Abandoned and forgotten, the ruins of the Dark Temple have slowly succumbed to the erosion of time. In the central chamber the walls have crumbled, the ceiling has caved in, and the jungle now flourishes within the once pristine halls.

Green light filters through the temple, mixing eerily with the dark, violet hue of Dromund Kaas’ sky. Lightning flickers overhead, the raw energy of the Force clashing high above. The floor is overgrown with large plants and grasses that have swallowed the old stone. Wild creatures roam freely, skittering away from the presence of intruders while vicious predators hide just out of sight.

The main hall is lined on both sides by towering statues, heads bowed in supplication. They stand in deference to the sculpture of a pure-blooded Sith, which towers over the chamber with outstretched arms. The sculpture has been split diagonally down the middle, as if cleaved in two by a rusted blade, but the majesty in the stone still echoes to the past.

On either side of the main hall, remnants of branches to inaccessible parts of the temple remain. One might tilt their head to take in what is left of the mezzanine—the balcony overlooking the chamber—still held aloft by the great pillars standing behind the statues. Several of the pillars have fallen, providing a pathway up to the mezzanine for those willing to take the risk for higher ground. Spirits of the Sith are rumored to still haunt the grounds—waiting for poor, misguided fools to walk blindly into their domain.

The violet sky flashed to life with crooked bolts of white and blue as lightning spread across the sky. The thunder almost sounded like a deep laugh bellowing down to the surface of the planet. Battlemaster Vincent Brujah hopped down from his ship, The Punisher, and pulled down the hood of his black cloak to take in his surroundings. A wicked smile crossed the Sith's face as he felt the sheer energy of the Force that Dromund Kass exuded. He stepped away from his ship, reach out with his senses. Trying to find, something...

"It must be here somewhere..." the Sith spat.

He had picked up a tip from a friendly face that an ancient Sith artifact on this planet was worth a lot of credits to the right buyer. To Brujah, the value of the artifact wasn't the nature of its importance. It was a relic that he could use to grow even more powerful with the Dark Side. He couldn't help but remember the warning that he'd been given when he received the tip.

"This artifact is highly valued, and a bounty has been put out for it that even the Hutts would scoff at. Keep you eyes peeled. You won't be the only one looking for it."

The signal Brujah was looking for was there, but it was faint. It came from within the ruins of the Dark Temple standing a few meters away from him. With a hiss Brujah's lightsaber sprang to life. Swiping it back and forth he cleared the vines and branches from his path, clearing his way to the entrance to the temple. With every step the ground cracked and gurgled as the Battlemaster trudged through the vegetation.

Almost as soon as he reached the entrance his senses screamed out at him, begging him to move. Brujah ducked and rolled to the left, taking cover behind the wall next to the open entrance. A blaster bolt scorched the stone where Brujah was just standing, shot from inside the temple. A deep sigh escaped the now frustrated humans nose as he spoke out.

"If it's credits you're looking for, perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement."

"Not today. The bounty is too hot. Why don't you run along before you get hurt." a vaguely familiar voice rang out from inside the Temple Ruins.

Brujah could feel the stranger's presence, but perhaps it wasn't a stranger at all. He was high up on the mezzanine, confident, ready for his next move as soon as the Sith showed his face. With the flick of his wrist Brujah sent the detached head of one of the statues flying into the mezzanine and dove into the Temple. He took cover behind a statue just under the balcony. He didn't see much during his entrance, but he saw enough.

"Titius, the artifact is coming home with me. Do not make yourself a victim."

No response came from the balcony. Another attack would sure to be coming soon. It would be easiest for Brujah to escape. The Raider had the high ground, and it was far too early for acrobatics. The Sith ducked deeper into the temple, down the nearest branch out of the Main Hall that he could find. If it was a fight that Osseus wanted, he'd have to bring it to Brujah.

Titius dropped his gaze from his sight, snorting in frustration. Deft hands exchanged the rifle for a grapple line, losing no time in dropping to the entry floor. Cable whizzed as the grapple retracted.

“It is most unprofessional to run scared, little Sith. I guess your file lied.” Titius scoffed as he moved into the temple. Clicks echoed through the cavernous entry as boots contacted stone. “Are you disappearing again, Brujah? Running away from your problems? Where is your pride?” Taunts delivered, Titius swung behind a wall as a small disk flung itself away. The dull hum of Stitches waking up rippled out. Watching his companion flit away, Titius felt a chill pass through his body. It did not matter how devoid of Force one was, the temple still bore a profane miasma. Feeling a touch on his shoulder, Titius wheeled with dagger in hand only to find empty air. Shaking his head briskly, he suppressed the sudden spike of fear.

The detonator chirped as it armed, clinking dully as it was placed at the statue base. Moving to the next statue, Titius’ head swiveled in anticipation. A volley of shots rang out several statues ahead, causing a figure to roll behind. Brujah shot a hand skyward, easily spinning the attacking probot out of sight before snapping his eyes to Titius.

“Just could not let me have this easily could you?”

Red light bloomed behind as the Sith charged. Titius barely had time to fumble a concussion grenade and find cover. The harsh thump of the explosive shook dust free in a filthy cloud. The cloud brightened as Brujah brought their blade over the dais in a stabbing arc. Titius swore as he scrambled away from the crackling death. The blade tore swarf from the statue as Brujah pulled back, jumping onto the stone feet in pursuit of the prone Mercenary. Titius responded with an awkwardly tossed canister, its contents leaking on release. Brujah laughed as he met the projectile with his lightsaber.

A green cloud erupted, obscuring sight for both assailants. A fork of lightning splayed shadows through it as Brujah choked. Pivoting, he exhaled the last air in his lungs while dashing away from the noxious substance. Making it to cleaner air, he hacked violently as fire assailed his chest. He could still feel Titius’ presence in the cloud, moving slowly. Internally, Brujah kicked himself for failing to remember the warning he had been given about his assailant.

Dioxis is his favorite behind only death.

Titius sucked a slow measured breath through his filtration. The cartridges always tasted metallic when exposed to dioxis, but he barely noticed it anymore. The grenade had given him room to breathe and he took full advantage. Drawing out his Relby, he sighted Brujah and began ripping shots at the choking figure. Despite his perfect aim, Brujah seemed to know where the shots were aimed and moved ahead of them. The whiny hiss signaling the end of the clip came too soon, drawing quiet as Titius reloaded. Seeing Brujah dash behind another dais, Titius arced several micro grenades while moving out of the cloud.

Warnings screamed into Brujah's mind, but it was too late. Ducking to the side to make himself as slim as possible, the Sith still took direct hits to the shoulder and abdomen; each little pod exploding to life on contact with emerald fumes that covered the Battlemaster's face. Still other grenades crashed into the area surrounding him, quickly creating a larger and larger cloud of dioxis.

Brujah grasped at his eyes, dropping his saber to the floor. He let out a loud grunt. His vision became blurry and the walls almost seemed to close in on him. The toxic gas felt like hellfire flowing though his nasal passages, scorching its way into his lungs. Every gasp for breath was fiery hell. Tears poured from his eyes.

Again, his senses screamed to him that danger was at hand, so the Sith fell to his knees to avoid an incoming rifle blast, still clutching his eyes and gagging as he tried to compose himself. He could feel the frustration building inside of him as he struggled. Finally reaching out for his saber hilt with his right hand as footsteps approached.

"Are you really going to make it this easy? First you run away, and now, the great Brujah, former hero of Clan Scholae Palatinae and even Deputy Combat Master is reduced to this? A heaping, gagging, pile of uselessness from a few breaths of poison gas?"

Titius laughed as he approached the Sith, who was still clutching his eyes tightly with his left hand.

"I'm not so sure that you are the Brujah that I read about..."

The whole world was turning red for the Sith. It wasn't enough that he couldn't breathe, but these jabs at his pride, this level of disrespect, it ate at his patience. Wiping tears from his face Brujah began to cackle between the coughs. For a moment he flailed his left hand wildly, eventually pointing his hand in the general direction of the young mercenary. He cursed under his breath as he appeared to try to regain his footing. Titius looked on amused at first, but not surprised. Brujah's temper was legendary, and if he had read anything, he had certainly read that much. He raised Horrific Deluge, placing the barrel against Brujah's temple.

"Sorry pal, even legends have to die some day..."

"But not today..." Brujah spat as a flash of violet sparked from his fingertips.

Titius gasped and grabbed for the trigger, but not quickly enough. His body was engulfed in crackling bolts of sapphire and amethyst. Brujah rose to his feet pushing the Raider backwards into the stone wall. Reaching out with his right hand the hilt of his lightsaber jumped to his open right hand. The blade screamed to life as the Sith poured electricity over the younger human with his left.

"Everything you've read..." he sputter out as he coughed. "Every word... is the gospel..." he began laughing again between breaths. Finally releasing Titius from the grasp of current and letting him fall backwards propping himself against the wall with his rifle pointed at the floor. Smoke poured off of his armor. Brujah stared deeply into the eyes of the Raider. The Sith's eyes seemed to change as he stared Titius down. They were gray before, but now they appeared as crimson as the blade of his saber. His smile was impossibly wide and his teeth jagged and sharp. Titius could feel the dread pouring over him with every movement the Sith made towards him.

"But what is really important, Titius... is what you haven't read at all."

The Sith darted in with his saber looking to thrust it into the heart of the mercenary, but Titius ducked to the side and sent a volley of micro grenades directly into the floor at their feet. An emerald cloud began to grow and Brujah had no choice but to step back or else face the consequence of the poison gas once more. As Titius gained his footing, the Sith pulled his saber up.

"Now the fun really begins." Brujah snarled as he looked for his opening.

Titius’ head rang as his implants rebooted in a static filled squawk. His body felt like a million needles were moving through his muscles, quickly replaced with the cold flush of adrenaline and analgesic. Brujah made another swing through the cloud as they hacked a raucous cough. It seemed the Sith only got angrier despite the amount of exposure. Dosage calculations ran through Titius as he weaved out of range of the angry red blade.

Dropping into a sprint, the mercenary powered away from his opponent while the dioxis cloaked his egress. He could hear Brujah cursing him through waves of bronchospasm. The sound was a hissing wheeze as the dioxis slowly affected them. Titius checked his reserves and found them painfully depleted. He would need to end this quickly lest he run out of options. Ducking into a side alcove, he searched for Stitches. The droid had been hurled away but was likely still alive. On cue, a low hum rose from the chamber’s upper reaches as a cluster of red dots poked out.

“Tenacious little droid, arent you?” Titius muttered, shaking his head. “Go get the artifact. Perhaps that will distract him enough.” Without response, Stitches zipped along the ceiling in search. No sooner had the droid zipped off, Brujah finally stumbled his way through the dioxis. The Sith looked horrible, spittle running down their beard and eyes bright crimson from burst vessels. “You will pay for that, Titius”

Failing to resist the taunt, Titius called out. “Your only payment will be death.” An ominous breathless cackle escaped the mercenary as they racked home their last load of micro-grenades.

The Sith knew he had to act quickly. Though he was putting on his best bluff face, he knew how he must look. He could feel his lungs burning, the effects of the dioxis becoming more advanced. He didn't know if he could sustain another breath of the noxious gas. His eyes darted across the room finding a wooden crate on the floor. Brujah flung his left arm sending the crate crashing into Titius from behind. He fell forward from the blow, losing his grip on Horrific Deluge sending it flying through the air. Brujah swiped his right hand quickly towards the flying rifle, but before he could finish the swing he felt an intense pain in his right foot.

Brujah screamed out as Titius drove the blade of his Viper Fang through the top of the Sith's foot and out of the sole of his foot. Screaming out the Sith persisted and finished his swing, slicing Horrific Deluge into two pieces. As the pieces fell apart Brujah's eyes widened. He had missed his mark my just millimeters and exposed the chamber, sending the micro grenades within tumbling towards the floor.

The grenades poofed open as the struck the stone floor sending green plume of hell into the air between the two. Titius yanked the dagger out of Brujah's foot and stabbed it into his thigh, using his weight to pull himself off the floor. The Battlemaster screamed out in agony, swinging down with his lightsaber and taking off the right forearm of the mercenary. His hand still clutched the dagger sticking out of the Sith's leg as Titius pulled his scotched arm away letting out a scream of his own.

Before Brujah could pull the dagger from his legs a knee came driving into his gut. All the remaining air in the Sith's lungs quickly escaped them as Titius dropped him into the plume of green gas. The mercenary drug himself out of the room as quickly as he could. Looking back to ensure the job was done, he saw the Sith take in a deep breath of the green hell. The splittle on his beard quickly became a thick white foam pouring from his mouth as he gasped. Then it changed to pink, and then red as the Sith grasped his throat and fell face first on the floor.

"No time for celebration." Titius told himself as he looked down at his missing arm in fury.

Titius stumbled away from Brujah, calling out for his droid. He could hear the buzzes and beeps of Stitches not far from his location. He followed the beeps until he found the droid, but what he saw left him almost as breathless as the dioxis had left Brujah. The droid had found the artifact, but it sat behind a large circular stone door. Gears attached to the slab of stone that must have weighed at least a ton. Following the gears with his eyes, Titius found the last gear missing and the wheel used to turn them gone as well.

"Damn!" Titius screamed out before he was interrupted by a familiar sound. It was the sound of a thermal detonator being activated.

He turned to find Brujah standing several meters behind him, holding the flashing ball of death in his hand. Blood was pouring from the sides of his mouth and his nose. Drops even appeared to be forming at the corners of his eyes. Rather than speaking, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, speaking directly into the mind of the mercenary.

"Thank you for bringing me to the artifact, Titius, and for the best battle I've had in years. I almost wish it didn't have to end like this. Almost."

Titius fired his grappling hook, but it only pulled him into a net sent flying at him from Brujah's Sith Lanvarok. As the net wrapped itself around the mercenary dragging him back to the floor, Titius realized he was covered in some kind of liquid, and then with a flash, he was lit ablaze. Stitches hovered over to the blaze trying to assist Titius out of the net, but then the thermal detonator came rolling next to the stone door.

Brujah was seated. Deep in thought, reaching out with every ounce of his remaining power to put up a barrier between himself and the explosive, trapping Titius and the droid within it. With a blast it was all over. The explosion was so big and violent that it smashed through Brujah's barrier and sent the Sith tumbling backwards several meters. When he opened his eyes and the smoke cleared, all that remained was a large gaping hole where the stone door once stood. The Sith willed himself up and stumbled into the room. As he approached a large stone alter an orange glow covered his beaten and weary face. Too beaten to even smile, Brujah reached down and grabbed the artifact.

Rounding out of cover, Titius suddenly stumbled. The mercenary clutched their chest as their other arm went limp, sending weapons clattering to the ground. “Kark, drugs ran out.” Titius gargled through a sudden froth in his mouth. Hurling himself behind cover again, he slammed his pack and scrabbled for a stim injector. On the other side of cover, Brujah finally caught a breath. Whirling his saber in a wide arc, he stalked towards where the mercenary had briefly appeared. He could feel the sudden rush of pain and panic as Titius had stumbled. The euphoria from the onset of stimulants caught Brujah off guard. Slowing his stride, he took a moment to reach over the wash with a talon of terror. Strangely, the mercenary remained blissful from the heavy dosage he had taken. Brujah was disappointed as he drew back his probe instead reaching for a lone thermal detonator on his belt.

Fighting fire with fire

Activating the explosive, the Sith pushed it over the cover with a simple gesture. A sudden spike of angst washed back as a panicked scraping became audible. The grenade sailed off to the side, blowing the foot off a statue. Distracted by the shrapnel, Brujah barely noticed another canister sliding across the floor between his feet. The Sith dove hard. A shearing pain pulsed through his shoulder as the cold stone met it forcefully. A moment later, the grenade shattered into a cloud of shrapnel. Piercing pain radiated through Brujah’s lower extremities as hot shards drove themselves into his flesh. A scream escaped his lips, tearing his frayed throat further.

Titius rose from cover tentatively, closing the distance slowly. Brujah could barely focus through the pain as the mercenary strode up, flipping a ceremonial blade from a hidden scabbard. Kneeling, Titius lowered his helm beside Brujah and hissed “ You were gone too long, time for the new guard.” Seizing the opportunity, Brujah poured effort into one final act. In a fluid stroke, a vibroblade appeared and swung for Titius’ neck. The mercenary easily caught the arm, bracing it in the crook of his arm as the other had slid the blade between the Sith’s ribs. Pain flared through the Sith as another source joined the growing pool of blood around the pair.

Unable to breathe and becoming colder by the moment, Brujah’s screams turned to a vindictive roar as he reversed his vibroblade in hand through the back of Titius’ neck. A low gurling moan came from the helmet as its filters turned pink then red to leak steady rivulets of crimson on the dying Sith.