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Korriban. Ancient home world of the Sith. Of all the places in the galaxy this was the place most steeped in the dark side. This was where Ajunta Pall and the Dark Jedi began the sith order. And I’m ancient times this was where the original sith order ended. The time between the Baneite ‘Rule of two’ and then was made up of little more than bickering children who cared nothing for the old ways. But far below its surface. Beneath the feet of fighting Tukata and Klor slugs. A being slept. Ancient Jedi with the help of his treacherous apprentice had believed they’d captured him. No. He had been drained when they had last fought him true. But the force had granted him a choice. Fight to his inevitable death. Or wait. Wait until the dust of the bones of his enemies was gone. Wait until the foundadtions of Dromund Kaas had turned to rubble. Wait until his own name had been all but forgotten by even th Jedi. It had been an easy choice to make. He knowingly sprang the trap prepared specifically for him and got himself frozen in carbonite, and now. Surrounded by the treasures that had been buried with him. It was time. Large rocks broke off the ceiling as was predicted. And crushed the now outdated control pads with their weight. But no amount of planning or preparation could prevent someone for the blistering pain that came with over 3000 years of carbonite freezing. As the dark one regained consciousness. And his ancient muscles felt life within them again. The last of the true Sith opened his mouth and screamed. And across the galaxy every force sensitive being heard his cry. And every sentient being felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. -Jedi council chambers-Grand master Yoda was by far the most respected and wise of the Jedi. He had met many of the new Jedi hopefulls. And had given them guidance. And now he was meditating on his council chair. But nothing could have prepared him for tidal wave of darkness that struck him. Almost thrown off his seat he breathed heavily in an attempt to calm his hammering heart. Every Jedi in the temple stumbled. Unable to stand against the sheer weight of power that became present. -palpatines office- Another day. another problem. The paperwork was never ending for the secret Sith Lord. But soon enough. Victory would belong to the separatists. The galaxy would be his. And there would be peace. After all. He was the most powerful sith in the galaxy. A thousand holocrons, an arsenal of super weapons. Nothing could stop him. They would all kneel. All of them. And then he heard it. Like the tearing of metal he heard the cry of the dark. He didn’t visibly react. But if one looked carefully they could have for one second seen his eyes flash yellow. “This... will be a problem.”
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deep under the surface of Korriban tye dark lord that had garnered so much attention was sitting on his black obsidian throne. Pillaged from the original dark council chamber before it had been moved to Dromund Kaas during the crises with the Zakuul eternal empire. Why it was in His tomb was beyond him. Probably out there by his followers in the cult of the screaming blade after his... burial?... imprisonment? Neither seemed accurate as burial indicated he was dead. And imprisonment said that he was trapped. Make no mistake he was perfectly able to escape at any point he desired. But had spent the last 3000 years in an extremely heavy meditative state. The best way he could describe it was being not unlike the waiting option that some hologames that Theron managed to make him play once. For the life of him he couldn’t understand why the things were so popular. Anyhow. Although he didn’t know why the throne was here but it was none the less welcome. So were the rest of the treasures he had excavated. Hundreds of holocrons, the complete set of Tulak hoards lightsaber techniques, Naga Sadows Alchemy, Marka Ragnos’s force abilities being the most treasured. Many more were displayed throughout the chamber. Square bases and triangular both types were held in equal regard.With them were light saber. From standard single handed to more... exotic types including light whips, Dual sabers, A fire saber, all three sabers used by the sith triumvirate, he’d managed to find their holocrons too, well except
Nhylus’s but he had his mask. The masks and robes of the dread masters were diplayed on a shelf to the far left of the sarcophagus he’d been lying in. The Holocron and other artifacts were pointedly kept away from the center. He didn’t need any latent power screwing with his mind thank you very much. So many treasures were buried with him, so much history not just weapons and cloths but scrolls, tablets, in any other situation this place would’ve been counted as a hoarders home. And he was the dragon on top of it. Now he just had to wait a little longer for his guests to arrive. He was a gracious host after all. Chuckling darklyinto the tomb. For the first time in so long. This would be so much fun. But first he’d introduce them to his... pets. Raising a hand a set of stasis cages opened. And the shadows inside clambered out and raced into the darkness of the tomb. They didn’t wIt fof instructions. They didn’t need them. As the largest of the monsters lumbered past it deftly marched between the shelves filled with artifacts. Quite the feat for its sheer size. T once again disappeared into the darkness of the tomb as a final hooded figure strode up to the side of the throne. “Master. I don’t like using those abominations. Even the Jedi deserve a cleaner death then what those will give. And I am hungry. Mistress death would rather that we kill them in fair combat”
“Oh don’t worry old friend. We will have our fight soon enough. And it will be glorious.” Replied the dark lord. Yes it would be glorious. This would be but a taste of the carnage to come. He had no intention of going peacefully. He would bathe the stars in blood. And it would be glorious indeed.
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“We are coming out of hyperspace now sir.” Voiced one of the clones on the republic battle cruiser. “Very good that is.” Replied Yoda a hint of worry laced in his voice. Behind him, dozens of Jedi stood, council members, knights, consulars. So many Jedi had been reasigned for this one task. But it was important. The clones would have to do without for now. Despite how much it pained them. It had been a meer two days since what had become known as ‘the call’ had emanated from this place. But now finally the beurocrats had been appeased and they could take action. And now an entire fleet was orbiting Korriban. They would begin deploying ASAP.“Don’t worry master. Im sure that whatever happens we will come out winning. We always do.” Proclaimed the Ashoka. Although she sounded brave she did look nervous. Weird force phenomena aside this was a bad place to be. “Ah I know. No one can defeat so many Jedi.” Boasted Anankin. “So you say. Anakin. But we must be cautious. This planet is hazardous on its own.” We shouldn’t tempt fate.” This caution came from obiwan a respected and well liked Jedi Knight. The first man to kills sith in century’s. “Ugh. Your always such a bore master. But... your right,as usual.” Snarked Anakin with a role of his eyes. “All personel to Landing craft. Drop off beginning in ten minutes.”
“We should go. You two ready?”Asked Obi-wan
“Oh gee. Are we ready to crawl through ancient sith ruins to find a being or object of unknown power and questionable origin. Hmm let me think. Eh it’s about the usual.” Snarked Ahsoka with a half grin plastered to her face. The two senior Jedi couldn’t help but smirk at the display, Ahsoka’s childish antics were a breath of fresh air in these times. “Carefully there Snips, your ego gets any bigger we may have to cut it down to size. I think a three hour training session with the blaster droids should do.” Smirked Anikin playfully
“Ugh you two are soooo boring. We need to have fun when we can.”
“Quiet down you two, we really ought to get moving. Atmospheric scanners are telling us that a storm is brewing. The ships will leave without us. Wouldn’t want to have all the fun myself would I.” Grinned Obi-wan while walking to the shuttle that had his assigned unit. Hopefully he thought. This would go without any issues.
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Mace Windu POV
Oh how he despised this planet. The dark side here was... stifling. It felt as though it was a physical wave that was permeating his very being. And clinging to his clothes. He watched as clone troopers absailed from the belly’s of the shuttles. The extremely uneven and rocky terrain was preventing any sort of conventional landing. Not to mention the loose footing.
This sand was coarse, and was a pain to even stand still on. Maybe young Skywalker was right about this stuff. But this was as close as they could get safely to the prigin point of the anomaly. It also meant that they couldn’t get any heavy equipment down to the surface they would be on their own for the most part. And then there was this storm that was on its way even from this distance he could see the storm head. It was at least 50 kilometers wide. And in this valley. There was no chance of escaping it other than getting off this planet before it broke upon them. Not that that was likely to happen. They still had two kilometers to walk before they got to whatever hole this thing had crawled out from.
And then there was the fact that every force sensitive was so wound up they could snap. Every single one of the Jedi from the senior Padawans that had made come along to the most experienced of the Jedi council. Kit Fisto had sprinted off without warning and had almost fallen down an old shaft of some kind. The only reason he hadn’t was due to a few members of havoc squad and commander Cody pulling him back at the last second. When we had returned, he swore up and down he had seen a child. Run down exactly the same path he had... no one else had seen it but... that certainly hadn’t helped an already tense situation.
And that wasent the only encounter. He had had numerous reports of humanoid figures disappearing behind rocks. Shadows that didn’t move right. And he himself was convinced that these statutes were turning to face him whenever he looked away. And other such mind tricks. This place was evil. The only one who didn’t seem affected was grand master Yoda. Who was currently stood on a rock facing the gorge that they would be traversing down as soon as the final units of the battalion had joined them. This wasn’t going to end well, if he had been a betting man. He would’ve put a tidy sum of credits on that.
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The column was moving slowly but methodically through the gorge. Jedi and clone troopers of all rank were clustered together and were watching the surrounding area with keen eyes. This was a bad place to get caught in an ambush. Too much cover for sharp shooters to little cover for the ambushes. But they were making good progress. Scout reports had told the commanding officers that there was only a single monument at the other end of the gorge. They had almost over looked it for the remains of stairs carved into the rock were all that remained of the entrance of whatever monument was buried here. No one had set foot inside yet and were waiting for the Jedi to go first, a wise decision, the appirations hadn’t stopped and actually were getting worse the closer they got to the site. Even experienced clones were begining to see things. And more of these bloody statues had been placed throughout the walls of the canyon. “How much further do we have to walk. You’dve thought the sith would put their dead in an easier to reach spot.” Groused Anakin. “Probably did this on purpose to deter looters sir. No quick way in or out. Not a lot of cover. I can’t imagine many would want to risk this one despite what’s buried down there.” Replied Rex, “still, they could’ve picked a better spot.” Gasped Ahsoka. Just then a Rex’s holo communicator went off. “Master Windu sir you okay up there.”
“Yes captain I am fine. I just thought it prudent to let you know that we’ve found the site. If you could send Skywalker, Kenobi and Tano yo to us as soon as possible it would be of great convenience. If you yourself could come as well that would be fantastic.”
“You got it sir. See you in a moment.” Nodding briskly Windu cit off the call. “Well sirs it seems we’re needed up front.”
“We heard.” Said Obiwan
“Great.. more walking.” Muttered Ahsoka. —————————————————————————“Hmph. It would appear my guests are running a bit late.” Muttered the Sith Lord. “How unfortunate... Khem... are the preperations compete.”
“Yes master but I must tell you. I doubt the ship will last long In a fire fight.”
“It dosent have to.” It just has to be able to cause some damage.” Replied the sith through his skull mask. Ancient droids milled around the burial chamber expertly packing away the many artifacts he had collected before being sealed away. “Well at least we won’t be talking to our guests in a nerf sty