Mission to Alanciar

The Mission to Alanciar was an airborne exploratory flight launched by the Lost Tribe of Sith in 2975 BBY to explore the continent of Alanciar, a large continent lying to the west of Keshtah Minor. The mission was led by the High Lord Edell Vrai who had developed the Tribe's airships. Unknown to the Sith, the Herald Adari Vaal had fled to Alanciar two thousand years ago and had warned the local Alanciari about the threat posed by the Sith Tribe. The Alanciari developed a highly militaristic society designed to repel any invader. They had constructed a network of forts, ballistae and signal stations in the Shank region which faced Keshtah.

The Alanciari ballistae shot down the two of the Sith expedition's airships near Point Vigilance. Vrai's airship Candra crashed near Point Defiance where he and several survivors managed to capture two Alanciari locals: the Wardmaster Quarra Thayn and her lover soldier Jogan Halder. The Sith then captured a local trawler called the Mischance and retreated to the coast. Vrai managed to coerce Thayn into serving as a guide for an overland mission into Alanciar in exchange for sparing the life of her lover Halder. After receiving orders from Grand Lord Varner Hilts, the remaining Sith departed on the Mischance for Keshtah with the captive Halder. Despite the recent losses and the poor intelligence available on Alanciar, Vrai's rival High Lord Korsin Bentado invaded Alanciar with the Ebon Fleet, which consisted of sixty airships.

Background
The Sith Tribe on the planet Kesh were the descendants of a group of offworld Human Sith who had become stranded during the Great Hyperspace War in 5000 BBY. In 3000 BBY, the Caretaker Varner Hilts had ended the Time of the Rot after he discovered maps which confirmed the existence of another continent besides Keshtah Minor known as "Keshtah Major". In order to unite the Sith, Hilts made reaching Keshtah Major a major goal of the Tribe's long-term goal of returning to the stars. Under the leadership of his chief engineer High Lord Edell Vrai, the Tribe experimented with developing a reliable and safe means of reaching Alanciar. Following failed experiments with long-distance uvak flights and watercraft, Vrai managed to develop airships that were held aloft by gasbags powered by hydrogen and propelled by uvaks, winged reptiles native to Alanciar.

In 2975 BBY, Lord Vrai obtained permission from Grand Lord Hilts to lead an overflight reconnaissance of "Keshtah Major." His plan was to fly east of Keshtah Minor and then return by crossing the small ocean to the west coast of his home continent. This reconnaissance mission consisted of three airships: the Candra, the Lillia, and the Dann Itra. Each airship was propelled by two uvaks and carried a crew consisting of ten persons: a captain, pilot, clairvoyant, five warriors, and two Keshiri ambassadors who would be used for communicating with the locals. Edell was captain of the Candra and other expeditionary members included the pilot and uvak-tenderer Peppin, the clairvoyant Taymor, the warriors Ulbrick and Janns, and the Keshiri scholar Tellpah.

Unknown to the Lost Tribe, the Keshiri on "Keshtah Major" had developed a highly-militaristic society over the past two millennia. It was home to a large Keshiri population who called themselves the Alanciari and called their homeland Alanciar. Following a failed uprising against the Sith, the Herald Adari Vaal and three hundred followers had fled across the ocean to Keshtah Major. Vaal had warned the locals about the threat posed by the Tribe and had become revered among the Alanciari. She also made Galactic Basic Standard the new lingua fracas of the Alanciari in order to prepare them for contact with the Sith. Under Vaal's influence, the Alanciari had built an intricate defense system consisting of ballistae, forts, uvak patrols and a large, well-equipped citizen army. The southern region of Alanciar known as the Six Claws was well-fortified with six seaside forts. The Alanciari were also led by a centralized military government that was based in the capital Sus'mintri's Vaal Hall.

Prior to the invasion, the Alanciari woman Quarra Thayn, the wardmaster and chief military administrator of Uhrar, was having an affair with a soldier named Jogan Halder, who was stationed at Point Defiance, a seaside fort on the peninsula Garrow's Neck. Thayn was married to Brue Thayn and had three children but was unhappy with her marriage. Three years earlier, she initiated an affair with Jogan Halder, who was a signals officer stationed at Point Defiance, the southernmost forts of the Six Claws. The affair began following one of Thayn's routine visits to Kerebba, a military supply center upstream on one of the canals that emptied into one of the bays defined by the Six Claws. Her cousin was a signal officer who operated the Kerebba signal station's semaphore system. Her cousin had learnt about Halder's tales of life in the wilderness and had shared it with Thayn, who fell in love with the author's writings.

When her coursin was reassigned, Thayn managed to transmit signals to Halder through the signal station at Uhrar introducing herself. This began a secret three year secret relationship where thousands of messages were exchanged between Halder and Thayn. Most of these dispatches arrived overnight at Thayn's office in Uhrar and she read them in the morning. For Thayn, Halder's letters came to provide a form of escape from the drudgery of her work as an administrator and mother. During that fateful trip to Point Defiance, Thayn was going to meet Halder physically for the first time. She pretended to be away on a trip to the industrial cities on the Northern Slope.

The Ambush
While approaching the Six Claws, the Lillia's gas envelope was hit by a javelin fired from a ground-based ballistae at Point Vigilance. The attack occurred at night. The airship exploded, killing all its crew and the two uvaks attached to it. The wreckage crashed into the ocean below. The explosion startled the Candra's uvaks and Edell Vrai ordered Peppin to control the animals. Vrai initially though that lightning had struck the Lillia's hydrogen-filled envelope, setting the ship aflame. The Dann Itra was then struck by two javelins, destroying the airship and its crew. Through his Force abilities, Vrai sensed that the Keshiri below were Force-sensitive and had used the Force to guide their javelins. Thus, the Tribe had made contact with the natives of Keshtah Major but the natives were stronger than them this time.

The only remaining airship was the Candra which was being pursued by uvaks ridden by members of the Shore Guard, the Alanciari "air force." The Shore Guard's riders used long tubes to fire dozens of diamonds at the Sith. The thoughtcrier Telepath was killed by diamond-fire. The Shore Guard also pierced the Candra's gas envelope, causing it to leak hydrogen. With the airship descending, Vrai attempted to deflate the ship while the other Sith crew fought off the attackers. While two of the enemy uvak-riders parried with the defenders, a third uvak-rider dived headlong towards the gondola. This suicide attack shattered the forward section of the Candra, causing the ship to break apart. One of the warriors and a Keshiri ambassador fell to their deaths during this attack.

The only part of the Candra that remained intact was the rear section of the gondola which was still held afloat by the punctured balloon. Vrai and the remaining crew held onto debris as the airship descended into the harbor below. Meanwhile, Quarra and Jogan heard about the Sith incursion through the signal station at Point Defiance. They were taken surprise by the attack but Jogan was overjoyed that the Alanciari ballistae had managed to intercept the invaders. However, Quarra panicked because she knew that her husband thought that she supposedly be touring the industrial cities on the Northern Slope. She had been the one who had transmitted the thought-signal as soon as the invaders had been sighted.

Since the Sith invasion would become big news among the Alanciari, she feared that other Alanciari would find out that she had been visiting Point Defiance Defiance illegally. Quarra also confessed to forging her travel supervisor Belmer's seal on her letter of transit to Point Defiance. The two Alanciari then entered the stables only to find that Quarra's muntok, a six-legged reptilian beast of burn, had escaped by chewing through its tether. Quarra did not know the name of the animal because it was a beast she had rented from the corral in Tandry and thus could not call it back. At that point, Starboard one of the Candra's tethered uvaks crashed on top of Jogan, breaking his ribs. Starboard had already been killed during the skirmish above

First Contact
"Don't touch him, you filthy Sith!" "W-what did you say?" "I said, don't touch him, you..."

- Edell Vrai and Quarra Thayn's first conversation

The remains of the Candra crashed a kilometer to the northeast of the harbor. Edell Vrai and four surviving ship crew fled from the scene before the Alanciari uvak riders arrived. Besides the Vrai, the other survivors included the uvak-tenderer Pepppin, the warriors Ulbrick and Janns, and the Keshiri Tellpah. They managed to evade Alanciari search parties which were scanning the northern shore across the party. Vrai ordered his party to climb the western summit where there sat a tall white tower which was ringed with a high white wall. This structure turned out to be Point Defiance which had been where Jogan and Quarra had been staying on the night of the attack. Upon reaching the top, Ulbrick was wounded in the thigh by glass projectiles fired from an exotic weapon. The gunner turned out to be Quarra Thayn, who had spotted the Sith survivors.

Edell fought back against Thayn and used the Force to fire a spray of sand at the Keshiri woman. This jammed Thayn's weapon but she then used the Force to punch Edell, causing him to fall forward and drop his shikkar blade. Quarra then grabbed his shikkar and attempted to stab the Sith. However, Vrai tapped into Quarra's fear and anger and pushed her back, causing him to drop her dagger. Vrai's companions Peppin and Janns than tackled Quarra and wrestled her to the ground. Nearby, the Sith found Quarra's wounded companion Jogan, who was lying beside the corpse of Starboard. After ordering Tellpah to attend to the wounds of Ulbrick, Vrai was about to kill Jogan when he was told to stop by Quarra who spoke Galactic Basic Standard.

This development surprised the Sith including Vrai who had thought that the natives of Keshtah Major spoke an ancient Keshiri dialect. Vrai and his companions also noted that some of the local Keshiri knew how to use the Force. Thayn informed them that her people had prepared for the Sith invaders and that there was an entire detachment of troops behind them. However, Edell sensed that Quarra was lying and use his Force powers to break down her mental defenses. He was able to find out that the woman was named Quarra and that she wanted to save the life of her wounded companion. After reading her mind, Vrai ordered his followers to bring them inside Point Defiance's tower.

When Thayn warned the Sith to be careful with Jogan and blamed them for the accident with the uvak, Vrai retorted that she had brought the creature down on herself. He also warned that she was about to bring a lot more down on herself. When Thayn commented that the Sith would never get past the Alanciari defenses, Vrai again retorted that she had left the gate open for us. While two Sith carried Jogan inside the tower, Edell attended to Tellpah who was seeing to Ulbrick's injuries. With Ulbrick unable to walk due to numerous wounds in his leg, Vrai personally decapitated the Sith Saber and ordered Tellpah to hide the body.

Quarra was horrified by the violent nature of Sith culture but Edell warned her never to forget that sight. After ordering his men to bind their captives in the tower, Vrai went to the top of the tower to study the surroundings. After rummaging through Fort Defiance's belfry, Edell and Tellpah managed to activate the signaling device. By this stage, Alanciari forces were mustering outside the gates of the fortress at Garrow's Neck to the east and were heading up the trail towards Point Defiance's tower. Vrai's party was joined by two other Sith survivors from the Candra, bringing the party up to six individuals. While Quarra knew how to operated the signaling device, the Sith were unwilling to trust her.

Appearances

 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pandemonium