There is Nothing

[Mauda]

Manarai High Command​

Coruscant​

​

Orex stood with his hands behind his back, gripping each wrist. He was waiting at the foot of a Landing Pad for the arrival of his apprentice, [member="Darth ravenous"]. Today, Orex would complete his training and induct Ravenous into what he simply referred to as, 'The Circle'. Orex had spent years collecting individuals he felt had unexploited potential, training them and establishing them as the Founding Fathers of.. well.. An Empire. If all went well.

It was pitch black outside, deep into the night. Over the horizon the lights of a ship appeared. Orex gripped his wrists tighter in anticipation. Ravenous had improved drastically over the years. When they had first met, Ravenous was wrought with emotions. They ruined him from the inside out and culminated in their fight on Alderaan. He was a challenging adversary, but Orex had narrowly avoided killing him in the end. He was strong. A shattered spine, missing fingers and no will to live. Yet he continued. This had made him Orex's first apprentice. He had repaired the broken man and guided him towards a better mind. After 4 years, Orex deemed him ready to complete his training, and finally, be spoken to by Him.

As the ship approached and prepared to Land, Orex's thoughts trailed off.

He wondered where Nyla was after all these years.

 

[Ravenous]

Ravenous stood at the ramp of his shuttle statue like in stature but grounded in his intentions. His persona had shifted in a unprecedented way over the last few years. Where there was aimless tenacity there is solid determination, Where his emotions ran rampant they now flow in set direction, His apathy for things around him had turned into a peculiar attention to detail. His mask was gone, somewhere along the line he decided that he needed not to shroud himself from the world but to exert himself onto its pastures, His strength in the force had grown significantly leading him to greater unity with the force.

The ramp extended itself hissing as it opened to allow the disciple to pass through. The Lightsaber hinged to his belt was modified from its predecessor the core of its blade now being black and its light being a dark yellow. He stepped lightly while exiting his ship Orex waiting for him on the other side. His thoughts were indistinguishable they all seemed to merge together, Everything leading up to this moment showed itself in the landscape of his brain.

The murder of the delegates, The Duel in the forest, the fight on his ship, the sharp feeling in his head the minute Orex set foot on his vessel....Nyla. It was an interesting feeling to know your past will be forgotten in the active future, He couldn't help but wonder what if things went differently? Why did things have to be this way? What...he killed Orex in the forest or on his ship? What is Nyla had decided to find another organization to fulfill his task? All these things fuel the future but doesn't that mean were never in the past to begin with?

Ravenous approached Orex oozing with confidence and valor it was obvious in his trek yet his expression was contradictory.

"It would appear it is time for your final test master."

He gave a small grin and looked at his cybernetic fingers.

"Well not for much longer anyway...as far as anyone concerned i'm 2 steps away from becoming the master"

[member="Orex Mauda"]

 

[Mauda]

Orex glanced Ravenous up and down, settled his eye on Ravenous' and turned around.

"Your final test will see you become my Equal" Orex turned his head slightly while he walked to emphasise the point. "I'd hoped after four years you would have come to regard me simply as your Teacher. The thought of Master does not please me."

Orex lead the pair deep into the DEAD Headquarters to a turbolift. He waved the door open and positioned themselves in the middle of the small box.

"DEAD.. What a pitiful endeavour. I started this company to satisfy my younger self. Now I look upon it and see nothing but Scum and Villainy. Soon, DEAD will have served its purpose and I can move on. We, can move on."

Orex stopped for a moment, his frustration growing.

"My patience with this Galaxy wears thin, Ravenous. They are all backwards animals, still clinging to fake ideas that do nothing but hinder the progress of Technology. I will complete your training, and then, we will go out, and bring about a new era."

Orex gazed at Ravenous until the doors of the turbolift opened. They both looked out into the darkness of the chamber, lit only by faint light. Ahead of them, on a platform stood a pedestal. And atop that Pedestal there was a Mask. A well known Mask. The room was pulsing with an energy long since forgotten.

"That Mask, the spirit within it will decide your future. He, will complete your training, not me."

The pair walked toward the pedestal, crossing a small bridge to the platform and stopping just in front. Ravenous faced the Mask while Orex stood off to the side.

Spoiler

Orex spoke in Nihilus's language briefly and immediately the Mask sat upright, facing Ravenous.

"Look into his eyes, Ravenous." Orex commanded.

To those who looked into the Mask, Nihilus's face slowly appeared to fill the Mask. As it did, Nihilus would infect the minds of the observer and proceed to their very core. Once he had possessed you, he stripped your core from you. He consumed your very being, replacing your soul with the purest definition of Nothing. Orex watched as Ravenous' eyes went black, and smiled. He had been accepted.

"Now Ravenous, you are nothing. You are a wound in the fabric of the Force itself. A gash in reality. This will not last and soon you will return to yourself, but while it does, allow it. Let Nihilus consume you, replace you. See how long you can last under his power."

It was a challenge of sorts. A test of the mental fortitude of his Apprentices. Orex watched as Ravenous underwent the process.

[member="Darth ravenous"]

 

[Ravenous]

His mind was gone it was being emptied by an invading force. It took away the very definition that was life that was Ravenous and it was almost natural in sorts. We all come from nothing and it is our choice to amount to anything but in this instance the very choice you are given to change yourself is eliminated from the equation. It would indeed be a fitting test but not a foreign one. During his time as a Sith Ravenous had endured many a trial in which the fortitude of his mind was put to evaluation.

Tulak hord was deemed the lord of hate and on korriban merely entering his tomb put an enormous strain on your body and forced you to submit to his power the longer you lingered in his final resting place.

When Nihilus entered into his mind he drilled into the fabric of his brain and caused a breach in his power. Strange millennia's ago he was defeated by an exile who too was a wound in the force, When Nihilus sought to consume the galaxy her Lassen power overcame his, she had not a limit to her power but a cap on how she thought to wield it.

Years of training and only now did he understand the depths of power. There was no limit to anyone's power just the way in which they commanded it. The Jedi and Sith were foolish in their strategy focusing on each other allowing external forces to wipe them out for good.

Orex had asked him to be consumed by Nihilus' power to let him replace himself and see how long he can last under his power. That was the danger factor if he had let go of himself he would never return from the depths of the force but if he let his power fuel Nihilus' he would become eternal he would let Nihilus consume him but he would remain himself afterwards.

Even then this new era demanded change what that change meant at its core was yet to be decided.

[member="Orex Mauda"]

 

[Mauda]

Orex waved a hand and spoke in a language that sounded like a whispering collection of screams. The Mask dropped back to its resting position and Ravenous was released from Nihilus' influence. Orex approached Ravenous, no longer his Apprentice, but his Equal.

"We are not Gods. We are Men. But now, we are more Godlike than Man. If you so wish, others will fuel you. It is up to you whether you pull living things from their very mortality. Ravenous, you are no longer a Student, you are a new being. Together, Myself, You and the Others you have not yet met, will bring the rulers of this Galaxy to their knees. With our power, we will propel this Galaxy into a new Age of Science. Of Intelligence. The People will revere us as their Gods of The Natural Universe."

Orex watched as Ravenous stood to his feet. Ravenous had taken more of Nihilus than even Orex had. He had sacrificed more of his being. A dangerous gamble, but one that would serve him well.

[member="Darth ravenous"]

 

[Ravenous]

Ravenous stood there severed from the rest of the galaxy his new found power attracting a red aurora to in the shape of his physic, Yet there was something off about the color it was red with a hint of a blueish white center as if there was something wrong with his force signature. His mind cried out to him in distress tearing away at the barrier between the mind and the flesh. His aspirations his thoughts his feelings were burning away.

​Nothing...nothing remained his mind had been purged of all things that presented imperfection. It was almost contradictory to his prior training his severe apathy for life was contained but now was the only emotion left to muster. He was still himself but drained...what gives? There was still immense rage inside himself but the flame that ignited it was dim and about to go out. This was dangerous he needed to feel these things or there was not telling what might ensue as a result.

His head turned towards Orex and there was a barren expression where there should be a look of recognition his eyes had just the smallest detection of life and no words uttered out of his mouth.

In fact his breath was becoming more and more distant, His aurora dissipated and he collapsed on the floor. He banished to the depths of his existence a battle he would have to fight alone. All around him were memories that only served to bring pain and anguish except for a select few. Some were of him during his time with Orex....while others were of his time with Nyla. At this point he liked to think she was dead served to eliminate one problem out of 1000. Deep inside though he knew it was false if were true he would have felt her death from across the galaxy but he never did.

All this time and there wasn't a single thing he managed to purge from his mind about...her. His feeling for another was a weakness that was exploited he didn't see it then and honest to god he didn't see it now but at least he could understand this fatal flaw and its mechanics. A revelation to be sure, Now this could no longer be a weakness he emotions were all but destroyed. Still the persist so he persisted. Ravenous woke from his coma and looked at Orex seemingly startled by his sudden collapse.

He rose to his feet and dusted himself off.

"I believe I have succeeded in my voyage...Now its time to take the galaxy back."

[member="Orex Mauda"]

 

[Mauda]

Orex had sensed it before it happened. 'A Dangerous Gamble' he had thought. And his assessment was correct. He felt Ravenous wavering between life and void, until there was nothing, and Ravenous collapsed. Orex made no effort to help. If he was strong, he would survive, if he was still weak, he would die. While Ravenous lay on the brink of death, Orex entered his comatose mind. It was in a balance. He had still clung to the idea of Nyla, but this was different. He understand where his weaknesses lay and made no effort to disregard them. A significant change from when they first met.

Ravenous finally stood, almost as if nothing had happened.

"Indeed you have, Superiex Ravenous. The time to do so has long since past."

Orex made his way past Ravenous to the turbolift.

End.

[member="Darth ravenous"]