So nice to be home from school once more, despite the triple digit heat... Many thanks to those who reviewed chapter four, and please enjoy the next chapter. ~F
Chapter Five
A New Enemy
Diábolis kneeled as the communication on his ship came to life, "My Master, I have done as you commanded, and have found a great disturbance here on Ilum…"
"The Jedi?" Veneficus asked, his strangely youthful, yet wizened face looking more grotesque in the shimmering blue of the hologram.
"No, my Lord, other wielders of the Dark Side," Diábolis lied quickly, sprinkling the facts of the matter around the lie to better shroud it from his Master. The continuation of the Jedi must be kept secret from him as long as possible. "They wielded blades of blackness, and were harvesting and draining the crystals of the former Jedi caves of their connection to the Living Force…"
"Are you sure of this?" the Sith Master demanded softly, and if the Devaronian wasn't mistaken, his master seemed genuinely frightened at the concept.
"Yes, my Master, I am sure of it, I saw them doing this myself." He affirmed.
"It is as I had feared, then…" Veneficus said, turning to the side to gaze into the future. "Some fool found the secret tomb of Skarok-Nur, and released the man and his armies of ancient Sith warriors… we face a threat now even greater than the Jedi and the whole of the Republic combined, if we do not act quickly…"
"What are you commands then, my Master?" Diábolis requested, knowing that as the Emperor's apprentice, he would be chief in the forefront of this coming conflict.
"We must discover where they are hiding, and what they plan." Veneficus ordered, "I can sense that they wish to kill me, and take control on my Empire for themselves, but they know not of what strength we have acquired in the time they've slumbered. They likely will attempt to distract us by destabilizing our Empire's order and unity, as well as bolstering our enemies with their manipulations and lies…"
"They are true Sith then?" Diábolis asked, curious.
"Of an older line, bastardized from the likes of Ludo Kreesh and others who did not rise to supreme power, as the line of Emperors had…" Veneficus described.
The yellow eyes of the Emperor turned from Diábolis, as though listening to another communicating with him, but the Apprentice heard nothing.
"He will be most cautious, probably retreating to some uninhabited world while his forces drum up some smattering of an army to face against us, little though it would do for him to try. On the field of battle he cannot amass the numbers to face us, yet I sense another plan in the making…"
The Sith Master trailed off, before turning quickly to the side as an alarm blared from his side of the communication. "Assassination… so I see he has begun his move already… scour the Empire my apprentice, and find where they are located. Use whatever resource is needed in your hunt, but make sure that none of our citizens are the wiser for it, I will handle this incursion, myself…"
The communication abruptly ended and the Emperor departed, leaving Diábolis alone in his ship wondering how best to proceed.
At least the Emperor had not questioned him on his progress with seeking out the remaining Jedi, although that was supposed to be Diábolis' main goal throughout his many missions. And the Apprentice was growing most infuriated that he was getting so very much to do as of late, and regardless of how he handled each of his missions, there was not much in the shape of praise or reprieve from his master.
It was a clear sign if there was any, and Diábolis knew that he had to continue ramping up his efforts to weaken the Sith Master's position, in order to open him up for the eventual defeat that the Devaronian had planned for him.
Turning his ship toward Dromund Kaas, Diábolis knew that Supreme Prophet Feyd would have some potential clues to help him on his way, as the shrewd man tended to have an ear to the pulse of the Empire as a whole more often than not.
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Veneficus did not wait for the communications to close before leaving his apprentice, walking swiftly to the only location worthy of his defense, the Holocron Vault.
In the slim likelihood that the assassins were planning to steal from him instead of slay him, he would deny their advance and slaughter them all with the sheer wrath of the Dark Side.
Naturally, the Arcanamach would be swarming to counter the influx of intruders in the palace, but the Emperor quickly foresaw that he would be facing this attempt to slay him head on, regardless of the efforts of his guards.
Sighing as he arrived outside the sealed and warded room that housed all that mattered to him in the Galaxy, Veneficus felt the cool trickle of foreign Force signatures in the room with him, stealthily moving steadily nearer to him.
"My apprentice's warriors are all around you," the spirit of Ludo Kreesh said, the Force Spirit bound to obey the current Emperor through the ancient Dark Side techniques that Veneficus had performed long ago.
"I sense your presence, assassins…" Veneficus said aloud, not bothering to acknowledge the Force Ghost that he alone could see or hear. "Shall I hunt and destroy you myself, or are you going to make this go as quickly as possible, rushing headlong to your deaths?"
He didn't expect them to respond verbally, and therefore was not surprised when instead they froze, clearly stuck with indecisiveness on whether to attack their target or retreat and try again at another opportunity.
Rolling his eyes tiredly, Veneficus raised a hand, "Let me make this easier for you to decide…" he said, smirking as he wrenched one of the assassin from their high perch with the Force, throwing the fool like a ragdoll across the wide, empty archive, and slamming them into the ground, holding the figure there with force of will alone.
That did the trick at last. Five other cloaked figured leapt down from various locations, black bladed sabers lighting in order to rush the Neo-Sith Emperor and presumably slay him while he was unarmed and defenseless, or so Veneficus supposed they thought.
Naturally, a Master of the Dark Side of the Force was never without weapons, and readily calling upon the dark powers he conjured torrents of violet lightning in a wide arc at them all. The explosive blast knocked back three of the poor excuses for assassins, while the others staggered as they hastily raised their defenses to ward off the onslaught.
Laughing manically, Veneficus let his hands fall to his sides, the sabers he kept on his person sliding into his hands with ease. The assassins rose to their feet, readying themselves as twin crimson blades flared to life.
Spinning the twin blades slowly around him, Veneficus allowed himself to draw upon the fear of his foes, and suddenly lunged forward into their midst, allowing them to surround him so easily, spinning in a slow circle and allowing their pitiful attacks to dance harmlessly off his blades and the blood red energy span rapidly in circles of defense.
Channeling the Force through both hands, he pushed outward, throwing them all away and separating his victims from their allies. Turning with a deafening crack, he shot through the realm that lay between realities, appearing behind one of the more hearty assassins that did not fall so easily.
The shock that ran through the Force as he impaled the figure with both blades was delicious, before Veneficus teleported away once more, so quickly that the others did not see his subtle attack.
The others started to converge on him, but the Sith Lord would not allow them to completely surround him again, as exciting that the first few moments had been for him. It had been far too long since he himself had allowed the Dark Side to flow through him in the traditional battle lust and actually engage in full out battle.
Charging the pair that was slowest to recover from his wave of telekinesis, Veneficus flipped forward over ones hasty counterattack, slamming a saber down on the raised defense of the second, planting a boot directly on the fool who had attacked him, and leveraging all his weight onto the figure, relishing the grind of bone and flesh beneath him as the shoulder and collar bones gave way, he himself launching off with aid of the Force to land behind the pair.
The one with a broken shoulder crumbled screaming, even as his ally turned only to encounter the Sith Emperor's blade in his face. Veneficus felt nothing as the figure died a gruesome death. There was no satisfaction anymore with these kills, it was just too easy. Almost too easy…
Turning to look at the others coming at him, weapons raised and spinning to build momentum to attack, he sheathed one saber to free his hand, and gestured. The Force obeyed willingly, slamming the other three into the wall. Wrenching them back and causing their weapons to clatter from each of their hands, Veneficus slammed them down into the ground at his feet, next to their wounded fellow and held them there with the Force.
"Now, as this pathetic attempt to kill me was clearly a waste of effort and time," he started slowly, relishing their pain and fear more than anything else, "You will tell me the real purpose for this attack on my palace…"
For a long while they said nothing, and Veneficus released a torrent of lightning on them, encouraging screams to pierce the silence.
Only at that time did his royal guard arrive, doors all around the central room slamming open as they charged to the defense of their Master, far too late, but at least loyally serving.
"Your Majesty!" one cried, thinking that he was still in danger, only to pause at a respectful distance when he saw the Dark Lord of the Sith had more than handled his own.
"You will tell me what I want to know, or you will all suffer enormous amounts of pain long before I permit you to die," Veneficus said casually, ignoring his guards and their concerns, waiting for one of the four to break under his torment.
Casually, he placed his foot on the broken joint of the most injured one, unleashing glorious wails that echoed off the chamber. These fools were not accustomed to pain, they did not relish it as true Darksiders, and it was folly to even consider that they were worthy of the Sith that sent them.
"What does Skarok-Nur think he will accomplish here while you distract me?" he asked, catching two of the three relatively uninjured ones into the air with the Force, squeezing the life from them slowly. "Speak, and your ends will be far swifter…"
"Ko…Korriban!" one finally managed, and the spirit of Ludo Kreesh stepped from the shadows.
"Of course, my apprentice would seek out my tomb first of all, to see if I left anything for him in its chambers to aid him…" the spirit said.
"Take them to the dungeons and learn all that they will say," Veneficus declared, dropping their pair he held with the Force and allowing his guards to spring forward, "I want a communication channel to High Prophet Quelmok opened immediately…"
"As you command, your Majesty…" the guards replied, hurrying to obey their master.
Veneficus was sure that the tombs had been scoured clean of anything valuable long ago, but if they had the chance to capture or kill the leader of this factional band of Sith lowlife, it would be all the better for him in the long run.
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Supreme Prophet Feyd was not terribly surprised that he received many highly positioned callers asking him to contact the Emperor for them, as he was supposedly the next in charge of the Empire. Little did they know that the Emperor had withdrawn from actively governing his realm for many years now, and that he, Feyd, was in fact the supreme law of the Galaxy whenever his will did not conflict with that posed previously by the Emperor.
So it was with great reluctance that he admitted, when Lord Fury appeared and presented him with a lightsaber of unknown make, which produced a jet black blade when activated, that he would actually need to default to the Emperor's knowledge and understanding to solve the matter.
He was about to make the dreadful call to Coruscant, when another came in, which was odd. Not many in the Empire had right or authority to contact him directly, and of the select few that had that privilege, fewer still actually make use of it. Answering the call quickly, the Supreme Prophet was curious to find Lord Diábolis on the other end, seemingly in his personal ship.
"Supreme Prophet," the sith lord said by way of greeting.
"My Lord," Feyd replied, perfectly hiding his contempt for the true heir of the Empire should Veneficus finally passed away. The only barrier that prevent himself from ascending to truly rule the Empire was this young pup, so arrogant in his knowledge and power, and yet unworthy to be the Emperor's apprentice.
"I have been sent by the Emperor to learn of the Sith Lord Skarok-Nur, and his connections to a group that wield Black Lightsabers. We need to discover where such a group was once located, who they affiliated with, and how powerful they once were." The Sith Lord stated.
"Once were…?" Feyd replied, clenching the saber hilt in his hand that Fury had presented him. "You mean how powerful they still are, surely…"
"Then you are already aware of what is at stake should we fail to find them…" Diábolis stated. "I will be landing at the Imperial Complex soon; I suggest haste so that we can discover the depth of this mystery as swiftly as possible."
The communication shut just as abruptly as it began, and Feyd seethed. How dare that brat, barely more than two decades old, order around one such as he, the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side. But with the weight of the Emperor's wrath waiting if he struck too soon, Feyd knew better than to overplay his hand.
"This is good, is it not, Supreme Prophet?" Fury said from behind him, "If Darth Diábolis is coming and knows more about these foreign invaders, then the mystery behind them is more likely to be quickly solve…"
Feyd did not reply, as the fool wasn't worth his time any longer. Turning from the room, Feyd started to travel toward the extensive library that the palace boasted, even if it was being constantly diminished by the Emperor transferring all the knowledge of the Dark Side to his personal residence on Coruscant.
Fury followed, mercifully in silence as the Supreme Prophet took a lift down to the appropriate level. Bypassing the sentinels that guarded the wealth of knowledge that the Empire sported on the subjects of the Dark Side, Feyd went straight for one of the terminals that would allow him access to search the catalogued tomes and files for any references to Skarok-Nur.
He was not terribly surprised to find little reference to that particular Sith Lord, as Feyd had taken great time in learning all that there was to know regarding various ancient masters of the Dark Side in order to increase his own power and knowledge without the Emperor becoming aware of it.
What he did find; however, was disappointing. Skarok-Nur had the barest of references regarding the Sith Lord Ludo Kreesh, who had challenged Naga Sadow for the right to become Sith Emperor after the death of Marka Ragnos. Apparently after the death of Kreesh, Naga Sadow had every ally and reference of his opponent wiped from the Empire, but Skarok-Nur was never found, disappearing into myth and legend.
From what it seemed that they had discovered, Skarok-Nur had been in long hiding, and finally reemerged for one reason or another, likely to try and wrest control of the Empire from them and establish his own order patterned after the Empires of old.
"A pity," Feyd said, more to himself than Fury, who was still at his side.
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Euka was with her master once more when the communication channel flared to life. They were in Zhar's personal chambers in the Dark Temple of Korriban, which overlooked the Valley of the Dark Lords, when the Emperor himself appeared on the hologram, looking for all intents and purposes, distressed.
"Zhar, there has been a great disturbance in the Empire…" the Emperor began, even as the leader of Korriban rose, along with Euka, to acknowledge their master's presence.
"What sort of disturbance, your majesty?" Zhar responded guardedly, but Euka noted that if the Emperor sensed the tone of her master in addressing him, the other human did not convey it.
"There is a resurgence of old rivals to our power, and they may have infiltrated the caves nearer to the old Sith academy, looking for a tomb that they wish to steal Sith artifacts from. I want you and your apprentice to go personally and see that they are stopped, kill them if you must, but capture them if you can so that we can interrogate them regarding the others of their… group." The Emperor stated, almost seething in his explanation of some faction of renegade Dark Adepts.
"It will be done my Lord, but could we have some more details regarding who or what we are seeking?" Zhar asked.
The Emperor seemed to be on the verge of snarling in response, but controlled himself, "They will be identifiable by their black bladed sabers. Just stop them before they unearth something that might prove to be a threat to us all."
"As you wish, my Lord…" Zhar complied, and the communication from Coruscant ended quickly.
"I don't understand what the fuss is about…" Euka commented as they departed, heading toward the hangar to try and seek out these caves the Emperor mentioned, "How could there be anything in the Galaxy that opposes the Emperor to a degree that he is this concerned?"
"Once one becomes the sole power of a thing," Zhar explained as he took the controls of a small shuttle, "the only thing they fear is losing that power, the Emperor is no different, but on a much larger scale. This is why we are moving so very cautiously. If he were to even suspect that we wished to escape or dethrone any of his power in the slightest, all his attention and sinister killing instinct would be focused upon us, and I doubt that either of us have the knowledge or strength to defeat him."
"All the better to just obey and stay hidden in the shadows then, I suppose," Euka said, somewhat bored.
"I know it is dull, and tiresome to constantly be in the shadow of their malevolence, but patience my apprentice," Zhar chuckled, "so long as we are of use to him, the Emperor will not see fit to dispose of us, and gathering more power to ourselves in the meantime is the best we can do… perhaps in time we will rise to even take command of the Dark Council, which will be an important step toward ruling the Empire. Veneficus won't live forever, regardless of what desires and knowledge of the Dark Side he may have. It has not been discovered in thousands of year, and I doubt that such a secret even exists…"
"You had better be right about this…" Euka said hotly as their shuttle flew over the Valley of the Dark Lords, "I do not wish to waste all my life controlling this dusty tomb-world after you."
Noting the stale and not very subtle threat on his life from the young Iradonian, Zhar chuckled. "Nor do I… but one must do what they can in the meantime…"
As they neared the once ruins of the old Sith academy, which had been turned into a large dormitory for all the adepts and other workers that were maintaining the tombs and training grounds for their warriors, Euka leaned forward, watching the cliffs and ridges around for any sight of movement among the potential cave networks that pockmarked the region.
"How are we supposed to find just one cave in the midst of all… there!" she said, pointing, "Movement in the cliffs, set the ship down, we can pursue them easily."
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Zhar smirked, sensing Euka's growing excitement at the prospect of battle with other Force wielders that wasn't a training situation. Setting the ship down in the nearest open area, Zhar watched as his apprentice darted from the ramp and took off toward the nearest crag that led deep into the mountainous region surrounding the Valley of the Dark Lords, Zhar keeping up only through following her signature in the Force.
The fact that she had so easily spotted the spot they needed to go, and was able to track it perfectly was no surprise to Zhar. While he had indeed been hoping to use the Iradonian as a mere placeholder before Johell was returned to his caring tutelage, he had not selected a fool or untalented apprentice.
It only took a short hike into the narrow cliffs to find what they sought, and Zhar was suitable impressed that the cave was so easy to find. These people that they were hunting were very poor at disguising their presence, the presence of supplies and other tools just strewn about at the entrance.
"This is almost too simple…" Euka said, standing there at the entrance as he arrived.
"I agree," Zhar said, "they must feel very secure in their skill to be this sloppy, so I suggest we ought to proceed with caution."
His apprentice nodded, unclipping her weapon from her belt but not activating it just yet as they proceeded inside. The power of the Dark Side was still heavily present in the cave, and Zhar felt that it was highly likely that there was some sort of tomb in this network, albeit locating it might prove difficult.
Or they would have though it from walking in, but the fact of the matter was that it was more of an issue sneaking around all the foolish workers that were saturating the caves. The fact that they wanted to get into the tomb unseen was the only factor preventing them from just slaughtering all the non-Force sensitive workers that simply served and performed simple labor.
Eventually they navigated their way around to the rearmost part of the cavern, across a deep gorge within the cavern that could only be crossed by a narrow bridge of stone.
Past that point, off to the side, the rock walls changed abruptly to carved and shaped work, and the lingering darkness grew deeper. "We have found the tomb, I believe." Zhar said quietly.
Her eagerness was palpable, even as the High Prophet also drew his weapon. From here on they were in dangerous territory, and all they encountered had to be eliminated. The tomb of a Sith Lord, even one that was of little fame, was still an important historical find for the Empire, and for these fools to be using it for their own power to overthrow the Emperor was unacceptable, at least as the Empire collectively would say.
Unsurprisingly there were actual guards waiting in the first chamber of the tomb, and both Zhar and Euka glanced at each other for the barest of moments before silently agreeing that it was time to attack.
At once three crimson blades flared to life, and the two Dark Adepts leapt at the pair of guards, who scarcely had time to activate their own weapons before they were beset upon. Zhar happily bore down upon his opponent with the strength of Djem-So, but he saw from the corner of his eye that Euka was truly invested in the fight, utilizing every aspect of her Juyo form to harass the foe she faced, both her blades keeping the single black one moving quickly to parry and block every strike as she darted side to side around the robed and masked figure.
The fighter that Zhar faced was a proficient with the saber, having rudimentary training in Juyo and some Ataru, but it was clear that there was only so much that the being had had in the way of training, and it was almost child's play to slap their defenses aside and strike true, a deep power attack carving through the being and ending their life.
Kicking the corpse away, Zhar turned and watched for a moment as his apprentice more than showed up the lack of skills that these pathetic guards possessed. Bored of the proceedings as Euka toyed with her prey, Zhar reached out through the Force and broke the neck of the fighter.
She glared back for only a moment, but at a raised eyebrow from Zhar she let the matter slide. Zhar pressed onward, examining the walls and hieroglyphics of the ancient Sith that were printed along the cavernous corridors.
He had spent a great deal of time learning to read the ancient writing, as there had been little else of consequence on the tomb-world, and he could easily discern that it was a memorial to the fallen Sith Lord Ludo Kreesh, his achievements and history, which had been all but erased from the mainstream chronology of the Sith by his rival Naga Sadow. The fact that the other Sith had had fanatical followers able to recall and detail such events, preserving them so close to the Valley of the Dark Lords, and right under the nose so to speak of the then Emperor was astounding, and a massive historical find.
A pity that it had to be found by such violence, Zhar though, as they encountered another barrier of saber wielding children, clearly taken and pressed into service by Skarok-Nur for his own ends, and possibly even controlled by the Sith Lord's power directly.
It would be interesting to find who they found to be in charge here, and whether the red sith had come himself to this place, his former master's final rest, to find some secret weapon or tool that supposedly had been left for their rebellion from the Empire.
Carving through the several sets of guards, each of which had little idea that the two Imperial Dark Adepts were even within their ranks, Zhar felt the urge to grow complacent and lax mounting, and stopped just short of the next chamber, placing an arm up to halt Euka. She looked at him with concern, but Zhar closed his eyes, reaching through the Force to see beyond the mundane.
Something was intentionally drawing them to the deepest part of the tomb, and there was another darkness there waiting for them, strong than these others, and possible a legitimate threat to the pair of adepts.
Of course, knowing that there was a trap was half of the battle, and they merely needed to be prepared for whatever secrets that these black-saber wielding foes were waiting to unleash upon them.
"Caution…" he whispered, nodding at the passage ahead, where the presence was located, and Euka inclined her head in understanding.
They functioned well together, the pair of them, and Zhar was actually relieved that she was on his side for the time being, even as they drew closer to the final room of the tomb, the stone door sliding open to admit them as practitioners of the Dark Side.
A figure stood near the center of the room, gazing deeply at the raised sarcophagus in the center, running a hand along the stone in almost a loving fashion. "You did well to come this far…" the figure said, the female voice muffled through the mask, "but my master shall not be denied his prize…"
"I'm afraid that the Emperor will disagree quite thoroughly…" Zhar replied, his saber activating threateningly in his hands. Euka followed suit with a small flourish.
"Is that so?" the mysterious female stated, walking around the far side of the casket holding the bones of the dead Sith Lord. "I feel that there might soon be a massive change in the ordering of the Galaxy, as my master will see the end of your precious Emperor, and the Galaxy will fall to those who ought to have ruled so many centuries ago…"
Suddenly, blades erupted from summoned saber hilts in both the figure's hands as the female charged them. Zhar dodged to the left, upper cutting the blade coming at him to deflect it, while Euka ducked and stabbed with one end of her staff, forcing the figure to spin and deflect the counterattack.
"Your blades will make excellent prizes to present my master, along with the secrets of this tomb… fools and followers of the line of Naga Sadow…" the figure said as Zhar turned to face her, and the fight began again in earnest.
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Fury watched from the far side as Darth Diábolis arrived in the archive room where he and Supreme Prophet Feyd awaited him. The Sith Lord seemed to be full of irritated indignation, while the Supreme Prophet had for the last several hours simply gazed at one of the screens in the archive with a look of boiling contempt in his eyes.
The Marauder was almost sure that the pair would come to blows the moment they were in the same room as each other, but surprisingly nothing of the sort occurred. "My Lord, there is little to discover about the Sith that you requested…" Feyd said as the Devaronian Sith Lord stopped at his side, gazing at the same screen, "but through several key chain searches, I have discovered several possible locations that you can seek out clues to their whereabouts."
"Naga Sadow's true tomb?" Diábolis asked, turning to look at the Supreme Prophet. The words confused Fury, as he knew that the Dark Lord in question had a tomb on Korriban, but the fact of another one had not reached his ears.
"Yes, it seems that the Dark Lord, despite having one built for him on Korriban actually fell among his warriors on the fourth moon of Yavin…" Feyd stated. "I see; it would make sense for the apprentice of his greatest enemy to want to gloat over the fallen body of Sadow. It had always puzzled me why Veneficus selected that world as one of the chiefs among the Empire, but now I understand. You have found nothing else?"
"Nothing, my Lord, all records of these figures you speak of have been erased from the timeline of the Empire, and I fear that it was not by those who wanted to eliminate him from history, but his followers seeking to hide the locations of his strongholds." The Supreme Prophet explained.
"I understand, keep looking, notify me of anything you find," the Sith Lord stated, turning to leave as quickly as he arrived, "Fury, gather your best men and come with me, we are paying a visit to the fourth moon of Yavin, and we shall see if Nssjilirst has detected any movement among the ruins of that world."
"Yes, my Lord," Fury said, activating his wrist comlink to signal the warriors of the Black Fist, and more specifically the Wrathguard, his personal elite forces that were formed out of the veterans of the Republic wars. Calamity was also signaled; all instructed to make for his ship and prepare to depart on his command.
While Fury was not sure what they would be doing, in going to the moon, he expected some sort of a fight to break out, if the Sith Lord requested the Marauder specifically to be present.
And he was not a man willing to turn from a potential fight, especially if it was another change to improve his image in the eyes of the heir of the Empire and its legacy.
Within minutes, Fury was at the spaceport, waiting for a shuttle to land and carry him back up to the waiting capital ship that housed his entire special force, when the Sith Lord arrived, stepping toward him with an air of determination. "I will be coming aboard your ship, so as to better hide the fact of who is coming to Yavin, and the reasoning behind it, just in case our enemies have infiltrated farther into the Imperial infrastructure than we've as of yet realized."
"As you wish, my Lord," Fury responded, only somewhat curious at why the Sith Lord was being so overtly cautious regarding these beings. Fury wasn't sure if they were truly worth the concern that was being placed upon them, as the being that he and Calamity fought was less than a threat to the Marauder, but who was he to question the Lord of the Sith?
Diábolis made himself quite comfortable on the bridge after they landed on Fury's ship, and the Marauder did everything in his power to be away from the Devaronian as they set out for the jaunt through Hyperspace to the Yavin system. It wasn't difficult, as he did have an apprentice to train, as well as orders to issue to all the forces he had gathered, but without full knowledge of what they were to expect he had little to tell them, aside from the presence of Darth Diábolis and that they were to obey his orders as though they came from Fury himself.
Afterward, he spent as much time as possibly running through lightsaber forms with Calamity, vigorously trying to get the troll to learn a small amount of grace to couple with the sheer amount of strength that the beast possessed. While the creature was intelligent enough and had affinity for the Force, its control over its own limbs oft times was rather faulty at best, and Fury felt that it would take a great deal of effort to whip some fashion of a form into the troll's brain, and even more to make the hulking body respond.
With a small shudder, the ship slipped back into real space around them after several hours of nonstop training, and while Fury knew there was still a great deal of work that was needed, their pressing business took priority.
Returning to the bridge, Calamity in tow, Fury saw the green and lush moon that was their destination. Nodding at a communication officer even as Diábolis slip from the shadows to be near enough to overlook the conversation, sparing only a single glance of curiosity at the troll apprentice, Fury watched as the holoprojector flared to life, revealing the Trandoshan High Prophet governing this region of Sith Space.
"High Prophet Nssjilirst," Fury said with respect, genuine in his admiration of the greater warrior.
The reptilian Darksider sucked in a hissing breath, "Lord Fury… what brings you to the Moon of Yavin?"
A subtle glance at Diábolis told him that he was to mention nothing concerning the Sith Lord or their mission in detail. "Following up on a lead, I need permission to land some troops on the moon to scout out a possible find under the order of High Prophet Zhar…" Fury made up on the spot, allowing his contempt for his former master to wash away the possible tones of a lie as he spoke.
The Trandoshan licked his lips, hissing pleasurably as he thought for a moment, "We shall allow you to land, and do the work of the High Prophet, but I must insist you stop by our garrison and speak in further detail about your find once it is completed…"
"Of course, my Lord," Fury agreed, seeing no other way around the request, "We will inform you once we have completed our assignment."
"See that you do…" Nssjilirst hissed, even as he reached forward to the console before him, and shut off the channel.
"I sense some sort of deception at work here," Diábolis stated from his secluded section of the bridge, "although it is likely not of Nssjilirst's doing, he is a beast loyal to a fault to the Emperor, and would sooner die than betray the Empire…"
"So it will be of no consequence if we inform him after we seek out Sadow's tomb?" Fury asked.
"We shall see," the Devaronian acquiesced, "for now; however, we shall put all effort into locating the tomb and discovering if the servants of Skarok-Nur are there."
Turning to the admiral over his ship, Fury nodded, and the man gestured to his officers for them to continue bringing the capital ship closer to the moon, as well as for direction to be sent down the line to the shuttle pilots to prep their ships for a landing on the moon itself.
Diábolis turned to look out of the viewport toward the moon for a long moment, and Fury could tell that the Sith Lord was sweeping the planet with the Force, seeking out the pockets of Force energy and in that attempting to locate the tomb itself.
"The entire planet is dotted with Dark Side Nexus," he said after a time. "It may prove difficult to locate the tomb from orbit, ready a shuttle for us and your most elite guards, Fury, as I feel that we shall need to the lead in this," Diábolis stated, turning toward the Marauder.
Fury nodded, gesturing at the admiral, who forwarded the command along down to the hangar. Fury turned to depart for their readying shuttle, and Diábolis strode to be side-by-side with him, as they exited the bridge, Calamity following closely behind, "our strength in the Dark Side will be needed to locate the tomb and navigate any traps that the ancient structure retains to prevent outside intrusion." He glanced back at the hulking beast that followed, "and even your apprentice may have its uses soon enough."
"He will do all that he can to assist us, my Lord," Fury said, vouching heartily for his apprentice. What he lacked in skill he more than made up for in strength and sheer power. "If the fools are anything like what we've already faced, crushing them will be an easy task…"
"Do not take them so lightly, Lord Fury," the Sith chided, "in my line of experience, the weakest of an opponent's tools are always the first used, to lure their enemy into a false sense of security. We may yet face stiff resistance here, remain cautious and alert." What the Sith had sensed, Fury did not know; nevertheless he took the words to mind, and followed in silence toward the hangar.