Duty Calls

[Kay-Larr]

Kay remained silent while she took in the sight of the artifacts in the ropm. Some had more dust than others, but it looked like attempts had been made to keep it somewhat clean. There just weren't a lot of visitors to warrant it.

She let [member="Veiere Arenais"] inquire about the holocrons. She was still hiding her abilities, but Veiere wasn't so limited. When [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"] spoke in the old Sith tongue, it quickly drew her attention. She had heard the language before from the Sith Lord that had murdered her husband. It made her hold her breath for a moment. And as the holocron opened and displayed the image of a victim, she clenched her jaw and turned away. Glimpses of torture was too soon to witness. It brought her back to the months of captivity and torture that she had indured not long ago. Kay was still recovering from the trauma, and right now it was too soon. In her mind she hoped that Veiere wouldn't want to bring back holocrons like that. They didn't need to fall into the wrong hands.

 

[WolfMortum]

They didn't need to fall into the wrong hands.

These were precisely his thoughts as he watched the holocron display the recorded image of the mans suffering, his eyes narrowed though he did not look away. The Sith were insatiable in their bid for power and personal prestige, most often at the expense of others they saw as being beneath them and by the look of the content embedded within this specific device, Veiere's views on them were justified, even if to completely discard thirty years of experience living under the Jedi Order.

Behind them, through the bond in the Force that he shared with [member="Lady Kay"], he could feel her sudden anxiety. Her signature within the Force itself had been restricted down to be hidden well enough behind his who did nothing of the sort, yet in her emotions, he knew that such things were difficult to watch, especially so soon after the incident with Prazutis and his fellow Sith Lord, Tirdarius.

"Thank you...", he gestured to [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"] as if to say that he had seen enough. Such sights were not easy on the eyes in the slightest and there were far more merciful techniques in the force for self healing such as Curato Salva that didn't rely on the harm of others for the bodies rejuvenation. "Perhaps you'd be good enough to offer me a list of these materials you need...", yes he wished to take these with him, if not only to have them securely locked away and protected by a complete neutral party back home on Commenor. The soon to be Knights of Commenor coming to mind, perhaps not only in their protection of the people but so too the mediation of dangerous learnings. "What else do you have here...".

 

[Dr. Tyne Desdamonus]

Desdamonus could sense the man's hesitance to watch the contents of the holocron. Lady Kay, strangely enough, wasn't emitting any emotion. None that the Doctor could detect, at least. Intriguing. Such things had long ago stopped fazing the Mad Doctor. Then again, he had been in the field of science since childhood. Death and suffering simply ceased to bother him anymore. He could understand a feeling of revulsion, but not sympathize.

"I will have my slave bring a list of all the materials I need when our business here is concluded. Now, for the other contents of this room."

Reaching across a table, Tyrne produced a nasty-looking sword. The hilt was as black as death, and the blade itself seemed to dull out all reflections of light upon it, producing a dark grey color. The sword itself seemed to have a life of it's own, almost as if it was humming with energy, a dark aura clinging to the weapon. Desdamonus swung it about, brandishing it in a very impressive display of swordsmanship that made the blade dance in his hands, a lethal whistle cutting through the air.

"I discovered this blade buried in one of the crypts underneath Desdamoni. Her name is The Suffering, as per the inscription on her hilt says. Who her maker is I'm unaware of, but I would have to assume she is Sith in origin, judging by the language of the inscription and the infusion of the dark side within her. Oh, she is also poisonous. One only needs a minuscule cut from her to die a long and horrible death, and there is no cure to her, as I discovered through my research."

Dr. Desdamonus gently lowered the blade back to the table. He reached out and again grabbed another object, although this time it was the hilt of a lightsaber. With the click of a button, it sprung to life, surprisingly revealing a green blade. The beam of energy itself was off, however. It appeared to flicker with energy more violently than a regular lightsaber did, almost aggressively, as if the blade itself wanted to kill, and not the user.

"This is the lightsaber of what was formerly a student here among the Academy. A former Jedi, he kept the saber that he constructed during his time in the Order, forgoing the construction of a new one. As you can see, it has been heavily modified to produce a more powerful, violent, and unstable blade, no doubt aiding the Sith in his countless duels in the Academy."

Tyrne switched off the lightsaber without giving it a second glance and placed it back on the table. The next object that was shown was what appeared to be the robes of a Jedi, which were in perfect condition, minus the hole in the middle of where the torso was supposed to be.

"These are the robes of a Jedi Master, modified with overlays that give the wearer added protection in battle, specifically against another Force user. Unfortunately for the Jedi, my lightsaber was specifically constructed with the purpose of defeating and destroying opponents and materials that are resistant to the effects of a saber. The look of confusion on his face was quite...satisfactory."

One could see from the slits in his mask that Tyrne's eyes were almost glowing with a cold malice. He peered down at the two Humans before him, waiting to see if they had any further inquiries about the nature of the items in the room...

[member="Veiere Arenais"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay clenched her jaw. [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"] had slaves. She should have guessed that, given the behaviour and words of their escort. But she had been preoccupied with their surroundings.

Dr. Tyne soon brought up a sword and described what made it so special. It was similar to a sword that was used on her during some of her torture sessions. Although there was no poison on that blade, just having a part of it touching the skin caused agony. Why wouldn't the similarities of this place and where she was taken to just go away? At least she had [member="Veiere Arenais"] with her.

Her eyes were drawn to the strange lightsaber. It made her wonder where hers had gone to. Einon had taken it, but whether he still had it, sold it or given it to someone was anyone's guess. At least Kay had another one, though she knew that Veiere didn't approve of it.

The Jedi robes came next. She looked up to Dr. Tyne and caught the look in his eyes as he described what had happen to it's previous owner. She knew that look and what it meant.

"This is quite the vast collection. What do you do now to occupy your time, if I may be so bold to ask?"

 

[Dr. Tyne Desdamonus]

Dr. Desdamonus' eyes squinted from the viewports. That was a bold question to ask. If they had been lesser, simpler beings, the Mad Doctor would've decided then and there to eliminate them to prevent their curious nature from causing the duo to stray into things they shouldn't. He knew he could do it, too. All it would take would be to seal the front doors, the only primary exit out of Desdamoni, and let the castle itself kill them. Desdamoni was a reflection of Tyrne himself. Ever since discovering the castle upon his initial entry as a Sith hopeful, he sensed the powerful gravity of the place, the way it fed off of Force users. When Desdamonus had seized control of the castle, he discovered the secrets of the walls around him and bent the pull of the estate to feed off of him in particular. The relationship was symbiotic, and now Desdamoni was an extension of Tyrne's mind and willpower. The nature of this relationship eluded the Doctor. Was it a Force Nexus that caused this? Or was the building itself cursed? Perhaps the Force had been infused into the very brick and stone of the castle. Whatever the case was, Desdamoni was his to command. The castle itself had ended the lives of unfortunate travelers and inquisitive guests, drawing them into powerful illusions, the Dark Side pressuring their minds until they snapped and joined the others in Desdamonus' laboratory...

He had never done this to Force users, however. Interesting. Perhaps at a later time, he would try this. But now, Dr. Desdamonus needed the supplies these two had to offer. He decided to play along with their questions for now, releasing information that wouldn't be a lie...but not the complete truth.

"I am a scientist, currently studying how the Force interacts with sentients. My main study is the human body. Previously, I was a geneticist, but there is only so much improvement one can bring about with the toying of genes and DNA. The Force is a much more effective tool, although difficult to wield and dangerous to those who have the ability but not the skill to tinker and meddle in such...arts."

Desdamonus had seen it himself, all too many times. Prospective Sith Alchemists that he had been considering for partnership were simply too proud and arrogant in their ability, and had thus destroyed themselves, turning their own bodies into horrible mutations, or worse. It was a cruel cycle that eventually convinced the Mad Doctor he was better off by himself.

Tyne hated to lie. It was one of his best traits that he strove to always be truthful around others who, like him, were in the pursuit of knowledge. He didn't lie explaining what he did. He simply left out some rather minor details.

"Now, Lady Kay of Commenor. I have shown you my wares and answered your questions. Would we have a trade agreement, or was my hospitality a waste of precious time that I could have used to further my studies?"

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

He had fallen silent once again, no longer with questions on his mind, he had followed and listened, studied the items within [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"] possession and noted the influence of the force as it seemed to sit motionless around them, something unusual in the area where the Force would usually flow as freely as the open air, here it simply was, no movement but a consistent presence and an uneasy one. Veiere wasn't much a fan of this place, he found no comfort in its walls, in their host nor the objects that lay before them. These items, he was intrigued by and to Tyne's question to Kay whether or not they would be in agreement, Veiere turned and offered a very curt nod to her in suggestion that he wished to study such artifacts further; the decision as a whole however lay purely on her shoulders as he had only come to ensure her continued safety.

'Illaria will keep these items safe from the wrong hands, though in him I remain skeptical. We cannot trust him...-Yet that does not mean we might not benefit from one another'

The words were passed on to [member="Lady Kay"], their connection leaving for so much ease in their telepathic communication. It was at times as easy as thinking such things where she would hear his thoughts freely and without constraint, Veiere rarely kept his mind closed off from her. His eyes however had turned to look to the tunic of which piqued his interest, it was of a curious make, a mix of styles ranging from both light and dark Orders of their people (Force Sensitives). Something that he could perhaps make use of himself with the right amount of study, a bit of time and adapting it to better suit another. Admittedly, [member="Bradshaw Ku"] came to mind as Kay had spoken of her fears for the boys safety, perhaps this might be a way to offer the lad a little more protection while too keeping his mother's mind at ease.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Humans....as test subjects. Kay herself had been one of those, by a crazy Arkanian scientist named Mayhem. And who knows if her captivity by Prazutis didn't also include experiments? She didn't like the sound of more experimentation on people being done. Did they volunteer for it? She highly doubted it. More than likely they were being held against their will too.

Her eyes were brought up to [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"] as he inquired on whether or not they had a deal. Some part of her told her not to, yet the more that they knew about the place, the more that they could do to save the people within that might want to be saved. The air was far too heavy and thick for her here.

[member="Veiere Arenais"] caught her eye when he looked to her and nodded, his thoughts flowing into her mind despite her focus on limiting her abilities within the Force. Kay nodded that she understood. To Desdamonus, she then turned her attention. "We are in agreement. I shall have a contract written up and send it to you straight away. If there is nothing else, then the two of us will be on our way..."

 

[Dr. Tyne Desdamonus]

The Mad Doctor nodded his head silently.

"Very well. I will escort you back to the entrance. Notify either myself or the slave via message when you plan on delivering my items and picking up yours."

The trio backtracked all the way to the entrance, where the doors were now mysteriously open. A cold draft was blowing in, chilling to the bone. One could almost feel as if the castle was telling them to leave as the walls seemed to shrink in the main room, uninviting and looming. The duo couldn't have exited any sooner for Dr. Desdamonus. He turned and looked behind him, where Vlikner was creeping about, waiting for his Master to acknowledge him.

"Did you do what was asked of you, slave?"

Vlikner bowed and groveled at the Doctor's feet.

"Yesssss, Master. The beacon is in place."

"Good. Next time they arrive, whether it be announced or not, we shall know. Fetch me something to drink. I am parched."

The slave scurried off, going to grab a goblet of wine. But before he delivered it, Vlikner checked his tattered coat's pocket to ensure that what was in there was still in place. It was. The pocket contained a stolen two-way comlink, capable of sending out a signal systems away. The other comlink was aboard Lady Kay's vessel, which the sneaky hunchback had easily infiltrated in his mission to place the tracking beacon. There were people aboard it, but Vlikner had years of experience at creeping around, out of sight. It was the best way to avoid Dr. Desdamonus' wrath, after all. Vlikner sent out a test transmission, quietly muttering into the comlink, hoping someone aboard The Queen's vessel was within earshot.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

He was glad to be back out in the open air, despite how cold and foreboding it all was; back within that structure, the air felt unnatural as if tainted and consuming of all that would enter into it. Walking alongside [member="Lady Kay"] he was content with the results of their meeting, though it was very short and it seemed that this doctor mostly held only the force imbued items of former Sith, something he doubted Kay herself would be interested in or would benefit Commenor on the whole, Veiere himself was glad that he had come considering it gave him the opportunity to get these kinds of artifacts off of the market and away from the hands of those that might seek to use them.

"What did you make of all that?"

Veiere asked as they put distance between themselves and the building, naturally unaware to any form of compromising bug that might have been placed aboard their vessel. "It concerns me that he's dispatched of these apparent Sith yet claimed their holocron for study...-The Darkside swells to that place and I'm comfortable not with it's origin of power, I can't put my thumb to it but something about this place is off kilter..." He elaborated on his first impression of the place, turning soon to glance to her and try to gauge her thoughts on it all. He expected that she'd hate the mention of his slave, dwarfed in their presence yet a lacky not by choice from what he'd been able to tell. Slavery was a long term pet peeve of Kay's, she had fought against such things since the first day that he had walked into her company and presumably long since before then.

[member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay bowed her head to [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"] before he escorted them out. She was more than happy to get out of there. No doubt that nightmares of where she had been during her captivity would resurface tonight. That wasn't something that she was looking forward to.

Still keeping a professional air about her as she walked with [member="Veiere Arenais"] back to The Free Lady, she didn't try to take his hand or arm. Instead she just listened to his inquiry before responding. "This place is not what I expected. It's far too dark for my liking. I can understand the reasons as to why you'd want what he has to offer, yet at the same time, I don't want to be near them. This place is...almost alive, yet filled with death. It's a paradox in and of itself." And there are slaves, slaves that more than likely wanted to be free.

Tobee lowered the ramp to the Free Lady as he saw them approach. Kay stepped inside and once they were out of view, it was then that she took Veiere's hand. "I don't want to become like that. Ever...Nor do I want you to fall into that trap. Everyone has their limits. I learned of mine."

And then she heard the voice. Kay raised a brow and looked around. "Did you hear that?" She wasn't quite sure of where it was coming from. It could just be her imagination, afterall.

 

[Dr. Tyne Desdamonus]

"Is anyone there? Your Majesty? Anyone? Hello? This is Vlikner!"

The comlink continued to chatter aboard Lady Kay's ship. Meanwhile, Vlikner grew nervous. He was soon to be expected with his master's goblet of wine, and after that he'd most likely be busy hauling bodies to the incinerator. Once he was done with that chore, Lady Kay would most likely be out of range to communicate. This could be Vlikner's one chance at not only freedom, but revealing the horrible details of what exactly happened at Desdamoni...

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

"I like to think I'm better protected in my steadfast to the Light, my love" Veiere glanced back at her, a way smile on display as he noted just how protective she was despite at the same time being so on edge. He had anticipated her dislike at the notion of [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"]' servant and expected it to come across in conversation in their return home; it was only natural that she want to help the halfling yet he hadn't expected the slave to make contact with them and force their involvement. He hadn't heard the call either though at the suggestion that something might be amiss within the Free Lady, his gaze dropped and in the Force he found himself anticipating more.

If there was something awry here, he felt they best to do a quick run-over of the vessel. "Have a look about..." He suggested, his brows furrowed in skeptical concern, this voyage of theirs hadn't amounted to a great deal and the deal they could strike up in trade was shadowed by Kay's passive disapproval leaving Veiere feeling less sure of it on the whole. "Best to double check the ship, rather than get caught with our pants around our ankles out there..." there came a slight tone of amusement followed by another passing glance at [member="Lady Kay"], a tug to the corner of his mouth in smirk before moving off to look about the Vessel's hull inspecting for any sign of trouble or sabotage.

 

[Kay-Larr]

My love? Did [member="Veiere Arenais"] just say that? He did. She saw that smile of his. That caused her to disreguard the rest of his statement beforehand, for she sure would have argued with it. Kay thought that she was strong. Yet after four months, she succumed to the Dark and lost herself for a time. Parts of her was still missing, though it didn't anger her as much anymore. Who knows how long Veiere would have lasted if he had gone through what she did. Kay hoped that they'd never have to find out.

Check the ship. Yes, she agreed on that one. And as she started to do just that, Veiere's comment made her do a double-take. Pants around their ankles? Oh that surely had a double meaning and the smirk on his face told her as much. Kay couldn't help but laugh. "Veeeeeery funny. Try to keep your focus on anything amiss, rather than imagining me derobed."

She gave him a sly grin before heading into the port cargo hold. It was the closest room to her and it was there that she heard Vlikner's voice once again. It was louder this time and she spotted the commlink on the floor next to a crate. Kay picked it up and spoke into it. "Vlikner? It's Lady Kay. What is it? Are you okay."

[member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"]

 

[Dr. Tyne Desdamonus]

(Sorry for lack of color, I'm on my phone)

"I can't talk for long," the comlink garbled back, in a surprisingly normal voice. Vlikner faked the whole slithery voice, of course. It only served to appease his Master's vie for power.

"Listen closely. The animal you made a deal with is not to be trusted. He does terrible things here. Terrible things to humans. I'm the result of one of his experiments. Others have had different variations of success and failure. Look, you need to send someone to stop him. He's pure evil. Ok, I really have to go now. I'll be in touch. The crypt. That's where it's at. The crypt. Send someone there."

With that, the line abruptly cut, leaving Kay to her thoughts on what had just happened.

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

While [member="Lady Kay"] moved to check the rest of the ship, Veiere Arenais sought the cockpit to which he began preparations for their take-off. Taking a seat beside Kay's pilot, the younger man turned to look at Veiere somewhat uncertainly; Tobee was his name and he unlike Terrac didn't seem to understand the relationship between Veiere and Kay, his employer. Looking to the Jedi he seemed reluctant to speak to him and Veiere had his suspicions that he held a certain bias against force users. How amusing it might have been for him to realize that Kay herself could not only use the force but had such untapped potential within it. "We're leaving as soon as she's ready..." Veiere spoke with expectation, turning to glance over the comm's station of the cockpit having found a wealth of experience in these things since having played such a leading role aboard the Chimaera, naturally frigates and corvettes came far simpler than the command of a Star Destroyer, yet it had benefited him greatly in his tolerance of such things.

Forwarding word back to Commenor, Veiere found the need to message [member="Darlyn Excron"] in order to inform him of their intended return. The message was brief though pegged the trip as a partial success and explained that Kay would give him the details in person. From there he opened the ship-wide intercom and this time spoke into it for Kay's sake. "We're ready to go up here, Kay. Tobee's no Terrac but he seems half intelligent" Veiere went out of his way to tease the pilot, having made it known to Kay on several occasions now that he favored her last, most of all. Terrac had been nothing but loyal and been screwed because of it. He wasn't willing to let that go lightly.

[member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay furrowed her brows as she listened to Vlikner speak of just how horrible [member="Dr. Tyne Desdamonus"] really was. As she expected, the information wasn't good. Experimentation was something that she had been a victim of herself long ago. All of it was to test her healing abilities. Quite possibly it destroyed her ability to have children as well. She was never certain.

The commlink went silent. Soon after she could hear [member="Veiere Arenais"] ' voice over the ship's speakers. Out of caution, they couldn't delay any further. Kay walked through the corridor to the cockpit. "I'm ready." She sat down in the chair behind Tobee so that she could see Veiere better while she spoke with him, buckling herself in as she informed him of what she had found. "I wasn't just hearing things...Vlikner put a commlink on board. He says that there's a crypt where experiments are done on humans and that he's the result of some of them. He wants to be rescued....We have to help them." She half expected Veiere to tell her that it was none of their business.