How To Be A Bad Guy 101 [Past Thread]

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

"SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!! WATCH ME GET IN THE RING WITH THE DURASTEEL DAGGER AND TEAR HIM UP!!" A man in a very tight leotard stood in the center of a ring holding a microphone and yelling at a crowd that was booing him.

"IM GONNA MERCY KILL'EM, I'M GONNA BREAK'EM, I'M GONNE RUN CIRCLES AROUND'EM!! THIS SUNDAY AT MONDAY NIGHT WAR PAY PER VIEW!!" The man continued to drone and build hype for this event.

The view panned out until it came into a very soggy and wet sewer line that had been furnished with a sofa, rug, and TV. And sitting on that couch wearing a "Jeremy the Jerk" professional wrestler T-shirt was Dredge sipping a canned soda with a straw and next to that was a tub of popcorn. You see Dredge wasn't like most vong, the vong had been here for hundreds of years and while most still clung to the old ways he was more open with things like technology and qualified as entertainment. While yes he was down for some good old fashioned torture there were only so many small intestines you could rip out before it got boring.

"Go Jarod!" He said as he sipped his cherry lime cola.

but at that moment two Graug entered the room one holding a datapad closed in on Dredge and spoke in a low and growling tone like most Graug do.

"My lord, something import-" Was all the Graug said before a small ping pong ball of fire with the kinetic force of a bullet slammed through the Graug's head causing him to fall to the floor dead.

"What did I say about interrupting me during my shows?" Dredge said to the one remaining Graug.

Dropping down to the floor the Graug stared down at the floor hoping that the fallen overlord wouldn't take his life.

"Forgive me my lord!! Shall I go!?" The Graug said quickly with a hint of fear. But Dredge let out a soft sigh and responded.

"No the immersion is already lost, might as well get on with this." He said as he bent over and picked up the data pad brushing off the brains and blood splattered on it.

Lifting up the datapad to his face Dredge began to read through what was presented to him, it was the file for a [member="Keira Ticon"] a high ranking member in the Red Ravens. The vong had made the sewers of Antecedent his home for the moment due to the process of making President Cryax Bane his Presidential Biznitch. So anyway that he could hurt Cryax he was going to do, and that meant hurting his friends.

"What's your name Graug?" Dredge asked as he skimmed the file still.

"Gruk, my lord!" He said in response.

"Well Gruk if I'm not mistaken we still have those orphans hostage, be a good sport and have one of our runner's bring one of their heads to Keira's doorstep with a note that says to meet at the Antecedent Convention Center at eight PM, or she will find body parts in her home that will leave her very frightened and down right confused." Dredge said with a serious voice tossing the data pad aside.

"Right away my lord!" Gruk said as he stood up to go do his lord's will.

In a few hours the Antecedent Convention Center would be completely empty and barren of people to the naked eyes inside and out. But a creeping oozing sense of the darkside could be felt radiating from it for miles. It was show time and tonight's main event was going to be a struggle for Keira's life and sanity.

 

[Keira Priest]

In her life Keira had become desensitized to all manner of horrors the galaxy had to offer. Early in her tenure with the Ravens she had witnessed the slaughter of hundreds of sentients on the planet of Teth, only cumulating to the beginning of her downward spiral. Some time afterwards she had been tortured by a group of religious zealots, remaining in captivity for just short of a month before finally being rescued. That had been the turning point in her life, when she had finally succumbed to the dark that had beckoned her since leaving the Jedi. It had welcomed her with open arms, promising to take the pain away. And it had, for a time, settling into her very being until she became comfortably numb. Even that hadn't lasted forever.

What the dark took it inevitably gave back a thousand fold, and the hurt she had pushed away came roaring back in a tidal wave, nearly pulling her down with it. For a time she had struggled, living in a state somewhere between life and death, reminiscent of a ghost with a beating heart. Eventually she had grown apathetic to even that, seemingly shunning most everything that had once weighed all too heavily on her mind, her only real concerns her older brothers and Cryax, along with the entirety of the Red Ravens. Everything else was secondary at best, and meaningless any other time. And she had simply accepted life as it was now, not finding it in her to attempt to reverse any changes.

And it always seemed that whenever she became adjusted to something, another issue decided to immediately take its place, if just to throw a wrench in things. That particular wrench this time took the place of a disembodied head just outside the door of her apartment on Antecedent. No matter how typical images of gore had become in her life, there were always those particularities. A swell of disgust and anger rose in her when she got a closer look, recognizing that this was only a child, one who hadn't had so much as a chance at life before having that cord cut. It was a level even she wouldn't stoop to, no matter how pressed. That was one line she refused to cross.

Slowly she knelt, picking up the piece of paper and skimming over the note first before reading through it carefully, those thunderclouds that always roiled behind her amber eyes taking on a far more volatile quality. Muttering a rather colorful string of curses her gaze cut to the clock: 7:50 at night. So she had ten minutes before this threat was acted upon, a fact she didn't doubt in the least. After all, this was Dredge, the Yuuzhan Vong overlord responsible for the capture and torture of the Red Ravens President, along with the deaths of countless civilians on numerous planets, some occurring during their own operations no less. The death of a few children meant nothing to him, and for some reason it was a concern for her.

Crumpling the paper in her hand she let it fall to the ground, checking only that her saber was at her waist before she set off. No other weapon was necessary. The plasma blade had been her life for this long, and coupled with the Force she was confident enough in her ability to at the very least hold her own. Another fight meant nothing to her, a new accumulation of scars even less. This was just another way to pass the time, and perhaps learn more of the one that threatened both the Ravens and incidentally her this time around. it wasn't the first time she had both bargained and fought for her life, and it wouldn't be the last. She just hoped it would be worthwhile.

With an unspoken wariness she approached the specified building, the dark presence seeping out speaking volumes as to who was awaiting her arrival within. The taint of the dark was nothing she hadn't experienced before, and so she pushed outwards with her own aura, contesting his own. Without ceremony or fanfare she stepped inside, allowing the doors slamming shut behind her to announce her presence where words failed her. Taking a few steps forward, she allowed the ethereal to compensate where physical sight failed her, though the all-encompassing darkness made it difficult to pinpoint his exact location. "If you're going to try and kill me, get it over with. I have better things to do."

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

http://youtu.be/P51cMstawuc

As soon as Keira stepped in and spoke breaking the silence of the pitch black arena lights flashed and music played as a spotlight shined down on her face. A roar of beastial shouts and cries echoed out from every corner of the arena as the images of monsters flooded over her from all sides. Doors closed and locked behind her, blast doors coming down and sealing as the faces of Yuuzhan Vong and Graug filled the stands booing and throwing popcorn and other various liquids at the woman on the floor.

"GRAG AND YUUZHAN VONG!! WELCOME TO THE RING!! KEIRA TICON!!" And just like that things continued to get weirder.

A path was laid out before Keira a real life red carpet that made squishy sounds whenever she took a step on it, so it was safe to assume the carpet didn't start off red. Hanging from crosses along her path were the barely living bodies of various homeless people and other folks unlucky enough to be caught after dark. This path lead to a very real, and very well built wrestling ring.

"KEIRA COME ON DOWN OR THE KIDS DIE SLOWLY!! The Vong announcer said in a thick accent, but still very upbeat and happy.

So now it was up to Keira, come on up to the ring and make her entrance or sit back and wait to be shot by the tons of Graug and Vong that littered the arena.

 

[Keira Priest]

When the lights were switched on Keira immediately raised her right arm to block at least some of the glare, her left reaching down to palm her lightsaber, not quite igniting the blade just yet despite her better judgement. There was no doubt in her mind that she would need the weapon soon enough, and why she didn't immediately activate it and let the plasma blade fly into the crowd was beyond her. It would have taken care of at least part of the threat, even if she knew there was another whose arrival she was still awaiting. Besides, the crowd was more of an annoyance than anything. Which was why the first thing she did was send out a burst of the Force into the stands, hopefully killing a few spectators in the process.

Slowly she began walking, once more gathering the Force within herself in preparation for another strike. Clenching her jaw she forced herself to ignore the helpless individuals that surrounded her. There was nothing she could do for them at this point, and besides, she wasn't anything close to a Jedi. The Ravens were criminals, and she was as well by trade. Death was a commonplace trade in the criminal underworld, even if it was often far more merciful than this. Those civilians weren't her concern right now, no matter how much she disagreed with all that had been done to them. Right now survival was far more prominent on the forefront of her mind. Living to see the next day was moderately important.

Without fanfare she entered the ring, taking in the crowd for a brief moment, steeling herself to pretend that this was just another match in the Red Ravens Fight Club. With exaggerated care she raised her lightsaber, pressing the emitter to the Vong announcer's chest and thumbing the ignition switch. The man fell to the ground dead after she extinguished the blade, and now she stood in the arena alone, a corpse at her feet and amber eyes seething with a newfound hatred. Surprisingly enough she was outwardly calm, icily so, her demeanor carefully fabricated. "It's awfully rude to keep a lady waiting. I think it's about time I see your ugly mug face-to-face, don't you?"

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

The blasts of force pushes that went into the crowds didn't do all that much. A graug flew upwards here and maybe broke a leg but the majority of the fans in the stands were Yuuzhan Vong, so the force held no power over them. The crowd kept up their cheers though and it all spiked when Keira had murdered the announcer in the middle of the ring, a huge roar of bloodlust echoed off the walls as they craved more and more gore and brutality. It didn't matter that one of their own was cut down before them, all that mattered was that their insatiable craving for blood and violence was sated.

But as the announcer dropped dead the lights went out and red spotlights began to hover and flash over the crowd and ring until they covered the main stage that began to spew fire into the air. Hard metallic music began to spew from speakers until another Vong in a there piece suit stood out on the stage holding a microphone.

"Introducing the defiler! The killer! The one and only former Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong!! DREEEEEEEEEEEEDGE!!!" The Vong said as fire began to explode all around him.

Stepping out from behind him a near seven foot tall black armored monolith of a man holding a bastard sword made of bone approached. Coming down the ramp the giant armored behemoth approached the ring and quickly jumped up into it as the crowd continued to lose their mind. Dredge approached the woman before him and looked down at her as he chuckled to himself, and in a deep inhuman and booming voice he spoke to her.

"You're not afraid child, I feel it within you. We'll remedy that." He said as he placed his bastard sword into the ring.

 

[Keira Priest]

If there was one surefire way to annoy Keira, it was to make an excessive and superfluous show out of something that was entirely simple when performed as it was meant to be. In comparison to her entrance his was overly exaggerated and altogether unnecessary in its extravagance. It was better to simply do things, with little regard for how one appeared in the eyes of others. At best was secondary, but she viewed it as entirely useless. Upon his entrance she had to restrain a roll of her eyes simply because of that, if it weren't for what she knew he was perfectly capable of. Despite that, he was one that had ruthlessly tortured the President of the Red Ravens with no real reason in mind. Some measure of caution was needed here.

Trying to disguise the fact that her hands were shaking her saber thrummed into existence once more, and she clenched her jaw in order to steel herself, flexing her cybernetic left hand as if in reminder of what horrors she had already suffered in her lifetime. One more meant nothing, and she regarded her life with as little concern as she would that of any other sentient. "I've made it a point not to fear most people. Anyone can talk big, but only a few can back it up. It doesn't take much to torture the helpless. How you fight is what matters." As if in answer to her mention of another life-or-death encounter the darkness that resided at her core swelled up, announcing its readiness to tear another apart from the inside out and bring them to their knees, making them beg for death. Something she would deliver without hesitation.

In her life she had clashed with all manner of monsters, including a Gen'Dai, the same man that had been training her. Combat with one both immensely taller and stronger than she was nothing unusual, and even his being Force sensitive wasn't beyond the norm. For all intents and purposes this was a typical situation in her life, if it weren't for the venue in which it was all transpiring and the method by which she had been contacted. This was a man less civil than even herself. "I really expected more after what I've seen you do. If you're into that kind of thing, all you had to do was tell me. I'm sure we can work this out with a safe word and everything." As always, words were her first defense.

Taking a breath she forced herself to look him directly in the eyes, blade leveled at his throat. "You and I both know what the likely outcome of this is, so let's not drag things out. I'm just as intent on surviving as you are on trying to kill me. I'll do all in my power to make every moment of this a living hell for you. I'm not your average galactic citizen, and I'm not going to lie down and let you torture me until you get bored and finally decide to end my life. I'll fight until I'm dead, and even then you won't be able to get away, because the Ravens don't forgive and forget. Whichever way you cut it, this isn't something either of us are getting out of." A pause, then a slight smile. "Try me."

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

Everything was silent for a moment as the crowd listened in to what the human had to say, and what Dredge would do afterwards. Keira gave her little speech about how hard she was and silence continued to hold in the arena. The massive armored mountain that was Dredge looked down at the child with burning red eyes as they began to narrow with a white hot intensity. But as the passing moments of silence dragged on it was broken by a thunderous laugh from the overlord, genuine laughter poured from Dredge's mouth and the crowd joined in with him. It continued on and on until he raised his fist in the air causing absolute silence.

"Kill you?" He said in a deep voice tainted by the power of the darkside.

"No child." He said as he picked the massive bastard sword up from the ring.

"I'm going to make you watch." Dredge said as he moved out of Keira's direct line of sight.

Revealing to Keira on the main stage past the ring were the orphaned children dropping down from rafters with ropes around their necks. The sickening crunch and snap of bones echoing through the arena as a roar from the crowd rang out with each death. But that was only the tip of the iceberg, there was far more to be had.

Being drug out from the sides of the stage well over two dozen members of the Red Ravens along with their immediate families were being put on their knees across the stage by various Yuuzhan Vong and Graug, and one by one a hulking Graug came up to each person putting a round through their head.

"No Keira. I'm going to kill your friends, your family, your brothers, your neighbors. I will kill your pets, I will burn your home, I will kill the flowers in your garden, I will salt every piece of earth you have ever walked upon. And then when you are begging for death, you will live with your failures. Now enough talk child, come and stop me." Dredge said with a sick smile beneath his helmet.

 

[Keira Priest]

An oppressive wave of death rolled over her, choking in her lungs and throat in a manner that wasn't entirely grounded in the physical realm. Her jaw clenched against the sensation and she stumbled slightly, forcing herself to remain standing. In her life she had witnessed death numerous times and inflicted it countless others, but never had Keira been one to necessarily revel in the simple feeling of live's extinguishing. That by itself was a perverse thing, something entirely unnatural. Slowly her breathing steadied as she willed herself into a state of calm, adrenaline humming through her veins making it difficult to sit still. If only it numbed her from the events currently transpiring as well.

But it wouldn't do to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cowed already, and so she looked over the corpses that had accumulated, disguising her disgust behind a mask of apathy. This had become her default when it came to dealing with situations like this. It was better to face them with no emotion at all rather than allow her true feelings to shine through, especially when it came to one who wouldn't hesitate to use them against her in any way possible. As far as he was concerned these lives meant nothing to her, and that was how it would have to remain. Nothing else would suffice, and she wouldn't come close to having a fighting chance any other way. This was how it had to be.

"I don't care what you do to me. My life itself means nothing." It was a feeling she had been wrestling with since her return after the incident with The Primeval, and it felt like some manner of accomplishment to finally admit as such aloud, even if it was to a monster like this. "But the second you hurt my family or friends you're going to wish you never began to draw breath." It was they who had the potential to make themselves better, not her. That chance had been lost the moment she claimed the dark as her domain, and in her mind she was already lost. This corruption was one thing that couldn't be turned around, and so she had no issue with charging headfirst into life-threatening situations. Not when she had no care as to whether she actually made it out alive.

Now came the question of how to go about attacking him in the first place. The armor he wore made it difficult to cause any real lasting damage, but she had enough experience to have an idea of where the weakest points were. Theoretically the weight of his sword would prove a factor that slowed his speed, but she had made the mistake of assuming so once before with nearly deadly results. It was best to go into fights like this assuming that she wouldn't make it out, if only to give her actions a little less weight. It would make things easier, allowing her to utilize strategies that she would have foregone in favor of a safer method in any other circumstance. It allowed her to win.

With seemingly no thought she threw her saber, the blade skimming centimeters beside his head with her following after it, her jump aided by the Force. Meeting the weapon halfway she called it back into her hand, striking out at the back of his head before landing on her feet, seemingly unfazed by that one brief flurry of action. It was showtime alright.

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

Dredge didn't bother to move, he didn't see it as a necessity. Why waste movement on something as trivial as a lightsaber strike. As the saber glanced off the alchemized metal of the former dark lord of the Sith's armor. Dredge let out a small humorous chuckle that began to grow into a maddened laugh of crazed proportions as Keira came down to strike him. The blow skirted off the thick armor and did little to nothing to the man beneath it. The former overlord smiled beneath his helmet and turned to face Keira who had landed promptly after the blow. His red eyes narrowed on her and he knew that this was going to be a game of cat and mouse, he wouldn't be able to catch her in his armor. He would just drain himself and have to rely on the force, so it was time for more mind games.

"My child, make this easy. Put down your weapon, surrender to me, and I will let these children go. They need not suffer for you, all I want is you." Dredge said firmly to the woman.

"GRUK! LET HALF THE SURVIVING CAPTIVES GO!" Dredge yelled out to his subordinate.

There was a silence in the crowd and the graug holding a pistol to the head of a small child pulled it up and grinned at his lord. Letting out a roar at the child's face he quickly rounded up half of the remaining survivors and ferried them out the front doors for Keira to see, letting them go safe and sound.

"Simply surrender and I will do so with the rest." Dredge said as another another group of graug huddled the second group together.

"If not, I kill them, but I won't stop there. The casino district, it's a weekend Keira. Think of all the people who are there, think of the thousands of lives sitting there having fun. You remember Teth don't you?" Dredge said with a smile as he leaned down to look Keira in the eyes.

"I haven't fed them in two weeks, they're hungry." Dredge said with a little grin beneath his face plate.

"What will it be?" And with that he waited for her.

 

[Keira Priest]

Her jaw and fist clenched in unison, both manifestations at once of her defiance and willingness to continue the fight to the end. Amber eyes met his burning orange irises without hesitation, though there were thoughts processing behind her own that hadn't been present before. For once Keira was genuinely considering the lives of other beings, taking into consideration their suffering before her own. This was a newly compassionate side, one that hadn't often shown itself before now. It manifested as a sort of self-doubt, one unsure of her next move due to nothing else other than those individuals present here with her. If anything they deserved a second chance, something she was far beyond at this point. Life was still theirs to live.

After a moment her gaze dropped to the floor, brow knotted as she considered her options. A quiet sigh escaped her, though whether it was one dissent or ultimate surrender would be his to guess. Her right hand flexed slightly, muscles of her jaw ticcing, all of these slight nervous habits she had picked up over the years. Having been tortured once she was loathe to suffer the same again, but if it meant sparing those so young and vulnerable from that trauma then she would begrudgingly go through with things. It was the least she owed the greater galaxy after taking so much from its inhabitants previously, no matter what those she affiliated with would have to say about these near-selfless actions.

Still her blade remained ignited, eyes sliding shut at the mention of Teth. Yes, that was a planet and a day she remembered all too well, and willed to forget above all else. It marked her first encounter with the Yuuzhan Vong and all the horrors that accompanied them, along with her mental decline itself. That event had begun to usher the dark into her life, whether she realized it or not, and from that moment on it had only cumulated to this point. A needless amount of slaughter had been witnessed that day, the abrupt void rended in the Force something she would never completely drive from her memory. And now she was facing the possibility of the same again, this time with no end in sight.

As he released the children she watched through both the physical and ethereal realms with acutely tuned senses, relaxing only a fraction once she was certain they were safe elsewhere on the streets of Antecedent. Now truly was the time for her to make a choice, between her own life or those of innocents, her own survival or theirs. But her decision was clear even before she'd consciously made it, even if it was difficult for her to face this willingly. With the press of a button her lightsaber extinguished, hilt remaining in her grasp for just a few seconds longer before she let it fall, kicking it behind her and out of the arena. That by itself was finality, an indication of her surrender if there ever was one.

"Fine."

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

A sick snake oil smile stretched across Dredge's mouth as the woman before him dropped her saber and surrendered to him, oh the mistake she had just made. Dredge always loved that, the sentimental weakness that humans had to protect their own. It was perfect to bend them to his will, to break them if he had to. But Keira was not to be broken today, she was to be used as a message to Cryax, a message that he was not safe on his own world and he would do his bidding no matter what it may entail. So with all of this in mind Dredge reached his hand out and gently wrapped his iron covered hand across Keira's face, his thumb on her right cheek, and his other fingers on her left.

"Oh Keira, what weakness your kind exudes." The monster said as he brushed his hand against her cheek softly.

"But we'll fix that, I'll make you strong again." Dredge said with a little chuckle as placed his hand around the back of her neck.

As quickly as the sweet side of Dredge came out it quickly ended as a massive armored knee came up spiking Keira in her gut as he held onto her neck. After delivering the blow he pulled her back arching her spine backward so her field of vision could face the top of his chest and helmet.

"YOU LET YOUR EMOTIONS DICTATE YOUR CHOICES!" Dredge yelled as he brought down a massive fist against Keira's face striking her against her cheek dropping her to the ground afterwards.

"You are weak for letting their lives matter to you, you are not their savior, you are not their guardian angel, you are nothing, and you will die without them ever knowing your name." Dredge said as he held his head up and laughed before kicking the downed woman in the gut.

"I will teach you what it means to be strong Keira, what it means to be ruthless." He in a low and daunting whisper.

Grabbing the massive sword at his side he pointed it towards the stage and the group of survivors and graug standing there. His eyes focused and picked out a very pretty young lady no older than Keira, with a sick grin he ordered the Graug to bring her forth by a motion of his head.

"Stand weakling, stand and witness your first lesson." Dredge commanded of Keira.

 

[Keira Priest]

Blood welled past her lips, crimson smearing as Keira reached up to feel around her face. Nothing had been knocked out place, but she could tell even from her position curled in on herself that a rib or two had been cracked. Her breathing hitched, teeth grinding together in order to stifle a cry of pain. A strange sense of surreality had washed over her, as was common after being struck with such force. At once she was overcome with pain and yet numb to all feeling, a paradox that only served for a wave of dizziness to wash over her. It made any movement impossible, confining her to her position on the ground, forcing her to remain there until she entirely regained her senses.

His demands fell on deaf ears for a long few moments, but she knew full well what would happen if she refused to abide by him. It would only result in the further death of those that hadn't asked to be involved in the first place. In her life she had taken on a number of mantles, but murderer was one she refused to claim just yet. For now she would let him play the part of puppetmaster, if just to keep things simple. Not that she was capable of much else, given her current state. With a painstaking slowness she pushed herself to her feet, no movement wasted regardless of the blows suffered. Despite her injuries she still had a sort of predatory grace about her, one that was fracturing piece by piece.

"You said you'd let them go." Her voice was hoarse, nearly breathless, a certain amount of concentration necessary to articulate those words properly. "And I already know that words and promises mean nothing to you. But if you want me to cooperate then you'll learn to make good on them." Where her words were defiant her actions were for the most part submissive, none exuding any particular resistance. A happy medium needed to be kept in order for this interaction to proceed in equilibrium. The fight that resided within her core would never ben completely extinguished, and even in her current circumstances she resolved to not give him the satisfaction of seeing her succumb entirely to the pain.

However, even with her best efforts she was unable to stop herself from swaying slightly where she stood, and she had to force herself to maintain eye contact and a mostly apathetic expression. "I'm not going to become like you." Briefly her gaze cut to the other woman that had been ushered forward before returning to the Vong. "I won't kill needlessly and take life just for the thrill." There was no doubt that she was dangerously close to that line, but she would do all in her power not to cross it until there were no other options available. "Like I said, Dredge," The barest edge of a smile found her lips, "I don't care about my own life. Do what you will with me. Just let them go."

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

There was a uproar of laughter within the stadium, Graug, Yuuzhan Vong, Kalonians, everyone letting out laughs from high pitched screeches to low bubbling rumbles. But with all of the laughter there was one that stood out the most, probably because it was standing right next to the wounded warrior. Dredge held his chest as thunderous roars of laughter exited his mouth and rose into the air, this went on for a few moments before it wound down to nothing but a few humorous scoffs and light giggles.

"Oh Keira, I needed that, really I think we all did." Dredge said as he reached under his helmet to wipe a tear away.

"But we both know you're going to cooperate no matter what I do. Wouldn't want Teth two point O on Antecedent now would we?" Not waiting for her to respond Dredge slugged her again in the ribs with a quick jab then chuckled.

As Keira would more than likely eventually recover she would come up to the sight of a woman no older than her placed on her knees with a Graug pointing a slug thrower at her head. Dredge smiled wickedly beneath his helmet and gave the Graug a nod. But rather than put a bullet in the woman's head the monster pulled back the slide of his pistol chambering a single round and shortly after popped the clip out of the pistol.

"Normally this is the part of the story where I make you choose to save the lives of the innocent over there, or the life of this woman here." Dredge said as he moved over to the brush a hand across the poor soul's face.

"But that sounds boring today, so I'm going to give you some incentive to pull the trigger." Dredge looked to his men on the stage and with a flick of the wrist there were no gunshots that rang out. Only instead the snapping of jaws and screaming of a single person.

"Did you know a Graug can go through a single person in under a three minutes? Really it's quite beautiful. But these Graug are going to get really full really fast one by one until you kill her. Until you come have a taste of my world." Dredge said as howling roar of hunger burst through the arena.

 

[Keira Priest]

Once again Keira was thrown to the side by strength behind his swings, this time having been struck once again in the ribs. A bone had most certainly been broken, a fact determined by the crack that echoed in her own head and the sharp, stabbing pain that refused to cease. Such an injury made it difficult for her to think coherently, let alone move, and the mere thought of standing again overwhelmed her with pain. But it was a necessity, something that needed to be done so others could continue to live their lives. Perhaps not normally, given the trauma experienced here, but without having to suffer and live with the consequences that would follow her forever.

Her eyes screwed shut as she stood, movements fluid despite her want to do nothing more than collapse and remain where she lay. All breath was released from her lungs as she centered herself, the next exhale slow and measured, her breathing carefully rhythmic. It had to be in order for her to remain standing, let alone function properly, as he required her to. No matter how much she willed the opposite, how loathe she was to admit it, she would do as he ordered. In some instances a smaller evil was needed in order to prevent that of a larger sort from transpiring. This time that evil was the death of one innocent so others had so much as a chance.

The slugthrower was called into her hand with nothing more than an idle thought and the aid of the Force. Its weight was foreign, the sight of such a weapon even more so. A blade was a far more preferable weapon, delivering a cleaner kill and a higher precision than any sort of firearm would ever be capable of. Slowly she turned it over in her hands, weighing her options just as much as she was the pistol itself. Her eyes slid shut as she attempted a makeshift meditation, honing every one of her thoughts and emotions on what would inevitably have to occur. There would be no preparing herself for this, as she would never be ready. But she would try.

A tense silence hung in the air, the only sound the screams of those dying. With a minute shift the safety clicked off, and she slowly raised the gun, leveling it at the woman across from her. Taking only a sparse few seconds to check her aim she pulled the trigger, the gunshot cracking throughout the arena, a single corpse crumpling to the side. The pistol was dropped from her grasp and kicked away just as her saber had been, it now equally useless to her. All she could do was wait for what he would dictate as her next task, regardless of how terrible it would likely be. "Now let them go." Her eyes were no longer locked with his, instead seeming to look beyond him.

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

Beneath his helmet of shadows and glowing red eyes a smile stretched his face spanning from ear to ear, Dredge had won. He took something that had so much potential for good, for love and kindness, and he brought it down to his level. He twisted Keira into choosing to take the life of an innocent, in some eyes that could be justifiable murder. But Dredge knew deep down that her death by Keira's hands would twist the woman's stomach. Would eat at her every night before she slept, that she would see her face in her dreams until she was either numb or like him and took pleasure in killing those weaker than himself.

"Very good Keira, most people would of tried to shoot me or not decide at all. But you, you're the first to truly decide to kill an innocent woman." Dredge said as he lowered himself down to stare Keira eye to eye.

"Congrats killer." And with that Dredge turned his back and began to pace out of the ring.

"Cut the prisoners tongues from their mouths then blind them before releasing them to the streets. Afterwards beat Keira. If she fights back release the ghouls." Dredge said as he stepped out of the ring.

A group of Yuuzhan Vong and Graug began to rise up from the stands and encircle the ring, over a dozen men with fangs and claws glistening in the light of the stadium. A few screams were heard as the Graug in the rear began to follow the orders of Dredge and releasing their prisoners back info the world. As for Keira things looked dark as the group of men crawled into the ring and quickly rushed her in a blur of kicks, punches, and scratches meant to beat her to the edge of death. Whenever the beating would end was when the forces of evil would mobilize back into the sewers from whence they came to strike again sometime soon.

 

[Keira Priest]

The look in her eyes now was hollow, some of that fire seeming to have retreated, never to return again. The final words spoken to her before his departure remained firmly rooted within her subconscious, only to no doubt surface sporadically in the months and years to pass, a reminder of the day when she truly turned her back on the light. There was no way to reconcile this, no way to rationalize what had just transpired with her own morality, however skewed it was already becoming. In some sense this was the final nail in the coffin, the only action necessary to finally drive her completely from what shreds of goodness and purity she had clung to previously. This was a symbol of many things, one of them being her inevitable fall from what grace had been left in her life. All it had taken was one final push from the monster that had now turned his back on her, at least momentarily.

There was no fight left in her, that much was plain to see. Even when she was rushed by the Graug and Vong she remained still, not offering up any sort of resistance. Each hit was taken with little complaint, only a restrained cry of pain here and there the only indication that she still lived. For all intents and purposes she was a ragdoll, nothing more than a plaything for them to punch and kick as they pleased. Where normally she would have fought tooth and claw only silence remained, every ounce of her will and want to strike back in any manner nearly depleted. Exhaustion of the mental and physical sort both was beginning to take its toll, but she was jolted from whatever recompense unconsciousness would have to offer by the next jab to her form that once more sent rivulets of fire cascading through her body, relentless and seemingly never-ending.

None were to say just how long that terribly one-sided conflict lasted, only that in her mind it seemed to carry on for hours. And perhaps it had. Trauma had a funny enough way of distorting one's perceptions of reality until fact was hardly discernible from what fictions the mind fancied conjuring up. Afterwards all she did was lie there, beaten and bloodstained, on the edge of a blissful, pain-induced sleep that would remain entirely dreamless and allow her to forget, at least for a little while, what had happened here. But even that wasn't allowed her. Every second it seemed as if a new shot of pain coursed through her entire body, bringing her back from the edge and forcing her to face what painful truth lay all around her. Had the overlord been more merciful this would have been the place of her death, but he saw fit to release her in time, so that she might relive this horror every day for the rest of her life.

And in that moment she truly knew what it meant to hate another. A single spark burned within her core, one newly kindled and forever growing in its conflagration. More than anything, she hated him for this. That had likely been his intent from the start, to have her despise him and sink to as low a level as he so that she might perhaps see the galaxy for what it truly was. Now that that new looking glass had been granted her, there would be no reverting back to her old state of mind. There was no quick fix, no way to undo all that had been done. All she could do was learn to live with the consequences, learn to align what she had done with this newly found and forged mentality. It was because of him this was so. Because of him her true descent into the shadows had begun, and never again would she entirely surface from its depths.

Hours passed, in which she slipped in and out of consciousness, simply waiting. For what she wasn't sure, but she knew death was a much welcome alternative.

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prDoGmY5kj8"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prDoGmY5kj8

There was nothing but pitch black darkness within the arena a blanket of darkness as thick as the void of space. The occasional swing and fibers of a rope tightening around a hung body sounded out here and there, a reminder of Keira of her failures as person. But soon all of that changed, light and sound returned to the arena in the form of a small flame igniting and flickering. The first thing Keira would see would be the dead wide eyes of the woman she had shot staring into her soul, motionless and lifeless they peered into her soul. The first thing she would hear would be a familiar voice coming from behind her.

"When I was born my mother and father were priests, strict to the ways of old. They believed that I was to follow them in their deluded views that had failed our species. Technology is the enemy." Dredge said as he leaned against the ring post his legs stretched out towards Keira's back.

In his left hand he held Keira's lightsaber and clutched it so the blade faced away from him if it was activated. He chuckled once in a deep low rumble and kept on.

"They told me to trust in the gods Dib'Zun. Trust that we are on the right path." Dredge said softly.

"But let me tell you something, our ways have had us defeated. Our ways have placed us at the boot of the One Sith, pathetic isn't it? So when I was a child I noticed how we lived in squalor, we lived on a world surrounded by ruined technology. But as I grew up and I murdered my parents to take their place as high prophet I was in charge of my people, and I learned something that day." Dredge said as he twirled the hilt of the blade in his fingers before catching it firmly.

"There are no gods. There is only flesh and blood, and that you can control. You can manipulate, you can use and twist to your advantage." The flame in Dredge's hand grew and showed his blackened armor and red eyes beneath a shadowed exterior.

"You are just a tool in another person's destruction Keira, something that I can twist to my control. Another monster." there was a slight pause.

"Like me."

 

[Keira Priest]

Amber eyes slid shut at those final two words spoken, though Keira was still very much alert to every sound and movement coming from behind her. A sigh was released, one that sent a stinging pain shooting through her ribs, though every breath inflicted much of the same. "Another monster." Her teeth ground together, muscles of her jaw taughtening. "Like me." That was the sentence which struck the final, metaphorical blow, one that seemed to hollow out her core. Perhaps there was a far more sinister darkness lurking deep inside her, one that was carefully biding its time until it emerged and reared its ugly head for all to see. But right now she was still at the very least attempting to suppress it, not completely surrendering herself to its will.

It was a fight to remain conscious and keep her eyes open, let alone shift position, but her intent was to do just that. Anything to prove that she wasn't entirely beaten down or broken no matter what he chose to impose upon her. Her arms shook as she moved them beneath herself, pushing herself to her knees and nearly collapsing even then. A cough rattled through her form, a grimace flashing across her face. But she continued on despite this, shuffling backwards to lean up against the ropes, her entire body sagging into them. For a time her head hung low, brunette locks falling to cover her face, but with a shake of the head she threw them from her eyes, glancing about the arena before her gaze settled on Dredge himself.

Her entire form was beaten and bruised, bones no doubt broken, blood staining her skin and clothing. In every essence she was the picture of death, and in more manners than one she felt like it as well. A number of ribs had been cracked, her lip split, various cuts and scrapes scattered about her entire body. When she reached up a hand to feel around her face her fingertips came away crimson, and she wiped it away on the hem of her shirt. There was most definitely internal damage as well, but she pushed those thoughts away to the back of her mind. First she had to get out of this building alive, let alone find a way back to the Dragon Palace before she quite literally collapsed from exhaustion or the pain itself. This was all a race against time and her own failings.

"No." Slowly her gaze found his form, voice hoarse. Even speaking was a chore, and she had to force every individual word past her lips. "I might be a monster, but I'm not yours to do anything with. I belong to no one but myself." And that would always be the case, regardless of any outside affiliations. At the end of the day only she governed her own actions, and no one could say otherwise. "And I don't give a kark about where you came from or who your people are. You're just as meaningless to me as I am to you." Her own life was on the verge of becoming just as worthless, as she had admitted aloud earlier. She held little care in her heart for her own safety. It was the others that mattered. They, at least, stood a chance of finding a better life. For her, all was lost.

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]

 

[The Ghost Of Dredge]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

Dredge sat back and chuckled to himself at the woman's defiance to him, claiming that she belonged to herself and no one else. It was foolish to believe really, even Dredge knew he was but a cog in the machine. They all belonged to something, no one was every truly free. So Dredge would inform her of how deluded she really was with what she thought to be true.

"We all belong to something child, sometimes we just don't know it." Dredge said as he twirled Keira's saber through his fingers.

"Right now you belong to time, it owns you more than it does me at the moment." Letting out a slight humorous scoff Dredge tapped Keira's side with his foot pressing down directly on an open gash.

"You've got what? An hour, maybe two before you bleed to death, and I'm afraid emergency services will be dealing with a tragic fire that was set loose earlier this evening." He said with a sick smile beneath his helmet.

"But time isn't all that owns you child. Do you know what owns you the most child?" Dredge let his words linger.

"Fear."

"Fear that you're going to die here on an arena floor in a wrestling ring. Fear that you didn't tell your brother Diego that you loved him this morning. And fear that I will flay him alive after you've died a worthless criminal who was used to get at your boss." Dredge reached to his side and placed down two things.

"So I'm going to prove to you right now that you are owned by fear." Setting down two things in front of her.

The first was her lightsaber in perfect and pristine condition, and the second was a comm link so she could call someone to come save her life.

"So. If you are your own person, try to kill me. If you have no fear and are truly your own, kill me. However I guarantee once you try I will leave you here to bleed to death slowly. And on the other hand there is life, the key to your salvation that will grant you a stall to that inevitably that is death. He said calmly and sternly.

"Now let's find out if you are truly your own person."

 

[Keira Priest]

What meaning was held within his words was lost with the searing fire that tore through her side, a hoarse cry the only sound to escape her. His voice was something Keira wanted to push out of her head and forget entirely, voiding him forever in her mind. But she knew that wasn't to be so. His was a form that would continue to haunt her dreams for months on end, adding endless hours to what were already insomniac nights. Such was the consequences to pay for rooting herself so firmly within the criminal underworld, but it was far too late to turn back now. The damage had been more than done, and now she had to learn to live with it, just as she had accepted every other unalterable fact of life.

The only thing that grated on her more than the physical pain were the words he spoke, and the fact that he was inarguably right about every word spoken in reference to her. All of them were terms she had been wrestling with for a year or more, trying to find her place not just in the galaxy but in her own mind as well. That had always been the biggest struggle, made no easier by her constant self-doubt and the manipulations of others which took place in a venue much like this, until she was nothing more than a bent and broken shadow of who she had once been. And that was what each of them wanted, in the end, was to see her beaten down. Against her own will, she always seemed to give in.

And here he was presenting her with a choice to do the opposite, all but handing her the option that would allow her for once to defy the wishes of one who claimed to exercise complete control over her motivations. What she willed was to accomplish as such for once in her life, but she knew that wouldn't come to pass. Not so long as the lives of her family and friends continually hung in the balance. As long as that was the case she would continue to abide by his wishes, however unspoken and implied they were. However ready and willing she was to throw her own life away, those of the individuals close to her held a value that was near indescribable. And she wouldn't simply throw that down the drain.

The very look in her eyes was resigned as she regarded the two items set before her, each looming with its own imminent choice. Her decision was already clear even before he had finished completely explaining his intent. There was no response to offer him, no words that would change the implications of her decision in the least. No doubt he would have his own commentary to add to her lack thereof, but she had her moments where she was wise enough to know when she had been beaten. This, unfortunately, happened to be one of them. With a slowness brought on by the pain every little movement elicited she palmed the commlink, adjusting the frequency before speaking, "This is Keira. Come to the convention center."

[member="The Ghost Of Dredge"]