Heavy is the crown - Prelude.

[Synth]

“Three of you have already proven yourself to me ... That is why I am trusting you with this dangerous and important mission ... I look forward to the results of your mission. - Inquitous "

Part of Inquitous' speech burned itself into Ilia's mind. Engraved in his memory, a few key words, lines, sentences spun out of context, would determine the role he would assume in the dark jedi group; he was, quite literally, the new guy. It wasn't hard to guess. The familiarity with which Inquitious spoke towards the group, the context of his words and the tone of his voice, all led Ilia to believe and/or speculate the rest of the group had already worked together once or twice. Knowing this placed a bit of pressure on his shoulders.

Sighing with hopeless scorn at the uncomfortable situation, Ilia rolled his shoulders into a shrug and walked with the group a considerable distance away from Inquitious. Turning to face the group, Ilia offered a vague smile stretching across his gaunt features as an expression of welcoming courtesy. He was tall, standing at 6'3", yet nowhere near as imposing as Aeron's stature. His appearance was simple; dressed in black robes, Ilia appeared to be another simple dark jedi. Ilia looked older than the rest of the group; almost as if time had been unkind and cruel to his skin.

'I have a light freighter at your mercy, Aeron.' Strictly addressing the leader, Ilia offered his ship, then continued to address the rest of the group: 'Besides my freighter, I can only offer my sword and support.' He stood before an audience, a crowd, of people that already knew each other but didn't know him. Going out of his way or sacrificing his personality to please and impress them would only turn out for the worse. Ilia would merely attempt to be himself; limpid, clear, with no ulterior motives or intentions left to hide. Everything was exposed. If they asked he would answer.

'Trust should be build with truth as its foundation... and with this in mind I'll introduce myself to the group... I am Ilia Asall, Dark Jedi. My old Master was an exiled Jedi Artisan and I picked up a few of his tricks.' Once again he turned to Aeron, with words expressed directly at him. 'If you need help making a new sabre before we reach Corellia let me know, Aeron. Turning his attention to the rest of the group, Ilia continued: 'Likewise, I am at your mercy.... My blade is your own. Use me as you see fit.' - His words, though tossed with an air of humility and a coruscanti' accent, demanded respect and attention.

[Jace]

Gabriella had remained quiet all through Inquitious speech and through that bout he had with Aeron. Aeron was a fool but at least he wasn't a coward.

He might be fun to torture...I wonder how long he could go

Her thought got cut off as the new man in the group introduced himself. Gabriella was absolutely disgusted by this man's formality and politeness. She wasn't sure if he wanted to throw up or stab someone. All she knew is that they would not be taking this fruit cakes freighter.

"Trust...." she said stated out loud, almost pensievely.

She then laughed loudly, until she was holding her sides, and tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Ohhh that made for a good laugh. Trust? I really hope you are not stupid enough to think that trust as any meaning with us. I really hope you have some use, otherwise I think it would be best to just kill you here.

Oh and just for your information, we will be traveling on my ship..The Unforgiven

Just keep that fruity stuff to yourself alright.."

Gabriella thought it would be interesting for him to run out in sands of Korriban and see how far Zarene could get him from. This way it served as target practice and entertainment. Gabriella pushed the thought aside, she had to remind herself that she couldn't kill everyone she met. In all honesty...Aeron and Zarene are the only two people she had met that she didn't really want to kill. That was saying a whole lot for Gabriella..

They should consider themselves lucky...

[sparrow]

Zarene Yin, at twenty-one years of age, was one of the younger acolytes that had gathered here today. Had she still been with the Jedi Order she would have been in the midst of her Trials at about this time. She had faced plenty of trials on her own, however. As Iniquitous was giving instructions, she was crouched on the ground, idly fiddling with one of her blasters, giving the weapon a little twirl around her fingers.

As Ilia approached, she reholstered her blaster and stood up to her full height. At five foot eleven, she was considered tall for a female, a trait due to her Epicanthix heritage. She silently observed as the newcomer made his introduction. Zarene had always been a quiet girl, and the disfigurements she had received over two years ago had not helped her sociable-ness, or lack thereof, any.

During that time she had had few friends. Only recently with the new Sith Order had she felt any sense of belonging. Aeron was a decent man who actually seemed to care for her welfare. And Gabriella,... well, she was a strange case, a tad extreme in her methods, but not altogether unpleasant to be around when she wasn't acting all ax crazy.

"Use me as you see fit," Ilia finished, and Zarene could not help but giggle slightly. Gabriella would have something snarky to say to that, and surely enough, she did. Gabriella certain was not one who warmed up to strangers quickly. Neither was Zarene.

"Mr.Asall, trust is earned through action, not words," she said softly. "Master Iniquitous must have believed you to possess certain skills that would make you useful to this group. I hope that you will not disappoint."

[Prodigal]

Listening in silence as the little throng delivered cutting remarks and witty repartee to each other, his eyes seemed to settle on all of those gathered “Lets not start out on the wrong foot so early in the game with all this bravado and subtle insult hmm?”

Stooping to pry both the Correllian ruby and Nextor crystal from the shattered hilt, his words were smooth and melodic “Both Gabriella and Zarene earned my trust in battle Ilia, and I hope that I earned theirs in turn... That's something not so easily dismissed.” Glancing at the blasted surroundings, he allowed himself the time to offer a simple rejoinder “When your time comes, I am certain that you will acquit yourself as well as any other… Or you will fall by the wayside.”

Inclining his head towards Gabriella and Zarene in a showing of mutual respect, the enigmatic and wraith-like figure simply made his way towards The Unforgiven without another word; secrets and closed counsel would be offered and took out from under Korriban’s blasted sun and decisions would be made... with any luck they would lead to victory.

[Synth]

For all his time in Onderon and Dxun, Ilia had never truly experienced such abrasive winds as the ones that buffeted him in Korriban. The breeze spit sand; tossed whatever it raked against their feet.As Gabriella spoke and broke into jousting laughter, Ilia had crossed his arms under his chest and listened to the reverberating hostility tossed through the force. Even as an untrained empath, he could decipher the small fluctuations in the group's aura to some extent. Even if Gabriella's hostility was somewhat expected then, It still rivalled the violence of the coarse breeze that was Korriban's breath.

After Gabriella, Zarene continued, and finally Aeron spoke. 'You are right.' A pleasant smile was drawn over his gentleman's facade. As a child born from a vain woman's womb to be raised by a criminal, Ilia was a sreets' brat. His coruscanti' accent was true to his heritage, but his words retained a reclusive tone.

Aeron retreated and walked towards The Unforgiven. Though timid about flying in another space-craft but his own, Ilia counted his blessings and remained quiet, deciding to follow Aeron.

Further interactions between him and the rest of the group could greatly influence their relationship for better or worse. Ilia prefered to avoid any misunderstandings... apparently words would get him nowhere at all. Acknowledging this, he decided that silence would suffice when the burden upon their shoulders was the gravity of the mission and the weight of the crown.

[Jace]

Gabriella bit back a retort as Aeron spoke, and remained quiet.

That damned fool, always trying to be everyone's friend, I am sure both those fruitcakes will get along just fine she thought,emphasizing her disgust by spitting into the coarse sand.

Though as much as Gabriella was disgusted, she still held some respect for Aeron. It was the reason why she was bothered so much by his attitude. How could she respect someone who had such a fruity attitude? She tossed the thought aside as they approached The Unforgiven

The landing ramp lowered as Gabriella approached, and walked into the ship, figuring the others would follow. She made her way to the cockpit and slipped into the pilots chair. She was honestly relishing the idea of this assassination mission. She had never tortured royalty before.

I wonder if their screams are different from normal people...only one way to find out she thought as a feral grin spread across her face.

She began running through take-off procedure, flipping switches and pressing buttons. She then clicked the comm on and her voice rang through the whole ship.

"All right we are about to get off this rock, so strap yourselves in"

She clicked the comm off as the ship slowly began to rise, and made its way out of Korriban's atmosphere.

[sparrow]

Zarene sat at the holoprojector table in the main room of the Unforgiven as the ship lifted off into space, the fingers of her metal right hand idly making a rhythmic tap-tapping sound on its surface as she examined the various buttons and knobs.

Click. A three-dimensional image of the planet Corellian appeared over the table. Turning a few knobs, Zarene zoomed the image into a map of the capital city. Not the most detailed map, but it would have to do for now. A large rectangle signifying the palace, surrounded by smaller rectangles for banks, corporate and government buildings. A few of these looked interesting. She would have to scout those locations out when they arrived.

Royal families were always well guarded. It would be a while before they reached their destination. There would be much planning to do in the meantime.