Private Dragons of Ashla

[Darth Themis]

Heading to Antar 4 in: Ashla's Platter

Wearing: Serpentskin

Armed with: Divining Rod

Presenting Laertia with: Antique Imperial Lightsaber, Sword of 007 Blessings


Takes place immediately after Dragons of Atrisia


The Ashla's Platter, Themis's custom surronian cruiser, had a gothic, yet serpentine feel to its interior.

Dark Blue banners depicting the symbols of Themis's Order were everywhere, along with serpent motifs adoring the walls and archways.

Themis had let Laertia's vessel, The Blessing of Loste dock aboard her Cruiser, Laertia, when not casually exploring the place, was spending most of her time carefully overseeing the repairs of her Biot (and one of Themis's creations) , Moya Virtu , currently in a dessicated, damaged state, stripped of flesh due to sustaining severe acid attacks (which is why Alyosha would meet her much later.) Laertia had managed to make great strides in reparing her with the correct nutrients and Force Healing. Moya for the moment though, remained on life support.

Forcing herself to take breaks from fixing her mother (who normally bore a much older version of Themis's preferred face), Laertia was again doing activities aboard the Praxeum proper as the Praxeum orbited over Atrisia, patrolled by custom Dark Green BX Commando Droids armed with Lightsabers. But beyond her, Themis, Val Drutin and of course, her apprentice, Alyosha Drutin, no other life forms were aboard. (New Hope Reference #1566743: 2000 XP)

Themis, clad in her skin tight purple Armor with long black boots and gloves, clutching her black Lightsaber Spear as a near constant form of Psychological Security, carried a small black box, her visions leading her to the armory, where Laertia was busy doing repairs on her black armor, severely damaged from fighting Mythos and the Sith on Atrisia.

The Snow Skinned woman with scars and ebon hair finished fixing another worked piece of Cortosis Weave Body Plate to the armored bodyglove of the suit itself. Laertia had built it to be cheap to fix from easily scavenged materials.

"Granddaughter?" Themis called out.

Laertia, who liked being called that to a degree that it scared her in private, turned to face the one who bore the face of her Mother-in-all-but-open-acknowledgment. Themis had traits that reminded her of Moya, her smile. Her walk. Sense of humor. But there was this deep depression and melancholy Laertia had never felt from the Android bearing her likeness. A ruthless sureness to her actions...

"I brought you something..."

"Oh?" Laertia asked, putting down her tools. She got up, moved. Rarely made eye contact for various reasons. Her speech impediment had had a horrible effect on her self confidence. Themis didn't know how to correct it with her magics (To give you some idea of just how much more powerful Syd was in some respects) yet, but she was also interested in eventually figuring out how to repair the Brain Damage Laertia had suffered.

Themis set the Box down and opened it on a nearby table, retrieving two Lightsabers, one of standard size with a bronze patina to its hilt, a transparent chamber displaying a pink Crystal. The other was angular and blocky, and the Sword Enthusiast in Laertia was immediately intrigued, in spite of not fully trusting Themis.

She touched the bronze one first, felt a tingle of energy that was familiar yet not.

"It was a gift for me, from your father, Morris, after I knighted him."

"Wuz hee a Lyte Syde Syth lyke yoo?" Laertia asked.

Themis shook her head.

"I...I had sunk into the role of a Jedi almost fully by that point. No, Laertia. I never trained your father to be anything but a Jedi. Or your Mother."

Themis sighed a bit as Laertia examined it, activating it. The pink blade hummed and was very maneuverable.

"I kick myself in the ass for that. I 'wish' I had trained them that way. But...I was...I was weak..." Themis admitted.

"Didz dhey suffuh?" Laertia asked quietly as she looked at the blade.

"They...it was quick..." Themis managed to choke out. "They...they were..."

"Wut?" Laertia asked.

Themis steeled her gut. Laertia deserved to know.

"They were dismembered...I'm very sorry...but its the truth.

Laertia's robotic hand clenched.

"Itt iz gud yoo arranged forr dhis feendz deaath..." Laertia said evenly. "For I wud bee honuh boundz tuh avvenge dhem ifz shee wuz alyve..."

"Phyre suffered. Trust me on that."

"Gud." Laertia asserted. She shut off the blade and picked the other one up. It was surprisingly easy to grip despite its thick, blocky appearance.

"Careful. Both hands on that one..." Themis warned.

Laertia activated it...and was shocked when even her mighty strength had great difficulty controlling it and moving it. Its Dark Blue blade hummed in a deep low note.

"Antique. Dated Galactic Civil War at least."

Laertia tested it a bit with a few slow swishes befire deactivating it, clearly intrigued.

"Thannx..." Laertia said in an introspective manner.

"I'm glad you decided to stay awhile, in spite of knowing the truth. About me, I mean."

Laertia nodded. She couldn't kill Themis. Not after what Alyosha Drutin had said to her about family. There was also the fact Laertia would be killing the only living link to the memory of her parents. No way that was happening, Heretic or not.

"Wut werr dhey lyke? Myy parenntz?"

"Your father was a very passionate engineer, and your Mother was a greatly skilled Duelist with a talent at healing others. They were kind people. They were humble. They used their powers to help People who needed it. You have your Father's love of animals. You have you Mother's curiosity." Themis answered, hesitantly reaching out and touching a shoulder covered in a black, spiked jacket. Laertia didn't move.

"I have a guest of ours along the way. You know them...wait, she's here..." Themis remarked, her visions telling her their guest had just docked.

Laertia raised an eyebrow as she felt the presence too at the same time.

"Let's eat. I know you must be hungry..." Themis suggested.

"Yess...letz..." Laertia replied.

Ten minutes later...

Themis sent the signal for Alyosha to join her, Laertia, and their guest in Themis's quarters

Themis's room was sparse, a single large stone carved to resemble a tree on one end against a black marble floor with serpent motifs. A table was already prepared by a very basic chef droid. Themis's plate seemed to consist of Fried Meal Worms and Grass Hoppers on a bed of rice. Laertia's was Vegetable Soup. Alyosha's and Val's were whatever they requested before arriving. Laertia walked in with Themis and found the "Guest" already there.

Vivian Duual, who normally masqueraded in The CIS as the murdered Witch Arianna Belasko rose from her seat, She was a middle aged woman with pale skin and red hair in a white gown with brown eyes. Laertia felt a deep yet fragmented sense of familiarity with her--Laertia had been very young when Vivian had been incapacitated, forcing Laertia to survive on her own. There was still a lot of baggage between them over that.

That said, it had still been Laertia's choice to help the being originally intended by Themis to raise Laertia out by aiding her in essentially assassinating Arianna by aiding the Alchemized Shard containing Vivian's soul in siezing control of Arianna's body and destroying the Dark Sider's consciousness save for but a few necessary scraps without sentience to maintain the facade.

Laertia hesitantly went over to her original adoptive Mother and hugged what she didn't know had essentially been the Man in White's test run for what had eventually been done to Darth Phyre to make Syd Celsius.

"Its so good to see you again, Julia." Vivian said in a velvet like voice. "Its been months since I heard your voice. I heard what you did at Atrisia..."

"Gud tuh seez yoo tooz..." Laertia replied quietly. "How'z lyfe inn duh CIS?"

"No one suspects." Vivian assured her. "Though it can be a bit taxing, acting as nasty as the real Arianna apparently was."

"Good to see you Vivian..." Themis spoke at her creation. Vivian had been crafted to be a far more effective caretaker than Moya. Moya had been a back up plan in case Vivian was ever killed for some reason.

Vivian turned and bowed to Themis.

"Master..." Vivian greeted respectfully. "It is fortunate you cheated death..."

"Likewise..." Themis replied in a friendly manner before that sat, waiting for Alyosha before eating.

"So wutz duh plann?" Laertia asked Themis, a seat pulled out and plates prepared for Alyosha and Val.

"I'm searching for more Light Side Sith. I believe I may have found a lead on Antar 4, in SJC Space." Themis answered as they waited. She wasn't surprised if Alyosha showed up a bit sluggish. She had been putting him through the works at spear fighting, Hydrokinesis, and letting him experiment with his Cryokinesis as well. Val though, that guy was like a human pinball.

Laertia had not touched the twisted light powers Themis had taught her since Atrisia. Laertia was nervous even being here, as each moment she did not attempt to apprehend what was obviously a very dangerous Sith 'was' by every standard, treason against the Jedi Order. But Laertia was starting to realize she didn't care for what she thought were silly boundaries.

Vivian sat across Laertia, a warm, and motherly smile on her face, which made Laertia smile back slightly, forgetting how many rules she was violating by allowing all this to happen as they waited for Val and Alyosha...

 

[Val Drutin]

“En garde, Yoshi!”

Alyosha held his spear at the ready, waiting for Val to strike with obvious impatience. When the blow came, he blocked it with pinpoint accuracy, sweeping his staff around in an effort to knock Val off his feet.

Val jumped over the staff with graceful ease and was ready to deflect his brother’s followup attack from the left. They went on like this for over a minute, the fight having all the finesse of a choreographed battle, yet retaining the rawness of a spontaneous duel. Val stabbed at Alyosha’s shoulder, causing his brother to grunt in pain as the contact shocked him, then spun, bringing his violet blade slashing down toward Alyosha’s neck.

Alyosha barely ducked in time, rolling away from Val. His blond hair had darkened with sweat. Val licked perspiration from his own upper lip, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he prepared for another lunge.

“All right, enough,” Alyosha said. “That’s enough.”

“Do you surrender?” Val asked, grinning as he pointed his lightsaber at Alyosha.

Alyosha grimaced. “I’m exhausted, so yes. I suppose.” He sank onto a cushioned mat on the floor, panting. “Where did you learn how to fight like this?”

Val deactivated his saber, silencing the hum of plasma. “From Zana Rukh, mostly.”

Zana Rukh. The name kept getting mentioned in conversation, but so far Alyosha knew very little about Val’s mysterious master. “She was a Sith?”

“Yeah—but not like Themis.” Val sat on the floor and began to stretch. He was wearing something other than a dancer’s costume for once, although these form-fitting training clothes really accentuated how unusual his body type was. His muscular, almost animalistic lower half didn’t seem to match his more delicate upper half.

“Well, what was she like, peanut head?” Alyosha had recently discovered that Val had quite a small head atop that long neck of his, and now that he had taken notice he couldn’t help but find it endlessly amusing.

Val stuck out his tongue. “An evil grandmother. She was very strict—no animals aboard her ship, no talking to or playing with other children, always clean up after yourself.” He smiled wickedly; he kept his own starship in a perpetual state of disarray because he wasn’t allowed to be messy as a little boy. “She was a traditionalist, maybe even what you would call a ‘Sith fundamentalist’. The Rule of Two was her creed, and she refused to deviate from it.”

“The Rule of Two?”

There was a slight delay before Val’s next reply. He could picture Zana now, an old woman with braided white hair and sulphur-yellow eyes, grotesque and simian in her countenance, yet carrying herself with the regal elegance and self-assured confidence of a dowager empress. Or perhaps the mother superior of a proud and ancient abbey—her robes certainly were reminiscent of a nun’s habit.

“... It’s a philosophy created by the Sith Lord Darth Bane a really, really long time ago. ‘One to embody power, and the other to crave it.’ Basically, it means that there should only ever be two Sith at a time, a master and an apprentice. Otherwise all the other Sith will fight and squabble amongst themselves.”

Alyosha snorted. “Just two Sith at a time in any given era, compared to the hundreds we have now? Sounds much more manageable. I’d certainly prefer it that way.”

“Zana Rukh hated the way things are now,” Val said softly, continuing with his stretches. “She resented the current Sith Empire and Carnifex for turning the Sith into just another school of thought. They’re too much like the Jedi, too much like the Sith in Revan and Malak’s time. Mindless knights manufactured to defend the Zambrano dynasty’s new order. She saw it as a waste.”

“A waste of what? Potential?”

Wearing dark robes and carrying a red lightsaber means nothing, yet that is all being a Sith means to these fools. Watch and learn, child. The Jedi of this era, motivated by old wounds and united by hatred, will be far better Sith than the ones who merely claim the name.

“I don’t know.” Val cast his dark slanting eyes downward. “I never understood her. I was afraid to question her.”

“Where is she now?”

You should have been the one to deal the first blow, child.

“Dead.” At Alyosha’s questioning glance, Val softly added, “I killed her. She attacked me, forced me to cut her down. That’s how it goes with the Rule of Two. The apprentice kills the master and takes their place.”

Before Alyosha could say anything more, both their comlinks beeped. Themis had summoned them. “Better change clothes, at least,” he muttered, grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat from his face and neck.

The two brothers were cleaned up and changed into more casual clothes within the next few minutes. Or at least, Alyosha was casual in his gray t-shirt and jeans. Val went straight into yet another costume. At least this one wasn’t sequined or otherwise decorated—it looked like an old-fashioned tennis player’s outfit, with a tie around his neck and a belt buckled at his waist, but with tights under the trousers and dancer’s slippers on his feet. He even brought a tennis racket along to complete the look.

The two entered the dining room side by side, arriving just in time to hear Themis’ reply to Laertia’s question. Alyosha showed no reaction to the unexpected presence of Arianna Belasko, but Val blinked and cocked his head to the side in surprise and curiosity. It seemed that as long as he was with Themis, he would constantly be meeting new and interesting people. He bowed slightly to the three women before taking his seat.

Darth Themis​

 

[Darth Themis]

As soon as Themis and Laertia spotted Val Drutin coming in with the tennis racket, Laertia sighed, reached into her pocket and pulled out twenty credits, handing them to Themis.

"Told you he would show up with the Tennis Racket..." Themis said confidently with a little smile.

Themis greeted them both with a warm smile, but she was particularly glad to have Alyosha here. He'd kind of earned BFF status after saving her Granddaughter and Themis from the Kaiju back on Atrisia a few days prior.

In spite of his lethality, his comraderie with his brother, her Granddaughter...

...it all reminded her so much of the De Lifte's...

(Character Theme Song Power Up)

(Theme: "Veteran of The Psychic Wars" by Blue Oyster Cult Plays)

Moya De Lifte marched into the Dark Side Temple like she owned the place, the Knights she had trained in Black Power Armor escorting her as she activated her spear.

These groups of Dark Jedi had been setting up shop on a ravaged part of Bpfasshe and Moya had been begged for Assistance as no one wanted a repeat of the ancient crisis that had occured on this world.

Two came to ambush her from above, only for Moya to point her weapon upward, twisting out of their descent path and letting the spear tip swing out in front of her as they landed cutting cleanly through their necks.

More came from the shadows, trying to strangle her with the Dark Side. Moya's purity disrupted the attempts actively, throwing off their focus and allowing her Knights to Force Push them backward into structural pillars.

Arrows of water coalesced around her, flinging themselves into bodies, spheres of it forming and smashing into people at high speed, breaking bones and flinging them backwards for max damage. Moya spearheaded the attack, her Knights behind her as she seemed to flow into the battle, seeing where the blades would go, and twisting or parrying them as her visions showed her to do, her Use of Vaapaad put her in the eye of the storm, reflecting the darkness of her attackers back upon themselves, fiercely enjoying the fight as she either killed or knocked out (The fact she wasn't only killing them spoke volumes about how different acting like a Jedi made her.). She killed only as necessary, no matter what the visions showed her if they lived, because that was what was expected of her. That was what she had agreed to. It was starting to be how she felt.

Themis had been a being almost without hope because of the visions. Moya chose to try and show mercy despite what the visions showed.

Part of it was also her students. Their trust, their belief in her cause...Moya had begun to actively dread them finding out she was a Light Side Sith in secret. She saw their faith shattered in every vision where she told them, some descending into infighting as some tried to bring her to justice while others tried to defend her.

Moya couldn't let that happen, so she chose to never tell.

The Light of her students burned brightly as they fought through the temple. Moya directed them as her visions showed, placing them in the best possible position to capture alive instead of kill.

A knight fell in front of her, chest armor defeated by an armor piercing round. Adin. She had foreseen his death last night in this place. She had wanted to warn him but he would die having saved three others. He had done just that before the bullet killed him.

Moya felt the weight of leadership press on her as she spun her spear to deflect the assault rifle fire, mourning his death, and hating the fact she had seen no alternative. Adin had been a favorite student of hers. He was selfless and heroic and cared about the survival of his friends. If he had been enhanced, like Themis would have done, Adin would still be alive...

Moya felt the pain of adhering to Jedi restrictions as she led her beloved students to Victory...she vowed to give Adin a heroes funeral...she and her Jedi would mourn...but there would always be the next battle.

She stared at Kora and Rachel. Strong Knights. Brave Knights. Due to die in three weeks saving a valley from flooding. She felt it like it was happening now...

She always felt it...


"Would you like to try one?" Vivian asked, watching the ebon haired Laertia take small bites of her soup, disrupting Themis's memory...

"Huh..." Laertia asked, feeling like a rule breaker as she ate.

"Would you like to try some Odori-Ebi?" Vivian repeated.

Laertia looked at Vivian's choice of dish. Live Baby Shrimp being intoxicated by getting dunked in Sake, then another dipping sauce, before being consumed by Vivian.

Laertia's stomach turned at the sight. "No thannx..." she said politely.

Vivian shrugged, continuing to eat.

Themis popped a fried grasshopper into her mouth with some rice.

"Granddaughter, take my advice, live a little..." Themis said to Laertia gently. "Besides, if everything I suspect is true, you'll need your energy..."

Laertia thought a moment, then flagged down the chef droid, requesting Liver and Onions. Pig Liver, to be specific.

"Is it true? Do you really think there are other Light Side Sith on Antar 4?" Vivian asked, the shrimp between the chopsticks still twitching a little before it went into her mouth.

"I found evidence. Scant signs of their presence. But my visions are hazy on this..." Themis answered truthfully. "If they are there, they are keeping an ultra low profile. Its one of the realities of being an actual Light Side Sith: You are automatically a heretic to everyone, but especially Jedi...of course running into an actual one like me, as opposed to some edge-lord that simply doesn't abide to Jedi tenents fully is so rare most Jedi just don't prepare for it. As I told Alyosha when I first met him...its rather like running into a Unicorn."

Laertia, as her fried pig liver and onions was set on the table, listened carefully, eating quietly.

"A true Light Side Sith cares about using the Light to bring Peace and Order to the Galaxy...even if it means going beyond what most Jedi think of as acceptable conduct. We are willing to get our hands dirty, make the difficult decisions that they will not. We don't use the Dark Side. We don't go randomly killing or torturing civilians for pleasure. All our kills are targeted. We don't use the Dark Side. We don't condone treachery in our ranks. We work in secret as often as possible, overt only as necessary to preserve ourselves or our assets. We don't enslave Populaces and torture them with various tyrannies. We fight Dark Adepts. We will often kill them...Themis explained to all honestly. "That's what I did during the Reconstruction Era. Got quite the bloody rep for it. Cosplaying as a Jedi for a long time in between then and now has...softened me a bit more on this position than I would have been in those days..."

She wasn't going to attack Val, certainly. Val and Alyosha were a package deal, and her time as Moya taught the necessity of compromise. Besides, showing up as a tennis player amused the feth out of her.

"There are ruins bearing markings people trained by me used in the old days jutting out of an Lake in the middle of the Steppes...but there is also a heavy Antaran Ranger presence in that area...They're searching for something...we'll have to be careful not to arouse suspicion...any questions?" Themis asked.

 

[Val Drutin]

Alyosha aggressively cut into a steak and vegetables, listening to Themis as he chewed. Val meanwhile was eating some sort of dumplings; he had laid the tennis racket across his lap.

“No questions,” Alyosha replied, taking another bite. Out of the corner of his eye, he peered at Val, wondering what his brother thought of all this. Would he object to the killing of Dark Adepts, when he himself was trained as a Sith to use the Dark Side?

“Do we get to go boating on the lake?” Val inquired. “Or fishing? I like fishing better.”

It could be hard to tell whether the dancer was trolling or not, but in this case it appeared that Val either didn’t understand the connotations of this mission, or he simply did not care. In his heart Alyosha felt that the latter was truer than the former. Unlike most Sith, Val was not a sadist out to make people suffer, nor did he even particularly crave power. He could be violent and he could kill, but not for the sake of violence and killing. Self-defense was acceptable in nearly anyone’s eyes. Val would go to Antar 4 because his brother was going with him.

“Hiking? Mountain climbing? Skiing?” Val continued to name off outdoorsy activities. “... Camping?”

“Uh, maybe we can do some of that after we find the Light Side Sith Themis saw in her visions,” Alyosha replied. “If we have time, and nobody is left trying to kill us.”

“Gee, I hope so. I’ve never gone camping before, but I hear it’s fun,” Val said cheerfully. He popped another dumpling into his mouth.

Alyosha turned to Themis and the others. “When do we start?”

Darth Themis​