Korriban

[Solus]

On the floor, the Hutt security droid laid in its own coiled coils.  On the bed, sitting with its healing legs, Tear watched the door, growling whenever something approached, even before the door opened. It was as if it was guarding the chassis, even though it had no means to fight at the moment. 

 

Suddenly, the chassis began to move. Metal creaked and moaned as its hands tightened into fists once more. Tear flinched and tried to move back as the body began to spasm violently. Electricity moved through the dead wires. Gears began to spin and grind.  Its motors were alive once more. The chassis rose to full height, its cone-like head grazing the ceiling. It’s arms stretched and a low moan came from the thing’s speakers. 

 

“Aaaaahhhh….” Solus sighed in pleasure as his body reacted again to his thoughts. His yellow eye flickered to life, granting him the beautiful gift of sight. 

 

“Ah ha ha ha!” Solus laughed. He knocked the wall with a metal fist, intently listening and enjoying the clunking over and over. Tear began to howl, which only added to Solus’ joy. 

 

“Sound! And...and touch! I’m...I’m back! Ha ha ha! Why did I doubt him? It was nothing! I, Solus the ascended, am back!” 

 

But it was something. During the chassis' recharge, Solus screamed to the void around him. The rage he had felt was the same kind he experienced before his ascension. He felt like he could’ve killed something in that darkness. He could have been a true god, and hold a thing’s life in his hands and choose to end its existence.

 

However, it was gone now.  As fast as his anger had come to him, it had left like darkness at the dawning of the sun, and now Solus was overjoyed to be ascended once more. Only a shadow of it lingered.

 

Looking over Tear’s wounds, Solus was pleasantly surprised to see the legs were healing up nicely. It had stopped oozing blood and large scars and bruises had formed where Solus had broken it’s legs. He wondered if all species healed as quickly as this hound. It still couldn’t walk, but the bones were mending themselves. 

 

"Good thing...Perhaps with some help we can get you walking  again. I don't know when that will be, but I'm sure Lord Roshan and I could figure something out." 

 

What surprised Solus more was that Tear didn’t snap this time. While it did growl and hiss at Solus' touching of the makeshift bandages to further examine the legs, Tear did not try to bite. Perhaps it knew now that Solus was a machine and biting accomplished nothing. Or perhaps when Solus nearly choked the thing, he established a kind of dominance. Or maybe during the shard's recharge, Tear felt Solus’ hatred and anger, and associated it with something more.

 

Whatever the reason, Solus was pleasantly surprised. After rewrapping the bandages, Solus felt the ship shift. It was landing.  

 

A few moments later, Solus was on the ramp of the ship, looking over the landscape. The sky overhead was a dark nighttime. The dark sand under Solus’ tail felt course to his metal body, but he didn’t mind it much.

 

However, in the far distance, Solus could see something. Lights.Over his shoulders and around his neck, he carried Tear, who seemed very uncomfortable. 

 

“A new world…” Solus said, proudly, gazing at the lights in the distance. “A world in this world of worlds… and yet, this place...it feels...interesting. Like something is tickling my body, but not actually. Something...here” with a hand, Solus gently tapped where the sith hounds had left its mark on him, directly over where his shard dwelled. 

 

Tear gave a guttural growl. Solus almost shivered at the combination of the feel of the beast making a noise against him and the strange sensation of this planet. Turning, Solus bowed slightly.

 

“Ah ha! It seems we have arrived! But tell me, what is this place? And...why does it feel so...I don’t know...strange?”  

[Solus]

“The Force…” Solus mused over Roshan’s words for a bit. “Force. Darkside. Yes, that feels correct. Maybe its because of the darkness around us, but yes, that feels...perfect. Like a touch of something wild. Or chaotic. But tranquil inside somewhere. Like something cold, but waiting to be hot. Like...yes, darkside sounds right. I like that…” 

 

As the shard mused, he followed his lord, his words lowering into a mumble. He wasn’t sure if he was feeling nervous at this planet and that was why he was talking so much or if it was something else. Still, he continued to prattle on while Tear on his shoulders and ignored its master entirely. Instead, the hound simply looked around at the darkness. 

 

“I must say, this place is something beyond me. When i said a world beyond worlds, I knew what i meant, but I had forgotten all the senses I had experienced. Like this...sand? Dirt? Whatever it is, it is much different than the metal back where I ascended. Like a grinding sensation, but so much lesser then the grinding of my own gears.  And I feel like I should be cold, like one of my visions, but I do not. Perhaps something about me is incomplete. No, I feel like that is wrong...hmmm? Oh sorry Sir Aliss, you asked something?”

 

As Solus listened to Sir Aliss’ question, he had to pause in thought for a moment. He realized that he was still learning what he called ‘the language of sound’ as he himself hadn’t noticed how his Lord and Aliss both pronounced his name differently. 

 

“Well, Sir, truth be told, I’m unsure myself. You see, us shard’s aren’t accustomed to names really, and sound is something new to me still.”

 

Solus glanced back at Aliss and realized he needed to explain himself. 

 

“You see, us shards are immobile by nature. We grow from the rocks around us, and we generate subtle hints of heat and electricity with thoughts. But we do not move. Thus, we are always connected. We knew each other almost perfectly. Not like how I now know that the ship is back that way…” Solus gestured with his head in the direction the group had come from.

 

“But really know each other. We could know each other’s thoughts. We communicated by simply thinking. We knew each other. When we referred to each other, we simply were called brother, or sister, or parent. So I didn’t have a name for most of my life. "

 

“But as you noticed, I had a name at my ascension. And that is because of my visions. For some reason, I had visions, if that is what you call them. Maybe experiences would be a better term, for I didn’t just see. I felt. I smelled. I heard. And these ‘experiences’ were amazing. Eye-opening. Full with energy and life and color and...well, everything!  It is how I knew of this...world of worlds. Imagine, experiencing something new, something beyond your comprehension.  That is what i had.”

 

“After my first experience, my family grew distant from me. They named me. They called me Solus the Singular. That is when I became separate. As time went on, I had more experiences. Eight of them I think. And each time, I tried to share them with my family. But it's like explaining color to...beings who had never had sight before! How do you explain the sensation of sound to beings with no ears? Or the idea of moons and planets to things that have never left a cave?”

 

Solus gave a deep sigh. His entire body was drooping forward, with his head hung low. His voice had become softer and slower. His emotions were clearly visible.

 

“They declared me sick. They declared me mad. And with that, they somehow cut me off from them. I do not know how, but they had separated themselves from me. I lost all connection to them and became alone. The last thought I heard from them was declaring me Solus the Lonely. And then...nothing…”

 

The robotic being stopped slithering forward. He was remembering the experience. It was so real to him at the moment. The emptiness. The void. The silence. The loneliness. Tear perked up, sensing the emotion that was rising within the being. 

 

“Imagine losing all of your senses. Your ears. Your eyes. Your body. You can only think. There isn’t even blackness because you can’t see color. Just nothingness. Now also imagine being alone. But you knew you weren’t alone. That somewhere, beyond you there were others and if you could only reach out you would no longer be alone. If you could only speak, you could break the eternal silence that is consuming you. But you can’t because you don’t have arms. You don’t have limbs or a body. Your tongue is your thoughts. Your sight are your thoughts.  All you have is your thoughts and memories of better times. Can you? Cause that's what I had to go through!”

 

Solus words became louder and sharper, rising in tone. He dropped Tear from his shoulders to the ground, who yelped sharply in pain. Solus ignored his actions, instead now raising his arms and yelling at the moons overhead.  

 

“That is what I had! A better time, where I was perfectly in tune with my family! And then a vision of something even greater!  And then nothing! I was cut off from my family! From everything! They cut me off from everything that made me whole! They cut me off from the experiences! They vanished too! I didn’t have another one to give me comfort. To give me life! To give me anything! I was alone! And broken! And nothing! I might as well have been nothing!”

 

Hitting the climax of his emotion, Solus slammed his fists down into the ground. The sound of his hands hitting the ground made a large thud, but nothing more. The dirt around the group flew, but nothing else. But even then, the shard inside the body screamed it’s odd silent scream. It’s red glow and momentarily turned black, with each white line dashing about violently. The Force rippled and reverberated from the chassis, echoing silently, unperceivable except to those attuned to it. 

 

 After the momentarily silent scream, Solus paused, feeling the anger drain from him. He now felt empty, like some kind of husk. Like the energy in him had been drained, even though he was still at near full power. Slowly, he raised himself and turned back to Aliss. 

 

“And now here I am. In a body in a world of worlds. Tell me Sir Aliss, does it sound like I have found peace with this body? Cause I don’t remember peace anymore. I feel joy, but I don’t know about peace. Or does it sound like I have no soul? I know I had one when I had my family. When I truly knew someone. But now, i don’t know anything. I simply don’t know.”

 

Solus reached and picked up the hound again, and began to make his way forward. “Call me whatever our Lord desires. After all...”

 

Solus looked back at Aliss, giving a nod as if it was a wink. His entire attitude changed with his next words, as if nothing was wrong. “We are his servants. And he is our lord.” And Solus continued on, heading towards the light. 

[Solus]

Solus flinched when Roshan ordered him and Aliss to shut up. He moved faster, carrying his hound over his shoulders. He silently cursed himself for being distracted and being noisy. However, he kept pace with Aliss until the two caught up.

 

“Thank you, Sir Aliss…” Solus whispered back to his friend. Tear growled softly. 

 

Solus looked over the figure in the distance. He didn’t understand the words it spoke, but he shivered at them. It appeared Tear either understood them, or at least recognised them in some form, for his ears perked up, his tail swayed sporadically. Solus squeezed the hound’s hind legs slightly, to which he received a growl and hiss in turn.

 

“Oh come on, Tear, what is he?” Solus asked out loud, then immediately tried to be quiet, remembering Roshan’s words just a moment ago. With a whisper, he asked “Sir Aliss, what is that being?”  

 

When the two caught up, and Solus heard his master describe his knights to the unknown figure, Solus leaned over slightly and spoke softly. 

 

“What’s an anorexic hutt? Is that a compliment? And what is our lord saying? Tear, do you know?”

 

Tear stayed silent, watching Roshan and the stranger. And Solus watched as well.  

[Solus]

With each word that passed between his lord and the stranger, Solus grew more and more twitchy. Tear listened carefully, a semblance of understanding in his eyes, but for Solus, there was only confusion. And a little bit of annoyance and impatience. 

 

“Its a pity we can’t just continue on. Or at least speak common” Solus mutterred, only loud enough for Aliss to overhear. “I mean, we came here for...what was it? Right, seek a Sith master. Funny, I remember what Sith means. Its a name for one of the gods of these worlds. From my visions. Pity I didn’t have any visions about what’s being said…”

 

As Solus muttered, Tear hissed once at the being, as if to tell him to shut up. Solus glanced at the hound, and shook his own head in annoyance. 

 

Those visions long ago...they were a comfort and a pain now. A comfort because he felt that they gave him some kind of insight into this world of worlds. But a pain because not all of them were good. In fact, a bunch were actually painful. Like the one Solus had recalled in his battle with Tear and it’s brother, Rip. The sounds of destruction, like screaming of beings, crunching and crashing of ships and buildings, the booming of explosions and the crackling of fires. The sight of people killing each other out of pure panic as overhead a large sphere was coming crashing down onto the populace below. And those other gods that fought to prevent that, utilizing their magnificent powers to slow the descent of that celestial object.

 

Solus shook himself.  His lord had said something in the tongue he understood. Something about weapons, but having been lost in thought, Solus didn’t hear it fully. He could only infer what was said by observing Sir Aliss putting away her weapon. 

 

“I should get myself one of those…” Solus mused, noticing the weapon. It was something truly unique and powerful. A true weapon for a god slayer like he was to be. 

 

Lord Roshan returned to speaking in the unknown tongue. Solus sighed and slumped slightly. Still, this stranger was curious. Solus studied him for a bit. Was he Sith? Or was he not even a deity? 

[Solus]

As Solus watched the two, the stranger pulled his hood back revealing his face. Instead of revulsion or horror like many people may have had, the Shard had a sense of awe and curiosity. He had examined his hound’s wounds and had been fascinated earlier. Why wouldn’t he find these different, appearent and extreme wounds more so?

 

Still, the tone the stranger spoke with made Solus flinch slightly. Being robotic didn’t mean he had thick skin. It was apparent that Roshan had not made the being happy. 

 

Panic set in Solus’ mind. Without thinking he slithered up quickly and almost laid a hand on his lord’s shoulder, just as Aliss had done to him, but stopped a few inches away, too scared to touch his lord. Instead he whispered, “Allow me, my Lord, to speak to Helios. For I believe this being can help us, and if not, then I will fight on your behalf as the loyal child I am…”

 

With that and not waiting for a response, Solus slithered forward a bit more, his metal tail leaving a thick trail in the sand. When he was a few feet ahead of Roshan, he bowed slightly to the man. Tear was struggling to stay still and on top, but kept his eyes on the man all the while with its glowing eyes. 

 

“Forgive my words if they are empty,” Solus started, bowing slightly deeper, though with his height it put him only a few inches shorter than the human named Helios. 

 

“My name is Solus the Ascended, the to-be god slayer as my master, Lord Roshan, dictates. This beast I carry and tame is Tear. I trod recklessly because I am only newly ascended to these worlds of worlds... “

 

Solus did not look up, hoping this sign of respect would be enough to calm the man down. Solus feared that if Helios became more angry, Roshan would be angry, and Aliss and Solus would be just a burden to defend. He had to help, even if it was by showing respect at a slight cost of dignity.  Course there was a risk that he would make Roshan angry too, but he had to try. 

 

“ I, like my Master and Sir Aliss, are conduits of the Force. But I do not know the way to control it. If this ‘Wicked Flame’ and the Force are truly related,  then I must request for your knowledge. Your knowledge...or the pain you offer. If either will help us, then I will take it, for everything is better then the abyss I have known...”

 

Solus looked up at the man, his own yellow eye taking in all the features of this being. The scars were so fascinating, nothing like the broken bones in Tear’s legs. He did not fully understand what could have caused those yet, though he would learn eventually. 

 

“Darth Helios, deity of the Wicked Flame, guide us. I, Solus the Ascended, or however you must title me, request this.”

 

As Solus awaited Helios' response, he bowed his head again, and stayed silent. Tear kept his eyes on the man though. However, he too was silent as well, recognizing that his own master was putting himself and his very young hound at great risk. At great risk to this being who spoke that old language so easily. 

 

Please Roshan. Be impressed by my initiative. I do this for you...  Solus begged silently, feeling his lord’s eyes on him. 

[Solus]

Solus marveled and admired as the sands blew away and the opening was made through no visible means. The ground...the very ground they stood on was a door! Solus looked at Roshan and gave a nod, the only way he could demonstrate his excitement without speaking. He dared not interrupt this Darth Helios’ actions.

 

Solus followed without hesitation at Roshan’s orders, excitement building inside of him. He didn’t think how this could be a trap, or a test, or anything else. He simply followed. Down the stairs he slithered, each step receiving a slight thud as his metal body went down. It took some balance, and more than once Solus had to let go of one of Tear’s legs to steady himself, but he moved onwards. He also had to stop once or twice to look at his surroundings. The place was nothing like the place of his ascension back on Ishvara. This was both natural and unnatural. Metal perfectly melded into stone that was clearly worked on. The shadows under the gargoyles' eyes were both lifeless but alert. And the walls…

 

When the walls closed in, Solus couldn’t help but release one hand on Tear and feel the walls and their etchings. The history here was so fascinating and complete, but beyond the shard’s comprehension. He felt like he could stay in this tunnel for several years and be no closer to understanding their meanings. 

 

“This...isn’t this something Tear? Sir Aliss? Lord Roshan? My my, I could stay here for...well not long but...” Solus rambled as his fingertips traced the engraved image of a large monster. It captivated him. As something newly born into this galaxy, everything was a beautiful painting to his eyes. After that momentary pause, Solus realized that Helios had gone further ahead without waiting for him, and he was blocking the path. Solus picked up his pace and slithered forward again. 

 

“Darth Helios, excuse me, but where are we…”

 

Solus stopped. The view in front of him stunned him. The sight of a city under the ground absolutely took his entire being away for a brief second. In that second, Solus saw so much.  So much life as bodies moved about, each with their own purpose. And the noises they made! Some were speaking in tongues unknown, some were clomping around, others were making whispers and hisses. 

 

Solus sighed in both amazement and sadness. So much life in one place. It was like before his ascension and before he was alone. 

 

"Roshan, Solus, Aliss. What do you see?" 

 

“Enemies. Competition. Strange ants that we don’t know and I don’t trust.”

 

“You’ll have to excuse the girl, Master Helios. She spent her entire life on Ishvara...”

 

Solus could feel the tension behind him. It was clear that Aliss was not used to being under Roshan’s wishes. To be fair, Solus was only used to it cause he had known no other way yet. 

 

“I...I see…well I see a place of life...of...potential. A place to possibly learn or...” Solus started, trying to put his words to thought when suddenly…

 

“You! Little droid...” A silky smooth voice called out. Solus turned his attention sideways and looked around, not seeing where the voice had come from. It wasn’t until he glanced towards some steps did he see the creature. 

 

A being slightly shorter than Roshan, dressed in black moth-eaten robes approached the group. Over its head it kept a mask of pure black, with only the two small slits for eyes and it’s red painted beak exposed. 

 

“Little droid…” the thing cooed as it held out a hand, revealing the large leathery wings that were fitted into the robe. “How much for that... specimen?”

 

Solus was surprised and had to stop. This being’s words were smooth and long, with tones that rose and fell like music. 

 

“Specimen?”

 

“Yes...that young hound...never had I seen such a....specimen...how much?”

 

“Oh! You mean Tear!” Solus exclaimed and shifted the beast a bit on his shoulders so he could see better. Tear studied the thing carefully. When it reached forward to pet the beast, Tear snapped once at the fingers of the strange being. The merchant laughed as it brought its hand back. 

 

“Yes….Tear….that hound is such a...beauty...You must be extremely well programmed...to catch such a beast...How much?”

 

The being stepped closer. Solus leaned back, nervous at what was happening. He glanced around and saw that the others were moving forward without him.

 

“I...uh...he’s mine. To, um, tame, as my master said. Yes that’s it, Tear is for me to tame.”

 

The being’s black eyes widened at this. “Ah...you are owned...such a pity...so then that is owned...as well…”

 

Solus swayed slightly to either side to the being’s voice. Like some kind of snake hearing a tune, Solus felt his own mind sway slightly. It was so musical. So magical. 

 

“I...uh, no….I am pledged to...um, why do you want Tear?”

 

The being chuckled a soft chuckle again. “Why, don’t you know the value…. of the mighty Tuk’ata? Especially such a young... pup like that? Why…”

 

The being, who Solus thought may have been female but had no way of telling, reached forward to attempt to stroke Tear, who growled a warning.

 

“Their teeth can cut through many things... at a ripe age...their claws are a fine alchemical ingredient…. Why those eyes… very healthy...I could make very strong potions...hmm…

 

“Potions?” Solus asked, curious at this word.

 

The being spotted this curiosity, and cooed again. “Little droid…”

 

Leaning forward the figure stared its abyssal eyes into the shard's reticle. 

 

“If you ever become unowned, or maybe...you want to sell Tear, find me...Kirrinisha....now take care….little droid.” 

 

Without another word, the strange birdlike thing turned and wandered off, humming to itself. Solus could only stare for a moment wondering what had just happened. It was also now that he began to feel the eyes on him. Many beings were watching the strange looking droid carrying a wounded sith hound, wondering what it may do. 

 

“Ah...I uh...Roshan? Roshan?” 

 

Solus began to panic, realizing the others had moved forward without them. But that settled once he spotted a green cloaked figure. Figuring it was Helios leading the others, Solus chased after them. 

 

“Ah please Roshan, don’t be mad. Don’t be mad. What am i saying, of course he’ll be mad...ah kriff...still, that being. Such a lovely voice. But potions? What the heck are those? And what's alchemical ingredients…clearly I’ll have to ask the others about those…”

 

Solus made his way forward, and soon was right behind his lord. 

 

“Yes, opportunity! That is what I see! Haha!” Solus faked a laugh, hoping that the others weren’t disappointed with him being sidetracked. 

[Solus]

Tear growled at the words Helios spoke, as if it understood that it was being addressed as something to be killed. It’s glowing eyes glared with hatred towards this being. It’s teeth were bore out slightly. Solus squeezed the hound’s legs in an attempt to silence it, though that did nothing to quell the low ruble from the hound’s throat.

 

Truth be told, Solus shivered at Helios’ words again. The thought of these people betraying and attacking him for Tear made him nervous. The imagery of Lord Roshan and Sir Aliss losing their skin was enough to get Solus to pause momentarily in shock. A quick glance at the people around revealed nothing but several faces glancing in his direction. Were they hungrily eyeing Tear? Were they plotting on how to take him down? 

 

“Surely, if these people see such potential gods like me in this way, how do real gods like my Lord see me? I must grow stronger...yes, I must. Yes, yes...I will prove myself and these other people of my might sometime.” 

 

As Solus  mutterred to himself, loud enough for any passerby to hear, Tear hissed slightly. His eyes were intent on Solus’ sensor. When Solus glanced at the beast, it glanced downwards towards Solus’ chest. Solus looked down and thought for a moment at what Tear might've been saying. Eventually, he nodded in understanding.

 

“Indeed Tear. You can defend yourself…” Solus started as he released a hand to rub the claw marks that Tear himself had given him in their first encounter. That battle was only the other day, and as his first battle, it was infused in Solus’ memory. 

 

“...or at least you can when you have your front legs. But don’t worry. You are mine, and thus under my protection for now. And these...beings…”

 

Solus glanced around again. He stopped when he saw a few more beings staying still, their eyes on the Shard being. It was obvious they were more than curious in both Solus and his pet. 

 

In a millisecond, Solus mentally adjusted his voice box. With a rough unpracticed mimicry, he produced the low growl of the Tuk’ata alpha from Ishavara, which rose to a bark, and ended with a slight hiss. The on-lookers took the message and went on to their own business.   

 

“Heh...these beings will fear me soon enough. And Lord Roshan will be happy. And Sir Aliss.” 

 

Solus raced after the group, a bit more pride in his slithering. Through the marketplace, the group went. The shard couldn’t help but admire how everyone backed away from Helios and his staff of power. Surely this being did have power and Solus had made the right choice to surrender himself to his teachings. 

 

However, when the group arrived at the building and went inside, Solus glanced around and wondered. 

 

“Darth Helios, this place...this is an alter correct? That implies this is a place of worship. But what is it that we worship? Don’t you, as a god in this world of worlds, control things like the Force? Why worship something else?” 

 

As he spoke, Solus made a point not to look at Roshan. He realized his question could potentially get an answer that directly contradicted what Roshan had taught him already. Roshan had told Solus that they, as gods, did not obey the Force. And what was worship if not complete obedience? 

[Solus]

“Well...this is different” Solus muttered after a few moments Darth Helios left. The darkness that swallowed the room was thick, almost palpable. But to Solus, it wasn’t frightening. It wasn’t something that filled him with fear. Rather, it excited him. 

 

“Lord Roshan, I must say, this darkness is... not exciting per se, but interesting... “ Solus started. The sound of the large robot shifting in the darkness was something very audible. Metal scratching across the stone floor, trying to find a position that suited him. Still, as he spoke, his yellow sensor stayed perfectly still; a yellow eye floating in the blackness, and above it, the two small fiery orbs of Tear. 

 

“Before you ascended me, I had known nothing. This blackness, this...thing…” Solus started, gesturing with his arms to the darkness around him, as if he could be seen. 

 

“It's something that I hadn’t known before. In my state before ascension, I knew the void. I knew nothingness. I knew…oblivion. This...blackness...this darkness, yes, is something that I had not known before… for this is truly something. Even if it's just a curtain over everything else, it is something...”

 

The sound of Solus’ tail moving changed slightly. The slow and clunky sound of metal pushing and pulling changed to a rapid, quiet clinking. The yellow eye moved in the darkness, turning away from where the others were for a moment, trying to study the room that had become impossible to study. Metal scratched on stone momentarily. A hand had found a wall.

 

“It’s...amazing. I truly am in a fantastic world, where the wonders of both shadow and light can be shared in one place. How great it is to be ascended to such a plane, where magnificent wonders are trivial fragments of something truly extraordinary.”

 

Solus froze and looked around. He realized that without any other source of light, he was completely blind to where the others were in the room. For a moment, a fear began to creep into the shard’s chassis. This was what it was like before his ascension. But that fear evaporated instantly. Solus, while not able to see the others, instinctively knew that he wasn’t alone. 

 

“Lord Roshan...how do you think we will be tested?” Solus asked as he gently laid Tear onto the ground gently. He had found a wall and placed his back to it, figuring that as long as he kept looking in one direction, the others could see both his and his hound’s eyes. Quietly the robotic being coiled himself into a kind of ‘sitting’ position, as he awaited for an answer from the darkness. 

[Solus]

“Soulless, can you grab this girl before she does something stupid to jeopardize us all,”

 

The robotic being looked at where Roshan gestured. Aliss was moving towards the pyramidal object in the center of the room. Solus, already coiled over himself, began to tense up. Aliss’ hand, his sister, was going to grab that sacred object that Darth Helios warned to not touch. 

 

“Sir Aliss, please don't…” Solus began to beg. He didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want to hurt someone he knew. Much less someone he had begun to care for so quickly. But if she disobeyed…

 

His choice was made for him. Aliss had grabbed the object. Instinctively Solus launched himself at Aliss. His coiled body sprang, giving him the momentum of a vehicle. As he launched himself, his voice box changed from the synthetic but gentle voice to a harsh screeching sound of danger. Not as high pitched as when he fought the hounds on Ishvara nor not nearly as loud, but nonetheless high pitched and startling. 

 

Aliss turned to the flying robot just in time for Solus to crash with her, head first. Solus landed on top, barely preventing himself from having his tail crushing the girl. Realizing that Aliss was still holding the object, and not wanting to touch it himself, Solus’ hands clamped around both of the being’s wrists and began to squeeze. This vice-like grip, ensured there would be large bruises.

 

Solus, still screeching, looked at Aliss face. Even as he screeched in warning, words crackled out, barely audible, as if he was trying to both be aggressive but pleading. 

 

“Please Aliss.... Let it go. Please...Why would Helios test us in this way? Please…” 

 

On the last word of please, Solus’ hands gripped tighter, trying to get Aliss to let go of the sacred object. No one was to touch it. But Aliss had already failed. Maybe if he could get her to let go quickly, the punishment for them wouldn’t be as harsh. And Roshan was watching. Solus had to obey the deity that gave him life.   He just hoped he wouldn't have to break Aliss' wrists like he broke Tear's legs. 

[Solus]

Solus stopped wrestling with Aliss when he heard something. A growl. Tear was growling. And it wasn’t like a growl from when the two were traveling on the planet. This growl was threatening. A way to intimidate someone. Like back in the cave where Solus had first broken the hound’s legs. 

 

Solus silenced himself long enough to say, “Tear, not now, please, I ca-”

 

A slam of force sent Solus flying off Aliss and into a wall. The crash of metal into stone as Solus plastered into the wall was audible enough for everyone. The shard fell to the floor with a clatter, dazed at what had just happened. His senses told him that he was undamaged, but he certainly felt rattled. 

 

“What the...” Solus started as he looked up. It was just in time for him to see a clawed hand swiping at his eye sensor. Instinct kicked in. Solus barely moved down in time. The claws scratched the wall leaving some marks, but nothing else. The beast grunted and growled as it raised it arms to smash the robotic being. 

 

Solus arms moved. Grabbing the thing’s calloused chest, Solus gave a shove, forcing the thing to stubble back a few steps. Hoisting himself with his tail, Solus followed it and punched the thing’s face. It’s apelike body fell backwards but began to pick itself up. 

 

Solus was about to launch another attack on it when another noise distracted him. Barking and hissing. 

 

“Tear!” Solus exclaimed. The hound was helpless on the ground, barking a storm at one of the beasts. Another large creature was eyeing Tear hungrily. It dragged its front arms on the ground a bit as it tried to circle Tear, eager to tear him up. And all Tear could do was bark and hiss warnings. 

 

Solus couldn’t let that happen. Without a second thought Solus started to charge at the beast. But he was stopped suddenly. The first beast Solus attacked was recovered and standing on the robot’s tail. It roared as it brought down a claw. 

 

It landed between Solus’ left shoulder and arm joints. The damage could be felt. Solus screeched in pain. A few more centimeters in and his arm would have been disconnected from the chassis. 

 

Without thinking, Solus’ right hand opened up. He had felt this earlier in his hand. He wasn’t sure what it was, but instincts were telling him what to do now. From his palm, a small metal ‘scomp link’ was produced. With it, Solus drove the small metal extension into the thing’s eye.

 

It screeched and howled in pain as it jumped back, blood squirting from it’s wound. Solus winced momentarily as his scomp link was broken off, left embedded in the thing’s eye. He didn’t care though. His pet was in trouble.

 

Solus turned again and launched himself at the beast who was about to maim his precious pet. Solus landed on top of it and began to repeatedly punch it over and over in the face. Blood covered his metal hands as he proceeded to fight with a rage he had not known he had. He brought the full force of his tail on the thing’s chest, holding it down. With each punch, the fury in him grew. This was it. 

 

“Leave! Tear! ALONE! Raaaaa!” Solus screeched as he pummeled the beast. The thing opened its mouth and caught a hand in its gullet. It clamped down on the metallic part and refused to let go. Rather than be scared, or feel pain, Solus instead grabbed whatever he felt inside and pulled, using his other hand to brace himself on the thing’s face. 

 

In pain, the beast screeched, releasing Solus’ hand. What followed was bloody. Solus had grabbed some important part of the beast and tore it out.  Blood sprayed everywhere. The beast sputtered and struggled to breath a few moments. 

 

Solus didn’t get a chance to see if he was victorious. The previous monster had regained its composure and launched itself at Solus. It’s claws tore through Solus’ back, nearly cutting to the wires inside. The beast tumbled over Solus, but using the wall as a brace, turned and landed on top of the being, holding him down with one massive foot. Pinned, Solus was helpless as the thing began to beat the robotic being, it's bleeding eye dripping over the Shard. 

 

“Help! Someone, help!” Solus screamed in pain as he was attacked. He didn’t expect Tear to be the one to hear him. 

 

Now that they were close enough to the hound, Tear could do something. While he couldn’t move very well, Tear was able to get close enough to latch onto the thing’s leg that wasn’t holding Solus down, tearing at a tendon. 

 

The beast was surprised by this new attack. It reacted by stepping off Solus, grabbing Tear and throwing the hound across the room towards where Roshan and Aliss were. Tear yelped in pain as he hit the opposing wall and fell unconscious.  

 

Solus got back up and faced the beast. It did the same with him. Bloodied and beaten badly, the two squared off,  prepared for another round of fighting. 

 

“That…was a mistake” Solus growled, unaware how Roshan and Aliss were doing

[Solus]

As the two squared off with each other, Solus raised his arms in a defensive pose, ready to strike at the monster. The Monster, with one eye bleeding a dark hue of blood from the injury Solus had given it, dragged its hands across the floor as it tried to circle the shard. It growled and feinted, then smacked the ground once with a hand. 

 

Solus didn’t flinch. 

 

But what happened next made him flinch. 

 

The sound of crackling thunder boomed in the room. Solus brought his hands up to cover his own sensor from the sudden light but stopped as he saw what was happening. Another being had entered the room. A short feminine figure, with a blade in one of her hands similar to the ones Roshan and Aliss carried.

 

Questions for later. The beast had been pushed forward it seemed and was being shocked with deadly energy. It was off kilter and in pain, screaming for relief. Solus could not waste the moment. He charged forward, and grabbed it by the tusks. The energy was still coursing through it. Energy that Solus could sense. For a split second, his natural electromagnetic sense felt all the parts the energy touched. He could see its weakness.

 

"Hahahaha!" Solus laughed as his grip tightened.  The beast roared and tried to fight in its pain, but Solus acted first.  Holding on to both tusks, Solus pulled in opposite directions. 

 

The right side bent back slightly, splitting some of its skin open, revealing the muscle underneath. The left tusk snapped off in Solus’ hands. Armed with this new weapon, Solus spun the tusk in his hand and then, like he did with his metal attachment earlier, plunged it into the monster’s good eye. 

 

Blood squirted everywhere as the tusk sunk into the screaming monster. But to Solus it wasn’t enough. With both hands, he grabbed the monster by the face and placed his thumbs where both eyes should have been. 

 

Solus roared as did so, once again imitating the sound of that one alpha hound back in the cave on Ishvara.

 

With delight, he pushed as hard as he could, causing both the tusk and the broken robotic part to penetrate the monster’s skull into its brain tissue. The mixture of grey brain matter and crimson blood squirted out violently over Solus’ sensor, forcing him to literally see red. He still pushed. He still roared. He would not stop until this thing that had harmed his pet was dead. 

 

The thing collapsed backwards, lifeless. Now momentarily silent, Solus reached up and wiped his sensor gently, restoring his vision. 

 

“Who was that? Being, who are you?" Solus called out, not sure where the mysterious figure had gone. It seemed all the monsters were destroyed. And this being had helped. 

 

“Being, wait!”  Solus called out, but stopped short of rushing after her. His attention had been drawn to his unconscious hound. He rushed to its side and gently nudged it. Tear was breathing steadily. He was only sleeping now. 

 

“Lord Roshan…” Solus started. He looked to his own master in curiosity, then at Aliss. His sensor changed its hue slightly to a darker yellow in anger. Her actions had inadvertently injured Tear. 

 

“Lord Roshan, was that a test? A test of combat? If so, then I believe we passed. But who was that? Who was that being that helped us?”

 

As he spoke, he turned away from Aliss. Instead he looked at his master, and moved towards the area where the lady had vanished. 

 

[Solus]

Solus nodded and obeyed Roshan’s order without question, coiling against the wall Roshan was near. 

 

"That is wise Lord. Very wise. I must admit, I am not as wise in combat as you are Lord. All I seem to be good at is pummeling. Perhaps my wisdom will eventually grow observing you." 

 

When the being showed herself again, mentioned how Solus had done as expected and eyed him, Solus couldn’t help but feel a smidge of pride form inside of him. This being, while new and strange to him, had in a way complimented him. And that felt good. 

 

Even as she turned and spoke to his master and introduced herself, Solus found himself studying her. She was much different from Sir Aliss, though being of the same gender. Her stature and form was entirely different. Where Aliss carried herself like a snake with a purpose, this being carried herself more delicately. Her skin appeared more smoother then Aliss, as well as a much different color. But the two were both fairly hairless on first glance, and had two arms and legs. Still, this being was a different species compared to the others in the room.

 

"Forgive my manners. I am Lady Sirena. As for the Holocron, the test was to resist, not touch it. But Master Helios was never one for all the details and preferred his students to play with fire." 

 

Solus nearly mentioned to Aliss about how she was wrong to touch the so-called ‘Holocron’, but he silenced himself before that. That would be a foolish move on his part, would it not? Aliss was a child of Roshan. It did no good to berate her. She was probably smart enough to realize her error. If not, then Roshan was in the clear position to point out her error, not Solus.  

 

When Sirena mentioned how she wasn’t part of the test, Solus visibly became a bit more open. His body slouched slightly, his arms lowered out of a defensive pose. 

 

“That certainly makes me happy to hear...Lady Sirena.” Solus cherished the title Lady as his synthesised voice uttered it slowly. It sounded so much different from Sir and Lord and Darth. 

 

“This here is Lord Roshan. We are his children. Sir Aliss…” Solus realized how Aliss was still on the floor. He slithered over and bent down to offer her a now clean hand to rise. Solus was almost disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to study the blood and brain matter from the battle.

 

“So sorry about that Sir Aliss. Let me help you. And I am Solus, Lady Sirena. Solus the Ascended. And he is Tear..." Once done with Aliss, Solus pointed to his currently unconscious hound. 

 

"If you, Lady Sirena, are not part of the test, then why are you here? Are you a person who uses what Darth Helios calls ‘the wicked flame’? Surely you are some sort of deity, for that energy that crackled from your fingertips was godlike.”  

Edited July 8, 2020 by Solus

[Solus]

Solus listened to his master’s words and more then once was about to pipe up. When Roshan banged on his own chassis, Solus didn’t flinch, but could feel the power behind the cat’s muscles.

 

“Droid?” Solus started. This word felt slightly familiar to him. Like from one of his visions. Which was it? No matter, why was Roshan questioning this person. 

 

“Perhaps she’s…” Solus started, but stopped himself as Roshan continued. Instead he looked at Aliss and then at the strange lady. Roshan did have some points, or at least Solus assumed so. He had no idea how this world worked. If anything, Solus had no idea about himself. He knew he was a being, ascended to this new form. That was enough for him. 

 

But perhaps he should ask more questions. That could be a good idea. After all, if he was to serve his master dutifully and with excellence, he would need knowledge of this world and how to interact with it. And thus, he needed knowledge about himself. He needed to know about his body, his ascension, and his capabilities with ‘the force’. Course, the force or the ‘way of the wicked flame’ was why he was here, but he could also do some digging about himself. And this...Darth Hel. This was a name he would have to investigate. 

 

Still, Roshan was putting himself in a position uncomfortable for Solus. But he had ascended Solus, and thus Solus would keep quiet. And so he waited to hear Lady Sirena’s answer. 

[Solus]

Solus wasn’t too insulted at being referred to as an it. Truth be told, he barely understood gender already. But he was a little insulted that he was being described without being spoken to directly. Still, his master was making talk. 

 

And some of the talk was enlightening. Talk of shards and iron knights. So there were others like him who were ascended. And they fought. Why else would one be struck down by a ‘General Grievous’? 

 

Then Roshan made another comment. 

 

“Plucked from among a pile of useless ones and given new purpose”

 

Solus turned and stared coldly at his master.

 

What others? He wanted to ask this, cold and harsh. Were they his family that had turned him out so long ago? Were they the ones that had cut him off? Where were they? Did Roshan have them with him? Or were they still in that world they had left?  

 

Solus desperately wanted to ask, but did not. He dared not be rude to the two ‘adults’ in the room. Still, he did not break his gaze from his master. And his gaze, artificial but not lifeless, did not betray him and ask these questions either.

 

 He was studying his master again, this time going over all that he carried, analizing all the potential hiding spots. Where could he possibly keep his siblings and parents? Perhaps in a pocket, or a bag back on the ship. Or maybe in his own weapon, like the lady mentioned.  Or maybe Aliss…

 

"So does that mean you can teach us how to use the holy croms and unlock the powers inside like Lord Roshan and Darth Helios have?"

 

Solus turned his sensor back to Aliss and studied her in the same light. Where would she keep such crystals. Did she know Roshan had the crystals? Of course she would, she was there at his ascension. So then why didn’t Roshan tell him that he had been found with others? Where could they be? In her pockets? 

 

No, she wasn’t that important. Or was she? Solus again looked back at Roshan. Where would he keep Solus’ family? His cursed, ignorant, hurtful family? Was she better then him? No, they were equals...weren’t they?

 

Solus had an idea.

 

“Yes great Lady Sirena!” he exclaimed loudly, almost out of the blue. “Surely if you are able to produce energy from your...lovely hands…” As Solus spoke this he lowered himself as if to study Sirena better. His serpentine body coiled more and more, clinking in that dark room, as his right hand extended out in invitation. 

 

“...then you must be great enough to train one of us! Provided you found us worthy, yes? I hope our trial of restraint that evolved into a trial of combat  proved that at least one of us are worthy of apprenticeship? "

 

If he could get Lady Sirena to show approval of Solus over Aliss, then perhaps Roshan would look more kindly on Solus and reveal where he kept the other crystals.  Or even let him carry the crystals. How great it would be to have power over those who had wounded him so. 

[Solus]

As Solus held the lady’s hand in his own hand briefly, he was surprised. He was expecting currents of electricity and waves of power. While there was a small current of energy, no doubt helping power the prosthetic arm and reacting to Sirena’s thoughts, it wasn’t overflowing like he expected. He didn’t get a taste of the surging energy that he witnessed in the battle. Still, he did get a sense of the arm. The inner workings, how each part connected with each other. It wasn’t what he expected, but it interested him. 

 

After the momentary study of the hand and arm, Solus released the hand and bowed slightly. It wasn’t the answer he was hoping for. He was hoping to be praised or singled out for approval. Oh well, Solus would get his chance later to prove his own worth. 

 

Backing up while his master spoke, Solus now fully realized that his own pet was beginning to wake up. Still listening to the conversation, Solus slithered his way to Tear, who growled his usual growl at the robotic being.  Solus growled back in a similar fashion, hoping it could be some kind of greeting. 

 

Tear bared his teeth in response. Solus stopped and thought. He couldn’t do that. So instead he reached forward and flicked one the sith hound’s small, still growing tendril-like extensions from it’s head. The hound flinched but growled again.  

 

“Interesting” Solus muttered. Tear could feel through his head-tendrils? The other hounds on Ishvara had no such tendrils but hardened horns. Maybe they would developed into those? Or maybe they would simply extend and allow Tear to have more perception of his surroundings? Questions for later. 

 

Solus turned back around to face the group, eager to hear Lady Sirena’s decision. He wasn’t eager to wait here either. Perhaps she would take them to a better place where he could impress her more, or where he could tend to Tear’s wounds better. 

[Solus]

“The Valley of the Sith Lords…” Solus whispered, with a slight warble in his voice. He reached up and folded his hands together, making a slight grinding noise as they pressed and slid over each other. The name of the location was ominous to say the least. The foreboding insinuation Solus took from it was obvious. He didn’t even say goodbye to Lady Sirena as she left. 

 

“Well Lord Roshan, it seems we got what we came for here, yes? We wanted a teacher, yes? Now we have not one but potentially two to choose from! Darth Helios, while very, er, would strict be the right word? Whatever the word, his burns are certainly fascinating, and a teacher in pain I suspect he is. What knowledge he might hold! Yes, yes... he has offered to train us. But there is now also Lady Sirena!  How lovely she is. Her prosthetic arm, her feminine looks… Is that the right wording? Anyways, she also has power. That energy...so godlike!”

 

As Solus spoke he did the serpentine form of pacing, slithering back and forth in one spot. His hands kept grinding softly as he did. Tear on the floor growled softly as he laid his head down, knowing that the danger had passed.  

 

“Yes, yes...this is truly good, yes? Having options? And this place!”

 

Solus stopped moving and gestured around himself, indicating more than just the room.

 

“This place is magnificent! Those people out there are suspicious, except that lovely being with the voice….oooh what a voice. I could listen to that voice for a long time...and there is so much available for us! Perhaps there is more information to get from here…”

 

Solus stopped suddenly and turned to face everyone.

 

“But Lord Roshan...who are we to follow? Lady Sirena at the Valley of the Sith Lords? Or Darth Helios tomorrow? Sir Aliss, what do you think?”  
 

[Solus]

Solus flinched at the scolding Aliss received. He wanted to help her, rise to her defense, but he had no words. To defend her actions would’ve meat going against Roshan. So he stayed silent. But a small part of him felt glee. Perhaps Solus was the better child of the two, and thus would receive more praise in the future.

The choice then was laid to Solus. The shard nearly had a panic attack at the thought. Him deciding? Was that truly wise? Was this a test of Roshan’s?

“Well, Lord Roshan…” Solus slithered around Tear, who was gently falling asleep. “...Lady Sirena is certainly a fascinating creature. She seemed to like you or something, with all those sayings...“

Solus recalled how Lady Sirena called his master kitty and offered a belly rub. Was that playful banter or something else?

“But something about Darth Helios strikes me as...fascinating. Maybe its that wound of his, or something else, but I feel like power just emanates from him. Like a being who has seen the wonders of this world of worlds, and maybe destroyed a few. But then again, Lady Sirena demonstrated her power, and Helios does not seem to desire Tear…”

Tear growled at being mentioned, but Solus ignored him. Instead he slithered across the room  rubbing his hands together  as he chatterred to himself, trying to make a decision. 

“Technically, we have made no oaths to Lady Sirena, and thus we are not bound to her. Well, you two aren’t at least… she did, after all, help me with that beast earlier. But all three of us have submitted to Helios.  Oh what a cruel decision! Yes, yes, a difficult one.”

Solus snapped his fingers suddenly and swiveled his body to face the others. 

“Ah ha! Since I am bound to Darth Helios, but also owe Lady Sirena our respect, we must satisfy both of them, yes? And since there are three of us, we can do just that! Lord Roshan, you stated that it will be our duty to kill you, yes? Perhaps a separation will enable Sir Aliss and I to do so later. After all, if we all learn the same, then we all know the same and be killed equally.” 

Solus rubbed his hands again, this time with more energy, like a child believing he had a perfect plan that could not be thwarted. “In order to satisfy my debt to Lady Sirena, I choose that Sir Aliss will meet with Lady Sirena. You two are of both similar build and gender, right? Perhaps this will allow you to learn in ways impossible for me. Yes, yes, that will do. Do you agree Sir Aliss? 

“I, however, must keep my word and follow the dreadsome but curious Darth Helios when he comes in the morning. After all, if I broke my word to him, how easy would it be for me to break my oath to you Lord Roshan? And this way, us children will learn in two different ways and become more powerful. That way, whichever person you choose to learn from Lord Roshan, you will have a child training separately from you and thus learn what you will not. Yes, yes…”

Solus looked at Lord Roshan seeking his approval. He felt like this plan was perfect in more ways than one. If Roshan selected to follow Darth Helios, then he would see Solus progress and give Aliss some breathing space from her ‘father’. If he chose to go with Lady Sirena, which would be disappointing, Solus could then surprise Roshan with how quickly he developed under Helios. 

“But we must rest. I will take the first watch. Yes… and Helios will come for us in the morning, according to his words. And you Sir Aliss will find the Valley of the Sith Lords. Yes yes...but now, rest. That is what we must do.”

The Shard, confident in his decision, slithered next to his hound and gently patted its sleeping body. As the two made themselves comfortable, Solus simply watched the doorway, as well as the pyramidal holocron, wondering if it could be activated again later. 

 

The next morning, Solus booted up slowly. His body stretched, his voicebox whistled in excitement. What a joy to be alive again.  And it would soon be morning. Darth Helios should be here soon.  
 

[Solus]

As the time ticked on by, with each minute, Solus grew more and more nervous. How much time had passed? Minutes? Hours? Days even? Did Solus choose wrong in trusting Darth Helios? Did Helios abandon them?

 

“Oh what torture for us!” Solus suddenly exclaimed loudly, making Tear jerk up in surprise. “We must have displeased Darth Helios by not heeding his words, and as such he refuses to teach us any more! Such sadness for us, for all he showed us was this place.”

 

For a few moments Solus began to wallow in despair, coiling again near the hound and sinking to the floor. But as quickly as he started to cry, it changed to laughter.

 

“Ah ha ha! No no no, that’s not bad, that is good! For if he does not hold his deal up, then I am not bound to my oath to him! Yes!” Solus body shot upwards, pumping its arms once in triumph. 

 

“Yes yes! This is good, is it not? Oh how i will miss the chance to study under his wisdom, but Lady Sirena has offered her help, has she not? Yes, this will work. Oh. Oh! I am sorry Master Roshan, Sir Aliss, for not being able to go with my original plan, but it seems we are bound together longer now. Come! Let us find the Valley of the Sith Lords! Haha!”

 

With that, Solus began to lead the way. Out of the room, up the set of stairs, the shard led the group, carrying Tear over his shoulders again. He dared not leave him alone. Once at the shrine above, Solus stopped and glanced around, as if someone else might have been there. Comforted that no one was, Solus led the way further outside, into the alleys and into the streets. 

 

“Oh what a glorious day. Our first day to acquire power! Haha!” Solus boasted as he slithered forward, not aware if Aliss and Roshan were close behind. He was just eager to find the Valley fo the Sith Lords. 

 

Solus only paused once when he reached the marketplace. People were there again, though less so. It was still early morning, and everyone had their places to be besides the market. Still, the musicians were there, each playing their own song to drown out the noises of travel. The notes were long and droning. Each musician dragged his music out as long as possible, indicating the time of day.

 

Solus stopped when he heard the sounds. The music of a nearby bug-eyed rodian, while not beautiful, still caught his attention all the same. The snake-like tail of his began to shiver and coil randomly, and his upper torso began to sway. Solus was enjoying himself, unaware of how many people were looking at him and his precious pet on his shoulders.

 

“Ah...such...majesty. Hmmm...Lord Roshan...Sir Aliss, it just occurred to me, how are we to find the Valley of the Sith Lords? Truth be told, I was just following the path we took yesterday under the guidance of Helios, but now...I'm unsure where to go"
 

[Solus]

As the group traveled across the landscape, Solus relished the sights and sounds around him. However, what truly fascinated him was the feeling. The feeling of something great. Powerful. Similar to the feeling that Solus had when the group first landed on the planet, only more powerful. It was like a churning feeling of water and mud. And they were going towards the center of the source. 

 

Tear suddenly jerked up and growled. Solus glanced at his hound, expecting a threatening pose or something similar. But was surprised to see that Tear wasn’t bearing his teeth. Instead he was leaning forward as much as possible, and sniffing heavily. Solus understood instantly. He was familiar with this place. Not in a personal sense, but in an instinctual sense. Solus didn’t know Tear’s history, but he guessed that the hound’s own familial history began here, long ago. 

 

“Heh, good Tear. Perhaps your wounds will heal faster here…” Solus reached up and attempted to stroke Tear’s neck. The hound instead snapped at the finger. Solus flicked Tear’s nose and continued slithering with the group. 

 

At the hut, Solus looked at Lady Sirena intently, studying her form. Once inside, Solus laid Tear down and coiled around him. 

 

"Tell me...What is your greatest passion, your greatest sin?" 

 

The question perplexed Solus. Greatest passion? His greatest sin? 

 

“I...I do not know. I have not yet committed any sins. I do not know my passions except to serve Lord Roshan.” 

 

Solus looked at Roshan, expecting an answer from him that might illuminate his own answer. 
 

[Solus]

Solus relaxed his body slightly when he didn’t receive a rebuking for not knowing his own sin. He didn’t realize he had become tense even. He had spent some of his energy just worrying what his master and what Lady Sirena thought of him. 

When Lady Sirena mentioned lust being her greatest sin, Solus nodded instinctually. It wasn’t that he was agreeing with her, but that he was acknowledging her statement. Course, it did make sense. While Solus had very little to go on what was attractive to people and what wasn’t, her power and her arm did seem appealing. Course, so did Darth Helios’ burn marks.
    
 "You're to mark yourselves and lay down, you especially Solus as you have to mark the Shard within your true form.”

 

Solus shivered at the thought. His own shard? That was his brain. His soul. He was to expose it and rub this strange substance on it? 

    “Yes, Lady Sirena…” Solus said nervously, a warble in his synthesized voice. With ease, Solus sent a command through his body. His chest plating, and the small gears beneath it, whirred and spun slowly. Vertically down the center, a line formed where the plates met and began to open up. With the claw marks that Tear had left on Solus and the glinting of the light, it looked like two deathly hands opening up to reveal some terrible treasure. 

A small red glow came from inside the mess of wires and gears. Some of the inner workings moved so that way there was a clear view of the Shard inside. White beams of light danced wildly within the crystal, slamming into the wires that connected the shard to the robot chassis. When the plates stopped moving, the lights slowed down and danced slower and more gracefully.

For the first time in his life, Solus felt embarrassed. This was the first time he had consciously showed someone his Shard self.  While he didn’t doubt that Lord Roshan had seen it during his ascension, Solus couldn’t be sure if Sir Aliss had, and Lady Sirena certainly had no way of seeing this before. But here he was, exposing his mind, his soul, and in all practical terms, his reproductive organ to everyone. It seemed so small, compared to the chassis it inhabited. The words Lord Roshan spoke about Solus didn’t ease the Shard’s embarrassment. He right now just wished that everyone would not pay attention to him.  But he also wanted to make Roshan and Lady Sirena proud.

“Hopefully, er, the size doesn’t matter much?” Solus asked, not knowing what else to say. As he spoke the lines inside danced a bit more energetically. If one took enough time and had good enough eyesight, they could probably identify when certain movements of the lines indicated. 

As the others spoke, Solus reached and took up a glob of goop. Feeling it in his fingers and letting it dribble slowly down his hand, Solus enjoyed the texture it gave off.  The thought that it was made from something that came out of the blood of a dead beast made him doubly interested. And Roshan calling it a potion? Even more so. 

Solus offered the glob to Tear, who sniffed and sneezed and turned away. Solus shrugged and, silently, trying to avoid the attention of Lady Sirena and Roshan, reached into his own chest and gently smeared some of the goop over his crystal. Where the stuff touched was where the lines inside the shard suddenly concentrated on. Split between motor functions and trying to touch whatever this stuff was, the lines frantically jumped back and forth like madmen. 

Solus coiled himself again and leaned against a wall and waited, watching the others, and looking away when they glanced at him. 

[Solus]

On the ground Solus coiled. His body rested backwards against the makeshift hut, preparing himself for whatever was coming.  Lady Sirena’s words cured his embarrassment slightly , but only that.  

So Solus waited. While he could not ‘feel’ the goop laying against his shard core, he could feel something beginning to happen. To the observing eye, they could tell an effect was slowly occurring as well. Specks of black seemed to penetrate the crystalline thing, as if it was no more then water. The white lines of electricity dancing inside seemed to avoid the specks, seemingly knowing there was something wrong with it.

Solus felt a rise of energy somewhere. Even as his lines sought to not touch the specks, they dashed closer and closer to the specks, almost kissing them. The goop seeped in more and more. At first the specks were few and far in between, but now they were floating inside the solid object in larger amounts.  Floating like ash in water, but in a very solid crystal. 

Solus’ body jerked once. A line of energy touched a speck. Solus’ neck twitched and glanced to the left then right. A slowly rising fear was settling in. Solus raised an arm and looked at his hand. It was shaking. No, was it shaking? Or was his sensor? Or perhaps the entire world was beginning to shake? Was there a sound? A sound of beating drums and plucking strings?  

Solus looked down at Tear next to him and tried to activate his voice box. But static silently emerged like a shushed cry that only the shard could hear. Desperate and frightened, Solus tried again. The silent static was louder, deafeningly quiet. Tear’s body seemed to tense, sensing the approach of something. Something wicked. Slowly, like a shadow of an echo, the hound turned its head and faced its master. 

Solus wanted to flinch back and jump away. Tear was different. Before his eyes glowed with red fire atop a bony skull with black hair growing below its snout and behind its horns. But where there were supposed to be eyes was instead empty space. An endless void of darkness with dying stars slowly flickering in and out of existence. As Solus watched the stars, Tear bared his teeth revealing vile disgusting green worm-like tendrils. Each tendril screamed with the sound of hollow flutes, in perfect and pure agony. In an endless wave they crawled out and over Tear’s horns and hair, piercing his body and slipping underneath his dry hide and bursting out someplace else. 

Solus tried to move. He commanded his body to leap away to a safe distance.. To uncoil and launch himself out of the hutt. But his tail refused to listen. His chest failed to close itself, hissing in defiance. His metal hands fell uselessly into his lap. Solus wanted to scream in terror at the loss of his body. All Solus could do was turn his neck and head. To the others it would appear there was nothing wrong with him. But those who were attuned could sense the fear rising up inside. And more importantly, curiosity. 

Yes...curiosity. There was a curiosity in Solus. More then the fear that threatened to consume him, there was a powerful curiosity. To dive deeper. To drive this madness forward and to take him to its destination. 

Solus looked at Lady Sirena. Her lovely gaze had become different. There was a hunger there. No, not hunger. Her smooth skin had become energetic. Her arm had become a solid energy of flickering and crackling blue energy, which dashed up her smooth skin to her eyes, and then raced back down again, skipping along the skin to her prosthetic fingertips. With each jump of electricity, her skin pulsed softly and became smoother, until it was nothing more then a blank canvas with flashes of blue painting something fascinating. Her shape was there, but it was nothing more than lines of blue on milky white. 

Solus looked at Roshan and Sir Aliss. The air between them began to swirl slightly in Solus’ eye. The dust below them was trying to seperate the two, but forces unseen were pushing them together. Completely still they were, but being effortlessly shoved together. Solus almost wanted to warn the two. Warn them of their collision. But he was too late. As the two bodies touched, an explosion of red and purple light occurred between the two of them.  Solus watched, and as the light faded away, where there were two creatures was instead one. An amalgam of flesh and fur, of blood and skin. Vile black organs loosely rolled out of bulbous sores. Yellow puss oozed from cuts that formed and disappeared randomly. And the mouths...when the lips of Roshan and Aliss moved, there were screams and moans of pleasurable pain.

All three of these monsters before Solus amazed and terrified him. Was this the Dark Side? Was this the Force?

Something began to rise from the ground beneath Lady Sirena. Solus could see something desperate emerged themselves out of the dirt below. Ethereal hands mixed with dust and ash emerged, humanoid in shape, but with no mass nor weight. Ghosts of an ancient eon, long forgotten. The figures rose, made of swirling mists and churning orange sand, eager to escape the hell they were bound to. Before they could fly away though, crimson chains, somehow bleeding and dripping, formed on their wrists and legs, and bound them to the ground. Unable to flee their horrid fate, the spirits' mouths of red magma spurned out hot thick smoke with a moan, consuming the makeshift hutt in a fog. The walls disappeared. The ground disappeared. The spirits hid in the fog, their chains barely visible. Only the creatures that had mutated before his sensor could Solus see.

“Spirits...sacrifices long forgotten?” Solus guessed silently.

Then the final figure rose. A cloaked shadow, no more substance then those of the spirits, but infinitely more powerful. The air around it quaked and trembled. Its hands, if the tendrils of mutated, oily flesh could be called that, emerged from the shadows of itself and rested them on Tear’s worm-covered body, clutching tightly at something ethereal, readying to drag the beast away into the fog. 

“Mine…” Solus growled. He didn’t know where this came from. The sound came not from his voicebox, but it felt so audible to him. It rippled through the air to the floating being, and pushed it back ever so slightly. 

This shade, stunned momentarily by Solus’ word, looked at the shard. While he could see no eyes, Solus felt its gaze. It called to him. It felt familiar to him, and yet as foriegn as a tree to a rock. Like the presence of a long forgotten relative, but one who bore no bloodline. 

 

“N'ghftdrnn mgepog ph'nglui c' ah'legeth… 
mg uh'enahh ymg' ah, l' mgepuaaah ah'mglw'nafh”

 

With each syllable that came from the shade, it shuddered and echoed randomly through the air. Solus could see the sound approach him, in ripples. Some of them slowed down and danced, while others would speed up. As each word touched Solus’ crystalline shard, he instinctively understood them.

 

Monsters deep inside all lie
And slave you are, made to die

 

The shade moved on, and began to rest its hands on Lady Sirena. The blue energy that made up her figure suddenly began to jump to the shade, her life being sucked away.

 

“Mine!” Solus shouted as loud as a whisper could be. The shade stopped again, raised a tendril to block the words from striking it,  and then turned its gaze back on the shard.

 

“Sin ymg' ah, l' ahuaaah ngnah mgr'luh... ah'n'ghaor, uaaahnythor, hnah mgephaiagl”

 

Sin is yours, to use and behold
Weapon, tool, child of old. 

 

Again the shade moved on, gently caressing the form of the monster that was Lord Roshan and Sir Aliss. Solus could see the chains that had bound the other spirits rise up from the ground. Their intention was clear. To bind Lord Roshan and Sir Aliss.

“They are also Mine! They are all mine!!!” Solus shouted. “They are my family and they are mine!” 

    Solus words, rimmed with power from the envy and fear Solus had of loosing his loved ones, shot forward and shoved the shade away. The chains dropped to the ground and sunk into the sand. The shade turned its gaze again, like an angry parent studying its child.

 

“Cahff hnahh, ymg' l' ahuaaah? Nafl l', nafl l'.  Ymg' zhro r’se.“

 

These things hmm? Yours to use? 

Not so, not so. End that Ruse.

 

Finally the shade moved towards Solus. Solus felt sick. He felt vile and putrid. The energy in him was sluggish and slow, with no hope of speeding back up. His shard felt heavy. The goop inside was mixing in deeply now, connecting Solus completely with the dark side of the planet around him. A pounding of stops echoed somewhere. The screaming of winds. The buzzing of insects. The sucking of leeches. The growling of monsters.

 

"Yog luln c' n'ghftdrnn, loeoe f' na'ah'ehye. Ng ph'nglui yar lw'nafhnah uh'enah, ymg''ll gralhn friggm’fy"
 
The shade floated in front of Solus and began to wrap its tendril hands around Solus’ head. Solus felt himself being lifted up, being drawn into the essence of this thing. It was pulling him. Pulling him into itself, to reveal something.

 

Draw out our monsters, loose them free.
And in time young slave, you'll have family

A world of lights and colors impossible flooded Solus’ senses. Ultraviolet, infrared, gamma and many more flashed before him in a panorama of impossible geometry. A dizzying world of worlds merging and collapsing in on itself, only to expand again and again. The world was becoming one and touching all. The force was everywhere. All things connected to the Force. And the Force connected all things to each other. 

Inside Solus’ chassis, the shard turned black. The lines inside made their perfect circle like he had done before when he screamed into the void, and again when he screamed into the force momentarily with Sir Aliss on the surface. 

 

“Wgah'n force, little ehye. l’ke gnaiih ai, ya lyett’le gnaiigof'n.  Prrvt Force, ng ahhai cahf. friggm’fy ymg' ah, oh gof'n ot ehyenah”

 

Control the Force, stupid one...like father says, my little son.
Pervert the Force, and when that done...family be yours, oh child of none.

 

    The world of impossible colors suddenly collapsed in on itself. Blackness overtook Solus’ mind and spirit. He tried to stop it, but it was like stopping the ocean with a breeze. Solus’ sensor went dead. His body fell over forwards, lifelessly.

 

A few moments later, Solus began to power back on. How much time had passed since he fainted? How many days, or was it just minutes?  What about the vision? It felt like it had been both years but also nanoseconds. 

 

Solus, now fully recovered of his body, flickered on his sensor and made a groaning sound. He had no words for what had just happened. That vision was not like anything he had ever experienced. He had had visions before his ascension, which led to his separation from his family, but they were nothing like that. His visions before were of times and places he had no business of knowing. This...it was like a deathly visitor from the past invade his very soul. Perhaps Sir Aliss’ comments about Force Ghosts had weight after all. Or maybe it was just an elaborate illusion.  

But Solus could still hold the feeling that the shade brought Solus. A feeling of fear of losing Tear, Lady Sirena, Sir Aliss, and Lord Roshan. A fear that someone, or something, would take them away from him. A jealous, envious feeling, as well as a desire to make those who would leave him forever bound to him

Solus looked at the others, his body now free to move. He slowly forced his chest plate to fold back in on itself, staying quiet the entire time. 
 

[Solus]

Solus looked at the other, pondering what experiences they had. Did they feel something like he felt? Did they have macabre visions of dead things rising from the ground? Did they witness each other change horribly into strange and deadly monstrosities? 

In the depths of the darkness, did you find your sin? Your hunger? Your purpose? Did you hear the call and heed its answer? Did your past define your future? Tell me what your experiences were and how it guided you to its inevitable conclusion."

Solus looked up at Sirena, both relieved and disappointed at how her form was now. While she still carried a fascinating beauty to her, what he saw in his vision far surpassed this current form.  But then again, so was Roshan and Aliss' forms as well. They merged together into something so terrible and unique, that Solus wondered if such a thing was possible to accomplish. 

“Ah, Lady Sirena, what I saw….what i felt…” Solus struggled for the right words. Where to start? The conclusion or the beginning? The images or the thoughts? The words or the actions?

“...desire. Yes, yes….no! It is envy! Yes, we discovered our sin. Heheh, yes, our sin must be envy. A perverted form of desire, yes? Ah, perversion. That is what I saw. What I experienced. Such is the way how the Force should be, correct Lord Roshan? No, you said the Force is unbridled here. Undiluted. That must have been those final images I witnessed! Yes…”

As the Shard spoke, his words became more and more lost in thought. Sure as ever, the being began to ramble, unable to contain himself and what he witnessed. Still, he was surprisingly still during this speech, only moving his left hand to reach and pet his observing hound. A brief memory of the tendrils piercing the hound’s hide made Solus want to never let go.  

“I saw the power of the Force. I saw the monsters that you are. The beautiful and magnificent monsters you are.  Ah Roshan, you and Aliss are truly magnificent. Your horridness and fearsomeness is magnificent together! And Lady Sirena, the power in you...the power…”

 

I want that was what Solus was about to say, but stopped himself. 

“And the spirits! The dead! Aliss, there are ghosts! The damned, long dead, envy us, the free and living! Only the powerful control others. Yes... the powerful, like that shade. He wanted you, but I wanted you more. My power was enough to make him stop!

“But I learned as well. The dead spoke to me. At least, I think that thing was dead. It wasn’t chained but it wasn’t alive either. It spoke of perversion, of drawing out monsters, and of control.” 

Solus looked down at Tear, who for once didn’t growl at Solus’ gaze. Perhaps, because they were already close together physically and because of the hound’s unique connection to the dark side, it had bonded closer to its master.  

“Yes...control. That is what we do with the Force, yes? Harness it's chaotic and wild power as our own? I believe i saw the Force, in its unbridled form. It was...it was…” Solus sighed and slumped slightly. How could he explain such a phenomenon?

“An impossible spiderweb of sounds and shapes. A connection of madness and control. By my shard, it was...beautiful. And frightening. But so...so beautiful. Unlike anything...”

Solus’ words had become slow and low, with a touch of longing. It was clear that what he saw affected his being in ways that he didn’t fully understand. He looked down at the bubbling goo in the center of the hutt and began to reach forward for another glop.

 "Will we be using this more often, in our quest to control the Force for our own uses? Is this how we connect with the Force? But then  again, how do you three do it without this stuff?”
 

[Solus]

Solus flinched under Roshan’s criticism and backed away from the central pot instantly. Despite being such a large being, Solus couldn’t help but flinch under the most simplest of words. Surely he would need to work on that? 

 

Listening to Sirena’s words made Solus happy again, especially at the thought of touching the darkness within him. Solus looked down and realized his shard was still  exposed. With a few motions of his hands, Solus carefully closed up his own chassis and felt the outer layers seal themselves once again. 

 

Aliss’ rantings caught the Shard’s attention again. There was a fear coursing throughout her body. Not that Solus could see such an emotion. But he could see the heavy breathing, the beads of sweat, and the wide eyes. Instinctively, Solus knew this was fear. 

 

“Perhaps her sin is not revenge and passion…” Solus thought out loud, “but rather fear? Yes, fear I suspect is a deadly path, no? Course, I have experienced no such thing like you, Sir Aliss. Sir Aliss?”

 

Solus leaned forward to look at his fellow child, studying her reactions. So fascinating. It was a pity he didn’t feel those reactions right now. Why did she get to experience such a consuming emotion of fear?

 

Oh well, best not interrupt Lady Sirena and Lord Roshan Solus mused to himself.