Bankor

The figure stepped lightly, almost cat-like down the steps stepping over the spectral corpses of Sith and Jedi alike… at the top was the Wrath… then Baras, then Tethys and Baesal and so many more. She wears a smug grin as her form gains semblance and stability.

“I have been waiting for you, Layne. Waiting to show you, what we can be once we seize this power for ourselves. The Emperor… the Sith, the Jedi… all of them are beneath us. You have followed this path doggedly to your Destiny.”

She continued, “You have conquered many trials… now shed the skin of the Jedi, of weakness and become what you were meant to be. Me.”

Layne once more took out the darksaber, looking briefly to those beside her.

How could they be seeing the same thing Layne was? This was *her* delusion wasn't it? The Force playing tricks on her mind.

"You're just an illusion," she said, uncertain.

“I am the inevitable end of your journey. I am more real than the illusion of you pretending to be a Jedi,” she replied a second saber coming to her free hand. It blazed white in contrast to the black in her main hand.

“Within these walls we can learn the true steps to power and transcend even the silent Emperor.”

The darksaber in Layne's hand flipped on, and she pulled out her shoto as well, turning that on too. Blue, unlike the bright white before her.

"By ending everything, the way he wants to?"

“Of course not. By ending the tyranny of the Sith and Jedi and ruling the galaxy as it should be. The Emperor is greedy and foolish, the path to Power does not require whole sale slaughter though it will require sacrifice. Kill your so-called allies, they will only hold you back. We need no one, we need only each other,” she replied.

Tethys watches the apparition warily, keeping half an eye on Layne to monitor her reactions. “I don’t need to tell you the Dark Side preys on your fears and desires,” she murmurs just loud enough for the others to hear. “It does not always show you the truth.”

Tethys Carrack wrote:Tethys watches the apparition warily, keeping half an eye on Layne to monitor her reactions. “I don’t need to tell you the Dark Side preys on your fears and desires,” she murmurs just loud enough for the others to hear. “It does not always show you the truth.”

“I can sense your fear Jedi Knight, killing you again will be enjoyable,” she responded.

For a moment, those allies might see Layne falter. Considering it. Power was tempting, after all. The power to forge her own path, free of both Sith and Jedi. Layne had always thought she would leave the Jedi one day. That they were only ever part of the path before her, and not the entirety of it. Though really, it was more the uniqueness of the situation. This strange being that looked so very much like Layne herself; once just in her head, now visible to those around her. It was a thing that should not be. Where did it come from? Was someone playing a game here? The Emperor? Baras? Zash? Something else?

Her gaze was downcast for a moment, as the tried to figure it out. But no answers were going to come forth just by thinking about them. With that realization, her eyes focused again at the other version of herself. Glaring at the figure.

"I don't take orders from you," she said, "even *if* you're really me."

“I know, we answer to no one,” she said with a smile.

Since it seemed this thing wasn't attacking her... at least not yet... Layne was inclined to see if she could press it for answers.

"No, *you* will answer to *me*," she demanded. "If you are really me, you know I won't do a damn thing you want without some *real* answers."

(Can I try to intimidate 'myself'?)

OOC: Coercion versus Hard with 2 red Dice and 1 purple, and a setback for it being you and another for the Dark Side Vergence, spending a Destiny so three red total.

Coercing myself, Intimidating (downgrade difficulty once), 1 setback ignored (blade of woe): 1eP+2eA+2eC+1eD+1eS 2 failures, 3 threat

(1 strain to activate intimidating, up to GM what happens with the threat generated)
forgotten setback from fear: 1eS 1 failure

Layne briefly relived the moment when Baras ran her through and left her for dead… she can hear his voice, “Still alive… my wayward apprentice.”


Darker Layne smirked, “As I said we answer to no one, if you have questions I might answer them, I might not.”

She gritted her teeth upon hearing that voice, but focused on the Layne before her.

"Why are you here? How?"

"Because you are here, this is where we begin," she said calmly.

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Begin what?"

((While Tethys is watching the show, could she make a Knowledge: Lore check to see if she's heard/read anything about this kind of manifestation before?))

OOC: Lore check at hard, flip a destiny for drama, 1 red and 2 purple.

((Haha, nopes!))
D8 MM--Hard Lore w/ Fear setback + Dark Destiny for Evil Layne Knowledge: 1eP+2eA+1eC+2eD+1eS 0 successes, 1 threat

OOC: Could be a test of sorts, from the vergence maybe? Not sure.

Layne Hoshin wrote:She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Begin what?"

Darker layne wrinkled her brow and then said, “We have a destiny to rule, to create something new. To end the Jedi and Sith and form a new Order from the ashes. One that can transcend the best of both and keep the weakness of neither; thus creating lasting peace under our watchful immortal eye.”

Her mind moved to what Baesal was saying. An empress ruling a crumbling ruin. Something destroying the Sith and Jedi. A star cabal. Clearly that could not be the Order Layne was supposed to form if they were already active. And she had no desire to be the empress of a crumbling ruin.

Perhaps this is a trick by this 'star cabal'...

"Through the emperor's ritual. How does it work? What are its strengths... and drawbacks?"

Dapper Dog wrote:OOC: Could be a test of sorts, from the vergence maybe? Not sure.

(Can I make it?)
(edit: yolo-D8 MM--Hard Lore w/ Fear setback + Dark Destiny for Evil Layne Knowledge, Zash's boost: 2eP+2eA+1eC+2eD+1eS+1eB 1 failure, 2 advantage, 1 Despair
)

Baesal peers at the woman and scrapes her mind for any knowledge and then it comes to her… this is happening but what she is seeing may not be a vision, but a dark side entity. This is a place tainted by the power of the Emperor of the Sith, and he is connected to it. He has corrupted it, and everything inside will be more corruption.

Despair procced…

Dark Layne smiles, “Time to decide, Layne. Join me and learn these dark secrets together or die here. There will be another… perhaps Baesal? Tethys? Surely one of you seeks Immortality and true power?”

OOC: Vigilance for Initiative, or one can take the offer of Immortality and Power.

Tethys's blue-green lightsaber snaps to life. "Not today, thank you."

---
D8 MM--Initiative (Vigilance). Whoopsie...: 4eA 0 successes, 4 advantage

D8 MM--Initiative, forgotten setback from Fear/boost from Trust, if either of those apply?: 1eB+1eS 1 failure


Orokos with the trollin'...