Clandestine Missions with Hipsters and Sith

[Spark Finn]

[member="Ashmedai"]

Cheeks were already turning red, just grateful the Sith Lord's eyes didn't linger. The slicer stumbled and hugged the offered robe, tightly to her quivering and sticky form. They were such a stark contrast, the twi'lek and Cameron. And for the first time, she wondered if Cameron surrounded himself purposefully with others with more even temperaments.

She stepped forward, feeling a sharp twinge in her leg. Her face masked any wince. The twi'lek handed her, her glasses so Cameron came into focus.

#hisback

"Wait," voice felt scratchy - tired. "Why did you do it?"

She wasn't talking about herself. Why he had spared her. She almost didn't want to know the answer to that. No, she wanted to know about the souls.

"Why did you let the souls pass on?"

 

[Cameron Centurion]

The Sith Lord paused in the doorway, his large frame almost seeming to be too much for the molding. It wasn't really a difficult question to answer. No...it was simple. He did it for love...not of any wayward, random souls. The Sith Lord cared nothing for their lives...if they were anything but weak, they would not have been in that predicament. However, the Sith Lord had certainly learned a great deal during his time with the Crusade and its people...with Amorella. Brutality and indifference had been the cornerstones of his life, but the galaxy was changing.

No doubt there were some misguided individuals in the galaxy that would claim the light side was taking hold of him. Quite to the contrary...the strength of his emotions forced him to consider all possible options simply because that was what the love of his life had taught him to do. There would always be a time for brutality, exacting measures, but there was also a time for clemency and mercy.

"Not for the same reason that undoubtedly lead to your tragically misguided actions. You risked your life...for what?" Slowly, Cameron turned to face Spark, expression as rigid as any mountain. "The integrity of souls? Those people...people that once were among the living but had neither the ability or desire to go on living forfeited their lives." Accurate, yes, but in the coldest, harshest of ways. "The presence of their souls among the living was not that which they deserved. Nor is there any honor in manipulating a thing incapable of defending itself."

Slowly, the Sith Lord took two large steps forward. "Tell me Spark. Have you ever been to Chaos - the void that exists just beyond life and death? Let me tell you...there is no peaceful eternity, no eternal rest for the souls of the damned or revered. There is simply nothing. I did not do them a kindness, I merely sent them where they belong. Those that truly possess strength needn't rely on the lingering reserves of someone that fell because they were without that very quality." Cameron did not include...that it was only a lesson he'd recently learned, and he had only learned it because of Esmae's gentle presence on his mind.

"Get dressed and I will see you returned to Adekos. I tire of your sophomoric games." This time when Cameron turned, he departed and did not stop until he was back outside. He had given this girl enough of his time and attention, but she was clearly content to remain as she was. If she continued in such a manner, she would be intimately familiar with Chaos all too soon.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Ashmedai"]

"Yes I have," she spoke quietly, gaze tilting down, as if her bare-feet and the floor were suddenly so interesting. There were sticky drops of bacta there, freshly dripped, sliding down her bare legs. His words stung like physical slaps. and for the first time, she felt a flicker of anger. She disagreed with him, of course. #logically

He would never understand the abomination of those enteched souls. He chose not to and he never would. She knew her choice and her actions. She had been prepared to enter Chaos today and never return. And sometimes strength was found in weakness. Sacrifice for others was a strength.

By the time she lifted her gaze, he was already gone. And she wasn't going to argue with him. She wasn't going to poke the angry nexu, especially when...

The healer's touch brought the blonde out of her internal musings. Within the hour, she was changed. Managed to take a few bites of something. #don'thaveaneppetite

She had to settle with keds. #noconverse! There was a slight limp in her step but she managed to find Cameron after a little while, knowing the transport would be there soon.

"Are you going to tell him about this, Lord Adekos?"

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron had retired the sprawling balcony on the second floor at the rear of the estate. His silver-green gaze was fixed on the rolling horizon of lush vegetation. In the current moment, he appreciated the tranquility of nature. There was an unseen order to things...and the moment nature was thrown out of balance, it moved rapidly to re-establish the order that had been lost. To a very real extent...this happened through even the most awesome of actions. Floods that wiped out entire families of animals or fires that burned down homes. In the end of the day, the casual balance was returned. This almost never occurred through some sort of idealistic, love-everyone means. That was not logical. That was not the way of life...of the Force.

It was an understanding that kept Cameron with the forces of the Triumvirate. He knew it was a reality that would often be difficult to maintain stretching into the future. The Jedi did not believe that the end always justified the means, but that was why they consistently failed. You know...until they abandoned that folly and took action to enact what they saw as the ideal for society.

There was little difference between Sith and Jedi. There was almost no difference between Sith and Dark Jedi, but the galaxy seemed to littered with those that idiotically thought struggling against the teachings of the Sith somehow granted them strength, or placed them on the opposite side of a coin that didn't exist.

Spark's voice pulled the Sith Lord from his thoughts, but he did not bother to look at her. "We... We ceased to exist when you brazenly elected to do damage to my facilities on my planet because you seemingly exist in this galaxy with a great deal of knowledge but no wisdom. I told you to calm yourself when the device came into view. I told you it was not your concern once we arrived here. You don't listen. I have already submitted my report to [member="Darth Adekos"]."

A pause.

"You may not know Adekos very well. When was the last time you saw or ever heard him speak fondly of any form of slavery? Of the Triumvirs, he is not the one to have any interest over enteched souls, slaves. Our mission here was never to recover the device for use by the Triumvirate. This was a test...for you, perhaps for both of us. I suspect mine was to see if I elected to end your life for you being...precisely what Adekos expected you to be. Your test was to see if you could truly fit within the mold of the Triumvirate, take action and follow guidance."

As a man that appreciated his subtle manipulations over others, Cameron could respect what he merely presumed to be Adekos' motivations. Even if none of it turned out to be true, Cameron could sell it quite well. Pushing off the railing, the Sith Lord finally turned to regard the young woman. A soft breeze caught the folds of his overcoat, exposing the sight which Spark had seen on several occassions by now. Following a deep inhale, the Sith Lord motioned to the shuttle waiting in the manicured south lawn. His transport would take them to the rendezvous location with the Triumvirate vessel that would return them to Ruusan. "Let's go."

The Sith Lord intended to follow behind Spark. If he was sure of anything at this point, it was that the woman one hundred and ten percent could not be trusted, despite whatever personal connection they may have tenatively established during their time together. The jury was still out on whether or not that meant Cameron viewed her as an asset in any other situation.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Ashmedai"]

"You expect me to do things that you won't do yourself." It was spoken not out of malice. Quiet as a mouse. "You say listen but you ask me questions and walk away. I may have failed the test but you set me up for failure."

That's all she said.

#Ihavealottolearn #butsodoyou

Limping next to him, she took one more breath of fresh air. It would be awhile before she'd be able to taste it again. Eyes memorized the trees, the sky. She of all people, knew freedom was an illusion.