Flickering Flame of Ambria

[Alana Sunrider]

@Kor'za Ma'an

Something caught Onna's attention. What was it though? Nothing moved and she couldn't hear anything. She pushed a loose lock of hair out of her face and looked around the crumbling factory. She frowned and knelt in front of her. Something was wrong with the ground. The surface had an unusual cavity, like something was buried and had starting sinking. She slipped a knife from her belt and pressed down.

Onna grinned as her the tip of her knife scratched metal. It was something nobody had found before. Perhaps a war droid? Parts of a starship? She scratched away at the sand, pushing it aside as it fell back into the hole. The blade scraped across the metal again and she stuck her gauntlets around the edges, scraping at it. It was a box, some sort of crate. Not too big, either. Onna grabbed it and leaned backwards, tearing it free from the soil.

Metal creaked nearby and she froze, reversing the knife grip. Nothing moved in the long-abandoned weapons factory except for sand-motes floating in the sunbeams that pierced the sagging roof. A short breeze kicked up a small cloud that settled back down after a few moments. She rocked back on her knees. Nothing seemed to be going on in here, so she shrugged and looked back at the box. High quality durasteel, by the looks of it. She felt along the edges and pressed on the latch as it clicked open, releasing a cloud of dust.

Onna pulled back and waved her hand in front of her face. Some of these old canisters held toxins or other noxious fumes. Not good stuff to breathe, to put it mildly. Now what was her loot? She pushed back her cape so it wouldn't get away and activated a small glow-rod, peering into the ancient shadows through its dim light. Not a lot. Looked like chunks of steel. She frowned and blew a wisp of hair away from her face. Hardly the treasure she was looking for, but it was enough for a few meals.

She paused. Wait, what was that down below? She leaned forward, studying the crate and pulled something out. It seemed like a blade. No, it was definitely a blade. A sword, even, or half of one, at least. Ancient, even. No grip anymore. Looked like there used to be wood but it had long since rotted away. She frowned and pulled a piece of leather from her pouch and wrapped it around the less blade-like end. Now she had a proper weapon. Pulling some cord from her pouch, she rigged up what could be used as a scabbard and piled the rest of the ingots onto her sledge.

Now she had to find some more stuff, so she trudged through the building, dragging her precious cargo behind her, studying the ground for any more buried treasure chests. There was none that she saw, but she found some other things overlooked by previous seekers. Not a lot, but it would be enough.

 

[Kor-za Ma'an]

[member="Onna Sunrider"]

Had already sensed someone entering this ancient place, an old Sith base from the Great Galactic War centuries before the Ravaging of Malachor (The canonized version of Malachor V's destruction and stuff. It is very brief, and doesn't get into detail in the Canon but the Legends bit should explain it well enough). Ambria, this world was called. It is where the Hssiss originated from, and apparently placed some form of importance in that ancient war. For now, he was collecting ancient tomes and datapads, all to add to his personal library, which was not much. He was only now starting it, and only had a few books on his person. Eventually, he would found a library for all Force Users to visit. Of course, fighting would not be allowed, lest your bring his wrath, but still...

As for the newcomer... She was Force Sensitive, he could tell. She just didn't know it, yet. He also could tell that she was looking for ancient artifacts, just like him, albeit for more economic purposes. This was all he could gleam from the surface, as any deeper would be a breech of personal business, which he did not enjoy doing. Instead, he called to her, subtly. Moreso letting her get a sort of gut feeling to go where he is. He had Kruziikil, his pet Amphistaff, curled around his right arm while he read, gazing around the room in case he had to protect his master. He would flip a page of the ancient Sith book telekinetically when he was done with it, leaping his eyes to the start of the next rather quickly. He could only hope she was not intimidated by his appearance or the Amphistaff... But he had a feeling from the Force that she was quite the bold one.

We'll just have to see, yes Kruziikil?

The snake-like creature would hiss in response, looking up to his masked face as he levitated the book, allowing his hand to affectionately rub the Amphistaff's head as it pushed its head against his hand, much like a cat rubs his head against his owner's as he purred. Amphistaff's could be quite the sweet creature, when treated right. They may be used as weapons by the barbaric Yuuzhan Vong, but they were still living creatures with their own feelings.

 

[Alana Sunrider]

[member="Kor-za Ma'an"]

Corridor after corridor of production room after production room. Onna paused by one intersection, debating which way to go. Something told her she should go right, some sort of intuition that hit sometimes. Usually it worked out well, but this felt different. More external than anything else. She paused, tapping the strange blade at her side. This whole place was weird. Not like the other factories and munition dumps she'd scoured for anything worth fixing or selling. This one had potential for future searches, so she'd have to make it a point to keep the source of today's finds a secret. There were rumors of a new place discovered a couple hours away, which she could claim to be the location. They might find better stuff there, but this was her factory now.

The corridors wound their through the building as she progressed, picking up whatever goods she could find and fix or sell for the metal. Eventually she reached a new room. This one had somebody in it though, wearing some form of armor and with a pet snake. Although why anyone would want a pet snake was beyond her. Onna froze, staring at them both for several seconds, trying to figure out what was going and some sort of response. Eventually, something did come out.

"You're not salvage. So why are you in my factory?" She pushed her hair back again. Why oh why did it keep escaping from the hair ties? This was getting ridiculous. "Not that you're not welcome or anything, but I'm trying to make a living here."

Not to mention the mask. Why would anyone wear those sorts of things? And was that book floating? Had someone spiked her drink this morning? These things didn't happen. They were impossible.

 

[Kor-za Ma'an]

[member="Onna Sunrider"]

The masked scholar would look over his shoulder to her, slightly surprised by her suddenness. Then again, she was a salvager, and they tended to like to get to the point. He would let the book drop inside his opened satchel, his page marked as he would turn to her, still stroking the head of the Amphistaff. His helmet tilted to the side as he regarded the armored woman before him. The Force was strong with her... But it wasn't quite Skywalker... Sunrider, perhaps? Or maybe even of Stardancer blood. She couldn't have been of Skywalker blood, they have been lost for centuries, last he had known. But... she was most definitely a powerful, if not untrained and unknowing, Force User. And her factory? Heh, she did not even know what this well of knowledge was. He aught to correct that for her, he supposed.

"This is no factory. It is unlikely you know what it was, as the Great Galactic War happened four thousand or so years ago. No, this is an ancient Sith Military Base, and I had come here to study ancient tomes and data stores. And what you saw was the Force. It was through the Force that I guided you here. And before you ask, it is the power that is created by the mere existence of life itself, and the Jedi and Sith draw on it for their telepathy, among other abilities." There. She should know the basics right from the get go. If she were to ask more questions, he shall answer them the best he can, but he does not know everything, nobody does. He would walk over to a piece of fallen rubble, sitting upon it and letting Kruziikil slither to loosely wrap around and hang off his neck, his head perked up and his forked tongue darting out here and there to taste the air. The Amphistaff, too, would study the woman, mostly to assess her as a threat, if needed.

 

[Alana Sunrider]

[member="Kor-za Ma'an"]

Onna raised an eyebrow at his little lecture. So this one was one of those types. Those high and mighty relic hunters and so-called historians grown pompous in their knowledge. Or their self-claimed knowledge, when really they knew nothing about what they were really involved in. Sure, they had these claims about what they were in the past but they lacked the knowledge of the what they were in the present. This one was even more delusional than the rest. The Force wasn't real. It was an ancient Sith superstition spouted through their propaganda for their so-claimed superiority.

She cleared her throat and raised one finger. "I know what happened in the Great Galactic War, thank you very much. We are currently sitting on the rock that was the Sith arsenal. Two, this was absolutely a factory. I can take you to the production lines myself. Take a left down this corridor, fifth right, fourth left, down what used to be the stairs, a left, and then a right. Factory production lines for what looked like blasters, going by what was left of the assembly pieces I found." She considered a moment and shifted her shoulders to let the cape move aside a little. "But your claim that it was a military base is probably true too. They did seem to heavily fortify and guard their factories."

Now about his delusions. Those would take a different tack. People with ideas such as those required a more gentle approach. She spoke again, voice soft and kind. "Now, there's no such thing as the Force. It's nothing but a fake religion created to fuel propaganda." She gave him a gentle smile. "And I most certainly can't use something that doesn't exist."

 

[Kor-za Ma'an]

[member="Onna Sunrider"]

He would glare at her in such a way to where one could almost feel it, burning their skin. He would simply raising his arms from his side while making a sort of open-fingered cupping motion with either hand, several decently sized pieces of rubble, along with himself, slowly rising into the air. He would, after a moment of straining to keep himself and the rubble afloat, he would set himself and half of the pieces of rubble down, while the other half began to slowly orbit around him. He would tilt his head to the side as he crossed his arms, his amphistaff also taking on an annoyed expression.

"Sith military bases tended to create their own weapons on site, and the Force is real." He would raise up an open hand, quickly forming a crushing fist as the larger stone piece would quickly crumble to dust in a matter of seconds, falling to the floor as he further proved his point that the Force is, in fact, real.

"If it was not, then how else do Jedi and Sith know of things that will happen in the future? It has been historically recorded that their precognitive abilities are real. If the Force was not real, how do Jedi and Sith block blaster bolts with their lightsabers?" He then looked down to his hands, holding one out as a single stone levitated to her, hovering just a few inches for her to grasp it. The others would drop to the ground with but a simple thought.

"Take this stone, and throw it at me. As hard as you can." He knew she may think all of this was rigged, but how would something she, herself, threw at him be faked? She was a smart woman, even if she was lacking in proper education, which was common among salvagers. He's not saying she lacks one, its just... likely.

 

[Alana Sunrider]

[member="Kor-za Ma'an"]

Onna watched as he replied, seemingly through a glare. A rather intense one at that, but she shrugged and frowned as he started moving his arms around. Crazy lunatic. Then her breath got caught in her throat and she took a few steps back, eyes wide. They were all floating including the man himself. Then she shook her head, eyeing the whole thing with a more critical eye as he talked on more, trying to convince her the Force was real. Lightsaber deflection and all that. Then the stone crumbled and she stared at the small pile of dust amidst the rest of the other dust. She cleared her throat.

"Nice tricks," Onna finally croaked out, "Although the rest of those things never happened. They're just stories."

The stone floated to her and she grabbed it, looking it over as closely as possible. Where was the device? It had to be in here somewhere. She tapped it with her finger, listening to the sound. By all intents and purposes, it was an actual rock. Wires? No, she would have seen them. Miniature tractor beam? That was certainly possible although what was someone with a miniature tractor beam doing on a rock like this one? Well, there was only way to test it.

She drew back her arm and snapped it forward, throwing the rock at him as hard as she could.

 

[Kor-za Ma'an]

[member="Onna Sunrider"]

His eyes would narrow, and the stone would quickly stop just a few inches from his nose. He hadn't even flinched, hsi hands were held up over the rock, one above, one below, with the rock levitating between either hand. He would then make a fist with his right hand, the stone crumbling to dust once more. He would look back up to her, his arms crossed as he leaned to the side with an almost smug voice, like one has when they win a game: Pompous, but not thinking themselves high and mighty. Just... victorious.

"Shall I give you more proof? The Force does more than simple telekinesis. It heals wounds, manipulates the mind, allows you to kill with a mere thought, even conjure the Dark Side in powers such as Lightning." He would flex his arms to either side, and with a flick of his wrists, elbows, and fingers, lightning would flash into existence, crackling along his forearms to further his point. Then, to end his proof, he would send a basic signal to her mind, mere words. No manipulations of the mind, no mind tricks, just simple telepathic speaking.

"Is this proof enough that the Force is real? I can show you all the things you could learn. Hell, I could help you become greater than a salvager." He meant no offense, of course, and he would make sure she knew that through his projected thoughts. Hopefully, he would find another scholar to at least train. Not even train, just travel and learn with. But if not, that is her decision, and he shan't force her to do anything.

 

[Alana Sunrider]

[member="Kor-za Ma'an"]

Another stone crumbled to dust and Onna took another staggering step back, hand reaching automatically first for the knife and then the ancient Sith war sword she had just found. Then her hands froze all together as lightning crackled along his arms. The Dark Side. The ancient evil religion created by the Sith to control their slaves. It was real. Something vaguely like laughter flickered through her mind and then images.

Horrible images. Violent images that tore through her soul, nauseating her. Death and destruction, chaos, souls tormented by pain and loss, tortured to death by that same sort of lightning.


Swords, not unlike her own, clashed against the more familiar lightsabers and the thought of what she wore sickened her as fell to her knees, images still flashing through her mind. A great city burned under assault from the skies. She retched as the assault strengthened and laughter grew louder as it echoed through her mind. Onna could vaguely hear Kor-za's last message in her mind, but it was so quiet compared to the tempest in her brain that racked through her body.

"Make it stop!" She cried out, clutching at the floor, scraping it with her gauntlets and writhing, getting dirt all over her clothes. She spasmed again, scaping her makeshift armor against the floor. Clouds of darkness roiled through her brain, pushing on her, and calling to her. The lake. She needed to go to the lake. It was a compulsion, a drive, almost a need.

What was going on? Tears began to leak from her eyes as she looked up at the figure and she half-snarled, half sobbed.

"What have you done to me?"

 

[Kor-za Ma'an]

[member="Onna Sunrider"]

He almost immediately sensed the mental assault on her mind, the evil that filled it. There was someone, or something, here, trying to possess her, it seemed. He would dash forward, placing his hands on either side of her head as he immediately attempted to place mental wards to block off the assaults on her mind, while Kruziikil would slighter about providing security for the two of them. He would enter her mind, trying his absolute best to ward off the attacks, but he could tell it would not be enough forever. This could very well have been the spirit of an ancient Sith Lord. He hated to have to ask her of this, but...

In her mind, his subconscious image would reach a hand down to her, attempting to help her stand while the other held up a visibly shaking hand, the Dark Side slowly closing in. He growled, looking over his shoulder and down to her as he put most of his strength into holding this attack off, if only for a time.

"Whoever you are, I cannot do this alone! I sense the Force in you, and the only way we will come out of this with our insanity, or our very lives, is if you help me fight back!" If they survived this... He would have the wrath of an angry woman to temper... Joy.

 

[Alana Sunrider]

[member="Kor-za Ma'an"]

Shadows everywhere. Shadows in her brain mind, with shadowy figures before her. Someone spoke to her and the figure itself was cloaked in shadow. Then something appeared around her mind, some sort of dark shield and a hand came down from the shadows.

The attention shifted and the figures would be visible to Kor-za now. Ancient beings, twisted and hunched in decay from the corruption of the Dark Side. Their presences would study him indifferently and then laugh with scorn before hissing.

What use is she to you, Sithling? She is our plaything, tormented in revenge for ancestor's defiance upon this world. Kill her and we will make you more powerful than you can ever imagine. There was a pause and another dry round of laughter. Yes... that library... we shall give you knowledge that will make your library the wonder of the galaxy. Prove yourself a Sith.

Onna was vaguely aware of this, although her consciousness was shifting in and out. Help him fight back? How? All she could was fisticuffs. She knew nothing of this magic! It sickened her, filling her body with the feel of disgust. She struggled to push them out her head, desperate and terrified. But everything that felt like she was improving led to a slipping farther into the sick stench.

She couldn't do it. Such a thing was impossible. She gave up and slumped to the floor, too exhausted from the assault to feel anything. Instead, she was calm. At peace, even, more than she had been in a very long time. A warmth filled her body, gently at first, and then stronger like an onrushing tidal wave, burning through the shadows. Her eyes snapped open in confusion. What was going on?

The forms screeched in agony and the assault doubled. Onna convulsed with pain, dragging her gloves against the floor. The light seemed to fade, but it rallied in her, pushing back some of the darkness. She forced her jaw to move, trying to speak, but nothing came out. She tried again, speaking only in a croak.

"Get... off.. world..."