Private And Power Was Given To Him That Sat Thereon To Take Peace From The Universe [Sylvia]

[Darth Carnifex]

The conflict had been short.​

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A multitude of warships had dropped out of hyperspace simultaneously, jamming transmissions and erecting gravity wells to prevent their escape. Ion cannons levied volley after volley, pelting their starship with disabling energy that left them adrift and helpless. Tractor beams ensnared the ship and dragged it into the hangar bay of the largest vessel, clamps reaching down from the walls to moor the ship in place before the ships disappeared into hyperspace just as quickly as they had come. ​

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She would awaken in a small lightless room, the walls and floor constructed out of a hard abrasive material that made it painful and irritating to the touch. Her arms were shackled at the wrist, a thin but inordinately strong cable connected each manacle to the other. Another cable traveled down from the center of the previous cable to connect to similar manacles shackled around her ankles. Her feet were bare, her clothing reduced to the lower layer she had been wearing previously withing going so far as to make her indecent. Anything she had been carrying on her person had been confiscated by whoever held her in detention.​

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A loud whirring sound accompanied the door to her cell rushing open, painful bright light spilling in before the rough outline of a guard moved to block the majority of it. He pointed a baton at her, the tip lighting up as an electrical shock pulsated through her restraints. ​

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"Get moving, He wants to speak with you."​

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Whether through her own volition or through being forced by the guard, Sylvia Virtos was removed from her cell and escorted down a long slanted hallway. Any attempt to speak to the guard was met by another harsh electrical shock, the man not speaking to her for the entire trip and instead used his baton to lightly prod her in the right direction when necessary. They went up in a lift, ascending many levels of the Star Destroyer before they reached the correct floor.​

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She was guided to an innocuous doorway, which opened at their approach. The guard practically flung her through the threshold, Sylvia undoubtedly landing on her hands as the door slammed shut behind her with the guard on the other side. When she glanced up, she would be greeted by the sight of an entire wall of artifacts and trophies. Dozens of treasures collected from across the galaxy; pilfered from Jedi Temples, stolen from cultural landmarks, and even the heads of ferocious beasts that had been slain on the hunt.​

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There was even a section of the wall reserved for the braids of Jedi Padawans.​

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And there were many braids pinned to it.​

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"Acolyte Virtos, a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face." The source of the voice came from behind her, right where the door she entered had once been. In its place was a towering figure of immense physicality, his muscular body swaddled in rich colorful red and gold fabrics. A single lightsaber hung from his waist, larger than average and constructed out of dark cerakote. His face was uncovered, the features of which were intimately familiar to all of those who had spent their youth in the Sith Empire.​

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The former Emperor.​

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Darth Carnifex.​

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He smiled warmly, a facade to anyone who truly knew his nature, and extended a hand to help Sylvia up off the floor. "I apologize for my guard's crude nature, they are lesser creatures who do not know better of their own nature. But they are useful in this regard. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Anything you require, I will provide."​

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Danger
Darth Carnifex

---

​

So this was how Sylvia's past would catch up to her in earnest.

Everything hurt, all around her was black, her recent memories were a blur. A chill caressed her bare skin, forcing her hazy consciousness back into focus against her will. Despite being covered in goosebumps and physically feeling worse than she had felt in a long time, the subject of her main worry ironically was not even herself. All she could think about was Elle, and she prayed they had not found her too.

All sense of time had been lost to the spacer. By the time the door finally opened she had been awake for what had felt like days. The guards that took her were met by a silent, spiteful gaze, though perhaps unexpectedly absent of fear. Sylvia Virtos had been through too much with the Sith to be afraid of pain any longer. When her overseer during those days resorted to senseless beatings, her mind simply dissociated. It was the only defense mechanism she had, and for the first time since escaping she had experienced it again.

Then came the shock. It was met by irate cursing as her frustration at the helplessness of her situation was unearthed. Whoever 'he' was did not matter. Sylvia wanted her clothes back, her belongings retrieved, and leave whatever this place was. She did not see the chance of that happening being high, however.

"That 'he' can piss right-- Argh! Feth off!" The second shock had been somewhat of a bait, even if Sylvia absolutely hated the feeling. The guard tried to shock her a third time, but found that his baton had strangely shorted out. Despite feeling naked and helpless, she at least still had the Force. It was better than nothing; still, she had no choice but to walk along with the guards. The fact she really was not in a talking mood would have fallen on deaf ears had she complained.

The chamber door opened and without warning Sylvia was grabbed, the feeling being oddly more violating to her than the prodding of the stun baton. Being touched so directly was an outright sickening sensation, but the adrenaline spike that followed, caused by being flung into the chamber, quickly wiped that away.

"The feth!-" she yelped right before hitting the ground on all fours. Hearing the sound of the door slamming shut came with a sense of irritation that was easily read from Sylvia's face. She looked up and around, her tired eyes uncaringly scanning her surroundings until a voice spoke her name, paired with a greeting that somehow managed to somehow peeve her off even more.

Her head turned, looking over her shoulder to find the source of the voice. Her eyes closed for a moment as a wry smile appeared on her face, finding hilarity in the ridiculousness of her situation. At that exact moment, she was convinced that this was the room she would die in. Nearly naked, at the hand of the man she had been conditioned to serve as a child.

Of course it had to be him, Sylvia thought. No effort was made to face him- she would not give him the satisfaction of obedience before her last breath.

"Acolyte?" her response sounded, followed by the most contemptuous scoff she had vocalized to that point in her life. The pleasantries were ignored entirely. "I expected you to have a much more grim sense of humor."

She was no acolyte, nor had she ever truly been. Her overseer had refused her then, and now being a Sith was the last thing she wanted.

The extended hand remained unused. Instead, Sylvia got up to her feet by her own devices and took a step back, making it clear she was looking to keep her distance from a man she considered to be the most terrible she knew. The man responsible for everything she had to go through as a child.

"Really?" Contempt made way for incredulousness; Sylvia found his words difficult to believe. "How about my clothes and the other chite you took from me?"

By all accounts, she should have been deathly afraid. Before today, she would have expected to be. Now that she was here, though, something fought away that intense fear for her.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Her defiance wasn't at all surprising.​

​

He had monitored her for weeks before moving in to abduct her, and he had gathered a large quantity of data regarding her personality, her routines, and who she associated with. Her relation with Elle Mors was a documented fact, and he knew that at this moment Sylvia drew her strength and resilience in the face of what could be her death from Elle. But a bond such as that was only as strong as its weakest link.​

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"Good," replied Carnifex as his features slipped into emotionless stoicism. "Then I need not waste my time with empty words." He waved a hand and the shackles anchored around Sylvia's wrists and ankles popped loose and clattered to the floor. He made no effort to reunite Sylvia with her interned clothing or anything else that she would request, but at the very least she regained full movement of her arms and legs. Nor did he deprive her of the Force, as was evident during her journey here.​

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He slowly walked towards her, advancing on her menacingly with deliberate steps. "But you should be careful, little Sylvia. You don't have your shining knight here to protect you anymore, she's so far away from you now." Each of Carnifex's words henceforth lacked the emotion that he had displayed when initially greeting her, which in itself was artificial. Each syllable was spoken with an even monotone rumble, the muscles on the former Emperor's face shifting only for when he spoke and not for anything else.​

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A pressure began to mount across Sylvia's body like someone had thrown a weighted blanket over her, rendering her incapable of movement. Carnifex's right hand slowly reached out, so slow that if Sylvia retained any control over her body she might have been able to effortlessly escape its reach. But with tremendous slowly, Carnifex wrapped each of his large calloused fingers around Sylvia's neck and held them there. An exercise in cruelty and control.​

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"The only person you have with you now is me."​

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He pressed his thumb against her throat, right against the larynx, and pressed down slowly. The culmination of doing so would inevitably cut off her airway, restricting her intake of breath to a sputtering cough. His eyes bored into her own as he throttled her, burning halos set against a field of endless black. There was hate in those eyes, hate so incalculable it seemed utterly impossible to comprehend. It was not directed hate, not towards one person or even a group of people, but towards everything; all life.​

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Then, as quickly as it came, the pressure on Sylvia's throat and around her body fell away as his fingers uncurled from her throat.​

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"Remember that fact."​

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Sylvia Virtos ​

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

There was the heartless Sith lord Sylvia had been expecting. In her line of work seeing through facades was a vital skill and in time, it would become something one passively picked up on. Not that seeing through the warm greeting was of much help to the spacer, however; the removal of her shackles was a welcome change of circumstances, but she had no reason to believe any of her wishes would be granted. She was still stuck in a chamber together with one of the most feared Sith of their time, after all. At least he would not be wasting any more time, the woman hoped. If the end of the road was her death, she simply wanted to get it over with.

"It sure doesn't feel that way," her response sounded. Physical distance meant nothing to the Force.

So when she found herself frozen in place against her will, calm eyes watched the giant close the distance between himself and her. Sylvia had her talents, some of them rooted in the Force, but there was nothing she could do here. Carnifex' words had spoken of a knight and although a name was omitted, it was abundantly clear who it was he referred to. It came as no surprise to Sylvia to hear that he knew of the bond she shared with Elle. She had been told of the encounter on Csilla and while it had been a terrifying thought, and still was, it did little to change her mental state now. In fact, she was more concerned with Elle's wellbeing than her own.

I'm sorry, Ellie. I wish I could've been there for you more.

With the thought came a sense of sadness. Conceding that there was nothing she could do here was sobering. She was glad she had been able to mend the bond with Elle and give that piece of her past the closure it needed, but to have everything taken away from her so soon was painful.

With no options of escape, the reached out hand gripped Sylvia's neck. The man spoke again, but there would be no response. By the time the lack of oxygen would have begun to get to her, the spacer's eyes had gone empty. Everything became hazy, both vision and thought, as her body felt less and less like her own. The last clear image before the fog was of two burning eyes. Then, her senses faded. Her body still responded, but she was not there to experience it beyond muted feelings of adrenaline spikes and asphyxiation.

A face appeared before her. Blond hair, calm green eyes, that dumb smile that never failed to warm her heart.

No. She had to try. She could not let Elle down like that.

When the pressure on her windpipe subsided, Sylvia found herself experiencing breath once more, her chest heaving as she greedily took in oxygen, breaking through her state of dissociation. Glazy eyes moved once more as she slowly eased back into reality, and with that the realization of all the reasons why she felt so uncomfortable came back to her. Perhaps the most ridiculous thought of all was the view she involuntarily gave to Carnifex and how upset it made her. By itself it made sense, but there were much greater causes for concern.

And yet, fear did not take her. Fragile as Sylvia was physically, strength that was not her own bolstered her mental resilience. Somehow, she was still herself. Fear had been present of the edges of her consciousness ever since awakening, but in the heat of the moment it found no true purchase yet.

"She got into your head, didn't she, back on Csilla," she said quietly, ignoring the threat made to her. The subject was quickly changed after that, though. Enough had been said to get her point across.

"Just get to the point, please. You went through all this effort just to catch a nobody. What do you even want from me?"

Darth Carnifex ​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Many things."​

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The Dark Lord's answer was cryptic but no less ominous, his words betraying none of the intentions he had for capturing Sylvia. However, it wouldn't be difficult for her to surmise that none of those intentions had her welfare in mind and were solely for the benefit of the Dark Lord. ​

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His hand snaked out, grasping a thick bunch of Sylvia's hair and wrenching her up until her feet dangled several feet above the floor. This was enough to bring her to eye level with him, as he towered over her by a significant margin otherwise. He also didn't bind Sylvia's body with the Force like he had moments before, almost urging her to take action against him to justify retaliation; despite justification never factoring into his actions regardless.​

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"Tell me how the bond between you and the Elle Mors operates. Can you sense one another's thoughts? Can you feel what she feels? Can she sense where you are at all times?" Force bonds were quite a rarity among the Force Sensitive community, especially ones as intimate as the one he was sensing between Elle and Sylvia. Because of that scarcity, it was difficult to acquire test subjects for the Dark Lord's many experiments. Much like experiments performed on identical twins, Carnifex wanted to see if an action against one of them would be felt by the other.​

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But more than that, Carnifex wanted his hands on a dyad. He doubted Elle and Sylvia had formed one, but he was not above pushing those limits to find out.​

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"I've read your file many times, acolyte. Your instructors had very little to say about your aptitude, much more to say about acolyte Mors. I can only surmise that whatever bond you two have forged, it was Mors' doing. You don't have the will." With that, Carnifex wound his arm back and threw Sylvia across the room and into one of the walls. He disregarded any artifact or trophy that was damaged in the process, his callousness for their wellbeing mirroring what he felt for Sylvia.​

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"So tell me what you know, if you can."​

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Sylvia Virtos ​

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Darth Carnifex

---

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Sylvia had only just caught her breath, but much time for rest was not afforded to her. The painful sensation of being pulled up by her hair elicited a reaction much different from Carnifex robbing her of oxygen, which could be clearly read from her light blue eyes. She let out a pained "feth" between equally agonized groans, but at first she did not fight back. The spacer needed to keep her focus if she wanted to avoid any more of the former emperor's sadistic actions against her and mindlessly struggling would do nothing for her.

Then, the man did perhaps the most audacious thing of all, as far as Sylvia was concerned. It left her outright baffled, perhaps even a little insulted that he could even imagine any form of cooperation from her end.

He asked her questions.

Hands clasped around his arm to pull herself up in an effort to relieve the painful state of tension her hair was in. Sylvia scoffed once again, a clear implication that he would not be getting any answers. If he thought the words that followed were meant to scare her, he would find himself very much disappointed as well. Being underestimated was an art the 'Rat' had mastered at a young age and used to her full advantage. When everyone disliked you, it was shockingly easy to make them believe you were capable of very little. Perhaps that was the one good thing she had thanks to her overseer, the man who had told her she was nothing from the start. He had not even bothered to find out if his assessment was true a single time.

When Sylvia felt the arm she hung from tense up, reflexes took over. One hand let go and made a swiping motion towards his face with blistering speed, nails digging into the side of his face. Her index finger even ran across his eye socket, though she had not given her aim much thought. The next moment the woman found herself flung towards a wall, but she no longer took any punishment laying down. A bubble created from the Force manifested itself around her fractions of a second before colliding with the collection of artifacts behind her, allowing her to land on her feet. The helpless girl was able to do more than nothing, after all. Not through any bond, but her own will.

Sylvia was more tenacious than Carnifex had given her credit for. She spoke again, voicing an answer to his questions. Perhaps it was not what he would have wanted to hear, or he somehow did. It made little difference to her.

"You'll be getting jack chite from me," she responded with conviction as she ran a hand through her hair in an effort to get it out of her face. There was distance between them now and she felt more alert than ever. She could not seriously hurt the Sith in any way, but she was fast. That had to account for something in her eyes.

As long as Carnifex believed all of her strength came from her bond with Elle and their bond alone, she would be underestimated. The woman was not physically strong, but the ethereal nature of the Force simply made sense to her and she knew how to be quick. Those qualities had allowed her to handily beat the best duelist of her year back at the academy, though she was doubtful that was ever included in her file. It would have painted a picture that was a little too good for the likes over her overseer. Still, she was fine with people believing her to be a pushover.

"No, really. You're wasting your time. Why would I tell you anything?"

As far as Sylvia was concerned, she had nothing to lose. She kept in mind the high chance she would die here regardless, even if she would try to overcome that fate.

As long as it did not put Elle in danger, at least. Not that she believed indulging him would give her a better chance at coming out alive.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"A pity then, but so be it."​

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Sylvia's nails had done what she had intended for them to do, cutting into the Dark Lord's flesh rather easily. Blood welled up from where they had cut, black and acrid it fell to the floor and sizzled. Even his eye was cut, blood leaking out from where her nail had cut diagonally across the pupil. But as the seconds dragged on, the blood flow withered away as the flesh rapidly knit itself back together again. All that remained of Sylvia's defiance were faint silver scars, minute in comparison to the set of three larger and more prominent scars that ran down the right side of his face.​

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The same incredible force which had pinned Sylvia in place when Carnifex exerted his strength over her previously now again slammed into the young woman, rooting her feet in place and slamming both arms down at her side. It was like an invisible giant had reached out with his hand and wrapped his fingers around her entire body, constricting her in his inescapable grip.​

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"If you will not surrender your knowledge willingly, then I will have to take it." The Dark Lord raised his right arm, his hand extended with palm facing upwards. Out from within the shadowy billows of his robe emerged a spindly crustacean creature, hobbling on six segmented legs to stand perched on the tips of Carnifex's fingers. Its body was ringed by a multitude of eyes, each one beady, black, and unfeeling. Underneath its body was an opening ringed by sharp hook-like teeth, a sucker hidden just behind a thin membrane-veil. ​

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"A little beauty, is it not? A product of Yuuzhan Vong bioengineering." Carnifex moved his hand closer to Sylvia, and the creature warily transferred over to crawl onto Sylvia's shoulders and neck. Though his immense power kept Sylvia from moving, it did nothing to restrict her ability to speak. "It will loosen those lips of yours." The creature would scuttle its way atop Sylvia's head, aligning its sucker-mouth with her forehead and crouching down until its teeth began to dig into her flesh. A long and thin proboscis extended from deep within the creature's mouth, snaking its way through her head before boring into her skull to get at the soft meat of her brain.​

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Though extremely painful, the process was not considered to be life-threatening. The creature would only violate her mind to the degree of accessing the portions that contained memory and knowledge, and biologically copying what it found into its own brain. ​

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Sylvia Virtos ​

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Bury Me Face Down
Darth Carnifex

---

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He bled. It was only for mere moments, but bleed Carnifex did. That sight changed everything. A smirk, barely visible, formed on Sylvia's face. A power from a source most incredible had reached the woman. In a place consumed by oppressive darkness, something utterly precious still lived.

Hope.

It made no sense. The Sith was unfazed and continued to hold all the cards, yet Sylvia felt an inner strength she did not even know existed. Even when the ability to move was robbed from her once again, the hopelessness she felt the first time failed to seize her. This time, she fought back against it. As overwhelming as the binding grip was, she would not go down without a fight any longer. Anything to keep Carnifex from knowing her secrets. Not by means of an epic duel like Elle would have been capable of, but by her own means.

For a second time, Sylvia stood face-to-face with the man who would become her enemy. A hideous creature was presented, its appearance spelling danger. The struggle against the invisible bonds that bound her intensified, her determined eyes looking up towards Carnifex' while its origins were spoken of. Feeling it move across her arm made her skin crawl; there was no way she was going to let it do whatever it was created for. Not when it could compromise Elle by extracting the spacer's secrets.

"Feth. Off," Sylvia uttered. The creature had made its way atop her head by now, at which point the chamber lights flickered and shut off, something born from the woman's mind. It was a precursor of things to come as the strength she felt made itself known. Sylvia was fighting back, now.

It started with the woman partially breaking free from the oppressive hold on her body. Her upper body moved, then her head. They both tilted back, then her head flung forward into the Sith lord's stomach. Blood trickled down her forehead as the creature was crushed and fell to the floor. In the end, all it had done was cut open the skin of her forehead. It was painful, but in the heat of the moment the adrenaline kept her occupied enough to not feel it.

Sylvia had no idea where that had come from, but its timing could not have been any better. The rest of her body broke free and she stumbled backwards, feeling the effects of landing the headbutt.

"I won't talk."

It was a promise to two people, one who stood before her and another far away.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Carnifex looked down to his crushed and demolished creature, one of its legs still twitching as the last vestiges of its nervous system continued to send electrical signals to its limbs. Then he lifted up his boot just enough that what remained of the creature could fit under it, and crushed it into the floor. Fully destroyed, the creature's legs finally stopped moving and fell deathly still. Without a word, Carnifex then stepped beyond the creature to loom over where Sylvia had fallen.​

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Molten eyes glared down at her, though they did not glower as much as Sylvia might have anticipated. As before, no emotion from the Dark Lord could be sensed. He was unfeeling as a corpse, the only thing that boiled behind the light of his eyes was that all-encapsulating hatred for life. ​

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"If that is what you wish, then so be it."​

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He reached out with his right hand, fingers bent like the slashing talons of a raptor, and uttered the words, "Now behold the naked energies of the Dark Side, the lightning of pure willpower." Electricity burst forth from the Dark Lord's fingertips, crackling through the air and striking Sylvia where she lay. The lightning not only cascaded over Sylvia but struck the walls and floor as well with brilliant power, a power that was the same color as the blood which dripped down from the gash in her forehead.​

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"If you will not speak, then you will scream."​

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The lightning that Carnifex produced was strong. At its full intensity, it could melt tungsten and completely cook an individual from the inside out. This was a far cry from such vulgar intensity, but it was enough to cause Sylvia's body to glow as she was struck, revealing her skeletal structure beneath the skin. The pain which accompanied the electrical currents might have been more than Sylvia had ever experienced in her short lifetime, certainly far more agonizing than anything she had been subjected to during her time at the academy.​

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Not only did the lightning dance over her skin and singe her hair, but it also delivered unto her dastardly visions courtesy of the Dark Side. She would see her past, wounds thought healed torn open for her displeasure. But she would also see glimpses of the future or at least a potential future. There was only death and destruction in those visions, a grim window in a galaxy where Carnifex had achieved his ambitions. None were free, the people of the galaxies were in chains to a vile theocracy of the Sith, Carnifex ruling over all creation as a true God.​

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Those visions would cease as Carnifex relented in his torture, lightning continuing to bounce around the room for dissipating as well.​

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Sylvia Virtos ​