Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by Priapus, Marethyu, Mike God of Lore, Beans
The Celestial Inquisitor
Chapter 12: Storm
– Vette –
Taunt had gotten them both into a mountain of shit. Even if she captured Taunt and brought her back, they were both going to be punished terribly for Taunt's attempted escape. Maybe they should have left Taunt on Balmorra until they were done here. She might have been a little more grateful after some more time on relief duty for the entire Imperial forces.
Getting into Olaris was pathetically simple. The Republic troops were on guard for the rakghouls and wildlife of Taris, but they weren't even watching for infiltrators, and Taunt's tracks led straight to the Republic Base, just as she'd expected.
Before she met Sarik, she'd probably have just gone in through the front, but with her new training, scaling a wall and slipping inside wasn't even remotely difficult. Once inside, she was just another alien. Sure, the Republic was more inclusive than the Empire, but she was pretty sure the mostly Human Republic soldiers could only tell the difference between one Twi'lek and another by their skin colour.
Approaching one of them, she played the naive, cute alien girl and asked if he'd seen her friend, a red Twi'lek. A minute later, she had a direction as she felt the man watching her ass as she walked away. These people were all going to die, and soon.
It made her feel a little bad, but she had her priorities. Keeping herself and her dumbass friend alive. Sarik was getting increasingly powerful. If they crossed him…
She was useful to Sarik; she'd succeeded in her training and had his affection. If Taunt had just stayed put, things could have gone much better for them. Instead, the idiot had set everything back by trying to run. It was a miracle she hadn't been eaten by a rakghoul on the way back, and Taris had a one-month quarantine before the Republic would let Taunt leave.
"V-Vette?!" Taunt asked, surprise and a bit of fear on Taunt's face as she spotted Vette. "How did you-"
"What the hell were you thinking?" Vette hissed, moving closer. She froze as Taunt took a step back, taking a defensive stance. Taunt saw her as a threat.
"I was thinking I had a chance to get away from a slaver Sith. I thought you, of all people, would understand that, but no… your great plan is to just do whatever the Sith wants," Taunt countered. "What happened to you, Vette? The Vette I know would never have just timidly accepted the collar around her neck!"
"Better to live as a slave. You haven't seen what Sarik can do. What he will do to anyone who crosses him," Vette argued. "I had a plan, you stupid schutta. All you had to do was play nice for a bit longer. Look, we can still fix this. You have to come back, and you can either do it willingly, or I can drag you back. It'll be worse for you if I have to take you down."
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out Taunt's slave collar, watching her friend's eyes widen in horror at the realisation that she planned to re-collar her.
"Sorry, Vette, but I'm not going back. I've seen what being a slave to the Sith means, and I'm never going back," Taunt said, pulling out a blaster as Vette sighed.
She went to speak, but the entire building shook as her eyes widened. Taunt looked around in confusion, but Vette simply took a deep breath.
"What- what is happening?" Taunt asked, and Vette just let out a dry chuckle.
"My next test. Sarik has started his attack. This base is doomed. We might just be doomed with it," Vette admitted, and as Taunt went to respond, she moved. Dashing forward, she felt her heart ache as Taunt took a single shot at her, but her training didn't let her down as she sidestepped. Taunt's shot went wide. Vette lunged for her friend, fists swinging as she disarmed her friend and threw Taunt over her shoulder, slamming her into the ground.
Taunt barely had a chance to speak before Vette was pinning her to the ground.
"Last chance, Taunt. You're going back to Sarik, and I can't afford to have you fighting back with the attack ongoing," Vette said, snapping the collar around her friend's neck.
"And what if I don't-" Taunt started, going silent as a blade was pressed to her throat.
"If you'd rather die than be a slave, so be it. I won't leave you to be infected by the rakghouls, but I can at least make it quick for you," Vette said, her heart heavy as she saw Taunt's terror. "We're going back to Sarik. If you try to run, I'll kill you myself."
What scared her the most was how true the words sounded. Whatever Sarik had been doing when he'd implanted that knowledge in her head had changed her. It didn't matter. She would survive, and the best way to do that was to complete her training and keep on Sarik's good side.
Taunt shuddered, but as Vette led her out, she froze. Her eyes fell on the republic troop that she had asked for directions, seeing the way he was on his hands and knees, heaving as he vomited. It only took her a moment to realise what Sarik had done.
He'd infected her with something. She'd thought it was a weapon against her. But no, as she looked around the violently ill troops, she realised what its purpose had been. She'd carried a bioweapon into the base right before the attack. Even now, she could hear desperate blaster fire as Rakghouls swarmed the place, but as she looked around, she realised something.
The only people on their feet were Twi'leks. Sarik had created a plague that didn't affect her species and sent her in to infect the base. A rakghoul rushed in their direction, but to her shock, it ignored her as it pounced on a downed human, ripping him to pieces.
She really was a puppet dancing in the palm of his hands, wasn't she? Even if she ever got free, she was a bioterrorist now. Had he planned for Taunt's escape? He knew she would fail to control Taunt, and turned the entire escape into a part of his plans.
"What- what is happening?" Taunt whispered, horrified by the violence unfolding in front of them.
"What I saved you from," Vette spat back, dragging Taunt away as she tried to drown out the violence. Taunt broke free, trying to make a run for it as Vette reached into her pocket. With a single press of a button, Taunt fell to the floor, screaming in pain as her collar activated, electricity coursing through Taunt's body.
'I have prepared a speeder for you and Taunt. You did well, Vette.'
Sarik's voice in her head confirmed what she always suspected. His mark on her was more than just a sign of his ownership. He'd watched this entire thing through her eyes. Following his directions, she threw the unconscious Taunt onto the speeder and mounted it herself, setting off into the wilds and leaving the destruction behind her.
– Elara Dorne –
Coughing, she tried to focus as she fired into the swarm of rakghouls. They had never been this aggressive before. Sure, they attacked on sight, but they had never been this coordinated.
Her breathing was heavy, sweat coating her body as she tried to push past the pain to focus on the attack. There had to be more to this than just rakghouls, but she was in no position to think about the cause as her position was getting increasingly swarmed by what seemed like every rakghoul in a ten-mile radius.
The screams were the worst part. Olaris had more civilians than it did soldiers, and their front-line defences had fallen rapidly under the swarm. Governor Saresh had made the difficult decision to lock down the spaceport when it became clear that they were infected with something.
Taris had strict laws about unauthorised take-offs. Every ship had a one-month quarantine before they were allowed to leave to ensure that they did not carry the rakghoul plague off the planet. Many were rushing to try to get off-planet, seeing it as the only way to escape the seemingly endless horde, but the spaceport was locked down. Nobody was leaving.
To make things worse, the rakghouls were acting with an unnatural intelligence. Even now, they were moving toward the crowds in front of the spaceport instead of attacking the scattered civilians and soldiers.
She knew she was going to die as more and more of the Republic troops got picked off. The rakghouls swarmed her position, and she took a deep breath before she turned her blaster on herself.
She wasn't being infected.
To her shock and confusion, the blaster was ripped from her hands by an invisible force, her mind racing as she looked out and saw a Zabrak girl standing amidst the chaos, hand outstretched as the blaster flew into it.
A Sith?
As a group of Nikto followed behind her, an old report came to the forefront of her mind. Ki Sazen, a fallen Jedi and the leader of a cult of Nikto who worshipped her as a God. She'd seen the report of Ki arriving on Taris, but her and her followers had headed deep into the wilds and had soon been forgotten amidst the rest of the chaos and threats on Taris. Their threat assessment clearly had been wildly off, the Republic forces having seen Ki as a minor risk.
The Nikto rushed her, and before she could speak, one of them clubbed her across the face, knocking her to the ground.
"Keep her alive. He wants that one," Ki ordered, making Elara's mind race even as her head swam. He?
Ki's psychological report described her as a megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur. Her words implied she was taking orders from someone, which would explain the change in strategy.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a Nikto boot to the head, and she knew no more.
– Leontyne Saresh –
Taris was lost.
She didn't know what had caused this attack, the rakghouls becoming infinitely more aggressive, but she'd put credits on the Empire being involved. What mattered was that Olaris was doomed.
Years of her life, all that effort working towards the Taris Restoration Project, had all ended in a single day. Her career was going to take a heavy hit from this, but she wasn't going to die here.
She'd noticed that Twi'leks seemingly weren't infected by whatever had spread through Olaris. She wasn't stupid enough not to realise that she was almost certainly carrying the disease, but she wasn't going to die here.
On her private ship, with several Twi'leks that she'd gathered to pilot it, she prepared to abandon Taris. Yes, it would look bad for her to leave after ordering the spaceport to be shut down, but something told her that not many would live to tell on her.
Someone had to carry word of what happened here off Taris, and as the survivor, her word was going to be the only record. The Empire had done this, breaking the cease-fire to destroy their noble efforts to heal Taris.
"Prepare for take-off," Leontyne ordered, taking a deep breath as she took one last look at Taris. She wouldn't miss this hellhole of a planet.
The lack of response made her blood run cold.
Rushing to the cockpit, she froze as she saw the pilot she'd recruited. His headless body was still sitting in the pilot's seat, sending her into a panic as she heard someone giggle.
"Master said you were a coward at heart."
Spinning around, she came face to face with a blood-soaked human girl who was watching her closely.
"Who-"
Her words were cut off as the girl lifted her hand, Leontyne's throat tightening as she felt something squeeze down on it and she was lifted into the air.
"Sorry~ but my master has plans for you," the Sith said with another giggle. "Personally, I think he just has a thing for Twi'leks. You're a little old, but maybe he just wants a green one. He already has a red and blue one."
Leontyne gasped, struggling to breathe as the girl pulled her closer. Her eyes widened as the girl pulled out a slave collar. She'd grown up in Imperial slavery, and her heart began to pound faster and faster as the girl moved forward and snapped it around her neck.
The sound of movement distracted her attacker, one of the men she'd recruited turning the corner with a blaster in hand. The girl didn't even look back, vanishing in a poof of foul-smelling green smoke as she reappeared behind the man, a sickly green lightsaber slicing through his body in a single, merciless swing.
"Come along, slave, it's time to meet your new master," the girl said with a twisted smile. "He's going to be so proud of me. I told him Ki would fuck it up and let you escape. She's such a brat."
Saresh tried to respond, but the girl just grabbed her, and in another puff of smoke, they were gone. Her mind reeled as she was dragged through a dimension she simply couldn't comprehend, her captor humming happily at her success as she was taken away from the ruined Olaris.
– Sarik –
100cp granted. 200cp total.
I ignore the notification from my Holocron, entirely focused on the moment. Ki reports the destruction of Olaris, Kory reports the capture of Saresh, and Vette has Taunt.
They've all done their part; now all that is left is for me to do mine.
Today, Taris dies.
Sure, the Dark Council sent me after a single Jedi, but I'm an overachiever.
The Phantom has taken off. I don't want it to get caught up in this. Plus, I need it in orbit for the Ultrawave Transmitter to work as I planned. I was right to trust Floats Alone with this; his skill with technology is truly unparalleled.
The bloodshed from Olaris is a good start, as I draw on the carnage and pull the lost souls into the Warp, but it is only a start. What it does do is give me enough of a boost to do what I need to do.
Pulling out my bag of Warpstones, I start eating as I empty the entire bag into my mouth, my eyes glowing with green light. I've never had more than three at once, and I just ate my entire remaining bag.
With a roar of pain, I reach into Taris itself with [Mana Seism], the forest around me dying as I suck out every little piece of life from it, the dark-side-infused land fuelling me further. What I want to do is beyond me; it's beyond any living Sith that isn't the Emperor, but with so much powering me?
The ultra-wave transmitter fires off, and across the entirety of Taris, every single rakghoul gets the same command.
Kill.
Kill what? Anything, everything. An entire planet of berserk Sith-engineered monsters rampaging without a thought or care. If they can find life, they hunt down every smuggler, every pirate and every animal unfortunate enough to still be on this cursed planet, but if not?
They massacre each other, and then when only one is left, they tear themselves apart. Thousands die in the first second, and the death toll just keeps climbing. Ten thousand. A hundred thousand. A million and then so many more.
And every single death comes straight to me as I funnel each and every soul straight into the Warp itself, using my very body as the conduit. I'm already screaming at the first hundred thousand deaths, but I don't let the pain distract me.
The Force is screaming, too, but I expected this. Mara is on the ship, and Ki and Kory have been sent into my new pocket dimension because I expected the backlash through the Force to be downright apocalyptic on those at the epicentre of my genius.
I wouldn't want to be a Jedi on Taris right now.
With a final roar, I unleash the strongest spell in Skaven history.
It starts directly above me, a sickly green tear in space itself forming as the Warp leaks into real space, green lightning striking out from it as it spreads. The skies of Taris are ugly, but the greyish-blue is rapidly overwhelmed by my foul green as the Warp Storm spreads more and more, engulfing the entire planet.
Taris is forever lost to the Galaxy, a storm of unheard-of proportions spreading from it. With a gasp, I fall to my knees, my body screaming in pain from the way the Warp tore through it. The [Mark of Tzeentch] let me calculate how much damage I would do to myself.
Without my [Mental Shields, [Rune of Corruption] and [Sacred Gem, I would be either dead or a gibbering mess with a broken mind. Even with them, I cannot move for a long while, lying there on the ground as I cackle to myself.
They wanted to see if the Jedi could predict my actions, and I think it's safe to say they cannot. Aayla might have survived, but I doubt she's in a state to do anything right now.
– Mara Jade –
Despite her strength, she stumbled and gripped the console just to remain standing as the Force screamed. She'd known Sarik had a plan, but the entire point of this test was that she wasn't supposed to know what he was doing.
She knew he was here for Aayla, and she could be forgiven for having expected his plans to be far smaller. She'd even predicted that he might attack Olaris, and using Ki and her cult was a wise move to push the blame away from the Empire. She'd honestly been impressed when she'd heard the reports of Olaris' destruction and the capture of the Senator in charge of the Taris Resettlement Initiative.
She'd thought he was going to use the Senator as bait for his actual target while also ensuring Aayla couldn't leave by destroying the spaceport. It was logical.
What part of this was logical?!
Watching from deep space, she stared at Taris in shock as the storm just kept growing, engulfing the entire planet. Some ships had tried to leave, pirates most likely, but nothing could get through that all-encompassing storm intact.
He hadn't destroyed the Taris Resettlement Initiative; he'd destroyed Taris itself. They couldn't see through the storm, but until that storm settled, Taris was cut off from the Sith and Republic alike.
Her mind raced, wondering what his plan for getting himself off Taris was. He'd stayed behind, on the ground, as he did this. Sarik had just become a legend, the kind that would be spoken of in whispers in a thousand years.
She could feel the Emperor's presence stronger than ever as he watched through her eyes, and she could sense his interest and his amusement.
The Emperor was laughing.
Using her connection to the Emperor to steady herself, she let go of the console and rose to her feet with a deep breath. Juno asked her for orders. The captain was clearly shocked and left floundering, but Sarik had left orders, and Mara delivered them with a small smirk. It wouldn't be long until people came to examine Taris, and Sarik didn't want them here when it happened, the Phantom setting off for Balmorra.
Floats trilled happily, wiggling his tentacles at the sight of his master's achievement, and she gave the strange alien an amused look. She almost couldn't wait to see how the Dark Council took this.
They'd sent him to take out a single target, and he'd decided to finish Darth Malak's work and crush Taris for good. The worst part was that he may very well have done this to fulfil his lust for Twi'lek girls, given his capture of the Senator and plans for Aayla.
Maybe she should warn Darth Atroxa and Talon?
Smirking to herself, she listened to the Emperor's command. In all her years serving the Emperor, nothing had caught his attention like Sarik had.
– Satele Shan –
She had always been very sensitive to the Force.
It ran in her family, and it had played a large part in how she'd become the youngest Grand Master the Jedi Order had ever had. She had always been incredibly gifted with Foresight, able to see further into the future than most Jedi could dream. It was how she'd sensed the arrival of the Sith Empire on Korriban before they arrived, when she was merely a Padawan.
But that connection to the Force could be both a blessing and a curse, as she collapsed, clutching her head. The Force was screaming, and she suspected that every Jedi in the Galaxy could hear it. She was on Tython, far across the Galaxy from the source of this abomination, but the intensity of the Force Echo still brought her to her knees.
Her breathing was unsteady, sweat pouring from her as the very Force within her rebelled. Something had wounded the Force itself.
She stumbled to her feet, gasping as she looked around. Her sensitivity meant that it had hit her hard, but she was far from alone as she witnessed Padawans passing out, unable to handle the backlash, and Jedi Masters trying to steady themselves.
An emergency council meeting was called, and though several members failed to report, what little information they could get just didn't add up. The source was Taris, which was engulfed in a storm that just didn't feel right.
She could sense that the storm was more than just physical, a manifestation of the wound upon the Force. Even being in the same system made her feel ill.
Reports of an attack on Olaris made her frown. Ki Sazen had led an army of rakghouls and Nikto just before the crisis, but she couldn't have done this. Ki had been a very talented Knight once, but while her skill in the Force had been impressive, it was far from unique.
The Republic was panicking because the idea that this was caused by a Fallen Jedi was bad PR for both the Jedi Order and the Republic itself. Taris was supposed to be a symbol of hope and redemption in the face of Sith atrocities, but now it was lost to them. If they blamed the Sith, a reignition of the war was inevitable, but admitting that one of their own played even a small part in this was something they were desperate to avoid.
She doubted that storm would ever fade, not while the wound remained.
No, she had her own theory about what had happened, and it was a worrying one. Knight Secura had been sent to Taris to investigate reports of someone who should be long dead. She had written off the rumours of people seeing Revan near the wreckage of the Endar Spire as nothing but fanciful gossip.
She'd sent a Knight to investigate because anything involving Revan was something they couldn't ignore, but she expected Aayla to come back and tell her that it was nothing but rumours. At the worst, maybe there was some mad force-sensitive running around in a Revan mask.
Now, Taris had been engulfed in an unnatural storm, and the Force itself was wounded. Meetra Surik, the Exile, was also said to have been a living wound in the Force, and she'd followed Revan into battle against the Mandalorians.
It couldn't be a coincidence.
– Sarik –
As Khem returns, I smile to myself at the sight of the Jedi tossed over his shoulder. Aayla, for all her skill, was basically comatose when Khem found her. Her men were already being slaughtered. This was an easy pickup for Khem himself.
"I underestimated you, Little Sith," Khem finally says, looking up at the skies.
"Everyone did," I say, a wild grin on my lips. "Nobody ever will again."
"You are no Tulak Hord," Khem says, pausing. "But Tulak Hord is dead. In time, you may be his equal. I will serve, to see if you are worthy, little one."
"Watch and learn, Khem Val. I'm just getting started," I promise, taking in the corruption of Taris. The warp is leaking onto the planet's surface, altering those who remain and the very planet itself.
Despite Khem's insistence on calling me little, I can hear the respect in his tone. Besides, everything is little to the hulking behemoth. With a wave of my hand, I open the portal to the [Estate] and walk through it, with Khem following behind.
"You actually did it," Ki says, with shock and awe in her tone. "What are you?"
"He is our master; that's all that matters," Kory says, awe and lust in her voice. "Master, I can feel the Warp even through the portal. My new powers feel stronger than ever."
"Hmph. I guess he is," Ki admits, giving me a hungry look. Her ego has been shattered, but she really is a natural Sith because she's already hungering for my power. "I got your defector. She's unconscious, with the Governor."
"Taris is cut off from all but us. Only I have the power to get back to it, and only those with my permission will be able to come and go. Your cult will have their home, Ki, as I promised," I say, a proud smile on my face.
Ki returns the smile, and I can sense her pride in having even a small part in this.
On the garden of my estate, a Torii gate stands proudly. I can open the portal to my estate onto my ship, and the other Torii gate is on the ruins of the Olaris Reclamation Base. Nobody can fly to Taris, but I can return whenever I please.
The Nikto cult has claimed Olaris as their new home now that the surviving rakghouls have dispersed. Ki can control the rakghouls enough to keep them from attacking her home and her people.
Feats Achieved: Capture Elara Dorne (100cp), Capture Leontyne Saresh (100cp), Capture Aayla Secura (100cp), Destroy the Taris Resettlement Initiative (200cp), Wound the Force (300cp). 800cp granted. 1000cp total.
Due to completing your first official assignment, you can now gain abilities up to a cost of 400cp (increased from 200cp).
My power had a limiter on it? Everything I've done so far, I've done with the baby wheels on. The mere thought sends me into a fit of laughter, eager to see what else my little Holocron has in store for me.
[Sengir Bats] - 200cp, 800cp remaining
These winged bloodsuckers have become the seal and symbol of the Dark Barony over time, with many believing them to serve as the Baron's eyes. In truth, Sengir himself does not control or use them for any purpose. Nevertheless, they unnerve and frighten people.
While you don't own any bats in particular yourself, great numbers of them will gather around you and your holdings if you wish. These vampiric creatures spread fear and terror as if they were truly extensions of yourself. People will see your face in every one of these bats and quickly come to believe you are always watching through those beady eyes.
Despite these unnerving qualities, their presence may also be helpful. They feed mostly on insects and so keep bug populations in check even in swampy locales.
Taris just gained a new native species, as all of Taris is now 'my holding'. Sure, I can't actually control them yet, but the Skaven used rats as their eyes and ears, so it's possible I could learn to use bats for the same thing. I just need to learn to replicate how I control my rat horde, and I'll have an entire planet full of bats to control.
[Vampiric Castle] - 300cp 100cp, 400cp remaining.
What a beautiful castle this is, a shining example of nobility for the owner. With vast rooms and luxuries abound, a young lady would want for little. Any enhancements or additions to the Castle are integrated naturally and fluidly, even something as inane as a Pyramid landing on top of it. It comes staffed by young maidens who wouldn't think much of the owner's eccentricities, be it singing or something more bloody.
Indeed, it seems that this castle could be used for much more violent purposes. Once inside, it can become a labyrinth, making escaping a challenge even for quick-witted individuals, though the chance of escape rises the more of their fellow captives they outlive. In particular, they may want to escape the dungeons, staffed with torture instruments, rooms to keep 'pets' until new meat arrives, and a bath filled with fresh blood. A final room in its deepest depths is a walled-off chamber, with only a small slit for food at the bottom for those who deserve death for the acts this castle enabled.
For an additional 100 CP, it also comes guarded by two strange statue-like automatons, rising up against any threat to the castle.
The girls gasp as my estate combines with my new castle, but my own smile simply grows. I really think the Celestial Holocron gets me, sometimes. My captives quickly find themselves taken to my new dungeons, and I can see Ki's awe as she looks around the lavish environment.
Kory has had more time to get used to my nonsense, but Ki is just starting to realise just how absurd I can be.
[Mask of Gnose] - 400cp, 0cp remaining.
A powerful and ancient artefact of undetermined origin, the Mask of Gnose looks to be a carnival mask at first glance. However, if worn when bearing a treasured possession of another being, it merges the wearer's appearance with theirs. Not only that, but it permits the wearer to copy about half of that being's skills as related to the object (so a sword would add half their combat abilities to your own, while a paintbrush would steal their art skills), though only to the limit of matching the original. Removing it requires that the wearer hold that object while removing the mask or that the original owner of that object touches it once more.
My eyes go to Aayla's lightsaber, picking it up as I place the colourful mask on my face. Instantly, my body shifts and warps as my skin turns blue, two long lekku growing from my skull. Aayla is very talented with her blade; even at half her combat skills, I feel better than I was before.
Oh, I can use this. Every single Jedi has a lightsaber, which is their treasured possession. Sith might be more hit-and-miss, but even still, most are attached to their weapon. Removing the mask, I unsummon it with a cruel smile as I summon something else.
I've had [Slavemaster's Daughter] for a while, the deadly whip resting in my hand, eager to inflict pain, but it's finally time for the barbed whip to taste flesh.
– Vette –
As Sarik chained Taunt to the wall, she watched carefully.
"Cut her clothes off," Sarik ordered, and Vette didn't hesitate to move forward. Taunt glared at her, wincing as the nasty dagger caught her skin. Taunt's stolen clothes were cut away until her friend was nude, chained to the cold stone wall of the dungeon. "I told you that Taunt would be your responsibility. It was your responsibility to ensure that she obeyed… that she didn't escape, and now it is your duty to punish her for her disobedience."
Taunt remained silent, but her eyes said everything. 'Traitor'. Taunt didn't understand that Vette had saved her, again, a look of hatred stabbing into her heart as Sarik approached her.
He held out a vicious-looking nine-tailed whip, and with a pounding heart, Vette took it.
"You have one chance to prove yourself worthy of the benefits I have given you, Vette. You will discipline Taunt yourself. If I believe that you are holding back, that you are failing me again, you will take her place. You have such potential, Vette. You have excelled in your training and earned my trust by bringing her back, but I have no place for weakness," Sarik warned, his hands on her shoulders as she looked at the fearful Taunt. "Break her will. Show me that you have the strength to do what needs to be done."
She had to do this. Taunt was going to be punished no matter what. If she didn't, Sarik would take over the punishment himself. Maybe he'd even use Taunt for his experiments?
Stepping forward, she knew Sarik was watching with more than just eyes. Her every thought and emotion was exposed to him, so she steeled herself as she pulled her arm back. She hadn't used a whip before, and her first swing missed entirely.
Fortunately, Sarik just chuckled and fixed her stance, his hand giving her a slap on her ass for good measure.
Her next hit landed perfectly, the barbed tips striking her friend's breasts as Taunt screamed, the sound echoing throughout the dungeon. It had already left marks on Taunt's red breasts, but Sarik wouldn't be satisfied with a single strike.
She struck Taunt again and then again. Sarik said nothing, watching as Vette kept going. He eventually turned Taunt around, Vette whipping her friend's back and buttocks with increasing violence. Every strike was a mercy. Taunt may not see it that way but it was the truth. This whipping was nothing compared to what Sarik would do if he was the one to handle the punishment.
It took minutes before Taunt was apologising, begging for the pain to stop, but Sarik said nothing, and Vette didn't stop. Taunt's back was torn open, blood leaking down her back, and Sarik finally stopped her.
Moving forward, he carved a new rune into Taunt, the one he'd placed on Ki. Taunt's wounds began to slowly heal, and Vette knew why. Sarik was healing her so she wouldn't die. He was healing her so Vette could hurt her even more.
"Again."
Taunt's pleas went ignored. She had to do this. Sarik would be worse to both of them if she didn't. The whip struck again and again, no matter how Taunt begged or cried.
And yet, Vette's pity only faded. This had been utterly avoidable. All Taunt had had to do was trust her. That was still all she needed to do. Sure, maybe Taunt didn't like taking Sith cock, but was it really so bad that it was worth this?!
Taunt could have remained comfortable as a pleasure slave. Sarik didn't punish people for no reason, and it wasn't like Taunt wasn't already used to taking Imperial cock. But no, she'd decided that running was her best chance and almost doomed Vette in the process.
If she'd failed… it would be her bound to that wall as Sarik punished her. Had Taunt even thought about her when she'd made a run for it? Did she even care? Her strikes grew more frequent, more furious, and as she looked back at her master, she saw Sarik's satisfied smile.
She'd passed the test.
Eventually, he called the punishment to an end and unshackled Taunt, leaving the sobbing idiot in her cell as he gestured for Vette to follow him.
Taking a seat in the overly fancy room, he gestured for her to join him.
"You did well today, Vette," Sarik said, running his hand along her lekku as she smiled despite everything. Doing well meant she wasn't next.
"Master… did you know Taunt was going to escape?" Vette asked hesitantly, making him smile grimly. "You infected her. It was her that carried the disease. That's why her collar control was where she could find it."
"I am good at reading people. I could have stopped it, but I told you that she was your responsibility. You failed to see how much she wanted to escape, failed to properly secure her," Sarik scolded lightly, making her look away. "She carried part of the disease. You carried the activator. I decided to make it a test for you while also utilising Taunt. You promised she'd be useful; I simply made her so."
She really was just a puppet dancing in his hand, wasn't she?
"But you performed admirably, Vette. You are speeding through your training, and your loyalty is beyond question," Sarik praised, kissing her gently. "So, I believe you deserve a reward."
"Master?" Vette asked, wondering if this was another test.
"I had Mara locate your family. Your mother, Diida, is on Tatooine. She is owned by Whuddle the Hutt, who forces her to work hard manual labour twenty hours a day. Many of Whuddle's slaves have died of overwork, and I suspect Diida will soon follow," Sarik said, her eyes widening. "As for your sister, Tivva, she's an exotic dancer and prostitute on Nar Shaddaa, owned by Toobu the Hutt. Her profits have started to dip because of her age; a life of slavery has been hard and aged her considerably."
Vette knew what that meant. A dancer that wasn't making money wasn't going to stay a dancer for long. Her mother was probably a former dancer, sold to work in manual labour when her looks faded.
She hadn't seen either of them since she was a child, since before she met Nok Drayen.
"I can either buy them their freedom, or I can buy them for myself. As a reward for your progress and loyalty, I leave the choice in your hands," Sarik said as her mind raced.
Obviously, a part of her screamed to have them freed, but she silenced it quickly. Even if this wasn't a test, was that even the best choice? Two Twi'lek ex-slaves with nothing going for them, released into a galaxy at war?
Her mind went to Taunt, picturing what she'd do if it were her own mother chained to that wall, but they'd both been slaves for all their lives. They'd be more obedient, less ungrateful. Sarik was not a complete monster, not to those who were loyal and obedient.
Sure, Sarik would likely have them as pleasure slaves. He did seem to like Twi'leks a lot. Force, he'd probably have the entire family in his bed at once, but so what? Wasn't it better than the alternative?
Her mother was being worked to death by some slimy Hutt, and her sister was being sold to anyone who wanted a turn on fucking Nar Shaddaa. Was being owned by Sarik really so bad?
— Quest Section —
What should Vette do?
Have Sarik buy and free them.
Have Sarik buy them for himself.
Have Sarik leave them.
Who should Satele send to investigate Taris?
Herself, this is too important to trust to anyone else.
Master Shaak Ti, and her Padawan Maris Brood
Master Luminara Unduli, and her Padawan Barriss Offee
Master Fay
Author's Note: Clearly, the Lore of Plagues made me sick. How else can you explain me having what feels like eight different illnesses at once? Still, the grind continues.
Saresh is one of the most self-serving bitches in SWTOR, and that's saying something. Bitch tried to kill me and take over the Alliance after I beat the fucking Emperor. I didn't fight Daddy Valk to get taken down by some former slave girl with delusions of grandeur.
She only becomes Supreme Chancellor because my Bounty Hunter killed her predecessor.
Written: 29/11/2024
I am entirely motivated by praise and interaction, so leave a review, and I'll probably write faster. I do read every review/comment, because it gives me the happy brain chemicals and motivates me to write more. My body is a machine that turns positive reviews into new chapters.
I have a Patreo n, where my supporters can vote on which fics get bonus chapters each cycle and have access to advance chapters, up to ten chapters ahead of the public release. Patreo n is also five chapters ahead and plat/diamond tier have voting rights for my Quest. Feel free to check it out.
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The Advance Chapters
Diamond: The Nightmare Ch15, The Unbound Ch04, The Vampire Ch13, The Celestial Conquest Ch03, The Gambler Ch15
Plat: The Celestial Remnant Ch11, The Tamer Ch17, The Celestial Escalation Ch04, The Origin Ch04, New Game Plus Ch09
Gold: The Warlord Ch18, Guide to Conquest Ch10, The Tamer Ch16
Basic: The Dragon Ch05, The Cursed Ch06
Quest: The Celestial Inquisitor Ch13-17
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