Ask Inquisitive Hearts And A Cloistered Mind

[Sevrin Valtiere]

Sevrin heard her out, listened to how she deflected past everything. He was detached from the conversation already. She had no desire to reveal anything useful, and he began to question whether she even had anything to say. However, the sarcasm at the end piqued his interest slightly.

“You do not follow the Eternal,” He stated flatly. Sith weren’t in the habit of making jokes or openly disrespecting those they feared, “I suppose you fall into the camp of Darth Stolas,” Sevrin paused for a moment, “Or Darth Raze. He was noticeably absent from Byblos along with Darth Malicia,” Being a Shadow meant he was far more well versed with the Sith names than most, “I suppose they knew Byblos was a lost cause and only allowed the peons to go?”

Sevrin glanced briefly over to Vahn and then back to the Sith, “Your appearance on Denon was no party trick,” He stated flatly, silver gaze as piercing as ever, “You support using that to transport ships to helpless worlds and tearing apart civilians that have nothing to do with the war? Just like the Sith had done to your parents?”

@GABA @The Steel Stag

 

[Vahn Berand]

Tiamat’s immediate change in demeanor did not go unnoticed by Vahn. The playful, superior but insincerely humble attitude was quickly replaced. She was still evasive, but Vahn could see the cracks in the armor. Good. Vahn's gaze bore into the woman before him. He gauged every reaction, every subtle movement. She told him as much about his questions with her body language as she would if she were simply answering verbally. Never underestimate a former thief measuring their mark.

Vahn noticed she simply played dumb to his question about the instant transportation of ships. No banter, no cute repartee. Was she sore about this issue? He mulled this over as Sevrin spoke, the Jedi nodding here and there in agreement. Turn up the heat, and then he can make his move.

“I’ll take that as a no to the ships; most likely one of your immediate priorities.”

Vahn disregarded the story of flashy entrances almost immediately upon hearing it. He had been able to feel Asminys' spirit, the true heart of a Sith when he had poured his will into the Sith Lord when he and Sevrin had defeated him. There was no room for casual play on the battlefield there.

“At Denon you teleported straight into the battlefield. However, at Byblos you chose to board The Gladiator in a more conventional manner. Crude work for someone who has access to instant transmission. Or for someone trying to make a flashy entrance. I know I would have transported directly onto the Bridge of the ship and just put a lightsaber to the captain’s neck. Can you only use this form of transportation onto planets?” Vahn took a sip of his tea. This was an unlikely possibility. Unless the method of transportation relied somehow on the mass shadow of a gravity well there really wasn’t a difference between the “space” of a planet and the “space” of a ship’s bridge. Even then, the Gladiator had still been close enough that she was still being pulled on by the planet’s gravity well.

“Or perhaps, you can’t be assured of the accuracy of your jumps. After Denon I immediately set about interviewing every survivor I pulled off of that planet. Word for word, I have their immediate thoughts and reactions. Every person’s story can be important for many, many reasons. Several of the survivors reported seeing strange flashes of light across the city early in the battle. They figured it was explosions from Sith weapons fire but now I’m not so sure,” Vahn took another drink.

“Were you having trouble focusing on a location to open the portal?”

@Sreeya @GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

She had to give them some credit and they were not as dense as she expected most of the Order to be. The Sephi Jedi spoke first, clearly not buying into anything she had said, which she expected. The Sith woman had not determined what she would get out of any of this. As Sith, she knew those who were captured and tortured for information were essentially killed in the end, it was rare to ever keep anyone alive. The FWA and Republic on the other hand, were probably not opposed to it, execution for being an evil bad person, but the idea of being hidden away in a cell for the rest of her life was not appealing either. Images of being prodded and examined by Jedi interested in a real dark sider seemed almost frightening for the woman.

Her eyebrows rose with interest as the Jedi revealed more of what they did know:

Not a fan of the Eternal
(check)
Camp Stolas
(check)
Camp Raze
(check check check check check)
Malicia...

Tiamat wasn't sure what she thought of the councilor, she was part of the current leadership who did not do much of anything. She grinned when Sev mentioned the idea of sending a bunch of peons, but he went back to her arrival on Denon. Her face didn't harden and she leaned forward just slightly eager for him to tell her more of what he knew, but instead, he went on the hook of the Sith who tore apart worlds to make a statement.

"Not really my approach, I-" she thought out loud and paused when Sev added the jab against her parents. It brought a stillness to the Sith woman and she started to speak, only to stop when Vahn started talking. He spoke of his own theories of what she could do and the woman couldn't help the eyeroll and scoff at the pure ignorance of simple space travel. She would have thought the rest of the galaxy had some inkling as to the nature of space and time given just about everyone used hyperspace travel. She was not ok with know many possibly just press to go! on their ships with out the true understanding of what they were pressing and why it worked.

Her own thoughts to the mere ignorance of remedial space physics had her tune out to much to what Vahn was saying. She wondered if these two worked together regularly because it was starting to become hard to believe they would be able to accomplish much of anything. Tiamat shifted slightly to face Vahn.

"Please take something to stop the verbal vomit." she stated flatly, seeming unamused that she was being lectured at and turned to Sev.

"Ok, one, I do not believe massacres like the one at the Corellian Ranger Headquarters is warranted to make a point to the galaxy. That's just not my preference." she explained, her blue eyes focused on Sev, flickering for a moment to Vahn. "Two, I'm just not in a position yet to rally others under my name." she shrugged, "But A+ on knowing your Sith: Eternal, Stolas, Raze, Malicia..." she grinned giving two thumbs up.

@Sreeya @The Steel Stag

 

[Sevrin Valtiere]

Sevrin wasn’t surprised to hear her answer. Sith as a concept had become far more complex than it had ever been before. The Sephi was silent for a moment as he processed her words.

“You may not believe in it, but there will come a time when a world does not yield without it being driven to massacre,” Sevrin stated, “Many Sith before you began their journey believing that they would end slavery, never resort to massacring populations, never forcing others to heel. Eventually it turns to that path because the free people will never relinquish their autonomy,” His gaze never left hers. His face remained stoic regardless of her sarcasm and antics. As always, he remained unwavering and stayed the course regardless of what came at him.

“The Eternal and Sith like Stolas or Raze do not spare civilians and innocent parties,” He explained, “Do you follow their cause out of obedience? Those views do not align with your own, so why do you uphold their cause? As you did at Denon and Byblos.”

@The Steel Stag @GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat bobbed her head back and forth, "Yeah, yeah...and all those were eventually consumed in the darkness as will I if I do not turn away from this path, forever damned and never rejoining the others in the Force." she sighed, unamused by the jedi-splaining Sith history to her. She felt even more defiant than before, nearly expecting for the two Jedi to start talking about how much better her life would be if she were to turn away from the darkness and join the light. However, the Sephi Jedi poised an interesting question and Tiamat took a moment to think on it, trying to find the best words to describe why she went into battle.

"To learn." she stated softly, "To learn not only of the habits of enemies, but to learn about the habits of my brethren when they are under pressure." Tiamat explained, "And to learn about myself, to better know my shortfalls and my strengths."

She leaned forward, letting her arms rest on the table, her finger idly tracing shapes along the table's surface, "One day, I will be rewarded. The dark side is patient, and therefore I can be patient." Tiamat kept her tone soft, her blue eyes focused on Sev, noting his unwavering gaze. They were not thoughts she spoke out loud often, if ever. Normally such ideas took her by surprise, but Tiamat seemed at peace with the idea she would have what she wanted in due time.

@The Steel Stag @Sreeya

 

[Vahn Berand]

Vahn was simply left grinning as Tiamat responded so simply. Complete refusal to engage. He felt that he was hitting somewhere close to home. He tapped away on his datapad, making a few notes. His earlier hypotheses seemed far more plausible now. Accuracy seemed to be an issue, and it was unlikely they had the capacity to move ships. Also, it was likely they had to have a specific location in mind; otherwise they could have just said ‘Take me to where the Jedi are’ and attacked Yavin directly. Or elsewise they could say ‘Open a portal to Tiamat’ and rescue her. They could plan defenses with these limitations in mind. Vahn was going to make recommendations right away that Tiamat be kept on a mobile containment facility that changed locations frequently, just to be sure.

Still there were so many questions remaining however. How many beings could they transport? From where? It wasn’t likely that they could open a portal from where-ever they wanted to where-ever they wanted; Tiamat would have just opened a portal the first chance she got to escape.

She had suggested the portals were a product of Dark side powers. But that had been part of a naked attempt to deflect from the discussion. Vahn frowned at that, and stroked a hand over his short cropped beard. It was possible, but he too was at Denon. He hadn’t felt anything there that would hint towards the presence of such a potent display of the Dark Side. It was possible the draining, eternal hunger of Malicia had drawn his focus however. There was still so much to figure out.

Vahn tapped a few keys on his datapad, forwarding a suggestion towards Sevrin’s own pad. Vahn knew that Tiamat was unlikely to respond well to him.

“See if you can get travel habits; may be possible to track her research” the message read.

 

[Sevrin Valtiere]

“You really do not care about joining the Force,” Sevrin cut her off in the middle of her mocking. His tone was firm, his gaze frosty. He leaned slightly forward in his seat, “I say what I say to make sure you know exactly what you are doing the entire time. Every second of it. Every moment of it. So you are aware of every life you snuff out and you take direct responsibility for it. So you don’t hide behind others and pretend you have no part in it.”

Sevrin was unrelenting in how he addressed her, the baritone of his voice cutting and unapologetic, “So you are very aware of how all these time you spent waiting, watching and observing other Sith you have been accumulating the blood of hundreds in your hands,” The Sephi strongly doubted that the Sith had put two and two together. It was always so simple to ‘follow orders’ and remove oneself from the situation.

“You are delusional if you think you are not already part of massacring others,” Sevrin stated flatly, “You have already been rewarded in the only way the dark side rewards. Deceptively and quietly. Are you happy?”

@GABA @The Steel Stag

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Her eyes flickered to Vahn who seemed busy with taking notes and looking uninterested in the interrogation, smiling occasionally either to her response or to his own musings. However the Sephi Jedi took a stern tone with the woman, finding disapproval for her lack of concern for her actions and the consequences of her continued servitude of the darkside. She kept against the table, continued outlining invisible squiggles along the table top, her face hardening again as the Jedi took to lecturing.

There was an interest to what he was saying, but she was still detached from the message; the woman found it odd for someone...or in the least, anyone to be so concerned about the well-being of ordinary people. Were the Jedi just completely unaware of the atrocities that existed in the galaxy and the innocents who were subjected to them by the second? While chewing her out for being a bad person, she thought it could be very likely time they could help those individuals if they were just that concerned. When Sev finished, he asked if she were happy and Tiamat paused, but did not look up from the table.

"Where were the Jedi when the Sith were murdering my parents? Where were the Jedi when I was abandoned to the streets? Where were the Jedi when I was trapped beneath the lust of men?" she continued with tracing on the surface of the table, "Why wouldn't a Jedi bring me with them when we met on Felucia? The Light has turned against me just as the galaxy did far before I walked the path of the Sith." she paused and met the frosty stare of the Sephi.

"For you Jedi, I am soiled, delusional, some sad soul in your eyes, and just like everyone else, you will make promises of a better life, only to fall short on your words." Tiamat shrugged and scoffed, "Happiness? An illusion." she leaned back in her seat and dropped her hands in her lap, "I am only returning the same courtesy the galaxy had given me."

@The Steel Stag @Sreeya

 

[Vahn Berand]

Vahn listened as Tiamat spoke. Each word, each syllable caused his expression to grow tenser, tighter. Was she really trying to justify her actions, and continued intent on the galaxy being unfair to her? The Sith woman really was just a child. That’s one thing he didn’t expect. He sighed, and tossed the datapad down onto the table with perhaps a touch too much force.

“Lyra, first of all, your pain is real. It’s okay to feel like you do, even angry at the galaxy. The source of your pain I understand. I at least don’t think you’re despoiled. I think you’re in pain. But you’re also full of crap,” Vahn said as he leaned in towards the table. One gloved hand bundled into a tense fist. “I know this because, well, you’re going to hate hearing this...but you and I are extremely alike. Bear with my word vomit for a moment.”

“Ye’ eve’ bin ta’ Tarish?” Vahn asked. His tone and accent slipped into a distinct brogue, his words subtly slurring together. Each word hung heavily with the distinct tones familiar with the lowest classes of any ecumenopolis in the galaxy; most especially the disaster world known as Taris. “Hell world, really. Ben a rotten stone floatin’ t’ru space for a t’ousand years. S’where oyn us’d to call homm. Grew up in an indentured ‘ousehold. Dedn’t know moyn pa, moyn ma died when I was young. Work’d herself to sickness n’ death. Stole and teev’d to git my bread. Berly dodg’d the collar and the trip to the Hutts moynself. Friends, family, naht so lucky. E’en stell, oyn saw all species o’ harm and violensh. De lahnliness, de ‘onger, de streets.” Vahn paused. His gaze flickered between Tiamat and Sevrin with a moment of apprehension, a reflexive tension quivered in his voice. He knew Sevrin, at least, would never judge him. He'd only told a handful of souls this part of the story. “E’en de lust, likely e’en yonger en you. A billion sohls the galaxy gave it ‘ard to. ‘En we dohn all comb ‘way gleeful wit’ our boots on another’s neck.”

Vahn coughed, and cleared his throat. For a moment there was a new intensity. Vahn was actually angry; a momentary personal offense burning in his eyes. He paused then, took a breath, and focused on a thought; I believed in her, and she believed in me. His blood cooled, and he leaned back. The moment was gone, and he was more focused now.

“When you’ve been hurt deeply, it’s easier to feed into the cycle of violence. You convince yourself that you’re justified in hurting people the way you have been hurt, or that there’s no other way to act. But that’s the crap, that’s the story you tell yourself because it’s easier to do that than to try and break the cycle. It’s easier to sink to their level than to rise above the pain. And that’s the real suffering because you’re eternally bound to it. Constantly defined by what people have done to you instead of who and what you are. How many more Lyras have you created or helped create? How many scared, orphaned little boys and girls are huddled around Denon right now exposed to the same malicious forces that you and I were?”

@GABA @Sreeya

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Oh no...his word vomit comes with an accent...

Tiamat's eyes widened with disbelief; at some point all this talking has to be considered a war crime and if her brain started to ooze from her ears, there would at least be solid evidence to back up this claim. However, she listened, not that she was interested in entertaining his Tarisian upbringing as he tried to level with the redhead. The effort would earn one a gold star on their school paper, but for her, it felt like she no longer mattered, the voices of a distant past echoed in her memory.

You're not the only kid who needs help.
Try a bit harder, won't you?

She knew the jedi here wanted to know where her secrets, not her story; this room wasn't a cozy space to chit-chat, she was cuffed, drugged, and forced to sit while they pressured her with questions. The bearded Jedi wanted to find a connection to lure her into a sense of being valued and redeemable. Then there was the good-looking one, whose pressing gaze was just as condemning as his words while he tried to guilt her into believing her actions were atrocities. However, what they did not seem to realize was her pain was her power, her suffering gave her strength, she was a survivor forged in unimaginable hells, endured the worst and she would be greatest from this path.

"How many orphans?" Tiamat shrugged and a coy smile crossed her face, "If you have not cared to tend to them, then you have no business on Denon. Perhaps once I am free I will find those children and offer them a chance to find their true power, just as I have."

@The Steel Stag @Sreeya

 

[Vahn Berand]

Vahn seemed strangely unimpressed, resting his chin against his hand as he stared into the Sith girl before him. He was continually taken aback in this conversation. But this was something new. He could deal with pain, he could deal with anger and frustration. Lazy hypocrisy was something else however and Vahn was visibly bored. Somehow, he had convinced himself that the Sith woman would be different, that her justifications wouldn’t be nearly identical to the dozens of two-bit gangsters he’d dealt with in the past. He’d seen so many variations of 'I’m going to make a problem, and then blame you for not stopping me' that it was just exhausting at this point.

“You can’t care for orphans that haven’t been created yet, Lyra. That’s what their families are there for, not the Jedi,” Vahn said bitterly, emphasizing the point that she was creating this problem through the Sith’s wars. “And if we can’t take care of orphans then we have no business being there? Amazing, I didn’t know Sith could be that ambitious. You create the conditions for hundreds or thousands of vulnerable children, pluck them all off of the street, and then train them up to be little Sithlings, the ones that survive at least, that then create hundreds and thousands of additional vulnerable children and so on into the future. That’s a great business model you have there, you’ll never be out of work. Surely you would focus all of your efforts on this massive undertaking and not simply be a giant hypocrite.”

Vahn sighed, and slowly started setting about gathering the tray, the cups, and his datapad back together.

“Sevrin, I think we’ve exhausted our opportunities here. We’re not going to get anywhere else with this,” he stated, and slowly stood up. The conversation was like hitting a brick wall, layered with hypocrisy and arrogance. "Warden, I think I'm done here. Sevrin might have a few questions, maybe, but I'm through," Vahn called out.

As he turned to leave, he spared one final glance back at Tiamat. There wasn’t hatred in his eyes, not even disappointment or sadness. Just pity.

“Lyra, I do hope the next time we meet it’ll be under happier circumstances. If you want to talk, really talk, you know how to reach me,” and then the door slid open behind him and he walked off into the corridor just beyond.

@Sreeya @GABA