Private The Fall

[Cadere]

Somewhere...

The arm Mathieu'd given him was gone in an instant, he'd been tossed and thrown like a ragdoll across the village, his organic arm was dislocated, ribs cracked, and the last thing he remembered was being shot with Force lightening so intense it felt like his skin melted off... right? So, what was all this? This... nice home with... Zemira meditating? Cas wandered the household and heard the laughter of two children. A little boy and girl entered the house from the back garden, they called him 'daddy'? He felt confused, but the kids quickly ran up to him and hugged each leg. Zemira followed, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up into his eyes, concern beset her, she asked him what's wrong. He was silent for a few moments, but a smile grew on Cas' face "Nothing." he said "Everything's perfect." he felt... peace. It almost felt like a dream.

Yes. It was.

The broken Jedi Knight's eyes slowly opened... well, one of them opened at least, the other felt swolen shut. Cas tried to take a breath but when he inhaled, he felt a sharp pain in his rub causing him to hiss in pain. "Ugh. Dammit..." Cas said weakly. Glancing up at his arm, the Jedi Knight saw his remaing arm encased in energy cuffs and what surrounded him were walls also made from energy, he quickly realised he was floating inside a force cage. The Kiffar's entire body hurt, his bones, his organs, his muscles, you name it - looks like he really managed to piss Insatious off. Cas felt like death, weak... but it wasn't just his body... his very soul felt... damaged, wounded.

A smile crept on his split lip, at least that was satisfying but then came the realisation... he'd lost. Not just the fight, but everything... he'd took a gamble and failed. A sigh escaped him, he wasn't dead but that wasn't likely to last - regardless, he was hopeful that BB-5 made it offworld and managed to return to Concord space safely and... break the news that he didn't make it. Hopefully it ended there too, now that he was likely dead in the Silver Jedi's eyes, they wouldn't come looking for him or Insatious. Cas was just regretful he couldn't save Liliana and her child... he couldn't fulfill his promise to Ki'an.

Ki'an... the Mandalorian's unmasked face flashed in his mind, then Sam's, Nezira's, Ciara's, his parents', Mat's, Sakadi's, Yenna's and finally... Zemira - all those that gave him his strength, his reason to fight, he'd probably never see them again. At least they'd be safe from Insatious, with Cas dead, he'd have no way of finding his family and friends. A small cough escaped him, blood accompanying it, internal bleeding? Sounded bad, well all Cas had to do was wait... wait to die. He'd gathered Insatious'd wanna torture him first though, great.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere
Location: Somewhere...

The room Cas was in, wasn't particularly large with him hanging from his bindings, locked in the air. In front of him, was a singular blast door with a console by the door, which was most likely for opening the door from inside the room. The left of Cas, up against the wall, was a boring grey coloured panel with a bunch of levers and buttons. In fact, the entire room was just incredibly boring with its grey colour and nothing else.

For how long Cas hang in the room alone, was unknown to Fallen Jedi, not to mention, there weren't any windows to see where he was. What easily could feel like a day... or two maybe? It was tough counting days. However, at one point, the doors did slide open with an Imperial officer holding a datapad. The officer looked over Cas from a distance, writing down something, before leaving again with not a word spoken.

What was Cas' daily life, having the officer silently observing the Kiffar for a minute or two and then leave again without a word spoken. Even if Cas tried to get a conversation going, he would get no response. The only other time, where Cas would meet other people, was when he was served dinner. Then again, served dinner would be a bit of an overstatement as he was more or less forced to eat what he was given. The way he was fed, was through injection with simple nutrition and nourishment mix by an interrogation droid to be kept just alive.

After what must have felt like a torturous infinity of being ignored by everyone and be force-fed nutrition and nourishment through injection, one day the door opened and it was non-other than Insatious himself, though, without his mask on. Another thing that was also off about this, was the fact that Insatious looked young. The Sith Lord looked as if he was in his mid-forties and not hundreds of years old.

If Cas was asleep, Insatious would walk over to the console by the wall and press a button, which would, in turn, send weak electricity for a few seconds through the Fallen Jedi's body for a wake-up call.

However, if Cas was awake upon entering the room, Insatious would father his hands behind his back and walk over to Cas. "You're awake, good".

 

[Cadere]

He waited... and he waited, for so long that he felt like this was the torture he'd face before eventually being turned into a lifeless husk. This solitary confinement was all too familiar, reminding him of the time he and Ki'an were trapped aboard Insatious' vessel for Force knew how long. Cas tried to reach out with the Force, to sense something, anything, but his connection felt weak... damaged - every time he tried to connect to it, he could feel his very spirit tire. His shoulder hurt, his ribs hurt, being left untreated and without any form of pain relief was annoying... Cas would periodically attempt to use the Force to dull his pain, focusing on the Light and its healing properties, unfortunately he was never a good healer to begin with.

At some point, finally, he'd have a semblence of sentient contact - an officer entered with a datapad. "Hey. You my designated torturer for this evening?" he quipped weakly before releasing a small, pained cough "Ow." he said. Despite his attempts at chatting, the Officer ignored him. This would repeat for a few days. That and being fed through a metaphorical straw, being a captive and all, being held in a force cage day in and day out was torture in of itself, don't even mention toilet breaks.

Cas' bruised and scar ridden body remained floating in space for what felt like an eternity to him. The Kiffar measured time with sleep, counting the end and start to his days whenever he fell asleep or woke up. When he did sleep, those were his only means of escaping the hell he'd found himself in - most days, he'd dream of happier times, of the people he loved and cared for deeply, or his fantasies of the future. Other times, Cas would suffer awful nightmares ranging from his defeat at Insatious' hands, the death of his friends and family, and the battles he took part in against the Bryn. Thankfully, the good dreams outweighed the bad.

Adrift in the realm of dreams, Cas had the same dream again. He wasn't sure if it was a vision of the future or just a hopeless fantasy. The dream of him and Zemira, happily married, with their two children living together on a sunny planet - they'd given up their lives as Jedi, bought a plot of land and moved to a tropical planet to raise their kids together. Although Cas loved adventure, he felt content settling down and raising a family. This particular dream was a barbeque, everyone was there: Yen, Sakadi, Mathieu, Ciara and their parents, Sam and her daughter, Nezira, Ki'an and his wife and kids... all happy and together.

The dream abruptly ended when a familiar pain traversed through his body, shocking him awake, Cas let out a pained grunt before hanging his head low. Recovering his breath was a pain, his untreated rib making it difficult for him to even draw oxygen.

"You're awake, good."

That familiar, slimy voice made Cas' blood blaze. Raising his head, he locked eyes with the now younger Dark lord "Still haven't killed me yet, huh?" Cas chuckled weakly "I knew you liked me. Looks like you're a big old softy, tall, dark and scary." Cas coughed weakly again, a bit of blood escaping his insides. "You're looking good, trying out a new non-life force diet? Heard it does wonders for the skin." Cas continued to quip. If the torture or death was about to come to him, he may as well go out annoying the Sith Lord.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere
Location: Somewhere

Impressive constitution that Jedi had, Insatious had to give him that. Walking over to Cas so they stood face to face, though with Cas hanging higher up in the air. However, as the Jedi continued to talk, Insatious neither stopped him nor retorted back at Cas' quip for a very long time. Insatious knew the Jedi liked to talk, he had often quipped at Insatious or fired some joke to lighten the move. The Sith Lord had a feeling, that Cas hated sitting still for long periods of time and more so not having anyone talk back to him.

So far his experiment worked and the feedback from the officer had proven his tactic fruitful. Standing, looking up at Cas, a smirk started to form on Insatious' lips, just standing there, quiet, observing the Jedi mental psyche react to the silent treatment. After an hour of just watching Cas quietly, Insatious left the room without having said another word. Cas would again find himself alone, no one to talk to and a dull, boring grey room with nothing interesting to look at.

As such, that became the Jedi's routine for an unknown amount of days with the only exception when forcefully given nutrition and nourishment mix by an interrogation droid. The other time something out of the ordinary happened, an older man in a white coat along with two Imperial guards carrying force nullifying handcuffs. Like Insatious, if Cas was sleeping, he was woken up by mild electrocution.

Nevertheless, the last thing Cas would remember was one of the guards pulling out a small pistol looking blaster and fired it at Cas, hitting him with something. The next moment, everything went black for his eyes and he went into a deep slumber. When Cas finally woke up again, he was in a 5 by 5-meter dark cell with the only light source shining above him, lighting his position up, but in turn, making it very hard for Cas' eyes to adapt to the darkness. He was laying down on a cold metallic floor and his wrist and hands locked in Force nullified cuffs and on top of that, chains were connected to the front of the cuff gloves, which were bolted to the floor. The chains themselves weren't long and gave Cas just enough room to sit up or kneeling.

However, while everything still hurt like a motherkriffer, he wasn't coughing up blood anymore and his ribs weren't broken anymore, though he would still feel incredibly weak. The lonely days for Cas continued, though on the hard metallic floor, which was completely opposite of the motionless stasis he had been in before. The visits of the officer continued, bringing a new light source into the room, every time to door slid open. However, the officer was almost impossible to see as she stood in the darkness, rendering her almost invisible for Cas' eyes, thanks to the bright and sharp light above the Jedi.

After a month of nothing but silence with the exception of when he was wet, Cas was finally visited by someone new as a female voice heard struggling against her captures as the door slid open to Cas' lonely room. "Let me go your Nerf-herders!" Demanded the female woman as she was thrown harshly to the ground in front of Cas. In the dimly lit shadows bordering from Cas' bright light source and to the darkness, the Jedi Knight was face to face with none other, than Ciara Tynen, Cas' sister.

Ciara looked as if she had been beaten and bloodied as the words left her lips almost in a whisper of shock... "C-Cas?". If Cas tried to get over to her, the chains would stop him, keeping him just out of Ciara's reach. Cas couldn't see the people that had escorted Ciara as they were shrouded in the darkness outside of the light circle Cas was locked to.

 

[Cadere]

The two were face to face now, although Insatious said... nothing. Cas was expecting Insatious to gloat or at least say something, this awkward silence was uncharacteristic of him. Cas winced as the pain of his injuries flaired up "Dammit." he whispered, breathing slightly heavier, his eyes raised toward the Sith Lord "You did a real number on me. I've never been beaten this badly... congrats." Cas quipped, but nothing. It remained this way for ten minutes... then twenty... "Ugh, are you gonna kill me or what?" he asked, clearly growing aggravated by the long wait time.

Finally, an hour passed and he left. Without. Saying. A Damn. Word. These were definitely some weird torture methods, being subjected to mind numbing boredom wasn't very Sith-like. He sighed before hanging his head low and simply occupied himself with his own thoughts, periodically sleeping and dreaming good dreams. Days would pass and the routine resumed, being injecting with nutrients and such just to keep him alive and regular visits by the interrogation droid - which he named 'Scrappy'.

Then a man in a labcoat and two guards entered the room carrying cuffs before one pulled a pistol out and aimed it at him. Cas rolled his eyes, realising he was about to be moved somewhere else "Can't you just--" blue rings exited the pistol's barrell and everything suddenly went black. Cas jolted awake to the sound of chains "Ugh... my head..." the Kiffar groaned as he sat up, he was sat below a small beacon of light which formed a small circle around him while everything else was pitch black. "I preferred the force cage." Cas muttered as he looked at the cuffs placed over his right hand and left stub of where his cybernetic arm used to be, the Force's caress was gone completely now, leading him to realise his connection to the Force had been blocked.

Cas had no clue how long he was out for but he wasn't in nearly as much pain as he was in before, it was easier to breathe now as he felt no pain when he did. "HOW LONG ARE YOU GONNA DRAG THIS OUT?!" Cas yelled with his head thrown back, knowing no one would hear him. The routine continued as the days passed, the darkness made it hard for him to figure out the passage of time. The lack of food and physical activity took its toll on Cas, although his injuries had healed, his body had started to slim - those nutrient injections kept him alive, but it wasn't an adequate replacement for food.

The Jedi spent most of his time pacing around the circle of light, trying so desperately to stay within its contents. It was torture as the days began to roll into one, the lack of interaction, Cas felt like he was going to lose his mind with only the memories of his friends and family keeping him afloat. Suddenly, he heard a voice... an eerily familiar one, his heart sank and a void formed in his stomach. It couldn't be her, he prayed it wasn't, he needed it not to be.

The door slid open and he was temporarily blinded by the introduction of a new light source, causing him to shield his eyes with his right arm. As his eyes re-adjusted, he made out the girl's familiar frame "No..." Cas muttered once his fears were confirmed. "Ciara!" the Kiffar exclaimed as he rushed toward his sister, his chains made a loud clang sound and he was violently pulled back and slammed into the floor by his chains. "Dammit..." he sat up, coughing as the wind was knocked out of him "Is that really you? Or have I finally lost my mind?"

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere
Location: Somewhere

Ciara looked horribly beaten with a busted lip, cracked eyebrow and large purple marks from breaking off the skin after a beating. In a flash, Ciara crawled frantically to her brother with tearful eyes. "What have they done to you brother?!" Asked Ciara with deep sorrow in her voice as she went to help him up from the floor. "Cas," said Ciara, placing both hands on her cheeks, forcing them to keep eye contact. When staring a Ciara, Cas could clearly see the so familiar slender but physically fit features of his twin sister, but her eyes reveal a so much more terrified girl than Cas had ever seen expressed from Ciara before.

"H-he has mom and dad... and... and he told me if I could convince you to give up your Jedi ways, he~ he would let them go..." explained Ciara, now truly trembling in the horrific idea of losing their parents. Her face hardened though and stared directly into her twin's eyes. "But you mustn't brother, fight! Find a way! Don't worry abo~" insisted with a determination as two figures geared in black grabbed Ciara away from Cas and slammed a knee into a stomach, causing her to crumble in pain.

Right outside of the light, in the dimly lit shadows, Cas could vaguely see Ciara getting a pretty horrible beat down as the two figures in black continued to kick her. The entire room would be filled with Ciara's painful screams of pain, crying for the nightmare to end. After 10 minutes of the continual beating of Ciara, the screams died out as she had either passed out... or died.

Once a proud and headstrong Jedi Knight, not afraid to aid his friends and family in a heartbeat, could do nothing but listen to the pure evil being carried out without a way to even stop it. Luckily Ciara hadn't died, while laying completely still, Ciara was still breathing, though it was a half-dying haggard breath with only her arm in the light. It didn't take long, before the two people that had beaten Ciara to an inch of her life, grabbed her feet and dragged her out of the room. The last thing Cas heard, was from one of the people who had beaten Ciara.

"You have 24 hours to decide Jedi"

Before long, the door was slid shut again and Cas was left to his own thoughts, doubts, stubborn denial and what else of emotions coursing through him at that moment. If he looked at the floor where Ciara had been lying on, fresh red blood stained the floor just enough to form spots.

 

[Cadere]

Ciara crawled her way over to Cas, now that her features were illuminated by the singular light source, he saw how bad the damage was. Rage boiled within him and his teeth were bared, gritted "I should be asking you." he said through his teeth, wanting to tear apart those that had hurt his twin sister. Cas desperately wanted to hug his sister, let her know that everything was going to be okay... but it wasn't going to be. The Kiffar relaxed into his sister's palms, calming him down slightly, the circumstances were dire but... it was calming to see Ciara again.

His nerves returned and he tensed up once more when she revealed Insatious had their parents "W-what? How? How did they--?" but he was cut off as Ciara continued, revealing the conditions he would have to meet if he wanted them to be safe. "I--" he was at a loss for words, Cas' loved ones meant everything to him... more than his status as a Jedi. He was stubborn, but he knew went to put aside his pride. Suddenly Ciara was pulled away by the guards that put her in here, Cas shot up like lightening as he screamed at them "GET YOUR KARKIN' HANDS OFF HER!"

Cas fought against his chains, they rattled as he used all his strength desperately trying to rip them or himself out of entrapment - the sounds of his beloved sister being beaten coupled with her pained screams made his blood run cold. "STOP! Hurt me, not her!" the Jedi screamed, pulling so hard against his cuffs that his wrist began to bleed. Rage took over as he continued to struggle "I'm gonna kill you! I SWEAR TO--!" then they stopped, it was completely silent and the only thing he could hear was his pulse. Falling to his knees he begged the stars, the Force, anything "Pleasepleaseplease, Ciara. Please be okay..."

A gasp was heard, a pained, weak one. He could see her arm, Cas' right arm stretched out toward it but it was too far to reach as it and Ciara were dragged away by the guards before being left with the ultimatum. The Jedi remained knelt, his head hung low, Cas was seething, wanting to kill everything in sight. His fingers curled into a fist, shaking violently as blood trickled down his wrist and hand "Dammit..."

Cas spent the next 24 hours going back and forth on his decision. He tried to devise countless plans to escape, ways to get his family out safe but... deep down he knew he had no chance. Cas wanted to fight, desperately, but it was a fight he wouldn't win. Cas' entire life was a Jedi, but his loved ones meant everything to him, if it meant keeping them safe... he'd drop it all in a heartbeat. But Darth Insatious needed to die, that much was obvious... Cas continued to ponder... he knew he wasn't strong enough to kill the Sith Lord now but what if he knew of the Force's other aspects. The Dark side. What if he fought fire with fire? Get the Dark lord to teach him what he knew and then use it to defeat him. It was a risk, a big one, and recently the risks he'd been taking were colossal failures.

Cas sighed... he had to do this, but if it meant losing himself in the process... it was a small price to pay to keep everyone he loved safe. That was it then... Cas would remain 'dead' and begin a new life under Darth Insatious, biding his time until he was strong enough to kill him and save Liliana, her child... everyone. No one could know he was still alive, otherwise they'd still be at risk... if... everything goes to plan after today, the Kiffar would need to adopt a new identitiy.

He took a deep breath before exhaling just as deep. Clenching his single fist, Cas threw his head back and screamed into the void "OKAY! YOU WIN!" he paused, sighing, "I RENOUNCE THE JEDI WAYS!-- I--" then he hung his head low and proclaimed softly "I pledge myself to you..."

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere
Location: Somewhere

Slow clapping started to suddenly fill the room out of nowhere. It was hard to know where it came from at first, but as the clapping continued Cas would be able to pinpoint that it came from his right. "And so the one's proud Knight of the light so willingly falls, rather poetic... wouldn't you agree?" Asked the voice of Insatious with a very demeaning tone, followed by him entering the light circle, but still just out of reach for the now Fallen Jedi. With hands behind his back, a gleeful smirk was plastered on his lips. The Sith Lord released a dry laugh, seeing Cas so broken, so quickly. "I must admit, seeing you like this" started Insatious using his hands, directing towards Cas. "soo quick to give up everything, you practically welcomed the deep-seated hatred in you, the moment I dangled unavoidable consequences in front of you. What would you master think?" commented the Sith Lord with a very degrading, though delighted tone.

The darkness outside of Cas' circle was lit up with normal light, while the very bright light forming the circle surrounding Cas was shut off, showing a circular room. However, it was not particularly the newly visible circular room that would catch the Fallen Jedi's attention, for the door opened again. The two people dressed in black guided Ciara back in, though something had changed in his twin sister. Not only did his twin sister not cower in fear of Insatious or the two people in black that had beaten her half to death, but her eyes would remind Cas of the way Insatious looked at him.

A cold smirk formed on Ciara's lips, "Hello... brother" greeted Ciara like she was getting visible sick from saying the word. The worse of it all, the aftereffect of her brutal beating was still very much visible on her, though the worse had been patched up. Then she turned to look at Insatious, "your plan worked perfectly, father" expressed Ciara, bowing before Insatious and gave Cas one last look of disdain, before leaving with the two dressed in black.

Kneeling down, Insatious tilted his head just a bit, "did you really think it would be that easy, Cassalius?" Asked Insatious, again with a very degrading and demeaning tone. As the Sith Lord rose back on his feet, he looked down at Cas, "you have much to learn about the Dark Side... my young apprentice" explained Insatious as electricity started to crackle in both his hands.

"But since you're so eager to learn, let me show you what it takes to accept the Darkness, boy"

The next moment happened incredibly fast as Cas felt his entire body was blasted with booming lightning for an unknowingly long time. The gleeful smile had only widened on Insatious' lips as he continued to electrocute Cas with a, particularly ruthless Force Lightning. Right before Cas felt like his life would end, the torture stopped.

Not giving Cas a second glance, Insatious just turned around and headed for the door, "I will look forward to our next training session... my apprentice" commented the Insatious and left the room, leaving Cas to himself. As soon as the door closed, the normal light was turned off, leaving the same darkness again, followed by the same bright circle light from above him.

 

[Cadere]

As soon as the fallen Jedi had said the words, he heard Insatious' voice creep through his ears. Cas remained in the same position, on his knees, head low and was as still as a statue - all the while Insatious' circled him like a predator, gloating. "I'd have done the same for her." Cas argued, bringing up his master was a low blow. If Sakadi were here now, she'd tell him to let them die and to not let his attachments influence his greater judgement. Yeah, easy for her to say when you've lived several life times and can afford to grow detatched from those in your life. However, he could already see the disappointment on her face at his choices, he hated it, but Cas knew he was doing the right thing.

The lights suddenly switched, the small light that shined on him went dark and the surrounding area suddenly lit up. The Kiffar squinted as his eyes tried to adjust just before he heard the blast doors slide open with Ciara and the two guards emerging through it. Cas went into protective brother mode and immediately stood up and asked "Ciara, are you alright?" but he suddenly paused, something was off, her demeanour had changed. "No..." he'd realised what had happened... he'd been swindled - this wasn't even Ciara was it? All some ploy to get him to break quicker.

"Hello... brother"

The contempt in this... impostor's voice confirmed even more that he'd been played. On one hand he felt relief that his family were safe, on the other hand he wanted to rave at the fact he'd been manipulated so easily. However, he kept himself reserved... continuing to play along with the whole charade. Cas proceeded to fall back to his kees, remaining silent, he began to doubt himself, unsure if he had what it took to dance so close to the Dark but remain within the Light... because right now, he wanted nothing more than to kill Insatiou and, destroy everything that had to do with him. So much so his dark feelings would pulsate through his signature within the Force.

He refused to make eye contact with the Sith Lord, feeling physically nauseous whenever he referred to him as his 'apprentice'. The sound of electricty crackling caused Cas' gaze to shoot up, he knew what was about to happen and before he could even react he felt a wave of electricity wash over him and through his body. The fallen Jedi fell back, screaming in pain as he felt his entire body burn - the sensation was so much that he wanted to die. Eventually, everything went numb, including his thoughts, blocked out by his own torturous screams.

However long the torture lasted, it finally came to an end. His body was smoking and his breathing was wheezy, Cas struggled to breathe but forced himself to utter these words weakly just as Insatious left "I'm... going to kill you..." before exhaling deeply and passing out, succumbing to his pain. He would dream of Zemira again.

Darth Insatious ​

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere
Location: Somewhere

The upcoming months, no year of imprisonment, quickly made it clear that the Jedi wasn't going to be killed anytime soon as he once again for the thousandth time, was put through absolutely gruesome torture. Cas would also with certainty come to almost appreciate when the torture only involved lightning from the Sith Lord because then it was only physical harm done to Cas.

Cas was starting to dream less and less of pleasant dreams as nightmares and dreams turned to nightmares started to take hold. At first, it was small areas of the dream, but soon it started to become more and more frequent when the Fallen Jedi were alone. Cas would also begin to see Insatious' face much more haunt his dreams and nightmares straight had Cas watch his loved ones die by Insatious' blade.

Whether Cas knew Insatious caused the nightmares and twisting of his dreams by the Sith Lord himself, but nevertheless, there wasn't a dream or nightmare, where Cas would not be haunted by the eldritch laugh from the skull mask shrouded in darkness. Not only did Cas get tortured by twisted dreams he couldn't escape or stop, with Insatious taking Zemira from him.

However, sometimes Cas wouldn't get electrocuted by the Sith Lord, but instead, have his mind invaded by Insatious through the infliction of fear to twist and corrupt the Fallen Jedi into believing all he cared about would suffer worse than death. While Insatious held the fear active, fighting everything Cas might try to do, to break the hold the Sith Lord had on him, Insatious actually cause fear, so the Fallen Jedi would focus on stopping his mind from falling into despair and not the invasion of his mind with telepathy.

The moment Insatious broke through the mental barriers keeping his telepathic invasion at bay, would the Sith Lord drop his fear control over Cas and start to dig deep, very deep. The Fallen Jedi would feel a strong mental pain jolted through him as he could feel the black tar vipers slither their way every possible memory, every possible people Cas cared about.

 

[Cadere]

The dreams would eventually stop too, his nights were now infested with horrific nightmares, ones that wouldn't allow his body to wake up from. The fallen Jedi chalked it up as some cosmic punishment, a punishment for renouncing his ideals and so easily folding under the pressure. Eventually he'd be able to lose the cuffs and feel the Force once more, only now it felt different. It no longer had the same familiar warmth to it when the Kiffar was a servant of the Light, no, now it was a cold feeling that hung over him like a black cloud, blocking out the sun and any light from reaching him. However, Cas could not deny the rush of power he felt within the Force now - was this what it felt like to truly let the Dark side in?

As for the torture, Insatious and his lackeys came up with numerous new ways to mess with him. The Kiffar couldn't help but find it humurous that things had gotten so bad that he longed for the days where he'd be driven to the edge of his life by Insatious' Force constructed lightening. The worst thing he experienced was invasions of his mind driven by Insatious, no matter how much he'd trained under Sakadi, the best telepathic he knew, none of his telepathic defences worked against the overwhelming assault on his mind. Cas would experience the worst visions and sensations he'd ever felt, visions of those he cared about dying horrible deaths at the hands of Darth Insatious, but it would repeat over and over again. It was enough to break the will of the strongest of men, and drive the weakest of men to insanity.

As the days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, the unending psychological and physical torture persisted. Cas' loving memories of Zemira and his friends, the memories that both gave him his strength and kept him strong slowly began to fade. Replaced by feelings of hatred and anger, directed at the Sith Lord that captured him. The thought of finally killing Insatious for good was what kept him strong now, allowed him to push himself through the endless torture.

It was safe to say that Cas Tynen was a shell of his former self now. No more was the quipster, hopeful Jedi Knight, all that was a being that had been broken and moulded into something full of rage and contempt. With what he'd seen and experienced, Cas now knew for certain that the only way he could defeat this Sith Lord was by using his own teachings against him - although a new Cas had been created, he still retained the goals of his former self. To save those he cared about, only now he was much more open to achieving this through new, darker methods.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere
Location: Insatious' fortress

As time went on, Cas would drift further and further from the light, drowning in the endless sea of the darkened void. It was clear that Insatious had no plan for ending the boy's life and when Cas went felt his life get swept away, feeling death's kiss, he would feel the painful reminder of Insatious control over him as the Sith Lord jump kicked Cas' heart back to life.

One day, of no particular important event, Cas was met by guards and a medical officer who sedated the Fallen Jedi and released him from his prison cell while unconscious. When he woke up again, he would find himself in a new cell, looking very much like the cells he and Ki'an had been in when captured on Insatious' ship. The cell wasn't very big, though still a little bigger than the other place. He was also allowed to move freely around in his cell without any catch.

The cell had a toilet and a dent in the wall, forming a small hole to lay on a platform, however, there wasn't any bed in there, making it obvious that Cas would be sleeping on hard metal.

The Fallen Knight would soon find out why he had been moved to the new cell as he was forced into a large fighting pit. While the arena looked to be able to hold many hundreds of people, able to look down on the arena from their comfortable places behind the glass, but this time only a few Imperials spread out was present. A small platform with a railing was visible where Insatious stood and watched the whole area.

Soon the gates at the end of the arena would open, at Cas would face many droids, all armed with live fire and would either kill or gravely wound the Jedi Knight if he got hit. However the Fallen Knight won the fight, he would be ordered back to his cell by Death Troopers armed with stun batons. That was the boy's life for almost another year, each time he was sent into the arena, new types of enemies were sent into the arena to fight Cas and every time he was given no weapon.

Sometimes Insatious was present to watch and monitor Cas, other times an officer with a notepad would write the results down and report to the Sith Lords and other times both were present to watch the Jedi.

One thing Insatious made sure of though, was always to make sure that Cas was outnumbered and force the Jedi out in situations where he couldn't rely on the Light Side of the Force. Sometimes Cas was even strapped to normal chains, giving him free access to connect to the Force, but he would witness droids gun down captured civilians in the other end of the arena and would have to break free to stop it.

And then it happened, as Cas stood alone in the arena, waiting for his next opponent, the gates opened. However, instead of a typical enemy in terms of beasts, bounty hunters or droids, a single woman entered the arena. She was dressed in black training robes holding a lightsaber hilt in each hand. As the gate closed shut, more people started to show by the windows, mostly Imperials, though a few clones of Cas himself took a peek.

Despite still having purple spots on her face and stitches to a wound, a smirk was plastered on Ciara's clone's lips. "Hello again, brother" greeted Ciara, standing 10 or so meters from where Cas stood. "I asked Father to let me fight you, to see if you really were as strong as my brothers have been led to believe" commented Ciara. She looked Cas over, "I should have asked Father to give you a new arm, so fighting you, wouldn't feel so pathetic" degraded Ciara, showing a lot more of Insatious' personality in her.

Ciara's clone threw one of the hilts to Cas and ignited her own crimson blade, placing herself in Ataru, almost in a mocking stance to how Cas fought. Surprisingly, Cas was given his own lightsaber hilt back. More clones started to be visible in the windows.

 

[Cadere]

The same routine continued for... Cas had lost track of time... a little physical torture here, mental torture there. Cas had eventually grown numb to it in the recent weeks and Insatious must have noticed it, because out of the blue, Cas was drugged and moved to yet another cell. Although, his living conditions were now slightly better, he had a normal light source, a toilet and a metal slab for him to sleep on. It was better than sleeping on the floor at least.

Cas spotted a mirror next to the toilet seat in his cell, the Kiffar hadn't seen himself in a year... would he recognise the person on the other side now? After all he'd been through. The fallen Knight clenched his fist and approached the mirror anyway, when he laid eyes upon himself he was horrified at what stared back at him. He'd lost so much weight and muscle definition, his face was gaunt and stubble had filled the lower part of his face, his dreads had grown out, so long that they reached his back now. The only thing that reminded him he was still Cas Tynen was the blue X shaped qukuuf on his face, marking him as a member of Clan Tynen. As if that mattered anymore. Cas felt awful and apparently it reflected on the surface too.

The Kiffar would come to find out he'd been moved to a new cell as to participate in barbaric fights for, he didn't know, the entertainment of the Imperials he surmised. Forced to fight droids, beasts and bounty hunters, it took Cas some time to accumulate to fighting with one arm... in fact, fighting at all since he hadn't done so in a year. However, he was allowed to call upon the Force once more but it wasn't like reuniting with an old friend, more like meeting a new colleague at a job - you didn't know each other very well, but you made it work. The lack of two arms made combat difficult, but Cas made up for it with the usage of the Dark side of the Force, embracing the other side of the coin, allowing himself to get used to it if he were going to really kill Insatious.

This went on for a year with Cas gradually regaining his old physique as well as his combat prowess. Insatious, that cunning bastard, would often goad Cas into using the Dark side by focing him to watch innocents be gunned down. Every time, the callousness of it drove Cas into frenzies, where he'd unwillingly call upon the Dark side and free himself from the chains to help those in need and destroy their oppressors - only it was always too late for him.

Cas would be sent to the arena once again, he expected the usual droid or bounty hunter but what met him surprised him. Unpleasantly. It was the schutta clone that had tricked him initially, looking all high and mighty. As she spoke, depricating him, Cas simply stared with an expression full of hate as he clenched his single fist. The rage and hate ebbed off of the Kiffar like a pulsating blood vessel. As he caught the hilt of his lightsaber he hadn't seen in two years, Cas had to quickly adapt to fight with his right - but he wasn't too worried, his desire to kill this imposter that wore his sister's face would be the reason he won.

Igniting his lightsaber, the familiar snap-hiss was music to his ears. The fallen Knight hadn't realised how much he missed his old weapon. Cas didn't enter a stance but merely let the blade hang from his grip before pouncing at the clone that had made a fool out of him 2 years prior. The Dark side fuelled him as he sent an overwhelming barrage of attacks with his one-arm, the year of fighting had restored him to his old form, speed and all. However, the clone would have an advantage as Cas still hadn't fully adapted to being able to fight with a single arm. She quickly turned the tables on him and parried his strikes before forcing Cas on the backfoot "Is this al the 'great' Cas Tynen has to offer? Honestly, I am unimpressed." she said shortly after locking blades with him.

"When I kill you, maybe I'll pay your real family a visit." she teased. However, it was a mistake, her words only egged Cas on, enraging him. He bared his gritted teeth and let out a primal growl before pulling his head back and slamming his forehead against the clone and following it up with a Force enhanced kick to her stomach, winding her and launching her a few feet back. "I thought it'd be hard. With you having my sister's face and all." Cas claimed as he approached her "But you wearing my sister's face, threatening my family makes me want to kill you even more." he said coldly, stopping in front of her. Initially, he'd felt bad for the clones, unwillingly brought into this world just to serve a sadistic Master - but seeing as how they were as crazy as him, his sympathy was gone. The clone was on her knees still recovering, Cas raised his lightsaber but she quickly blocked his attack as he slammed the blade down.

She sent a telekinetic push at Cas, sending him back before getting back up and attacking him once more. The fallen Knight fell on his back but he quickly rolled backward onto his feet and met the clone's attacks with blocks and parries, although he felt through the Force she was just as hateful and anger fuelled as he was. The clone managed to disarm Cas, knocking his blade out of his hand but before she could deliver a finishing blow the Kiffar performed a backward kickflip, kicking her in the face. When he landed, Cas stretched his arm out and wrapped the Force's invisible black tendrils around the clone's neck squeezing as hard as he could. Ready to snap her neck, he saw the fear on her face, it... reminded him of Ciara.

A hint of the old Cas remained, his mercy... and because of it, Cas released his grip from the clone. She fell to her knees, coughing and gagging, she was beaten and she knew it. Cas summoned his lightsaber into his hand approached the clone, kicking away her lightsaber. Something fought against him, he wanted to kill her but he couldn't - could he really take a life out of anger? Sensing hesitation, the Dark lord slithered into his mind. His words echoed with darkness

"She threatens your family, Tynen... Kill her and be done with it. Kill her and they're safe."

The muscles in Cas' jaw tensed, he closed his eyes and began breathing heavy. His grip around his hilt tightened and he raised his blade - everything came flooding to him, the two years of torture, everything Insatious had done to him, his inability to defeat him, the clone's betrayal, her threatening to hurt his family. Unleashing a primal roar, Cas swung downward and ended the clone's life, smoke erupting from her body. The fallen Jedi proceeded to open his eyes and they shifted... turning from chestnut brown to Sith red. It was done. Cas Tynen had fully embraced the Dark side.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Cadere
Location: Insatious' fortress

Insatious stood with his hands gathered behind his back, watching Ciara's clone enter the arena and immediately taunting and degrading Cas, which only seemed to fuel the darkness in the boy. The Fallen Knight fought with impressive feats, considering he only had one arm. The fight was getting quite the attraction as more and more arrived to see the fight and many started to make bets. While Insatious didn't reveal his emotions, showing little to no emotions, but he had noticed many of the other clones both of Ciara and Cas, cheered the fighting Ciara clone. If everything would go as plan, it would create a power struggle and cause a rift between the clones and Cas.

Several times both combatants came close to winning by mere inches until Cas finally got the upper hand and the clone on her knee, defeated. Such a disappointment, but a necessary one, for Cas to complete his fall. The Sith Lord disappeared in a shroud of mist, which the officer didn't even react to, having served Insatious for over twenty years now. She simply noted down the fight and results as if it was simple numbers on a chart.

Sensing hesitation, the Dark lord slithered into his mind. His words echoed with darkness as the void filled the boy's soul once again.

"She threatens your family, Tynen... Kill her and be done with it. Kill her and they're safe."

However, what Cas didn't know, was the words the Lord of Hunger filled his Ciara clone with.

"Pathetic, but you served your purpose well" whispered the cold heartless voice. That was the moment Ciara realized she had just been a tool, a tool to be used by her dear old father. Her heart was crush and she started to panic inside, thinking of anything she might have done to grand her such careless dismissal. "Father, please I can do better! I did everything you asked of me!" Cried out Ciara in a final desperate attempt to get her father to help her, for she truly loved him as her father. She would do anything for him, she was his chosen, his favourite among all her siblings, she had to have been!

"I loved you, Father!" Screamed Ciara, receiving in her mind a short callous sentence, "I know" before she was cut down by the wrath filled Cas, killing her in one swipe.

Everything went quiet in the arena, the clones were furious at the death of their sister and left immediately, while all the Imperials would slowly thin out. Silently Insatious appeared behind Cas, pleased with the result and placed a gloved hand on Cas' shoulder. "Now you know what it means to truly hate, to fully embrace the Dark Side... My apprentice" explained Insatious surprisingly carrying in his tone, like a father explaining to his child the right way to do things.

A chapter might have ended, but the journey has just begun
~~To be continued~~​

//End Thread