The Man in the Factory...

[Dankar Maple]

CORUSCANT - LEVEL 1312​

Deep below the surface of Coruscant lie many, many deep levels reaching ridiculous depths. On many of these levels are abandoned buildings ranging from homes to ancient political offices, most home to criminals and scoundrels. On level 1312, an old forgotten weapons manufacturer had housed a factory, of which had been abandoned only a few decades later.​

It had been near two months since Tolt'orr had left on his important mission, and returning to Coruscant had been the only thing he really desired. The entire ordeal had left him phased, shocked, made his think about himself and his future for the first time in a long time. Hobbling down the narrow streets, he made his way through the lower layers of the under city and ignored shady figures he would have normally not cared about. The factory in sight, he felt relief and even a small bit of joy, glad that he could return alive. He pushed open the creaky rusted door, of which replaced the mechanical door since the power had been cut from it. Inside he could feel the absence of several items. Damn looters. He thought as he noticed his master's saber was not present in the nearby area.

But filling the absence was Tolt'orr. A strong Dark Side presence emanated from Tolt'orr as it followed him from the incident weeks prior. It had shaken him. He thought back to that day. He had killed the Jedi that attacked him. The Jedi...he killed him. But, it was self defense! The Jedi had lured him into a trap to try and kill him, and he did what he had to in order to survive. But why was he still alive? By all means he should have died in the explosion. He should be dead like the Jedi was. But there he stood, having lost only his jaw and left arm. Why was he alive, though? The explosion didn't kill him, the Jedi couldn't kill him. He had caused the Jedi to attack him, hadn't he? He brought it upon him by killing without remorse. Killing for money as a sellsaber, killing for his master as a Sith. Killing without regret, without emotion. Innocent lives...ended for cash and appeasement. So many lives, taken. His mother would have been disappointed in him. And then reality hit him. He was a stone cold killer, not the son of his mother.

So many lives ended by his hand and he knew it now. Like a flood, the emotions rolled over him. Regret, sadness, realization, self loathing, it was too much for the man and he collapsed to his hands and knees, and he shed tears. Tears of sorrow for his mother, tears of regret for what he had done, and all of it fueled his aura in the force. He was a great big ball of instability.

 

[Tristyn]

Tamara stood in a turbolift as it descended into the depths of the planet, and would stop at level 1312. She stepped out and sighed at the eyesore that was the Coruscanti underground. She had been to Coruscant countless times, but dreaded every moment she had to spend down here. The last time she was here she tried to convince someone to join the Jedi, maybe just a view levels above this one. Oh what a horrible experience that was. She came face-to-face with a rapist down here aswell, that ended badly for him. She was shaken after that event. If it not for the mysterious pull that was the Dark Side, she would've steered clear of this place again.

She kept her senses up and her lightsabers ready. She was wearing her robes and her sabers were clearly visible, hoping to ward off potential criminals. The dark presence got stronger as she neared a weapons factory and she instinctively took out her lightsabers just in case. Tamara was obviously a bit fearful, but curiousity very often got the better of her.

 

[Tolt'orr]

Who was he? He was Tolt'orr, that was his name. Or was it Auro Vente? He wanted to use Auro Vente as a scapegoat and say it was him, all of it, but he knew it wasn't. He was a shell of who he used to be, in truth he was nothing more than a machine of evil with the face of a man who died at 13. "Mother...forgive me. I have become an abomination. I have caused great evil and I suffer for it. Your son has failed..." His synthesized voice cried out as he knew he was lost and alone. He had hidden away the truth from his own eyes for so long, and now that it was revealed he had to face the consequences. A wanted criminal with no future but a high security prison cell. He tried to reach out with the force, but it was weak. No, it was not weak, he was weak. The force had been partially ripped from him, it felt. He had a strong presence, but he had little mastery. He was not as skilled in the force as he was, and he could tell it was from the explosion. He was weak, in the force and physically, and it was his punishment. Punishment for his deeds.

 

[Tristyn]

Tamara could hear a voice inside the building and decided to move in with caution by slowly opening the door with her unactivated lightsaber at the ready. The site of a pale twi'lek in front of her was somewhat creepy and quite frightening, like something out of a cliche horror film. "Hello?" She would say quietly to him. This was definitely the source of the darkness she felt.

 

[Dankar Maple]

"Hello?"

The voice cut into the silence that followed his words and made him wonder. "Who could possibly be here? Surely I am hearing the voices of the dead. My punishment is not yet complete as now I must face penance from my victims? Truly I have failed you mother, let your last 13 years waste as it seems I learned nothing. I am just as vile as the Sith who killed you and now you punish me like I was a child." He spoke aloud. He picked himself up and hobbled to his room where he searched for anything that remained. The Kyber crystals from his victim's lightsabers remained, hidden in a secret compartment. "I must destroy them, or be rid of them. Trophies will bring only sorrow!"

 

[Tristyn]

Her heart began to beat faster when the man began to talk to himself, and about the Sith, clearly unaware of her presence. She quietly and slowly followed him into the adjacent room and tried once more to gain his attention."Hello? Are you alright? C-can you turn around please?"

 

[Tolt'orr]

"Hello? Are you alright? C-can you turn around please?"

"The voices are not in my head, then." The words came with a tone of surprise, despite the synthetic nature of his words. Tolt'orr turned around to face that which he had previously thought was only a voice to torture him after death. A girl stood before him, not human, but humanoid. A girl, furthermore. "A girl. A girl stands before me. But is she a vision, I wonder, or reality? What is reality anymore?" The man placed his mechanical hand at the base of his left lek and scratched, as if it would help his brain process information. "No, she is real, and she is curious. I-i am not alright. I haven't been for...sometime. A score and three I assume, and then since only worse. Worse since, yes. First my ring and pinky finger on the left and a lung, taken by a Jedi, then the rest of my arm and my jaw. But I deserved it, I have done wrong, so wrong!" He shouted which came out with a harsh whining as he placed both hands on his head, eyes closed in pain. "Vile, so vile, so much wrong I have done! Evil as a Sith, killed my master, made love to the Mirialan and got her exiled from the Jedi, tried to kill that Senator and was stopped by a Jedi, who came back to finish me off and I...killed him...Killed him to save myself, but at a price. Now only his weapon remains. So much wrong..." Tolt'orr said softly reaching for the lightsaber that he had taken from the wrecked ship when the Jedi died and held it out to show her.

 

[Tristyn]

This man was beginning to scare her a great deal. Him thinking out loud, speaking of his dead master and then of the Jedi he killed was enough for her to declare him an enemy, or at least a psychopath. She quickly found herself backing away and regretting her horrible decision. Looks like you're a mentally unstable murderer. What have you gotten yourself into, Tammy? She thought to herself.

Him picking the lightsaber prompted her to quickly raised her lightsaber and ignite, dousing the dimly lit room in purple.

"Stop! Put it down!"

She was unsure of what was going to happen and was beginning to panic.

 

[Tolt'orr]

His thoughts were disorganized and sporadic, his mental state becoming more and more unstable as over 23 years of bottled emotions came out and wracked him like millions of volts of electricity. The barriers he put up to defend himself had all collapsed and everything came crashing down on top of him.

"Stop! Put it down!"

"The weapon isn't mine, it doesn't belong to me. Take it, it's master is dead, at my hand. And if it is my punishment to be struck down by a Jedi, then I accept atonement for my crimes against life. I failed Mother, I failed Diva, I can't even find her to apologize. But perhaps it is better I die now. So finish me, Jedi. It will be my redemption for my crimes. I can't live with what I have done." Tolt'orr was prepared to die, though it was unlikely she would kill him. She seemed terrified, not ready to kill him unless she had to.

 

[Tristyn]

Tamara glanced at the lightsaber and then looked back up at the twi'lek again. She was unsure of what to do. This man wasn't posing a threat like she thought,"I-I'm not going to kill you" She raised her other hand and used the Force to grab his lightsaber and pull it to her. She caught it, examined it for a second and then stuffed it into her shoulder bag. She then gripped her own saber with both hands, still a bit untrusty about him.

"I-I want to you to tell me why you are here"

 

[Dankar Maple]

"I-I'm not going to kill you"

"If you aren't going to kill me, then I am to endure a long term punishment. My crimes, numerous are they and terrible are most, I am deserving of punishment for the most foul beings of the galaxy." The man said as he opened his eyes to look at her, crimson rings glowing back at her, tinged with orange at the center.

"I-I want to you to tell me why you are here"

"Why I am here? Where else would I be, where could I go? This is my only home. I live here, in solitude. I eat here, sleep here, I used to train here before the incident. This is the only place I could possibly go." His answer came with little more than a mechanical tone.

 

[Tristyn]

The sight of his eyes caused her heart rate to quicken even more. This wasn't a regular psychopath, this man was corrupted by the Dark Side. This was very serious, and she was very scared. She started to feel threatened again. Darksiders flipped around all the time, one moment he wants to die, the next he wants to kill you.

"There are other ways you can redeem yourself you know? You don't have to die"

 

[Dankar Maple]

"There are other ways you can redeem yourself you know? You don't have to die"

"Too many! Too many have died by my hand! There is no other way for redemption than death, atonement yes, but never forgiveness. I...I have been speaking in circles, my thoughts are crumbling. I cannot think clearly anymore. Everything I have stuffed down, it's all come out and I don't think I can handle it. I am hurting, greatly hurting in my mind. So much pain, I can feel theirs." He fell to his knees, head in his hands and tried to sort through his thoughts. He knew what he had done.

 

[Tristyn]

Tamara was even more clueless now than before. She powered down her saber and lowered her hand, "There is always forgiveness..." She didn't know what else to say and was quiet for quite awhile before continuing,"There are some people who could help you, and forgive everything you've done"

I could only hope they will. Tamara wondered.

"What about the Jedi? you could make up for your sins by serving the Jedi Order"

 

[Tolt'orr]

"There are some people who could help you, and forgive everything you've done"

"Help me, possible, but not forgive, no I cannot be forgiven for they have been killed and cannot speak." Tolt'orr pulled a box out from under his cot and lifted the lid to reveal numerous lightsaber crystal. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, cyan, purple, pink, and many of each color.

"What about the Jedi? you could make up for your sins by serving the Jedi Order"

"Yes...the Jedi. The Jedi would find a punishment suitable for a creature like me. With proof of the crystals, they would not be lenient. Yes, take me to the Jedi. They will sentence me accordingly."

 

[Tristyn]

"I will take you to them, but don't worry, they won't kill you. It's not our way. Instead you can redeem yourself through service. I'm sure that sounds better than dying and ending up in hell, right?"

She attached her lightsaber to her belt and put her hands on her hips.

 

[Tolt'orr]

"To the void! To the void do go those who practice the Dark Side! Stuck for all eternity in nothingness! The emptiness which is our most deserved suffering! But it if I may right my wrongs, I shall take it, so I may go to the void with a lighter burden. Please, take me to the Jedi. I am ready...to follow the Light." The crazed man stood, his face less of confusion and with more clarity. He was in desperate need of help, and inside he knew it. The Jedi, of whom he'd hated for so long were his only way mend his broken mind and redeem his soul.

 

[Tristyn]

Tamara smiled a bit. She was happy she may have convinced someone to join the Order. She was however worried to bring a stranger onboard her shuttle, but she did anyway,"Alright. Just come with me. We're going to Tython" She then gesture him to follow and walked out the door. She would walk a bit behind him, this man was still untrustworthy, and Tamara kept her guard up the rest of the way.

 

[Dankar Maple]

"Tython! Origin of the Jedi, orbited by Ashla and Bogan! The Light and the Dark! How symbolic to be sat at the birth of the Force!" He said grabbing a metal rod to help him walk, his right leg having been damaged in the incident. He felt it strange to walk ahead of her while heading to her shuttle, but he was not in a state to protest. "Your ship, at which dock is it?" He asked.

 

[Tristyn]

Tamara giggled at the man's excitement, very contrast to how he was acting a minute ago,"Eastport. Hanger 10-30" They arrived at the turbolift she used to get here and got in. She pressed a button on a pad to take them to level 1, the surface. What a weird day this is going, she thought to herself. Tamara still felt kind of shy and awkward, and thus said nothing the entire way up. She still didn't know his name, and yet she was inviting him aboard her shuttle and flying back home. Her brother would not approve, but the less he knew, the better. I should properly inform him that she's leaving though. She then pulled out a holocommunicator from her shoulder bag and recorded a message.

"Cain, I'm going back home. You'll have to rent a shuttle. So... see you tomorrow"

No doubt he was going to be pissed, but she didn't care. She put the device away and calmly wait for the lift to reach their destination.