Oricon, the base of the ancient Dread Masters and nearly lost to time is steeped in the Dark Side, echoing the influences of both the Dread Masters and Darth Vitus before them. The landscape is an unforgiving nightmarescape of lava flows and volcanic rock dotted with strange plants and starship wrecks from a battle thousands of years ago. The smoky, sulfuric air of the surface nearly chokes most humanoids as it forces their eyes to adjust to the foggy haze illuminated by the soft glow of the lava flows. Tall, luminous blood ferns adorn the landscape, surrounded by vicious predators hardy enough to survive the intense conditions. Trenches and outcroppings formed from flowing lava serve to make footing uneven, adding yet another treacherous element to this already dangerous world. In the distance, the ruins of an ancient tower call out to those that can sense its terror—the fabled fortress of the Dread Masters. Remnants of ancient cults can be seen here and there, from wrecked huts to blood-stained altars and crumbling oubliettes.

The vast, volcano dotted landscape was as deadly as it was saturated with the dark side. Rivers of lava carved their way into twisted wreaths of fire, accented by the desolate husks of starships from a time long forgotten. Why anyone would be sent to such a place was truly the question of the day, but orders were orders and they were to be carried out with perfection. Clutching his cloak closer to his body to block the ash and dancing flames, Commander Ironius continued forward as 9T9 scouted not far behind.

The sounds of some native creature shrieking in pain drew his attention to the east. Climbing over rock after jagged rock, Dek was greeted by the sight of a tall woman pushing one of the four legged animals deeper into one of the lava pits with a single finger to its forehead, a sinister smile poised upon her lips. The creature burst into flames. His brow furrowed momentarily, likely determining how to approach the scene at hand. One of the massive mountains of magma far behind him erupted in its fury, causing tremors to shake beneath his feet as rocks gave way and he slid halfway down from his perch.

“You not so quiet,” she spoke, loudly, over the final, gurgled shrieks of the animal as superheated lava consumed it: another life taken to sustain the dark energies of Oricon.

He of no power, Carrie. He weak. He simple, the dark alter whispered gleefully within her mind.

C’ree turned, slowly, to face the man who was now firmly standing before her. Dek’s military uniform and blaster pistol were fully visible as she licked her lips, taking in his presence. From behind the man, the rocks shifted again, but nothing was seen. With a heavy sigh, C’ree took a step towards the Palatinae, then one more.

“Why you here, of places? No safe here. Only death.”

“Is that a threat? I don’t even know who you are. I, for one, am Dek Ironius II of Scholae Palatinae. Surely you’ve heard of me,” the man stated, his name obviously carrying some weight for C’ree had heard of him, even if just in passing. “I assume you are one of those Lotus lovers. I was told to expect one here, though intelligence as of late has been unreliable.”

With a snort, C’ree rapped her fingers upon the pommel of her saber before looking back to the rocks behind the man, hearing them shift again. This time, however, a metallic hand came into view, pulling up the hulking mass of an IG-100 MagnaGuard. The chromed body gleamed brightly with the reds and oranges of the lava around them.

“Ooh,” C’ree breathed, her hand now gripping Pieces of Home. “Shiny…”

“I would advise you leave us be so we may find those we are looking for, girl,” the Commander stated plainly, quickly turning away from the pink skinned woman and muttering to himself. “If I were a Lotus agent, where would I hide…”

He want to harm them. They say you no harm them, none harm them. I no like new rules, but we listen to family. We protect family, Carrie!

“You no find them,” C’ree stated with a deliberate twinge of malice. “I make you leave.”

“What? No, I—“ Dek began, but was quickly cut off as he turned to see the woman close the distance between them ever so quickly.

In an instant, 9T9 was at the fore, its electrotstaff blazing to life as it met the unstable violet shaft that had spurt from Pieces of Home. The two struggled against one another, Dek watching with mild amusement. C’ree gave out a rage filled scream and relaxed her stance, dipping down underneath the droid. Her quick actions caused 9T9 to lose footing and topple forwards towards the river of lava as the Sephi-hybrid rolled under its legs and back to her feet.

With each footfall, the Commander could tell that this woman wanted to kill, but he would not go down without a fight. The man quickly drew his personal firearm and disengaged the safety, though he was smart enough to not point it threateningly just yet.

“I suppose there is just not reasoning with you, hmm?”

“No reason,” C’ree stated plainly and leapt through the air towards the “simple man.”

I have no patience for this, thought Dek as he jumped back clumsily, whilst firing a round passed the deranged entity. When the Force Witch thumped onto the gravel in front of him, the Commander fired off another shot. C'ree, deflecting the round, proceeded to kick the Human in the groin. The instant pain jolted the Commander into firing another shot. C'ree leapt back knocking the blaster bolt into the sky. Now a stone's throw away, the Augur shot a bolt of lightning at the Commander.

Dek let out a yell while small smolders arose from his clothing. Through his pain he groaned, "I'm not...here....for you..."

He lie. All one lie. Simple man. Simple lie. Must die.

He's not searching for you. You don't have the knowledge he seeks.

He kill family. Family is blood. He must have blood. We give him blood.

C'ree sent out another bolt to another yelp from the Scholaean before she turned to face a roundhouse kick to the right cheek by a lava carved IG-100 droid. A stiff and melting electrostaff, plopped into the edge of the lava river, gave way to tiny bubbles and explosions occurring under the dense surface of the lava. 9T9 ran to Dek and picked him up with his single remaining hand, and slumping him upon the unscathed part of its metallic body. Slopping lava oozed down 9T9's other arm as they hobbled back to the way they came.

"She's utterly mad," Dek whispered shakily. "She will not stop until she has had her despicable way with us."

The Augur looked up from the ground, face covered in dry dirt and Pieces of Home a Force's reach away. She scrunched her face.

Blood must have blood

Lightsaber placed into belt, the half-Sephi started walking hastily up the hill and screeching in the sky. Looking back, Dek could see bellows of ash wisp away from the reverberations of her voice.

"We must hurry," Dek groaned to 9T9. They attempted to walk faster, while Dek slowly regained his strength.

C'ree's burnt hands wildly shot lightning into the air and at the surrounding rocks, charring them. She came upon the top of the hill only to see Dek struggling to retreat from her. She reached out with the power of the Dark Side and clasped the air around them, reaching for the power emboldened by her dark alter.

Not too much, warned both of C'ree's minds against the other.

See, he simple. He run. He no fun, the dark alter whispered.

“Stop. Speaking. Like. That,” C’ree growled at herself.

The Sephi-hybrid’s hands clenched tightly; her talons pressed deeply into her palms, drawing blood. Her dark alter’s manner of speaking had annoyed her to no end, but she did not understand the reasoning. Perhaps it was the lack of clarity she was experiencing. The world around her was so saturated with darkness that it pierced the veil of her own mind and rotted her outlook. Her quarry playing cat and mouse did not help matters, for C’ree wanted an actual fight, instead of having to wear them down.

You letting him get away. You chase! Get him, Carrie! Get hi-- the dark alter shrieked within her mind, but was immediately silenced when the steely chromed fist of 9T9 rocketed into the side of her face.

C’ree was not braced for such a sudden blow and was sent down hard into the rocks beneath her. Head impacted shale and she bounced with a sickening crack. In that moment, the skies cleared, the ground blossomed, the streams of molten magma melted into shimmering blue currents; her twisted clarity returned to her.

A smile poised upon bloodied lips as the scene played out, but C’ree’s eyes widened as the droid grabbed her by the neck and lifted. As she rose, her scene bled away: beautiful snowcapped mountains erupted into torrents of fire, the sky blackened and the streams of blue boiled and became fire. The Sephi-hybrid’s brows furrowed and her teeth ground together as she let loose a blood curdling scream that Dek could hear from the opposite side of the large hilltop.

“You take from me! You take from C’ree! She take from you, now!” the woman bellowed madly, her eyes suddenly flickering from the once beautiful violet to orbs of yellow-orange.

Dark energies seemed to swirl unseen around the woman as she took in as much as she could from the residual power of the Dread Masters. With a final roar, she expelled that power outwards, focused solely into the droid that held her. 9T9 took the telekinetic detonation as if a swoop bike had just impacted him, causing him to release C’ree and stumble backwards.

The woman dropped to her feet and Pieces of Home quickly came into hand, igniting with a furious snap-crack as a brilliant torrent of violet instability erupted forth. 9T9 regained his footing and brought the electrostaff to bear, which only angered the pink-skinned woman. She waited not for the droid to strike first, but instead roared her fury and leapt for the automaton.

“You no have that!”

Her first overhead blow was dodged by the droid’s advanced combat programming, but he was not expecting the woman to quickly recover and throw herself into a spin. The violet blade impacted 9T9’s right arm, cutting clean through and gouging his core. C’ree thrust her right hand forwards and exerted her will on the droid, grabbing him with an ethereal grip that could not be broken.

“You leave now,” C’ree stated coolly, as she leaned forward towards the droid.

The Sephi-hybrid flicked her hand forwards, sending a blast of electricity into 9T9 which carried him off the hilltop and into one of the many rivers of lava below. “MagnaGuard, hah. MagmaGuard.”

With that distraction out of the way, C’ree quickly spun back towards the Human. He had covered a significant distance, but she knew she would catch him. She deactivated her blade and surged forward, after the fleeting man. She could feel his panic, smell his fear: it was delectable.

He could hear her eerie taunts faintly behind him, calling out for him to stop running and face her like a man. His teeth grit together. He saw how quickly she had dispatched his guard, how would he fare any better? All the running had winded him greatly; he had pushed himself far past what he was capable of maintaining. Involuntarily, he slowed, doubling over to catch his breath. With hands upon his knees, he heaved and huffed. The crunching of rock behind him caused the blood pulsing through his pounding heart to freeze.

The man choked back his fatigue and stood straight. He adjusted his uniform, ensured his blaster was secured, and turned to face the monstrosity behind him. Then the world went black.

“Got you.”

Dek hobbled further into the musky dirt. He felt sickly. He felt his mind splitting; one side to fear and the other to insanity.

The mission! It cannot be completed! I'm going to die here!

The Commander threw up onto the ground. His body went stiff and he collapsed, catatonic, in the earth.

I have no place on this planet. I will die with only my molten metallic friend to...

A tear streamed through his eye, down his nose, and into his heavily breathing nostril.

The Force is a power some consider to be....to be....

Dek started to choke on some of the gravel. A stone became lodged in his throat.

The Lotus...much stronger...blood...must protect Empire...must protect family...she harm blood...she harm family...she must...

9T9 grabbed the ion grenade from the belt of the Commander and tossed it to the Odanite. She immediately stopped and tossed it to the side with a flick of her wrist.

kaaabooOOOOOOOMMMM

The Scholaean's mind felt heavy, but he could slowly move his limbs again. No sooner than the first grenade, 9T9 had picked the sonic grenade from the belt and launched it hard to the soft dirt being stamped on by the Augur.

kaaaaazzzzzzziiiiiittttOOOOOMMMMM

She grasped her ears and shrieked, as Dek did the same, rolling over and hitting his chest as to dislodge the stone.

Blood must...I'm alive...breathe Dek...mission....fail maybe...success... The Commander breathed heavily, a sign of the stone being gone.

Sweepingly, 9T9's hand grabbed Dek's blaster. Sensing death, the Force Witch leaped as a volley of bolts shot behind her. She reignited her saber and deflected the next few volleys. 9T9 stopped for split second, but repeated his assault.

1...2...3..4..5..6..7.8..9...10...

"Ending come!" Screamed the Augur, and each bolt tired her further.

The droid continued to fire rounds off while running full speed towards the insane half-Sephi.

You no do this. Metal desire death.

The chamber finally emptied and C'ree sliced the droid's head off, but the bulk of its body fell into C'ree at full speed and knocked them both on the sloped ground with saber still lit and Imperial Senate Personal Firearm sliding down the hill. Slowing slightly, 9T9 stood to its knees and grabbed its rolling head and smashed it into the skull of the Augur. It lifted the head again, but was struck by the saber through the torso, slumping down onto the half-Sephi.

Dek, having regained most of his faculties, started in a slow slog to his escape craft. He heard small patters behind him, but upon turning around he was slugged in the back by a mysterious Force. Knocked out cold, his dissolving thoughts were on the mission. A tattoo clad body approached above his. Blood streamed from the entity's forehead onto her face. A purple saber cackled to life and was raised high into the air.

A sleeping simple man, shocked, terrorized, and mentally taken into oblivion lay still-like.

A pause occurred.....

The saber disengaged.

The pain. He must still feel it.

Dek's mind difted in his forced sleep.

The mission must be completed....I cannot...AGGGHHH

He felt his brain being twisted.

This power....ARGH.....THIS POWER.....ARGH....

He shifted between semi consciousness and continued sleep.

The Force...this individual...twisted...so much power...ARGH!HGRA...rewop hcum os...detsiwt...laudividni siht...ecroF ehT

He could feel his mind being pulled a part.

Stop!potS

Dek screamed, but no one could hear him in the darkness.