DemonTongue

Aeon: The Blackened Wardens of Aetherium-DED

@Guilty Spark Nope you can just leave it as we've decided to accept her. If characters haven't been accepted in someway beforehand (pm or pirate pad)we just ask they be posted here from now on.

If you don't want to post a wip cs here or in pirate pad then just shoot it in a pm to Vash or myself :)

Aeon: The Blackened Wardens of Aetherium-DED

So much to do tonight, but in such a good mood. And so determined. This RP is gonna be awesome.

Aeon: The Blackened Wardens of Aetherium INTCHK

Nice! Gonna be doing some more work on characters and world building today with all this interest flying around. *gets hit in the face with it* Uhg... it's everywhere. Once we get a few more people I'll start pestering Vash to get the OOC up.

Aeon: The Blackened Wardens of Aetherium INTCHK

EXCUSE ME SIR! SIR! Sir, you seem to have gotten your interest in my double shot two pump hazelnut soy skinny latte. What have you to say for yourself!?

Star Wars: Annihilation [Vash & DemonTongue]

Bespin. How delightful. The crimson atmosphere glowed with the glory of something divine under the rays of the planet's warm sun. Masterful works of art in the thousands had been painstakingly created while gazing out over her surface. Writers across the galaxy had compared the sight to wildfires, to the beauty of a female, to billions upon billions of flower petals drifting in the wind without care. The magnificent floating hubs and cities housed diversity unheard of, trade goods of the rarest sort and any service imaginable legal or not. Workers came from far and wide seeking employment within the gas harvesters. Tourists came for the flights, skies and exotics. Outlaws came for the refuge and leads. This truly was an escapist's paradise.

"I hate this planet," Iisska mumbled while scowling from under the collar of his jacket.

"Oi! Don' be such a lil' pun'er" Balva jabbed him in the side of his leg with a pointed elbow, "'Less ya want we should go straigh' on back ta Hoth?"

"No..." Iisska sighed, "I'm glad we survived. Even more glad to be off of the ice... Guess this place just makes be feel like complaining."

He scuffed his foot along the steel catwalk outside the docking bay. The two of them had been admiring the clouds while Sterling and Trinity contacted merchants for parts and services for the Harpoon. Iisska supposed he and Balva should be there for that, but after Hoth a little procrastination had been earned at least.

Below them there was nothing but atmosphere and a plummet into the clouds would send the victim falling deeper and deeper into more and more intense pressure until they were crushed to death. Unless the molten core was counted, you would never impact a solid surface. What a way to go.

Quin had ducked off the ship wearing nothing but her unmarked stealth suit almost the second they had landed. He wasn't sure they'd be seeing her again. Good riddance. At first he had been nervous, but who would she turn them in to here? And if what she had said about the galactic authorities had been true, he doubted she'd be trying to contact them at all. Iisska stifled a yawn and popped his neck.

"I still have a couple credits or so," he shrugged, "Up for some food that's not from a dirty synthesizer?"

"Celestials be merciful, laddie. I though' ya'd nevahr ask!"

It wasn't much of a miracle that the pair of them made their way through the floating city without being shot at, mugged, yelled at or otherwise accosted, but Iisska seemed to think it was. Upon recounting the events that had happened around him for the whole two cycles he had spent here on his last and only visit, Balva mentioned that none of the city hubs were the same. With more sulking and huffing piled on, the Togruta reluctantly admitted that the little guy probably had a point.

"Wha's yer bloomin' problem anyhows, laddie?" Balva rolled his eyes as they headed back after sundown, "Ya been bummin' 'round wit' dat stupid long face o' yers for days."

"Just thinking about stuff n' things, I guess," Iisska frowned.

Back at the ship Balva returned to the A.I. core and Iisska was left to his own devices. Horrible squirming insects filled his guts... figuratively at least. He found himself slowing as he walked past the door to Zen-- Gallow's quarters. He thought about stopping, but moved along. Several minutes went by and he was back. Then left again. On the next pass he raised his hand in a fist ready to knock on the door, but stopped. Maybe now was a bad time. He spent a grand total of about thirty seconds in his own quarters before turning right back around. Nope, now was as good a time as any to ask. He rehearsed what he would say carefully. Again he went to knock on the door, stopped and frowned. He forgot what he was going to say. For a second or two he paced. For a few minutes he sat on the floor by the door with his hands on either side of his head like the world was coming to and end. Then he stood up straight, puffed out his chest, pulled his shoulders back, balled up a fist and... slumped against the opposite wall and banged his head into it until his thoughts cleared.

"Okay, enough. This time for sure," he whispered to himself, "Just don't think about it."

Straightening up once more he pounded on the door with the back of his hand, confident and calm.

"Zen-- er, shit. Gallow, it's me. So things didn't go so well the other day with the whole snow beasts thing, but I... I think I can do better. Just not by myself. All you force user types take on students or something, right? I want you to teach me, or be your apprentice, or whatever... Please."

TES: Akavir [Vash/DemonTongue]

"Under Moon and Star," S'Kylir breathed.

Her eyes were wide and her grip was frozen on the hilt of her sword. An unsettling foggy silence fell after the avalanche settled in the valley. She stood unmoving with Septimus upon a high ridge where they had last landed thanks to his quick thinking and even quicker movements. It was several moments before her mind was able to fully accept what had just transpired. Finally she lout out an exasperated growl and pulled away from her companion.

"Damn it! Damn all of it!" she spat, "That will not hold him for near long enough. We must leave. Divines be damned, this ruins everything! There is no trekking any further northward with that monster on our tails. I will not willingly risk facing one of the Spawn ever again!"

Another growl escaped her tightly clenched teeth and her cheeks flushed with the rising of her boiling blood. The woman sheathed her sword. It became apparent that her hands were shaking violently. All around them the snow creaked and groaned as it settled in and packed itself tightly down into the rocks. Parts of the dragon corpse could be seen jutting out of the site, though it was quickly decaying away. Dragons on Akavir. They had been extinct in this place for thousands of years now. They had been extinct on Tamriel for longer or so she had thought. Tales had reached her ears a time or two of the return of such creatures to Nirn, but she had not believed such nonsense. Some of the word must be true then. She shook her head at the thought. And the Spawn of the Demon King this far south with winter quickly retreating? Why? None of it made sense. "Powers are in place which you will never come to understand..." By Azura what had he been spouting?

Her bones were becoming cold and her shaking turned to uncomfortable shivers.

After the long thoughtful pause she turned to Septimus with a fire in her eyes.

"We leave now... What a waste. Whomever the loose cannon attacking the Spawn down there was, is now probably buried. Fool soul. Where is the snake woman?"

TES: Akavir [Vash/DemonTongue]

The sun beat down on the damp southern forests, making the air hot and muggy even in well shaded areas. The trail which they followed was well used and packed down tightly by hundreds of feet having walked it in the past. Anyone who dared stray off it was at risk to the deep spongy soil, thick foliage and dangerous animals that lay beyond. Cael huffed and looked at his surroundings with a wary eye. Anyone save for wild cubs it seemed. It was quiet for once. He was alone on the road again. Not a good sign. He let his hands drop off the straps if his pack to his sides, casually, yet defensively. He checked his back, listened carefully and smelled the air. Nothing. The cub had stayed down wind. Smart kid. Then a single healthy leaf drifted down through the air and settled on the road in front of Cael. He froze.

A wild hissing and spitting rang through the air from above and at the last second Cael planted one foot and spun to face the other direction. The flailing ball of fur and stripes landed in a heap where he had just been standing. He looked down at the cub and smirked. He was short and shrimpy for his age but still full of fight... but perhaps not grace. It must take some time for the cubs to start landing on their feet.

"Ahhhh!! Caaaeel!!" the little Ka-Po-Tun rolled around on the ground throwing his arms and legs out to pound it, "<You're not supposed to moooove!>" he whined in a strange tongue.

Cael simply shrugged innocently and kept walking. Yuda picked himself up and jogged after him.

"<How'd you know this time?>" he asked with an eye roll.

Cael put a finger to his lips and smiled. Then he stooped to pick up the stray leaf off the ground as they passed it and showed it to the kitten.

"<Oh,>" Yuda took it from him and looked at it with a frown, "<And I was too loud? Nuh-uh. There's no way.>"

Cael shook his head and made the same motion with the finger on his lips. Yuda tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes.

"<Whaaaaa- OH!! Too quiet!>"

Cael nodded.

"<Uuuuhhhgg! You can't say that! Being quiet is GOOD. Understand!?>" he scrambled up Cael's back to sit on his shoulders. Once there he knocked on the man's skull lightly, "<Quiet. Good. Hey, and it's not fair. Every time I go away you know to start looking harder. You can't do that.>"

Again Cael just shrugged. The kid would learn eventually.

After a miraculous fourteen consecutive seconds of silence Yuda plopped his chin down on the top of Cael's head and sighed, "<When are we getting to town?>"

After a moment or two Yuda's free ride pointed off into the distance. It took a second but after some confused searching and shielding his eyes against the sun he saw it. Thin tails of smoke, hardly visible in the daylight, drifted up out of a wide section of cleared jungle. Tiny thatched rooftops dotted the clearing a midst the feet of a handful of raised outposts and a couple of taller buildings and towers.

"<Yes!>" Yuda bolted off Cael's shoulders.

The man shook his head with a smirk and dug a dark bandanna out of his belt which he tied around his scalp and protruding horns. Going into settlements and cities was always such a pain. However, he had heard this one was different. He certainly hoped that was a good thing.

"<Oh my gods! I'm so tired of eating crusty bread and bean paste! CAEL!>" the cub slammed on the brakes and wheeled around to face him with an excited grin, "<Do you think they'll have crocodile!? Shit! If they do can we-->"

Yuda trailed off as he was met with only a menacing glare.

"<I-- I mean-- I didn't mean to say that!>" he ran after his guardian as he walked past again, "<I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!>"

Cael looked down at him with a raised brow.

"<I slipped! That's all!,>" Yuda's yellow eyes became huge and sad and filled with mostly pupil as he pleaded, "<B-- But-- If they have it, can we get some!? Pleeeease!? Please!? It's my favor-->"

The man stopped and put a gentle hand over the kid's snout, putting down just enough pressure to close his jaws. Then he nodded.

The cub bounced excitedly and tried to talk through the muzzle but it only came out as garbled noise. Cael looked down at him with a stern frown until he calmed and quieted. Then he let go.

"<Sorry,>" Yuda whispered and curled sheepishly,"<I'll be quiet.>"

The hustle and bustle of the settlement combined with the completely alien peoples and wares of Tamriel wound up pushing the kitten's curiosity and sanity to its very limits. Cael wondered if he should construct a leash as he watched the fuzzball dart back and forth through the streets pointing at things and mouthing to himself. With some level of amusement Cael watched as one of the merchants selling magical bobbles and one or two smuggled Dwemer artifacts beamed down at the cub and greeted him... in Cyrodiilic Common. The excitement and confidence was gone. His bushy tail was tucked firmly around one leg, ears pinned and he shrank before taking a few cautious steps backward. The merchant spoke to him again and he hustled back to his guardian. For quite a while he clung to Cael, listening, watching, ears flicking back and forth.

"<What are they saying?>" he mumbled, "<Why do they all talk like that? ... Everybody looks weird. Like you. Where are we?>"

Cael patted his back. Maybe his voice couldn't understand the languages spoken here, but he could. It was painfully nostalgic, but the familiar words made him feel warm and more at ease. They would get by somehow. Yuda might even learn a useful spell or two (this was a magic-centric place after all) or interesting new words to jabber on with... if only because the Divines were cruel.

---

"The destination is not nearly as important as the journey," S'Kylir sighed, "When the snow melts up to the northern border, when there are no more demons to bloody our blades and when our pockets are filled with gold from bounties I should like to return for the summer and engage in more peaceful work and exploration until the next season... Should the Divines be so merciful... Are you growing bored Septimus?"

Another day passed over them. They moved slowly. S'Kylir occasionally had held up the pace to wait for the serpentine woman, much to her dismay. They put a mountain ridge behind them at least. On the north side the winter sun rarely touched the low land, allowing the snow and ice to build up among the jagged rocks. Nestled into these rocks they made a small camp. Once again S'Kylir disappeared at dusk only to return when it had grown dark. Once back she stood watch, somehow unable to get comfortable. There was once a time where she could have slept soundly in the sand and rocks while lava flows popped and erupted near by with the threat of wild animals, bandits and rogue Ashlanders looming over her. No more. There was too much pressure on her bones and her mind. However, it seemed Annette would make full use of their stop as she was already out cold. S'Kylir smirked and shook her head. Her eyes turned up to the stars she let her memories wander back to more historical and glorious times.

It was a warm and comforting wander until it was ripped up by a rumbling in the very foundations of the mountain. She ran out of the sheltered cut-out, drawing her sword and looking around for any sign of trouble. The rumbling continued and grew more intense until and otherworldly shriek overpowered it. The ice and snow that blanketed the mountain ridge collapsed and crashed downward into the valley. A massive creature, as tall as a tower, an ethereal of ice, steel, rock and bone burst out of the frozen land. The upper body of a man, the front legs and body of a warhorse and the hind quarters and tail of a dragon. Blackened skull-like features and thick antlers that flowed along his body and tangled like spider's legs adorned his head. Long tusks shot out where a mouth should have been. He wielded swords in each of his three arms, the fourth was severed at the elbow and capped off with a jagged hook. Ancient steel plates had been forged directly into his icy flesh in a mess off primitive armor. All of Akavir shuddered under the trampling of his hooves, the edge of his blades and the weight of his presence. Wherever he stood froze.

"Witch," he hissed deep and slow as if speaking from the ground up. He turned his gaze on S'Kylir.

She backed up with a glare. She would not be able to run.

"You come too far north, yet you are not the same," the ethereal twisted his grotesque body and tilted his head as he moved forward, "You are no longer worthy. But I will take my revenge, Slayer of Nulka-Sun-Dir-Kamal. My brother."

S'Kylir shrugged stiffly and forced a smile, "Now, now. He died with honor and put up a good fight. I have the scars to prove it, demon. But in the end it would seem I was the better warrior. Ada-Soom-Dir-Kamal should keep a more careful eye on his precious sons."

Her hip ached from old wounds, triggered by the memories of an epic battle which lasted days upon days and which she had only barely survived. A low rumble started once more and ripped itself into a furious roar as the royal spawn shook his tusks and antlers, causing earth quakes and trees to topple. She took a fighting stance before looking at the others, begging them to make their escape now.

"Such large words for such a small thing," he roared, "Do not insult Him so carelessly. Powers are in place which you will never come to understand, slave."

With that his arms unwound, the huge obsidian blades in each hand glinting in the moon light. The dirt and rocks broke under his charge and his weapons came crashing down on the woman.

Star Wars: Annihilation [Vash & DemonTongue]

The elderly Mirialan woman hobbled out of the great hall, leaning heavily on a twisted, hand-carved cane. Her face was partially hidden by the dark shawl which covered her hair and shoulders and flowed into the line of her thick robes. Many of the younger, busier senators whisked past her, caught up in their conversations, opinions and work. She watched them with a frown and tried to move to her office as fast as those aching legs could take her. Maybe she would get lucky and make it before anyone tried to talk to--

"Senator Imzad!"

She grumbled and pretended that she couldn't hear them. A moment of peace, the Spirits would refuse her even that. Incessant, ruthless, blind and starving creatures these young politicians. All of them running around, posturing, primping, arguing, deceiving, bargaining and fraternizing. The mental gauntlets and cutthroat games and the drive and energy to make them endless... Those were the good days.

"Senator Imzad," a gentle hand fell on her shoulder. The old woman looked up with a feigned look of innocent surprise.

"Oh my, Ia-Nys Otouta," she greeted the tall, dark haired man with a soft smile, "What a pleasure."

The man took her hand and shook it briefly. His chest was puffed out and he was immaculately groomed and dressed with perfectly white teeth.

"I assure you the pleasure is mine. It's been too long," he beamed.

"It has," she replied. These political pleasantries made the bile rise in her gut, "But I doubt our time apart has been brought to a close due to personal matters."

The man frowned a little, "I'm afraid not... Straight to business as usual then. You've been assigned a body guard."

"I'm honored the Senate has a mind to consider my safety, but I assure you it is hardly necessary."

"This is hardly up for debate," Otouta shrugged and held out a hand behind them, "This is Qazelok Danol, Jedi Consular."

She let out and audible sigh as she was forced to stop walking and make the effort to turn and make nice with yet another useless Jedi.

"Qazelok, this is Senator Sanora Imzad of Mirial."

When she had finished limping around to face the pair of men a deep frown pulled at the hashing of wrinkles that scattered and faded the smattering of tattoos on her face. Her brows were pressed together. She looked over the Jedi as if she were being swindled. An Iridonian... maybe... He had the horns and the stature, but his skin was pale, his hair was white and tied back into a short tail, and his eyes were glassy and colorless aside from a redish tint and any reflected hues they caught. An albino. A mutation that would not have allowed him to survive under the desert sun nor in his species' society. Not to mention the myriad of other health issues that must come along with such a deformity. Jedi Consular, Otouta had said. This one was still wet behind the ears. In what universe could he have had the experience and mental fortitude to become a Consular? And what luck with the vast majority of padawans being assigned the rank of Knight as their first promotion what with a war raging and fresh fodder needed for the front lines. The Senate had pushed a draft order through only weeks ago as the coffers ran deeper into the negatives and money for more clones drew beyond their reach. The damned Order wouldn't keep a warrior fit for battle here in the sheltered bosom of Courescant, nor would they waste such a resource on an aging, unpopular Senator unless he was a reject.

"Senator Imzad," Qazelok bowed deeply, "It is a great honor to be your body guard. I will protect you with my life."

Imzad looked on, baffled at such a display. She looked between the young Jedi and the Representative. Waiting for the punchline to this joke.

"When did you leave your master?" she grunted, "Last week? Yesterday? You've still got baby fat on your cheeks! 'A great honor?' Stowe your polite speeches, boy. You want to be out with your comrades, testing your skill on your own. Not looking after a dying hag. A Consular," she snorted, "When given to little ones like you that title becomes a fancy word for 'liability.' Otouta, tell his Order to put him somewhere else. Even if they want to keep this one on a shelf I can think of hundreds of places more useful."

The young Jedi's eyes grew wide, but he stood still and said nothing. The exasperated Otouta tried to put up an argument but Imzad turned on him and continued her slow limp down the corridor.

"It was so nice to speak to you two," she said sweetly, "Do come around more often."

As far as she could tell they had not bothered to follow. Good. The rest of the long walk to her offices was enjoyed in relative quiet with little interruption. Upon reaching the large door and the electronic pad next to it she found that the pad had been powered down and that the door itself was unlocked. She pushed it open slowly. The sprawling office, lit by the large windowed wall and setting sun was undisturbed save for a pale Jedi standing in the corner. He turned his eyes on her.

"For someone who was nearly assassinated for her radical views on war policies your security is abysmal. I'd almost be bold enough to suggest you may, in fact, want to die," Qazelok spoke casually.

"Get out," Imzad growled at him and jabbed a gnarled finger at the door, "You are dismissed. Fired. Trespassing, whatever it takes to get rid of you!"

"You can't fire me, Ma'am," he smiled, "You're technically not my boss. The Military is. And last I checked the government is currently under crisis and thus under Martial law."

Imzad glared at the audacious welp.

"Somebody powerful likes you," he shrugged.

---

The next morning after rudely being dragged out of the engine core, where he had slept, the Togruta was met with the misfortune of finding himself standing knee deep in the snow. He shivered and huddled against the biting cold in clothing that was nowhere near enough to stand up to the harsh elements.

"Z-Zen... What the gr-reat celestial f-f-f-FUCK are we doing out here?" he managed to spit.

Zen looked over the snowy plain in front of them, seeing the hundreds of faceless snowmen. "We must destroy them immediately! Lest they overtake our position and attack us from the rear!"

An eeire quiet swept over the pair of them save for the slow wind that swirled little fingers of snow through the air and tugged softly at them. The ship's frame creaked in the cold. The snowmen stood completely still and lifeless in their barren wasteland under the pink sunrise.

"I'm going back to sleep," Iisska grumbled.

A ominous growling came from the snowmen in front of them and they started to grow crazy snow arms! Zen shoved a saber into Iisska's hands and just used the force to throw Iisska into the snowmen to begin the attack!

Instinctively he curled and rolled to a stop before shaking off the snow. He was about to start yelling, but found himself surrounded by the horrible snow things. Immediately he threw a punch into the face of the one closest to him as it flailed it's long arms. It connected. The snowman's face shattered under the blow, but the stuff was hard as ice and absolutely bitter cold. Iisska clutched his hand to his chest groaning and backing off instead of fighting.

"ZEN! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! TRINITY!" he screamed back.

"I THINK IT'S FUNNY. I GAVE YOU A LIGHTSABER THOUGH, DUMBASS."

Iisska still gripped the damned thing in his left hand and now looked the wrong way down the shaft into the lense, his fingers dangerously close to the power switch.

"What-- How do you--" he turned it over several times like some sort of impossible puzzle toy. A heavy tentacle-like arm slammed into the snow, barely missing him. Blaster! Where was his blaster! He reached for the holster and found it empty. His heart sank.

"SHIIIITTT!!" he gave up and sprinted away franticly.

"CLICK THE POWER BUTTON WITHOUT LOOKING DOWN THE LIGHT TUBE-THING. POINT IT AT THEM AND GET SWIPEY"

"THERE IS NO POWER BUTTON, YOU FUCKING SADISTIC PILE OF SHIT MORONIC-- Oh... Wait... There it is."

With a flick of the wrist to get it away from his body, Iisska hit the switch and a long beam of white light shot out of the hilt. The heat was beyond intense and the rush of power nearly popped his arm out of socket. Without any more thought he took the saber in both hands and swung it wide and out of control into the neck of the nearest snow monster. It melted clean through and the snow slumped into an amorphous shape.

"Now do it again! But better!"

"Yeah, alright, okay, I totally get what you're saying-- A LITTLE MORE INSTRUCTION WOULD BE NICE!" he yelled while slicing a monster in half as if he were weilding an axe.

"Imagine they were all me! Then pretend it's a knife!"

"Go fuck yourself and die, Zen!" Iisska spat before plowing haphazardly into more snowy bodies. Several times he was hit in the face and gut and then thrown off his feet as the beasts became more numerous. The cold was slowing him down and every time he fell he feared the deep snow would suffocate him. Not to mention the damage these things could do if he went down for too long. His heart raced. Imagine they're all Zen. His blood boiled at the thought. They're all Zen... and I finally get to... kill... The ground shook beneath him and a sudden upheaval slammed the ground and flung the ice and snow into the air like a great splash of water that hung in slow motion. The monsters were flung every which way by invisible blows, many in pieces. Iisska shot out of the blast after a stray snowman, blindly slicing it down before charging after the next one with a roar. Unbridaled bursts of energy kicked up the ground and left deep cuts behind and around where he landed. Another violent slam split the permafrost under the snow and ice, causing sheets to cut upward into spikes. Iisska found himself flying through the air dozens of feet above the shattered ground after simply jumping out of the way of another blow and landed hard, sliding back several feet. The last monster came at him and somehow he could feel it rather than see it. Fuck the force, fuck the ship, fuck the hyperdrive, fuck the crew and most of all fuck Zen. He didn't even move, the monster simply exploded from the chest and crumbled into nothing.

It was like an explosion had gone off and he barely remembered any of it.

Once the damage was done and Iisska had blown everything up. Zen just gave him a thumbs up. "Wow. You really hate me. I feel so loved!" He turned to go back inside. "If you break my saber, I'll break you."

"Wh-wait!" Iisska stumbled after him and tripped after a stabbing pain ripped up the side of his ankle. He cursed and got back up, limping onward, "What did I just do!? Zen! You can't keep doing this to me. Not if I don't know what's happening or what I'm doing..."

But the great Sith Lord Gallow didn't so much as look at him. He merely continued inside the ship.

---

"My Queen," the huge man dressed in black and steel sank to his hands and knees on the floor of the ship. He dared not look up at her, "The majority of the new captives are still functional. I believe they are ready to be added to the ranks."

He could hear her heels pacing back and forth in the silence that clouded the bridge.

"Have you heard any interesting news from these... Republic territories?" her voice was deep and silken.

"Nothing that would cause us obstacle or interest, My Queen," he responded, "They are beneath us."

She sighed and stopped her pacing, "Can you not feel that? Feel it!" her sudden yell caused him physical pain but he did not flinch. He knew better, "What am I saying? Of course you can't... Everything in existence is linked through the tender spiraling wisps of fate and causality. There are no coincidences. None what so ever. Your men were destroyed by pitiful bounty hunters, leading us to unnecessary loss. The Republic forces chase down a mysterious outlaw only to be met with catastrophe and then sweep the incident under the rug. Major contenders are being knocked out of the game and each time it happens the Force has been bent to make it so. It is used with such mastery to make it seem as simple as breathing. The bastardized remnants of my ancestry did not and have not left this filthy galaxy after the exodus. Order is decaying in the face of war and death. Someone... Rather, someones... are tipping the balances of fate."

The man remained quiet. He did not follow.

"So loyal. So fearsome. So great. And yet you do not understand. The Lords, my Champion. There is no room for all of us in this universe."

"Is there someone you would like me to destroy then?" he asked.

"Oh, most assuredly, but we must find the second first."

"The second?"

"Only two. No more. No less."

"... Understood."

"Then leave," she ordered. Then she looked back out at the stars most peaceful, "I'm coming for you," she whispered.

---

You're a monster.

Iisska had been half asleep next to the hyperdrive again with a head on his knee, but a waking dream had ripped him back out of the stupor. So tired. The crack was still there. As it had turned out all he was good at was destroying things. Even then it just happened. It wasn't like he wanted to. It just was that way. So angry. The dream that had snapped him awake was the same as the one he had suffered after Gallow's fight. It made no sense. It made him sick. It wasn't his fault. He clenched his fists. He wanted to hit something. Anything to take out the frustration on. Why did the universe want him to fail? Why did it want him to self destruct? Why did it want to take away any sort of control he had on his miserable life? He raised his fist ready to punch the cracked drive right in it's stupid Zen-like face.

"What are you doing?" A female voice scolded him.

Iisska jumped and hissed, "What are you doing!?"

Quin leaned into the opening with a frown and watched him with a raised brow, "You've been working on this for at least three days. Aren't you quite done yet?"

"No. Get out. I have work to do," he growled at her.

"You mean sulking to do, surely."

"Get. Out."

"Why don't you just use your Jedi mind tricks to fix it?"

"Because I can't-- I don't-- Do you even listen to yourself!? For that matter why am I listening to you!?" Iisska turned away in a huff and started digging through his tools and supplies, trying to look like he had purpose, "That shit is for fighting and killing people, not fixing ships... and I'm no Jedi... stupid bitch."

"Excuse you," she frowned, "How do you think Jedi move objects, or illude people, or heal wounds? Do you even know what those powers are or what they do?"

"Nope. And I don't care. They're rubbish."

Quin sighed and shook her head, "So you're just a stupid boy with big guns and no discipline. Never mind then," she began to walk away.

"Hey! Hey!! Don't you just come down here and insult me then leave! I don't have to keep taking this shit from everybody!" he scrambled out after her, "I'm not the ship's whipping boy, I'm not their slave, and I'm not here for your amusement! I'm here to make sure this stupid junker stays in the air. I have a job. You're just here because you got lucky."

She shrugged, "Maybe, but at least I'm not wallowing around in my own inadequacies like a child."

"You..." Iisska rose over her and glared with his teeth bared.

"What? Gonna smack me around again? Gonna slash me to pieces with your little light up toy like you did with Zen's beasties?"

Iisska was silent and still.

"You're not going to do a damn thing. You're too weak and too wrapped up in yourself to even try anymore. You're going to let us all die," she shrugged.

"You're really starting to piss me off," he said quietly.

"No I'm not. I'm starting to make you scared. I've seen it thousands of times before and you absolutely reek of fear. You're not some big, tough, powerful, thug like you want people to think you are. You're a scared, aimless, stubborn, brat who won't slow down long enough to calm down, focus and actually think. I know your type, kid. You light up bright and burn out fast."

"Don't fucking lecture me," he got in her face before turning away, "Trinity. Can you make sure our stowaway stays out of the engine core and out of my way?"

He slipped back into the compartment and fumed for several minutes. I am not acting like a child.

It was hours before he had cooled off enough to slip back into an almost trance-like state as he tinkered with the few parts of the drive that he was brave enough to even touch in an effort to start understanding it better. He could almost feel it. All the links, all the cells, all the power amplifiers and relays, all the reaction housings. Every single one. Then there was the split. So wrong in every way as if it threw the entire construct out of balance. He started thinking about what Quin had said, about the past week or so, about the crew, about his whole life. How had things might have turned out if these people had never come to Courescant? How had things might have turned out if he hadn't been arrested? How had they might have turned out if his mother had just given him up like she was supposed to? If things had turned out right? If things were right...

He took a deep breath and stared at the split. It was everything that was wrong with everything. But he wasn't mad. He didn't have anymore energy to be mad. He just wanted it to be right. To be functional. To be whole. Still focusing on the obstacle he closed his eyes. They could be out of here so easily if not for... A relaxing wave spread over him while still in the trance and it felt like everything had come to a stop. Who was he kidding? Death and destruction were just a part of everything. Fighting it was futile. Things would be reborn in the place of the dead as long as life was kept in balance. They weren't the only living things that mattered. He wasn't the center of the universe... Somehow it felt better that way. Like his mind was in the right flow with everything else. What the fuck was he getting on about? This was stupid mystic mumbo jumbo crap.

He opened his eyes still hyper aware of the drive and all it's functions and malfunctions. Not. In. Balance. He focused on the split throwing everything out of whack and before his eyes. He understood the damn device so well he could just reach out and seal it back together the way it should be. It just had to slide and re-forge... just... like...

That. Before his eyes the crack sealed. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. It was one piece. He couldn't feel the barriers anymore, or the malfunctions or the power clogs or the jarring sickness he had when focusing on it before. Slowly he reached out and touched it. Dumbfounded he hurried out of the compartment, got hung up on the exit and face planted the floor.

"Hey! Trinity! Trinity!," he bolted the lead cover back onto the radiation shield, "I think I-- Something happened! Run a diagnostic on the hyperdrive!"

TES: Akavir [Vash/DemonTongue]

"It is fine," she spoke sternly, "and it would be better if you would stop bringing up the subject."

S'Kylir sipped her tea slowly and allowed herself to settle back into the plush cushion she had chosen. It did indeed contain a trace amount of nightshade. Her long index finger traced the lip of the simple porcelain tea cup and she stared into the steam that flowed and curled upward. All around them the big cats and tourists chatted and laughed at their own booths separated by dividers of bamboo and paper and silk. A handful of fires burned at the end of the tavern where the cooks prepared food. They were enough to keep both levels of the inn warm. Soon they wouldn't be needed. Spring had already taken hold in the south and would spread north to the Kamal borders quickly. The residents here could already feel it coming. When it did she and Septimus would have to start taking bounties on criminals and innocent runaways and cleaning up old racial grudges for a living. If they survived the end of another winter.

"Septimus," S'Kylir finally broke the silence, "What were you thinking?"

He looked at her, his right eye-bone raising in query. "Thinking with what, S'kylir?"

"Inviting that girl to come with us," she said, "You know nothing of her or what she's capable of or where her loyalties lay. She may well be a liablility."

"To be completely fair, S'kylir. You are calling the kettle black when you are a pot. You did the very same with me."

"I trust my instincts. Aside from that I knew I could kill you should I need to."

"And you do not trust mine? I know the very same about the girl. She will be fine, or we will kill her."

"It seems we're in agreement," she hummed happily and sipped her tea again.

Outside the sun was starting to glow a deep warm orange as it neared the horizon. S'Kylir finished her tea and cleared her throat, "Please excuse me. There's something I need to attend to. I should return shortly after sunset. Don't feel like you need to wait up for me."

She rose from the low table and stepped down off the ledge it was set on. Before leaving the tavern she asked a Ka-po-tun woman at the bar if she could buy some nightshade. With the dark, violet, pressed flowers in hand she left quietly. It was still just as busy outside on the main street, but she slipped through the crowds without a fuss. It took some time before she had wound her way through the small buildings and houses and market stalls to a part of town that was far quieter. A resident strolled by here and there, many smoking through very long straight pipes inb which burned a sweet smelling weed the tigers were very fond of. All of them were bundled against the coming cold of night. S'Kylir soon found her way to the edge of the town and into the trees. There was a clearing here where she could see the horizon and be left in peace.

Here she cleared a spot in the snow and sat in silence and watched the sunset. She prayed. The breeze and the cold swept past her and bit her, but she remained perfectly still clearing her mind, thinking on her mantras and listening. With a small amount of kindling in her tinderbox she started a tiny flame in the pit she had made. It was in this fire she set the nightshade flowers alight. They burst into indigo light and flared brightly. Black smoke wound up out of the fire. While they burned themselves out in the red dusk against she prayed and meditated more. She remained there until the sun had disappeared and the moons grew bright in the night sky. She shivered. There had not been a single word spoken to her. With a sigh she packed up her belongings and returned to town.

It was difficult to sleep. She had never slept much as it was but tonight she couldn't help but keep a cautious eye open.

At dawn S'Kylir returned to the same spot she had been the night before and repeated the same ritual with the same result. When she returned the inn she and her two companions collected their things and suited up. She put on her hodgepodge of steel armor, her black battle dress, leggings, boots and strapped her longsword to her belt. They were disposable things that she didn't mind damaging in her fights with the demons and in the damn ice and mud and snow. Perhaps one day she would be able to use the relics she kept stored away in her summer home once more. Just once more before she passed into Atherium.

The road was slick with melt, but the sun was shining on them. Life had begun to spring up in the form of birds singing, trees sprouting waxy little buds and the wild grasses reaching tiny tendrils up out of the snow to feed on the light. It was beautiful and spiritually lifting. By the Divines she wanted to kill something.

Star Wars: Annihilation [Vash & DemonTongue]

The pain and the darkness and the overwhelming urge to cut his own throat, to put the blaster in his hand to his head, to take his own life in anyway came to a sudden stop. There was a warm light over him that flickered and swayed between the shadows cast by the tall grasses and abundant trees. He rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. It smelled like it had just rained. The soil and foliage was damp under his palms and knees. It was so familiar. He curled into a crouch and realized that he was barefoot and shirtless. A light tapping by his face drew his hand and he could feel the simplistic Togruta headdress wrapped around his lekku and montrals. There on a a leather strap hung a tooth from the single akul he'd ever managed to take down. Just the one, but it had been enough to pass out of childhood and it was only a formality anyway. A foreign tongue whispered to him from somewhere far away but resonated in a hiss on the wind. He followed it, slinking through and blending into the shadows of the garish, fire-tinted grass. Soon he came to a road paved with lava stones, worn smooth from thousands of years of travel. A preteen girl sat on a low stone wall that lined the road swinging her feet and plucking the petals off of a white flower. Not sure why exactly, he sat next to her.

"Hey, Iisska," she sighed.

"Hey, Myna," he said, "Long time no see."

"Yeah," she said quietly and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "You got big. What do you do, lift things and put them back down all day? ... Can't be anything too strenuous. You were always lazy and looks like you still didn't get rid of that belly."

"It's not a belly," he argued, "It's completely average... after that much booze and human food."

That managed to get a giggle out of her, "And your montrals still look funny, even grown out. I've never seen anybody with them sweeping back that far."

"I don't have to listen to this" he started to stand up again.

"Iisska," Myna chuckled and twirled the beads on her headdress around a thin finger, "Come back. I'm kidding."

He slumped back down with a smirk, "Yeah well you were always pasty and bony."

She elbowed him in the ribs, playfully. Then they both fell into silence. He watched as more of the white petals were stripped from the red center of the flower and tumbled down to the stones. It wasn't until a few moments later that he realized the trickles of blood seeping out from under them when they landed.

"I thought we were going to get married," Myna finally whispered.

"I was twelve when I said that," Iisska blushed and scratched his head, "Besides, your mom hated me and my family. She'd never have sold me any of her girls, let alone you."

"That wouldn't have stopped you back then," Myna dropped the barren stem into the puddle of blood on the ground, "I would have loved to have seen the look on her face."

Iisska smiled, "Yeah, me too."

"Iisska..." she clutched at her chest.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Why did you kill me?"

The young girl turned to look him in the eyes. Her right eye was brilliant acidic green and filled with tears. The left was smashed along with the side of her skull into a bloody mess. Bone protruded through the ruined flesh and massive bruising spread out from the wound. Blood and pale yellow fluids flowed down her neck and chest. Iisska jumped up and recoiled away from her. She stood slowly and followed him.

"I didn't even do anything to you," she sobbed and tried to wipe away the tears.

"That's not what happened!," he backed away from her, "I wasn't trying to--"

"Yes it is!" she screamed in agony, her soft face twisted, "And you got away with it! They let you out! You should be rotting away in the RJCDC with the other filth! You shouldn't be allowed to be near anybody! Your mother should have abandoned you!"

The sky grew dark as she approached him and he suddenly found himself with his back against a wall and nowhere to run. Insectoid fingers reached out of the void and dug into his wrists and ankles, burning and tearing where they gripped.

He was starting to panic as the pain in his skull returned and he pleaded with her, "Myna! I swear it was an accident! I never would have--"

"You're dangerous, Iisska. You're a monster. You're evil..." she hissed.

The long sharp fingers shot into his heart and churned. The sky was black and the land was on fire. The road was a river of blood. Myna got so close to him he could smell her. The flesh was tightening and becoming brittle around her bones and her eye sockets were becoming hollow. She reached out with skeletal fingers and touched his face. Behind her bodies stepped out of the flames, all alabaster and beautiful, but devoid of a soul and starving. They consumed each other but could not satiate the hunger and the rage that drove them. He screamed in pain and writhed trying to get away from her touch and the black claws that held him down. He wanted to kill her again. Kill her and put her in a place where she would never come back. She needed to die. They all needed to die.

He forced the fingers from his body and blasted her down into the blood flow, holding her under until she suffocated and dissolved into nothingness. His skin darkened and black veins reached across it's surface. Fangs bared, eyes glowing red, headdress adorned with teeth ripped from the jaws of sentient beings. He could erase it all.

---

A sensation of falling overtook him and Iisska was jolted awake just before slamming into the ground. He scrambled up and tripped and rolled until he was huddled into a corner. There he caught his breath and remembered where he was. The medical bay on the Harpoon. It was quiet and still. He was alone. For a moment he put his head on his knees.

Sith Lord Gallow. The name repeated in his mind over and over again. Everything else had been a blur, but that stuck with him through the blinding pain. Just what was a Sith Lord anyway? Where in the damned 'verse was Zen? This was all his fault.

"Zen," Iisska growled while pulling himself up. He stomped out of the medical bay looking for the man. Iisska staggered to the ship's lounge looking for Zen, or anybody he could interrogate for that matter. It was empty for the time being. He walked over to the synthesizer and ordered the strongest drink it would let him and slammed it back in one breath before getting another. If it didn't help him remember last night maybe it would help him forget what parts he still had. Early morning be damned. Immediately he felt a stabbing nausea but held it back. Again he went looking for the crew.

"Zen! Sterling! Balva! ... Hello!?"

Balva poked his head out of a duct above Iisska. "Whut da bluddy 'ell are you screamin' aboot now?!" it was obvious that Balva was a little more than tipsy as well.

"I'm not screaming!" Iisska screamed, "I..." he cleared his throat and lowered his voice, "Have you seen Zen? I wanna talk to him."

"Nope. Not at all. "He retreated back into his duct.

Iisska sighed, "Well do you have any idea where he may have gone? C'mon man."

He was already long gone, Iisska's voice would go unheard.

Iisska glared up at the duct and took another deep swig from his drink before moving on. He stopped by his room to kick off his boots on his way to check on the A.I. core to see if Trinity was up and running now. She would be more help.

He knocked on the panel outside the core, "Anyone home?"

There was no response at the door. Trinity was not active yet.

He gritted his teeth and growled in his chest, "Uhg, dammit! Fine! Whatever everybody just up and vanish! Why not!? Not like we were all just very nearly killed or nothin'! Not like Zen's a fucking... something... But that's exactly the problem! Was I the only one who felt that!? Did you people SERIOUSLY not FEEL THAT SHIT!? I mean c'mon! That was like... I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT WAS LIKE!"

Iisska kicked in the door to the cab and slumped in one of the chairs before falling forward and slamming his head on the control panel in frustration. There was a long silence.

"Ow..." he mumbled.

Marquis came up behind him and slumped an arm onto his shoulder. "Hey buddy. What is wrong?"

"Everything..." he whined and tilted his head so his chin was now resting on the panel, "I don't know what's going on and I don't know what to think and here I am just rambling and talking to myself. Fuck. I hate being alone Sterling. I hate-- Wait. 'Buddy?'"

"What? I am unallowed to say the word "Buddy" now? He mused. "It seems to me that you are on the right track to forgetting." He gestured at the bottle. "Zen is being weird."

Remembering he had sweet sweet comfort he took another long drink as soon as Sterling reminded him of it. Then he grimaced as it hit his stomach hard once more.

"Weird? That's the most fucking erroron-- errorous-- erronous... yeah, erroneous statement I have ever heard," he grumbled, "Do you have any idea what he was talking about with that... thing or where he is now?"

"The...bit about how he is a sith lord...yeah. I am keeping my opinions to myself on that. At least until trinity is fully back online. As for Zen...I think he is in his room."

"There's that word again. Sith. What's a sith?"

"You...do not know? How long have you lived under that rock, Iisska?"

"OH!! OH OKAY!!" He shot up to his feet and nearly fell, but caught himself, "Everybody knows about this thing except me! That's fine! Not like I haven't been running around the galaxy since I was seventeen. Not like I haven't seen a bunch of shit and never once heard of this mysterious awesomeness that somehow everybody knows about but me! OH DARN! MUST HAVE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK!"

"To be completely fair, Iisska. Anybody running about the galaxy since they were seventeen WOULD know what a Sith was."

"OH!! OH REALLY!! OKAY!! I'M A LIAR NOW TOO!! I GET IT!!"

The Togruta stood up straight, frowned and narrowed his eyes before taking a deep breath and placing a hand over his stomach in a pose of the utmost regal modesty.

"Sterling. Please. Just tell me what--" without warning Iisska doubled over and puked into the closest scrap bin.

If Marquis could, he would be smiling right now. Instead, he laughed. "Okay. Think Jedi, but wants to kill everybody. Think Jedi Master, but the reverse. A Sith Lord. Then think of Zen, whom is a Gray Sith, neutral, but follows the sith doctrine. He is a gray sith lord."

Iisska lay on the floor next to the bin, "That was terrible, Sterling."

"Oh. Right. You cannot think. Just know that he has earned his super powers."

"Oh. Right. You cannot think. Just know that he has earned his super powers."

"No, no... I get it. Kinda... Okay not really, but it's a start," he mumbled, "You. You knew this?"

"I did not know he was a sith lord, but I knew he was a Gray sith."

"Oh. I guess... I guess that's..." he sat up slowly and crossed his legs, "That's happened. It doesn't matter now, though. We're all going to die here."

"Not unless you get off of your ass and fix the engines. Trinity should be around soon enough."

"So, get off your arse." He kicked him.

Iisska curled up to protect himself then stumbled up.

"I can fix the engines... most likely. I'm super talented like that," he smirked, "That's not the problem, though. Nobody can fix a cracked hyperdrive. You have to replace the whole damn thing. Even the people who build them for a living don't exactly know all the ins and outs of the tech and they wouldn't dream of making a repair like that. Even if I do get those engines fixed we'll be thrusting through space for an eternity before we reach the next populated outpost."

"Well. Time to learn then. We have plenty of time for you to become the only hyper drive specialist in the known universe."

"Sterling. Listen. Just listen for a second. If I mess up," he spoke slowly with deliberate hand gestures, "Even just a smidge. If I look at the hyperdrive funny. If I sneeze and it gets upset. We all die a terrible disgusting death."

"Consider it a challenge then." He looked at him, his eye a light pink. "Trinity will be able to help, but the ship's auto repair system is shoddy at best. "

"Yeah I was afraid of that. We'll have to shut it out of the hyperdrive for the time being," he scratched his chin, "With Trinity's help... So. Just so we're all clear on this. You've all come to terms with death? Right? We're all in agreement that death is imminent?"

"We are in the midst of a Sith Lord. We are all bound to die one way or another. Hop to it."

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he rubbed his hands together, "I guess this way I will get to kill Zen after all," he chuckled nervously, "I'll see you around, Sterling... And thanks... I feel... well I almost feel better. A little. Probably."

Iisska left the cab still a little tipsy but feeling stable enough to work. Once down in the engine room he tied his lekku back and dragged his tools out of the million places that had wound up the day before, gathered the ruined parts he would need to focus on, and the salvaged bits he would have to tear apart to desperately patch things up. Then he maneuvered deeper into the engines where the hyperdrive lay in wait. It just sat there, shut down, slumbering, waiting for him to start stabbing at it so it could get angry and murder him. He reached out to the small fracture where the intricate patterning in the cells didn't line up. Then he stopped, afraid to even touch it. He just stared. He had no idea what to do. He wanted to fix it. For all his resentment and fighting and depressing nay-saying he really wanted to fix it and get out of here. He wanted to live. He wanted all of them to live. How, though?

Not knowing what to do about it now and having zero ideas he went back to work on the main engines.