Digging up some Ore

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

Bal'demnic system, isolated section of the world

Taeli smiled as she watched the ships from Aurora Industries arrive to set up the brand new mining operation here. Cortosis was plentiful on this world, and right now, she needed access to it for a new project she had in mind. A new armored robe system for the Jedi Shadows was called for, especially after looking over their current attire. She found it extremely lacking in certain departments as it was mostly just armorweave and durasteel.

Honestly? They wanted to be stealthy and stuff, and they decided to go with black robes of that? No, no, no.

Still, she planned to rectify that indeed, and it would start here. She had invited Solan to join her and the engineers working on building the mine and getting the first shipment ready. One could always use a material that could short out lightsabers, even if she needed to deal with another aspect of her friend soon enough.

"Ma'am, it's good to see you again," Jaxson said, walking down the ramp of one of the freighters with his work crew. "How goes settling into your new life?"

"It goes well, Jaxson, it's good to see you as well my friend," she said, smiling brighter. "I'll be appearing more on Erilnar and our operations again soon. I have a deal to broker first, but that will be in the next few days hopefully."

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Solan in the meantime was busy examining the face of a large rock. Sitting there wordless and just staring at it as people prepared around him.

He had come to the planet the day before, studying the area for the best place to begin excavating and he was captured in his stare at the stone before him for the last fourteen hours. The wrappers of ration bars around him as he thought and stared. He had slept mind you, but had immediately gone back to staring at the face of the stone they would be cutting into. It was as if he thought the stone was going to talk to him and the only time his eyes peeled away from the stone was when he heard someone say something to him or about him. They would in turn just receive the same emotionless stare.

In truth though, the reason solan had been staring at the face of the stone was simple, he was curious how far he would be able to plunge his saber through it before he hit a cortosis vein.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

Looking over, she saw Solan contemplating a rock, even as the workers began unloading the needed equipment to start up the mine. Okay, what was so interesting about that rock? Activating the scanner in her glasses, she scanned the rock and found . . . absolutely nothing special about it. It was simply a rock.

"Solan, I know rocks can be interesting, but there isn't anything to that one," she called, having a datapad thrust into her hands for her to sign the final orders. "Might want to stand back, going to be a loud boom in a second."

The workers had set up a few shaped charges so they could blow a hole in the ground and give the drills an easier time in setting up the mining tunnels. A flick of s witch, a bright flash of heat and sound, and a large crater was in the ground. She could even see the beginnings of veins of cortosis, even just from that.

"Remember, cortosis likes to have pockets of gas surrounding it in certain spots, let's be careful in the whole operation," she said, and the workers got to it. The whirring of drills and jacks filled the air as the miners began delving into the crater, while other workers set up grav-lines and conveyor belts to move the ore to the waiting freighters.

"Want to join in?" she asked, taking her glasses off and putting on some safety goggles and a helmet. "Does wonders for just thinking about things."

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"Its about taking stock of what is so naturally perfect and strong in this world Taeli... That and im bored out of my god damned mind. I never thought that that would happen but mark the day." His feet pushed up as he smiled at her and turned in where he stood. He was... happy, far too happy for what Solan normally looked like and he hadn't so much as flinched when stone rained down from the blast crater not far from where they stood. Infact his only recognition it had was a quick sideway's glance before he had returned his eyes to Taeli.

He was still not there, he hadn't been all that together since being on Daan and as he looked at her he looked like he was a million miles away. His hands seemed to shake at times too but he put that off as being cold most of the time. The dull Amber color in his eyes was the only thing that seemed... well normal about him for once. But even then they both knew what unnatural cause brought about their color as it also caused him other side effects. The only reason he hid it most of the time was on Kesh or around his daughter but now the paleness of his skin, the dark veins that slightly showed. It was all visible.

His hands took a helmet and goggles though as his hands secured them, having to pull his coat closer around him while he did before turning the over happy, obviously fake smile to Taeli. "Shall we find this metal?"

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"In a moment," Taeli said, waving her workers forward as she took a closer look at Solan. The workers and miners dove into their work with a gusto, the sounds of mining filling the air as they began working the veins of cortosis. Good thing they had brought physical digging equipment as cortosis was notorious for not being very easy to mine with laser things, and it was a good thing she didn't skimp on equipment. It paid to have decent mining equipment to work the valuable metal.

"Something about you seems off, well more off than usual," Taeli continued saying, looking him over now and seeing the paleness, the dark veins. He had the shakes too, and that more than anything else, made her push her goggles up and place her glasses back on to scan him. What she got . . . she didn't like seeing at all.

"Solan . . . were you planning on telling me about just how far down the rabbit hole you've fallen?" she asked, her guard instantly going up as she reached out with the Force and almost cringed at just how dark and sick his presence felt now. Something serious had happened, and it had twisted his mind. She had suspected something had slowly been eating away at him, but whatever it was had accelerated from just the massive amount of death from Melida/Daan.

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

He watched the miners and before he had decided to answer her she had decided to move on and check for herself what it could be. Heard her second sentence, quiet and staring his eyes scanned over her expression. She was clearly sick of what she had seen and felt and his hands for a moment came up to remove his own goggles. His hand came to his eyes as he rubbed them and he sighed as he took a seat on the ground. He would be watching the mining while he talked to her, his eyes staring at it for more than a few long moments.

"You need not worry about how far i go Taeli, i am in perfect control of the weapon that is the darkside. I am still myself, you and i both know this and if it were a danger i would not be here talking to you now with its use i control." He had grown a bit annoyed, one of his attendants had seen him without his illusions up and it took most of that week to convince him that Solan was no demon, It was annoying, that much was for sure and he truly did not understand it at times.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"Don't give me that excuse," Taeli scolded, her eyes narrowing. What was with men and having to get it beaten into their heads that the dark side was not something that could be controlled unless one had perfect control of their emotions and mental state? And on that note, what was with them thinking they could use the dark side to fight the dark side? "You're talking to a former Sith, Solan. If you were in perfect control, your appearance wouldn't be suffering and your mental state would be mostly sound. Your hand is twitching, and you have given up on the illusion of looking healthy."

She had never suffered the corrupting of her physical appearance that the dark side caused, even when she was a Sith alchemist and sorceress which involved delving into the darkness. She had always had complete control of her emotions except for two instances, but then ... oh. Solan was an empath ... was that it?

Elsewhere, the miners and workers had no idea what sort of talk was going on between the two of them, but were just going about their work. Rocks full of cortosis were being deposited into hover sleds so they could be transported to processing, while more was being loaded onto conveyor belts as the miners started to delve deeper into the ground, establishing a true mine. Lights were being strung up and shields were being set up to segment off newer sections so nothing bad might happen to others if something went boom.

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

He looked at her with a dead, cold and bored stare. "Taeli, i have complete control over my emotions and if i did not i would be breaking the very thing i preach. As for my mental state you need not worry about it, i am quite sure you would not understand what it is that occurs there on a daily basis. So why don't we continue with this mining and just leave this conversation to end Taeli..." His eyes continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before turning and heading over to the mining areas.

He had to hold his hand to keep it from shaking further and for a moment he stared at it. His hand removing the gloves and revealing the scarred tissue, outlined by dark veins as he stared. If he ever wore anything less than his almost completely concealing clothing he would look dead already. Even his body had begun to thin a bit more than normal, if it wasn't for the fact he didn't rely on strength he'd probably have more trouble moving about.

But his hands came around the controls of a drill that wasn't yet ready for use. He stared at it and then at those that were already working and his grip tightened a bit more. "And why does it matter what happens to ourselves as long as others are safer for it, no?" He looked over his shoulder and stared at Taeli before starting up the drill and making sure it ran right before he started to do something with faulty machinery.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"Oh yes, because life is so harsh, woe is me," Taeli said, dramatically putting a hand across her forehead before steel came to her violet eyes. "You might live with having to close out others emotions, and live with the fact your parents got tortured and killed by a Sith and his cohorts, you are no different than many others. You do not have to live with the fact that your parents are dead BECAUSE of you, because of a mistake YOU made."

A jack flew to her hand, and while she could tell he didn't want to address the point, whether out of denial or a genuine belief he was fine, she was not going to let it go now.

"You aren't getting away from this conversation, Solan," she said, taking a position right next to him. "You have more responsibilities now, to those that you rule over and especially to your daughter. So yes, you should care about yourself because I don't think you want her to grow up with a twisted and insane father, or even worse, by herself. Right now, I see a person denying what has happened to them and the damage it has caused them."

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

He looked at her with a raised brow, and for once just shrugged. "So they died, you are right, its time to let that go." His eyes turned back to the drill and without a moment more he started drilling through the nearest area that should have a vein located nearby. His eyes stared though as he continued talking whether his voice could be heard. "If you think i would go down easy then you dont know me Taeli,. I would never leave Evania without a father and if i cant defend her. Then there would be no point to bringing her out of her life she had before.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"From what I gathered, she didn't have much of a life before she met you," she retorted, activating her jack and hammering away at the stone herself. His nonchalant way he just dismissed what he had once told her was his driving motivation for what he did was a big clue to her that something really wasn't right in his head.

Around them, the workers continued moving mined ore and a few miners lined up near them to open another tunnel down into the depths of the crater to find another vein of cortosis. Small dust particles floated in the air around both Force users as they worked to find their own vein of the mineral to work on.

"Do you even look at yourself and not cringe at what you see yourself becoming?" she asked after a moment. "The Solan I first met all those years ago was not some near shambling corpse that was letting the dark side consume his mind and body. But apparently, the denial is strong with this one that nothing is wrong. When was the last time you had a psych evaluation or even let someone see into your mind to check to make sure everything was alright?"

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"No one needs to look into my mind, touch it or harm themselves in doing so Taeli. And had i not said to you what i was before, i am a monster and now i look like one too. In the end i can hide that from Evania, pretend everything is ok, prepare her for when i can no longer protect her so do not worry... until someone cuts me down i will be there to always protect her." He weaved the dust away from his mouth, cleaning the air he breathed and practicing the art of breath control while they mined.

"And that solan, is the same as me. I was simply weaker and less experienced, i didn't have someone... more than just one someone to protect. I have a people now and a daughter as well as friends i care about. And will gladly kill my own body if it means they are safe. Would you not?" He looked at her as his hands paused with the drill. He had asked something he already knew her answer for so his eyes turned back to the stone he was working on as he was annoyed by this conversation. So what if it killed him in the end, he would be sure that did not happen while his daughter and people still needed a protector.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"Oh really now?" Taeli said, her eyes narrowing. "Why do you think no one should take a look at your mind or evaluate it? Because you're fine or are you scared what such a thing would reveal? That you aren't fine and haven't been for some time. Melida/Daan damaged you, or maybe even you were damaged before then and could hide it better, but recent events have tipped you further down the slope. If you want to disprove my theory, because denying it will not do so, then you'll let me see into your mind."

Even as she spoke it aloud, parts of his actions started to make sense as she thought about them. The slow devolving into more and more violence, the twitch in his hand, the dark side corruption becoming evident, the false smiles that only a Lorrdian might pick up as false as she thought back. The pain and long stares.

"And no Solan I wouldn't kill my own body for others," she continued. "I would die for them, but I wouldn't deliberately sacrifice my body and spirit to do so as you seem to do now. If you claim to truly care about your friends and family, you should stop trying to hide, evade, and deny that something is wrong with you and has been for some time now."

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

He stopped and turned his head at her, his eyes staring at her as no hint of blue or dullness lay in them. Golden Amber was their color and he watched her for a few moments before turning his head back and going straight back to work. They had a job to do and Taeli was not going to distract him with such a trivial thought. He was fine, he had to be fine, Evania couldn't protect herself yet and Solan had to ensure that before things got worse for the girl. He would not leave her in such a state as last time, he would be damned before someone threw her back into a gutter with no one there to protect her. His hands tightened around the controls until he started pushing harder on the drill, no longer taking it slow as he tried to push everything he was thinking into his work.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"Oh my the silence of your response is absolutely deafening," Taeli said, her jack grinding away at the rock. Around the two of them, the workers were yelling and exclaiming as a rather large vein of cortosis had been found. Across her goggles, a message from Jaxson said that they had hit a rather profitable vein and that he was going to be establishing the mining camp on the world permanently, with her permission of course.

Blinking, she okayed the idea and immediately orders started to be given for the men to start getting some pre-fab structures up, along with defenses since cortosis mining was always a target.

"You can't admit to me that your actions and your state of mind are the work of a sound mind," she said to Solan. "You're trying to dismiss it from your mind, but there's that little trickle of doubt that is wearing away the wall of denial. You know I'm telling you the truth, and if you won't get checked out for the sake of my concern for a friend's well-being . . . get checked for the sake of seeing your daughter grow up and be cast out into the gutter . . . or worse."

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

The drill stopped, his entire body frozen as one emotion leaked from him in torrents. It's essence trapped itself in the air and he stared at the rock he had been drilling into without a word. His memories of where he found Evania flashing in hiss mind and he stared as he tried to get rid of them but they kept going and going and going until her just turned and threw the drill over the ground before turning to Taeli. He couldn't summon up any anger though, he knew she was right but his very being didn't want to admit it.

He breathed in, slowly, his fear still there but a bit of it was reeled in finall before he just looked at the drill he had thrown to the side, staring at it. "Im fine Taeli... don't worry about my well being." He clasped his hands behind him and started walking instead away from her instead of continuing this conversation. His feet stepped over the drill that had specks of Cortosis on it from where he had been drilling himself. He was tired and needed to rest, the illusion flickering between being pulled up and let down, as if his mind couldn't make sense of how to keep up the illusion.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"Nope, not getting away that easily," Taeli said, not even stopping her work before grabbing Solan in the Force so he couldn't just walk away from his problems. He might be powerful . . . but she was ultimately stronger than him as of right now. "Do you know how many times I've heard someone say they are fine, but they really aren't? I sensed the fear, you know you need checked out and as your friend, and since clearly I'm the only one of your friends that will actually do something about this, you don't have a choice in the matter . . . and I have just the place I can take you to so your mind can get better."

She stopped the jack and turned around to face him.

"Have you ever heard of the Theran Listeners of Nam Chorios?"

Behind them, the mining continued, with several hover trolley trains being loaded with unprocessed ore that would be shipped out to the Aurora facility on Saleucami for full processing. Most of this cortosis, at least this time mining it, would be used to develop a next-gen armor system for the Jedi Shadows, but more was going to be needed.

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Solan felt himself get grabbed, she was grabbing him and telling him what he needed. HE knew what he needed, and that was to protect the ones he cared about. How could her and that whole emphasis on the lightside even come close to understanding what he did. Just because she was a Jedi now didn't mean she could preach the light like it was better. She had joined the Jedi to be with her sister, not because it was better and he knew this. Well he thought he did. As those thoughts came through his mind so too did massive amounts of anger, fear, and chief of all the eerie feeling of death. Not one but many as he stared at her now with increasingly amber eyes. "Do not Grab me again Taeli..." He stared past her for a moment at the miners, warding off any one with just a stare that simply said get back to work before his eyes returned to her.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Solan Charr"]

"I'll stop you as often as I like until you listen," she said, dropping the jack now and turning her full attention to the dunderhead in front of her. "I'm not telling you to turn to the light or anything like that. I'm telling you you need to have your mind healed."

She could feel the anger, the fear, and the echoes of deaths radiating from him. He was his own walking evidence that he needed help, but his bloody pride and the denial was in the way. It was just like dealing with Connor all over again, and she just had an inkling she knew where this was going. The miners gave them a wide berth now, Jaxson was watching and probably recognized that people needed to move to a safe distance and work on another part of the mine.

"You need help and if I have to drag you to Nam Chorios, I will do so," she said quietly, her gaze intense. She was once again stepping up to try and help a friend, and here she was again staring into amber eyes from that friend.

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"No." He just said simply before letting the illusion drop completely and his visage returned to what it was without the illusion. His skin became deathly ashen pale, as if he would come apart at a touch. His veins grew darker and the blood within them showed how far the corruption had knit itself. Dark rings formed around his eyes and slowly his hand came up to tear the Krath War Blade from his back as he let it drop and hit the ground, all while making the scraping on the scabbard the blade was kept in.

His aura started to grow as he drew all that hate, anger, pain, fear and death in, solidifying into shadows that shown and became solid as he reined them in. His smile grew but it was as dark as his appearance. Those shadows wrapping around and even through him as he shuddered. Until finally it became like a cloak around him that was as dark as Ebony. Hiding everything but his face as he stared at her. Only after a moment of hesitation did his body shoot forward as he yelled out and gripped the blade with both hands, pushing all his strength behind this first blow at her shoulder.