Tears for the Future

[Dmitri]

OOC: Continuation of Ackbar's Premonition

Lacrima was the name of a space station used for experimentation by the Sith. However, since the cancelled Project Saligia, and the subsequent raid by Jedi Masters Augustus and Elkaid, the space station had been abandoned. Abandoned, but not forgotten.

Geist Weiss used the space station as a fueling stop and a place to carry out further experiments. However, today, he was trying a new type of experiment. On Sarka, he had recently captured an Imperial Knight, a Sith Pureblood Lamia Kressh.

During the duel on Sarka, Lamia had slain one of Geist's students, Barrel. By Sith tradition, Lamia had shown herself to be a perfect student. But Geist didn't care for Sith tradition. He loved art far greater, and Barrel was a failure of an artist. However, Lamia's lightsaber design had shown some promise. He would pry into Lamia's heart, in order to find out if she would be suitable to becoming a Sith 'artist' and maybe obtain some intel. Most likely if he fed some intel to his superiors, they'd stop bugging him about being more active in the war effort. Geez, he helped coordinate the xenocide of Muunilinst, what more did they want?

However, Geist was not without caution. Lamia had been disarmed in the duel of her two lightsabers and Sith Sword, but other weapons around was a possibility. As such, on the ride to Lacrima, Lamia had been stripped of her outfit, and place inside a jumpsuit that was one size too short, which would affect her movements. Even Lamia's hair had been inspected to search for any hidden daggers. The protocol droid was brought in to search 'other areas' for weapons.

Lamia, once at Lacrima, had been placed in a holding cell designed back during the days of Project Saligia. Project Saligia had been used to enhance children's Force potential, and had the risk of going berserk, so the cage had been designed to keep prisoners inside, while equipped with the option to have its contents ejected into space.

The controls to this function laid next to where Geist sat, in the control room in the neighboring sector of the space station. The Sith alchemist was using a doppelganger to stand inside the cell with Lamia, who was still unconscious. Before he had walked to the control room, though, the Sith Master had placed a harness around Lamia's neck filled with explosives. Another, though smaller, was clipped to the Sith Pureblood's hair, as to be less noticeable and not pull barely as to be sensed physically. Both explosives could be remotely dentonated through the Force, created by Geist himself.

"Awaken," Geist whispered through the Force.

Geist nudged Lamia with Force, awakening her. The sedatives would be partially active, distorting her senses a little, making Force usages hard, but for the most part wouldn't affect speech and comprehension too much.

"Welcome, Lamia Kressh," greeted the doppelganger. "I never got the chance to properly introduce myself. I am Geist Weiss, Sith Master and Alchemist of the New Sith Imperium."

 

[Fusion]

Agh... What... What happened to me?

Lamia saw that she was in some sort of space station. Still a bit groggy, she looked around.

Great... This feels like my youth all over again...

Hearing Weiss's voice, she turned to look at him, her hands feeling the collar around her neck.

I can assume that this entire plan was orchestrated by you?

 

[Dmitri]

Lamia was a little groggy, which was understandable. She accused Geist of orchestration of this plot.

Geist laughed. "Not quite. I had gone to Sarka for other business. It was fate that brought us together. Still, you must be confused to see me, considering Bezhevy Tsviets stabbed me. Do not worry about it. Confusion is to be understandable. Bezhevy Tsviets... won't be bothering us again." Bezhevy was one of his guises, one he used to manipulate the Luminado Order. He couldn't risk exposure, in case Lamia managed to escape. Considering his precautions, it was likely, but not impossible. Afterall, Subject 18, now Nero, had somehow done so and had used Force Insanity to cause the occupants in Lacrima to kill each other.

"You are a strange one, Lamia Kressh," commented Geist. "A Sith Pureblood of Jedi and Imperial Knight standing. Oh how your ancestors would jump out of their graves were they to know of this scandal."

 

[Fusion]

You do not know that. You have not experienced the visions I've had. And you never will.

Realizing she was still reasonably covered with grime, she decided to test Weiss's hospitality.

I need a bit of clear gel, generic type, as well as some cortosis grains and some ferrum. Oh, and a heat source.

She intended to use the mixture to formulate a waterless shampoo to clean herself off with. She might've been a Sith, but she was still a woman and needed to be clean.

 

[Dmitri]

If not for the illusion hiding Geist's face, Lamia may have seen the smile fade from Geist's face. "Sorry, but you'll be stuck with such conditions for now. Maybe later such commodities be allowed, but I'd rather not risk you trying something. You see, I prefer not to get into fights, so pardon my inhospitality in which I prevent your bathing. Do not worry, you will be allowed to cleanse yourself later, but not at this present time. Precautions must be carried out before I can let you out of this-" The doppelganger motioned to the cell. "-room.

"You may be right that I do not know what you experience, and never will. The Law of Nagel's Bat. I can never know truly what you experience or know what it's like to be a Sith Pureblood. Alas, that has little standing. You are here because you may prove useful. You confessed being once of the Jedi. And as an Imperial Knight, you hold intel on them as well. However, I know very well how strict the Imperial Knights are, so I'll not aim for them. Instead, I am interested to know what you know about the Jedi."

Geist snapped his fingers. A hologram of the Sith Sword and Lamia's lightsabers flickered into life. "Second are these fine examples of art. Did you make them yourself?"

 

[Fusion]

They are all family heirlooms. The blade has been in my family for thousands of years. The ancient Kresshs that became Sith Lords used that blade. One of the lightsabers was made for me by my Master, who supported me when I was exiled from the Jedi for supposed Dark Side usage. Its crystal has been alchemically created to change color depending on the wielder's aura. The other saber is a refitted protosaber that belonged to the first Dark Jedi to interbreed with the Kressh family.

 

[Dmitri]

Geist was intrigued with the history of the weapons but at the same time became less impressed with the Sith Pureblood, realizing they weren't the woman's own works of art. Still, she could possibly hold some promise all the same.

"I seem to have sidetracked you. It sounds like you were exiled due to their impression you used the Dark Side. I am surprised. The Dark Side should come naturally to you. Why not use what is available?"

 

[Fusion]

My goal is to redeem my species, Weiss. Excessive usage of the Dark Side would make me go against said goal.

Reasoning with a Sith was possibly hopeless, but still she could clarify some things.

 

[Dmitri]

Geist paused for a moment, taking it in.

"You are correct," admitted Geist. "If redemption for the Sith is what you seek, going the route of Ashla, the Light Side of the Force, is the way to go." He paused for a moment to takeaway the holograms of the weapons.

Geist returned his attention back towards Lamia. "But isn't the ones who view the Sith as needing redemption the ones who walk the path of the Light Side: the Jedi. Was it not corrupted Jedi that in turn corrupted the Sith even farther, bringing them into the self-destructive path that decimated your species. If it weren't for the Jedi, both the pure and Dark Jedi, the Sith would not have fallen as far as they did. In some ways, they are responsible for what has wrought to the Sith and also responsible for the propagation of the followers of the Sith philospophy by exiling those ancient Dark Jedi in the first place."

 

[Fusion]

I blame the Exiles. They could have landed on any planet, but they chose Korriban. They are responsible for polluting my race with their genes. The Jedi of that era are also to blame as well. They were too stringent and refused to allow anything but their teachings to be taught. The Force is like a large, cut gemstone: For one to see all the facets of it, they must look at it from different angles.

 

[Dmitri]

"And what difference is there now?" inquired Geist Weiss. "The Jedi are still stringent, strict, and self-righteous. They exiled you over a simple misunderstanding. They're still vulnerable to falling to the Dark Side, like the former Grandmaster and Battlemaster."

 

[Fusion]

I feel their leadership can be blamed for their inept decisions. The former Grandmaster at least accepted me as a Jedi, but the current one will use anything he can to remove people he has a problem with. It's why Jedi are deserting the Order in droves. Estimates are there are less then a hundred Jedi Masters left in the order. The Knights at least have no bias.

 

[Dmitri]

"You being one of the people the current Grandmaster, Lecchaememnon removed from his Order," noted Geist. "You won't be escaping this place so I'll tell you something interesting."

Geist walked over to Lamia and whispered into Lamia's ear, "Lecchamemnon is an agent of the Sith. He's been assigned to remove as many pests as possible, so that they're prime for recruitment into the Sith Order. He purposely weakens them to give us a better chance. It was even him who gave away the Will of the Force's location." It was a lie, but a seed that could grow into a most interesting weed were Lamia to manage to escape. It was unlikely, but now he didn't have to worry if she escaped. She would be the gardener of an entangled mess that would harm the Eden called the Jedi Order.

Geist's doppelganger walked away from Lamia. "The Sith are more deadly than you imagine. We've learned to correct for the mistakes of our predecessors. We learned through the ancient Sith that war brings ruin to the Republic, or rather now, Galactic Alliance. Darth Traya and Darth Sidious showed us that the Jedi can be destroyed and must be crippled for our plans to succeed. Darth Sidious and Darth Revan showed that doomsday weapons can be beneficial, but should not be relied on." The alchemist laughed. "All for galactic hegemony. I personally don't care either way if we succeed or not, but the art. Oh, the art that shall come onto the galactic stage shall be marvelous!" His voice lowered back to room volume. "Art is such a beautiful thing. As an artist, I find my art most useful in these conflicts. It would be best if violence wasn't needed, but that's the law of the universe, the path to order. You see, with order comes chaos, with chaos comes destruction, with destruction comes death, and with death comes new order. Repetition and encore. Again and again, the endless cycle that binds us. Have you ever wondered why there is both a Light and Dark Side? It is because for balance to occur, opposite ends of the spectrum are needed, in order to clash. This clash brings chaos as the pendelum sways in favor from Light to Dark to Light and so forth."

 

[Fusion]

It wouldn't matter to me whether or not Lecchaememnon was a Sith or not. He is still ruining the Jedi Order.

And I find it so curious as to how you feel the conflict brings chaos... For if the Light and Dark constantly collide and switch between being the dominant party, the Sith are inevitably doomed to fail in their conquest. But for someone who seems to be another Thrawn, you do look at things from another perspective.

By Thrawn, she meant someone who could judge you by your species' art.

 

[Dmitri]

Geist was surprised how Lamia took his lie. He couldn't tell if she believed him, but she seemed to disregard ill will by Lecchaememnon. The Grandmaster must be more strict than he initially thought. Perhaps Beric would have better information about it.

The metaphor to Thrawn's talent of inspecting species through their art. A wonderful compliment, though Geist doubted he was as talented as to inspire how a species would react simply through art. Something he decided to try to work on.

"Empires come and go," said Geist simply. "Nothing is immortal. If it is, then it would still be around today. It is up to the future to write whether a chapter shall chronicle an immortal galactic hegemony. But such to work, its leader must be immortal, for transitions between rulers is always rough and sometimes will split the factions into splinters. It may partly be why the Sith strive for immortality. The question you should always ask of an empire is not of whether it'll last, but how long it'll last. Only time will foretell the answer before us.

"I wonder, do you feel the Galactic Alliance will win? In the struggle between good and evil, evil has the advantage. Villains in the tale called reality are less confined to morals and responsibility that chain the protagonists of stories of the past. Do you feel that will change? Not impossible, but improbable. The heroes will continue to strive to preserve life while their nemeses will continue to disregard life to win. In the past, the heroes have won by cutting off the beast's head, allowing the body to fight amongst themselves. But I'm afraid that may not occur this time. As shown with the dethronement of Aevelus and Judicar, this Sith Empire is more united, and simply killing its leader or blowing up some doomsday device won't suffice to obtain victory. To win, the Empire must be crushed into oblivion. All must die. Can the Galactic Alliance do so? Can they wipe out every man, woman, and child brainwashed into the ways of Darth Exodeus? The Imperial Knights may be willing to do so, but the Jedi won't, and may even work to prevent that from happening. Thus, even if you gain the initiative, the forces of good will tense and turn on each other in order to find what path they find most suitable."

 

[Fusion]

The way things currently are, the Galactic Alliance has no hope of winning a full-scale war with the Sith. As I told Bezhevy on Sarka, if the Sith were to mount an offensive on the planet, they could overrun its defences in hours and probably capture the planet in a few weeks. Jedi are deserting in droves from the order because they feel its leadership is inept. The Galactic Alliance sits like a stagnant beast, the same way it did before Krayt's Empire practically destroyed it. Only this time, I see no hope for them. It is another Clone War, only this time the GA are the CIS. No hope for them to survive.

 

[Dmitri]

Lamia's mentioning of Bezhevy gave hint that his alias may still be in tact. Geist was surprised how easily Lamia admitted that Galactic Alliance would lose.

"However, in the Clone Wars, the CIS were secretly controlled by a Sith. The same as now, though the Sith lays in the Jedi rather than the Senate.

"I am curious, if you feel the Sith will win, why fight? Fighting costs lives. Many die for the sake of trying to fight, but if they're going to lose, why fight in which they'll die? Why not just surrender, lessening the amount of casualties? Does the Light Side preach that people must be slaughtered just so the Jedi and Imperial Knights can say they tried until they got wiped out? It seems like it would be best to go into hiding and attack after the Sith have won, when their guard is down, or when they turn on the Chiss, if it comes to it, though our Dark Lord of the Sith claims we won't turn on them, so for now we'll have to believe the Chiss won't become enemies down the road."

 

[Fusion]

The Imperial Knights, in all honesty, would have an easier time scraping the Empire down to size if the Galactic Alliance was broken down and the Jedi practically exterminated. A new rebellion would occur, and as a wise Force User once said: "All of this has happen before, and all of this will happen again." It is only inevitable that the path be taken again, as it was over the many thousands of years of recorded history. For the Light to win, the Dark must get the upper hand.

I, for one, fight the Sith because you have usurped my species' name. None of you today are worthy of the Sith name, and none of you helped my species in any way. All you have done was water down our bloodlines, commit massive atrocities, the scale of which is immeasurable, and make the galaxy look in shame on my race, wishing we had never been spawned. Do you know how many times in my life I have been treated poorly simply because I am a Sith? They hear the word and immediately connect me to the scum that usurped us.

So damn the Sith, damn the Darths, and damn you all for destroying all I had to live for. I have nothing but my friends now, and since I'm in this prison of a room, I don't even have that.

Lamia turned towards a corner and sat on the floor. She was upset, and in a bad mood. Weiss would have to do a lot of work to open her up.

 

[Dmitri]

Lamia spoke of her belief on how the Dark Side could be defeat once at its prime. Her willingness to let the Galactic Alliance and Jedi be sacrificed was very Sith-like, or maybe it was the Imperial Knights. Still, her belief had some merit, and could work if the Knight-Commander were to try, though Geist wondered if the woman would.

"True, the Sith will be weakest once they have depleted themselves against the Galactic Alliance and Jedi, the best time to strike," confessed Geist.

Lamia continued by stating that despite the Light Side losing the current war, why she continued to fight. Geist laughed. "It is very true. The Sith have ruined the image of perfection. They've replaced utopianism with darwinism. I confess I am no more worthy of the ancient Sith's name as you are to the current Sith. Sith are considered the bane, and this is due to their disregard to doing things artfully. They strive to destroy all in their path, rather than carve a beautiful path to walk that heralds victory all the same. It is like Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Revan had potential to redeem the Sith, but Malak overthrew him and brought the Sith back into destruction. Fear is vital to growth, for evolution, but the Sith use it too much, viewing it as a sigil to overcome rather than acknowledge as a way to grow. Fear should be used to improve one's self, not the lantern for paranoia and betrayal. This is fed by arrogance. Look at Darth Exodeus. He views himself as a god. Is he? As an atheist, I doubt such truth, but truth is not always comprehensible to all of us. It's better to marvel at the mysterious of the universe than to claim full understanding. Understanding is possible, but arrogance on a divine scale occurs when one claims wisdom over all. The grand design of the universe is a miracle of art and unless one holds omnipresence, the design cannot be marvelled completely or understood completely.

"This is why the Sith continue to fall. Their arrogance. I personally find arrogance the same as ignorance, so I strive to always overestimate my opponents rather than underestimate them. It's why I've survived so long. I have pride as an artist, not the ego of a conqueror." He laughed. "You know, it's said that the pinnacle of Sith power is the title of Darth, that all strive for it and will kill for it. Lamia Kressh, sorry to disappoint, but the stereotypes you believe we have of the Jedi and Imperial Knights, the Light Side does the same to the Dark Side. We do not all see the Dark Side as a tool for empowering one's self. I am the clause that shatters this stereotype. The Force, to me, is a tool for expressing one's passion and artistic ability. It's why I prefer alchemy over learning combat; though to be honest, I probably should improve my combat skills." He knew informing Lamia of his weakness in combat might inspire her to attack, but at the same time would plant a seed of underestimation in which Geist could exploit later. "I care nothing for power, but rather my passion is towards my art. I'll tell you a little secret. Not all aim for the title of Darth. I was offered it by the former Dark Lord of the Sith and I declined it. Let that be a lesson to you, Lamia Kressh: Not all of us who are in the Sith Order are here just for power and to execute acts that tarnish the name of the ancient Sith."

 

[Fusion]

I know. I made a pilgrimage to Malachor V several weeks ago, when I was trapped by the mass shadows still around the planet. A Sith, not only a Sith but a Dark Lord as well, entered the system and also became trapped by the gravity wells. He was called Umbra. Darth Umbra. We spoke, discussed the Force and all, before our ships drifted from the shadows and we went our separate ways. He seemed to be different from the other Sith, as do you in several ways. Also while there, I sensed Exodeus using the Dark Side to... change himself in some way. What way, I still do not know, but suffice to say he is not who he was before.

But if all you seek is power in the Dark Side, and not conquest or the like, why stay with the Sith? There are other ways to become powerful in the Darkness. Like the Jedi are not the only path to the Light, the Sith are not the only path to the Dark.