Revna watched through her Void Sight as the Kestran Mandalorian defense broke, having realized that the Sith who had dug their heels and claws into Abregado-rae, were not going to leave without a long and drawn out bloody fight. The Sith outnumbered the Kestrans, and though both sides had taken considerable losses, the armored warriors could not afford to lose more bodies - less they risk total societal collapse themselves.
Eventually, it seemed that this understanding came over them and they begrudgingly retreated from the war and plague ravaged world.
Now, the Sith Covenant would claim total control over the planet - though Darth X’averia wasn’t entirely certain what would even be left for them to control. The planet was all but destroyed, made uninhabitable by the machinations of war - but she had a feeling that the ‘powers that be’ would find some use for this world.
Sith were good at doing that.
Having finally wrestled her Hunger back under control, Revna found herself to be utterly exhausted. The draw on her energy and power reservoirs by the Neti A’Mia to sustain the ritual and the constant strain of fighting to keep the Void from overtaking her completely had drained her, but there was still work to be done yet. So she pushed aside that bone deep weariness, and did what she needed to do to support Sith Covenant forces once the last of the Kestrans had vanished.
She was searching the partially collapsed ruins of a building for any sign of the wounded or dying, when she heard a strange sound echo from the depths.
It was the broken wail of a young child.
For a moment, Revna simply stood there and listened to the cries, before something shifted within her that she had only felt once before. Guided by some unknowable instinct, she moved debris and even bodies aside, and Force lifted whole chunks of duracrete from the site. She kept going, digging further, until she opened up a darkened pocket in the belly of the ruined structure.
The sight that greeted her made her feel…strange. Not entirely heartbroken, but saddened in a way.
It was indeed a child, smeared with dirt and dust and grime, clutching the still body of what appeared to be a woman, likely the child's mother. It looked as if she had been shielding the child, a little girl, when the building collapsed around them. Her last act of protection kept her child alive, but at what cost?
Upon seeing the dark shadow that Revna cast in the gap she had opened up, the crying girl fell silent and simply stared at her, an expression of mute fear and uncertainty twisting her innocent face. Revna grimly wondered if perhaps the little girl saw her and thought she was Death incarnate. She knew she struck a terrifying presence, dressed down in black armor that was damaged from the actions of war, her cloak tattered as it fell around her, and of course the bright red slits where her eyes were in her helm. It most certainly was a frightening sight for a child, of that she had no doubt.
The sight of the little girl brought back memories to Revna, when she found the street orphan Nagai boy that she had taken under her wing and called her brother. A promising boy that she had named and found a loving family to adopt him. That had been a long time ago, and things had changed, and Veradun had been lost to her.
The Sith woman inhaled a deep breath and exhaled slowly, before she reached up and popped loose the latches that fastened her helm to the rest of her armor, before pulling it up and over her head, revealing her sweat streaked and tired face. Then, quietly and slowly, she stepped down the piled up rubble to the basement floor and crouched down a couple of feet away from the girl and her dead mother.
“I’m not here to hurt you, little one.” She said in a soft, gentle voice that felt out of place for a Sith. The girl blinked at her, staying quiet, though Revna could see the fear still etched plainly on her face and shining in her big, round eyes. Revna shifted her gaze to the prone woman; a brief touch with the Force confirmed that there was no life within her. Her spirit, her life essence, that spark - was gone.
“Is that your mother?” Revna inquired in the same gentle voice. After a brief moment of hesitation, the little girl nodded, before she turned her small face to look down at her mother and tapped the woman’s face as if trying to rouse her.
“She won’t get up. She won’t talk to me anymore…” the girl whimpered, her voice broken by youth and pain that she didn’t know how to handle. Revna pursed her lips; this…was not going to be easy, but she wasn’t going to withhold hope or the truth from this poor girl.
“Your mother…she won’t be getting up again. She is dead.”
The little girl looked back at her sharply, her eyes widening. Revna wasn’t sure if she fully understood what that meant, so she asked. “Do you understand me?”
The girl turned her face back to her mother and stared for a long time in silence, and Revna did not rush her or otherwise break that fragile moment with words. Even children needed space and time to process death.
Eventually, the girl looked back at her with those wide, frightened eyes. “What will happen to me now?”
“Do you have someone...family members that I can find for you? Do you know? What about a Dad? Do you have a Dad?” Revna asked with guarded hope, though she had a sinking feeling she already knew the answer to that.
“Daddy went out there…” the girl whimpered, pointing behind Revna to the opened hole that led to the utter devastation outside the building. It was more than likely that this girl’s father was dead too, then.
“No one else you know?”
She shook her head for no and Revna felt a part of her heart sink at the news.
“Okay…well I cannot leave you here alone. I can take you somewhere safe though and get you some help.”
“I’m scared!”
“I know you are. But I will keep you safe, I promise.”
“Mommy said that too…then she went to forever sleep…”
Forever sleep, I guess that’s one way to look at it ~ Revna mused to herself as she tried to figure out what to do next. “She did keep you safe, little one. Even if it made her go to sleep forever -” A sudden rumbling sound and vibration echoed across the ground and the space around them, rattling the heavily damaged building as dust began to fall in curtains. Above her head, Revna could hear the sound of duracrete cracking and groaning underneath the strain of a heavy load. The building was about to collapse on them both. “Come! We are in danger and we need to go now.” She said as she held out a hand to the girl and, to her surprise and relief, the girl was frightened enough to quickly close the distance and all but cling herself to Revna’s side. She didn’t waste a single moment - she scooped up the girl and held her close to her armored chest, before turning around and leaving the area as quickly as possible, and just in the nick of time - as the rest of the floors adopt the lower level pancaked downward in a great upwelling of dust and soot and red spores.
The Sith woman then found herself standing on a body and rubble strewn street, the girl’s arms wrapped tightly around her neck, as quiet sobs wracked her small frame. “Mommyyy…” she whimpered brokenly, and Revna had to steel herself and shut away her emotions. This girl reminded her too much of herself, when she had lost her own mother.
Maybe that was why she felt the urge to help and even protect this poor girl. And try as she might, she couldn’t ignore that instinct, that desire.
She almost told the little girl not to look at the utter destruction and devastation that had consumed her home world, but she refrained. The girl had already seen death, already experienced the horrors of it and listened to the world around her go to hell, not knowing if she was going to live or not. Telling her to hide her face wouldn’t change that fact.
And, for more grim reasons, Revna wanted the girl to remember these scenes, allow them to soak deep into her psyche. If she turned out to be Force sensitive, then they would be vital in helping her embrace the Dark Side.
Quietly and with purpose, Darth X’aviera moved forward through the rubble, the bodies, the death and destruction. She carried the orphaned girl through the ash choked landscape, taking her back towards where she last saw Covenant transports. There would be medical aid there, and perhaps a way to find the girl some support.
Of course, Revna’s original plan fell apart the moment she brought the girl forward for treatment. Covenant forces were not…inclined to help the war orphan. She had been exposed to the plague, though strangely seemed unaffected by it - something that Revna had noticed earlier and was curious about. It was a question that would need to be answered, but that would have to come later. Perhaps she would bring A'Mia in, once the Neti was recovered from the rigors of war.
After some bickering and back and forth, the girl finally received basic medical aid because Revna Force choked someone into compliance when her instinctual wrath had been stirred - but they refused to help her any further beyond that point. She was told that there were others taking survivors, stuffing them in cages or Bogan knew what else, for an unknown fate. She was directed towards such locations to “get rid” of the girl if that was what she wanted.
In the end, Revna turned away with the girl wrapped around her neck once more, the little one having been forced into terrified silence by the callousness of those around her. Revna did not spare her from it either, as cruel as it was. Instead, she found transport back to her own ship, which had been waiting for her signal to return to orbit and collect her. They were already made aware of the girl coming aboard, and that the medical facility was to be prepped and a room prepared for the girl's arrival. The girl would get everything she needed aboard the Vindicator while in quarantine - and it would give Revna time to truly decide what she was going to do with her newest acquisition, and process everything she had seen and experienced herself.
In a moment of solitude, several hours after returning to her ship, Revna sent a holomessage to her Father, Darth Strosius. She wasn't sure if He would receive it anytime soon, as He was likely busy, but she needed His guidance and voice.
~Dad - I saved a little girl from the rubble. I have her aboard my ship. Please come when You can...I need some guidance here. Hope You are okay...~
Now all she could do was wait.
Eventually, it seemed that this understanding came over them and they begrudgingly retreated from the war and plague ravaged world.
Now, the Sith Covenant would claim total control over the planet - though Darth X’averia wasn’t entirely certain what would even be left for them to control. The planet was all but destroyed, made uninhabitable by the machinations of war - but she had a feeling that the ‘powers that be’ would find some use for this world.
Sith were good at doing that.
Having finally wrestled her Hunger back under control, Revna found herself to be utterly exhausted. The draw on her energy and power reservoirs by the Neti A’Mia to sustain the ritual and the constant strain of fighting to keep the Void from overtaking her completely had drained her, but there was still work to be done yet. So she pushed aside that bone deep weariness, and did what she needed to do to support Sith Covenant forces once the last of the Kestrans had vanished.
She was searching the partially collapsed ruins of a building for any sign of the wounded or dying, when she heard a strange sound echo from the depths.
It was the broken wail of a young child.
For a moment, Revna simply stood there and listened to the cries, before something shifted within her that she had only felt once before. Guided by some unknowable instinct, she moved debris and even bodies aside, and Force lifted whole chunks of duracrete from the site. She kept going, digging further, until she opened up a darkened pocket in the belly of the ruined structure.
The sight that greeted her made her feel…strange. Not entirely heartbroken, but saddened in a way.
It was indeed a child, smeared with dirt and dust and grime, clutching the still body of what appeared to be a woman, likely the child's mother. It looked as if she had been shielding the child, a little girl, when the building collapsed around them. Her last act of protection kept her child alive, but at what cost?
Upon seeing the dark shadow that Revna cast in the gap she had opened up, the crying girl fell silent and simply stared at her, an expression of mute fear and uncertainty twisting her innocent face. Revna grimly wondered if perhaps the little girl saw her and thought she was Death incarnate. She knew she struck a terrifying presence, dressed down in black armor that was damaged from the actions of war, her cloak tattered as it fell around her, and of course the bright red slits where her eyes were in her helm. It most certainly was a frightening sight for a child, of that she had no doubt.
The sight of the little girl brought back memories to Revna, when she found the street orphan Nagai boy that she had taken under her wing and called her brother. A promising boy that she had named and found a loving family to adopt him. That had been a long time ago, and things had changed, and Veradun had been lost to her.
The Sith woman inhaled a deep breath and exhaled slowly, before she reached up and popped loose the latches that fastened her helm to the rest of her armor, before pulling it up and over her head, revealing her sweat streaked and tired face. Then, quietly and slowly, she stepped down the piled up rubble to the basement floor and crouched down a couple of feet away from the girl and her dead mother.
“I’m not here to hurt you, little one.” She said in a soft, gentle voice that felt out of place for a Sith. The girl blinked at her, staying quiet, though Revna could see the fear still etched plainly on her face and shining in her big, round eyes. Revna shifted her gaze to the prone woman; a brief touch with the Force confirmed that there was no life within her. Her spirit, her life essence, that spark - was gone.
“Is that your mother?” Revna inquired in the same gentle voice. After a brief moment of hesitation, the little girl nodded, before she turned her small face to look down at her mother and tapped the woman’s face as if trying to rouse her.
“She won’t get up. She won’t talk to me anymore…” the girl whimpered, her voice broken by youth and pain that she didn’t know how to handle. Revna pursed her lips; this…was not going to be easy, but she wasn’t going to withhold hope or the truth from this poor girl.
“Your mother…she won’t be getting up again. She is dead.”
The little girl looked back at her sharply, her eyes widening. Revna wasn’t sure if she fully understood what that meant, so she asked. “Do you understand me?”
The girl turned her face back to her mother and stared for a long time in silence, and Revna did not rush her or otherwise break that fragile moment with words. Even children needed space and time to process death.
Eventually, the girl looked back at her with those wide, frightened eyes. “What will happen to me now?”
“Do you have someone...family members that I can find for you? Do you know? What about a Dad? Do you have a Dad?” Revna asked with guarded hope, though she had a sinking feeling she already knew the answer to that.
“Daddy went out there…” the girl whimpered, pointing behind Revna to the opened hole that led to the utter devastation outside the building. It was more than likely that this girl’s father was dead too, then.
“No one else you know?”
She shook her head for no and Revna felt a part of her heart sink at the news.
“Okay…well I cannot leave you here alone. I can take you somewhere safe though and get you some help.”
“I’m scared!”
“I know you are. But I will keep you safe, I promise.”
“Mommy said that too…then she went to forever sleep…”
Forever sleep, I guess that’s one way to look at it ~ Revna mused to herself as she tried to figure out what to do next. “She did keep you safe, little one. Even if it made her go to sleep forever -” A sudden rumbling sound and vibration echoed across the ground and the space around them, rattling the heavily damaged building as dust began to fall in curtains. Above her head, Revna could hear the sound of duracrete cracking and groaning underneath the strain of a heavy load. The building was about to collapse on them both. “Come! We are in danger and we need to go now.” She said as she held out a hand to the girl and, to her surprise and relief, the girl was frightened enough to quickly close the distance and all but cling herself to Revna’s side. She didn’t waste a single moment - she scooped up the girl and held her close to her armored chest, before turning around and leaving the area as quickly as possible, and just in the nick of time - as the rest of the floors adopt the lower level pancaked downward in a great upwelling of dust and soot and red spores.
The Sith woman then found herself standing on a body and rubble strewn street, the girl’s arms wrapped tightly around her neck, as quiet sobs wracked her small frame. “Mommyyy…” she whimpered brokenly, and Revna had to steel herself and shut away her emotions. This girl reminded her too much of herself, when she had lost her own mother.
Maybe that was why she felt the urge to help and even protect this poor girl. And try as she might, she couldn’t ignore that instinct, that desire.
She almost told the little girl not to look at the utter destruction and devastation that had consumed her home world, but she refrained. The girl had already seen death, already experienced the horrors of it and listened to the world around her go to hell, not knowing if she was going to live or not. Telling her to hide her face wouldn’t change that fact.
And, for more grim reasons, Revna wanted the girl to remember these scenes, allow them to soak deep into her psyche. If she turned out to be Force sensitive, then they would be vital in helping her embrace the Dark Side.
Quietly and with purpose, Darth X’aviera moved forward through the rubble, the bodies, the death and destruction. She carried the orphaned girl through the ash choked landscape, taking her back towards where she last saw Covenant transports. There would be medical aid there, and perhaps a way to find the girl some support.
Of course, Revna’s original plan fell apart the moment she brought the girl forward for treatment. Covenant forces were not…inclined to help the war orphan. She had been exposed to the plague, though strangely seemed unaffected by it - something that Revna had noticed earlier and was curious about. It was a question that would need to be answered, but that would have to come later. Perhaps she would bring A'Mia in, once the Neti was recovered from the rigors of war.
After some bickering and back and forth, the girl finally received basic medical aid because Revna Force choked someone into compliance when her instinctual wrath had been stirred - but they refused to help her any further beyond that point. She was told that there were others taking survivors, stuffing them in cages or Bogan knew what else, for an unknown fate. She was directed towards such locations to “get rid” of the girl if that was what she wanted.
In the end, Revna turned away with the girl wrapped around her neck once more, the little one having been forced into terrified silence by the callousness of those around her. Revna did not spare her from it either, as cruel as it was. Instead, she found transport back to her own ship, which had been waiting for her signal to return to orbit and collect her. They were already made aware of the girl coming aboard, and that the medical facility was to be prepped and a room prepared for the girl's arrival. The girl would get everything she needed aboard the Vindicator while in quarantine - and it would give Revna time to truly decide what she was going to do with her newest acquisition, and process everything she had seen and experienced herself.
In a moment of solitude, several hours after returning to her ship, Revna sent a holomessage to her Father, Darth Strosius. She wasn't sure if He would receive it anytime soon, as He was likely busy, but she needed His guidance and voice.
~Dad - I saved a little girl from the rubble. I have her aboard my ship. Please come when You can...I need some guidance here. Hope You are okay...~
Now all she could do was wait.
