No Quarter For The Weak [Morrow]

[Darth Carnifex]

​

Iridonia

The shuttle descended through the atmosphere, wisps of white contrails spinning off from the vessel's large bat-like wings. Though unescorted, there was no doubt that the black shape that moved across the pale cloudy sky was just as dangerous as an entire squadron of fighters. The sound of its engines pierced the air, heralding its arrival long before the vessel loomed menacingly into view. Hissing steam accompanied the shuttle's sharp descent, landing gear extending to shoulder the impact as the vessel came to a complete rest. A ramp lowered from the jaw of the vessel's cockpit, clattering to the ground with a resounding thud.

Emerging from within the shuttle were a pair of Crownguard wrapped in scarlet armor and scarlet robes, each one carrying an inert Bilari electro-chain whip in their armored fists. They moved to either side of the ramp, standing to attention as the next person shambled down the ramp. Though he walked with a visible limping gait, the Emperor of the Sith was nonetheless impressive as the holos depicted. Taller than virtually everyone around him, Darth Carnifex carried himself with an aura of authority that demanded subservience without compromise. His scarred muscular body was draped in black satin robes, a gnarled cane with a glossy black finish clutched in his right hand as he walked, each step accented by the tap of his cane against the ground.

Carnifex glanced around, his multi-colored eyes glaring at his every surrounding. "I have come," spoke the Emperor, his words transcending into the realm of thoughts, "To speak with the one known as Darth Morrow, you will bring her to me."

[member="Darth Morrow"]​

 

[Darth Morrow]

As the emperor made approach the arid landscape would unfold before him, passing outposts in constuction and sights of soldiers moving zabraki natives across the landscapes he'd come to a halt before the palace in reconstruction. It wasn't terribly impressive, the palace once held by his son crumbled ever so slightly, small in size and poorly cared for as of late. Nearby an ocean of acid swelled and shifted in the stale air almost as if a breeze were present, though such a thing never happened on the world.

With the shuttle landing and the guards stepping out, few slaves could be seen gathering along with a few of Morrows tell-tale black and purple armed and armored soldiers, each carrying some sort of strangely illuminated vibrosword, equipped with a electromagnetic charge pack near the hilt, each blade and weapon itself customized to the holder how they specialized and requested. Behind them however, was another. A young woman of pale blue skin, with white hair and brightly colored blue eyes. As they approached the group knelt before him, waiting for a signal to stand the woman would rise first and speak in the tongue of high sith.

"My Lord, welcome to Iridonia. We are honored by your visit."

Pausing she'd let him speak, her eyes glancing over his much, much larger form than her own. The girl radiated energy much like standing near an open wild flame, though instead of heat, she radiated an aura in the force. It was impossible to ignore amongst the group of non sensitives before him.

"I am Lady Morrows apprentice, Karliah, she sent me to greet you. If you would like, there is a much more amiable space in the palace to speak with her. Or, I can go gather her."

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor looked down upon the apprentice of Morrow, a being who was so far smaller than the Dark Lord of the Sith.

So this was who his apprentice sent to greet him, an apprentice of her own.

Not Morrow herself, but a subordinate further down on the totem pole.

Carnifex pushed past her, his cane tapping along the ground as he took each step. "You may fetch your master and bring her to the atrium, where I will be waiting." The Emperor did not need a guide, the Force was all that was required. With the intuition of a Sith Lord, the Emperor of the Sith easily navigated the halls of the palace without losing a beat. His two Crownguard marched behind him, silent and their every movement perfectly synchronized.

The atrium was an open-roof courtyard somewhere along the main level of the palace, the cloudy sky which bore the Emperor down to the planet churning slowly above his head as he waited in total silence.

[member="Darth Morrow"]​

 

[Darth Morrow]

A few minutes would pass before the steps could be heard down the hallway, a few orders being barked in the woman's wise voice sent servant and guards alike running for the hills to keep themselves out of the way of her anger. As she walked an adviser ran down the hallway behind her, bowing and whispering a few words quietly before receiving the glare of death itself from Morrow.

"I commanded reinforcements be set to camp six an hour ago, so why do you sit here chatting like you have not a care in the world! Get moving or I will throw you in the camp with them!"

Putting a hand to her head she pushed open the atrium door, stepping inside and closing it before the adviser could follow her in. Looking up she would see Carnifex before her and she would drop to her knee. "My Lord, I apologize for the rude welcoming. Please forgive me."

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor was sitting by the time Morrow had entered his presence, his large frame perched upon a stone bench with his cane held in both hands between his legs. His eyes were turned upward, towards the open-ceiling of the atrium and the dark foreboding skies beyond it. He seemed to not notice her arrival at first, his gaze not wavering from where it was fixated, but as the seconds ticked away his eyes fell to land on her.

"Valeska," spoke the Emperor, forgoing her Sith title altogether, "I see you have made yourself quite comfortable in the home of my disgraced son."

He rose, each movement slow and methodical, to his full height. Though still recovering from his many injuries accrued during the Siege of Mandalore, the Emperor retained every bit his authoritative aura and presence, which threatened even now to suffocate the air around him in pure domination. Regality exuded from every inch of the Dark Lord, the alpha king of a domain which stretched over hundreds of star systems and commanded the subservience of trillions of sentient beings.

"I had such hopes for Vaulkhar, I saw potential," ruefully bemoaned the Emperor, "But he's little better than food for my pets now, a fate far more dignified than he deserves." Carnifex walked over to where Morrow still remained kneeling, for she had not been given leave to rise in his presence. "However, that child of mine is not why I have come all this way to drag you out of your personal endeavors, my apprentice." He reached down to cusp Morrow's face by her chin, pulling her gaze up so that her eyes met his.

"I want to talk about Evelynn."

[member="Darth Morrow"]​

 

[Darth Morrow]

The moment the name was spoken her whole body visibly tensed before him, her eyes widened in shock as she kept staring at the floor. Her now larger form felt dwarfed in comparison to the man before her, as if she were a mere ant on the floor begging for crumbs.

The name hadn't run in her ears for near two decades, the word long forgotten in even her own memory but brought to the surface with such ease, such command. If it hadn't been for the pure shock that left the woman essentially paralyzed on the floor she might have had a bit of will in her to disobey common law and rise against him, though she couldn't move a muscle even if she tried. His pacing brought a sense of urgency to her chest. Something she hadn't experienced in such a long time.

Panic.

He knew everything that has happened over the last few months, of course he knew. Likely every word Morrow had said, how she had said it. Most importantly, he knew the ill will she likely spoke to his daughter, and the beating she handed down.

Memories broke through the wall she had so carefully crafted in her mind, moments of weakness and vulnerability of childhood shoved away like dirt under a rug. Until now they had all been so well guarded, locked away from the prying eyes of those to glance into her own mind, though now they spilled like a wound gushing blood. Her pride so carefully crafted and molded with these visions behind her now seeped from her, broken from no more than a single word she had long forgotten.

Should her eyes have had a pupil, they'd be quaking in fear, shaken like a slave sent to slaughter as she had seen so many times. The steps slow and heavy shook her ever so slightly as he encircled her, and once her face was grabbed and eyes brought to meet his own discolored pair, he'd see the sulfuric orange now turned a slightly weaker yellow.

"My Lord, Master. Please... forgive me I meant no disrespect... I was only trying to scare some sense into the girl... to make her a better suitor for your empire..." The fear of the child he once trained was on the edge of her voice, the confidence crushed as he had utterly broken her one time or another, it was all there, almost like it had been near two decades ago; like a momentary window to the past, a break in her wall of cruelty, and hatred she had spread across the galaxy. Her pride in the moment had shattered.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He allowed his fingers to loosen their grip on Morrow's chin, running up until the tips of his fingers briefly brushed over her blackened lips. Then they withdrew, returning to the Emperor's side as he continued to stare down at her, his eyes piercing intensely like serrated daggers.

"Indeed?"

The Emperor stalked about her form, his steps slow and methodical, practically shuffling as his eyes never wavered from staring down at Morrow; unblinking. He reached down now, the palm of his right hand closing down on the back of Morrow's head as his fingers followed suit, each one drumming down on her cranium one at a time. Rhythmically he tapped them, drumming the melody into Morrow's head as he continued his interlude of silence.

"I remember a time where Evelynn fell under the sway of another Sith, one by the name of Nemene Talith. She was a powerful witch, cunning and ruthless. Poor Evelynn was never capable of the strongest will in my family, no doubt a trait she inherited from her mother's relatives. Nemene led my daughter down a dark path, making her slavishly subservient to her and inflicted her desires upon her until she could no longer think independently."

Suddenly his grip tightened on the back of Morrow's skull, and effortlessly he lifted her up from her kneeling position until her feet no longer touched the ground.

"She died for that, you know. Torn apart by slaves, the both of them. It wasn't until recently that I deigned to bring my poor fool daughter back from the dead, while the other queen remains little more than sun-bleached bones."

[member="Darth Morrow"]​

 

[Darth Morrow]

Morrow felt his pacing in her very soul, the sound of his feet on the wooden floors, the slow breaths against the silence. Her eyes locked onto his mismatched daggers driving into her for what seemed like far too long a time before he shifted to grip her by the back of the skull. Her own breathing hitched, and she waited, knowing this was a worse spot than the one she was in not but a moment ago.

Fear still gripped her muscles, the panic of both memories and possible death clinging to her chest and mind. She had dragged herself back from the dead once, but who knows if she would be able to again.

What sort of vessel cowers before a lesser lord.

The voice in her head spoke without welcome, her eyes shifting again at the thought of this moment making her so weak. Spirit pressing through its tomb in her mind, it hadn't been heard in years, until now under her complete control.

Rise and take what belongs to me, he is wounded, a lamb for slaughter.

"M-My Lord I have done noth-!" Before the broken woman could finish explaining she was lifted from the floor by the scruff of her hair. The long white locks pulling so tightly against her skin as she was relieved of her freedom to stand. A scream of pain escaped her lips as she hadn't dealt with such a brutal handling in years, never had she been so vulnerable.

Her hands reached up to try and pull his away from her skull to no avail, the angle he held her preventing her from making contact, her legs quavered ever so gently as she struggled in vain.

"I'm sorry- for her death my Master- I've only been- trying to help her find herself again!" She breathed heavily, the pain of her sharpened teeth ripped into her blackened lips as crimson began to drip from the small wound. "I would never take her free will- she isn't deserving of that!"

Do not bend before him.

STOP.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor flicked his wrist, sending Morrow sprawling to the ground as his grip suddenly released entirely.

He remained standing, tall and powerful.

Dominant.

"Is that so, my apprentice?" He had no fear towards his apprentice, he was the master; the alpha and the omega. There were few in the galaxy who could contend with his power, and none of them were within light years of his presence. In an instant, his cane was in his hand. Without warning he pressed its flat tip against the small of her back, pressing down to keep the smaller woman pinned against the hard stone floor while he continued to talk. "Perhaps that is your intention, but do not dare try to conceal your actions from me again. Not when it comes to my blood, even if it's such a worthless cretin like Evelynn."

He twisted the cane into her back, adding emphasis to his words.

"Do you understand me, apprentice?"

[member="Darth Morrow"]​

 

[Darth Morrow]

There were many days the woman might pose a bit troublesome for her master, though, today was not one of those days. Split in two the lady in her mind might have demanded asserting her dominance in a twisted power play of sorts, though Morrow was not so obedient. Pushing back the ill will of her not so happy partner of sorts, Morrow was thrown as if weighing no more than a stone.

Hitting the floor there wasn't a moment to move before a cane pressed into the small of her back, right where the sigil of the Empire was emblazoned in her white skin, showing now through the low cut fabric that covered really nothing but shoulders and below her hips.

"I would never try-" The cane pressed farther into her back, her weakened state feeling the pain up her spine. "I would never try to conceal any action from you my master... I knew you had eyes on the girl..."

Her back arched slightly, pressing her flat stomach against the cold floor, her knees trying to find purchase on the woodwork though held tight and given no permission to move. Lifting her upper torso ever so slightly, pulling her chin from the floor the woman nodded, realizing she was indeed before the lord of dominance. There was no negotiating, explaining, or excuse he would except. Only submission.

"Yes, my lord."

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He released Morrow, letting her lay there in her abject submission as he leaned on his cane for a moment. His apprentice had been sufficiently chastised, he could sense that she would remember this lesson for a very, very long time. But now that her reprimand had concluded, the Emperor could at last drive home his point.

"Now that everything is clear, apprentice. I want you to continue to aid Evelynn in repairing her fractured mind, but under my supervision. In a days time I will call Evelynn back to Dromund Kaas and reveal to her all that has transpired here, but not before offering her a choice." He extended his hand out, palm facing upwards, as green smoke billowed from within his cloak and coalesced into a sharp ritualistic dagger that levitated above his hand. "I will offer her this dagger, with the option to either submit to me once and for all; or to take her own life and end her pitiful tribulations."

With a flourish of his hand, the dagger disappeared. "It will be quite interesting to see what she chooses, apprentice, but you will say nothing of this to Evelynn. You will not speak to her after I leave here today, you will not see her until I call for you. Remember that I see everything, apprentice. I see through you as if you were completely translucent, there is nothing you can hide from me. So do not attempt to do so again." He slammed the base of his cane down near her head, an obvious warning.

"Or I will not be so merciful next time."

[member="Darth Morrow"]​