Private Rebirth

[Darth Strosius]

It had taken so much time to prepare. Sleepless nights of research, dozens of trials on various subjects, a few black market dealings for rare technologies, and enough alchemical compounds and mixtures to stock an entire major hospital. But finally, Alisteri had a solution.

A dangerous, risky solution. But one that he was confident would work. The final pieces had been assembled in his workshop and the last of the mixtures and concoctions needed were filling up now. Blood, well more so Anima, was also in full supply. He had a whole pool of the stuff, concentrated to allow for an even more rapid healing process. One had to be prepared for the aftermath of course.

His hand rested on the Sith Sarcophagus, idly drumming his fingers against its surface as he watched the various IV tubes and containers fill with blood and alchemical mixtures alike. All of it would be necessary for the process to work. It had to be exact, particular, but with a bit more just in case there was an unforeseen complication. "The things I do for her..." The Knight sighed as he twisted a valve and capped off the various containers.

It was time to fix what had been broken.

He turned away from his little workshop/laboratory setup and pulled his holocommunicator from his belt. With a few quick types he was sending a message to his fellow Sangnir, one that she undoubtedly had been waiting on for awhile now. "Alina. I've figured it out. I'm transmitting the Altorius's coordinates now."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

There wasn't even a question as to what he figured out. Alina knew the moment she read the message. Everything she was doing was discarded. She even had Rhynne Urdreth take her ship for a quick trip to give her the time she needed for what was to come. Being fixed. No, not fixed. The longer she waited, the more she realized that she wasn't broken. She was just incomplete. And now she could be completed.

The moment she arrived she was running. Sprinting to Alisteri. To finally fix this problem.

Wild eyed and eager she stared at him, a grin unable to be hidden on her lips.

"When do we start?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

There was little to stop Alina on her way through the ship, as Alisteri had ordered of course. Time wasn't running out by any means but it was only prolonging the inevitable. Besides, he doubted anyone in the way of a rushing Sangnir would stay that way for long. He glanced up as she entered and nodded as he turned to face her. "Whenever you like."

The sarcophagus was wide open and waiting, flanked by tables with tools and containers of various fluids much like a surgeon's workstation. "Although I feel I must say Alina," For once his mask was already off, clipped to his belt as his yellow gaze regarded her with a serious expression. "There is no going back from this."

It was admittedly an obvious statement, but one he had to make clear.

"The blessing of the Force will finally be yours, but so will the drawbacks." The Knight paced around the sarcophagus, running his hand along the opened lid. "Your every thought tempted, your every dark desire brought to the front of your mind, your hatred will become a natural state of being. But unlike before, all of this will come with a power so enticing that you will embrace it. No matter how hard you would have fought beforehand."

He paused and plucked a syringe from a table. "You'll have what you've wanted for so long. But you must be wary. I do not wish to see you fall into pride and destruction like so many of our peers. If you're ready to become whole, then show me your arm."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

She was giddy. How could she not be? She stood just before the sarcophagus, staring curiously at just what it meant. She was going in there, that much was obvious. There were so many questions that she should probably ask him, but she didn't feel the need to. No, she trusted she didn't need to. He'd explain every step as they went through it, she figured. But her smile faded as he explained it further.

He was right. The thrill of the Force, the pull of it's dark temptations. She knew it, from others. From Alisteri, her sisters. Countless other Sith she knew just how addicting power was. To experience it first hand? She just smiled.

"We're Sangnir, Ali. Controlling our hunger is a fact of life." She didn't hesitate to roll up her sleeve.

"If I'm going to bring the Sith to heel, this needs to be done."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

His gaze flickered to her arm and he clicked his tongue, satisfied with her choice. "Just don't say that I didn't warn you." Alisteri muttered under his breath as he plunged the syringe into her arm. "Now when you wake up you'll probably be irritated, confused, in a state of psychosis, but definitely more powerful. So try not to kill me or bash up my ship too much alright?"

He set the now emptied syringe aside and stepped away from her, clicking his mask back on and gesturing to the sarcophagus with his other hand. "Get in and relax, just close your eyes and let the anesthesia put you to sleep. I'll have to fit some IVs into you so please keep your arms where I can reach them."

Most of the tools and devices that he would need were already in place around the sarcophagus, but final checks and sharpenings while Alina was put to sleep kept him busy. "When you wake up, you'll be a proper Sith Alina."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Sounds like a hangover. Been years since I last had one of those." Well not a hangover, but she didn't see a need to explain all of it. Instead she moved, wandering towards the sarcophagus. She already felt heavy. Narcotics for a Sangnir. She still didn't believe it. But, seeing was believing. Or at least, feeling. She laid out, her eyes focused on the ceiling. Watching, waiting for the sleep to take over.

Her arms draped over the edges for his access. And for once, as her eyes drifted closed, she felt a hesitation.

"I trust you."

All her life she'd been the experiments of others. Her mother. Her sister. Her master. It'd always was her at the helpless mercy of another. And here she was, doing it all over again. There was no one she could trust more with this. Their bond, born of blood, was the reason why.

"See you soon."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

He chuckled at the remark as he readied one of the many tubes for the operation, idly tapping on the corresponding IV bag. "Well I think you'll wish it was just a hangover by the time you've recovered." The narcotics and anesthesia dosage was admittedly on the heavier side, as it needed to be to actually work, but it had only ever been tested on Low Sangnir before now. He wasn't fully aware of how different Alina's systems were but he knew it wasn't enough to make him have to redevelop anything. Just adding more of what already worked would be enough. Hopefully.

He turned as she draped her arms over the sides of the sarcophagus, quickly setting to work on inserting the different drips needed as her eyes closed. There was only a moment of pause as she spoke, another IV tube ready in his hand as he thought up a response. He had nothing, so he simply nodded and kept on working. There was only so much time until the anesthesia would fade and bring her back to consciousness after all.

"See you soon." The masked Sith stepped back for a moment to look her over and wait a minute or so for the drugs to kick in, soon tapping on her shoulder and gently shaking her to see if there was any reaction. There wasn't, to his relief, she was out like a light. Alisteri moved to a crate situated under one of the tables and opened it, setting out one holocron after another on the table. "Alright, now if all of you start talking at once and distract me, I'll jettison you out the nearest airlock."

He began turning valves and releasing the chemicals and compounds one by one, barely hearing the usual whispers from the holocrons as he worked. "Now then, let's finish this. Once and for all."

-----

Nearly two hours later and Alisteri was pushing the closed sarcophagus into the blood pool, ensuring that the lock on it was loose and there was room for the blood to flow inside of it. Alina would need all the regeneration she could get. Using the Force to ensure a smooth maneuvering, he dropped the sarcophagus into the pool and stepped back with a sigh of relief.

Now was the waiting game. Once all of the supplies had been put back in their places, as well as the suspiciously silent holocrons, he sat down near the pool's edge and waited. His eyes closed and he began his usual meditations and prayers. There wasn't much else to do until Alina emerged. When she emerged.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

It was a day before there was any sign of movement or life from the pool of blood. Only a dark, swirling miasma seemed to coalesce at the top. Yet as the twenty fourth hour hit, the red waters surged with life. New life. Alina rose from the blood, her pale skin absorbing the blood that still lingered. The whole pool drained away. She said nothing, just inspecting herself. Looking over her limbs, her arms. Her hands.

Power. For once she could feel it all around her. The smell of blood had never been a scent. An echo of the Force, an echo of the Anima within she needed to feast on. She could feel it. A grin spread across her lips as she reached her hand out. The Force swelled, ripping apart everything in her path. She blinked in surprise, but her grin didn't fade.

"So this is what it's like, is it?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The news traveled fast around the ship. The sound of metal tearing and glass shattering from somewhere near the Altorius' underbelly. Of course the patrols and captain were eager to dispatch a guard or two to investigate the noise but Alisteri just as quickly turned them down. He would visit his workshop himself and see what all of the commotion was about.

Before he even set foot past the damaged and ruined doorway of his workshop he could feel something on the other side. Someone more accurately, familiar and yet altogether brand new at the same time. The masked Knight stepped into the converted cargo area and his gaze immediately landed on Alina, not to mention the mess of debris and crates that she seemed to have caused.

"I leave to get lunch for five minutes." He slowly stepped forward and approached his fellow Sith, a bit wary by the leftovers of her new power. "And you finally decide to wake up." He stopped a fair distance away, glancing her over as if he expected to find some physical difference from what she looked like before the operation. "Not to mention you made a mess for me to clean up. So Alina, how do you feel?"

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I promise I wasn't trying to make such a mess. Just sort of.. Happened." This was going to be interesting. Learning how to control this energy. This power. She stepped from the pool, uncaring that at some point her robe had been lost. Instead, she simply raised a hand. A spare robe flung itself into her hand far too quickly, much to her surprise. Which she still caught and pulled on.

Physically, nothing seemed to change.

"Powerful. I saw something. The Force, I suppose. Trying to make me stop this all and die. Visions of my family, all those I left behind. .. It was freeing, killing them all." There was no remorse or hesitation in her voice. Where they the ghosts of those who died, or not, it didn't matter.

"Do you have a place I can test this all out?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

His gaze shifted to the debris, both to give her time to redress and to examine the extent of the damage, as he crossed his arms. "No worries, my first little outing with the Force was similar. Although mine was a lot smaller...and I don't think I could manage it again." As for Alina he had little idea of whether or not she'd be able to pull the same destructive power again, but he wasn't about to rule out the possibility.

"You...saw something?" Alisteri cocked his head to the side as he listened to her apparent vision, briefly wondering if it was merely a side effect of the process. Perhaps it was, he had certainly never received a vision of any kind. "...I see..."

He shifted in place and glanced around his workshop before he responded to her question. "Well I was going to set up a little something, but I don't think that would be wise in such an enclosed environment given your inexperience with your power. I can tell the captain to set a course for some pirates if you want a live test, or to my base on Formos."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina stared. Really stared. Disbelief was clear in her eyes at his own. Was it the drugs, then? Was what she heard about the visions of the Force an exaggeration? .. No, this wasn't a trip. She'd know something about what's a trip and what's not. Her gaze followed his, scanning through the mess. She'd have to fix that, at some point. Probably. And it was immediately forgotten.

"Pirate test course? Heh. Why not. I have some things I'd like to test on living subjects anyway."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

"I figured as much." A rare smirk adorned his face for a moment before he turned away from his fellow Sith, pulling a commlink from his belt and tapping it with his thumb. "Captain Skep, the disturbance is nothing to be concerned with. I take care of the damages. Set course for the Instrop sector and ready the ship for combat. We're going after the pirates there."

He didn't wait for a response from the ship's captain and simply clipped the device back onto his belt. "Oh, I called up some of your soldiers and had them bring some clothes for you yesterday." Nearly two days of waiting had given him time to prepare after all.

"No offense, but I'd rather not have you waltzing around my ship in just a robe, so I'll be right back with them."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Pirates.

Why was she so excited by pirates? Alina looked over her hands as she listened to the message Ali sent out. Nothing was different, and yet, everything was. She could feel the Anima coursing through her veins. Giving her power. She learned early on how to draw on it, even before becoming Sangnir. But now she could physically feel it. Without much warning she brought her hand down in a fist. Into the floor.

It ruptured. Not just around her fist, but outwards in a ripple effect that splintered the floor. The metal, solid steel floor, cracking like glass.

".. Huh? Oh. Yes. Clothing. I forgot you were shy." She raised her hand, glancing it over. Unharmed, unmarked. For a moment it was black, seemingly covered by.. Something. Anima. Protection. Shielding.

"I'm eager. Lets get to those pirates already."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The Knight was caught off guard by the sudden sound of something impacting the floor, and of course the metal under his feet subsequently splintering and fracturing as if the metal was as fragile as some glass bauble. His gaze snapped back to look at Alina as she examined her hand nonchalantly, looking between her and the floor in a mixture of disbelief and frustration.

"The feth?!" That was new. New was an understatement actually, it was positively foreign. He knew that she was always physically strong, even before her Sangnir transformation, but this was something different based on her reaction.

"Wh-Why did...wha..." A frustrated sigh escaped him as his hands came up to cover his face and muffle said sigh. "My ship. Alina," Alisteri took a deep breath, knowing that lashing out would probably get him killed given the evidence of her power thus far. ", please hold off your...experimentation with your powers until you're not on my ship."

He was hesitant to leave her alone given her actions thus far, so he simply pulled his commlink from his belt again and ordered someone to bring the clothes down. "We're on our way, don't worry." He turned back to face her and clasped his hands together. "So please Alina. Stop. Breaking. My. Ship."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

It was an expression she hadn't had since their time in the academy. Back when she still could use drugs. Still could drink. She was drunk. The power, watching how it coursed around her, she was absolutely drunk.

And she'd always been a destructive, violent drunk.

Her gaze shifted back to Alisteri, watching him. Looking him over. Looking at him in the Force that she could now feel through the room. Through him. Her head tilted to the side, glancing once more over his body. "You're not like me. You're not a high blood. That's not right. We were changed together." She stepped closer, grinning after a moment. "That's why you weren't able to keep up with me, wasn't it? You can't even shift into a warform."

She glanced to her fist again. Black spread across her knuckles, her fingers. ".. Oh. Right. Your ship. Sorry." She glanced to the floor.

"I'll pay for that. Don't you worry."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

There were only a few things that Alisteri knew for certain in the galaxy. And among them only a handful of those related to people, and with that in mind the expression on Alina's face was something that he certainly did not care for. "...Alina?"

Scratch that, he didn't like that look at all.

What he liked even less was the look that she fixed him with, he could feel the hair standing up on the back of his neck as he stared back into her strange gaze. She looked at him like he was transparent and for a moment it shook him to his core. The Knight took a reflexive step back as she grinned and moved closer, confusion cropping up on his face alongside his unsettled expression. "Alina...the feth are you talking about?" What in the world was a warform anyway?

He sighed in relief as she looked away, using the moment to take another small step away just in case, and did his best to recompose himself. "...It's fine. I'll handle it, just try to not damage anything else alright? Frigates don't grow on trees you know."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"High bloods. Warforms. Haven't you learned anything from the oracle I gave you? You can use the blood you drink to power yourself you know. Make you stronger. Faster. Smarter even. High bloods can use it to do warforms. Let me sh- Actually no. No. Right. Your ship. Right."

She nodded once, lowering her hand. Letting the flesh turn back to the pale color it always was. Later. The pirates. She could show him there. A brief moment of introspection before her grin returned. Wide and fanged all over again.

"Hey. Hey. You want to learn more about how to manipulate your Maw? Your Anima?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

"...Ah...that makes more sense then." Alisteri coughed and shifted in place, slightly embarrassed for a moment. "Whenever it started to mention you being higher or superior to me I just assumed that it was an ego thing. I was more interested in its sorcerous and alchemical information than anything else." An oversight in hindsight, but not one that couldn't be rectified later.

For a moment he was relieved by her correcting herself and choosing not to show off her warform, whatever that was, and he almost relaxed. Then she grinned again and he sighed.

The Knight raised his hands at the proposition, giving a shake of his head. "I'm fine for now. Let's just take it slow alright? You've been under for almost two days you know. No need to..." He glanced at the damaged floor and debris. "...exhaust yourself just yet."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I'm not exhausted. I'm alive! All I feel is power. What kind of blood was that pool full of?" That certainly had a hand in why she was so active, but it wasn't why she felt powerful. Her gaze again shifted to her hand, reblackening her flesh. More than that, an almost metal like substance formed over it. Armor? She hummed, looking over her fingers with the grin still there.

"Blood has iron in it. Crazy, right? I wonder if I could just make a suit of armor for myself? Might help with the warform I think."

Darth Strosius