[IC] Kaer's Holo-Diary (Not Available IC)

[Lord Iezkon]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Entry 1: The End Sparks New Life

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At first, there was nothing. No light, no sound, no warmth...just darkness. All it took was a single sound, a sound that came through by a push of a button and the darkness was chased away. In its place was an empty chair, and behind it was a king-sized bed, which could indicate that the setting was a bedroom. A couple of seconds went by and soon a woman entered the frame and she sat down on the empty chair. This woman appeared to be in the middle of her thirties, with long beautiful locks of black hair; her skin was fair though tanned, as someone who was no stranger to the rays of the sun; dressed in a black attire that was made up of a long-sleeved shirts with cap sleeves and a pair of black pants. The room itself seemed warm and inviting with its tones of gold and red, and yet still no sound came through.

The woman in question sat up right, her right leg resting on top of her left leg, and she had her arms crossed over her chest. Her expression...it was the focus on this recording device as it captured a woman who appeared to be saddened and broken. The woman's eyes were red and swollen, her darkened lips were curled down and her eyebrows were in a frowned position, though she did not appear in anger, just in disbelief. Then she spoke, a voice that was beautiful and yet raspy for some unknown reason.

"This is Lord Iezkon. Full name is Kaer Kelsa..."

She cleared her throat which appeared to be irritated and hurt.

"My voice is slightly compromised from...my screams and my recent night terrors. It has been a week since...since Artorias. The place where my husband, my best friend, the father of my children, the love of my life, had given his life in a glorious sacrifice to allow myself and a group of Horuset members to escape a deadly trap."

The woman brought her right thumb up to her left eye and then her right, wiping away some newly formed tears.

"With life being so fleeting, not knowing when your final moment will be your last...I thought it best to start up my own personal holo-diary. I know he made one, and I know he will be disappointed if I let my second chance at life be wasted away..."

My first entry, will be on my late husband...on our story. It started what feels like many years ago. I was in the library aboard the Th'Asidra, talking with my new Master, and that is when I saw him. He entered the room and I knew that I was lost."

She softly chuckled and shook her head softly. When she spoke next, her gaze was on the floor to her right, not being able to bring herself to look at the recording device.

"If any of the Horuset people heard me now, they would call me a weak little girl. Though to be fair, I was. Back then, he was known by another name...and so was I. A past life, one I aimed to conquer and forget, was a life led by a woman known as Annabelle. A weak little girl that had a childhood crush on the new boy in town; a girl that was weak and could not fend for herself. There are very little things that I am grateful for from Annabelle, one of them being her introducing herself to Almir Priaa. Soon, we could not resist each other as we both had the desire to see and know more of each other, despite my first Master ordering me to not being in any romantical relationships. He was worth the risk"

A warm yet saddened smile appeared on her lips as she allowed herself to relieve those adolescent memories for a few moments. Soon, the smile disappeared and she moved her gaze to the recording device.

"Things changed when my first Master was killed by my second and last Master. Though as it turned out, she did not die, but that is a tale for another time. With her death, Almir, being the brother of my Master, had to handle all family matters to the point where he disappeared out of my life completely."

"A few years had passed and I had outgrown Annabelle, and became Kaer, a Household Sith and Lorekeeper. Though I found myself in trouble. I returned home on Tatooine as I had received rumours that my father was spotted in our old village. There I ran into an old friend from my slavery days."

She shrugged softly and looked away briefly, as if ashamed or shy.

"Long story short and many drinks and poor decisions later, I fell pregnant. When I had learned a few weeks later of my pregnancy, I wanted to tell this man, only to learn that my father had killed him. Again, a tale for another time."

She looked again at the recording device.

"Then as fate would have it, roughly two months into my pregnancy, that was when Almir returned to the Horuset Powerbase. It felt like the fates of life were both with me and against me. We were at a war front on Orsus, I was a Household Sith and he re-joined as an Acolyte. I was not the same woman he knew years ago and yet somehow, he was able to see through me...through to Annabelle. He told me on one of the last days of the Orsus war effort that he still loved me. It shook me to my core. Thankfully no one was around to hear him nor see us, and we had to focus on the war ahead."

"Soon the war effort came to a victorious end and I returned home to gain much needed rest to ensure the safety of my pregnancy. That is when I got his call, that Almir wanted to see me and speak to me. I invited him over to my home, and we spoke as if no time had passed since last we spoke when we were young. I told him that I was with child and that things have changed, and yet he refused to leave me again, saying that given the chance, he will help me raise the child as his own, to love me unconditionally and never leave me again. He presented this promise with a necklace, one that I wore from that day until this past week."

"I shall not gone on with the details of what happened in our lives together, otherwise this will be quite a long entry. I will say that we got engaged in secret, and we got married in secret though we made sure that our marriage was legal in the eyes of the Empire. I think I will save the story of the wedding for another day."

"Soon the name of Almir fell away and he adopted a new name known as A'tul. He was feared, hated and respected in the Horuset Powerbase and one thing was for certain, he made me damn proud. Soon we had a child of our own, though she was taken away by Darth Horuset who was not pleased with mine and A'tul's relationship and thought that by taking our baby girl away, it would spark more life into me to fulfil her duties. It did the opposite. A'tul and I worked hard to get her back. He even did the impossible and ascend to Household Sith. I ascended as Lord of the Sith, and we proved our strength together to those who looked down on us."

She bit her bottom lip as her eyes started to fill with tears again. She brushed them away and continued speaking. Though the recording device started to pick up on a new sound, something faint and sweet in the background: two children laughing.

"Last week, there was a mission which led to a trap...one that was set up by my first Master, Jadie Priaa. A'tul sacrificed himself by letting his ship, the Nemesis, crash into a Valor Class Cruiser, and the two ships collided and crashed into a mountain range, giving myself and the Horuset members the brief window to escape certain death. My world fell apart at that inferno on the mountain side as I felt his pain through the Force...he is gone, but he will never be forgotten.  A part of me resides in denial as I have hope that he is alive out there..."

"I will find his body and honour him by giving him a proper funeral. I will find that woman and give her the most brutal death in existence. I will find justice and vindication for my love, no matter the costs. I will live, for him and for our children."

Before she could say anymore, a young boy with black hair and blue eyes, roughly aged four years ran into the room, looking for something, or perhaps someone. He soon left the scene, the widowed mother watched the ongoing scene around her. Next, there came a toddler, a girl with white hair and blue eyes, coming around the bed and using it for support as she walked. It was clear that this little toddler was new to walking. The mother stood up from her chair and picked up her little girl. They both returned into full view of the recording device, and the mother spoke once more, through some tears and a happy yet pained smile.

"It is because of him that our little girl, little Haiyca, has returned to us. She is finally home..."

The mother looked straight at the recording device, her pain and heartbreak was replaced with determination.

"I will find you, A'tul. I will bring you home, my love."

The last scene was the mother looking down at her daughter and then came the new focus. The toddler had something around her neck. It appeared to be some form of chain that held an oval shaped object at the end. The object as a whole was a necklace...

A click was heard, pushed by an unknown force and darkness and silence returned.

[Lord Iezkon]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Entry 2: Brave Fools

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something was different with this holo-entry as there was an added file, one that came from the surveillance cameras aboard a Fury Class Interceptor. The footage showed a cloaked woman enter the vessel and a droid approaching her. It asked: "Destination, my Lord?" And the woman simply responded with: "Kelsa Estate.." The droid hurried off as the hooded figure entered the bedroom of the ship. The feed switched from the main hull to the bedroom, and there was a clear image of Lord Iezkon. She lowered her hood and unclipped her cloak, letting it hang over a chair. She then removed her mask and placed it on the table. Her right hand rested on her helmet as her left hand went to her hair, untying the high bun and letting her black, long and flowing hair fall down with such grace. It seemed that the main hairstyle was impressive braids, giving her a beautiful crown that held half of her hair up and let the rest flow and rest on her back.

Her gaze was down, staring at the ground as her hands moved to her sides. She took a few steps back and looked to the table, finding an empty glass resting there. Then with a sudden movement, the Sith Lord grabbed the glass and threw it across the room with such anger and power that the glass practically broke into dust against the wall. She stood there, staring at the mark on the wall, the camera footage capturing a look of anger, disappointment and grief. She rubbed her forehead with her one hand as the other Force Pulled a certain little device from a location that the camera was unable to see. The device was placed on the table, and the Sith Lord rested her hands on the backrest of her chair. A hum came to life and this surveillance recording came to an end.

Next in this entry, there was a more up, close and personal view of the angered Sith Lord. Her anger more clear and the details of her face was beautifully captured. From the multiple scars that painted her face to her nose flaring.

"You fool! You stubborn, blind, over zealous fool! I saw such great potential in you from the very start...so invested in your progression, and you decide to do this...when you told me that you would never go down this path! With this stunt of yours, you brought shame and failure to your House, your name...your legacy! You are seen as a traitor! You stupid fool! You took my Assistant, my successor, the Lorekeeper away! And you took yourself away! The one I regret not taking on as my Apprentice and the one I could call friend! How could you do this?!"

The chair was violently thrown away by the Sith Lord after that sentence, and the device picked up on the large sound of the chair landing on the opposite side of the room. Iezkon moved her hands to her hair, letting her fingers run through her locks as she took a few deep breaths to calm down. After a few moments, she responded with a slightly less angered tone but one that held a hint of pride to the one she was addressing.

But I will not deny...what you did, it was a bold move. Taking down the Lorekeeper, a Conservancy member, the husband of Lord Saltaeon, the Apprentice of Lord Kalkoran and a Horuset. A bold move that will only be remembered as the death of Valeus Vexal Horuset...and not of your achievement..."

Iezkon moved to sit at the edge of the bed.

"In a span of four days, the Powerbase has lost Sith Natsiji, slain from what I hear, like an animal, by Runil...and in one evening, Sith 'Zikarn' Takoski...Sith 'Valeus' Tarimra...and you, Sith 'Elias' Zotam...were lost. The last three were fools, more so Zikarn and Elias...but brave fools they all remain. Tarimra was a fool to not have his back covered and not be prepared. One way or another, neither of them will be forgotten..."

During that time where she spoke of the dead, her gaze was fixed to her right side, her face showed utter disbelief, confusion and a strong sense of grief. And then she looked up to the device, staring at it with a stern expression, but an honest on with a truthful tone to match.

"The Force was strong in every single one of you four...your absence will be felt by all. Never waver...<deep exhale>...never relent..."

With a defeated wave of a hand from the Sith Lord, the image was engulfed with darkness and silence.