Private Brand New Day: Homecoming

[Diarch Rellik]

The Trident moved like a shadow across the void, its hull drinking in the starlight. Rellik stood at the forward viewport, cloak drawn close, golden eyes set on the distant swirl of ochre and crimson below. Korriban. Beside him, Wrathian Kell, the Pureblood. Rellik broke the silence only once, his voice low. "Minimal presence. We are shadows here, nothing more. Should make for a nice stroll on old grounds." The words were spoken softly but with a smile. The Diarch looked forward to this trip and was happy to take it with his new friend. For a long time now he had been yearning for a chance to go on a personal journey and had arranged this trip for just that reason.

The Trident's automated systems hummed, cloaked and veiled against Sith patrols. The ship had been designed for comfort and spectacle, yet tonight it was pressed into the quiet role of courier, ferrying two figures whose very existence risked unsettling the Order. The King of Korriban Darth Caedes had always been welcoming of the Brothers Diarch but Rellik did not want to cause any trouble. He simply wanted to be a tourist.

He let his hand rest on the spear across his back. Even here, in the cradle of Sith history, the weapon pulsed with its own quiet weight. He wondered if the tombs below would stir at Wrathian's tread, if the ancient lords buried in stone would recognize the son who had once claimed their world.

Rellik inclined his head toward his companion. "You sure you are okay with being my tour guide friend?"

The Trident angled downward, its descent masked by jammers and pink vapor dispersers.

Wrathian Kell

 

[Wrathian Kell]

Diarch Rellik

His golden eyes burned through the transparisteel towards the planet. His planet, no, not anymore, only his home. There was a part of Wrathian that had been preparing to glance upon the same devastation he'd seen when passing by Malachor V, a once grand planet reduced to glass. It was a rare comfort to be proven inaccurate for once. He could almost smell the brimstone in the air, feel the sand in his boots. It was enthralling, the call of the wind reached through the void, until it was broken by the Diarch's voice.

Wrathian's head turned, but his eyes did not immediately follow, instead, lingering for a moment upon Korriban. When they finally drifted, he simply nodded. "This is as much as indulgence for I, as it is for you, Lord." He motioned to the viewport as he spoke, and the words were nothing but truth. He assumed for Rellik it may have been curiosity. But for him it was sheer, unfiltered nostalgia, congealed with a plan to search for something personal.

He was willing to play guide. But much as how Wrathian would act as the Diarch's compass, on the off chance the two would be discovered, the Diarch would be the Purebloods shield, or maybe... excuse, was a better comparison in his mind.

"Though, I must ask. Aside from the overtly obvious." He paced past the Diarch as their ship continued it's drop through orbit. "Why ask to bring me along? I doubt you did it on a whim, you're aware of my... ambitions, and judgments." He rubbed his wrist considering the possibilities. "It strikes me as a little... odd."

 

[Diarch Rellik]

SHIP: NZ Trident SY-760

Rellik's head turned as Wrathian paced, following him with a calm, steady gaze. When he finished his questions, Rellik replied calmly and sincerely. "The Diarchy is one family, Wrathian, I know this world carries weight for you, and I did wonder if returning might burden you more than it heals. But I thought it worth the risk, a chance to do something good for you. As a friend."

He let the words settle, turning his gaze back to the planet swelling in the viewport. "At worst, I can offer the King my apology and explain I meant no harm, giving you an opportunity you might not have had. At best, I gain the privilege of learning history not from records or ruins, but from the one who lived it. That seemed reason enough to me."

A faint smile touched his mouth, brief but genuine. "A chance to walk old ground with a man who knew it when it was still new. It is a hard idea to remove from someone as inquisitive as myself. I might be seen as some great warrior but I truly love history and science the most. I am very excited."

The landing would come shortly. The crew would stay in low power, only enough to send a communication out to Rellik if there was danger.

Wrathian Kell

 

[Wrathian Kell]

Diarch Rellik

"Again, one of our ranks frames politicking and warmongering as a family activity." His tone was light, though it had a slight air of critique, he knew of course, every step they took was the correct one. To achieve the goals of the Diarchy itself, and those he'd set his own mind upon. "Fret not. While I'm aware it's been ages, in my own mind, I've barely been gone a month. This trip shall not be grime that causes my wounded soul to fester. No. This is a salve. When everything simply vanishes in the blink of an eye. The best remedy is often tactile. I need to see it, hear it, and breath it in."

As the ship landed, there was an urgency to be birthed from the metal container that had brought them here. He was practically chomping at the bit, internally at least. Externally he simply stood at the threshold of the vessel. Nothing but wiring and durasteel between him and his home. And as that gateway opened Wrathian took the first step. It was glorious, maybe not in it's aesthetic, but without a doubt in it's resonance with the force.

The darkside held it's hand out. A fool would grab for it, a coward would flee. A Wise man? He would simply follow as if it were an invitation instead of a demand. His boots sifted the sand, each footfall left the crunchy sound of the desert colliding on a microscopic scale.

Wrathian knelt to the floor, his hand pressed fingers first into the earth. Then he pushed further, letting the digits splay. The hot surface relinquished it's tension, giving way to the colder granules below. However the moment was short lived, as if once he confirmed all was as it should be, focus found it's way back into his mindscape. Standing, Wrathian peered back towards Rellik. "Ser. I welcome you to the ancient birthplace of the Sith, my people and the ideology itself. Korriban."

His eyes peered back to the horizon, scanning it, almost waiting for a hoard of Massassi to come charging in defense of zealotry. Yet nothing happened. Silence, minus the whistle of the wind cutting through distant canyons. "Well, since you're so keen on the curiosity of the past. I might add the planet is much how I remember it. Perhaps lacking in the violent features, though... our day is young."

"Well Lord, what do you wish to study in particular? I know of a few places nearby. An arena, a graveyard, and I believe there was even once upon a time, a temple."

 

[Diarch Rellik]

Rellik followed Wrathian down the ramp, his cloak brushing lightly against the sand as he stepped onto the world he had once visited in passing. The memory of a swoop race with the King flickered through his mind, a brief taste of Korriban's present, but not its past. Today was different. Today, he meant to walk its history.

"You've given me quite the dilemma, my friend," he said, golden eyes glinting as they swept across the horizon. "The temple calls to me first. I've seen the surface of this world before, but not the roots. To walk where your people studied, prayed, conspired… to see how they tried to give thought and shape to the raw force burning in them. That is where I would begin. The ideas of a people often leave a stronger mark than their blades."

His gaze drifted to the distant ridges. "But when we're finished there, the arena. A place where those lessons were tested in blood. To see the scars left on the stone, where I could see some ideals put into action through markings. that is history just as true as anything written and would be fascinating."

He turned back to Wrathian with a faint smile. "I would be remise to not ask you the same. If there is anywhere special you would like to visit, perhaps the graveyard... then I would be more than welcoming to that idea. I am hoping this journey is as fruitful for the both of us friend."

Wrathian Kell