Private Belly of the Beast

[Allyson Locke]

//: R E L O A D //:
//: Korriban //: Sith Academy //:
//: Zaavik Perl //:

Week Prior to the Korriban Invasion​

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The Sith Empire had faced some turmoil dealing with the loss of crucial territory like Bastion. The Dark Side of the Force continued to resonate. Returning to their roots and former capitals, the Sith not only endured, but they grew stronger. Pain and suffering, critical elements to the Sith, only made them stronger. They didn't cower; the Corellian had learned firsthand and witnessed Sith's resilience with her own eyes. Once more, the war was on the horizon as the Galactic Alliance was now stepping forward, doing more to protect the core. ​

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Military movements and strategic movements were vital and necessary to set up the upcoming invasion. Korriban was the target, and Allyson was sent forward once more into the fray of the Empire. Nerves had eaten away at her; she nearly lost herself the last time she entered the Empire. While she retained most of her sanity, she had lost everything important to her. Friendships and the trust she had relied on was gone; at times, she felt more alone and almost alien while walking the halls of the Jedi Temple. She had been able to salvage her relationship with Loske, but that was more because the Kiffar woman was far more stubborn than Allyson had expected. That stubbornness possibly saved her life; Loske had interfered with the suicide mission and prevented Allyson from finishing it out. ​

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Shaking her head, Allyson pulled herself from the mess of thoughts she had running through her head. She wondered if this was the work of the Force, the Dark Side corruption that lingered on the planet. Unfortunately for her, already having spots of the Dark Side remaining in her only fed whatever it was more. Stubbornness kept her from falling, but being a Shadow meant she was more in contact with the Dark Side than most Jedi. ​

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That was the part that worried her, especially with her padawan. Looking towards Zaavik, she tried to smile slightly. At least try and ease the tension that continued to linger between them. He had grown in the past year. She had abandoned him, and yet he still gave her the time of day. Allyson knew there was no fixing the past, but at least she could do something right as his master. Zaavik was the new generation of Shadows, ones that would work under Allyson. She needed to properly train him, but she wondered if dragging him into the belly of the Sith Empire was the wisest choice. ​

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Upon expressing her mission to him, the boy wasn't taking no for an answer - remembering the last time she had infiltrated. That made Allyson give in and bring him along. They had arrived a few weeks prior and managed to slip into the guise of two Legionnaires that guarded the Sith Academy. It gave them access to different rooms and security files that were quickly copied over by the Mechu Deru Master and sent back to the Alliance Intel. ​

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Tonight, they were to start sabotaging the network taking it down as the invasion was just on the horizon. Allyson cleared her throat and began her patrol with the Zeltron. "You got the briefings this morning, right? I'm going to let you slice the network, but instead of tools, you're going to need to use the Force. Eh, Mechu Deru." They had gone over what the technique was, and he had shown an affinity to it. But working on dud nav computers was a lot different than a state of the art security system. At least with Allyson with him, she could help guide. Having infiltrated already, Allyson still had access through her backdoors that weren't all scrubbed away by the Sith. ​

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"Any question?" She paused as they waved towards another pair of patrollers. When the other team passed, she looked at him, her features softening a touch. "How are you doing, you know, with everything?"​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

KORRIBAN | SITH ACADEMY
Allyson Locke

C A U T I O N
​

Beneath the bucket of a legionnaire helmet, Zaavik was sweating. His violet locks stuck to his pinkish skin, causing the slightest twinge of an itch. Were these uniforms really that insulated? Or was he just nervous? Internally, he tried to justify it given how cold Korriban often was. But in reality, he was more than a little shaken. Korriban was arguably the very heart of the Sith Empire. The ancestral homeland of the Sith people, and the Sith way.

Korriban was awash with a dark affinity. The Padawan could feel it down the very marrow of his bones. It was intense. He often caught himself clenching his hands or standing perhaps a little too rigid. The planet itself called to him in ways he was far from keen. Allyson didn't seem nearly as affected, but he was just a Padawan, after all. His sense of spiritual grit wasn't nearly as developed.

He almost regretted coming along. Almost.

"Yeah," he replied. "I got them." His voice was hushed as they patrolled around. Sith were a tricky bunch, and he figured they could be listening at any time. Even if they didn't suspect anything, they were sneaky like that. Weren't they? Zaavik had been face to face with them before, but most of his knowledge about how the thought and operated was secondhand conjecture.

"Questions? Yeah, isn't that kind of insane? Me? Slice the network?" His whispers hushed suddenly as they passed by an overlapping patrol. He waited until he couldn't hear their boots treading before he continued. "Isn't that a little advanced? Why don't you do it?" The gap in experience didn't take much to see. Wouldn't Zaavik be a risk given his lack of experience? Unless this was some kind of a test. Regardless, Zaavik was casually defiant of Allyson's wishes, excusing it to himself by assuming it was safer that way.

Zaaviks face puckered curiously from behind the legionnaire helmet. "I'm fine," he dismissed briefly before turning to face foward.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: R E L O A D //:
//: Korriban //: Sith Academy //:
//: Zaavik Perl //:

His words were short and cautious. He wasn't as rambunctious and careless as before. There was a hint of a smile on the woman's lips. She saw the growth that he had endured over time. She'd have to thank Loske and the others for it; they kept an eye on her while she tried to prove herself some worth in the Empire. Either way, Allyson was proud of Zaavik - despite his defiance. ​

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She wondered if she was supposed to work that out of him, make him an obedient Jedi. Thoughts mused over this as she realized she wasn't much of an obedient Jedi herself. The last thing she wanted to be as hypocritical, and in the end, his defiance was going to keep him alive. A character flaw that was quickly passed from Master to Padawan. A trait that was necessary for the job they did. ​

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"It is." She quipped back. She was fully confident in his abilities, especially since she was going to be there. Yet, the doubt that he had in his abilities were going to only hold him back. "You have me still here; it's not like I'm going to let you just flounder." Rolling her eyes, she led him down a corridor; it was dark and quiet. The quiet was what bothered her; even though the sithlings were asleep, there was usually more activity floating about. Korriban was a mysterious planet, and Allyson hoped that after all of this, she'd never had to come back. ​

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"You can't keep doubting yourself. There's going to be more missions like this, and because most of the shadows have either died or retired - we're kind of all that there is." Her voice was hushed. Thankfully their helmets and comm channels were on a different network, protected from being picked up by any outsider. The talent with technology was a bonus for being a Master Technomancer, a title that she hoped to pass down to the Padawan. "You're good at tinkering. Just let the Force speak to you; technology is just as alive as the rest of the galaxy - you just have to listen." She pointed to her helmet to emphasize what she was saying. ​

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"Can't keep doubting yourself, Zaavik," Allyson paused as they rounded the last corner and found their way towards the central office where the guards were meant to shift out with the two Jedi. Allyson made the exchange and saluted the guard; she received the report and then turned towards Zaavik. "Come on." A wave and the pair would move into the central command center. Inside it felt like thousands of screens peered down upon them. Lights flashed on the several tall server shelves, while other lights flickered, showing different security feeds and lines. The panels looked as if they were written in a foreign language, but the Corellian Master quickly made her way towards one of them, and expertly began to override the firewalls. Allyson removed her helmet and placed it on the nearby chair. ​

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Her face showed the perspiration caused by the sealed helmet, brown hair clung tightly against her face as her bun showed fatigue from being shoved into the helmet. Allyson cleared her throat as her breathing remained labored, she had forgotten how stuffy the helmets were, and with her condition, it didn't bode well for catching breath. Lungs burned, but she did her best to hide the struggle. ​

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"Just like working with the nav coms, get into the root file, the firewalls are just like I explained on the way here." The Corellian looked over her shoulder and flashed the boy a quick smile. "Hopefully, you were taking notes. Feel the Force; it will guide you." ​

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[Zaavik Perl]

KORRIBAN | SITH ACADEMY
Allyson Locke

C A U T I O N
​

Zaavik shot Allyson a look through the helmet. A sideways slanted scowl that inflected irritable doubt. Her presence hadn't always stopped him from floundering before. This wasn't just fixing someone's air-cooling unit, either. This is was much more complex than that, let alone serious. One slip was all it was going to take. One fuckup and they were probably both dead. Not exactly reassuring.

"You know, it's not as much doubting myself as it is wanting to live." He wasn't lying. Of course he doubted himself, but self-doubt was very much the least of it. If this was her idea of hands-on experience, Zaavik was wary of what she expected when the Alliance finally made planetfall.

"You're good at tinkering. Just let the Force speak to you; technology is just as alive as the rest of the galaxy - you just have to listen."​

He groaned quietly. "I know," he conceded flatly. "Sith tech, though. What if the Force tells me to eat it? I doubt Sith systems are going to be very accommodating to me rummaging around. Force or otherwise." He exaggerated a point to his own helmet. Quicker and stiffer than her gesture, a soft mock. He heard her say it again. He couldn't doubt himself. It was supposed to be encouraging. It was, but Zaavik was nothing if not stubborn. "You just said that," he groaned.

Through the corridor round the last corner, Zaavik followed. Putting on the act was easy, snapping to the quick salute with the other shift and watching them leave. "Tch." His tongue clicked in disgust the very moment they were out of earshot. The central command center was just about everything Zaavik expected. No surprises here. How underwhelming. Korriban of all places, and not even a single curvball. His disappointment was laced with intense relief. Maybe it was better that way.

Zaavik pulled his helmet off. His hair remained tightly pressed down at the top, with the rest of it sticking the back of his neck and sides of his face. Helmet hair. As if immediately conscious of that fact, his shook his head briefly and rubbed a hand over his forehead to pull his hair backward. Not like it mattered really, but call it nerves.

Helmet still under his arm, he approached one of the server towers slowly. He gave Allyson an unsure look. Brow furrowed and coupled with a frown in response to her smile. Finally, he turned away and looked at the cold, metal panel of the server tower and placed his hand flat on it.

The hardest part was the lack of any visual. It wasn't like using a holopad or a terminal. It was all feeling, and sometimes it was hard to understand just what every feeling was. The Padawan took a deep breath, focusing on the digital insides of the server tower. Willing himself in, he waited to feel something. Anything.

This it came. He felt himself melt into the writing and the boards. Snaking through wire, connector, terminal, and junction he made his way into the digital stage. There was a barrier, an impediment to moving forward. He exhaled, did as Allyson told him, and let the force take him where he needed to go. With very minimal effort on his part, only the catalyst of the infiltration, he pushed through one barrier after another until none were left.

Then all he could feel was a resounding emptiness. It was back in his hands to figure out what to do now, but there was an indescribably large nothing. The whole system perhaps? Or the entrance beyond the firewalls? He didn't know. If it was even possible to know. Every direction he could feel felt like it went on forever. He froze. Stuck. Unsure how to move forward. No matter how hard he focused, it was a vacuum. A void. Nothing.

There was a long silence. Zaavik was still frozen. His grip around his helmet wavered and clunked against the ground. "Uh," he vocalized an uncertain sound. "Allyson?" He called out in a labored whisper. His eyes turned towards her, but his head remained locked forward. "I'm stuck. There's... nothing?" He couldn't move, locked into the Sith Academy's Cyber-void.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: R E L O A D //:
//: Korriban //: Sith Academy //:
//: Zaavik Perl //:

Allyson continued to work, her mind open to what was going on with him through their bond. She wondered if the boy was aware of it. Most didn't realize a K'paur had bonded with them through friendship and acceptance; it usually felt like a typical force bond. Yet, between the Master and Padawan, Allyson could feel the boy's emotions' ebb and flow. He was mostly frustrated and angry, but underneath it, she could sense his desire to continue. ​

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She hummed quietly to herself as she continued to download the data from the terminal. It seemed the route that she had chosen to go didn't dive too deeply into the system's security system. The information was essential, and she quickly gleaned it. Everything was going well; she was scrubbing the evidence of her infiltration when suddenly she felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. ​

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It was no surprise that the Sith knew about Mechu Deru. The skill had been developed by a Sith Lord. Several of the Sith that Allyson had come across during her infiltration had known some of the craft. A part of Allyson felt sick, knowing that she learned more about her main force power from the Sith than she ever could from the Jedi. A conflict that continued to manifest inside of her. ​

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"What do you mean?" Allyson sputtered as she rushed to Zaavik's side. It didn't take her long to follow his trail through the program. She sensed it before she got snared like the padawan. It was a trap, one that was devised to ensnare a Mechu Deru slicer into a void that there was nowhere for them to go. Everything was a pathway, and in the void, there was no sense; Zaavik was blind inside the vacuum. ​

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"Well, um." The Corellian didn't know how to explain the situation without causing the Zeltron boy to worry. Not finding an easy way to describe it, Allyson decided to just be blunt as she began to slice through the program manually. The sound of a keyboard and fingers against a datapad she had quickly hooked up echoed as she started her explanation. ​

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"So you've just triggered one of Telis' mechu deru traps. What it does is locks your mind into this little void box that eventually would probably melt your brain - if they don't capture you first." Her tone calm as she knew she could back door the trap, but Telis was a mastermind. The man was good at what he did and knew more about mechu deru than Allyson could ever know. Deep within her core, she hoped she was right about the back door - having only dealt with Telis' traps a few times before this. ​

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"Damnit Telis." She spoke under her breath as she continued to work; Mechu Deru wouldn't help her here; it would only trigger more traps as she moved through the system. As much as she wanted to hate Telis Taharin-Zambrano , a part of her admired his genius. Too bad he was fighting for the Sith, his talent and skills. Allyson would give anything to sit him down and pick his brain. ​

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His beautiful technological brain. ​

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Allyson snapped out of her hero-worship of the other Technomancer and disabled the small trap that Zaavik had triggered. "We need to go, like now." She quickly disconnected the datapad and grabbed Zaavik by the armor, and dragged him through the security door. As they moved down the dark corridor, footsteps started to echo, the other security forces were mobilizing, and their time was running out. ​

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"Zaavik, they can't catch us. If they do, we've screwed the Alliance's invasion. How's the head? Can you dip into camouflage?" Allyson was fine, but she knew the back door would have a fail-safe. Of course, it was the last thing she wanted to happen. She knew she could drop into the Force and disappear, but she needed Zaavik to do the same. If he couldn't - she would have to have a less effective style of force power.​

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"Zaavik, you good, or did the computer eat your brain?" They continued to move, but the footsteps only grew louder.​

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[Zaavik Perl]

KORRIBAN | SITH ACADEMY
Allyson Locke

A L E R T
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"What do you mean?"​

"I mean I'm stuck!" His panicked shout was stifled mid-intonation, reduced to a loud whisper. Zaavik tried to pull his hand away, but the sudden paralysis didn't allow even as much as a twitch. Everything he could see was only a haze behind his mind's eye focused on the infinite nothingness of cyberspace. "Foito," he cursed in his native Zeltron continued his attempts to tear free of the server tower. "Allyson, I can't-" he tried again to pull his hand away. "-can't move. Shit."

Zaavik tried to switch up his approach. He tried to retreat through the system, but the way he came had seemingly become an equally infinite void. Forward, left, down, backward, it didn't matter. Regardless of the approach, Zaavik was stuck. He started sweating again. Floundering already, just as he figured. "I told you that it should be you doing this," he remarked shakily.

"So you've just triggered one of Telis' mechu deru traps. What it does is locks your mind into this little void box that eventually would probably melt your brain - if they don't capture you first." ​

"Oh great," he quipped with feigned enthusiasm. "I've always wanted to drown in binary." He tried harder to pull his hand away, but at best all he could do was cause the smallest twitch. Did I mention he was sweating again? He struggled against the futility of trying to move. Adrenaline began to flow, but even that wasn't enough to force control of his arm again. This wasn't looking good.

"Damnit Telis."​

"Who?" Zaavik clicked his tounge. "Whatever, I'm really gonna need-"

"We need to go, like now."​

Just like that, he was out. Allyson ripped him away with a tug on the collar of his body armor. His mind's eye returned to reality in one instant, disorienting flicker. His feet stumbled to meet a proper moving tempo, kicking his discarded helmet across the floor of the central command center. Several balance-wobbles later Zaavik managed to break into a steady stride, following Allyson out.

That's when nausea hit. It was hard to acclimate out of the system in such a quick instant. Especially when rushing to get out just as quickly. His head was spinning. Everything felt far away. Depth perception became a scary uncertainty. Yet still, he awkwardly hustled alongside his Master, doing his best to remain as stable as possible.

"Zaavik, they can't catch us. If they do, we've screwed the Alliance's invasion. How's the head? Can you dip into camouflage?" ​

"Yeah, I got it," he assured with a clear daze in his voice. Zaavik's form faded into force-camouflaged obscurity before instantly flickering back to stark visibility. Unphased, he tried again to same effect. When attempting to hold the camouflage more intently, he only achieved an in-and-out strobing between visible and invisible. "Uhh-" It became near impossible to focus as he disassociated in the space between deru and reality.

"Zaavik, you good, or did the computer eat your brain?"​

"I'm trying, I'm trying! Shit!" The flickering continued, but the best he could do was a dull transparency. Even that took an immense amount of strain on his already hazy focus.

The footsteps were growing nearer.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: R E L O A D //:
//: Korriban //: Sith Academy //:
//: Zaavik Perl //:

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He was flickering, and Allyson realized that whatever that void was, it hindered his connection for the moment. He was too disoriented to focus his mind on the already elaborate force camouflage. Allyson cursed in Old Corellian under her breath as she continued to drag his flickering figure through the hallways. Even with his flickering, she would be able to at least try and stabilize him by keeping him moving. There wasn't any time, as the Legionnaires were starting to converge. ​

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"Be quiet." She ordered him; she rarely was this stern with him. She gave his body a little shake as she made him look at her. "It's going to be fine. We always get out of this crap, don't we?" She nodded. "We do." Her attention pulled away from him as the doors shut around them; she had quickly overridden the lockdown and shut down her corridor. It bought them some time as she promptly continued to work on the door panel. A hatch opened, and she continued to scrub their images from the feeds. ​

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"Okay, let's get up into the tunnels, and we can get our way out. I shut down the scanners so they won't be able to see us. Stay close." Allyson jumped and climbed her way into the tight tunnel. It was a squeeze even for her slender figure, which if Zaavik was broad-shouldered, he wouldn't have been able to fit. Reaching her hand down, she looked at him. "Come on." ​

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It wouldn't take them long to get through the tunnels; Allyson's tampering with the system was enough to keep the security teams from identifying them in their escape. Their hidden camp was a haven, and upon returning, she looked to Zaavik. "I'll show you how to deal with those traps and how to sense them. Rest up - we have work to do."​

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Pausing, she sighed softly and smiled at the Zeltron. "Despite the trap. You did good work. Like I said - rest up. I'll transmit the information to the Alliance."​