A Man out of Time

[Lord Nexus]

Context found here
261 Years Ago

The metallic reverberations of their boots seemed to dominate all sound. Bound and beaten, Nexus was a man that most would see as a prisoner walking to his final sentencing. Yet they underestimated him. He was counting their steps, determining his fate. It became clear they were taking him to the hanger. Roughly passed off to a different set of guards, he felt the incline of the boarding ramp, cementing his assumptions. An Tiarna was not bluffing.

Even with his head throbbing from the pain of the strike, Nexus didn't allow himself to rest. Not that he had much of a say in the matter. Through the pain all he could feel was the rage brewing within him. His jailers knew this much and gave him a wide berth once he was secured in the ship's brig. Even there, they kept him chained as if he was a wild animal.

An Tiarna did not have to say where he was imprisoning Nexus, as the Dark Lord already knew. He was going to Black Gate, the infamous prison within the Maw. Black Gate was a special place, meant to hold not just the worst of the worst, but the most powerful of those. Nexus himself sent many of his enemies that were force users here. At this point, all he could do was wait.

Except that was not what he was going to do.

Closing his eyes, the Dark Lord reached out into the force, opening himself to it. He felt what was expected: Nothing. Force nullifiers were placed in the chamber. That did not discourage him, however. He did not plan on fading into obscurity as the Ard Ri wished; he had a plan. Most would have assumed that a life sentence at Black Gate was the equivalent of a death sentence. The prison was one of the greatest and most terrifying ever conceived. When it was built, it was designed to hold a force that was god like, similar to previous anomalies such as Abeloth. With that being said, as it fell into the possession of the Dark Tide, Nexus had studied the facilities. It was impregnable and unescapable by conventional means; yet as one of the primary jailers, Nexus knew its flaws, and in his later years with the Dark Tide he had created contingency plans, one of which was to break out of the inescapable prison.

The first step was probably the easiest; it was what followed that was the true challenge. He began to meditate. He waited for the inevitable arrival to what they thought was the end of the line.

 

[Lord Nexus]

You did not need to be force sensitive to know that the Maw was a strange place, yet most would say it was infinitesimally worse to be one within it's proximity. The Maw itself was an aberration, forged to be a prison; in between periods of it's use it was a derelict anomaly. With that being said, it's pull was undeniable. As was the pain of being here, even with the dampeners. That was why the Dark Tide built Black Gate here. The prison was an aberration within an aberration. The Maw, at its core, was not natural; and that was why it was perfect for its task as neither was the prison.

Upon exiting hyperspace, Nexus heard the deafening white noise through the force; even through his dampening field, he felt his stomach lurch and his head pound in resistance. He noticed a few guards were not prepared for their mission, as they did not have their own sensory dampeners. Some wretched, some clasped their heads, but all reacted- Nexus, however, did not, at least not outwardly. He knew this space- at least as well as one could. He felt the ship's course shift and readjust constantly, as it corrected its course due to the black holes and gravity anomalies. It was a long hour before the vessel stopped rattling. They had arrived.

Black Gate was protected by a myriad of technologies and magics to grant it the facade of stability. Once within the perimeter everything appeared normal, yet should someone have the misfortune of striding past the walls without the correct equipment, they would learn that safety was nothing more than an inch thick bubble.

The hiss of hydraulics was Nexus' queue; his plan was about to begin. The Dark Lord rose to his feet, waiting for his escort without an ounce of fear or cowardice. The protective field of the brig fell, allowing admittance to a well armed group of Dark Tide soldiers. Without An Tiarna here to protect them (As the High King felt the Maw was not a place to trifle with), these soldiers were far more reluctant to move Nexus with force. Instead, he stepped forward, offering his cuffed wrists; this was his unspoken permission to be escorted.

The escort surrounded him, while one soldier placed a neck collar on him, binding his chain cuffs to his neck and ankles. He was completely subdued. This caused the soldiers to relax ever so slightly. Disarmed, cut off from the force, and physically restrained, Nexus posed no immediate threat.

For now...

Descending the ramps, Nexus saw Black Gate for the first time as a prisoner. The walls were carved into the asteroid from a dark, malicious-looking metal. A large pair of ornate doors stood as the centerpiece, hence the Prison's name. They slid open, holding true in representing where they were- a maw. Beyond, a single column of lights highlighted their path. The group moved forward, entering what could only be referred to as 'The belly of the beast'.

"Welcome to hell, traitor," One of the guards chimed, before being silenced with a sharp glare by his captain. It was all Nexus could do to grin and step forward, without fear. He knew there were force dampening fields throughout the prison, yet he couldn't help but feel the pain and sorrow of the place, and feed off of it.

 

[Lord Nexus]

Silence permeated through the halls, broken only by the sound of them marching. This was a solitary place, yet never before had it been so quiet. Nexus and guards made their way to prisoner processing. Most guards were tight lipped, yet it appeared that there was a shiny (named due to the immaculate condition of their armor, suggesting they have never seen combat) amongst the ranks. This much was obvious due to the simple fact that he would not shut up.

While most guards held the Dark Lord in a less revered regard due to his recent transgressions, almost all knew that he was once a great man; he simply had fallen from grace in most of their eyes. This, coupled with the fact that once incarcerated, he would be forgotten for his past deeds, granted him the respectful silence of the men. The shiny, however, did not know the Nexus of days past and held no such respect for the situation.

"Not so tough now, are you? I thought you were the Dark Lord, unbindable and supreme. Hah! You look pretty damned bound right now, am I right?!"

The Dark Lord remained silent through out the jeers. He watched as they declared several of his items into the inventory. The whole process passed by smoothly, outside of the looming sense of dread that radiated from the hearts of his jailers. Finally the last bit of documentation was recorded, and the unit moved on, marching into the labrynthe of corridors that made up the prison. That was when the shiny seemed to let his confidence overrule his common sense.

"Hey, Nexus, you know what I think?"

Tension began to mount, that much was clear; yet no one spoke up to silence the shiny- maybe they wanted a show, or just were not bold enough to ask the questions themselves. If the situation didn't make the guard escort uncomfortable before, now it certainly did. Nexus merely grunted at the question as he shambled on.

"Why is it that such a tough, hot shot as yourself would do what he did? I mean, why did you go about in going rogue and killing those other lords. Did you think you could get away with it?"

Then, as a singular unit, the guards stopped in their place. This was not on their own accord, but on Nexus'. In most cases this would never happen as the prisoner would be placed upon a hover platform, yet given Nexus' training, this would be a liability. As such, moving as a singular unit, which was much more difficult, was a better option to transport the prisoner- it seemed like the wise choice, until now.

The dark lord stopped dead in his tracks, and the well trained guards did as well. A few very uncomfortable seconds passed, until Nexus slowly turned towards the loud mouth. No one knew what was about to happen, yet no one was brave enough to break the silence. After those seconds passed, Nexus cracked a smile.

"Why? For the power, my dear boy...And it's lord to you."

His voice was alarmingly calm, yet it had an powerful undertone gifted through years of command. And with that, he took a step forward and the escort moved with him, breathing in their collective breath of relief; Funny enough, the shiny stopped speaking from that point. Continuing on as a silent group they began to descend into the bowels of the prison.