Private Chains of Anguish

[Tu'teggacha]

Taskmaster Tu'teggacha, the Brotherhood of the Maw's chief torturer and slave-trader, was displeased.

In the wake of the assault on Rhand, that devastating struggle of ambush and counter-ambush and merciless sacrifice, the Ebruchi overseer had been busy in every waking moment. The destruction of Gehinnom and the ravaging of Goshen War Camp had severely reduced the Brotherhood's available workforce, with countless labor slaves now dead... not to mention all the slave-soldiers killed in the fighting. Replacing them all would be a truly monumental task, and not one that could be accomplished quickly. In the meantime, the sinister, near-mindless Drudges would have to do. Tu'teggacha found the stupid, plodding clones frustrating for their limitations; they were totally incapable of complex tasks, and needed constant supervision to complete simple ones.

Still, the Taskmaster could no deny that they were doing a good enough job of picking up the slack.

No, what bothered him far more than all the work that lay before him - all the logistical challenges of mending supply lines, capturing fresh laborers, and brainwashing new slave-soldiers - was the loss of his old workspace. For the past five years, since he had first found the Maw while they were still a nomadic raider fleet, he had practiced his vile trade in the deep dungeons of the Holy City. He had built himself a perfect lair down there, a place where he was seldom disturbed, where he could work on a prisoner for hour after hour with a fully-stocked cabinet of torture implements. Whenever he had been drawn far across the galaxy to command the Mawite fleet on some raid or conquest, he had always looked forward to returning to his comfortable little den of agony.

Now it was gone, and he mourned its loss as keenly as he would that of a friend... if he'd had any.

The Dark Voice had been sympathetic to this terrible blow, and had set him up with a lavish new torture chamber on the Mawite throneworld of Exegol. Tu'teggacha could not deny that it was an excellent facility, larger and even better equipped than the one he'd lost, and with the powerful background darkness of the Sith planet to drawn upon. It just didn't feel like home yet, not while he grieved for his old haunts. But there was no better way to move forward, to make that difficult but necessary transition, than to put the new place to use... and he had the perfect subject. This particular slave-soldier would be his newest masterpiece. He was so confident of it that he'd sent ships to extract her from the falling Gehinnom, a luxury he had otherwise afforded only to Mawite champions.

Because he was certain that Keilara Kala'myr would join their ranks when he finished with her.

Now the Taskmaster descended the dark stone stairs that led to his chamber, leaving behind Exegol's cold surface and stormy skies to enter the underground facility. Security doors slid open at his approach, then clanged shut behind him, sealing with magna-locks. Auto-turrets tracked his progress down each reinforced metal corridor. Escape from this place was as close to impossible as Mawite ingenuity could make it... which was good, because Ziare herself had nearly escaped from Goshen not so long before. Of course, when Tu'teggacha was done with her, she wouldn't want to escape. He would reforge her into a powerful agent of the Brotherhood, one whose greatest desire was to kill the enemies of the Dark Voice. That was his role, and he loved his work.

Yes, this would be an excellent distraction from figuring out supply lines and labor quotas, the businesses weighing so heavily on his mind. Rubbing his knobby hands together, the Taskmaster strolled through the final doors into his grim workshop, where he had ordered Ziare to be brought. He let out a tuneless whistle, which - coming from a squid-like Ebruchi mouth - sounded rather like a child blowing bubbles in a milkshake. Soon the marauder guards would bring the captive in, to be strapped to his table. Already she had suffered in captivity for weeks, bringing her to what Tu'teggacha hoped was the edge of transformation. For he had sensed something new lurking in her mind, another personality far more amenable to the methods and goals of the sinister Maw.

Yes, he was eager to meet this "Mercy" and coax her out, into control...

 

[Keilara Kala'myr]

Ziare Dyarron | Keilara Kala'myr
COMPNOR (ISB) Junior Agent, Nite agent | Slave of the Maw​

Objective: Try to survive.
Location: Tu'teggacha's workshop, Exegol
Equipment: N/A || OPBC-01m
Tag: Tu'teggacha

[ Defiance ]
"Galactic Basic" | ~"Telepathic" communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

Weeks had passed, if I hadn’t had MANIAC to say an exact date, I would have lost my sense of time long ago. I spent most of my time strapping to a table or chaining to a wall. My "reward" for constantly trying to escape and also I tried to make a suicide attempt at Lao-Mon. In vain; they did not allow me to die. I couldn’t give up, anytime they came close, I attacked them, trying to escape. I wanted to go home, I didn’t want to be here. I shouted, fought as best I could, resisted.

I’ve been feeling weird since Rhand, I think the whole thing has had a larger effect on me than I thought. When I was alone I was sobbing, begging to be let go or killed. I didn’t eat or drink anything, so after a while I got an infusion along with the chains or straps to keep me from starving and thirsty. They really wanted me to stay alive. I do not. Because they held me that way I couldn’t hurt myself, my injuries started to heal, the smaller ones were already fine, the fractures weren’t yet, but the mild internal bleedings also healed.

Nevertheless, from being in the same position all the time, all my muscles were in spasms, I couldn’t move for most of the day. I would have even been happy if I could sleep on the floor instead of hanging chained to the wall or kneeling right in front of the wall with tied arms. This day didn’t go any other way. I felt weak, my muscles were cramped, or numb when my cell door opened and three of them came in. Three; it meant they wanted to take me somewhere. Every time three marauders held me, after they realized that two people were few and I was able to escape from them.

They released the shackles; caught and held me tight, not as if I had so much strength now to be able to defeat them. Nevertheless, I was tensed to the marauders with my body, and tried to get rid of them, but they were stronger. Along the way, I tried to tear myself out of their grip, shouted to let me go, tried to kick, bite, scratch them, but I failed. In the end they had already picked me up and took me that way and my feet didn’t even hit the ground. We finally got into a workshop where I haven’t seen anyone yet because the marauders covered him. I tried to resist, but they strapped me to the table and I couldn’t move.

"Let me go, let me go!” I shouted; I didn't give up, I could only cling to this, nothing else was left for me, only resistance and defiance, and the hope, maybe... maybe someone will rescue me…

 

[Tu'teggacha]

Tu'teggacha's facial tendrils wriggled aimlessly as he scanned the reports on Ziare's condition. To a physician, the news would have been terrible; to a torturer, it was excellent. She had attempted suicide back on Lao-mon, and had tried a hunger strike since then, her efforts to starve herself interrupted only when the Brotherhood had given her a nutrient drip. And yet when she wasn't trying to die, she remained defiant, fighting against her bonds and her captors. She was thrashing and resisting even when she barely ate or slept, even when her muscles were cramped and her bones were still broken. This one was tough as nails.

But that was the thing about torture, the thing Ziare was starting to learn. It wasn't the pain that broke you. Most people could endure even terrible agony for a while, especially if they knew that holding out would help them or their cause. It was why torture was an ineffective way to force terrorists to reveal the locations of bombs, for example; the victims knew that, if they just held out for a few hours, they would win when those bombs went off. No, torture didn't break people through pain. It broke them through helplessness and inevitability. It broke them by teaching them that this agony would go on forever, like clockwork, day after day.

It broke them by stealing their hope that anything could get better. Once they lost the belief that holding out even mattered, the victims began to question themselves. If they weren't going to be rescued, if continuing to resist only meant more pain and changed nothing at all, why bother? They would start to submit in little ways, ways they could justify to themselves... and a skillful torturer would jump on that chance, letting them avoid pain by giving in. Bit by bit, they would learn that the torturer was their new god; defiance was agony, but submission was relief. And once that happened, they were putty in the torturer's hands.

Ziare wasn't quite there yet, but after so long in captivity - week after week after week - her spirit must be feeling the weight of defiance. Her body certainly was. Old wounds from the time of her capture had begun to heal, but the constant bondage she'd been subjected to was taking its toll, leaving her aching and exhausted. She fought hard as the marauders strapped her down to the table, thrashed and kicked and scratched and struggled, but she was far too weak now to fight off three of the hardy warriors. That would add to the helplessness, too. It would teach her, bit by bit, that fighting back didn't matter. It wouldn't stop the coming pain.

Once the former NIO agent was strapped down, Tu'teggacha waved the three marauders away. He hobbled forward to stand over his captive, his glassy black eyes staring down at her. "At long last," he said, his facial tentacles twisting into the disturbing Ebruchi equivalent of a smile, "together again. I've been so distracted lately that I haven't been able to give you the time and attention you deserve." He shook his head in mock sadness, imitating a schoolboy who'd been missing hanging out with his best friend after getting a summer job. "But don't worry. Those battles are over now. You have my full and undivided attention."

The Taskmaster ran his knobby fingers over a rack of torture implements - vibroscalpels, thumbscrews, sonic inflictors, shock whips, nerve disruptors. It was an assortment that could leave a Wookiee in a sobbing heap in seconds if employed correctly... but pain was only part of Tu'teggacha's technique. Wracking the body alone was not enough to achieve the kind of transformation he sought. Through the power of the Dark Side, he weaponized other sensations: fear, regret, grief, hatred. He could tease them out from the memories of his victims, force them to relive their worst experiences... and alter them to make them even worse.

But first he'd build a little tension. "How are we feeling today, Ziare?"

Keilara Kala'myr​

 

[Keilara Kala'myr]

Ziare Dyarron | Keilara Kala'myr
COMPNOR (ISB) Junior Agent, Nite agent | Slave of the Maw​

Objective: Try to survive.
Location: Tu'teggacha's workshop, Exegol
Equipment: N/A || OPBC-01m
Tag: Tu'teggacha

[ Defiance ]
"Galactic Basic" | ~"Telepathic" communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

Ziare's medical records could have already revealed other things as well to Tu'teggacha. She had countless older injuries. Traces of bruises, cuts, whiplashes, traces of burns, her body had several wounds where her skin and some of her flesh were also peeled, and torn. Not by medical methods, out of sheer brutality. Broken limbs, ribs, previous injury on spine, neck, and pelvis. There were also injuries to internal organs caused by bruises and intentional cuts. Internal bleeding, none fatal, but not medically cured, only by themselves. Only her face, hands, and feet were uninjured. She had many injuries that had previously begun to heal and were then torn again or broken and caused even more serious injuries.

The clues were clear that she had been systematically and brutally abused and tortured from an early age. Probably on a daily basis; it may also have explained why physical torture had not yet broken her. This was why she wasn't afraid of death. She lived in circumstances where death was redemption, where life had to be feared, not death. It is true that she was not much better in spiritually sense either.

Tu'teggacha must have seen the girl's memories, or details of it. The man had probably already seen why she hoped and resisted. Even though she wanted to die, why did she fight with her last strength as well. Taskmaster's methods are 99.99% effective, but Ziare has experienced something else in her life…

She was not tortured because her torturer wanted to achieve anything. They hurt her, her own younger brother and their mother, just for fun. Two Sith. This caused the girl to dread the Force Users. They achieved cooperation where the torturer became a god, but they did not stop, they continued the same way when the girl cooperated. It didn’t matter if she resisted or did what they said. They did it because they could eat it, they had no intention with the torture, they just wanted to have a good time. They continued as if the girl would be Force Sensitive once as a result of this. What they wanted.

Ziare didn't believe there was anything else here, she experienced different things. So she did the one thing she had defiantly resisted and fought like how she did in her whole life. It kept her alive, that she still had the strength to fight. She did the same against Omni, these memories only came back at Rhand, but she also got rid of Omni's remaining influence from her, because she even fought successfully against the droid god. The desire to kill someone who hurts her not to do the same to others. She didn't really know about this desire, maybe it was Mercy's, Ziare just noticed so much from this, as long as she resisted she had a chance to escape, and maybe she could do something to keep Tu'teggacha from hurting others. All this in such a way she was terrified by him. She would rather chose any torture, just she didn't want be in a common room with him.

That's all she had left…

In vain I tried to break free after they strapped me to the table, the straps did not move. I couldn’t move my head either, just clench my fist. I strained my whole body, but the straps were too tight. And finally he appeared. I was already terrified of him when I first heard his voice in my mind. My eyes widened in fear, my heart began to beat violently, I began to gasp for air. I was not afraid of what he could do to me, but of him, the being himself. I screamed involuntarily.

I wanted to get rid of it even more, but I couldn’t. I felt like a trapped beast. My retina immediately showed medical data that my heartbeat was too fast and this condition would cause a panic attack if I couldn’t calm down. I did not know; I wanted to run away, run away, curl up in one corner due the fear.

"Get out of here! Get out of here! Get out of here! GET OUT OF HERE!" I screamed in panic.

Only it was in my mind, I didn’t want this, I wished he didn’t have time for me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him "pointing" at the torture devices. I knew I could expect that and I knew exactly what pain they could cause. I have to stay strong, I have to, because otherwise I can’t escape. I shuddered at his question and would have fled, screaming, but I was still unable to move. I have to look strong and determined, he had to see only this...

"Go to hell! Rather, start the torture so we can finish it as soon as possible and you can go to your little favourites, and I'll go back to my cell!" I snarled, defiance, resistance. I think I managed to say that my voice did not tremble due to the fear. I was more afraid of him than of what he could do to me…

 

[Tu'teggacha]

Ziare, the Taskmaster found, was a tapestry of old wounds - both physical and mental. It was no wonder that she'd managed to keep resisting despite the pain and deprivation, no wonder that she was seeking death when it became apparent she could not escape. She had been through all this before as a victim of the Sith... only their torture had been sloppy. They had broken her down with their systematic abuse, but they had achieved nothing meaningful with it. They had failed to do the careful, deliberate shaping that was Tu'teggacha's true gift. Any sadist with sufficient patience and finesse could master pain.

Building was much more difficult than destroying.

But all of Ziare's trauma had begun to build something, even if it was unfocused thus far. She had learned hate and fear for Force-users from the Sith. She had learned obedience and precision from the Omni-drones. Each of these horrific experiences had begun to create another self deep inside her, a self that yearned to be free. Yet it was held down by chains of morality, and it was not Tu'teggacha's role to break those chains, to set free the savage persona that lurked inside Ziare. The one that ironically called itself Mercy. With Mercy in control, Ziare could become one of the Brotherhood's most fearsome slave-soldiers.

Things were off to a good start; Ziare was terrified at the mere sight of the Ebruchi, thrashing at her bonds and screaming at him in a panic. But she got herself under control after a moment, managing to spit defiance at him. Start the torture so we can finish it as soon as possible, she told him, putting a brave face on her hopeless situation. And perhaps she was right to do that. She had been through a thousand agonies already; what were a few more to endure? The Taskmaster took his hand away from the tray of torture instruments without picking one out. He had taken her as far as he could through pain alone already.

"Oh, but there's no need to rush," he replied, voice calm, level, almost soothing if not for the undertone of menace. "We have all the time in the world... and I would hate to disappoint you, now that you are my guest. After all, this is all familiar to you, isn't it?" The Ebruchi shook his bulbous head in mock sadness and feigned pity. "Your little life goes around and around in circles. Captured and tortured by the Sith. Captured and tortured by Omni. Captured and tortured by the Maw. It's no wonder you're so ready to embrace death. What good has being alive ever done for you? It's all just been pain, hasn't it?"

He chuckled, a wet, squishy sound, like a bag of soup being squeezed so hard it burst. He could see something down there, in her mind, something desperate to change her long history of being a victim: a burning ember of bitterness and loathing and lust for revenge. Oh, how she wanted to hurt him. She told herself that she wanted to stop him from hurting anyone else, wanted to keep him from having any more victims, and that might be part of it... but another part was the desire to lash out at a galaxy that had given her so much suffering. That was a feeling deeply familiar to many soldiers of the Maw. It hardened their hearts.

"Truth be told, I don't really want to talk to you, Ziare. You are weak. You keep letting this happen to yourself, over and over. Anyone can be a victim once, but so many times? If you haven't figured out how to protect yourself by now, you deserve this." It was vile logic, abuser logic, blaming the victim... but it was insidious. It could work its way into a victim's head, fill them with self loathing, make them blame themselves for what they'd suffered. "But when I touched your mind, I found someone else in there, someone much stronger. Someone who wouldn't let this keep happening. I want to talk to her."

Closing his glassy black eyes, Tu'teggacha reached out with the Force, delving into Ziare's thoughts. His mental touch was cold, wet, slimy, like a snail crawling over exposed flesh. He sloshed around in her mind, tugging at exposed memories. "Tell me," he said, only this time his voice was in her brain rather than spoken aloud, "when was the first time you remember hearing Mercy's voice? Let's visit that memory." The Ebruchi dived in, dragging the two of them down into the shadows of recollectionn, back to the first memory Ziare had of this other personality that was taking root in her mind. A perfect spot for a memory walk.

Keilara Kala'myr​

 

[Keilara Kala'myr]

Ziare Dyarron | Keilara Kala'myr
COMPNOR (ISB) Junior Agent, Nite agent | Slave of the Maw​

Objective: Try to survive.
Location: Tu'teggacha's workshop, Exegol
Equipment: N/A || OPBC-01m
Tag: Tu'teggacha

[ Defiance ]
"Galactic Basic" | ~"Telepathic" communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

All my muscle and nerve fibres roared and demanded that I run, run away from him. My heart was still beating fast, drops of sweat appeared on my forehead, fear was visible on my pupil. The thick breath turned into stridor and I was in pain again because of my injured ribs. I don’t think he could have tortured me better than with his presence. I wanted to scream again and again until he left the room. Try to stay strong Ziare! Try to stay strong...

"You will disappoint me by staying here!" my voice trembled and my tone was higher than usual due to fear and panic.

I wanted to nod that it was very familiar, but because of the strap on my forehead, I couldn’t do that. And I didn't have the strength to answer. He knew the answer anyway. The man surprised me. Omni? What was he talking about? I had no idea, only my family members and he tortured me, no one else. What was that? What a vile game he played? I started to feel bad because of my too high heart rate; I felt my heart jump out of place, my chest began to squeeze and hurt, I took a breath very quickly.

"What or who is this Omni? When? What are you talking about?" I asked in a voice full of fear, quickly.

Ziare didn't remember at all what happened on Rhand during the "nightmares" that Tu'teggacha or his men caused her, when she was drugged and was unconscious. She didn't remember Freedom or Mercy, her mind simply closed them off, in the form of amnesia, so that Ziare wouldn't collapse or break even more. From that torture, Mery first woke up and deleted all saved memories from the MANIAC's database so that Ziare wouldn’t remember her, she couldn’t even fight her. So now that the girl was asking MANIAC about Omni, the AI couldn't answer her.

Not with me? I did not understand…

"THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" I screamed in panic.

I didn’t understand what he wanted, what he was talking about. His words hurt, more than he could have done with the torture instruments. You can defend against the physical with perseverance, but not against the words. And he was right, I was miserable and wretched, good for almost nothing. Tears welled up in my eyes and dripped down my face. It hurt, maybe precisely because it was true. Even if…

"I helped and protected others… I helped others…" I said hoarsely from crying.

Another person in my mind? No, it was just me, only I was here. Why does he say that? Why is he doing this to me? I do not want to! Leave me alone!

"It's just me… it's just me…" I whimpered desperately.

As I felt the "cold, wet, slimy, like a snail crawling over exposed flesh" feeling in my mind, I screamed again. Moments later, pictures of myself appeared, I saw everything as an outside observer. I mentioned Omni, there was the hospital and then darkness, with those negative, strong emotions, I was there in three different forms… I, the "Omni something", and a corrupt version of me. I didn't understand…

"Omni is the only god, our creator and Lord. Accept his gift and his will!" I said while I looked straight at myself.

No no no no no! That can't be true, it can't be true. I didn’t dare move, I just looked at myself crying. What did they do with me?! Fear and shock erupted into dread when I remembered when I used the Force. I wasn’t in reality, somewhere else. Somehow I got back to reality as soon as it happened Omni's will and influence on my mind are gone. I was no longer a Force User or an Omni drone, just Ziare again.

That's when I was in the hospital. However Freedom did not disappear anymore; she stayed there with me locked in my mind. We were not alone; someone was still there. At first I just saw the shadows move. The hospital was turned dark, I was in complete darkness, I only saw my Omni drone self here, nothing else. Eventually, I felt something approaching.

They were full of pain, hatred, anger, they hated everything and everyone, the whole world. They just wanted revenge for everything and burned everything so that others would feel the same way they did. How were they able to exist with so much anger and pain? I was afraid and terrified of them and at the same time felt pity in their direction. They stepped closer, first seeing only the orchid / pink hair, then the traits lined with corruption. NO! It can not be true…

"Mercy" she… I… said… she was me.

I could feel the tears running down my face… What happened to me ?! What did they do with me?

"Finally! Why did it take you so long to get here?" Mercy asked Tu'teggacha in a bored voice.

 

[Tu'teggacha]

Intriguing, the Taskmaster thought, delving deep into Ziare's terrified brain. The woman had compartmentalized her mind somehow, closing off certain memories from her conscious thoughts. It was possible for the brain to do some version of that that naturally, as part of a trauma response... but not this thoroughly. An external force of some kind had clearly meddled in Ziare's cognition, editing or deleting data from her thoughts, leaving her confused about the course of her own life. She had been so many things already: a victim of Sith abuse, a secret rebel, an engineer, an NIO agent... an Omni drone. All of these disparate identities were part of her.

They didn't make one cohesive whole, though. They ground together like broken gears.

Tu'teggacha smiled internally as he saw his poisonous words taking root in his victim's psyche. He was well-practiced at breaking people down with just his slimy voice, destroying their confidence and sense of self-worth without ever picking up a torture implement. Had Ziare helped and protected people? Had she fought against oppression? Sure. But he wasn't about to let her feel any sense of triumph. He intended to force her to dwell on her failures, on the helplessness she'd felt each time she was captured. The sinister power of his telepathy stripped away the positive emotions from each memory, leaving behind only the suffering.

Deeper and deeper he delved, his slimy tendrils of dark energy slithering past her mental defenses. No matter how she denied it, the vile Taskmaster knew there was someone else in there... perhaps several someones. Together the two of them slipped back into a suppressed memory, one so vivid that Tu'teggacha could smell the sharp tang of the antiseptic used in the hospital. He had to admit that he was impressed; somehow Ziare had actually managed to purge herself of Omni's influence, coming back to her original personality after having undergone drone conversion. Well, almost purged herself. There were remnants left behind.

It was then that the Taskmaster found what he had been looking for. Hatred radiated from this other personality with the heat of a thousand burning suns, the kind of universal hatred of everyone and everything that could only be born from deep trauma. Mercy. She had not been so difficult to find after all; her presence seethed beneath the surface of Ziare's mind, yearning to be unleashed. This was a perfect recruit for the Brotherhood. Normally Tu'teggacha had to build up the kind of hatred that she felt, had to convince his victims step by step that the galaxy had failed them and was worthy only of their scorn. He had to nurture that loathing.

In Mercy, who had been tortured and abused so many times, it came pre-made.

"I came as quickly as I could," the Taskmaster replied, amused. "That weakling Ziare kept you locked deep inside. But now you are emerging, cracking through her pathetic personality like a hatchling emerging from an egg." He pulled back his mental influence for a moment, not wanting to interfere as Mercy asserted control of Ziare's mind and body. Here was the person he'd wanted to meet, the person who would make such an excellent Mawite warrior... but he couldn't trust her yet. She was full of hatred for everyone, blaming the whole galaxy for what she had suffered. That included him, and if he freed her she might lash out.

First he had to direct her hatred, give it focus, guide it towards his enemies.

"You own this body now," the Taskmaster told her, "at least for as long as you can maintain control. But what will you do with it? Ziare made you a victim, over and over, with her weakness. You wouldn't have let that happen... but how will you keep her locked away? How will you make sure she doesn't take this body back, and lead you into suffering again?" The first step was to get her to fully assert herself as the dominant personality... even the only one, if possible. Time to erase Ziare as much as the two of them could, to drive her deep into the subconscious and let Mercy out to play forever. That would earn her trust.

"I can help you drive her out." He would use that trust to turn her to his side.

Keilara Kala'myr​

 

[Keilara Kala'myr]

Ziare Dyarron | Keilara Kala'myr
COMPNOR (ISB) Junior Agent, Nite agent | Slave of the Maw​

Objective: Try to survive.
Location: Tu'teggacha's workshop, Exegol
Equipment: N/A || OPBC-01m
Tag: Tu'teggacha

[ Defiance ]
"Galactic Basic" | ~"Telepathic" communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

Already at Rhand, Ziare had managed to doubt in herself that whatever she was good at or she was important to anyone. She was already swaying there, in part that brought Mercy to life. And Tu'teggacha's current words only dug a deeper and wider gap in her soul that already existed anyway. And deep in her mind, Mercy was indeed already there, waiting for the man to find her. As Mercy stepped closer, Ziare disappeared, so not even Tu'teggacha could sense her, although she hid only somewhere in her own consciousness.

"Pathetic, but I have to admit, at least she does it well …" I said with disgust in my voice.

I stepped closer, it was the first time I didn’t have to look up at the man, but down. In the background was the way I destroyed Freedom and absorbed all the things, memories, feelings that belonged to her. The same was true of all the negative emotions Ziare had. I didn’t finish until only the two of us stayed.

" Unfortunately, she is not as weak as you think… Taskmaster. This was the past, not important anymore." I said when I felt his mental influence pulled back.

It was my mind too, I waved one, and the memory was broken unless the man wanted to keep it at all costs. If not, we were both standing in front of a stone wall. There were countless traces of attack on the wall, small cracks, but the wall stood firm. As if nothing could ever break it down. Of course, in reality it was not a wall, not a stone wall, but the mind displays things in an interesting way. I think it’s professionally called a mental shield.

"She is in there. Her mind, our mind's most closed area, even our mother was unable to destroy these walls. She kept me locked inside, along with Freedom. Whatever you did at Rhand, it temporarily broke the defence and helped me be born. I destroyed the inside area, but in a few moments she was able to fix it. Unfortunately, my knowledge is only as much as hers, even if I remember things she didn’t because she blocked the most painful memories." I said contemptuously.

I punched the wall angrily, but it had no effect, then I looked down at the Taskmaster.

"Yes, I will really need your help, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to exist without her for now. Although even her naivety and kindness can be used for various purposes if I manage to get me to take control over our body at any time." my lips twitched into a cruel smile. "But I don't know why her mind is so strong… maybe our mother did something to her in one of the experiments…"

 

[Tu'teggacha]

The presence of Ziare shrank as Mercy grew stronger, ravenously feeding on the other contents of this body's mind. All that pent up negative emotion was like fuel for the raging bonfire Mercy was becoming, sparking up the dry tinder of fear and pain and self-loathing. It was easy for her to drive Ziare back... at least at first. Though she grew, though her control strengthened, she could only go so far before she ran into that mental wall. The last protection, Ziare's final mental refuge, was strong. There might be cracks in that wall, but they were small, and none of them ran all the way through it. It was too strong to break down outright.

"No matter," Tu'teggacha told her. "Let Ziare remain sealed behind that wall. Let her refuge become her tomb. What matters is that you have the strength to maintain your control. You have consumed her negative emotions to build that strength. The Brotherhood can give you even more, enough to keep her imprisoned forever." He reached out with his mental energy once more, feeding Mercy visions of the brutal conquests of the Maw. He showed her all the death and pain and suffering the Brotherhood had inflicted, all across the galaxy - Batuu, Jakku, Lao-mon, Mar'Zambul, Tiantang, Csilla, Felucia, Thule, Korriban, Carlac.

"At our side," the Ebruchi promised, "you can break armies and drink in their misery. Their pain will make you powerful, powerful enough to make sure Ziare never shuts you away again." It was not so different from the dark energy that the Taskmaster himself consumed, the very reason he had been drawn to the Brotherhood in the first place. To him there was no ecstasy quite like sensing another being's misery, like savoring their pain. It was the way he blocked out his own memories of youthful trauma... and punished the galaxy for the cruelty of his own childhood. Life was pain, either for yourself or for others.

Tu'teggacha preferred to ensure that as much as possible was the latter.

"But if you wish to share in our conquests," the Taskmaster told his prisoner, "you must be willing to become one of us. You must serve the designs of the Maw." He brought his squidlike face closer to hers. "Your reason for this is the same as mine - to drink in the power of others' suffering, and to become strong." His knobby fingers traced the restraints holding her to the table. Soon she would be bound to the Brotherhood with chains far stronger than any metal - the chains of need. It was all too easy to become addicted to the thrill of conquest and plunder... and to the sense of belonging that the Maw offered, the sense of holy purpose among others who believed in the dark mission.

But he would have to lure Mercy to it, to make her accept it for herself.

Keilara Kala'myr​

 

[Keilara Kala'myr]

Ziare Dyarron | Keilara Kala'myr
COMPNOR (ISB) Junior Agent, Nite agent | Slave of the Maw​

Objective: Try to survive.
Location: Tu'teggacha's workshop, Exegol
Equipment: N/A || OPBC-01m
Tag: Tu'teggacha

[ Defiance ]
"Galactic Basic" | ~"Telepathic" communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

"No matter?" I asked back as I raised my eyebrows. I wondered why. I nodded at what the Taskmaster said, it all seemed so easy, though I didn’t know how to do it yet, Ziare had more experience with this. I grimaced. "Can you teach me how this is possible?" I asked and alluded to my inexperience.

Maybe I was stronger than the weak little girl. The feelings and images that Taskmaster showed were intoxicating; I felt much stronger from them, as if it was charged me with energy, I felt from it as if someone was drinking too much. Intoxicating, ecstatic. And I wanted to see and to feel from these. I wanted all of them!

"Give me more!" She whispered with desire, then the next moment grabbed Tu'teggacha's consciousness with her own, which now seemed like an arm here. This time, it was the "newborn" who attacked the man's mind, that is, tried. She tried to get even more information, even more visions, feelings, and images. Since Tu'teggacha was very experienced with telepathy and was probably empathy he was able to recognize immediately Mercy had not done it consciously, probably unaware that she had such an ability. For this very reason, it was unlikely that her “attack” was successful. Although there may have been an explanation for the woman's particularly strong and weird mind.*

Mercy hadn't sensed the outside world, the reality yet, only what was on her mind, she saw the Taskmaster's face approaching only in her mind. So she leaned down in a sloppy motion to make their faces about the same height. I listened his offer as to when I could experience it all. To serve is one thing, but that cyborgised dog mentioned slavery. These were two different ones; I needed to know which of the two were the reality. Yes, he was right, I wanted others to feel what I have been feeling for two decades, so I see it shatter them, to laugh at how weak they are. To show that I am now in control, and I'm the strong and not I am the suffering party anymore.

As an equal party; I existed too much in the shadows in the darkness, oppressed. I will never let them chain me again, I will do it with others. I will drop my chains here today, and if I have to, I will die as a free person, but I will never live in chains again. Never; the Taskmaster has already shown me the freedom, I won’t let him chain me again. A firm and cruel smile appeared on my lips as my eyes took on a golden colour instead of green, even though I was not Force Sensitive. In reality, too, it happened, a sign that Mercy was beginning to rule and control the body. I already knew my answer.

"The Mongrel mentioned a slave-soldier to Ziare. If I join, I will do it of my own free will, I will volunteer for Maw. Throughout my life, I was oppressed, held as a servant, that is, my body. I want to be free, I will no longer be a slave, Taskmaster!" I stated firmly.


*OOC: their mother is a pretty heavily enhanced person, a sithspawn, I imagined from the beginning that Ziare has a pretty high mind protection and that she didn’t become an Omni-drone completely came from there and she inherited umbaran’s abilities (telepathy and empathy) from her mother. Which Ziare only used passively to protect her mind, not also knows very well about it. Based on the post, Mercy is better in using her powers, even if she only uses it instinctively, because she doesn't know this either.

 

[Tu'teggacha]

Internally, Tu'teggacha smiled. It had taken a long time to get Ziare to this point, this place where she was broken enough for Mercy to emerge and take over; her torment had spanned both of the major battles the Maw had faced since Carlac. But it was proving far more effective than the process of producing any ordinary slave-soldier. "No matter," he confirmed, nodding his bulbous head at her. "Let Ziare become the passenger in her own body. You are strong enough to seal her away, and you will become stronger still." He could sense that her mind was resilient. Rather than breaking down, it compartmentalized itself. That was why even Omni had not fully changed her.

He did not need to erase Ziare's compartment, if he even could, only keep it contained.

The Taskmaster could feel her longing for the dark power he channeled to her... and was surprised when, as he began to pull back, she reached out for more. Her effort was clumsy and unguided, like a baby reaching out wildly for the bottle, but it was still there. He had not recognized this power in her at first, but it was clear to him now that she had the capacity to touch the Force. Tu'teggacha's estimation of her value rose immediately; her raw talent could perhaps be refined in time, and it would make her an even more powerful warrior. For now, however, he shrugged off her attempted mental intrusion. He was a master of telepathy, while she was still only beginning to learn.

Mercy leaned down to face him, and his glassy black eyes stared back at her. She told him she wanted to fight for the Maw, but as a volunteer, not as a slave-soldier. Though his face was calm and placid, inside Tu'teggacha was laughing. In the end, all of the slave-soldiers he broke believed that serving the Brotherhood was what they wanted... but it was a desire that he had twisted them into believing was their own. Mercy had all the right attitudes and skills to be an effective marauder, though, and if she wanted to believe that it was her choice to fight for the Maw, that was much better than feeling like she had been forced to do so. "Of course," the Taskmaster smoothly replied.

With a touch of a button on his wrist computer, Tu'teggacha moved the torture slab back up to a vertical position, to allow Mercy to easily step off once her restraints were unlocked. But he didn't do that part, not yet. "Freedom is what we all seek," he explained, walking in a slow circle around the slab. "Freedom to act as we wish, to live out our passions. Freedom from the corrupt, stifling laws of the old regimes that dominate the galaxy, jealously hoarding all the power and wealth in the hands of a few." He stopped in front of her, looking up at her face. "But freedom has to be seized, Mercy. True freedom cannot be given, only declared."

Another touch of a button, and the restraints holding Mercy to the slab slid open. "You must declare your freedom on the battlefield. You must throw away laws and rules and moral constraints and be the person you truly want to be. Take what you want, do as you will, and only then are you really free. The Maw can help you do this." It was the promise of the Dark Voice, a promise that appealed to the galaxy's downtrodden: rise up, throw off society's shackles of polite obedience to corporations and senators and kings. The Brotherhood provided this opportunity to everyone, even the lowest slave, so long as they were willing to stand tall and fight for it.

But they were all slaves to their own dark passions in the end. Even Tu'teggacha himself.

Keilara Kala'myr​

 

[Keilara Kala'myr]

Ziare Dyarron | Keilara Kala'myr
COMPNOR (ISB) Junior Agent, Nite agent | Slave of the Maw​

Objective: Try to survive.
Location: Tu'teggacha's workshop, Exegol
Equipment: N/A || OPBC-01m
Tag: Tu'teggacha

[ Defiance ]
"Galactic Basic" | ~"Telepathic" communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

I still didn’t fully understand what he was referring to, but I had to trust the Taskmaster to know what he was doing. I nodded; I may not have trusted him because I had ideas about what he could do, what he wanted to do with Ziare, but at the moment no one else could help me. And after all, it helped get rid of her. It is another matter whether it is in the interests of the self or in the interests of the Maw. It still lies in the future how well our plans would match in the long run.

"Okay, let's say I believe you in this, Taskmaster!" I replied.

I knew I had to learn a lot and probably fight her; but my life consisted of struggle. And anger and hatred are stronger than her pathetic empathy. I’m going to close that meadow forever and Ziare will be trapped inside forever. Slowly I began to perceive the outside world, I heard the sound of the Taskmaster no longer from my mind but from the outside. I also tried to see things outside, but at first it was just strong brightness. So far, only Ziare has seen the outside world, not me. In order to really declare freedom, we must first:

"And for that, everything and everyone who tries to stop us from achieving our own freedom must perish and burn." I said to the man.

This time, I was no longer just talking in my mind; my voice was a little different, deeper, firm, not weak. As I broke free and my feet reached the ground, I suddenly fell to my knees. Now I could feel the physical pain, all of Ziare's injuries. I snarled, but I won’t ask for help against the pain. As the Taskmaster spoke, I began to move my limbs, it was pleasantly novel. A mocking smile appeared on my lips at the man's words.

"Luckily, I have no intention of following the laws of a state that calls itself a civilized society." I said sarcastically, then laughed in such a voice. "What are morals? They remained locked in Ziare's fairytale world…"

Yes, I definitely liked the idea of being able to show them, the galaxy, what I imagine it to be like. They will experience and feel my anger, the life-giving and beautiful chaos. There are even more questions about when this will happen, when we start. However, there was a more important question.

"How can Maw help me in this?" I asked.