Back Again

[Darth Tagus]

OOC: Death, capture and maiming Disabled

Tagus sat within one of the meditation chambers of the main temple of Korriban, in sync with the Force. He was being watched over by the Temple Guard, who had performed their duty to protect the Sith Lord by checking the chamber thoroughly for any threats and standing vigil while he meditated as well.

He was beginning to get a little pain in his neck though but that was only from sitting in one place for so long.

He was about to stand when he became aware of a presence in the Force. Frowning, he opened his eyes and stood even as one of the guards opened the doors to the chamber to speak to him.

"My Lord, a Hask Jen to see you."

Hask.

Hask had left the Empire for some time if he recalled correctly... still, he was not above speaking to Hask. He had known the man when they were both coming up the ranks after all so he was going to be at least a little bit more tolerant of the Red Sith.

"Send him in."

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

He didn't want to come back. He couldn't deny that he was a little nervous of being back. But at the same time he was not scared at all. No one recognized him...and why would they? Sabrina was dead, Agent Fletch was dead, Agent Calvic went missing. Everyone he knew during his time in the Old Empire was dead. All except for one...

Zeven Visz was literally the only person he knew was still alive that didn't have something against him. And from what he heard about him from other acolytes he went much farther than Hask would have guessed. Hask would most likely be there as well now if he didn't leave. But then again he couldn't have stayed either. He was never the same as other sith. Too caring, too compassionate. He would have made a terrible Sith Lord. Besides, if he stayed he would have never met Rayne or his co-pilot and that was something Hask was still thankful for.

He was no longer used to his robes. Not only the weight which was considerably lighter than his usual gear these days, but they had gotten a bit tighter since the last time he wore them. And here he thought he was staying fit with all his shenanigans with Aurie. But he still had them and they still fit him, perfect to just walk into the sith temple without anyone asking questions. One guard even told him straight that all Purebloods looked alike. A bit racist but nothing Hask wasn't used to. What was different about his get-up was his weapons. The crossguard lightsabers hung from his hip where his old lightsaber used to be. And the two pistols on his hips were also a new addition to his old uniform.

The guard led him to the meditation chamber and Hask followed closely. The doors opened and there he stood. Hask stood in the doorway for a second, not sure what to make of the situation. He took his helmet off and held it under his left arm, careful not to make the two durasteel pieces screech against each other. He still hated that downside with a passion. "Zeven...it's been a while. Or should I call you 'Lord Tagus' now?" he spoke clearly with a small smile in the corner of his mouth.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Hask Jen...

"... you've gotten fat."

It wasn't true really but it was noticeable that the Red Sith had gained some weight, lost some of his fighting edge as well. Expected of a glorified civilian like Hask was now. He had turned his back on the Sith Empire and gone his own way in the Galaxy. On one hand, Tagus could respect that in a way as it showed individualism and a strength of character.

On the other hand he believed it might actually be a mild form of treason... it was, at the very least, frowned upon but who was he to really judge?

"Lord Tagus will serve for this meeting." he agreed, walking past Hask and waving for him to follow as he strode from the meditation hall towards the 'gardens' of the Temple, "For a meeting I honestly thought I would never have."

He glanced at Hask.

"Why did you reach out to me?"

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Wow.

Not the reaction he expected and one he definitely didn't appreciate at all. Was the armour really sitting that tight? Zeven went on to confirm what title Hask should use. He didn't want to use it since it's a lot quicker to just use his first name but then again not listening to a Sith Lord never went well. He would know.

Tagus approached Hask and for a second he tensed up, not sure what he was going to do. He walked past him, motioning to follow and Hask fell in next to him. Hask's eyes were looking straight forward, but he felt Tagus look at him. Hask smirked and looked at him. "What? Can't I just visit my old buddy?" he spoke light-heartedly. The smile faded as he looked beck in front of him. "Honestly...I'm rather embarrassed to admit it. But I need a teacher." he spoke hesitantly. He liked to think of himself as an independent operator. Not needing to rely on anyone but himself...alright maybe someone else as well these days.

"The only opponents I face are clumsy pirates and whimpering soldiers. The last force user I faced I literally choked into submission and the last duel I had was against a wookiee with an axe and a shield. Only reason I struggled against it was because that thing was like 3 times my size. Word of advice: don't try to match a Wookiee's strength. They're kriffing unnatural." Hask's eyes were wide as he spoke. That fight was still enjoyable but the strength of that Wookiee was something he had never seen before.

He looked back at Tagus with a frown. "Simple fact of the matter is that I got rusty. And at the moment I can't afford to get rusty. Hell my arm's enough of a setback as it is, I can't lose my skill as well. And if I weaken I risk losing something very important to me." he probably said more than he should have. But convincing a salty Sith Lord to provide training to someone who turned their back on the order would need a good reason. "And no way am I going to Victress or that son of a harpy Milo for help. So here I am, throwing pride out the window and risking my neck to ask you to help me." his tone was a bit irritable, but not at Tagus. He was hoping he didn't have to run into the other two sith. The force alone knows how that meeting will go down.

He couldn't help but smile a little again. "And like you said. I've gotten fat."

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

No one ever visited a Sith Lord just to catch up.

And last he remembered Hask had actually rather a lot of contempt for him - the Red Sith had hated his treatment of Ilyra and how he had dispatched his family. There had been another acolyte who hated the action as well but, if he recalled correctly, she was dead so no longer mattered.

The truth of the matter came out of course and Tagus would actually admit to being surprised. Few people were willing to analyse themselves and find their own flaws, fewer still were Sith. The fact that Hask had admitted his deficiencies, his weaknesses, so freely was... perhaps a little bit odd but something that actually caught Tagus' attention he could freely admit. What could have compelled such a proud man to ask like this?

Oh and something to clear up too.

"Milo is dead." he reported bluntly, "Got himself stabbed. Seemed he inspired... less confidence in his abilities than he thought and someone decided to do something about it."

It wasn't public knowledge he had done it after all - only the Emperor and the royal guards knew for sure and the guards were sworn to secrecy.

"And I can agree that going to Victress for assistance would be... soul crushing." he admitted with a small scowl, "My opinion on her is well known of course."

Reaching the garden area, Tagus nodded a little bit.

"You recognize that your skills have slipped... but why do you care?" he inquired, "Pride is one reason, certainly, but as you said you've only fought pirates, smugglers and some weak-willed soldiers since you struck out into the Galaxy. Why do you need to be stronger?"

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask was taken by surprise by Tagus' remark. Milo dead? Hask couldn't hold back the smile appearing on his lips. "Well in that case I'd like to by that guy a drink. I hope the killer lobbed his arm off first before finishing him off." he said a little more happily than he intended. Hask was not always one for holding grudges...but with Milo Vemec-Drast he definitely held a grudge.

Tagus also commented on Darth Victress, drawing a chuckle out of the Pureblood. "Is there anyone in the Empire that actually has a good opinion of her?"

They reached the gardens. For a garden in the middle of a Sith temple on a planet as harsh as Korriban, it was still quite beautiful. Even peaceful at times. A stark contrast against the building surrounding it. Tagus decided to pry a bit more into Hask's reason. He expected this, though he wasn't sure how to explain it without blowing his secrets. He took a deep sigh and turned to face Tagus fully. "Like I said. If I become weaker then I risk losing something very important to me." he repeated. Tagus wasn't stupid. He would most likely figure out himself that it was more someone rather than something. But Hask had no intention of giving up her name and risk opening up a hold over him.

"But you probably care little for my personal reasons so let's switch to something more pressing. With how the Mandalorians have been hammering the Sith Empire my life is even more in danger now than it was previously. I daresay that I should fear a Mandalorian soldier more than a Sith Acolyte these days. And I'm sure you can guess that running around with this face and a red lightsaber does not exactly scream 'not Sith' for Mandalorians." He placed his helmet on a nearby bench and folded his arms over his chest. He stared at Darth Tagus for a few seconds, thinking on what to say. "I guess I can pull the typical merc approach as well and try to make some deal with you but with the resources at your command I doubt it will mean anything." He gave a shrug as he spoke. Naturally there was some pride to that as well. While he did do mercenary work, quite well in fact, he hated associating himself with the name. It meant a severe lack of honour and pride. Two traits he liked to think he was in no shortage of.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Cutting off arms was a little bit droll in Tagus' opinion - done to death almost. He was thinking if he decided to go with amputation as a punishment he might go for something a little bit lower down on the body but to each their own. Tagus gave Hask a joyless smile at the comment.

"Milo was powerful - the list of suspects includes half the known galaxy really." he remarked coyly, "The price of ascending faster than your intellect and prowess could grow to protect you I assume."

He assumed nothing, of course, but he wasn't about to admit the kill. Tagus had been warned about airing his grievances about Victress in public and he knew well enough that if he insulted her too much then he would have to kill her. Killing her would lose him no sleep but it really would bring down the ire of the Emperor.

So for now she was to be tolerated so he said nothing.

Ah.

"You risk losing Someone very important to you." he remarked, holding up his left hand, freely showing the indent in the skin around his ring finger - the sign of a wedding band worn and removed for good, "I know that feeling. I know the fear that it breeds and how that fear can lead to anger."

He pointed to Hask.

"Your issue is that your anger has no direction so it becoming impotent rage... a poison. When it should be used as an accelerator to your power."

Tagus gestured for Hask to draw one of his lightsabers as the Sith Lord did the same, holding The First Blade in his right hand but not igniting it for now.

"I wonder how your companion will fare when you are dead from your weakness." he goaded his opponent, "Do you imagine she will latch herself onto another for protection? I do wonder... how shall she pay for such protection?"

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask expected him to figure it out, but he didn't expect either him relating to that fear or the indentation on his finger where a wedding ring had been sitting for quite a while. A bunch of questions started forming, the biggest one being why the ring wasn't there anymore.

He went on to explain Hask's situation and Hask couldn't help but agree. He had no direction and it was eating him up. The mess on Jedha definitely confirmed Tagus' comment. He needed a way to translate that fear and anger into power but he wasn't sure how to anchor it. Tagus on the other hand seemed to know how to anchor it, insulting not only him but Aurie as well. Just as he finished talking, Hask's helmet flew at his head with a flick of the Pureblood's robotic wrist. Hask chuckled as he raised his eyebrows and unclipped his lightsaber with his left hand.

"I'd recommend you watch your mouth, Zeven..." Hask said with a smile, but there was no humour behind it. It was a reaction of anger. His lightsaber ignited with the familiar deep hum followed by its two crossguards. His stance widened and he drew the force around him. "...Otherwise I'll break my arm off and beat your lordly ass with it." he finished and the smile faded. Any questions he had about Tagus' secret lover went out the window, replaced with every insult and threat he could think of. He could see what the Sith Lord was trying to do...but that doesn't mean he liked it.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Hask knew what Tagus was doing because there was precisely nothing about what he was doing right now that was subtle. Tagus was goading the red Sith because he needed it and it didn't matter if Hask knew that or not. He raised an eyebrow even as he ignited The First Blade, holding it up in a ready-guard positioning in front of his body at a diagonal angle.

"Big talk, weakling." he replied bluntly, "Are you going to intend to actually take action to support the hot air escaping your mouth? Or do you intend to just stand there?"

Tagus was cloaked in the Dark Side, the Force ready to respond to his every whim with nothing more than just a thought. He tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Come on Hask." he urged the red Sith, "Use your anger... or I'll peel off your woman's skin and use it as a rug."

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

He was trying to make Hask angry...and boy was he succeeding. His eyes were burning with anger as his lips curled back to show off his sharp pointy teeth, like an animal threatening someone. Hask didn't even give Tagus time to finish his second sentence.

His lightsaber sliced through the ground, throwing up sparks. The sparks erupted into a raging ball of fire that flew straight towards Tagus' center mass. He knew this simple ability would do little to shut him up, but it did serve as a rather good distraction. Hask lunged forward, swinging his lightsaber diagonally to hit Tagus on the right shoulder and cleave through him. As a backup he unclipped his second lightsaber but kept it extinguished, aiming to slam the emitter right against the green Sith's babbling jaw.

The attack would be quick and brutal, and through it all Hask kept his second lightsaber ready to defend and the force around him to utilize at a moment's notice.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

He had touched the nerve.

He had tap danced right atop the nerve actually.

Seeing the Force moving to manipulate the sparks into an actual fireball, Tagus reached out with the Force. Rather than attack Hask with his lightsaber, Tagus instead used the Force to manipulate the fire that Hask had created. The red Sith hadn't spent any effort or energy keeping the fire under his control, which allowed Tagus to return it right back at Hask's chest, further enhanced by his own Dark Side powers, while the Sith was attacking with his lightsaber.

At the same time, Tagus thrust his defensive lightsaber out, catching Hask's lightsaber blade against his own - and using the pushing movement of his lightsaber hand to thrust a Force Push into Hask's chest from close range just as the fireball would be splashing against the red Sith's chest as well.

He wouldn't need to evade the bash from the second lightsaber because for Hask to pull off such a move he would have to leave himself wide open to the returned fire and the Force Push sent right into his chest. If the red Sith was that incensed as to try it regardless? He would just lean backwards slightly to evade the telegraphed movement, allowing both of his Force attacks to hammer the red Sith.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Even if he was still on his A-game, going head on against a Sith Lord was punching way out of his weight class. And blind rage wouldn't cut it in this case.

The fireball came right back at him, amplified all the more by Tagus. He side stepped to the right to dodge the fireball, and as their blades collided Hask erected a force barrier with his right hand to dissipate the force push. As soon as it was negated Hask would use their locked blades to pivot his blade and plunge his crossguard into Tagus' gut. The attack would be fluent and with the momentum behind it, it would be quick. His second lightsaber would ignite and an unstable yellow blade would aim to stab into Tagus' left shoulder.

If he tried to release another sneaky force power as Hask closed in, Hask would release a force push of his own to send the Mirialan flying back.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Ah the crossguard lightsaber - not even a well adapted one either.

Avoiding the stab with the crossguard was simply a case of stepping backwards, breaking the blade lock by disengaging. He batted the seconds lightsaber blade away, causing it to come across Hask's body and block his other arm so he wasn't able to use both blades against Tagus. At the same time he laughed as he used his free hand in a punching motion, slamming a Force Push into Hask's ribcage under his arm with enough force to shatter through any continued barrier employed by the weaker Sith.

At the same time he was moving to his left, circling, while keeping his distance. He was, essentially, leading Hask by refusing to engage him in the way that the other Sith wanted. Why would Tagus let Hask have the chance to dictate the pace and style of the match up? Simply put - he refused to.

Grinning, Tagus began to squeeze his free hand, a Force Choke forming around the red Sith's throat.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Tagus disengaged and closed Hask down with his own weapons. Before Hask had a chance to react a force push broke through his barrier and slammed into his ribcage. Hask stumbled back a few meters with a sick grunt as his air was knocked out of him.

It had been a while since he took a blow like that. He had definitely gotten soft. He was on one knee trying to catch his breath when he felt his throat close down. That was something he felt pretty recently. Thinking quickly he focused on Tagus' silky black and perfectly flammable pants. The cloth heated up and suddenly a small flame erupted over Tagus' groin area. Just enough to break his concentration. On top of that Hask would release a force push to slam into the Sith Lord's legs once more and that would be followed up by Hask shooting a torrent of force lightning out of his right fingers.

His anger was feeding him, empowering him. Even his usually golden eyes were losing their glow and turning a faint corrupted yellow as Hask drew from his hatred and anger to launch attack after attack at Tagus, determined to show him to rather keep his mouth shut about Aurie. Granted this was slowly turning more personal than anything else at this point.

His left blade was at the ready to block any attacks the Mirialan might launch at him as he executed his flurry of attacks with his right hand. If none of those landed...then the stone bench aimed at Tagus' back flying towards might just be enough to break his hold. All these attacks would drain Hask quite a bit, even with his anger bolstering him so significantly. In terms of force reserves he would run out much earlier than Tagus.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Tagus didn't need to break his concentration to deal with the attempt of an attack on his robes - as a practitioner of the Dark Side above Hask, he used the Force to cool the area to stiffle the attempts to create fire ex nihilo and from a distance. This meant that the Force choke was still in effect.

The Force Push was something he needed to deal with but it was a linear attack and he had never stopped moving so he was able to deftly avoid it from connecting. Lightning was easy enough to deal with however, since he still had his lightsaber ready. He brought it into the path of the lightning, blocking it outright with his blade as he kept his distance, keeping himself out of blade range of the Red Sith by continuing to move, keeping the distance between the two of them set beyond blade range meant there was no way for Hask's swipes to hit home.

The red Sith was trying to do far too much however and had not managed to relieve his grip on his throat. The bench behind Tagus would move but the tiredness seeping into the soon-to-be-unconscious Sith's bones would mean it moved at such a speed that Tagus was able to turn his head to see it and reach out to capture it in the Force, wrestling control of it from Hask to send it spinning at the red Sith inside, curving around Tagus' body.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask really needed a teacher. This was just embarrassing at this point. Not a single attack hit home and the grip on his throat was not letting up. The bench twisted around Tagus and came straight for him. Using the last of his concentration he slowed it down enough to let the bench just nudge him to fall over.

His opponent had him. He had no more energy to fight and his vision was starting to go black. If he had to guess he'd say that his face was turning more purple than red. With great struggle he got on his knees, but his head still rested against the floor. His lightsabers extinguished and he let it go to try and fight the invisible hand around his neck in a vain attempt. Though one thing he refused to do was yield. He tried to push himself up but there was no power left in his biological arm and his mechanical arm was starting to strain under the pressure. Finally his arms gave out and he collapsed on the floor, his last moments of consciousness spent trying to get some air into his lungs.

He was beaten fair and square, but no way in hell would he surrender.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Tagus let Hask lose consciousness before releasing the grip on the red Sith's throat. With his opponent out cold, Tagus used the Force to take his weapons from him, attaching them to the back of his belt, out of sight and out of Force-use range/sight for the young Sith. With his opponent now unarmed, Tagus extinguished his lightsaber and used the Force to sit Hask down on the bench that had been thrown around.

He reclined on a separate bench himself casually and pointed a finger at Hask.

A single jolt of lightning shot from his finger to impact Hask to wake him back up. Tagus sat still but content as he waited for the red Sith to regain his thoughts before speaking.

"Hask, you got angry, which is fine." he frowned slightly, "What is not fine is that you got sloppy. You let your anger drive you and that I cannot accept as good practice."

Tagus removed his mask and set it down beside him.

"Tell me where you think you went wrong."

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

The darkness took him and there was nothing that could be done. His body went limp on the floor and his eyelids closed as he finally passed out.

A sudden jolt of electricity would wake him up. His eyes shot open and he drew a deep breath in, greedily regaining his breath and coughing in between. He tried to roll over but stopped when he felt his weight shift to the side, almost falling off the bench. After a few seconds he heard Tagus' voice next to him and slowly sat up. He noticed his weapons were gone and instinctively his hands patted around his hips. He looked around then back to Tagus with a scowl.

His right hand rubbed his neck to massage the bruised skin as he thought the fight over. "Well aside from thinking I can go head to head with you...well let's see." he sat in silence as he went over the fight. There were a bunch of things where he saw himself slip up, but there were a few issues standing out. "No plan? Got fancy? Charging head first?" he looked at Tagus with raised eyebrows. "Anything I missed?" he said with a touch of annoyance in his voice. He was rather ticked off. Not just at Tagus, but at himself. He knew he had gotten worse and worse, but he didn't think he got this bad.

And now here he sat, like some child awaiting a scolding he was waiting for Tagus to belittle him. And unfortunately he was still drained from the fight so slapping him with the force or some other simple action was out of the question. He was reduced to staring at the Mirialan with glowing golden eyes full of annoyance and anger at everyone and everything.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Darth Tagus was many things to many people.

What some people failed to realize was that Tagus actually enjoyed teaching. Odd as it was, the Sith Lord found that sharing knowledge of the Dark Side was something that agreed with him. It was something that appealed because it facilitated the further spread of the Dark Side by spreading the teachings and by helping to ensure that the person who took on the teachings was actually willing to do what was necessary and was strong enough to apply the teachings appropriately.

So as he sat, he waited for Hask to explain what he felt he had done wrong. He was bitter about his loss, which was to be expected, but he was wrong on some level as well.

"Your first mistake was that you didn't control your anger." he told Hask honestly, "Anger is a powerful tool but you let it lead you, let it dictate your actions. So rather than going in with a plan or something simple - you went straight in with attempts to make me hurt."

He shrugged.

"I could have been half your strength and still beaten you because you had already beaten yourself. The Dark Side is a powerful ally Hask, but it demands things from you." He held up his hand to show the wedding ring tan again, "It demands sacrifice. It demands that you accept your emotions and use them. Tell me Hask... would you kill your lover?"

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask listened to what Tagus had to say. Of course he wasn't wrong. Hask gave in and let it drive him. Very disappointing for someone who took so much pride in managing his emotions. It was actually a funny thought. It had been so many years since he was angry at everyone and everything that he actually forgot how to manage his anger. It made him realize just how much he needed a teacher.

His next explanation was somewhat odd. Hask knew that the Dark Side was a two-edged blade. For every bit of power it required sacrifice. He was arguably more familiar with the Dark Side than anyone else in the order, along with every other Pureblood on Korriban. But that was of course also why he left and why he wasn't sitting right next to Tagus with his own little title. However all his thoughts were interrupted when Tagus held his hand up and showed the line on his finger once more. His question,though, caught Hask completely off guard.

Hask's eyes went wide at the question, not putting two and two together at first. "What the kark kind of question is that, Zeven? Of course not. That kind of defeats the purpose of the word 'lover', don't you think?" he fired back almost immediately. Hask looked back to the line on his hand, then back into his yellow eyes. Suddenly something clicked in his head, making him lean back slightly. "Don't tell me you went that far." he said, slowly shaking his head. He liked to think that there was a line for how far someone would go for power. Killing the one person you love most in the galaxy...that's about as far over the line as one can get. Rich thought coming from a person who's entire culture is centered around war, but still...

Where was Tagus going with this?

@Nefieslab