The foul weather had plagued Woostri ever since they'd made landfall. Srina had wondered whether it was a natural phenomenon or if it was a weapon that Woostrians had devised to discourage invasions from outsiders. With rain, wind, and hail that could rend flesh from bone if they went unprotected into the elements—It sounded more like a defensive strategy versus Mother Nature having her way.
The storm, natural or otherwise, howled overhead.
It would be
nothing compared to the tempest of dark energy that rolled outward with the
Landing Castle at the epicenter. The power was already there. The incantation helped gather it together but the ritual was merely the
key to a
lock. All they had to do was turn it…And it would allow her children to act with impunity in the art of destruction. Those who did not know Shatter Point would suddenly have the knowledge to draw on. Those without the skill would suddenly have it, without the strength, would know a seemingly endless deeper well.
Her fingers wrapped around that of
Taeli Raaf
without hesitation. Some might balk at the idea of sharing power versus hoarding it like an angry dragon, but Srina, had no qualms about acting in ways that were for the greater good of the Sith Order. The Lady of Secrets had never been one to openly argue with the Empress even if they disagreed on occasion. They had an understanding, more than that, the deepest respect—Which went a long way, for Sith.
The addition of
Madrona A’Mia
to their efforts was a surprise, considering, but it was most welcome. Srina felt it when the Neti seemed to lock in on the ritual as her vision of the area bloomed. There was the scent of something very green in the air, more than that, she barely had to focus to see the way things fit together.
To see how to pull them apart. The map in her mind's eye seemed to show not only fracture points but the aftermath, especially, when it came to terrain.
That wasn't all
shatter point could do, something her children would discover, as it could affect individuals and events equally. They would be able to see every flaw in their environment and perhaps even in their enemies. All they had to do was fill the cracks with the Dark Side and the nature of the Force would do the rest. With three directing the gathering of power it was a ritual that far exceeded the one she had enacted on Echnos. She could see it, distantly, when parts of the great island cracked, the land fracturing itself in violent, unnatural patterns.
It made the tremors from
the Penumbra worsen to that of a low-grade quake.
It was her design that the Sith would feel emboldened. That they might move through this warfront with newfound might and strike down the last remnants of resistance. There was no sanctuary, no place where the Force could not rend the material world asunder. Yet through the cacophony of war and storm, Srina noticed something else, something new. It was something beneath the ocean waves, something not of darkness,
but of light.
Her fathomless gaze turned where the horizon should have been, beyond the silhouette of the Landing Castle, beyond churning waters, while she tried to discern what it was that offended her so. The sky above remained a darkened veil of rain and mists, but a pulse of power invaded her senses. It was distant, a beacon shimmering beneath the waves, but it burned at her vision when she looked too hard, a piercing radiance like fire against the shadows of her mind. The Empress inhaled sharply, discomfort, flickering across normally impassive features.
Darth Empyrean
had taught her how to endure through the many texts in his library but her focus was elsewhere. The Force Light was too far to irreparably harm her, but its very existence was an insult, a festering wound against the darkness they had nurtured.
"…There is something beneath us..."
But the Lady of Secrets was already more than aware. Srina could feel
Taeli Raaf
pinpoint the origin in the form of runes that were, very likely, too far away for their shatter point to reach. Her head tilted while a flash of the location filled her mind. Were they on the ocean floor? What was moving in the background? Some kind of creature? Srina, frowned.
Woostri was a water world but it didn't have
anything like that natively.
An Alliance trick, then?
<<…Beware the water…>>
Little whispers, repeating, over and over like a lilting song.
<<…BEWARE THE WATER…>>
Through the ritual, once again, the Sith in the area would hear the voice of the Empress fall upon them like forgiving rain. Not the ilk of the punishing hurricane outside. She reached outward, her mind pushing against the storm, the sea, and flickering glimmers of reality. The power that the Lady of Secrets and the Spirit of Trees solidified and bolstered caused the ritual threads to wrap around her, feeding her senses, and expanding her perception. The Force trembled in her grasp as she traced the light, its luminescence jagged, and blinding, yet delicate in its own way.
It was a painful disruption.
A fracture in the perfect darkness they had conjured.
The agony of
Judah Lesan
pulsed in the back of her mind like a gong ringing distantly atop a temple. Or did she really hear
church bells, in the distance? Was that the sound of surrender or was it some new Alliance tactic to garner their attention? Psychological warfare? Srina could only shake her head and tune the sharp chimes out. She would not be undone by some sound of misbegotten faith, nor, would any church hold any part in bringing her to her knees.
It was noise.
Nothing more.
The Jedi Master was in the process of falling to pieces in the metal tomb she had created. He thought he was escaping the mind prison, but really, she kept him locked inside. A dream within a dream where his regrets turned against him. His failures pulled him deeper. And yet, something within him stirred—Some distant force of light that flickered beyond his torment.
Srina's lips pressed into a thin line.
It was no coincidence.
"There is a wound in the Dark…", she murmured, though, only
Taeli Raaf
and
Madrona A’Mia
would hear her now. Their collective focus allowed the Empress to reach outward, probing depths beyond the shore. It was new in creation yet derived from something ancient. It was also…strong,
growing.
"If it impedes our work, it must be dealt with…But if Lady Raaf can find use for it…"
—A use for Force Light?
Such a thought was beyond heretical, but Srina was not a creature of waste. That was an arena that
Taeli Raaf
was far more suited toward. If the light could be corrupted it could be consumed. It would serve them far better as a weapon instead of an obstacle…
But was there time?
Her gaze fell back to
Judah Lesan
in his shallow grave, still lost, in the agony his soul spit out when confronted with his demons. The Jedi had nearly broken once before. She had all but shattered him on the Moon of Echnos. And yet…He had found something within himself. Something that had given him a way to claw back from the abyss. Would this aberration do the same?
Was this light beneath them connected to that will?
Was this the source of the ember that refused to die?
Her fingers twitched, the urge to rip through his mind rising within her, to burn memory from his being, to drown it in the dark. But she did not move. Not yet. Her fingers remained entwined with that of the Lady of Secrets while her mind lingered around the Neti that was far deeper in the city. They were anchor points for a sharing of power, of knowledge, that was swiftly bestowed upon their brethren. Soon the ritual would not require them at all. The suffering, the fear, was battery enough.
Even with the
abomination of
Force Light brewing from below the island.
He brought his wrist to his lips, as the sin of pride filled his heart, "Dark Councillor Marr speaking from the primary controller centre of the Woostrian Defence Network, the orbital guns and defensive batteries have fallen under our control, requesting coordinates to fire." It was short, and sweet, exactly what it needed to be, a message of foreboding that would land in the ear of each and every Sith fighting, whether they be in the base itself, on land above, or the space above that.
Her head lifted just a little at receiving the missive through the holo-comm from
Darth Malum of House Marr
about the Woostrian Defense Network. It was good news, all things considered, but that same Force Light was beating at her cranium the more she tried to focus on the youngest Dark Councilor. When she tried to use her comm in return? Nothing but church bells echoed through the line and almost snarled at it. Thus she was forced to take another avenue. She found
Quinn Varanin
and followed her trajectory.
What was wrong with the crimson-eyed man? Why did he feel so unlike the Sith Lord she knew?
She could feel Quinn chipping away at whatever deception surrounded him and her daughter would suddenly feel her presence. Jasmine and rain mixed with the scent of rose and honey, bolstering, what her daughter had already done.
<<Wake up Boy-King.>>
It was Srina
and Quinn blended seamlessly together.
<<Wake up!>>
When he did, of course, he would, Srina would provide a mental layout of their troops through the map
Madrona A’Mia
had created. The Empress would provide all that he required
—If only, Malum returned to them.
"All forces, this is Darth Meritum. The facility is collapsing. Inform the Mors Mon that Woostri's defenses will go offline in the next few minutes - then run for the service shafts at the bottom of the facility. There should be repulsor trains waiting for the facilities faculty. Secure one, and wait for my signal to retreat. I'll meet you there."
Darth Meritum
had been in the service of her beloved for quite some time, thankfully, she could receive comms but she couldn't send any, or all anyone heard was damnable churchbells. Her eyes closed. So many Sith were infiltrating the underwater facility. So many Sith would be in danger if the facility really
was collapsing, and so many of her children, would be trapped in an underwater grave. Her heart felt heavy and the pit of her stomach dropped to her feet. She believed in them. She believed in the strength of the Sith Order... They had a plan. They had a way forward even if the facility fell beneath the weight of the water. They would survive. Battered, broken...But her children would return.
Srina simply...
knew...what the Jedi were capable of.
Horror knew,
horror. Monster, knew
monster. Demon, knew
demon.
"They have brought us Light...", she murmured, voice laced with venom, to the ears of Taeli and perhaps even Judah in his fitful slumber.
"But light does not drive out darkness. It only casts shadows. And in those shadows, we thrive. Even if they sink the structure...We will thrive."
The winds howled, carrying her words across the ruins of Woostri as the ocean trembled around the island. Whatever lay beneath the waves, whatever beacon of resistance flickered in defiance, it would soon know the truth.
Darkness was inevitable.
Kaila Irons
//:
Eira Dyn
//:
Colette
//:
Ko Vuto
//:
Srina Talon
//:
