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[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

One week. No new ships, no new fuel. Two weeks, the same. Three weeks, the same. The was supposed to be one of the only functioning spaceports on the planet, yet over the course of a month, not a single ship arrived. His own ship just sat on the landing pad, sunlight shining off it's chromium hull and blinding anyone who looked at it to long. For his part, Laeonas had found ways to keep himself busy-- advising Kat on important matters when asked, performing tasks and errands that needed to be done. He had been allowed to land and stay as her guest, and he'd acted accordingly, but he was starting to feel more and more stranded with each passing day.

At the same time, the Brentaalan had started to get more and more familiar with the Cauldron. He'd met dozens of Kat's direct subjects and followers, traveled through the tunnels dozens of time, drank and talked with it's people. He was still treated like a foreigner, but over time his existence had simply become a fact of like that Kat's people accepted. Laeonas had gone out of his way to be outgoing because it was necessary at first, but he eventually found himself spending time around the Rattataki to stave off isolation. He only had one family member back home, and the Jedi... it would take a long, long time before they accepted him back.

He'd never felt like he needed... people before. When he was stranded on Dantooine, the silence had driven him to madness. It only dawned on him now that the farmer who'd saved him, and the daughter who'd laid with him were what pulled him back from the edge. Joining the Jedi had given him something more than he'd ever had before-- beyond a tiny family or a circle of friends he only ever half trusted, they had provided community, purpose, and genuine trust. He'd lost that in the months since his exile, and he'd been desperate to try and grasp at it again while he was here, to forget that he was trapped and surrounded by foreigners who he feared might always look at him different.

The worst part was that the enemy might even be here. Kat had so casually mentioned that she'd met and talked with Sith before-- that they'd come to this world and met a powerful warlord like herself chilled him to his core. He'd spent the past decades watching as they'd gone from monsters in bedtime stories to living, breathing beasts that made the stories of lightning and giant space lasers look childish by comparison. He couldn't bear to stay much longer... but Deus willing, as long as he were on this world, he wouldn't let a single Sith draw breathe.

All this contemplation broke him from his meditation, aquamarines fluttering open and darting around his room. He took a long, deep breathe, and tried to get back to it... but he was far to rattled now. He needed to relax, and so he slipped into a jacket and made his way down the tunnels.

@LadyRen

OOC: This Thread takes place shortly after Laeonas and Celeste arrived on Rattatak

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste had been out and about for weeks. She regularly returned to the Cauldron to consult her friend Kat, but while she prefered to remain in their new headquarter, Celeste usually hoped around to negotiate with the surrounding tribes. Even if it was slightly cumbersome, she had achieved what she had wanted. They had 'bowed' to their new warlord, alias Kat and the fearsome dark warlord, that was herself.

At first, the people had indeed been frightened after the rumors had spread because their culture had quite fearsome stories about those who commanded the Force and especially those that were aligned with the dark side. Not that Celeste had ever been vehemently corrupted or anything, but the fact that her lightsaber was crimson bladed was one argument, and the other one was what she had choked a local warlord to death.

To her defense-he had left her no choice. Celeste had never been a fan of violence but this bastard had literally beheaded a child right in front of her eyes because 'he felt like it' and that was when her she couldn't hold back any longer. She had lashed out with the Force and squeezed all the air from his throat until his eyes had turned lifeless. Of course she had ensured that no second child was watching, but she hadn't been able to control her impulses back than. He had dealt with his henchman by using her lightsaber and so the people had indeed seen her in action, but the majority had realized that she had not been cruel on purpose. And yet a huge portion of respect remained. There was something in their eyes when they watched her. It was always a hint of curiosity mixed with awe. She didn't want reverence, in fact she only wanted to help them, but it had taken quite a while until they started trusting her again.

However now, Celeste had finally come back to the Cauldron for now. She had spent all night catching up with Kat and her people, but after the others went to bed, she hadn't felt extraordinarily tired and so she had decided to get back to her training routine. She had gone back to the very arena in which it all had started all those weeks ago and practiced her lightsaber combat but reminding herself of the correct Form. It was funny how she hadn't engaged in any lightsaber combat for years. In fact, she had never been in a real lightsaber duel. She had received her training in the academy and her uncle had regularly challenged her but it was of course not the same. That's why she liked practicing though. You never knew what would come. As she swung and paid attention to her footwork she assumed she was feeling a soft ripple in the Force, but she merely shook her head before she went on.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

The walk remained at an even pace for awhile, the click clack of his boots bouncing off the stone walls. The Brentaalan had dressed himself in an outfit not to dissimilar from one he might've worn back home-- long padded pants, a skin tight t shirt and long jacket had been his go-to in his days as a gangster. Just the same, a vibrosword hung at his side-- a precaution he'd never given up in all his years. The differences in his appearance were subtler-- he'd grown older, and his clothing was new, expensive, and fit him perfectly-- unlike the first jacket he'd worn, which he'd had to cut the end off of so it didn't go past his ankles, or his shirts, which he'd had to tie behind him with pins to keep tight, or his pants, with tears and rips all along them from every passing blasterfight.

His mind continued to race with thoughts of being stranded and spending his life on this rock. He thought of his mother, whose life had only gotten a bit easier after he'd given her the credits from his bounty job on that corpo a few years ago. How would she fair without him, left to work and waste away without her son to care for her in her later years? His heart ached at the thought-- that he and his only family in the galaxy might spend their last years alone and destitute was a possibility that he wouldn't let come to pass.

The stress that bore down upon him caused his heart to race, and before long, his feet moved just as quickly. What had been a calm evening walk had turned into a job, and eventually, a full blown run. It wasn't wise to move through the tunnels so quickly-- even after spending weeks navigating them, all the walls and subtle marks of where he was blended together into the same dull, cragged dark brown. He was lucky that he'd kept to one of the most traveled paths, instead of branching off into one of the smaller, out of the way tunnels. Even with the force as his guide, it would've been exceptionally difficult for the Brentaalan to navigate his way back out. Whether he could find his way back out on his own or require rescue was a prospect he hadn't really considered, and whether he would be found alive, dead-- it was all a risk he simply wouldn't take.

So it happened that he'd traveled from the residential tunnels all the way to the arena, a walk he'd gotten fairly used to at this point. It was a long journey, but with how quick he'd been going he'd arrived in record time. He'd hardly had a moment to breathe when his heart practically fell from his chest and onto the stone floor at the sight of the crimson blade dancing in the torchlit arena. The Brentaalan's hand immediately fell to his vibrosword, and his aquamarine eyes bulged from their sockets in shock. He'd known of Kat's dealings with the Sith, and had warned her of their nature and reputation, yet he couldn't have even imagined the extent of their presence until now.

"They've been 'ere tha 'ole time." He thought, breathing heavily. "Sleepin' a couple rooms down, eatin' what Ai've been eatin', sparrin' where Ai've been sparrin'..." his thoughts continued. Even with such a passionate hatred in his heart, one that even his Jedi master had tried to tempter, Laeonas had not been so close to a Sith in years. No, not since Firrerre had he even been within a world of one, he had thought. Firrerre, where he and millions of others had suffered at their hands, where he had been powerless to do anything.

"You could do something now, though." A voice, his own, suggested to him. His grip around the hilt of his blade tightened, but he didn't leap in and unsheathe his sword, charging at the woman like a madman. He had opened his last duel with a Sith in a similar fashion, and it had ended with his retreat, barely saving his own life. No, instead, Laeonas called, "I'd expected this place to be empty." The tone of his voice was dry and flat, not betraying much emotion. He was a good liar, but the fear and baggage that had colored his experiences with the Sith in years past kept him from drawing on his acting abilities.

Nevertheless, his greeting was a friendly one, if a little stilted. He'd made his way down a flight of stairs and out one of the gates quickly. He stopped a good 20 or 30 meters from the Sith. His expression was blank, his big, bright aquamarines just... slightly twitchy. "Used to have one of those-- grabbed it off a corpse, ages ago." He declared, not exactly lying about how he'd come upon his first saber. "Was told I was pretty good with it, didn't get much of an opportunity to spar with someone else who had one." He declared, which was when he unsheathed his blade, quick enough to send sparks flying off it's edge. In spite of the display, his expression remained calm-- freakishly came.

"Name's Laeo-- you must be one of Kat's Sith friends, right?" He asked, his voice still even. The cracks were subtle-- his heart was pumping quick, and fear not only radiated, but projected off of him. Were it not for the Sith's force sensitivity she might've felt a chill in the air, or started to grow uneasy... hell, she still might.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Unfocused, but why? She couldn't quite grasp it, but her mind kept wandering off. Was it because so much had happened? Was it because she couldn't leave this hell-hole that was somehow oddly starting to feel like home already? She simply couldn't understand her own feeling...but perhaps she didn't have now. Perhaps it would make sense soon.

All that mattered was that she had unvoluntarily landed here before they had captured her and forced her to fight in the exact same fighting pit she was standing in now, and since then things had drastically changed for her. Together with Kat they had rallied the slaves and fought back until the warlord in command of that place was gone. They had taken control of the Cauldron, but not to continue the tyranny, but to change things for the better. Celeste had decided that even if she had her hands full with work back at home, she would start this new mission. The mission to reform Rattatak by abolishing slavery, dethroning the warlords and depriving the tyrants. Without force and without unnecessary violence they would try to tame the Uncivilized. They would bring peace to the innocent. She had been forced to stay due to those responsibilities, but perhaps this change had been exactly what she had needed.

Inhale. Exhale. Peace if a lie. There is only passion. No this was a lie. Peace was no lie. She was a firm believer in peace, yet she knew that passion was important. Through passion i gain strength. There. That was it. She was passionate about that new goal, more passionate than she had ever been before and she had always been unrelentlessly ambitious...yet this was different. This was so much more. This was the beginning of something greater. She could somehow sense it.

She breathed deeply again. Calmly even, ignoring this ripple in the Force. If that was Kat's friend, than she had sensed him before. A lightsider. Fine with her. She held no grudges against the Jedi all, but she knew that Jedi usually held quite an obvious resentment against the Sith. Their codes were different, but Celeste didn't mind. They had a different view on things, but she herself had different views on the code she had been confronted with her whole life, so why should she mind them.

Her crimson bladed lightsaber lingered in her right hand while she flawlessly executed a few strikes directed at an invisible opponent in front of her. She doubted she would ever need lightsaber combat skills,s again, but she wouldn't allow herself to get out of shape. She needed to be able to defend herself and her people if necessary and who knew what threats loomed in the darker parts of this hostile planet.

She was concentrated and she could feel his presence in the Force. He seemed determined, yet somehow hesitant. What did he even want? She hadn't exchanged many words with Kat about her new friend, yet she was assuming that this could be no one else but him. She kept her crimson blade illuminated but stopped her training for a moment, her light blue eyes directed at the flight of stairs to her left.

She turned her body in his direction, one brow raised in curiosity as he suddenly adressed her so directly. "One of those?" she quickly glanced down to her lightsaber before the hint of teal pierced right through him. "Corpses give willingly. I still wonder why you took it" she then remarked, her tone sharp and slightly icy. Why was she so on edge? Perhaps because he hadn't officially introduced himself yet. Was he an actual intruder? Perhaps not, since he was working for Kat or so she had told her at least, yet she was always wary of strangers. Kat sometimes trusted other too easily and Celeste would never make this mistake, so perhaps that was the reason for her slightly feisty attitude.

There was something aggressive upon him. Perhaps not aggressive, but it was somehow obvious that she hadn't come here to talk or else he wouldn't have just unsheathed his blade. "Sith friend?" she asked amusedly, slighlty tilting her head to the side as a critical gaze still lingered on the unknown, yet somehow threatening man. "What do you want? I'd say a friend of Kat is my friend, but you don't seem like a peaceable one...". Had he seriously come her to fight? Was he seriously trying to attack her in the place she had conquered in the name of peace? "I'm Celeste and I can only warn you. Keep your hands of Kat or I'll cut them off. I have no idea how you have landed here, but you better sheathe your sword or you might regret it". Celeste was definitely no violent individual and she usually always avoided conflict, but he had somehow managed to trigger her.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

Her question prompted a smile to form across his face-- the first genuine one he'd worn since entering the arena. "It was valuable. Could cut through doors. Carrying it around would make people scared of me, I figured. Easier to avoid fights-- or win them if they happened." The man explained. Such thoughts hadn't raced through his head in the halls of Matou, so close to the treasure vault. All he'd seen was the saber-- known it could make him rich, as the beskar under his arm could-- and ran with it. It's value as a weapon proved itself later, when he'd fought against it's wielder's sibling just weeks later.

She hadn't warmed to his mask of friendship, it seemed. He didn't let it drop-- not yet, anyways. That would come when he knew he didn't need it anymore. Her accusation of his intent stopped him in his tracks, and his lips twitched for a moment. "What, you don't like to spar?" He asked, glancing down at the vibrosword. "What kind of a place would this be to kill a woman? I don't see an audience." He quipped, forcing out a laugh. Sol, he'd been good at thinly veiled pleasantries in his youth, but looking at this woman, the Brentaalan was more focused on hiding a sneer than he was faking a smile.

It was only after her warning that the man's smile, poorly plastered on his face, finally fell to a frown, brow furrowing as he eyed her across the arena. "Put my hands on her? What kind of man d'ya think Ai am?" He asked, accent thickening with indignation. It took a moment for him to realize what she meant before his expression finally relaxed, and a genuine laugh escaped his lips. "Oh... you think I wanna hurt the girl? She's my host, I'm her guest-- what kind of worthless sack of shit draws a blade on his host?" He asked, indignation returning.

Guest rights were an important part of Brentaalan culture, going back millennia across cultural and religious lines. Even thousands of years later, after millennia of mixing with the myriad peoples and cultures of the galaxy, a Brentaalan guest knew to honor their host, and they to honor their guest. Harming Kat was out of the question-- she'd given him refuge, food and drink, and had honored him by taking his advice on matters of rule. That this Sith, who'd probably murdered, cheated and done all manner of heinous things even the worst men Laeo had met implied he'd hurt his host was a grievous insult-- one he wouldn't abide.

"And who," he called, "Are you," The proud man said, "To tell me where to stick my blade?" Raising it up and across to the Sith. "Only a Sith with a crimson saber," He stated, blood running hot, "Who thinks Kat's favor gives her leave to toss insult and orders." He'd come in here calm, drawing on his teachings to try and keep his impulses in check, long enough to endear the girl, to let her think all he wanted to do was spar.

But he wasn't going to bother hiding behind pretense any longer.

"Last time one of your kind tossed me an order, it was to give back his sister's saber. I answered him with it." He declared, "I don't have a saber anymore, but this sword is long, and sharp-- as long and deadly as yours." He spoke, a hot anger bleeding into ever word. "My name is Laeonas-- and I won't take orders from one of you." He snarled, levying his blade up, falling into a stance. They were only a few meters away from each other-- but that was enough.

Kicking off his foot, the man launched himself forward with the force at his back. He'd covered the distance in naught but a split second, and the girl would be forced to take her saber up to block the downward slash of his own vibrosword. Assuming she did, however, that soaring leap of his would have had it's momentum only partially broken-- and he'd use it to his advantage by tossing a kick at her midsection, hoping to knock her down. No doubt she'd have the training to shrug one, maybe both blows off, but his speed and aggression wouldn't let up. Not until either he wasn't able to fight, or she was a corpse.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste's eyes never left the man that came for some friendly sparing and some snarky comments. With everything that had happened before, she was not having tons of patience to spare and so she was highly mistrusting of this man who had invaded the place she now-funnily enough- called home.

She was starting to circle him slighlty, like a predator eyeing his prey even if she was clearly not the predator here. "Use a lightsaber to intimidate people? Is that what the light has taught you" she snapped, not wanting to assume that he was directly involved with the Order but the light surrounding him was undeniable.

How very unusual. A lightsider that walked into the fighting pit and started to be passive aggressive and offensive. She raised a brow, studying him intently while she even began to analyze his movements. This was paranoid she had gotten...and to be fair, there was an undeniable tension in the air from the very first second that made her feel so on edge.

"Sparing?" she repeated with a scoff, slightly shaking her head, "the entrance you just made didn't seem fit for friendly sparing". Her light blue eyes still studying him, she stepped closer, deactivating her lightsaber as she was in no mood for stupid games. Maybe this would send clearer signal about her usually peaceful intentions.

As he replied to her serious warning she sneered, her gaze almost piercing right through him. "What kind of a man you are? No idea. You just walked right in on my practice and trust me, I've encountered enough strangers who did not mean well to be clever enough to be careful" it was still a warning snarl, her muscles visibly tense, but she was forcing both, her expressions and her stance relaxe a bit.

As her face softened she stopped walking, a brow still raised, but now rather in curiosity instead of in alertness. However soon, he was snapping back into his aggressions, apparently enraged by her comment, which she did not understand at all. Kat was a dear entrusted friend, and even if this man seemed like a lightsider, it dir not mean he was following good intentions per se and Celeste wouldn't let any harm come to Kat.

As he started raising his voice, she could clearly sense his anger and determination returning. This man came here to slaughter. And apparently he had absolutely no idea that Celeste hadn't even bled the crystal of her own lightsaber. This black and white mentality concerning the Sith had always enraged her strongly and this was no exception. She could feel her blood starting to boil while her heart started beating faster.

With her lightsaber ignited she stepped forward, eyes still analyzing and with each and every word she just knew that he would start trying to spar. "I was not the one that had started. I have saved Kat's ass and I have chosen to stay here to rid this planet of all the injustices and now some random guy starts passing by and accuses me of stuff? Listen here: I've warned you and I will not say it again. If you wanna loose your toy or a limb, feel free to continue", she hissed dangerously. Now she was indeed running out of patience and her feisty temper got the best of her while she almost amusedly nodded towards his sword.

And then he suprised her still. She had not expecting him to immediately start attacking after his antagonistic attempts. He chose to close the distance between them, wildly slashing at her like a fool, but lucky for her she had been attentive enough to see it coming in time. She raised her blade, blocking the incoming strike with ease by simply holding it up with her right, saber wielding hand, while she simultaneously sent a vigorous Force push his way, aiming not only to interrupt his -admittedly scum baggy- maneuver of trying to kick her, but also to push that audacious, dark haired boy of balance and knock him of his feet.

She had outstretched her hand for that purpose, the Push being sent towards his chest, attempting to definitely force him backwards. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" she hissed, now furiously while she had used her Force power. She let her lightsaber slid down into a defensive position again, assuming that no matter how far he would have been shoved, he would come at her again.



@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

Justice. That was what she had come here to do, or so she said. He'd heard words like those get thrown around many times back home. The muca who'd cornered him after stealing bread had called what he'd done an injustice. They'd called what they did next justice, making sure to break a rib for every credit it cost. They'd called what they did to his partner during a failed convenience store robbery justice. Nobody but he could recognize the girl-- he only recognized her by the birthmark just below her collarbone.

And now, this woman-- who was cohort with torturers, murderers, monsters who turned planets to glass and cities to rubble-- said she intended to end injustice on this world. Men and women who made the ones who'd made his life a living hell look like naoimh by comparison. Men and women who used skin for the grips of their sabers, men and women who burnt children where they slept. Those officers who'd presumed to know justice had always looked at him as scum-- as a bastard boy who needed to be reminded of his place.

The Sith he'd met had looked at him like he was meat. He wasn't a boy, or a man-- he was an object, or an obstacle, or a tool-- but never someone. Perhaps that was what allowed them to kill so many, he thought-- they didn't look at people as people, but instead as things. Things to be tossed out and discarded at a moment's inconvenience. This one might have looked at him differently-- she looked at him with contempt, with skepticism, and eventually, hostility.

It only increased the force of his leap and the strength of his blow.

Her guard was a simple one, to counter a simple blow. Were he still a barely self-taught boy whose only knowledge of combat came from old training manuals and only knowledge of the force came from tidbits of datacards from padawans, such a response might've been effecitve. But alas, he wasn't that boy anymore. He was a man-- a man who was much taller, much heavier than she was, and far more powerful than she thought.

The leap had closed the distance in seconds. Sparks flew up between where his vibrosword collided with her blade. She had decided to take the hit head on, from a man almost two heads taller and thirty five kilograms heavier. Naturally she was pushed back, and the kick to her side would've sent her tumbling down-- if it had connected, but the force flew from her and he was sent backwards. However, the concentration she would've had to have maintained on defending herself from his initial attack would've taken away from the strength of her initial push.

As such the Brentaalan was thrown back a meter and a half-- it would've been one or two more had he not thought quickly, catching the ground with his heel and quickly rebalancing with a quick push from the force. His eyes narrowed, aquamarines blazing with contempt for the woman across from him.

"Your enemy." He answered simply. Laeonas had already given her his name, and she didn't need to know any more than that.

A split second later he threw himself forward again, a flurry of cuts thrown at her. He was quick on his feet, practically dancing along the ground as he shifted positions, each blow coming from another angle. Most were directed at her upper torso and neck. The Brentaalan was hoping to wear down her defenses, to overwhelm her with the force of his blade-- and the force itself. It fed into his speed, his strength, his stamina. Ataru was an aggressive, mobile fighting style, predicated on mobility and the use of the force.

It was the form best suited for saber wielding single combat.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Of course he didn't answer. He didn't even reply to any of the mentioned aspect, but was that a suprising after all? No. Of course he didn't reply. Why would he? He was probably speechless, just like everyone else whenever Celeste shared her story or her opinions.

Everyone was always quite keen on overgeneralizing, especially when it came to the Sith. He, being a lightsider, naturally assumed she was a monster just like everyone else under the Imperial banner. She was so sick of it. Sick of clichés, stereotypes and unreflected, biased people like him. It was stupid. Radical, unreflected resentment was always stupid and unnecessary and perhaps she had to teach him a lesson.

The way he had placed his words bugged her still. 'One of you'. It just echoed right through her head again and again, slowly but steadily fueling that fire inside her. She was clearly not the aggressor here, but it seemed like that simple minded, prejudiced schmuck had nothing better to do than to antagonize strangers.

She gritted her teeth, her light blue eyes intensely staring right into his as she attentively oberserved each and every move. So this mysterious, dark haired man was all about sparing? Oh as if... "My enemy?!" she scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. Now she was getting quite furious at this blank audacity.

Perhaps he was right about one thing. Right now he was doing everything he could to piss her off immensely. Why? Maybe he was tired of life or maybe he was indeed just bored. Whatever it was, she absolutely no problems with kicking his ass, especially because it seemed quite necessary now.

Luckily, Celeste was sure that he was no match for her anyway. If he wanted to try, so be it, she thought, almost slightly amused by his attempted. All the years of the academy and under her uncle's wing hadn't been in vain. She was excellent with the Force and her lightsaber, so she was confident to disarm him soon enough.

The Push hadn't sent him far away, but enough to push him out of melee range for now. However she was not the only one with the Force on her side...apparently her opponent had had atleast some training. She was still assuming that his brute strength was hinting at his real talents...

This man was clearly used to dirty fights. She assumed he was not only good with brute strength, but probably also excellent in weaponless combat. The way he aggressively attacked clearly aimed at wearing her out, but Celeste was too clever to fall for such an easy trick.

She swiftly stepped backwards, her crimson blade blocking each and every quickly planted blow while her lips curled into a smirk. He wanted to this? Alright. But she wouldn't play along in his stupid games...

Celeste knew he would outmatch her strength wise, but even though he seemed quick, she was convinced she was more agile. However she would not only rely on agility, but while he tried to drain her stamina, she would make use of what she could do best: Mind tricks.

While she parried with her right hand, her feet dancing backwards just like his, she sent another vigorous Force Push his way, attempting to make him stagger while aiming at his chest again. Right after the Push, she she coiled the Force around her before she released it in his direction, this time, however, not as a Push, but as a very subtle veil that would attempt to cloak her opponent's head.

She had done it before, and since she didn't want to hurt him, she was now trying to make him yield already. She tried to find her way into his very mind, trying to evoke a dreadful kind of deep rooted fear. The manipulation was powerful, but she had mastered the arts of mind manipulation years ago, so that she still had enough concentration left to not let her guard down.

She was prepared for a counterattack if she couldn't discourage and frightened him in time, but she was dearly hoping that her seemingly unstable adversary would crumble once the cold darkness was trying to wrap its tendrils around him. Her attacked was aimed right at the deepest abysses of his mind, trying to stir up everything unpleasant that was buried below.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

As the fight wore on, the Brentaalan didn't provide the slightest hint that he was tiring. No, his attacks only seemed to grow more intense, the strength behind every blow and the speed at which they arrived only intensifying. It seemed as if the Sith could only manage to block his attacks, shielding herself from the onslaught as best she could. She was able to match his movements, turning and twisting as often as he himself did. All the while she was pushed back, further and further.

When she finally parried a blow, the Brentaalan's mind didn't need to search far to figure out what the Sith might do next. She had an opening, and the last time she'd had one, she'd used the force. Anticipating the blow, the Brentaalan threw up a hasty barrier-- one that only took most of the blow, still managing to send Laeonas back a foot or two. A snarl escaped his lips as he looked up again...

And than, he felt it. Her.

The Sith would be able to reach his surface thoughts, anger, frustration and hate swirling and projecting outwards. They had radiated from him through the whole fight, pulsing like light from a lamp, bathing any of the weakminded around him in such feelings. Celeste, being a trained Sith, wasn't subjected to this. Going further she would only find a wall-- a wall of thick glass, wrapping around his subconscious mind. It was unlike anything she would've seen before, clearly an unnatural structure in his mind. There were cracks running along it, glimpses of what might be beneath just barely peaking through.

But from what was reflected through the panes, there was only horror. Terrible images of carnage, of suffering and ruin. Of a world that her order had destroyed-- a world that Laeonas had been on when Darth Raze had laid waste to it. Being there had shattered his mind, and it was only through the work of a Grandmaster and Master working together that any semblance of sanity had been restored, and anything resembling the man that had been shattered on Firrerre was able to ambulate around in his place.

Celeste might've been talented, but it would've taken a master of equal ability to the Grandmaster to reach into his memories and dredge up the truly mind-shattering horrors he had experienced. There were other memories to draw on-- pain and trauma that had turned him into the ill-adjusted man he now was. Images of hands on him that he didn't want there, of those very same hands breaking as the force lashed out. Of beatings that ended with those attacking him worse off than he was, groaning after a series of blows crashed into them.

They didn't paralyze him with fear though-- no, they prompted him to act. As images flashed through his mind, sensations that he had long tried to burry rising to the surface, the Brentaalan would grit his teeth and yell, "GET OUT OF MAE FUCKIN' 'EAD!" As a massive push of the force slammed forward. Were the Champion unprepared she would've been sent tumbling back a few meters, only to be met with Laeonas, having leapt up to bring his saber down upon her.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

When she entered his mind, she was well aware of the fact that she might stumble upon some very unpleasant memories, but she came prepared. She knew that whatever she would find might unsettle her, but then again she knew that she couldn't let it get under her skin. If she wanted to break him down, so that he would stop fighting, she would have to stay focused.

When she entered his mind, trying to stir up those emotions that might wreck him enough to lose his focus, she wasn't very cautious about it. She knew she had to hurry, so she tried to find her way in as fast as possible, but it didn't take very long until she crashed against some sort of...barrier. And that immediately left her frustrated, or furious even.

This man certainly had a story to himself. From what she could see, he had experienced terrible things and she couldn't help but to immediately feel bad for him. The initial frustration and the anger faded and since Celeste had always been a caring, empathetic person all her life and even if he had attacked her, she felt the immediate urge to help him, instead of to keep trying to evoke dread.

He might have viewed her as the enemy and he might be quite simple minded about that, but in the end, Celeste had no real intentions of hurting her opponent. Not because she now almost felt sorry for him and about what he had experienced, but also because she was simply no violent person. From what she could briefly see, this angry lightsider had lots of problems of his and she assumed that his difficulty past was the reason for his outburst.

Yet she was still fighting him...fighting him because he left her no choice if he would continue being so aggressive. Yet the glimpse she had caught affected her. "Wait-" she began, as soft as possible but there was an undeniable hint of assertiveness in her voice.

The thing, however, was that the Brentaalan's repeated aggression now seemed to be underlined by the frustration about her rude intrusion and so the Force Push hit her and forced her back. Readjusting her feet on the earthy soil and coiling the Force around her, she managed to stop herself from being pushed further away than the first two meters and staying on her feet, yet the aggressor was already on his way to follow her.

He brutally charged forward, trying to let his sword meet her lightsaber again, yet with gritted teeth she quickly spun away to the left. His blade soared through the air right where she had just standed while she had finished a 360° spin that was accompanied by agile footwork. She now found herself right out of melee range but close enough to have him right where she wanted.

"Stop!" she growled, still on the brink of loosing her patience as she reached out with her left, free hand, putting all of her concentration into the attempt to hold her opponent in a stasis. She did not lower her guard, so the lightsaber was still defensively and diagonally held in front of her body, but the main attempt was to immobilize him and therefore win the upper hand. "Will you listen for a moment?!" she hissed regardless of the outcome, her own emotions stirred up, but it still cost her a lot to try talking to him right now.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

The Sith was, as usual, quick, and she managed to evade his immediate assault. As she twisted to the side the Brentaalan spun on his heel, thrusting his sword forward. The blade was close, but not close enough to cut, much to his vocalized chagrin. "JUST KRIFFIN' DIE ALREADY!" He roared, raising his vibrosword for another strike. He was ready to bring the blade down and split the Sith's head open like a melon. He didn't care about what Kat would say, how she'd question him over such a horrific "accident."

But he never got the chance to finish her off. His muscles would stiffen as he came to a stop midswing. He could feel the force coiling around him, and his eyes would widen in shock. "What tha kark is this?!" He thought to himself, his mind drifting back to his training. His instructors had warned him about these sorts of paralytic techniques, but his training on how to defend against them was surface level at best.

The Sith snapped at him, asking him to listen of all things. All thoughts of escape were replaced with a burning desire to see the woman before him dead. "Shut your fucking mouth, witch! I'd rather cut out my own ears than listen to whatever drivel you've got to spew!" He snarled, struggling against his bonds. His fingers managed to twitch a little, and he tried his best to gather the force to him. Frustrated, he yelled, "Let me GO!" As loud as he could, fingers gripping the hilt of his vibrosword.

"DAMN YOU! DAMN THE LOT OF YOU!" He shouted, the force around him sizzling as his emotions radiated off of him. "I WONT LET YOU DO IT AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" The Brentaalan asked, "DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

She couldn't believe what he was suddenly shouting as this was the pure proof that this was absolutely no sparring. Not anymore. Or rather: It had never been playful sparring for him as it seemed. Was he being serious? He looked more like a madman right now...

Admittedly, messing around in his head wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do, yet he had left her no choice. His attacks had been brutal and violent from the very first second and there was a continuous, severe aggression behind each and every move, so that she was even skeptically squinting now, eying her opponent warily.

Her stasis was apparently quite effective and even if it cost her quite some concentration to keep him in this incapacitated position, he was not thinking about releasing him in that fully feral state. "First of all, all of that rage is definitely not helpful if you want to call on the light" she remarked bluntly.

She was doubting whether softness and empathy would reach him, so he would get a taste of her own fire instead. She would have loved to sarcastically ask him whether he was finished with his emotional outbreak that merely seemed like his inner child throwing a tantrum and the 'bad evil Sith witch that restrained him', yet she knew mockery would onky add fuel to the fire.

"I am nothing close to that monster inside your head. You've got that concept fully wrong. There is no dichotomy! I'm no bad person because I'm a Sith and whatever you are...you are far worse right now. All I want to do is talk and I want you to listen" she had raised her voice and her words were determinant and strong.

She fortified the stasis by putting even more concentration in it while simultaneously stepping back a bit, to create a slight distance in case he somehow managed to break free. "Do I have your attention now? Or do I have to force you to listen?" for the last parts, there was a subtle, yet dangerous hint in her voice. It was nit fully a threat, but he would definitely hear that she was serious about it.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

Her comment was a smack in the face that only further enflamed his anger. "SHUT UP! What the kriff do you know about the LIGHT?!" He snarled, straining against the stasis field around him. Her words cut deep as he fumed, his rage failing to blind him enough to not recognize that there was truth in what she'd said. His focus, his concentration-- he'd allowed it to fall away to anger, and it had undone him. He'd never dare to admit it, but the Sith was right.

Regardless, he continued to struggle against the stasis field, though it felt as if he was held in a cast of carbonite, his body frozen in place, unable to do anything but move his fingers and toes. He would've leapt forward and cut the woman in half if he was able to, but he wasn't, and was left to endure the drivel that spewed from her mouth. She spoke of how she wasn't a bad person for belonging to the Sith, and how he was worse than her.

"WORSE?!" He roared, and for a moment she would feel him push as hard as he could against his binds. "Worse than people who skin others for fun? Worse than child murderers?! WORSE THAN PLANET KILLERS?!" He screeched, voice cracking at the last line, tears beginning to well in his eyes. "You fucking COWARD! At least your other comrades own the fact that they're monsters, but you're trying to pretend you're some reasonable, measured woman, when you work for the people who turn planets TO GLASS!"

"Be a real woman and free me! Fight me without these fucking party tricks! Die with your saber in hand instead of talking me down while I'm STUCK!" He shouted, struggling even harder against his bonds. "Or at least, tell me how I'm the monster, when your kind gleefully slaughter innocents! Tell me how you have the high ground, you SELF RIGHTEOUS SOW!"

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

The more he talked, the more desperate he seemed to get...the more crazy even. Her mental image of him had quickly changed. He was not that cocky, daring stranger that had challenged her for a little sparing because apparently he had to compensate for something...He now seemed like a freaked out lunatic.

Other would have probably been frightened or would have lost their temper, but Celeste was fully in control of her emotions. She was balanced even. Something the dark haired mysterious, yet oddly aggressive stranger apparently lacked severly.

There were two possibilities now and she stood at a crossroad. She could have released him and given him what he asked for: A fair dual. He fight he would probably lose anyway because he was way too unfocused and desperate. Or she could maintain the stasis, even though it drained her and even though she had no idea whether she would be able to reach the raining parts of his wit that were seemingly deeply buried behind a thick layer of madness.

"I know quite a bit about the light" she admitted with a faint smirk even, however knowing that he was way too hysterical to understand or even believe her. She calmly let him scream and shout, hoping that getting it off his chest would somehow help him regain composure, but it was seemingly just getting worse.

As he starting roaring, she could feel how his invisible shackles began to loosen. Planet killers? Okay that was just distasteful. She couldn't help but to slightly shake her head, her intense however not leaving his bewildered, blue eyes. She noticed that glistening in his eyes and seeing the first harbingers of a crying lunatic made her stomach churn.

His blind, unjustifiable rage annoyed her, yet she suddenly saw him for what he was: Just a human after all. A misinformed, biased mind. "You have no idea what you're talking about", her tone was icy. She couldn't deny that his words slowly started to get under her skin and made her feel slightly sick though.

Truth was, she hated her own kind, as he put it, for what they had done, but she was not ashamed to admit that. "I agree" she bluntly replied, letting her honest words sink in for a moment before elaborating. "I don't call all Sith my kind. There are monsters amongst our ranks, yes. As you might know, Kat and I have been held captive her while Kashyyyk happened, so trust me when I say I had no part in it, but unfortunately I could also not stop it". Yes, that was something she felt bad about."I've seen horrible Jedi too. Look at those that had tied Wookies to a spaceship", she calmly argued, every word carefully calculated while reminding him off what had been.

"I won't let go and I won't let you die out of stupidity. We don't need to fight...and I do not get while you want me dead. I haven't done anything. And I never will. I won't let you reduce me to the banner I'm still wearing" the softness faded and was replaced with fiery determination. She did not want to provoke him, but he was pushing her. Even she couod lose her temper.

"I could do terrible things and yet I choose not to. I'm in the diplomatic core of the Empire and I've always prefered words over lightsabers" she snarled back, slowly starting to circle him while her gaze was still fixed on the escalating stranger. "The one thing you don't seem to understand is that I'm standing with the Empire to prevent such things like meaningless slaughters". Would he even believe her? Probably not. He seemed way to entrenched in his stupid, unreflected mindset and that truly gave her a reason to be furious.

She had not yet loosened his invisible restraints, yet she was indeed thinking about ending this in terms of incapacitating him as fast as possible. Maybe he would come to his senses if he was knocked out for a while...If he really wanted, he would be able to break free from her stasis because her carefully chosen words did take a bit of her focus away.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

The Brentaalan didn't rise to the bait when the Sith smirked and mentioned the light again, both out of impatience and out of his subconscious acknowledgement in the truth of her last statement. "I know more than most men livin' when it comes ta yer type!" He snapped back at her declaration. "I've been hunted like a fucking beast by your kind, I've felt your kind murder millions of people who never did you any wrong-- I know what you are, EVEN IF YOU DON'T!" He snarled, seething as he stood in place.

He was ready to keep up with his tirade, but the Sith shut him up in a far more permanent way than if she simply knocked him.

She agreed with him.

Laeonas wasn't sure if he'd heard her right, but as she continued to speak, the rage on his face lessened in intensity, confusion replacing hostility as he remained bound in place. She spoke of the evil of the atrocities that the Sith had committed, of how she hadn't been there when it occurred, and how she couldn't have stopped it. He felt his chest tighten a little at that, remembering how he had wished that he could have done something.

But the moment of agreement ended as the Sith mentioned the moronic and callous Jedi who had gotten dozens of wookiees killed. "You'd hold up two morons getting dozens killed to a FUCKING GENOCIDE?!" He questioned, the comparison outrageous. "When the Grandmaster heard about it she exiled the both of them! Your empress lead the attack on Kashyyk HERSELF, and you SERVE HER!" He yelled, though the hate in his voice didn't seem to be directed at her this time.

There was still clear frustration in his voice though, frustration he elaborated on as he snapped, "you know your comrades are murderous scum, monsters that need to be put down-- so why don't you find the nearest person you can call Sith and put a saber through their throat?!" Laeonas figured he was just speaking sense-- after all, he'd just try to do the same to her. It wasn't evil to kill the kinds of people who burned planets to ash-- or in her case, ate lunch with the people who did.

Her defense was flimsy and a cruel, mocking laugh escaped his lips. "If the people who fly the banner you wear are a bunch of murdering, genocidal psychos, anyone'd be right judging you!" He declared, carrying his words like they were simply fact. "If I was in a gang of murderers, rapists and scum, I couldn't blame anyone but myself when people treated me like one-- unless I did what anyone who could call themselves decent would do and kill those pricks!" He went on.

"You want to call yourself Sith and be friends with the lot of them, but you're mad that I treat you like one?! There ain't much difference between someone doin' evil and someone breaking bread with them when they're sharing it! If you want to stop the Empire from slaughtering people, you should be trying to DESTROY IT!"

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste listened to him calmly, the anger slightly fading even though he remained aggressive as ever. He kept insulting her and the Empire, but she wouldn't take the bait. She wouldn't become the monster he saw in her and her kind kind as he had so rudely put it.

It was obvious that his emotions were so over the top because he let himself be led by the predominant experiences he had had with the Sith he previously encountered. He was overgeneralizing everything he had heard and seen, but she was well aware of the fact that she wouldn't change his mind, especially not if he kept freaking out like that.

"I'm sorry that you've been hunted" she calmly declared and her statement was indeed honest. She had no idea about the greater story behind that, yet this wasn't the point right now. She kept circling him, while at the same time bringing more distance between her and the Brentaalan.

She immediately noticed that her words had served their purpose though. He was pulled out of that blind hatred and shifted into a calmer, perhaps even slightly contemplative mood. She left the remark of how they had dealt with the Jedi uncommented because it was stupid..she had just chosen them as an example, there had been quite a few Jedi that had fallen and committed much more terrible crimes after all.

"Your wrong. I don't follow anyone blindly but myself" she corrected him quietly, her gaze still intensely lingering on him. "My comrades are also not scum. Like I said, there are monsters on each side. My comrades, as you called them, are no murderous psychos. How can you judge everyone by basing your opinion on glimpses you've seen?". Did it even make sense to try to reason with him? She had already admitted that what happened on Kashyyyk was a tragedy, but not all Sith were bad people and not all Jedi saints.

"You've got a screwed sense of justice" she noticed, not wanting to add fuel to his burning rage, but to make him come to his damn senses. "You assume that everyone who was trained by the Sith should be killed and you think you would even do the right thing. You don't even listen, you don't reflect. If I would let you, you would apparently try to do the same to me without even wanting to understand the individual behind it. What does that make you?" she tried again, pointing out that there was apparently just one murderous scumbag here...

"I have my own way of dealing with things, that's why I'm committed to diplomacy. If you can't put your prejudices aside, you're just another lost soul. You're trying to justify your actions by making me the monster you want to see and I pity you for it", her voice was ice cold again.

"But if that's what you want...if that's the only thing you can and want to do, fine", she backstepped further, rolling her shoulders before she finally let go. She released the sick maniac from the stasis, already knowing that this was probably a mistake.

"I am not you're enemy. All I want is peace and no countless deaths and meaningless bloodshed", she almost preached, hoping to reach what was left of his conscience by repeating that once again. She was still facing him, the lightsaber now deactivated and the hilt casually held in her right hand, attentively watching him, analyzing even while she hoped that he would stop. If he were to attack again, Celeste was ready to defend herself, but she really hoped he would at least try to understand.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

Was she feigning pity for him? "Tha kark d'ya mean sorry?" He asked, aquamarines narrowing. Surely she didn't actually feel bad for him; Sith and empathy went together like water and oil, or hutts and weight loss. Her next words brought a scowl to his brow, and he snarled, "Oh, I know you aren't blind-- ya can see just how fuckin' evil your empire is, every time they bomb cities, slaughter children, destroy entire worlds-- but no no, both sides are just as bad as the other! One time a Jedi got a few people killed, and a lot of them are creeps! Exactly the same as a murderous, genocidal dictatorship!" He finished with a harsh laugh. That she was actually trying to equivocate the Sith and Jedi was absurd.

What was she trying to do? Had she spent so much time huffing her own farts that she actually, truly believed what she said? At least she wouldn't be evil in that case-- just utterly insane. When she brought up the fact that he had, in fact, not meant the plurality of all Sith everywhere, he laughed again. "Every one of your kind that I've met-- every one-- has been an irredeemable, evil piece of shit." He spat. "The least terrible one I ever met was just a deluded fuckwad, and he wound up killing half a dozen men. Didn't even feel bad about it." The man mentioned, mind drifting back to Tatooine, when he was still a boy.

"Fuck justice," He hissed when she brought it up. "All my life I've been hearing from pricks who think they're better than me that what they want's called justice. I watched them beat friends of mine to death for stealing jewels in the name of justice, felt 'em shatter my ribs for stealing bread in the name of justice." He went on, eyes narrowing. "I know what's right, and I know what's wrong-- and I know a helluva lot of what I do is wrong-- but I know, on the whole, I'm still probably better than near every one of your world killing, city butchering, child burning friends." He spat.

It was easy for him to cope with his own shortcomings, his own failures, when he had a group of people to other as less, as worse. No matter what he did, no matter how many people he killed or wrongs he did, he'd still be better than the Sith, still be better than the monsters who had shattered his mind a slaughtered entire worlds.

And yet her words still cut past him. She hadn't attacked-- he had. She hadn't tried killing him-- he had. She was talking to him, reasoning with him, trying to have a dialogue with him-- and he'd answered her with venom and scorn. She had seemed to mock him by bringing up the light and her understanding of it, yet here she was, acting calm, putting her passions in check, doing everything she could to avoid bloodshed. These weren't the actions of a Sith, of a monster, of someone who saw him as meat, like all the others of her kind he'd met.

"She's acting more a Jedi than you." His own voice whispered to him. It was a bitter realization, one he'd tried his best to put aside, but he had to swallow it, as vile a medicine as any he'd tasted. What a cruel joke, to lose the moral highground to one of these people... though, she wasn't acting like one of her kind. Were it any of the other Sith he'd met they'd have cut him open from balls to brains by now. Regardless of his internal realization, anger still flushed to the surface as she adopted a cold, condescending tone, pity coloring her words.

The strength of her grip on him had been fading for awhile now, and his wriggles had grown more and more intense. When she finally freed him, his instinctual response was to rush forward, raise his blade... but before he could do anything more, he stopped in place. Not because she froze him, nor because she blocked. He had stopped on his own.

"...you're not like the others." He declared, slowly lowering his vibrosword. It was hard for him to admit, and the temptation to continue fighting was there, but his instincts told him that this woman was different. "I... I don't know why, or how, but you're not a monster... I don't think you're much of a good person either, but I've got no leg to stand on in that regard." He declared, before letting out a sigh.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

The tension in the room was still high, yet slowly but steady there was a change within the atmosphere. Her gaze was still intensely resting on him, attentively and critically studying his movements, his facial expressions and the minor hints in his voice.

Her words finally reached him like she had intended and the hostility faded away slowly. There was still a huge scepticism that remained between the two of them, yet this pure hatred and blind aggression lost its momentum and so she slowly started to force a bit of the tension out of her muscles.

She decided not to keep up their verbal bickering, especially because it seemed like they would only go in circles again. His argument was still the same and what didn't reach him was that a higher level of reflection would be required to understand the deeper nature of the conflict and he lacked that ability due to his heightened emotions.

"I'm sorry about your past and the experience you made" she interjected, still completely calm, with honest sympathy in her voice. "But you are still overgeneralizing everything. Yes, some did commit such terrible atrocities, but those are just a small part. The dark side corrupts the souls, but the majority is strong enough to resist such a mindless descend. Many follow orders blindly, yes, but that has never been my way, and I know plenty of others who are just the same" she did clarify again, her voice softening while she started to circle him.

She wasn't sure whether he would dare to continue now, but in the end, he finally let his vibrosword sink. She let out a inaudible sigh of relief and straightened her back a bit, still not letting him out of her eyes while she clipped the deactivated lightsaber to her belt. "I...thank you first of all", she replied, a slight smirk landing on her lips while she stepped a bit closer again.

It seemed like he had at least gained one important insight out of this conversation and the fight that had been before. "...for your understanding" she added softly before she rolled her shoulders. "You are conflicted" she noticed calmly, while her curiosity increased. "I am really sorry for everything that had happened to you...I can't help but to wonder though. You have strong opinions against the Sith, stronger than I had ever seen them in a Jedi before...Have you been with the Order?" she then directedly asked him, however she already assumed that even if he had been trained by the Jedi, he couldn't have been with him right now.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

He seemed ready to calm down, but her insistence on his overgeneralizing brought a frown back to his lips. "Don't play devils advocate for them." He said, an edge in his voice as he did so. "I won't fucking hear it anymore, alright? I don't care if you have friends who serve with the Sith, I don't care if you think they're decent folk. I don't give a kriff about whether or not they're reluctant murderers or if they laugh while they butcher children. They've all gotta kriffing go." He declared. She might have changed his mind about herself, but it ended with her and her alone.

"I... why do you even serve them?" He asked, genuinely confused. "You're the only Sith I've met who even gives a semblance of a shit about sentient life! Every other one of your kind I've met, you kill and you butcher and you maim like it's nothing! I hurt people when I need to hurt people, or when they've done me wrong, but some of your kind don't even hesitate to burn children alive!" He exclaimed, mind flashing back to the horrific scenes on Firrerre, and the time he'd broken into a Sith compound, only to find the soldiers inside purging it's inhabitants.

"You say you don't follow orders blindly, but why in Sol's name would you follow their orders at all?!" Laeonas asked, genuinely sincere in his question. "Do you think they're going to make the galaxy better? Do you think that people who tolerate murders and genocide entire species are going to do a better job than the pricks in the senate?!" He asked. "I hate every last one of those fat, pompous fuckwads, but I can't remember the last time one of them glassed a planet!" Laeonas exclaimed.

He was out of breathe by the time he finished, all his thoughts coming out in one long outburst. Regardless, she still seemed to appreciate his earlier words about her not being a monster. She seemed to have questions about him now-- about his training. He frowned again, but he forced his lips up into a grin. "What gave it away? My nearly kicking your ass, or my charming personality?" He joked, his humor as dry as ever.

"...I was. Wasn't to long ago that I got called Padawan." he declared. "I wore robes, I carried a saber, I meditated... I still meditate, but all that other stuff is gone." He confessed, smiling again, before the corners of his lips were dragged back down. "I thought that was all that made a Jedi-- carrying a saber around, stopping evil pricks, wearing stupid, ugly fucking tunics everywhere... I didn't realize it meant being someone else, trying to be better than who I actually was." He elaborated. It was clear he'd thought about this for a long, long time, and Celeste, a Sith of all people, was the first person to hear it.

"...but I didn't choose to be a better man. I didn't choose to put aside all my pride, and my anger, and I let it stew until it blew up in the face of a girl who didn't deserve any of it." He declared, before letting out a sigh. "Fuck... I nearly knocked over her date because I didn't give enough of a shit to pay attention to where I was going, and when she got mad about it I just fucking insulted her." He said. "She didn't even do anything wrong. What kind of Jedi-- what kind of MAN trashes a teenager defending her date?!" He asked, the absurdity of the sentence highlighting how utterly unqualified he was.

"Gods, and the trial... my master thought it was her fault. Thought she was responsible for it." He finished, finally allowing the tears to start rolling again. "I said I only hurt people who wrong me, or when I need to, but I've wound up hurting so many people who didn't do either." He confessed. "You, Eph... Deus, I can't even remember the twi'lek's name..." he choked.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

She kept listening to him, but what he said next let her roll her eyes. He was talking about not wanting to hear anything else, but the truth was that she was growing tired of arguing anyway. She was normal great at being convincing, but he was still way too emotional to be reasoned with.

That was exactly why she decided not to answer again. Their discussion wouldn't lead to anything and so she slightly let it go. She sighed, shaking her had to signal her disagreement, but in the end she knew it was more intelligent to stop. She was not going to argue about his resentment, but she would clarify what the Empire does.

"First of all: The Sith are not the Imperials. The Empire does not resemble the Sith. The Sith follow a Code...it's a religion just like the Jedi and yes, I grew up with that. I've always reflected things though and I have always been a critical thinker. Even though I grew up with those believes, I always had my own view. I use my emotions to fortify my usage of the Force, yet I do not seek power and I would never let myself be led by hatred", she clarified calmly, forcing the last remnants of the initial tension out of her muscles.

"Also, the Empire is not evil...I lead diplomatic missions because the Empire does help. They bring order to chaotic planets and they try to help the people in desperate places, but yes, they have also destroyed and blindly expanded, sometimes using violence and force to assert their dominance and this is exactly what I do condemn. I've chosen diplomacy because instead of fostering violent endeavors, I use my voice to explain and convince. I just try to serve the people and the innocent. I cherish life and I always try to preserve it and this idea is not contradicting my work under the Empire's banner". They had surely committed terrible atrocities and this was exactly why Celeste doubted to stay forever...she was sometimes being hindered and she was still expected to follow certain orders, orders she couldn't carry out and this sometimes led to trouble. He was pointing a direct finger at her inner conflict.

However, it seemed like they were not discussing her own problems now as there seemed to be something even more important on his mind. He, too, was torn and he was about to explain. "Oh I'd say both" she replied with a wink, his admittedly dry humor lightening the mood in an odd way. It was a bit surprising for her, that he immediately shifted from aggressive trying to kill her to opening his heart and lying his every inner thought open, leaving him completly vulnerable in this very moment.

The strange man hat shared very intimate details that were fascinating nonetheless, but this bitterness be carried made her sad. She worriedly frowned as he went on and on. He was obviously sharing the tragic story of his whole life, and even though he was being completly bitter about it, she felt deep sympathy for him. His words moved her and they were definitely shocking, but as the first tear came running down she couldn't resist her instincts.

She closed the distance between them with big steps, her gaze not only worried but also attentively because if he would interpret her approach as hostile, she wanted to act accordingly. Even though he had attacked her, she was too caring to just leave him break down right in front of her like this and despite knowing that he could still hurt her, she decided to follow her heart.

She didn't stop until she reached him, her lightsaber clipped back to her belt as she glanced up to the watery, blue eyes. "You are not a bad person. You are conflicted and emotional...trust me. I've been there too. I used to be more impulsive and I always felt misplaced withing the ranks of the Sith because I never shared their ideal to that extent. You might not have fitted into the Jedi Order, but that doesn't mean that you're a failure or someone bad. You've been hurt and you've made terrible memories throughout your life. It shouldn't be an excuse or a justification, but it is definitely a reason" she softly replied before she closed the last distance between them, carefully reaching forward to hug him, if he would let her.

It was a pure gesture that was not only meant to soothe him, but to offer him some comfort. Even if he was a stranger that has tried to kill her just a few moments ago, she could not only sense, but also see this broken heart of his. She had always been a firm believer in the good within people, so he was definitely not an exception. He had already managed to reflect on his mistakes after all, so that was definitely proving that hope wasn't lost.


@Tom