Myrkr is a dangerous world for nearly all sentients. Although once settled by the Neti, it has long since evolved from those days. The flora of Myrkr has a high metal-count, making it easy to hide from sensors and the perfect spot to set-up a pirate base or other criminal operation. What also made this world perfect for all manner of seedy individuals is the presence of ysalamiri—creatures with the ability to neutralize the Force.

The ysalamiri are located deep within the forests of Myrkr, where you have also found yourself. They have evolved the ability to make a bubble that excludes the Force to protect themselves from dangerous predators called vornskrs. These dangerous, canine-like predators hunt using the Force, and as such are highly attracted to anything that is Force-sensitive.

The forests of Myrkr are not for the faint-of-heart. It was used by the Yuuzhan Vong to create monstrosities, and continues to be utilized by the seedier elements of the galaxy. The dangers that lurk under the shadowy canopy cannot be underestimated. Not even the Force can protect you from the dangers of the forest.

You stand seemingly alone in a small clearing. Though you can feel the Force at the moment, you know that not far from this clearing, many of Myrkr’s horrors lie – including the Force-negating ysalamiri – can easily be found… You quickly realize this clearing won’t be safe for long as you sense you are not alone.

Ohmen, Judecca
Giddy Lucksprite
Twelve Hours Earlier

“Really Cruise, you think we’re stupid enough to roll a chance cube on that?” Evant asked, looking at the Dark Jedi Knight with disdain before checking with his gaming partner for reassuring confirmation of his opinion.

Xen’mordin had an eyebrow raised, considering the wager and deciding his odds, his fingers idly tracing the outline of his mask he normally wore sitting on the table in front of him. All around the table a gathering of various Clan Scholae Palatinae members and support personnel were anxiously watching the high stakes gambling going on.

“You can’t be serious,” Evant said, concerned now, realizing that his gambling partner, the Emperor, was seriously considering taking the bet.

“Look Evant, it’s a lot of credits,” Xen replied, as if that reason alone should be enough.

“Credits? You’re the Emperor, what do you need credits for?”

“I won’t be Emperor forever, and someday I’ll need a nice nest egg for retirement.”

“Retirement? Are you listening to yourself? You’re a Sith, in what galaxy do you one day decide, oh well, I think I have enough power now I better just go find a nice nerf farm on Antenora and settle down with the missus.”

Cruise laughed, enjoying himself as he watched from his position of power on the gambling table across from the Clan summit, “Hey, I don’t care what you two do, if you don’t take the gamble I win a pile of credits, if you do take it I might miss out on a few lavish nights on the town but there’s that small chance I get to send you off on a mini vacation and run this place myself for a few days.”

“I hardly consider Myrkr a vacation,” Evant responded, rolling his eyes.

“I can’t just walk away from these credits without trying Evant, I’d regret it,” Xen responded, he had run the numbers in his head and his chances of winning were just too high to pass up.

“Whatever, I don’t frakking care. I’ve never been to Myrkr, how bad could it be,” Evant sighed, looking up at Cruise with a hint of regret. “Roll the dice.”

Great Northern Forest, Myrkr
Summit Drop Site
Real Time

An unrecognizable mix of sounds coming from the forest that had Evant Taelyan entirely surrounded combined with an almost endless stream of life forms detected in the Force made picking a direction to travel impossible. Even when the Sith Battlemaster looked up overhead into the clearing in the canopy, he found only a haze that hung over the entire forest and left the air thick and humid, not to mention uncomfortable.

“Well, this isn’t so bad,” Evant said to himself half sarcastically, checking for his lightsaber and looking back at the steam billowing off the escape pod that had brought him to the surface concealing the opening from view. “Xen! What the frak is taking you so long?”

Silence is all that responded. Shaking his head, Evant turned now and scanned the canopy of trees in the distance carefully. He had never seen a Ysalamiri, and was overly curious about them. He wondered what the range of their influence might be in negating the Force, perhaps it varied by the age of and size of the creature. He had experienced losing his connection to the Force before and it was never an enjoyable experience.

“Do you need help or something the blasted pod is three meters across what are you doing in there?” Evant said exhaustedly, rolling his eyes as he finally saw the shadow of the Emperor making his way through the steam and into the clearing.

Evant just stared at Xen as he checked over his belongings and adjusted his mask on his face.

“What?” Xen asked, looking at Evant before he himself scanning the trees.

“Who is possibly going to recognize you in this horrible place?” Evant asked, moving towards the tree line as Xen fell in line beside him. The two had become very comfortable working together over time, and this was no exception, despite the circumstances.

“Pirates? Crime Lords? I don’t know, all I know is that when they see the red of my lightsaber cast against my mask it will strike fear into their hearts,” Xen responded. Stopping for a moment as the pair reached the edge of the trees.

Evant stopped as well, he too felt it.

The uncomfortable and numb feeling as the Force no longer spoke to or answered them.

“Well this isn’t… so bad,” Evant said with a bit of hesitation. “But maybe some manifested fear can’t hurt.”

“I’m glad you see things my way,” Xen replied. He started to walk forward again but noticed Evant still standing at the base of a large tree. “Do you rely on the Force to walk too?”

“No, but if I’m going to have to go through all this because of you I might add, I am going to see a Ysalamiri,” Evant responded, his emerald green eyes glued to the tree branches above him. “I don’t see any though.”

“They’re the same color as the trees, for a reason,” Xen responded. “I’d just assume we leave them alone and try and get to the nearby camp on this map and off this planet so we can get back home.”

“Whatever, you insisted on this bet and drug me down with you, I’m going to see a Ysalamari. It will only be a minute just keep watch,” Evant insisted as he grabbed on and started to climb the tree. Moving his body without the Force was not as easy but he had the physical fitness necessary to do it.

“Just don’t get yourself killed,” Xen said as he began to look around the forest floor and investigate their area. “But for the record I think this is a stupid idea.”

Slowly Evant climbed, branch by branch, ignoring the comments of his Emperor. His eyes curiously scanning branches excitedly looking for a Ysalamari.

A blood curdling roar pierced the relative silence of the forest and got everyone’s attention. Various flying animals erupted from the trees and wildlife in hiding scurried away. Evant watched as a Ysalamari moved towards the trunk of the tree to a more secure location, his excitement at finally seeing one of the creatures overshadowed by the sound replaying in his head and the implications it might have.

“Evant, what the frak was that?” Xen yelled up, the Sith Warlord rapidly scanning the ground flora trying to spot anything but not able to do so.

“I can’t see anything from up here, maybe it’s far away from us,” Evant yelled back, he too trying to find any source of the sound. It had sounded like it came from the clearing behind him but he couldn’t spot anything.

Then Xen saw it, in the distance deep in some bushes were two pairs of glowing orange eyes. He immediately knew what it was. Taking several steps backwards towards the tree Evant had climbed he looked up. “Evant, you better get down here, I’m not sure my mask is going to scare away what’s about to try and eat us.”

Behind his mask, Xen’s eyes were wide and unblinking. They were locked on the glowing eyes in the bushes ahead of him. A vornskr, a lanky canine with an affinity for force users kept its eyes glued on Xen. If it wasn’t for the ysalamiri on the tree next to him, the dog would have realized it had stumbled upon its favorite kind of prey.

Force Users

In the tree Evant adjusted his footing on one of the branches. Half-heartedly he whispered, “What is it?”

“What the hell do you think it is Evant? A nerf? Get down here,” Xen’Mordin hissed. The Warlord’s hand was hovering next to his lightsaber. He knew the vornskr could see him, but he didn’t want to provoke it into attacking. There was still a chance it could move on to find a tastier snack.

“You’ve killed how many people and you refuse to move at the appearance of a single beast?” Evant teased, still safely high in the tree. While true, Xen had the force on his side in those instances. Here, the ysalamiri in the tree, who was happily ignorant of the situation put the tilted the odds back toward the vornskr. Especially if it was part of a pack.

Sweat beaded up behind Xen’s mask as his heart raced. He was tense, ready to snap into defense in an instance. The vornskr was far enough away he could at least get his blade up in time.

Then came the sound of a soft crunch in the bushes to the left of him. With a snarl, a second vornskr jumped out of the foliage toward the Warlord. Xen’s hand clenched around his lightsaber hilt, and pulled it up, igniting it in one quick motion.

In the tree, the appearance of the second beast, and Xen’s quick action to ignite his lightsaber made Evant jump slightly. His weight on the branches changed, and he quickly realized he was dropping further than he had jumped up. Hands and arms waving wildly he attempted to grab hold of another branch and stop his fall.

Fortunately for Xen, Evant’s fall distracted the first vornskr enough for the second to be cleaved in two. Unfortunately for Evant’s backside, he failed in grabbing a tree branch to stop his fall. And unfortunately for the ysalamiri in the tree, what Evant had managed to grab, was its tail.

Xen spun on his heel to face the first vornskr, whose momentary distraction from a second meal falling out of the tree had ended. Evant swore loudly, as he saw the vornskr lunge forward. With no time to grab his lightsaber from his belt, Evant defended himself with what was in hand, namely the ysalamiri that until just a moment ago had been enjoying a lovely and relaxing day in the forest. Evant rolled his body over and upwards, putting the full weight of his power into the swing. There was an incredibly loud crack, as the ysalamiri’s head made contact with the vornskr’s. Dazed by the sudden bash to the head, and unable to stop its momentum forward, the vornskr drove itself straight onto Xen’s awaiting blade.

Evant and Xen let out an audible gasp as their awareness of the force came rushing back to them. The strike against the vornskr had snapped the ysalamiri’s neck. Evant let go of the poor lizard’s tail and stood up with a groan, rubbing his backside.

“Well that was not the best way to start our voyage to this camp,” he said. Another blood curdling sound resounded through the forest, this time a scream of terror.

“South, south-west. Direction of this camp we are suppose to find,” Xen said looking over his shoulder toward the direction the scream came from.

“Rather high pitched, Cruise wouldn’t have been so kind to ensure some women there for this,” Evant said pensively.

“Trap then. Bring it on,” Xen’Mordin said defiantly, “I mean what’s the worst that can happen?”

Hours later, Xen’Mordin would very much regret taunting fate with that statement.

The two Palatinaeans moved as quickly and quietly as they good through the brush of the forest. Now that they were familiar with the numbing vacancy that came with close proximity to ysalamiri, they were prepared as their connection to the force waxed and waned. They relished the moments where they were outside the sphere of a ysalamiri’s field. Each time they stepped into one, they braced themselves that behind any tree, an unseen or felt enemy could await them.

Whoever had let loose that first scream had fallen silent. Without constant force connection, the two had to rely on their guts and the not nearly detailed enough map that had been given to them by Cruise. There was some silent squabbling whenever they took it out to figure out where they were in the massive forest.

Seconds turned into minutes, and the two Sith continued to strain their hearing for any sign of life in the forest beyond themselves. Then, they finally heard it. Voices. Voices that were very very faint, but slowly growing louder as the two moved their way silently through the shadows of the forest.

“She sure is an ugly looking broad, kind of reminds me of Parker, with all that facial hair and all.”

Xen and Evant paused and glanced at each other. Shrugging Xen motioned to move even closer to the voices. They were able to make out some muffled screams of frustration, in the void of conversation.

“But Parker doesn’t have this lovely blue hair! You from somewhere exotic love?” another voice replied after a moment. Xen and Evant were now crouching in the shadows just outside a large clearing. At the far end of the clearing there was a fortified base, with markings on the front signifying property of one pirate group or another. Nearer to them was a group of six burly looking men. They could smell the stench and alcohol even from a sizeable distance away.

The pirates were standing around a small stump, on which was sitting a woman in a pink dress, and shockingly blue hair. Xen and Evant were able to hear a few more muffled screams from the poor bound woman before them.

“You know the only person I know with natural blue hair is Drake,” Xen whispered to Evant, who nodded in agreement.

“Maybe we have stumbled upon his long lost sister?” The Battlemaster responded softly. There was some even louder muffled screams. One of the pirates had moved in even closer to the woman in pink, who in an effort to get away tumbled backwards off the stump. Both Xen and Evant were able to get a clear look at the woman’s face.

“You’ve got to be frakking with me.” Xen said in shock and quite louder than he had intended. The woman in the pink dress was not a long lost sister of Drake, or even a woman at all. It was Drake himself bound and gagged trying to flop away from the pirates.

All the pirates turned toward the forest, and locked eyes on Xen and Evant. One of the more lean looking ones pushed a comm button on his waist.

“Intruders, north forest line,” the pirate said quickly. Within seconds there was a screeching siren alerting everyone for miles around there was something about to go down here. Evant let out a sigh.

“You are never allowed to bet on anything again,” he said to Xen, standing tall and activating his lightsaber.

“Hold your fire!” Evant yelled out, holding his sapphire blade out to his side as if it was blocking some sort of passage.

Pirates across the base went for cover, all trying to protect themselves, many of them only working for the coin weren’t about to die for their employer if there were guns pointed their way. If Xen hadn’t had a mask on his face, his grinning smile on the verge of laughter may have given away the bluff as he too ignited his crimson blade, his eyes followed a large pirate as he jumped on the fleeting Drake and pulled him to the ground and out of view behind some crates.

The lean looking pirate that sounded the alarm raised an eyebrow as he looked around the forest slowly backing away. In the back of Evant’s mind, he was wondering how far away from the tree line he’d have to run before the Force would come flooding back into his mind. There wasn’t enough time to calculate.

He began to run, as fast as he could, lightsaber held to his side as he rushed the first of the pirates. He could sense Xen to his left flank, knowing the Emperor had his back out of instinct, not he Force. It was like escaping a pit of quick sand as every muscle and sensor in his entire body awoke as he moved through the invisible wall of Force negation.

The pirate had only barely managed to raise his blaster rifle in response as the sapphire blade came up and cut through it.

A second slice cut open his abdomen keeping his insides, inside, as they began to pour from his body. His last sight before the world went dark.

Xen was only slightly annoyed at the rapid deterioration of the negotiations that Evant had just led, but the klaxons blaring he wasn’t sure they hadn’t already fallen apart before he started his charge. His eyes traced the pirate base proper as he approached from behind his mask.

It was only one floor tall, and given the size of the clearing wasn’t very large either. Given the number of pirates that showed up he figured it must have gone at least a few floors into the ground below the surface of the planet, and also that the pirates out here had grown incredibly bored by whatever mundane task they had been assigned.

Despite the eviscerated pirates to his right, and the impending doom of the mass rushing out of the base or behind various pieces of cover, it was his fellow Palatinean pinned to the cold mossy earth beneath a pile of pirate with only a pink dress to protect him, who had whatever scraps of sympathy the Sith Warlord was still capable of mustering.

She loves me.

It was subtle, but the inquisitor had no time for a huge impression, and luckily the brute already seemed a bit enamored with him.

She is in danger.

It was enough to protect Drake, and keep the human pirates shield between him and the impending fight. At least for a while.

His crimson blade came up just in time to deflect a shot from a blaster pistol near the entrance to the base. Evant moving forward and swinging his blade with fluid motions and ease as he caught all their attention. Behind him a few pirates hidden behind some crates drew their weapons on him from behind.

With all his energy and drawing on the deepest wells of the Force, the Emperor launched a massive crate nearby across the clearing. A distinct crunching and breaking sound as it made impact with would be surprise attacking pirates. The thrown crate, and those it smashed into broke into a thousand pieces all over the forest floor along with the revelation of what it was they were out here in the middle of the Myrkyr forests doing.

So much liquor.

If the smell could be described as bad before, it was as if they were swimming in it as bottles broke open and tumbled everywhere as they expended the energy from the throw. It gave Evant the opening he needed as the skilled lightsaber duelist pushed forward deflecting blaster shot after blaster shot keeping the gathering of pirates at the door to the base occupied. The occasional deflected shot heading back their way and landing on an arm or torso.

Xen reached out as a violent burst of electricity erupted from his fingers and wrapped around the klaxon alarm on the edge of the building silencing it, replaced instead by the protests of wildlife for miles around.

“Well that’s better,” Evant spat between swings.

“I know right, it’s like they’re trying to alert every base on the entire planet there’s an issue here,” Xen sighed, raising his blade to deflect a blast heading his way.

“Woah! Hold up, cease fire!” a familiar voice yelled from inside the base. Bit by bit the pirates complied and stopped firing. Xen and Evant stood confused. One last shot from a blaster pistol towards the Dark Jedi missed wildly, but got the pirate smacked upside the back of their head as the man in charge revealed himself.

“You have to be frakking kidding me,” Evant shook his head and sighed, disengaging his lightsaber.

“Cruise, what is wrong with you,” Xen spat, disengaging his lightsaber as well and looking over at the scared pirate holding Drake tightly in his arms to protect his love from harm.

Cruise shook his head and looked around. “I was about to ask you two the same thing, you know vornskyrs are attracted to the Force right?”

Xen’Mordin and Evant spun on the spot to look out at the forest line around the clearing. Dozens of pairs of glowing eyes peered out at them. Some of the bolder vornskr had already ventured into the clearing, sniffing at the mangled pirate bodies, and licking at the pooled liquor on the ground. For a fleeting moment, the idea of seeing drunken vornskr appealed to the men standing at the entrance to the base.

“Well now seems like a good time to make use of these lovely walls you have put up here Cruise,” Xen said, taking a few steps backward.

“Yeah… no,” Cruise said. He took a step back and the door was closed before either Xen or Evant could react. Several of the pirates were still outside, including the very burly one holding Drake closely. He was running his hands through Drake’s hair whispering that things would be okay. Drake meanwhile was glaring at his fellow Dark Jedi standing mere feet away.

The remaining pirates looked around, unsure if they were suppose to kill the intruders, the vornskr, or each other.

“What are you standing around for? Shoot the beasts!” Evant yelled with a practiced authority. Startled the pirates followed the command. Xen pulled Drake from the protecting embrace of the doting pirate and pushed him up toward the door of the base. Xen decided it was best to keep Drake gagged and tied up however.

“Stay.” the Warlord said pointing a finger in Drake’s face.

He turned to survey the carnage.

Vornskr lay whimpering, dying, or just blown apart dead in the field. A whirl of red bolts filled the air. Evant was shouting more commands to the pirates.

“Form a line here! Fix your grip! Are you blind shoot at the living ones!”

Xen stepped up next to the small group defending themselves against the horrors of the Myrkr forest. He idly reached his hand into the pocket of the nearest one.

“Oh don’t mind me big boy, its not that nefarious. You aren’t my type,” he said as the pirate jumped back. The coy and mocking expression on his face was lost with his mask on. He pulled out a lighter.

Pirates always love their vices, Xen thought.

He clicked it on and turned to Evant.

“Dammit. I had something for this,” Xen said. Evant arched an eyebrow.

“What like these beasts should lighten up?” Evant suggested eyeing the exposed flame.

Xen shrugged and threw it out toward the main pack of vornskr before walking rather rapidly back up to the base door. There was a loud fwoosh. What followed sounded a lot like screaming vornskr and the crackle of a blazing fire. That was because it was. The alcohol soaked ground went up in an instant. The pirates jumped back shoving over each other to get as far from the flames as possible.

Xen and Evant knocked as politely as they could on the door to the base, which was difficult with the pirates shoved up against their backs. The burly one had managed to lay down on top of Drake, in efforts to protect him from the flames in the field. The door slid open, Cruise standing there with a stupid grin on his face.

“See I knew you two would handl-” He started to say. His statement was cut short by both Evant and Xen’Mordin punching him in the gut. They walked in, both landing an extra kick as they passed.

“That was quite a lot of alcohol out there, you must have some in here,” Evant mused aloud, he turned a corner.

“Ah yes! This will do nicely.”

The hours passed. Drake managed to find more normal clothing, but was still unable to shake his infatuated pirate friend, mainly due to Xen occasionally sending out reinforcing thoughts to the pirate’s mind. Cruise they kept tied up and gagged in the corner. The pirates didn’t seem to mind drinking with Xen and Evant over Cruise anyway. Now after working their way through a surprising amount of hard liquor, Xen and Evant sat crossed legged in front of each other.

The still living pirates of the base were cheering, though a few of the lighter weight ones were snoring, as Xen and Evant continued their way through yet another bottle of Corellian Fire Whiskey. Both were having a hard time not falling over, despite sitting.

“Looks, der, ders nothing wrong with calling it a night,” Xen managed to spit out. His mask was long gone to one of the dark corners of the room.

“PSH! Yer the lightweight,” Evant retorted. They did another shot, both praying their livers were still functional.

The shot glasses were dropped to the floor with some clanks, and rolled away in different directions. The pirates cheered even louder, unbelieving that the two men were still conscious. They sat blinking hard for a few moments before both falling from sitting on to their backs. The terrible hangover that would follow would be an issue for Future-Xen and Future-Evant, but for now, they were finished.