Private Hello Master

[Darth Strosius]

"As you wish." Alisteri already had plenty of ideas circulating in his head about what experiments he'd be performing. He would have more than enough of the crystals to properly examine and further test their effects on just about whoever he could get his hands on, even before he would have the chance to extract more from the subjects. The criminal population of Formos would be hitting an all time low in the very near future, if he had his way that is.

He looked up in surprise at the mention of his armor, gazing warily at her outstretched hand. "...I would prefer the term practical." Basic was an apt description of course, he was just too prideful to admit it. After a moment the Knight reluctantly shifted and fiddled his sleeve, allowing for his glove to slide off and be handed over to the Sith Lord. The material was obviously alchemized, the telltale signs of sorcery practically radiating from the seams of it.

Oddly enough there were additional, albeit small and hard to see, writings imprinted onto the top of the glove from the alchemical process. Scrawlings in Ur-Kittat that spelled out what appeared to be prayers or mantras. "I'd say it's good work for being my first big alchemy project." He mused aloud as he glanced over his other glove that was still on his hand.

Alina Tremiru / Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru Darth Strosius

"Practicality has its purposes, and I've found that such enchantments at this level are more to cover gaps in knowledge or skill sets," she said, quietly examining the glove. Unlike many other Sith, Taeli hadn't alchemized any of her armor or her robes even though she easily could create any number of enchantments to suit her purposes. It was a strange dichotomy for a Sith sorceress, but she felt it was more in line with her nature of secrets and deception.

And she did love watching the surprise, after a Jedi or rival sensed nothing out of the ordinary, to watch their lightsaber fail to cut her in half anyway. Reading the language of the Sith carefully carved into the glove, she could see he had fully committed to the idea of the dark side as a religious expression.

"For a first project, it is not bad at all," she continued, a twitch of her hand would have a dark leather-bound tome float over from its resting place on one of her bookshelves and another touch of her mind would have the pages flip open to a certain section scrawled in runes of the Sith language. "Let's see if we can't spruce it up a little."

A twisting of her fingers and the ruins within the book started to glow a purple and red, and like a ribbon, representations of the runes would flow out of the book and across the glove, embedding themselves among the carved mantras and integrating into the alchemy already present. If his knowledge of the language and runes was extensive enough, Alisteri would know she was adding two enchantments to his glove.

The first was one of illusion, a spell he could use once a day to create a doppelganger of himself at any point within his sight. Useful for shows of power and for work Ophidia might give him. The second was one of empowerment, a lesser form of the Enhance Force Sensitivity spell, that he could use to reward his followers with.

With the spells integrated, she passed the glove back to him.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Evidently the Lady of Secrets was just as observant as the title would imply. His gaze narrowed slightly, in both confusion and suspicion, as she summoned a tome and opened it. Alisteri was hesitant to let anyone tamper with his work, especially one that he literally wore on his body, but he raised no arguments as he watched the Sith work. With the expertise and experience that a Sith Lord like herself possessed, he was curious to see what exactly she could do.

The Knight leaned forward in his seat as runes flowed onto his glove, his eyes picking out the familiar symbols and words as he tried to discern what exactly she was adding. Ultimately the new enchantments were unfamiliar to him but he could gleam enough from their respective runes to understand a vague idea of them. Things that were out of his depth, but not ones that he couldn't learn more about.

Another project to research and delve into at a later date. He took the glove and slipped it back onto his hand as he admired the new runes adorning it, turning it over and examining it carefully for a moment. Such quick work alone was fascinating enough to see, and another thing to look into, but the new enchantments would be an interesting experiment all their own.

"Thank you...Lady of Secrets." He wasn't used to gifts or blessings that were handed out so casually, it was as unnerving as it was surprising. Alisteri nodded and finally lowered his arm back to his side. There would be time for a more in depth study later. "I suppose if that's all you need of me for then I have some ships to pick up and some crystals to gather. If I may?"

Alina Tremiru / Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru Darth Strosius

"You're welcome, Knight Haxim," she replied, sliding the book and its inert runes back to float away to its place on the shelves. "And yes, you have quite a task ahead of you. Alina, you can walk your friend back to his ship and then return here. We have so much more to discuss."

As a dismissal to the male Sith, and a temporary leave for her apprentice, Taeli would turn her attention away to a datapad she had been reading before the two Knights' ships had entered the system. But as they would near the exit to the office, she would add without turning to face them, "Alisteri, if you succeed as well as I hope you do, those two little enchantments can just be the first in... a broader tutoring in sorcery and alchemy. Food for thought."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Not wanting to overstay his welcome, Alisteri didn't hesitate to slide out of his seat and back onto his feet with a cordial nod to the Sith Lady's back. He had much to do and could hardly wait to get started, a bit of a pep in his step as he turned to make his leave. It would seem like Alina had a much longer and more private chat with her master coming up, one that he had little intent of interrupting.

He paused at the door as she spoke, inclining his head slightly as he listened to the potential offer. It was a tempting one, and certainly one that could be backed up with credible results. "Duly noted." Something else for him to ponder on during the trip back to his frigate he supposed. Without further delay he left the office and made his journey onward back to the landing pad where his shuttle waited.

"You know Alina," He spoke up after a moment of walking. "I must say that your master has an excellent choice of research and development fields." It was no wonder that Alina herself didn't mind delving into temples and the like given her master's speciality.

Alina Tremiru / Taeli Raaf

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina stood to briefly give her master a dip of her head. Then pretty quickly followed Alisteri out. She understood a lot of what just happened. The runes, what they meant. She'd never slacked those skills. She just couldn't use them. Not herself. Not like others. Not like Alisteri. The jealousy was there, briefly, as she watched him as they made their way back to his ship.

Only briefly, though.

"Master Arcanix knows much, and doesn't shy away from giving knowledge. I only worry about the price behind it all. She is fair, but that seems more concerning than the cruelty of the other Lords."

Then again, that was just what Alina was used to. Violence and cruelty by her betters. She closed her eyes, rubbed her brow. It was something for her to get over, eventually.

"Be careful with those crystals, though. They're highly addictive."

Darth Strosius | Taeli Raaf

 

[Darth Strosius]

"You're not wrong." Among the Sith cruelty and wrath were expected traits, especially from Sith Lords, gifts were an outlier. And a concerning one at that. "From my experience, Lords are only generous when they see you as a tool rather than a threat." Although he was sure that Alina probably knew that already.

"Oh come now Alina, give me some credit." He dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand. "I don't intend on letting myself or my cult be exposed to those crystals at all. I learned my lesson with the Sangnir."

It was a hard lesson, and one that hadn't come without blood and bodies to cement it. "These crystals of your master's are far too dangerous to be used so casually. I'll only subject my enemies to them, they'd be far too tempting for my followers to resist otherwise." Admittedly any chance of Force Sensitivity would be enough to tempt his cult. Better that they not know of what the crystals can do.

"They'll be handled with utmost care, don't be concerned." Soon enough their walk had lead them back to the turbolift and then up to the landing pad. His ship was back in sight and he was eager to get underway. So much work to be done, and plenty of time to do it if he was careful enough. "Be sure to take full advantage of what she offers you Alina."

He stepped off of the lift and onto the pad as he spoke, steadily striding to his shuttle. "You seem to be a useful asset to her, and she has plenty of those already." Alisteri paused and looked back to give his friend a nod. "Just be careful not to rely on her too much. You're not another asset like the rest of the people in this facility. You're Alina Tremiru."

With that he turned and boarded his shuttle, soon taking off and flying back into the storm that shrouded the facility from prying eyes.

Alina Tremiru / Taeli Raaf

 

[Alina Tremiru]

A tool rather than a threat? Perhaps. If anything, Alina more assumed the two were an experiment to her Master's eyes. At least that meant so long as they provided results, she wouldn't turn against them. Right?

"I had no intention of relying on her to begin with. But if there's a use she can bring, I might as well use it, right?"

No more stubborn pride. Not if she wanted to excel. Any step forward was worth any price that didn't bring her a step back. She offered Alisteri a brief smile and a nod of her head. "Be safe."

She waited, watched as the shuttle disappeared. The moment it was gone she turned. Walked back towards where her Master was. Now they had their own conversations to have.

Taeli Raaf | Darth Strosius

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

Once Alina returned to the office, she would find Taeli still reading from the datapad, a stylus taking notes on a holographic surface on the desk by itself. The images of the crystals and her power base had faded away once the two Knights had left.

"Dutiful Knight, your friend is," she said, without looking up from the report she was reading. "He certainly has potential, but I almost feel like his skillset is wasted on Ophidia. Well, we will see what the future holds for him."

She set the datapad down, and as she did, the stylus would fold itself neatly onto the desk as well as her full attention went to her apprentice, with no other beings in the room.

"And now, for the real conversation to be had," she continued. "I'm sure you have questions for me."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

There were numerous questions to ask. Too many to count, really. But there was only one thought on Alina's mind. She immediately fell to a knee, her head bowed. Eyes on the floor. There was nothing more terrifying than not knowing what her punishment was going to be. She had to be punished, that much she knew. A calm, calculated mind just knew. And what her mind came up with was far more horrifying than she'd normally admit.

"I've only a request. I left the Sith with the intent of never coming back. I deserted the Empire. I deserted you. I know there is a punishment waiting for it. But leave Alisteri out of it. He is far more loyal than I ever have been to the Sith. If your intent of bringing him here was to use him to punish me, all I can ask is that you don't." The core of her fear. One of many, yes, but the one that burned the brightest the moment Taeli asked for Alisteri to accompany her. It wasn't common knowledge, how close the two Sith were. But there were some bonds that were simply too deep to ignore.

Alina lifted her head, her eyes devoid of emotion. Accepting the fate she accepted the moment she clicked on the infiltrator to begin with.

"I put myself at your mercy, master."

Darth Strosius | Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru Darth Strosius

There was a very long silence as Alina knelt on the floor and spoke, professing she knew a punishment was coming and that her only request was for her Master to leave Alisteri out of whatever that may take. To the Sangnir, the room would be darkening, as though shadows were being pulled across all the light sources and the temperature would drop precipitously. The silence from the Sith Lady, sitting at her desk, would continue to stretch on and on...

And then, ever so softly, as almost as though Arcanix were whispering the words into Alina's mind, "If I desired to cause you punishment through your friend, he would not have been able to leave the planet or this office. His little operation on Formos would be cleansed to the last individual, for him to watch and you to watch his suffering, and then he would be stripped of all powers and placed back into a slavery he could never be freed from. That you could never rescue him from. Only then would your punishment begin."

The silence returned for a moment, the shadows deepening even further... and then they would disappear, and the room returned to its brightly lit norm. The temperature still on the cool side, given her own background of growing up on Lorrd, but comfortable.

"But I spoke the truth, however hard that might be to believe Alina, when you contacted me again after so long," she said, her voice patient. "There is nothing to forgive as there is nothing to punish for. I am not like other Sith, I would have hoped you would realize that by now. Unlike many of our order, I have traveled extensively and studied with a variety of Force traditions, experiencing and adapting my own beliefs accordingly. One does not spend ten years as a Jedi, even undercover and corrupting the Order from within or a year living among the Fallanassi, Theran Listeners, the Baran Do, and the witches of Dathomir, and not change. Leaving the Sith is not the mark of high treason you think it might be to me, nor is leaving my tutelage for love. If you had decided, in your wanderings, that you should attack my holdings or followers, or Celestials help you if you came after my daughters, that would have elicited a more... anticipated response."

She gestured and the seat Alina had left before shifted so the apprentice could rise and take it again.

"As it is, you did not, and so there is no ill will."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Every word just sent a chill down Alina's already cold spine. It did little to actually calm her down. How could it? But it did assure her of one thing. Her master was strong. Stronger than she could be in this given moment. The power to crush anything around them, a powerbase that could reach to the high heavens and further. It was something Alina wanted herself.

".. Okay. Then, what happens now?"

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

She could see the trepidation still in her apprentice's demeanor, and that had been partially designed. Taeli wanted Alina to know that, while her leaving had not been offensive to her, there were things that could very spark her ire to be directed towards the young woman and anyone she was connected to that helped her. It was an explanation of soothing mixed with a warning, but that would be where the subject of punishment would lay for now.

"That question, my dear, only you can answer," she said. "I certainly have ideas, but everything I can offer or teach is ultimately guided by what you want." She made a gesture, just to indicate everything around her. "There is very little knowledge or resources I forbid or restrict my followers or personal apprentices from accessing and I encourage that one follows any paths they want with a voracious curiosity. So, in more specifics than our earlier conversation than just wanting power, to fight, to rule, what is it that you are seeking?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I.." She still didn't know exactly what she wanted. Not specifically. Not exactly. Her mind drifted, thinking over everything she'd been through. Everything she'd seen. Everything she was making on her own. Her gaze drifted, glancing towards where Alisteri had left just before. No, she knew what she wanted.

"I want to kill the Sith who seek to rule after failing already. The Kainites. The Eternals. The same faces always run the Sith. I want them all dead so a new age can stop being denied."

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

"Another broad and lofty goal, to be sure," she replied, legs crossing in her chair. There would be the ever so faint trace of amusement in her voice at the stated desire as Taeli herself could very well be on that list as a former Dark Councilor of the Sith Empire. "An incredibly difficult task, even for one that has your rare gift of suppression. It also explains to me why you want to build a power base, to gain power and rulership over others, but you start at a severe disadvantage."

She tapped a finger to the holodisplay keyboard that suddenly flickered into life on her desk, bringing up another series of holograms. Alina would recognize the images that appeared as video streams of the various Sith Lords and Ladies she was hoping to destroy... and their followers.

"The Zambranos, even without the Sith Empire, still control a vast network of a shadowy empire spread across the galaxy not unlike my own power base. However, they focus more on outright slaughter and conquest than I ever do, and there is a reason why his Blackblades are still considered elite soldiers not to mention his legions of strand-casts and fanatic Sith."

The stream of Kaine and Prazutis leading forces in the last major war shifted to a shadowy image of Maliphant, now Empyrean, and the Worm.

"While not numerically superior to the Zambranos and the Kainate, Empyrean is no less powerful with his vast material wealth and influence, not to mention his predilection to crafting powerful alchemical artifacts and inheriting of the Worm Emperor's followers."

The stream would shift to join the other to show one of Ophidia's finest kills, the assassination of the King of Onderon, and to other rumored actions she had taken. That stream would be joined by others and others, including of Arcanix at the height of Operation Eclipse.

"So, we have your true goal in the open, my apprentice, and we go back to my question... what do you want specifically?" she asked. "Knowledge on your targets? Resources? Soldiers and ships? Influence? Dark side power and knowledge to match that of the Lords and Ladies? What?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina watched in silence. She knew the prestige of the Zambrano. Of the Eternals. Not so much the third woman shown, though. Alisteri's master had quite the obscure reputation. Though, this did show quite a bit of her Master's reach. So much obtained.

"All of it. I need all of it if I want to win. And when I do, I'll keep the monsters in line so what happened on Dantooine won't happen again."

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

There was a sympathetic look at the mention of Dantooine as it had been the sight of, while a victory for the Sith Empire, the battle had been brutal. Taeli had been part of a reinforcing fleet of Sith and Confederate naval forces that arrived to beat back the Imperial fleet, but plenty of damage had been done during that interlude. It would seem the war, and the injuries and path Alina took to recover from those injuries, still lingered in her psyche.

"Then, my apprentice, all of it you shall have... if you can prove yourself," Taeli said, getting to her feet. She would gesture for Alina to follow her as she continued saying as they left the office, "I need to see how you've grown and if you're truly ready to move further along the Sith path to power."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina closed her eyes. Took a breath. It was odd, to feel confirmed on what she wanted to do. There would be a time she'd learn of the cost, but for now, well. For now she saw no reason to hold herself back from her desires and wants. She nodded. Opened her golden eyes as she stood to follow her master.

"Very well. I'll show you what I've learned."

Taeli Raaf