Private More Than a Bad Hair Day

[First Sister]

Location: Unknown
Tags: Darth Empyrean Arthos Vynea

Darkness.

Her eyes were met with darkness so blinding, that for a few moments, she did not even realize that she was awake until the sounds of a chittering droid somewhere within the vicinity roused her from her stupor. The Sister gave a deep breath, moving in an attempt to stretch her arms only to find that they were neatly restrained along her side. It was then that her memory of the fight came back to her, the intense, burning, and uncontrollable anger she had felt towards Grundark, which by now was strangely absent, to the point where she could only faintly remember why she had felt so angry towards the Cragmoloid in the first place.

Even so, she did not linger on that for long, because it immediately became apparent to her that something was missing, and it wasn’t just the familiar touch of the Force.

Her hair.

Bright cyan eyes went wide as she moved her head in a futile attempt to rouse her missing mane into motion. Instead, she was met with the touch of a cold, forbidding breeze across her bald scalp. Unable to move her arms in order to feel her stolen dignity with her own hands, the Sister could only cry softly, her emotions overtaking all common sense in the midst of impenetrable darkness. An attempt to call on the Force was instantly met with a brick wall, but as a Sith, she knew the power of emotions. Anger and sadness flared to the surface once more, tears streaming freely from her eyes as she fought to break the wall. Emotions poured forth, but they only yielded pain, more tears, and lost energy, bashing her skull against a metaphorical bulkhead as the reality of her situation slowly dawned on her.

She had failed.

She had been captured and humiliated by the enemy.

She was weak.

All the trust and resources her instructors had vested into her had been for naught. The paternal voice of her Eternal Father, once a comforting presence in her head, had fallen silent in disappointment. Where the darkness had once carried the warm embrace of love, it now manifested pain.

Amidst the isolation of her humiliation, the only things accompanying her was the idle chittering of a mouse droid and the droning sounds of her own wailing cries.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Korriban
864 ABY

Rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger, Maliphant slowly looked over the biochip encased in the durasteel display case. Memories of his own enslavement to the Sith doctrine once upon a time flashed before him - only to have it broken by the Darkstaff the Empire had sought from him, hidden away within him. Void like eyes with red embers danced across it before he could feel the corners of his lips tug downwards - anger beginning to manifest itself within them, spreading to the muscles in his hand.

"... followed by a lightning strike to Lord Grundark's chest. It was only after she was disabled by the First Legion. Sir?", the Frumentarii assistant said with a glance towards him as they came to a stop outside the room.

Maliphant quickly glanced up to meet their gaze, regaining his composure and apathetic look. It was important for him to appear in control at all times - the Sith respected such, and he would not placate even the smallest hint of weakness amongst his peers. He offered them a slight nod, and then motioned them to leave - having already gone over the report numerous times, he didn't actually need a last minute assessment of the situation anyway.

Glancing around, he noticed the Consul Representative hadn't shown up yet - luckily. It gave him a chance to establish the narrative, control the direction of this conversation by being first; an advantage in the world of intelligence, especially when the Consul Legions were always looking for a way to undermine the Frumentarii's power within the Empire. Maliphant opened the door and made sure it was closed behind him as he walked in - biochip still in hand.

"First Sister.", he said calmly, just over the sounds of her own wails that he seemed to ignore.

"I am Darth Maliphant. I believe we have some questions as to what occurred on Felucia. Would you mind explaining?", he said as he found a seat, carefully tucking the biochip into a pocket on his waist.

Arthos Vynea │ First Sister

 

[Arthos Vynea]

He didn't rush down the halls, that was beneath a Sith Lord, but one would have been lying to say his pace wasn't brisk. Maliphant was already in place, and more then likely with more information then he was. His Frumentarii were a powerful tool, but it was a tool that should have belonged to the Empire not to Maliphant alone. The entire idea of the Lords was brilliant in a way, but someone had to ensure the group as a whole continued being a whole no matter who's head the crown rested on.

He arrived just seconds after Maliphant, just enough to see him sneak something into his pocket, and not nearly early enough to have any idea what it was. He gave the man a cold smile and a nod before looking at the subject on the counter. A tiny thing, but from what he heard she'd packed quite the punch planet side. "I see she's already awoken, and intact. Excellent."

Taking the other chair he settled in as he drummed his fingers softly against the material. "Please, continue. The Consul is most curious about what occurred on Felucia as I'm sure Darth Maliphant has already told you." It was the sole sticking point for him that he was completely forced to give the man. Darth Maliphant had been raised properly and given his title accordingly, but Arthos was a spy originally. They'd forgone the naming to keep records from ever existing, but now he would have to wait for the new Emperor to see that he received one. It was always the little points that won and lost games, and from what he heard Maliphant was a strong opponent. Quite the exciting oppurtunity really.

Darth Empyrean First Sister

 

[First Sister]

Location: Korriban
Tags: Arthos Vynea Darth Empyrean

The brusque requests of the two dark figures before her were initially met with only continued tears, which depending on their collective or individual degrees of patience, might earn her some form of dire consequence. Regardless of what the two figures chose (or chose not) to do, after some time, the crying desisted. However, even then, her emotions were still running high, the pain of failure clouding her judgement as she sought to make sense of her surroundings and the two men seated before her.

Unfortunately, just as she had failed to defeat Grundark, she would fail in that as well.

“What did you do to my hair?!” She cried out petulantly, as if her hair, of all things, was the most pressing issue facing her at that moment. She once more struggled futilely against her restraints, though more as a way to vent frustration rather than to actually attempt an escape. “Where is he? Where is the voice of my Master? He’s always been there for me and now he isn’t!” The Sister continued, tears once more flowing freely from her eyes, albeit not in a manner that impeded her ability to speak.

“You’ll pay for this!” She screamed pathetically, her voice taking on shrill, ear-splitting pitch as the words left her lips. “I’ll kill you both!”

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"As I thought.", Maliphant offered to no one in particular.

He glanced down to a holopad in his lap and typed away deftly with one hand - as though the others weren't even in the room. A few seconds of his fingers hitting glass before he ceased, looking up and sighing to her. An expression mixed with exhaustion and pity - all directed at her, despite all her rage. As though her anger, her bald strength, her threats - they meant nothing to Malpihant.

"Your hair was removed on a guess. No doubt in a few hours you'll feel the headaches...", he said quietly as he reached into his pocket to pull out the case carrying the biochip. He tossed it onto the table before all three of them before speaking again -

"This was implanted in your head. It fed you lies, constant propaganda, thoughts that weren't your own. Synthetic loyalty.", Maliphant offered with a glance to Arthos.

"The voice of her master was nothing more than programming even she wasn't aware of.", he said sourly.

First Sister │ Arthos Vynea

 

[Arthos Vynea]

So it seemed the Spider's lackeys were willing to share information at least even if the creature herself hid everything inside her web. Mentally he made a note to remember it and Maliphant. Perhaps there could be an agreement made between the branches after all, at least on some level. Picking up the chip he stared at it like the vile thing it was for a moment before looking over to First Sister with an edge of anger sneaking into expressions.

"So much for the breaking of chains, it seems the Empire is more proficient in forging them." Tossing it back on the table like the literal garbage it was he glanced again at Darth Empyrean . "A surprisingly accurate guess, and I suppose this isn't the first time we've experienced this with them then? Well if you can't keep your position with power I suppose making your people into machines works for the weak."

Leaning back in his chair his yellowed eyes sunk into the shaved Acolyte awaiting her reaction as he considered the implications of all of this. How much of the false Sith Empire was held in thrall by these chips?