Ask Low on Cloud Nine

[Laeonas Tannaras]

So, there it was.

The design was similar to the one he was carrying. Kayden had admitted as much; the grip was defiitely of the same material-- and if Laeo could guess, it was probably also made from the same person. The boy still wasn't prepared to guess who; humans came in a variety of shades, shapes, and sizes, though compared to the galaxy's other species, there wasn't as much range.

The matter of who had been skinned was something the boy couldn't care less about comprehending though. What they were about to do-- at least, what Laeonas intended to do to Kayden-- was something else entirely.

The Sith had offered to follow, and the boy nodded in turn. Approaching the bar's exit, the doors slipped open automatically-- and Laeonas held it with his arm, just to allow the other human enough time to pass through without any interference.

Walking along narrow pathways between buildings and down halls inside them, Laeonas would idly speak to the man. It was late, and there wasn't much foot traffic, so the boy was comfortable using a much less hushed tone.

"Ai spent a long time considerin' yer sister's fate. A couple of weeks went by ta where it was all Ai could think of. Just... her, on tha floor, dyin' laike that." He continued, eyes fixed on the path ahead, shoes clacking against the floor with each step.

"Ai knew tha entire time that if our positions were reversed, there wasn't a chance in 'ell she would've saved me. It would've been me on tha floor of that vault, dyin', with an arm that looked overcooked. Than she'd go off, doin' what Sith do; murderin' people, and makin' tha galaxy an even worse pitstain ta live in." He kept on, the minor insults more general attacks rather than direct criticisms.

"Or maybe if Ai'd bothered ta save 'er, ya might've shown up. What would've 'appened than? Would ya have taken turns rippin' mae fingernails off?" He'd muse, ignoring the glance of a pair of ithorians walking past them. "Skinned me, bit by bit, till all th'at was left 'appened ta be a pile of muscle?" The boy's stride continued as they finally exited the buildings, and found their way out to a broader landing platform.

On it sat the YV-865 that had carried him off Mataou, and had brought him here. The ship was, for the most part, completely empty, and as Laeonas opened the boarding ramp, that became clear. Inside, the cargo hold was devoid of all signs of the slaves that it had carried previously; it was empty, save for a pile of beskar bars in the corner.

"Ai'd only carried 'alf of 'em with me when Ai ran," The boy explained, glancing over as he'd walk up into the ship. "Ai thought yer sister might've been able ta carry tha rest... Ai was wrong."

There was silence for a few seconds. The boy looked at the Sith, eyes transfixed on the man.

"Ai don't know what happens when we die." Laeonas confessed, breaking the silence. "Some think there's some existence afterwards; that we might last past dyin', and maybe we get punished or rewarded fer what we did while alive." He'd continue, glancing out past his ship. Nobody else was on the docks; it was just the two of them.

"From what tha Jedi think, our minds sorta stop existin', but our essence rejoins with tha force. Feels laike a mix'tween nothin' and somethin'." He'd continue, this time muttering a bit to himself. Than, he'd ask, "What do ya think, Kayden Skyler?"
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Had things gone the other way around then it might be Kamelle walking beside Kayden right then and there. Gaunt would be the one blown to smithereens and the two Sith siblings would be chuckling at his demise. Then they might have gone gallivanting around the galaxy doing what Sith did best. Just like old times…

“Wouldn’t have gone down like that,” Kayden assured in regards to whether the boy would have been skinned alive. “We would have turned you into something more useful than a trophy.”

Inside the ship, Kayden took a close look around without forsaking his proximity with his host. The beskar in the corner drew his eye immediately, having no need to hide it. “Half of the lot is still a lot of beskar. Can’t mistake that.”

In the silence, the Sith thought of Silence, how his ship was not too far from this one and how easy it would be to take that beskar and walk away. There would be no need to run by the time he had finished with the boy. For now, for the reunion, it was all Kayden could do to keep silent and regard that beskar as being the only thing left of his sister. Besides her lightsaber.

Finally, he looked away at the perfect moment as both men locked gazes like two souls staring at each other from separate windows—and the glass was cracking.

Kayden’s face was a mask; a flexible shell to slip over all that bone and blood and muscle. He could curve his lips upward, downward, raise one eyebrow after the other, grin when something was not funny and frown when something was far more tragic than he gave ten shits for. His mask, right now, was a dead stare and sealed lips, and the mask was slipping.

There was an idea of Kamelle Skyler, a kind of concept that she was as much a person as anyone else, but in truth she was never real to begin with. She was a husk, broken and crippled, so far beyond the point of perceiving her own pain that it was all she could do to fill the void with someone else’s. One could look into her eyes, they would blink back, but there was nothing living behind them. She simply was not there.

Her brother, however, Kayden Skyler, well he was very much alive. There was more to life than peeling a person’s skin. He knew how to live. There were never any illusions about who or what he was, with or without any amnesia. The only illusion was what he chose to share with someone else in order to get what he wanted. Right now, that meant staying alive and getting his sister’s possessions. The thief before him clearly had other ideas.

“My sister always believed that there is nothing after death,” Kayden sighed, his tone no less cordial than it had been when the two men had first met in a cantina. “Just a gaping pit waiting to swallow us all, and ghosts are just illusions.” He shook his head. “She was wrong. I know the truth. There is most certainly an afterlife, far finer than the Force itself.”

Kayden’s lips curved upward while his eyes went wide and wild. “A realm of infinite possibilities and endless reawakenings. I have seen it. A bleeding star that speaks of the beginning and the end. My beginning…” With that, his right hand found the hilt at his hip but he did not withdraw it. “...And your end...but not yet."Kayden tilted his head as though, in one perfect moment, things would go one way or the other as quickly and surely as lightning from the sky.

"Give me the lightsaber, boy, and I won’t give you mine.”

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

"Ya've seen it?" He'd muse aloud, the ultimatum rolling over him like a weakened wave over a rock on a shoreline. He'd stand shrouded in the basic garments he'd been given by the authorities on the colony, the brown shirt, pants and jacket ill fitting. He'd already had most of the clothes he'd bought transported to his ship; he wouldn't need to be here for much longer anyway.

Glancing down at his jacket, the boy considered his next options. He'd had the choice to lie; tell the man that he didn't have the lightsaber at all, but he hadn't done that. The choice had partially been motivated by the desire to tell the truth, to no longer be the only person in the galaxy who truly knew the whole fate of the Sith he'd left to die... at least, the only one who it actually mattered to. Idly telling a custom official that you'd been working with a Sith wasn't the same as describing how a partner had died.

He could still remember her. Laeonas could picture the darker skinned woman in vivid detail; how she'd looked, and more importantly how she'd acted. She'd rarely expressed her emotions or thoughts-- and when she had, they'd never once been pleasant. In fact, Laeonas had been sure that apart from simple indications of which direction she wanted to take following their escape inside, every time she'd opened her mouth had been demeaning to at least someone.

This one knew how to pretend to be a normal person though. He was able to hide his intentions, despite how obviously hostile they were right now. Laeonas wasn't a person-- not strictly, not according to this one. He was a tool-- a stepping stone towards elevating the Sith who now stood before him. It had been obvious in what the man had said earlier; h0w he and Kamelle would've turned the boy into something more "useful."

Laeonas could never forgive himself for what he had done. The choice to leave a woman to die-- the knowledge that he had the option of saving her, or saving wealth, and still choosing to leave her, wasn't something he could reconcile. There was only one way the boy could ever stop such feelings from rising to the surface, and that was to embrace the sibling's views of those around them, the views of the Sith; that those before him were nothing but tools for his own elevation... or amusement.

That was the woman who he'd left to die. A Sith-- a being so self obsessed and unempathetic to the plight and suffering of those around her that she'd viewed Laeonas not as a man, or even a boy-- but as a mule.

If he'd had doubts about what would come next, they were gone. The boy's intentions were obvious; he would never, ever knowingly help the man who stood before him. He would never help the Sith.

"Yer raight about one thing," The boy began, reaching into his jacket, fiddling around a bit. "Ai'm not dyin' today; Ai've still got some shite ta take care of. Whenever it is that Ai'll get ta explore tha wonderland ya've seen..." The boy began to declare, just as the hilt slipped out of the jacket, his fingers laced around the gripless hilt...

"It'll be after Ai'm finished with ya."

As the words exited his lips, Kayden Skyler would only have a split second to react to the wave of force energy that shot out from the boy. Rippling power that he'd done his best to avoid making mention of would shoot outwards. Ofcourse, there was no guarantee that the Sith hadn't figured out that the boy had latent talents; and even still, he might've been able to defend against the attack Laeonas had levied against him.

If he wasn't prepared, however, the man would've been thrown a number of meters backwards.

The crimson blade ignited in Laeonas' hand, and he'd draw it up by his side. He was still unfamiliar with the blade, but not as unfamiliar as he had been. The humming, weightless blade was one he couldn't call himself a master of, and even after years of training with metal blades the grip was still unfamiliar. The lightsaber was a unique weapon, one in which the hilt was heavy, and the blade was weightless.

Kayden would have the advantage if they crossed blades, so Laeonas had tried to surprise him with the overwhelming power of the force. If things had gone as he'd hoped they would, Kayden would be both physically stunned from the attack, and completely mentally unprepared due to the lack of knowledge in his quarry's strength.

Regardless of what happened, the boy would rush forward, ready for the clash of sabers-- or the immediate result of his blade carving through it's architect's brother's flesh.
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

There Kayden was, as kind as ever, offering the boy a way out with his head still attached. He could have handed over the hilt, parted ways with his souvenir, returned the lightsaber to the rightful owner and...well, whatever happened after that would happen one way or the other.

The boy’s voice exploded, not in a roar but in a deafening verdict, but that only meant that he had judged his own execution. He had revealed something else: himself to be a Force-user. Sure, the Sith had since tapped into the signs and symbols, but there it was as his opponent made the first move and landed the first punch.

Kayden darted backwards throughout the ship, not flying so much as gliding, boots skipping across the deck. This was fine. Now he knew what he was up against. His opponent was no mere boy. He was something else. Good. The Sith smiled. Come!

There it was. The lightsaber. The red blade was as unmistakable as any other Sith’s but this was the color of his sister’s. There was no mistaking it. Kamelle’s blade. Kamelle’s saber. Kamelle’s energy and all that was left of it, bridled in a hilt in the hand of he who did not deserve it.

As quickly as Kayden recovered from the Force push he had little time or space to do much else but withdraw the hilt from his belt and into both hands to ignite it in an instant. A black blade jutted out from the top, framed in a red outline, and in that fluid motion it swung outward.

The blades would clash and the Sith would not waste any time. He had attempted to parry the adjacent saber up toward his right, using both hands, before pivoting to align himself with his opponent’s right flank.

Meanwhile, his saber would cross horizontally from his left to right, hilt in just his right hand. The blade would tear through Gaunt’s torso around his upper back.

Kayden’s left hand was freed up during this maneuver, ready to draw upon the Force and especially if his opponent tried any more funny business.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

Laeonas' first onslaught was aggressive, but the quick recovery from the Sith had left his attacks less effective than he would've hoped. The swings from the saber in his hands either missed his target entirely, or were blocked just in time before the lightsaber could tear across the Sith's chest. The crash of the plasma blades was almost symphonic; like the crashing of cymbals in a band, or the beating of drums by hands. Kayden's movements were almost like that of a dancer-- while Laeonas' matched closer with that of a man furiously trying to kill someone.

Most melees the boy had engaged in had usually been the opposite; with self taught sequences to back up his movements, and the power of the force as his ally, he could weave, tuck, and deliver blows in ways that would amaze his opponents. They might try to overwhelm him with highly aggressive attacks, but Laeonas responded every single time with eloquent grace. The exceptions to this rule had been when his emotions overwhelmed him, and focused precision gave way to passionate strikes of raw power.

There were other exceptions, however. In fights where Laeonas was outmatched, he'd mostly work to avoid and evade, changing his tactics in a way that he could escape from his opponent. They'd often find themselves to focused on simply ending his life or bringing him down that they might fail to take note of his movements to any exits in a building, or gradual movements towards specific escape routes.

The final exception, however, was one the boy had rarely faced. Most of his opponents-- his serious opponents, those who he was fighting for the expressed purpose of killing, capturing or injuring-- were either to strong for the boy to handle, or nowhere near strong enough for them to handle him. In most cases, Laeonas could evaluate a threat, size it up, and determine his approach-- fight, or flight. It was a technique he'd not only learned while on Brentaal, but also developed after years of vigorous hunting of the various fauna on Dantooine. The process often wasn't something he was even aware of; it was automatic, baked into his subconscious whenever he believed he was in danger.

Right now, however, Laeonas couldn't determine where the Sith stood.

His initial attack and onslaught hadn't immediately been countered; realistically, the boy knew there would be a fight, but a small part of him had hoped that he'd have been able to kill or disarm Kayden in the second it would take for him to recover from the force attack and ignite his lightsaber. What had happened-- the Sith momentarily being stunned, before igniting his lightsaber and engaging him in combat-- had been the most likely outcome.

Yet now, as Laeonas narrowly avoided the striking black blade tearing across his back, he couldn't help but wonder if the Sith before him were stronger than he'd anticipated.

If that were the case, this fight might have been a mistake. Laeonas would've given up the lightsaber had he still been terrified-- but it would've been a completely inane decision. Without the lightsaber, he would've been almost completely defenseless against the Sith, and winding up under Kayden's thumb was probably a fate worse than being cut into pieces by the unique lightsaber he carried.

Laeonas had, ofcourse, had the option of trying to flee. The boy could've simply thrown the man across the cantina with the force, and than used his powers to run as fast as he could to the ship. It would've been difficult for Kayden to catch up, and it would've further been difficult to track him.

Still, Laeonas didn't doubt at all that the man would've pursued him regardless. There were ways that the boy could hide-- he could sell his ship on the black market, change his identity, leave an increasingly complex trail with multiple ends by traveling to different planets under a variety of names. The boy could've even decided to use facial reconstruction surgery, permanently altering his physical features, even changing his voice to sound completely different. He could've become someone completely different, and spent the remainder of his life as a completely different man.

But it would've been a life that was constantly on the run. For the rest of his life, he'd be terrified by the possibility that the Sith would one day find him, either after years of searching, or by sheer coincidence. The force had drawn him to many, many force users over the years, and he doubted that the force would leave their conflict unsettled in such a way. Even if Laeonas had put the Bespin authorities in between him and Kayden, exposing himself and the Sith, what would it have accomplished? It might have bought him a few more minutes as Kayden slaughtered the various officers of Bespin's law, while the boy still fled on his ship.

This had to be resolved, right here, and right now. It would either end with one of them dying, or one of them submitting to the other.

Laeonas wouldn't let it be him.

His crimson blade cracked and hummed as he'd slam it against the Sith's over and over. The look on his face was both a mixture of anger and determination. His swings weren't as precise as the Sith's, but he compensated by putting more of his power behind every single swing. The boy had been used to the power of momentum from his blade helping him land devastating blows on his enemies in the past. Adjusting for the lack of weight in the blade, Laeonas overcompensated by adding more and more power into every one of his strikes, even feeding a trickle of force energy behind each blow.

They were fighting on the boarding ramp of the ship. In the distance, people might've been able to see the clashing sabers-- and some might have been gathered in the windows to see what was going on.

They might not have realized that it was a fight for their lives.
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

There were occasions in combat when Kayden would howl and bark, give way to rage and ruin his enemies through the darkest arts of anger and hate. That occasion was not now. It was his own opponent who was beginning to take that route, and the Sith let him.

Each of Gaunt’s swings pumped by power connected with Kayden’s blade, but he did not parry or return the favor. He blocked, this strike then that strike, backing up and away as the boy advanced. But it would be clear soon enough that the Sith was not getting overpowered. He was testing his opponent’s.

All the while, he delighted in what he was seeing and that delight would not be hidden on his face. Yes, yes, yes! Feed on it, boy! Fuel it! Don’t fight it!

As the pair of duelists danced through the ship to find themselves on the boarding ramp, the Sith laughed out his revelry and revelation—just as Gaunt took another swing and Kayden’s saber rose to meet it.

Kayden was positioned with his back to the dock, standing at a lower spot on the ramp with his opponent’s back to the ship. Gaunt had swung his lightsaber downward and Kayden’s swung up to cross it. His right hand was above his left on the hilt, the blade diagonal with tip pointed upward toward his left. It was a position that would be maintained for as long as allowed.

Locking blades was theatrical at best, especially when the objective was to kill your enemy, but Kayden tried to tweak that. He would hold form, hoping to hear those lightsabers crackle and cackle as they bit into one another, all so that the Sith might say hello.

“There is fire in you! A burning, bloody fire. Can you feel it? I can show you how to use it. And that saber. A worthy hand may already be holding it.”

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

Increasingly, the question of where the both of them stood was one that Laeonas still couldn't answer. The power he'd thrown into his attacks hadn't been all out; in truth, he was still holding back, not wanting to play the full extent of his hand.

It was difficult to tell from how he acted though; every one of his strikes seemed like they were fueled by the full strength of Laeonas' abilities. From the outside, it would've been difficult for anyone to measure, due to the fact that, physically, he actually was at his limits. The strength in his blows employed the full extent of his physical abilities-- it was only in the realm of the force that the boy was holding back.

By contrast, it seemed as if the Sith were doing something similar, though it was much more obvious that he wasn't at his limit. Kayden refused to actually parry the boy's blows, and the counterattacks he provided were as simple as the imperfect attacks from Laeonas' own saber. On first glance, the boy might actually be more powerful than the Sith, driving him back out of his ship and forcing him on the defensive. Yet it was obvious that, like his earlier demeanor, this was merely an illusion of cordiality.

It didn't help that his demeanor had changed to one of amusement. Rather than the mixture of stoic determination and deep rage that colored Laeonas' face, the Sith wore one of twisted delight and pleasure. His laugh caused a crack in the boy's resolve, an inkling of hesitancy that left the boy unsure of how to proceed. Regardless, aquamarines would flash as the crimson blade met the deep ebony of the other man's saber.

The energetic cracks came to a stop as the two locked blades, and the boy tensed up, prepared for a counterassault. Had the Sith simply been playing with him, allowing him a number of strikes that would wear the boy down? Was he about to meet Laeonas' ferocious onslaught with one that made his look pitiful? It was almost as if his laugh might've been one of anticipation for a joke that Kayden already knew the punchline to, and unable to contain his amusement, he'd let out a laugh with the full awareness that the boy's attacks would get him nowhere.

Yet what followed were words; words that made their way over the sound of cracking blades. The two men kept eye contact as the Sith spoke, and the boy could finally get a glimpse of the truth beneath.

Fear began to creep into where resolve had been, and the feelings of aggression Laeonas felt would struggle to respond. The anger flickered like a flame over a campfire, a log of wood having been thrown upon it. Taking the fuel and turning it into power was something Laeonas had done a number of times before; fear fed into his aggression, and aggression fed his power. Yet now, the fear he felt was almost overwhelming. Rather than fuel the fire, the wood might actually smother it.

Yet the words that Kayden provided weren't threatening, or a false facade to lull him into complacency. The Sith spoke with passion, and conviction.

Laeonas had been able to gather that the Sith before him had, only minutes earlier, had very ill intentions. The threats he'd provided had only made it more difficult for the boy to respond, and Laeonas had been forced to consider the possibility that the Sith had simply come to murder him in retaliation for leaving his sister.

Yet he'd expressed barely a hint of remorse towards his own family's death. Hell, he'd almost spoken like she'd somehow gotten what was coming to her.

It made sense, Laeonas realized, when he remembered all he'd read of the Sith. They were obsessed with their own feelings of superiority over others. They believed power and initiative were the driving morals behind all action-- that might made right, that the strong would rule, and the weak would be cowed.

Kayden had, at first, judged him as weak. A tool, a stepping stone, anything besides an actual human being.

Through his entire life, he'd been judged the same by those he'd served. The mob bosses that ruled the streets of the slums he lived in saw him as little more than a means to their own advancement, to building their own fortunes.

And those nobles, proud and strong, ruling from their palaces, viewed him as nothing but weak rabble, to be cast aside and trampled over.

The officers on Brentaal had called him scum. The gangsters he'd fought against called him bastard. The mobsters he'd served under called him muscle. The Sith he'd fought beside on Mataou had called him mule.

And now the Sith who stood before him called him worthy.

For a brief moment, he might've considered switching off the lightsaber. He might've considered learning at the Sith's feet, might've considered it as a possibility.

But to Laeonas, bastard of the Lord Tannaras, judgements from those who viewed themselves as stronger than him were all, at the end of the day, the exact same.

And that was what caused Laeonas to stop holding back.

The fear that wormed his way into his conscious mind burned away in an instant, consumed by white hot rage. Throwing himself back, the lightsaber broke from the crackling embrace it had made with Kayden's own blade. Than, in a burst of speed and power, Laeonas threw himself forward. The lightsaber would be raised to power down on the Sith's own blade-- and he wouldn't stop.

"KARK YER TEACHINGS!" He'd shout, hammering the blade again and again.

"YER not tha one who gets ta decide if Ai'm worthy of ANYTHIN'!"
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

THERE IT IS! Kayden rejoiced as he saw it. It was as bright as fire on flesh. His own opponent’s eyes were as wide as his own, like windows of the soul cracked and broken, burning as hot as a supernova to consume a black hole. If Kamelle was here then she would understand. Kayden did. Did Mr. Gaunt?

The latter was poised to punish, power at his fingertips, and Kayden saw it. GO! O but how the Sith hoped his opponent would not hold back. And he did not! No! There was no holding back! It all happened so fast, in a perfect moment, an undeniable instant of fire and fury. The hammer came. The anvil awaited…

...Oh, yes, Kayden had been waiting. That was also not undeniable. He had not removed his blade at all. It wouldn’t matter how angry his enemy was. Kayden had not given in any moment up to now. He had banked on those moments. Now it was time to cash in.

Blocking those blows, buying his time, keeping his cool instead of exploding with emotion like some angsty teenager, well, it had led Kayden from that moment to this one. So, as Gaunt just then swung his lightsaber against Kayden’s, something would happen that the unlearnt Force-sensitive probably would have least expected, especially in his emotional antics.

Suddenly, Kayden deactivated his saber. Retracting a blade was instant; a split of a second. This would cause Gaunt’s saber to plow right through the air where a blade had once been. Further, the boy’s blade would plow right through flesh and bone...had the Sith not moved out of the way.

Kayden concurrently sidestepped diagonally forward to his right, once again repositioning himself so that he would be aligned with his opponent’s left flank. That would cause his opponent’s blade to plow through only air. As soon as Kayden deactivated his saber in his left hand, he reactivated it. Tràkata, this was called. Was Gaunt familiar?

The blade would ignite behind Gaunt's own the same moment that Kayden's left hand would coming swinging vertically downward. By this point, Gaunt would also be swinging his own saber downward, his powerful strike uninterrupted, his body bound in a descent upon the ramp. It would be just enough time and space for Kayden’s blade to sever Gaunt’s arm in two around the wrist, including the lightsaber.

Once more, if his opponent wanted to marry a miracle through the Force then Kayden would be best man, ready with his right hand. It was freed to call upon the same Force and deal with Gaunt in what manner might be best for him.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

The boy had never fought like this before. There had been times past where he had given into fury; but those times, he lost himself in the storm. Raw, feral hate tore through him like a storm, and his mind would be lost in the sea of red that clouded his vision.

This time, Laeonas Tannaras had maintained his composure. The rage he felt was not purely driven by his base instincts, his desire to destroy those who would do him harm. This was a higher form of rage, one that fed on experience, and relied on the boy's personal thoughts and higher resentments. It was based off hatred towards power; a hate towards the worldview the Sith before him championed.

To the boy, it was righteous-- what he was doing right now was something the man before him deserved. Who was he to decide if the boy deserved the lightsaber, if he deserved ANYTHING? It burst in his head, the same thought again and again and again, throbbing as he brought the saber down again and again. He couldn't think of anything else besides the movements he'd make against the man. "Angle a bit right, strike. Twirl it, strike again, strike again."

The concerned onlookers inside the building had grown into a small crowd of at least a few dozen. They watched intently, with only a few calling officers over to witness the duel. They might have gone out to do their jobs if they weren't terrified of what would happen should they intervene.

The plasma blades clashed again and again, and the boy wasn't ready to stop. He hacked, slashed, and continued, all the while his thoughts rushed through almost in sync with his actions. Strike, strike again, strike agai-

Than the blade shut off.

The interruption between thought and action stunned the boy, and his concentration broke. The powerful wave of emotions was unfocused, broken by a sudden jolt of shock from the disconnect.

Instinctively, the boy pulled himself backwards, barely avoiding the quick move that would've otherwise cleaved both his hands off. The movement had been far to late to avoid the actual saber, however, and rather than land on his wrists, the black blade of plasma made contact with his blade.

It was only a few inches above the hilt where they connected, and the force of Kayden's saber, augmented by the force, was considerable. Even if Laeonas' blade had been in a favorable position to block, it would've been difficult to prevent his own saber from getting pushed back against his frame.

So when it landed where it did, the boy's grip was seized. Pulled down by the force of the attack, but with far to powerful a grip, the lightsaber would fall from his hands-- but not before a sick SNAP could be heard as his wrists were dislocated.

The hiss of the blade closing, the clatter of the metal hilt on the deck, and the rolling that accompanied it all as it found it's way off the loading ramp and down to the dock were drowned out by a deafening screaming.

"GYYYEAEEEERRRRR!!!" He'd wail, fingers twitching as he'd stumble backwards. The boy's aquamarine eyes looked down in horror at his hands, which dangled limply, hanging down at an unnatural angle. The pain was excruciating, and the boy could only fall backwards. Curling up, his face would be a mixture of fear, tears, and pain.
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Kayden watched as his blade did not take any wrist off but did something just as well. The SNAP! was poetic, rendering those wrists useless and dropping the weapon to the floor. The Sith might have finished his enemy off right then and there but this was just too good and just too much.

Lowering his own weapon, the black blade buzzing beside a scream, Kayden stole a look at their audience. Faces were arranged in a variety of shock and awe, the witnesses being too afraid or too stupid to run away, though some had already done so. The law will be here soon enough… I’d better make this quick.

As Gaunt sobbed like a little girl, his hands reduced to these two crippled things dangling from his arms, Kayden walked his way. His free hand felt its way through the air and called his sister’s lightsaber to it. Now there was a red blade beside a black one, and both were crossed in an ‘X’ that leveled toward Mr. Gaunt’s neck.

“You chose this, boy. You chose violence.” Kayden committed. His lips were locked only in half of a smile. The rest was reserved for disappointment. “You chose pain.” Another step. “You chose...death…” Close enough.

The Sith snapped his sabers like a pair of scissors for the neck that would be between them.

“BESPIN SECURITY! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!”

Kayden would not. But he would halt them before they would find flesh. The guard had distracted him though he did not look away from the boy. What would happen next would happen in only a matter of moments as the other corner of Kayden’s lips spread wide and pearly whites were on display.

"It's your lucky day..."

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

He had suffered through so much. Beatings, blaster fire, vibro cuts, and even animal attacks. All he had survived-- though pain accompanied him without exception on every occasion.

And yet the pain he felt now exceeded anything he'd experienced before.

"Aaaah, aaeeehh, aaaaaeheh..." He'd moan, his heavy breathes merging with the cries of pain that escaped his mouth. All he could do was look down at his ruined hands through the haze of pain that had overwhelmed all his senses. His formerly pale face was pink, the dry skin left soaked by the torrential downpour of tears.

The two blades pressed together, and they'd hum just inches away from his neck. The boy blinked, managing to look up at the Sith, comprehending what was about to happen.

He was going to die. The Sith would kill him, and that would be it. After everything that had happened, Laeonas Tannaras would die on the ramp of a stolen ship, powerless to even defend himself.

It would be a quick end. His mother wouldn't get his riches, but she could take comfort-- if she ever learned-- in the knowledge that her son's death had been quick, and that he had died under conditions he'd set for himself.

The Sith was right. His choices had led him to where he was-- broken at the feet of the man whose sister he had left to die. The path that could lead to death was one Laeonas had picked time and time again, and he wasn't unique to him. Dozens had gone to Mataou in search of fortune, and all had died or failed-- including a Sith who shared blood with the one standing before him.

She, who had judged him an inferior and viewed him as little more than a pack animal, had died. In spite of her superior skill and trained command over the force, and her greater competence in battle, she'd died. It meant little at the end of the day; in spite of everything one did, in spite of all the struggles, none of it mattered when your wrists had been dislocated. None of it changed what a high enough electrical current could do to a human body.

She'd been more powerful... and she'd died all the same.

For anyone else, such a thought might have brought them low; that in spite of anything one did, the inevitability of death was certain. Yet to a boy like Laeonas, grappling with the possibility of death at the hands of a man who believed himself better-- it was salvation.

The universe couldn't have cared if Kamelle had been the evil Sith Emperor who had ruled the galaxy with the power of planet killers, or if she'd been a lowly slave whose existence consisted of serving those with greater power. She would die-- he would die-- they all would die.

And how could anyone claim to be elevated over any others when the same fate was waiting for them?

He looked up at the Sith, tears still streaming down his face; but behind them was a burning look. The boy couldn't know what was waiting-- Kayden's paradise, the force, or nothingness.

But he knew the both of them would share the same fate.

........and than, he was still there. Alive.

The lightsabers hadn't closed around his neck. His head hadn't tumbled off the stump of his neck.

Laeonas Tannaras would hear the cries of the officers as they'd approach, and their words.

"YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO DROP YOUR WEAPONS BEFORE WE DROP YOU!" Shouted one of the officers, a gold trim to the bright blue security uniform he wore. A number of officers were standing beside or behind him, some carrying energy based shields in one hand with blaster pistols and rifles in the other.

The boy would see the curves on the man's lips. Frowning, Laeonas concentrated one the image of that "kriffing smile," and his fury began to builld once more.

The Sith had left his wrists useless and ruined. He had threatened to kill him, threatened to end his journey home before it was even close to finished. He'd treated the boy at first like a plaything, than as a possible novice apprentice, and than toyed with him again.

And it made Laeonas furious.

"FIVE," the security chief shouted, the sounds of blaster safeties clicking off masking the sound of Laeonas' arms pressing back against the ramp.

"FOUR," the man bellowed, as the boy pressed down hard, gritting his teeth, but not daring to let a sound escape from his mouth. Fear radiated off the officers, and the boy recalled his own-- and it turned into rage.

"THREE," he continued, all the while the boy continued to throw every bit of fuel into the fire as he could.

"TWO," was all the boy heard, as now even the overwhelming pain that had previously served as a hindrance merely added to the overwhelming power he was building.

"ONE!"

A sickening crack. The sounds of blasterfire. A scream that could deafen gods.

And a force wave that would hit the Sith at point blank range.
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Oh, the things they could have done, this boy and that man. Kayden was no casket of cruelty. He was a bastion of beneficence. He did not want to kill this younger man. He wanted to help him. Sometimes, yes, the only way to help someone else was by depriving them of their miserable life. Yet, what if, in the end, Mr. Gaunt was to reciprocate? To take that extended hand and grasp it?

Oh, sure, there were two lightsaber hilts in the hands of his benefactor, but was the metaphorical no more than that? Was it not also metaphysical? Were these two beings not already bound to each other by bone and in blood? Kayden had broken the former. He had yet to shed the latter. Would the boy give it to him?

Five seconds… Those lips of the Sith curled. Those seconds were five too long and too short. The universe, the Force, destiny, the stars abright and being right—whatever it was exactly it was truth that Kayden’s hands had been halted at that perfect moment in time and space. Would his opponent have managed to prevent his head from getting cut off? Perhaps. The point was that Bespin Security had done so for him.

"FOUR!" Kayden thought of Kamelle. Where was she between time and space?

"THREE!" A triangle of love? Of hate? Of both?

Then time stopped and space ceased. It was just Kayden and the world, Kayden and the galaxy, Kayden and the universe. Cloud City—What was a city of clouds compared with the birth of cities and clouds? What did Bespin Security know of the truth? What did Mr. Gaunt? Did the boy truly know of how the Sith’s sister had suffered?

Did he know...the truth? Did he know who he had actually killed? Who he had left behind? If he did then he would be much more than a sobbing mess with two pathetic hands hanging as limp as a dead fish.

Did he know...what Kamelle carried with her, inside of her, to be snuffed out of existence alongside her when the flames came to claim her?

"TWO!" Two lives. Two lightsabers.

"ONE!" One to carry both. One to wield both.

All at once, Gaunt relocated his wrists, rediscovered his hands, and sent a blast of Force toward his opponent. Kayden went flying backward down the ramp. His flight carried him beneath the chorus of blaster bolts as they soared above him. Landing on his back, hilts in hand, he would have just enough time to bank on the momentum and flip himself upright.

More bolts came his way. The security force opened fire. Two blades twirled to knock those bolts away. They returned to their owners, driving into torsos and limbs, and Kayden was on the move once again, determined to escape. He had gotten what he had come for.

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

Blaster bolts whizzed past the freshly restored boy. Bright, jewel like eyes gleamed with heightened awareness as pain burned inside him. It fueled the building fury that he drew on like one would gulp in fresh air.

The boy could feel it now. The wrong-- the dark side-- that sickening feeling whenever he'd drawn on his emotions like this, swirled within him. He'd always feared it when he felt himself slipping, felt the temptation to unleash his abilities on the unsuspecting around him. Those who'd stood before him and fought had never once been able to counter it-- except for the man that had subjected him to the agony he felt now.

He would not hold back against this one. Despite all his inhibitions, all the limits and chains he'd placed on his abilities-- Laeonas would give up on suppressing them.

Flipping to his feet like an undead monster in an old holo, the boy's raven hair was matted in sweat, and the skin of his wrists shown a sickly pink. He looked like he should've been dead, like he had been broken and beaten. Yet the look in his eye, and the way that he moved, told a different story.

The dark side pumped into his muscles, rejuvenating torn tissue and engulfing his presence in the force. It carried his legs forward, towards the man who was now focused near entirely on the guards before him.

Even when one had reset their dislocated limbs, to heal properly, they needed to remain immobilized for days, sometimes weeks. Laeonas' intentions had moved far past the point of rationality and self preservation though, and that was why he'd outstretch his arms. Hands turned into claws as fingers curled, ready to seize the Sith by his arms. Preemptively, the force would expand from the boy, reaching out to tear at the Sith's limbs. Invisible forces would attempt to twist the man's grip on the sabers in his hands, while others would try and twist at his ankles, hoping to bring the man down.

if he connected, Laeonas' own hands would do the same to the man's wrists. Fingers would curl, around and twist.

But that was if he succeeded at all.
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

There was a line of them. Look at them all lined up. Cattle. Livestock herded to the slaughter. They blasted their blasters and paid for it.

As he blocked with both blades, feet dancing, Kayden caught one of the guards dart away from the line, leaping into cover with his mouth glued to his comlink. Calling for more of your friends? Fine! Bring them! Come! “Come take me if you can!”

A bolt whizzed by. The guard had not been angled toward the Sith. He was shooting at someone else. It made sense. Two figures had emerged from that ship. Both had been fighting each other.

There was a red blade and a black blade—not the kindest of colors. Now the second person was walking the ramp in the direction of everyone else. He, like his counterpart, had not halted and had not surrendered. That made him no less of a target.

While most of the security force were focused on the lightsaber-wielder, Gaunt would now have to worry about them just as much. He had already proven himself to be a threat to the station.

Now he was proving his worth with the Force and the security force had no mind to give him the chance as they split their focus on both practitioners.

Kayden, meanwhile, had both arms suddenly lock up. The bind would break a moment after. If Gaunt did not want to get shot down then he would have to divide his attention. Everyone would.

For his part, Kayden summoned power into his limbs, pushing and pulling against the invading forces, just as a stray bolt slashed across his bicep and another scraped across his stomach as he twisted into a twirl.

His lightsabers freed, black and red whipped around in a spinning dance. It was coming to an end. Bespin Security now had two active would-be Sith Force-users to contend with and they were already getting mowed down.

“Fall back!” Came the cry. “Regroup! Reinforcements inbound! Regroup!” That was all the one Sith needed.

“Go back to your crib, boy!” Kayden taunted while backing toward an exit. He had no desire to take on the whole city. The security forces would be uniting any moment now while making sure civilians were secured away.

Whatever Gaunt’s intentions, he was still up against two lightsabers and the hands holding them held them tight. If he sought to continue bombarding with the Force then he would be met in turn as fingers would unfurl from either hilt to expend what power the Sith could afford.

“At least one infant should get to, after all...since you smothered the other in its womb.”

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

Rage was used like a blunt weapon against the Sith, and for a few moments, the boy’s senses were clouded by it. His one and only priority was to kill the last of the Skyler siblings-- until it wasn’t.

Blaster bolts had whizzed past the boy, but Laeonas-- narrowly-- avoided the end of his life right then and there.

He’d stopped short of wrapping his hands around the Sith, instead choosing to roll back and avoid the security’s barrage of fire. There was zero cover, besides the Sith himself-- but he’d be useless while his lightsabers were locked in place. Thankfully for Kayden and the boy, Laeonas’ grip had to loosen in order for him to perform the weaves and tucks necessary to avoid the potentially fatal blaster shots.

Their main focus had been the Sith, and even if some began focusing fire on him, that would have to change when Kayden started moving again. Laeo watched in silence as the blaster bolts shot back at those who’d fired them. The boy had always defended himself regardless of what it had taken-- but the way the Sith revelled in the slaughter caused compassion to mix in with the seething rage that still boiled beneath the surface.

As soon as they’d turn to flee, Laeonas shifted his stance in smaller, slight movements. The right foot shifted back, both knees bent, and both his arms were brought up into a guard in front of his upper torso and face, while his fingers dug into his palms as they curled into fists.

The only muscles that moved from the Sith, by contrast, were those in his mouth and on his face. He’d speak, and Laeonas would listen-- and gawk in a mixture of disgust and confusion.

“Yer choosin’ ta judge me, ya miserable kriffin prick?!” The boy exclaimed, venom boiling like bile in the back of his throat. His guard broke in one arm as it would flail forward, motioning towards the bodies of those that the Sith had killed.

“‘Ai wonder ‘ow many of ‘em had bro’thers, sis’ters, da’s, ma’s-- kids of their own!” He yelled, tears welling up at the sheer thought of what he suggested. It was one thing for the Sith to judge him as weak, to decide he wasn’t worthy of existence due to Kayden’s capacity to kill him.

But it was another to pretend that he had the moral high ground. His hand curled back into a fist, and his eyes burned all the brighter.

Than a laugh, so obviously forced and so callous in tone escaped from his lips.

“Ai wonder ‘ow many people that schutta murdered,” The boy muttered, whispering just enough for the Sith to hear his words. His voice trembled, barely stable as it took all he could to not leap from his position and try strangling the man.

“‘who else did she skin or torture or maim before givin’ ‘em an end that made em WISH fer it ta finally stop?” The trembled tone asked, increasing in volume as the force built behind him.

And than the boy screamed, “Ow many of these SHITES da ya think carried TH'AT as ‘an 'OBBEY?!"

He’d lunge forward, the force flowing through him. If Kayden chose to swing, his reaction time would have to be quicker than anything Laeonas’ full strength could do to dodge. The dark side had drawn on the passionate fervor in his words. His wave was on the verge of breaking out, releasing and sending Kayden careening into the clouds of Bespin. The dark side surged, turning into raw strength as his leg outstretched to hit the man in his side.

But he stopped short. He lunged forward, and stumbled. He blinked, looking down at the durasteel platform beneath, along with his still swollen pink wrists.

His power had sputtered and died. The boy’s eyes widened, and Laeonas threw himself backwards, not about to give a hint of his weakness.

The force was still there, but something pulled at him. A hesitancy that tore through the fog of the dark side and grappled at his mind.

He stood with a renewed stance, but something was off. His mind reeled, and he moved back to building up his fury. Words would solve his issue.

“At least ya feel somethin! At least yer pissed off about me leavin’ that Sith schutta ta die on tha karkin floor, laike anyone ought ta!” He taunted, the same righteous anger in his voice as before.

“Ya’acted laike a karkin’ droid when Ai told ya that miserable piece of bantha shite had gotten ‘erself killed, but now ya sound laike yer ‘urt!” Laeonas spat, drawing on the force again. The pull had turned into a weight, and he struggled against it. What was this?

“What, sad ya can’t pall around anymore? Were ya lookin’ forward ta kidnappin’ some poor sod and feedin’im ‘is own sack?!” He kept on taunting, though he’d glance back at the ship.

This could be an opportunity to escape. They were meters away from his ship-- and the Sith had what he’d come for, besides the boy’s own life. For whatever reason, the overwhelming hate he felt was being sapped by… something familiar.

In any case, he had no weapons. Nothing could stop a lightsaber from tearing through him. Nothing.

Except...
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

There was no time to waste. So why did he stay? Why did either of them stay? The boy didn’t have much choice. He had nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Not really. He was a cracked shell of a being. Kayden, though, Kayden was still very much alive. He had places to go, people to see, things to do. He had what he needed. Why stay?

What caused him to hold his ground and not leap for the exit right then? He… The Sith watched and listened, saw and heard, and understood. Is quite a funny little creature, isn’t he, my sweet sister?

Just how many souls had Kamelle skinned alive over the years, anyway? How many between the two of them? I lost count before fifty. Or was it after fifty? There was of course their uncle, he had been the first, then those pirates, also that one civilian ship that authorities found derelict.

Its cargo hold had been raided but the raiders were generous enough to leave the bodies behind, or what was left of them. Their hearts had given out before the Skyler siblings could reach the faces and that’s all the authorities needed to identify the victims. Everything beneath the face was...messy?

The boy was fast and furious as he covered the distance between the two men, but he did still need to cover the distance. Kayden had all the time he needed to retaliate. He almost didn’t want to. He wanted to see more and hear more. More. More more more MORE!

Kayden contained himself. His face was a blanket of stone. Nothing could inhibit his performance. No one could break his will. He was not like this drooling baby before him. He was Kayden Skyler. And Kayden Skyler has no equal. Not even a sibling.

“I’m not mad.” The Sith spoke simply, his tone as conversational as it should be since all they were doing was talking. “But clearly you are. Upset, right? Hey, I get it.” He looked away for the moment. Traffic beyond the dock was a blur. Sirens blared. They are coming...

“She was a bit of a bitch, my sister. Kamelle would have done to you and me what you did to her, and you feel guilty—maybe a little?—about leaving her behind. Because you know you have no reason to, so why do you?”

He shrugged. It was rhetorical. “She would not have. You did her a favor, Mr. Gaunt, by leaving her behind to her fate...except…” Kayden’s eyes narrowed. He wanted to observe every little detail on his friend’s face. “...Not just her, right? Did you know...oh...oh you didn’t know, did you?”

Voices just then. Reinforcements had arrived. Boots thundered. The docks were about to get surrounded but Kayden was not concerned. He could create his own exit if he could.

“You didn’t know about the baby in her belly?”

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

The boy's stance didn't falter, even as his rage finally began to burn out. The hate he'd felt had been so overwhelming, so strong-- and he had never given in like how he just had. The Dark Side had taken hold of him... or was a description like that just a convenient way to rob himself of agency?

There had been times when Laeonas had relied on anger, moments when the young man reached a breaking point. He'd lash out, and in blind rage strike at whatever or whoever he first focused on. This time, Laeonas had intentionally fueled his rage, harnessed it, fed it, and than fed off it.

It was only now that he recognized what was happening; his body and mind, unused to the sheer fury he'd sunk into, it had done what he had always commanded it to do when things even approached what he'd just done: reject it. Like alcohol, Laeonas' body had been programmed to believe that the dark side was a poison, which both his body and midichlorians had adapted to resisting or suppressing the negative effects of.

Laeonas Tannaras was suffering from a hangover.

His mind was alert, and his emotions were still tumultuous. Anger still burned in his heart, but he struggled to reach out and grapple the power he had unleashed previously. If he'd been thinking rationally he might've considered that what was going on was good, that he was purging himself of the wrong that he'd realized was so inherently toxic to his being.

But all he still cared about was his singular goal of making Kayden Skyler a corpse.

Turning his focus back to the ship, he'd search, one of his hands falling to his side. The fingers outstretched, releasing from the fist they'd been curled into, while Laeonas' other arm shifted horizontally.

Drawing on the focus he'd employed in the past and trying to find some sort of peace in his current state of mind wasn't an option for him. Instead, he'd stretch out, calling on his abilities to bring him what he needed to beat the man that had gone back to speaking.

"BULLSHITE! Ya don't understand ANYTHIN'! Ya wave that lightsaber 'round laike yer 'avin tha time of yer life hackin' sods just tryna' live a'nother day, and ya can't even pay yer blood any respect!" Laeo snarled, the same bile spewing from his mouth. "Yer not grabbin' th'at saber cause ya gave a shite a'bout 'er-- ya don't care about ANYONE! Noone who calls themselves Sith can pretend ta be anythin' other than a nut, runnin' around hackin' people down fer sport, blowin' up worlds, slaughterin' like butchers!"

If he'd ever sounded coherent at all, which would be a challenge for most between his accent and the emotional pitch in his speech, Laeonas was clearly starting to show signs of cracking in the one thing that provided the illusion of a solid mind. His pointed criticisms of a murderous psychopath's hypocrisies had turned to random bouts of rhetoric against "Sith." But it still bought him time.

The words about guilt cut, and Laeonas felt his knees weaken just slightly. "Ai don't need ta justify what Ai did!" He'd shout, voice giving the faintest hint of a shake. "Ai don't need ta prove maeself, Ai don't need ta do anything! Ai do what Ai please, when Ai please, and Ai left yer sister ta die cause that beskar would've 'elped mae ma live that way TO!"

...

Something... happened when the words left the boy's mouth. He batted his eyelashes, and confusion shown on his face.

"What?"

The contorted look of resentment on Laeonas' was washed away by a gradual realization of what had come out of his mouth. The brow unfurrowed, the forehead smoothed, and the gaunt cheeks stretched as his mouth hung open.

The boy had been right about part of his assessment; Kayden knew nothing about him. His homeworld, his past, his background, all of it was alien to the man who now claimed to try and "understand" where he was coming from.

He might've still looked for Laeonas' family out of sheer spite. Forced the boy to watch as his mother died an excruciating death at the hands of a monster. But that had all been predicated on Kayden knowing or caring about the existence of Laeonas' only real family. It wouldn't have mattered near as much to the boy if he hated his mother, and it wouldn't be possible if his mother existed.

But Laeonas' opened mouth had caused him to reveal that not only was his mother alive, but that he'd been willing to let someone die just so she could live a better life.

But he'd left more than one, almost.

"She was a monster," the boy had told himself, repeating it like a mantra or some holy prayer. "Would've done the same, would've done the same, monster monster monster..."

"...Not just her, right?"

The words. The constant shift back to the woman's image. Those broken bodies, all hers, all incapable of staying alive-- or creating life. "...oh, you didn't know, did you?"

"No. No, please, not again, no more, no more..." The familiar word returned to his lips, a hushed, barely audible request. Laeonas stance buckled a bit-- his guard dropped, and he stood defenseless, his focus on the ship completely shattered. "You're a liar, liar liar liar...."

"You didn't know about the baby in her belly?"

Breathe exited his lungs as if a weight had just slammed into his chest. Everything fell away-- the crowd of civilians inside, watching in confused shock. The defense force in the background, still trying to regroup after Kayden had carved through them.

All that Laeonas saw was her.
​

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

That face… Kayden looked so very intensely. His eyes roved about the sea of expressions like the waves of an ocean. What was it? What was behind it? What was in there? What are you feeling, boy? What are you feeling? What takes form behind your eyes? What takes shape in your heart?

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Mr. Gaunt.”

There would not be time to say much else. Kayden heard voices surrounding him, saw figures in the open and sensed figures behind the walls. Bespin Security was here in full force this time and they would not wait much longer.

“I suggest you go back to your ship. Go back to your beskar. Go run to the stars. Hide behind them. Hide your fires. They feed you...but you do not know how to feed them…” Such a shame. What a disappointment. What a baby.

“THIS IS BESPIN SECURITY!” Cried a familiar voice. One guard sounded much the same as the other. “PUT DOWN YOUR LIGHTSABERS! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR! SURRENDER OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!”

​

@Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

The two men would stand almost like parallels, the one Sith carrying the demeanor of an unbroken frame and hardened expression, while the boy's face was drawn into a gaping emptiness. The Lightsabers would hum as he spoke-- taunting him, provoking him to action. But Laeonas could only look upon his works, and despair.

He'd taken lives before, but he'd never done so out of bloodlust, and he'd never done it against those he couldn't rationalize against. If men shot at him, they died, if men swung their blades at him, they died, and if they worked with him and got shot in the middle of it, they'd die. Every person Laeonas could ever be considered responsible for ending knew that arrangement; it was mutually understood by every cutthroat in the galaxy.

There were those he'd killed in anger-- gangsters who had shot down his partners sometimes received an end of their own. He'd remembered the night when an officer had kicked him in the stomach-- and the boy had responded by slamming him against the wall with the force, and shooting him in the stomach. Regardless, they'd all known the risks.

But... he hadn't given the one in Kamelle Skyler's womb a chance.

Laeonas had never considered the unborn as his equals, partially because of how most of the women he knew dealt with them. His compatriots had done all they could to avoid pregnancy, and if everything failed, he hadn't met a single person who had kept going to term. Despite what his mother had always told him, there was still a kernel in his mind that told him that, had he been the bastard of some boy of her own station, rather than a young noble, she wouldn't have let her pregnancy continue to term.

That line of thought had created a bitterness in him, but over the years he'd interpreted it as charitably as he possibly could. That she had chosen to bear a child while being impoverished and virtually alone was something he'd appreciated... and he'd put his mother at risk by telling the Sith of her existence.

Had Kamelle known she was carrying a child? Laeonas couldn't imagine that his mother would've put herself in a situation where she or he could've died while in utero unless it was necessary; by contrast, the Sith woman and her fetus were out treasure hunting on a planet infested with the AMS virus. Even if the benefits could've been a mountain of wealth, how could any loving mother justify

It didn't look like Kayden Skyler cared, but there was a possibility that could change. Even in Laeonas' hopelessly depressive state, that flicker of realization-- that Kayden continuing to live would be a perpetual threat to his mother's well being-- was enough to spur him to reason.

The Sith hadn't mentioned any of this because he actually felt guilt, or a sense of loss-- Kayden had done it to exploit Laeonas' humanity. He'd seen a man with a broken psyche, a man that had almost drowned in the guilt he'd felt over leaving someone to die for the sake of wealth-- and had attempted to thrust him back into that spiral.

An overwhelming sense of emptiness-- of self hatred and despair-- still gripped the boy. His eyes glanced to his left, to the endless gas off the platform, and he considered jumping.

But only for a few seconds.

He'd turned back to look as the officers shouted. Unlike Kayden, the boy dropped to his knees, and let his hands fly up. He trembled, and from the exterior, it looked as if he was more than ready to surrender. He could just barely make out the sound of one of the officers speaking into a comlink; "Hostile 2 is surrendering-- I'm setting my blaster to stun." The officers would've crossed to retrieve him... if not for the Sith, standing with his lightsabers.

The earlier words returned to his mind, and he looked down to hide the welling disgust on his face. "I suggest you go back to your ship. Go back to your beskar. Go run to the stars. Hide behind them. Hide your fires. They feed you...but you do not know how to feed them…"

He turned to glance back at his ship. The target of his focus was still there, still present. Still waiting.

The force slipped out from his mind as his eyes closed. On the outside, he mouthed words again-- or appeared to. He shook, appearing to suffer from the same emotional distress as before. "Hostile 2 seems to be displaying signs of psychological trauma. I think this one might be screwed up in the head-- or maybe hostile 1 provoked him by pulling up some shit."

The hands that were pointed up suddenly splayed outwards, fingers pointing in different direction. They'd curl backwards, the audible cracking from the still damaged wrists sounding quite unpleasant.

The pile of bars on the ship began to tremblle-- and than, like metal lightning, one of the beskar rods flew out of the ship. Laeonas' eyes suddenly opened-- and Kayden would be able to spot the faintest flecks of burning amber as the bar flew into the boy's grip, and was thrust forward-- aimed to impale the Sith just under the shoulder.
​

@Die Shize

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

Before there could be a volley of blaster fire that tore both of the force users to pieces, Laeonas' beskar surged forward, tight in the grip of a man whose intentions had been purely hostile. What had been a man consumed by rage was now, however, a man who was, more than anything else, desperate to save the lives of his family.

The beskar bar was blunt, unfiled. It was designed much like the durasteel bars that crossed over the windows of the businesses of the neighborhoods he'd called home, meant to keep out possible intruders. It wasn't meant to be used as a staff, or in this case, a spear-- yet at the force Laeonas was thrusting, it was exactly that.

With how the bar had entered his grip, the skin of his palms burned, torn as they'd wrap around a piece of metal that had moved exceedingly quickly. Still, the boy gripped tight as he'd thrust it forward, still aimed at the Sith's chest.

Almost predictably, the boy's blow didn't land where he wanted. He would've cursed his fortune as the Sith shifted to his side in the split second that he had, and in his vulnerable position, Laeonas' life might've ended with the swing of his opponent's lightsaber...

...but that became impossible as the bar made contact with the flesh and bone of Kayden Skyler's right wrist.

The movement and exchange was so quick that the security didn't immediately respond. At first, they simply hadn't seen what had happened, but as they began to register the outcome, the shock that hit them prevented the immediate action that could've easily ended both force user's battle right then and there.

Kamelle Skyler's lightsaber, wrapped in her brother's hand, would clatter to the durasteel platform floor. The immediate pain and shock of what had happened gave Laeonas the time for him to drop the bar and summon the weapon to his hands, igniting it almost immediately after it shut off.

The security team would finally snap out of it, and a volley of blaster fire would suddenly stop what would've been a second stage of the two men's fight. Kayden and Laeonas both had to shift their attention-- very suddenly-- to the threat of ranged combatants attacking the both of them.

Laeonas would let out a cry as a stray blaster bolt-- meant for the Sith, but landing on him-- dug into his left thigh. Snarling, he threw out a powerful burst of energy, sending men of the security detail flying backwards.

The beskar hovered by his side as he hobbled towards his ship, desperately deflecting the bolts of the officers. Laeonas didn't look back at the Sith as he desperately fled, saber in one hand and beskar in the other.

The boarding ramp came up behind him before he'd hobble into the cockpit. The engines turned on, and he'd find himself careening up into Bespin's upper atmosphere.

Laeonas was alive... but so was the Sith. He hadn't felt the Sith die-- not the way he'd felt Kamelle go. The boy had revealed the knowledge that he had a mother to a sadistic monster who wanted to hunt him down and take the weapon that sat in his trembling hands, and he wouldn't stop until that became a reality.

Laeonas had to make sure it never did.
​

@Die Shize

//End Thread

OOC: Incredible shit; sorry we ended things like this. Hope you enjoy yourself!