[center][i]Requiem for a Dream/A Dance With Aera Cura[/i] Finale/Part the First [i]"A kiss of shame, Tempts me to question love. Her sweet taste, Kills all beauty..."[/i][/center] Her determined footsteps echoed through the corridors as she beat a staccato against the plasteel floors with bloodied heels. Breathes came in pained gasps as she pushed her body harder to outrun that which chased, and the ever encroaching darkness that surrounded not only it, but the way ahead. She had no choice but to run, for she knew what would happen if she did not, and she refused to allow it to take yet another victory from her. Intermittently lights would flash in the distance, and she would hoarsely call out, a feeble cry for help that made it no farther from her lips than her own feet did from the creature behind her. A bestial growl seemed to laugh at every attempt, the savage and brutish hunger for her flesh that emanated from the creature only spurring her onwards from sheer terror. She could not run forever, though, and that was a fact that she could never deny, despite her thousands of attempts which always failed. As if to spite her more, a jagged edge caught her foot and caused her to come crashing to the cold hard ground, the impact sudden and forceful enough to knock what little air there was in her lungs out of them. She cowered on the ground, her face bloodied from the impact against the floor, and her ankle twisted from the impact in a way that most definitely meant she would not be running anymore. Though fear gripped her tight, she dared to roll over on her side to look behind her, dreadful of whatever may be there. In yet another cruel twist of fate, there was nothing there except an empty corridor, a light at the end pulsing as it was no doubt near the end of its own life. A smell wafted from that direction, a smell which at first made her gag in disgust, but then the horror of what it really was spurred her to begin crawling away from it, her limp leg dragging uselessly behind her as so much dead-weight. Though she wanted desperately to be wrong, the smell of burning flesh was all too common a scent on the battlefields, and it was one that she should instantly recognize over anything else. Tears were running down her face as she slowly dragged herself across the rough ground, not even realizing that the scenery had shifted dramatically into that of a sparse desert settlement, or that she was now losing a substantial amount of blood from the cuts and gashes she was enduring trying to escape a smell which was no longer there. Rational thought no longer existed, for she had dropped once more beyond the point at which logical thinking could somehow magically save her from this nightmare, and now she only did what her instincts drove her to. She suddenly stopped her frantic crawl as her hand slapped down upon a surface far different than what she had previously been grasping. Her sightless eyes looked upon the toe of a boot, slowly traversing upwards until she stared into the face of her own personal demon, that which chased. Pathetically she tried to scream and only hoarse crying came out of her battered body, the sheer effort of trying to escape the creature denying her the ability to call out to people that simply weren't there. Glowering down upon her were the eyes of a creature which had no name, and never did, for it was beyond such mortal needs, and only had one desire... To take the souls of those who dared stare into its malevolence. It was ancient beyond reckoning, a creature which perhaps had never known a mortal body, yet survived on the predations of the force-users it had claimed as victims. To her, it appeared as an ambiguous man, whose face she could not recognize, yet always wore a charming smile upon his face that was undoubtedly too handsome for the terror he inflicted upon not only her but likely countless others as well. "Charming." the voice of the demon was akin to the draw of a knife across flesh, the words it spoke sliced through the air and her soul as if it wasn't even there. "You always try Genevieve, yet you always fail. Tell me, would you like to know what I have for you this time?" It was teasing her of course, for the demon would show her anyways even if she could say no to it. With a sudden movement that betrayed its form, the creature was kneeling before her, one hand upon the ground and another slowly moving towards her face. She tried to move away, but the force of its presence was too powerful and she was helpless as it grasped hold of her face, the sharpened digits of its hand digging deep into the empty sockets of her eyes and the vision it chose to share came into being before her. A house of cards stood upon a sandy plain, figures darting through the folds and creases of the deck, some she could see plainly as mandalorian clones, others she could not see clearly for the portents of fate shadowed them from her eyes. Two stood out very clearly to her, their presence a shining beacon among the darkness of the structure, and she was forced to watch as they fought side by side against terrible odds, until one of them was beaten down and held against their will by a pair of the shadows. The other shining soul continued to fight, its movements a whirlwind of death as it struck down countless figures, but oblivious to yet another that snuck in the shadows behind it and made ready to pounce. She tried to call out, but when she opened her mouth the demon forced a claw into it and pierced her tongue to her lower jaw, silencing her efforts permanently. It was then that she witnessed what she had been forced to wait for, the shining figure that still fought was struck from behind, the blade of its assassin striking through its heart and ending its life. Before she could attempt anything else, the vision was over, and once more she was laying upon the hard ground staring at her demon. "You see now." it mocked, that damned smile still upon its face as it spoke, "You cannot stop anything, I am know you just as well as you know yourself. In fact..." The creature shifted slightly, the colors and light bending around it to force its shape into a form that it felt more fitting until she stared in horror at the mockery it forced in front of her. Her own reflection stared at her, the shallow eye-sockets devoid of eyes, and the lithe body that she had known as her own, that slight smile that she always wore because she tried desperately to find the happiness in life despite the terror of her waking dreams. All of it crashed down upon her in a torrent of despair, the world of her dreams unraveling as her body writhed in agony in real life, all the while her demon laughed at her in her own voice, wearing her own skin. The last thing she saw was the image of herself smiling, the voice she knew as her own mocking her one last time... [i]"You know I always win, Genevieve."[/i] --- [i]Taris, The Spire Enclave - Requiem's quarters[/i] She awoke in a cold sweat, pain wracking her body as her mind still reeled from the assault. Fingers grasped at the sheets damp with her own terror, her mind struggling to bring itself back together even as her body attempting to reassert control. Moments which seemed like eternity later, she finally quelled the last of the spasms, bringing the sheet up to cover her nude body as she weakly raised herself to a sitting position. The force eddied around her like the wake of a typhoon, the localized event seeming to have done just as much damage to her immediate surroundings as it had done to her mind and body. Several of her belongings had been knocked from their original position and found new homes on the floor, something which she was not fond of and knew she would have to correct sooner or later. Further observation of the room was halted by a knock at her door, no doubt one of the troopers coming to see if she was alright, though for him to be knocking seemed to defeat the purpose of investigating the possibility of attack. She would have to gently remind him later, but for now she gestured to the door and used the force to open it slightly, a shallow "What?" greeting the person on the other side. To her surprise, it was not a clone-trooper, and was instead Solace who had come to see her, a look of worry clear on her face as she looked inwards at her normally cheerful and neat sister. "You screamed, sister." she said, that tone of worry in her voice as she shut the door behind her and moved to sit on the bed next to Requiem. For a moment, neither of them said anything, but not much needed to be said between force-users linked as they were, for all Solace had to do was read her sister's aura and she would know what she needed to know. She did read most of what had so troubled her sister, but there was something else there, another fear that had come up before, one that she never understood, and was about to ask about when her sister flung herself into her arms and began crying. "I'm sorry." she repeated several times, despite not explaining what it was she was sorry for, and leaving her sister no idea why she was upset now. Holding her close, Solace slowly rocked back and forth, bringing her sister's tears to a slow before finally she was able to pose the question "Why are you sorry, sis?" looking up, Requiem gathered herself before answering, "I've given life to our master, several times, perhaps several times too many." Confusion set in as Solace attempted to understand how that could possibly be reason for apology, but then she started to piece together all the things that had never quite made sense. For years the two had been apprenticed to Shimmerene, and for all that time despite her having mastered many aspects of their eccentric master's ways, as well as becoming the first-prime, she had never been alone with the master more than those few occasions that she herself had given life to her master. On the other hand, there were many instances in which Requiem had been alone with their master and for extended periods, all of which without explanation. Until now, she had simply assumed extended training, as her sister never could quite grasp some of the more complex force-powers. Now she started to think of more dire possibilities, thoughts that soon became all too true as her sister's aura read of guilt and shame. "How long, sis? How long has this been going on?" "I-it s-started about a few months after we began our apprenticeship." at first, she struggled with the words of her confession, stumbling across them as she felt shame in lying to her dear sister for so long. "I was curious, of course, of what our master looked like in truth, and I had always felt some connection to the master. While she did eventually reveal herself, I could feel apprehension in her aura, and something that seemed to be a fear of me. Later I came to understand that it was a fear of hurting me like she had done to so many others over the years, a fear which was only slightly soothed when I first willingly gave my own life-force to her. I had my own feelings of fear as well, in addition to another feeling which I didn't understand at first. It was only when I remember you telling me about Zentraedies that I really understood this feeling." Solace slowly nodded in silence as she now understood the depth of the connection between her master and her sister, stifling a smile as she felt her sister blushing as she spoke the truth she had been waiting for so long to tell. "When we realized our affection for each other, I readily volunteered my own life to sustain her, though she would at first refuse, just as she had done to many others. I could feel that she had already loved many others in her life, people who had walked the same road as I do, and eventually given too much for her, just as I may likely have done. It was... Somewhat exhilarating, truth be told, as she was my first kiss. Arguably, I don't think others have pieces of their soul taken from them with their first kiss, or really any other, but it still feels worth it. Afterward my memory is hazy, but I do remember waking up here in my quarters with her sitting watch, leaving once she had seen that I had awaken without harm. Since then it has been our secret, perpetuated over the years." She hesitated for a moment, hesitation stopping her before she asked what she feared, "Jess? You still love me, right?" For a moment, Solace indulged in a rare smile, the sincerity in the action evident as she answered, "Of course, Genevieve. You and me are Alleron's, and not even the entire galaxy can break the bonds between us." --- [i]Taris System Authority, near the sudden appearance of the Black-Hand Task-Force "Faithless Remorse"[/i] Sector defense admiral Andrew Tarkev was, like many of his kind, an unfeeling bastard who had been blessed with the command of an Imperial-I class Star Destroyer after an action that he likely knew all too well was wrong. Staring over the screen-jockeys in the navigation pit, he wore the same expression that was perpetually etched across his face, that of extreme displeasure in the very fact that everyone around him was still breathing. So it was that when a small indicator no more than three millimeters wide that denoted a detected vessel blinked on across the room, the attendant froze to his chair in fear of the swiftly approaching admiral. "Power to forward shields and have the gun-crews man their stations!" his bellowing orders were swiftly obeyed, for all of them knew his infamously short temper, and that the only thing that brought that dire excuse for a living being happiness was the venting of a crewman out an airlock. He was above the attendant as soon as the words had finished leaving his mouth, that same glowering remark now directed at the cowering crewman. "Report." he stated simply, the weight he put behind those words seemingly creating their own gravity well. "Sir. Lucrehulk class, battleship designation, just jumped in system from what we believe is the direction of the Esstran sector." without saying another word, the admiral moved onwards, now thankfully for the radar-operator, relocating to stand behind the comms-officer. "Send the missive." the order was given without further ceremony, and the admiral had already lost interest in the current event. With a simple series of commands, the comms-officer sent out a missive to the vessel, something that had been pre-written long ago by a far more forgiving mind than the current admiral. [quote=Task Force Faithless Remorse] Attention unidentified vessel, this the defensive fleet for the Taris system, and we have detected your unannounced arrival within our space. Please identify yourself immediately and disengage any offensive capabilities your vessel may have. We of the Grand Republic of Mandalore do not wish hostilities, and expect cooperation in our request to disengage offensive weapons and identify your purpose for entering our system. Should you only be passing through our sector, we will allow you to continue about your way, though your actions will be watched carefully. If your intentions are not hostile, and you wish to engage in discourse with the Grand Republic, then respond to this message upon receiving it, else we will assume your intentions to be hostile in nature. -Admiral Andrew Tarkev, Commander of ISD-I "Faithless Remorse"[/quote]