Private Tell Me Again, How You Killed Them

[Darth Solipsis]

DARK LORD OF THE SITH | VOICE OF THE MAW
Thalia Senn
Dathomir

​

“You’re afraid.”

The voice echoed softly from the shrouded figure standing tall against the arid backdrop of the harsh Dathomiri crags. Wrapped in tattered robes and dark garments, the Dark Lord of the Sith looked on with his hand outstretched high.

“Good.”

“The fall will kill you. The sudden stop an end to your tale, destiny stripped away.”

His invisible grasp loosened, his eyes blaring forth like twin orbs of brilliant yellow. With just a slight of hand the tether between them would sever, the Force holding her above the chasm gone.

“Unless you have the STRENGTH and the WILL to survive.”

His eyes shifted to the cliffside near him before flickering back to the dangling form of the former Jedi.

“Use your anger. Your fear, draw upon that dark place for the strength to overcome.”

He let go, his hold severed.

“Or fall.”

 

[Thalia Senn]

Tempest swallowed hard as she struggled to keep her balance floating in the air. She was wearing her helmet though and the sound was only magnified along with the ragged sound of her own breathing. Yes, she was afraid, but she wouldn't let him see that. She cursed under breath as she thought for a moment that he had dropped her. Looking down, she wondered how far of a drop this was.

"Don't look down. You'll only break your conssssssentration." Thalia gasped as sea spray splattered across her face. Her arms were stretched to their limit and legs out even more in hopes of keeping her balance.

"Its a little hard to not when you've got me dangling over a karking cliff right above a den of water dragons!" From her vantage point she could see about ten or twelve of them lounging on the rocks below. A wave crashed over them and when the water receded she spied one or two struggling to climb back into their lounging positions. What time of year was it? If it was almost summer these guys would be hungry, starting to lose their fat and go into hunting mode. Either way, if she fell from this height she'd be too broken to fight off even the laziest of water dragons as they tore her to shreds and turned her into fuel for their mating season.

"Fear isssss the mind-killer," Master Khefiir said. He was floating, eyes closed and legs crossed in deep mediation. "Fear will sssstop you, block you from reaching out to the Forcssssse if you let it conssssume you. Focussss my padawan. You have it in you. I know thissss thing."

"Wait, no!" Khefiir's out stretched fist opened and the grip on Thalia was released.

And she fell.

​

Tempest gasped as she felt the grip on her evaporate. Why did she just remember that? She ground her teeth as anger welled up in her, quashing the fear as the ground rushed up to meet her. The jagged stones below would turn her into mince as surely as those water dragons would have torn her to shreds, but she also knew that Solipsis would not bother with a weakling, would not catch her like Master Khefiir had that day. Still, she could not focus enough to halt her movement.

But she would not die today. The force welled up insider her and the storm came with it. Her falling slowed, slowed long enough for her to pull her lightsaber from her chest holster and activate it, the green blade erupting to life. With a scream, she slammed the blade into the rockface to slow her descent until she came to a complete stop. For a moment she struggled to find a foothold. When she found one she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She spared a look down and watched as the rocks and dirt from the gouging of her lightsaber tumbled and shattered on the hard-packed earth below.

"Salt and spray," she cursed under her breath as she took off her helmet with her free hand. She could already feel the disappointment in her new master but still she looked up the cliffside, a defiant and angry look on her face.

He wouldn't kill her that easily.

Darth Solipsis

 

[Darth Solipsis]

DARK LORD OF THE SITH | VOICE OF THE MAW
Thalia Senn
Dathomir

​

The Dark Lord looked on as she fell, his predatory gaze following her plummeting form as it dived into the abyss. His open hand still outstretched fell to his hip, his feet instinctually began to move forward towards the edge.

She survived.

His thoughts immediately harkened back to Maestus on Mustafar, to the beginning. The harsh landscape of Dathomir was no less deadly, nor was the fall. The Dark Voice looked upon the student clinging to the rock face with a face filled with anger and defiance

Good.

Without a word he turned away, walking from the cliff’s edge. His eyes fell upon the sight of familiar tidings, the Tomb of Kujet but a hour or so walk from the curling crags they encroached upon.

She would have to climb and make haste.

Or be left behind.

 

[Thalia Senn]

That's it? Tempest growled and snapped her helmet back over her head. The seal hissed, telling her that it was sealed from the vacuum or any other dangerous air pathogens. Muttering more curses, she pulled her other lightsaber from her chest holster and activated it. Fine. She didn't need his help. Plunging her lightsaber into the rock wall she took a deep breath, steeling herself for the climb, gave the lip one last look and began climbing.

​

Thalia was bent over, struggling for breath.

"I can't," pant, "believe," pant, "you just did that!" Khefiir laughed a raspy laugh that sounded like scales scraping together and patted his padawan on the back.

"I wouldn't let you fall like that." He said. "Gather yourssself. That isss not the only trial you will face today." Thalia groaned. She already knew that today was going to be rough. She just hoped that he didn't try to make her push another stubborn errey across the field again. Khefiir had already left her behind when she finally caught her breath from screaming so hard.

"Hey! Wait up!" The pair of Jedi paused when a bell's clear note rang out across the property. Just then she realized how hungry she was. Thalia looked to her master with pleading eyes before he sighed and waved a hand.

"Eat your fill, we will continue after." With a wide grin, Thalia ran back to her home. Training on your family homestead had a lot of perks, including hot meals every day.

​

With a huff, Tempest threw her right arm over the edge of the cliff and felt her lightsaber slide from her grip. With a groan she lifted her upper body up and threw the other arm up and scrambled over the top. Her face was hot from the exertion and her arms felt like ration paste, but she'd made it. She took a sip from the water straw inside her helmet and sighed in satisfaction as the coolness filled her.

There was no time for lunch or rest though. She wasn't a child any longer. Determined, Tempest picked up her weapon and but both lightsabers away before walking towards the ominous tomb. She wondered why Solipsis had chosen this place, wondered how this Zeffo palace was so steeped in the dark side. She'd thought the Zeffo were high cultured Force using snobs. Most of the records she'd had access to as a Padawan made it seem like they were basically the Jedi of their time.

"But Jedi lie," she reminded herself as she walked beneath the archway doors and entered the tomb.

Darth Solipsis

 

[Darth Solipsis]

DARK LORD OF THE SITH | VOICE OF THE MAW
Thalia Senn
Dathomir

​

The path was narrow and treacherous, the bridge long since weathered away. Overgrown vines and dead flora covered the thick chiseled rock, nothing but the treachery of Dathomir herself stood in the way of the Tempest from reaching the hallowed halls of Kujet. As she reached the entrance to the imposing edifice, the tomb that touched the sky, she would see the long since decayed remains of several Zabrak warriors.

The skeletal remains of the Dathomiri Nightbrothers.

“Slaughtered. Cut down. Blasted.”

The Dark Lord stepped out from the shadows, emerging from the oubliette in the corners of the grand foyer. His hand brushed against the ultra smooth obsidian rock and hieroglyphic wall murals.

“These souls sought refuge here from the New Imperial purge. Look at them.”

His hand fell from the engrained murals to his hip as he halted his advance.

“The Jedi and their Imperial cousins are similar to the Sith in almost every way. Know this, young one, the only truth in the galaxy is that the weak will be devoured by the strong. No matter how you hide it, reason it, run from it.. that is the truth. The Brotherhood may kill indiscriminately, but they do it honestly.”

The Dark Lord’s eyes met the Tempest’s own with a fire raging from within.

“I will be your torturer. You will make every effort to grasp the scraps of knowledge I feed you. The greatest lie is compassion. It will be the blow that cripples you, the dagger in the back that kills you. Good and Evil are a point of view..”

His gaze shifted away as he stepped off towards the depths.

“..determined by the STRONG.”

The Sith’ari led the way further into the tomb, into the darkness. A cruel smile spread across his lips as he thought back to Cato Neimoidia, to Thalia engaging her former friends.

“Tell me again, how you killed them.”

 

[Thalia Senn]

She hated how he was able to do that. Hiding your presence in the Force was a trivial matter to Solipsis, especially in a place like this where the Force was so powerfully tainted by the Dark Side. She didn't let her body react to the shock though as he walked around her, giving his speech.

“These souls sought refuge here from the New Imperial purge. Look at them.”

Her eyes flicked down to the bodies, patches of muscle and skin still clinging to the bone that once gave it life and motion. She shuddered.

"Operation Kyber Dark," she muttered under her breath. She'd heard about it, when the New Imperial Order turned on their Sith allies and their Imperial Knights slaughtered them in the streets of Bastion. After that being a Darksider was outlawed in New Imperial space. She guessed that must have continued long into the war and after. She began to wonder how they had even gotten past the Iron Curtain without so much as an inkling of a disturbance from the local garrisons.

“Tell me again, how you killed them.”

Instinctively her hand gripped the odd lightsaber hilt that she'd claimed at Cato Neimoidia. She'd tried dozens of times now, but the blasted thing wouldn't turn on, no matter how she tinkered with the power supply, no matter how she aligned the crystal, it just wouldn't activate. It was odd. Over the weeks she'd had it, she'd felt like someone, or something was always watching her, probing her awareness through the Force. At first she thought it was just her imagination or a trick by Solipsis. But she was starting to wonder if it was the crystal itself.

"I took my ship, my crew, to the planet just as you asked." she started. "We waited until we got the signal and I jumped us right into the thick of the battle." Recounting the tale, her voice started off unsure, but as she continued her voice became stronger, firmer, more confident. "I wasn't in the battle for long, but I delayed the Jedi team. One of the Padawans, she was barely a challenge," a lie. She'd nearly tossed her into the abyss, but he didn't need to know that. "She got a lucky hit on me," she stammered, "But when I retaliated she lost her lightsaber." Her hand tightened around the grip. "She was desperate to get it back, it seemed like she'd lost all karking sense of self-preservation." At this, she began to chuckle. "Master, she charged me with paint buckets. PAINT BUCKETS. Have you ever had someone try to kill you with a bucket of paint?" She laughed and presented the lightsaber in an open palm, "Her desperation was her downfall. I tossed her from the train, she wasn't even close enough to throw a zipline to the track. All because I had this. She probably died before she even realized she hit the ground."

Darth Solipsis

 

[Darth Solipsis]

DARK LORD OF THE SITH | VOICE OF THE MAW
Thalia Senn
Dathomir

​

“No, not Kyber Dark. After.”

His gaze shifted back to his disciple, “Kyber Dark too was a welcomed sight, but this purge was one of more recent memory.”

He studied the student as she handled her trophy, a saber taken on Cato Neimoidia, and relayed back what happened. Uncertainty, her story was filled with it. He would pick at the holes if not for the saber in hand.

“Is this humorous to you?”

He began to pace around her like a predator stalking it’s prey.

“Tell me, what did you feel when you were struck? You faced a child with a lightsaber and stand here uncertain, unsure. I am training you to be strong, to be free.”

“The lesson is to purge weakness, to kill it because only the strong will survive. If faced with a true threat would you?”

 

[Thalia Senn]

Darth Solipsis ​

It was a feeling at first, that familiar pressure, like eyes boring in on her from all sides. It was as if she had been cast adrift and left in the middle of a pride of Pamarthen Lions. No, worse. As the man cast his gaze on her the laughter died in her throat. The black-winged drake that had offered promises of strength and power now turned its angry glare to her and suddenly she was nothing more to it than a kiree calf, separated from its herd and prime to be torn apart.

She swallowed hard.

"I-" the words died in her throat as the girl Thalia began to emerge, the very weakness Solipsis spoke of, just like at at the train. She wanted to scream, wanted to run. Oh by the Force and the Stormfather where was her Master? Where was Khefiir ? The thought drove her to further panic. Would he know that she'd thought of the Jedi as her Master? She pulled and pulled and tried to steer her craft across the storm of emotions running through her.

All of these thoughts came and went in the briefest of moments but she knew she'd been had.

"I could," Tempest said, defiance in her voice. "I will be free. She's dead, I'm sure of it." Yet the tiniest bit of doubt still lingered. She wouldn't mention that the padawan's blade was defective. That would only further her shame.