Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Private Woven Threads, Pulled Taut

The mountains of Lorta

In the distant past - though, perhaps not too distant - the warlike Lortan Fanatics had carved a bloody path though neighboring sectors. In the end, their genocidal fury had led to their eventual purge.

Centuries later, whispers of a possible resurgence had reached Alliance ears. The information was sparse; it could've been little more than cantina talk, or a misheard story.

But it warranted investigation.

The mountains of Lorta were dotted with crumbling structures, places of worship that religious extremists retreated to during their extermination. Many of the temples had disintegrated underneath the weight of time, leaving behind little more than chunks of stone. If there had been any carvings or decorations of note, they'd been weathered down to nothing.

One sanctuary, partially built underground, had largely withstood the ravages of time. It was by no means pristine, and some decaying sections had collapsed entirely, but it was one of the few buildings that housed any remains of the Fanatics culture and beliefs.

At the surface of the decrepit ruins, Cora pressed a hand against a thick green vine that had woven its way around a broken pillar. Life surged into the verdant plant, urging it to elongate and grow down the length of a hole that lead deeper into the underbelly of the temple. Winding her leg around the vine, Cora shimmied her way into the darkness.

A glow rod lit her way through the puzzling corridors. It was far cooler underground, but the unkempt stone walls still reeked of mildew. Her nose wrinkled, reminded of the brief time she'd spent in the dungeons beneath the royal palace of Ukatis.

The passage spilled out into a spacious chamber with a remarkably high ceiling. Various implements, perhaps once used for ritualistic purposes, lay scattered about the floor. What caught her eye, though, were the murals painted along the walls.

Ancient brushstrokes depicted the Reslian Purge in all of its brutal glory. Images of Lortan ships descend unto Tunroth villages, razing homes and murdering civilians. One particularly grisly scene illustrated a Tunroth hunter being stabbed, shot, and having his skull caved in by a club at the same time. Cora winced, but held the glowrod closer as her bare fingertips skimmed over the composition.

The Lortan Fanatics of old may have been long gone, but the air here held a distant charge of zealous energy.

She couldn't help but wonder what had gone on in this room. Her nose curled at the probable answer.


“Disgusting.”

Sinestra Sinestra
 
Sinestra's steps silently echoed through the ancient underground sanctuary, but purposeful in their quest to find revelations to the visions that had guided her here. With her Force-enhanced senses, the seer could feel the whispers of secrets, of tales, lost to time; but each whisper was an incomprehensible murmur, her senses numbed and suppressed by a mysterious, malevolent presence that hung over the sanctuary like a thick fog.

Suddenly, a soft voice echoed through the chamber, barely audible yet unmistakably present. Sinestra froze, her heart pounding in her chest as she strained to listen. Was it the voice of the past, calling out to her from beyond the veil of time? Or was it something more sinister, lurking in the darkness, waiting to ensnare her in its grasp?

She stepped out of one of the chambers and her inquisitive features softened into a dull, irritated expression.

It was neither.

Just the back of a lone figure murmuring in disgust at a rather, gruesome mural painted on the stone walls.

The seer was unsure how to feel at the anticlimactic reveal that stood across.

"Disgusting for those who could not understand it." her sulfuric eyes, hidden by the long shadows cast by the dim light, fixated on the stranger, but her lightsaber hilt remained clipped to her belt.​

Corazona von Ascania Corazona von Ascania
 
Cora did not expect an answer.

Her pulse surged in an instant, feet instinctively moving to half-turn towards the source of the voice. The motion allowed her to split her vision between the newcomer and the mural - perhaps out of caution that the painting itself would come to life and make her its next victim.

It was strange, she realized, that she could not exactly discern which was the bigger threat. Maybe it was more than just the dreary mood that obfuscated her senses.

"Oh?"

Cora's expression crinkled as she studied the lone figure, her form unmistakably feminine but her more defining features lost to the poor lighting. Was she a specter? A cultist? Perhaps this place wasn't as abandoned as the Jedi had initially thought.

Her eyes snapped down to the saber hilt in grim understanding, then up to the woman's shadowed face.

"Disgusting doesn't necessarily erase meaning."

Sinestra Sinestra
 
Sinestra narrowed her eyes, examining the woman before her, but found herself unable to glean any definitive insights. Whether due to her own limitations in reading people or the shroud of darkness that seemed to cloak the woman, she couldn't be certain. Yet, where her eyes failed, her foresight did not.

Her visions did not account for another sentient here.

The woman stood as an obstacle in the path of the future.

With an air of arrogance fueled by the dark side's insatiable thirst for the projection of power, Sinestra's will exerted pressure on the stranger's mind, seeking to enslave her free will.

"You will leave here and never return."​

Corazona von Ascania Corazona von Ascania
 

You will leave here and never return.

The woman's voice, low and steady, echoed in the underground chamber they were standing in. That wasn't what caught Cora off guard - it was the sentiment that whispered in her mind, and the sudden urge to flee that followed.

With one hand resting at the clip of her saber, the other formed a fist at her side. Her body shifted slightly, in the direction of one of the long hallways that would hopefully lead to an exist.


I don’t belong here.

Once the nails biting into the palm of her hand began to sting, the fist relaxed. The Jedi shored her mental defenses, pulling the chain links around her mind a bit tighter.

This place was steeped in the Dark, unwelcoming for a Jedi. The woman's voice still lingered in her mind.

"Is this your home?"

Cora would've turned to gesture towards the mural behind her if she hadn't been keeping her attention trained on the mysterious figure.


"I mean no harm. I'm here to learn."


A half-truth told with sincerity, and a subtle exertion of the Force for good measure.

Sinestra Sinestra
 
Even through the unnatural mist clouding her senses, Sinestra felt the gleaming rays of Light deflect her mental prongs away from their intended target.

The stranger's questions lingered in the silence between the two interlopers of this ancient place. Their answer was hissed to life, draping the walls in crimson. Sinestra launched herself at the woman like a venomous snake, her blade slashing for a deadly bite.

"Then learn to die!" she spat, her scowl illuminated by the glow of her lightsaber.

Corazona von Ascania Corazona von Ascania
 
A beat passed, then two. The silent tension that coiled between them finally snapped.

Cora stumbled back as the figure surged forward in a blur of green and red. A crimson blade lashed out for her neck and came precariously close - so close that she could feel a brief flash of heat from the burning plasma.

A golden lock of hair, singed at one end, drifted to the stone floor between them.

Her hands moved before her mind could catch up. One extended outwards to shove the aggressor back with the Force, the other grasped her saber hilt and unclipped it from her belt.

"What is your problem?" She snapped.

Sinestra Sinestra
 
Sinestra smirked in wicked satisfaction. Her blade was mere inches away from the Jedi's neck, sealing her headless fate. It was that close that it was certain.

Only for her to smash into an invisible wall repulsing her backwards like a rag doll. Pain flared through her body as she collided with the narrow corridor, bruises and cuts blooming across her skin, before she could find her feet mid-air and land, sliding with one knee and palm on the cold floor.

"What is your problem?"

"You have no place here, Jedi." she retorted, extending a hand forward and squeezing. The Force trembled under her command and launched debris of the ruins at the blonde; broken tile pieces, small rocks, even a few ancient Max Rebo band vinyls that had somehow found their way here.
 
The Force trembled with unseen tension before exploding forth. A hail of sharp debris surged toward Cora, and in that moment she felt something faintly familiar.

It was not a pleasant feeling, and she tried to put it to rest while ducking and weaving through the assault. Her head jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding a vinyl that would've cut like a razor.

"You-"

The Jedi was pressure back, grunting and grimacing as small stones struck her limbs at high velocity. One shard of tile struck her shoulder, digging in, and she cried out before hissing through clenched teeth.

"-have we met before?"

Cora took shelter from the storm behind a stone altar, the finer details of its shape lost to time. She killed her lightsaber, one hand reaching forward. Fingers curled, locking in on the Dark Jedi as the Force wove around her like a paralytic serpent.

Sinestra Sinestra
 
Sinestra was on the move, halfway there, when her nerves, muscles and every fibre of her body became senseless and stiff. Stasis, she gritted her teeth forcing to break the hold but failed.

The seer opted to buy time; she would entertain the Jedi's fruitless curiosity.

"No..." the Mirialan spat a lie, pushing back against the sudden sense of familiarity. Halsia Myr was dead, Sinestra had made sure of that. "...or you would've been dead already... Jedi filth."

Corazona von Ascania Corazona von Ascania
 
The invisible webbing ad hit its mark, but how long would it hold for?

Cora inched her way out from behind the altar. She regarded the now stationary Mirialian with an appraising eye, trying to unravel any threads of familiarity.

Do I recognize her or am I just being speciesist?

"Why would I already be dead if I knew who you were?"

Her hand clenched tighter, readjusting her hold, brow tense.

Sinestra Sinestra
 
Ensnared in the Jedi's stasis, she felt helpless as a prey to predator. Sinestra was thrown to a time to a past life, to a life chained by the weak and wrong teachings of the Jedi, to a life before she was reborn in the image of power of her Master. Her blood began to boil, the pent up rage carving dark fissures across her face like an earthquake tearing a world apart. And the Jedi's innocent curiosity did not help.

"You are just about to..." she whispered, her voice filled with venom.

The dark side would free her.

"...FIND OUT!!" the telekinetic hold shattered and her hands lunged forward, lightning cracking from her finger tips like a furious tempest lashing out at the Jedi. Not as potent as a Sith Lord's skills, but still a testament to the depths of her fall to the Dark Side.

Corazona von Ascania Corazona von Ascania
 
The stasis wouldn't last forever. Cora knew that, but she'd held onto the hope, perhaps naively, that she could talk down the Dark Jedi before her.

Her outstretched hand clenched tighter and tighter as it attempted to maintain its hold, but the storm broke through. Lightning lanced through the air, trawling up her outstretched arm and flowing through her body.

Their dim surroundings lit up for a few moments, illuminating the grotesque murals painted along the walls and Cora’s twitching body.

The Jedi seized, grunting in pain as lightning tore through the entire sleeve of her arm. Branch-like patterns scored deep into her reddened skin. When the assault finally let up, she was on one knee, panting heavily. One thought echoed clearly in her mind, cutting through the arrogance of her curiosity.

I need to get out of here!

Extending her hand again took far more effort with her muscles burning, but she didn't go for any grand gestures. Instead, she loosened a few stones at the base of a crumbling pillar, and scrambled upward.

Sinestra Sinestra
 
The power, the unlimited power of the dark side surged through her veins pulling her lips into a malicious sneer. How could she have been so blind before, how could she have wasted so many years under the tutelage of the Jedi, chained to their restrictive teachings.

The Emperor had shown her the way, liberating her from the confining yoke of the Jedi, and now the galaxy would tremble before its inevitable change in His Highness' image.

This foolish trespasser would be one of its first witnesses.

And yet, the ceaseless hunger of the dark side blinded her to her adversary's machinations. Basking in the gluttony for power, Sinestra failed to notice the Jedi's cunning retaliation; a flick of her wrist and a loose pillar came crashing down unceremoniously on the Elite, bringing an end to the tempest she had wrought within this ancient alcove. The weight of the tumbling stones broke through the floor and the seer found herself falling into the void, along with the pieces of Max Rebo band's vinyl.

The Jedi could hear Sinestra's echo for vengeance trailing away: "This is not over--

Princess!!"

Corazona von Ascania Corazona von Ascania
 
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No delight filtered through her as the Mirialian fell through the newly made rift in the temple floor. Only relief. Now she could escape -

"This is not over--

Princess!!"

Cora paused. Princess? How did she-? Or had it been meant to be more derogatory?

You should've been more careful!

The Jedi could ponder that later, along with the unsettling familiarity of her assailant. For now, the adrenaline pumping through her system urged a hasty retreat before the Dark Jedi could crawl her way back to the surface.

Disappointed, Cora fled back the way she'd come. Her body was still sluggish, tingling and burning from the lightning.

The searing pain in her arm would take time to fade, but it would leave a set of fractal, jagged lines in its wake. An eternal reminder.

Sinestra Sinestra
 
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