La vengeance est Froide (Taeli Raaf)

[Zion Mirtis]

Haste was the closest word to use when Empress Nimue had called for [member="Taeli Raaf"] to come to Effekt as fast as possible. The message was so short and clear. "Please Hurry". When she would arrive there would be nothing but the fastest possible means of transportation from the landing bay to the royal palace. Upon entering Taeli would find Empress Nimue herself, only she wasn't herself. Where her air of authority and command use to be was replaced with fear and desperation. Her hair was a mess and her robe seemed old and worn, as if she'd not changed or taken care of herself for a few days. There were no words when Taeli arrived, only that Nimue had shown her what was apparently sent to her from parties unknown. ​

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To anyone else it would see a simple communicator, but for Taeli she would know it as the one she left with her old apprentice turned enemy Darth Raven. It looked unused for so long. Barely touched as all. Even Nimue had only used it once, which was enough for her before keeping it in her pocket until Taeli's arrival. Instead of using it Nimue showed that it had a recorded holo-message on it. And then it was activated...​

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Instead of Darth Raven instead showed the image of her daughter and Taeli's neice, Morgana Forceborn. She looked beaten and exhauted while being tied down to a chair. She'd been through a fight and apparently lost, but at least she was still alive. ​

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"Say it." the voice of Raven from somewhere in the background ordered.​

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Morgana spat and said "You can go to hell you rotting b-" She was cut off by a bolt of force lightning that made her scream. It was breif but painful, enough to prompt her to finally start. "Hello, mommy dearest. And hello, aunty Taeli. I'm having...a great time with my new friend....Sophie. She's been so nice to me....and to everyone here." Tears started to break in her eyes and her tone cracked into a saddened one. "But it's just not the same...without you, Aunty. So please come to Alteir where we're getting a party ready for you. This....is a private occasion. Any univited guest and....you will be sorry. No parents allowed. Please hurry. We're...we're running out of party guests to...play with."​

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Morgana eventually broke down crying, lowering her head before the recording went off. Nimue watched and stared before her own eyes began to water. She gave a desperate look to Taeli before giving her pleading demand.​

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"Save her.... and kill whoever did this to her..." ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

As the message had ended, Taeli's eyes had hardened and only a nod had been her answer to Nimue. A swish of her cloak later, and she had been off to ... correct the mistake she had made previously. If this what Raven was deciding to do with her time ... Taeli would deal with it the only way she knew how. It might not be very Jedi like, but she had tried that option before.

Her ship was off and roaring to Alteir, and all Taeli did during that trip, she made sure all of her equipment was ready, including her newest toys. They would be unexpected surprises to be sure, after all, who expects their opponent's bracers to ignite lightsabers.

A short while later, her ship dropped out of hyperspace and she pulled up a hailing channel on all frequencies.

"Alright Sophie, where are you?" Taeli said, throwing on her Shade robes and impervium gauntlets and boots. Her main lightsaber was attached to her belt and her shoto hidden away as usual. Last things to go on were the aforementioned bracers.

"You wanted me, well here I am," she continued saying.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Upon her arrival at the coordinates [member="Taeli Raaf"] would find herself outside a burning village. When she would investigate there would be nothing but the sound of fire and the silence of death. Bodies were all over the place. All slain by saber scars or blaster marks. It was odd to see the latter, given that Darth Raven would never use such a weapon. But then would come the noise of something stirring. A trio of men appaorched, all seeming to be in a transe of sorts. There movements stiff and their expressions vauge and blank. ​

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"Her ladyship is waiting for you." one said in a trance-like tone. "Please follow."​

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They were unarmed, or at least it seemed so. All three turned and walked off, knowing she would follow. They lead her down streets of more destroyed houses and ended lives. Men. Women. Even children and pets. All laid out as slain trophies to show how Raven's dark resvole had never changed. Black birds pecked at the remains of some, only glancing up to see who walked by before continuing to feast. But why were these three alive? What made them special? And when they arrived at the center of town a few more were found to be alive and in a trance as well. They all stood in lines leading to where Morgana had been kept.​

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She was chained to a stone figure of a praying women with her head cut off. Chains were tied and her arms spread with the connection at the back. Her legs were kept together by another set at her ankles. Her clothes were torn. She looked worse than when the rcording was taken. Her mouth was gagged and her eyes barley open. She was half dead and barley awake, but seeing Taeli arrive lifted something in her. She tried to move and speak but her words and actions were too weak. ​

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A voice rang out from somewhere saying "Peace is a lie. There is only passion. Do you remember those words?" ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

"Through passion, I gain strength, I remember the words quite well," Taeli replied quietly. Her eyes had become as hard as gemstones at seeing Morgana in the state she was in. The enslaved inhabitants of the village, along with all the death and destruction, told Taeli all she needed to know about Sophie's state of mind.

"This was ... unnecessary," she said, her hard purple eyes moving slowly around the landscape, taking it all and memorizing every single detail. "But clearly ... you wanted my attention Sophie, and now you have it completely and undivided."

 

[Zion Mirtis]

"It was more then attention I wanted!" her voice shouted. "I wanted your respect! I wanted your love! I wanted to be everything I could be to be your equal!"​

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Finally she revealed herself, stepping from behind the statue where Morgana was bound. Her entire body was hidden by her robes. Her head and hands were kept hidden under the folds. The only thing that was visible was the two yellow eyes poking from the dark. They looked at [member="Taeli Raaf"] with an almost burning hate and contempt that could set fire with a mere blink. ​

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"But you turned on us." she continued. "You turned on everything you taught me. You dragged me away from the Jedi only to join their ranks. Why? How could you fall to their weaknesses? Was it because of her?" she indicated Morgana. "Because you had some sort of obligation to her and her mother? To protect this innocent little soul?" She walked over and started to touch her, her hands wandering in innapporpriate places on Morgana as she flinched away. Raven chuckled and noted "Maybe not so innocent anymore." ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

"You lost whatever chance you had to retain my respect when you went crazy, when you didn't take my most important lesson to heart," Taeli said, her words as chilly as a Hoth midnight. A twitch of her hand would fling Raven's hands away from Morgana, purple eyes meeting yellow. "You let yourself be consumed by darkness, becoming something that wasn't my apprentice."

Taeli took a breath and let it out slowly, her eyes closing for a moment as she bent her head down.

"I didn't drag you away, I offered you a choice to come join the Sith or leave and stay with the Jedi. You can't blame me for every problem that has surfaced in your life, own up to your own choices. I joined the Jedi to be around my younger sister, to fight against the corruption I saw ... and I see I made a mistake on Vjun."

Eyes opened and they were back to amethyst again, no pity or mercy were held in their depths this time.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Raven's eyes tinged with hate when [member="Taeli Raaf"] pulled her hands away. The men around them revealed blasters all hidden on thier persons and pointed them at Raaf. But none fired. Raven had motioned for them to do nothing. She listned to Raaf tell how Raven had done this all to herself, something that continued to anger her more. And then the regret of not doing what should have been done back on Vjun. What should have happened to avoid all of this.​

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"You're right. You did make the mistake." Raven continued. "You should have ended it then and there. Then these people would not have died. Your precious family would not be in peril. And I wouldn't have become THIS!"​

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Finally pulling her hood and robes away Raven revealed herself to Taeli. The young face and body that had last been seen by the Jedi master was now replaced with an aged and withered form. It was Raven alright but the powers of the darkside had taken their tole on her as it seemed. A girl of 30 now turned into a woman of 60 or so. Despite this there was still the unrelenting sense of power behind her as she stood tall and continued to stare at Taeli.​

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"This was the price I had to pay." she said, indicating her older self. "To ahcive the power I wanted. To become something greater than you or anyone else would ever belive. I had touched the face of the Force itself, and I was awed by it. My eyes were forever opened to the truth! Now I know what true power is!" She indicated evetything around them, the death and destruction, and finished with "All of this is what I have attained. And it...is beautiful."​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

To say Taeli was surprised by the rapidness of the corruption would be an understatement. To see Sophie, the girl she had known, twisted and aged long before it should have had her mind playing through numerous scenarios on how that had happened. She had been a dark sider than Sophie had been, and she had been a sorceress and alchemist, yet her body hadn't aged.

Only a few things would age rapidly... dear sweet Force she hadn't ... but where could she have encountered one... that was going to be a question to ponder for another time.

"Then you understood nothing," Taeli said with finality. "This ... this is excess ... this is the thing I always said never to do ... being the monster. Patience and knowledge, but then maybe you'll understand that at another time."

She wasn't bothered by the men around her with their blasters, she knew how this ultimately would go. The Force told her so.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Shaking her head Raven insisted "You're the one who understands so little. The galaxy is choatic on it's own. Peace is never an option anymore. Even if the Sith are destoryed they would only rise again. And without them the Jedi have nothing to fight for. Choas and destruction is all that is constant anymore. This, what you see around you, is the only solution."​

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"She's right. You have gone mad." a voice in Raven's head rang out.​

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Growling Raven turned and shouted "I told you to stay out of this!" She shook her head and looked back to [member="Taeli Raaf"] and said "But this goes beyond that anymore. I brought you were for one final purpose. You and I have come so far since we first met. I think it's time we finally see who the true master is." She gestured for her men to move, one going back and holding a blaster right at Morgana' cheek. "I want you to remove every weapon but your saber. And don't try to hide anything. These eyes may be old, but they see so much more than you think." As Taeli did Raven would show only her two lightsabers in her hands. "We shall settle this in the manner befitting out fates. Just as it always has been. The light vs the dark." ​

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"Stop! You don't know what you're doing."​

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"I said shut up!" ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

"If you think this is the solution, then you are truly lost. I brought no weapons beyond my lightsabers," Taeli said, telling the truth from a certain point of view. All the weapons on her were lightsabers, just different forms of the same weapon. She would not use the others unless she had to, and unlike every other time they had dueled, Taeli would not hold back anything.

"In the true tradition of the endless struggle between the light and dark, I salute you," Taeli said, a purple blade igniting from the hand guarded saber as it flew to her hand and she whipped it into a formal salute to her former apprentice.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Raven smirked as [member="Taeli Raaf"] abided to her rules. After she saluted Raven did the same, crossing her blades and bowing. The way she did, however, showed a more sinsiter underline. A small cackle came from the corner of her mouth. Was it anxiety or something more? After that she stood straight, one blade pointed out and another at her back. Even as she walked it was hard to belive her body had been aged so. The darkside that powered her coursed through her body to give the needed strength of a younger woman. Her old and withered face grimmaced as she began to circle Taeli, her eyes never leaving her former master's.​

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Finally she attacked, coming in with a sweep from her saber in the back before coming around for a jab with the one in her other hand. As she fought her moves were the sae as well, still fluent and young as ever. And from her imprionsed state Morgana watched, trying to say something despite her weakened form and gagged mouth. Her head kept coming up only to feel weak and fall down again, her words muffled by the cloth around her lips. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

As Raven circled, Taeli analyzed the situation and realized two important factors for the upcoming struggle. One ... her stamina for a drawn out fight would be greater than Raven's, simply because she still had the young body and muscles. The Force could only do so much before your body betrayed you. The second was her mental faculties were intact, Raven's were quite clearly shattered in some way, and if Taeli's theory about why was correct, it would be quite helpful.

Then Raven attacked, a sweep of one blade while she jabbed with the other. Taeli kept her blade in a close position to her body, using just enough force to deflect or redirect the attacks to just short of hitting her. She would take a defensive stance for now, using her footwork and precise blade control. The objective: wearing Sophie down ... and then Taeli would take the offense.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

As [member="Taeli Raaf"] counter acted Raven took the offensive stance as anticipated. She came in but harder with her moves. Overhead strike followed by a force push with her other hand. While her saber skills may have laxed here-and-there her abilites with the darkside were still strong a ever. The force push was far heavier than anything she'd thrown at Raaf before. With enough distance between them Raven advanced and attacked again, this time swinging her whole body for a chopper-like move with both blade spinning towards Raaf. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

Taeli deflected the overhead strike to land to her side, taking the Force Push and skidding along the ground before she stopped herself with a gentle Force Grip on her feet to stop the slide. Raven was on her again, using a chopping attack with both of her blade. Taeli would duck underneath and pivot away to circle around to just out of reach of Raven's sabers.

No attacks yet, just defense. Keep it simple, keep it condensed.

This was Morgana's first true sight of what it looked like for two masters to fight each other, as far as Taeli knew anyways. It was probably going to be educational in how the two older women held themselves.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Raven stopped and saw as [member="Taeli Raaf"] only dodged but did not attack. She was angered by it. She wanted her to fight. She wanted her to give her all. She wasn't supposed to hold back. She sneered before attacking with another force push, using both hands now. The shock was enough to shatter a nearby building's windows and walls. After that she followed up and charged, jutting out her blades and jabbing at Raaf. Admist this she kept stoping and turning direction and which hand would make the frontal attack. Right to left and then back to right, allowing one to have the foward attacks before letting the other follow suit. She was trying to take her off-balance and see how well her old master could keep up. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

Raven was starting to get frustrated. Good, Taeli thought as she as merely placed a Force Barrier around herself to absorb her latest Force Push. The woman came in for yet more attacks, jabbing and going full frontal in her assaults, alternating where they would come from in the main thrust. Taeli just kept her blade in front, only using enough movement to either side to keep the red blades from striking her, but always keeping her blade centered.

Raven might think Taeli was holding back, but someone in their right mind would recognize what the Jedi Master was doing. Already, Raven had exerted far more energy than Taeli so when she finally did slip into the offensive, Taeli's assault would be that much more devastating.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Eventually, after another strike, Raven moved away. She used a force jump and landed on top of a building, looking down at her master.​

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"Stop holding back, Master! You taught be to never relent, remember?" she shouted down to her. "Perhaps you need more motivation!" She laughed a little before commenting "You've seem to have forgotten something about Alteir. Among all of it's native species...none of them are black birds."​

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That comment would que [member="Taeli Raaf"] into what the birds that had been all over the village actually were. As if on command all of them had come swarming from where they waited and began to fly around. A storm cloud of crow faimilars swarmed and cawed before swooping down, flying to peck and swipe at Raaf. Even with her skills some would manage a scratch at least. And from her spot Raven watched as they surrounded her.​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

"I also taught you something else too, but your psychosis seems to have progressed to where you don't remember," Taeli replied, and then the birds came. Taeli suspected this might be how Morgana lost, she would never have known about Sith familiars unless she asked her mother and just how many one could have. Taeli knew about the ravens, she had taught the girl to make them, but the storm of crows heading her way was a bit daunting.

Several got close enough to get some scratches on her face, but her robes were not run of the mill and she had armor elsewhere. What she was though ... was annoyed with dealing with these things yet again. With a crackle, a sphere of green electricity erupted around her, vaporizing any familiar that got near it.

"Tell me, what did you hope to achieve by communing with a thought bomb?"

 

[Zion Mirtis]

The shattering of all the familiars and staggered Raven for a moment. She dropped to her knees and caught herself before she could fall from her spot on the roof. She looked to see all of the remains wither into specks of shadow before swirling away. She looked back as [member="Taeli Raaf"] as about the Thought Bomb, something Raven realized she figured out sooner than later. With a smirk she stood and answered her.​

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"What you and I always sought: knowledge. Think of it. The souls of aincient Sith long gone. The secrets they shared with me. The things I could learn. Everything I needed to gain power. Just like the older days when we would seek the mysterious of the galaxy itself. And I found what I needed. More than enough to finally stand against you!" ​

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With that she leapt from her spot, bringing all her force bearing down to where Raaf stood. Both saber foward as she tried to bring them down on her. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Darth Raven"]

"The shredded minds and shattered spirits of long dead Sith, trapped forever in eternal agony," Taeli said, shaking her head sadly. "You can't truly gain knowledge from the likes of them, not the kind that helps in the long term."

Raven leapt and brought both sabers down towards Taeli, who merely just sidestepped the attack.

"Truly sloppy," Taeli said, a cold smile on her lips as she did a small strike to demonstrate that the attack was the not best for keeping up a defense against receiving attacks. The destruction of so many of Raven's ravens was probably having an effect.

"Tell me, did your personality shatter as well? Two Sophies, constantly arguing? Hallucinations perhaps? Bane had them when he touched the thought bomb remnants on Ruusan."