LegendsLog:Sith: Trouble on the Road

Sith: Trouble on the Road

OOC Date: January 02, 2020
Location: Dromund Kaas
Participants: Tai Cirra, Rotas Anruc, Eosys, Revan

A disturbance has stopped the arrival of Darth Revan from reaching Kaas City. An assassination attempt upon the speeder convoy sees it attacked along the road. Those with Revan are in her speeder when it goes over the edge of a pathway and down into a a raging river to be tossed and turned until it washes up shore several kilometers away from civilization.

Everyone wakes up in darkness, the sound of rushing water is loud yet muffled. It's not clear what happened. The sudden snap hiss of a violet lightsaber comes to life, and the youthful face of Revan appears behind its hue as she casts its light over those in the speeder with her. "Is everyone alive?" The driver wasn't.

"...I've been better." Tai groans, sitting up and gently poking at a cut on her cheek before squirming as the offending shard of transparisteel is removed from her tunic. Pushing the pain aside into the Force, she quickly checks herself to make sure the rest of her gear is still here and intact ...fortunately, it is. Rising to her feet, the zabrak ignites one of her own blades. "...I have no idea where we are."

By the time the Speeder washes ashore, and Rotas has managed to stumble out of it, he pushes himself up in slow, pained motions. He groans a bit on his way, before fully pushing himself to his feet. Though as the violet blade of Darth Revan snaps into life, his hand reaches a few inches from his hip, where his own lightsaber suddenly flies towards it, his crimson blade activating.

"I have survived, my Lady." Rotas informs Darth Revan, taking a deep breath before turning his gaze out into the foliage that surrounds them. "Dromund Kaas, capital of the Sith Empire. Depending on who you ask, of course."

While covered in small cuts and nicks from various metals of the speeders, these don't really bother the massive Abyssin, whose hulking form is cramped into the speeder and haunched to fit. Nonetheless, his vivid yellow eye blinks groggily and in surprise as Revan's face is illuminated with a soft violet glow. His stare slides over the other two, briefly the Zabrak and the Offshoot, briefly scrutinizing them. A grunt is given from deep in the chest of the Abyssin, who shifts in the seat, and kicks at the door in effort to bust it open.

"We are here, acolyte," Revan answers cheerfully, "not there." A point of her lightsaber reveals the gory mess that had been their driver. He was there. Light from outside filters into the hold as Rotas made his way from the vehicle. Revan follows closely behind. "Follow me," she says to the pair that remain in the speeder.

They come to stand upon a bank of pebbles as clear spring water rushes by in a powerful river. The forest is dark from overcast skies where rain falls lightly, and lightning and thunder are frequent. There is a soft breeze, cooling and comforting against the humidity of the jungle.

Under better light, Revan's features come under the scrutiny of all their gaze. She is but a young woman, with a lively expression and attractive features. Her eyes are bright blue and her hair is long, tied back to remain out of her face. She, like them, have a few bruises and cuts. "It is a haunted world with a history just as dark as Korriban itself. The beating heart of the Empire is here though. Search your feelings and reach out with the force. You can hear the sounds of voices crying in eternal anguish." Revan deactivates her weapon and clips it back to her belt.

"We must find where we are if we expect to live. Have any of you a clue to direction? With no sun, I find it difficult to discern which direction is north." She holds her hand up as a visor, like the bill of a cap, to shield her eyes from the rain while looking up. Nothing.

Welp, he's not going anywhere. Sucks to be him. Tai raises the saber above her head like a glowrod, and follows along behind Revan. When they exit inot the light again, she returns her saber to her belt. "I could try to find the space port, My lady, but it might take some time."

While Revan identifies their situation for Tai, which is... Not yet dead, Rotas gives a bit of a grin, though he doesn't particularly seem to offer any further comment from there. While Eosys seems to struggle at getting out of the speeder, he turns to watch the creature, rolling his eyes as he reaches his free hand towards him. "Are you telling me that all that savage strength is wasted against a simple speeder?" He laments, rolling his eyes. His hand stretched out, he calls on the Force to very helpfully "guide" or rather... Push Eosys towards the open door of the speeder.

"I am following you, my Lady." He notes towards Revan, turning his gaze towards the Sith Lord. "There is a Temple nearby that perhaps we could try and find some communication equipment at?"

The Abyssin growls savagely as he's 'guided' out of the speeder, tumbling on to the ground and scrambling to his feet, blinking as he takes in his surroundings. This prompts him to hasten his pace and catch up to the group.

A growl signals his proximity, "Can survive long," he refutes Darth Revan's words, but none of them seemed to want to be here for the long haul. "Find outposts? Things probably there. Left behind. Maybe temple." He grunts, sniffing the air, "Storm not stop soon."

"We should remain together. Our survival, despite our connections with the Force, will be insignificant if we are accosted by local wildlife." Revan brushes her cape from her shoulders, casting the heavy robe aside to reveal a more form fitting tunic complete with a cuirass of stylish brown leather and durasteel pauldrons. Her boots are tall, and her pants bloused inside them to pronounce the boots' presence. Both of her lightsabers are clipped to her belt, suspended motionless.

"This temple you speak of. Which direction does it reside?" Her noisy footsteps leave a trail in the rocks as she leaves the shoreline to walk toward the foliage.

Tai takes a knee, resting her hands on the ground and closing her eyes. She reaches out into the force, tilting her head to one side. She can almost... hear... it... And there it is. The sussuration of whispers, and a presence. Lifting one hand, she points. "There. I can feel the temple."

While striding forward, no longer concerned whether or not 63 can keep up with the group or not, Rotas deactivates his lightsaber and reclips it to his belt as he moves along with the other two. As his information is taken well by Revan, his lips curl into a pleased grin and begin to part to speak an answer... Only to have instead Tai answer instead. His lips curl into a bit of a frown, though he says nothing further.

The Abyssin isn't, perhaps, smart. But he does notice some nuances, and the way that Rotas frowns as Tai interjects the direction of the temple. It elicits from the massive cyclops a deep baritone chuckle of amusement at the Offshoot's expense. He shrugs off his own robe, his scarred frame bare from the waist up, revealing the thick green hide and myriad of scars that adorn it. Black pants are tied at his hips with a black sash, billowing briefly before tucked into boots that are tight around his muscled legs below the knee. Either hip sports a hilt, indicative of his dual-wielding style of combat. "Rely too much on Force," he admonishes the group, "Wild king here, not books or politics." His element, he feels, and he grins a maw full of too many and too sharp teeth.

"If you feel this temple's presence, take us to it." Revan steps to the side and motions the acolyte to take the lead in this endeavor. Rotas' silence is noted, and Eosys' admonishment earns a slight smirk from her. She has no words them, though. Her focus is on their survival at present, and the prospect of rescue in their future.

Tai couldn't care less about any ego bruising on Rotas' end, and she smoothly rises to her feet and leads the way. The acolyte life is cutthroat, one needing any advantage they could get. "I learned how to fight before I even joined the Sith. It's a valuable skill."

The chuckle rolling out of the Abyssin's mouth ensures that Rotas' brow furrows with deeper frustration, though the acolyte wisely chooses to instead keep his dignity, and not add anything further to that conversation. Instead, as Eosys mentions skill sets, and Tai adds to that, he rolls his eyes loosely. "The Force is my weapon. Outside of that, my knowledge is what drives me forward. Like, for example, that there is a Temple around. Knowledge that affects our survival, and does not rely on the Force."

The Abyssin again grins at Rotas as Tai agrees with Eosys and Rotas deigns to defend himself somewhat. "Throw book at wildlife," he teases with a deep, baritone chuckle, continuing on with the group, his single eye glancing at Revan.

Revan walks along with them quietly, having nothing to add to the debate. With her face visible, it's easy to discern that her thoughts are elsewhere. Her lips form a thin line as she brushes a pair of limps from her path, bending it just enough to walk by.

Their walk takes roughly an hour crossing treacherous terrain and and trying climate. The storm begins to pick up as a temple looms ahead. Dark stone and architecture influences the feelings that sweep over them. This was not a temple which was well traveled. An abandoned camp lay in ruin nearby. The product of wildlife attack, perhaps?

"Well... Whoever else was here didn't leave of their own free will." Tai looks around, eyes slightly narrowed, hands drifting to her sabers. She's got a bad feeling about this. Nothing concrete, just a sense of general unease that could well be the Temple itself. She'll let Revan take the lead again, if the Lady wants to.

The conversation dies down once again, and as they arrive at the camp, Rotas lets his attention drift towards Tai for a moment as she speaks, and then he peers out around the area as well. Meanwhile, the storm has already mostly soaked his thick overcoat, water rushing down his face. "You suspect danger." He observes towards Tai, giving a brief pause, then his lips curl into a brief frown, having nothing else to add.

The Abyssin tenses as they approach the temple, his single eye sweeping the surroundings and the abandoned equipment and camp that lie in ruin. He is eager to get out of the rain, but there is an unease about the place- dark stone and architecture that invokes a general sense of impending threat. "Wildlife. No Republic way out here," the growling, gruff tone of the Abyssin assures- assumption, mainly, and perhaps to soothe his own sense of uneasiness. He presses into the camp, gaze swiveling to take in the sight and see what might be worth scavenging for their rescue.

The camp is in disarray, total chaos. Blood stains the dry sides of canvas and bones, what's left of the dead, have been cleaned of all their meat. The wind begins to pick up and Revan trudges ahead through the mud, raising a hand to shield her face. "This was no common wildlife attack. They were set upon by something more. Something.."

The contrail of a laser flashes, cutting through the rain and leaving a mist. Revan turns in that instant, stepping in front of the acolytes and raising her hand to intercept the blast. It impacts her hand, putting off a soft concussive wave that expanded out like a bubble and sent the rain water near it, outward. The energy was consumed, channeled through Revan's body and directed to exit from the soles of her feet. "Ambush!" She screams, twisting her head to look back at her companions. "Find the source of these attacks! Bring them to me!" She commands, then she storms forward appearing to prepare some cautionary technique through the force that requires her focus.

Revan groans from the draw of this power, her face grimacing.

The sound of the blaster has Tai's sabers igniting, the acolyte spinning around to face the incoming direction of attack. "Ten hostiles surrounding us, five of them close to Lady Revan! She locks her eyes on the spot where one of the signatures should be. "They're using cloaks!" She gestures, tossing one of the ones close to Revan back to impact a tree with a thud.

When the assault begins anew, Rotas throws up his hand, his lightsaber flying to fill it with greater fervor as the crimson blade ignites. Suddenly, the danger he's been sensing is presenting itself. "Alright big guy, now's your time to prove your use!" He calls out towards Eosys, his lips curling into a grin as he thrusts his hand out, throwing a wave of telekinetic energy at one of the incoming assassins.

Yet to his dismay, the trained assassin was prepared for Sith, and ducks down behind a crate in time to evade the telekinetic assault.

The Abyssin can't help but grin with some sadist glee as Rotas calls out toward him. Initially endeavoring to swathe himself in shadow, that's abandoned as the massive creature ignites both of his lightsabers, and thrusts his hand out, cradling the hilt sidelong to point his fingers at one of the assassin. A deafening thunderclap roars through the area as tendrils of blue lightning extend from his fingertips and cling to one of the assassins. Within mere moments, the foe is nothing more than sifting ash. A roar of cruel glee erupts from Eosys as he blindly rushes in to close the distance between himself and another foe.

Revan cries out a very human scream as her hands push outward suddenly. Her grasp and influence over the force becomes distinctive and apparent because the energy she released expanded from around her companions and extended outward. All things ceased at once, and the rain was redirected outward while mud sprang up from the ground. The assassins near Revan were cast backward when their attacks found no purchase. Something stopped it outright.

Blaster fire erupted from the treeline, their bolts impacting this unseen barrier Revan holds up with both hands, standing as if she were pushing against a massive weight, her hands skyward and palms up. "Fear not their attacks!" Revan growls. "Go forth and bring them down. All of them!" Revan began to slide back a bit in the mud, her boots' traction just not enough to guard against the overwhelming weight.

4 Assassins were drenched now with mud and closest to the Dark Lord while five others emerged from the treeline drawing close to fire more with their blaster rifles.

"There you are." The feral grin is back on Tai's lips, and she launches herself forward at the assassins. Her sabers spin around, cleaving smoothly through the bodies of the two she pass between and letting them drop to the ground in smoking pieces. She turns and faces off at the other group, sabers raised in a guard position, feeling the remaining two behind her snuff out as Rotas deals with them. "Leave one alive for questioning, we can find out who sent them!" Because whoever decided to ambush them was gong to /pay/.

While Revan calls out, Rotas' lips curl with satisfaction and as for the target he previously attempted an assault on with the Force... This time, when the assassin pops back up, ready to lay down blaster fire on him, he thrusts up his hand again. The assassin flings towards him and in a flawless Niman Pulling Slash, he curls the blade from under hand, zone six attack.

The body crumples, sliced in half by his lightsaber. Then he leaps, sliding on his feet to thrust his blade forward and into the last assassin that threatened Darth Revan's position. "The Darth is secure! Press the assault!"

The Abyssin forgets, at the moment, that his depth perception is poor due to only having one eye. While his running and flashy twirls of red arcs in lightsabers look nice and are savagely graceful as he flings the blades this way and that, they all miss. This makes the Abyssin roar with fury, now closing the distance entirely.

Blaster fire impacts Revan's barrier, and the energy dissipates into a green gas when it is reduced to tibanna form and consumed by the potent barrier comprised of the force essence. Revan screams against the taxing weight, stepping forward with a growl. There is a sickening satisfaction in watching enemies fall but Revan does not bask in it. Her channeling of energy comes from some place deeper.

Five remain and one signals the sound of an alarm. A distant roar grows loud above the chaotic sounds of battle. "Something large approaches. Make ready!"

Boosting herself into another force assisted leap, Tai takes down two of the further group before turning to a third. This is going to be a little more intricate... The swipe of one saber takes off both of the assassin's hands and sends his blaster flying while the other removes one foot. No escape for this one.

As the remaining assassins making a further assault on Darth Revan, Rotas lifts his hand, grinning wicked as he levitates the foe that evaded all of Eosys' attacks. With a growl, he closes his hand, the armor and bone letting loose a sickening crack as he crushes the assassin. Then he spins, swinging his lightsaber over the head of the last remaining foe, narrowly missing. The assassin spins, ready to level his blaster on him, but he sweeps in just in time, slicing the blaster rifle in half, and then thrusting his blade into the assassin's chest.

The treeline opens up as a towering, raging cybernetically enhanced Gundark rushes forth to attack. Revan is the most open, so it goes for her. Its devastating smashing fists collide with an unseen wall, enhancing its rage as it screams in fury. Revan cries out, her arms shaking yet her barrier, the bulwark, holds.

"Bring... it... down!" She yells, the barrier having its toll on her.

The Abyssin growls in anger as the other two promptly sliced up the remaining assassins, but his features split into a toothy smile as the large creature appears. Flinging himself at it, his body is surrounded by red arcs as he slashes and slices into it, opening wounds along its body with merciless ferocity.

Tai opens herself to the force further, feeding back in all her anger at those who would attack her Lady. The world seems to slow, and to an outside observer she blurs into motion and lands a relentless flurry of strikes on the beast, constantly circling around to stay behind and out of its reach. Scaling the Gundark's back she brings her sabers together in a scissors before flinging them apart, and the animal's head thuds to the ground. The acolyte rides the body down, before springing forward and extinguishing her sabers. "Lady Revan, Are you alright?" She shoots the still downed assassin a glare. He's /next/.

Tai opens herself to the force further, feeding back in all her anger at those who would attack her Lady. The world seems to slow, and to an outside observer she blurs into motion and lands a relentless flurry of strikes on the beast, constantly circling around to stay behind and out of its reach. Scaling the Gundark's back she brings her sabers together in a scissors before flinging them apart, and the animal's head thuds to the ground. The acolyte rides the body down, before springing forward and extinguishing her sabers. "Lady Revan, Are you alright?" She shoots the still downed assassin a glare. He's /next/.

When the beast appears, Rotas turns to face it with his lips curling into a deeper, much more wicked grin. "Yes... Yes..." He coos happily, stepping forward with his blade at the ready. Though as it hammers at Darth Revan's Force Shield, and then the two other acolytes slice it down, he chuckles happily, deactivating his lightsaber once again and reclipping it to his belt. "My Lord, with your permission, I wish to keep the body for myself." He mentions, stretching out his hand to call on the Force in his own way.

The Abyssin growls bestially as the thing falls due to Tai's attack, clicking his sabers off. "The shield was not needed. But thanks." He growls haltingly to the Dark Lady, a grin teasing his strong jaw and toothy maw.

When Revan's hands lower, finally, the shield breaks and the rain falls all at once. The sweat that formed on the Dark Lord's brow is promptly washed away, and she stands wide stanced, shoulders rising with heavy breaths. This tremendous effort had taxed her, but she did not seem weaker for it. Resolute.

"You are welcome." She answers Eosys directly before stepping from the muddy ruts she had made. Acknowledging Rotas was done with a gesture. "You may do as you please, Rotas." Revan trudges forward, soaked, to stand beneath the stone awning of the temple. "Bring your assassin, Tai. While this is no place for questioning, I trust our rescue will be at hand shortly. Find for me the communications gear so that we may be on our way." A jerky flinging motion of both her hands sees the moisture shaken free, though far from completely.

"Yes, my Lady." Tai gives Revan a brief bow, before reaching her hand towards the sole survivor of the failed ambush. Hand returning to her side, the assassin floats over to hang next to her. Rotas knows the most about the area, he hopefully knows where the comms are.

With the battle now concluded, and the beasts corpse's temperature lowered to freezing, Rotas grins more deeply as permission is granted to keep it. He gives a bit of a grunt as he lifts the massive corpse of the beast with telekinesis, straining against his Force reserves as he works to maintain both abilities. His second hand lifts up, applying the Force with great effort. If Tai is focusing her attention on him any, he is far too distracted to notice.

Eosys doesn't much help. He fought. Fights. Making communications and dissecting bodies- that's not really his area. He could help interrogate, probably, but might go overboard. Instead, his gaze swipes back and forth for threats. "You may lean on me if you are weary," he gruntingly awkwardly offers Darth Revan. Since he doesn't really have any other use currently.

It is not long before Revan's beacon is picked up by scouting patrols searching for them. A shuttle lands in the courtyard roughly an hour later. Despite the weight, Revan had elected to decline Eosys' offer of leaning. She knew of the beast but had not come to trust him. Trust was not something Sith considered viable. She instead walked around warming back up while reading the notes left by the departed Imperials. When they left, Revan had a good idea of what they were using the temple for.

The ship takes them all to Kaas City and drops them at the Imperial plaza. "You are free to return to your business. You have my thanks for today." Were the parting words of Revan, who disappeared toward the suite wing of the plaza intent to bathe and change. Being Dark Lord had its advantages.