The Lingering Deep

[Noviac Caligo]

• • • • • • • • • • • • •​

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Time: 13:48 - Early Afternoon
Location: Ahto City, Manaan, Pyrshak System; The Inner Rim

At some point, following his immediate exodus from Nar Shaddaa, Noviac Caligo found himself in bed; not a terribly horrible one, either, mind you - Ahto, in some centuries past, was once a resort to the Galactic Empire. Some level of standard remains, even though its skies still remained dark with lingering smog - or, perhaps, sorrow at the broken state of the planet; the kolto largely plundered, the state of things none but ruinous. Though the bright lights, especially those that expelled their bright incandescence beyond submerged windows within the city, that shimmered into the fathoms of the planetary ocean, created a scene of bright, welcoming commotion - one often bustling with middle-class tourists, aqualish immagrants, and selkath merchants soliciting goods ... in reality, the sky spoke the truth. This place was depressing.

"Wake up."​

​

The words still echoed in his mind. He had been asleep - dreaming of a deep, dark, bottomless swamp, crusted with flakes of rot and debris which filled the air in thick clusters, like spores of decay; then, suddenly, the voice echoed out. He felt his body grow cold at the thought, goosebumps raising up on his skin. A warning? No - well, even then, that did little to explain the source; it must've been a part of the nightmare. Yes, that was it. He now sat at his bedside, legs bouncing restlessly, hands in his lap; no matter how much he played it off, he was nervous. He had been already. No one leaves Hutt Space in that manner and doesn't have a few bounty hunters on his trail - good ones, too, most like. That on top of everyone else. But that wasn't what was scaring him; the question was, of course, what was making his heart race like this?

It was just a dream.​

​

He stood up and brushed back his hair, taking a quick look around the room; plain and bare - nothing special, but it was cleaner than a lot of the places he'd had to stay over the last few years. He figured to best not take it for granted, to enjoy it while he could; he'd be leaving soon, as always. He got dressed - the same old attire, though he left his gear behind; not always the smartest choice, but he felt jumpy. For some, that might be all the more reason - indeed, he was superstitious; but for once, he forced himself to be rational. He didn't trust himself, jumping at shadows over a bad dream. Besides, it'll be back here if I need it. Slipping on his coat as he stepped out the door, he was treated to a cool breeze; no scent of the ocean, naturally - he was thirty-eight floors below sea-level. Just beyond the door to his room, he was already greeted by a great glass view of the lingering deep, countless fathoms of heavy darkness, swirling, filled with all sorts of horrible things which sunk beneath.

A couple sharks floated by, tearing at the limp, rubbery remains of a dead squid between them, that was all; his imagination really was getting to him. Still, the hairs stood up on the back of his neck; he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance needed some time to lay low. After all he had just murdered more people than he took the time to count and tried his best to destroy a building. It's not that he was ashamed of it. Exactly the opposite..........he had enjoyed the heck out of it. The memory of it still brought a smile to his face. After leaving Commenor he had dropped his co-conspirators off on a neutral world so they could all go their separate ways. For him there was nothing further away from civilization that Manaan. Another water world much like Glee Anselm.............another memory that brought a smile to his face.


There was not much to Ahto City and it suited him just fine. To be a little low key he had ditched the robes and sword going back to wearing a suit and keeping a concealed saber in one of the many spots on the suit to do so. As he came out of his room his smirked watching a stranger in front of him watch out the windows at two sharks eating breakfast. Something he hoped to be doing himself in the next few minutes. He waited until the sharks moved on before he pressed forward catching up to the stranger.

"I believe they are called Firaxan Sharks."

He smirked.

"There is something beautiful about watching a predator with it's prey don't you think? Something poetic about the hunt.........about the chase. The sheer ecstasy about the feeling of pure terror radiating off the prey before the killing bite."

He turned glancing out towards the water again for a moment before turning back to the stranger.

"Wouldn't you agree?"


[member="Noviac Caligo"] [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

There was nothing like being able to get away from things for a while. Her choices of what she thought of vacation might be considered odd to some though. Picking Manaan, she wondered through the various corridors, looking at the different sights around.

She had changed how she dressed and acted. While the way she walked couldn't fully be altered, clothing and attitude could. Still wearing all black, she favored instead of skintight clothing, items that were still form fitting. Her shirt was no longer a barely laced together item, but a complete shirt. The change was due to the fact she was tired of always being the center of attention with eyes always on her.

Approaching a new area where one could see out into the ocean, she heard the comments made by a man. The voice was one that stuck total fear into her. A man Zesiro had come across once before. A meeting that had lead to a new chapter in her life. Instead of trying to run, she knew she needed to face him or she would always have that fear.

While the young sith knew there wasn't going to be a way for her to calm down, she attempted to at least try and took a deep breath.

"Ah feth," she muttered under her breath and just walked out into the hallway where the two men were.

[member="Vengeance"] [member="Noviac Caligo"]

 

[Noviac Caligo]

"Perhaps," he replied, "I've never been one to savor in the emotions in others." His words surprised himself with their honesty - just moments ago, terror, words crying out in his skull, now replaced with sentimentality ... epiphanies of the hunt, of the slaughter. Where the fish once frenzied about over their food, black blood still floated aimlessly in the water, swirling in invisible currents. "I've always enjoyed that which I feel - the revelry of the chase when I pursue my own prey; the blood I taste. Maybe the fear salts the meat, but do I find ecstasy in the cries? No - maybe when I'm old and senile, I'll think back on it ..." What kind of conversation was this? The bloodlust took form into words, they danced off his tongue of their own will; any other person would cringe, but what about this stranger? What made him different?

"But, only as a fond memory, once those teeth have fallen out; hell, if I'm fortunate, I won't have to live that long."

He crossed his arms, another shark swimming from the churning dark, bulbous eye staring blankly at him; its gaze glassy and opaque - it was blind. Its body frail, sickly - its nose hit the glass, sending it into a frenzy of fear, its tail whipping itself around and shooting back into the abyss. "I'm all about the present." He caught a glimpse of the man in the window - his reflection stretched, distorted, like through a fun house mirror; how horrifying - but the eyes ... they were so black. So inhuman, like the eyes of the sharks. He turned, just to make sure the grotesque face was not true to his form - offering a brief smile to relax from his own jolting response.

Yeah, he had the eyes of a beast.

In that moment he caught the glimpse of a woman strolling into the open, dark clothes and light hair; he offered her only a wayward glance, before fixating back on that man. Was this what the dreams warned him about? Was he Death? Or was he something else - something worse? He brushed his hands through his hair, thinking of what to say - if he should say anything at all, or what to do; should he run? No, he was just a man; one in a suit, no less. Black eyes - maybe near-human, then; yeah, that had to be it. From the far regions of space ... something else, that could calm him down. But he knew it wasn't true - every fiber of his being recoiling in a deep-seated terror of the dark presence that lurked within him.

"Who are you?" he said at last, almost in a drawl, muscles contracting to force the words from his throat.

[member="Vengeance"] | [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Kenrath]

The man chuckled.

"Perhaps you should...........savor in them. You may find you enjoy the feeling. Joy from fear.........pleasure from the pain of others Pain caused by you or as a result of your actions."

He paused with a smirk.

"A hunter will always be a Hunter until the last breath is taken. It is the nature of being the hunter."

He paused as he felt another very familiar presence as his new friend saw her.

"Ignore her.........she can't help you..........."

He didn't turn around but did call out to her.

"Isn't that right Zesiro? Has your luck run out or have you finally decided to accept your fate?"

He turned back to his new friend.

"Who I am is not important. What I am however is important."

He smirked his eyes beginning to glow a bright orange as if on cue.

"If you are the hunter my friend I am the predator you have only heard stories about in the deepest, darkest corners of places only whispered about for fear they may actually be true."

[member="Noviac Caligo"] [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

Zesiro heard the words of Vengeance and knew exactly what he meant. He was the hunter and enjoyed reveling in the pain and fear of others. When he directed his statement to her she knew she had been noticed. Probably felt through the Force, the strength of her fear of him was almost palpable.

Muttering silent obscenities to herself, she stood up straighter and at least hoped her face wasn't showing her fear. Walking in their direction, she glanced at the poor man he was speaking to. When she had met Vengeance the last time, she had been the target of his anger. This time apparently it was going to be the man he was talking to and hopefully not her. She wouldn't put it past him to turn on her in heartbeat though.

Addressing Vengeance and looking at his back as she walked up, "I've never had good luck and it appears fate allowed us to meet again."

It hadn't been something in the Force that called her this time. Nothing had to her knowledge, maybe it was fate like he said.

Turning her attention back to the man and waiting to see what the next actions of both of them would be.

[member="Vengeance"] [member="Noviac Caligo"]

 

[Noviac Caligo]

Remained silent a moment before offering a curt nod - there was no denying that her demeanor, when directed towards the strange man, drew something akin to terror. Then again, maybe he looked the same, rigid and frozen, in the eyes of the beast; no longer the hunter, the hunted - moments away from being devoured. If he ran, the creature would pounce; there was nowhere to go but stand his ground. Then, at least, he'd die with dignity. Wait. What were those thoughts right now? They were doing little more than speaking; that was all, that was it - there was no life or death tension here, only disturbing conversation. A conversation which he morbidly enjoyed. "Savor," he repeated. "For the longest time, I saw only the gap between myself and them; that disconnect, a broken bridge spanning the void. But, maybe you're right; to savor, to salt that meat - rip and tear, to plunder that horror rather than drink from it." A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, the images of the corpse-riddled casino on Nar Shaddaa drifting in front of his mind's eye.

Looking back on it all, it seemed so strange, so innocent; perhaps this is the nature of the wounded animal, trapped in the corner by the cruel hunter - remaining trapped, teased, prodded at with the spear. Never escaping, only dreaming of it ... and what will become of its tormentor. Was this him? He wasn't certain - the cruelty, the darkness, neglected emotion festered like a pool of congealed blood, coagulated into a dense rot with the consistency of hot tar. All it takes for one little fly to breach that surface, the sealed skin of the cauldron before the gasses, trapped by years of decay, erupt into a shower of gore. No, this wasn't what he used to be; but this man saw it within him - that he was boiling over, that he wanted to indulge in that gluttonous chaos. Those people he met in the Promenade, that woman in the court; the urge he had, to devour ... was it fear he wished to illicit, misplaced into blind, unfulfilling violence? Maybe the beast before him truly was an eldritch being from 'the deepest, darkest corners' of those feared places; and maybe he talked to him, simply enough, because he knew that Noviac craved those answers.

What were these feelings, rushing to the surface? Had he ever felt this way before, had he felt emotion until now? Was this the effect of the man, or the realization of setting himself free? His chest burned hot, every fiber of his body calling out - he wanted this legendary taste of fear the beast spoke so easily about.

In all this thought, only seconds past, but already its effects were evident; how Noviac's eyes dilated with a gluttonous desire for this, how his fingers trembled with excitement, his mind seduced by the possibility of freedom in the midst of this flight. "I am the hunter, yes; but your suggestion enlightens me - I wish to be more than a man grasping his bow, struggling against the wilds. I want to taste the forbidden fruit of pure terror ... to savor it." The shark returned, blind eye glistening through the glass, staring at nothing - seeing nothing; perhaps drawn here for the same reason Noviac was: strength. Before it hit the glass again, Noviac watched it closely; he watched the scars of age run across its leathery hide, the telltale signs of age, weathered fins and light flesh. What a poor life, a pointless one; he wondered if sharks felt fear. Certainly not in the way he did, they were too feeble, to small and insignificant; worthless, but he would try.

He reached out and planted his hand against the glass, palm flat across the cold surface as he reached out; weak as he was, he understood the sensation of touch, to grab and to pull, to push ... to prod, to squeeze. Invisible fingers extending from the tips of his own, corporeal digits, wading through the water, currents bloodied black by the previous meal; they squirmed, brushing, teasing. The shark, easily startled, jolted - yet, before it could swim away, telekinetic fingers had worms into its gills; yes, a shark's skeletal system was soft cartilage, but he was so weak ... too weak. As it brushed against the glass, he could only hold, and explore what openings were available - so again, he dug into its gills; its tail pounded against the glass. He sunk his grip deeper, elbow-deep, pushing past veins and muscle tissue, till he could brush against bone ... then deeper. The shark squirmed in the water, a cloud of blood pooling around its neck as it fought against the invisible grip of a novice's touch of the Force. It wouldn't get free.

"Is this what you meant?" he asked, with a pause, turning away to catch the glance of the beast, the man, with the black eyes; "Like this?"

[member="Zesiro"] | [member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

He largely ignored Zesiro's response though he did hear it. Instead he watched and listened to the man his expression void of any noticeable response or expression util asked if the little display was what he meant.

"Any child can cause harm to the flesh. My first kill was at the ripe old age of twelve. It is not the number of prey you kill but the reason for the kill and the message it sends that matters."

He paused to let his comment sink in.

"Descend to madness and you are no better than the prey you kill. No......................"

He turned slipping in behind Zes his hands reaching up and cupping her neck to prevent her from turning around.

"The flesh is weak and fragile...........

His hands if not taken away moved down each shoulder to catch the collar and pulling so that it hopefully ripped down the middle giving a glimpse of her ample cleave but still leaving some modesty.

"Even if the flesh is pleasing to the eye......"

If not protested his hands would once again move down her arms sliding to her elbows before slipping to her hips to attempt a similar ripe to expose her stomach and allowing a bit of soft skin on skin contact.

"...........and to the touch."

He leaned in his lips near her ear but still speaking to Noviac.

"That is not what is important however. What is important is the heart and mind. The flesh can be improved and strengthened. The mind and heart however has it limits."

He paused.

"See Zesiro here once fancied herself a hunter..............a seductress using her very appealing assets to try and disarm her prey. Unfortunately though it only works on the weak of will."

He would gently push her forward before slipping out from behind her.

"When she failed she ran unable to shoulder the burden of the failure of her only skill.............."

He paused glancing at Zesiro before turning back.

"...........now I wonder if she is ready to be something more or if she will only run again?"

He chuckled.

"You see a true predator has as many skills has there are situations in which to apply them. Each application carefully calculated for maximum effect. Knowing when to apply which skills is more powerful than the skills itself."

He moved forward heading away from there current spot but still talking motioning for Noviac to follow.

"Fear is only a single tool and against another hunter it is rarely useful. Lucky it is only one of many that can be applied."

After a few steps he t looked over his shoulder at Zesiro.

"Coming Morsel?"

Then he moved on. To find a place to eat where they could talk while they ate.

[member="Noviac Caligo"] [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

Zesiro listened in silence to the words of Noviac and his actions with the shark. She wondered what his future held, he had the desire and the want to get stronger. Did he have the strength? Everybody could be broke and then broke again. She had broken once and somehow knew she would again. The young sith knew she was a weak and poor sith. While she had improved, there was a long way to go before she knew she would be strong.

The poor creature didn't stand a chance, while it did give a good fight. The life left its body and it floated limply within the grasp of the man that had just killed it. She looked away from it, not giving it another thought and that's when Vengeance started speaking.

He spoke of his first kill, she remembered hers and her reason for doing it. It had not been to send a message of any kind, at least not a public one. It had ended a stage of her life and opened a whole new one. The one she was currently in. She had not descended into madness and didn't plan to.

Vengeance moved faster than she could and gripped her from behind. His hand for a moment on her neck, it kept her from moving. If he could see her face, he would see her jaw clench and the start of anger in her eyes as well as her fear. She feared him too much to stop him from doing anything. Breathing in through her nose, her chest would rise and fall with each one.

Most of his words were true, the only false thing she heard...from her point of view was why she ran from them on Nubia. It didn't matter now though. With a gentle push, she was away from him and kept silent. Hearing his words, though he was talking to the other man, asked if she was going to run again or be something more. Zesiro already knew that answer and stood up straight to look at him.

Her eyes were blue and now set stubbornly, the previous anger was still there, but muted. She would be foolish to act on it anyway. He walked away with a motion for Noviac to follow him. A few more steps and he looked back at her to see if she was coming and referred to her as Morsel. His back was to her and he wouldn't be able to see the look of total surprise at the name or the silent gulp she took. However, she was still standing, alive and uncrushed, so Zesiro fell into step and walked behind him.

[member="Vengeance"] [member="Noviac Caligo"]

 

[Noviac Caligo]

He released the shark, allowing it to float lifelessly in the water, through a cloud of blood and bits of flaking flesh, discarded in the water like dust and released into the currents, again, to seep into the abyss. He pulled his hand away from the glass and eyed it, namely the fingertips, which he brushed with his thumb - almost expecting to wipe clean the drying blood that, upon any ordinary man, would linger. There was nothing there, except a sense of deep disappointment; no, not of the beast, but of himself. He glanced up, the shadowy corpse of the creature gently rising up, suffocated on blood; the beast was right, in a way. Noviac was a child to this pleasure. He didn't respond, allowing each word to sink in deeply, past the skin, to some core of near-worship within his mind; he only tossed a small glance towards Zesiro - one with narrowed eyes and pursed lips; one of muted distaste and curiosity, before flicking away - back towards the beast in man's skin.

He wondered, for a moment, if the suit he really wore was tailored from flesh.

Nova followed close behind - careful not to walk step-in-step or alongside; he shot a glance back, over his shoulder, towards Zesiro, and said, "I'm Noviac. Noviac Caligo." He by no means expected the man to answer in kind; rather, in some primordial way, he gave it as an offering. A sacrifice, for this beast to do with as it please, to sate it, lest its own lust for pain find a new target in himself. He wasn't sure where he was being led, if it was anywhere meaningful at all, but the fly had burst the stagnant cauldron, releasing a swirling elixir that was keen to imbibe temptation. In this case, the temptation to rear its head, to evolve from a child to something more than human: a predator, master of the kill, of fear, of darkness. Perhaps he would experience this firsthand; but, for the first time in his meager life, he would indulge in this opportunity - no longer as a chore, or a fact of life, but as a learning experience.

[member="Vengeance"] | [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Kenrath]

He lead them through the hallways to what passed for a Cantina and Restaurant on the water world. The food was largely atrocious but it was better than nothing. He chose a table as far back in the corner as possible taking a few minutes to order some food and let the server walk away before turning back to the pair.

"Anyone can be a mindless killing machine. There are people in the Galaxy that would kill every last person on a planet. I have seen it happen more than once."

He paused.

"However what is truly power is to subjugate ten million by only killing ten. That is an accomplishment."

He stopped speaking for a minute has drinks arrived.

"That is how I operate..............not as a blunt instrument killing everything in my path. Instead has a surgical instrument only taking out who I need to take out to have the greatest impact."

He chuckled.

"After all what good is it being a ruler without subjects to rule?"

[member="Noviac Caligo"] [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

Zesiro followed the two of them silently, her eyes glued to the back of Vengeance. The man she still didn't know the name of. When Noviac gave his name, she just nodded before speaking.

"I'm only known as Zesiro as he said earlier."

They were led to what passed for a cantina and restaurant and took a table in a back corner. Wanting to be able to keep an eye on Vengeance, she sat down across from him. She ordered her food and drink with the rest of them and listened to what he had to say.

She could never imagine herself as a mindless killing machine, hardly a killer at all. This is one thing that made her too soft. When they had met previously, she had been scared for her life. There was no doubt he could kill her on a whim, but there wouldn't be a purpose for it. The young sith was nothing to anybody and her death would mean just as much.

Taking a sip of her drink now it had arrived, she remained silent still. Considering his words, she thought of what she might say. Nothing came to mind though and she was still irritated at him for what he had done minutes ago to her.

[member="Vengeance"] [member="Noviac Caligo"]

 

[Noviac Caligo]

Noviac, in contrast to Zesiro, took a rather large gulp - his eyes glossy, foggy; he was fixating on the words which flowed from the beast's mouth. It wasn't rallying, nor did it tug emotional strings; what it did do, however, was resonate with a deep realization within him, one which seemed to linger in his heart. A mindless killing machine. Was that what he was? A look back to those previous nights would seem to point to that - there was no such thing as power in it, as this beast spoke; it was a matter of force. Death. Blood lust. He nodded at this, taking a humble sip - it tasted metallic, cancerous; it almost felt like he was sucking on a cold penny. This emptiness inside him, though - that's where his mind was; he wondered, silently, if this is what he was missing.

Was the source of this emptiness he had been feeling been a lack of power and direction? Was what drove him to violence not a pursuit of the path forward, as he was once convinced, but a symptom of negligence to his true need of domination?

"After all what good is it being a ruler without subjects to rule?"

That was the question he needed to answer now, for if this beast truly offered the opportunity to fulfill this burning need, he must show that it truly did apply to himself. He thought on this for a moment.

"Just killing - there isn't any passion," he said, finally, "Less than that, it consumes it. It's a hole - you pursue it, hoping it'll surrender just a bit of that satisfaction ... a fraction of fulfillment that true power would; but it doesn't. But broken men probably pursue it because it's all they know." He added, "That's what separates people, I guess - divides the weak and the strong.

"Perhaps that's where killing is utilized best, to reap what is yours. To define, to mold ... like a god.

"I don't want ... mindless death, and I don't want peace; I want the passion of dominance. All this aching sense of a road, of a path that must be won with blood - I don't want that; I don't want that, no - I don't want to walk to whatever I seek on a road paved with them, their bones mashed to cobblestone that cracks beneath my feet. No, I want them to pave it for me, to break them, to conquer, vanquish, and command." He paused, as the food was delivered, the waiter obviously stifling great distress upon overhearing their conversation. Noviac didn't touch his plate. "I want that freedom. It feels like ... that I've been stumbling through the dark, but your words - they're right. I want that. More than anything.

"Freedom through passion - yeah, that more than anything."

[member="Vengeance"] | [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Kenrath]

He looked at Noviac for a moment at the god comment. It was becoming increasingly clear the risk of bringing the man under his wing far out outweighed the man's potential.

"There are no such thing as Gods.........everyone dies eventually. Sure one or two are able to cheat death but at a cost of the man or woman they used to be."

He looked over at Zesiro before turning back to the man.

"Peace is the point.........it is always the point. The difference between us and them is the method in which that peace is achieved. We do it through subjugation......they do it through begging and pleading."

He paused grabbing a bite of freshly arrived food before speaking again.

"You may call me Marcus for now and in this place. What I offer is simple. I offer training and knowledge. First I teach you how to live and fight as a man......or woman. Then I teach you how to live and fight as something more.

For this I only require two things. Total loyalty and total obedience."

He paused.

"You will do what I say, when I say it, and how I tell you to do it. When I am satisfied you have learned all I intended to teach you and become a productive member of society I will release back into the Galaxy to make whatever mark you wish."

He smiled glancing at Zesiro.

"Interested?"

He directed his question at Zesiro specifically because he was sure Noviac would be on board regardless. Of course the man was free to prove him wrong.


[member="Noviac Caligo"] [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

Zesiro sat silent like she had been almost since the three of them ran into each other and listened to the words of Noviac. Some of them she agreed with, but some not so much. The times she had killed, it had been for a purpose. Not once had it been just because she could. The mindless killing Noviac spoke of was alien to her and not something she was interested in.

He had some odd thoughts on what the man now to be called Marcus said. Oddly enough, Zesiro felt her own following to be much closer to that of Marcus than Noviac. To each his or her own though. She wasn't going to dispute what he said.

Their food arrived and she sat back so it could be placed in front of her. Marcus had included her in the conversation just by looking at her and directed some of what he said at her. Taking a bite of her food, she was surprised he actually offered to train her. It was something unexpected totally, but she nodded. He said he would only teach what he intended to which implied he would hold somethings back.

After he finished speaking, he actually smiled at her. It wasn't warm or cold, but it was the smile of a predator. Zesiro knew what she was and with his help would grow to be more than prey.

"Yes."

[member="Vengeance"] [member="Noviac Caligo"]

 

[Noviac Caligo]

"When do we start?" asked Noviac.

The beast had a name: Marcus. Surprisingly underwhelming. However, he cared little; the doors of opportunity were opening wide for him. Certainly, he and Marcus shared some differing views, the other man had attempted to correct him; but he clung far less to these ideologies than the art of subjugation. He shared little on the subject, however. Rather, he was being offered a portion of that power he craved, and with it, more would come; all he had to do was sell his soul to the Devil, just for a little bit. He liked that - no, he loved that. The risk of it all into the unknown, the eldritch, the occult, it caused a smile to tug at his lips; this wasn't a test of survival for the body, like always ... it was a test for that very soul, something new - something exciting.

He liked that a lot.

Maybe he did have the potential which Marcus saw, and maybe the risk; maybe more than that, even. However, the hand of fate was moving once again; the momentum wouldn't stop once they began. He was riding into the darkness, and even if this particular horse was to cut and fall, he'd still dive deeper of his own accord - the lull of the abyss willed it so. He brushed back the hair on his head and glanced between them, not a single though of doubt racing in his head. Who was this man? Was he Jedi? First Order? ... Sith? Did it matter, if he could obtain what he promised? He was obviously Force-sensitive, but then again, this could be a matter of strategy; a mindset. Or he could just be a pawn.

Again, it didn't matter - the gears were already spinning for him; besides, he was having fun - as evident by the smile on his face.

[member="Vengeance"] | [member="Zesiro"]

 

[Kenrath]

Marcus chuckled. One was hesitate and the other was too eager. It was the nature of things and it was unavoidable.

"You assume we have not already started."

Marcus smirked for a moment before speaking again.

"It is very simple...............for both of you. When I call you show up when and where I tell you to. In the mean time enjoy the moments of peace and quiet. They are few and far between."

He paused.

"In the mean time I would like to enjoy....................well what passes for a meal on these backwater worlds. You can wait quietly or enjoy a swim in the mean time."

Marcus chuckled before slipping into silence to finish breakfast before it got too cold. He figured it would be the last time he got the chance to just sit and eat. Between the reorganization taking place on Bastion and the Shyrack's nest he just poked to say that were going to get interesting was an understatement.

[member="Noviac Caligo"] [member="Zesiro"]