ahead for our followers, but I can see clearly to the end of this, and the strategy is sound. How many will be ready within a month to go to battle."
A month? Zhar's eyes widened. He had expected that war was coming, but not that soon. "I couldn't be certain, my Lord, that is an awfully short time to throw the more experienced together and prepare them for actual combat."
"I trust that you will manage, but give me your best guess," Veneficus pressed, and Zhar did some quick estimation in his head.
"Probably around two or three dozen at best, my Lord, but there would be significantly more if I had more time…"
"You'll have plenty of time as the war progresses, but I need a strong show of force in the opening moves, and plenty of those ready to fight, kill, and die for our cause. When I call, send all those you deem ready to Dromund Kaas, but only those deemed ready, even if it's less than you've guessed. I will not take fools out to be slaughtered in my great announcement to the Galaxy."
"As you command, my Lord." Zhar replied, bowing slightly. It frightened Zhar that they were so close to initiating open war with the Republic, but at the same time the rush of the Force along with his own adrenalin was exhilarating. If only he himself would be permitted to go, but he was needed to oversee the planet and training of even more warriors for the Sith Empire's army of Dark Force users, and it wouldn't do for him to be killed and someone of lesser value put in his place.
The Emperor nodded, satisfied, and turned away to return to his shuttle, the almost friendly demeanor of Lord Veneficus melting away to the cold command of the Emperor. Zhar did not return to watch the shuttle depart, he had strict training regiments to put in place to prepare as many Darksiders as possibly for battle, but he did feel the massive vacuum of power erupt as the Emperor's shuttle disappeared into hyperspace.
There would be no doubt in their follower's minds that their leader was anything but supremely powerful, and that was best if they were to fight and die for that man's personal agenda against the Jedi Order and the Republic that they served. Zhar wondered what several key members of the Jedi Council would think when they saw the army that was preparing to meet them in combat, or how they would react if they knew that Zhar was in charge of training them.
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Darth Diábolis watched in fascination as Lo Sei'Dov worked her torture over the mercenary prisoner, and momentarily the Devaronian wondered if the man considered his pay worth it now. The dark furred Bothan was a fiend with both knife and the Dark Side, able to use both to draw out pain and fear to the uttermost limits of a beings will, then stabilize them only to start all over again.
Through the shrieks of agony they were able to get many questions answered, although Diábolis knew that none in New Kaas city would be pleased by the news. The Republic had sent spies to scout out the old Sith worlds for colonization as their influence expanded, and while they had not yet made the connection that the Sith Empire had been rebuilt, they had seen the occupation of these worlds by an unauthorized group as an insult to their mighty government, and had hired the saboteurs to try and drive them from the planet.
Once again the vaunted Republic had overestimated their collective brilliance and forgotten to take into account the scope and will of another with brighter clarity. The capitol world of the Sith Empire wouldn't be easily dealt with, and these pawns of the true enemy knew truly little except what they had heard in rumor or had been ordered expressly to do, such as knocking out the communication towers.
Sei'Dov guessed that the real saboteurs were even now approaching the city, if not within its walls, and planning major attacks on government and other civic centers. The Imperial Palace would be safe, as only Force users were even permitted to enter, and it was highly unlikely that they brought a Jedi with them on this underhanded move.
Anger brimming in his veins, Diábolis left the Bothan with her new toy, and stormed from the palace, stopping a passing Arcanamach. "We need to sweep the city," he said quickly, "enemies have come from out of the jungle with intent to destroy important systems in a vain attempt to drive us from out capitol world."
"It will be done, my Lord." The armored figure said through his helmet.
Meanwhile, Diábolis returned to his speeder, turning it to soar high over the buildings, where he stretched out his will in an attempt to locate anyone that had ill intent towards New Kaas city.
Sifting through the tens of thousands of minds at a rapid pace, Diábolis thought he might not be able to locate these saboteurs in time, when he suddenly felt an overwhelming anger from the industrial section, something more than just malcontents drowning some displeasure in a cantina. Turning the speeder sharply, Diábolis sped toward the source, knowing that he had found at least one of the hostiles hiding within his Master's great city.
The Force led Diábolis down into the plaza, skirting past several civilians and the statue of some architect that had actually help lay the foundation for the original Kaas City, but Diábolis found his focus pulled toward an alleyway between two large construction manufacturing plants. The Devaronian started to approach, but stopped as he saw the dim flashing lights all around the plaza.
Someone had rigged the entire area with thermal mines.
None of the civilians had even noticed, and Diábolis acted quickly, dashing up to each set on objects that would detonate easily and cause even more collateral damage, including the statue itself. Over twenty of the small, half-spherical devises were disarmed and gathered by Diábolis before he felt remotely safe to approach the deserted alleyway.
His eyes saw nothing in the gloom, but the Force warned him that indeed there was someone in the darkness, and he moved a hand to his saber. "Don't even think about it, monster," warned a voice from the shadowed alley. "Go for your weapon and the entire area will go up in flames. I've planted enough explosive to level this entire district."
Diábolis smirked, "you mean these explosives?" he said, tossing the small satchel that he had stored the thermal mines within.
"What, no!" the man cried as he brought up a blaster, but Diábolis was faster. The snap-hiss of his Lightsaber beat the shot from the blaster by moments and the bolt was harmlessly deflected away. Springing at the sound of the voice, Diábolis spun midair to bring the full accelerated Force of his weapon to bear. The crimson blade struck, skewering the saboteur in the chest.
What surprised Diábolis was the eruption of sparks that flew from the point of impact, as the metallic form crumpled. It was a droid. Narrowing his eyes, Diábolis searched for real saboteur, but his eyes were pulled back to the droid when it started to glow red.
"Self-destruction in five… four… three…"
There was no time. Diábolis severed the droid's head, scooping it up as he ran from the chasse moments before the detonation, which turned the droid's body to scrap and put a small crater in the ground where it had fallen.
Knowing that the real attacker would be long gone, Diábolis looked at the humanoid appearing droid head in his hand. Turning it to the side, he spotted the symbol of the Republic emblazoned upon it like a brand. Neither Supreme Prophet Dass'in nor Emperor Veneficus were going to be pleased about this development, he mused.
Nevertheless, they had to be warned that their enemies now probably knew where they were, and war would soon be upon them from the Republic, and their ever present 'defenders,' the Jedi.
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Luna stared forlornly down at the blue-green planet that was her home world as she and Yoda held in orbit. It had taken only a short amount of time to retrace their steps from their original departure from earth, but Luna was still unsure what, if anything remained for them to discover. The warmth that she had felt from the planet seemed to have grown cold in her absence, and Luna could only feel the impending trial of facing the fact that her family had all died here.
Since Luna was still a witch, and had continued to practice her magical abilities throughout her training as a Jedi Knight, she had picked up a few tricks on her own, such as apparation, which normally wouldn't have been taught to her until near the end of her schooling at Hogwarts. Therefore, she and Yoda had agreed to land in a remote part of Britain before apparating, multiple times if needed, back to their familiar wizarding areas.
It was a tedious process, but they lacked the ability to disguise their landing of the ship to the planet, which due to preliminary scans showed that little had changed from when they had left, and there was still no sign of any technology similar to that out in the wider Galaxy, and by the time they arrived back in Diagon, where they're entire adventure started, it was well after dark.
The streets of the magical shopping center were deserted, and while Luna lacked any sense of what particular time it was on this world, having long ago given over to just following the phases of whatever light sources a given planet had, she wasn't sure if this was to be expected or out of place.
Yoda stared up at the marble building of Gringotts, and Luna knew that he wanted to investigate what had happened to his people. Placing a hand on her small friend's shoulder, she reminded him of the oaths they had taken when they joined the Jedi Order, "There is no emotion, there is peace."
Large green eyes turned to look at her, and the goblin nodded, a smile returning. Luna smiled as well. Whatever horrors had happened to them on this world before, things had greatly changed, and they were far stronger because of what had happened.
They walked quickly past the darkened shops and up to the big doors of the wizarding bank. Gently, using only a minor addition of the Force, the pair of them eased open the doors to permit them entry, and stopped at the stark contrast of the lobby to what it had been the last time they had been here.
Gone were the lines of stools and accounting tables where goblins had been hard at work all hours of the day, replaced by small cubicles with wizarding paraphernalia, full desks with high back chairs and other clearly human items. Luna could feel Yoda tense at the sight, and they quickly hurried through the deserted area to the lifts where the mine carts once were.
Now however, there was a line of booths, much like at the Ministry, and Luna only guessed that you dialed the vault number and the booth flew through the tunnels to take you there. Efficient, but not nearly as classically fun as the carts had been, in her opinion.
"We must discover what has happened to my people," Yoda said, struggling to contain his emotion within the words. Turning from the booths to a secret side passage, Yoda led Luna down into the darkness of the caverns, seeking for any remnant of the proud Goblin race.
Down and down they delved, finding nothing for the longest time, until eventually, small sounds could be heard, like metal scraping against stone, and even softer voices. The pair of Jedi Knights halted as the voice grew louder, and together the pair peered around a corner where a torch burned brightly in the heavy darkness.
The goblins yet lived, but as slaves.
Over a dozen of the little green creatures were chained together, mining the side of the cavern wall while a wizard stood lazily over them, muttering obscenities and occasionally throwing a spell at one or another. It was disgusting, and Luna felt the righteous fury rising in her as well as Yoda at the sight of it. They could not be sure, but the Force seemed to ring within them, telling them both that this was the case for the entire nation of once proud beings.
"Hurry up, you swine," the wizard bellowed angrily, flinging a curse at one of the females, "work faster, so I can finally leave this disgusting place for the night."
"Disgusting?" Yoda said aloud, stepping into view, saber hilt in hand and Jedi robes flowing around him. He chuckled, a light, bubbling sound that normally would be infectious to all those around him, but not with an angry tint to it, "only thing disgusting in this cavern, you are."
"You insolent little filth!" the wizard roared, not understanding who or what the creature before him was or represented, and raised his wand. The snap-hiss of the saber froze everyone in the caver, goblins included. The spell lanced outward, only to be intercepted by the green blade, flash a brilliant white, and rebound directly into the wizard's chest, knocking him to the ground with a massive grunt of pain.
Yoda shifted like lightning, saber flashing as he severed the chains of his people with several vicious swiped of the Lightsaber. Luna rounded the corner to see the wizard trying to stand, and activate her violet saber as well, placing the tip close to the man's chest to halt him from even thinking of rising.
The goblins were no more surprised than ever, to see a human and goblin together defending them. They surrounded Yoda, talking excitedly, and while Luna bound and stunned the human guard Yoda tried his best to gain what information he could from them, before sending the goblins off to wherever the others were.
"Alive, many still are," he said, ears drooping in sadness, "But still, dead many more are."
"I'm sorry, my friend, but we must do what we can, for both our people." Luna replied, taking the wand of the man she had bound and putting it a safe distance away from the body. "But we cannot forget our original mission here, and find any and all who could come fight the Sith. I wouldn't be surprised if the Darkness has taken control of our world, and there must be some sort of resistance fighting back. Perhaps the Goblins have heard of something and can point us in the right direction."
"Agree, I do," Yoda replied, and together the pair of Jedi followed the retreating forms of the freed goblins. Down several more twisting tunnels and even a flight of worn steps, they finally entered a massive chamber, easily the same size as Diagon Alley far above, filled with all manner of buildings. The goblin city was quite unlike anything Luna had imagined so long ago. Despite being so far underground, it was disturbingly clean and well taken care of, and the goblins had taken great lengths to decorate and paint their homes to be a personalized color and style, rather than the same dullish grey of the stone around them.
Whispers seemed to follow the pair as they walked through the city, and Luna spotted little goblin children sneakily following after them, insanely curious as to the human and goblin walking together in robes.
As they approached what looked like the main city complex, Luna paused as they passed a tall monument, adorned only by a golden axe. Without words, she knew that it was a grave marker for the goblin's previous leader, who had probably died at the same time as her and Yoda's escape.
Many goblins were waiting for them at the stone steps of the large building, clad not in their usual business suits or even armor, but robes. They also appeared to be the oldest goblins that Luna had ever met.
The leader, an extremely ancient goblin who struggled forward with a walking stick addressed Yoda. "Yoda… son of Griphook… you have returned to us after so many years…" he wheezed, but Luna could see the old goblin's eyes sparkling with joy.
"Indeed, have I," Yoda said, unafraid of his speech now. Luna had worked hard with him during their first years together to make Yoda embrace who he was, strange language and all.
Eyeing Luna with a bleary orb, the ancient goblin smiled toothily, something that would have appeared aggressive if Luna had not experienced have a dozen other species that acted similarly. "And you brought us… help in our most desperate hours…"
"Actually, we had originally come to ask the same of you…" Luna said quietly, bowing her head respectfully to the Elder. "But we will do all in our power to aid you. What has happened here, this bank, the whole Alley seems so different from when I was last here."
"You are indeed a perceptive one, as wizards go…" the old goblin said with a smile. His voice seemed to grow in strength as he spoke, "Dark wizards have joined with an ancient evil, Gor-lak the Cruel, and have totally taken control of our world. The school, Hogwarts, now houses his prisoners as well as trains the young to become his personal army. Azkaban has become a sort of survival ground where prisoners are sent to be killed, but worse."
Luna looked away sadly, sensing more of the atrocities that were not spoken of in the goblin's heart. "What must we do? Liberate the school, rally his opponents and find and defeat this Gor'lak?" she asked.
"It will take more than force of arms to defeat the ancient Ork," the Elder said solemnly, "He is also a powerful sorcerer, with even stranger allies that even we do not know much about."
"Have powerful secrets, we do also…" Yoda countered, smiling as he fingered his Lightsaber. The gesture did not escape the Elder's notice, "Gor'lak's guards have weapons like those at their command, and he is not unfamiliar with their use or those who wielded them. I do not know where you have been, Yoda son of Griphook, but if you've followed your father's footsteps then you know what this evil creature has done, and what it took to defeat him."
"I do," Yoda said, steel forming in his voice, "and do it again, we will."
"If you are confident that you can do so, then the goblin nation will owe you both a great debt. We will contribute all we can to aid you liberate the school and other camps between there and here that the foul creature has stored away those who would fight him." the Elder said, sending a surge of whispers through the gathered crowd.
Luna still felt a twinge of worry. What was supposed to be a simple run for allies was turning into something far greater and more difficult than she had expected. But at the same time, had she honestly expected it to be so simple?
"How are we to get close to Hogwarts with so many?" she asked, knowing that she could apparate herself and maybe two others there, but if they were bringing over twenty it would not work to their advantage for her to magically exhaust herself in the attempt to move them all.
The Elder smiled at her, "You will fly of course…"
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Bellatrix smirked as the craft she was in set down just outside the ridge where the Sith warbird was last spotted. Her group, comprised of three Force users and a half dozen professional hunters were prepared and well seasoned in hunting the behemoths of this world, but the warbird would be a new thrill for them all, especially with the competition of getting to it first before Ocraadi and her group of Force users arrived.
Using simple charms, Bellatrix had homed in on the location of the bird, despite the Dark Side Togruta 'forgetting' to tell her the coordinates. Bellatrix had expected some tactic like that, and personally hoped that the alien creature was surprised to find them here before they arrived.
"Scout around quickly, I want to be on the trail of the creature before Nuhok even arrives." Bellatrix commanded, tying a scarf around her neck to brace against the frigid chill outside the ship. Even with warming charms it was still deathly cold out there, and magic would do little to prevent her from being harmed by gusts of icy wind or other things.
The rest of her group was bundled tightly, aside from the Force users, who had their own means of altering their own temperature to adapt. Bella indeed had a great deal of respect for these telepathic warriors, their ability for destruction on the whole neared her own, and if there was any possibly more worthy to be the Emperor's favorite and most loyal than her, it would be one of them. Not that it was possible for them to match her power, of course.
Holding her wand out on the palm of her hand, Bellatrix muttered a quick point-me charm, watching the magical foci spin until it stopped, shuddering slightly as it pointed due east. "The warbird is that way," she called, directing her group in the correct direction. The only flaw with the charm is that it could not determine distance, so from the ship the hunters brought speeder bikes for them all, and Bellatrix eagerly hopped on one and took off in the lead.
To think she of all people would have shunned such marvelous technology only a few decades previous. It was hard to imagine life without it anymore, it was such an integral part of her day to day routine that it was almost something she took for granted. But in moments like these, when she could fly across the ground without the need for an uncomfortably broomstick between her legs, but rather a cushioned seat that with the correct charm was more comfortable than any chair she had before rested in, she felt perfectly relaxed and free.
Every few clicks Bellatrix recheck the point-me charm, altering her course to follow the path of the warbird. Soon they started to see signs of its passing: broken trees, misplaced piles of snow, and other leavings that were certain indication that it was near. Soon enough, they spotted the creature, stomping through the underbrush like some flightless dragon in search of prey. Bella signaled for the group to fan out and come at the beast from all sides, hopefully pinning it between them and the canyon walls.
But unfortunately, the warbird must have sensed them coming, as when they started to box it in, the creature let out a massive shriek and bolted, prompting the group of speeders to pelt after it. Bellatrix grinned as adrenalin rushed through her veins. This was what she loved, the hunt, chasing a target down and defeating it mercilessly with a single killing curse.
The canyon opened up into a wide valley with cliffs on three sides, and Bellatrix thought for a moment that they had the warbird, when she heard the sound of more speeders. From off to one side, launching off the side of the cliffs were another dozen or so bikes, and Bellatrix could only guess that Ocraadi had caught up to them finally.
Revving the engine of her bike, Bellatrix charged toward her prize, wand drawn and aiming for any opening. One shot would kill the beast, but with its sudden stopping and changing of directions lining up a shot would be hard. Soon enough the Togruta pulled up beside her, crimson lightsaber in hand and activated. Was the Force user desperate, or did she honestly think the weapon could outdo the Killing Curse, Bellatrix wondered.
But the moment that the darksider let the weapon fly, Bellatrix knew the advantage. The weapon would spin out in the direction that it was thrown, the arc back instead of the curses' straight line, striking before Bellatrix could line up a shot. Not if she could help it.
Surging forward, until she was almost able to grab the beast's tail feathers, Bellatrix took aim, "Avada Kedavera," she cried, just as the saber arced overhead. Both weapon and curse struck at the same instant.
Forcibly turning out of the path of the beast as it dropped, headless to the snow, Bellatrix killed the engine and dismounted, hurrying to join Ocraadi by the beast's dead body. The Togruta looked no happier than Bellatrix at the outcome of their game. The creature was dead, which was their goal, but neither of them could positively say which of the pair slew it. Either attack could have hit first, by mere milliseconds, and would have been equally fatal.
"A draw, then," Bellatrix surmised, bored now with the game.
"Indeed," Nuhok agreed, signaling for the hunters to move in and bring the corpse back to their base, "until the next game then I presume?" she added, smirking at Bellatrix.
"Unless you want to see sense now and forfeit…" Bellatrix countered, smiling wickedly.
"You wish, witch… you wish…" the Togruta said as Bellatrix kicked her speeder bike to life once again. Signaling for her group, aside from the hunters assisting with the warbird, they returned to their own bikes and started to make their way back to retrieve their ship.
Chasing down powerful beasts in the snow was all well and good; Bellatrix though to herself on the trip back to the Citadel, but there had to be something that would beat Nuhok at her own game. It was far too convenient that they just happened to show up at Bellatrix cornered the warbird, and Bellatrix wouldn't put it past the Togruta to cheat, as it was what she herself would have done.
Looking up at the planets only moon, Khar Shian, Bellatrix thought of what she had read in reports about these two orbs. That one had been a false base for the Sith Lord Naga Sadow, while the other was a secret true base. Interesting then, that they had fully searched and took over this one, on the frigid planet, but had thus far left the other untouched. Could it be that the one on Khar Shian was the true base, and they were missing out on things that would advance their cause? While obtaining the method to recreate these aberrations would be good, there ought to have been more of a reason for Bellatrix to be sent here.
Making up her mind, Bellatrix decoded that she would, in secret, take a force and search the moon for its sister base to the Citadel, and perhaps discover something that Ocraadi had overlooked in her simple desire to dig through the entrails of beasts.
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Severus groaned as he awoke, finding himself on a cold metal surface rather than the stone floor of Hogwarts castle. This puzzled him, but what was more was the dire absence of magical auras around him, making him feel more than alone.
Slowly raising himself to his feet, Severus took in his immediate surroundings. The room was sparse, with bare metal paneling covering every wall, the ceiling and the floor. Aside from a small slab in the side that Severus presumed was for sitting or sleeping, there was only a strange door, but with no handle or knob.
Searching himself, Severus wasn't remotely surprised that his wand, all potions and vials, along with anything that could be used as a weapon were gone. He was about to start Occluding himself, block out any useful information that whomever had taken him might want, when he heard voices outside. The door hissed and slid to the side, into the wall, admitting one of the black robed figures that had taken him.
Following behind the figure were two far larger and more impressive people, clad in black armor, their helmets staring out coldly. These moved to either side of the door, their long metal poles clanging sharply on the floor, while a final figure appeared. The aura of evil from this last figure explained everything. Severus felt himself begin to gag slightly, as the overpowering darkness wafted into the room like the stench of some dead animal.
Working quickly, Severus shut down every part of his secrets regarding the Dark Lord Voldemort, as he figured that this new Dark Lord would want the secrets of the man's near success in the first war, or to know how the man was defeated at last.
"Severus Snape," the figure said, catching Severus off guard. He knew that voice, and how he hated hearing it once again. The figure lowered the great black hood, revealing himself to be Potter, but now with blazing red eyes and a crown of wrought black metal on his head. Even the color of his skin had changed, now paler than Severus' ever had been, and even starting to grey sickeningly. Was the boy dying, and had taken him for some sort of cure?
"Potter," Severus spat, angrily, "What have you done, where am I, you will release me at once…"
But the beginnings of an angry triad were forestalled when one of the guards stepped forward and struck Severus in the chest with the end of his metal pole. Winded by the blow, Severus bowed slightly as the figure returned to his place. The third man swept in front of Potter, "You will not address the Emperor in such a manner, worm," he hissed angrily, pulling some sort of cylindrical item from his robes, "or I will kill you myself."
"Enough," Potter said, freezing the man where he stood. After a moment, the figure looked back, and then shrank away from the sight of Potter, who stepped forward and pulled a wand from his robe. "You will find Professor, that I have more power than you would ever expect. You are going to serve me, as you served Voldemort long before."
Severus narrowed his eyes; that was unlikely to happen. The look was not unnoticed by Potter, "Or you will be punished in like manner as he was fond of," the man said lazily, flicking his wand at Severus. The Dark Mark on his arm flared to life, burning and itching maddeningly. Falling in surprise, Severus looked up at Potter as the pain disappeared as quickly as it had started. "You will find however," Potter continued, "that I am a much more merciful master to successful servants than Voldemort ever was…"