Key of the Ancients

[arvik]

Many years before the events of KotOR, the galaxy was at war. The mighty sith were advancing throughout the galaxy, destroying one planet at a time. They seemed unstoppable. Until a young jedi knight stood before the ranks of the sith as prisoner. They asked him for information, but he didn't give them any. But before they could kill him, he searched his feelings for a way to get out of death. Suddenly, all of the sith in that building he was in were defeated and the war was won. The power, nobody knew what it was called. For nobody who saw it survived. Not even the jedi himself. For the secondhe used it, he dropped down dead.

That was the legend, and for generations, the power was known as the Key of the Ancients, and years later the sith struck back. Once again, the sith seemed like an impossible to defeat army, with a powerful sith lord as the head of it. Many are hoping for someone to once again learn the power of the Key of the Ancients to stop him. So the jedi decided to send out three jedi knights to investigate the ruins of where the Key of the Ancients was first discovered, and attempt to put a stop to the sith....

 

 

 

Bron whizzed over the starry skies of Korriban, the two other jedi knights to his sides. "The ruins are in sight, move in." Bron said over his comlink to Quirian and Kran. The three overlooked the ancient sith ruins and Bron sensed how powerful this planet was. How the dark side of the force surrounded it's atmosphere.

 

Bron finally overlooked the sith temple, where the Key of the Ancients was first founded, and signaled for the two others to land. Bron's ship touched the ground and he jumped out of his ship. He turned to the other two. "I sense the dark side....." Bron said and headed towards the temple.

[Niner_777]

Exodius Prime glided in the atmosphere above Korriban. He just finished retrieving an arifact from one of the ruins on the dark planet, and was itching to get paid. "Why would the Sith want this piece of junk?" he asked himself, looking back at the glowing crystal.

 

As he was gliding, Exodius spotted three starfighters flying in the distance. He quickly turned on his ship's cloaking device. His Arc-170 became completely invisible. He used what force power he had to block out his ship from the jedi that he knew must be piloting the starfighters. He could tell through the force. He pounded the thrusters and caught up with the trio. They began to decend, headed for another group of ruins, but Exodious continued to fly. He looked up the ruins on Majestic Strike's computer and found the background. It was interesting.

 

Exodious turned his ship around and circled over the ruins that lay below. He kept an eye on the jedi while he conducted more research.

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

His head was bowed and his arms were crossed across his chest. He was on his knees and was silently praying to himself, speaking ancient words not known to many but his own kind. He slowly stood up and turned around, a small circular glyph glowed on his head, shining green for a moment before disappearing. He grabbed his staff and headed out of the room.

 

The room that he was walking out of was ancient, more like ruins than a room, but there were several broken statues and an altar in the middle with a strange glyph carved into stone with a long necklace with small trinkets around it. He rose his hand and slid the door open, the jewelry clinking around that hung from his wrist. He headed out of the room into a hallway.

 

It was much like a hallway seen in the ruins of Dantooine, underneath the main structure. He had made his way halfway through the hallway before stopping for a moment and resting, putting a gloved hand to his head and leaning against a wall, his staff leaning next to him. He let his bangs fall over his eyes, squeezing his forehead a little with the hand he put to his head before pushing away, grabbing his staff, and continuing.

 

It seemed this put him at a weak point, but it was something he had to do. A new shiny trinket that hung around his neck glowed blue a little as water formed on it. He wiped it off and continued, the other trinkets seemed to be other colors; red, yellow, pink, black, white and brown. He headed out of that hallway and into a dome-like room which had a skyroof on it. This was how he got in, and this is how he'd get out. He walked up to the rope and put his staff onto his back, strapping it into his sash. He grasped the rope with a clang of his wrists as he slid upwards, an imaginary force pushing him up and out. He grabbed the edge of the glass and vaulted himself upwards, grabbing his staff in mid-air and landing in a crouch.

 

He snatched up his beat-up knapsack and slowly headed off of the dome and to the edge of the building, leaping down onto a pillar and sliding all the way to the ground, hopping off at the end and flipping his knapsack over his right shoulder right his right hand on it's strap, his eyes set forward, determined.

[Uber_Saber]

A quick click of his comlink is the only answer Quirian sends to Bron as he lands his fighter a good bit away from the other Jedi's. He considers the security of the ships, and not packing them in together while powered down seems wise. He quickly pulls off the helmet he wears while flying, and stands on the ground, immersing himself in the Force.

 

A brief flicker of something, something niggling at the back of his conciousness, but that is all that stands out against the veritable torrent of Dark Side energies that pour over him. "No, really?" His voice is sarcastic. "Detect the Dark Side, indeed. This is Korriban- what did you expect?" he snorts a little, too, for good measure, and then shuts up, suddenly embarrassed at his all-too-typical scathing remark.

 

I must be aware of my failings- I must take steps to not let them hold sway over me, he reflects, following Bron towards the temple.

[JediMaster12]

The valley before her spoke of emptiness. Nothing but sand and dust blew across the ground as Lilah Ashanti stood upon the wastes of Korriban. She could hear the whispers on the wind as they spoke of temptations. Her green eyes scanned the valley as she set down into it. She originally had been sent to the Outer Rim as a surveyor and to make sure no one found the ancient secrets that had been entrusted to her people. She saw the three Jedi knights enter the temple and decided to follow. She was all too well aware that she was taking a risk by entering. However she needed to know what these three Jedi were after and followed rather closely but masked herself as she had been able to do all her life.

[Diego Varen]

"Yes I sense the Dark Side too" Kran said, "Korriban has always been a Planet of the Dark Side"

[JediMaster12]

Lilah watched as they paused and conversed. She was amazed that they couldn't sense the evil there on the winds; that they used their Force. She was a distance behind but could hear what they were saying. She hoped that they could sense the nest of tukata that lived in the temple. They had been trying to catch her but she always escaped.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Korriban.The tomb for many Sith's and Dark Jedi's.A deserted place,where anyone isn't brave enough to unveil the mysterys of the Sith.But i am."said Jason as he looked onto the Valley of the Dark Lords.Ragnos,Pall,Hord and Sadow.All powerful but all dead.That was the thing Jason couldn't get.

[arvik]

"I know that I'm supposed to sense the dark side here." Bron said. "But something seems different. It seems like the sith may be hiding on this planet still." Bron walked over to the rubbles of an old statue guarding the destroyed temple. "Many powerful sith have died here, but are their souls still echoing across this planet, or are they locked away in the forgotten tombs? I wonder...."

 

Bron's voice started to trail off as he continued his walk towards the temple. He glanced over at Quirian and noticed he landed his ship further away then Kran and himself. He motioned him to catch up and when he did, the three walked towards the temple.

[Uber_Saber]

Quirian stopped dead for a few moments, feeling the Force, easily slipping into a trance-state to feel out the immediate area. "I feel it. Sort of a dampened area- not really a lessening, but like there's something... hiding." He turns around, opening his eyes, but whatever he was looking for, he doesn't seem to find it.

 

"There are... presences around us, masking themselves. I cannot tell where, but it seems like anywhere from one person to six. Not all immediately around us." He speaks very quietly. He shakes his head. "A difficult place, this. We should keep our ears and eyes open- a trap will be sprung before we're done, I should think." He turns back to the others. "But in the meantime," he says more loudly, "Where should we start looking?"

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

Matthew strode across the barren landscape of Korriban, just back from praying at an ancient temple there. He could easily be told apart from the scenery due to his light clothing and outlandish hair (sticking up petrified). The group would surely see him, but it would be no problem to him, as long as they didn't get in his way.

[steven]

Aboard Darth Coas flagship, the 'Bloodthirster/

 

"mi....mi...mi..lord" stuttered a servant of the Dark Lord 'Coas'. They were in the bridge which was as cold and earie as the rest of the ship. Everyone who slaved there were nothing but mindless puppets, the only thing they ever thought was their job and how to serve the dark lord who mentally controlled them.

"Spit it out, you stupid maggots.."ordered Darth Coas.

"we could... we couldn't find anything. The tomb was empty" The servant reported and then pleaded "please don't kill me."

"Dam it!" cried Coas, in anger. The servant began to shake like man in fear if the painfull death that would shearally come to him. "Oh stop worring you coward. I'm not going to kill you. You did what I ordered you too. You are going to lead a squad of Choas Troops* to find that bloody merchant and torture him untill he releaves the location of the artifact."

The servant sighed in releafe and asked "You want us to kill him afterwards?"

"Nope. He can live. It'll be more painfull for him if he is allowed to live. Dismissed!"

 

 

* The Choas Troops are my virson of sith/storm troopers. They wear similar armour to the sith troops.

[JediMaster12]

"I suggest you turn back or you may succumb to the great evil that reside her," Lilah said. She stepped out from her hiding space that was rather close to the group. She couldn't stand it that they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. She wanted to make sure that they knew the risks.

[Niner_777]

Exodious Prime continued to circle overhead, reading with interest the history of the ruins. Often, he'd look out the cockpit window at the jedi below. Finally, he decided he'd better land to save fuel for the trip back to headquarters.

 

So Exodious landed Majestic Strike on a large hill overlooking the ruins. The hill was rather steep, which provided a superb sniping arena in the ruins. Exodious unstrapped his harnesses and set the Arc-170 to camoflage mode. Millions of fiberoptic sensors took in the surrounding light and turned the fighter into part of the landscape.

 

Exodious turned around and opened up a hatch that led to the back of his modified Arc-170. He grabbed his DC-17m and snapped on the sniper attachment. He pressed a button on the wall of the inside of the ship, and a comoflage net fell over one side of his ship. Next he pulled a lever and a small opening appeared in the same side of Majestic Strike. He turned it into a sniping positon and poked the gun through the small hatch. Exodious looked through the sniper scope and lined up one of the jedi in its crosshairs, but he didn't fire. He had nothing against the jedi. He was simply curious.

[arvik]

"Okay.." Bron looked at Lilah and Matthew. "What is going on?" Bron turned back to make sure that the other two were okay and then turned back to Lilah and Matthew. He sensed danger, but it was not from them. There was something creeping up on his back. He turned around and then it felt like it was on his chest. He couldn't see anything but he felt the dark side was very strong and he sensed a sith. He ignited his saber just in time to deflect a sniper's shot heading straight towards his chest.

 

(It could be either Exodious or someone else. Your choice, Niner.)

[Niner_777]

(Let's make it someone else for now. It'll give it a twist.)

 

Exodious kept his scope pointed at the jedi. It looked like he was doing something. Exodious could feel it in the force. The jedi was in danger, but not from him. Exodious relaxed his grip on the jedi through the force, but kept himself shrouded.

 

Just then, the jedi's lightsaber ignited and he deflected a sniper shot. Exodious couldn't tell which direction the shot came from, but immediatley he zoomed out and looked around. He kept an eye on the jedi, just in case he was in danger. He channeled some of the little force power he had to the jedi, to make sure the jedi was alert.

[Shadda]

Ion's escape pod screeched across the sky of some planet. Damn space pirates could have gotten me Ion thought. Good thing I escaped.

The escape pods warning signal started beeping loudly, warning Ion that impact was almost on him, and that safety measures would be activated.

Suddenly, foam burst out of the sides of the pod and engulfed Ion, making him unable to move. But he could still breath. His escape pod's decent jets fired a couple of times, to slow the fall to the ground below.

It seemed like forever, but the pod hit the ground, making a 25 meter wide crator. He waited for the foam to dissolve them started climbing out of the extremely hot pod. He looked around, and saw the strangest and oddest thing.

It happened to be at this time, Jedi had arrived, as well as others. Ion started running towards the ruins they entered at a pace only a fit man could run for long periods of time.

[JediMaster12]

Lilah heard the shot before the Jedi drew his lightsaber. She turned into a defensive posture with her blade ringing from the movement. She looked around with her eyes but listened to the whispers on the wind, beyond the lies of the ancient evils. She knew someone else was there watching and she looked in his direction. She didn't know it was Exodious but she was aware someone was there.

[arvik]

The Dark side of the fore was all around him. Bron sensed that the sniper was now aiming at Kran. "WATCH OUT!" Bron shouted

[JediMaster12]

With a swing, Lilah deflected the blaster shot with the side of her blade at the direction that it came from. She twirled her blade in her right and held her left in front of her. She then said, "We have no choice, get in the temple, now!"

She began backing them into the temple watching.

[arvik]

Bron followed Lilah and mentioned for the other jedis to follow. Bron put on his stealth so his attacker wouldn't find him and force sprinted. Finally, he got to the right temple and sat down, out of sight.

[Uber_Saber]

Quirian followed Bron and the odd woman that had greeted them into the ruins, his own burst of Force-enhanced Speed nearly bringing him into the ruins at the same time as Bron. His own unignited lightsaber hung in his hand, even as he turned around and increased his concentration, seeking the sniper through the force.

 

A moment's work was all that was needed to throw the sniper's aim askew for quite a number of moments, allowing a large period of time as safety for Kron, if neccessary. A second presence, extremely muted, almost invisible, tugged at his thoughts and concentration and his eyes snapped open. "Possible Sith in the area. Alive and muting themselves." He paused and considered. "Muting very well. I can't even tell where they are." He cocked an eyebrow at the woman.

 

"And you- you have been masking yourself in the Force. You have recieved training, and before we go anywhere, I'd like to know where." A moment's consideration. "And just who are you, anyway?"

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

Matthew just stood there out in the open. "Such uncivilized weapons.." He said, withdrawing his staff and setting his pack down on the ground. He bent down and drew a small glyph onto the ground before backing up. He twirled his staff in one hand and slammed the butt of it into the ground, nothing happening-yet.

 

Within a few seconds, another shot flew towards him, but just hit air as a small bubble rippled around Matthew. He glanced to the right where he saw a slight glimpse of a flash of yellow. He grabbed his pack and headed in that direction calmly, the bubble around him disappearinf from view, but the invisible force field was still present. He headed towards the sniper, doing what the Jedi wouldn't- investigate.

[JediMaster12]

Lilah raised her brow at Quirian. She was slightly offended, "I am not one of you Jedi. I am a sister of the Bushida Handmaidens, of the Haida Clan. We are the strongest of the warriors."

She turned her gaze to where the sniper was. She eyed the landscape as if trying to see through the rocks. She said, "There are at least two. One is watching and the other is shooting."

She crouched behind the wall and pulled a small bag out of her belt. She opened it and began to pull some pellets out of it.

[arvik]

"Tell me, what is your name?" Bron asked Lilah.