Closed Communication

[Minna]

Through a secure, encrypted network, Valtryx would send a message. This time, unlike the last, it was a private one to Vulpesen, instead of a public one asking for information. She sat there, at her personal computer terminal with one hand on the keyboard, the other on the bump on her stomach. The baby was close to being born, a matter of weeks, yet business could not be stopped.

Master Vulpesen,
I can only guess you noticed the bounty for information about your precious alliance. I can gladly say it was I who posted such a bounty, although the person who increased it by so much more is unknown to me.

It was not meant to be as big as it has become, there are things you do not know. I do hope you will reply in good faith.

We need to talk,

- Darth Valtryx

Standing up from her chair, Valtryx made her way out of her personal quarters and towards her hangar. Her eyes flickered down to the datapad in her hand which had received the co-ordinates she needed from the bounty she had posted, a crude smirk forming on her lips. She would not be giving them to the One Sith now, oh no, she would be paying the Vitae a visit.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen growled a bit as he looked through his messages, seeing Valtryx's words. Of course, she had gotten her information, but by the looks of it, such a thing had not yet been acted on. Getting up, he felt his tail lash out behind him as he made his way out of the room, calling to his guards. "Assemble a force of one hundred! If this woman so much as gives a twitch I don't like, we show exactly what we are willing to do to defend out home!" He heard the confirmations from his men and made his way into the courtyard, adjusting his coat. No matter how this played out, she would not return to the sith. After all, what else could the sith take from him that they didn't already hold? Valen? The boy was guarded by a large group of soldiers at all times. As he walked out, he returned the message. "I will see you."

[member="Darth Valtryx"]

 

[Minna]

The Sicarius-Class Infiltrator dropped out of hyperspace just outside of Veradune, after completing it's course to the co-ordinates she had received. Almost immediately she activated it's stealth drive, before descending into the atmosphere unseen. Not long after breaking through the clouds and finally seeing Veradune's landscape, she saw the settlement ahead and noticed a partially familiar presence through the force in that direction. Her flight continued, until she saw the lines of soldiers awaiting her, and a figure in the middle. Disengaging the stealth field, she gently brought her ship down to the ground. She powered down the engines, then pushed herself from her seat... only to stumble against the wall of her cockpit. Her hand grasped her over-sized stomach, trying to quell the pain within. It was just a kick. Wasn't it?

Valtryx continued towards the back of her ship, leaving time for her to compose herself better. She had to admit, having such a large stomach hardly portrayed the message to Vulpesen as her being stronger, yet things couldn't be helped, and business was as usual. A few more steps and she reached the entrance ramp controls, only to find her pain had not stopped. Sighing in despair, she pressed the button infront of her and allowed the ramp to open up. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw the figure that could only be Vulpesen standing in the courtyard surrounded by soldiers. The mere display made her realize he had been busy since last seeing him, but it wasn't her main concern now.

Half-limping down her ship's ramp, she gave a weak smile at the man who had once been her master, although he may not have known it. "Hello Master." She spoke as if it strained her, while her hand clenched her stomach. "Mind helping out an old friend?" At that moment, she released her presence in the force that usually cloaked. Hopefully, Vulpesen would notice the sudden presence near him, that aura being the same as the Yodaling he once taught. The same as the Yodaling who fought and learned with Alex in the Grey. The same Yodaling who fought against Alex on Prakith. But something else was noticeable within the presence. One would say it was of innocence; a new life waiting inside of her to be born.

Everything became dark, and suddenly Valtryx couldn't feel her legs. Her limpness caused her to drop to the floor, still clutching her stomach. She tried to draw power through the pain, but found that the pain only doubled. After only a few seconds, she felt like she had no control over her body. "Please?" The word came from gritted teeth, resenting the fact that she had to ask for help at such a height in her power. For a moment she blamed the child, it had made her weak.

But right now, there was nothing she could do about it. Either Vulpesen helped her.
Or Vulpesen killed her.
And she honestly had no idea which he would choose.

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen glared at the woman as she stepped off her ship and he raised a hand to his men. Under normal circumstances, he'd have been surprised at her change of bodies, but right now he was only surprised at her stupidity. To come to his seat of power, after betraying Alexandra and him, those who had taught her and trusted her. It was sickening to him. How dare her come into his home and think she would be treated as any guest. "Arrest he-" Then, it started. She dropped to the ground, breaking through his false reality. He felt her pain and suddenly her previous weakness came to occur to him. "Damn it to the stars! Someone get her to the hospital!" Aye, he wanted her thrown in a cell or frozen in carbonite, but he couldn't fault the child for her actions.

[member="Darth Valtryx"]

 

[Minna]

The rest seemed a blur to Valtryx, nothing but a quick passing of time as someone carried her away. For some time she felt like she was asleep, only regaining her awareness in the hospital. She lay on the bed, taking in her surroundings passively. It was by no means a state-of-the-art hospital, Veradune didn't seem to have the latest medical tech, but it was adequate enough for the situation. Her vision was blurred, yet she could make out a figure in the room. "Vulpesen...?" She asked, her voice quiet and weak. Inside her she could feel the child stirring, almost ready to enter the world. A pain built up like she had never experienced before, too much for her to harness into any form of power like she was trained to do. "I'm sorry..." The other words came out without thinking, she may have been on a drug but she didn't know for sure. Her emotions were all over the place, and for once she felt the full spectrum of them, both good and bad.

Worst of all, she felt regret. She regretted everything she had done to Alex and to the innocents she had slaughter in her blind rage at the beginning of her fall.
She was truly weakened...

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen let out a small sigh as he sat by Valtry, noticing as she seemed to regain some semblance of her wits. Recently, he'd been finding it increasingly easy to hate people. Of course, he certainly ahd reasons what with everyone he loved being in danger now. "Someone call in the doctor, I think she's almost ready." He wouldn't talk to her, not yet. He would help her. But only because he was compelled to protect life. Not by any semblance of enjoying her presence.

[member="Darth Valtryx"]

 

[Minna]

He was angry, that much was obvious. Understandable, considering the situation. Yet her concerns for that matter faded in comparison to the pain amassing in her stomach. The doctor came in at Vulpesens' call, examining Valtryx closely. Her breathing started coming in rapid, short bursts. Things seemed to blur for a moment, and the doctor began saying something in his native language, which she only guessed could be to push. She did so, crying out in the pain it brought. It made her feel weak everytime she felt it, but inside she felt something else. The need to prove herself. She was a Sith, and Sith endured through the hardest of trials. They were strong, and she was going to prove that. The pushes continued, and the doctor reached in to begin easing the child out. More foreign words, another gasp of air, and...

The cry of a child rung out in the room, and Valtryx's pain ended immediately. Instead, she felt only euphoria. A happiness that came with no smile, just her eyes looking upon her child being lifted up by the doctor. Wrapped in a cloth, it was then given to her to hold, and only then did she smile down at it, the marks of tears visible on her cheek. The doctor had said something to Vulpesen in his language, but obviously she did not understand that he had merely announced it's gender; a girl.

After a few moments of admiring her child, Valtryx looked up at Vulpesen, her face straightening more. It was not a look devoid of emotion, but it was of no great happiness either.
Despite that, she still said: "Thank you."

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen rested back in his chair, watching the process. He was here to watch her, make sure nothing happened. The men in here were doctors, not warriors. Even if all zorrens possessed the instinct of combat, not all had trained such to take on a force user like the one on the bed. Still, he couldn't help but find some joy for her as he heard the cry of the child. Not that he would let her know. "He says its a girl." It was all he said to her. Courtesy, nothing more. For Vulpesen there was one crime punishable by death. Treachery and treason. She had betrayed him and Alex. And with as much as he had lost, his patience was being worn thin. Still, something kept him from giving the order. A spark. A last remaining ember of who he once was. Could he set aside Vulpesen the Valde? At least for a time. Return to being Vulpesen the redeemer.

[member="Darth Valtryx"]

 

[Minna]

"We're going to have to talk..." She only half looked at him when she spoke, concentrating more on her child. "We might as well do so now, putting it off will only make things worse." Her eyes flickered fully to him for a moment, before returning to the girl. Already the signs of her half-blood were clear, the pale skin and bright pink eyes. She was a Dathomirian, half-human and half-zabrak. "You don't want to let me go back, and I understand your concern. I don't want to go against that, not yet at least. If you will allow it, I will inform Ferus of the birth, and say nothing more." This time she looked at him fully. "I don't want to see your people slaughtered or enslaved Vulpesen. If I wanted to I would have informed the Lord Wrath immediately upon knowing your location." The voice used by her now was calmer, much less malicious than her usual one. With what she had just been through, and with the genuine concern she had for the situation, she had dropped her coldness. Instead, this was a voice of care and concern. "As much as I genuinely care for the lives of your people, I can not betray the Sith. I was there when they tried Alex, and now she's..." Valtryx paused, but whether it was for her own sake or Vulpesen's was unclear. "I don't want to put Ferus or my daughter through the ordeal of another hunt. Another trial. Another death sentence." She leaned forward slightly, this time a hint of fear in her voice. "I don't want to die."

Resting backwards against her cushion again, she returned her visible attention to her child. "This is your land, Vulpesen. What will you have me do?"

[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Vulpesen]

No. The redeemer was a jedi. He was a Tenevi. But then again, he was a Tenevi. One word rang out in his mind. Life He stood by it and lived by it. There was no way he could end her life, especially not with the chance of risking the child's life. "You will stay, will send no communications, and you will be allowed to make one holo-message which will be sent with a droid, wiped of all information save your message and Krest's location." He would take no chances. This was his home and he would defend it until its oceans ran red with the blood of sith and vitae alike.

He started back to lean against the wall by the door. "By the way, miss Minna. You betrayed the sith the moment you came here. No armada. You didn't try to kill me. You spoke to me. You were there before the trial. You know what happened. Do you really think that the sith will spare you just because you didn't renounce them?" He made a soft tut tut tut with his tongue. "We both know they don't give a damn. They'll take you're head in a second if you've so much as brushed one the wrong way in a hall."

[member="Darth Valtryx"]

 

[Minna]

Valtryx rose from her bed, turning away from the man at his words. In denial she stayed silent at first, walking over to the much smaller bed made specially for the child and placing her daughter within it's safe confines. Keeping her gaze down, she rested her hands on the edges of the bed and sighed. As much as she did not want to admit it, Vulpesen spoke the truth. Her fate had been sealed as soon as she set foot on Veradune without alerting the Sith. A tear rolled down her cheek as she clenched her eyes shut. So much had happened in such a short time, things that she thought she had control of. But it seemed fate had decided her path was to be different than what she had hoped. A burning question then arose inside her, eating away at her very identity of Darth Valtryx.
Am I even Sith...
The thought grew like a virus, spreading to her very core. In the face of opportunity and danger she had been weak. She had submitted to those she had set out to destroy. Opening her eyes once again, Valtryx- No...
Minna looked at Vulpesen, hiding no emotion and portraying no lies. "Then I guess I'm on your side now..." She said with a voice that sounded more like an acceptance of the fact rather than the stating of it. "I'm out of options..." Her gaze turned back to her child, laying peacefully in it's bed. Another tear found it's way onto her face, this time dropping to the ground before she could wipe it away. To think she had been so close to the power she craved. Maybe if she had made the right decision she could have been Lady of the Sith. But then it struck her.
What for? What was the point? No title was worth seeing her friends and a whole species slaughtered for.

"He will still come, no matter what. Ferus will try and take me back." Her voice was heavy with regret, but her mind was set on her new path; the path where she redeemed herself to her friends. "Or he will kill me..."

[member="Vulpesen"]