Morgo's Bane, Part Two

Posted on Thu Jan 10th, 2013 @ 11:31pm by Thane & Morgo Le'Shaad
Edited on on Thu May 31st, 2018 @ 1:15am

3,192 words; about a 16 minute read

Chapter: Chapter III: Relics
Location: Red Raptor
Timeline: 1800 Hours, Day Seven

OLD

Still, though, Morgo was curious as to what he thought to accomplish, and allowed Thane his little experiment. So instead of stopping him, Morgo considered how to better explain herself.

“When you become very angry, Thane, it is your weapon, correct? You can choke people, or choose to channel into something else. When I become very angry, people tend to die. Or commit suicide.” Morgo said, unsympathetic, “My anger isn’t my weapon, it’s my demon.” She said, smiling faintly.

In response, Thane gave a short laugh, ending his stretches with the Force and shifting slightly back in the chair. "How poetic of you," he said, grinning at the woman, satisfied that he had his answer. "But given you have chosen to share something with me, it is only fair I share something with you - a something I think you'll be most appreciative of, and a something that is quite pertinent to your comments on the weapon of anger..."

NEW

He rose from his chair and stepped towards the door out from the medbay. "I'd offer you a hand out of courtesy," the former Jedi said in a light tone, "but given the clinical nature of your work and whatever you may have been up to, I figured it best not to." Nevertheless, he did gesture for her to step out first. He made a mental note to remove the shoe covers. Even though they were of no true hindrance, he could not help but be bothered by their presence on him.

Morgo raised a brow. The man was actually grinning, which concerned Morgo quite a bit. Thane seemed almost… happy. But she said nothing as she snapped the SteelSkin gloves off her hands and dropped them in the chute with the deftness of one who’d been doing so their entire lives. However, as Morgo walked past Thane she paused, gray eyes laughing as she lightly patted the shorter man on the shoulder, “Don’t smile, darling.” She advised, “You’ll scare away all the girls. Not to mention, wrinkles.” Morgo added, voice filled with dread as she swept past Thane and left the Medical Bay, walking down the curved corridor.

But as she walked, still of ahead of Thane, Morgo held something closer to her eye: a strand of Thane’s dark hair—one Morgo had just lifted from Thane’s shoulder a moment ago. Reaching into the wide sleeve of her michiyuki, Morgo retrieved one small glass vial from among four others. Into it, she slipped the strand of hair, stoppered the vial, and silently pocketed it in one, fluid motion—Thane being none the wiser.

Opening the door to his cabin and allowing Morgo to enter first, Thane's cabin was well-ventilated, a small fan-like object affixed close to the ceiling that kept the room less stuffy than the others and prevented smells from forming. The room had already been decorated with his valuables, taken from the Jedi Temple shortly before he tendered his resignation.

On the desk, a small terminal was inactive and rarely used, reserved for the documents he could not have as a physical copy, but there was a large number of tomes and papers littered by the terminal, and more neatly arranged on the shelves according to genre (or as neatly as they could be, given the size of the cabin). There was a rare omnibus concerning the exploits of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Thane once again reminisced concerning his methods of acquiring such rare texts.

Upon the walls, some paintings and tapestries - the majority of Caanan origin - were hanging, intermingled with the odd trinket or object of lore from other worlds, usually hailing from an older time, but the main piece of interest was the pyramidal object sat on the small mat settled in front of his bunk. Whilst not too large, the fire-red light that burnt within was eye-catching, lined by obsidian-hued metal, and intricate latices and matrices that held potentially infinite amounts of data glowed deeply within.

The former Jedi closed the door to the cabin and stood to one side, letting Morgo make her own assumptions about his personal space, as well as her reaction to the holocron. All in all, he was pleased at being able to fit most of his belongings, the various tomes and historical objects into the undersized room and keep it ordered, even if the odd book was open.

Morgo glanced at the recently closed door with a dark discomfort, but masked it by pretending to inspect an interesting metal trinket. Possibly, this was probably just Morgo being paranoid. Unless she herself had closed it, Morgo had a...thing about closed doors and being alone with people. Then again, considering her biography, Morgo felt paranoia was not only justified but, quite frankly, a necessity. But shaking the feeling away, Morgo ran a finger down the page of an open book, impressed with Thane's collection of texts. It was clear that the man was well read, which was a welcome change from all those nobles Morgo had known, owning complete libraries but never once touching them. A small pang of nostalgia hit Morgo as she took in Thane's quarters. This was what her own suite of rooms had looked like once, rather like a museum and a library all at once.

"You know, for such a recently rogue Jedi like yourself, you've got quite a lot of material possessions." She commented airily when suddenly, her eyes settled on a familiar site—a pyramid shaped Sith holocron that was beautiful in its own, dark way. As Morgo neared, gray eyes intent, Morgo sank to one knee, inspecting the relic. Looking over her shoulder at Thane, Morgo arched an eyebrow, "May I?"

"Whilst I only just left the Order," he replied, stepping about to settle himself on the lone chair in the cabin, "I hardly thing it was a spur of the moment shift in attitudes." Thane then nodded to the holocron, very keen to hear Morgo's views on, as well as simply seeing her reaction to the piece. "Of course."

"Based on its design and the patina of the metal, showing some signs of corrosion, I'd date this holocron to be from somewhere around 900, 800 BBY." Morgo said quietly, almost to herself as she reaching inside her pocket and retrieved a SteelSkin glove, snapping it on and carefully lifting the artifact closer, but far enough that the heat and moisture of her breath would not harm it, "Based on what records show, there were a few Dark Lords of the Sith at that time, but only... one successfully created a Sith holocron."

Morgo stood, turning to Thane, eyes widening a fraction, "Force, this is Darth Bane's holocron, isn't it?" Morgo said, long lashes fluttering as she blinked rapidly, disbelieving.

In response, Thane gave one of his dark half-grins that bordered on a grimace, somewhat pleased by not only Morgo's excellent perceptions and deductive skills, but also by her appreciation for what she now held before her. Equally, it amused him that she could not access it without some form of Force-based aid, and this particular holocron had already proven itself to be a fickle mistress.

"It is Darth Bane's holocron," he confirmed, finding his eyes wandering to the relic in her gloved hands, narrowing as they examined the various Sith glyphs, how perfectly they had been produced; the extreme attention to detail, the hardy design and the sheer magnificence of the knowledge and power within all served to still give him a feeling of excitement - something he had rarely ever felt from anything.

Even when first stepping out onto Coruscant, seeing the ever-reaching skyscrapers all about him after having spent his life up until that time on the sparsely-populated and less industrialised world of Caanus, he responded simply (when prompted about what he thought): "It's big," in a seemingly uncaring, unfazed tone.

"And I have been able to access it," Thane then added, leaning forward in the chair.

Morgo raised a brow at Thane, eyes narrowing a fraction, “Don’t tell me you’ve been handling this holocron with your bare hands.”

It was rare that Morgo ever felt anything for the Force users of the galaxy other than animosity, let alone envy, but now was one of the few times Morgo did envy them. To think of all that knowledge, locked away in such an ancient thing, was accessible only to those with Force powers? It was ridiculous, another one of those wretched reminders of how high Force-users tended to imagine themselves—a part of a greater order, so high and mighty that only those of that higher order were allowed to hear what they had to say, their sacred utterances. Both Jedi and Sith had done so. Knowledge was made to be known, not sequestered away for the elite few. The fact that Thane had been able to access knowledge where Morgo could not… irritated her.

Based on what he could read of her - and how he was certain she would react to such things - Thane was pleased with the reaction. He then quickly put his arm out and grasped the top of the holocron - bare-handed, of course - still within Morgo's own grip.

Immediately, the holocron's inner red core grew brighter, yet the lighting of the room somehow grew darker simultaneously, as if sapping all other light from the vicinity and replacing it with deep shadows. The obsidian carvings seemed to gleam in a unique and almost unexplainable way as Thane let the Force flow through him and stretch into the Sith artefact.

But he did not let it go any further just yet. "You know as well as I do how sturdy Sith holocrons are," he said, his voice seemingly deeper and slightly sharper as he felt the dark energy lurching forward from Bane's heirloom, willing him to dig deeper within the educational instrument, "and that merely handling it will cause no damage. I think, of all the ways to handle it, Darth Bane would want one to treat it as such; to be in awe of its knowledge and power, but to also know it for what it really is - a tool."

Although he had no illusions of grandeur before Morgo, not seeking to show off power or ability, Thane nevertheless felt as though his connection to the Force had been heightened as his palm rested upon the holocron, augmented and better channelled, more focused with the dark side. Indeed, he had already discovered how far easier to control and understand his abilities were within the darker reaches of the Force's spectrum, that instead of wielding an ungainly and impractical mace, he was now wielding a fine diamond blade, deadly and precise.

"I am certain you would like to address the gatekeeper," the Caanan half-stated, a dark eyebrow arching.

Morgo gave Thane a side-glance, “And I’m certain Bane probably would’ve wanted his tools to last the ages. Only a fool uses his tools with abandon until they break.” Morgo said, sighing, “Goddess help me if this is the way you’ll gallivant through Tython’s ancient ruins.” The woman groaned to herself, half in jest but half serious. It took every drop of Morgo’s discipline not to yank the holocron away from Thane’s atrociously bare fingers and shove a glove in his face.

“Could you at least hover ?” Morgo asked politely, eyeing Thane’s hand on the holocron with an amount of distaste, “And, you know, pretend that you actually care of the survival of history for just a few minutes?” She added. Because surely, a few centimeter’s distance wouldn’t affect whatever connection Thane was powering with the holocron.

"History is amongst the most important things in this universe," Thane retorted dryly, largely because the way the other Human had presented herself had annoyed him, even if said part in humour. "And there is an stark contrast between the quality and survivability of ancient stone and a Sith holocron."

He then pulled his hand away from the piece, the inner light dying quickly and the room rapidly returning to its previous illuminated state. Thane himself, whilst still feeling the tingling sensations he now knew to be familiar side-effects of Darth Bane's holocron, could feel his state shifting back into its usual way.

Regarding Morgo, whilst he still appreciated her intelligence and unique viewpoint on most matters, her prudishness concerning the relic had annoyed him to a degree. Whilst he, himself, was particularly picky about the care of objects, he also found her intrusiveness over the piece irritating - he could respect her carefulness in the medbay, however.

"The holocron lasted over a thousand years, being passed from one Banite Sith Lord to the next, who were all living in a variety of different modes of habitation," Thane said to her, half-peering at the holocron and half-peering at Morgo, "as well as surviving Emperor Krayt's own rendition of the Imperial story - as we saw at the opera. After that, based on what information I could glean from the echo of Bane within the piece, the holocron must have been in the possession of the remnant scatterings of the One Sith, before spending Force-knows-how-long in Grogga the Hutt's vault on Nar Shaddaa."

His tone took a more sarcastic edge once more. "All in all, My Lady, I'm caring for it satisfactorily. Would that I could put it in a glass cabinet with laser defences, but it seems they missed that out in the Raptor's schematics. Needless to say: I've already learnt quite a good deal from the Sith Lord."

Morgo bit back her sarcastic supply and studied Thane. Stubborn Thane. If he was going to go down the path of darkness, Morgo preferred he do it with his brain 'on'. Not one Sith Lord ever cared about the relics they used for power, never cared for history or ruins unless the promise of powerful weapons or knowledge lured them there. They simply looted and used these holocrons, texts and tomes for their own interests, then cast them aside, thinking only of one-self like a true Sith. Because Sith Lords never cared, a lot of things, that should not have been lost, were. So yes, Morgo was being rather stringent over the handling of ancient relics, specifically the Bane holocron. But it was about time somebody was.

"Lord Bane talked to you?" Morgo asked, skeptical. But then again, why not? A frustrated young Jedi, curious and itching for the kind of action and purpose the Jedi Order could not offer him—Thane was ripe for the picking. Of course Bane would reel him in, teach him secrets of the Sith. The corrupting of Thane couldn't have been easier. Morgo blinked, wondering whether or not 'The Corruption of Thane' could be the working title of a future opera.

Thane nodded. "Yes, but whilst he never is clear on his reasons for his speaking to me, I know he has his own agenda; he wishes to bring me into the fold of his Rule of Two, bring back the Order of the Sith Lords in his image. Naturally," he said with a small laugh, "he thinks himself to be wholly right."

His eyes wandered to the various books, tomes and the few artefacts and trinkets in his cabin as he went on. "But I don't agree with him. Not wholeheartedly, anyway. I must say, a lot his ideas and views on the galaxy and power: 'Equality is a perversion of the natural order'," he quoted, "'it binds the strong to the weak. They become anchors that drag the exceptional down to mediocrity. Individuals destined and deserving of greatness have it denied them.'"

Looking back to Morgo properly, he concluded: "The strong suffer for the sake of keeping them even with their inferiors.'" Thane gave a small shrug, his eyes still thoughtful. "To an extent, he is correct, but it's open to more debate and ideas. After all, if he was so right, why did the Order be toppled? But I must say: what I've learnt from him and the information he holds concerning Sith lore, they aren't all the self-absorbed and foolish tyrannical despots we are led to believe, entirely uninterested in other things. If that were so, there would be no Sith legacy at all, but that's not to say there haven't been many Sith like that."

The Jedi stood and picked up the homemade-yet-ornate black box that was at the centre of his shelf and placed on his desk, making a mental reminder to find Berry the next morning. "That was, as you know, why Bane recreated the Sith with the Rule of Two, to try and end such foolishness, but they were unified by a purpose beyond themselves: taking control of the galaxy, even if some were more foolish than others in their pursuit of this." Thane's face formed a mocking grimace. "Misused power, and Darth Krayt misused it by spreading it too much amongst the undeserving, and for the wrong un-Sith reasons."

Thane knew he was talking on too much, but he knew he was also trying to make at least some point to this newcomer, a woman he respected more than he expected, and so was making the effort to not appear wholeheartedly foolish, like so many who tried to walk the dark path did. He was rational, but knew how difficult it was to rationalise such a choice, and to then make excuses for his Sith interests without sounding like a child. Either way, he hoped Morgo could see that, even if it wasn't entirely necessary for her to.

"But just as Bane hopes to use me, I hope to use him," he decided to go on, his tone even. "It is well-documented how the dark side offers a surer path to power. I have that potential, but I am not so weak-minded as many before me - with Sith teachings, it's important to have control over them, rather than the other way around; with what I am already learning from Darth Bane, I can multiply my ability with the Force, so I am more capable to do the things I should and not waste my potential like the Jedi do, or try to achieve more than I can, like some hapless Padawan with a poor midichlorian count."

Standing, Morgo pushed back a few strands of her blonde hair that had fallen into her eyes with slender fingers, “And is attempting to play a Dark Lord of the Sith something you can handle? You are a Verus, Thane, a noble. But you haven’t played the game of court life since you were a child, if you played it at all. ” Morgo said casually, “You’re rusty. And in this scenario, you may be the Padawan, out of his depth.”

TBC

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