There's Always a Replacement

[J3C0]

(I'm sorry this took so long, I got very busy IRL with travel.)
[member="Darth Sinna"]

Mierin sat in the center of a large room in the half rebuilt Imperial Palace. The room wasn't unique in anyway, it was like many within the Palace, save for one thing. This room was missing three of its walls. During the destruction of the Imperial Palace this room had been on the outskirts of the blast, its outer walls had been completely torn away and everything above it had been completely destroyed. As a result, this room lay at the very top of the Palace, exposed directly to the wind and environment of Coruscant.

Her legs were crossed, her eyes closed, and the darkside filled her.

She was waiting for someone, a girl that she had summoned here. There was a slight hint of a smile on her face, a tiny twinge of something, as if she knew something that no one else did. Such was often the case of course, her being a Hand of the Dark Lord, yet right now, the smile on her face made Mierin appeared especially smug.

The Sith Pureblood opened her eyes as she heard the doors ahead of her opened.

 

[Ellie Mors]

A feeling not unlike anxiety coursed through the Sith Knight's blood as she climbed the stairwell to the quarters of a person whom she never expected to be requested to meet privately, let alone at this point in her life. Various portions of the wall that generally kept the interior of the hall safe from the elements were stripped away from the invasion by the protectorate, an event that occurred just prior to her arrival for formal training to become a Sith apprentice. Though she had grown significantly taller, due to the transition from a somewhat normal Vahla to a towering Sith Battlelord, Silara still felt her presence smaller than the lady whom awaited her arrival from just across the door down the hall, and when she reached out to push open the door, she felt the dark presence of the Sith Lady beyond - [member="Darth Mierin"]. She hadn't the best of clues for the meeting, but the impromptu resignation of her Mon Cal master as her teacher gave subtle hints towards either her termination or a chance at something greater, and even her grand scheming had not accounted for such a turn of events. For a mere moment, as her fingers curled around the door's handle, she felt a tinge of fear that her meeting with Circe Savan and their subsequent exchange of letters had been discovered with negative connotations. "You called for me, my lady?" Silara said, uncertain if it would be proper to call her master, or something else, and resolved on something more neutral as a possible, as she slowly slipped into the room.

 

[J3C0]

[member="Darth Sinna"]
Many of the Master within the One Sith didn't adhere to the old ways.

They taught with reason, logic, steady progress, and without cruelty or malice. This was not Mierins way however. The Sith Pureblood had been raised in an age where cruelty, violence, and pain were held above all. She had been taught that fear, hatred, and the desire to kill were the greatest of all boons to Sith, and that was how she taught her apprentices. Mantorok had learned this, Hal had learned this, and Sinna would learn this.

As soon as the young girl stepped through the doors, Mierins palms raised.

It happened in an instant. Firs she reached out with the force, twirling invisible chains around the girls limbs, seeking to bind and entrap her, stretch her limbs in four different directions and hold her in place. Second came a wave of lightning, searing and painful, torturous to even the most powerful of Sith Lords.

Why did she do this? Why did she so quickly and suddenly strike at someone who for now had no intent at all in harming her? That was simple. She would instill malice within this girl from the first moment of their meeting. She would make Sinna despise her above all else within this galaxy.

She would make her strong.

 

[Ellie Mors]

Immediately upon pushing the door open and slipping inside of the ominous room she was waylaid and bound through the force, her arms and legs spreading apart from each other as she felt the incredibly powerful grip of the Sith Lord take hold of her limbs and knew right away that there was no escape. Though she struggled for but a moment, the next second afterwards she was greeted by the grim sight of a flash of white and blue - force lightning. The pain that seared her flesh was so immense that the crushing grip of the dark Jedi during the invasion of Empress Teta was nothing in comparison, and as she looked down, or tried to, she could see the electricity illuminating her skeletal system. With each surge of lightning her body shuddered and her voice escaped from her lips in the form of a broken scream, and with her blurred vision she tried to look at [member="Darth Mierin"], wondering what she had done to wrong her to deserve this punishment. What had she done to deserve the wrath of this Sith Lord?

Nothing.

The pain that struck her was maddening, and just as quickly as her first scream escaped her lips, Silara's reasoning was seemingly sucked out of the empty space where the walls around the room had once been. All she could feel was confusion, pain, and rage. Because she hadn't died immediately it was clear to her that the Sith Lady had not planned on killing her outright, and in her delusional state she felt a memory of a past event in her life resurface. The memory? The day she discovered her parent's knack for abandoning their children, and her subsequent beating and practical torturing for voicing her concerns, being left outside for days on end tied to a tree with no food. But this, this pointless torturing, this sparked a rage that was very much greater than that which had fueled the plotting of a seven year old to kill her own parents in the next five years - this fueled the incessant desire to further surpass the Sith Lords of the One Sith, and now she had a personal vendetta for one of the greatest of the lot. They wished to kark with this sociopath? "This xealonera* wants to kark with me? I'll fething kill her." Thought the Sith battlelord.

(*Translated to the Sith language using this translator.)

 

[J3C0]

[member="Silara Vantai"]

Mierins bright yellow eyes finally fluttered open. There was a hint of malice to them, though it was not directed towards the girl that now lay nearly sprawled before her. Thin wisps of smoke rose from her fingers, tendrils that rose into the air and were knocked away by the wind.

The expression on Mierins face could have been carved from marble, bone protrusions remained straight, thin lips remained untweaked, and eyes burned with the same intensity that they always had. Mierin had never been a woman to be ignored. Her power, beauty, and the way she carried herself made her more than a threat to anyone unwise enough to cross her. Many Jedi had learned this, their graves now unmarked across Coruscant, Teta, and Alderaan.

“In my age.” She began, her voice crisp and authoritative. “A Sith trained many apprentices. Each apprentice was given equal opportunity, each apprentice competed. Eventually they would begin to kill each other. They would slaughter and hone their skills until only one stood. That apprentice would gain the knowledge of the Master, they would become that Master, and replace them.”

Her voice was sanguine, enticing and holding promise. “Many of our brothers and sisters believe this tradition to be dead within the One Sith. They are wrong.”

This time she put emphasis on her words, as if she was directly speaking to those who were wrong.

“Within the One Sith this tradition has been streamlined.” Her gaze glanced at the smoking woman. “We serve not ourselves, but at the whim of the Dark Lord, at his pleasure. We live and die by his will. It is by this will that we teach. It is by this will that you will learn from me, and replace me.”

The words echoed slightly, carried by the winds. “You will learn everything that I have to teach. Then you will try to kill me. Should you succeed, you will take my place as Hand, should you fail, you will be given to the Vong for their pleasures.”

The Yuuzhan Vong that served the Dark Lord weren't exactly known for their kindness. Coming from a species that enjoyed self mutilation, a stay among them would not be pleasant.

 

[Ellie Mors]

For a while she simply stared, apathetic to the woman's words in her pain, to give her new master the satisfaction of simply hearing without listening. She could have rolled her eyes, perhaps made any form of a rude gesture, but she was still conscientious of the fact that at any given moment the woman could take her life. However, once Mierin spoke of killing she immediately paid full attention to what she had to say, and quite quickly caught the implication of what she was saying. For a moment she only stared in disbelief - the first thing she had been taught, no told, was that there was to be no killing of fellow Sith within the order, and yet here was a hand of the Dark Lord herself essentially goading her on to this idea. It was absolutely absurd, she'd be marked as a traitor, she knew how soft the Sith of the One Sith had become - her previous master had literally told her never to take a life that was not completely essential to whatever mission she may be on - and she knew how quickly they would be to point fingers if Mierin were to disappear.

Again she listened, intently, as her master continued to explain - telling her of exactly that which she had known, or believed to have known. But with her last two statements her eyes narrowed. Had she truly expected Silara to be capable of killing the Sith Lord herself? Such high expectations were made of her, and she knew that others had thought similar, but she never felt the same way about herself as they of her. "Then you will not be disappointed." She said, examining the Sith pureblood with a curious gaze. As of this moment she no longer had anything left to lose - either she kill the woman once she'd learned all that she had to teach, or she became a pincushion for the Vong. Perhaps in the last few minutes she'd matured further than she had in all her years of life, at least for that she had Mierin to be thankful for.

[member="Darth Mierin"]

 

[J3C0]

“No.” Mierin said coldly. “I shant.”

The Lithe Pureblood stood from her position on the floor, moving so smoothly that she appeared to be made out of liquid. The lightsaber that hung at her side clattered slightly, and her metallic right arm seemed to whirr for just a few seconds as she flexed the muscles within it. Her eyes searched over the smoking apprentice, then frowned slightly.

If there was any doubt within her head about Silara's ability to take her place, she did not show it.

Mierin hardly ever showed any emotion. The one time she had displayed anger it had lead to the death of two Jedi Councilors and a Knight. The last time she had shown amusement she had killed one of the Mandalorians greatest warriors. Emotions were a dangerous thing with a Sith Pureblood, especially if that pureblood was the hand of the Dark lord.

“You will meet me on Prakith in two days time.” Her voice was stern, but the order was clear. Before Silara could even answer the Sith Pureblood walked passed her and exited the room.

(Just time skip to Prakith. Also i'll likely make this more about philosophy and a little about Mierins history rather than actual training. I feel like actually teaching things IC is wasted time because well...you already know it OOC, so we can just assume teaching happened between timeskips and make the actual Roleplaying more about character development )

 

[Ellie Mors]

When Silara tried to understand why she was standing in the middle of a street on Prakith she found herself recalling the events in the tower with Mierin. All that had been told of today was to arrive on the planet, more specifically the location - wherever that was, she hadn't been one to care about city names and borders and all that nonsense - two days from her supposed start of training. While she had certainly complied, having planned to look into details on subject matter relating to ancient rumors of the planet and its relations to the Sith anyways, it was no less frustrating to have a master that gave so few answers and punished for such trivial matters. Unlike her contemporaries, whom seemed to be sporadic, chaotic, and absolutely stuck in whatever ways they knew from their years of 'experience', Silara was like putty in the hands of a teacher. Anything Mierin wished to teach her would be far less difficult in the sense of willingness to learn and behave as expected, but the Sith Pureblood seemed much more intent on trying to break what was already ripe for the taking. Regardless, she left her mind open while she walked, both looking with her eyes and through the force for the woman as she waited to continue their lecture.

[member="Darth Mierin"]

 

[J3C0]

[member="Silara Vantai"]

Mierin appeared within the streets directly behind Silara. How she got there, or why exactly she was behind the woman was rather difficult to ascertain, but her voice resonated strongly even throughout the crowd that was buzzing all around them.

“These people.” Mierins voice rang out, pushing into everyone around them. “They are the sheep that we fight for.”

She stalked around the girl, walking passed her and wandered towards one of the vendors at the side of the street, of course expecting Silara to follow her without orders or any other word. With quick practiced steps she face down the vendor, stepping uncomfortably close to the man and running two finger nails down his face. “These are the men and women we try to claim. Not because we want them to worship us, not because we respect or love them, but because we need them to drive the Jedi into dust.”

The man began to sweat, then Mierin suddenly whirled around.

The mans neck made a loud snap, and the body fell to the floor with a loud thud.

“I hear your previous Master taught you morals.” She said walking back into the middle of the street. “Forget them.”

 

[Ellie Mors]

When Mierin had appeared, seemingly without notice, Silara had immediately tensed up in more-so a formal way than out of anxiety, though she was a bit anxious as well. While her master spoke she listened intently, both out of respect and out of curiosity. She, herself, had wondered why they fought under the banner of being protectors, and often rationalized that it would be easier to control someone through good behavior than bad. What the Sith pureblood had said, however, gave her a slightly different take on it all. The sound of crunching bone and the thud of a dead body colliding with the ground caused her brow to raise - she had not expected death so quickly, if at all. "If Veles had been this way.." She thought, the voice of her conscious in her head trailing off as she moved to follow the woman as she stepped away to the center of the road again. A small smile crept across her face, she could not wait.

[member="Darth Mierin"]

 

[J3C0]

(I'm going to move us forward in a series of timeskips where we say Silara has been trained to make this a bit easier and faster )

Mierin led Silara through the streets, she did not care about the body that had been left behind, nor did she care about the people that had gathered around it. The Sith were in control of Prakith, and while it was not a military style coup that had taken place here, it was clear that whenever a Sith did something, it was not to be questioned.

Specifically one with the bearing of Darth Mierin.

The two women moved to the center of the city, Mierin cutting through the crowds and moving with practiced and careful steps. Eventually they found themselves upon a roof top overlooking the center of Prak City, the vast expanse of urban area seemed to carry on for miles.

“Show me what you have learned.” From her waist she drew the short curved hilt lightsaber.

 

[Ellie Mors]

The silence during their walk had become unnerving and though she cared little that the man had been killed without so much as a flinch by her master, the quiet was anxiety inducing, even when her master often went long period of time without speaking - a trait she found was absent when they were speaking to other Sith, to whom she acted almost kindly to. As Mierin led her up a flight of stairs and onto a rooftop overlooking much of the center of the city, she found herself absent mindedly comparing herself to an attention-seeking child jealous of the attention other children would receive from her mother - translating in this case to the treatment she received from Mierin in contrast to the motherly treatment of others. It wasn't until the woman spoke and procured her saber that Silara was grimly reminded of what was fated to be. It wasn't that she didn't wish to prove herself to her master, but she knew that there was so much more to learn - and it was by that vice that she had been awarded her name by the Dark Lord during her christening and marking. "As you wish." She replied, bitterly, removing the smaller of her two saber hilts from her waist, the one which bore her lignan crystal.

For the briefest of moments she wondered if Darth Zannah felt the same way in her duel with Bane, though she didn't have much information on the two figures outside of their names and various known actions. Activating her saber, Silara adjusted her posture to be befitting of one whom practiced Makashi, her shoulders back and legs straight, flourishing her blade with a signature Makashi salute. Drawing her focus, she looked over her master, hesitating to strike - part of her was wary of this perhaps being a test of patience, while another part of her wished to get this over with. "Such a waste..." Silara muttered, gritting her teeth as she stepped forwards, keeping her saber down at her side as she made her cautious approach. Whereas others often made hasty and quick strikes, she was much more contemptuous of the notion of such audacious behavior, and kept herself disciplined with almost manipulatively slow and deliberate movements and strikes, though never hesitating to capitalize on her opponent's shortcomings and mistakes.

[member="Valerie Vizsla"]

 

[J3C0]

(TIMESKIPS BEGIN)
[member="Silara Vantai"]

Mierin and Silara fought.

It seemed like a week, an age, but ultimately it was only a few minutes. The two women clashed, and Darth Mierin ultimately came out on top. She did not fight fair however, using tricks and traps of both the Force and her mechanical arm. This was how she had beaten so many, two Jedi Counselors, the leader of the Mandalorians, and countless others.

Sith did not fight fair.

Never.

It was hours later, after the sun of Prakith had set that Mierin stood over her apprentice. Her usually stern and serious expression was replaced by a smile, a tight one, barely registering on her face but a smile nonetheless. Was there a hint of pride in the Dark Lords Hand? It was difficult to tell.

“You fight slow, practiced, patient. Never out of rush or haste.” Her voice resonated on top of the roof. “Good. Too many Sith fall prey to the barbarities of rage. The darkside draws upon the feelings of negative emotions. Fear and rage are the strongest, but just because you feel these emotions, does not mean they control you.”

 

[Ellie Mors]

​The ensuing fight, which resulted in her foreseeable loss, was quite a wound to her pride. She had not expected her master to treat her fairly, but during that fight she realized many things, and among them was the issue she had not seen or addressed prior to their short duel. Her master was skilled, though she was as well, but her strengths were clearly misused with petty actions taken that seemed almost insultingly close to faux desperation. Mierin's words of approval would have been welcomed just a few minutes earlier, but now they felt teasing, even if she meant 'well'. Her brow knit firmly together, her lips pressed into a firm line - she knew what was happening, she was being groomed into a suitable replacement and taught at the same time. "I understand, Master." Silara replied, curtly, as she deactivated her saber. Slowly she felt the gears begin to turn in her head and she began to come to some understandings, mental maturation even. She couldn't quite put her finger on it quite yet, but there was something that was hidden in plain sight that she wasn't quite aware of just yet and at the same time her undying loyalty to the One Sith began to become... strained. Not quite born out of a rebellious feeling, but more so that she felt herself childish for how she had once acted with almost ignorant passion over meticulous thoughts.

[member="Valerie Vizsla"]

 

[J3C0]

“Do not mistake me however. Allowing them control can be as great an asset as it can be a harm. On Alderaan, during the loss of my limbs, I surrendered. I allowed the darkside to take control, and within my rage I slaughtered two members of the Jedi Council. Though surrender is dangerous, it is a tool like any other.” Many Sith saw it as either one side or the other. You could either control the Darkside of the Force, or you could surrender yourself to it.

Mierin knew better.

Perhaps it was because of the age she was taught in. Perhaps it was because of what she had learned during the time of the Great Sith Empire. She didn't really know, all that she knew was Sith of today seemed to be rather closed minded, not something that would gain them strength or power.

“Tomorrow. The fortress.” She gave instructions on where Silara was to meet her next.

It was during the dawn of the next day that Silara would find Mierin standing in the great courtyard of the Darkside Fortress of Prakith, the home that had once held the Dark Lord of the Sith. Mierin stood waiting dressed in fine white robes bedecked in golden trinkets and ornaments, each one more ancient than the fortress she stood in.

Mierin played the part of the Pureblood today.

When Silara found her way to the Courtyard, she was immediately addressed by her Master. “In the days of the ancient Empire. We used the Darkside in a different way, we manipulated and changed it to its greatest effect. Today, I believe it is known as Sith Magic.”

[member="Silara Vantai"]

 

[Ellie Mors]

When Mierin had rebuked her, just shortly after seemingly praising her, Silara had felt no shock or injury from her words. She had come to expect such sharp-tongued replies, and often found herself hating both herself and her master for the constant application of such break-down tactics. What her master had said next, however, stirred her from her internal strife - she knew exactly what the significance of the fortress was, she'd made plans to visit there some weeks ago but never quite got around to venturing inside just yet. The following day she found herself arriving at the place that fate had apparently been withholding from her until now, and judging by the appearance and feeling of the place it was for good reason. Whereas Mierin was finally wearing something that seemed becoming of a woman, Silara was still wearing one of her glistaweb dresses - she'd made a habit of doing so. "I am familiar with some of the effects of Sith Magic." She replied, though she was curious for as to what the Sith Pureblood had to teach her of the subject, she'd only managed to learn things through trial and error - Veles being wholly incompetent in the field, requiring her to learn for herself at a drastically slow pace.

[member="Valerie Vizsla"]

 

[J3C0]

[member="Silara Vantai"]

A man was brought out, dragged along the ground by two fearsome Sith who seemed to be tattooed from head to toe, each one with a stern face. The man was tossed onto the ground before Mierin, between herself and Silara. The Sith Pureblood looked down at the blubbering fool who quickly began to beg for his life.

“Sith Magic is beyond the regular use of the force. Unlike simple lightning or a wave of destruction, it is the essence of the negativity we feed off of. It is the harnessing and controlling of the thinnest and most powerful pieces of the Darkside of the Force. 'The very core of evil' is what my father had once called it.” Mierin didn't move, but Silara would sense a burst come from her.

The man on the floor went wide eyed, his tongue stilled instantly, and his face glazed over.

“As I'm sure you know, with it, One can effect anything and everything. Life, death, Thoughts.” She drew the last word out, tilting her head slightly to the side. The man on the floor looked at her, worship suddenly replacing what had been utter terror. “Sith Magic is as limited as you are. Those that are powerful and well learned in its use can effect the tides of the cosmos.”

Naga Sadow had been able to anyway.

 

[Ellie Mors]

Turning her head to observe the man as he was pulled out, dragging across the floor, she made a puzzled look. She was familiar with the prowess of Sith Magic, and as her master spoke she began to understand just what was going on. The entirety of this event was an orchestrated lesson, and the man was her example. While it was not necessarily impressive that Mierin had subjugated the man mentally, she had seen such done without the use of Sith Magic prior, she was well aware that the burst of power she felt was something she had long since coveted prior to her even joining the Sith. She had sought out the Sith Lord, Darth Veles as he had once been known, to bring her to their order, the One Sith, so she could learn the ways of Sith Sorcery, not quite caring so much for its alchemical sibling. The Mon Calamari, however, had noticed her fascination with the Dark Side and her obsession with knowledge and thought, foolhardily so, to curb her thirst for knowledge by taking her as his apprentice - a regimen of training which was primarily focused on saber combat and physical applications of the force, including telekinesis. While these basics were helpful, she was held back by his caution and patience, and his blistering claim for neutrality faltered her steps into the Dark Side that was only realized upon her apprenticeship under Mierin.

Snapping back to the present, she observed the Sith pureblood's demonstration of incapacitating the man. It was a small display of a grand power, one of which only a fraction of the population of the galaxy's force sensitives, but it was still a magnificent start to what she hoped would be a wonderful experience in learning. Thus far the only experience she'd had using Sith magic was more of a natural expression of the dark side, rather than anything advanced - though she had heard her creation of the waves of darkness on Csilla was a rarity for someone so untrained in the field of sorcery. "This was my ambition, master. You cannot understand how ready I am to learn more of this, I will do everything in my power to prove to you my worth if you are to teach me this." Silara replied, envisioning herself in the distant future doing things she only dreamed of now. Such was the Dark Side to her, a world of dreams being brought into reality, and her obsession with its multiple expressions and grips on the hearts of many never once wavered as she sought after it. Today would be no different, to say she was excited for this was an understatement.

[member="Valerie Vizsla"]

 

[J3C0]

(I never got a tag for your post! Sorry! If I ever go more than a week without replying please PM me, I get busy IRL but not THAT busy.)
[member="Silara Vantai"]

The withering worm on the floor before her looked up at Mierin with worship in his gaze. The Sith Pureblood looked down at the peasant, a slight sneer on her face. This was pathetic, the creatures mind had bent in half a second, not even a whim had been enough to completely befoul his thoughts. Mierin sneered, then looked up at her apprentice.

“I intend to teach you what I know.” Mierin walked around the kneeling man, his eyes following her, and when they could not his entire body beginning to spin. “If you're seeking means of totalitarian destruction or star ravaging power, then I am not the one to teach it. Yet I have other gifts.”

She raised her finger, and the little man began to stand.

“Far more subtle ones.” Her finger suddenly jerked, and the man grasped his own head, and wrung it to the side. A loud snap resounded within the courtyard, and the man fell to the floor. Control, that was what Mierin had, control. That was why she had been a Hand. Through control of Sith Magic, and through the control of others she had been an excellent diplomat, spy, and assassin.

She could not destroy worlds, but men and women?

Easy enough.

Mierin looked to Silara, and slowly, she began to instruct.

(I suggest you timeskip forward a bit)

 

[Ellie Mors]

A considerable amount of concentration, hard work, and diligence were put into the following hours, even days, of training and practice. There were sleepless nights that went by like hours after failed attempt after attempt to replicate her master's techniques on her own, scolded often for each failure, beaten and spoken down to until she had at last succeeded in learning the abilities her master had set time aside for. "One step closer.." Came the thoughts in her head, eliciting a smug grin that she quickly cast away as she prepared for their next lesson, or whatever the Sith Lord had in store for the Vahla. For a moment she flashed back to their first meeting, where she'd been tasked with a trial at the end of her apprenticeship and she wondered if that day would come as soon as she felt - rushed and unexpected - or if it would never come at all. In these situations she was indeed a procrastinator, but she supposed that once their short relationship together as Master and Apprentice would come to a close that her habits would die with it. A short sigh escaped her lip and she waited.

[member="Valerie Vizsla"]