Private Not Who You Were Looking For

[Alina Tremiru]

There were few that could spring Alina to action faster than Alisteri. The distress call came in, and her infiltrator was up and off without any hesitation. She and she alone went to Daluuj. Whatever the reason for the call, it wasn't something she could just bring the Inquisitorius into. Not without it being selfish. Her golden eyes narrowed on the planet as it came into view. Ironic that it was another swamp, especially after Darth Strosius and her only recently talked about avoiding such places.

Perhaps that was just their luck.

If it wasn't for the cryptic nature of the distress call, she might've had a laugh. Instead, she wandered from the view port to let her droid set out their landing course to check on her gear. Make sure she had her weapons. If something was endangering him, she'd certainly make sure it couldn't for much longer. The Infiltrator set down in a rather desolate patch of the swampy world. No signs of life close by, just where the call came from. The Sangnir woman jogged down the ramp, sword in hand as her gaze scanned around.

"What did you call me here for, Ali..?"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Shadow slunk along the rocks, moving carefully from one stone to another like a creeping Nexu. It had been a long time since the Shadow hunted, having become so preoccupied with the illusion of civility and power. There was a primal familiarity with reducing one's self back to their base nature, their animal instinct take precedent over all of their other senses. It conjured memories of a time long before He'd come to understand what true power was, when He was but a predator of the alleys and gutters, and though He had become a predator of higher existence, He could not, not did He want to, erase that which tied Him to the jungles of His homeworld.

Bestial hunger, and the thrill of the hunt.

He watched the ship slip through Daluuj's atmosphere, tracked its passage in the sky until it came to a rest on solid ground. She could not see Him as He watched from above, for He was the Shadow and the Shadow was Him. Hunter, Predator, Killer, all these things and more. Dropping down, silently and carefully, He stalked His prey. The air around them grew cold, His prey's breath becoming mist on the wind, and the grass withering with the chill of permafrost. His hand slowly reached out, clawed fingers carefully pressing against the soil so as to not disturb it.

He was so close to her now, He could've reached out and touched her. But no, that was not His game, that was not His desire. His other hand reached back to His waist, plucked the rod of roughened cerakote from where it was holstered. His thumb teased the activator switch, not yet depressing it, but perpetually on the verge of doing so. He wanted to watch His prey for just a few moments more, to see how she carried herself when she thought no one else was watching.

But He saw, the faint micro expressions that passed across her face without her realizing it, the way she held her arms, the distance she spaced her legs. It was all there, like reading words from an open book, but only if you knew where to look.

It was time.

He thumbed the activator switch, revealing Himself as the eye at the center of a swirling maelstrom of shadow. The Shadow then rushed forward, blade angled for a killing blow straight through the gut, nothing to mark His movement other than the beam of hateful energy that crackled in His hand.

The hunt had begun.

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The unsettling feeling of being watched was something Alina was still getting used to. The threat of danger. That sixth sense all people blessed with the Force could feel. Well, most. Not her. Never her. Not until Alisteri helped her fix what her mother had broken. Now it was a chill up her spine. The hair on her neck sticking up. A sourness on her tongue. She couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. What the threat was.

Then she did. Her body spun in an instant, her saber roaring to life as pure instinct took over. Battering aside the strike meant to kill with all her might.

A trap. That was her first thought. Her eyes glared as she tried to focus on her assailant. A swirling mass of shadow, formless, yet not? A shade. She leapt away, lifting her blade. Readying for the next strike.

"Will you say who sent you, or will I have to beat it out of you? I'm fine either way."

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The edges of the Shadow's shape rippled with amusement, a pair of bright red eyes piercing the gloomy façade. It raised its lightsaber up, the blade of plasma running parallel vertically with its body. When it moved, the Shadow appeared to do so as if submerged in water. The attack came much quicker than it appeared to, the air distorting as the weapon was in one place before suddenly snapping to a new position. It made following the Shadow's movements increasing difficult, and the ferocity of its attack only compounded the struggle which came with facing such an unorthodox adversary.

I have come.​

When the Shadow spoke, it did so not with words, but with sensation. The intrinsic understanding causing the skin on Alina's to prickle with goosepimples, the hair standing on edge. The water in the nearby swampy pooled rippled as if a stone had bounced across its surface, though no reason for the distortion could be located. The animals, those that hadn't already fled, writhed in discomfort as their senses were completely scrambled. A tree somewhere at Alina's back began to rise, root system pulled straight from the ground by an invisible will.

To test your worth.​

The tree turned on its side, and flew through the air with incredible force. It was aimed to strike Alina in the back, knocking her over and crushing her beneath its weight had it hit its mark. The Shadow watched, vigilant, stalking the Sangir like a prowling hunter circling its hapless prey.

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The timing of the strikes were off. The pang of danger in the back of her mind didn't match the movements her eyes saw. For so long, all her life really, Alina had learned to fight with them. Her eyes. Her ears. All of her senses, save for the one she'd always wanted the most. And now that she could feel the Force, it only threw everything into chaos. The abnormal movements of this Shadow had her far too busy recovering from each strike to even strike back. She brought her blade to block a strike, only for the Force to send it's warning of danger just before she intended to.

If not for the raw speed and strength her Sangnir form had, she had little doubt she'd of been cut apart.

Another, larger sensation of danger pulled her from the onset of frustration. Another crackle of red energy joined her saber as she wrenched the black blade on her back free of it's holster. It's red edge burned alight as she swung. Raw Anima coursed through her very being as her weapon hacked into the incoming tree. Shattering it apart on impact to send the splinters scattering around her.

Her lightsaber itself extinguished, holstered back on her hip as she leveled Uyzuyûsi towards the shade. A steeling calm took over her gaze, filled with a seething rage. The Force wasn't wrong in it's warnings. She was too used to relying on her own senses to realize just what was happening. The shade here, how it affected those senses she relied on for so long, she wouldn't of survived a fight like this.

Now was different.

"Your master is unwise."

Her heels dug into the solid parts of land she'd been sure to keep her footing on as she surged forward. A scattering of swampy water accompanied her strike towards the shade, heavy and powerful. She could fight this. If anything, she was built to fight things like this. Her blade carved through the very Force around them. It's edge was lethal, final. Whatever sent this creature she'd figure out eventually.

Now, she just needed to kill it.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Do you believe we serve a different master?​

The Shadow seemed to shimmer with laughter, whatever facsimile it could muster anyways. But it did not last long, the Shadow's lightsaber shone bright as it struck again. Blade slipped against blade, dazzling the air with sparks of incandescent color. The Shadow's form appeared amorphous, the lightsaber traveling along vectors that would have been a physical impossibility otherwise. It was like fighting against darkness itself, the very shadows around them given purpose and substance.

But that was not the truth, there was something deep beneath all of this. If Alina could just reach out with her senses, and peer through the veil of misdirection, she would see what the Shadow was. It was not some mythical entity conjured by dark magic, it was a being of flesh and blood swaddled in a thick blanket of pure darkness. They were large, larger than any normal humanoid. Their features were further concealed by hood and mask, no light piercing beyond either. Beyond all doubt, however, was that they were skilled, exceptionally so.

Perhaps what was more concerning was that it was very possible that they weren't fighting with their full skill. And if so, then what did that bode for Alina Tremiru?

As they fought, blades clashing almost constantly, the shadows near Alina's feet began to move of their own accord. They quickly swept across the ground, creeping like serpents, until they suddenly surged forth and attempted to wrap around Alina's legs. Whatever dark power animated them sought to ensnare Alina's legs, knock her off balance, and even pull her to the ground. In such a compromised position, she would be vulnerable to the snapping saber of the enigmatic Shadow that fought her.

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

A servant of her master?

Her eyes narrowed. There was no response from the Sangnir as she turned her efforts instead to the exchange of blows. She wielded the large weapon with surprising grace and speed, but the hammering strength behind it was just testament to how inhuman her might was. And yet, it frustratingly wasn't going anywhere. This stranger that had lured her to the swamp was trading blows with relative ease.

Then the dark spread. She could feel it clawing around her. Threatening to take hold. Her lips thinned. Rather than try to escape, she stayed where she was. And let loose the void that was hers and hers alone. Her influence spread rapidly, and where it did the Force no longer could. A void in the truest sense, spreading around her. Threatening to consume the stranger in front of her.

But she didn't slow. Her strength, her speed, it wasn't born of the Force. But with the Force gone, the blade she wielded became little more than what it had always been. A slab of metal, too unwieldy for most. It didn't matter if it cut or not at this point though. She'd beat this intruder into the muck they lured her to.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Shadow dimmed, but it did not disappear.

Whatever void the Sangnir created through her biology, it seemed to not have any affect within a meter-wide radius around the Shadow. Because of this, the Shadow grew more distinct, visibly more tangible. The silhouette of a humanoid body could be seen at the center of the Shadow, two arms, two legs, and a head connected by a broad torso. In the Shadow's right hand was its weapon, a lightsaber, which still crackled angrily amidst what shadow remained.

Very clever, Alina Tremiru.​

The Shadow's voice had also become less ethereal, more anchored in reality. It was clearly coming from the Shadow this time as well, no longer did the voice tantalize her ears as though it was being whispered directly into them. Two pinpricks of light glowed from inside the Shadow, right where the eyes would be. Both were bright red, the same color as the crackling saber in the Shadow's hand. They seemed to see straight through Alina, as though she were little more than a thin piece of flimsiplast held up to the light; naked and alone before the imperious gaze.

But it will take much more than that...​

Only then did the darkness start to recede, revealing the identity of Alina's assailant. Graying black hair was tousled around broad muscular shoulders, a sharp chin accented by a coarse beard of similar coloration. That withering gaze belonged to a pair of unblinking eyes, pupils red like hot iron submerged in pools of inescapable blackness. A red tattoo was inked upon His brow, the Sith Eternal crest inlaid within a Sith sunburst.

"To best me."

Darth Carnifex, Dark Lord of the Sith, stood opposite of Alina Tremiru.

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina didn't move from where she stood. The void didn't send the creature back from whence it came. Meaning, it was either too strong for her influence to snuff out, or.. The shadows reseeded, and her eyes narrowed. Well. She thought. That saves me from finding it's master. She tightened the grip on her blade, lifted the large hunk of blackened Sith Steel up. Leveled it for the Dark Lord's center mass.

"I figured you were above testing the apprentices of other Sith Lords. Master must be rather curious how you'd fare."

Now she was talking. Why wouldn't she be? She had no intention of fighting any of the current trio in charge of the Sith Order. "I don't like showing my tricks."

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Lady Raaf agreed that you needed to be tested, Alina Tremiru. I am more than willing to oblige an old friend when their request is so trivial."

The conversation didn't necessarily pan out in that manner, but the Dark Lord did not lie; He merely distorted the truth. The Dark Side of the Force was strong in Him, stronger than most other individuals she might have encountered prior to this moment. However, it was clearly being subdued, restrained. The Dark Lord was purposefully holding Himself back, limiting Himself in the face of this Sith Knight. Whether that was for His own enjoyment or for the sake of Tremiru was impossible to discern.

"But words will not avail you, Alina Tremiru. I do not plan to let you leave without the satisfaction of a fight, and this world may yet be your tomb." The Dark Lord's image appeared to flicker, like distortion on an old holotape, before He was suddenly right next to her. His blade swung out towards her head, quick as a viper's strike, with full lethal intent. In the span between His words had left His lips and the strike aimed for her head, there was a sharp burst of Dark Side power that saturated the environment around them. Much like the burning core of a fusion reactor, the Dark Lord had briefly opened the reactor core to allow a single burst of energy to escape; allotting His movements nightmarish speed and precision.

It was survival or death now.

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Personally I'd rather talk than figh-" An echo in the Force cut her off midsentence. Her eyes widened as she spun, her blade barely up in time to catch the strike along it. Precognition had never been more useful. Alina skittered back, leaping away with the power of the blow to try and keep some distance between her and this Dark Lord. She wasn't ready. She knew that much.

Still couldn't hide the grin on her face, though.

"Aren't you a little old to try and satisfy someone like me?"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Do you believe yourself above being tested? How arrogant."

The Dark Lord closed the distance between them with nightmarish intensity, almost phasing instantaneously from one point to the other. His lightsaber lashed out ferociously, red blade singing through the air with repeated staccato strikes. He never attacked from the same angle twice in a row, almost as though He was systematically testing each of Alina's zones of contact. Even at the speed which Carnifex assaulted His adversary, it was clear that He was still withholding the vast majority of His strength.

He didn't seem to be slowing down either, no matter how strong His attacks were or how quickly they came. He never broke expression either, His eyes firmly transfixed on Alina and never wavering. The sheer intensity that coursed through the Dark Lord's body was enough to dazzle the senses, showing just how far and away He was above any ordinary being in the galaxy.

After a few more minutes of intense fighting, the Dark Lord finally moved to speak again. "I'm still waiting, little Tremiru. Your master has told me much about you, and you've yet to live up to her high estimations. Quit hiding and show me what I want to see." He blasted the area in front of Him with dazzling arcs of crimson lightning, setting fire to the nearby foliage and trees. It would quickly escalate into a wildfire that enclosed their little arena by high walls of flames.

"Show me your warform."

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Again he struck. This time unending. The flat of her blade struck out in bitter parries, using her own strength behind each strike to keep from being forced any farther back than she already was. Just trying to catch the strike was only going to force her deeper into the muck. It kept her from moving as much as she wanted to. As much as she needed to, really. Her teeth gritted together, her fangs bared in her annoyance.

She wasn't here to be tested.

Fire.

Alina's gaze shifted just a little to watch the flame around them form. She hated fire. For good reason, of course. Sangnir's greatest weakness was the kiss of flame. It was more than a threat of pain. It was death.

"Show me your warform."

Annoyance flashed in her eyes. In this life, secrets were their own level of power. It seemed this was a secret her master didn't allow her to keep from those very much her enemies. She growled, ever so faintly. Then, flesh erupted. Her warform ripped from her pale skin, it's grey fur massing to it's full height. Alina rolled her shoulders, stood. Blood red eyes now stared down at the shade of Carnifex. One hand now gripped her blade as she crouched. Prepared herself.

"Fine."

Then she went on the offensive. The ground ripped under her claws as she tore forth, far faster than she had been before. She brought the blade down, cutting through the air with a strength well beyond what she'd had prior. The form made her strong, fast. At the cost of the Anima in her Maw.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

There it was, just as He had requested.

"Magnificent."

Then He was on the defensive as the great beast bore down upon Him. His red saber moved quickly in tune with Alina's attacks, almost a blur for the duration of their skirmish. Before, the Dark Lord's movements and gestures had been effortless, an afterthought on the same level as breathing to any other creature. But now, it was evident that He had to put forth a modicum of effort in countering the transformed Sangnir's ferocious assault.

"So rare," spoke Carnifex in between blows, "To see one of your kind in their warform. Your kind does so devoted cherish secrets, after all. To have them broken must be such an agony. Who can you trust in the end? Your master, who has allowed this test to happen in the first place? Perhaps Alisteri, who made this trap possible? Can you trust any of them? Do you know what they have said, who they have told, when you were not listening?"

He parried one of Alina's attacks, the air around the Dark Lord bursting out as He leapt backwards and landed a few meters away; the wall of fire directly at His back. "Or are none of them to blame, and it is I alone who has discovered all that you are?" He let His lightsaber dip down, the tip digging into the swampy earth and leaving a burning trench as He slowly carved a semi-circle between Himself and Alina. "What do you know of the Dark Side, little Tremiru? What does the Lady of Secrets believe of you, and what you can be, other than a rabid dog?"

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"You spent so long talking about this form with my master you neglected to think about who I am." She didn't give chase. Not towards the wall of fire, at least. From just how he was speaking there was little doubt in her mind that he knew the Sangnir weakness. Instead she stood her ground in the muck and mud, her blade in hand. Pointed towards the Dark Lord. Her red eyes narrowed. Not in contempt, not in annoyance.

In focus.

"I was born Sith, not brought into it. I was born human, turned into what I am and left to figure it out myself. The Sangnir prize their secrets and hoard their knowledge, but I am not some anima drunk noble. Everything I tell Alisteri I expect Ophidia to know. Everything I show my master I show because I know who she is. A scientist. So long as I have her interest, I can learn. But do not think for a moment I truly trust anyone other than myself."

Alina tensed herself. Coiled like a spring, ready to strike at any moment. Gathered her power, her strength. Brought with it the void that once more left her blade the slab of metal.

"Until the day I am strong enough to kill you, or Ophida, or Empyrean, if a rabid dog is what my Master wants of me, then it is what she will see of me."

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Good, very good. Your master would be pleased."

The Dark Lord's eyes briefly pivoted to look off into the distance, near a tree that stood tall beyond the wall of flame. Its branches were bare of any vegetation, and were quickly drying out from the heat of the conflagration. It wasn't the tree itself that had drawn Carnifex's attention, but rather what was perched on its highest branch. Clutching the wood with blackened talons was a raven, its contour feathers a glossy sable and its down feathers tinged maroon. Where all other animals had long since fled, this one remained atop the tallest tree in the land, looking down upon the two of them as they fought.

Carnifex met the raven's eyes with a knowing gleam before looking back towards Alina. "Many share your ambition, and many have died in its pursuit. Perhaps you will prevail, or more likely you'll be another thrown on the pyre. Time will inevitably tell." He walked forward, breaking the line in the ground He'd carved with His lightsaber, taking one step at a time towards the hulking warform. "Regardless, you have given us much to discuss. But now I must remind you of where you stand."

Only His next step was visible, because He had been generous. In all of their bout, the Dark Lord had been holding back, limiting Himself for the benefit of testing Alina in both of her forms. But now that time has ended, and Carnifex allowed the fetters on His power to loosen. So He moved with speed that was incomprehensible to the mind, virtually disappearing from sight as He moved forward with nightmarish agility. His lightsaber lashed out towards both of Alina's legs, the beam angled to strike both of her legs just above the knee if there were no obstacles.

The next time He was visible was when He was standing some meters behind Alina, His lightsaber still held down to His side as though nothing had happened.

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

She'd seen it before. Once, when she was younger. When she was still human. The Worm had shown her a glimpse of their power. Moved in a way she couldn't perceive. Alina wasn't that little girl anymore, even if she looked unchanged from that time and age. The Force cried it's warning, but her own instinct and power had her move. Bring her blade down to intercept.

It saved one leg, at least.

Alina fell into the mud, hissing under her breath as the pain of her lost limb filled her mind all over again. She hated that pain. The helplessness it brought. She slammed her blade into the muck, her wolfish form up only because of it and the one leg she had managed to save. And said nothing. As much as the pain burned in her mind, there was a grim satisfaction there.

She was getting stronger.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"A single limb? A pity, I aimed for two."

Carnifex turned to look at Alina, who glowered at Him in silent hatred. Even though He omitted emotion, some of that cruel viciousness that encapsulated Carnifex's being managed to break through. He'd deliberately sought to maim the young Sith Knight as a statement, when it was very possible that He could've killed her if He wanted to. Though He'd not managed to accomplish truncating her just above both knees, He'd still sent her falling to the ground; if but for a moment.

Then, perhaps surprisingly, the Dark Lord deactivated His lightsaber. The red blade hissed as it dissipated back into the emitter, the only glow remaining being that of the fire around them. "I believe that Lady Raaf has seen more than enough, and she made me promise that you would not be permanently damaged." He clipped the lightsaber at His side, the rod of black cerakote dangling from a magnetic anchor.

"You've quite impressed me, Alina Tremiru. You and that boy Alisteri. We foresee great things for the both of you, your service to the Order will be magnanimously lauded." Carnifex crossed both arms over His chest as He spoke, His imperious stature now matched by the posture. "Of course, if you don't fall to the wayside before then. So many ambitious young Sith, all clawing and clamoring over one another to get out of the pit. Your destiny might be taken by another, and your name little more than a scribble in the margins of history; if you could even be afforded that."

Then, the Dark Lord turned His back to Alina and began to walk away.

It would appear that He was done with His test of Alina, but would Alina be done with Him?

Alina Tremiru ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"You should be the one worried about the next generation. None of them will settle with just climbing out of the pit." At least she wouldn't. And if they would not strive for the top, Alina wouldn't let them kill her. Fighting just to exist wasn't enough now, not with all the death she'd seen. Not with all the blood of those very fallen she'd climbed over coursing in her veins.

She remained still. Down a leg, one taken so easily at that, she saw no course of action to go after the Dark Lord. Not now, at least. Time. She needed more time to prepare, get stronger. Time she was running out of. Her gaze shifted up towards the bird, narrowed in focus and thought.

There was still so much to be done.

Darth Carnifex