Ask So Be It

[Darth Tiamat]

Ziost
Death Enabled

Tiamat waited quietly for Caelian to arrive. She hadn't heard too much on his progress which drew curiosity as to what he has been doing since their meeting. Just because he was able to save his own neck from another, didn't mean he was in the clear. He was under many watchful eyes, nothing really told her that he had cleared his name from the Onderon incident. Regardless of the story she received from him or otherwise, questions rose as to his true nature; for certain, his master had failed him, and now she was here picking up the pieces not only from his former master, but Draugr didn't have time for him anymore...not that he did much with the Echani champion. However, that did not excuse him, he knows what he is dealing with as a Champion of the Sith.

When Caelian would arrive, he would enter a large hall where Tiamat stood on the opposite end. The war that would soon erupt following the attack on Corellia made Tiamat more uneasy, ready for anything as she was dressed more formally in her armor. The hall was lit with the soft glow of illuminators along the pillared walls, shadows creating their own drapery over the embroidered tapestries that covered the stone. It was otherwise empty except for the two of them, questions left to the imagination as to what the purpose this room served. Regardless for now, it was ideal for the Sith woman to meet with the Sith Champion.

@Xorism

 

[Caelian]

With the newfound war raging in the far west, it wasn't entirely unexpected to be summoned in one's armor. However, the time and place of said summons were a little more intriguing as his master had been sparse with the details. Ziost was certainly an interesting world and one that he had intended to spend more time on if he had the chance given its reputation.

Caelian vividly recalled the pair's last meeting, with Tiamat easily throwing him around in hand-to-hand combat. Then she had given him an opportunity to exact justice with his own bare hands. It had exacted a heavy toll on the Echani, given his once closeness with the man but in the end, he had found the strength to do it.

Arriving in a timely manner, the Echani walked the empty path noticing the aesthetics nonetheless. Although he had been given a fleshy prosthetic for a tongue, he chose to remain silent and await instruction from Tiamat, bowing his head as he approached.

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat's gaze followed the Echani as he walked inside the hall, approaching her without much haste and taking interest in the layout of the hall. The woman unclasped her hands from behind her back, her left hand grasping his saber that was confiscated from their fist meeting. He stopped, then bowed his head to her, remaining silent until she gave him reason to talk, she guessed at least.

The woman also remained quiet, waiting, but when he remained as he was, Tiamat spoke, "Kneel." she commanded, the Force subtly shifting around her, ready to force him to his knee before herself. It would be there, he would remain and she would continue, not moving from her own place.

"Tell me Caelian, what has killing Romulus Naxxremis done for you?" she asked.

@Xorism

 

[Caelian]

Caelian's full attention was quickly brought to bear as Tiamat spoke suddenly and with full force behind her words. Doing as she commanded, the Echani dropped down to kneel before her and he slightly dipped his head while still looking up toward her.

It didn't escape his attention that she was holding his lightsaber hilt in hand as she posed the question to him.

It had been difficult coming to grips with the revelations that had come to pass since their last meeting. The truth of his former master's betrayal had planted seeds of doubt deep within Caelian as he now questioned everything the man had ever taught him. Why had this man led him down this path and worse still, why had it taken him so long to see it?

His silence in contemplation was broken, initially by a thought being formed to be sent telepathically before realizing that it was unnecessary. The prosthetic tongue moved inside his mouth, its movement still feeling a little weird after a long period of being mute but it wouldn't take long to get back into the swing of things.

"It has opened my eyes to see his deceit flowing through my life like a wild river. I have brought further shame upon myself for not seeing it earlier, but now I am forced to wonder how many of my decisions have also been influenced by him, lurking in the shadows like a puppet master."

He didn't hold any remorse for taking the man's life, that part was squared away and justified in his mind. The fact that he had lost such an important figure in his life, someone who he had cared for and trusted only to have that trust broken so blatantly was much harder to stomach.

"I freed myself from his physical grasp, but.." Caelian clasped his head with one hand. "But in death, he haunts me still."

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat was unmoved by his statement, listening closely and hearing his words. He described feeling shame not seeing more clearly, as to how his master had trained him...not to be a Sith, but to be something else. She did not like how he still did not take accountability for his decisions, reciting how his master still held influence, and she too now wondered how much of that influence remained with him. When he finished speaking, the woman stepped closer until she was able to reach out with her free hand to cup his cheek gently.

"Perhaps he does, but perhaps you allow him." she offered her thoughts, "It is a real shame though that you believe he still influences your choices. I have meditated on this same idea, thought real closely on outcomes and yet everything still points to one thing. What you have done has created a liability and seeing how your master has continued to influence you, even in his absence, and now even in death, I can not accept this." she explained, her fingers ran through his hair and then grasped tightly his white locks, yanking his head back to look straight into her perverse golden eyes.

"You had failed your duty as a Sith, Caelian." she hissed, "You lack conviction and that is more than just disloyalty to the Empire, to the Sith, it is weakness." The woman offered no more explanation, his blade would ignite into his chest unless he managed to free himself from the vulnerable position she held him. He was a liability not only to the Empire as a whole, but to herself, and it was not a gamble she was willing to play.

@Xorism

 

[Caelian]

There had been many false lessons that his former master had bestowed upon the Echani over the years. Many thoughts, processes, and feelings that didn't seem to quite align with the way of the Sith, he discovered the hard way. Each new lesson he took in his stride, awash in pain, blood, and suffering coaxed the Darkside within him in a new way that he had come to enjoy. Though he had trained for combat since the moment he could walk, his most recent victory against the famed duelist on Korriban, was the start of something new.

The near-death experience was a type of ecstasy that few other options could replicate. Caelian had tried to explain this to Wodan once, much to his companion's horror. The sinews of flesh compound with the stress and anxiety that life and death combat brings, blood flows and the mind clears as instinct and training take over.

It was no coincidence that he had feigned interest as he had entered, his intent to disarm and act a fool. He had after all entered the mostly empty room alone, equipped as he might do for war, minus his lightsaber that she held. Though in her focused haste she had not so much as even searched him for any other weapon. Was it a reckless decision bourne of superiority? of her assumed absolute dominance over him?

He masked his anger beneath a veneer of neutrality, his failure to act when his tongue was removed was fresh in his mind as she demanded he knelt before her. For the second time in such a short span, his own actions had brought him to this point. Actions he had previously thought justified, but now with the new revelations he knew in his heart were wrong.

Tiamat spoke with venom on her lips, the very same tell that another master had used on him once before striking him. In the same the situation was quickly becoming dire for the Echani, his heart raced as the thrill of embracing death flooded his veins, narrowing his mind and focus. There was no room for negotiation, no pleading for his life, there was only kill or be killed.

Her focus was on his eyes as she playfully glided her fingers through his hair. His right hand, laying out of sight, dormantly clasped the vibroknife wedged to his armor. He waited for the right opportunity, her deadly tone and playful grasping turned into a solid hold of his locks, signaling his impending doom.

The Darkside yearned to be unleashed upon his foe, coiling up around him like a spring. Leaping forward slightly, with a small offset to the side in an attempt to avoid being impaled as she intended from his kneeling one-knee position and empowered by both the force and his overwhelming desire to die fighting, he took three simple actions.

The first action was to jump up into her guard in an attempt to avoid being stabbed by his own lightsaber. Closing the distance, increasing his height and making the angle offset as his torso twisted, the blade was no longer pointed at his chest but rather at his flank. As she ignited the blade he felt its burning roast the flesh alongside him, but the injury may come too late to stop his momentum and attack.

The second action was to use his left hand to grab the elbow of the arm grappling his hair, ensuring that she would too remain in place and be unable to move while he completed the first. These two were done simultaneously.

The third and perhaps final action was an attempt to leave his permanent mark upon Tiamat in a fluid follow-up to the first action. With the distance closed from the first action, his right hand would stab, with full force, the ignited vibroblade toward her vulnerable throat. Although she was wearing an enclosed helmet and the chest was armored, the armourwave on her neck would offer no resistance to a knife attack of this type.

Empowered by the force Caelian would aim to bring the blade slice up into her throat angled to hit the brain stem behind it. Such a strike would likely be fatal, or at the very least paralyzing if successful and show her where his conviction lay.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat thought herself as more merciful than other sith, but now his chance for a quick death were far from gone. Instead he chose suffering as his last moments of life and she would honor his decision.

The Echani had relied on Tiamat to keep grasp of his hair as he jumped up to his feet, attempting to grapple her right elbow, but the Sith woman would release her grasp to avoid being pulled up with him. She knew their height differences were significant, he would not hold her in place as she stepped backwards out of his grasp, still keeping to his left corner. Her ignited blade even though far from his center, still had hit his side, but his follow up attack with the vibroblade was still a threat. Committed to his stab and having to extend his reach, his saber arm would leave him vulnerable over her lightsaber. Her shifted position would cause his attack to miss its mark, feeling the energy of the vibroblade spark and vibrate against the left side of her helmet, creating a new groove in the armor. But her own blade now would find its exit as she brought it up through his weapon arm.

She took another step backwards, the room chilled with the darkside as she made her next attack, saber held in defense. Whether or not he was able to figure out how to save his arm, his desperate attempt for survival and committed focus would leave him vulnerable in a different way as he would feel the woman dive into his psyche. He would feel pain like no other as his fears and insecurities were brought to his mind's eye, the tendrils of the darkside rooting deep and far before violently clawing away to the surface of his consciousness.

The woman was curious to see if and how hard he would fight against it or if he would finally submit.

@Xorism

 

[Caelian]

Their combat had been lightning quick and fluid, each responding to the movements of the other like they were engaged in a deadly dance. To any Echani, it was simply beautiful but this dance was life or death for both opponents. If he slipped up, Caelian would find himself limbless and lifeless in short order, forgotten by most shortly after with minimal impact on the galactic scale. Though the same wouldn't be said for Tiamat if she found herself to be the victim of fate that day, with her long and numerous accomplishments.

There was always going to be a risk of missing his intended target as the nimble Tiamat shifted with his jump forward, his knife edging its way along the side of her helmet. A bigger risk still was that by failing to incapacitate her, she was now in a position to upswing from his flank into his right arm which would no doubt completely unbalance the fight.

But by remaining in range of his knife to make her attack work and without leaving room to move again, she had made a critical mistake, leaving herself vulnerable.

In a sacrifice for the ages, Caelian would trade cut for cut hoping that by throwing away his rook, he could take her queen. At least, that was the theory.

Keeping it simple his knife sliced down from the helmet and diagonally across to hit her more vulnerable neck with the aim of cutting her carotid artery at knifes depth and then her throat. The movement was enhanced by the force and without hesitation, occurring as she moved to slice his right arm off.

Her strike hit clean and true as she intended, bringing his lightsaber blade up and through Caelian's arm between the elbow and the shoulder, removing the arm before his latest attack could cause its deadly harm. The weight and momentum would carry on at least in part, with the edge of the blade continuing on without his control or strength behind it.

The pain was sudden and dreadful, she'd see it in his eyes. Pain turned into rage as his growing desire for revenge and to survive pushed him on. He had to prove them all wrong, by overcoming the odds and embracing the Sith way as they expected he couldn't. It wasn't just about his master anymore, he wanted her to suffer for this.

With her arm outstretched and saber was drawn up through his right arm, the saber was temporarily out of position to block a force lightning attack. Manifesting itself from the tips of his left hand's fingers, he directed the discharge towards her less protected lower torso hoping to injure and inflict malicious wounds upon her before she could block it, stepping back as he did this.

It was fascinating that he'd taken Valhiri's arm once, and now his blade had claimed another. There wasn't time to linger, for if she continued with her mental attack he would be forced to defend himself as best he could.

The sudden and intrusive pulsing hammered away at each and every defense he tried to quickly put up. Within his mind, he could sense her twirling dark and painful manipulations dredging up thoughts, fears and mental scars. He did his best to try and fight through these, trying to bury the thoughts back from whence they had come. He tried to clear his mind, to focus as best he could on the fight, as lopsided as it had become.

Tiamat was clearly well-versed in mental manipulation, and it would be difficult to resist her forever but he just had to last a little longer in the hopes that the fighting would soon end.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

As her blade had removed his arm, she felt his weapon drop, cutting into the divot between her neck and shoulder and along her collar. The energy weapon slicing through tissue, but not enough to cause lethal harm, but enough to be annoying later as blood quickly pooled and saturated her wound. She seemed unfazed, even reveling in his pain and strengthening her own resolve as he tried to create some distance between them with the burst of Force lightning to her lower torso. She hissed through her teeth, eventually letting out a yell as she felt it burn and and pierce through her abdomen before she could bring her weapon across her to finish blocking whatever was left of it.

It would not stop the mental attack from coming though as Caelian would quickly find out, despite his attempts, she pressed onward. As he fought against her mental intrusion, Tiamat stepped forward, her blade snapping in a backhanded swing that could bisect the distracted Echani Sith. Without a bladed weapon of his own, and an arm, a deep laceration in his flank, and now him trying to prevent his mind from turning into mush, it would be difficult to stop the energy weapon in time as she would follow through with her attack, and upon contact, she would leave his mind, (unless he mentally pushed back into her own,) pulling her blade across his torso, and then swiftly bringing it back through in a diagonal cut from just below his right should to left side.

@Xorism

 

[Caelian]

It was true that Caelian had taken the worst beating out of the two, the loss of his arm did not make up for the bloody laceration on her left shoulder, nor the force lightning that struck true through her abdomen before she could gather her defense.

Despite her mental attack weighing heavily on his mind, he would still see her approach with a determined effort to finally put him down. Seething and in pain but still functional enough, he would still be capable of moving backward suddenly, almost out of range of the lightsaber blade. The tip of the blade would catch the outer edge of his chest armor during her horizontal swing, damaging it but not hitting flesh and bone as she intended. With that, his mind suddenly cleared as she withdrew from his mind.

Caelian had one last trick up his sleeve after his vibroknife, hoping it would be sufficient to tip the odds back in his favor, otherwise things weren't looking too good for the Echani. He'd draw the small RK-3 blaster pistol he had, hoping to knock her feisty ass out when he suddenly had to react once more.

Her attack wasn't yet complete as she followed up with a diagonal swing from his right shoulder to left, he could only retreat again to keep just out of range of the savage blade to avoid being struck. As the attack completed its downward swing, he took the opportunity to lift the muzzle of the pistol, taking aim to shoot once at her unprotected lower torso with the stun setting.

The armor weave offering no protection against energy weapons would likely knock her out cold if it impacted and from the short range, and position of her weapon, it would be difficult to block in time.

In any case, Caelian would continue to step backward away from Tiamat defensively.

The betrayal cut deeper than any lightsaber could, though in death she offered this lesson for free. Perhaps things could have gone differently, had the master been capable of teaching the student. The very same hand that rewarded him with a voice now took it away forevermore.

A young, confused, hurting, and strong warrior was cut down that day, prevented from reaching his potential. Few if any would remember his name or his actions, but those would have seen something in him that she had missed or chosen to ignore.

Caelian would ultimately get the greatest gift imaginable that he had always longed for, death by combat. The wounds that he had inflicted upon the red witch would burn and scar, forever reminding her of this gift. Whether or not they had a material impact on her, it wouldn't matter.

He was free and she was not.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat watched as his body fell, the saber hummed in the heavy silence that filled the chamber, her breaths filtering through her mask as she kept her gaze on the corpse. The darkside coiled around herself, poised to strike as she kept her saber still, sensing his life extinguish in the Force. There was a familiar hunger she felt with it: primal, even chaotic, a delicacy for only a select few. She would feel satisfaction, a fulfillment of duty to cull the weak from the Sith. It was disappointing to see in a way though, something she had meditated on repeatedly, but she couldn't shake how his master had proven his roots within his student. He could blame his master for his decision on Onderon and all that followed, but he still had a choice, and it had concerned her greatly.

But now, he was dead, and the Sith would be stronger.

She flicked her thumb along his saber, the blade retreating back in the hilt as she continued to stand in place. There was a chill caused by her own blood soaking into her armorweave under her chest plates, feeling her mind gain back control as the darkness had its fill. She clipped the saber hilt to her belt with her own saber and then removed her helmet, eyes a brilliant gold, blackened veins extended from her gaze. Her eyes flickered to the arm that laid nearby and the woman mentally noted to package Vahliri (@Altaris) a gift later.

Tucking her helmet under her arm, she turned from the body, wondering who else was like him, who else would be easily influenced by their enemy on or even off the battlefield. Though Tiamat knew for certain, she would not tolerate weakness.

End Thread