Ask Bedtime Stories

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641

The lights of hyperspace sped past the Aurora. The Corvette operated with a skeleton crew, having left Yavin shortly after the battle ended. The ship was defused with the Lightside. Two Jedi Master sat in constant mediation to combat the waves of Darkness from the Eternal. Even with the proper measure in place, that Mask, and its host were dangers. The Grandmaster joined their efforts. Alex would not allow the Mask to remain on Yavin. That thing breathed darkness like water from a stream. It would corrupt even the strongest if left long enough. The younglings and the Padawans could not be exposed to such evil…and it was evil…there was simply no other way to describe the artifact. Allowing the Mask to remain near the Order was foolish.

So, Alex ordered their guest taken off world. She’d offered Sevrin (@Sreeya) the chance to come if he chose to. Crix was not ready for this…despite how much she trusted him. No Knight would be asked to withstand this creature. The Grandmaster walked to great the woman she knew as Manat…the woman the galaxy knew by a different name…and the woman who wore that Mask. Her mind was locked shut. Her presence in the Force intentionally laid bare. Alex combined her efforts with the Masters on board. This ship belonged to the Light. She would have no tricks from The Eternal. Alex took a deep breath as she approached the cell.

Whether or not Manat kept the mask on was her choice. Alex was uncertain which decision the woman had made. Regardless, her voice was clear when she finally spoke. “How long have you been like this?” She dispensed of the introduction. There was no need. They’d done this dance once before. “Don’t lie to me.” The softness Manat had seen after Byblos was gone. Alex’s eyes were hard and her gaze steady. Grandmaster Voran had boarded this ship.

@GABA
 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

Everything hurt.

She didn’t remember hitting her head, but it certainly throbbed like it, and trying to do anything to move her head made it worse and she resorted to leaving her mask on her face. Everything was moving so quickly, she couldn’t quite recall if it was from the plants pulling her backwards, but was certain the weeds did it. Who would have ever thought the plants would come to life like they did and certainly encouraged her to add to her list of things to avoid, which so far had spooky forests, caves, and mystery houses. Her back had some blistering burns that she was certain were going to get infected. Though it at least felt some relief when she leaned against the cold metal wall of her cell. Her shoulder however, seemed to be in the worst shape. She could barely bend her fingers to grasp with her hand and to offer any movement with her arm meant blinding pain up and down her arm and into her back.

The Grandmaster did not wait long to enter the room where she was being held. They were on a ship, flying to who knows where - she was just relieved to be away from Yavin. She had feeling they were going to ask questions again and prayed to whatever gods did exist that the one tea-drinking word vomit Jedi would not be present. Tia watched the woman closely as she carried herself different from their last encounter on Byblos. Certainly it did remind Tiamat of a very angry mother who was about to scold the neighborhood trouble-marker for pushing down all the younglings at the park.

How long has she been like this? And she didn’t want her to lie?

Eternally.



@Valen Pelora
 

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641

Eternally. Alex rubbed the bridge of her nose. In that moment, she felt every one of her hundred years. The Morellian Jedi had taken no rest before boarding the ship. She had ensured the Temple was safe and then set about removing the poison. There was enough suffering without the added machinations of the Eternal. She could feel the pain within the creature. They had not healed it…on her instruction. She shook her head slowly. “Are you going to take that thing off? Or will I be speaking with the Eternal?” Her signature pulsed in the Force. A flash of her power.

“I can feel the separation.” Alex remained deep in the Force. There was a difference between Manat and the Mask. Knowing who was beneath that infernal device made it easier for her to see the subtle shift. Without having met Manat, Alex would never have seen the fault lines. “You are not the Mask…and it is not you…despite the entanglement.” Her voice remained firm. Not sharp…but firm. Oddly, she was disappointed the monster had turned out to be a girl she thought might find a better path. It shook her faith in saving the lost. “So, I’ll ask again…which one am I getting.” Alex folded her arms across her chest. She wanted to destroy that Mask but she needed more information. A part of her knew she would heal their prisoner. The suffering was meant for the monster...

@GABA

 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

At least she was still great at being insufferable.

The Grandmaster didn't see any amusement in it, a shame, all serious business, though perhaps it was the mask, maybe it was this ship, it was oddly the same of other Sith corvettes, possibly even the same one, new name, which seemed like bad luck for the Jedi. The Sith woman's eyes flickered between the two Jedi Masters stationed nearby when she questioned if she were going to still wear the mask, the Force weighing on her to make her decision, a show of power, the echo of the spirits laughed.

Interesting...

Slowly, she pulled it off, feeling the power of the darkness that followed with it. The grandmaster continued to speak, noting the separation of herself and the mask. Her gaze lowered to the eyes of the mask as she listened, "Yes, we're a bit entangled..." she spoke softly, holding the mask with both hands as though she were speaking to the mask rather than Alex. Perhaps it were time for a separation, she was certainly not the mask, the power was not of her own, her head tilted back, gaze falling on the ceiling before tracing the outline of the electrical barrier that kept them from touching one another. The mask was hungry though, she could feel it, the Light was strong among the Jedi as they looked to keep it from thwarting its influence on them. Deep down, she wondered if they feared its power, they certainly didn't fear her like the Republic did.

"Do you ever wish for more power?" she asked the Grandmaster, fingers caressing surface of the mask; she could feel the Force through it, in her fingers and arm, her senses as it took her through the cell. "I did and I think I was horribly tricked." Tiamat shook her head in her own disapproval and annoyance, her fingers tracing the surface of the mask, pain shooting from her shoulder through her torso and arm.



@Valen Pelora
 

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641


“I wish for less, Manat.” The Mask came off. The girl held it delicately in her hands…caressing the surface. Manat held that Mask as one might gently hold a child. Alex suppressed a sigh. How old could their prisoner be? If she touched thirty, the Grandmaster would be shocked, and here they stood…mortal enemies. Alex could not think of Manat as a child. She was a grown woman who made her own choices, but she could not stop her mind from wandering to the girl who had been led down this path. How different life might have been if Alex found her over whatever else did. The Empress was young herself. Jedi and Sith alike threw children to die at one another. Not for the first time, Alex was tired of this war.

“Power gives us nothing.” As her strength in the Force grew, her life became more complicated. She accepted the burden, but it was not a happy life. “It only ever causes pain and suffering…you seem to know that now.” The Grandmaster could still feel the Mask. Now that it was off Manat’s face the difference was more palpable. “You must have known the legend when picked up that mantel…what it would do to you…and you donned it anyways. Why?” Alex drummed her fingers against her arms. “I don’t know if I can help you, but I can try to separate you from the Mask.” Her eyes lingered on the Mask. “Which is perhaps more than you deserve.”

There was still compassion in the Grandmaster. Still the heart that beat for all living things. The Eternal had come to Yavin to burn their home to the ground. Her compassion only stretched so far. A younger Alex…a better Jedi…may have felt differently but life had hardened the Grandmaster. Her path had changed.

@GABA

 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

Eventually, the Eternal would consume her, it just wanted flesh and to satiate a hunger that could never be fulfilled.

Its warnings echoed through the Force as her gaze remained on the mask. Alex continued her Jedi explanation of power and the path of pain and suffering. With that logic, then her path should have been nothing but power, as her life as so far, was filled with pain, and with suffering, there was never a moment's peace unless a price was paid. She crouched down and set the mask down on the floor in front of her feet, feeling it beneath her fingers for one last time before stepping back until she reached the wall as though she were trying to physically part.

Tiamat closed her eyes, listening to the words of the Grandmaster, listening to the hum of the ship's hyperspace engines, listening to the subtle ripples of the Force as she felt the cool hull wall against her back. The Grandmaster questioned why she had picked up the mask in the first place and Tiamat shrugged, "It was an opportunity." she let out a small chuckle at the thought. It truly was, but it was one that she was finding no one really enjoyed. Tia's eyebrows rose as the Grandmaster offered to try and separate her from the Mask.

"Don't be silly," she raised a palm to stop the woman, "I have to do it, I want to do it, I know I have to do it..." she sighed almost as though she were defeated, "Just make sure the mask doesn't retaliate, okay?" she glanced at the mask and then back to Alex, "That is one useful thing you can help me with." she nodded and then gave a frown, "I think I can do this..."

The redheaded woman closed her eyes and begun to focus her power, opening her senses, the Force crashing against her like the storm carried waves of oceans. She could feel the Mask, the darkness radiating off it, growing in its resistance to the Light, but Tiamat would feel for something else in the Force. To the Jedi, she looked and felt as though she were meditating, but she knew what she was looking for as she pulled. The darkside roared within the cell, the mask licking up the power like a moth to the flames. If the Jedi did as she asked, their power would be focused to the mask and they would still feel the glint of caution as the darkside echoed again while Tiamat pulled harder and something snapped.

The ship that was barreling through hyperspace suddenly re-entered real-space without warning. The sudden reemergence would throw any and everything from stillness to motion. The Jedi who stood at Tiamat's cell would have had no warning, no way to brace for re-entry and be thrown violently with anything else that was not bolted down. The redheaded woman included, as she was thrown into the adjacent wall of her holding cell along with the mask. Having spent countless years studying, creating and understanding hyperspace travel she knew the inner and outer-workings of navigational computers and hyperdrive engines as though they were like simple youngling's blocks. She knew exactly where she needed to pull to make it come crumbling down just as she had done now, though, the jedi with a skeleton crew would have to figure it out before the ship would be on its way again.

Klaxons sounded and lights flickered from the ship's emergency procedures as Tiamat pushed herself up, "What the Kriff? Raiders? Pirates?" she yelled out, cursing under her breath as she walked over to the energy shield to see where they fallen before taking her next steps.



@Valen Pelora
 

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641

Oh Alex, where was the woman who had done this same dance after Byblos? Gone. As lost as Max, Talak and Hans. “I wish I believed you.” She trusted no one. Who could be saved? She could think of no one. Her voice was soft. Almost a whisper. “But you don’t want to change.” Alex sunk herself into the Force. Her mind completely immersed in the Light. Her soul beating in time with the galaxy. The Mask was ancient and powerful. It pressed against her strength.

In that moment, she knew a truth. She could not destroy it. Not alone. Not now. She could barely hope to contain it. Alex was stronger than Manat and the Mask worked through her, but the Mask’s power was ethereal. Fascinating. She pressed on that power with one half and with the other, rooted the object to the ground. Manat would not be wearing it again.

Alex was fascinated by the interplay of the Force. Warning slammed into her mind. The Morellian Jedi had a fraction of a second to react. She kept her hold on the Mask. The rest of the Force flowed into her body, quickly wrapping her in a shield. She slammed into a bulkhead with a load smack but remained upright…the shield absorbing the blow. She’d been too slow to protect the Masters. Thankfully…they were Masters. They stood slowly but otherwise appeared relatively unharmed. Her gaze shot to them. “Find out what happened. I’m fine here.” They nodded to trudge towards the bridge.

A sharp inhale of breath banished her pain. Slowly, she straightened her robes and shook the ringing from her ears. Her hold on the Mask remained. The tethers in the Force still obvious. “Don’t do this.” Vibrations in the Force swirled. The path was coming for them.

@GABA
 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

Tiamat's gaze remained on the Grandmaster as the two other Jedi Masters quickly followed orders. The sudden exit into real space shook them up, but as for the rest of the crew may have not had the luxury of being Jedi Masters like the ones that were present. She could hear the sharp inhale from Alex and feel her grasp on the mask that remained between them; Tiamat hummed as she crouched down, fingers just grazing over it, Don't let it go... she couldn't help but to think as the Grandmaster warned her. Her brow furrowed as she felt the power between the woman and the Mask.

Don't...

The Force erupted abruptly violently from the Sith woman as the energy shielding shorted and Lightning exploded from her fingers into the Grandmaster. If successful in hitting her intended target, Tiamat didn't remain where she was as she made her exit, a mad dash out of the sight of the Grandmaster as she followed the hall from where they had entered. The only thing that mattered was to get off this Force forsaken ship and away from the Jedi. The Mask...

...she hoped would plague and feed off the Jedi as it remained in the cell where the Grandmaster had held it still. Let it become their problem as she had her own worries of finding the coupling hanger or another form of transport off this ship.



@Valen Pelora
 

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641


The Darkside ripped through the shield. It manifested as a torrent of Lightning, but it was unnatural. The Force reveled the lifetime of suffering powering the assault. Alex was once again faced with a choice. She loathed to watch Manat go…she could not allow it…but the Mast…the Mask had haunted the Order for centuries. The Eternal had wrought destruction on the Order. For the first time ever, that Darkness was within her control. She had to keep the Mask. Alex was certain the connection with Manat remained…but if she could cast the thing out…that would change everything.

These thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant. Alex was fully open to the Force as the as the blast hammered into her hand. Her mind split between the Mask and the Lightning hammering into her body. Her barely managed ton contain the energy before sending it spattering back into the cell. Black char marks raced up and down her hands, mirrored on the back of the cell. Containing such power was not easy.

Warning bells still sounded in the ship. Her hammered her fist into a control panel to reactivate the shield. Second, her voice poured into the bridge. “No one come near the cell. The Mask remains but the host is out of her cage. Lock the bridge.” She trusted her commands would be carried out as she went to chase after Manat. The girl could only be coming one place…the hangar. It would take time for them to reenter hyperspace and she did not doubt Manat sought to use that to her advantage. If the girl thought she would not hear from the Grandmaster while she attempted her grand escape, she was sorely mistaken.

@GABA

 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

Was the hard part over? Or was that the easy part? She was no longer contained to the cell, and the ship was halted, though she was sure which part of any of it was the easiest so far. It didn't matter, she was still on a ship belonging to the Jedi and she knew her attack wouldn't leave the Grandmaster incapacitated for any extended amount of time. Sirens and emergency lights still sounded and blinked through the larger corridors of the ship. It was difficult to tell where anyone was, she could tell with the lack of bodies just present, they were possibly flying with a skeleton crew. It would certainly mean they could be of three places: the hyperdrive, the bridge, and possibly a few in the halls looking for herself.

She just needed to be faster.

Tiamat careened around a corner, sliding effortlessly on the smooth flooring into another hall. She glanced over her shoulder as she slowed her pace just enough so she didn't miss out on coupling hanger. It had too be here somewhere, not close to avoid small craft mishaps and completely make it unusable; not to far either given this craft was not very large to start.

Though, the hall would come to an end, offering two options to enter the hanger. Tiamat didn't give it a second thought as she entered, making a beeline for a small fighter craft and her ticket out. She slapped the release, eyeing the stars through the hanger's exit as she climbed inside and started the engine. This was easy part, right?



@Valen Pelora
 

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641


The Aurora had one exit…the hangars. Manat would find no other escape. Alex knew where the Sith was headed. The Force poured into her body. Her cells vibrating with the stored power of the Light. Alex’s mind directed her mad dash through the ship. Her eyes could not adjust to the speed of her movement. The Grandmaster burst into the hanger, but she was too late. She caught barely of glimpse of Manat vaulting into the fighter. Alex was left with no choice. There were many beautiful and cunning uses of the Force. It was an art…not all just pushes and pulls…but sometimes crude was best.

The Force ripped forth from Alex’s outstretched hands. Powerful grips of pressure clasping onto the fighter. The Force rooted her feet to the durasteel and she pulled. Her eyes were ice as the veins stood out across her body. The Grandmaster brought her full strength forth. Alex raised her voice, certain Manat could here her. “You will not get a third chance…this is your fork in the road…your chance to change.” Passion rippled in her voice. The belief with which is spoke was undeniable.

“Stay and I will help you find yourself.” Her heart hammered in her chest. The physical straining pushing on her body. “Leave and your fate is sealed.” It would not be a prison for the girl. Not next time.

@GABA

 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

Tiamat's eyes remained on the control panel as the roaring presence of the Grandmaster entered the hanger. The ship started to rise when it was suddenly halted, the brilliance of the Force grasping the ship mid-air, as Tiamat pulled on the yoke, her jaw tightening as she heard the words of the Grandmaster.

A chance to change? Her brow furrowed in annoyance, there was no reason for her to change, and it wouldn't be for some Jedi who allowed her to be chained by the Republic and then caged her like an animal moments earlier. She wasn't asking for chances, this was of the Grandmaster's own doing, her selfish belief that her way was the only one. It reminded her of how Byron believed her path to be also. It made no sense to the Sith woman, the Jedi never gave her the chance to earn her loyalty. Perhaps things would have been different if she walked on the ship with them instead of the sephi from the bar. However, she would never exchange the power she had gained after years of torment.

She pulled on the yoke a little more, the thrusters burned hotter.

She knew herself and no one was going to tell her how she needed to live or what she deserved. All paths led to the same fate, but she would determine how she would get there.

The heat that was building behind the ship and in the hanger would be notable. Her jaw tightened until she feel her teeth grind as she pushed the yoke forward, suddenly resisting less before yanking it backwards. The thrust of the ship from going least resistance to full hopefully would wiggle from the Grandmaster's grasp, allowing her sling the fighter out of the hanger. It was clear she would not stay, her path was never with the Jedi.



/EXIT ATTEMPT

@Valen Pelora
 

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641


Alex breathed heavily. Her lungs gasping in raged breaths. A small voice in the back of her mind spoke warning. You’re push the limits. Yavin was barely a day in the past and she’d asked much of the Force during the escape. Now…she pushed past even those barriers. The Morellian Jedi stood holding a literal starfighter. The only wall between Manat and escape. Her heart raced as sweat dripped down her forehead. Heat from the thrusters not the only cause. Alex took a slow breath. You could let her go…you have the Mask…no. The girl would only kill again.

She had fought this part of herself for so long. Holding desperately to Max’s belief that every life was worth saving and every life could be saved. He was wrong. For so long, she’d desperately wanted him to be right. That place in her heart still belong to him…but he was gone…and she was here. They could not all be saved. The galaxy was safer without them. Sevrin was right. Drow was right.

The fighter bucked backward, and she stumbled. Her feet sliding in the heat. Alex’s left hand remained pointed towards the fighter. An invisible fist clamped around the ship. Her right hand stretched toward the hangar wall. She grabbed the wall with the Force. Pulling both towards her. Alex’s mind whipped towards the bridge. “Hangar close.” She screamed at the strain on her body. Split between holding the fighter and holding herself in place. The hangar bay would slowly start to close. All she needed was to hold the fighter for a fraction of a second. If the fighter managed to scoot out, it would hopefully be crippled to prevent further exploration. She wished the path was different. She wished he’d kept her promise…but it was too late.

@GABA
 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

The ship jolted forward, but halted, the exit into space was ever closer, ever irritating that her freedom was just within reach. The Grandmaster was relentless, her head hitting the headrest as she let out a yell, her knuckles turning white from grasping the yoke tighter. No one was going to determine what is best for her, Tiamat knew what she wanted and in her own determination would have regardless who got in her way.

Again, she let up on the thrust, creating less resistance, feeling the Grandmaster's power on her ship. However, before pulling again, the Force crashed violently against the the Light as she jutted back her fist. Anything that was not bolted down was sent flying to the hanger's entrance where she suspected the Grandmaster had followed her inside. Large crates, ship parts, tools, large and small was directed to the back of the hanger and Tiamat hit the thrusters again, warning lights blinked, sensors flared through the console. This would create another jolt, giving the Grandmaster her own choice: continue to hold the fighter and be plummeted by debris and equipment, or protect herself, realize her limits, and let her prisoner go.

I will not be chained...

Regardless of the decision the Grandmaster made, Tiamat pulled back further, the engines roared against the resistance, and any release would jettison her and the fighter through the narrow opening as the doors begun to close.



/Exit Attempt Attempt
 

Alexandria Voran

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Former Grandmaster

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Valen Pelora
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
792
Reaction score
641


The Force blasted from the fighter. Debris went fly around the hangar. Alex grit her teeth. What was more pain? Nothing to the Grandmaster. Unfortunately, she was reminded in that moment of her mortality. Even Alex had limits. Limits she rarely reached. A heavy durasteel crate cracked into her chest. For a moment, she lost control of the Force. That was all Manat needed. The fighter slipped from the hangar just as the bay doors closed. Alex sunk to her knees. Her chest throbbed with the pain of the crate. She had broken ribs…at least. Manat was gone. Somehow having managed to escape her prison again. But this time was different. Alex had the Mask and the identity of who wore it. Failure would not hang on her this time.

Slowly, she stood and made her way to the bridge. She was thankful none one had been grievously injured by the sudden stop. “Take us to the Maelstrom.” Alex sunk into the Force again. She would not allow the Mask to influence the crew. “No one is ever donning that Mask again.” Having touched the thing, she was certain it could not be destroyed. The artifact was too powerful for even her to break. “We will scrub the nav system on return to Yavin…” She looked at each of them in turn. “And I would ask one more sacrifice of all of you, I will take these memories from your mind.” The Masters and the crew nodded in unison. They understood what they were asked to do. The Mask would be fired out the airlock when they were in the center of the Kessel run...the Maelstrom eating the ancient artifact. Only Alex would remember what they had done.

@GABA

 

Darth Tiamat

Raze Loyalist
Sith Order
Rank
Sith Lord

Character Profile
Link
OOC
GABA
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
1,355
Reaction score
528

The ship was released from the Grandmasters' grasp and it shot through the remainder of the hanger and into space just as the door had sealed shut. The woman pulled on the controls, quickly flipping switches as she guided her fighter away from the Jedi corvette, checking sensors to ensure she was not being followed. She dared not to take a breath as she had yet cleared, the sensors sounded on the hyperdrive, the navigation computer releasing permissions as she had just enough fuel for the next system.

Good enough...

She pulled the control to disappear into the matte of space. The stars blended and swirled into a blue and purple as space was twisted and folded to allow her to pass through. The woman inhaled, her body throbbed entirely, however, there was no time to rest. Much work was still needed to be done as she would determine when she had enough. Though her thoughts returned to the mask, the hunger and pull still drummed in her head, the connection remained despite being physically separated. The Jedi had no idea what they were dealing with and who exactly they had met.



/End Thread
 
Top