1.11: Traitor in our Midst 3 – Battle for Sanctuary

DS Day 78-80

Where: Sanctuary – The Kathol Rift

The dark swirl of images and fears ended when Dervious and the others dropped into the bowels an alien ship. They could only assume the had reached Sanctuary. Dervious instinctively knew they had. The hunt was on. From the information Clark and his men were able to gather, the actual date of the arrival wasn’t for another few more days. Scouting out the station was going to take that long. Clarke divided up his team, and set up two-man scout teams. Dervious worked alone, and demanded to do so in this case. Despite what he was lead to believe, Dervious was never alone, thanks to a guy named Spike.

The walls and décor was an odd mesh of near-modern technology and alien technology. The Church had done well for itself. Sanctuary itself looked like nothing more than a large alien outpost, but with the modification done by the church, it had become the core holy-ground of a religion.

Dervious could feel the ghosts stirring within his bones. Voices were stirring in his head, and he did not know why. Mandalorians are supposed to be Force-blind. But lately, many voices were speaking to him in his head, and most were not his own. His memory of what exactly Mandalorians could and could not do was vague; the long hibernation he was in deteriorated many portions of his mind. However, he did at least remember that the Force was nothing more than a superstition, at least to his sect of Mandalorians.

But the voices murmured. It must be this Rift they were supposed to be floating in. The contacts they had found said that the spirits of ancient force-users still reside in the Rift, and some people could hear them. As he scouted along the strange hallways, and walked through the occasional gate, one voice called out to him and seemed to get clearer and clear as he focused on it.

‘I sense one of my own kind nearby. Could it be….’

‘It is, if you are Mandalorian. I am Warrior Commander Dervious, Second Lieutenant to Ulic Qel-Droma and commander of the third assault regiment of the Mandalorian Army at the battle for Onderon , during the Sith Wars. Who are you?’ , Dervious thought.

‘I am the Great General Kobal, Master of Kobal’s Raiders, servant to know one and conqueror of this sector centuries ago…’

One of those dead memory cells resurrected when he heard that name. He was known as the Renegade Mandalorian. He was insane, by Mandalorian standards. He lived centuries ago, disappeared after the Central Command of Mandalorian forces sent a team out to capture him. The rumor was that they met up with a Starwolf contingent, and met with an unprovoked attack. He had suspected that it was that same battle that wiped out the population on Aaris. Ever since he left that world, something haunted him about it.. Something familiar about it.

‘Where did you go? We searched for you?’

‘Yes, and they found me, as did the Kalvessan Starwolves. I made them fight each other, and in the fury, I didn’t realize I myself was in danger. I won’t make that mistake again. This Dark spirit has kept my soul alive all these centuries, awaiting a vessel. I think I found one, and I need your help to get it.’

He cast images of ceremony being prepared into Dervious’s mind…‘I think you know what this is. It’s their little ceremony to resurrect this Dark spirit. He too needs a vessel.’ An image of a body suited in armor… Dervious’s armor. ‘Yes, I see you recognize the body. This is the one called Tremayne, his dying spirit preserved by the Force Vampire in the armor.’

‘You can nave the body. Just get me there’ More images of Dervious’s team mates, fighting in the halls of Sanctuary…

‘Even now, your comrades make their move to stop the Arrival. The Church has chosen to advance the timing of the ceremony. I don’t want the body. I have a promise to keep with Him. I want the armor. I can animate the armor with my soul, and the power granted to me by Him.’

The Armor is mine…Dervious strained to not think that.

‘Fine. You have my help. You can have your vessel.’ He knew that if he didn’t agree, this spirit would do everything in his power to prevent him from killing Tremayne. ‘Help me find my way there, and help my friends regroup and reach their goal.’

‘Agreed’.

The spirit showed his to a S-CompLink, where he patched in and pulled up a map of the station. He was able to help his comrades through the winding halls from that terminal and also find his way to the central Chamber, where the ceremony was going to take place. Even now, they were prepping Tremayne’s body. He rushed to the central chamber.

‘Hurry, my enemies approach…”

His enemies? Who were they? Dervious reached the chamber in time to see out through the transpara-steel pyramid that covered the chamber, a fleet of ships… Church ships; and behind them, a small task force of … Mandalorian ships. They were a little different from what Dervious remembered, still similar to the ones he remembered. The two fleets engaged. A huge space battle ensued before him. The Sanctuary was slowly becoming a chaotic whirlwind of panic.

By that time, the ceremony, apparently rushed, was almost complete. Energies of unknown origin were swirling around the body. His armor lay on the side. Dervious made his move. When he reached the dais, the energies had cleared, as did the church sorcerers around the dais. Mandalorians had started to board Sanctuary, intent on setting charges and destroying Sanctuary. Dervious reached his armor, just as the body of Tremayne rise. They locked in combat, Mandalorian and Dark Jedi.

Clarke and his troops were fighting in the bowels against the Church, but now were finding their way off Sanctuary. Sanctuary was falling apart around them from some outside bombardment. Their mission was scrapped. Dervious was on his own.

Dervious and the newly-resurrected Tremayne were trading blow for blow. Just when he thought the Dark Jedi was down, he would return even stronger. Just as the Dome seemed to be collapsing around him from the Mandalorian attack, Dervious saw his armor move. With great effort, he delivered a stunning blow to Tremayne, and then grabbed his armor. He saw that many of the Church personnel were abandoning the station through many gates around the main chamber. He made a dash to one, before Tremayne could recover. He saw the last of the chamber collapse and large sections of the station explode, as he entered the gate.

Clarke, you’re on your own.

Something went wrong with the transit. An explosion caused the gate to send him off course. He dropped out on the bridge of the Mandalorian flagship. The Mandalorian crew stared in shock as a fellow Mandalorian dropped out of thin air.

“It is, if you are Mandalorian. I am Warrior Commander Dervious, Second Lieutenant to Ulic Qel-Droma and commander of the third assault regiment of the Mandalorian Army at the battle for Onderon , during the Sith Wars.”

“We are the Third Fleet of Clan Jedi-Hunter, hear on a duel mission. We heard that the spirit of an ancient evil was being resurrected in the Kathol Sector. We assumed it was General Kobal, and came to stop it. Also, in the name of the Clan Jedi-Hunter, we came to retrieve some lost technology left on a planet called Aaris, by our comrades in arms centuries ago. I am Captain Fierdon Mas, high commander in the Clan Jedi-Hunters space navy.”

The armor in Dervious’s armor fell limp. He let it fall to the ground to properly greet the captain.

“Can your men on the station get a few friends of mine off. His name is Clarke. He sand his men and I were hear to stop the resurrection as well.”

The Captain, in good faith, agreed, sent the order, and before long, Clarke and his men had joined them on the bridge.

The Church was falling back, and preparing for a hyperspace jump out of the Rift. The Mandalorians were relentless to the last minute. The station was collapsing around itself as escape pods sprouted from it like rats from a dying boat. Captain Mas surveyed the destruction, as his shuttles returned with the boarding parties. Reports said they found no sign of General Kobal. Something in the eye of the Captain bothered Dervious.

“We now set course for Aaris. We have something to retrieve. Dervious you are welcome to join us, but let me warn you, things have changed for the warriors of Mandalore since you were around. We have divided up into Clans and have been feuding for centuries in a far off corner of the galaxy. You must choose a clan to align with, and the Jedi hunters are the most powerful. Join us, and victory is assured.”

The Mandalorian fleet jumped into hyperspace, and soon were in orbit around Aaris.