What Lurks Beyond

[Lief]

One hand reached higher than the other as she struggled to balance her weight on the opposing, fingers curling around the scraggy rockface set before her. A slight grunt of discomfort escaped her, before she switched her focus to the next step up. Force was it difficult, climbing without aid against surfaces which had once been smooth. Desolation was all that remained of the City now though. Ruins as far as the eye could see, lifeless and empty.

The Mirialans who had once inhabited it were likewise missing. Some of their remains were scattered here and there, of course, those the Silvers hadn't managed to bury when their relief teams came to aid the injured refugees, but the living? They were long gone. Whether on some other part of the planet or elsewhere entirely she did not know.

One thing she did know, however, was that places like this were perfect for salvaging. Though her days on Raxus and Jakku were long since over, her innate desire to fix and construct had not lessened since being introduced to the brighter worlds the Galaxy had to offer. Voss, and the moon she and [member='Connor Harrison'] had explored which felt like an eternity ago.

And so she continued to climb. Upward, onward, until the ground below was a distant memory and the sky above was just a stones throw away. Finally came a recess in the wall that proved to be far deeper than the hand holes she had been making use of, and with a satisfied grunt she rolled into the opening and sat for a moment panting as she caught her breath.

While the world outside was bright, all that seemed to change when she turned from the gaping hole in the side of the building to the room itself. As though all the darkness in all the Galaxy had been sucked inside. She reached for her flashlight, only to find the thin band of light it created too weak to penetrate it. The more she stared into the void, the more she began to feel uneasy. As though a sickness had washed over her, nausea without cause.

Reaching to her belt, she felt certain another was in the room... There had to be. She could not shake the feeling that she was being watched, that there were eyes through the black veil, and yet the moment that she ignited the saber - Connor's saber - a weapon she had no clue how to really use, the moment that the room finally came into view, she found... Nothing.

Nobody was stood there. Nobody lurked. And yet the sensation remained in her gut all the same. It only deepened when she took another step forward, as though she had just been informed of a terrible loss. It made her heart ache and her eyes well up, yet she resisted the rising urge to give into the seeping darkness.

The horrors of what had happened here, of what had happened to Mirial, apparently hung heavy in the air. Though why here more so than down on the ground or elsewhere in the City she had spent the day exploring Kyra had no idea. One thing was for sure, though, she wouldn't be disigniting the blade any time soon.

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

She really wasn't alone in the space. It might seem it, but she wasn't. A creature of the darkness stood shrouded in shadow, utilizing it's gift at the art of illusion to hide only itself. The presence of the small darkside nexus only made it all the easier for him to do so. He hadn't known the girl was there, at first. He'd been so focused on the nexus itself that he hadn't felt her for quite some time. Actually, he'd heard her first. Recognizing that he wasn't alone, he'd quickly hidden his presence, which probably wasn't that necessary given the nexus, and then hidden himself within the confines of the darkside itself. And then he'd waited to see who it was that coming. To little surprise, it turned out to be a woman bearing a distinct tinge of the light. Worst of all, he could practically feel the Jedi that had bemoaned him for pointing out their hypocrisy all over the saber she carried. Lovely.

She raised her saber and ignited it. For a brief moment he expected that she had discovered his presence. He was still learning the art of illusion, after all, and was by no means perfect at it. Practice, however, was the key, and this was just another point of doing so. In this particular case, the added pressure of the presence of what he assumed was a Jedi only made it all the more daunting. That was good, though. The more pressure, the harder it was to maintain. The more he struggled, the better he would grow at it. Probably he would get even better if the nexus hadn't been there, however. Its presence made it easier for him to do what he wished.

He watched as she moved forward into the darkened room. Her saber cast new shadows, and cascaded light where there was none. But he was not to be seen. That sense of being watched she felt was accurate, but she wasn't going to be able to place it unless she could somehow see through his illusion. Considering she hadn't reacted to him yet, and seemed to be searching, he believed himself to be safe. He remained standing still for the moment, however, just to be on the safe side. Circumstances could change at any given moment in time when it came to other Force users.

As she continued her search, he decided it might be beneficial to speak to her considering he had the upper hand. He would maintain the illusion, but allow his voice to slip free. It could be coming from anywhere and nowhere, but she would certainly here it plain as day. It wasn't as if he was trying to cast it as coming from far off, after all.

"What brings you to these halls, young Jedi? Come to seek spoils of my people's pain?"

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

It was relentless, this odd sensation that permeated the very air she breathed. Noxious, almost. For a moment she closed her eyes, inhaled a small breath through her nose... Tried to still her mind, and more so her stomach. And then she reopened them, and looked about the room. A table was set against one wall, chairs strewn about the place. Datacrons lay scattered upon the floor, and broken consoles hummed with the crackle of energy here and there. Likely a networking office of some sort... But what did she know?

"Not the best place to end up" she muttered to herself, as she stepped over to the open circuitry of a flickering console and looked to it with moderate concern writ upon her expression. It wouldn't take much for the live wire to spark, and then chaos knew what would become of the room, the building... Nope. Not a good thing. And what if it rained?

Her gaze roamed around the room in search of the outlets, following the wires which linked to the consoles. Bingo. Walking toward the wall, she crouched down just enough to be within reach and carefully disconnected the dodgy console. A slight jolt of blue light made itself known when she did so, causing her to flinch just a touch. Thankfully it didn't zap her or anything. She never enjoyed the sensation of electricity coursing through her, no matter how many times she experienced it.

"A little better, I guess..." Rising up, she became all the more aware of the fact that she wasn't alone. The immaterial voice simply solidified this fact, as some bodiless individual queried her. At least she thought it was speaking to her, though she couldn't exactly be certain. After all, she wasn't a Jedi!

Turning on the spot she narrowed her eyes through the darkness, though saw nothing. Connor always claimed that she had to be a Force User, and sure she had done a few weird things that couldn't be explained in her lifetime but that didn't mean she knew how to do anything on command. As such even her senses remained boringly average. Nothing out of the ordinary here! Not in her eyes at least.

So where had the voice come from?

"Who, me?" she questioned, with one eyebrow perking up in intrigue. "Jedi... Really? Is that what I look like? Ugh..." This was more of a muttering aimed at herself, before she turned her head a touch the other way and moved the lightsaber in an attempt at piercing the darkness. Still she saw nothing though. Damn her, and damn this unnaturally dark room. "Fatigue brings me here. You try climbing more than five stories at a time without a break."

She knew that wasn't what the voice had meant, but she didn't care. Disembodied voices did not scare her! She was the Chosen One!... Okay so she was the Chosen Mechanic? Psht. Just the Mechanic then...

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

Inside of his helmet he smirked a little bit. Insolent, she was. Probably the reason she was there alone in the first place.

"That would not be difficult for me. I've done much more than climb five stories of stairs, even when those stairs are strewn with rubble."

As for what she looked like, it didn't really matter to him. It was the weapon she carried and the feeling he got from her. Not a straight laced Jedi, but she still spoke strongly of the lightside to his minds eye. That, for him, was enough to classify her as a Jedi, even if she didn't see herself as one. Truth be told, there were so many different types of Jedi that it was hard to keep track of them all. Honestly there were a lot of types of Sith, as well, but most people just classified them all as Sith. Unlike the Jedi with the Rogue Jedi, Green Jedi, Silver Jedi, and whatever else was out there. He'd lost track over the years and hadn't been paying that much attention to them aside from the recent encounter.

Still he didn't move or blow his cover, as it were. There was no sense in doing that just yet, not when he had her where he wanted her: confused but aware that she wasn't alone. The more she was off her guard, the safer it would be for him. After all, he didn't know what abilities this girl possessed, or what her mindset was towards his kind. Very likely to be hostile, under the circumstances, but there was the slight chance she wouldn't be. Still, better not to take unnecessary risks, as he'd learned. Sometimes the safest play was the best play.

"A darkside nexus isn't the safest place for one such as you, even though your senses seem somewhat weak. Either you're untrained, or that's not one of your strongest skills. Considering you carry Connor Harrison's saber, I'm going to assume the latter."

That was what he'd recognized about her, and what really led him to believe her a Jedi. When he'd met the man, with the two Heavenshield's, he'd become keenly aware that the Jedi Master was rather powerful in the Force, and Leos had been sure to learn how the man felt to him. That's how he had recognized the blade that the girl carried. He'd never seen it before, their meeting had been without weapons, but he could feel the man's spirit embedded upon it. The tool of the Jedi and Sith, the lightsaber, always bore a strong, lasting imprint of the one that created it because they often used the Force to make them.

"Would that make you his padawan, then?"

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

"Try climbing the outside of a building. Stairs are for weaklings."

Oh, the urge to stick her tongue out was almost too strong... But she resisted. For all she knew she wasn't even facing the right way for it to be impactful. And she wasn't some silly child, now, was she? Nope, she had to behave like a sensible adult and resist such things. If the stranger wished to remain invisible, or ethereal as the case may have been, then so be it. She had a feeling that if they were going to do her harm they wouldn't have bothered with the pleasantries.

So instead of giving him her full attention, Kai wandered about the room glancing over the various electronics, consoles, and other miscellaneous objects the room had on offer, making sure there were no other live wires on show.

"A what? A darkside... Man do you say weird things." Nexus? Pah. Sounded like Nexu! "I quite like Nexu myself." Okay so now she was being ridiculous, but who cared?

It wasn't until he mentioned Connor by name that she halted, and finally a more serious expression made itself known upon her face. She turned full circle, stern eyes finally trying to seek out the voice. "Who are you? Show yourself, coward." Not a Jedi, not that she'd be able to sense them anyway but the way they had spoken to her spoke otherwise.

She brought the saber just a touch closer, in what appeared to be a rather sloppy guard position. Lacking training in how to utilize the lightsaber, but unable to really use it as a source of light and wield her blaster without likely chopping off her hand or worse, she tried to remain as steady and on the defensive as she could.

What had previously been a strange conversation with an unknown entity had just become far more personal.

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

"Nothing wrong with Nexu, but I said Nexus. It's a focal point of darkside energy. I'm surprised it's not hurting you even though it's not that powerful."

She was quite childish in her own regard. The first assumption was that she had not spent a lot of time with other sentient beings, and hadn't developed an interest in speaking with them as a result. Nor had she developed the basic social skills to do so. The second assumption was that she assumed he was some sort of Force spirit or something of that nature and he was just trying to pester her while she hunted for shiny things. Could be both at the same time, too. Either way, she continued about her business unimpeded and he'd thought about reappearing when she was standing directly in front of him with her back turned, but decided against it.

It wasn't until he mentioned the owner of the lightsaber, or creator rather, that she actually gave him the attention she should have already been giving him. Her senses really were rather dull, it seemed. Not likely her fault, but still troublesome for her. Apparently he'd struck a nerve by mentioning the man. Whether that was in favor of Harrison or against him was yet to be seen. She could have stolen the weapon from him or had it given to her. Both were equally viable options that he couldn't rule out. Either way, she really wanted to see him now, so he decided to oblige her.

Off to her right he would appear as if from nowhere, the illusion he'd wrapped around himself fading into nothing, and revealing more scorched wall behind him, and a myriad of debris strewn across the floor at his feet. He stared at her from within the helmet upon his head, his body wrapped in a cloak of Tikulini hide. It and the armorweave beneath it would resist her saber, though she would plainly see that he carried both a saber and two Sith Swords upon his person. Neither of them were in his hands, but they were in quick reach if he needed to draw them. He honestly hoped he wouldn't have to because he did rather hate fighting. It was very... uncivilized. Yes, that was the right word for it.

"I take it you have some affection for him, then, with the way you reacted and the fact you carry his saber. Curious. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm the one called Darth Ignus. I've met the owner of that saber before."

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Ugh. Whether he knew it or not this man was rather like Connor. Already so quick to correct her and add additional information to her apparently barren mind. She rolled her eyes just a touch and crossed her arms at her chest. "Yeah yeah, Nexu, Nexus." She did her best to appear unaffected by the room, but truth be told deep down she could feel the aches and pains she had been experiencing prior to entering the room becoming heightened. The nauseous feeling too seemed to deepen to a highly discomforting state. But she wouldn't give him the benefit of realizing as much if she could help it.

She saw something from the corner of her eye after her demands, and turned herself in its direction. There a man stood, Mirial no less from what little of him she could see poking from beneath the armour, clad like he was ready to jump into the battlefield. How odd. Despite knowing better, one hand lowered from the lightsaber toward her belt to satiate the twitching of her fingers. Yet she did not grasp the blaster which lay there, she simply ran her fingers against the cool durasteel as though for comfort. Draw first, as questions later... That was usually her method. So why was she stalling?

Because he mentioned Connor. God, Kai, you're so one dimensional where he's concerned. Get a damn life, will you?

"Affection?" she scoffed, doing her best to feign disinterest. The last thing this silly Sith needed was more fuel against her. In fact, more fuel against Connor was more apt. She knew about the struggles he had faced before, when those he had been close to were used against him. She was determined not to end up another disaster story in the life of [member='Connor Harrison']. "I think you're reading me wrong, pal. As for this old thing..." She waved the saber about rather carelessly, though was wise enough to keep it away from her body - and the strangers. "It's none of your concern how I got it."

Would he believe her? She didn't know. But anything she could do to minimize the impact this might have on Connor the better. Times like these she was grateful for her heritage, at least he wouldn't be securing the truth of the matter from her mind any time soon. "Darth Ignus?" she repeated, before scoffing, "Great name. Seems 'Darth' is all the rage with parents these days. Can't go more than two feet without meeting someone with that name..." Her insides were as wobbly as jelly, yet she somehow kept her exterior from quaking. Easier to feign confidence than give into her fears at this point, though the darkness in the area was making it increasingly more difficult to do so. All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball, or jump from the hole in the wall. Anything to get away from it.

Instead she stood her ground.

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

"Lying."

Leos was no fool, and he didn't have to read her mind to know she was lying. The way she moved was tell enough. She was hiding something, and that something was important enough to her that she would like to a Sith about it. The Darth title was something only given to Sith that earned it, not Acolytes, so if she was any sort of educated she would know that it wasn't smart to mess with him. Of course what she didn't know was that she'd met the one Sith that would rather stand around and talk with her than run her through with a lightsaber. He wasn't about to tell her that, though. Let her squirm for a bit. It would do her some good.

"He's important to you. That's interesting. He's rather a hothead who doesn't like facts, to be honest. You seem to have picked up a bit on his attitude."

No, he wasn't about to be goaded about the name thing. She was trying to draw a reaction from him to justify shooting him. Really these lightsiders were just as bad as the Sith as far as he was concerned. It was just another example of why the Reformation was needed for the galaxy. People like her were a menace to people like him, who'd only ever killed a group of pirates that had wiped out the population of one of Mirial's smaller villages in a precursor to what the Primeval would eventually do. All of them had deserved their fates. Sure he'd taken a little pleasure in manipulating them into killing themselves, but that wasn't the worst thing anyone had ever done by a longshot.

His hands hung at his sides as he regarded her. They were near the handles of his blades, but they didn't actually touch them. He wasn't aiming to draw the weapons, after all. He just wanted her to know that if she tried anything stupid, he was more than prepared to defend himself. Taking into account the promise he'd made to Teynara, that meant he'd likely end up killing the girl, or severely maiming her in order to ensure his survival. That would be more than a little unfortunate, and not a desirous outcome. He lifted one hand to wave at her.

"You don't need to draw your blaster, girl. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. Unless you want to be like Connor and refuse to accept reality when it slaps you in the face."

Inside the helmet he smirked a bit. She'd tried to goad him, and now he was trying to goad her into a violent reaction. In his case it was to prove a point, at least.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Her hand slipped from the blaster even before he had finished his attempt at goading her. Not because he had told her she didn't need to be reaching for it, but because sense was beginning to kick in and she realized it would be foolish of her to do anything right now. This stranger would have killed her already if he had been intending on doing so, and unless she did something utterly ridiculous she doubted he would find cause to.

Didn't mean her fears were abolished, of course. She was still quaking in her boots even if it wasn't immediately obvious to the untrained eye.

She hadn't been goading him though. She wasn't seeking for an excuse to slaughter him, Sith or not. That wasn't her way. Kai had once lived a rough and tumble life amidst pirates, and those were the only times she'd ever taken a life. Since then she'd always had her weapons on hand, always drawn them where necessary, but hadn't really used them. Mindless killing wasn't something she condoned. She was just a humble mechanic, after all.

"He doesn't mean anything to me" she assured the Sith, though a pang of guilt struck her in the gut and her heart twisted to the sour words she had spoken. So far from the truth, so very far... But not even Connor realized that. "Look, mister, I don't care who you are or why you're here. And I'm certainly not going to debate with you over the owner of this here saber. I'm not here to harm what remains of your people, or take anything that's going to be missed. What I'm after won't be fixable anyway. And I ain't no Jedi, for the record. So why don't you mind your own business, and I'll mind mi--"

As she was talking she'd moved just a few feet forward, unintentionally treading upon an object on the ground. The resulting sensation left her breathless. It felt as though she had been struck in the gut by a racing rancor. She keeled over just a touch, feeling her head throbbing, as the permeating darkness closed in around her. As though the Nexus - or whatever he had called it - had tightened its iron fist all of a sudden. Images she couldn't quite comprehend speeded past her vision in her minds eye, far too quick for her to make sense of. It was the feelings which accompanied them which lingered with her the most, however, when all was said and done and she found herself on her backside amidst the rubble, the disignited hilt of Connor's old saber at her side.

Thankfully whatever the object was had been punted a few feet away, but regardless Kai remained breathless where she sat. Goddamn outbursts. Stupid Force. Looked like she wasn't exploring this place any time soon.

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

He just waited. Eventually her raw emotion and the power of the place would take it's toll. It always did. He'd been here long enough to have been drawing upon the spirit of the place, allowing it feed him, as it were. Not to make him stronger in the sense of physical strength, or even to make his connection to the Force stronger. No, it was the knowledge that the darkside itself held that he had wanted. That was why he'd come to this very spot after arriving on Mirial. He hadn't come for this, but it was a side trip worth making. Ever more so now that he'd come across this girl who was foolish enough to enter such a place without the capability of dealing with it.

As she keeled over, he watched. First he stopped the object she'd stepped on from going too far. The more it weakened her, the better for him. So he called it back towards her. Yes, he WAS still a Sith, he just wasn't the same kind of Sith that most people saw. And he recognized an advantage when he saw one. Secondly, he took note of the dropped saber and reached through the Force to call it to his hand. An interesting trinket, that, he thought he'd hold onto it for the time being, even as he stepped over to kneel down beside the girl.

"There is always a time and place for brash actions and flat denial, but it's not every minute of every day, and definitely not in the presence of someone who could strike you down. I'm not going to tell you how to be a Jedi or whatever you are, but it would be wise to respect the Force and the power it holds beyond the measure of any mortal being. This place is a nexus, a focal point, of that power. Even the untrained would feel that."

He looked into her eyes, allowing her to wallow in whatever misery she'd brought on herself. Misery did build character, and it could be a good lesson for her in respect. Though he realized that her outbursts weren't just her attitude issues, she still lacked in the ability to respect those around her who had a mastery of the Force that she did not. It didn't bother him personally to be disrespected, but it would others. Being as he was the one who's brain had come up with the concept behind the Reformation, he didn't exactly want to see people in the galaxy die that didn't need to. He'd happily kill those that did, but it would be unnecessary for her to die just because she copped an attitude with one of the other Sith down the road.

"You're fortunate I don't want to kill you. Another Sith wouldn't be so forgiving."

His other hand reached to remove her blaster provided she was unable to stop him. If she didn't, he'd simply toss it away. He had no interest in weapons such as those.

"What's your name?"

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Look at him, wallowing in his own radiance and righteousness. She could feel him sizing her up, watching her as she remained there upon the ground steadily trying to catch her breath. The object was sent reeling back to her side, causing her to scoot back out of its reach. Her eyes were wide as they turned toward it, fearful that the same would happen again if she touched it. The misery and loss which had accompanied the touch left her reeling even now.

The loss of the saber, though, was far worse than anything she had felt so far. She saw it jump through the air into his reach, and a very slight growl rose from within her before she could stop it. "That isn't yours" she snapped, without thinking any better of it, the guilt she had already been feeling only worsening now. That wasn't even hers to lose!

When he knelt beside her she somehow managed to resist backing up further and stood - sat? - her ground, staring at the stranger. She did not respond to him, not one single word, though she felt evermore frustrated at the way he referred to her along the same vein as he would a Force User. She was no such thing! She was simply Kyra Sol, junker and mechanic from the Outer Rim. Nothing more, nothing less.

He reached for her blaster then, but she scooted out of the way just in time to stop him from touching it. Hours had gone into its construction, and even more into finding the right parts. She wasn't going to lose that too. Her eyes narrowed in his direction, and she felt herself bristle with indignation. It felt so condescending, the way he was looming over her like that... So she did the only sane thing and shakily rose back to her feet before he could make another grab for her blaster.

Her eyes fell over him, seeking out the lightsaber he had taken from her. That wasn't right... How dare he!

"Give it back" she finally said, expression turning almost vehement. It wasn't his to take. "Damnit, you Forcies are all the damn same. You can't just take something that doesn't belong to you!" Acting like they owned the Galaxy. It made her sick!

But what could she do about it? She was nothing compared to a stupid Sith like this one.

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

Well, she managed enough to back away from the object that had caused her grief. Better than he expected. She also kept him from taking her blaster away. Not that he needed to, since he wasn't afraid of such a weapon. She even managed to get back to her feet, rather defiantly even. It was almost impressive, except for the fact that she was boiling with anger. Definitely not a Jedi, this one. She was something altogether different. Not a Sith either. In fact, she seemed to consider herself nothing. Was she denying her gift? He'd met a few people like that before. They didn't want anything to do with the Force and so refused to train in its use. Their loss. The connection to the strongest power in the galaxy was immensely rewarding, of only for the things you could feel with it.

She was demanding the saber be returned to her, and calling him a Forcie. That was a new one. He'd been referred to as a lot of things, but a Forcie wasn't a regular name. Well, if nothing else she'd taught him something. The saber though? She wasn't getting that back. No, he'd hold onto that, because he could tell it was important to her. When he left her, he was counting on her coming for it again someday. It was plain to him that the man who'd created the saber meant something to her. She could continue to deny it if she wished, but he knew the truth when it stared him in the face.

"You know, you're awfully rude."

He twisted a finger at her and nudged into her with the Force, indulging her with a taste of Force Stasis. It was one of his favorite abilities because it caused no harm to the individual caught within it, but allowed him to be in control of the situation. Yet again another younger girl fortunate that he was not a demented soul. But no, he was actually rather nice for a Sith when he wasn't being disrespected. He even didn't mind Jedi when they gave him the same respect he initially offered. Very few did that, which was why he'd yet to get along with any other than Teynara. He hoped there would be more like her, but who was to say if there were.

"You can struggle if you wish, but I am adept in the use of this ability. It's one of my favorites." He stepped forward and held the saber up in front of her. "There are lesson to be learned in every encounter. If you had been truthful to me, we could have had a pleasant conversation. I am not the kind of Sith you should be afraid of. You know when the Sith invaded the Caldera to stop the Silver Jedi from taking control? I was the one that approached them at Ziost in an effort to end the fighting diplomatically, but was stopped when one of their own slaughtered thousands of civilians on Korriban.

"Your fear is your greatest weakness because you don't learn to master it. Conquering it gives you strength, but you hide from it instead. What is there to fear but fear itself?"

No, she was right to be afraid of him, but she wouldn't know why until the time came when she stood against the Reformation. He doubted she would stand with it, even though there was much wisdom in doing so. Shaking his head, he walked around her as she was frozen in place. He could have taken the blaster, but it was clearly important to her as well, so he'd let her keep that one. The saber would be her price to pay that day.

"The galaxy has been taught stereo typically about what I am. Yes, there are many Sith that live up to that stereotype, but not all of us are Darth Carnifex or Darth Sidious. We're not all mass murdering monsters. Just as the Jedi are not all good people. Some Jedi are worse than the darkest Sith because of their propensity to delude people into thinking they do evil things for good. They delude even themselves. Balance used to be the mantra of the Jedi, and yet they've always sought to kill my kind. Can balance be achieved if there is nothing to balance the Light? No, it can't. The Jedi are liars, deceivers, con-artists. Not all of them, but most. And you carry the saber of one who is in denial."

He held up Connor's saber in front of her.

"I pointed out facts to him when I met him and the Heavenshield's to discuss the fate of Korriban. His response was to call me a child. All I merely said was that his order was already harboring a mass murderer, and that we couldn't trust them to deal with the person responsible for the death of thousands in the way they deserve. I had asked them allow me to be present at the trial to observe. Just me. I'd have left my weapons outside, even. But no, my request and my distrust of their ability to enact justice makes me a child. And you revere someone like that? Someone who can deny truth?"

Shaking his head, he walked away and sighed before lifting a hand to remove his helmet. He clipped it to belt behind his back, so he wouldn't forget it.

"If I free you, will you be calm and converse like an adult? Obviously you can't answer, but I'll be able to tell from your eyes."

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

She barely had time to process his words before her whole body seemed to seize up. The sensation of paralysis was perhaps the most horrific thing she had ever experienced in her entire life, even worse than the panic of drowning - or at least being made to feel as though she was about to drown - or the threat of near death that loomed over her in her youth. Worse than the crippling emptiness which accompanied a solitary life, and the realization that the sole individual in the Galaxy you cared about did not realize the way you looked at them. To be out of control of her own body was disturbing. She couldn't blink, couldn't swallow or speak, couldn't move so much as an inch of her body. In fact the only part of her which did move was her hair as the winds of Mirial whistled through the building.

All that she could do was stand there. Stand there and listen as he spoke to her. Chastised her. And Connor. How her blood boiled, yet she could do naught to show it, naught to release the horrible sensations she was experiencing. Instead it bubbled and stewed beneath the surface. He didn't take anything from her, didn't do anything to her, instead he did what all Forcies seemed to enjoy doing and lorded his powers over her. Look at what I can do he unknowingly said, Look how much better I am than you! I can render everything you know obsolete without so much as breaking a sweat. Ugh... That annoyed her more than anything else.

But as she stood there, suspended as she were, as the lightsaber was wafted before her vision, Kyra could not help but have her thoughts drawn away from the present to a moment in her recent past, the time she had been entrusted with that self same lightsaber. Wouldn't catch me calling you Master she'd told him just after he'd handed it over to her, after she'd promised to try and learn from him, after he'd promised to train her when she felt ready... Back to just before then, though, to when they had first landed on the moon. Her mind became flooded with the recollections of what Connor had been instructing her to do. To clear her mind, rid it of distractions, allow the serenity and peace of the first natural world she had encountered to flood her.

Well that was tough to do with that damn Nexu... Nexus... so close. But she had to try. She'd done a pretty shoddy job of it back then, truth be told. She had been too busy trying to grill Connor to realize the importance of his lesson. But right now she needed it more than ever. She had to quieten her mind. And so she did. While closing her eyes would have been optimal, she had little control over that factor and so instead while she seemed somewhat attentive toward this strange Sith on the exterior, inside her mind was completely elsewhere. Sorting through the vast myriad of emotions she was experiencing, removing those which proved too damning, trying to push aside the lingering darkness which permeated the room. Focus, Kai... Focus damnit.

As her focus increased she became aware of the being before her all the more than before, even though her attention was elsewhere. As though she was somehow in two places at one time. In her mind and in the desolate room. So it was that when the question was posed to her, the first which had not been rhetorical, Kyra was able to give him the response he was looking for, an affirmation that she would behave. That she would play nicely. Oh, she could be calm it seemed. As calm as the air before a storm.

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

It took her a while. She was resisting at first. Everyone resisted, so he didn't expect any less from her. It wasn't hard for him to hold her with the nexus backing him up. Plus there was the fact that her control of the Force wasn't very good. Whether she'd actually listened to what he had to say or not he didn't know. She wasn't seeming to pay much attention while she was fighting his control, so he doubted that most of what he said made any sort of impact on her. Probably in one ear and out the other. She seemed the stubborn type that wouldn't want to listen to him just because he was a Sith. He really did hate people like that.

Eventually, however, there was a dramatic change in her mood. She stopped fighting against him and seemed to calm considerably. He noticed it while he was still speaking his piece to her. It came towards the tail end of what he was saying, and when he looked at her after asking her if she could be sensible, he noticed the calmness there seeming to resonate that her answer was yes. He wasn't sure whether it was actually smart to trust her in this, but he did trust in his ability to keep her from harming him, especially with the armor he was wearing. Her best bet would be to use a lightsaber, and she no longer had one. Less worry for him, though she'd probably still try to get the saber back.

Lifting his hand, the one not holding the saber he'd taken, he released her from his grasp and took a few steps to the side of her, still regarding her with a sense of wariness despite her newfound calm state.

"I sense that your calm signals some newfound resolve, but I want to chat only. I have no intention of harming you if you can restrain yourself."

Pulling one of the chairs around, one of the unbroken ones and without the use of the Force, he took a seat and held the saber in her hand. He wasn't going to release it because the moment he did he was certain she'd try to take it from him. He also had to remove his helmet from the back loop on his belt in order to sit, so he set that in his lap and draped an arm over it to keep it in place. Better than letting it fall aside or setting it on the floor where he was likely to end up forgetting it.

"I can tell you hold some sort of affection for the owner of this saber. What kind matters little to me. I want to know why you listen to someone who vehemently denies truth when it is presented in front of him. Doing so makes little sense and is one of the causes of the rift between the Jedi and the Sith."

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

She dropped straight to her knees with a gasp the moment she was released from the state of stasis, her eyes closing under the strain of suddenly being in control of them again. Shivering, she took a few moments to readjust as a distinct tingling sensation wormed its way through her limbs.

And then she turned in on herself again. To her mind. Away from him, and his stupid questions and words. No intent of harming her indeed! What the hell did he call what he'd just done? Horrible, simply horrible.

Besides, the way he verbally attacked Connor was an assault in and of itself.

Her head lifted just a touch as the strength returned to her, and she opened her eyes to look upon him. Times like these she was grateful for the heritage her parents had blessed her with, she was able to keep her inner focus sheltered from his mind. No amount of pushing or prying would reveal anything to him.

She did not answer him though, even though he directly asked for her input. Why did it matter to him who she affiliated herself with? He had no idea who she was, he would never see her again after today provided she somehow got the saber back from him.

Inquisitive swine.

Looking him up and down, she took very quick note of where any key items were on his body - the lightsaber hilt in his hand that did not belong to him, the helmet in his lap, the lightsaber clipped to his belt - before looking around the room instead. Her gaze narrowed on some of the exposed wiring from before, which she had cut the circuit to.

Her mind, however, was more focused on the belted saber. It was difficult, tiring, to even pinpoint it in the room when she could see it nevermind when she couldn't... But she intensified her focus all the same now that she knew where it lay.

The cables in the distance began to tremor on the ground in her attempts to move it. Connor had told her she had it in her, but Kai didn't believe... Right now it wasn't a matter of belief though, was it? Right now was a matter of survival. So it was that when she tore her gaze away from the shifting wires back to Ignus she attempted something potentially fatal and extremely foolish.

And she pulled the lightsaber from his belt into her now outstretched hand, hoping that the shuddering of the cables was enough to distract him as she tore it from his person.

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

She didn't respond. That was an annoyance. All he bloody wanted to do was talk! Why couldn't people just hold conversations in an intelligent manner? Was it really that hard? Were he and Teynara really that odd in the galaxy? He highly doubted it, but it seemed, more and more, that the people he met were simply incapable of holding a conversation. They saw him as a Sith and they immediately became combative, snarky, or both. She'd been an insolent little brat who liked to run her mouth, so snarky, and he'd taught her a brief lesson in respect by controlling her body as he had. That was the intent, anyway. With the way people were these days it probably wouldn't work.

When she regained control after having fallen, he felt her calm herself again. In the dark neither of them could truly see that well, but he'd actually counted on that calming her down enough to talk. He shouldn't have. In fact, he felt her delve into the Force, and heard something moving behind him. He couldn't see it, so he went to put his helmet back on to use the infrared to try and figure out what, exactly, she was trying to do. This gave her the opportunity that she needed to remove his saber from his belt and call it to her own hand. Clever, but it wouldn't do her any good really. She was clearly not very good with the weapon.

"Clever, but stupid."

At this he stood from the chair once more, holding Connor's saber in his hand with thumb hovering above the switch. He had a feeling she hadn't stolen his saber just because she could. No, she still wanted the Jedi's saber back, and he was certain she intended to fight him for it.

"You barely kept from hurting yourself with this one. What makes you think using mine will be any better?"

All she was doing was proving that some lightsiders absolutely couldn't be trusted to actually be lightsiders. She might not identify as a Jedi, but he could tell that she was trying to exemplify that side of the Force, all the same. But she was possessive of the lightsaber. Enough so that it angered her that he'd taken it from her, and now she was going to try to fight him to get it back. That was not the way her kind were supposed to act, and yet that's what she wanted to do. Just for that he was definitely keeping Connor's saber. If she ended up keeping his it wouldn't bother him. He rarely used his own saber anyway. Fighting was stupid. Words were better weapons.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

She didn't want to do it.

She didn't want to give into that which she had rejected for the majority of her life. Three decades of resistance, and it was not a familiar face or even a comforting one which had brought her to her figurative knees... It was not a true choice, but one borne of necessity. The man before her had forced her hand, he could claim otherwise all he wished, he could try and make it out to be a part of her condition, he could lump her within the same category as other users in the Galaxy. The fact of the matter was, Kyra had never tried to use the Force before now. She had done so unintentionally on a few occasions, but until this day that was it.

So many times in their exchange he had referred to her as a Jedi. Was that all people in this Galaxy saw? One or the other. If they sniffed even a hint of the Force on you, that was it... Sith or Jedi? What about those who did not fit into such demographics? Those who did not wish to use their curse at all? Those who were far happier being the simple people of the Galaxy.

I'm a mechanic, damnit, a scavenger. I didn't come here to argue philosophies. I did not come here to have my belongings snatched from me, or my affiliations put under interrogation. I just wanted to finish a damn project, is that too much to ask?

Apparently it was. Apparently she couldn't simply be herself, everybody wanted to push her down a path of least resistance. Where the mighty Force would do everything for her! Well it wouldn't become her identity. She wouldn't be just another Jedi, damnit! Or even another Force User...

Only in this moment what choice did she actually have? What a dilemma. She needed to get that lightsaber back, it wasn't hers... Connor would be so mad with her if she didn't at least try and take it back. He had entrusted it to her. What damn use did this Sith have for it? Nothing. He was being a diva! A hypocritical one at that. Did he not see that the things he was accusing her, that he was accusing Connor, of he was doing himself? Lumping everyone into categories.

He had made her into some self fulfilling prophecy. Chaos damn him!

So it was that the moment her hand curled around the hilt of his lightsaber she rose and pulled back in one fell swoop, putting some distance between the two of them. Instinct bade her to hover her thumb over the ignition, and for the first time she was actually intent on pushing it should push come to shove. Not that she'd be very good at utilizing it. But what choice did she have?

"I just want the hilt back. I'll talk if you give it back. I was already planning on leaving before you took it, so don't even pretend like I'm the antagonist here!"

Nerves got the better of her though, her hands trembled and before she could drop the hilt her grasp tightened... Thumb pressing against the ignition and setting the dark room alight with jittery red hues. The telltale snap-hiss accompanied her inner cringe. Seemed as though the Galaxy had other things in mind. One step back put her on the defensive, her gaze watching him intently for any signs of oncoming assault.

A blaster felt so much more natural in her hand than this. In fact the hilt made her feel almost as sick as the room itself, as though her entire being was corrupting. But she fought against the sickness, doing her best to quieten her mind and calm her quaking body.

This was not going to end well.

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

Of course she wanted it back. He'd known the moment he took it that she was going to do whatever she could to try and take it back from him. He'd anticipated as much. She wasn't going to get it, though. No matter how hard she tried, and what she tried, she was ultimately going to lose this fight. The saber would be his. He hadn't taken it to spite her, but because of the opportunity it presented. If it was so important to her, then it was likely that Connor would want to get it back. He'd come for it, with or without her, and that's when a trap could be sprung to take care of one of the numerous threats to the Reformation and its goals. It was a necessary means to an ends; an opportunity that could not be wasted.

Truthfully, what he wanted was to save her from the same fate. If she'd listened to him, learned from him, she might have seen the truth behind what he said. She might have understood the kind of danger that Connor represented to the galaxy. She'd never be able to accept the judgment that would befall him, he knew that, but she might learn enough to have her own life spared in the process. But she didn't want that. All she wanted was to get the saber back. An inanimate object was so important to her that she would fight him for it. He hated that.

"I'm not going to give it back to you. It's a detriment to your future well-being."

He'd say no more on the matter of the saber. Of course he had to get his own back, but that seemed like a probability as soon as she activated it, sending the red blade shooting forth. She was going to fight him, even though she'd probably never wielded a saber in combat before. And he was aware she also still held the blaster on her hip. Truth be told, he didn't want to fight her because in the end she was going to come out harmed. Lightsaber combat was not something he was so good at that he could do it and win without doing harm to his opponent. He didn't practice it enough to be that good with it.

With a small sigh, he activated Harrison's saber, sending the blue blade shooting forth, and twirled it once in his hands to get a measure of it. Not quite as long in the hilt as his, but it could be worse. Least it wasn't a shoto. He assumed a posture with left hand behind his back and right holding the blade out to the side and regarded her. If she thought he was going to attack her she was wrong. She wanted the saber he was now wielding? Well, she was going to have to come and get it, then.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Detriment to her future wellbeing?

What the kriff did that even mean?

Kyra eyed him suspiciously for a moment, through the clashing hue of their lightsaber blades, and could not help but feel the irony of the situation. How the roles had visually reversed. It was almost poetic, if not for the fact that it was deadly weapons they were wielding and not humble glowsticks.

The sight of Connor's lightsaber ignited made her blood begin to boil yet again, but before she did anything too brash she inhaled a very long breath through her nose and pushed it down. She could deal with the frustrations later, right now she had to remain level headed... Or risk losing a limb. Likely from her own stupidity.

Now she may not have known much - if anything - about wielding a lightsaber, she may have found the weight - or lack thereof - of the blade and the odd balance off putting, but she did know a fair bit about generic combat. True she was better with blaster than blade, but that didn't mean she'd never had to use a vibrosword before.

Completely different, but still... If she could get used to the way this damn weird thing felt in the next three seconds maybe she could actually ... Oh who was she fooling? The likelihood of her actually retrieving the saber were slim to none.

Each movement she next made was a little slow and as precise as she could manage. As though she were handling some wild animal, or an explosive device. The weightless beam of contained energy was brought across in a defensive guard, yet the angle presented her with an unhindered view of the Sith.

"Just give me it" she said, her tone oddly calm given the situation, "I don't want to do this, but I will if I must." She adjusted her stance just a touch, ready to spring into action should he continue to be an ass about the whole thing.

[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

He shook his head at her. He'd already given her the answer she was going to get.

"You're not getting it back, so do as you must."

Unfortunately for her, even if she did manage a blow to him, his armor was likely to deflect it. Leos, knowing that his weakness was lightsaber combat, had taken precautions to ensure his own safety, and one of those had been the creation of his armor set. After all, he'd made a promise to Teynara. So she might get lucky, though he doubted it, and land a blow, but it would ultimately do nothing for her in the end, because he was more powerful than her, and didn't have to rely solely on the lightsaber to defeat her. Though, he did intend to show her the foolishness of her actions. A lightsaber really wasn't worth this sort of thing for her.

He remained standing as he was, ready to snap the saber around at a moments notice when she came at him. Since he wasn't going to attack her, she would have to come at him. He knew that she would. The saber was too important. The longer she waited, the worse it would be for her. He was already drawing in strength from the nexus, and the longer she waited, the greater pain she was going to be in for in the long run.

[member="Kyra Sol"]