[ACCESS GRANTED.]
PROCESSING...
PROCESSING...
INITIALIZING...
[INITIALIZATION AND ARCHIVE RETRIEVAL COMPLETE.]
"A DARK PILGRIMAGE" RECORD 02: A TRAITOR'S DEATH
[BEGINNING PLAYBACK]
Tingel Arm Space
09:35 PM (Shipboard Time)
[ERROR] / [ERROR] / 867 ABY
[Video and Audio recording from Cargo Hold Camera A-19]
The cargo hold of the Altorius is dimly lit at this time. The camera's area of surveillance only covers a small alcove in the hold made by a few large containers. Sounds of muffled grunts and steps accompanied by the occasional dragging noise disturbs the silence in the hold. Two figures emerge into the view of the camera, one being the Sith Acolyte Alisteri Haxim and the other being a struggling Human male with his hands bound and his mouth gagged. The Sith throws his captive on the floor beneath the sole light that illuminates the alcove, right in the center of the camera's view.
"Oops, looks like you tripped." The sarcastic tone does not go unnoticed in the recording as Alisteri kneels down to rip the gag off of the now-prone man. "Fething Sith scum! What do you want? Is dragging people out of their bed in the middle of the night just something you do now?" The man's voice is hostile, but the masked Acolyte gives no response or reaction at first. "I'd watch my tongue if I were you. You're only here because I want answers, otherwise I would've thrown you out the airlock by now." Alisteri stands up as he speaks, beginning to slowly circle around the man as he sits up to glare at the slowly moving Sith. Right on the peripheral of the camera's view, a movement in the darkness is seen. "Answers?! Hah!" The man scoffs and stops trying to turn to look at the other as he paces around him. "What? You come up with some sort of crime that I've committed? Oh no, better yet, do you want me to confess my sins? Huh, 'High Priest?'"
His stride is paused, Alisteri staring the man down for a few silent moments before moving fast and punching the man right in the gut to wind him.
As the captive gasps for air, the Sith grabs him by the hair and forces him to look into the emotionless mask adorning his face. "Don't. Act. Dumb. I am in no mood for games you insipid parasite." He releases his grasp on the bound man and begins circling him again. "My Prelates told me that they've seen you sneaking off, being suspiciously absent whenever we make a landing, always seeming to be sniffing where you don't belong. One quick look through the surveillance records and it was easy to discover why." The man opens his mouth to respond but before any words leave the Sith moves fast, clamping a hand over the man's mouth and letting out a growl. "Looking for spies. Trying to contact the New Imperials, the Alliance, even the fething Crusaders!"
The man begins to struggle against the hand on his mouth but Alisteri doesn't relent, seeming to hold the man in place with one hand. "And all for what exactly? Oh yes, let me remind you." His free hand reaches into his pocket, producing a small holo-recorder. One press later and an audio recording of the man's voice begins playing. :"Hello? Hello, listen you may not know me but I need your help. I'm on a ship full of refugees, we're from the Sith Empire but we're not Sith! Well, most of us aren't anyway. There is one Sith, he's some sort of cult leader for a lot of the people on the ship. I don't know what they plan to do with us all, but not everyone here agrees with the Sith. I don't care what you do to the Sith or his followers, but I need to strike first before they do. Please, just have mercy on the rest of us. Coordinates are enclosed in this message, please hurry before they figure out what I'm trying to do.":
There is more movement on the periphery, but neither of the two in the center of the view seem to notice. "Selling out me and my family to the enemy? You think they have mercy!?!" Alisteri's hand moves from the man's face to his throat, his fingers curling around and grasping before a breath can even leave. The only response that the Sith gets from the man is choked noises and struggled breathing. "You would dare betray us when we have offered you safety? We have fed you, brought you aboard our vessel, gotten you away from the instability of our fallen empire, and you would still call us your enemy!?"
The pained breaths increase as his fingers visibly begin to constrict, the man struggling in vain until the Sith finally releases and lets him fall back onto the floor of the hold.
The masked man stands still after slipping the holo-device back into his pocket, simply watching as the bound man struggles to get his breathing back under control and calm his beating heart. "You...you don't get it..." Another cough escapes the man before he fixes the Sith with a glare. "You Sith...you don't care about us. You don't care about the common people. Every gift or mercy the Sith Empire granted, another thousand would pay in blood because of you. I've heard tales of the massacres committed by your Darths, of entire worlds forever changed and scarred by you. Do you think I would trust you? Or any of your brainwashed followers?! You're all monsters! The biggest mistake of the New Imperials and the Jedi is that they didn't kill you all-" Another strike, this one a kick to the ribs, silences the man and condemns him to pained exhales once more.
"Do not compare me to those butcherers. Those who would destroy so many lives are not Sith, they are nothing but tyrants abusing their blessings." Each word is laced with malice, the heel of his boot seeming to press into the man's stomach more and more as he spoke. "I will not deny that those in the higher ranks of our empire abused their power and people. They stained and ruined the name of the Sith, of the Dark Side. And when repercussions came...so many fled and allowed Acolytes and Knights to fight and die in their stead. Do not lecture me of slaughter you traitor, I have been in war across more planets than you have ever seen!" He picks up his foot, allowing a few moments for the man to catch his breath before slamming his leg back down to rob him of it. "I have seen so many good people die for the empire that you would denounce so casually. I don't care for those that would tarnish the leadership and make us hated, they will have justice brought to them in time. But you, you would besmirch and betray me and my people who have done nothing but help those in need."
He sounded insulted, almost repulsed. "You make me sick. No better than the ignorant heathens in the New Imperial Order. You see Sith and see only the blood caused by a few of them, what tripe." Alisteri leans in, the man gasping as more weight is pressed onto him. "You have allowed yourself to be soured by the views of the ignorant and the unworthy. Your betrayal cannot be justified by this, your punishment is still due." He finally removes his foot and steps back, the movement in the peripheral now increasing as several pairs of eyes seem to poke out of the darkness. This does not go unnoticed, the man realizing that he is surrounded by the Sangnir within the cult, the Blooded. As the hungry creatures began to emerge from the darkness, the man shook in fear. Several of them let out growls or made faux bites towards him as Alisteri tapped his commlink.
"This is Haxim to bridge. Turn off all cameras and recorders within the cargo hold until my further command, if you wouldn't mind." A brief pause. :"Of course High Priest.": His hand falls back to his side, his gaze still on the bound man before him. The Blooded drew closer to the man, each eager to sate their thirst as the camera's feed begins to shut off.
[A-19 Visual Recording Stopped]
"Sic 'em."
[A-19 Audio Recording Stopped]
Tingel Arm Space
09:45 PM (Shipboard Time)
[ERROR] / [ERROR] / 867 ABY
[ENDING RECORD PLAYBACK]
PROCESSING...
PROCESSING...
INITIALIZING...
[INITIALIZATION AND ARCHIVE RETRIEVAL COMPLETE.]
"A DARK PILGRIMAGE" RECORD 02: A TRAITOR'S DEATH
[BEGINNING PLAYBACK]
Tingel Arm Space
09:35 PM (Shipboard Time)
[ERROR] / [ERROR] / 867 ABY
[Video and Audio recording from Cargo Hold Camera A-19]
The cargo hold of the Altorius is dimly lit at this time. The camera's area of surveillance only covers a small alcove in the hold made by a few large containers. Sounds of muffled grunts and steps accompanied by the occasional dragging noise disturbs the silence in the hold. Two figures emerge into the view of the camera, one being the Sith Acolyte Alisteri Haxim and the other being a struggling Human male with his hands bound and his mouth gagged. The Sith throws his captive on the floor beneath the sole light that illuminates the alcove, right in the center of the camera's view.
"Oops, looks like you tripped." The sarcastic tone does not go unnoticed in the recording as Alisteri kneels down to rip the gag off of the now-prone man. "Fething Sith scum! What do you want? Is dragging people out of their bed in the middle of the night just something you do now?" The man's voice is hostile, but the masked Acolyte gives no response or reaction at first. "I'd watch my tongue if I were you. You're only here because I want answers, otherwise I would've thrown you out the airlock by now." Alisteri stands up as he speaks, beginning to slowly circle around the man as he sits up to glare at the slowly moving Sith. Right on the peripheral of the camera's view, a movement in the darkness is seen. "Answers?! Hah!" The man scoffs and stops trying to turn to look at the other as he paces around him. "What? You come up with some sort of crime that I've committed? Oh no, better yet, do you want me to confess my sins? Huh, 'High Priest?'"
His stride is paused, Alisteri staring the man down for a few silent moments before moving fast and punching the man right in the gut to wind him.
As the captive gasps for air, the Sith grabs him by the hair and forces him to look into the emotionless mask adorning his face. "Don't. Act. Dumb. I am in no mood for games you insipid parasite." He releases his grasp on the bound man and begins circling him again. "My Prelates told me that they've seen you sneaking off, being suspiciously absent whenever we make a landing, always seeming to be sniffing where you don't belong. One quick look through the surveillance records and it was easy to discover why." The man opens his mouth to respond but before any words leave the Sith moves fast, clamping a hand over the man's mouth and letting out a growl. "Looking for spies. Trying to contact the New Imperials, the Alliance, even the fething Crusaders!"
The man begins to struggle against the hand on his mouth but Alisteri doesn't relent, seeming to hold the man in place with one hand. "And all for what exactly? Oh yes, let me remind you." His free hand reaches into his pocket, producing a small holo-recorder. One press later and an audio recording of the man's voice begins playing. :"Hello? Hello, listen you may not know me but I need your help. I'm on a ship full of refugees, we're from the Sith Empire but we're not Sith! Well, most of us aren't anyway. There is one Sith, he's some sort of cult leader for a lot of the people on the ship. I don't know what they plan to do with us all, but not everyone here agrees with the Sith. I don't care what you do to the Sith or his followers, but I need to strike first before they do. Please, just have mercy on the rest of us. Coordinates are enclosed in this message, please hurry before they figure out what I'm trying to do.":
There is more movement on the periphery, but neither of the two in the center of the view seem to notice. "Selling out me and my family to the enemy? You think they have mercy!?!" Alisteri's hand moves from the man's face to his throat, his fingers curling around and grasping before a breath can even leave. The only response that the Sith gets from the man is choked noises and struggled breathing. "You would dare betray us when we have offered you safety? We have fed you, brought you aboard our vessel, gotten you away from the instability of our fallen empire, and you would still call us your enemy!?"
The pained breaths increase as his fingers visibly begin to constrict, the man struggling in vain until the Sith finally releases and lets him fall back onto the floor of the hold.
The masked man stands still after slipping the holo-device back into his pocket, simply watching as the bound man struggles to get his breathing back under control and calm his beating heart. "You...you don't get it..." Another cough escapes the man before he fixes the Sith with a glare. "You Sith...you don't care about us. You don't care about the common people. Every gift or mercy the Sith Empire granted, another thousand would pay in blood because of you. I've heard tales of the massacres committed by your Darths, of entire worlds forever changed and scarred by you. Do you think I would trust you? Or any of your brainwashed followers?! You're all monsters! The biggest mistake of the New Imperials and the Jedi is that they didn't kill you all-" Another strike, this one a kick to the ribs, silences the man and condemns him to pained exhales once more.
"Do not compare me to those butcherers. Those who would destroy so many lives are not Sith, they are nothing but tyrants abusing their blessings." Each word is laced with malice, the heel of his boot seeming to press into the man's stomach more and more as he spoke. "I will not deny that those in the higher ranks of our empire abused their power and people. They stained and ruined the name of the Sith, of the Dark Side. And when repercussions came...so many fled and allowed Acolytes and Knights to fight and die in their stead. Do not lecture me of slaughter you traitor, I have been in war across more planets than you have ever seen!" He picks up his foot, allowing a few moments for the man to catch his breath before slamming his leg back down to rob him of it. "I have seen so many good people die for the empire that you would denounce so casually. I don't care for those that would tarnish the leadership and make us hated, they will have justice brought to them in time. But you, you would besmirch and betray me and my people who have done nothing but help those in need."
He sounded insulted, almost repulsed. "You make me sick. No better than the ignorant heathens in the New Imperial Order. You see Sith and see only the blood caused by a few of them, what tripe." Alisteri leans in, the man gasping as more weight is pressed onto him. "You have allowed yourself to be soured by the views of the ignorant and the unworthy. Your betrayal cannot be justified by this, your punishment is still due." He finally removes his foot and steps back, the movement in the peripheral now increasing as several pairs of eyes seem to poke out of the darkness. This does not go unnoticed, the man realizing that he is surrounded by the Sangnir within the cult, the Blooded. As the hungry creatures began to emerge from the darkness, the man shook in fear. Several of them let out growls or made faux bites towards him as Alisteri tapped his commlink.
"This is Haxim to bridge. Turn off all cameras and recorders within the cargo hold until my further command, if you wouldn't mind." A brief pause. :"Of course High Priest.": His hand falls back to his side, his gaze still on the bound man before him. The Blooded drew closer to the man, each eager to sate their thirst as the camera's feed begins to shut off.
[A-19 Visual Recording Stopped]
"Sic 'em."
[A-19 Audio Recording Stopped]
Tingel Arm Space
09:45 PM (Shipboard Time)
[ERROR] / [ERROR] / 867 ABY
[ENDING RECORD PLAYBACK]
