Tarkin watched him from across the fire while he worked. Vader was an imposing figure he daylight, but by night he looked like something straight out of a bad dream. The death's head mask and towering stature, the filtered breathing, it all lended him a deeply unnatural presence in this technologically barren landscape. What an intriguing thing it would be to see how Vader interacted with Eriadu tomorrow. If he thought he could fool the Sith's senses, he might have dropped back and simply watched from afar. Unfortunately, useful and entertaining as that may have been, Tarkin didn't have nearly so much faith in his mental skills for such a feat.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Sirejj is like slinking creeping darkness that gets you in your sleep. Vader is a smothering darkness that puts out all light in its path, engulfing the lesser shadows along with the light
Vader studied the flames in silence for some time, deep in thought. He watched the damp branches slowly smolder. His respirator filtered out the smoke, so even when it drifted his direction and shrouded his hulking form, he did not move. He appeared as a great black shadow, his form made even larger by eerie shadows cast upon him. The flames reflected against his mask. He seemed part of the darkness itself; a shadow with embers for eyes.
Each movement of Tarkin was watched, though one couldn't tell precisely what he was watching though that faceless helm.
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
That's chillingly accurate. The spider and the storm.
Tarkin finished skinning the animal and gutted it, checking the organs for parasites. Finding none, he began to dress the meat. Once that was done, he stuffed the edible organs with herbs and stuck them on a spit with the carcass, then hung that up between the two sticks he had erected above the fire. He sat gazing at it in silence for awhile, and his mind drifted.
His memory turned once again to his first summeron the Plateau, and how Jova had shown him the proper way to skin and dress a carcass for eating. He'd ruined his homemade vest that first night, after the blood had seeped into the canvas and collected in the seams. By the end of the summer it was little more than a rag. Jova had been a patient but terribly stern teacher, and he had been no better and no worse with Garoche. The only difference was that Tarkin was along with him this time, teaching his son with Jova rather than cowering back home in the safety of Eriadu City. He got to watch Garoche learn as he himself had learned, though Garoche had his father as a safety net where Wilhuff had been given none. Jova caught on to that fast, Tarkin recalled.
He stirred, glancing self-consciously at Vader and rising to turn the spit. He needed to stop thinking and consider every moment as one to be surveilled.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
oooo that analogy is freaking cool. It's their fighting styles too, since Vader just tanks through everything and Sirejj creeping up in the walls somewhere waiting, waiting.
Despite Sirejj being a much smaller evil, his nature to prey on people's paranoia and stay out of sight till he knows he can strike and win would give him an advantage against Vader's tankish approach. If Vader gets his hands on him, Sirejj is a goner. But if Sirejj can terrorize him, Vader begins to destroy everything around him and then himself as we have seen in the past. He just can't let Vader get ahold of him.
Vader picked up on small glimpses of his memories and turned his attention towards them. He knew Tarkin was thinking of his past experiences on the Carrion, but they were not all clear. He saw memories that Tarkin had already halfway shared out loud, those he saw. But Tarkin's mind was a maze as always. He focused, reaching out in curiosity to see what exactly was going on behind the older man's ever-furrowed brow.
"Your thoughts dwell on the past." He said, testing the waters. Tarkin may not share anything, but yet, he might. He trusted Vader after all.
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
"It's unavoidable," he said with a smile that was perhaps a bit too quick. "This place brings out the best and worst in me. I can't help dwelling." He glanced up at the embers riding on the heat of the fire, sighing quietly. "This place is more home to me than anywhere else, Vader. It's all that I am and all that I aspire to control."
Last edited by Ljungtroll on Wed Sep 11, 2024 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
fam that might work. Because it's also fitting of Tarkin's position as he undermines the Empire. It captures the small dark things in hidden places, sneaking, biding their time, waiting to bite vibe.
These small few are going to be a major issue for the empire eventually. Thalassa's power, even split, still has many resources at her fingertips. The empire may think with Eriadu razed and the Treacle split that they are lost, but they forget how little venom it takes to kill a man.
"The Tarkin legacy was forged here. I understand being deeply connected to this place." He still had his eyes fixed on him, even though it appeared as if he could still be watching the fire. There was still something else on his mind he couldn't get ahold of.
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Absolutely yes. Thalassa is a force to be reckoned with. She's charismatic even without anyone backing her. And Sirejj has skill with manipulation--he knows how to hit people where it hurts. And Tarkin is just one stubborn son of a bitch.
"Mm." He turned his gaze to the trees, listening to the night sounds in silence for a stretch. "It pleases me to share it with you. You've been a steadfast friend, Vader, and a skilled ally. I can think of precious few individuals I'd allow onto the Carrion, but your capability and your appreciation for its savage philosophies struck me as fitting." Tarkin rubbed his chin, thinking. "Who'd have known this was where I'd be sitting nine years after we met at the Citadel? What a fortuitous encounter." Possibly orchestrated by outside powers, he thought, but he kept that to himself.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
It's hilarious Tarkin now must work with a Zabrak, probably the most notoriously headstrong rebellious people in the galaxy. They both share this primal, spiteful will to survive and that will make them hard to kill and hard to keep quiet.
"Wasn't it another Phindian who brought us together then as well?" Vader mused, remembering again the separatist slime who'd been in charge of the citadel and under Dooku's command. The irony. "Though a far more formidable opponent than whatever attacked you recently." Yes, he now remembered the creature's name. He had nearly managed to end Tarkin's life.
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Their bickering gives me life. I can't wait for Maul to show up and make everything worse.
"Sobeck," Tarkin scoffed. "Your Padawan did well to finish him off. Had I been in fitter shape I swear I'd have made that shot. It was at point blank range." That failure had rankled him after the fact. With his head swimming from the cocktail of drugs and serums they'd pumped into him combined with the heat of the magma around them, his reflexes and his aim had failed him. He made light of it now, but the blind panic as the Phindian's spindly fingers closed around his throat and then hefted him above his head had paralyzed him. The hazy shimmer of the magma still found its way into his dreams now and then.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Maul is going to wonder what on earth he stepped into.
I kinda want to see feral Tarkin and Sirejj fighting something. Idk what, maybe they get cornered someplace by stormtroopers (throw in some death trooper dudes for good measure) and they just wreck them. Especially if it's on another forested planet. Both of them would be at home in that environment. 50 to 2? I like those odds.
They'd have some pent up rage for sure and Thalassa would be like "just go kill something and get out of my house before you break something for force's sake"
"I have no doubt you could've single handedly taken him if you had been yourself. You were lucky to be alive after all that."
He blotted out certain faces from that memory. The one who'd killed Sobeck was particularly blurry. He felt Tarkin's irritation at the memory of his failure. Tarkin seemed to only care in passing, but it was obviously not something he'd forgotten.
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The only issue I see is Tarkin playing the long game and doing some trapping or sniping instead of taking then head on
"Master Piell was not so fortunate." A wry smile split his face. "And he had more of his wits about him than I did." The Jedi had been weak from hunger and abuse, though. That much had been clear to him even in his drug-addled state. They all had been. "Does it bother you?" Tarkin asked, resolving not the dwell too long on that matter. "The past? I don't believe I've ever asked--but you and the Emperor seem adamant about burying Anakin Skywalker." A risky subject to broach, but they talked openly enough about the time before the Empire that he felt he could at least try. If Vader got tetchy, well, they could change the subject.
Last edited by Ljungtroll on Tue Jul 09, 2024 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Yeah you're right, Sirejj is the one who would want to drop from the trees, wreck a few, then vanish and just freak them out and make them think there's 20 of him. He'd love that.
"Dwelling on the past is fruitless. One must learn and move on. The past only serves as a reminder of what we've overcome." His words were deep and deliberate, and even the fire seemed to dim a little. He could separate the useful past from what was best forgotten. His past was not something he discussed with anyone often. Tarkin was a trusted friend- as much as anyone could be. But there was little use discussing the dead.
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
"But denying one's own name..." He could understand it, of course. Such a betrayal being made public would mean dozens of Jedi flocking to take their revenge on Vader. Or rather, flocking to exact justice and restore balance. They didn't really go in for vengeance, did they? "No matter." He turned the spit once again. "I won't pry further; it's no business of mine and you're a fine warrior, Skywalker or not. Call yourself what you please, my friend, and forget what you wish to."
Last edited by Ljungtroll on Sun Jun 16, 2024 11:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Sirejj's trickery would drive them into Tarkin's traps.
"Skywalker is long since dead." Vader felt the simmering begin in his chest. He seemed more still than before, watching the hungry flames, now grown hot enough to burn even the damp wood, flicker against Tarkin's figure across the fire from him. It was more than a name. He was Vader. That was who he'd always been. The weakness that was Skywalker had failed many years ago and was taken over by something stronger. Something entirely different than the Jedi knight. As far as he was concerned, Skywalker had been an entirely different person. His thoughts and feelings were largely separate from his own, though some few thing had been shared.
"I am simply his successor."
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
"Interesting." What a fractured way of viewing oneself. Tarkin scooted his log back from the fire a bit, studying Vader as the shadows flickered over both their faces. What had happened to him to make him come so far? What had pushed him over the edge to the point of killing his own identity? What a fascinating person. "Did you mourn him?" he asked after another beat.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
