Private Another Sunset aboard Trident

[Nyva Shei]

She summoned me today, @Lyssara Thrynn… I truly wonder what she wants from me and why she did it. We're aboard the Trident, my own personal ship. She told me to meet her on the command deck of the bridge. All the way at the top of the ship my ship, where I am the captain she dares summon me to the bridge.
It tears at me inside… it's my ship, but she's the one who commands everything. Why…?

No time to argue or complain. When the Mistress demands something, I must honor her request, or risk facing some form of reprisal from her. That thought makes me sigh as I walk, using my exotic cannon-cane as a walking stick. She told me to bring Cudgel with me I wonder why as well. The ship's corridors are at the right temperature, and crew members salute me with "Captain Shei," which, on paper, is true. The mistress never call me like this.

As I arrive on the bridge, I see the command chair turned toward space. The void. She has her back to me. I symbolically lower one knee to the ground, as I always do, to prove my loyalty to her. My gaze remains fixed on the floor; she doesn't even need to check if I do it I do it naturally, on my own.

"You called for me, Mistress? Why did you tell me to bring Cudgel with me? What are you planning…?"

I see the chair slowly turn toward me, and I narrow my eyes. She's actually sitting in MY chair something she never does normally legs crossed, with that cold, calculating gaze… as always.

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

I summon her aboard the command deck, which has a very post-Imperial rear design, the bridge's large panoramic viewport offering a 360-degree view, the central chair on which I am seated, my eyes captivated by the stars and planets. I am sitting in her command chair not by accident. I have planned a little exercise for her and told her to bring the Cudgel cane with her. Because yes, I have something amusing in mind, an exercise we often do, but with enormous stakes this time.

Lately, I have sensed her motivation faltering, her harboring a latent rage, so I decided to test her and see how she reacts. When she arrives, she behaves exactly as usual; despite her bitter feelings and her observations, she obeys. This makes me approve of her inwardly, and it makes me smile faintly. When I hear her kneel and ask me the reason for this charade, I finally pivot the chair to face her directly, one leg slightly crossed, in an authoritative, strong posture. I clearly look down at her.

"You wonder why I called you here? A little patience, I'm getting to that."

I clap my hands, and the entire setting changes. The Trident's simulation system is quite handy. We are now in a Sith meditation chamber within the caves of Korriban, an ancestral place for what is about to follow. It is a full-scale simulation, complete with scent, atmosphere, lighting, and the ship has adjusted to the chill of the cavern in which we now stand. I have risen from my chair, as it vanished along with the ship's simulation.

I begin to walk slowly, pacing around her, watching her. The first time I saw her, she was afraid, weak, malnourished, angry, distracted in short, she could only rely on her own skills to survive. Now, without realizing it, she has become a captain, strong, trained by my hand; she has everything she could ever imagine having. In short, I have made her my weapon arm, and I have taught her everything.

I stop in front of her and extend my hand, levitating a very specific scroll.

"Fight to get this scroll, Nyva. We are in a simulation kill me if you dare."

With that, I attach the scroll to my belt to give her a chance to try to snatch it, without telling her what it is. And I take my crimson lightsaber in hand, adopting a classic Soresu guard stance, waiting for her to come at me. This is why I told her to bring her cane now she is equally armed to wound me with her own melee weapon.

 

[Nyva Shei]

I see her turn toward me, and it infuriates me to the highest degree. I am clearly angry, and she must feel it. She stands and begins circling me, telling me she will answer my questions and that I must wait a little.

She literally paces around while I remain bowed toward the ground, my gaze still lowered so as not to meet hers.

When I finally lift my eyes toward her as she stops in front of me, a scroll floats into the air before her. What does this scroll contain? Why is she showing it to me? What exactly does she expect from me?

Once again, she takes the scroll and fastens it to her belt, telling me to take it by force and to kill her if I dare. After all, we are in a simulation, so even if I kill her, the program will end, and we can return to our normal lives without injury.

For the setting of this duel, she has chosen the Korriban caves. This is generally where apprentices learn to break their chains, feeding their rage toward their master, which allows them to become all the stronger.

"Very well, I accept this duel. I'll show you what I can do. Please allow me to use all of my power mistress! "

In turn, I ready my stance with my cane and adopt an offensive posture. I then charge at her, delivering the first vertical strike to open the duel.

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

I see her ready herself in turn with her cane that's a very good sign. I'm going to gauge her, analyze her, study her, see if she's capable of defending herself. I know her, and I know she could very well surprise me. I mustn't lower my guard against her, or I risk taking unexpected hits. After all, she's not my favorite sniper for nothing.

Her remark makes me smile she asks for permission to go all out. I answer with a symbolic nod, paired with a marked smile. Of course she should go all out, otherwise she won't succeed. Especially given the stakes of this fight which I obviously haven't told her about, as that would add far too much pressure.

"Go on, show me what you can do. Come, I'm waiting for you."

Without further delay, she moves to engage the fight with a vertical strike. My blade comes up to meet her cane in opposition, blocking her blow. It's very sturdy, in fact made of phrik mixed with titanium my lightsaber wouldn't be able to cut through it.

I then follow up with another diagonal lightsaber strike aimed at her right flank, from high to low. My style is rather raw and offensive; I don't use any particular technique. I mainly employ Shii-Cho to achieve my goals. So much so that I also ended up teaching her Soresu, so she could defend against blaster fire.

In a second motion, I step back slightly, then move in with a lightsaber strike that goes from low to high, an inverted vertical blow, aiming to create a gap in her guard.

 

[Nyva Shei]

I have her full approval, she tells me not to hold back and that she's ready for me. In counter to my earlier attack, she brings her blade horizontally against mine to parry my first strike.

She aims for my shoulder with a perfectly executed diagonal blow, but I have time to dodge by stepping to the side and pivoting my body. I see her step back, then deliver an inverted vertical strike from bottom to top. Our weapons clash, sparks flying, each blow carefully prepared and executed.

I'm wary of that vertical strike, and I bring my cane horizontally at chest level to block her attack as well.

Taking advantage of the opening, I slide my cane along her lightsaber and attempt a circular strike aimed at her torso, trying to hit her. With my cane, I can't cut her in two, but the intent is there.

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

This is very interesting she chooses to sidestep my diagonal strike, and for my rising vertical attack, she opts to block my blade and try to hit me in the chest.

I take Nyva's first cane strike, and it makes me smile. It forces me back, giving me a chance to regain a defensive stance and catch my breath. She has a solid capacity for adaptation and quick reactions. Gone are the days when I could read my book during training.

She's truly improved a lot, and I need to be careful with how I place my blows. She didn't hesitate for even a second to seize the opening and punish me. Now my intention is clear I'm going to beat her at her own game.

"Very good, Nyva. That's exactly what I want to see."

She's landed the first hit hats off to her. I then catch a stone through telekinesis and send it flying at her face at full speed. Let's see how she handles an unexpected rock. Besides, her weapon isn't made for cutting, unlike my lightsaber.

Just like that, I send two or three more to force her to move. Then I stop using this technique and hurl a burst of Force lightning at her. My goal here is clearly to electrocute her. I know her weapon is conductive, and that gives her a weakness.

 

[Nyva Shei]

I… Did I actually manage to hit her with my cane? This feels surreal, but I can clearly see her stepping back from the impact of my strike. On top of that, I receive praise from her for landing the hit. That's so unusual she normally doesn't give compliments. It's as if she's encouraging me to move mountains.

"Thank you, Mistress, I appreciate this!"

However, I need to keep my feet on the ground. My respite is short-lived as I see her grabbing stones through telekinesis and sending them toward me. Should I be worried? The answer is, of course, yes. I'm forced to use the Force myself to deflect the stones from their original trajectory.

Then I see lightning erupt in my direction. It gives me a flashback to when she uses it to punish me directly whenever I make a mistake. Still, I remain focused and charge my own lightning, unleashing it to cancel her attack with equal power. There's an electric clash between the two attacks, and they eventually neutralize each other.

All this has left me slightly winded from running and dodging the stones, but I hold firm, calming myself a little and taking advantage of the lightning clash and her distance to recover.

It's still too soon to use the cannon hidden in my cane I need to create an opening to use it intelligently.

I then move into close quarters, attempting a basic thrust attack, this time using the tip of my blade, wielding it like a rapier.

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

She doesn't falter at my provocations and keeps a cool head, managing though not without difficulty to deflect the stones with her own telekinesis. On top of that, she even manages to unleash another lightning strike to counter mine. The two attacks clash and cancel each other out, and she even takes advantage of that brief moment to charge me with a thrusting attack.

Honestly, using a frontal strike like that even if her weapon is in rapier mode does she really think that's going to work? I'm not that easily fooled. With a strong sideways blow, I knock her cane aside without much trouble. I sigh at her; I'll remember this little personal provocation.

I leap back three times, deactivating my lightsaber and clipping it to my belt. I draw upon the ichor of the Nightsisters, shaping it into an energy beam I fire from both hands, much like Talzin. These two beams of ichor are meant to push her back and completely stun her. The very fact that I'm using this fully against her shows that I am now taking her entirely seriously.

 

[Nyva Shei]

No surprise, she parries my cane with such ease that it's almost unsettling. I see her jump back three times, and that's never a good sign. And rightly so I see her extend her hands to the side and begin drawing on the Nightsister ichor.

Wait, what?

She's going to use that attack…? Oh, shit. I brace myself to take the full frontal hit; if I can withstand her symbolic strike, then I'll have passed my own personal test, and I'll be satisfied. I have a little idea on how to deal with it we'll see if my strategy will pay off or not.

As the two blasts fire in my direction, I see the green ichor, and it sends chills down my spine. I also note that she's been pretty fair-play so far she hasn't used her teleportation portals even once, and clearly has no intention to.

I position my cane horizontally and brace to take the impact of the two beams. It pushes me back and causes an explosion, but I hold firm. The blast kicks up a cloud of dust, which actually works in my favor, since I have another ability I can bring into play and I think it's time to use it.

As the dust cloud forms, creating a thick smokescreen, I break contact with the two beams by dodging to the side. The wall behind me takes the brunt of the blast, and I take the opportunity to vanish into the Force using a Force cloak.

This will make me much harder to locate.

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

That little brat decided to take my direct hit in order to kick up a cloud of smoke and use the cave's dust to her advantage that's actually pretty smart of her. I literally destroyed the wall in front of us with my ichor attack. In that strike, I fully intended to destroy neutralize her. Not only did she endure it, but she also managed to turn it into an opportunity in her favor.

I watch her literally vanish into the Force and become invisible. I instinctively ready my guard, because at this exact moment, the fight has just shifted in Nyva's favor.

My eyes scan the room from left to right, desperately searching for her. It's even harder with this smokescreen blocking me from seeing her footprints on the ground. It's actually a very well-thought-out move.

She's playing her trump card here the invisibility. I feel genuinely threatened and start trying to locate her through the Force.

"But where are you, little Nyva?"

It's a provocation; I don't actually expect her to answer, since she's cloaked in invisibility. It would be foolish for her to blow her cover like that. Still, this kind of strategic weakness could work if her mind is distracted enough.

 

[Nyva Shei]

My strategy seems to have worked the Mistress is completely lost. This is the perfect opportunity to bring out my cane's hidden feature. Until now, I've carefully avoided showing her one of the functions of this weapon, but now it's time to use it.

I slip quietly behind her, the dust and smoke masking me perfectly. She can't even see my footprints on the ground, making me even harder to track.

Once I'm right behind her, I become fully visible again and do something unexpected I twist a small ring at the edge of my cane's handle, which opens a small targeting aperture and reveals the hidden barrel within. I focus my mind; I genuinely intend to kill her.

That murderous intent is palpable as I bring my cane close to her head, my gaze hard and cold. My demeanor has completely changed I'm fully determined to take that scroll she showed me earlier.

With a swift motion, I seize it while she's still scanning the area, unaware that I'm right behind her. She doesn't realize it immediately, but I have just, symbolically, won the match.

"Mistress? Is it me you're looking for…?"

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

She's infuriating I can't pinpoint her location despite my attempts to scan through the Force. She knows perfectly well that the environment works in her favor, and even in a more open setting, she's taken advantage of it to give herself cover and hide effectively.

I'm standing to the right, completely unaware she's stolen the scroll. She did it cleanly; I noticed nothing at all. Then I hear a sound behind me, and I turn, seeing her pointing her weapon at me with a targeting sight? Wait, that thing is also a ranged weapon?

My gaze drops to the scroll she proudly displays, and I look at her in surprise as she calls out to provoke me, revealing her position.

"What the…?"

I don't have time to react before I see her pull the trigger a colorful rocket bursts forth and slams straight into my head. She didn't spare me, and the simulation ends abruptly. We're back on the command bridge, and I'm sitting on the floor, staring at Nyva holding the scroll I told her to take at the very start.

I'm genuinely shocked by this symbolic death she got me, and I fully acknowledge my defeat. I watch her step toward me with a sly smile. She offers me her hand to help me up; I take it, and she pulls me into a gentle hug. She lets it happen.

I need a moment to collect myself.

 

[Nyva Shei]

Surprisingly, she doesn't scold me. She even accepts my outstretched hand, and when I hug her, she doesn't push me away. One detail, however, catches my attention: what does this mysterious scroll contain? This piece of paper I had to kill her for.

We pull apart for a moment, and I see her nod when I show her the scroll.

Having her permission to open it, I unfold it, and my eyes freeze on its contents. It's a scroll containing my slave contract I have literally just stolen the original from her.

"What does this mean?"

I read through the entire contract that binds me to her and makes me her slave. Since I have just beaten her in a duel to the death, even if it was simulated, this means I've just overturned the board and made myself a queen. Without even realizing it, she has just given me the chance to break my own chains and become free and independent.

"Wait… you're giving me my freedom? I don't deserve it, I am still at your service."

I hold the contract out to her, but she refuses, placing her hand to the side so as not to take it. She insists that I keep it I still can't believe what she's just done.

"Free…?"

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

I see her deeply disturbed nothing more natural. The contract she's holding in her hand is the original. It's the one the seller gave me when I bought her as a slave. Now that she's free and emancipated from slavery, what will she do with her life?

She's having trouble grasping what just happened, so it's my duty to shed a little light for her. I refuse the parchment she instinctively tries to hand back to me with a sharp motion of my hand to the side.

"No, you don't need to give back what you just worked so hard to earn."

After refusing the parchment, I step aside and let out a relieved sigh, glad that this was only a simulation. On the battlefield, she would have killed me, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Strategically and militarily speaking, I acknowledge her strength she's dangerous, and I've trained her well. I actually feel calm and proud of her. Proud of the path she has traveled. Freeing her as a slave is the right thing to do. Besides, slaves aren't allowed within the Diarchy, but if she also works for me like an employee, then it's fine.

"You understood perfectly. Today I'm giving you back your freedom. Without knowing it, you fought for your life, and you did it well. This test showed me that you could manage in the outside world without my intervention. Now I'm at peace. You've earned your place in the Diarchy as an official member. You can now make your own decisions without necessarily consulting me and act as you see fit. I will no longer punish you."

I take out my coffee thermos for a sip; it helps me organize my thoughts and keep a clear head. The shock of being beaten by my own subordinate is quite a blow.

It makes me smile I am genuinely happy for her.

"I've just lost a slave, but I've gained a friend."

I then see her that evening at the command post I willingly handed over to her. She has clearly earned her position. Standing to the side and letting her enjoy her seat feels perfectly natural, especially since it's her own ship.

"Captain Shei."