The Day the Darkness returned to the Galaxy

[Darth Abyss]

Yavin 4, Temple of Exar Kun

The temple of Exar Kun was one of the sith ruins that never really caught Abyss attention, despite his deep obsession with the remnants of the past ages. Mainly because it had been purposefully set ablaze during the era of Jedi Grandmaster Luke Skywalker in an effort to keep it from extending its corrupting influence into the mind of the rather recently reborn Jedi order. Not much remained after that day, ruins and rubble that withered and crumbled under the weight of time. But this wasn't the first time a darkness many had believed to be gone had returned to the galaxy. In fact his trip to the ruins had revealed that exactly that was about to happen, just that the darkness wasn't emerging from the temple itself, but drawn to it by the same twisted echo that had lead him here.

The hollow, metallic remains of what once had been a man rested in front of the piles of broken stones, legs crossed in a meditative stance and his shell hoovering slightly above the ground. Other than normally there was nothing that obscured the twisted entity, neither physically nor in the force. He preferred to not make his presence known, but following the calling of the force he had felt that for once he had to stay revealed, a beacon of the dark to lead someone here.

Abyss wasn't pretending to really have felt the return of who was probably his oldest ally. [member="Darth Lykos"] always had been a man of the shadows even more than him, and he recalled very few moments were he had actually been able to touch the Zabraks presence. It wasn't his aura that had given him away, but the slightest chance in the flow of the force itself. The second he caught the tainted glimpse he knew that the return of the white assassin, the aspect of conquest was imminent. All he had to do was to serve a landmark that would lead the other sith lord back into to shadows that waited below the surface of the civilized galaxy.

The sudden disappearance of Lykos had caught him off guard back then, but much had changed. Losing one of his most powerful, most capable and most wise allies had forced Abyss to change his plans more than once. Now he was accustomed to it, but he still cherished the chance to work with the Zabrak once again, the chance to gain somme of his intimate knowledge about runes and alchemy that even overshadowed his own. It also interested him to see what the White had to say about his new form, as he had been a key part that even allowed him to transcend the physical plane. He was probably the only one that hadn't ascended from the plane of lesser beings and yet held some insight in the how and why of Abyss new abilities.

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

"Transcendence." The gravelly voice would echo audibly off of broken and shattered stone, breaking the silence with harsh stoicism that repeated and overlapped its as the lone word bounced from fallen stone to fallen stone, weaving its way around the bones of the ancient temple. "What do you think it is that makes those of use that delve so deep into the true nature of the Dark that seems to install the drive for transcendence within us? What pushes our minds beyond a desire to evolve, to ever grow, to keep ourselves ahead of the chains that wish to bind us and preserve our freedoms? For, after all, transcendence is not a step forward within this cold existence, but a leap."

The form would seem to shift and be born from the very shadows themselves; cloak dragging across dust covered flooring, shade cast by a drawn hood obscuring features and the steady tap of bared feet against stone ringing out. And yet, even as the figure approached the suspended shell of metal, those that held attunement to the Force would feel as if the shadows did not leave the physical form, instead remaining tangled and embedded within flesh and bone, pulling and straining to consume the body once more. They would feel the physical form fluctuate and waiver even as it stood before them, clear and visible while, at the same time, shifting between real and false. However, the resonance within the Dark would soon settle and the form would seem to snap and settle into a material state.

Gliding forwards on steady strides, Lykos would continue to make his way towards the metal shell of Abyss as if his body had not seemed to suffer confusion as to the matter of its physical or spiritual state. Again his voice would growl out, accompanying his footsteps to create a steady tattoo of sound to fill the silence.

"I wonder, how many would balk and fear should they learn that speaking of a field to a single being could lead to a perversion of nature? How many would seek to destroy that torture inflicted upon existence before it even could form as a seed of an idea?" A pairing of biological and artificial hands would reach up to draw back the hood that Lykos wore, exposing his amber gaze, ashen hair and scarred features as he continued his approach.

"But, then, how many would understand that perversion does not mean descent as those that cling to the dying Light my spout, that perversion of existence is simply a form of evolution removed from the guiding hand of nature and delivered instead into the palm of those willing to shatter their boundaries? That ascension as well as descent is held within that perversion?"

The amber eye of the Zabrak would close as he came to a stop a few meters before the hulking metal form and a chuckle of sardonic humour rather than the genuine article would chase after the fading wisps of echoing footsteps. "Greetings, Abyss. It has been some time has it not?" The eyes would flicker open and Conquest would stare into the Void of Endless Hunger as a smirk pulled at his lips - the outermost layer of masks worn by the Sith being allowed to slip away. "Or have you ascended beyond even that name, Famine?"


[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"We all strive for more power. Yet we all define that word differently. To me, and many others, knowledge is power. I never sought transcendence to become a force of destruction, but to learn what lays beyond the chains of this world."

Abyss voice still held a glimpse of how it sounded in the past, but it was farmed by an otherworldly echo that resounded in the air, lacking any distinct source to trace it back to. That was exactly how he had imagined the return of the White to the galaxy. The mind of a philosopher chained to the crippled body of a fearsome warrior. It was oddly reminiscent of Abyss himself back when he was still flesh, a body broken by live yet grown beyond that limits by the nothing but pure strength of mind. Maybe there was a method behind the choices Darth Ophidia made when picking her apprentices.

"I am a man with many names, and many faces. Yet Famine is still only a title, and Abyss the name I choose when I faced the darkness, the name spoken by those allowed to do so."

He didn't forgot about the questions asked by the aspect of conquest, but it required no answer. The other sith lord had already answered that question by asking it, as had the Mindeater simply by existing. The metal figure lifted into the air without using his hand or legs, simply ascending into a straight stance by the power of the force. It was one of the small things that had started to come natural to him since his transformation, the chains that held him bound to the ground shattered when his body was burned away by the darkness.

"Now it it my turn to ask, Lykos. Our master once faded into the dark, only to retune with more wisdom about the inner workings of death. What have you learned while removed from this galaxy?"

He didn't expected Lykos to be gone for no reason, but was quite certain that the white had faded to delved deeper into some branch of twisted knowledge that consumed all his focus. The real question was what this branch had been.