An Understanding of Blight

[Onrai]

A young Arkanian Sith had come to the attention of Vanessa Vantai. Her innate desire to perform such immoral actions in the field of genetics and research was, to say the least, something that appealed greatly to the woman whose morals were essentially nonexistent given some of her past behavior. Vanessa thought for a short while and had chosen to invite her to the laboratories of Malachor V, to a place where so much in the way of Vanessa’s past creations have been located.

Perhaps they could be friends.

[member="Elline Adasca"]

 

[Elline Adasca]

Elline had quickly shown herself to be an amazingly potent recluse, only truly appearing for bits and pieces of teaching and never actually engaging in just simple "social interaction" as they called it. The years she had spent cooped up on Nar Shadda working away making various deathsticks and the like and just generally being in the Underworld itself had muddied her perspective on people. Of course not counting for being kicked off of Arkania itself as well to add insult to injury. No, she stayed in her lab almost all day, working away at plans and designs. This invite was...strange....to her, nothing like this had happened in her brief time working within the Sith Empire.

She didn't trust it all.

Regardless, she had acquired a transport for herself and made her way silently to Malachor itself. She knew of the world, Arkania kept a strong history with the happenings of the Galaxy especially when powerful sciences could be involved, she shuddered slightly when she felt the place. She could just feel that aura of death around it, but she landed on it regardless of this as well. Now she simply stood, waiting outside the lab for the woman who had invited her.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Elline Adasca"]

Vanessa would soon exit the laboratory and come across the sight of the Arkanian woman standing before the gateway to her sacred abode. She first sized the woman up, an inquisitive look upon her face before turning towards the door, a hand motioning for the woman to come and follow her further into the facility. "Come."

As they would further walk through the ruins of the Trayus Academy, mostly preserved but in some cases remodeled to suit Vanessa's rather deliberate intentions, the Sith Lord would look over at her new associate with a smile on her face. "I suppose you probably already know a bit about me - I doubt you'd pass up the opportunity to do your research before accepting my invitation. But tell me a bit about yourself, Elline. I'm quite curious."

 

[Elline Adasca]

Elline was immensely cold, not too unlike the terrain of Arkania itself or it's great (though of questionable greatness after all these years) diamond mines. Each step seemed calculated and her blank almost emotionless eyes returned the inquisitiveness. Studying the workings of this place with a dull interest, they were not her's and she had no interest in claiming them for her own. A self-centered view like usual.

"Disowned member of the Adasca family, potential and likely former heir to the Adasca Biomechanical Corporation. Dull, to put it in shorter terms."

She was still quite bitter on that bit, could they not just understand Arkanians had proven throughout history they were simply better than the other races of the Galaxy? But no. The truth is dangerous it seems, and as such she had grown incredibly quiet. Only speaking in her somewhat (unintentionally) lofty manner.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Elline Adasca"]

"You're only a former heir if you allow yourself to remain a former heir." She said. "Ambition is something the universe rewards, after all." She thought for a moment. "Perhaps it's just a presumption, but I'm getting some serious feelings of superiority and being better than the rest of the galaxy emanating from you. I don't suppose you truly believe that in the end you are a superior form of life to your fellow acolytes, are you?"

The inquiry was a deliberate thing on Vanessa's part. She wanted to determine how proud this woman was and how far she would have to go in order to break her spirit. Hopefully she wouldn't have to go the Essence Transfer route and forcibly place the Arkanian's soul into a human body, forcing her to if for but a few days live as an inferior. Whether that would function appropriately, she was unsure - hopefully she wasn't that stuck up.

 

[Elline Adasca]

“You are a former heir if the planet, and your underlings, hold a pleasant distaste for you. Nothing good will come from me returning to the Adasca Corps and the position more likely than not.”

Oh how joyous, questions on pride. Seems her own thoughts weren’t safe from being pried into, maybe it would’ve been better to just hide away into her lab. Less than having to deal with explaining to more people those ideas she kept such a well hidden secret: they remained that way for a reason. She bemused her options, the truth, or lie. Or somewhere in between.

“Is pride not the way of the Sith? To deem yourself better than your fellow students so that they may prove the stepping stones to your own success?”

She had found her inbetween.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Elline Adasca"]

'Sounds like someone needs to acquire new underlings." She said. "I'm a fan of the 'genetically engineered' sort, or the 'orphan raised up to a place of privilege' sort. Those always seem to be some of the most loyal." She said. "That said, there's no reason you shouldn't at least try, Elline." Carrying on as they would soon reach the main laboratory room, where Vanessa would be working on a variety of substances.

"Pride is the way of the Sith, unfortunately, and it's something that has regularly been our downfall. We don't prepare for defeat. We don't even think it's possible for us to be defeated. So when some happy-go-lucky Jedi who's blessed with more luck than a Force-sensitive gambler ends up royally fething up our schemes, we have nothing left, and our knowledge, our influence, is pretty much lost forever. Cooperation, as surprising as it may sound, is key. Spread ideas. Spread weapons. Focus more on corrupting and less on backstabbing. If all of us became as powerful as the strongest of us, the Jedi would have no chance of victory. But we don't do that. We allow ourselves to think the dynasty of ten thousand years really will last that long, when in fact it only lasts for a couple of decades."

In short, that was the purpose of the Maldrood. To prepare for that which others would deny as possible.

 

[Elline Adasca]

“So it would seem.”

She was cold in her delivery, philosophy seemed to have little sway on her mind. There was one thing she truly wanted: the power to create more and stronger. Of course she simply had little education on the topic and had few experiences to actually go and educated herself enough to care about philosophy.

“Then they are simply stupid enough to not know what is necessary in the current situation.”

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa sighed as she stepped towards a deep hole in the center of the Trayus Academy's main room. "I see this is going to take a bit of work." She said, pressing some buttons on a repulsorpad's console. "I'm not ultimately sure what you wish to get out of this, but I'll give you the opportunity to earn some prestige amongst the Sith." She motioned to the repulsorpad. "Step on this and head down to the bottom of that hole. There's a creature - a remnant of the time when this world was desolate and an abomination to the rest of the universe. Kill it and bring its corpse to me. You may take whatever you wish of it for your own use." She concluded.

After all, storm beasts weren't exactly uncommon, and they were quite terrifying.

[member="Elline Adasca"]

 

[Elline Adasca]

Had she deemed it appropriate she would've sighed. But she didn't. More of these stupid tests of strength, is it impossible to tell not by just looking at her puny frame she was far from a fighter in any form or degree? But, she didn't say anything about it except:

"So be it."

Elline made the advance off without much other consideration for what she had said. Merely working out some sort of plan in her head as she made her way to the repulsorpad. Making extra sure she could use it as a way out, barely even had training in a lightsaber let alone in fighting some giant creature. She could already guess it was giant, they're always giant.

And with a hum she made her decent downwards.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Elline Adasca"]

"This place is the only location in the galaxy that you'll find Storm Beasts." She said. "As someone used to the warping of flesh through genetics, the opportunity to examine something truly new is... well, I had hoped for a better reaction."

As the woman would descend down the shaft, a pair of green eyes would seem to hover within a misty form to her left. "Once you get to the bottom, you'll have access to the cave network where the storm beasts live. I'll be here with you."