Characters: Crusade, Suade, Naraal
Setting: Hask Orbiting Arbidon, Bridge
Writers: Prince, Sep, Renny

Prompt: Suade has been summoned by Crusade through Vera while escorting Naraal.
OOC: Posted up so I could throw up a Rorwoorr post for the Republic side.

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Crusade turned. The mask betraying nothing off his facial features, though some said it was not a mask. The theories behind what he really was were quite interesting, and he didn't dissuade them. Rumours gave him power, as they bred confusion. No-one truly knew who he was and that gave him a level of invulnrability. He looked down at the Zeltron and the boy beside him, boy being the only word he would use. Next to untamed and [i]weak[/i]. Very close to being pathetic. The boy could use the Force, otherwise he would not have caused any form of disturbance however it was so raw, so unrefined it used him more than he used it. 

"I will have several uses for you in the upcoming excursion I have planned." He looked down on the boy, focusing his mind and pressing down on the boys. "Though first, what is this [i]thing[/i] you felt could be brought into my presence?" He dropped his right hand down, pulling his cloak back making the hilt of his lightsaber visible. A threatening gesture, however it was done slowly and with elegance at the same time. Simply as if he had straightened his outfit or someone would have brushed their hair. 

Suade could almost feel the disappointment, or rather, the distaste, brought to Crusade as he seemingly examined the boy. Suade was well aware of how quickly Crusade could anaylze Naraal. Far faster than he could, and not due to any mental affinity. Crusade was so deeply in touch with the Dark Side that it was almost instanteous; all the boy needed be done was brought near him. Suade, to even begin to analyze Naraal to the degree Crusade must have in mere moments, would have required extensive time and experimentation, not just with the boy's mind, but his body. The gap between them was huge, leaving a small realm of skill Suade possessed that his master did not. 

"He is a youngling, sir," Suade answered Crusade, rising slowly from his knees to make what would have been eye contact with Crusade if not for his mask. This was a sign of respect, a sign of strength, a sign normally respected within the Sith. To kneel was to accept the gap of strength between them and too acknowlege the authority of those above one, but to peer right into the eyes of one's commander was to remind them of your value and strength. If one could not stand up to their master, they had no hope of standing up to their enemies - or the enemies of their master. "But, I believe the Dark Side brought him here for a reason," Suade added.

"Like a gnat to your flame, sire, he was brought here, tasting your power and hungering for more. As I spoke to him and delved into his mind, I could see that hunger for power and even feel its extent. He has no boundaries for it. Even his imagination is not the end to his desire. The... potential he may have, if shown what the Dark Side truly is, m'lord, may take him farther in training than some of these brutes you trust with tasks that I would not give ethem on their best day - not questioning your judgement, of course," Suade answered Crusade. He words were eloquent, chosen with a clear and decisive intent as to not offend but also express his own opinions, which at times were considered by Crusade. Even more so, these were only words; he did not meddle with the Force when addressing his master.

"As you know, I feel the Force makes no coincidences. Some consider me still a fanatic, but I know you have seen the complex tapestry that the Dark Side weaves for us. I hoped you might have insight where I am blind, m'lord," Suade explained as he continued his stern stare at Crusade. He danced with words, but felt he had much to explain. Weaker Sith would have stumbled and broken their contact with his master at this point, some Jedi would have broken down terrified. Suade defended himself with the only tool he had when dealing his master: his wordplay. 

Standing in his presence, in the source's territory was invigorating and frightening at the same time. It left the pale-skinned youth wanting more than he could partake in and even more afterwards. His jaw tensed, the angularity of its showing through the softness as he felt the man's pressure weighing on him; egging on the hunger that gnawed at his mind. He hadn't felt such a pressure before. Never heard himself be addressed as a thing before. It made him flinch a bit; he knew he was disposable to this man. 

Remaining knelt as Suade raised up, he was enthralled with the sith's words. They fell off the tongue in elaborate ways that made him reconsider their uses. No longer was it aggravatingly confusing. He had finally recognized it as a means of survival. A means of warfare. 

The feeling that now coursed through him, beyond the new found understanding of Suade, was the hunger and [i]need[/i] to drink from the fountain itself. He crinkled the tips of his fingers against his kneecaps to hold himself back. It was weird, but his hunger did not attempt to overthrow the intense fear that racked his bones; instead, it was attempting to coexist with it. To makes its home next to the fear... to give him a reason to endure it. 

He couldn't help but wonder if this [i]too[/i] was the Dark Side's doing or if it was simply his imagination. 

Crusade looked around at the boy, his hands figgeted against his knees. There wasn't hate, it was more akin to fear and a hunger. He almost felt like laughing, it is true the Dark Side and this boy were connected. Though in such a way where it controlled the boy, if he was to be off use he had to express his dominance over it. He raised a hand to silence Suade. He walked straight on front off the boy, releasing his grip on his mind and then doing something else entirely. Constructing what could only be said as a barrier between the boy and the very essence of the Force. An ability he reserved for enemies, and those who would be allies.

He looked down to what would be the obvious surprise on the boys face, at suddenly having the ability to sense the Dark Side... disappear. Not being able to use the Force at all. It was just suddenly gone. "I have just removed you of everything that made you powerful [i]boy[/i]. Everything that gave you power over the galaxy and those within it."

He walked to the edge of the bridge, looking out of the viewport as the ships weapons fired at the occasional pod, though by his order not every single pod. There had to be some survivors to strike fear amongst their enemies. He turned around. "How does this make you feel? I could snap you as if you were a twig, and now you only hopes of survival have been removed from you making you the weakest thing I have aboard my ship. Speak boy."

Naraal shivered tentatively. Everything that had made him up, everything that had blocked the pain of betrayal and hurt had simply vanished. It had all came rushing in, and for a moment he felt his control slip. It stabbed at him viciously; the image of his mother passing him on traders, her mercilessly actions when she killed his father. And then her head rolling on the cavern floor in that ghastly, mind-broken, image.

He looked down at his hands, their trembling discouraging him from even attempting to speak. He reached out over a dozen times since losing his connection with the force. But the numbness never came, none of it embraced him like before. It was just as the Source had said, he had become weak and helpless. A twig to be broken. 

A cold breath left him as his hands fell back to his knees, his expression becoming emotionless. Without the force he was weak now, but he [i]would[/i] not die. He would survive by any means possible. To put on the facade that he was strong was what he needed. Not to be a dribbling pup that lost his family; he would never be that again. 

A calming breath left him. “... I feel abandoned,” he answered straight-forward, his hand balling into fist on his knees. “As if everything is foreign to me, against me. I feel hopeless. I hate that,” He conveyed the word hate with every fiber of anger inside of him. It was seething with repugnance. 

[i]"Pathetic."[/i] Crusade basically spat the word. He was, his emotions controlled him. If he ever became a Sith he doubted he would amount to anything. Despite that, while he himself did not enact the will of the Force, instead crushing it to do his there was something that brought this boy here. Something that could at least be temporarily beneficial. He focused on the barrier, making it strong enough to last several days without his presence. The boy would be trained.

Though not through any [i]conventianal[/i] means. He had to earn his worth to use the Force. "You will come with us to Coruscant boy. You will be trained-" He waited for the hopeful look. "Though not by Suade and certainly not by [i]me[/i]. You will be trained by Vera." He let himself a snide grin, hidden by his mask. He could feel the confusion by everyone who heard that, Vera was a capable assassin however she was no Sith. "Head to the shuttle, find out where it is on your own. Do not speak to me again, and never be within my eyesight until I call for you." He waited till the boy left.

"You will travel to the world where the Wookie is undergoing his mission. Bring him to Coruscant he shall be rewarded for his efforts by partaking in our little demonstration. Go now. I must prepare."

---

[b]Rorwoorr[/b]

He turned to Lucina, surprised by her question. [You will be coming with us of course. As will our fellow Jedi. You will inform the Jedi Council off what has transpired here while you oversee the deciphering of the data you have collected.] He signalled for them all to enter the dropship. That lifted off, groaning slightly on its repulsorlifts due to damage taken to it during the battle. He watched as several more escape pods from orbit made land fall. [Ensure the troopers know to try and rally those who managed to escape in the pods. There may be those with severe injuries.] He looked at those in the dropship, which included one Mandalorian he did not recognize. Battered and bruised she had obviously been the prisoner he had been told had been liberated. The one that caused Kast confusion, however it was possible she could just be a mercenary caught up in things or indeed from another one of the Battalions that landed on the planet. 

Something however seemed [i]strange[/i] about her. He was going to tell Kast to keep an eye on her, though realized there was a chance of her over hearing through having to pass the message through Lucina and that the Mandalorian would likely already be doing so. The only other beings with them in the dropship was of course the pilot, the unconscious Sith, the Jedi and Kast himself. When the ship touched down, and the exited to what was an old spice freighter Rorworr turned to Airus and Kemil'tel. [Secure the prisoner in the ship, he is your responsibility.] He then turned to Lucina, Kast and the other Mandalorian. [You three fly the ship, I doubt I will be able to fit in the cockpit with anyone else there.]