Private Shadows in the Dark

[Barrien Siegfried]

Odessen
Wild Space
0300 Hours

It was not a safe world. Almost all of the fauna that resided upon it were introduced by outsiders many years ago, in the days of the Eternal Empire, and they were nearly all predatory, dangerous even to the most well-trained of Force practitioners. It was also on the border of the Brotherhood's space, making it even more dangerous. A smart person would have never chosen to venture there. Might have chosen to stay far, far away. Might have, if forced to go, been quick about their business. But Barrien had reason to go. Reason beyond reason. A few had tried to talk him out of it, and said it wasn't worth the risk, but he had politely thanked them for their concern and been on his way. It was as it had to be. The Force wills what the Force wills, and it willed him to go to Odessen.

Now, Barrien couldn't fly a ship to save his life, unlike his father. The world he grew up on lacked almost all the technology that the modern galaxy relied upon. Every world was luxurious to him to the point he sometimes had trouble dealing with them. There were worlds he avoided because of the overload, like Coruscant. Odessen was far from being such a place.

The shuttle, earmarked as a Silver Concord vessel, dropped him off and left. They couldn't risk staying there with the Brotherhood nearby, and he didn't need them to anyway. When he was ready to leave he had a beacon he could use to call them back to pick him up. That was more than sufficient.

Somewhere on this world was the place which former grandmaster Shan had spent her time in exile. That was his reason for coming. He could avoid the pitfalls of dangerous fauna well enough. Spending most of his life outdoors lead him to being quite adept at navigating forests without drawing unwanted attention, though he was aware that some would be able to discover him despite his best efforts. Jurgoran, for example. Plus the world was a gigantic Force nexus, not aligned with either side, and amplified the evolution of almost any species that resided there for long. Considering it had been many ages since the supplantation of new species on the world, he couldn't really have a true idea what he was up against.

Though it was dark, and the most dangerous of times to move, he remained vigilant as he stalked through the forest in search of Satele Shan's last resting place. Moving at night and resting in the day would make it easier to stay alive. In the day it would be easier to notice things coming. At night, movement would help to keep him safe.

Or, at least, he thought it would. Little did he know the Force had other intentions.

Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Odessen
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Barrien Siegfried

Simple minds...​

Nyaeli walked through the Odessen forest at night while her mind connected with the dangerous wildlife around her. To use her skills to affect people, especially those with strong minds, was difficult. But to break apart the mental fortitude of a predator and bend them to her own will was comparatively easy, and why the young Aruzan had traveled to Odessen.

On a world this strongly connected to the Force, she was able to control her abilities far more easily, and the dangerous creatures were the perfect target to practice new skills and techniques. Tonight, she hoped to manipulate the minds of predators and weaponize them for whatever she desired — perhaps to kill stronger enemies, but maybe she was just going to keep these animals around for experimentation later.

The Dark Side could do marvelous things to life.

Now, this is interesting.​

In her current state of focus, Nyaeli could easily sense the animals moving around her but within the currents of the Force, she felt something far more powerful as well. A presence so strong in the Light, that it could only be a Jedi. She had met them before and even caused two to get killed with some clever trickery. But this one felt... different; more experienced and far purer than those she encountered before.

"This is going to be fun," Nyaeli said out loud, and to herself, as she looked around at the group of Shade Stalkers she had mind-controlled around her.

"Go on, kill the Jedi," she ordered them, not just through her words but through the Force as well. Without any hesitation, the creatures obeyed and began to move in the Jedi Master's direction while Nyeali slowly began to walk in the general direction as well. She fully expected the Jedi to handle these creatures just fine, but it was a good first test of their abilities.

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

His journey kept his mind clear and focused on a singular task: finding Satele Shan's meditation space. To do that, he was forced to spread his inner eye to his surroundings, which was both beneficial and detrimental. Beneficial because it allowed him to feel all the life around him, and thereby avoid getting near anything that wanted to eat him. It was also detrimental because it left him exposed to any other practitioner of the Force that might be on the planet or in orbit.

It was like wearing a giant bullseye and saying aim here.

So it was that his mind picked up on a darkened presence, and with it a host of other beings. A beast master? he wondered. Wouldn't be that unusual. The fauna of Odessen lent itself to such individuals. Possibly they were someone who had come to practice on the world. Not out of the question given location. Quite likely, actually.

Their horde moved forward, apparently directed at him and he frowned. So many were quick to destroy their enemy. See an enemy, kill an enemy. It was, at times, disheartening. Why were people so eager to kill? Yes, for some it was natural instinct bred into them over generations and he could understand that. In fact, it made it easier to deal with them because their breeding was easier to defeat. No, it was the traumatized individuals that were the hardest to work with. Those who couldn't forgive.

The beasts drew closer and in the low light they were difficult to see. He relied on his vision in the Force to locate them. To be safe, he drew his lance, but did not ignite the blade. He already wore his shield so he didn't need to mess with it. The shaft of the lance would make an effective non-lethal deterrent. To his knowledge, nothing on the planet would be able break the weapon.

They drew too close and pressed the Force to action, leaping smoothly over the heads of the night stalkers, and cracking the head of one with the staff in the process. It wasn't hard enough of a hit to do anything more than annoy the creature. He hoped that he could scare them away with simple strikes of deterrence, but it was doubtful. Still, he had to try. And now, since he was past their advancing line, he moved quickly in the direction of their commander, anticipating more tricks thrown his way

He wanted to speak with them, though, and he needed to be closer lest he lose track of the danger around him.

Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Odessen
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Barrien Siegfried

Do not stop, kill him.​

The beasts had never been acting on their own, so his attempts to scare them off would never work. Even if their actions were irrational and completely against their nature, they would be overridden by the Dark intentions Nyaeli forced into their primitive minds. So for as long as they were able to move and attack, Barrien wasn't going to be left alone.

But he was a Jedi Master and had the abilities to stay ahead of the pack she unleashed. Now, he was coming straight for her, and as much as she'd like to kill him in person, she wasn't that foolish. He was likely too strong for a direct confrontation, so she was forced to use her tricks against him again.

So in an attempt to get him to stop moving, Nyaeli tapped into her corrupted Attani and reached out to his mind.

"All alone in the dark,"​

Jedi were able to shield their minds, and it was possible he kept her out and blocked these telepathic messages, but she continued to reach out and pressure him — she was relentless, and he'd surely feel that. Either way, it hopefully gave her some time to move as well, because she now tried to keep some distance between herself and the Jedi.

The beasts and the strength of her mind would hopefully keep him busy.

"Why are you running, Jedi?"​

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

They didn't stop, but he was faster and could use terrain to his advantage. Trees made for a good pathway as he sprung up one of them and made his way along branches between close knit forest trees, avoiding dropping back to the ground and, at the same time, doing everything he could to get closer to the person directing the creatures to attack him. Not for malicious reasons, but because he wanted to speak with them.

It didn't come as a great surprise when she pushed at his mind. He allowed her into a small pocket, cordoned off by defensive measures, purely to see more about this person, and to establish a mental link between them. It would allow them to converse even if not in close proximity to one another.

Also meant he didn't actually need to reach her yet.

He stopped in a large oak, keeping her in the pocket as she needled and questioned him. Wasn't the first time his mind had been poked and prodded. Probably wouldn't be the last either. But it kept her busy long enough for him to reach out with the Force to the beasts being unleashed against him and erect a lightside barrier in their mind between them and her. A mild form of Force Sever. It wouldn't harm them and wasn't permanent.

"Why are you trying to kill someone who wasn't bothering you?" he sent back to her through the link between them. "Would it not be prudent to speak first and know who you face? I won't harm you."

Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Odessen
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Barrien Siegfried

"Your existence bothers me,"​

The words that echoed back to his mind were filled with a deep-rooted hatred, one that undoubtedly stemmed from her own past. There was a lot she could blame the Jedi for, and she wasn't the type to forgive. Her fall to the Dark Side had been so pure in nature, and the destruction she caused had filled her heart with so much fury, that there was no way back.

"And I will harm you."​

Even if he had only allowed her into a pocket of his mind, Nyaeli channeled her focus through her implant and began to strike away at the barriers that kept him protected. She was relentless in her attacks, whether or not they succeeded — it was her only true strength, and while many Jedi were able to break free eventually, she could cause damage if she wasn't stopped in time.

With this Jedi Master?

She wanted him to lose that calmness and confidence he seemed to carry with him. She wanted to confront him with his deepest fears, his worst memories, and force him to relive them all repeatedly.

"You protect these animals, but can you protect yourself?"​

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

His existence? So another Jedi has harmed her then? That seemed the likely explanation since he was certain they had never met and, while most Sith did hate the Jedi, it wasn't for their existence but for what they stood for. Usually. These days it was hard to find a Jedi that stood for something more than fighting evil and that was a large part of why he rarely associated with any order. The last time he did, the order that he knew from his master, Corvus Raaf, was destroyed by the newly elected grandmaster, that he had supported, who turned around and dissolved the order and told everyone to join the GA's order. That had hurt him.

Hurt him nearly as much as when his mother succumbed to a virus brought to his world of Oaken Dawn by the Empire. The same Empire who, hundreds of years ago, had employed Sith to hunt down and destroy Jedi. He could feel as she did and hate her for her existence by proxy, but he didn't. His hatred had been metted out on an unfortunate trooper he had caught in the woods and killed. He winced as that memory of loss and pain made it through the barrier, but it couldn't hurt him anymore.

"My existence is no different from your own save in how we choose to live," he sent back to her, now moving again, and accelerating his movements with the Force. He wanted to speak with her face to face.

"I will protect others over myself. I would even protect your life with my own. A Jedi, one who follows the ancient path and not that of the warrior so many now follow, values the lives of others over their own. I don't want to fight you, and even if you Force me I won't harm you. Instead, why don't we meet and converse? I would like to know what caused you to hate my existence."

Aside from that small slip up allowing the one memory to flow through of the loss of his mother and his response to it, his barriers remained intact. They could be beaten, he knew, but it would take time while he had her trapped in the pocket. He would give her that time, but he was certain that even if she gained access to his memories, his fears, he would not succumb to her machinations. He was beyond caring for himself. She could hurt him physically, but his mind and conscience were clear of any wrongdoing.

Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Odessen
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Barrien Siegfried

"You don't value life. You stand by and watch, as it's destroyed. You're weak."​

Each and every word she spoke was fueled by hatred, but the last two, in particular, stood out. Above all else, Nyaeli despised weakness in people and his pacifistic approach to life was something she considered weak. It made her blood boil, and her desire to kill him grow substantially. But she understood that she had to be careful — even if he tried to avoid conflict, he had far more experience and training than she did, and getting too overwhelmed by powerful emotions would only end up in reckless actions being taken.

So for now, she focused on attacking his mental barriers, despite his great effort to keep her pocketed in. Getting through was going to be difficult but all she needed was for him to slip up once.

Then, a single memory flashed through.

"Were you just watching when your mother died? Protector of others."​

Her words were vile and meant to provoke some kind of response from him, preferably one that allowed her to slip through the cracks she was trying to Form. But it was going to be challenging, and he was getting closer as well. Keeping him away wasn't going to work, so she simply drew her crimson blade and waited for his arrival. The corrupted Kyber within cried out against the cold night, telling a story of the Padawan she forced to kill his own Master.

Now, she held the Knight's weapon in her hand, but nothing remained of the purity the heart of this blade once held.

"Come to me, and I'll show you my hatred for your kind."​

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

If he hadn't been busy moving he would probably have shaken his head at what she said. Doing nothing? Hardly. He had been in a place of peril most of his life and survived only because the Force willed his survival so that he could continue to do what was necessary to protect others.

"I don't think you understand what not seeking to harm others means," he sent back to her. "Perhaps because you yourself were harmed, you cannot fathom anything else."

Then she brought up his mother and he nearly fell from the trees but collected himself. Those memories were, indeed, painful, but he knew the struggles of his own past and that, regardless of what he knew now, there was nothing he could have done then. He was not trained in the ways of the Force then. He did not know how to help others save through the use of his own body to provide a shield. Now he could do something to help her, but then he could not. There was nothing for him to do but watch her die, no matter how much it pained him to admit it. His mother's death was not his fault, nor was it directly the fault of anyone else. It was an unfortunate side effect of occupation.

No, he ignored her jab and continued onward just as she stopped. It only took a moment longer for him to reach her. Perched in the tree as he was, he could see her blade, the pain at which it worked, shattered by the actions it was forced to participate in. Crystals new pain and suffering just as well as they did, for they, too, were possessed of the Force.

"You need not show me what I can feel," he said aloud before dropping down to her level. "Your hatred for what I represent is misplaced. I am not the Jedi you likely know, the kind who fight and do more harm than good. I am the Jedi that should be, the Jedi who wishes to help others rather than hunt darkness."

She was going to strike at him, he knew, but he would be cautious in his defense such that she would not be harmed.

"Why not speak with me and find a place of understanding? We can coexist, your kind and I, if we choose to."

Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Odessen
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Barrien Siegfried

"You don't know or understand me, Jedi."​

His assumption that she had been harmed and how it affected her angered her greatly, and it showed again in the way she talked to him telepathically. Each word was filled with hatred, and her desire to harm or kill him was growing every second. Yet, he still didn't seem interested in fighting her at all, and this sparked just the slightest bit of confusion as well.

The only thing that satisfied her bloodlust at that moment was the way her comment affected him. It was faint, as he was a Jedi with the composure one would expect from a Master, but it caused her lips to curl up into a twisted grin for just a moment.

"You believe the kind who fight are the problem?" she laughed at that and glanced his way as he dropped down from the trees to get down to her level. The use of Telepathy was no longer needed, so the short Aruzan woman spoke to him with her voice. Yet, it would almost feel like the spoken word still scratched against the edges of one's mind.

That was the strength of her people when it came to the mind.

"I don't care for a place of understanding, or how different you believe yourself to be," she then hissed at him, and slowly, the crimson blade came up to chest level. She was getting ready to attack.

"And I don't want to coexist," she added before the Force began to flow through her muscles. She augmented herself, and as fast as she possibly could, Nyaeli closed the distance and aimed a sweeping strike towards the taller man, the intent not to just maim, but to kill him.

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

"I think that anyone who seeks violence is a problem, but not one to be eliminated," he said, as he faced her. "Most vuolence is caused by anger, fear or hatred and those are all emotions that can be controlled."

It wasn't as though he expected her to throw her weapon down and repent. The chance of her changing her ways in a single interaction were pretty low. No one who eas determined to do violence could be easily talked down from it. This one was determined to see violence done to him because of what he was. He didn't know the exact details of why she thought that way, but given his own experiences he was able to umagine the scenarios that could cause her such pain. It wasn't hatred that drove her, not really. No, it was pain.

She raised her bleed and he... did nothing. In fact, he did nothing even as she charged at him. Her blade swung, and met a barrier of Force energy. He could stop her blade while not doing any harm to her. She could beat at him all she wanted, but he was the one who sought peace and there were a wide variety of ways to defend himself, and others, without doing harm to anyone. It was just a shame more people didn't understand that.

"I don't believe you're telling the truth," he said, still not moving, his saber staff untouched. "I believe you've comvinced yourself you are, but I don't believe that, deep down, this is the life you want. A life of hatred, pain, fear, a life that withers your body, mind and soul? No, I don't believe that's what you really want."

Believing it, though, didn't guarantee that he was right, but he didn't believe she was born to be the way she was. And he definitely didn't believe she had to be the way she was. Pain was everywhere, she just wasn't acknowledging it. So, he held out his hand to her now, palm up, even though she had just tried to kill him.

"Come with me to find Satele Shan's meditation space and let's talk. I won't harm you and you're free to leave at any time. Oh, and before I forget again, my name is Barrien."

Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Odessen
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Barrien Siegfried

With hatred burning in her eyes, the woman swung the crimson blade toward the Jedi Master. He wasn't raising his own weapon in defense, and so she believed he was going to die a coward. But before her blade could reach him, a barrier made of Force energy stopped her attack and caused her to bounce back a step. The anger it provoked wasn't just an echo in the Force, but he'd be able to clearly see it in the way she looked at him as well.

"You can't hide in there forever..." she said before she clenched her jaw and tested his barrier with another powerful swing. But again, the barrier held and her weapon bounced off. Perhaps if she had been a more well-trained Sith, she could have used the Force to break through herself, but she didn't possess the skills.

All she could do was barrage the barrier's around his mind, and use her weapon.

"No, I don't believe that's what you really want."

The Aruzan gritted her teeth and looked at him while she weighed her options. He held his hand extended and made an offer for her to join him, but there wasn't even a small desire to accept it within. But to keep up her assault like this seemed futile as well, so she decided to try something else.

"You want to talk, Master Barrien?" she asked as her hand extended slowly, reaching for the one he held out for her. She disengaged her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt, while her demeanor seemed to shift.

But the moment she'd be able to grab his hand, the woman would pull herself closer and dig into his hand with her nails. The brief calmness she had tried to fake vanished, and the desire to harm was right there again. Her other hand then came around, hoping the barrier would no longer be up to shield him in his attempt to take her hand, and aimed an augmented punch just below the man's lower ribs.

"Maybe the dead will listen to you."

If her plan had worked, and he didn't catch on beforehand, she'd quickly reach for the lightsaber on her belt again. Nothing was going to stop her from trying to kill or hurt this man. She had no desire to change or to even listen to him. He was just another obstacle on her path.

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

In theory, he could hide behind a barrier for a very long time. Longer than she could keep her barrage because he expelled little energy while she expelled a lot of it. That was the beauty of barriers. Not only did it keep him from having to hurt someone in combat, but it made it so he could outlast most of his opponents. The only place he faced difficulty was when someone knew how to get past his mental defenses. Some of the strongest of Sith were quite capable of causing him trouble, in which case he was usually then forced to focus fully on mental defense and had to resort to using his lightsaber for defense. Not ideal.

She tried one more time, but to no avail, and then she renewed her attack on his mind. He still had her trapped inside of a pocket, however, and his defenses were only beginning to show any sort of strain, and that was minimal. She wasn't trained enough to do what she wanted, though he had to admire her determination.

Then her demeanour changed completely and he frowned. Too quick of a change. But he didn't withdraw his hand. The offer still stood because what he wanted to do was talk with her, whether she really wanted it or not. Or thought she wanted it or not. Barrien was a good judge of character, and the zeal this one possessed only told him that she was covering for the feeling she held within herself: the pain. It was there, and pain meant love. Love meant weakness among the Sith, so she was covering it was bravado and intensity. And even when her nails dug into his palm he only barely flinched. Such a small thing wasn't worth being upset over. Nor was the fist that attempted to slam into his side.

The fist that his hand caught, twisted, and spun about until her arms were crossed over her chest and her back was pressed against him. Echani blood instincts were a little hard to ignore.

"I will die one day, this is true," he said as he held her. "But death is not an end, only a new beginning."

He leaned his mouth closer to her ear, where he could whisper to her, "Be still and listen closely to my words."

The whispered words were meant as a distraction trigger. The connection between their minds was a two way street, but he needed her distracted, which he hoped both his physical counter and the whispered words would accomplish. For if they did, his mind would rush through the connection to her mind, pulling her with it and inwards, drawing her away from her physical body and into the deep recesses of her mind. Here there was a dark field of smooth glass and no light. She might find herself standing upon that field, perhaps disoriented, perhaps not. It depended on what her training had involved. In the meantime, her body was safe, a barrier protecting them both from hostile wildlife.

​

"Welcome to the world of your mind, where your truth will be revealed."

Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Odessen
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Barrien Siegfried

While her nails had dug into the man's skin, the punch that was meant to do the actual damage and set her up for the kill was caught, and in a single fluid motion, the Jedi turned her around and kept her pinned. The lack of physical strength from the much smaller Aruzan didn't exactly help either — she was resisting and trying to fight or squirm her way out of his grip, but none of it worked, much to her anger.

"Let me go..." she said, hatred flowing through her words. But he didn't let go and while his mind was now reaching out to her own, he leaned in and whispered something into her ears.

It made her want to kill him even more, but the distraction it caused allowed him to draw the woman deep into her own mind. So suddenly, her body in the physical world froze and within her mind, she found herself standing in darkness on a glass plane. Her focus adjusted and after looking around for a moment, she heard his words again.

"My truth?" she asked, trying to figure out where he was. But then, she began to laugh softly, in a malicious way. "You shouldn't have come here, Jedi. You're not ready to see what comes next." She wondered what exactly it was that he was looking to reveal, but one thing was certain to her — he wasn't going to like any of it.

The things that happened to her, but more importantly, the things she has done already... it could drive even the more resilient minds insane. Perhaps he had finally brought her to the right battleground for her.

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

"You think too highly of your own skills and too little of mine," he said, voice echoing through the darkness. "A common problem among Jedi and Sith alike, arrogance. A downfall of sentience, most likely."

In part it felt a little wrong to be invading her mind the way he was, but it seemed the only way he could get through to her. The tough exterior she erected was well concocted. Fighting it would be too dangerous for her and he couldn't risk doing harm to her. Even as they were locked inside her mind he erected a barrier around them to keep the volatile forest life from being able to do her harm while she was trapped in her own head. It was the right thing to do in their situation.

"What you've done in the past does not matter to me. What I want to see is what was done to you."

Why? Well, he needed to know what had made her this way. It was some trauma, he was certain. Something had caused her such pain that hatred and anger had taken over her life, corrupted her, twisted her. It happened all the time. Most of the Sith hadn't chosen to be what they were just because. Sure, some had, but the majority ended up the way they were because of something that happened and it was those individuals that it was possible to save from themselves. He knew she was no different from them, but to help her he needed to know.

So he reached into the deep recesses of her mind, pulling at strings, coaxing out the memories she held deepest down, the ones she tried to hide from but relied upon to fuel her anger.

"Show me your past... Nyaeli."

Nyaeli