Far From Home

[Krux Mullarus]

Spoiler

Let me know on this thread if you want to join: http://starwarsrp.net/topic/70356-prisoner-of-war-wants-visitors/#entry1045745

Aboard a Republic Prison Barge bound for Republic space, shortly after the battle of Balmorra...

[youtube]https://youtu.be/GLHuH4BfRsA[/youtube]​

In a cold cell of durasteel, lit only by a single, dim light on the ceiling only seven feet up, the young and defeated Sith Apprentice, Mullarus, sits cross-legged and facing the opposite wall. The cell was empty except for a small bed that was too short for the tall young man's long legs, a small sink that was too close to the ground, and a dirty toilet next to it. The cell was clearly made for shorter, smaller prisoners, but this prisoner-of-war finds it to be his temporary home.

Ripped from the clutches of Sith Space, Mullarus tries his hardest to meditate quietly. The Force Shackles on his wrists, however, make that impossible. The shackles made it impossible for Mullarus to feel the Force around him. He couldn't use it to escape, nor could he use it to see and sense what is around him. He felt naked. No access to the only crutch he had left, now that his lightsaber has been destroyed, and now not even with his robes. He was stuck with a very loose and uncomfortable grey prisoner's jumpsuit.

His hatred for the Republic ran deep, but not necessarily for the Jedi. He knew he was here because he was beaten fairly in his duel with the Padawan on Balmorra. A mere student, like himself. Weak. Naive. Yet, she battled with a lightsaber technique he had never seen, nor heard of before. She moved as a blur of violet light. He could not make out her attacks. It was as if her blade was a bubble around her...

Now, here he sat. The barge was quiet, surprisingly. He wasn't sure if anyone else was even on it. Prisoners, anyway. He could hear the footsteps of Republic soldiers passing by.

What's this? One guard had stopped by his door and peered through the bars. Mullarus did not stand to face him, he merely turned his head around and met his cold gaze. The soldier shook his head and kept walking, as if the Apprentice was not even worth his time.

Mullarus sighed and faced the wall again. He had no idea where he was going or what was to become of him. Would the Republic give him over to the Jedi to torture or convert? The idea of being a Jedi...to follow their code, the inverse of the Sith Code. Conformity, not freedom. Ignorance. Concealing. The absence of the passion that makes Force-Users powerful...

He tried to take his mind off of it. The idea of having even more chains being tossed around him made him sick to his stomach.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]
[member="Keira Ticon"]
[member="Rafeesh"]
[member="Zoltan Rarsk"]
[member="Maxis Vellum"]
[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Xalus"]

 

[Keira Priest]

Music

A time or two ago Keira wouldn't have found the interior of a prison cell to be too unfamiliar. After the battle for Ziost on behalf of The Primeval that was where she had spent a few days, merely resting in the isolated cells beneath the Silver Temple on Voss. It had given her time to truly think over and process all that she had achieved and that which she regretted within her twenty-six years of life. Afterwards she had come to a single conclusion: that she wanted to be better. It hadn't been an easy trial, or a short one, but she had worked through and clashed with each and every one of her inner demons until she was able to stand tall, discarding the metaphorical shackles that had once bound her.

It almost seemed that she was back to square one, after she boarded the prison barge. After all, she wasn't a Jedi of the Republic, or really much of a Jedi at all. No, she was just the commander of a clone army and a reasonably talented warrior of the Force that believed in doing the right thing every now and again. Never would she follow any Code, or reside in any Temple. Far be it from her to truly criticize any individual for following what they believed to be right, even if it was arguably self-destructive and against what was considered to be the right thing. Not long ago she had followed the same path, had been on the way to finding her life unceremoniously ended on the next battlefield she set foot on.

And now, for some reason, she was here to dissuade a Sith from following the same path that she had found herself meandering down when she knew that he would take to any convincing just as her younger self would have. Which was to say, not at all. But she was far from the traditional sort that would have likely been sent in her place, had anyone in the Republic actually known about her presence here. Unlike the others she had her ideas of how mind like his functioned, simply because she had possessed - and still did, to some degree - one of her own. The taint of the dark was something she had an altogether too intimate experience with, and wisps of it still lingered here and there within her aura, swathing over the light like a veil. One she embraced.

Her steps were measured as she slowly walked the halls of the vessel, the fingertips of her cybernetic left arm brushing across the hilt of her saber every now and again as if to assure herself of its presence. Not long ago she had emerged from her own battles on the planet of Balmorra, where she and another Jedi had clashed with two Sith Lords. It had been an interesting fight, all told, and she had walked away with a new perspective of what those that claimed such a mantle were capable of. But she hadn't walked away impressed, merely battered and bruised, a common state for her physical form to find itself in. Now it was time for battle of a different sort, one waged with words and on the mental plane.

When she did eventually find herself on the other side of the Sith's cell, no words were immediately put forth, no hostility or distaste evident in her actions or expressions. He was regarded nonchalantly, as if this was just another routine encounter. Already she was studying him carefully, both through the physical and ethereal realms. Throughout the entirety of these silent moments her countenance entirely impassive. The darkness clung to him reminiscent of a fog, whereas her own aura walked a steady line between light and dark, straying more towards the former. When she did find it in herself to speak her tone was gentle yet demanding of its own sort of attention, powerful but not overtly so. "Why?"

[member="Mullarus"]

 

[Glaze Starchaser]

Oh, I saw a face I thought I knew. All along, it was true. It was me. It wasn't you.​

​

Glaze found himself wondering why the Maiden wanted him aboard a Republic prison ship, but the question was answered with his own mental shrug. Was there free food? Yes. Was he getting paid? Yes. Was he about to go to the brig and poke fun at caged people? Oh hell yes! Particularly the guy who'd gotten his ass handed to him on Balmorra. It wasn't often that the half-Arkanian Starchaser found somebody who he truly felt needed to be goaded.​

​

I asked myself if it's the truth. A guilty conscience isn't proof.​

​

It also wasn't often that Glaze felt bad enough for a prisoner to do the goading himself. Usually, he was watching one of his commanders do the goading, because that was their job. But, this time, there was some pathetically defeated Sithling to point and laugh at.​

​

A fingerprint, well what's that do? 'Cause gasoline can burn that too.​

​

It never really occurred to the ice-shaper that he was singing a song about things burning.​

​

[member="Mullarus"] [member="Keira Ticon"]​

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Mullarus"] [member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Rafeesh"] [member="Zoltan Rarsk"] [member="Maxis Vellum"]


Kay had intercepted the prison barge on her way back to the Republic. She was on one of her own missions again, trying to get her outsourcing and her funds organized and hitching a ride on a Republic vessel was the cheaper way to go.

Being a Senator, Kay was given a light briefing on what was going on and informed of the prisoner. It was curious as the newest order by the Prime Minister was to take no prisoners, especially if they were Sith. So what made this young man so special? It wasn't as though she would have him killed. No. She was against killing and would've done the same as the one that captured him. But instead of rushing to talk to him, she just watched and listened in the security room.

Keira was the first to reach out to him and although Kay knew nothing about the woman, she would watch the interaction with interest.

 

[Krux Mullarus]

The shackles burned his wrists. He continued to feel them practically suck the life out of him. They were tight enough to the point where they might even scar. What better way to remind Mullarus of the freedom he fights for by giving him scars on his wrists from Force Shackles bound to him by the Republic...

But then, he heard footsteps. He would have felt this man's presence from much further away if he could see with the Force. The footsteps were heavy, probably another guard's. Whoever it was stood at the door in silence. Mullarus could feel his gaze on him. It made him somewhat uncomfortable.

"Why?"

It was a woman, and she did not wear a helmet over her head. This was not a guard. He did not want to, but he turned his head around and looked at her for a second. His dark blue gaze met hers briefly in his dimly lit cell, before sizing her up and turning back to face the back wall once more. Why?, he thought, What a stupid question.

He wasn't exactly sure what she was asking about, but he had a feeling this woman was a jedi. Well, it was obvious. She didn't wear the uniform of a soldier and she had a lightsaber hanging on her side. She was probably here to try and convert him, like the rest have tried to do...

"The same reason you're a jedi and not a sith."

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

That would have been a fair response, and still was, to some degree, had Keira been a Jedi in the first place. But she wasn't, not really, even if her being here suggested otherwise. Her position was just as awkward among those warriors of light as much as it was among those who fought for the dark to reign, she had found, and so she was forced to walk her own path that defied either dogma and clung stubbornly to her own ideology and skewed morality. Which was to say that her sense of right and wrong was better than some, perhaps making her out as some kind of paragon of light to one like this, so deeply entrenched in the ways of the Sith. "I'm not a Jedi." Nor would she ever be.

No more explanation was owed him as to her allegiances, and she wouldn't offer any further elaboration. It was he who would answer her questions, not the other way around. It was nice to see that she was getting some sort of response, even if it was halfhearted at best and riddled with a sense of disdain to boot. There was no mutual respect between them, and no need for such a thing to emerge in the first place. They were enemy, and would no doubt remain that way regardless of what words were exchanged. Though she could perhaps exhibit some sort of empathy, given that his position was one she had experienced previously, being at odds with most every power except the one held over her own actions.

In what could be called a demonstration of solidarity she sat down on the ground opposite from him, taking on a similarly meditative posture, though she wouldn't draw on the Force as he had attempted. This was to be a nonviolent affair, and unless pushed she would do what she could to keep it that way. There was something of herself she saw in him. He was someone broken, twisted and manipulated to the will and want of another, whether he realized it or not. It was that with which she could connect with, having suffered the same more times than she could count, now seeming to retain her own permanent cracks that never quite faded. That was the price to pay for survival.

Reaching out into the ethereal she touched gently on his presence, though it was doubtful whether he would sense this minute intrusion with the shackles about his wrists. They were restraints she would have removed, had this been a secure location and her life the only one in immediate danger by such an action. As it was the chains would remain in place, and perhaps that was for the better. But she would attempt to connect with him through other means. For some reason, she felt compelled to. To give him the chance she had been granted to shrug off this darkness and stand tall in another manner altogether. Maybe he would accept, and likely he wouldn't, but she would try.

"Face me." A command and a request wrapped up in one, her voice quiet enough that any passersby would have to pause in order to eavesdrop. The slightest of smiles crept onto her lips, one that expressed a sort of sadness at his predicament should he look deep enough. This wasn't what had to happen, but it was what had developed as a result of the path he had chosen. Now was the time to see if she could alter that even the smallest amount. Her way with words had never been the most eloquent, and that wouldn't change anytime soon. But sometimes her bluntness worked where nothing else could. "I want you to talk to me." For Force's sake, I'm not one of them.

[member="Mullarus"], [member="Lady Kay"], [member="Glaze Starchaser"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Mullarus couldn't sense the woman, thanks to his shackles, so he really couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not. She could be an undercover sith trying to break him out, or she could be a jedi trying to play with his mind. He truely could not tell. Because of this, he sighed and stood up, using only his legs since his wrists were tightly bound, and approached the bars. His indigo eyes might reflect some of the light from outside as he sat down cross-legged in front of the door, facing the woman. Judging from appearance, he could make no assumptions. She did not have the sophistication and charismatic voice that jedi had, and yet, something told Mullarus that she was not quite...disciplined in the teachings of the sith. Is she a rogue, perhaps?

"You're here to lecture me, too. Aren't you?" He asked, closing his eyes.

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

It was difficult to suppress a quiet laugh at that final inquiry, and so Keira didn't so much as make an attempt, merely shaking her head. Sometimes it truly was unfathomable as to how minds like his functioned. Had she truly been like this, once? That was almost too hard to believe. "You really are Sith, aren't you?" It was never more blatant to her than in that moment how entirely enveloped he was in their teachings, at this point predisposed to despise any and everything the Republic stood for without so much as a second thought. But then, the same could be said with positions reversed. Maybe there really wasn't a lesser of two evils, at this point. Maybe it was all about picking a side and hoping for the best.

"No, I'm not going to lecture you. That would get the both of us nowhere." Even with his eyes closed she could still sense he was listening, though how carefully remained to be seen. He didn't strike her as the sort to care overly much for what the supposed enemy had to say. That was, once again, personal experience speaking for her. It was alien to be on the other side in this scenario, and she half-expected to wake up steeped in the same darkness that had sustained her in the years previous. But that wasn't to be the case. It was her turn now to give back to the galaxy all that she had taken before, that opportunity manifesting itself in the Sith sitting across from her. Funny. Not long ago she would have called him kindred.

Each movement was deliberate on her part as she pulled a slightly rumpled pack of cigarettes from a pocket, lighting it and exhaling smoke, offering him one through the bars. Another expression of some kind of link between them rather than the enmity that was all too common. Most would have looked upon this interaction with raised eyebrows and mutterings of disapproval, but she cared not for the opinions of others. Oftentimes the best way to glean information from another was to instigate a sort of bond through other means, however non-traditional it might have been. She had never been orthodox, and she wasn't about to begin now, with a Sith nonetheless.

Carefully she watched him, her eyes trained on his own steadily should he chance to open them. "I'm not going to try and dissuade you from this path. Not directly. Because once upon a time, I was just like you. If you would open your eyes and look at what's in front of you, you'd see that." Amber blended seamlessly with cobalt in her irises, manifesting itself as a symbol of light and dark working side-by-side towards a greater good. The poison had been driven from her aura months ago, leaving her with something arguably more refined in one manner or another. Now she maintained a higher modicum of self-control that allowed her to hold conversations like this with an entirely casual air.

"I want to know why you think this is your only option. Why you're so opposed to the mere thought of something different, even if it won't change that much." Reaching up, she brought the cigarette to her lips, taking another drag and exhaling a cloud of smoke to the side. "But if you're anything like me, I already know the answer. You don't see another way out because to you this is all there is." It wasn't spoken with the tone of any kind of inquiry, but rather as fact. There were certain topics she didn't have to guess on, because she had undeniable experience under her belt. The way darkness tainted the soul of an individual happened to be one of them. "And please, tell the truth. I don't have the patience for any mind games, and I can sense them anyway."

[member="Mullarus"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

The young sith apprentice scoffed, smirking slightly at the edge of his lips at her final remark. "Please. Unlike you and the rest of the jedi, I dont lie about what I stand for in the galaxy. The sith may not be a beacon of holiness and morality in the eyes of the average citizen, but at least we are not hypocrites."

He took a deep breath, shaking his bound hands at her offer of the cigarette. His internal organs already barely worked on their own. To throw toxic gasses and other unsanitary trash that came in that little piece of sinful heaven into his lungs would ensure he would possess the body of am elderly man by the age of 25. "I do not think this is my only option. If I really wanted to, maybe I would defect to the jedi. However - and this is a big problem - your jedi order serves a higher power with control over everything you do. They have more power, more influence, and more money than you. Why? Because the Jedi Code preaches about concealing, about how ignorance is bliss, and how to properly throw yourself into a bubble in which you contain yourself so you may never grow stronger, only so that you remain weak forever for the sake of 'security'. Because of how afraid you are of the power you were blessed with, you limit yourselves by concealing the passion that makes you strong and bending a knee to the...foul, wretched scum that calls itself the Galactic Republic.

He said the words like it was physically painful to do so.

"No. I do not fear the jedi. I do not agree with what they stand for. I admire many of them, honestly. Many of their warriors are full of integrity, honor, and respect that many sith these days do not favor over their lust for blood and power. That, I admire.

"Why will I refuse to follow them in favor of the bloodthirsty sith? Because the sith bend to nobody. We are our own Empire. We do not serve a Republic fueled by corruption. Money does not motivate us, our motivation is the prosperity of our great Empire and of the sith."

He exhaled, opening his eyes to meet hers. He said nothing more, only stared at her, awaited for her to explain how wrong he was and how immoral and disgusting all sith were and how the jedi are, and always have been, clearly the men and women of good and not evil in any way.

Because the galaxy is just black and white. There is no in-between.

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

No immediate retaliation of the explicitly deadly sort was made on her part, and for that some sort of commendation was in order. It wasn't often Keira didn't immediately demonstrate just why comparing herself to the Jedi was dangerously wrong in a rather violent manner. That he wasn't thrown against the back wall and held there with a blade to his throat was something of a miracle by itself. That she didn't follow up with a similar action after she finished speaking was an anomaly. Instead she merely blew a cloud of smoke directly in his face, her gaze impassive. Words were the next best alternative to anything that would likely land her in trouble with the higher-ups. That didn't, of course, mean she would refrain from any course of action deemed necessary.

"My Jedi Order?" A single, questioning brow was raised, and with a half-smile she shook her head. "I don't think I've heard anything less true spoken to me in my entire life. You're just as blind as the rest of them. Blind to what's sitting right across from you." Cocking her head to one side she merely watched him for a few long moments, reminiscent of how a predatory studied its prey, scrutinizing any minute shift in his composure. This was a different side to her once casual demeanor, a far darker one that only reared its head on the rarest of occasions. Hell hath no fury, as the saying commonly went, but she wouldn't be quite so explosive. He deserved a chance, at least. Not much of one, but a chance.

There was amusement to be found in what amounted to nothing more than a lecture on his part, and it served as another reminder as to just why she refused to align herself with any cohesive Order within the larger galaxy. All that would amount to was her being told that the way she went about things was wrong, and that it was better or more fitting if she abided by this Code instead. To hear that same thing from an Acolyte of the Sith she fought against, and a prisoner of war no less, was a speech she didn't really have to sit through. Not from someone like him that she would have killed without a second thought under any other circumstances. And especially not here, on a prison barge, with him being on the wrong side of the bars.

"You've mistaken me for someone else. Like I told you before, I'm no Jedi. I don't follow their Code or call their Temple home. They're hypocrites, the lot of them." A crooked smile, now. "Just like your Sith." Two could play at this game, and if he wanted to go off on a spiel about just how terrible the Galactic Republic was and how righteous the Sith were in comparison, then she could very well match him word-for-word. Eloquency had never been her strong point, however, and a few individuals could speak to that. Perhaps that was why she tended to emphasize her words with action. It served to get the purpose across far more effectively, leaving no doubts when it came to interpretation.

Her cigarette seemed to be forgotten, but she still held it perched between her index and middle finger, idly tapping away the ashes that had gathered on the tip. "I won't deny that the Republic is corrupt, because they are. But sometimes you have to choose the lesser of the two evils. And when you compare a corrupt yet stable and relatively good-doing government to one run by genocidal Sith, well..." A shrug of the shoulders, and that same carefree smile. "The choice is obvious." In the next second her expression shifted, seeming to darken. "Besides," A subtle twist of the Force applied pressure to his lungs and rib cage, just enough to minutely inhibit his breathing. "I bend the knee to no one."

[member="Mullarus"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Mullarus"] [member="Keira Ticon"]

Kay continued to observe the interactions between the two from the security cameras. Their conversation allowed her to gain insight into how others viewed the Republic, the Sith, the way of the Galaxy as a whole. It was all very, very interesting. And not in the way that she would use what was being said against any of them. No, it just gave her a better understanding, and that was never a bad thing.

 

[Krux Mullarus]

He immediately felt the pressure on his chest, which made him uncomfortable. He scowled and stood up, starting to pace around his cell, his wrists still bound in front of him. Now with a much clearer image of him, Keira could probably see his mutilated right hand, covered in bandages and missing it's index and middle fingers. "I fail to see how you can call the sith hypocrites..." His voice had begun to soften, as if he had exhausted everything he had to say already, Mullarus was no diplomat, he couldn't debate. He didn't understand why he sat here and did this with this woman.

"You really can't hear yourself, can you? Of all of the people I have met in recent years, sith included...you are the most arrogant. You flaunt how you're not a part of either side of the jedi or sith like it's a wonderful thing. You're so damn proud of yourself! You know, it makes me...sick. I don't care if you're not a damn jedi. If rogues like you are all so karking proud and full of themselves, i'd rather be a damn jedi. Take my freedom, take my dignity, and take my passion. But I won't become some disgusting, prideful scum like you." He spat the words out. Did he truely feel that way? He wasn't sure.

He was more curious at how close she really was to the Dark Side, if she brags about not being a jedi...

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

There were certain things one didn't say to Keira if they wished to continue breathing for any prolonged and moderately healthy amount of time. It was a rather long list, all told, but on it was comparing her to the Jedi, implying her servitude to any being, and, well, everything he had just said previously. A saying existed somewhere about continuing to prod a lioness after it had already been goaded, and it was one that could be attributed famously to this scenario. Such a thing applied doubly when the individual doing the prodding was restrained and largely unable to defend themselves from any imminent retaliation. And she wasn't the sort to give him any kind of fair warning.

Surprisingly enough her ethereal vice on his ribs vanished, and she merely considered him as he paced about the cell. There was no doubt that he was intelligent in his own way, holding a sort of conviction in the Sith cause that wasn't quite as zealous as what she had experienced in the past with his counterparts. It was a nice change, and she wouldn't have entirely minded continuing what could be called a halfway civil conversation, if it wasn't for the next words that passed his lips. But she would deal with everything he'd said in an orderly manner, choosing her words carefully and speaking them with an articulation that was rare for her to practice. It was a sign she truly meant every word spoken.

"I fail to see how you can't." Smoke twined lazily from her lips with every word spoken, drifting slowly through the air before dissipating entirely. "They act like the saviors of the galaxy and commit genocide just as easily as you and I are breathing right now. Not to mention serving the supposed Dark Lord." That was a rather brief and concise explanation, but much of her thoughts couldn't be summarized accurately with words alone. It was difficult for anyone to truly understand her worldview unless they had gone through all that she had to reach this point where both good and evil were hypocritical, leaving a sort of chaotic goodness as the only viable solution.

Admittedly, he wasn't wrong in calling her arrogant. There were a number of situations that could be cited if one needed an example of her overabundance of self-assuredness. That, of course, didn't mean she saw things exactly the same way. In her mind she had earned the right to her opinion in her twenty-six years of life, and nothing would change that. "I'm not flaunting anything. Only stating a fact that you seemed to misinterpret before. And trust me, you don't want to be anything like me. No one does." On the outside she had always been the epitome of confidence and bravado, never backing down from any challenge and always dusting herself off after being knocked down.

Mentally, however, it was a war. There wasn't a time she could remember where she had been truly sure of herself and all that she said or did. Always there was a whisper in the back of her mind doubting every move she ever made. After awhile she had become talented at suppressing it, smoothing it over with what was really a very good coverup. If anyone truly got to know her, which few ever did, they would be granted an insight into the cracks beneath her seemingly flawless facade. But he wasn't one of those, and so she would let him think what he would. Their opinions of each other had already been developed, and now nothing would change them. Might as well give him a reason, then.

While one hand perched the cigarette at the corner of her mouth the other raised and shifted just slightly, sending out a wave of the Force that wouldn't knock him off his feet but instead drive him against the back wall if it went unopposed, that same pressure once again returning, this time decidedly more noticeable than before. "I would advise you to watch your mouth. Last I checked, you're the one behind bars." Her off hand would discreetly press a button on her commlink. It was about time they had some extra company.

[member="Mullarus"], [member="Commander Lusk"]

 

[Commander Lusk]

[member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Mullarus"]

Lusk got a ping on his comm unit and sighed. Great, Keira was calling him without saying anything as if he was a magic fairy who just instantly knew where she was at all times. At the moment he was in the mess hall of the prison barge eating what could classify as dinner, of course he was only four bites into it before he had to leave. So with that in mind he got up and started to head down the halls. With his utility belt on and blaster at his side.

Popping into his room he grabbed his nutrient pack with a Spaarti grown Ysalamir inside of it because part of him knew she was calling him to go down to the prison cells to keep her from killing a man, guess he was sort of a magic murder prevention fairy in that regard. Slinging the pack on his back the man walked towards the cells where he was buzzed in by the guard and let inside of the wonderful place that was prison.

Quickly turning a corner he spotted his commander Keira sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette to help ease the strain of more than likely talking to a Sith about the darkside. Giving a sharp little whistle he looked at Keira and gave her a nod before speaking.

"Lizard incoming." he said as he came closer.

Once he approached the cell the man took off the pack and set the heavy load of metal and fabric on the ground so the ten meter force nullifying bubble wrapped around the three of them. Standing a good two meters from the bars a bit behind Keira. Taking a look at the prisoner the war tattooed clone stared at the Sith and waved.

"Hello, my name is Lusk." Was all he said to the prisoner.

Exactly afterwards the man drew his weapon and aimed it at the Sith's head.

"So since mom told me you're doing this whole new leaf thing, I take it you want me kill him." He said to Keira with the blaster leveled between the Sith's eyes.

If there was a time to make peace with your God, this was the time.

 

[Krux Mullarus]

While pacing to the back wall, Mullarus felt the wave of energy slam into his back and pin him against the wall. He wasn't ill-prepared, not surprised to start being tossed around by his captors.

He expected no less from the Republic.

His bound wrists were stuck between his body and the durasteel wall. He just managed to move his head to the side so he could breathe and speak. "That's what I thought...Jedi always call the Sith the hotheaded scum eager to bring pain and suffering to those around them...but look at you! An agent of the Republic...Jedi or not...protector of all good in the galaxy...shoving an unarmed, defenseless prisoner againsr a wall with your 'light sided' Force magics! It doesn't karkin' matter if you're really a jedi or not...if you're no Sith...the Empire won't give a damn!"

Suddenly, he was released. The woman couldn't give up that easily, could she? She must have been awfully angry to throw around a prisoner with his wrists still bound. What scum. But, if course, she's with the Republic. What else was new?

But no. There was someone new, and he had a big bag on the ground next to him... and a blaster trained at his head. Mullarus didn't even laugh or grin this time. It ceased to be funny. This man was clearly no jedi. He must have been a Republic soldier, judging from the armor. Mullarus dark blue gaze watched him for a second, then he sighed. "The Republic's finest doing what he does best. Threatening the defenseless. Annihilating the undeserving. Murder. It must feel lovely to spill the blood of those who won't karking fight back, huh? Right?"

Mullarus' voice raised to a yell. The soldier had struck a nerve. "Here I stand, Republic animal! I won't shoot back! I won't choke you with the Force, and I have no lightsaber to defend myself with! I'm your perfect fething victim! Prey on me, you filthy predator! You've already taken my whole fething family from me! They didn't ask to be blown into space debris in orbit over Anaxes, either! You gonna murder me, too?! I haven't even gotten to slaughter any Republic bystanders yet!

"I THOUGHT I WAS THE BAD GUY!"

At this point, Mullarus had tears rolling down his cheeks and he had fallen to his knees right in front of the bars. The barrel of the man's blaster was only inches from his damp face. Mullarus' indigo eyes stared into the visor of the soldier's helmet with a look that either told him to do it already, or to just forgive him.

[member="Commander Lusk"]
[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Commander Lusk]

[member="Mullarus"]
[member="Keira Ticon"]

Lusk didn't say anything to the man as he gave his speech about how the republic was evil, to be honest Lusk didn't care. He wasn't born in the republic, he wasn't from some back water world where he grew up with his Ma and Pa and had hoedowns in the barn on Sundays. No, he was a clone. A clone born, bred, and trained to do one thing and one thing only. War, and he was damn good at it. So when the man started crying he felt nothing for him, he was a prisoner and a prisoner that was about to die. He knew Keira couldn't do it after that little speech, and if she couldn't then he would.

"By order of Prime Minister Genevieve Lasedri executive order designation Black Flag, you are hereby sentenced to death effective immediately." He said in a cold and unforgiving voice.

Squatting down the clone faced the man and removed his helmet to reveal the face of [member="Preliat Mantis"], the infamous Field Marshal of the mandalorians. Flicking a switch on the pistol it made a powering up noise as he aimed the weapon between the Sith's eyes.

"May you find peace in death." The clone said as his finger rested on the trigger of the pistol.

"Sir?" He said to Keira waiting for the order.

 

[Keira Priest]

A deep sigh was released, and with it a cloud of smoke, her eyes sliding shut as her head lowered slightly. This was a scenario that hit close to home in manners one might not expect after knowing her as this Sith had. Because, in the not too distant past, Keira could have very well been in the same position with little separating her from the man currently on his knees. In fact, she had almost been at that point on Voss a little less than a month ago, standing in a cell across from a not-quite-Jedi and being threatened with death as well, though in a less direct manner. And she had willed for a permanent end to things as well, provoking the rogue more than once but never quite eliciting the right reaction. That was because, much like this scenario, the two of them were eerily similar.

As much as she wanted to simply give the command and be done with it, something resembling a conscience whispered at the back of her mind for her to rethink this course of action before she could make a decision she would, for once, regret later. It was troublesome, all things considered, to be reminded of her relative humanity in a time where it was much easier to remain as detached and apathetic about all life as she usually was. But there was something about the man she couldn't quite shake, a prodding at her subconscious that refused to budge no matter how she attempted to mask over what she registered as useless, idle thoughts, and nothing more. Sometimes emotions really were a burden.

Begrudgingly she reached up to lay a hand on Lusk's pistol arm, slowly pulling it down so the weapon was no longer leveled at the head of the Sith. "No." The cigarette had fallen to the floor and been stubbed out as well, a metaphor for something that was happening here. "No." That same word again, emphasized as if to prove a point. Her eyes opened slowly, instantly training themselves on this prisoner-of-war that she felt some amount of empathy for, a feeling she couldn't quite accurately comprehend. This was the first time in a long time she had felt anything for another being that was a complete stranger, never mind public enemy number one on her list that was constantly growing.

Without a word she pushed herself to her feet, taking into consideration the fate of the Sith now that she had denied what was an official order by the Prime Minister herself. That was likely a political mess waiting to happen, but she couldn't care less about the consequences. "No one asks for anything to happen, much less anything tragic. That's the first lesson you have to learn." She would begin with some form of lecture, as always, though this ruse of formality wouldn't last too terribly long. "You need to take a second and remember just what kind of galaxy you live in. People are killed every day for nothing more than looking at someone wrong. In comparison to that, your death here would be justified."

Her brow furrowed slightly, what stern tone had been present before bleeding away when next she spoke, replaced instead by a softness that was the antithesis of all she had demonstrated beforehand. "I understand you." Those were three words she had never expected to pass her lips in relation to any sentient, let alone a Sith. "I know what this is like better than a lot of other people in this galaxy. Believe me, I do." He could choose whether to believe her or not, but in that moment she was being entirely and genuinely truthful, a rare sentiment. "I know how it hurts. I know that you want forgiveness of some kind. But it doesn't come easily." She was still at work on redemption, herself. "Nothing ever does."

[member="Mullarus"], [member="Commander Lusk"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Mullarus' eyes, glazed with tears, looked up at her with confusion. He paused, then blinked and shook his head, standing up and walking back to his small bed by the sink, sitting down on it.

Mercy. Something he, despite being Sith and being expected to possess none, has given to many in his life, including jedi during the battles he had previously taken part in. He gave it out, but he never expected it in return. Part of him didn't want if. Was it selflessness, humility, or just foolishness

"Why?"

[member="Keira Ticon"]
[member="Commander Lusk"]

 

[Commander Lusk]

[member="Mullarus"]
[member="Keira Ticon"]

"Yes, sir." He said as he placed his pistol back into its holster.

"I will follow you to hell and back Keira." he said using her first name to apply an seriousness to this conversation.

"But what you are doing is treason to the republic, and can be punishable by death or life in prison." He said with a firm voice.

"My mouth is sealed, but if you or I don't kill this Sith. Someone will, and someone is going to ask why we didn't do it." He said as he stood to face Keira.

He looked at his commander and would follow her word to the letter, but he would also give her the options in the given situation. But right about now those options weren't all that great, at all really.

"If you don't wish to kill him then we take him back to a republic world where he is executed, and we might be brought up on charges for allowing them to live. When I was growing up, I got to see the news reports of Sith taking republic worlds. They weren't pretty, and I doubt the republic forgot either." He stated in a calm manner.

"That's option one, option two is we give them a set of armor with an hour of oxygen and we space them. Let nature decide if his buddies can come pick him up fast enough, then we file them as executed. Option three is we just let them go, and face the music of the situation. I will do as I am ordered sir, but I would like our new commander not to be thrown in jail for allowing a Sith who is responsible for the death of billions to be let go." Lusk gave the woman a very cold look with his last few words.

"On your word commander." And that was that.

 

[Keira Priest]

"Why?" That was a question Keira had always asked herself, one she had never been able to find an answer for. There was no explanation to offer that would satisfy both parties in answering what questions they didn't ask that were lingering beneath the surface. It grated on her to sit here in this silence, but she didn't have anything explicitly worthwhile or meaningful to say just yet, so she left them to their own thoughts as she considered herself and just where she stood now that that order had been made. This was quite the wrong impression to make, denying death to one that belonged to an Order she had been determined to bring down from the very beginning. But the opinion of others had never been her concern.

The suggestions and concerns of the commander would be addressed first, simply because they were the easiest for her to come to terms with. "It's a good thing I'm not really a member of the Republic, then." And she wasn't. That was all more of a formality than due to any actual affiliation, what with her being placed in charge of a clone army seemingly loyal to that galactic government. But she always had and always would view herself as separate from any one power, even those defending the supposed greater good. "I didn't say he was being released, nor did I say he wouldn't be executed. Just not yet. Not here, and not now. The Republic likes to see their trials, don't they? They'll get one."

The fingers of her saber hand flexed slightly as if remembering the grip of the weapon typically held there, one that would have cut this Sith down in a heartbeat on any other day without a moment of hesitation. Perhaps she wasn't as apathetic as she had grown to believe. That was more of an irritant than anything. She was supposed to regard scenarios like this with nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders, giving her orders and moving on without a second thought. She was supposed to set an example for the rest of them, one anyone would want to follow. Instead she had faltered, given in to what she had learned to believe was a sort of emotional weakness, ceasing to kill one who, in many eyes, deserved it.

In the next few moments she considered the Sith - no, the man - sitting in the cell, looking to be genuinely confused as to why she had spared him. It was that same look she had given another before when she was shown the brighter side of life, what it could really be without that veil of darkness obscuring her from seeing everything for how truly beautiful it really was. In some sense she hoped to impart at least a fraction of that upon him in some manner. They were both broken in their own way, having been shaped into something different and decidedly more deadly both by time and those others they surrounded themselves with. The galaxy really was a small place. "Because you remind me of myself."

Those six words spoke more than any speech ever could, revealing volumes about her true character that she would have much rather kept carefully hidden. But it was too late to turn back now, and she had never been one to go back on something she had already committed herself to. Often she condemned others for doing the same. And this really was something no one here would forget, least of all her. "Let's find out what really happened to your family. I have no doubts that the Republic aren't responsible for it in the least." No, it was likely the Sith he so willingly kept company with. Then again, she had done the same, as she always had to remind herself. "What do you want?"

[member="Commander Lusk"], [member="Mullarus"]