Insidious (3593 BBY)

[Cain]

The Padawan girl had tumbled over the side of the landing pad. She almost certainly would not survive. That wasn't at all Jack's concern at the moment.

Though his student was easily dispatched, the Jedi Master that had been tracking Jack and Thalia was a different animal. The Force roared about him like a hurricane, guiding and strengthening the blows from his lightsaber. Thalia could not defend herself against so much raw power. The impact of Si Quan's blade against hers drove Thalia's shoulder from its socket. As she crumpled to the ground, Si Quan turned his attention to Jack.

There was no time to think before the Jedi was in range. Jack lifted a hand to summon the Force to his defense, but one over-head cleave from Si Quan shattered the barrier. Jack wheeled back, his poorly constructed lightsaber jumping from the breast pocket of his duster jacket and snapping to life in his hand.

Si Quan swatted the weapon from Jack's hand with one more horizontal slice. Master Si Quan towered over the frail Sith, standing nearly a foot taller than his opponent. What normally might have been temperance and mercy from a member of the Jedi High Council was replaced by resolve as Si Quan raised his lightsaber for a killing blow.

"Truly pathetic," the voice in Jack's head whispered. "Two Sith. Slaughtered like Nexu cubs. By one Jedi. Death. Is all you deserve, but. This body. Is mine."

Si Quan stepped toward Jack and raised his lightsaber, acutely aware of the Force growing darker around the little Sith Lord. An almost tangible black fog began to ooze from Jack, his eyes started to glow with a dull, white light. Before Si could bring his blade down the Force erupted. A repulsive shockwave sent the Jedi sliding back several meters across the landing pad, and rocked the nearby Nyoka.

Si's eyes grew wider. He had seen through Jack's Force camouflage and felt the strength of the Force within him. This... was something else. Something he'd not sensed before. Something insidious.

Jack's limbs began to twist and contort, unable to control his body against the power growing inside. His eyes rolled over into his skull and his head pitched backward.

"What have you done?" Si Quan shouted across the platform.

Jack's head fell back forward toward Si. His lips moved, but the voice that spoke was not his own. "Die. Jedi," hissed a soft female voice.

The Force gathering in Jack began to surge toward his right arm. A strange sort of magnetism lifted the limb toward Si Quan. Stray sparks and arcs of electricity discharging randomly from Jack's flesh until finally it could no longer be contained. The lightning tore down Jack's outstretched arm, rending and incinerating leather, cloth and flesh. A single bolt fired from Jack's palm. Si Quan raise his hand to intercept it, but the blast crashed through his defense and pierced his chest, right through the heart.

Si Quan remained on his feet for a moment, stunned, a hole in his chest still glowing red with heat and smoldering lightly. After a long moment he fell to his knees.

"Kyo... Aryana," he sighed, exhaling the last bit of breath left in his lungs, "The Force... protect you."

One Year Earlier (3593 BBY)

The Nyoka's holoprojector flickered, the image of a Jedi Master flashing in and out over top of it.

"Do you read?" the Jedi inquired, his voice partially impaired by static. "This is General Ganner Dysar. Can you hear me, Cain?"

Jack was spilled over the hard seat beneath the holoprojecter, one leg slung up over the chair's arm. He exhaled softly, not bothering to raise his eyes to the image of Master Dysar.

"This is Cain," he sighed. "I read you."

"Finally," Ganner replied, "These bloody storms are reeking havoc with our communications. You better have something for me, Cain. Three weeks on this uninhabitable ice ball are more than enough for a life time. I can't keep my divisions this far from the action without something to show for it."

"You worry too much, General," Jack said through a wry grin, "when have I ever let you down?"

"Is that a joke?" Ganner asked sternly.

"I don't joke." Jack answered with equal gravity, hefting himself up in his seat. "The time was necessary for confirmation. I can now say with absolute certainty that Admiral Wolff and his fleet are refueling at an outpost on one of the moons of Iego. They will be moving again soon, so immediate action is imperative."

"Wolff," Ganner echoed, "That coward is wanted by both the Republic and the Empire for the attack on Coruscant. Can't say I envy him. Depending on which finds him first, he'll be thrown into a steel cage or a small wooden box. How long do we have?"

"Three days, at the most." Jack replied.

Ganner huffed, visibly annoyed, "Impossible! There's no way we can muster enough forces to apprehend them in that amount of time!"

Jack shook his head, "Inaccurate," he said, his features calm and still, "There is a mining facility in a nearby system. One, which I have on good intelligence, is watched over by an unusually large number of Jedi protectors. Certainly they could be of some assistance in this matter. I'll send you the coordinates of the facility now."

Jack punched the numbers into the computer.

Ganner was silent for a long moment, studying the data for himself. "This..." he began with some trepidation in his voice, "we can't take Jedi from here..."

"Why ever not?" Jack inquired, coyly.

Ganner narrowed his eyes at Jack, clearly being careful with the words he would choose to respond. "Above your pay grade," he finally responded. "Let's just say the Council would not approve."

"I would think an Imperial war criminal would be a higher priority than some iron mine in wild space," Jack said, working back a smirk, "I can't say when you'll have another shot at this... and if the Empire finds him first, I can guarantee any intelligence the Admiral may have will be lost. Permenantly."

Ganner shifted uncomfortably, his expression contorting back and forth like scales as he weighed the decision. "Fine," Ganner conceded, "Keep this channel open. We'll be in touch."

The image abruptly blinked off and the inside of the Nyoka dimmed considerably.

No longer holding it back, a grin spread over Jack face. "Almost too easy," He commented to the silhouette of the young woman standing in the shadows just out of sight of the holoprojector.

[Moonfire]

“Toying with your pawns, again?” The silhouette asked taking a few clicking steps into the light, bored gaze lingering instead on freshly manicured nails, painted dark and shaped to pointed talon-tips. Thumb nail worked its way beneath ring-finger, scraping lightly at imagined dirt and debris as Thalia’s cool gaze finally moved to the unimpressive figure of her Master. Even after six years she bristled at the word, thankfully Makura was just as disinterested in the Order’s droll posturing and egotism.

Slick black silk hugged her form embroidered in stitches so small and delicate the snaking silvered trees and trailing feathers looked painted on at first glance. Pale flesh glimpsed from the high slits on each side of her fashionably made dress, a hint of bare thigh contrasting sharply with the dark of the fabric. Digging out the little bit of lint trapped behind the long claw Thalia flicked it away, arms moving to rest comfortably beneath her bust as she quirked a brow at the back of Jack’s greying head.

Over the years of their association Thalia had come to understand a few things about the unassuming man before her. All the galaxy was a gameboard, pieces moved into careful, thoughtful clips-- Every movement of the Republic, the Jedi, the Sith, even those savages clad in trashy armour, each played a part in some cosmic game. Pieces traded one for another in a back and forth older than time itself. A struggle for control. For domination. For power. And Jack Makura thought himself the master. “Tricking a hapless bishop into chasing a pawn so you can snatch their queen... whenever will they catch on? You’d think after Coruscant they’d be less likely to blindly trust a slimy derelict like you.”

There was little mirth in her joke, expression falling into one of veritable boredom, fingers now moving to busy themselves with the mismatched hilts at her side, tapping a tuneless beat across their polished sides. Leaning forward the redhead’s eyes skimmed the map, locking onto the mining facility in question. Curious and curiouser. What were Jedi doing protecting a pile of old rocks? “You’re probably just bursting at the seams to tell me your brilliant plan. Unless you’ve suddenly take an interest in mineral resources without telling me, I’ll assume there’s something deeper here. ”

[Cain]

"You know better than that by now," Jack responded to his buxom apprentice, drawing a cigarette from his jacket.

Thalia was dressed as if the two were off to some dinner party and not about to go spelunking in the farthermost corner of Wild Space. This wasn't anything new, however. Her heels made a distinctive 'click clack' along the titanium floor panels as she strode across them. Even without the footwear, Thalia was a few inches taller than her Sith Master. In heels she practically towered over him.

This was all old hat to Jack. He paid no attention to Thalia's attire, lighting up his cigarette and moving toward the cockpit. "Regardless, your feelings are sound, Apprentice," he continued, speaking while they walked. "The contents of the mine are of interest, but it is not rocks and minerals that bring us here."

In the cockpit Jack retrieved his datapad and entered their destination coordinates into the navicomputer. The stars outside stretched out into a long glowing tunnel as the Nyoka made the jump to light speed.

"A tomb," Jack said, falling back into the pilot's seat and slowing slumping down. He plucked the cigarette from his lips and pinched it between his fingers. "I've spent many months sifting through the data we borrowed from the Jedi Temple. Of the highest interest was an entry about a lost planet on the fringes of Wild Space. Kumour."

Jack held up the datapad and a small holo image of a planet appeared over it. "According to the Temple Archives, this planet was the home world of a powerful Sith Lord over one hundred years ago." Jack paused. The holo projected image blinked off and Jack brought the device in close to his face to inspect the information. "Darth... Ah-nay-mos," he read, not quite sure of the pronunciation. He continued, reading directly from the datapad.

"Darth Anemos eventually abandoned the Sith and returned to her homeworld, Kumour, where she became an object of fear to the surrounding systems, and worship among her own people. Anemos ordered the Kumouri to strike out from their planet and make war on their neighbors. Records from the time indicate that the purpose of these attacks was to bring as many prisoners back to Kumour as possible, where they would be taken to Anemos to be..."

Jack trailed off, reading the last word to himself to confirm that he had in fact read it correctly before repeating it aloud. "...consumed."

Jack switched off the datapad and tucked it away. He hoisted himself upright in his seat, glaring at Thalia. "Eventually the Kumouri ran out of sacrifices and Darth Anemos turned her appetites on her own people, or, at least, that's what the Jedi speculate. No one knows what became of them, or the planet Kumour exactly. All that is known is the system is now little more than an asteroid field. The Republic was mining some of these asteroids for raw materials when one team broke through into something else... the foundations of an ancient tomb."

The hypnotic light show of hyperspace continued outside of the cockpit, flashing brightly and dimming in rhythmic intervals, illuminating the side of Jack's face. He stopped to take a drag of his cigarette and to study the effect of his words thus far on Thalia.

"Most of the first group of miners were killed," he continued at last with a breath of smoke, "the few survivors claimed the mine was haunted, had driven the others mad. The Jedi sent their own team to investigate. Miners, Archaeologists, Jedi Guardians and advisers."

Jack studied his cigarette absently, a smile creeping onto his face as his thoughts came together. "I can't wait to see what they've uncovered."

[Moonfire]

History had never been of particularly strong interest to Thalia-- Years spent with a governess and private tutors on both Naboo and Mygeeto had done little to instill a love of knowledge or learning in the privileged young woman. Droll lessons on galactic economic policies and their after effects seemed pointless when your chief responsibilities in life were to get married and run a household-- A destiny equally unimaginative but ultimately moot with how life had played out. Faintly the woman wondered what her mother would think, seeing her nod along to the slim man’s recollection of old stories. It was an inky, dark thought, unconscious in it’s shaping before staunchly controlled rage struck.

Fuck her and her opinions. Thalia mused venomously, brushing the thoughts away with a flare of heat to her face and a wave of her hand as she focused on Jack’s darling little story.

Kumor. A planet no one had ever heard of home to a sith lord forgotten by time, even in just a few hundred years. Worshipped by her own people as some sort of warrior goddess. A finger pushed the heavy sheet of her red hair about the shell of pale ear as she listened. That didn’t sound so bad, possessing the sort of power that would leave entire planets on their knees in devotion. Frankly it sounded far better than lurking in the shadows behind a sleep-deprived vagrant who spent the bulk of his time sifting through old stories.

But that was the point of it all, wasn’t it? To achieve that level of power. To sort through Jack’s endless pursuit of knowledge to pluck away only the most useful bits. This Darth Anemos sounded promising, at the very least.

“An ancient tomb? Joy of joys.” Thalia breathed, eyes rolling back in her skull with sheer excitement. “I suspect you’ll be expecting me to handle any droids or monsters we find within? Would hate to see you strain yourself, Makura. Might shatter your fingers trying to open the gates.”

This was far from the first time the pair had dived into ancient tombs at Jack’s behest. The oily scoundrel had a penchant for finding lost artifacts and old, half-broken holocrons heavily guarded on Korriban-- It was with some pride, tinged with disgust, Thalia acknowledged that she was the muscle of their unlikely pairing.

Knowing the answer already Thalia turned to leave the cockpit, the multicolored swirl of hyperspace casting shadows across her form before she slinked back into the belly of the ship. “I’ll have to change my shoes.”

[Cain]

There was no need to respond to Thalia. She knew her role, and Jack knew his. Although neither of them had the most pleasant of personalities, they had come to understand the advantage to be had in each other's strengths. A Sith takes on a Master to learn the ways of the Dark Side, and an apprentice to remain strong. Never contented, never comfortable, never satisfied. This state of being came natural to Jack. He'd known no other existence.

It was a relatively short trip to the Kumour system. The Nyoka carefully approached the entrance to the mining facility constructed deep within one of the more massive asteroids.

Jack sat alone in the dark of the conference room staring at the holoprojector, anticipating the call that was soon to come. Sure enough, as the blast shield protecting the mine's hanger from the vacuum of space came into view, a holoimage flashed to life over the Nyoka's comm terminal. The call was coming from a portly little Twi'lek man with a very stern disposition.

"This is Republic outpost DT-521 hailing unidentified spacecraft," The chubby Twi'lek declaired, "Please transmit your code clearance."

Jack studied the man for a moment, contemplating his options. Finally he gave a small shrug and began rummaging through his collection of datapads. "Sending clearance now," he said, tapping the datapad's screen.

"Oh..." The Twi'lek exclaimed, his hard expression rapidly softening, "my sincerest apologies! We will make sure everything is in order for the you and your wife, Admiral! You'll find we run a very tight ship here."

"That is unlikely," Jack sighed in reply.

"Uh... of course. You are cleared to dock... welcome to..." The image blinked out as Jack cut the transmission, leaving him once again in darkness.

"One of the many useful things borrowed from Coruscant," Jack explained, never looking up to acknowledge Thalia, but instead sensing she was near. "A list of docking codes courtesy of the Courscanti air defense corps. I've no idea which code is for which ship, but this one seems to have done the trick."


The Nyoka eased gently into the facility hanger. Their rotund Twi'lek host was on the landing pad waiting for them with a taller, sturdier looking Zabrak at his side. He was young, not much older than 20, and wore a lightsaber at his belt.

When the loading ramp dropped Jack stumbled out first, flicking his spent cigarette at the Twi'lek's boots. "Who's in charge here?" Jack growled.

"Oh! Uh..." The Twi'lek stuttered, "I'm the foreman here. Chief Waddums. And this is our acting head of security, Jedi Knight Taivus Ko."

"A stammering worm head and a one Jedi pup?" Jack questioned, his head thrown back as he scanned the hanger, "Not much of a welcoming party."

Waddums swallowed hard, hesitating. "Umm... there was an emergency in a near by system. A good portion of our security detail was just pulled away. But they should be back shortly!"

The Jedi, who had remained still, never taking his eyes off of Jack since the moment he stepped off of the Nyoka, finally moved. He raised his hand in front of the foreman, cutting his nervous explanation short. "You're a little short for an Admiral," he said calmly, "and that ship... not exactly a Hammer-head class cruiser."

Jack chuckled, his attention finally settling on the Zabrak. "Nothing gets past you, Jedi."

Chief Waddum's face became white as a sheet as the reality of the situation finally occurred to him. With a shaky hand he clumsily ripped a small blaster from the holster on his hip.

"Who are you!?" He shouted in an unnecessarily loud voice, aiming his blaster at Jack.

Jack's eyes narrowed. He flicked his wrist in Chief Waddums' direction and a sudden, violent spark of lightning struck the foreman, separating him from his weapon and his shoes, and sending him hard into the side of a parked speeder behind them.

Taivus Ko immediately summoned his lightsaber to his hand, its sharp blue glow overpowering the dim hanger lighting. "Emergency in the hanger bay," Tai said into the comm device on his wrist, "I need immediate back up."

"Aww," Jack taunted, "Not very sporting, Jedi."

"Draw your weapon, Sith." Tai snapped back, slightly insulted that the Sith had not even flinched nor moved an inch despite being very much in range of his attack. "If you don't intend to surrender, then defend yourself."

"My weapon?" Jack echoed, almost amused. He tilted his head back slightly, glancing over his shoulder at his apprentice. "Thalia. You know the drill. No survivors."

[Moonfire]

Stiletto nails tapped an agitated beat across the console as the pair landed, the pile of raided datapads-- useful little devils from their excursion on Coruscant, once more easing their way into previously inaccessible areas. How much longer until the Republic got around to changing out those codes? Incompetence all around. Slinging a short fashionable cape about her shoulders Thalia paid no mind to Jack’s gloating. She’d been there afterall-- Fuck, if memory served she was the one who’d killed the officer in the naval yard. But Jack did so love to remind her how very clever he was.

Clever enough to slip them aboard the mining facility before a portly screen skin tentacle head and some tattooed wretch from some lesser Jedi temple by the looks of him. Thoroughly unimpressive. Blue eyes, framed by perfectly curled lashes and meticulously applied cosmetics, swept disinterestedly across the hangar area, the metal shell slapped atop rocky asteroid in square juts of utilitarian architecture.

Foreman Whatever-the-fuck rambled in a squeaky, croaky voice as the zabrak’s eyes skimmed across her. Not in interest, but well deserved suspicion. Thalia, even with her presence concealed and held tight, could feel the experimental brush. That little probe of questioning forced her eyes forward, boring dangerously into the narrowing jedi’s.

"My weapon?... Thalia. You know the drill. No survivors."

“A please would be nice.” The cape slipped from the woman’s shoulders with a shrug, arms crossing over her belly to grip the matching hilts at her hips. In a single fluid movement twin beams ignited, flashing red against the gleam of perfect, straight teeth pulled into a grin.

In the past Thalia might have objected to being called a weapon, a lady of her stature and breeding was so much more than a blunt instrument of barbarism. But there was a certain bit of joy, an addictive quality to cutting down wave after wave of hapless miners and security officers. Even the jedi, a challenge in the weakest respect, fell aside in swipes of humming crimson light.

[Cain]

Jack didn't react to Thalia, his apprentice's snarky comments and pampered attitude were the price of her service. Thalia could talk all she wanted so long as she was useful. And at this point, Jack knew she would be.

What was left of the mine's security force charged onto the scene and were easily cut down by the young Sith apprentice. Jack stood in place where he'd began, arms folded across his chest, watching with a slightly bored expression while Thalia carved her way through the hanger.

Taivus couldn't hide his emotions any longer toward this Sith and his arrogance. He still hadn't moved! Even with his comrades being cut down around him, Tai's focus was on Jack. He lunged at the short, tired looking Sith, attempting to run him through with a single thrust of his lightsaber.

Jack frowned, visibly displeased at being forced to move. He lifted his hand, drawing the Force into a sturdy wall between he and Tai. The Jedi's weapon hit the invisible barrier and bounced backward.

Tai clinched his teeth, his anger boiling over he began hacking wildly at the obstruction. Each blow was deflected harmlessly back, away from Jack, and each failed attempt blinded Tai more with rage. With a visceral shout the Jedi reared back for one more powerful strike. Before he could bring his blade down, a glowing crimson lightsaber burst through his chest and muted his scream.

"Took you long enough," Jack muttered at Thalia, lowering his hand.

The hanger was littered with severed limbs and spilled blood, so much so that one could practically taste the metal in the air. Jack took a step forward, standing over Taivus who was still gasping for breath.

"Master Si Quan always did try to warn you, Tai," Jack said, glaring down at the dying Zabrak, "your anger will blind you. You were so jealous of Ryu. He was arrogant, yes. Never willing to give you the proper respect. And you... you refused to be ignored."

A look of confused horror fell over Taivus. His lips shook as he attempted to sputter out a few final words. "Wh-who... are you?"

Jack smiled, bringing a finger up to his lips. "Shh."

Without another word Jack raised his boot and brought it down hard into the Jedi's face, caving his skull in.

"So undignified," Jack said, dragging his boot over the dead Jedi's robes to wipe away the blood. "There may be more. We should move quickly."

Exiting the hanger there was a long, claustrophobic corridor that led down into the mine. Most of the lighting inside had been cut, and the dim emergency lights flickered in and out.

Jack descended, each step taken with caution, his mind probing forward through the Force. He stopped suddenly, a wave of air hitting him like a gale from Hoth. Ice cold. A voice could be heard, though it sounded as though it were shouting over a great distance. It was impossible to tell if it was coming from the hanger behind them or the pitch black depths below. The voice hissed with unrestrained anger, though it's words were difficult to decipher.

"They're... everywhere." Jack said, hesitating. He wasn't entirely sure if he could even trust his own feelings. It was like countless eyes, full of hate and murderous intent, just inches away from Jack and Thalia's faces behind the veil of darkness, staring daggers through them both.

[Moonfire]

Thalia’s eyes threatened to topple out of her pretty little skull with the force of their roll at Jack’s less than appreciative commentary, beads of sweat and intermingled blood dripping from a reddish brow. “Oh, terribly sorry Master Makura that I dispatched--”

A quick twist of her head, the dip of silent counting exaggerating with pointed bitchiness before turning to regard the back of the shorter man’s head. “Two dozen while you were busy taunting a single Jedi. I’ll try to be more timely in the future.”

With a hiss the sabers deactivated, falling back to her hips with a quiet clip as fingers raked through now slightly mussed mane of precisely curled hair. With little more she followed the rumpled figure down and into the mine in a few long strides. This was far from the first tomb dive the pair had done, but never did Thalia truly appreciate it the way that Jack did. The little man had a hunger in his hollow, yellow-tinged eyes. If she’d known less she might have been envious, such a zest for knowledge and life seemed admirable in the shallowest of senses.

The close clip of her walk paused hen he did, only a pace behind as the normally unflappable Sith crossed some invisible barrier. Her presence brushed against his, sensing the… Was it fear? Wariness. Curiosity, morbid or otherwise, pushed the young woman further, nearly brushing past her companion as the same frigid veil slid across her shoulders.

Hate.

Thalia was no stranger to animosity. No simple country bumpkin with a distrust of the unknown ready for some coming of age tale to unfold and teach them the meaning of love and truth or something equally nauseating. No, Thalia had seen war. Had trained with people of every species and creed in the Academy to harness gut feelings and transform them into raw energy. But never before had the hate that overwhelmed every sense felt so… direct. Personal.

“What the bloody fuck?” She whispered pushing forward as every sense and thump of her heart bade her reel backward, away from the peer oblivion. Thalia didn’t cast a glance at the Sith Master, pride or something akin forcing down every self-preservation instinct as shadows shifted in the edges of her vision.

The swish of skirts, mundane and threatening drowning out the hushed voices as throat closed and ran dry. Slender neck arched, head tilting towards the swallowing darkness. “This way, Makura.”

[Cain]

"Wait." Jack said, extending an arm in front of Thalia. His eyes scanned the tunnel, the occasional flicker from the lights revealed something curious... tools and other personal effects lying right where they had last been used. Lunches packed and still fresh.

"Clearly the guards and miners we encountered in the hanger were still working up until we arrived," Jack observed, kicking at one of the lunch pails, a fresh piece of fruit spilling out and rolling down the tunnel. "Death has stirred whatever has been sleeping here."

Jack stood still for a long moment, reaching deeper into the heart of the asteroid through the Force. Strangely he detected nothing, no other life forms, just cold rage. When the lights flashed back on the tunnel around Jack had become a scene of absolute carnage. The broken corpses of countless dead lay piled on the ground, all the way up to Jack's feet. His breath was visible on the air as he exhaled, taking a quick step backward. The lights cut out and on again, the darkness erasing the mayhem and returning the tunnel to it's original state.

Jack closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts. He couldn't be sure that Thalia had seen what he had, Jack was no stranger to the games the dark side can play on a mind, especially in the presence of an apparition. "Our senses will not be of much use as we descend," Jack warned, "whatever it is that's down here seems drawn to the darkness within both of us. We must proceed with caution."

Pushing deeper into the mine, the fell voices continued to hiss at the two Sith. Some seemed to come from miles away while others whispered directly into their ears. Some were words of hate and violence, others pleas for help. Some still were not even in Basic but of otherworldly languages, many of which Jack had never heard before. Finally they emerged into the first large chamber within the mine. The lights were cut, but a few of the computer terminals that controlled the mining equipment were still on, their screens washing the room with a pale blue glow.

Their were bodies strewn about the room and scoring marks criss-crossing the durasteel floors and the bare rocky walls. A few appeared to be caused by blaster bolts, but the majority were quite clearly the work of a lightsaber. The blood pooled around the bodies was still quite fresh. Jack knelt down beside a dead Duros miner, placing his palm over the corpses neck. "Still warm... but no pulse."

With a labored grunt Jack hoisted himself back to his feet. He turned and scanned the room. This did not seem to be an illusion. Something had killed these miners, and had done so very recently. Jack concentrated, but still could sense nothing beside he and Thalia. "We're not alone down here. Whoever did this is somehow able to hide their presence from.." Jack stopped mid sentence. He felt something. It was like a small ember, faint, weak. Then a sudden breath of oxygen and the fire grew, consuming the air around them.

Jack spun back around quickly. Behind him the Duros he had just confirmed dead was slowly rising up from the floor, the half of it's body laying in the puddle still saturated with blood.

"Defilers. Death. Destruction." The Duros hissed in Basic, the voice clearly not its own.

Just as Jack reached into his duster for his lightsaber, he noticed more movement in the room all around them. The other corpses began to stir from their slumber as well.

"Well..." Jack sighed, "This is... new."

[Moonfire]

The outstretched arm, an action that might have stirred feelings of comfort or safety had it not been attached to the shrewd Sith, hovered just above her navel, not even grazing the torn and blood spattered bodice of her elegant gown. Sharp grey eyes flicked down to meet the limb and back to Jack’s face, lower lip sinking into flesh in a bid for patience. “Then I suppose we’ll have to kill it.”

Her words cut off quickly as the mining lights, newly installed and brilliant in their white artificial light, flickered away. Cavernous silence, punctuated by the rattle of their breathing, was quickly replaced by the swish of fabric. Steps echoed, thick heavy heels across marble in a firm clip in time to the sweep of silken hem. Thalia’s head swiveled, eyes peering hard into the dark as the knot building in her throat wormed it’s way down, the creeping tingle of rage overriding every scrap of fear.

In a blink the lights returned, the swish of familiar matron skirts cut short in a stark vision of carnage. It felt so very real, the thickened blood wetting her boots in sticky steps as hands gripped at the hilts at her hip. And in another blink and damnable brush it was gone, leaving only the taste of violence as a shadow on her tongue.

Shaking her head the woman grimaced, trodding forward with barely a nod to Makura and his thoughts on the whole matter. Darkness stirred deep? Ancient evil? They’d trod through many a dead Sith Lords tomb, fought starving hellbeasts and long retired droids. This couldn’t be much different, all consuming and angry proto-goddess aside.

When they’d found the corpses of the miners for a moment Thalia doubted the realness of them, the familiar sensation of muck on her boots barely giving her pause as she watched Jack crouch to inspect them more closely.

Thalia didn’t particularly care what blue-collar bastards had made their demise here but her eyes followed the careful path of the bruised fruit, spinning lazily towards the darkened corridor before winking out of sight. Grimacing her spun round, eyes catching the sharp angle of his jaw. “Idiots killed each other in the pan--”

The wash of the voice, a chill wind turned into a quiet, drowning hiss. Jack twisted sharp and hard behind her, face to face with the rather dead Duros, visage split by gore. Within moments her lightsabers were activated, beams of scarlet tinting the tunnel as lights flickered and the energy of the asteroid vibrated to a threatening, sinister hum.

“New is certainly a word for it,” She growled, first blade moving to sweep the corpse’s feet from under him. How exactly did one kill a dead man? Thalia subscribed wholly to the belief that slicing them to little tiny pieces would do that trick.

[Cain]

No sooner than Thalia had cut down the undead Duros did the shuffling silhouettes of many dozen more such ghouls enter Jack's periphery. One stood taller than the rest, a Chagrian, his horns and lethorns supplementing his already imposing stature. He drew his weapon from his belt, a lightsaber that slowly poured from it's hilt, illuminating the mangled, lifeless faces around him in brilliant cyan.

Through gritted teeth Jack huffed, reaching his hand out toward the husks of meat lurching toward he and his apprentice. Lightning poured from his finger tips, stabbing at the miners, knocking many to the ground and relieving them of several limbs and chunks of flesh.

A minor impediment.

After being blasted back by the lighting, the miners rose again and continued their advance. Jack shot a worried glance down toward the lightsaber hilt in his hand. "I guess..." He sighed, igniting his trusty lighter.

Unlike Jack, Thalia had wasted no time transitioning into 'up-close-and-personal' attack mode. Just as it seemed the throng of reanimated aliens would close in around her a torrent of red light would carve them apart. Thalia moved gracefully, the Force guiding her body and twin blades through the crowd.

With both hands around the bottom of the hilt, Jack wielded his lightsaber like a three year old who'd found his father's blaster. With eyes clinched shut he took a healthy, full bodied swing at the first Duros miner to approach him, not cutting the corpse cleanly, but instead opening it's chest cavity and spilling its contents onto the floor.

Jack's expression twisted in disgust, perhaps with the gore pouring onto his boots, but more likely with himself as he flicked his wrist and swatted aside the eviscerated Duros with the Force. "There has got to be a better way," he muttered.

More miners closed in and Jack continued to simply knock them aside like rotting dolls until the Chagrian Jedi finally stepped forward. Jack's attempted push was shrugged aside and the Jedi charged forward with a sudden burst of speed. Jack raised his lightsaber, then hesitated. A moment of indecision as his mind fumbled with what few options he had.

Are you kidding? What are you going to do with that? Jack thought immediately, staring at the lightsaber held crooked in his hands. No Force, no lightsaber... No time. With the Chagrian already on him, all Jack could do was react, falling backwards onto his ass and barely avoiding the horizontal slice of the Jedi's weapon. Jack took the opportunity to stab his own lightsaber up into the Chagrian's abdomen.

The Jedi corpse paused, inquisitively examining the saber in its gut when two additional crimson red blades erupted from its throat, neatly separating its head from the rest of its body, which promptly crumpled down onto Jack.

"Bloody hell!" Jack exclaimed, wriggling out from under the headless Jedi on top of him, "This is why I hate lightsabers!" Jack hoisted himself slowly back to his feet, as might an elderly man from a warm bath, fighting the aches and pains in his joints. With a pronounced frown he wiped the blood from his face left by his sanguinary struggle with the Chagrian husk.

"I suppose I should be grateful," Jack growled, surveying the still twitching limbs lying all about the control room. One of the still active monitors caught his attention. Jack moved carefully across the now very slippery floor, studying the image on the screen. It was an old reliquary, somewhere deeper inside the asteroid. A sarcophagus, smashed apart, sat atop a pyramid of stairs. Corpses lay about the chamber, as they had in the control room, though the majority of these were little more than wisps of fabric still clinging to bones. Just as an eerie light began to rise up from the ruined sarcophagus, the picture on the monitor distorted, then blinked off.

"Well," Jack said, straightening his back and flicking away the blood still on his duster, "I think we've succeeded in pissing it off. Let's not keep her majesty waiting."

[Moonfire]

”I suppose I should be grateful,” Thalia echoed, her voice taking on a gravelly edge in her mimickry. Her expression hardened even in her joyless jest, venomous as her chest rose and fall from the exertion. She’d considered, briefly, allowing the possessed Jedi to take out her Master, he was more than useless here in close and quarters. Jack being dead posed more problems than benefits at this point. Wiping a spatter of gore from her face, leaving a dark reddish stain across her cheek, Thalia’s eyes flashed between his face and the flickering monitor. “You can show your gratitude by replacing my dress.”

Clipping the saber hilts back to her belt the woman stalked forward, predatory and rageful. Jack always seemed to get them into messes like this, be it fighting Jedi, old droids or stinking Gammorreans. She could picture him still, half slung about the chair of Nyoka with that smarmy grin on his face as he described the legend of Darth Anemos. It seemed the Goddess of Kumor wasn’t the hospitable sort.

“After you, Makura” An exaggerated motion of her arm beckoning him to lead. “I’d hate to miss whatever stunning display of skill and melee prowess you give next.” The redhead drawled, keeping a close clip behind him. For all her taunting Thalia couldn’t get the eerie footsteps and the damnable, heart-stopping swish of skirts from her head. She could swear it felt closer, nearly drowning out her own footsteps and yet the Force told her nothing.


Only rage. Punctuated by hunger.

The meandering hallways of the tomb all moved flowed into a single, tightly squeezed corridor. Where other tombs on Korriban were filled with traps and obstacles, things to keep looters like themselves from pressing forward, this one lacked the pitfalls and spiked traps. Perhaps the sheer presence of Anemos herself felt worthy enough of a trap.

A great pair of stone doors, flanked on each side by faceless statues holding small pyramids, ended the antechamber. It was cold here, breath pooling in curlicues of vapor as chill prickled skin to gooseflesh. The air felt thick, heavy with foreboding as the Dark side seemed to swirl and focus on a single, sickening point.

Thalia might have quipped, said something along the lines of never too late to turn back, but the flickers of something sinister in the edges of her vision stomped down any snide commentary, for the moment at least.

[Cain]

The pair of blood spattered Sith approached the entrance to the reliquary where the remains of Darth Anemos had been disturbed. One of the stone doors had been pulled from its seal ever so slightly, a penetrating cold flowing through the breach.

Stepping toward the stone slabs, Jack paused when another slid out from the chamber beyond. The form was that of a young woman, tan skin, silver-blond hair... Lynn looked exactly as she did on the day Jack murdered her.

"Back again, apprentice?" The apparition taunted. "It wasn't enough to kill me, you have to rob my grave now as well?"

Jack scowled, "Shut up. Not that this even is your grave, but you are my slave now, and I will take, or destroy, as it were, anything I should please."

Lynn chuckled, lifting a hand to her lips to conceal a coy smile. "The dead do not serve the living without cost. Be careful that the price of your ambition does not become too steep, apprentice."

"Is there a point to any of this?" Jack sighed. He wasn't sure if Thalia could even hear or see his former master, and he hardly cared anymore. Defiantly he stormed ahead, passing through the incorporeal form of Lynn Akunin, scattering the spirit in a cloud of dust and passing into the reliquary. The chamber itself was massive, a kilometer across at least. It seemed like it had been a courtyard to the tomb of Darth Anemos, a great ziggurat which stood in the center of the vast chamber. Scaffolding had been raised all around the structure and large work lights still illuminated the temple's apex where what remained of the Sith Lord's sarcophagus lay, split apart.

The whispers of the dead began again, echoing all around Jack. One voice came through, loud, distinct. It was the same voice as the Duros miner that had hissed at he and Thalia in the control room.

"No further. Defilers. We are Anemos. You will join us. In death."

A sudden explosion of energy rattled the scaffolding and sent the lights crashing down, smashing the bulbs. Jack kept his feet with the aid of the Force. The spirit that appeared before them was of a woman in shredded Sith robes. Her flesh and eyes were as pale white as Hoth, and an intricate pattern of red markings covered her face. Her hair flowed wild, silently dancing about her head.

The stale, still air inside the asteroid then began to stir. A spiral of wind centered around the Force ghost before them. "Consumed." The spirit hissed. Jack could feel the dark side, like probing tendrils wrapping about his mind. It was all too familiar. Jack recognized instantly that it was the same process he had used to siphon the life force from others. This Sith had somehow managed to magnify that power into a vortex, draining the Force from anything caught inside.

Such power. Jack couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.

Jack closed his eyes, centering his mind. Through the Force he immediately reached out to his apprentice, seizing her consciousness and syncing it to his own with battle meditation. With their minds as one, Jack could resist Anemos' attempts to consume them both. The pull of the dead Sith was incredible, but not enough.

The spin of air died down, and the entity seethed. "No. Who are you. To resist us. A young Sith. Shrouded by darkness. The dead cling to you. As well."

"I am Jack Makura" Jack and Thalia said in unison, "I have come for you." Jack lowered his guarded slightly, releasing his hold on Thalia. The self satisfied grin still on his face. Thalia had become cocky during their fight with the mindless ghouls in throughout the mine. It was always a pleasure to remind her of why she served him.

[Moonfire]

Their first step into the tomb pressed past something. A veil shoved aside plunging Thalia into solitude. Jack disappeared ahead of her, blinking out of existence in a shout, incomprehensible and far away.

Skirts swished again with maddening steps, the harsh snap of firm heels moving from a crisp clip to a full throttle run. Where was it coming from? Who was there? Dread coiled cold and tight in her throat as the sabers found purchase in her hands, red blades painting shadows only across her features, their light absorbed by the pressing darkness. The flickering at the edge of her vision slipping past in a whoosh of air, tugging at the hem of her gown with little claws.

“Show yourself!” The woman shrieked, feral teeth bared as left saber struck out at the darkness. The saber slash arched endlessly, it’s light lost in the velvet of her personal little hell. The footsteps continued, just as far away as they’d started half a dozen times now. Cavernous. Echoing. Itching in the back of her skull as wrists burned in familiar bruises. “Show yourself!”

”Thalia”Snarl caught in her throat the dark jedi twisted, eyes wild in the direction of such familiarity. Where had all the air gone in her lungs? Where was she? How could she be here? Mygeeto was so very far away. The voice came disembodied and cool, it’s irritation mingled infuriatingly with boredom. ”Screaming? Really?”

“Fuck you!” A slash of saber punctuated the words as Thalia resisted the urge to scream, voice lilting higher and higher with each maddened sweep. “You don’t have a say! You don’t-- You’re not here!”

With a final, resolute step forward she revealed herself. Fine clothing obscured a slender, fragile form imposing in it’s height. Her expression-- That was the worst part-- showed only pity. Chilled and utterly detached. Thalia paused, arm mid-swing as she considered in the improbability of it all. The lady stepped forward, hands moving to Thalia’s shoulders, long nails sinking into silk.

Her arm moved to complete it’s arc when the Force wrapped tight and hard about her mind. Plucking every little string as eyes forced wide and sightlessly. There was some resistance. Token, like a feral flickercat tossed into a bag clawed and screamed at it’s captivity. But Thalia rested under Makura’s control, her body moved as his against Anemos as the curtain was ripped away to reveal the monstrous woman’s tomb.

[Cain]

A dry, rasping chuckle reverberated throughout Darth Anemos' burial chamber, chasing the grin from Jack's face. The spirit stood before both he and Thalia, incorporeal, but at once all too real. The ghost's expressions were difficult to read; diaphanous flesh and bone were both visible, layered over one another, and as such the movement of the dead Sith's lips and eyes were always shrouded before a full, toothy grin and deep, dark eye sockets.

"You who exists upon the tether that binds the living to the dead. You have come for us?"

Jack nodded, a sharp pain just behind his eyes causing him to pause. He hesitated a moment, placing a hand to his temple. "You are Darth Anemos," Jack proclaimed, fighting to ignore the pain, "Devourer of Kumour. I come seeking your knowledge of how to bind and control the dead."

"Bind and control?" The apparition scoffed, "You cannot!"

Jack's scowl grew deeper. "I cannot. But you could?" Jack retorted, straightening himself up into a more defiant posture.

"Everything costs," Anemos answered. "The Sith have bound us to this place. The seal can only be undone with blood. Break the seal. We will lend you our power."

Before Jack could respond a spike of pain staggered him.

"She's a treacherous witch!" Lynn's voice, like nails against a chalkboard, was instantly recognizable to Jack. "Don't listen to her!"

"Be cautious, Sith." The second voice, Kyo's, was softer, measured. "This one's power is on an entirely different level. You could easily lose control."

"Quiet!" Jack shouted, seemingly at no one. He recollected himself with a sharp inhale and returned his focus to Anemos. "If I free you from this tomb... you will give me your power?"

"Seal. With. Blood." The spirit droned back in reply, gesturing toward the split sarcophagus behind her.

A sudden gust swept Anemos' spectral form away like the scattering of leaves. Now nothing stood between Jack and the open sarcophagus. He stepped toward it, each boot placed in front of the other with great care. About a meter from Anemos' final resting place Jack's legs froze. He leaned forward over the remaining distance, hoping to peek inside. Cobwebs and darkness obscured what was inside.

The hairs on Jack's arm stood up straight as he grasped the hilt of his shoto and drew it from its sheathe underneath his duster jacket. He examined the blade, taking one last moment to contemplate what he wanted to do. Jack sighed and a look of renewed determination settled over him. He wrapped his fingers around the short sword's edge and drew the weapon back quickly. Gritting his teeth against the sudden, sharp pain, Jack clinched his fist, dripping with blood, and held it out over the open sarcophagus.