Xeratek Augmentions Plant 7A Zorath IV, Outer Rim Territories 43 ABY
Armored footfalls kicked up small plumes of dust as Bril Teg Erinos hiked to the summit of a large hill overlooking a sprawling valley that extended beyond what his eyes could see. Strong gusts of wind occasionally swept through the area, carrying glass from irradiated regions that dotted the planet’s surface. Brotherhood files on Zorath IV indicated that the planet was once lush with several thriving civilizations, but the seemingly barren landscape he now witnessed through the viewport of his mask came about as the final consequence of a series of escalations involving primitive, albeit unquestionably destructive weapons. He narrowed his eyes from behind his mask to see if he could spot the facility from this vantage point. Deep within the valley proper, the outline of the Plant 7A built into the canyon wall came into focus.
A quick squawk heralded the arrival of Kesh, his Tamarook companion. Tamarooks were a highly intelligent species of bird native to the mist-covered cliffs of the Iridonian Highlands. The bird landed on his shoulder, then twisted its neck to preen its dark feathers that iridesced with vibrant greens and deep violet in the light of the distant sun.
“I’m going to take a closer look,” he said to Aphotis, his voice distorted by the voice modulator present in his mask.
Bril sat cross-legged on the ground. Once he was ready, he tapped into his connection with Kesh through the living Force, urging the bird to take flight. “Be my eyes,” he muttered to himself while forming his hands into a shape that his Sith counterpart likely would have recognized due to her Nightsister tutelage. Suddenly, the sensation of wind rushing against his face – against Kesh’s face – filled his mind. His surroundings became more vibrant in their coloration, and his field of view became much wider than what his own eyes allowed him to see.
-c-
Kesh swooped low while tucking her feathers into her body to boost her speed; then, she spread them out, allowing her to sail through the valley in search of their target.
“Yes, fine,” the Sith seemed distracted at first, but she was recalling her droid, Eye-ronic, to her side, “just be quick abo-”
“Ahh,” she changed her tune once she actually paid attention to Bril.
’Intrigueing’
Aphotis could not remember ever having seen one of these kind of birds before, but she did know what Bril was doing. She had seen it on Dathomir, a low-effort meditative state that let a Nightsister see through the eyes of the beast and feel it’s sensations too. Her own tribe on Osasdii never demonstrated it, the fauna was mostly blind and obscure due to the purple planet’s hostile atmosphere.
She could attempt something similar with her droid, and see its actions through her visor’s HUD, but it was not the same—merely a practical application of it or a more convenient holocam at most. What it could do better, was deploy a dozen remotes and spread them out over the area. The many tabs and windows with their view open on her screen made it a slight bit chaotic though, so she let Eye-ronic manage the feed first, before having it report in.
“My droid should be back in just a moment, if you can even hear me right now,” she sighed and tapped her boot in impatience.
A few seconds after Aphotis spoke, Bril’s voice rumbled up from his chest, sounding almost sleepy. “Yes, I can ….” he replied, though not without notable effort. This was a relatively new power, so it still required a bit more effort than his others did.
Her amusingly-named droid arrived first, but Kesh returned shortly thereafter. Bril rose to his feet and placed a hand on his hip while watching Aphotis.
“What did you find?” he asked, “The main entrance is heavily fortified with armed droid patrols and sensor arrays, but I think I can slice into the monitoring system there.”
Upon its hoverful arrival, Eye-ronic froze as it saw Bril, then it inched closer to the tall Sith, who was tapping her boot against the dirt and had her arms crossed. The droid’s circuits could feel the glower, and when it stood audio input-to-helmet-receiver, it saccaded its giant domed lens between Aphotis and Bril—at least, once it actually felt safe enough.
With binary beeps and boops the droid relayed its information, and through the encrypted comms all the important holovids were shared with the Sith.
“Mhm, it looks like droids do serve a purpose.”
Eye-ronic peered at Bril for a moment, and then stared at the Tamarook for a longer while as if proud of itself.
“There is a landing pad on the outside, with a couple of turrets dotted in tactical hot spots. It appears to be used by cargo, and personnel vessels,” electric-blue eyes darted over her HUD as she double-checked the footage.
The black-clad witch gave the Spider Probe a firm pat on its mechanical cranium.
Bril watched the droid curiously for a moment, admiring how much personality it seemingly had. “Curious.”
“So, what’s your preferred method of ingress? The landing pad would allow us to avoid having to disable the sensors and a potential fight with droids, but those turrets are going to be a problem.”
“Unless there is an inherit advantage to chosing the turrets, I would go with the droids,” the Sith’s casual voice seemed to get a reaction out of Eye-ronic, “do not worry, they would not like you much either.” The probe droid raised one of its triangular wings slightly, as if raising an eyebrow.
“We would use you as bait for the turret option, so be glad, Eye-ronic.”
“Do you agree, Bril? Shall we kick some buckets, or are you going to make this dull with the slicing?”
“Be my guest.”
The element of surprise was crucial here. As badly as Bril wanted to fire up his jetpack in true Mandalorian fashion, he knew it would make too much noise. Instead, he tapped into the Living Force to amplify his speed, and it showed when he made the initial step forward. As soon as he dug the ball of his armored foot into the ground to propel himself forward, a burst of invigorating energy rippled through his lower extremities, bolstering every tendon and muscle fiber.
The two combat droids posted at the facility’s entrance barely had time to register him as a threat before they were sliced in two. Thin trails of orange bifurcated a sea of weathered gray, and grew wider as the weight of gravity pulled their bifurcated chassis in two.
Another droid rounded the corner, but Bril quickly seized it in a telekinetic grip so he could propel it toward Aphotis, who no doubt was waiting to partake in the initial assault.
“Mhm, thanks.” The reaction was cold and sarcastic.
She caught the droid’s cranium with her claw and smashed it down. Aphotis raised her heavy platform and brought it down on the clanker’s temple, crushing its mechanical head.
The Sith gave Bril a deadpan look and tilted her masked head as if to mock his ‘generosity’.
Bril looked back at her and shrugged his shoulders. Given their relationship thus far, he really didn’t have to try to include her. That he thought to let her in on the action at all was plenty generous.
Aphotis would have plenty of opportunity to brandish her notorious lightwhip, though. As the droid was in its death throes from the powerful stomp, it emitted a high-pitched ping that sounded suspiciously like an alert.
“Well, that can’t be good,” he muttered.
It didn’t take long for two more droids to arrive on the scene. These two were much larger than the others, their chassis reinforced with thick durasteel plating. Upon seeing the large barrels aimed at him, Bril made a hasty retreat to Aphotis’ side. The pale light of his Vigil’s blade cast his lower extremities in a gentle yellow glow while hanging at his side.
The droids fired, causing their rifles to crackle with the sound of hardened slugs exploding from their barrels. Semi-automatic in nature, they fired several of the deadly projects in rapid succession, aiming to mow the two intruders down before they could become more of a nuisance.
Bril instinctively raised a hand to emit a telekinetic burst from his hand, a wave that rippled outward to upset the trajectory of any slugs coming toward him. This was only partially successful, though, leaving several of them to continue onward unabated. Luckily for him, the heavy durasteel plating of his Armor of Tel Karanga was enough to protect him from any serious damage.
The tall Sith appeared to merely sidestep the incoming barrage, but what went on in her mind and through the Force was much more intricate and nuanced.
She had calculated and predicted the path of each slug, while the dark side showed her the threads through the Force itself, futures with a certainty that could only be met with an iron will. There was no chance of error, and no need to deviate from the laid out path.
Despite the wide spread and number of projectiles, they harmlessly passed the black-clad woman by.
Every movement must be met with a step forward, this was her way. So with a loud click of her heel she did.
. Aphotis raised her hand and sent sparks running over her arms until the energy coalesced into her vibroclaws. She fanned out her fingers and shot out a stream of violet electricity.
The dark side power crashed into the first droid and leaped over to the other. Wires burnt, metal melted and circuits exploded. The droids spasmed and let out mechanical screams as they were turned into a heap of garbage.
The Sith rubbed her fingers together as the pleasant prickles dissipated. Several steps of her long legs carried her to the doors, even giving Eye-ronic a hard time to catch up to her. The droid gave her annoyed beeps as its thrusters worked overtime.
“Alright, Bril, do your thing.”
Bril watched in tense silence as Aphotis made quick work of the droids. Her Force lightning was extremely powerful, as evidenced not just by how it utterly destroyed the two droids, but also in how easily she generated it.
Following her over to the blast doors, he produced his slicing pad from his bag and connected it to the panel’s access terminal.
“Shouldn’t take me long,” he replied. His brows furrowed as he tapped away at his datapad to manipulate the stream of code that appeared on the screen. After a few moments, the panel emitted an electronic chime. Then, the large metal doors emitted a sharp hiss before sliding apart and disappearing into the walls on either side.
After putting away his tools, he took a step proceeded into the facility proper. “Let’s go.”
The Sith slipped into the doors, with her droid hovering behind her.
“Will that door close up when you join us here, Bril?”