The Punishment Due... (TJO/Pub and LS Jedi Only)

[Ket Van-Derveld]

I'm not here so you can knock me down, again​

Things have changed and I don't want you in my mind
Don't wanna hear what you got to say
Your little world is not for me
And I don't believe everything you see
It's not really what I appear to be
How can I get the message through to you?

You try to break me down, I wanna clear my mind
I know now is my time
You're drawn to suffering, I wont give anything
I got nothing to hide
I've been waiting for this moment
Your lies that I can see right through
Things have moved around, you can't hold me down
The tables have turned



Ket quietly listened to all that was being said, from those gathered to him, among themselves, all of it. He sighed a bit. This was so much harder than he could have imagined. None of them really seemed to understand exactly what happened to him out there. What the true nature of his madness really was, what prison he had finally crawled out of after centuries upon centuries of seeing through the looking glass of his own eyes, yet unable to shut them to the horrors Ahroun committed. Unable to shut his ears to the screams of so many that died at his own hands, unable to fight back the darkness that Ahroun kept focusing inward to beat him down into the prison of his own mind. He did not want to speak of such things so blatantly to them like this, and thought that by laying that amulet at his feet, they would understand. Yet, all of them were so clouded by their own emotions and feelings, by the rule of law and proper procedure, of turning a blind eye without getting to the root of the situation, that he was once again being beaten back into a prison cell with not a single ounce of compassion. He should have been used to this by now, shouldn't he? And so, he simply sat down, cross-legged, and looked upon the amulet that lay there on the floor in front of him, the yellow glow powerful within the crimson crystal.

He stared at that amulet good and long before he spoke again. Yet this time, there were no undertones of being anything other than the man he'd been inside for ages, aching to be released. As he began to speak, no anger could be felt from him, nor heard in his voice. No, if anything, frustration. He wasn't perfect, he was simply human.

"THAT is real." he said, pointing to the amulet. "This is no new name, Kian. It is MY name. I am NOT him. He is not ME. We are not two halves of one coin. We are separate and wholly different in every conceivable way. You all sit there, and you judge me because you feel no guilt from me. I have done nothing wrong save not being strong enough to stop him myself. The Sith Lord known as Darth Ahroun did those things, every last one of them. You condemn me because you only see me as one man. I came here to try to give absolution for his crimes, to give the galaxy a sense of justice over him. None of you know anything of true pain, of being enslaved for near a millennia behind your own eyes, with no way to break free. Not a single one of you know the pain of the Darkness as I do..."

And as he felt that human nature to be angry with those who could not see past their own vision, he felt something. Something familiar, something that began to calm him once more. He had spoken the truth in every single word he'd said thus far. All of it. He was trying to atone for what Ahroun had done, for that was the only way he knew to give those whom Ahroun hurt the justice they sought. Yet, he remembered her words, in that lonely desert, among the stars and night sky, as the flames flickered off their faces and she began to somehow give him the strength he needed to finally fight back, to regain himself and his existence once more.

"...Coryth...I...have tried...and yet again...I fail. Force forgive me..."

In that moment, he began to cry, but he made no sound. His hands simply slid over his face as elbows propped up on knees, and he silently prayed to the Force to guide him as the tears fell through his fingers. He needed that guidance more than ever, now.


[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Kian Karr"], [member="Avalore Eden"], [member="Hal Terrano"], [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth heard it all, all of it. Frustration radiated from her in the force as her eyes spotted the amulet of pure darkness at his feet. He'd given it up so willingly and not one of them saw it for what it was. One of the greatest threats to the known galaxy lay at their feet, and they all ignored it.

Extending a hand from out of her weather worn cloak, she reached out into the tangled web of the Force and drew upon it's power ripping the crystal from the floor bringing it to rest in her hand. "Do you fools understand what this is? What you left laying on the floor? While you were so concerned with what Ket was or was not. Whether his words were truth or lies? You all left the essence of one of the greatest evils in the known galaxy on the floor, like some discarded relic." The crystal radiated such pure evil into her hand, that the brutal scars carved into her own body throbbed in response to the sinister item. The darkside energy that had been trapped in her skin, only responding in kind to something so close to it in nature.

"Put aside your preconceived notions for two minutes and realize this situation is unique. Look with fresh eyes." She snapped. For she had no patience for the situation.

"There are ways to punish him, and let him prove his words. He may have to do as the law requires and serve his time. But let him prove himself. That much is owed."

Wanting the object off her skin, she stuffed it into a pocket. "The amulet, I will care for, destroy the damn thing myself. For no other soul should have to suffer the burden of it." In truth, she feared that seldom few even within the order had the skills to destroy it, save for herself and perhaps Je'gan but alas he was gone.

Stepping forward through the Jedi she knelt down with compassion in her eyes. She understood more than he'd ever know. She'd been through a level of hell that would have caused most Jedi to fall into bitterness and despair, and ultimately the darkside. Somehow, she'd still remained a kind, sweet soul who only desired to help those who needed it most.

"Ket, you cannot fail me when you have come so far, in such a short time. It wasn't so long ago that we met on the sands of Tatooine, you a different man entirely from who is before me now. I can see that." A sorrowful sigh followed, "Unfortunately you know as I do. The law hardly discriminates from the soul who does the crime as the person. Justice will have to be done, and what path that is, I cannot say."

She rose slowly to her feet, glancing back over her shoulder at the others. "There are ways to do this, as I said, let the man prove himself. You feel no guilt from him, because he is not the same person who did the crimes. It would only be natural for the man before you to not feel that, when it was another soul, another spirit that did the slaughtering."

One more sigh came, she was about to stick her neck on the line for him, and she very much hoped he would not destroy her for it. "If I have to stand for him, at his side, for the rest of my days I will. He has suffered enough. But if such is not good enough, the technology exists, place a permanent tracker within him, with a paralytic that cannot be altered or effected by the force. A toe out of line, and it's simple enough to retrieve him and end the situation, is it not?"

Coryth wasn't done yet, she spoke directly into his mind. "I've just stuck my neck out for you. You burn me for this, and consider it the last thing you will ever do. Because I will be the one to hunt you down and end you. This is no threat. This is a promise. I've never broken a single promise yet, nor will I. I have offered you, your single second chance. This is all you get. Are we clear?" It was a most grievous promise, and one she did not like, but knew too well the situation required it. Killing was not in her nature, but it could be done and she would if he failed her by returning to the darkside.

[member="Ket Van-Derveld"] [member="Kiskla Grayson"] [member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Kian Karr"] [member="Avalore Eden"] [member="Hal Terrano"] [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus narrowed her eyes. Then she rolled them. For the cold-fish, she was positively leaking emotions. The man entrusted by the GrandMaster to oversee the issue had been forced out of the room. People she'd never met before we're offering solutions as if they were decisions that anyone in this room had the right to make.

So she pulled out a datapad whilst the speeches continued and typed out a message:

[font=courier new']To: [member="Kiskla Grayson"]
cc: [member="Ryan Korr"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Kian Karr"]

GrandMaster

I have attempted to observe the proceedings rather than intervene however I urge you now to step in before any more offers are made to the prisoner that might see him become the next Supreme Chancellor.

I apologise for my tone, but Knight Korr had the situation entirely under control and am unsure as to why what is simply a prisoner transfer has turned into an episode from a teen drama. Please note I do not watch said teen dramas, it was merely an illustration of the nature of the proceedings. And nor am I suggesting you watch teen dramas, I am sure you have much better things to do with your time. And if you do watch teen dramas, I am sure they're worth the time invested. But I am going off at a tangent as I am prone to do.

It is worth noting that the accomplice he mentioned has, according to reports, died. Although this is immaterial. The room I am currently occupying is not a courtroom - but is being treated like one. I fear all of the attention the prisoner is receiving is only confusing the situation and raising temperatures in here.

CR
[/font]

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

"Excuse me," came a voice from outside the slightly ajar door, "but retrieving a Sith Lord who doesn't want to be retrieved isn't that easy."

One gray eye stared through the cracked open door.

"And you won't be taking that amulet anywhere without Grandmaster Grayson's permission."

The Council didn't exist anymore... and he didn't know this woman. Barging into a tension-filled situation and declaring everyone a fool didn't do much to engender trust. Ryan already had so little of it to go around in the first place.

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Ryan Korr"]

In the docking bay, one leg over the cockpit rim of his battered old E-25, Shule paused. Something felt...off. Contentious.

A little concerned, he headed back towards the source of the feeling.

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

Ryan finally noticed that the prisoner was crying.

Snap.

That was the sound of tolerance for shenanigans breaking.

He swung the door fully open.

"Everybody out. Now."

He extended a hand toward [member="Coryth Elaris"].

"You don't like it, you can tell the Grandmaster she put the wrong person in charge of the operation. The amulet."

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Kian Karr"], [member="Ket Van-Derveld"], [member="Kana Truden"], [member="Shule Windspeaker"]

 

[Kana Truden]

She blinked in surprise. The warden, the authority and the man in charge of this cell had told her to leave. Everything she felt or thought dropped and for a moment she considered the chances of this being a joke or not. The fire in his eyes said no and she quickly realized that her time in this cell as an observer had come to an end.

“As you wish.” Kana bowed her head on the way out the door. “Just, calm down. Don’t let it get to you.”

Hypocritical when coming out of Kana’s mouth considering her moods over the last few posts. With the first step outside came the other. She shot a few glances down the hallways. It was empty. Her walk put her a bit further down the corridor and closer to the hangars. Without any reason to stay she put her back against the wall. What had she done in there, really? Her being there seemed like a really odd roller coaster in all different kinds of ways.

Maybe she had gained something. If there was one thing the prisoner knew it was that their discussion would be better fitted in a meeting meant for just the two of them. Judging from what she had been told he’d know how to arrange that, if and when he had gotten his punishment due.

For now she had to beg her leave. [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] would know where, how and when to reach her. Of that there was no doubt.

 

[Kian Karr]

[member="Kana Truden"] - [member="Ryan Korr"] - [member="Shule Windspeaker"] - [member="Corvus Raaf"] - [member="Coryth Elaris"] - [member="Ket Van-Derveld"]

Kian looked at [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] for a long moment after his words and his sudden emotional breakdown. Kian had finally gotten what he was looking for, at least a little. What the man had to say was important.....but more important was what the man felt, and it seemed to Kian in that last statement he finally saw the matter more clearly.

There were a whole mess of messages in that last statement. There appeared to be condescension, self-pity, anger, frustration.....but more importantly.....pain. Ket had suffered a great deal. It wasn't hard to sense that. There was also the notion that it wasn't Ket who had committed those crimes, but the Darkness that had overtaken him. The soul of a Sith Lord. It wasn't necessary an original notion. Murderers had been claiming those sorts of things for eons to avoid punishment......but if it were true, it would cast a whole new light on the situation. It would cast a whole new argument to Ket's legal defense as well.

Then out of no where another Jedi had entered the cell, one that Kian had never met before in his time with the Jedi and one who seemed to know Ket better than they ([member="Coryth Elaris"]). She seemed very upset about the groups behavior toward Ket, though given the circumstances, Kian didn't know exactly what she had expected of them. Nor did he like, or understand, her immediate interest in the amulet. He was glad that [member="Ryan Korr"] was requesting the amulet returned. It was entrusted to them to destroy, not her. And if it was as dangerous as she had claimed in her statement, Kian certainly wanted to see it handled by Jedi he knew.

When Jedi Korr gave the order to leave, Kian nodded his head in understanding an turned to leave. Stealing another glance at Ket, Kian smiled warmly beneath his mask.

"I've heard it said it is always darkest before the dawn." Kian said reassuringly. "May the force be with you." Kian put the force behind his words, emanating a sense of calm and warmth. He wanted Ket to not only hear his words, but feel that Kian meant them. Kian held no ill-will toward the man but he was in charge of the more secretive side of the Jedi.....and it would be an understatement to say that that had bread skepticism and suspicion in Kian. He was nothing if not a bit paranoid.

Following the others out into the corridor, Kian followed [member="Kana Truden"] toward the hangar hoping to check up on her.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Seeing as the Grandmaster's designate, [member="Ryan Korr"], had asked the other Jedi to vacate the area, Shule found it wise to keep his distance. He might not be terribly close to the Order in general, but when a worthy Grandmaster called, he obeyed. Rather than enter, then, he stopped at the end of the hall, just in case Korr needed some backup should someone prove recalcitrant.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus bowed to Knight Korr as she left the room. She had a desire to usher everyone out first but he was in charge and he'd made it very, very clear to those present. So she simply filed out in order and trusted, no rephrase that, expected everyone else to do the same. But not the prisoner of course.

And she wanted to speak to Ryan but hoped her previous words and actions were enough for him to understand which side of the fence she was on should he require any assistance. He knew where to find her.

Spoiler

[member="Shule Windspeaker"] | [member="Kian Karr"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Ryan Korr"] | [member="Coryth Elaris"] | [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

When both the messages of [member="Corvus Raaf"] and [member="Ryan Korr"] came through with a similar connotation, she dispatched the charge to Cee-nine to navigate to their location.
Convenient she was in the system.

The rest of the time from point A to B was spent in uninterrupted solace. Kiskla spent this time researching the history and records of Van-Derveld. The girl was sure some things had failed to be recorded, but if she could make an educated evaluation, that would be most beneficial. There was a point, however, and weigh them against the transmissions that had reached her.

Kiskla was not a judge. Her counterpart was, and she took some steps in that direction --- but she would have to read the situation at face value before making any executive decisions. Her ship whined softly as it entered the brightly lit, designated hangar.

"Stay here. But we might have company on the way out. Don't get out the fine china." Kiskla murmured, sliding her arms into the sleeves of her spacer jacket. The droid flashed it's eyes in response. She shrugged, as if the robot had responded something worth the action, and descended from the cruiser to the ground by her lonesome. The tread of her soles hadn't carried her too far before evaluating the silhouette of [member="Shule Windspeaker"] at the end of the hallway.

Mostly unannounced, the premiere question of the event rose from pouted lips "Are you lingering to join, or rejoin?" Her information had been limited. She had....no knowledge after the evaluation fed from Raaf. She also hadn't the insight to knowing this had been the very Jedi who had sent out the distress call for the near-slaughtered planet. She did know, however, that there was a massive swell of both The Force and emotion up ahead. "If the latter, what made you leave?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

"Stop pouting, kid -- oh feth. Ah, Grandmaster, didn't recognize you for a second. People always look different in person. Just here to make sure these teenage Master types actually listen to Korr since he told them to get out."

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Since he told them to get out? She frowned at the commentary, waving a dismissive hand at the misconception of visual association. "Your voice is familiar, though correct me if I'm wrong -- static tends to interfere with octaves. You're Jedi Windspeaker above (that planet that starts with a K that I forget) --- your alert was invaluable. Thank you." She looked past him, down the hall "-You seem to have impeccable timing for the most intriguing situations. If you'll excuse me, Master." She nodded in a temporary goodbye before continuing down the hall to intercept [member="Kian Karr"] and [member="Kana Truden"]. It seemed [member="Corvus Raaf"] was also peeling away.

The Jedi master passed the trio with a nod. She would have asked for a status report, but Corvus had given her one. Or so she thought. Nevertheless, time was of the essence. So into the area of [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Ryan Korr"] and [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] she squeezed.

Her gaze did not immediately fall on the former Sith Lord.

"Knight Korr." Her accent was her introduction, and she stood off to the side "-A briefing would be welcomed, please." Her gaze was on the woman who she didn't know. A red-head positioned between the prisoner and the Jedi representative for this mission.

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

"From the last message I sent you, Master Elaris joined the room and is attempting to take [member="Ket Van-Derveld"]'s artifact for destruction. There was overcrowding. The prisoner appeared agitated, so I cleared the room. Elaris is the last to leave. I requested her to leave the artifact behind. I think it would be unwise for it to leave the Order's watch. Elaris did suggest a method to keep Van-Derveld out of prison, which she can elaborate on if you wish."

Ryan kept it brief. Kiskla seemed in the mood for brief.


[member="Kiskla Grayson"] [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] [member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Shule Windspeaker"]

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Kiskla nodded as the information was fed to her in short spoonfuls. A breath elapsed, and she bolstered her posture. Her mouth remained taut as she kept a trained gaze on the titled Elaris, evaluating what Korr had said.

"You have a suggestion for keeping someone from potential fate." Kiskla didn't deal in absolutes, but she liked to speak with vague cards "-I would like to hear your ideas.

I would also like to hear why an artifact is worth destroying."

[member="Ryan Korr"] | [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] | [member="Coryth Elaris"]