Private Corruption Is An Art

[Darth Virelia]

"In the cover of darkness."

Tags - Mika Tai En

The ruins breathed.

Soot and shadow curled together beneath the broken skyline, coiling through the shattered ribs of the once-proud relay tower. From the outside, it looked like another corpse of the Outer Rim — Desevro, blackened durasteel, silent comm arrays twisted skyward like broken fingers. But within, deep beneath the ruin, the air throbbed with life. With her life.

Darth Virelia waited.

The light was low — not dark enough to hide her, not bright enough to comfort. Faint violet arcs ran across the obsidian plates of her armor, crawling like veins under skin. Each pulse came slower than a heartbeat, yet heavier, like the breath of something buried alive. A thin mist of alchemical vapor drifted from the vents behind her throne, perfumed with copper and incense. The scent was deliberate — narcotic, slow, invasive. Those who entered this place would taste her before they ever saw her.

She could hear them coming. The whisper of boots on stone. Discipline, order, purpose. TIC operatives — the best the Confederation had to offer. How quaint, she thought. They had tracked the false transmission she had left hanging in the void: a ping to a missing war asset, a ghost from the Brosi campaign. They believed they were the hunters.

She smiled.

Through the mist, her silhouette rippled — tall, predatory, languid. Every line of her posture calculated to draw the eye, to unmake restraint. The Force coiled around her like silk, heavy with promise and poison. Her voice, when it came, was almost a purr, slipping into the ruins long before they crossed the threshold.

"Come closer."

The command was soft, barely audible. Yet the sound crawled beneath armor, into the nerves. She didn't need to raise her weapon. Her power was suffocating, sensual — it reached through the dark like perfume through smoke.

Beneath the cracked floor, her traps waited: hidden coils of gas, web mines, and the silent hum of restraining fields. The chamber itself was the snare — every wall carved with sigils that drank sound and light alike.

They would come for a ghost. They would find a goddess.
And when the light struck her face at last, when violet eyes burned through the fog, they would know —

— they hadn't been sent here. They had been summoned.

 

[Mika Tai En]

Location: Desevro
Objective: Find the source of the signal
Outfit: Imperial Knight Armor
Tag: Darth Virelia

Mika led a group of special forces troopers. She had thought the assignment was an insult given her training and talents. However, she was taught to obey orders, be patient and strike at the right time. When Grandmaster Tane left Mika behind to help the struggling Imperials of the Tion Cluster, Mika thought she was destined to lead armies be's true knight.

Her training had taken longer than she had thought. Mostly because everyone who knew her talents left Imperial space with the Grandmaster. The Imperial Confederation that formed from the ashes of the Empire did not place as much value in Force use. In fact, portions of the government sought to limit its use. Still Mika stuck to her duty as was ingrained in her very being.

Now the Imperial Knights have been stretched thin. Many did not return from Brosi. A large contingent of those who remained went to Atrisia to face the new threat of the Galactic Empire. Mika had pleaded to be enlisted in the response to the bullies who had taken the Core.

Alas she was sent to Desevro, a zombie planet for some time. It was revived for a short time under the old regime, but the DuPorcelen Iron Legion was not really about building up. They occupied, but when they left Desevro it fell back into decay. The planeshift didn't help matters. The system now lay beyond the reach of the Imperials. Somehow however there was a message being sent from the planet. Sith was the rumor. So a response was required. And a knight would be useful.

"Knight Tai En, we have arrived at the source of the broadcast," the squad commander spoke up. He was a clone which gave Mika trust in him. Not because she too was a clone, but because he had been meticulously programmed to perform at optimum.

Mika gave a nod. She paused for a moment. None of her troops would sense it like she did. Something was definitely here. This was no hollow mission. The ruling council didn't know that when she was sent, but that didn't matter now. The next Brosi or Atrisia that came along she would have a name. She would be on the front lines.

"Pick two of your men. They will come with me, the rest will form a perimeter," she felt the dark presence. It was both horrifying and exciting at the same time. This would test her strengths. The clone commander gave a salute and started giving orders. In a moment two troopers stepped forward.

At the same time Mika felt the call from the shadows. It was a jolt of exhilaration. "Stay back a distance and provide cover if needed. I don't know what we are walking into, but I doubt it is a company of soldiers." The troopers gave a nod.

Mika crept forward towards the call. The smell of artificial haze struck her nose as she strode further into the shadows. Her hand clasped her idle lightsaber. The two troopers fanned out and found suitable cover to fire from for a good distance. It was Mika alone now. As she got further in the shadows were interrupted by a violet hue. Mika paused. "You have called. I have answered. What's next? Are we to fight?"

 

[Darth Virelia]

"In the cover of darkness."

Tags - Mika Tai En

The air around Mika shifted.

It wasn't sound that came first—it was weight. The kind that settled over the skin like a second atmosphere, warm and electric, saturating the air with breathless anticipation. The violet glow deepened, rippling against the walls like a heartbeat beneath flesh.

From within the haze, movement: a shape uncoiling from shadow. Slowly. Deliberately.

Darth Virelia emerged as though the darkness were her veil, sliding from it in fluid, feline motion. The dim light bled over the smooth obsidian of her armor, catching on the curves of the plates and the faint shimmer of alchemical veins beneath. Her helm remained on, yet even that seemed alive—eyes burning through the visor, a deep neon amethyst that cut through the mist like twin knives of light.

She said nothing. Not at first. Silence was its own language, and she wielded it with surgical precision.

Every step she took brought the air closer, denser. Her presence crawled through the Force like perfume—sweet, suffocating, edged with danger. It didn't press Mika back; it drew her forward, lured her into the gravity well that was her. The Dark Side pulsed in rhythm with her steps, intimate, patient, like a lover's breath against the neck.

Virelia's gloved fingers traced the air as if sculpting something unseen. The gesture was almost tender. And from that motion, the walls seemed to respond—sigils lighting faintly, whispering like distant voices half-heard through static. A trap made beautiful. A snare that sang.

When she finally spoke, her voice came soft and resonant through the vocoder—layered silk over iron.

"Fight?" The word tasted like amusement. "Little knight… you already have."

Her head tilted, a slow, assessing movement. "Your every step into this place was surrender."

The Force trembled as she reached out—not physically, but with will alone. Invisible fingers brushed the edge of Mika's mind, teasing her resolve, testing the heat beneath her discipline. She could feel the woman's heart rate quicken, could smell the flicker of adrenaline and curiosity.

Virelia drifted closer until the violet glow washed over them both, until the space between words became unbearable. Her next whisper was almost a caress.

"Be still. Listen. This is how power speaks."

And the ruin seemed to breathe with her.

 

[Mika Tai En]

Location: Desevro
Objective: Find the source of the signal
Outfit: Imperial Knight Armor
Tag: Darth Virelia

Hair rose on the back of Mika’s neck. The walls seemed to close in on her even though the area was quite open. Mika could hear the movement of her two back up troopers, but they seemed like they were miles away. The strange thing was that this feeling closing in on Mika and separating her from her troops was not entirely unpleasant. There was a deep feeling of anxiety, a slight fear of the unknown.

The violet hue was both eerie and tranquil. The movement was noted, but Mika had a hard time focusing upon it. Her hand tightened around the hilt of her weapon as a figure slowly materialized from the haze. The shape was an utter mystery even though it appeared very much to be a humanoid form of some sort. Mika felt that they glowing violet eyes were boring straight through to her soul. As much as the figure was a mystery to Mika, it was like it knew all there was to know about her.

As the presence came closer and closer Mika’s breaths became shorter and quicker. Though she could sense nothing sinister from the figure, she knew she should beware. This was like nothing Mika had ever experienced. She wondered if her training had been lacking because no one else had experienced this either, or if it was so rare that going through the preparation would be more harmful than beneficial. Despite the sense that she should be cautious, Mika found herself taking small slow steps forward. Her eyes closed for a moment as she soaked in the echoes of the Darkside that pulsed through the area.

More movement came and with that movement the walls illuminated, symbols that had no meaning to Mika, but she could sense held power. For now though, she didn’t care what they meant. She was focused on the other being in the room. What they wanted from her. Mika could sense their power. She doubted that she wanted to fight, but she would if she had to. Then came the voice. Sweet and harsh at the same time. It almost mocked Mika’s question about a pending fight. This seeped into Mika’s consciousness making her grind her teeth in irritation and almost allowed her finger to tap on the activation switch of her weapon. Then the voice continued. Claiming that by merely following the call here that Mika had somehow surrendered, Mika wanted to protest but her voice caught in her throat, and she continued forward lending credence to the words.

Mika felt the press on her thoughts. She wished that she wanted to swat it away. But this was like nothing Mika had ever experienced. Something that she felt she needed to feel and process. Even if she would need to fight it off eventually. Breaths ceased completely as the voice spoke again. The words told her to be still and Mika obeyed. The claim of power made Mika’s head tilt slightly to the side. She took in a deep breath and found her voice. ”I am not supposed to care for power. I was trained to resist temptation. To seek order above power. Yet your call is undeniable. Your pull cannot be stopped. Why is this? Why can’t I follow my training and pull away? I know I’m not that experienced, but my will is strong and my training complete…” There was both wonder and hopelessness in Mika’s thoughts. It was frightening and exhilarating. What was to come next?

 

[Darth Virelia]

"In the cover of darkness."

Tags - Mika Tai En

The silence stretched between them like silk drawn taut.

Virelia watched. Through the haze her eyes burned brighter, slivers of violet fire that pinned the knight where she stood. Every trembling breath Mika drew rippled through the Force, and Virelia could taste it—discipline faltering, curiosity seeping through the cracks.

The Sith stepped forward, and the air shivered. The mist parted reluctantly, as though it wanted to cling to her. Her movements were slow, graceful, predatory. The faint hum of her armor resonated in the quiet, like the low purr of something alive.

When she reached the edge of arm's length, Virelia lifted a hand. Blackened gauntlet, polished to mirror sheen, wreathed in faint arcs of amethyst light. She didn't touch Mika—but the air between them trembled as though contact had already been made. The heat of her presence was a physical thing; it curled against the knight's throat, slid over her skin, whispered of what could happen if she forgot her duty for even a heartbeat.

Her voice came again, low, silken, terrible.

"Order is a cage," she murmured. "You wear it well."

The words brushed against the edges of Mika's mind, invasive and intimate, the tone neither mocking nor kind—merely true.

"Your will resists what your body already knows."

Her fingers hovered inches from the knight's cheek. The air hummed with suppressed electricity, the taste of ozone and heat. The symbols carved into the walls pulsed in time with her voice, feeding the rhythm, deepening the spell.

"Power is not temptation, little knight. Power is recognition. It sees you."

Each word fell like a drop of molten glass—heavy, deliberate, unanswerable. The violet glow enveloped them both now, softening edges, dissolving distance.

Virelia leaned closer, until the faint reflection of the knight's face shimmered across the curved plates of her helm.

"But instead you followed, because you were meant to."

Her voice thinned into a whisper, almost reverent. "You feel it now. The order you serve has no room for what you are."

A pause, breathless, hovering on the brink of touch.

"But I do."

The last words rolled through the chamber like a heartbeat, deep and resonant. And when Virelia's hand finally lowered, the space she left behind ached with the memory of what almost was.

 

[Mika Tai En]

Location: Desevro
Objective: Find the source of the signal
Outfit: Imperial Knight Armor
Tag: Darth Virelia

The tension in the air continued to grow. It was so thick that Mika's breathing continued to get quicker. It should have been a bad thing to someone whose short life had been drowned in the importance of order and stability. Yet the pounding in Mika's chest was not a bad thing at all. She could feel the power in the air. And though it was completely foreign to her there was something that made her quite curious. Whatever the shadows held, Mika wanted to learn more about them.

The young Knight stood silent and motionless as the glowing violet orbs in the shadows looked her over. Mika could feel the interest in her grow. She couldn't do anything about it though. It was like she was a mouse being toyed with by a playful cat. Something "bad" was coming, but Mika wasn't sure when and she was powerless to do anything about it.

The shadow continued to move forward. The mists hung onto the feminine form as it came better into Mika's view. The movements stalked closer to Mika. The red-haired knight had never been hunted in this manner. She wasn't sure how many people had been hunted like this. She felt completely vulnerable. The weapon in her hand was deadly and violent, but the anticipation of what was happening here had stayed Mika's hand. When the figure was within reach of Mika she inhaled deeply and held it. There was something about the way the air felt in her chest. It was unclear if that was mental or if the dark presence had done something to the air itself.

A dark armored arm rose. Mika's instincts begged for her to bring her weapon up and strike before she was attacked herself. This being that she was sharing heavy air with was obviously not of order. From what Mika was taught only bad could happen from not taking to the offensive. Still Mika could not bring herself to move. No matter how much training she had received of the dangers of chaos and the seeking out of power, she was too curious as to the possibilities of what could be. As the hand reached out Mika closed her eyes in anticipation.

With her eyes closed, Mika could swear that the hand touched her. The feeling was electric. Even though her breath had been held, Mika could feel pressure on her throat. As Mika slowly pressed air through her tense throat she heard the voice again. The words hit deep in Mika. At first, they seemed to mock what Mika believed in. But then the words seemed to compliment. Mika soaked it all in.

"My will is breaking…" Mika said timidly with broken words. "My training resists what you have to say. My body…" she sighed longingly. "My body has only ever listened. Perhaps it is smarter than the wisdom that was instilled upon me."

Eyes still closed, Mika's cheeks grew warm. Electric tingles danced over Mika's skin. She gave a long humming sound as she waited for what would come next. Next was the nature of power. The voice said that it was not about temptation. Why did it pull Mika so strongly then? Now the figure was so close that she dominated all of Mika's senses. Her eyes opened and she saw herself in the gleam of the helmet so close. The voice said there was a reason why Mika was here. A reason why the knight had not retreated and had not attacked.

The reason was that Mi'la was not a child of order as she had been told. Mika belonged with this being. The closeness became so much that Mi'la nearly leaned into the presence. Mika had been taught that the Force was a tool. Something she should use. But if what was being said now was true Mika herself was just a tool. Something to be tossed away when usefulness concluded. Finally the hand touched Mika and she leaned her head into it.

"I will reach my potential by following your word. By leaving the stagnation of order and embracing the power you will show me…"

 

[Darth Virelia]

"In the cover of darkness."

Tags - Mika Tai En

Virelia's hand lingered, fingertips resting just beneath the knight's chin.
The gesture was not gentle. It was claiming.

Through the Force, she felt Mika's resistance fracture—one delicate break after another until all that remained was trembling acceptance. The sound of the knight's breath fed into the silence, shallow and uneven, a hymn to the moment of her undoing.

Virelia drew closer, until the violet glow swallowed them both. Her helm tilted, the voice that came from within low and deliberate, each word sliding across the air like the stroke of a blade through silk.

"Good," she whispered. "You should feel it. The breaking is how truth enters."

Her other hand rose, gliding along the line of Mika's shoulder—a caress, a measurement, as if weighing the worth of what she had just claimed. The power radiating from her was suffocating, beautiful, inexorable. The Dark Side swelled in the chamber, pressing against skin and thought alike, until even the walls seemed to pulse with it.

"You were made to serve something greater than order," she continued. "To belong to it. To let it reshape you."

The words looked to sink into Mika's mind, heavy and inevitable. Virelia could feel the knight's will folding inward, not in defeat but in transformation. It was the moment every convert reached—the point where fear turned to hunger.

"Look at me."

The command was soft, but it carried the full weight of the Force behind it. When Mika obeyed, Virelia's eyes flared like amethyst fire.

"What you call obedience," she said, "is simply understanding. There is no need for chains when you finally see what you are meant to become."

The air thrummed as she released her grip, letting the Force itself hold Mika upright.

"Swear it," Virelia breathed, her tone darkly exultant. "Swear yourself to me, and I will tear away every lie you were raised to serve. You will not be a tool. You will be mine—and through me, unbreakable."

The chamber fell silent again, save for the slow, living hum of the Dark Side—waiting to see if the knight would kneel.

 

[Mika Tai En]

Location: Desevro
Objective: Find the source of the signal
Outfit: Imperial Knight Armor
Tag: Darth Virelia

The fact that Virelia's touch was not gentle did not phase Mika. She was trained to be resilient. Mika knew that she could withstand torture. But that was not what this was. Virelia's claiming was accepted not only with no resistance, but with a deal of excitement. This was a new world that Mika was told would be terrible. But how can something said to be so bad be so stimulating? As Virelia's helmed head moved slightly Mika considered what would was beneath the helmet.

Mika ground her teeth together as she waited for the "breaking" to happen. It was not an attempt to resist, more an attempt to stay strong and come out the other side a better version of herself. Her resolve melted as she felt the touch on her shoulder. She felt it through her armor. How was that possible? The touch was still not exactly gentle. More of a pull into the darkness than a tender welcome. Still, it made Mika purr with contentment. Even without seeing what was hiding behind the helmet and the haze, Mika was drawn to it like a moth to flame.

Words hummed in Mika's ears. As she accepted the new guidance, letting her mind be open to new possibilities, Mika realized she stood there in the armor of an Imperial Knight. The symbol of being a soldier of Confederation that wished to control the Force. Something that Mika was now being shown was the gateway to so much greatness. Hands started to reach for the fasteners that kept her body cocooned in an armor of falsehood. Little by little plates of plastisteel fell to the ground. She desired to be molded and somehow thought the armor would hold her back.

When told to look at her new guide in the universe, Mika looked with soft fluttering eyes. The eyes of violet penetrated Mika's gaze and the young knight became entranced by the possibilities. The thought of being released from the limitations her training had put upon her was great. But it was frightening as well. The chains had held her back, but they had held her up as well. Could she be free and still have chains to this guiding figure for a short time?

A sigh of disappointment escaped Mika's throat as Virelia's touch pulled back. When the voice called for Mika's oath of submission a smirk of desire formed on the young knight's lips as she kneeled before the dark figure. "I swear it, my Lady. I am yours to mold. Yours to make into what I have always been destined to be, but have been held back by others. I will follow your lead into a destiny I cannot even fathom yet. I follow blindly, with obedience, but with passion."

 

[Darth Virelia]

"In the cover of darkness."

Tags - Mika Tai En

Virelia watched her kneel.

The faintest hum issued from her armor—satisfaction disguised as stillness. She let the silence linger, let the Force coil between them until the weight of it pressed down like gravity. When she finally moved, it was slow: a single step forward, the whisper of metal over stone. The violet haze wrapped around them both, swallowing the last of the ruin's light.

"Beautiful," she murmured. "You break exactly as you were meant to."

Her gauntlet came down, resting against the crown of Mika's bowed head. The contact crackled faintly with the Dark Side; power sank into the Knight's skin like heat through ice. In that moment, Virelia saw what she wanted—faith, trembling and raw, ready to be shaped.

"This is the first lesson," she said softly. "Power is not given. It is proven."

Her fingers slid from Mika's hair to her jaw, tilting the young woman's face upward until those violet eyes met hers again. "You swore yourself to me. Then you will show me."

Beyond the mist, movement flickered—shadows of the two troopers still holding their perimeter. They were distant, but Virelia's senses touched them as easily as breath touches flame. She drew in a long, slow breath, and the chamber seemed to pulse with her.

"They are your past," she whispered. "Every order that bound you. Every chain you mistook for honor."

She let the words hang between them, then released her hold. The Force surged outward from her in a silent pulse—an intoxicating mix of command and promise.

"Cut them away."

It wasn't shouted. It didn't need to be. The words burrowed into Mika's mind, heavy with the scent of ozone and copper, wrapped in the seductive certainty of purpose.

"End them, and you will be free of what made you small. Only then will you rise as mine—reborn, unshackled, whole."

Virelia stepped back into the haze, the violet light spilling around her like the folds of a cloak. "Go," she said, her voice a low purr of inevitability. "Show me that obedience is strength."

 

[Mika Tai En]

Location: Desevro
Objective: Prove her obedience
Outfit: Black bodysuit
Tag: Darth Virelia

As Mika kneeled a part of her briefly drifted to think "what if her old trainers had been right"? If they were this being of dark chaos would end Mika's short life without a care. But Mika's short lapse of faith was pushed aside by her increasing curiosity. A thirst for more that she felt could only be quenched by this woman who had called her here. Mika had no reason to feel that she was singled out. But this new feeling of destiny that washed over her with the arrival of the purple haze told her that she was not going to be ended here like that. She was going to be rewarded for sticking her neck out.

Mika purred with pride as the being whispered of beauty. Despite knowing it was not a slight, there was a slight growl when Mika was told she had broken. It quickly turned to a hum of acceptance, however as she realized the old her had broken. The new her would show itself through the cracks. The hum came slightly louder and more pleasant as the gauntleted hand rested on Mika's head. It should have been heavy and the ping of darkness tingling should have been concerning. But instead, Mika soaked it in and waited for what would be next.

Next came the dark yet sweet voice of Mika's destiny. The lessons were to begin. And Mika was going to have to prove herself to gain any power that was coming her way. This was not unexpected. Even in her old life Mika had to prove herself. Fingers moved from Mika's hair to her chin, and she did not resist as her gaze was lifted from the floor to look into the violet eyes of Virelia. There was a slight demure flinch. Mika's cheeks grew warm. She yearned to prove herself. When she was told to show Virelia she nodded.

The haze gave way in the direction Mika had come from. It was not completely clear, but Mika could make out the helmets of her troopers. Not her troopers anymore. Virelia called them chains to the past. And the order was given to "cut them". Mika knew what that meant. She rose and ignited her lightsaber. The blade was still purple, Mika thought it looked a bit darker. More red.

With her crimson armor now lying on the ground, Mika stalked through the haze towards the troopers. She was always deliberate. That was how she was trained to be. But there was something more predatory in how she advanced now. As the troopers came clearer in Mika's vision she heard one call out."Lady Knight what was it?" Their mission was to find the source of the signal after all. Since there was no sign of a fight, none was expected from the troops.

Mika's response was not one of words. She lunged at the closest trooper. With a simple one-handed overhead strike of her lightsaber she cleaved through the trooper's armor and through the shoulder of the arm that would have fired its blaster. Now the arm lay limp. Before the other trooper could act, Mika's free arm made a graceful move and the blaster rifle flew from the trooper's hands.

Mika put down the first trooper with a simple beheading slash. Then a high arcing flip avoided a bolt from the second trooper's secondary blaster and had Mika standing right in front of the trooper. A well aimed stab of her blade to the trooper's chest put them down quickly as well. There was no need to toy with these two. They were not on her level.

Mika retreated the helmets of the troopers, one full and one empty and strode back into the haze. The satisfied smirk that stated she enjoyed what had just happened disappeared as she grew closer to Virelia. Mika placed the helmets at the Dark Lady's feet and kneeled once again.

"I obey. I seek to be taught true strength. These chains have been cut."

 

[Darth Virelia]

"In the cover of darkness."

Tags - Mika Tai En

The violet haze stirred as if it breathed with her.

Virelia did not need to look down to know what lay at her feet. The metallic clang of the helmets against the stone floor sang sweeter than any oath. The scent of scorched alloy, the faint iron tang that clung to the air—these were her incense, her proof.

She extended a hand slowly, letting her fingers hover above the blood that slicked Mika's gloves. "So it is done," she said, the words low, almost reverent. "The first act of creation is always destruction."

Her voice filled the chamber, soft yet absolute. It wound around Mika's mind the way smoke coils around a flame—every syllable a thread that tightened gently, insistently. "You tore away what tethered you. You chose to."

The Sith's armored hand came beneath Mika's chin again, raising her head from its kneel. This time, the touch was lighter—approving, assessing. "Do you feel it now? The silence where their voices were?"

She leaned in closer, helm almost touching Mika's forehead, and whispered, "That silence is freedom. It is the breath before power speaks your name."

A shimmer of energy flickered between them; the symbols on the walls pulsed, dimmed, then steadied. The air grew warm. Heavy.

Virelia studied her newly broken knight with a predator's patience and an artist's fascination. The discipline that once defined Mika had been hollowed out, replaced by something purer, hungrier.

"Order never understood devotion," she murmured. "It trains you to obey without passion. But obedience without desire is hollow. You understand that now."

Her thumb brushed the edge of Mika's jawline, a gesture that hovered between blessing and claim.

"You have shed your false masters. From this moment, your loyalty has a pulse." The faintest hum escaped her as she spoke, a deep resonance that vibrated through the chamber and through the kneeling knight's bones.

Virelia released her chin, the motion graceful, deliberate. "Rise, Mika Tai En. Your first chains are gone, but you will learn there are others yet to be broken."

She turned away, the mist parting in slow reverence before her. "Follow me," she said, her tone silk over command. "We will teach you how to make the galaxy kneel the way you just did."

And as she walked, the violet haze swallowed them both, the ruin's whispers echoing with the birth of something new.