Private I told you so.

[Darth Nwul]

The planetary catalogue described this world as 'remote' and 'barren', painfully understating just how devoid of damn near anything it really was. Wake sat on a small rock in the middle of a sizeable campsite, his legs crossed padawan-style (as it was the only way he knew how to sit these days) and his hands held tightly together in front of him with stun-cuffs. He could probably crack them open with the force, but then there'd be the mess of dealing with the people who had put him in the cuffs in the first place. He tilted his shaggy black-haired head to the right and watched as a pair of pirates walked by.

"So if I said 'Do you know who I am?' would it make any difference?" He asked dully, wobbling his cuffed hands around. "Seriously? Stun binders? C'mon, there's like eighty of you! I'm lazy, not stupid," He whined, kicking his legs out and stretching with a sigh. The two pirates walked away without a word. They knew he wasn't anybody important, but he had value as a possible slave to sell off. He wasn't about to show them he could have practical use to them with his powers, so he sat there, waiting. Somebody would buy him eventually, he'd fleece them for everything they had, and move on. That was the reason he showed up here anyway, to get caught and sold.

No one told him that Lok was such a garbage place to hang out, though.

"You're noisy," The leader of the pirates, a Devaronian named Belk, grunted as he approached from the side.

"Yeah well, the accomodations are terrible I'm going to write one hell of a review, after I shatter your knees and melt your brain," Wake said casually, kicking his legs back and forth.

The devaronian stared at him for several seconds before bursting into uproarious laughter. "You got a mouth on you! I like you! Shame you gotta get sold, we need the money, say more funny things!"

Wake joined in with his laughter, the two laughing together as a few amused looking pirates came over to see what was going on. Wake grinned brightly and nodded to the leader, "I'm going to rip all of his teeth out one by one and use them to murder every last one of you," Wake laughed, slapping his knee.

The devaronian guffawed, "Hahaha! See! He's funny! Tell some stories!"

Wake chortled, "Alright, so this one time..." Wake kept the pirates entertained for hours while they negotiated with several local bands for the slave trade, their hope was that since he was so entertaining, someone would pay a premium for him. Wake kept the stories up, bullshitting his way through a few as he memorized every single face present.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The familiar shift and slight jolt of a ship exiting hyperspace stirred Alisteri from his musings as the Altorius emerged back into realspace once more, causing the masked man to roll his shoulders as he stood from being knelt in prayer. The speaker in his quarters clicked to life as he retrieved his lightsaber and sword, clipping them onto his belt. :"We have arrived in the Karthakk System High Priest, maneuvering towards Lok now.": As he had expected, they had finally arrived.

It had taken quite awhile of hunting, bribing, and interrogating but eventually Lok had been revealed to Alisteri as a den of pirates and slavers. A fair bit of the Outer Rim's pirate outposts and slave auction stations had already been decimated and burned down by himself and his forces, but that was simply stations.

Planets were far harder to scrub clean of such a menace without occupation, so one simply had to keep coming back to cull the largest of the offending groups in order to keep the overall population in line. Pirates and their various assorted criminal comrades would always come back of course, especially if their favored dens and bases weren't occupied in order to keep them out, but so long as one kept up with the constant skirmishing then they wouldn't be all that big of an issue.

Lok was the latest on the list of worlds that required such culling, today would simply be the first of many.

The frigate soon hovered in orbit of the arid planet and quickly came to rest far above one of the pirate camps that had been revealed to them by a particularly chatty captive from their last raid. It was a fairly large gang, around eighty members if their captive was to be believed, and as such it would require a good few squads to be deployed against them.

Shuttles began emerging from the frigate and barreling down into the atmosphere towards the pirate camp, not bothering to hide their incoming landings as the camp itself didn't appear to be all that defensible from above. The shuttles would become all the more apparent as they neared the camp and fired some strafing shots to cover their landings along the edges of the camp itself.

The ramps of the shuttles were quick to be lowered, their hatches and doors opened, to unleash their occupants. One of the first of the invaders to step onto the dusty surface of the planet was Alisteri himself, the red blade of his lightsaber ignited in one hand as he wielded his sword in the other. Behind him squads of his Legionnaires began to emerge and take up positions to start firing at the defenders as their leader batted away a blaster bolt from one of the pirates.

"You know what must be done my faithful, move into the camp and slay all who oppose us. Death to the slavers!"

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake was half-way through a raunchy tale about a particularly brave Zabrak and a wookie female when he spotted the sudden shift in the sky. The night's sky was bright and clear, and more importantly the planet had such a small amount of life besides the morons gathered around him. He felt it, more than he saw it, a presence that bore down on the planet in a way he hadn't felt in ... well ever. But he knew it by how it had been described to him. A cold thrill went through his body as a fire burned against it, a shadow had cast itself over Lok. The Sith were here. He tasted it again, for the first time in a long while. The Dark Side was present, so full of life and vitality. Not the sterile purity of the light. Conflict, nature, vibrancy, the endless march of time and progress. It was like a summation of what it was to live all in a single presence that burned like an eternal flame.

Wake drank it in, even as the vessel far above came to a stop out of it's hyperspace jump. An instant passed and alarms began to go off. The Devaronian leaped to his feet and began to bark orders, demanding to know what was happening. He shot an accusing look at Wake who held up his bound hands and patted his empty pockets innocently. He didn't outright say it was a coincidence, but it was one. Still, his earlier statements had made them wary. Who exactly was he that suddenly support had come? And who was the support?

"Cap'n it's a Sith ship!" One of the men wheezed nervously, holding up a hand-scanner.

"Sith?! You didn't say you were no sith!" The Devaronian swore at Wake who shrugged, he scowled at Wake and gestured around him, "Well? Defense positions, get out of my sight you lot!" The captain roared, leaving them alone.

"You didn't ask, and I never said I was," Wake said with a tight smile, tasting the fear in the air. The Jedi had taught him that the fear and terror of others was something to quell, not to use. The Jedi had turned him away when he'd been unable to control his innate powers, they loathed him and chased him across the galaxy. For a cult of so-called pious men, they were pretty vengeful. Liars. Wake's expression soured and he took another breath, feeding off the fear building around him as the assault ships came in closer. He took that fear and drew it in, it was his fear, he had earned it by dealing with them for as long as he had. He greedily consumed it and turned it into something else.

Joy. An unrepentant exultation for living. The moment breath comes into the lungs, the moment he felt the pleasures of the flesh for the first time, the instant he saw a mountain glittering on a horizon. The beauty of living and of the chaos that was the galaxy. Blasterfire erupted, and he was thrilled. Yes! Let the party begin! He'd find his own way out even if he had to sneak past the sith themselves. For now, he had a promise to keep. He concentrated on the space between his wrists, where the binders were holding him fast. He formed a dome of the force behind it, protecting him from what was about to come, and with an exertion of will cracked the binders and sent the shards exploding towards the captain's legs.

The devaronian screamed in pain, Wake didn't waste a second. He leaped from where he stood and cracked him on the sides of the head with both binders, grinning wildly, his fingers twitched and he grabbed hold of the man's head. The blasterfire increased in volume as the man, on his bloody knees, screamed in agony while every neuron was consumed by Wake's greedy power. He let out a gurgling sob as his brain failed him, he'd be in a vegitative state soon. Wake pulled his fingers away from the grizly finger-print burn marks left behind by the power and tilted his head. "I told you so," Wake hissed and raised his hand up high, tugging with the force.

The man was barely sensate, his nervous system was collapsing, but in that last instant he knew what was about to happen. His eyes went wide and the last thing the captain saw before his universe went dark was an explosin of blood.

Wake stepped out of the room he and the captain had been left in with blood coating his hands and a small swarm of off-white and yellow bits of bone floating over his palm in angry circles, like hornets. He tilted his head and grinned at the backs of the defenders fighting for their lives against the sith ahead of them. He breathed in the moment, and then let the first tooth fly like a bullet towards the back of a man's skull.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The pirates were quick to make their moves to intercept the invaders but the Legionnaires were hardly dissuaded by their efforts to rush to the defense. They had little to worry about after all, given that they advanced behind a wrathful Sith Knight. Alisteri spearheaded the charge with his blades bared and his movement quick, leaping into the closest defensive position and cutting down two pirates that had desperately throne themselves behind it to avoid the blaster fire of their attackers. He deflected and blocked the subsequent bolts that the pirates fired at him, their focus allowing a Legionnaire to move in close enough to lob a grenade at one of their other makeshift barricades and blow apart the squad that had been using it for cover.

As usual the Legionnaires were brutal in their advance and lethal in their attack, the most defensible areas of the camp quickly either flanked and captured by the squads charging forward or simply destroying them with grenades and moving forward regardless. With the death of their leader and the rapid advance of the attackers the pirate defenders became more and more chaotic and desperate as they fought to survive. Some even tried to flee and were quickly cut down by the Legionnaires the moment that they abandoned their cover.

Alisteri found himself in the thick of the action ad usual but he paused his rampage for a moment, something brushing against the edges of his senses that was very out of place amidst the pirate rabble. The presence of someone gifted the Force. Perhaps one of the pirates? Or a prisoner? Regardless the masked man wasn't going to wait around for them to get shot by a stray blaster bolt. :"Keep moving forward, I'm sensing something strange. I'm moving to investigate but slaying these pirates is still our top priority.":

No sense in giving the pirates a break just because he found something worth investigating after all.

As the Legionnaires pushed the pirates further back into the camp, the Knight veered off from the direct path of destruction that he had been making and instead began carving his way towards the origin of that oh so familiar sense that stood out among the rest of the frightened and enraged pirates. Of course this did mean that he had to do a bit more carving into the defenders lines but that was of little issue with two blades and a fair bit of lightning. Scorching arcs leapt from his fingertips at the pirates as he marched forward and past them, cutting down whoever managed to survive or avoid the barrage of bolts as he kept moving.

Getting bogged down in the rabble would do him no good, even if it may not have been all that dangerous. All in all it had been a rather textbook operation thus far even with a messy and hot landing right at the start. He had a feeling that as he drew closer and closer to the source of the presence however, that this mission was about to get a lot more interesting. Even if the pirates in his way barely put up any more of a fight than their fallen comrades already had.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

The blasterfire rose and fell in staccatto rhythm, moments of intensity that were cut off by abrupt sounds of violence. Those moments were punctuated with explosions of terror, regret, and pain. Wake marched past another group of dead men, the teeth he had been using as projectiles were now all spent. Oh well. He stood amidst the carnage of this latest space, his eyes downcast for a moment as he collected his power for the next push. He needed to keep moving, this was not how he wanted to meet the Sith. A willing prisoner of Pirates planning on fleecing the first person who bought him? Embarassing to say the least. He clicked his tongue just as a sudden movement caught his attention, fingers wrapping around his leg. He glanced down into the eyes of a duros who was struggling for breath.

"This... your plan? From... the inside?" The Duros gasped.

Wake's eyebrow raised, "You flatter me, maybe someday I'll be able to set things up like this," he said whistfully and glanced around for a weapon. All of his tools had been taken when he'd been caught. The man struggled to hold onto his ankle, grunting and wheezing. Wake ignored him and smiled when he spotted a long metal sword leaning on a wall. It had a odd make to it, though he wasn't the type to recognize a sith sword when he saw one, it still looked useful. He held out a hand and urged it into his palm, it landed with a low thump, his fingers wrapping delicately around the hilt. He glanced down at the desperate Duros and sighed, "You know, if you had pretended to be dead you could have lived longer," Wake said and shook his head, bringing the weapon down on the man.

Just as the blade bit into flesh, a shudder ripped through the air. A presence widening its attention. He'd been feeling a few strong presences among those who'd arrived but this one was vastly different, and it was close. Too close. Wake's eyes went wide and he spun, kicking his foot out of the dead man's grip just in time to face the door behind him.

Shit.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

By the time that Alisteri came across one of the few buildings within the camp much of it was already under the heel of the Legionnaires. The remaining defenders were those that had been both smart and capable enough to form themselves into proper defensive positions, mostly making use of the few dedicated barricades and defenses as well as the more defensible buildings to try and hold off the invaders for as long as possible.

While sieging down these last pirates would take careful maneuvering and time, the Legionnaires were far better trained and equipped than a bunch of pirates. Encircling positions and forcing the occupants into kill zones, risky and brutally effective charges that caught them off guard and forced them into close quarters combat, and even just the age old tactic of throwing grenades at them until they and their defenses were blown to smithereens, all were used to keep the pirate numbers dwindling and dwindling ever more.

The Sith Knight regarded the building that the presence resided in as he cut down a pirate standing between him and the entrance. He still couldn't get a proper read on who the presence was or what situation they were in but they were still alive and active, that was more than enough for him to continue the chase.

Alisteri raised one of his hands and slowly curled his fingers inward, the door groaning in response as it started to crumple and pull away from the mechanism holding it in place. The door wrenched and ripped away from its holding until the only thing keeping it standing was the Force being enacted upon it, the offending object subsequently torn from the doorway fully as the masked man pulled his arm back and set the door flying off behind himself.

There he stood in the doorway, his red blade in one hand and his sword in the other, his masked gaze landing on the only figure standing beyond the threshold. "Ah, there you are."

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake pointed the sith sword in the direction of the door just as the presence on the other side exploded in potency. What the hell? The chill in the air had turned into something else, like a cold electricity. It burned across his skin, making him shudder as he took a few steps back. A moment later, the door shuddered, something grasping at it like a titanic hand. It creaked and groaned as Wake watched in mute resignation. This wasn't simple Sith soldier he was dealing with. This was a knight, or worse.

The door creaked again, trembling until at last it tore itself from the wall and flew to the side. Wake stared into the cloud of dust beyond it and lowered his weapon. No point. He was as much a match for whomever this was as a bilge rat was to a tukata. The less threatening he made himself, the better. Though he had to wonder if a force-drunk sith master in the middle of a slaughter operation would think that way. His lip twitched ruefully.

A man in black robes stood across from him in the doorway, a mask over his face. In one hand was a sword not unlike the one in his own hand. In the other hand was a red bladed lightsaber. Wake restrained his force presence as best as his abilities allowed, which wasn't unimpressive but not great either. The force wound on his spirit wasn't something he was aware of, though, and the leaking chill and miasmatic presence it gave to the air around him was something he couldn't control.

"Ah, there you are."

Wake put on his best lackadaisical expression; "Looking for me? I'm honored," Wake said with a shrug, "Here I am. So, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way," Wake said with a step back. He wanted to meet them, but not like this. On his terms. It had to be on his terms.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri actually chuckled at the man's remark, taking a step inside the building as the other stepped back. He idly glanced at the body lying on the ground and was slightly relieved to see it. It meant that he wasn't having to deal with a Force Sensitive pirate at the very least. "On your way hm? Through the skirmish currently happening outside?"

There was still plenty of fighting to be done after all, even with the pirates pushed and corralled into limited areas. "You know, the blades of the Sith may indeed be deadly but they aren't the best when it comes to deflecting blaster fire." He nodded to the sword in the man's grasp before raising up his lightsaber slightly. "But the weapon of a modern Sith is far more suitable to such a task. Unfortunately you seem to lack one."

Oddly enough he lowered his blades even as he stepped further inside, as if he was unconcerned about being prepared if combat were to break out. "However, I would be inclined to order my soldiers not to gun you down like the rest of this pirate filth, if you and I can share a little chat."

Of course the masked man wouldn't have to ask his Legionnaires to fire upon the other man, he could handle such duties himself, but a bit of bluffing never hurt. Aggressive negotiations were still negotiations after all. "I'm very curious who you are and why you're here. It's not every day that I find someone blessed with the Force and wielding a Sith blade amidst a bunch of pirates you know." Thankfully Sith artifacts in the hands of criminals was becoming far less common than it had been in the past. He idly wondered if he was partially responsible for such a decline.

"Not to mention you're...rather unique from what I'm used to sensing from Force Sensitives. Are you a Sith Acolyte? You're certainly no Jedi or else you'd have naively tried to slay me already." Usually the more latent or untrained Force Sensitives were simply harder to detect, having yet to properly tap into their blessings in any meaningful manner. But this one was different, somewhat trained or experienced in some manner.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake returned the chuckle and quip about the skirmish outside with an expression of 'ha ha, very funny'. Sneering back just as much as the Sith was. He couldn't show a moment of concern, an instant of hesitation, but he wasn't afraid of feeling things. It was all about how he packaged it. Did he keep a straight face while afraid? Or did he cower like a child? Wake licked his lips when the man mentioned Wake's lack of a lightsaber, he felt naked without the training saber that Master Abaas had given him, that he had lost. His thumb worked over the sith war sword and he swallowed.

"Wasn't mine, loot from the pirates," Wake said casually, gesturing with the weapon as he kept it pointed down at the ground. "Figured I could make better use of it," he tried to sound like he'd known all along it was a Sith warblade. Curious that they had it. Where had it come from?

His eyes shot up at the masked man when he suggested that his soldiers wouldn't gun him down in exchange for a chat. That implied that the Masked Man was in charge here and wanted information from him for some reason. Which extended his lifespan considerably. Wake searched the force for a moment for a hint of a lie, but his training was insufficient, he knew how to pierce the veil of falsehoods. Intellectually speaking it was as simple as breathing. He had the knowledge and experience of a jedi master in his head. But the actual training and preparations in his body and spirit were something else entirely.

Wake's lip twitched at the casual questioning, "I was taking advantage of them. They're slavers as you're probably aware, and like to sell to wealthy patrons. I was hunting a pay day," Wake said with a shrug, there was no point in lying to someone that felt this strong in the force, not at his level by comparison. "Gotta survive somehow, right?"

The next line of questioning made Wake's mouth fall shut, he tensed his jaw a little and didn't say anything for a moment, "...once upon a time, perhaps," Wake said carefully.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The remark about the blade being in the possession of the pirates caught his attention, his head idly cocking to the side for a moment. "Is that so? Interesting." He supposed that there still was plenty of Sith relics and items floating around the criminal underworld after all. Despite his best efforts. Alisteri idly made a note to check for logs of some kind to see if they had kept track of where they found the blade, but that could be done later. Now he had a far more interesting task at hand.

"Hunting the hunters then?" That was certainly something that he could get behind. "I've done plenty of that in my time, slavers and their patrons always think themselves so untouchable. Until my blades find their throats of course." Like now for instance. If they did indeed happen to have deep pockets that could be liberated alongside their slaves then that was simply more reason to go after them in his mind.

He noticed the tense response and his eyes narrowed behind his visor, as if they could discern the meaning in his words by observation alone. "Once upon a time hm?" Suspicious and intriguing, especially with how it was said. "Well you clearly must have some training. Between how you wield that weapon and your presence in the Force you're far from some homemade Force User." What exactly that training was and where it had came from hardly mattered but his curiosity was still piqued.

"So allow me to offer you a deal then. One that I think you'll find quite compelling." It was more of an ultimatum but calling it a deal tended to garner better results in his experience. The mask man idly began to pace as he spoke, occasionally drifting closer to the other man by one step at a time as he drew a path with his steps. He never strayed too far from the door though, not enough to allow for a clear shot at running to it at least.

"Now I'm not one for prisoners, too messy and not enough advantage to them for all the trouble that they make, so I'm not taking you out of here by force. But if you wish to come with me willingly and join the Sith Order, to further your training and perhaps get yourself a proper weapon worthy of your blessings with the Force, then I'd be more than happy to bring you to my compatriots." Finally he stopped and held his lightsaber up across his chest, a simple movement but one that would allow him to lash out quickly if need be,

Just in case. "But your refusal means you're just as much my enemy as these pirates are. And I believe you're smart enough to know what happens to the enemies of a Sith. So what will it be?"

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake shrugged noncommittally at the comment about hunting the hunters. That wasn't entirely correct. Wake wanted to get sold so he could end up in a rich person's mansion and steal everything they had. He had no interest in fighting pirates, it didn't provide him with any sort of benefit-so why bother? This guy cut a bloodthirsty image, but something about him was pretty cool headed despite the situation. He figured the Sith would have jumped at him without hesitation.

The next comment about not being homemade drew a small snort out of Wake. He wasn't going to offer up that he'd killed his Jedi Master willingly just because it was a Sith standing in front of him. Valuable information was only valuable as long as only a few people knew it.

His expression faltered as the mention of an offer was brought up, an 'offer' that was clearly an ultimatum. Wake did not like Ultimatums. It took the freedom out of a particular situation, how was he supposed to make a choice when there was only one choice to make? That said, he supposed that dealing in ultimatums was the domain of the strong. He was weak still, he didn't really have the right to protest, now did he?

That said...

This was, to an effect, what he wanted anyway. He had been seeking the Sith for some time, looking for a teacher in the Dark Side to understand his gifts. He hadn't expected today to be the day, he wanted to join them on his own terms. It seemed that fate-no not fate-the Dark Side, had other plans for him. He felt the chill of the force wound in his abdomen ice across his body, cooling his tension and easing his mind. He took a deep breath of the pure power that washed through his veins and relaxed, no, this was a good thing. He could use this opportunity.

He smirked, "Sure, I'm in. The more sources of education the better. So far only the Galaxy herself has been my teacher since I left my past behind me," Wake said and glanced past the man before tilting his head to the right and further into the compound.

"They have a tunnel that leads to the spot where they hide their ship. It opens out into a canyon about a kilometer away, can't miss it. I know the security codes for the hangar, ship, and pretty much everything here," Wake said and kicked the corpse, "I'm pretty good at interrogations, though I tend to leave corpses behind," He said with a sniff.

It was a blatant lie, he'd consumed the mind of the captain, but this guy didn't need to know that.

"Wake Nayne, by the way, may I ask who I'm having the pleasure of working with?" In fairness, a Sith that was knowledgeable of Jedi Traitors might actually know his name. Ibini Abaas was a respected master and a lady of some great wisdom. Wake was wanted across the core worlds for the murder of his master.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

At the agreement Alisteri allowed himself to relax and his arm to fall back to his side, his blades no longer at the ready for immediate action. A display of trust perhaps. Either that, or a sign that he saw no threat from the young man any longer. Regardless he seemed content to listen to what was said rather than prepare for a swift counterattack.

"We shall have to investigate their ship then, see what connections and destinations we can find that may lead to more Sith artifacts. Or more pirates and gangs that we can exterminate." Recovering the relics of the Sith was obviously a much higher priority than sating his Legionnaires and his own desire for the blood of vagabonds, but enacting vengeance and justice upon the unworthy was always a goal as well. It certainly helped to keep morale and training up at the very least.

The masked man paused as Wake introduced himself, deactivating his lightsaber and returning it to his hip alongside his sword to its sheathe. "Darth Strosius. Knight Inquisitor of the Sith Order and Knight of the Sith." They were titles that he clearly took pride in, even if they were only really known or important to himself. "Do tell me more of yourself, Wake Nayne. I am rather curious how you got to this point."

An audible click came from his mask and Alisteri was quick to reach up and tap on the commlink integrated there. :"The last remaining pirates have barricaded themselves in some sort of armory High Priest. They have heavy blasters keeping our squads pinned down, we can't advance close enough to engage.": He sighed and glanced back at Wake for a moment before he replied. :"I'm on route, hold position.":

His hand fell from his mask as he drew his blades once more. "Apologies but I have a matter to attend to. Evidently these pirates have a bit more fight left in them than I'd thought. We'll have to continue our discussion later, after I aid my troops in wiping out the last of these criminals. Do feel free to make yourself comfortable, I won't take too long."

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake blinked, Darth Strosius. So this guy was a proper sith lord. Stars above. Wake swallowed once as a minor wave of trepidation washed over him. He consumed it eagerily, taking the emotion for fuel after acknowledging that he'd felt it. He set his jaw and looked the masked Sith in the face before offering a proper nod and a coy smile; "To think I'd have the chance to meet such a personage already! A sith lord of all things coming to pick me up, whether by accident or not."

He snorted at his own over-the-top behavior and shoved a hand into his pocket, resting his warblade on his shoulder. Strosius pressed him for more information and he was about to share when he could hear a comm link go off in the man's helmet. Ah, sounds like the pirates were still holding out. Wake watched the man prepare to go and stepped forward, "It'd look pretty bad if I didn't come to help after your generous offer to give me sanctuary," Wake said, "Allow me to assist."

He stepped to the door without a moment of hesitation, now this was fun. Who knew what he'd see when the man got to work. The excitement of seeing a proper sith in action for the first time filled him with exhultation. He took a deep breath and savored every complex emotion. Fear, excitement, desire, bloodlust, joy, it was all so complex. He exhaled and gestured to allow the Sith to go first, he wasn't stupid enough to step out into firing sights for the Sith's men without the man himself demonstrating that he wasn't a threat.

"Lead the way, My Lord."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri regarded the sudden shift in tone with a raised eyebrow and a slight tilt of his head in confusion. Well, that demeanor had changed rather quickly. Not that he was complaining, especially not when Wake offered his assistance in wiping out the last of the pirates. He could handle them himself but he was curious to see just how this would-be Acolyte would fare against an enemy. Even if that enemy was just a bunch of cornered cowards and vagabonds with some big guns.

"First of all I am no Lord, do not let the title of Darth fool you. Calling me as such would get us both in a brawl if we were around other Sith." The masked man liked to think that he knew himself very well. His strengths and abilities yes, but also his weaknesses and flaws. He was not strong enough in either personal ability or powerbase to wear the mantle of Darth in its full extent, even if he did assert his right to be called such.

He strode past Wake and exited the building, his gaze drawn to the left as he stepped out. Sure enough his Legionnaires were indeed pinned down between barricades and other buildings alike, rapid blaster fire spewing forth from the windows of the building at the far rear of the compound. "Look at how they lash out like wounded beasts, desperate to bite even if they shall not live long enough to feast on their foe." His soldiers were safe for the moment, although a quick glance did have him noting that some of them were being tended to by medics.

"Tell me Wake Nayne, how would you assault that armory?"

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

So some Darths weren't considered lords? There was a separation in the hierarchy? That was interesting information and worth retaining in the future. He scratched at his chin and shrugged his apology, not wanting to carry on that topic and bore the warrior. Instead he waited for the man to pass him by, watching him carefully until he too was standing outside, admiring the battle as it was ongoing. He tasted something in the air, battle, there was a thrill to it. The anguish of pain and death, the violence, the thought, the strategy, the desires and passions building up in the air. He drank it all in for a moment, tasting the flow of it.

There was fun to be had here too, he could tell.

He glanced over at Darth Strosius as the man examined the field at his side before turning his attention on the armory. His lip twitched at the sith's commentary, "Mother nature is like that, it happens every day, they're just playing out the act of an animal at the edge of death, it's honestly fascinating to watch it played out this way. Nature truly is universal," He said simply, feeling a wonder and appreciation for nature wash over him. It was a cruel analysis, but it was how he saw the world. He paused again when the man posed a question to him and Wake nodded, it was a fair question.

It was also an obvious test.

"Depends on your goal, sir, if you wanted to simply annihilate them, then that reserve generator on the rear of the building would suffice. Overload it and the munitions inside would explode," Wake said casually, gesturing to the metal box, "But we want to get inside and get all the goodies, plus, having the surviving crew to explain more of the facilities to us would be helpful after some advanced questioning," Wake said and rest his hands on his hips; "Drag them out, screaming if you have to, but get them from behind cover, there are other approaches of course, sir, but those are two examples."

He allowed the force to flow through him, drawing on the emotions he'd been collecting.

"May I?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

"That it is." Alisteri agreed with the sentiment, of dying animals and the grimness of nature, although in truth he had seen such things so many times before that the spectacle hardly captured his interest. Once one had seen and caused as much death as he had, it eventually became just another part of the scenery. Especially in this instance when the deaths of said cornered beasts was exactly what he was hoping to see and bring about.

He listened as Wake examined the situation and presented his thoughts on how to solve the matter before them, his masked gaze wandering to the reserve generator and then back to the fields of fire that the pirates were still creating from their hiding places behind the building's windows. Two good solutions and neither of which he had any issue with. Blowing the armory wasn't ideal but admittedly there wasn't anything the pirates had that his forces couldn't acquire elsewhere if they didn't have them already.

Capturing some prisoners would help to garner more information on other such criminal groups but could also prove to be more of a hassle and effort than the results would be worth. In the same vein of just finding other weaponry, he could also simply send out more scouts and bribe more informants. Both options had benefits and drawbacks in relatively equal measure. Two wise assessments from the Acolyte-to-be.

The masked man nodded at the question and idly gestured to the armory with a wave of his hand. "Do go on sir Nayne. I'm curious to see what you'll come up with next." It wasn't as if he couldn't salvage the situation if it all went wrong after all. One stubborn group of pirates was nothing that he and his soldiers hadn't dealt with before.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake's lips twisted into a cruel smile and he sauntered off towards the armory, hanging a bit to the right to stay out of line with the window that they were using to monitor the firing field and suppress Strosius' legion. Wake continued to gather the dark side, drawing on the emotions he'd experimented with. He drank in the excitement, adrenaline, he thought back to moments of joy and sorrow, moments of love, and hate. He'd tried to keep them balanced but it felt a little off this time. Perhaps focus on a particular emotion that was best for the current situation and use the rest for fuel? What did he want them to feel? Ah, he knew.

Wake, hands in his pockets and a smile in his heart, focused entirely on the most powerful emotion he could fathom. Love. He wanted those men to feel loved, more loved than they'd ever felt in their entire lives. He stepped up to the side of the building and pressed his palm against it, closing his eyes and feeling for the minds inside. It took some concentration but he found them, a dozen souls waiting to be touched. All of them hardened men, trained against fear and terror. Men who did not feel sorrow easily. Men who had walls up against negative emotions thanks to their line of work. Men who had no defense against such a sinister ploy.

Wake pressed in with the force, spreading the feeling among them until the last gun stopped firing. He lowered his hand and walked away from the spot, glancing towards Darth Strosius. This was his solution, not the solution of a soldier or tactician, the solution of a force user. He stopped at the door and with a gentle movement pushed it open, waving at the Legionnaires as he did so. Inside, twelve men sat on the ground, their eyes glazed over and expressions of abject joy painted on their faces. They gazed off into space, almost unaware of their surroundings.

"They'll be like that a while, a few hours," He said with a smile, "Should be pretty responsive to questions too, I think, maybe?"

Wake shrugged, didn't really matter to him.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri watched as Wake left his side and approached the armory, his arms crossing behind his back after his weapons had been put away. Normally he would have been at the ready and at the front with the intent to lead his Legion forward as the spearhead of their advance but now was the Acolyte's time to shine as it were. If he wound up failing or got himself shot then it wouldn't be too much of an issue for the Knight regardless, he still had the vast majority of his forces ready to fight and he himself had no injuries at all of course.

But he would not involve himself nor his soldiers any further as Wake crept up to the armory, aside from a simple order that he was not to be fired upon. He was eager to see what it was that the Acolyte intended to do. Try and cause some sort of explosion or chain reaction that would spread to their ammunition and blow the building itself up? Infiltrate and catch the enemy by surprise through some sort of rear entrance?

What did happen was quite the surprise and the departure from what Alisteri had been expecting however.

Rather than something more direct or practical, he could sense Wake's projection of emotion onto the pirates in the armory. One by one the guns fell silent until finally he beckoned for the Legionnaires to move forward. They were hesitant but their leader was not and Alisteri wasted no time in crossing the blasted area that lay in front of the armory, his Legion soon scrambling to follow after him as he approached the building.

The Sith Knight peered into the armory and regarded the seemingly blissful pirate within with a small nod. "Impressive. Unconventional but effective, and entirely unique by using the Force as the main component." It was a tactic that he approved of, even if it was far less bloodless than he usually preferred.
He faced the Legionnaires assembled behind him and gave them their new orders. "Interrogate them and extract questions by any means necessary, then gun them down and the shuttles moved closer to begin extracting theses supplies and equipment as well as the wounded."

With them quickly setting to work after he had stepped away from the doorway, Alisteri looked back at Wake and nodded once more. "Clearly you're competent and skilled in equal measure. A rare combination. The Sith could make great use of you, Acolyte."

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake chuckled, "I thrive on unconventional," He said with a smug smile. Shoving his hands into his pockets he drifted off to the side and out of the way of the Legionnaires. The various sith came and went. He turned to look at the Sith Knight and regarded him thoughtfully as he directed the others. He waited until the man was settled before he really started listening again only to hear exactly what he wanted to. He nodded once, then twice.

"Acolyte, a good start," Wake said with a nod, "So why don't you give me a run down?"

He stepped away and gestured towards Darth Strosius, he was about to say something sardonic when a thought crossed him. This person, this man, in front of him. Was someone who had embraced emotion as his weapon. He had dived deep into the dark side of the force. Now Wake was being addressed as an Acolyte. The sith hierarchy actually meant something rather than the lunacy of the Jedi Masters and Padawans. Sometimes it was so hard to tell the difference.

He cleared his throat, "Acolyte, right," He breathed and dropped to a knee, "I seek the instruction of Darth Strosius. Please reveal to me the nature of what it means to be Sith."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri seemed rather amused by the casual remark and question, his arms crossed behind his back as he responded. "It is the only start for a Sith, no matter how temporary or informal it may be." His Acolytehood had gone on for years yet he knew of some that had only been in that rank for a few months. As with all things it varied from Sith to Sith.

When Wake dropped down and knelt before him to speak in a more formal manner the masked man cocked his head to the side at the sudden change in attitude. "Arise and I shall explain then. I do not enjoy the sight of kneeling Sith. I leave such pleasures to the Lords that need their egos stroked and polished by those they consider lesser." He waved off the display of the submission with both words and a small gesture of his hand.

"There is one foundation that unites all Sith, Acolyte. The Sith Code. I will speak it to you and I want you to repeat it back to me, then I want you to tell me what each verse means to you." Whether it was meant to be a simple exercise or some sort of test was rather unclear, but clearly Alisteri would be judging it regardless.

"Peace is a lie, there is only Passion." As he spoke, one could hear the sounds of the Legionnaires questioning the pirates within the building. "Through Passion, I gain Strength." The sound of a fist striking something could be heard within, the pained yet blissful cry that followed seeming to imply a punch to the face. "Through Strength, I gain Power." More strikes could be heard now as if the interrogations had devolved into literally beating the information from the prisoners.

All the while Alisteri stared at Wake, his visor reflecting only the Acolyte's face and expression rather than his own. "Through Power, I gain Victory." Calls and commands from the Legionnaires could be heard now, ordering the prisoners to line up against the wall. "Through Victory, my chains are Broken." He spread his arms out, like a priest recounting their favorite lecture from their holy book. Indeed that is what he seemed to be.

"The Force shall free me." A chorus of blaster fire from inside the building punctuated his statement as his arms returned to being held behind his back, with Legionnaires carrying the captured equipment starting to file out of the armory behind him. "Now think on it and repeat the code to me, then you may speak on your interpretation of it."

Darth Nwul