The Rebel Faction

[size=2]Sarendevis HQ

"She’s only fainted." Varcanna countered. "Considering what I just told I am not surprised…but mother is made of tough stuff, she’ll be alright."

"Varca?" Naosha weakly muttered as she regained consciousness. "Is that you? I just had the worst nightmare…"

"I’m afraid it wasn’t a dream mother…" Varcanna said sorrowfully.

"What!?" Naosha bolted up right, nearly knocking the nurse over in the process. "We…we got to go to him then! Take me to him!"

Varcanna sighed, having feared this kind of secondary reaction. "The bond between us doesn’t work that way mother. I know of what he feels and sometimes what he thinks…but not where he is. Besides…even if I did have that ability…the K’Satizitus has effectively cut me off."

"There’s….nothing…we can do then?" Naosha said, whining faintly.

"In our current position no..." Varcanna said sadly. "Uncle Rissonik would be in a better position to help Trazu…if there was a way to end the curse in the first place." Varcanna looked over at Fikan and the guards, who looked rather baffled at what they were saying. "Our friends deserve an explanation at least. While I doubt they’ll be able to do anything about it either, they deserve to be warned should Trazu head to this area…"

"You make it sound like this guy is unstoppable…" One of the guards said.

"If what my daughter just told me is correct, and I have no doubts she is, he virtually is." Naosha said softly. "The K’Satizitus is a chaotic spirit that has been in the…possession…of our Clan for many generations and is rumored to be one with the Force itself. It’s a long story, one best told in private: if our enemies learned of this they may try to use the knowledge against us."

…

A short time later they were in the conference room again, both Varcanna and Naosha bore worried, if not frightened looks on their faces.

"Are you sure we should have Trissan in here with us mother?" Varcanna asked in a whisper, looking over at said youth who was sitting in one of the chairs trying to look over the edge of the table.

"If we keep him with us he’ll be less prone to go play with the rancor again." Naosha replied. "Besides…he doesn’t understand Basic yet."

"Is there anyone else you would want to hear this?" Fikan asked. He had summoned Merendez to this private meeting at Naosha’s request: she figured it would be best for one of the the Tritons crew to hear of this. Merendez was in there now, looking like she’d rather be by Lumier’s side but understood the importance of this meeting.

"I am tempted to ask some of the Ambassadors to listen in…but I’d rather not. They may have sided with me during the last meeting, but that doesn’t mean I can trust them yet. Besides, this may throw them into a panic, while justified it would not be good for negotiations."

"Understood." Fikan said with a nod. ""Please proceed."

"Where to start…" Naosha said.

"For them to understand completely I think starting from the beginning would be a good idea mother." Varcanna said.

"Agreed, though Rissonik would be able to tell it better then I, I will give it my best shot." She paused a moment to collect her thoughts. "It all started deep in our people’s history, back before we developed the means to travel in space. We were as we are now, a series of Clans fighting for domination over each other and key roles in our society, only less advanced technology wise, thus we were not shy about blood and violence, so when the killing first started no one really took notice. It was only when it was discovered that the killer was killing indiscriminately across Clans, even killing children, that people started wondering what was going on.

"It was clear whatever, or whoever it was, was killing purely for sport, for none of the victims were eaten. The weird, and frightening, thing was that despite all the blood at the scenes…there were no tracks…no sign of who or what did the killing. For the first time in our people’s history, the Clan’s joined forced to track down and stop what was doing this.

"The warriors of the Clans soon started encountering it, however it was so fast that not only could no one get a clear look at it, but it struck down many of the warriors before they could even raise their weapons. All they knew was that it was large and red. For the first time our people lived in fear, for it seemed no one could stop it."

Naosha stopped to take a drink of water and Varcanna picked where she left off. "Because of the amount of blood that was spilled per kill, it was dubbed the K’Satizitus, or ‘Blood Beast’. It seemed to mock our people, laughing insanely as it slaughtered the warriors according to some claims, though some disputed that claim, thinking it was a trick of the mind that they were hearing the laughing at all.

"What couldn’t be disputed, was the fact that no one had been able to stop it. So when one young male claimed he had a vision he would kill it, no one believed him. No one had hurt the thing, let alone kill it. Undaunted he set out to find it. The killings continued until roughly a month after he had departed. Not long after that, he returned to the capital city Hsskhor, dragging behind him the head of great beast that looked eerily similar to a T’Doshok. He was hailed as a hero. Not long after, he founded the K’Satikur Clan and taught T’Doshok techniques inspired by the K’Satizitus. He lived one for many years, until he was defeated and slain by his son, [size=2]Desik[/size], in battle over Clan leadership."

"It was during Desik’s reign as Sha’tor that the killings started again." Naosha continued, glancing over at Trissan she quickly said in Dosh. "Don’t even think about it Trissan." Trissan, who was fiddling with the grate covering of a vent, gave her an innocent look. At his grandmother’s stern expression, he got back into his chair and sulked. "Where was I? Oh yes…" She continued. "Desik was puzzled by the renewed killings, for surely his father had slain the K’Satizitus, it’s skull proudly mounted on the Clan temple wall. Even more worrying he noticed that the morning right after the killings, he was physically exhausted and sore. Suspicious, he requested two warriors to lock him into his room one night. The following morning, he awoke to find the door busted open…and the two guards dead. It was him that was doing the killing…but he had no recollection of it.

"Seeking answers, he went through his father’s journal and discovered that his father had slain the K’Satizitus in a cave far from the city. It was noted in the entry that the beast uttered one phrase before breathing it’s last: ‘It will continue’. His father was also weak from hunger and badly injured. Having no supplies, he was forced to consume the K’Satizitus’ body so he would have the strength to return to the city."

Space around Pirate Base: Bloodfang

"Odd…." The sensor officer said.

"What is?" Tiosk said, who was going through damage reports. Didn’t he ask not to bother with them?

"The sensors are acting up…and as far as I know none of our sensor arrays were damaged in the battle.

Tiosk gladly took a break from the reports to take a look. Sure enough, the sensors were acting wonky. "That is odd…there is no plasma storm or nebula in this sector. Ask the other ships, including the Sarendevis ships, if they are experiencing the same thing."

"Aye sir."

Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor

She listened a moment and heard the footsteps approaching them. From the heaviness of the footsteps she could tell it was a marine or some other military type. Subconsciously she licked her jaws.

"I’m getting hungry anyway…" She said with a smile as she reactivated her cloaking device. "You might want to hide kid…I’d rather you don’t see this…"

(ooc: there is more to the history…but the post would have been miles long if I posted it all in one post….)[/size]

Sarendevis HQ: Comference Room

[font=Arial][size=2]"Doubt it." Varcanna said, shaking her head. "The transport that had what Silliss needed landed the moment the base went off of red alert."

"I see. You may continue." Fikan said.

Varcanna nodded. "Where was I? Oh yes. By eating the beast’s body, Desik’s father enabled the spirit of that beast to possess him. Only it didn’t make it’s presence known to his father: we believe it felt it would not have had the strength to overpower him through an act of will. When Desik defeated his father, acting out of T’Doshok tradition he devoured him, thus passing the possession to him. The spirits greatest desire is to have a physical form again, but was at the time too weak to mentally to do a forceful take over of Desik, it waited until he was asleep. By the time Desik discovered the spirit residing in his soul, it had gained enough strength to be a formidable foe in the battle of wills.

"Determined to banish the thing for good, Desik ordered his warriors to chain him to the floor of his room and, no matter what they heard inside, to not come until his say so. No one knows what exactly happened during those few days and nights, but what is certain is that Desik won the battle of wills over the K’Satizitus. He could now call upon it’s abilities when he needed."

"Unfortunately the first thing Desik did with that newfound power was to use it to expand the Clan’s power base." Naosha said. "As did his successors. It wasn’t until Rissonik’s father, Chikonis, realized they were only feeding the spirit, making it stronger and stronger…thus harder to control. It was he who started looking for a way to be rid of the spirit for good.

"How the spirit passed on from one generation to the next seemed to be obvious: it jumped form father to son when the son ate the father’s body. He also noted that there was always only one male child to succeed the father. So he worked to stop the spirit on both these fronts. He sired two sons, each with a different mother. Upon his two son’s agreement, he had his body cremated when he died, preventing them from devouring his body.

"It seemed to work, for neither Tnossok or Rissonik had the K’Satizitus, though they continued to make it seem like they had it to prevent the Clan from being attacked by rivals. However…" Naosha stopped short, unable to continue.

"The K’Satizitus reemerged in Rissonik’s son, Trazu." Varcanna said softly. "How this happened we are not sure…though it’s possible that generations of willful use of it enabled it to get powerful enough to not rely on our…cannibalistic…habits to jump from one generation to the next. Why it skipped a generation if this is so is not clear, perhaps Chikonis ensuring two sons lived prevented it from spreading sooner."

"Or maybe…it wanted to give us a false sense of security…" Naosha added. "Either way, between the two bothers only one male was born: Trazu. In all honestly….if I hadn’t acted as quickly as I did back then, he wouldn’t even be alive today because Tnossok would have killed him…"

Fikan’s questioning look prompted Varcanna to answer his unspoken question. "This will be a bit hard to grasp…but Trazu and I are only half brother and sister, yet we are from the same clutch. Tnossok…is my father….Rissonik is Trazu’s."

"How…" Merendez started to ask, but when she saw Naosha, whom was griping the edge of the table tightly and her face contorted into an expression of fear, disgust and hate at the memory she was experiencing, she simply nodded.

"While they worked together for the sake the Clan, in reality the two hated each other." Varcanna continued. "When it was somehow arranged for both of them breed with my mother…I’ll just say sparks flew once the mix up was discovered."

"When Riss found out what his brother did to me…he went after him, despite my pleas not to. He lost the ensuing fight with his brother. I thought he was dead, but in reality he was imprisoned in an abandoned Clan temple to be freed by our son some twenty years later." Naosha shook her head. "We are getting off topic."

"You mentioned before that you and your brother have a bond between each other." Fikan said. "I’ve hard of this between identical twins or twins with the same parents…but not with siblings who are only half related to each other."

"I was at a loss to explain it myself when I first noticed it." Naosha said. "Varcanna, by all right should have killed Trazu, since he was the smallest and weakest of the hatchlings."

"But I didn’t." Varcanna added. "Instead I was compiled to protect him: I even helped him out of his egg. The only explanation I can think of is that it had to do with Trazu’s Force Sensitivity."

"A Trandoshan…Force Sensitive? Never heard of that before…" Merendez commented.

"Trazu denied it then, in fact he didn’t even believe in the Force….until recently it seems. Such a thing is extremely rare yes, but it exists. Pity you didn’t get to meet Silonik before I dropped him off at the Jedi Academy."

"Silonik?"

Naosha sighed. "Trazu’s other son, who thankfully is a lot better behaved then Trissan."

"You wouldn’t have believed it was Silonik when we first arrived in Theed mother…" Varcanna said with a chuckle. "He was so hyper I was chasing him all over the place….must have been all the Force presence in the place…"

"Silonik giving you trouble? That’s a sight to see…." Naosha chuckled, then sighed. "We are getting off track again…"

"What else did we need to tell them? I lost track…"

"How about telling us why you need to tell us all this in the first place." Merendez suggested.

Varcanna nodded. "Now that the K’Satizitus has full control over Trazu’s body, it can do whatever it wants…namely kill, kill and kill. Before this happened, I suspected Trazu was going through apprenticeship training as a Dark Jedi. If I am right on that this will make the K’Satizitus even more dangerous, for it utilizes what skills it’s host body has along with it’s own. My brother was a master swordsman and a ranger before all this started to happen…"

"With the K’Satizitus running free again there is a risk that it will not only derail the Separatist Movement but cause a whole new Galactic War." Naosha put in, grimly.



[/size][/font]Space around Pirate Base: Bloodfang

[font=Arial][size=2]"No luck Captain." The comm. Officer said. "Communications are out as well."

"What the hell is going on?" Tiosk growled, not liking this one bit. "Some sort of new jamming device?"

"Could be sir, but the sensors detected no further enemies before they went haywire."

Suddenly there was loud CLANG as something slammed into the hull.

"What the fuck was that!? Go to battlestations and make sure we are not being boarded!" Tiosk screamed.

"Sir! Sensors and communications just came back online! No enemy ships detected"

"Then what the hell just hit my ship?"

"Not sure sir...a rogue meteor maybe?"

"Sir." The comm officer spoke up. "Incoming transmission from the Fanggore."

"Patch him through." Tiosk said.

~Something just made a nice dent in your hull.~ Ossik, the Fanggore's, Captain, said.

"You speak the obvious." Tiosk said, mildly annoyed. "Did you see what it was?"

~No...but..well you're not going to believe me but...~

"Spit it out!"

~I think it was organic...cause the area it hit looks like it would when a bug spats against your windshield. I had one of our crew take a picture, sending it now.~

At Tiosk's becon, the comm officer had the picture put up on the viewscreen. Easily seen due to the quick freezing action of space, was indeed what looked like a bug splattered on the hull. Tiosk's expression turned into one of disgusted. "We are gonna need to have on of the Fleets sciency types analize that mess..."

(ooc: brain melt down on the Trandosha scene...will get that next post)[/size][/font]

[font=Arial]Space around Pirate Base: Bloodfang[/font]
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[size=2][font=Arial]"Sir one of the Savendevis ships is asking if we can reach Fleet command."[/font]
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[font=Arial]"Can we?" Tiosk asked.[/font]
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[font=Arial]"I just tried sir, no response at all...it's like their lines went dead."[/font]
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[font=Arial]Something's wrong... Tiosk thought. It's not normal for 'any' base to stop communicating with their ships.[/font]
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[font=Arial]"Tell them that is a negitive and that we should get back to their base immediately. My gut feeling is that something is wrong over there and with the Admiral and Naosha in there we shouldn't take any chances."[/font]
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[font=Arial]"Aye sir."[/font]
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[/size][font=Arial]Sarendevis HQ: Conference Room[/font]
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[size=2][font=Arial]Both Naosha and Varcanna blinked in mild shock.[/font]
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[font=Arial]"With all due respect sir..." Naosha said with a slight shake of her head. "Due to a certain...event..." She glanced over at Trissan, who was kicking his feet and looking very bored. "Neither of us has been able to catch any sleep since the last meeting. If I was younger I could get away with an all nighter, but I am not so young anymore..."[/font]
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[font=Arial]Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor[/font]
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[font=Arial]A moment later a lone marine turned the corner, his weapon at the ready. He looked down the seemingly empty alleyway with some confusion: he was sure he had heard voices here. Not convinced no one was there, he moved deeper into the alley, to check to see if anyone was hiding.[/font]
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[font=Arial]Oh there was someone hiding...and she struck the moment he was close enough. [/font]
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[font=Arial]The marine suddenly found his weapon flying away from his hand when something he couldn't see knocked it out of his hand. That same something grabbed him, pinning his arms against his sides and he felt the unmistakeable cold edge of a blade against his face and something pressing against his mouth, keeping him from screaming. There was a shot of pain when whatever it was bit into his neck, then the creepy feeling of something soft and wet caressing the location.[/font]
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[font=Arial]He struggled, but it was stronger the he and he found he was losing strength: it was like his very life force was being sucked away. Eventually he blacked out from blood loss.[/font]
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[font=Arial]She drank from him a bit more after he had gone limp in her arms, then broke his neck to finish him off. After looking around to ensure no one else was there, she uncloaked. Where did that kid go? She wondered, wiping the blood off her lips.[/font][/size]

[size=2]Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor

Oh how he hated this, sulking in the shadows when he should be out in the open, invoking fear in the hearts of those around him. However, due to recent events he was now the hunted, rather then the hunter, and every moment he had to hide like this strung the mercenary’s pride even more. He was determined to get back to the top and it will no doubt take the fall of the Separatist Movement to get him there. Besk was more then happy to do so as well, for as far as he knew they were the ones responsible for his current state.

Finding them was the problem. Months of covert operations have allowed his adversaries time to establish underground networks of spies and supporters and no doubt establish several hideouts. While finding their hideouts will be only be a matter of time and determination, it was finding the hideout that held their leader, Rissonik, that was the problem. Killing him will put a serious dent in the Separatist operations here. Naosha would also be a prime target, but she was currently offworld and out of his reach.

As he passed through yet another alley he saw someone he could have sworn he had seen before pass right in front of the alleyway. After taking a moment to think it clicked: that was the kid spy he had confronted before…but managed to escape due to the intervention of a rioting crowd. He will no doubt know where Rissonik is… He thought, a sly smile forming on his lips as he doubled back down the alley way a bit and climbed up to the roof of the building.

…

She was looking for the kid, but found someone else.

Besk… She thought, a faint snarl escaping from her lips. She considered him a moment, debating if she should try to kill him now, but decided it was too risky still: he was still strong and healthy to chance it. However he looked like he was after something and any chance through thwart him piqued her interest.

Her mischievous grin hidden by her cloaking device, she started following him.

Savendevis HQ

It had taken both Naosha and Varcanna once again to give Trissan his bath, but an hour and two soaked adult Trandoshans later he was clean again.

"I’ll go get the other three mother." Varcanna said as she turned to leave.

"Alright, I’ll see you in a bit." Naosha said as she bundled up the now sulking Trissan in a towel.

Thankfully the three little girls were still in the nursery, being much better behaved then their rebellious brother. They did look tired though and Varcanna gathered them together and started herding them back to their room. Along the way one of the paths was blocked by a couple of engineers chatting about the days events. Not wanting to be rude and push her way through them, she took another path. However, being unfamiliar with the base she got lost…

This is embarrassing. She thought as she looked for signs or anything that could point her in the right direction. Up ahead she saw the Communications room and sighed with relief: the little ones were starting to get cranky and Communications was always manned so someone should be able to help her get unlost. However as she approached she realized something was wrong: for a comm center it was sure quiet.

Her nerves on edge she moved closer and when she reached the door threshold her nose picked up the scent of blood…and death. If someone had an accident this place would have been coordined off and the functions of this room would be temporarily transferred elsewhere until an investigation was finished. The fact she didn’t see any such signs set off warning bells in her head. Varca didn’t need to look in, her instincts told her something very bad had happened here, but to satisfy her unbelieving mind she did anyway.

Five dead bodies, still fairly fresh, a couple of them slumped over their consoles, their blood still dripping to the floor. How no one saw this sooner…

She looked around, fearing the murderer may still be about. With her weapons back in the room and having three kids with her, she was vulnerable. Knowing she needed to tell someone about his, she quickly picked up two of the kids, had the third ride piggy back, and ran down the hall, looking for someone…anyone to inform about this.

It actually didn’t take long to find someone, in fact…she nearly ran over the poor guard that was just turning the corner on his patrol route.

"Guard! The people in Communications have been murdered!" She said breathlessly.

"What!? Show me!" The guard said. After a short sprint back Varcanna showed him the room…and his face turned white.[/size]

[size=2]Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor

Besk continued to follow the kid via the rooftops, not knowing he was now being followed as well. The kid seemed more concerned about avoiding the patrols then watching his own back, which was fine by him as he didn’t want the patrols to notice him either. The problem though was that the kid was so far sticking to high traffic areas, thus grabbing him without drawing attention to himself was going to be difficult. Hunting took patience though and patience was one of Besk’s practiced arts. Soon enough an opportunity will present itself for him to strike.

That opportunity came a few moments later, when the kid turned down an alley to avoid a patrol heading his way. Besk jumped down from the roof, landing behind him. Predictably the kid turned around sharply at the sound and Besk grinned at the look of shock on his face as he grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the wall.

"We meet again…." Besk hissed threateningly. "Only this time there is no one here to help you." He reached into his belt and produced a knife, which he held up against the kids throat. "I suggest you start talking…tell me everything you know. Don’t think I’ll just kill you if you don’t say anything…no…there are things worse then death…."

…

Crud that’s the kid. She thought, looking horrified down at the scene. Her mind raced: if she jumped down Besk would surely hear her and likely kill the lad by reflex. But she also knew that the longer she hesitated the more likely Besk will kill him anyway…

Savendevis HQ

Sure, I’ll go back to my room…once I figure out how to get there. Varcanna thought with a sigh. With a grunt she shifted the kids positions: she may be strong but even someone as strong as her gets tired after carrying three two year olds after a while. She would put them down but she didn’t feel it was safe to do so at the moment, so she continued to carry them as she picked her way along the hallways.

The hallways were fairly empty, likely due to the time of day, but the silence still unnerved her. Finally she found a hallway that was familiar and started down it, by chance she saw Fikan making his way to his own room. Odd…he doesn’t seem to be concerned about the deaths in Communications at all. She thought, getting an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Either he didn’t care or…wasn’t told. Deciding to play it safe she called to him.

"Ah Varcanna, you look like you have your hands full." Fikan said, nodding at the three kids in her arms.

"You could say that." Varcanna said with a faint chuckle, then turned serious. "Did a guard approach you earlier about what happened in Communications?"

Fikan frowned and shook his head: Varcanna got that sinking feeling in her stomach. "I know they have been awfully silent this afternoon."

"That’s because they are all dead…" Varcanna said grimly. "I stumbled upon the scene when I was trying to find my way back to my room. I had told a guard but apparently he didn’t make it to you…"[/size]