Healing Conversation [Jenno, open]

[Mara]

(((Originally this was meant to be a private Caleb/Looma thread, but... since I'm not sure whether or not Jenno is going to have time to post, I've decided to leave it open to anyone (except Shard, because he's supposed to be gone) who is in the area.
This takes place a few weeks after Subterrel but before the latest promotion ceremony.)))



[...from A Nightmare on Wings of Darkness]


Though the events of Subterrel had been weeks before--any exact passing of time had been lost to her--Looma Isana, yellow Twi'lek and Sith initiate, still found herself in the Temple's medical center recovering from a wound. A wound sustained in a lightsaber duel against a more fully capable Jedi Knight that had left her with a deep cut in the end of her right lekku that had almost severed the tip completely. Though no longer needing immersion in kolto or regular injections of medication, she still needed regular bandage changes and suffered from some pain. Pain she was told might never completely go away, even after months and years of healing.

She had been in so much pain after the attack that she had been sedated for the trip back to Korriban to keep her from screaming. Immediately her master passed her over to the Temple's medical center for treatment. Her master, she learned later, who had disappeared right after, on some mission or other. Or perhaps just avoiding a student who had disappointed him by getting wounded. It might seem a silly thought to some, but Looma really never knew what to think of Shard, even after being his student for quite a while now. He was a puzzle, most definitely. Luckily, though, for him and her, she had had more important things to occupy her time spent in the infirmary than possible abandonment by her master.

After all the time spent in the kolto tank, doing as much repair as the droids and medical staff could do with the healing fluid, Looma was then relegated to a bed in the infirmary. The sensitive nature of her injury was something they wanted to keep an eye on. Plus, for a while longer, she still had needed regular supplies of sedatives and medication in order to sleep after leaving the tank. But now, with the end of her right lekku all bandaged up and the pain relatively bearable--if she didn't move the headtail at all--with use of the Force and lying still in bed, all she had to herself was time. Time to think.

With the clarity that came from being away from the kolto and searing pain of the fresh wound, she began to remember the events of Subterrel. First they were just flashes, but gradually moved into longer images that merged into full memories. She had been weakening while battling the Jedi. He had been too strong and eventually got through her shabby defenses made from not enough lessons in lightsaber combat from her master. The strike had thankfully not severed her lekku but done quite a lot of damage all the same. And the pain afterwards was, well... more pain than she had ever felt before.

Looma had been told she had passed out shortly after, remembering only the pain from that event. But as she thought and meditated on it, wondering what she could have done differently, new flashes came to her. Images and visions of her sister that at the time hadn't seemed relevant. She hadn't seen her older sister in over a decade. Why she would think of her now was strange. The only thing that had made sense was something connected to when she had passed out and before she woke up again to the pain, lying there in the cave.

Focusing on the images and memories of a 3 year old for her older sister, one day lying in bed when the pain had been a bit more than usual, the full vision surrounded her. Everything came back to her. Looma had seen her sister, now much older, of course, and she had seemed happy to see her, trying to get her to come with her. She had wanted to follow her sister into the darkness until the harsh realization had come to her that it wasn't real, that her sister was trying to lead her away from her friends, family, her life. That's when the pain returned, so much so that she wasn't aware of her master taking her away, and the vision of her sister disappeared.

Now with all this time on her hands, Looma spent a good portion of her days trying to figure out what that vision had really meant, and what the reason had been for her seeing it then at that moment. Perhaps, whenever he returned, her master would have some more insight. Because right now, laying there in the bed, staring at the ceiling and trying not to move and disturb the injured headtail, she had no clue. Even drawing on the Force and meditating seemed not to aide her. Perhaps she should just forget it and focus on getting herself mended up enough to be able to leave the infirmary behind and get on with her life. If her master ever returned, that was.

A sigh escaped her lips then, which the droid nearby mistook for pain and went off to gather an injection and a change of bandage for her. Of course there was pain, but it was not completely unbearable for the moment. Looma was getting used to the almost constant throbbing in the bandaged lekku. Just as she was getting used to the monotonous days spent in the medical center. Sometimes she wondered if her body needed as much healing as her mind and soul did. Everything with her master, the vision of her sister, and many other things came and went, bothering her at times. And they didn't all have to do with the physical pain, but pain that no amount of kolto could fix.

Another sigh, but the medical droid was returning to redress her wound and give her another dosage of medication. She closed her eyes and waited. The changing of the wrapping on her headtail was now usually the most painful part of her day, hence the vial of liquid the droid had, and Looma's attempt at calm with the Force. Soon, it would be over, and her repetitive hours would repeat themselves again, over and over again.

[Reece Thompson]

[Space above Korriban]

The Unholy Refuge dropped out of hyperspace and flew towards the planet.
Inside, things were not as calm as space as.

Sparks flew every direction and fires ranged around the ship. Alkeran stumbled over to the pilots section where Rekatu sat. His pilot.

"What the hell happened?" Alkeran said clutching onto Rekatu's chair for dear life.

His response was barely audible. "The hyperdrive engines have blown. Too much power was fed into them. It's wrecked the whole engine system."

Alkeran forced himself over to the engineering console and ran a quick diagnostic.

"All engines are offline." The ship shook violently. "We've hit the atmosphere. We're in freefall."

"We've still got maneuvering thruster. I could try and crash us near a settlement." Rekatu yelled over the alarms and fire.

"I'll do it. You get to an escape pod. Get of this rock." Alkeran yelled in response.

"We're not on the rock yet?"

"I didn't mean the planet." Alkeran threw himself over to Rekatu, "At the moment, this ship is a rock. There aint nothing we can do to stop ourselves falling. Get off."

Alkeran finished off by dragging Rekatu out of the chair and throwing him into the escape pod. The small pod fired itself from the side of the ship and headed down towards the settlement.

Alkeran flopped down into the pilots chair and allowed his fingers to dance around the console as he tried to route power to systems so that he could restore some sort of order to his ship. He diverted as much power as he could to the inertial dampeners and the thrusters. He carefully fired the thrusters so that the ship would crash beside the settlement, close by, but not so close as to damage it.

He waited till the last minute before diving into an escape pod and firing off. However, he had left it too late. The pod did not have enough time or space to slow itself down. The small pod slammed into a canyon and bounced along it until he stopped close by to the temple. Alkeran however was thrown around the pod and knocked unconscious.

[Temple Medical Bay]

Alkeran felt himself wake up on an uncomfortable bed. He jolted upright and looked around quickly. It looked like a medical bay. There was someone beside him, but he didnt take any notice at first. He continued to look around and take in his surroundings, trying to gain his bearing. Medical droids moved around inputting more liquid into his medicine. His head hurt a lot, but it was nothing too unbearable.

He lowered himself back down and just stared at the ceiling while the liquids poured into him through catheters along his right arm.

[sparrow]

"Looks like everything checks out. All your systems appear to be normal again." The doctor handed Zarene the datapad, showing her the results of her latest checkup. "I'm surprised you recovered so quickly. You took quite a hit on Yaga Minor."

Zarene nodded. She had been lucky. Very lucky. She had remembered hearing tales during her Padawan days of the prowess of Jedi Master Atu Soka. Her encounter with the man himself demonstrated that those tales had not been exaggerated.

On the datapad, Zarene typed the quick message to Gabriella, informing the other woman of her recovery. Now that she was fully functional again, they could start discussing some of their future plans. There were some lingering issues on Yaga Minor that needed address, as well as some rumors coming out of the Yavin area. Preferably these discussions would happen over dinner. A nice dinner. With candles.

She had one more question for the Doctor before she left, however. "Doctor, I heard that the patrols picked up a strange man near the settlements today. Is he here?" She put down the datapad, and removed the hospital robe from around her shoulders.

"Why yes, over there." The doctor pointed to one corner of the room, where an unfamiliar and unnaturally thin man lay on one of the medical beds, separated from where Zarene and the Doctor stood by a glass wall. "Ship came crashing down earlier today. Wouldn't respond to traffic control. Nearly hit the settlement."

"They didn't try to shoot him down?" Her coat, which had been hanging from a hook on the wall, floated over to her waiting hand.

"I suppose the gunners in the defense towers didn't see reason to shoot a ship that was already on fire."

"Sounds like a lapse in judgment to me."

"The droids will monitor him and keep him alive long enough to be interrogated."

The man suddenly jerked upright, but soon fell back down.

Zarene raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "Why aren't his arms restrained?"

"They were, along with his legs, but the droids had to unbolt the arms earlier to get the machine hooked up. Besides, the sedatives should keep him down." Seeing the somewhat skeptical look on Zarene's face, he quickly reached for and pushed the button that would reactivate the restraints.

"See that that oversight is corrected," Zarene said, as she picked up her half-mask, which lay on the table next to her. Carefully, she placed the bone-white mask over the scarred right half of her face, where it fit perfectly. "I think I would like to question him myself. Find out why he's here and what he wants. And kill him if need be."

"Very well. Let me get the door for you."

[Reece Thompson]

Alkeran led on the bed. He tried going through the journey in his head.

They had been trvelling in hyperspace, they weren't even destined for Korriban.

Rekatu had said that the hyperdrive had blown. How was that possible.

He tried to think harder, but his head started hurting. He moved his arm across and pulled the Catheters out of his arm. The sedatives were stopping him from thinking.

Then it hit him again, he turned his head once more and took another good look around. His saber wasn't in the room. Neither was Rekatu. That was a good thing. Maybe he could fix the ship while Alkeran healed.

Alkeran moved his arms over and slowly pushed himself up, till he was sat upright. Admittedly, it took two attempts because of the sedatives and the pain, but he was eventually sat upright.

He was wearing medical robes. He'd get out of them sharpish. White just wasn't his colour.
His robes were hung beside him, tattered and burnt. He'll fix them up eventually.

A number of droids moved over to him and tried to force him back onto the bed. He pushed them away quickly.
"Just let me sit up you mechanical nuisence."

Wether the droids understood him or not was not clear, they moved forward again, but didn't froce him down. One of them picked up the Catheter and went to place it back in Alkerans.

He swiped the robotic arm away and crushed the robots head with the force. He pushed the crumple heap backwards, away from him. The other droids took a step back.

The man opposite him was already up and about. Wearing robes and an interesting halfmask.

"Excushma." Alkeran slurred, the sedatives still affecting his speech. He shook his head in an attempt to loosen his tongue.

"Sorry, excuse me. Am I in the Temple, or the settlement?"

[sparrow]

The skinny man had moved his arms before the restraints could activate, and he sat there flailing about. Fortunately his legs were still bolted down, preventing him from toppling off the bed. Zarene suppressed a chuckled. It wouldn't be proper to show amusement right now.

She watched as he flailed about, and it looked as if he was attempting to crush the heads of one of the droids. The droid stumbled backwards, and a small crack appeared on the covering of one of its photoreceptors. Letting out a series of beeps, the droid scurried away.

Raising a hand, she pushed outward with the Force, strong enough to press him back down on the bed, yet not so strong that he would be hurt. "Down," she said softly. "You're in no position to get up right now." The Force could keep a man bound as tightly as any ropes could.

"Coming here like you did, you are either very bold or very stupid. So tell me, what brings you to Korriban?"

[Reece Thompson]

Alkeran collapsed back onto to the bed.

He tried to move but couldn't.

"Believe me. I didn't want to come here. I was on my way to Ziost, but my hyperdrive exploded and I dropped out here. The resulting surge ravaged the rest of my ship and gravity did the rest. I'm sorry if I landed on a crater that was important to you, but i aimed for something unimportant."

[sparrow]

"That is a fascinating story," Zarene replied. Crossing her arms underneath her breasts, she had a thoughtful expression on her face as she appeared to consider his answer.

"But it changes nothing." Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and the thoughtful expression melted away into a frown. "Ziost is a world under Sith control, a fact that you would know if you actually intended to go there. So the question remains unanswered. You've unlawfully trespassed on Sith terriotory. I could have you shot right now. Convince me why I shouldn't."

[Reece Thompson]

"Why? Why you shouldn't shoot me. Ummm..." Alkeran thought for a moment.

"Because I'm unbelieveably good looking?" He forced his head up and saw the unimpressed look on his captors face.

"OK, I was just coming in for some trading. I might look like a jedi or a sith, but my life isn't so grand. I had some cargo on my ship I though the sith might like. Weapons, supplies, Kolto. That kind of thing.I think it was all destroyed in the crash though."Alkeran continued.

"Can I sit up now?"

[Mara]

(((I'm glad you guys waited for me to post. ;p)))



Eyes closed, Looma waited for the droid to get the matter over with. With the practiced moves of a mechanical being plus weeks of dealing with her specifically, it was over relatively quickly. The injection of medication was given to her swiftly and allowed to start working before the droid turned to her right side and began undressing her lekku tip. The large wound was healing nicely, now not much more than a long, thin cut. But it was still in the process and thus clean bandages were needed periodically to stave off further infection. An injury such as hers would not go away lightly.

Aided by use of the Force and the medication, she felt virtually no pain in her headtail as the droid finished up with the new wrappings. Quietly it replaced the appendage back on her shoulder, made a few notations in her chart, and left the room, passing by other beds in the long row of the infirmary. For those no longer needed in kolto or ICU but not yet ready to break ties with the medical staff. Hopefully soon, though, any risk of infection would have been avoided and she'd be allowed to leave and get back to her life. An uncertain life, to be sure, but anything was better than being in the medbay.

Looma kept her eyes closed a few moments longer, enjoying the moment of relative peace. Most of the other beds were empty or filled with sleeping patients on pain meds. She was just thinking about a nice mediation or even a nap when a rare disturbance nearby snapped her back to full consciousness. With an annoyed groan, her violet eyes flipped open, and she carefully adjusted her position to look around her. Some other patient was apparently being unruly. No big deal there. Every once in a while there was someone who decided to be a hero; those people usually ended up dying once they left the center.

Deciding that the droids would handle it soon enough, she was prepared to turn around and face the opposite way, staring at the empty bed on her right and onto the stone wall of the med area when a familiar voice rocketed her brain. A voice she hadn't heard since... Looma gently prodded the Force first, before physically turning around to check. Yes, it was a familiar presence, the one from Bakura. Her name escaped her, but the voice; it was her. Careful with her lekku on her shoulder, she shimmied around in her bed so that she could look more easily left of her bed and into the rest of the long room. There was no mistaking her now; the Sith who had recruited her was here. And seemingly interrogating the restless patient. Curious, she decided to watch and listen. It was better than counting divots in the stone ceiling.

Quickly the other Sith's words with the stranger caught her up to speed. It seemed the man had crashed unknowingly on Korriban. Like the other, Looma found it a little hard to believe that this man had gotten here by accident. She had heard rumors here and there about possible assassins trying to get to the Dark Lord. Or even of spies of the Republic trying to infiltrate. But that's all they were: rumors. Maybe this man here was proof that maybe there was truth in the tales.

The man tried to explain away his reason for being in the system, but again, Looma didn't believe him. Though only an initiate, it was hard not to notice that this man was Force-sensitive. She could almost smell it on him. So for him to claim he was not Jedi nor Sith... There was little else he could be instead. And the Twi'lek didn't take him to be an untrained being in the ways of the Force. A certain air about him confirmed that.

No matter what she thought, though. The other Sith would take care of him soon enough. And Looma was curious as to how she might answer his claims. She'd just sit there in her bed, quietly, for the moment and enjoy the show. It beat sleeping or meditating, or dwelling on her thoughts of the past few weeks. Any time she could spend not thinking about her injury or her master or her sister, or her future, was time well-spent.

[sparrow]

Zarene couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself." Why were men always using that line, especially the ones that weren't stunningly handsome? Did they think that she was desperate or something?

"Destroyed in the crash... how convenient. We'll see what the salvage crews find and if they can confirm your story." Somehow she doubted that they would.

How long would she keep questioning this man? He obviously was not a Jedi, and he certainly wasn't Sith, just some loner gallivanting around in his ship. Did it matter why he had landed here? In the grand scheme of things, this man was... irrelevant.

But still, while he wasn't particularly powerful in the Force, he wasn't weak either. And Zarene wasn't about to let a Force-user such as himself simply leave the Temple and potentially fight against the Order in the future.

Her lightsaber leaped from her belt into her hand, icy-blue blade igniting with a snap-hiss. She held the blade close to his throat.

"There's only two ways one can leave this room," she said, her voice a low growl. "As someone who has pledged their life and loyalty to the Sith Order, or in a bodybag." The blade inched just a little bit closer.

"Consider your next words carefully."

[Reece Thompson]

"I'd be able to consider them alot more if I wasn't filled to the brim with sedatives."

Alkeran stayed led down, unable to move without being decapitated. He was able to roll his eyes around and noticed another person sat in the corner, staring.

"And what about our spectator friend? Are they important?"

[sparrow]

She could see Looma out of the corner of her eye. She could talk with the twi'lek after this business was over, but she didn't matter right now.

"What do you want? Pillows and a foot massage? If you have the mental capacity to evade the question, then you have the capacity to answer it." The blade moved closer, the tip less than the hair's width away from touching skin. "Your neck is running out of room. If you don't make your choice quickly, I will make it for you."

[Reece Thompson]

Alkeran pushed himself up the bed slightly, increasing the gap between his neck and death.

"I've never really given it much thought." He said. "I supose I always played with the idea of joining the sith, but I'm not good at following orders."

Alkeran had just ran out of room. If he pissed this person off much more, there was no where to shimmie to.

It was odd though, most Sith had a red blade. It was almost tradition. Why was this one different.

"Apart from the obvious one- my continued existence- what are the benefits of joining the sith?"

[Rugs]

The being over Nieraan's shoulder groaned softly.

The Firrerreo had--not for the first time--gotten into a fight with one of his fellow Initates. At least he hadn't started it this time. This time the lout he'd scuffled with was some Human, probably around twenty five or so years old. He'd been around the Temple much longer than Nieraan had, and apparently thought his supposed 'seniority' and Nieraan's young-looking face meant that Nieraan would simply bow to insults and bullying.

He'd been wrong.

So when Nieraan answered his taunts with a biting jeer of his own, the other Initiate lost his temper and attacked. And now he had a few nasty bruises, a broken rib and a very mild burn from a lightsaber to show for it. At least Nieraan had been kind enough to turn down the power of his blade before using it on the guy.

Nieraan hadn't escaped unscathed--dried blood caked parts of the left side of his face and he had some bruises that would hurt for a little while--but he didn't mind. He'd certainly been through far worse than a cut and some bruises. Still, he made his way to the infirmary if for no other reason than to drop off the idiot who'd started a fight with him. It was the least he could do.

The doors slid open before him and he walked in. One of the doctors' assistants looked up and blinked at the sight of a bloodied Initiate walking in with another over their shoulder. Then she blinked and recognition flashed over her face. "Initiate Onin. You..." She shook her head and rubbed her the bridge of her nose. "Nevermind. Come with me."

She lead him back to a large room, where a few beds were arranged. Nieraan dumped his cargo unceremoniously onto one them and turned to look at her. "Look, I know what you're thinking." He wandered over to a nearby sink and grabbed a clean towel, then wet it and started to rub the blood from the side of his face. "But I didn't start it this time, alright? You wanna look for someone to blame, look at him. It's his own damn fault, so don't you go trying to point fingers at me again this time. I'm not in the mood to put up with it."

The assistant lifted a brow. "Are you threatening me, Iniate Onin?"

Nieraan shrugged and looked down at the red-stained white towel in his hands for a moment. "I'm just letting you know how things stand, Célin." He dropped the towel into the sink and turned to leave.

"Nieraan," she said, making him pause and glance back. "You will need to have your own injuries looked at while you're here."

"No," answered Nieraan flatly, in a tone that brokered no argument. "I'll be fine."

Célin shook her head. "Procedure, Nieraan. You've been here before. You know how this works." A look Nieraan gave her had her sighing and throwing up her hands in frustration. "Fine. Fine. If you're going to be stubborn, just go. We need to see to this one anyway."She turned on her heel and left, presumably to find one of the doctors.

"Always a pleasure, Célin."

As he turned to go, his gaze fell on a group near the opposite side of the room. Some Twi'lek he didn't recognize, and standing over an emaciated-looking man was... Zarene? He narrowed his eyes a bit and took a few steps closer to the group. Yeah, it's Yin. Why is her saber out? Nieraan didn't know her very well, but she'd never struck him as the sort to threaten people in that manner unless she had a reason. Reaching out through the Force he could feel that something was up.

Deciding that simply watching from afar wouldn't be any fun, he strolled over and came to stand near the rest of them. Now that he looked, he saw the man as restrained on his bed. Odd, for a patient. Was he captured? That might explain the way Zarene was acting.

"Apart from the obvious one- my continued existence- what are the benefits of joining the sith?"

Recruiting, then. That's what Zarene was doing. Nieraan settled himself down on the bed next to the one the man was held on with an amused little chuckle and glanced to Zarene. "So where'd you pluck this one up?"

[SionX]

Sion rolled up the bandages around the Sith's wound on his leg and stood back up.

"There you are, Should only be a while until you're free to move about now." He gave a false smile. He only had to do this because he was forced to, one inconvenience of being an initiate.
A medical droid clamped over to Sion and handed him a datapad with the name of a patient on it for him to check up on. The medical droid clamped away without speaking, and Sion shook his head. Looma Isana, a Twi'lek Sith. He walked over to the bed with the marked number matching the datapad and looked up.

"Good evening Mrs. Isana, is there anything I can do for you?" Sion said. He knew he really shouldn't being complaining, attending to the higher ranked Sith's injuries was nothing compared to scrubbing the lavatories.

Sion took a look at the Sith, Looma, and noted her bandaged lekku. She had an angry look about her, and her eyes were locked on a quarrel going on between two other patients, he looked over quickly and decided that it'd be wise not to intervene. Glancing back to her again, he grinned , awaiting a response.

[Mara]

Looma didn't really know why, but it was rather relaxing to sit in her bed propped up against a couple pillows, listening to... to Zarene--aha! that was her name--interrogate the prisoner. Perhaps it was because she finally had a chance to focus her mind on something else, focus on the present, not the past or future. Perhaps it was curiosity or just the cadence of speaking voices. Though Zarene's could hardly be classified as soothing in the more usual ways. But Looma was enjoying it, nevertheless. Waiting to see when the other Sith's patience would run out, something she was sure to see happen soon. Even in her limited experience with Zarene, this was something she was sure of.

And there it was, as Zarene ignited her weapon and thrust it up next to the prisoner in his bed. Looma was a bit surprised at the move and sat up straighter in her bed. No more was she casually curious. Now she was genuinely interested in what was going on and deemed to make sure she heard everything that would be said, instead of just bits and pieces. She knew that Zarene had patience in short supply, but this seemed rash, even for her, to threaten this man so quickly, despite his motives for crashing on Korriban. He obviously had Force potential... maybe he could be made to join them. Something that Zarene obviously had thought of as well, as Looma heard her last words.

She was caught! As she was listening intently to their conversation, the stranger mentioned that they had an audience. And it could only be her, since the droid wouldn't pay attention, and all the other patients were sleeping, naturally or aided by medication. The Twi'lek hadn't tried to be so obvious, but there was no use now in pretending that she hadn't been eavesdropping. She merely remained quiet, unmoving, not reacting to the notice at all.

If the mention of her had meant to be a distraction for Zarene by the strange, it hadn't worked. The Sith woman only got more intense in her questioning of the man. And Looma didn't think the other was bluffing with her lightsaber so close to the man's neck. He might not have a chance soon to even make his decision. She decided to act, thinking quickly that this strange could be an asset, not a threat. If he had meant to sabotage, he would have done so already. Looma reached out with a hand with the Force and touched the hilt of the blue blade, nudging it away from the neck it was so close to just seconds before.

"I never thought you'd be against recruits, Zarene." Looma's voice broke in before the man's question about the Sith could be answered. A fairly good statement, she had thought, considering that Zarene was the reason, indirectly, that she was sitting here now in this bed. The other Sith had been the one to find her and Caleb back on Bakura and invite them to join the Sith. They had done so. And after months after arriving on Korriban and many adventures since, here the two of them were again, in the same room. "Give him a chance to speak without a lightsaber in his face. If you don't like the answers, then you can kill him. It's a fair compromise."

Her attention shifted then as she noticed someone else come up and address Zarene, sitting on the bed on the opposite side of the stranger. She didn't recognize him, but he seemed to know the Epicanthix. Until some more information came to her or to the rest of the group, nothing else about him mattered. Looma would ignore him for the moment. And the rest of them for that matter, as a male voice interrupted her thoughts.

With a sigh, she turned around and looked for the source. She blinked a moment when she looked at the man standing there. This was different; until now the droid had been attending to her. But she recovered quickly. Medical centers were always so busy, and there were so many attendants always bustling around. Maybe someone got their wires crossed. "No. No, I'm fine. The droid was just here a few minutes ago." Looma was about to dismiss him, when something came back to her memory. "And it's 'miss,' by the way."

[sparrow]

(( Zarene's an epicanthix, not an Echani. Gabriella's the Echani. oh, and rugs will save you reece ))

"He already had a chance to speak, but he chose to respond with lies. My patience is not infinite." The blue blade continued to hum as it was brought back to its former position. "The Sith do not coddle their members. There can be power, knowledge, and influence for those who serve well, but only a early grave awaits those who do not, the same that awaits our enemies."

She paused, calmly regarding the man who lay on the hospital bed. There was so little that they knew about him, as his answers had all been disguised in lies and deceit. But from his behavior she could infer enough about him. Enough to make a decision.

"A Sith warrior must be swift and decisive," she said softly. "Yet this man, even when the choice is as simple as life or death, is paralyzed with indecision. If he joins us, it would be only a matter of time before he cracks under pressure. This kind of man cannot be trusted to come through when the chips are down, and it is far worse to have a man you cannot trust at your back than no one at all."

Her grip on her lightsaber tightened. "If he cannot make such a simple choice, then I will make it for him. Death it is."

[Rugs]

{From immediate danger, anyway. Nieraan's not exactly altruistic}

Nieraan watched with quiet amusement as Zarene's saber hovered near the man's throat. What did you do to piss her off like this, pal? He'd not seen Zarene like this before--not to another Initiate or potential recruit. With a casual thought, he reached out through the Force to feel the thin prisoner out. Probe him, see what there was for him to offer. Some strength, enough to show this one had some form of training. Hints of darkness that could only come from one who had or was starting to give in to the Dark Side. Potential. But none of that would matter if he got himself killed.

Not that Nieraan cared overly much about his wellbeing.

The ripples in the Force and audible sound of another approaching caught his attention for a moment. He flicked his eyes back to see a man he didn't recognize, but he was talking to the Twi'lek, so he paid him little mind.

His attention went back to the prisoner and Zarene, until the Twi'lek spoke. He turned on the bed, looking at her full on as she spoke. One of his dark brows lifted slightly at the suggestion. It was a remarkably soft one. Never mind that if Yin's gotten to this point, he's probably had his chance to speak without a lightsaber next to his throat.

"Baby him." Nieraan snorted softly and glanced at the man tied down beneath the threat of Zarene's blade. He looked back to the Twi'lek with a small, mocking sneer. "Is that our way now? Almost sounds like something a Jedi would say..."

Without saying more, he looked back to the other two. Zarene spoke now. Nieraan chuckled softly in his throat at her sentencing. Oh this was amusing; much better than loafing around one of the courtyards.

"Zarene, Zarene, Zarene, let's not rush too much, hm?" He did nothing to hide the amusement from his voice. As he spoke, he lifted two fingers and used them to weave the Force into a loose web around the hand that held her lightsaber. It was not enough to stop motion, only to slow it, make it more difficult; if she truly wanted to kill the man now, then he wouldn't go through the fuss of stopping her. "I don't give a damn if you kill the guy or not, but why end the fun so soon?"

Now he stood to his feet and took a few steps forward to stand at the bed's edge. The light in the room glinted dimly from his yellow eyes. His sharp canines flashed in a malicious grin he gave the prisoner. "If he will not join us, then at least see what he knows first. Some time in one of the interrogation chambers should be enough. I mean, if you believe he'll crack under pressure..."

The hold he had on Zarene's hand in the Force melted away and he lifted a hand, pointing it casually at the prisoner. He wove the Force again, reaching past the exterior shell of flesh to go deeper, to reach to the organs below. He used Grip, took the both of the lungs in his grasp through the Force and gave a simple squeeze. Not enough to hurt, but just enough to let the prisoner know what was going on. Enough to show it could hurt if Nieraan willed it.

His hand fell back to his side and his Grip faded away as he returned his gaze to Zarene, smirking darkly. "Then crack him. Who knows, you might get something worth a damn once you do. And when you're done?"

He shrugged and cut a line through the air in front of his throat with his hand.

[SionX]

Sion gave a small laugh as the man in the hospital bed was threatened by this.. Zarene, did Looma call her? He looked over as the Twi'lek talked to them once more, apparantly they knew eachother.

He now noticed a bloodied man in the room, near Zarene. The man mocked Looma, and then talked to Zarene, trying to convince her to toy with and break the other man's mind. Turn him insane for the sake of any information he might be worth, or just turn him into a puppet, a plaything for the Sith to use. He put his hand on his lightsaber now, in case the situation escalated.

Hand still on the hilt of his lightsaber he smiled and turned back to Looma "I see, well, regardless, the medical droid wanted me to check on you." Sion said. He tried to hold back any signs of nervousness or weakness in regards to the situation on the other side of the room.

[Reece Thompson]

Alkeran managed a sigh, "There's a difference between paralyzed with indecision and sluggish from your drugs. But I have to admit, I do like power."

He sat perfectly still, the blue blade hovering above his throat again.

"I was being honest aswell. I was carrying cargo for Ziost. I'm not entirely sure what it was. I think it was weapons and supplies. I don't check what it is I'm carrying, I just carry it.
I can take you to my ship, we can check what's left of it, see what the cargo was. Maybe you can use it here eh?"