A New Day (private)

[Ardenator]

Out of the void appeared a vessel: small, and extremely difficult to see. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a Republic L-wing. But it carried no color or insignia of the Republic. Instead it was all shiny black, trimmed in molten red-orange. It rushed toward a small sphere, grey in the distance.

Eventually it began to grow in the viewport, until it's pock-marked surface filled it entirely. The vessel did not break speed--instead it dove straight into one the planets many, unremarkable craters.

It descended into the deepest reaches of the planet, coming to rest on a flat slab of stone. The cockpit seal broke with a rush of air, and a cloaked figure stepped onto the cold, unforgiving ground. He had been called Kenneth by those who knew him, all those years ago, when he had been an eager disciple of the Force.

Now he was it's master, and he had a new name.

Darth Paxis.

The Sith Lord sat on the ground, assuming a cross-legged meditation stance. His breathing slowed, broken only by the occasional cough. He was a frail man, weak and sickly in body. But the curses laid upon his physicality were far outstripped by the myriad blessings laid upon his mind and power over the Force.

He utilized those powers now, reaching across the stars, searching. Few could hide from him for very long, and soon he found what he was looking for. It was a dark presence, strong; one who would usurp his mantle.

He reached out to it, touched it, caressed it with the force. He called to it, lured it with a siren's song. It needed to come, it must come. It had to come.

It would come.

A smile broke across the pale figure's visage. Few could resist his power...

[Jenno]

(Okay, really sucks and I couldn't think of a good way to end it so that'll have to do, sorry)

His ship blasted its way through the depths of space, stars passed by all around him. Yet, for all its majesty, Darth Iniquitous was unable to see any of it. If it were not for the soft humming of the grinding engine, he wouldn’t have even known that they were moving. It seemed not to bother him that much anymore, ever since his ascension. Instead of fearing that gaping maw of darkness, he embraced it, fed upon it as it stemmed his hunger for power.

He may not have been able to see the approaching planet, but he knew the destination and he could still feel it even now. It had been months since he had last set foot upon this broken world. When he was last here he had been nothing more than a disciple of the Dark Side, seeking the very last of the Sith to teach him. And found him Iniquitous had, although not in a form he had expected. It had been Everos’ holocron that Iniquitous had stumbled upon. Had he arrived but ten minutes earlier he may have had some effect upon the outcome of the battle which brought an end his Master’s physical form.

But still, even after all that time had passed, the Dark aura surrounding the planet had still not dissipated, it radiated almost as strong and pure as the holocron itself.

With only a brief warning from the piloting droid, Iniquitous braced himself for the sharp entrance into the planet’s atmosphere. Soon he was able to see outside of the ship once again, his vision returning to him almost as surely as a Sun would emanate light.

He could still feel that new darkness, a presence he hadn’t known of before. But it was strong, stronger than any aura a Dark Jedi could possibly boast. Which left only one possible, yet almost unconceivable outcome, this presence was that of a Sith. Another Sith who was able to sense him, prod at him through the Force, provoking him. The Jedi would be blind to them no doubt, their vision was so easily clouded by the Dark Side, he doubted they were fully aware of the increasing number of Sith.

But this Sith posed a problem for Iniquitous, a battle he would have to face, as was the Sith way. There was little room for reason in the Sith Order, a fact which Iniquitous severely disliked. Fortunately he was slightly more confident of his ability to wield his saber, should it come to the ritualistic crossing of blades. Orloran truly was a master with the blade, Iniquitous was just glad to know that his lightsaber instructor was on his side, he’d already improved his technique greatly. Even gained some insight on the new form he would be adapting.

His ship landed upon the surface, similar to were it had last time, not too far from the entrance to the large crevices and maze-like tunnels which made up the structure of the planet.

With the hiss machines, the ramp of the ship lowered until it bumped into the ground. Iniquitous quickly paced down the metal slab and into the cavern where he would spend a good while following the trail of the Dark Side, free falling down large holes with total calm, using the Force to allow his body to take the impact of such a large fall. Last time he had been here he had to cautiously avoid all of the Sith hounds. They were still around, he could sense them, but now they knew to stay away from him and thus his expedition through the caves was a lot quicker and much more direct.

He landed with a burst of dust, the cloaked figure meditating before him. Iniquitous stood up spoke almost instantly, his fists clenched and the fibers of his muscles tensed. “You” he said with a dark, cold malice, hatred burning through the forest of his mind.

[Ardenator]

He felt the dark presence approach, heard with force-enhanced hearing as it's ship landed, and it made its way towards him.

Moments later the figure landed, kicking up a cloud of dust about him, complementing his dark features with foggy overtones. It spoke, and Paxis smiled.

"Me?" He stood up, bringing his hands to his hood. "How about you?"

He threw back the hood, revealing the mirror image of the other's face. A simple Fallanassi illusion, given power through a form of Sith essence channeling, making the illusion even feel like the other man through the force. It was a safety measure as well, any attack striking the illusion would simply damage the other man himself. It only worked for the illusion, however, leaving the rest of Paxis totally vulnerable.

Perhaps he didn't know that.

"You don't know me, but I know you," he spoke, his words now sounds just like the other man's. "I've been watching you for some time, ever since you wrongfully stole the Mantle."

His grin grew wider. "Yes, stole it. For there were others who truly deserved it. What, did you think such an act would go unpunished forever? No, my friend, that is not the way of things. And don't try to fool yourself or any one else into believing you actually deserve control of the Sith. Look at you! Even now, you brim with hatred and malevolence. You are supposed to be a Lord of the Sith, Master of yourself and the Force, not a slave to irrational emotion. You are undisciplined, you are fiery, and you are not the Dark Lord of the Sith."

"That is why were are here. You have strength, you have potential, but you need to develop it. You must transition from Barbarian to Warrior-Poet, and that is where I come in."

He dropped the illusion, reverting to his true form. "I am Darth Paxis, once apprentice to Darth Everos, rightful heir to the title of Dark Lord. I know things no one else does, things essential to the survival of the new Sith Order. I also sense that you may know some things that I do not. I am not your standard Sith, I did not summon you here to destroy you and take your title. There are too few of us left in the galaxy, and I have seen a vision."

He stepped closer to the man, and for that moment totally opened himself up to the Force. The other could read him like an open book now. He was intimate, vulnerable, and was telling the truth. "I saw the navies and armies of the Sith Empire moving across the galaxy, bring peace and order to all. All fell beneath their onslaught, no one could stand against them. At their lead were two men: One with crimson spear and shield, and the other with silver sword."

He gestured, and his light-spear and energy-shield flew to his hands, igniting in his hands, revealing a blade and shield crimson in color. He nodded at the man. "You're saber is silver in color, is it not? This is why I cannot kill you, and you cannot kill me. If either of us dies, all hope of Sith victory dies with us. We are both not like the old Sith, we are something new, innovative, better. And under our joint control, no one will be able to stop our Order."

He stood back, bathing for a moment in the dark auras of the planet surrounding him. With a sigh, he focused on the man once more. "what say you, brother?"

[Jenno]

For any sighted being, the moment Paxis removed his hood they would have most likely been unable to control their surprise. However, Iniquitous was only able to feel the presence which mimicked his own, however, what he ‘saw’ was not a reflection of himself, unless it was an ability which caused atomic particles to change their very form then he would be able to see things as they really were, to see the truth. But he was intrigued by this power; it could cause an opening in an opponent so large that a real and powerful confrontation could be avoided in the blink of an eye.

A wry smile curved at the very ends of his lips, it was almost as if he was holding back a laugh. “I stole no title,” he boasted harshly, “I was given my title by a Sith Lord.” Iniquitous planned to leave out a few details, such as the fact he was in possession of the holocron of Darth Everos and it was from this holocron that Iniquitous received both his name and title. Yet this wouldn’t deny him of anything, what remained of Everos was within that holocron and in order to name him, the deceased Dark Lord had touched Iniquitous’ being from within the pyramid structure, he had decided that he had what it take.

Paxis spoke on and Iniquitous listened carefully, the Sith Lord spoke of Iniquitous’ weaknesses. He was not going to deny that he was far from exemplary when it came to mastery on the Force. To deny such flaws would be foolish and most likely would simply lead to his downfall. What Iniquitous lacked was finesse, that perfect control which would help transform his overwhelming power to the perfect weapon. Yet he was learning, and so far he was managing to get by simply due to his overbearing presence. Decisively, Iniquitous chose not to rise to the comments which Paxis made, for any retort would merely seem childish and abrasive.

Iniquitous did notice something about Paxis, his words were odd, they were not what he had expected from someone who had followed the teachings of the Sith for longer than he had. His Master had always gone on about the ideal Sith and how Iniquitous needed to follow those ideals, adapt them to his person. Yet even when he said he did not wish to fight, Iniquitous did not drop his guard even slightly. Even he understood the principles of deception, and this could very well be a way to try and get him to drop his guard, even slightly. But then came the burst of power in the Force, it was open and pure and Iniquitous could not help but open himself to it.

In an instant, the dark, masked covering of both men were peeled off, exposing their thoughts, their past, their very being, to one another. There was no deception, no subtle lies, everything was the truth and Iniquitous understood. They were so similar it was almost scary, they were of one mind, they saw the universe and its flaws, they saw how only one thing could bring complete and total peace, and they knew what had to be done.

Paxis shared with Iniquitous a vision of the future. Iniquitous was no stranger to visions, yet for him they had only ever been of places, destinations to which the Force was guiding him. Yet a vision of the future, or at least one of the possible futures, was not something he had ever experienced before and this one was so clear, so prominent, as if to go against it would be to destroy the very fabric of time and destiny. He saw the lightsaber in the vision, his lightsaber, and he knew instantly the path he was to take, the path which would lead them to success. As the vision faded, Paxis summoned forth and ignited both his spear and shield, Iniquitous too called forth his blade with the force, it slipped through his robs and into his hand, where the silver blade burst forth, undeniable proof.

Iniquitous looked towards Paxis, his face scrunched up in a serious expression, “It seems to be the will of the Force for us to work together, brother.” He smiled slightly, bowing his head a little and deactivating his saber. “Unification,” he continued, “will come much more swiftly if we work together and I want to see that vision come into fruition. We have a great deal of planning to do. I already had a plan of attack, you may have been able to see it before, but with your appearance, I think things can be put into action much more swiftly, there are things you can do that my two apprentices, for all their talent, cannot.” He stopped, from here the conversation would become a lot more tactical.

[Ardenator]

Their presences intertwined, and Paxis knew that he had been right. This man was better than the Sith before him; he was open to suggestion, could admit when he was wrong, was not driven only by hunger for greater power.

They would be the vanguards of the new Sith Order.

"Very good. I didn't not bother to see your plans for domination: everything that has occurred before has only served to lead to this meeting." He held up his hands, shaking his head. "Before we discuss our plan of attack, we should talk about the structure of the New Sith Order. We cannot operate like the Sith that came before us. They were cruel, disloyal, and greedy. Their tendency for self-destruction led to their downfall. They let their emotions possess them, and therefore they failed. I would like a meeting of all current Sith: You and your two apprentices, and myself and my apprentice. I would like us to cross-train and establish a cohesive order and theology. We need an order with discipline, and loyalty. An order uses its emotion and that is not used by it. Being the only two remaining Sith Lords, we can alter the teachings, make them right. Cut away the disease and leave only a strong body in its wake."

He inhaled, and let it out slowly, feeling into the past and future. "Once we have done this... then we will finally be ready to make our move..."

[Jenno]

(OOC: Just to clean up the course of events)

“Of course, I will call for them to meet us once we have talked things over.” He replied politely. With a rising of his hand a sizeable rock burst away from the wall and floated over to Iniquitous who, once it had been delicately placed upon the floor, sat down upon it. Although it was not a comfortable position the Sith Lord put up with it in order to progress with their discussion.

Time progressed quickly as both Sith Lords sat and discussed with a rapid eagerness many things which would be beyond comprehension for most in the galaxy. At first they discussed the structure of their new order, one which would outlast the Jedi and would not crumble from within like the Sith Orders which had come before theirs. With their altered teachings and beliefs there would be no corruption, no greed. In a way it was similar to the Order of the Jedi, had Iniquitous known the workings of their Order he would have seen some comparisons. He would have also seen the vast differences, a system where the decisions would come down to himself and Paxis, not a group of twelve ever bickering and supposedly wise masters of the Force. It would cut down on unnecessary debating time, leaving the Sith Order to be a quick, successful and ever-growing group.

After that topic, the two men, for essentially that was all they were, moved onto their more military based plans. The plan for taking over the Sith Empire came first and they listed a number of targets who would need to be assassinated. Each one they reviewed carefully, they were not aiming to kill everyone they possibly could, no, only those who needed to be taken down. To coincide with this, they would need the support of the higher-up military figures, instantly Paxis suggested he be the one to talk to them, a decision which Iniquitous was thankful for, he rarely liked to associate with others if he could avoid it. Connections to others only lead to pain in the end, the kind which he didn’t need right now.

Still their conversation progressed until eventually they had covered all of their bases, nothing more of any strategic importance was left to discuss. And so, with little else they could achieve in one another’s company, they departed separately, as they had arrived. Paxis was to head off to contact the Sith military figures whilst Iniquitous was free to do what he wanted. He knew what he wanted, without little consideration he told his pilot droid to head for Ossus, there he would continue his own training and read more upon how everything had come to be the way it was. And just like before he would take it all in, absorb it into his mind until it would no longer serve any purpose.

Nobody could have known it, but that day the entire fate of the Galaxy had shifted. Now there were two Sith Lords. And they were working together to bring forth a new age. An age which would know true peace.