The Necromancer is a full length story intended to retell the events of the Sith Lord Darth Waglington and his adventures serving alongside champions of the Grand Imperial Order. Chapters will be released regularly.
Chapter 1: The Contact[]
"Notification: We have arrived at the specified location, master," said the assassin droid. Outfittied in a sleek set of modified Selkath armor, the infamous HK-51 stood opposite of the cloaked Sith Lord.
"And yet the contact is no where to be found. Perhaps we have been... misled."
Seeing this as a green light to initiate his extermination protocols, HK-51 drew his twin blasters and began firing relentlessly at the astromech deployed by the Bounty Broker's Association to greet visitors of the Cartel Bazaar wing of the Imperial Fleet. Immediately, several Imperial Stormtroopers and a handful of Sith came to attention and drew their weapons. Just as the Sith Lord's fingers started to itch, a familiar face motioned for him to stand down.
"That will be enough," said the newly arrived Lord, handing several credits to the Weequay guardsman. The Sith stowed their Lightsabers and turned their attention back to their own business.
"Commentary: It is not possible to destroy my master. It is suggested you flee while my blasters warm up, meatbag."
The droid's master motioned for HK-51 to stow his weapon. "Perhaps you should go and make sure Armedda over there isn't too angry about his precious astromech."
"Caution: Sssh, master! Such a function in a droid is highly illegal!"
The droid wandered off toward the Hutt gangster as the two Sith convened.
"Lord Jagger, I presume?"
The other nodded. "A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Darth Waglington. Come, it's a long way to Dromund Kaas."
Chapter 2: The Black Talon[]
The two Sith made their way to the hangar, Jagger stopping and explaining the situation as Waglington discovered his personal fighter, the Carrion Spike had gone missing.
"The Spike has been stowed aboard our battleship, the Black Talon. An Overlord Kwagar has arranged for us to be taken directly from the orbit of Ziost to our stronghold in Kaas City."
"Dromund Kaas, eh? I figured I'd return there soon enough."
Waglington and Jagger made their way down the primary corridor on the battleship as it departed from Vaiken Spacedock, stopping to speak with a gethering of Imperials.
"Well, tell the captain that I'll be back on the bridge as soon as I've done this errand."
"Yes, sir!"
"Good to have you aboard," said the woman as she turned to her Sith visitors. "I'm Lieutenant Sylas, second in command to the Black Talon - your ride."
"Glad to be back aboard. This is Darth Waglington, the one they sent us for."
"And so it is. Welcome aboard. It's not a comfortable ship, but as transports go, it does its job. On our present course, we should arrive at the capital within a day. Won't be any trouble. I should also add on behalf of everyone... it's an honor to serve the Sith and Emperor Kwagar. Consider yourself our guest."
"You should consider yourself fortunate," said Jagger.
"Understood, my Lord. When we arrive in the Dromund System, I'll have you informed. In the meantime, your droids are in the conference room. It mentioned your name when we picked it up with the transports on Geonosis."
Droids? As in the plural?
"If my droids are here, I should see what they want."
"Feel free to bother crew if you need anything else."
"Identity confirmed. Good day," said the droid, accompanied by HK-51. "I am advanced protocol unit NR-02. My qualification are diplomacy, translation, manslaughter, and calumniation. I have an urgent message for you from my master. Please stand by for delivery."
NR-02 fiddled with his wrist pad, under careful watch from HK-51. "This is unit NR-02 to Grand Moff Kilran. You are now in contact with the Black Talon."
"Well, so I am. And you've brought me just the people I've been looking for," said Kilran, appearing on the holotable. "My name is Rycus Kilran. I am commander of the 5th fleet, second to the Minister of War, and, my personal favorite, the so called Butcher of Coruscant. Six hours ago, the Republic engaged in an illegal border skirmish on the edges of Imperial territory. One enemy warship escaped. That warship - the Brentaal Star - is carrying of vital strategic importance. Yours is the only placed to intercept."
"Grand Moff Kilran," interrupted Lord Jagger. "As far as I am aware, Overlord Kwagar has repeatedly insisted that you not interfere with the affairs of the Grand Imperial Order. You have our sympathies, but this is of no concern to the Talon, its captain, or the Sith Lords aboard it."
"I don't believe you are right," answered Kilran politely. "Allow me to explain. The waship's passengered is codenamed 'the General.' We don't know his identity, but the Republic believes he posseses military secrets - our military secrets. I trust the reports. Our general must be captured or killed. Captain Orzik, the man commanding your ship, doesn't share my enthusiam. He has disobeyed my orders to attack. Feel free to show him what the Empire does to traitors. Then, take command of the ship, find the Brentaal Star, and deal with the General."
"Right now, I am occupied with a much more important matter."
"Oh, trust me, if the General is allowed to escape, I can assure you that the Black Talon will never reach Dromund Kaas."
"This is the last time Kilran crosses the Order," said Jagger, accompanied by his new Sith friend and their droids. The group marched almost rhythmically behind NR-02 through the bowls of the warship, stopping at a laser barrier being projected by Quartermaster Dingerus and a squad of Imperial Troopers.
"Halt! This is a restricted area. Please turn back immediately!"
"I suggest you stand aside before anyone gets hurt," replied Jagger quickly.
"Our orders are to keep any intruders at bay. You need to go back!"
"I've had enough."
Lord Jagger drew the Descendant's Heirloom Lightsaber, emanating an ominous black and red blade. Waglington unsheathed his two archaic lightsabers that utilized an intense Pink-Red blade. The two set about annihilating the squad, Waglington slicing half of them into tons of tiny pieces with a well placed Dual Saber Throw and Jagger cleaning up the rest with a blast of Chain Lightning. Finally, the only survivor was Quartermaster Dingerus, whom Waglington mercilessly dispatched with a savage Force Castrate, taught by a mutual friend. The Quartermaster clenched his crotch area, finding it completely incinerated and missing a specific organ. He fell to the ground and died after minutes of humilating suffering.
The group cut a savage swath through the Talon, proving to be a formidable team. Several moments later, they proceeded through the heavily guarded lift to the Bridge.
"All enemy marines neutralized. Threat annhilated."
The two Sith held the Captain at saberpoint, convincing him to locate the Star.
"Captain, sensors are detecting one Bantha class corvette reverting to realspace. Hyperdrive at low power - but otherwise in perfect condition. Seconds later, the Brentaal Star emerged from hyperspace and began firing its ion cannons. The Talon's shields remained resilient and absorbed the brunt of the damage."
"Sirs, the shields are at a comfortable 87%. Isotope-5 power is being diverted to the defense system. Things should be calm before we enter fighter range."
The Sith knew what to do. Waglington immediately made way to the hangar deck and boarded the Carrion Spike, accompanied by HK-51 who sat in the secondary cockpit, manning the primary turbo laser. Jagger boarded his personal fighter, the Kaeveck, which was in similar design to Waglington's, sporting several cannons, an array of guided missles, a cache of energy based proton torpedous, a limited stealth system, and a personal hyperdrive. "Time for you to prove yourself. You are in command."
Waglington led the assault, accompanied by a Jagger, who acted as wingman, and a squadron of Imperial Starpilots, almost all of which spent several years at the Galactic Starfighter Academy in Kaas City and were recognized as heroes of the infallible Imperial Navy. Waglington counted eighteen Mark VI Supremacy-class starfighters and two B28 Extinction-class bombers, the newest of a long line of fighters that first saw use near the tail end of the Great Hyperspace War. The fighters adapted a broad, yet tight knit and organized attack pattern, covering all angles of the much larger Carrion Spike. Within minutes, the Brentaal Star's ion cannons intensified, and seconds later a squadron of Republic Starfighters were deployed to meet the Imperial attack force. The two squadrons engaged and the dogfight began.
The Carrion Spike was the first to attack, with HK-51 immediately blasting several Republic fighters into oblivion with the black-purple ion cannons. Waglington dispatched several heat-signature missles which saught their targets viciously. In retalition, two fighters began tailing the Spike, landing several hits that were shrugged off by the ship's advanced shield system but posing threat nonetheless. Jagger swung into position and shot down the incoming fighters, one being shot down after a few seconds and subsequently crashing into the second, emitting a massive plasma explosion that disintegrated three Supremacy fighters.
The Imperial squadron realligned, forming their signature attack formation once more. One of the Extinction bombers flew overhead, divebombing several more Republic fighters, their explosions just barely grazing the Carrion Spike. From behind, the Black Talon intensified its broadside further, annhilating most of the remaining fighters in seconds. With only three particularly stubborn Republic fighters remaining, Waglington ordered his fighters to fall back, disappearing from view. Believing he'd made a tactical error, the remaining pilots raced towards the Carrion Spike. Waglington, knowing his shields would hold, suddenly slowed to a near stop and allowed one of the fighters to fire directly on him. The bolts hit, the shields disintegrating their leftover energy and dispersing it in all directions in a spectacular purple haze. The remaining Republic fighters were lost in the explosion and were destroyed.
The Carrion Spike, the Kaeveck, the 7 remaining Supremacy fighters, both Extinction bombers, and a newly arrived group of Fury-class transports landed in the hangar bay of the Brentaal Star after its defensive field was destroyed. Jagger and Waglington leapt out of their starships, followed quickly by the Imperial Starpilots, all armed with state of the art blaster rifles and vibroblades. As they fended off the force of Republic Troopers sent to meet them, they cleared a path for the Fury shuttles to arrive. Finally, after ten minutes of fighting and the simultaneous capture of the space between the two battleships, the shuttles arrived and out came dozens of battle hardened Sith Warriors and Operatives. Their forces combined under the command of Darth Waglington.
"Come, quickly!" commanded Waglington as the invasion force gathered around him. "Lord Jagger, lead any qualified Operatives to the lower corridors. Find your way to the reactor core and disable all outgoing and incoming transmissions. Then, get to the hyperdrive system and make quick work of it. The rest of you - Warriors, Pilots, Soldiers - come with me."
The two groups split up, Jagger leading a fourth of them and Waglington commanding the rest. As instructed, Jagger briskly led his Operatives to the communications system, which a team sliced into to send out a priority signal to inform all nearby starships that the coast was clear to avoid suspicion. Then, he led them to the reactor core which was quickly destroyed with a pulse of purple lightning and a barrage of green blaster bolts.
Meanwhile, Waglington led a fearsome group of Warriors down the main corridor. All of them wore the standard garb of the Sith Warrior of the time - the infamous Eradicator Warsuit and mask, though all of them set themselves apart with their unique war markings, adorned in blood red. Additionally, a group of Imperial Pilots followed them obediently, blaster rifles held attentively. They cut a savage swath through the Brentaal Star, directly through the main corridor, exterminating any Republicans in their path.
"My Lord, the General went this way!" exclaimed an Officer. Waglington nodded and ignited one of his lightsabers, accelerating the charge to a sprinting pace. Finally, they arrived in the engine room, where the General and a mysterious, hooded figure stood.
"You must go, General! The Republic depends on it."
"But what about you? You won't last against two Sith!"
From somewhere behind, the sealed blast doors burst open with a flash of pinkish-red energy.
"I will face my destiny."
The General and two lightly armed Troopers made their way to the gravity chamber, where only one damaged escape pod remained. It would, by estimation, take several minutes to calibrate and take off.
"Halt! I am Yadira Ban, Jedi Master and member of the Council. You will go no further."
"How rude of an introduction. It seems the Jedi do not include manners in the Tython curriculum. I am Darth Waglington, Sith Battlemaster, tamer of the Dark Side, and Speaker for the Dead. That's my favorite way of saying, 'step aside or I'll make you reget being born.'"
"Say what you will, Sith. Your path ends here. The General will be leaving this system and his efforts will win the war for the Republic."
Just as Ban drew her lightsaber, Lord Jagger and his task force arrived through an adjacent blast door. "You didn't plan on starting without me, did you?"
Waglington and Jagger drew their lightsabers and lashed out at the Jedi. Waglington, dual wielding his red weapons, Force Charged Ban and broke her defense, opening up an opportunity for a bladestorm. Jagger followed soon after, casting an affliction spell on the Jedi and leaving her open. Waglington and Ban were consumed by the battle, neither losing focus or breaking form. Ban's defense was excellent, but the Sith Lord's offensive skills were just above her capability. Her defense began to break, and she became winded from the onslaught. Jagger moved in, blasting her with a Force Storm and sending her flying. Ban quickly regained her footing, charging back into battle.
As Ban focused on Jagger, his defenses too began to faulter, breaking under her mastery of the Shien form. But Waglington dashed back into the fray, now fully immersed in the acrobatic Ataru Form. The Sith leapt and slashed at the Jedi, always seeming to be two steps behind (and below) the agile warrior.
Ban made one last effort to achieve victory, but as she brought down her lightsaber on Wag's head, Jagger unleashed a current of Lightning at her, forcing her to drop the weapon in agony. Waglington saw the opportunity and took it, blasting her into smithereens with a beam of pure Dark Side energy imbued with a storm of red Force Lightning. The center of the room was reduced to ash, along with the Jedi who stood there more moments ago.
Waglington quickly dropped his lightsabers and clutched his seared hands, burning under a black and green flame. The Sith groaned a bit, steadily being healed by his comrade's spells. "That was quite a show. Come, let's finish this damn side quest."
The two Sith and what remained of their task force kicked down the doors to the escape hatch. Before they could react, Waglington fried the two soldiers with his red lightning. A soldier bashed the elderly General on the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking him unconscious.
Jagger and Waglington convened once more as the General was carted off in a block of carbonite by the newly arrived Imperial squadron. Lieutenant Sylas arrived on the Brentaal Star as well, accompanied by her personal bodyguards. "You made astonishing work with the Jedi. And I see the General has been captured as well..."
"Yes, your performance was... satisfactory, as well," replied Jagger, obviously lacking interest. "Anything to serve the Order. The Grand Moff will be pleased, though I doubt you care much about what he thinks. Overlord Kwagar has been forwarded a review of your work here and has taken... special note of you, Darth Waglington. Will you two be our guests in delivering the General to Kilran on Ziost?"
"No, unfortunately we will be going directly to the stronghold on Dromund Kaas. We've done enough for the Moff, I'm sure he'll understand. Give him our regards," said Jagger, leading Waglington to his corvette stationed aboard the Black Talon.
Chapter 3: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer[]
Jagger, Waglington, and HK-51 arrived on Dromund Kaas aboard his personal War Corvette, the Fortunate Son, of course with the slightly damaged Carrion Spike attached to the corvette's suspension rings. The Fortunate Son entered the Dromund Kaas orbit after a brief security clearance by the Imperial Orbital Command Station. After a half hour, the corvette landed on a hidden landing pad somewhere in central Kaas City, situated on the side of a massive, heavily armed tower. "Welcome to the Stronghold of the Grand Imperial Order."
The two Sith both walked from the landing pad and across a short platform, both of them in marvel at the massive stronghold before them. A red rayshield, that Waglington presumed was the entrance, deactivated, along with three blast doors, all in different shapes and sizes. From the entrance came a mysterious, pale figure, cloaked in Sith robes and half of his face concealed by a cybernetice jawguard. "Ah, the newest member of the Order. We are most impressed to hear of your success aboard the Brentaal Star, not to mention your full record."
Waglington stared at the cloaked figure, almost in disbelief. He shook his head in bewilderment, uttering a question, "Breasly? Is that you?" The Sith hardly even realized he said it, and froze in shock. The figure didn't seem to compute the question either, and cocked his head in confusion. "Pardon?" he managed. "No... it was nothing. Who might you be?"
"My name is Melekor, Ancient of the Order, and one of the three Brothers of Chaos. You will learn more of us soon. Come, let me show you the inside," Melekor said, leading Waglington in. Jagger separated from the group upon entrance, obviously needing to attend to his own business. The two entered the central chamber after a brisk elevator ride to the top. At the far side of the room was a massive throne, decorated with a myriad of braziers and ancient statues. Lined all around the massive room were extravagant chairs.
"Please, Waglington, take a seat," said Melekor politely. Something seemed quite strange about Melekor to Waglington. Beside the interesting question moments ago... something about John Breasly...? he seemed to be wearing a mask (in addition to the actual "mask," he was wearing.
"Now, I've told you about the Order, or at least the basic premise. But now, I'd like to hear about you. Tell me about yourself. Where did you come from? Where did you go?"
Waglington reclined in his ornate chair, never even thinking about removing his mask. How could he, after all he'd been through?
"I was born in an icy planet, not unlike Ilum or Hoth, deep in the Outer Rim. Wintertusk, it was called, the capital being Hrundle Fjord. I was born in the northernmost region - Nordrilund. There was no Republic or Empire there in all of its history. We were run by the Coven. They were strong with the Force, but they didn't call it that. They weren't unlike the Sith - they used the Dark Side to rule the planet with unlimited power. So many species there, so many people. Chiss, Human, even Pureblood - all nothing under the boot of the Master of the Coven - Sotmr Shadowsong. I was one of the few fortunate ones to be taken in under their wing and be trained to use the Dark Arts. That's when I discovered my innate talent for a very specific power - Necromancy."
The two spoke for another hour in the chambers. "The trials in Hrundle Fjord were grueling. I've seen what the Overseers put the Acolytes through on Korriban. They are nothing compared to what the young sorcerers face in Wintertusk. If they were lucky enough to survive - and few were - most would be placed under the command of one of the members of the Coven. Only the most powerful would be marked for apprenticeship under the Grandmaster of the Coven, Shadowsong. The select few, maybe two a year out of the hundreds, would be shared unlimited knowledge. Sotmr was a remarkable teacher - terrifying, yet welcoming. He helped me find my inner strength - and my weakness. I recall one lesson from him in particular..."
"Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you."
Melekor listened in astonishment. Never had he heard such sincerity in so much lunacy. "Amazing... tell me, what did they teach you?" the Ancient asked. "Of power, I could tell you much. Of the Dark Side, I could share limitless knowledge. One must seize the opportunity... and strike."
As the two continued to speak, another figure similar to Melekor and yet less familiar entered the room. The figure wore similar armor to Waglington, though his adopted a more militaristic and somewhat skeletal style. Like Waglington, the figure also bore two identical lightsabers and a Dark Side mask.
"Melekor, who is this?" asked the man. "Ah yes, Morderis. This is the newest recruit, brought to us by Lord Jagger," said Melekor. Waglington rose from his chair, offering to shake hands with Morderis. "Darth Waglington, I presume," said Morderis after a moment, shaking hands. "Indeed. I've been speaking with Melekor for some time now, discussing the Order and where I came from."
Morderis pondered Waglington. "I see. Perhaps you could share some of this knowledge with me. You seem to be intelligent, in some form." The three reclined in their seats once more, and Waglington continued with his tale.
Chapter 4: Witches of the Mist[]
Approximately one year after the arrival of Waglington...
"Bah... this idleness is simply intoxicating," said Masqueradeus, sitting on his Command Throne on the left side of the room.
"Patience, Masqueradeus," said Nihilus calmly. "Overlord Kwagar has asked us to... remain vigilant. It shouldn't be much longer before he returns."
"Vigilance does not translate into being suicidally idle," mumbled Melekor.
"Nihilus is right," said Aqueron to the group. "Kwagar will be returning... soon. Until then, the Grand Imperial Order is under guidance of the Ancients."
"If I may be so bold, perhaps these Ancients have too much power," suggested Corith. "Even considering perhaps one of you are actually inside the Stronghold at once, all the power in the Order should not be reserved for so few men."
"If you ask me, the Order doesn't have enough power," said a strange, accented woman as she walked into the room. She wore a menacing set of blood red robes and Feral Visionary Headgear and spoke with a strange accent that most could only guess of its origins.
"And who might you be?" asked Waglington, entering the common room from one of the southern offices.
"A friend from the fleet," replied the figure accompanying her. Waglington and the others nearly hadn't noticed Morderis escorting her inside, overshadowed by the strange woman he had brought them.
"This," he said boldy, "is Zealancor, the last of the Nightsisters of Dathomir."