Open The Korriban Patricide

[Alicia Drey]

​

K O R R I B A N;

Hate is a funny thing. It is such a strange sensation to know that you hated the place you live but oddly miss it due to another. Korriban was a cold, unforgiving planet. Alicia found it colder then space itself. Such was her dislike of the coldness of the planet that at odd hours of the night (or day, it was sometimes hard to tell the difference) missing the harshness of Kalist and it's dying star. Even in the shade of the mountain- out of the eye of the planet's unforgiving primary- it had been so hot in the day that you could only venture outside in the early hours of dusk to escape the confines of the prefabricated garrisons that her predecessors had erected in the two decades since they had landed on the barren rock.

At least Korriban had an Empire to bring it food, water and the other things required for some type of life. Alicia hadn't had that in the place she had called home. In the end she had been the last of the survey team to survive. Although they hadn't known it at the time they had been sent to their deaths by another world called Chandrila. The way her parents and the others they had been surviving with described the world as something akin to a paradise. Fields of Balmgrass and Warren Trees for all the eye to see. On Kalist they had a garden of it built with the help of an underwater reservoir that her biological father had helped excavate in the first year. Eventually the water had run out. The crops all died. By the last year Alicia Drey was all that was left.

The Ghost of Kalist VI.

Discovered by a Sith Champion by the name of Dylus Syn on her last day on the precipice of a cliff during dusk. Ready to jump and end it all before the thirst took her into the afterlife. But he had stopped her. Took her in and made her his property for three years. Taught her in the ways of the dark side and in that time she would rise to the same position as he in the Sith Order.

Now Dylus was gone. Discovered dead by an Acolyte some three standard weeks ago. The rumours which followed immediately pointed the blame in her direction. They were fuelled by the fact that she was due to leave Korriban on board one of the Empire's new Destroyers that were set to enter the known Galaxy. If Alicia was responsible for the murder of the Champion Dylus Syn then leaving the planet and disappearing into the confines of the Empire would be the first step in getting away with it. But Dylus had been a good teacher and the Sith were taught to be more cunning then this. It was too obvious of a method to escape such a crime.

Yet Alicia was leaving and she would depart Korriban soon. Dylus' murderer hadn't yet been discovered. The other question that came to bear was whether or not anyone really cared that he was dead?

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse was biding her time. Her new apprentice had just left, leaving her alone on Korriban. Her mind was reeling and unwelcome emotions were flooding her gut. She decided a walk was necessary to clear her head and chest. She was doing just that when she saw a blonde woman standing on an overlook. She paused, trying to place who this woman was. The woman turned and suddenly Verse recognized her. This was the previous apprentice of a champion named Dylus Syn, who had been murdered three weeks ago. Other Sith where whispering that the woman, Alicia, had killed him. Verse didn't know if this was true or not- it seemed to obvious and not well-thought out for her to have done, but maybe that's what she wanted them to think. Verse stayed a good distance back when Alicia's eyes landed on her, waiting to see what the woman would do.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

A tall yet fragile looking blonde stood upon the ledge of a balcony overlooking the Sith Temple's main entrance. There were other side entrances and exits to the complex that Dylus had shown her in her first few days since joining the Order three years ago. But Alicia had always preferred the use of the gigantic mouth like entryway that led into the main atrium of the temple. It was here that she could get a view of her threats, competition or potential allies as they went about their day.

I can't wait to leave this rock, Alicia thought to herself as her eyes surveyed the atrium. It was barely morning time. Dusk. A sandstorm the night before had blown in enough sand from the desert into the entryway to cover much of the ancient sand-rock slabs that made up the ancient temple. She had been watching Acolytes tasked with cleaning up the debris before the rest of the Academy woke up when an Arkanian caught her eye.

Verse was looking up at her and Alicia met her gaze with a sombre, depressed gaze. Through the Force Alicia felt that the woman was uneasy. Her mind racing on something. For the woman looked down at her she exuberated nothing else but a deep depression that gave her a sorrowful, tired look. Like Alicia hadn't slept properly in a long time. Bags rested beneath the sulphuric yellow that were her eyes atop pale skin that had a red tinge: an old injury picked up from her adolescence on Kalist VI.

"Good morning," Alicia said to Verse. Since being brought to Korriban by Dylus some three standard years ago Alicia had learned that politeness was an oddity among the students who had been brought here to become Sith. It often disarmed them. Sometimes inflicted doubt or benign trust in her.

Averting her gaze from Verse back to the Acolytes she continued to watch their work. There was nobody monitoring them. They were the weaklings- the ones who weren't going to make it. If they were lucky they would be sent off-world to join some type of Corps in the Outer Rim Territories to continue serving the Empire in some capacity. She felt sorry for them.

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse tilted her head when the woman greeted her, and almost as if she had flipped a switch, the conflict that had been flooding her was gone- she was cold and emotionless once more. The woman looked exhausted and for good reason- her master had recently been discovered murdered. Verse could feel her depression through the Force, and she wondered if she had been close to her deceased master.

Alicia was watching the Acolytes move the debris with a kind of cold detached-ness. Verse recognized that look as one she had worn herself on many an occasion. She looked down again and walked back inside the temple, walking up stairs to the balcony Alicia was on. As she walked she questioned herself. In two days, she had talked more to other people than she had in a standard month. She shook her head as she walked. It was for more power, she told herself. The more people she knew and the more influence she had the more powerful she'd become and then she could leave this wretched place.

She came out onto the balcony behind the woman, and paused about a hundred yards away. "You're leaving soon," she said as a way of starting a conversation. Obviously, she was spectacular at this.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

It was a roaring sound she had never heard before that made her look upwards. For the first time she could see what a ship could do up there. Hot air assaulted her like razor blades as it drew closer. So much so that she was forced to take steps away from the precipice of the mountain. Within moments the shadow of the ship caught her as it turned side-wards to expose it's landing ramp down. Doors opened and a hooded figure lowered a menacing gaze upon he-

Alicia hadn't seen Verse joined her on the balcony by the time she had greeted her. "Yeah," she replied softly to the Arkanian. For a moment she bit back the desire to explain that she was looking forward to getting away from Korriban. "I do not remember you. I do not think we have met before. Who are you?"

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse paused. She could feel the pain of the past haunting the woman before her, even as she spoke softly.

"I am Verse Tillo, a Sith champion like yourself," she replied vaguely. "I have heard of you and your master," she said. Alicia would be of no use to the Sith (or to Verse for that matter) if her focus was inward. Or at least, that's what she told herself was her excuse for her backhand method of seeing if the woman was alright. She obviously wasn't, and her prying would not help. But Verse could not stifle her curiosity.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

Alicia nodded and turned to lean her hip on the side of the balcony so she could look Verse in the eye. "Yeah. Did you know Dylus?"

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse's face was expressionless. "Not well," she said honestly. She had only known he was quite powerful and ambitious, more ambitious than she. "You were close to him," she said, not phrasing it as a question. She could feel it in the Force, even if Alicia wouldn't admit it herself.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

"No. We weren't close. I know what that feels like. Dylus and I didn't have that." Alicia studied her nails for a moment and found dirt under her index finger. As she begun to clean the nail with her fingers she continued speaking. "I can see why you would think we were. You hear a lot of stories of Sith and their relationships with their pupils. Some lie and give them the false notion of importance. Others take it to a more personal level to satiate whatever desires they have."

"I have seen a lot of this. I recognise the abuse. It is a vicious cycle. Dylus and I told each other no lies. There was no misunderstandings. No falsehoods or grand notions. His honesty was his one admirable attribute but the truth of the matter is that we are all better for him no longer sharing the same air with us."

As she paused to admire her now clean fingernail Alicia realised that this was the first person who had had the strength to approach her and talk about Dylus. Of course she knew about the rumours about her but she had paid them no attention. They were of no consequence. Even though she would never admit it somewhere deep there was a part of her that cared Dylus was gone. He had saved her life in a way. But she would never acknowledge that because she wouldn't allow herself too.

Dylus had been a good teacher in that way.

"Are you looking into what happened to him, Verse Tillo?"

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse was silent as she listened to Alicia. She wondered what road she would go down with her own pupil. "Yes. However, I am not part of a formal investigation, I am merely curious. I do not believe you killed him, based just on first impressions," she said, using a tone of voice that made it seem as if she truly believed that. This girl didn't know Verse, didn't know how she worked- unbeknownst to her, Verse was calculating the situation, evaluating everything- every twitching muscle, the look in Alicia's eyes, and how she focused on her nails.

 

[Alicia Drey]

Alicia looked up from her fingers to look Verse in the eye again. "I think you are the only person who does not think I killed him. But then again I am the only one who really knows what happened to Dylus Syn. What do you think happened to him?"

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse had to think over her response before she said anything. "I think," she started, "that Dylus Syn was killed by a jealous Sith champion. Their goal may have been to frame you," she finished. It sounded like a good enough, basic theory that could be argued for and against. "I do not have enough information to make a well-rounded decision, however. What really happened?"

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

The theory had weight. It was a story that Alicia imagined Verse had heard many times in an assortment of different, yet similar ways over the past three years since her induction into the Sith Order. All of them had involved the disappearance of prisoners of war that had been taken to the Academy for students to learn lessons from or Acolytes who had made too many enemies.

Alicia had done well to avoid those pitfalls. She was confident that there were some students who had developed some forms of jealously about her considered that she had been studying under Dylus Syn. Whether it was because of the man's reputation in the Academy or not they were too scared of her to try anything Alicia did not know.

She had spent sometime thinking about it too and had made the realisation that it was a form of conceit to imagine others being jealous of her. So when it had come to navigating the trials and tribulations set for her as she made her rise through the ranks Alicia hadn't paid it much attention. Better to react with feeling and emotion in the moment then to worry about the possibilities of assassination attempts or incurring the wraith of one of Dylus' rivals.

"It is true that Dylus had many rivals, and I am sure a lot of them have breathed a little easier over the past month since he was found deceased. In fact I imagine it is because of his rivals that not much fuss has been made about his death in the academy. Whoever his rivals were I don't know. The man never confided in me all that much."

"But if I were talking to any of them I would simply tell them that the man had caught himself a bout of melancholy and had taken his own life."

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse pondered at this new information. "It is entirely possible for him to have taken his own life rather than having been killed by a jealous rival; Sith are more prone to these sucide-causing negative emotions," she said. "It shows the strength of one's character to overcome this, growing overall." she said. "You are a champion, are you not? Have you considered taking your own apprentice, to pass on what Syn taught you?"

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

Alicia paused to consider the question. My own Apprentice. The prospect of having her own student was something that she had considered since rising to her current position in the Sith Order. But even now, as she considered Verse and the idea of it, she knew her current answer.

"I have nothing to teach that such a person could not already find here on Korriban learning from men like Dylus." She had been careful not to add in someone like you into her answer too. They had also almost slipped out. It wasn't the fear of creating a rival. Sith were known to be conceited people- regardless of species- who would start a feud over something as small like that. Neither did Alicia consider herself intimidated by the Arkanian.

It was more like Alicia didn't want to offend the woman opposite her mainly because she didn't know who she was. Something that she had learned during her time on Korriban was that people were so quick to burn bridges to satisfy their own ego or display some type of self-seen superiority over an individual they considered a rival via proxy of the fact that they too were trying to become Sith.

But Alicia had never operated like that. When she had defeated her opponents in the training sensations via the use of dulled Vibroblades she always offered a helping hand to them afterwards. When she came across those types who found such actions to be a form of 'weakness' Alicia had been quick to intimidate and coerce them into not challenging her openly in front of others.

Those who she felt were threats were quick to find themselves in the training ring with her during sessions under Dylus or the other instructors in the Academy. This way she could shut down such competition in front of the others and keep them from trying to do anything to her. Those whom she could she could not best always found her to be an amenable individual who was better to work alongside with rather then intimidate, challenge or outright bully.

Her experiences as an Acolyte were still fresh. Fresh enough that as she thought about the prospect of her own student she realised that it would be a waste of her time. The things that she had to teach were the same as what any other Sith on Korriban could contribute.

When the day came that Alicia Drey would take on an Apprentice would be a time where they would be different to the Sith she had lived with for the past three years. By then she intended to be different too. Something more.

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse could almost hear the words the woman had not spoken. She knew she had not intimidated the woman, and she hadn't meant to, either. "So many Sith currently are falling under the illusion that isolation is key, that connection to anyone makes you weak- but they are thinking too much like the Jedi. United we stand, but divided we fall." Verse had heard about the Jedi on Kashyyyk and quite honestly thought their situation was funny. No one seemed to care for the Jedi at the moment.

 

[Alicia Drey]

Alicia found herself in disagreement. "The Sith code demands individuality. It tells you that peace is a lie there is only passion. Therefore if there is to be no peace there is only the opposite which can be interpreted in different ways. Some Sith see no peace means there must always be war. Others confrontation. Certainly a form of selfishness. As for the rest of the code it tells 'you' that you must be strong, must be powerful, must be victorious."

"In the case of victory it can be accomplished with others but as we both kno-" Alicia caught herself again. Taking a deep breath, she rephrased her thoughts. "Rather what I know from my time on Korriban is that, yes, you can accomplish victory by coercing or convincing others to 'help' you but in doing so you could be just a means to an end for another, or they come to realise they were your means, and therefore betrayal often follows."

Pouting her lips at the thought of being betrayed by another Alicia averted her gaze from Verse to look down at the atrium. "Besides... I have seen people working together for most of my life. In the end they turned on each other. Others gave up. Those who continued suffered accidents, or surrendered to the coil of their lives, leaving others behind to bury them in the dirt. They were only as strong so long as they had each other, and when they no longer had anyone else, they withered away."

"But if they had the self-preservation to become stronger as an individual- like the code teaches, I think- perhaps none of that would have happened. I watched a man give his last piece of fruit to someone he didn't even like a few days before he passed from heatstroke. But if he had that fruit to himself perhaps the thirst wouldn't have taken him. I couldn't help him. She couldn't help him- for she had ate his last fruit."

"That isn't going to happen to me. Not anymore."

@Verse Tillo

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse had certainly gotten the woman talking. Yes, I suppose you could look at it like that. But even still, there are no real connections. Everyone is a means to something. The ones who do try at love are sorely disappointed, and for good reason. she said. That was as much as she was going to say on that subject, while still keeping up her emotionless expression.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

"Without love there can be no real connection between two or more people. Any relationship bound by other expectations- like a business arrangement, friendship or trust- are bound to fail. This is one of the many reasons why peace is a lie, I feel."

@Verse Tillo @Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

"Yes, I agree." Verse knew even love was fickle. She lived shut off from everybody, and for the most part it had been beneficial to her. But, if she wanted to rise in power and get out, she had to interact. She had to become a master at not only manipulating her feelings but manipulating others. Alicia, however, did not look like one who would be easy to manipulate. Good for her.

@Exulae