Cade's voice is a whisper over the shared comlink. Aww Haren.. is that alive?

Looks that way. Kara sighed, It's breathing so let's get going before it wakes up.

Falmok looked at the size of the beast, then the doorway. At least it's too big to follow..

Too bad we don't have demolition charges.. we could tie them to it's hide and blow it up if it tries.. Cade muttered. This thing is going to be worse than Gorka if we have to fight it on the way out...

Kara shakes her head and sighs.. She activates her scanner systems and cautiously approaches the door, examining the readouts as the data scrolls across her HUD. Looks like a stone door with a hinge.. She glances at the obsidian floor for a moment. Not sure the Sith soundproofing with dampen the door's movement.. Don't want to wake sleeping beauty here...

4 hours ago, RuusMarev said:

Kara shakes her head and sighs.. She activates her scanner systems and cautiously approaches the door, examining the readouts as the data scrolls across her HUD. Looks like a stone door with a hinge.. She glances at the obsidian floor for a moment. Not sure the Sith soundproofing with dampen the door's movement.. Don't want to wake sleeping beauty here...

“Does that mean I can’t kill it?” Ge’tal whines.

Cade grunts in amusement as he leans into the door and pushes.

For a brief moment, the door begins to open, the only sound comes from between Cade's clenched teeth. See, no prob-- ggrrrrrinnnnned....the door scrapes across the floor. Aw, osik.....

Kara winces as the light from the glow rod illuminates a giant eye snap open, the iris contracting as it reacts to the bright light. Kara slowly leans over and gently pushes Ge'tal towards the waking Rancor. All yours, vod'ika... she whispers

The rancor roars, spittle flying from its mouth, and heaves itself to its feet, it's huge left hand grabbing the door frame right next to Cade's head as it stabilizes itself. It glares as its guests and roars again, trying to pick a target.

The crystalline armor crunches as it shifts and flexes on the monster's shoulders and the back of its neck. Aside from defensive spikes on its knees, it has very little of the crystalline armor on its front, instead defended by the natural inclination possessed by just about everyone to not stand in front of the thing.

It rests its right arm on the wall and then begins to slowly bring it around, reaching for Cade.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh...” Ge’tal mutters as the beast rises, towering above them. “Bic ori,” she says. Watching it more closely, she notices something. “A puhoi.”

Come on vode, Cade yelled, moving into the doorway. Stay on mission! One impossible task at a time...Ge'tal, we can fight it later..it isn't going anywhere.

Kara attempts to shoot the Rancor's eye but misses and hits one of the crystal shards protruding from it's shoulder. Osik! She runs towards the doorway as the beast tries to hit her with a swing of it's arm.. Kara spins on her heel avoiding the Rancor's clawed hand as she reaches Cade, shoving him further down the hall. Scout those stairs!

As Kara moves down the tunnel, the creature roars and quickly reaches down the tunnel after her. She catches just a glimpse of its tremendous fingers passing her before the hand slams her against the wall, hard.

If not for her helmet, her head would be putty right now. As it is, she feels like she cracked a couple ribs. Momentarily stunned, she has trouble comprehending her surroundings, not helped by her glow rod, which did not have Beskar'gam to protect its vulnerable bits and is now lying shattered and lifeless on the floor.

With her now thoroughly pinned, the Rancor tries to grab onto her and pull her out, but as restricted as its hand is in the tight space, it loses its grip and a quickly recovering Kara is able to slip loose and crawl away, trying to stagger to her feet and reach the safety of the stairwell before it tries again.

Falmok takes a breath and sprints towards the gap between the Rancor and the door, the Rancor begins a swing but only manages to push Falmok into the doorway, the obsidian stone smashing into his jetpack in shower of sparks.

Wu follows close on Falmok's heels, running in behind him. "Falmok, keep going! We've got to get out of that... thing's reach. Kara, Cade, are you hurt?"

Dashing straight at the Rancor, Ge’tal rushes past the others, sliding between the beast’s legs and through the door.

Once they all reached the base of the stairs, Kara pulled Wu off to the side. I'm pretty banged up.. she coughed, waving away Cade's concern, I'll be fine Cad'ika, she assured him, pointing to the top of the steps. Go a head and recon the way up, Ge'tal and Falmok will back you up. Wu and I will follow after I get patched up.

Cade hesitated a moment but nodded and gestured to the others to follow as he ascended the stone steps. Ge'tal, stay close... Vhal, you're our cover. Make sure we have blasters set for stun so we don't loose out on this job, if at all possible.. Ge'tal, if we have to get heavy handed, they say pain can distract force users, makes it harder for them to concentrate on their little tricks.. We keep the jetti disoriented so Falmok and the others can bring him down in a hail of stun fire..

Falmok grunted, He's a dar'jetti, remember.. Pain might help them..

Kara and Wu hang back, letting the others pass them in the tight space. Kara sits at the bottom of the steps while Wu stands in front of her, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he is only a couple feet past the edge of the Rancor's reach. However, the Rancor has given up trying. It roars a couple times, and they can hear it stomping around, but they can't see much in the dark.

Wu pulls out a medical scanner and examines Kara's injuries, the display lighting up his helmet in the darkness. "I can't do much for your ribs or internal injuries right now, but it doesn't look immediately dangerous. You'll mostly just be sore." He rifles through his pack in the dark, pulling out a stimulant injection of his own concoction, "Here, this'll help dull the pain. I'll use a stimpack on that cut, don't want Rancor germs sitting in there for very long. 'specially if half the things I've heard about Sithspawn are true."

He injects the first vial into Kara's shoulder and she feels an immediate headrush that fades after a moment, leaving her hyper-alert. The pain rapidly fades, but she feels a bit too perky. She sits much straighter and starts fidgeting involuntarily, tapping the stairs. Wu shrugs. "Haven't worked out all the kinks yet. Possibly too much... nevermind."

He applies the stimpack to the cuts on her arm and packs up his kit. "There, that's all I can do for now. Let's go see the others."

Cade leads the way cautiously up the spiraling steps, three full rotations before he thinks the ceiling changes. He motions for the other to stop and looks closer, confirming in the darkness that it actually did change. It opens up, ready for them to just walk straight up. He can't see any light, but it could be almost as bright as daylight out there and he wouldn't know it, what with the walls absorbing the light and all. Stupid dar'jettise.

Geeze doc, what's in this? Kara asks, thinking back to the mission where those gangsters exposed her to spice. Come on, let's get to the others..

Cade cautiously raises his head over the lip of the next floor to take a peak and see what he can see...

"You... probably don't want to know..." Wu heaves the backpack onto his shoulders and draws his pistol, setting it to stun.

As anticipated, the chamber is huge. Cade guesses that the entire structure may be hollow, excepting the tremendous square pillars he can just barely make out, dotted around in a seemingly chaotic manner, each about four yards across. The glowing, red glyphs ring the spiral staircase, curving towards a faded, tattered red carpet fringed in gold and likewise inscribed with the runes, though these are simply embroidered into the fabric. Assuming it continues straight, the carpet leads straight to a distant red light, seemingly flame.

As Cade cautiously takes another step up the stairs, a deep voice fills the vast cavern, seemingly coming from everywhere at once: "So, they send you to kill me… They are scared of my growing power. I have waited so..." There the sound of someone inhaling deeply, then exhaling, as if enjoying a particularly powerful scent, "impatiently for your coming!" The voice breaks into a half-crazed laugh, eager and full of anticipation.

It goes silent for a moment, then starts again, speaking quickly and in a conspiratorial whisper, though that whisper is quiet loud: "I have a proposal. I will soon leave this place and take control of the galaxy, but I need transport and allies. You Mandalorians have always served the Sith, and been compensated well for it. We can bring back those days, and bring power and glory back to Mandalore. Join me, and you five will each have an entire star sector to rule as a personal kingdom. Your people will thrive once more, free to come out of the shadows, free to rule your own space. Like the Mandalorians of old, your name will strike fear into all who would oppose you." The voice breaks into another crazed laugh that stops abruptly, then begins to speak slowly and deliberately, almost sadly. "Or we can fight... and some of you will die. Maybe... maybe I will too? Or maybe not."

"What's it go-ing to be-ee..?" it singsongs, the deepness of the voice making it sound thoroughly ridiculous. "I'm waiting."

Cade sighs..figures the dar'jetti would know they were here. We were hired to escort you to the Sith actually! We just want to make sure we found the right person!

"And so you have, but I have no interest in joining whatever 'Sith' you think you are bringing me to, the Sith are extinct! Well, they were extinct until I came along. This is your last chance... join me!"

Ni mirdir kaysh cuyir dini'la.. Cade said over the private comlink. meg cuyir te dajun?

Kara's voice carried a sigh over the link. Of course he is... he have a name?

Working on it... Hey, you have a name? We can't just call you dar'jetti, right? Heck, do you even have a dar'jetti Lord name yet? Cade called into the darkness. We'll need something on the contract...

"Lord name..." He seems to mull this for a moment. "Not yet. I am Aiviovi! Preeminent Dark Lord Ascendant, and future ruler of the galaxy. You may approach my throne."

Cade guesses it's probably the thing at the end of the red carpet so conveniently laid out for them.

As they walk towards the light, the shapes begin to assert themselves out of the gloom. Sat on a dais nearly ten meters high, with a pair of red flames burning in large dishes on either side, is an angular obsidian throne, nearly four meters tall itself. From its solid base, it angles sharply up into an ornate terminus. Set in the very peak of the throne is a glowing red triangle. From his lofty perch, a male Togruta looks down on them from the throne, then stands and walks to the edge of the stairs.

Though the dim red light may befuddle the picture somewhat, his skin appears red with white pigmentation and his headtails seem to be white, striped with blue. His eyes glow with a strange yellow glint, and his grin shows off his very sharp teeth. He holds up his hand to stop them when they are still about twenty yards back, then clasps his hands behind his back and waits for one of the Mandalorians to speak first.

Cade makes a show of nodding as he scans the dais before looking up at the Jedi. Nice set up you have here Aiviovi.. Cade begins, raising a hand at the slight flare in Aiviovi's eyes. No Sith name, so not a Lord yet... And I wouldn't count on there not being at least another Sith out there. The rest of the galaxy might have forgotten about them, but Mando'ade remember, there are enough Clans left who have had history with them - from, as you said, the old days.

"The Jedi remember. I was one once, until I saw the truth of power. There may be other Sith out there, but most you may think of as Sith are mere pretenders, simpletons who think they know what power is, or think that simply disobeying the Jedi code makes you Sith. PAH!" he scoffs, "They know nothing. Those of worth will flock to me, those without will oppose me and crumble, or simply shrink into the shadows like the cockroaches they are."

He turns and reaches out towards the throne and the glowing triangle shifts, coming loose and floating towards him. It is revealed to be a tetrahedron, a red core held in black bands. He holds it out in front of himself, admiring it, as he turns back to his visitors.

"Now... about our contract."