Life Rises and Death to Meet It

[Darth Kravos]

Darth Kravos was deep within the bowels of a tomb on Korriban. The Sith's propensity for burying their dead in elaborate tombs was odd, but the Dark Lord had found that it also fascinated him. He wondered if the Sith Lords would one day be given remarkable tombs of their own. And if they were, would they one day be forgotten like this tomb had?

Perhaps those were thoughts to discuss with the High Judge after their experiment today was finished. Darth Evandrus had responded to Kravos's request to meet him and should have been on his way here now. The two of them would be alone down here apart from their "subjects" and no one knew they were here now or what they were doing.

The side chambers were filled with individuals, restrained or sedated, who had been selected for this unfortunate experiment. That being said, Kravos wasn't particularly sad about those they had selected: criminals, traitors found by the ISB, and other scum from across the galaxy. Kravos had personally authorized each one of them for this brutal execution.

After all, the High Judge was coming, and final justice lay with him, did it not? He could have Evandrus sign off on these if he was so inclined, but something told the Dark Lord that he wouldn't have an issue with the participants Kravos had chosen. He glanced down at the chrono on his datapad and realized it was nearly time for Cregan to be here at any time. He glanced at the door and could feel his friend's presence approaching. @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Korriban was not somewhere that Evandrus liked to come often but it was, for now, the centre of the Sith Empire and it was somewhere he was expected to be, somewhere he was expected to put in an appearance. When that appearance was requested by a friend and the Dark Lord of the Sith?

Well you tended to get a move on.

Entering the tomb had been an odd experience, as if he was opening the doors on some dark secret. He supposed, considering the notes he had brought along with him, that was something of the truth. As he wandered on over to his friend, Evandrus nodded before reaching up and removing his armour's helmet. He had taken to wearing the helmet wherever he went and only taking it off in the presence of friends or for identification purposes.

With his mask off, Evandrus took a few steps closer before reaching out with his right hand to claps forearms with Kravos, his smile starting to melt the Evandrus away so that Cregan would be smiling at his friend. It was sometimes a little odd to be both Evandrus and Cregan but meeting a friend? Well that was never going to be wholly Evandrus territory now was it?

"Dark Lord Kravos." he greeted his friend formally with a small smirk before adding, slightly less seriously, "Kal... you really do have a habit of inviting me to some truly awful places."

It was a joke but... yeah, their track record for meeting up spots was bad if they didn't include Lothal.

"But I am glad to see you again my friend - even if it is for work." he admitted before gesturing around him, "So... what, exactly, have you started, Kal?"

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Evandrus, he said with a nod. The High Judge was one of the few people still allowed to use Kal's old name any longer, but even now in the presence of his old friend, he was in the mindset of Kravos. They had business and it was a particularly brutal one. Something that would cause pain, suffering, and death. Kal rarely made appearances these days and now he felt far away and distant.

No different than when we were Shadows, he said, thinking back to and reminding them both of all the terrible places that had each visited for the Jedi. It felt like a lifetime ago now and Kravos barely even remembered what it had been like to be a Jedi. Now the thought of Jedi was filled with nothing but a focused malice and the desire to see them eliminated. Secrets are always exchanged in shadows and dark tombs, aren't they? he added cryptically.

I'm sure you can guess why I asked you here, he said, motioning toward the data that the High Judge had brought. You're one of the few people I know can be trusted with "delicate" topics, he said. It was information that, for the moment, Kravos wanted to keep within the Drast family. It had potentially large repercussions, and thus far, the only people who knew about it were Drasts and a scientist who was kept locked away.

I've collected research from Satara and her scientist and when you mentioned the research you had obtained, I thought the two of us might be able to put our heads together and fill in the gaps, he said. It was the direct approach to the topic, though he anticipated Cregan potentially having objections. It wasn't something that he thought his friend would usually appreciate, but that was why he had chosen their specialized test subjects.

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Ah... so his instincts had been right. This wasn't going to be one of their mission together that started off serious and got lighthearted towards the end (or, indeed, the other way around). This was going to be far more serious than that. He didn't sigh and he didn't give any indication but he focused himself on the serious situation they were in and yet Cregan once against gave way to Evandrus and they were right back to the more serious atmosphere.

Of course, being Evandrus didn't mean that he stopped smiling or that he suddenly lost any sense of humour that he had ever had - that would just be weird,

"Everything else is different from when we were Shadows." he countered easily before smiling a little bit and nodding in agreement, "Yes... where only the dead can hear. And the dead cannot tell tales."

Yeah... yeah he knew why Kravos had asked him here. He knew the reason but he was waiting on the reasoning. Evandrus was not above doing bad things for the greater good - he had been as a Jedi and he was even more so now. But one thing he did question was that they were doing this in the first place. Were they really at the stage where they needed abominations? They were growing more powerful by the day as it was - surely abominations were not needed?

But Kravos would doubtlessly explain his thought process in time.

He didn't verbally acknowledge Kravos' show of trust in himself, he merely nodded in agreement. There were some things that didn't get shared with others, no matter what, and he was getting the impression that these were those kind of things. He hummed a little bit and nodding simply,

"The data I have is from a Jedi research bunker - focusing specifically on how they were created with the properties that they possessed. Namely the natural state of being immune to being affected by the Force directly. No Force push, fear or choke. Very... strange." he admitted, handing over the data drive to Kravos, "I can see the data you've collected working well with that. With the two of them we should be able to create our own. But that brings me to the most important question I have today Kravos; The Why."

Evandrus looked his friend in the eyes,

"Why do we need Abominations when we are as powerful as we are? When we are growing moreso everyday without them?" he asked, frowning slightly, "The only reason I'm here and not currently holding my lightsaber in hand is simply because it's you, Kravos. I know you are not a man taken by flights of madness so explain your logic to me, please."

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Ah, yes, Cregan understood him very well. Cryptic phrases and edgy words. Even if he thought it was silly, he understood how his old friend thought. Regardless of how silly it sounded there was one undeniable fact: it was also true. Dead men told no tales.

Kravos gave a nod, taking the data from Cregan and carrying it over to the table and the small data terminal he had brought down here. On the table was a pile of hand-written journals that he and Andraste had recovered from Satara's lab. He had spent hours of his own time poring over them and reading them, picking whatever data he could and combining it with his own growing knowledge of the Force.

Very good, he said, beginning to look through the data Evandrus had brought when he spoke up and commented about standing here with his lightsaber. Strong words, perhaps slightly surprising, but not entirely misunderstood. He paused what he was doing, looking at Cregan from behind his mask. He slipped his helmet off and dropped it unceremoniously onto the desk with a loud thunk. His eyes met Cregan's for a moment and it was clear he wasn't overly happy with the comment, but he also knew it was Cregan's right to say it.

And he deserved an answer.

He stood in silence for a moment before finally answering. You're right, I'm not given to fits of madness, he stated.

And there's a reason I'm not sharing this with anyone who isn't a Drast. We don't need this escaping this room. How many people have we killed to create openings for ourselves? We released viruses on Boonta so we could step in and save people. We've planted bombs and assassinated people so we could sweep in as the saviors. There is nothing more terrifying than releasing a monster people can't stop, he said, and Cregan would begin to see what he meant. Kravos's intention was not to unleash these in droves on the galaxy, but unleashing a terror to save people from was precisely what the Sith already did.

And these people are anything but innocent. Their deaths may well have more meanings than their lives did, he said, turning to the data terminal to pull up information on the list of victims for Cregan to see. Look for yourself.

He paused, waiting for Cregan to look through the list if he so chose before adding something else. It was something potentially far more interesting and applicable to their situation. Besides, even if we never release a single creature on the galaxy, how many of these things have we fought? How useful would it be to be able to turn them back rather than fight them? he posed the question. This research had an abundance of uses and the more that Kravos had thought about it, the more it made sense for at least some of the Sith Lords to learn this.

 

[Darth Evandrus]

The helmet was off and Kravos was looking him in the eye... which was good. Considering everything that they had gone through over the years, he expected his friend to, at the very least, look him in the eyes. Anyone who wasn't a Drast as well? At the very least, Evandrus was happy to know that this wasn't going to be making itself be known outside of the family. It did, however, mean that this was something that Kravos was planning to keep beyond top secret.

Only reason you ever went that black when it came to black ops was when you were either ashamed of what you were doing, on some level, or when you knew that it was wrong and anyone else would condemn you for it, no matter what the results you got out of the actions in the end.

Evandrus sighed a little bit as he listened, just running a hand through his hair as he took the opportunity to look over some of the files on the people who had been signed up for this experiment. He needed have bothered really - Kravos wouldn't have mentioned the backgrounds of the experimentation candidates unless he knew that they were the kind of people that Evandrus would happily see removed from the Galaxy.

"They used to tell us when we were Shadows to be careful - that those who fight monsters run the risk of becoming a monster in their quest to fight them." he mused aloud as he looked over the list of names again, "I wonder if this is what that feels like? Because if it is then I must say I'm disappointed. I expected to feel some kind of soul-crushing despair upon deciding that I was willing to accept this as a necessary evil."

He looked Kravos in the eyes,

"But I don't." he admitted honestly, frowning slightly, "This just feels... like it's practical. I'll be honest with you Kravos - it's that lack of reaction that is honestly more terrifying to me than the idea that I approve of what you're looking to accomplish here."

Evandrus nodded,

"Alright." he looked his friend in the eyes and managed a small smirk, "What's the next step?"

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kravos could practically see the will to argue melting away from Cregan. Ultimately, the argument was sound no matter how much he didn't want it to be. There were ugly things that needed to be done to build an Empire. Kravos had known and told Andraste that he would be the one to do those things for the Empire.

Because it is necessary, he stated blankly. They were never going to be able to make the Empire without breaking eggs. The galaxy is full of monsters, and if the Empire doesn't have a few to keep the others at bay, she'll never survive. He didn't flinch from the thought. Kravos had been putting together these operations for a very long time and thought about the repercussions many times over. He'd thought about what he was doing when he'd assassinated Rhea. He'd thought about it when he'd murdered Nadela. He'd thought about it when they released a virus on Boonta, and many more.

Maybe the feeling will come later, or maybe you'll recognize the importance of what we're doing, he said. But there wasn't a further point to discussing it. Evandrus seemed ready to move forward and so was Kravos. He turned his attention to the data they had and then motioned to one of their prisoners.

There's not some deeper plan here. Practice makes perfect, he said. A flick of his wrist and the security shackles came off of one of the prisoners and he was dragged across the floor. Time to get to work, he said, thinking about the things he had read as he reached out to the Force. He had done a great many things with the Force and reached out to tug at the life strings of the man. There was screaming and writhing as his body began to change, twisted by the Dark Side itself.

Pieces of the body began to tear free and near-claws came out of his hands. Kravos actually thought he might have done it, but at the last moment, the man's life slipped into the Force. He was dead, but Kravos had almost managed it. Now he had an idea of what he was doing and the next attempt should - in theory - be easier for him. Hopefully. @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

They could stand here and debate the ethics and the morals of what they were about to do all day but, in the end, ethics and morals were things that could only be debated by the living. If they, and those they cared about, wanted to remain amongst the living they needed to do things that might otherwise go against their morals and their ethics... so that they could live long enough in the future to feel bad about them.

He couldn't help but smirk a little bit at that. It wasn't a very warm expression but there was a dark sense of humour behind it that he didn't mind sharing with Kravos,

"The Galaxy is full of monsters." he agreed, "And you know we're already some of the worst, right? To regular people, even to people with the Force, you and I and Andraste and the others? We're so far beyond them that we're like monsters or gods to them as it is."

Maybe he had been foolish to think that that had been enough.

"Alright then. Time to get used to this and get better at it at the same time." he agreed, rolling his neck a little bit as one of the prisoners was pulled towards them, "The first body amongst the foundations... I'd say they should be honoured but these people you've selected are beyond such things. We're merely recycling monsters and trash in sentient form and changing it to something more controllable."

Watching as the man changed and then died, Evandrus moved back to the data terminal. He thought about it for a moment, looking over the claws for a moment before pulling another of the test subjects closer. Looking at the living example and the dead one, along with the data in the terminal, Evandrus hummed,

"What if we try for partial corruption first?"

Suiting actions to words, Evandrus began to push and pull at the patient before them, using the Force, but focusing only on the sentient's left arm. The attempt was to see if it would work to change them in stages. It didn't work... in fact, the lower left forearm bulged obscenely for a moment and Evandrus had to cover it in a Force Barrier to prevent himself and Kravos from being splattered in blood when it exploded.

"Seems that the change cannot be brought about piecemeal and must be brought about over the entirety of the creature's form - the Force and the body both rejected a change over such a small area."

Evandrus reached out with the Force and snapped the now armless creature... needless suffering wasn't something he enjoyed and the test subject was corrupted enough that any further tests wouldn't be from a true Zero starting point and, thus, any changes would have been useless to them.

Shame.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kravos stepped back as Evandrus took his turn. The other Sith Lord was incredibly powerful as well and he could quickly see change beginning to take place as the High Judge mused about changing the creatures one piece at a time. His experiment unrolled with the twisting of the man's arm in screams and agony. Even Kravos found these experiments distasteful but put it out of his mind, noting that it perhaps should not be their go-to technique if only because of its intense cruelty.

In the end, it didn't work out. The arm bulged and burst a moment later, covering the floor in blood. Kravos shook his head, turning to the research as well. He had tried a full-body conversion, but perhaps that wasn't the issue. Perhaps it had to do with the resistance of the subject.

The Dark Lord reached out to the next subject. By now they had seen what awaited them, but bound and gagged there was nothing they could do. He plunged himself into the mind of the man. He shoved everything into the dark corners of the man's mind, forcing him out of consciousness as the man's mind resisted.

Maybe without physical resistance, the body will be more accepting of the changes, he said, reaching out to the body next and twisting it. Skin stretched and twisted, but within moments the body began to twist, and not into the form of an abomination. It swelled and began to bleed, pouring blood out onto the ground in puddles. The Dark Lord shook his head and snapped the subject's neck as well.

With every death, he felt the darkness grow. What they were doing was twisted and wicked. Evil in a way that even he hadn't anticipated. It was unsettling in a way and he wanted it to be over. But he wasn't going to quit yet. This needed doing... didn't it? @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Renewed Theme​

By all the Gods... this wasn't going well.

Not only was he not alright with what they were doing, ethically or morally, but it seemed that they weren't even doing very well at it. He wanted to stop. He could... he could feel it polluting him. What he was doing here was wrong on every level, from the ethical and moral levels right down to any other level you cared to mention. On a very real, very raw and very visceral level - this was wrong.

And when you knew something was that wrong and did it anyway...? It tore at your insides. Resting his hands palms down against the side, Evandrus took a few deep breaths. He was... he was trying to be a Good Man in everything that he did but this? This wasn't something he could spin to himself as being a 'good' or a 'just' act. What they were doing was wrong but... but it would lead to greater good in the future. That had to count for something, didn't it? The intent behind which they committed these awful acts had to count for something, had to mean something in the grand scheme of things, in the judgement that they may very well receive one day for their acts? It had to count for something, right?

It didn't.

And that was awful... but it didn't mean that he could stop. If anything, it just meant that he needed to see this through, needed to see it done already. He didn't believe that he would suddenly be some warped, different, person should he go through with this but he knew that it would stick with him regardless. Best to actually succeed then.

He pulled another subject forward.

"Kravos - what is we combine the two techniques?" he asked in the end with a frown, "One of us focuses on keeping the subject calmer and manipulates their mind into accepting the changes to the body while the other makes the physical changes? I will manipulate the subject's mind on this one if you're ready for it."

There was quite a bit of resistance in the latest test subject but Evandrus' skill and power forced the subject into the right frame of mind, making their entirely body a lot more receptive to the changes that Kravos was going to force onto it.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Reused Theme​

Kravos could feel the discomfort in his friend, and he couldn't fault him for it. This could be the kind of thing that would stick with either of them for years to come. Was this the sign that he had finally lost his way? That he had truly become a monster? Something about this felt so different than even killing or bombing with conventional war. It was true cruelty and malice. But these weren't men. They weren't innocent beings, they were monsters themselves.

And there was nothing better to fight a monster than a monster.

Let's try it, he said with a nod. He waited for Evandrus to reach out to the mind, tapping into their next victim's psyche. He could feel it bending to Evandrus's will and reached out. This time his eyes closed and he pulled at the strings of the Force that connected the man to the Force itself. He reached out to the cells, rewriting the functions of who he was.

With every movement and their combined effort, the body began to change and in its wake was a twisted form. Sharpened teeth and ravenous eyes replaced a normal face and claws lined the hands. It snarled at the two of them and leapt forward quickly, slashing out with its hands before it stopped. It seemed to realize they were in control and backed away a moment. It couldn't decide if it wanted to attack them or not, it seemed.

He glanced over at Evandrus for a fraction of a moment, not taking his eyes off of the creature. These things still seem like they'll attack at any moment, he said. As if by some external intervention, the creature jumped again, this time slashing at the High Judge. Kravos had no doubt that he would be able to handle it easily and he looked down at the body.

We might need to work on the control bit, he said in his objective tone. At least the brutal transformation bit was over. @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

By all the Gods and every facet of the Force itself... why did success feel so much like a disgusting failure?

They had succeeded in what they had initially set out to do - they had created an abomination from a regular human being and it was stable. It hadn't exploded or fallen apart or anything similar. It had worked and it had worked well enough that the thing immediately did it's best to act like a skittish cat or something. Thankfully, Evandrus was considering it to be very similar to a cat so when it lashed out at him on a dime he was, honestly, expecting it.

Leaning back to avoid the slash that had come for him, Evandrus reached out physically, grabbing the arm at the wrist with one hand and slamming his palm hard just above the elbow. The abomination screeched in pain as it's arm broke at the elbow. Evandrus released the creature and let it crawl away, where it huddled closer to the wall, eyes downcast.

"They can be trained." he declared with an exhale of breath, "If we see no other successes in control, we know they feel pain and they react to it like an animal does. Therefore we can teach them by the use of pain."

It wasn't going to be anyone's ideal solution.

Not sure if this abomination would have the same immunity to the direct applications of the Force like the abominations from the Lothal data had, Evandrus instead drew his lightsaber and struck the whimpering, cowering, creature down in a single strike. He extinguished the red blade of his lightsaber with a sigh,

"Perhaps it makes a difference if they're obedient before they are turned?" he suggested before grimacing, "No... forget I said that. I draw the line at turning loyal people into these things."

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kravos watched as the creature climbed away from them, cowering in the corner. He watched what unfolded and listened to Evandrus's assessment. They could be trained, but Kravos wouldn't lie, he didn't want that. He wanted to break them in a more efficient way. The other Warlords had done it, so he knew it was possible. An animal took years to train, and they couldn't waste that time.

Then he heard Evandrus suggest they be loyal already before quickly cutting himself off. Even Kravos agreed. No, he shook his head, indicating he had no interest in that either. Those who were loyal to the Empire shouldn't be thrown away wastefully. The Dark Lord was willing to spread death if he needed to, but he wanted to spare their own people as much as possible.

Keep it to captives, prisoners, and traitors as much as possible, he said. There were some lines that even the Dark Lord did not want to cross, and despite even that statement allowing some potential for leeway, he didn't want to delve too deeply into that rabbit hole.

At Serenno they obeyed the Alpha, he said, thinking back to when they had all fought the hound-like abominations as well as the building-sized creature they followed. If they have animal-like instincts, perhaps we need to convince them that we are the Alpha, he said as his mind ran back to the mental sides of what they were doing. What about using the Force... "imprint" on them? he asked, thinking about the way that small animals imprinted on parents when born. He glanced over at the thing and how it acted - at least in some ways - like animals. @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Yeah... yeah they both recognised that using loyal subjects was a step beyond what either of them were willing to do and he liked that if he was honest. It showed that even now they had limits and they were limits that would not be crossed. That was, in his mind, the difference between someone who fought monsters and someone who was just a monster who preferred to hunt other monsters. And there was, again in his mind, a big difference between those two.

He could sleep easy being someone who fought monsters, even if it ended up corrupting him beyond the 'good' but he refused to accept that he needed to become a monster who hunted other monsters. Because when he reached that stage? Hell, when he reached that stage he would be no better than the abomination he had just put down.

"Good." he agreed, releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding, "I wouldn't be able to do that, I don't think Kravos. Not to those who are loyal... not to our people."

Back to the matter at hand.

"Yes... yes I think you might be right." he agreed with a thoughtful hum, "I was attempting to push my will upon the creature before and it worked but only when it had my attention, only when I was pushing specific instructions to it - like taming a rancor or the like. If we want to have them follow our lead we need to have it be instinctive..."

Bringing over another test subject, he paused before looking up at Kravos,

"I think we should imprint upon them using the Dark Side as our vector - that way they associate powerful Dark Siders with alphas. We can refine it to our individual Force Signatures if that works." he suggested before nodding to Kravos, "Shall I take the mind or shall you this time?"

Made sense for them to get used to doing both sides of the process.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

At least they were agreed on that if nothing else. But the two of them were agreed on a lot more than that, and he knew it. They hadn't spent this much time together, fought side by side for so long, and even married the same woman because their opinions differed on everything. That's a good plan, he said with a nod. Imprinting the creatures with powerful Dark Siders seemed like the best bet so that they could be stopped by others, though the Dark Lord also saw benefit to imprinting a personal signature as well: it was harder to be betrayed.

I'll take the mind, he said with a nod. They had already done this once, and they had both been in the presence of it when it happened. They had felt it in the Force, so the process was much more straightforward this time.

The next target was dragged forward and Kravos delved into the mind, impressing his will on the other man and quieting him down as Evandrus would have the opportunity to begin the transformation. As he did, he surged additional power, pouring anger, hatred, and disdain into the mind. It was laced with fear. The creature would learn to fear that anger and the dark emotions it could sense in the Force.

Of course the next stage would be for one of them to do it on their own, but for the moment, Evandrus needed to rip the body apart and re-form it into a killing machine. @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Alright then - with Kravos taking the mind this time, it would be up to Evandrus to guide the body through it's transformation into the monstrous form that the other one had taken. It wouldn't be too hard considering he'd gotten a bit of a taste for the process on his prior attempts and he had been watching very carefully when Kravos had changed the last one too. The mind being taken care of, all Evandrus would have to do was use his power to mould the man into the shape he wanted.

It was rather alarming, for a moment, at how responsive the Dark Side was when he reached for it but he supposed he was just getting used to it because it didn't so much as slow him down as he reached out and began to twisted and manipulate the subject. It was a deeper connection than he had forged with the partial transformation and it was working a lot better - in mere moments the claws and the twisting of the skin and muscle was happening.

It was working.

The man's hands split apart, the flesh receding as the bones of the fingers extended, hardening and twisting together to form larger, knife-life, talons that looked ready to tear through flesh. The head pulled back as it's mouth was pulled back as more and more space was taken up by extended teeth. Bones like ribs and others began to grow and twist, breaking through the skin as hardened spikes and points. All over it's body, the flesh was peeled back to reveal hardened muscle and spikes of bone protruded through.

He paused and the creature just lay there, breathing raspily under Kravos' control.

"And somehow I've made them even uglier than the ones we knew about before..."

Spoiler: Abomination Created

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Darth Kravos watched as the man was twisted and changed before his eyes, a true warping of the Force from the natural order. He could see hideous protrusions burst forth and assemble themselves in hideous ways, but after a moment it was finally finished. He could still feel his own connection in the Force to the creature, but it was completely subservient and afraid of them both. Unlike those who had come before, it was obedient and "docile" toward the two Sith Lords.

Now to test that command.

He flicked his wrist and with a thought, sent the creature barreling down on one of the prisoners. It began to rip at the man with claws and teeth and Kravos grimaced before breaking the man's neck cleanly and bringing the disgusting blood bath to an end. By now the other prisoners were terrified and scooting away as best they could and Kravos recalled the creature. Senseless suffering was still not his thing.

They obey commands, he pointed out. Only one more test, he said, dragging one final prisoner out. He delved into both mind and body at once, singlehandedly twisting the man into a form much like that Evandrus had made only moment earlier. Now there were two and both seemed to obey him with the same fervor as the first.

He would step aside in case Evandrus hoped to test it on his own before speaking again. There were still numerous other prisoners - each deserving of execution - down here, and none could live to tell the tale of what they had seen. Would you like to administer justice, Judge? he asked. He saw no need to draw out their executions with grotesque torture, after all. @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Good.

Obeying commands was pretty much the only thing that abominations were good for... well, before you got into the horrifying battlefield and morale applications you could command the abominations to assist with. Watching in detached horror as the beast tore the man apart, but not actually killing him. The death of the man came only when Kravos actually felt pity over the man. Taking a deep breath, Evandrus took what would be his final test subject.

Ignoring the man's initial protests, Evandrus attached himself to the man in both body and mind. It was a little bit tougher than when he was working alongside Kravos but that was just because he was splitting his attention - it actually didn't require as much power as he thought it would.

The wet sound of flesh receding and the strangely recognisable sound of bone spearing through the body... and it was done. Another obedient little abomination of teeth and claws and bones.

Evandrus moved to stand beside his friend as he looked out at the prisoners. He was right - they all deserved judgement and it was his duty to pass it. He remembered their crimes from the datapad he had been given and them being tied down to examination beds didn't make a difference to him.

"Gladly, my Lord."

Stepping closer to them, Evandrus drew his lightsaber. He ignited the red blade in front of his face and took a deep breath,

"For breaking Imperial Law and going against the Will of the Empress... you are sentenced to die."

He didn't bother lopping their heads off individually - they were all lined up. He just held his lightsaber at the right angle and walked, letting the motion cut cleanly through their necks to separate their heads from their bodies. Extinguishing his lightsaber, Evandrus pointed to the three abominations they had, just waiting for instructions,

"What do we do with them?" he asked with a frown, "If the Exiles have taught us anything it's that abominations always escape at some point... so we can either store them on some barren rock somewhere or we need to find a way to put them on ice or something. Keep them from going bad too."

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kravos watched as the High Judge performed his duty. He sliced the heads free of the prisoners and Kravos didn't flinch. He didn't like torture, but this was quick and then it was over. While he did that, Kravos slipped his helmet back on, glancing over at the abominations. Evandrus finished up and headless bodies lay on the beds.

You're right, these ones will just escape. When we need them, we'll make more. This was just a test. Better to eliminate these ones now, he said. His own saber leapt to hand and within a trio of strokes, the creatures were cut down and dead on the ground. The bodies were maneuvered with the Force and Kravos looked down at what they had done. The saber blade slipped into nonexistence and returned to his belt.

Let's be rid of the evidence and leave this place, he said. His hand came up and flame poured out. It clung to the dead in a way that no normal flame could or would. It would burn up the evidence in short order and the two could be gone.

Let's not waste anymore time in the company of death, he said, turning to leave. Whether Evandrus wanted to discuss what had just happened or not, he would leave to him, but he didn't leave outright. Just left the growing smoke and death that was filling the tomb. @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Testing to make sure that they could do it again, and do it right, in the future? And who said the Sith weren't cautious? He was very glad that Kravos seemed to be just as, if not more, concerned with potential escape attempts. Not only would it result in Imperial deaths but it would be a serious breach in security that would let the Galaxy as a whole know what the Sith were doing behind closed doors.

And considering all the good PR they'd gotten from not being like the Abomination-unleashing-Exiles? Well, he could agree with Kravos that eliminating these abominations now was for the best. Nodding in agreement with his friend, Evandrus gathered the remains of the prisoners into a pile and did likewise - setting them aflame with a Dark Side fire that clung to them even as it blazed hotter than any normal flame.

"I shall begin instructing all Imperial forces to detain people with crimes similar to those of our test subjects." he told Kravos with a small smile, "That way we will always have a stockpile of people to change without the danger of holding them as abominations - they are much easier to hold as just baseline humans and the like after all."

Practicalities were something that Evandrus always had time for.

Falling into step beside his friend, Evandrus strode away from the smoke and death they had created, the entire area sealing off behind them as they left. It wouldn't do for someone to find the data that was still there, even if it was all massively encrypted. As they walked, Evandrus spoke,

"How much does our wife know about what we just did, Kravos?"

@Phoenix