Private A Lesson Of The Pathos

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere | Location: Fortress of Void

After a day of travel, the Marr class Star Destroyer finally arrived in the Pybus system near the planet of Pybus. Insatious stood on the bridge, watching the lush-coloured green planet wearing his dusty and weathered cloth. It had been quite some time since the Sith Lord had been back to his base of operation, but he was called back after receiving one of his weekly updates from the fortress' cloning laboratory. Some of the new batches had shown signs of individuality and Insatious' chief scientist warned of possible defection like Subject-TC11.

Not wanting the clones to evolve individuality and the foolish idea of them being anything else than objects, no attack dogs, Insatious saw it important to oversee the problem himself. As such, he brought his ever-so-broody apprentice with him, without telling him anything about the clones, other than they were giving Insatious' fortress an inspection. Furthermore, the Sith Lord had plans to punish Cas/Cadere, further, for thinking he was strong enough to fight him on Korriban.

Standing left of the Sith Lord, was Commander Morr, a young Imperial Officer, only a year or two older than Cadere. To the right of the Sith Lord, stood Lilliana Vizsla, Ki'an Vizsla wife, wearing her beskar'gam clad in dark blue and grey. She looked exactly like herself with the exception of having a pair of icy cold eyes of a professional assassin.

Standing between the Lord of Hunger and Lilliana, was a little nine-year-old Aerin, holding proudly onto her grandfather's hand as she looked with wide eyes at the lush and green planet in the distance.

It's been almost 6 years, since the day Ki'an and Cas had failed to save the young girl as well as lost Lilliana to Insatious. Despite having saved two of the three, the reveal and loss of Lilliana when it was revealed that Ki'an's wife was actually a sleeper agent and more importantly, Insatious' daughter.

Meanwhile, Cadere had been called to the bridge and was expected to show as his Master, Lord Insatious, wanted to speak to him.

The moment Cadere entered the large bridge, his eyes would find Insatious along with Aerin, a child he not only failed to rescue with Ki'an but hadn't seen in 6 years. Aerin was dressed in simple black robes with a stylised black belt. Aerin was smiling and giggling over a joke her grandfather had just told, by which Insatious only laughed back a soft and kind grandfatherly laughter.

It was a far cry from the Insatious Cas knew.

 

[Cadere]

The helmet of the Dark Jedi remained rested on the counter top, its wearer was stood over it, leaning in front of the counter. A mirror, resting above it, contained the distorted features of the former Jedi Knight Cas Tynen. Now going by the monicker of Cadere, as he stared at the reflection and it stared back at him, it felt as if with every passing day, he strayed further and further from the man he was.

Stubble filled his chin and his hair had grown to reach his shoulders. He hadn't been sleeping, and barely ate, showing on his gaunt face and bagged eyes, Cadere's skin was pale, no longer bronze but a sickly tan that signified how much the Dark side had corrupted the former Jedi Knight. Further indicating his fall were his eyes, his yellow eyes fuelled by rage and hatred.

The face that stared back at him filled him with hate, hatred of the person he had to become. Everyday he mourned the man he once was, mourned those that cared for him, those he had to hurt in order to protect them. Cadere's expression matched that of his helmet, expressionless and emotionless. Unable to bear the face in front of him any longer, Cadere reached for his helmet and placed it over his head.

He had been summoned by his 'Master', for what purpose? The Kiffar did not know. But he would undoubtedly find out, as much as he didn't care. Making his way to the bridge, the Dark Jedi festered in his annoyance at being pulled away from both his studies, and pursuit of more knowledge.

As he arrived on the bridge, Cadere's heart stopped and a pit enveloped his stomach. Behind the red visor, his yellow eyes were wide in a state of shock. The joyous laughter of the young girl overtook the deafening silence that filled his ears. It was... Aerin, and with her, her mother. Years ago, he had failed to rescue them from the clutches of their monstrous forebear. Cadere's open palm curled into a fist, hanging at his sides as he watched the Dark Lord laugh and joke with the little girl he'd stolen all those years ago.

Flames of rage burned within him, reminding him of yet another reason he had to kill Lord Insatious - to reunite them with their family, with Ki'an. Taking a quiet breath, Cadere composed himself, turning the fires of fury into ice, focusing his rage. The Kiffar would not approach his 'Master', but he knew that his presence was known to the Sith Lord standing a few metres in front of him.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere | Location: Fortress of Void

The Kiffar was right in that the Sith Lord knew of his presence, but Insatious completely ignored it while focusing on Aerin. With a warmly smile, the old Sith rose from his crouched position and turned his attention, not to Cadere, but to his other granddaughter who soundlessly had walked past the Dark Jedi with hands folded behind her back. Holding Aerin's hand, the girl's wide smile spread when she saw her cousin Del . "Now, run along child, Lady Delphine will play with you while grandfather's working" explained Insatious nodding in the direction of Delphine. Aerin looked up at her grandfather, "can you teach me how to jump really really high, when you're done?" Asked Aerin looking up at her grandfather with hopeful eyes.

"Of course" winked Insatious, which earned him a wide grin from the little girl as she dashed to Delphine who pulled the girl into a hug. Aerin had of course no idea who Cadere were as he wore a mask nor remembered much of what happened that faithful day when she was stolen. Delphine ignored Cadere, cause Aerin was speaking excitedly as they both left the bridge.

As soon as both granddaughters had left, the warm grandfatherly aura disappeared as the Sith Lord turned to his daughter, Lilliana. "Status on Ki'an Vizsla ?" Asked the Sith Lord. It was very clear what he did, was to get under the Dark Jedi's skin, test him, push him and see how much the man could take before snapping. It was almost an 'I dare you' type of rubbing it in the Jedi's face. In fact, ever since Cadere had come crawling back after surviving the orbital bombardment, the Sith Lord had straight out taunted the Jedi with stunts like these.

Whereas before, the Sith Lord had played along with his apprentice's bullshit, but now? Insatious just straight out did things to haunt him with.

"The Mandalorian is putting on a face for his two remaining children, father. But, it's obviously a facade of a coping mechanism" reported Lilliana stoic and cold, completely opposite of the warm motherly present she gave her family before Insatious introduced himself.

The Sith Lord appeared to be thinking for a bit until a slimmer of a smile spread across the slim crackled lips, "Stay your distance and fire a couple of times at him for a bit, report his reactions" decided Insatious, finding his own order quite amusing. Was it childish and sadistic? Yes. Did it put a smile on the old man's face? Also yes. Hey, a Sith Lord should also have some fun now and then. Without a tell of emotions on Lilliana's face, she bowed to her father and headed for the door of the bridge, completely ignoring Cas. Whether she knew who he was or not, she gave no tell.

A smirk spread on his lips when he finally acknowledged his apprentice like he didn't already know Cas had been standing and waiting. "Come" ordered Insatious to Cadere like the Dark Jedi were some kind of attack dog to be ordered around. Turning his attention back to the glass, facing the green planet now as the Star Destroyer held 100 kilometres above the ground, just shy of the ozone layer, his smirk faltered into a more serious one.

"It is time to show you true power, my apprentice" explained Lord Insatious as to the reason why they were, where they were.

 

[Cadere]

Practically burning a hole through the Sith Lord's head, Cadere's red visor remained locked on Darth Insatious - and intensely so. So transfixed on the many ways he wished to kille him, as well as imagining the glee he would feel committing it, Cadere had neglected to realise Del had passed him. His intense gaze upon Insatious only ceased when Insatious commanded Aerin to leave with Del, only then did he realise the girl was on the bridge.

As the red-haired girl passed him with her cousin in hand, the Dark Jedi and Acolyte did not acknowledge each other. Their relationship was still on very thin ice, more so following the events with Jedi Master Queesto and the capture of the 'Elryn' clone. She had defied him, and now she was aware of his past - at this moment in time, it was for everyone's best interest if the two did not acknowledge each other.

With Del gone, Insatious' grandfatherly facade had evaporated and was now replaced with his usual cold and twisted demeanour. The Sith Lord once more managed to attract Cadere's interest with the mention of Ki'an. The Kiffar's head twitched upward, focusing on the words exchanged between Lilliana and her... father. What he ordered the Mandalorian to do was nothing short of unsurprising, it was no doubt for his own sick amusement as well as to get a rise out of Cadere. The fallen Knight's desire to kill Darth Insatious agonised him - but good things always come to those who wait.

"Come."

Insatious had finally acknowledged his presence, and a nauseating feeling began to form in his stomach, churning it. He would now have to interract with his 'Master', something he hated doing as it was always a test of his ability to remain calm and focused, especially after what happened on Korriban. Hesitantly, Cadere took a single step forward before gritting his teeth and making the complete journey over to his 'Master'. Stopping next to the Morellian that towered over him, he waited for he had to say next.

"It is time to show you true power, my apprentice."

Cadere's body remained positioned opposite the viewport, but his head slightly turned in the direction of Insatious. "Why?" he asked.

It was no secret to either of them that Cadere's plan was to one day kill him and vice versa, not to mention the pure disdain they had for one another. Cadere was puzzled by the notion that Insatious would reveal this information to him. Unless, of course, he was just doing it to brag about how much more powerful he was than the Dark Jedi. For now.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere | Location: Fortress of Void

Without looking down at his apprentice, focusing on the expansive lush planet below them a wicked smirk formed until he turned around. However, before he started to walk away, he placed his hand on Cadere's shoulder, "because I know, my dear boy, deep down you crave power your old Master, Sakadi Marathi Sinvala , would never be able to give you" telepathically spoke the old Sith Lord to Cadere. It was a complete mockery of Cas' old Jedi Master's teachings and her inability to speak as a mute. It was obviously another sickly taunt to the Dark Jedi's past and indirectly failure as a Jedi, having to crave more and more power.

Releasing his hand from Cadere's shoulder, the Sith Lord began to walk towards the exit of the bridge. "Prepare my ship," ordered Insatious to an officer, expecting his apprentice to follow him like the hateful attack dog he was.

The trip down from the Star Destroyer to the planet was quiet unless Cas broke the silence in the transporter as he along with Insatious and four Death Troopers flew down to the planet. While the transport ship didn't have any windows, the wave of unfathomable darkness hit the Dark Jedi like a wall radiating Dark Side energy much like Dathomir, however, on a much more concentrated level from one point on the planet.

As soon as Cas exited the ship, along with Insatious and his guards, he was greeted by a monumental-sized castle of radiating darkness. Not only was the castle radiating sickly corruption, a thinly wailed hue of green cradled the castle. Even the very darkened cloudy sky flashed a sickly green hue to them as if the very sky was infected by the Dark Side of the Force around the castle.

Looking around the large but long platform to the actual castle was surrounded by an expansive lush, wild and most likely highly dangerous jungle. The long platform was built on a massive pillar disappearing into the jungle below as closer to the castle Cas came, the bigger and more oppressive the castle felt.

Upon entering the large gate and getting inside the castle, he was greeted by an administration of standard Imperial decorative sterilization. Behind the wide desk, three personnel were situated working while two guard droids stood in each corner of the room active and highly armed. Cadere would quickly notice the personnel's cowering eyes of the Sith Lord as they tried to avert their gaze.

Insatious though completely ignored his personnel and walked over to an empty wall to the left of the administration desk. Placing his hand on the wall, Dark Side energy expanded for just a brief moment before red Sith runes lit up around the hand and a double-sized blast door hidden, decorated like the wall opened up. Behind the wall-looking blast door, was a turbolift, which Insatious entered with his Death Troopers and expected his apprentice to follow.

 

[Cadere]

Cadere's rage and hatred continued to seethe when the Sith Lord touched him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Slowly, his head turned toward the hand before he glanced up at the man that had tormented him. As he explained his reasoning for showing him 'true power', Cadere's head returned to the direction of the viewport. Insatious then moved to leave the bridge, Cadere remained in place for a few short moments before he turned to look at the Sith Lord over his shoulder. His fury pulsated, the Dark Jedi spun on his heel and followed after him and boarded Insatious' shuttle.

He remained silent over the course of the ride from the dreadnought to the planet below. Swimming in his thoughts, he still deliberated on why Insatious was doing this - his previous answer wasn't sufficient, nor did it make sense. Leaning forward, Cadere's fingers locked together and he looked toward his feet. Then he felt it, the shift in the Dark side. By this point, Cadere was used to the feeling of the Dark side but he could still tell when he was in the presence of great Dark side power. Where was he being taken? What was the significance? Cadere didn't like being in the dark. Metaphorically.

When the shuttle docked, Cadere exited the ship and accompanied Insatious as they moved toward the large castle ahead of them. "What is this place?" he asked.

The castle was like a lightening rod, absorbing all the energy of the Dark side that surrounded them. Upon entering it, it didn't take the Kiffar long to realise this was another one of Insatious' bases, or even his main one. Judging by the infantry and other service workers that were housed within, the fear that leaked from them was also a dead giveaway.

Watching as the Sith Lord opened up a hidden entry way within a wall surrounded by Sith runes, Cadere turned to look behind him, giving one last look at the feeble workers that stupidly chose to dedicate their lives to Darth Insatious. Cadere then moved to the turbolift, stepping in and standing next to his 'Master' in silence.

"We both know the rule of the Sith, we both know how this ends one day." Cadere stated "What's your angle? Why go out of your way to help me get stronger?"

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere | Location: Fortress of Void

Despite Cadere's blatant confession of betrayal in the turbolift, the four Death Troopers had no reaction to the spoken words and stood as stoic as ever. There were no windows, no view of their surroundings with only the lit lamp above their head in the turbolift as it descended into the pits of hell of the unknown despair.

The old Sith was quiet for a brief moment, contemplation washing over his features of deep thoughts. A crack of a smirk faintly gifted Insatious' lips, "What do you actually know of the Dark Side?" Asked Insatious to his apprentice, raising his open palm in front of them. A conjured ball of pure destructive crimson energy swirled in his palm, dancing its endless aggressive nature in an attempt to be released from its prison. "Not the warnings the self-important Jedi Masters feed every padawan to keep them in line. No, true knowledge of the Dark Side of the Force" began Insatious, staring intensely at the wild and writhing energy in his palm.

The destructive crimson energy in the Sith Lord's palm felt almost mesmerising as it writhed like a wild animal full of selfishness, fear, and aggressive nature. A glow caressed the old Sith's face, lighting his already old features into a sickly crimson hue. "True knowledge of the Dark Side is hunger..." continued the Sith Lord, but eerie darkness had fallen over Insatious' eyes as he stared into dark energy.

"...Mindnumbingly raw hunger..."

Light started to flicker inside the turbolift, and the sound of the turbolift moving sounded more like an annoyingly hissing in the distance, than a mechanical structure moving through a manufactured tube. The Death Troopers' reddish flesh armour felt nightmarish, more so than usual, like it was breathing off-beat to the actual Death Trooper's own haggard breathing.

Placing his other hand over the crimson energy in his palm, faint but quickly building cacophonous screams filled the Dark Jedi's mind and yet it didn't feel like an attack from Insatious. The screams were from the Force itself, more precisely, from the ball of energy held within the palm of Insatious' hands.

The cacophonous screams felt like pain, torturous pain of madness as it got more and more twisted by the Sith Lord. The entire being of his Sith Master, seemed to flicker like the lamp above them, showing his old grandfatherly appearance in the light, but his proper twisted form of devouring Darkness in the dark. Like a mirror between a world of light and one of dark.

Until everything went back to normal with a loud BING for arriving at their destination. It was very eerie and strange as it felt more like a blackout for Cadere than anything had really happened. Insatious had simply closed his fingers, snuffing out the destructive energy and exited with Death Trooper's behind him leaving Cas to follow. insatious looked the same, the flickering of light, torturous screaming from the Force or flashing of shapes of the Sith were nowhere to be seen or heard.

However, an explanation could very well be that the planet and fortress emanated natural Dark Side energies and only tried to sink their claws in Cas' own Fallen soul.

*********​

Cadere would find himself led through many corridors and hallways, meeting even more Death Troopers, but many different variants of them. Some were of a complete black and white flesh armour, Sunken eyes, no lips and locked jaws in place. Others were of complete black flesh armour with bars in front of their mouth. However, one type that did stand out compared to the rest, were the types that had no eyes, no nose and clad in black and red coloured skin, which wasn't armoured. Well, with the exception of the helmet-shaped head.

The strange-looking soldiers made even more strange clicking sounds, snapping their heads in the direction of where sounds came from. They had razor-sharp claws and looked more like an animal than a soldier with how they walked. it was very clear Insatious had taken Cas to his base of operation, even though the Sith Lord knew Cas wanted him dead.

They passed more rooms on each side, giving the apprentice a glimpse into what went on in the fortress. One room, in particular, might catch the dark-skinned apprentice's attention. Passing by the opening, he saw children, all of different ages, some as young as seven, were trained by failed clones.

They continued down the corridor and turned left which opened up to an even bigger and expansive hallway with even more blast doors on each side. However, the Sith Lord stopped by one nondescript blast door out of many and planted his hand on the screen, by which the door opened up into an impressive and extremely oppressive prison.

Standing at the bottom of the prison, Cas could see hundreds if not almost a thousand cells tugged away all around him. While it was hard to see every cell, most if not all of the cells that someone in them.

A voice from their side spoke. "Welcome my Lord, the usual?" Asked the voice, a voice Cas would have known extremely well. It was the same voice he learned to hate with a passion, back when he was captured with Ki'an and tortured in their own cell. Looking towards where the voice came from and he would be met by a lanky gentleman. Short, slightly greased hair and dressed in a black and dark grey uniform and stood only a few feet from them, which strange had managed to remain completely out of sight when Insatious and Cadere entered the prison.

"No, not today doctor Voxan. I will let my apprentice choose his own training partner" explained Insatious, giving Cadere a knowing look of gleeful, but twisted delight. "Very well my Lords," accepted the doctor and bowed, before leading Cadere and Insatious to the first cell. The cells were no more than six feet by nine feet in size as the Dark Jedi were presented with all manners of life of his chosen. Everything from children to elders. From the strong to the weak. From stubborn to desperate for the sweet embrace of the kiss of death.

"We have many candidates to choose from if my ever so humble suggestion would be considered. This one here is particularly stubborn and hard to crack, despite my frequent attempts to apply your teachings, my Lord. I'm sure your apprentice will find great pleasure in cracking him" explained Doctor Voxan with a hint of annoyance in his voice and stopped by a cell on the second floor.

The cell looked like all the others, with a metal bed and a toilet. However, when Cadere's eyes fell upon the prisoner, who stood by the edge of the force field that worked as a door, he looked at non-other than Adrian Wyrmstone . The Jedi Master, back when Cas were a Jedi Knight and his padawan Yenna aided in tracking down a particularly dangerous criminal on Naboo.

Apart from the dull white prison outfit, long messy black hair and slight malnourished look to his body, it was without a doubt, the flamboyant Jedi Master.

"Voxxyboxxy, my dear! I was beginning to think you didn't like our delightful talks" spoke Adrian with a smirk of stubbornness as he leaned against the wall right by the force field. "As you can see, I still haven't broken this one, but give it time" explained Doctor Voxan, visibly annoyed by the nickname Adrian had given him.

"Oh my, you look dangerously broody, darling. Are you here to keep me company? My Safeword is 'don't stop'" Spoke Adrian with a flirtatious wink of defiance, looking over the Dark Jedi, Cadere, completely unaware of it actually being Cas Tynen. Doctor Voxan visibly cringed, having already experienced first-hand how much punishment Adrian could take, only for the disgusting man to ask for more.

Insatious had remained quiet through it all, standing behind Cas and Doctor Voxan, curious to see how his apprentice would react to seeing an old ally of his when he was a Jedi. Insatious had managed to capture Adrian after he learned of his apprentice's interaction with the Jedi Master. However, despite being captured and put through various means of torture, nothing truly seemed to penetrate the Jedi Master's disgusting and twisted mind... yet.

"Moving on, we have a ten-year-old Mandalorian girl who might be more fun to break. She is surprisingly hardened for a child" explained Doctor Voxan, moving on like they were at an animal shelter to adopt a pet.

 

[Cadere]

Cadere's hidden eyes trailed off into the distance following Insatious' question, the Sith Lord had actually managed to make him consider. What did he actually know of the Dark side aside from the views of his Jedi instructors. Cadere would not have to wait for long as Insatious would provide an answer soon after asking, The ball of energy's crimson hue illuminated Cadere's black mask as he watched, listening to his "Master". He called it a "hunger", hunger for what? Knowledge? Power? Both? It was something to think about.

The Dark Jedi watched as the Sith Lord placed his free hand over the ball of energy, the lights began to flicker, the turbolift began to emit an unnatural sound, and he began to hear what seemed like screaming in his head. However, it wasn't the screams of one person - it was the Force itself - Insatious had such a command of the Dark side that he could contort and twist it to his will. So much so that it even pained, wounded the Force. Cadere detested him, Insatious was a being of pure power and... pure evil. His drive to kill him had never been stronger.

Finally, they arrived at their destination and everything stopped came to a stop, the lights, the screaming, all of it. This planet, the Dark sided energies it housed was unparalleled and no doubt served to enhance Insatious' power. Cadere soon exited the turbolift and followed behind Insatious and the Death Troopers. As he travelled further inside, the Kiffar soon realised that this place was none other than the Dark Lord's base of operations - he'd finally been allowed to see it, after all these years.

Cadere followed Insatious in what seemed to be a colossal prison, no doubt housing his captives and/or experiments. A voice then addressed Insatious, it didn't take him long to figure out who it was and a blaze of fury set off within him. Seeing as the man approached, Cadere forced himself to not kill the man on the spot for all the toruturous experiences he had put both him and Ki'an through. Voxan was his name. Cadere made sure to remember that, for one day he'd find the man at the end of his blade. Insatious made mention about a "training partner".

"This is to be another test is it?" he said in a monotone voice, hiding his disapproval.

As Voxan led Insatious and himself through the prison, Cadere would come across a familiar face who had managed to get himself captured - Adrian Wyrmstone . A potential... victim. Judging by his demeanour, he was as carefree and nonchalant as he was before. The Dark Jedi ignored Adrian's attempts at flirting and to get under his skin, choosing to move on with Voxan.

They then came upon a Mandalorian girl, with Voxan expressing some excitement at the prospect of torturing her. Recalling his own torture and realising what the little girl must have gone through already enraged the Dark Jedi, and he felt his fingers tighten and curl as he gripped Voxon's throat, choking him with the Force. He continued this for another thirty seconds before ultimately realising death was too good for the doctor. When he would eventually get his hands on him, he would truly make him suffer.

"The Jedi." he stated, giving both Insatious and Voxon his answer. At least with Wyrmstone, the man was of equal level and was capable of undergoing his torture.

Darth Insatious