Private Descent into Darkness

[Vaylin]

It had been an ordinary day for Vaylin these days. Aboard the Valkyries' new home, The Serran. It had become a place of refuge that Kaalia Pavanos had sent to the Valkyries in the wake of the Sith Empire's defeat on Mygeeto. Their Fortress had since departed from the icy planet, but it's flight from there had seen it take numerous and significant damages. It had never truly been intended to see flight again, especially after a number of structures had been built atop its original base. Thus, several key points of the Fortress had fallen victim to the crushing force of gravity, and hyperspace travel.

To their credit though, the Valkyries took to the new surroundings quickly. Even finding greater benefit being stationed on a mobile HQ. Able to travel across the galaxy, deploying their numbers at a quicker rate than they otherwise would've. Certainly made easier getting new acquired prisoners back home in a more timely manner.

For Vaylin, it was nothing new for her. If she wasn't helping her fellow would-be Valkyries, or chatting with Jorr across the HoloNet. She was helping her students with their training. She returned from one such session, tired and direly in need of the caf she knew was awaiting in her office. Slipping into the room, shrugging off her jacket and throwing it onto the back of her chair. With a quick press of a button here and there, Vaylin let the handy little machine brew her some sustenance. The Zabrak groaned as she stretched her shoulder, feeling a slight pop as the tightening feeling was relieved.

Then with cup in hand, and barely a sip into her fresh caf, Vaylin turned and almost dropped it.

Standing there was a figure, a woman, or at least that's what the Zabrak assumed from their general shape. They wore a mix of robe and armour, with a stretch of the latter covering from one shoulder, over the head and to the other. Like it was just one singular piece, requiring the whole thing removed to see beneath it. The helmet was faceless beyond a simple pattern, just nothing staring back at Vaylin as she looked at it. It made no noise, not a single tiny breath. Just simply looked at Vaylin, walked up to her desk and placed a device on it. By the time Vaylin had looked at it, then back at the deliverer, they had left her office.

Vaylin dashed out, down a brief hallway and around the corner. She caught sight of its faceless form practically gliding down the long hallway. The Zabrak attempted to pursue, but by the time she had reached the corner, they were gone.

As if never there to begin with.

She returned to her office, eyes affixed to the device left behind. Vaylin didn't touch it, instead she walked around and sat in her chair, comming the Serran's Security to inquire if anyone had just been in her office. Their response? No one but the Elder herself. She asked if there had been any unusual arrivals earlier today, but there had been nothing out of the ordinary. Vaylin was unsure what to do, other than just stare at the device - her caf growing more cold with every passing minute.

Who was that person? Were they even someone, or just a being? They moved and acted like something from the Netherworld, something Vaylin was acutely familiar with, especially in light of recent events. What unsettled the Zabrak was just how unsettling it was to gaze on the person. She didn't get like that, not these days. Not after beating her Valkyrie Trials and conquering her demons within the Netherworld. Not after crawling her way across its vastness to escape Mygeeto...

When Vaylin finally picked the device up, a voice suddenly spoke in her mind. In a language she couldn't understand initially, but did a few moments later.

Vaylin. Darth Moirai, Lady of Subjugation. Elder of the Sith Valkyries. You have been summoned.

Even when she removed her fingers from it, she felt a pulse of energy from it. Simple instructions floating around in her mind, to use the device on a ship's navicomputer. But Vaylin didn't immediately act, instead she just sat on that decision for several hours. Opting to focus her attention on paperwork and the like, but the device just remained in its place. Eventually though, the Zabrak gave in. There was a strange feeling of impulse whenever she gazed at it. She knew it was something to not wait on, and thus as the hours creeped into the night, the Zabrak departed.

She informed her fellow instructors that she was going to be absent, so they'd have to take on her teaching for the time being. And of course, she sent a message to Adriana Fortemps , letting the Echani know she'd be travelling for a few days, maybe more. That she loved her, and would get back in touch when she was back. It was a promise made when the Netherworld was involved, but something about this whole situation led Vaylin to feel she needed to send a message all the same.

After hooking up the device to her navicomputer, Vaylin settled herself into the captain's seat. And as she prepped the ship for travel, staring out from the viewport, across the hangar bay and out into the vastness of space. She couldn't help but feel she was about to fly into an abyss. Descending into a darkness she had already done as a Sith. And yet, felt like that wasn't true...

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

They called it Remnicore.​

​

None today spoke of its name, for there were precious few who knew that it even existed at all.​

​

In ages past the world had been vibrant, bustling. A world of rich color and life. ​

​

Then the Sith had come, and those who once lived had fallen under their sway. A great fortress, a monolith to violence, an effigy to war, had been built in the cleft of a narrow valley. What remained was ruin and ash, the foundation crumbling in the silent windless air. ​

​

Nothing lived on Remnicore.​

​

From space, the world was a patchwork of black mountains and fallow fields veined with canyons of silver. Darkness exuded from the planet like a supernova, a bright miasma of shadow in an already dark universe. Close to the surface, one could make out the silhouettes of frozen trees in windswept shapes against dark obsidian terrain, floes of white lava bubbling with latent heat. ​

​

The coordinates given to the Lady of Subjugation lead her to a settlement consumed by time, the fortress of the Sith long lost to the galaxy. Skeletons of fallen war beasts litter the ground, as whatever battle happened here took place uncountable centuries ago. Suits of empty armor were splayed in the throes of violence, robes draped over broken shields, flags hanging limp and impotent on poles stuck into the desiccated ground. There lay Sith helmets, many of them still cradling the skulls of their original wearers, while lightsabers of all shapes and sizes, crusted with rust, were strewn about for as far as the eye could see.​

​

And yet, this world was not entirely devoid of life.​

​

It lay directly ahead, within the confines of the crumbling fortress.​

​

Deep within the dilapidated citadel was a wide circular chamber, stacked with broken spacecraft parts, ancient military technology, and piles of silver ore. A glowing white fire crackled in a nearby pit, casting faint light over the oppressive gloom, illuminating the silhouette of He who had brought her here to meet Him.​

​

His face was obscured by a dark hood, though the light of his baleful eyes could be seen piercing the shadow that surrounded him. He was tall, taller than most, though much of his form was concealed beneath overlapping pieces of armor and cloth, all of it dyed a lightless black. In complete silence, He regarded her as a predator does a prey, his mind unreadable, his thoughts unknowable.​

​

"Vaylin," spoke Him, his voice appearing from all directions, pregnant with corruption. "Daughter of Essara." A pause, ever so briefly, "Welcome."​

​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

It was Hell.

The first step Vaylin placed on Remnicore, she felt as though she was in the Netherworld again. As though someone had taken a slice out of it, and then made a planet out of it. It was an utter impossibility, but there was no denying it gave the same feeling, the same impression that the Zabrak was all too familar with.

She sensed it when approaching the planet. Gazing upon it sent goosebumps along her arms. It brought up memories when the Zabrak had first stood before a Netherworld Portal. All those years ago now...

Vaylin had just kept her ship there in space for a time, staring down at the planet. It wasn't like she was planning to turn back, not like she even could at this point. The moment she had delved deep enough into Wild Space, that option was gone. She'd just get lost in the void of space.

The Zabrak walked forwards, device held in her left hand as a small light atop it blinked in a rhythm, either waning or growing more intense depending on the direction she faced. It directed her towards a desolate settlement, frozen in time like a snapshot. She walked through a war as she navigated the twisting paths, littered with bodies of wartime beasts, armour of fallen warriors and the robes of forgotten mystics.

Something mighty once stood here, but now was nothing but history.

Vaylin found herself walking the halls of a grand citadel. The once flickering device now becoming a makeshift light source as it guided her through. The deeper she went, the more potent the feeling of fear and dread began to churn. The same feeling she had always felt when in the Netherworld, more so when she had fallen into it already physically fatigued, and forced to use raw emotion to tear a path back home.

And then she found Him, seated within a large open circular chamber. Vaylin instinctively tensed up, ready for an attack that might come. Part of her had debated whether this all had been an elaborated trap, a healthy bit of skepticism that kept her alive in the past. After all, not all Darkness was the same. But Vaylin didn't move an inch towards her lightsabers, hanging at her hip. She was confident she could summon them in a second, but felt there was no desire for a fight.

The voice boomed out from all directions, but Vaylin kept her eyes affixed on the figure before her. Her eyes widened slightly at the sound of her mother's name, but didn't react beyond that.

"What is this place?" She took a couple steps forwards, then stopped. "I'm guessing you were the one who sent that...messenger?" Vaylin had no idea who he was. His voice was not overly familiar to her ears, he was seated too far away to get a look at his face. And she was certainly no mentalist in any respect.

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

For a time there was only silence.​

​

The crackling of the nearby fire the only sound to permeate the dead air.​

​

Then the figure, at last, answered, "A dead world."​

​

He reached up with both hands, fingers grasping the hem of his hood, and pulled it down to reveal his face. Underneath was scarred tissue corrupted by the Dark Side, piercing yellow eyes drifting in orbs of blackness, and long straw-like hair that snaked down from his scalp and past his shoulders into the confines of his robe. A crown, or perhaps some form of half-helmet, encircled his head and left only his face visible amidst the shadow. Though still partially obscured by the gloom, one would recognize such a face from the thousands of holovids and holopics that had been widely distributed across the Sith Empire since its inception.​

​

"I have gone by many names, though to you I am Carnifex."​

​

Emperor.​

​

Dark Lord of the Sith.​

​

A thousand different epithets were strung about this man, all of them wicked and cruel. He had spent the past decades weaving a tapestry of death and destruction across the galaxy, leaving his mark upon every world he stepped foot upon, shaping the galaxy through his dastardly deeds. ​

​

And now he was here, standing directly across from her.​

​

"I have summoned you here, to this decrepit husk, to offer you a gift."​

​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

Vaylin felt like she had to control her breathing from being too audible, hell she felt like she could hear herself thinking with how silent everything around them was. The looming figure's answer was a simple, and an expected one. The Zabrak did not voice her displeasure, the fact she was...curious about the world. Her path towards Him had been laden with history, and memories.

She had no power of Psychometry, but knew about it well enough. And was familiar with how tempting the spirits of the Netherworld could be. Like haunting sirens that tried luring unsuspecting spirits into their clutches.

But here was a desire to learn, to understand.

The Zabrak watched as the man reached up for his hood, pulling it down to reveal his identity. The corruption of the Dark Side was obvious and expected, but Vaylin didn't immediately recognize him, but it was slowly clicking away in her head. It had been a long time since she had an actual face-to-face with Carnifex. The majority of the time had been through some Holo-display or another. But it all did click into place as he spoke again.

Without hesitation, Vaylin dropped to one knee and bowed her head. "My Emperor."

She was a loyalist, through and though. The Jedi, the traitorous Imperials and their sympathizers would no doubt call it brainwashed and zealotry. But they were not there when Vaylin needed them, they had been the ones who had abandoned her at such a crucial point in her life. It had been the Dark Side, in the form of a Dark Jedi that had brought her from the brink, showed her what she could become and eventually led her to the Sith, and the Empire.

The Sith. The Dark Side. Both had made her into what she was today.

"A gift?" The last time she had been 'gifted' something, was years ago when Carnifex had saw it fit to reward her service with the Crimson Valkyrie and command of the Vermillion Authority fleet. Back then, that hadn't required a cryptic message, and a meeting on a broken world.

So what in the Force would require that now?

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"A gift," repeated the Emperor.​

​

He walked towards her now, the first time he had moved from where he had been standing, obscured by the shadows. Now the light from the dead world's dim sun shone down upon him, fully illuminating his dark and twisted features. ​

​

Though tall and powerful, the Emperor walked with a noticeable limp in his right leg. He shuffled forward in his asymmetrical gait, his hands drawing his hood back over his head before cupping down around his midsection with fingers interlaced. Every action was methodical, meticulous. Nothing he did was superfluous, it all carried with it a purpose. His eyes never wandered far from looking at Vaylin's general vicinity, his gaze tearing through her like she was made of thin translucent paper.​

​

"I have been watching you," he stated, matter-of-factly. "I have watched many in my Empire. But it is you that has drawn my... interest." He stopped for a moment, turning again to fully regard the Zabrak with his upper body twisted towards her.​

​

"Tell me about Mygeeto."​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

At the sound of Carnifex's approach, Vaylin lifted her head up to look, but remained in her knelt position. It was impossible to not notice the limp as the Emperor walked. Vaylin had heard about the damage he had taken during his battle on Muunilinst. The details had been sparse, but knew it had to have been something particular if the man had decided to step from the spotlight in its wake.

There was speculation abound of course, and barely anyone knew the details. And as much as the Valkyries had been seen as favourable by the Emperor, they were never privy to any of the more intricate details.

She bowed her head again to conceal her furrowed brow. He had been watching her? But why? She hadn't done anything particular since, well a long while now. Sure, she had done her service to the Empire fighting on the frontlines, and continued to do so as an Elder Valkyrie, bringing more under the sway of the Dark Side of the Force.

What had she done, that he had seen fit to summon her to the place he had sequestered himself since Muunilinst? What was this gift he spoke of?

"Mygeeto?" She looked back up, facing the Emperor once more. "Which part?" Vaylin asked, not knowing what the Sith Emperor was looking for as an answer. Was it the initial siege? The attack itself? Or even the...aftermath? The latter was still burned into the Zabrak's mind, despite things being mended and the nightmares waning.

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor turned away again and continued walking, making the full half-circle trip around to stand opposite of Vaylin where he had been standing previously. ​

​

"The battle itself holds no interest to me, such a trivial matter can be left as a footnote."​

​

Though the Emperor had fought on both Mygeeto and Muunilinst, he didn't seem to hold much care for either battle or the events that transpired during. In fact, he seemed rather callous in regard to the Empire's loss and the death of so many soldiers on both sides of the war. ​

​

"Tell me of what happened after, my dear child."​

​

Suddenly, faster than perception, the Emperor's hand fell to Vaylin's shoulder as he seemed to materialize next to her. It was not an aggressive motion, his grip neither firm nor domineering, but nonetheless the threat of danger loomed heavy in the silent air.​

​

"Tell me of the Netherworld."​

​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

Vaylin nodded mutely. She had assumed that the Emperor held no interest in the battle itself, already having known of its result before he had departed. But what the Zabrak hadn't expected was the sheer cold and callousness from the Sith Emperor. It wasn't exactly surprising from Carnifex, but it seemed to be even harsher than usual.

Not like Vaylin couldn't disagree. She had her own gripes with how things had turned out, on Mygeeto especially.

She immediately tensed up when the Emperor was suddenly close, hand placed upon her shoulder. The sense of danger brushed over her like a gust of wind. Just like Remnicore as a whole felt like walking across it.

Vaylin took a breath before she spoke.

"I fell into the Netherworld to escape Mygeeto. I was already fatigued physically, and mentally." She had almost lost her right arm during the fighting. Which somehow managed to not just be completely lost by the time she had managed to get back home. "It was haunting...more so than usual. I believe the only reason it didn't consume me then and there, was because of being a Valkyrie, and my bond to that hellscape." But that was still only a contract, your soul; your spirit would still find its way there in the end. And if you fell into its grasp, it wouldn't care for any of that. It would feast.

"While in reality I didn't spend that long in there, it had felt like...months trying to find my way. Through the Valley of Lies, along the River of the Dead and the Paths of Choices...too many others. Passing through, but each trying to reach out and embrace me, lure me away from life." She looked off ahead, in a blinkless stare. "Raw emotion kept me going, but even that got chipped away over time. And then...as I drew closer I felt it. The nothingness, the abyss. Death."

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"You passed through a veil, one that was not meant for mortal eyes."​

​

The Emperor was intimately familiar with the Netherworld of the Force and its many mystical properties, though the truth was far less mystifying. Just like those who were attuned to the Force's embrace could use the Force to influence the material world, so too did it have an effect on the world of the dead. ​

​

Light.​

​

Darkness.​

​

Life.​

​

Death.​

​

Love.​

​

Hate.​

​

All had an effect on the universe's dark mirror, a reflection of the galaxy's prosperity and misery. Both were intrinsically linked to one another, both were ruled by the dictates of the Force. A spirit could reside within the Nether for a time before passing on into the Cosmic Force, their energy being fed back into the Living Force over time. But those who resonated with such hatred or sorrow in the Force became material in the turbulence of the Netherworld, more so when the Netherworld was wracked with imbalance and darkness.​

​

They became what the ignorant would refer to as demons, monsters of ancient mythology. The more scholarly called them Nether predators, feasting on the consciousness of the departed. The Emperor was intrigued by this strange phenomenon, for if one could harness the latent energies of the Netherworld...​

​

Well, the possibilities were potentially endless.​

​

"Few survive such tribulations. The strength and will to endure. You are forever marked, it is something that will never leave you. Just like it has never left me."​

​

Indeed, the Emperor had traveled through the Netherworld of the Force on more than one occasion, each time granting him a new understanding of the mysteries of the Force and of the Dark Side. He released his gentle grip on Vaylin's shoulder and began to slowly walk around her, his shadow engulfing her utterly.​

​

"It is for that reason that I have brought you here, to this desolate place. To take your place at my side, to serve me, to be counted among a number who have passed through the Netherworld of the Force and endured."​

​

He reached out with his arm, flexing the fingers of his right hand to draw emphasis towards it.​

​

"To be one of my Hands."​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

For years Vaylin had blamed the Jedi for abandoning her on Dxun. Leaving her to fend for herself against the native predators that stalked the Demon Moon's jungles. It had been the foundations that had turned her towards the Dark Side of the Force. Along with the numerous Dark-aligned tombs that resided there. Wasn't until Aria Vale had found her, plucked out of her five year isolation, that she'd eventually find clarity. Learned that the Jedi were not to blame, that it was in fact the result of the Netherworld.

And she hadn't given a damn, simply didn't care by that point.

But it had eventually led to some delicious irony. That the Zabrak would find herself part of an organization that was focused around the shepherding of spirits to the Nether, and becoming bound to the very thing that had changed her life.

Vaylin watched and listened as the Emperor spoke, only freezing when the man finally revealed what his offered 'gift' was.

...What?

She had travelled into Wild Space, following what she had assumed was an ancient compass, not really expecting what she was being summoned for. But this...this was not something that had ever crossed her mind, once. Vaylin was speechless for several moments, letting silence fall across the room with only the crackling for fire remaining.

"What would this entail, exactly?"

The Zabrak wasn't one to blindly accept, even if it was the Sith Emperor providing the offer. She knew this wasn't just an acceptance of a new title. This was going to involve something much more than something simple like that.

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Your caution does you credit, my child."​

​

The briefest echo of a smile pulled at his lips.​

​

"Only a fool rushes ahead blindly, and you are no fool."​

​

Platitudes aside, the Emperor wasted little time in elaborating. "Becoming one of my Hands is an arduous process, one that involves greater... suffering. You would emulate the ritual I had undergone to achieve immortality, expunging all weakness and allowing the Dark Side of the Force to fill you completely."​

​

As he spoke, the room around them began to come alive with movement. Panels on the walls slide away to reveal complex machinery hidden within, gargantuan vats of bubbling neon green liquid attached to tubes and wires that trailed up into the ceiling. From directly above them, the ceiling opened to reveal an apparatus equipped with multiple syringes and manipulators of immaculate design and precision. It lowered itself down into view, the many arms moving and rotating around to sit like the waiting claw of a ferocious raptor, ready to snatch up the hapless prey beneath it.​

​

"Such power can be yours if you accept my offer... To become something greater."​

​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

Vaylin remained quiet as she contemplated, her eyes lingering on the machine that had revealed itself. The sight of it was intimidating, the pure unknown quality of what it meant settled deeply in the Zabrak's mind. This was a decision she would never return to if she walked away, nor would she walk away the same person if she accepted. A once in a lifetime offer laid out before her, but if only the answer was so simple.

The Zabrak thought of her past, on the days, months and years that had passed since she had started on this path. From Dark Jedi to Sith. Apprentice, Knight then finally Lord. Where there was once Vaylin, there was now Darth Moirai. She had shed blood across numerous battlefields, dealt and received wounds she still carried the scars to this day. Climbed to the highest points she could, across Brotherhood and Valkyrie. And now there was an offer before her, of much greater power.

Duty.

But at the same time, something else dominated her thoughts. Or rather someone else. Jorryn.

The Echani had been a source of emotional turmoil. From the errors made, to the revelations of her distaste for her involvement with the Netherworld. Something Vaylin had been blind to until it was too late. A talk had been held, feelings had been laid out and efforts had been made to repair. But ever since then, of the times they had managed to share since.

It all felt...fleeting.

Love.

Two sides that made Vaylin whole, a conflict between Duty and Love. One made her feel proud, the other sad and doubtful. Vaylin grabbed ahold of those emotions, clutched them tight and pushed them down.

You won't be able to hear this, or feel it. But Jorryn...I'm sorry.

Vaylin slowly stood up for the first time since she had knelt. Head low until she was standing upright, then it rose until it was held high. She looked upon the machine before her, then turned to look at the Emperor.

"I accept."

Darth Carnifex ​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"I accept."​

​

Now the Emperor smiled, the first genuine smile he had ever shown the Zabrak Sith since they had met on Remnicore. Lips peeled back over teeth, the contours of his face pronounced as the murderer's grin spread from ear to ear.​

​

"Excellent."​

​

The power that now flowed from the Emperor was overwhelming, pinning the Zabrak where she stood and preventing her limbs from moving of their own volition. She rose into the air, weightless as air, as the floor where she had once been standing opened up to reveal a restraining apparatus in the vague shape of a humanoid. She was forced into it, clamps encircling her wrists and ankles as the rest of the machinery in the room began to move. The multi-limbed probe from the ceiling descended on a trunk-like hydraulic, it's many arms whirling around Vaylin as it scanned her body and aligned it's dozens of syringes up along her arms, legs, chest, and neck. ​

​

At once, they pressed into her flesh. ​

​

Green liquid flowed from the large vats through translucent tubes and deposited into Vaylin's body through the IVs firmly stuck into her skin, causing immediate pain as the noxious fluid seeped into her bloodstream. The pain would continue to grow in intensity, spreading out from the injection points without any sign of abating.​

​

"Behold now," spoke the Emperor reverently, lightning dancing across his open palms as he raised both up to the sky, "The naked energies of the Dark Side, the lightning of pure will power!" He then directed that lightning towards Vaylin's body, raw energy dancing on her bare skin as the Dark Side chewed its way past the firewalls of her heart. The pure Dark Side energy reacted with the fluid being injected into Vaylin, serving as the catalyst for a fundamental chemical alteration of her body's cellular composition. Power surged through every fiber of her being, directly fed by the Emperor's onslaught of energy. ​

​

Over time, the pain that Vaylin felt would fill up her entire body. ​

​

Unceasing.​

​

Unrelenting.​

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Inescapable.​

​

It would consume her existence as it sustained her body against the ravages of time, eroding her capacity for emotion in exchange for unnaturally long life; a future of immortality.​

​

Though the ritual seemed to take an eternity, in reality, it lasted only for a few scant minutes. The Emperor's power subsided as the last of the fluid was spilled into her veins, the syringes retracting back into the ceiling while Vaylin was still shackled to the slab of her rebirth. Smoke rose from her body where the lightning had seared away her clothing, revealing unmarked skin beneath that glowed with the power of the Dark Side.​

​

"Vaylin," spoke the Emperor, his voice pregnant with anticipation, "Can you hear me?"​

​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

She had prepared herself for whatever was to happen next, suspecting she'd not have to move a muscle to do so. Vaylin made no protest as she was suddenly lifted up through the Force, dictated by the Emperor. She could feel the Darkness of Remnicore swirling about in anticipation, mixing in Carnifex's own dark power.

Vaylin showed no response as she was forced down into the apparatus, restraints clamping down on her limbs in order to keep her steady. Her eyes remained open as she watched the probe-like machine descend from above. It's arms extended towards her as it began to scan, and find crucial points for its next stage.

The Zabrak closed her eyes, anticipating the next part was going to hurt.

She winced feeling all the needles piercing her skin, but she instinctively bit down on her tongue when the pain immediately followed. It was a futile effort to try stifling it. As the green liquid began entering her bloodstream, Vaylin's lips parted into a scream. She had felt fire in her veins before, but this went beyond it. Fingers curling into fists, nails digging into flesh.

Her body struggled against her mechanical bonds, physically reacting to the pain that was consuming her. Growing ever worse with every passing moment, as if the pain was replacing every bit of blood that was flowing through her body. She heard the Emperor speaking, the words reaching her ears but not fully settling. Vaylin was too enraptured in the pain, not expecting to get even worse.

Lightning struck her, and the Zabrak screamed even harder. Her voice should've died by now, but something about the dark energy pouring into her was keeping it going, like an eternal cycle. She felt the raw power burning against her skin, piercing through material just as it felt like it was stripping her down to her very core, her heart.

What felt like forever, finally subsided after minutes. Vaylin's body slumped back into the apparatus, as limited as the movement was to begin with. She said nothing, eyes still firmly shut as her chest fell and rose with heavy breaths. The endless cycle of pain now circulating through her very being, remaining consciously unacknowledged as she tried to collect herself.

"Yes," she finally spoke, her voice hoarse. "My Emperor."

Her eyes snapped open, corrupted amber as always. But burning that much deeper, and darker now.

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

A brief gesture and the shackles which kept Vaylin restrained disengaged with an audible snap, allowing her to fall forward. The Emperor made no move to help her if she was too weak to stand, merely watching her as his gift now coursed through her entire being.​

​

"You are reborn, Vaylin. The fire of immortality burns within you, the pain of which will never end. In time you will learn to become one with the pain, to harness it like one would any other tool."​

​

That same fire burned within the Emperor as well, he had shouldered the pain for over a decade at this point. In doing so, he suppressed every other emotion to the point that he was physically and emotionally numb. The pain was still there, but it became a part of his existence rather than something he experienced. ​

​

"And in doing so, you will serve me as one of my Hands."​

​

He waved his hand again, and flames burst around Vaylin's body in a great bonfire. The fire swept across her body, but it did not burn or scar her flesh. Instead, it devoured whatever clothes still clinging to her form and coalesced into a layer of new clothing, this time replete with the subtle iconography of the Dark Lord of the Sith. In time, a whole new outfit had been crafted for the Zabrak by the Dark Lord's power.​

​

"Soon I will have a task for you to perform, but for now you will spend your days in preparation for my call."​

​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

Once free, Vaylin fell forwards unceremoniously to the floor. It wasn't particularly graceful, but what would one expect after experiencing what felt like Hellfire being pumped into your veins. The Zabrak was in pain and that was putting it lightly. If she hadn't been Sith prior, having adopted the practice of turning pain into power, she'd have succumbed to the sheer ferocity that was burning across her entire form.

Instead, Vaylin gritted her teeth, slamming a fist down against the ground.

The Emperor's words rang in her ears, sinking in. She felt an odd familiarity, realizing that the same fire that had been burning within Carnifex for over a decade, now resided within her too. A mere ember right now, compared to the trained inferno.

Drawing on her Sith training, Vaylin pulled from the surface pain and molded into strength. Slowly, but surely, she found her balance and stood up. Carnifex's words synced perfectly in time as the Zabrak reached her full height at the end of his small speech.

She did not flinch as fire suddenly burst to life all around her. Vaylin stretched out her arms as she stood at the center, intimately familiar with its touch. It wrapped around her like an embrace, tearing away what remained and replacing it with new clothing. Something appropriate for her new role within the Sith Empire. Once the fire died down, Vaylin looked down at herself. Raising her arms up to gaze at the new robes she was now adorned with, her momentary distraction was broken by the Sith Emperor.

"As you command, Emperor." She bowed her head towards him, but before she could make steps to move she felt something within tug itself towards the surface. Her bond to the Netherworld forced Vaylin into her spectral form, her eyes and hair instantly igniting into flame. The fire that had decorated the area in a white light, were suddenly pulled towards the Zabrak. From every side there was a brazier, fire slammed into Vaylin's form once more. The natural orange flames were twisted, turning into a yellowish white colour instead. Adopting a new combination that combined the fire of Remnicore.

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor's face remained impassive as new fire blossomed around Vaylin's form, suffusing the air with intense heat and fury. Such stoicism did not fully convey the amusement that the Dark Lord of the Sith was experiencing internally. This was an unexpected, but wholly unwanted, development that sparked the fire of curiosity in his mind. He watched with rapt interest as the fire became a part of Vaylin, her hair igniting into a blinding inferno that bleached away the darkness from the room with a brilliant pulse of energy.​

​

"Quite magnificent," breathed the Emperor, his voice low and lusty. "A new form for a new purpose, the Dark Side sings in jubilation at what we have accomplished. The ancient legacy of Remnicore now lives within you, as it lives in all those who have touched upon its surface." High above Remnicore's atmosphere, several star destroyers reverted from hyperspace into realspace. Though they were of Sith-Imperial design, they wore the same symbol which was flown by the banners of the Zambrano; the dreaded Eye of Solomon boldly stretching across the destroyer's ventral hull. ​

​

"Look now to the sky, my devoted chosen. Soon this world will wake from its slumber of obscurity and will serve as the new heart of the Empire. In time, more will be gathered into the ranks of the Kyantkoshûjontû, but secrecy must be our creed for now." He reached out to place a hand on Vaylin's left shoulder, "Such wonders we will breathe life into, my Hand. It will be a glorious new future that we shall inherit."​

Vaylin ​

 

[Vaylin]

It was an unexpected development indeed, hell the entire trip into Wild Space had been one. Even then, she hadn't expected her Spectral Form to change too. In this state she could still feel the call of the Netherworld, but there now something new.

She could feel the planet beneath her feet.

In that moment, Vaylin had made her mind up on remaining on Remnicore for a while longer. She'd be back in the known galaxy before the week was over, but had a desire to learn more about the forgotten world.

"Fascinating..." Voice still quiet from the physical trial she had endured, but it rumbled underneath like a building inferno. She stood before the Emperor as a cross between his gift and an evolution of what she was before. Adorned in clothing that aligned her beneath his banner. Crowned atop by the unnatural flames of a desolate world.

She looked up when directed, catching sight of the Star Destroyers as they appeared into view high above. There was no denying of the feeling in the air, the start of something new. She had been granted a look and place in a new chapter. And she couldn't wait to see what unfolded.

"Yes...that it will be."

Darth Carnifex​