Private Brief Coda

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

THE POMOJEMA
DEEP CORE
DEEP SPACE

Mercy received such a hero's welcome that Ashin — this place's captain and headmaster for decades until recently — couldn't get near the kaggath victor in a practical sense for a solid two hours past docking. The Pomojema was not a particularly lively or freewheeling place: everyone here was here for serious learning or serious advantage; its students were junior Masters or senior Knights or equivalents from various traditions and factions. But for one of their own to have triumphed at the great galactic kaggath at Ruusan as Bando Gora sorcerers tore open the Valley of the Jedi around her for her glory...even the senior permanent instructors, people like Captain Saavat Kishan and Lord Azel Moran, even they looked decidedly less dour today. And Ashin was reliably informed that upwards of a dozen credible individuals were making (or, by this point, had made) credible attempts to join Mercy's Graspborn coterie or secure a more personal connection.

Two and a half hours later, then, Ashin asked for Mercy to join her in their primary old haunt, a scarred small sparring room adjacent to Ashin's chambers. Cognizant that the hero of the hour could not be expected to constrain herself to civilized standards of punctuality, Ashin busied herself with staying fresh. Specifically, she was sitting on the floor and being shot repeatedly in the face with a snubnosed laser cannon. The air conditioning was at maximum and not even close to keeping up.

 

[Mercy]

Ashin Cardé Varanin

Mercy always claimed that she didn't care what other people thought about her. That she had no ego, just healthy confidence in her abilities and what she did with them.

In that span of two and a half hours, that was kiboshed utterly.

By the time that Mercy walked into the small sparring room she was positively buzzing. In fact, Ashin would never have seen Mercy this way. She had multiple default settings to her: smug, angry, hungry, the usual stuff. But an expression of pure joy without anything marring it? Clearly pleased as pie and no smugness to it?

Yeah, that was rare.

"Master," Mercy said that with a nod to Ashin without any arrogance coloring her tone either. "I didn't see you during the... festivities." The smile broke in again, ghosted against the corners of her mouth.

It was not a show this time around.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

The laser cannon's operator, who was also Ashin, stopped firing.

It was still a little strange to look at a person or scene through more than one set of eyes. In this case Ashin was present as two of her primary bodies: the stolen body of Delila Castillon and the ageing shapeshifter (who currently looked like the stolen body of Delila Castillon). No robes, no mask, only a middle-aged redhead in everyday clothes, duplicated.

"I doubt I could have got a word in edgewise," she said drily through one mouth or the other. One of her headed out elsewhere and clapped Mercy on the shoulder affirmatively on the way out. The other her remained.

"And yes, the hive mind experiment went well. So. Now that you're at the top of a pile, well satisfied — what's next? What's the next hunger?"

 

[Mercy]

Ashin Cardé Varanin

Mercy nodded to one of the Ashins leaving the room.

It was odd to see, but at the same time she had seen a lot of strange things in her life. A hivemind wasn't that odd after her experiences and continued connection to the Drengir hivemind. The fact that Ashin was creating her own hivemind... now that was fascinating. "I can see that." Mercy said before sitting down on the floor, opposite from Ashin, but not quite trigger the laser cannon herself.

Not yet anyway.

"Cool shit, are you conscious of all parts at all times or is it more split individuality that has to update frequently to keep up?" Once upon a time Mercy wouldn't have gotten further than 'cool shit, anyway'. She had come a long way in terms of broadening her curiosity towards things that didn't immediately concern or benefit her.

"Mm, there is always another pile..." Mercy murmured warmly, thinking towards the victory glow, but also... the moment that Ashin highlighted, her glow was beginning to turn to something ravenous.

No longer satisfied.

"You resurrected an Emperor and he toppled a galactic nation." Solipsis might have been an old grandpa, but he still had gotten the job done, carving away so much of their nation in such a short period of time. The Alliance might still be alive now, but it wouldn't be long. It was already dying, the parts were just catching up.

"I want to make a mark like that..." Then she told Ashin about how they had hit the Kattada Temple, how they captured Padawans and then how Mercy had used them to exchange far more valuable coordinates. Places of learning that were training the next generation of Jedi Crusaders. And how there were already plans being made to hit them next.

To steal the future of the Jedi.

And yet, Mercy didn't sound that satisfied with it, did she? Almost like it didn't have the oomph that the large woman truly enjoyed.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Cool shit, are you conscious of all parts at all times or is it more split individuality that has to update frequently to keep up?"

Ashin shifted back to sit against the wall. "The former unless part of me is too close to the usuals; in that case, the latter. I'm simultaneously in this room and walking down that hall and napping on Coruscant and feeling the wind beneath my wings on Eshan."

"I want to make a mark like that..."

"His resurrection was little effort, so I can take little satisfaction or credit. A gamble on chaos, as we talked about before. It sounds like you're making similar plays, stirring similar pots. Some will pay off. My only points of pride in the fall of the Core were recognizing the opportunity in the first place, and casting a visionary experience at Coruscant where many people saw everyone they had killed. I didn't enjoy the experience myself, but it certainly separated the personally weak from the personally strong along unexpected lines.

"A point of caution from a former Jedi. They lie quite easily to save lives or just to get the upper hand. Verify it all. There's a layer being hidden."

 

[Mercy]

my wings

Mercy lifted a brow but didn't press further. She knew Ashin Cardé Varanin would love to talk about it more. Some things should not be further encouraged.

"A point of caution from a former Jedi. They lie quite easily to save lives or just to get the upper hand. Verify it all. There's a layer being hidden."

"I have considered this too, especially a Jedi such as Tilly. He is rather... underhanded for a Jedi, I do believe it is what I enjoy about him." Mercy was far too blunt to see herself in it, but she did appreciate a Jedi that wasn't all haughty and patronizing. "But I have also made him share with me certain incriminating footage that will ruin his reputation among the Jedi."

Mercy would prefer not to use it, not because of sentimental reasons, she just didn't like sneaky shit like that. But she would if Tilon forced her hand and wasn't honest with her.

Then she pivoted, eyes meeting Ashin's.

"What do you think of the current Sith Empire ruled by Darth Empyrean?" And there it was that. The fever in her eyes that had been missing when they were discussing stealing the future of the Jedi.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin's curiosity in the Jedi skullduggery waned as Mercy brought up a well-worn, shabby old question but one that still had power to entertain.

"I believe I shared my Nar Shaddaa dice analogy when you challenged my resurrection of Solipsis. My assessment of the Sith Empire has not changed positively since. Despite the occasional bright spot — Arcanix's beastmaking, some of Prazutis' ambitious alchemical directions — It remains three cubes.

"I am aware you're close with my daughter, of course. She's shared her ambition for the throne and I've encouraged it. But I'd like to think I've made it clear to her that a throne is not an identity nor its abandonment necessarily a failure. She may find the Sith Empire unsatisfying. Indeed I have long suspected that Empyrean remains unchallenged because nobody actually wants that job any more than he does."

 

[Mercy]

Oh, yes, Mercy knew all about the throne that Quinn Varanin coveted. She wondered if it was the parental nature of her relationship with Empyrean and Srina that prevented her from taking it.

To the point that she had asked her for her help in her becoming Empress.

"They are miserable." Mercy finally said after a moment of thought. "Hiding behind their magical wall, slowly gorging themselves on planets near their borders, expanding slowly. Any Sith that thrives in that environment is one I look upon with suspicion."

Then she licked her lips.

"I have been contemplating... Declaring a Kaggath against Empyrean."

Not for the throne. She could not care less about that Empire, or the work that would entail becoming an Empress.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Empyrean is a master of boltholes and secret lairs. His pride — he believes himself the equal of a dozen Masters — is not of the kind that would prevent him from simply hiding until you find distraction. I do not see your challenge producing a satisfying outcome, regardless of your ability to win. And I suspect Quinn has grappled with the same problem in very different terms."

Sore from sitting now, Ashin got up from the wall and went over to fiddle with the laser cannon. Snubnosed or not, it took up much of the space in the battered training room.

"One plausible derailment: he has servants who would intervene. One might consider working one's way through them in advance, both to make them hesitant and to ensure your target feels...respected...enough to dignify your challenge with serious contention."

 

[Mercy]

Ashin Cardé Varanin

She nodded carefully, thoughtful.

Didn't immediately respond either with bluster or cheek, which was something special indeed. "I am aware of his inner circle, the members of his court, each a monolith of their own." Chief among them Malum the Shadow, who according to Quinn Varanin was highly influential when it came to secrets, assassins and the dirty business that an Empire employed to continue to be one.

"They are illusive too. A handful of them participated in the Tournament, but didn't get far." Which didn't mean much. It didn't mean that Mercy would have an easy time with them, she had to admit that. It could have been luck, circumstances or badly placed bribes that took them out early.

"Some are whispering in my ear and telling me to wait. That I do not need to address Empyrean personally, the moment the Alliance has been shattered, your resurrected Emperor will move against Empyrean himself. Something about the Galaxy not being able to contain two Sith'ari's."

It was the prudent advice.

Let the two giants fight each other, all the while build her own strength, until they had tired each other out and Mercy could swoop in to finish them both off in one fell swoop.

"Tell me, you know me better than most. You have seen me grow, from afar you witnessed some of my successes. If you were in my shoes, what would you have me do? I am not blind to my faults, I might miss an obvious opportunity I am not seeing currently."

Mercy gave Ashin the opportunity to steer her. Another chaotic dice throw.

It was an expression of courtesy, acknowledging that she owed much to Ashin and her training. The least she could do was allow her a chance to steer her towards mutually agreeable goals.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"When I was in your shoes, young, driven, grandly ambitious, I waited for nothing and nobody. I was not always wise, but handling my ambitions in that way never failed to advance my reputation.

"Empyrean's lords are placeholders, born followers almost without exception, fools accustomed to slaughtering inferiors and so unable to handle failure that they rarely expose themselves to the possibility.

"Far and away the most dangerous person who gives him allegiance is Arcanix, and she cares mostly for the order of things. I once saw a grand event partially derailed by an ambitious young master with a following like yours; Arcanix simply disintegrated the offender. I do not believe she cares for Empyrean or has any significant personal allegiance to him, but the order of things, the occasion, the institution — trespass against that at your peril. Pick your moments. Use your formal forms. Cloak your specific disdain within a general respect and Arcanix will not oppose you.

"And speaking of respect...while I'm not certain you're ready to face either Solipsis or Empyrean, fighting a weakened survivor will gain you little. If you want to be the best, don't be an opportunist, be a peer. Whoever gave you that advice was wrong."

Mercy