Private A Quest for Power

[Keva]

The quest was a brutal one, and it spoke of the hyper-obsession the Sithling threw forward into all tasks. And what task had Keva brought upon herself this time? A simple one, a driving force of any Acolyte worth their weight. The pursuit of power, she had passed the test of strength that all Sith need: but she lacked the true power to hold the title of Knight, and so did she hunt. Digging for ancient knowledge and “forbidden” lores. And so she put that mind to work, and dug into the great repertoire of knowledge that the Sith provided. And as she dug, one name had stood out in particular: one Overseer Seki from the Barbatos Academy.

Maybe it should have been an initial guess, to go and head to an overseer and see what she could learn: bold and stupid was occasionally traits people enjoyed, for a brief period at least. And under normal circumstances, bold and stupid was always the bane of her existence. But such was the quest to power. And now that quest took her to Barbatos, the Chiss ferried herself in a derelict old freighter these days: a cheap and simple vessel that had yet to implode on itself. So it was perfect for her needs, less so for getting a clean landing from the Sith. They never did quite trust an acolyte with their own freighter, or the defector who came to the Sith wielding her own Lightsaber. But the distrust never stopped her, and it wouldn’t stop her from being bold enough to seek out the Overseer herself. Much to the jeering of some of the fellow Acolytes, worthless rabble. The lot of them. With that slight annoyance in her belt she carried on to find the Overseer.

And that is what she did, heading directly for the Sith’s quarters. Caution was thrown to the wind, a calculated venture: everything she did was. A gamble even, or so one could call it that. But Keva never gambled, at least, not without the odds always in her favor. And there she stood, standing outside the door and sending out a small ripple in the force so as to mark her presence.

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Overseer Seki​

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What awaited Keva was perhaps not what she hoped -​

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The room she had announced her presence too slid open with the rough grind of stone on stone - a door only activated by the Force. On the other side, however, was a man tall and deplorable - cybernetics running across every facet of his body, and with him a gaze of pitch, and a breath of hot iron. His grip was lightning fast, and tighter than she likely expected - ripping her into the room and onto the floor, though not so hard she couldn’t catch her balance were she fast.​

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The door slammed shut behind them, and in front of Keva sat the Overseer she sought, with her hair done in a beautiful geometric pattern, spikes to help assist a top bun, and a vaguely revealing dress that hung loose on her shoulder. She cocked a brow, waving the necrotic hand around to emphasize her speech -​

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“You wanted in, Acolyte. Now tell me what you want?”​

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Though she paused as her eyes narrowed, and a brow furrowed.​

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“And who, might I demand, is your Master?”​

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Keva​

 

[Keva]

Keva grunted, obviously she had some experience staying on her feet. Usual old military nonsense, she enjoyed ordinance too much not to learn a thing or two about keeping up appearances during a barrage. She was quickly brushing off the plain grey uniform she wore.

Plain, such a fitting word for Keva. She made no attempts at being gaudy or really stylizing her appearance at all: everything was just, plain, dull. There was that grey uniform, likely from the CEDF with it’s military-grade sharpness. The most interesting thing about her was the jagged scars across the left side of her face, a gift from the Vaagari raiders she despised. She let her face remain cold and blank, betraying no emotion.

“I am here to learn.” She paused for a moment, considering the best answer. “I don’t have one.”

She realized, there was no good answer.

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Overseer Seki​

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“Here to learn…”, she said as he lifted herself from the chair.​

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Her arms were blackened, though whole - it seemed more so that she simply scorched the skin, and even then it lacked the would be tell tale cracks that would imply the damage. Even her nails were done up, immaculate - though false by a glance - and her hands moved with a dexterity unbecoming of a necrotic wound.​

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“So your solution, was to enter the Overseer’s personal chambers, and demand to be taught?”​

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Her gaze was terrifying, golden orbs of malice that betrayed the calm and placade control she held onto her face. They burned, stoked the flames of the Force around them in ways that seemed ever too subtle for the sake of war, but ever forceful for a conversation with an Acolyte; but she didn’t move to harm Keva as the eyes of the Sith Lord might’ve implied. Instead, she brought that blackened husk of a hand and gently ran it across the scars on Keva’s face, studying them before looking at the Chiss back in the eyes.​

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“Did you get these from an ex-lover? Someone close to you, or someone distant?”​

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Keva​

 

[Keva]

Keva remained still, like a droid. Some of the various skills you picked up when serving under those harsher Chiss in the Ascendancy. Play into the stereotypes and what not.

She remained unafraid of the necrotic arms, with her own left forearm replaced by a skeletal cybernetic it added to some minor extent a new familiarity to the Overseer. Though the two were wildly incomparable. She took a slight pause before speaking again.

“Not a demand. Just an upfront request.”

Whilst she had trouble conveying emotion some time, the attempt was made to at least add some minor level of humor to it. Though then came the question about the scars, and real emotion boiled forward. It was hate, true, and total, hate.

“Vaagari trash. A skirmish at the borders, they attempted to board our craft in a slave raid.”

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“Slave raid.”, Seki seemed to mused, as she pulled back her hand.​

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She almost seemed to enjoy the word, the way she repeated it more song like then statement - as though it were a joke to her. She didn’t laugh, but there was an obvious smile on her lips as she maneuvered her way across the room to find a decanter full of some unknown, purple liquid. A tumbler soon filled, she turned back, leaned against the small table, and looked Keva over as she sipped on her drink.​

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“I enjoy confidence, but I prefer it tempered.”, she said with less amusing mockering to her tone.​

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“Coming in here, making an ‘upfront request’ is unfounded - and in poor taste. But I will hear your idea - what separates you from the thousands of the academy? Why do you need to be taught?”​

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Keva​

 

[Keva]

Keva was far from sharing such amusement, Vaagari slave raids had plagued much of her life whilst she was
in service to the CEDF. That brutal sort of folk who unleashed their primiative, but albeit destructive weaponry had turned the humble little commander into a creature far more vicious and brutal than even the slavers she so despised.

She stood in silence for a time, whatever the drink was. It looked far from something that would usually enter her pallet. Boring Chiss Prude. Her response to the comment on her upfront confidence was given a quick, military-esqu, response.

“Understood, my apologies.”

She paused for a moment, she needed to consider the right answer. And she decided that the right answer was going to be the truthful one, and a small delve into the depths of the philosophy that dictated her every action.

”I do not seek power for meaningless self-gain. I require Power to fix a broken Galaxy, degenerate life is abundant and destroys the Galactic order in pursuits of self-interest, greed, and misguided notions of freedom. I lack the power to make a change, and I need it.”

What a soap box.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Seki seemed to turn his chin upwards, a long nail lightly tapping against her chin as she seemed to study something Keva nor the other Sith in the room could see - instead, she remained quiet. For a long moment, she seemed to wait; and tension rose in the room as the possibility she intended to end the Sith’s life became more and more likely.​

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Yet, just as it had hit an apex - she broke the silence with a smile;​

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“How selfless of you.”, she said with a cruel expression.​

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“You know, I once had a husband - we were convinced that the Dark Side was our ticket to freedom, that it was the single greatest solution to any problem we faced, that we could change the galaxy ourselves... “​

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A black nail tapped against her chin once more, seemingly pausing to reminisce about the good times before sighing, and glancing away before moving to grab her drink;​

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“And yet, he now lies dead by my hand, and I learned a harsh lesson - Good intentions are a lie, and I don’t believe for a second that is your goal; even if you do.”​

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A drink from her liquor -​

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“Yet, more often than not, you’ll have to learn that lesson yourself long before you believe me. Pain is the greatest teacher, afterall.”, she said with a quaint laugh.​

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“So tell me, what do you believe will allow you to change the galaxy? The Force, a lightsaber perhaps?”​

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Keva​

 

[Keva]

Tension with the risk of death? Nothing new to Keva. She had gotten very good at getting herself into situations where she would be beaten to a pulp, killed, or otherwise maimed. She had some ineptitude when it came to self preservation it seemed. Though thankfully, it would seem that she had escaped all 3 for now.

”The Dark Side is not freedom, it is damnation. I am aware of what it will do to my body, peace demands blood. And other nonsense,”

She was at the very least, self aware of the soap box she had a habit of jumping on. She nodded at the notion of pain teaching, a slight twist and whine of her metallic cybernetic being the true affirmation of her acknowledgmen.

”Neither of those can fix anything. They are means to an end, Sith only respect power. Therefore power is necessary. I can’t do it alone, I need what is closer to the broken texts of ancient Crusades rather than some moronic vigilante work. ”

Dumb, or insane. Maybe Keva was a bit of both.

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“Peace demands peace.”, Seki retorted.​

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“Let me phrase my question differently - Yes, it is true that Sith only respect power; but what is power to you? I can tell you a thousand ways to be powerful, from political machinations, charisma, finesse with a blade, to the untold knowledge left in the catacombs of Sith Tombs. A thousand ways, child - but I need to hear what exactly you have in mind.”​

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She idled through the room to a computer, tapped a few buttons on the screen, and a hologram appeared in the center of the room. In the middle, Darth Bane appeared - and within his eyes was the harsh reality of the Dark Side as Keva seemed to know it; corruption, golden and powerful in the light of the room. The image remained still, but held a lightsaber in his hand, orientated in such a way he seemed to be giving a command -​

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“Darth Bane was a legend for a variety of reasons - but he was neither the best duelist nor force user. Leave alone his abysmal Sith Sorcery and finesse… Yet, he is well regarded as one of the best Sith in the history of the Order. Do you know why this is, Keva?”​

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Keva​

 

[Keva]

“Peace demands blood.”

She dug into her position, elaborating a bit more on just what the concept meant. Oh boy, another soap box.

”So long as those who wish to damage the peace are allowed to live, there can be no peace. Aggressors must be utterly destroyed if there is ever to be peace.”

Certainly did the little Chiss hold enough bloodlust in her for a thousand Acolytes, but it was just simple logic in her broken perception of the world: just another of the doctrines that fueled her every action. Though she listened intently to the wider notion of power, a new perspective. It seems her quest was going to have many things it needed to reach.

”Physical power is what I need, I have already shown my fortitude with the loss of my arm. But I lack the ability to show my power as a blunt instrument. Lightsabers, the force, and all the ways those two things intertwine.”

It was rather tame, all and all. But the simplicity of such a thing is what made it so important in Keva’s mind. Her red eyes turning to the Hologram, examining it for a minute.

”Records from the time are fractured, but various texts credit him with the creation of the Rule of Two.“

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“It sounds like you’re the aggressor, Keva. You’ve already corrupted your view - and you’ve not even noticed.”, she said with a mocking grin.​

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Her fingers dainty moved towards the hologram, and while they couldn’t truly rest on the figure - they moved through with a waif like gentleness before she spoke;​

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“He was one of the best for his philosophy. For his ability to find the physical that empowered him - the Orbalisks for example, but philosophy especially; his Rule of Two set our order forward by generations, cut out the costly nature of our fighting, and did more for us than any prior interpretation. He was powerful for his intelligence, but he was a poor Sith.”, Seki said as he looked over the hologram.​

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“If its power you’re looking for, then power you can receive.”, Seki said with a momentary sigh, as though she was disappointed.​

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“The Academy will be open to you, as it is to all Sith; and you can study with the teachers at your leisure. A room will be given to you, and a droid will be assigned - a Msinini. Is there anything else, Keva?”​

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Keva​

 

[Keva]

She made no response, she knew this was a path to pure damnation. A sick twisting of her initial desires, but there was no other way: and if she became what needed to be destroyed? So be it. This was the path, nothing else would suffice to finally bring the Galaxy to peace.

She looked out over to the hologram, mentally taking note of the whole thing. Fascinating. It added a new perspective, new paths of the sith to follow later on. But right now, physical prowess was the priority: she could expand once she proved herself worthy of Knighthood and Military command.

”I thank you, Overseer. This has been an eye-opening lesson.”

She gave a cursory bow, presuming that was Sith custom at least.

”Shall I take my leave?”

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“You shall.”, Seki said as he moved to find a seat once more. The slit on her dress came up a slight tad too high, but she crossed her legs to refrain from being too lewd.​

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The Knight that provided her security, if it were even necessary, slammed his large cybernetic hand on the door - opening it with a forced slam. It slid open, and the man goaded her outside to the durasteel hallway as another group of Sith were walking by - and while a few gave her a sideways glance, none gave her too much attention. It seemed the grounds were open to her perusal, and with it - a room would be sent to her holopad, were she to have one, or else a teacher would guide her to such.​

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She was officially a student of the Academy of Barbatos.​

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Keva​