Coming Undone

[Darth Tagus]

He did not believe it.

Of course he had read the reports and he had read everything that had been sent by the agents who had seen her in what they thought was their 'private' messages. None of them seemed to be traitors and none of them seemed to have had an easier time believing it than he himself did. If they had believed it easily he would be suspicious but they hadn't believed it.

As far as anyone was concerned, The Eternal had done them a favor by dropping one of their mortal enemies into their laps with her mind utterly blank and receptive to whatever suggestions they had. It was enough for Tagus to actually feel a slither of respect for the creature that lay in wait underneath the mask.

But a part of him still didn't believe it.

Marching briskly through the halls of a capital ship hanging over Korriban, Tagus made sure that his weapons were hidden from immediate view. He was still somewhat tender from his battle with the Mandalorian he had since found out was named Koil but he did his best not to show that he was still recovering from a glancing blaster bolt to the chest.

He nodded to the guards at the prisoner's door as they saluted to him before allowing him entry. The cell block was empty aside from the prisoner herself; it wouldn't do for some random rank and file prisoner to reveal who she truly was now would it?

Striding up to the door to her cell, he stared at her from behind his mask. His golden eyes inspected her and found at least some truth to it.

Raz Solus.

"Prisoner 24608."

He tilted his head to one side slightly.

"Do you know who I am?"

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

She was sitting in silence and darkness, trying to grasp at fleeting thoughts in her mind. The flash of fire was there again, and she could swear she could smell the smoke from what seemed like a battlefield. Why was she at a battlefield? She opened her eyes and looked down at the stump of her arm, wondering what she could have done to lose it. She didn’t particularly feel as if she knew how to fight. Maybe she was simply very accident prone?

She heard the footsteps arriving towards her cell, and she looked up nervously. This was a familiar sight she had seen in the distance every now and then, and all the other soldiers and guards usually stood up straight and expressed being terrified around him. She watched as he came to a stop at her cell and addressed her.

Prisoner 24608. It was the only name she knew.

When he spoke, she winced and curled up even more. There was a moment of pause, her heart beating fast. She blinked at him, “N-No….my lord..” She had heard others refer to him as such, “P-Please forgive me…” She was terrified, and it made her voice tremble. Was he here to hurt her? She had been tortured and tormented for information - information she never seemed to know.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Tagus forgot to breathe for a moment.

This was Raz Solus, of that there could be no doubt. This was the woman who had proven to be a scourge to the Sith Empire as a whole. This was the woman that the Mandalorians, the warrior race to end all warrior races in the Galaxy, had chosen to be their leader.

This was Mand'alor the Chosen.

And she was cowering before him like an abused puppy.

It brought forth... mixed emotions to be sure. Part of his took absolutely sick delight in seeing such a proud, powerful, woman brought so low by his very presence. More of him, however, actually felt a spark of pity. Not so much for the woman (though some of it was for her) but more because it wasn't earned. She was cowering before him, she was afraid of him and it was all because she wasn't who she was before.

If he had been the one to reduce her to such a state he could have taken some kind of satisfaction from seeing her like this but now? It was hard to do so. Still, there was much to be done and the possibilities were almost endless. They were enough to force a small smile to grow beneath his mask.

Speaking of which...

He removed his mask, discarding it carelessly to the ground as he opened her cell door. Stepping into her cell, Tagus gestured for her to stand with his right hand. The Force responded in giving her an almost gentle nudge to her back to get her moving.

"Stand, let us talk." he urged her with an almost benign smile, "My name is Darth Tagus. You may call me Tagus for this conversation because I have some personal questions for you. Seems fitting you at least be less formal with me."

Reaching into the depths of his robes, he fished out an object that had been tied to his back.

Her arm.

"Do you recognize this?" he asked her, holding it out for her to take, "Trust me, take it."

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

He said nothing for a moment. Was he angry with her? She didn’t dare speak again. When he began to open her cell, she grimaced, expecting for sure that she would be hurt for one reason or another. He removed his mask, and she saw a strange, green face. The eyes burned like fire, and they were unsettling, making her even more uncomfortable. She almost wished he had kept his mask on.

When he told her to stand, she shuffled around to get to her feet obediently, worried about incurring his wrath. She gasped as she felt the strange, intangible nudge that pushed her. She brushed it aside and listened as he spoke, displaying visible surprise when he mentioned she could use his name. Was this a trick of sorts? She had listened in on enough conversations to know these people were very fond of mind tricks. She remained silent for now, deciding she wouldn’t really address him one way or another.

When he reached back and drew out the object on his back, she was first convinced it was a weapon. When he asked if she recognized it, she looked at it, eyebrows furrowed. She gingerly stepped forth, nervous about moving close to him. She reached out her right hand and gently touched the cybernetic arm that looked eerily familiar.

The moment her fingers touched it, she shuddered and exhaled, closing her eyes. Her mind was suddenly thrown into agony, as if an ax had been jammed into her forehead to split her head. It was influx of a billion thoughts, and she saw faces and giant droids and war and battle. She saw gleaming blades, and she felt searing pain. She saw a bacta tank, but none of it meant anything to her.

She finally opened her eyes, a cold sweat lining her skin. She rubbed her head with her hand, looking down at the cybernetic arm, “Is...is this mine?” She spoke hoarsely. She slowly looked up at him, fear in her eyes, as she took the cybernetic arm. She almost subconsciously raised it up and slowly attached it to her stump, wincing and hissing as it firmly locked into place. After it was done, it hung limply to her side until she slowly began to curl and uncurl her fingers.

“Lord...Tagus…” She began slowly, “Am I going to die in here?” She met his yellow gaze with her own, her eyes betraying just how broken and lost she was.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

She was almost childlike in the way she expressed herself. There was almost no filter between her emotions and what came across on her face and in her voice. The way her lip wobbled when she was afraid and how her voice wavered in delivering even basic information. She had been a proud and noble warrior and yet here she was with the mental and emotional stability of a teenager suffering through her parent's messy divorce or something. It almost seemed as though she was broken.

It was perfect.

Tagus was not unique amongst the Sith because he was not quite so overt with his rage but some would say that he was closer to being unique in that he was rather good at using other emotions. He had had a wife whom he had loved... and that was how he was able to tap into a, more or less, genuine well of 'kindness' and 'empathy'.

He had felt them before well enough to slip them on like a new mask.

"Do you want it to be?"

As she touched her mechanical arm, her face scrunched up in pain and Tagus took the opportunity to just watch for a moment. There was nothing to be done about her pain; he wasn't a Jedi after all. Instead he merely smiled ever so slightly as he let her take the arm from him and watched her attach it.

Her second question was... heavier.

There was an appeal to the idea of cutting her down before she could ever hope to be a threat to the Empire again but there were other options. He frowned slightly before shaking his head.

"That part is up to you, 24608." He gestured to her, "The Sith Empire is not in the habit of discarding people who can be of use to it so it depends on you. Can you be of use to the Empire? What are you willing to do?"

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

He was confusing her with his questions. He was making it seem as if she had any say or choice in anything. It was more cruel than any other torture she had endured thus far. She didn’t believe this was anything more than a bait, only to be pulled when she reached to it. She couldn’t remember who she was, but she certainly had done her part to anger them.

She hadn’t expected him to answer her second question, and she had expected a backhand across the face to remind her of her place. When he spoke, there was nothing but silence for a moment. She sighed and shook her head, “I’m not sure how I can be of use, Lord Tagus,” She shrugged, “I do not know who I am. I do not know why others here are so curious about me...why they jeer and laugh about how they expected so much more or about how far I’ve fallen.”

“I think there has been a mistake,” She looked up to meet his gaze again, once more feeling nervous about looking into those fiery eyes, “I think I have been mistaken for someone else. I’m not who everyone thinks I am. I think I’m a random citizen that was taken off the streets and potentially framed,” This was the most she had spoken, and she was sure Tagus would tire of her rambling. She quickly shut herself up, looking down at her feet again.

She had only known the cell, and nothing outside of it. Everything else came to her in painful glimpses in her memory and those played out like a movie she was watching of someone else’s life. She had witnessed quite a bit, and she assumed she always happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

She was opening up.

Oh she was still guarded and she had every right to be. He was a Sith and even someone without much in the way of a memory knew that the Sith were not nice. They were never 'nice'. As a Sith himself, Tagus could confirm that there was always a goal in mind whenever he attempted anything and it was, more often than not, a selfish goal as well. But the fact remained that she was opening up more than she had ever done in the past.

This was something he could use so it was something he was going to encourage.

"I think I understand where you're coming from." he told her after listening attentively to her, "You're confused and it's not hard to see why you wouldn't be. If I were in your position I would be confused two but I know something about you that you don't. Or, rather, something you have forgotten."

He smiled slightly.

"You're special, 24608, and I'm going to let you prove it."

Tagus shucked off his outer robes before carefully, slowly, detaching each of his weapons and dropping them into the bundle of cloth on the floor. He waved a hand and the bundle slid outside the cell before the door closed, keeping Tagus and Raz inside the cell with neither of them armed.

"Knock me down." he order her with slightly more steel in his still gentle tones, "Trust me."

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

To her surprise, he actually entertained the dialogue. She eyed him suspiciously, not entirely convinced of this routine. He was certainly different than anyone else that had come across her cell thus far. When he took off his outer robes, she stood transfixed and confused. As he commanded her to knock him down, she simply stared at him.

After a blinking a few times, she began to chuckle. She couldn’t help it, and she shook her head, “Lord Tagus...please don’t toy with me. Am I not tormented enough? I can barely stand without feeling faint. I don’t know how to fight.”

She awaited a response, but he gave none, indicating that he was very much serious. She was nervous, and she grimaced at him, entirely unsure what to do. What kind of sick game was this? She knew nothing about fighting. She had no idea what to do, and he could simply knock her on her butt with that magic he did. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to budge until she did something, so she raised her arms up in front of her face.

“Uh… okay...here goes nothing,” She muttered quietly, as she closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled slowly. She opened her eyes again and moved in closer. Not knowing entirely to punch or do any actual fighting move, she attempted to reach out and actually shove him back with the palms of her hands against his chest. It was almost a comical display for anyone watching, as she completely missed his point of actually fighting him.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Tagus didn't respond when she tried to urge him to stop toying with her because he wasn't toying with her. Not in the way she thought that he was at least. He wasn't a superior trying to goad a worthless person into proving how worthless they were, as she suspected, but someone who was trying to show the truth of the matter.

That Raz Solus could totally kick ass.

When she actually moved to attempt it, he braced himself for some explosive movement. The kind he knew that the Mand'alor was capable of. The kind that had downed Sith and Jedi and everything in between. But when she actually moved it was almost as bad as a old lady.

He didn't move.

Instead he raised an eyebrow.

"Please do take this seriously, 24608."

With a frown that this seemed to be going badly, Tagus raised his right hand to push at her chest in a relatively slow palm-thrust to break what could be, very charitably, called a hold on him. It was a distracted motion between Tagus was already thinking of ways that he could push her into revealing if she had the instincts buried deep or if she really didn't have anything of her old self left.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

As she expected, he didn’t budge an inch. It was pretty pathetic, and she wasn’t the least bit surprised. Why all these people kept expecting incredible things from her was almost a bigger mystery than knowing her own name. He coolly told her to take this seriously, and she scowled at him.

“I AM taking this seriously! I told you-”

Before she could finish her sentence, he abruptly reached out to shove her back. Initially the move worked, and she stumbled back slightly. However, her right hand abruptly grasped his own right and she pivoted quickly on her foot. With lightning fast speed, the cybernetic arm suddenly came up to slam into the right side of his body. In concert with that, her foot would work to quickly sweep him off his feet and make him tumble to the ground. It was all done in one, fluid motion and without her putting any thought into it.

She withdrew back from him at once, somehow ending up diagonally positioned behind the right side of his body. She gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide in terror, “I...I’m so sorry… I don’t know why or how I did that,” She burst into a series of apologies, terrified of what would happen next.

The reaction was seamless, as if her body knew just what to do even if she in her mind did not. It moved of its own accord, controlled and piloted as if it were all second nature and reflexive for her. How did she know to do that? She thought of something another Sith had mentioned a while back, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Is it true? Am I a Mandalorian?”

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

The speed.

The instinct.

It was there!

It also... well it hurt like hell. Especially since he was still nursing his wounds from his battle against Koil. It wasn't enough to ruin his day but it was enough that he didn't immediately pop right back up to his feet. But despite the fact that it hurt, Tagus couldn't find it in himself to be too upset about it.

Her instincts were intact and that was good! That meant that she had, seemingly, kept all of her deadly effectiveness without needing to worry about being Mand'alor or even a Mandalorian.

He laughed, honestly a rare occurrence for him these days, and set up from where she had slammed him down onto the ground. He grinned up at her.

"That's more like it!" he declared with a grin as he pulled himself to his feet, "Knew you had it in you."

Ah.

It seemed she had been told about that... well... that was fine. Sooner or later he was going to have brought it up to her anyway so why not sooner? He became slightly somber before nodding briefly.

"You were." he admitted before holding up a hand, "You were. Now you are what the Mandalorians would call a Dar'manda - which means they would no longer accept you as one of them. I'm sorry, 24608, but knowing where you originally came from doesn't make it easier because you can't go back there. They won't let you."

And if she did any research later into what a Dar'manda was? Well then it would back up what he had said. That was what he did; he lied without ever actually telling a lie. Smiling a little bit, he gestured for her to attack him again.

"Come on. Punch me - feel like you did when you countered." he instructed her before speaking again, "I was sold into slavery from a young age. Now I am a Sith Lord. What we were is not what we are now, 24608. I am not a slave and you are not a Mandalorian. If you would like, I would like to make sure you can be something else; an Imperial."

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Her concerns about flooring him subsided, only to be replaced with the sick feeling in her stomach from his next words. Dar’manda? The word invoked an abrupt reaction in her, and she knew it wasn’t good. She felt a sense of deep shame and disappointment in herself, and she couldn’t understand why. She remained silent, processing all the new information coming to her.

She was a Mandalorian. Once. And she had been ousted by her people and was never welcome anymore. Pain was clear on her face as she thought over his words, repeating them over and over again in her mind. She grimaced at the thought, “What did I do invoke their wrath?” Despite him mentioning that it didn’t matter, she couldn’t help but think about what atrocities she could have committed to be rejected by them.

As he told her to punch him, she brought her hands up, curling fingers into fists. She stared at him and began to think of how she could punch him and start the fight. However, after a moment she relaxed again, sighing. She looked into his eyes and stood there, “I can’t,” She said quietly, “I don’t feel….I don’t hate you. I’m not angry with you.”

It felt unusual to muster up energy to fight when she harbored no real ill feelings. He was the first to ever treat her as a human being and shine light into her past, and she had no reason to hurt him. The word Sith was also triggering, and she couldn’t quite place why it bothered her so.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

The trouble with lying was that you tended to lose track of your lies after a time. Eventually lies began to build up atop of lies until there was no way it would be able to keep the house of cards from falling. The way that Tagus found was best to solidify the 'foundation', as it were, was in simply not lying. Bending the truth, for sure, but outright lies were to be avoided. So when Raz asked him what she had done that had caused the Mandalorians to label her as Dar'manda, he went with something that was true because it would show in his words, in his voice, that he was speaking honestly.

"I honestly don't know - I'm sorry but I can't help you with that part." he admitted with a small shrug, "While I was able to gather some information on the peoples through my presence on their planet recently, I was unable to achieve my true goal so was unable to gain access to all their information."

All of it true.

After all, Tagus had no bloody idea how Mandalorians would have declared their chosen Mand'alor to be Dar'manda. It was basically unthinkable with all the context that he had; and it made much more sense to her without any of that same context. When she refused to punch him he frowned slightly before nodding a little bit in understanding.

"Alright."

It was probably not what she was expecting and, honestly, Tagus was kind of making this up on the fly so it wasn't what he expected either. He gestured for Raz to follow him - towards the door of her cell.

"How about this... let's get some food. When was the last time you even ate?"

Imperial prisons were not known for their kind and even treatment of prisoners.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

She was disappointed that he didn’t know, but she also couldn’t tell that he was outright lying to her either. She sighed dejectedly, looking down at her feet and thinking about what she could have done. A million thoughts ran through her mind, each one stabbing into her and causing a splitting headache. She gave up trying to extract memories on her own, the action entirely too painful.

When he simply gave up the topic of fighting, she looked up in surprise. She had expected him to lash out and express how she had failed, but he simply dropped the topic entirely. She blinked at him curiously as he mentioned food, “Uh… I… sure…” She was still taken aback, still not entirely sure how genuine this was.

“I’ve been getting sick from the food so I’ve been avoiding it,” She admitted as she followed him. She hugged herself as she did so, finding an odd sense of comfort in the way the metallic fingers brushed against her skin. There was something very familiar about it, and she wondered if it was an action she did frequently.

Food sounded incredible, and she had been subjected to nothing but gruel for such a long time. She walked behind him, making it very clear that she was the prisoner here. She kept her gaze on the ground as she followed, trying to keep her mind from wandering.

“Why is everyone here so curious about me?” She asked quietly, “I just sound like some errant fool that managed to anger her own people. What am I expected to know? My identity seems so important to everyone…”

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Getting her out of the cell was a start.

If she was ever going to believe that she could and, indeed, SHOULD work with the Imperials then she was going to need something to show her why it was the best option. Sure, most Sith would have focused on the "why it's bad not to do what I want" approach but Tagus had never really subscribed to that school of thought. So instead it was time to see just what he could do to make it so that Raz wanted to stay.

Cells were counter productive to that.

"You're a Mandalorian with an advanced robotic arm - what's not to be curious about?" he asked back openly before adding, "But you're right. They're curious about you, quite a few of them because they know what I'm looking to offer you and they want to see what you decide."

The mess hall was for officers and high ranking Sith only on this side of the ship so it wasn't very busy at all and Raz would have the run of the place and the pick of whatever she wanted. Tagus took a seat at a table.

"I'm just like them really; I want to know who you decide you're going to be." he assured her even as he ordered a caf, "I know you don't want to strike out in anger but you must realize you have those skills already. Maybe it would be best if you trained with us to use them more so you're safer around non-combatants? We wouldn't want you instinctively snapping someone's neck, right?"

Raz Solus would probably love to do that to him but he doubted Prisoner 24608 would.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

She looked around, not feeling the best about revealing her face to anyone else. She had a strange desire to hide her face from view, and she couldn’t explain why. She felt the same when she encountered the other Sith weeks prior. She kept pace with Tagus, following behind him till they arrived in a dining area. Thankfully, it was mostly empty and devoid of crowds.

As he ordered himself a caf, she pointed out a plain sandwich, surprised to be given this much freedom. As he answered her, she noticed it was a roundabout comment to what she was asking. This was a common theme she noticed with the Sith - they avoided giving her direct answers. It was as if there was a genuine fear about her truly remembering who she was. She kept the thoughts to herself for now, observing everyone she interacted with carefully.

She also had a caf and she sipped from it, marveling at the warmth and flavor. She felt alive for the first time in a long time, sampling very simple and basic foods. She sat across from him as he spoke, tucking her untidy hair behind her ear as she looked at him.

“That makes sense,” She said, nodding, “I don’t know what abilities I possess or what I can or can’t control,” She knew she could apparently do hand to hand, but could she use weapons? “Did I ever possess...the Force?” She didn’t believe so, as that seemed like one of those inherent things you just felt inside.

After a moment, she took another sip and stared at him, “If I may ask...what do you gain from helping me? You alone.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Well now that was a question he didn't expect. Had she ever possessed the Force? Honestly he didn't know much about Mandalorians beyond what most people knew but he knew well enough that Raz Solus was not Force sensitive. It wouldn't have made sense for her to be so notedly distrustful of Jedi and Sith if she wasn't prejudice against Force users. Of course she had many reasons to dislike Sith but Jedi?

Only the Force sensitivity made sense to him with what he knew.

"I don't believe so but would you like to check?" he urged her before holding out his hand, reaching into the Force to create small embers that stuck grew from nothing to stick to his skin, his control meaning they didn't burn him, "Close your eyes and tell me how this makes you feel. Is it just warm or something else?"

It wasn't how he could normally check for the Force but he was loath to delve into her mind. While he had no small amount of skill and precision, he didn't believe it would be wise to risk damaging her mind further. If he did something wrong she could end up a vegetable or something.

Or regain her memories in full; he wasn't sure which outcome would be worse.

Ah.

This question he had been expecting.

"... I could say it's not at least somewhat selfish. But I won't." he admitted as he took a sip of his caf, not taking his eyes off of hers, "It's because I think you can be special, truly special, if someone gives you a chance. If I'm right and I sponsor you? You achieve greatness and people know I was the one who helped you. Rising tide raises all boats."

He continued to look her in the eyes and his eyes... flickered for the briefest of moments from their regular golden to another, different, colour. It was over too quickly to be sure what colour it was though.

"And because I looked in your eyes and I saw a slave who can be so much more - I remember the look from my bathroom mirror."

@Sreeya