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Post by Rugs on Dec 4, 2020 11:06:40 GMT -5
Karn held his hands out over a small heater, working his slender fingers against the cold that’d set in. He sat in the corner of a small, round prefabricated structure, a round structure erected to provide shelter from Khar Shian’s unrelenting, frigid weather. The structure itself sat in the middle of a ring of similar ones, set up to serve an Imperial research and excavation team. It housed Karn and his master, Darth Viren, and served as the center of an ongoing excavation effort.
He still wondered, sometimes, if this was all really happening. It seemed an odd bit of luck that his journey to Khar Delba and into the depths of Naga Sadow’s ancient citadel all those months ago would bear so much fruit. The rediscovery of terentateks, thought exterminated centuries ago, and the Holocron hidden away in Sadow’s vault would have been prize enough for the Arkanian acolyte, but resultant research team deployments to Khar Delba uncovered clues pointing toward an even greater prize.
Naga Sadow’s hidden fortress on Khar Shian. The true seat of the ancient Dark Lord’s power.
Karn looked through the small, circular window. Harsh lights set up around the research site illuminated the way to the forgotten fortress. They were necessary, here on the dark side of Khar Shian — ever shrouded in night and hidden from Khar Delba.
The front of Sadow’s fortress was lit by the research teams’ erected lights leading up to its entrance, thought its towering spirse loomed as dark shadows in the snow-shrouded night. Karn felt a chill in the pit of his stomach, and not just from the cold.
Dark, terrible power, long forgotten by the outside Galaxy lay buried here. It was as exhilarating as it was horrifying.
Still, Karn could hardly contain his excitement. He was due to reenter the fortress with his master, once Viren concluded a short briefing with the research team lead. It wasn’t their first foray into the ancient structure; it was sprawling, and Karn imagined they’d be on Khar Shian for some time as the research efforts continued apace.
At least I’m not trapped inside this time, he mulled sardonically as he pulled on his thick gloves. He felt a sharp pang of longing as he stood, pulling on his heavy coat to protect against the bitter cold outside. Not for the first time since arriving on the dim, barren moon, the thin scar on his chest, burned by a lightsaber’s tip into his pale skin, ached as his thoughts turned to Kath.
And not for the first time, he pushed thoughts of the Jedi away and crushed them. Now was not the time for wistful reminiscing. Not with his master so close.
Karn continued his preparations to return to the fortress in silence, and when at last Viren emerged, he bowed deeply in greeting. He enjoyed their trips into the fortress. They were a chance to see what was left behind by the Sith who came before them, to see firsthand their forebearers’ ancient works that lay hidden for more than a thousand years.
And it was a time to talk with his master, to pick the massive man’s brain and learn from him. A particular request nagged at Karn’s mind, but he decided to wait til they were off and going.
“Master,” he said, voice reverent, “I am ready to return to our expedition.”
He still wondered, sometimes, if this was all really happening. It seemed an odd bit of luck that his journey to Khar Delba and into the depths of Naga Sadow’s ancient citadel all those months ago would bear so much fruit. The rediscovery of terentateks, thought exterminated centuries ago, and the Holocron hidden away in Sadow’s vault would have been prize enough for the Arkanian acolyte, but resultant research team deployments to Khar Delba uncovered clues pointing toward an even greater prize.
Naga Sadow’s hidden fortress on Khar Shian. The true seat of the ancient Dark Lord’s power.
Karn looked through the small, circular window. Harsh lights set up around the research site illuminated the way to the forgotten fortress. They were necessary, here on the dark side of Khar Shian — ever shrouded in night and hidden from Khar Delba.
The front of Sadow’s fortress was lit by the research teams’ erected lights leading up to its entrance, thought its towering spirse loomed as dark shadows in the snow-shrouded night. Karn felt a chill in the pit of his stomach, and not just from the cold.
Dark, terrible power, long forgotten by the outside Galaxy lay buried here. It was as exhilarating as it was horrifying.
Still, Karn could hardly contain his excitement. He was due to reenter the fortress with his master, once Viren concluded a short briefing with the research team lead. It wasn’t their first foray into the ancient structure; it was sprawling, and Karn imagined they’d be on Khar Shian for some time as the research efforts continued apace.
At least I’m not trapped inside this time, he mulled sardonically as he pulled on his thick gloves. He felt a sharp pang of longing as he stood, pulling on his heavy coat to protect against the bitter cold outside. Not for the first time since arriving on the dim, barren moon, the thin scar on his chest, burned by a lightsaber’s tip into his pale skin, ached as his thoughts turned to Kath.
And not for the first time, he pushed thoughts of the Jedi away and crushed them. Now was not the time for wistful reminiscing. Not with his master so close.
Karn continued his preparations to return to the fortress in silence, and when at last Viren emerged, he bowed deeply in greeting. He enjoyed their trips into the fortress. They were a chance to see what was left behind by the Sith who came before them, to see firsthand their forebearers’ ancient works that lay hidden for more than a thousand years.
And it was a time to talk with his master, to pick the massive man’s brain and learn from him. A particular request nagged at Karn’s mind, but he decided to wait til they were off and going.
“Master,” he said, voice reverent, “I am ready to return to our expedition.”