Coruscant After the Battle, New Orders? [Vengeance]

[Darth Centax]

Coruscant After the Battle, New Orders?​

Coruscant #Sith Staging Area 77982​

​

A mid-level area, nothing too far down into the bowels of the city planet to be overly dangerous, but not up in luxury either, this was where most of the work got done, where the soldiers and the little people got their orders and got themselves ready to move. Connar on the other hand was returning, rifle in hand, and saber on the belt to meet a Knight who was heading their way.

In his usual white vanguard armor, one of the legion, or in his case a small crew of jedi killers that were being crafted by the Sith, just one mission on his mind, how to stop attacks like had rocked Coruscant the other day, he’d signed up without even thinking because it gave him a purpose and because he'd known a lot of those that had died, all for what? A certain amount of unharnessed rage bubbled away at the thought of the lost faces. To the Sith and Jedi they were expendable legions, to Connar they were his friends, and their memory wasn't leaving him easily.

Picking up his helmet in his hand, Connar had been told he might be about to meet a new Master or at least someone he was going to get new orders from. Dropping down to the level below, away from the machinery above, and moving with some impressive agility and enthusiasm. Not showing off, he took the direct route down because it was quicker, and the youth didn’t have a lot of patience. The Zeltrix (half epicanthix, half zeltron) didn't stand in a military stance, some training was there, it was more like a martial arts stance in how he carried himself and waited. When he looked down across the otherwise quiet platform, he found a certain red robed woman kneeling silently, giving her a glance of surprise.

[member="Vengeance"] | [member="Sera Inkari"]​

 

[Sera Inkari]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LYxvKcb6js​

Red robes covering her body, sera knelt in quiet inward meditations awaiting his arrival, her hands folded into her lap and her head bowed. Kintan’s priestess had a sliver of force training in her, the rest born out of necessity or farseeing in service of her many Master's whims. Her aura was prominently red of hue, like her hair which could just be seen under her robed hood, unreleased yet from her traditional garb.

Sea blue eyes drunk in the scene around them, cold floor, hard walls, silence save the steps or sound of his approach and deliverance from uncertainty. Her dream threatened to swallow her whole, especially after coruscant and her brush with alter environment, because she’d connected with something that could overtake her completely without guidance, as her dreaming often sort to.

Graceful almost in how she waited, patiently as long as necessary, but also strength there in her awaiting their guest, and perchance teacher. She smiled slightly at Connar, softly almost, her eyes reading him and what he was, or might be, soft but with unshaking faith in what the Sith were to this world, binding promise and hope for something that might last beyond her drifting visions.

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance made his way down into the lower levels of the capital city. Lower as in they were just removed from the open air but still high enough to still be people of note. At least where Vengeance was concerned. A great many Sith regarded the common soldier as beneath them. He had even felt the way in the beginning. However as Vengeance grew and matured so did his few and thought processes.

As he walked His hood pulled over his head Vengeance was flanked by two Captains. Both hard men who had seen more than any man should. One a Soldier the other part of the cities security forces. As he moved he conferred with the men.

"This city has always been a target." "Apparently even it's former owners had problems with terrorists and insurgency." "They were much more popular than we are."

The security Captain snorted.

"Since when do Sith care about the little people."

The Army Captain started to turn and retort but was interrupted by Vengeance's own response.

"Captain the same could be true on every world of every person." "Some take an interest in those that are not Sith and others don't." "Expansion has pulled a lot of our forces off world this is true." "However your blight has not gone unnoticed nor ignored." "That is why I am here."

The three men continued forward until the reached a red robed woman and a Trooper in white Vanguard armor. They stopped...............well Vengeance stopped it took the two men an extra step to do so. He smiled.

"What an odd place to find Acolytes."

He studied them for a minute.

"Let's see a Scholar and a Warrior." "It almost seems like deja vu only this isn't the temple." "One of calm contemplation and the other a wave of anticipation."

He turned to the army Captain.

"Do you know these two Captain?"

Not waiting for an answer he turned back to them.

"Shall we get introductions out of the way." "My name is Vengeance." "I am a Knight of the One Sith." "And you are?"

[member="Kylath Amadis"] [member="Sera Inkari"]

 

[Darth Centax]

Anticipation was spot on. Looking up he visibly tensed ready, strangely there was a split second hesitation answering, a heartbeat but it was there in Kylath’s response, he had just recently been told of his past and had his file updated with his new name. “Connar, Knight Vengeance. Attached to the 769th”

Along with [member="Kelon Amadis"], the 769th was dubbed one of the Jedi Killer units like the assassins and some areas of the army utilized, but they had a long way to go to earn their name, training in their infancy to fulfil their new role. When he finally did speak the words were spoken with some excitement, not giddiness but eagerness to prove worth his chance here, he even tried to stand a bit taller.

Kyalth, Connar, whatever his past, he’d give anything for just one shot, chewing his teeth together, a kind of intensity in his look, hungry for it, and now getting ahead of himself, “are you looking for another apprentice?” Bold, had the youth overstepped his mark? He'd heard rumors since his real bloodline was found [member="Maya Whitelight"] but nothing solid about him being force sensitive. While from the loading dock above one or two of those that knew him looked on, Sera from beside him began to stand...

[member="Vengeance"] | [member="Sera Inkari"]​

 

[Sera Inkari]

Opening her hands outward to stand, the hooded priestess unfolded towards the architect of their meeting, head dipped just slightly in reverence but not weakness for their Knight overseer, Kintan's traditional desert robe flowed encompassed her body to her ankles, raised now slightly by one hand so not to brush against dirt or dust. Although her skin was soft, and her manner graceful, minor burn marks could be seen healing from her time trapped by the Jedi in their temple, a not unusable memory if Vengeance wished for any leverage or a point of focus in their time together.

“My Lord, Sera Inkari third priestess of the cult of serenity, Acolyte to the Coruscant Sith temple, and seer of their darker places.” Her honeyed tone was practiced, with enough promise of what she held perhaps to pique interest, but also enough hidden that she might be a mystery awaiting answers.

Kintan's seer passed no attention to anyone but him, central to her dream's course. Remaining hooded and head dipped, offering him all her respect she was able, but despite her demeanour there was a strength of faith and a conviction matched by no other she had ever yet crossed, conviction that might resonate in how she spoke and stood.

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance looked at Connor giving the man a nod.

"The 769th..............a new recruit in more ways than one it seems." "Also it is just Vengeance........not a big fan of titles unless absolutely required."

He turned to look at the Seer with a curious look.

"The Cult of Serenity?" "Serenity is not a common trait among Sith." "Most love to delve head first into their emotions." "Darker places?" "That interests me greatly though I wonder if you mean the physical ones such as the caves of Dagobah or the mental ones?"

He paused looking at any visible burns not at all hiding it.

"Perhaps it is a bit of both."

He then looked and addressed them both.

"I teach any who wish to learn without prejudice or reservations." "However much of my time is spent on the battlefield and my time is precious."

He paused.

"My last Apprentice has proven worthy of Knighthood and been granted it." "I can teach two with relative easy on a one on one basis but you must each prove worthy of the extra attention."


[member="Kylath Amadis"] [member="Sera Inkari"]

 

[Darth Centax]

Connar wondered if Vengeance knew, blinking slowly and concentrating hard, but didn’t let the thought last long because emotion took it from him, and he didn’t want to show weakness. Though like a certain other Sith sibling of his, a vein pulsed on his neck, betraying that he was feeling sore about recent events, even without a sense of the force that vengeance had. Rage was natural to the boy, furious tempers that broke out all too easily.

“I’ll prove myself, anything, whatever you want.” Again he was bold, glancing only to Sera briefly who seemed not to return his attention, the martial artists stance readied naturally, he expected a physical test because that’s what he thought Sith were, physically powerful beings, he had yet to be trained in anything else.

Resisting the urge to pace, the emotion expressed could well move his feet on its own if trained. "Just give me the shot." Whoever he had to go through, he didn't care, he was going to get even. Jedi had taken enough from him in the last few days, and others his past, and others his name, all of it. "I won't fail you."

[member="Vengeance"] | [member="Sera Inkari"]​

 

[Sera Inkari]

Sere was both an enigma and also terrifying, for there was nothing she wouldn’t do in service of their force. Her head only dipped slightly further, “we can find answers.” With time and training, “sight beyond sight, where they do not know to look,” or even feared to. Sera’s dipped face formed the slightest and softest of smiles. All in the asking, and how you asked that created their futures direction, she'd seen that again and again.

She could be subtle advantage over events, to be shaped or moulded ahead of [member="Vengeance"], and “you have but to ask,” her hood encompassing her crimson hair, still buried but radiant and alive, for that moment she was completely confident. Until he studied her burns, he might feel her tense, individualism asserting itself, pain, regret at lacking control, and desire for more direction, but faith and ideology also held heavy traditional sway.

Faith that didn’t need breaking, just grounding, and somewhere inside she herself felt the tug, because branded across her face was the results of being helpless against the tide, overwhelmed by the magnitude of all she saw. Training and being around or farseeing other sith made her more and more at odds with her order's view of the world, what was their force's path for her to be?

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance looked at the two of them for a moment before an idea hit him. He first turned to [member="Kylath Amadis"] with a smile.

"Tell me what is your greatest fear?"

It was a simple question and a complicated one at the same time. Then he turned to [member="Sera Inkari"] but pointed to the security Captain.

"I want you to kill him..............."

He pulled out a simple combat knife.

"..............using this and only this."

He took a few steps back and waited for the two of them to complete their assigned tasks wondering not only how they would react. The best type of test is one that tests multiple things at once. Vengeance even managed a smirk as the Security Captain gasped and started to protest reaching for the blaster on his hip. The Army Captain was surprisingly unflinching taking a step back along with Vengeance but made no other move.

 

[Darth Centax]

Kylath wondered if this was a test for him too, he didn’t have any fears that he could show, nothing phased him or so he hold himself. Really his greatest fear was that of being out of control, or not achieving his goal, “a life without the Sith.” Was the best he came up with, it showed loyalty, it also betrayed to Vengeance what his real fear was, a lack of control and certainty. So while the answer was weak of all but surface emotion, it was almost exactly spot in its meaning.

Reaffirming a strong shoulder width stance, the face of the young Zeltrix found a confidence in the words. Putting his helmet on the floor, to free up his hands, because he’d just heard what Sera had been asked to do! It was clever that Vengeance had asked the robed woman to kill as a test, Connar could have done that easily, he doubted she could, look at her. In some ways he was better than her, what could she do?

Watching in anticipation as the woman took the knife, imaging what she should do, the techniques that came so naturally to him... Unknown to him, Vengeance had been clever to give them both tests that would push their fledgling abilities or understanding in different ways.

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Sera Inkari]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUsL1ZcmIx8
All became as his will.​

Sera took the knife, watching its intended target ahead tense, she shook her head, “I cannot my Lord,” she softly walked forward, knife held outward across her hands, laying the blade at the captain's feet. He tensed, his weapon aiming at her, then relaxed… as she kneeled at their captain’s feet?

Her faith absolute, she passed Vengeance's knife to him, looking up and giving her softest of smiles across her face, straight into the barrel of his weapon.

“Do with me as you will,” and their captain took Vengeance's knife, lowering the barrel, the instrument of her perhaps Master’s, but certainly their force's will in his grasp.

Sadly for him, her words were meant for nobody but Vengeance’s ears, because the second their captain dropped his guard, her Knife rotated across the palm of his hand, stabbing downward into it, and with a flick of her attentions it had run across his wrist deeply cutting him.

She raised up, casting back her hood gracefully as he moved for his weapon to shoot, deep blue eyes drinking of what lay ahead, but he was too slow for her, the pain too great. Again their knife levitated above held by force enegies, then impaling the man's neck till there was only silence at her feet. Kintan’s priestess swayed gentle steps to return to where she was, faintest of bloodsplatters blemishing her clothing, she wiped Vengeances Knife clean and held it for him to take, head bowed.

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance listened to the response [member="Kylath Amadis"] gave to his answer. It amused him but at the same time was a deflection. A half answer that gave away nothing the man was smart. He looked at him.

"Explain your answer." "What makes Sith so important that you fear a life not being among them."

He was about to go further until his direction was pulled towards [member="Sera Inkari"] and her actions. He watched what she did and how she did it waiting until the man fell dead before he spoke addressing her. He didn't take from her the knife.

"Why did you kill that man?"

He expression was stone as he asked the question. Even before he heard the answers they both would give he still knew more than enough to make a decision. In truth they were decisions that were not very hard to make.

 

[Darth Centax]

The display of the red woman had him transfixed and he regarded her a lot differently from that moment on, if suspiciously because of her manner. To Connar's credit she didn’t distract the martial artist from where he was supposed to be focusing, the knight, for more than second, and he hadn’t moved also part of training in the broken gate's martial arts among others.

“Sith make the galaxy what it is,” Kylath answered honestly, “without them, all you’d have is small warlords rising up fighting each other, and death and confusion everywhere. Sith give us a chance at something better, and it's where I get to fight.” Where they didn’t shackle him, “no codes but what we make,” where you were valued on what you did, not some title that someone gave you, if you stopped being able to do your duty, you were replaced.

That was honestly what he thought, and only afterwards did he realise with how much emotion he’d said it, Kylath’s emotion often came off in reaction on his own body, tension, visible movements on the veins in his neck, the surface rage at even touching on the thought of the fear was there, and probably the teenagers strongest asset if cultivated to go beyond just anger, that and his various martial arts which he'd take to a peak if honed. "They gave me back a purpose." the words came without him even wanting them to.

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Sera Inkari]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDiZHi9eGw​

Question of independent thought, Sera didn’t recognize at first so blinded and held by her faith in the force’s absolute will. Her dogma wanted to answer, because he had commanded, and so the force therefore spoke through him to reach her, but she hesitated, part of her pulling not to fall into the trap so easily. Looking at their dagger held outward, she felt the cold metal certainty only evident in the final act, and watched, learning.

Keeping her eyes slightly dipped, more of her crimson locks freed from their traditional garb, they fought to cling back to what they know, her hand hesitated to hood herself from new understanding, why did he not take their knife? A message, a sign to what?

“To show me that life and death hangs on actions of individual approach as much as the force’s expression and ultimate design my lord, our methods carrying forward what must be done in its expression of all we are.” Learning, her faith had shifted slightly, a streak of red haired individualism framing long locks down the sides of her face, and now flickering behind her oddly gentle eyes, far from gentle, all-encompassing they read for any signs she had yet to learn from his direction.

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smiled with a chuckle

"Purpose."

It was all he said before turning back to [member="Sera Inkari"] looking at her.

"A lovely speech but that does not answer my question." "Why did you kill him?" "What reason did he have to deserve death?"


He turned back to [member="Kylath Amadis"] addressing him again.

"I think you will find that Sith are just small warlords rising up to fight each other." "You are incorrect though." "There are many codes." "Sith have more codes than any other force group that exists." "There are also just has many legends and philosophies as there are Sith in the Galaxy."

He looked at them both.

"It is not enough just to kill indiscriminately or for no reason." "Every act has a reason, a purpose behind it." "Every person whether Sith or Imperial has worth."


He paused.

"Your greatest fear Connar is inadequacy." "You fear you are not good enough, strong enough, or fast enough to be Sith." "It is why you hide among the Soldiers instead of strolling straight up to the Temple Gate and demand to seize your destiny."

"You Priestess kill without reason and use the force as a crutch." "Your task was to kill him using only the knife provided." "However instead of doing so you used the force not only as a distraction but as the fuel of his demise." "You failed your test however you were not expected to succeed." "You will in your quest find yourself in situations where the force is unavailable to you and must rely only on your physical ability." "On the same token you will soon realize that a simple command is never that simple." "In a room of four Sith each my command a different thing." "You will have to decide for yourself which to follow and be prepared to face the potential consequences of defying the other three."

He paused.

"The force will not save you from that."

 

[Darth Centax]

Eager to prove himself and an open mind at this time, every act or word would hold sway over his development profoundly. “Vengeance, why do you follow the Sith teachings.” He asked this boldly, because he felt it would give him the greatest insight in the shortest amount of time, but there was a visible hesitation at the possible form the response might take.

All he’d said so far was taken in, Connar didn’t know he was holding back from committing fully, he hadn’t considered it, though he’d spotted Sera’s mistake the second she’d done it, because unlike her he was all about using his body as a weapon first, practical.

You could see the unfolding picture of confusion first in the young man’s mind, almost play out on his face. “Mast…” he corrected himself, “Vengeance,” Kylath stood tall again, “I will claim it and my place. If you will train me Master,” and in saying that word he was starting to.

Vengeance felt as Connar did that every life was important, it was also a reason he was with the troopers, and had found it hard to break away from them, “its why I am here,” he added, still here, he’d been dragging his feet, "I want that chance," rising to the challenge and realising he had to make the first move.

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Sera Inkari]

A shiver ran up Sera Inkari’s spine and she clutched the dagger to her chest. She hadn’t even realised to separate their force from her bodily form, his knife, all were the same thing to her, his knife and their use of the force considered as one.

“Yes,” she lowered her eyes further losing her composure slightly, which might be considered weakness, but no her posture betrayed biting realisation that she had misunderstood his command, and her teacher’s instruction. There was not fracturing doubt, but there was pain in the realisation, as if doubt could cause real pain when received. He had grounded her faith to their physical form to show her weaknesses she had yet to bind, she would not kill so unquestioningly, or follow so blindly again.

Sera did not answer or debate, she learned, and listened. She had seen two different force teachers in her journey, and now a third who had a grasp of her weakness in mere moments of meeting him, realisations that were hard to ignore.

Raising her head, she nodded, “I understand my Lord.”

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Kenrath]

"Vengeance." "I am not a Lord and I am not a big fan of titles." "They hold little meaning to me." He smiled softly to [member="Sera Inkari"] urging her to drop the whole my Lord thing.


He looked at them for a moment studying them both. They were like two sides of the same coin. Each had strengths and each had weaknesses. He turned to [member="Kylath Amadis"] his question on why he followed Sith teachings entertaining.

"I don't." "Some people in the rule of two.........I don't." "If I did we would not be standing here and I would be furthering the training of Vaulkhar my first Apprentice." "Some believe that anyone who does not use the force is weak and has no value." "I used to believe that but don't anymore." "Some care only for power and position." "Neither matter to me at all."

He smirked.

"You will find I am the worst Sith ever." "My future wife has been declared a traitor, family means more to me than anything else, and I have more respect for the Jedi Grand Master than I do most of the Sith in the One Sith."

He chuckled looking at them both.

"If you still want to learn from me then meet me on Dagobah in three days." "If not I will be glad to recommend potential Masters suited to your individual strengths." "The choice is yours."

He looked at them both waiting to see what they would say.

 

[Darth Centax]

Kylath wasn’t about to let the chance go, all he cared about was getting even, and the men with him, soon to be those lost at balmorra too though the young Kylath couldn’t know that, and the hatred he would feel for clones in the coming weeks. He took the knowledge that his Master was a mystery in his stride, “I don’t care for position or titles Vengeance, but I’ll be there to learn and follow you, I can promise that.” Kylath though cared nothing for Jedi, part of him did, and part of him blamed his mother for everything. That may prove a friction, but something that could come up in their training and be resolved one way or the other in young, impassioned zeltrix. The force cold also see this as a balance, a chance for the young Zeltrix to become swayed from his destructive course, time would tell.

Salute of fist to his chest, a following of one of the many martial arts he was learning, he didn’t do it as a matter of titles, but instinct and training, and because it was all he knew how to do since the academy, little of the young tribal he once was left behind the discipline branded into him.

“3 Days Master, I will not be late.” Departing for Balmora, Kylath would make it in time, but barely, and be a changed man once more when they met with more weight upon his young shoulders, and blood on his hands. Could his path be averted in time?

[member="Vengeance"]​

 

[Sera Inkari]

All is the will of the force, follow your signs.

Sera was further down her path than Kylath, she had walked down this road for longer, since birth in many ways. The blade outstretched was eventually folded back inward, her posture raising. Time it would take to change how she spoke to him, taught to revere and respect her order’s priestesses from an early age. Kylath and her both had that training in common, though one was military discipline and the other religious fanaticism, she had no memory of anything before.

Vengeance could have so easily just take everything she was, and used her as a tool, for in doing so she would have had grounding, but he insisted, instead she retained more of herself, and for a moment she was lost in her response. “Yes Vengeance. The force knows all, Jedi, Sith and what lays beyond both.” Though she could see no further than perfection of their Sith, in Sith's use of their force to shape creation, she did see what they lacked, and what she lacked most of all.

“If you will teach me, my sight is yours,” she resisted the urge to offer more titles to him, strength and titles to cling to was a difficult temptation for someone so wayward in every step, lost in visions of what might be. Like an old friend [member="Natoline Kerrigan"] had been in her memories, only their motivations were so far apart, and Sera saw their future not their past. His dagger folded back beyond her garment, would eventually perhaps be used to save a certain Jedi on a certain world, at an opportune time in his rescue. [member="Barrien Siegfried"] Yet the motivations for doing so, were still being formed ahead of her.

[member="Vengeance"]​