Private Initiative

[Darth Virelia]

"Another Generation."

- TAG: Zavik Maltheris

It was a cold, lightless night upon Ruusan.

The world had become increasingly important to Virelia's studies of the Sith and the long decay of their dominion. Here, upon these scarred plains and forgotten caverns, the old Sith had made their final stand. Countless horrors beyond comprehension had been unleashed upon the surface of the planet before darkness itself was finally dragged screaming into the grave.

What remained afterward had never truly impressed her. Mere inheritors. Lesser beings masquerading as gods while still clinging desperately to law, family, morality, and the comforting illusion that the rest of the galaxy was too frightened to pursue the truth waiting beneath it all.

It was a lesson the galaxy had taught Virelia many times throughout her life, and so she had returned once more beneath the guise of rumor and hearsay.

Whispers had reached her ears of a young, masterless apprentice wandering the ruins of Ruusan. It was always a nightmare to track down an individual, yet even the possibility of another soul touched by the dark side was not an opportunity the Tyrant Queen would permit herself to ignore.

Such individuals mattered.

Through curation, teaching, corruption, and discovery, such souls could become instruments capable of reshaping reality itself. Whether the apprentice would prove worthy of investment remained uncertain, but uncertainty had never once discouraged her pursuit of power.

Her agents had already provided a rough estimate of the elusive apprentice's last known position. Conveniently, it rested near another site Virelia had intended to investigate eventually: a buried Sith temple hidden deep beneath the crust of the planet. The thought alone was enough to stir her curiosity.

Snow drifted slowly across the ruined landscape as her shuttle settled against the frostbitten earth. The boarding ramp lowered with a hydraulic hiss into the bitter wind, violet light briefly spilling across the darkness before being swallowed whole by the night. Then came the sound of metal boots descending onto frozen soil.

Virelia emerged in silence.

Obsidian armour drank in the pale moonlight, thin veins of violet luminescence pulsing softly beneath its surface like the heartbeat of something alive beneath stone. Her cloak shifted violently in the wind behind her, though the woman beneath it remained perfectly still, six violet lenses fixed upon the distant horizon where shattered ruins clawed upward from the snow like the bones of the dead.

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

in a small cold cave not far from the hidden temple, 3 metal tables where laid out in a half circle. the left most table was filled with bits of metal and other mechanical components. a few larger parts laid againstthe legs of the table on the ground. the table on the far right had tools. on the middle table lay one of the inhabitants of the planet. what once was a regular human now a twisted combination of machine and flesh. the shoulders where now bare metal joints, the legs fully mechanical digitigrade legs, the lower torso had a large metal band constricting it. zavik was currently carefully removing the mans face. once it finally separated from the skull he said to himself. "finally, you really did not want to let that go did you? do not worry, i will give you a better one of course." as he tossed the face to the side.

he had come to the the planet to explore and examinethe old ruins here but when he arrived at one of the distant settlements he saw a few people competing in a foot race and was struck with a idea he couldn't not work on.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Another Generation."

- TAG: Zavik Maltheris

This missing apprentice had made Virelia's task considerably easier. Abducting locals was, after all, one of the fastest methods imaginable to ensure the entire surrounding region learned exactly where you were hiding. Fear spread quickly amongst the helpless. One disappearance became rumour. And rumour was very useful indeed.

Otherwise, people risked being dragged into the dark themselves.

A Sith tradition as old as the Order itself. The kidnapping of the weak. Cruel experimentation. The mutilation of flesh and mind in pursuit of some greater revelation or personal obsession. The Sith had always justified such acts beneath lofty rhetoric, but Virelia had long since learned the truth of it.

Suffering was simply useful.

She herself had indulged in such methods many times before. Enough times to immediately recognize the pattern left behind here upon Ruusan. In a strange way, it was almost nostalgic. The young apprentice was merely taking their first steps into the inevitable journey ahead of them.

The entrance to the cavern bore the unmistakable signs of struggle. Broken stone. Trails carved into the frost where bodies had been dragged inward. A discarded lantern still burned weakly near the mouth of the cave, abandoned in haste by someone who had likely died screaming deeper within.

Virelia stepped forward without hesitation.

Torment and agony already saturated the world of Ruusan, but here the sensation was particularly rich. It lingered in the air like perfume. She allowed herself a long, slow breath, then she descended into the darkness.

The cave stretched deep beneath the planet's frozen crust, ancient and uneven, its walls scarred by age and old tremors. Water dripped rhythmically from the ceiling, echoing through the tunnels alongside distant cries of pain that occasionally rose and then abruptly stopped altogether.

Six violet lenses pierced through the blackness.

Her gaze swept methodically across the cavern as she advanced, obsidian armour moving with eerie silence despite its immense weight. Every detail was catalogued. Blood stains. Medical equipment. Crates dragged through narrow passages. The faint smell of cauterized flesh.

Then came another scream. Closer this time.

Virelia altered course immediately, following the sound deeper into the outcropping until the tunnel finally widened into a crude operating chamber hollowed into the stone itself. Three metal tables occupied the center of the cavern. One of them still writhed weakly beneath restraints.

The body strapped upon it was twisted horrifically, flesh opened and rearranged with brutal enthusiasm and surgical precision. Blood pooled beneath the table in dark rivers while scattered tools lay abandoned nearby. Standing over the ruined figure was the individual Virelia had come searching for, utterly absorbed in their work.

Useful indeed.

From the darkness behind them emerged the unmistakable silhouette of the Tyrant Queen. Obsidian plates reflected dim violet light across the cavern walls while glowing veins pulsed faintly beneath the armour like restrained lightning trapped beneath stone. Slowly, deliberately, she stepped forward, allowing the sheer weight of her presence to seep into the room before her voice ever did.

The atmosphere itself seemed to tighten around her. Beneath her mask, a small smirk formed.

At last, her prey had been found.

"So," Virelia said smoothly, her voice low and measured as she approached the operating tables, "experimenting on the locals, are we?"

The words lingered briefly in the chamber, then came the second question.

"Do they not allow you to do so behind the Blackwall?"

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

as zavik worked on making a new "face" for the man, two pieces of smooth metal joined together to form a sort of wedge shape he froze, tools and metal still in his hands.

he felt a presence unlike any he'd felt before, like gravity itself had gotten stronger. then from behind a violet light illuminated the space, overpowering the few lights he had. his instinct told him to pull his blaster or use his durandal implants. but he quickly knew just by presence alone it would do nothing.

as the figure approached him he finally looked and saw her. a sith the likes he'd never seen, nothing even close. she was about a foot shorter then him but was clearly stronger. though he knew height often didnt matter. his thoughts where a mix of worrie, for why someone so powerful was here. intrigue, for her strength and appearance. her mask intrigued him most, he immediately wondered if she could see with all six of the masks eye and if so how.

she wasnt acting hostile for now, perhaps there wouldn't be a need for fight or flight. putting the tool and metal down to the side he said in a calm voice. "i am. when i arrived i noticed everyone gathered around a track, him and a few others where in a foot race, he was loosing badly. usually i'd think nothing of it, but i had a idea pop into my head i couldn't ignore. inspiration comes in many ways. he was my newest. i thought "i wonder how fast i could make a human being go on foot," now naturally i could add some sort of thruster or what have you to his feet, thighs, and or back. but i feel that would be boring and to easy. so, how do you make things go faster. well depends on if there is a atmosphere or not. anyway, the answer is making whatever you want to go faster aerodynamic. a few other things like the legs, reducing weight and what not. he has a lot of work to be done but so far i have given him more efficient legs, reduced the size of his shoulders for aerodynamics and less weight, removed some of his abdomen and given him a more aerodynamic shape. still need to make a better more streamlined face, and improve his lungs and heart." he was rambling, of course he was. partly because he never really got to share his work and also because ye was worried about this woman next to him.

her mention of being behind the blackwall intrigued him even more. "behind the blackwall? you are kidding right? as if they ever let some random ezaraa in there. but that makes me wonder even more." he said turning fully towards her. "who are you, why are you here?" ye said looking at her, his pupilless eyes staring blankly.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Another Generation."

- TAG: Zavik Maltheris

What an interesting story.

The natural conclusion of a curious yet utterly deranged mind. How far could the human body truly be pushed? How fast could flesh be made to run if every limitation of biology was challenged by machinery, chemistry, pain, and innovation? What applications could emerge from maximizing the physical output of the average sentient through sheer technological brutality?

What magnificent blasphemy it all was.

The galaxy would recoil in horror if such genius were left unchecked, allowed to wander freely through laboratories and ruins alike, carving apart the boundaries of nature itself. Yet history had always been shaped by individuals exactly like this. Men and women willing to abandon restraint in pursuit of possibility. The sort who ignored morality entirely and instead pursued the outermost edge of what reality would permit.

They were the ones who advanced civilization.

Mathematical revelations. Biological manipulation. Cybernetic integration. The fusion of flesh and machine into something greater than either had been before. Every meaningful leap in galactic history had been born from minds the masses would eagerly label monstrous.

Morality and ethics be damned.

Virelia understood that better than most.

She answered his questions quickly, almost indulgently, recognizing the hunger of an inquisitive mind when she saw one. Curiosity, once fed, only ever demanded more.

"One whose methods were considered too extreme even for the Sith themselves," she said calmly. "Someone who proposed enough dangerous ideas that the ruling bodies eventually chose exile over execution. They understood that killing me would only prove my arguments correct."

A quiet pause followed.

"No, I am not exaggerating about the Blackwall. Traversing it is remarkably simple for those willing to abandon conventional thinking. The true obstacle is not the wall itself, but the logistics of empire. Large fleets, supply chains, bureaucracy, politics. Vast powers cannot move unseen because their own weight betrays them."

A faint trace of amusement entered her voice.

"It is even easier now, with the anarchists busy looting and sodomizing the Core."

Her gaze shifted briefly across the cavern, over bloodstained tables and scattered instruments, before settling back upon the young apprentice.

"I had assumed someone with talents such as yours would already have become a pawn in the games of the Kainite. Quite frankly, your abilities would be wasted amongst most factions within the Order."

Another slow step forward. The violet glow beneath her armour pulsed softly in the darkness as six unblinking mechanical eyes fixed themselves upon him without mercy or warmth. It was an assessing stare.

"Enough discussion about the Sith," Virelia continued smoothly. "They do not interest me at this moment."

A scream echoed faintly somewhere deeper within the cave system before dying abruptly into silence.

"You do."

She tilted her head ever so slightly.

"What is your name, young genius?"

Her gaze drifted momentarily toward the mutilated figure upon the operating table before returning to him once more.

"And beyond the curiosities of the local population, what exactly do you seek upon such a terrible and dark world as Ruusan?"

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

Darth Virelia

what she said just made him more and more curious. to extreme for the sith? exiled? fascinating

"hmm i guess it would be easier for a single person to slip in the blackwall, more so nowadays." he'd thought about what it must be like behond it a few times but never really saw much need to even try. the way he saw it, it was a unnecessary risk of wellbeing.

"praise for someone like you is appreciated. but i have never been contacted by a sith, until today." as she got closer he was tempted to take a step back due to her presence. deciding not to. he stared back at the top pair of eyes.

she was here for him... this could turn out very bad or good, "me? hm, perhaps i should be honored, i am zavik maltheris." he said with a small bow, more so a nod of his head. "originally my goal was to explore the local ruins on this world. dont exactly get the chance to often. not in search of anything specific exactly, more so seeing if i could find anything useful at all. i'd imagine the sith have taken a large amount of what was once there, but perhaps their more careless about their belongs then i thought."

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Another Generation."

- TAG: Zavik Maltheris

She was genuinely interested now.

This soul had somehow remained largely untouched by the wider rot consuming the Sith Order. His ambitions still appeared to belong entirely to him. His ideas, while deeply depraved, possessed a strange kind of purity to them—unfiltered by doctrine, politics, or the endless groveling that infected so many modern Sith.

That alone made Zavik valuable, perhaps even dangerous. Not merely the foundation for an interesting story, but potentially something far greater. A worthy apprentice. A mind capable of refinement, true refinement.

Virelia quietly considered the name he had given her alongside his reasons for being upon Ruusan. In truth, his motivations mirrored her own more closely than he likely realized. Both had come seeking forgotten knowledge, hidden power, and relics left abandoned beneath the weight of history.

The difference was that Zavik still did not fully understand the significance of the world beneath his feet.

Ruusan remained remarkably untouched compared to places like Korriban. The old Sith worlds had become carrion pits for ambition, endlessly picked apart by every acolyte, scholar, and self-proclaimed dark lord desperate to claw meaning from ancient tombs already looted a hundred times over. Korriban had become crowded with scavengers.

Ruusan had been forgotten. Virelia considered that an advantage, perhaps even a privilege. Only those willing to move beyond the obvious ever came here searching for answers.

Which already placed Zavik above most of his contemporaries.

Now, however, came the more important question.

Virelia decided it was time to test precisely where the young Sith stood in his studies, and so she finally spoke again, her voice measured and calm beneath the distant dripping of water and the occasional muffled groan from the operating table nearby.

"I do not shy away from praise," she admitted openly. "It is important for people to understand when they have done something capable of capturing my interest… or when they may have stumbled upon something genuinely revolutionary."

A soft hum escaped her as her gaze drifted briefly across the cavern walls.

"I too came here to explore. Thus far, the planet has rewarded me greatly for doing so. There are countless things buried within Ruusan that the Sith have simply forgotten."

A faint trace of disdain entered her tone.

"Perhaps they have grown too comfortable. Sitting in polished chambers, endlessly praising one another while being devoured in decadence. The decline consuming our kind seems to know no limits."

Her six glowing lenses scanned slowly across the surroundings once more, taking in the bloodstained equipment, the half-finished experiments, the ancient stone, and the lingering darkness woven through the cave itself.

Then her attention returned fully to Zavik.

"Tell me," she said, her voice quieter now, more deliberate, "what do you actually understand about the ideas of the Sith?"

A brief pause followed.

"And what is it you truly seek by following the Dark?"

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

From what he knew of the sith she had a good point. "I may not know what all the sith do but from what i understand you are probably right. Seems to me they sit comfortably in their thrones or what not and only occasionally do something. Like raid some world on attack some jedi temple." He didn't exactly want to call them lazy or something like that. Just seemed they expected others to do things for them. It would seem the sith before him was different however, firstly for actually being here infront of him.

That question however, such a simple sentence but needing a complicated answer. Setting down his things and leaning against the right most table he said, "Well since I have not had direct contact with one until now, my knowledge is..less then I would like. I know many just seem them as a extreme opposite of the jedi, even though them themselves are a extreme. They see sith as just ruthless killers to cause destruction to get what they want. The way I see it however, people who are simply using the abilitys they where given..or take. there are things I dont exactly match when it comes to the sith. Many seemingly sacrifice their health for power. Personally i think thats a tad ironic. Powers is not something you sacrifice yourself for, but build on and gather. Also the i guess "main three" ways they get and use power is fear, anger, and passion. I have not been one for anger myself, but rather the third, passion. Never did quite understand the jedi's lack of emotion. Emotion is the driving force of many things yet they wish to abandon it."

what he seeks? "Personally, the freedom to do as i please. Well more or less, that and the means to do so. Which does mean power in a way i suppose. But for me its more so to be able to perfect my craft. The way i see it is flesh is more or less incomplete, weak structure. While machines are perfect logic without instinct. so naturally a combination of the two is better then either. i have attempted to perfect organic beings for some time but lack the tools, power, and resources. Organic being are inherently weak, but there are so many ways to improve on it. I know the jedi and light would never even let the idea be thought. The dark however, encourages it. Many few siths as living weapons, but me, I plan on become and creating perfected beings that reality couldnt."