Naboo

[Emily]

Emily nodded slowly. "I agree with what you said about how the Jedi and Sith view the Force differently, but I disagree that there are no paths you can take. I think everyone's path is different, and the choices they make determine what path they travel. Jedi are capable of making decisions out of anger, and Sith can love. Those are steps down their paths just as much as those along the lines of their Order's philosophies."

 

She shook her head, pushing back the memories that flowed suddenly through her mind. "My parents were Sith Masters, but in their later years, came to view the Force in the way I do now; that it is a whole, not divided. They died before they could fully explore those ideas, but I am determined to finish what they began--or at least, continue it. To that end, I am going to try to get both Sith and Jedi training. Then we'll see."

 

She took a bite of sandwich, slightly embarrased that she had spilled so much in front of strangers.

[Tiana Calthye]

"Those aren't paths," Tiana said personably. "They're directions. It's like this field. It's a whole and you can walk wherever you'd like in it, but that's not a path. You could go under the shade of a tree or sit in the sun or go somewhere else entirely. It's only a path if someone carves one. If a Jedi makes a decision out of anger, that's not leaving their path, that's just walking in another direction. I don't believe in sides of the Force anymore, only places amidst the Force. It's only that the pathed Force-users tend to follow certain stereotypes, you see. Or perhaps I should say philosophy? Dogma? Rules?"

 

She took one of the sandwiches, idly picking off the crust. After a while she spoke again. "I'm trying to think of a good Force-related metaphor regarding this sandwich but failing. Terribly sorry. And I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I haven't seen mine since I was fourteen. They lived on Coruscant, though, so I suppose they're gone."

 

Tiana bit the sandwich, wondering at the momentary weariness in her voice.

[Arclight]

Arclight was thoroughly soaked by the conversation as it passed. He listened contently, munching idly on the sandwich that was offered him, but offered nothing as the two seemed hooked on each other's words. He didn't really have too much to say because he felt that their words mirrored his own evolving beliefs. Deep in his mind as he lay preoccupied, only idly hearing the voice of his master as months seemingly passed by, Fuh had a crude but beneficial out of body experience.

 

There he stood, between what seemed to be two great powers within himself. The plane upon which he stood seemed to mock the ground that he laid on, but something different struck him as he began getting up. He didn't see his dormant body nor Tiana during the entire trip. For a moment, it took Fuh by surprise to see her gone, but after a while it became true to him that the entire thing was a dream. It had some reality to it, but as Fuh continued to look around it was apparent that this was either a dream or Tiana was messing with his head again.

 

On one side of the plane you had a seemingly innocent meadow filled with joy and harmony. It represented everything that seemed to be good in the world, while the other half was the polar opposite. Sins beyond sins were committed like nobody's business as raping, pillaging, and murdering seemed to be the norm. The plains lit aflame and the creatures of the grass seemed to grow in size and become vicious monsters. It seemed of little choice of where Fuh favored to go, but something drew him to the other half as well.

 

Each step he took towards the meadow however made him as an avatar darker and conversely as he stepped the other direction. It seemed the darker a path he walked the lighter he became as if to balance the two phenomena. Just when Fuh seemed effectively puzzled the two energies collided into one and the field existed as if it always was. The green grass shone in the bright sunlight but amongst its beautiful caress even the foulest of crimes were committed. Everything existed in balance he thought to himself as his body lay in a rather strong coma.

 

Every step you make towards the darkness a coexistent effort is pushing in the opposite direction. The force and or morality didn't work as a mere path, but as a galaxy within itself. There are many places you can be within it, but no matter what, it is balanced. If the force is unbalanced it will bring balance to itself through the use of morals and vice versa.

 

It was a great deal to take in and, even if it was misleading, Fuh felt strongly in the visions he saw and believed that it was a message letting him know more about the power he strove so hard to learn.

 

Fuh sat mulling the instance over as he ate a sandwich in peace, keeping an eye on the two before him. After their stories of their parents was shared though, he felt it only just to share his. So, in between bites, Fuh explained in a rather calm voice, "If what I think is true, my parents were killed by my former slave master on Tatooine".

[Guest]

Zara brought the Link shuttle closer to the planet of Naboo, sending out a comm to any of the Alliance that might be on the planet.

 

Alliance,

 

This is Zara Nargal of the Link Organisation. I have the Nagai Sith Cephi incapacitated in a room on board my shuttle. He has been stunned and paralysed, has a neural collar on and is in a room containing ysalamari. He and his Master - Sith Master Ar-Pharazon - have been harassing the Link Organisation for some time now and I managed to foil his attempt to kill me just a short time ago. I wish to turn him over to the Alliance for a trial. If you will take him, please send me the co-ordinates of where to drop him off.

 

Zara Nargal

Link Organisation.

 

Zara kept the shuttle in a holding pattern above Naboo waiting for a reply. If the Alliance didn't want him she would have to dispose of him another way. Since she left the influence of the ysalamari bubble, Zara had started to feel strange. She didn't know if it was just a reaction of having such a close call or another reason...

[Emily]

Emily turned her attention to Arclight. "You were a slave? Were you close to your parents?"

 

All the talk of parents made her wonder what her birth mother was doing right now. For all she knew, Bekka was still alive out there. She might still have one parent left, although Bekka had clearly not wanted her, so that didn't make her a parent in the loving, caring sense of the word. Emily fully considered Sirvani to be her mother, but nevertheless, she was interested in trying to learn more about Bekka. Maybe I can go look for her...

 

She shook her head, coming out of her thoughts. "Sorry. If you were a slave, Arclight, how were you freed?"

[Sgt. Slaughter]

The Republic's armed forces offered a far better reply than a remote reply to Nargal's message. About thirty seconds later, a blazing-fast Corellian Gunship diverted from a patrol above Naboo and closed in with the shuttle with the alacrity expected from a ship designed by a planet legendary for its speed demons. It was the Tonbogiri, one of the ships belonging to General Aesop's fleet.

 

”œMadam Nargal, this is General Aesop of the Rancor. We will take temporary custody of the Sith until permanent arrangements can be made. The Corellian Gunship Tonbogiri will escort you in. On a side note, if you will indulge my curiosity, I would like to speak to you before you're on your way again.”

[Guest]

Zara was pleased that she got a response so soon. The proximity alarm alerted her to their approach also. She replied promptly to General Aesop,

 

"I will be happy to hand the Sith over to you, and to speak with you regarding what has happened."

 

She guided the shuttle on the course towards the MC90 as directed, allowing the Alliance to dictate where the shuttle was to land.

[Arclight]

"Well that's just it Emily... I wasn't. Oh and you can call me Fuh if you want, Arclight is a nickname and Fuh is closer to what my real name is anyway." Arclight looked at the ground for a moment, feeling the warm breeze brush across his face as he ate a bit of his sandwich. It had been a while since he actually thought about his escape and he wondered where his cellmates ended up. They weren't the favored times of his life, but he figured recollection brought more understanding sometimes; it was better to remember your past and move on then to shield it from your mind. "I was imprisoned far before my slave master even thought of releasing me and I broke out of that prison about 2 or so years ago. Tiana and I've been together ever since... Crazily enough I found her on Hoth, but I've been attached to her ever since. Not physically obviously, but you know" said Fuh as he looked over toward Emily and Tiana with a smile.

 

"Oh and don't be sorry, it couldn't be helped. As long as there are wealthy people in the world who seek to injustice weaker few with work to fuel their economic beast, then there will inevitably be slavery. I'm just lucky I managed to escape the prison I was sent to, instead of staying at the village and watching as everything I grew up with died at my feet." Arclight said as the vision from earlier replayed in his head as if teasing him with the butchering of his childhood. "It makes me angry to know that I wasn't there to protect them, but I was imprisoned by the very man that did it so I really couldn't have done anything in that state."

 

Arclight felt helpless as the feeling of loss surged within him, but he'd only recently realized this phenomena. Without the vision implemented by Tiana's odd exercise, Arclight would've never seen his village die...

 

So it wasn't entirely his fault... It wasn't Tiana's fault either. Wherever this man was, he was going to pay dearly.

[Tiana Calthye]

Distracted, Tiana spent a few moments eating the edges of her sandwich tediously away as her apprentice discussed slavery and his escape with this picnic-faring newcomer. In fact, for a moment or two she was perfectly happy with her situation and decided that if she ever retired, she was going to open up a tea-place on Naboo and sell cookies to Jedi and Sith alike, while teaching them of the wonderous and true meaning of the Force over delicious sandwiches with trimmed off crusts and those little toothpicks with flags in them, but shaped like lightsabers, and then a wide selection of various teas and cookies for one and all.

 

And perhaps coffee. On ice.

 

Then she reached the end of her sandwich and the peaceful bliss of a happy retirement over Tiana's Coffee Shop was blown away in a gentle gust of Nubian wind that laughed at her rueful daydreaming.

 

She sighed.

 

Emily was a curious soul, suggested the Force--a soul that wondered and wandered across the galaxy as she talked. Her voice was here but her heart wasn't.

 

"Why are you here?" Tiana wondered idly. "Seems a ways to come for a picnic."

[Emily]

Emily snorted. "Deciding what to do with my life." She paused, letting the annoyance--not directed at Tiana or Fuh, but at herself and her circumstances--pass. "I thought so strongly that I was finally on the path I was supposed to be walking. I had the best master in the galaxy, I had met some fascinating and powerful people, and I was growing in the Force each day. I felt that I belonged, that I was finally taking up the mantle that I was destined to take up."

 

She leaned back, her hands resting in the soft grass, her sandwich forgotten. "And then the battle tore it all from me. The Republic killed him. Master Quietus told me that the Sith fight the Jedi because the Jedi fight the Sith. So whose fault does that make his death, the Jedi for killing him, or the Sith for starting that particular battle, or the Jedi for causing the Sith to start the battle? It's an endless circle, and it seems so pointless. What is the purpose of revenge, then? Or on the other hand, sacrifice? Nothing matters, nothing makes a difference, for no one is strong enough to stand up and break the neverending circle. And I don't even know if either group wants the circle to be broken! The Jedi claim they do, but then they attack the Sith just because of their beliefs. And the Sith in turn grow stronger, thriving on the battle."

 

She shook her head, her face clouded by dark thoughts. "And if the Force is all we believe it to be, why does it let this cycle continue? Does it thrive on conflict? If both sides claim to want to know more of the Force, why don't they band together and find out instead of this pointless, endless squabbling?"

 

She wished Montar was here. He had held so much wisdom, and not just from himself, but from the thousands of souls he had trapped in his conciousness. She just wished none of this had happened; she wished her parents hadn't gone, that Montar hadn't died, that she hadn't been left alone for so many years...

 

She suddenly glanced up at Tiana and Fuh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take out my frustrations on you. The reason I came to Naboo was to do some thinking, and to see where I wanted to go from here, whether it be back to the Sith to get a new master, or down a different path--or rather," she said, almost smiling again, "a different direction."

 

She opened the picnic basket and pulled out some chocolate chip cookies, setting them in the middle of the blanket before grabbing one and absentmindedly munching on it. Chocolate always helped her think clearer.

[Reptilia]

Reptilia woke up as the sun kissed his skin, a breeze rolled in and rippled his clothes. He sat up and grabbed his robes pulling them in closely as he kicked some dirt onto the smoldering embers of the fire that once was. His mind was lighter than it had been the previous day, he didn't remember his troubles and was free for the time being. His muscles ached as he stood up, he has been walking most of the time and after not moving for awhile they got a little stiff.

 

"Here comes the sun, it feels like years since it's been here." He mumbled to himself as he stretched out his legs. After a few minutes of committing his muscles to move he was on his way. The day grew longer as he hiked, in the solitude his mind wandered and awoke forgotten memories which was beginning to become a routine for him.

 

The rain poured down, pelting the Kel Dor as he trekked through the plains. His hood was heavy on his head and neck as it soaked in the rain. His robes were also bogged down form the excess weight. The only thing he could think of was the cold and his shivering body. He still had miles to go and the only thing that kept him going was the though of a soft, warm bed that he could collapse on when he made it to the outpost. A feint light was barely visible on the horizon and was the best thing he had scene that day. At that moment when he noticed the light a voice ringed out around him, it didn't say anything but whispered almost nonsense, Rep jerked his head around to see who it had came from. He couldn't make anything out through the downpour and shrugged it off as nothing but sped up his pace. The voice pierced through him once again.

 

"I know you're still there because you're scared that you'll lose everybody." A shadowy figure morphed up from the ground, its figure was distorted, its robe was as black as night, its face was absent and replaced by darkness.

 

"Who are you?" Rep shrieked as he stepped away from the being, he slipped on some mud and fell backwards. The robed creature slowly approached him.

 

"I know you're still there because you're scared that you'll lose everything." It looked down at the squirming sentient, its menacing figure was towering over him. Reptilia was suddenly immobilized by fear.

 

"What are you?" He screamed upwards. He was shielding himself with his arm, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. The figure slowly dissolved back into the ground, Rep stumbled to his feet and started walking back again but after every few steps he would look back expecting to see the thing there.

The memory swirled back into reality, Rep had woken up from one of his trips and shook his head. He needed to figure why that it kept happening and more frequently than ever. The illusion did bring up the question though, what was that thing? That wasn't the only time it had 'visited' him before but was the first. Rep was getting angry, another question but not another answer. That was the pattern for him and he didn't like it.

 

Why do I never get any answers?

 

That's when his anger hit the boiling point, his blood pressure sky rocketed and he was contemplating what he should do. He saw a tree and decided. Bringing the air around him into one concentrated ball he launched it at it, letting out all of his anger with it and a loud scream. As he looked up he saw the tree landing a distance away, he didn't know how to feel about what he just did. He was letting his anger get the best of him, he was no better than the Sith and he hated Sith...a lot.

 

((I had music going while I wrote this and that's where the song references came from, I'm not trying to plagiarize or anything nor am I that clever to come up with those lines.))

[Tiana Calthye]

((I'll be away for a few days. Just letting you know. You two can talk away without me though.))

 

Alas that Tiana was mildly allergic to chocolate and was forced to sit mournfully as they ate chocolate chip cookies. It was no big deal, though. She'd gotten over it long ago.

 

She contemplated the elaborate monologue of the newcomer, bearing both cookies and sandwiches and chocolate, too. Eventually she bothered to speak again, speaking through her absentminded tangle of thoughts distracting her both from the pleasant Nubian day and the overwhelming color of life and death threaded through every single breath that built the planet up and held it together in the midst of the torn galaxy.

 

"If you are here, then that is the mantle you were destined to take," Tiana said flatly, "even if you don't like it. The purpose of revenge is to snag your mantle back when someone tries to sully it with their words, and the purpose of sacrifice is to borrow your mantle to someone else because their mantle was falling apart. As long as you believe in destiny of course everything's going to seem pointless!" Her tone had trailed from flat to excited in a matter of a sentence, ending with a brilliant flare of punctuation and a tiny wave to visibly punctuate her point. "Destiny ties people down."

 

She leaned forward and whispered almost conspiritorily. "And here's a secret. It's not the Force that feeds on conflict. It's the people. If they cared to know more about the Force they wouldn't waste time with trivial things like destiny and conflict! That's the nature of sentients. If they really, truly, deeply cared... they would just... let... go."

 

And fall into the Force.

 

For two seconds everything seemed to grow a bit darker around her words, words that seemed to hang in the air. Her eyes were holes into the galaxy instead of just dark brown and her hair was the webs that wove worlds together and her breath was the life that sustained every planet and every world...

 

Then Tiana smiled. "Conflict is a lifeline. People like lifelines, you see. They keep you sane."

[Sgt. Slaughter]

A pair of tractor beams from the Rancor locked onto Ms. Nargal's shuttle and pulled it into one of the MC90 Star Cruiser's smaller hangars, one that was typically reserved for the private use of the officers' shuttles. This time, however, a guard of twenty armed and armored Talons stood ready to take custody of the Lady Dathomiri's prisoner, as well as a single four-legged Wolf Spider battle droid.

 

Striding up the gauntlet was General Aesop, clad in the khaki uniform of a Republic officer. He and one of the four-man fireteams stopped at where the foot of the shuttle would drop, arms clasped behind his back, waiting for Zara to present herself.

[Reptilia]

Darkness

 

Reptilia was consumed by darkness. Was it his imagination? Did he hit his head? Was he hallucinating? Or did he die?

 

The circumstances were unknown but he knew he needed to escape. He tried finding an exit but couldn't even find a wall or barrier, it seemed to be endless. He tried to yell for help but he didn't get an answer. In the end after exhausting any and all resources he concluded that it was hopeless and collapsed onto the ground.

 

The familiar voice or more accurately-shriek echoed around the Kel Dor who jumped upwards to his feet as a response. He spun around defensively, trying to find the source of the voice. Visibility was nil, he relied on his other senses to distinguish where the danger was. He realized however that his attempts were futile, it was impossible to find something created of darkness hidden in darkness. He then decided to ask a question to the being.

 

"Where am I?"

 

Silence.

 

"Where am I?" He repeated.

 

Reptilia opened his eyes, he was in the pains of Naboo again. Was he going insane? Did he lose his mind? That's when he got his answer because in front of him stood... him. The other Reptilia walked towards him, he was different yet the same. As he approached he grabbed something from the ground and the last thing Reptilia saw was himself swinging something towards him.

 

((OOC:I'm bored, I'm making him schizophrenic for now. This post would have been better if I possessed the necessary writing talent and skills to pull it off but I don't.))

[Guest]

As the shuttle docked, Zara went through the post flight checks, shutting the shuttle down. Since she hadn't been feeling all that well, she'd taken the time to freshen up, washing her face and straightening up before she moved out to meet the 'welcoming committee'. She lowered the embarksion ramp and walked down to meet them.

 

"Pleased to meet you General Aesop. If you'll come this way I will be very happy to hand the prisoner over to you. Sith Cephi is in the room to the back of the shuttle, near the cargo bay. I'll take you through." Zara turned to lead them through to the room. "He's been stunned, hit with a paralysing dart during our 'scuffle' and has a neural collar on." As she said the last, she brought it's control unit out of her pocket and handed it to the General. Reaching the door she punched in the code that would allow the door to unlock, then stood back to allow the others access. All they needed to do now was hit the open panel that would slide the door back into it's recess. "He's all yours."

 

Zara stepped back to talk to the General. "I'll be much relieved once he is fully in your custody. He's been harrassing the Link, along with his master - Ar-Pharazon - for quite some time now. I've got a datapad that will show you everything that has been happening over the last several months since Ar-Pharazon surfaced again. I'm not sure if you're aware that the Link requested Alliance help previously?"

[Sgt. Slaughter]

A group of six soldiers followed the two into Ms. Nargal's shuttle, including their non-commissioned officer and a medic. When the Sith was presented to General Aesop, he noticed one of the privates in the fireteam grin at Zara's explanation, and the General instantly understood. Here was a woman who knew how to restrain a Sith, and she wasn't even of a military background””in fact, some of the Rebellion's commanders had made the foolish mistake of not following similar procedures and later found that a Sith could not be incapacitated so easily.

 

As Aesop understood it, the ground soldiers gave the procedure the mnemonic ”œThe Three S's: Stun, Sedate, and reStrain.”

[Emily]

As Tiana spoke, her words took on a deeper meaning, an echo almost. It was as if the Force resonated at a certain pitch at her words. There was something truthful and whole about her view of the Force and the workings of the universe.

 

And something whispered to Emily out of her past, bringing back the heartache of her father's death. "They would just...let...go..." Tiana's words echoed in her mind. It was as if...that was what had happened to her father. It was as if he had discovered the true nature of the Force, and that had been so overwhelming that he hadn't been able to go on living. The Force demanded his life in the exchange, and he had fallen in so deep that he had simply let go of everything holding him back.

 

Emily would never know if that was truly the case, but now she believed it, and that was good enough for her.

 

She realized that she had been quite some time, and now glanced up. "Have you let go?" she asked bluntly. "Are you...sane?" She didn't mean to sound like she was criticising Tiana, but she also wanted to know. If Tiana had traveled down this path before, then Emily wanted to know what it was like. She wanted, simply, to understand, and knew that while it would take decades to gain even a small understanding, Tiana's next words could illuminate the first steps.

[Cephi]

((I assume I am ”œin the brig”

[Guest]

(FYI: Zara did use a paralysing agent on him with a dart as well as the neural collar and stun bolts - it was one she got from Draken Shadowlord that he had used on Slicer - specially formulated by a Krath... doesn't matter that he is a substance abuser... this was used after she'd stunned him.)

 

"Yes, the Jedi did though with everything that was happening in the galaxy at that time we made do. We also contacted the Emperor, since we are a neutral organisation and I was after any help I could get. It seemed they were too busy too." She took a deep breath in, then Zara breathed out a sigh of relief when they carried Cephi off the shuttle and to the brig. She could relax for a short time at any rate. She couldn't help the coughing that followed though.

 

Zara handed over the datapad containing footage that had been put on holonet, along with scenes of the bodies that had been sent towards the Golden Link Casino, and with the comm message they had received from Cephi. Also on the datapad was Ar-Pharazon's threats, his "presents" to Zara - the baby rattle etc, and then the second one, the bodies. Everything that had happened to the Link in that time was shown, including Slicer's breaking in of the Link Headquarters on Coruscant.

 

"We came to an... arrangement with one of them. He at least had some principles."

 

(ooc: I'm tired and it's late, I didn't feel like searching through the threads for all the info... most of it's either in holonet or Casino threads)

[Jidai Geki]

Cephi, a couple of things: Zara did indeed hit you with a paralysing agent, as she explicitly posted in the space thread. Secondly, your character sheet does not mention any kind of resistance to toxins or sedatives. If that's one of your character's traits, it must be posted in your character sheet, and before it is, I would like to see some IC evidence that your character has spent time building up a resistance. Furthermore, even if he has built up a tolerance to a certain drug through abusing it, it doesn't follow that he's built up a resistance to every conceivable drug/toxin. That's like saying a heavy heroin user is resistant to arsenic.

 

Lastly, your character sheet makes no mention of hidden forearm blades or concealed fingertip blasters. Their use is nulled until such time as you can provide me or another mod with a link to a post in which they are installed.

 

EDIT- a post has been found which corroborates your fingertip blasters and retractable forearm blades, so consider that particular portion of the nulling retracted. However, the nulling of your drug resistance still stands.

[Tiana Calthye]

Tiana grinned. It was the grin of a snake, a kath hound, or maybe someone who just knew that the snake and the kath hound were there. Right behind her. Constantly.

 

Except it wasn't, it was just two other selves.

 

She laughed and let the grin drift to some other half-expression somewhere in between maniac and serious. Tiana picked up a cookie.

 

"I'm perfectly sane, the voices in my head just don't always agree with me. When I speak, it is the Force that speaks through me, just people don't always agree with that. It's not my voice that gives you pause. It's the Force that keeps you quiet, sitting there with your focus blurred and your thoughts on other places and things. There are three of me which resonate in the Force and it may be our voices that guide you but it is the Force you hear. Maybe you're not even hearing the words I'm saying, but some other words which to you ring true. That is the nature of the Force. Maybe I've let go and all you hear is the insane. Maybe I'm insane and you hear the voice of the Force through me."

 

Tiana smiled and took a cookie, focusing on removing all the chocolate from it with the Force. Each bit of chocolate had its own whisper in the Force, even if it was just the tiniest speck, so she sought for these. For a moment she was quiet, then continued as if nothing had changed.

 

"I was held by a Sith Master and when I faced my trials I met the darkness and it took my eyes and my sanity. You could say that I didn't chose to let go... but it chose me. It pulled me in. My line was cut and I fell in instead of letting go and drifting in. Unfortunately that line was my sanity. For some people it's their lives, I should be grateful. I wouldn't want to leave now anyway."

 

She let the pile of chocolate fall from the cookie into a neat pile on the picnic blanket, holding a now perfectly non-chocolate cookie.

 

"I have embraced the changes it placed upon me. I am not yet so wise to say that I willingly chose to accept what the Force took from me in exchange for what it gave. I wasn't pleased then, I didn't chose to embrace this. I have grown to embrace it. Wisdom, knowledge, power and strength. But when the Force gives, it also takes away. Nothing is given without a trade. I didn't chose to bargain for power, but I've certainly come to accept it and there may be a day when I chose to fall into the deep water of my own accord."

[Emily]

Tiana certainly seemed to have great knowledge of the Force. Her words seemed to ring eerily true, and Emily knew that she truly believed what she was saying. And each word made her feel more certain that that was the reason her father had died.

 

It was a little freeing to finally know the reason. She barely remembered it, but she did remember seeing him less and less, and when she did he hadn't paid that much attention to her. It was like something was drawing him away... A lot of the anger she had felt towards her father evaporated in that moment. He had only been trying to understand more of the great mystery of the Force; a path that Emily, too, hoped to go down. She couldn't blame him for not realizing that it would cost him his life.

 

But now Emily also faced a difficult decision. Would she choose to willingly go down the same path, knowing how it might end? Knowing that it might cost her sanity, her health, or her life? It wasn't a question she could answer easily. She picked up the discarded ball of chocolate from Tiana's cookie and popped it into her mouth. What would she choose to do? She felt very confused, and it didn't help that she was a teenager going through the normal uncertainties about who she was.

 

Finally, she turned back to the other two sharing her picnic. "You've given me much to think about, Master Calthye. Thank you. I need time to consider my decision, to see how far I'm truly willing to go. Or rather, to let go."

 

She pulled out a datapad and handed it to Tiana. On it was her comm number and contact information. "I enjoyed our talk, and I'd love to talk again. And perhaps...in the future...I'll be willing to walk in your footsteps. When that day comes, I'll find you," she promised. "I can think of no one more suited to set my feet on the right ways than you."

[Arclight]

Arclight watched, quietly munching a sandwich, as the two conferred in front of him. Although most of the conversation seemed to be linear in its path toward a repeatedly expounded upon theme, Arclight was interested in what Tiana had to say as well. It seemed his master was thoroughly drenched within the force's energy and it claimed her as a victim. She plunged into the waters of its bountiful energies only to find herself drowning upon its true nature. Arclight could only hope that this was not evident of everyone who hoped to embrace the true nature of the force. It tugged at his mind as he sat there, but something about the whole ordeal just seemed mind blowing.

 

Fuh couldn't think of another way to go aside from this one. The side of darkness was overwhelming and claimed his righteous soul while the "clearly defined path" of light denied a part of himself that he couldn't hide. Vengeance, rage and incurable hatred burned deep within Arclight as he sat, but he also embraced the lofty ideals of compassion and mercy. He was not a killer he was not a priest... Where did that leave him though? Some place between the two where the dividing lines cross? The inter dimensional moral purgatory that lay there for any Jedi or Sith that denied their true identity?

 

Arclight was thoroughly confused, but he chose to sit amongst the two ladies as they talked and to soak in what they had to say. It was intriguing to say the least, but it would seem that Arclight himself was starting to deny his own predetermined path. On the harsh winterlands of Hoth he was so determined to bring justice to anyone who needed it whether they liked it or not, but he looked at that past now with a wry and bemused smile. How naive I was... He thought as he sat there, but Fuh couldn't come up with a convincing reason aside from the anger that he felt toward his slave master for him to leave the prison. if that was the case, why didn't I search for him? Why did I go halfway across the galaxy to a place of snow and ice to find Tiana when that wasn't what I'd originally intended? Questions he couldn't answer right now and questions that would surely need to be answered before Arclight could even grasp any strain of the force's true entity.

 

His motivation skewed and his purpose seemingly bent, but not corrupted, Arclight sat watching as the Nabooian plains brushed about under the planet's majestic winds. He noticed though, between bites, that the conversation was coming to a close. Fuh could only wonder why the woman, even after having so much in common with Tiana's sayings and thoughts, would consider leaving. However, it was her decision to do so and he would say bye to her as she left as any good ethical stranger would.

 

((Btw Tiana... The guy in my sig is the guy from this pic http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t224/pinckz/hellgate_london_001.jpg))

[Dagon]

In a flicker of pseudomotion, the Starweaver arrived at Naboo orbit. While the world was republic held, Dagon's neutral status as head of Darkwatch, his "popularity" amongst the populace, and his citizenship meant he was able to travel freely to and from the planet. Landing at Theed spaceport, Dagon traveled by landspeeder to a few appointments, making a few speeches and doing a few interviews. It was a regimen that would soon be very familiar to him.

 

Afterwards he stopped by his Naboo estate for some time on the firing range. The zen of pistols was still very much a favored pastime for him, and his accuracy remained deadly thanks to routine practice.

 

Not long after it was time to put on his public face again. He gathered a collection of supplies and headed out into the rolling fields of Naboo. As he scouted for a spot, he became aware of a familiar sensation. When Krath craft something, they imbue it with their own spirit, their own signiature, it allows an admirer of the work to know the craftsman. Dagon recognized the signiature of his son upon a person... yes... a young woman. Curiosity caused him to follow the sensation to a picnic, where a handful of sensatives ate and conversed.

 

Dagon dismounted and strided over to them, the very image of the dashing aristocrat. Smile in place, he adressed them.

 

"I had hoped that I would find company on such a beautiful day for my meal. Would you mind if I joined you for some wine and conversation?" Asked the Devil with a smile.

[Emily]

Emily laughed to herself as the aristocrat approached. Was she going to attract every random wanderer on this part of the planet? She shook her head at her presumption, sure it had to be Tiana that drew the attention of this aristocrat.

 

She nevertheless gave him a smile. "We were just finishing up, but I don't mind lingering for a few more minutes. It is, after all, a beautiful afternoon."

 

Her words were true. In the distance were spectacular mountains, streaked with silver streamers that were waterfalls. All around them was quiet meadow, interrupted only by buzzing insects and the occasional peaceful herbivore.

[Tiana Calthye]

((Oh, okay, thanks. Sorry about the delay on replying; I've been awfully sick and RPing's one of the first things to go.))

 

Tiana wondered that datapads had become the new method of transporting data, but she slipped Emily a piece of flimsy with her own contact information on it before a bold aristocratic character strod across the meadow towards them. She wondered if perhaps he owned this meadow and they were trespassing but there was a signifignantly darker aura to his signature that...

 

The moment drew pause to her otherwise polite and personable demeanor. It had been quite some time since she'd been around other Sith.

 

"Well, maybe there is sound reasoning behind the idea of making Tiana's Tea Parlor," she grumbled, "because apparently every Force sensitive on Naboo's running to me. What a day for chance meetings." She regarded him with caution. Emily seemed signifigantly less dangerous. This one seemed the type to slip poisoned cookies into the picnic basket. "But you're welcome to join us. I have nowhere to go but where I feel I ought. And," she added, "that has been this meadow for the last few hours. Have a seat if you will."

 

She gave him an angelic smile.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

”œA Sith with principles. How novel.”

[Guest]

"Yes it was rather novel..." Zara murmured, a mysterious grin crossing her features. She still wasn't feeling too well, putting it down to nerves and the draining of adrenaline since this threat was now over.

 

She stood there with General Aesop as he received the message from Commander Slaughter then inclined her head as he explained who this person was. He sounded like he was well capable of dealing with this sith.

 

”œNow, what about this Sith you speak of? If he ends up on the wrong side of a battle, I won't hold my men back, but”¦ outside, we might be able to let him pass. What can you tell us about him?”

[Dagon]

OOC((Sorry about the delay in posting, car accident and the entailing insurance fight are stressful))

 

"It's always good to see a fellow member of the order who isn't totally dead to the world, the more zealous of our brothers and sisters tend to be bothersome."

 

Dagon poured some wine and offered it around, making sure to visibly drink some so that the others would know it was safe to drink. To be a Sith unfortunately meant living a life wrapped in paranoia.

 

"I can tell that you're not from here, tell me, what brings you to Naboo?"

[Tiana Calthye]

((It's quite all right. I'm pretty bad about post delays even without car accidents.))

 

She didn't eye the wine mainly because she didn't feel like bothering to use the Force for a triviality like seeing what color it was. But Tiana accepted it, feeling momentarily cautious and protective of her less Sithly apprentice--he hadn't, after all, met any real Sith masters yet. She was just... well...

 

She was...

 

Hahahaha. The Sith voice in her mind poked her. Haven't decided yet, have you?

 

Shhh. I'm thinking.

 

...Just herself.

 

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," she answered cheerfully, "and it was nicer than Hoth. I like nice places." Tiana sipped at the wine cautiously. It probably was excellent wine but she wasn't much of a wine drinker. "And you?" Titletitletitle... nah. If it offends him, he'll probably light you on fire and you have two perfectly capable people here to levitate water from a nearby river and extinquish it. You'll be fine.