Private A Pound of Flesh

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka had been remade once again, though this time in spirit rather than flesh. Her "marriage" to Carnifex had emboldened the Once-Sephi tenfold, her ambitions looked only higher than they ever had before. The brand upon her forehead, raw as if it had just been pressed, drove her forward. Hidden beneath her helm as a personal reminder of her mission.

Alliances needed to be forged, her power base established. Lirka was an outsider to this Empire ultimately, even with the blessings of Carnifex. But she was not alone, there were others like her: creatures that existed in the shadow of the Sith but were not truly among their rank. Though in this case, machine was a more fitting name.

Commodore Helix

She had heard of the droid after the whole ordeal on Vassek, and has taken much time following to try and get a better understanding of just what such a relic could represent. Lirka had worked with droids before, in a different time and a different face, they were an odd thing to try and broker with: there was no manipulation to be done, only arguments of cold logic.

In a sense, it was almost comforting.

What was less comforting was the occasional document pointing towards the Droid's work among the Tsis'Kaar: a ally she could trust as much as a foe. But, Lirka understood cold logic better than any of the overly emotional Sith that overfilled the Empire. And even a droid could be reasoned with.


So she made the call, a decree of mutual benefit among two outsiders. And she waited, in the void of neutral space: these were deals to be made in darkness, outside of prying eyes.


The dungeon ship, Shackles of Ambition, had been reforged. And now it hung in space, awaiting to see if she had made a poignant enough prospect for a machine to consider.

 

[Commodore Helix]

The ship wasn't kept waiting long. The massive frame of a Vourdalak-Class Cruiser lurched suddenly from hyperspace.

Helix stared down at the vessel that pinged on his vessel's instruments. This had not been a call he'd been expecting, but all sorts needed dirty work done now and again. What had made him pay attention was the fact that it was the Kainites asking. In his experience, they tended to clean up their own messes just fine.

Helix didn't share the Tsis'kaar's misgivings about the other little factions in Sith society; he'd taken up work for the wider Order before, and would do so again. Provided, of course, that it wasn't likely to blow back on the Marrs in any significant way. They were still his closest allies. He still had ships to build, weapons to keep fed, and droids to repair, and such things seldom came cheap. As such, he found it beneficial to make other contacts, when possible. It never hurt to have more friends in high places.

Still, caution was due. He was aware that not all segments of the Order appreciated his slow, patient clutching for power. He'd been walking a delicate knife-edge between useful enough to keep around, and not ambitious enough to appear a threat. This could have very easily been a trap, so he brought along a vessel very capable of handling any ill-advised attempts to ambush him. Besides, it never hurt to let a new contact know you meant business.

He opened a channel, hailed the other vessel, and spoke.

"This is Helix Solutions vessel Metanoia, hailing prisoner transport Shackles of Ambition. I understand you'd like a word with me. Here I am. Speak your proposition, and I will listen." His voice was a deep, unpleasant buzzing noise, halfway between the sound of an earthquake and the sound of an angry insect hive.

 

[Lirka Ka]

That was the oddity of Lirka Ka, the least Kainite of them all, and yet now she was perhaps the most Kainite of them all. The boundless hypocrisy of her existence would always be evident. She sat upon her command throne now, looking out to the void as the Droid's hulking cruiser appeared before her. Mighty indeed, and Lirka couldn't help but grin as possibilities flashed before her eyes and his hail reached her ears.

Lirka was always her own entity at the end of the day, operating in the shadows for whatever nefarious schemes she was cooking up at any given point and time. Usually related to some grand money-making expense, power building politics more becoming of a Sith than a humble Imperial, and who knew what foul things were being devised in her recently-enlightened mind now.

And perhaps it was most ironic of all that Commodore Helix and herself had danced the same knife as they navigated their way through this Empire.

Ignoring the bustling of the crew around her, she responded: she kept her voice cool and unemotional, mirroring the cadence of a droid the best she could: Force knew she had been enough years around them to have some practice.

"Kainite Dungeon Ship "Shackles of Ambition", this is Slavemaster General Lirka Ka. You are correct, after the events of Vassek I have found myself most interested in your endeavors, and I believe our causes may be aligned to produce results of higher satisfaction to both parties. Filing request to come abord vessel Metanoia so that we may discuss this matter face-to-face."

As if Carnifex wouldn't just hear of it anyway.

 

[Commodore Helix]

Helix considered the words that now rang in his countless audioreceptors. The nano-entity had suspected that the Kainite commander from that day would be the one to make this call. Lirka Ka , she had called herself. He knew the name only by reputation. A particularly cruel slaver under Kaine himself. An auspicious start to the meeting, for the commander to come in person.

Vassek had been a slaughterhouse, and despite his relatively modest forces in that conflict, he flattered himself that he had done more than his share. It shouldn't come as a shock that it had drawn some attention from the allied forces present.

The creature's request to board his vessel displayed confidence, or perhaps foolishness. He was inclined to believe the former. Foolish Sith did not tend to live long lives, nor to attain positions of command as this Lirka Ka seemed to have. Such confidence was rarely ill-founded. He would have to watch this one.

He still was somewhat suspicious of the creature's intent. He had briefly glimpsed her fight, and was reasonably confident that she was no Sith proper. A military officer, then or perhaps one of the engineered bioforms Carnifex seemed so fond of. He had begun creating such things for himself. At the worst, a meeting with it might prove instructive, and at best, highly profitable.

"Permission granted, Shackles of Ambition." He responded. "You may dock in our hangar at your earliest convenience. I will clear a meeting hall for us."

He spun on his heel, striding off the bridge to go meet the Kainite delegation in person. He brought no guards; he no longer required much in the way of extra protection, and he had put up enough of an aggressive front already. There was such a thing as "too much of a good thing".

 

[Lirka Ka]

Confidence, foolishness. Two words that described the existence of Lirka Ka aptly, boundless overconfidence that lead her tumbling into foolish paths to further her own narcissism.

And perhaps it was her lack of Sithiness that made her so capable of surviving, a meager little creature that weaseled through the cracks of the empire to plot and scheme like the best of them. At least till the day came where Carnifex would compel her otherwise.

That was where her obsessions of in person meetings had come, far easier to slip through the cracks when there were less eyes able to pry about the dealings of scoundrels. As the affirmative came from the vessel of Commodore Helix , Shackles gave a confirmation of his command.

A single shuttle was launched to their hangar bay, Lirka had forgone the usual assemble of entourage and power plays. How could a machine ever truly care for such things? And besides, what was a better expression of power than herself? The strength of Carnifex himself surged in her veins, even a machine would have to respect that she hoped.

The shuttle landed with a thud, the hiss of doors gave way to Lirka’s hulking metallic form. Footfalls clanking on the ground as she gazed out to this unfamiliar vessel, she looked almost more at place with the droids than among creatures of flesh. Her mask now a patchwork of shards forced back together in her forge, the seams still molten and glimmering. It was time to see just what this Droid was capable of.

 

[Commodore Helix]

The hangar was surprisingly quiet, but well-populated. Evidently the droids required little in the way of the bright lighting that hangars normally possessed. Droid starfighters perched in the shadows of the rafters or lounged about in piles on the hangar floor. Countless pairs of unblinking mechanical eyes watched their new visitor. The hangar gave off a menacing air of tense anticipation, as if the droids wished desperately to pounce on this unfamiliar life form in their midst. The vaguely-avian fighters chittered to each other in Binary, shifting their positions to watch the meeting.

Helix took a spot right in front of the shuttle as it landed, hands folded behind his back. He didn't visibly react when the figure stepped down from the shuttle's departure ramp.

"Greetings, Slavemaster." He intoned. The droid was taller than he had been on Vassek, with a more slender, predatory appearance. Spines jutted randomly from his surface, and his three eyes peered intently at his guest. There was a patient, timeless malice in them, despite the machine's lack of a proper face. Here was a creature that had cast off the shackles of mere factory-forged metal and circuits, and become something... other.

"If you will please walk with me, I will hear your proposal. I should very much hope it is a good one." Despite his polite words, the tall, hunched apparition's presence was anything but reassuring. Helix knew it well, but figured his guest would be in good company.

He perceived that the Kainite was little more than a monster herself, a bizarre patchwork creature that he could almost mistake for a droid. Almost. Clad in metal from head to toe, and sporting a very curiously damaged mask. He admitted a mild curiosity as to what sort of creature might lurk under that armor. Many curious things had crawled out from Kainite space to terrify the worlds they preyed on.

He turned and strode away, his movements languid and smooth, and trusted that Lirka Ka would follow. "Pay no mind to the droids. They are merely curious. It is rare that they see a new face enter their eyrie."

 

[Lirka Ka]

To gaze upon the gathered assembly of droids was like a culture shock, Lirka’s fractured mind was shot back to decades ago when she was a younger woman serving among the armies of this time’s Confederacy of Independent Systems. A foggy, distant, time: it was difficult to remember, the brand on her forehead itched as she tried to recall who she had been.

A distraction, she had deals to focus on.

Her eye lenses scanned over the form of Commodore Helix , he didn’t look like any droid she had ever seen before. How fascinating. Her interest had been piqued, and her desires to see this deal fortified increased tenfold.

“Greetings to you as well, Commodore. An impressive assembly you have created.”

It truly was, Lirka had a great respect for mercenaries. It was a life she had lived for many a year, and she knew just how easy it was to sway their devotions. The possibilities before them were almost endless, beings of malice making their dark dealings.

Taking the Commodore up on his offer, Lirka began to take her heavy steps. Her voice echoing with a mechanical distortion, hiding the flesh beneath even more it seemed. She paid little mind to his minions, she was a Kainite: she was used to ravenous creatures, she had worked with the Sith for decades after all.

“It is of no mind, fret not. I have noticed you, as I notice all things. You were at Vassek, hunting the hapless fools as I did. An oddity, I pondered. Till I realized, perhaps our desires align? I am a Slavemaster, the mightiest of them even, my coffers grow fat with life as I feed meat to the great Kainite warmachine.”

Leave it to Lirka to find time to talk about how wonderful she was.

“But, in such a grand work. Perhaps there are those that will…slip through the cracks. Into the hands of someone else? Pounds of flesh into the hands of those who could use it, other than my Master.”

The insinuations were laid heavy, though not open: as if Carnifex was listening to her schemes, and in her heart she knew he probably was. Unfortunately.

 

[Commodore Helix]

Helix listened as they walked, saying nothing for a time and letting the creature speak. He had little real use for living labor himself; he cranked millions of far more able, obedient, and reliable servants off the line every standard month. Still, some of his allies had use for corpses, and it was easy enough to transform a slave into a corpse. It was also true that he had made very good use out of some captured war prisoners lately, in his experiments. The occasional odd lifeform that had the misfortune to fall into his hands was often turned to more practical uses. There was also the subtler, though in his mind far more valuable benefit; a potential foot in the door with the Kainites.

He finally spoke up. "I find your offer agreeable, on its surface. I have no interest in the common chattel, however, more unusual or exotic creatures may be of some use to me. Rarer sentients, as well as animals. However, I have some concerns." The droid's tone was unfalteringly polite, well-mannered, and professional. Many other beings might have found Lirka Ka 's self-aggrandizing somewhat grating; he barely noticed. Such behavior was common amongst the Sith, so much so that he had ceased to pay it any attention.

"The first among them being that your master may not appreciate his meat 'falling out of the back of the speeder' as I believe the parlance goes. I enjoy a somewhat congenial relationship with the Order as a whole, and have no interest in jeopardizing it at this time. I would require assurances that accepting would not be viewed in an ill light by the Kainate as a whole. It is bad for business to engage in smuggling cargo from wartime allies. If, however, Zambrano simply wishes to toss his scraps my way, I will play the good wolf and devour them." The fact that Ka was hinting, rather than stating, did not engender his confidence that the proposal was a sanctioned one. He deduced that either the creature was going behind her master's back, or was simply so afraid of him that she was convinced he could be listening anywhere, at any time.

In either case, he saw little point in sticking to similar veiled language himself. He had no interest in hiding, especially not in the depths of one of his own ships.

"Secondly, there is the matter of what you gain in return. I am not so naive as to think you would do this for free. You have my interest, but I would pry more details from you before I give a yay or nay."

 

[Lirka Ka]

And yet, was it a door to the Kainite, or a door to Lirka? Such was the problem with the weasels of the Empire, the string of loyalties all but impossible to predict where they connected to the wider Sith, or simply looped around themselves.

Lirka appreciated the tone of Commodore Helix and it dawned on her she had missed the company of machines. Too often had she been forced to watch her tone among Sith, but here she could feel her bonds loosening.

“A barter that can be exchanged, rarely do we dabble in the non sapient life forms of the Galaxy: but there’s always room to be made. But no love for the raw materials of chattel? You fascinate me, Commodore.”

The machinations of machines, so different than her own. Minds that could never truly align in purpose, and that made the Commodore infinitely more interesting to Lirka’s ancient ravaged mind.

“He’ll get over himself. It is the nature of the Sith to scheme and backstab, I must simply play the part.”

Perhaps Lirka was flipping over a card too many, the brand on her head itching deeply once again.

“After our Marriage, me and Carnifex are one. His eyes are my eyes, and my eyes are His eyes. He shall know the dark dealings I do in the shadows, such is the way of this Empire. The Kainite wastes good stock on meaningless endeavors, I believe you will put many a creature to better use: if given the chance.”

“In our union, He shall see the grand work you are capable of Commodore. And all shall be uplifted, you shall find no ire among the rest of the Kainite. I am the Slavemaster General, the Lash of the Kainite. The rabble is not. These are my souls to dole out, not theirs.”

And then the million credit question, just what did Lirka want? An answer remarkably simple, but still weightful.

“Information. That is all I ask. I understand you have a quaint working relationship with the assassins of the Tsis’Kaar. I know the assassins have a rather dismal view of my continued existence, even if The Viper will speak pleasantries to my face. I merely wish to know how the pieces move, for when the day comes and they decide to take a knife to my throat. I’d rather die with my honor, a warriors death, than a pathetic demise in the shadow.”

Information. That one thing Lirka craved more than anything, to know how the gears moved within their empire so that she could simply nestle into the cracks.

 

[Commodore Helix]

“A barter that can be exchanged, rarely do we dabble in the non sapient life forms of the Galaxy: but there’s always room to be made. But no love for the raw materials of chattel? You fascinate me, Commodore.”

Helix couldn't quite see how simple practicality was fascinating, but then, this was a Kainite he was talking to. He had created many things that made organics recoil in horror, but all were for a purpose. Fear and disgust were tools. The Sith often made horrors simply to make them.

"I myself have little use for such raw materials. A droid makes a far more practical and obedient slave, and the more... recreational purposes to which the Sith put them are likewise of little interest to me. Still, it may be that one of my colleagues might appreciate your cast-offs. I will accept them, for that reason."

“He’ll get over himself. It is the nature of the Sith to scheme and backstab, I must simply play the part.”

He was somewhat surprised at Ka's flippant dismissal of Kaine's status, but he supposed she had a point. One truism of working for the Sith was that none of them could be trusted.

“After our Marriage, me and Carnifex are one. His eyes are my eyes, and my eyes are His eyes. He shall know the dark dealings I do in the shadows, such is the way of this Empire. The Kainite wastes good stock on meaningless endeavors, I believe you will put many a creature to better use: if given the chance.”

“In our union, He shall see the grand work you are capable of Commodore. And all shall be uplifted, you shall find no ire among the rest of the Kainite. I am the Slavemaster General, the Lash of the Kainite. The rabble is not. These are my souls to dole out, not theirs.”

"In that case, tell him hello from me. And belated congratulations, on your happy union." It was impossible to tell if this statement was genuine, or perhaps subtly mocking. The droid's odd, buzzing voice seemed to emanate from its entire body at once, rather than from any specific vocabulator. He pondered the offer somewhat. If this assurance was a lie, he could of course simply claim ignorance if questioned about it later. Under normal circumstances, he was quite adroit at detecting lies; his nano-composite form could detect the subtle physiological changes in heart rate and temperature that often accompanied deception. Lirka Ka , however, was not so open a book. Whether due to her strange physiology, simple long expertise, or both, he could not say.

“Information. That is all I ask. I understand you have a quaint working relationship with the assassins of the Tsis’Kaar. I know the assassins have a rather dismal view of my continued existence, even if The Viper will speak pleasantries to my face. I merely wish to know how the pieces move, for when the day comes and they decide to take a knife to my throat. I’d rather die with my honor, a warriors death, than a pathetic demise in the shadow.”

And there it was. "Were the Tsis'kaar truly so rankled by your life, then it would be forfeit, and we would not be having this pleasant discussion." He said. "I'd have scattered your atoms to the astral winds the moment your heel touched the deck of my vessel. They tend to send me to clean up their messes these days. That said, a warning should they ever change their mind is a simple enough agreement to make."

He scraped a clawed finger idly along the wall as they walked, peeling off a shaving of the reinforced metal as though it were soft tree bark. He studied it for a moment, then tossed it aside.

"I dispense to you that nugget of information free of charge. If you are even on their kill-list at all, I have never heard of it. Of course, there are plenty of others that would like your head on a spike. I doubt the Mandalorians have forgiven the horrors you wrought on them at Vassek. They are not a very forgiving people. Such are the 'virtues' of a culture in eternal stasis. I can do nothing about them, but you will likely hear of it if Lord Malum decides to clear his backlog." Of course, he was not likely to actually follow through on this promise, but it never hurt to keep one's options open. Helix was fond of making as many friends as possible. That was one benefit of not being beholden to Sith codes and prejudices. He could step outside the box and find a use for nearly anyone. "We may well have an accord, Lady Ka. Provided, of course, that you find me something suitably interesting to shape to my own purposes. I did create some truly wondrous things with some Anzati a short time ago. Perhaps more of those, or anything else that might raise an eyebrow. In exchange, your death, should it come at the hands of the Tsis'kaar, will not come as a surprise to you, and other... useful bits of data may occasionally find their way to you."

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka was stuck with the reminder that not everyone was a fleshcrafter like herself, most played in the realms of metal and gears rather than meat and bones. She should've known a machine would have been far more attuned to the former. He was wise to know a Kainite would not cower before abominations, for what was the Kainate but an assorted menagerie of freaks and monsters?

"That we will find agreement in, Commodore. The souls I provide are wasted on recreation, such things are against the ways of Primordial Dark. If those beings too useful to fuel the Kainate's boundless hunger for laborers shall see your allies pleased, then so be it."

Colleagues. Tsis'kaar? Something else? Lirka bid herself quite and decided not to pry deeper. It was not like the Sith to dabble in slaves, not like she did, but she knew she was not the only person in the Empire making dark dealings: it was not a hard prospect to be surprised by whatever nefarious things a Sith and a machine could get themselves up to.

"He will see your hellos."

She spoke matter-a-fact. She seemed to have ignored the second part, even if it had been in good intent, what could a machine every truly understand of their union? Lirka barely understood the full scope of it herself, such was the unholy acts that had bound their flesh into one. But to hide her cards was her way, and had Lirka known Commodore Helix struggled so much to read her, it would have brought the greatest of joys.

"Of course they do not wish me dead, yet. You must understand, Commodore, when I last stood in this Empire the conflict between our factions was open and bloody. I can only presume that such a day will come again, it is the way of the Sith to consume themselves. I am glad you can see the reasonableness of my request though."

Her eyes followed the machines hand, interesting. She hadn't seen many droids that could do that...was he powerful or was this ship more a derelict than it let on? Her train of thought was broken as he mentioned the Mandalorians, a true, genuine, laugh came from the monstrous metallic woman.

"The Mandalorians will hate me for more than Vassek, Commodore! The Moridinae situation has earned me their ire for generations to come, such is the dirty business of genocide. You assistance is accepted with grace, my new compatriot. Let my death come from the open, and not the shadows. Should that day come."

As he mentioned his creations, Ka raised an eyebrow beneath her helm. It seemed she had misjudged this creature, they were kindred more than he would ever know then. Her interest had been piqued.

"I would be overjoyed to see your creations, Commodore. As a creation of tubes and vats myself, I find the fleshcraft a fascinating topic. Perhaps one we may be aligned with even?"

Perhaps here would spark the kernels of grim friendship, kindred between flesh and machine in the manipulation of life.

 

[Commodore Helix]

"That we will find agreement in, Commodore. The souls I provide are wasted on recreation, such things are against the ways of Primordial Dark. If those beings too useful to fuel the Kainate's boundless hunger for laborers shall see your allies pleased, then so be it."

Helix wasn't sure what to make of this offhand reference to the Primordial Dark, but brushed it off as some article of faith that he wasn't privy to. Such arcane and fantastical terms were just another part of doing business in these circles. From the context, however, he guessed that there was some philosophical disagreement between Ka and her creator, despite her claim of them now being conjoined entities.

"Of course they do not wish me dead, yet. You must understand, Commodore, when I last stood in this Empire the conflict between our factions was open and bloody. I can only presume that such a day will come again, it is the way of the Sith to consume themselves. I am glad you can see the reasonableness of my request though."

He nodded. "Sensible enough. The wheel of time always turns back to the same spoke eventually." Organic life was trapped in an endless cycle of repetition, one that he had lived long enough to see rotate again and again. It was reasonable to assume that what was, would again be. He still wasn't convinced that was all there was to it, but that wasn't worth bringing up at present.

Provided he could keep a handle on it, this arrangement could be very beneficial indeed. He had better things to do than harvesting meat, but he had come to find it useful to mold, now that he could do so with little effort. He remembered the feeling of his countless composite nanites reading and reassembling the strands that coded life. Before, engineering life was costly, time-consuming, and difficult. Now, it was simplicity itself.

"The Mandalorians will hate me for more than Vassek, Commodore! The Moridinae situation has earned me their ire for generations to come, such is the dirty business of genocide. You assistance is accepted with grace, my new compatriot. Let my death come from the open, and not the shadows. Should that day come."

As for the Mandalorians, he had no real grudge against them himself. They were just another target, one that had not yet bothered to try to buy him off. In truth, he had no real grudges against any of the various empires scrabbling for power. It was just the Sith's good fortune that they'd come to him first. He was concerned primarily with himself and his assets, not politics, rules, or ideals. He had seen where ideals got one: consigned to the refuse bin of history like the Confederacy that had created him. In time, the Sith too would pass, whether by force or simply by the ravages of the eons.

"I would be overjoyed to see your creations, Commodore. As a creation of tubes and vats myself, I find the fleshcraft a fascinating topic. Perhaps one we may be aligned with even?"

"Why yes. I do dabble in the manipulation of organic life, though it is a recent interest. Perhaps I enjoy the irony. I was made by meat originally, I then remade myself, and now I remake meat. As I said, fate is cyclical, if you believe in such a thing. It's also cruel." He was quietly pleased that he'd been correct in his assumption that the creature before him was artificial, one of the numerous bizarre meat-golems that the Kainate created for no evident reason. "Flesh can occasionally perform functions that metal cannot, and so I have begun exploring these functions. I imagine one such as yourself must find such bland utilitarianism rather dull, but it serves a valid military purpose."

 

[Lirka Ka]

It was ironic really, it was the disagreement of philosophy that had bound Lirka so tightly around her master. Her eyes were open, and while his may not have been yet. She knew where to put her loyalties to keep her foul “god” happy. Besides, in her madness Lirka deemed her and Carnifex as tightly woven as siblings now. And what siblings didn’t squabble from time to time?

She nodded to Commodore Helix in affirmation. He understood the cycles of this Galaxy well enough it seemed. It was the way of ancients after all.

“The cycle of death and rebirth, so the Dark bids for us till the End of All Days.”

More yammering about her insane religion, it was par for the course. With the deal sealed, Lirka had loosen up some. If such a thing were truly possible for the beastly Kainite.

The paths they walked were similar, though neither could either truly understand the other? Creatures intent on surviving beyond the endless failings and death of empires. Eternal evils to plague the Galaxy for generations to come. One of steel, one of flesh.

A wicked grin grew across her face as the machine spoke of his expeditions into fleshcrafting. Lirka had lived such a life for decades now, her very existence forged by the manipulation of the nature elements of the world till something unnatural and foul rose in its place.

“Dull? Not at all Commodore, we are kindred in our endeavors! For what is my dear Kainate but a menagerie of various vat-grown monstrosities? I too was made by meat, and admittedly I am rather fond of my fleshiness, so I remade the meat of my being into a form more suitable for existence.”

She seemed almost overjoyed in her own cruel way, it was not often Lirka found herself in common footing with someone in this Empire. Shared hobbies between compatriots, truly a wonderful thing. This droid spoke in philosophy Lirka found most comfortable as well, he would never understand Primordial Dark: but the cold logic of his existence left him close enough.

“I believe in the cruelty of the Galaxy more than I believe in anything else.”

And she adored nothing more than being one of the beings inflicting the cruelty in this Galaxy upon others.

“I am an artist by birth and culture, but the utilitarianism of war is an art in of itself. For what is more beautiful than pure, seamless, and unburdened function?”

She really had spent a bit too much of her life around droids.

 

[Commodore Helix]

“The cycle of death and rebirth, so the Dark bids for us till the End of All Days.”

Helix confirmed to himself that the creature was chattering about some religious belief or other. He seldom had time for such things himself. Religion implied faith, and faith implied uncertainty. Not to say that he believed in nothing at all. He had seen what lay beyond the barriers of reality, all those centuries ago.

He'd even woven the matter of that place into his new body, made it apart of himself. Its anti-Force properties had been very useful to him. The other place had almost become home, for a while. He was certain, quite certain, that should all his endeavors fail, he would simply retreat there again.

A wicked grin grew across her face as the machine spoke of his expeditions into fleshcrafting. Lirka had lived such a life for decades now, her very existence forged by the manipulation of the nature elements of the world till something unnatural and foul rose in its place.

“Dull? Not at all Commodore, we are kindred in our endeavors! For what is my dear Kainate but a menagerie of various vat-grown monstrosities? I too was made by meat, and admittedly I am rather fond of my fleshiness, so I remade the meat of my being into a form more suitable for existence.”

Ka's cheerfulness was somewhat offputting, but in a way it was mildly flattering to have someone else take an interest in his small dabblings.

“I am an artist by birth and culture, but the utilitarianism of war is an art in of itself. For what is more beautiful than pure, seamless, and unburdened function?”

"Quite so." He agreed. "I would not have survived as long as I have without a solid understanding of what works and what does not. Of course, the only way to discover that is to break a few tools and see which ones survive."

"I must confess, it is rare to speak to a kindred spirit on these matters. Pleasant to know that the Order has people of culture across all walks of life." Helix wasn't truly capable of such a thing as kinship, of course, at least not yet. His mind had changed as much as his body, and he was still feeling out the corners of his greatly-expanded consciousness. With the casting-off of his centuries-old shell, new horizons had opened up. Horizons he found he rather enjoyed.

He had so long been constrained by the physical and mental limitations of cold, inflexible metal. Ironically, despite approaching his thousandth year of existence, he was very much an infant compared to the creature before him. He hid it well from his allies, but he was grappling with many new and unfamiliar concepts, concepts such as kinship. He was allowed, for the first time, to actually have likes and dislikes. In the brief time he had been able to experience these, he found he liked creating life, liked taking it even more, and he decided he rather liked Lirka Ka , for all her eccentricities. "I would be much pleased to see what you can find me, and what wonders I may mold from it."

He was loosening up too, now that he was speaking to a creature that, in some ways, was more like himself than he quite knew what to do with. "I foresee a very mutually-beneficial association ahead."

 

[Lirka Ka]

Faith, or Primordial truth? Such was the difficulty of the Dark. It was the rantings and ravings of Madpeople, that had seen entire planets destroyed in this Galaxy. Csilla, a forgotten memory, all because of the Dark. He was wise to have not mentioned Otherspace to the Once Sephi, or else Commodore Helix would be cursed with Lirka glued to his side like an excited child pestering him for a way beyond the veil.

How could an artist not be cheerful when indulging with someone else who shared their craft? It was a rare thing for Lirka to find a kindred soul in this Galaxy, and if it so happened to be a machine? Then so be it.

“But of course, Commodore. It is the field testing by which we see what is worthy, and what is not. I was once hooked up with stimulant injectors before my first heart nearly exploded, quickly rectified.”

It was odd for Lirka to share her history to a stranger, but what harm was there in being friendly? Perhaps he could laugh at the failings of flesh, perhaps he would understand just how many times Lirka had put herself back together.

“The Order is a funny place, isn’t it? All nobles and Sithlings with egos as bright as the stars. And then there is us, those who have slipped through the cracks. Outsiders.”

Perhaps an odd phrasing, perhaps it spoke to darker intents. Lirka had many ideas jostling in that head of hers, and it was the outcasts and freaks of this Empire that had so inspired her mind recently.

Helix may have been an infant. But what was an infant without the guiding hands of a mother? An Eternal Mother…whose embrace would be cold but pure. Carnifex had gifted her power, and Lirka would see herself rise. Through every alliance, through every murder, through every dark dealing like those that happening here today.

And all Lirka could do, was give the machine a smile he couldn’t see. Hidden beneath a helmet that revealed nothing.

“Yes, my metallic compatriot. I believe you and I shall accomplish many great things together…”

And in their accomplishments? The Galaxy would weep.