Forsaken

[Lady Mara Jade]

The mood was eerie, but it was always such at The Sith Empire. People seemed to be rushing around her frantically, she knew she was dying, it was after all what she expected to happen after being stabbed through the stomach by the Jedi Knight and buried alive. What kept her from perishing all those hours under the dirt and bleeding slowly she could not explain. Perhaps it was merely the Dark Side which had kept her for so long. But even after the Sith Lord, Bromine had dug her body up she knew that the damage was irreversible.

Her body was broken and would never function the way it had before. Her thoughts were with her Apprentices. Jedah Lynch, the mysterious Sith with wings and Saurron. The first Sith Vampyre to ever join The Sith Empire. She had already given his Apprenticeship up to another Sith Master, yet in her heart she had not forsaken him and never would. She could see him now, beside her bed as he visited her while she lie in her coma. Then it began to happen, the surge of emotion followed by the bite on the neck...then only darkness. It lasted for ages it seemed and she felt disconnected. She lived yet she could not feel the way that she used to...she felt dead and she could not remember anything in detail. Only the silence, the darkness and nothing more...

Then her mind was free again, to roam. Be it through some strange curse, but she was alive. She could feel the wires connected to her. Indeed through the Force she knew every detail about the room she was in. Then she sensed him, or was it just another memory? Past and present were intertwined, she could not determine which was which. But it seemed like him...Turbogeek? He was different. Perhaps he was not there as she originally thought...nothing seemed the same. Then the other one which she felt...he was not a Sith. She despised the fact...but neither was he a Jedi. She began to wonder why he had brought her back. Should she concern herself?

Her fists would have clenched in rage had she been in control of her motor functions. Perhaps he thought he would bring her back in order to shift the balance of power. She could feel the rage in him. Hatred for her Empire, hatred for the Sith which she had sworn to teach and protect with her very life years prior. But there was something else, she felt it now. Much had changed in The Sith Empire. Had she truly been gone that long? Was she that detached from it all?

The confines of the medical status were maddening, but she had not the strength to leave it. She wished to venture out, to get revenge on the ones who did this to her. But how could she? Garik Loran...he was a Sith turned Jedi! He taught her everything. She loved him more than life itself. If she'd ever had a Master in the Dark Ways he would have been it. Despite the hatred which she harbored for any and all that had ever caused her grief, no matter the blackness of her heart and soul she could never hate him. Even if he was the one who put her in her grave.

So the hatred must remain, but not with that person. It had to be justified, someone must pay for what happened. Garik was not of right mind when he committed the dreadful deed. The Jedi were to blame, always the Jedi! And Itala was to blame for Garik's turning, he was the cause. His poor leadership as a Sith Master, his constant bickering. She would have her revenge. She would hunt them all until the end of time. Her cruelty would know no bounds and her hands would never again be tied by the petty politics of Sith vs. Sith.

[Vicet]

:: An image forms in Mara Jade's mind. A spectre, serpentine in form and black as pitch ::

[Lady Mara Jade]

What was this? The image in her mind. She pondered who would ever dare to confront her here... in her arena. Surely it was clear that this was where she was most powerful. Any being would fall subject to her will within her own mind, there was no battling her here...she was not oppressed by the confines a physical body and she was quite nearly capable of anything. Even to a spectre! The psychological ramifications of what happened here would be reflected by the being's physical body. Her eyes narrowed, she was weary of treachery and her patience ran thin for hat tricks. If this was a young force user on a quest for something grand they would indeed be surprised, perhaps get even more than they bargained for. Unless of course, they had not a physical body at all.

Mara, determined to keep an open mind waved her arm. Within seconds she and the spectre were in a different place. They were no longer confined by the four walls of Bast, or the regeneration chamber. She was floating, above molten rock and chasms which plunged into the depths of what seemed to be an endless plane of destruction. Lava spout from craters inside the ground and scorched the green grass and vegetation which it had seemed at one time, covered the planets entire surface.

"Explain yourself," Mara commanded. Her voice thundering through the hills and bouncing off the caverns. She was a sight to behold here. Her fiery red hair swept up in the imaginary wind, blending with the colors of the scorched sky. Her eyes burning with the power of the Dark Side which she wielded. The spectre seemed unaffected by the change in scenery, however and despite the seemingly aggressive confrontation did not change from it's vague black form.

[Vicet]

"I am here becaussse you ssssummoned me."

[Jeseth Cloak]

In the real world, steps were echoing towards Mara's body… slow and well-timed steps. A shadow washed against the door to the room she lay in, and like a breaking tie, it slowly pulled away and receded into the darkness from which it came. Jeseth's cloak hung behind his body, wafting with his motions. There weren't very many air currents within the lower chambers of Bast. The door before him was solid quantum steel.

It once served Vader as a private meditation chamber, and was converted into a cloning facility to suit Palpatine's needs once he took residence here... but now it was, like everything else in Bast, a shadow; a mere reminder of the past. Jeseth used this room to create Slayn with primitive forms of cloning. He punched in a long thirty digit code, and the door swished open very slowly. The walls creaked and dust fell. There she was: Lady Mara Jade. She looked like a doll within a box now, nearly frozen within the confines of the regeneration chamber.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Another face turned to see who had just enetered. This one was covered with a heavy leather face mask. The figure was dressed in heavy cold protection, his figures lit from the cloning equipment only. Seeing whom it was, he returned his attention back to the medical monitors. His highly bizarre healing and medical abilities were coming in useful once again, not for the cloning, but helping to ready the the clone for life and also to make sure she lived when she was released. Soon, Very soon

"She is close to being ready. Her memories have been transferred to the clone and activated."

A pause.

"I have to admit, this has been fascinating to watch this happen"

[Lady Mara Jade]

Mara paused for a moment, tilting her head slightly and looking upon the serpent curiously, "I do not recall summoning you," her eyes narrowed slightly, "however in the state I appear to be in, I could have summoned all of The Sith Empire's fleet without knowing it. What is it that I supposedly summoned you for? Have you come to bring me news of the Jedi and their whereabouts? That is all that concerns me at this time."

[Jeseth Cloak]

"I didn't have a chance to tell you the last time we were together... about your true origins." Jeseth stepped towards Turbogeek and sat down, taking a deep breath. This apprentice of his had been very much like a son at first, inexperienced and naive, in need of guidance. "I did not lie to you about your creation... I simply chose not to tell you. I believed it would lead to your eventual derangement. You know now that you are a clone of a long dead Jedi Master."

Jeseth looked at Turbogeek, his completely orb-like near black eyes filled with emptiness perceptible to any observant beings. "I found you by accident when I crashed on the planet Myrkyr... and I brought you back here to give you a life, and aid you in harnessing your power. Jedi would know not how to teach you to control such abilities. If I had not brought you here, others would have hunted you down and murdered you in your weakened condition. They tried many times, even after you were under my protection. That is why we ventured off this planet so rarely."

The cold environment had warmed slightly, some of Mara's limbs becoming thawed. The thick cold mist was gliding out into the corridor from which Jeseth had come. Jeseth broke the silence again for a third time. "You can remove that mask now, and those gloves. You'll find the temperature is quite tolerable now."

[Darth Turbogeek]

"I think you might find I have my origins figured out better than you realise. I know exactly why the Dak Jedi on Bast disliked me and I know why people cringe when they hear my adopted name. And I know why you never told me a lot of things. I would not have either"

He paused, stripping off the face mask.

"I'm quite grateful I have got this chance to live again. There are just so many... things that have to be done right this time!"

He checked a control board, before standing up.

"If this is whom I think it is, the reaction she has when she sees me will be.... interesting. If I have read the Jedi's memory correctly, the last Turbogeek and this woman knew of each other, they were the worst of enemies."

And if the DNA they sampled was whom he thought it was..... ahhh, there was no need to go down there yet. Better to be sure first.

[Vicet]

"You summoned me with your ssspirit, child. Not your mind. Both are easssy enough for me to look into. Look deep down inssside yourssself and you will come to know what I am. And why I am here. Tell me, how doesss it feel to be forsssaken, Mara Jade?"

[Lady Mara Jade]

Mara contemplated Vicet's words for several moments, "I have been forsaken and in darkness for ages it seems," she said calmly as she neared the creature, "however why do you ask me questions to which you already know the answer? You yourself are forsaken, perhaps your curious question would be best answered by you," Mara eyed Vicet intensely for several minutes but then, without warning her attention seemed to become diverted.

"They are preparing," she said as her form began to dissipate, "my body will be awakened soon...to what fate I know not. Hear me Vicet... if you are who I think you are then come to me in body as you have in spirit. We have much to discuss."

[Darth Turbogeek]

Not waiting for Jeseth's reply, Turbogeek stepped forward and touched the control pads.

"She's ready"

And with that, the Dark Jedi's palm slammed the release mechanism.

Firstly there was a few sparks and a hiss of escaping gasses. A light started to blink as the final processes kicked in, pipes released from the clone's body and the long breathing tube was drawn none too gently from the woman's throat. The doors to the tank began to open.

"AH Frell! The fluid drain has fai...."

Thousands of litres of liquid exploded out the now opening cylinder, spraying gooey liquid everywhere. Turbogeek ducked to avoid the worst of the spray and also equipment that was shorting out.

[Lady Mara Jade]

Mara's half conscious body fell to the floor of the laboratory in a heap as the liquid continued to spill out all around her. The floor was cold as ice. She coughed several times as some of the liquid seemed to have slipped down her throat. As her vision started to return to her she looked around the room. Then she saw him...Turbogeek. She was breathing heavily and felt as if her lungs had just collapsed. Shaking her head she leapt to her feet and with unexpected speed rushed toward Turbogeek and pinned the Dark Jedi against the wall, gripping him by the neck tightly.

"What sort of trickery is this, Jedi?" She whispered through clenched teeth, "why have you brought me back? Have you simply lost all of your senses while rotting away upon the exalted Jedi Council that in your stupidity you managed to bring back the person who hates you and your kind the most?"

So many thoughts were racing through her mind. She could feel the power of the Dark Side surging through her. Almost like never before. She now had the means to destroy her enemies and she would start with Turbogeek.

[Darth Turbogeek]

He felt his back slammed agaisnt the wall as the naked woman seized his throat, intent on choking the life out of him. Which may of worked a few months ago, but not now. Not with the combat knowledge he now possessed.

One hand grabbed her wrist, thumb digging into the sensitive nerve endings on the inside. The other slapped hard on the pressure point of her elbow. Now wiht pain screaming in her arm, Turbogeek wrenched her hand loose and with a good deal of fury and the insult of being called a Jedi, he twisted Jade around, slamming her face first into the wall. Shifting his grip to the back of her neck, he pulled her back and slammed her face into the wall, once, twice, three times screaming "I an NOT A JEDI!!!"

He threw the woman into the wall once again, cold eyes glinting and teeth exposed in a snarl of hatred.