Over the Brink

[Mandalore the Siren]

Mandalore strolled into his command center and locked the door behind him. Alone in the room, he dropped into the chair behind his desk and opened up the data panel on his desk. He had many things in his agenda; meetings with former senators, a trade agreement with MandalMotors, and sending ominous threats to Coruscant. And that was just what was logged into his personal computer.

Roughly two hours later, Mandalore was concluding his business with Malastare.

"Of course you'll be protected," Mandalore reassured, "Do you think we would leave our investments exposed to attack? All you have to worry about is sending us those repulsorlift vehicles and sending crude deathsticks to the black market. After all, there is more than one way to win a war, eh?"

"Of course, my lord," the Gran on the other end replied, "We pledge our full loyalty to the Empire of the Black Siren."

"Good," Mandalore concluded. With that, he cut the communication link. Many planets had now joined, with one of the crown jewels being Muunilinst, and with it the InterGalactic Banking Clan. With war matters concluded for the time being, he closed his personal computer, and left the room. He stepped out of the office, and moved straight to the wall directly in front of him. A wave of his hand and a light push of the force, and the wall had opened, revealing a stone staircase descending straight down. Several flights of stairs later, Mandalore arrived in a very different looking building, his personal sanctum.

[Mengo]

Mengo gazed out the window. He did not celebrate victory with the others. It was not worth it. Besides the fact that most of them had no clue who he was. As for the planet, it wasn't the nicest but he had seen worse. Somebody was approaching the complex below. Might as well as investigate, Mengo thought.

After taking a turbo-lift and several hallways, he made it to the corner just before the gates. "What business do you have here?" the guard asked the visitor.

"I've information for your master. It's about the Jedi," the visitor.

"Oh, well...." the guard fumbled with something. While he did this Mengo opened a private channel on his com-link.

"Sir?" he said in a silent voice. "It's Mengo. There's a guy here offering up information about surviving Jedi. What should I do with him? And the guard?"

OoC: Informant is a Gurlanin. If someone wants to, feel free to make the guy.

[Mandalore the Siren]

Mandalore's comlink began to blink. "What is it?" He listened to Mengo for a moment, then made a decision. "Take him to the holding area. I'll deal with him later." Deactivating his comlink, he stepped further into his sanctum, heading for a room in the back. Stepping in, he turned to face a figure chained to the wall. "Ahh, so your my new Jedi captive are you," he jeered at the wookiee chained to the wall. "Don't bother trying to break free. Those chains are force-resistant. Now shall we get to business? Who are you?" He shouted at the Jedi.

[Kallashhk]

Kallashhk awoke from his slumber in a chamber that seemed to have the very essence of death itself engraved in it's walls. Shackles of pure steel were clutching on to his wrist like a leech, and as well as his ankles giving his body searing pain that seemed to have no hiatus. The wookiee could not determine the exact location of his whereabouts, however he believed to still be in Mandalore. Kal glanced around the room looking for a logical exit and some sort of 'flint' to spark an idea or strategy. Alas, he had found nothing. Kallashhk sighed as he stretched out his arms only to feel a tearing of his tendons. The wookiee looked down at the chains and saw the origin of his discomfort. Kal closed his eyes and let the force flow from fingertip to fingertip. Then with small sudden movements he began levitate of the ground, removing whatever discomfort he had felt before.

As Kallashhk floated against the wall, he heard a sudden rumbling sound from a level above him. Then the next thing he heard was footsteps coming down towards him. The wookiee sensed, dark energy flowing through this being. The force was like Kal had only felt once before, and that was from the presence of the dark lord. Could it possibly be? Kal thought. However what descended from the stairs was not the dark lord. No, it was a human, Kal sensed. The man was wearing a type of armor native to the Mandalorians, which was no surprise on this planet. However the weird thing was the armor that the man was wearing belonged to the Mandalore himself. A leader among the Mandalorian people. Could this be the man? Kallashhk thought.

Before Kallashhk could confirm his theory the dark man launched himself forward at the wookiee and barked, "Don't bother trying to break free. Those chains are force-resistant. Now shall we get to business? Who are you? Kal leaned back avoiding contact with the man. He was obviously over confident, these chains could not keep Kallashhk restrained, however Kal humored him. "Very good, capture the Jedi and torment him. What do you plan to get out of me? Nothing you do to me will make me give you any information, yet you persist, why?" Kal smirked but hid it, this man had not proved himself any danger to Kal. All he had done was sneak up on him and knock him out, which I don't know why I didn't see them coming. Besides it wasn't even him, It was his men. What do I have to worry about, It's not like he's the dark lord.

[Mandalore the Siren]

Mandalore smirked under his helmet. How could such a powerful individual be so naive? he wondered. Nevertheless, he needed to break this Jedi. "You will find that we are more than capable of making you talk," Mandalore stated coldly, clenching his fist and summoning immense amounts of energy to his hands. He raised both arms, and opening his fists, let loose a storm of lightning. The lightning rammed into the wookiee's body, ripping through his body, his skeleton showing through his body. The wookiee literally howled with pain and agony. Mandalore let it continue for only a few moments, and when he relinquished, the wookiee's body was left slightly convulsing and sizzling. "Ready to talk yet?" Mandalore jeered at the wookiee.

[Teek]

Teek started flying twords ahanger. A voice came on over the intercom,"State your business on Mandalor."

Teek replied,"I've come to join Mandalor's Forces. I heard of them on the Holonet."

"Very well, you can land in hanger 5."

Teek moved his craft to the hanger with a giant "5" on it. He went in and landed. He exited his craft and was met by security guards. He probably would have been asked what the thing was in his pocket, if Slinky hadn't been sleeping unnoticed.

The security guards took him to the barracks. They took him into a room and scanned him. They noticed Slinky in the scan. Teek explained. After that, there were no problems.

Teek was given two dog tags, one had a number, 7548, another had his name, Teek. He also received basic armor, with a patch showing he was a recruit.

The men asked Teek,"What kind of weapon are you good with?"

"I don't know," Teek replied,"I came here because I need pay, I've never used a weapon before."

[Mengo]

Mengo walked out in the open. "Excuse me, I'll take our guest from here." He nodded to the visitor and left, the man following. The guard stood flabbergasted and then shook his head. It wasn't his position to question.

The Mercenary lead the man to a room deeper in the complex. It was in the side without the barracks, and had a classy style to it. There's some furniture here and there, and a place for casual conversations towards the middle. It was there that Mengo lead the informant.

"If you will wait here, my employer will be with you shortly," Mengo said, gesturing toward the two sofas and coffee table beside him. Once the man was seated Mengo was going to leave the strange humans to his own devices. His eyes were strangely familiar.

"Won't you chat with an old friend Mengo?" the man said, "It's been years, I'm sure you have something to talk about."

Mengo closed his eyes, his face a grimace. He was afraid that it was him. The voice was familiar, like a ghost from his past. "Yes, it's been a while since Irodia," he said as he turned, his eyes open and somewhat friendly smile. "Looks like life's been good to ya, Alpha."

>< >< ><

A blue apparition of a Sith stood in the shadows behind Mandalore. He watched as the Jedi against the wall was tortured. Graush had been before the Jedi, so he was not totally consumed with a need to destroy them. But he did enjoy the torture of ememies. He stepped from the shadows, looking eloquent, yet with the aura of authority all Sith Lords/Kings have.

[Kallashhk]

The pain was excruciating, as thousands of volts raced through the wookiee's body. Kallashhk fell from his levitating position and smacked against the wall. The previous pain of the chains returned however could not compare to this new found pain that was not at all new to Kallashhk. Nevertheless it still burned like being dipped through molten lava.

As soon as the pain stopped, Kal looked up, while breathing heavy and shot a mean glance at the dark man. When he did however his eyes caught a new figure. It was no living thing however, it was a force ghost. He had seen many before but he sensed darkness in this particular one. What a wonder the force was, to be able to do something as wonderful as bringing back life in a more powerful state then previously. The man was just watching, seeming to be enjoying himself watching Kal get shocked. He would never understand the motives of the dark side, no matter how wise he got.

Kallashhk controlled his breathing and returned to his meditating state. The pain from the rusty shackles was gone, however not the soreness from the shock. This was no mere sith. No matter how much the pain hurt, Kal humored him still. "You can shock me into dust, but you will receive no mere whisper you sith scum." Kal said with his brow furrowed. He had no idea what repercussions could come from saying that, he just hoped that he would not get any ideas from that. If so, this is gonna be a long night.

[Mandalore the Siren]

"Then it seems mere physical pain may not be enough. Fortunately for you, I have not the time to destroy your mind, but you will find there's more than one way to hurt someone," Mandalore replied coldly. He pressed a button on his wrist gauntlet and the gate behind him lurched open. "I'm sure you'll find that your friend, Master Uta, can attest to that." Sure enough, the former Jedi, Uta, stepped through the door behind him, dressed in ragged robes and gripping his lightsaber hilt in one hand. He looked up to reveal pure white eyes and a face that showed no emotion whatsoever. Mandalore flicked his hands and Kal's chains unlocked. The Sith Lord tossed the wookiee's lightsaber at his feet and nodding toward the Jedi said, "Kill him." Uta's blade jumped to life, revealing a red blade. Mandalore stepped out of the room and shut the gate, as the ghost of the Sith king simply passed through it. "For what reason have you come to me, my lord," Mandalore inquired.

[Kallashhk]

Kallashhk smiled slightly as he knew he had beaten the Dark man with his tolerance to the pain. However his chains were released, and a rusty door adjacent to him opened, and out stepped someone familiar. It was Master Uta herself, however she wasn't herself. The man had turned her, brainwashed her.

Master Uta flashed on her lightsaber, and the dark man threw Kal his lightsabers, then locked him in the room with Master Uta. The next words seemed to penetrate to the wookiee's heart. "Kill him."

Kal jumped back and retrieved his lightsabers with a flick of his wrist. He put one on his belt and activated his Qinata lightsaber. The green blade rose before his face and Kal focused on the turned Jedi that was once his friend. She ran at him, and Kal blocked the weak blow that she delivered to his thigh. She seemed to be weaker than when she was a Jedi. Kal turned and slashed at her ankle. However she also blocked.

Kal had forgotten he had been dealing with a Jedi Master, however he too was one, a greater one. Kal shook his head, ridding it of his narcissist thoughts. She was still powerful and he had to think. Kal scanned the room and formulated a quick plan.

Kal through his lightsaber at Master Uta, briefly distracting her. Kal proceeded to jump and wall run behind the fallen Jedi. Kal quickly withdrew his second lightsaber and aligned it with her shoulder. The wookiee activated the Cyan lightsaber and Uta fell to the ground with a yell. Kal took in a breath and hit Master Uta over the head with a blow using the force. She fell face first to the ground unconscious.

Kal crouched down over the body, to see if she was still breathing. She was and Kal was relieved. He looked up through the barred door and saw the eyes of the dark man.

[Kallashhk]

Kal did not hesitate, he picked up the unconscious body of his friend and bolted to the other side of the room, where he saw a crack in the wall. The wookiee looked around the room checking for possible exits, however none could be found. Kallashhk re focused on the wall, and drew in a deep breath. He positioned his hands just right and drew in the force through his hands. Kal pushed outward and an amazing force went through the air and connected with the wall. As if the wall were precariously perched on stilts, it came crumbling down and went flying into the next room.

It was a hallway, and unlike the previous dungeon, it was lit and modern in style. Kal rolled his neck trying to rid himself from the stiffness the chains had caused him, not to mention the electricity he had endured. Kal looked left and saw a stair case going up, to the left he saw a longer hallway that lead to a turnoff to go left or right. Kallashhk dropped his friend and knelt on the floor. The wookiee closed his eyes and waited for silence. When it came he cleared his mind and focused on the building. He sensed the stairs would lead him to a larger room with multiple exits, and multiple guards, and the hallway would lead to quarters and no exits.

Stairs it was, as Kal sprinted upstairs, carrying his friend on his back. Kallashhk reached the final step and entered the next room. The door opened and Kal was greeted by 4 young kids, that looked about 15 to 16 years of age. They looked at him with confusion but when the scanned Kallashhk over, they saw his lightsaber. A red headed one leaned over to another kid and whispered in his ear, and the other one nodded. All of a sudden they all turned on their lightsabers simultaneously. To Kal's dismay the color was not that of a Jedi Padawan learner, it was red. Kallashhk looked around for an exit so he could skip by these kids, however they were blocking the only accessible one.

The kids walked towards Kal with caution. Kallashhk dropped his friend once again and turned on his cyan lightsaber. The red head held his lightsaber high and charged at Kal. The wookiee simply dodged and grabbed the hilt of the kids lightsaber and pulled it away. Kal threw it behind him and then force pushed the kid across the room, knocking him unconscious. Two of the kids looked at each other and then charged. Kallashhk waited for the right moment and jumped over them and turned and faced their backs. Kal then force pushed them, and they went flying down the staircase. That left one kid, who was currently looking for a way to escape. Kal walked forward and the kid ran towards the door trying to get it open. Kal lifted him with the force and brought the kid towards him. He was shaking and staring wide eyed, Kal tossed him to the left and the kid hit the wall like a brick. Kallashhk turned off his lightsaber and went back to get his friend then looked for the exit.

[Mandalore the Siren]

Mandalore and the Sith King began to leave the sanctum, the wookiee's battle growing dim in the background."Mandalore, my friend, I have important business for you. I have finally found you an apprentice. His name is Eclipse, and I believe he has great potential. Ultimately that is your decision, but I'm sure you'll agree with me when you see what he is capable of.
"Where will I find him, my liege?"
"In my tomb on Korriban. He waits for you now."
"Thank you, my lord," Mandalore said, with a slight bow. The apparition of the Sith King dissipated, and Mandalore stepped out of the sanctum, heading to the holding area, where the informant waited for him. Stepping into the room, he nodded towards Mengo. Facing the informant he said, "Well, lets here it. What information do you have for me?"