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.

Noting the skittering sounds below, Kenath Zoron did a quick check of his weapons. His lightsaber hung secure on his left hip for easy cross-draw. He adjusted the sling of his rifle and did a quick check of the scope to make sure no sand had thrown it off. Lastly, he checked that the retention on his pistol was still in place. Satisfied, he strode into the cave’s entrance without trepidation. He had been sent into this patch of desert with simple orders: search for and recover any artifacts for the Clan. He would succeed in his mission or he would serve as an example for the others in the Clan.

Walking swiftly, he came upon an intersection of two tunnels. Pausing there momentarily, he heard faint footsteps coming from the other tunnel. A slight form came into view, covered in layers of cloth to protect against the elements on the surface. Zoron’s shoulders relaxed as he recognized the female as one of the handful of traders that made a living scouring caves like this for useable items.

Zoron stepped out of the shadows and called out to her, “ ’lo there. I’d suggest you find another cave to hunt in today.”

The female form paused, before continuing to shuffle towards him.

“Listen lady, turn around and go home. You have no business here today.”

She kept coming.

“Fark, stop now!” Zoron pushed out his will toward the female, trying to drop seeds of doubt and fear into her mind. Unexpectedly, he felt his Force technique crash around her, like a wave breaking against a rock.

“Di’kut,” she spat out in a language he didn’t recognize. With a smooth movement, she whirled out of the layers of cloth and her face shifted, changing from the weather-worn trader he’d seen a second before into a pale-skinned beauty with her hair piled in a bun on her head. The form-fitting clothes she now wore drew his eyes down for a moment.

“Sithsp– “ he managed to choke out as she drew a blaster and snapped off a shot. Having been distracted and ill-prepared, she caught him on his left bicep. The searing pain cleared his mind and brought his training rushing back. Move or die, he thought and pushed himself into a dive to his right side. He rolled awkwardly because of his injured arm, but managed a clumsy recovery.

Now on his knees, he brought the blaster rifle to his shoulder and loosed a flurry of shots down the tunnel toward his assailant. However, she wasn’t where he was aiming any longer. He wasn’t helped by his injured arm either. He let the rifle drop to hang from the sling.

Zoron stood and transitioned to his pistol, feeling the comfortable weight slide into his right hand. Thumbing the DL-44’s overcharge toggle as he finished his draw, he loosed a single, well-aimed shot at where the female had come to a stop. The scarlet beam struck home, hitting the female hard in the right shoulder, spinning her down onto the ground.

“Stay down, don’t move.” Zoron kept his blaster trained on the motionless form of female as he advanced, stopping a few feet away as a wave of nausea washed over him from his wound. He knew his body was healing as fast as possible, but the pain still burned strongly enough to affect his thinking. What are you doing? Stay back, get out of range! He shook his head at the thought and suddenly the nausea and grogginess cleared away.

That was the moment when he felt the trickle of Force power slip away from his mind. He looked back at the female as the illusion cleared. Where she had just appeared to be still as the dead, she now was very much alive and deadly. She rolled onto her side and he sensed the shots coming and threw himself back in an ungraceful dodge. The streams of energy screamed over him as he hit the dirt hard. Scrambling backwards, he managed to get himself behind the cover of a rocky outcropping as the female’s shots tracked down toward him.

“Ib’tuur jatne tuur ash’ad kyr’amur.” Again the female spoke in the unfamiliar language.

“Speak Basic, you crazy woman!” Zoron glanced back over the rock and was met by an explosion of rock and dirt as her shot just missed him. He dropped back quickly behind the cover.

“Hut’uun!” That one he recognized clearly as a Mandalorian insult. Great, guess there’ll be no reasoning with her.

As Zoron ducked behind cover, again, the mando’a-spewing woman rolled back to her feet, grabbed the pieces of cloth she threw off earlier and took flight down one of the adjacent openings into the cave system. She had to keep the man as far away from her as possible to prevent any hand to hand combat. After determining a safe distance, she slowed her pace to a halt and called upon her practiced connection with the Force to calm her shoulder pain to just a dull twinge.

“Okay, Cortel… being on the ground isn't ideal for you… you’ll be beaten for sure in a brawl, but let’s do this right,” she told herself in a hush, referencing her desire to be back on the Nighthawk.

Tapping into the Force and whispering a need, shadows fell over her body seeming to contort and reshape it into that of an older, disfigured woman: her nose looked broken; her left eye became white as snow with a slashed scar encompassing it; her skin shriveled and dried out with a wart or two dotting her cheeks. After a mere moment of concentration, she peered upon her face reflecting from the chrome of her saber hilt to be sure the illusion was situated then rearranged the layers of cloth and dressed herself with them. Locating a gnarled branch of dried wood, she put her weight onto it and hobbled through the caverns towards her destination at the center of the caves.

With great hope, Cortel believed that Zoron would be cautious due to her quick onslaught and not storm through the caves after her. The now decrepit-looking woman shambled around corners and found a largely open chamber radiating with the Force, feeling it bleed away from something at the center. She knew immediately that her goal was just there. Licking her lips, she continued forward down some treacherously carved steps in the cave stone and dirt.

A sound caused her to pause.

From another opening to the chamber, Zoron came around a corner nearly out of breath and still clutching his arm. His eyes locked onto the woman with furrowed brow and he brought his DL-44 to bear. Cortel was quicker, though, as she pierced her will into him causing a simple blink of the eyes and the lowering of the weapon.

“You, there! Have you seen another woman come through here?”

“Nay, child. None buts me to offer blessings in these here caves.”

With a nod, Zoron holstered his weapon and began peering around as his ‘company’ within the chamber continued down the stairs. Loose dirt and stone caused her to lose footing and reach out to catch her fall. In doing so, she also lost her concentration, her illusion faltering and dissipating. Realization dawned upon the Warden of Ektrosis. His gaze snapped back to her as the cloak dropped and her original features re-materialized before his eyes.

Half-crouched due to the fall, Cortel threw herself forward and, with a brilliant display of body training, vaulted the obstacles between Zoron and herself, ending with a massive leap over the Knight. She landed with her lightsaber in hand, its brilliant green light erupting from the emitter just as Zoron managed to call his to hand. Green met blue with a ‘snap-crack’ that echoed through the chamber, but the sheer force and speed of Cortel’s opening attack caused the younger man to stumble backwards into one of the rock walls.

Zoron’s eyes flared wide out of sheer instinct as his legs dropped from under his own weight, causing Cortel’s next swing to pass mere inches over his head, singeing hairs. His left foot lashed out only to be met by Cortel’s right before she leapt backwards, deactivating and re-holstering her saber. Bringing a hand to her KYD-21, she cleared her throat.

“Best for you to just back off. I’m not here to kill, but I don’t like it when people get in my way…”

“Oh, so you do speak basic!”

Quickly drawing the blaster and taking aim at Zoron, Cortel scoffed as her cybernetic eyes locked target between the Warden’s eyes, “Of course I do. You think I’m just plain stupid or something?”

Zoron reacted as the female pulled the trigger, bringing his hands between his body and the blaster. As his hands moved, he focused his will and deflected the shot that was meant to incapacitate him. In the heartbeat when both combatants stood still, he made his decision - this woman would not leave alive. As much as she says she doesn't want to kill me, her actions thus far say otherwise.

Zoron loosed a wave of Force power, hitting the woman hard enough to drive her further backwards and off-balance. As she stumbled, he re-drew his blaster and slid back into his training, moving forward in the purposeful heel-to-toe walk all gunfighters are taught. While advancing, he kept up a methodical sequence of shots - steady and paced so that he could re-align his sights each time.

The female twisted and spun over and over again, dodging the shots with impressive skill, but Zoron could see her slowing and losing pace as the shots came ever-closer with each trigger squeeze. Time slowed for him as the adrenaline pumped and he no longer heard the whine from every blaster volley.

After what felt like an eternity due to the cognitive distortion of combat, but was likely only a handful of seconds, one of Zoron's shots clipped the female, causing her to stagger. While only a slight pause in her dodging, it was enough of an opening. Shots slammed into her body and she crumpled. Zoron didn't stop firing. He remembered her last tricks and continued to land shots into her torso until he was mere feet away.

Finally stopping, he looked down on the blaster-ravaged corpse and had to cover his nose against the smell of burned flesh. He holstered his pistol as the adrenaline drained out of his own body. The familiar shakes began to hit him from the physiological toll of battle. Waves of tension rolled through him and he felt aches all over his body where he hadn't noticed pain seconds before. His left arm screamed at him, even though the earlier wound had mostly healed.

He had to sit down and focused on his breathing, drawing in long gulps of air and holding them before exhaling. After many long moments he noticed his hands had stopped shaking and he stood again. Finish the mission.

Turning slowly while listening to the Force, he fixated on a small mound of dirt in the center of the chamber. Walking gingerly to it, he used the Force to push the sand aside, revealing a worn stone object that was covered in glyphs. Wary about touching an object with his bare hands, Zoron called the female's discarded cloth wrap and carefully wrapped the stone within.

As he walked past the female's body, he spoke quietly, "You should have listened to me. You should have left." With that, he exited toward the surface.