Shadows of Bankor

Qareme is tossed into a cell with her binders. Solitary confinement. She left there for hours to wallow before the doors open and the 13th Sister entered her new mask immaculate. She brought in a chair and sat, the door closing behind her.

“Comfortable, Jedi?” she asked.

There was little Qareme could do while being trapped in a rather uncomfortable cell. bound tightly. So, she did the only thing she could do; she sat up against the wall and closed her eyes. Keeping her breathing calm and steady, and focusing herself on her prayers.

The grinding sound of the doors opening got her attention, but she didn't open her eyes immediately.

"Welcome."

She opened her eyes, and looked up at the woman.

"You have replaced your mask, a shame. I was curious whether you would look upon me with your own obscured eyes, or remain hidden."

“What I don’t look pretty to you, Jedi?” she mused.

“It is of no matter when Lord Vader arrives he will break you. I advise you see reason before he forces you to see it. Your friends have abandoned you, your Order has abandoned you, and the Light was no match for the Dark Side,” she replied.

“The Jedi are doomed, it is only a matter of time.”

"I cannot say, I know not what you look like. A mask is not a person, Inquisitor."

Vader... even one like Qareme had to take a few moments before she could speak again.

"He is coming here? Why?"

She laughed and said, "Lord Vader has a vested interest in crushing this nascent resistance."

"Now that we know the Jedi are here in force we can wipe out the remnants of your pitiful Order."

"Interesting. So he does not trust that you are able to handle the situation on Bankor, and is intervening himself" Qareme commented with a nod "thank you for the information."

“Information is only useful if you leave this place,” she said crouching.

“You will never leave here as long as you cling to your pathetic Jedi code. There is no peace, Jedi… there is no knowledge… there is no serenity.”

“There is the Strong and the Weak.”

As the Inquisitor crouched, Qareme raised her head to meet where she remembered the eyes of the woman to be in the mask.

"You speak of strong and weak. Of abandonment. These are where you are incorrect. You force yourself forward, propelled on a ship of anger that hides the true answers in your heart. I sit here bound, yet my heart, my soul, is free. I know my future, as I know yours. Your heart knows the truth; that you are judged on whether you can resolve the issue before he arrives. Your heart is afraid, because while you are stronger in body than me, you are not stronger than Darth Vader."

Qareme shook her head.

"You hate me. You hate the Jedi, yet I do not hate you. I feel sorry for you, and pray for your redemption before you are betrayed by those around you, and those above you. I am free, and you are bound. I have not been abandoned, not by my friends nor by the Jedi Order. I am ready for my fate, and it will never be by your side. So strike me down, show your superior strength. I have just one thing left to say."

Qareme smiled.

"There is no Death, there is the Force."

OOC: Give me a Charm check get a free upgrade for those poignant words, so Charm versus 3 purple and a boost die.

While Qaremes speech was brilliant, she lacked the skill to truly express it.

D2 LE charm roll. Destiny to upgrade. 1 boost , and 3 diff: 1eP+1eB+3eD 2 failures

13th Sister laughed and said, “I told Lord Vader those exact words… well maybe not exact, but close enough.”

“He opened my eyes to the truth, the same as I am trying to do for you.”

"Are your eyes truly open? Or has your fear blinded you. Only one of us can see the world clearly currently, obscured" Qareme shook her head.

"There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge."

“You insolent Jedi,” she hissed.

“What happened today was just a taste of the power of the Empire and the Dark Side, what can your rabble accomplish now that I have broken their spirit. They will abandon you, and you will rot in here till Lord Vader deems you worthy,” she finished.

"I believe the only thing broken today was your lightsaber" Qareme said a small smile "you will see."

"There is no Chaos, there is Harmony."

13th Sister gave her a swift kick and then started pacing saying, “I should kill you.”

OOC: Suffer 2 srain.

Qareme fell to her side. It hurt, but only briefly. More winded than actual pain.

"You should. But you will not. Or perhaps it is cannot. Your inner conflict is your betrayal, keeping you prisoner to your own misery."

"There is no Emotion, there is Peace."

There was a small pause, before she added "I could help you."

"And how could you help me, worm?" she hissed.

"By tempering the rage that boils inside you. To put you at ease, and allow you to see things clearer" Qareme sat back up.

"There is no Passion, there is Serenity."

She looked up at the Inquisitor.

"Come. Sit with me. If I am no threat to you, then you have nothing to fear, correct?"

13th Sister nearly turned and then looked at the Jedi and said, “You were never a threat to me, the Dark Side has made me powerful than you can imagine.”

She sat and said, “I do not fear you.”

"You are strong" Qareme did not challenge that comment. She adjusted how she was sitting so her legs were crossed. "However, it is not light or dark that makes one strong, it is who they are. Clear your mind of Dark, of Light. Push all distractions away, and look at the person residing behind them, hidden away. Who do you see?"

"I will humor you, Jedi," she said with annoyance.

"I will have plenty of time to make you suffer for wasting my time," she finished and then closed her eyes.

"Of course." There was a nod, and Qareme closed her eyes also. "Clear your mind, see beyond the light and the dark. The anger, the emotions. Who do you see?"

"I see myself, powerful," she said.

"Without the force. Jedi, Sith. Light, Dark. These have become words of power. That one side must be right, and one side must be wrong. Drilled into our minds, yet throughout history this has never proven to be correct. It is not Jedi or Sith that are powerful. It is people rising up and forcing what they believe to be correct upon others through codes. Through fear."

Qareme paused a moment before speaking again.

"Are you strong because of what Darth Vader tells you, or are you strong because you are strong? You can see the answer clearly inside you, hidden behind the emotions that beings like he can cause."

"Lord Vader is a power only second to the Emperor, you would see that if you felt his presence as I have," she replied.

"The Dark Side has triumphed."