Begeren. Once a prosperous Sith world, it has been the site of numerous battles throughout the millennia. Grand halls and monuments were torn down and re-purposed by looting Republic forces thousands of years ago, before they were driven from the planet. Isolated settlements still dot the planet's surface, but the inhospitable, craggy, and desert-like terrain, along with the beasts common to many desert and Sith worlds, have kept most humanoids from colonizing. Occasional skirmishes have left debris scattered throughout the desert, and battles were fought here as recently as the Galactic Civil War. The planet is now under the control of the One Sith and is rumored to be full of all manner of priceless, ancient Sith artifacts.

The Dark Council has pushed forth to Begeren and the Grand Master, on his quest for ever more powerful items, has decreed the Clans and Houses seize anything of value. The unity shown by the Brotherhood during the beginning of this Crusade is fracturing, with the Clans and Houses growing tired and frustrated with the seemingly endless succession of battles. Tempers are flaring between former allies, with outright aggression no longer uncommon. Despite this, you have responded to the Grand Master's call—though whether it's to actually seize the items for the Brotherhood, destroy them, or use them for your own purposes, only you know.

You have followed the call of the Force to a stretch of desert wasteland, seemingly unremarkable save for the various rock outcroppings that dot the landscape. These outcroppings, though, hide a subterranean cave network, known to be a den of wraids. Though the entrances to the caverns are typically narrow and dark, these tunnels quickly widen. Below the surface, bioluminescent plants and lichen provide limited light.

You know that, despite reaching this place first, you won’t be alone for long, as an ancient Sith tomb is located deep within the caves the wraids now call home. Exactly what you’ll find in that tomb, you’re not sure—but it is something of great power, that much you can sense. You know it is your duty to find it, whatever it is, before any others can locate it. What you do with it when you find it… that is up to you.

As you near one of the entrances to the caves, you think you hear the sounds of footsteps, or maybe skittering, down below—and above ground, you hear the distant crunch of rock underfoot as someone else has found a different rocky cave entrance as well.

The oppressive heat caused his surroundings to shimmer as Farrin Xies, the newly-minted leader of the Jen Kaari Battleteam, stood atop a small rocky outcrop somewhere in the middle of the Begeren desert. Slowly circling, he scanned the surroundings with his macrobinoculars, unsure of what he even was truly searching for. His hope, at least, was to link up with the other members of his team or even the rest of Tarentum - perhaps they would know what they were seeking. Shaking his head in frustration, the Dark Jedi Knight slid none too gracefully down the patch of rocks, his boots sinking slightly into the sand once he hit the ground.

The Grand Master points and we obey, he mused as he dusted himself off, though he was here above all else because his Quaestor, not the leader of the Brotherhood, had ordered him to be. Truth be known, if he was able to find anything in this wretched desert, he would make an effort to bring it to Yridia for the glory of Tarentum before he'd even consider handing it over to the Grand Master. Farrin slid out of his thick outer robes, leaving just his dark tunic (plastered to his skin with sweat), dark gray trousers, and boots on in a bid to escape the heat.

Unconsciously running his hands over the lightsaber at his belt and his blaster holstered at his thigh, he studied the narrow opening at the base of the outcropping he had perched on. The rudimentary files he had studied en route to the planet said that there was a series of tunnels and caves underneath the desert surface of the planet, and he'd bet his credits - if he were still a betting man, after all - that any cache of artifacts (or whatever else he was supposed to be looking for) - would be deep within them. And that meant, obviously, delving into those depths. Unclipping his lightsaber from his belt but leaving it unlit, he slid his thin frame through the opening, eyes adjusting to the dim light afforded to him by the glowing plant life that he hoped dotted the entire network of caves and tunnels. As the air of the tunnels cooled him and he slipped quietly through the shadows of the dark caves, he grew more at ease; he was in his element, and he took comfort in that fact.

After a few minutes of almost silently threading through the thin tunnels and past empty caves - stopping at each to ensure they were in fact empty, as he remembered wraids were also known to make their homes down within these catacombs - he heard the crunch of sand and rock somewhere close by. He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes darting across the cave he had been stalking through to the opposite end ten meters away. The noise had come from that direction, and based on the incline he thought another cave entrance was near.

From the inky black depths of an unlit corner of the cave, Farrin reached out with the Force towards the noise - was it a wraid that he'd have to put down before continuing on with his search, or was it something else entirely? His lips curled into a sneer as he realized the noise was not some beast but in fact another sentient - a Force user, as a matter of fact, and one whose presence in the Force felt vaguely familiar to Farrin, though he couldn't put his finger on specifically who. Maybe it'll be some fool Jedi, the Dark Jedi Knight thought briefly. Farrin stood as still as a statue within the shadows, his unlit lightsaber firmly in hand as he waited.

After what was likely no longer than a minute (but which felt more like an hour to the waiting Jen Kaari leader), a tall female Zabrak stepped into the cave; much like Farrin, she held her lightsaber unlit in her hand, and she crouched as she carefully studied the cave. Her pale white face - heavily shadowed, here in the darkness of the cave - was one that he recognized as belonging to a fellow member of the Krath Order, though she was someone he didn't know well enough to be able to put a name to the face. One thing Farrin was certain of, though, and that was that she was certainly not a member of Tarentum, which made her a threat - he would not allow her to gain glory for her Clan or House at the expense of his own.

Switching the hilt of his lightsaber into his right hand, he drew his DL-17 blaster pistol with his left. After a moment's hesitation, he brought it to bear on his target, loosing a red blaster bolt. As he began to squeeze the trigger, he saw her eyes widen slightly, and she was able to barely threw herself out of the way of the shot. Jumping up, she slid quickly and easily into a ready stance, igniting her lightsaber to produce a thin red blade.

She knows what she's doing, Farrin realized with a start. I might have bit off more than I can chew here.

Deftly holstering his blaster, he transferred his own lightsaber back to his left hand and lit it, the beautiful white-silver blade illuminating his dark corner of the cave. Dropping back into the Soresu ready stance that had been drilled into him, he regarded his opponent, readying himself for what would come next.

Internally, Nath cursed. She managed to dodge the bolt that shot past her a hairsbreadth away; the heat that brushed her ear elicted a small shiver of pleasure to travel up her spine as she ignited her lightsaber. She carefully eyed up her opponent in the gloom, finding the outline and shadowed features of his face vaguely familiar; she had to dig deeply in the vaults of her memory but eventually the name came forth.

"...Farrin Xies." The Iridonian decided against dropping her posture just yet; ingrained paranoia had kept her alive thus far, there was little reason to stop now.

"You have me at a disadvantage." The look of befuddlement greatly pleased Nath as she observed her opponent with her usual blank expression. The glow of his lightsaber allowed her such a view, the flora was not luminescent enough this close to the surface to allow for much sight in the darkness.

"Truely? If I cared I may be wounded by such forgetfulness." She paused adjusting her grip fractionally on the hilt of her blade. "We have met on one occasion I believe, or perhaps it is because I recently read your file..." In truth she could not recall which, however, she remembered the details well enough and knew their Houses were allies, that was all that mattered.

Nath still cursed Cethgus and Arcia for sending her upon a wild chase, she was no tomb raider without the aid of her second Master. He had an uncanny way of grounding her in such instances and often they had pooled resources for such missions, using each other's strengths to overcome their flaws to meet their goals. The Iridonian was alone this time, there was no one to assist her, but there was a quiet confidence that bubbled within her. She had piqued the other Krath's interest enough to not outright attack her, and that was at least one battle won if nothing else.

Nath's blank gaze examined the Human for a long moment. He was over heated, obviously he was unaccustomed to such an increase in temperature; this would no doubt work in her favour eventually. She could sweat him out, even if it took days. The Iridonian adored this place, not only for its history but the area reminded her of home, not the death like freeze of space, or the cold metal halls of ships.

"In truthfulness, I cannot be bothered to fight you." She spoke tentatively, hoping he would like many of their order be open to negotiation. "You are feeling the heat no? I have no desire to fight an opponent with a handicap, we could pool our resources and go home faster... There is little point fighting one another when the Brotherhood has other enemies that we both must fight later."

She did not back down, remaining ready for an attack that could possibly occur at any moment. There was something about herself, she could not control it, or change it, but many did not trust her when it came to such things as negotiations. Intimidation and manipulation had always been her better skills but she doubted they would have much effect on Farrin; if needs be she would educate him, she was efficient in educating other in certain aspects of their tentative ties to existence if nothing else.

There truly is little point to fighting another member of the Brotherhood. Farrin shook his head, trying to clear the fogginess from his brain and rid himself of the thoughts that had crept up when his fellow Krath began speaking to him. When had it gotten so warm in here? Why not work with her? As he struggled to get his wits about him, he lowered his still-lit lightsaber.

This, of course, was likely what Nath had been waiting for. The moment that he lowered his weapon, she sprinted across the chamber, reaching out with the Force to fling Farrin back into the wall. The impact dazed him and caused him to drop his lightsaber against the ground; the blade, with the loss of pressure on its activation plate, winked out of existence. After a momentary flash of pain the mental cloudiness finally dissipated, granting the Dark Jedi Knight barely enough time to think before, seeing the danger, he reached out with the Force himself to shove the approaching Iridonian backward onto the ground.

As he fell back to the cave floor, he scooped up his lightsaber with his left hand, ignited it, and dashed forward with Force-aided speed towards his prone opponent. Approaching her, he swung his arm up, prepared to bring the brilliant white blade downward against her. However, just before his arm began its lethal descent he felt his blade arm lock up and instead of flowing swiftly into the strike as he intended, he tumbled forward over her.

The Krath Priestess stood and reached out with her left hand, the hilt of Farrin's lightsaber flying up into her grasp from where he had inadvertently thrown it in his fall. Clipping it to her belt, she turned back toward the Knight. She regarded him with barely a look of pity before she ignited her crimson blade and swiftly brought it down in a swoop towards him.

Just as she began her executioner's strike, though, he rolled to the side, his blaster already in hand. She was too slow to alter the downward course of the blade as the blaster bolt tore through her right shoulder. Crying out in pain, she spun backward, with Farrin's next shot catching her in the small of her back and bringing her to her knees. Getting slowly to his feet, the Tarentum Battleteam Leader regarded the kneeling Iridonian in front of him before he brought the butt of his blaster down into the back of her skull. Grabbing his lightsaber from her belt, Farrin slowly made his way towards the entrance she had just come from. He wanted to check the commlink again and find the rest of Tarentum; he was quite done with this blasted planet and hoped beyond anything else that one of his Housemates had good news for him.