The surveillance room was stark in comparison to the Sith common room. Its walls were bare durasteel, a wide range of vidscreens splattered across them. The table held a couple of holoprojectors and a computer for accessing the stored recordings. Miasa moved up to the table, pushing the chair aside with a certain vehemence. After that, she started watching the recordings, trying to find a pattern in which of the other Sith took what prisoner. After maybe ten-fifteen minutes, she still had not found a distinct pattern. Where all these Sith, even the Sith lords, fools?

She had gotten started on analyzing some of the prisoners’ data when she heard the door behind her hiss open. Twisting about, she put her hand on one of her lightsabers just in case.

“Oh, hello there, I didn’t expect someone to be in here.” Vivithe said, a disarming smile on her face as she took in the image in front of her of a serpentine, the gender of which she was not certain of. She raised a hand up to show that she was no threat to Miasa.

“I hope that I didn’t interrupt anything. I’m a new arrival to this fine ship and was just getting familiar with my new surroundings,” She added, then her gaze shifted towards the monitors in the room, as her eyes hung on one of them which showed a live feed. “They’re kind of predictable, aren’t they? Our fellow Sith?”

“Yesss. There doessn’t appear to be any plan to their picking prissonersss.” Neither seeing nor sensing any immediate threat, Miasa slowly let go of her lightsaber and lowered her hand. “Miassa. Architect.” She hissed out politely at the other Sith who had yet to present herself. She could see that the other Sith was primarily human, but with more Sith ancestry than most.

“It’s a pleasure, Miassa. I am Vivithe Lansha, a Sith lord. The only one I am not on this ship,” She said, with a friendly expression as she moved forward to look more intently at a monitor. “It’s almost like they’re just taking them one after another, no thoughts beyond the immediate kind. It is a difficult way to turn a Jedi that way, don’t you agree Miassa?”

“Miassa, not Miasssa, my lord.” She nodded in response. “It isss. There iss nothing on how much thesse prisssonerss know. Can they fight? Are they mossst loyal to the hated Jedi Order or their corrupt Republic? Who are weak to what measssuresss?” Her frustration was clear.

“Perhaps Darth Nyiss made it that way to force action? See how well the Sith are at gathering information. If she handed them that information on a platter then that would remove a way for her to test those onboard, it’s all a big game, my dear.” Vivithe said, then turned her head towards Miasa and spoke once more, this time with a friendly smile. “Please, call me Lady Lansha.”

“That sssoundss like her. My Old Masster isss that way, Lady Lanssha.” She found this Sith to be worthy of a certain level of respect. She was not rushing about the way others did. As a Lady, she must clearly have become skilled at it. “I will ssee who volunteersss tomorrow. Then I ssshall decide who sshall be turned firssst. Do you have any candidatesss of choicce?”

“Tell me, which of the Jedi have you studied most extensively? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts, who do you believe should be targeted, Miassa?” Vivithe asked her, her eyes upon the monitors, her hands folded behind her. She had her own thoughts but she wanted to know what the serpent knew first, or if she didn’t tell her anything, or lied, then that would tell her other things.

“The Jedi who are of ussse to usss, to the Empire. Ssome will take time, but time iss not of the esssencce.” Miasa did not yet know who knew what, but she intended to find out, even if she had to question them all.

“You are correct, nothing immediate is necessary. A rushed plan is far worse than a drawn out one, a far greater chance of failure, which in this setting could be costly.” Lady Lansha said, then turned and moved towards the table as she ran a single finger along it, thoughts in her head before she paused and glanced up at Miasa.

“Have you noticed the Twi’Lek girl? How she seems to have a close relationship with one of her fellow Jedi, another teenager. Not close as in friendship or mentorship, but rather the romantic kind. The type they always write stories about on the Holonet?” A devilish smirk came on her face as she spoke.

“I have not. Mammalsss relationsss are ssound messsy and convoluted. But that can be usssed. Turn one, and the other isss vulnerable. But which one?” Miasa brought up one of the recordings with those two, trying to make sense of it. She couldn’t understand what those found attractive in each other. Let alone between species where no viable hatchlings could be created. There was no sense in it.

“Why not both? If you let their feelings progress enough then they’ll be so madly into each other that they won’t be able to be separated. That can be used, my dear.” Vivithe said, then switched the recording to one of the prisoners in their cell. She forwarded it to a moment when Lea touched Xid, then allowed it to play. The red on the boy’s face evident at the closeness to the human girl.

“Even more interesting. We may yet have a love triangle here. The boy has feelings for both the Twi’Lek and this human girl. Do you see how he acts when they’re in close with each other? The heat on his face?” Vivithe said with another grin. Her fierce brown eyes narrowed at the thought of the plans that could be created then set into motion. The deliciousness of it just create an almost primal feeling in her, evident with the grin.

“Another angle that can be used. Nudges in the right direction would cause the boy great emotions as he holds feeling for both girls. The boy turning them down for the other would create more fearsome emotions in the rejected girl. So many options.” Vivithe said.

Miasa looked over at the recording. “I sssee the blood gathering in hiss face. That isss a ssign of attraction? Thiss hass potential. Turn two, and the third sshall follow. Sssomeone needss to educate them. They musst be encouraged to breed. Their Feelingss sshall be their downfall.”

“Yes, they shall be. We must use them to our advantage. Romantic love does not blossom overnight, we must be careful.” Vivithe said, then moved to another recording of the Sith, Jakali’s encounter with Xid and Shiri. She let it play and studied the reactions from the Jedi. She smiled as the scene of Xid’s anger when Shiri was threatened. She paused it on the image of the dead soldier, the boy over him.

“Love, see how brutally it affects the boy? Even a Jedi?” She asked.

“Excellent. Thisss will be usseful. Isss there anything that can be given to them to promote thisss?” Miasa smiled widely. “Jedi are weak. They flee their emotionsss when they sshould masster them.”

“Well, we should allow their feelings to progress, too much interference may destroy the plan entirely. Perhaps create the feeling of jealousy? An outsider showing interest or outright romantic aggression towards any of them, the girls or the boy may cause the others to react, if they are in presence when it occurs. Jealousy is a powerful weapon that can be harnessed.” Vivithe replied.

“All just another part of their hypocrisy.” She added.

“That iss an option. Making the two eggbearerss fight for the male would be nice. Sssomeone sshowing interesst in the male will make the eggbearersss jealousss. It needsss not be true interesst.” Miasa knew this would be interessting. “Perhapsss prisssonersss who cooperate sshall not be harmed ssso much? Ssselling out their republic for reprieve sshould weaken their loyaltiesss. Telling the othersss who has cooperated sshall tear them apart. The ssstubborn onesss of no value we sshould give to the Trandossshan. He isss a beasst, but he hass hisss usssess.”

“Loyalties tend to die when one's well being is at stake,” She had seen it happen before. The Jedi would be no different. When survival kicks in, everything else goes out the window. “Yes, he does have use. But we must tread carefully, a wild animal must always be watched, even when they are caged.”

“Agreed. Now what to do firsst? Break their loyalty to the Jedi or break their loyalty to the republic?” It will not help the war effort if thessse Jedi ssstart ussing the full power of the Force to sssserve the Republic. They need to do it in the ssservice of the Empire.” Miasa had heard tales of numerous Jedi who learned to use the full power of the Force, only to continue using it for the wrong side. According to the stories, the Jedi Order called them “Dark Jedi”. They were not worthy of much more respect than other Jedi. Sure, they did not cling quite so hard to the same weak ideals, but they still did not see the empire for what it was, more effective and fair, practically free from corruption. Overseen by the Sith, of course. The perfect system of government.

“The Republic will be an easier task, it reeks of corruption and hypocrisy, while the Jedi are too hypocritical, the Republic’s corruption is well documented. When their loyalty to the Republic breaks, then they will naturally question their loyalty to the Jedi,” She said. “They must be convinced of the Empire’s greatness, in their minds they believe it to be full of sadists, slave drivers and monsters. Not a more complex, layered thing.”

“The raw brutality and ssadisssm of certain Ssith isss troublesssome for thisss tassk. We need to ssshow them that in the Ssith order, thossse are the exception. Ssadissstss have their usssesss, asss do ssslavess and monsstersss. But they are not the true ssstrength or will of the Empire. Had it been, we would not have waited thirteeen hundred yearsss to ssstrike.” There were few things Miasa would not do to turn their prisoners. But no lie worked so well as one rooted in truth. Nine parts truth, one part lie. Few failed to believe that, especially when they could verify those nine parts. “Mosstly truth, sssome lie. That iss bessst.”

“A great lie is better than a harsh truth, it’s just a matter of selling it,” Vivithe said. “If told right, the Jedi will believe every word that is said to them.”

“And Miasa, speaking of the Trandoshan, as well as the other female Sith Lord on the ship, do not tell of this conversation to either of them. I don’t believe you would, but it would be go well for either of us if either of them learned of it. Their selfishness would force them to interfere with or even ruin what we have spoke of.” She added, as she looked right at Miasa’s eyes, her expression stern and serious.+

Nodding a little Miasa answered “Of courssse not, My Lady. Their sstrengthsss may be worthy of resspect and warinessss, but they are not ssafe.”

“What sstory sshall we sstart with?” she asked, respectfully. The Sith Lady before her might be younger, but she was powerful and worthy of respect.

“Appeal to the justice driven side of the Jedi. The stench of corruption in the Republic, especially the Senate. Politicians can be bought to sway their morals, even outright overlook injustices like murders, genocides and enslavement. This goes unpunished, in the Sith Empire, it would simply not. Corruption would be met with swift and total justice. Also, it may be wise to speak of their warmongering. When has the Republic not been at war? War that destroys planets, shatters families.” Vivithe said, deep in thought. “You have more free reign with this, Miasa. I trust you can come up with more damning evidence against their beloved Republic, perhaps some research may be needed.”

“Thiss isss more or lesss what I had in mind. I wanted to sssee that we were on the sssame page, My Lady.” she bowed respectfully as she answered.

“Which we are, our views seem to be in line on the matter, this is necessary if we are to succeed, tell me, Miasa. Have you encountered the other Sith, besides the two other Lords and Darth Nyiss? Do any of them peak your interest?” She asked.

“Asside from you and Darth Nyissss, I have not met the otherssss, but I know of them. I have read their profilesss. Only one sstandsss out, Apprentice Azariah. He valuesss knowledge. The othersss are unremarkable or unreliable.”

“Perhaps I will speak with him, it is sometimes difficult to find a Sith focused on knowledge over the more brutal ideals some of them practice,” She said, as her hand moved to scratch her chin as she made a mental note to find this Azariah later on. “Is there anything else you wish to discuss with me, Miasa? I have other matters to attend to, though our conversation has been intriguing.”

“There isss not. I too have thingsss to do.” was her reply. She pulled her coil tighter, then nodded respectfully to the other Sith, who clearly intended to leave. Moments afterwards, the Sith Lady pulled her hood up and departed. Miasa continued her studies, trying to determine which Jedi she should start with, even as she considered Vivithe’s words. It was good to have another planner to talk with. Someone worthy of respect. She had missed that after her training under Nyiss ended. She didn’t mind working alone, but having good peers was valuable. The doors slammed shut behind the other Sith, the vicious-looking teeth looking ready to crush bones. She had long ago decided not to get her tail end caught in one of those doors. She did not relish the idea of that particular source of pain.

Zanna smiled pleasantly, happy that she didn’t have to go to extreme measures. “Thank you.” She said, gesturing for the Jedi to walk through in front of her. As he did so the troopers filed out behind them and were soon dismissed. During the short walk to the chamber where she had left Vankel she let the Jedi walk under his own power, but watched him carefully. It wouldn’t do for her to make a fool of herself as Jakali had. One could only make so many mistakes before the Darth decided you were more of a detriment than a benefit.

She opened the door and gestured him in, glancing in distaste at the torture items laid on the table nearby. Vankel was also nearby on the rack, unconscious and loosely secured to it. As soon as the jedi had walked in, she closed the door behind them and walked a prudent distance away from Arix. “My name is Zanna. Despite all appearances, I don’t actually plan on torturing you. Rather, I want to learn something from you.”

The Red Sith pulled her datapad out and brought up the public arrest record she had created for Vankel Bansha. “This man is Vankel Bansha. We took him from Coruscant’s prison when we attacked the planet. He was imprisoned for illegal gambling, possession and use of an illegal substance,breaking and entering, burglary, rape, murder, and attempted murder.” She smiled humorlessly.

“Apparently, Mr. Bansha couldn’t accept the fact that he lost. So, after taking some Gunjack, he went to the home of the man who took all his money. He beat him within an inch of his life, and then raped his wife in front of him. He then killed both of them, and when the little boy came to see what the all the yelling and screaming was about, he attempted to kill the child as well. Alas, Gunjack ruins fine motor control so he merely crippled the boy for life. He was able to make a witness statement, Vankel left DNA evidence all over the house, and his competitor paid for security cameras on the outside of his home. Vankel was found guilty, but his defense managed to argue him down from death to merely life. Gunjack also ruins the ability of its user to reason, you see.”

Zanna gestured disgustedly at the man. “In the Empire, he would have been executed for his crimes and we would be done with him. In your Republic, he was allowed to live, even has a chance at parole. Doubtless something you approved of. Explain to me why? Why should he be allowed to live?”

Following along behind the woman, Arix took as much time as he could without being stunned to remember the layout, the hall structure--anything that might have been useful to him or still yet be useful to his companions. He tried not to wonder if he would come back at all, much less in what condition, but watching the woman ahead of him he was a bit disarmed. She didn't mover like he would have expected a Sith warrior to, her steps too light and her movements too loose. The zabrak from before was a fighter, a combatant--what kind of Sith, then, was she?

The room was similar enough to what he expected, unpleasant equipment and all, but the added companion in the unconscious man complicated things. He was big--bigger by far than Arix--but he wasn't imediately able to determine his pupose. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long, as the Sith was happy enough to explain.

Even if he didn't like what he heard.

Though she was out of reach, he felt reasonably confident he could take the saber from her if it came to it--he was fast, trained, and ready to do something. But then what? Would be fight his way out of the cruiser by himself? Use a single lightsaber to get back to the others in the hope they could escape somehow? And besides, the more she talked the more he thought, the more his eyes flicked to the man on the rack.

His crimes were awful, but they were just words to Arix, so far from his life that he almost couldn't grasp them. He tried to empathize, to understand what they meant as his master would have wanted, and quickly stopped--there wasn't anything that would help him down that road.

"You can assume whatever you want." He didn’t look to the woman, eyes on the criminal instead. "But there's a lot of future left for him. It's the place of the law to offer mercy when we don't want to give it." He did look at Zanna then, nodding his head to the implements on the table.

"You're sitting on board a prison vessel with captive children, dragging them at gunpoint to torture chambers." He pointed out wryly. "I'm not sure the Sith Empire has too much moral high ground at the moment."

“There was a lot of future left for his victims as well. Now all they have are two graves and a lifetime of emotional trauma and physical weakness. It’s the place of the law to give justice, not mercy. Justice can be merciful, but justice can also be merciless. Besides, his future was being left in prison until he rotted away. I don’t know about you, Jedi, but that does not seem like a future at all.” She shrugged as he nodded towards the torture implements.

“I don’t claim that the Empire is good. We’re just more open about our corruption.” Zanna gestured to the ship at large. “Most, if not all, of my fellow Sith are planning on killing, manipulating, or blackmailing someone to gain more power. Most of them have vices they indulge in. Everyone knows this, and no one condemns anyone for this. But don’t try to convince me that your Republic is any better. The slums of Coruscant, Nar shadda as a whole, and countless other places and planets all indicate that, for all their blustering, your politicians are exactly like our own. They just hide behind false masks of wanting to do good.”

“As a side note, I have no interest in torturing you or your friends. Though I can’t comment on my colleagues.” She smirked at Arix. “I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be willingly following my captors out. Gunpoint is the only way we can get you to follow us. Besides, I’d rather not be the first Sith to be rushed by all of you and overpowered.”

She gestured back to Vankel. “You haven’t answered my question. Why should I allow him to live? He’s given up his future by taking the future of three others. In my opinion he’s also given up his claim on life by taking the lives of two others and ruining a third. Shall I just assume you’re like me and equally enraged at this murderer of a father and mother trying to protect their child and just kill him?” Her lightsaber activated and was pointed at Vankel’s chest, ready to end his life in an instant.

Listening to her talk, he cocked his head to the side. This wasn't really what he'd expected, though he wasn't particularly complaining. He tensed slightly as her lightsaber activated, but as it wasn't pointed at him he forced himself to relax. It could be, and he'd need to be ready for the swing. "In the Republic," he said slowly, "he was given the possibility of parole, which means the chance of a free life where he can be of benefit to others. If he wants to ruin that for himself then that's on him, but its not my place to take it from him. I don't know what his future is like here, but you don't exactly paint a rosy picture for him."

“He’s most likely going to be killed, yes.” Zanna spoke bluntly, her lightsaber unwavering. “But if you can convince me why I should let him live, I’ll make sure he gets to live and is entered as a citizen into the Empire. As for parole, what makes you think he wouldn’t go back to his habits after pretending to be remorseful? More importantly, you haven’t given me why. He had his chance at a good life. The law was willing to overlook his gambling problems, and he could have been a benefit to others. Instead, he chose to inject himself with Gunjack murder two people and cripple a child for life. He’s already given up his chance at becoming a benefit to society, and I’m not inclined to give him another. So far Jedi, you haven’t convinced me to not kill him. You’re a padawan, are you not? You have to be, unless Jedi have been making their knights younger and younger. Surely your master has given you some teaching on the Jedi philosophy, and you can apply that to this.”

“My master is dead.”

His eyes narrowed. This was a game of hers, and he wasn’t going to play it.

“What are you getting at, Sith? I don’t think he should die because I swore to believe in compassion, which means embracing mercy by not killing those we take captive and believing in redemption by allowing them to seek it. I also swore to uphold the laws of the Republic--I don’t have to agree with them or pretend that they’re perfect to do that because I can accept that I’m young, that there’s much to learn, and that they exist as they do for a reason.”

“You want to know why you shouldn’t kill him? Because it’s beneath you. You have all the strength, all the power to be better than that, and if you choose not to be then that’s your failing, not his. For all I know you’ve done things as terrible as he has--I know some of your fellows have. So if you want to start cleaning up how about you start with people like you, who make no bones about killing the innocent and betraying one another to prove how superior they are but spend their time threatening men in chains to impress children.”

Zanna showed surprise and her next words were sympathetic. “You have my sympathies. I’m sorry for your loss.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Swore to? So you don’t actually believe in their compassions? It’s every Force user’s duty to question, not just accept. You Jedi are the ones meant to examine the laws, and then enforce them.” She chuckled gently. “Depends on your views, Jedi. I view some of things I’ve done as necessary for survival. Are you asking if I’ve killed before? Of course I have. It was either kill them, or let them kill me. Would you have just stood by and let someone poison you? Of course not.”

She blinked in minor surprise at him. “I’m not trying to impress you Jedi, flattered as you are. I’m simply trying to understand your views and how you think. Besides, if it was beneath me, why do you Jedi interfere in matters of justice all the time? Stories circulate the galaxy of Jedi mediating disputes, making decisions, and investigating to bring justice. What’s the difference? If you claim that I’m taking a life while you jedi are not I will counter with that Jedi have made the decision that sent a being to their death as well. They just didn’t kill them themselves.”

“The difference is that we are not executioners.”

“Oh yes you are. If you give them the sentence, it doesn’t matter if someone else wields the blade. You kill them, sure as the executioner does. A general who gets his men killed in one bad command is blamed for their deaths as much as the enemy who killed them is. Don’t try to take the high road here. Killers are killers, even if they don’t do it themselves.” Zanna replied.

In some ways Zanna was not at all as Sith were expected to be; she was not raving or emotional, not assaulting him or cutting at him. But that, as his Master would have said, did not make her any less dangerous or any less Sith. An enemy who cloaked themselves in reason was far more dangerous--he could see that now.

“You’re talking to a student within a greater order. Just because I am feeling less than compassionate after watching three of your fellows butcher my Master doesn’t mean they didn’t deserve a trial. Just because I didn’t want to give them that chance doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have had it.” His hands behind his back bore down on one another, nearly cracking his white knuckles. In some dark way it was fortunate that things happened as they did--if he knew who it was who killed her, had it been elsewhere, and had he not done as he had afterwards (however flawed), would he have resisted the urge to hunt them down? To take revenge?

Zanna filed away the information for later, keeping the rush of joy at finding a Jedi weakness off of her face. That was something to deal with later. “You don’t send the household pet to war, and leave the warbeasts home. We sent our dogs to the temple. They were let too far off the chain. But you can’t claim some of your warriors are any better. Complete lack of emotions is as dangerous as letting them rule you.”

He was getting distracted. He nodded to the man in the rack. “Our tenants aren’t as appealing as yours, Sith. We promise responsibility instead of freedom, a life in service instead of ruling, and you think that makes us weak--but it doesn’t. It is beneath you, because how much weaker is the woman who does what she ‘must’ to survive versus the one who does what is right and makes it work? Does he deserve another chance? Let him prove it, the way that you can prove that all you want to do is ‘understand’. Wake him up, let me spar with him for a minute, and if all he wants is to return to killing and drugs and crime I’ll give it to you--some people can’t be saved.”

Would she agree? He doubted it, but she’d surprised him already. Still, its what his master would have wanted. Right? He almost smiled at the idea of gambling on the rehabilitating power of the Republic’s penal system, but it was his only chance to win the man’s freedom back. It would mean revealing his skill at unarmed combat, but if it meant saving a man’s life what choice was there?

“If there’s nothing to save in him, I’ll put him down myself. But if he honestly wishes to walk a better path, you arrange that for him. And you have my word I won’t let him harm you either way.”

Zanna shrugged, turning off her lightsaber. “Fair enough Jedi. I don’t know what you hope to gain from sparring him, but that is your decision.” She couldn’t help but smile at his word. “That’s sweet. But I am the one with the lightsaber.” She walked to the prisoner, waking him up with a few light slaps on the cheek. “Vankel. This is....” She looked only briefly at Arix before continuing. “A jedi. He wants to spar you. What he sees during this will decide your fate.” She let him go and he stepped out experimentally, looking around as if he expected a trap.

When he didn’t see any trap forthcoming, he looked at Arix. It was clear he recognized an Echani, and warily got ready for a fight. He was obviously more used to street brawls than duels, and began edging carefully towards the implements in the room.

She’d missed his point, and so he ignored hers in favor of his newfound opponent; it was clear the man expected something untoward. Stepping forward slightly, Arix assumed an easy half-stance. This wasn’t to be a true battle, he knew that--he needed to make sure Vankel did, too.

“I’m trying to help you, not hurt you.” He said dryly, sinking into his knees. Dominant hand forward like a knife, the other behind it a curled palm, his feet in an easy split-stance. His chest hurt, but it would do for what he needed. “Show me that you deserve to be free, that your crimes are behind you and you’ll leave here to make amends. Otherwise you won’t.”

Vankel raised an eyebrow. “And how, exactly, is beating me up going to prove that to you? I know enough about Echani to realize I’m in for a world of hurt. I like not having broken bones, thank you very much.” He kept edging backwards until he hit the table with the implements. He grabbed a knife and raised it defensively in front of him, looking far more confident.

Even as he assumed his opening stance, such as it was, Arix worked to keep his face from falling. In defense he was a brute, an aggressor--he looked to fend him off with the blade but also for opportunities to use it. He was desperate, that much was clear from the weight he shifted, the balance he changed, but more than that there was no hesitation, no resistance. Confident with a knife, familiar with using it and more than willing to use it again.

There was no remorse, no greater lesson learned. He would be at best a man ducking the law, and at worse something else entirely. It wasn’t hard to imagine him settling a Sith soldier’s mask over his face and delighting in the opportunity it presented a man of his character.

When Zanna had set him free, Arix hadn’t intended to so much as break a bone. He had hoped--really believed even, for a moment--that he would see more in the man than that. But as he slipped past a stab, blocked at the wrist a strike that would have caught his cheek, stepped in and blocked with a knee the kick that would have broken his already sore ribs, well…

He saw a thug, plain and simple. Reprimanded and scared, but still a thug. And Arix kept his word, even to Sith.

The strike was fast, the counter smooth. A thrust was caught, the wrist twisted until the knife popped free, caught, and planted through the bottom of his chin with rough, sharp efficiency.

He hoped he died before he knew what hit him.

There was a moment of pure terror in Vankel’s eyes before the knife killed him. Fortunately, death was nearly instantaneous. Zanna merely closed her datapad as his body hit the ground. “True to your word. I’m surprised. Regardless this has been enlightening. I think, however, it’s time you went back to your cell mr…?”

Blood.

Lightsabers are bloodless things. They cauterized as they cut and left Arix unprepared for the arterial burst that spattered his hands, his face... for a moment he thought he might be sick, but he remembered where he was and straightened. Placing the knife gently on the table with a shaking hand, the echani stepped back.

Bad bet.

"That would be best." He murmured, unable to look at either Sith or corpse. Her question was lost on him.

“Death is never easy. Much less when you see the results of your own actions.” Zanna commented, opening the door and calling to the three troopers outside. “Two of you take the prisoner back to his cell. The third, deal with this corpse.”

As the troopers went about their orders, Zanna walked in the opposite direction of Arix, smiling and humming lightly to herself. Poor Vankel. All he did was rob a store and get in a drunken brawl. Unfortunately, the Echani didn’t know that, did he?

Dreams, vivid and fast fading, twisted into unwanted memories while he slept. Xid tossed in his sleep. Restlessly his body curled up in his robes and moved about, feeling the dread fill his mind once more. That day settled to the surface against his desire. No longer locked away, it taunted him in his effort to rid himself of the horrors he wanted to forget. He curled tighter into a ball, his breath heavy and skin sweating in a cold chill leaving him shaking in his sleep. It had been too long since these nightmares had returned. A fact that he was ill prepared didn't help as he tried to brush away the fear creeping into his focus.

Why was he ever sent to that planet in the first place?

The question spread and scattered over his mental calm, ripping it to pieces with each echo. It would've been better if someone had driven a nail through his skull than let him live this again. A mercy really. But that was the last thing he should expect on a hellish ship like this.

It was nearly a year ago when he first arrived on the frozen planet called Belsavis, a high tech and secretive prison planet where the Republic's worse were kept. They were locked away from civilization for their crimes because the technological advances deemed it impossible to escape from. For some strange reasons, the Republic Council had contacted and promptly requested the Jedi Order's aid in researching the technology located there. Namely to discover how to further improve planetary defense systems against Empire attack, their losses killing Republic moral, and seeking to end the war in their favor. Since the technology required force-based knowledge and skill, Xid and his Master were chosen to take on the task. They were cautioned against any action that would lead to new weapons derived from the ancient relics by the Jedi Council though only Sela had met them personally. This memory would be one among many from the horrors within which would haunt him forever and leave him scarred internally.

~|Besalvis, 2 years ago|~
Mirror, Mirror, Who's the Darkest One of All?(Part 1)

The moment they stepped off the ship's landing pad, Xid succumbed to the bitter wind chill nip. It whipped across his lips and he knew they had turned purple, frozen by the dangerously low temperatures. Immediately his arms huddled around him while his eyes sought Sela. She was also bundled in thick furs and boots much like himself, and already heading toward a distance green. It wasn't far away. The tropical scenery was out of place within this frigid wasteland and easily spotted. Inviting enough, he turned to follow his master's lead. When his boot hit the snow, however, it sank. He grunted when his foot buried itself up to his middle calf and stuck fast. His blue eyes twisted into confusion as he peered downward, inwardly groaning at his misfortune. Feeling the flurries collect on his still figure, his arms started to pry themselves out by gripping his knee before jerking up.

Once... twice... plop!

When his leg released, Xid instantly lost his balance. His body curled back and his ass flopped upon the wet snowbank with a muffled yelp. Sela's crunching steps stopped when she heard his struggle, her figure twisted back and coming to into view once more. She struggled toward him and reached out her arm to aid him. Sighing, Xid held out his own for her to grab while she grunted, pulling him upright once more. Where his fur had landed in the snow, he felt wet and cold, the ice seeping into the under robes he wore just to make him miserable. Undeterred, the young padawan trudged along in his master's wake. Shivering in shame.

A few hours later, the frozen landscape faded into a warm, humid scene. Feeling the heat creep up on him, Xid gently removed his coat and slung it over his shoulder for the time. It wouldn't take long before where his body was stiff and frigid, sweat began to pour causing him to wipe his brow. He gave a weak smirk at his master followed by a gentle comment. “I'm not sure which is worse, master. Either trudging though the frozen wasteland or sweating within the tropics here.”

Sela chuckled lightly. She was already pulling off her own coat, followed by her over tunic and the boots, to lighten her load. “I much rather be sweating then freezing, Xid. Namely as I find it easier to peel layers you have than wanting to add more that you don't. Now, lets get to that prison before we end up melting, shall we?”

Her lighter layers seeming to have done the trick because she started to walk off bare footed toward the looming building. Eagerly cutting the distance, she expected Xid to follow in her wake. She was right of course. After being shown the example, Xid was shortly free of his boots and over tunic as well then he darted into the thick ferns after her. He could hear Sela's soft laughter when he ducked into the brush. His feet slapped the filthy ground running and shoved apart the greenery aside in his path, trying to catch up.

In a few hours, itchy fronds scratched at his hot skin making it twitch in reaction. Bugs were buzzing about his figure, irritating or worse, to curiously explore him trespassing upon their residence. Shortly a pyramid shaped building came into view for the Jedi. Unable to sight see, Sela quickly ushered him to the entrance where several armed troopers were awaiting their arrival, their forms dressed in the crisp, clean uniforms and bearing the Republic sigils on their right breast. Their blasters were held at the ready as they tensed on spotting movement, becoming ridged at seeing Sela and Xid edge their way into view. Instantly, one man, the obvious captain as shown in his outer wear, had stepped forth to meet them halfway. His polished boots clipping on the stone path before he came to a halt before the pair and raised his hand to saluted Sela, greeting her first in correct protocol. Being in his late thirties, black hair and hazel eyes, he stroked his beards when his gesture ended in a nervous habit.

“Welcome, Jedi Master Sela. We've been informed you'd be arriving and prepared you a living space for your stay though I'm regretful to inform you it's not much.” His voice stressed to keep steady and calm.

Xid;s eyes tightened on the reaction and out of habit, he caught Sela's eyes. She nodded, agreeing with his instinct, though she refused to comment out loud. Instead her arms folded into her thinner robes and took a respectful bow at the Captain then replied in a causal manner. “The living accommodation matter very little Captain, my Padawan and I will likely be very comfortable nevertheless during our stay. Would you be so kind as inform us about the prison and the technology Xid will be studying?”

“Certainly...” With that, the Captain stepped aside then held out his hand for the two to head inside first.

Sela cautiously, but calmly, lead the way inside.

Xid's body shot upright, his mind jerked awake. His eyes snapped open and breathing heavy when his desperation for the memories to cease finally woke him up. The boy was shaking violently at the recollection though the dream had only gotten through the beginnings. He hadn't even met the real cause for concern yet. Immediately Xid swung over his legs to the bedside and leaned over, his breath trying to resume a suitable pace. In and out, his mind began to coach his lungs into breathing correctly. His hand came up to ruffle his short hair in unnerved gesture and slowly, his jitteriness faded. Inwardly he scolded himself over breaking down so easily after only meeting a few Sith and one rotten experience, not even a violent or cruel one, had unraveled him so easily. It was enough to make him frown even more at his lacking strength.

It was obvious now to him who the weak link was.

Who was easy prey and Xid hated it. His mind reminded of Tolun's facts that he was the main means to escape and because of that, their best hope to see outside this ship without giving up who they were. The price for that was he would be forced to see his fellow Jedi attempt to protect him as much as they could against the Sith's efforts. Namely because if he fell, any chance that relied on him was gone too.

The knight sighed, his hand ruffled his scalp in unease, then hoisted himself upright. He needed to wash away his worries before they finally devoured him and just sitting on the bed wasn't helping. His feet dragged his way to the public showers, boots scuffling across the parasteel flooring and into the room. The first thing he noticed was the lacking in privacy. The showers were seeing through and the toilets practically hid nothing, Xid's teeth gritted in discomfort when his body succumbed to the natural tingling to take care of business. Pausing long enough to edge back through the door and ensure no one was coming, Xid emptied his bladder then proceeded to the next problem: taking a shower. He didn’t want to. however, going around clammy and sweaty wasn’t something that appealed much to him. Especially since he felt it screamed the truth, that he was far weaker than the other, which the least helpful in this situation. Unlike Tolun, Xid knew his anatomy didn't hide enough to allow him comfort in publicly bathing. An anxiety built at the thought of the female Jedi waltzing on scene, his teeth tightened against the urge to forget the shower, returning to the main complex where he didn’t have to risk it. It won’t solve the problem in the future.

The knight sighed, deep down he knew it was likely best to rig up a temporary solution then get it done and over with quickly. Rather than prologue until it was unavoidable. He stood back, his fingers pressed to his chin, and mentally studied his options.

Ever since being captured, Lea had not been a deep sleeper. When you never knew when you’d be forced to do something, be it endure pain, listen to a lecture on Sith history or something else, you learned to not only wake at a moment’s notice, but to also be attentive. Only luck and, after a while, experience, ensured that she didn’t have any major scars from the Sithspawn the Darth had released into the cell she occupied at the time.

Fortunately she believed the Darth would not risk releasing Sithspawn into this cell complex. At least not yet. Jedi prisoners weren’t that easy to get by. The Darth would not want to waste their lives with simple exercises in terror. Thus, when Lea woke up, the first thing she did was to rub sleep from her eyes, listening to the sounds of the surrounding rooms. She neither heard nor sensed any immediate threats. Tidying up her bed, she tucked the edges of the duvet into the sides of the bed frame, pulled on her robes, before jumping down to the floor. She left her boots behind, deciding to walk barefoot out for now.

She had slept fairly well, for while the beds were spartan, they were comfortable enough, as was the room itself. The air was neither dry nor humid, the ventilation sufficient without being excessive. As Lea left the bunk room, she listened for sound from the other prisoners. There weren’t many. Most were the slow, steady breathing of people who were still deep asleep. Not having anything else to do, she wandered towards the sanitation room.

When she got there, she saw Xid standing there, seemingly doing nothing. It was pretty obvious that he was thinking, seeing how his rate of breathing didn’t fit with him being asleep. She walked up behind him, then tapped him on the shoulder. “You planning to stand there till some Sith comes in and drags you off, or are you going to take a shower?” she asked him.

“Um, no,” He stammered over his words. His body jumped at the unexpected touch, his head snapped back to see it was Lea. His shoulders relaxed and eyes followed her figure, his mind stumbling over her last words,” I was trying to figure out how to provide some modesty while I did.”

Lea walked past him as he answered, stopping by the shower stall closest to the turbolift. “I’ll be taking one at least. I really don’t like walking about all day with the previous night’s sweat.” With that said, she nonchalantly pulled off her robe before stepping into the shower and turning it on. If she had once believed in modesty, she no longer cared all that much about it. She was sure it was nothing he hadn’t seen before in any case.

It didn’t take long when Lea began to strip for Xid’s face to turn a deep, distinct shade of crimson. His whole body stiffened while he turned on heel. His hands covered his vision sides and his feet made a beeline for the exit, trying to give Lea as much privacy as he could possibly within the circumstances.

Seeing how Xid suddenly rushed out, Lea began to suspect that maybe it wasn’t something he had seen before. “Oh well…” she muttered before going back to cleaning herself. Occasionally she had the vague feeling that someone was watching and it didn’t take more than a glance to verify that it had to be Xid peeking over his own shoulder. She felt a bit odd about it. On one hand, it made her face turn a little red with shame, on the other, it was strangely invigorating. She didn’t know what to make of it.

Xid was tapping his foot outside the doorway, his face hot to his own touch that he knew he was blushing like crazy. A nagging curiosity was tugging at him to look over his shoulder and spy, but he resisted. Barely. It didn’t help his eyes kept drifting behind him, managing to catch something out of his vision corner before he jerked his face forward. Xid felt his face get redder and redder at realizing what he had done. To prevent further temptation, his body shuffled to the side where he pressed on the solid wall, fighting the urge to satisfy his hormonal need for more data. He spoke, loud enough for her to hear, keeping his eyes focused on the floor.

“Let me know when you’re done...please Lea, make sure you’re dressed.” He asked, then mumbled. “I don’t know much redder I can get if I saw anymore.”

Lea reacted with a small laugh at how shy he was, then found her own face reddening in reaction. “Sure, ok.” she replied, preparing to turn off the shower.

Melloch eyed the various doorways throughout Mos Eisley with dismay. He had known that the place was a human settlement and likely wouldn't have the slightest care for anyone that was as large and bulky as a Herglic. Still, it would have been a pleasant surprise to not have to figure out how to get through a door that wasn't designed for his size. His looking around of the various buildings was cut short as he saw an argument in front of the building where Karlie was supposed to have set up shop. It didn't take long for the situation to be revealed as the words being exchanged reached his ears. Well, isn't this lovely. Melloch grimaced in distaste, before speeding up slightly and getting to the group before things got nasty. "Gentlemen! What seems to be the problem?" He asked with a friendly smile, looking down on the humans. He stretched out his Force Empathy and got hit with the strong emotions. Experience at suddenly feeling all the emotions of others helped Melloch keep his facade up.

Fear. Karlie. No doubt because of the blaster happy fool. Regret and rage too...something to do with Janglor or Jiek? Irritation and Aggression. No doubt the blaster wielding headman. Calm. Great, one of them is a killer. Anxiety. Inexperienced thug then. It's the nervous looking one I'm willing to bet. Melloch spoke again. "Is this about Karlie not paying debts? You shouldn't worry. My friend," The Herglic gestured vaguely to the other Jedi as they approached, "over there is well acquainted with Karlie, and assures me he's as good as his word. Have you tried getting this Jiek's side of the story?"

Zanna woke up immediately to the sounds of someone moving about in the room. Opening her eyes, one hand already going to her lightsaber, she saw it was Jayda. Slowly getting up and moving about. Damn the Zabrak and their pride. She thought wearily, considering just letting Jayda go. But she knew she couldn’t just risk Jayda pushing herself too far. Sitting up she spoke softly, watching the Zabrak. “You really shouldn’t be standing after losing that much blood. Much less preparing to go wherever you plan to go. You can barely stand, by the Force. It’s not a sign of weakness to realize your limits and to know when you need to rest and when you need to push yourself.”

Jayda was shivering, inside and out, her mind drenched in more questions than her body covered in sweat. It was poisoning her. All thanks to Sish, she needed to collect and calm her mind, there was only one thing that give her peace. Movement mediation, physically gathering her conflicting emotions then storing them away for another time.

The only problem was her body was failing to obey. Jayda's body stumbled a bit and immediately her hand came out, steadying herself against the bed fame. Her knuckles were pure white in their grip when she heard Zanna's voice ring out nearby. The Zabrak's head turned to spot the Red Sith sitting upon another cot, her body postured in a nonthreatening manner, as her legs settled over the edge and used it like a chair. It was then that Jayda's eyes drifted downward. She glimpsed the makeshift patches and blue traces of the goo lining the uncovered wounds, realizing slowly what had occurred.

Jayda edged from the bed frame towards Zanna. "I've suffered much worse from him. At least this time, I wasn't left hanging on the Kashyyyk forest floor."

She closed her eyes, fighting the edging vertigo, as she added. "Now why are you here?"

“Congratulations. The only problem is, this isn’t Kashyyyk. You’re in your room with someone who doesn’t want to kill you. I think you can afford to stop pushing yourself. Blood loss isn’t helpful, and I suspect that some of the other Sith will take Nyiss’s relaxation of the rules as ‘open season.’ If you walk out there, they’ll smell blood in the water. And when the swarm you, how will you kill him then?” Zanna replied, eyeing Jayda’s state. I could kill her now.

“We had an agreement, remember? I get to sleep in your room and not have to worry about people stabbing me in the spine, you train me in lightsaber combat, and I teach you how to better use the Force. Besides, I overheard Sish’s...lesson to you, and got a little too close. After Sish left, I managed to actually apply helpful goo to your wounds rather than leaving them to their own devices. Then I went to sleep. If you had died, then who would have taught me lightsaber combat and not killed me?”

"You should never had gotten close. You're lucky he didn't do much worse." Jayda growled as she noted the patch over Zanna's cheek.

Her eyes lingered over the likely to scar injury before her vision became blurry and she closed her lids, her stomach curled. Immediately her balance tilted backwards causing her arm to whip out and catch herself, stopping her path to plant her face into the floor. Knees threatened to give out from under her making her hiss internally at the weakness being shown. She knew if Sish been present, he would've sent her through a wall because of this.

She huddled out a sarcastic reply. "The trouble can't be worth teaching a simple lightsaber combat. You would've gotten sloppy if you managed to end up in having to engage someone."

“I’m well aware how lucky I am.” Zanna gave a slight smile, before her eyes widened with alarm and she shot to her feet as Jayda nearly hit the ground. “By the Force Jayda swallow your pride and get back in bed.” Zanna took a careful two steps towards her, ready to catch the Zabrak should she fall again. And here I thought pride would have been weeded out under Sish. The Red Sith couldn’t help a slight chuckle at the sarcastic reply. “I have a weakness. One of these days this weakness is going to kill me. You’re the only one I trust to not kill me while helping me fix this weakness, because you need me to help you fix your weakness. So yes, the trouble is worth it. I like living.”

"Then why encourage it? How, for complete certainty, can you so sure I won’t kill you one day? I won’t get tired of trying to overcome your weakness then end your life in a sparring accident?" Jayda hissed out, her mind trying to right herself. Her voice sounded strained with a mixture of anger and pain.

“I don’t. But I do know you don’t like your weaknesses. And I do know that I can beat you through your weakness, and you know it too. Any ‘accidents’ I’ll be able to stop with my own Force.” Zanna retorted.

Damn it… She internally cursed, feeling her lids become heavy, as her knees began to wobble underneath her. Her fingers tightened their grip to steady herself, determined to manage her own weakness, baring her teeth through it. All the time she continued to ignore Zanna’s reasoning. She wasn’t about to let Sish’s damage win and her mind was too stubborn to merely give up, her feet instinctively inching toward the door. Her emotions swirled in a chaotic energy about her thoughts causing her no sense of peace or control. All she got from it was pure, unmanageable rage at the thought he might win.

At seeing the movement outside her vision corner, Jayda’s hand jerked upward. A surprisingly powerful force energy caught the fellow apprentice’s figure and pushed her back a few feet, the Zabrak casting a warning glare in the Red Sith’s direction. Her voice was thick with leashed anger when she warned Zanna off. “Don’t push me… he’s not won yet. And this...energy isn’t for you, so make me use it.”

Zanna skidded back before her own Force came up and pushed back. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but she merely prepared herself better. She wasn’t going to let the damn Zabrak get herself killed because of stubborn pride. She tried a different tactic.

“The Zabrak are a warrior race, right? Warriors know when they need to rest, and when they need to push themselves. When you’re tired, you push yourself. When you’re sore, you push yourself. When you’re about to fall over and can barely walk without falling you rest. Think Jayda. You’re smarter than him. Stop thinking like a brute and start thinking like a warrior. If you push yourself like this, unnecessarily, you’re liable to kill yourself. And then where will you be?”

Jayda refused to let herself fall. Though her knees were clearly about to give and her bitterness clawing at her mind, needing an outlet she was being refused. Zanna didn’t understand she couldn’t take the mellow or relaxed form of mediation. Her fingers dug into the bedside and pulled herself upright, her legs twisted into water within while threatening to bring her back down. “I might be smarter but that hasn’t done me much good. It didn’t in Tattooine and it hasn’t here. Besides, you don’t understand and I don’t need your help.”

The Zabrak took another step toward the door against Zanna’s advice.

Zanna took a step, before rolling her eyes in exasperation and pausing. She didn’t want to fight the Zabrak, certainly not in as a public manner as the rage wafting off of her would seem to suggest. “You’re right. I don’t understand Jayda. But that’s because you haven’t told me anything.” Her mind stored that Tattooine was significant away for later, as she continued. “Everyone needs help at times. It’s one of the Sith’s faults, that we are so ambitious, so solitary that we often can’t trust each other beyond mutual hate. At the very least do whatever you plan to do here. That way, your weakness won’t be there for everyone and their friends to see, and I’ll be able to help you should you collapse. Fair?"

"Even if you knew, it won't make a damn difference...unless you can use it or it benefits you. Neither it will do.” Jayda growled.

She foolishly tried to increase her pace only to have her knee immediately give out and pulled her attention to her sudden drop. The knee hit the ground hard, sending pain into her focus, causing her to bit back a cry. She was hanging by her arm now and unable to get back up. One of the bandages had started to drown itself in red, clearly ripped open again by the her recklessness. Jayda reached her hand to stifle the leak as she gently lowered herself to the floor.

Zanna sighed, walking carefully towards Jayda. “You’re barely going to make it outside the door. Much less to where ever your going. I’m already well aware you’re about as threatening as a child right now. I won’t do anything to take advantage of it. But the other Sith don’t have anything to keep them in check. You think Jakali won’t use this? Or the other human? Lord Jewel? Stay here and do whatever you need to, but think for a moment and realize you’re only making your situation worse by going outside.”

Jayda’s head whipped up, her eyes narrowed and teeth bared in a low growl. Her nose snorted at the mention of Jakali, knowing he would no longer be trouble to anyone, her arm tensed while she gently edged into her bed. Her other hand feeling the wetness seep into her hand and lowered her gaze to see the damage. Her palm was stained red from her own blood. The bandage had already started to peel away and come loose into her hand, the wound still tinted blue. She slowed her breath, careful not to slip into a meditative state, when she tried to stop the wound’s bleeding. “Unless Jakali could come back from the dead, he can’t harm anyone. You were lucky to escape Sish because he ended up taking his wrath out on me before he got to you and killed the foolish apprentice. “

Zanna blinked, her only physical reaction to the news of Jakali’s death. Mentally, she was ticking off another enemy killed and removing him from consideration of her plans. “He wasn’t careful enough around a Sith Lord.” Zanna said simply. “I was.”

The Zabrak clutched her hand tightly to her side to ease her wound’s bleeding. Knowing she was losing more by the minute, her “Shit…”

The Red Sith raised an eyebrow, sarcasm entering her voice. “Oh, have you finally realized walking around and reopening your wounds is a bad idea? And here I thought you were going to ignore all those pesky and annoying things, like blood loss and your distinct lack of being in any condition to do anything, in favor of sheer stubbornness.” Zanna held up her hands, and the nearly empty jar of blue goo flew into one while bandages flew into the other.

“Shall I or can you do it yourself?”

“I can do it myself.” Jayda nearly snapped, her tongue held back as she tried to rise upright.

The attempt failed like the others. Her foot crumbled underneath her and the zabrak knee hit the bed frame, bring a sharp pain for her trouble when she slammed into the floor. It hurt like hell. Her hand, covered in blood, reached out to stop her and all it managed was a bloody smear on the mattress’ surface. She was down on her back and breathing harder, unable to purge her mind of the dizziness. Not the best place to be in when she was this weak, her instincts screamed at her, as she tried to rise back up.

Zanna sat crosslegged across from Jayda, sliding over both the bandage and the blue goo to the Zabrak with the Force. She didn’t want to get too close to Jayda when she was dizzy and liable to lash out at anything. Now that she was certain Jayda wasn’t going anywhere to do anything stupid, she felt a slight amusement at the Zabrak’s struggles. How many times will that happen, I wonder, before she gives up? Zanna thought idly, watching Jayda attempt to climb back up again. “If you keep trying that, you’ll lose more blood and not be able to patch your reopened wound. Soon to be wounds, at this rate.” She noted.

Jayda frowned at the Red Sith's amusement as she passed over the goo and bandages. The Zabrak's eyebrow raised in question and natural suspicion, her hand cautiously reached for the items. Still lying on her back, she took a few cleansing breaths when her fingers clasped the hard surface and dragged nearer.

Gingerly she pulled herself upright into a sitting position, Jayda paused to look at her wound. Her hand pulled away sticky and red. Her wound still bleeding profusely while she gritted her teeth through the pain. Removing the flimsy, soaked patch, she tossed it to the side then hoisted the goo in front of her. Mentally she was weighing the risk.

Jayda popped the lid open and coated a little on her finger tips, smearing it over it. She flinched and hissed at the flaring ache she caused. The apprentice inhaled and braced herself again, tending to another wound. The bleeding had clotted well leaving her to place the bandages on them, a practiced skill since she was often left to tend her own wound then usually cared for.

"How long have you been here?" Jayda asked through grinding teeth.

A light, amused, smile crossed the Red Sith’s face at the Zabrak’s suspicion. She applauded Jayda for it, but found it funny how blatant she was about it. You haven’t been in this world long, have you? “I assure you, it’s the same jar from before. Doesn’t even have anything added to it, if that’s what you’re worried about. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it while you were unconscious. It’s remarkably easy to break something important to someone’s breathing while they’re asleep.” With that disturbing comment, Zanna idly checked the time, mentally searching for when she had arrived. “Around five or so hours. I tended to your wounds and my own and then went to sleep. You woke me up as you struggled to get up and move around.”

"You should've just left after tending my wounds." Jayda growled, her attention aware of the wording used.

She didn't like the fact that Zanna had been in a prime position to kill her and continued to patch herself up, tightly. Sish had made the same mistake once and she chased him halfway across the galaxy. He never made that error again. She chose to keep silent about it as she flinched when her fingers pressed too hard, her bleeding budded again, and pulled back her hand. Her eyes lowered then thudded her head back. Instead of closing the wound on her shoulder, she had made it worse in her distraction causing her to growl in frustration. She cursed in Zabrak quietly.

“Perhaps.” Zanna agreed, eyeing the Zabrak. “But then you’d be bleeding out on the floor and I’d be wide awake waiting for a Sith to try and kill me in my sleep. You’d be dead, and I’d be out of a teacher for lightsaber combat. All in all, it’s better that I was here, don’t you think?” She looked on in exasperation as the Zabrak made her wound only worse. It was almost as if she wanted to hurt herself more.“Would you like help? I’m going to assume no because of your stubbornness, but it really seems like you’re only making things worse.” She didn’t move towards Jayda, waiting for the Zabrak’s expected denial.

Jayda's eyes were becoming difficult to keep open, weighing down over her sight. She was breathing heavier as she leaned further into the bed, feeling the weakness spread in her body. The realization partly worried her. It was a feeling she had only recalled a few times in her life and many times, she was close to dying. She couldn't die now. Not on this ship and certainly not before she killed Sish.

"No... I can... Do it." Jayda stated frankly and again proved Zanna correct, though she couldn't lift her hands.

“Oh by the Force you’re such a stubborn one. I wonder. Will you let pride kill you or will you give into sensibility?” Zanna smirked, watching as Jayda slowly began to pass out from the blood loss. Carefully she got up, walking towards Jayda. Once she was within arms reach, she picked up the forgotten bottle and dredged up the remnants of the blue goo and beginning to apply the alchemical substance to the Zabrak’s wounds. She ignored any of Jayda’s protestations, giving another amused glance at her unwilling patient, while waiting for the Zabrak to pass out.

When Jayda finally did pass out, Zanna breathed a sigh of relief, stopping in her movements. Critically, she examined the Zabrak’s broken body. “You’d better really appreciate this.” She muttered under her breath, hands above Jayda and moving in intricate gestures. The dark side grew in the room, though no more than if one was meditating with the dark side, as The Red Sith began to mutter in her native tongue.

When she was finally done, breathing hard and exhausted, she used the Force to move Jayda’s unconscious body back onto her bed. Crawling tiredly into her own bed Zanna muttered aloud, “We’re both going to get large breakfasts, and then work on killing each other in the morning.”

Sleep did not come easily to Andri, as she tossed and turned in the small but not uncomfortable bunk for what felt like hours before finally slipping into an uneasy sleep. Snippets of the discussion she’d had with Lea flitted in and out of her dreams, accentuated by images and half memories from her time travelling the galaxy as a diplomatic. They challenged her subconscious with thoughts she had never had before; was the Republic as good as she had been taught? Where the Jedi truly doing all they could for the good of society and the citizens as a whole? The black haired woman knew that the Jedi Order was for the most part passive when it came to dealings with the galaxy at large, preferring to step in only when absolutely necessary. Her Master had always urged for the Order to work closer with the Republic and the Senate, but she knew that the Senate could be bought off in favour of a corrupt entrepreneur. Was the Republic truly the best government the galaxy had to offer? She wasn’t sure, but she knew in her bones that the Sith were not the better choice, no matter how they may have presented themselves to Lea.

Master Shodon’s latest and last apprentice’s last of faith in the Order and the Republic disturbed Andri. Perhaps it was simply because their Master had never completed the young girls training – Andri had never found doubt in herself over the Jedi or the Republic’s positions in the galaxy, as she had been taught everything the aged man had to offer her, and she had never doubted that the Sith were blood thirsty and thrived on chaos, and very few were ever truly able to be redeemed. Though it was her duty as a Jedi to offer the redemption wherever possible, it was also her duty to protect the galaxy at large and if that meant putting down one Sith for the good of a million citizens over offering the Sith redemption, she knew which option she would choose.

Certainly, Andri had never heard the tale that Lea had told her about the Republic’s efforts to commit speciocide, but she could not believe them to be as victimised as they had obviously led Lea to believe. But who was truly in the wrong; the Republic who tried to exterminate a species and a way of belief that had threatened entire planets for so long and tried to destroy the Jedi wherever they went, or the Sith who, if Lea had been told the truth, were merely responding to years of attacks on their people by the Republic, which is backed by the Jedi Order?

The thoughts kept running in circles through her mind, never letting her answer either way before switching tracks and bringing up another dilemma, and the Epicanthix woke feeling as though she had never slept in the first place. She scrubbed at her face, trying to remove the gritty feeling of a bad night’s sleep and not for the first time wishing she had learnt at least a little bit of Force-aided healing from her Master to get rid of the start of a headache. Master Shodon had told her plenty of times before that Force Healing was not to be used for minor things like a headache before, but she thought in this case he might have forgiven her. It wasn’t every day one woke up a prisoner of the Sith, and today was technically her second. She used the only technique she knew which could help her, and revitalised herself with the Force before swinging her legs out of bed.

She grimaced at the taste that was left in her mouth after sleeping for so long, even if only a few hours of it were drugged, and how her tunic felt like it was sticking to her skin. Andri hadn't had a shower since she had left Korvaii after her last diplomatic mission had ended, which was a few days ago at least. Even if she hadn't done much physically, dirt and grime still accumulated on a person, and Andri could only hope the Sith were...kind enough to provide showers. The thought of a Sith being kind felt wrong in her mind, and she shook her head to remove it.

Ven'ren was a little surprised at being met politely. As he was that no one had yet to attempt to strangle him. Perhaps they had a better plan. Perhaps they just were not that angry? He did not mention it until they had walked out of the main room and he made sure the prisoners hands were tied behind his back, where he seemed to want to have them anyway. It was only a very basic safety, Jedi could think of doing all kinds of things without hands, but it would at least buy Ven some time if the prisoner decided to fight. Not that he had given Ven that impression.

He turned to the Jedi first when they had walked for a moment.
“You are very kind to come.” He said with his strange hoarse voice. “Say, don't you hate us?”

Alat’s sightless eyes fell on Ven’ren. “Hatred is useless. The Rancor does not hate it’s meal. It simply consumes it and moves on” Alat kept pace with Ven’ren calmly. “Besides, isn’t hatred what the Sith do? I’ve never found a use for the emotion personally. Not that I have too much of a feeling towards the Jedi’s ramblings about serenity and controlling your emotions. I find it's far simpler to just not have any.”

Ven'ren snorted.

“That's arrogance if I've ever heard it! But well then, you do that. I remember that a Jedi’s emotions should be controlled, not deadened. Uncontrolled makes one a Sith and deadened makes one a sociopath. Neither are very good Jedi. But what do I know?” He chuckled. “What about compassion? For your captured friends? None of that? You compare yourself to an eating Rancor, so no hatred, but what about the thrill of the hunt? Do you take joy in killing your prey as they would?”

Alat looked at him. “Joy? No. Pleasure.” The jedi continued to walk pondering the statement. “Yes but it’s more a fulfillment of purpose more than anything else. Sort of like when a starship mechanic does a good job at fixing a hyperdrive. Its all about the context.”

Alat chuckled “Yes, I guess it does make one sociopathic. Although it does certainly lend itself to a form of lethal efficiency for my purpose. As far as my friends are concerned I guess I feel compassion for them. Losing Xid or the others would certainly make life less interesting but it would also be a pain to find others to replace them further along the line.”

Alat looked at Ven’ren again. “And what greater purpose drives you? Or are you just in it for inflicting pain like that piece of Trandoshan garbage that passes itself off as a sentient.” Alat shook his head “Distasteful, a rabid predator in my opinion. Its sort of like letting an untrained animal run loose in your home. Unless of course it’s simply Nyiss having some fun.”

“Ha! So no longer a feeding Rancor. Here I was getting worried you were going to fall off your moral highground.”

Ven led the jedi to one of the interrogation rooms, but stopped just outside, wanting to keep the conversation on this more pleasant level for a while longer. He did not spend a long time pondering the question, and lowered his voice once talking about himself. It was a habit, for places where he knew he was recorded.

“I survive.” He said simply. “I have survived for a while now.” But then he did stop to think of the question, of revenge. Things had been quiet now since they had left the planet, but he could feel hatred crawling up in him again now. The stench of sith surrounding him. The oppressing presence of the jedi. The one jedi with him was so calm he could not yet muster more than mild dislike for him, but that only meant the distaste grew more slowly.

“At least you are honest.” He hissed. “At least you tell me you would take pleasure in hunting me down and killing me. So we know where we have eachother. And no, I do not take pleasure in pointless suffering. Still, with what I believe to be my master's definition of 'introduction', I don't think I can get out of this without hurting you a little.” He grinned behind his mask. “So sorry,” He said, opening the door now and leading the jedi inside.

Alat’s cold glare through the mask was undeniable even behind the opaque composite that made up the goggles. “I never said I would take pleasure in hunting YOU down and killing you. I said I take pleasure in my purpose much the way I assume a light saber would take pleasure in slicing things to pieces if it had such a sentience.” Alat shook his head “Leaping to conclusions will land you no where good.” He remained standing at the doorway looking into the room. More firm securement would render his plan ineffective. It had to be soon. The question was did he need the Darth alone. Or was this one ambitious enough. “I feel that hate. This isn’t just survival for you. What are you hanging onto by your fingernails?” Alat tilted his head. No use not taking chances. He stepped into the room.

The movement was swift snapping the bonds with a flex and a blast of telekinetic energy. Alat lunged to secure Ven’ren’s dominant hand and his throat. Getting his weight under the human Alat lifted him from the ground, whispering as he dove in close: “Make it look convincing, make sure they loose the feed from the cameras and audio. If you don’t like my offer kill me. Otherwise hear me out.” With that Alat flung Ven’ren and sent his lightsaber skittering.

“Oh truly?” Ven'ren said, a bit of surprise in his voice. “That is nice of you to say.” The Jedi's partial denial of wanting to kill him had made his anger subside a little, but not leaving any calm in its place. He did not have time to answer the next question. Time might not even have helped. The Jedi was right, of course. It was not only about survival. Many times, Ven'ren had not even cared all that much for his life. But what greater purpose did drive him, he wasn't sure. What are you holding on to by your fingernails, Ven'ren? What is still there, not already lost, that you can hold on to?

The confusion clouded his mind, and though he could hear the snap of the bonds, he did not react to it fast enough. A faint laughter escaped his throat as the Jedi lifted him up by it. And to think that, for a moment, he had thought that this one was not going to be interesting.
As he flew into the wall and got back on his feet, Ven'ren could hear himself laughing still, and he was pleased that in the end, he had use for the armour he'd been wearing during the entirety of the day. His immediate response was a force wave, strong enough to knock the Jedi back and, hopefully, though he didn't have time to check, damage the camera and audio equipment. He didn't want to destroy them, a broken camera was suspicious, not to mention alarming and he didn't want anyone to interrupt the interaction. A damaged camera could show bits and pieces of a scene. Hopefully, not enough to make out details but enough to make out the fight in general. And Ven didn't think anyone would bother showing up if he appeared to have the upper hand.

He reached out for his sabre which obediently returned to his hand and leapt towards the Jedi, not igniting the weapon but aiming to hit with the hilt.

“I am listening” he wheezed once he was close enough. Neither the hatred or the mix of powerful but hard to describe emotions that had just distracted him could be sensed off the sith now. Only excitement.

Alat curled into a ball with the force wave as he tumbled backwards smoothly. It still felt like getting hit by a very angry wall but it allowed him to uncurl and slide on his feet a bit before lunging to extend his hands in an open cross block catching bellow the saber at the wrist. With a turn of the hips he deflected the blow to the side and down using his crossed hands to guide the energy past him.

“This war is over. I’ve known that since the beginning of this mess.” Instead of pressing a flurry of strikes he instead lashed out with a kick and at the last second direct the force down it so it didn’t actually impact the joint of Ven’ren’s armor where it might have damaged something. Instead it connected with his hip and shoved him. “You need an ally that no one else knows about. I can’t go back to the council, what use is a killer without a sanctioned reason to kill?” Alat jumped and telegraphed a spike elbow directed at Ven’ren’s collarbone so that he had enough time to get out of the way.

Regaining his balance with ease, Ven'ren blocked the incoming elbow away from himself and countered with another strike from his unignited but still sharp saber hilt, meant to drive the jedi back towards the torture table more than anything else. Since neither of them tried to hurt the other, the fight seemed more like a dance to Ven.

“So either you are trying to trick me, which would be very sensible, all things considered, or you have already given up, which would be rather disappointing.”
He found the rhythm of this fighting dance almost calming. Strike with apparent fury and power, but still predictable enough to be easily blocked. The simplicity of the jedi's offer was mildly disappointing, but perhaps that was by design. Say something a sith would understand.

“So say you surrender so soon.” Ven continued. “What do you want from this sith? In return for allegiance.”

Alat dropped like a rock onto his knees and driving the force from the drop into a back kick which he used to shove off Ven into a shoulder roll from his knees regaining his feet in time telegraph a flying knee towards the Sith’s head.

In mid leap Alat answered “A purpose. And if it’s a trick I’m a very dead Jedi. The reality here is that I’m an antique with this war over who am I supposed to hunt for the council? Even if we were to escape I’m not going back to the temple to train padawans in saber forms.”

Vern'ren grinned. “Oh, if you want a purpose that is hunting and killing, then you have certainly come to the right place! You will get to hunt and kill all you wish with us,” He said, the nature of the duel giving him enough time to grab the leg coming towards him and use it to throw the jedi further in the direction he was already going while stepping slightly out of the way himself. It was, in most situations, a rather stupid thing to do and not something he would ever have done in a life or death situation. Perhaps he was starting to enjoy himself too much. He shouldn't get careless. No, you never know. Even with this jedi, who might still remain a jedi.

“And I would not mind having another friend.” he continued. “Even a friend who is actually an enemy. We all are now, after all. Aren't we?”

Alat have no sign of as he slid bracing out with his left hand to stop the slid. But if the Kel Dor could have grinned...He would have.

“Well. I guess you’re going to have to win this fight. Oh. And if you wouldn’t mind informing the Darth, I’d prefer to remain experimented on accidently. I’d have informed her myself if you’d been less receptive.” Alat slid in low scissoring his legs in a sweep before twisting his whole body into a spin of legs as he used the momentum to bring himself back to his feet.

“Let me know what you want me to do, just make it look good. And give me a way to communicate with you while you’re at it. No use otherwise. Oh...and don’t tell the others. No need for them to know just yet. I won’t give you away if they come to see me.”

Alat set his feet and drew back his right hand into a traditional Kel Dor martial arts stance.

Here goes everything

“So only Darth, all secret for everyone else.” Ven knew he was likely speak to the Darth at some point either way, but still, there was a voice in his head telling him he should stay away from her. Maybe that was just the effect you had on people, when you had all that power.

No more carelessness this time. This would have to be convincing. And with that thought, Ven'ren engaged the Jedi again, wanting to exchange a few blows before finishing their meeting.

He was, at this time, not carrying his holocommunicator. He did have a much smaller device attached to his gauntlet, also holo but the images were small enough to be practically useless. What are you doing, you idiot? That is a perfectly decent communication device that you are giving to your enemy. Who is lying about all of this. But it does not matter. Might make things more interesting.

“Stand still.” he whispered when situation allowed for it and went to grab the jedi by the neck and lift him up to the wall, similarly to the way the discussion started. “See the three buttons on this gauntlet? That's your communication. Tear it off.”

Alat grabbed the piece of gear as he scrabbled at the gauntlet. “Got it.” The whisper was a rasp as he struggled making it look as best he could. Regardless of what happened now Alat had one thing on his mind. Survive.

“You help me and I help you, let me know which of your rivals you need undermined and what information you need and I shall be your eyes and ears.”

Ven'ren grinned, though it still could not be seen.

“Now, if you don't mind getting a little bit hurt...” he said as he threw the Jedi into the torture table, having stood mostly forgotten in its own room, and followed immediately with his spiked sabre hilt. Not trying to hit anything vital, but to give the Jedi one real injury to show from the fight.

“Stay down.” He hissed and then straightened himself, looking down at the Jedi as if he considered continuing this with an actual torture session. He then shrugged and grabbed the Jedis arm to drag him out.

“I'm Ven'ren, by the way.” He says on the way out, in in a completely friendly tone.

Alat’s laughter was a cold vicious metallic thing that slithered from his mask like a living thing. “I’m Alat, the pleasure is mine.”

Alat struggled up to his feet and pressed at the tear in his left shoulder from the lightsaber hilt. Nothing a little medical equipment couldn’t fix. Or some stitches. Alat continued to chuckle darkly at that thought. It had been a long time since he’d stitched anything.

As they approached the compound he sagged on Ven’ren a little “let me know when the Darth has been warned, then let me know what you need”

Ven’ren couldn’t help but laugh along. “Certainly” He said just before gently pushing the jedi through the door. “Certainly.”

It was later than he meant to wake, eyes flickering open with mild and sticky protest. For a moment things were simple and quiet, only the humming of the ship’s engines and the soft sound of conversation and footsteps on durasteel in the background. If he dreamed he didn’t remember it, and though he knew he was imprisoned there was an odd calm before the ice-cold realization that he was wearing someone else’s blood.

His breath left his chest in as sudden a rush as ever, eyes squeezing shut again sharply. It was so much different with a knife, so much more awful. A meticulous person at the best of times, the mess made is somehow more real, more visceral. A jedi didn’t draw his saber without intent to kill, but that was--

Different.

Arix breathed deeply, slowly, through his nose as he pushed himself to his feet and tried to keep things together. He needed, so badly, to be clean. More than anything, he just needed to be clean. Silent as could be so as not to wake those that slept--please don’t let them see him like this, he practically whispered under his breath--he made for the shower.

...and found it occupied, not to mention guarded. The new knight, Xid. Brilliant. Dressed in what was left of his robes and spattered in the rust brown of old sanguine, he tried his best to seem together and aloof. His voice had no such intention and cracked when he tried to speak--he cleared his throat, tried again.

“...there a reason you’re just standing there?”

He didn’t mention how red the boy was, even if he started to guess.

“Waiting, Lea’s in there... “ Xid managed to spit out. His hands were still fidgeting as he pushed deeper into the wall, his head wanting to twist back which he barely managed to stop several times. The Knight tried to calm his mind and keep his mind centered on the floor. It wasn’t easy with his curiosity growing by the minute and adding that to the brief glimpses, it was almost hard not to give in. He raised his eyes to glimpse the padawan’s state causing his eyes to widen in shock and surprise.

“What happened to you and how are you still standing?”

“It’s not mine.” His eyes flicked past the doorway, briefly, before catching some sight of the woman on the other side and closing. Of course there was someone else in the shower, and of course it was a girl. Woman. Young woman. Whatever.

“I... gambled. And lost. And killed a man.” And really, really needed to wash. To be clean.

“You look like you’ve had some wear and tear yourself. Are you alright?”

Xid digested the information as he considered the fact how the blood got onto the Jedi, his expression crunched up in thought. There was only a few ways and he didn’t like over half of them that came to mind. He shuddered and push the thoughts away, obviously those were off the list naturally due the fact the man being a Jedi. They never would consider willingly to take a life or so he assumed. When asked about his own condition, Xid inwardly debated on what to reveal. Truthfully he didn’t want anyone to worry and fret after him, but he also didn’t want to lie to anyone. Several moments passed before he finally answered.

“I’m Xid Terrik, and I’m alright, just a few cracked ribs, lightsabers burns and minor bruising. Nothing serious really. Tolun Fi just told me to make sure to land right next time not to get hit on this side,” Xid pointed to his wounded ribs, the right side, “or fall on this side. Else I risk breaking them further. Something I’m sure I can avoid… mostly.”

He scratched his head and winched slightly, his wounds healed a bit but still very tender. It would still take another day or two to heal the fractures completely so until then, they would certainly hurt pretty badly.

Flicking his eyes open and following the Jedi’s fingers, he nodded slightly as he followed along. A Knight, Arix remembered, a recent one… he nodded again, more slowly. “I’m glad. I’m not a healer, or I’d do what I can, but I’m sure the kaminoan knows what he’s talking about.” He was more curious than Xid, it seemed, or at least less afraid to ask--the damage he’d taken, at least, was a sign of resistance. Bravery.

He probably hadn’t had to kill anyone, Arix thought briefly and unfairly, and felt bad for it as he quieted his voice just slightly.

“I need to wash. You need to wash. This will be less awkward if you come as well.” Stepping forward and past him into the showers, Arix was already tugging off his robes, keeping his gaze even and level. It was the girl, Lea, the one who’d been here for so long. He hadn’t spoken to her more than he’d spoken to anyone, really, but he nodded to her by way of greeting and tried to keep his face level and calm, without the rush of blood that plagued the other boy. It...almost worked, as he shucked the rest of his clothes on the way to a stall of his own.

“Hi.” He managed only slightly awkwardly by way of introduction, raising his voice a bit to speak over his shoulder and forcing it past the odd frog on his throat. “Which Sith did that to you, Xid?”

Arix was very glad, for reasons he knew full well were entirely silly, that he kept himself in such excellent shape. Aside from the bruising at his chest and the...well, gore… he was as fit as any echani warrior could have been at his age.

Over the sound of the shower, Lea could hear Xid speaking with someone. She didn’t recognize the voice, but that didn’t mean much. She hardly knew anyone. When she half-sensed that one of the two had entered the room, she turned around to look. It was the Echani, whose name she’d forgotten. He was pulling off his blood-stained robes, headed for one of the showers. Though he was muscular and all that, she found that for some reason she didn’t find him… interesting. . . Not in the way Xid was. Not that she was willing to admit that last bit to anyone, least of all herself.

“Umm… Hi.” she answered the Echani.

When Arix moved into the showers, Xid’s head whipped to follow the boy but couldn’t move his feet. “Hey, wait. She’s still-”

His mind still stuck on giving Lea all the space and privacy he could. It cut off his words in the sentence middle, his throat tightened as if something invisible had expanded within it. Immediately, realizing he was on the brink of staring, he jerked his back to the wall and out of sight. At not being able to see Lea he inhaled sharply and made himself relax, forcefully. When he thought his cheeks could get no redder, he was proven wrong rather quickly. They felt like they were on fire now. Biting his lip bottom, his ears caught Arix’s voice over the running water causing Xid’s desperate mind to focus on the topic. “A Trandoshan Sith, he tossed one of the droids I was fiddling with right on top of me. It disabled me and did interior damage, the fractures on my framework I mentioned earlier. It will mend in time. Though I did get a semi-decent analyzation of his battle tactics and specialty during the fight. I couldn't get a proper one since I fell below his level when it came to combat and the droids had already sustained a large amount of damaged when I got to them.”

Xid had gotten rather focused on answering the questions, he let his mind slip into machinist mode. It wouldn’t be a surprise if neither Lea or Arix understood even half of those terms, let alone translate them into something more casual.

It was bad enough that Xid didn’t follow him, or that Lea seemed to think he had two heads. Worse was that the Knight hadn’t taken the hint and followed, choosing to lurk instead. There was a flush of irritation, an eye-roll--if they were going to survive this, they were going to need to accept that modesty was somewhat low on the list of concerns. When he was fully stripped he made his way towards the stall closest to the door, taking the opportunity to reach out with the Force and give the older boy a jerk back into the room. If it wasn’t exactly serenity that fueled him, at least he could still manage to grasp it.

“I didn’t see a trandoshan. Only a Sith--the proper ones, red-skinned and all. She debated the philosophy of conviction and redemption.” He said without looking, jerking the water on as hot as it went. Hot enough to scald, he hoped, hotter than blood. His hand shook on the red glass as he started to scrub.

And scrub. And scrub.

Xid felt a sudden pull and tug on his body, then in moments he came stumbling into the room. His feet slipped onto the water and his back smacked hard on the floor as his head lightly bounced, spotting spots dancing across his closed eyelids. It all happened a little too quickly, his figure coming to a full stop upon his back at last. Luckily he only lightly banged his ribs and the damage wasn’t too much. It didn’t stop Xid from turning his head to frown at Arix’s unnecessary and excessive actions. The Jedi appeared to had a slight bullying nature which bother the knight greatly, a surprise to himself, when he started to pull himself upright. He dusted off his robes, inwardly considering his next words, trying to make them sound as calm as possible.

His head turned to see the naked Echani scrubbing his skin off. Though his head ached and throbbed, a small knot at the back, he sighed. It was pointless to say anything now as he knew, or rather had a feeling, anything he said would go in one ear and out the other. How a person like him ever became a Jedi was a mystery to Xid. “If you’re not careful, you’ll end up scrubbing your skin off.”

The whole time he shifted in unease, his eyes still tried to avoid Lea’s direction by twisting about.

Before Lea had time to do more than stare at the Echani’s attempt to scrub his own skin off, Xid tumbled into the room. Seeing how nobody stood behind him, it was pretty obvious that someone had pushed him. Or rather, pulled him. Since she hadn’t done it, that left the Echani. “Give the water time. What little blood remains will be washed away.” She hoped the words would get in, but she had her doubts. She had seen such behavior before, in patients back on H’Ratth. Words rarely did enough.

She then looked at Xid. Though the shower stalls were well designed with drains and raised sides, it was clear that this was far from perfect, for there was a good bit of water spilled on the floor. Or rather, there had been. Now most of it seemed to have been absorbed by Xid’s robes. More water kept splashing at his robes, all due to the Echani’s frantic scrubbing. “I doubt words will get through. I’ve seen obsessive scrubbing like this before. We really need to restrain him until his mind can be healed.”

With that said, Lea turned off the shower and strode over to the stall with the Echani. With her healer mindset at the front, she quite forgot about any modesty. “Help me restrain him, would you?”

Xid had stiffened and froze to the spot, his eyes turned at the sight of movement. He stupidly snapped his head toward it and regretted it. He got a full image of Lea, bare and fully expose, imprinted on his brain and would likely stick there for some time. He couldn’t help but stare for a time. At least, until her mention of restraining the Echani came to his ears. A fog cleared enough for his logic to slam him fully in the face. Something was clearly wrong and the gears turned in his head, concreting the realization of that deep within his heart.

Quickly, he stripped off his robes and his soaking tunic underneath. His arms threw them away as he stepped into the shower, feeling the scorching water burning him. Xid gritted his teeth to prevent a scream while his arms wrapped about the Echani’s arm to stop the scrubbing. Naturally, he wasn’t very strong so he had to resort to considering another, unwanted option. His mind filled with a familiar, dark chuckle when someone from a memory whispered in his ear.

Stop trying to change your view to suit the world and change the world to suit you. A living being is, after all, in essence, only a machine, isn’t it? When you know how it works, and you do, it is so easily to jerk its gears.

A sourness seeped into Xid’s throat while he adjusted his grip, pushing into a small pressure point in the arm nook. On applying pressure, he cut off blood and forcibly applied some Force energy. His aim was to stop the flow and weaken the arm enough to pry it from the other which would stop the scratching, allowing Xid the upper hand in strength. It was like blocking a fluid pressure line inside a droid. Always affecting the limb and weakening the function, it was very little that was different compared to the human body as Ithor had sadly shown him. Xid hated to do this. Every fiber of him oozed with it while he resisted using it to aid his weak force.

Something within Lea warmed up strangely when Xid stripped, but she did not quite understand what. She could see several prominent scars on his body, previously concealed underneath his robes. Even if little else about him gave evidence that he had been through hardship, those scars could not deny it. She could see that he was clearly strong inside to not have such affect him duly. She found that worthy of respect. When he started pressing on the point just above the nook of the Echani’s arm, she saw the jagged scar across his navel. She didn’t know what had created it, but she found herself not wanting to encounter such. At least not without a lightsaber on hand.

She sucked in a small breath at seeing Xid’s front, a bit disappointed he’d left his trousers on, then shook herself loose and started to help. She grabbed the Echani’s other arm, using the same pressure point to stop him from trying to scrub his skin off. “Stop, Echani. You’ll only hurt yourself. We’ve got enough Sith to deal with to injure ourselves. You mustn’t show them weakness.”

“I’m alright.”

They were the first words out of his mouth, and he meant them so emphatically. He was alright because he had to be alright, because as soon as he realized that they had him by the arms, that he hadn’t been alright he wished very much that he could simply disappear in shame. They were doing something to him, pressure points and Force energy, and he couldn’t he torn free even if he’d wanted to. There was some blood--his, he realized, with something approaching numbness--but not much. Only where thin nails had scratched the skin.

He’d just wanted to be clean. To wash what was left of Venkel off his skin, to leave it behind. He forced his head up even as his eyes burned, forced his arms to relax in their grip to show they didn’t need to grasp him so. Disgusting. Pathetic, to fall apart so quickly--the first, he felt, and closed his eyes slowly to take a breath.

“It’s alright. I’m alright.” He said quietly, calmly, as if trying not to spook an animal. “Please let me go.”

He breathed, slowly, and closed his eyes. He even managed a wry smile of chagrin.

“...I’m sorry. I’m making a fool of myself and dragging you into it. I’ll be alright.”

Xid was questioning the sincerity of the Echani, his eyebrow raised and glanced at Lea. Making his own choice, he cautiously opened his hand to release the pressure point as well as his weak force. He stepped back to examine the Jedi and hoped his choice wasn’t the wrong one. His blond hair was plastered to his hand and darkened by the water, still burning his flesh, raining down upon the trio. Scars were visible over his body though they were merely history now. His trousers cling tightly to his figure and sagged, weighed down by the collecting water near the pant bottoms. They were nearly falling off his narrow hips though he hadn’t noticed.

“No, you aren’t because that guilt over that life is still there. You may never be alright, but you’re strong and will make it.” Xid said, trying to sound heartening. In reality he wasn’t sure if it was Arix that he was speaking to or himself, continuing in a soft voice so not to spook Arix. “Taking a life isn’t easy and you’re not the only one that’s had to swallow that experience. I’ve just recently killed a trooper when I was trying to protect another Jedi. Something I swore to myself I would never do, else I risk following the path of another I couldn’t bear to. As for making a fool of yourself. Among friends and allies, it’s much better to lose yourself as you can draw support from us than allow the Sith to witness it. they feed off the pain, misery and worse. I wasn’t so lucky. I broke down in front of a Sith trying to save the life of my victim and instead his life slipped from my hands.”

Xid stepped forward and placed his hand upon the padawan, resting there. “So, foolish is the last thing you are. None of us are perfect but it doesn’t mean we’re not Jedi because of it.”

Lea released the Echani’s arm, then took a step back, crossing her arms. “Yes. Taking lives is no easy thing. But sometimes you have no choice. In a war like this, you end up with allies and enemies. You might not like their tactics or choices, but more often than not, the alternatives are worse.” Noticing Xid’s flushed cheeks and tendency to look away from her, she found that to be oddly charming.

“You need not be afraid to look, Xid. I am neither ashamed of what I am or of my body. I don’t mind you looking at it.” She grinned a little as she said this. After about a minute, she did feel a bit ashamed and walked over to the shower stall, where she found a stashed towel. Not that she would ever admit that. She wrapped it around herself and picked up her robes while listening to the other two talking. She’d dry herself off properly later on.

When the other two started speaking of experiences with the Sith, about what they had been forced to do, she thought back on what she had gone through the past two months and shuddered involuntarily. “Trust me. . . You don’t want to know what I’ve been forced to go through in my captivity here. Had my master not taught me to be strong when faced with challenges, I doubt I would have still been sane. Or even alive.”

Xid’s ears burned at hearing Lea’s comment. His spine stiffened and his mind twitched, itching to peek. While she stood there for a full minute, the Knight resisted. It wasn’t easy and several times, he felt like his will would give out. It wasn’t until he heard her pad away did his curiosity get the better of him. His eyes couldn’t help it. His head slowly, and cautiously, glanced at Lea’s retreating figure. It wasn’t as awful as he thought, mildly, still staring a bit until she retrieved a towel. Immediately his eyes averted again. This time both guilt and shame flooded his mind causing him to flush even redder than he thought possible. By the force, is there any blood left that isn’t in my face? He thought bitterly.

“I think we all have scars we bear.” His hand gently traced his navel’s history, his tone depressed at recalling his memories. “Some scars are on the outside and more dangerous ones on the inside. My last mission proved to me that the surface ones heal a lot easier than the inside ones, namely when you’re faced with a truth you never want to believe yet it’s staring you in the face.”

The release of his arms was a relief, that odd channeled weakness disappearing with the hands of his comrades. Letting them fall to his sides he took a smooth deep breath, hands open in the universal sign of nonaggression. Xid was right, of course, that there were scars to bear, but as he looked between them he saw the coping mechanism more than the telltale wound. The Knight's words were comforting because they were what he hoped someone would say--their guilt may have trickled down different paths but it still stemmed from taking a life.

Lea's was a different matter, a trauma rather than a guilt. It was the Sith, she understood, that were the enemy, that inflicted these little horrors on them. Her fiery demeanor and forced optimism spoke of resilience, certainly... but looking between the two of them now Arix knew that this was a companionship of attraction. The flushed cheeks, the awkward glances, the shift of hips and posturing of shoulders left little room for doubt or surprise. In some ways it was heartening--in others it was very much not, realizing that he had no part in their friendship and likely never would.

But if nothing else, Xid was right. They were still Jedi, no matter what else they were. He had failed, and it had been costly, but he would not allow himself to crack like this again or let the wound fester as Xid had.

"I killed a man named Venkel because I bet his freedom on his repentance for a crime." Arix said finally, getting to his feet and taking another slow breath. "It was foolish, and wrong, but there isn't anything to do but learn from the mistake and use it to become stronger, so that I can stand for others and keep them from my own errors." His master would have said it, or something like it--acknowledge fault, learn, move on. He felt like someone should have.

"Thank you." he added at the end, awkwardly. "I didn't think I needed all that... but I guess I did. I hope I'll be able to stand for you two when you need it."

He turned off the water and stepped back, slipping between them and heading for his clothes.

"And neither of your bodies are anything to be ashamed of." He added without looking. "Their yours. They tell your story. It's a good thing."

Xid listened to Arix's confession, his gut twisted and turned in silence, as the padawan slipped between them. He bit his tongue when he heard it. Xid had figured he had heard correctly the first time, however he had chosen to think better and in doing that, he hadn't braced for the truth a second time. Inside his mind, the recently minted Knight wondered if his words really made a difference at all.

Sela would've known.

His heart ached at the thought as his hand reached to scratch the nape of his neck, his eyes spying in gratitude that Lea had grabbed a towel. She held her clothes in hand and listened to their conversation. His head turned to see his still sopping wet pants and robes on the floor, knowing they would never dry before the Sith's arrival time. It was either putting them back on or run around naked, neither idea had it's ideal perks.

After a bit of thinking, the teen was tempted to fashion a device to haste the process but he recalled Tolun Fi's words about being careful with his abilities. Creating a crude heater would've been a dead give away and their plans were at risk of crumbling.

His fingers tightened into a fist at the thought of how so much rode on him. In the end, he felt so limited that it was frustrating.

"Mistakes doesn't make you less of a Jedi. It's the aftermath which determines that." Xid said in what he hoped was a strong, comforting voice, he purposely ignored the Padawan's comment over his body. Compared to the Echani, Xid knew he wasn't much of a looker and lacked the thicker muscular appeal many combat specialized Jedi had. He sighed and added. "Now comes the real challenge. Getting washed up, drying my clothes and figuring out who's going with the Sith coming shortly."

“I am not ashamed of my body.” Lea said as in response to Arix’s statement, more willing than Xid to admit such, even if she did not yet fully realize her attraction to him. Lea looked over at Xid, noticing his dilemma. She had no idea how to dry his robes or clothes. She’d not seen any suitable sources of heat or other means of drying. That was roughly when she figured out a pragmatic idea. “You can always borrow my outer robe, Xid. I’m not that much smaller than you, and it has a fairly loose fit on me.”

She pulled it out of the pile of clothes she held in her hand, then held it out to him. was the logical solution to the issue of him not having any dry clothes available. “If you wring out your other clothes, they’ll probably dry fairly quickly if you hang them up somewhere. . . Or you could ask the Sith for some extra clothes. They probably won’t be Jedi robes, though.” She hoped Xid would not be to stubborn to take the robe.

"Thanks," Xid said and took her outer robe, smiling at the gesture. Luckily his trousers were the least soaked and could be possibly wearable by the end of his shower. He noted Lea's suggestion about asking their captors for another set of clothes with raised eyebrow. "I don't think I could bring myself to so that. Namely as I'm a bit worried what the price for a request might cost me. Sith aren't generous by nature and to expect there not to be strings attached to anything is dangerous."

His mind recalled the dinner with the last Sith and it became a downhill spiral after things didn't appear to go the Sith's way. The thought of requesting something from a monster like that made Xid's feet shift uncomfortably. "Thank you for the suggestion but I'll make do. Now where to put these so they can dry."

He moved to set Lea's robe where it wouldn't get wet and then pondered where to hang up his others to dry. Leaving them in the shower room wasn't optimal, the vapors in the air causing the process to last longer. Xid was even still doubtful his trousers would be fully dry by the time he was done. It would mean he would have to deal with the dampness and try not to get anything else wet until they did.

“Another apology is due, it would seem. I hadn’t meant to send you tumbling. Though her robe is likely more comfortable, you’re welcome to my clothing if you need it.” Arix muttered, closing his eyes and taking another breath before looking about idly. There really didn’t seem to be a brilliant answer to the problem, but it was simply wet clothing. It would dry soon enough when hung, and there were plenty of beds to drape it over. Stepping into his pants and cinching them as he stood, he stepped from the shower shirtless to dry in the cool air of the cell.

“Funny. I spent such time perfecting my saberwork only to find myself without it. If she were still alive, my master would be greatly amused.”

Lea thought for a while about where the clothes could be dried. There weren’t any particular places that were optimal. Nor any reliable heat sources. That left only the less-than-optimal locations. The medical bay didn’t have much to hang anything on. The sanitation room was too humid. That left the bunk rooms. Either the bunks or the table would probably work. “I’d wring out the wet clothes and hang them to dry somewhere, maybe over one of the bunks or the table in the least-used bunk room? Maybe I can take them over there for you?”

Going with the Echani’s advice, Lea did hope Xid wouldn’t be too ashamed to do it. She was, after all, a bit curious about what the rest of him looked like. Purely on a medical basis, of course. She wondered if he had any other scars. He had seen all of her, so it was only fair she see all of him. At least in her mind it was that way.

“It’s alright. I’ve always lacked in combative skills and because of it, I’m not the strongest in pure application of the force. Even at eight years old, I could barely lift a stool as Tolun Fi learned. It wasn’t for lack of trying. It’s a bit of wonder why a master like Sela, pure combat and fighting skills, chose a padawan like me.” Xid’s eyes rose to linger over the camera’s location within the room, frowning at being watched. “ And I understand what you mean, Arix. At least a bit, but I was never good at combat and still miss my lightsaber.”

He sighed and realize he wasn’t likely to get any privacy, until he bathed. “Well, I’m not getting any cleaner standing here. Or drier. Could you do me a favor, Arix? Warn me of any other females coming in so I can hurry up? I think I’ve been red enough to make me a tomato for life and much rather not stay that way.”

He took a deep breath, his hand pressed against a stall edge to strip off his boots. They thumped off one by one, piling with the other wet clothing. Next he stepped into the unused shower with his back turned to the other two and held his trousers out to the nearest padawan before turning on the water. Under his breath he murmured softly enough that his words were drowned out by the water. “This is going to be a long captivity... “

Before Lea did anything else, she went just outside the room, dropping her own clothes in a pile there, then turning back around to go in and grab Xid’s trousers from where he held them out, she couldn’t help but take a quick glance through the red-tinged transparisteel side of the shower. The sight, though discolored, made her all warm and fuzzy inside. She walked over to where Xid had dumped his other clothes, then picked those up too, wringing them out to remove most of the water. She picked the pile up afterwards.

Though a part of her wanted to see more, those clothes did need to dry. As she left the room, she also grabbed her own clothes, carrying both piles to the starboard bunk room. There she spread them out on some of the spare bunks, before drying herself off properly and getting dressed again. As she did, she started to hear noises from the other bunk room, where she thought someone else might be waking up. She sat down on one of the lower bunks to wait.

“Always a benefit in keeping things diverse.” The platitude was uncomfortably true, as Arix was learning. Slipping out of the shower and heading to his bed, he caught Lea sneaking her peak at the naked knight and smiled slightly to himself in spite of it all. It must be a strange thing for her, suddenly having so many people in what was once her space. The pair of them were hitting it off, certainly--the thought that the Sith might realize the same thing sobered him a bit, but he said nothing for now. No need to call attention to it…

And if nothing else, he did need to dry off. He hopped on one of the beds and sighed, trying to take his mind off things and return to the state of readiness preached by his old master.

It might even have worked.

Navi was in a sour mood when he shortly realized he was lost. Without a map or specs to the Kaggath, the little droid was useless when it came to navigating the vast ship. All it took were a few wrong turns to immediately lose track of his current location. A fact that caused him to increase his aimless pace and get him further from his starting point. It was a habit he had picked up from hanging around humanoids, though in this case all it did was harm his goals rather than help them. Every so many meters, Navis abruptly stopped then listened. His sensors seeking sounds that he was heard and followed by pursuit. Minutes ticked down and nothing happened. A relief to the little robot, his legs again hastily recovering distance he had lost between waits.

In his mind back, all Navi wanted to do was find Xid. To say he was worried was underestimating his ability to process emotions and believing Xid’s talents were mediocre, a fact the would’ve infuriated the custom droid. Every so many paces there was a slotted cover where gaps in the long, tunnel like vent blew in the artificial atmosphere. Whenever he crossed one, it temporarily exposed him when his bulk blocked the air. It was unlikely any Sith was smart enough to realize it as he floated around in the lifesystems. Few passengers ever bothered with such oddities until things started to look bleak or there was proof to worry. Then they become paranoid, investigating every single, little thing.

Paranoia was the last thing Navi wanted during his search for his creator. He had just entered the torture section within the Kaggath when a voice caught the droid’s attention.

“Yes, I guess it does make one sociopathic. Although it does certainly lend itself to a form of lethal efficiency for my purpose. As far as my friends are concerned I guess I feel compassion for them. Losing Xid or the others would certainly make life less interesting but it would also be a pain to find others to replace them further along the line.”

Navi paused and turned, his eyes lowered to spy through the nearest slotted vent. Alat, if he recalled the Jedi’s name correctly, came into view shortly. At his back, his hands were tied and appeared firmly secure. Following him was a masked Sith close behind and both seemed deeply engaged in the conversation as they walked. Curiosity caused Navi to flip about and skirt back the way he came, traveling parallel with the pair to the interrogation rooms. In his mind, Navi was debating with himself over whether to help the Knight or not risk his existence upon the ship being to light. His mind was quickly made up when the Sith halted outside a room, opened the door and gestured for Alat to enter. The Jedi drew out being contained in a smaller room by questioning the Sith’s emotional state then, when he went to enter, the Kel Dor snapped free of his bindings and rushed the Sith.

Being just above them, Navi noted the Jedi Knight lean in closer than needed to the Sith’s ear. His circuits tingled in suspicion naturally. The droid tried to follow the scene best he could while the two ‘fought’. The force shock naturally damaged the audio recievers in the surrounding cameras though the visual was still operational as far as Navi could observe. The droid's rushing legs, unable to be heard over the battle’s noise, had Navi skirting to various positions and attempted to getting a view. All the time he still looked for a way down, assuming the Jedi dead would make discovering Xid's location much harder.. In his machine processor, he knew something was off about the fight. It seemed not to have that violent tension in the end while their moves were viewed to be the least lethal possible.

As the fight raged on, Navi was able to record bits and pieces. Though due to the danger and loudness of the play fight, the droid couldn’t fully catch it all on his audio but he heard enough to make his own assumptions. After the Jedi was being taken away, the droid made a beeline as far away as he could. He didn’t want to be in any proximity to the plotting pair. The need for Xid’s location crept quickly into the droid’s top focus, second to stealth alone. When he was far enough, Navi acknowledged one deep, dark truth: Trusting Alat was likely to get Xid, and the other Jedi, killed.



Skritch...Scratch...Skritch…Shhiiissss….
Skritch...Scratch….Skritch…Shhiiiissss...

The combined sounds of his scrambling feet and the buzzing laser were becoming a routine to Navi. Namely since after the showy conflict between Alat and the Sith, the visual still flickering across the droid’s mind. Each time he examined it, it always felt off but not being a combative droid, he couldn’t exactly read why. The more he reflected on it, the less he was liking Alat. He was a threat to Xid in Navi’s mind and like with all threats, the droid would refuse to allow it to jeopardize his creator’s existence. The bad part was how to remove him. The droid knew killing the Knight outright was both beyond his abilities. Both physically and chance wise, his percentage in winning dropped greatly. It only rose when he considered hacking into the Kaggath and using the ship as a death trap, but even then that was a last resort. Doing so would alert the staff to his existence, preventing him from aiding Xid.

That thought irritated the droid enough to redouble his focus on the task at hand: removing this panelling obstruction.

He had melted about three of the six bolts holding it in place, doing so in the quietest manner possible. Every so often he would pause in his work when he heard the ship doors open and still, his mind noting the nearest escape path to vanish quickly when someone came checking.

He was lucky considering the Darth didn’t have a sithspawn rodent control problem. The droid shuddered at encountering the vile, dark sith alchemy experiments. They were rumored to be among the nastiest things to encounter within the galaxy, making them among the few things Navi would literally retreat from when it came to fight or flight. That was saying something. When his task neared completion, he had melted off about four of them which allow him to lift and remove the grating to the side. A wide enough home for him to easily slip into the hole. Attaching his grappling hook to the right corner, Navi tugged the grate to the side. It softly screeched in protest then gave in to the droid’s strength shortly. Navi came to a halt. He stilled, listening and scanning the audio for signs his attempts had been discovered prematurely. He wouldn’t get another chance if he failed this time.

Several moment passed, the silence closing in on the machine to indicate his actions had went unnoticed. Detaching his grapple, he shifted it to the sturdier frame of the vent then clamped on. Bit by bit, he started to scale his way downward where his magnetic feet could easily grasp the metal wall. Feeling his legs become secure, he started to thread downward along the wall’s length until he reached the ground. The first thing he noted was that the room was empty. No one, not a sith or staff, was present.

It seemed the little droid had planned his access to the ship’s computer system during shift change. Not wasting any time, Navi went to work and ejected his probe into the access panel. Quickly he turned it a quarter to the right while he began to research for the ship’s map. It wasn’t hard to find at all and he began to download it, the file oversize and bulky, narrowing his download to cover two main things. A way out and Xid’s location.

The droid whirled in surprise to learn the Knight was actually on this very level, locked away with several other Jedi within a prisoner complex. Why would the Sith risk collecting Jedi? The question, from a machine’s point of view, made no logical sense. Even more confusing was the surveillance and defenses were standard. No special or extra measures taken to ensure the prisoners didn’t escape. The more Navi learned, the greater his confusion became. Almost too deeply involve with his mental task, he barely acknowledged the doors flicker open causing him to pull out. It was a hasty option when he crawled into the wall's far corner, just to watch the staff file into their positions and once more resume their watch over the Jedi.

Navi knew he needed to get out of there now.

He gingerly scaled back up the way he came, a high risk at being seen by those in the Kaggath's employment, then darted out of sight. Shortly Navi began to review what he had gotten so far before he was interrupted. Several moments passed, his eyes scanned the inhabitants within the room below when he discovered he had only gotten a small portion to the map. About two thirds of the vent locations including their grate location, the prisoner complex, and one path to the hanger lift that was blocked by a restricted access code. If Xid could get at that door then it would not matter.

In the end, the goal was getting the tech savvy Jedi from point A to B. A rather daunting task when fully examined in Navi’s mind.

Giving a mechanical sigh, the little droid quietly readjusted the vent exit and darted deeper into the ventilation system. The nearest point straight to the Jedi prison complex was through a vent entrance in the Sith quarters. Navi slid the cover back over the hole and dashed into the dark tunnel, vanishing from sight.

Before Navi fully entered the Sith quarters, he managed to bug the cameras within the section. He had about twenty minutes before someone was contacted for repairs. It plenty of time. Carefully, he slid to the ground for the second time today and under a cart left in the hallway side. The sound of calm, casual walking caught Navi's attention. He pressed himself tightly against the wall when a dark robes Sith entered the scene. His path was heading for the apprentice's shared room which was vacant, his robes end trailed behind him. Spotting this, Navi shot out of his hiding place and into the Sith's wake. He was hoping to tag along long enough to get to the vent.

The doors hissed open and in a metal blur, Navi brushed under the nearest bunk. The Sith apprentice, Azariah, hadn't seemed to notice while his eyes narrowed upon the holocron within his hands. He studied it intently and absorbed the old mystic markings on the surface.

Not interested in watching the Sith, Navi pulled the far wall where he started to examine the grating there. It was cuttable at least. Pulling out his laser, the droid hesitantly began to slice at the metal bolts to sear their ends off. It wasn't long into his task when another voice joined Azariah, huskier and slicker than venom, the male spoke in a low warning tone. Things spiraled into chaos fast when Azariah began an argument which ended when the Sith was instantly tossed across the room. He slammed into the floor near the bunk Navi had hidden under.

The man's shocked eyes spotted him, silently pleaded for help, when he suddenly jerked back across the smooth floor. His throat hadn’t a chance to scream, hand outstretched to claw against his attack while the holocron slipped from his fingers. The menacing thing rolled closer to Navi, the droid inched out and fixed on the man’s figure. The Sith’s body darkening, losing slight solidity, and became limp when another hazy shape bent over his fallen figure. Naturally this alarmed Navi causing the droid to haul his metal ass back under the bunk when two hoofed feet clip, clopped rose then started toward him. It paused only a moment to reach a clawed hand to stroke the almost completely faded Sith.

Navi’s memory banks were marred with the image of the man's eyes. Stricken in endless horror and pain, the image frightened the droid enough to huddle as small as he could against the wall.

There was little trace to what had happened, save for a very faint sulfur scent lingering in the room. For those with human's range of scent, it would be easily missed. Undetected until someone’s keener nose smelt it. In addition there was subtle signs of brief struggle about the room, the fade sense that some extreme dark being had been present, and last of all, Azariah’s absence would be noted when he never appeared on the ship. .

Navi tossed caution to the winds. He redirected his focus on getting the hell out, his laser hissed across the bolt ends with lightening pace when the killer trotted toward him. Not waiting to get a good glimpse and identification, he bolted when the last binding holding the door had fallen. The last thing his audio heard was a husky, menacing laughter pursuit him into the vents.

Alat pressed at the cut on his left pectoral. It had been nasty but it looked like the stitches would hold just fine. After he’d stiched himself he’d gone to meditating. So many things to consider. Was he really going to turn on the Jedi? It’s hardly that simple. Then again maybe it wasn’t. Alat let all of the thoughts run through him like a river. Whenever he needed to examine an option he plucked it from the stream of thought and turned it over in his mind.

It was a pity his master was gone. Things had been simpler then. Master Maut had directed him and he had done what was asked. The meditation Alat had began out of habit took him back to the days when he had trained in the dark lower levels of Coruscant, the barooms of Tatooine and far stranger locals where the only justice was what he handed down and the only Law was Maut’s word. It had been simpler times.

As Alat continued his memory walk he focused on his days hunting Sith during the war. It had been a true test finally. Alat had put all his skill to work, no need for justice or mercy and he only had one directive. The Sith must die. Not exactly what the council might have liked but Alat had been trained for the hunt when Maut had finally passed and the council had finally made use of the skills he had learned.

Adjusting his mask Alat finally settled back on the bed.

Now there were no rules. What did it mean? Was Ven’ren’s word to be his Law? or perhaps Nyiss. Or should he make his own Law.

Anyway you cut it. Alat was a predator without a leash now.

He had missed Miasa’s coming but it mattered little. Now he would wait. The poison would spread and he would survive one way or another. Your move

There's something to be said about waking up. Most everyone does it at least once a day, no matter where they're from or what species they are, yet it seems that no two experiences are really the same. There's always something different, even if you can't tell what it is. Like, it's colder than the day before, or the light around you just seems, brighter. Suppose that just proves that each day is unique, a reason to be optimistic from the moment you open your eyes.

However, as Shiri opened her eyes to find herself still in the Sith's prison, she couldn't help letting out a groan of disappointment. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to convince herself that it was just a nightmare, and frowned when she opened them, still there. With a sigh she jumped off the bunk and onto the floor, looking around to see who else was awake.

Noticing that Xid wasn't in his bunk, and telling herself she didn't care where Nazca was, (Even though in the back of her mind she was worried about her.) She left the bunk room to go see where he had gone off to. It didn't take her long to find him, standing in front of the door to the sanitation room. She was about to walk up to him, say good morning or something, when he was suddenly pulled into the room behind him.

She didn't see who had pulled him in when she got to the door, just him lying on his back in the middle of the room. She could hear the showers on now, and assumed that that's why Xid was standing at the door, to guard whoever was in there and give them some privacy. When she saw him get himself up and start to talk to someone else in the room, she stood with her back against the wall outside the door, facing away from the room to let them keep a bit of their privacy.

She couldn’t help listening as she stood there, having practically replaced Xid as the guard to the room, and although she knew she was likely missing a lot by not being able to see what was going on, what she heard worried her. As if what Xid just said hadn’t made her want to go into the room and find out what was happening, hearing Lea’s voice now was making her extremely confused and then, angry.

She calmed herself quickly as she continued to listen. “I’m alright.” A voice she didn’t recognize right away was saying, repeating the phrase twice more after a second, quieter. “Please let me go.” Shiri was just barely resisting the urge to go into the room now. She couldn’t picture what was happening in her mind, and that bothered her greatly.

Xid began to lecture the Echani, and as Shiri listened she felt her heart drop slightly. He’s still blaming himself… It’s not his fault that the trooper died, he wasn’t even the one who killed him. It was that Sith, he would have died if left to bleed out, but the Sith truly killed him. Xid, you can’t keep blaming yourself. As true as what the rest of what he said was, Shiri couldn’t get over the fact that he still hadn't seemed to have gotten over the trooper’s accidental death yet.

Lea joined in on the lecturing, although her point was split in two by a rather confusing statement to Xid, which Shiri couldn’t tell if he responded to by anything he said afterwards. She spent the rest of her time listening to their conversation shifting between different emotions and trying vainly to calm herself down, while she invented different scenarios in her mind, trying to put the words she heard into a situation where they actually made sense in the order given.

She could tell as the conversation ended that she wasn’t going to be able to come up with anything that would truly make sense, and her chance to find out the truth of the event had passed as she couldn’t possibly admit to eavesdropping on such a conversation. Unfortunately that left her feeling almost hollow, and she decided that when Xid did finally leave the showers she would try to ask him, or if she couldn’t bring herself to she could just take a shower herself. It might help her calm down.

The Echani, who Shiri now recognised as Arix, stepped out of the room. She motioned for him to be quiet about her being there, although she wasn’t entirely sure why she didn’t want Lea or Xid to know she was there. It’s not like they knew she had been listening to their conversation. Whether he had noticed her or not, he just continued into the bunk room, followed shortly after by Lea, who was carrying both her and Xid’s clothing, wrapped shamelessly in only a towel.

Shiri smiled at the girl as she passed, and then settled outside the door to wait for Xid to finish his shower. The thought crossed her mind to just go in and shower. Whether he was there or not shouldn’t matter to her, they were different species after all. She didn’t act on the thought though, as she knew if she did the shower wouldn’t help calm her at all, and what would be the point then?

As she stood there she started to think of different ways to get back at Lea for… What?

She shook her head to clear it and questioned why her thoughts kept going back to what words had just passed between Lea and Xid. She didn’t know what had really happened, no matter what the words had caused her to imagine, yet she still felt this…

Jealousy

Unable to keep her thoughts clear or emotions calm, she gave up on the thought of a shower. She didn’t stink yet anyway. Heading to the meal room to see if eating something would help, she still couldn’t calm down until she finally acknowledged the thought that she had gotten the second she smiled at Lea.

Two can play at this game.

As Andri swung her legs over the edge of her bunk, pushing herself into a standing position, she noticed a young man with damp hair sinking into a meditation pose upon his own bunk. Rather than disturb him – as it had probably been a rather stressful day for him yesterday, and meditation was always good for a person – she quietly made her way out of the room through the only other doorway besides the turbolifts.

She caught a glimpse of Lea, also with damp hair and wearing only a towel to preserve her modesty, disappearing into another room that had bunks in it carrying a pile of clothing in her arms, and standing off to one side was a young girl the Epicanthix had never seen before. A small scowl marred the otherwise pretty young girl’s face, but before Andri could even think of introducing herself the youngling – or perhaps she was a padawan already? – strode off into yet another area of the prison complex.

Andri sighed to herself, mentally reminding herself once again that tensions were running high, and she probably just needed to eat or something to clear her head a bit. She obviously hadn’t noticed the older Jedi.

The black haired woman finally stepped into the bathing room herself, noting immediately that there was a young man wearing nothing but what looked suspiciously like Lea’s outer robe. Andri stopped dead, confusion overriding any thoughts of showering, and blurted out, “Why are you wearing Lea’s clothes?”

She regretted it immediately, as the poor boy’s face was such an unfortunate shade of red already. Andri obviously needed to meditate, to centre her mind and stop any more of this blurting she had been doing lately.

Tatooine was a hot planet. There was no denying that fact. With both suns still up, even with the sunsets fast approaching, it was still scorching hot. Kennith had not seen fit to take the lead when they headed down to Mos Eisley, but then he preferred to stay in the background. When the Herglic, Melloch, started interfering in a quarrel he personally would not have worried about, he at first would want not to be involved at all. Of course, he didn’t get much choice in the matter, seeing how Melloch involved him almost from the start. He didn’t actually know this “Karlie” but that didn’t really matter. Improvising was his specialty, after all. He strode up to Melloch, keeping his hood up in the faint hope of keeping some of the heat away. It didn’t work all that well, but he thought perhaps that he looked a bit more menacing that way, which frequently helped. Especially when dealing with criminals. Impressions were important then.

As he frequently did, he jumped straight into the fray. “Ey, Karlie, old buddy!” He followed up with a small hint of a mind trick, aiming to make them both a touch more willing to talk. “You really shouldn’t worry so much! You know he would want to talk to us. This is all a minor misunderstanding, after all!” one of the two arguing folks blanched somewhat when Kennith put some extra pressure on the ‘he’, so he assumed that one had to be the one called Karlie. Or even if it wasn’t, he would be the one with anything relevant to say. His informant had been impossible to contact directly, so Kennith would have to find out their target by a somewhat more roundabout route. On a world like Tatooine, that meant delving into the criminal underworld. What they didn’t know, was either irrelevant, or kept secret by the Republic or the Empire. But even many of their secrets weren’t securely kept from the underworld. Information, not credits, was the real currency of value on this rock. One could pay for the other.

The one originally talking to Karlie, turned to face the approaching Herglic. Massive and towering over the human, his eyes looked up into the robed figure with a sneer and edged for his blaster in reaction. He let his hand linger there for a moment or two before retracting it, realizing he was jumping to his itchy trigger finger. He studied the odd group, his gut stirring, then hooked his thumb on his belt. Naturally when a mention of debts was made the emotions in the leader’s head shifted from irritated to concern abruptly. He didn’t like the fact they had overheard his business when Janglor had made it clear to handle it discreetly, keeping any information or knowledge just between them and Karlie. He shot the old man a glare to warn him, he was going to pay for this.

When the man floated up beside Karlie and him, seeming trying to ease the tension. It worked for a moment. The human relaxed and edged his fingers from the blaster, thumbing his nose at hearing the friendliness toward the old man. Karlie merely looked at the Jedi with a sickening look as he turned back to the human. He was confused and unsure what to say, pretty sure things had just gotten at their very worse. “Tell Janglor, I will have his money by this evening.”

“Um… you better,” The man replied, “Else your livelihood will be a pile of scrap metal.”

Unprepared for the following action, the man strike out a punch to land into the old man’s stomach. The other two already had their blasters ready to be drawn and aimed to set to wound or kill the Jedi if needed.

Melloch kept his smile up, ready to send the sneering human back into the wall with a firm push as his hand edged to the blaster. Come now, don’t be stupid. You can’t win this fight. It was a relief when concern replaced irritation. Concerned people tended to act cautiously. The Herglic gave a toothy grin to Kennith as the other Jedi went with it, before Karlie spoke up again. Melloch thought the situation was over. He was wrong. The human with the blaster attempted to punch Karlie, and the other thugs drew their blasters almost simultaneously.

The Herglic’s reaction was instinctive, reaching out with the Force and telekinetically grasping the human’s wrist and stopping the punch. Melloch cleared his blowhole, speaking quietly, Force Persuade hopefully making them go along with it “ Hauum. That is ill-advised, my friend. Karlie will pay his debts by tonight. Let's all leave not regretting this situation. You put your blasters down, and we all leave and meet later tonight where Karlie will give what he owes.” He waited, ready to act should blaster fire start.

The name Janglor was one Kennith recognized, but he did not recall having heard it spoken off with such fear before. The Janglor he recalled had been naught but an orphan some ten-twelve years back. He turned to the man who would speak to Janglor, subtly waving his hand to use a bit extra force persuasion to get him to do it without as much thought. “Don’t forget to tell him that the fifth droid is out of blue.” If it was the same Janglor, he’d get the message. If it wasn’t, he’d simply be confused.



Time, was not scarce. Nor should it be. Patience, is a virtue. Miasa wished to teach the prisoners this. That was her primary reason for not entering the prisons at the exact time she had claimed she would. They would not get out anytime soon, so they might as well get used to the fact that they were in it for the long haul. Even if the Jedi were searching for the Kaggath, which she doubted they would have much success at, she did not think the republic or the Jedi order would condone such a search once the treaty gets signed. The treaty might not be signed yet, but she knew just how stubborn the imperial negotiators were, so there was no chance any of them would let the republic have any easy terms. She could not do anything but applaud the genius of the Emperor’s plan for taking Coruscant.

While leveling the ecumenopolis would have some satisfaction, it would be almost as satisfying to see the planet sold back to the republic at an exorbitant cost. It was unfortunate that they would not be able to clean up the planet in that time. The whole world was proof of the festering sores of corruption and crime in the republic. It would in her opinion only have been made better by starting over. She had put in a request for the copy of all recordings pertaining to the destruction wreaked upon that decrepit planet. If she could not be there to watch, she would at least be able to watch it properly.

When the chronometer reached an hour and ten minutes past the time she had claimed she would arrive to pick up her target, she decided it was time to go up there. She slithered out of her quarters, heading for the turbolift up to the prisoner’s sanitary facility. There was no point in going in through the same turbolift every single time. That would be predictable. When she entered that room, there were no prisoners there, so she slithered over to the central chamber, with the clear transparisteel floor. Had she not been able to see and feel the surface of the metal, she would quite possibly have been unnerved by sliding over that much empty space. It was a nice arena, but she saw no reason yet to visit it. If the prisoners somehow got hold of weapons, she would not want them to know how she fought.

“So… Have you decided who shall go?” she let the words out so that all the prisoners would hear them. All the prisoners who were present, at least.

Ven'ren made his way back the sith quarters, walking back with more energy than before, still exited from the fight. But as fun as he'd had, there was something else there too. If the Jedi was honest, and truly had given himself over to the Sith, then he was almost... disappointed. Part of him had hoped they would put up more of a fight. Part of him wanted to see strength there.

He pushed the thought away, the Jedi had acted, and the mock fight was still interesting, making deals was still interesting and that was reason enough to be exited indeed. Instead, he considered how much to say to his master, Jewel. It was true that the more people knew of his ally, the more mistrust there would be for the both of them at this point, and the less useful the Jedi would be. At the same time, he did not want to risk his relationship with his master. It would likely burn at some point, that was, as had been made apparent to him, the way of the Sith, but not now, not yet.

He considered the time. He could likely wait until the morning before speaking to Darth Nyiss. Using the rest of the evening to speak to his own master, and maybe also check the recording from the discussion with the Jedi, making sure nothing really damaging could be taken from it.

So much was rattling around in Xid’s head. Around and around it went, like the water down the primal drain as it failed to wash his conflict away. The temperature was lukewarm but his body was flustered in heat, his embarrassment all too clear on his features while he tried to hide it. His forehead pressed hard against the clear, red tinted glass and stared downward in thought. His eyes too on a hazy, unfocused look. Lost in the worst place possible: his head, his past. Confusion, an emotion he had dealt with, pounded in his mind as badly as the nightmares which jarred him awake. Sometimes his ears filled with his own screaming from the haunting memories causing him to curl up into a cold, shivering ball. Even he was amazed he managed to pass the trials on the first time even if was barely.

The Empire’s trooper’s image flashed in his mind and Xid flinched. Questions, frighteningly real and serious, surfaced into his attention against his will. They were answers he never wanted to consider, especially now, while he bit his bottom lip. His eyes sealed tightly and arms pressed to defensively wrap about himself from them. Of course, it didn’t since it was a fictional and childish gesture on his part, a habit best forgotten.

Are we really that much alike? Under it all, was he really just like me once...until they changed him?

A sourness budded at his throat and threatened to hurl forth, his hand raised to cover his mouth in fear. Slowly he inhaled. His eyes tighter, his fingers loosening, and finally began to incite the Jedi code. He knew it very well and in the past, it always inspired him to follow the path he was given. The last part was the most empowering, even to the padawans and knights, to know in some small way they all would remain connected.

Quietly, Xid whispered the words for strength. “There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death… there is the Force.”

At the last words, Xid’s eyes snapped open. He let his lips fall into a weak smile then finished washing away the sweat and grime that have collected. His hand turned to shut off the last of the water and stepped out to retrieve a towel to wrap about his pelvis. The knight’s eyes lingered upon Lea’s outer robes held in his hand. His mind noting the feminine appearance as well as the fact it smelt like her, placing it to side so he could dry off and dress. Garbed in Lea’s robe, he had begun to pad to the main room with the towel flopped over his curly mess for hair. His hands were rubbing furiously, tugging some of his roots in the process, when he sensed a presence before him.

His blue eyes lifted to acknowledge her and immediately became aware of his dress state, wondering if his face was about to turn completely red again. Naturally it was. It was the knight from before, the woman hauled in by the troopers and merely dumped like an unwanted droid. Xid’s heart trembled in pain at recalling his own droid, possibly lost forever through destruction or worse. The Sith wouldn’t have bothered to salvage Navi after all. At her question, Xid tried to pass off his discomfort. “It wasn’t my idea, honest! Arix, the padawan that was in here earlier, pulled me in and I slipped over the wet floor. My robes got soaked and well… It was either I used hers or…”

He purposely trailed off with his sentence. It would’ve been perfectly clear what he was about to say as his hand raised, scratching his neck some.

Jayda’s breath was steady and calm as she lay silently upon her bed. However, she wasn’t asleep. Her mind was too active, from confusion and the need to stir, to consider sleeping. So in the darkness of the earlier hours, she merely lay there to absorb the movements clear to her senses and pondered over the past though she wanted to forget. The ship’s groaning sounds made the behemoth alive with each ‘breath’ rattling in her keen ears while she leaned back to listen. A steady pace managed to emerge in her mind and in habit, she counted quietly by mouthing the numbers in her native tongue. 1...2....3… It was an exercise she toyed with. Whenever something determined a clear pattern in her mind, she would register it inside her memory for reference later. It held little meaning to anyone else but herself, a recollective habit from her past, and few would consider it worthy to note.

After several minutes, her mind decided it was time to get up. Her bones ached in slight protest through her face frowned at the sensation being more nulled than expected. In reaction, her hand reached across her figure and jerked the blanket away, flipping over the edge onto the floor. A soft sound when it glided through the air and landed onto the metal floor. In the almost lightless room, her pupils widen to seize whatever light it could, revealing the reason her wounds hadn’t been aching as badly. The bandages weren’t as reddened and soaked with her blood as she gingerly pulled one off, revealing the scabbed up surface. It had stopping any bleeding from seeping into the bandage through Jayda knew it was far too soon to occur.

Her nails gently, careful not to reopen the wound, prodded it. She gritted her teeth for a moment as she hissed, softly letting the pain out in a subtle way. Inhaling sharply, she twisted her feet about until her legs were hanging off the bed edge. Without wasting much time she walked carefully over to the dresser and started to change out of her ripped, bloodied and day old clothes to cast away yesterday’s memories. And Sish’s abuse.

She had just gotten on a fresh, clean tunic when her eyes noted a bunk had been slept in. Immediately her mind drifted to piece last night events together, recollecting it was Zanna that had spent the night, and relaxed for a moment. It was strange that her alchemy was able to mend such serious wounds as she turned on heel, her body coming face to face with something unexpected: a small, untouched cart was sitting near the doorway. On top was a covered lid and the scent of cooked meat filled her nostrils, causing her to cautiously approach it. At just within range, she grinded to a stop. Her eyes studied for suspicious signs it was unfit for consumption then carefully lifted the lip to be assaulted by the reek steak and knew who sent it. Sish.

Jayda’s lips pulled into a snarl at the thought and considered shoving it into the hallway, untouched. Her hand came to rest on the handle as she gripped hard enough her knuckles were white. Her eyes became unfocused, turning inward in thought, before sighing. She couldn’t do it through she wanted to, pulling the cart closer to her when she trailed weakly back to the bed.

Out of all the Sith, he was the last one that wanted her dead and even she wasn’t stupid enough, in her current state, despite last night, to weakly eat in front several sith waiting for a target. It was better to digest and debate on her next move rather than act rashly and result in another instant she was crippled. Inhaling slowly, Jayda settled down to eat the meal reluctantly.



Navi was skittering along the vents again, growing to know them well and still rattled by his most recent brush with death. His processor kept going over the scene. Nothing in his data banks, recent or past, could determine the murderer's identity or race. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. His legs clicked faster to bring him down the tunnels, buying him more distance, especially should the thing that killed the Sith be following him. Abruptly the droid twisted to the left then darted down a narrowing section and toward the prison complex.

It took some time. The minutes lengthening with his rapidly moving legs, the little tips tapping in the metal without worry it would be heard. Materials were much thicker here compared to other area in the ship as the droid recalled from what he had managed gain. Over the Jedi’s heads and inside the vent above, the prisoners within the shower area could hear the scratching noise of something crawling.

Andri tried to offer the poor young man an understanding smile as he rambled, his face burning brighter with every word he stumbled over. As he finally trailed off, she held out her hand to shake his own. “My name is Andri Perrin. I’m sorry for implying anything untowards, if that was how you took it; I was just surprised is all. It sounds like you have had quite an interesting morning then.”

Rubbing the back of his head in discomfort, Xid’s eyes naturally found the floor. Despite his rank having changed over the last few weeks, he still felt like a Padawan in the presence of other Knights, especially those much older and he couldn’t stop the blushing. Though she tried to reassure him, he had done nothing wrong there so much guilt edging into his mind that it was hard to believe it. “If you count not being able to sleep, tossing and turning all night, something interesting then yes. It was. I’ll be happy when we escape from this nightmare. However, I wonder why no one’s tried to escape yet. The security systems are so basic it wouldn’t be hard through the locks on the lifts might present a challenge. Save for a slicer…”

Xid’s eyes shifted toward the entrance to the medical area and inwardly twitched to feed his inner machinist. When he held his free hand out to shake, he immediately realized something. “Wait, what time is it?”

As the young Knight rubbed the back of his head she grimaced in sympathy. A long night was something Andri was familiar with, due to her own restless sleep, and she was infinitely glad she knew Revitalise, which helped her shrug off the effects the lack of sleep would have given her. Giving the young blond a look over, to see just how he was actually doing, the Epicanthix Knight winced at the bruising visible and the way he slouched to one side. Making a snap decision, the black-haired woman stepped closer to the young man and laid a hand on his shoulder, utilising her Revitalise skills to give him just that little bit of extra energy. “I’m sorry, I’m no good at healing so I can’t help with any bruises, but I can give you some extra energy to help with the long night.”

She stepped back just as quickly, trying to avoid having him burst a blood vessel from how red his face was, “I’m not sure why no one has tried to escape; I only just arrived last night. Though, knowing the Sith I doubt that the security is truly as lax as it seems. It’s far more likely to be a trap designed to lull us into a sense of false security.”

Andri glanced around the room at his question, and frowned. “I’m not sure. Is there a clock in the prison cell somewhere? Surely it can’t be after seven though; a Sliussi Sith came in last night while Lea and I were talking and told us she would be back at thirteen minutes past seven.”

When the older Knight touched Xid’s shoulder, he stiffened impulsively. For a moment nothing happened but slowly, he felt an energy spread through the contact and fill his very core with new life. His eyes widened in surprise, his head cocked to one side while he looked harder at her as seeking what had caused his energy to spike. He had never felt Revitalize before so this was a new experience for him when Andri’s mention about the serpent Sith. “Still, I think Lea stated the lights come on at a key time and that means we only have a limited time before the Sith expects someone to volunteer. The only problem is, we’ve not figured who’s going to go with her. Until we escape, we’re technically at the Sith’s mercy as much as none of us like. At no one’s tried to fight back and Tolun Fi wanted me to sort of be careful of what I did. No one else know how to piece together a lightsaber from the equipment in the medical bay like I do.”

The last bit he whispered slightly softer so not to be caught on the cameras his eyes stared at directly. It made a slight twinkle in the light as if to let him know it was there and a keen eye would find it easy to spot, something he hoped Andri might catch.

“I was not aware that the lights came on at set times, though I suppose it makes sense.” Andri started, furrowing her brow slightly as she noticed the young man staring intently at something on the wall as his tone dropped, and her mind quickly put two and two together; they were under surveillance, and the others had obviously come up with some sort of plan revolving around the younger Knight’s mechanical skills, if what he said was true. She dropped her own voice in response as she glanced over at the wall, her eyes just barely noticing the twinkle of the light reflecting off the camera lense. “A useful skill to have; I am experienced in repairing and caring for my own, I will help wherever I can.”

“If it is the volunteering you are worried about,” The Knight continued at a normal tone again, to try to make it seem like that was all they had been talking of when they hushed their voices, “I am willing to go. My belief is strong, and I am not so easily swayed by the darkness. Who knows? I may even be able to find us some help in the more sympathetic Sith; I must at least try in any case.”

Xid looked up, his eyes filled regret and gratitude at the same time. “I don’t want to sit back and let others take the fall for me, but Tolun’s made a logical point I can’t ignore. Everyone’s chances of escape lays on my shoulders. Which in the end, if I fall, we all lose. I hate it. I much rather be the one taking the pain or suffering, than others. I’m not worth it.”

The younger knight sighed and added, recalling he never did state his name before. “My name is Xid Terrick. And it’s nice to meet another Knight, though I’ve only been one for about two weeks at most before being caught. Not a worthy note for a recently gradulated Knight, is it?”

Andri felt a stirring of sadness at Xid’s belief that he wasn’t worth it, and offered him a comforting smile. “We will happily take the suffering in your place, because we know how much you wish you could take our places instead. That is what makes you worth it, young Xid - and why myself and the other Jedi will gladly take your place, whilst you work hard on getting us all out of here. Because we know that you would do the same for us if you could.”

“And hey - don’t worry about being captured after only two weeks as a Knight. I have been one for fifteen years now, and I still got captured. I believe that shows how little the amount of time you spent as a Knight means in this matter. What counts is that you are still alive.” She gave him a cheery grin, hoping the comparison would lift his spirits a bit. “Now, I am desperately wanting a shower. Be a darl and let me shower in privacy, will you?”

Zanna woke up, feeling her stomach rumble and her face hurt. The latter took her a moment to understand why, and then the night before came rushing back. The Red Sith had to visibly bite back on her fury, her teeth clenching tightly. How dare that filthy impure scar her. He will pay. Oh, he will pay. She promised herself, before locking away the fury and indignation. There would be a time and a place for those emotions to be released. Right now, with the Zabrak sleeping practically right next to her and the Trandoshan in the next room over.

Quietly, Zanna got out of the bed (still in her clothes from last night) and walked out of the room. She needed to go get something to eat, especially after her exertions last night. Zanna walked into the cafeteria, getting her plate of food and moving to sit at a table next to a wall, her back to said wall. She didn’t want people easily sneaking up behind her, public place or no.

She began to quietly eat her breakfast, idly watching people come and go through the cafeteria.

Vivithe entered the cafeteria, the hood on her maroon robe raised, her figure shrouded yet it gave off an aura of calmness. She did not sleep much during the night, not due to stress or insomnia but rather how used she was to getting only a few hours of rest yet showing no signs of tiredness. It was not a wise idea to slumber for hours on end in her current location and position, a ship full of Sith, one never knew what kind of diabolical thoughts went through their heads.

Her eyes caught on a Red Sith woman by herself, a plate of food in front of her, in silence she ate. A pretty thing, Vivithe had read files on each of the Sith on board with her, so she knew who they all were, well as much information as their files had on them, sometimes even just a name, race and gender was enough for her. She started towards the woman, as she felt some of the curious eyes in the room fall upon her figure, ones from those that did not matter, the grunts and cannon fooder.

“Zanna? I believe that is your name, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Vivithe said as she stood in front of the Red Sith, a smile on her face, hood still raised. She did not yet take a seat.

Zanna looked up at the hooded figure, setting her fork down as she noticed the Sith (or so Zanna assumed) approach her, surprised someone would bother speaking to her. Most normal soldiers and staff on the ship preferred to avoid Sith and other Sith were rarely friendly to each other. Or if they were, it was just before they killed one another. Still, Zanna hadn’t seen this woman before and gave a cautious smile back. “Zanna is my name. You appear to have me at a disadvantage. To whom to I have the pleasure of speaking with?” The Red Sith was relatively assured that this strange Sith wouldn’t do anything in such a public place. Hopefully.

“Vivithe, though people often refer to me as Lady Lansha. I’m a Sith Lord, just arrived the other night, felt I should familiarize myself with my new home.” She said, then lowered her hood with both hands before she sat opposite of Zanna, locking eyes with the Red Sith as she sat.
“That looks recent,” Vivithe said as she noticed the scar, taking a mental note of it. It was unlikely it had come from an accident or was self caused, had to have come from an incident with either another Sith or a Jedi, more likely the former. “I could let you borrow some makeup for it if you’d like, unless you're one of those Sith that take pride in hard earned scars.” She added.

Zanna tensed almost imperceptibly as Vivithe spoke. Another Sith Lord. Wonderful. She thought, her smile still in place. She met Vivthe’s eyes evenly, relatively assured the Lord wouldn’t be insulted by that. After all, if she wanted subservience she wouldn’t have bothered with the hood up or the politeness. Zanna’s hand instinctively went to her new scar, scabbing over as the alchemical substance did it’s work. “Lord Sish was...displeased by my proximity to his disciplining of his apprentice. As for the make up, thank you but I have my own. Besides, I couldn’t ask that of you. We’ve just met.” And I’m sure you’d poison it. She added silently, before speaking again.

“Pardon me if this seems impertinent, Lady Lansha, but I’m curious. Why approach me? Most Lords don’t bother with apprentices, as you surely know I am one if you already know my name, and even fewer approach apprentices themselves, preferring to send summons. Even less offer their makeup to people they’ve just met. I find this conversation...unusual.”

“You’re the most interesting person in the room, if I approached a soldier or worker then they’d be terrified of me. I wouldn’t be able to have a straight conversation with them as they’d spend every second trying to please me. Sometimes I just desire someone I can speak to equally with no cowardice involved.” Vivithe said, as she blinked, then smiled once more.

“Do the other Lords treat you and the others subordinate to them with disregard or ignorance?” Her expression turning into a more serious one as she asked the question.

Zanna inclined her head in acknowledgement of the truth of non force users and talking to Lords. Or even other Sith in general. Perhaps it was the fact that many Sith tended to abuse their power heedlessly when it came to those weaker than them, but it did get annoying every once in a while. She still didn’t trust the Lord’s reasons, but wasn’t about to let Vivithe get a hint of that and focused on her next question.

“Lord Sish is…” Zanna hesitated, unsure of Lady Lansha’s relationship with the Trandoshan and response to disparaging remarks about other Lords. “...strict. He doesn’t disregard others, but neither does he hesitate in punishing for disrespect or things he doesn’t approve of.” Zanna gave a wry smile and gestured to her scar. “Clearly. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Lord Jewel, so I cannot comment on her treatment of others.”

“I’ve heard a bit about him, haven’t met him, neither have I met Lord Jewel. But I have heard some things about them. Word tends to spread among the Sith,” Vivithe said, then looked at the scar on Zanna’s face once more. “He caused that? May be wise to tread lightly around him, both of us even. Though if he gave my pretty face a cut like that then I’m not sure what I would do.” She said with a laugh.
“As I said, Lord Sish was displeased with my proximity to his disciplining of his apprentice. He has killed at least one other apprentice for disrespecting him as well. I suspect you’ll be able to withstand him far better than I.” Zanna replied, giving a smile at Vivithe’s laugh. “I don’t know what you’d do, Lady Lansha, but I would make sure to stay a great distance away from it.”

“Where would the fun in that be, Zanna? I should at least let him know I’m on the ship, keep him nice and paranoid,” Vivithe said with a smile, she did intend to interact with the lizard at some point, just not in anyway that she would get the same result (or worse) than Zanna did. Of course if he did actually try to strike her then that would be quite the interesting turn of events.

“Did you try to stop him from his ‘discipline’ of his apprentice?” She asked, curious what exactly happened between her and Sish. Though she doubted that Zanna would tell her the full story or even enough to take anything away from.

“I heard her screaming, and got close to the door to try and fix any damage he had done. He spotted me, and disliked me being so close.” Zanna replied, shrugging slightly. “I wasn’t careful enough. I’ll make sure to be more cautious next time. He might not be so merciful next time.” I’ll kill him. I’ll kill the impure bastard for what he’s done.

“He wants total control over her, demands it. The pain she was in seems like it was another lesson being taught.” Vivithe muttered, as she processed what Zanna had told her. It was barren, but useful information, revealed knowledge about Sish. Interference with him and his apprentice might be enough to affect him and many pieces in the puzzle on the ship.

“He won’t be merciful, you’re right about that. Treat him like a caged animal, dangerous if you put your hands in the bars and try to touch its toys,” She said with another smile. “Has his apprentice tried to fight back yet? Enough abuse should have caused her to snap.”

“Not that I’ve noticed.” Zanna spoke, silently agreeing with Vivithe’s muttering. “She didn’t seem to have a desire to fight back. I suspect she tried before and it ended badly for her, judging from the scars.” The Red Sith shuddered slightly at the memory of all the overlapping scars. Whatever the lizard had done to the Zabrak, it was surely filled with agony.

“No desire to fight back is odd, even if she had failed once to fight back, a Sith would try again and again. Unless she hasn’t always been a Sith. Was she a Jedi?” Vivithe asked Zanna, she knew of course, the files she had read did include that information.

“I don’t know, Lady Lansha. I haven’t talked to her for very long, perhaps an hour altogether. She may be waiting for an opportunity to strike back, or she may be completely beaten down by him. She could be a Jedi, she could be a Korriban sith, or she could have just been found by him” Zanna shrugged again. “She seems very secretive and distrusting, though who isn’t, so I doubt there will be any answers from her. Sish has answers, but I do not think he will tell you anything either.”
“I doubt he will, an intelligent Sith does not reveal secrets.” Vivithe said, of course there were many ways other than straight asking in order to reveal said secrets. The Sith Lady smiled at Zanna and rose from her seat, satisfied with their conversation. She had gotten enough information out of the Red Sith for now.

“I’ll leave you to eat in peace, but I do hope we talk again later. It’s been a pleasure, Zanna.” Vivithe said with another smile, then rose the hood on her robe, turned and left the cafeteria. A different smile on her face as she walked away from her new acquaintance.

Vivithe moved through the halls like a huntress stalking its next prey. She was a Sith woman on a mission, a fearsome thing even in just name alone. The beautiful woman’s hazel eyes swung from side to side as she looked for the Jedi she was seeking out. With composed and quiet footsteps she moved through the hallway, her body language displaying that of someone in a relaxed state even in such a hostile environment.

“Shiri, is it?” She asked as she came behind the girl, her maroon robes flowing, her hood still raised, but her face revealed by the bright lights in the hallway. A friendly smile sat on her face, eyebrows raised.

Shiri quickly placed a mask of calm on her face, even though this Sith could still tell she was at least troubled if they dared to delve into her emotions. “Yeah, that’s what they call me at least. My friends, that is.” As she started to slip into the mindset of speaking with the Sith, the calm on her face started to be her true emotion. Here was something to focus on that didn’t make her feel like screaming at the world, something she knew she could deal with. “Although you aren’t my friend, you can call me that as I don’t really feel like giving my full name to a Sith.” She returned the Sith’s friendly smile now, what’s the use of talking if she can’t try her hardest to be herself: Impossible?

“It is good that you know who your friends are. Even if you don’t consider me a friend, I feel there is something we can discuss, in private, if you’ll allow me to.” The lady Sith said, as they walked, her moving ahead towards a door to the side, with a hand wave it came open, the room inside was one familiar to Vivithe from before, the surveillance chamber. It may not have seemed like a great idea to allow a Jedi inside, but she had taken enough measures to ensure the girl wouldn’t learn anything that Vivithe didn’t want her to.

“Go ahead, have a seat.” She added, gesturing for Shiri to go inside before she did herself. The monitors inside were all blank at the moment.

The room the Sith led her to was filled with monitors, could she really have believed it was a good Idea to bring a Jedi to their surveillance room? Shiri entered the room without a word, wondering what crazy idea this one had come up with. First dinner, then cards. Could she have brought me here to watch a show? It’s not like it was a bad idea, and Shiri almost laughed at the thought that it could be true, although the possibility was so small that it likely wasn’t.

She went up to the console and pressed a couple of buttons, not trying to do anything really, but disappointed all the same when nothing happened. She turned with a sigh to face the Sith. “So, you childproofed it so I couldn’t mess anything up for you. Smart move, but you kinda spoiled the fun for me.”

With a peaked eyebrow Vivithe motioned with her hand towards the largest screen, in a flash the largest monitor seemingly buzzed on and displayed a picture on it. A freeze frame image of Xid and Lea from before, the redness on the boy’s face evident in her presence. The Sith lady almost smirked as she paced towards the table in the middle, then finally spoke.

“I was once like that myself, a long time ago, I was in love with someone. Every time I was around them I had to try my hardest not to have that happen to me around them. But, in my alone time every thought of them caused me to light up. Unfortunately it didn’t go as I would have liked it to…” Vivithe said, her tone more somber towards the end as her voice trailed off.

“It almost makes me laugh to see that, like looking in a mirror. Love is a beautiful thing.” She added.

Seeing the picture of Xid and Lea, obviously from just moments ago as they were in the sanitation room, caused Shiri’s calm to falter. This, basically proved the things she had been hoping weren’t true, not that she was going to be able to delude herself for long anyway.

“Great…” She muttered under her breath as she realized what the Sith showing her this meant. They were being targeted now, all because they were good friends and, unfortunately now wanting to be something more. Shiri knew how she felt for Xid, she has had a crush before, and as she had suspected and now was proved by this picture, it seemed Xid felt the same way towards Lea.

As she admitted this to herself she kept her emotions under control, as much as she could anyway. She wouldn’t give this woman the satisfaction of seeing her bothered by this. “So, love is it?” She couldn’t bear to finish that thought so she went into another question. “What happened to your crush? Was he stolen away by someone else, or did you just tarry too long in telling him how you felt?”

Vivithe’s expression changed as she thought back, she hadn’t lied to the girl, she was actually once in love, but she had gotten over it. Thinking deeply about it brought back feeling she had tucked away as her lip quivered into a frown.

“I was too late, she died before I was ready to confess my feelings to her. The battlefield took her, it was so long ago, back when I was an apprentice, we were going into battle, under different masters. I had no clue what happened to her until after the battle when I was told the battalion she was fighting alongside perished in combat,” Vivithe said, as she blinked and put herself back together. “I like to sometimes believe that if I had told her how I felt about her then she may still be alive, maybe the thought that someone loved her would have caused her to act more carefully with not just her own well being in mind.”

“But yes, that is love, even in the saddest ways there’s still beauty in it.” She said, referring to her own experience that she had opened up to the Jedi about.

Shiri listened as the Sith told her story, surprised by how sincere she seemed as she spoke. “Sorry to hear that. And I suppose I should also apologize for bringing up such a sad memory. But, If you’ll bear with me a moment, do you think it could be for the best that you lost her when you did?”

Before the Sith had a chance to look at her like she was crazy, she explained. “That event, though you may not think so, was very important in leading you to being who you are now. As you believe she may have lived if she knew your feelings, how do you believe your own life may have changed if she had? She could have held you back from getting to where you are now, or your feelings for her could have caused you problems, maybe even caused your own death.”

Shiri paused a moment to think before continuing. “If you had told her and she had accepted your feelings, would you not be worried for her life at every moment? Forgive me if I have this fact wrong, but it’s not very uncommon for a Sith to murder their way up the ranks is it? If people knew of your feelings for each other, they would have used her against you, and vise versa.”

“In the Order, things like that never happen, so I feel sorry for you and the rest of the Sith. You’ve lived a life without peace, and without peace there is so much missing from the universe.” At this point Shiri realized that she was practically rambling, and so she smiled and tried to wrap up. “If you can find my point I’d be glad if you could tell me, I seem to have lost it in the last few sentences.”

“They would have never known. I am excellent at keeping secrets, if I wasn’t then my presence on the ship would have already been spoiled for one thing. No one besides the Darth knew I had arrived the other night.” Vivithe said, her hands folded behind her back, she had listened to the Jedi’s words, but they did nothing to her, it was the usual foolish nonsense they tended to spout.

“Peace is a fragile lie, my dear. There has never once been a period in the galaxy when there has not been war going on somewhere in it. You sit in your temples in silence meditating in your own false peace while the galaxy burns around you. If it was up to your Jedi Council then they would ignore the flames until there was nothing but ash left,” Vivithe said, the intensity in her voice having picked up. She added one final remark. “Perhaps you will sit in silence too while Xid becomes ash. He’s already heading down that path, one that is veering away from you.”

“You can’t turn me, I’m too stubborn. Plus, I’ve pretty much already promised another Sith that I wouldn’t fall to the Storm around me, or in your case, Fire.” Shiri took a moment to breathe and think. Talking was good, so long as she could keep a lid on her jealousy and basically avoid letting the Sith know she was as jealous as she was.

“You say peace is a lie, it’s even in your code. But how can you say something is a lie if you can actually see and feel, be at peace? The calm of the world before sunrise, The peace of mind one gains from casting off emotion, can you deny that truly exists?” Shiri wanted to see how the Sith responded to this before going on with her thought, and decided that she would deal with the jab about Xid later.

She had promised another Sith? What an interesting tidbit, even if the conversation wasn’t going the way that Lady Lansha wanted it to the girl was still unconsciously revealing valuable information. A little digging and she’d easily be able to figure out exactly which Sith it was that made this deal with the stupid girl.

“I can see the emotion of love in dear Xid’s eyes, he’s head over heels for that pretty human girl. I can also see her returning that feeling of love. Then she and him will be with each other, in the comfort of each other in even such a terrible situation.” Vivithe said as she raised one eyebrow and glanced at the still image of Xid on the screen.

“Or perhaps I could speak with Xid, give him the same words I was going to give you. But he is a handsome boy, I could show him how to really treat a woman. Oh would I teach him some things, I think he might even fall for me over Lea. If he likes how she looks underneath those robes, just wait until he sees me. ” She said, her eyes narrowing on the boy’s face before she turned her head towards Shiri, a grin on her face.

She would…what? No! nononononono NO. “You- you dodged my question.” Shiri forced her voice to stay calm, although the anger in her at what the Sith just said.. she had to calm down, before she did something really stupid, like, beat the Schutta's brains out. Ignoring what the Sith just said, or at least trying to, she went back to the point she had been about to make a moment ago.

“At least as the galaxy burns around us, we know what it means. The calm before the raging storm, and then again in the very center where the storm should be strongest, doesn’t that just prove that no matter how hard you try, you can’t get rid of us? Certainly, you create a rift, a temporary disturbance, a moment of chaos. But even at your center, your stronghold, you cannot avoid us. For what is the darkness with no light to expose it?” She smirked back at the Sith, but even though she had made a good point, she still wasn’t as calm as she should be.

“Xid can do whatever he wants, so long as he is truly happy and safe, then I don’t care. But if you think for one second that I’ll let you even talk about treating him, or any of my friends, like that -Causing anger, hatred, jealousy and confusion. Toying with the minds of the purehearted?- then you’ve got another thing coming. I will not fall, and sure as hell I’m not losing anyone else either. I’ll carry them through any trail you throw at me, even if it means my own death. I’ll just rejoin them in death through the Force, and continue to protect them forever.”

“Oh, I can make him quite happy, and with me he’ll be nothing but safe. It’s a wise choice to accept whatever help you can receive in such a terrible, hopeless situation. I’m sure his ears would at least be open to the idea of it. He seems like a smart boy, almost as smart as he is handsome.” Vivithe replied with another smile. she could see the emotions in the young girl as the Sith bent her words, the almost angry outburst at the thought of Vivithe getting her claws on her crush. She had found a weak spot within the Twi’lek, now it was just a matter of exposing it.

“You speak so ideally, but you’ve seen nothing in your barely even double digit years in your life. Have you even seen death? Stared with open eyes at piles of twisted, dead bodies in their own filth? Have you ever actually felt loss in your life? It will be interesting to see what happens when your ‘friends’ have to make hard decisions and show their true colors.” Vivithe added, her expression straightening out as her voice turned into one comparable to a teacher lecturing a student.

At the mention of loss Shiri had lost a bit of her fire, now wasn’t the time to think about that though. She stood straighter and looked the Sith dead in the eye. “Of course I’ve seen death, caused by people who didn’t care for anyone but themselves. And I wouldn’t be a Jedi if I hadn’t lost everything. The Order gave me a future, a family, and a purpose. My friends are the same way. We all have lost something, but we had to in order to become complete.”

“And don’t underestimate me just because I’m young. I could seriously mess up all your plans if I wanted to. Just give me 20 minutes alone in this room and I could screw up the entire ship. But, I’m not gonna, because I’m not a Schutta like you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head, almost innocently, at the Sith. “I suppose what I’m really trying to say is--.“

“That you already lost the moment you informed me that you had promised yourself to another Sith on the ship? That was all I needed from you, but you gave me much more as I led you along. We played a game, and you lost in the first turn,” Vivithe spat back, a smile on her face as she spoke once more. “I think I’ll have a chat with dear little Xid soon, it will be enlightening for us both.”

Shiri couldn’t help but laugh as she spoke. “What gave you that Idea? All I said was that I wouldn’t lose, to anyone. The ‘Storm’? There’s no way anyone would believe I promised myself to anyone, especially a Sith. No Jedi could believe it anyway, and they’re the ones who count.”

“Oh, I think I could get Xid to listen to me at least,” as she glanced back at the image of him displayed on the monitor. “I’m prettier than that other girl anyway, I think he only has eyes for human girls, he doesn’t act the same way around you as he does her.” Vivithe replied, a smile still on her face. The Twi’lek knew so very little, like all of the other Jedi she clung to ideals will no foundation.

“And you haven’t angered me one bit, you’re a child, you speak like one and have as much life experience as one. You still limit yourself even in a hopeless situation. Who knows what will happen when you actually have to make a decision that even slightly conflicts with your moral code.” She added with a laugh.

“When given an ‘A’ and a ‘B’, there is always an option ‘C’ which is better than any other. The topic may conflict, but my solution is always good with my morals. For example, you want me to lose the control I have over my emotions, option ‘A’ if you will, and I want to claw your face off, option ‘B’. So option ‘C’ is I do neither of those things and leave. Goodbye!” Shiri turned away from the Sith and walked up to the door. “Now just give me a second to figure out how to open this thing and I’ll be out of your hair, ok?”

Vivithe rose a hand towards the door as the girl move towards it, she used the Force to hold it shut, then walked towards Shiri, stopping a foot away from her, almost right in her face. Then she spoke.

“Then what happens when there is no option ‘C’? And there is not a given second in order to figure ‘something out’. You’re completely helpless right now, if I had wanted to then I could have made our meeting a living hell for you. You willingly followed me into this room even after I gave you the choice not to. No one would have come and helped you..” Vivithe said, then released her grip on the door as she pulled it open and flung Shiri out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Outside, four soldiers were stationed, two grabbed Shiri’s arms as soon as she was still.

“I could have left on my own, thanks.” Shiri grumbled as she caught her balance on the troopers who were there. “Suppose we’re going back to the cells now. Mind if we take the scenic route? I still need to figure a way to get out of here you know.” She sighed as the troopers said nothing and took her back to the cells, the short way. Once she was back in the cell block she climbed up onto the bunk she had slept on the night before and started meditating, she would have to talk to Xid later, after she calmed down.