Shroud of Darkness

[Cylus Jest]

Umbara was a planet filled with shadow and darkness, not in the form of moral corruption or even corruption of any kind. Not in the form of evil or wickedness either, it was literal darkness. It was also very hard to see things when one didn't have any form of nightvision equipment on their person. Cylus was one of those individuals.

Stepped off of his Lambda shuttle and looking around he couldn't help but feel as though he were being watched from every direction, even if he was in the wilderness and had a good feeling that there weren't many Umbarans around. Predators existed on Umbara didn't they?

No matter, he was here to complete an objective. Specifically he was going to be picking up some information from a contact out in the middle of no where about the location of various criminal suspects as well as suspected Jedi. The fellow wanted very little for the information, and Cylus was happy to oblige.

Thankfully he had already set a course inside of the ship, and the glowing arrow along the ground from his helmet was pointing him towards his objective. Who knew, maybe he'd find something even better than information on this forsaken world
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

The Jedi Padawan stood on the edge of the small spaceport, running his hand over his shaved scalp. Outside of pockets of Umbaran civilisation, this was a planet with a wilderness to it. Perhaps that was why the Jedi had selected it as the grounds to have him learn a little something in the ways of the Force. The jungle should feel like home to him. He was used to it. But this particular wilderness was off. There was something to the shroud that hung over Des like a storm that unsettled him. Yes, it was a jungle, but it was decidedly not like his home on Haruun Kal.

The world just outside Republic space, and regularly patrolled by passing Republic forces and Jedi, was the ideal staging ground for Des to set out on his own, the Jedi had decided. The Korun had trouble connecting to the Force, relying instead on his more instinctual side and his muscles. This, the Jedi did not like. They advocated concentration, compassion, security in the Force. Des saw them as weak for it, but now he wished he had those Force abilities.

On Umbara, the senses were limited. Vision was obscured by perpetual fog, hearing was echoed all over the place to take away sense of direction, and a thick boggy smell obscured all else. It would be necessary for Des to rely on the Force to find his way, as he was not given a compass, night vision tools, or even a flashlight. All he had was a pack of trail rations, and a borrowed blaster in case things went wrong, even though the area was kept generally safe. Not even a lightsaber had been granted to him, as it would shed too much light on Des' surroundings for the purpose of the Jedi.

With a sigh, Des straightened the strap of the pack on his back, and set out into the fog.

 

[Cylus Jest]

Movement. Whatever had flickered across his foggy vision had most definitely been alive, he couldn't quite tell what it was through the thick of the fog. Still, it piqued his curiosity and set him following it, perhaps it was a sentient being or another trophy animal for his future home.

It stopped, twirling around rapidly and loping off towards him...and then it flew, soaring over his head with a loud shrieking noise that would have made a fearful man wet himself. Cylus simply ducked, watching as it twisted the sky to it's will and dived down at him again, it's maw reaching to his throat.

The crack of his E-11 went off, sending a red bolt through the fog, bright enough to be seen outside of it for a few feet. It caught the thing mid-dive directly in the gut, sending it sprawling as it flickered around the ground in what appeared to be it's death spasms. It shrieked more and Cylus stepped over, sending another bolt of glowing red light through it's head.

Yes, there were predators on Umbara and he was one of them. He reached down to examine the body, perhaps it held some sort of trophy.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

Des stopped in his tracks, and listened. The short, sharp whine had definitely not sounded like it belonged here. It was not natural? Indeed, it almost sounded like a-
The second blast, coupled with a dim flash of red light through the fog, cut off his thoughts and confirmed his suspicions. A blaster! There was someone else out there. Des decided he should at least check it out, in case he and this other person could help each other traverse this muck. It went against his instincts to seek out others, but special situations called for leaving your comfort zone. Knowing the Jedi and how they thought, they would commend him for his thinking.

Drawing his DY-225 pistol from its holster, Des started in the direction of the light. It was not an ideal weapon for the situation, Des thought. Despite its designation as 'heavy blaster', the weapon was used more for crowd control, as its most powerful asset was its stun setting. Typical Jedi, to use a weapon that stunned lethal opponents as standard equipment, Des thought. No matter, he'd make do with what he had.

After a short time of walking, Des estimated he would be coming up on where the shots had come from, judging roughly from the light and the dissipation of the sound of the shots when he'd heard them. "Hey out there," he called cautiously, staying close to the cover of an overhanging tree just in case. "If you're out there, I mean no harm. I am a Jedi, and I need to get to a city to get back to Republic space. Perhaps we can help each other out."

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus opened the creature's mouth, looking at it's teeth before he pounded it's corpse with the butt of his E-11, taking a longer canine like tooth out and stuffing it away into his cloak. Never knew what sort of weirdos out there would pay for something like that, he might even need it.

That was when he heard the voice, coming out of the dark fog as though it were a spectre, distorted not by the air but seemingly by the dark itself. He raised his E-11, staring into the whirling fog as though he thought it would help him see. This person had made a foolish error, they had revealed they were a Jedi to a...what was he? Was he still a man if he never felt? What made a man...

His mind raced back to it's original path as he lowered the E-11. He had a plan in mind that would go much better than simply fighting this Jedi head on, and besides he ought to work on his vocal abilities.
"I come in peace, Jedi! I was assailed by a creature, please come join me!" The voice was sincere sounding, almost bordering on friendly.

The heart behind it beat with treachery, none of it's corruption slipping into the silk of his mouth's honey.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

Des nodded, more to himself than to anyone who could not see him. Thankfully, the origin of this person's voice was much clearer over the shorter distance. He turned in the right direction, a little way back and to the left. It seemed he had overshot his estimate by a little, but he could simply backpack.

He holstered his blaster, but instinctively stopped himself from strapping the weapon into its holdster with the securing strap. In the back of his mind, instinctively, a small voice told him You may need it again sooner than you think. Des failed to recognise the warning sensations of the Force, instead crediting his own instincts. But then, he wondered, if this man had been attacked by a creature, he seemed awefully calm about it. Either this was a trap, or this person could really handle himself. Assume the latter for now, be prepared for the first. There is no reason to lie about such things.

His blaster holstered but unstrapped, Des approached a shadowy shape in the muck, presumably this creature his new encounter had spoken of. It was quite large, and even in death seemed to radiate a lingering menace. Certainly a predator of some kind. He took another moment to make out its killer, if indeed that person was anywhere to be seen. "Looks like you know how to handle yourself," Des said with approval if he spotted his would-be companion. He studied the strange appearance of the man, and a chill ran down his spine. "That is some odd attire you have. Bounty hunter?"

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus laid his cold, lingering gaze upon the man as he examined him for a few moments, and then went back to watching the beast. He had to keep up his interest in the creature after all, or at least the visage of it. Of course the Jedi couldn't sense any turmoil of emotions as he thought, none of them ever could.

He simply nodded as he gave the dead thing a slight jar with his boot, it was supposedly a frightening creature, although now it was quite dead. He couldn't tell what the Jedi was feeling, usually he had at least some notion by looking into their face. However with this swirling fog moving about between them constantly, it made vision difficult. He could open fire right now, there would be so little warning, but the Jedi had his eyes upon him, best to play along.

"Of course, oddities are relative. I am a bounty hunter of sorts, it's why I'm here actually. What about you?" The voice was inquisitive, a bit of the regular coldness that Cylus spoke with peeking through it.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

Des hesitated a moment, wondering how much he should tell this bounty hunter 'of sorts'. A Jedi head must be worth a pretty penny to some of the Republic's enemies, so letting on that he was only a low level initiate was not a good idea.

"I came here to train my sense of the Force," he said after a moment of silence. "The natural senses are limited here, so I am forced to rely on other means of navigation. I do not have a compass, or a flashlight. If necessary, I have the light of my lightsaber to go by," he lied. He did not have a lightsaber on him, but he decided it was better for this man to think he did. "So far, I have had little success," Des confessed. "There is something about this fog that muddles the senses... All of them." That too was possibly a lie, he had no way to tell the difference because he had little in the way of Force sense to begin with, but that too was something the bounty hunter need not know.

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus could almost feel the hesitation in the man's face, perhaps he didn't trust him. Then again, that meant very little, he probably would not have trusted a random bounty hunter on a planet filled with shadow who had just murdered a creature without so much as a scratch on him. That was just not a thing people commonly did.

Still, he found some oddities in the Jedi's story. He was no expert on them by any means, but why would one come to a place to train their abilities with the Force, and then admit that everything about the planet muddled their abilities to use the Force. Why would someone stay then, there were other planets. Another thing he found odd was how this man had had such difficulty seeing through the darkness and whatnot and indeed was walking blindly, and yet he openly admitted to having a light source on his person.

Was the Jedi trying to intimidate him quietly? He wasn't an idiot by any means, it seemed a reasonable thing to do. Still, the story reeked of falsity even if the man's voice did not. Perhaps he was worried or scared of him, he wouldn't be the first. It was not the time to act yet though, things still needed to be put into place.

"That seems reasonable, to be honest I don't know much about the Force. I just let the Jedi and the Sith have their wars and try to scrape up a living out here." It was a fairly common story, the old outer rim types who didn't care much about the big picture and who were focused on just getting by in their lives. It really helped being able to switch whichever emotion you displayed as well, it was much easier to do when you never felt one in the first place to override.
"So, what do you think this thing is? He asked in reference to the corpse which he booted once more.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

The bounty hunter seemed to buy Des' convulated story. From what he said, and what Des had heard other Jedi tell, his story was indeed a common one. Until recently, the Korun Padawan had led a surprising sheltered life, cut off from the Galaxy at large. He was still processing how large it all was.

At the bounty hunter's question, Des ran a hand over his scalp and circled around the fallen creature. When opposite the thing from his new companion, he sat down on his haunches and leaned over to get a better look at the head. He tried to remember the codex entrees he'd been given to read on the flight over. "Could be a Banshee," he concluded, though his supposition was based on theory only. "We should keep moving. These things tend to hunt in pairs."

Standing up, Des turned in the direction that, to the best of his abilities to navigate in this fog, he had been heading in before he got sidetracked by the blaster shots. He made a show of his partly feigned confidence. The way he'd seen it, Jedi were used to taking the role of leader in such encounters, and others seemed to expect it of them. Still, if the bounty hunter objected to the direction and had a better idea of where to go, he would certainly not dismiss it offhand.

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus nodded once as the man examined the creature and concluded that it was something called a Banshee. That seemed like an appropriately evil sounding name, he would need to grab one for The Estate when time allowed.

For now however, he had things to do, specifically he needed to follow this Jedi. Of course, that was never going to be as easy as it sounded, especially with the prospect of capture in the very near future. He needed to take reasonable steps, explain them to the Jedi, make him trust him.

He grasped his E-11 in hand, swinging it to bear in his arm and then looking about the skies carefully, as though he was worried that another of these Banshee creatures would attack. "You should probably grab your saber, Jedi. Never know what else is out here." He said quietly as he continued scanning the immediate area.

It was important that he let the Jedi retrieve his weapon, that way he would grow to trust Cylus with his own weapon out. And then, when the time was right he would strike like a serpent.
"Please, lead the way." He said calmly as he watched the Jedi.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

Des had a brief start when the bounty hunter suggested he bring out the lightsaber he had said he had. "That would defeat the purpose of my being here," he said, perhaps a little too quickly. "The adversity of having no light source to go by will force me to fine tune my other senses. That was the whole idea," he explained. It had indeed been the idea behind not giving him a lightsaber. Why did I say I had one? Well, too late to backpaddle now. Stupid, he reflected. "Besides, Banshee are avian predators. I imagine you are better equiped to deal with them with your blaster, and I have one of my own." He patted the holster at his hip, partly to show the bounty hunter, and partly to reassure himself he was in control of the situation.

As he had expected, his traveling companion let him take the lead. It was odd, he reflected, how membership to a certain group could bring so much innate authority with it, though he had done nothing to earn it. Indeed, if this was his home planet Haruun Kal, they would have spat in the face of a Jedi who expected followers by his rank and title alone. Merit was what counted, what should count. But for now, Des was content to make use of the situation such as it was.

Des set out in his chosen direction, and as he did so it dawned on him that he had not yet asked the bounty hunter's name. He shrugged to himself mentally, deciding that names were not important. He was content to adress his companion as 'bounty hunter', and he would in turn likely call him 'Jedi'. Not child. Not Padawan. Jedi. Des had to admit to himself, it felt rather good.

After some distance of walking, the foilage began to thicken, and Des had to look down frequently to see where he could set his feet down. "Be careful," he warned. "Some of the local fauna has learned to ambush passers by by disguising its tendrils as vines and branches."

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus noted the slight twitching movement of the man ahead of him as he told him to retrieve the favored weapon of the Jedi. Of course, the man had stalled it off with talk of how being a Jedi wasn't about using a weapon or some other malarkey, he had shut it off nearly as soon as it had begun.

Still, Cylus listened enough to notice a few more discrepancies in the Jedi's story. For example, if he had come here to allow the lack of light to enhance his other senses, then why did he mention earlier that he was having problems using any of his senses, he certainly didn't appear to be operating by anything differently, albeit Cylus admitted he couldn't actually tell if he was. Still, it seemed highly illogical.

The bit about the Banshee being avian predators only made a little bit of sense. Of course, blasters could most definitely strike an aerial opponent from farther away than a lightsaber could, that was simply physics. However, the Banshee had to come into contact with the person to attack them, in fact they would need to sustain contact and that was a perfect moment to use a melee weapon.

Things were drawing to conclusions, and he with the warning of local fauna using ambush tactics he reminded himself that he was like them. He was hiding here in plain sight, simply waiting for the moment to strike upon his prey. Perhaps now was as good a time as any to make an assumption.
"You contradict yourself. You do not have a lightsaber, do you?" He asked quietly, glaring into the back of the man's skull.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

Des stopped in his tracks mid stride, and hesitated for an uncomfortably long moment. Finally, he turned around. "No," he admitted, watching the bounty hunter's movements as closely as he could manage through this muck. "I have not yet crafted my own lightsaber. It is a rite all Jedi must go through before they can always carry. Sometimes, I am given a lightsaber from the Temple if it is deemed necessary. For this, it was not," he explained. The bounty hunter had figured it out, so he may as well be upfront about it and keep showing confidence as best as he could. "You do not strike me as the sort of man who would hold it against me that I lied to you," he said. No explanation as to his reason for lying, though it was heavily implied, and certainly no apoligy. Do apoligize would be to admit weakness.

Slowly, very hesitantly, Des turned once again and showed his back, though he was doubly vigilant of the man behind him now. If he showed that he did not dare show his back any longer, that too would be admitting weakness. The concentrated as best as he could, almost strongarming the Force itself into giving him an early warning if the bounty hunter moved. This was a distinctly Sith-like way of using the Force, he had been told, but he was somehow better at it that way than if he'd let the Force flow through him on its own accord.

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus simply shook his head once as they continued walking. So, his senses hadn't been off, the Jedi really had been trying to beat around the bush and lead away from the inevitable moment when he had to reveal he had no lightsaber. He was probably pretty worried now, he had admitted weakness. Still, this seemed an appropriate time as ever to fire.

He didn't know the Jedi was using the force to see behind him, how could he? Still, he emitted no hostile emotions and quite likely very little hostile intent, It was one of the great advantages of being so unfeeling, one of the few. The E-11 swinging between his hands was growing anxious for the sound of battle, he would comply. Lifting it up gradually until it was near the Jedi's legs, he jerked it up the final foot or so, switching it to stun-only and depressing the trigger. The crack of blaster-fire would echo through the misty fog as a bolt of blue stun energy swarmed towards the Jedi's back.
"I apologize as well, I am not a bounty hunter, but a Servant of the Inquisition."

It was time to see how well this Jedi played.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

The warning came only at the very last moment, a tingle at the back of his mind that screamed at him. Roll! And so he did, throwing himself forward and curling into a ball. The blue bolt of stun energy passed over him unseen, but he felt it, and Des had to take a moment to keep from stumbling and pick himself up again. If there was anything the young Jedi was good at, it was acrobatics, as he did rigorous exercises daily.

He didn't pâuse for a moment, knowing he was in a bad position. Instead, he bounded for the closest tree line, drawing his DY-225 from its holster as he ran. As far as he knew, this man had just shot to kill. He had not noticed it was a stun bolt instead. It made no difference. "Bounty hunter. Inquisition. All the same to me. Perhaps you'll tell me more of this inquisition with my blaster in your face," Des threatened. It was true he wanted more information, as this was the first he'd heard of this 'inquisition'. If it presented a threat to the Jedi -and more importantly to him- he wanted to know more about it.

Still, Des realized, he was not in a position to be asking questions or even fight this guy. With nothing but an under-powered blaster and the will of the Force, Des was clearly outgunned even if he would never openly admit he was outmatched. All that was left for him to do was to make a getaway. Knowing this, Des darted from his temporary cover behind the tree to the next tree over, and then the next, and the next after this. He had no time to be subtle, all the chance he had was to make a run for it and hope this 'inquisition' agent lost him in the thicket and the fog.

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus grunted in disappointment as his bolt went overhead of the rolling Jedi, he had been one of the first to actually dodge a shot. Most of the others had been pathetically easy to capture, this one was going to give him a chase it seemed. Or rather, he was going to give something a chase.
"Rapax, Deploy." He spoke simply.
Cylus flicked his clothing slightly as a set of four metallic appendages unfurled off of his chest and the clatter of hard metal against the ground sounded out.

He spun around to see his creation, the Rapax droids were designed to look like spiders and were quite handy for both protecting their user and for combat. A pair of T-21 blasters poked out like a pair of mandibles, inside of it's mouth lay a dartshooter, gleaming with it's selected poison. It began to click as if awaiting orders, Cylus simply pointed towards where the retreating Jedi had just moved.
"Rapax, Incapacitate." The machine clicked happily before storming through the dense fog after him, it would leap from brush to brush with spider-like agility, though it seemed to be a bit too heavy to actually climb any of the trees.

The Hunt would be interesting indeed, he thought as he began to slowly walk after the speeding Rapax and Jedi.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

Des was making good time, losing himself in increasingly dense woodlands. The further he went, the thicker the foliage became, and the more distance he put between him and his persuer. Or so he thought. As he ran, bushes chafed at his legs, leaves whipped into his face, branches grabbed at his clothes to slow him down. This is never going to work. He's coming. He knows how to find me. He knows exactly where I am. My moves are easy. Readable. Predictable. He's going to find me, and catch me, and when he does I'm going to be killed. I'm going to die. Des stopped himself, breathing heavily as he pressed his back against a tree. He was panicking, he realized. He was not even paying attention to where he put his feet anymore, like he'd said to this bounty hunter. No. This is the jungle. This is just like home on Haruun Kal. You have hunted Akk dogs before. Have been hunted by them. You know this. You have the advantage here. You can do this. Just keep moving.

Des steeled himself, taking another deep breath before he started running again. More confident and more calm, he scanned the ground and sky for threats as he went. Between it all, as if from far away and distorted, he could hear the steady, rhythmic clanking of a droid of some kind. He stopped again and turned to look behind him. Through the fog, he could see a small light, like a pair of eyes, apparently jumping around above and some distance behind him. It was moving toward him. Fast. "Oh hell naw," Des exclaimed. He turned back away from whatever it was that was after him now, and dropped his pack. He needed to be lighter, faster. What use would he have of rations and water if he was killed here. If this thing was a droid, his blaster's stun setting was not going to work. If it was armored, he might as well discard the weapon entirely. He risked another glance over his shoulder and immediately regretted it. It was already much, much closer. Should he try shooting it, giving away his position? What good would that do him? Where there more of that thing out there? Was it with the inquisitor, or another predator of this world? Des had the uncomfortable feeling he would find out very soon.

He could hear the machine chasing him much more closely now. For all its buzzing and clanking, Des was certain it was a machine now. It could be little else. Perhaps a cyborg, but it was unlikely. It was right on him. Des heard it right behind him, felt its presence, sensed it in the Force more keenly than he'd ever sensed anything. That, more than anything, spoke to its relevance in his life. The Force wanted him to know it was there. It was important for his continued survival. Des decided to trust in the Force and his instincts. If he did not, he'd be dead. He dug his heels into the soil and turned, pivoting on one foot as he swung his other leg into the air. The sudden spin kick caught the droid mid jump. Another second, and it would have been on him. Literally on him. Instead, the machine was booted squarely in what passed for its face and send flying back, crashing into the nearest tree. It did not pause for a moment, instead clambering up onto eight legs and facing Des. "Oh. Hell. Naw," Des repeated.

Des brought up his blaster and fired. One bolt went wide, the second struck the machine on one of its legs. The leg pinged, and scuttled on toward Des unperturbed. "Sithspit," Des cursed. He saw the thing's head, mandibles and all, turn to him. There were blaster barrels there, and to Des' mind's eye, they looked large enough to be cannons. But instead of the high pitched sound of blaster fire, the spider-thing instead produced a low whistle, and Des almost didn't see the dart that flitted towards his shoulder through the fog. The Jedi threw himself into the dirt, forced to drop down to avoid the sting of what was no doubt deadly poison. Before Des could recover from his dive, the spiderbot was on him, legs moving to pin him down. Des rolled to the side instinctively, but the droid followed relentlessly. Desperately, the Korun Jedi grabbed hold of the droid and tried to clamber over it to get into a more advantageous position somehow.

He slammed a meaty fist into the droid's main body, where the metal gleamed differently than the obviously reinforced legs. It hurt like hell, but Des saw a small dent. It meant hope. The spider-thing, getting danger feedbacks from his sensors, tried to escape by jumping up like it had before. Des held on for dear life, getting carried up a short distance along with it. With the extra weight, the droid could not jump nearly as high, and quickly abandoned the strategy. Meanwhile, Des kept slamming his fist into the same place on the machine's main body, again and again. He put all of his strength, desperation, and will to live in those punches, and he could instinctively feel the power of the Force behind them as well. At the same time, he had never felt more desperate, or more acutely alive, than he did now. He forgot everything else around him, forgot the inquisitor after him, forgot Umbara, forgot the Jedi. It was only him and the droid, it trying to shake him off and him just hitting it until his knuckles bled. Finally, the panel gave way, and through the blur of exhaustion, Des could see wires running along the inside of the machine. He grabbed hold and pulled with all the might he had left, and after a moment the wires gave way. The electric feedback loop that Des had broken now surged right into him, up through his arm and into his shoulder. Des screamed. The machine protested, sputtered, and finally fell still.

Bruised, battered, caked with dirt and his knuckles smirched with his own blood, Des rolled onto his back and lay panting. He had no strength left, no energy. Nothing. It was all he could do to stay conscious. He thought he could hear footsteps walk up to him, someone looking at his handiwork with the droid. But he could not be certain. It was likely the inquisitor, but all he saw was a black clad blur.

Spoiler

OOC: If you want, you can fast forward to captivity in your post. You can assume Des falls unconscious at this point, after you find him and the Rapax.

 

[Cylus Jest]

Cylus shifted through the fog like an apparition, his swirling cloak moving around him in the way that the swirling winds pushed visible darkness around. In his hand, he held his E-11, it appeared to be nearly weightless as he shifted towards the downed Jedi.

To say the least, he was impressed. No Jedi he had hunted had insofar given any sort of fight, this one had not only given a fight, he had crippled and destroyed a machine built specifically to combat Jedi and he had done it with his bare hands. This was not a Jedi to take lightly as the others had been, this one would need further protection...much further protection.

He checked the E-11, motioning it over the Jedi before a lance of blue light would jolt out of it with a crack like electrical thunder, wracking into the man's body. After that was done, he flicked a return order through his comlink and the way back to his Lambda suddenly appeared as a glowing blue arrow, directing him where to bring the unconscious man.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approximately Two Standard Days Later
"How long will it be until he awakens, Doctor?" Cylus groaned with a sense of frustration gradually swelling up inside of his head. This pathetic excuse of a doctor had been utterly useless in telling him things he didn't already know, the patient was still unconscious.
"It really is quite hard to tell, perhaps he would awaken better if he were in-" The doctor paused, shifting the spectacles on his eyes as he tried to shift his gaze away from the cold one glaring into his soul like he was prey.
"-Better conditions, you have him locked up in a cage, inside of a secret passageway...no attempts have been made to feed him or tak-"

Cylus shook his head once, a flick of his hand before it's gloved form rested upon the doctor's throat, giving it a light squeeze and cutting off his reply with a yelp. He brought him closer, glaring into his eyes and seeing the frightened expression growing.
"I did not ask you to question my methods. Understood?" He spoke with a cold unfeelingness coming from the mask.
The doctor shifted, apparently trying to remove the grip on his throat as he watched, helplessly. "O-Of course, sir. My apologies, it won't happen ever ever again. He was trying to keep his cool, trying not to appear like the Bantha to the Rancor. Prey to the predator.

Cylus didn't much like that, the man had submitted, but he was still trying to retain some form of control over his piteous situation. That could not be allowed, all control of the situation had to be surrendered...otherwise their would be gradual distrust among the ranks as to their commander's ability to encourage discipline into a situation.

His gloved hand twitched once before a swarm of mechanical insects moved over it, writhing it as though it were alive before crawling upon the doctor and tearing at the flesh where they landed. He screamed in agony as they drove through his nasal cavity, into his ears...and then as suddenly as it began, the insects recalled to their home.

The doctor dropped to the floor, still shaking in fear and pain so intense that Cylus thought for a moment even the Jedi might feel it in his unconsciousness. Blood poured from dozens of tiny wounds all along his neck and face and he scurried backwards, trying to retreat from the wicked man who had caused this pain. "Leave." Cylus spoke calmly, as though the events took no precedence in his mind, they were as insignificant as swatting a fly.

They would simply have to wait and see when the prisoner would awaken...interesting.
[member="Des Kovak"]

 

[Des Kovak]

[member=Cylus Jest]

Hours later, Des stirred. The first vague shape she saw was one he recognised, but wished he hadn't heard. The hawkish face of his capturer. Lingering in half-consciousness before his mind returned to him fully, Des was flooded in memories of how he had gotten here. Umbara. The fog. The bounty hunter who claimed allegiance to something called 'the inquisition'. The spider-thing. He did not want to alert this man to his wakefulness, but he groaned with lingerling, dull throbbing pain in his hand instinctively.

"You did not kill me," was the first thing he observed as his vision waxed into clarity. His thoughts, still rearranging themselves, slowly came to a conclusion. "You want something from me," he drawled as he tried to sit up. If he succeeded, he would swing his legs over the edge of the bedding he lay on. Otherwise, if he was strapped or held down in some manner, he would strain his neck to look around. There were the bars of imprisonment around him, and beyond those room for little else. Even as Des found some form of defiance, he knew this was an awful situation to be in. "What, are you going to have me piss in a bucket for the rest of my life?" he bit, the glare in his eyes finding a modicum of fierceness. But there was doubt and hesitation there too, perhaps even a hint at fear.