Cutting Your Teeth

[Kezia Starshooter]

A woman with unnaturally blue eyes and an aura that was dripping with the dark side, stood waiting in a scrapyard on Belgaroth waiting for a man. Her name was Kezia Starshooter, and she was a creature born from Sith Alchemy. Sage Bane had called her one of his “most impressive creations to date.” Second only to his mutant Sarlaac pits, in fact. But Kezia wasn’t going to be celebrating that accolade anytime soon.

Arms crossed over her chest, gaze sullen, Keiza waited for the other apprentice, an up-and-comer that that had caught Sage’s eye for a particularly vicious type of cruelty that distinguished him as the wheat to separate from the chaff. Kezia could use an influence like Lucas, Sage said. The dionysian Sith Lord was busy with other things, so he tapped the young man, [member="Lucas Gravois"], for a special mission.

The two apprentices were going to take down Korken Starshooter, a Belgaroth Sith Lord and telekinetic fiend. No relation to Kezia. Korken had been making a play for power lately, and word throughout Coruscant said that the Sith Lord was scheming to usurp Sage’s position as Voice of the Dark Lord. Sage appreciated the other man’s level of ambition. Ol’ Korken was really shooting for the moon, one could say. However, despite the other Sith Lord's admirable pluck, Starshooter had to die.

The apprentices could keep whatever they found from Starshooter’s compound, and the rest of Korken’s artifacts and scrolls would be delivered to the Temple of Pain’s reliquary. The only other catch? If anything bad happened to Kezia, Lucas would taken to Sage’s field of Sarlaac Sithspawn and dumped like Belgaroth scrap.

It had seemed like a fair deal to Sage. He wasn’t an unreasonable guy.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Cruelty was definitely something that Lucas knew and loved. He wasn’t sure why, but that was also because he never questioned it. Just responded to those primal, carnal urges within him. But he never figured it would get the attention of someone that was paying lip service to the Dark Lord. Was it flattering? If Lucas could feel that way. But right now? Just concerning.

He was getting a new person to work with. That bit… well, it probably wasn’t going to go well. Lucas couldn’t even stand to have his sister around, that bastard child who somehow was related to him. The hybrid worked alone, he was a Sith, not part of the Diet Sith Circle Jerk. He was born in fire and tested in molten lava. But whatever, if a Voice needed him, he’d go. He wasn’t happy about it, even less so with having a partner.

The man knew what was going on, take down a Sith Lord, or faux Sith Lord, whichever he fell under, and save Coruscant. Or Sage Bane’s ass. Lucas wasn’t really caring the why just the fact he was selected to take down a higher-up Sith. Stepping off the ship, though, Lucas ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. What was this place?

Not Coruscant, that was what. The Hybrid knew he was meeting someone, some creation at the scrapyard, and a speeder formerly owned by the dead body in the back seat, was what got Lucas there. He left a trail of death wherever he went, and he was okay with that. Stepping out, he surveyed he was trying to find, until his eyes found her.

She was a Jedi, but… she wasn’t? He stepped up to her, hand on his saber. “You’ve changed.”

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

And here came Lucas Gravois. Attractive. Blonde. Black clothing. Just her type. Was Sage trying to test her skill set or test something else? Either way, the mission was perking up already. As she let her eyes linger boldly over the new arrival, it struck Kezia just how sheltered she'd been in the Temple of Pain for months, closely guarded by Sage, just like one of his reliquary's prized artifacts or a crystal-latticed Holocron

"You've changed," he announced. Kezia crinkled her nose at the comment. What the feth was he on about anyway?

"Yeah whatever," answered the Sithspawn, full of that Starchaser bravado. This Lucas guy was a little ray of sunshine wasn't he?

She checked the gear belt on her snug-fitting hunt suit. Lightsaber. Blaster. Force suppression collar. That last thing was the most important, she gathered. Resisting the urge to slap it on Lucas just for fun, she tossed her hair back and pointed to a pair of swoop bikes.

"Rides. Sage should have sent you the coordinates."

Something in her topaz eyes said that she was going to be a difficult partner.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Yeah whatever? Huh… That was an odd thing to say, to… well, anyone really. Was there not politeness coming out of Sage Bane’s camp? Lucas shook his head and rolled his eyes. The man still had a hand on his lightsaber. He shook his head. Not going to try to understand children, anyway. Looking back at the airspeeder, he started back towards the airspeeder.

“Ride. Singular. We’re taking this.” He looked back to the girl, what was her name? Girl. That was going to be it. He didn’t fething care, anyway. “Come.” He knew where they were going. He was going to drive, and then he was going to take this Korken guy out. Lucas was basically unmoved by this one. But really, he wanted to get back to his life, none of these side quests.

Let someone else tell him what to do? And no, the Swoop, that was not going to work for Lucas. Airspeeders were better. Bodies were easier to move with one. They were easier to run down people with. It was just better.

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

Great. The Sithspawn had spent the first few months of her existence being mistreated by Sage, now she was going to spend a whole mission being mistreated by giggles here. She hissed out a sharp breath through a gigantic set of teeth and followed the blond Sith to the airspeeder. Lucas seemed determined to do this his way. If Sage had wanted Kezia to follow orders like a good little apprentice, why the frell did he give her such a rebellious streak?

Her whole existence was a paradox.

Kezia was created to be a replacement of someone who obviously couldn't be replaced. Even though she looked, talked, and karked just like the the progenitor, she wasn't the real thing, and it seemed to drive the Sith Lord to drink and ingest copious amounts of illegal substances. There was always something behind his eyes that said that she was a pale imitation. When Sage ran her through lightsaber velocities in the training rooms of the Laughing Dead, he wasn't kind, and she had the welts on her back to prove it.

She climbed into the speeder, and turned away from the driver's seat with a pout. Kezia was created for better things than taking orders from this blonde boy band reject.

She was going to eat this Korken fellow for breakfast.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Lucas didn’t care abuot anything. It wasn’t against her, in particular. Well, it was, but it was against existence, Lucas’s grudge. He didn’t ask to get made, and now that the hybrid had to play nice? It made him even more pissed off. Play with someone else, because a Sith Lord said so? Why was he even living among the One Sith? Not a worthwhile teacher in the lot of them. People working with other false Lords. There really could only be one, but tell them that? No way.

What was it about this person that forced Lord Bane to make him work with her? Or why was he even called for this? Lucas asked questions, he wasn’t some dumb soldier.

Checking the coordinates in the airspeeder’s computer. Lucas nodded. They would be on their way and would arrive… shortly? With very little talk from him. Just a curiosity as to why the Jedi was back, and why she felt so... different. Did they capture her on Thyferra?

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

What was it that Sage had said about Lucas? That Acolyte Gravois basically lacked a soul. She was instructed to watch him as he worked, and learn to mirror what Lord Bane called a "predatory efficiency." Kezia could do that. She was bred to be a monster with a pageant beauty's smile. The girl next door with the bodies in the basement.

Lucas wasn't really a talker. His blue eyes straight ahead, he flew the speeder in robotic silence. Kezia folded her arms on her side of the speeder, and plopped her chin on them, watching miles and miles of scrap go by. Twisted piles of durasteel, broken glassteel, and probably corpses. Belgaroth sure was a stinking dump, wasn't it?

Finally they stopped the Starshooter compound which was off the beaten track from the mountains of garbage. No wonder this guy wanted to overthrow one of the higher ups. The guy was basically Lord of the Trash. "So, what's your deal?" she asked Lucas in a low voice, as she exited the airspeeder.

The silence was kind of killing her.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

The drive was quiet. Lucas was quiet, the airspeeder he killed a man for, was quiet. He liked it. Quiet was nice. He didn’t need to think about anything but what he needed to do if it was quiet. With the rest? It got scrambled, until combat hit, then Lucas was the type of person who would just murder everything. And that was its own bit of quiet, finally, the demons in his head would be quiet.

Who would live on this world? Not a single person to kill for kilometers. He shook his head, mentally mind you, Lucas didn’t really move much. Except for when he was feeding, or fighting. The one person he could feed on was off limits. That was bothersome.

When they got to the spot, he looked at Kezia and blinked once, twice. Really? She was asking thing.

“Hmm?” It didn’t really come out as a question, but, close enough.

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

"Hmm," was the answer that came from her reluctant partner. What did Lord Bane really see in this lionized apprentice? Half the time Lucas seemed dazed, like he was chopping people up in the private kill room in his mind. And the man clearly wasn't going to win any laureates for eloquence. The tow-haired apprentice was sort of like a vast chasm where a person shape was.

"Nevermind," the Sithspawn shot back, irritated. With a toss of her hair over her shoulders, Kezia hopped out of the speeder. She strode towards the compound and then stopped. Right. He was supposed to be taking point on this mission, a little detail she kept forgetting. Whirling on her heel, she blinked her unnaturally blue eyes ferociously, hands placed firmly on her hips.

"How do you wanna do this?" Kezia asked, with an aggravated look that might have said "I don't have all day."

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Lucas wasn’t here to make friends. The man was a thinker, not a friend. He was the one to rule the Sith, and he knew it. He was true Sith, not a falsehood. And the fact that he had been forced to be accompanied, or accompany, he wasn’t sure yet, a Sithspawn created by someone lesser than he, that angered him. He wasn’t about to open into small talk with this being. Not at all. Sure, he may have murdered her six times in his head during the drive, but he wasn’t acting.

He wasn’t an animal. He knew what to do, and when to do it. Learned that one on the failure at Onderon.

Getting out of the speeder, he watched her carefully, unsure. Studying her, really. Was she crafted? How was she a Starchaser and here. Yes, he did his research on the one known as [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] after the fact of Thyferra.

“Follow me. Kill it if it moves.” He ignited his crimson blade.

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

"Sure thing, chuckles," Kezia said. There was a flash of snow white teeth through a gash of red lips, a smile so wide it was almost a grimace.

As ordered, the Sithspawn stayed behind as they neared the Starshooter compound. Kezia's aura was steeped in the dark side, and it didn't take long before the two were detected. It turned out that Lord Starshooter's own apprentices regularly patrolled the area for the Sith Lord, and had sensed the Sithspawn. Two robed Sith, a man and a woman, emerged seemingly out of nowhere, red blades dancing in their grips. Kezia was going to have to talk to Sage about her aura. But that was matter for another day. Right now, she just needed to stay alive.

A deep snarl came from Kezia's delicate lips. She ignited Sage Bane's lightsaber with a snap-hiss. The Sithspawn wasn't an expert quite yet, but had spent many sleepless nights studying the Ataru form with her maker. It was time to show this blonde fether how things were done. The woman came at her with a low thrust, and Kezia met her blade with a defensive parry, sparks flying. Limbs moving in a near-blur, just as Lord Bane had instructed, she launched into a flurry of short, sharp strikes and quickly cut the female apprentice down.

Keep up, Lucas, why don't you?

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Thrilled as ever with his new nickname, Lucas kept on towards the compound. He could feel the darkness in the Force and it was damn near intoxicating for the Hybrid. It was a nice feeling. Something steeped in darkness like that, it was more than a good sign. When the Sith Hybrid felt the others, right before he saw them, he reseponded instinctively, just how he always would. With the sithspawn going after the woman, Lucas took the man.

And by take, the definition would loosely follow the events of grabbing him in a vicegrip and slamming him against the wall, before dragging the body against the far wall and slamming into the adjacent wall, hard. The lightsaber was still lit, but Lucas was much more of a spell caster. His anger was fueling his actions as he closed the distance quickly, red lightsaber batting the other away, forearm and all, before grabbing the man in another Force induced slam to a wall.

Lucas didn’t like lightsabers.

He liked opponents even less.

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

Wall meet face. Kezia watched in amusement as Lucas proceeded to viciously beat the male apprentice into a bloody pulp, continuing to slam his ragdoll of a body into the wall even after the man had clearly kicked the bucket. By now, there was a klaxon blaring through the courtyard of the compound. Perhaps a security drone or an organic guard had witnessed their mischief? The Sithspawn wasn’t really sure, but she kept her lightsaber ignited all the same. Soon, a choking dark sided presence overcame the Sithspawn. Lord Starshooter was on his way.

A blast door hissed open and there Korken stood in a billowing black robe, eyes blazing a fiery red. Kezia was a bit disappointed, quite frankly. She thought he’d be taller. The Sithspawn felt a cold, phantom hand curl around her throat, constricting her windpipe, while also lifting her up off her toes, and pulling her towards him.

Dropping her lightsaber hilt, the young apprentice began to sputter and gag, clawing at her neck, fingers desperate to release his grip. If she died by Korken Starshooter’s hands, Sage would kill her, raise her corpse, and kill her again.

"GNNNGH!"

Ok, Lucas. Any day now.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

He didn’t like using his lightsaber. It was clumsy, it was messy, and frankly, it lacked the personal touch that destruction of property and person needed when the Force was involved. The hybrid didn’t grin, but inside, in some weird, locked part of this one’s mind? He was practically giddy with joy. He was in a bit tunnel vision, the blood and pieces of torn flesh hitting the walls and sticking, the body making the pleasant soft ‘crunch’ sound that it was.

It was for too long before he realized they weren’t alone. The body still in his grasp, Lucas had to make a choice, and of course, readers everywhere knew what he was going to do. A figure that looked like a Sith, oh, how original. Not to say Lucas didn’t. Black cloak over a pretty nice suit. His apartment was garbage, but his appearance wasn’t. Made him a better hunter, and all.

Looking to the person who entered, maybe the Starshooter, maybe not, Lucas slammed the body into the wall again before hurling the tattered remains, more closely resembling a stew than a human, at Starshooter, lightsaber still not being used, still lit.

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

Keiza's feet kicked frantically as she dangled in mid-air, helplessly caught in Korken's Starshooter's Force choke hold. She was losing oxygen so quickly, hypoxia began to set in, and soon, her vision was blurred with a blanket of white. A bloody, unrecognizable wreck of a person flew towards the Sith Lord, hurled by her partner. Fething finally. Luckily, Korken had Starchaser levels of Force ability and couldn't multitask worth a damn. In order to throw up a Force barrier, the Sith had to release his hold on the Sithspawn, which meant, that Kezia was gravity's queen.

She tumbled to the ground, body smacking on duracrete. Oof. Despite the fact that she was almost sure she broke something, Kezia worked through the pain, just as Sage taught her, gritting her teeth as she rose to aid Lucas. Not that he needed it. The man was clearly a monster. Sage might have been onto something after all.

Back to Korken. It was time for him to die now. Kezia's lightsaber pommel snapped back into her hand, and she wasted no time whirling forward to cross her red blade with that of the Sith Lord. Sure he was a master of the Force, but could Starshooter take on two maniacal Sith apprentices with extremely broken psyches?

The karker wouldn't know what hit him.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

So, this one, it looked familiar, the more Lucas stared. This Sith looked like it was one of those Starchasers that had a bounty out on it. And performed like that lackluster crowd. If they were any bit of intelligent, they’d take themselves out of the galactic gene pool and not subject others to that sort of terrible Force curse that they had. Lucas may not be a Vornskr, but he was still very strong in the Force, but no one needed to be Kerrigan or Vornskr that was just silly at that point.

The Sith was starting to pull the Force back to him, not for another blast of telekinetic destruction, but for something a bit different. He could feel the hate, the lightning pain of the dark side flowing into him. Making his move towards Korken, the lightsaber came up and around in a downward slash at the Sith, distracting him from the body of Kezia was only a secondary objective. Right now, Lucas wanted to kill.

When the other started moving again, that was when Lucas used the Force and slammed a blast of energy, electric and kinetic, into the Sith Lord.

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

It turned out that Korken wasn't much of a bladesman, as evidenced by how easily Kezia's saber sank into his abdomen. The Sithspawn grinned widely at the smell of burning flesh. How did this guy get to be a Sith Lord anyway? Maybe daddy pulled some favors with the Dark Lord. Korken's bad day was about to get worse as a withering blast of the dark side came from Lucas. Kezia had to strafe to the side to fully escape its path. Collateral damage wasn't much of a concern for Lucas apparently.

The burst slammed the Sith Lord against the wall and Starshooter folded to the ground, fighting head trauma and a gut wound. The Sithspawn made a mock-frowny face at the man, and strode up to his crumpled form. Sticking a high heel into the raw lightsaber wound, Kezia twisted her foot, laughing.

"Time to walk hand in hand with the Maker, Korken."

Now what did that useless excuse for a Sith Lord have that was worth taking?

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

He could ignore the fact that she had gotten the kill based on a few things. One, Lucas didn’t care to take the saber to anyone, he preferred the mental struggle of the Force attacks, and two, well, he didn’t care if the Master died or not. He was going to eventually fall to Lucas one day, so it was either now, or in the future. The hybrid truly believed he would be the leader of the Sith, he would be the Sith, when the false Sith were removed from the galaxy. Then, and only then, could they take on the Jedi head-to-head.

More Sith around would allow or the others to not suspect him. He would swindle the galaxy and take over as its rightful leader, as soon as her burned a good handful of planets. Coruscant, Panatha, Sullust, Onderon, Voss. They would all fall before him. They would be destroyed. If he couldn’t get people to follow? He would burn their worlds, burn their families.

He was bored with the fight, and before Kezia was speaking to Korken, he was already looking for what was next.

What could he take?

What was worth the time?

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]

 

[Kezia Starshooter]

Kezia stepped over the Sith Lord’s body, and sauntered through the compound. Would there be retaliation for his death? Not for a Voice of the Dark Lord. The Sithspawn headed straight to the turbolift. The dark side swam up above their heads. Whatever artifacts he was hiding? They probably lived up there. Kezia didn’t wait for Lucas to join her. They’d finished their mission. Her taciturn partner could now kark off to whatever hole of depression he came from.

On the second floor she found Korken Starshooter’s reliquary which was a treasure trove. All manner of Sith Artifacts, resonant with the dark side, were on display. Korken was quite the collector. Among countless amulets and scrolls, was an ancient Sith Tremor Sword and an array of lightsaber crystals, including an Adegan crystal. He also had an oubilette, where he was obviously planning to story a body, probably his. The object Kezia coveted most however, was the glimmering Sith Holocron that lay on a dais near some light sculptures of Coruscant. Was it Korken’s Holocron? Or did it belong to some other withered old Sith? Sage would want the artifact for sure, but would Lucas?

She snatched it up before she had a chance to find out.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Lucas was pleased. That was a rare thing for the man, but they showed up and did their mission, their task… their chore. The hybrid was looking around, seeing what type of useful objects were worth taking. He was going through the holobooks, picking out ones on various Force techniques, things that may go into a holocron, but hadn’t made it before the untimely demise of the dark lord. This one seemed good, ‘The Force and the Body: A Sith’s Guide to Altering Control.’ That could be very useful.

And a few encyclopedias of a variety of anatomies? That would go very well in Lucas’s bookshelf. Now all he would need is time to learn what he could do, how he could use the Force to destroy his enemies, or turn their body against them. Become a disease in the Force? That was something Lucas would love to do. It wouldn’t be something of the mind, but turning their body against them. Yes, that would be lovely.

He didn’t have delusions of grandeur, he knew what he was. He was going to do the work the old fashioned way, learning by doing, and forging himself in fire.

[member="Kezia Starshooter"]