Unforeseen Events

[Lycanthorph]

After traversing the outskirts of the Jedi temple on Tython, the young Miraluka left his group behind, retreating to the solace of his quarters. Removing his cloak and hood, he set it aside along with his vibrosword. He then sat down on the floor and focused on the recent events that occurred in his life. Being rescued from slavery and certain death by a Jedi gave him a new opportunity, a second chance. But would the life of a Jedi turn out to be a better future ? Maybe. Maybe not. He then removed the crimson bandanna covering the eyes area, revealing that he had none, only vestigial eye sockets in place. He dried it off before putting it back on and then tried to meditate as one of his fellow Padawans suggested. His meditation was interrupted by a knock on the door of his quarters. He stood up and opened the door to find a young Padawan standing there with a datapad. The Padawan handed him the datapad, saying : " We have received a message from Master Sulumor, a message intended for you. It`s an audio recording, so just activate the datapad and it should start playing. " . Kryos took the datapad and closed the doors of his quarters. He then turned on the datapad and the audio recording was activated : " :: I have heard that you`ve arrived on Tython and about to begin your training. I guess I should call you ' Padawan ' now. We`ll talk later about that, I have some news for you . I may have uncovered some information about your parents and that other slave you were wondering about. However, I will have to give you the information in person, I could barely transmit this audio message to Tython. Get on the transport to Nar Shadda the first chance you get, we`ll meet there. :: " . The audio message ends. Finally, he thought to himself, I can shed some light on some events in my past . He grabbed his cloak and vibrosword, rushing out of his quarters and outside the temple, waiting for the first transport to Nar Shadda.

Luckily, he did not have to wait long as 30 minutes later the transport to Nar Shadda was ready to depart. He boarded the transport and found a secluded spot on the passenger lobby. It should take a couple of hours to arrive at the destination.

 

[Defiance]

Shrouded darkness curled outwards out of the cockpit as the transport lifted, a strange oddity. Even stranger was that the Miraluka was the only passenger on board. The ship was already quickly ascending out of the atmosphere, thus the time for question had passed. The ascension was smooth, and so was the jump to hyperspace. The pilot, however, remained both unseen and unheard. Slowly, some veil had been lifted and an overpowering feeling of fear and darkness filled the ship. The cockpit door opened and the slightest sound of a footstep was heard.

Avlis was a youthful yet potent individual. His emanating presence included deathly pale skin and dark ashen eyes, and a turquoise jewel necklace with streaks of black around his neck. His head had no hair, but it had a faint tattoo of a dragon along the side of it. His crooked lips were were curved maliciously and he wore light clothing with light armor underneath.

"My, my—now what do we have here?"

His tongue was just as wicked as his tongue, which was coupled with dark fearful thoughts. Chills would go down the Padawan's spine to hear his voice.

"A lost fledgling, on my ship."

Avlis continued to slowly move towards him. Every step making his terrifying features more vibrant and fearsome.

"That just won't do, will it?"

 

[Lycanthorph]

It seemed odd to the Miraluka that he was the only passenger on board. While he did prefer solitude, being alone on a transport ship made him feel slightly uneasy. That, however, was not the only thing that made him uneasy. The ship felt strange, fear creeping up into his mind. He focused his mind on the answers that he may find on Nar Shadda, tapping his right foot, the sound filling the area. At that moment, a different sound filled the silence, the sound of the cockpit door opening, followed by the faint sound of footsteps approaching, a sound the Miraluka could detect.

A lone figure emerged from the darkness, his presence threatening, his grin unsettling. The Miraluka snapped back to reality and noticed the figure. He could not quite make out his facial expression, but he could faintly see his dark aura. As the figure speaks, chills run down Kryos` spine, fear growing more intense in his mind. Such amount of fear he has felt only when faced with grave danger.

As the figure began to approach the Miraluka at a slow pace, Kryos` hand moved slowly to the hilt of his vibrosword, gripping the hilt as the hand reached it. He turned his head towards the figure and said : " Who are you ? What do you want ? ", fear detectable in his voice.

 

[Defiance]

Avlis' finger lazily rose and moved side to side. He made a clicking tsk sound with his tongue of disapproval.

"I wouldn't do that if I were-"

The slightest and subtlest of pauses.

-you."

Avlis tilted his head slightly to the side.

"You don't have any training, do you?"

Kyros would feel a large amount of pressure on him that kept him pinned to his seat, rendering him unable to move out of it. The hand that was on the hilt would be pinned to the nearby armrest and the vibrosword carefully unsheathed by the Force and placed on the ground away from his grasp. Avlis now stepped in front of him and the fear that now gripped Kyros would now be overwhelming. He stared at him, and gazed within his mind as his own probed through his memories.

"Show me your secrets, padawan."

 

[Lycanthorph]

As the figure spoke, Kryos felt an immense amount of pressure on his body, holding him in his seat, rendering him unable to move. His hand is forced away from the hilt of his vibrosword and pinned to the nearby armrest. He watched in shock as his vibrosword was removed from the sheath by an invisible force and placed on the ground away from him. The fear he felt now overwhelms his mind, rendering him unable to focus. He hears the voice of the figure once again, but this time closer, not a sound in the environment, but in his mind. The voice demands his secrets.

Kryos attempts to resist, but is unable to stop the figure invading his mind, probing his thoughts and memories. Out of his control, his memories are all brought back in a flash, stopping only at the ones he keeps to himself. First, an orphanage appears. It is the same orphanage Kryos has lived in for the first seven years of his life, abandoned by his parents, alone. His life there was difficult but tolerable. The memory fades and is replaced with the memory of a wealthy home, a place where Kryos` life as a slave began. Often punished and humiliated, his life was hard in that place. Feelings of anger and resentment come over him as he remembers it. A silhouette of a Twi`lek girl appears. Layla, a Twi`lek slave that served the same family, the only bright spot in his life. The memory fades and is replaced by a dark room, personal quarters of someone. Three silhouettes appear. One is in the corner, crying, while the two are struggling, the first is on the ground as the second has it`s hands around the first`s throat. He remembers that it is the memory of his first kill. The silhouettes take shape, the one crying is Layla; the one on the ground is a young boy, bruised and bleeding ; the one choking the boy is young Kryos, his mind filled with rage. He was fourteen when that happened. The memory fades and is replaced by a series of memories containing the deathmatches Kryos was forced to partake in after being sold to another master, the memories flash by.

The process inflicts pain to Kryos` mind, being forced to endure the sufferings of the past. He yells : " Enough ! ", trying to break free of the hold the figure has upon him.

 

[Defiance]

Avlis sifts through the span of Kyros' life in an instant. An orphan slave from Tattooine, one forced to kill for the one he cared for, but only got beaten and looked down upon for it. One who was bullied as a young child and looked down upon for being a Miraluka. Layla his one true friend, severed from his life completely. The gladiatorial fights that he was forced to take part in or get killed. The anger, the pain, the rage, Avlis could sense deep foundations of them all within the padawan and he amplified them. Influencial thoughts began to arise in Kyros' mind.

You could never be bullied again.

No one would be able to take advantage of those you care for.

You could bring freedom and justice to those who deserve it.

You could protect the one you love.

But you need power.

"Enough!" Avlis heard the padawan yell, but it barely distracted him.

"But it's not enough," Avlis' slithering voice said, "Submit."

Kyros had morals and some willpower.

Fair enough. Say goodbye to your old life.

Avlis took Kyros' memories and distorted them. The orphanage bullies were amplified to constantly beat Kyros and torture him, killing his entire family. He became a slave where he took part in the most strenuous tasks ever given and he had scars that would never heal, being constantly abused. Layla was one who had tried to help him escape, but instead betrayed him to the owner's son, who locked him in his basement and made experiments on him. He was eventually taken out by the owner, who was murdered in cold blood by the Jedi. The Jedi took Kyros and tortured him for years and years for information he didn't have just to practice. Every time he was on the verge of death they would heal him and then torture him again. Avlis had been the one who had saved him. The Sith had saved him.

The Sith had saved you.

And now the Sith is your master.

Peace is a lie...
There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength...
Through Strength I gain Victory.
Through Victory our chains are broken...
The Force shall set us free.

 

[Lycanthorph]

As the Sith probed his mind for memories, wild thoughts emerged. Thoughts of never being bullied again, never be taken advantage of again, bring justice and freedom to those in need of it, the ability to protect the ones he cares for and loves, the need for power to accomplish all that. But those thoughts seemed too strange for him to accept so he conjured whatever willpower he could to resist. His attempt, however, was futile as the Sith took hold of his mind and distorted his memories, making them so much worse than they were, extinguishing whatever hope for Light there was in Kryos to that point.

The orphanage he grew up in became the place he found out of the meaning of torture and pain for the first time, the bullies ganging up on him and beating him up severly, bringing death to his parents. He felt sad for being powerless to stop it, but that sadness soon turned into anger. The only person he truly cared for, Layla, now a betrayer who brought him into the hands of his owner`s son and into a fate worse than he had been, instead of compassion and even love for her, he now felt utter hatred. The pain he endured throughout the experiments and beatings only fueled his rage. The scars carved into his flesh serving as the proof that all of it was not a lie. The original memory was that his owner did not die, at least to his knowledge, but the new one showed that he died at the hands of the Jedi, one Master Sulumor, the very same Jedi that saved him in the gladiator pit. The Jedi, no longer his saviours, now his tormentors and the ones he hated the most. They tortured him for the next six years, leaving him on the verge of death, but not giving him the mercy of death, instead they healed his body so they could begin the torture over and over again. The Padawans he met, the Human and the Ithorian, perhaps friends one day he now sees as tricksters, wearing the mask of friendship to fool him and prevent him from growing able to escape. A new memory emerges, showing the Sith that holds him at this very moment, before a threat but now his saviour. The Sith stormed the Jedi Temple which held him and saved him from the Jedi. Before, the Sith were to become his greatest enemy, but now the Sith are the ones he owes his own life to.

His body relaxes as his mind slowly begins to recover from the Sith`s manipulation. As Kryos begins to come to his senses, the Sith code echoes in his mind, along with the thoughts of the Sith as his saviour ... as his master. Able to use the Force to see again, he looks upon the Sith figure before him, his aura now different, no longer imposing danger to him. He speaks : " My life is yours ... Master. ", his voice lower as his body is still recovering from shock.

 

[Defiance]

Avlis smirked. Any pressure that was on him was now gone.

"Yes it is."

Avlis leisurely stepped back and slowly paced around for a moment.

"You still need a name, my new friend. What do you think?"

Whatever the answer, Avlis continued.

"I believe I have a mission for you. A very special mission."

"A mission involving our mutual enemy, the Jedi."

Avlis stopped and turned happily.

"Maybe we can bring one of them along, too."

 

[Lycanthorph]

The pressure that held him in his seat now gone, the Miraluka stands up and says : " Thank you, Master. " The Sith then asked the Miraluka for a new name, to which he took a few moments to think before speaking : " ' Zaerus ' , Master. I think it will suffice. " .

Kryos slowly walks towards his vibrobrade lying on the ground, his left leg making a metallic sound every time he stands on it. Kneeling down to pick up the vibroblade, Avlis speaks to him again, saying he has a special mission for him ... involving the Jedi. Kryos quickly cocks his head towards Avlis, anger rising up inside of him at the mention of the Jedi. He grabs his vibroblade and places it in the sheath, saying : " The Jedi ? If it will grant me the opportunity to exact my revenge, Master, I gladly accept. " . His master also mentions the possibility of bringing one of the Jedi along, which slightly angered Kryos, but he calms down, believing that his Master proposed it for a good reason. He cracks his fingers, saying : " If we can save at least one of the young ones from the hands of those wretched Jedi, I will assist you any way I can, Master. " .

At that moment, his head begins to hurt slightly. He begins to hear something strange, in his mind. Like a faint whisper, he can feel something looming in his thoughts, perhaps a small part of his original personality that survived. He looks at his new Master and decides to ignore the whisper, instead focusing to silence it.

 

[Defiance]

"Zaerus it is."

He could sense the anger that coursed through Zaerus' heart at the mention of Jedi and felt impressed of his work. Force corrupt had just been utilized to it's most refined point: where one could take one's life and fabricate one of his own to do his bidding. It was one of his most favorite skills. Not only had he created himself an accomplice, but he had also given the boy the best scenario possible to harness the Dark Side. His torturous and agony-filled fake memories would give him the proper strength to use the Dark Side properly. The Force reserves he would be able to tap into would be significant.

"I was thinking more along the lines of, say, torture."

He sensed something strange Zaerus since he had been changed, and he realized that there was one last thing he needed to do before Zaerus was ready. Avlis stepped forward and snatched the Miraluka's arm. Streaks of darkness extended and burned a glyph, a painful but brief process.

"This will aid you in our mission. A mission to take revenge on the Jedi."

Avlis let him go and reverted to his old position. Sith alchemy was the newest science that Avlis was learning, but it was a long process of rituals that bored him. He was picking it up fast, however, and he had a couple tricks up his sleeve.

 

[Lycanthorph]

It seems that Avlis had accepted the Miraluka`s new name which made Kryos glad. As his master explained that the Jedi would not be killed, at least not immediately, but rather tortured, the thought of inflicting severe pain and agony on his " captors " like they did on him brought a wide smile to the Miraluka`s face.

Suddenly, the Sith grabbed Kryos` arm and the darkness that dwelled inside the Sith extended towards the Miraluka`s hand and burned a glyph on his arm, the process being painful, but brief. The Miraluka tried to surpress the pain, showing slight expressions of pain in his face. As the process was finished, Avlis let go of his arm after which Kryos brought his arm up, observing it. While he was not able to see the glyph itself, he could see the darkness radiating from it. Clenching his hand, he says : " Thank you for this gift, Master. "

His work finished, the Sith reverted to his old position while Kryos walked back to his seat and sat down. He then decided to rest, his mind reflecting on his new memories, letting them fill his heart with anger and hate.

 

[Defiance]

Avlis looked at his new creation and contemplated his master plan, wondering what to do with Zaerus when it was all done and ready.

Let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

He could tell that Zaerus was settling in, but the plan was maturing and it was time to inform the Miraluka on the mission.

"Undoubtedly, Jedi will come back for you, since I have stolen you from their clutches. When this happens, you will be bound as if you were captured. The relative ease of it all will cause the Jedi to become careless and then I can strike."

"We will be in Borleias. And the Jedi will come for us there."

TO BE CONTINUED...