Private It All Comes Tumbling Down

[Amur]

Ines' Reckoning
Sith Eternal Controlled Space​

Things felt different... Skyler could feel that in her life as she looked upon the Star Destroyer outside of the window of the Shuttle that was ferrying her into the maul of the great triangular beast. It was an older tormentor class vessel, one that somehow had lived through the constant wars and fighting between the NIO and SJC. While now technically obsolete and replaced with the newer Broodica class it still was formidable to look at especially because of what lurked within, and the reason why she was to be boarding this vessel.

The one armed Sith could only stare stoically, her face and emotions hidden underneath the veil of her intimidating helmet. She carried the look of (and to those in the know the authority as well) of an inquisitor. It was a quiet secretive life she had lived, working in the background and fading away from grand invasions, battles, and sinister infiltrations. That had all but become non-existent for her. Instead it was a life of desk work, long hours, and late night arrests. Most months she didn't even leave Dromund Kaas. It was boring but it was exactly the life she wanted with the Sith. She needed to keep them unaware of the changes going on within her.

Every day since her little trip to Carlac she could feel it stir within her. She could feel her mind protest it's very position. The helmet she locked inside in of becoming more and more the look of a foreign entity wearing her body. Each long day had ushered more discontent, more distaste with her very existence, and more fear that she would step into the territory of sedition and thought crime. Then there was the fact she was slowly making progress on her rekindling the force, she was still weakened by the Akelia's wrath, her attempts to siphon off of Skyler, but she was getting ever more stronger, and with that now came a fear that it be more evident that her spirit had changed. Her heart of darkness had faded away, something new was in it's place and whatever it was becoming it was certainly something that would be crushed by the Sith if they found out.

All of those thoughts were racing in Amur's head as the Shuttle gently flew into one of the hangars of now began to land. The meeting was drawing it's way closer and yet there was one thing that triumphed over all other fears. Kalanda. The witch who meant the entire galaxy to her was the center fold of her thoughts and the one thing she cared for the most. The one person she had personally sworn to herself to protect, and the one that had rekindled her heart and finally got it to open up. She was everything to Amur, and Amur would be willing to lose everything if it meant she could still keep her in her life. She could still be safe.

She was here now. What once would have brought satisfaction to Amur, the idea of being summoned by a Sith Lord to a private meeting now had driven a spike of fear into her. Every single foot step she had taken was now deliberate. Once someone that could have had tea with the lord inquisitor without a care in the universe was now someone who had to make sure every single move could match the facade of a Sith. The act and mask was on her. As the ramp extended down from the shuttle and brought forth mist, as the Sith walked down the ramp, exchanged pleasantries with the officers and was now being lead to her hostess' chamber.

Skyler steeled herself for the what was to come because Darth Malevolum awaited her.

Darth Malevolum

 

[Darth Malevolum]

Ines.

It was one of the few things that still held meaning to her. A word that could invoke rage, or sorrow, at it's timely deployment. She had sacrificed that memory some time ago, but there was a fragment that she still clung to. It was a shelter against the storm, against the pain. It gave her strength. Mal knew the power the dwelt within love, the type of power one could delve into when needed, and how it could steer the most hardened of killers into a softer path.

Which was why she had her called in. Amur had been...interesting to say the least. Serving under the Darth, the knight seemed to have a knack for subterfuge and deduction, which made her rather valuable as an inquisitor. Of course, there were...stains that Mal had found on the record, and when placed upon a canvas, painted a questionable picture of what could be occurring within the young woman. Amur had started to slack, her reports lacking in quality, and there were rumors that she was even distracted by....another party. One of which could have potentially been a jedi.

Being no stranger to the power of 'love', Mal saw it fit to correct the problem personally, and so she remained in her chambers, awaiting this wayward Sith.

As the door opened, Amur would see the Darth in question, sitting with a globe of light, surrounded by dark metal of an unknown origin, with the scared woman dwelling within. Her helmet hung above her, suspected by a large three pronged crane, though the rest of the room remained cast in darkness. Several power downed displays lined the wall behind Mal, as she merely leaned forward on her impromptu throne, gesturing the woman forth. The distance between the two was only a mere fifty feet, though it might as well have been parsecs given the cold that swept forth from the Sith in front of her. "Amur, please, come forth. I have things I need..." Mal paused, trying to find the word. She flicked her wrist, bringing the door behind the knight closed; a hiss followed indicating that it was now locked and secured. "Clarified." Mal's hand retreated back, resting her elbows on her knees, with her saber sitting just at her feet. She hoped for Amur's sake, that the Sith didn't try her patience. Such a commodity was in short supply as of this moment.

Amur

 

[Amur]

She could just feel her stomach drop more and more in her as she approached, the interior of the ship felt normal almost. Yet, when she approached the Antechamber she could feel it hook into her. Like tendrils slipping through cracks in her skin and armor the darkness was creeping in. Noticeable at first, but then fade into a general feeling that became one. Then the door to the 'throne' opened. She took a step forward inside knowing there was no way out. To run would betray her nature, she had to the face the music.

Entering she was fighting every fiber of her being to stop the shuttering as she gazed upon the grand visage that Malevolum had put herself on top of. This was it. The abyss. She saw the gesture and she complied, forcing herself to keep marching one step after another, closer and closer. She felt it again. Whispers creeping into the back of her mind. Echoes that remained distant as she walked forward. She would hear the voice of Malevolum broadcast across the chamber like it was spoken in an ancient cathedral. Judgement was coming.

So she walked forward feeling the anticipation fill the air, and her lone hand hovering closer and closer to her saber, cornered and now trapped as the door locked behind her, she knew the point being made. You have nowhere to hide anymore. She was trapped, which meant that if she didn't deliver what the Darth wanted then it would be fight to death.

She walked forward until she was ten feet away from the Malevolum's perch and kneeled before her. Her head drooping down into a bow as she addressed the Sith lord. "What is it that you wished to be clarified my Lord? She asked getting straight to the point. She knew there was no point beading around the bush.

Some liked pleasantries but this wasn't one of those Sith. She could feel herself still her thoughts as she tried to eradicate anything that the Sith lord could gleam into. Mal was never known as a mentalist but amur's paranoia was too strong to risk the chance she learned from the last time they had met. She just would have to work on the spot, and hopefully it was good enough.

Darth Malevolum

 

[Darth Malevolum]

There it was, fear, and the knight was ripe with it. Gazing at the woman with her cold synthetic eyes, Mal felt a rage crawling out from the bottom of her gut, a desire to simply explode on the woman as she strode forward. She could see the tension in the woman's form, the tightness of which that hand grew, he nervous energy that filled her steps. She knew something was up, otherwise why would she be so nervous. Still, Mal took no action against her, even when the woman knelt down before her, asking what she could possibly do.

Oh, there were so many things, yet Amur could fix none of it.

The cold voice of Mal spoke once Amur had bent the knee, her hand motioning back, as several displays flickered to life, each holding reports and footage that was...rather damning for the Sith. "Let us start with this, a report of a jedi agent on Dromund Kaas." She spoke, as the display showed someone matching the form of Kala being taken away by a security officer, and the resulting interrogation that followed. The footage jumped to showing Amur arriving at the facility, then another cut revealing the two women leaving the office. "From what I can tell, this report was reclassified as an unlawful seizure, when in reality it was nothing of the sort." Mal started, as another display came to life, showing dates of which Amur was unaccounted for; showing a long period of weeks where the woman was missing. "Then we have the battle of Borosk, where you and another woman went into battle..." Another display came to life, showing an injured Kala being tended to, and a very obvious figure of Amur arriving to inspect her. "From everything I can tell, this is the same woman who we detained, and you sprung. Given reports from your soldiers on Chad, this woman was also suspected of being a jedi?" Mal inquired, as another display came to life, showing camera footage from one of Amur's Stormtrooper, capturing the first contact that the Sith and witch shared. Setting her hand back down, Mal gripped her 'throne' tightly, her eyes fixated on Amur, as she was curious what the woman would say.

"We have already had issues with jedi seducing our members in the past, and based on the evidence I see here, it appears this might be the case as well." The saber at Mal's feet twitched, her right hand hanging off her throne, ready to catch it should Amur try anything. "So, Amur, can you explain what I might be missing here, or are you towing the line of treason and believing I wouldn't catch on?" Now, she would wait, her anger hardened into focus, as she would eagerly await what the trapped knight would try and do.

Amur

 

[Amur]

Amur shut her eyes and she could see it. A razor ball manifesting itself in the form of a person. turning, coiling, and festering more and more waiting for that moment each piece of wire could unfurl and lash out across the room. That was Malevolum now, it was... almost sad as much as it was terrifying. Her hand was now ready to grab her saber, and soon the question in her head of if she could talk the sith lord down became more of matter of how long she could hold off the incoming storm.

Then Mal revealed why she had summoned her, the Sith's heart now broke. No. No no no no no no nononononononononononononononononononono Her worst nightmare was now coming to life, all that effort to hide her away from the eyes of the Sith, to keep her out of the meddling of Lords that could try to change her, to keep what she had hers and not let it be perverted by this accursed poisonous travesty of rule was now becoming undone. She thought she had been careful, she thought she was thorough. Erasing footage, tweaking and correcting reports and trying to avoid anything too high profile it was all supposed to work. Even integrating her into the Sith, forcing her to sacrifice a part of her life so they could safely be together.

Now all of it seemed to be for nothing
Just another failure to add to the list
You weren't good enough to hide it after all...
You should have just abandoned her

She could hear the whispers in the back of her mind get louder now. Her body stiffened in terror. It wasn't Mal, it wasn't the darkness around her that brought the most fear, it was the whispers in her head that scared her the most. People can go away, the dark could be coped with, but the whispers... they could always be there, waiting and ready. Ready to tear her down to oblivion, ready to claw her brain and rip out chunks indiscriminately.

STOP​

She opened her eyes, now looking at Malevolum observing her. She felt her body able to move as she stood up. Staring into the cold cybernetic eyes. A defiance now emerging from her. Was it anger? Frustration? Will? Hope? or even spite? She didn't know but she could feel it grip her now. She felt tired of slaving herself to the whispers, to Sith that enjoyed toiling and tormenting their underlings. To pointless grabs at power. Becoming an Inquisitor meant trying to fight all of that to her, and well she was going to atleast go like one in that regard. She would come out of hiding in the dark, and meet it head on.

"She's no Jedi if that's what you're worried about that... My Lord" For once, she could feel herself finally drop the facade she had around all other Sith. That air of politeness and wit now devoid as a heavy mocking spite could be heard in the addressing of Malevolum as a lord. "Her name is Kalanda Tishire. She's a Dathomiri Nightsister formerly associated with the CIS. Both cases you bring up were mis-identifications of her with a Jedi. Something that needed to be corrected. I'm sure you're well aware of the Empire's tenuous relationship with the Nightsisters on account of the witch accords." She said not daring to move her eyes away from the Lord. She knew that at any point Mal could just attack and end her, and knowing that oddly comforted her. If she was going to do so then so be it.

"With my interactions with her I was able to grow a rapport, and so I offered her a place within the Sith. She willingly accepted and had cut all ties with the CIS. I can personally attest to the great power she can wield, and she was the reason I was able to infiltrate the vast defenses on Borosk. I only kept her hidden to prevent prying Sith from trying to use her." She now found herself grabbing onto her saber, her grip tightening around it, but it still remain unignited. If she needed to defend herself from the lord then so be it.

"I wasn't seduced by some dogmatic lackey of the light. I found someone who burned with a great passion. I have no shame with that. If you wish to call me treasonous for such a thing then so be it..." There was the pause as she preemptively shifted her feet to take a stance. The air deathly quiet before she intruded with one last query.

"Have I clarified things for you?"​

Darth Malevolum

 

[Darth Malevolum]

Amur was right about one thing, Mal was looking for something to tear into her with, and though the Sith was excellent at lying, Mal was just as good at pinning someone of legal persecution. Amur was weaving a thin web of half truths, fabrications, and smoke screen to try and protect something she found valuable. Oh, she kept this 'Kalanda' safe from prying eyes of other Sith, by keeping her all to herself. Yes, a rather selfless act indeed. If she was intent on showing the woman the nature of the Sith, then she should have been surrendered to Mal at first notice, or deposited on Korriban for proper education. But no, this 'Kalanda' was kept for this knights own devices, like a pet. Or worse, a lover. Passion was one thing that Mal was familiar with, in fact one of the few things she still desired to obtain once more. She knew all to well how such things could warp a mind, or even soften a heart. Something that Mal felt might very well be at work here.

While it might surprise one, Mal had once held similar emotions once. Those that time had long since past, she was all to aware what the power of love and affection could do to the mind. Steering one into defecting from their own friends, forsaking a loyalty to another party, all of which were something that could occur.

Regardless, Amur's guilt was confessed to. Amur had harbored war resources for her own personal use, something that was worthy of a fact as treason. Ironic, she could save others from the law, but not herself.

The grip on the throne released, a soft chuckle coming from the woman's mouth, as she was frankly amused at Amur's explanation. It was well tailored, well thought out, and quiet obviously a distortion of the truth. "Indeed you have." Mal started, her saber hand relaxing, as her focus drifted to the several vibro-weapons she had placed around the room. Perhaps the knight would notice the shift in the room, as Mal gripped a vibro-sword and staff, holding them firmly as she continued to speak. "You've admitted to treason, and harbored a potential Sith for your own gain." She rose from her chair, body tense as she fully expected the knight to leap at her, though Amur would find a vibro-staff moving to block any potential strike, with a vibro-blade coming in from behind to stab at her. "The punishment, is death."

With that, Mal had handed down her judgement, her saber flying into her open right hand, the purple blade flickering to life as she awaited the knights first move. It was time to test Amur's resolve, see what the woman fought with, and if her core as a Sith had remained intact.

Amur

 

[Amur]

She heard the chuckle from Mal... and knew. She watched the Sith lord, and could practically feel the shift in her. Like a large cat in preparation for the pounce. With that shift came the air in the room recoiling as the Sith spoke, and her hair rising on the back of her neck as she felt the Force shift in the room. Hearing Mal proclaim her treasonous, she ignited her Saber now cackling away in the air. She began to sprint forward closing in on Mal only to see the Vibrostaff fling in the air in front her and then for her to feel the force tinging in the air from behind...

You're in a trap idiot whispered to her as she quickly side stepped to the left, dodging the blade. Her mind reacting quickly as she dropped her extinguishing saber and instead refocused on sending a force push forward to redirect the blade towards Mal. Quickly she backpedals and retrieves her Saber back through the Force, anticipating the staff to potentially being used to attack her. As she sees her saber wielding foe.

She's much stronger than you Another whisper speaks, as she sizes up her situation her stomach falling as she does. A lowly cripple vs a Sith lord. Already cornered and wounded in a sense... She could feel a frustration mounting inside of her, a rabid denial clouding her mind. No she couldn't die here and now, she couldn't let them get to her Kala. They will

Her mind tried to fight back and quench the whispers that were getting louder in her head. If they won she would have lost before Mal could lay a strike on her. You can do this, you had fought gen'dai, survived Starwierds and even faced another embodiment of darkness and lived through it all No soldiers nor Kala, nor Jedi to save you this time... you would have died everytime without them

The scorched woman grimaced. Still her mind went to work. She couldn't see if Mal had prepared any other surprises for her but she could at least anticipate them. With one quick setting change her view through the visor turned black as it went completely opaque. Locked away from the visual world she let the Force take over as she could now see the room from this new perspective. The flow of energies gushed before Amur as her head looked upon Mal.

She walked forward towards Mal.

"You say that like it means something. When countless Sith lords above you before and now do the same. Yet could you lay a finger on any of them? When the Lord inquisitor had her affair did you see her head mounted on a spike? When Adrian hides away behind his work and masks so much do you see any inquiries into that? No Those attempts all fall apart. This Empire doesn't care. The only reason you can do what you're doing now is because I'm disposable compared to them.

She taunted the Sith Lord. feeling the Force build up inside of her. Her body ready to react, her saber held high in a makashi stance. The fencer primed to strike. Opening her palm up just enough to better channel the force she grabs onto the spear and tries to throw it to the side. She moves over changing her guard depending on whether she's successful as she tries to open up with a few horizontal swings at the sith lord moving from shoulder level and lower to just below the waist. Chances are that they would be successfully countered, but maybe out right saber work wouldn't be the way out of this fight.

Darth Malevolum

 

[Darth Malevolum]

Staring at the arrogance of the woman before her, Malevolum knew she was correct about her criticisms. Yes, the Empire was in dire straights, it had many individuals committing acts against the laws yet these individuals still held a great deal of power within the structure. She wasn't wrong about that, but Malevolum knew well enough she had no power to attack them. What she did, however, was have the ability to bring this traitor in. Amur could deflect all she liked, it would buy her no sympathy from the darth. As Amur knocked the staff away, Mal let the woman think she had made a clever move. Moving her saber to parry, Mal blocked the inital attacks, before going on the offensive. Drawing the vibro-sword to her free hand, Mal would trap Amur's saber between her two blades, and get to attacking.

As Amur laid down her strikes, Mal played her hand. The vibro staff that had been knocked aside came to life, as it would spin across the floor, aiming to smack Amur in the back of the knees. Lunging forward now, Mal pushed the blade of the Sith aside, aiming to drive her knee into Amur's chest, and using the force to push off the knight, landing foot first on her console.

This was all ideal of course, but Mal felt that things would proceed as she had planned. With the knight knocked back, Mal would extend her hand, letting the vibro-sword go flying towards Amur, though it was aimed to trap her blade arm to the surface of the floor. "Screaming out the crimes of others does not make you innocent. If you want out of the Empire, I will give it to you. The release of death will be the method." Feeling she had responded to this nonsense long enough, Mal braced for Amur to continue this fight, though the Darth felt it wouldn't last as long as the woman would have hoped.

Amur

 

[Amur]

C A V I N G
I N
​

Tag: Darth Malevolum ​

You fell for it again

The sounds of saber on saber contact melded with the sound of a vibroword burning away as it clashed against Amur's saber feeling her form and swing get taken over and co-opted by Mal's immense strength. She feels her footing loosen as her saber gets pushed down and back forcing her to turn. Reflexively she tries to muster as much energy and the force as she can to empower her stub. Using the twist of her body she rotates with it and tries to put as much weight behind her stub's strike. It punches Mal against her right cheek in Amur's best attempt at a left hook. Though it's not enough.

She'll be next

With her saber now pinned her vision through the force sees something in her periphery a toiling of web that plays out and she now hears the sound of the vibrospear spinning it's way towards her. Her breath quickens as she steps back and her left stub now is moves to point backwards. Her concentration now forced to handle trying to channel the force through her weaker limb in order to stop the spear from knocking her off her feet, her mind straining to keep it at bay. The vision that the force was giving her was now fading to black as she felt herself get caught in this situation. Her mental palace the one she first glimsped into back on Carlac felt like it was crumbling. The walls and ceiling beginning to crumble and the light in it was now starting to be lined with specks of shadow creeping in.

Just give in​

The world around her exploded with pain. She felt the knee pelt into her chest knocking the wind out of her as she thing feels a second push from the Force Malevolum uses to propel herself back. She is sent hurtling for several meters before landing on her back and skidding to a halt. Before she knows it there's a vibroblade pinning her arm down as a horrid noise is made as it vibrates against the armored plate of her vambrace. Malevolum's voice hangs in the stale air as she hears the words of zealot happily keep themselves blind. Amur's head takes in this decree and feels it's temperature rise.

"I'm not begging for innocence you fool. I'm saying it doesn't matter, it never mattered." Amur spews but inside her mind is melting. as she hears one thought trigger a chorus.

When you die they'll go for her. They'll break her, they'll torture her, they'll corrupt her, twist her and shatter her. You'll be why if you don't win. It'll be your fault all over again.

Images of torture chambers and iNterrOgations again and again flashed before her, now fueled by her line of work. The claws come out of her mind and ravage it and she feels herself suffocate as her breath is taken away. The patient dark waiting for such a moment to welcome itself back into her life thanks to fear, and with it came anger.

She feels a currenT latching Out from her stub that grabs onto the sword and Throws it with across the room. She quickly gets uP a new stare digs into Darth Malevolum's visage as her sight returns to the force. Fine she was going to force the Sith's hand and get her to act. Seeing the concentration of the Force that coalesced around Mal, she reaches her aura out like greedy tendrils coming out of her stub as it latches onto it as she now feeds off of the life energy. Her mind concentrating on the task but ready to drop it at a moment's notice. After all, it was meant to put pressure on Malevolum to act. Her saber glowing red and cracking with great intensity.