Private Squeeze

[Varin Mortifer]

She called us cattle, boy!

Varin's grip tightened once more on the heavy mace.

We do not follow a herd! We are the cause of its slaughter!

Varin slowly turned to face away from Mercy, intent to leave well enough alone. It was clear there was a communication issue.

But, Ignati did not care.

*Diplomacy did not work, boy.”

A loud pop echoed through the chamber as Varin's arm quickly reached for the mace in an unnatural way. The arm seemingly popped out of place momentarily as Varin quickly shot back around.

A yell ripped through him as his eye flared, the grip on the mace maintained as he flung it straight towards Mercy's head.

....you idiot.

Was all Varin could say to Ignati.

Ignati looked at Mercy.

“I am not cattle!”

His voice, deep and guttural, rumbled through the space as the smoldering cloak flared.

Nilira Vornix | Mercy | Arris Windrun | Acier Moonbound | Ghruna​

 

[Mercy]

Varin Mortifer | Nilira Vornix | Arris Windrun | Acier Moonbound | Ghruna

Mercy didn't even have time to blink before the hammer came flying at her.

Her eyes flicked briefly to Arris... and the last thing the cyborg would see was Mercy's shit-eating smirk right before the hammer smashed into her skull and rammed the back of her head into the throne. The skull cracked open like a melon, essence flowing out of it, a gurgle escaping the Lord of the Sith as she was pinned against the back of the seat.

Perfectly embedded as her fingers squeezed and relaxed into the arms of the throne.

The gurgle continued and grew louder in volume. Cracks and crunches as the figure named Mercy twitched in her throne. Few in that room would realize it, besides perhaps Arris, what that gurgle was.

Laughter.

Booming, harsh, cracked laughter.

Then the arm suddenly reached out and grabbed the hilt of the hammer. Yanking it out off her skull. Revealing the ruin that was Mercy's face. Half of it caved in, mouth cracked open, one eye still watching while the other was popped like a grape. And yet something was shifting the moment she ripped the hammer out of her head.

Her meat and bone and veins and nerves were starting to knit itself back together. Right in front of them. The gurgling laughter slowly turning back into real laughter as the nerve endings of her throat repaired themselves.

Yes. The Lord hissed with happiness and heat, leaning on her elbows, hammer resting lazily between her finger tips like a toy. "That is the spirit, my young little bull."

That lean gave them a nasty view of parts of her brain before the skull molded itself around it again.

She spit, a tooth fell down on the floor and then rose up.

"My turn."

Face still bleeding, mouth still ruin, cheek ripped to shreds, Mercy became a blur as she blinked out of existence and reappeared right next to Varin. The hammer following in her track, moving to slam its weight into his gut with all the force behind it that Mercy wished to summon in that moment.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin's head locked to the side as the wet sucking sounds that spewed from her throat took the form of laughter. His eyes glared in her direction as she plucked the mace from her skull. The damage was evident, but she showed no signs of weakness.

A growl left his throat after she spoke. His eye followed the spat bloody tooth on the floor, somehow it also seemed to rithe. Blood and all. Like every bit of her had a consciousness of its own.

Before he could process what he was seeing she was on him like a blur. His own weapon. The mace he had carried by his side for so long through so many battles.

SLAM

The armor created under the force as the weapon was rammed right below his sternum, he could feel his rubs bend under the pressure even under the armor. It groaned, creaked and screamed under the impact.

Not many things in the galaxy were able to take him off his feet let alone send him back. But the next thing he felt was a hard impact to his back and the wind driven from his chest as he impacted the wall and fell to his chest.

He gasped for air and spat out blood. The armor was denied and caved in. The armor done its job. His body was battered but still whole. He seemed to lay there for a moment before he slammed his fist onto the floor leaving a crack. He slowly picked himself up, breathing deep and harsh. The needle pricks along his spine drove into his vertebrae. He wiped the blood from his mouth.

He placed his other hand on the collar of his chest plate and ripped it off, impacting the ground with a loud clang.

Another yell erupted from his throat as he charged towards Mercy once again, leaping towards her face with his knee.

Mercy | Arris Windrun | Nilira Vornix | Acier Moonbound | Ghruna​

 

[Arris Windrun]

Acier Moonbound Varin Mortifer Mercy Nilira Vornix Ghruna

Arris watched Ace keep his mouth shut. She wondered if that would work in his favor or not, but thus far, Varin did more than enough to draw all attention to himself.

Ghruna's wheezing distracted her briefly. Seemed the close range did a little more damage than Arris thought.

Neriah, meanwhile, was... writing? Arris quirked a brow. Only for her attention to be drawn back in by Mercy.

"They do not understand what I am trying to convey to them, Windrun. Or they are testing my patience on purpose. I do not know which is worse. You know them longer. Explain to them what I mean or beat it into them, I do not care which you do."

The cyborg, mouth agape, considered her next words--

A mace flew through the air towards Mercy.

“I am not cattle!”

His voice, deep and guttural, rumbled through the space as the smoldering cloak flared.

When Mercy took it to the face, Arris knew then and there the Titan wasn't going to sit still. The cyborg took a step back, just enough to make sure she wasn't in any kind of crossover.

Sure enough...

Face still bleeding, mouth still ruin, cheek ripped to shreds, Mercy became a blur as she blinked out of existence and reappeared right next to Varin. The hammer following in her track, moving to slam its weight into his gut with all the force behind it that Mercy wished to summon in that moment.

She watched Varin's armor cave inward with an audible crunch. The apprentice sent flying across the floor, where he spat up blood. When he stood back up, defiant and rage-filled, Arris knew immediately that he meant to retaliate. Not many quite understood the capacity to which Arris read people - but before she was a Triumvir of the Sith Covenant, she was a fighter; a shockboxer at that. She noticed the way his knee bent and knew he planned to follow up with a kick.

In a show of her own speed, the cyborg leapt, summoning the Force to get her there faster, and she landed between them. Her cybernetic hand pushed down on Varin's knee to throw his momentum towards the ground. If he didn't resist, it would likely cause him to flip forward and crash on his head just inches before Mercy.

Her attention, however, turned to the Titan in question. "I ain't letting you be a hypocrite now." She, of course, referred to Mercy's own interference at the Red Ronin.

If the Tionese Sith Lord meant to ask Arris to handle this and then change her mind because she couldn't handle a hammer to her Face (which Arris suspected she took intentionally), then Mercy deserved to be embarrassed like that by her fellow Trimuvir. After all, it was her idea to share power.

"'Sides, I'm sure there's some lesson somewhere about not leaving your Throne empty if you can help it."

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun Acier Moonbound Varin Mortifer Nilira Vornix Ghruna

Mercy's expression was all anticipation.

A dark gaze as Varin got himself up to his feet while Mercy twirled his mace like a stick in her hand. Entirely unaware that a non-epicanthix should not have been able to toy with it as if it was made of a feather.

Then Arris stepped right into it and broke up the fight before it could get good.

"I ain't letting you be a hypocrite now. 'Sides, I'm sure there's some lesson somewhere about not leaving your Throne empty if you can help it."

She rolled her eyes but slowly reverted from the hungry battle stance.

"The Throne is meaningless, Windrun." Her gravel voice murmured as vocal chords repaired themselves. The ruin of her body slowly reshaping back into an intact shape. "Empty, full, what matters is the one who sits in it." A slow stretch that made several joints crack back into place after being so violently wrenched out by the mace's impact.

"A true Lord has the Throne with them. Always. No matter where they are." She dropped the mace in front of Varin. "Good stuff, boy. There is a Lord in you, if you nurture him well. If you learn to tame him, who knows, maybe one day you will have a Throne of your own."

And Mercy turned, her back to them, walking back towards the throne as if the previous moments hadn't happened.

No punishment for Varin beyond broken ribs for attacking her.

Mercy didn't believe ambition should be punished... no, that should be nurtured all the same.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Before he could make impact Arris stepped in, placing her palm upon his knee to prevent his kick. His ribs screamed at him as his body recoiled from the momentum and he slammed his foot back down into the floor with a resounding slam. The floor beneath them bearing an imprint of his boot. He lifted his fist to strike again only to stop, the fire was still in his eyes, his breathing was still harsh as it bubbled in his lungs.

He coughed up a ball of bloody phlegm and spat it to the floor.

But Mercy’s words rang true with him. For a moment the fire doused after she spoke.

His body relaxed, his eye returned back to its normal color, although bloody around the edges. The runes that burned into his armor cooled, leaving the burnt discoloration in the metal. He looked over at his chest plate that laid on the floor.

He mumbled under his breath, more to himself.

“One already exists…”

He watched her massive form walk away and looked at the mace on the floor, still covered in viscera and sinew that had caught between the flanges. He knelt down and picked it up, the heat from his hand running up the handle, quickly burning away the messy flesh, flash cleaning the metal.

He couldn’t believe how easily she picked it up. It shook him to his core. He could feel Ignati still raging, still trying to rip through, but Varin stood, holding him at bay.

That kind of strength deserved a type of respect, and that type of danger deserved it as well.

His gaze fell to Arris, his glare only slightly softening before giving her a slow nod of understanding.

Mercy | Arris Windrun | Nilira Vornix | Acier Moonbound | Ghruna​

 

[Ghruna]

the last thing the cyborg would see was Mercy's shit-eating smirk right before the hammer smashed into her skull and rammed the back of her head into the throne.

Ghruna's mouth fell open.

Mercy had simply sat there and smiled as she was killed. Her gaze slowly turned to Varin.

She tried to calm her own breathing whilst keeping air flooding into her lungs. This was about to get serious.

"My turn."

Her eyes snapped back to Mercy. Her face was reforming. Before the healing was even done mercy had crossed the space to Varin in a blur.

In a show of her own speed, the cyborg leapt, summoning the Force to get her there faster, and she landed between them

Ghruna squeezed her hands into fists. In her experience, this was about to become a full brawl for dominance. She regretted taking the bean back to the sternum. She was going to be slow to join in the fun.

"Good stuff, boy. There is a Lord in you, if you nurture him well. If you learn to tame him, who knows, maybe one day you will have a Throne of your own."

As soon as it had started it came to an end. In a way, she was relieved as she watched Mercy return to her throne; she would not have given a proper account of herself.

For the most part, she was simply confused.