Topic: Summoned

Verishia Duket

Date: 2008-05-30 22:21 EST
Verishia could feel the shuttle come to landing and then wind the engines down. The ramp started to fall so that she could depart, this entire trip had been made just to get her here. She thought back to yesterday, the bridge of the Supremacy, Super Star Destroyer and flagship of her Master, High Admiral Larr Jerrod.

"You summoned me Master?" she had stepped into his presence and bowed to him knowing that he could sense her every move. He stood with his hands behind his back, calm and turned to view her.

"I am sending you on an important mission." He had said and her head jerked up. She had been on many missions but this time his tone was different, something was different.

"Yes My Master." She intoned obediently.

"I have a shuttle waiting for you, I am dispatching you to a friend of mine and loyal citizen of the Empire. Apparently there is a Sith Lord there causing him some problems." He said crisply and she jerked her head up.

"Sith, Master? Are we collecting him?" She wondered how this Sith had gone so long undetected, but with the chaos of the breakdown of the Empire it had been hard keeping track of their own people.

"You will have to evaluate this yourself. You are to assist Brutin Vitellus and his people, apparently this Sith has managed to obtain a cloning facility for his private use. You leave immediately." He dismissed her with a wave and she lowered her head and left quietly.

Now she was squinting in the light of a the sun overhead and stepped down to touch the ground. Men watched her walk from the landing pad towards their guarded gate, her free flowing cloak and hood hiding her features.

"Halt, who goes there." The guard stopped her with his thick accent she could not make out.

"My name is Verishia Dukat, I have been summoned by Brutin to aid him." she said and saw the guard frown at her, he apparently didn't think she could do much, or maybe it was insulting for this Brutin to have help?

Verishia Duket

Date: 2008-06-05 19:48 EST
Verishia stepped back and caught her breath, her leathers were covered in sweat despite the early morning chill. She brought her saber back up to the guard position and then circled Hex. She could feel the anger pumping through her, strengthening her as she studied it, hoping to find that one weakness that would allow her to destroy it.

Her thoughts raced unbidden to the testing they had done earlier in the week, her force powers and saber skills tested to their limits. She had been easily dispatched, having failed nearly every single test Hex had put her up against. But now the droid had agreed to spar with her and though she was using a training saber, low intensity blade which would bounce off a solid object without harming it, she was using her full skills.

"You are a tricky opponent because you aren't organic, which means the force has no hold over you. I can't sense your presence or your thoughts and feelings. You are a void." Using her enhanced speed she danced in to strike a few blows against it's torso but Hex quickly deflected the blows. She was faster than human quick, Jedi and Sith reflexes, strength and stamina highly honed and empowered by the Force. But Hex was also inhumanly faster and powerful, the artificial gears inside it's frame so finely tuned that much to Verishia's frustration it was just as fast as she was.

Well....actually she was slightly faster, but that was her trademark, she did not have the strength that men wielded around her so she made up for it with speed. She would best Hex this time, an easy defeat would go straight to his head, or in this case, his logic circuits but as she lunged into the attack, he never faltered.

Her cheeks still became inflamed when she thought about the humiliation she was suffering recently, the hatred of having been through that helped fuel her but it wouldn't help if she lost first. She had to do something, and so she was, battling daily with an opponent that was just as fast as she was and completely force resistant.

Darth Siege
attache to High Admiral Larr Jerrod

HX-909-A

Date: 2008-06-15 20:49 EST
The machine watched this woman it had agreed to spar and teach, an apprentice of it's own if you will. She was improving every day, and sooner or later she would find Hex's weaknesses and come out the victor.

Hex was unconcerned with this eventuality, as anything which made those serving with and around the machine made the whole more effective, a trait the machine appreciated. As well, fighting Verishia gave Hex itself insight into new methods of fighting, and Hex learned from Verishia even as the machine bested her in sparring matches time and time again.

The Sith woman's words brought all of Hex's focus back. Not that it had been daydreaming, but when one's mind processed nearly twenty times faster than most organics, that left quite a lot of time to be filled between full seconds.

"You are a tricky opponent because you aren't organic, which means the force has no hold over you. I can't sense your presence or your thoughts and feelings. You are a void." Hex's arms flashed to deflect the series of strikes she aimed at it's thorax, the training saber bouncing off the backs of it's own scythe-like limbs.

Insectoid eyes studied Verishia in every detail, noting the flush of her cheeks, the slight snarl that appeared on her lips betraying her anger. A curious strength. In most organics, anger merely distracted and made one reckless, prone to making mistakes.
In a Sith, this was partially the case, and an angered Sith was more aggressive, more willing to strike first. However it also empowered them, their energies building along with their rage.
It was a phenomenom Hex wished to study in further detail, and so the machine used these sparring matches to examine Verishia's actions and state of mind.

#I am aware that your anger fuels your powers, enhancing physical abilities as well as Force powers, but you must not rely on that in all situations. Utilize the physical enhancement of your emotions, but control them so they do not overwhelm you fully. Study your opponent and find their strengths, so that you may use those same strengths against them. A simple tennant of many martial arts, however quite applicable in this situation.#

Hex watched her next several attacks, and indeed it seemed she was starting to get the idea. Hex actually had to retreat backwards in order to deflect that last slice at it's neck.
Now would be the time to show her another drawback to using anger as a weapon. Using it's scythes to get in close, one of it's humanoid arms darted in like a striking snake, the three-fingered palm snapping open and touching her midsection. As soon as the palm made contact, the taser-like stunner there activated, sending a less-than-lethal electric current charging through Verishia's body.

#Consider this another lesson. You are improving quite well, however never for a moment believe that you have your opponent's full measure. No matter how weak or how powerful the enemy, never underestimate them.#

#When you are prepared for every possibility, even the unlikely or unexpected... Only then can you claim victory.#

Verishia Duket

Date: 2008-06-16 18:26 EST
Verishia fell back and rolled, turning the momentum to her favor as she came up several feet away holding her stomach. Sweat clung to her eyes and she gritted her teeth as she dealt with the pain.

"Do not presume to lecture me!" She spat and felt the surge of adrenaline course through her, the world slowed and she smirked. The duality of Lar Jerrod's fighting style was grounded on a strong foundation. Set your path, pick your battlefield to it's best advantage and having done all you can to prepare for every eventuality, fighting with uncompromising savagery.

She rushed forward, saber already moving, her body twisting in motion, the extra rage fueling her senses and making her faster. Hex was slowly down. A falsity of course, the machine would never quit and never slow down, she was simply getting faster through the Force.

She was lightning, moving quickly, her body the counter weight to her thrusts and spins, in her rage she had stopped yelling, had stopped breathing, she was just a whirlwind of destruction. It didn't matter to her that Hex was on the defensive, that he was hard pressed to beat off her attack, that he was merely defending and not attacking back. She wasn't landing a single blow. Not one.

Strength, speed, height, weapons. Hex has all of the advantages and she had the Force. But Hex had a counter to that as well. He owned her, commanded her, she lived on his whim. That thought put a mental picture of Nadine in her mind and she hesitated. Hex was quick enough to turn him blade and strike her with the flat of it, sprawling her out flat on her back as pain arched up her aching muscles.

Her braid had mostly come undone and her hair was in her face, threatening to get sucked into her lungs as she greedily breathed air. The training saber died as she let go of the failsafe, her body spread eagle on the ground. Jerrod would be most upset with her, allowing someone to distract her like that during a fight but surrounded like she was with these slaves were getting to her.

She blew out the air in her lungs, it wasn't the slaves, it was a slave. Nadine. The girl was her anti-thesis. Soft, weak, unarmed, not a care in the world and free from conflict, no one would ever attempt to overthrow her or kill her for power. She led a charmed life so different than her own. There was no strife.

Hex watched her patiently, studying her as she resolved herself to get up and stand. She was weak now, her muscles cooling, her energy spent for the day, these workouts had put her so far ahead of her fighting element, unlike anyone she had ever met. No Jedi would be able to defeat her now, she was sure of it, her long hours of practice had paid off. But she would continue. Hex would be able to defeat her.

If Jerrod ordered her death would Brutin comply? Would she one day see Hex come for her with blades drawn? If Jerrod was smart it would be soon before she grew too powerful. She stepped over to a water barrel and submerged her head, feeling the cold water send a shockwave through her, searing like fire. She brought her head up and felt her hair stick dripping to her back.

"Forgive me Hex." She finally said, blinking water out of her eyes. "By the time I have resorted to saber work, thinking is useless. If I am not in an advantageous position I am dead. My mandate is never to hesitate and never let up, tire your opponent out by constantly striking. The angrier I get the more powerful I become. I will embrace it and hope I do not make a critical mistake before I administer the killing blow."

She turned on her heel and walked for her rooms in the compound, refusing to let him see how tired and sore she was.

Verishia Duket, Darth Siege
Attache to Hex, Legion of Chain
Apprentice to Lar Jerrod, Sith Lord