Private Mind Over Matter

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Aruza
Objective: Search for survivors and provide medical assistance
Tag: Nyaeli

The shuttle rumbled and shook as it broke its way through the atmosphere of Aruza, swiftly making its way down to the green forests and fields the planet gladly showed off. Within its shaking hull sat a group of 4 medics, along with three Jedi who was there to provide assistance. Silas had been tasked to go with the knight and another padawan to provide support, as well as evacuate anyone that was alive down there. Intelligence suggested there was nothing running around in the ruined village, but it was still wise to keep their wits about them for whatever caused this chaos.

Eventually, their descent had come to an end as they slowly landed on the green fields just outside of the scorched earth. Everyone jumped out of their seats and walked down the ramp as the medics ran out first and headed straight for the first building in search of any life. The three Jedi jogged after them, their eyes scanning the village entrance before them cautiously, "Spread out but keep close, we have no knowledge of what caused this atrocity" the knight said sternly, who led them through into a dirt path full of debris as well as burned out bodies that sourced the unmistakable smell of flesh.

Silas wasn't bothered about the motionless bodies that lay under him, through his time with the gang he had seen enough to last a lifetime. Instead, it was the smell that bothered him most. The stench was strong and overwhelming, and one of those things you couldn't get used to no matter how many times you experienced it.

"The smell of death is immense..." Silas remarked as they walked through the center with the medics in tow, still unable to find any signs of life. Whatever did was powerful and ruthless, and chances were the individuals were still close by too. There were still fires and smoke coming from the ruins, so they really couldn't have gotten that far.

Among the burned were bodies that hadn't been touched by the fire at all, nor did they seem to have any physical injury. Silas looked to his right and spotted a man who was leaning up against the wall, his mouth open in pure horror and his eyes wide in terror. It was almost as if he was completely frozen in fear. The teen let the others carry on and knelt down, putting a hand in front of the still man to see if any air brushed against it. As expected, there was nothing. Silas sighed and respectfully closed the man's eyes so he could rest in peace, allowing his soul to finally move on from the horrors he saw.

Examing his body, not a single bruise or cut was found on his face or hands. His clothing on the other hand only showed dirt marks from what looked like desperate crawling. Whoever had been killing these innocent villagers, they weren't harming them on the outside but inside their very minds and souls...

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Aruza
Tag: Silas Westgard

The bodies of the Aruzan villagers that were found within homes and around in the streets created quite a confusing scene. Some were burnt in the fires, others seemed completely physically untouched but there were entire groups where it seemed like they had killed each other with simple tools or even bare hands. But that made no sense at all to the Jedi and medical teams who had traveled here in an attempt to help.

If one Aruzan killed another, it would have been major news for the entire planet — that's how strong their stance against violence was. But here, it seemed like they had been mindlessly killing each other in great numbers, beyond anything the world had seen in a very long time.

It was a frightening thing to witness, especially to the young Padawan who remained close to the Jedi Knight, who happened to be his Master. Silas had chosen to look around alone, and while the medical teams looked for any signs of survivors, the remaining Jedi decided to investigate the town's main political center.

What they didn't know, however, was that they were being watched.

"More Jedi have come. How wonderful."​

After walking for several minutes, the Padawan stopped and frowned as he looked at the bodies of a small family, all killed together just outside their home, likely during their escape attempt. "Master, what is this darkness I feel?"

"A disturbance in the Force, created by the sudden deaths of so many," The Jedi Knight answered as he turned away from the horrific scene to continue the investigation. But the Padawan's gaze lingered and while he stared, a sudden image flashed into his mind. The screams, the pain — he could feel it all as he watched their last moments flash through his mind over and over again. He tried to shield himself but whatever was forcing these memories into his mind overpowered all his defenses, and forced him down to his knees, his hands raised up to his head.

With their fear becoming his own, he looked around, and then he finally saw her. Two orange eyes stared at him from only a few meters away, the woman's face twisted into a malicious grin and he could feel intense darkness from her.

"They died like the weak animals they were, and so will you."​

...

While Silas continued to investigate bodies away from the other Jedi, his work would suddenly be interrupted by a loud scream of pain from further ahead in the village. He recognized the voice as well — it was the Jedi Knight he had traveled to Aruza with. If he followed the source, he'd soon run into the street where the Padawan sat on top of the Knight, who laid on his back with his own Padawan's lightsaber stabbed into his gut.

The Padawan looked horrified, began to cry, and screamed in panic as he realized what he had done.

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Aruza
Objective: Search for survivors and provide medical assistance
Tag: Nyaeli

"AHHHHHH!" A blood curdling scream rang out into the open air of the village, one that signified betrayal and murder. Silas knew the voice well, and the fact it came from a knight was not good news. Sliding out the lightsaber from its holster he jumped to his feet and towards the center of the village, a place where he thought the sound came from.

Silas looked ahead and saw something he had never dreamt of seeing, a blue lightsaber in the back of a Jedi knight with a padawan kneeling beside him, crying his eyes out from the action he just committed. The sight of it alone forced the boy to open his eyes wide in shock, frozen for a few moments as he tried to rip himself away from the sight that was before him. Blinking a few times he finally took a deep breath and cautiously moved forward, his saber still not activated but tightly gripped in his right hand.

"W-what have you done?" he asked in astonishment to the boy who was still screaming and crying since he arrived. From the looks of things, he didn't mean to do it at all, especially from how he was reacting to the whole ordeal. Looking around the area he began to notice something peculiar, one that offered a dark truth behind the boy's acts.

Not all the bodies were unharmed or burned to a crisp. There was a group of bodies close by that had tools and other wounds showing from their motionless bodies, almost as if they suddenly thought to death without any logical reason. Silas opened his again from the realisation and glared back down to the sorrowful padawan, who still mourned the death of his master. Leaning over, he put a hand on his shoulder and urgently tried to get him up.

"We need to get out of here... Now!"

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Aruza
Tag: Silas Westgard

"Leaving already?"​

a voice echoed inside Silas' mind the moment his hand touched the Padawan's shoulder. It sounded calm and almost soothing, but there was an underlying madness in her tone that scratched against the edges of his mind. When Jedi reached out telepathically, they never penetrated beyond the surface layers of another's mind, as they respected privacy and free will.

But whoever tried to connect with Silas was incredibly invasive, and the weight he'd feel against his mind was much heavier than he'd ever feel from a Jedi.

"I only just started."​

After hearing the woman's voice again, the Padawan who knelt over his dead Master suddenly froze. His face contorted not from sadness, but from intense pain, and his hands came up to his head while he began to scream in agony. But where Jedi could help each other in a fight, there was no sign of the woman responsible for his pain. Silas just felt a darkness clouding the area and it centered on the Padawan, as his mind was targetted by something one couldn't easily understand.

"How much will he endure before he begs for death?"​

His screams grew louder and he began to thrash his body around as he rolled over the ground, clearly in such tremendous pain that he couldn't reply to Silas at all. He just kept screaming, crying, and hoping that somehow, this pain would finally stop. But his attacker had no intentions of offering him relief. "Make it stop, pleas- Ahhh!!"

"Will you grant his request when he finally breaks?"​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Aruza
Objective: Give encouragement to the padawan
Tag: Nyaeli

"Leaving already?"

A voice, one that was calm yet hidden behind a layer of madness called him to him as soon as he put a hand on the boy. Silas could only freeze on the spot, his body locking itself in place without a moment's notice. Throughout his training, he had experienced telepathic communication on a reasonable scale that didn't try to dive further into his mind. This one on the other hand was heavy and constantly trying to break through his mental wall to find out his deepest and darkest secrets.

"I only just started."

After a moment's foreshadowing, the padawan below him froze and suddenly let out an agonised scream way louder than before. It was almost deafening at this point, let alone sadistic. No padawan deserved this punishment, nor a front row seat of themselves killing the master they once looked up to. Without hesitation, Silas put his saber beside him and wrapped his arms around the boy to try and calm him down and let him know he wasn't alone "Be strong! alright!? you can get through this!" He urged with a firm shake while his head constantly looked around him for the person behind his ordeal.

"How much will he endure before he begs for death?"

"Get out of his mind you coward! while I am here with him his mind will not falter!" Silas shouted openly to the perpetrator before the boy in his arms began to violently thrash around. His suffering only seemed to increase, and if it continued it wasn't going to be long until his senses began to betray him. He needed to give him all the support he could offer to the boy to get through this, no matter how hard or how long it took he'd be there for him.

"Will you grant his request when he finally breaks?"

Silas growled with determination and forcefully turned the boy to face him, a hand gripping his chin to make sure he had his attention "Look at me! only you can make it stop and that's to be fearless. You can do this! belive in the force and it will guide you through this suffering." he urged, his eyes beginning to tear up from what was happening before him "This monster will not win..."

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Aruza
Tag: Silas Westgard

​

"Be strong! alright!? you can get through this!"

The Padawan registered the voice but even with the encouragement and strength from Silas, his suffering would not end. He continued to scream and move around wildly, as the Dark Side began to slip through the growing cracks of his mind. Nyaeli understood very well that it was difficult, if not impossible to shield someone else's mind, and that was her plan. She wasn't making this slow to punish her target, but to wither down the confidence of the other.

"Get out of his mind you coward! while I am here with him his mind will not falter!"

When he called out to Nyaeli, he could hear a bit of laughter echoing through his mind. She had hoped that he would have tried to communicate telepathically as well, allowing her to break through more easily, but it seemed this one was a lot smarter and more resilient than the Padawan she had screaming for his life on the scorched ground.

"Your assistance only prolongs his suffering,"​

Whether that was actually true or not was difficult to say, but she wanted to plant that seed of doubt in his mind. The idea that his help only made things worse, and all he could do was watch... nothing would be better at breaking the will of a Jedi committed to protecting others.

She then watched quietly as he urged the Padawan to resist, and even tears began to now form in his eyes. Nyaeli had achieved what she wanted, and ramped up the mental torture on the young Padawan, causing him to suddenly stop freezing — he went into shock and his whole body started trembling.

"Your attempts were futile,"​

As the voice echoed within Silas' mind, the boy stopped shivering, and with a look of horror frozen into his features, his heart stopped beating and his body began to grow colder. He was dead and together with his Master, the void in the Force from all the loss of life only grew stronger.

A moment of silence then lingered, but Silas could feel the Dark Side shifting around, now surrounding him as its corruption looked for any cracks or signs of weakness in his mind.

"How much will you endure?"​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Aruza
Objective: Survive
Tag: Nyaeli

Laughter echoed throughout his mind as the boy screamed in pure discomfort, almost as if it was enjoying the boys suffering. Whoever was behind this had no sense of mercy, it was sadistic and inhumane in its purest form. The lack of care for life made Silas frustrated to the core, no creature deserved such torture as this, especially a young kid. "You've got this, I know you can overcome this hurdle!" Silas said with encouragement, lightly shaking him to know he was with him all the way.

"Your assistance only prolongs his suffering,"

Falling silent, he seemed to look at the ground momentarily. For a brief time, the padawan thought she was right, that all he was doing was only making the boy suffer more. Although, something else a wise woman once said shoved those defeated thoughts. Master Noble explained to him that having loved ones, or people who care by your side can help you get through the darkest of times. Even though he had only just met his fellow padawan, he still cared for him as if he was his best friend. After all, they were both Jedi, and no matter what they stuck together.

Suddenly, the boy's condition began to deteriorate rapidly in his arms. Shaking violently, he had fallen into a deep state of shock as well as a point of certain doom "No... N-no! keep with me!" he croaked while the boy's movements began to slow down.

"Your attempts were futile,"

With that, his fellow padawan fell motionless and joined his waiting master in paradise. All Silas could do was look down at the terrified face in shock, tears steadily rolling down his cheek when the realisation of failure flooded into his mind. The only thing that comforted him was the fact he was with someone in his final moments, no one deserved to die alone. Raising a hand up to his face he slowly closed the padawans eyes to make sure he rested peacefully, his face distorted in sorrow from what this monster had done to him.

"W-what have you done..." he whimpered openly to whatever was out there, his hands clenching from something else leaking into his soul. Gritting his teeth a snarl began to slowly creep across his lips...

"How much will you endure?"

At that moment everything changed. The heavy darkness that had been barging at his walls had finally breached his defenses and made its way into the deepest depths of his mind. Dropping the boy's head to the floor without warning, he put two hands to his face and rocked backward and forwards, tears pouring from his eyes. He could feel the darkness exploring every last secret and experience he held closely, searching for a weakness to hold against him as a way to inflict harm.

"G-get out of my head!"

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Aruza
Tag: Silas Westgard

​

"G-get out of my head!"

Nyaeli simply laughed as she felt the barriers of his mind cracking open, just enough for her to make her way inside. The defenses of a Jedi's mind seemed fortified by compassion and thus were left brittle when they could not protect those they cared about. Now, she could feel the pain of his past, as mere echoes of his memories traveled along the pathways of the Force. With her Attani, it was so much easier to feel it all, to process it, and to tug at those things that wounded him from within.

"You understand pain,"​

Whether he wanted to or not, and regardless of the resistance he tried to provide, Nyaeli drew on the most recent memories first, looking to hurt him with wounds that were still not fully healed. In that very moment, it would be as if he was standing there again, the scored earth below his feet, the heat of the fire radiating against his skin.

The smell.

"Don't try to resist, embrace it."​

Hoping her mental assault was widening the cracks, Nyaeli stepped away from cover and appeared in front of him, her eyes looking to connect with his to ease her way into his mind even further. Surface memories and emotions were fantastic tools to rip apart the mentally fragile, but to break a Jedi, she had to dig deeper and expose every fatal flaw and painful memory that lingered, never to be entirely forgotten.

"Pain will make you stronger,"​

But while she dug deeper, an image flashed into her mind that forced her to stop moving just briefly. She saw a woman with fiery eyes and a kind of compassion similar to the boy who sat on his knees. It was her, the one who had come here before. Nyaely grinned and stepped closer to Silas, so close she could almost touch him.

"You know her? What if I make you kill her? Like you killed your parents."​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Aruza
Objective: Survive
Tag: Nyaeli

"You understand pain,"

At that moment, his vision ripped itself away from reality and transported him to a nightmare. Infront of him was a burning house, one that was more than familiar after living there for a decade. The heat that came from the raging fire was immense, almost real to the point it could feel its warmth burn his skin. Below him, the ground was black and scorched, permanently marked by the fires that had taken its once luscious grass. It was almost as if he was experiencing the tragedy all over again, but this time with everything he had dreaded to remember again.

The smell of burned flesh invaded his smell, something that only added to his disgusted sorrow. Although, that wasn't the worst of it. Inside the house was the sound of his parents screaming, one that was blood curdling and frightening. Yet, it never seemed to stop, their torture seemed to be eternal as long as he stayed in this vision.

"No...no... please not this" Silas croaked with a shimmer in his voice. All he could do was stare straight ahead of him, shaken and at the will of the creature invading his mind.

"Don't try to resist, embrace it."

"I...-I can't..." the padawans lips quivered as the flow of tears kept rolling down his eyes. The screams and heat only got more violent, something that slowly began to break his mentality piece by piece. He felt the thing move deeper into his mind, searching for anything she could use as a weapon to destroy him. Many were the goods times he had with his family, but the more she went into the abyss the darker memories she obtained.

The way the gang treated him, the dark things he had to do to survive, everything was there for her to use at will.

"Pain will make you stronger,"

"It- it can't... I won't let it" Silas said bravely in the face of such torture. Yet, that defiance only ramped up the terror etched in his mind. His hands, which were placed on his lap slowly fell limp to his side. The strength in his body was starting to feel the toll of his raw emotion, and right now he could do nothing to get out of it

"You know her? What if I make you kill her? Like you killed your parents."

For a few moments, a vision of Master Noble smiling at him on Ilum invaded his mind, giving him a quick reprive before his head was plunged back into hell. That alone seemed to click something inside of him. The aggressive determination was something he had only seen a number of times when he was most vulnerable, a side that made him into a different animal altogether if left to grow.

"S-she is my friend! I... I would never betray her!" he growled back, a hint of anger mixed in with his shaking voice "You will... not b-break me down..." Silas grunted with a loud sob. However, in truth, he could feel his sanity slipping away as the seconds went by. Things were starting to become dire for him...

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Aruza
Tag: Silas Westgard

"I can feel your anger. Your pain."​

Her voice said as the painful images now began to repeat within his mind. To truly break someone down, they couldn't be allowed too much rest. Just enough to give them a little bit of hope here and there, but it was crucial to shatter that hope immediately as well. Gradually, it would tear a Jedi apart, or so she hoped.

"I can make it stop, but you must open your mind.​

It was unlikely that she'd be able to control the mind of a Jedi — she realized this perfectly well, as they were far more resilient than ordinary citizens. But, she had to give it a try. If she could somehow turn him against his own people and use him as a weapon, perhaps she could get revenge for everything that happened to her.

One step at a time though.

"Or suffer until you break,"​

Nyaeli stood right behind him now, her fingers curled and her hands moving around his head — almost as if she was physically forcing memories, images and pain into his mind. She wanted to make sure he knew his options; either he gave in and open the way for her to control his body and mind, or she'd tear apart every part of who he was.

"What will it be?"​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Aruza
Objective: Survive
Tag: Nyaeli

"I can feel your anger. Your pain."

"Arghhhhhh! get out of my head!" He yelled at the top of his voice, slowly but surely evaporating his will to fight against her mental attack any longer. His mental reprieve of a smiling Noble soon was slashed in two by the screams and fiery torture of his parents, who begged to be cut down as a way to end their suffering. The tears in his eyes fell down his cheeks freely, showing the Sith how distressed he was from the whole ordeal. Seeing it over and over again was like being jabbed, there was only so much a person could take

"I can make it stop, but you must open your mind"

"N-no... please..." he almost whimpered, gradually letting Nyaeli go deeper into his mind, finding more hidden secrets that he dreaded for anyone to find out. Silas could feel the energy out of his body being zapped by her power, almost as if it was draining all the fight and energy out of the padawans body. Right, he couldn't do anything to stop her, especially when she doubled her efforts by grabbing him on the head. It was like she was trying to physically force her way in now that he was weak and defenceless. Right now, nothing was going to stop her taking over his mentality.

"Or suffer until you break, what will it be?"

Silas tried to answer her threat but all that came out was a gasped cry, one that showed defeat and helplessness as his body began to shutdown before her very eyes. If it wasn't for her holding his head he many have fallen to the ground by now "Ug- st-op..." he said in almost a whisper, his eyes getting heavy and his body becoming more slumped. Was this how his journey was going to end? no... he couldn't let the sith have her way. Although, at this point he feared it was much too late for a comeback.

As she dived further into his soul she soon began to notice something strange. Towards the very end there was a pitch black darkness, one that shouldn't be hidden away in the back of a young padawans mind. When she moved closer, it was almost as if something moved inside the abyss. Whatever it was, it certainly felt more sinister and strange than anything she had ever felt before.

"He will not break... he will not faulter..." a growled voice said back to her inside of his head, one that was totally opposite to the one offered by the teen before her "Most of all, he will not be beaten by a broken toy like you... soul stealer" the aggressive entity said back before the pitch black snapped, letting Nyaeli feel for herself what she was truly up against as it suddenly began to push against and suppress the memories that were taking over his mind.

"NOW GO!"