Private Jedi King & Sith Emperor

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Meditation Chambers
Heavenheim, Midvinter​

Reports on the fall of the mighty Sith Empire came pouring in, more with each passing hour. How the Imperials that once served them rose up and seized power through military conquest of the ancient dark worlds, some of it likely hyperbole due to bias or propaganda. The New Imperial Order may take pride as the primary force to take down this iteration of the Sith, but they always had help from various factions, intentional or otherwise. The Sith Empire was then further weakened when several other Sith cults rose up in rebellion, igniting civil wars within the civil war.

And yet, the long shadow of House Zambrano remains as looming and insidious as ever. His empires have been cast down before, and still Kaine eludes his own destruction only to rise again. Thurion had seen it before, many times.

Meditating upon these events, the veteran Jedi sat on his knees before an idol of his old master; his mentor, and his mother. King and Jedi both, the former honours his ancestors while the latter honours the woman who raised him. Both aspects are equal in all things, and together they sum up his very being. Human and Valkyri. Jedi and King. Balance.

That balance was suddenly shifted when Thurion submerged himself deeper into a meditative trance, his spirit traversing the unending realms of the Force. A dark cloud hung overhead, and he was drawn to investigate. Standing at the edge of it, he pressed his hand against it. Such hatred. Such ruthlessness. Such pride.

Darth Carnifex . The void seemed to react to the realisation, growing in strength.

"Show yourself, Kaine. Your empire is fallen. Your followers are scattered to the winds. But I know it is not the end. Not so long as you draw breath. They may have laid ruin to your empire, but they failed to rid the serpent of its head."

The black void expanded, beginning to engulf the spiritual realm he found himself traversing. Yet his convictions remained strong, and from his own representation there shone a light that challenged the encroaching darkness, fending it off until the surrounding area was equal parts light and dark.

"Show yourself!"

 

[Darth Carnifex]

M A L S H E E M​

The sound of machinery drowned out all other sounds. Large mechano-arms, extending down from the rafters in the ceiling, plucked a freshly constructed combat walker as it reached the end of the assembly line. The walker was swung gracefully through the air before being deposited on solid durasteel ground, another arm plucked the walker up and placing it inside of a rail tram. The tram contained dozens of similar walkers and other vehicles designed for war, all of which were bound for armament storage.

Such was the daily minutiae of Malsheem's factories and production lines, an eternal transmogrification of raw materials into manufactured parts that are then rapidly assembled into armor, weapons, tools, vehicles, anything that was required to prosecute an endless war. Steely-eyed technicians monitored the process from start the finish, ensuring that nothing jeopardized their Eternal Father's glorious commandment; that the factories would never stop working.

He watched the process from high above, an observation deck planted above one of the busiest and most important production junctions in this sector. The walls were made entirely out of glasteel, broken up only by the occasional wall strut that gave the glass wall stability. His eyes closed, feeling the Force around him as the galaxy shifted and changed.

The Empire had fallen.

The knight's lance had pierced the dragon's heart, and the dragon lay dead. But from the dragon's corpse, new evil began to arise and take root in the soil.

Such would it be with the Sith, though the Empire might have been felled, they would proliferate throughout the galaxy. The largest contingent of what remained of the Sith Empire's military had flocked to his banners when he called for them, as had the majority of the Brotherhood. He offered them a path forward, a destiny that could still tangibly be grasped. The rest either surrendered or dispersed among the other Sith warlords that appeared in the twilight years of the Empire.

Much work was being done to integrate these remnants into his Kainate, his true Empire, but that would take time. And in that time, the Kainate must be wary. This was dangerous new territory for him and his followers, they had to be mindful. But the Dark Side provided all things through its avatar, Him; Darth Carnifex. He would harden those who had come to his banner, the crucible was not yet done with them.

His train of thought was suddenly seized by a familiar sensation, his brow furrowing as he immediately slipped into meditation. The officials and Sith around him were puzzled, some concerned, but none dared approach him as he fell into a deep trance.

Darkness surrounded him, the endless shadows. He was the void, and the void was him. With the perception of a colossus, he peered into the Force to see what had drawn him away. The visage of Thurion Heavenshield rushed to meet him, light suffusing him and the ethereal plane around him. The encroaching darkness halted on the periphery of the light, writhing chaotically as Carnifex materialized an avatar to meet with the Lion King.

"Here I am, Heavenshield. Here I am." Darkness billowed out from the perception of Carnifex's visage, partially obscuring the Dark Lord. "You are wiser than most to mistrust the intoxication of victory, Heavenshield. You know better than most that it is not the serpent you see that is the most dangerous, but the one you cannot see. In time, the galaxy will come to the same realization."

Carnifex crossed his arms over his chest, "But despite your wisdom, you still reject the Dark Side."

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Darkness was given form in the shape of Darth Darth Carnifex , Dark Lord of the Sith. The shadowy figure was huge, easily towering over most men. Thurion was not most men, just about matching the Dark Lord's threatening size. Just as Kaine was shrouded in shadow, Thurion was bathed in light. They were the polar opposites in character and what they represented, and yet the saying remains true that opposites attract.

There was a begrudging respect owed between the two after a lifetime at war.

"Zambrano," he inclined his head no further than he deemed this murderer of millions worthy of.

"I could tell in every fibre of my being they hadn't caught you. So the Sith live on, empire or no," he lamented to himself, knowing he would likely live to see yet another dark power rise elsewhere in the galaxy, to enact their cruelty upon those unwilling to serve.

"You speak of wisdom. The wise thing would be for me to find you and destroy you, once and for all. Save us all a great deal of suffering. But, I place my trust in the Force. You and I, we are not yet fated to finish each other. Just as you were not fated to perish at the hands of the New Imperial Order."

Thurion stepped closer to the source of the outpour of darkness until they were face to face. Rather than challenging his old nemesis however, the Jedi calmly lowered himself to the "floor", tucking his legs underneath himself and closing his eyes. Deep, controlled breaths. Serenity.

"The Dark side holds no sway over my heart," he rejected the notion. "My whole life has centered around defying the Dark, ever since you took from me the only thing I loved at the time. What I've learned is there are many ways to defy it; by giving instead of taking, by lifting up instead of tearing down. By loving, instead of hating."

He proceeded to peer up at the looming shadow, no hint of fear in his eye. Without word or gesture he bid that the Sith Lord join him.

"You've sired many in your time, Zambrano. Taken many wives and concubines. I wish to know, did any of them touch your heart even once, or were they all just a means to an end? Is the Dark Lord capable of loving another more than he loves himself?"

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Though half of Thurion's lamentations were kept to himself, it was as if the Dark Lord could sense what the Lion King had been thinking. "You needn't wait long. Csilla was the first, there will be uncounted more to follow." His words were the exact same as those that had hijacked the holonet in the hours following the destruction of Csilla, the Dark Lord taking no effort to disguise his involvement. "Though an individual may die, the Sith are eternal."

A vast interconnected contingency had been put into effect following his public abdication from the Sith throne, plans within plans, schemes within schemes. Though his enemies may think his influence blunted with the loss of the Sith Empire, the reality was further from the truth. For years, he had seeded his agents across the galaxy; cutthroats, politicians, shapeshifters, those who would best serve his ambitions in anonymity and disassociation. He held several members of the Galactic Alliance Senate in the palm of his hand, though he knew he was not the only infiltrator to corrupt that legislative body.

Carnifex's eyes never wavered from Thurion's, even as the conversation shifted. "Asha Seren was a fleeting pleasure, but she was never meant to last." If only Thurion knew the truth, perhaps he would not have even entertained this meeting; perhaps he would have fallen to the Dark Side in his rage. Carnifex decided that he would not let such secrets come to light this time, better to keep them in reserve; a dagger hidden within his sleeve for the right opportunity. Instead, he continued, "You waste too much time on the dead."

He was driven to almost visible surprise the moment Thurion broached the topic of his romantic life, something that was rarely discussed between his allies let alone his enemies. His thoughts briefly flickered to Gunnr, his bride, though his mind wiped itself clean of thought in an instant. Though his mind could not be read by others, he had made clearing his mind of idle thoughts a habitual routine. "Love leads to suffering, Heavenshield, you should know this already. Perhaps you have grown too content with your wife and your children, perhaps I will give you a reminder of what I am capable of taking away from you." It was not an answer to Heavensheild's question, in fact, it was a pretty blatant deflection followed up by an even less subtle threat.

Thurion Heavenshield ​

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Half a lifetime ago, the mere mention of his master's name from the man who killed her would have triggered an outburst of rage. Instead, there was but a slight frown and drop of his gaze from where he sat across from Darth Carnifex . The urge to avenge Asha's death was no longer his driving force, but rather his duty to keep his family and people safe no matter what.

"I do know. Love does lead to suffering," he confirmed, meeting the Dark Lord's gaze once more. "But I would rather suffer through the loss of a loved one than to suffer through a life without having loved at all. The positives always outshine the negatives. Love may lead to suffering, but there is always the choice to rise above and not fall into despair."

Then he recounted the words Asha would use to comfort him as a boy: "When life leaves us blind, love keeps us kind."

There was another question he wanted to ask, despite knowing more deflection was the likely answer.

"And what about your parents, Kaine? Did they love you? Love each other? None of us are born malicious or hateful. You were once the same as everyone else, thrust into a world you didn't understand. But slowly we all learn to make sense of it, with or without parental guidance. I was born an orphan, living on the street with only my brother to turn to until I lost him too. But you? You had a family who cared for your every need, provided food and shelter, education, comfort. Perhaps even love."

He eyed Zambrano with naught but pity, and a want to understand him.

"Which one of us do you think had the most incentive to fall into darkness, Carnifex? Would our roles be reversed had we switched places, or was Kaine of House Zambrano always destined to become Sith?"

 

[Darth Carnifex]

There were few living who knew the tale of his birth, fewer still who knew the history of his house. He had gone to great pains to erase all records of his familial predecessors from public knowledge, hunting down any who knew even a shred of their history and ensuring that they could never speak of it. By now, the entire history of the Zambranos lay within his grasp and his grasp alone. He parceled out slivers of his history to his followers, allowing them to glimpse a fraction, a fraction of a fraction, of the truth.

It was advantageous to keep one's history close to their chest. That way it could not be used against you by your enemies, your backstory an enigma to even the most determined of sleuths. He'd even demolished his childhood home on Thyferra, razing it completely to the ground and ensuring that not even ruins remained to mark where it had been. That action had coincided with a Sith attack on the planet, the evidence of his actions consumed by the destruction that ravaged the planet.

But beyond that, it was shame that drove him to conceal his history.

He despised his mother and father, he despised their mother and father as well, and many others stretching back hundreds of years. Their botched attempts at blood purity and their cowardice had only served to keep the Zambranos isolated, shunned from the world that was theirs by birthright. He had reversed the Zambrano fortunes, wrenched them up from the muck, and elevated them to divinity among their own people. The achievements of his predecessors could not even come close in comparison, not even the legendary Solomon the Black or Magnus the Red were so accomplished.

The Solomonic line began with his ancestor, the despotic Solomon the Black, and it ended with his father, Hazael the Foolish.

The Kainite line began with him and would end with him as well, for he had no designs for a successor.

He intended to rule forever.

"The blood of kings and gods run through my veins, Heavenshield. It is my birthright to rule over the weak, and it is the destiny of the weak to obey the strong. Who my mother and father were is irrelevant, their only crowning achievement was my birth. Centuries of toil brought about the greatest Dark Lord in generations, and that is all that matters."

Thurion Heavenshield ​

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Listening to the Dark Lord spew his typical delusions of absolute supremacy over all things, the Jedi sighed as he finally got back on his feet. Locking eyes with the Once and Future Emperor of the Sith, he stepped right up to his ghostly visage with visible disappointment. He had hoped for an intellectual discussion between two old rivals stretching back decades, but his patience for Sith bravado was wearing thin.

"You disappoint me," he shook his head. "We have known each other a very long time, Kaine. Countless times have we faced each other, ever equal in strength of arms. Save your speeches of Sith supremacy for someone who cares, but do not insult my intelligence. I thought better of you."

Thurion turned away from him, hands behind his back.

"We may be old enemies but that does not mean we cannot show respect for one another. Your crumbling empire would have failed to hold Dantooine had you and I not fought back to back. We both know I could have struck you down there and then, just as you could've had me seized and executed once the battle was won. But that is not who I am. I do not betray those I am sworn to fight for, however reluctantly I make that pledge."

His gaze fell to his own ghostly feet and the wispy shroud that made up the netherworld of the Force. An immaterial matter, impossible to explain as it only existed within the mind. He did not know why he thought what he was about to say would ever strike a chord with the Black Iron Tyrant, but they were words from the heart.

"I respect you as a most worthy adversary. The greatest of all living Sith Lords. No-one is more cruel, tyrannical, lethal. I should hate you with every fibre of my being, but I am now beyond hatred for others. All I feel when I look at you is pity and regret. What good that brilliant mind of yours could achieve were it not indoctrinated by the Dark side. I truly regret knowing that one day, I will be forced to destroy that brilliance, insidious though it may be."

Offering a sideways glance, there was genuine sincerity to his words.

"I have thought about this often. In another time and place, I believe you and I would have made great friends."

Darth Carnifex ​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Carnifex chuckled darkly, "I need neither your pity nor your regret, Heavenshield." He regarded Thurion coldly, eyes blazing brightly despite the whirling shadows which shrouded his mental apparition. The Lion King's profession of regret of what could have been was amusing, but unnecessary. Carnifex did not concern himself with what could have been, he focused on only what was. He did not comprehend the fixation of others on the possible outcomes of past actions, on how they could have done something different in the past.

The past was for the dead.

"We are opposite faces of the same coin, Heavenshield. Two warriors ascended to the thrones of our respective worlds on the edge of civilized space, masters of the Force, destined to stand opposed. Reflections in a pool." He pointed a finger at Heavenshield, "But in the end, only one can walk away from that pool. The balance must be broken, the throne must be claimed."

Those who had known him the longest understood his obsession over the Throne of Balance and the ethereal domain of the Mortis Gods. Much of his Empire's vast resources had been funneled into his own esoteric ambitions; Lothal conquered for extensive excavation, Coruscant burnt so that he could take possession of the Jedi Archives, and countless other atrocities and crimes that compounded on top of one another. His quest was never-ending, and his thirst for knowledge unquenchable.

Nevertheless, he changed the subject. "What do you plan to do now, Heavenshield?"

Thurion Heavenshield ​

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

"What do you plan to do now, Heavenshield?"

The Lion King peered into the crimson corruption of the Black Iron Tyrant's eyes, always trying to look past the guise of Sith arrogance to see the man behind. He knew it was a lost cause when it came to the Zambrano patriarch, but he would always try nonetheless. The spine-chilling shroud of despair that surrounded the Dark Lord of the Sith had little effect on the former Grand Master.

When nothing came of his attempts, he instead sought to answer Kaine's question as honestly as he could without endangering either Midvinter or the Order. He stroked his golden beard.

"With the Empire gone, I will lend my efforts towards the defeat of the Bryn'adûl in the south. The Silver Jedi have held the line for some time now, but they need all the help they can get. If my warriors and I can tip the scales in our favour, it is my duty to render aid."

A look of concern was sent Kaine's way.

"They are the most monstrous creatures I have ever faced. The Bryn have shown no interest in conquering the peoples of the galaxy, but would rather slaughter every single soul they come across, destroying their world in the process. They are mindless killing machines, enacting genocide on the entire galaxy."

He then felt an overwhelming need to ask, not expecting much in return.

"Stand with us, Kaine of House Zambrano. Direct your followers to fight back against the Bryn. Let us fight together once more, this time for a cause we can both believe in. You and I fighting side by side could push them back into whatever dark crevice they crawled out of, once and for all. Jedi and Sith have joined forces before, when the galaxy was faced with similar threats. We can go back to killing each other when the deed is done."

Thurion chose to follow through with his bid for aid by extending his arm towards his arch-enemy.

"Please, Kaine. We need you."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Carnifex knew of the Bryn'adûl.

The Empire had briefly faced them but failed to make any headway against them. The strain of the Third Imperial Civil War sapped the Empire's strength to push back against the rising threat east of Hutt Space, the Empire's southeastern territories falling to Bryn'adûl incursion shortly after. They were reminiscent of the Yuuzhan Vong in some capacities but categorically different and potentially even more lethal. They posed a threat to the intergalactic governments caught in their periphery, with the Silver Jedi having tasted the brunt of their ferocity time and time again.

Though Thurion might not have known it, a small force of his followers had traveled to fight the Bryn'adûl on Sev Tok. His own apprentice, the First Sister , had led the contingent against the Bryn'adûl, even successfully fending off their fiendish leader, Tathra Khaeus. But that was the full extent of his aid thus far, observing from afar and seldomly spending resources on actively engaging the Bryn'adûl in open combat.

Perhaps that could change, though Carnifex remained skeptical.

"The Bryn'adûl are dangerous," he conceded, "Their incursion into the galaxy threatens both the Sith and the Jedi, though it appears the threat to the Jedi is more immediate than it is to the Sith. The other powers of the galaxy would not take kindly to my aid, Heavenshield, not that I am too eager to spend it." He feigned contemplating, pausing as he seemed to consider his options. Though, in reality, Carnifex had already made up his mind the moment Heavenshield pleaded for his help, but there was no reason to immediately pledge aid just yet.

"Although," he dragged the word out as long as he could, "I would be willing to send a single legion to aid against their next incursion, but I will need certain assurances to ensure that the Jedi won't kill my soldiers on sight. Nor that they will impede in the methods of my soldiers to prosecute this war of yours, I won't have them be held back by Jedi weakness."

Carnifex extended his own hand, though he did not use it to grasp Thurion's. Instead, he looked the Lion King directly in the eye, unblinkingly, and said; "What I require is proof of your sincerity. I will require one of your children as a hostage."

Thurion Heavenshield ​

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

How easily one's hopes can be dashed in an instant. His heart sunk like a stone having believed he was making progress in convincing the Black Iron Tyrant to lend his efforts to the only cause that mattered right now, only to be met with a deal he couldn't possibly agree to.

"You- You're mad."

There were many things the Jedi Master did not fear. There was no fear when facing certain death, nor when standing before the infinite darkness that was Darth Darth Carnifex , in life or in this spiritual realm of the Force. But his greatest fear would always be for his family's wellbeing. That his oldest enemy even proposed such a deal caused more emotion in Thurion than had been shown this entire conversation.

"You will not step within a hundred leagues of my children, Zambrano. You may consider those of your bloodline to be no more than puppets or commodities, but my family is everything to me."

He did his best to stem the tempestuous Valkyri rage stirring within him at the mere suggestion of willingly handing over his own blood to his greatest and oldest foe. A rivalry that had played a part in the shaping of the galaxy, for better or worse. He had to turn away, for to look upon Kaine's visage now was to invite further loss of self-control.

"You're the same as everyone else; placing such a high price on cooperation even as the galaxy burns. How is the continued existence of life itself not reward enough for people like you?"

Sometimes he despaired for the state of the galaxy. Nothing but a cycle of vengeance and self-interest.

"No," he meet the gaze of the Dark Lord with newfound confidence. "I would sooner surrender myself to the Sith than to give up my own child. I know what you did to Nida Perl , how you poisoned that sweet girl's mind against her own flesh and blood. I have no reason to trust you."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Carnifex watched silently, observing the roiling emotions which threatened to overwhelm the Valkyri King. His own face betrayed little other than the sharp sheen which glowed within his eyes, belying the mischief he indulged in with a single suggestion. He had known that Heavenshield would deny his terms, the Jedi Master was incapable of surrendering to such harrowing circumstances as to deliver his own children into the clutches of his greatest foe.

But his words had accomplished what sword or magic would not.

It cracked the countenance of the mighty Thurion Heavenshield, made him turn his gaze away lest stronger emotions take hold. Though the gaze would return with renewed confidence, the critical thrust to the heart had already been delivered. "There is a passage in the Catechisms of the Four Sages that says that legacy is immortality," responded Carnifex, "That one can span the ages of history through remembrance of his deeds and the deeds of those who follow him, especially the children who carry his name. How pitiful a line must be to see its name snuffed out."

His tone reflected the threatening nature at its heart, but Carnifex quickly shifted the subject back to what they had been talking about previously. "But do not rend your shirt and cry aloud, Heavenshield. I need no assurances from you nor your kin, I will send my troops where I wish and have them fight who I wish. They will aid your mewling neophytes against the Bryn'adûl."

Thurion Heavenshield ​

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Thurion regarded the Dark Lord's words with quiet introspection. It was not his own legacy he was concerned about, but that of those that had come before. Of his dear old father and his beloved brother, both willing to sacrifice themselves for those they loved. All he wanted was a better life for his children and grandchildren than the pitiful and harrowing existence he was brought into. So far he had been successful in that, but catastrophe yet lingered around every corner. His only fear was one that could never be conquered.

Then Kaine spoke further, seemingly promising to render aid regardless.

"Then, when that day comes, I will make certain you and your legions are not disturbed by Jedi forces. They must realise the greater threat we are both faced with. I have no delusions there will not be complaints aplenty, but these are petty squabbles I do not recognise as valid anymore. The duty of a Jedi is not to kill Sith, but to bring about peace and hope to anyone in need. You are not our enemy; indifference is. A lack of caring."

To wage belligerent war against someone because they disagree with your beliefs is petty in comparison to facing a common enemy that threatens to wipe out every living being in the galaxy.

"I know such gestures are wasted on you, but... Thank you, Zambrano. It will not erase past sins, and our rivalry remains unchanged, but I will gladly fight beside you against that which will stop at nothing to destroy the world we know. None left alive knows your ability in battle better than I. It'd be nice to not be the recipient of your wrath for once," he added with a bit of levity at the end.

Darth Carnifex ​