Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike. Sub Elpsis' clone for future rp.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Clone of Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori.
Links: Tephrike, Into Darkness, Castle Maysaf, After Darkness, Firemane, House Kerrigan-Alcori, Republican Guard, Dominion of Light, Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori, Darth Eisen. Some elements of the history are inspired by Sansa, though this character goes in a different direction.
"Sometimes when I try to understand a person's motives, I play a little game. I assume the worst. What's the worst reason they could possibly have for saying what they say and doing what they do? Then I ask myself, 'How well does that reason explain what they say and what they do?'"
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age: Being a clone she is less than a year old. Physically she resembles a woman who is about 18-20.
Force Sensitivity: Knight.
Species: Cloned Human.
Appearance: Physically Kyriaki resembles her template Elpsis. Like her she is slender and statuesque, standing 5'9 tall. She has pale skin and a prominent nose. However, she is less scarred than her template, as she has seen battle far less thus far. Nonetheless, her body is not unblemished, for the Disciples of the Vader are not kindly Sith. She lacks Elpsis' most striking feature, namely her milky-white eyes, for unlike her template Kyriaki is not blind. Thus she still has the bright green eyes Elpsis had before she was blinded by a reactor explosion aboard the Omega superweapon. Kyriaki has not been fed that well and is quite thin.
Outwardly Kyriaki radiates poise and control. She is not dainty, but capable of grace. The Vaderites do not play coy with the fact that her life is in their hands and that the weak have no value, so she has learned to dissemble. Her natural hair colour is red, but she has dyed it black. She has a Sith tattoo on her inner left forearm. It was painfully applied by a Sith pincerbug.
Her body bears the scars of the harsh training her instructors have put her through. She favours covering dark robes and boots. Sometimes she wears dresses, which reach down to her ankles. She is quite fond of jewellry, though she prefers it to be subdued rather than overly ostentatious. Kyriaki often wears a poisoner's ring. Her right hand was ritually cut off by the Vaderites in a ceremony. It has been replaced with a skeletal, cybernetic prothesis. She usually covers it with a glove. She sometimes suffers from phantom pain, which manifests in the form of an occasional ache.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name: Kyriaki.
Loyalties: Herself, Disciples of the Vader. In a strange sort of way, she is loyal to Elpsis, though she has yet to meet her template.
Wealth: Unlike Elpsis, Kyriaki is not rich. However, she has found a Sith Master to act as a patron for her. This does not make her wealthy, but gives her access to some resources.
Notable Possessions: Her most prized private possessions include a telescope and a picture of Elpsis. She has a Force Imbued Blade and a Cloak of Hate. She owns a Vaderite tome on Sith sorcery and arcana. It is bound in human skin. Kyriaki owns a Sith mask that looks like something a Vader fanboy would wear. It protects her from chemicals and has a vocoder that modulates her voice to make it sound more intimidating. She finds the mask silly and experiences claustrophobia while wearing it. Thus she tries to avoid doing so whenever possible. After all, the ancient Dark Lord only wore one because he could not breathe without it.
One of her secret possessions is a forbidden text that the Vaderites consider heretical. It is a biography of Palpatine, which depicts his rise to power and reign as Galactic Emperor. The Vaderites postulate that Vader was the true Dark Lord of the Sith and Palpatine only a weak Force-User. They have burnt any copies of the book they come across. The book Kyriaki owns is not completely accurate though, as it has produced inaccuracies of its own.
Skills: Like her template, Kyriaki is Force-Sensitive and has a strong Force connection. Elpsis' biological mother was a powerful Jedi Master with a strong affinity for healing, illusions and animal friendship. Her father was an evil Sith Lord who could harness Sith Magic. Elpsis herself is an incredibly talented pyromancer.
In keeping with this, Kyriaki has an affinity for elemental fire abilities. She also has the potential to become a Sith sorceress and has slowly started to develop these abilities and harness the power of Sith Magic, though she is still at the start of her journey. Finally, she is good with animals, Force Stasis, has potent mental abilities and Crucitorn. Both clone and template are empaths. Because she is of Elpsis, she has a solid connection to the Force similar to her template. But because it is a fragment, it is diluted. This means her Force potential is inferior to that of the original, though still significant.
Overall, she focuses more on cerebral applications of the Force. She can use Telekinesis and its sub-applications,including Combustion by vibrating molecules. But is not good at utilising telekinesis at far range and prefers finesse applications to large-scale ones. Hurling extremely heavy objects like Dooku and Sidious did during their respective duels with Yoda or creating area of effect shockwaves of the Force Repulse variety is not good part of her repertoire. She prefers using it for fine manipulation, such as fracturing someone's kneecap, tripping them, crushing their larynx or manipulating their heart or lung or using Combustion to cause targeted explosions through force of will. She can utilise Force Stealth to mask her aura.
However, she has developed abilities outside of space wizardry. She is very observant and has become good at dissembling. Indeed, she has a deceitful streak that Elpsis lacks. Given the environment she is being raised in, this is an essential survival skill. Kyriaki has been trained in the use of rifles, sidearms and bladed weapons. Lightsabres are incredibly rare on Tephrike. They are reserved for the upper crust of both the Jedi and Sith Orders. Thus Kyriaki has not been trained in their use. She knows of their existence, but these weapons are still all but unknown to her and she regards them with a sense of awe.
She only has limited experience with galactic technology and thus may be baffled by some high-tech applications people outside Tephrike take for granted. For instance, she knows that space travel is possible, but has some superstitious or inaccurate ideas about hyperspace and does not really understand how it works. In contrast to Elpsis, who is the exact opposite of an academic, Kyriaki reads voraciously and has spent a lot of time perusing tomes in the library of the Sith academy. This has also led her to knowledge her masters consider heretical. She also has some knowledge of alchemy.
The clone is good with sums, which can come in handy in managerial positions. Elpsis is not good with needlework unless it involves using a needle to hurt someone, but Kyriaki has acquired skills as a seamstress. She finds the process relaxing. There is also a practical side to it though. Making clothes for more prominent members of the cult has been a way to ingratiate herself with them. Kyriaki speaks Galactic Basic, but with a strong Tephriki brogue.
Personality: Confused, angry, guarded and deceitful. Similar to Siobhan Kerrigan's clone Enyo, Kyriaki was created by totalitarian tyrants who bombard her with propaganda and seek to exert total control over her life. In her case, it might be even more drastic since she has had to deal with indoctrination from not one but two cults.
The Dominion of Light, a Jedi-led theocracy, created her. Throughout her growth process she was exposed to flash conditioning that was meant to mould her into an unquestioning warrior of the Light. Then the Disciples of the Vader, a human supremacist Sith cult that worships Darth Vader as a God, stormed the laboratory and claimed her. Their ideology has not left her unaffected. Kyriaki accepts it as a fact that Force-Users are superior to Non-Force-Users.
The girl has been battered by two types of propaganda, manipulated and forced to fight. The Sith are not coy about their control. Denied a childhood, she has been forced to harden from early on and is cynical beyond her years. There are no heroes in her world. In life, the monsters win, and she can only rely on herself. Her claws must be sharp, and she must know when to use them and when to hide them behind courtesies, smiles and propaganda slogans. She cannot shy away from the cruelties that the Sith regard as par for the course, since otherwise she will be seen as weak. It is a struggle for her to survive in this poisonous environment, yet also remain true to herself. She will sing whatever songs her masters want to hear to keep herself safe, but she is using this as a chance to sharpen her claws. And when the time comes, she will cut and bite. She always keeps a weapon close and is never unarmed.
Kyriaki has an underlying steeliness and ruthless edge. The clone has become good at dissembling and hiding her emotions. Her survival mechanism lies in convincing her masters that she has completely embraced their beliefs, keeping her true feelings concealed as much as possible. Within this context, she has displayed the ability to deceive and even manipulate others. She can hold up a mirror to her interlocutor, allowing them to see what they want to see. However, she is still at the beginning of her journey. Hence she will make mistakes an experienced professional would not make. After all, she is very young.
This manipulative streak stands in stark contrast to her template, as Elpsis is a rather blunt soldier. Both have been put through a lot of hardship and been forced to grow up fast, but their circumstances have been very different. Kyriaki is also not book shy like Elpsis, who, while no fool, is not an academic. Her clone actively seeks out knowledge and spends a lot of time perusing the archives of the Sith Academy, as well as increasingly seeking out sources the Vaderite regime has condemned as heretical. She is a cog in a machine and not as powerful as her template, so she needs any advantage she can get. The clone is the brain to her template's brawn.
Kyriaki's opinions on Elpsis are curious. She knows very little about her clone and most of what she does has been filtered through Dominion propaganda, which depicts Firemane as evil. Far as she is aware, Elpsis and her companions, a mighty faction called Firemane, came from the stars. She was captured by the Dominion. But Elpsis overthrew and slaughtered her captors, defeating Masters of the Windian Jedi Order.
She was special enough to be cloned and the outsiders razed the Sith's citadel. This tells her that her masters cannot be anywhere near as all-powerful as they claim to be. As a result, Kyriaki idolises her template, seeing her as a sort of avenging Phoenix. Indeed, she has a somewhat exaggerated impression of her template's feats and power. Perhaps this is a coping mechanism to escape the nastiness she finds herself in. In any event, Kyriaki is determined to be just like her. One of her hobbies is astronomy and she owns a telescope.
Sadly, Tephrike's cloning technology is quite primitive. The process was imperfect. In addition to being sterile, Kyriaki suffers from health issues. The most serious is a heart condition. This puts her in a precarious position because the Vaderites exterminate those deemed genetically defective and a stain on the human species.To the Vaderites, the mentally and physically handicapped are 'useless eaters' and 'drags on the state'. This puts a good deal of pressure on her. She has to be tougher, stronger and smarter than the vipers around her. It has also given her incentive to find solutions to her problems other than brute force and raw power. She regards the sadism of many of the Vaderites as a sign of weakness.
Kyriaki is not free of the arrogance, xenophobia and Force supremacism of the Sith. For instance, she does not quite understand that slavery is abhorrent and is casually xenophobic. Likewise, she thinks that Force-users are better than squibs. However, she has developed a soft spot for "slaves, cripples, bastards and broken things", as she puts it. Her health issues and precarious position as a de facto outsider are reasons for this. However, it is also strategic. Slaves are omnipresent in the Vaderites' society, but dismissed as sub-human and abused with impunity. But they hear and see an awful lot. As a result, she has made small steps to cultivate them.
COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice: Force Imbued Blade | The Force | Sidearm. Her most important weapon is her brain though.
Combat Function: Kyriaki is at the start of her journey. She has inherited Elpsis' strong connection to the Force, but it is somewhat diluted. This means her Force affinity is weaker than that of her template, though still potent. Like Elpsis she has an affinity for elemental fire abilities, enabling her to blast, burn or blind opponents as well as cook dinner without an oven, channel and absorb heat.
Moreover, she has the gift to use Sith Sorcery, though she is still learning about the arcane aspects of the Force. Kyriaki is good at mental abilities. This is actually something she is better at than Elpsis, who has skill as an illusionist but relies more on her fire bending. She can sway, terrify, deceive, confuse and influence others. She is also good with animals. Kyriaki has not been trained in the use of a lightsabre, but carries a Force Imbued Blade. From a technical perspective, she is a better duellist than her template and better at stealth.
However, there is something wrong with her breathing and she has a heart condition. This can manifest itself in moments of stress and extreme physical exertion, meaning she is better off ending a fight quickly than drawing it out. She is not suited to be a tank.
Where possible, she will use misdirection, surprise and take advantage of her environment instead of meeting her opponent head-on. She believes in survival, not in fighting 'fair'. Kyriaki has acquired a good knowledge of poisons and is not shy about using them. She will usually have a backup weapon on firm of a concealed pistol, dart gun and/or knife.
Strengths:
- Kyriaki is the clone of a Force Master, who is in turn descended from two powerful Force-Users. Though not as powerful as her template, she has inherited a strong Force connection, with an affinity for fire. She also has strong mental abilities and has been trained in conventional weapons.
- She is adept in the use of finesse, misdirection and deception. Kyriaki is a combat pragmatist, which also means she knows when to fold 'em.
- Due to faulty cloning, Kyriaki has a heart condition. This has implications when she is under stress or in a state of serious physical exertion. She is more easily fatigued, her breathing has issues and she suffers from spells of dizziness. Kyriaki is no physical powerhouse and must rely on finesse rather than raw strength in melee.
- Kyriaki has not been trained in lightsabre combat and thus lacks experience in their use. Limited skill with galactic technology. She has also not been taught how to pilot a starship.
Tephrike has been isolated from the rest of the Galaxy since the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. Originally colonised during the twilight years of the Old Republic, it was subjugated by the Galactic Empire. The human supremacist regime established by the Empire was overthrown with the aid of the Rebel Alliance and the planet emerged as an unstable, multi-species federation.
Then the Gulag Virus sent the Galaxy spiralling into chaos. Warlords, Jedi, Sith and rebels vied for power. Prolonged warfare and the use of primitive weapons of mass destruction brought great devastation to the planet. Benign intentions turned to evil over time. Jedi who sought to restore order and reunite the planet fell to the darkness they claimed to oppose, while still believing that their intentions and actions were good. In so doing, they followed in the footsteps of Atris and Joruus C'boath. Believing that they alone could lead Tephrike out of the darkness, they created a theocratic dictatorship.
Three factions arose to struggle for dominance over the planet. The Dominion of Light, a totalitarian Jedi theocracy based on a debased interpretation of the old Jedi Code; the Disciples of the Vader, an extremist Sith cult that deified Darth Vader as a Living God, preached Social Darwinism and human supremacy; the Republican Guard, a rebel military junta dedicated to building a republic by Non-Force-Users for Non-Force-Users and driven by intense hatred of both Jedi and Sith. Their struggle made the planet bleed.
Firemane discovered the planet during an exploration mission. Having come across the Dominion first, it attempted diplomacy, being unaware of just how bad things were. One faction in the Dominion's government supported diplomatic accommodation with the technologically superior off-worlders, and invited a Firemane delegation to the planet. It was led by Battlemaster Mahtara. However, a faction of extremists led by Grand Inquisitor Antonius and the Grandmaster saw this as heresy.
They arranged for the delegation to be ambushed. Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori, adoptive daughter of Firemane's leader, was captured during the melee. She had covered the retreat of the delegation and remained behind. Her capture sparked a war. She was brought to an Inquisition ghost site, where she was subjected to mental and physical torture as the Inquisitors attempted to brainwash her. Ultimately they succeeded and she was reborn as Jedi Roxane. However, she was able to overcome her brainwashing and rebelled, killing the Grand Inquisitor. She and her former jailer Jedi Diona helped lead a prisoner uprising to victory. She was reunited with her family when a Firemane rescue force led by Tempest stormed the prison camp.
Meanwhile, Firemane entered an alliance of convenience with the Republican Guard and assaulted Fortress Purity, a major Dominion citadel. After a fierce, bloody battle they were able to crush the Dominion troops there and take the fortress. Firemane ultimately withdrew from the planet after having given the Dominion a bloody nose, though it signed trade deals with the Guard. An internal coup brought Mahtara and a coalition of pragmatists and hardliners to power; ready to fight a war to the knife. During its pullout, Firemane bombed the Vaderites' headquarters.
However, in a manner of speaking Elpsis has not left Tephrike. Or rather while the original Elpsis has, her mirror has not. To a large degree the Dominion runs on cloning. The talents of accomplished individuals are supposed to be preserved by cloning them, which is regarded as a great honour. By contrast, natural reproduction is stigmatised, as lust leads to the dark side. At an early stage of her captivity, the Inquisition extracted a DNA sample from Elpsis so that they could create a duplicate.
Thus while Elpsis was trying to fight her brainwashing, her clone was already being grown. The laboratory was located in a secret Inquisition facility. The Inquisitors and researchers there were loyal to Antonius. Thus when they received word that the Grandmaster had been 'killed in a Firemane bombing while heroically touring the ruins to help survivors' and that their boss was a traitor, they refused to follow the new government. After all, Mahtara had been declared a traitor by the Grandmaster. Thus the site went dark and they continued their dark. The new government needed time to consolidate its power and had bigger fish to fry.
The clone was given the best conditioning and flash memory induction that the Dominion could produce. This ensured she would awaken knowing everything she needed to know, and could be trained to be a living weapon. She was also subjected to an intense indoctrination programme so that she would recognise the righteousness of the Dominion. Her creators called her Roxana. However, she would wake up under very different circumstances than her creators had anticipated.
The Inquisitors had accelerated her growth, and thus she was born two months after the Battle of Fortress Purity. This was quite dangerous though, and has probably been a cause of the health issues the clone is plagued with. But when she woke up, the facility was under attack. A traitor in the ranks had betrayed it to the Vaderites. Dazed and confused, the young clone woke up in the middle of a fight.
The Sith and their stormtroopers stormed the facility, killing any Jedi they came across. The researchers tried to evacuate the clone's tank. However, they were caught and tried to terminate her to prevent her from falling into the hands of the Vaderites. But they were prevented by the Sith stormtroopers and gunned down. The confused, shivering clone was seized by the Sith. There were dead bodies everywhere.
The girl was brought before the commander of the assault force, a member of the Knights of the Ebon Claw. This was a militant sect and paramilitary organisation whose members considered themselves the true inheritors of Vader and an elite within the Disciples. Their leader, Darth Furcht, had been the Disciples' Dark Lord until being killed in a Firemane bombardment. Far from being freed, the girl had just been given to a different slave master.
The records in the facility showed that she was not the clone of a Jedi, but of one of the outsiders who had wreaked so much havoc on Tephrike. After learning this, the Sith commander decided to bring her to Lord Achilles and Lady Helena Ioannou, the son and wife of the late Darth Furcht respectively.
In the aftermath of his father's demise, Achilles had declared himself Dark Lord, though he was actually a pawn of his mother. He was a cruel sadist who revelled in others' suffering because it gave him power over them. Likewise, he was an egotist with an inflated sense of self-importance. He was also petty, foolish, and idolised his father. His mother had some cunning as a schemer, but was also a narcissist and prone to impulsiveness and cruelty.
At first Achilles made an effort to win the young clone over, but his mask soon fell, especially after he learned of her lineage. Though he claimed to be the true Dark Lord, his rule was contested. One of his rivals was an old Sith Lord called Darth Eisen, who had been a major power broker for many decades. Eisen had been smart enough to flee Castle Maysaf when Firemane bombed it, whereas Furcht stayed, believing his sorcery could defeat the outsiders. As a result, Eisen was one of the few Sith Councillors who survived the attack. Achilles claimed that he had been complicit in Furcht's death and collaborated with the outsiders.
When Eisen's troops marched against his strongholds, Achilles took out his anger on his new prisoner. The outsiders who had killed his father were beyond his reach, so she became the object of his rage about his death. The clone was often subjected to beatings or publicly humiliated by him. When her health issues became apparent during a particularly brutal session, they made her even more of a target of abuse, and he threatened to have her 'euthanised'. He was also a sleaze.
Once when he took her for a tour of his fortress and showed her the heads of 'traitors' on pikes, he remarked that once he had reckoned with Eisen and the Dominion, he would destroy the outsiders should they return, and show her the head of her template. Roxana responded by saying that maybe her template would bring her his. She was whipped for this.
Achilles' mother alternated between enabling her son's cruelty and at times being disgusted by it. Roxana picked up on the fact that she seemed to have resented her late husband for keeping her away from true power. The clone was the object of her cruelty and someone she subjected to mental probes, but occasionally Helena provided what she considered to be sage advice. The concept that there was life outside of Tephrike seemed to intrigue her, though sadly Roxana only had flash memories to draw upon and thus could not illuminate much. But to a degree this opened a window to the outside world. When she was alone, Roxana would often gaze at the stars, imagining what it was like out there. It became her mental sanctuary. She also started to learn.
Achilles was weak. He was a petty, sadistic boy-king, but he could kill her. Pretending to be a bird that would sing whatever sing her captors wanted became her survival mechanism. She buried her true feelings. She was surrounded by liars, so she had to be better than all of them. To an extent it worked. Like many tyrants, Achilles loved to have his ego stroked. The fact that she seemed to fear him appealed to him. She was given an actual room, but kept under guard. Indeed, he made use of her for propaganda, trying to pass her off as the 'outsider whore'. In secret, she was learning. She learned that his throne was brittle. She also made friends.
One of them was a coarse, horribly scarred, brutal soldier called Despina Nikita. She had served Furcht and was now one of the guards of Achilles. Both had used her to do their dirty work, yet she did not respect her ruler. She also hated the chromium armour and cloak she had to wear. The first time Roxana met her, she was frightened. On that occasion, Despina was butchering some 'uppity' civilians. But the soldier seemed to have a soft spot for her - and she was honest. Despoina saved her life during a riot, protecting her from a violent mob of mutinous soldiers. Through her, Roxana learned of the stories that were being told of her template. She also learned that Achilles was losing his struggle with Darth Eisen.
When Eisen's troops marched on Skywalker City, it came to battle. Achilles ordered his men to fight to the last drop of blood, but his erratic leadership did more harm than good. His mother used the secret police to root out supposed spies and dissidents, spreading terror. Their meddling frustrated General Stavros, the commander of their forces. Achilles summoned Roxana, forcing her to kiss his Sith Sword. He promised to her that the next time they met, it would be splattered with Eisen's blood.
Roxana pretended to be submissive and seemingly praised his valour. Indeed, she encouraged him to fight in the vanguard and bring her Eisen's head. After all, everyone said that her template had always been where the fight was the hottest. And she was just a degenerate outsider, while he was the true Dark Lord, the Son of Darkness and Heir to Vader. There was, of course, no chance of her trying to goad the tyrant into getting himself killed on the battlefield.
While the fighting raged, Roxana was brought to a chamber in the heart of the Citadel, where several ladies of Helena's court were being kept for their 'own safety'. A number of them were the daughters of prominent citizens, who were essentially being held hostage. Helena strode in, wearing a rather armour-like dress, and engaged her in stilted conversation.
She was accompanied by one of her Sith Knights, a Cyborg whose brain had been transplanted into a robotic body and who was used to carry out executions. When a guard reported that a few servants had been trying to escape, Helena ordered them seized and drained their life force. This made Roxana suspect the same might be done to her.
When the situation grew dire, Roxana tried to raise morale among her fellow 'guests', leading them in a recitation of the Sith Code and a prayer to the Dark Gods. She performed some of the blood rites with them. An increasingly erratic Helena was baffled by this, as the dark deities were indifferent. Roxana learned that Helena intended to go down fighting, and that none of the ladies in the room would be allowed to survive if Eisen prevailed. The Dark Lady hinted that being killed cleanly by her minion would be a better fate for them than falling into the hands of Eisen's soldiers anyway. To a degree, she had seen through Roxana's act, and told her that the star people had all left Tephrike and would not be coming for her.
Roxana managed to sneak out while Helena was occupied. However, a drunken soldier attacked her. Roxana tried to protect herself with a stolen dagger, and managed to injure the soldier. But she had little chance against someone who was a lot bigger and stronger than her. Her anger triggered the Force inside her and she burnt him with fire. But despite the burns, the soldier came at her and slammed her head against a wall.
The collar she had to wear around her neck gave her an electrical shock due to her Force use. As he beat on her, Despina suddenly tackled him and crushed his throat. Despina was covered in blood. The soldier had been doing a bang-up job staying alive, carving through enemies left and right. But the situation was critical. Achilles had fled when things grew dire. But the shield generator was protecting the citadel. It could withstand a good pummelling.
Despina wanted to desert and offered to take Roxana with her, removing the collar. But the clone realised she did not know Tephrike at all. Her supposed kin, the star people, were gone. But she knew the Sith. Instead she tried to convince the soldier to help her take down the generator. Despina was reluctant, but in the end agreed, as the sounds of battle drew closer and it seemed guards were trying to look for both of them. So Despina gave her a pistol.
Roxana was inexperienced in combat, but she was angry, determined and good at sneaking. Despina did most of the head-on fighting, with Roxana providing vital support with pistol and the Force. The two managed to lower the citadel's protective shields, and worked together to take down Helena's Cyborg minion. However, the exertion of that fight triggered a seizure inside Roxana, though she was narrowly able to recover. She would later conclude that she had had her vision of her mirror during it. Eisen's forces put the citadel under heavy bombardment and overran Achilles' lines.
True to her word, Helena went down fighting, using her sorcerous powers to take down many enemies before she was overwhelmed. Achilles' head was mounted on a spike. Roxana and Despina were apprehended by Eisen's minions while trying to get out. Fortunately, Despina had been carving through Achilles' men. Moreover, Eisen knew of the girl. So rather than being killed, they were cuffed.
When she was brought before Darth Eisen, he was not what Roxana had expected. She had been told he was flamboyant and eccentric, but she was still taken aback. Eisen was wearing a magnificent silver and black robe covered in impressive symbols, and runes. He was also wearing his green jewellry. Rings with rubies and diamonds graced his fingers. Eisen was jovial, even gregarious. He invited the girl to dine at his table.
He seemed almost offended when she was cautious about eating the food he offered due to her fear that it might be poisoned. In the same breath, he ordered the execution of several of Achilles' followers and directed his minions to secure various treasures believed to be in the citadel, especially works of art. He questioned the girl about her time in captivity. Here, Roxana proved useful. She was no mighty warrior, but Achilles had kept her close, treating her as his trophy. Thus she could provide some insider information. Two of the guards who had brutally tormented her were executed, as she embellished the truth of their allegiance to Achilles. She also pleaded for Despina's life, stating that the soldier had recognised Eisen as the true dark lord and that she would have been unable to take down the protective shield without her.
The dark lord was in a generous mood. He questioned her about what her flash memories told her of the outside world, remarking that the outsiders bombing Castle Maysaf was the best thing that had happened in years. Not only had it gotten rid of a false dark lord, the castle had also been aesthetically displeasing and outdated. If it had not been destroyed, he would have had to tear it down sooner or later. Of course, he said as an aside, he could not tell this to the common herd. Roxana made an effort to ingratiate herself with the Sith Lord, engaging him in conversation.
While they conversed, his soldiers were sacking the city. For her services, Eisen allowed her to join the Disciples. It was clearly an offer she could not refuse. He treated her a bit like a wayward puppy that needed guidance and training. She did her best to pander to his vanity and seem like she wanted guidance from him, a true Master of the Dark Side. Fortunately, Eisen had no carnal thoughts about her. In that regard he was surprisingly prim and proper. Or perhaps just too focused on himself.
Eisen kept Roxana close over the next few days. The sack was followed by a victory celebration. The Sith Lord certainly knew how to throw a party. He also delighted in showing off flamboyant outfits. One could almost think that he was only a pompous buffoon who had somehow stumbled into power. However, this deceptive illusion was shattered when he demonstrated his power. Two Jedi Shadows had been able to infiltrate the camp. However, when the assassins struck, Eisen easily dispatched the Master while Roxana was present. During the ambush, Roxana made herself useful by unleashing her power to roast the other assassin. She had been keeping her Force potential low-key until the moment of imminent danger.
Eisen was not displeased, but instead delighted by her display of power. However, he mock complained about her burning his carpet. "Oh my dear, my dear, I never knew you had such fire in you! That foolish Jedi never stood a chance...though sadly neither did my carpet. We need to have you immolate people outside of my drawing room next time."
He thanked the Shadow he had defeated for pointing out flaws in his security detail, then killed her. He bound her spirit, and fed the corpse to one of his pet Akk Dogs. The event left a lasting impression on Roxana. The dark lord might act like a buffoon most of the time, but she surmised that while this was partly true, it partly had to be an act. Otherwise he would not survived this long.
In the Sith society, Force-Users held all the power. Without power, you were fodder. After what she had been through, Roxana did not want to be at anyone's mercy again. So she had to learn how to use her powers, even if this meant entering a brood of vipers she had come to loathe. Thus she would attend the Sith Academy. Eisen renamed her Kyriaki, which meant 'of the Lord' or 'owned by the Lord'. The symbolism was obvious.
She also received a Sith tattoo. It was painfully applied by a pincerbug. However, all this came at a price, for she was separated from Despina. This upset her greatly. The soldier had intimidated her, but also been an honest protector. Perhaps Eisen had picked up on the connection between them. Either way, Despina was reassigned to the front lines. The pair shared a goodbye, and Despina passed on some advice. Kyriaki concluded that Despina was right. The world was awful. The monsters won in it. But it was not strong arms and sharp steel that ruled it. Not entirely, at any rate. The main Sith training institution had been destroyed when Firemane levelled Castle Maysaf, but ancillary academies existed.
Kyriaki was sent to one of those. There she was inducted into a new batch of students. The atmosphere was toxic and treacherous. Young acolytes were pushed to embrace their dark side and cast aside 'slave morality' in order to become unfettered. Relentless culling of the 'weak' was accompanied by ideological indoctrination. This included assignments and essays on questions such as why it was the duty of the government to concentrate aliens in ghettos and 'euthanise' the mentally and physically handicapped.
After all, as one textbook said 'the construction of a lunatic asylum costs six million Imperial credits. It costs fifteen thousand Imperial credits to build one house.' Students were taught to regard non-humans and non-Force-Users as lesser beings. Power belonged to those who commanded the Force instead of letting it command them. It was the natural right and duty of the Sith to take control. Equality was a myth perpetuated by alien Jedi to enslave mankind and deprive it of its rightful inheritance.
Humans were a genius species, whereas aliens such as Twi'leks, Neimoidians, and Rodians were parasites. Wookiees, Gungans and the like were dim-witted, barbaric savages who feasted on human flesh. According to her instructors, it was the sacred mission of the human species and their Sith vanguard to preserve the most racially valuable elements and raise them to a dominant position.
All those who were not pure of blood were chaff. Thus it was necessary for the Disciples to occupy themselves not merely with the breeding of beasts, but also with care for the purity of their own blood. Because the Sith were not barbarians, they had granted the aliens their own 'living space' in form of 'reservations'. However, the inherent barbarity and criminality of non-humans made it necessary to exert control over them. They were, as one instructor said, little more than clever animals. They were driven by animal instincts, desires and fears. Slavery was a moral good if practiced properly, and freedom a lie that caused more suffering. Exceptional individuals, namely the Sith and their enlightened followers, had bear the burden of responsibility.
Kyriaki learned from early on that she had to be prudent. Eisen might have taken a liking to her, but that was fleeting and meant little low. She was soundly beaten in her first training duel. During physical stress testing her heart started to play up, and her classmates started to mock her as defective. However, she found a way to turn the attention away from herself. When everything was going on and she was being bullied, she pulled down a lamp post so that it nearly hit the gang.
She was subtle about it, taking advantage of the age of the building by applying pressure at just the right spot. Thus they could not be sure she had done it. She gave her bullies a challenging look to see if they wanted to test her again, considering something heavy just missed her head. However, it was a lesson to her to be more cautious in the future.
She managed to get out of the forced marches by signing up for advanced alchemy/sorcery classes. Her teacher took a liking to her for her skills and said she did not have to attend the "sweaty hustle of the herd, running in circles". Kyriaki was a diligent student, spending long hours every day in the library or alchemy laboratory. Knowledge was power, and she would soak up all she could.
However, she could not escape the barbaric practices the Sith masters expected their students to indulge in. A group of prisoners were 'set free'. In truth, it was a sadistic game where the captives were ordered to run and the students were supposed to pursue and shoot them. In theory, the prisoners would be free if they managed to escape, but in practice this almost never happened. The students had to bring back a body part to show they had scored a kill. Their rifles were inspected to make sure they had actually fired a shot.
They were also graded based on how many fugitives they had managed to shoot and on how long it had taken them. It was her or the prisoners. Kyriaki chose herself, though she hated it. She was disgusted by the sadism a number of the students displayed, but held her tongue. The screams of the prisoners remained with her when she returned to her quarters.
The Master of the Academy, Andronika Thalakes, disliked her and often put her through assignments that would tax her. When she broke down during an exercise, she was threatened with being labelled defective. At one point she was put through questioning about her 'outside' associations. The interrogators found little when they invaded her mind, but it gave her a scare and she was left to rot in a cell for several days before being released. The headmistress was a lot more orthodox than Eisen and saw Kyriaki's health problems as a sign of inferiority.
One of the reasons for the headmistress' dislike of her was the fact that Kyriaki had managed to best one of her favoured acolytes in a duel. This apprentice had been stronger and tougher than her. To gain a competitive edge, Kyriaki used what she had learned about alchemy and toxins to poison him beforehand. To make them 'as strong and tough as durasteel', the young students went through periods where they were intentionally underfed. Thus they were encouraged to steal in order to make up the difference. Indeed, their instructors expected this. However, they were severely beaten if they were caught.
Their instructors expected them to steal, but punished the acolytes if they were caught in the act. Kyriaki was given particularly insufficient rations during this trial, and had to struggle to keep up. She was penalised when she took pity on a student who was not strong enough. There were also ritual whippings at the Altar of Vader. This abuse was carried out by more senior students. Kyriaki survived this ordeal, but she saw a student die.
At the same time the students were integrated into the troop by fostering the belief that overcoming these hardships made them special. Their trials were about following in the footsteps of Anakin Skywalker, who was reborn as the great Lord Vader. Being Sith, they were above the 'mundanes'. Slaves were present throughout the academy, and abusing them was seen as normal, excluding those who were the personal property of senior Sith.
Their education also included a tour to a ghetto, where aliens and other undesirables lived an impoverished existence. The filth and squalour was presented as evidence that the non-humans were inferior beings. During the tour, the Sith acolytes also assisted in investigations into black market trading. The Sith squeezed the ghetto inhabitants dry, seeking them as a cheap source of labour, but it was virtually impossible for the people to feed themselves without resorting to smuggling.
This required sneaking out of the sealed ghetto. Kyriaki was able to save the life of a young Twi'lek girl called Shakka. The girl was good with tech and salvage, bartering items for food to feed her family. She was running an illegal workshop. She was supposed to be executed for smuggling 'contraband'. Kyriaki managed to persuade a superior to make a slave out of her instead, arguing that due to her skills she should be taught to understand her place in things.
Initially Shakka was very distrustful of her and quite hostile when Kyriaki interrogated her. But the acolyte extracted a fake confession that framed one of the guards as a collaborator. Shakka was given to her as a personal slave. Eventually the two reached a modus vivendi. They came up with some codes they could use so Shakka appeared servile and trained in public. The Twi'lek taught Kyriaki some empathy and helped her maintain her sanity.
The 'inferior' Twi'lek was, ironically, better with tech than many Sith, including Kyriaki. This came in handy when Kyriaki and some other stuff had to access a relic from the past. In truth, it was an ancient stasis store of information and tech from before the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. It had been sealed by the ancient Jedi. So while Kyriaki was needed to overcome the Force glyphs, Shakka dealt with the technical side of things, overcoming the shielding and accessing the database.
They also had to deal with ancient battle droids. The duo managed to access a hithero sealed part of the structure. The information Kyriaki came across included not only a Palpatine biography, but she also found out that an ancestor of the Sith Master of the academy might have been a Jedi Master and had alien ancestry. Given the Vaderites' obsession with blood purity, this discovering could be quite damning.
However, she faced rivals. When attacked with some of the students who had bullied her, Kyriaki was able to prevail by using her fire abilities and what she had learned about sorcery during her studies. Unable to face them in head-on combat, she used her powers of concealment and her illusions to deceive them, picking them off one by one or warping their perception of reality to make them easier targets. Shakka could not intervene directly due to her shock collar, but helped her mistress by reprogramming one of the security droids. Most of the information was confiscated for 'purification'. However, she held on to the most sensitive stuff. The damning information gave her leverage over the Sith Master. Kyriaki was very tempted to use it for revenge. The head of the academy was a cruel Sith who had made her life and that of many others hell.
But as she returned to the academy and brooded, she realised it would accomplish little. The system would stay the same, and she would remain someone with connections or contacts. Whoever took charge of the temple would be an unknown to her. Thus she employed her knowledge more productively by using it to gain leverage over the Sith Master. Shakka disliked her choice, accusing her of just being like the other Sith. However, Kyriaki stuck to it. It certainly smoothed her graduation. Out of a class of thirty students, only half had survived. She was one of the lucky few.
The successful students were initiated into the order. The ceremony included an act of ritual maiming. As was custom among the Disciples of the Vader, her right hand was cut off and replaced with a cybernetic prothesis. Darth Eisen was present, having shown up to assure himself of the loyalty of the academy and check on the progress of his pet. The higher-ups used the chance to try and ingratiate themselves with the supreme leader. Eisen liked the cloak Kyriaki had made for him. In addition, she became a member of the Humanist People's Party, a totalitarian mass movement that was the only legal political party in Sith territory.
The clone left the temple with Shakka in tow. She had survived in a world of treachery and murder, but her true trials were only just beginning. War had engulfed Tephrike and the dark lord still had enemies among the Sith. She would soon be called upon to fight. She resolved to get back in touch with Despina. The soldier could be a useful ally, and she had grown fond of her. However, Kyriaki had not forgotten her red-haired twin, who lived light years away and who she was certain would one day cross paths with her.
