The Hunt commences

[Victoria Dawn]

Victoria Dawn, a hard driven law enforcement officer of a secret organization known as, 'The Coruscant Strike Force Team,' founded to eradicate the Sith Vampyres of the planet, exited the refresher. The custom black leather suit she wore, conformed to her well toned salacious body, as it was slipped on like a second skin.

Reaching for her sword behind the table, given to her by her Commander, when she ascended to the rank of Sergeant, she sheathed it in its scabbard by her right hip. It was a magnificant Mandalorion iron blade, adorned with a hand carved hilt, with her organization's logo. At the belt by her left hip in its holster, rested a modified BlasTech DL-44 heavy blaster pistol. Pulling on her boots, she slid two daggers in each concealed sleeve. Sometimes she carried a nutrient backpack, harboring ysalamari, rendering Force usage useless in her perimeter, but opted to leave them behind for the brief rendezvous with her informant.

She exited her apartment, punching in the sequence lock code, and set out for the tavern down the street. Her luxuarious mane of light auburn hair, billowed effortlessly in her wake, lifted by the brisk night air. Ingressing the bar, the Sergeant scanned the vast array of inhabitants, locking eyes with Seth, her informant. She took a seat at the bar counter, and ordered a Corellian ale. Seth, a frail young man in his early twenties, cautiously approached her, casually sitting beside the officer, as they spoke in code, which to an eavesdropper, would appear as a boring conversation.

Victoria wanted the whereabouts of the local Vampyres, and nothing would stand in her way of their obliteration, by her hand. Seth spoke quietly, never getting used to her mixed colored eyes. Her right eye, an azure blue, and her left, a honey brown. She grinned as the information was relayed to her, then nodded once. Seth left the bar, leaving her alone, yet highly capable of her own defense, should a confrontation arise. Her martial arts training, presented her with a special sense for incoming danger. She sipped her ale, and waited a bit, checking the time.

[Nicholas Kain]

Nicholas had spent the night feeding for a change. Usually he was buried so far into his books that it took one of his Vampyre siblings to pull him out and remind him that he needed nourishment.

This night was different however. He wasn't sure exactly why but something had drawn him out into the night. It was indeed a perfect night to feed. A clear black sky devoid of the moon as it was in the lower part of it's cycle. A light breeze filled the warm night air with just the right coolness, and the scent of his prey.

A light off in the distance shocked him suddenly. Dawn? That couldn't be he thought to himself. He must have travelled farther than he had thought. Quickly changing directions he began moving with a speed so fast it was almost unnoticeable by the naked eye, and even if it was noticed, he was gone so fast that there was no way a mortal could see what it was.

Racing through the streets Nicholas ran past many innocents without a second thought, but suddenly something caught his eye. It was the glint off the hilt of a sword carried by a woman. She was accompanied by a smaller boy or man, he wasn't sure which.

Making a quick circle down the side streets and alleys Nicholas found himself behind them. Jumping up onto the roof of a merchant shop still closed he began following them. He figured that he was close enough to the dark side of the planet that he could follow them safely without fear of the sun and it's murderous rays.

"Who are you? He thought to himself as he stayed just far enough behind them to keep them in sight but keep himself out of danger of being detected.

[Death Knight Soth]

In a darkened alley way only meter's away, Death's eye's watched from the inky black shadow's as she left the security of her apartment's confines. Not even her specialized training could fore see the danger that was now watching her. This mortal female that thought of her self as a "Hunter" had now become the hunted! Soth's eternal eye's had been on this one for quite some time. Now the Death Knight knew exactly were she lived.

The Master Vampyre's cast shadowed moved and contorted out of sync with his physical form as he stood still, studying her every movement as she walked past on the opposite side of the street. As her own form disappeared in the crowd's of local's that made up this part of the city of Coruscant, the Dark One made his move. Moment's later his pale Vampyre hand waved slowly over the security pad to her apartment door. The Sith Magic that Soth uttered in a low tone's was "Failed Electronics." The security pad popped and fizzled, scorching the area around the metal plate that housed the control key's. Everything that Victoria Dawn held dear was now exposed to his Vampyre eye's. Everything Soth ever wanted to know about her was here at his finger tip's.

Immediately Soth sensed the ysalamari creature inside her comfortable abode, he wasted no time in casting the hideous creature as well as the nutrient frame out the window were it broke and shattered, hitting the pavement below the apartment complex. It would be only a matter of time now and then it would die, that's if the fall had not killed it first.

Soth sat with his leg's crossed as he studied the data pad's and journal's that Victoria kept, even the item's that she thought to be safe and well hidden were now his to look over at his own leisure. After Soth gathered what he needed he called to the Darkside and created a small Force gust of wind inside Victoria's apartment, making it look as though the place was broken into by more then one person rather then just one individual. The place was now in utter shamble's. Soth casually walked to the entrance of the apartment were he paused, then looking back he smiled wickedly. He then slowly bent down and sat a holo-pad message by the frame of the apartment door, one he had previously made earlier that evening...The image that Victoria would see once she received it would be a shrouded black cloaked figure, his shadowed feature's indiscernible, however his cryptic word's would leave an invitation she couldn't pass up...

"Good evening, I am Soth Nuevole m'lady. I have witnessed the one's whom have broken into your apartment this evening. The red button you now see on this data-pad will contact me as soon as it's activated. I will meet with you if you have any further inquiry's on this most unfortunate matter you have faced. The perpetrator's should be brought to justice at once. I would be more then happy m'lady to see that fulfilled." The small blue holo-figure then bow's before the transmission end's...

Now Soth would wait for Victoria Dawn from the darkened vantage point he had before she left. The cunning trap was now set and she would walk right into the jaw's of death willingly!

[Victoria Dawn]

Victoria nodded to the Barkeep, tipping him generously, as they both exchanged a wink. She then made good her departure from the bar. The nipping night air coerced her to raise the collar about her neck. The Sergeant speculated there was something uncanny with the atmosphere this evening, usually exploding with an array of people. It was far too desolated, as if a predator was on the loose. Her phenomenal senses alarmed her she was being followed, yet no one was in sight. Without warning, she spun around unholstering her DL-44, aiming it into an obscure alley.

"Who or what ever you are....I strongly advise you to back off! Or you will be the unfortunate recipient of a blaster beam from a DL-44! My friend here can create quite a cavity."

She patted the barrel of her modified weapon as if it were a cherished pet. Nothing stirred or responded to her portentous display.

"Damn nerves....I need a blasted vacation. I shall put in for some leave first thing in the morning," she grumbled to herself.

Finally reaching her apartment, Victoria's jaw dropped before the shocking exposition. Her home was in shambles, ransacked by multiple intruders, evident by the substantial damage. Cursing, she again unholstered her blaster, as she investigated further.

"Blast it! They took the Ysalamari!"

She approached the broken window, then gritted her teeth at the gory sight below. Smashed on the pavement, the helpless creatures were rotting in severed sections.

"You all are going to pay for that! They cost me a month's pay!"

Stepping back outside the door, she checked the lock. The components were demolished, but someone left a calling card. Reaching out for the holo-pad, she brought it back inside. Activating the sophisticated device, Victoria cocked a brow over her azure eye. The stranger apparently witnessed the break in, and offered his assistance.

"Soth eh? I got a bad feeling about this. Ok, Mr. Nuevole, let's see what you have to say."

Smelling a trap, her inquisitiveness got the better of her, as she depressed the red button as instructed. Thinking she should report the incident, Victoria decided against it, surmising someone else undoubtedly would take the credit, if it were a telltale sign of a Vampyre's action, perhaps ensuing with a clue to their whereabouts.

"All I need is one good kill of a high ranking Vampyre, and that Lieutenant's position is in the bag," she spoke to herself with a smirk, trying to still her nerves.

With a sigh, Victoria began the prolonged task of cleaning up the mess. Expecting the man to pay her a visit, she kept the blaster at arm's length at all times, as she trusted nobody, a trait of a seasoned law enforcer.

[Vampyre Dalamar]

" Commander you where recomended to me by the General. ""Sir... ?" the official asked quite shakely. The Warlord a high ranking officer stared at the man intently. "What do you want me to do sir." the Commander asked. "what I need from you is to promote a certain individual and give her a new assignment." "Her name is Victoria Dawn"

"Sir, Im not Victoria's commanding officer sir!" Dalamar concentraited his anger reaching out for the officers throat .... "I'll do what Iiii can, gurgle!!!" The vampyre released him and the man fell clutching his throat. "I won't let you down" the man said between exasperated gasps of air.
"I know you wont!" The room grew dark and only the gleam of Dalamar's teeth could be seen. Sometime later after Dalamar had had his evening snack he pulled out a package. The Warlord set a clothe bundle on the table before him unwrapping it carefully he handed it to the officer. "Make sure she receives this and the rank of seargent." The officer unwrapped a beautiful Mandolorian sword with the organization logo on it. The officer saluted fist to his chest and rewrapped the bundle "As you command my Master!"
The officer left and quickly did all that Dalamar had instructed him. "Soon my precious one you will belong to us" Dalamar smiled.

[Death Knight Soth]

Two silhouetted men now stood at Victoria's open door way as the light to her apartment entrance outlined their form's. Soth as well as Nicholas Kain stepped in as the woman tried to rummage through her belonging's, looking for anything that was still salvageable and undamaged. Soth purposely stepped on a piece of broken glass to alert Victoria of their presence. The woman spun around immediately and was now brandishing a heavy blaster pistol.

"Forgive me m'lady if my friend and I startled you. I was not far away when I received your transmission call." Soth let his eye's slowly scan the destruction of the room he had caused. Shaking his head his eye's trailed once again to Victoria. Her pistol was still trained on them...Soth as well as Kain could have easily taken the gun from her but they were here for another purpose...To gain her trust. If that failed, they would take her by force!

"My apologies, how rude of me. His is Nicholas and I am Soth Nuevole m'lady." Soth gestured with his left hand to Kain.

"My sympathy for your most unfortunate loss." Soth word's were calm and even as he finished. The two Vampyre's had hidden and masked their true nature through the force for now. Victoria would have no hint or indication of what they were,...Children of Damned!

The very one's that she prided herself on hunting down and destroying were now right under her nose and she knew it not. The question now was, why were they there? Why this woman of all people? What did they want with her?... However, one thing was for curtain, if Victoria Dawn was to be a victim of their blood thirst she would have never made it thus far. Her precious life's blood would have spilled as soon as she stepped forth from the tavern block's away.

[Victoria Dawn]

Training her blaster on them as she was in the foulest of moods, she let him speak.

"Soth..So you are my witness, and I see you brought a friend. Why trouble yourself? I find no one helps anyone these days unless there is a profit involved. What is your motive? And don't give me the good samaritan Rancor fodder. Chivalry is long dead."

She paused, eyeing the two, her finger tickling the trigger, ready to depress it at any signs of aggression.

[Death Knight Soth]

Soth gave Kain a half hearted glance as a cocky grin inched it's way across his face. Kain's face was emotionless as he eye'd the armed woman. The Death Knight let his fierce blue eye's trail slowly back over to the huntress. There was more then one way to skin a Roon Cat and Soth had just the thing in mind to see it through...Deception!

Soth casually inched his way closer to the recliner chair were he sat an hour and a half before Victoria had returned to her tattered apartment. He picked up a broken object that was laying on the counter as if he were interested in it for the time being. His eye's were now diverted from Victoria, however, he was well aware of her desperate disposition and the shaky trigger finger that was dying to let off a round if either one of the men made a sudden foolish move towards her. Tossing the broken cylindrical object back to the counter, Soth turned his attention back to the woman that was now holding the blaster pistol with both hand's. Soth folded his hand's in front of him as the black sleeve's of his Sith robe concealed them. Soth then slightly cocked his head to one side as his eye's met with Victoria's once again.

"The one's that destroyed your apartment this evening m'lady...Well, my associate and myself are also interested in as well. And if I may, I wish to enlighten you on who,...or better yet what they truly are." Soth paused, letting his word's soak in her mind as he continued to look over the muzzle of her heavy blaster pistol into her eye's. Victoria didn't flinch or blink as Soth continued.

"Why they have chosen to do this to you is still questionable. However, we've come to the conclusion that you must know or have something they want. These being's are not what you would call...Human!" Soth's face became stoic as he continued.

"And as you can imagine, there not to be taken lightly or underestimated m'lady...This you can be assured of...And know this...They are killer's! Predator's that pray on the innocent, killing indiscriminately as they see fit. You would far best to stat on your guard...Soth's eye's narrowed at the pistol in Victoria's hand's"

"And this brings me to the point where our path's have crossed m'lady...We wish to eliminate their kind, put an end once and for all the carnage they continue to reek across the known galaxy! Of course that is something you'll have to leave in our hand's...My counterpart and I have discovered their hive, their breeding ground if you will." Soth then turned to leave. He had given the woman all the information that she needed to know. Whether she would take the bait or not was yet left to be seen.

As Soth neared the entrance of the apartment where Kain still stood, he turned once more to Victoria. "You have my holo-number. I won't detain you further m'lady. If you wish to contact me, feel free to do so." Soth hesitated briefly hoping she would take the tantalizing bait...

[Victoria Dawn]

Holstering her weapon as she set the safety, convinced of Soth's sincerity, she advanced towards them both with an undaunting air.

"Wait..You know of the Vampyres? Please come back in. Excuse my behavior, but one can never tell these days who is on the level. Only we law enforcers and the rogue Hunters know of their vile kind. I surmise you or a friend have encountered one of the cretins. I highly doubt you two are those cryptic creatures because I know for a fact they lack patience in the kill, and we would already have been at each other's throats in a battle to the death."

She gestured for them to take a seat as she slid the junk off her sofa. Victoria then grabbed a seat for hersef straddling it backwards, her arms leaning on the back rest.

"Tell me of this area they infest. I will make it worth your while. I have access to vast amounts of credits for reliable information. My informants are well paid."

She averted her gaze towards Kain.

"Quiet that one. Is something wrong with him? Was he attacked by a Vamp?"

Victoria's adrenaline was flowing at its thirsting peak. She thought at last she had the lead she had been relentlessly searching for all these months. This man Soth was too much of a gentleman to be a spy for the Vamps. They employed the lowest of scum for their foul deeds. But she needed to be convinced of the honorable intentions of his accomplice.

"Well...What say you of all this?" she asked demandingly of Kain.

[Nicholas Kain]

Kain bit his tongue. He wanted nothing more than to growl and rip this mortals head off. Why Soth had brought him along he was still unsure. Soth knew his feelings towards mortals... But he had and now he had to answer her question, and worse than that he had to pretend to be a mortal.

Choking down the growl that was forming in his throat Kain began to speak in a monotone voice that would still send chills through the air.

"I say nothing. He's the brains, I'm the brawn. I do what I'm told and if some of them happen to get hurt in the process, I have no problem with that."

His deep brown eyes stared holes right through her. If Soth was going to deceive her then so was he. If she believed that he was all brawn and no brain then she deserved to die, which she would do whether she bought his deception or not.

[Victoria Dawn]

Victoria nodded to Nicholas, feeling his discomfort and agitation.

"The loyal words of a dedicated bodyguard. But wouldn't both attributes of brains and brawn be advantageous in your field of expertise? I have known many guards who had possessed far more intelligence than their employers, yet declined to expose this side of themselves, as it would undoubtedly compromise their jobs by making their bosses lose face. They died needlessly for the idiots they served, whom could obviously not defend themselves in a battle."

Victoria felt the tension ease in the room a bit, thinking the compliment she accorded Kain helped him relax. She could be a smooth talker when the situation demanded it of her.

"I, on the other hand, have no need for a bodyguard," she added confidently.

Her eyes then fell onto Soth.

"I am not doubting your abilities of a capable defense, Soth. In times like these, backups are essential. I speak only of some of my fellow law enforcers who could use some training in the art of warfare, but are too blasted lazy, relying on hired muscle instead."

Victoria held contempt for a particular Captain she felt had no right to his high position of rank, as he couldn't even fend off a paper cut. She took a deep breath composing herself once again.

"It may be beneficial for us both if we team up for this venture into their refuge. I feel you both are as eager as me to annihilate the Vampyres." she waited for Soth's response in her typical cool bearing.

[Death Knight Soth]

Soth stood silent as the woman rattled off a few meaningless thing's from her apparent past...The Death Knight could faintly hear Kain's leather gloves grown as he clenched a fist. This mortal woman had no idea how close she was to death! Soth knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if he where not present now, Kain would have already murdered the woman were she stood. The Vampyre master delved deep into Kain's mind as Victoria continued to talk.

"Kain my brother...Patient's, her warm blood will be ours soon enough. We will lead her back to the Shrine. There, we shall take her life!...She will then become as we are." Soth's smooth word's washed over Nicholas mind in cool wave's...But his hate for the mortal woman Soth was sensing from him only subside for the moment. He knew Kain well...If his plan was to work, they would both have to move fast. Soth himself envisioned Victoria's warm blood running over his wanting lip's as well, time was now of the essence or he too would sarcoma to the blood lust that was now calling him.


"Yes, indeed...Team up. One cannot be to careful when dealing with the like's of theses nocturnal creature's." Soth let a polite smile slip across his face as his crystal blue eye's sparkled.

[Victoria Dawn]

"Its settled then."

Victoria stood up from her seat swinging her leg over. Her eyes then narrowed on the two.

"If this is a trap, don't underestimate my wrath or my seasoned cababilities to defend myself. So far you earned my trust, but beware of me. I am well trained, and can kill a man in less than a second." she winked as she gestured them to follow her.

Victoria lowered to sheath her sword in its scabbard as she exited the door.

''You coming or what? We have Vamps to slay," she uttered with an intrepid air.

[Death Knight Soth]

The Death Knight slightly bowed as Victoria squeezed between the two men. Soth then glanced over to Nicholas, his blue eye's narrowing a bit as she passed them. Soth then turned to the woman as she glanced back at them.

Victoria: ''You coming or what? We have Vamps to slay," she uttered with an intrepid air.

The two Vampyre's hesitated for a brief moment then exited the apartment. Soth then walked up to Victoria and stood only inches from her. She could see into his piercing blue eye's now. However they told her nothing, only her bent reflection stared back at her in the Death Knight's eye's. Death had no mirrors to it's soul...Only a dreaded emptiness that had no end, nor a beginning when looking upon.

"Before we depart m'lady...Perhaps I should give you this..." The Death knight then reached for a Nava-Pad from under the folds of his black robe. Placing it in her hand he continued.

"Here are the designated jump sequences you well need to find the "Hive" I mentioned to you earlier. If you become lost, send a hailing beacon as soon as you reach the coordinates I placed within this data-pad...This desolate place on the lower hemisphere on your ship's star chart is know as Roon. I must also warn you,...Be mindful m'lady of your approach and your planetary entry...Roon is surrounded by a churning sea of seenth-glass and asteroid debris. If you have ray shielding, I would suggest you use them to their fullest. Many a seasoned pilot have lost their lives trying to navigate it's unpredictable field's...What some call the "Cloak Of the Sith." Soth paused for a brief moment, letting all the valuable information sink in to the woman mind.

"Once we rondejvue on the planet's surface, I will lead us to the Hive. " Soth then let go of the black data pad that he had just placed in Victoria's hand. His marble like face held no expression as he continued.

"Our ship is not far from here...Docking bay 964G. We will leave at once... My hailing frequency is also uploaded as well on the data-pad you now posses. I trust you will keep in contact with us throughout the journey m'lady. Until then...Fair well." Soth and Nicholas then walked past the woman...Death was now closer then ever!

[Victoria Dawn]

Victoria's pilot Seth, who also doubled as her chief informant, took a side-wise glance at the Law Enforcer. Her hands were gripping the sides of her seat, her apparent apathy for space travel sketched on her face as it took on a palor white. Victoria swore as she felt him staring at her.

"Seth just fly this blasted ship! Did you punch in the jump sequence yet?"

Seth grinned at her. "Nothing to worry about Vic, as long as your friends have given me the correct coordinates."

He sat back smugly in the pilot's seat, loving the whole ordeal. Seth relished the fact he was in control for once, contrary to how it was on the ground when he must report to Victoria at her beckon call, being forced to walk through alleyways he would rather not trespass. In his ship, he was the Captain, and with the state-of-the-art modifications he added to his floating fortress, he was one to be reckoned with.

"Hyper-drive activated." Seth commented with an authoritive air.

The ship jetted off to the blue-white depths of hyperspace, the stars careening past them like a misty white blur. As they arrived in orbit around the planet Roon, Seth activated the shields and armed the proton torpedos. Before Victoria could voice her alarm at the charging army of rocks, Seth was navigating through the asteroid field like the professional he was. He blasted away the larger ones, as the small debris skipped off the well fortified forward shield.

"I feel sick Seth, I got to get up!" she spoke weakly.

Seth shook his head.."Take it easy Vic, we are almost there. Stay buckled up, this isn't over yet."

Enduring more snap and barrel rolls, Victoria felt like heaving the contents of her dinner. She admired Seth's capabilities of one of the best pilots around, yet could not stand much more pelting by the asterorids; her nerves shattered past repair.

"Coming up on the seenth-glass", Seth commented, smirking at the challenge.

He avoided the obstacles with fluid grace, enacting his ship into maneuvers that would mind boggle an audience.

"We are here Vic, you can open your eyes now," he chuckled.

Victoria was introduced to a fog-like vista that sent a coil of fear wrapping around her spine. She summoned her courage at the thought of finally being on the ground again, and her typical brazen deportment settled onto her like a welcomed companion.

"Great job Seth!" she said with relief.

Seth nodded once beaming at his accomplishment. A suitable landing site was located on the HUD. Activating the repulsor lift coils, the ship hovered to the loam with hardly a shudder as he disengaged the engine. Unbuckling as she rose to a stance, Victoria was already arming herself with her BlasTech E-11 blaster carbine, a DL-44 heavy blaster pistol she slid into her holster at her left hip, and her signature sword, sheathed in its scabbard by her right. She attached three thermal detonators at her belt.

"Seth help me with this would you?" she asked demandingly.

He picked up the ysalamari nurtientpack, as he slid it around her shoulders, resting the bulk on her back. Vic had the creatures on loan from a good friend she had already owed an ample amount of credits. She promised him after this job, her abundant reward would more than pay him back for the wait, which she was willing to double.

"Stay with the ship Seth, this should only take a little while." she ordered.

Seth groaned not liking the idea of her going without backup, but he would only get in the way. He was a pilot, not a warrior.

Activating the hailing frequency on her Nava-Pad for Soth, Vic awaited some response as she started on her trek for the Hive. The fact she had the advantage of ysalamari and was heavily armed, boosted her fortitude in the exposed plight she was engrossed in.

[Death Knight Soth]

The mouth of evil awaited it's quarry with a patient eye. It was now night fall as the rear engine's could be seen against the black back drop of the sky nearing the Shrine of the Damned. The Death Knight and his companion Nichols Kain watched as the retro's fired on the approaching vessel, indicating a near landing to the beacon device Soth had sent out to the craft prior to their entry...Soth smiled from under his Black Rose helm as the landing gear of the craft Victoria was on touched ground...The Death Knight immediately felt another presence with the woman on board...To Soth it was only a minor technicality. Soth glanced over to Kain as the outlander's engine's whined to a stop.

"Two for the price of one my brother." The Death Knight word's were tipped with evil as he spoke to Kain's mind.

"The man on board that I sense my brother...Take care of him...And I will see to it personally that I lead the woman away from what we both know must be done." Soth paused as he glanced back to the craft as it's large landing ramp began to open.

"I will taste her blood this night my friend...She is now in our eternal hand's!" The smile of satisfaction was not noted by Kain under Soth's cryo-helm, however Nicholas knew it to be there as his own teeth glistened in the pale blue moon lite of Roon. The smell of Death blew gently on the night air, ushering in a night of carnage that was soon to take place!

[Victoria Dawn]

Speaking into her comlink, Victoria felt the dire need to hail her pilot.

"Seth! Do you copy?!"

A deep sigh followed as he punched in his reply.

"Affirmative Sergeant. Anything wrong?"

"Negative. . .but I got a bad feeling, and you know how my premonitions tend to come true. Keep your scanners on full alert!"

"Copy Sarge. Seth out."

Victoria treked on further, as the accumalation of fog was obscuring her vision.

"Blast it! Where in the blazes is that Soth?! I must be a fool do be out her alone!"

Unslinging her Blastech E-11 blaster rifle, she held it in its fully closed position, the stock folded for close attack fighting. Flicking the safety to kill, she swung it cautiously from left to right, defending both her flanks should she be jumped in an ambush.

"Hutt-spit! I hate this fog! Soth where in the blazes are you?! Blasted navi-pad is a piece of space junk."

Muttering curses, the law enforcer moved into what appeared to be a clearing to the west.

"Ah. . .Maybe that's it," she spoke with obvious relief.

[Death Knight Soth]

And it was...! She had stumbled upon the house of death and misfortune. Alone in an obscuring fog that kept her on edge as she panned from side to side. Her mortal seance's were now out of place as Victoria would soon find out. What she faced was not only on the ground's of evil...But an element that far exceeded her wildest dream's!...

As Victoria reluctantly pressed on through the dense fog that caused the hair's on her arm's to stand on end...The bad feeling Victoria felt was fates way of saying that death awaited her in this unholy place of evil...Into the mouth of Death she lingered...

Without warning, Victoria body was smashed to the ground from behind her...Her Blastech rifle fired off in rapid secession to her rear assault as she fell to the moist ground in a heap...The being that viciously attacked her from behind held her with an ungodly strength as she tried feebly to free herself, but to no avail! Wicked sharp teeth tore into the delicate flesh of her neck as she struggled...Victoria could feel her life force being rapidly drained from her...Panic set in on her mind as scene's of her life flashed before her eye's...How could this happen to a seasoned officer...Was this how it would all end?...On a lonely planet far from her home?

After a few moment's, all was quite...She had now been drained of her life's essence to the point of death...Victoria's breath became more labored as she lay there without the strength to even move...She could smell the aroma of the wet earth in her flaring nostrils as she laid face down, trying not to slip into unconsciousness as her eye's grew heavy...Moment's later she could feel her limp body being rolled over by the creature or being that had attacked her...Victoria knew what was happening...She had fallen victim to the one thing she detested and hated...The wound on her neck told her fading mind that alone...The kiss of the Vampyre had laid it's claim upon her...

As Victoria rolled to her back, she tried to focus on the dark form that was now hovering over her...The fog that tainted her vision and the deadly bite she had received obscured her senses even further...She could only listen in horror as the breath of the one above her drew closer to her face...

"You are dying Victoria...Is this what will become of you?...She knew immediately who her attacker was...It was Soth!...His word's were smooth and even as he continued to speak to her mind...Even her own precaution's she had planned...Her tactical training could not stop the inevitable...Victoria had been betrayed, falling for the oldest trick in the book...But her mind and body was to weary to ponder that now...To think about her mistake's when she now resided in the grip's of Death it's self!

"I will give you the choice I never had M'lady...To live again...To live without ever being sick again nor to ever die a second death...Do you care to see your loved one's again,...Your friend's Victoria? Soth's word's held a mocking tone as he spoke in her mind...

"Or I can leave you her to slowly dwindle in death's embrace in this cold place were none would ever know...It is all quite simple m'lady...Yes or no will be sufficient!" The Death Knight's cold word's stung her confused mind...Would she give it all away now just for the sake of pride?

[Victoria Dawn]

Attempting in vain to make her speech audible, tried every last foundation of her dwindling energy. Her eyes were glazed over from the effects of massive blood loss, her skin paled as it was denied the interior of her vital fluids.

"Friends? I am a woman in a man's world. What use have I with companions? I was orphaned. I am alone. If I die, so be it. My friends are my weapons I utilized with my life's vow to destroy the lot of your viled kind. I will fight you and your consorts to my last dying breath. I shall see you in hell's embrace before I allow myself to fall prey to walk the earth as a living corpse. You have your answer vamprye."

Victoria slowly took out a hypo-syringe concealed in her shirt's sleeve, as she pressed it to her neck, the spray filling her with anti-shock and stimulants to hold on further. The result accorded her with enough strength to unsheath her sword from its scabbard. She could only sit up to a kneeling position, raising the magnificent mandalorion iron sword with both hands gripping the hilt, eyeing the towering facade of her executioner, expecting her death to come as swiftly as the bolt from an E-11 rifle.

"You have honor. That much is apparent. Let me at least die the death of a warrior in battle." Victoria spoke between labored breaths, her arms shaking from the weight of the blade.

[Death Knight Soth]

The Death Knight found admiration in the woman's dying word's. There was no plea or dishonor in the way in which Victoria choose to die. It was the way of the warrior, to die an honorable death, a last engagement before the fold's of death fell on her fading eye's...Soth would grant her this privilege, Victoria was right when she seen in him the sliver of what was once there. Soth's nobility was noted well.

The Death Knight backed off a few paces from Victoria as she wobbled to her feet. The dying woman periodically steadied herself with the tip of her elaborate sword. There was a sudden hiss as one of the blade's of Soth's duel green saber's ignited to life. The Death Knight brought the blade vertically within inches of his face as he saluted Victoria. Moment's later the other twin blade stretched to it's full length below the hilt as they became one. The wicked green blade's cast an errie glow that accentuated the beveled tooling on the Death Knight's ancient Black Rose armor. From a time when Soth himself had formed the Order and served the great Sith Master, Exar-Kunn.

The dense fog wafted past the two combatant's as Victoria gasped for her final few breath's. Soth knew damn well this woman had not in her the strength to fight for long...It would soon be all over before it ever began.

"So be it..." Soth's ivory fang's glistened as he grimaced at Victoria. The Death Knight brought his saber's down to a relaxed position as to bait the woman's frontal attack on him. With the last of her strength, Victoria lunged at the Death Knight that was only feet from her. Time in that moment moved so slowly in her mind...Her hand's gripped the Mandalorian weapon as she desperately reached for a target that was no longer there. The Dark Knight pivoted from her lethal blade and spun in a low three hundred and sixty degree arch. Soth extended his right fore arm were his sickly green blade passed cleanly through Victoria's waist, coming out the other side as the woman was cut in twine. Soth paused in his finishing stance as the two half's of the woman made a sickly thud to the moist ground...It was finished...Victoria had fought gallantly and her wish was now fulfilled.

The Death Knight reached down to the woman's still twitching finger's and relieved the Mandalorian hilt from her grasp...He stood for long moment's with his back to the fallen woman in deep thought.

"You would have been a great Vampyre Victoria...But your heart would have never excepted it's fate." Soth spoke in low tone's as he brought Victoria's Mandalorian blade to his forehead were it rested in a final salute to her honor.

"Perhaps in another life my dear Victoria...Perhaps in another life..." Soth then quickly brought the silver blade down at a forty-five degree angel were it rested outstretched at his side.

Darkness then faded into back as the Death Knight's armored form was covered by the wisp's of fog that rolled in. The ground on which the two fought was sacred to Soth...No living green thing nor any creature would ever survive if it ever tread this hallowed ground...That was the curse the Knight of the Black Rose Order commanded...Forever would it linger!