Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Literal Brain Drain

HYPORI SYSTEM, HYPORI
NEW E'Y-AKH, OFFICE OF THE VICEROY

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

The doors to his office slid open. Gerion did not look up, though he already knew it to be the likes of Jared Ovmar. Santhe's CEO had scheduled another appointment for reasons that had not been discussed. Gerion could not imagine why this man had come to bother him. He already made it abundantly clear that Subach's seized factory was not for sale, but would be converted into a center of higher education. Nothing was more instrumental to structuring Hypori into a civilized, prosperous planet than planting the seeds of a competent educational system.

"You're either in dire need of something or severely lacking in good judgement." Gerion noted, still more interested in what was scrolling across his terminal screen. He was working on his memoir again, as he had finished dealing with matters of state several hours ago. "Quickly, then. I've no time for nonsense."
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
As Jared walked into the room, he regarded the old man in front of him. Gerion seemed to be quite busy with whatever was on the screen and was there a flash of annoyance in his tone? Probably, Jared had been told earlier that the Subach factory was off limits to him, something about an educational system.

While the Lord of the Fringe loved knowledge as much as the next guy, there was profit to be earned here and he would not give it up without at least a bit of a fight.

“Judgment is why I am here, Lord Ardik. I would call you Emperor Ardik, but it seems your throne was broken by some scoundrels in the past. At any rate, the Subach Factory. I know you want to use it as a new Educational Centre, but let us be honest here. The location is all-wrong, surrounded by other factories and the sort. So I propose... a trade, for a fair price you let me purchase the factory in question and in return... you may lease a certain establishment I have acquired recently.”

The establishment in question was a large hall, in a perfect location in the center of the city. Its former owner had mysteriously vanished and the building's papers had come in Jared's control by.. accident? Who knows how such things happened really.

And about the Emperor-part. How many Ardik's were there with a strong presence in the Dark Side of the Force? The Former Emperor had been defeated by Mikhail Shorn, the Thronebreaker, and then vanished mysteriously. It was strange that the man had not bothered to hide his Force Presence from Jared. Curious indeed.

@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Tyrin scowled, but showed little else in response. Tyrin was not going to give this man the pleasure of seeing him balk at the mention of his former occupation. It had been a rather drab affair that no one really liked anyway. Try as he might, Tyrin just couldn't seem to leave that sordid bit of his history behind him. It was doubtful he ever would. People seldom forgot about ex-Emperor's.

Still, if the space-cat was out of the space-bag, then there was no reason to hide it. There was truth in Ovmar's words. The place was far too ill-situated to make a suitable transition from a factory to a university. Maybe a research facility would be better suited. Nothing was official as of yet, only half-hearted discussions had taken place between Tyrin and his senior staff. Doubtless one of them had spilled the space-beans to their subordinates. An offense so meaningless and trite Tyrin hardly cared to get angry over it.

"Pray tell, what establishment have you acquired here?"

There was little emotion in the Umbaran's voice, save for a chilly sort of annoyance.
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
Jared walked up to the desk and sat down in one of the chairs, he was getting awfully tired running around everywhere. Mayhaps he would have to learn to teleport around, would be a much better way of transport. That was for sure.

“It was a library in the past, but underfunding forced them to shutdown. The place was on sale for a long time, got bought up by some maniac who wished to preserve the place in its former... glory. Did not allow anyone to visit it, I have heard he spent ages in there just rummaging about reading the old books. At any rate, it is mine now.”

Most of the books were still there and in pretty good condition. So that was an additional advantage, they would be able to re-use a lot of them and spare the costs.

@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

This lunatic acquired the Fac Compound? Ludicrous. Tyrin had trying to squeeze the deed out of the pitiable old codger who held sway over the place since he landed this job as Viceroy. It was a colossal waste of property, especially so close to the city center. Ovmar must have been more successful obtaining it through less than scrupulous means. Playing around within the law was Gerion's deal now, as much as he would have liked to simply give the man the boot and refurbish his library. Someone would get pissed off, cry "tyranny," and before they knew it there were more riots in the streets and a replacement Viceroy.

Not a future Tyrin was keen on, but Ovmar was apparently free from such fears. Lucky bastard. Tyrin would much rather have the Fac Compound than Subach's factory. He would be a fool to refuse. Why Ovmar had decided to bring up Tyrin's previous identity when all he wanted was a reasonable trade was beyond him. It did not factor into his approval of the deal, but it did factor in to his desire to see Ovmar be on his way.

"Fine. I'll have the paperwork drawn up and sent to you. You may leave now."
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
If there was one thing Jared did not like, it was disrespect. In his short life he had accomplished much, maybe that was getting a bit to his head. Maybe.. he was getting used to be given respect unconditionally and.. maybe just maybe Jared was going to do something idiotic now.

Then again, Jared had never claimed to be wise.

“You know. I have had a nice chat with Mikhail the other day.. during a bachelor party on Zeltros. It was pretty fun. Tell me, Tyrin. Was it hard to flee and leave everything you wrought in the hands of a sociopath with delusions of grandeur and godhood? ”

A smile played faintly on Jared's lips, as he mocked the former great Emperor.

@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Tyrin's lips pressed tightly together as he repressed a grimace and a rising temptation to asphyxiate the gentleman in front of him. However, Tyrin was far too couth to ever demean himself by engaging in such a flagrant display of violence. He was a civil administrator. A governor. A Viceroy with the privilege of bossing around other Viceroys. No amount of derision from this crass charlatan would ever remove him from power. It was irrelevant now. The Galaxy continued turning and Tyrin had built himself up elsewhere. Twice.

Tyrin rose from his seat, an intense hatred burning within him but carefully concealed by a projection of apathy. He extended his hand for a shake.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you. Goodbye."

No amount of tampering with the Force could have changed the tone of Tyrin's words. Loosely translated, it seemed to imply "get the hell out of my office; I am done dealing with you, you sniveling, unshaven troglodyte."
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
“Is that what you did when Mikhail came knocking at your doorstep? Hide your fury behind apathy and extend your hand? Pathetic. Here I was thinking I was meeting a Sith Emperor. Looks like I was only talking to an old administrator.. a Governor.”

The last words were spoken with a snort, then he stood up and accepted the hand.

“Let see how long it will take you to get ousted this time, Tyrin.”

@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Blah, blah, blah. More meaningless insults. Tyrin had moved beyond being affected by such things. He was better than that. He would not be incensed by petty words spewed forth by an up-jumped wannabe. He was the Vicelord of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and above the type of hooliganism displayed by Ovmar. Nothing would shake Tyrin's resolve in this matter. Even as Jared completed the gesture, shaking his hands, Tyrin was determined to disallow any of this to incite him to violence. Not even-

Let see how long it will take you to get ousted this time, Tyrin.

That does it.

Completely disregarding the above paragraph, Tyrin surrendered himself to the bloodthirsty powers of the Dark Side. He had been repressing his more primal, violent urges for his entire history as a Sith. A relevant analogy would be a large dam breaking open and an ocean spewing forth. A better, more accurate analogy would be a high-mass star going supernova and collapsing directly into a black hole.

There was only the briefest delay between Tyrin's eyes losing their usual impassive, dull blue coloration and transitioning to a terrifying shade of yellow and his handshake becoming a painful vicegrip. Not long after he got a good, Force-strengthened grip on Ovmar did he violently pull Ovmar forward, dragging Santhe's CEO face-down onto the desk. Tyrin's free hand subsequently found itself pressed to the back of Ovmar's head, exercising a particularly nasty aspect of the dark side of the Force.

Drain Knowledge.

Even with his own personal experience with the power and his insight gained from delving into the Telos Holocron, Tyrin probably would have avoided doing this if he had known prior that Jared was a mentalist.
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
...sadly Tyrin had not known that Jared Ovmar, Lord of the Fringe, was a specialist in the art of the Mind. Trained personally by Spencer Jacobs and influenced by a plethora of other mentalists, it would be safe to assume that Jared... knew what he was doing. The fact of the matter was still that it hurt, like hell.

The Lord had not been expecting a reaction such as this one. Maybe some Force Lightning to the face, a kinetite ball here and there and probably an attempt to attack his mind. This was a variation of the later, but even with all his experience and training... he was feeling overwhelmed.

His being, the entity that was Jared, was slowly but steadily being dragged from him and into... the Sith Emperor. His mind was fighting against it, for it yearned to be in its original host.

And every second his mind refused to get sucked up, was a second Jared was learning. Learning the pain and agony of getting his mind shredded and transferred.

Moments of his life moved before his eyes, his first kill, the endless nights of hunger in the Understreet, his mom clawed to death because of an overdosis on spice, flashes and more and more. It was too much. The pain. Horrid.

The Emperor would witness his weakness and shame. The proud Lord of the Fringe, reduced to a mere ganger in the Coruscantian Underworld. Risen high, but still a commoner at heart.

@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Tyrin could feel everything coming off of Jared. Horror, anguish, excruciating pain. It was phenomenal. When was the last time he had ever indulged himself in some human suffering like this? Far, far too long. The last time was on Mustafar, wasn't it? When he ordered the Death Watch slaughtered so he could take off with their Lucrehulk. That had been a good day. This, however, was much better. This was more personal than when he had those droids execute the Death Watch. They had taken shots to the chest and head, brief moments of fear and pain before dying. This was prolonged and Ovmar relieved each painful memory that Tyrin sucked out of him. It was like forcing open a book, ripping out the pages, and stuffing them into his pockets.

Not that Tyrin would ever commit such a crime against a work of literature. He wasn't a sociopath.

And while this was all well and good, the pages he had ripped out so far were banal, at best. Tyrin could have cared less about Ovmar's drug-riddled mother and his pathetic, plebeian upbringing. If he really wanted to humiliate this pretentious twit, he wanted to delve deeper. He wanted secrets. Loved ones. Details privy only to Councilmen governing Fringe Space. Tyrin was dimly aware that Ovmar would probably learn something from this experience. This was how Tyrin had come to practice the art of Drain Knowledge, after all. But that had only happened when he mounted a successful counter-offense and overpowered the enemy attempting to enter his mind.

The Umbaran continued to be unsuspecting of a counter-offense worthy of his time. He simply kept shifting through Jared's mind, only briefly perusing memories of his upbringing before callously shoving them aside and delving deeper. He wanted more.
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
The world turned upside down as his memories were violently examined, casted aside and the process repeated. It was humiliating and degrading. But through it all, Jared learned... well a lot.

For instance, the fact that the Drain Knowledge technique was a very elaborate extension of simple mentalism. The fact that he himself was specialized in mentalism, made this a very dangerous move on Tyrin's part.

It seemed Jared had been able to goad him into doing something very stupid, but he did not really care that much. For one, he just got training in a very nasty Force Technique. Secondly... he could do this.

At once the connection reversed on itself.

With Jared's experience... well this went much more smoother than he had expected it to go.

Outside his mind, Jared straightened up and put his own hand on Tyrin's head.

“Let's see what we can find out about you..”
@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Tyrin's concentration was suddenly broken when Jared's hammish-hand came up to try and grope his face. His intrusion into Ovmar's mind was broken, and he had very little to show of it aside from in-depth knowledge of Ovmar's childhood. Nothing of worth, outside of taunting the man about it. Tyrin, however, was beyond simple taunts at this point in time. Physical pain was clearly all this man understood. From Ovmar's slurred speech, it seemed he had the intent of inflicting the same treatment upon Tyrin. In that same instant, Tyrin could suddenly feel Ovmar attempting to pry into his mind. This was a rather poor circumstance for Tyrin to be in. He was gifted in manipulating other's feelings and thoughts through the Force, not so much defending his mind against intrusion.

Granted, he had done it before, but that wasn't against a seasoned mentalist like Ovmar. Under normal circumstances, Tyrin was finished.

However, this Umbaran still had the distinct advantage of not being doubled over a desk with a powerful Sith Lord's hand pressed directly against the back of his head.

"Pass."

Condensed rage turned into lightning, which then sprung from the hand placed on the back of Ovmar's head.
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
...and that was the day, Tyrin Ardik, former Emperor of the Sith and current Vicelord of the Confederation finally won a duel. Never mind the fact that the duel was won against a lad 3/4th his age and probably with only 1/10th of his experience.

No, what was important was that Tyrin had done his ass-whooping with style. After Jared awkwardly tried to grope and feel up the old geezer, Tyrin's hand had descended upon Jared's head with furious anger and much electrical awesomeness.

It was just merely coincidence, or maybe a direct intervention from the Based Gods themselves. That Jared's tutaminis kicked in right there and then, otherwise his brain would have been fried. Now... he merely collapsed on top of the beautifully-carved table.

So there it is folks, a lesson for everyone. Never poke an ousted Sith Emperor in the ribs, always thread carefully. Because he will kick your ass.

@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Gerion retracted his hand, smoke rising from Ovmar's unconscious form. That would sting in the morning, most definitely. This had been an immensely satisfying experience. The only problem was that electricity was difficult to control. Several stray bolts had smacked his desk, carpet, and chairs, leaving scorch marks. How utterly crude. He would press Ovmar to pay for the damages later via holomail. For now, he was content to simply see Santhe's CEO out. Tyrin had no intentions of reneging on the deal they had ironed out despite the meeting taking a turn for the violent. This was mostly because there was something to gain there rather than any sense of honor.

He beckoned for his two MagnaGuards, who were stationed on either side of the door within his office. "The CEO is tired. Please return him to his shuttle."

Wordlessly, one of the MagnaGuards hoisted Ovmar up and slung the man over his shoulder. Tyrin would have his assistant call a cab for the man. The MagnaGuards made their exit, carrying Ovmar unceremoniously through the halls of Hypori's main government building. Fortunately, most of the workers there would be too shocked and befuddled to consider taking any pictures.
 
The Admiralty
Codex Judge
As Jared woke from his slumber, he found himself in the cabin of his ship. His head hurt like a karker, but that could not be helped. The meeting had gone well, minus the confrontation that had followed after it, but that also could not be helped.
Regardless of wounded pride and a thirst for a rematch, Jared smiled, for he had gotten exactly what he had asked for. There had been curiosity when he had found out that his business partner was a Sith Emperor, former Sith Emperor conceded. It had piqued Jared's interest and he had to know.

He had to know with whom he was dealing, had to know if Tyrin had still have his edge or if after the coup he had been broken. Mikhail might have been a Throne Breaker, but he was no Breaker of Emperors it seemed. Because Tyrin was still a tough and mean sonoffa-- well you catch my drift.

At any rate, Jar' paid the expenses of their little mini duel and a message was sent with the credits.


Dear mister Ardik,

My excuses for my prior behavior in your office, I merely wished to see with whom I was dealing. There is nothing but respect, respect for the way you... ruled. Now then, the damages will be paid of course. It is my hope that we can look past this unfortunate ordeal and resume our profitable business relationship.

Regards,

Jared Ovmar

The message was vague enough for someone who did not know of Gerion's origins to confuse it with his rule as the Vicelord. But they both knew he was talking about something else, Jared did not know if Gerion really cared if people found out. Better play it safe regardless.

After getting himself an appletini, he received confirmation that their previous dealing would still go through and there it was.. one Subach Factory could be added to his list and in addition a fair amount of pay for the lease of the Library.

...and there was something else. In the back of his head, he could feel something. A lingering of knowledge, Tyrin had done something to his head, to extract the information. By no means was he now an expert of it... but soon. Soon he would be able to replicate the process, this could prove useful. Ripping out all the information you needed. No secrets would be safe from him now.

@[member="Gerion Ardik"]
 
Ovmar,

Very well. See to it that no other outbursts occur in my presence and we may continue to work towards our mutual benefit. It would be a shame if Santhe were suddenly considered a hostile presence on Hypori due to such pedantic squabbles. However, I have every confidence that similar events will not transpire in the future.

- Gerion Ardik
 

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