The Hand and the Eye (Sorsha)

[Karl Valten]

It was a new dawn for the Imperium. A new Empress had been named, Empress Tarkin and Baron Tagge had wed in extravagant Coruscanti fashion, for the first time in two years the much of the public embraced their government and new leader, and so many of the corrupt and treasonous sat in prison for their sins, and one of the core members of the terrorist organization calling itself the Alliance to Restore the Republic lay in Inquisitorial hands

Yet for Grand Inquisitor Karl Valten there was little time for rest and peace. The Inquisitoriate never slept and never closed its eyes. Unseen by many, the ascension of Miranda Tarkin had split not only the government, but the Inquisitoriate had begun fraying. There were those Inquisitors who cried out that Valten had broken the sacred Book of Indoctrinations in his actions, accusing him a radical and traitor. The Rebel Alliance still grew bolder despite their loss…and something unseen was undermining everything that Valten had worked to create.

But still, priorities remained a key. And the security of the new Empress fell at the forefront. That Miranda Tarkin wished for the Hand to be reinstated came as no surprise. However the Grand Inquisitor fell wary of a certain individual that she had chose. He would not defy his Empress, but some things needed to be cleared in private away from the stench of politics.

And so Valten waited within the grand Cathedral towering high above the black spires of the Inquisitorial Citadel around it like an obsidian titan watching over the bright shining city-planet. His guest would be arriving shortly and he had made sure she would be well treated by his subordinates. Valten himself wore a much more casual uniform than the stiff and uncomfortable ceremonial garb that he had been forced to display these last few weeks.

Exquisite Coruscanti hors d'œuvre had been prepared and set amongst the display cases of the brightly lit Hall of Artifacts; a collection of the most rare and priceless treasures of every eon past acquired by the Inquisitoriate. Not even Imperial Center’s most prestigious museums and universities could boast such items. It represented all the grandeur and beauty the Empire had built itself on and perfected.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha arrived alone. No bodyguards or other escort. Even her handmaiden had been dismissed. She'd prepared herself for this meeting with deep meditation, and now she waited outside the Grand Inquisitor's door ::

[Karl Valten]

Flanking the doors to the hall of artifacts were a pair of crimson guard. At a signal from the chambers, one allowed Sorsha passage and escorted her inside.

Inquisitor Valten turned and smiled from the glyphs etched upon an ancient tablet.

"Welcome, Ms. Kasajian. I am glad you've taken us up on our invitation."

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: She smiled briefly, in an effort to be polite ::

"Let's be honest, shall we? I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me. And please, call me Sorsha."

[Karl Valten]

Valten nodded his head at her remark.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, times have been very busy as of late. I hope you can understand."

Straight forward and no nonsense, the Grand Inquisitor a bit better about this meeting. He had gotten far to used to the rhetoric and double-talk of politicians in the last several days.

"So then....Sorsha...." Valten almost struggled to say the name, such informality seemed awkward. "....business or pleasure (Valten gestured towards the food) first?"

[Sorsha Kasajian]

"There are trust issues between us. You don't trust me, and I don't entirely trust you."

:: She picked up a piece of fruit ::

"If our positions were reversed, I'd find some clever means of controlling you to gain advantage over you. That's something I believe we have in common. Knowing who among our people we can trust."

[Karl Valten]

Valten smirked and raised an eyebrow at the woman before him. She seemed so brash and arrogant, daring to speak to an Inquisitor in such a tone. Normally an individual with such gall would very much irk the Grand Inquisitor, but the lack of fear was more than intriguing to him.
“No, I don’t rust you. You are a rogue, your lineage is in control of the Assassin’s Guild, you were Vigo of the once-great Black Sun, and now you’re trying to etch out you own piece of the galaxy.”

He did not pause to follow up on his accusations. The Inquisitoriate maintained some all important ties to the underworld. Criminal organizations could be very useful indeed, providing information that no other can discover. In return the Inquisitoriate would hunt bigger fish, leaving the crime lords to their own devices so long as the Imperium benefited in some way.

“Trust is a weakness. But that I don’t trust you, doesn’t mean I can’t be confidant that you will perform well in your duties. That is what we are attempting to learn now isn’t it?”

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha stared through the Inquistor's eyes, right into his soul, and grinned impossibly wide. The smile was feral and murderous as she spoke, but her tone was perfect calm ::

"I shall become the Hand of my Empress, my dearest friend, who I love above all others. I will serve her unto death, and I shall kill anyone who poses a threat to her. Including you."

:: She leaned back in her chair and looked inscrutable ::

"So, when do we start?"

[Karl Valten]

Valten met Sorsha’s sinister grin with an amused chuckle. She was much too used to delivering orders to her subordinates and terrifying underlings. The woman would have to learn her new place as a Hand or she would not survive long.

“Very poor choice of wording.”

Instead of reacting violently, or with any hint of anger for that matter, Valten simply shrugged and picked up skewer of some of meat he did not know how to pronounce.

“What do you know of the Hand?”

[Sorsha Kasajian]

"Contrarily ... I choose my words very carefully."

:: Sorsha refrained from further fencing, refusing to give him the satisfaction. It was not an idle threat from her. It was a promise. She noted his every move with serpent calm. The distance between them. His hand on the skewer. Every breath he took. If anything changed, she was ready to dance ::

"They were extensions of Palpatine's will, carrying it out wherever he wished it."

[Karl Valten]

“Indeed, the Hand was granted almost unlimited access and authority to accomplish her missions. She could take command of military units, starships or weapons as necessary to complete her duties.”

Valten took a bit from the succulent morsel. In Palpatine’s day, Sorsha would have made the perfect Hand. But the Hand was flawed in a key way, one that the Grand Inquisitor had come to realized from the encounter between Inquisitor Kalidous and Issoris on Doldur.

“The Hand defended the citizens of the Empire from its most dangerous enemies, when others could not”

He set the skewer on an empty platter and leaned forward at his seat.

“Why do you wish to become the Empress's Hand?”

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Her family had been a loyal house, and it remained so to this day. The Tarkins and the Kasajians were also close, but all of this was well known to Valten already, if he was worth his salt at all. She wouldn't waste his time with the past ::

"I want to hunt the terrorist pigs that threaten our Empire, and kill them with great pain and suffering."

:: If he could read her mind, her thirst for this was orgasmic. She waited intently for his reply ::

[Karl Valten]

"I want to hunt the terrorist pigs that threaten our Empire, and kill them with great pain and suffering."

So this was it then? This was the true reason she chose to join the Hand? Valten did not believe it. Even for the most bloodthirsty Inquisitors something deeper drove them to embrace the madness brought on by a life with the Inquisitoriate.

"House Kasajian has always been a loyal and powerful asset to the Empire...." Valten locked eyes with Sorsha for the first time in the meeting. He saw in her eyes the feral fire brimming with hatred she herself spoke of, but behind the flames lurked something else....and in his eyes she could only sickening void.

"But you...you have not shown much enthusiasm in supporting the Empire. And I should believe what you say? A superficial hatred of the heretics?"

Valten shook his head, the volume of his voice raising ever slowly.

"You aided and assisted groups that opposed the Imperium not long ago, You were in control of half a criminal empire, you possessed more power than most sector governors, you commanded fear from countless underlings, you possessed more wealth than even your name could buy, you answered to no laws."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And now I hear you have given that all up for mere hatred of terrorists? No, no Ms. Kasajian, you are lying to me"

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha narrowed her eyes at the Inquistor ::

"You are little more an ego bloated sack of dren, Valten. The only reason you have a seat is because Miranda allows it. I think she needs to re-evaluate that."

[Karl Valten]

Valten’s head visibly tilted to the side as his lips drew back in a wicked sneer. The man seemed more a nexu playing with its food than anything human-like.

“Really now? You seem to be taking this rather personally. And here I thought that this was purely a work related exchange.”

“I’ve not spoken ten minutes with you and you had me labeled an enemy before even setting foot in my home. Now why would that be?”

[Sorsha Kasajian]

"Because I Did Not Come Here To Play Games, Lout!!!" :verymad "Do Not Frell With Me!!!" :verymad

:: She maintained her seat as she snarled, mindful that she was in fact on his home turf, and made an effort to speak more calmly ::

"I have been so honest with you, which is far more than you're used to, I suspect. The Empress sent me here so that you can train me. Isn't that right?"

[Karl Valten]

"I. Do. Not. Play. Games. I merely......test."

Valten shook his head and stood from his seat, inviting Sorsha to do the same with a gesture of his hand. The lack of control over her emotions here was, Valten searched for a word, disappointing.

"The Empress may have sent you for training. But personally, if you are truly bent on being honest, I think she made a poor choice."

Valten gestured down the rows of priceless treasures lining the Hall of Artifacts.

"But by all means, prove me wrong."

[Sorsha Kasajian]

"I think she made a far greater error by placing her faith in an Inquisatoriate Toad like you."

:: placing the untouched fruit back on the platter, she made a gesture in the opposite direction ::

"Let's go see her together, shall we?"

[Karl Valten]

Valten half coughed and half laughed at what Kasajian implied. Where she anyone else, even one of his own Inquisitors, her head would have been permanently mounted at the Cathedral gates for such disrespect.

"No. We do not question the Empress's orders. We are both pawns, you and I. What we think, what we feel, does not matter. We hear and we obey."

Valten leveled a finger in her direction.

"Whatever personal affects you may hold need to be ignored. I disagree with the Empress's decision, but we will train you."

"By coming here, you chose this course."

Valten turned and began his trek across the hall, leaving Sorsha to stand there.

"Only death or insanity can free you from this curse you've chosen."

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Finally she thought. It took him long enough to cut the dren. Sorsha disliked having to be churlish, but she would not allow anything, or anyone, getting in her way of becoming the Hand. She followed him, aware of everything around her that could be used for a weapon ::

[Karl Valten]

Valten stepped through a stone archway with Sorsha in tow leading into a much smaller chamber than the Hall of Artifacts. Compared to the dark, cold stone and meager lighting from before, this maintained a much more polished allure. Though the space remained devoid of furnishings.

"There is one very important key about the Hand that Empress Tarkin did not know about….or perhaps she does? It doesn’t really matter.”

The instant the Grand Inquisitor stepped into the center of the chambers, a rumbling, ratcheting tremor shook the room as a heavy stone door slid shut behind the pair.

“Emperor Palpatine hand-picked all of his agents, and all of them were force-sensitive.”

Sorsha became aware of another occupant in the room.

“So your first test is to find out if you are an adept. Unlikely, but it is something we absolutely must know.”

[Lykaios]

As the door slid shut behind the two, the room temperature dropped drastically, thanks in part to a light wind that surfed through the room.

Perhaps such ordinary event shouldn't be considered extraordinary, save for the fact that there was nowhere for a draft to enter the room, which had been sealed shut for one purpose and one purpose alone.

The room was perfectly lit but somehow it had seemed to grow darker in the mere second that had passed since the Grand Inquisitor's last statement.

"Is this the Bantha tick?"

The deep-bass-toned voice seemed to come from every where and nowhere at the same time, it appeared to come from the deepest pit the netherworld, yet its source had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and was now next to the Grand Inquisitor.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha closed her eyes, ignoring the feeble insult about her homeworld. She was at the top of her form. Both an assassin and a champion duelist with a blade. She possessed a surgeon's knowledge of human anatomy, and was versed in several forms of martial arts as well as firearms, stealth, and poisons. Such was her zeal to become perfect in her chosen profession. She was ready now, to tap into something much deeper, and she would prove them both wrong to underestimate her ::

[Lykaios]

A brief pause followed The Immortal's inquiry. She wanted to say something, but she was holding back, perhaps she was of the idea that she would let her accomplishments do the talking, that her actions would speak louder than her words.

Oh, how wrong she was. All she knew meant absolutely nothing and by the looks of it, she would find about it the hard way.

"At least you know your place little bug and you do not speak unless spoken too. You will do well in keeping that up." Lykaios said, the words drenched in sarcasm.

"You do not have what it takes to be the Hand of the Empress." It wasn't a question but a statement, a rather clear one at that. "But you make take solace in the fact that your failure will not be completely uselss for it might at least help me sharpen some of my skills."

Another pause as he started to approach her, much in the way a predator readies himself to pounce on its sounded prey.

"Lets imagine if just for a fraction of a second that I were to ive you the chance, what makes you think you're worthy?"

And so the test had begun.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

A dangerous smile spread across Sorsha's face as her hatred of this man reached a boiling point. She could hear her heartbeat, and his. Both seperate and distinct.

He was trying to bait her into unfocused rage, to commit an error that would allow him an advantage over her. He wanted her to fail, to humiliate her. She'd dealt with men like this before. Little tin gods like Xizor. No matter what their delusions were, they could bleed, and they could die. All it took was one mistake.

Her eyes snapped open.

"Enough talk." she hissed. "Come and break me, if you can."

[Lykaios]

"My, my...temper...temper." Lykaios scoffed at her invite for a confrontation, did she really think she could take him on? She would have to think again.

"You make my point, the Hand requires patience, skill, wit, not just brute force and the nerve to throw a challenge to a complete and utter stranger."

He could see her concentrating, focusing on him, planning her moves and his, sizing her opponent.

"I need not move to crush you like the insect you are." Most Force-users would channel and direct an attack with a movement of their body, a wave of a hand, the raise of an arm; but Lykaios was very much unlike most Force-users.

The only perceptible movement in his being was his eyebrow raising slightly, as he summoned the Force to his side and in less than a split second, unleashed a violent Force push in the woman's direction.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha was flung back, tumbling head over heels before hitting the ground hard. Her mind recalled Darth Lucid, the things he said to her in her dreams. Lifting her head, she uttered a deep hiss at Lykaios, and threw him back with a force push of her own. It was stronger than either of the Inquisatoriate pigs anticipated. She wanted to kill them both, and used that mental image as a focus. Sorsha rose to her feet, and spat in defiance at Lykaios. She would suffer their abuse for Miranda until she was killed or dismissed. She didn't care anymore. ::

"TRAIN ME OR KILL ME!!! I'M WEARY OF YOU!!!"

[Lykaios]

This time around Lykaios did use a wave of his hand to summon the Force and create an unseen wall for her attack to collide, rather than his body. It seemed as if The Wolf had underestimated her a bit, if she would’ve been a split second quicker it would’ve been him flying in mid-air now.

Lykaios allowed himself to smile inwardly, so she was Force sensitive after all, perhaps this would not be a complete waste.
<o></o>
“Tempting,” Said Lykaios as he sent a Force choke in her direction. His cool and composed demeanor was quite the contrast to her enraged self. “But I’m afraid, your fate has already been decided. A more apt question is: Are you ready to fulfill it?”

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha was unable to speak due to the force choke, but she was ready to rip him apart the instant he released it. She was ready to die with the taste of blood in her mouth, and she sent the thought to him with intense clarity ::

[Lykaios]

If looks could kill, Lykaios would've dropped dead in a hearbeat. Her razor sharp eyes could've pierced through his armor, like a knife through butter. She wanted to cut him into little pieces and toss them out the window.

The Wolf smiled visibly as he released her from his grip. This had been enough.

"From this moment forth, you must realize that every time you look at yourself in the mirror, there is reflection in it only because I have allowed it."

It would've been very easy for him to squeeze the life out of her, but it would've been a waste and nothing would've been gained from her demise.

"Raise," Said he in an emotionless and solemn tone. "Also from this moment forth, you are under my tutelage so that you never have to thank anybody else for sparing your life."

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha pitched forward onto her hands as she gasped for air. The effort to resist Lykaios exhausted her, and she rubbed her throat as she looked up at him.

She was on her knees before him, and the humiliation of it stung her to the core. It was like Xizor all over again, forcing his dominance over her and trying to make her feel grateful. She felt cursed at having to endure the ego of yet another Man to gain admitance into Miranda's circle.

She reminded herself that she was suffering all of this for Mira as she touched her forehead to the floor in submission. Not out of gratitude to Lykaios, or fear. He held her at a disadvantage, but it would not last forever.

With a sigh, she rose to her feet, and looked at him wearily.

"Thank you ......... Master."