Too Bad, So Sad, tag: Telos

[Braelyn]

The Plague was gone, but it still left him feeling a bit off, like it had tainted him somehow. He definitely didn't like that feeling, and was searching for a way to rid himself of it. However he had never, ever been very good at anything remotely to do with healing. He was a Guardian. He fought and fought well but healing was beyond him. An instructor had once put it that he simply didn't have the focus for delicate tasks. Braelyn quite honestly agreed.

Still, it would have been nice right about now, because he knew they would be coming from him. He'd heard something about interrogation, and wanted to be at full strength. He didn't know what they expected to get from him, except for maybe the location of the Praxeum, but they would be utterly foolish to think he would ever give that up. He would die before he did that.

So instead of concentrating on something he couldn't do he decided to try and think of ways to get them all of this. Pelimi first, the girl second, but the girl... was in more immediate danger. She had betrayed her Order, and they were not the nicest bunch. If a Jedi had a major problem with the doctrine, usually they had their lightsaber taken and were sent on their way. Here it seemed they were killed, and he didn't want that fate for her when all she had done was try to help. Misguidedly maybe, but she still had. That alone made him think that he needed to help her. If she could be that way after what had presumably been a long time among these Darksiders, then perhaps she would find the Jedi more to her tastes.

What to do... At the moment he had no idea, but that didn't phase him. Large scale tactics he had some skill at, but he much preferred to go with his gut. So he would see an opportunity and cease it. In the meantime he would continue to think, but try not to stress. Stress was not good when one was likely to be tortured for information.

[Aeora Vitate]

Aeora's unconscious body was dragged away from where the Slayer had landed, never once making a motion of movement or a sound of awareness. Her neck and chin was stained with blood from the vicious stomp to the face that she had received at the hands of her master, Seth. She had never even had a chance to explain herself. Would she? Who knew what horrors awaited her when she finally woke. However, the horrors that were currently plaguing the young girl's mind were enough. As her physical body was dragged to the medical bay, so she could be revived and then probably tortured again, the girl began to shake violently as if having a seizure. Bloody froth came from her mouth and the storm troopers who were dragging her began to hurry along, thinking that the girl was knocking on death's door. As she was placed on a medical bed and medical staff attended to her, her eyes began to move wildly underneath their lids.


A month ago...


"There?" Aeora asked, standing beside her master. The girl was dressed in her usual garb that consisted of black robes. However, this time Seth insisted that she put a black cloak on over all of that, much like the one that he usually wore himself. She stood there, looking unsure, at the task that he had just given her.

They stood in a forest on a planet called Yavin 4. The entire forest felt as if it was watching her and it almost overwhelmed her in the Dark Side. Before they had landed in a clearing in the middle of the forest, Seth had even warned her of the dark forces on this planet. What did he hope to have her learn by this task? Before them both was a shadowy cave. It looked more like a giant hole in the ground, however.

"Enter here," Seth said, walking to the edge of the great hole. The canopy of the forest was blocking out the majority of the sun's light, giving the entire forest a creepy dim look to it. Wind blew threw the trees, shaking them and making them protest and moan. "The path through the cave is well drawn, with few side passages. Make it through here to the other side before the sun has set. If you do not... I can not tell you what will become of you."

Aeora stared at Seth with a look of disbelief as she approached the great hole and peered down into it. She shook her head negatively. There was no way she was going to jump down that! The girl began to take a step back when there was a sudden invisible push in her back that made her fall forward into the hole. She tried to grasp one of the roots on her way down but failed and plummeted into darkness. She seemed to fall for an eternity and before she even hit the ground, the light from the hole above disappeared. Aeora screamed as she fell in complete and utter darkness, until suddenly her scream was interrupted as she hit water. She nearly lost it as she hit the water. Luckily she was screaming and pushing air out, instead of breathing in. The water came as a complete surprise and she quickly pushed upwards and tried to make her way back up to the surface.

It took the girl several moments of fearful splashing and near drowning before she finally made her way to the waters edge and lifted herself up onto a rocky shore. The girl laid there for a long moment, staring up into the darkness above. Even as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could not make out a damn thing. The cave was completely and utterly devoid of light. How was she supposed to make her way through this? Aeora rolled over onto her hands and knees and crawled a few steps forward until her face hit a dirty wall. She made a face, spitting dirt out of her mouth as she followed the wall up until she was standing. "Seth?" she asked, her voice echoing through the cave in the most eerie way imaginable. She began breathing heavily as she blindly walked along, using the wall to guide her way.

After a few minutes of walking and feeling as if she was going no where, the girl's hand passed over something cold and wet. She again made a face and rubbed her fingers together, feeling the slippery consistency of the fluid. Suddenly in the distance of the cave, or perhaps it was closer than she thought, she heard footsteps moving away from her. Again, her breath rate increased and her heart rate climbed in fear. "Seth?" she asked again, her voice echoing as it did before. The footstep sounds stopped, the final one echoing back to her ears more loudly than the previous ones. A low hiss was then heard. It was quiet at first. However, the sound grew louder and louder until it finally made out a distinguishable word.

"Aeora."

The word was spoken by a hissing unnatural voice that was so frightening that it made the girl stumble backwards, tripping on lose rock and falling onto her back. She cowered in the darkness, curling into a fetal position as tears came to her eyes. What evil did Seth throw her in here with?! Aeora laid on the floor for what seemed to be an eternity, before she finally felt the pain in her side. What was she laying on? Finally summoning the bravery to move, she reached to her side and felt the metallic hilt of her lightsaber. YES!

Standing quickly and drawing her blade, the girl flicked on the weapon. The cave lit up as if it was the brightest light imaginable. In such dark places, it only took a little light to relieve the dark. Here, her lightsaber was suddenly the brightest object she had ever seen. Aeora squinted and stood still for a long while, allowing her eyes to adjust to the new light that was being provided. The low hum of her lightsaber didn't really help matters, however, as the cave was now filled with the eerie sound. Even so, she would take the sound over complete darkness any day.

Swallowing and knowing there was no going back, Aeora proceeded forward into the cave, moving much quicker than before. Leading with her lightsaber, she was less afraid of running into something or someone, because she had been training heavily with Seth lately on her techniques. Confident with that, she finally picked up a jog, moving towards the exit of the cave. At least, she hoped she was.

After some time, Aeora finally exited the tunnel that she had been running through and entered what looked to be a large chamber within the cave. There was a great hole in the center of the chamber and the ceiling was so high that it was out of sight. She moved to the edge of the hole and held her lightsaber up like a torch, lighting the area sufficiently enough to see the other side of the chamber. There were no other exits that she could make out, except for another tunnel similar to the one that she had just exited, which was located on the opposite side of the hole. She quickly began to make her way around the hole, a little smile coming to her face with the sudden ease of her mission. As she moved, she noticed movement in the great hole in the center of the room.

What the hell is that? she wondered. In the violet light of her lightsaber, she could make out what looked to be a ton of squirming, slimy looking creatures that were writhing all over one another. It looked as if the hole was slap full of very large worms. However, in the center of these worms, she suddenly noticed a lone figure standing there. The form was completely black and featureless, except for two red eyes that looked up at her as if it was staring into her soul. Filled with fear once more, Aeora kept her eyes trained on the form almost as if she was hypnotized, as she slowly stopped moving for the exit of the cave. She then took a step forward.... and then another... and then another.... What am I doing?! Stop! Stop!" Against her will, Aeora reached the edge of the hole and stepped into it, falling to her doom within the hundreds of wormlike creatures.

She was rubbed against by the worms. Slime felt like was covering her entire body. Her lightsaber went dark and left her hand. She was being pushed in a direction. Despite the darkness, she felt that the worms were pushing her to the center of the hole. Towards the dark figure. Towards death? Aeora struggled within the worms, however it was all in vain. She was suddenly ejected out of the wall of worms and landed on her back in the center of the hole where she had seen the red eyes. The wind was pushed out of her lungs as she hit the ground and she moaned, gasping for breath. Then there was light as her violet blade was flicked on, now in the hands of the black figure.

The black figure, resembling a shadow more than anything else, moved over to her and squatted down. It's red eyes peered at her almost curiously as it held out her lightsaber to her, allowing the blade to touch the sleeve of her clothing, causing it to singe and burn away. Aeora tried to move, but now that she was looking into the figures eyes, she found that she could not. "Wh.... what are you?" she stammered to the figure.

Suddenly, the figure leaned in close to her and grabbed her by either side of the head. Aeora's eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped as it spoke in the raspy voice that she had heard before. "I... am Exar Kun..." the figure said. The girl shook her head wildly then as the dark figure squeezed her head between his palms and it felt as if he was touching her mind. "No! No! Get off me!" the girl shrieked, her voice cracking as it was the loudest sound that she had ever made. She continued to fight against the figure for what felt like forever, until she fell unconscious with exhaustion.

Her eyes fluttered open as she came back around. Aeora sat up, looking out of the cave's exit towards the forest. The sun was high above the trees, casting welcome light down onto her. She slowly came to her feet and exited the cave, her hand moving down to her belt where she found her lightsaber. As she stepped out of the cave, she glanced back inside, wondering what the hell just happened. Where had Seth sent her?

"You made it out."

The voice made the young girl jump as she turned to look at Seth. She walked quickly towards him and stopped herself before she wrapped her arms around his neck. She wanted to hug him or something. She was so freaking glad she just made it out of that place. "What was that place, Seth?"

"A place strong in the Dark Side. It is good that you are alive, girl. But... six days? I was just about to give up on you and leave."



Present time...



The horrors of that experience filled her mind, except now... the figure had a face in her memories. The figure told her of many things. Many mysteries that were playing through her mind were now solved. The Sith order was revealed to her and in that time that she laid there on the bed in the medical bay, she was converted. A dramatic thing occurred then, as she was being baptized in the Dark Side. The girl sacrificed her rights. Her right to think and to control. Exar Kun was now her god. He was everything. He was... within her.

A little later...

Aeora suddenly opened her eyes and tried to move. However, her arms were restrained out to either side as if she was being persecuted, the energy beams holding her arms immobile. Her legs were restrained as well, keeping her pinned in the air. As her consciousness was restored, her new demeanor quickly fell over her features. The color faded from her cheeks and her eyes became as red as her new master's. The girl's hair lost it's glossy appeal and several clumps of it fell out, falling to the floor around her. Aeora clenched down her jaw so violently that several of her teeth cracked, turned yellow, and her gums faded to an unhealthy black color. If someone was standing there watching, they would see her transform before them, turning from a beautiful young girl into a girl who was throttled deeply with the Dark Side. There was no hiding it now... she was possessed.

However, the problem was that she was well restrained. Aeora's entire body shook violently against her restraints and she yelled out obscenities in a voice that was not her own. These obscenities faded into unrecognizable hooting and hollering. Force lightning pulsated out of her body several times, flowing out of her chest and moving up her appendages until it struck her restraints, causing them to sparkle marvelously. However, it did not let her free. Her entire body convulsed as waves of Force push moved out of her body, in the attempt of blasting herself out of the restraints.

Finally, with all the commotion, a poor Storm Trooper came into the room. "What the hell is going on in here?" he asked almost too stereotypically.

The Storm Trooper was suddenly ejected out of the room out of the door that he had entered from, flying into the hallway and striking the outside wall with enough force to throw his helmet off. The soldier fell to the ground, dead. The other guards did not dare to enter, only shutting the door quickly and moving away from the room. Master Telos was going to have to deal with this shit.

After a few more hours of thrashing, Aeora exhausted herself and hung there limply, staring towards the door with a demonic look of hatred towards the next person who came in.

[Telos]

Telos casually glanced at the antique wall mounted Alderaanain chrono opposite his desk as he took a sip of his caff relaxing in the luxuriously padded Corellian leather chair. Had his new prisoners been left long enough to contemplate their fate and the choices he'd presented to them earlier yet? It was a careful balance to be maintained they needed to be left long enough to shake off most of the residual shock and effects of their capture yet not long enough to fully prepare themselves for what was to come. All things considered it probably was he concluded. Of course some of the longer term interrogation methods had began. Food and liquids given to them were bland with a hint of chemical tang to them (not that the chemicals would do anything but it sometimes was enough to start individuals believing or wasting energy to avoid them) and below what was required for the average, they would not be allowed any meaningful sleep random longs bursts of loud white noise helping with this. The cells were seemingly featureless cubes with no doors or single identifiable source of light only just large enough for the inhabitant lay down in or stand up full of hidden sensors measuring everything from pulse to body temperature to what was said or did. The temperature would switch between being oppressively warm and humid to cold and arid with the day and night cycles. Not that the day and night cycles actually meant anything in those rooms initially they would be 8 hours of each but eventually they would be down to 6 hour rotations throwing their inhabitants own body clocks and sense of time off to make months pass in weeks. Combined with lack sleep it was very easy to lose any sense of time The areas outside the cells comprised of a sealed off corridor seemingly only leading to the interrogation room that would follow the same rotation of light.

Which to interrogate first was a question that he entertained for just a few seconds before settling on the male Jedi. Aeora would last and as the saying went business before pleasure. There was something new about the girl but he doubted it would sustain her through a full interrogation. Some people were all bravado believing they could last indefinitely but that was just that, bravado, everyone had their breaking point and no one could last for ever. He was interested to see how long the Jedi lasted he'd not gotten to play with one who called themselves such since his time under his old Mistress. It was just before he'd found her wanting and proven the flaws in her defences in the skills she had been training him. He'd heard that Trandoshans kept souvenirs of their kills that marked important moments of their lives but he'd never understood that beyond it being simple show boating. Why keep souvenirs when you had the memories? Wasn't that enough? Why have something that broadcasted what you had done before? It gave far too many clues to your future actions. He'd used those clues several times before much to their owners regret (well any of them had had time or the life afterwards they would of regretted it).

Shaking himself out of the memories that threatened to come with that line of thought with a slight smile he drained the remainder of the cup and pushed himself up out of the seat thumbing a com switch to the Interrogation suite droids.
“Prisoner 2a to room 1. Levels 4-6 to continue what we started earlier I feel I think.”

Under heavy guard (both sentient and robotic) the male Jedi would be taken down the corridor into the brightly lit circle of illumination at the centre of the otherwise dark interrogation room while he sedately placed the cup on a coaster and walked out of his office to an express turbolift. He felt no pity for the Jedi nor Aeora this was a harsh galaxy and he sat the top of the food chain without many even knowing it. Pity and remorse were wasted emotions to such superior beings as he.

===

Silently striding into the interrogation suite he dismissed the guards with a gesture staying in the dark. For the first 10 minutes he simply stood behind the chained kneeling figure contemplating the man. In other times, places and with the right tuition the man might have been a useful asset or member of the Adai but it was not to be that way. He was a Jedi, a weakling who clung to outdated principles that even in their golden age had been merely a way to #tie horses legs together# the strong in an attempt to defend and 'save' the weak from their own folly. Now? Now they were a rightfully dying race who remained ignorant of their true place in the Galaxy and the inevitable fate that awaited them and beloved Rebel Alliance.

He was just about to speak and begin the interrogation when he felt the explosion of dark side power from the nearby cells where the girl was being held. Reaching out in the Force he tried to sense what had happened or at least who had used such power and was shocked when he got the impression of age the source along side a hint of corruption, sweet and sickly focused into a monomolecular edge and wielded with a mastery he had rarely seen. This wasn't just a member of the Adai or tribunal having some unauthorised fun with the traitor this was the bound inferno of one Millennia old applied to one who had no right, experience or protection from being exposed to such power. Even before his comlink softly chirped he was moving to the door closing it behind him senses alert for any clues to what was going on. Finally acknowledging the insistent chirping he put the earpiece in and spoke interrupting the encrypted conference call in process already, most of whom from what he could ascertain where trying to lay blame at someone's feet while trying to work out what had happened.
“This is Telos, initiate a full lock down we're going to need every able bodied Hand and Marauder above Adept to the holding level. All visitors are to be escorted to designated supervised areas regardless of rank no information is to be given out. Keep all other personnel out of the area including Storm trooper's and low level force sensitives, this is not some simple prison break. As far as anyone who does not have tribunal clearance is concerned this is an exercise with lethal force directives in place for failure Adept's are on need to know, I decide who of that rank needs to know. Once this is sorted we can work out what happened who made the mistake and what their punishment will be. Is that clear?”

There was a pause before the comlink was flooded by affirmatives. A slight grimace formed on his lips, they didn't care what happened so long as someone who was not them took charge and that they could later lay any blame at his or her feet. Obviously low level Tribunal only recently promoted from masters he hoped the better ones would be organising the defence already. Shrugging off the fine suit jacket and loosening the collar and sleeves he showed no worry about damaging the fine materials. Now wasn't the time for that and he could afford to replaced them countless times over due to his long life and wise investments. Next he loosened up his body as he jogged down the corridor preparing to confront who or what ever had used such power in that cell before grabbing the paired lightsabers from their resting place at the small of his back.

Turning a corner he saw the Storm trooper Jailer who held most of the keys to the facility on his belt reaching for the door controls to Aeora's cell obviously giving into some foolish curiosity or belief he could sort out what ever was wrong. Letting out a stream of curses in more tongues than most sentients knew in his mind he put on a burst of speed but he already knew it was too late as the door hissed open.

[Aeora Vitate]

The door hissed open and a Storm Trooper stepped inside. He looked questionably at Aeora for a moment, who slowly raised red eyes up towards him. She tilted her head slightly at him, not killing him instantly as she did the other. Instead, she spoke two words. "Release me," Aeora commanded and instantly, the words burned through the Storm Troopers mind. He immediately thought that it was a great idea and sprinted towards the Sith and grabbed his keys in the process. With two quick turns of his keys, the restraints were shut off and Aeora fell to the floor, landing on her feet.

The Trooper looked towards her with a surprised look, that was unseen due to his helmet, because he was in disbelief that he had just did what he had done. Aeora seemed to growl as she stared up at him, before suddenly reaching out with her hand and the Force in a powerful push which instantly sent the Storm Trooper flying into the metallic wall as if he had just been shot out of a rifle. The impact of the man's body sent a shockwave reverberating through the wall and shook the surrounding rooms as if a thermal detonator had just went off. Of course, a giant dent was left behind as the man's crushed body fell to the ground.

She then looked towards the door, which had closed back since the Storm Trooper had entered and felt out with the Force. The mechanical lock was back in place. However, it was no big issue. With a wave of a hand, the Force user bypassed any locking procedures and mechanisms, forcing them open. The door slid open smoothly and Aeora walked out into the large hallway, turning her head left and right. Most of the area had been evacuated as Telos had ordered, but as she walked out she spotted Telos quickly moving down the long corridor in her direction. Aeora turned her body towards him and squared her shoulders, reading him and determining that he was a threat. Exar Kun felt the power of Telos and this caused a smile to come to the corner of Aeora's mouth.

Aeora reached back as if she was holding a bowling ball with her right hand. Her left hand went in front of her and her fingers curled. As Telos approached, Aeora would suddenly step forward and extend both hands towards him in order to send an explosive Force push towards him. She had no intentions of killing him, yet, but she simply wanted to push him away so that she could get her bearings before engaging a powerful foe. Immediately after the Force Push, Aeora turned and began to run down the large hallway in the opposite direction just as five Adepts came off of a lift a little ways in front of her.

The Adepts immediately turned to their lightsabers, each one flicking their weapon on with the intentions of killing her. The first one came at her fast, meeting her Force speed with his own, and attempting a downward slashing motion. Aeora reached up as they passed each other in full speed and grabbed the lightsaber by the hilt, driving it, her fists, and the own Adept's fist into his face. Quite literally ripping the orange lightsaber from the man's hands, she came to a sliding stop in front of the other four Adepts as they all began their attack simultaneously.

The second Adept swung at her and she parried it, slid her blade down his own, and then lopped his arm off a the bicep. He screamed loudly, and Aeora immediately sucked his lightsaber up to her hand so that she now held one in each. The third Adept came at her quickly as well, and she ducked the swipe entirely, cutting his legs out from under him with one strong motion. She continued in a circular motion, coming down on the Adept's neck as he hit the ground. The fourth Adept died just as quickly, as he attempted to kill her as she killed the third. He struck at her back, which caused Aeora to move the second blade behind her and block his attack with out looking. She then twirled quickly before he could recover into a defensive position, and cut him in half at the waist. With one last spin, Aeora threw a lightsaber towards the first Adept who was missing an arm, the hilt of the blade hitting him in the heart. He fell to the ground, dead, and the blade that had pierced his chest went silent.

Quickly bringing up another lightsaber to her hand, Aeora then looked towards Telos again, who had surely recovered from the Force push. This time, however, she would face him. She shifted into a classic Niman lightsaber style ready position, coming low and holding a lightsaber up with each hand. A menacing smile came to the woman's face, her blackened gums contrasting harshly against white teeth that the young girl had taken care of. "Back down, young one," Exar Kun said from within his vessel., his impeccable Force Sense knowing immediately that Telos was strong in the Dark Side. "Your life will be wasted here and now, if you choose to engage a foe that you know you can not defeat alone."

[Braelyn]

The torture had been going for awhile, but it was subtle. It didn't involve pain, but simply fucked with his head. Throwing off the cycle of day and night and other such things. It made concentrating enough to try and reach out of this shit hole almost impossible.

Then the door whispered open, and he groaned when he was moved from his restraints. Time to go to the 'fun' room again.

"What? No smart ass comments pretty boy?"

"Wow you're embracing your feminine side if you're calling me pretty."

That earned him a punch in the jaw, which left a bruise layered on top of another and he just laughed, which earned him another, though as soon as they were out in the hallway the physical abuse stopped. They set him in the normal room, and he felt it when his 'friend' walked in.

"I don't know why you bother. Kill me and get it over with. You're getting nothing." Brave words, but he really did mean them. Not that he could see the man but he put as much disdain into his tone as he could. "You should know better." He said it like he was talking to a child, trying to provoke a response. He'd tried, but so far hadn't managed. The man was an emotional iceberg as far as he could tell, which was odd. Wasn't the use of the Dark Side supposed to bring out emotion?

Still, the man said nothing and it began to irritate him, which was probably the point. And he started to say something when he felt it.

The explosion of the Dark Side rocked him, flooding his eyes with energy as he instinctively but a barrier against it. Christ on a crutch what the hell was that? That was more than just a strong user. That was old, bad mojo and he felt himself feel genuinely afraid for the first time in a long time. He knew the other male felt it too because he went running out like a pack of Gurlanin were chasing him, and the door shut. But it didn't lock. Aha! He knew something would happen and what a perfect distraction. Maybe he could sneak right out and find Pelimi...

He concentrated past the dark, roiling energy and unlocked his bonds, and standing he rubbed his wrists. No idea where his lightsaber was, but he was sure he could acquire another. Rushing for the door he pushed it open, smacking into a Adept who cracked right into the edge, going down, and Braelyn grabbed the saber, igniting it as he turned. No one paid attention though, but when he saw who it was in the hall his eyes bugged from their sockets. Aeora? How had this happened!? He warred with himself as he stared in shock, the red blade hissing in his hand. He could not leave her here even if she was infested by some Dark spirit...

"Fucking softy," he muttered to himself as he advanced down the hall, seeing the back of his tormentor. And when he heard the comment from the crouched, possessed female he growled. "He won't be alone as much as I hate the bastard," he snapped, stepping up beside Telos without a glance in the other male's direction. He moved smoothly, setting his stance for Vaapad, something Tarrah had taught him of, and reached out with the Force, but not to attack. He was trying to see if the girl that had risked all to help him and Hawk still existed in that body. "Wake up Aeora. He's a strong bastard but he'll kill you..."

[Telos]

What little illusion of hope that Telos had held that the door and lock down would hold what ever was in the cell with Aeora shrivelled and died as he heard the heavy locking bars slid back sparks jumping from overworked servos that had tried to hold back the unstoppable force. Those cells were rated to hold even most Master level users of the force. Even with his powers and training it would have taken much longer to get by them and by all chances would of chosen a different path just for convenience and to save time and energy.

Aeora emerged from the cell and it took him only a split second to realise this wasn't her. Yes it was her body but a force blind Weequay could tell it wasn't the girl doing the walking. Her posture was different, her eyes a deep red eyes of one who'd immersed themselves into the dark side for decades and the smile that formed when she/it deigned to notice him? This wasn't in anyway something that could be described as good. Add the maelstrom of tightly controlled dark side energy moving around the body and his body prepared for what was bound to be a very hard fight, not tensing up but staying relaxed, breathing steady ready to react to whatever may come.

Moving forwards even with his readiness and her telegraphing her move by gathering the energy the force she threw at him was beyond what he had expected of her. His hands came up making a parting gesture in front of him not trying to stop the force merely split and redirect it around him. Still the resulting energy drove him off his feet back into a wall forcing him to refocus his defensive shield soften the blow merely bruising and winding him rather than breaking bones.

In the background his mind was already working out possible ways this could of occurred a couple came to mind immediatly. Bottom of the list was that Aeora really was this powerful, had a case of dissociative identity disorder and had just hid it well …. very unlikely, about the same chance of heavy snow fall in Mos Eisely. The other was some kind of possession possibly by a lingering force spirit was an interesting idea if unlikely in the case of the latter part. It would require there to be a spirit of some strength (judging by what he had seen and felt so far) to have been around the temple and that would of meant it would have been sensed by at least some of the Adai. So how had a spirit managed to lay low or avoid all the security measures around the site.

During the seconds he had been focused on recovering a group of Adepts arrived and were swiftly dispatched merely providing Aeora with weapons. Her form was certainly effective. To be honest he would probably be outclassed here easily he relied on surprise and misdirection to bring down his prey. There was little room for either here but still not a trace of doubt showed there was no room for such things in his mind or the upcoming battle. Moving forwards again he flicked on the lightsabers rotating each one in turn through a full circle stretching out muscles and ligaments in his wrist and forearms.

An eyebrow rose as the thing spoke not at it bidding him to stand down but at being called young one. Interesting. He'd not been called such since his apprenticeship. The voice contained a trace of Aeora but the timber, accent and pacing were noticeably different. That with the power and focus pushed the possibility of possession up to the top and a near certainty (it was never wise to write something off as impossible when often it was merely extremely unlikely) even if it remained hard to see how it had slipped through. A grim smile formed on his lips as he replied his voice mocking ignoring the possibly unintentional barb at of not wasting his life. Playing with the sun but still it was important information and he could use the time constructively.
“And who would this foe be? Have you no name or was it just so minor it's been lost amongst the other insubstantially minor details of history? Fallen so far to cower inside the weak and simple minded, is that truly the epic saga you wished for yourself?”

Sensing the Jedi approach from behind him he berated himself for not locking down his cell personally, who ever was manning security was either slow or incompetent. Either way that was a thought and punishment to be decided on later for now he focused on preparing to defend himself from whomever decided to attack him first. As bad as it would be if both decided to attack him laying down to die would not make it any better. Not that it was even in his character to consider doing so seriously.

Still he was slightly relieved and almost, almost mind, grateful when the Jedi announced he would stand beside him. That would help even the odds minisucley as would the fact leaving the detention would require their opponent to move away from them and overcoming two more doors each at least as secure as the cell door had been, not to mention any other forces that arrived.

The pose his temporary ally forced him to re-evaluate the man. Vaapad. Not many practiced the form since it's 'inception/creation' by the Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Sora Bulq. Possibly with good reason (for the Jedi) as it used techniques, methods and styles adapted from several other forms which were notoriously aggressive and in certain cases of Sith origin. Vaapad toed a decidedly grey line btween the 'light' and 'dark' sides of the force focusing the users inner 'darkness' into a weapon. Several Jedi had 'fallen' to the Sith as they understood the truth of their form including Master Bulq.

Allowing contempt to show on his face and in the force he let out a snarl as the Jedi bid Aeora to wake up. It might be possible but his bidding alone would not be enough likely. Traditionally it took a focus of anger or in some flowery sagas 'love'.
“Wake up yourself Jedi. She was weak from the start the only thing that has changed is instead of curling up in a ball in her cell or meekly allowing Seth making decisions she's curled up in some corner of her own mind after inviting or allowing another in to make all the decisions she was too scared or too weak to make for her.”

Maybe Aeora would come forth and maybe not but either way the longer they could delay her body in conversation or combat the better their odds became as the defence became more organised and more well manned.