Flight to Taris and The Secret Files

[Pathos Garrison]

Open roleplay.


<CENTER>Prologue</CENTER>

Over five thousand years ago, there lived a man of terrible power and reputation; his name was Marka Ragnos, the first of the Dark Lords to plunder the galaxy with his wicked ways and evil teachings. His followers, the Sith, provided him with the numbers needed to go about his intentions of galactic domination. In time he fell and another stepped up in his place with the same malicious intentions and thus he went about fulfilling his predecessors’ goals until the Forces of Light would once again rise up to this new evil and destroy it. This has always been the will of the Force; the battle between good and evil in the perpetual struggle to find balance.

After the third Dark Lord met his end there came in his place a Dark Jedi known as Freedon Nadd. The fourth of the great Sith Lords called upon the Heathen Gods and asked for the strength to lead his people to victory over his enemies so that the glorious Golden Age may at last be realised. Nadd didn’t live to witness this day but it is believed that on the eve of his death, he made a prophesy that one day his predecessors would rise up and restore the Sith Empire to glory and bring about the coming of a second Golden Age.

My people and I have feared the coming of the great Dark Lords and have kept the ancient prophesy a closely guarded secret even to this day when such dark times are mere memories. We are the Trinumen Brotherhood. Our Order has ventured from planet to planet over the centuries until at last we arrived at our final destination, Coruscant, the galaxy’s capital. It is here we built our great monastery where we continue to practice our traditions and take on worthy candidates to uphold our ways and guard the ancient secrets. I am Cleric Garrison, Pathos Garrison, the high priest charged with the protection of our most important possession; the Secret Files.

[Gav Mortis]

There was an explosion; a thunderous booming which shook the very foundations of the Trinumen Monastery and ripped its large blast doors apart; through the thick, black smoke appeared a host of heavily armed mercenaries and, in remaining true to their ruthless kind, opened fire before those inside had a moment to react. The defenceless either fled for their lives or fell to the ground already full of smoking holes and those who resisted failed to last very long against the highly-trained killers already sweeping the main hall and branching off into squads of three down the empty halls.

Sirens wailed, drowning out the agonised cries of the injured, whose blood-stained robes and ceremonial garb had provided little protection from hails of blaster fire. The dead littered the duracrete floor, channels of red forming in the ornate designs carved into its surface while the mercenaries stomped upon the lifeless limbs and torsos without a second thought. They had emptied the entrance hall of all opposition and at its centre stood a man carrying a small metal cylinder and bearing no sign of armour besides a long, black cloak. In his other hand was a comlink, which he brought to his lips as he headed toward the largest of the five chambers and barked out a number of brief commands.

“Remember the plan, leave none alive save for the Keeper; find him and fast. We have five minutes before the authorities arrive and we have the security systems to bypass too which should in operation right about—“

Behind him, an enormous blast door sealed off the main entrance through which he and his team had arrived, durasteel plates simultaneously closed over every window in the building and in blocking out all sunlight, the intruders were left with the dim red alert lighting in which to work and up ahead, they would have to deal with force fields, armour-plated doors and automated turrets. Thankfully, this had been anticipated and they had Phase 2 to depend upon now. Gav’s gloved finger pressed against the comlink once more.

“Garrett, this is your time to shine; take your men to the nearest control console and sort out the security. And keep your eyes open for the priest.”

[Garrett Blade]

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Gav had barely took his finger off the comlink button when the roar of engines could be heard. A small, though heavily armed, freighter skimmed the rooftops as it blasted its way towards the monastery. It manoeuvred between buildings until it came to the rear of the monastery, then descended into the grassy courtyard surrounded by the cloister. After a rather abrupt landing the freighter loading doors shot open to release 12 men followed by a larger, broader man wielding an eight-foot long shaft of metal with a foot at each end being slightly thicker than the rest of it. The group made their way inside the monastery with little fuss. Executing monks as they went about their efficient routine-like sweep of the section they were in, they spoke only in hand gestures and head nods. Once the level was secure they regrouped at the first blast door. The large beheamoth removed his headwear covering his features and addressed all of them.

'Find the security room for this section as well as the central comm room. We'll proceed from there. And be sure who you're shooting at - the old man is mine!'

[Pathos Garrison]

“Brothers, flee! Save yourselves for this is the hour we have feared. Run!” I cried fearfully, flailing clumsily with my heavy robes causing an obstruction as I navigated the oncoming torrent of monastery personnel, all running in the opposite direction. A wincing feeling of regret rises in the pit of my stomach as I consider the task ahead of me, this I brush aside and with a deep breath step into a turbolift at the end of the corridor. The doors slide shut and the last thing I see is the backs of my brethren, running to salvation from the attacking menace. “Oh Watcher, save me this day.”

A tired whining tells me that the turbolift had come to a halt and the automated voice asking me to declare my name and security clearance confirmed that I had arrived at my destination; the Sacred Chamber. The audio scanner confirms my identity, the doors open once more and I am granted access a place where only I, the Keeper, am allowed to venture. It had been many years since I’d last entered the Sacred Chamber and I had been hoping it would be many years before I would ever have to come here again.

The sounds of sirens and explosions didn’t reach these halls and thankful for small graces, I head down a hallway, my feet tapping lightly against blue marble as I recall the security systems I would have to clear before I could reach the Secret Files. Quickening my pace, I hop into a steady jog, hoping my task will be over soon.