SWRPF Archive 133 ABY - The Cold Embrace

Darth Cruor
The Invincible

Darth Cruor looked at the ancient Battledroid. It was no challegne for him. When he functioned. But his systems were only recovering slowly. Thoguh the auto-repair could take it from here. And his weapon was gone. He could accept a guard. For a few hours, if he needed to. To buy himself some time. And at least a weapon would be nearby. "Of course. Bring me to the holocron." He then added, looking aroudn if there were any more droids.

Tag: LordTroepfchen

 

The Invincible
Nebula

And indeed there seemed to be. Boxes into which energy-cables lead. Six more of them. Obviously these droids had improvised to keep running for so long. A frightening amount of independancy for ancient droids. The First Protocol Droid, who had not introduced his name, yet, was leading him out of the main room into a small storage room next to it. It was cold, almost freezing. And many objects lay there. Weapons of anceint designs were there. An armor. Spareparts. But one thing jumped to the eye especially. A red-glowing cube in the center of the room.

The Protector-Droid stepped in and closed the door. As if it had been a sign and befor Darth Cruor could even near the cube, it jumped alive and the transparent projection of a bearded old man appeared, whose eyes were glowing yellowish.

[image=http://mos.totalfilm.com/images/s/see-dark-side-obi-wan-kenobi-190-75.jpg]

"I am Ulec, Keeper of this Holocron. I sense a Sith nearby, but yet none like I ever sensed before. identify yourself, Sith, or our wisdom shall be denied to you."

The Droid behind Darth Cruor seemed to shift it´s position.

Tag: DarkLordoftheFins

 

Darth Cruor
The Invincible

Darth Cruor watched at the man, tainted by the Dark Side when the projection was made, clearly. There was only one appropriate reaction to a Master of the Dark Side as this man had clearly been and Darth Cruor did not hesitate to show it. He slowly dropped to his knees. "I am Darth Cruor, Master Ulec. A member of the Sith in another incarnation of our order. Long after your passing and that of the order you belonged to." In his mind he searched for every bit of information he had about the Sith of Revan´s age. But it was not much. Ulec he surely had never heard, but like most of Revan´s Sith he might have been a Jedi once. A useful bit of information.

Looking up, Darth Cruor looked at something he could use to fight in hte room. Guns and swords were everywhere. But his eyes fell on a two bladed weapon near the exit. As he raised back to his feet he called it to his hand with the force. It was harder to do than he had thought. But finally his hand closed around the cold metal. He looked over to his "Protector" then back at Ulec. The projection of Ulec. "I am inside a Nebula in the Oriob-System and I have encountered something . . . strange. Spherical. Consisting of light. And it seems to be dangerous. Of my people, I am the only one left. I need to know what it is."

Tag: LordTroepfchen

 

The Invincible
Nebula

Ulec stared down at the Sith Lord and nodded. He seemed to consider the said for a moment. Something unlikely from an Holocron. Then he put on a smile. A wicked smile on his lips. "The Sphere. You have encountered it. If so, you have surpassed many others who fell to it´s influence without ever seeing it. The Sphere has killed me, my friend. And I stored all data I had on the Sphere here on this device so future generations might one day solve the problem the Sphere poses. Jedi or Sith alike, the Sphere is an enemy of all life. And I must regretably say, that was our mistake in the first place." The projection leaned forward. "Tell me are you still inside the ionized nebula which is surrounded by the red planet? Far out, where no maps exist and only the force can guide you among the stars so bright?" Ulec hissed out. "That is, where we found the Sphere. Or did it find us? Would never were sure of that. Never were sure . . ."

Tag: DarkLordoftheFins

 

Malignady
The Colony, Reactor

His eyes stayed wide as he listened to the Jedi Blade Master's rant, if he thought he was supposed to be the first to find a way to stay clean while swimming in a sewer wearing only his robes he was mistaken. But the last, that last outburst was of another nature.

"You want it? Come get it." With that he jumped backwards towards the reactor and presipice, igniting the two blades he stolen and grasping them in either foot. Dropping just past the lip he used their resistance with a soft touch of the force to slow his decent down as he ignited his own shoto in his hand, using quick slashing motions to creat hand/foot holds for later. For now he would head where he had last spotted the light, further down, and further in while hoping the insane Jedi so near to the cold sanity of the sith would soon follow.

In the end it might not even matter if he lost, a new Sith was being born here, struggling to emerge in everything but name.

"There is no peace, there is passion."

TAG: LordT

 

The Colony
Reactor

The Jedi laughed out, as if he had wanted to fight. Deep inside. his need for rvenge poured into the force, as he leaped forward. "You have no idea what great plans I have for you Sith." he whispered, while unleashing his first attack. A series of fast strikes, meant to play with his enemy, rather than kill him directly. "The Sphere, the Sphere will serve my purpose well. It might consume me, as it did the others. But you and your kind will no longer hold it at bay. You will no longer keep it imprisoned here. It will be free! And all your Empire´s and Order´s will know fear. The fear of extinction. the fear YOU BROUGHT ME!" And stepping back he swung his blade down from above. This time going for the head. For the kill . . .

His eyes burned with an ecstasy Malignady had rarely seen before. And always in a Sith.

Somewhere above the Sith Apprentice felt the Sphere manifesting. It´s amazing power slowly building, overshadowing everything else.

Tag: Mitth-Fisto

 

Darth Cruor
The Invincible

His fist closed and stretched again. He was loosing his patience. "Yes, I understand." He pressed through his lips. "Tell me what happened. I know you arrived on that station. Fleeing from the Republic into the Nebula, but what happened then? What did the Sphere do to you?" He looked at the droid and then at the blade he now had in his other hand. "You didn´t die of old age, did you? I guess the thing killed you? and I guess it does the same to my . . . to me." He said and his eyes went into record modus. he hoped the data would be stored in his damaged processor.

Tag: LordT

 

The Invincible
Storage Room


Soundtrack - The Sith´s Fate

The Holocron looked down on the Sith Lord and nodded. "We showed it how to kill." Was all he said. The long dead Sith could even in his holographic image not veil his fear. "Some of us believed it was a weapon. Others thought it was probably the force itself. It did not matter. Our Master, the great Orandore, wanted only one thing. It´s power. He was a Master in draining other for their power. Absorbing, consuming their power to make it his own. With the power of the Sphere, he would have surpassed all Sith before him. Even Lord Revan would have fallen to his knees before such a Lord of the Sith. And it worked. He faced the Sphere and absorbed it´s power. More and more of it. But no matter how much he absorbed there always seemed to be more. In the end, it was too much for him. He was burned alive by the energy the Sphere provided. And then . . ." The Sith breathed in, before talking. This hologram had obviously been recorded under great stress. " . . . as he was dying, the Sphere consumed him." Another long break. "I was left behind in command. For the time we had remaining."


Tag: Fin

 

Acolyte Malignedy
The Colony, Reactor

Keeping up with the blade master Jedi was a task that quickly showed the fact that he was being toyed with, and only toyed with but used for the Jedi's own monologing needs. But as all drowl things it was not to last, and thankfully so the Blade Master stepped back to perform a head splitting downward attack which Malignedy just the easiest thing against...he ran forwards.

Normally a move he wouldn't use, force assisted as he was now or not, but with that look in the Jedi...or rather Sith Krelwaks eyes confirming his naggling worries, the pressure of the sphere above, and all the world was slow as death came with it's promisary note that it issues to all.

He ran forward to dive beneath or around the legs ahead, with blade raised overhead swaying from side to side with each step preppared to deflect the mighty blow if it somehow managed to get through. Diving he at least made the attempt with a free limb to release and toss a remaining shaped thermal detonator onto or under the Krelwaks body. If he succeeded he would depress the button, monologue a little to himself before continueing this crazy adventure of insanity, that or else defend himself from the budding psychopath.

TAG: LordT

 

Darth Cruor
The Invincible

"You fools." He sighed out and looked at the holographic figure before him. "You stupid fools created that thing? You messed around with such a power without even knowing WHAT IT IS?" Angry he waved his hand and the Holocron shattered against the wall. Anger had got the better of him. But he suddenly had realized, these Sith had not served their order, but possibly doomed it. If this Sphere, something that powerful had learned to consume . . . who could stop it? Who?

With a wave of his anger he pushed the droid aside and charged out of the room. "Droids! I need you to charge the weapons. I want this space-station and all inside of it destroyed, now!" He yelled into the dimly lit hangar.

Tag: LordTroepfchen

 

Colony
Reactor Room

Soundtrack - Don´t we?

The Jedi Master, if one still wanted to label the raging beast he had turned into a Jedi, slashed out, slowly pushing the Sith away, as the little frame of the Duk tried to escape him through his legs. Probably he had foreseen it, probably he had fought so many duels, even exotic moves like these became predictable. But his blade hurled behind his back, as he himself dodged the Sith´s blades. One of them cut through his lower leg. Severing muscles and made him scream in pain.
His own blade though blocked by Malignady, slided deeper and finally cut through the left leg of the Sith, severing it completely. Then turning forth and as both their blades locked, the Sith was hit hard by metal object hurled into his face. The Thermal detonator slammed hard against his skull and send him, now one legged and the explosive to the ground several meters away. Pain radiatede from the missing leg, as the wound still gleamed. And the Jedi slowly stepped back, waving with two fingers. Activating the detonator.

Time stretched endlessly, as a five appeared on the mini-display. Counting down Malignady´s seconds he had to save himself.

Behind him, he felt the power of the Sphere appear and the light of it filled the dark reactor room with it´s blidning, cold white. Somehow both men had thee feeling the Sphere had come to get them.

Tag: Mitth


Invincible
Hangar

Soundtrack - Endgame

"Sir, the Main Reactor has failed 2341,45 years ago. The auxilary power has been kept to a minimum, so we can even keep this room operatable. We are under no conditions able to perform the desired serivces. Although, after consultation iwth my dear colleagues, we doubt we should obey your commands. Could we please talk to you a minute?" The Droid asked politely. And Darth Cruor felt the apparent danger behind him. As his "guard" raised his rifle.


Tag: Fin

 

Darth Cruor
Invincible

The Sith raised his borws. About the only gesture he was even able to perform with his mostly mechanical features. "What? I am a Sith. I demand you obey my commands!" He shouted out and turned, waving his hand, hammering the droid into the wall. And hssing out, he could not roast it with ligthning. It would destroy him as much as his enemy. He knew.

His double-bladed swoard hurled through the air to split the battle-droid into to instead, whuile he turned to see if any other dangers were there. Foolish droids. He had not itme for this. No time at all.

Tag: LordTroepfchen

 

Invincible
Hangar

The droid slammed into hte wall and it´s glowing eyes died down, as the blade split him. Not through it´s sharpness, but the power of the force, multiplying the impact´s power.

The same second as the droid fell to the ground, spasming, he felt his own body imitate exactly that reaction. His systems reported failure, his sight vanished on one eye. His arms were suddenly unable to move. Ions. A ion weapon had hit him. As he fell to the ground both protocol droids stood above him. They had two very similar, yet differently loaded guns in their hands. Which looked outdated. But as another system reported failure and Darth Cruor felt his circiuts slowly overheating, trying to compensate, they showed themselves to be obviously effective.

"Excuse us, Sir. But we also decided it is best to eliminate you." The droid lay his head to the side. "We actually felt strangely eager to do so, actually."

Tag: Fin

 

Darth Cruor
Invincible Hangar

He felt his systems fail and these droids stare down on him, as if he was an interesting piece of hull.plating or an electronic device. Actually, maybe he was not that much more, actually. His central processor was failing. His hull had not been isolated again after it´s original crack. "Why?" He asked. Trying to reach the droid, by raising his arm. It felt desperate. It probably looked that way, too. "I am . . . Sith." He coughed out and his system reported the failure of his central vocal system.

Whooooooaaaaay.

Tag: LordTroepfchen

 

Invincible
Hangar

The Droid, he had not even revealed his name looked down. "Fateful we could not patch your isolation. Is it?" He said. "You seem to be Sith, but not of our original order. We were insecure how to deal with that fact. We decided we needed to protect our masters interests, even if they were dead by now." The droid raised his weapon. "And as I already said, we felt it would do us good to kill you. Not very logical. But a few thousands years of boredom without a proper memory vibe can do that to your otherwise well balanced programming, I guess. We all feel a little . . . anxious. Lately." Would he have had a mouth, the droid would have porobably smiled.

He said this sentence and pulled the trigger. Shooting twice into Darth Cruor´s head. With a flash of red light and pain the Sith Lord ceased to exist.

Tag: Mitth

 

Malignady
The Colony, Reactor Room

The pain seared through his little body, the rawness, the fire, it was not just a debilitating pain...it was a deadly one. It distracted the mind, the senses honed to a sharpness by adrenalin turned against their user as they all honed in on the agony of the pain, the loss of limb, the beating of ones own heart, and the screams belowing from his own throat. Even the force so subject to ones attention to it heightened the senses of pain, leaving two options open to him...to either take the pain or to blunt it.

Before even this could be decided by twisting to keep alive by facing the Master, then turning forth and as both their blades locked, the Sith was hit hard by metal object hurled into his face. The Thermal detonator slammed hard against his skull and send him, now one legged and the explosive to the ground several meters away. Pain radiatede from the missing leg, as the wound still gleamed. And the Jedi slowly stepped back, waving with two fingers. Activating the detonator.

Time stretched endlessly, as a five appeared on the mini-display. Counting down Malignady´s seconds he had to save himself.

As one ticked off an old image appeared in his mind, one he had long forgotten...

Gluttony-Sloth---------\
Greed< Pride-Anger
Jealousy/Envy-Lust-----/

Greed was the root, how had he forgotten that knowledge? How had it slipped the very tip of his brain? Greed was the root, from it stemed Gluttony which begot Sloth, and Jealousy or Envy that begot Lust. From both stems rejoined to bring fourth the double heads of Anger and Pride. The family tree of the Sith, and the one he now fought was the ipitimy of Pride in Anger, a truly great master of the darkness that yet refused to acknowledge its implications.

One less second, and the Sphere had come to watch from behind him. Waiting for it's meal...the light of it filled the dark reactor room with it´s blidning, cold white...it waited for him.

He accepted the pain, let his body wrack with the sensations it brought as he deftly tapped a code without looking into his wristlink to cause this specific detonator to short instead of explode. "So I die by one Kria." Both should know the tale, it was as old as, well it was old enough that both orders knew it well. The story of the Jedi Exile and Kria the one who taught the Exile in the hopes of killing the force, this was a green branch in a time of death. A motive to shock the Jedi to his senses. He pulled the remaining half thermal detonator that he had..."Sometimes..." another second ticked by, "we must become One and let go to be at peace."

Unorthodox...yes. Was he beaten? Yes. Was there any other tactic than to appeal to dispicable Jedi philosophy of becoming One with the force? Maybe...but none that he could use at this final juncture against a Jedi, while his back was against a wall of teeth that yearned to devour his very soul. A very real hell that few beings ever imagined, much less sat upon the brink. For what torment could await within the Sphere? Something so powerful, yet seemed pained by hunger for the power of others.

It was time to face what was left in the Masters answer. The Sphere might even make it a meaningless point of survival, but even if he failed the other bombs he had placed before the beginning of this battle would detonate upon his death...maybe that would contain them, not that he believed it would for a second, but still...

TAG: LordT

 

Colony
The Reactor Room

Soundtrack - The Sphere

Krelwaak leaped forward, as the small Sith typed in his commands into his wrist-console. Landing above him, he almost faded from sudden exhaustion.

"Sometimes..." The Sith Malignady hissed through his teeth, "we must become One and let go to be at peace." He could see these words echoed in his enemies soul. The seconds did not stop to tick away. Krelwaak looked up and then to the Sphere. In his last moments he wanted the thermal detonator to stop. But it did not. The Sphere did not allow it.
"Peace. Here is no peace. Only the Sphere." Krelwaak hissed out and looked down on Malignady. "I am sorry." He added. Behind him the bulky shape of Darth Null grinned down on his defeated apprentice. The long neck of Darth Askenis joined him, as finally did the cyborg form of Darth Cruor. Null´s grin grew only broader, as the Jedi screamed out and raised his lightsaber. The Sphere illuminating the scene in her icy brightness, that seemed to freeze souls and drain warmth from the very existence.

The world grew into a ball of fire. And no Sith or Jedi breathing remained on the colony. Only death. And Malignady, in his final conscious thought, felt the presence of the Sphere. Curious, disgusted and hungry. Consuming, because it had once been shown and had never learned how to stop . . .

Unforgiving, remorseless, unknowing.

Malignady felt the Sphere´s Cold Embrace.

Tag: Nobody


ooc: And with that, my last Sith has rised and fallen. And no player remains. Tomorrow I´ll present the Epilogue, where we will learn the survivor´s identity (you might guess) and with that, this game shall end . . .

 

Gesaril
The Asteroid Complex

Soundtrack - The Survivor

"Anything?" Darth Imperi changed her form again, becoming a white-skinned, tattooed woman in her early thirties again, after having trained her appearance as an Galactic Alliance pilot. This was the shape her servants knew and feared. Her former apprentice and faithful servant Darth Tenebrous watched. Fascinated after all those years. Then he sighed.

"Nothing. Interrogation, mind-reading, torture. He knows nothing. He went to Gelegar, lost his limbs there to Darth Null and was left behind to die. He seems to be sure they are dead. Dreams, visions, whatever you call it. But he can´t tell us where or how exactly." Tenebrous summarized the statement the Twi´lek Sith had given to them, after several sessions of torture. A man without arms, cowering in the corner. Not given the mercy of a worthy death. It was embarrassing to know he was once considered one of them.

Darth Imperi looked at Darth Tenebrous. Her eyes cold and hungry as always. Sceptical of what she heard.

"Anything on the anomaly? This so called Sphere?" She asked. Saying the word, as if it was something silly and ridiculous. Her tone was also demanding, her words cutting the air.

Tenebrous shook his head. "He said he saw it in his dreams. Maybe the Shrine on Kooroo made that happen. But nothing substantial. Nothing we can use."

A disgusted smirk appeared on the Dark Ladies face. "I see."

"Shall I go on? The Dark Lord probably demands an explanation for five dead Lords of the Sith." Darth Tenebrous asked.

"No, they were sacrifices from the beginning. The only thing that will interest him is, they did not bring the necessary results." Darth Imperi nodded and turned, stepping to the view-port and looking at the cowering shape of what remained of Darth Morde.

Crying in his desperation in the cold, illuminated interrogation room.

"And him?" Darth Tenebrous asked.

"He is my entertainment for tonight. You need to prepare. The Resistance will be here soon and I want Romar prepared to be liberated by then. She will lead us to Hoole. And that is most important right now."

"And the Sphere, my Lady?"

"It will resurface. In time."

Darth Tenebrous gave it thought. "Are you sure, my Lady? It could be . . ."

"We fear it, Darth Tenebrous. And your fears have a habit to come back to you. Always." Darth Imperi replied his never spoken question.

"Yes, my Lady." Darth Tenebrous said and turned to leave. Darth Imperi stared at the only survivor. Maybe it would have been smarter to tell these Sith what they knew about the Sphere. Then again . . .

Only Sith . . .

Tag: Nobody

---

[hl=black][color=orangered][b]Dracm-Nebula, 134 ABY[/b]
[i]Oriob-System[/i][/color][/hl]

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nVkHXTeiOg&feature=related]Music - And the story continues . . .[/link]

"The Sith-Imperial War has brought us many bad things, but also some good things came from it." The Duros explained the two Sullustan Investors, as they entered the mall hangar of the [i]Minereader[/i]. The ship was an ancient one but [b]Captain Voles [/b] whole pride. His own independent mining-vessel.

[image=http://www.evilrobotgames.com/MiningShip.jpg] [b]The Minereader[/b]

"For over five thousand years, since it was first found by Ebon Antilles, the Dracm-Nebula was said to be unprofitable as a mining ground. Only the strongest shielded and isolated ships of military production could pass it. Therefore it was to expansive to equip mining vessels to do this job. Or even chart the Nebula." The Sullstans nodded. Obviously that was the information they had. The hangar looked like it was in use. Droids were lying around everywhere. An aged shuttle and a single fighter to protect their precious cargo. Captain Voles showed his warmest Duros smile and waved the investors over to a droid that was outfitt

 

133 ABY - The Cold Embrace


Game Summary

The little brother of Fin´s much more successful and in the eyes of this GM perfect 133 ABY - The Dark Odyssey, this game had never been meant to be long of extensive. A small side-dish. So to say. Something I could handle as a GM despite occasional waves of workload from DRL. It served that purpose well. While the many player drop outs in the "2009-player-crisis" made this game struggle for a while and lead to a lot of cut content, as you will soon see . . . my players stayed with me to the end and made sure that this game saw it´s proper conclusion.


Story

The Cold Embrace never was meant to be anything but a dark tale of survival and final failure to survive. The sole reason I did it as a Sith Game was to allow players to create character who "deserved" what I they went through.
Or as Qui Gon Jinn once said: There is always a bigger fish.
133 ABY - The Cold Embrace was meant to show what happens to a group of Sith when they finally meet him.

Prologue - Epilogue

The one survivor is shown in the prologue. Interrogated by NPCs who are a direct nod to the brother-game, happening later in that year. The survivor and assumed storyteller ( we will learn later, that this is not possible) and mysterious guy gives the players the promise to take his role. Actually there was a chance, but only for those members of the second group. See Cut Content for the never realized plotline about the Kooroo.

Part I - The Hunt

The Opening was simply enough. On the height of power the One Sith send a team of expandable Sith Lords on a Mission to find one of the most dangerous Jedi Master´s remaining alive and in freedom. Those who read 128 ABY - The Unknown Terror´s soon stumbled on names familiar in this Chapter. And the four Sith Lords travelled to Gelgelar, first. Where the Jedi´s contacts were supposed to life. From there things began to spiral. Downwards. A "fake" Jedi who uses electronic devices to mimic force powers and a strange vision of a Nikto named Kant are introduced. As is the Shrine of Koroo. Finally victorious, our anti-heroes have by now killed a few of each other and make their way to the Oriob-System. Finding there . . .


Part II - The Colony

The Sith find a huge ancient colony in the midst of the Dracm-Nebula. Unheard of and veiled by the ion clouds of the Nebula this place became the setting of the rest of our game. We meet creepy hosts, ghosts who tempt and tease our Sith Group and finally our Sith begin to murder each other. Motivated by faked visions of attacking Jedi . . . the end of the Chapter leaves only their youngest and a very damaged Cyborg alive. Both have by then encountered the Sphere. An object of power, which origins will remain a secret.


Part III - The Sphere

One of the Sith learns some background though. From Hutts and Nikto gaining eternal life through the Sphere and Sith many years later corrupting it by accident. He has now arrived on a barely functional ancient Sith warship where an old holocron reveals what he will learn. Only to face his execution by the droids who saved him.
The Apprentice meanwhile, after having murdered most of his comrades . . . meets the Jedi. Actually alive and in the colony. And learns not only that the man has fallen, but also that he wants to unleash the Sphere. Hoping it will destroy the Sith . . . they duel and non of both survives the battle, as detonators go of. The Sphere watching . . .
Epilogue


Cut-Content

A whole second storyline was meant to play outside the colony with two Sith investigating the Jedi Masters connection to the Shrines of Kooroo on various worlds. From an archaeologist on Byblos to a barren lifeless planet where a single shrine inhabits the surface, their story would have added a lot of ambiguous elements to the story. A second theory about the Sphere and the possibility it might be a race and not a thing was part of

 

And my lock-request has just been send. See you all in the other games

Thanks again.

LordTroepfchen