Echoes of Eternity

[Silas Karn]

Deprived of the Force's influence Sovereign felt the weight in the disparity of his former might. Beyond this, the partition that had severed the Echani's past seemed to weaken under such duress.

As a result Silas was returned in great measure to whom he once was. Though the Dark Side's influence did not abate nor was Sovereign undone in his purpose. Upon reaching the landing pad Tormentous's barbed comments hit their mark in expert fashion.

Since claiming his perceived freedom in adolescence Silas had always taken great pride in the quality of his armaments. Royalty had only exacerbated this quirk and now being removed of his armor Silas was already vexed. However, the priest was not unprepared.

Held by a sash across hos chest was a large satchel possessing all the tools needed to account for his current squander. "It has been cycles since I have been in such need. Regardless, by the time we arrive I expect I will have remedied the situa.."

Silas's blood called to him and the sublime sapphire hue of his eyes faded into pale pearl light. A third presence had attempted to hide its approach. Yet to the keen senses of the battlemaster such efforts were in vain. "Reveal yourself, I'll grant only this one opportunity to comply."

Deprived of the Force, Silas could not pinpoint the intruder's position but they could not have been far. It was frustrating already for Sense was always the aspect to which the High Priest had been most attuned.

[Kita_Ikari]

Kita had been walking around the citadel for awhile locating her master from using her life sense ability and overhearing the whispers from the slaves once she realized his presence was weakened. She had noticed that the slaves had always kept track where her master was, and with good reason. They tried to avoid crossing his path at all cost.

She heard Lord Tormentous voice and that of the Priest. Unsure what they were doing, she stopped and lingered quietly outside the entryway behind the wall overhearing a part of their conversation.

“Where did you dig that armor out from? A toy box?”

"It has been cycles since I have been in such need. Regardless, by the time we arrive I expect I will have remedied the situa.."

She tensed as Silas voice stopped abruptly.

"Reveal yourself, I'll grant only this one opportunity to comply."

The Sith apprentice didn't want to necessarily show herself, for it would have showed she was invading her masters privacy by eavesdropping. But of course as always, Kita was curious at what was going on. She was still learning, and not fully clued into everything that her master was doing. As he would probably say that privilege was to be earned.

Sighing, she stepped out to face Tormentous and the Priest. "I didn't mean to linger long...but I was seeking out where you were master." She looked over at Silas and nodded in greeting. Making her ways towards them, she raised a brow in question. "What's going on?"

[Jacobi Wylcott]

They were in the process of boarding the Lord Sovereign’s Sith Infiltrator. The sleek craft would sneak them all the way to Bastion where they could properly infiltrate and from there they could enact their purpose. But as they were to board the vessel the Echani called out to another hiding in the darkness and Silvanius then approached. Tormentous eyed the Apprentice of the Dark Lord carefully and nodded - typically he was not interested in explaining himself to his subordinates - but here and now with Tormentous’ presence largely diminished there was a warm humanity slowly peaking forth and showing his face, it was the same presence that had barbed Silas a moment ago about his armor. But now the Mandalorian within could freely see - this was unlike the forced submission due to the Wall of Light, this was an unnatural suppression of what was already unnatural. It was a solemn balance that allowed that which was not supposed to be.

“Well come on then.” He said with a snap that wasn’t pointed, just impatient yet almost casual. He waited for the Echani to advance into the ship first, it was his ship and Sovereign did not need any help in flying it. Looking to Kita he nodded to her and extended his hand to help her step up onto the ramp. “We’ve a long trip ahead of us. Ever been to the far end of the galaxy?”

The Dark Lord boarded the ship and moved immediately to the cargo hold, he had a fond distaste of the Echani and would be spending the trip as far from that platinum haired bastard as he could manage. Within the cargo hold though was the crate of gear he’d brought along and loaded earlier.

Inside the crate was - of course - not his Mandalorian Armor. This mission demanded that the Dark One remain clandestine and running amok in such an ensemble would only see to exposing them. That and Jacobi Wylcott would have never allowed Tormentous to gird himself with his sacred armor. While it was likely that this mission would see Wylcott exposed to the surface, Tormentous would linger and therefore the Mandalorian would not see his armor tainted.

For this operation he would equip the armor he’d acquired during his travels. His Antarian Ranger Armor. It was a simple suit and Jacobi could always rock a vest look but it was the underneath bodyglove that would provide him with all the protection he needed otherwise. Donning his black cargo pants and lacing up combat boots to blouse his pants within - a dark gray undershirt and finally the Ranger vest on top. He looked at the hat for no more than half a second before tossing it back into the crate. To further his less conspicuous look he put on his black eye patch over his blind right eye and he took off his face mask that he normally wore as he did not need it to survive as perhaps he would have people think.

His gauntlets were set and armed properly. The right was equipped with an integrated CZ-28 Flamethrower, and higher on the forearm was a deployable vibroshield. The left had an integrated RLW-77 and higher on its forearm was a tactical display and holoprojector field. It was a very advanced set up. His gauntlets of course were made of the vambraces of his beskar’gam and could be utilized to his defence.

Twin vibroblades of far better quality than anything on the market were at his disposal here, beskad blades and twin Westar-35 Blasters sat in the embrace of a pair of drop holsters on a custom gun belt. But for all this deadly gear there was another element that brought the promise of danger and an eerie spell to this loadout. From the corner of the cargo hold watched a pair of green glowing eyes. An ancient Sith Warbot stood sentinel and charging at one of the terminal ports. It was the droid Jacobi Wylcott had found back before his days touched by the Force - Five-Oh. A very deadly Sith Battle Droid.

[Silas Karn]

“Look what the kath hounds drug in.” Nil cackled as it witnessed Silas’s approach to the bridge of the ship. “Are you volunteering scrap metal for revisions?” Karn quipped back with surprising levity. “I would not want to impose on your efforts, my lord.” Nil answered then swiftly altered the subject. “So what coordinates are to be plotted?” Silas felt a subtle trepidation before giving his reply, “Sector K-3 by way of the Hydian junction at Botajef. The more surreptitious the route from that juncture the better.”

As the assassin lifted the Infiltrator from the landing pad Silas left the bridge on the way to a workbench he had set up near the small loading dock area at the back of the ship. In addition to the bench was several garments Nil had fortuitously stored in a plasteel cylinder. With a stolen glance at Tormentous’s ensemble it was clear that the full brunt of their former life would not be on display. Taking such unspoken cue’s the priest took to his work completely breaking down the light armor he had requisitioned and incorporating the high grade plating and armor-weave he had brought with him into more proper attire.

True to form the platinum silver weave and grey scaled plates were fashioned into extremely form fitting armaments and then covered up by a slightly less tight full length black regal long coat and matching and still form fit military fatigue pants. The remarkably expensive coat was juxtaposed only by the grey of Silas’s greaves and the helmet he had spent the bulk of his requisition on. With the full suite of features his normal imperial commando inspired helm possessed it easily surpassed the sum total of the entire rest of Silas’s gear. The black visor slit emitted a faint luminance when powered matching the High Priest’s coat and pants. Setting down the helmet a deep sigh was allowed as the Sovereign felt more aligned to his usual self.

It would require several more hours to reclaim the stun capacity from his old armor as the equipment he had requisitioned would need to be properly outfitted. Leaving that work for later Silas ventured to the cargo hold to pose a necessary question to Tormentous. “Well now, before we reach our destination does the Lady Silvanius require a similar voiding ritual?” Granting a moment for his reply Silas eyed the young Sith Warrior, “After all you lack the capacity to shield yourself from prying eyes correct? As talented as an apprentice as you are, it is a technique beyond what I’d estimate your breadth of training would yet encompass.”

In truth Silas wasn’t positive it could still be done. Though Tormentous had been sure that the art could be broken without the relics their power had been sealed within. The presence of the pair within the Force was still fading, soon to be completely absent. Of course the ritual was easily broken upon their return. However, the Sovereign had been absolute in his measure of their need to go unnoticed in the realm of the supernatural. Regardless any attempt to duplicate the process for Silvanius would need to be done immediately. Reading his oldest rival’s countenance Silas spoke anew, “In any regard it is an odd decision to add to our number for this venture.” Looking to Kita, “I’m quite curious as to the reasoning behind your acceptance of her joining.” Silas’s own face, while stern, seemed far softer and less intense than the priest’s typical demeanor. Surely the apprentice would be coaxed to question what was responsible for the radical alterations between these two men, the highest ranks of the Sith Order.

[Kita_Ikari]

Silvanius had thought for sure she might have at least been scolded for lurking about like some common thief awaiting for their chance to strike. But no, instead she was avoided with a answer and invited to come along with whatever her master had planned.

With a small smirk she cocked a brow at him as he offered his hand out to her.

“We’ve a long trip ahead of us. Ever been to the far end of the galaxy?”

She recognized that softer tone. Silvanius knew it meant Tormentous had stepped aside for the time being. She meant to take full advantage of this moment since she would probably not see him again for a very long time. "Not really. I don't think visiting a few planets counts as traveling to the end of the galaxy. ...Although that would be a interesting feat." She admitted. Taking his hand she was happy to see the mandolorian once again. "You have been away way to long." Silvanius said seriously. "Believe it or not...but I missed you." She added lowly.

As she turned and walked up the ramp, Silvanius was pretty sure he hadn't known yet she had earned her sith name, much less built her saber. Would he be happy to find she had at least gotten this far alive within the Sith? She wasn't so sure.

The Sith apprentice followed Jacobi about the ship like his own shadow, sticking close as they went to the cargo hold. Curious, she watched as he opened a crate and began undressing himself, changing into his armor. Of course it took a moment for Silvanius to realize she was admiring his phisque and quickly averted her blue gaze elsewhere. Her face had turned a deep shade of red at even the thought of letting her mind wander on the mandolorian. "Behave yourself!! She scolded herself quietly. The last thing she needed was ogling Jacobi or her Master. "This is NOT a appropriate time...much less appropriate at all!" Whether the mandolorian noticed or not, she had tried to give him privacy by not looking. Instead she focused on the weapons within the Cargo hold until he was done dressing.

It wasn't long before Silvanius looked up to find Silas entering the cargo hold already dressed and ready to go on this mission she was invited to at the last minute it seemed.

“Well now, before we reach our destination does the Lady Silvanius require a similar voiding ritual?”

She tilted her head slightly, her blonde golden hair falling down the front of her shoulder. "Voiding ritual?"

"After all you lack the capacity to shield yourself from prying eyes correct? As talented as an apprentice as you are, it is a technique beyond what I’d estimate your breadth of training would yet encompass.”

Silvanius frowned unamused. What was it supposed to mean by shielding herself from prying eyes? If he meant there was a way for her to go invisible, then that was definitely something the Sith apprentice hadn't learned yet. If it meant hiding her force signature, then she really didn't have much control with that sort of thing nor know how to do that either. She kept these thoughts to herself however.

The priest had pulled Silvanius from her thoughts as he questioned her Masters and Jacobi's means for her joining their mission.

“In any regard it is an odd decision to add to our number for this venture. I’m quite curious as to the reasoning behind your acceptance of her joining.”

Of course Silvanius couldn't hardly resist asking questions and learning new things. She turned to look up at Jacobi, her blue gaze hopeful. "...im kinda curious as well..." She replied curiously. A part of her kind of hoped she had been brought along since Jacobi was currently present and in control of his own body once more, that he may have wanted to spend time with her. Of course knowing her master Tormentous, it was more than likely she was just a commodity on this mission also.

[Jacobi Wylcott]

The Infiltrator was not a massive craft and their walk to the cargo hold would be brief but he had caught her words and responded immediately. His tone offered her the suggestion of near confusion. “I haven’t been away. Been here all along.” It was indeed true - Jacobi Wylcott was not necessarily in the driver’s seat when Tormentous was in full control but he was there and he saw everything - but it was as if he was trapped in a dreamlike state. He could see everything, hear everything, even interact on occasion - but his memories would be of a haze that drifted in and out of recollection. He was truly lost and fighting for his survival every single day. To not vanish into that dreamlike illusion forever.

They continued to the cargo hold and Jacobi was known to have manners but he was no gentleman - a life of hard living and moments of quick thinking denied him anything close to a gentleman’s standard. He thought nothing of getting stripped down in front of Kita. It didn’t even occur to him if it was inappropriate or not and he was in the middle of doing just that when Silas entered the room to Jacobi’s great - no - unfathomable amount of annoyance.

He turned, still naked, to face the Echani yet with his pants in hand he pointed threateningly at the fair faced, platinum haired devil. He was standing beside Kita now when he lowered his hand once realizing the Echani wasn’t here to snub his nose at anything. Grunting he turned around - slapping Kita on the thigh as he did so, his hands still holding his clothes - and put his cargo pants on. “No,” he replied curtly, “at best she’s a neutral.” His head broke into a splitting headache, his choler rising instantly as his pride came into contact with the fact he held knowledge of the Force and its workings. Unbidden he spun back to face Silas and threw whatever was in his hand at the Echani. It was completely reflexive - he had not intended on it at all - but his instinct called to him to attack and so he threw his balled up socks at the silver haired warlock.

Grumbling he resumed clothing himself next with his trouser belt and then his gunbelt. “She won’t register any alarms I am sure and should she,” he turned to look at her, “she’ll need her senses fully about her if she wants to come home in one piece.” Turning away he caught the socks back from Silas and put them on before equipping his boots, tying them up, and blousing them. “This isn’t going to be a cake walk and if we’re going up into the upper tiers of the Palace we may find those red armored bastards, she’s going to need everything she’s learned to survive them.”

When the conversation moved on to why he had brought Kita along his eye flashed at the Echani, narrowed and a wry grin cracked his features. “Because I don’t fancy staring at your ugly carcass the whole way, she’s a damn sight prettier.” In truth Jacobi himself did not know the true reasons why Tormentous set this all up. The reasons were a fading issue of a dream that never occurred to him - but the Dark One had his reasons and was playing the cards as he saw them. Of course Tormentous would never broadcast that he was attempting to foster the relationship between Kita and Jacobi so that she could be used in ritualistic fashion. Though even for this - Tormentous would not be undone - he always had a backup plan. If Jacobi refused to love this girl - he would find a way to overcome and make this ritual complete.

One way or another.

[Silas Karn]

Silas’s eyes flashed the pale light of his bloodline despite how minor the attack had been. In that moment he wished nothing more than to leave Jacobi broken and bleeding. ‘Jacobi…wait, it is, but how?’ The bloodlust that had been quite palpable within the priest slowly subsided as he listened to the Mandalorian allay his immediate concerns regarding Kita. Throwing the offending object back at his former rival Silas listened to him speak with great interest. ‘This is my doing, my fault, or perhaps at best the result of resisting that Jedi or not aligning with a nightmare.’

Though not pervaded by some malevolent entity such as Tormentous, Silas found the partition he had set in place waning in influence and old memories flooding back with far more potency than his self as Sovereign was used to. Putting such revelations aside for the time being Silas’s eyes regained their luminance. This was just in time for the Jacobi of old to make a wisecrack that even Silas forced to allow a grin in response to. “I should hope so.” Turning to Kita a new inquiry began, “So given your demeanor it seems you have been aware of the duality. Such truths beget a myriad of questions.” Not wishing to linger any further as the oldest conflict within him was stirred anew Silas turned from Silvanius.

“This means you are the key.” Departing from the pair Silas returned to his workbench. For the next two hours he would pour his efforts into modifying the set of gauntlets he had acquired. As the last of the Force’s touch washed away from him the Former Lord of Eshan was left with the hollow tones of hyperspace travel. ‘In her the end of Tormentous could be achieved. Through her Jacobi could be restored and I atoned for my past sins.’ Silas mused on his conflict. ‘Yet, I must take the Thyrsian back. I must claim immortality. Beyond that this galaxy must burn for the iniquities and bloodied hands that spun my fate.’ Silas’s hammer fell silent and his tools still. “Slave, Mercenary, Lord, Regent, Ruler, Fallen, Priest, where in lies the truth?” A week’s travel separated the trio from their destination thanks to the distance, necessary route, and their vessel of choice. The loss of the Force was having quite unexpected side effects.

[Kita_Ikari]

PER AUTHOR REQUEST.

THIS MESSAGE WAS LEFT BLANK

[Kita_Ikari]

"That's not what I meant." She replied. "I meant I always see Tormentous more then YOU. ...I mean I know Tormentous is you also but..." Silvanius frowned and sighed. "You know what? Nevermind." This conversation and explaining herself was getting annoying. "He's a guy. What did you expect?" she told herself.

As Silas entered, Silvanius blue gaze shifted back and forth between the two as Jacobi seemed to be irritated with Silas presence. She jumped, blue eyes wide as Silvanius registered what just happened as he turned to face Silas. "Did his...member...just touch...my thigh...?" Looking over subconciously, Silvanius couldn't hide the deep flush on her face. She didn't want to say anything in front of Sila's, but she was ready to either yell at Jacobi to put his pants on, or run out of the room until he was fully clothed. Not that she didn't enjoy the sight of him. Its just not something she was expecting to see, much less happen. "PLEASE PUT PANTS ON!!!"

Unable to say a word and remaining tense as she sat next to him, she listened silently as he mentioned she wouldn't be noticed. Silvanius was still building herself in the force alone, so she couldn't be noticable to anyone who already didn't recognize her force signature.

Once Jacobi had his pants on, she glanced up at Jacobi and smirked. "I'll do my best to stay invisible. And if it comes to it, of course I'll apply what I already learned and return this time. Just tell me what my part is in all of this is and I'm good to go." True enough once she had orders and a objective, she was set out with determination to see it done. Failure was a possibility, but not something she was intending on happening again. If anything she wished to avoid it. After being brought down by that padawan, she had been even more determined to accomplish her missions with success.

The Sith apprentice wasn't so sure what to make of the two of them as they exchanged words.
“Because I don’t fancy staring at your ugly carcass the whole way, she’s a damn sight prettier.”
She had seen Tormentous angry at the priest, but never seen this behavior between the two before as they exchanged small insults or what seemed to be some sort of rivalry between em. Silvanius noticed Silas crack a smile at the mandolorian. She was utterly confused until the echani began to talk to her.

“So given your demeanor it seems you have been aware of the duality. Such truths beget a myriad of questions.”

Silvanius blue eyes widened as the priest words registered. "Well...yes...but..." She almost couldn't speak for a moment as Silvanius tried wrapping around her mind the fact someone else besides her knew about the fight between Jacobi and Tormentous. "I...kinda needed a explanation for the odd behavior changes after returning from the spire..." Indeed she hadn't known what was going on until Jacobi specifically told her after returning from the Sith prison. And even in the beginning of her training with Jacobi from the beginning she had noticed his odd behavior changes but didn't understand them until it was explained. However...she still didn't know HOW this happened. Neither Jacobi nor Tormentous talked about it.

"This means you are the key..."

More questions came to mind as the Echani turned and left them both alone in the cargo hold. "Key?" The Sith apprentice didn't understand what Silas meant by her being a key. But whatever it was, it sure peaked her interest. Something she would have to look into later. Shaking her head, Silvanius began focusing at the mission ahead as she looked up at Jacobi. "So we are entering a palace?"

[Jacobi Wylcott]

He’d tagged her on accident but her red faced look was enough to bring him a mischievous smile and no apology whatsoever. Even made him a little proud in that moment. But then it was gone soon enough with that wretched Echani bastard - damn him.

Brushing off the occurrence the conversation went on further and as time drew onwards the reduction of Tormentous’ influence progressed enough - though not in totality - that Jacobi Wylcott was able to retain not only coherent thought but a clear and constant state of mind. He knew it wasn’t real. He knew it had been a Dark Side ritual that had done this and that Tormentous was watching his every move and not in a dream state, so if Jacobi tried to take advantage of the situation then the Dark One could simply break the binds that held him. The ritual had been not a suppression of that which was but a convenient disguise that hid. Obviously it held the side effects in which Jacobi was able to breathe as did Sovereign - no - Silas.

Responding to the blonde though he made her part more clear and just as vague. “Your role is just like mine, lass. We’re going to Bastion, capital of the Galactic Empire, infiltrating the Imperial Palace, probably going into the throne room with the Empress herself, and finding Silas’ extremely better half. He needs her blood.” He quickly waved concern away, “He doesn’t have to kill her, just needs a portion. Then we leave. Simple as that.”

“We are trying to make it quiet. If things go too loud then it makes our departure much more complicated. Hence our discretion. Tormentous would be noticed.” He looked at Silas and shrugged his shoulder, “Him to a lesser extent. So we have quieted our larger capabilities for now until we can achieve our goals.”

When she spoke about odd behavior he narrowed his eye at her and inwardly he growled in response, he didn’t like his behavior being referred to as odd. But he took a breath and stilled his choler and just smiled back with a silent chuckle. “Sure enough, a Palace. Going to inspect the tapestries.” At that moment he was loading his left Westar-35 with a power pack and a tiny whistle buzzed as he primed the weapon, spun it on his finger two rotations and holstered it in a fluid movement as if he’d never put the pistol down for the last year plus. He did the same with the right pistol and looked at Kita with an interested look.

“Lady Silvanius is it?”

He huffed and crossed his arms over his shoulders. “The name does not suit you, Kita.” He grumbled. “The Sith will only use you and betray you once they find someone better. I told you,” he leaned forward and grabbed her hand, flipping it over and touching the fresh scarring on her hand from the mission to Malastare, “not to trust them.” His right hand kept hers but his left traveled up her wrist and he looked her in the eyes. “You will lose yourself. The Dark Side will creep up on you and it will steal you away. You won’t even know it is coming until its too late. You have to get away from all this.” He could feel an ice cold chill in his gut begin to grow and he swallowed hard to stifle Tormentous’ displeasure. “Go - find the Jai-Galaar - nothing the Sith have can keep up with her.” His suggestion was summarily cut off and his grip tightened on her hand as he fought, his eyes closed in effort but ultimately the Dark Lord of the Sith was still very much there and Wylcott was only given voice because he had chosen it to be so. Thus - the Mandalorian was silent and when his eye opened again she could see defeat.

He exhaled and let her hand go. “You’re running out of time.”