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21-04-2023, 01:30 PM
((Originally posted by Hirak Sanguinis, November 2017))
Entry 32: Demise of the Exile
*The holodiary bursts into light and Hirak is quite clearly holding it hand held, standing on a giant almost collapsed piece of rubble with one foot perched onto it and he other on the ground. Unmasked, clearly tired but almost offering a beaming sadistic smile. He speaks, his voice unrestrained and blazing brightly in tone colouration.*
“A Sith’s greatest weakness is doubt. It makes them foolish. But not nearly as much as overconfidence. Today, I proved that I have conquered my fears for our greatest enemy has perished. I am standing in the literal rubble of the exiles temple palace, bombed to destruction. I'll detail it from the beginning.
We met with the coalition aboard Th’Ssra, many darths and lords who also shared our vision of a deposed Zarrious. These Darths and Lords had, over the long time period that myself and my colleague had been active, pledged themselves to aid us in a time when we considered the Empire in peril. So, via our machinations and the twisting of our words we revealed Zarrious for what he was, a megalomaniac traitor, secluded away in his fortress and sitting on a stockpile of weaponry. So they all willing agreed to bear their weapons in defence of the Empire, and so we planned. We had also learnt that some of House Kallea and those who supported a Sith by the name of Khairon had leant their aid to him in case of a sudden attack. We expected a large pitted battle in a different system in which we would board his ship and hand him his jewellery, the ones my master had stripped from him upon his exile. So, our coalition tried to draw him away from his temple. Instead, he was rather adamant on staying. It was almost like he already knew that this was our plan… a strange affair but one that was not unexpected. So we switched to plan B.
Plan B was focused on humiliating the exile’s meagre resistance. At first, we wanted to give him a death fitting of his station, and worthy of our individual martial skill, but this was a folly. Truly, Zarrious deserves the death he given. So we approached Dromund Kaas in the usual fashion that is expected of military ships especially with the fleet stationed nearby. As we gazed upon the temple using our location scanners, I must admit, the lavish decoration of his sanctuary was enough to assume he considered himself a god. It was stunning and filled to the brim with armaments and reinforcements. To take an army through that would have been a slaughter, there was just no way it was possible which thankfully we had considered in our options. Upon our arrival, we hailed the Exile and he called Trakaton to the surface. Naturally, I would join him down on the surface.
Utilising a similar plan that we had used against the now deposed Stygian, Doppelgangers were sent into the temple to check that the crazy bastard was actually present in the flesh, to be sure no trick would be played on us. The rest of the coalition and our true selves watched from the cameras installed in the fake Hirak’s mask, ready and prepared to descend into the madman's lair…”
*Hirak took a seat on one of the broken columns before continuing. He motioned towards the ruined central walkway below*
“So they walked through the fortified lair, past all the defenses and into the main cave where Zarrious’ throne room lay. Spread out before him we're a few shades, the deathly alchemical creations he and his master had created in previous years. So our doppelganger stood there whilst Trakaton’s ‘Clone’ conversed shortly with Zarrious calling him out as a traitor. After the Exile had his rant, proclaiming himself the saviour of his people and the next best thing since Vitiate, he sent his shades to kill what he thought was both myself and Trakaton. They of course killed the two clones, to which Darth Archayon has our thanks for his lending of pawns for the occasion. Seeing a prime opportunity to level his beloved palace whilst the fight between them and the clones was occurring, we began our aerial assault.
Harrowers and Terminus unleashed their hordes of fighters and bombers, who surged towards the temple structure and began to bombard the location under the guise of a weapon test on an old ruin as was acceptable under the reign of Empress Acina and the laws of the Empire as of current. The armament defences, the beautiful scenery, soldiers under the exile's command and all his reinforcement contingents were destroyed apart from the cave which somehow managed to withstand at the centre whilst it’s entrance and the back end where the throne was erected had collapsed. If House Kallea or others had been there to support him, we did not see it nor did we hear much from them after. We believed him finally put to rest but Zarrious feigned death, as we found out after going planet side to excavate the ruins. It is not hard to sense the presence of a being so twisted within the rubble.
It took a few hours to bust through the rock face to get inside. Standing within the broken cave at the precipice of his ruined throne, the Exile seemed alive and as unhinged as he had alwasy been. Yet before us were a multitude of shades, black against the cave’s stone backdrop and deathly silent in the wake of the Coalitions full Sith ground force. Most of the exile’s undead soldiers had been pulled away by his recently resurfaced master’s ritual, sixteen were left. The shades we encountered here were more frightening than the ones from before; they were armoured and resistant to the effects of lightning. Therefore, with far and few ways to kill them, we had only the option of decapitation. Trakaton himself was gripped away from the main group into a furious one on one duel with the Exile, battling him fiercely whilst the rest of us held the shades off from striking the Lorekeeper who was busy meddling with Zarrious’ mind so that Trakaton could land a successful killing blow. So we fought on, strike after strike side by side in a gulley of death. I personally took down the most shades, of course, whilst others like Lord Venom and Darth Archayon focused on protecting our number or hampering the exile’s tumultuous sorcery. Apprentice Aljo and Occularis also had my back during the fight. They had been proficient during the latter half of the campaign, and backed this up during our fight against the shades. My opinion on them has slowly risen with their usefulness.”
*Hirak offered a smirk in thought before returning his state back towards the holorecorder’s lens.*
“I found this was a perfect opportunity to practice what the holocron had told me of Lord Rai’s personal Jar’kai technique; a double blade in one hand with a single blade in the off hand. This time I opted to utilise a cortosis blade from the downed mechs we had used against Stygian and Begeren. One shade struck, it’s lightsaber switched off from the strike as I blocked with the metallic-like weapon. Then swift like a flash my own lightsaber severed the head. It's dead, silent corpse crumbled as he turned to the next shade. I repeated this action indefinitely until the Exile sudden blew up into flame, summoning the largest storm of pyrokinesis I’d ever witnessed in my life. It was… glorious. He was very powerful, and certainly the deadliest enemy we’d ever faced. I can still feel the heat….”
*Hirak’s hand moves to his face a she wipes it, visibly sweating in his battle armour.*
“But with the shades mostly dead I tried to do what I could to help Trakaton. His death would leave me in charge of not only my half but also his share... I enjoy my freedom. So my hand outstretched as I aided the Lorekeeper in breaking the exile’s mind with Subjugate whilst Trakaton ventured into the burning flame inferno. An explosion, and suddenly the flames stopped. The shades that remained we're slaughtered and we found Trakaton stood over the corpse of the Exile. With his last breaths, the Exile smirked wildly muttering incoherently as my colleague offered the last nail in the coffin with a few spoken words. Thankfully, I do not know what was said nor do I wish to know. Regardless, a strange yet apt way to go perhaps. I left pretty swiftly after this, allowing those who felt any real closeness to him to deal with the body, my beastmaster marines aiding in the removal to the Kalkoran Estate. Instead, I focused on maintaining the good relations of those who had fought there today in the Coalition whilst ensuring that they will receive their fair share of the reward as promised.
Truly we achieved that which not even our master had done, nor any other Lord in our powerbase. On our second days as Sith Lords, we had achieved what I thought would be the impossible. For us it was survival versus death and we triumphed. This is what freedom feels like. Our chains were finally broken with his last breath. I finally feel like I can breathe again.”
*Hirak pauses and looks around at the devastation wrought by the bombing. Eventually another figure juts into frame. Armoured in what looks like black gear with a long cape whilst sporting the face of a Sith Pureblood who wore his hair neatly brushed backwards across his scalp. He’d nod towards Hirak before leaving the frame of the shot as Hirak held the camera towards his own person. Looking back into the lens he snorted a bemused smirk.*
"End transmission.”
*Hirak looked back over the landscape one last final time that must have lain before him before looking back to the holodevice. He’d fiddle around with it before allowing it to turn itself off, the blue light disappearing back within the machine.*
Entry 32: Demise of the Exile
*The holodiary bursts into light and Hirak is quite clearly holding it hand held, standing on a giant almost collapsed piece of rubble with one foot perched onto it and he other on the ground. Unmasked, clearly tired but almost offering a beaming sadistic smile. He speaks, his voice unrestrained and blazing brightly in tone colouration.*
“A Sith’s greatest weakness is doubt. It makes them foolish. But not nearly as much as overconfidence. Today, I proved that I have conquered my fears for our greatest enemy has perished. I am standing in the literal rubble of the exiles temple palace, bombed to destruction. I'll detail it from the beginning.
We met with the coalition aboard Th’Ssra, many darths and lords who also shared our vision of a deposed Zarrious. These Darths and Lords had, over the long time period that myself and my colleague had been active, pledged themselves to aid us in a time when we considered the Empire in peril. So, via our machinations and the twisting of our words we revealed Zarrious for what he was, a megalomaniac traitor, secluded away in his fortress and sitting on a stockpile of weaponry. So they all willing agreed to bear their weapons in defence of the Empire, and so we planned. We had also learnt that some of House Kallea and those who supported a Sith by the name of Khairon had leant their aid to him in case of a sudden attack. We expected a large pitted battle in a different system in which we would board his ship and hand him his jewellery, the ones my master had stripped from him upon his exile. So, our coalition tried to draw him away from his temple. Instead, he was rather adamant on staying. It was almost like he already knew that this was our plan… a strange affair but one that was not unexpected. So we switched to plan B.
Plan B was focused on humiliating the exile’s meagre resistance. At first, we wanted to give him a death fitting of his station, and worthy of our individual martial skill, but this was a folly. Truly, Zarrious deserves the death he given. So we approached Dromund Kaas in the usual fashion that is expected of military ships especially with the fleet stationed nearby. As we gazed upon the temple using our location scanners, I must admit, the lavish decoration of his sanctuary was enough to assume he considered himself a god. It was stunning and filled to the brim with armaments and reinforcements. To take an army through that would have been a slaughter, there was just no way it was possible which thankfully we had considered in our options. Upon our arrival, we hailed the Exile and he called Trakaton to the surface. Naturally, I would join him down on the surface.
Utilising a similar plan that we had used against the now deposed Stygian, Doppelgangers were sent into the temple to check that the crazy bastard was actually present in the flesh, to be sure no trick would be played on us. The rest of the coalition and our true selves watched from the cameras installed in the fake Hirak’s mask, ready and prepared to descend into the madman's lair…”
*Hirak took a seat on one of the broken columns before continuing. He motioned towards the ruined central walkway below*
“So they walked through the fortified lair, past all the defenses and into the main cave where Zarrious’ throne room lay. Spread out before him we're a few shades, the deathly alchemical creations he and his master had created in previous years. So our doppelganger stood there whilst Trakaton’s ‘Clone’ conversed shortly with Zarrious calling him out as a traitor. After the Exile had his rant, proclaiming himself the saviour of his people and the next best thing since Vitiate, he sent his shades to kill what he thought was both myself and Trakaton. They of course killed the two clones, to which Darth Archayon has our thanks for his lending of pawns for the occasion. Seeing a prime opportunity to level his beloved palace whilst the fight between them and the clones was occurring, we began our aerial assault.
Harrowers and Terminus unleashed their hordes of fighters and bombers, who surged towards the temple structure and began to bombard the location under the guise of a weapon test on an old ruin as was acceptable under the reign of Empress Acina and the laws of the Empire as of current. The armament defences, the beautiful scenery, soldiers under the exile's command and all his reinforcement contingents were destroyed apart from the cave which somehow managed to withstand at the centre whilst it’s entrance and the back end where the throne was erected had collapsed. If House Kallea or others had been there to support him, we did not see it nor did we hear much from them after. We believed him finally put to rest but Zarrious feigned death, as we found out after going planet side to excavate the ruins. It is not hard to sense the presence of a being so twisted within the rubble.
It took a few hours to bust through the rock face to get inside. Standing within the broken cave at the precipice of his ruined throne, the Exile seemed alive and as unhinged as he had alwasy been. Yet before us were a multitude of shades, black against the cave’s stone backdrop and deathly silent in the wake of the Coalitions full Sith ground force. Most of the exile’s undead soldiers had been pulled away by his recently resurfaced master’s ritual, sixteen were left. The shades we encountered here were more frightening than the ones from before; they were armoured and resistant to the effects of lightning. Therefore, with far and few ways to kill them, we had only the option of decapitation. Trakaton himself was gripped away from the main group into a furious one on one duel with the Exile, battling him fiercely whilst the rest of us held the shades off from striking the Lorekeeper who was busy meddling with Zarrious’ mind so that Trakaton could land a successful killing blow. So we fought on, strike after strike side by side in a gulley of death. I personally took down the most shades, of course, whilst others like Lord Venom and Darth Archayon focused on protecting our number or hampering the exile’s tumultuous sorcery. Apprentice Aljo and Occularis also had my back during the fight. They had been proficient during the latter half of the campaign, and backed this up during our fight against the shades. My opinion on them has slowly risen with their usefulness.”
*Hirak offered a smirk in thought before returning his state back towards the holorecorder’s lens.*
“I found this was a perfect opportunity to practice what the holocron had told me of Lord Rai’s personal Jar’kai technique; a double blade in one hand with a single blade in the off hand. This time I opted to utilise a cortosis blade from the downed mechs we had used against Stygian and Begeren. One shade struck, it’s lightsaber switched off from the strike as I blocked with the metallic-like weapon. Then swift like a flash my own lightsaber severed the head. It's dead, silent corpse crumbled as he turned to the next shade. I repeated this action indefinitely until the Exile sudden blew up into flame, summoning the largest storm of pyrokinesis I’d ever witnessed in my life. It was… glorious. He was very powerful, and certainly the deadliest enemy we’d ever faced. I can still feel the heat….”
*Hirak’s hand moves to his face a she wipes it, visibly sweating in his battle armour.*
“But with the shades mostly dead I tried to do what I could to help Trakaton. His death would leave me in charge of not only my half but also his share... I enjoy my freedom. So my hand outstretched as I aided the Lorekeeper in breaking the exile’s mind with Subjugate whilst Trakaton ventured into the burning flame inferno. An explosion, and suddenly the flames stopped. The shades that remained we're slaughtered and we found Trakaton stood over the corpse of the Exile. With his last breaths, the Exile smirked wildly muttering incoherently as my colleague offered the last nail in the coffin with a few spoken words. Thankfully, I do not know what was said nor do I wish to know. Regardless, a strange yet apt way to go perhaps. I left pretty swiftly after this, allowing those who felt any real closeness to him to deal with the body, my beastmaster marines aiding in the removal to the Kalkoran Estate. Instead, I focused on maintaining the good relations of those who had fought there today in the Coalition whilst ensuring that they will receive their fair share of the reward as promised.
Truly we achieved that which not even our master had done, nor any other Lord in our powerbase. On our second days as Sith Lords, we had achieved what I thought would be the impossible. For us it was survival versus death and we triumphed. This is what freedom feels like. Our chains were finally broken with his last breath. I finally feel like I can breathe again.”
*Hirak pauses and looks around at the devastation wrought by the bombing. Eventually another figure juts into frame. Armoured in what looks like black gear with a long cape whilst sporting the face of a Sith Pureblood who wore his hair neatly brushed backwards across his scalp. He’d nod towards Hirak before leaving the frame of the shot as Hirak held the camera towards his own person. Looking back into the lens he snorted a bemused smirk.*
"End transmission.”
*Hirak looked back over the landscape one last final time that must have lain before him before looking back to the holodevice. He’d fiddle around with it before allowing it to turn itself off, the blue light disappearing back within the machine.*
