Ask Hoth Meeting of the Minds

[Kaldar]

Per my OP template, thread is death enabled​

Kaldar had returned to Sanctum Raze to think, study, and most importantly, to regroup. He settled into the library and pored through the various tomes that were there. Over his years, Raze had collected many different writings, and Kaldar used them to broaden his own understanding.

He doubted he was going to find anything to bring Raze back in here, but that didn't mean that this room wouldn't be the next step forward. It wasn't the knowledge that was already here but the knowledge that was coming in.

He had asked Tiamat to join him here because the next step of this resurrection scheme needed someone else skilled and loyal to Raze, and... to be honest, it was time he got better acquainted with the other mystery servant of his master.

He sensed her approaching and looked up from his book, marking the spot and closing it.

Glad you could make it, Lady Tiamat, he said, motioning to one of the chairs across from him at the table.

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Her path had returned her to her lab on Hoth, collecting what she needed and any extra she could find, her experiments started off simple, a testing of mechanics, reproducing results outlined in the texts and journals of previous practitioners. She was able to fill in the blanks, the unknowns to the exact mechanisms as she created new from old. Though, the challenge as it was finding sentience that would tolerate the effects and well... side effects of the combination of mechanical and alchemy. The bled kyber imbedded in her subject took too well.

Tiamat stepped back to watch as it was consumed by metallic pustules, the subject suffered through the blight, uncontrolled, fast and grotesque. Its lifeless body laid unmoving except for the bulges that continued to burst open. She returned to her own notes, making her final notations of the results before she was notified Kaldar had returned.

He had been spending time in the library when she was invited to meet with him. She wasn't sure how to interpret the news of his return to Hoth, either he found something and was looking for more information or he had failed in his endeavor and was looking for another idea. She entered the library where he greeted her, offering her to sit with him, "Kaldar, welcome back," she greeted in return as she reached for one of the texts on the table, gently pulling it to her, "You had a lead, did it suffice?" she asked him.

@Phoenix

 

[Kaldar]

The woman approached, and Kaldar gave one of his classic, disarming smiles. She was something of an enigma to him, and the two had spent very little time together. She was quite attractive despite being probably close to twice his age, and she was undeniably strong with the Force. She had come from the ISC, and she was a genius when it came to technology.

The blending of arcane techniques and technology had already proven its potency before, and Kaldar wondered if it had application here as well. His own skills in either the arcane or deeper technology were middling at best if he was being generous, but he had consultants now on either hand who were experts in their fields.

Hmm, yes and no, he said, weighing how to answer the question. While he normally enjoyed toying with people and being evasive, they both had a common goal and ambiguity would only make it more difficult.

I made... contact with Raze, and it nearly killed me, he said. "Contact" was probably the best word for it. It wasn't like they had had a conversation, but there was no denying that it was Raze. Both times.

I reached out to an old contact still in the Sith Order who's an expert in arcanistry, he said. There was no need to share that he and Azar were arguably "friends." Just because they needed to be plain didn't mean Kaldar was obligated to overshare.

He said we would need at least three Sith Masters to pull Raze back. You, me, and him would make three, he said. Now that she had been effectively brought up to speed on the cliff notes version, they came to the next bit. The tricky bit.

I'm not convinced we can just rip him across and into a new body, he said. We need something that can make a bridge from here to there or else stabilize the ritual, he said. And boy did that sound like something that she might be able to help with. In truth, he wasn't sure if it was her or Azar who would have more luck with it, but someone surely could.

Do you have any thoughts on a device like that? One part Sith science and one part... you know, just "regular" science, he said.

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Maybe she was anticipating for the bad news, that he had gotten no where and they were as where they had started. As he stated he had made contact with Raze, the book she had started flipping pages through snapped close. There was a tug at the corner of her lip, clearly more pleased to hear of Raze rather than Kaldar's survival. She was curious and listened further as he explained his contact within the Sith Order, which was nice to hear that they were not entirely useless after the coup that divided them years prior.

Tiamat nodded in agreement about just pulling Raze from the realm of the Force; it was different previously as Raze already had that connection through Emryc, another living being who utterly rejected him. This was a bit deeper and she understood this, this was playing with the mere building blocks of creation to physically alter that shouldn't be altered. The dark woman now grinned, "Nothing exists like that now, but that doesn't mean it can't be built." she stated.

"Like a hypergate, it stabilizes a path to move effortlessly, but instead of bending space and time in our physical world, we're weakening and bending the veil so he may cross back through..." Tiamat tapped her finger on the cover of the book, her thoughts turning in her mind before she looked back at Kaldar, "Where did you contact Raze?" she asked.

@Phoenix

 

[Kaldar]

Kaldar liked being right. The fact that he was right about Raze being around still and right about Azar being able to help him and right about Tiamat knowing how to build this... it felt good. He took a moment to check his ego for a moment and instead just nodded.

Good, I'm glad I was on the right track, he said. It seemed like they had the expertise to do it... possibly. He still wondered in part of his mind if this was just a shot in the dark, but he refused to believe it. What he did think, though, was that they needed more planning because he was not interested in becoming a snack for Raze coming back.

First Nixor, but... I think he's at Ajan Kloss. His presence there was much, much stronger. Like he was just on the other side of the Force, he said.

He let that sink in for her for a moment before going on to the next topic. She had been around Raze for much longer than he had, and that meant that she had to know much more about him than Kaldar did. In this case, the question he was about to ask was profoundly relevant to their efforts.

What is Raze? he asked. He'd already deduced several things about the "man" but it wasn't really an answer. An demon? he asked. Or maybe a shapeshifter, but that... seemed unlikely. Or just... wrong somehow.

 

[Darth Tiamat]

I heard rumors on Ajan Kloss... I am glad you have returned, I was not enthused to the idea of finding someone else to finish my training..

Are you glad?

Relieved.

Everything else seemed unimportant to Tiamat in that moment, she could clearly recall the day he returned. Some of the most powerful force users of the time were taken down by him and others, many who are no longer here. It made sense to the woman that his presence was stronger on Ajan Kloss, "Then when we are ready we should return there..." she met Kaldar's gaze, "Ajan Kloss,"

She didn't ignore his question about what was Raze and she smirked to his assumption that he was a demon. "I wouldn't even call him that, but if it strikes fear into the galaxy let them think it." she hummed. "He is certainly not one of us, maybe a god, an entity even, something that truly envelops our own fears, yet aspirations, maybe even something we can't fully comprehend." Tiamat assumed Kaldar knew as much, the dark woman gave a shrug, "I personally like the mystery that surrounds him, its alluring." she said despite knowing exactly what he was and where he came from.

Tiamat didn't elaborate further, "Because he is not one of us, this process to bring him back is possibly...easier, than the idea of bringing back someone with limited mortality."

@Phoenix

 

[Kaldar]

Kaldar listened to her answer and was... well, frankly unimpressed. She didn't seem to know much better than he did, which he couldn't fault. Raze didn't exactly advertise the facts, but what he could fault was that she didn't even seem to care. She "liked the mystery" which sounded either like a weak excuse to cover why she couldn't find the answer or else it demonstrated lack of imagination. Surprising coming from her.

He wasn't interested in what the galaxy thought of him, he was interested in what was. Hm, he said as they moved on to the next, more important piece of the puzzle.

That's good news at least, he said. Whatever Raze was if it made him easier to bring back, that was probably good news. That just meant they needed... the rest of the pieces.

All right, so we've got three masters, we've got the location... how long will it take you to make... some sort of stabilization device? he asked. He assumed it would be weeks at least, but she seemed motivated to bring him back. He was relatively confident that she wasn't going to drop the ball on getting the work done.

And what else do you think we're going to need? he asked. Besides a meeting between all three of us, he said, making an assumption on that topic.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

An unusual subject to bring up as to what their master was; it reminded her the questions she and the other acolytes in her first years in the Sith asked as to who the (fake) Eternal was beneath the mask. Perhaps now Raze held this same flare to him and Kaldar didn't seem to push the subject further as he accepted her response. The dark woman could only assume why this information was important to him, and her intuition pointed to a contingency plans...either keeping him here permanently, or seeking other means of controlling his existence if things went awry.

His next question signaled moving forward with their plan, she sat in silence briefly to think of how long she needed to create this device to help them. Her chin tilted up as she inhaled deeply, "A few months time, but it will be my priority to finish it. Drafting, design, build, and test. You will be notified immediately when it is completed." she explained and rose to her feet; her mind was already creating the outline, the plans, pulling data from the deepest parts of her mind from her years of research not only with scientific tech, but the dark manipulation of it.

Tiamat paused when Kaldar asked about what else they will need, her forearms resting on the back of the chair from which she was just sitting. "We need to continue destablizing the rest of the galaxy: nexuses, mass death...absolute corruption of the natural order will help weaken the veil."

@Phoenix