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Spite Station- the Maw


Jidai Geki

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It was with abject confusion that Rez initially viewed the odd display. The twi’lek simply fell to the floor as though struck over the head, and given his sheer lack of understanding of Sith ways, he could only begin to guess why. Perhaps she’d been struck by some unseen force, or some mystic had placed a curse on the immediate area. Maybe Furion was setting them up for some kind of test of mental strength. The poor acolyte was without any real answers.

 

He placed a hand upon Lallu’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, squeezing her skin gently at first, though there was something stirring beneath the surface. Just as quickly as he had rushed to her aid, he drew his hand back, looking at his bare palm as though it had just rested atop a hot stove. Though instead of burned flesh he saw only his normal tanned skin.

 

“Lallu… are you going to be…” he started to ask, though what had initially started as a mere pulse of power beneath the skin had begun to radiate from the woman’s body.

 

“…I’ll just… be over here then….” On careful, measured steps he backed away, hands held up defensively as though to block out churning torrent of force that was building within the room. It was like nothing he had felt before, a palpable energy that grew only more and more potent with each passing second of the Twi’lek’s trance.

 

Not even in his earlier encounters with Furion, the times before the man had become his master, had he been able to sense such disturbances. But now, now he felt them all about himself, anomalies in space and time that each apparent force user seemed to emit. It was as though the air about each such individual moved and danced as though over an open flame. Now Lallu was no different. Well… she was writhing about the floor in a state of panic. THAT was different.

 

Having grabbed Raia by the collar of her shirt, he drug her back a few feet into the safety of the corridor. He knew not how dangerous such emotional rampages could be, but he was also unwilling to find out.

 

Men and women swarmed to the Twi’lek, grabbing and gripping at her, trying to hoist her from the floor much as he himself had done. But to no avail, she was committed to her pain, committed to whatever it was that plagued her so.

 

The Firrerreo watched on, chewing his lower lip in thought as he waited for the episode to pass. And pass it did. With time, the power began to wane and the acolytes and other such students began to back off. It seemed as though they would survive the day’s events after all.

 

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

 

 

“That was really something.”

 

“Yes. Yes it was.” Vaegir commented, still looking at her as though she could burst into flames without so much as a moment’s notice.

 

“Apparently I have heard that code before. I don’t really know how easy it would be to explain, because I am not a master of the Sith and nor do I know exactly what the code preaches. However, I would guess that it means something for each individual. These words: Passion, Power, Victory, Strength, and Freedom. They resonate within all of us, but each of us has different definitions for them.”

 

“Well, you would likely know better than I. All I remember is a few early training sessions about getting angry and moving objects with your mind. I tried a few times on Dagobah, but… nothing happened. No matter how much I yelled and screamed at inanimate objects, they didn’t seem to budge. I think I saw a branch wiggle once, though it could have just been the wind…”

 

He paused, realizing he was rambling.

 

“Well, the point I was getting to is that they’re all very central to Sith teachings. Passion… anger… emotion… such things grant us the power to move stuff… and through moving stuff I gain victory…”

The young man nodded, feeling rather sage-like at the moment. Paraphrasing at its best.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The palm of Lallu’s hand reached her forehead almost instinctively and she rolled her eyes at Rez’s attempt at humor. He clearly didn’t see what this meant or the idea he had wasn’t significant enough for him yet. “You seem to have something against moving rocks.” Lallu said with a small grimace at her own attempt to rebuke Rez’s humor.

 

“The important part here is that this code doesn’t seem like it is an overarching code. I mean, in a way, I could see that every Sith follows it in the end, but each path is different. Just because my brain virtually exploded with painful memories and these words mean something specific for me, doesn’t mean that if you don’t have the same reaction that you won’t or don’t have similar feelings. Haven’t you ever wanted to be free from something? What things do you struggle with?” Lallu asked, looking at Rez with a less incriminating look than she wore before, but before he could answer a small beep emitted from a small satchel at her side.

 

Lallu held up one of the fingers on her right hand to Rez and quickly retrieved a small metal comm device. She thumbed a small button near to the microphone of the device and Furion’s voice came out in a warm and familiar air that Lallu felt even without trying. She wasn’t overwhelmed though, which struck her as odd.

 

The message was short. It simply said: "Go to Harrun Kal and find the tribe of my mother. Trust in the Force and what I have given you to do the rest. Afterward, go to the Ball being held elsewhere planetside. I already have an invitation, so having you as forward guests should not come to them as surprising. Gather intel until I arrive. Do not fail me. - J.F."

 

Lallu was a little curious about their adventure, but knowing Furion the answer to this quest would be veiled and yet obvious when given thought and understanding. However the word ball meant dancing and dancing meant fun. Lallu's interests were immediately perked upon the utterance of that word and she couldn't take her eyes off the message. 'I will need another dress' she thought to her self.

 

“I know what you’re going to say.” Lallu said with a playful but mischievous smile. “We just got here, why are we leaving?” Lallu indicated in a small mock impression of Rez’s voice.

 

“You have a choice.” She continued, her voice returning to normal, “You can either come with me or you can stay here in boredom, nestled within a league of black holes.”

 

She didn’t even give the question a few minutes to rest before she started jogging back toward her bunk for the rest of her things.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

“You seem to have something against moving rocks.”

 

"Don't get me wrong, I understood the lesson behind it when I had time to think. But... well... it's a bit of a story, really." He stated in response, not entirely wishing to tell the tale of his re-emergence into conscious reality. As far as he knew, his species may still be on the Galaxy's Most Wanted list, so best to keep things on the down low.

 

“The important part here is that this code doesn’t seem like it is an overarching code. I mean, in a way, I could see that every Sith follows it in the end, but each path is different. Just because my brain virtually exploded with painful memories and these words mean something specific for me, doesn’t mean that if you don’t have the same reaction that you won’t or don’t have similar feelings. Haven’t you ever wanted to be free from something? What things do you struggle with?”

 

"Well, when the time comes that I get a strong reaction to the code, I'd prefer my brain staying in one piece. But, I get it. I'd need time to mull it over. Time to actually give it some thought." Thought wasn't all that necessary, truly. The back of his mind was filled with painful memories, most of them relatively recent. The casual observer might look at him and notice nothing out of the ordinary, just a smug looking young man who likely needed a good punch to the face. But truly, beyond his at times jaunty exterior there laid a confused, scared, bitter, and angry soul just biding its time 'til it could finally lash out. But, such feelings were buried deep, hidden within his subconscious, leaving him a numb shell of himself.

 

Inner reflection would have to wait, however, as the message from Furion played out rather plainly from the small speakers on the com device.

 

Despite Lallu's expectations, Vaegir actually looked interested. At the very least they were headed somewhere with an atmosphere. Somewhere with power and electricity. A combination of those two things were greatly appreciated by the young Firrerreo.

 

"We did just get here, yes. But, I'm ready for a field trip. Fresh air, all the comforts of home. Spend a year or so on Dagobah and you'll understand just what a difference running water can be." Came the quip of a response before he too was moving rather hurriedly. Granted, he owned next to nothing, and everything he needed was already on his person. But, it seemed an appropriate enough time for running. Everyone else was doing it, right?

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Lallu could barely hear Rez as he talked over her shoulder. She was busying herself with a series of transactions that she was making over the holonet and having them delivered to a drop box that she'd have access to once they reached Haruun Kal. They didn't seem to know where she was or they would deliver to her there. Something about being surrounded by blackholes seemed to mess with the signal strength and the positioning. Go figure.

 

Her eyes sparkled with interest at the hues of crimson that her dress would portray upon the floor of the ballroom. She was licking every delicious image of her graceful artistry as she glided about the floor on the balls of her callused feet. It would be marvelous, but that wasn't the only thing she needed to do. Lallu broke from her enthusiastic haze once she reached her footlocker and quickly released the clasps that were still loose. She grabbed the knives that were nestled inside and ushered over an Acolyte with an offhanded gesture.

 

"I need you to get these items. And this one right here," Lallu said, pointing at long elbow length gloves with fingerprint scanners, "I would like those in a deep blood red, if you would, thank you. Just deliver them to the shuttle in Hangar 003 and we should be ready to go."

 

Lallu nodded her head gently to signal the Acolyte that it was okay to leave and without a signal vote of recognition, the dark wraith melted from her side and flew with haste down the cold corridor. Just as he left Rez came up the hall behind her. She could already hear the loud clacking sounds of his feet against the stone and the sharp inhalations that he made between each phrase. Each clause was thinly weighted in his mouth before he said them, but each word came directly after the other with some speed and sometimes it was a little difficult to follow him.

 

"We did just get here, yes. But, I'm ready for a field trip. Fresh air, all the comforts of home. Spend a year or so on Dagobah and you'll understand just what a difference running water can be."

 

"I'll bet." Lallu said with half a smile, knowing all to well what a living hell captivity could be. No food, no water, no humanity. The cold shiver of doubt creeping up your back and not abating no matter how much you may want it. But every moment taught Lallu something. Every moment of desperation taught her to rely on other things and it took her a while to figure out exactly what the struggle in her life meant to her as a person. "Anyway. C'mon Rez," Lallu said beckoning to the Firrerreo with her right hand and jogging down a nearby corridor. "We're heading off in a shuttle docked in shuttle bay 003. We are going to visit the tribe first, and then we'll take a small detour, get cleaned up and make an appearance at the ball. I don't know exactly what Furion wants with our presence there, but given that he gave us both retinal scanning contact lenses and finger print scanning contact sensors in our gloves, I assume he wants us to get to know the guests."

 

Lallu had no knowledge of exactly where the data would go and she wasn't really up to asking questions. She wasn't a blind servant, not anymore, but anything that Furion tended to do had an air of logic and intelligence about it, so she had faith in his motivations, even if she didn't quite always understand them.

 

Her head was buried somewhat in thought as she continued navigating seamlessly through the winding halls as if some foreign hand was guiding her by a loose string.

 

 

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Vaegir kept the pace with Lallu rather easily, his footfalls swift and honed from years of running and sprinting in the wilds. He kept at her heels, letting her lead the way back to her locker. Every passing corridor and hall was committed to memory, and with no time he had a working mental map of the station. Not all of it, but at least from the library to the dormitories and back again. Such information would prove useful with time, he knew. That, and it never hurt to know where your friends rested their head-tails.

 

Somewhere along the way, though, the twi seemed to pull ahead with enough speed to not only reach their destination but also set about ordering an acolyte around. Something about gloves and fingerprint scanners and the like. This situation was growing more and more curious by the minute, all this tech, all the lack of details. It had Vaegir curious to say the least.

 

"Anyway. C'mon Rez”

 

His eyes grew dangerously narrow if for only a moment. That name was not one he shared with anyone. His true name, his birth name, the one that held any real significance to him. Having it used by someone who had yet to earn it fully was enough to spark a sudden flash of anger. Though, knowing the Sith ways, at least having an idea of them, he’d do his best to cover up such reactions in the future. He’d not want someone using his protectiveness of his name against him.

 

“Vaegir, you mean.” He corrected rather swiftly, keeping himself calm.

 

"We're heading off in a shuttle docked in shuttle bay 003. We are going to visit the tribe first, and then we'll take a small detour, get cleaned up and make an appearance at the ball. I don't know exactly what Furion wants with our presence there, but given that he gave us both retinal scanning contact lenses and finger print scanning contact sensors in our gloves, I assume he wants us to get to know the guests."

“This field trip is getting more interesting with every second. Furion really has a lot of faith in us, it seems.”

 

Granted, Vaegir did not truly mean that. Furion likely saw them as expendable, and his ‘faith’ was placed more in his ability to replace the both of them rather than trusting in their capabilities to pull off such a mission. But, Furion himself had said that he would not place them in situations that he knew they had no chance in. So maybe he did have a measure of trust in their abilities, and trust in their unworthiness should they fail.

The trip to the shuttle bay was short enough. The pair made their way into the large, open space. The room was vastly different from their previous surroundings. It was large, spanning many, many meters in either direction. Of course, it had to be, given the size of what it housed, but having gone from tight-spaced corridors to a wide, open hangar was a rather abrupt adjustment to make.

 

“How far a ride is it to this Harrun Kal, anyway?” It seemed fitting to ask. The purple and gold hues of the Firrerreo's eyes traversed the outside of their shuttle, marveling at its design. He had only ever traveled hyperspace a few times, the majority of which having happened since his release. Space itself was still all too new to him.

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  • 1 month later...

In a long messenger capsule, power suddenly failed. If anyone were to by chance investigate exactly why, there would be no known cause or explanation. But the stasis field inside the pod failed, that was the important part. Slowly, the young man within the cramped pod began to awaken.

 

Nearly a half hour later, a series of loud thuds echoed through the cargo bay where the pod was being held. It might not have been loud enough for anyone outside to hear, but for anyone in or entering the cargo bay, the noise would be readily apparent.

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Time had passed in bursts for the newly-christened Darth Eris. She had kept herself busy, although hadn't left the station very often. She saw little of Nishant, and only really had contact with other Sith in passing. It gave her a lot of time to think, and she didn't mind being alone.

 

She had spent so much of her time convincing herself that this was all that life had to offer, but she still felt empty. She didn't know what to fill her life with now. She had no interest in taking an apprentice of her own. She still felt that despite her rank and experience, she knew little about the nature of the Force. Most of her fellow Sith, however, simply laughed at her if she expressed those feelings, for the pursuit of knowledge was more a trait of the Jedi than of the Sith.

 

Nevertheless, she couldn't help but hear her parents' wisdom echo in her mind. They had encouraged her strongly to study the Force as a whole. She had tried. There was no denying that. But she hadn't fully succeeded, and that bothered her. Emily Skywalker was not one to quit.

 

So when she heard the news on the Holonet about a dojo on Mechis III that would train about the Force as a whole, she knew she had to investigate. She had nothing to take with her but a few changes of clothes and her lightsabers, along with some food for Roe'gall. She had been working with the monstrous tuk'ata a lot, and the beast was now both companion and partner.

 

So it was that the pair of them made their way to the hanger, where the Shadow's Shine had waited, ready to go on an adventure. Before long, they were aboard and navigating their way out of the Maw and into hyperspace.

Emily%202015_zps34rpkjob.jpg

 

"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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  • 3 years later...

It took her a moment to register what was different amongst the backdrop of black holes the Maw as she surveyed it during what had become her morning "meditation" of sorts since she'd been abandoned by the Dark Lord Furion well over two years prior. Her grey eyes focused at a point in the distance that appeared to steadily grow larger as it approached the station.

 

She rose from the plush sofa that adorned the common living area of Furion's long abandoned quarters and approached the transperasteel barrier that stood between her and the abyss without. It was hard to make out the approaching vessel amongst the blackness of space, but she could feel it out there. Instincts she’d long thought had abandoned her told her whoever or whatever was approaching was in pain - a Healer’s instinct.

 

As the ship neared and made it’s final approach to the station she abandoned her meditation and began hiding any signs of her residency within the Dark Lord’s quarters. If another Sith was on board that ship, she had no doubt they might come poking about the Master’s chambers if they could somehow work their way in. She had little desire to cross paths with another Magic user until she’d had a chance to assess the situation herself.

 

Picking through what fit her from Rose’s closet, she chose a simple, black body suit that would help her hide in the shadows better. When Master Furion had named her as one of his personal apprentices, he’d wanted to keep her close. Assigning her rooms within his own had meant she had direct access to his quarters, something none of the currently residing acolytes had been granted. As the others had abandoned the station, she’d retreated to the only place she had some measure of certainty she’d be safe within. There were few places to hide for any length of time, even on a station of this size.

 

Qaela’s warning of what she’d suffered at the hands of an acolyte the young Dathomiri had taken to heart, especially after witnessing such an event herself as she was exploring what had been some of Furion’s secret ways of moving about the station. She didn’t think that she’d been given full access, but he hadn’t cut her off completely to the station’s resources. Instead, she’d used her access to her advantage to move about the station relatively undetected. Her Basic might not be that great, but she could catch enough amongst the over-heard conversations to catch the rumors of a ghost haunting the Master’s rooms.

 

Carefully, she located the panel that granted her access to the labyrinth that connected much of the station and slipped inside determined to assess this newcomer and what chaos they might bring to the station.

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The Shadow's Shine made its way through the Maw towards Spite Station. As worried as Emily was about Roe'gall, she was needed in the cockpit for the approach. The black holes had drifted in the years since she had been here, and she was having to use the Force to find her way through the cluster without getting sucked in. But soon enough, the shiny black ship entered the stable zone in the center of the Maw, where lay Spite Station. She sent out her access codes, and to her surprise, they worked. Clearly the station had been fully abandoned after Furion's time, and no one had bothered keeping its defenses up to date. Satisfied that she'd have no problems, she brought the ship into a hanger and settled it down on its struts.

 

She then hurried back to Roe'gall. He was almost unconscious. She loaded him with some effort onto a stretcher and headed down the ramp, taking a moment to assemble her "Sith face". One acolyte had come out to greet her. "You there!" she said urgently. "I need a fully equipped labratory. Where is the nearest one?"

 

The Twi'lek gave her directions, and she nodded tersely before heading off. As she hurried, she sensed very few presences aboard, and none that had the mental presence of one who had been trained. It was just as well; although she wouldn't have minded the help of a Sith Master, she was just as pleased to not have to worry about other Sith interfering. Roe'gall was hers, and she might well be the only being in the galaxy right now who knew him well enough to heal him right now.

 

Once she arrived in the lab, she transferred Roe'gall to a table, using the Force this time to lift him. Grabbing a syringe, she drew a large sample of the tuk'ata's blood and set it in a centrifuge. She did the same with her own blood. Then, she lowered herself deep into the Force. It was time to get to work.

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Slinking through the narrow passage ways in the in-between spaces of the station, Raia Selik allowed her instincts to guide her in the darkness. Two years of navigating the station in this manner made traversing the corridors at speed second nature to her.

 

It wasn't hard to figure out where the new arrival had gone considering how quickly word spread amongst the sparse station's population. Turning down the next access point, she headed in the general direction of the labs.

 

From her vantage point, she could just make out the long - and no doubt sharp - clawed foot of a massive beast the likes of which she'd never seen before. Something was obviously wrong with the creature and this woman was actually trying to help it with her own magic. Raia had been around the Sith long enough to be able to sense when they were drawing on the magics to augment their own will. And this woman’s will was focused on helping the creature heal.

 

That gave the Dathomiri-born girl pause. Qaela had made it clear that no Sith cared anything for anyone but themselves and Rose had reaffirmed that sentiment. Yet, she watched as this woman literally gave her own blood to try to save the creature.

 

A Blood-Bond… she thought to herself as she shifted so she could watch a bit more comfortably. But there’s more than blood at play. Surely she can see the poison still seeps within? It will continue to taint whatever blood she makes…

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As the physical world around her faded, the world through the eyes of the Force awakened to Emily's perceptions. It played out as colors, sounds, smells, feelings, and at the center of it was her. She held the power to reshape the world into a way that more pleased her, and that feeling was practically addictive. For now, though, she focused that power on Roe'gall, using the strength of their bond and the power of the Force to immediately ascertain the problem. Not only was Roe'gall low on blood, but there was a taint left in him from those dragon-lizards' poison. Emily grimaced, glad that Roe'gall was unconscious, for this was going to be painful. A true devotee of the light could heal painlessly, but that was not within Emily's ability.

 

Throwing herself deeper into the whirlwind of the Force, she drew the poison out of the tuk'ata, drop by drop, letting it pool in a shallow dish by the monster's inert form. It had had some time to work it's way into his bloodstream, but it was still mostly concentrated by his wounds, which made her job slightly easier. Heedless of the time, she persevered until the Force told her he was clean. She then turned her attention to the blood she was making, and cleansed it of the remaining particles of poison as well. Satisfied that it would be good when it was finished, she turned back to her companion and began to sew closed the lacerations, this time using the lab's instruments. She was still a little burnt out and didn't want to overdo it. Once the wounds were closed, she lifted him with the Force and dumped him in a vat of bacta.

 

By this time, the blood was ready. She quickly transferred it to the IV hookup and got it going into his system. Then she let out a deep breath and once again became aware of her surroundings. Roe'gall would need several hours in the tank, and some rest afterward, but the medical instruments and her own senses told her he would recover. She wiped the sweat off her brow and realized she was starving. She rose, and then suddenly realized she was not alone. Someone was watching her from the shadows, from an access tunnel next to the lab. She raised an eyebrow, then made a quick decision.

 

"You don't have to lurk," she said aloud.

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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The way the other woman had been able to use the magics to draw out the poison from the beast gave Raia pause. She sensed the other woman was like the Sith, or at least like them enough that that her presence on the station didn’t seem out of place to the others. Yet she’d been able to still aid the creature.

 

Did the elder’s have it wrong? Was it possible that her own healing magic still worked, despite the fact she’d taken a life? Her thoughts were interrupted as the woman spoke.

 

"You don't have to lurk.”

 

A chill went down her spine as she waved open the hidden mechanism and stepped out obediently. “Forgive me, Mistress,” she horsely voiced, having long remained silent in her solitude. It hurt to speak as her throat grew used to the vibrations once more, but she didn’t want to upset the woman by appearing to forget her place within the hierarchy of what she remembered.

 

Her gaze fell past the well-dressed woman to the creature floating in the vat behind her. Unable to stop herself, she moved past her, feeling drawn to the tank, almost as though the magics were guiding her steps. As she rested her hand against the glass she recalled her lessons at her mother’s side and what she’d done to survive in Julio Furion’s arena.

 

She didn’t think that how the creature’s systems worked were too far off from how those on her home planet worked, or even from her own, judging from the fact the woman had merged her blood with the beasts to begin a transfusion.

 

Sincerely hoping she wasn’t about to make a mistake that would get her killed, she began to chant softly under her breath in Dathomiri as she visualized the creature’s systems repairing itself. As she guided the efforts, including replication of the red blood cells to assist with recuperating the blood loss the fearsome beast had sustained, Raia took comfort in knowing that, if this was to be her last act, at least she was doing some good.

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((OOC: Sorry this is so poorly written...my mind is fuzzy...))

 

Emily was going to comment back, but the young girl who had stepped out seemed immediately drawn to Roe'gall's tank. Tired as she was, Emily was no fool. She wasn't about to let anyone near Roe'gall. But the Force sang to her in that moment, urging her to wait. And so she listened and watched as the girl began to chant. She raised her eyebrows as the Force flowed. She could sense what was happening, and she was astonished.

 

Emily waited until the girl was finished, then spoke again. "You're a Dathomiri witch, aren't you?" It was an educated guess. Emily had never met a witch personally, although she had naturally studied their methodology in depth. "What are you doing here on Spite Station? I'm surprised that, with a gift like yours, you left Dathomir."

 

Her interest was piqued by this young woman. She was clearly untrained in the Sith arts, and yet, she was here on Spite Station. But Spite Station was abandoned long ago, so perhaps she had not come here to learn the ways of the Sith. The fact that she was healing Roe'gall seemed to point to that. Perhaps she was a Jedi apprentice? Regardless, Emily was curious, and decided to be friendly.

 

"I'm Emily, by the way," she said with a small smile. "Emily Zsahra-Skywalker. And that monstrous tuk'ata in the tank is Roe'gall."

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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((No worries. I've been there myself.))

 

“You’re a Dathomiri witch, aren’t you?”

 

Raia nodded hesitantly as she knelt and bowed her head, still not quite trusting what was happening and hoping that her Basic was strong enough to answer her questions adequately. She hoped that kneeling and bowing her head were the right ways to show deference to the more powerful woman before her. “Found by Nightsisters in Dathomir jungle. Sent with Qaela here to die. Fought to survive. Master Furion left me. I studied,” she answered slowly, forcing her mind and body to form the words together.

 

She had more to say, but it had been so long since she’d had to put thoughts to voice she wasn’t sure where to begin, even in her native language. Adding to that her relative lack of Basic and it made trying to answer the woman’s questions more than a little anxiety-provoking.

 

Still, the woman hadn’t introduced herself with a title the way so many of the others she’d met had done. Much like the Witches and their precious caste system, the Sith she’d met were often quick to throw their titles out as a quick way of demonstrating how much higher they were than she was in their hierarchy.

 

“I am Raia Selik.” She met Emily’s mismatched eyes and hesitated before finding the courage within to ask the woman, “You are not Sith?"

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“Isn’t that the question of the month?” Emily muttered to herself when the young woman asked if she was a Sith. She had noticed the girl didn’t speak fluent Basic, so as she pondered how to answer, she tried to put it in simple words. “I was, but no longer,” she finally said. “I am now…more. A Master of the Force itself.”

 

“So you were brought here by Qaela, and you started training under Furion?” Emily didn’t care much for either of the two Sith mentioned. Qaela was always harsh and aloof, and while she held a measure of respect for Furion, it was mostly buried under a pile of dislike for his conniving, manipulative nature. “Despite his leaving you, the fact that he took you for training speaks highly of you. It’s not everyone who gets chosen to train under a Dark Lord of the Sith.”

 

She motioned for Raia to follow her. She was still famished. As they headed towards the mess hall, Emily could tell that this woman was the answer to some of the direction the Force had been pointing her towards. There had been a reason she had come to Spite Station particularly, and she knew without a doubt that the reason was Raia. She gave a mental shrug.

 

“How long have you been here? Have you been on your own the whole time?” she asked. “Oh, and don’t worry about bowing or anything, or be afraid of me or anything. Like I said, I’m not like other Sith. I just want to talk to you.”

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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The girl looked back at the woman as she muttered something to herself before clarifying, "I was, but no longer. I am now…more. A Master of the Force itself.”

 

Rising, she regarded the woman for a moment, her posture finally relaxing a bit. Her brow furrowed until her kind pieced together that, in the wider galaxy outside her home planet of Dathomir, "the Force" and her "magic" were one in the same.

 

"So you were brought here by Qaela, and you started training under Furion?" The woman continued.

 

Raia nodded.

 

"Despite his leaving you, the fact that he took you for training speaks highly of you. It’s not everyone who gets chosen to train under a Dark Lord of the Sith."

 

The Dathomiri girl wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Furion had taken multiple apprentices at that time, but she was the one he'd left behind. Had he taken pity on her as a less-than-willing candidate for the dark magics and kept her from a far more ruthless master? Or was she the game piece that had simply rolled beneath the chair to be forgotten until the game was long over? Either way she wasn't sure she'd understood Emily correctly since it didn't make sense to her to leave someone you placed high value on behind on a space station to fed for themselves.

 

When Emily motioned for her to follow Raia willingly obeyed, much more curious now that she was more or less convinced the woman wasn't going to fry her with some great feat of magic.

 

“How long have you been here? Have you been on your own the whole time?” Emily asked as the two of them walked beside each other. “Oh, and don’t worry about bowing or anything, or be afraid of me or anything. Like I said, I’m not like other Sith. I just want to talk to you.”

 

"A very long time I am here alone," she paused, glancing at one of the other acolytes as he scurried past the two of them. "Mostly alone," she amended before explaining as best she could. "Hiding," she gestured toward the ductwork over head. "Very different to see them from the front."

 

They entered the mess hall and Raia felt another wave nervousness take over as she entered the mess hall where several of the acolytes were gathered. Two years of being in the shadows and she knew far more secrets of varying degrees of abhorrent and appalling than she ever cared to.

 

Her fears were dampened somewhat as she noticed how they quickly shifted to allow Emily and her space once they'd collected their food. "I use books to learn what I can," she offered. "I was, but no longer Dathomiri Witch. Never Nightsister. I killed another here. Cannot go back. Forbidden."

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Emily didn't miss Raia's almost apprehensive looks at the other acolytes. Clearly, she hadn't made friends. In fact, Emily felt sorry for Raia. It seemed that the girl had been brought here, possibly against her will, forced by Furion to kill someone, promised power, and then abandoned with no way to make her own way in the galaxy. Emily's opinion of the order wasn't very high, but she had thought better of them than this.

 

As she grabbed some food and began to eat, a memory stirred. Last time she was here, Furion had gathered all the Sith together and given a speech, and then tried to unify them, going as far as to give everyone matching tattoos. Then after the presentation, he had arranged a feast and "entertainment", which had mostly involved acolytes and hopefuls fighting to the death. She had left early, but now the Force brought back to her mind that Raia had been one of those in the arena. She put down her sandwich, a bad taste coming to her mouth that had nothing to do with the food. If she had been a different person, Emily's fate might have been the same as Raia's--abandoned, forgotten, alone. She had felt that most of her life, until she had sought the Sith out and taken the initiative to do something about it. But if Quietus hadn't taken her as his apprentice, who knows what would have become of her. That was not a fate she wished on anyone, and now, she had the power to change that for Raia.

 

"Raia, I know we just met, but I want to change things for you." She leaned forward intently. "I want to take you with me. I want to train you in the ways of the Force and give you the ability to make your life whatever you want it to be. The Force will free you. You will never be forced to do anything you don't want to do, ever again, and no one will be able to tell you otherwise."

 

She paused for a moment, then leaned back again. "What do you think? Is that something you want?"

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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The girl looked at her, as though she couldn’t quite believe she’d heard Emily correctly, and then her expression changed as she genuinely considered the offer. Thoughts of her home came unbidden then, the forests full of life, quite the opposite of this dead place of metal. Her eyes closed against the swath of emotion that welled up within her. “Learned many things from Master Furion’s books no one on Dathomir knows.” She paused and met Emiliy’s gaze as she answered. “But,” she continued."I miss sky, trees, animals, life. I do not wish to stay here. I will learn your Force Magic."

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Emily smiled as Raia accepted her offer. "Good. This will begin to make things right."

 

She resumed eating, and quickly finished her sandwich. "Oh, and I should probably start by helping you with your Basic," she said with a small smile. "I can set you up with some lessons on a datapad for now, until we're ready to leave this station." She rose, seeing how Raia was also finished eating, and headed to what her feet told her were the quarters she had stayed in when she was last here. A flicker of memory crossed her mind--the last time she had been here, Nishant had been here too. She wondered what had become of him. Given the state of the galaxy, probably little good. It made her sad.

 

Once she got to the room, she was pleased but unsurprised to find it still clean and ready for use. "Raia, I've got to get some sleep. I haven't fully recovered yet from a battle with a dragon-lizard queen and her entire hive. But I don't know what sleep cycle you're on, so take this." She handed the girl a datapad with some moderate level Basic lessons programmed on it and showed the girl briefly how to use it. "Feel free to use the common room in here, or if you have your own place, that's fine. When I wake, I'd like you to show me those books Furion had. Then we'll collect Roe'gall and be on our way. Alright?"

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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Raia caught on quickly with the datapad, and merely nodded as Emily went over her plans. “I have rooms next to Rose, Furion’s daughter. I will study there. Need time to think. So much…” she struggled, trying to find the word but failing. She gestured with her free hand around Emily’s common room, but it was apparent through the Force that the teen was overwhelmed with the strange shift her day had taken and needed some time to herself as much as Emily needed to rest. It was as close to “familiar” as she had right now and needed that to ground her as she felt her world shift once more.

 

The shift was different this time, not like being a game piece on an unfamiliar board the way things had seemed with Furion. It felt more positive. She did notice the acolytes shying away from her once more. Something had happened when Furion had made her one of his apprentices, but she wasn’t sure what. Her hand went to her chest where the mark depicting “one” came from. Furion’s brand of supposed solidarity amongst the Sith, but how little it really meant to them in Raia’s first-hand experience.

 

Tucking herself away in the safety of her quarters, Raia decided to split her time between studying what her new teacher had given her and doing her best to process the sudden change in her circumstances. It struck her, then, that her mind had already classified the other woman as a “teacher” rather than “Master”. And Emily had never demanded a title of respect as a manner of address. Perhaps she truly is different from the others... Raia thought to herself as she studied the all-too-familiar starscape.

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It was a good nine hours later when Emily awoke. She rose, stretched, and realized how much better she felt. A Force-user was able to heal quickly, and as much as she had worn herself out, she now was completely healed. She showered, dressed quickly, and headed immediately to the medical lab where she had left Roe'gall. He had come out of bacta on schedule after a few hours and had been sleeping since then. She wanted to make sure she was there when he woke--there was no telling how grumpy he might be.

 

Her fears were not unfounded. She found him growling in the corner, very upset at having been left alone locked in a strange lab. It took a lot of coaxing and threatening for her to calm him down, but he eventually did. It was strange; her connection with him seemed stronger than ever before, clearly because of how much more blood they now shared. She did a quick checkup with the Force and found him almost completely healed. A day or two and he'd be back to normal.

 

She smiled. "That was too close, Roe'gall," she told him. "I can't lose you, too." He nuzzled her and let out a smelly tuk'ata breath in her face. She mock-groaned and elbowed him in the side. "Come on. I can feel how hungry you are. Let's get some food and then I'll introduce you to...well, she might end up being the newest member of our pack."

 

She could tell the tuk'ata's curiosity was piqued. Finding their way to the mess hall, both Emily and Roe'gall had a large breakfast, albeit of very different food. Finally, once they were both full, Emily rose. Together, they made their way towards Furion's quarters. Rose wouldn't have roomed far from her precious father. Emily snorted thinking about the wishy-washy girl. When she had seen her on Mechis III, she had hoped that Rose was finally moving out of her father's shadow. But Rose's attitude had quickly proved otherwise.

 

In truth, Emily was unsure of what she hoped to find by perusing Furion's files, but wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. In fact, she hoped to establish a permanent link with his databases. She felt certain his library was quite thorough.

 

Using the Force to guide her, Emily soon arrived at the room Raia was staying in. "Now Roe'gall, be nice. Raia is not an enemy." The mutant tuk'ata whuffed his disappointment, but Emily could tell he remained on high alert. He wouldn't attack unless Emily let him--he was too well-trained for that--but his instincts and thorough training to fight Force-users were not going to simply go away. After a moment, Emily knocked on the door.

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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The door opened to admit the pair, revealing an ornately decorated sitting room where Raia was cleaning up the remnants of her own meal, but one acquired via her usual methods of sneaking into the hydroponics area and nicking what she could before being discovered. Despite knowing that she was somewhat protected from the others with Emily here, Raia still wasn’t able to muster the confidence to break old habits.

 

She’d changed out of the body suit, meant more for stealth and hiding, and was now wearing a set of red pants that had a richly embroidered panel that fell across the front and back, ending in a triangular point just below her knees. She wore a sleeveless, hooded top in the same color as the pants that had a V-shaped neckline that revealed the brilliant crimson tattoo at the top of her breastbone that Furion had branded her and others with before her apprenticeship trials.

 

In the intervening years, the mystical ink had grown more ornate, but still bore the symbol for “one” in the Sith language. Looking closer it almost mirrored the embroidery patterns on the front and back panels of her pants. She still couldn’t read the Sith tongue, but liked the way it looked. The outfit had been one she’d found in Rose’s closet when she’d started having to raid it, having out-grown the Dathomiri clothes she arrived in.

 

Her dark brown hair was mostly loose about her shoulders, but she’d braided some of it back so that it stayed out of her face. She smiled for the first time Emily had noticed when she saw the tuk’ata up and about. She crossed the room quickly, stopping about a meter away from the large beast and knelt with her hand extended, respectful of entering the beast’s space. “It is good to see that you’ve recovered. You are a magnificent creature and it would be sad if you had passed. Do you remember me, from before?"

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Emily didn't miss the girl's smile when she saw them, and how her gaze had lingered on Roe'gall. Here we go, she thought. She was irrepressibly reminded of the first time she had met Roe'gall. The giant beast had broken her arm. For a moment, Eris considered letting the same thing happen here--it had been a good lesson for her to learn right away how dangerous the tuk'ata was. But the moment passed, and Emily decided she'd demonstrate Roe'gall's ferocity another time.

 

While this was going through her head, Raia had knelt down, making herself even smaller before Roe'gall. Even without the Force, it was clear that Roe'gall was on alert. Every inch of sinew was taught, and a vicious light glinted in his eyes. But he glanced at Emily first, and she smiled and nodded. So instead of pouncing, he took a step forward, bent his large head down, and touched the tip of Raia's outstretched hand with his nose. He sniffed once, then let out a rumbling grunt and backed off. Emily let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. "Well, that went better than I thought it might. Raia, this is Roe'gall. He's accepted that you're not a threat to me. Who knows?" She raised her eyebrows. "Eventually he might even like you."

 

The 6-foot beast whuffed. He knew Emily was talking about him. She tossed him a glance. "Sinf da'arad," she said in the Sith language.

 

She turned back to Raia. "Will you give me access to Furion's files? I'm curious to see what information he had stored here. And in the meantime, you can tell me what new things about Basic you learned."

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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Raia remained still as the beast backed away except for a slight dip of her head as the great beast made a whuffing noise. "Respect or honor - I don't know which is correct word - for the great beasts is taught to us from very small children. Do you ride? We ride - rode? - Rancors. Very smart. Very dangerous to outsiders. Pair-bonded from," she gave the Dathomiri word for first-year apprentice, but held her hand out a little higher than waist-level, as though to indicate a child of about six or seven. "There are many large beasts like Roe'gall, but not his kind. They only hurt if you stink of fright or don't pay honor-respect to them. All creatures dangerous in their own way if not honor-respected. Even small ones."

 

She rose and backed away, showing her respect to the tuk'ata's space. Though she didn't know why, being around the large beast made her feel happy. Instinct and cues from Emily told her this handsome and interesting creature was not a pet, but Emily's partner, and as such, fiercely protective of his mistress. Raia held no delusions about her place in the hierarchy of this tuk'ata's pack.

 

"I will show you Master Furion's books now." She waved the woman towards a panel at the back part of the living quarters, touching her fingertips to the tattoo and closing her eyes as she muttered something in Dathomiri - a chant her mother had used to draw the healing energies to her in order to enact stronger healing spells. The ink began to glow, lighting the young girl's face in an eerie crimson light. A few moments later the mechanism clicked into place and the wall shifted back to reveal a narrow passage way, though one just barely large enough for the tuk'ata to squeeze through.

 

The library was much as Furion had left it, a thin layer of dust on many of the books, artifacts, and data pads that Raia either hadn't touched in a while or had never made it to exploring.

 

There was a large, ornately carved chair behind an equally ostentatious desk in the middle of the room and a door leading to the dining hall/death arena. Raia stood primly in front of the desk and gestured with open arms. "Master Furion gave permission for me to be here. I want to learn what I can. Only one book my clan had. So many here, but I only learned what I can from pictures." She looked down, as though embarrassed to admit as much.

 

"Basic reading is not taught on Dathomir. Basic is only learned for trading." The young girl explained, reaching out to fiddle with the spine of an archaic leather-bound book. "Have not used it, or talked to another in a long time. Days and days and days of counting. Your data pad helps me remember what I forgot."

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Emily nodded as Raia spoke of the rancors. "Yes, you understand. And yes, sometimes I do ride him." She watched with interest then, as Raia unlocked Furion's office with a Dathomiri spell channeled through her Sith tattoo. She was using the Force; that was clear. But she was doing it in a way Emily had never felt before. It was intriguing. Perhaps Raia would have something to teach her in return.

 

She was about to comment as she stepped through into the office, but her comment died in her throat as she glanced around. Books?? I didn't think she meant literal books. She shook her head. "Furion always was an old-fashioned bastard," she muttered. Well, this was just going to be more challenging. She'd have to get the acolytes to bring these books to her ship. When she got back to Rish'navin, she'd have time to pour through all of them. She touched the flimsy of one, then looked up as the young woman next to her admitted to not being able to read.

 

"What a blinkered existence you've lead so far," she commented. "How did you have the determination to even get up in the morning? I've been alone for many long periods of time myself, but then, I always had a goal to work towards that made life worth living. What has kept you going?"

 

She shook herself. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I tend to get philosophical at times. Don't worry--I can teach you how to read. You'll pick it up quickly. Let's get as much of this packed up as we can. Once we load it onto my ship, we can get out of here. I sense the Force is calling me onward, and we have your Force-training to begin."

 

For a moment, her mind suddenly flashed back to the only other person she had ever started to train. The foolish and witless man--Kent? Kirk? Kenneth?--who had been foisted on her by Quietus and failed to even turn up after a simple assignment. She remembered how much she had wanted to kill that man. And she remembered Quietus' words to her--that the reason he wanted her to train him was for her own growth and development, not for Kenneth's. He is my gift to you, Quietus had said. It was, perhaps, the type of gift only a Sith would give, and only a Sith would want to receive. And Eris had appreciated the sentiment, even if the boy himself had been an arrogant, ignorant fool.

 

This was so different. In Raia, she had found someone intelligent, with a thirst for knowledge. She was quiet and reserved, a grey little mouse hiding in the ducts of the station--but her potential in the Force was limitless. Raia, she sensed, would be a joy to train, and perhaps still, Emily could finally grow in the way that Quietus had always wanted. She smiled wistfully. It's taken me longer than we expected to get here, my love. A ray of amusement pierced the wistfulness. But of course, I'm not going to train her to be a Sith. Now that was something he would never have approved of.

 

Roe'gall's hot breath on the top of her head brought her back to the present. "I'm eager to learn what knowledge these books has to give," she commented to Raia. "Though I think it will take me a while."

 

She reached out with the Force and summoned some acolytes. "Pack up all of this," she commanded them once they arrived, "and put it on my ship." There was a moment of hesitation on the acolyte's part, but Eris let her eyes flash with tell-told Sith impatience and anger, and they began to comply.

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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"What a blinkered existence you've lead so far,” Emily remarked. The expression confused Raia, but she kept quiet, as the woman continued. "How did you have the determination to even get up in the morning? I've been alone for many long periods of time myself, but then, I always had a goal to work towards that made life worth living. What has kept you going?"

 

What a curious question, Raia thought to herself, even as her new teacher amended her previous statement.

 

"Sorry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I tend to get philosophical at times. Don't worry--I can teach you how to read. You'll pick it up quickly. Let's get as much of this packed up as we can. Once we load it onto my ship, we can get out of here. I sense the Force is calling me onward, and we have your Force-training to begin."

 

Raia nodded, though she was still considering how she would answer the woman’s original question of what had driven her. Her teacher seemed to have moved on to the task at hand, which entailed removal of all of the bound books, data pads, artifacts and everything that had become home to Raia during her exile on the station. This had been her safe-haven, as none of the acolytes had possessed enough will or the access codes to enter before. She had been safe here and free to learn what she could from the items the previous Dark Lord of the Sith had deemed worthy of preservation. As the acolytes began to file in to comply with Emily’s will, the girl just barely managed stifle her cry of protest.

 

Slowly the woman’s words worked through her brain, finally processing enough to realize in nearly that same instant that Emily meant to take these things along with them. Skirting past the acolytes scrambling to fulfill their given directive, she stood on the opposite side of Emily from the tuk’ata,

 

“I would like to answer your question,” the brown-haired teen began quietly. “It was all of this,” she gestured wide to the books as they were being packed away into crates. “There is much you know that is impossible to know on Dathomir. Every book or datapad I touched was something new to me. I am happy they will be coming with us to the stars. May I go pack my own things if we are to be leaving soon?"

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Emily caught Raia's flash of terror as the acolytes began to pack things up, but then noted her gain control of herself, and her terror quickly turned to relief. It was curious, but not unexpected. These books were, in a way, her only friends. But she gained control of herself and then spoke again, explaining what Emily had suspected. "We have much in common," Emily couldn't resist saying. "The search for knowledge...it is unending."

 

Raia seemed eager to go. "Sure, go pack your things and meet me in the hangar."

 

Turning back to the acolytes, Emily supervised as they finished packing, then headed the procession down to the hangar. Once there, she supervised the acolytes packing everything onboard. They finished remarkably quickly given the amount of boxes. Once they were done and Raia was back, Emily turned to the young woman. "Are you ready to leave?"

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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((So sorry to make you wait for something so short.))

 

Raia didn’t have much to bring with her (she’d arrived at the station with just the clothes on her back which she’d since outgrown.) She chose from Rose’s wardrobe what she felt might be some of the more practical garments, everything fitting neatly into a single small case.

 

She took one last look around the quarters that had served as her home and haven for the last two years and couldn’t help but wonder what had become of Master Furion and his daughter. Thinking for a moment, entered what had served as his office and activated the holo recorder she’d discovered there within the first few months of her abandonment. It was time for one last entry in the log she’d been keeping as a record of her own progress.

 

Thanking Furion for his lessons (whatever they’d been), she explained she was going to leave with her new teacher and that hopefully the two of them might meet up again one day and she could show him how she’d continued to survive beyond her abandonment in a strange environment. Somehow, she figured, he’d have expected nothing less of her, nor would he particularly have cared had she failed. He’d more or less said as much when he’d taken her on as his apprentice. It still wouldn’t feel right not to say her farewells to the man whose actions had continued to forge her even in his absence.

 

Her last entry finished, she coded the entire log for access by Furion alone, and left the chambers for the last time, meeting up with Emily who had just finished over seeing the removal of Furion’s library to her ship. For a brief moment, uncertainty gripped her. Though this wasn’t like any environment she was used to, after more than two years, it was as close to home as it got. Still, she’d given her word to the other woman and wasn’t about to back down from the path she’d chosen now. Ultimately she nodded, following the woman and her beast to the ship where they set off to their next destination.

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  • 3 years later...

Hunger.

The Maw continued its feast, unabated. The force storm began to die, consuming itself as it in turn was devoured by the gravity well, and its master heard… Nothing. There was no echoing call in the Force, no answer to the ravenous desire that bound itself within the Master of the Krath. It was no different than any of the countless storms and fires he had spilled from the bowels of the derelict station which clung to the gravity currents of this place, all to die in the formless hunger.  

The hulking mountain of filth moved, a creaking and hideous movement marked by a groan of wrath that shattered the stillness. Years of study without tangible result. The rusting decking protested his movement, having so settled under his bulk. A greasy hand passed across the bulkheads, grapsing and wrenching the durasteel free. He stared at the sheeting balanced on a sweaty palm, his crimson eyes taking in the speckled pattern of oxidizing rust. It was as beautiful to him as the stars themselves.

Pure entropy.

Within the eye of the force, that embrace of gluttony withing which the world appeared to the Hutt, there was a glimmer of something deeper within the steel. He breathed in a gasping breath, his offset nostrils flaring wickedly.

Bacterial and fungal lifeforms.

Another great breath and there; a pitiful flicker of his own power as the primitive life-forms were consumed by the Force. The bacteria was gone, stricken from the galaxy as by a plague. He had taken their life into himself a distorted reflection of the power of the Maw itself.  He breathed out, distorting the forms of the fungi, changing them with the gift of the bacteria. There was subtle change as he placed within them his own hunger. The rate of corrosion increased markedly, but the life did not take to his gift as he had desired. Before he could take another breath, the fungal colony had devoured itself.

His hunger was that of an ouroboros. The power to consume, but only eating itself.

The Sith moved again to stare into the formless twisting of light that was the Maw. It had been ages since he had heard her voice, and he would have to wait another age for the Maw to speak to him once more. The ripples he had created in his early days had still not reached their shores. It came then, a feeling of subtle sweetness. It piqued his desire. Crimson eyes widened, their many lids slipping back to reveal the sulpheric yellow that stained his corneas.

To the Hutt, it was the undeniable confirmation of his path. The blessing of the Lady, and of her daughter’s path. The sweetness changed to salt and smoke.

The Firebrand had made Cathar her bed, following the wounds as he had suggested.

A blubbering sigh came with the intrusion of brilliant life within the Maw. He felt it immediately, nearly two-hundred life-forms. His many-lidded eyes blinked slowly; sloth replaced by avarice.

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

“WELCOME FOLKS!”

The fake Corellian accent was stained with a backwater drawl, but the tourists aboard did not seem to care, barely looking up from their sabbac games. The HSD Bourbonne was a gambling ship, a salvaged C-3 Passenger Liner originally outfitted by Leonore Luxury Liners Incorporated nearly five decades past and had been run under the designation ISL Thesuvious for luxury passenger service along the Pabol-Sleheyron route in Hutt Space under their Sheny-Brior subsidiary. About a decade prior, the unfortunate Thesuvious had been impounded by Formos Port Authority and subsequently purchased by Thrillian De’Subar who had turned the vessel into a luxury gambling and tourism ship, for which it had come into great renown in the Unknown Regions for high-value tables and plentiful glitterstim. Now under the propriety of ex-corsec enforcer Picadillo Aldi, the starliner had been renamed the HSD Bourbonne, and focused more on sham tourism.

“Look upon the Maw Installation fair tourists!”

The girl who held the comlink that linked to the command deck could hardly be over twenty standard years old, but the blaster pistol on her side and green lapel marked her as lieutenant in the security service. She motioned with a finely manicured hand to the distant outline of a derelict station, highlighted by the plasma of the gravity well. The viewscreens panned the outline into better focus, showing the rusting holds of a long-forgotten station.

“Our researchers tell us that this hulk was once called Spite Station, the headquarters of one Sith Master Furion, who some of you may know for popping up from time to time and then immediately disappearing once something goes slightly against his direction of plan.”

The woman, named Gwenhyvar blinked. She had no idea where that information had come from. Another officer gave her a hard, sideways stare for her unauthorized impromptu. Had anyone been paying attention, they would have one of the many derelict ships that were caught in the soft gravity well around the station come to speed and head for the Bourbonne’s underbelly.

Gwenhyvar stuttered for a second, a pounding headache beginning to overwhelm her senses. She felt so hungry too. She passed the commlink to lieutenant Fenhalmen, a Rodian of noble birth, and he continued the rehearsed spiel about the rarity and luxury of such unnantural views of the Maw Nebulae. She stepped from the gambling deck, slipping into the employee shamlift and dropping into the main cargo-hold.

…Why even am I going here?

The lieutenant glanced down at the handful of banquet rolls she had snagged while passing through the deck with surprise. She hadn’t eaten gluten in nearly a year, but even her own indignation couldn’t halt her hand from bringing the bread to her lips. She could smell the yeast and spices. The woman took a tender bite and then gulped down three like a ravenous strill. A voice in her mind, crashing through her hunger like a landspeeder running over a toddler.

 

<<Good evening my dear. Tell me, how is the bread?>>

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King Kheldar vos Correlli said:
Sheog, I have to ask, overkill much?
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