Despite All My Rage

[Tyber Jaan]

Stasis was a curious thing. By isolating a living being in a stasis field, they ceased to exist in time. In that state, time itself didn't exist. They had mass, but were no longer an event in space-time. A non-event mass with a quantum probability of zero.

Of course that was the science behind it all. When that science was used on you, you didn't even get the sensation of sleep. You blinked, and you were a stone skipped across the sea of time in a single throw.

"- out of here, you bastards! Let me ooouuuut!!!"

Fists pounded against the glass of the solitary confinement stasis cell, in Tyber's mind not missing a beat. The glass on the outside hadn't been that filthy a moment ago. It took a moment for his mind to catch up to the subtle change in scenery, and the Jedi Padawan's face twisted into an angry snarl.

"GET ME OUT OF HEEEERRRREEEE!!!!"

He continued to pound the door with his fists, feeling his bruised knuckles ache anew at damage done anew. The Mandalorian drugs were still in his head...still embracing his mind in the suffocating grip that deprived him of his connection to the Force. The Neo Crusaders had made certain to give him a fresh shot of the juice before stuffing him into solitary.

This time, there were no guards at the ready to drag him back to his cell. As strange as it sounded, their absence terrified him in a way that the promise of new beatings and torture in their company could not. Tyber's hands slid down the stasis chamber's glass as he collapsed to the floor in tears.

"Get me out....get me out of here....please get me out NOW! NOW! NOW GODDAMN YOU!!!"

There wasn't so much as a sound in response. Tyber waited. An hour. Two. Five hours later, he could feel the drugs starting to ebb from his mind. Familiar senses were coming to life again. Slow at first. A sense of self, and the immediate world around him.

There was hardly enough room to meditate in the closet-sized chamber. Collapsed into a fetal position, Tyber waited for the world to return to him, muttering the words he'd been taught so long ago.

"There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force."

A rattled breath shook in his lungs, and no peace came to him. Tyber whispered again, his breath fogging against the glass.

"There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force."

[Tyber Jaan]

When at last his senses had returned, this cage was no longer enough to hold him. The door to the stasis chamber shuddered, then blew off its hinges. The force of impact on the far wall caused the glass within its frame to shatter as Tyber leapt out of the cell, crouching on the ground. Eyes flicked left and right, as he still searched for his Mandalorian captors. Seeing no one, he turned his attention to the door leading from the stasis isolation room, and with a movement of a hand, wrenched the mechanism loose. It didn't open cleanly, the doors grinding on their skids before being roughly bent apart, allowing enough space for him to slip past. Eagerly, Tyber made his escape, tripping over something beyond the threshold. He turned to look, and saw a suit of Neo Crusader armor lying on the floor. The Padawan reached with his senses, wrenching the man up to his feet with the force, only to find as he did so that the armor fell apart at the seams, and a dessicated skeleton fell out from within.

"What?"

Letting the remnants of the corpse fall to the ground, Tyber bent down to pick up the skull. He held it, but the bones were so brittle with age that they started to crumble in his hands. He searched with his feelings for more meaning, and began to divine the dawning of a terrible truth.

"No...."

The air here was stale. Musty. While oxygen still remained, he could no longer hear the atmospheric scrubbers cycling. Indeed, there was a haze of dust through the corridors. Tyber stalked along them, finding more and more dead Crusaders. He returned to his holding cell - the place he was penned up by the Mandalorians when they needed him pliant and subject to interrogation. Again, the door was wrenched free and thrown aside, and Tyber rushed inside. He could still feel the residual pain and anguish in this place, a feeling that caused his insides to knot in despair. Hands went to each side of his head as he whimpered, looking at the walls of his former prison. There wasn't a bare patch on the walls. Instead, the paint had been scratched from durasteel in almost every square inch, with erratic words scribbled anywhere they could be written.

It was all around him.

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

Tyber spun around looking at the walls, a delirious expression on his face as he began to sob again. Teeth bared as he beat his head against the walls of his cell, screaming.

[Tyber Jaan]

They were all dead.

Every last one of them.

What did he feel? A Jedi should take no pleasure from loss of life. And he didn't. But should there be a catharsis? A sense that balance had been restored? Master Nemo had often spoken on this matter of balance. The Jedi should always be tasked with righting wrongdoing, not avenging it. The Mandalorians were dead. Killed not by his hand, but by something he could never know. Even their bones crumbled at his touch. In the end, their own dungeon ship had been a tomb for the captors as well. Ironic. Yet irony was not catharsis.

Tyber slept on the floor of his cell, waking at the protests of his aching back and aching fingertips. He looked at his mangled fingers, the nails of which had been cracked and occasionally pulled from the quick at his frantic scratchings on his cell's wall. No catharsis. No matter how many times he could recite the code. He would die here. Already the knots of hunger in his stomach racked him. Even the sealed food rations on the ship had turned to dust, so long had they remained to the ravages of time. He would starve and die and turn to bones himself long before this ship ran out of power, it would seem.

His eyes suddenly flicked to the side. Senses starved for stimulation were keen by their hunger. He felt a presence. Not here. Not on this ship. But close. The Jedi Padawan cradled his head in his hands, rocking back and forth to still his mind. A planet, not far. There were no windows to see through. No controls to monitor their position. Within the dungeon there was no escape. So close, and yet so far away.

Tyber screamed, abandoning his futile search for catharsis as the prison cell around him quaked with power. Conduits overhead sparked and sputtered as the durasteel itself started to buckle. Awash in the sparks, Tyber snarled in his discovered rage. He reached out with his senses, lashing out at the ship itself to serve as a target for his anger. He could hear Master Nemo's protests in his mind, already growing dim as he finally felt powerful after so long of being powerless.

And then he laughed. Laughed as he rocked back and forth, cradling his knees. He could feel the ship itself in his hands like a plaything. A thought. A whim. The ship lurched, bucking against its trajectory, the inertial dampening not quite compensating for a force it was never designed to withhold. Angry hands reached outwards. He could still feel the planet nearby. He could feel his prison.

A smile.

And his prison could be moved.

[Tyber Jaan]

The dungeon ship was picking up speed. It had only needed a push in the right direction. Tyber could feel a rumble in the hull intensifying as the nearby planet's gravity picked it up, drawing it into an orbit that rapidly began to decay. The ship lurched, each moment become more violent than the next as it skipped across the atmosphere. Tyber closed his eyes, feeling the ship around him. He pushed where necessary, flattening and steepening the descent to ensure the best chance of splashing down on the planet and surviving. And if he didn't? If he crashed, burned, and died, then at least he would have an end to it all.

The skies over the Imperial fortress world of Obroa-Skai soon glowed orange as the ancient Mandalorian ship made its descent. The hull was pitted and burned, and broken in many places, but still largely intact. It screamed across the horizon, and finally raked an angry swathe of destruction through the outskirts of the city of Cy Haddar. Buildings were felled in an instant as the enormous hulk side-swiped across load bearing structures, kicking up a massive plume of smoke and dust that could be seen for miles.

[Zereth Lancer]

He waited. The entity out in space grew closer, a disturbance in the force that echoed through the galaxy. Many would come, pulled in by the siren song, while others would misunderstand and flee in the opposite direction. When he had awoken in the laboratory so many years ago his heart had made that sound; like a scream of hopelessness in the force. The entity made that sound now; even as it drew closer. It was emotion unchecked and out of balance. It was, in a word, dangerous. Power was freedom, but without control it was a flame that would consume all and turn the galaxy to ash. Neither the Empire or the Jedi would ever allow something so out of control to exist; they would see it locked away or destroyed. That was why he was here.

He waited. On the hilltop outside the city he watched the spark of fire in the sky draw closer; growing in size and intensity. Down below the city reacted; buildings abandoned as the streets filled with people seeking shelter from an imminent demise. He wished no ill will toward them. They were blameless in this matter, but there was no stopping the hurtling vessel the entity was riding through the atmosphere like a meteor steed. The impact was intense, shaking the ground as a quarter of the city disappeared in a plum of fire and destruction. When things finally settled he stood up from the cover of a rock outcropping and climbed aboard the waiting speeder bike.

The air was hot and full of screaming as the speeder flew into the city. All around him structures broke and crumbled. Just ahead a tall building collapsed, falling into his path. The speeder bike's speed did not deviate for a moment, instead the occupant jumped from it, shooting up into the air like a missile that traveled past the obstacle, over the wake of destruction, until he finally landed on top of the prison ship. A red stab of light shot from his hand, and was brought down into the hull of the ship; dragged along in crude lines of molten durasteel until a vague circle was created beneath his feet. A stomp sent the plate downward, carrying him into the interior of the ship and all it's disarrayed corridors.

Reaching out in the force he looked for the entity. It was alive. Somewhere.

[Tyber Jaan]

Without crash webbing to secure him in the impact, Tyber was at the mercy of powerful forces. Though the brunt of it had been weathered, he had nonetheless been injured in the crash. Concussed, bloodied, and with a dislocated shoulder, he whimpered under the yoke of his pain. A toppled durasteel support strut that had fallen across him was hurled away with a thunderous din as the Padawan crawled on a hand and both knees. His dislocated arm dragged uselessly until he found the vestiges of one of the walls of his prison cell. Aligning himself with it, Tyber suddenly threw his shoulder against the wall with all his strength, a scream of anguish rattling the bones of the dead ship.

Slouched against the wall, Tyber desperately ran a nail-less fingertip over the scratched etchings. The Code...the code the code the code the code... it buzzed in his head and was no longer a comfort, just a nauseating din like the screeching of durasteel all around him. Tyber retched, his body trying to vomit but he only shuddered with the dry heaves of a starving man as he smeared his own blood over the Jedi Code.

And then suddenly his eyes opened wide. Lucid. Those same hungry senses, still ready to feel again. He felt the approach of another. There was something twisted inside, a knot of the dark side where a heart should be. He'd been girded for years to be wary.

[Zereth Lancer]

The inside of the ship was a twisted echo of it's former self. Hallways and corridors were twisted and broken; debris littered everywhere. Durasteel girders and hull panels had fallen into the path. Fuel spills and damaged electrical wiring left fires in their wake. Merely obstacles to be overcome. Fires could be avoided, debris could be swept aside, and the girders could be cut down. When the fires were too strong or the path too cluttered he would switch to an adjacent hallways; sometimes by cutting through the walls or floors. The ship was massive; a labyrinth. Along the way he saw many sights; the neo crusader corpses in their dusty armor, the horrifying cell blocks with their years of dried blood, and the shadows. The horrible things that transpired here left a mark, a stain in the force. Like ghosts the horrible memories drifted throughout the cells and corridors; reaching out for anyone who might hear their screams.

Finally he reached a door, his clothing was torn and blackened, his red cloak left behind when it became snagged on a sharp edge. The door would not open. If the ship had power before crashing it did not have it anymore. The crimson blade of his lightsabre flashed again, stabbing through the door, cutting out the edges until all it took was the delivery of a solid kick to knock it back and on to the floor. Stepping into the dusty room beyond he spotted his target. A man. It was hard to hide the disappointment in his face. Zereth had expected so much more from such a wild and powerful entity than just a miserable wreck of a man. His lightsabre was extinguished and clipped back on to his hip alongside a second hilt. He approached the man; slowly, cautiously. Finally he reached out his hand.

"Come with me if you want to live."

[Tyber Jaan]

Tyber's eyes fixated on that blade. That blood red blade. The Sith...here! It made sense. The stink of Mandalorian crimes often had their puppet strings hanging in the periphery. His expression feral, the Jedi Padawan reached out with both hands, snaring Zereth in the Force's invisible grasp as he hurled the darksider across the room to slam into a bulkhead. Teeth bared, Tyber lifted his hands, and Zereth's body was wrenched up the wall, pressed into the ceiling.

"I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

[Zereth Lancer]

The reaction took him by surprise as the man sent him flying across the lopsided room. Only an outstretched hand managed to catch the bulkhead before his head was dashed upon it, but it was little relief before he was jerked upward into the ceiling, crashing into yet another hard surface. The sound of an explosion was heard in the distance, through several layers of walls and levels of the ship. It was not safe to stay aboard, and leaving before something collapsed or exploded was a top priority. Initially he grabbed for his lightsabres, but surrendered to inaction as he stared back at the angry face of the man. He stretched his arms out, fighting the influence of the force power that kept him aloft. Hands open. No weapons.

"I mean you no harm. I'm here to help."

Calm and carefully his words were picked and expressed. His eyes were focused on the man, eyes meeting. A simple vocal exchange was cover for something more complex, as Zereth's consciousness eased into the man's mind, looking at the levers and switches necessary to activate senses like hearing and sight. The illusion was crafted, bit by bit, inside of his mind. To the man it would appear as a Mandalorian soldier standing behind him. The illusion was imperfect; the armor was not quite right, the textures bland and blurred where Zereth's lacked the knowledge of exactly how it looked or his imagination failed. The illusion took form, rising seemingly from nothing; a tall mandolorian adorned in blue armor. The illusion of the sound of armor creaking sounded off, calling attention to the distraction at his rear.

Above, in the air, Zereth tensed, preparing for a fall and leap should he be released.

[Tyber Jaan]

"Liar!" Tyber spat, his face a storm of doubt that betrayed his words. Behind him, he heard movement and turned in time to face the assault of a Neo-Crusader bearing down on him. They hadn't all died after all! Surprise on his face, Tyber grappled with the phantasm, and in a wellspring of raw force power, pushed the Mandalorian across the room with such force as to wrench a hole through the durasteel wall itself. The metal screamed in protest, and the hull breach was awash in debris and smoke as Tyber stumbled and fell to the ground in exhaustion.

[Zereth Lancer]

The moment the force's influence over his body waned Zereth pounced. As gravity resumed it's absolute hold on his body and he began to fall towards the floor he pulled his body up and pushed off the wall, with the force as his guide, he launched from it and closed the space between him and his attacker in a moment, but by the time he arrived the man was already keeling over and Zereth passed overhead, hitting the floor and rolling to a stop; almost sliding through the hole the man just rent through the wall. Crawling back to him Zereth checked his vitals with a press to his throat and an eye on his chest. Alive, yes, but the man was weak. Only the gods know what transpired aboard this ship, and to this man. He was in no shape for a fight; no honor to be won.

Gathering him up in his arms, the once Sith Knight set off to evacuate the ship. The integrity of the hull was much less important on his way out, his lightsabre freely cutting through debris and walls. The groaning of metal followed him as his one handed strikes cut their way to freedom. Finally daylight exploded at the end of his sabre. A few more cuts opened up the hole wide enough for him to stick his body out and drag the exhausted man behind them. The ground was far below, but Zereth wasted no time as he launched himself out into the open air with the unconscious man between his arms.

A still standing, but crumbling building acted as a stepping stone in his descent to the floor. A rubble slide eased him down to the street below. The scene was still the image of chaos it was before. At the edges of the chaos emergency vehicles and sirens could be seen and heard. Shifting the weight on to his shoulder Zereth set out the way he came, heading for the edge of the city but on foot this time. By the time he reached the hill he stood at before watching the prison ship crash his arm was beginning to burn from carrying the weight.

Just beyond the hill, out of sight from the city, was the cockpit of a XS-800 light freight. Built to detach from the ship it was served to sneak Zereth in closer without drawing attention with the rest of the freighter. His passenger was strapped carefully into a seat. The med kit attached to the wall was very lacking in supplies, but it did contain a drug cocktail that would keep his passenger under for long enough to get him off planet and, hopefully, to their destination before he could wake up and rip the ship in half. Once administered Zereth got behind the controls and lifted off, sending shuttle-like cockpit away from the city; flying low to avoid detection. The rest of the ship was not parked far away, and Zereth wasted no time reconnecting the two pieces, cycling the airlock, and making his ship hole again.

His passenger was taken from the cockpit and down the desolate hallway to one of the many private rooms that was not his own and laid the man out on the bed of the otherwise empty room. Without a moment to lose he busied himself throughout the empty, run down ship. Supplies were gathered from various nooks and crannies until he had rigged up a fluid line. His passenger was not going to die under his watch. Satisfied for the moment he went back to the cockpit and began take off. The airlock between the detachable cockpit and the rest of the ship was pressurized and prepped just in case he needed to eject; just in case someone started twisting the ship into origami. High orbit was left behind and the navigation computer began plotting their course home.