Walls Worth Breaking (Aaralyn)

[Ashin Varanin]

Master [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]-

We haven't had a chance to talk much, and though we seem to disagree on a few things, there's no question that I respect your perspective on the Force and the tasks the Jedi face. I'm sending this to you because of your facility with various rare aspects of the Force, and because of your recent experiences with the One Sith and the Jedi Order's healers. I could use your input on a project -- not mine, but one run by my friends in the Kyrikal system. If you happen to be in the neighbourhood of the desert moon Kyrikal Seventeen, a group of Jal Shey Mentors from Kyrikal Nine -- where we trained on the beach -- will be running some tests. They've invited me to observe and help, and I'd like your perspective. Ethically, their project sets off some red flags for me, and I want to be sure I've thought it through from all angles before I know if I can proceed with a clear conscience.

Shule

 

[The Spark]

Oddly enough, it happened that Aaralyn was in the nearby system when she received the message from [member="Shule Windspeaker"]. She had been studying the scribing left on the fabric of reality in the Pydyr system which in turn directed her to the Kyrikal system - however, she hadn't quite made it to her destination before Shule sent his message.

Lucky for him and perhaps unlucky for her? One would tell in due time.

His message entailed details that left her bristling with curiosity and that was enough to bring her to him with lightning speed - That was a lie, she was delayed....multiple times. She had made contact with Shule to ensure he would know that she'd be delayed because of her damnable ship broke down and required repairs but either way, she would reach his coordinates within the hour.

Three Hours Later...

It had taken her a bit longer than she thought, but she eventually made it. Out of courtesy and understanding of the delicate process that was involved, she ensured to put her ship atleast a kilometer out from the area Shule had said they were testing - then make her way to him on foot.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

The Jal Shey delegation had set up shop in one of Kyrikal Seventeen's mines, this one abandoned and only recently shored up. It was a pit mine, a single vertical shaft a hundred metres wide, with an old path corkscrewing down. Speeders had room to ascend and descend, but Shule didn't own a speeder, let alone have room for one in his battered old Incom E-25, so he walked the slow path up and down. The Jal Shey were already down there, or they'd likely have offered him a ride. Screams, howls, roars and curses percolated up through the air, audible even from the surface.

Once Aaralyn reached the base of the shaft, by whatever method, she would find the air warm this close to the mantle. The very bottom of the shaft had been sealed off and subdivided with thick metal grids; scaffold-like walkways lay on top of the horizontal crosshatch of bars. Beneath their feet, in separate cages, rested captured Sithspawn of different varieties. The Jal Shey, all Mon Calamari and Ithorians, were engrossed in examining and meditating over an assortment of clothing and accessories in the Jal Shey style. Prototypes, different ways of approaching the problem. Shule kept his distance, pondering both the Jal Shey and the imprisoned Sithspawn.

 

[The Spark]

Aaralyn took a look around at the various Sithspawn in the cages they were contained in, they would lunge, spit and howl as she walked past. A sigh escaped her lips as she pressed on towards [member="Shule Windspeaker"], adjusting her jacket slightly over her white tank camisole. Her lightsabers would hang in the traditional fashion, on her right and left hip respectively - however - Tyrena no longer existed and was replaced by a lightsaber of some note...one she was charged with safekeeping by her father. She almost felt guilty using it but knew it was for good reason, ah well. She reached down and brushed off some dust from her black pants before pulling free the goggles from her violet colored eyes and resting them up ontop of the crown of her head.

Arms would come to cross over her chest as she stared at the Jal Shey and then the Sithspawn - then back to Shule. “Their presence is warm and welcoming compared to the icy chill they provide…” She motioned to the Jal Shey and then the Sithspawn. “It’s an amazing contrast down here you know?” She chuckled softly.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"That, and this setup keeps the Jal Shey from having to deal with uninvited guests. The Dagobah cave principle -- Yoda lived near a Dark Side nexus because they cancelled each other out so far as the Emperor's vision was concerned." He folded his arms despite the warmth. "That said, what's going on here is more complicated than just emotions.

"The Jal Shey have been concerned by the influx of Sithspawn. Some of these are Rave Merrill's work, some of them are One Sith, some of them are old Sith Empire, the kind of thing [member="Seydon of Arda"] fights. The Jal Shey Mentors are working on something...well, I'm not sure I should call it dubious. It's cruel, in a sense, but it's also something of a medical necessity, a merciful one. The way they explain it, what they're making, or trying to make, is something that'll remind Sithspawn of what they were, what was done to them, and who's been trying to control them. That's an awful lot of trauma to dump on a mind that's just waking up."

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

 

[The Spark]

Aaralyn furrowed her eyebrows when [member="Shule Windspeaker"] mentioned the activities being cruel. "Perception..." She untucked her hand and gestured towards the Sithspawn. "Is their continued existence in that state not cruel?” She tucked her hand back into the fold of her arm before moving over to a cage of one who was curled up into a corner, she leaned a bit closer as she listened to Shule and merely nodded.

“Yeah well, sometimes a good dose of reality if something one needs in order to remember what matters mo-“ And before she could finish those words, the Sithspawn lunged at the bars causing her to step back quickly, a smirk crossed her lips as she shook her head softly and turned away from the creature that was once a human speaking in an unrecognizable tongue. “If you don’t think he needs to know he might have had a family and was loved – then well you’re wrong.” She could hear it thrashing against the cage behind her, and feel it through the Force. It desired to escape and rip her to pieces. No, they all did. It was sad really, they all needed to be reminded of what they once were.

She sighed heavily and let her arms fall down to her side, keeping her back to the cages and facing the opposite direction of Windspeaker. “So what is it I can do to help?”

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

"So the question is, then, what's the greater evil? Let him persist like this, or wake him up? Make him more aware of his pain and the atrocities he's been led to commit? Living with that kind of guilt is a curse. Especially if this is used wholesale, with limited or no regard for recapture or support afterward. If the Republic, the Jedi, the Jal Shey aren't ready to heal and help every single sithspawn affected by this thing they're building, they're consigning some to a long and tortured existence."

Shule grimaced. "Which isn't to say I don't see it from your side as well. There's room for an awful lot of perspectives here, and I can't deny that this is a major step towards being able to reverse alchemical alteration and save at least some of the thousands of people who've been at the wrong end of the One Sith's experiments. As for how you can help, I've mentioned your skill with Shatterpoint, and the Jal Shey think you may be able to help show them how to find the weak points in the conditioning and control effects that have been put on these Sithspawn. They'd like you to help monitor their use of their prototypes, to make sure the effect is optimal."

 

[The Spark]

Aaralyn sighed heavily and brought both hands to her face and rubbed gently. [member="Shule Windspeaker"] had a point, the Republic and the Jedi had to be a committed to the healing of these people if this was going to work without any backlash – The One Sith had enough propaganda against them to last for a life time as it were. She looked behind her at the man thrashing about in the cage and then to Shule, shifting her position a bit.

“If it’s done right, the lesser evil is to allow him to heal in his natural state.” She turned fully and took a step forward, her hand raised and gestured towards the Sithspawn. “This is the greater evil of the two choices.” She shook her head again, her arm falling back down to her side, but only for a brief second before they came back to her chest, folding tightly against her form. Her head lowered in contemplation. “A third choice is death, but there are too many of them and too little of us.”

She shrugged lightly, her shoulder touching her cheek, her head shaking at the same time. “The Order is in a steady decline.” Her arms fell to her side. “Each day, Jedi are killed, captured or turned to darkness and we see more new Sith weapons appear on the battlefield.”

She inhaled deeply, exhaling roughly...she had very little choice in the grand scheme of things. “I hate to say it, but we’re losing this fight and in drastic times – drastic measures need to be taken.” Aaralyn looked to Shule with little emotion on her face. “I’ll do it…”

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

"I'm sure the Jal Shey will be glad to hear it."

He wasn't one; his grasp of their arts was middling, not devoted. All his most impressive creations were things they'd mastered millennia ago, and they could do them far more easily. A project like this was almost totally outside his grasp, to the point where he could only speculate as to why they'd included him at all. For Jedi connections like Aaralyn, perhaps.

"My thought, and this is just a start, would be to see if you can find a common mental or spiritual shatterpoint between these people and animals, regardless of what or who alchemized them."

 

[The Spark]

Aaralyn nodded. “That can be done…” She looked around the area where they Jal Shey had set up, a hand coming up to her chin to grasp it in thought. “We do, however, need a secure place and some way for me to interact with them without causing them harm.” Her hand fell down as she looked to [member="Shule Windspeaker"]. “Of course we have to have someone in there to look after my being as well.”

It mattered on both ends. Should she trigger something primal in one of these beings or even the beasts, she would be vulnerable for enough time for them to cause some damage before she could react – and no doubt that the Jal Shey would lose a specimen.

She could sense the conflict or maybe it wasn’t conflict from Shule, which made her raise an eyebrow. She moved close to him and turned fully to face him. “So why is it you really don’t care for what they’re doing? Do you believe it could be considered an act of evil intent?”

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

"Not at all. I just don't believe the Jal Shey, the Republic, or the Jedi have the capability and institutional will to handle dozens or hundreds of Sithspawn who remember what they are. And without support from doctors, healers, counselors -- without devoted funding and good structures -- all we've done is woken them up to an even worse existence than they had before. That's less mercy and more tactics. This'll break a Sithspawn army, but the human cost is bound to be high. None of the people or groups on the good side are ready for this kind of thing.

"Ultimately, though, it's a step in the right direction. I just wish I could feel better about it." He glanced over that the Jal Shey, still engrossed in their prototypes. "I'll watch your back while you do this, don't worry about that. And I may even get one of these myself, and use it when I feel it's wise. I just don't want to see it used without recognition of the consequences. I hope they don't make too many."

 

[The Spark]

Aaralyn chuckled softly."You may find yourself in a situation Shule where you have little to no choice but to sacrifice that element you speak of." She sighed. "Unfortunately, the Sith don't share our sentiment of mercy and are willing to take millions of beings are make them into tools of war as they see fit." She gestured between herself and [member="Shule Windspeaker"]. "Whereas there are only hundreds of us, we don't have the luxury of choice against those type of odds anymore."

A few moments later…

Aaralyn would kneel before the Sithspawn subject infront of her, slowly removing her jacket as she did so. The being would snarl, snap and hiss like a feral creature as he attempted to tear at her very flesh, only causing Aaralyn to smirk in response. She detested anything alchemized by the Sith, which made this even more of a fun time. Her hands would come to rest in her lap as she closed her violet eyes, listening to the different noises surrounding her. She focused on the silence in between, to the beauty and peace it provided.

Seconds would seem like minutes, minutes like hours and so forth as she allowed herself to reach out into the wells of the Force. It was everywhere, it bound everything together. In this nexus of Light and Dark – where they fought for supremacy – things were no different. She harnessed the Light from within, as well embraced her knowledge of the Dark and reached…

She felt the being before her, as he was no different than any other life form. She could sense his echo in the lifestream of the Force, a chaotic swirl of confusion and desire to destroy. It was almost primitive. Aaralyn’s hands quickly lashed out and snatched the head of the being, grasping it tightly between her hands. She concentrated as she searched the pathways of the mind. It was like a chaotic maze that she ran, filled with fear, anger and hatred. The nauseating sensation was overwhelming, to a point where Aaralyn almost felt she needed to stop a time or two.

But no, she had to continue. The right to be free from slavery and oppression was this persons gift, regardless of the actions they committed while under the influence of the Sith. She felt her grip tighten around the skull of the being, and could feel a warmth dripping from both of her nostrils. The taste of iron filled her mouth as she searched rapidly, testing barriers, impacting some harshly and barreling through others. None of them indicated control – none of them explained why.

She heard the roar of pain, but it was human like in her own head as she traversed the mental causeway of this person – and she followed it. She would follow the neural pathway to a series of what appeared to mental barriers with images, swirling in a chaotic vortex behind them. It had to be it, the barriers were tainted with dark side energy – they choked out the Light and made Aaralyn flinch each time she touched them mentally.
The taste of iron in her mouth increased, blood dribbling from the sides of her mouth and flowing freely from her nostrils. Her nails were digging into the cranium of the man before her, yes a man. She had figured out that much by traveling through his mind. It was wonderful what secrets the mind held, even when someone else wiped out what identity one had. She had learned that from Boolon Murr when he restored her memories and reached into her soul to do so.

Aaralyn focused on the barriers themselves, allowing the Force to expose their weakness. She could see them take a physical presence before her and in their physical presence they had ley-lines just like everything else. Of course, this was much more different than a coconut procedure and much more different than the typical Shatterpoint application. One could not simply apply the Force in such a manner to break the barrier, or the individual would die. She could see the man, fighting for his identity on the other side, fighting for his memories and then being consumed by the chaotic swirl of darkness only to come out fighting again.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

Apart from his inherent hesitation, there was a reason he'd limited his Shatterpoint instruction to subtle, low-key applications: Many of the people in his class had been better at it. More than he'd expected, frankly. Aaralyn Rekali, for one, had been doing this for years. He got a good sense of her process as she worked, and noted the Jal Shey Mentors paying close attention. Their prototypes were complete or close enough, but Shatterpoint wasn't part of the Jal Shey tradition, so far as he knew. He found himself hoping, for the galaxy's sake, that it never caught on with them, apart from this particular application. He knew just enough of their arts to get a sense of how they were adjusting some of their prototypes to match what Aaralyn was doing.

These processes weren't instantaneous; far from it. As they worked, he found himself walking through the cages, evaluating Aaralyn's efforts and the Sithspawn and the Jal Shey prototypes being tested. Once they found success, this place would be liquidated, the Sithspawn returned to their natural state, the mineshaft caved in to keep a mild, newly-formed Dark Side nexus from access. Leave no trace, in a sense. The Jal Shey, it seemed, shared his instincts: this place should be forgotten.

 

[The Spark]

She had been that way once, and it was a horrible experience, so she could sympathize with his fight – which is why she was here. Her hands would come up to the mental barrier, as her physical self was taking a brutal onslaught, bleeding from various points, her hands digging into this man’s skull. She would target the weakest point, the bright red ley-line that spoke to her, that screamed at her and ever so gentl…she pushed. It was a nudge that came from her mind to the mind of the Sithspawn and the result was cataclysmic.

The disconnect from her mental persona and the mental persona of the man before her was not only painful but jolting. She was sent backwards no less than three feet and slid an additional foot or so on her back with a loud thud. She groaned loudly as her bloodied hands came to her head and grasped both sides tightly. A loud thumping noise echoed in her ears, as if drums were being banged right beside her head. Her face pulsated with each heartbeat as she remained relatively motionless on the ground.

She spoke softly, voice cracked as she did. “Welp, that was it…”

[member="Shule Windspeaker"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

"That sounded brutal. Felt it, too. Fingers crossed that they've learned what they needed to learn to complete their project." He knelt outside the cage, fixated on the broken Sithspawn and the Jedi Master who'd just skidded three feet across the floor. "And that they can make it work more, ah, quietly. There was a reverberation in the Force, a disturbance."

At last he blinked and looked around, catching the eyes of every Sithspawn in the joint. Silence had fallen -- when had that happened? The cacaphony was over.

"Let's take this as a good sign..."

 

[The Spark]

Aaralyn wiped drool and blood from her mouth with a muddy forearm as she rolled onto her side, propping herself up on an elbow. "Mm, well..." She sloshed spit around in her mouth and let loose a torrent of blood and saliva onto the dirt floor. "He appeared to be fighting something..." She gestured as she lifted herself up to her knees and inhaled deep. "No clue what it was to be honest, I didn't have a moment to - examine it?" She mused through another round of spit and blood. Thankfully, this time it wasn't as tinted crimson as before.

She hated the taste of blood, that irony-metallic taste made her gag. She licked her lips a few times, a bit over-exaggerated one might say, attempting to get the full taste away from her mouth.

[member="Shule Windspeaker"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

His first instinct was to offer her a hand up, but there was still a barred wall between them and she'd be on her feet before he got there. In the cages all around, the Sithspawn remained silent, fixated. "I think the foundation of the Jal Shey project is that there's a connection worth disrupting -- some sort of negative Force-bond between a Sithspawn and its creator or master. Nullifying or breaking that bond...I mean, in practice, I'd imagine it'll work fairly well, but in theory, there are implications I don't like. I'm not saying all bonds are good, but I've only ever seen Force-bonds broken by Force Drain and wounds in the Force itself. The Jal Shey know their business and all, but I wouldn't put it past some opportunistic Sith Lord to be able to feed off the broken bonds in one way or another. But then again, why let someone's greed stop us from doing the right thing?"

 

[The Spark]

"The brightest light always casts the darkest shadow." She said softly as she rose to her feet and made her way to the cage exit, she opened the door herself and exited slowly. She would close the door behind her with a heavy sigh. "We can only do so much in this war to stem the tides of darkness from consuming us." She looked down at her bloodied hands before looking to [member="Shule Windspeaker"] and then towards the small refresher. "The implications you may not like..." She continued as she walked towards the unit, placing her hands underneath the sensor, allowing the warm water to wash over her skin. Darkened vermilion water would drip from her hands as she rubbed away the blood. "May result in the freedom of someone who has been a slave for what seems like a lifetime." She said looking down as she scrubbed her hands with some soap.

"When I was under the influence of the Dark Lord and the Goddess Vahl, I felt something inside me fighting against the dark currents." She tilted her head, violet eyes staring as the water shifted from clear to crimson stained as she continued to scrub away the blood. "To this day I cannot explain what it was..." She shrugged lightly as she brought her hands out and flung the excess water off before turning to Shule.

"My father ended up saving me, to which I never really thanked him for." She smiled. "He saved me from a life of torment and slavery against my will." She dried her hands off completely before gesturing to the man before her. "I had the support of some of the greatest healers, but only for a short period. The rest was on my shoulders." She looked towards the cages of silent Sithspawn. "Some of these beings will be able to handle it on their own, some many not. Some may die in the process..." She turned her violet gaze back to Shule. "I guess what I'm saying is, we will do what we can but some of the burden will have to rest on the shoulders of these beings." Arms would come up to fold across her chest.

"The ones that cannot, we can only do so much." Another heavy sigh escaped her lips as she turned towards the cages and cells. "Wouldn't you rather die free than be a slave within your own mind, and be broken at the will of another?"