Private Ambition's Folly (Carnifex)

[Eira Dyn]

Location: New Cov
Equipment: Vibro-daggers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Outfit
Tag: Darth Carnifex

Blaster bolts fired all around the woman as she ran through the jungles of New Cov. Having escaped, she could hear the shouting, cursing behind her as attacks came in the form of the Force as well as the rapid shots. Luckily the dense trees were absorbing the shots, making her a hard target to hit. All she had to do was duck and weave through the trees. Be impossible to keep eyesight on for any length of time as well as keeping safe. There were just a few more meters till she was safe. Till the Jedi would find her and keep her would-be assassin at bay.

Even without the Force, she could sense the desperation of her wannabe assassin. The arrogance that this assassin thought they could get the drop on her and kill her swiftly had been proven wrong and she was going to live another day. Whoever had been sent this assassin had clearly hired a sloppy, overconfident assassin. Just as she stepped into the protective bubble of the Jedi, she felt the sharp pain in her shoulder, looking back the target saw a dagger buried into her shoulder. However, when she tried to see the assassin through the trees, only the shadows stared back. Nothing seemingly dangerous stared back but the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Danger was definitely still there.

The sounds of the Jedi rushing to her aid could be heard as the hairs slowly settled, showing that the assassin was retreating away. There was a sigh of relief from the target as she realised how close to death she had come.

Now she needed to inform the Jedi and soldiers so the assassin could be hunted down and arrested.

-----------------------------------------

Eira had failed her first target. The kill should have been easy, she had done the prep, set herself up for success but something happened. She made an incorrect move, triggering events that allowed her target escape. The Jedi now harbouring her target, Eira knew that she had to think of a new plan. A plan to ensure that she could find the target and get them at a later date. Failure wasn't something she could just accept right now. Even though she was bruised, burnt and bleeding. Fleeing the Jedi and their soldier dogs, it had been tricky for Eira to ensure her escape but luck favoured her in the end and she lost them.

At the ramp of her ship, panting hard Eira knew she had allowed herself to get sloppy in the kill. She failed to assess the situation appropriately and couldn't even ensure a rushed follow up kill. Her strategies were exhausted for now. She was needing to regroup and get away from New Cov. Eira was also dreading the fact that she was going to have to report her failing to Carnifex, someone she did not wish to report a failure to. Especially since it was something that was easily prevented and also highlighting the fact that her skills were not where they needed to be. Nor were they where she wanted them to be.

The feral assassin was determined to get better. To be the nightmare in the shadows.

"Send message to Darth Carnifex. Inform him that the target escaped my grasp, I need to spend some time recovering from injuries." Eira informed the computer to send a message to the Sith Lord. Eira dropped into a chair, checking over her injuries that sustained during her fleeing. What were the worst ones that needed her immediate attention and the ones she believed would heal over time. "Chit... I need to get some armour." Eira growled to herself softly.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The message passed along channels long thought dead, pulse ciphers passing along Eira's words into the darkest void of space. There the Malsheem loomed, titanic frame silhouetted by the fading light of a dying star. A great multitude of warships and galleons orbited the Malsheem, an endlessly circling armada dedicated to the steadfast defense of the Ark of the Sith. Further in, more starships pivoted and danced above the bristling defensive emplacements crisscrossing the Malsheem's dark gray hull; starfighters and interceptors weaving an intricate pattern by the light of their ion engines.

Her message was received by cryptologists hardwired into the Malsheem's communication receivers, their half-organic and half-mechanical minds deciphering the coded message and passing it along to it's intended destination. It would always be delivered in person, the ceremony of that could not be infringed upon. An officer was dispatched to bring the message to the Eternal Father. Whatever fear existed within the young officer was quenched by the devotion he held for the Eternal Father, whom he perceived to be the center of his galaxy.

Pressing on into the Eternal Father's sanctum once bidden entry, the officer passed through a menagerie of stone statues flanking a long corridor. Each statue was wrought with expressions of agony and horror, and unbeknownst to the young officer these were the calcified forms of Jedi, traitors, and Mandalorians rendered down into stone by dark Sith magic. Eyes only occasionally glancing at the statues, the young officer pressed on, and was allowed entry into a grand suite.

"Supreme Excellency," the officer's boyish voice announced, "A message from your apprentice, Lady Eira." He knelt and presented a small recording device, which held the message. It slipped out of his hand and soared across the empty space into the awaiting hand of the Eternal Father. He played the message and listened in silence, His expression never shifting. When it was done, He let it slip back into the officer's outstretched hand. He turned away, but for a moment paused and spoke His only command.

"Prepare to retrieve Lady Eira."

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Location: New Cov
Equipment: Vibro-daggers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Outfit
Tag: Darth Carnifex

Eira had passed out for several hours. The ship on autopilot, it responded to the pull of the Malsheem. When Eira finally stirred awake, her injuries still very apparent but better than she had been, Eira looked out the window and spotted the looming sight of the Malsheem. The monstrous vessel dwarfed her tiny shuttle. It was also a bad sign since Carnifex was going to be seeing her while she was still injured but also while she was unsuccessful. There had not been time dedicated to turn her failure around.

"Chit...chit..." Eira sighed softly, this was not going to be the meeting that Eira had wanted it to be. But she dusted herself off and rose out of the chair that she had slumped into when she passed out. "No point avoiding the inevitable..." Eira winced as she stretched forward and began the docking procedures to land in one of the Malsheem's docking bays. Removing her mask, Eira set it aside. There was no need for it and if there had been time, then the assassin would have changed her attire but there was not enough time for that. All she could was wash away the worst of the dried blood stains on her and make sure she looked a little healthier than she felt.

Once the shuttle docked on the Malsheem, Eira stumbled down the ramp and onto the docking bay floor. Breathing in sharply as she attempted to force the pain out of her mind. Refusing to show weakness, even if it was killing her the amount of pain that wracked through her body as she moved. This was her punishment, her burden to carry. There was likely more that would come her way when she had to confront the Sith Lord about her failings but there was nothing that she could do to help that. Acceptance in her failure was clear, regret it had happened but acceptance that she had to suffer the consequences in such failings.

All she could do was thinking that there would be times she could not succeed, that Eira might become one of the deadliest assassins in the future. But that did not mean she would succeed in every target that she killed. Instead, Eira focused on how she could demonstrate her forgiveness to the Sith Lord. What was Eira about to offer that could make up for her mistake?

That was the main issue now. What would she do next?

Moving through the Malsheem docking bay, she figured there would be an officer or droid being that would take her to Carnifex. She had not learned the layout of the Malsheem yet and there were doubts she ever would since it would be too much knowledge for someone other than Carnifex to have. "Where does Lord Carnifex wish to see me?" Eira called out as she stepped away from the ramp of her shuttle.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Our Lord Immortal awaits within His chamber," spoke the officer who stood awaiting her arrival. He was Veyrik Thalvos, the Master of Approaches, dressed in the black-and-crimson of a Kainate officer. His bearing was that of a blade, long, straight, and honed to a precise edge. Every movement was meticulously measured, each gesture deliberate as though dictated by ancient custom than bodily function. A chain of beskar links rested across his left shoulder, a special badge awarded to the Eternal Father's most cherished bondsmen; those who shared in His greatest slaughter.

It was Thalvos' sacred duty to oversee all comings and goings from the Sacred Ark, but so rare was it that he saw fit to meet an arrival in person. No guards shadowed him, a testament to the security in which was portrayed within the sacred bosom of the Malsheem. He had nothing to fear from this acolyte, crawling back from a failed mission.

Without another word, Thalvos turned and began to lead Eira into the shadowed arteries of the Malsheem, his stride unhurried yet irresistible. Behind them, the locking mechanisms of the hangar bulkhead rumbled into place with the dull roar of a thunderclap. She would have come to know the corridors of the Malsheem well enough, though they all resembled one another by design. There was a trick to it, something that only one who had spent enough years upon the Sacred Ark could see. Even so, the station possessed an intelligence of it's own, and more often than not the same path did not lead to the same destination twice.

Fortunately, the Malsheem saw it fit to speed them along their journey, for it so hated to intrude upon the Eternal Father's business. Thalvos stood aside at the entrance to the Eternal Father's chamber, allowing Eira to pass but not crossing the threshold himself. He'd already began to walk away as the door shut.

Darth Carnifex awaited within, seated at a desk forged from solid black obsidian. The surface was polished to a mirror's sheen, yet bore hairline fractures like cracked ice as red light gently emanated from within. Behind the desk stood a high-backed chair of heavy durasteel, plated in beaten black iron and upholstered in dark tanned hide. It was there the Eternal Father was seated, surrounded by the various trophies and relics that lined the walls.

His face, as always, was unreadable. When He did speak, it was slow and arduous, weighted with authority.

"Tell me what happened."

Eira Dyn ​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Location: Malsheem
Equipment: Vibro-daggers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Outfit
Tag: Darth Carnifex

Eira followed the Master of Approaches. It was strange to see him greeting her, Eira knew of him and had learned of many of those in high ranking within the Kainite, especially those that Carnifex surrounded himself with. It was important for the Sith Assassin to know who were more trusted and who to keep an eye on for behaving differently. This was not one of those times, while it was unusual and Eira held concerns why it happened, Eira also recognised that Carnifex would have demanded this. And there was no questioning him when a demand was made. Especially to those dedicated to the Kainites. Eira moved quietly, not slowly her pace or asking Thalvos to slow his. It would be a weakness and she was already in enough trouble. If Eira came here with something, a prize, holding a modicum of power then perhaps she might have been bolder.

For now, she moved at the pace set by another.

Her eyes were taking note of the Malsheem, while she had not spent much time on the massive ship. She had noticed some of the changes and fluidity in the ship. It was designed to be an impossibility. Intruders were doomed to navigate it. Interesting and Eira was curious how one could combat such high defences. If her training as an assassin taught her anything, it was that everything was penetrable and countered. It only took the right knowledge to hold. So, Eira was curious if there were ways to figure that out and learn how to find her way around without others realising it. That would be something of a surprise, to hold greater insight on something than others believed.

As they arrived at the entrance of the chamber where Carnifex was, the Master of Approaches left. Eira did not move from where she stood till the door shut behind him, ensuring that from what she could tell it was only herself and Carnifex in the chamber. Taking the steps forward, Eira bowed her head and lowered her gaze, looking down at the ground respectfully. When a couple meters from desk, Eira fell to her knees, "I overestimated my positioning. I believed it to be secure, it failed me and the target was able to flee into the Jedi protected grounds." Eira stated plainly, hiding nothing and offering no deceptions. This was a man where to train her, guide her into becoming a better assassin to protect Quinn.

If she did not accept his advice and suffer the penalties of her inadequacies then she would be set up to fail Quinn and Carnifex, making them both look terrible for putting their time and energy into a failure. Something Eira could not bear to happen. She had to be better.

"I attempted to fight and get the target but the Jedi and their soldiers... They were beyond my skills and I had to flee to the ship to recover. I had been planning to wait, recover and attempt again before reporting back." Eira admitted again. Providing a reason for the more dishevelled appearance than she would normally like to hold when meeting Carnifex.