Echoes of War (Kaalia Voldaren)

[WolfMortum]

Glaring back against his reflection in the mirror of his quarters at the Bastion upon Virgillia, Brennan Cabrol looked upon himself in disgust, a burning hatred for those that had brought this upon him, those of the Galactic Alliance who had brought war to a system living in peace until their obsessive need to save the citizens from the tyranny of the First Order's militant regime had grown too much to bare before imposing on the lives of the very well catered for society of Bespin. Somehow he had survived that battle, though he had intended on giving up his life for Seiger Ren, the Knights of Ren had decided a different fate be his, intervened in the aftermath of the battle and recovered his remains. He had let loose an Incendiary Grenade point blank in front of him, seeking to breath his last breath bathed in the scent of his enemies blood; he knew not what had become of them, his memory was fragmented towards the end of it all, yet that which he did recall, brought great anger to him. The death of [member="Ara Ren"] by his own blade was a blow against his sworn duty for the First Order, she of whom had carried the lightsaber of [member="Kaalia Voldaren"], one of whom Brennan had worked with in the past, deserved the weapon to be returned to her, as well as the truth brought to light.

Some time had passed now since the battle, perhaps Kaalia already suspected what had become of her friend, unable to question Brennan as he had been under intensive medical treatment, the First Order Security Bureau having had a hand in the reconstruction of his replacement limbs and cybernetics, the artificial intelligence within his left eye that seemed to collect data over everything that he looked upon, relaying its contents within seconds right down to the type of alloy that the lightsaber was made of. The technology that had been grafted to his body going beyond any expectation nor dare he say it, hope of the First Order keeping him from the jaws of death. Through Seiger Ren's unwarranted generosity, Brennan's faith in their Order had grown tenfold, he a worthless disciple being given such a gift, the strength and add intelligence to truly become a monster within the field of battle. Had he a notion of pride, he might have smiled at the thought yet all that crossed him in the silence of his quarters, was anger and guilt.

By now, Kaalia Voldaren would have received his message requesting her presence to his quarters, his body still shell shocked with pain and mobility still difficult to adapt to, he had not been able to move far before he had become crippled and again resigned to sit upon the edge of his bed, a simple single mattress upon a steel frame, nothing about his room being above the absolute necessary for his living needs. He had not given a great deal of thought to Kaalia's potential reaction, no doubt she would be as angry as he was yet his lack of empathy for how others might feel, his inability or perhaps it was better said to say his difficult of learning to understand these feelings did not amount to any sort of consideration in that regard, he did not make a habit of sugar coating his words and in his given state perhaps that might be a very dangerous fact. His superiors had not informed him of any progress outside of his personal recovery, neither [member="Samka Derith"], [member="Kriel Firin"] nor [member="Castor Ren"] were expected to make contact since he had come back into the conscious world and after days of laying there alone, he had been forced to find the incentive to continue on. The strength of will to move forward, a core aspect for any Disciple that no matter what they faced, the cogs kept turning, the First Order's needs forever coming before the Individuals.

Thus, Kaalia was to be his first visitor.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Ever since the conflict on Hoth, Kaalia's presence in the Force was dominated by a hurricane of emotions. It was a mix of negative but also positive feelings and its intensity had barely died down ever since it had kicked up, leaving her quite restless. The moment she felt the Force connection between her and [member="Ara Ren"] fade in one of the caverns of the snow-covered planet had replayed in her mind on a daily basis, her heart sinking everytime it did. She considered her to be her closest friend, someone who had supported her in ways the brunette never even realized. Everytime she thought of the good things that had happened to her she was able to trace it back to Ara, something she did so much more now that she was gone. The redhead missed her, and it hurt like nothing she had felt before.

As she thought about it while walking down the hallways of the Bastion she, like so many times before in the days after the battle, fought a war to fight back tears. The only thing that worked was recalling the most wonderful thing that had happened in her life which, as fate would have it, happened on the same day, on the same frozen wasteland; a declaration of love. [member="Ishana Pavanos"] had stolen her heart what felt like yesterday and after that day she knew they would go through life together till death did them part. Through holding back her tears, she smiled. In time her grieving would have been given its place, but Ishana would still be there. The woman took out a picture out of one her jacket's pockets, revealing a picture of the one she loved more than anything in this world. The crease in the top right corner was something she was still disappointed over, but perhaps she could shoot a new photograph.

As much as Kaalia wanted to stay with her loved one, duty called. The visit to the Bastion would only consist of the thing she was summoned for, a request by [member="Caehl Ren"] to meet with him. She didn't know what it was about, but there was no turning this down. A hyperspace jump later she was back on Virgillia and wasted no time heading towards his quarters, wishing to make the trip as quick as possible. Despite that, she took a moment to steady herself emotionally as much as she could as she stood in front of the door before knocking. "You requested my presence?" the Knight said as she waited for an answer before heading inside. "This is Kaalia."

 

[WolfMortum]

The prospect of intimacy among the Knights of Ren were a fleeting thing to his mind, a misunderstood and otherwise unnecessary concept that got in the way of their service and duty; that said, were he the sentimental type or the kind of person to understand the higher complexities of compassion and social bonding then he might have felt both reluctance and sympathy for [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] whom arrived upon the entrance to his quarters, knocked and then entered, announcing her presence as if they had not previously met. Perhaps she did not recognize him or perhaps she, like he, did not conform to personal adherence unlike his initial impression of the woman. Seated upon the edge of his bedding, the young Disciple turned to look in her direction, his head wrapped in blood soaked bandages, his eyes corrupted by the Dark-side of the force, glowing a deep red yet his left seemed to shine brighter than the right upon a certain angle, a hint of artificial light seeping through the lens of the implant whispering of something more buried behind his vision, the AI that connected his acuity to his brain scanning the woman on its own, sending back data to be translated across his consciousness, depicting in vivid detail the materials that made up her attire and that which she carried with her. Rather than clothed on his upper body, the bandages and the technology that had been implanted and sewn within his flesh, melded into the former body of the weaker young man was left on open display so that his wounds would continue to heal, the long painful wait having become most frustrating yet too fueling his emotions and burying himself beneath his intent to fight tooth and nail to survive, only that he might return to duty and strike back at those that had opposed them. His lower half clothed in a combination of combatant leggings that stopped where the knees had once been, instead his recently designed and constructed cybernetic biologically-engineered replacements, a mix of science and the remains that of him that the Knights of Ren had managed to recover from the site of his defeat within the Hilikan facility. It was no wonder that she might not recognize him, even his ability within the force had changed due to the severity of damage wrought against his living body.

"I have something that belongs to you"

His voice escaped a dried bloodied throat, raspy without the vocal interface that would later be equipped to the Mask that would cover his wounds once they had healed sufficiently; a final piece to the puzzle that would complete his place within the Knights of Ren, integrated into their presence in the attire fit for the First Order's absolution. Against the pain that traced up his vertebrae, Brennan Cabrol turned to reach for the bedside compartment of which he pulled the top draw to slide open revealing the lightsaber hilt that he had pulled from the failing grip of [member="Ara Ren"] that day. A flashback of memories crossing before his very eyes as his left hand crafted out of poly-alloy and reinforced across the knuckles by Phrik metal that reflected a different shade of steel against the dim lighting of the room, retrieved the weapon reminding him of the woman's receiving his blade and trading her lightsaber involuntarily in order for Brennan to seek to better sustain his own defense against the Jedi Master known as [member="Taeli Raaf"].

"Ara Ren carried this weapon into the Hilikan Facility upon Bespin during the invasion of the Galactic Alliance. We encountered Jedi there where we were instructed to breach and clear the site of enemy personnel. We failed".

He spoke in facts, void of remorse though acknowledging their failure and soon placing the lightsaber upon the end of his bedding closer to the entrance and Kaalia Voldaren, he again turned and reached for a thinner version of a datapad for the use of singular reports. In his spare time, something he had plenty of much to his distaste for the isolation of his own mind, he had entered into the device all the data debriefing the nature of the mission according to his experiences as well as attaching the retrieved security footage of the facility and linking it to the report through the First Order Security Bureau's public network for the Knights of Ren.

"You will find the complete report of the incident within my report, as well as what was recovered from the FOSB".

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

As Kaalia entered the room, she did not saw what she expected to see. [member="Caehl Ren"] sat on the edge of the bed, a clearly battle-scarred man, a far cry from the Brennan she had met before. She could only imagine the things he had gone through and she felt sympathy for him. Deep down the woman wondered if life was truly still worth living in such a state, but knowing the fanaticism many of the Ren possessed in serving their leader she doubted Caehl ever thought of the question himself.

The quiet musing brought yet another doubt in her status as Knight of Ren. The list seemed to have grown exponentially since everything that happened on Hoth. Why she stayed was something she questioned on a daily basis, there was nothing left to keep her here. She was never a rolemodel follower of Sieger, in all honesty the only two things she respected about him was the power he possessed and the home he had given her. Now however it seemed there was nothing left for the Ren to teach her, her secret Sith apprenticeship being the major push against her boundaries, and with every passing day the Bastion felt less and less like home. Now that Ara was gone and she spent most of her time with Ishana she had slowly lost connection with Virgillia. It didn't feel the same anymore to the redhead.

Caehl was the first to speak and it seemed he wanted to get straight to the reason she was summoned. For a moment Kaalia wondered what it was that belonged to her, but that question was quickly answered. As the drawer opened her eyes quickly fell onto Cruentis Cor, the lightsaber she had let Ara use after she had lost her own. A mixture of memories of acquiring the weapon, such as the scar at her eye, and handing it to her close friend flooded her mind upon seeing it. It felt like the mark caused by the saber was burning up but the young Knight put up a façade, pretending nothing was wrong. She nodded as he continued talking, explaining what had happened. The words 'we failed' felt like the punch to the gut, but once again the woman revealed nothing.

When he finished speaking Kaalia approached the hilt and picked it up, inspecting it. "It seems you took good care of it. Thank you," she said as she looked at the lightsaber closely. After inspection she clipped it to her belt as she took a deep breath. "This lightsaber contains a lot of personal memories. Memories of struggle, but also triumph. Of pain, and overcoming it. The fact you have been able to bring it back here... That means a lot to me."

Caehl had taken out a datapad and explained he had a report of what happened and for a moment Kaalia hesitated. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what had happened, but she had to. She simply had no choice. "Could I, see it? Perhaps I can rest easier knowing what happened."

[member="Caehl Ren"]

 

[WolfMortum]

Though he knew the details of the recording most intimately, he handed the device to [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] regardless of his guilt in the affair. Among the Knights of Ren, there were to be no secrets; the restriction of truth bred through to individuality and within their bastion, individuality was a step away from what they all worked for as a collective. It was one thing to be unique among the Ren, to be someone of a different background, yet to lie to one of their own, especially his superior was an act of treason that required severe punishment. "Your Crystal is finely honed, the darkness and wealth of aggression it conveyed within combat was...Admirable", his version of a compliment towards the weapons make and experience; even within the face of defeat, he had felt the foreign passions radiating from the hilt having taken it from [member="Ara Ren"]. The Security Footage that she would soon see would depict the final blow, the Jedi Master eluding them while his blade would pierce through her mid-section and his response lack anything of an emotional or sentimental reaction, instead taking Kaalia's lightsaber by force and turning his attention back upon their enemy. It was cold and heartless the way that he had moved forward from Ara Ren's death, but it was a good death and one worthy of a Knight of Ren; Brennan did his best to respect her in this, fighting till his last of which the recording would too lead up to, his own final moments before he let loose the explosion of fires that engulfed all around him and distorted the camera feed in the area but after the smoke and the flames disappeared, revealed the smoldering body that had been the death of Brennan Cabrol and the rise of Caehl Ren. Fortunate to have such reliable security measures, the FOSB had a clear picture of the battle that had taken place within the facility from start to finish. They'd yet to inform Brennan of anything that wasn't privy to his immediate recovery and thus he knew not his partner's survival of the conflict, Ara having been found by one of the Galactic Alliance personnel, to what end they could only guess.

"I retrieved the lightsaber after I killed her" he spoke up again, another blatant testament to his lack of subtlety nor comprehension of empathy. "Ara Ren was pierced by my blade in the attack, our strikes were flawed, the Jedi used our momentum and rather than hitting my target, my lightsaber found her mid-section and ran her through side-to-back" he seemed to speak in a way that almost revealed a hint of approval to the way their enemy had fought, it was a well practiced tactic and in having employed it perfectly, Brennan had sacrificed his lead in the battle, only to later be caught off guard by the appearance of two others and defeated. "That one though...-Force lightning from a Jedi Master. I had not expected that" his gaze drifted through Kaalia Voldaren, his head tilting some as he fell back on the visual memory of the battle. The destructive force of her lightning was something he would have to come to learn in the future, the charge that she had sent through his body hurt unlike most things he had experienced. The burning of his insides within seconds of being frayed by electricity, it was a power the Jedi of the past had refused to practice for such violence...

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

As [member="Caehl Ren"] offered the datapad to Kaalia she carefully took it, a swirling of emotions overcoming her as she realized she was going to be watching her closest friend she had be killed. She slowly walked over to a chair that was facing a desk and turned it around to sit down facing the bed. Before watching the footage the Disciple commented on the lightsaber's crystal and the power that rested within it, causing her to slowly nod. "I took it from the first person I ever killed. Its previous owner used it to inflict the scar that rests on my face, but his overconfidence became his death. It was the first step towards becoming who I am now." Perhaps the fact it signified change and overcoming your demons was the reason the woman had let [member="Ara Ren"] borrow it when she did. Her friend was disconnected from the Force and lost her own lightsaber, but she could overcome. After all, she herself had done the same. Unfortunately, time wasn't on the brunette's side.

The redhead choked up a little thinking about it, making her feel hesitant to play the footage. Despite that she knew she had to know how it happened, otherwise she would regret it for the rest of her life. Even the Force somehow told her to do so. After taking a deep breath she tapped the screen of the datapad, making it play the stored video. The first thing that she noticed was the familiar sight of the Jedi, one she had seen before in their attack on Mustafar. For a moment corrupt red and sulphur flashed in her eyes as she realized the woman would be the cause of Ara's death, feeling her anger build. Her heart was racing and it felt like it was going burst out of her chest, until the moment Caehl's lightsaber went through Ara. Her face drained of color much like her friend in the footage and started shaking a little as she tried to get a hold of herself. Despite all this however, a nagging feeling didn't seem to be able to be pushed away. The Force tried to tell Kaalia something but the message was scrambled, yet it prevented her from losing herself in her grief and anger. She counter her blessings, knowing that if that feeling wasn't there things could have ended badly.

The young Knight's shaky hand put the datapad down on the table after the footage stopped playing, when the bedridden man spoke again. There was an utter lack of empathy, something that started grinding away against her ability to not lash out against him. She closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists, trying to contain herself. I am in control, not my emotions. The words were forced into her mind, reminding herself to not let her passions overrule her rational thinking. Despite that it took incredible mental strength to keep her outward calm and Kaalia knew she could not stay for much longer. "I can guarantee you, if I ever cross paths with that woman she will experience what fury feels like. I will make her suffer. I will make her beg and plead for mercy, then when she makes the grim realization she would not leave the place alive, she will wish for the sweet release of death. And I will make it slow, painful, and humiliating." Through her voice it was abundantly clear she was on the edge. Her eyes once again displayed the corruption of the Dark Side, but now it wasn't just a flash. A hurricane of passion and emotion was able to be felt through the Force, with the woman at the eye of the storm.

[member="Caehl Ren"]

 

[WolfMortum]

There was a wealth of hatred fueling the air about [member="Kaalia Voldaren"], it brought Caehl the comfort of knowing that he was not alone in many of their peers often emotional neutrality; being one more prone to violence and relishing his anger in order to empower his momentum in conflict, he contested the theory that the Knights of Ren were not Sith in some ways by his behaviors yet his actions and motivations were the saving grace that defined him as one of their own. It was obvious now too why her lightsaber, the Cruentis Cor weighed with so much negative emotion in it's use, the death of its former owner forcing its transition to her, a worthy trophy if ever he heard of one unlike the lightsaber of his own, found within the collapsed enclave upon the world of Svivren before his venture to the First Order, perhaps it was time to revisit his personal arsenal too with the intention of empowering himself further.

"Her death was a good one" Brennan spoke up, soon forcing himself from the bed tired of being seated for so long and able to do nothing but dwell on such thoughts, at least now he had the company of another to discuss his recollections over the incident; "She chose to join me in my mission to secure the facility knowing that her ability in the Force was severed. [member="Ara Ren"] informed me of such as we were drawing closer to the site. Her sacrifice for the will of Seiger Ren will fuel the momentum of the others, she being notable within the Ren, her murder will not go unpunished and her choice to surrender herself to fate with such a devotion in the First Order will only encourage the Disciples to further devote themselves to the cause" in his mind this was all that they could ever hope to amount to, a perfect end to a dedicated member of the Knights of Ren; anything less was substandard to the representation of what made the Knights of Ren such a force to be reckoned with.

"Ultimately, while her sacrifice will not go in vain, the fault lies with me" He continued, stepping closer to the table against the edge of his quarters, his personal inventory sprawled across the surface, some of it in tatters like the SBU01 Datapad of which had completely exploded against his wrist during the Jedi's deployment of Force Lightning. "I anticipated Jedi yet had not prepared myself for the wealth of corruption that surrounded them. This one the Security Bureau has identified as Taeli Raaf, was beyond the Orders traditional experience. There is something else beyond her, fueling her abilities that leads me to doubt the Jedi Orders purity they so claim they're beholden to" in truth he suspected the motivations of the Dark Side, still confident in the nature of the charge of electricity that had been used against both Ara and himself, such tactics were not of the Jedi that he had initially been brought up within and thus opened up the Galactic Alliance to evidence of degradation from within. "They are blinded in their complacency and arrogance that they seem to have mistaken a rogue to be one of their own. She deserves a death most painful and I would wish to be at your side while this judgement is passed. The next time we are to cross blades, I will not be so unprepared, that I can swear by".

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

As time went on it became harder and harder for Kaalia to resist the urge to leave. Kaalia was always able to deal with the fanaticism that was displayed by the other Ren, but now that things had been made personal through the death of [member="Ara Ren"] she deep down couldn't stand a word that was said about her passing. To the woman Ara wasn't a tool for a greater goal, more than a mere conduit of the Force for Sieger to command as he pleased. She was her friend. Someone she could count on. Someone who helped her break out of her shell of the Light and her shell of meekness. Instead, the sacrifice was valued to be greater than the person who had made it, a fact that clawed away at her more with every word that [member="Caehl Ren"] spoke. All the redhead could think of how it wasn't right, how her closest karking friend's death was celebrated instead of mourned. In her mind it was all wrong, they were all wrong. An ally's death was never a good thing, no matter the circumstance. It was the greatest price that could be paid and would always take away from what it accomplished, if it even did accomplish anything. In Ara's case there wasn't even anything that was achieved by the act of her being killed, but even if it had there was nothing to be gained there what would have been worth it to the Kro Varian. Everything he said afterwards was merely a blur, her mind no longer willing to listen.

She had had enough.

"You killed her." Her voice was devoid of color, the only thing giving it emotion being a minute stroke of anger. "She died by the hand of an ally. She was literally stabbed in the back. A death caused by the slipup of someone who was supposed to strengthen her position." The Knight was shaking. Corrupt irises looked straight through the bedridden man, feeling a surge of Darkness, she let her eyes become the conduit of an instinctual application of the Force. It was not nearly enough to cause real harm, instead waves of pain would be sent towards Caehl in a moment where Kaalia was an apex of the Dark Side. "Yet you have the audacity to call her end a good one!?" The redhead's voice became increasingly louder and more filled with anger and hatred, peaking at the final two words. Had there been no repercussions she would have attempted to take his life right then and there. "If you hadn't done what you did she would still be here. This sacrifice you speak of was utterly pointless!" Heavy breathing filled the room as the Deadly Sight faded from Kaalia's eyes, feeling the strain of using it. The chair she was sitting on fell over as she stood up with no regard for what was around her and turned towards the door, but she stopped herself from taking any step towards it. Her left hand slowly balled up into a fist as the chair started creaking, eventually getting completely crushed by Kaalia's conducting of the Force. Slowly but surely her emotions were being harnessed and channeled, gaining more control as she did.

In the moment, the entire First Order could be damned. The Sith teachings that had been imparted to Kaalia by [member='Krest'] were what drove her but until this very moment it had not interfered with anything within the Ren. A small crack formed somewhere, a crack that couldn't be mended. "We are both Ren. I cannot kill or harm my allies, but let me be very clear." Her body rotated back to face Caehl, her eyes still ablaze. "I do not forgive. I do not forget."

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Kaalia Voldaren"] was not the first to reprimand him for the murder of [member="Ara Ren"]. [member="Samka Derith"] too had seen to a certain expression of consequence through the lack of medicinal care in his augmentation through cybernetic enhancements, a complete lack of pain relief, he had begun to accept that pain was to be an every day part of his life now. Deadly sight however was not something he had experienced before and as Kaalia looked down upon him, the force itself seemed to attack his body in recourse, a hot wave of torment relishing over him as his muscles were forced to contract against the heat of the dark-side, almost as if he were burning from within in similar degree to the lightning that had shot through him in the battle against the Jedi Master just gone. His jaw tightened, teeth gritting together, clenched as he hissed through his pain and tried to focus on her emotions as opposed to his own, she hated him in those seconds and in that hatred he could feel a mutual darkness. One that he himself had struggled at times to keep within boundaries of the First Order's priorities, one that had escaped him on Commenor in the attack of their Queen for all that he hated his former Mentor, Kaalia now sought to attack him in equal stature, a reminder of her disgust yet not in the attempt to take his life. Yet.

"I was looking her in the eyes as she died, my blade did not pierce her back" Caehl clarified for matter of the fact yet ignored the judgement in her remark, "The attack was co-ordinated though we both misjudged our opponent, you could say she was equally to blame but that does not change the fact that she died for the will of the supreme leader and the man you yourself serve..." Caehl forced himself to sit up again, though this time his torso seemed to wisp with a light aura of smoke from the nature of the attack she had practiced against him. He had not responded with his own for she was his superior and as a Disciple, he would take whatever treatment she were to dish out against him...-He buried the anger that she fueled within him, every attack serving as a memory that would later remind him of the error of his ways, yet too the nature of her eagerness to project her own hand against one of the Ren. The difference between them was that his harming Ara Ren had not been intentional. "Regardless of our mutual allegiance to Sieger Ren, it seems you can indeed harm one of your allies, Kaalia...You have earned this prerogative and I am of no right to question your actions though for the sake of our brief history I would caution you. Such words are not so easily forgotten within the Bastion of Ren...-I would not wish to see you share similar prosecution for actions unintended..." There was a certain tone to his words that spoke of more than fanaticism there, he would not raise his hand to her and the reaction that she gave had not surprised him for he himself felt he had earned such an attack yet there was an element of promise behind his counter to her judgement upon him, a reminder that they both would forever be held accountable for the actions they so decided to take upon others and responsible for the consequences that would follow accordingly.

"You misunderstand me in either case..." He shifted his gaze to the wall opposite his bed, his arms falling to bury his elbows against his knees, leaning forward and letting go a heated breath between his teeth as he tried to neglect the pain that still washed over his body, no longer fueled by Kaalia's rage yet having not yet subsided completely, his wounds still struggled to heal and Kayla Wylen's efforts while skilled were not miraculous enough to negate Samka's wish for his suffering to be prolonged; "Whether or not you believe her sacrifice to be worthwhile...I respect that which she has given. To give your life in such a way, to relinquish all that is within your control for the sake of others is a truly selfless act that dwarfs all else...The courage to face an blatantly stronger opponent knowing that she lacked any significant ability in the force due to previous battles...-And she still faced her fate head on. Few can say the same...".

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

It had become very clear that [member="Caehl Ren"] was simply unable to see Kaalia's point of view. It was to be expected, yet every he spoke only served to light the fire that had ignited in her even further. This wasn't about Sieger, or the goal [member="Ara Ren"] had died for. Had her death turned the tides in the favor of the First Order directly it would have only been a minimal consolation only, but even then to her personally it would still have been far from worth it. The woman realized that the fact she put her friendship with the brunette above her status as Ren was some that had the potential to get her in a very bad spot within the Order and would receive no sympathy, but she had something she believed that would be lost otherwise; her humanity. It was something the bedridden man had clearly lost and she refused to be assigned to the same fate.

With Caehl mentioning serving the Ren however, Kaalia would not tolerate being talked to in the way she was. "Pain teaches perspective." Eyes that were ablaze with the Dark Side spoke louder than her words, only adding power to her message. "Pain reminds you of the mistakes you made. The missteps you took. If I were you, I would less worry about what it means for me and more about what it means for you." In her training of disciples she had slowly realized that pain was one of the most effective ways to make people remember and learn. It was a catalyst of the Dark Side, serving to strengthen one. "I know the Bastion better than you do, don't forget. This is a lesson." The redhead took multiple steps towards the door. Soon she would leave the man to himself, there was not much left to say for her. "It was with purpose. And if you truly believe what I did was worthy of prosecution, disciple," the emphasis on the final word meant to remind Caehl of his place wether he needed it or not, "you still have a lot to learn. Did you think I was not pushed to the very edge in my training as a disciple? You will not find anyone's sympathy." Kaalia's words were cold and harsh, feeling no remorse. "There is a difference between needlessly harming another Ren and what I did. Think on that."

Another set of steps later the young Knight stood at the door, where she stopped and turned one more time. "No matter how much you respect what was sacrificed, you were the one who took it from her. Do not forget that."

[member="Caehl Ren"]

 

[WolfMortum]

Brennan Cabrol eyed [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] darkly, a crimson glare within his eyes as she reminded him who it was who had taken [member="Ara Ren"]'s life from her. He knew all too well what had happened, he had been there, the blade plunged through his superior by his own hand, the whisper of breath that left her lips as the energy sliced through her severing nerve endings and colorizing her blood and flesh, marring whatever organ it reached as it exited through her back and her eyes drifted then to Brennan, a moment of question and loss as to how such a thing had happened. In that moment Brennan was back in the enclave of the Jedi, standing there as the boy that had witnessed the attack of the sith, his heart bleeding with emotion as everyone he had cared about was being cut down by lightsabers no different to his own today.

The image caused the force around him to pool into him, the room that he stood within darkening in response to his anger, watching Kaalia as she stood at the door, his words were cold and void of the respect that he was obligated to show her in that moment. "I understand" he resigned himself to following the chain of hierarchy, never one to break away from it even at his own expense of pride, she had one up over him in that sense, if anything he was loyal to the Supreme Leader. The loss of Ara Ren was not his doing by choice, but the collateral damage of a fight that Ara herself had not been prepared for and their opponent had far surpassed his own abilities and training. War was vicious in this regard and Ara was a casualty of nothing more, nothing less. If his superior denied her the honor in memory and the sacrifice she had given, no matter how the final blow had landed, then Caehl would do so in his own time, his own way to mourn for the First Order's loss. To respect that which was given.

He was becoming increasingly agitated with being stuck in this damnable room, especially now with the taunting of Kaalia's. To be seen in such a state of weakness, it made him want to pommel something into the ground; with these hands reinforced by phrik plating buried beneath his flesh, he felt he could crush someones skull with all the anger that he felt welling within himself. Had he the opportunity again, the fight would not have ended the way it had back on Bespin. His body remained weak and pain reminded him of his vulnerability every moment of his day and night laying there, forced to rest and take it slowly, yet his mind was sound and his need to avenge himself drove him forward, it was what was keeping him from leaving that forsaken room and moving to board his vessel, no doubt getting himself killed in attempt to lash out at the Galactic Alliance for what they had done to him. Rational thought was scarce, yet fortunate was he that his loyalty to the First Order was so devoted, sanity wasn't a requirement for unwavering dedication and admiration for Sieger Ren.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

The agitation and frustration coming from @Ceahl Ren was most definitely palpable through the Force and Kaalia was quick to pick up on it. Deep down she wasn't sure whether that was planted into him intentionally by her, that was done by chance, or if it would have been there regardless of her visit. In the end that didn't matter. She had gotten her lightsaber back and laid out her feelings perfectly; there was nothing more to be said or done. Without speaking another word the woman opened the door and walked out, leaving the bedridden man to be alone once more.

Sulphuric yellow and red eyes from the Dark side's corruption were cast to the right as she decided to use the whirlwind of emotions that came over her to practice something her Sith master [member='Krest'] taught her. The ability to precisely hone and control one's emotions to make them fuel the wielder of the Dark side instead of letting them take control was extremely difficult, but it was something Kaalia spent many hours on, training to carefully guide them. With such a heavy load it had to be taken advantage of.