Foy

[Alora]

"You wanted to rediscover all aspects did you not? Illusions are used frequently... in all manner of ways. You weren't expecting me to influence you with illusion when you were fighting. Keep an eye out for it next time."

 

With a manicured hand, she indicated towards the slain slaves of his first attack.

 

"You were lusting after blood. It wasn't hard to touch your mind and create them returning to fight again."

 

She looked over towards the other slaves, seeing them cringing with fear and huddled together, pushing to get away from the Sith.

 

"Influence their minds with illusions this time. We'll have half a dozen in the arena this time only it will be different. It will be in their minds only in which they fight. You will cast illusions of an opponent against them, be it of yourself or another. Influencing their minds, you will make them think they are fighting to the death. When you banish the illusion, they will still be standing unharmed."

 

A wicked grin crossed her features. What would horrify the slaves would be just how easy it was to manipulate them on such a scale.

 

"Questions?"

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki shakes his head and turns towards the slaves.*

 

'None.'

 

*Geki reaches out again, his mind-control powers much more refined and focused now, Geki envelops the minds of the slaves and begins to weave a fantastic, detailed world around them. For each of them their nemesis appears before them- an abusive father, a bullying superior, a vile predator they fear and revile.

 

Reaching deeper, Geki attempts to destroy their link with the actual and replace it completely with the false reality he has fabricated.

 

Beads of sweat spring up on his brow as the magnitude of the task he is attempting begins to take its toll. Such powers are difficult to wield and take immense dedication and training.

 

Unable to hold the illusions in place, the false realities begin to waver and distort, mingling with the slave's real-world views.*

 

'No... can't... hold it...'

 

*The partially-formed illusions merge with the slaves' minds, corrupting and distorting their realities. Gibbering and slavering they fall to the ground, fully-fledged psychotic schizophrenics now. They claw at imaginary demons and monsters, forever lost in the labyrinthine corridors of insanity.

 

Furious, Geki leaps into the arena, his lightsabre ignited, and slaughters the insane slaves, putting paid to the failed experiment.*

 

'Once again I have failed.'

[Alora]

"Start with smaller numbers. Watch becoming too ambitious. You need to build yourself up to it."

 

She shook her head, silently reminding herself that it would take time for him to become what he was.

 

"While I said there'd be half a dozen in there, you could have influenced half of them, planted the ideas, then used an illusion over the other half as their enemy."

 

Alora had been used to how powerful Geki had been. She'd have to remember that he hadn't had the gift of the Force through that virus for some time... start small and build up...

 

"Enough for the moment. The slaves I'm sure could use a break."

 

She motioned for the guards to have food and water brought for the slaves and for them to be taken to lodgings. Turning back towards Geki she regarded him for a time.

 

"Which skills do you wish to work on?"

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki stares at the bodies of the slaves he has slaughtered, furious and disappointed with himself. A year ago he wouldn't have even batted an eyelid in reprogramming their feeble minds. Now he was unfit for the task, a pathetic shadow of his former self.*

 

'Whatever is your desire, my dear. My combat prowess seems to have suffered less; violence and brutality have never been far from me, even during my time without the embrace of the dark side. I suggest we concentrate on matters purely Force-related.'

[Alora]

Alora regarded him carefully before walking out of the arena.

 

"We could continue with the illusions. Or we could focus more on telekinesis. Your choice."

 

She led the way to the crumbling ruins of a tower. Rubble lay strewn around the base where something had collided with the wall. Lifting one of the boulders, she sent it flying towards Geki,

 

Think quick...

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki sees the boulder flying towards him, its immense stone mass easily enough to crush him. But even the most solid and immovable of objects has its weaknesses, its shatterpoint.

 

Geki reaches out swiftly, probing the boulder even as it nears him, and finds its weak point. Giving a precise and powerful jab with the Force, the boulder shatters into thousands of pieces. Geki doesn't bother to deflect the shards, allowing harsh flecks of stone to cut his skin and tear at him. He relishes the pain, the exquisite tendrils of agony that flake through his skin and flesh.*

 

'Telekinesis is not a problem, my dear. An almost pedestrian use of the Force.'

 

*Geki gestures, and the tower, after shuddering for a moment, is torn from its foundations. Concentrating, the Emperor and Sith Lord lifts the tower higher and, pushing with all his telekinetic strength, flings the building into the air as if it were a spear. It crashes into a settlement ten miles away, killing twelve and wounding twenty more.*

 

'I suggest that we continue with your mastery of the mind.'

[Alora]

"Fair enough. Thought you wanted to be tested on all force aspects dear."

 

Alora gracefully moved over towards another boulder, sitting down and crossing her legs casually. Her eyes trailed over him before glancing to the side, then back to him.

 

From around the pile of rubble came a native, armed and angry. He took aim at the Emperor with a spear, throwing it so it landed into the ground at his feet, the native then charging him with a sword held high...

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki probes the man in front of him, attempting to discern the native's true nature. Reaching out he pushes forward with the Force, testing and touching not only the native's mind but that of Alora...*

[Alora]

At his touch, Alora grinned, banishing her illusion and raising an eyebrow.

 

"How realistic can you make an illusion Mi'Lord?"

 

She reclined back against the boulder, letting her illusions build up around him of all the slaves he had just killed. Once she had visualized someone it was easy to reproduce them, including using the Force to throw sounds from those illusions. With women, she even managed to touch flora around the illusions to give the scent of a perfume.

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki whirls as he sees the slaves coming towards him, his lightsabre in hand, but before starting forward to indulge his natural inclincation towards pain and suffering, he pauses to think the situation over. He had already killed these people, hadn't he? But they were so real... so vivid... even down the fragrance emitted by the women.

 

Geki pauses for a moment, on the cusp of a decision. Finally, he sits down boldly, crossing his legs and begins to meditate, drawing his hatred and anger within.

 

He can hear them getting closer, but still he does nothing to defend himself. He concentrates on his own mind, seeking out the alien presence, seeking to build mental barriers to protect himself from the insidious and distorting presence of his one-time apprentice.

 

Finally he finds it, the encroaching slaves near enough to attack now. If he is wrong, they could conceivably injure him before he murders them all. Time to find out.

 

Gathering all of his mental strength, Geki pushes against the presence, seeking to expel it...*

[Alora]

Seeing how Geki chose to deal with her illusions again, Alora sat up straighter shaking her head...

 

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... That is not it. You just want to fight the illusions or defend your mind from them. You wanted me to teach them to you yet you won't see how I do them and won't reproduce them. All you had to do here was see how I created these illusions and have a go at it yourself"

 

She rolled her violet eyes, wondering if she would get further if she were to bang her head against a wall...

[Jidai Geki]

OOC: To use illusionry at all requires one to be a Sith Assassin. Geki isn't a Sith Assassin, so he cannot use it.

 

IC:*Geki growls in rage as the Sith Mistress speaks to him as if he were a common slave, rushing at her and grasping her throat harshly.*

 

'Am I an ignoble and errant servant to be chastised, Alora? Or am I your Emperor? You forgot yourself, child. I do not wish to reproduce your mastery of illusionry. I seek only to recognise it when I see it and to defend my mind accordingly. The path you have taken is not a path I can follow.'

[Piccolo]

A Firespray ship comes out of hyperspace. It slowly approaches the world of Foy.

[DarthBrendo]

An encrypted message came in for Piccolo.

 

---MESSAGE---

 

One of my operatives is pinned down by your old 2IC. I thought you might like the opportunity for revenge on his betrayal. Mos Eisley Cantina was the last reported location.

 

---END MESSAGE---

[Piccolo]

Of all the rotten luck.

 

Piccolo pulled his ship in a sharp u-turn. There was no sense in activating Foy's sensors. Though he was sure the one he had come to see had sensed his presence. Perhaps he could even read Piccolo's final thought.

 

Another day Geki.

 

The star's streaked by as the hunter headed into hyperspace.

[Alora]

((OOC: I was under the impression that what you knew 'previous' to the new rules still stood as skills you still had... As Geki originally introduced Alora into the arts of Illusion, I figured he would still be able to use that skill regardless of it now being a Sith Assassin skill - since he knew it before. Someone correct me if I'm wrong there??))

 

As he grabbed her throat, Alora released pheromones. In this close quarters, Geki would inhale them quicker than he had when she'd let them waft around a room. Touching the Force, she forced his hand to loosen around her throat, allowing her to breathe.

 

"You are my Emperor and I haven't forgotten it. As you taught me the arts of Illusion, I figured you would still know how to produce them. I didn't think the virus you had would have stripped you of the knowledge of that skill as it seems to have."

 

Her words were jilted, her throat stinging from his grip, though she relished the pain he caused... pleasure and pain always went together...

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki gasps as Alora releases more of her cursed pheromones, their presence addling his mind once more. He feels the Force touch delicately at his hand, and he allows it to relax his grip, the pheromones dulling his natural inclination to murder and once more replacing it with lust.*

 

'I... the virus has ravaged my mind almost as efficiently as it has my body. There are many things I have forgotten...'

 

*Straining, Geki reaches into the depths of his ravaged mind. His time with Alora on Altyr 5... had he really instructed the fledgling Sith in the arts of illusion? Why would she lie about such things?

 

Maybe it was possible. Maybe he had had the capacity to weave skillful illusions, and maybe he still could if he concentrated.

 

Alora hears a moan as, from the crater left by the passage of the tower, several shambling, decaying humanoids pull themselves from the debris. They are Coruscanti plague victims, remnants of the terrible virus unleashed by SEED on the galactic capital years ago.

 

Geki flings the Sith Seductress to the ground roughly, seeking to be rid of her alluring presence. She lands near the encroaching horde.

 

The zombies move awkwardly closer, their limbs distended and rotting from the virus' indelicate touch, and reach for her with hungry, vacant eyes...*

[Alora]

With the moaning sound behind her and being thrown to the ground, the Sith Mistress turned her head towards the approaching creatures. The plague ridden creatures that had a humanoid appearance. Glancing back towards Geki, she took note of the concentrated look upon his face. Taking a closer look at the zombie like creatures, she took in the telltale signs of being illusional creations.

 

In turn, Alora created a wall, rising up between herself and the creatures.

 

"Very good Mi'Lord. If someone didn't realise what they were... you'd have them looking for escape."

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki grinned, pleased that he had rediscovered this ability and reclaimed from the darkness of Prometheus another fragment of his shattered mind.*

 

'Quite. It would appear that I am not as lacking the dark side as I had originally anticipated.'

 

*Geki sends his lightsabre flicking out and slices Alora's left arm off from the shoulder, the air filled with the stench of searing flesh.*

 

'You are rapidly approaching the end of your usefulness, it would seem.'

 

*Geki unclips his lightsabre from his belt and examines it reverently.*

 

'Soon I shall be ready to purge this galaxy of the Jedi scum.'

[Alora]

The mind can play tricks, even if one is expecting something to happen. Especially when one has been on the receiving end before for the exact same thing... only it took her mind a few more seconds to realise that her student had fooled her mind into believing the illusion was reality.

 

Her eyes saw the saber souring towards her, slicing her arm at the shoulder, then saw him unclip his saber from his belt. It took several moments for her to realise... no pain... no thump as the arm was supposed to hit the ground... his saber was in his arm, not in the air.

 

She blew out the breath she'd held, her eyes now alight with amusement.

 

"You got me there Mi'Lord... if only because it was something that had happened before..."

 

She'd felt the pain of a severed limb... and still intended revenge upon Hou-Jo for it. Her hand clenched a few times just to reinforce to her head that it was still attached to her body.

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki glories in his burgeoning, returning strength in the dark side. All of his doubts, his secret fears that he had somehow become less rapidly disappearing. The Sith had changed since he had been gone; Geki had changed, the Prometheus virus ravaging him once more, but it had been a temporary change. He was returned to his former self. His power in the Force was rapidly returning.

 

Geki ignites his lightsabre. Either side of him, in a tight circle around Alora, ten identical simulacra of the Sith Emperor appeared, their ersatz lightsabres also ignited.*

 

'You have been most useful, my dear. You have helped me to remember what I was, helped me to cast aside the hollow, Forceless shell the virus forced me to become. Now, a final test, I think.'

 

*The multitude of Gekis spring towards her simultaneously...*

[Alora]

As he ignited his saber, Alora's hand curled around her own hilt, hearing the *snap-hiss* as it sprang to life. With multiple Geki's surrounding her, he soon found the same thing... the Sith Mistress amused that he was using one of her favourite tricks. This would become interesting indeed.

 

She gathered the Force towards herself, using the shield she created so long ago, then all the Alora's began to attack the illusions of the various Geki's making it very difficult for one or the other to know where the real version was... she moved amongst her illusions, letting the Force swirl the dark energies around her...

[Guest]

After recieving Geki's message, as he knew he would, Jareth made way toward Foy.

 

As the tigershark pulled into orbit and began it's approach, Jareth called ahead to the surface on his comm.

 

 

"Geki, my good friend, I knew you would contact me. Where can I park this heap?"

[Jidai Geki]

*The multitude of Gekis and Aloras spin and pirouette, amongst the illusions the two combatants seeking to find the actual in the farcical.

 

Geki reaches out with all six of his sense, concentrating and trying to locate the real Alora. Gathering the Force to him Geki sends out a massive telekinetic shockwave, imbalancing the real and the unreal alike and shaking both his and Alora's concentration. The twenty or so illusionary figures wink out of existence, leaving Alora lying at Geki's feet, the tip of his lightsabre inches from her elegantly arched throat.*

 

'Sometimes it's best not to fight fire with fire, my dear.'

 

*Geki receives Jareth's message and turns away, the barren plain wide and more than ample for the Sith Master to land his craft.*

 

'Jareth, my old friend. Please, land wherever you will.'

[Guest]

As Jareth passes through the upper atmosphere and catches site of the plains, he sens one more comm before touching down.

 

"Well I didn't bloody know. I've never been here before."

 

After gliding the Tigershark to the ground, Jareth made his way toward his one time teacher who seemed to be seconds away from running his saber through some poor helpless female.

 

"Well, I can't say I'm suprised." Raising a hand he continued, "By all means, don't let me hold you up....finish what you were doing. I have time."

[Alora]

As Geki turned away, Alora sprang to her feet again, her eyes flashing with inner fire.

 

"Maybe not Mi'Lord. Since you have company, I'll see to my apprentice shall I?"

 

She observed the newcomer, recognizing him from when she had been at one of the temples when her other master, Raynuk, had been speaking with Tarrian. Her eyes raked over him, a sultry look upon her face as the delicate scent of her perfumed pheromones floating on the air...

[Guest]

Jareth returned Alora's gaze for a moment and then lowered his eyes in the subtlest of ways. A bow of sorts, but only as much as Jareth deemed her worthy of. In fact, it was she who should bow, but such trifles were certainly not worth Jareth's time, so his kind gesture would suffice, and he thought no more of it.

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki deactivates his lightsabre and glances at Alora as briefly as her alluring pheromones will allow, fighting to control the lustful impulses she so easily inspired as a Sith Seductress.*

 

'Thank you, my dear. Your instruction has been most... enlightening.'

 

*Geki turns back to Jareth.*

 

'This was merely a training exercise, Master Vermillios. The goal was not to murder Mistress Alora, but rather for me to regain my stature in the Force. Now that you are here, however, perhaps my retraining can take a more aggressive path.'

[Alora]

The youngest Sith Master's smile turned mysterious as the Seductress let her gaze smolder over the newcomer. She inclined her head to Geki, then towards the other Sith Master, her voice a purr...

 

"Master Vermillios... a pleasure..."

 

She sauntered past them then, her hips swaying as she headed back towards the Sundered Heart to wait for her apprentice to return.

[Guest]

Jareth felt the familiar pull on his eyes to follow the woman's form as she swept past him, but with little effort, he resisted the urge and instead focused on Geki's words.

 

 

"I see you are almost free from prometheus....I often wondered how long it would take the virus to run it's natural course without aid. As you know I had help....speeding things up." As he spoke, Jareth remembered the violent end to his own prometheus virus at the hands of Tarrian. She was happy to oblige his request, and seemed eager to inflict the pain it took to rid him of it.

 

"Do you think you're quite ready for me Geki? Perhaps an old addage about walking before flying would be prudent..."

 

Jareth's mouth crept to a slow smile. The sith master already had his saber hilt in his hand ready for a workout.