The engine of the speeder groaned as it was pushed to its limits, sending the vehicle flying across the landscape, away from a large canyon that provided something of a border between the twin cities of Radnor. Sage sat in the driver’s seat of the six seat, topless speeder, his hair blowing wildly in his face, his mask off, tied neatly to his belt, and his hood fluttering behind his neck along with any loose cloth from his armored robes. Beside him sat an all too familiar face, the ever lovely Selena Tane, a human jedi knight he’d met long ago on Coruscant. She was something of a prodigy, having completed her trials just a year younger than when he had, and many years younger than most. He’d seen her many times since, mostly due to the connection their padawans shared. Beside her sat another jedi that Sage had only ever met thrice during his career, a Jedi Knight named Arcturas Lazarus. From what he knew, the rather slender human male was a Consular, and thus led a far different life in the order than he did. The man probably saw little to no combat and would probably be left to do all the talking, if there was any to be had.
And, of course, the padawan learners were sitting in the back, each behind their respective master. Empathy, a young twi’lek and the youngest of the group, sat behind her master, Arcturas. Maranwe, a young eliaquarian and probably the less trouble making of the apprentices, sat behind her master, Selena. And finally Lenwe, Sage’s troublesome apprentice sat directly behind him, most likely staring at Maranwe the entire trip to the silent city. His own apprentice was the worst behaved padawan he’d ever met, having beaten his own record for mischief long ago. The young eliaquarian had put him through the most trying years of his life. Just raising him had been harder than any other mission the jedi or even his mandalorian family had put him through, and it had only gotten worse since puberty had gotten into full swing.

Sage shivered at that thought, doing his best to rid himself of the images and the memories as they sped along the small continent, towards Aubendo, the city that had gone silent. They’d been asked by the minister of Tacto, Aubendo’s twin city, to venture to Aubendo to see why all communication, even that between the loved ones of the cities, had gone silent. It had been a fortnight since the sister city had been heard from, and the worst was feared, whatever the worst might be. It was possible that the city was just undergoing some sort of power failure, or maybe something had happened to their communications grid. Still, it was possible that something sinister had occurred that might actually warrant their presence.

Lenwe sat quietly; observing his surroundings well more like he was observing Maranwe. Maranwe; his bride to be if they had not been force sensitive. He let his eyes linger on her for a few more moments, before he turned his attention to the front of the speeder and the direction they were going. He really hadn't been paying attention, to him it was another chance to test the skills he had been taught, another reason for him to think of possible pranks to pull on his master. Oh how he did enjoy his pranks, another great thing about having Sage as a master, the more his master put him through, the stronger he grew; and the stronger he grew the better his abilities got; and the better his abilities got; the more he could use the force in his pranks and cause even more mayhem amongst his peers. He sighed with nostalgia shaking his head with a smile as he tapped Sage's shoulder. "Are we there yet, my legs are getting cramps and I'd really like to stretch, you know I can't sit still for to long master, or it gives me just long enough to plot something that's going to cause you a headache for the rest of the day."

He said it with a wide smile on his face unable to help himself, Sage made it quite to easy, the male was so tight-laced, it was almost to easy to get under his skin, even if it meant just doing something small as say, shaving his head, or even possibly running off with his robes while he was in the shower, such fun jokes and so easy to get to Sage, then again he tried his hardest to; so it would make sense that he did get to him quite often, he sat back a bit squirming a little trying to get more comfortable, there were only six people here, and he already felt to crowded; well other then Maranwe, she could stay near him for as long as she wanted. He smiled at this thought, though he knew it'd be a bad idea to linger on such thoughts, so without much delay he returned his vision to the landscape that continued to fly past them.

His thoughts now actually on the mission; his left hand resting on the hilt of one of his saber, his mind wandering to the actual problems that could occur, no contact with Aubendo, asked by Tacto to find out what the problem was, he'd never really liked the idea of missions where they walked into possible traps and the like. He rubbed at his chin as his mind wandered to the past again. He had been dropped off into caves infested with horny krayt dragons, hungry rancors, oh and cargo holds with baby rancors and no lightsaber. Sage was a very hard master to be a padawan too, then again it had doubled his skills in the five years he'd been under his tutelage, though not without some overall scarring on some subjects of his life; he himself shivered just like his master as he shook the thoughts from his head, and for once sat back staring off into the distance of the background speeding by without saying a word.

Selena Tane hated cramped places. Even worse, the young Jedi hated crowded places. The speeder that the group of Jedi were currently in was a horrific combination of both. Selena found herself squished in between two fellow masters, Sage Faustian and Arcturas Lazarus. Every so often, she would squirm to silently remind the two of them that she was uncomfortable. She'd only recently met Arcturas on their trip to Radnor, and despite what the Jedi taught of compassion, disliked him from the get go. He was exactly the kind of uptight, "lets talk it over" type of Jedi that rubbed her the wrong way. Regardless, he was the eldest and thus the unofficial patron of the group, so as long as he didn't boss her around overmuch, she would endure it.

Sage, on the other hand, was more her type. He was young; only three years her senior; and they shared a similar dislike for authority. Beyond that, they'd spent several years as friends due to the bond that their padawans shared; a bond that Selena know was borderline or partially romantic. She'd told Maranwe once when she first learned of the two padawan's relationship that she couldn't go sleeping around if she wanted to be a full Jedi, and figured that that was enough.

Pulling her from her thoughts, Lenwe's voice broke the dull sound of the wind.
"Are we there yet, my legs are getting cramps and I'd really like to stretch, you know I can't sit still for to long master, or it gives me just long enough to plot something that's going to cause you a headache for the rest of the day."

Selena glanced back at the boy, then turned to look at Sage, and spoke.
"Yes, master Faustian." She addressed him formally, with a slight mocking tone, "I am also feeling a little cramped. Are you sure you've not put on weight since we last met?" She squirmed again, this time freeing her arms and stretching them upwards. She felt a pop in her elbow and let out a quiet sigh, then turned to await Sage's answer.

Maranwe felt rather cramped up in the speeder, namely because she felt like the others in the vehicle seemed made it feel smaller than it actually was. Though, she didn't think on it much, finding that the more she thought on the fact that she was cramped, the more she felt cramped. Instead she focused on thinking of what could have possibly put the city into silence. It wasn't so much that she generally cared what had happened to the people there, more so she was curious as to if there would be any people there to blame, ones that she would get the chance to attack. Or if something had happened and they had all gone away before they could get there. Her eyes narrowed at nothing just at the thought; the possibly of not being able to fight something always seemed to annoy her, more to the point of anger.

Though, before she could think any farther on those thoughts, she heard Lenwe comment, asking if they were there yet. She looked over to him, laughing a bit as he commented about it being long enough to give him time to plot something to give Sage a headache. It found it a bit amusing when he would mess with Sage, even though she was far from a fan of jokes and pranks. She wasn't really the biggest fan of anyone else in the speeder, though she was sure they all knew that, seeing as she wasn't one to hide exactly how she felt towards someone if she didn't like them.

Though, as Selena commented about Sage gained weight, she inwardly snickered and looked off out of the speeder, her eyes looking on ahead of it. It would be obvious to anyone who cared to notice that she was overly anxious to get out of the vehicle and actually find out what exactly was going on in the city. Her fingers strumming anxiously along her knees as she waited to hear if they were there yet, a loud, overly dramatic sigh escaped her lips; obviously aimed towards saying that she wanted to finally get out as well.

Sage sighed as his young padawan tapped on his shoulder, his nail tapping against his beskar armor resulting in a nice clink as he did, and made his snide little remark about being cramped. Then of course came his mention of the trip giving him time to plot his next scheme to infuriate Sage. Apparently his past few punishments hadn’t nearly been enough to keep him from plotting more…
Then came Selena’s comment, and her padawan’s snickering. Well, it would appear that everyone was ganging up on him now. Wasn’t that just great? Now, if only Selena was someone he wouldn’t mind offending.. He’d have a fairly good come back.. But he actually liked her decently enough, and didn’t want this mission to be the last of their more pleasant interactions. He would also imagine that Lenwe would be rather upset if his little lover was kept at a distance simply because of the displeasure between masters…

“I have not, master Tane.” He said, addressing her formally in return. “I am sorry I couldn’t get a larger speeder, but this was the largest they had to offer. The Radnorians are rather small compared to us…” He gave an audible sigh before speaking again. “However, if you are all feeling too cramped and would like to stretch for a bit, we can stop and have a rest from this rather lengthy ride. However,” He said, glancing back at his young, and rather impatient apprentice, “If we stop, Lenwe and I will be continuing the training we left off at when we arrived. It would appear that his Shien still needs work.”
Sage turned his gaze back to the area before the speeder, glancing every so often at the small radial map next to the controls to make sure they were taking the path the minister’s men had programmed in for them. It would be a shame if they went off course due to the various distractions.

Arcturas was silent during the majority of the trip, hands resting on the head of his cane, eyes closed in meditation. It wasn't a matter of being unhappy or in a higher than thou art mood, he was just focusing and composing himself for the upcoming mission. Being the sole Consular meant he would probably be looked down upon for his apparent pacifism. He merely preferred to talk and reason before resorting to something so crude and, well, easy to resort to as violence. It is an easy and quick route to get one what wants, but can just as easily fail. The other two masters along for the ride were Sage, a fellow he had met on a few occasions before now. A Guardian and one who was quick to use a lightsaber to solve problems. That had its places, and he was good at it, so he remained on agreeable terms with the man. The woman stuck between them was, from the greetings, a Ms. Selena Tane. He had gotten the impression she did not like him terribly much, but so long as they could at least work together, that much would be fine. General complaints came from the padawans in the back seat about the cramped quarters. Empathy hadn't said anything yet, his own padawan due to her having burned through several masters at this point. The other two, Lenwe and Maranwe, followed Sage and Selena. Having mentally taken stock of the group he was working with, he finally opened his eyes and shifted again, attempting to at least give Ms. Tane some room to move. Sage, the current pilot of the craft, could hardly do so, so he might as well attempt to. He honestly hadn't noticed or been bothered by the tight spaces, mainly because he hadn't even given the topic any thought.

"I wouldn't mind if we stopped and wouldn't mind we did not, I leave that the decision to the rest of you. We will get to the city when we get there." He was going to deliberately avoid trying to be a overbearing leader. He knew the reputation his fellow Consular's often gathered, being uptight and unable to hold their own in a saber duel, yet believe themselves the most powerful. No one Jedi path was powerful than the other, so he respected his fellow Jedi, no matter how they operated. If matters turned that his skill set would be useful, he would step forward, but until then he would remain a quiet observer, focusing mainly on supporting the other masters in their work, and his own, he had to remind himself of every now and then. He half closed his eyes and resumed thinking, keeping an ear on the various conversations and flows of the force. So that was that, and he waited calmly until a decision was made on stopping for a stretch break or just press on to the city itself.

---

The room was dark, and not because of the people within it. It was literally poorly lit. Everything within the city was poorly lit these days, mainly because the primary power grid had failed fairly quickly after the initial release of the test virus. There was some light because the door to what had been a meeting chamber had been opened, and several acolytes in dark robes entered, all keeping at least half an eye on the robed figure staring out the window. His arms were linked behind his back, the black and red rimmed robes overlaying the hard armor and connectors linking the various pieces. They were quick to seat themselves, the man had said flat out that the various pleasantries and formalities were wastes of time in the field, as he had phrased it. Once they had sat, he turned from the window, arms still behind his back, and spoke, a smooth and quiet tone that carried itself too well. "The meeting was suggested for accelerated placement, so why?"

The one rose to speak, obviously a Sith Marauder by his standing and garb, spoke calmly despite the circumstances that forced him to call this meeting. "Lord Necre, reports are showing several of your plants in the city of Tacto spotted a Jedi group, three Knights and their padawan's, on their way via landspeeder. I'd suggest shooting them down before they arrive!" This was met with at least half of the leaders of this band's agreement, but with a gesture for silence, the group shut up for the robed figure's decision. Darth Necre, the one addressed by the Marauder, and also the leader of the group, shook his head after a few moments of deliberation. "And risk them surviving and knowing for certain a powerful and key force is working here? No. All they know is that something is wrong. I will have the Thralls hide for an opportune moment to eliminate the problem. Then you may strike with the thralls if you so desire to sate your bloodlust. Is the shield against detection still working?"

Another Sith nodded, clearly more focused as a force wielder than the Marauder, and out of the six, the only focused force wielder. The rest either were balanced or pure combat. As such, for matters regarding this experiment that didn't require Darth Necre's input "Yes Lord, some of the thrall's proved sensitive, and have been used to boost the cloaking device, adding the acolyte's maintenance, it is reasonable to assume that these Jedi have not detected us." Necre crossed one arm across his stomach and rested his elbow on it, looking like he was in thought. "If it is not certain, we can't pretend that they do not know. I will remain hidden, as should the rest of you, but be ready to deal with the Jedi if they come hunting. The Thralls will slip out of sight, taking the bodies of those few rejected with them. If there is nothing else, dismissed." The small group dispersed, with Darth Necre turning to watch out the window for a few moments more before closing the shutter and returning to his observations of the situation in the city.

The azure skies above Radnor were clear and flush with the rays of the midday sun, though the heat was lessened by the constant flowing of fresh air generated by the pace of the speeder. If one could ignore the heat (which Empathy could, being a Twi'lek), Radnor was a decent enough planet for its comparatively small landmass. The young Twi'lek had no mind for the landscape, however, currently crammed in the back of a rather too-small speeder with two Eliaquarians was more than enough to think about. In truth, she paid little thought even to her immediate exterior, despite the fact that her Lekku, mostly coiled in her lap, were already brushing against fellow Padawan Maranwe's thigh.

In a form of Force Meditation unbeknownst to her, that was focused on movement (however small), Empathy was emptying her mind of virtually all thought, gently pulling on the ever-changing flow of the Force as it came and went. Her connection to the Force was directly through the Tchun, and they were gently writhing from their origin at the back of her skull all the way down their sinuous length to the tips with a strange yet constant rhythm. Once her breathing subsided into slow evenness, she began to assimilate her situation with considerably deeper thinking than most could attain in a lifetime. At first, Emp focused on the bare essentials. "I am a Jedi Padawan, and finally in the presence of a proper Master," she thought, her subconscious starting to pick up everything that regarded it. Keeping those latent thoughts at bay as best she could, a slow sifting of facts began. First and foremost her thoughts were of her lightwhip: its condition and proximity to her. Well, it was on her hip and it needed a new power source soon. She would have to ask her Master (to whom she had only been able to utter a quick note of greeting) about obtaining a new power cell in Aubendo when they arrived. Speaking of her new Master, Empathy felt the presence of another mind before her, drifting as well on the Force. It had to be Arcturas, her Master, as the other Masters and their Padawans did not practice in the Mental Arts.

Eager to explore this new find, Empathy lowered her own mental barriers and sprang forward to this new mind. The mind indeed was her Master, though she was quite overwhelmed by the vast wealth of information coming to her. In a panic, she withdrew back into her own mind, sending up walls immediately. Emp couldn't help but take one snippet of information from her Master's mind, however, most likely what the man had been thinking (or worrying, as the case may be) at the time of contact. The thought chilled her to the core, though she wasn't exactly sure why: "Odd, there is nothing. No backround energy, no active spikes, just a pure blank void. This isn't normal..."

Well, if her Master were concerned, then she might as well be concerned with it. In what little contact they had had, Empathy knew that this man was the best possible Master for her. Sighing a moment at this sudden realisation, she reached out more tentatively with her mind once more, sending out little more than a thought tendril into her Master's mind. "Master? What is wrong?" A timid thought, maybe, but she had done what she believed to be right.

Lenwe hearing that bit his tongue. "oh, well no need to stop on my account then, we can proceed Master and continue on to our mission.." He said and looked off to the side and then returned to being quiet. If there was one thing he hated the most, it was training with Sage, the man was a fine teacher, but a horrible, horrible sparing partner. He was so quiet, collected; it wasn't like dueling another padawan, in reality he knew it wouldn't be, but he had only hopped that maybe the man had grown a little more lenient; then again he knew it wasn't going to happen specially considering how much trouble he caused for him. He rested an elbow on his knee and his chin in the palm of said hand and sighed some. He would have to stay cramped up until they reached the destination of their mission, just to avoid training against Sage, which he realized made him stronger, but today wasting so much energy just trying to prove he was getting better to Sage sounded like to much of a risk for what they may encounter here.

His eyes moved to the left staring out to watch the landmass fly by, which was relaxing in an odd way. Unlike most of his race he was more level-headed, but not so much enough to stop being such a child when it came to pulling pranks and the like, he looked towards Maranwe nudging her with his leg and leaning over to whisper to her. "What do you think is going on? Think we might encounter some actual battles? Or you think diplomacy will win over in the end?" He asked curiously, wondering what his childhood friend was thinking, considering she had been as quiet as the other padawan since getting into the speeder, well other then the snicker here or there. He blinked a couple of times leaning forward. "What about you Empathy?" He called trying to rouse her into speaking. "You think we might meet a battle that will define us? Or you think we might just talk our way out of the situation?" He looked from Maranwe, to Empathy, and back again. "I personally hope there might be a little bit of conflict, I never really get to use my sabers against opponents that think about more then just food and...." He shuddered heavily and his sentence dropped off there, if either one were to look at his face they would know not to press the matter.

Maranwe rolled her eyes a bit as Sage stated that if they stopped to stretch that him and Lenwe would be continuing training. "Well, there goes that idea," she thought to herself, figuring Lenwe wouldn't want to anymore after that. And of course, her thought was proven true once she heard him state that there was no need to stop on his account. She looked down a bit, feeling as if she were too close to the others, an almost annoyed look placing itself on her face. She did want to stretch, but in all honesty, she did want to get to the city and figure out what was going on; thinking that maybe there would be something to do when they got there.

Though, as she felt Lenwe nudge her with his leg, she lifted her head slightly and looked to him. "Perhaps some of them simply snapped and went about murdering everyone they could," she said in a tone that made it obvious that she wasn't quite being serious. Though, she paused only shortly before speaking again to him. "Whatever is going on, I do hope there we encounter some sort of battle. I would be highly disappointed if we didn't," she said to him with a bit of a grin, "It will be far more fun that way." She knew she would be highly disappointed if she didn't get to fight anyone, it would basically become almost a waste of time in her mind. Though, as she heard him question Empathy and then trail off his own sentence, she looked to him for a moment before flicking the side of his face, right next to his ear. "I'm sure you'll have something to fight when we get there," she said to him before she folded her arms over her chest.

Arcturas kept his hands clasped together on top of his cane, still lost in his own mind and flows of the force. He had immediately noticed when Empathy had inadvertently made brief contact and fled. He made a note to teach her more on this development, considering it was a bit unusual this early in dealings. Quite a bit of the time it didn't happen at all, so it would be due to address it once time to train and work with it was to be had. She probably gleaned a surface thought or two, at best, and as he returned his mental attention to trying to breach the void around the city, a thought question entered his mind from his assigned padawan, of all people. She was advancing well in the arts of the Force, if nothing else, to adapt quickly enough in that sense. He replied, the very essence of calm flowing with the reply. "An anomaly is all, nothing to be concerned about just yet." He wouldn't be jumping to conclusions over something that, while unusual, could mean any number of things here. From the worst case to just some, like he had mentioned, anomaly, he would wait until he had some more information on the matter before making any more final conclusions on the cause, reason, and how to, if necessary, remove said void and potentially veil. He halted the probing and mental work for now, not wanting to stress too much in case he needed to worry about using the force more actively later on. Opening his eyes fully, he took a slight glance around, and leaned back against the seat enough that he wasn't sitting upright anymore.

Arcturas listened to the chatter from the two padawans, Empathy having not given a reply just yet. They both wanted to see some sort of fighting, which the Consular was hoping the precise opposite would occur. He had a saber out of formality and, sadly enough, necessity at times, but he was a believer in the idea of Form "Zero", as it was called in general. It wasn't a widely held belief, at least from the Jedi he has worked with thus far, in the fact it was another kind of non violent approach to diffusing situations. He mentally reminded himself about it, being a style to avoid the temptation to resort to violent diplomacy. Another reason he could give for his more common reliance on force tricks that avoided causing any sort of trouble and, in his opinion, got things done in a quicker manner. Hands resting comfortably on his cane, he was perfectly relaxed and occasionally looked out the speeder's window at the environment they were speeding by. The quarters hardly bothered him out of meditation any more than they had in meditation. If they stopped he would bring up the anomaly with the other two, otherwise it would have to be dealt with on the fly, as lacking of planning that might be, it would have to do.

Rather than force the group to stop and rest, Selena stayed quiet. As much as she'd like to stand, the hassle of stopping, getting out, and then getting the group packed back in the speeder again would be too much. Listening to the idle chatter in the back, Selena thought back to when she was a padawan. Her master, Darric Solus, was the same man who discovered her in the lower levels of Coruscant. He was a younger man, twenty-four when they met, but wise. She recalled viewing him as uptight and controlling, but now she realized that he genuinely cared for her. Not that it made much of a difference; growing up in the Jedi was a harder life than she'd imagined.

Looking at Maranwe, Selena saw a lot of herself. Quick to fight, proud, loud, and most noticeably, infatuated. For Selena, it was Rex Tahl, a boy two years her elder. Rex was practically her idol. He was strong, smart, funny, and roguish, a quality that had Selena spending practically every free moment she had with him. Her master, having had enough, forbid her from seeing him, an action which scarred their relationship. Looking back, Selena again saw that this was for her own good. Last she heard, Rex was expelled from the order and sorting garbage on Raxus Prime. She thought to herself, What a glorious lifestyle that must be. She looked back at Maranwe again and smirked at the thought of her stuck on Raxus Prime. Sure, Maranwe was her apprentice and she had an obligation to train her and care for her, but that obligation could wear thin sometimes. Selena swore that the only thing the girl lived for was to annoy her.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts in time to respond to the Padawans.
"Don't get too excited kids. If there is any sort of trouble in the city, Uncle Arcturas here would have us try just about anything to avoid getting in a fight. She grinned at the Consular then turned around completely, kneeling on the bench facing backwards with her hands over the back rest like a young child. She motioned to Arcturas with her head and mouthed the words, "He's no fun."

Moving to face the Padawans proved to be an effective stretch and a decent relief from her previous position. She sighed softly and looked to Sage. "We've got to be arriving any time now?"

Sage sighed and shook his head as the padawans spoke among themselves.. Well, while Lenwe and Maranwe did at least. Young empathy had kept quiet for the most part, as did her master, for the most part. He had done little more than offer his neutral consent to any plans made by the others. It was not surprising that the two remained silent, for the most part. They had probably immersed themselves completely in the force, as was the habit of their kind, contemplating whatever threat might face them. While this was sometimes effective for sensing enemies, Sage found it was more than often ineffective. Anything that worked through the dark side of the force tended to cloud the force around them, preventing anyone from sensing them.
“Lenwe, we should never openly seek the next battle, nor should they define you. And the answer to the city’s silence won’t be as simple as a mad case of wanton slaughter among its citizens.. I sense there is something else at work, and I’m sure Master Arcturas does as well.” He glanced back at them for a moment after addressing their idle chatter, before Selena grabbed his attention with her statements and question.

He looked down to his console, the map on which was starting to glow green, and then looked out front of the speeder and was immediately greeted by the sight of a grand city, hidden partly by a large hill in their path. As they ascended, they would be able to catch full sight of the glorious sight that was Aubendo, the trade center and primary place of living for those of the working class on the planet. It appeared to Sage as a section of Coruscant’s mid-sector would. The architecture was not nearly as grand as that of Tacto, the population of which was made up of citizens of a higher class, but it was at least twice as large. The buildings were all a relatively grey color, and were kept relatively well maintained, which told Sage that the population took pride in their home. The streets were relatively clean, except for a few offline speeders, and there was no sight of any immediate strife..
But something disturbed Sage greatly…

Noise.

There was no noise.

A city of this size should be bulstering with signs of life. The sounds of speeders in the streets, the sounds of the people going about their daily lives. The sound of factories hard at work. Maybe even a few signs of urban plight.. But the city was silent. It was as if all life had faded from the city, leaving only the abandoned buildings as a sign of its former existence.

Sage stopped the speeder a few buildings into the city and took a moment to look around. He was hoping he was mistaken, that he had simply missed something, or perhaps it was a day of silence.. He threw himself into the force, doing his best to sense out any others in the city.. But, he found nothing. It was as if all sentient life had disappeared. Sage reached for the mask at his side instinctively and almost tore it from his belt. He had to stop himself from putting the mask on, his usual practice before battle, and instead held it aloft, sliding his fingers along its surface, looking for some form of comfort from the action.

“I think it would be best if we stopped here..” Sage said after his moment of silence, one that he was sure he and the others had shared. If they had not, he was sure he’d missed their reactions. He deactivated the speeder, and got out, still holding his mask aloft as he looked from one direction to the other, his expression harder now as he prepared himself for what this lifeless city had to offer.

Arcturas left his hands resting on his cane as they approached the city, breaching the veil he had detected earlier. He didn't let it show, but he was nervous and rather worried about what they would find. Looking around with his physical senses, he saw nothing in the way of panicked combat, strife, or anything indicating a overtly violent takeover. However, something was really disturbing that the others no doubt noticed. It was dead silent besides what noise the speeder made. No doubt this was impacting the others to a good extent, and some of them would no doubt show it overtly or otherwise. Arcturas simply, furrowed his brow slightly at the sight of no damage, and yet every single living soul was just missing. That was a very bad sign at best. At worst, something beyond the usual capabilities of a normal Jedi task force was at work here. But they had to at least confirm it before calling in the cavalry. They came to a halt and he looked around more closely, almost wishing to see scared people hiding. That would at least make more sense than this. But nothing, just silence. He barely heard Sage, as he was so lost in his own thoughts, and barely made an affirmative comment. "Yes, fine. That works..."

Arcturas knew what he had to do here, and he wasn't looking forward to whatever shock would occur from it. He exhaled slowly, eyes half closing, entering a meditative state. He was going to look through the force, and in a more trained and capable way than any of the others no doubt could do. He opened himself to the force, glad to see the background energy was still there. Each breath moved with the force, and he opened his mind's eye, looking around. It was borderline too painful to look at. It was empty, pure empty with towering spires of black. Those had to be the things generating the void that blocked outside detection. And it hurt looking at them. And there was no indication of any other living being, light, neutral, or dark. Between the interference from the background dark energies and the sheer emptiness of the area, he could find no living being. He shuddered and returned to his normal state of mind, speaking quietly despite himself, clearly spooked. "There was nothing, I couldn't find a single living soul in this entire city. Something is terribly wrong here..."

That smell, what was that smell. They had reached the city, but something smelled off; He had smelled dead before, but not like this; and not in such a great scale. Once the speeder had stopped, and was turned off he was out quite quickly looking around with quick unblinking gazes, his eyes locking on several different buildings all within a span of a few seconds. "Master...death, lots of it, and well...Yeah that pretty much covers it, the amount of death I can smell could account for the population here, cause it's even covering up the..." His left eye twitched reliving the memory. "The scent.." He put a large amount of emphasis on the word scene, so Sage would know exactly what he meant. He looked to Arcturas; Empathy's master and shook his head. "No need to sense it, you can smell it, I'm sure even you all can smell it, Right Maranwe?" He asked, looking over at her. His hands instantly fiddling with the hilt of his sabers. "I for one think..." He paused and continue to scan the area, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow. "that I'm going to be fighting for my life....a lot during this mission.." He said, though normally that type of statement wouldn't warrant a smile, but that didn't stop one from growing on Lenwe's lips.

He would have been bouncing around like a small child, excited for his first chance to duel, but the fact tat he could smell so much death surrounding them; it was; well it was quite hard to feel excited, specially when his stomach was turning from the emptiness of the place. It was times like this he really didn't enjoy being sensitive to the force, it really screwed with you, even with years of training being surrounded by death would effect even the greatest of masters. "Master, I don't think your going to have time to train me in anything on this mission.." He said; which was quite obvious, but in retrospect of what was going on right now, he figured some comic relief would be needed, or at least wanted by a few, at the very least it made him feel a bit calmer in the situation they were in. His hands now clinging to the sabers, ready to draw them at a seconds notice, he would have had them out already if it wasn't for the fact drawing them right away would give away himself and the rest of the jedi, just encase there was something out there waiting, watching, and poised to strike them. That thought made his shoulders slump. "Great, give myself a panic attack....calm down Lenwe...calm down.." He repeated to himself in his thoughts, things weren't going to go to shit completely just yet right? It was the beginning of the mission it never went to horribly until at least a few hours in.. Right?

Death. Selena knew the scent. She knew the unique kind of silence that lingered after death, and she knew the heaviness in the air. The speeder pulled into the city and the group filed out, but instead of sighs of relief, everyone was silent. Now was not the time to rejoice that the long, cramped ride was finally over. She looked to the other masters, and heard Sage say that it would be best to stop here. Arcturas agreed, but he seemed absent. It was clear he was focusing on the force. After a few moments, he spoke, saying that not a single living sould could be found in the city. Silence rushed in again until Lenwe opened his mouth. Selena didn't bother to listen to him, her thoughts turned outward. She recognized them instantly. Black towers of focused energy, a manifestation of dark intent in the force. She mouthed a word in silence to herself.

Selena looked back at the group, still standing around. She broke the silence again. "What, did we expect they'd be just fine and dandy? Something happened, and we're here to investigate, not stand in a circle and gawk. Let's look around." She returned to the speeder and reached into her box of effects, removing her lightsaber, rebreather, comlink, and water canteen and fastening them to her belt. Turning back, she nodded at Sage to let him know that she was ready to go.

"An anomaly is all, nothing to be concerned about just yet," came her master's reply, along with a wave of calmness that Empathy readily succumbed to. She closed her mind off from the Force once again to finally notice they were slowing, no, stopping, finally. Reaching forward under the front seat, Emp grabbed her trusty reinforced jacket and tied the sleeves around her tiny waist as soon as the speeder came to a complete stop and Master Sage killed the engine, making sure to leave her lightwhip within easy grasp. Stretching her sore legs and arms, she looked around the empty and deathly quiet city, feeling unsettled despite the dose of calm from her master. No city should ever be this quiet, ever; there were just too many lives to stifle every single one of their sounds. Master Arcturas seemed to be scanning the Force mentally, most likely throughout the entire city. Empathy knew she could do little to help him with her limited training, but she still took a moment to look through the nearest buildings a little more carefully. It took but a moment to let her know nothing was there, but there did seem to be something, or more like a lack thereof a presence. It was confusing, this sensation, but she could do little more about it. Maybe she would mention something to her master once chance allowed her, but for now she withdrew and turned to her fellow Padawans.

Both of them seemed on edge, ready for a fight, though that is not to say Empathy wasn't ready for a fight herself. She was just wired a bit differently than the Eliaquarians, built to talk first rather than hack and slash then to ask questions. All three masters had spoken, and also Lenwe, though Empathy didn't quite care for the way Master Selena had treated her and the other Padawans like they were all ten years younger than they actually were. Sighing deeply once more and letting her Lekku flick back and forth in what could be interpreted as agitation or worry, Emp leaned against the back of the speeder and watched the street they had come in on, waiting for the others to be ready to leave.

Maranwe raised a brow slightly in the direction of Selena as she noticed her smirk, as if some thought had just struck her mind, though she just shook it off; mostly because she didn't care what exactly it was. Though, as she commented about how Arcturas would most likely try to avoid them fighting at all, she scoffed a bit. But, as she saw her mouth that he was no fun, a small smirk placed itself on her lips and she nodded to her some. "He's no fun you say, I'll keep that mind," she said with a completely serious tone, though the small smirk remained on her face. She just looked on ahead after that until they got to the city itself, which she was relieved to have finally arrived and to be able to get out of the speeder.

She looked around silently, an almost curious look plastered on her face, simply because of how quiet it was. Though, as she stayed silent, she almost automatically smell the death. Once she had climbed out of the speeder, she looked around once again, almost zoning out the group she was with. That was, until she heard a question come her way, which she hadn't even noticed was from Lenwe until after she had already answered it. "Oh, I can definitely smell it," she said rather seriously. She looked at the group for a moment before she went back to looking around them; it just didn't feel right to her, and she knew there was no way everyone else didn't feel the same way. Though, in all honesty, her mind wasn't more wondering about what had caused this to happen, mostly because she wanted to know exactly what hey were going to be up against; and she wanted to know as quickly as they possibly could figure it out.

Darth Necre had his arms locked behind his back, strolling along the corridor. Several lesser Sith were practically on the heels of the Sith Lord as they followed him to an impromptu viewing deck on a tall structure far out of reach or range of the Jedi. Visually undetectable, and the amount of energy just here right now blanketed them from easy detection. Necre had his saber pike, and was using it like a walking staff right now, a third click clearly different to those within hearing range from the softer twin padding noises from the footwear the Sith Lord preferred. They had observation equipment trained on where the Jedi were landing and disembarking. They could clearly see the Jedi disembarking and looking around them. All warriors, minus one of them. He had the look of a scholar about him, but that was that. The others had an unusual air about them, especially the one that seemed to be the leader of the group. Something was familiar there. The three apprentices were also with them, so the entire group was available for one fell strike. A more impatient man would have ordered everything on top of them at once, and revealed their hand fully. However, his goal was to test, not to annihilate, so revealing everything now would be foolhardy, and very difficult to collect data. One of the Marauders suggested what he had just mentally dismissed as an idea, and a slight shake of the head told the man no, that would not be the path chosen.

"Gentlemen, we are going to observe the basic thralls in action against Jedi. We have already confirmed the effective talent against normal forces, but not against force sensitives, Jedi included. Dispatch the attack group gathered." He gestured as well, and an acolyte chosen for this 'sacrifice' stepped forward and channeled while Necre, rather than use energy both channeling and ordering, simply dispatched the order to the Thralls in silent, undetectable waiting. Of course, this acolyte, untrained and only moderately powerful, was instantly killed once Necre finished the order, collapsing like a rag doll. This was one of the last indirect orders necessary, Necre's own talent refined to the point that direct control of such numbers would not require an intermediary focusing agent to sacrifice such as the acolyte at his feet, a trickle of blood leaking from his mouth. Another pair of acolyte's dragged the body off to be disposed off, and Necre turned from the observation gear. The rest of the band took over note taking and analyzing what would happen when the Thralls engaged with the Jedi. Either way, the Sith Lord knew, he would benefit from this. One would benefit more than the other, but either way, it was a benefit.

---

The silence was broken finally by a subtle, almost inaudible shuffling and walking, in more numbers that would be healthy. The padding of feet, bare or barely covered, obviously no longer intending to hide itself from the detection of the Jedi. It was growing in numbers, the sound of movement and life, but if the Jedi were to look with the force, they would still detect nothing against the dark side energy in the area. But the force was not necessary for knowing something was coming. From the building behind the group of Jedi and the speeder they came in, a healthy sized group of nearly thirty dead looking people came pouring out, brandishing a variety of knives, a few had local slug throwers, meant for hunting but now were being turned against the intruders. The windows around them also shattered as another twenty dropped down, totaling nearly fifty thralls attacking the group. At least ten immediately went for the Twi'lek Sentinel, attacking without care or worry to their own forms or survival. The few with guns began taking potshots as they also charged, stopping a bit short to keep firing, although the slug thrower armed thralls totaled only four. The rest had blades, or fingers honed down to claws that they lashed at the Jedi group with an eagerness to spill blood unnatural amongst most beings or species, and mindlessly charged at the Jedi, looking for new hosts to infect with their virus.

---

Arcturas had ignored the comment on smelling the trouble around them, already having noted that. He had hoped to figure out, more specifically, what trouble when searching out in the force like that. The others relied on their physical senses to know something was wrong, senses that could be betrayed. He dismounted as well, and looked about him at the sheer emptiness and, in general, wrongness about what was going on here. An entire population does not just up and vanish in about a day. Then the sound of running started, and he looked around him as he tried to pinpoint where the echoing noise was coming from in this city. Then the group came from behind, Arcturas turning to meet them. At the same time glass came raining down, and he could hear more of them coming from above. An ambush, and not by anything normal. There was no time to think, sadly, he wasn't going to even have a prayer's chance of talking out of this one. A fight was going to occur here, but he didn't draw his saber just yet. Instead he waited for the first to approach, and casually slammed it back into a wall with the force. Either it was dead or disabled, as it collapsed onto its face, the darker stain on the wall clear from the rest of the structure. The ones with guns fired again, and the Consular opened himself to the force, saber snapping to his hand and lighting on in time to stop the bullet heading for him, although as a solid slug, it wasn't going to be reflected back. Taking up the opening stance for Makashi, he had positioned himself so, between the speeder and fellow Jedi, only one or two of the blade wielding assailants could come at him at a time. He kept tabs on Empathy, especially, in case she would need aid or support.

The moment the shuffling sound began, Sage’s mask was over his face, the HUD on the visor starting up the moment the edges passed over his ears. The noise brought him into focus, helped him ready himself for the battle ahead. But nothing could have truly readied him for what came then. A host of dead looking people, if they could be called that now, came down upon them almost literally. Some came from behind, some came from above, dropping down with a deluge of shattered glass from the buildings above. As soon as they made their appearance, Sage ripped his sabers from his belt, and coated his entire body in a layer of the force, a practice he’d taken up at the behest of his own master. He let his guard rest for a moment, his mind conflicted over this. They were people, citizens of a civilized world. Surely there was something left, they couldn’t be completely beyond saving… He tried to reach out to the minds of the thrall, seeking to find some humanity in them, but found nothing but darkness, and primal desires… The people of Aubendo had become nothing more than beasts, somehow, and were now seeking to feed themselves, and spread their affliction. Both of Sage’s sabers sprang to life in his hands as the thrall charged towards the masters and their wards.
Sage took a deep breath in before the first of the thrall reached him. He took a few steps forward before whipping his body around in a full, three sixty turn, slashing at all the thrall around him, dismembering two or three of them before he truly went to work. He emptied himself of the jedi’s code and sought to kill rather than disarm. His sabers danced around his body as he fought to protect his padawan and the others, though he was sure, with their numbers, he couldn’t keep them all away.

Death. These creatures certainly reeked of it, yet by all appearances none of them were dead. Empathy watched them approach with great apprehension, her lightwhip already activated and creating a slowly rotating silver halo above her head (and her companions' too). Taking a moment to note the glow of the whip, she was dismayed to see that the Krayt Pearl in the handle had lost much of its power since the last time she had used it, which also happened to be the last time Emp thought she'd see Consular Arcturas. What was once a brilliantly sharp and gleaming silver was now a dull, pulsing silver, almost gray. It was most likely all the hyperdrive travelling the lightwhip had been subjected to in the recent months, that and lack of use which drained her ill-gotten Krayt Pearl of its vast store of power. Well, she wasn't completely worried, having extended the handle in order to retain the original electrowhip battery as well, for this very possibility. But if the Krayt Pearl was forced to expel its remaining strength too quickly, it would explode quite terribly.

Shattering glass broke her line of thought as several living bodies fell from the nearest building, landing near the driver's side of the speeder. Two or three of those bodies even landed in the speeder, but they seemed occupied enough untangling themselves from the seats and each other to be any immediate threat. Empathy focused on the knot of people (though she wasn't sure they could even be called that) coming for her. With a subtle flick of her wrist, the whip came down diagonally across the first attacker's chest, leaving a sizeable gash that would have felled any normal individual. To her astonishment, the thing only paused for a second while the whip struck, then continued plodding forward doggedly. A hard grimace crossed Emp's face as she assumed a more aggressive form, not entirely accustomed to the more violent attacks employed by a whip-wielder, but she still knew how to use them.

Another flick of the wrist, and this time the whip didn't strike glancingly. In a burst of singed flesh, the creature's right arm was cleaved off, but it still kept coming. Exasperated, Emp struck again, this time taking both its legs off. Believing she found a way to fend off her attackers, she quickly incapacitated two more with the same strike, then suddenly she felt claws raking down her shin, though most caught her boot. Without a second's hesitation, she brought that same foot up and brought a crushing heel into the prone creature's skull. Finally, it stopped moving, much to Empathy's relief.

"The head!" She cried wildly with this sudden discovery. "Go for their heads!"

With a snap, the silver strand of plasma struck out at the nearest foe's neck, severing the head from the body completely. The mass of bodies pressed in too close after she recovered her equilibrium, and Emp was forced to leap up and backwards onto the boot of the speeder. Now having the high ground, and the apparent advantage, she twisted the whip around to bring it about in one sweep to take out the creatures that were within range of the sinister nine-foot whip. Empathy never completed the motion, as two hands just happened to grab both her Lekku very roughly.

A piercing scream escaped the young Twi'lek's lips, permeating the air with more than just sonic noise, and breaking a few of the nearer windows (not to mention cracking the speeder's windshield and shattering its mirrors). All of the attacking creatures seemed momentarily stunned upon hearing her scream, and the creature behind her even relinquished its cruel grip on her Tchun. In the next instant, the whip came around, even duller now, and wrapped itself around the neck of the creature that grabbed her. The lightwhip was dying, she knew, and the Krayt Pearl was already heating up the handle. It was time to be rid of it, lest she be caught up in the explosion. Almost the entire length of the whip had wrapped itself around the creature's neck, and, tugging on it once, the beam intensified to an even brighter silver than it had originally been. The creature lashed out at Empathy as she turned to leap off the speeder to her Master's side, several claws catching her Tchin (her right Lekku) and drawing a shallow yet rather long line of scratches down it. A whimper followed as she managed to roll off the speeder to the ground near Arcturas' feet, before she gave into the shock of her injury, for even that scratch caused her great pain.

At the sound of shuffling coming their way, Maranwe quickly had her saber staff in hand, her eyes narrowing some as she looked them over for a second. What she saw wasn't exactly what she expected to see, how different they were; though, she didn't pay anymore attention that that fact as she heard the breaking glass and noticed some fall from the nearest buildings. Both ends of her staff then burst into life as a small hint of a smirk graced her lips and she moved in to be rid of these 'things', since they didn't seem to be too normal anymore. She was finding it almost annoying that they seemed to be unaffected by most attacks, causing hers to become a bit more violent with every connection.

As she heard Empathy exclaim something about going for their heads, she sneered at the things and continued with her attacks, all aiming towards the heads of them. Though, her ears didn't take too kindly to the scream that came from Empathy, cringing as the sound hit her ears, the sound stopping her for a short moment. She attempted to pull herself back together at that point, only to find that the scream itself had thrown her into a disoriented state of being. As she went to take out a few that were quite close to her, she found herself having trouble doing so.

(Ignore. Fucking double post.)

"That wasn't what I thought was going to happen...." He thought to himself and watched as the corpses shuffled towards them. His lightsabers drawn and powered-up then came the sounding of broken glass, and more of them coming behind them, as well as falling down around the speeder. He flicked his left wrist and cut one of them asunder it fell in two halves; just before a scream. His ears began to pound, and taking the technique he learned from Sage he concentrated a small amount of force to cover his ears to drown out the sound of the scream. When it was over he let it fade and he began to cut through hordes of the things aiming for heads; necks, cutting them down the center, using the head of one of them to bowl through some of them. This was what he had been waiting for, his heartbeat raging in his ears, just before his eyes caught sight of a disoriented Maranwe. He let out a growl and charged through the corpses between him and her using a burst of the force to send three or four of them quite a distance away as he let one saber die and slid it onto his belt; his right hand now resting on her shoulder. "Get a grip Maran!" He called at her watching her back; with his pressed against her's so she could cover the front, dodging her swings and timing his so she wouldn't have to worry about getting hit by his.

"Master We need to find a better foot hold, we're surrounded and out manned; If I learned anything it's that I know we're fighting a losing battle!" He called out to the man, before focusing once again on the creatures around him. What the hell were these things? Simple wounds made them falter but didn't stop them, stabbing them didn't even give them a pause as they continued to march forward intent on killing him and the others, what the fuck was this? He growled as one nearly grabbed him using his right hand charged by the force he punched the thing hard in the face sending it flying right into another group of creatures, these things didn't seem to end, and he was starting to grow tired, focusing to much on making sure Maranwe recovered, and keeping them both alive. His body was in perfect condition twice as good as an adult human in perfect health, and the downfall of this, he had to eat more, and sleep more, but for right now, with a lust for battle charging through his system, he'd do fine; and the fact he needed to get Maranwe back together and in battle mode; he would not falter, he would not fail.

It all happened so fast. Such is the case for combat, and Selena was used to it, and reacted faster. Her saber flicked to her hand and ignited the moment she heard the shuffling, the dull humming soothed any tension she felt and the bright orange glow illuminated her face. Then, the creatures were upon them. Selena counted at least fifty of them; pale, shambling, mostly radnorian, with a look in their eyes that Selena recognized. Hate. Unfortunately for Arcturas, there would be no talking today.

The creatures charged, and Selena moved into the opening stance for Juyo. The closest neared, and Selena's saber slid easily through his midsection as she used his momentum against him. The fact that they were attacking Jedi with nothing but their bare hands and primitive weapons frightened her. Their resolve was solid, too solid to be natural. A few had slug throwers, which could not be deflected with a lightsaber. So far, they had not deigned to fire upon her, but she kept wary anyway. Two more of the creatures approached, and Selena tore through them just as easily. From behind, she heard Empathy shout that they were vulnerable in the head, which prompted Selena to re-evaluate her kills. Looking back, only one of the creatures was actually dead, having had a good portion of his skull removed. The other two were mostly torso and head, trying in vain to attack her. She quickly executed the nearest, and at the same moment noticed a slug headed directly for Maranwe. In an instant, she redirected the bullet with the force straight to the other crippled creature's head. She afforded herself a little smirk.

Just then, a scream pierced the area, seeming to stun the creatures. Selena used the force to muffle her ears, then noticed it came from Empathy. There was no time to assist the girl, for two more creatures were sprinting straight towards Selena. She loosed her saber in a throw, cleanly decapitating one and then spinning upwards. With a force assisted jump, she caut her blade and brought it slicing downwards, cleaving the other creature mostly in half. Now a bit separated from the group, Selena found herself facing several more creatures, some with blades. The nearest swung high, and Selena ducked low, amputating his legs at the knee. Rising, another slash removed a portion of his skull and Selena continued into a jumping kick, using the force channeled through her leg to crush most of the face of a creature who'd been attacking from behind. He crumpled over dead, and Selena turned to face her next challenger, at this point almost oblivious to the rest of her group.

Creatures fell left and right under Sage’s lightsabers, the red and black blades moving in tandem, dissecting the thrall one by own. He was being careful now, removing their heads first, having already encountered their little issue with dying like any normal creature. He’d cut a few at the midsection earlier, but all that had done was slow them. They’d started crawling towards him, and were not silenced until he used his darksaber to remove their frontal lobes. It was then that he heard Empathy shout about their heads while she fought a futile battle with her light whip. Such a novelty weapon.. He would never allow a padawan of his to use one. He would have rushed to her aide, but her own master was closer, and his own padawan required his attention. Slugs bounced off his armor and the force shield he’d erected around himself as he cut his way to Lenwe and Maranwe.
He heard the scream from Empathy as she was taken down by the thrall, though the sonics never quite pierced the beskar plate that now covered his ears. Again, he was tempted to go to the padawan’s rescue, but again the danger around them kept him away. He was starting to have issues with the slugs being shot at him by the thrall. While he could dodge most of them, he could do no more with them than let them impact with his armor, which would eventually buckle under the constant damage. He cut through a few more slug-thrower wielding thrall, beheading them with a few clean strokes, before he heard his apprentice speak to him.
“There is no such thing as a losing battle.. But we’ll let Arcturas decide whether we retreat or not.” He said before again cutting through several more thrall, aiming now to destroy the slug-thrower wielders.