Aftermath
Lord Namora....The name rang in Jurzack's mind, the numbness creeping over his body like a silent serpent coils round its prey. The power and life being slowly leached from his body, he opens his mouth to talk but not even a whisper slips out, the numbness is overwhelming slithering over him the only sound he hears is that of his own heart. The thump, thump, thump of its beat was once strong and steady now quivers as if on the very edge of existence. The blood rushing in his ears almost like a waterfall inside his head the rushing cascading and with a crescendo the sound stops as does the beating of his heart.
Jurzack opens his eyes, it had been a week since the Trial of Unity and he had still not recovered. Everywhere he looked he could see the images of Lord Namora sapping his strength, Lord Korinth standing behind him ready to strike, the Overseer continuing to talk, chastising his free will while attempting to strip his defence. Lord Tybras, silent and wicked his dual bladed lightsaber ignited, its white blade expelling shadows all round him. Fools, all of them. Rising out of bed he walks through his quarters, his serving droid clattering about his ship elsewhere, reaching forward he dips his hands into a bowl of cold water and splashes it over his face, the cold water offers no comfort and no clearance, looking at the man in the mirror he scarcely recognises the man who stares back. His red eyes blink unsteady at the mirror image, squinting he attempts to concentrate but his connection to the force is shaky.
The Dark side, was once like an old friend, forever there tempting him to do more, fuelling his rage to lash out, was now elusive, like chasing a shadow in the mirror. He had to concentrate more and more to try and catch it. Shaking his head he dressed and moved about his cabin, he finds that anger is no longer an ally, in fact concentrating on the moment he has no anger, no love and no hate. Concentrating, his brow furls he knows that he should feel something but nothing remains. He looks to his belongings, his armour still scorched from a previous sparring match with Moshud is still in need of repair, but he disregards this need in favour of the moment, his mask is gone and so is his lightsaber.
Casting his mind back to the events of the previous evening, he remembers approaching Lord Namora, dropping his lightsaber at her feet to utter the words Unity and depart. He shakes the memory like a bad taste in his mouth away and presses a small switch upon the wall, moments later his droid 2VR6 shuffles meekly into the room, his electronic twang of his voice is an irritant at best one that often tests Jurzack's patience, however on this occasion Jurzack doesn’t care.
“Master you summoned me? I am but happy to serve! What can I do for you? Some breakfast? We have some Khadvarian Eggs left in the -” Jurzack raises his hand silencing the droid, his voice is meek but cold, “Plot course for the twin deaths. When the course is ready engage the hyper drive. I shall be meditating until we reach the destination. I am not to be disturbed until then, understood?” The droid offers no resistance and it knows better than to question its master. “Understood Master.”
Looking past the droid he simply exits his quarters and heads for a small chamber close to the engines. The room is dark, lit by only two candles, one porthole looking upon the bright dots of the stars. Kneeling in the centre of the room he kneels and concentrates, reaching out with hand he focuses upon the candles and attempts to extinguish the flame with the force. A child's game yet when he opens his eyes the flame burns bright as if testing him, closing his eyes again he pictures a gust of wind gently blowing out the candles, leaving small smoke trails in their wake, however alas the flame continues, to burn flickering only slightly as if mocking him at his inability to complete such a simple task.
The ship trembles slightly as the star lights bleed into lines as the ship lurches into hyperspace. The interior of the room is bathed in the blue light of the hyperspace corridor but Jurzack ignores the gentle thrum of the engines as they are put through their paces. Again turning his head back to the candles he closes his eyes, but the silence offers no comfort the candles continue to burn defiant. He reaches out attempting to lift the candles but nothing, nothing more than a child's dreams that he is something more than he is. He knows that he should be angry, that he should feel something but no, just a void of emptiness that nothing seems to fill. He stands in defeat and looks out the porthole, his hands clasped behind his back, his breathing steady but somehow defeated.
His mind wanders and he doesn't know how long he has been staring out at the stars as the ship shudders and the desk plate’s creak as the ship lurches out of hyperspace, turning on his heel he exits the room and heads to the bridge. Rounding the corner his footsteps are heavy on the deck plating ringing out across the empty ship, he takes the 3 steps in a single bound as the bridge displays are all lit up. Power output displays on the instrument panels glow red indicating stress levels on the outer hull. “2V, reconfigure the hyper drive for static discharge.” The droid says nothing in response but carries out his orders, sitting at the controls he eases the engines forward and for the first time he looks out the canopy.
The sight could have been painted by a hidden majestic hand, two gravity wells on either side of each other, their hidden grasp reaching out to devour any matter, light or ship who is stupid enough to venture too close to the event horizon. The engines of the ship flare as the read outs read red across the board, the droid's metallic voice prangs his alarm “Master, we are going to close, we must remain at the edge or we will be pulled in.” The ships armour starts to shake as the gravity stress creaks through the hull. Moving lightly Jurzack pulls back on the hyper drive’s activation lever but instead of the ship accelerating forward the ship remains motionless. The creaking stops and the readouts on the ship move back to their acceptable tolerance levels. However the hyper drive is operating at 150% as the engine slowly beings to heat, the readout reads 30 minutes to meltdown and starts counting backwards.
Jurzack looks out the canopy to the gravity wells, his arms folded his breathing steady. His mind floats back to his old master, “When we cannot find the answer that lies in front of us, you must re-trace your steps. Well Master, here I am, where are you and your words of wisdom now? Splashed by a republic cruiser ...” Sighing out of mild confusion, wishing to know why he had decided to come here he turns and leaves the cockpit not turning back. “2V, move us to maximum attrition point” the thrum of the sublight engines power up again as the ship eases its way forward, the gravity wells reaching out unseen hands trying to snatch the ship all out and away from Jurzack's watchful eyes. He returns to the small silent room, the room bathed in total darkness the candles extinguished. He looks around a cold prickling covers his skin as he turns a full 360 degrees, the room empty yet he feels something.
The voice is like a cold snap, it rings in his ears so loud that it hurts him, his instincts compel him to cover his ears. The voice difficult to understand, it struggles to find form but he can feel rage, cold and dark, but it does not emanate from him. The voice finding its pitch, echoes through the room, bouncing off the walls almost striking Jurzack. “FAILED!” He recognises the voice, his old master Darth Kraighneth her form is almost like pure lightning arcing through the small room, her rage is endless and timeless “You FAILED me, you let me DIE, you WORTHLESS wretch, you whom I bestowed my POWER fails simple tasks that a SITH CHILD could accomplish” The anger and bitterness are almost tangible, the voice finds form and the image of Darth Kraighneth stands before him. Her body is thin and gaunt, her skin ragged and scorched, this is not the master that he remembers.
His voice trembles slightly, he knows that he should curse himself for showing weakness but his feelings have bled away from him like blood from an open wound. “Master, I thought you were dead?” Suddenly realising his place he drops to one knee before her, his head bowed. “Why are you kneeling? You were never this week? What happened to my wrath given form?” He dares not look her in the eye but he speaks “A trial, of unity. Many Dark Lords all using different forms of combat against me. I was not strong enough to defend against them all.” Suddenly the form in front of him reaches out and the hand touches his head, her hand is ice cold but radiates in power. His head starts to tremble and then shakes violently the images and the scenes of that day rattle past him in a split second, the hand releases him, the final surge pushes him from his kneeling position and he falls back onto his backside, the wind being knocked out of him.
For a long time the form in front of him says nothing she remains silent, the ship then lurches and the deck plating vibrate violently. Jurzack scrambles to his feet and dashes to the cockpit, all the displays are glowing red, 2V lets out a screech and an alarm as one of the consoles explodes next to him. “Report!” Jurzack barks as he skids to a halt in front of the captain’s chair. “Gravity Spike Master, it is more than the engine could handle, we are being pulled in Master.... what are we to do, we will be crushed. Spat out the other side like yesterday’s garbage.” Jurzack cuts in “Silence and contain yourself. Divert all power to the hyper drive, take power from all systems and sub systems to keep the static bubble functional”. Not awaiting an acknowledgement Jurzack looks at the distance, the ship had already slipped past the no entry point and even with the hyperspace generator negating the major effects of the gravity wells the ship was still being pulled towards the event horizon.
Exiting the cockpit the ship is completely dark, his eyes take some time to adjust but the presence still remains, the skin on the back of his neck tingling “You have lost your connection my apprentice, your Lord Namora's force plague has somewhat neutered your connection.” The form smirks, an evil smile at the mention of being neutered. “Only your rage can restore you. Your rage is your passion, your rage will set you free, she has bound you and only you can break those bonds” His voice is that of someone who has already accepted defeat, “Master I have no rage, no fear and no emotion.” Darth Kaighneth's smile is wicked and cruel, the smile is empty and shows no teeth. “Then my apprentice.... you will learn.”
A frown creases his forehead and his head tilts to the side in a questioning manner, the form of his old master disappears but the prickling sensation remains. Looking about the ship for any signs of movement, the attack is swift and sudden. The lightning bolt ripples through the deck plating, catching his feet it circles up through his legs causing his muscles to spasm. The second bolt catches him square in the chest with his legs routed he cannot dodge or move, the bolt ripples through his body without grounding a second strike and a third leave Jurzack panting for breathe. “PAIN” his forearm catches fire, he has not seen anything remotely like this before, the heat is intense searing through his cloak, he desperately pats the flames to put them out, but succeeds only in spreading the fire as both hands engulf in flames. The pain is extreme and he cannot help but scream out as another bolt of electric energy strikes him point blank square in the chest. The fire has spread and the ship is filled with the stench of seared flesh his legs engulfed in flames and white hot pain, bits of his cloak or is that flesh peel off him and spill on to the deck the flames still ravaging where parts fall.
His legs weak at the strain from his convulsions his leg muscles snap and he crumples to the floor his legs now unable to support his weight. The fire disappears leaving him blackened and breathless, the smell alone is unbearable. “PAIN!” the voice echoing through the ship, Jurzack looks up his eyes bleary the force whips past him catching his hand, with a crunch the bones in his hand shatter the pain again causes him to cry out, the wind changes direction and catching his left leg snapping the bone whipping the right and again the bones just crunch under the weight of a massive force push. Lying on his back unable to move apart from stare at the ceiling the force wind hits down on his chest, his skin rips bones splinter and his chest is crushed. He feels the splintered bones enter into his lungs and he coughs up a mouthful of blood. The wind passes through his body and grips at his spine, he feels that he is mere moments from his death through the blood and the bone he cries out. “NO!”
Opening his eyes the ship running lights have returned, he sits up he looks down as his body. His armour is fine; his hands are fine, no marks and no burns. He stands up and looks forward as the presence moves back into view its cold eyes flicker “PAIN” it screeches, but the sound has diminished she flings her arms out as lightning arc from her finger tips, Jurzack throws out his hands summoning his strength he reaches out with the force shielding himself for her attacks, reaching out he feels her presence lifting her from the ground. Commanding the force, his rage finds its place, his fear is controlled and he brings both hands together using the force he starts crushing both sides of her. Her eyes widen as she is losing her grip on him. He throws the force wave against her and the presence is propelled back against the wall of the ship, with a scream the presence shatters like glass thrown against a solid wall. The presence dissipates and the cold bleakness is gone.
2V enters the room, screeching but Jurzack is still buried in his new found rage, reaching out with the force he lifts the droid off the ground again using both hands presses the droid’s body together. The silver metallic body shudders and shivers is the servos are unable to take the pressure and the droid collapses, the chest caves in and the head piece crunches together. The droid's eyes burn out and then shatter; lifeless he throws the droid against the wall. Breathing heavily he smiles, not cruel but contented. An alarm from the cockpit draws his attention, entering he moves towards the controls, undoing the static charge in the hyper drive he eases the ship away from the event horizon. The star lights bleed into lines and the shuddering is replaced by the thrum of the engines as the ship jumps to hyperspace. Mere moments later he eases the power off on the hyper drive and the stars re-appear along with the cold blackness of space. When clear he shuts the hyper drive off completely and the ship itself almost breathes a sigh of relief as everything starts to cool off. Setting his eyes on the horizon he shuts the running lights off sitting in the blackness of space looking out onto the stars seething hatred burning inside.
“Now Lord Namora, Pain.”