[IC] Star Wars: Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

[ultimate523]

Strago felt a large mix of emotions in him at first while he was in the Kolto tank. He was angry at Jayda for what just happened, Thalia for making him be here, and the Sith for capturing him, but at the same time, he had seen Calista there, which brought a certain degree of pleasantness. At least she wasn't suffering at this moment, though the fact that she was there at all reminded him that she must have at some point before, and he didn't know how the other Jedi were doing either.

He could tell no Sith was influencing his mind at the moment, but the combination of everything that had happened was able to get to him. The emotions grew further, and his body tensed, causing some pain to surge through him for a moment, and bringing the realisation of how much he was letting things get to him. This wasn't like him, and it wasn't right, but it was happening without a Sith even influencing his mind, something that served to make it even worse.

This isn't the time for this. The Sith will not break me. The Force will guide me. He thought to himself. It took a long time of thinking to truly begin calming himself, but it was able to get there slowly, now finally allowing his mind, and body to relax.

Once he was calm, he closed his eyes, and began to meditate, focused entirely on connecting with the Force, allowing the Kolto to heal him rather than doing it on his own. There was very noticeable, and strong darkness on the ship, almost overwhelming him for a moment as he let his mind go very freely toward the Force, but he pushed through it, going past what was physically around him, Calista's light aiding him in doing so at first.

He began to feel the light more, and more, calming him further, giving all of himself to the Force now. It caused him to lose his attachment to his mind, and body for the moment, along with all the negative that came with it.

Moments later, it was warm. No thoughts, no other feelings, just a calming warmth. Strago knew he was safe in this moment without even needing to think about it, but that moment could only last so long. It took time, but eventually his thoughts came back to him. They reminded him of where he was, and the whole situation, but he was able to let it be. The worries, the anger, the sadness, and disappointment, it all had faded. He knew it would be back, but it didn't scare him. Not right now. The Force was with him, and it needed him to be strong. The other Jedi needed him to be strong. There was no burden, or fear attached to it, it was simply what had to be.

Over time, the positive feelings faded slightly as well, but they were there much more than before he had entered. Strago remained quite relaxed as he finally opened his eyes once more, looking around the medical area. Part of him was tempted to try to escape, but he brushed the thought from his mind as he just watched the droids, medical personnel, and others move around. Some of the glanced at him occasionally, but they mostly seemed to ignore him.

He had considered healing himself to make the process go faster, but decided against it, wanting to have as much energy as possible for whatever might come next, and hoping it meant he could stay in there a little longer. He was enjoying the time to think, and relax, not feeling threatened enough by anyone nearby to really worry. He knew that if the Sith wanted him dead, he would be already, an odd comfort in its own way.

[Ellri]

Ithan Kando returned to his quarters, pleased with the days work. In the eight standard days since they had struck against the hated republic’s capital, much had been achieved. None of the Jedi prisoners had become true Sith yet, but several had taken steps in the right direction. And there had, as expected, been a few fatalities. Only the worthy would become Sith. The remainder, would remain prisoners or die. Some deaths would help bring the worthy over to the right cause. Others would, quite simply, be meaningless.

After sealing his quarters, he removed his armor, one piece at a time, hanging it on a rack in one of his small side-chambers. He did not hurry. There was no need for that. Afterwards, he donned his Sith robes before walking over to the room dedicated to communications technology. Using the consoles, he easily established a secure, encrypted connection his master, who surprisingly to many was no Sith. “Moff Katherion. You wanted to talk?” He asked, standing at attention before the holoprojector.

“Yes, Inquisitor. I did.” The Moff answered. “How goes it with the prisoners?”

“It goes well, Moff. None have turned yet, but it is clear several of them have a hard time resisting. There is hope for them yet. It will take time, but time they will get.” He answered, not moving a limb.

“Good. What was your last act?” The moff asked, curious.

“I removed that prisoner from the Sensory Deprivation chamber, where it had been for the past four days. The exposure has clearly weakened this prisoner. I recommend keeping said prisoner under constant observation.” Ithan did not dare let anything be up to chance now. “Are we far out from our target?” He added at the end.

“Interesting.” the moff answered. “We are still some distance away. Our route was never direct, and this ship was never built for speed. It has heavy armoring, stout shields and significant armaments, but it lacks a similarly strong hyperdrive. We will arrive when we arrive. Not a moment before. Continue with your work and keep me appraised.”

“As you wish.” Ithan answered, and the holoprojector shut down.

~| Four hours later. |~

“Why do you persist in serving him? You are Sith, he is not.” she asked Ithan. In the dim light, it was impossible for anyone to see who it was, and the room twisted any voice beyond recognition, but he knew exactly who it was. He smiled beneath his mask.

“My life, is his. Without him, I would be dead. I see him rising far, and when he does, I will be rise with him. You would not understand.” Ithan answered.

The visitor did indeed not understand. “There is more, is there not?”

“You’ll never know. Now leave me.” Ithan could sense his visitor leaving, clearly unsatisfied, but knowing no satisfaction were to be had. He smiled. It had been a while since the previous visit now. Getting to his feet, he quickly found the object left behind. He did not gaze at it, simply slid it into a small pocket. He would deliver that to Darth Nyiss at his first opportunity to do so without anyone else noticing. What the object was, was none of his business. Failure to comprehend that the first time around had cost him his voice. He did not wish to repeat that mistake.

---

End timestamp:
14th hour, 8th day ATC

[Fallenreaper]

Xid

Xid didn’t know what to expect when he was placed into the strange chamber but what he got was a hellish experience. No way to prepare for what was coming and braced his mind for it, nothing in his training that could’ve helped him through it. In only a short time what little sensation of time he had was gone. What bit he might’ve had now slipped beyond his understanding and ability to determine, made worse in his current predicament. For some reason, instinct or fear, his mind had set about to determine his own state of being. A task that was harder then he originally guessed it would’ve been.

It started with the void where his senses should’ve been. Every surface within his cramp, little space felt exactly the same and prevented him from moving much. All around was a smooth flawless surface where he couldn’t grip or tell one area apart from another and soon enough, the sense of touch began to numb even to the air itself. His eyes saw only a continuous black, a darkness that clawed at his sight and unable to tell if his lids were open at all. It was frightening at first in words he couldn’t explain, Xid’s head quickly moved onto the next senses. Inwardly he was driven by his desperation to seek out anything to stop the drifting memories. Next was his mouth, dry and tasteless as he hadn’t eaten in days, once again resulting in another dead end. The Padawan inhaled, or at least he believed he did because of the lack of tight feeling within his chest, only to notice two dreadful things. Most notable was the silence seemed to have swallowed him up. The Padawan longed for another voice because his own seemed absorbed by his very cage and faded before it had begun. Lastly, his remaining hope and the final despise, he couldn’t smell anything. He couldn’t detect the stench he was sure he gave off or staleness air had when locked away in a box, nothing around him to distract his ever active mind. He knew he wasn’t dead. It meant he would’ve been one with the force and from tales he remembered, this experience was far from it.

It was just him and his mind… In this moment, he felt alone, weak and worse of all helpless. Easy prey. Sadly, the fear was not for the Sith but rather himself. Xid couldn’t tell if he was shaking when the memories finally started to consume his idled attention, merely that he had latched onto anything which would help keep his sanity. No matter how easily it would tear him apart inside.

Xid couldn’t fully understand why it had to be memories of him, what reasoning had driven the young Padawan’s thoughts to dare to tread there and once more fully experience the misery brought by them. The only thing he knew inside was that he was forced to endure it. The first memory began two years ago before Sela and he returned to Coruscant, on a planet called Belsavis.

Xid followed closely behind Master Sela, his form bundled up head to toe in thick winter coats and heavy boots clicked upon the hard flooring. Like his body, his eyes darted about and watched eagerly between the ancient droids who floated around the pair as if they weren’t there and the surrounding sights. Instantly the young boy had to grind to a stop when a droid darted across his path, seemingly ignorant of his presence, on route to complete daily tasks. He knew the droids had been informed they were here and allowed or they would’ve been attacked on arriving. It had been a few hours since their ship was docked in the bay, landed within another part of the faculty and locked down for their stay’s duration.

His body still fixed in place, he recalled what he knew about the area. The planet was called Belsavis, a frozen ice world with a few places that weren’t covered by ice and snow. Those areas were affected by technology which created biome pockets unaffected by the natural chill on the planet’s surface. Currently, he continued, this area was referred to by the droids as a high maximum security vault, designed and housed much of the non-human prisoners, each jail cells set to accommodate each species’ independent requirements for living. His sight then shifted towards each nearby individual cell and curiously glimpsed the creatures within. Animals from Rancors to other bizarre and unidentifiable species seemed well settled in their habitats. Their forms flittered across the artificial landscapes easily adapted to their own traits while many different sounds filled the area, calls both strange and unique filled Xid’s ears causing him to just to listen.

“Xid, you’re falling behind. It isn’t a good idea to dwell in one place, at least not until after we reach our destination first.” Sela’s words echoed back, her voice firm and reasonable, had broken the short lived spell over him.

Quickly Xid turned on heel and darted after his master, his hand shuffled through his blond hair in a guilt gesture as his feet dashed across the hall. In a short time, he brought himself to her side and easily slipped into the steady pace she set. For every step she took, he ended up taking two while questions popped out his mind into his voice. “Master, why are we here? You mentioned very little and the fact it involved a connection with technology and the force. What does a prison have to do with that? And why are there animals here instead of prisoners?”

Underneath the same wintery coat and layers, Jedi Master Sela had on the basic and simple rode worn by all those within the Jedi order as her hands were held deeply within the sleeves enhancing her calm look. To him, she was an idea imagine of a Jedi, something that quickly drew his respect when he was selected to be her Padawan. Though she turned to Xid when his questions started to rise, her mind easily navigated the endless twists and turns within the halls. She continued to lead herself and Xid through the passages, answering him with a mild chuckle.

“Filled with so many questions Xid? Sometimes watching and observing is the best teacher, one you can learn much from. Something I thought you would’ve realized by now.” She gently chided him, her words continued. “However, I will satisfy some of your curiosity merely to ease the building need to know something.”

They turned again, nearly missed a droid, when they entered a straight path where their destination lied at the end. Instead of the calm and entrancing sounds the prior cells had, these were dead silent. Each prisoner within had been locked in stasis, a long sleep, from which only their mind was active and ever alerted to the activities around them. Rarely any droids passed through this area as none of the cellmates required care within their hibernation, their bodies frozen and kept alive by the stasis process itself. This caused Xid’s eyes to flicker towards a single one causally to spot another strange creature he couldn’t place. They seemed more plentiful within this certain section then the other, at least some of the earlier cells had creatures he could’ve placed thanks to the Jedi Archives readings and his own encounters but not a single animal did he recognize here. He shuddered to consider what it was like for those trapped here and forced the thought out, his desire to be rid of the feeling quick had him focus on Sela’s conversation.

“We are assigned here due to your ability with the force. There is technology upon this planet that is rather old and date far back to an unsettling time. The technology left behind has properties that relate in a connection between one’s force and technology. An area you’re very adapt in Xid. The Jedi Order is hoping you can examine, study and possibly replicate the nature of this technology in hopes to improve the Republic’s weapons and aid the Jedi Order’s task in bring balance back to the Force. We can only hope it would be a means to end the war.”

Xid’s expression seemed to become excited that soon faded into disappointment. This wasn’t what he expected as deep inside he wasn’t sure how to feel about it, his eyes lowered to the floor. Inside he mulled over the feelings. He over all hated the idea of bloodshed, especially when it something he built was the source of it, his feet continued to walk alongside her in utter silence. The only sounds were their boots echoing throughout the hall for some time before Sela once more called his attention. She seemed to have caught onto his feelings as she tried to ease them with her reasoning.

“War brings out the worst and best in everyone, a fact well proven by history, Padawan. To dwell too much on the choices before the knowledge is obtained isn’t helpful in deciding what to do with it. It just makes the task harder than it needs to be. Never doubt what we do as Jedi is to protect the galaxy, losing sight of that might lead you down the Dark Side.” She offered gently, the end of the hall almost on them as they passed the last cell on the right.

Their journey to their quarters had been uneventful. At least until the moment Xid passed by a cell panel and the item clicked, its green light turned red suddenly. An earsplitting alarm blared shattered the prison’s quiet and flooded the air around them. His hands shoved over his ears, a vain barrier against the pain laced within his hearing, his teeth gritted against the noise. Xid’s wide eyes turned to seek out the cause for the disturbance as his voice tried to reach his master. “What’s going on? What’s happened?”

He never got the chance to hear her reply.

Xid felt something wrap about his body, his arms struggled only to be pinned to his and held fast. Fear and surprise flooded Xid. His head tiled down to spot the green thing around his waist which trapped him. The Padawan’s head jerked up to see Sela’s hand reach for her light saber, the green light flickered on and her body fell into her usual stance to attack. He didn’t have much time to dwell on how to release himself when pain popped through his brain. It started from where his neck and shoulder connected then set his body on fire. Several needlelike teeth pressed into the skin, their points drew the warm sensation of his blood. Muscles and flesh held in the thing’s mouth for a moment, his wound burned like acid embedded within. He started to shudder violently. His body’s senses felt slightly numb as his scream choked within his throat. The thing’s tail released followed leaving his face locked in utter horror when he fell the short distance upon his knees. Behind him, he caught an inhuman howl wail in fury. Xid was when his hands and knees when the tail smacked into his side, the attack had sent him slamming into the nearest wall. Immediately the wind completely knocked out of him.

His neck bled out, his ribs cracked and slowly recovering from the shock, Xid was forced to watch the beast closed in on Sela. If hadn’t attacked him and now threatened to tear his master to pieces than Xid might’ve thought it was interesting and impressive. Its hide, littered by faded scars, was a dark green with black and yellow stripes as it raised the crest upon its head and revealed the red webbing with each hiss. The creature’s size was about that of large tiger like beast he saw when researching Tattooine, the movements predatory and aggressive. Quickly Sela opened her palm to the animal to link with the beast’s mind. Inside Xid hoped it would’ve work, only to see slightly confusion on the master’s face, her hand pulled back instantly when the creature’s claws tried to rip it off. It seemed her effort only angered it.

The first to arrive on the scene were two droids. Their presence earned the beast’s attention, its howl erupted once more. Not heeded the warning, the first droid rushed in to subdue but ended up being shoved into a wall by a tail. It dented the armor easily. Not wasting too much time, its fore hands held the droid in place, the head pulled back and tossed forwards. Once, twice and three times the hard head butted the droid’s metal brain in. The outside caved in while gears, wiring and more were then gripped and jerked out remorselessly. It disabled the droid easily, now just a metal husk that it casted away. The second droid had drawn in during the scrap. A suicide mission it seemed as it slammed into the beast, its hands gripped the underbelly and sent a shockwave through the prisoner’s body. Another howl, frustrated and pained to Xid’s ears, echoed through the halls.

Meanwhile, Sela had made her way towards her Padawan. She keeled over his crumbled body, her fingers pressed to his neck and checked for vital signs. Xid weakly smirked, his arms pushed him upright to sit up. Blood soaked through his shredded robe but thankfully most the flesh was there. He still throbbed from something which raced in his veins, each one felt hot and feverish, his eyes turned to watch the beast tear the droid apart with ease. It seemed to know the droid’s weak points all too well he noted quickly.

“What is that thing?” Xid asked in a raspy voice.

“Something that was left behind and we need to get it back into its cage.” Sela answered him. Her head darted to the cell and then returned back to Xid, helping him to his feet. “I’m going work on that. Can you close the door again?”

“I think so…Something doesn’t feel right. I think it crushed some of my ribs.” Xid observed through his gritted teeth, his mind unable to push away the pain. His hand used the wall for support, the other cradled his ribcage where the throbbing was strongest, when his master finally let go when she was sure he could stand upright.

The monster had been dismantling droids left and right the whole time yet its movement became tepid. It's already high adrenaline drained somewhat in its rampage. Sela took the opportunity. She stepped away from Xid, her hand held out and Force Pushed a droid’s hollow shell at it. The metal case bounced off its target easily causing it to pause. It's beady eyes darkened, the head turned to the Jedi and was followed by a low hiss. The beast rose to all fours, then started it's attack. It nimbly strayed in and out of Sela’s light saber’s strike while the master tried to severe the tail or arm, each time she fought to keep a fixed distance between her and her opponent. Xid crept towards the panel, his head so often trailed to the pair that danced about. Each attacked and retreated over and over, their opposing strengths almost matched equally in combat. Finally Sela positioned the beast just in front of the cell. Its body pulled upright and ready to lounge at Sela’s exposed side. Instead she placed all her concentration within a Force Push, her aim thrown at its feet. The unexpected attack and power was enough. It knocked the creature off balance, sending it right into the cell at the moment Xid’s hand pressed the panel. The high energy buzz came on, trapped the beast within. At its frustrated cries and roars the Padawan knew his task was done. Once more he felt his form give out from under him, the youth collapsed where he stood. His mind numb to the pain on impact and his master’s rush towards him, her shouts drowned out by the darkness which filled his vision until it swallowed him up.

Naturally when the memory ended, his mind returned to his status. Nothing had changed. He still was as numb and dead as before, the realization had caused him to drift in another escape. This one dated slight a few weeks later after he was attacked, his body recovered from some pathogen left in the attack and finally discovered the origins of a mysterious voice. It turned out the voice belonged to the creature responsible, locked away in a new habitat within the first cell blocks.

Xid watched the creature in his new cell. The habitat was a hot and humid setting, tropical in natural with ambiance in the background similar to the planet it was based off of. A planet name Xid didn’t know or could remember. The beast shifted to sit upright and merely stared off into space, its hands sat upon its hind legs and balanced by the tail that curved beside it. To anyone else, the animal had seemed to be grunting and growling to itself but to Xid, each sound was actually a word he understood. The Padawan was stunned to hear the mumbling go on as the creature talked to itself.

“Why did the Rakata send humans to retrieve me? After they had just sent me into sleep, why now? It makes no sense unless they wanted to kill me and the humans didn’t.” Something seemed to click in the creature’s brain, his mind leap from one topic to another rapidly. “How did they open it at all? The panels are only attuned to force sensitive beings but the one I fought...She did have force abilities but none that dealt with force technologies, not the right type. That would’ve made her Force Hound material, not a guard or common labor slave. She should’ve been out seeking new worlds for them, not here. Why here? Doesn’t make sense…What date is it? How long have I’ve been asleep, it couldn’t be for too long, could it?”

After listening unintentionally to the creature’s ramblings, Xid thought it was ideal to make his presence known. He stepped closer to the energy barrier and spoke in a gentle voice, his wariness still clear since after the attack. “Hello. Can you understand me?”

The beast’s body stiffened at Xid’s question. It stood there, immobile for a moment or two, inwardly seemed to debate on its course of action. Finally, the animal moved again and twisted its head to look upon him. Xid couldn’t help but strange awe at seeing the creature react, his ears caught the words answering his question.

“Yes… I can. Who are you? Why have the Rakata sent you to me and for what purpose? It can’t be a social or curious desire that they want to see me, so do not lie to me.” It growled defensively.

Xid’s head tilted like before at the mention of the Rakata, never heard of such a race. He calmly continued the conversation in a hope to satisfy his growing curiosity and maybe gather some answers to why this creature had acted so brashly towards them. From the impression he gathered, it seemed there might’ve been some misunderstanding. It had assumed he was aligned with another race. It was odd to see the creature acting so different from the violent and vicious monster he encountered on arrival.At this, more questions seemed to seed and take root within him. Xid started to let his guard down a little upon believing it might be possible to reason with such a being, if he could only understand it. “My name is Xid Terrik and currently, I’m a Jedi Padawan. I’ve never met or heard of these Rakata you speak of. My master and I were sent by the Jedi Order to examine technology upon this world left behind. Is the Rakata whom is responsible for the technology here, did they create it?”

The creature blinked his small eyes, unsure how to take this new wave of information then broke out into a harsh, inhuman laugh. “Never heard of the Rakata? The Infinite Empire whose claws reach many planets and enslave many, how can you not have heard of them? They are the masters of the galaxy. Cruel and vicious, leaving most planets in ruins and many enslaved to their sick, twisted wills.”

Its chuckles slowly died at the expression on Xid’s face, realizing the boy was serious. Leaning into the energy door the being took a long look at the Padawan. The stare was hard enough to send small shivers along Xid's back until the creature spoke again. It didn’t take long for the being to note there was nothing to indicate a lie within Xid’s words. “You’re not lying. Interesting that you’re ignorant to their existence and the misery they’ve spread over the worlds. Before I answer any of your questions, I have one more of mine that I hope you’ll answer. What is the current year?”

Xid answered simply, "Ummm.... I think the republic's been around over 21,000 years."

“That long…and you’ve never heard of the Rakata. Does that mean it worked?” The later part the creature mumbled more to its then Xid. There was a slight astonishment, its head turned back to the wall and stood there lost after the delivered news.

Apprehension filled Xid at seeing the creature’s subtle change, his voice reached out. “What is your name?”

“Ithor Maelstrom, a former human from Coruscanti.” Ithor replied, his words turned to a mild amusement at the Padawan’s bewildered look when he mentioned being once human. “It’s true, though I can’t blame you for not taking my word. It is hard to believe from my current…state. It has been a long time since I’ve had someone understand me and brave enough to engage in a chit chat with me. Most don’t understand me or end up dying after being bitten since the poison affects the language center of the nervous system, namely in its rewriting process.”

Ithor paused, his head shifted to look at his claws as his tail lazily flickered like a cat. “Rest assured I’m telling you the truth of what I was once. So I hope you’ll be satisfied with that.”

“It is hard to believe.” Xid walked to the wall, his back followed it down while he folded his leg underneath. In his sitting position, his head rest against the hard surface and he continued the chat with this strange prisoner. “Yet I get the feeling you’re telling the truth. What could you gain by lying to me? Nothing while in a cell as I don’t know how I released. I don't even know how I did it before.”

“I can shed some light on that. The panel reacted to your Force energy, which means it has to be technologically in tune, is it not?”

Xid was surprised when Ithor had guessed his talent right. His face must have showed it well enough because the prisoner seemed amused, the barking laugh vibrated off even the hallways.

“You have an interesting talent, one the Rakata prized and feared within me once. You seem to lack confidence in your abilities, but let me assure you: it will get you farther here then you might believe.” He took a deep breath and changed his topic. “To answer you earlier question about if the Rakata was responsible for this place, it is yes. They built it to keep their failures and little pet projects in one place. Had I known you and your Master wasn’t connected to them then I never would’ve attacked. No serious injuries, I hope?”

Xid thought he heard Ithor’s inquiry hold a distinct concern for his well being. On noting this, the Padawan’s hands folded up into his lap then fiddled at the sleeve edge out of habit. The creature was nice and polite enough, but he couldn’t forget that Ithor was a prisoner here. For some reason in his past, Ithor was placed here to rot by these Rakata and remained here for apparently a long time. It had to be for something terrible, didn’t it? The absence of knowledge about those reasons seemed to cause guilt. It worsened into a war between what his master might think and the idea of just turning his back on a possible victim. Xid’s knuckles tightened in his inner conflict, his mind jerked away when Ithor’s voice spoke again.

“Xid? Please, don’t stop talking to me. It’s been too long, many thousands of years to be accurately guessed, since I’ve actually talked to someone other than myself. I didn’t mean to upset you...”

The Padawan thought he heard a small hint of fear within Ithor’s last reply, his heart slightly hurt to know that. He once more started to talk. “I’m sorry, I was being rude. No, you didn’t hurt me too bad. I was just out for a few weeks was all and currently there seems to be nothing permanently damaged.”

Ithor’s tone sounded relieved. “I am truly glad to hear this. As I said, it was mistake. I was merely defending myself against what I thought was the Rakata. Had I known what you were then it never would’ve happen that way.” A bitter tone was added to the next bit while Ithor seemed to reflect back. “It seems I’ve become the monster the Rakata wanted me to be sadly despite my efforts to resist.”

“What happened to you?”

Xid heard the creature find a comfortable spot, his body shifted to lie against the warm ground. His head faced the cell door, his eyes steadily fixed upon where the boy was now on the wall's other side. “My story isn’t a pretty one, young Terrik, but if you want to know and have time then I’m willing to share.”

“Even if it was a short one, I would still like to hear it. I can’t understand some of the things you’re telling me unless I know your past, how you came to be like this. Maybe then I can decide on my own and how to help you.” Xid’s fingers had stop picking at his robes, his body settled for what he expected to be a long story. “I have the time and it’s nice to have met you Ithor Maelstrom.” Xid’s voice sounded cheerful and polite, far calmer then before.

The Padawan didn’t spot the wicked smirk that passed along the creature’s mouth when he answered. “I am too, young Xid Terrik. More than you can ever know.”

The second memory was the first time he officially saw Ithor to be something more than animal, something human. A mistake he should’ve known better than to make. Stuck in utter darkness, Xid hadn't be able to stop the memories from surfacing yet currently only two so far had struck him the hardest. Inside, he wanted to kick, scream or even tear the hair from his head, leaving his scalp a bleeding mess. Anything to keep him from reliving that time and finding those clues he should’ve seen much sooner. He didn’t want to feel this again. None of the joy or happiness as it just made how it ended that much worse. The pain, the sadness, and most of the hate he swore were forgotten had now renewed that bitterness towards the creature who called himself a friend. Betrayal hurt most when Xid thought he should’ve known better. Eventually his mental begging had ceased and his mind had sank into only the first year of memories by the time the fourth day had drawn to a close within the Sensory Deprivation chamber.

At first he wasn’t sure if was it a trick of his mind or reality when the first sense had awaken. It was a single sound, soft and faint, that drew his mind to the present. His ears latched onto the foreign noise which drew louder with each step towards his cramp prison. Xid’s mind drifted outwards to seek the origins before his vision turned red, light suddenly hit the eyelids and burned him enough to flinch away. A rough, gravelly voice ordered him to rise only to have owner be met by the Padawan’s squinted eyes. Inside, the understanding the words seemed to have had troubling reaching Xid as he had lethargically pushed out of the chamber’s space. His mind was already trying to deal with the senses return, they had been overwhelming to him. He grimaced at the pins and needles racing up and down his muscles thanks to the long time spend in one position. The leg lifted gingerly to rest outside where his weight threatened to collapse it. At some point the trooper sent to put him back had gotten impatient. A hand jerked he the rest of the way out where he nearly lost balance, his body managed to remain standing against the treatment that almost sent him face first into the floor. The trip to his cell wasn’t any better. The whole time his senses were taking their sweet time to resort themselves and hindering his chance to memorize the path, while they wasted little time in disposing of their unwanted burden.

Finally at the Cells, the last finally caused Xid to trip over the door’s threshold. Pain, intense and sensitivity increased, racked his side upon impact. The Padawan couldn’t help the soft groan which escaped him. His body curled into a ball, his vision still stinging like fire nested within the eyeballs, tried to closed himself off to his surroundings. Ears set to right themselves after the utter silence but each little sound seemed like it had been magnified to a painful degree. For a time he just wanted to stay like that. Never to move or face eventually what would come for him. The Sith wouldn’t leave him alone for long, that much he was certain of and dreaded it more now than before. He just wanted to let his mind and body right itself once more to a familiar state, a better one.

For a time, Xid just laid there until he found the strength to rise and moved back to his cell in silence.

[Rtron]

Sish~l~Jayda: Rtron and Fallenreaper
Before the timeskip...

Jayda’s head filled with the words the Sith left her with. They were simple words but didn’t stop the foreboding feelings from sweeping throughout her, each time it surfaced and hovered before her like a deadly vibroblade just inches from slicing her neck. Her body moved automatically in her search for Sish. Her nose picked up the Lizard’s scent, barely, aged and worn by the thousands that passed over it. Jayda had managed to find a fairly fresh one that lead from the Jedi cells toward the medical wing, indicating she had just missed the Sith Lord among the ever winding halls.

Not a pleasant thought in her hand. Namely cause time was of the essence and to waste it meant higher risk of losing her revenge, something that would bring her future’s questions into a light she didn’t want to face. Ignoring the facts, Jayda’s boots continued to clipped along the metal halls rerouted for the place she just had not long ago came from and wasn’t eager to return to. Inwardly she dreaded at the state of the Trandoshan in this point of the journey. It seemed he had a knack and heavy desire to get himself killed, something that Jayda wanted to struggle out of Sish since she became his Apprentice. This ship was going to be the death of her as it was, and it wouldn’t help her odds to survive if she was forced to babysit him during the whole journey.

At least once, her mind had considered the option to pop into her room and clean herself up a bit only to cast the notion aside. Without her Lightsaber, both a tool and precious memoir from her past, the Zabrak felt naked. Vulnerable to whatever the ship could bring and something she needed to sort out first on her to-do list. The Apprentice only hoped Sish had managed to get her Lightsaber or she would’ve been rather…upset in the mildest of terms. The crystal within the Lightsaber itself was irreplaceable- a gift from her father- and her heart twisted to think she might’ve lost one of the few connections to her past she had managed to keep.

Her form started to walk into the medical bay. She slid passed the Jedi from earlier, still within the Kolto Tank, without so much as a blink in his direction as she brought her body nearer to Sish. The Trandoshan sat upon an operation table and tested his foot, the soft and muffled machine sounds were made with each movement. Through the exposed flesh and meat, a hydraulic piece attached to the back of his heel and seemed to attach the torn ligaments where they had been snapped. Her jaw tensed in her waiting to see Sish in such a state. Gently she leaned her back against the wall; her front faced the Jedi still within the medical bay while she asked her question.

“What happened this time?” Jayda’s voice was calm yet the subtle hate seemed to fill each word.

Sish looked up from his foot, smelling Jayda approaching, albeit barely through the chemical smells of the medbay. A new cybernetic eye whirled in his head, glinting red and silver in the light. The surgeon had seen fit to given to him while he was operating on the Trandoshan. Sish so far had no reason to complain. She looked upset to see him in such a state, which would have warmed Sish's heart if he hadn't known that she was only angry because he kept nearly getting himself killed before she could kill him. Then again, that's how his master operated, and he turned out just fine. He gently lowered himself to the ground, making sure his new mechanical tendons would hold his weight. And that he could walk on it. Falling down in the middle of the Med bay wouldn't be very Sith Lordly, would it? The doctor who had given him his operation had rapidly explained what he had done, when Sish awoke, before darting away on some other errand.

At least, Sish thought he had left on some other errand. It was entirely possible that the doctor had decided to get out of lightsaber reach as quickly as possible, given the stories that one could hear about Sish. Most of them were true. Regardless, he was standing and gingerly testing his balance when she spoke. Despite her back being towards him, he still grinned and cheerfully said, "Oh this? I've found a tipping point to make the Jedi we first tortured go to near murder. Very painful too. Sadly, I don't think I'll be allowed to use those methods any more. They're rather...brutal." It seemed he could stand. Now, walking should be simple enough. "I take it you're hear for your lightsaber? It's in my quarters." Which was next to Jaicen's quarters...Sish grinned to himself again. Explaining would be interesting.

Jayda mentally had taken stock of Sish’s injuries, ones she wasn’t pleased with, as she ticked off the list. An eye damaged beyond repair, a silver and red replacement, and his foot seemed to have suffered some breakage in the Achilles heel where the mixing of Sith alchemy and artificial part to allow him to move naturally. It seemed they believed it was best not to leave the Trandoshan crippled or easy prey. She on a normal circumstances would’ve been relieved but this was a Sith ship, prejudice and hate for none humanoids were strong, something she was remind of not long ago. The scene still gave her the shivers yet she kept them in check. Last thing she wanted was Sish sensing some unease about her and then attempting to correct it in his own personal way, something she doubted she had the patience to tolerate.

Her ear picked up his light step, his claws lightly test out his leg and treaded about the hard floors with a clicking sound. It wasn’t hard to track his movement even while her eyes stared at the Jedi, namely the one that continually tried her patience. She noted the cheeriness in his tone that made her suspicious, her mind worried more and more that it was him responsible for the current Jedi’s state. It won’t well if it was.

At his reply, Jayda fought the urge to snap her head about and hiss out her words. Instead, she focused on remaining calm. “Yes that was my main reason but not the only one.”

Her voice edged to a low, warning growl. “Now, what was the method if I might ask? I hope you didn’t disobey Nyiss’s orders and happen to cut off a Jedi’s leg in your little method.”

Sish noticed with some interest Jayda's constant staring at the Jedi who had escaped her. Apparently she was feeling irritated with him. Not that Sish could really blame her, given the fact that he had not only escaped her, but stolen her lightsaber as well. He continued walking past her as she spoke. "Oh? And what would your other reasons be?" His ankle seemed to be holding up well enough, and he could see well enough with his eye. At her final question, he let out a laugh. "Nothing like that, I assure you. His leg had been sliced off before I even entered the prison cell. No, my method was far more effective."

He kept silent as he walked, knowing she was following even without her scent. He was her connection to her lightsaber, and she couldn't kill him without her lightsaber, even she knew that. Hate didn't block common sense, thankfully enough. He kept his silence, all the way to his room, opening the door and gesturing in. Jacien's doorway was open, and troopers were cleaning up the mess Sish had left behind.

In Sish's room, Jayda's lightsaber was laying on the dresser, right where he had left it before going to kill a Sith and Jedi. "There it is." He said, clearly still cheerful.

Jayda had thought her other reasoning would’ve been clear tio Sish, namely as she hinted with her next question. From the corner of her eye, she noted the Trandoshan's head bob towards the Jedi and then to her. He seemed to realize she held some secret animosity towards the Jedi which wasn't a surprise. However there was more reasons then the one Sish likely believed to make her hate and in a faint way, admire the man's stubborness. The latter was most due to the Zabrak within her as the race was known for their warrior like nature and stubborness. Unfortunately the Jedi didn't seem to realize his resistance might end up not hurting him but rather others. She found it a slightly surprise none of the other Sith onboard had found the Jedi's key weak point and captialize upon inorder.

His laughter caused her jerk her head into his direction, his works entirely too pleased with his word as they sent a icy shiver down her spine. Jayda didn't like Sish's meaning or the fact something seemed a miss while she was within the Kolto Tank. Her hate had started to rise, yet she slammed it back down, weakly and hastily to control it. Now wasn't the time to lose her temper.

When the Lizard started to walk by her, she started to follow him. They started down the hall in utter silence, something she was grateful for since any more words would've risked provoking a reaction from her. Jayda didn't want to test herself against Sish. Any chance she took might prove her suspicions about her power correct and if she failed in her attempt to kill him, then he would simply end her life right there. She focused on calming her mind while they traveled along the hallways to where her light saber was probably kept, her will forced the bubbling emotions down for a time. At least until they by passed one that belonged to another Sith.

Her eyes narrowed upon the clear carnage, obviously Sish’s work, along the way to the Trandoshan's room. Their figures vanished through the hissing doors that sealed tightly. Jayda the last one in while her eyes noted where her light saber was. Her steps walked toward the dresser which her hand gripped the weapon and pulled it close, her eyes quickly examine it for anything out of place or tampering. Though nothing seemed out of place on the outside, she won't dare go through with the sudden thoughts plaguing her mind when thinking upon what might've occurred in her absence. It wasn't farfetch to say she was tempted. Her eyes turned back to Sish.

"It seems you've been busy while I was in the Kolto Tank. From the sight of the mess next door, it seems you've gotten reckless. What hell have you been up to?" Jayda asked, her voice tried to remain calm.

Sish chuckled. She obviously knew him well enough by now to recognize his handy work. "Well, it's a rather simple subject. I came back here, put down your lightsaber, and turned around to find Minder in the room with me. We had a rather nice chat, and he gave me two people to kill. One of them was Lord Jacien. He's in quite a few pieces now. The other was the reason I pushed a Jedi to the brutal killing limit. As it turns out, they don't particularly like it if you kill one of their friends in an irrevocable and very bloody manner." He grinned at her, seeing all the signs of a near snapping point with her. "Though, if he was trying to get me killed, there are far easier ways than having me murder both a Sith and Jedi. And seeing as I was able to go through with the operation to get me a lovely new eye and have my ankle fixed, it appears he's as good as his word."

That little final tidbit of information didn't seem to appease her, judging from her anger seeping into the air around them. Well, well. It seemed he could get her to release that tight lid she kept on her emotions still. Good. He was beginning to get worried that she was falling into the teaching of the Jedi cowards. He sat down in the chair next to a desk in the rather basic and bare room, waiting for her to explode. He knew he had done something that she would view as stupid, and that she was only angry because he nearly cost her her chance to kill him. Now it was just time to sit back and watch.

In pure reflex she uttered some words, likely unsavory, at Sish's bluntly stupid act. It went on for a moment before her mind realize how much she wanted to strangle him right then and there. Her hands balled up at her side until the knuckles were whitened, the nails seemed on the verge to draw her own blood while they sank into the skin. Jayda's chest heaved up and down, breathing hard, seeing him move across to chair nearby as she fought for control. It took untold restrain and willfulness to slowly calm herself. A feat she wondered if even she was able to do with Sish's pure stupidity.

Her eyes closed, the lack of his image aided her efforts, and her words slowly turned back into basic. However the snappish tone hadn't had enough time to fade. "I know you're not this stupid, not after my fucking trials and the shit you put me through. Not after you left me, weaponless, bleeding and tied up to die upon Kashyyk with my ship several clicks away. And that was least of the hell you put me through. If you want to die then you should've just let it happen back on Iridonia then to drag this out and die here. You don't realize if that was a Sith in disguise who could've been tricking you into committing an act against the Darth on this ship. What is the point of this if you die?"

Sish inclined his head in acknowledgement. "It very well could have been a Sith in disguise. But it's almost impossible to get someone's scent completely correct. And that man smelled exactly like Minder. And we come back to my point that there are far easier and smarter ways to have me killed than to have me kill both a Sith Lord and a Jedi. Every Sith on this ship knows how I work. I keep my nose out of politics, and only concentrate on killing Jedi. The only reason we're even here is because we needed a trip back to Korriban to continue your training.

"There are others on this ship that are scrambling and clawing for Darth Nyiss's favor. Killing me would do very little, if anything, to garner that favor. Even if she despises me, I'm impure. I'm not a challenge, I'm a dumb lizard. To them, I'm not smart enough for complex plans. If they want to kill me, they feel they don't have to do anything so complex as to create a disguise with a perfect smell of Minder, looking exactly like him, and then telling me to kill a Sith Lord and a Jedi. Besides, Jedi are too valuable. It's too early for them to tell who will and who won't join us, or what information they have."

"Then why risk it? There are so many Sith that would enjoy to see something as Impure as you or me dead. Enough to make way for someone more pure or worthy to take our place, something I'm continually finding myself reminding you of. It is against the Law for a Sith to kill another yet it's encouraged to allow 'accidents' of unknown causes to happen. It might be overkill to waste better methods on something like you but someone might find it worth the work." She was already baring her teeth slightly, her calm threatened to break loose and shatter within her.

He studied her for a moment, sensing the anger leaking out, before speaking once more. "It'd be better if you didn't keep it so rigidly controlled. Emotions are our fuel for our powers. They're meant to be used as they are. Not resisted and controlled and suppressed."

Jayda felt the strong desire to slice the Trandoshan in half but stopped herself, her thumb lingered towards the button and settled just beneath it. She easily stopped herself with the thought it might've been tampered with, the explosion from the torture room still a fresh scar upon her memory. At his words she answered in a tone of pure acid. "I'm not an animal like you..."

Sish gave a harsh laugh. "You're in a world of animals! Every Sith on this ship is an animal, fighting and scheming for their emotions. Some are just far better at hiding it than others. Every Sith on this ship uses their emotions rather than rigidly controlling them, and they are thriving in this world. If you don't learn how to stop keeping your emotions on such a tight leash, they will tear you apart, or manipulate you, or whatever suits their whims. Your control isn't a strength, it's a weakness. A weakness they will use against you. You don't have to become one of them. But you will have to fight fire with fire, and if they have the advantage, they will win and you will die or worse. Consider me your...test. The only way you're going to be able to kill me is if you let go. What happens after that is up in the air."


He gestured with his arm to encompass the ship as a whole. "They might find it worth the work to go through such lengths to kill me, but only if they suspect I'm smart enough that simple ploys won't work. Which they don't. And I'm quite happy with that. Pleasure killings tend to take less priority than killings that keep them alive. Which is what we are. Despised, and able to be killed at their leisure. And that can be used against them."

Jayda couldn't believe what she was hearing, mostly due to his tactics and the fact they still haven't changed. He failed to see that was a reality already for the only decent, at least the way she had learned, Sith had killed all his enemies or proved useful as a tool. Through many forgot one simple fact. A tool was often viewed to be least threatening and could easily, given the chance, slit the throat of it's user. She snarled a bit in her answer. "And risk not being strong enough? You'd kill me if I tried, we both know I expended my chances when I first became your Apprentice. I already doubt you've been able to keep your end and make me stronger. Besides, you did some manipulating yourself after you couldn't break me..."

She let the truth either sting or linger before she added. "I have enough problems then worrying about keeping you alive long enough to kill you. In my search for you, I had gotten the attention of an older Sith, a Pureblood, without meaning to. It means I might've just placed a target on my back after our encounter."


Sith shook his head. " I'd kill you if you tried to kill me before you were ready. As for your doubts, you're mistaken. You have become stronger. The child that tried to kill me in Kashyyk would have died in Coruscant. You, as you are now, would have killed the three Wookies with your bare hands and then came for me. You lack a strength I can't teach you, as I lack considerably in that area as well. And I didn't manipulate you. I made you a promise. Become my Apprentice, and I'll give you the means to kill me. And I have. There is every chance you could attack me and win as you are now. There is also every chance that I would beat you. To assure victory, you need to find a teacher in the area I can't teach you."

He raised an eyebrow at her mention of the Pureblood. "It depends on who the Pureblood is. If he's someone like Nyiss, then yes. You've got a target on your back because others will want you dead to take your place. If he's relatively unknown and hasn't shown the usual arrogance and hate, use him. He can surely teach you something to become stronger. "


Jayda felt like she was pounding against a brick when it came to understanding Sish, the Trandoshan just didn't give or realize the position she was in. It was exactly her point that she didn't attack him anymore. There was little way to gauge her strength again him without some method to prove his words true, currnetly just as useful as breathing a room filled with poison was. The apprentice knew explaining would do no good for her, the Lizard's mind set and anchored in his own sense of logic. It was if he expected her to know when she would ready. An impossiblity she found irritating because she couldn't allow herself to risk losing. Her brother had died at this monster's claws and even the chance he would live would be something Jayda refuse to have become a possibility.

She almost bitterly laughed at his comment about the promise and answered. "A promise? A promise that was made after your first tactic failed miserbly. It was your last option other then killing me, something I can't understand to this day why you didn't. As for the Pureblood, I've no idea. He is the first older Sith I've encountered which worries me as he's either very clever or powerful, both unsettling notions. He wasn't exactly like the others I've met and you know as well as I do, any attention I get here will likely have terrible results. At the rate you keep trying to kill yourself means I've got more work then needed."

Jayda had put away her light saber within her robes, now more eager to leave but not before she finished with Sish. "Anyone can use me if I allow and one of the few fact which keep me alive to gain only the needed power. Even your promise is nothing more a means to use me, not that it matters if your recklessness continues. I'll leave up to him if he wishes to but I won't seek him out for it. I don't want to draw unneeded attention."

Sish shrugged. Her hate and animosity having no effect anymore. If it ever did. His robot eye twinkled a bright red as he responded. "I never said it was my first choice. Merely that I made you a promise. And it would be a waste of such potential to just kill you. After all, you do have potential, even if you don't utilize it. This Pureblood, he's likely both. Power is nothing if you aren't clever enough to keep yourself alive in their politics. Being clever is useless if you don't have the power to get yourself out of situations designed to kill you. I would tell you to be careful around him, but being careful is something you do best." That was one trait of his he had been grateful that it hadn't passed on.


"To survive you...I have to be." Jayda simply answered. Her boot started to walk to the door, the need to get her emotions managed became a more important task then simply covering her tracks now. Merely because the results would've been far worse as she would likely risk lashing out instinctively and finding herself being excuted like the last foolish Apprentice she heard of. The one paralyzed, carried over to a pit and dropped to be eaten alive. It wasn't a fate Jayda wanted and any sane creature would've avoided it, something she very much was.

Sish said nothing as she left. No matter how this trip ended, it seemed assured that his Apprentice would learn a few things that he couldn't teach her on this ship. Maybe it would help her survive the politics of the Sith, rather than avoid them at all costs. His existence was a tenouos one, only tolerated because of his remarkable talent for killing things, and the fact that a war had been going on with the Jedi up until recently. Now though...maybe they would keep him around. Maybe they would kill him before Jayda could. Regardless, death seemed to be in his future. Sish leaned back in his chair, and smiled.

[Rtron]

A Game of Alchemy, collab by Rtron and SunderedEcho, before timeskip

As Zanna left the prison cell area, she began to learn more about this Thalia, who wanted her dead so badly. She didn't like not knowing anything about who was trying to kill her. It left her feeling...vulnerable. And in the Sith world, vulnerable quickly meant dead. So, she set about correcting that lack of knowledge.

That meant using Force Persuade to ask the ship's personnel all they knew about her. Even the alcolytes. The majority seemed to know little, which was irritating but the few who did know proved valuable. She was a lazy human apprentice, who had apparently been with Nyiss for years. The alcolytes worshipped her to a ridiculous point. She had never shown any ambitions. That was from those who weren't alcolytes.

The alcolytes, on the other hand, made the human appear as if she was as powerful as Nyiss, if not stronger. There had to be a reason for that, right? Even the most ridiculous of lies had a small basis in the truth. Did the girl have power? Was she just biding her time? Was the laziness a facade? It was a puzzle, that was certain. Well..there was only one way to find out, wasn't there?

Zanna headed to the security room, stopping only briefly by her own room to grab materials she would need for what was coming. She needed to find Thalia quickly, and there were cameras everywhere on the ship. Flicking through the cameras on the screen, she almost passed the human. "My, my. What are you doing there?"

Zanna wondered aloud, as Thalia entered the cell of the Jedi. She settled down to watch, a small smirk on her face. The smirk grew into a smile, which grew into a grin, which turned decidedly wolfish as Thalia sprinted from the cell. "Someone made a mistake." Zanna almost sang aloud. Pulling her datapad out, she copied the video file of the attack onto it. She knew where Thalia would be running to.

Zanna turned around towards the door and waited, smiling. This was going to be easier than she originally thought.

Thallia ran headfirst into the surveillance room, eager to erase any evidence of her... mistake. She very nearly bowled into the Sith waiting for her, stopping only at the last moment and staring. It was not a Sith she'd seen personally before, but she knew who it was. The Apprentice Zanna, who'm she'd recently sent a trio of Acolytes to kill. Apparently they'd failed, quite miserably if Zanna was now here for the reason Thallia thought she was. She began to calm herself, trying to avoid doing anything rash. When she spoke, her voice was low, and filled with menace. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Zanna kept her smile on her face, even as Thallia nearly ran into her. The girl was clearly eager to erase her mistake before Nyiss could find it, so when Thallia was done with her staring and had moved on to the questions, she only smiled wider and stepped to the side. "Me? I was watching the prisoner cameras, seeing if there was anything, interesting I could find. Friends amongst them for torture, prescious items, and so on. I didn't find any of those, sadly. But it wasn't a complete loss, was it?" This was all said in a mild, even friendly, voice. "I'd suggest you delete your mistake quickly. Nyiss could be glancing through the camera records at any minute, wondering what the fuss is about." She advised, gesturing for Thallia to go forward.

Thallia could tell the Sith was up to something. It wouldn't be that easy to just delete the record. She crossed her arms and stood still, feeling safe in the knowledge that Darth Nyiss didn't bother with trawling through the camera records. That was, afer all, why she had been assigned to do just that herself. "The Darth doesn't look at these records unless I inform her there is something she needs to see... Now what the hell do you want!" Despite all her attempts, calm was just not a state she could maintain right now.

Zanna dropped her smile. "That's interesting to know. Regardless, I'll get straight to the point. I want an alliance. Someone tried to kill me recently, by sending a few Acolytes. I tried to look into their minds, but they died before I could get any information out of them. I need help, and you're my best bet right now. Seeing as I want an ally who won't be watching for the soonest moment possible to stab me in the back and twist the knife, it seems prudent not to do something that would make you want me dead. Now, are you going to delete your evidence or shall I assume I've made a mistake in even approaching you?"

Thallia could tell that Zanna was up to something. There was no way she'd simply give up something as useful as the records on that terminal. Unless she was downright stupid. She slowly made her way to the console and tapped in the commands to delete the evidence, fully expecting Zanna to have made her own copy. "Why would I ally with you and make myself a target?" She said cautiously.

"You yourself won't be in any danger. Just have those loyal to you spread word of how you seem to be growing evermore frustrated with the Apprentice Zanna, and her stupidity as an ally, or something similar. The one trying to kill me would approach you, either personally or through another means if they don't trust you. After all, it's easier for them to have you, someone I should trust, to kill me than strangers that I don't trust. Then, you either kill them or tell them you'll do it and tell me who wants me dead. Of course, you could always just betray me, but at this point it's a risk that really won't change my situation anymore if it backfires. What do you get from this if it works? Well, whoever wants me dead would have followers in need of a leader. You could easily take that role." Zanna explained, leaning against the monitor desk. "But, I think this conversation will go better somewhere more comfortable. Any suggestions?"

Having a such conversation where anyone could walk in wasn't exactly ideal for negotiations to go smoothly. On top of that it would be better if Thallia chose a location she felt safe in. Less likely to get Zanna stabbed or force choked or whatever else.

"Well I'm quite comfortable here actually." Thallia said, taking the other seat. She wasn't gonig to let herself be taken somewhere private where fatal accidents could happen easily. Zanna's plan was clearly designed to benefit Zanna more than it was her, and making waves in the status quo was not something Thallia did without a major reward. The 'reward' Zanna was offering might've appealed to most Sith, but Thallia had remained an Apprentice for a reason. It was decidedly safer and less stressful. "I'm sorry Zanna but you'll need to offer me more than that to risk myself like that." She said coldly. If Zanna was going to blackmail her, she'd prefer it to happen sooner rather than latter.

Zanna shrugged. "Fair enough." She replied, sitting in the seat next to the human. Apparently, she would rather chat here than in a ground of her choosing. The Sith Pureblood kept the derision she felt for the human before her suppressed and locked away where it couldn't be seen. Or felt, for that matter. "So, what would convince you to help me?" As she waited for an answer, Zanna pulled a pouch from her robes, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, I've been living amongst other Purebloods up until now, and I'm still not quite used to the smell of humans everywhere. Much less the stench of that filthy Trandoshan. This is just a powder I created that tends to block the smell out. Nothing meant to kill or harm you, I promise."

Sith tended to be a suspicious lot when it came to other Sith. Zanna couldn't really blame them. She poured the contents of the pouch into her hand and breathed in a bit of the reddish powder to prover her point, waiting a few moments afterwards. "See? I've not died or gone comatose or suddenly had repeated seizures. Now, I'm going to spread it so the smell spreads." With that, she lifted the powder in her hand and blew on it, spreading the dust between the two of them quickly. It had a rather spicy smell.

Thallia considered the question for a moment, it seemed harmless enough. When she saw the contents of th epouch though, she immediately became suspicious. Powder was one of the most effective means of delivering all manner of drugs and alchemical attacks, she knew because she'd used it before. What tipped her off though was that the Empire didn't have enough purebloods for Zanna's story to be true. There were humans everywhere. Her hand slipped to her belt and retrieved a tiny bottle, the lid automatically unsealing as she raised it to her lips. She tipped it back quickly and a not more than a dozen drops of crimson liquid flowed down her throat, burning all the way down. It was not a pleasant experience, but it would keep her almost entirely safe from any other alchemical effects for a short time.

"I'm sure you'll understand that I must take this from time to time. Medical condition." She lied through her teeth. "I'd prefer to see what you have to offer me before I make demands for... helping you." She doubted that Zanna would have only the one substance with her, especially once she was able to identify the smell. The tips of her fingers went slightly numb, but it didn't spread as it would of if she hadn't had her own potion.

"Completely understandable." Zanna said, still smiling, even as she cursed in her own language on the inside. So much for the easy way. She tapped her finger on her chin, considering the question. "It depends on what you want." She said finally. "I can't tell you if I can get it for you if I don't know what you want or need now, can I? Though, I suppose you won't do it out of the kindness of your hear to help a fellow Sith not be killed?" It was clear that that last part was meant to be a joke. Her mind wasn't fully on the conversation. It was currently going through all she had on her and debating it's feasibility right now.

"I don't mean to sound Callous" Thallia said half mockingly. "But you being dead means less work for me." There really wasn't much this apprentice could offer her. Thallia was quite happy with where she was and what she had. "I don't think there really is anything I want that you can get me. I've got everything I need already." That statement was perhaps also intended to discourage the other Sith from more alchemical attacks. It was a bit of a bluff though, as Thallia wasn't at all prepared for a confrontation of this nature, and she couldn't very well just pull her lightsaber on the other Sith. She quickly ran through the few Alchemical options she had with her and was disturbed by how short that list was. Some of the earlier frustration was starting to seep back into her, and with it anger, though she tried to keep that under control. It wouldn't do her any good here.

Zanna tilted her head. "True enough. If I die, you won't have to be bothered by this again. You'll be left alone to all that you need." She felt the frustration of Thallia, and gave a slight shrug. "Of course, they could also decide just to get rid of you to be safe. When I was pillaging the mind of the Acolytes, there was quite a lot of mention of how you were taken prisoner so easily by that Jedi." That was a lie. She had learned that particular information through the other staff on the ship. Still living.

"And if they raid my mind before I die just to be safe, they'll see this meeting. A weak Sith, like you've been appearing, suddenly talking with another weak Sith that they're trying to kill? Most on this ship would decide to deal with you now, when your reputation is that practically anything can deal with you, before you can recover and perhaps seek revenge. Now, if they see this whole conversation it's doubtful they'll take that course. But who knows what will be twisted and misinterpeted in death throes?"

Thallia's attempt to control her rage was eroded significantly by Zanna's words, particularly those acusing her of being weak. What had been a difficult but winnable battle suddenly became totally futile as Thallia's building rage overflowed and she snapped. First that freakish old-man, then the Jedi that would not submit and now this. It was too much for her. She leapt to her feet and screamed at the top of her lungs "I AM NOT WEAK!" She gathered all her might and anger into a Force push and directed it straight towards Zanna.

Zanna felt the instant Thallia lost control, and allowed herself a small smile. Angry enemies made mistakes. They also tended to attack, and attack hard. She got to her own feet, bracing as she heard the Sith apprentice screaming. She didn't try to stop it, not fully anyways. She softened the blow enough that it wouldn't break anything when she crashed against whatever was behind her, but other than that she let it happen. It was a token gesture, one a weakling in the Force would have made. Then the full force of the Push hit her and she went flying over her chair and crashed against the wall. Nothing broke, that she was sure of, but it still hurt like hell. As she recovered from having the breath knocked out of her, Zanna struggled to not lash back out against this human. As much as she wanted to put the impure bitch in her place, she couldn't. Not yet.

Underestimation was a powerful tool. Picking herself up and only raising her head once she was sure that Thallia would only see the desparation of someone who knew the end was coming and couldn't stop it, and with One hand warily on her lightsaber(and subsequently closer to more air borne poisons), Zanna responded. "Then prove it! Because after they're done with me, you're next." The anti-poison couldn't be lasting much longer. She just had to wait.

Thallia hardly heard the further taunts the red-skinned bitch shouted at her as she was already gathering her strength to unleash Force Lightning. The moment the other Sith was standing again she thrust her hands out before her, her fingers clawing up as the arcane electricity was channeled through them and across the room. Alchemical concerns were forgotten as her rage flowed, her only concern being inflicting pain upon the other Sith. Several errant arcs shot out and struck the surveillance consoles as well, screens exploding as circuits overloaded.

Being wary paid off. Lightning arced across the room, and Zanna drew her lightsaber and activated it, catching the bolts on her blade. Most of them anyways. The couple of bolts that got past her blade hurt, and the Pureblood Sith gritted her teeth(from as much will as the electricity in her body seizing her jaw shut) and resisted screaming. She wouldn't give the impure human that pleasure. When the lightning finally stopped, she stood there, breathing hard, lightsaber still ready. She couldn't cripple Thallia and still have her be useful..but it was an increasingly tempting offer.

Still, letting the woman throw lighting bolts at her wasn't an appealing prospect either. Zanna concentrated and did a Force Pull on the Thallia's ankles, yanking them towards her.

Shortly after it became evident that the Lightning would not pass the other Siths Lightsaber, Thallia forced herself to stop the flow and search for an alternative. The moment she did, however, she felt her legs being swept from under her. Again. This seemed to be something people were quite fond of doing to her. She landed on her back, breaking the fall with the Force so it didn't cripple her as much as it had in the past. She leapt to her feet as quickly as she could, activating her Lightsaber in her traditional reverse grip as she did so, just in case it came to a duel, but she was starting to lose a little more feeling in her fingers.

The potion was wearing off. It still kept her from the worst effects, but that wouldn't last. In desperation, she grabbed for whatever bottle she had at her belt and threw the mid-sized object at the other Sith with the Force, including another push at the Sith in the process.

As soon as she saw Thallia grabbing at her belt, Zanna began pushing on the bottle using the Force. She didn't want whatever it was to touch her, that was for sure. But, she underestimated just quite how much power rage and desperation gave Thallia. Rather than sending the bottle crashing to the ground, as she had wanted, she only suceeded in slowing it down. It would have to do. Zanna tried to leap out of the way using the Force, but the bitch Pushed her again, causing her to stumble. That cost her prescious time, and while she managed to dodge enough to avoid it hitting dead center, it still managed to crash against her arm, shattering the bottle. As soon as the mixture touched her skin, it began hurting, drawing a reflexive curse from the Pureblood.

Other than that though, it seemed to have no other ill affects. Glancing over, fully expecting another attack, Zanna was pleasantly surprised to see Thallia finally succumbing to the poison, and collapsing. "Took you long enough." She muttered, walking over to the Apprentice.

Thallia was satisfied to see her Sithspawning mixture impact on Zanna's arm, but even as a wicked smile began to curl her lips the satisfaction was dashed from her mind. Her whole body was losing feeling and her thoughts were sluggish and moments later she fell awkwardly to the ground in a heap, her Lightsaber deactivating as it left her hand. She tried to scream in rage, but no sound came out. All she could see with her blurry vision was the other Sith standing over her.

Zanna giggled in joy at seeing the impure human finally brought down to her place. Kneeling down, she whispered in the immobile Thallia's ear, "Here's what's going to happen. I know you sent Acolytes to kill me. I also know you don't have enough ambition to have decided on that course of action yourself. So, I'm going to ask you questions, and you're going to give me answers. If I don't like your answers, I leave you to die from the poison. I'll even make it look like a suicide."

Reaching into her robes, she withdrew a needle. After eyeing the other Sith critically for a moment, she jabbed it into a vein and injected the formula into Thallia. After waiting a few moments, "Now. Who had you try to kill me?"

Thallia's eyes screamed where she could not, frustration and rage returning once more as the red-sith bitch lorded over her. She keenly felt the jab of the needle into her and with it, her mind and tongue seemed to be restored to her. "You stupid bitch! Do you think I'd betray him? He'd do worse things to me than you ever could!" Her words were defiant and filled with malice and fear. There was no way to come out of this situation without a heavy risk of later death.

"While that may be true, whoever he is, he isn't the one holding your life in their hands. And, I don't think that he can do quite as bad things as Nyiss can, when she realises that you not only dismembered a jedi, you tried to cover it up, and then tried to kill me. That's quite a lot of laws broken, and Nyiss somehow doesn't strike me as the type of woman who likes to have to repeat herself. Especially not when she just made an example out of another apprentice not so long ago." Zanna smiled down at Thallia, clearly enjoying the position of power she was in. Her rightful position, above the humans.

"All I want is for you to tell me who wants me dead. I'm offering you the easy way out. I could just weaken your mind and then painfully pillage the information from you. Besides, it's not a betrayal if I'm going to find out regardless if you tell me now or I take the information later. If you don't say anything, he won't even know you've done what you did until it's too late." She knew the effects of the poison. Thallia's mind wouldn't be able to resist while it was busily shutting down. "Come on. Just his name. What's that compared to Nyiss's wrath?" She coaxed.

"Nyiss wont do anything to me, whore. And the law isn't broken until you're dead." She was confident in that at least. As long as she didn't totally break any of Nyiss' commands, she was safe. Nyiss found her too useful to just kill. That was why she was here wasn't it? "Find a better threat." If she wasn't in such an awkward position on the ground, she might've even spat at the other Sith.

"True enough." Zanna conceded, chuckling gently at the insult. If only Thallia knew what she had been doing before the Acolytes tried to kill her.... "The law isn't broken. But, if you're so confident in Nyiss not doing anything for breaking her commands, why did you come running here so quickly? I saw you chop off that Jedi's leg. So did the cameras. So did the back up I made, ready to be delivered to Nyiss if it ever strikes me that I should. Remember, one of the things she specifically told us through Minder was to not cut off limbs that wouldn't regrow. Humans aren't like the Trandoshan, last I checked." Zanna shrugged. "But, if you insist, I can see you'll be of no use to me. I'll just have to wait for the poison to batter down the slowing formula, and then weaken you enough that your mind will be nice and open. And then leave you for dead, of course." Zanna relaxed into a sitting position, and began to wait.

Thallia was silent for a long while. She hated herself for it too, because even that silence displayed she was beaten. "Fine. Fine I'll tell you. But when he sends someone better equipped to kill you it'll be your own fault for trying to fight him. It Katherion. Moff Katherion." With that she let her eyes sink to the floor, defeated.

"Fight? What makes you think I'm going to fight him? Regardless, you're not lying. The only other options are Sish, Minder, or Kando. The Trandoshan isn't smart enough to even use you, I'd be dead if Minder wanted me dead, and Kando is a lapdog of Katherion." For as much as her voice sounded calm, and she projected confidence, Zanna had a multitude of emotions suppressed and swirling. Primarily, fear and anger. The Moff. The Moff. He wanted her dead. How was she supposed to get rid of him? She'd find a way. She had to. Death was the only alternative, and she rather liked living.

"Thank you for your help." She said, with a cheerfulness that was sickening to even her. She pulled another needle from her robe and injected the formula into Thallia. "That's the antidote. It's only temporary, I should mention. Lasts you roughly 48 hours. You'll have to tell me when the time is running out or I'll have to remember, and I'll bring you another dose. In addition to that incentive to keep me alive, I'll set up the back up copy with a daily passcode needed to prevent it from being sent to Nyiss. A passcode that gets changed. So, you see, we'll be working very closely together for the duration of this trip and perhaps beyond. Your Acolytes will be put to good use." With that, she stood and walked out of the camera room, leaving the human in her proper place.

Defeated, humilated, and conquered.

[Sep]

Zanna meets her Idol!

Zanna had been busy the last couple of days. Between giving Thallia her dose of antidote(which contained a very similar, but different poison that the antidote didn't cure. Couldn't have the human making her own cure, now could she?), working on her own memory serum, and finding ways to get more 'allies' against the Moff, she didn't have time to really make note of any new arrivals. As such, she had missed Guide's arrival and the subsequent stir it caused. Thallia had largely been left alone since her poisoning and blackmail, and except for the doses, Zanna didn't interact with her anymore than she had been.

Her search for ways to bring more people under her control had lead her to a curious discovery. She had been researching the Trandoshan, just to make sure he didn't have any surprises for her, when she came across his apprentice. The lizard himself would be easily persuaded into helping her if she was ever so desparate as to need the disgusting impure's help. His apprentice however, she had proven she had a stronger will then her master, if untrained. Mentions of her were brief, notes at most. But in those brief notes, Zanna noticed Jayda displayed the usual Zabrak capacity for pain, strength, and resistance to poisons. She also seemed to be smarter than her master. All of those traits made her a threat. Or, a valuable ally. She decided to dig deeper.

So, Zanna went to the next best thing when you couldn't research about an individual. You researched about their race and culture. There were ways to manipulate anybody, if only you looked hard enough. Her knowledge of the Zabrak as a race was, minimum at best. So, she was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a, rather violent, bonding ritual for mates, that was entirely based upon hormones. Hormones could be created, manipulated. Zanna could, if she used her Alchemical skill correctly, have all the benefits of a bond(a loyal 'ally' who would be impossible to turn against her. In fact, most Zabrak have described the death of a Tai Shan partner as 'worse than death itself.' Not to mention, the Zabrak in question could serve as a ready and assured donor if she needed organs.) With none of the detriments(her getting attached to the 'ally').

Thus, she added another mixture to her ever growing list. It would undoubtable be an ardourus process(and a painful one when she got the hormones working right), but the end results would help her survive with a Moff wanting her dead. She may have not respected him as a human, but she certainly respected the power he wielded. And his Sith lapdog.

That was what she was working on as she walked through the halls of the ship, reading papers, muttering to herself and scribbling notes, dodging passerby's out of instinct more than actually being aware of where they were. Of course, that system could only work so well for so long. She crashed into another Sith(that much she could tell from the brief glimpse of robes she got), or at least it felt like it, scattering her papers everywhere. Immediately, she was on the ground, gathering them. Zanna herself looked up from her kneeling position, to see if she had to apologize or utter scathing contempt to the person she had crashed into.

The Pureblood Sith apprentice felt her jaw drop slightly. Standing above her was the person who came as close to being her hero as one could in the Sith Empire. Guide, master Alchemist, oldest Sith Zanna knew of. Almost immediately, she began apologizing. "Forgive me, Master Guide. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I was to occupied with my research. I'm so sorry, forgive me..." She still hadn't stopped gathering her papers, if she was doing it more by touch than sight.

Guide did several things very quickly after he was crashed into. First he made sure his trenchcoat and robes were unaltered. Second he did a quick scan of who the culprit of the invasion of his space was, needless to say she was lucky in being or at least appearing to be pureblood reminding him to get files on all of his neices more important underlings. Thirdly as she looked at him apologising as she should he did not show or release the slightest surprise but in the deepest darkest part of his mind that she knew who he was. More than nought the way she was treating him, the words of his deeds would surely of spread throughout the ship by now so that would resort in some form of fearful reaction however this was more like... with the lack of a better word - worship. He had been laying low however tending to the beast on the other ship mostly making this his first real time to roam freely around the ship.

He made a show of brushing something off his shoulders as if annoyed however after he did he merely placed his hands behind his back, he kept his head high while only casting his eyes down towards the other sith. "Stand up straight and tall, you are above rummaging around in the dirt unlike much of the other filth that the Darth lets roam around this ship-" He paused for a moment before continuing. The most meaningful of pauses that to her would make it seem as if he was chosing a punishment although he was merely weighing his options in either hand. "-Forgiveness must be earned, though before I know how you will earn it you should inform me what this research is you speak off to ensure it is important enough to distract your attention to such a significant level."

Zanna finished gathering the rest of her papers, doing as Guide said. She was fully aware of the fact that his pausing meant he was likely thinking of a punishment for her, but while she was suitably wary she couldn't force that past the excitement thrumming through her. This was Guide, and he was taking an interest in her research. The only way this could be better was if the Moff didn't want her dead. Sadly, that wasn't going to happen, but Zanna was perfectly happy with the circumstances she currently found herself in.

"Hormones. How they can be manipulated and used. Several species use them for far more than just what we or humans" There was a subtle disgust inflected upon that final word, "do, and I'm seeing if they can be adapted to work between an origin species and a different species, or even be used by two species completely different from the origin species. If it's possible, who knows what could be changed, improved, or created." Like the perfect bodyguard, bound to her on a biological level. Anything else she could do with this research would come secondary to her own protection. Her own skills in combat were sadly lacking and as much as she hated the Lizard, he was extremely efficient at the fine art of brutally killing anything that tried to get in his way.

"Currently, I'm looking into the Zabrak use of hormones."

Guide pondered on this for a moment, there was the chance that she would be using these hormones to try and interogate the new Zabrak prisoner however he doubted it, instead it was more likely that she had some kind of grudge or plan for the Zabrak apprentice he had already met, it was an interesting scheme and he had to approve of what was going on. The strong should control the weak and while he did have some form of... respect for the Zabrak species in the end the Sith species should come out on top. "Intruiging, Zabrak are loyal however I shall not ask who specifically you plan to use this on however I can take a guess."

He turned and began walking away back towards his ship, when she did not immediately follow him he turned his head towards her. "Well are you coming to earn your forgiveness? Or do you have something better to do... Apprentice?" This would be most useful, he would see what she knew and perhaps could finally end his Nieces useless games with all these apprentices running around vying for attention.

Zanna carefully kept her surprise and minor worry at Guide's words hidden behind a mask of deference. Much like how she treated Nyiss when she had been went to the Darth's quarters. Though, with Nyiss it was more fear and respect of her power than respect of the person and near hero worship. She only nodded, watching Guide leave, eyes beginning to return to her notes and research, when she heard Guide talking to her. Zanna's eyes snapped up, the eagerness in her eyes not quite hidden.

"No! No, I don't have anything better to be doing." She said, following Guide quickly down the hallway. She realized, in some part of her mind, that he was likely only using her for his own purposes and didn't actually care about her or giving her 'forgiveness'. But, this was a once in a lifetime opportuninty to possibly work with Guide. She couldn't just let that pass her by, could she?

Guide made his way to his ship. Turning around after opening the ramp he spoke to the Sith following him. "Wait here." He moved up the ramp, closing it. Saying the password and then lowering the ramp again making sure there was no way for the apprentice to hear it. He then re-lowered the ramp and indicated for her to follow him up and then moved through to the mobile lab, smaller than his one back on Dromund Kaas however it was large enough for his needs. He waved his hand and cast his mind in the force to several different items as several vials moved away out of view and out of mind. He turned himself around to face the apprentice.

"If you are one to practice Alchemy I would have you prove it. There is more than one aspect to Alchemy. There is the use of the Force to manipulate matter, the use of chemicals and then the combination of both." He pulled out a small vial. "This is the smallest piece of the technobeast virus, now I do not intend for you to go start causing a plague of technological terrors and if I find that a single sample of it leaves this vessel you will wish that death is a punishment I deal." He waved his hand again and a small chamber opened revealing what appeared to be a captive Jawa in some form of trance. "This virus is inactive. It requires a chemical for activation and if you do not have the right level of control of the Force the beast will disobey your orders and attack you. It may merely be a Jawa however combined with the virus it could easily dismember you, of course I would not let it kill you for I would not be one to waste Sith blood however I will allow it to harm you."

Zanna obeyed, eyeing the ship interestedly. Much to her disappointment, it was a normal freighter. She didn't let her disappointmet show of course. As much as she upheld Guide, he still was a Sith. Who had survived an extrodinarily long time. Nothing unusual that she could see or detect. Oh well. Perhaps there was more to her expectations inside. As the ramp relowered(Guide didn't need to bother with the secrecy. Zanna wasn't paying enough attention, nor did she have ay desire to.), she walked up when he indicated. Her eyes eagerly darted around the lab taking in all that she could. Her eyes snapped back, slightly guiltily, to Guide's as he spoke.

She gave a small, unapologetic, shrug at his minor accusation that she would cause a plague of technological terrors. Perhaps not correct, as she wouldn't be so brutish as to simply just use it for chaos and plagues. She'd use it for personal gain and ambition. She paid close attention, then took the vial from him. In addition to not wanting to embarass herself in front of her idol, being attack and likey horribly injured by a Jawa was something that was highly unappealing.

For a few moments, she gently probed the virus with the Force, getting feel of it. When she felt sure that she understood it well enough that she could control it to do what she wanted, she opened the flask and began applying the virus to the Jawa, concentrating.

The virus took hold of the beasts body, and as it did so the door opened by Guides control. It began spreading over the Jawas body, filling its cells with nanites as they replicated again and again taking hold of the creature. One of its arms became elongated into a sword like shape as the other one became a more solid metal surface however still with fingers that it would be able to use to grip things with. Its skull, not visible beneath the hood was changed in ways that could not be seen as its eyes turned red and eerie beneath the hood. Inside its head the nanites moved forward to its cereberal cortex, however there is where Zannas power failed. The nanites failed to invade this most crucial part of the brain and the Jawa retrained its control. The Jawa inspected its new body in complete and utter terror.

He looked at the blade and then towards the Sith and the one who did this to him, she did this to him. The Jawa charged with increased speed raising his arm in a slashing movement...

[Fallenreaper]

Jayda~I~Sish~I~Strago: Fallenreaper, Rtron, and Ultimate523

Several days, Jayda’s inner clock silently kept track, had passed since their arrival on the timeless ship. For one who grew up on a planet forever fixed on its axis, keeping score of the day and night cycle was simple within the drab ship. A trick, one among many, which had kept her sane during the four years Sish tried to convince her to become his apprentice. She reflected a bit with surprise when thoughts over those terrible years didn’t draw as much as she expected. Instead of the burning desire to just ball up and fist and crack, her hand merely tightened over sink edge then released.

Why had it chosen now to start fading?

This was a problem. One that could grow worse and end up weakening her, ultimately costing her the revenge her brother so rightfully desired, not to forget likely getting her killed. It didn’t help she had bluntly avoided Sish’s company since that day, only having contact at bare minim, partly out of fear that his image would’ve provoked her sooner than planned. However, his absent had seemed to have a worse effect then she could’ve foreseen. Or was it something deeper than him altogether?

Jayda couldn’t lie to herself, even if it was easier, but something had started to affect her. Truthfully it could anything. The highest explanation was the fact the torture secessions had started to affect her, the dullness and endless cycle of suffering without a reason seemed to be pointless. Each one’s length had started to grow notable shorter and forced her to lie to Sish, pretended there were other reasons for it. So far he had believed her yet the Apprentice couldn't expect it to last forever. Then she would find his claws across her throat or more likely, in a fight for her life ending being slowly ripped apart. Would what she stored be enough when that time came? It was a question Jayda didn’t want to investigate.

Irritated, she tossed the distracting thoughts away and readied herself for the day. She had quickly slipped into fresh robes and pulled her hair back into its usual braid, once more kept her eyesight clear of obstructions. Finally ready and ensured her lightsaber was in its proper place, right at her hips side, Jayda started out of the room.

Sish was waiting for her as she left, leaning against the wall. He himself hadn't been torturing Jedi prisoners over the past few days. Too busy getting used to both his new eye and his ankle. But he had been keeping an eye on what Jayda was doing during the torture sessions. For the first few days, she had been fine. Even if she had been avoiding him, she had been doing what was expected of a Sith. Nothing to raise suspicions about her dedication. It was only during the later days that he had been noticing a downward trend. It was subtle things, things that most wouldn't have noticed. But he did. He had watched her reactions for years. She was growing disgusted and disconcerted with the torture. It seemed that her will, her hate, her anger, was dying down.

He'd have to do something about that.

"Good morning." He said, casually, as if she hadn't been avoiding him at all costs for a the past few days. "Good news! Your favorite Jedi is being moved from the Medbay today, and we're supposed to make sure he doesn't do another escape, or run into any trouble that will get him maimed again while we put him back into his cell. Who knows, mabye he'll cause trouble and you'll be able to pay him back. If not, I'm sure you'll be the first one allowed to torture him. We could even make a detour by the torture chambers." He watched her reaction, closely.

Jayda's expression was blank, yet there was clear annoyance when she saw who was waiting outside for her. Her jaw tensed and teeth threatened to gnash a bit until she mentally rolled her eyes. Not again, she thought, her mind already drawn to just detouring the other way. However that was impossible. It wouldn't look right to the Sith if she decided against his wishes and knowing Sish, like she disgustingly did, then he would like go overboard with his punishments if the Jedi showed the same resistance in following commands. Jayda doubted Sish would've had the restraint or notion to threaten another to solve this problem.

She inhaled yet held her tongue against objecting. Instead she answered in an indifferent voice as she finished stepping out of her temporary quarters, her eyes fixed on the Lizard. "And why would it matter if he was maim to you? If I remember right, you've already maimed him enough before and then had the troopers toss him back into his cell."

Jayda had at least heard the rumors circling about from the escape through she wasn't surprise at what she heard. She then added to her statement before he could reply, a simple answer. "My last method seemed ineffective and I've yet to find another, better one yet."

The last bit was a flat out lie, her memory knew better as she recalled how the Jedi reacted each time she had threatened another. First it was the Padawan and then the female Jedi, the one who suffered from Sish's last torture, which had gotten the Apprentice minor results. She just merely didn't push the boundaries of that weakness...unless she had to.

Sish shrugged. "I may have, but that was when he was armed with two lightsabers and bent on escaping at all costs." He gave gesture to his eye. "Clearly. But now, he's a prisoner with no chance of escaping at all and little of defending himself properly. Nyiss specifically said that we shouldn't cut off anything that didn't grow back while we were torturing them. And while most won't bother to kill me until last, preferably never, as they don't think I'm a threat, Nyiss herself would love to find an excuse to feed me to a Sithspawn or worse. I do have basic self-preservation instincts."

He gestured for her to walk fowards, and continued when they were heading to the medbay. "Oh? Your last method? The one you've been using since the beginning?" He may have not been able to watch, but the cameras had caught everything. He continued, "You know, I find myself wondering more and more often what your brother would have been like if he had just been stronger. Maybe he wouldn't be a slowly killed pile of gore and limbs. Maybe he'd have actually amounted to something more then a pathetic weakling whose sister needed to protect him." Sish shrugged. "I suppose we'll never find out. I'll just have to go on the assumption he wouldn't have."

That key sentence: The one you've been using since the beginning. It heightened her alert, her body tried to tense only to be denied, and the alarms gone off in her head. Something wasn't right as he then drifted towards the past, namely her brother, her teeth gritted against replying and for several second just walked. Her steps echoed off the hallway, a reminder where she was. Her reply fought for indifferent, the anger there even if it was faint.

"I figured you would've happy about my current methods," her words struggled not to spit the word out, "The assumption was also made when you thought I was dead, a mistake you made. Mehinn was a great warrior but it just proves...something like you can win in the right situation. Why now do your thoughts dwell on the past?"

She kept her pace mostly in tune with his, but the corner of her eyes sought a way out of this and intended to keep to the shortest route possible. This conversation was unnerving to her and even angered her to a degree, a smaller one than expected. Just like her anger when she thought about the Lizard, something that confused and alarmed her somewhat.

Sish chuckled gently. "If that is what he was, I shudder to think of what your worst warrior was. And if it proves that, then I've been in the right situation for years upon years, haven't I? Through the frontlines of the War, through the forests of Kashyyk, and the deserts of Tatooine. You can personally vouch for the latter two, can't you? The Wookies and those villagers, especially that little girl, certainly can. As for why the sudden thoughts, because they're your fuel."

"The past is what keeps you hating me, what keeps you angry, what feeds your emotions. You let go of that and..." He shrugged. "Who knows what might happen. The Jedi might even get through to you, and you might get away from the path of justice and vengeance. You would leave the dead spirit of your brother eternally howling for my blood, all because you listened to your weakness. Of course, if you could find other emotions, there wouldn't be a problem, would there?"

He could tell she was angry, but not to the usual degree. Not good. Perhaps more drastic measures were required.

Jayda's lip lifted at his chuckle but there wasn't her usual hiss back at him. It seemed the time away from Sish had made her tolerance for his presence grow somewhat, a fact she noted herself and pushed it away. Naturally he would've went back to those two trials, clear demonstrations of his cruelty and viciousness even onto those he found worthy to be his Apprentice. She didn't want to remember either one as both made her hurt beyond words, though it was in different ways. Her steps stopped suddenly, their path ceased just outside the medical bay, her sight watched the Lizard halt then turn to her.

"I doubt that, Jedi would likely sooner kill me for what I've done then allow me to live. As for the past... you know I can't forget it even if I wanted to. The hell you put me through is the reason I want to kill you but I'm not foolish enough to risk my life carelessly. Until then I'm only buying my time." She started to move pass him, eager to get this task done and over with.

Sish shrugged, then used the Force to slam her into the hallway wall across from the Medbay. "You seem to have forgotten," He said as she was picked up and slammed back down into the floor. "what type of environment you're in." Up she went again, crashing into the wall next to him. "You need powerful emotions. Hate, anger, love, fear. The only two you seem to be able of producing are your greatest weapons." Thud. She slammed back into the wall in front of him. The Medical staff hurriedly got out of the way, not questioning why the Apprentice was being punished. That was between her and her Master. "Control is fine. Hoard your emotions, nurture them."

Thud. The ceiling got a new dent. "Calm, however, will get you killed. Calm, is what the Jedi do. Calm is what gets them killed." Thud. And back to the floor. "You're already walking a thin line, being 'impure'. Showing that you have Jedi tendencies would be like throwing yourself into a pit of Sithspawn." Thud. She was back at the wall, held there by her throat. "If you want to not only kill me, but survive the aftermath, I'd suggest you find emotions that you can cling to. You wouldn't want to lose your power and a key moment, would you?"

He held her there for a few moments, before letting her go and walking into the Medbay. "We still have to deliever the Jedi." He called over his shoulder.

Jayda knew what was coming the moment she felt Sish's force jerk her about. Shit! She cursed mentally when she curled her head and shielding it with her arms. Pain exploded within her body when she slammed forcefully into the far wall. The Apprentice bite back the scream as she fell to all fours, her hand started to reach for her lightsaber in her reaction and counter his next move. Jayda hesitated for a moment, fighting that need to defending herself, driven by the fact if she reacted then likely he would kill her right then and there! Again she felt herself rise into the air and was forced back down. Hard. Immediately the breath was knocked from her lungs, leaving it hard to breath. She could feel her muscles bruise from the power placed into each toss, her body helpless and once again reminded of her weakness.

The wall next to him was where she landed next. With each hit, it won't be hard for Sish to note the emotions gain strength again. Hate seemed to claw inside a new, mainly while her body kept hitting wall and floor alike. There was little on her body left not hurting. How could she have fucking let this happen, Jayda screamed at herself. His words were lost in the sea of pain and anger, but his actions were something she couldn't ignore. They were a physical reminder of how weak she was. How easily he could still kill her and worse of all, how far she had to go. It seemed the Zabrak hadn't gone forward, instead taken two wide steps backwards. A fact she found pissed her more than anything.

Finally the throwing had ceased. Now he held her there with his force, his words cutting her right there. Her windpipe slightly crushed, breathing hard and shallow, while they seemed frozen in place. She knew she looked more like an animal in that scene. Her eyes heated, body pushed fruitless at his force grip, and filled with the clear desire to kill him. Absentmindedly her hand was upon her light saber despite her helplessness, that strong will to survive still alive within her. Jayda didn't realize she was growling until her hazy mind finally registered his words, the final ones.

A few moments longer, her air ran thin, until finally he released her. Jayda's raw throat gasped and coughed a bit from the oxygen rush entering her lungs again. Her face clearly showed the evidence, her busted lip bleed and a few bruises had started to form, clear physical reminders of her mistake. The Zabrak refused to fall to her knees again and struggled to remain upright, her feet widened their stance from her stubbornness. Her hand now gripped her weapon and seemed to have an inner conflict, namely about drawing or not. She bore her hatred into his back but said nothing, her body pulled upright before she forced her hand to return to her side. That desire to kill him seemed to have festered once more. The back of Jayda's hand wiped away the blood which had trickled down her mouth side and along the jawline. The bruises she would keep to be evidence of what her carelessness had caused.

Ignoring the hurt, her eyes never left him as she followed her worse enemy into the medbay. It would be difficult, more than ever, not to kill him now but she'd manage...for now.

Strago looked around a bit as he continued to watch the many movements within the medical bay. His focus wasn't nearly as strong as it had been early on when he had just entered the Kolto, something that was slightly frustrating at times. However, it was strong enough to be able to sense a stronger dark energy than he normally had during his time there. It was coming closer as the liquid in the tank drained away, and the medics moved carefully around, taking off the equipment still on him as he was being released.

Strago didn't bother resisting, or causing any issues as the process went on. It was largely droids sent to deal with him. He assumed it was because of the other medics fear of what a Jedi could do, especially one who had escaped before, and somehow managed to get his leg cut off with a lightsaber afterward, which lead to many assumptions.

It took a moment before he really began to move much, taking his time with every small movement, glad to be outside of the tank, and to have all the extra room rather than being cramped in it. Many eyes were focused on him, and he was very aware of it, but it didn't bother him at all. He could tell that something unnatural was still effecting his mind, which he didn't like at all, but he remained calm despite it.

One of the medics had said something about getting his clothing, and it reminded Strago of how little he was wearing. He looked down at the tight pants on him that didn't go very far down his thighs, the only clothing he had at the moment. It was strange, but it didn't bother him. He had spent enough time on the ship topless already to be used to that part of it, and the time in the Kolto was enough to be used to the pants as well.

He looked over toward where the darker energy was coming from, and saw Sish, and Jayda. It helped explain why he was being taken out now rather than earlier despite being fine for a little while now. He wasn't particularly happy about it, but it was too obvious to really feel negatively about either.

After a short while longer, someone came back with his clothing, and it was still noticeably damaged. He looked at it for several moments, contemplating on how useful it even was at this point, but knew it would still be better than what he had on at the moment. He put it on relatively quickly, feeling odd about doing so in front of so many, but not caring all that much otherwise.

Once he had his own pants back on, he looked around once more, constantly keeping Sish, and Jayda in the corner of his eye, knowing that if anything were to happen, they'd likely be the biggest threat. He moved away from them slowly in the hope that it would somehow help him while also doing his best to remain aware of everything despite his mind struggling to focus.

Sish could feel her eyes on his back, her hatred, her desire to kill him. But she wouldn't act on it. She was too cautious, to sure that she was too weak to kill him after that display. But it was a good thing that she was put back on the proper track. The lack of proper...motivation, was slightly concerning. Without motivation, she would have doubts, if she didnt already, and that could lead her to the teaching of the Jedi. Then he would have to kill her and that would just be a waste of years of effort. He alerted the medical staff that they had arrived, and were ready to move the prisoner.

The medical staff removed him from his Kolto Tank, and Sish kept both eyes on him, one claw near his lightsaber. The Jedi might be unarmed and drugged, but it was better to be on the safe side than to be surprised when the Jedi made another escape attempt. He didnt look at Jayda, but the grin on face may not have been entirely for Strago alone. While he waited for the Jedi to be able to move, he commented to Jayda, "It seems that you are not the only one who was feeling out of it. You think a little bit of physical abuse would help him too?"

As soon as Strago began moving, Sish strode over to him and grabbed his arm. With perhaps more force than necessary. "Good to see that you have recovered. Time to go back to your cell and await more horrific tortures." Sish said, cheerfully. It was all too apparent he was hoping Strago would give him a reasonable excuse cause him harm.

Jayda could feel the tense, even though her foul mood, her body still freshly ached from her ordeal. It was a wake up call for her, one she would heed, even if did some good. Her body only made into the doorway then moved off to the side, her back leaned up against the back despite the sting from the pressure. The Apprentice bite her tongue to keep from hissing her silent suffering, tensing only when Sish spoke and head whipped about to face him.

Her hard eyes stared at the Lizard and absorbed his comment, his smirk enflamed her inner storm. Finally, her answer was spoken in a dark tone. "Let's just deliver him to his cell and be done with this. He's already escaped once and I rather avoid giving him another chance to repeat his success."

She knew Sish and the Jedi had already proven a decent match, unlike herself lately, so any torture would've been unbear for the man. It would likely be closer to her own less then a year ago, her mind flipped over the memories only to shake their effects off. She didn't need the distraction or the reminder, it was bad enough Sish had easily tossed her about like some pitiful rag toy. Her eyes watched Sish's usual charm shine through when he took hold of the Jedi, his claw likely dug into the flesh close enough to bleed if given the chance.

"Sish..." a simple mention of his name, her voice venomous, gave a hint to her impatience.

Strago could feel Sish moving closer to him before he slowly turned to look at him, feeling his arm gripped tightly afterward. He listened to the comment following it, and laughed slightly at it, mostly out of an actual feeling of amusement, and not any attempt at mocking him. He looked right into his eyes, quickly noticing the effects of their duel many days ago now, "It's nice to see that you've recovered as well." He replied, a mix of a smirk, and a genuine smile appearing on his face as he said it, the drugs that had been used in the Kolto allowing him to feel slightly more free with his words, and actions, even if it wasn't the wisest choice.

It took a moment more before he looked over Sish fully, taking a slight note of his state despite being unsure of how much he would remember. Once he did, he briefly looked over at Jayda, and smirked slightly more again, "I see only Sith who enjoyed their time with me were allowed to come here." He added, and looked back toward Sish, "Though I can move fine on my own, my scaly friend." He added further, and nodded slightly toward his grip on his arm, knowing the comment likely wouldn't help, but feeling the need to say it regardless.

Sish flashed a grin at Jayda as he heard the venomn in her voice. Things were going to back to normal it seemed. However, before he could comment, the Jedi spoke, causing Sish to turn to him. "Yes, I have. Admittedly you don't need two eyes to break bones and tear muscle, but it certainly helps." If the Jedi wasn't tring to get a reaction out of him, he was failing. Sish had all the time he needed to pay back Strago for insult an injuries. All he had to do was wait.

"Yes, well didn't want you wandering off again. You have a nasty habit of going places you're not supposed to be going." He only tightened his grip in response to Strago's final comment. "I'm sure you can. I just prefer to be able to break something quickly if you try to go wandering again. Wouldn't you like to, Jayda?"

Jayda knew the Jedi had been drugged, not that she could blame the medical staff, when he commented on Sish's well being and smiled in that odd way. After all the man, rumors of a Twi'lek Jedi and other possible ones, had managed to escape during the explosion so caution was currently the best option. Her mind floated back at mention of the explosion and what had helped in avoiding Sish. Any previous searches gleaning for informantion had been a fruitless chase which kept leading her into circles the few last few days, much to her annoyance.

Her face frowned deeply at Sish's grin from what he had arranged finally and his recent punishment. It seemed she would have to tread carefully now. Sish of course over looked that and merely told the Jedi, in his own way, that he was still able to likely he Jedi suffer later. When Sish tightened his claws, Jayda inwardly considering snapping at Sish as he seemed to push his damn boundary and tightened his grip. Instead she stood there in silence until his question reached her.

"Our presence is to prevent that and keep in mind what the Darth said, even during recapture. Unlike you, I take orders, namely when failing to follow them, very, very seriously. Now, can we get going?" Jayda said coldly before she beckoned the two to move.

Strago continued smiling at Sish as he spoke once again, grinning a bit as the grip on his arm tightened. It was painful, but Strago didn't care much, the drugs making him feel oddly bubbly at the moment, and causing him to grin even wider for a moment after Sish's comments before pouting jokingly, "And here I thought you just wanted me closer for a hug." He said, and smiled again, looking over toward Jayda as she spoke, then back toward Sish, "I take it she's having a splendid day, as she always does with me around?" He asked sarcastically, his smile remaining as he did, not moving much due to the grip on his arm.

Sish chuckled, ignoring Strago's first comment. "Something like that. Let's get going then. Wouldn't want to encourage anything that would lead to you trying to escape, and me testing my Apprentice's patience, any more than I already have." He began walking towards the cells, tugging Strago forward. He'd rather not waste time chatting with the Jedi prisoner. 'Impure' Sith are already on thin ice, without the added problem of rumors that they were Jedi sympathizers. Most would believe that without searching for more evidence. The Darth certainly would, and they would end up like the Apprentice who had killed a captive. Only dying far more slowly.

As the walked, Sish commented to Jayda, "So, seeing as your last method," There was a small sarcastic inflection on the word 'last. "hasn't been as effective as you had hoped, do you have any other plans for interrogation?"

Jayda was relieved when Sish had finally decided to stop prolonging her wait. The longer time she spent in his company, the worse those dark desires of killing had started to gnaw at her mind and harder it was not to reach for her weapon. She had to be careful more then ever but her emotions seemed not to listen to the reasoning. The Apprentice remained silent until Sish's question shattered it, her eyes turned to look at his head back as she was following behind the both of them.

She didn't like that question. Not one bit because it screamed trouble, and her iinstincts were normally right. There was two options in this situation, either one could risk her life if Sish suspected she was lying and to what degree of suffering she would endure. Time ticked by while her mind sought out a reasonable answer. "Lately I haven't considered one, namely after the likely attempt on my life and trying to seek out a lead." She didn't bother adding that she hit too many dead ends, her focus split and conflicted most that she made little success.

The Zabrak then added, her voice accusing him subtly. "There's only one I know and that's because of four years worth in enduring it. Physical maiming, starvation, and Force Lightning was a continual favorite of yours after all. My experience in other methods is lacking like other areas..."

"Very well." Strago said as Sish began tugging on him. He could still very much feel the drugs effecting him, and didn't like it much, but it somehow made the who experience more tolerable. Once the Sith began to speak once more, he made sure to pay a lot of attention to their words, wanting as much information as he could get, but also doing his best to seem like he was more focused on getting the drugs out of his system, shaking his head occasionally, and rubbing it a bit as they walked.

He occasionally glanced toward Sish, and even Jayda as they moved, instinctively looking for any weaknesses he could find, but knew it would likely be a terrible idea to take advantage of any. However, he also knew that if he remembered them, they could be useful in the future. Whether he would remember, or not, with his current state of mind, he wasn't sure, but he did his best to despite it.

Sish waited patiently, keeping a firm grip on Strago's arm. She couldn't leave without causing disobeying Nyiss, and she wasn't so foolish as to do that. And she could not simply keep silent, otherwise his supiscions would be raised. In other words, he had her just where he wanted her. So he waited for her to compose an answer, noting with some amusement Strago's occasional glances. He knew the Jedi was looking for weaknesses. How? Because that's what he would be doing if he was in Strago's place. And after the man's display of combat that cost him his eye, the Trandoshan thought they were very similar.

"Fair enough. And I'm sure you could research other methods if you weren't occupied with more important things." Such a surviving the politics of the Sith. "I myself don't care enough to change my methods. They tend to work very well on those like the Jedi. Unless they're like you of course. Then I will have to change...but I doubt they are."

"Sadly, that's likely to get you killed since you rarely change anything." Jayda answered with a bitterness, her focus on getting through the hallway and gone before her mind could carry out anything she would regret. His questions of late had drawn her to increase her worry. Something wasn't right about it and she didn't like it, her eyes had noted his amusement at the Jedi trying to rid himself of the drugs effects.

A few more steps echoed down the hallway before she continued."If I hadn't stopped you, then likely your first victim would've died. The Padawan was clearly not built for combat or pain. I rather not deal with the hassle that comes with that result."

Her mind made a guess, namely from what she tried to memorize from her wanderings within the ship, that shortly the Jedi's cell block would come into view. This was taking far too long for her liking but she would have to endure it. To risk leaving Sish alone with the Jedi was simply asking for something to go wrong and she doubted very much Sish could control himself this time.

Strago considered speaking at several moments, but didn't show it, only thinking about it. He did his best not to bring any extra attention to himself, wanting to be as forgotten as possible by the Sith so that they would hopefully speak slightly more casually. Judging by what they were saying, he wasn't going to get any useful information, but actually speaking also wouldn't help the matter.

He kept up at Sish's pace, occasionally looking around the ship as well, doing his best to remember it for the future. Things looked more familiar than the first time he was taken out, but the time in Kolto had also allowed him to forget some of it. Part of him wondered if they were even taking him directly to his cell, but he didn't think about it too much, knowing that it wouldn't be useful to think about at all, instead focusing as best as he could on the conversation, and movements of the Sith, occasionally closing his eyes for a second, or two as he felt the drugs get to him slightly more.

"Possibly. Or, the Padawan would have cracked soon after and told me what I wanted to know. Besides. If he wasn't strong enough to survive that, it is little wonder that we captured him. The apprentice this one held hostage could have captured him. We wouldn't benefit from turning him. His only use is his information, and he may not even have that." The feeling of his Achilles tendon being worked by it's machine brought back a recent memory, and Sish corrected himself. "Well...maybe I'm speaking too quickly. He did nearly kill me in a rage."

Oddly enough, the Trandoshand didn't seem all that concerned with his brush with death. Perhaps it was because he had to deal with someone wnating to kill him on a daily basis. Perhaps it was because he had fought on the frontline battlefields of the war and survived. Or maybe it was something else. Regardless, the notion

Jayda's guess proved correct, as they rounded a corner and Strago's new cell came into sight. "This is our stop. Welcome to your new cell."

The Zabrak noted the change in Sish's words, his rush to a conclusion clearly changed and made her realize who exactly had been responsible for the latest damage. She would have to make a habit to watch the interrogations with this Pawadan, both to ensure he was killed or destroyed her current target. It won't do much good for her if Sish died before she was ready and not at her hands. "Speaking too quickly and jumping conclusions is a common thing with you, something I wouldn't expect differently from...someone like you."

She reached over and pressed the cell panel to open the bulkdoors then stepped back, her head motioned for the Jedi to step. "In. Now."

Strago focused a bit more on his surroundings as Sish said they were close to the cell. He stopped as they got to it, looking at it as he did. It didn't feel like the same place somehow, though he wasn't sure how he could tell. Despite that, he knew it was likely still where they wanted him.

As Jayda opened the door, and spoke, Strago laughed a bit, and smiled as he looked toward her, "It's your turn to be friendly to me now, huh?" He asked jokingly, then slowly moved toward the cell, his head still mostly facing her, and turning slightly more toward Sish to look at both of them, "Have a nice day." He added with a slight nod before finally going into the cell block, and toward one of the cells. He looked around slightly, but didn't feel much like talking to anyone, instead just laying down on the bed, and rubbing his head a bit, trying to use the focus he could muster to help get rid of the drugs.

Sish let Strago go, smirking at the Jedi's final words. "They must have given him something powerful." He commented off-handedly to Jayda, before walking away, in the opposite direction of the Medlab. "You should probably go check to make sure nothing is broken." He called over his shoulder, grinning. He had made his point and fixed the problem. Staying any longer would just be asking her to lose control and that wouldn't do at all. Not yet anyways.

"Tch." She merely said, her eyes watched him head the opposite way down the hall from Medical. His machine whirled and grinded in its efforts to move him along and to her relief, beyond her sight. Jayda, in her angry and fury, merely turned on her heel and walked away. The ache was strengthened by her fast movements but she still managed to call backwards at him. "Try to stay alive... As I keep repeating myself, getting yourself killed does no good, yidaj'ter..."

[Rtron]

Zanna meets her Idol!: Part two.

At first Zanna thought she had it. The nanites responded to her control and changed the Jawa as she desired. She was too busy concentrating on not losing control of the virus to marvel at the powers and abilities of Alchemy. When she was sure the virus had spread over the Jawa's body, she moved the nanites into the brain of the poor creature. And that's where her control failed. She felt it, and knew that it was fully lost. But she still tried to regain control, feeling the terror radiating off of the Jawa. Terror could turn to anger very quickly...

And that's exactly what happened. The Jawa's fear of her turned to anger, and it charged at her. Instinctively, Zanna's hands shot up and gave it a strong Force Push away from her. She underestimated how fast it would move though, and the tip of it's blade dragged across her palm, causing her to hiss in pain. The Jawa wasn't down, however. It was still alive. Still hostile. Using her pain, fear, and anger, Zanna shot Force lightning into the Jawa. When she was sure that it was dead and wouldn't be rising back to try and kill her, she turned to Guide, awaiting the scathing remarks about her failure and her removal from his presence with a stoic face.

-Only her eyes being the only things betraying a hint of her true feelings, shame embarrassment, and frustration. She had failed. He had given her a simple task, prove her Alchemichal ability, and she had failed. Doubtful she would ever learn anything from him, now that she wasn't any use. A question burned in her mind, that she would undoubtedly have to find by herself. Why? What had she done wrong? Where had she gone wrong? Why, why, why?

Guide merely looked at the dead Jawa on the floor, mostly in disgust and didn't even bother looking at the apprentice. Pity. She had shown promise in actually being able to give the virus root in the body of the Jawa however he did not betray that though at all. He simply continued to look at the corpse of the beast on the floor which was releasing a foul burnt stench into the air. It was true that the chemical aspect she had some control over but her control over the micro-organisms in the Force was the main issue. Pity.

"Leave, and I will send for you at some other date. Perhaps we will try something more your level."

Zanna nodded in aquisence, and took two steps towards the exit before stopping and turning back to Guide. "Forgive me, Master Guide, but where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong? Everything was going as it should have been and then..." She made a helpless gesture. And then everything fell apart when she tried to attatch the nanites to the cerebral cortex. Why though? Was it something she had done wrong? Or was it simply power? It would gnaw at her all day and night if she didn't find an answer soon, be it from Guide or from her own searching.

Though, she was worried she might be pushing her boundaries...

"Leave apprentice, do not waste my time." He stretched out in the force sealing all doors to the ramp and lowering it. "Tomorrow"

Zanna quickly bowed her way out, quickly leaving before she pushed her luck any further. Tomorrow? So he hadn't given completely up on her. As she left, with her back turned to Guide, she couldn't suppress the smile at the knowledge that she would be learning from Guide. Even the afterthought that he might very well be just figuing out how to kill her and get rid of her quickly couldn't get rid of the spring in her step.

Soon though, her research took over all thoughts and she was back to muttering and scribbling notes as she walked. Luckily with less crashing into people this time.

[Frettzo]

Jewel+Kinsakwi

Lord Jewel Namore observed the tapes of Kinsa’s latest visit by her fellow Sith. She’d wasted no time in having some of the surveillance feeds forwarded straight to her room when she’d realised Thalia’s incompetence, and she’d just about finished going over the latest visit for the last time before she would make her own trip to see the young Jedi. She would’ve liked to have seen Calista as well, maybe bring them together and question Calista on her latest experience with Sish, but unfortunately that experience had put the Jedi into a Kolto tank for an undisclosed amount of time.

The holo flicked off then, and Jewel considered her next move. Volenthropes tactics were unorthodox, but seemed to be fairly effective with the Jedi. Jewel thought about adapting them somewhat, perhaps incorporating a few of the more effective ploys into her own methods. Depending on how things went, they might prove effective, and there was no rule against using other peoples methods for your own gain.

It just so happens that other peoples methods were rarely effective enough to consider.

By the time she reached the prison cells, she’d planned out several possible courses of action along with several locations she could use. She didn’t bother bringing guards this time, it was going to be just her and the one Jedi. She could handle one Jedi easily. Entering the cell she found Kinsa, caught her attention and beckoned to her. The first thing to do was talk while walking through the corridors.

Kinsa didn’t even have to lift her gaze from her robes in order to realize who it was that had visited them- Ever since Vole’s visit, she had been feeling strange. In one part, she felt troubled and scared, and in the other, she felt happy. Had the Sith, Lord Jewel Namore, arrived a few hours earlier, she would have found a rather depressed and pathetic Kinsa, but now it was different. Instead of hopelessly sitting on a corner, she was now nervously sitting on her bed, tapping her foot to some unseen rhythm. Of course, all behaviour ceased when Lord Namore entered her small cell, and without any kind of resistance, Kinsa followed her, Vole’s words repeating themselves in her mind.

’They’re not like Vole. Watch yourself, Kinsa.’

As they walked through the corridors, Kinsa was able to actually realize something- No guards were escorting them. It was just her and Lord Namore. ’Should I be worried?’ She thought to herself, looking behind her for a split second, before resuming looking forward, trying to avoid any kind of contact with Lord Namore. She had questions, and one of them involved Xid, but they could wait. She was sure she’d get some sort of new thing to think about in this session.

Meanwhile, though, Kinsakwi kept to herself. After all, she didn’t want to make Jewel turn into a copy of the lizard Sith by disrespecting her with a careless question. That would be really bad.

Jewel could sense the Twi’leks desire to ask questions as they walked. That was good. She still evidently feared to ask them, but the fact she had any at all was a good sign. First though, Jewel had a question of her own, whose answer would determine where she would lead the Jedi. Composing herself calmly she said conversationally “What were you when you were a Jedi? I know they divide their numbers into many roles.” She had carefully phrased it to implicate that Kinsa was not a Jedi anymore while not being obvious about it. The truth of whether she was or not was not important right now, working the idea into her mind however, was very important.

Kinsa listened to Lord Namore’s question, internally frowning at such a… Seemingly out of the blue inquiry. She thought for a tiny while, unsure as to whether she should tell the truth or lie. Was there any point in lying, though? It would matter none if she ended up dead, and it would be negative to be seen as an obstacle for these Sith… She had seen first hand what they did to non-cooperative Jedi just a while ago, and she didn’t want to end like that. So she decided to tell the truth, and accept anything that may come from it.

“I was training as a Padawan to become a Jedi Investigator. I was the law enforcement’s aid back on Coruscant.”

Jewel had guessed as much, but it was always good to confirm it. That, and it led nicely into the next phase of her plan. She altered the path they were taking, instead of the Arena, she started heading towards the Sith quarters. Normally she’d consider it unpleasant to treat an alien as equally as she was going to, but it was for a good cause. She bottled up the anger at the necessity of the task for later use. “I can sense you have questions Kinsa. I imagine as an investigator it has been your job to ask questions… regardless of who or what might not want you to ask. Do not be afraid to question, Kinsa. I won’t hurt you for asking questions. In fact I’d prefer to avoid violence entirely.” Her tone was conversational and calm. Scaring the Jedi would be detrimental at this stage.

Releasing a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding, Kinsa nodded, putting on an imitation of the facial expressions interrogators and investigators wore during their tasks, emotionless, and started speaking. “I wanted to ask about this one Sith, Sebastian Volenthrope. Do you know him? I could do with knowing something about him.” She asked, keeping her hands at her sides in a casual manner, trying to look and feel as professional as she could. Finding out more about Vole made her slightly anxious, given the fact that she wanted to see him again.

That wasn’t the question Jewel had been expecting. She’d hardly found out anything about the newly arrived Sith herself. Still, she knew more than Volenthrope had told the Jedi. “I do know of him, though I’ve not met him personally. He is a Fallen Jedi and he is here as a representative of the Dark Council, the governing body of the Sith Empire until such a time as the Emperor decides to take back the day to day rule of his domain.” She had information that could possibly ruin the rapport that Vole had been building up with the Twi’lek, but for now she didn’t think it was necessary.

“Hm,” Kinsa said simply, slightly frustrated at having come up with information she already knew and information that she had no use for whatsoever. “I’ve also been wishing to ask you about Xid, the Padawan that helped in disabling the droids. I haven’t seen him in quite a while.” She asked, dusting off one of her robe’s sleeves, as it had caught a bit of dust. As they walked, Kinsa began to wonder exactly where she was being taken. It wasn’t the same place as last time, if she remembered the various turns and hallways correctly.

This was a question Jewel was most definitely expecting. She’d prepared an answer that had just enough hints of truth to be believable. “As you know the cell allocation has changed… A security measure, nothing more. Unfortunately he has also been visited by Lord Sish since you saw him last and the experience was harrowing… He was placed in Kolto to recuperate. Sish was not happy that I have denied him your… company. I can’t defend all the Jedi from him you know. Your safety comes at the cost of the safety of the others. Volenthropes promise to protect you is the same. By hiding you, we enrage Sish.” Now Jewel was testing Kinsa. She wanted to know if the poor girl would face Sish’s claws herself to save her friends or not.

“... Oh.” Kinsa said quietly, rubbing her neck for a small moment as the feeling of guilt filled her. Had she resisted Sish’s brutal ways, Xid wouldn’t have been sent to the Kolto Tank… But there was nothing she could do about it, right? Sooner or later, she’d have died at Sish’s hands and he would have gone to Xid either way. And if Kinsa herself had met two civilized Sith already, Xid was bond to have met them as well.

“Where are we heading?”

“My quarters.” Jewels reply was quick and to the point. “The cells here are for inflicting pain. I do not intend to do that to you, so we may as well talk in a more pleasant environment.” Jewel was heartened by Kinsa’s apparent lack of a desire to sacrifice herself. She couldn’t be sure if it was actually a selfish act or merely having resigned to the collective fate of the Jedi though. Still, even resigning to her fate was better than throwing herself before the enraged Trandoshan in the vain hope it might save someone else. “Have you any other questions Kinsa?”

’Her… Quarters?’ Kinsa wondered, sparing a quick glance towards Namore’s face in an attempt to read her intentions or thoughts. It was in vain though, as Namore’s face revealed nothing but a stone wall. ’Going to her quarters… That’s strange. What will we do there that we can’t do in a more public place?’ Namore then asked if Kinsa had any more questions, and while she was actually satisfied with what she had learned so far, she knew there were a lot more things to ask. Kinsa’s training, however, led her to ask the question that gave birth to the rest.

“Why didn’t you kill us, back on Coruscant?” She asked, raising an eyebrow even though she kept her gaze away from any part of Namore’s face. “It seems like a lot of resources would go to medical care for the badly wounded, and even more would go to security and building the whole prison area.”

“Because we’re not monsters.” Was Jewels immediate reply. “We captured those who we could, because to kill you all would be a waste of life. Many, though, could not be captured. Jedi too often seem to have a blind desire to self-sacrifice.” Jewel was telling a partial truth now. That was always the ideal, because it was the most believable method of instilling ideas. She’d been hoping for a question like that though, it opened the way for one of her own, one necessary to start tearing down Kinsa’s faith in the Jedi order. “Why did you think we would kill you all? Is it not the way of the civilised society to spare life where it can in war?”

“Well… My Master and I had recently started researching contemporary history before the attack. It seems like wherever a skirmish happens, the losing side’s soldiers and jedi are almost always never heard from again.” Kinsa said, eyes glazing over slightly as she recalled the quiet research sessions with her Master. “I was taught that Sith only killed, and that whoever was corrupted by them would be dead.”

“To answer your question more directly… I thought so because I’ve been told many stories of genocide done by the Sith.” She answered, closing her eyes for a moment before letting out a breath. She hadn’t forgotten what they had done to Coruscant yet. She had to cling to that event, to remember that the planet was invaded and innocent people died… But it was hard to see it from such a black and white point of view, these days.

“You and your fellow prisoners are living testament to the falsehood of the idea that we kill all that we defeat.” Genocide and the amount of death caused by the Empire was not a subject Jewel wanted to dwell on given that no-one had clean hands in that matter. It had its use though. “Of course the Jedi are eager to tell you of Sith genocide, but have you seen the results with your own eyes? How can you know they are telling the truth and not simply trying to vilify us? Let me tell you where we are going Kinsa, and the significance of it. This ships final stop is Korriban, the original homeworld of the Sith species. As I have told you, it is the site of one of the worst war-crimes ever to mar this galaxy. The Republic and Jedi defeated the first Sith Empire there and rather than offer surrender, they bombed the planet from orbit, killing millions of innocent civilians. You may believe what I say or you may not, but when we arrive I will show you the desolate wastes that once teemed with life. All that survives from the original home of the sith are vast tombs and monuments to the long dead. Proof of the monstrous acts the Jedi have committed against our people. Did they ever teach you of that act in the temple? Did they tell you the lengths they would go to to see their enemy not only defeated but eradicated from the galaxy entirely?” Jewels voice was calm the entire time, even cold. She was speaking of fact, and she didn’t let her emotion colour it.

Kinsa remained silent as Jewel spoke. Her words were true, they were facts, and while she hadn’t been taught of Korriban in the past, she had indeed read up on it by accident. At the moment, the planet meant nothing more than some old battlefield to Kinsa, but now… What the Sith had just done to them in Coruscant, they had done to the Sith that many generations ago.

She looked down at the floor for a small moment and decided to keep silent on the topic. There was nothing to discuss there, mostly since she’d only managed to confuse herself even more.

“I’ve no more questions.”

Jewel did not speak anymore until they reached her quarters, taking a fairly short version of the path so as to not give Kinsa too much time to think. She input her code on the door to her quarters and led Kinsa in, making a mental note to change it afterwards. She ushered Kinsa inside and followed the Jedi when she did, closing the door behind them. “Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable.” She said as she took a seat herself in the central room. The furnishings were slightly sparse, but comfortable, with a low table and a long couch across from Jewel in a more work oriented chair.

Kinsa looked around the room, admiring how comfortable and how spacious the place seemed to be. It took her a few moments to register what Lord Namore had told to her, and when she grew past her initial admiration, she walked over to politely sit on the couch, inwardly sighing in relief at the sensation the soft surface caused. Only a few days without comfortable furniture and it already felt like months.

Quietly, she glanced at Lord Namore in order to get her to elaborate on why, exactly, she had been brought to such a private place. Very few times before had Kinsa been in someone’s quarters as an invited guest.

Jewel picked up on the Jedi’s bewilderment and comfort from a combination of the Force and the expressions of her face and body. A small smile crept onto her face, though it was quickly removed as she got straight to business. “Tell me, Kinsa, of your time with the Jedi. Were you satisfied? How much knowledge of the Force did they teach you?” It was a risk to bring up such memories, as the Twi’lek no doubt considered them pleasant, but at the same time it could prove one of the best ways to twist her view of the Jedi, after all, memories were nothing compared to the present.

“Well, let’s see…” Kinsa muttered, looking down and to the right as she focused on remembering the exact words. “My Master… He taught me that the Force was a means to an end, a double edged sword. He told me that there were many risks, and that completely relying on it would be a mistake for my line of work.” She explained, smiling for a few moments as she stumbled upon a happy memory.

“He spoke of the force as this powerful beast that was capable of both great harm and great justice. Told me that one day I’d have to…” Kinsa trailed off, her smile vanishing. Quickly, she focused once more and looked at Jewel, “What is the reason behind the question?”

“Can I not be simply a curious woman wishing to know how things are done on the other side? We’ve had spies in the past of course, but I want to hear how it was from someone without any… prejudice.” As was becoming normal with her interactions with Kinsa, she did her best to project an aura of truthfulness. “Would you like anything? Food or drink? I’ve seen what they give you in the cells. You must be starving.” Whether the Twi’lek asked for any food or not, Jewel stood and walked to one of the rooms adjacent to the central one to prepare a drink for herself. She wouldn’t be able to see the Twi’lek from there, and it was her hope that the Jedi might find one of the dark Holocrons she’d selected and placed about the room. Her personal records and written works were safely hidden elsewhere.

“Anything you wish to give to me will suffice.” Kinsa replied to Jewel’s offer, watching as she stood up and moved over to another room, presumably to prepare something. After a moment, Kinsa stood up herself and walked over to one of the sparse drawers in the room, grabbing a few of the objects on top of it. She couldn’t recognize half of them, and the other half were common enough to be dismissed. One of them, though, caught her eye.

She had seen them before, in the forbidden areas of the Jedi Temple’s Archives in Coruscant. Holocrons, if she recalled their name correctly. They were strange, dark items that held valuable information, and this one reached towards Kinsa. She felt sickly just touching it, and she suddenly felt an urge to activate it. Though when she heard a sound come from the room Jewel was in, she retracted her hands and tried to look normal, grabbing a few of the other common items instead.

While in the kitchen section of her quarters and out of sight Jewel picked out a common and non-alcoholic hot drink for both of them. In both drinks she added a flavourless and odorless chemical that would serve to relax and loosen the tongue. Before picking them up she took a tiny pill that would protect her from the effects of the drug. When she arrived back in the main room with the two steaming mugs in hand she found Kinsa standing guiltily next to some open drawers. She’d expected that. “Find anything interesting?” She said sarcastically, laying down one of the mugs on the low table in front of the place Kinsa had chosen to sit before. “Perhaps more importantly, what did you expect to find?” She said while motioning to the drink and the seat.

Kinsa closed the drawers as she turned towards Jewel, inwardly sighing once it was clear that Jewel knew she had found something. Though she didn’t let it show on her face, she was starting to feel nervous. It all seemed like filler, like Jewel was trying to accomplish something, but Kinsa didn’t know what that was. She had been hospitable and kind so far, and had not even come close to hurting her. So why was she doubting the Sith?

“Well…” Kinsa began, walking over to the couch and sitting on it in the same polite manner as before, “I apologize, I was merely curious.”

She then grabbed the mug and brought the edge to her lips, taking a small sip of the soft, sweet drink. It was amazing how after so much suffering and starvation, a simple thing such as a drink or even proper food felt so great.

“You’ve… A nice place here.” She said quietly, looking around the place.

“I sense your uneasiness. Please, you are quite safe here, there is no need to worry.” Jewel sat once again and sipped the drink a little before continuing. She was not going to further imply Kinsa should drink the drugged liquid, rather she’d make it appear desirable by enjoying it herself. “Kinsa, have the Jedi ever told you what the Sith code is? Or even the meanings behind their own code?” Jewel expected these questions to have short, negatory answers. The Jedi weren’t fond of sharing knowledge, usually feeding questioners lines about ‘not being ready.’ To Jewel, nothing could be more ridiculous. You’d never be ready for something if you didn’t know anything about it.

“I’ve heard a few Jedi mention it before, but I do not know what exactly it entails. I know the Jedi Code, yet I feel safe saying that I never understood it.” Kinsa said with a small shrug, slowly drinking from the mug. She didn’t want to act like a dehydrated prisoner, after all. Especially when she was a guest in someone’s quarters, no matter who that person was.

“It’s kind of funny, actually. Master Chur used to feed me these lines about ‘not being ready for the knowledge’ every single time I asked a deep question. He would reward me every time I seeked the answer out by myself, saying that ‘that’s how an investigator does it’... He was a nice Master, haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Thats what I thought.” Said Jewel, inwardly pleased with such an answer. It was perfect. “Perhaps then, I can educate you on both of the codes. Sith do not believe in hiding information after all, especially information concerning the nature of the Force. Perhaps you’d instead prefer to learn of a new Force technique instead of philosophy? We can even do both if you like.” It was taxing to be so insufferably kind - She’d definitely have to find somewhere to release the frustration and anger after this, but for now she kept it pent up and hidden from the Jedi.

Kinsa raised an eyebrow, scrunching up her brow in a mix of curiosity and confusion. “I spent seven years of my childhood studying mostly philosophy. A new force technique would be a very welcome change.” Kinsa said, scooting closer to the edge of the seat as she listened in on whatever it was that Jewel had in mind. She hoped it was something to do with persuasion or maybe on a way to use the Force to jump higher and higher.

Jewel genuinely laughed at that, a short, rarely heard sound. “Well the Force and the power we gain from it is a very broad topic, have you any preferences? My Lightning is not my strongest point but I can teach in most other areas.” Whatever she chose, Jewel would have to focus on the use of emotion to bring power, the better to give Kinsa a taste of the Dark Side.

“Whether we like to admit it or not, some criminals are very well prepared…” Kinsa mentioned, shuddering a bit at a distant memory. “I myself have run into a few of them back on Coruscant, and I’ve trained a lot to get quicker at jumping and moving around, but I lack the technique--There’s something I can’t seem to grasp in the Force aspect of it. Maybe you’d like to help me out with that?” She asked, drinking the last of her mug and placing it down.

“Thats not quite what I expected, perhaps I should’ve taken us to the Arena after all? More space for such things there.” It was both easier and harder to tie emotion into such a simple technique, not to mention giving her better Force Speed could be dangerous to her fellow Sith, but it didn’t matter. “Perhaps speed is something we can focus on here until we have a space more fitting.” With that Jewel dove straight into the teaching.

“When you are channeling the Force to increase your speed or jump higher and further, you must focus not only on what you want to do but why you want to do it. Why you must do it. I don’t mean simply justice, but the triumph you feel when you bring them to justice. You want to do the right thing, but I sense its not simply because you’ve been told what's right and feel the need to enforce it. You passionately feel that you must do the right thing. Stop others from doing the wrong thing. Focus on that passion when you use your abilities. Let it flow through you.” She finished off the last of her drink once she’d stopped speaking, letting her words sink in. Then she placed the cup in the middle of the table. “Imagine I am a criminal and that-” She pointed to the cup, “Is a thermal detonator I will use to kill some hostages.” With that she focused a small portion of her frustration into speed and shot out her hand to grab the cup.

Kinsa truly tried to follow Jewel’s trail of thoughts, but it just didn’t make any sense to her. The outcome of a battle didn’t depend on the spirit of the fighter most of the times, and feelings could sometimes cloud judgement. Kinsa’s imagination failed her in part, too. She had been given too little time to create the scene in her head, and so she wasn’t able to focus her emotions, as Jewel had told her to. Yet she still tried, and failed. She wasn’t as quick a Jewel. She was still rather quick, of course, but not to her level. Once Jewel took a hold of the mug, Kinsa huffed and frowned.

“Is Force pulling it not allowed in this exercise?”

“You wanted to test your speed did you not?” This was not as ideal as Jewel had thought. “I sense you are confused. Stop thinking about how to do it. Use your emotion.” With that she leant forward to place the cup back down, but before it hit the table she stopped, a dark expression coming over her face. “Or perhaps you are unworthy of my attention. Maybe I should give you to Sish.” That would get her emotions flowing. Jewel let just enough of her anger flow through to make it seem believable as she placed the cup down again, hard.

The mere mention of Sish threw Kinsa off balance-- Even when she had been relaxed and confident a second ago, she was now on edge and had found a knot forming on her throat. How could Jewel possibly do that? Just hand her over to Sish! That lizard Sith was a brute, surely she wouldn’t last a single week with his dirty claws constantly torturing her.

’No choice.’ She thought quickly, suppressing a sudden shiver as she focused on the mug, preparing her hand and arm for a quick swipe just as Jewel did the same.

’Force it...’ She ordered herself in order to better control the flourishing emotions. Fear and anger were her focus. This time, when Jewel swung her arm towards the mug, Kinsa followed. They both reached to mug at the same time, and Kinsa grabbed it for dear life.

An expression of surprise formed on Jewels face as Kinsa’s hand shot at to grab the cup precisely when she did. She hadn’t expected the Jedi to pick up the technique so quickly. “Very good. I think you are safe for now.” She let go of the cup, letting Kinsa take it. “Do you feel the power that you gained by using your emotion? Focused emotion, any emotion, brings power. In using it, you have already taken a step to understanding the Sith code. Understand enough, and you will have the power to bring Sish to justice.” Jewel left out that the most potent Emotions were often anger, hate and fear. That aspect would likely cause Kinsa to recoil from the Dark Side before she’d truly tasted its power.

“I-I…” ’I’m pretty sure that was just adrenaline…?’ “I understand, uh… What should I call you? You’ve just taught me something, so I owe you one favour.” Kinsa said, choosing to go for the answer that seemed the most fitting for the situation. While she was by no means on her peak mind condition, she knew that some things were to be kept to herself, especially in survival situations like this one. After all, she never wanted to see Sish again in her whole life. Gaining Jewel as an enemy would not aid her avoidance of the Lizard Sith.

“Are you sure?” Jewel said, wondering if perhaps she should of pressed the situation further. “I could sense your anger. Your fear. There is no need to hide from them.” It was good that Kinsa thought highly enough of her to consider owing her a favour. But that wasn’t enough. Jewel had a feeling that this wasn’t going quite as well as she’d hoped. The Jedi didn’t seem to want to embrace any philosophy. Despite that, she couldn’t accept this particular favour, even if denying such power over someone went so far against what she believed. “There is no need for that. I am only teaching you what every Force wielder has a right to know. I hope you make use of it.”

Kinsa thought deeply for a few moments, frowning as she brought Jewel’s mug, her prize, closer to her. While she did believe it was just adrenaline that caused the better speed time, she also realized that the emotions had something to do with the increased adrenaline levels. So Jewel wasn’t lying at all, emotions do give some power that keeping control would otherwise deny to the force user. If she didn’t use her fear of death or failure to increase her adrenaline, then how could she possibly expect to be quicker and more agile when in a tough spot?

“I actually understand now!” Kinsa affirmed, a determined smile on her face as she looked up towards Jewel, “Is there any way to, like… Have reserves of emotions to release when needed? I reckon that would be useful.”

“There is.” Jewel said. This was progress, but still not necessarily towards the Dark-side. Then again, as long as Kinsa served the Empire, it did not matter if she was Sith. There was no loss, after all, Kinsa was only a mere Twi’lek. “When you feel strong emotion, don’t act on it, don’t let it show through. It will take all your will to bottle it up, but it will give you a powerful reserve when you need it. I don’t expect you to master this quickly.” She thought for a moment then. “Perhaps some emotion inducing events could help with that.” She had a few in mind, but they were things Kinsa need not know about beforehand.

Now that was actual teaching, or at least that’s what Kinsa thought. The pace at which she had just learned two new techniques beat by far the pace at which Master Chur had ever taught her any technique at all. For once, it felt like she was catching up to the big leagues, instead of feeling like she had to rely on any Master to learn anything. Jewel’s mention of ‘emotion inducing events’ lightly scared Kinsa, but she tried her best not to let it show, and as recently taught, ‘bottle it up’.

“I have one question, L… Lo…” She hesitated, stuttering in the process of trying to mention Jewel’s rank, “Lord Namore… It’s… Nothing to do with emotions or the Force. I’ve been told that Coruscant’s gone, so to speak. I know that there are no Jedi left there, and that billions are dead…” She said the last part with heavy regret, and continued after a moment of silence, “Well ,my point is, how are the Jedi Order and the Republic taking this news? I suppose they’ve sent their condolences to the families of the dead, at the very least?”

Jewel had suspected Coruscant would come up eventually. She’d planned for it of course, she’d tell the Jedi some lies and some of the truth. “The Jedi have fallen back across the galaxy. Our spies indicate many of them are regrouping at the other temples, but the loss of Coruscant has struck them hard. The Republic, despite the loss, has refused to surrender in the face of a far superior foe. I believe they are fighting for vengeance now, as we expected. I can't say with any surety what they are doing for the bereaved, you must understand that Imperial Intelligence doesn’t consider that a top priority, but their leaders do seem far more focused on the military losses than the civilian ones. The great tragedy of war is that so many people become mere statistics. That is the fate of the people of Coruscant, just as it was the fate of the people of Korriban so long ago.”

“... I guess I couldn’t expect much more out of the Republic.” Kinsa said with a sigh, her shoulders sinking a bit. “One other thing--Has Imperial Intelligence stumbled upon a Twi’lek Jedi Master, by the name of Sila Chur?” She asked with a spark of hope in her eyes just as she looked at Jewel’s face, waiting anxiously for the answer. If she answered yes, the most likely thing is that he was either making a name for himself, or he was imprisoned or dead. Neither was good, at all. While some things that Master Chur did annoyed her to some extent, he was still a good master, and she didn’t want to believe anything bad had happened to him in their time separated, since he had come to be like a father of sorts to her. Even if he was quiet and emotionless most of the time.

“I don’t recall hearing any reports of him. If he was at the temple, he is dead. We were unable to capture any masters. If he was not on Coruscant, then he is lost to you. The Republic believes you dead, and they have done nothing to prove that belief wrong.” Jewel delivered what would no doubt be hard news for Kinsa in a firm yet sympathetic manner. She didn’t want to vilify the Empire, but there could be no doubt in Kinsa’s mind that her old life was gone.

Kinsa could not help the small twitch in her left eye at hearing the news, nor could she stop the sudden flow of annoying emotions. She tried to keep most of them in, but it was just as difficult at Jewel had implied it to be. She was surprised, though, when she didn’t feel any kind of anger. She just felt… Alone. Everything she had done that led her to her current point in time was now gone. No matter what it was she had achieved, it didn’t matter anymore. She would never get to turn in that evidence, or finish that homicide case… She would never visit Twin’s Rycrit again, or see Trin’s lovely smile ever again. She was lost, and alone.

She hadn’t heard from Calista in a long while, so it was likely she was dead, and Xid was suffering in the hands of Sish, so he’d die soon enough, too. Kinsa’s features slowly fell, before she forcefully attempted to lift them back up with a neutral expression.

“I guess it doesn’t matter,” she said softly, “but where are we going anyways?”

“Korriban. We will be going to Darth Nyiss’ research base, far from any other civilisation.” Jewel saw the effect that the loss was having on Kinsa, and felt it even more keenly than what she could see. She wondered if it would change into a more usable emotion. “I think we are finished here. If you like, you may rest here for a while longer, though I will have to take you back to your cell eventually. Unless you have more questions, I have things to do.”

“Korriban…” She muttered, the name sounding indifferent to her right now. For all she knew, it could be a pleasant, tropical planet. Something deep inside told her otherwise, though. She ignored the feeling and shrugged. “I’m done, Lord Namore. I’m ready to return to my cell. I have stuff to think and reflect about.”

“Very Well.” Jewel said standing and leading Kinsa to the door. Once they reached the cell, Jewel stood aside for Kinsa to enter. Before shutting the bulkhead though, she looked at Kinsa and recited the second line of the code.
“Remember Kinsa, Through Passion, I gain Strength.”

[Fallenreaper]

Xid~I~Zanna: Fallenreaper and Rtron

Once Xid had gotten the strength to rise and head to his cell. Inside, his mind felt it was time again to take stock of himself. He wished he had the focus to stop it or the sense, but he was still adjusting to the world around him. Every single one of his senses screamed at him like being tossed into the chamber was his brilliant idea and now he needed to fix it. The only bad thing was there wasn’t anything to fix. There wasn’t any damage, just lack of use and now his eyes, ears, and more were once more growing accustomed to something other than utter darkness. Something much more than silence again. A fact his pain made very, very clear. It stung to keep his eyes open while he stumbled through blurry vision and ache, bones slightly popped against stiff tendons and muscles.

Finally at his cell, the Padawan collapsed into a ball. His head held and shielded by his arms, his eyes blocked from the lights overhead. Even his own stench was enough to make him want to hurl, reminding him of how long it’s been since he washed up. Time passed but he didn’t care until it seemed the senses had started to meld themselves at long last. He squinted at his surroundings, finally realizing with a slight dread where he was, then began to stir to life.

Xid rose unsteadily to his feet. His body had the agility a newborn, feeble and weak, while he made his way towards the sink where he ended up finally washing up. The water made his skin shiver under the chill, but he bared through it and used his sleeve to wipe the grime away. By the time he was done, his flesh was slightly redden, not able to feel he was rubbing too hard until he saw the result. Once he had cleaned up the best he could, Xid started back to his cot where he jerked the thin sheet up and eased himself into a corner for whatever would come next.

In the aftermath of the Padawan’s ‘meeting’ with Sish and his then confinement to the Sensory Deprivement Chamber, Zanna thought she saw the perfect opportunity to work on Xid. That, and the Jedi was the only one who could tell any Sith who harmed Strago. And that would get Thallia killed, which couldn’t happen. Not that Zanna cared for the human, but she didn’t want to lose her pawn so soon after gaining it. There had to be some way to ensure a Jedi’s silence. If her session with Viera was anything to go by, however, she’d have to take a more subtle approach. Like the one she was taking with Lea. Thus, setting aside and locking up her research for the moment, the Sith Pureblood walked through the ship into the Jedi Cell area. Opening the door to Xid’s Cell block, she paused for a moment, looking for him. When she spotted him, she quickly strode over, trying to control her impatience. While she wanted to get back to her research as soon as possible, she couldn’t just begin ignoring the Jedi completely. That was a quick way to give the Moff an easy reason to have her killed.

Standing above him, she said, “You need to come with me. We’re going to have a chat.” Waiting, she shoved her impatience down. He was still understandably weak from the Chamber.

Xid’s head lifted upright, his eyes hurted to focus yet he forced past the sting just to see the voice’s owner. A female Sith, pureblood by the looks of it, was standing within his cellblock. Personally he thought about refusing and instead resisting. However, he had feeling he knew how that would’ve ended as likely the Sith would’ve ordered troopers to push him, a hassle that didn’t make his weakness any better. His shoulders slacked in the moment’s defeat then he started to stir upright. His foot edged gingerly off the bedside and planted itself upon the floor, his hand braced against the wall to aid him against tipping over.

He wasn’t sure how managed it but he stayed upright, albeit a little wobbly. In the back of his head, he didn’t have any better option other than hope it was quick. “Very well...lead the way then Sith.”

Zanna restrained herself from tapping her foot or otherwise displaying her impatience while she waited for the Padawan to stand up. Effective as the chamber might have been, it certainly didn’t help for the sessions with the Jedi afterwards. At this rate, a year might pass before they get to the torture chamber. Still, she didn’t rush him, walking forwards and checking back frequently to make sure he was still following and hadn’t collapsed or slowly slipped away. Weakened or not, she wasn’t simply going to give him the opportunity to try and escape. Even if he was caught quickly, if Nyiss found out about that, she would be punished. The best way to avoid that was to not let it happen. So, after an unknown(certainly long) amount of time, Zanna finally opened the door to the torture chamber and ushered Xid inside.

Rather than restraining him, however, she said, “Take a seat. Get as comfortable as you can in this place. We might be here for a while.”

Xid’s eyebrow raised in question, his sight still fought past the pain and see the Sith clearly. His stomach seemed filled with butterflies when she hadn’t restrained him and seemed overly calm throughout the trip. Even when he mainly focused on not stumbling along the way as he had caught glimpse of her looking back, each time his mind tried to brace himself for what might come. Personally he was expecting pain but instead she merely told him to take a seat. After Lord Namore’s and Sish’s, he had come to realize each Sith had their own twisted way to hurt Jedi, to him his had to be a trick or some ploy to confuse him.

“I think I rather stay standing.” Xid said, calmly. He swallowed to clear his dry throat while he faced the Sith and forced himself to remain upright.

Zanna shrugged. “Suit yourself. But you don’t look like you’ll remain standing for long.” She studied him for a moment, before speaking. “I know you’ve had the...pleasure of meeting Lord Sish at least once. You have my sympathies. Brutish, is the kindest way I can describe him. I also know that you’ve met Lord Jewel, and that experience didn’t go well.” Zanna had learned all sorts of things now that she had the one who controlled the cameras under her thumb. Thallia was a rather useful pawn, even if she was an impure bitch. “I imagine that your general thoughts of the Sith are unflattering, both by propaganda of the Republic and your fellow Jedi, and from your experiences with those two. You should, however, know that not all of us are like them.” Which was true. There had been a few Sith who weren’t as ambitious as Jewel or vicious as Sish. Who were actually nice people. Zanna refrained from mentioning that those Sith had died within weeks of her meeting them.

“Some of us want to help the Galaxy, rather than destroy it. We want to convince you to join us, rather than forcing you to.” Zanna gave a sigh. Completely fake of course, but she thought it was rather convincing. “Sadly, we’re in the minority of what you’re told, and who we send to represent us on the battlefield.” A small shrug. “After all, you don’t send the household pet to battle and leave the war beast home. For what it’s worth, I apologize for the acts of those two and any others in the future.”

To be honest, this wasn’t what Xid had expected. Not in the least. His legs started to tingle from the exertion he forced on them, the muscles twitched and seemed to feel like something invisible was dancing on them. He sadly couldn’t put his hands into his sleeves anymore as they were currently ripped off after tending to Allanar so his age old habit was nulled. For once, Xid wished he could reach into Zanna’s mind then decide the truth for himself. Mainly if she was sincere or not, but after the last encounter with a Sith his hopeful feelings had faultured.

“Yes, they were not very pleasant but I didn’t expect them to be since I am a prisoner. Torture, pain, suffering are what most Sith are very good at. It’s easier as well as wrong. As for helping the Galaxy, selfish acts never helped anyone other than the one they originated from. I can’t see how hurting others or flat out killing would the Galaxy any good. “Xid made his point and in the back of his mind, expected the worse, as his hand reached out to press against the wall. His eyes never moved from the Sith before him.

“And how many Sith have you met, aside from the beasts we let out to wage war? Two of our worst? And all you have to judge those you haven’t met is what our enemies say about us? Truly, that is enough to judge an entire race. Well, philosophy, since the humans have been inducted.” Zanna countered, watching with concern(faked) on her face as Xid reached a hand out to lean against the wall. “Are you sure you don’t want to sit? That long in the chamber followed by this much movement can’t be good for you.” It was true. The human looked ready to fall over at any second.

“And we do want to help the Galaxy despite what you may think. Look at the Republic and all of it’s worlds. You’ll see crime festering, the poor starving, filth and despair while the politicians bicker and quibble for more power. Nothing gets done while the politicians play their games. In the Empire, we don’t have that problem. We have a ruling system, and what the higher up says must be done gets done. Crime is almost non-existent, poverty is low, and everything is like a well oiled machine. But of course, people fight change. Especially those who serve to benefit the least from it. They paint it as evil, cruel. There is always hurt and death when change must happen. It is a regrettable fact of life.”

She shrugged once more. “But we persevere. For the good of the Galaxy.”

Xid just remained standing there for a moment longer, his strength and endurance already strained, before he twisted about to prop his back against the wall. It helped a little. He knew it was only a short time before he lowered himself and would be in a sitting position, but he wanted to try to last as long as he could. His ears heard Zanna counter easily at his attempt to reason Sith’s actions did nothing more than harm, never once had he ever heard of a Sith’s greed or lust for power doing any good outside themselves.

“I’m alright.” Xid insisted, against his better judgement than added. “More lives are lost to Sith’s greed and ambition, even their own from what I’ve heard, than the Republic’s careless hands or do you deny this? Politics aren’t clean but it is not my duty to change that, even if I could. My only concern is to help others where I can. As for well oiled machines...life sadly can’t be that easy. I’ve seen some of the frontline to know that.”

Slowly he found himself lowered to a sitting position. His hand rubbed his leg, a faint hope to get feeling once again within it, his eyes taken off the Sith for a moment. His words however didn’t stop. “If you want to help the Galaxy why become a Sith?”

“That’s politics in general, not Sith alone. Your Republic’s careless hands are often guided by the same greed and ambition they condemn in us. The only difference, our greedy and ambitious are completely honest. Yours hide behind lies of how they are doing everything for the people. You can never fully get rid of the evils of Politics. But you can limit them. That’s what we’ve done, and it’s worked better than your Republic’s system. As for the frontlines...that is war. Nothing goes smoothly in war. Everything goes badly and bloodily.” Or so she imagined, from the fights and the gruesome ends she had been in and seen. She smiled slightly, seeing him slide to the ground. It was amusing, given all the protesting he had done. Her smile dropped when he asked his final question. For a moment, she pondered her response. She couldn’t give him an immediate lie. Not to a question like this. Tilting her head, she crouched down to his eye level.

“For the same reason you became a Jedi, I’d imagine. I was never given a choice. I was born in Empire space, and the only option for me was to become a Sith. We are never given a choice. It’s decided before us at birth. So, I work with what I’ve been given, in the confines that has been set for me. Same as you. Yet now you do have a choice. You can do actual good in the Galaxy. You can help thousands, if not millions. You can save them as only a Sith of the Empire can.”

Xid just remained on the ground. His legs had curled underneath each other while his eyes shifted to the ground, his mind absorbed the words the Sith spoken. In the back of his head, the Padawan was still waiting on the torture yet all this seemed to be was just conservation. She wasn’t gaining anything from it and so would she bother with it? He wondered, his leg finally started to feel something again. Her words sounded like another’s he knew all too well, a lack of choice and forced into a life unwanted. Xid wanted to ignore the empathy which had sprung into his heart and tried to swallow it down.

“If you’re trying to make me see the Empire in a better light, it’s not working. I don’t serve the Republic but more the Jedi as I’ve seen what good they can do. There’s no record or knowledge of a Sith ever benefitting the Galaxy though their corruption and suffering they leave behind.” His mind wandered back to Ithor, unwillingly causing a small hurt to emerge within him. “I don’t have as much as a choice as you think.”

His mind then turned to learn about the truth reason behind this little meeting. “You couldn’t just have led me here to talk so why bring me here?”

“It’s hard to see something in a better light when all you’ve been shown is it in an evil light. The Republic is tightly tied with the Jedi. Everything they do is to better the Republic, because they can’t help in the Empire. Like it or not, you serve the Republic. You are the peacekeepers of it. You are the ones the people go to when they can’t decide for themselves.” She chuckled. “You know, I haven’t found any record or knowledge of the Republic benefitting the Galaxy in my records either. You don’t think it’s because they’re enemies and you don’t paint your enemies in a good light to your people, do you?” She raised an eyebrow. “You can never truly know what your enemies have done for or against the Galaxy until you’ve seen what they’ve done through their eyes. After all, all the things I’ve heard of the Jedi and the Republic can’t be true, right? You don’t actually enslave your dumbest people, or leave those who are crippled to fend for themselves in filth and poverty, do you?” She pointedly raised both eyebrows in question.

“Oh, I doubt that. After the choices forced upon us at birth, we always have options. As for talking, actually, I have. I detest torture,” Physical, at least. When it served no scientific purpose. “and much prefer peaceably convincing you to join us.” She shrugged. “Not the type of Sith you’ve met or heard of, I know. Sorry to disappoint.”

“Right and wrong aren’t that hard to see. Suffering, even not seen outwardly, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” Xid answered bluntly, his eyes now raised to meet Zanna’s while he noted her sarcasm. That didn’t help him much in seeing her point of view or the fact she seemed to have a counter for most of what he said. He didn’t see how a Sith’s pain or suffering aided in doing any good, namely since it was done purely for selfness.

“Do you honestly think being a prisoner really offers that much options? I only have at least two, either turn or stay a prisoner. At least as a prisoner I won’t be forced into hurting innocent lives so you might as well as return me to the cell.”

“And yet, all you’ve had to see is the Republic and Jedi’s versions of right and wrong. They’re opinions. That’s all they are. A man stealing to feed his family has a different view of right and wrong than the guardsmen trying to arrest him for stealing. All you’ve seen is the Sith being firmly on the wrong side of things. I’m trying to show you that we’re not all animals that take pleasure from pain. I’m trying to show you that we can help. And you always have options. They just may not be what you want. I’m sorry I can’t change them for you, but I’m only an Apprentice. My power is limited.”

She stood, shrugging. “I’m not trying to force you to hurt innocents. But, I can see I’m running repeatedly into a wall. Returning back to your cell it is.” She offered a hand to help him to his feet.

He noticed her stand now, her body once more rise above him and then shrug off his resistance. Like with Namore, he half expected something to sudden shift and a monster to be revealed. However that didn’t happen much to his visual surprise when she held out her hand and seemed to offer him a hand up. Xid couldn’t help the slight smile which etched across his face for a moment then it vanished once he took the aid up. Once he was upright, his knees tried to give out after being in a sitting position but his hand jerked against the wall bracing himself against crumbling.

“Thank you…” He told her then added a question. “What is your name or merely I just keep calling you Sith?”

Zanna saw his brief smile, and smiled in response. Though for an entirely different reason. Headway. However small, however tiny, she was making headway. The subtle touch is the best. She thought, starting to go to his aid only to stop when he braced himself. “Your welcome. As for my name, Zanna. Pleasure to meet you, though I wish it could have been in...kinder circumstances.” She guided him back towards the cells, keeping careful pace with him. Both to make it look like she actually cared about his health, and to make sure he didn’t try to make his escape. Though, at this point, she seriously doubted he could run, much less escape the ship.

“Xid, and I wished so too.” He said, keeping in mind his manners and rather relieved this experience with a Sith didn’t end up being one of pain and misery. Xid wasn’t sure how much longer he would’ve lasted, namely with both Lord Namore and Sish to top off what other experiences he had witnessed. It was all too much to take in that times it felt like he would just wither away. She followed beside him as they moved towards the Cells, her eyes seemed to study him and his movements. Finally, after he had to stop a few times, they reached the Cell Block where they parted ways.

[Fallenreaper]

Navi

Time: 198:32:02 (8 days, 6 hours, 32 minutes, and 2…seconds)

Sparks flew and a brief electrical flash followed by a surging hiss filled the small, narrow tunnel which Navi worked. The metal walling had been painstakingly pulled back, exposing the inner workings where a little saucer size droid could easily tear away the wiring. A little arm extended from his side and reached to grasp a single one from the collection at its choosing. The circuit resisted like any machine, its fixings held it in place for several moments before it then came loose. A sudden, brighter discharge illuminated Navi’s features and finally it died. The tunnel was left on utter darkness while the only sounds were the clinking taps of the droid’s five feet making their way towards the next level: the droid bay.

Within that level, Navi had managed to seek out an isolated place where he could work without fear of being discovered or exterminated. It shifted through the ventilation shaft while he made his way down, avoiding detours and potential dead ends along the way. He emerged from an undone hatch, the bind design cover had been shifted to the side, and then silently zip lined down to the floor. The stalk eyes scanned his surroundings before it edged down the long hallway.

For Navi it was creepy to feel those hollow, empty eyes stare at him from the many little dome headed droid which sat within their assigned slots. They reached from the ground to the ceiling, and all in neat little rows awaiting activation. It made every little gear inside shiver at the sight while Navi moved hastily along until he reached an empty nook on the bottom row. The droid which had been assigned there was moved a few day ago, it’s system malfunctioned for unknown reasons and Navi knew it would be months before the mechanic staff on hand could determine the errors and get the droid functional again.

However he wouldn’t need that long.

Once he was nested in, the wire still grasped in his grip, Navi started to work on his repairs. Besides himself in the notch’s stationed area was a mess of other materials from scrape metal to other various wiring he had gathered over the five days since the Sithspawn’s attack. Each time, he was cautious not to cross paths with the bitch as she seemed aggressively seeking the small, metal menace who struck back. Needless to say it, Navi wasn’t looking forward to a rematch.

He started to intertwine the wire where bits of frayed copper bits seemed gnawed off. Gingerly he tried to rewire, connecting new with the old remains, then reroute it back to him. It would allow better oil flow then he was getting and realigned the electrical impulses which delivered signals to his limp, once more enabled it to move like it should. The laser light bathed the small concave with red light during Navi’s long hour’s work. The sounds hissed and buzzed, each time he was able to move his leg a bit better. At least, his job was done. Feeling the job done well enough, Navi tested out his leg for his stalk eyes to sway and look over for even the faintest flaws. The limb shifted up then down, each time seemed able to connect the bot’s wants with its action. Suddenly, a sound was picked up on the droid’s sensors. The eyes shifted upright, alert, then clicked off the laser before it scrambled backwards. Darkness engulfed Navi from sight where he waited for the original source to push into sight. He had a feeling who was responsible for such a scratching yet he merely held his body still, inwardly hoped he was wrong.

It was shattered when the female Sithspawn darted into view. Her red eyes panned around the narrow hallway and her body covered in nasty yellow bumps, wicked claws clanked against the metal grinds where it stepped. Her nose jerked into the air for a deep sniff. The head lingered there then slowly turned to where Navi’s hiding place was. Her eyes stared into the darkness as if she could see through it and growled at him. Her bulk started to shift towards him. Navi’s core was trembling, his sensors picked up each large step drawing closer to him by the passing moment. Closer…closer and loud it became. Then it suddenly stopped. Slowly, the droid’s eyes started to flicker to life and viewed the Scrurrier. She stood there, her head up and listened when something else caught her attention. Then she took off.

Navi nearly collapsed right then and there. There was a slight relief to see the beast turn its focus else while, likely not for long, the bot tried to settle its core circuitry down. If he didn’t the primary board would’ve overloaded and things would’ve been much worse. Navi knew he had little time. Quickly the droid went back to work, it’s determination driven by fear and intended to finish up by the time the creature returned. He still needed to explore what little remained explored. Or at least where he could get to and figure out the rest.

[Tzarima]

Venren was slowly regaining consciousness, memories returning to him in pieces. He knew he had been captured, or surrendered himself, really. There had been no use in resisting, with the war already lost, fighting would just have caused political difficulty and not helped anyone. Now he was lying with his face against a hard floor without really knowing how he ended up there, a lot of connecting pieces were missing. He did remember lightning, when he thought about it, and connected to that the Sith in charge of his capture. The Lord’s name still eluded him though. He had chosen to be snarky to this Sith, reasoning that the team he had been with were safely not captured and his own situation couldn’t get much worse anyway. This had resulted in immediate punishment, and Venren guessed that was probably about the time he lost consciousness. At least he could not recall anything else after that.

Having remembered who he was and most of what had happened to him, he tried to make some sense out of his environment aside from the cold floor he had already familiarized with. His eyes where sticky and even after he opened them it took a few seconds for him to see anything but grey blur. In the direction that he was facing at the time, he could see two walls and something like a bed along one of them. A cell, most probably, anything else seemed highly unlikely. He tried to get up and look around properly, but quickly changed his mind and lay down on the floor again. He was in pain, but not as much as he thought he would be. It was mostly nausea and the complete absence of his sense of balance that stopped him.

His mind had mostly cleared though, so he started to think more of his situation while taking deep breaths and waiting for the world to return to normal. He could see injuries on his arm that was still in front of him, burns partly healed. That was probably why he was not in as much pain from the Sith’s punishment as he thought he ought to be, he might have been out for days! The thought worried him somewhat. He had no idea how much time had really passed since his last memory or what had happened since, even though it probably would not make any real difference. Fear started crawling in to the back of his mind, but could not take hold. He had chosen this, after all, surrendered. His near future would likely mostly consist of being tortured, but that was to be expected. The world had stopped spinning and he could sit up without getting nauseous again.

The rest of the cell looked like one would assume a cell would, except for the door out. He had expected an energy barrier and the opening looked like it supported one, but it was either deactivated or nonexistent. That seemed a bit odd to him. He got to his feet and nearly fell down again. Not entirely healed, it seemed, but he stumbled over to the doorway and looked out cautiously, as if expecting a trap to spring at any moment. It opened to a hexagonal room with four other doorways like his own and one closed, presumably the one leading out. Any further exploring would have to wait, as nausea came over him again, coupled with sudden exhaustion. He backed away until he could sit on the edge of the bed, but did not lie down or close his eyes.

[Sundered Echo]

Jayda’s teeth felt like they would’ve bitten through her lower jaw at any moment with how pissed she was. Her body was banged and bruised from the Lizard’s little lesson as he tossed her about, nothing more than a rag doll in a child’s grasp. The worse part was now everything time she walked pass the cells the dent in the roof would keep reminding her of her failure. Her weakness and lacking against the one creature she wanted to kill most. It was humiliating to her pride but that would mend in time, slowly. She had just gotten done being checked over for any broken bones or crippling injuries within the medical bay, her mind still played back the scene earlier through her mind. Over and over, seeking where she had gone wrong. What she could’ve done and to her bane, discovered nothing helpful.

After the examination she quickly exited through the doors. Her boot clicked across the floor at a fast rate and headed to the one place which often shared her company, the one area of the ship she used to channel her emotions. Without it, Jayda doubted she would’ve be able to keep herself sane while in the Lizard’s presence and likely end up screwing herself in the end.

Jewel was waiting at the entrance to the Arena, leaning nonchalantly against the wall next to the door and tapping her foot slowly. She’d gotten word that the apprentice Jayda had been beaten severely by her master and Jewel wanted to take advantage of that. When the apprentice finally arrived, she stepped to block the door in front of her and waited for a reaction.

Jayda’s path suddenly became blocked by a familiar face. It was the Lord Sith which had encountered her several day ago, the Sith between her and the Arena entrance. The Zabrak stopped there and her head lifted slowly to take in the woman, her mind’s inner gears turned. Part of her want to lash out but she had little confidence her actions wouldn’t be countered and punished in returned. She had suffered enough one ended battles for today despite what her blood screamed for. Instead she took a step back and addressed the Sith, in a best calm voice she could muster. “You have to be blocking my way for a reason since you don’t seem the type to do anything without one. Now the question is why?”

She looked at the woman and waited for the answer.

“I’m disappointed in you.” Was all Jewel said, staying in the doorway. The rage that Jayda was contending with was easy to feel. Jewel marvelled at the fact Jayda was still controlling it. That was both good and bad, but it was much easier to work with something so obvious than to have to try and divine the feelings of a Jedi. Nonetheless, her hand was on the hilt of her Lightsaber in case Jayda decided to vent some of her rage on Jewel.

Unbeknownst to Lord Namore, a half-Zabrak former Jedi far away from the hask had finally found what he was looking for. He reached out with his mind to find the twisted knot of hate and anger, trying with all his might to contact the mind of Jayda Enor despite the distance.

Jayda merely glared at the woman, her eyes heated and darkened by the words Lord Namore spoke. They stung, true, but less so than her own self chiding and distaste at her own weakness. Did she not think Jayda was disappointed in herself? How many years she strove to survive and learn under the very monster she wanted to have laying bleeding to death at her own feet? Her lips curled upwards, baring her teeth instinctively as more anger clawed its way to the surface. Fingers tighten but didn’t reach for her lightsaber, though every fiber within wanted her to. She wasn’t Sish. The thought snapped in her head as she tried to swallow her fury.

Unfortunately it wasn’t quickly enough before her mind felt the traces of someone inside it. Her body stiffened, locked in place out of reaction and her mind turned inward. Eyes broke contact with Lord Namore in an instant while her muscles fought off the desire to lash out. What the hell was happening? The Zabrak’s breath became shallow despite the twin hearts rapidly working overtime, their thumps echoed within her ears where blood rushed to. Stop...stop! Jayda mentally screamed.

Jewel raised an eyebrow at Jayda’s sudden subtle change in behaviour. It seemed to have no evident cause, but then aliens could never be relied upon to act predictably. She stepped aside, motioning her fellow sith into the large room. “Have you considered my offer?” She said making it sound like a genuine question, even though she fully intended to force Jayda’s hand anyway. “It is evident, after all, that you will never slay Sish on your own.” She added matter-of-factly.

Despite Jayda’s silent plead, the sensation didn’t go away. Instead it got stronger and more determined to connect, each minute seemed to build the pressure stronger. Inside it frightened her as the experience was new and strange. What was happening? Her teeth gritted a bit, allowing her to bite through the muddle confusion ringing in her head. Jayda’s ears tried to focus on the sounds Jewel said but for a moment, heard only the faint jibber come forth and start to pick at her focus. Her breaths deepened and her head lifted, noted the Sith’s gesture to enter the arena after she moved to the side. The hearts fluttered, her instinct demanded the Zabrak’s attention as she tried to rip her mind to the present.

The Apprentice forced herself to move as naturally as possible. A great difficulty since her mind felt like a war had raged within, her hands still tight fists and ears strain to caught the last words Lord Namore had said. Purple eyes jerked into the Sith’s direction with hate at the name which passed through the woman’s lips. In the moment a blurry image passed in her, one that brought pain and sorrow in the moment she seemed to be made from glass. Mehinn’s, her brother.

Jayda closed her eyes. It didn’t stop the pain, that faint and tearing ach which rippled at the core. The energy flowed upon that focused point and seemed to drown her. Helpless, her mind seemed swept up in the roll of pressure and emotion, neither were what she wanted in that moment. She spoke with a slight growl, her voice alien even to herself. “I’ll be the one to kill him…”

“Oh of course, your hand will deliver the final blow I’m sure…” Jewel started as she pressed the keys on the door control that would lock them both in. “But only with help. My help.” She said drawing her Lightsaber and activating it. “You’ve proven time and again that you cannot use your emotions. Without them you will fail.” She raised her lightsaber above her head into the Juyo ready position, but remained still, building up her own emotions slowly. She focused on the idea of carving Kinsa up with her lightsaber to fuel her rage.

Far away, the half-Zabrak slowed his attempt to connect to Jayda, pausing to recuperate.

Jayda’s body had come to a halt upon noting the Sith’s actions. The Apprentice’s ears, partly, tuned upon Jewel whose hand move across the door control. In the followed moments the panel whistled and clicked, announcing it had sealed them both within. There was no way out. Neck hairs became erect in alarm when she noted the dreadful feeling seemed to fill her, a premonition of what to come.

No…please this can’t happen now.

She would’ve been killed if she fought now. That thought pounded against her mind, she forced her mind to harden and fight back. Again, the pressure gathered within her mind uncared about her feeble defenses, hastily rigged walls that already started to crumble. The more she struggled to shove it out, her attempt weak and pitiful, than less difference it made. Her invader was painfully familiar. Like she knew it from a long time ago and that feeling etched deeper than her pain or sorrow, even her desire for revenge. It brought with it a longing type pain. A forgotten one, inwardly she recoiled with shame and fear.

Why? The one word question seemed crushed by a more pressing matter.

Her grasp on her control was slipping, mind weakened from the assault and untrained in defense as the other presence seemed to start to make lead way. Her willful nature and stubbornness tried to intervene only to have little use. It seemed to just simply overstep them too easily. Like they weren’t there and a spark of anger rose at her shortcoming. Her fingers dug in deeper, the gloves constricted against the fisted flesh, when Lord Namore’s lightsaber flickered on. The bright purple blade once more erupted from the hilt. Then Lord Namore fell into a combat position, her weapon held over her head and ready to begin. At the same time, Jayda felt relief when the pressure loosened. Jewel’s words came clearer in their replay over in her head. The words seemed to emphasize the only way she would win was with the Sith’s help, added that her restrain for her emotions would be her downfall.

Jayda was unsure how long the presence would stay at bay but she had a notion it merely bid it’s time. That meant she had to end this battle and quickly before it decided to resume. She shifted her over jacket up, reached across her body to rest her hand upon her lightsaber, and gave a warning. Her tone reflected her present mood with each word. “I have my reasons and this isn’t a wise choice…”

“You are wrong Apprentice.” Jewel spat, her anger rising. How could this alien call herself Sith? No Sith would accept weakness in themselves for any reason. Jayda seemed not to care. “If you want to hide behind your weakness, then you have no right to learn from me. But you have no right to slay your master either. I will save him the trouble of disposing of you. Such a waste.” Her internal anger was building a great deal, as well as her frustration with the stupidity of the people around her and their inability to understand what it meant to be Sith. It flowed over from merely being directed at Jayda as Kinsa and the other Jedi’s refusal to see the truth pushed its way into her mind and became an omni-directional burning rage.

How is that they had been born with a strong connection to the living force and she hadn’t? Why did they squander their abilities while Jewel had to work hard for every Force Push and Leap, every Mind Trick and Choke. No. They didn’t deserve to have their power. Jayda didn’t deserve her power. Jewel would show her what it meant to lose power, here and now. Maybe then she would realise that a Sith could not afford to tolerate any weakness.

Her face remained calm throughout her thought process, her body not relaxed but ready and not tensed. Only her eyes reflected her rage, and her glare was near intense enough to be a weapon unto itself. She opened with a barely perceptible movement in her offhand, feeding her rage into a force attack on Jayda, a quick Force choke that while not lethal, would likely leave her out of breath for a few precious seconds. The moment the attack had been performed, she made a Force assisted leap at the Apprentice, spinning mid flight to give her attack extra momentum, swiping the blade horizontally to catch Jayda’s stomach with the tip of the blade.

Jayda had little time to reply as Lord Namore both threatened and then attacked her. She knew it was likely to come. The anger within the eyes set ablaze and filled with fury, it would’ve been a shock if it didn’t happen. The Apprentice’s hand wrapped about her lightsaber in precision and a well trained action then jerked it free. Any thoughts upon the presence forgotten in favor of survival now, her attention set upon the woman before her. Even the pain was swallowed with some effort, pushed to the back of her mind. The blade came on with two quick clicks as the neon blade bathe her paler skin in its light.

She had been watching the blade mostly yet Jewel wasn’t her first or last force user. Like Sish and their prior fight, she was expecting the same type of combination between force using and combative skills in this one. Her eyes were alerted when the off hand moved. That’s when her throat felt the familiar constriction of a force choke, followed up by the Lord Sith rush forwards. It wasn’t hard for Jayda to anticipate the follow up attack but her breath snagged within her chest. Jayda fought off the distraction, lightened her grip and jerked her blade up, twirling it a bit to block the blade. She couldn’t have stepped back thanks to the moment lost of breath, instead brought up a defense. Her breath count was off. Yet it didn’t prevent her from her strike back, her body whipped about then clipped a force push at the knee.

Jewel felt her leg buckle under her as her blade met Jayda’s. She was falling forward then, but rather than fall, she leapt up with other leg and curled into a ball, using the force to flip on the spot. Her Lightsaber carved a purple arc through the air as she did so, and it was brought down towards Jayda’s left shoulder so as to strike the moment before her feet hit the ground. All her momentum and strength went behind the blow, but she was prepared to move to another attack quickly when it was blocked.

Jayda’s pace from her loss breath was returning, painfully slowly. Her blood rushed with her blocked out rage, the dark emotions pushed in favor to focus. Namely because of her chosen style, Soresu, needed patience and control. The woman flipped in place, added by her force push, as Jayda pulled her left leg back a bit and bent the right. She brought her blade to her left side. The lightsaber flickered up to defend it from the spinning slash, the blade slammed upwards and her right arm arced over her head.

However there was more momentum than predicted. Pain then erupted within her head, enhanced by burning flesh and clothing. The blade brushed her shoulder faster than she could move it. She gritted her teeth, bit back a scream as it seared her.

A spark of anger slipped through when she failed to block the attack, her mind unable to brace against its escape fast enough. Jayda jerked her shoulder back and moved with the movement. Her style abruptly shifted to Djem So. Jayda poured her force into her legs and spun about quickly, going from left to right. Aim to release her blade from its defense, she shoved her strength in her offense. She pushed away the blade at the moment when Jewel’s feet almost touched the ground. During her turn to face Jewel’s side, Jayda’s blade whipped out behind her to both gain momentum and block any possible attack to her exposed spine. It continued on its path even when she faced where Jewel was and then, if she was still there, fell into a single return attack. Her lightsaber brought up to her shoulder then slashed diagonally at the Sith’s left shoulder to her right hip. Depending on if the attack hit or was blocked, she might follow up with another.

A surge of elation ran through Jewel as her Lightsaber beat down Jayda’s guard and struck flesh, the smell of it suddenly filling the room. When she felt the surge of anger in Jayda, a small smile crept onto the edge of her mouth. Jayda spun around while Jewel was recovering from her power attack, and then began another attack. Jewel had already pirouetted out of range though, rather than try a contest of strength against a form that encouraged strength. She leapt high into the air then, keeping her body reversed and her saber between herself and Jayda, stabbing down at Jayda’s uninjured shoulder with the tip of her lightsaber once she was directly above the apprentice, and coming down behind her at a long range to avoid any retaliatory strikes.

Jayda tried to swallow her anger, her mind needed to shift to defense in a faint hope to find a weak spot. Her eyes watched the Sith and noted she had moved out of range, her body leapt over the Zabrak to score from above. Jayda’s body hunched down, ducking, while she slide about to keep her foe in front of her. The lightsaber brushed just inches of her shoulder on the woman’s passing. Her form landed out of reach while Jayda’s legs straightened outward, her body raised to a stand once more with knees only slightly bent. Her blade was held close and defensively, her eyes flickered to read the woman’s body language in hopes to read them better than before.

Jewel stepped back further from Jayda and extinguished her Lightsaber, an exaggerated disappointed look on her face as she felt her opponent gain control of her rage. She raised her free hand and formed it into a claw like shape, reaching out with the force to choke Jayda. She was being incredibly obvious about it, and was far more interested in how Jayda would stop her than any effect it might have. That and with her look at the same time she wanted to give off the idea that she was toying with the Apprentice.

The Sith was messing with her, Jayda’s mind reasoned as she watched Jewel’s lightsaber click off. Jayda’s brow raised at the implied disappointment and watched Jewel’s hand held up in a familiar gesture. One she had recently endured. Something wasn’t right, the movements, at least from what she could recall, seemed off from last time. Her mind repeated the first incident from before in her head. The Sith had purposely displayed stealth and cunning during Jayda’s mediation yet now… there was none of that. It all seemed too odd.

The moment the choking had taken place, the Apprentice’s hand raised out and pulled back with her force. Not at Jewel but the rack behind her. Blades, wick sharp and dangerous, were jerked from their loose fastenings and right at the Sith’s back. Discreetly, Jayda held her own lightsaber tightly while she endured the pressure on her throat.

Jewel thought for a moment that perhaps Jayda might not be able to resist the attack, as she seemed to be ignoring her almost entirely. That would’ve been unfortunate, but then a moment later she heard a tell-tale rattle behind her. There was only one type of object in the room that wasn’t attached solidly to the wall, which meant she was about to get a back full of Sith training blades. She maintained her own attack until she heard the whoosh of air of the blades flying through the air behind her. At that moment, she leapt up into the air with her body parallel to the ground, spinning as she did so, over the oncoming blades. She added an extra push to them, speeding them on their way towards her opponent while she reactivated her Lightsaber.

Had the sound of a Lightsaber activating not been filling her ears, she would’ve heard the tiny sounds of blades cutting hair, removing a centimeter or so off the end of several strands.

There was no fear within Jayda’s eyes when the blades now bored down on her. Her body tensed and stood there for a seconds, her lightsaber buzzed in her ears for a moment longer before she reacted. She focused her Force within her legs as she leapt higher, her feet barely missed being severed by the first approaching blades. While in the air and against the wall she kicked back, pushing herself forward over the remaining blades. The last one she purposely clipped at the handle tip with some forceful kick causing it to tilt back before she Force pushed it towards Jewel. Her body quickly landed on her feet in a low crouch.

Jewel took the sight in as Jayda carried out a fairly similar tactic to her, sending one of the blades back at her. Jewel stepped to the side and reached out to catch the hilt of the weapon the moment it was within her reach. She brought her lightsaber up to the blade to see whether it was a cortosis alloy blade or not sparks clashed when the two blades met, and it didn’t fall into two pieces, satisfying Jewel that it would be a suitable weapon. She walked casually forward towards Jayda with the blades held by her sides, shortening the range but doing it slowly, without acrobatics to conserve stamina while she kept her rage boiling.

The Zabrak hid her shock to spot Lord Namore catch the blade she had fling easier than she had wished. She seemed to test the blade as she rubbed them together, spark flew easily and seemed to be what she wanted. Her steps moved at a steady gait towards her forcing Jayda to stand upright. Jayda knew she had to be careful, mindful of her own energy and use of the Force, that too many risks would end up being her last. She steadied her breath to a easy pattern. Slowly calmed it until the woman was within reach then her legs moved into a readied stance with lightsaber ready.

Until she easily reach the Sith, Jayda’s mind recounted what she could do. Focused and melded into that familiar rhythm, she let her mind forget about that unexplained and eerie familiar essence which once invaded her mind. Her right foot came forward and with it her blade. It lashed out across the Sith’s body diagonally then quickly retracted if unhindered.

Jewel was in motion the moment she saw her opponent move offensively, crouching low to the ground and sweeping the solid blade towards Jayda’s left knee even as her Lightsaber redirected the other siths strike. She was prepared to roll out of the way if she sensed any danger from above. The entire motion was sped up using Force speed fueled by her rage, and the range was close enough that the blade would strike her opponents leg halfway down its length in the middle of the cutting edge if it did.

Jayda felt her lightsaber blade redirected, her eyes caught the familiar flicker of steel headed fast for her leg. Adrenaline mixed with her quick reaction as her feet came together, her Force poured into her feet and leap up in a jump. Her legs drew to her chest barely missed the sharp blade which severed the cloth of her robes. A nice sound of fabric tearing had reached her, once more sounded how close she had came to being crippled as her body brought itself downward again. Her feet touched again as she lashed out with a low horizontal strike, her foot stepped back to bring a little distance between them.

Jewel felt a slight surge of elation as one of her blades met opposition, but it was replaced with renewed rage when all she heard was tearing fabric, and there was no blood drawn. She brought her solid blade around to block the slash aimed at her with a downward facing vertical parry, catching Jayda’s lightsaber on the solid blade for just a moment. As she did so, she leapt up and forward from her crouching position, kicking out towards Jayda’s head with her foot and following through with a barely aimed Lightsaber slash at her shoulder before completing her flip and landing out of range, breathing hard, thanks to assisting the leap with the Force.

Jayda couldn’t stop the kick to her head, but she could at least lessen the damage. Stop herself from being blinded by more pain than needed. This battle seemed to had been taking more and more from her, a unsettled discomfort to realize this in the back of her mind. She had hoped to score a slice across the Sith’s leg, shin or something yet that moment and chance had faded completely. Her head snapped to the side just when the toe slammed into her vestigial horn. Pain, only slightly softened, erupted in her head as the light from Lord Namore’s blade caught her eyes. It flowed to her shoulder and seemed aimed to break the connection between her joint in a clean slice. Her shoulders tilted to the opposite direction, the targeted one jerked in just when the blade grazed her shoulder blade. It easily clipped through the sleeve causing the fabric to puddle upon the floor.

The Apprentice bit back a scream. Her shoulder bore new scars over the old now, the fresh marks did little to distinguish themselves other than become blackened compared to the aged ones. If she had been fully human, the worry of infection setting in would’ve been a concern as Jayda’s body had started to rise again. Her eyes brushed to the right to view the damage and then pushed past the tingles of ache, the flaking of the burn sealed in the back of her mind. For a few long moments her heavy breath was rasp within her ears, each inhale seemed to fill her lungs very little. She turned back to Jewel. Her lightsaber again ready to defend.

Jewel was becoming more and more vexed by this battle, it seemed that she would have to finish the alien by cutting her a thousand times lightly rather than an efficient and final blow. She decided to taunt her some more as she readied for another series of strikes “Your inability to defend yourself only proves you need my help. You’ll never be able to strike me as long as you keep fighting like a jedi!” With that, she spun into an attack, a simple slash with her Lightsaber at Jayda’s middle that she expected to be blocked, to be followed with another, higher strike towards her neck. The solid blade was held pointing away from them both behind her, ready for use when an opportunity arose.

In a far distant place, the half-Zabrak had recovered his strength and sensed the danger that surrounded Jayda. He had to renew his efforts to bring her back from her madness. His mind reached across the stars to hers once again, stronger than before, but softer too. He worried that in her madness she might see him as a threat, something to be fought off, even though nothing could be further from the truth.

Jayda wasn’t fazed by the taunts, mainly because Lord Namore didn’t know the reason she hoarded her emotions. Sealed them away was and unleash them upon Sish in the most brutal way, fighting like a Jedi to store them rather than waste it. Jayda had finally noted the pattern which had emerged several times as Jewel lunged at her, pushed into a spinning attack with her Lightsaber aimed to slice across her middle. Her weapon rose upright and readied to block it.

It should’ve, easily.

However, her mind felt that familiar sensation creep inside again. Her spine tensed and her focus was instantly jerked from where it needed to be, unable to bring up her weapon in time. Jayda’s body barely hopped away but not quick enough. Pain filled her head, jammed against her skull, as the hiss of the Lightsaber burned into her navel and sliced easily through her clothes to the skin underneath. It took everything she had not to drop her weapon. Her eyes were filled with surprise and pain upon the woman, her foe. In and out, her mind drifted from Lord Namore to the foreign thing inside her own.

She had not been expecting the presence again. Not to come to her now, despite its gentleness, while Jayda struggled to focus. Her breathing became shallower. Unable to retain a rhythm again, she felt her mind try to push it out again. If it stayed, it would get her killed and then she would’ve failed Mehinn. It didn’t seem to hear her plead. The sight of another attack, one aim to severe her head from shoulders, came at her.

No…no… A familiar feeling, helplessness seemed to fill her. Not again…no, by the Gods, not again. She tried to lift her lightsaber, yet her hand refused to grip properly, the hilt seemed to spill away as she tried to put up another, pitiful this time, block. Images flashed into her mind, memories she didn’t want. From Sish to her family, all seemed to swirl into a pool of many colors until it was a mess.

The sight of the lightsaber ready to severe her head from shoulders caused Jayda to react. Very violently. Unknown to her, dampness had started to seep from her eye corner as she impulsively reacted.

“ENOUGH!” A simple word, but the attack that followed was more emotional.

A small crack had surfaced in her walled off emotions, a small leak yet the hate, fear, and pain which seeped from it now seemed to suffocate her. Her hand jerked out to shove the bitch away, her force aided by the need to stop this. To stop her foe, the thing which threatened her life and most of…to stop the her helplessness. Twice she had been at the mercy of others, her master and the current Lord Sith. It was more than she could take for one day. Her mind blinded by fury, she ignored the hurt rushing through her arm, then poured her Force into her feet to close the distance she likely created ready to follow up with another attack.

Surprise made Jewel falter for just a moment when the apprentice failed to block her attack, but it was too late to stop the next swing for a moment she thought she would slay Jayda there and then. Before any more thoughts could pass through her mind though, the apprentice had blocked and unstoppered the gates of her rage. A force push far stronger than the previous ones hit Jewel in the centre of her mass and sent her flying across the room. There was no way for her to defend or redirect such a direct and powerful attack and half way across the room she also lost her grip on the sword she’d been using. She hit the wall hard, jarring her Lightsaber from her hand as she fell to the ground.

Across the room, she caught sight of Jayda readying another attack, and it was all Jewel could do to Force pull her dropped Lightsaber and roll to her feet before Jayda was once again upon her.

All Jayda saw...was red. It was all she felt as she drowned in the color’s sense. And all that seemed to have been fixed upon the very cause of her pain, the very threat that was ready to take her life. Her past, the year Sish had tormented her and showed he wasn’t just some dumb predator who fed on pain became vivid in her head fueling her actions. She could easily see his claws tear into her body while blood loss weakened her, her flesh too drained to flinch anymore. Lungs poured air through her body quickly and her mind focused her force into her legs bring her to the Lord Sith’s location. Jayda barely registered how far she had thrown Jewel, mind slightly numbed to anything besides ridding herself of the danger and stopping the presence in her head. Her lightsaber swiped out across the neck the moment her foe was up.

Jewel had only a moment to duck under the blow, bringing her Lightsaber around to block the swipe and prevent her opponents Lightsaber being redirected towards her. She didn’t know what exactly had caused Jayda to finally dip into her emotions, but she was beginning to think she might’ve underestimated the amount of stored up rage Jayda had. It was difficult to keep up her defense now, but not impossible. She rolled to the side to get away from the wall and give her more room to manoeuvre.

Jayda’s hatred and anger seemed to consume her mind, her movements no long set in the normal and ridge control she was used to. Instead it seemed like a fire had settled within her soul, threatening to burn her away at the very core. The first hit missed as the second was blocked. Each time, Jayda felt the frustration pour into her soul.

The moment Jewel had ducked her lightsaber, she hadn’t paused in the reaction and instead it whipped back the other direction diagonally. By that time, Jewel had rolled to the side and behind her yet it didn’t stop her. She knew, a small and faint part, knew she to rein in her wrath. However that presence still touched her mind, hindering her from defending herself making the battle much harder than it should’ve been. First Jewel had to be dealt with then she will shove whatever the hell had entered her head far, far away. Her body had turned on the ball of her foot and once more brought her to face Jewel’s position again. She could feel a slightly drain on her energy, yet she ignored while her muscles seemed to scream for relief. Her weapon lashed out diagonally and came back around with another cut, making a x in front of her.

This fight was becoming more intense and risky than Jewel had bargained for. She leapt back ungracefully from Jayda’s diagonal slash, narrowly avoiding a slash across her chest. To open up the distance and recover some strength, she began to flip backwards, deactivating her Lightsaber as she went. She had barely started the manoeuvre when a searing pain burnt into her leg. She screamed at the sudden pain, barely managing to complete the flip. She landed awkwardly on one foot, keeping her injured leg off the ground. The pain was unusual, Jewel was unused to getting hit, yet it cleared her mind and gave her focus. She activated her Lightsaber again and raised it above her head. She was hardly using an orthodox stance, standing on one leg as she was, but at least she could still defend herself.

Jewel’s scream rang within Jayda’s ears, long and loud. Her mind flinched at the sound, unexpected as her mind tried to push through the hazy gathered in her head. Her hearts pounded in her chest, still struggled to fill her heated rage and instinct screamed for her to finish it. On the other hand, her stomach turned when her nose caught the scent of burnt flesh. Not because she felt guilty about her near attempt to kill the woman. She had killed lives before and easily, but thoughts about the aftermath were what made her stutter and stall. The fact one ill controlled strike could’ve ended a life in a such a careless way and leave evidence of her crime. It wouldn’t take much to have her killed much to her distaste.

Her mind clenched down upon her emotions, her face twisted into a painful expression. Her mind was still being invaded, easily and threatened to enflame her rage again. Stubbornly she tried to peel away the tingling feeling to focus on the current situation. Sweat seemed to pour from her body and drench her into a chill, her teeth gritted to remain in control. Jayda no longer moved towards the woman. Even if her hate wanted to, these emotions and pain wasn’t for the Sith before her. As to remind herself of her original purpose, Jayda spoke both to the Sith and partly to herself as well.

“This wasn’t meant for you…” Her voice seemed to be fighting off the pain driven into her, her fists tightened about her lightsaber. She tensed for a moment. Her body set there before suddenly she turned, her movement ridged and forced, towards to the door. To her frustration it was still sealed. Not wasting any time, Jayda’s hands both gripped her weapon then sliced the controls. The panel hissed and sputtered as the door hissed open, her body quickly vanished down the hallway.

[Lucius Cypher]

Ntaaj Thaiv - Trusted Traitor

Teth, home of Gastropods and criminals. At least that's how Ntaaj sees it. While not the worse planet in the galaxy, it's corruption and illegal activities was fairly obvious for those who won't turn a blind eye. But it was also obvious that it was in controlled situations, not complete anarchy. The thugs here weren't just organized by gangs; they worked as a unit, trained and experienced. Petty crimes like pickpockets or thieves were almost entirely done by small name, down-on-their luck fleshbags with no ties to anyone important. Well, except to Ntaaj. Saved him food expanses. After devouring one man who tried to cut his purse, the cyborg walked to his intend destination; a Catina. Here he wanted to meet up with a business associate. It was thanks to him that Ntaaj managed to sneak away from the Sith academy without being bogged down by authoritative legislation or by hijacking a ship and making an escape. Even managed to bring his land speeder. But there was also another deal that interested him, but he'd need to find his contact first.

Finding the Catina was easy enough. Getting into it would be a bit more difficult. There were two bouncers at the door. They didn't seem to stop anyone from entering until he decided to step up to the entrance. "Name." They asked. Ntaaj already knew that if he gave them his name, he'd put himself at risk of being found by his enemies. And it's not like his name was on the list anyways. The bouncers were likely just trying to get a quick credit from him since he wasn't from the area. Both of them were Gamorreans, because of course when you wanted intimidating brutes you went for the anthropomorphic Suidae. Well Ntaaj wasn't going to bother playing mind games with these things, even though even his force persuasion would likely be enough to manipulate these weak-minded thugs, so he made it quite simple for them. To the one on his left he pierced his head using the Flechette launcher built into his left palm. When he dropped Ntaaj quickly scooped up his club and used it to bash the other Gamorrean in the face. While he was still stunned Ntaaj drew his DT-57 pistol and fired a few shots into the Gamorrean's chest and on in the chin. He fell over, dead, as Ntaaj continued on his business.

Inside the Catina no one seemed to mind Ntaaj's presence or what he did just outside their doors. Suited him just fine, it wasn't worth mentioning anyways. He looked for his business partner, a Squib named Anema. It wasn't hard to find him; vibrant green fur, trademark droid mask, and an oversize Tensor Rifle on his back. Being inconspicuous wasn't something that Anema was good for, but he was a skittish and fast furball. If anyone wanted to capture him, they'd need a military grade tractor beam to keep him in place. Ntaaj want over to his table and sat down, provoking the squib's attention. "Eh, who are you...? Care for a game of Pazzak? Chips where I can see them!" It was an old routine Ntaaj and Anema developed to ensure that they were speaking to the right person. Ntaaj started with a bet of ten credits, followed by Anema raising the stakes to thirty. Ntaaj matched it and the two began.

The game went on with seemingly no noticeable pattern. Ntaaj won the first set, Anema won the next two, and Ntaaj took the last two sets and won the pot of 300 credits. What was important, however, was the cards Ntaaj Stood with on his winning hand. He used nothing but Plus Cards, adding up to nineteen (Three plus sixes and a single plus one). He did this even though he had little over twenty cards in his hands, any of which could have added up to twenty easily. After collecting his winnings, Anema smiled as he took his cards back. "Been a while since we seen each others face. How's the school going for ya yet? Teach those snobs a thing or two?" Ntaaj didn't answer and just looked at Anema. He twitched a little before changing the subject. "Yeah yeah yeah, business as usual. Alright come with me, you'd want to see this." Anema hopped of his his seat and adjusted his Tensor Rifle so that ti didn't bump into his heel or drag across the ground. Ntaaj stood up and followed him, shortly after a few other shady figures as well.

Anema led Ntaaj out of the Catina and to a private space dock. There Ntaaj saw Amena's ship, or what passes as one. Since the Squib was a lone smuggler, he didn't bother making much space for guest unless they were going into the storage hold. The ship was comparatively small in that regard, with it's cockpit just barely large enough for Amena. But it was fast, and had just enough defensive systems to evade all manner of weapons without making it slower than a moon. The squirrel creature led Ntaaj to the back of his ship, opened up the Storage Hold, and dragged out some sort of large black box half his size. After fiddling with many locks and key combinations, Amena opened it up and revealed a head-sized device. "Here it is. Ain't she a beut?" Ntaaj was about to comment that he had no idea what the squib was talking about until he got a closer look at it. than he was impressed, if only a little. "A Gravity Well Projector. A miniature one at that." He had been wanting one of these, but never expected to see it ever made in his time. It was much too small to be use on a large scale such as stopping a ship's hyperdrive, but it would allow the use of Repulsorlift technology in zero-gravity environments. Like space. "Yeah, had word that some smart folk were making one of these, it's a prototype. Had me and little crew go and take it, thought you'd like it. Did some tinkering with it, and we're sure we can install it into things like yer Land Speeder, or even a Repulsor Jetpack!" It was certainly an interesting find. Ntaaj went over and examined the Gravity Well Projector move closely as Amena stepped back.

But of course, soon after Ntaaj sensed a disturbance in the force. He felt it ever since he left the Catina, but being on Teth, he always knew danger was right around the corner. but now he could feel the danger right behind him. The sound of the Tensor Rifle buzzing to life alerted him quickly. He turned around and aimed his right hand at Amena. From his arm a faint black light shot out from his hand and towards Amena's Tensor Rifle, which was already drawn. It was a tractor beam, too weak to pull someone of even a Squib's size, but strong enough to rip the rifle out of his hands. Ntaaj swung the rifle at the Squib, but the little fuzzball was quick on his feet and managed to scurry off. And he almost got away too, if Ntaaj didn't fire a grappling hook from his left arm that pierced through the Squib's arm. Anema cried in pan, but it was soon muffled with Ntaaj's hand, which was wrapped around Anema's neck. "Traitor. Who paid you? Which one wanted me dead this time?! You know there's only one way this will end, you can chose if I kill you quickly or slowly." Ntaaj lighten his grasp around Amena's neck to speak, but not enough to let him go. "I-I-I-I don't know! I was caught by a Sith guardsman and they were going to imprison me for thirty years on smuggling charges! They said I had one chance to escape the charges, and that was if I got rid of you! Please please please don't kill me! Look, you can have the Gravity Projector for free! Just don't kill me please! Let me go!" The squib than began to babble incoherently about mercy and wanting to live, but Ntaaj wasn't going to have any of it. He could still feel the disturbance in the Force, meaning danger was still near. Tightening his grip around the Squib's neck to ensure he was more quiet, Ntaaj peeked out from inside the Storage Hold, only to near had his face shot off by a blaster round. "More assassins. Looks like I still have a use for you after all." The Squib wiggled out of Ntaaj's grasp long enough to say something. "Yeah, I can help you fight-" He didn't get to finish his suggestion when Ntaaj drew his DT-57 pistol and stepped out to trade shots with his assassins. He used Amena's body as a shield, absorbing a few bolts before tossing his limp corpse at one of the assassins. There was four he saw, one he just disabled using Amena, another he managed to kill within his first volley of blaster fire. Ntaaj quickly ran towards cover and used it to take out a Thermal Detonator. When he got out of cover he tossed it towards the two remaining fighters, both who scattered. Ntaaj used the chance to shoot one of them in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground.

The Thermal Detonator did not explode, however, because Ntaaj didn't arm it. He just threw it to get the other assassins out of cover. He waited to see where the other assassin went to, but soon things became quiet. Ntaaj could still sense danger, but now he needed to take this chance to finish off the two disabled assassins and get his grenade back. He used a force jump to cover the distance, first getting to the assassin he shot in the leg. Another shot to the head ensured that he won't be a problem. The other assassin just got Amena's body off of herself when Ntaaj went over and kicked her gun of her hand hand, and used the blaster from one of the other assassins to execute her. That was three down, but where was the last one...? After retrieve his grenade, Ntaaj scanned the area. His sensors weren't picking up any heat signatures or cloaking, but he could still feel the presence of danger. Only than did it dawn to him what he was facing against. "Droid-"

The assassin droid dropped in from above. Ntaaj only had enough time knock it's blaster away with a swing of his fist, only to lost his own when the droid did the same. The weight of the robot fell onto Ntaaj, and would have crushed him to death if weren't for his own cybernetic carapace. The two engaged in a moment of grappling before Ntaaj tried to shoot it with his built in Flechette launcher, but the droid was able to dodge the attack without sustaining any damage. It than drew two Vibroblades from it's arms and charged at Ntaaj. With the odds not in his favor, Ntaaj played defensively, dodging and weaving through the attacks and trying to put as much distance between him and the droid as he could. He jumped to his blaster and used it to fire some shots at the droid, but it was able to deflect the bolts with it's vibroblades. "Bastard!" There seemed to only be one way to deal with this threat. The droid came close and slashed, but Ntaaj banked right and dodged the attack. he fired his blast point blank into the droid's left arm, burning a hold through it and cause it to drop one of it's blades. The droid than spun to stab Ntaaj, but he was quicker on the draw. Ntaaj aimed his right palm at the droid, and launched his lightsaber from it's storage space inside his arm, directly towards the droid's face. Just as the lightsaber bounced back from the impact Ntaaj grasped it and made the blades extend. One of the crossguard blades pierced through the droid's shoulder armor, before Ntaaj brought the entire blade downwards and cleaved the robot diagonally.

"What a mess." Back at his land speeder, Ntaaj was chewing on a bit of Amena as he awaited the arrive of Dark Lord Nyiss. In the back of his Land Speeder was various bits of tech he scavenged from the bounty hunters and Amena's ship. Hidden in a secret compartment, however, was the real prize; the ALTR-1. The ticket he needed to appease Dark Nyiss and earn his place among her counsel. And once he had integrated himself among her most trusted, than he could finally begin setting into motion his one desire. But one step at a time of course; he had to wait for the arrival of his Dark Lord. In the meantime, he made a checklist of things he'd need to add to his systems, as well as other supplies he'd have to get now that Amena was no longer a contact.

[Fallenreaper]

Jayda

A heat, heavy and bothersome, had settled in her core. Its violence seemed to threaten to consume her from the inside out as her boots clicked against the floor, each step brought her quickly along. It wasn't the first time her emotions had threatened to purge all common sense from her, though what disturbed her most was fact it was provoked from her and above else she could've risked her own life. Her mind repeated the battle. Over and over, the images flickered in perfection against her thick skull. More emotions churned to spread to her surroundings. Them seemed to have a mind of their own, willful and untamed despite her efforts to regain control. Why had she been so stupid?

A question seemed to have no answer, only a foul result in the end. She hadn't expected any of her strikes to land. Not once, but it had. Her mind filled with Lord Namore's scream while her ear pounded from the sound of her twin hearts. Boom, boom, boom, rapid and unsteady air seemed to be caught in her lungs. The air seemed too heavy to breathe anymore, even if she would've died without it. Jayda absentmindedly picked up her pace. Already her thumb had pressed her lightsaber button and caused the blade to hiss then disappear, her digit retracted back to its original position. However it was impossible to return it to her side. The Zabrak's fingers wrapped tighter about the hard handle, gripping with her strength, as she brushed pass the moving her bodies. Thankfully both staff and crew, even the Acolytes, had been too occupied in their current tasks to note her struggles. If they had, then it wasn't likely she would've been able to control herself from lashing out. Already her hands seemed to tremble from the battle's aftermath and its effect seemed to race up her arm, revealed from the severed slash in the sleeve. The skin marred by the fresh scars underneath. A painful reminder Jayda had avoided looking upon. Mainly out of fear Sish's wounds would've rekindled what Jewel had started. The more she thought, the greater her desperation to be out of sight became.

It showed in her movements in her rush down the long, wounding hallways until finally her room came into sight. Her quarters were just a little farther while a lump surged into the back of her throat. All along the way, Jayda had managed, in some way, to gather the will to force herself to keep moving. Her figure had darted pass any warm bodies and even managed not to attract her Master's attention. For how long was a mystery but she was certain it wouldn't be for long. Logically she should've headed to the medical bay and gotten her wounds tended to, that was the only logical reasoning. Sadly, she wasn't thinking clearly but instead felt like a scared animal backed up into a corner.

At the panel, she abruptly came to a stop. Her unoccupied hand raised then tried to click across the panel's buttons. Her fingers shook terribly then caused the panel to deny her with a loud beep. In reaction, her knuckles whitened as the grip on her lightsaber grew. The dark thought of merely slicing the machine came to her mind before she shoved it back down. Now here or now, she snapped despite pain from her losing battle against the thin within her mind. At least, she finally heard the hiss of the door open. Without wasting more time, Jayda rushed through the opening which shut shortly behind her. Finally behind closed walls, her ridge control tried to remain until the end. It wasn't going to happen much to the Apprentice's irritation as her legs carried her across the room.

Smack!

Her lips bore a growl when her knee slammed into the dresser, her voice rang out in a snarl at her distracted mind. Breath became shallow and rapid when the dread filled her the moment her mind had started to lose what little ground she had managed to keep. The lightsaber dropped from her hand, her nails dug into the dresser edge to keep her upright. It clearly didn’t aid her as her body started to sink slowly to one knee. Every inch of her was quaking in wave after wave, unable to stop it, increasing her helplessness until she let out yell.

“*Ven res golta kaio het I'shuree orana!” Her words came out in Ul’Zabrak and filled the empty room.

Once she tapped into her hatred, the rage that started to burn and tug at her control. Her mind slipped into numbness as her legs forced herself upwards. Her force oozed out, erupted once more, while she let herself be consumed. Her arms scattered whatever was upon the dress and littered the floor, her fury provided a barrier between her and the thing clawing within her mind. Unable to coop, she reached deeper into the emotion. Let it swallow her until that was all she felt and drive the thing back. The dresser immediately was shoved to the side and tilted over. Her arms hooked underneath, her body filled with heat while she jerked it upward. A heavy crash met her ear yet she didn’t stop. The carnage edged to the bed where the mattress easily ripped under her nails, the insides scattered within the room. Covering it in white material like fallen snow. Nothing was spared unless it could with stand her pain and misery’s warpath. The scene she wrath wasn’t lost to her memory as it was suppressed for another time.

*Get the fuck out of my head!

[Rtron]

Zanna and Jayda. A simple trade.

Zanna was in her own quarters when Jayda came storming through, the anger and other emotions roiling off of her in a wave. Zanna looked up from her chemical station(after the fight with Thallia she decided to make a larger variety of poisons and potions. One could never be too careful.), to see the Zabrak walk by, quiet rage etched into her every feature, and close the door to her quarters. Soon after, muffled screaming and crashes could be heard through the walls and the doorway. Zanna raised both eyebrows. What has gotten her so angry? She wondered. From the brief times she had seen the Apprentice, the Zabrak was ridgedly in control, even around her Master. So something truly bad must have happened to make her lose that control, even in the privacy of her own room(which wasn't really all that private, all things considered). Thoughtfully, Zanna stopped what she was doing. She could use this opportunity to talk to the Zabrak, learn more about her. Though if she's anything like her master...the experience will be far from pleasant. Zanna felt her lip curl in distaste at even the thought of the Trandoshan. Still, she had to find out more about Jayda before anything else could happen. Thus, she packed up her chemical station and waited for the screaming and crashing to stop. After all, it was a bad idea to try and talk to someone when they were this angry, and she doubted that Jayda would even here her knocking.

Soon enough, the sounds dwindled away and came to a complete stop. Zanna waited a moment longer, then crossed the hall to the other Apprentice's doorway and knocked.

Jayda's room was a mess, her body sat in the corner and fought the shiver of rage which sank below the surface. Her darkened eyes stared, half empty and lost in the heat filling her, started at her trembling hand. Her right leg was propped upright to support the arm while she sat there. Sweat plastered her loosened bangs against her forehead and the evidence of Jewel's little 'lesson' was etched upon her mind as well as her body. The shoulder hadn't even been tended to in her fury. The blistered skin, filled with new pain and ache, lingered just a bit from touching the wall. No cold metal would ease the pain now. If it wasn't for the fact her immunity would prevent infection, at least slow it, and in time, help her heal, Jayda won't have wasted time within her room.

Despite her sense of preservation, she was still spiteful at her failure. It might've not been all of her emotions yet it was a fair amount lost to contribute. Even worse, the fact she had difficulty in controlling and directing it accurately was revealed. Her hand fisted then slammed against the wall. It made a hollow thunk then left her hand stinging. Her mind failed to register it, lost in the sour mood.


It was meant for Sish. That hate, fear, rage and pain, all of it was suppose to have been stored. Not released in a struggle to survive.

Her head jerked up when her ears caught the soft knocking. Her lips drew back, her teeth exposed in an animal like fashion with a growl under her breath. She didn't want to deal with visitors. Not now or anytime in the future. Part of her want to bellow for whom ever was behind the door to leave, a childish reaction, but the other wanted her to investigate. She closed her eyes. The emotions stilled withered about her as if it was vast ocean and she was drowning within its furious grasp, her breathing took heavy inhales. It was ill paced and rugged at first, then slowly it edged into a calmer pace. In and out, in and out... Several moments had passed before Jadya was good and ready to answer who ever had the worse timing to chose now to approach her.

With surprising poise and lithe, Jayda pushed herself onto her feet. She moved towards the door and pressed the panel, the door came open with a hiss to reveal the glaring Zabrak. Her arms straddled across the width of the entrance and blocked any sort of entry into it. Her voice was icy cold in her questioning, voided of the earlier emotion. "What do you want?"

Zanna kept her initial surprise at the devastation in Jayda's room hidden. She had expected destruction and damage, but not this much. The glower shot her way made it clear the Zabrak didn't want company, but not nearly as much as the icy tone. Zanna imagined you would have found more warmth in deep space. She paused a moment, giving a slightly timid smile, before speaking in a realitvely neutral tone. "I heard screaming and crashing and I just-You're hurt." She had just noticed the wounds and scars on Jayda, the most recent obviously caused by a lightsaber. Her tone hadn't changed with this observation, and it didn't when she continued. "Hold on. I have something that should help with the pain, and help it heal." Without waiting for the expected refusal, she quickly walked back into her room and grabbed the needed salve. Lightsaber wounds were common in Sith Apprenticeship, and the various ways to treat them had been one of her first Alchemical lessons. Thus, she always kept at least one salve in her room, easily accessed. Returning to Jayda's room, she handed the jar filled with a light blue cream to the Zabrak. "Apply it daily, to both wounds,and you should be fine soon enough." Zanna hesitated, before continuing.

"If you don't mind me asking, who did this to you? Your master, Lord Sish?" There was a subtle, unconscious, inflection of disgust when she said the Trandoshan's name. How he ever became a Sith, much less a Sith Lord, she would never know. Through brutish violence, she assumed. Given the anger Jayda had displayed, and the scars that covered her arms and likely continued onto the rest of her body, she doubted that the lizard had done it. Apprenticeship made people used to what their master did to them. Or, at the very least, helped them control and hide their reactions.

Jayda's expression was pissed from her last encounter, her wounds still stung but she ignored them. It could wait until later. Standing before her was another Pure Blooded Sith, a female, and the very source of the knocking. The Zabrak's eyes narrowed and fought down her bitterness, thankful the anger had faded for now, to focus. She took in the Sith's appearance to set into her memory. The first thing Jayda had noted was the fact the woman was about a few inches shorter, her head tilted downwards to locate her. Like most pure blooded Sith, the red skin and face tenacles remindered her of the older Sith. She was however, younger then him, with her black hair was flipped to the side and flowed to her shoulders. Dressed in black robes, she gave a timid smile then a friendly answer to Jayda's commotion.

The Zabrak's eyebrow raised in question. This wasn't the normal, unable to trust this 'kindness' given as before she could object, the Sith had popped off back to her room. Jayda leaned out into the hallway a little to watch the woman's retreating back then rested back upon her heels. A soft growl under her breath. What the hell did she do to attract unneeded atttention? For a moment, Jayda considered just falling back to her room and shutting the door. However before she could, the Sith had returned. When she held up the jar, Jayda felt her neck hairs rise upright and dance from alarm. Sith didn't help each other unless there was something to gain. Why waste the time and resources if there wasn't anything to gain from it? That was the question pounded through Jayda's skull in that moment.

Slowly, her hand reached out for the jar and took it. It was if she expected it to bite her. Jayda had a nasty feeling she would regret this but it was unlikely the woman would simply take her hnts of not wanting help. Namely after she darted off before waiting for an objection. When the topic changed to the wounds' origins, her figure stiffened halfway from returning to her room. She stopped in her tracks.

"It doesn't matter how or who inflicted them." Jayda made it clear she wasn't about to go into details. "It won't happen again. Though one would wonder your motives for such kindness, a very distinct rarity among Sith..."

Zanna noted the wariness of the Zabrak, but refrained from commenting. It was doubtful that anything she could say would ease the caution displayed. Silently,however, she applauded the intelligence of the Jayda while she kept a facade of timid friendliness on her face. It was smart of her to not trust a random Sith appearing and offering help, even if it was inconvient. The other apprentice turned to leave quickly, likely to dispose of the salve as well, only to stop at her question. With the Apprentice's back to her, Zanna smiled. At least she had stopped the Apprentice from cutting this little meeting short. Now came the hard part of making sure she didn't just shut the door in her face. Caution and distrust seemed ingrained into Jayda. Quite a different beast from the Jedi Xid. "Somehow, I suspect it won't." She replied, delaying giving an answer to Jayda. Her mind raced. She could try to continue being the timid Sith apprentice, friendly and not used to the ways of the Sith yet, but she suspected that the other woman wouldn't buy that. She needed something new.

"So I see you're not buying the 'timid apprentice who isn't really a threat' act." She began ruefully. "It works for most Sith who want to drag me into their politics. Afterall, who would think that the timid, short, little pureblood was an ambitious threat? We all have our ways of surviving, avoiding the politics that could get us killed. Thallia through sheer lack of ambition. You through stubborness. If you ignore politics enough, they have to stop wanting to bother you right? I avoid it by seeming to be nothing more than a timid creature, content to experiment in her room and what labs she is allowed access to. Regardless, you're right. I didn't suddenly approach you out of an honest concern about your wellfare. I want...well, I suppose you would call it an alliance." She hurried to explain before Jayda slammed the door shut in her face. "Not how you might be thinking! I'm not planning on drawing you into any secret conspiracy plots to gain me power, or to kill somone." Yet.

"I've noticed that Sish...isn't exactly one for teaching you the finer uses of the Force. He has power, certainly. But he doesn't have finesse. Direction. He uses brute force when he should be using a light touch. That's the one thing my master, before he died and I was sent here, impressed upon me. Finesse. Mental defense, mental offense. I can teach you how to use the Force as a focused attack rather than a wild and powerful, but directionless, attack." She paused for a moment, considering. "And...I need to work on my lightsaber combat skills. They're pathetic, to say the least. Sish was selected for the attack on the Temple for a reason. Brutish and crude as his use of the Force is, he is a potent lightsaber combatant. As his apprentice, I suspect he passed some of those skills on to you. Essentially, I want us to help each other. I can help you with your Force use, and you can help me with my lightsaber skills. This proposition is nothing more than a benefit to the both of us. No conspiracies, no political maneuvering, nothing that will drag you into a world that we both want to stay out of. People who keep their heads down and their ambition low tend to live longer in our environment"

Jayda's tension slightly and unnotably relaxed when the Sith's tone changed abruptly. It went from timid and naive to what she original grew to expect from others, that need to gain something. It was much better then the fake kindness which certianly always held strings and hidden traps. It had slowly eased the instinct to walk on eggshells but that didn't mean Jayda would relax just yet. Her back still to the Sith, her ears caught everything spoken up until the Alliance bit. The head snapped back to Sith pure blood, her hair jerked with the motion. Her first desire was to slam the door right then and there, ending this coversation.

She had lasted this long without being involved and why would she change that? It was suicidal in her opinion, namely those involved seemed set only on killing each other. A mine field was the last place she wanted to be on. Her fingers tighted upon the jar in her grasp until it about to crack in her balled fist, the Sith's words rushed to recover from her mistake. Jayda's body had already been moving to towards the panel, her shoulder faced the woman, while she had started to press the buttons. That's when something important caught her attention. A need to be filled and offered in exchange for something else lacking. A trade of skills.

Jayda's hand lingered over the panel for a moment or two. It was strange how this woman had assumed Jayda's mental skills were weak with no evidence and part of her wanted to pretend this comversation hadn't happened. That woudn't change her weakness however. Namely if she wanted to beat Sish and survive the Sith politics long enough to either vanish from them completely or decide what she would do next. This wa a bad idea but not having the skills needed was a worse one she mentally chided.

"Fine. Tomorrow in the arena." The words seemed bitter on her tongue yet she forced them out, her hand pressed the button and the door slammed shut.

Zanna heaved a private sigh of relief when Jayda didn't slam the door shut. Stupid. Stupid. Shouldn't have used the word, alliance. She cursed herself, while watching to see what the other woman would do. The words of agreement seemed forced out, as if the Zabrak was unwilling to accept help in any form. Zanna gave a smile, and then the door shut in front of her face. She bit back her intial response, and instead called, "Also, despite what you might think, the salve isn't poisoned! It actually works!" Then she walked away into her own room, closing and locking the door behind her, feeling her own anger and indignation grow. How dare the disgusting, impure, bitch show her such disrespect! To question her motives(even though, in this case, Jayda was completely right not to trust her) when she should be grateful that she had even been noticed by a pureblood! And then to slam the door in her face! Zanna's fists clenched tightly at her sides as she stood in the center of the room. Unlike the filthy Zabrak, she had more control. She wouldn't be announcing to the entire ship her anger. No, she'd keep it hidden, waiting to be unleashed.

"You'll get what you deserve." Zanna whispered, her hands slowly unclenching. "Oh yes. I'll see to that. You'll get everything you deserve and more."

[Tzarima]

Sish and Venren

Sish, after his 'lesson' to Jayda, idly wandered back into the prisoner cells. There was really nothing to do on the ship besides train Jayda, torture the prisoners, or talk to the other Sith. Seeing as Jayda was back into her form of hating him with every fiber of her being, she wouldn't be interested in training. And most, if not all, of the Sith on the ship would prefer he drop dead than ever talk to them. So, the Trandoshan decided to visit the prisoners again. Walking into the cells, one clawed hand on his lightsaber, just in case one or more of them decided to attack. Of course, if that happened and he killed them, it would perhaps be best that he killed himself before Nyiss found out and got a hold of him. Sish suspected that she wouldn't care about the defense of 'self-preservation.' After all, most purebloods and humans believed any other races should be enslaved or eliminated.

What immediately caught his attention was the fact that there was a new prisoner. A grin crossed Sish's face and he strode quickly over to where the man was sitting down. Grasping Venren's arm tightly enough to assuredly leave brusing, he said, in a disturbingly cheerful tone, "Lets go, Jedi. We're going to have a chat." With that, he began hauling his prisoner to the torture chambers. It was time to have some fun....

Venren had not been sitting on the bed for long when he heard the sound of doors opening, and looking up, he could see an armored, Trandoshan Sith having entered the room. The Sith caught sight of him quickly, and apparently decided that Venren was just the one he wanted to see. Not having much time to get up, the Jedi just stared coldly at the Sith as he approached.

“I don’t suppose I have much choice.” Venren remarked as the Sith started dragging him away. He considered putting up a fight, but noticed that he was still so groggy from whatever he had been drugged with that it was not much use. Instead he tried to at least be hauled around with something resembling dignity, but doubted he managed that especially well either. The only thing it seemed he could do was watch the corridors they moved through, and try to make a mental map out of them. Not something he had been made to rely on before, so he just hoped he had a good memory for that sort of thing.

Sish ignored the Jedi's first comment, dragging the man along. He would let the Jedi have as much sarcastic chatter as he wanted to. After all, that sound would soon be replaced by screams. So Sish would let the Jedi have his moments of defiance. They would quickly be bled away with pain and fear. As they passed through the halls, the Imperial staff seemed to want to get out of Sish's way as quickly as possible. He had only been on the ship for a week, and they knew to avoid him. He still wasn't sure if they feared what he would do, or what Nyiss and the other 'pure' Sith would do.

Soon enough, they arrived at their destination. Sish opened the door to the torture cell, and dragged Venren in. Quickly, he strapped the Jedi to the torture table, making sure there was nothing the Jedi could do nothing more than scream. Grinning down at the Jedi he said, "Before I being the questioning, lets just make things easier by giving you a taste of what will happen if you lie or refuse to answer." Extending his claws out, Sish sent Force Lightning into Venren's body.

Venren just kept looking coldly at the Sith as he was being tied to the table. There was no fear in his eyes, at least not yet. This was about what he had been expecting. He tried the straps for good measure, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about them. Even if he was at full strength they were meant to hold. He did not answer the Sith, and bit his lip not to scream.

Sish gave a malicious smile. "Oh good. You're one of those defiant types. Thinking about keeping your mouth shut throughout this whole little interview, are you? Proving to the lizard Sith that Jedi are stronger than they give them credit." Sish leaned close. "I'll have you screaming by the end of this. You'll be howling in pain, begging for mercy. Maybe even telling me what I want to know. But first, I'll ask a simple question. What are the Republic's defenses, their hidden bases, and their plans?"

Sish had his claws ready to inflict more pain, his cybernetic eye darting around to find the best place to cause the most pain.

Venren felt weak, but it was nothing he could not live through, and he had been electrocuted until losing consciousness just after his capture, after all. He kept glaring until the Sith was so close that Venren could smell his breath, but he still did not say anything. Maybe he would end up screaming, but he would not beg the Sith for anything and he would certainly not give him any information. ‘Maybe even…’ he thought, the answers were not even the point.

He almost had to smile himself at the Sith’s actual question, and just snorted for an answer. He would have to be an idiot to give anything away. Especially since it was possible that the actual information wasn’t even what the Sith was after in the first place.

Sish shrugged, his smile still plastered on his face. "I was hoping you'd say someting along those lines." He dug his claws into the prisoner's side, deep enough to scrape against the bones of his ribs, and dragged his claws upwards, the blood pouring from the side quickly soaking the fabric of Venren's shirt. Sish stopped at just below the armpit, before repeating himself.

"Defenses, hidden bases, and plans?"

Staying silent this time took considerable willpower. Venren twisted involuntarily and breathed heavily but did not scream, he started to wonder if it was worth the effort. The thought crossed his mind that at least this way, he might pass out from blood loss and not have to suffer through much more. Or he would die, that did not seem entirely unlikely either.

“No.” He breathed when the Sith asked again, but could not think to make any further comment.

Sish chuckled. "Good, we're making progress. You've actually deigned to reply this time." Taking his time, Sish lowered his claws back down to the bleeding wound. Taking the top half of the split skin and muscle, he pulled it backwards, careful not to tear through it completely and lose his grip. When he had pulled it back sufficiently, he reached with his other hand to grasp part of one of the exposed rib bones. Then he broke it.

Still holding the skin and muscle back, he repeated his question.

Venren felt his sight darken. He told himself it was just pain. Pain was a straightforward problem, it could be dealt with and endured. He tried to calm his breathing and keep his mind off the claws in his ribs. Maybe the Sith cared a little bit about hidden bases after all. He didn’t know why, they Empire had won the war, what did they care about defenses and plans now? It didn’t matter, the Sith would get nothing out of him either way.

Sish gave a disappointed sigh. "What, no comment this time? And we were doing so well." He gave a vicisous jerk on the skin and muscle he held, peeling it off of the rib bones a little more. He let go of the flap and placed a hand gently on the Jedi's forearm. "If you'd just tell me what I want to know, you could make this entire process easier for the two of us. Of course," He tightened his grip, "I'm lying. It'd just make it easier for you, and less fun for me." He squeezed as tight as he could, and dual snapping sounds could be heard as the forearm bones broke.

"Defenses. Hidden bases. Plans. Tell me all you know."

Venren groaned. He tasted blood and realized he had managed to bite holes in his lip without noticing. He was in terrible amounts of pain and it seemed it was only going to continue like that.

“I doubt it.” He gasped at the Sith. “You don’t need to know any of these things and you don’t even know what you are looking for. Plans and bases in general? You are just a crazy sadist who likes to torture people, and selling my friends out for your amusement is not going to help my situation much.” That was his working theory at least, he really knew nothing about where he where, for what purpose or who the Trandoshan Sith was.

Sish nodded. "You're right. I'm a sadistic bastard who likes causing pain to Jedi." He leaned close, whispering conspiratorially in Venren's ear. "But you're also wrong. I do need to know these things. The war isn't over, not by a long shot. We're going to strike before they can recover from this blow. Annihilate your precious Republic and enslave the citizens. In a way, you're lucky. By the time it's all over, you won't care. You won't have to watch as everyone you love dies around you. You won't have to watch as your home burns, your friends die, and the Sith claim your land as their own. No. You'll be lucky enough to not have to see it all happen."

He suddenly shoved his claws against the exposed ribs and sent Force lightning into the wound.

"You will tell me what I want to know. It is just a matter of when."

Venren decided the purpose that speech was mainly to make him angry. At least that is what he hoped as it would make the whole thing less upsetting. The pain was bad enough, he didn’t need to be angry on top of that. The Sith suggested he’d be dead soon, which didn’t seem like the worst thing that could happen, though he was sure there had to be a better outcome from this imprisonment than death. A part of him that kept trying to think of other things than being tortured pointed out that the imperials that captured him had only been interested in taking the Jedi, so he supposed they wanted something more that get information and then kill him.

“Well, then at least I know something.” He said. “And have all the more reason not to tell you anything.”

Venren shrieked this time. It was sudden. He guessed staying silent wouldn’t be worth it in the long run anyway.

Sish gave a nasty smile. "There we go. Finally given up with the cold and silent defiance, hmm? Don't worry, they all do. And soon enough, you'll be begging to tell me what I want to know. After all, you're no Zabrak, to resist my administrations for long." He gave Venren a once over, like a butcher eyeing a piece of meat. It seemed the Jedi wouldn't be able to take much more, and stay conscious. He tsked disappointedly, before casually reaching out and placing both hands on Venren's good arm. One above the elbow, and one directly on the elbow. Then, with a casualness one would expect to find out on a stroll, he broke the elbow.

"There. Now you won't be thinking about any escape attempts. Not without being able to use your arms." Untying the Jedi, he grabbed Venren's arm(by the broken forearm, of course) and began dragging him back to his cell. "I'll see you next time, of course, but this little session is getting me no answers, and bringing you ever closer to unconsciousness and death. And we can't have that!"

Still set on not giving the Sith any type of information, whether he really wanted it or not, Venren snorted for an answer for that as well. He was feeling far less defiant at this point, though he might be able to fake it for a while longer. It did not continue for much longer however, as the Sith broke his other arm to end the session. Venren groaned again when the Sith yanked him forward and his sight started to darken again. He was not going to fall unconscious now though, and at least he could still walk and didn’t have to be entirely dragged by his broken arm. Apparently his death was not planned, he guessed that was good news.

Sish only smiled at Venren's snort, and dragged him through the halls of the ship, doing his best to make the Jedi slip and take all of his weight on the broken arm. Since the man had a remarkable talent to keep his pain shut behind gritted teeth, the Trandoshan had little idea if any of these attempts worked, as he never looked back to check. Soon enough though, they reached the cells again, and Sish roughly threw Venren back in. "I'd suggest you ask one of your fellow Jedi to heal you. Otherwise the wounds mihgt fester and then I'll have to take you tot he Medbay and it'd be to much of a hassle bullying the medics their into saving you."

With that, he left.

Venren was crying by the time they reached the cells again, but the Sith had not decided to turn and look at his face. Memorizing any corridors were not even to think about this time. He fell when thrown, at least having the presence of mind to stay off his hands and land on the side where his ribs were still alright. Once the Sith had left, he didn’t have the same motivation to work on controlling pain, and no real reason to keep it together anymore.

Instead of getting back on his feet, he instinctively crawled to a wall. He couldn’t really breathe calmly, with his shattered rib, breathing hurt too much. With effort, he managed to place one arm over the torn bit of skin, making sure it stayed in place and didn’t bleed more than it must. His arms couldn’t handle doing much more, and he didn’t want to look at it. He was already feeling very ill and didn’t want to make it any worse. He would have been more worried about bleeding to death in there if not for what the Sith had said before leaving. Mostly about there being other Jedi around. He had seen there were more cells, so there ought to be, but it was still good to know. He didn’t know where he was or why, but at least it seemed he was not alone in there. He wanted to see the other Jedi. It would serve him better than staying there, shaking helplessly in a corner of his cell while slowly bleeding away. He didn’t manage to get back up.

[Ellri]

Ellri & Fallen | Various NPCs (Rin Eris, Jessa Fallon, Leith & Janali Raptis, Moda Cath & Tyria Lanith)

The treaty of Coruscant had been a pretty hard blow to the republic, that much Leith Raptis sure felt. However, seeing that he was deep undercover in the Sith Empire on behalf of the SIS, he could not exactly show it. The mood in the empire was pretty mixed, he gathered. Some were relieved and pleased at having tricked the republic so thoroughly. Others did not want the war to end. It was hard to figure out what he could and could not report back. Even harder was the fact that he had to be extra-careful about when to report.

He stepped out of his office, walking casually back into the kitchen of his home in Kaas city. It wasn’t a bad life, infiltrating the Empire. Sure was a step up from his hovel back on Coruscant. But nothing could shake his loyalty to the republic. He had joined the SIS to get out of the lower levels of Coruscant. Better them than the army. It had never been hard for him to assume roles, but no one was infallible, which was the reason the SIS had caught him in the first place. He’d been an expert con-artist, doing jobs for all sorts of low-lives. When they offered him the choice of ‘serve or die’ after they caught him trying to mimic a republic army quartermaster to steal a shipment of assault weaponry, he didn’t have much of a choice. Seeing as he was human and an expert actor, he was one of pretty few agents capable of reliably infiltrating the capital of the Empire. They sent him through three months worth of lessons just to get the imperial accent right, as well as a number of other classes, then sent him on his way with no more than a ‘good luck’.

Hearing movement behind him, he looked up, spotting his wife, Janali, entering the room. Unlike him, she was a true imperial. She had no idea about his origins, his double role. It was at times difficult to maintain the illusion, but then, she was a beautiful woman. He dreaded what would happen should their partnership result in a force-sensitive child. He had been taught all about what the Sith did to those. At the same time, he could not deny that he loved her. If it helped maintain his cover, he’d do anything. That’s what had made him so suitable for this mission, his willingness to go to any lengths to complete it.

She held out a datapad to him. “What’s this?” Leith asked, curious. She smiled fondly at him. “Looks like one of the Sith has managed to collect quite a few Jedi prisoners. Darth Nyiss, her name is. She’s famous for successfully turning dozens of Jedi into proper Sith. Isn’t that wonderful news?” Leith nodded on instinct, his thoughts churning. He had to report this. Had to. He grabbed the offered datapad, quickly reading through the displayed imperial notice.

Imperial notice

Sith.

Yes, I’m talking to you, Sith. I could not care less if you are a Sith Lord, an apprentice or a mere Initiate. If you think you have what it takes to serve me, then you will be in orbit above the planet Teth awaiting my arrival in one week. If I deem you useful, you might live. If I deem you worthy, I will take you under my wing and you will rise high.

The Great galactic war is over. There is peace in the galaxy. Or so some say. You and I know better. Peace is a lie.
I have recently come into possession of a number of Jedi. You will help me make proper Sith out of them. So long as you do not kill or maim them, I will let you decide how to proceed. If you do either of those two, I will kill you. I have not decided how, but you will not enjoy it, though I will.

With these Jedi turned into proper Sith, the republic will stand no chance when the war breaks out again. That is how I know that you will serve me. If you will not, then you will explain to the Dark Council why you will not serve the cause of the Empire. They might be merciful. They might even grant you a quick death.

Darth Nyiss

“Huh. Fancy that. I guess those prisoners won’t remain Jedi long if her reputation is as you described it.” Just then, the wall terminal chirped, reminding him that it was time to get to work in the imperial communications center. He got up, gave his wife a kiss, then left. He’d find some way to transmit the message to the right personnel from work.

~| Some time later, SIS headquarters |~

Moda Cath looked up from the terminal he was working on. “Sir. There’s a report from Agent Leith Raptis on Dromund Kaas here. Apparently some Sith is on the move with a number of Jedi prisoners, and they’re going to be at Teth in a short time. What should we do with this report?”

Tyria Lanith, his superior, walked over and read over the report quickly before answering. “I may not like the Jedi much after the mess with Coruscant, but nobody deserves to be in the hands of the Sith long if it can be avoided. Forward it to the Jedi & include a list of available assets nearby. There’s some Jedi that have been searching for a prison ship for a while now. Maybe this is it.”

~|~

Rin had been looking over the information received, namely the details about the ship his once Master and himself had been tracking. He inhaled when his eyes gleamed over the words for what felt like the hundredth time but something, a natural knack and instinct, kept bothering him about it. At first glance it was merely sightings where the ship had passed, followed by a reported sighting of it’s landing and a missing Jedi from his post. Something that was very strange as the Jedi himself was known to be reliable when it come to his duty. Rin’s hand thrummed upon the console while his body settled backwards into his seat, his mind fixed upon the old information. His two different color eyes closed for a moment breaking the stress they felt after being sucked into the screen for too long.

Beep...beep. His best eye opened to spot the blinking red light, his body leaned forward and clicked it with a flick of his finger. A message had emerged across the holoscreen before him. His eyes narrowed as his body tensed, his attention increased with longer he read before his voice called for Master Fallon. “Mas-” He stopped himself, then corrected his address when he had a brief lapse in remembering he had made Knight long ago. Appeared some habits died hard despite how much time passed. “Jedi Master Fallon, there’s a message from SIS. It’s about the the ship we were tracking, the Hask, and something new. It seems to have Jedi prisoners on board and it seems a Sith, a Darth Nyiss is also there.”

When her former apprentice called, Jedi Master Jessa Fallon was a bit surprised. Ever since starting the investigation into this mystery ship Hâsk, they had had little success. Even knowing the trajectory, the ship had moved oddly. It was almost as if the Sith had equipped it with an extremely underpowered hyperdrive. The Ship had been spotted by the SIS above Tatooine, but there had been no reliable evidence of any Jedi prisoners on board. The single Sith trooper the SIS had captured and interrogated swore that there was no such thing as Jedi prisoners on board. Having some idea about the methods the SIS used, she doubted the trooper lied. She might not approve of the methods, but in times of war, sometimes you had to make sacrifices.

“Yes, Rin?” she answered. “What is it?” She listened to his explanation, not commenting anything until he was done. “Curious. Darth Nyiss. That is not a name I am familiar with. Not one of the Sith involved much in the war, then.” She thought on the fact that the Sith claimed to have a number of Jedi prisoners. Using a computer, she quickly calculated out that if one were to use the same speed as the ship had used from Coruscant to Tatooine, then used the same for the journey from Tatooine to Teth, then it could very well mean it was the same ship. “Very curious…” she murmured. She turned back to her former apprentice. “There is no choice. We have to try to rescue the prisoners before it is too late. If they get to Korriban, then there is no chance of a successful rescue operation. At least Teth is neither Imperial nor Republic. The treaty will not be broken if the strike force is small enough. The Republic and our Order has plausible deniability with such a strike force.”

“Since this Darth Nyiss isn’t involved in the war aspects, what other possibilities could there be? Mainly what might require a vast number of prisoners. At least if we assume the number the SIS delivered for missing bodies equal the prisoners and this ship came from the attack. Though I doubt the younglings would be there. They would’ve been likely taken to their destination and not waste much time, unlike those much older to be Padawans and Knights, even Masters.”

Rin paused for a moment. “Most the bodies missing where Padawans and Knights, wasn’t it?”

His fingers then clicked upon the keyboard in front of him as he pulled up the documents which had been sent soon after the clean up was underway. Often it was updated with new information about either more bodies discovered under the rubble or listed missing still. His good eyes shifted to note the names and their Jedi ranks in order to confirm his current thoughts, one he was hopeful weren’t correct. Namely that all the prisoners might’ve considered easily turned compared to a Master Jedi. His eyes darted towards Fallon for a moment, a slight worry in his expression that quickly melted away when the last of the data was pulled up. Rin lacked his combat skills after losing his eyes but his mind was still sharp as ever.

“Alas, there were a considerable number of younglings among the missing. Though it hurts to say so, I sincerely hope they were incinerated when the Sith blew up the temple, for if the Sith took them, then I fear they stand little chance of resisting the foul teachings of the Sith. I shudder at the thought of what they are putting our captured brethren through.” Fallon sincerely hoped that the missing younglings were on board this ‘Hâsk’ and that a rescue operation would be successful.

Rin didn’t say anything. In reality, he couldn’t because his thought trailed where he knew they would and shouldn’t. Back to his twin sisters and younger brother, all three force sensitive and young younglings from the Temple. His mouth felt dry as his tongue seemed to stick to the inside and instead, he stared straight ahead. However his hand tightened against his modest robes in reaction. There wasn’t a point in the regret he felt, but it didn’t stop him from feeling though he could mediate it away later.

“Saving some Jedi is better than knowing and condoning it.” Rin’s mouth forced out, easing the stickiness and bring a slightly ease to his inner pain. “Who shall I notify, Fallon?”

His fingers readied at the keys once again, waited for her reply before he started to contact the Jedi requested. She after all had mentioned a small strike force and he only hoped she knew who would be the best suited for the situation.

Fallon read over the SIS message, in particular the addendum on the bottom about available forces. “There is a Thranta class vessel available in the region. All we need to do is get a small crew of Jedi to send along. I would have preferred to have a squad from Republic Special Forces, but there’s no way we can get away with their going on such a mission. There’s no chance any such squad would go anywhere without being ordered to. We’ll have to make do with whatever troopers and crew are on board, as well as a few Jedi to bolster their strength.” She did not know how much of a chance the strike would have, but a small chance is better than abandoning the prisoners altogether. “We’ll have to hurry if we’re to get the strike team there in time.”

“Yes, if you would get the ship ready, I’ll finish out this message and meet you there.” Rin answered, his fingers quickened their pace along the surface until he finished. His body already shifted upright and shoved the chair into the slot, his eyes had spotted his lightsaber not far. For a moment he hesitated. Despite the danger, he had little time to adjust to his current condition or he would’ve been on the front lines right now. Instead of his face slightly scarred and lost dimension in his one eye which affected his ability to fight well. He stared a moment longer and casted off his worry, his hand reached to snatch it off it’s resting place and latched back to its rightful place upon his belt. In a few hastened steps he was following in Fallon’s wake into the ship.

[Sundered Echo]

Allanar Damarcus had once again been removed from his cell and brought to the prison chamber Darth Nyiss had set up with a small lab. Once again he was strapped to the table, to ensure he did not flail about and hurt himself while Nyiss conducted her ministrations. Nyiss stood at his feet, a tender look on her face. She really did care about the fate of Allanar. Some Sith researchers did not care for their subjects, allowing them to exist in a perpetual state of agony without second thought or casting aside their lives carelessly to prove things they already knew. Nyiss was not like that. If Allanar died, she would mourn his loss. In her own way and far from prying eyes, but she would nonetheless. If he did not appreciate what she had done for him, that would hurt too, even though she knew his life would be better for what she had done.

With a heavy sigh, she left her train of thought and walked to the table on which her instruments were laid out, picking up a small syringe filled with a drug that would wake him up and keep him awake. It was important that, for this stage, he be aware of all that was happening. She delicately inserted the syringe into his neck, and moments after the drug had been administered he awoke with a cry. For a moment he struggle against his bonds, but Nyiss placed a hand on his chest, extending a calming aura to him with the Force. “Shhh… Allanar. It will all be over soon. You will be better soon.” She spoke softly, as if to a child being reassured his illness was nothing to worry about.

Earlier, this was the step where she would start upon the torture. But now, that was in the past. Darth Nyiss did not want to create an enemy in the process of turning him. No, that would be beyond foolish. Instead, she picked up a second syringe, carefully injecting it into one of the larger veins in his arm. “This will ease your pain, lighten the burdens on your mind.” It had taken her months to work out even the base for that serum. Then several months more to ensure it would not interfere with any of the other serums. It was a very complex product, designed to subtly alter the chemistry of his brain, make certain emotions grow in strength, even as others were given less focus. She had tested it on scores of prisoners, imperial, criminal and republic alike. It had the same effect on every single one after the final tweaking. She smiled to herself. “You will soon feel its effects. Flow with them, young one. Embrace your emotions. Let them guide you, even as you guide them. You should not let your emotions rule you, but neither should you ignore them.” She watched him as the serum slowly took effect. There was, as always, no immediate difference. When she was sure nothing had gone wrong, she sent for a pair of troopers to take him back to his cell.

[Tzarima]

Venren heard the sound of the door opening again and tried again to get up. He couldn’t stay crying in the corner if there were Sith there. It took to his third attempt until he could stand. It was a team of people who entered though and none of them Sith. All in the armor of imperial troops, except two, a man and a woman. They were somewhat surprised to find the Jedi standing, but the bravado made little difference. Even if they hadn’t seen him shivering in the corner on surveillance, they were med-techs enough to see that he was barely conscious and was likely to topple over again any moment.

Venren regarded them with suspicion. One of the unarmored people, an upper middle-aged woman, explained that they were medical staff, and that in order to work safely, they were going to incapacitate him and then take him to the medbay. The Jedi made no sign he was about to meet them. He did not feel inclined to trust these people or let them drug him a second time. One of the soldiers made a sign to the med-techs, asking if they should stun the patient, but the both shook their heads. Even the stress from a stun ray would be noticeable on someone in the state the Jedi was in, and it would make their work harder. It also wouldn’t be necessary. Jedi were often not entirely unreasonable, and this one was likely aware of the situation he was in.

“What do you think you are going to do?” The older med-tech that had spoken before said in response to the Jedis silent defiance. “You can barely move and you’re bleeding heavily. You are not going to remain conscious for much longer either way. You will need medical aid, and sooner rather than later, at that.”
Venren dropped the accusing glare. They were right, of course. He didn’t know what he had hoped for, that they wouldn’t notice? Noting that seemed to have worked, the med-tech continued. She felt like she was doing a weird mixture of winning an argument with cold logic and soothing an untamed animal.

“We are here because nobody wants you dead. You can either come with us now, you’ll be sedated and placed in kolto, or we can wait until you pass out from blood loss, in which case you will still need medical aid, we will just have to be quicker in our work.”

Venren sighed with the realization that making the work of the medical staff harder was entirely unreasonable, and he didn’t have that much reason to distrust everything they said either. They weren’t Sith, after all, just people.

The Jedi nodded and took a few steps towards them, deciding cooperate. Accepting this, the other med-tech, who had remained silent, walked up to him with a number of syringes, making sure the Jedi was both stable and sedated before they carried him away. There was no sense in making him walk. Venren didn’t even see the area outside of the cell this time. He woke up, noting he had been placed in the bed this time rather than thrown on the floor like he had woken up last. He could also sit up without a problem and was feeling far less dying.