Not Like This...Anything But This....(Darth Erebos)

[Jack Mirrikh]

"---If you're frelling with me, I will take this report and shove it up your---!"

"No one's frelling with you, Acolyte!"

The officer on the other end of the line said the word, "Acolyte" as though he was trying to put Jack in his place. Alas, Jack was having none of it right now. His own behavior was leading the officer to become more and more irritable.

"Look! I know how much good you two pulled off back when you were here on Vullain! It's because of that that I'm even sending this to you in the first place! The least you can do is thank m---!"

His hands gripped the table so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"Thank you!! THANK YOU!!! Is that what you're gonna' tell m---!"

"The funeral's in three days! Everything you need to verify and be there are in the documents! I'm done with this!" yelled the officer as he battled for volume over Jack before he hung up the Holo call.

"Mother!...Karker..." Jack originally started to yell, but stopped and whispered the end instead as he remembered his place in Darth Erebos' fortress. He sifted through the Coroner's report. He tried to do his best to lose the attitude and remain nonplussed. However, as he read the words "Cybernetic Battery Poisoning", "Krep's - STD", "Time of Death" and "Sarah Kaitherlund", he started to lose it. At first, he started to tear up and cry bitter tears that he wanted to desperately fight back.

"Nuuu..." His vocal chords were under so much duress that he was having a hard time saying simple words correctly. Then, his muscles began to tremble. His leg started to shake uncontrollably until he realized that he was on his tip toes while leaning over the table he was clenching again. He tried to relax, but it made him just sink close to the ground; kneeling while holding on to the table.

He was having a hard time expressing himself even when he was fething by himself. He felt trapped. His anger at himself mixed in with his anguish over losing Sarah. He wanted to kill right now, but a part of him hated that very thought and knew it wouldn't bring her back.

He couldn't just stay like this, though. He desperately needed to do something and do it now. It sounded like the right time to make his personal Force fountain his own personal schutta. With red-rimmed eyes, he said to himself,

"Flow for me, schutta." He raised his hands and reached a status that he'd never attained in his life. His own body was nothing more than an impersonal sieve for the unadulterated anger, hatred, anguish and depression that flowed from his fountain. He had the eyes of Michael Myers and the winning attitude of a champion.

Energy gathered at his fingertips, but didn't explode right off. He had learned well from his master. He had no intentions of blowing off any fingertips today. Once it was under control, which actually took very little time for him this time, he let loose on the computer console terminal before him.

Purple lightning leaped forth from his hands and swallowed the terminal whole. The lights flickered, dimmed and went out in the room as the overload caused power failure in that section. No doubt that security protocols were preventing a cascade failure. He didn't scream. He didn't keep crying. Jack wasn't himself. Jack wasn't conflicted. Jack didn't hate himself.

He kept going until something tripped in his fevered mind and he lost that stance he had attained. His hands dropped, the lightning stopped and he sunk to his knees. The tears flowed back down his face with his eyes closed and he had the hiccups. He sobbed silently.

[member="Darth Erebos"]

 

[Shaddi]

Sitting in an office of a half constructed spire that He had commissioned as a hideaway fortress on Shawken. "My liege. Is it wise to have this spire jut out of the mountain while the rest of the compound is inside it?" A royal guard spoke out as Erebos was buried in a book that contained the history of Shawken and it's royal line. "And what If I like the view?" He responded with a nonchalant tone as he closed the book and placed it on the table in front of him. Before his table was a large view window that looked out at the large mountain range that stretched on for miles, frigid arctic winds howled around and already were beginning to blanket the base of the spire with snow and ice.

The royal guard stiffened at how relaxed Erebos was given the project he was working on might tople down since the reinforcement of the interior structure of the spire wasn't done just yet. Each strong gust of wind made standing in the spire feel like it was tilting. Standing up and turning around to look at the Royal guard who stiffened up straight away. "M-my king what is it?" The guard asked as he backed away and stood at attention. "There is something wrong... Where was my apprentice put?" Erebos said as he felt a disturbance in the force, it felt like [member="Jack Mirrikh"] had achived the strength of a sith knight in an instant but then it faded.
"He Is in the bowels of the compound my liege." The royal Guard responded with and then moved out of the way as Erebos headed towards the Turbo lift.

It wasn't long until the door behind [member="Jack Mirrikh"] opened and in it stood Erebos. "What...Did you...just...do." He said in a strange tone, a mixture of anger and curious surprise. With his hands crossed over his chest.

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

He looked up to see who came in, but then bowed and turned his head away. It was his master: the man he expected to show up, but didn't want to see. Jack was an absolute mess. He was unfit to be seen before his master, a Lord of the Sith, a prestigious member of the Dark Council. He tried to speak, but barely anything came out. He then closed his mouth and swallowed a couple times to help get moisture back in his mouth. In a raspy voice, he then said,

"I...ruined the comm terminal, Master."

He didn't know what else to say. He only heard the anger in his Master's voice for he was expecting an angry reaction most of all. He didn't have a clear enough mind to think up extraneous words to try and weasel out of a potential punishment nor did he wish to push his master's patience and boundaries.

 

[Shaddi]

Tilting his head up to look at the comm terminal and then back down at [member="Jack Mirrikh"], the anger flaring from his being burst out and then dissipated. "I can see that. Why did you do it?" He then asked as he let out the power he subconsciously suppressed so that his power wouldn't affect those around him. It was a good intimidation technique against non-force users and against acolytes that he taught in the academy at Glee Anslem. Though Jack had massive potential in the future there were times like this that he allowed things to take him over, to consume him. Even though those very things could give him great strength he allowed them too much control over himself, that would have to change.

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Jack's emotions were unbalanced. In his mind, he thought that the anger was coming from within, rather than his master. It washed over him and it made him feel self-loathsome. Of course his master wasn't interested in WHAT he'd done. The only real reason to ask was to figure out WHY. Jack felt like he was being obtuse with his master, so he got up, leaned against the charred console and kept looking away from his master's gaze as he pulled out the datapad. He had, thankfully, transferred the data to his datapad before frying the machine. With his emotions drained, he started to explain with a flat, but exhausted tone of voice.

"I...During my time on Vullain, I met a woman. She was assigned to work with me. It was one of the more hostile partnerships ever...but, then we warmed up to each other. For the first time, I made a real friend. Our friendship grew quickly, but our time was too short for anything other than camaraderie during our mission. Then, I had to leave. I'm not sure what either of us truly wanted...but, I told her I'd come back some day. Now..."

He offered the datapad to his master.

"...She's dead. She was already fighting a disease, but she never knew about the cybernetic battery poison until it was too late. A good officer taken down by a company's design oversight..."

His hands started to grip the charred console edge, but not as much as he had done so before. He sniffled once and then said,

"...I was upset."

 

[Shaddi]

Without moving Erebos raised [member="Jack Mirrikh"] up from the ground and pushed him against the wall. Walking into the room and slowly moving his hand to point at the fried comm station. "THIS.. is upset." He said with a slight boom of his voice as he began for emphasis before he let Jack down. "You clearly haven't mastered Cold rage if this is how you act. You might have had feelings for the girl but that is no excuses for destroying everything in your path. I'm not training you to be a mindless brute or marauder, I wan't you to be better than that." Erebos said as he channeled lightning through his raised hand which condensed into a red ball of lighting with his fingers forming a cage around it.

With what sounded like an annoyed click of his tongue he closed his fist and the ball blew like a sonic charge in space, exploding in a ring that was then contained around Erebos's fist before dissipating. "I'm teaching you control, of yourself and of the force. If you become like this because someone you knew for a short while and connected to in that time dies, then what would happen if someone like a comrade in arms dies? someone you've been through war with countless times and has saved your life and you his more than you can count? Another fit like this? You channel that grief and loss into yourself so that you can tap into it later when you require it most, But NEVER" He began once more sounding calm and collected before his hand moved into the motion of pushing something down, forcing Jack into a kneeling stance and to feel the full weight of Erebos's power on him. "Allow your emotions to cloud and rule your mind. It is your strongest weapon and where the force or your lightsaber can be wielded as a blunt instrument, your mind has to be honed to be razor sharp."

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

He didn't resist. He just went with the flow and trusted that his master knew what he was doing as he was lifted off the ground. He flinched instinctively at the booming sound.

His master's words made sense in his mind, but his heart was wrought with turmoil. It wished retribution in any way it could seek it, regardless of the cost. He was fighting for his future behind that impersonal expression worn on his face.

"I want control, Master! I want it more than anything! But, what do you want me to do once I've caged it?? Save it for a rainy day!?! You think I haven't tried that already!!" He was getting more and more upset. Then, Erebos forced Jack down on his knees.

It was a test, of course. Jack knew Erebos was only doing this to teach him. However, Jack wasn't the most stable right now. He was fiercely trying to walk the knife edge between lashing out savagely and coolly taking in the lesson. His face began to darken and appear frustrated as he battled himself. He tried to utilize his full potential to withstand the full power of Erebos' might. It was, of course, not nearly enough to even budge. Jack's split mind came to a sudden, single decision: If Erebos wanted him to control all of his power, he was going to get what he wished.

His breathing slowed and his eyes closed. He became still as he connected to his fountain...and the long repressed memories of his past. The ones of his father's victims, his personal slaves. The clues they had left behind, the markings they left on the house he lived in: they had all exposed him to a world he wasn't supposed to know. They had revealed his father to be a person he would be perpetually scared of until he found the courage and spite to run. They would haunt him long after first contact and lead him to cry himself to sleep. How could he tell anyone about what he'd seen without physical proof to back it up?

The memories came back, now, still horrifying as before. Every faintly familiar detail flashed by like a DVD fast forwarding too quickly, filling his fountain with a plethora of dark energy.

• Anneli Lizben: 6 months. Pregnant. Neck snapped.
• Qaeli Rento: 3 days. Wouldn't stop screaming. Drowned.
• Kesalia Areuno: 2 months. Held on to hope the longest. Committed suicide soon after. Electrocuted.
• KellysomeonepleasehelpmeSamperan: 2 weeksToolong. David will come looking for me. The police will find me. Shot to death by a slug thrower.
• Hewon'tstop Touchingme. Why won't he stop? You won't get away with this you, monster!! Suffocated.

Jack didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. Each severely wronged woman that he remembered, the more he was about to lose a dangerous game. The strength of many filled his fountain until it was overflowing. Every inch of him became empowered beyond anything that a single person was meant to attain. No person was meant to have this much power.

At first, he slowly, but steadily, began to rise to his feet against his master's full strength. When he stood all the way up, it seemed as though his efforts would plateau...until he opened and closed his eyes once more. After a couple of seconds, his eyes snapped open. They were glowing bright violet. So bright, in fact, they were practically white and glowing. He actually lifted off the ground, against his master's power.

Finally, he stopped in front of Darth Erebos, suddenly gripped his master's helmet with both hands and screamed with the pain of a thousand wounds. Darth Erebos suddenly would see himself inside of a dark room. He was standing in a spotlight. Then, a small, crying, black haired boy stumbled out of the darkness towards Erebos. He had strong, black power cords trailing from his back into the dark unknown. There must have been at least 10 ropes, if not more, present and trailing from his back into the dark reaches of mind space.

"Please...help me...." begged the child. "I want to control it like you tell me, but I can't! There's too many of them! For so long, I've tried to repress and contain them, but all they constantly want is retribution. I can't come to grip with these memories. They're not mine! I never asked for these!!"

 

[Shaddi]

Erebos found it strange that [member="Jack Mirrikh"] had begun to raise himself up and though he was making his apprentice feel the full weight of his power. He wasn't focusing it solely on Jack, even those working on the floor above and bellow would feel it as if Erebos was standing next to them. What surprised Erebos was how rapidly Jack stood and then the light in his eyes as he floated off the ground. Almost taking a step back Erebos electrified his fists ready to beat down Jack if he was attacking him. Then His head was gripped by Jack and everything went black.

When he opened his "eyes" again he noticed that he stood in some room and was in the middle of it's spot light. He was only wearing a simple robe and was without his mask. He looked like he was sixteen or eighteen somewhere around that age though he was easily twice that. Something he attributed to his mothers heritage. Looking towards the child that came running towards him he looked at the child with this black orbs, something he found curios was that his eyes tended to follow where he was looking with his force sight even though they didn't work.

Listening to Jack however made Erebos take on a curious expression. "Then cast them away." He said as he moved up to the boy in front of him and placed his hand on his shoulder. He then pointed towards the ropes that were connected to his back. "These are your chains Jack. The sith break their chains." He said in an oddly kind manner as he then gripped one of the ropes and brought it up to Jack's face as Erebos's fist clenched around it. "What is the sith code Jack? Repeat it for me now."

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

His crying petered out as he gripped the chain and said,

"Really?...Okay....Peace is a lie, there is only passion---"

The chain grew white hot and then burst apart. Jack's head jerked back and his nose started to bleed in their shared mindscape. A little groan escaped the child's lips as large red eyes opened in the dark recesses and a middle-aged man's insidious snickering could be heard.

"What are you doing there, Jack?" The question sounded from the dark depths of Jack's mindscape. As the blood flowed, Jack appeared just a bit younger; maybe a year or so.

"It hurts, master...Through passion, I gain strength---"

"Didn't I tell you that this part of the house was off limits?" The second chain broke. The child raised his sleeve to his mouth and hacked up a good amount of blood. When he let his arm down, there was blood trailing from the corners of his mouth. Another year dropped off his features and height.

"This doesn't feel right...Through strength, I gain power---"

"Is there something you're not telling me, Jack? You're not hiding anything from me, are you?" A third and fourth chain broke. A torrent of blood regurgitated from his mouth and sullied Erebos' robes. Jack looked about 9 years old, now. A spotlight thrummed to life and illuminated something out of the corner of Erebos' right eye. He would find a beleaguered normal age Jack tied to a large and sturdy chair. Blood streaks trailed from tied Jack's mouth and a disturbing metal headset covered the top part of his head. This Jack said in a weary and fearful voice,

"These aren't just chains, master. These are my childhood. Is breaking them the best thing to do? What will happen to me?"

 

[Shaddi]

He watched patiently as [member="Jack Mirrikh"] broke each rope with his mind and the backlash manifested as physical harm on the boy before him. As the second Jack appeared Erebos sighed a little to himself. 'Kindness seems ineffective.' He said as he took the boy's hand and walked with him up to the other jack. "This is your mind jack. Finish the sith code and tell me what it means to you. The memories that aren't yours are your chains those are the ones I wan't you to break not your childhood. That you have to come to terms with." Now his voices tone wasn't that of kindness but of calm indifference like most of the time.

Erebos had, had a hard childhood too with his father training him as an assassin and not treating him like his son until much later but he could spot that Jack had a worse childhood with ease at a glance around the mindscape he was in. "If you want your father to have this influence and control over you... Then are you really worthy of being my apprentice? Are you really worthy of being called a sith?" What Erebos was now doing was playing on Jack's feelings of inadequacy and his desire for control. Utilizing a weak form of Dun Möch to get his way.

Something he had noticed other sith do with their apprentices and his former master especially was to try and mold their apprentices into tools to be used by them later. Erebos had a different idea in mind with his own apprentices, they would be formidable allies for him in the future, colleagues even. However one select apprentice would be his successor to carry on his particular brand of sith, along with all of his power and knowledge into the future and as it stood Jack was a hopeful candidate in that manner but now...

Erebos saw that Jack was now facing a trial, A trial of the mind to see if he could in fact overcome his fears and flaws. Mental or otherwise. The other apprentice he had, had a similar problem but had required a more hands on approach to get through it. Jack however had more aptitude than that apprentice and Erebos simply wanted to give him a slight nudge in the right direction, Jack would have to overcome this on his own.

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

The sitting Jack listened calmly to his master's words. He didn't say a thing, but he took the salted words to heart. He then reached out and tried to grab child Jack's hand. The child took the hand, looked up at Jack's face, looked up at Erebos and then said softly,

"Okay...Through power, I gain victory---"

"I'm going to have a...friend over tonight, Jack. Just stay in your room tonight, okay?" 5, 6, 7. Three chains stretched and then snapped in twain. The child now looked to be 7. Blood came dribbling out of young Jack's ears and gashes started tearing open across his body. Young Jack started whimpering from the pain, but kept going.

"Ah!!....Aaaaahh!...Through victory, my chains are broken!!!"

"Like frell, you're going to go travel! You've got a gift, son! Imagine how fearsome and deadly you can become with training!...It's the LEAST you can do to pay me back for all I've done for you all these years, you ungrateful swine!!! *Smack!*...Jack? Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't mean---" The 8th, 9th, 10th and all of the rest of the chains exploded in a tremendous cloud of black dust. The child looked to be six years old as he yelled that last bit of Sith Code. At first, it was a sound of rebellion against the pain and darkness of his past. Then, it turned into an unbearable wail of pain as his arms popped grotesquely and detached from their sockets.

The sitting Jack felt the child's hand in his grasp go limp along with the rest of the detached limb he was holding. That sensation and the sound of the child screaming bloody murder lead him to say,

"What happened?! What's going on!?!"

The child sunk to his knees and sobbed with his forehead touching the ground.

"I can't do it..." he begged. "I can't do it anymore..." he pleaded.

The child's arm in Jack's hand was released and it plopped to the ground with a wet sound.

"Don't worry..." said Jack. "I can..." affirmed Jack.

He lifted his hand up and Force pulled the child's neck into his grasp. The child was taken aback, but could do nothing to stop it.

"The Force shall free me," intoned Jack. No gusto and no fear. It was a simple statement. But, now he had to prove it. He had to set himself free from the scared little child he was. His grip tightened and the child's breathing became raspy. Jack realized then what exactly he was doing. It was incredibly karked up. He looked into the face of the bruised, battered, gory and sundered child. The blood still flowed off of him and dripped noisily to the ground. Jack's face softened, his lips quivered and tears sprang to his eyes. Then, he steeled himself and grimaced to face this last test.

"Don't worry. I'm going to fix this. I'm going to take away your pain. You won't have to feel anymore pain."

He crushed the neck and severed the child's head from his body in one, final crush with his non-dominant hand. Blood was everywhere, especially on his hands. He stared at his hands, then he dropped to his knees and tried to come to grips with everything.

As Jack sank down, Sarah Kaitherlund, the woman proclaimed dead, manifested next to Darth Erebos and watched Jack alongside him. After a couple of seconds, she spoke in quiet tones.

"...Hi. I'm Sarah...You've known him longer than me, I'm sure. Do you think...It's stupid, really, but, do you think that he and I?...You know...."

She would wait for a reply and listen to Erebos. However, shortly after Erebos finished speaking to her, Jack would look up a second after she would disappear.

Jack got up off his knees and walked over to his master. He said, "Thank you" before hugging him and the mind world de-materialized around them.

_________________________________________________________________________________​

​

Jack collapsed to the ground; the possession was over. Jack opened his eyes, got up on his feet and leaned against the wall, his back to his master. After a few moments of thoughts, he tilted his head to the left so his master could hear him better. He said,

"I'm...I'm so sorry, master. I've attacked you, unprovoked, like a dog....What do I do now, master? Do I go to the funeral, do I...I...." he stopped speaking, for his mind and heart had run out of words. He left the rest to his Master's final decision.

 

[Shaddi]

He could see the effect it was having on [member="Jack Mirrikh"] and even though he wanted to intervene, he knew it had to be done. The child version of Jack was what held him back, caused him to fear his gift and keep the memories and emotions from his psychokinesis bottled up inside as if they were a part of him. The last moments of the child made Erebos close his eyes in the force and physically, he found the deaths of children to be the most unsettling but if unavoidable he would go through it.

Seeing that his apprentice had succeeded Erebos was about to move to him and place his hand on his shoulder to reassure him but then he saw Sarah and heard her speak to him. With a solemn expression and almost whisper like tone he replied. "In another time and another life you two would have... yes." He said not looking at the woman as Jack looked up and she disappeared.

When the Mind world faded and Erebos was once more in his own body he staggered a little but kept himself standing. In the doorway stood two royal Guards with force swords ready to attack Jack on his command but with a simple gesture they moved back and guarded the door. Listening to his apprentice made Erebos walk up to him and place his hand on Jack's shoulder. "What do you think you should do?" He then said as he pulled back all of his power back into his being. It hadn't been as bad as when it all started but it could still be felt just not as oppressive as before.

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

"Ha! Why do you think I asked, master?..." However, he pondered it some more. After a short while, he turned around and said to his master, "I...I should go, Lest I Forget what it means to be human. But, I'm not making any speeches. You set the bar on that one too high."

He was relieved that his master was taking everything in stride. He felt relaxed for once in his life. He could just enjoy the moment and, for that, he was very grateful. He raised his fist to the level of his eyes and stared passively at it. He envisioned an imaginary gauntlet covering around his fist and poured Force energy into the construct. It only took a little to accomplish it. Then, purple electricity poured from his fingertips and enveloped the inside area of the Force containment field. He now had a large fist of Force electricity. He wriggled his fingers, which, in turn, manipulated the energy hand's digits.

He then smacked his fist against the wall behind him, dispersing the field. He safely dissipated the energy in a ring, just like his master. He lifted his now normal fist to his eyes again and pondered for a few moments before speaking to his master.

"...I feel...good, master...."

[member="Darth Erebos"]

 

[Shaddi]

Erebos chuckled a little at the remark about speeches. "Well that will come with time and experience." He said with a cheerful tone as he looked towards the hand that [member="Jack Mirrikh"] had achieved the lightning fist with. "It's good you feel that way Jack, Keeping yourself human is the best counter balance to the corruption of the dark Side I feel." He then said before looking towards the door to the royal Guards. "Has what I asked for arrived in the hangar?" The Royal guard simply nodded and called someone with a comlink and left.

"Well then you will have to get to the funeral won't you?" Erebos then said as he gestured for Jack to follow him into the semi complete hangar of the fortress. Arriving into the hangar was a Fury-class Corvette which then landed while turning around as if it was about to leave again as it opened it's air lock and extended it's landing ramp. "I wish to give you this Jack, It'll serve as your personal transport from here on out as well as when I require you to take on singular missions. You are free to do with it as you wish." Erebos said as a Piloting droid with a spherical locomotion serving for it's legs came rolling down the landing ramp.

Looking at Jack and then towards Erebos the droid gave a little bow. "I am XT-77, I will serve as your pilot droid aboard this vessel master." It then said to Erebos who chuckled a little. "No he is your master XT-77." He then said as he pointed towards Jack and the droid apologetically bowed to him.

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Jack was taken aback by the generosity. He was happy and dumbfounded all at the same time.

"Master...Thank you very much for these gifts! I am very grateful for them, but I must ask, "Why me?" Do you truly believe me ready to lead missions autonomously for you, even after a break down like this? These are more than anything I've ever been given...Thank you."

 

[Shaddi]

Erebos simply looked at Jack. "Despite the break down you came out of it all the stronger for it. You have grown under my tutelage and I need you to be able to move without restraint in the galaxy. Think of this as a Milestone in your training, a taste of what is to come. When you eventually become a sith knight and even if you wish to continue to be my apprentice or not at that time, I will still reward you with a better ship but this will suffice for now." He said calmly as he walked a little towards the ship and saw the labor droids go straight to work on the maintenance of the ship as well as refueling it.

"And besides you will require a ship to get to the funeral won't you." He then said with a slight chuckle in his tone as he turned towards [member="Jack Mirrikh"] and crossed his arms over his chest.