SithLore

Rhoden pulled up the latest reports on the interrogation of the captured rebels, Captain Vassyl would likely be reading the same report soon, if he hadn't already, but that did not currently concern him. He skimmed through the details, and smiled with grim satisfaction, as per his request the interrogations were moving along quickly, they had already gotten through thirteen prisoners, and were in the process of interrogating four more.

Rhoden stood and made his way down to the lower levels where the prisoners were held and dealt with. It had none of the comfort the rest of Utopia had, the walls were still comprised of the stone from which the corridors had been cut. The lighting was harsh and clinical, as was the air. The exterior guards were dressed typically, but anyone who worked behind the main entrance wore all white, with a full-face one-way transparisteel helmet, with varying degrees of armor to accompany the attire.

Rhoden stripped down as was required before entering the area, going through the usual cleansing, and dressed in his white clothes and helmet. He walked out of the side entrance and stepped forward, entering one of the cells. The white-clothed figure stepped away from the man laying on the table naked as Rhoden entered.

"I'll be handling this interrogation, you are relieved." Rhoden said, the figure nodded, knowing any form of identification was not to be given within earshot of the prisoners, and left. Rhoden stepped up to the metal bed, which currently had the man upright. "Your interrogation has yet to begin, which can be good or bad depending on how compliant you are." he said. The man snarled and spat, "I'll give you nothing, Imperial dog!" Rhoden remained silent. "Very well." he turned and sat on the small chair available to the interrogator. "Computer, take the temperature as low as it will go." he said. There was a whoosh and the temperature immediately began to drop in the room, quickly approaching the freezing point. As was standard in the facility a small forcefield kept the cold at bay from Rhoden, who remained quite comfortable as he sat and waited.

After ten minutes the prisoner was trembling, after thirty he was turning blue in his fingertips and toes. "Computer, raise temperature to recovery status." he said. Immediate warmth spread through the chamber and after only a few short minutes the man regained the energy--or perhaps the will--to speak. "You'll have to do worse... than that..." he said weakly. "Computer, maximum survivable temperature, increase light intensity by seventy percent." the temperature shot up again and the lights over the prisoner's bed brightened greatly, Rhoden laid the bed back.

This time Rhoden sat for an hour as the prisoner sweated and panted, watching as the skin slowly blistered and became leathery. After ninety minutes skin began to split and he returned the temperature to normal. He returned the table to its upright position and resumed his seat. Eventually the prisoner returned to what could be called a conscious state and stared at Rhoden. But the Imperial said nothing, he simply sat. For four more hours he sat in silence, until he abruptly stood.

"Have you reconsidered your position?" he asked pleasantly. "No. I don't think I have." the prisoner muttered, the movement splitting his dried out lips. Rhoden sighed, "Then... you leave me no choice." he pressed a button and a whine filled the room as a stark-white Interrogation Droid hovered in. The man squirmed, "No, wait, I... I can talk." Rhoden gave him a meaningless sad look, "Unfortunately I'm afraid I can't trust what you might say without certain... coercion."



It was eight more hours before Rhoden concluded the interrogation, and he left the room. The man had screamed himself hoarse, and simply lay shuddering on the table, muttering to himself, no longer aware enough to be discomfited at his nudity. Rhoden headed out, removing his bloodstained clothes and sending them off to be cleansed as he stepped into the room where he himself would be cleansed. Following the process he put on his clothes and left the lower rooms immediately for his quarters.

"Busy day?" Haly asked, rubbing him on the back as he walked up to his door. "Yes, it was." he said in a monotone. They entered his quarters together and remained inside alone for an hour or two, upon her leave Rhoden felt considerably happier but far more tired and he fell asleep immediately.


Rhoden woke with a start as a chime sounded, "Yes, what is it?" he asked through a yawn. "Intel received concerning possible security breach, sir." his aides voice came over the comm in his quarters. "Acknowledged, send it to my office." he said, rolling out of his bed he dressed quickly and walked directly into his office in the adjoining room. He read through the information and scowled.

It was possible, likely even, that information had made its way into rebel hands at Roche. There would have to be a reconnaissance mission to confirm the possibility pending a full strike. Under normal circumstances Rhoden would have sent one of the pilots in either the Starwing or TIE Phantom squadrons but the information in question was sufficient enough to pique his personal interest.

He geared up and headed for the hangar, leaving instructions with his aide to inform the rest of the squad about his whereabouts. He entered the hangar and climbed into his personal Starwing, painted just as those of the Task Force but bearing dark blue markings instead of red. Dot floated down and connected to the special mount Rhoden had rigged. He ran through the pre-flight checks with typical efficiency and launched shortly thereafter. The stars elongated and burst into the blue swirls of hyperspace. Dot would guide him through the typical array of jumps designed to protect the location of Utopia, allowing Rhoden to sit back and catch some more sleep.


Rhoden awoke once more at a beep, this time from Dot, waking him up as requested before their arrival allowing time for a proper awakening should the worst occur. Jorvan would call it paranoia, Rhoden called it being reasonably cautious. He stretched as well as he could in the cockpit and rested his hands on the controls as the stars reappeared outside the cockpit.

"Begin scans, run at low power we don't want them noticing us if we can help it." he said quickly, Dot beeped an affirmative as he complied with the orders. "Let's see what there is to see..." Rhoden said.

the scan gave word that there were groups of life forms inside, but that was as much as could be given within the scan. There were people, but they weren't in the usual manner of the alliance. They were unformed, almost seemed panicked. And then there were other forms that stood still, only moving within a certain radius of the wall...

"Keep them in our sights. Begin jamming signals and latch onto any communications. If that ship tries to leave, have the tractor beams ready. He's not getting out this time."

Neive watched the ship from a small watchtower on the base. He had locked the door behind him, and nothing was to come in or out. This place had been in chaos for as long as Neive could remember, but with the current stakes... he would go anywhere. if the man died, Neive would drag him out of hell to make him pay for what he had done.

Neive sat the microphone down and pulled out his vibro blades, marking his location on the ship's radar.

"The device was never removed... perfect."

The small device that had been latched on to the ship since their encounter on Nazzri transmitted Neive's location to the radar of the ship, the source of the life forms.

Blood had been listening to the advice of more battle mechanics between Limor, the man who had been Tormentous' Left Hand, and he ran through such procedures through a flight simulator in the Naga Dread. Blood still hadn't come up with a name for it, just as he still hadn't come up with one for his Infiltrator, but who was he to name a hunk of metal? Trivial things such as naming vessels didn't suit him as much as it usually would an eager leader. He was eager, yes, but still filling in boots he knew he would soon have to grow into.

Another set of TIE Fighters came directly at him, 3 this time, adjacent and at an angle as they swooped to end his tirade once and for all. A hard pull on the right of the handle allowed him to spiral out of the way, narrowly missing the wing of the farther left Tie. Throwing his arm forward, slowing the thrusters, and simultaneously smashing the Incognito Invisibility function, drenching the infiltrator in reflective paneling and disappearing with the dark expanse of space.

Behind the booth he was in, he heard Lidmor clapping. Approvingly, he remarked, "Excellent, my Lord. Now after such, once they split to search for you, you will have free reign to pursue them. However, the difference between the two timeframes you will have will be whether they split, or remain in their formation."

Blood watched on the screen as the scenario played out. He had waited as the supposed 'confusion' took over their transmission, and after hearing their plans, his heart sank. They weren't going to split up; of course the bastards weren't going to make it easy for him. Pausing the play, Blood stood form the artificial seat and exited the booth, stretching and letting out a oxygen-refilling yawn.

"I want this paused; I desire to return to it later in the day. Ensure no one clears my progress, Lidmor."
"Understood, Sir. It will be done."

With that, Blood walked down the halls of the Naga Dread, exiting the brilliance of the fresh main hall and entering the shuttle bay, approaching his own Infiltrator, the real one, his. And with no ceremony, he activated his warborg Cathar, Valkyr, from simply nearing presence to it. She started the mysterious and sleek matte black ship with glossy burgundy and onyx trim accents. The engines hummed low and near silently, and the ramp extracted from the ship soundlessly. Lowering to the shiny and polished floor, it stopped only when it was finished extending in his direction. And after boarding it, being greeting by his Cathar warborg, he retracted the ramp and off they began their journey into the further ends of Sith Space.

Blood hadn't seen all of the territory they had their hands into, but one thing he recalled touching feet against, was the grainy rock of the asteroid belt, Roche. Filled to the brim with hardworking Verpine, all alike in their own insectiod way, they served the Sith in their forced servitude. He couldn't help them; he also didn't want to. They were what helped make his armada and other mechanical things; as long as they were comfortable enough, they ddn't need independence. They were still alive, weren't they? He hadn't made any orders to kill off anyone who hadn't deserved death. As long as the Queen kept her subjects from rebelling, all would be perfectly fine for the creachoids. However, if they happened to wander too far from the complacent hive mind, it was sure to unfold into nothing but lethal reaction from the Sith.

He had come to check the status of this place, not too long after he had instructed Kressara and Rahab to work together on ensuring discipline was being patrolled regularly around the asteroid. Well, one of them, atleast. Of course they would help eachother to meet this goal, providing backup whenever it needed to be. Quite contrary to assumption and natural order, Blood had his pack help each other to see things done. However, occasionally, there would be fights for rank, and of course he wouldn't protest this- they were Sith. It was in their blood, within the Force they kept harem in their hearts. They would squabble for higher placement, but he simply kept the element in check. Fights for rank would be when they needed to be. As of right now, they were building a new order to their reign, and for now, they would work together to grow together. With such said, Blood had learned of Kressara being uncomfortable with flying in shuttles by herself, so he assigned 2 experienced pilots to await her and Rahab's return if they needed such. Blood would rather them both to learn to fly before he gave command for such in a real situation; he wanted them ready and capable, not forced and failing. Was another lesson for another day.

That meant he would utilize his older members, Raphael and Warvanus. Warvanus was always in accompanyment of Blood if he wasn't handling his own business that Blood either put his eye to, or chose himself. He was never too far for Blood to call upon, and Blood began to trust this everpresent Acolyte with more than simple orders. He had allowed War more freedom than he would with regular pupils, and with it, War had more leeway to commit to the demanding orders Blood expected of him. It worked out perfectly, and Blood saw him more and more as a valuable asset. Just as today, Blood had summoned the loyal Warvanus to join him in checking up on Roche, providing him a callcard to have in case he needed to summon his own small squad of fighters whenever need be. Beside Blood in his Infiltrator, just behind him on right flank was Warvanus in his own fighter, perfectly in line and poised for anything to happen. The Sith Lord's left flank was not bare, however; as beside him was Raphael. He wasn't exactly next to him. In fact, he was farther out, off to the less visible sect of Blood's left, scouting and keeping both his radar and communications open to be wary of any who approached or even remotely neared the pack. If there was anything or anyone who crossed their way into Sith Territory, Raphael was always the one who was first aware of it. In a way, Blood saw him as someone who easily fit into Dastan's mold. Each recon had their own signature, and as the snake he was, Raphael struck often swiftly and with near no notice. He kept his distance to many things, all while somehow being involved with the strings that kept certain circumstances either running, or shut down. Without his knowing, Raphael had actually taken an invisible leave for a few months, training under Dastan's tutelage. The highly intelligent student knew that in order to beat the enemy, you had to learn their own methods. Feigning unquestioning obedience, the spy learned what he could from the master Eye, himself. Returning unnoticed from the grueling work, Raphael was putting the teachings in practice with every mission he either got from Blood, or chose to undertake, himself.

This loyal quad of members made up the heavy girth of his pack, folding into their own sanctions. As Blood pulled through the space invisibly, he kept his mobile location on the for both Raphael and Warvanus to keep track of. With Valkyr at the pilot's helm, he walked into the kitchen to retrieve him some fruit. In the process, he raised his wrist watch to vocal vicinity of his mouth, he sent his message to all ears of accompanying members both to and at Roche.

"What is everyone's status and location."

Raphael sat comfortably in the cockpit of his Headhunter as they followed their alpha, hidden within his Infiltrator. His mind wandered, daydreaming of the past few months. It had been action packed with ever ounce of training he was doing. The young Sith, had snuck away to take position under the agents tutelage while he was out expanding his fathers business. It was a lot of work and Raphael often felt tired, but all of the training was paying off one way or another.

He had learned a specific skill set under the agent that he couldn’t of learned anywhere else and for that, he was grateful for the opportunity. But just as his training was being finalized with Dastan and a bond was being forged, he vanished. From the skills he had learned from the agent, but not yet mastered, he attempted to gather some information on his new mentors whereabouts. Apparently he had escaped to the unknown regions of the galaxy with the traitor Mercy. Raphael would have been more distraught of this abandonment, but he had gathered almost all the information he had needed from the agent. All he had to do now was make sure the abilities were put to good use and mastered.

Clouds of his daydreams shook away as the trio approached the Roche Asteroid field. Passing each facility on each asteroid, he gazed upon them in awe at the technology aboard each base. Looking up ahead he noticed Warvanus, following his father very tightly. He appreciated how loyal the acolyte had become to his father, doing everything that was asked of him. Maybe his judgments of the warrior were wrong originally maybe he would be useful.

An immense amount of text had rolled across the screen of the monitor in the cockpit of the Headhunter. The young wannabe agent had many operatives and moles working for him throughout the galaxy at this point, a couple of them actually worked within. The Verpine operatives were a set of very smart individuals; he knew he could trust any information he received from them. Upon arrival to the asteroid field, Raphael had sent a transmission requesting a status report.

Silver eyes scanned the screen as he read the information and reacted. Many of the operatives had noticed unusual activity; a group of individuals had set up a base on one of their asteroids. An unusual occurrence, which he knew he would have to get to soon as they had a few members of the pack patrolling the field.

Another urgent message scrolled across his screen, this time the information was uncertain. Apparently that same group had been using the bases scanners to monitor a ship that just exited hyperspace in the system. The base had also begun jamming the signals of this ship.

This wasn’t warranted by any of the Verpine or the Sith, something was off here. If anyone other than their own were setting up shop in their backyard and running operations, the Sith would make them pay for it.

Raphael checking in with the rest of the pack, “On your tail. I’m receiving abnormal reports among a facility here. It seems someone had decided to set up shop in our territory without our permission.”

The transmission ended as he awaited further orders.

Warvanus had accompanied Lord Blood at his request. He of course obliged him. In the recent days it had been Lord Blood who had risen up to take the Empire , It would be under his leadership that would make the Sith feared again. He had been in the gym training as he often did, Lightsaber forms, martial art techniques, even honing his Force abilities. On this trip he had brought two recent acquisitions, 2 Assassin droids or Warbots was the official name for these machines of war. His workout was interrupted with a request to meet Lord Blood in the hanger bay.

He made haste, a quick fresher and new clothes, he had donned his flightsuit and made himself to the hanger bay. His starfighter was being prepped for takeoff which meant this was on Lord Blood’s orders.

Warvanus had gotten his new droid in the seat behind the pilot’s seat before climing in himself. The instruments hummed and engines whined as they begged for their energies to be released. He had done his preflight systems checklist and shortly after Lord Blood’s infiltrator took off Warvanus in his R-41 Starchaser along with the droid he had dubbed “Nemesis Enforcer”

It wasn’t long before his starfighter that he had named Scimitar was right where it was supposed to be, on Lord Blood’s right flank. Keeping in tight formation, to his left was Silver. He genuflected on his first meeting of the young Sith he at one point had wanted to kill him as a way to get to Lord Blood. He was growing stronger in the Force and coming into his own. He deduced that he was a better ally than foe. The times had brought them together. The state of their order they could not afford rivalries not anymore, they were united in purpose and that purpose was to make their Pack stronger, and which would trickle down and make them stronger. He was snapped from his thoughts with a brief message from Lord Blood. He flicked the switch to his comm

“Right where I am supposed to be Milord, on your right, status ready willing and able” He glanced at the instruments and he would keep the formation and await further orders

“I do not like the way these stars look,” Rahab informed Kressara. She often said needlessly ominous things and was frequently contrary about things out of her control. With her head tilted back, Rahab blew out tobacco smoke. The astroid’s minimal wind carried it up, over and gone into the thin atmosphere. Kressara and Rahab were two young women who belonged to the same order; the Sith. And they both served under the same master; Lord Blood, who, since the disappearance of the once Dark Lord Dastan Imatari, reigned over the Order. Rahab had received orders from Lord Blood earlier this day to assist Kressara on her patrol.

As far as Rahab was concerned; patrolling served no real practical purpose. It kept the lower ranks busy and in-check. At the most, their presence was a reminder to the inhabitants of planets that had the misfortune of belonging to the Sith their miserable lots in the cosmic net of life. Occasionally, a mission such as this would provide some decent sight-seeing and Rahab rarely passed up an opportunity to be alone with her thoughts. But thus far, Roche had been an uninteresting eye-sore and she wasn’t by herself. But she didn’t mind the company of Kressara. She almost looked forward to spending more time with her. Almost. Whatever actual work they had been assigned to do while on patrol she had left for Kressara to take care of; Rahab assisted when asked.

When the Lord’s voice came through the communication device she spat her pipe from between her teeth. She caught it by the handle before it hit the ground.

“Roche’s status: It is here,” Rahab chimed back, trying her best to sound like someone who wasn’t slacking off, before Kressara could respond for them. It was uncommon for Rahab to speak first when addressed like this, with others around, “It is ugly and we are on it, my Lord.”

She had taken to calling Blood her Lord after Dastan had been officially declared missing. One of the last known things the absent Dark Lord had done before vanishing was sending Rahab away to train under Lord Blood. At the time, it had made her feel terribly abandoned. As if she had been seen unworthy to take with him where ever he had gone. Had she not given herself to him; as an empty vessel to fill? She thought about it, many times over, and could not shake the idea that something must be wrong with her, this sort of thing kept happening because she deserved it. Rahab did not see the bigger picture. She had been set away at the right time, to the right place; to get just what she needed so that she could become who she would be someday.

Today would be fated, in just the same way. She was in the right place, at the right time and what would happen here on Roche would be like a rudder that would steer her further down the path she was on.

Kressara was a little less relaxed on their “break” from patrol and had found a cozy nook several feet off the ground to perch herself on, her leg hanging lazily off the ledge as she kept eyes on the area around them. She stared out like a bird of prey from beneath her pale blonde bangs which many would consider a hindrance being that they were so overgrown, with a vibroblade sheathed on her hip. She wore black clothing typical of a Sith, your basic armor beneath an asymmetric coat the color of obsidian. Her hood was pulled over her head, giving the girl on the ledge an almost avian appearance from afar like a large black bird watching over the terrain.

The newest member of the sith’s “pack” was feeling pretty calm. This patrolling job was more posturing than anything and her partner was a great deal more personable than many of the other Sith she’d come to meet personally. Kressara felt like she could relax around Rahab and definitely started smiling more during their mission together. Instead of feeling constantly on edge, like she had to prove her worth or deal with the consequences of mediocrity, Kressara was cool and mellow.

“Another omen, hmm?” She responded to Rahab’s musings and went back to keeping a watchful eye on the horizon.

Orders startled the both of them from Rahab’s comlink as a question from Lord Blood himself needed to be answered. Kressara let Rahab speak first out of sheer comfort. She didn’t feel like taking lead on anything so long as someone else had that base covered, adding her response only after she finished speaking.

“Lord Blood, Rahab and Kressara reporting from the ground. Send us coordinates and we can be anywhere needed within minutes. We’ve encountered no trouble thus far.”

She disengaged the signal and slipped down from the ledge, landing in a crouched position before standing to her full, less than impressive height. With a smirk she addressed her partner, “Time to look alive it seems. You should look into that star reading gift of yours more. You might just have something there.”

Dot began beeping frantically and Rhoden cursed to himself. This was bad, very bad. Many things had just gone horribly wrong and Rhoden had to get out fast.

Issue Number 1: An unknown device had somehow ended up on the hull of his fighter, Dot had detected and intercepted the false data the device was trying to send to his ship. The ship hadn't been out of Utopia's hangars in a fair bit of time, so it was likely to be some kind of small droid. The only good fortune to be seen in the minuscule device which had somehow eluded maintenance and security sweeps was that it was not advanced or large enough to have transmitted the base's location or access the communications array to do likewise.

Issue Number 2: The Sith overlords of Roche appeared to have chosen a very poor time to visit in force. Rhoden was fairly tired of dealing with Sith and their lackeys.

"Dot, can you modulate our shields and run a current through the hull to disable the device?" Rhoden asked. Dot beeped a quick affirmative and complied, beeping another message stating the device was inactive but remained attached to the hull. "Good. Now I think it's time we leave..." he said, bringing the ship around sharply. "You have jump calculations ready?" he asked. The droid beeped again, it would take more time, but not long enough for the Sith situation to become dangerous.

Of course, there was also the issue of the device sitting on the surface of his fighter, which presented any number of variables ranging from inconsequential to highly disturbing.

Neive looked at the watchtower's radar, seeing a number of sith. Both the overlord and his lackeys flying in, and the numerous outposts on a range of asteroids around the area.

"By the force..."

Neive had to do something. He looked to the ship that his adversary had arrived in, thinking as it slowed. He's hesitating, Neive thought. He's trying to escape.

Neive thought for a moment, before looking back to the small storage he had on the watchtower. He looked and quickly grabbed a set of Orbalisk armor, along with the iron helmet that he had brought with him.

Although it would most likely not fool the force users of the group... any soldier of the sith wouldn't see him as Neive. Although his attire was not the same, still he was confident that they would see their old dark lord,

Darth Tormentous.

Neive opened the door and walked out of the tower, down towards the catacomb-like insides of the asteroid.

As he sat in the kitchenette, his signal rang from near synonymous replies. But almost as if rehearsed, they each took a turn after the other, even if it was shaved in between by hair's breadth of milliseconds before the next response picked up where the prior left off. They were in tandem with each other, and the most efficient Sith Lord approved of this.

"On your tail. I’m receiving abnormal reports among a facility here. It seems someone had decided to set up shop in our territory without our permission.” came the response from his Son.

Next, “Right where I am supposed to be Milord, on your right, status ready willing and able” came from Warvanus.

Rahab piped up, bell tones addressing the situation with "Roche’s status: It is here, it is ugly and we are on it, my Lord."

And right after, Kressara made a clarified voice of reason for the ground-walkers. "Lord Blood, Rahab and Kressara reporting from the ground. Send us coordinates and we can be anywhere needed within minutes. We’ve encountered no trouble thus far."

All responses were confirmed to the Alpha as he felt them out each, feeling the individual bonds he held with each of his accompanying members. And afterwards, he piked a farrberry into his mouth, closing his eyes as he appreciated the refreshing tinge of flavor from the imported berry.

"Raphael, Warvanus keep eyes on the ship coming in. In such process, either board it or bomb it; either way, make it submit. "

His attention then turned to the two women, his voice still lingering on the attention from Raphael's earlier words. "Send those coordinants to the signal you found earlier to Kressara, Rahab and myself, Raphael. We'll track it down and deal with it on ground."

He knew Warvanus and Raphael could handle themselves in the expanse of space if they worked together. Blood also knew with Kressara and Rahab still being in the first-breath of their thraining, they would more than liekly do better seeing him handle this situation and learning from it, than handling it on their own. He would add himself to this unknown situation who dared to land foot on their turf.

Of course the Verpines and other workers moved hurridly out of Neive's way, trying to not anger their captors with even thier presence. They proved no resistance to Neive, or the Sithians. Once Raphael sent the ping directly to his watch, Blood directed his ship down to the landing pad of Roche and made haste to make himself direct in that direction. It didn't take too long to meet up with Kressara and Rahab who he saw also making their way to the point of interest.