Private A Violent Plea

[Darth Strosius]

The doors to the palace on Alvaria were thrown open by an unseen yet tremendous force, banging against the wall with an awful racket as the source of the disturbance strode through it. Darth Strosius was known enough to the servants and guards to not be barred from being granted access to the palace, which was more to their benefit than his as the masked man was in no mood for interruptions. As usual he hadn't come to visit for a mere social call.

The desperate and frightened mental call from his apprentice Revna still rang in his ears, matched only by the beating of his black heart, as he marched into the palace. The usually serene and splendid halls of the palace were harshly intruded upon by the thundering steps of the masked man, any servants or other guests quickly shrinking away from the harsh gaze of his visor. Despite his visage being hidden the sheer anger pouring from his being was evident even to those not gifted with Force sensitivity as he scoured the halls for Darth Malum of House Marr , his shoulders shaking from the intense emotion.

He was growing ever more frustrated and enraged as his frantic searching proved fruitless thus far, only resulting in him arriving back in the main entrance hall. A fact which made the clawed fingers of his gauntlets scrape against the armored palm as they dug into themselves. Finally he reared his head back and let out a shout, one that rivaled or perhaps even imitated a Force Scream, for the entire palace to hear. "MALUM OF HOUSE MARR I DEMAND YOUR PRESENCE AT ONCE! SHOW YOURSELF NOW!"

Zachariah Conway

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Alvaria
Tags: Darth Strosius
Equipment: Lightsaber | Sith Robes
​

Alvaria was, all things considered, not a bad planet.

Darth Malum of House Marr had been training the young boy on his home world instead of travelling out to Jutrand. Recently, the Sith Lord had put the young boy through his paces in assessments to see just how much imparted knowledge had been absorbed by the young Sith boy. Unsurprisingly, given his growing strength in the force, Zachariah had completed the assessments with little bother.

That had been roughly a standard week prior, though time in the galaxy was always inconsistent. Since the assessments, Zachariah had spent time studying the book that had been imparted on him by his grandfather, studying each of it's sixty five thousand plus words. It had taken the young boy time to process the fact that the book was made of skin and that it's words were glowing on the page, but once he'd processed it the book itself was a good read and was full of knowledge that he otherwise wouldn't have indulged in.

On one occasion, he had attempted to make contact with Revna but had been unsuccessful. Zachariah assumed that she was with Darth Strosius , carrying out tasks on behalf of her master. He wasn't overly worried, for he knew that she could handle herself with whatever the Sith Lord had tasked her with. He was sure that she would make contact when she was able to do so.

Their day on Jutrand played on his mind more than he would like to admit. She had left the young boy feeling things that he had never felt before, a loyalty to her that he wasn't expecting to form. He wished to spend more time with her, not that he would openly admit it. He was thankful that she was on his side and would back him up through thick or thin.

His peace was interrupted by a shout. It was a voice he recognised and his heart skipped a beat. Where Darth Strosius could be found, Commodore Helix and Revna would never be far behind. He let out a smile at the thought of getting to see his friend again for the first time since Darth Malum of House Marr had hosted his meeting in the dining room.

It wasn't just a shout though, as if it was getting someone's attention. It was full of anger, fuelled by rage. Zachariah had a talent for sensing through the force, and he could sense both of those emotions radiating through the force. He could usually sense them through the force of course, he hung out with Sith, but he could sense them more much intensely than usual.

Something was wrong, of that Zachariah was certain. He slipped his book back in his draw and stepped out of his room. He took a moment to adjust his robes, just in case Revna was present before he set off down the halls on the hunt for the anger fuelled Sith Lord. Every hall in the palace of Alavaria looked identical, but Zachariah was just about starting to figure out his way around.

Reaching the top of the staircase, he looked down and spotted Darth Strosius . He noted that Revna and Commodore Helix were no-where to be seen and he was slightly disappointed. He cast his eyes down towards the Sith Lord and bowed his head slightly as a sign of respect. He'd learned the hard way during his time under the ownership of Brunas Drace was happened if you failed to show proper respect.

"Lord Strosius, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Alisteri Stroisus was the epicentre for the rage and anger that the young boy could sense in the force, and his face told a story even if he thought it didn't. Zachariah took a moment before he began to walk down the stairs towards Darth Strosius . Whilst walking, he addressed the Sith Lord once again. "What's wrong, my Lord? What's happened?"

 

[Darth Strosius]

The masked man's head, and his wrathful gaze along with it, snapped to the staircase to regard Zachariah the moment that the younger Sith spoke. The speed and angle at which his head had moved and was now held appeared neither comfortable nor entirely natural. Thankfully he quickly shifted the rest of his body to face the apprentice as well so the unsettling sight wasn't there for long. "You."

He raised a finger of his clawed gauntlet to point up at the other man yet made no moves of his own to approach. Yet. "I require Malum's presence at once. The Kainites have moved when I was unprepared and have caught me off guard. The bastards!" What could only be described as a growl ripped from his throat in punctuation, his pointing hand clenching into a shaking fist with every word. As though he was containing himself from lashing out in some vague attempt to relieve his anger at Zachariah's expense.

"I need every ship and sorcerer that he has to report to a rally point and link up with my own forces to prepare for a full assault on the Malsheem and I have no time for his insipid arguments!" The Heir of Marr was always the first to stand against his plans, a trait that he unfortunately must have inherited from their late master. A frustratingly consistent trait that he was in no mood to humor at the moment.

"And you, boy, will help me in getting it from him. He may never heed my words nor my warnings but he will listen to you." In all honesty he had no idea what sort of relationship Malum truly had with Zachariah, whether it be one of mutual respect or whatever else, but at the moment all he needed was someone else with a connection to Malum and the young Sith would have to do. "You will bring him to me and will get him to agree, for the hour is dire and our time is short."

He leaned in slightly as his tone grew softer, yet no less intense, and he recalled when Revna and the boy had sat together. When he had sensed her idle thoughts of the boy when she thought that he was occupied. He knew just how to ensure that Zachariah would agree, and he spoke with a tone barely above a whisper to do so. "They have taken Revna and are holding her captive. I intend to take Carnifex and Prazutis's skulls in turn."

Zachariah Conway

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Alvaria
Tags: Darth Strosius
Equipment: Lightsaber | Sith Robes
​

The Sith Lord was seething with anger.

Zachariah could sense it radiating from him as he spoke, could hear it in his voice. He was demanding Darth Malum of House Marr 's presence, speaking about how the Kainites had struck against him when he wasn't expecting it. He was shaking, each word a growl permiated by the anger coursing through him. Even Zachariah was on edge and he knew the Sith Lord.

Strosius had his issues with the Kainites, of that Zachariah was aware. He wasn't entirely sure on the backstory behind it, but he knew from Geonosis that Stroisus didn't much care for the Kainite or their leader. A full assault on the Malsheem seemed like a great way to find oneself dead however, Zachariah was almost certain that the Kainite wouldn't take lightly to the attack.

Then the words were spoken that stopped Zachariah actually caring.

"They..." he paused, his usual calm demeanor quickly replaced with emotions similar to, if not overtaking those currently being displayed by the Sith Lord. "They did what now?" he spoke quietly, the air skydiving in temperature around him. It was anger similar to what he had felt on Felucia, except worse. It was much worse and it made the young boy more powerful as a consequence.

"How?" was the only question that escaped his lips. What he wanted to ask was "how could you let them take her?" and he wanted to remind him that this was his battle, not the battle of his apprentice, but even when rage fuelled he knew that Strosius would overpower him with ease. He was strong, but he wasn't quite that strong yet.

The young Sith was almost certain that Malum would be summoned by two powerful Sith radiating hatred and anger in his front room, but just in case he wasn't the young boy reached down and tapped a few buttons on a comlink. A quick message would be sent to Malum, requesting his presence and informing him that there was a vistor waiting to see him.

Taking a slow breath, Zachariah attempted to calm and control himself. "We'll get her back, of that I'm certain. Even if I need to strike them down myself"

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He marched through the Palace... extremely frustrated. With a certain tightness in the southern half of his body. He was forced off his bed, forced off from the touch of Elise Ahana-Gwyneira ... all for the presence of a man who certainly was not worth him denied the relief he so... well frankly deserved, after the constant work that he was forced to undertake every bloody day.

He never had a free day, let alone a free hour.

And it seemed every minute there was some new crisis, or some new task to complete.

Whether that was something here in his role as Emperor of Alvaria.

Whether that was something within the Sith Empire as one of the up-and-coming Sith Lords, who was vying for a seat upon the Dark Council.

Whether that was something without the Sith Empire, at the galaxy at large, in his role as Lord of the Tsis'Kaar, always vigilant, always watching, the ever-observant eye, to any threat to the Empire.

Yet more, and more often, the headaches were becoming about one singular man.

His battlebrother.

Ali... Darth Strosius .

It had been... utterly stupid, that business upon Geonosis.

Yet then, the kidnapping of the Raaf children? Oh...

Oh... to call it a simple headache was the understatement of the millennia.

Especially after what his... stupid... idiotic... battlebrother, had done upon the wedding on Farboon.

Sometimes he truly wondered if it would have all been easier if he had simply killed the man on Fiviune.

If he gave into the urges and stabbed a Shikkar blade straight through his back.

And then the guilt would come, and he would relent. How dare he think such things? Think such things of the only man in this Imperium that he could truly trust? The only man that knew the truth, the only man that faced the same fragment stuck in their head? The only man...

...The only man he called brother.

Perhaps that was why even if frustrated... extremely frustrated, when the anger shook his walls, he had been quick to leave his love's side, allowing her the privacy to clean herself up, before no doubt following, even before he sensed the two burning signatures at his entrance hall, even before his wristcomm alerted him to the exact identities of those that stood.

He was on his feet, ready to assist.

And thus, even with raven locks dishevelled, even if with clothing far from unwrinkled, red orbs were glimmering with curiosity, as he finally made it through the side room into the entry hall.

As eyes looked between the clearly rage-fueled Ali- Darth Strosius... yet too... strangely enough Zachariah Conway too... why was his apprentice so angry?

...

"What has happened?" Malum simply spoke, already beginning to fear the worst.