First Reply Rumbling in the Dark

[Daxton Bane]

Time was such a fleeting thing, many mortals feared the endless march of the reaper into the inevitable. For many it was a crutch, a symbol jof wisdom, a reward for a life well lived.

Lies, all lies, the clone knew the truth. While he might be a shell to house the spirit of the Sith Lord, deep inside he remained the same. Cold, unrelenting, merciless.

Banished to the outer dark by foul Jedi magic, he bid this time, trained unceasingly, transferred his essence from host to host until he could find his way back.

The Zabrak knew his return would cause a stir, perhaps signalling a shifting of the tides, what malice could he be up to, what dark insidoous plot? But that as neither here or there as far as he was concerned, there would always be the ambitious and those who choose to live in fear. It would only be a matter of time before they made their presence known.

The masters robes were jet black, almost sucking the color and light around it. Combined with the dread aura of foreboding darkness, it was a powerful tool against the weak willed.

Still he was curious to see who would dare make first contact, who would be brave enough to look into the abyss and see the abyss staring right back at them with golden orange eyes....

 

[Nevroza]

Stretched across the gulf of time with a weighted presence that far outstripped the expiration date of its host a deliciously sinister energy was cast on the wind and rattled the bones of any living creature with the capacity to understand it. It was an intimate, primal fear that clawed at the foundations of sanity and pushed the weak willed in the opposite direction. This wasn't just the dark side, this was a fight or flight response programmed into the code of every living organism with the ability to preserve itself. An awakening of this scale wasn't just a spiritual one.

It was...scientific. Biological.

Wading through the melodramatic atmosphere of the outer dark was a lithe, unassuming woman with pale green skin and piercing emerald eyes that shot through the darkness with ease. A green and black dress covered her body and a dark cloak was draped over her as each step into the abyss sent a metal jingling echoing through the area.

It was no large task to find the Zabrak amidst the dark despite his clothing which blended well with his surroundings. There was an intense radiance to his burning golden pupils that inexplicably managed to be so impossibly hot and endlessly frigid. His eyes were different from hers, that glow was unnatural, a perversion only the Force could produce...she had to understand it. She must.

"You have lovely red skin." Nevroza's voice was soft and appreciative as she stepped further into the abyss without fear. Her presence was...murky at best. It was hard to distinguish her inner darkness from the surroundings but her malice went unconcealed.

"It contrasts well with my green don't you think? Step out of the darkness and show me, after all, you seem so weary sitting like that." The woman's intentions were questionable at best and she made no attempt to convey them, only bade the Zabrak from the shadows.

Daxton Bane ​

 

[Daxton Bane]

Nevroza

"Interesting very interesting. For you to enter this chamber means you have money or skill and yet I sense much ambition and pride, my name is Daxton Bane. Who might you be?" The voice was both young and old all at once, one given the sensation that it was a weapon tempered by age and experience. With words, he could toy with emotions and fears, or he could use it for far devious purposes.

Beneath his robes the orbalisk hive armor stirred with unease, but ever since the merging it defer to his wishes, while his three sabers hung from his hip with casual menace. Daxton rose with almost fluid motions, making it difficult to tell where cloak and shadow met, one seemingly darker than the other."

With a glance that struck fear in all who fell under its gaze, he raised an eyebrow in anticipation of her answer.

 

[Nevroza]

"Could money and skill not be the reason for my aptitude?"

An armored warrior shrouded in dark robes that paired with his surroundings, Daxton Bane was a creature of mysterious creation much like Nevroza. His gaze was powerful, a deep-seated evil that permeated the souls of all who had the will to endure it. Nevroza had that will and for the first time since usurping her creator had felt something different, an all-new sensation.

Fear of another.

An adrenal rush coursed through Nevroza and her lips pursed as she raised and around her body in a guarded posture. Before she knew it, the sorceress had taken a step back, and the realization of that subconscious weakness only fueled that mild high and part her lips in a tiny smile.

"Haaaaah..."

Whether it was a wry laugh or a whimper she wasn't sure but with a shaky breath, she tried to calm her exhilaration. "My name is Nevroza." The woman's finger curled around the collar of her dress and tugged on it lightly. "You were sealed within the darkness. The powerful magic that locked you in this chamber reached out to me, a scholar, and the closer I drew the more sinister the energy became. They couldn't destroy your power so instead they trapped you in a box like a rat."

Nevroza reached into her cloak and returned in her hand a small book with small rips on the old leather cover and a black skull with rubies in the eye sockets in the center. Undoing the small heart locket she opened the book and the pages, old and yellow from age, began to flip rapidly via the force.

"But you aren't a rat are you? You're Daxton Bane. And you stand before me." Nevroza's intentions remained hidden, a disquieting edge to the way she spoke in raised whispers and moved with manic expressions.

Daxton Bane​

 

[Daxton Bane]

Nevroza

"Both while useful, are fleeting and temporal. The more you have, the more you need."

How sweet the taste of fear was, spiced with arrogance and self belief, it was so missed. Almost but not as satisfying as the time he dropped a mountain on an opponent on Hoth.

"Your words tell me the plan was a success. My enemies were many for they were envious of what I achieved, so plotted and sought my downfall, unaware that the Dark Side gave me a vision of was to come."

"Trapped?" He laughed amusement, the sound both filled with mirth, yet filled the soul with dread. "They could not trap me or bind me if they tried. The experience in Outer Dark showed me far greater vistas than they could possibly know."

"But enough of me, I sense you sought me for a reason, what is your hearts desire?"

 

[Nevroza]

Nevroza's lips widened in an even larger smile at Daxton's question. This was an unforeseen development, normally the witch could hide her sinister guile behind a veil of meekness and scholarly ambition but this dark entity who appeared fused to the shadows saw right through her facade and confronted her directly. Was this the next level of power? Abilities of discernment that surpassed her attempts to hide? It was all so curious.

"My heart desires many things. Right now, it's you. You were 'sealed' in the outer dark for so long and the galaxy has changed much since you've been gone. You need direction, a voice in your corner, resources. You need me just as I need you."

The pages in Nevroza's grimoire came to a stop on a page depicting some sort of magical seal that resembled a lunar cycle. Emerald flames sparked to life around the sorceress' hand and she touched the page which was engulfed by the flames but remained undamaged, the incantation taking effect as the seal glowed and Nevroza's eyes flashed in recognition.

"I am conducting an...experiment. A study on mental stimulation's role in spiritual evolution and its effect on the Force. In simpler terms I need strength and I need people who embody progress. Rejoice! You are my first candidate."

Nevroza beamed and a manic chuckle escaped her before composure took over and she settled on a simple smirk.

"I'm not trying to shackle you if that's what you're thinking. Consider this your entry into the control group, in exchange for your cooperation I'll compensate you with power. And don't underestimate me when I say this, this power will surpass the physical and venture into the foundation of reality. Does that not sound intriguing?"

Daxton Bane​

 

[Daxton Bane]

Nevroza

Oh she was good, wrapping a lie within a truth until the lie and truth were unseparable. Such potential for utter chaos given a physical form.

"You are correct, much has changed while I was gone but there will always be the ambitious and power hungry, they there will likely be Jedi, self righteous tyrants who think they are better than anyone, the true enemy of free thought and will. They subjugate for the great good, I loathe their arrogance and self delusion."

He smiled as she gestured and spoke of control. Perhaps she thought he was a pup unaware of the universe at large, little did she know the real truth. Ever the manipulator, he would let her have some fun and see where it goes.

"You have my attention. Where do we go from here?"

 

[Nevroza]

Nevroza listened to Daxton's words and was intrigued by his special brand of intellect and the disdain he held for the Jedi order. Since Yallice, this was her first time encountering a true Sith in all his dastardly glory. She didn't understand Jedi, only that they had a boring, more restrictive view of the Force and the universe. She needed the dichotomy that inspired one order to surpass the other continuously. The true lengths that evolution was willing to stretch needed a complete control group.

"I have no experience with Jedi." Emerald flames circling her hand like a match, Nevroza flicked her finger at Daxton and the green flames leaped from her finger and onto his forehead but inflicted no harm, just an odd tingling sensation across his body until the flames extinguished and a hollow black circle was left on his skin. Remaining for a moment the mark soon vanished but the magic within remained even still.

"But I can assure you; do well in this experiment and you'll be able to use those bores to surpass everything in creation. To an even greater degree than you have already." Still lit like a pyre, Nevroza's hand went back onto the page before touching her forehead where the same black mark appeared on her as well before fading.

"That was a contractual seal. Consider it your entry into the study. There will be seven others like you and some...other factors as well. You needn't worry about the details, just sit back and let this beautiful scientist handle everything. But now that I have what I want, there must be something you'd like as well. After all, I've been speaking long term but someone like you probably likes insurance. Especially when dealing with someone like me, a sorceress."

Nevroza giggled and raised a finger to her mouth to hide her smile as a thin line of drool went down her chin. There goes her bad habit again...

"Did I hit your old, rusted, nail on the head?"

Daxton Bane​

 

[Daxton Bane]

Nevroza

Daxton's response was cold, hard laughter, free from mirth, dipped heavily in malice and malcontent. She was determined to provoke him with that rusty barb, so it was time to test her in his own personal crucible.

"I care not who else you wish to recruit, as long as they do not get in my way or I will cut them down where they stand. But I suppose we need to test how rusty I have become eh?"

An invisible hand sweeps the cloak to the side, as the three sabers unhook themselves, one going either hand and third rotating in orbit like stinger, all three igniting in blast of red, blue and emerald green.

The Zabrak moved almost in a blur as the color after showed where he had been, launching a series of blows that could have easily overwhelmed any defense, each a fatal strike should they have been allowed to touch his foe,

She would feel the heat from sabers, demonstrating remarkable skill and control beforw they were retracted again.

A whisper in her ear, almost intimate and teasing said, "Yes, I guess I am a bit rusty then. But the Dark Side grants me gifts many consider......unnatural."

Then in a blink of eye, he was standing exactly where he was before the attack started, golden orange eyes looked in amusement. "You look like you have seen a ghost."

 

[Nevroza]

This is what she wanted right? That's all a Sith's words really ever did want, a challenge, power that'd validate their existence. That's what it meant to her at least. Through power, Nevroza would shatter any preconceived shackles and obtain the supreme in freedom. Liberty. A luxury only afforded to the most apex of predators, the liberty of knowing there is nothing in the jungle that could hunt you.

That's what she'd come for. To validate herself, to experience the liberty that trumped all others. That's what she was after and now? Her eyes dilated, her knees quivered as Daxton's breath touched her ears, cold and brutal, his words carrying a warped feeling of intimacy that sent shivers down her spine and warmth through her flesh as her body's heat rushed to her skin as if hypothermic. The blood fell from her fast and her pale skin became even lighter as her heart increased in tempo.

"You look like you have seen a ghost."

"N-No...it's that I almost became one." Nevroza raised a hand to her hairless neck, her skin still hot from the tinge of a lightsaber. Her jaw opened ever so slightly and a smile filled both with anxiety and excitement formed on her face. This was it, the feeling of being prey. She was...so scared. What a rush! She could die here! For the first time since her days with Yallice it was happening. The sorceress was being forced to evolve.

"So the rusty nail carries tetanus huh?" Nevroza reached into her satchel and retrieved three small vials filled with blue liquid, her eyes bloodshot with fury.

"Then let's see how well my antidote works!" Nevroza smashed the vials on the ground and tadpole-like creatures wiggled on the floor before something disturbing began. The tadpoles increased in size, swelling up like sponges in water until they were at least seven feet tall with blue scaly skin, black soulless eyes on the sides of their fish-like heads, and jagged flesh swords for hands. In a twisted way, they looked like Selkath but something different was clearly at play here. Were they...Sithspawn??

"It's time for a new study, Daxton." Reaching into her satchel again, Nevroza pulled out two more vials of liquid, this time green in color as she held one in each hand.

"What happens when the rabbit becomes carnivorous?" The Sithspawn finally took notice of Daxton and raised their jagged blades at the Zabrak before lumbering toward him, their loose and blubbering flesh shaking with each step

Daxton Bane​

 

[Daxton Bane]

Daxton's grin widened as the creatures lumbered their way in his direction, their thundering steps shaking the ground with each step. The clarion call of battle, the viserial need to spill blood, to break bone, to crush a spirit in heat of conflict, all the sensations focused in a single moment of clarity. This is what he missed the most while in exile, the feeling of being so alive.

Three blades hissed to life, in answer to the creatures roars, the Zabrak moving with efficiency and skill of skilled duelist, parrying the blade claw upwards as the two other blades sliced through flesh and bone, dismembering it before it realized what had happened.

With a grunt he Force Pushes the injured beast into the path of its companions before tossing them ragdolls against the bulkhead roof then dropped with full force to the ground.


"It eats its own." He said with a smile, a grin filled razor sharp teeth and underlying hunger for more blood.

Nevroza