Dark Decisions (Invite)

[Emma Lou]

Arabella was not sure what to think when she was summoned to Master Bestia's chamber. She had only been a part of the order for a little over a year and this had never happened before. She could only nope that they had not found out about her secret marriage to a Jedi or her son. She had doned her dark robes and pulled her hair into a ponytail, her lightsaber hung on her belt.

The walk took her a few minutes and the possible reasons for this meeting were starting to worry her. She calmed herself and knocked on the door. She reminded herself to bow when it opened as was respectful.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The tiger was a beast of carnage. It hunted in the dark of the night, using the darkness as its closest ally, and snuck up on its next meal with a slow, quiet, and yet unyielding precision. The tiger’s prey always thought itself the smarter, believing it could outrun or defeat the marauder that stalked it. What a lie that was. When the ambush began, the tiger overpowered from every angle, using its size and strength to knock the prey off balance and devour it.

The Jedi Order would soon know the feeling.

That was why he was in his private chambers, waiting for Arabella Ultor while standing next to the bitch Issan Tanoor. Dealing with Crusaders such as Ultor was one thing, but having to stomach the foul undeserving whore stench of Tanoor was another. The High Lord, the Bogan’s right hand, at only twenty-four years of age. A travesty of procedure. Bestia worked his entire life to attain the status of Dark Master, becoming a Marauder at the age of thirty-one only two years ago.

He had no idea how Tanoor could have found her way into the position; it was not by virtue of lineage, that was for sure, considering her mother’s traitorous past. Either she slept her way there or had something on the Bogan. Either way, he felt it was a foolish decision on the Bogan’s part to appoint her High Lord, although he would never dare say that out loud. He knew his place, even if he did not like it.

The chamber was a thing of beauty, at least in his eye’s mind. Drenched in near total darkness, illuminated only by four moderately sized flames atop the banners that each held the tiger crest of his family’s past. The far end of the room where his desk was situated was lit by six additional candle sticks, but their small size made it difficult for the light to reach all the way to the other end of the blood red carpet that connected the desk to where they were waiting for Ultor. The desk was the closest he could come to a throne at the moment; there was pride in his work and then there was arrogance, and he relished in the latter. It reminded him he was the superior of the two subjects of the Bogan standing in the room.

“Enter,” he bellowed upon hearing the knock at the door. Ultor sheepishly and nervously perched her head through the doorway before entering through, a sign of weakness.

Perhaps it was a mistake bringing this Crusader here, Bestia spoke inward, although he and Tanoor only needed an additional perspective. Whether she was weak or not did not particularly matter in this proceeding.

“You have been summoned here by the High Lord and I for a purpose, Crusader,” Bestia scowled, the words escaping his lips as if a poison, mainly to intimidate the young woman. He had little regards for anyone’s feelings, and he had to test just how weak she was. It would help to show her true colors, something any leader needed to know about their followers. “Might you have any idea why?”

 

[Emma Lou]

Arabella looked at the Dark Master then at the High Lord. She bowed as she entered then listened to Master Bestia as he spoke to her. She straightened herself to her full height and shook her head.

"No, Master, I am unaware of why I was summoned, but I am pleased that I was the one chosen for whatever you need"

She knew that they thought she was weak, mostly everyone did. Some knew her past as a Jedi and that sometimes got her way. She was not as evil as some, but she was working on it. She was going to be a great Dark Master someday. She just hoped that today would not be her last one.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

This one is more difficult, Bestia thought. She was harder to get a read on, keeping her emotions deep within her. He could have pried more from her if she wanted, but now was not the time. He could determine that something about the Jedi called to her, something made her long for her past, and while that was dangerous for the Dark Jedi of their time it did not seem to be a major issue. They had more pressing matters to attend to anyway.

“You are here because we require an additional perspective,” Bestia told her, grinning mischievously as this was a moment he had long awaited. “The Bogan, in his seclusion, has ordered us to begin our first strikes against the Jedi. Lady Tanoor and I have already discussed the appropriate way in which to carry this out, and we would like the perspective of a Crusader. Lady Tanoor will brief you on our decisions.”

 

[Ser Gregor]

Bestia was the worst kind of Dark Jedi. He was ambitious and selfish. Push come to shove, he'll look out for himself. He was not a true follower of the Bogan. He was a pretender who found a convenience in following a man of immense power.

"We have decided the time to strike has come. Our information web has given us points of heavy Jedi traffic throughout the new Rimworlds, aiding the colonists in settling the frontiers of this galaxy. Teams of quiet, fast, specializerd Dark Masters and Crusaders shall be formed to ruin these worlds, killing or capturing the Jedi.

"There will be casualties. They will, overwhelmingly, be weak Crusaders. We cannot, however, send them to their deaths. We must here from one of them, to see if they believe they are ready to face the culmination of their training," Issan explained, her voice cold, deep, and recessed and echoing like she was in the mouth of a massive cave. Her eyes were a rolling chaos of white cloud on white cloud, pupilless and obviously starring straight at the Crusader.

"You will tell us what you think, without fear of reproach. You will tell us now."

 

[Emma Lou]

Relief sweep through Arabella to some degree. She was happy that they still had no idea about Rev, but she was now worried about him getting killed.

"Of course, Masters. I think the plan sounds good, but if the crusaders are trained well enough then would it be a necessity to send the Dark Masters, as well? I think the Dark Masters would be needed here more to train new crusaders who may be taking the places of the one who are not strong enough. I have not been chosen to specialize in anything yet, but I believe the Masters train the Crusaders to face whatever is thrown our way, especially Jedi."

 

[Ser Gregor]

"Of course they will be necessary, you impetuous little girl. The Jedi are a disease, far stronger than any number of Crusaders could handle," Issan snapped at Arabella, the haze of her eyes whirling and focusing on the girl.

"The instructors will stay behind to tend to the weak and raw Acolytes, while the Assassins delve deep in to the Jedi's heart. We are the coordinators who will lead the Crusaders to victory. You are only our tools. If you survive, you may very well learn to use these tools to your own advantage. Master Bestia will head the planning of our attacks, while I see to the Crusaders and Masters, ensuring their readiness. So, I ask again, are you ready?"

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Bestia laughed under his breath. The suggestion that someone as powerful as he, a Marauder, should stay behind and teach was absurd. He was of no use in a classroom. He was of use on the battlefield, directing the full wrath of the Bogan onto their unsuspecting and dogmatic prey.

“Lady Tanoor is correct,” Bestia barked. “If you believe yourself to be capable enough to handle this Jedi scourge without the strongest of our numbers by your side then your arrogance will doom you to fall. Don’t believe for a single moment that you can do this without the likes of Marauders like me.”

 

[Emma Lou]

Arabella looked at both Lady Tanoor and then Master Bestia. They called her arrogant all they wanted, but when all the knights were dead and no one knew their specializations then they'd be in trouble. She was unsure of why she was called when they were obviously not going to see anybody else's opinion.

"Yes, you are right. Forgive my ignorance"

She almost wanted to spit after those words left her mouth. They were both idiots of the worse kind...the kind who had never fought Jedi and underestimated them.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

There was such a display of smug arrogance. It was neither in her voice nor in her words, but rather in her mind. She believed she knew better than them, believed it was best to keep the strongest away from battle. Perhaps she was right, perhaps there was the potential to deplete the ranks of the Dark Masters, but was any victory going to come without sacrifice? Absolutely not. She was failing to realize the central tenets of the Dark Jedi that she was taught, that weakness is death and failing to react to the Jedi threat in a proper manner was, in and of itself, a failure to act. Fighting with only the weakest of the Bogan’s warriors would be fighting through fear. If she could not understand that, and she believed she knew better than Bestia and Tanoor in that regard, then she was not a proper Dark Jedi.

“Smart words,” Bestia told her, but his voice told her otherwise, “although they are just words. Know that we can see through you, and know that some wench who has never come to understand the true nature of battle will not be tolerated if she questions her masters any further. I have made myself clear, weakling, so there is no need for you to reply with anything other than ‘yes master’.”

 

[Emma Lou]

Arabella wanted to reply with something else, but that would not be smart.

"Yes, master"

The words were like poison out of her mouth. She was going to be stronger than both of them on day. She was not going to be the dead on laying on the ground, she would be one still standing. She knew the Jedi better than any of them and she would use that to her advantage.

 

[Ser Gregor]

"Leave," Issan ordered icily, her hands folded at the small of her back. When the Crusader had left through the opalescent doors to Bestia's chamber, she turned to the man for a moment.

"She will be a problem if we leave her be. I am assigning her to me. I will make sure she learns her place when we confront the Jedi," Issan reasoned, bowing her head to Bestia. "I shall not keep you any longer, Master. Call me if you require my aid."

 

[Brandon Rhea]

"With your permission, Lady Tanoor," Bestia began, spitting the last words out as if they were a plague upon tainted lips, "I will assemble our people and give them the Bogan's orders. I will begin the planning for this and our strikes immediately."