Trudging deeper into the cavern, Corvus-invisible to the naked eye-eventually saw something that confirmed his suspicions.
Looking down a winding path from the top of a gentle sloped cliff, he beheld four figures clad in black.
Two of them were absolutely singing in the Force. These were a pair of tattooed Zabrak's. One tan, the other ashen. The grey-skinned Zabrak was reminiscent of Maw in terms of his signature within the Force, whilst the tan one was similar to Keira. As for the other two, they wore masks, and were more muted, they were no more powerful than a Padawan.
This was a serious gathering of Dark Acolytes. Corvus could only surmise that they were servants of Count Dooku here to conduct some nefarious plot, because who else but a former Jedi would know of this sacred location?
Dropping a large quantity of food-and some mines-at the entrance to this subsection of the cavern, Corvus snuck closer so he could overhear their conversation.
Whatever information he could glean, Corvus intended to use to his advantage. If he saw an opening, he would move to assassinate the ashen skinned figure.
Moving within 20ft of them, Corvus saw that the masked individuals were constructing lightsabers, whilst the Zabraks watched.
"Lord Ror, forgive my impertinence, but when will the Gathering commence? We have awaited here as Darth Tyranus had instructed, yet no word of Jedi has come." One of the masked men asked the tan Zabrak.
"Do not question the wisdom of the Sith, worm." The grey colored Zabrak rebuked.
"A thousand apologies, Darth Kern." The acolyte hurriedly bowed, and stepped back.
"Still, the acolyte is correct, our Lord is never so imprecise. The Jedi should be here by now." Ror tapped his fingers on his forearm, and tutted in a cultured tone of voice.
"They already are." Kern held up an amulet that glowed a sickly green, and then pointed towards the cliff face that Corvus had come from.
"One of Mother Talzin's trinkets? You have done well, brother." Ror said, unable to keep jealousy from spilling into his voice.
"Tyranus has broken us from those weak women's chains. We are free now, Ror. Do not covet those things which you have no business owning." Kern darkly intoned.
Watching this byplay, Corvus internally chuckled.
'Rule of Two my ass! Palpatine and Dooku trusted one another as much as Germany & Russia trusted one another during WW2! Ah, I would have liked to have seen Palpatine's face if Dooku killed Anakin & Obi-Wan at some point during the war. What would the galaxy look like with them pining after the title of #1 Sith?'
Shaking his head, Corvus refocused his attention on this disparate group of teenage angst.
He knew that this group of darksiders were highly unstable. The amount of frustration on display reminded Corvus of a boiling pot ready to spill over.
One little push, and pandemonium was sure to ensue.
Inducing escalating betrayal between Sith after all was the Jedi way.
Waving his hand at the Sith Lord-as Corvus doubted he could affect a Darth-he cast [Mind Trick].
'He celebrates the death of your family, your kin. Who is to say he won't do the same to you in the name of Darth Tyranus. You know he fears you. Keeping you down so that you never rise. When Kern is fighting the Jedi, when he has his back to you…you know what to do.'
Corvus barely felt the [Mind Trick] take hold of the tan Zabrak. It was much, much more difficult to cast on someone at the same level. Abilities like this were tricky, but when cast from invisibility, and when it was a suggestion that affirmed a persons' biases, it was much easier to implement.
At least, that's what Corvus would have thought, if not for what happened next.
As soon as [Mind Trick] took ahold of Ror, the amulet in Kern's hand flashed, and a visible essence was sucked out of the air, cleansing Ror of his mental manipulation.
Kern then breathed deeply, and a light left the amulet, and entered his pores as if it were some gaseous vapor.
The ashen Zabrak's eyes were glowing, and he glanced around the chamber.
All this happened within a few seconds, and Corvus did not like where it was going. As a result, he started to silently back up, never once taking his eyes off of the dangerous cloaked figure.
Entering Pause, Corvus knew that Kern most likely spotted him, or at the very least had a decent idea where he was at. From what he could tell, the Zabrak was eying the general area that he currently occupied. He could thank both his Jedi Shadow ability and the Taozin Amulet from keeping him somewhat hidden, but this Zabrak's amulet worked off Nightsister magic, who knew how it interacted with his gear/ability?
Furthermore, that amulet was bad news. Not only could it potentially track him, it could absorb Force abilities. If it could do more than absorb Mind Trick, there was a good chance that it could render Corvus's best ability-Slow-moot and useless. His biggest counter to higher level opponents was to immobilize, or at least cripple their movement speed. Now, that was looking like a dismal prospect.
What he needed was to get out of here, and mobilize the gorgodons against these Sith. Their tanky bodies were sure to act as excellent distractions for these Dark Acolytes. Then Corvus would be free to swoop in and assassinate these troublesome Sith wannabes.
Looking around the cave he was in, in search of escape, he noticed a group of small, rodent-like animals. They were the silver furred blismals that Jax had described! Recalling his lore, these things-when in a group-could generate enough sonic power to collapse a wall or in this case, a part of the cavern he found himself in.
Fortunately for Corvus, he had learnt [Beast Trick] when he had befriended his vornskr companion, Huego.
There was a way out of this!
Exiting Pause, Corvus waved his hand at the pack.
'These men in black are frightening, collapse the ceiling on them!' Corvus directed with as much urgency as possible.
"EEE-EEE-EEE!!!" The pack of rodents reacted almost immediately, and started a cave in.
Corvus took this distraction to mask the sound of his steps, and sprinted back the way he came.
It wasn't a moment too soon either, as Kern had unleashed a sweeping wave of [Force Lightning] in the general area that he had occupied.
The strength, and area of effect all demonstrated that Kern's power was indeed a tier above his own. That he sat within the low tier Master stage, with the likes of Paratus or Jocasta Nu.
As he had this realization, Corvus had scampered up the cliff fast as he could, and ran into the tunnel. Large quantities of dust & debris wooshed past him as the underground caverns shook and collapsed.
Narrowly avoiding a rock that surely would have crushed him, Corvus knew that he wouldn't have much time before the Dark Acolytes telekinetically lifted the mess out of the way, and started their hunt for Jedi.
The seismic tremors were also sure to have awoken the gorgodons, meaning they would be here before long. Hopefully the aliens would be arriving at the same time that the rocks were cleared.
Feeling that he could do more in preparation for the encroaching threat, Corvus began to embed the walls with gas/sonic grenades/mines, and keyed them to his remote detonator. He moved with the aid of [Force Speed], and did everything in his power to finish everything as quickly as possible.
Whilst he was in the middle of this task, his commlink beeped, and Corvus accepted a call.
~Ma-shh-tah yo-krch zz-kay?~ Jax's voice barely came through, and sounded like bad radio.
"I'll come to you. Remain where you are." Corvus instructed, and then hung up.
After the short call, Corvus noticed that the earth around him was shaking, and that he wouldn't have much time before the darksiders punched a hole in the wall, and started their quest to slaughter the Jedi.
Knowing that Keira would be of great help to him, Corvus swiftly retreated back to the main cavern.
Along the way, he came across the gorgodons-who by this point were awake and following the trail of food Corvus had left behind-and he stopped to cast [Beast Trick] on them.
Straining himself, he pumped all of his FP bar into this ability, and imposed his will onto the nearly 100 bipedal lizards.
'Black cloak, red bar food. Brown cloak green/blue bar friend.' Corvus kept it simple so that their animalistic minds would not have anything to overthink.
After this tiny interlude, he ran past the gorilla-like aliens, and came across Keira, and Jax.
Decloaking from his invisibility, Corvus explained the situation to them in a hurry.
"Four darksiders are waiting for us at the other end of the tunnel, they are perhaps five minutes away from this position. An ashen skinned Zabrak has the power to rival a Jedi Master similar in skill to Master Paratus, and he carries with him an amulet that can absorb Force attacks. Another Zabrak-this one tan of skin-I estimate to be on a scale similar to myself, or you, Keira. The last two are in a similar category as Padawans." Corvus said all in one breath.
"This is concerning news." Keira furrowed her brow.
"Should we wake Master Paratus and the rest?" Jax questioned.
"No, disrupting a ritual could cause a backlash resulting in death. Perhaps if they had just begun, it would be possible, but I sense that they are at a critical junction." Keira proclaimed, shooting down Jax's suggestion.
"Master, what about the gorgodons?" Jax asked.
"They are awake, and are heading towards the Dark Acolytes as we speak. I placed them all under a geas. Theoretically, they shouldn't see us as either food or their enemies. However, they won't hold the Dark Acolytes off for long. I suggest we move in support of the creatures, and fight the enemy at the choke point between this cavern and the next." Corvus proposed.
"A risky venture, but the defense of our comrades takes priority. Should we delay the Sith-even if it kills us-and Linyin discovers Tython along with the rest, our deaths would have been worth it." Keira stated with steely determination.
Corvus met the green alien's eyes, and reluctantly nodded. He didn't intend on dying here, and would consider running if he had too…but he wasn't about to abandon these people, not after all the hardship he had gone through to secure them in the first place.
"I am with you, Master. I also have a suggestion." Jax spoke up.
"Go on." Corvus motioned for him to get on with it.
"I spotted a cluster of razhak worms on my return journey. Now that I know that you can commune with beasts, perhaps you could sway them to our cause?" Jax entreated.
"Tell me again about their properties, I know many things about this galaxy, but am unfamiliar with these creatures." Corvus said.
Placing a hand on his head, he searched his memory, but came up blank. Super Star Wars nerd he may be, but it was unreasonable to expect him to have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything.
"Ranging between 6 to 9ft in length, and possessing a girth three times as thick as Knight Keira's thighs, the razhak worms are surprisingly bulky, and can survive being sliced apart by the lightsaber. What makes them especially dangerous is their ability to super heat their bodies, and melt their way through caverns of ice, rock, and kyber crystals." Jax explained.
"Now that is some serious offense. Quickly now, take me to this nest. We do not have much time, and we must be quick about it." Corvus demanded.
"Yes, Master!" Jax nodded his head, then lept away.
Before he left after the white haired teen, Corvus cast [Energy Resistance] on the group of Jedi that were conducting the ritual, so that any sounds of combat wouldn't interrupt their concentration.
Following after Jax-and flanked by a curious Keira-Corvus found a pair of razhaks squirming and wriggling about.
When he looked at them, the Force was clearly telling him that they were mating.
"Three times Keira's thighs, hrm?" Corvus muttered, and stroked his chin as he bent down to get a closer look at said green beauties legs to get a comparison.
"Is time not of any consequence? Does the shape of my thighs have anything to do with our current objective?" Keira crossed her arms, and huffed a strand of hair out of her face.
"Just a unit of measurement my dear, no need to be offended." Corvus dismissively waved over his shoulder, but made sure to give Jax a thumbs up while using his own body to block the gesture, so that Keira couldn't see it.
Jax nervously smiled, and replied with a thumbs up.
Ahh, he was his student for less than a week, but already the young man was being brought down to Corvus's level. It felt good knowing a prude of a Jedi monk was finally learning how to have fun. Besides, it was a good way to take one's mind off the horrors of Order 66.
Taking a deep breath, Corvus took the grim possibility of death from their pending confrontation to the forefront of his mind, and focused up.
Channeling this emotion into power, Corvus worked [Beast Trick] on these worms.
'Dig in this direction, and ambush any figure who wears a black cloak from behind. Eat them.'
Surprisingly, they were more difficult to coral than Ror, the Lord/Knight level darksider.
Perhaps it was because they were such simple creatures, or maybe it was due to their current activity. Whatever the case may be, Corvus got the job done, and the worms had set off to do his bidding.
"Alright. It's done. Jax, Keira, listen closely. This is how we are to deal with our opponents. Whilst the gorgodons act as our vanguard, you two will use these blasters, grenades, and rocket launchers to shoot at the Acolytes." Corvus explained, and took out a heavy machine gun from his inventory, as well as the cortosis weave armor set left behind in Lucien Draay's hideout on Coruscant. "I had wanted to save this for later, but this is a dire time. Jax, wear this armor set, it will briefly short out any lightsaber that makes contact with it." .
"So uncivilized." Keira muttered, but took a gun anyway, recognizing the upcoming threat as being more important than any distaste for blasters.
"What will you be doing, Master?" Jax questioned.
Corvus ferally smirked at Jax, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"What Shadows do best."