Chapter 4: An Odyssey to Ilum

[Lord Iezkon]

“The shipments of crystals coming from Darth Horuset’s Mining Facility on the surface of Ilum were continually being raided and stolen by the Twisted Moon Pirates. Huge sums of credits simply vanishing away from the Empire and towards the Underworld, the Alliance or even the blasted Republic. With orders from Darth Vowrawn himself, the Horuset Fleet was redirected towards supporting this key aspect of the Sphere and to destroy the attackers.”

“The boarding of Th’Asidra by the rabble and scum was a true mob of incoordination. As the orders were passed down the hierarchy, the mob scrambled to get aboard the ship before it left Sith Space. As Overseers, it fell to myself and Arcukot to intercept all of the contraband we could as both Acolytes and Apprentices tried to smuggle in goods that they could not have. Blasters, Grenades, foreign rations, they were like womp rats scavenging what they could, hiding their contraband in vents and under flooring. All that was captured was taken to the Library under lock and key. To this day, we still have some of that contraband.”

“The days went by without issue. The mob was not fully briefed on why we headed to Ilum, making them all the more on edge as they trained throughout. A Cathar was beaten at my hands as they refused to move aside and soon enough I took it upon myself to teach some of the mob about Ilum itself. Its history as a site of the parasites the Jedi and the battles that we fought amidst snow and ice on its surface and in orbit. Malgus the Betrayer became a known figure in the House for the rest of the expedition as the Acolytes hurled insults at his expense at one another. The halls were soon bathed in Acolyte’s blood.”

“The Acolytes became a focus on the expedition. Even while the Tija became overrun with Gizka. We Overseers were filled with glee at the opportunity we had before us. To send the Acolytes to clear out the hundreds if not thousands of Gizka that had escaped and bred in the Tija’s Cargo Hold. We spent days training them, preparing them for Ilum. I taught them all Force Tapas while Overseer Kirjis taught them Force Augmentation. The day after, we sent them all to the Tija and did not expect any to return.”

“But they did, like rat-roaches they came back. They were told that there was Gizka poison somewhere in the cargo hold and they waded through hundreds of the critters to find it before the entire ship’s systems went down from damage as the Gizka ate entire bulkheads and generators. We hoped for at least the loss of an arm or an eye, believing an Acolyte stupid enough to try and kill each of the Gizka by hand. It is a shame that they returned intact, I would have loved to tell the tale of an Acolyte who was killed by a swarm of Gizka.“

“The Horuset Fleet was quickly restored to working order, the Tija repaired and its systems rerouted around the more damaged areas of the ship. The last part of the journey to Ilum went quickly. I still remember the ice.”

- From Overseer Valkon