The Bitter Taste of Vengeance [Sage Bane]

[Lief]

Things had been going so well.

Luce had settled in among the Cordel Household, he had been home schooled and taught the importance of maintaining a noble air about himself. He was well dressed, clean shaven, neat and tidy... And his vendetta against the idiot who inadvertently killed dear Lars had been suppressed.

But the coil which had wrapped around his previous habits had sprung open. And the young Shorn had seen red.

He had left the Household without a word to [member='Lucien Cordel'] or any of the man's Staff, even stealing a ship on the way out. He had no doubt that Lucien would catch up with him, but for now he would do what he needed to and face the consequences later.

The ship had descended to Fresia, where his nemesis' family had resettled after Cordel had orchestrated their downfall. But political and monetary grief was not enough, not for the young Shorn whose fury bubbled underneath the surface.

He had to pay.

From there Luce had hunted down the boy - who was around his age - and his family, who lived in what would still be considered a moderately large home compared to the majority of the Galaxy. Nothing at all like the manors Cordel owned.

The ensuing conflict hadn't lasted very long. While the boy and his Father had been Saber Rakes, like Luce himself, they weren't that well versed in combat... It had been mostly for show, fancy fencing. The House was reduced to nothingness, though their home was left in tact. Shorn had no qualms with whoever might be next to move in.

But something didn't sit right in him. Despite the fact that he had avenged Lars, Luce felt sick to his stomach and it didn't take long for him to realise what he had done. Therein he was physically sick, and by the time he had recomposed himself the Planetary Enforcers had been unleashed.

Now Luce sat on a stiff metal bed, the red glare of his prison walls, purely energy based, was all around. The boy slumped, his head in his hands, and realised that what Lucien had been trying to teach him had been right all along. By reducing himself to the scoundrels level, he had lost his integrity. And it felt horrible.

He might have cried, if not for the security feeds that were no doubt present in the room.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Sage Bane regularly visited the many One Sith-controlled prisons and detention centers on Fresia. They were some of his favorite places to go shopping, so to speak. The Sith Lord was always on the hunt for slaves and other sentient fodder for his experiments at the Temple of Pain. As the Emperor of Fresia and a Voice of the Dark Lord of the Sith, the illusionist had unfettered power on the planet and the sector. There was no one around to stop him from doing whatever he wanted with as many people as he wanted. Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t even try.

This particular prison had a formal name, but it was colloquially known as Darkwater, due to the thick black waters that surrounded the islet on which it was built. The rows of energy cages at Darkwater separated the wheat from the chaff. There, Sage inspected the Holocams of each of the prisoners. There was a despondent looking boy in the first one. Couldn’t be much more than sixteen.

“What did he do?” the Sith Lord asked the warden.

“Killed a whole family in their own home, My Lord."

A dark grin spread across his face.

“I would like to speak with him."

The Sith Lord didn’t need a key. The door to the cell was opened with a handwave. Sage stood there, shadowed in the doorway of the cell, studying the boy with his honey-brown eyes. Why did he look so familiar? When the Voice spoke, it was almost a growl.

“What’s your name?” And why did you kill those people?”

[member="Lucien Shorn"]

 

[Lief]

Lucien might have jumped to the sound of the voice if he was even remotely bothered by the possibility of whatever lay ahead. Cordel might have tracked him down again, he may have been about to see his very first court room, or perhaps the family would be avenged and his life would end here - hushed up by the people of Fresia.

But after giving himself a second to digest the words themselves, he could rule out two of those options. Lucien Cordel knew who he was, He would not ask for his name. And if someone was here to avenge the family, they would not have referred to the recently deceased as 'those people.'

Believing that he was about to face his fate, whatever that may be, Luce did not lift his gaze from the floor. He wished not to see his possible executioner. Who knew what the punishment was for purposely slaughtering three people and snuffing out an entire lineage in one fell swoop. He did reply, however; some of Cordel's teachings had stuck, it would not do to make things worse now by being rude.

"Lucien Shorn" the boy replied, though the words were slightly muted due to the direction he was facing. Luce did not know the significance of his name or who his Father was, that information had been restricted from the start. "And I killed them because they deserved it." There was no tone to his voice, it was eerily empty and devoid of expression. Internally the boy was simply numb.

He would not go into the details right now, unless pressed to do so. He did not want to bring up his need for vengeance.

Because vengeance was a low mans response to a situation. He knew now that Cordel had been right all along. But it was too late, and he could not dwell on it.

[member="Sage Bane"]