Private Family Bonding

[The Battalion]

Wearing: Warrior's Skin

Consort's Ring

Armed with:

Citizen Energy Sword

Elaine Tear's Lightsaber (Corrupted)


Objective: Private Family Time

Xiphos, it turned out, had no love or use for Darth Mammon's Palace at the center of the half frozen city of Midas. The very concept of a palace, a true palace, had disgusted her. It's only use was as a training facility / Heavily fortified apartment complex with military grade defenses which she was having it rapidly converted into. House Io would suffer no palaces, lest the poison of being perceived as Royalty creep in.

Life on Khemost was hard work, constantly excavating traps, dormant Sithspawn, fighting the weather. Only the insane, Scrooge McDuck levels of wealth made the struggle so much sweeter than it otherwise would have been.

Her lover seemed to never tire. Xiphos was determined to build a future for her people.

Even The Amalgam seemed to be getting into it, though as to which side of the Amalgam, the part that was still Leejun Forrwiirmeni or the part consumed and imitated by Darth Phyre, was the side most enthusiastically supporting it was a matter for debate.

The Battalion noticed even other Witches--Witches not at all inclined towards a belief in anything beyond the Dark Side, were seemingly settling into the daily grind of House Life. The Cult seemed to have reached a turning point. She saw more of the notoriously violent and sadistic Witches interacting with the Populace unprompted, and though each encounter between a newly minted House Citizen and a Brain Demon Cultist was quiet, unexploded nightmare fuel, The Battalion could not help but notice that her fellow Cultists actually seemed to be enjoying life in The House.

The Battalion had been given pause at realizing how much she had acclimated to it. The old realization hit.

I'm a Stepmother.

She was married. With stepkids. And she liked it.

The Battalion used the Force, flying over the snowy skies of Khemost to the training facility that had been restored close to the habitable areas of Midas. Only a quarter of the city was occupied now...the rest of Midas was still too dangerous, and the booby-traps too numerous for anything but the most careful, patient, and above all, slowest of clearing efforts.

Xiphos being married to her had the unavoidable reality that the Battalion was going to have to work alongside Xiphos's closest children regularly. And to do that effectively they were essentially going to learn to have to get along. Xiphos, for her part, had already let Percival Io in on at least a few points of the endgame she had planned for The Battalion...not that The Battalion knew that. She hadn't given him the whole story. Just enough so he was well aware that Xiphos was aware of and working towards making The Battalion more loyal to the House, than The Cult.

The Master Witch landed at the steps of the currently empty facility, the magic in her skintight white catsuit keeping the worst of the chill away from the snow as she entered the place, brightly lit.

The Battalion was of the Opinion, much like that badass Seraph from Matrix 2, that you could only know someone by fighting them.

That was how The Battalion decided she would get to know Percival in particular.

The Battalion would be found at the center of the training chamber, on both knees, meditating with the Energy Sword Xiphos had given her. She would be combatting Percival with that in particular when he arrived.

The Battalion wasn't sure how to make a connection. Her human self had understood it once, but trying to see into those memories was like trying to stare through a rusty key hole to see the door beyond. Ah hell. Wing it.

The Battalion tried to figure out how to come off as approachable, but even she knew there were a few hurdles. She was not without her active depravities. He had seen her eat Drael Burgers on little more than a dare. They were delicious. Xiphos was revolted by the practice, but then again, Xiphos was revolted by a lot of things The Battalion did just chillin'. Didn't stop her from staying married to The Battalion.

The Battalion awaited him, trying to navigate the odd feelings she had about this whole 'reaching out' gesture...

 

[Percival Io]

Percival’s doppelganger stood across from him. The copy had been accidentally created in a certain incident wherein Percival had been ripped to pieces. Three of those pieces had managed to reconstitute fully. One had been left behind as a decoy, while the other had escaped with the “original”.

The twins were both gladdened by and wary of each other’s existence. Unlike the creation of the Westenra sisters, for example, their split had been unintentional and unplanned. Now they each had two identical brothers, one of whom was still trapped, affixed to a giant magnet on display in a crime lord’s palace.

“We should consult Mother about this,” one Percival suggested. “She can send someone to rescue our brother.”

The other nodded in agreement. “She can make adjustments so it will be easier to tell us apart.”

“Unless she decides it’s for the best that we look the same.”

“We should at least have different names.”

For a little while they were silent and thoughtful. At last, one said, “I would like to be called Prescott Io from now on. Scott for short.”

“Then I will remain Percival,” the other said with a small smile. “And our other brother can choose his new name when he gets back.”

“I think it would be best if he and I started fresh,” Scott continued. “You can keep serving your parish, while he and I will each find a new one to serve. That way we won’t confuse anyone.”

“I would be sad to leave all my friends behind.”

“Yes, but it can’t be helped. I’m not you anymore.” Scott shrugged, pressing his lips firmly together. “We’re on different paths now.”

“That’s true.” Percival glanced out the window, his growing sense of empathy causing him to envision himself in Scott’s shoes. His mind strayed to his parishioners—the small community of House Io Citizens to whom he personally administered and had gotten to know as individuals. They were his flock, his congregation... his friends. No, he would not be happy to give them up…

His thoughts were interrupted by a summons. The Battalion wished to see him.

“I should get going,” Scott said. Then, pausing in the doorway, he added, “It’s nice to have a brother Chaplain.”

“Two brother Chaplains, no less. Maybe getting stuck to that magnet was a blessing in disguise.”

They parted ways, with Scott heading out to find Xiphos and Percival making his way to Darth Mammon’s palace. The palace grounds were vast and incredibly opulent—suggestive of the avaricious personality of the Sith who had built it. Not only had she hoarded wealth, she’d loved to flaunt it.

Xiphos was different. She was converting the palace into housing for her Citizens. The area to which Percival had been summoned, however, was being used for combat training. Rather than try to speculate as to the Battalion’s intentions, Percival simply didn’t let his guard down. Armed with his blade, the Edge of Judgment, he cautiously entered the room to find her kneeling on the floor, an energy sword in her hands as she meditated.

It was likely no secret at this point that he loathed anyone associated with the Cult, the Amalgam especially. He was slightly more ambivalent toward the Battalion. Mother’s revelations to him about her plans of prying her Consort away from the Cult had eased some of his biggest misgivings, but he still disliked her. The killing, cooking, and eating of Drael on Kesh had shown him that she was still just as savage as the rest of them. Xiphos had yet to tame this beast.

But he was still programmed to behave with proper respect, and so he greeted the Battalion with a polite bow. “Consort,” he said, without a trace of insincerity or irony in his perfectly modulated voice. “I am at your disposal.”

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

"Welcome, Percival. I...hope...(The Battalion barely understood the concept anymore, and worded it out like it was from an alien language) that you are feeling well. I was made aware of your recent...Tri-furcation (She had heard the Model 1's use it when they had described to her just what had happened to Percival)..."

The Battalion paused. Wow. This whole 'Reaching Out' thing was actually tough. How had her human self done it--?

"That must have been difficult. But that's your Mother for you. She makes you nearly immortal...and with it comes such...prices...it's not unlike how I was...recruited..."

(Cutaway of that gory scene I wrote in the very first post with The Battalion in the third Ziost invasion)

"Percival..." The Battalion said, standing up, folding her hands as she strode towards him, her pale figure a blotch upon the surrounding darkness. It had been so long since she had tried this that she hadn't even thought to light the place up to make it more friendly. She was clearly struggling to figure out how to approach.

"Maybe that wasn't the best comparison I could have made. Except in the sense that neither one of us was given a choice about how we were created. We each have to...come to terms with it..." The Battalion said, growing visibly frustrated as she tried to recall faint wisps and ghosts of sympathy.

"The point...since I'm married to your Mother...it, kinda...sorta...makes me your Wicked...Witch...Stepmother..." The Witch continued awkwardly, halting as she tried to think of what to say.

"Now, I know I'm not exactly on your friends tab in your profile. You're a community leader and spiritual advisor, I'm a Blood Knight, you know, a real 'Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for The Skull Throne' sort..."

The Battalion paused, realizing something...

"As a matter of fact I used to have a position quite similar to yours before I was what I am now. There were more crucifixions, sure, but the general purpose was the same. I dunno, back in the day, during the Plague, Ession was just full of Nerf herders--oh, no, I'm rambling..."

The Battalion took another pause.

"The point is, we're going to be working together a great deal. And I know you're programmed to respect me...but I want to at least...get along with you. I'm not saying you have to like me...but perhaps I can at least get you to dislike me slightly less. I want to get to know you. And to do that, I have to fight you. I...no longer understand other ways of getting to know people. It's why The Amalgam outranks everyone in the cult...she still fully understands how."

Percival Io

 

[Percival Io]

Percival stood still and attentive throughout the Battalion’s meandering, awkward speech. His programming allowed him not only to pick up on the tiniest microexpressions in her face and body language, but it also allowed him to control his own reactions, maintaining an unreadable front that likely seemed cold and aloof.

Inside, though, he was smirking. My wicked witch stepmother, eh? That’s one way to put it…

She spoke of coming to terms with their respective lots in life, speaking from her own experience of being corrupted and transformed as a comparison to his having to learn to accept her. This led to a brief tangent about Ession and her past as a heretic-crucifying Ashlan Crusader, which she mercifully cut short, then finally an explanation of why she had summoned him: she wanted to fight him. It was her way of getting to know someone.

“If it’s any consolation, I dislike the Amalgam more than I dislike you,” he said. Taking a step back, he drew his sword and immediately swung at her neck, as though he meant to cleave her head from her shoulders.

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

The Battalion instantly activated her Energy Sword, the purple blade intercepting the blade of Percival Io .

"Every body dislikes Amy more. Between you and me? She's the most persistently sadistic troll I've ever met. The lengths she will go to troll shock me. But it's...kinda relieving knowing I'm not as disliked. Which is strange...it's never much mattered to me before being a member of this house." The Battalion replied, turning his blade aside and performing a fast but light grazing strike attempt on his shoulder, going easy. But it was a probing attack...he could still block or dodge it.

"I could never derive as much enjoyment from trolling as she. Just not as good at it, I guess. Most of the cult is too sneaky for their own good. I think that's part of the reason I get along so well with your Mother...we hate being sneaky..."

 

[Percival Io]

The Battalion blocked his blow with her energy sword. She followed it up with a strike aimed at his shoulder. Even as he caught it, he knew it would’ve only grazed him. She was going easy on him.

“Deception is a villainous trait,” he said, slashing repeatedly at her torso with quick, fluid motions. “Mother has never considered herself a villain, despite how others have painted her.”

A feint toward her stomach became a thrust at her leg. “I admit I do not understand her attraction to you, beyond base lust. Perhaps it stems from a simple desire for companionship, an emotional connection. You are among the few people she can afford to get close to these days.”

Xiphos’ army of automatons, while capable of learning and adapting, were still not human. By their very nature, the Neutralizers didn’t share Xiphos’ past and couldn’t empathize with her experiences. She might love them as her children, but a mother did not look to her children for comfort and understanding—it was usually the other way around.

Percival was, of course, aware of her previous relationship with Syd Celsius. His psychology programming allowed him to analyze that peculiar situation clinically, but he couldn’t imagine what it had felt like. To learn that the one you loved and desired above all others had killed your parents must have been… excruciating. His circuits burned with a desire for revenge against Syd for what she had done to Mother.

For reasons he did not fully understand, thinking of Syd eventually brought him back to the Amalgam.

“The Amalgam is a grotesque evil jester. Her entire Cult of vapid death-worshipers is a cruel joke played upon the galaxy.”

Ah, but the Battalion is still a member of that Cult, he reminded himself. His assault became just a touch more ruthless, hacking and slashing at his opponent with his sword, before his programming kicked in and forced him to relent. Mother’s Consort occupied a special place of care and respect; he could not act as if he truly meant to kill her, even if deep down he would if he could. He would hunt down every last one of them, erase the Cult from history and stop them from ever rising again.

Their blades eventually locked in a bind.

“But you are no saint, either. Even before you joined the Amalgam’s Cult—before you were forced to join—you were part of a different cult.” He shoved her away, putting some distance between them, and began to circle her. “The Ashlan Crusade killed just as many people. You simply traded one life of butchery for another, minus the self-righteous pretense of cleansing the galaxy of heresy.”

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

The Battalion was forced to move quickly to parry the slashes that came from Percival Io to her stomach. Her experience at Makashi allowed her to evade many of the blows, only parrying one or two.

"Deception has also been employed by "heroes" also..." The Battalion replied, parrying, having almost not caught the feint in time. It was something she would have done.

"Some people just click. In our case, it was a battle field that facilitated that. You might find this hard to believe... matter of fact, I wouldn't blame you if you scoffed at the hearing of it...but I am drawn to your Mother for reasons beyond being the hottest biker chick in The Galaxy, even with the disfigurements..."

She made a feint towards his neck that transitioned at the very last second to his chest, elegantly stepping into his defense zone as she made the thrust to try and make it more difficult to parry, block, or dodge. Now she was starting to test him.

"I remember the exact day we met, in fact. It was during the second invasion of Ziost. I had just been revived only a little while prior by Amy. This was after The Behemoth bombarded the city of New Adasta." she mentioned as she struck.

"Your Mother was something special. I knew that upon meeting her. I instantly understood why Amy was...obsessed..."

Obsessed wasn't the word...it was well known among the Mechanical Nuetralizers, and just barely starting to be understood by the Organic variants, how crazy homicidal Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse levels of Yandere Amy was to both Maple and Laertia. It had once been reserved mainly for Maple, but as Laertia had gone the distance, gone to war with the whole Galaxy, Amy had grown more intrigued. And both had eventually been forced to confront how deeply twisted and completely corrupt and perverse and just plain fethed up their relationship had always been.

"We had our bumps of course. She nearly choked me to death at the third battle of Ziost when I forced her to confront how she actually felt about Amy. I agree with you, actually...she is an evil, maniacal Jester."

(Cutaway of the Amalgam in Joaquin Phoenix Joker Make Up sitting next to Darth Vader behind a desk.)

(Darth Vader: So let me get this straight. You think driving your own apprentice to state of severe mental instability and emotional confusion over you is funny?)

(The Amalgam: I do. And I'm tired of pretending it's not.)

(Darth Vader: You pull that revolver I'll Force feed you your own Lightsaber. Count on it.)

(Amalgam: Grins)

(Darth Vader: Eff this.)

(Darth Vader stands up and blasts Amy point blank with a Super Shotgun.)

(Darth Vader: Nobody's giving me a Moe Green.)

"Death Worship is a gross oversimplification of the Cult's beliefs, however. I'd go over them, but that's minutiae. But..." she trailed, fending off his sudden aggression, retaliating with swipes to his legs to make him back off.

"If we were really so vapid...we would not have bothered to try and save Csilla. Even Amy tried to save Csilla. The Cult was the only group of Sith to truly oppose Csilla's destruction. We failed, sure, but we sincerely tried. We may be cruel...heartless...we admit it freely...but we despise The Maw's nihilism." The Battalion said. "That, and The Amalgam wanted to spend time with her proteges, because they are the only two people in the Galaxy she feels anything for."

The Blades were in a blade lock.

She mused at his assertion.

"You might have a point at that. Maybe that was why it was so easy to convert my spirit. I was a distinction without a difference." she replied as he shoved her away and circled.

"Your Mother, in some ways, reminded me of my old self. She would have made a good Crusader, in another life...she has the same deadly zeal my human self did..."

The Battalion elegantly lunged and swiped at his weapon, careful not to try and damage him. The Stepmother should ideally be not attempting dismemberment if they are trying to make a connection...

 

[Percival Io]

"If we were really so vapid... we would not have bothered to try and save Csilla. Even Amy tried to save Csilla. The Cult was the only group of Sith to truly oppose Csilla's destruction. We failed, sure, but we sincerely tried. We may be cruel... heartless... we admit it freely... but we despise The Maw's nihilism."

“Of course. If the Maw achieves their goals of destroying the galaxy, there will be no one left to torture and sacrifice in your rituals,” Percival replied coldly. "If it were up to me, the Cult of the Brain Demon's days would be numbered. You've brought shame to House Io by our association with you and your... debaucheries."

Right before the last word, his green eyes had flicked over her form, from head to toe, before his lip curled in open disgust. Debaucheries left his mouth sounding like a curse or a slur, laced with a degree of hatred and venom that could've only been made possible by a lapse in his programming. Perhaps the trifurcation could be blamed... or something more ambiguous. He reset a moment later, burying his true feelings underneath a mask of cool mechanical stoicism.

Their blades continued to crash together, battling one another in silence for a time. She had made one point that he was willing to consider: that Mother, the Battalion, and indeed all of House Io, were crusaders. If the actual definition of the word were to be taken into account, that is. They had no associations with the Ashlan Crusade. But a person who campaigns vigorously for political, social, or religious change? That could certainly apply to their efforts in the Scar Worlds, as well as their battles against the Maw, the GA, the NIO...

He darted out of the way of her lunge—and attempted to slash her along the back with his blade.

"What exactly is the nature of Mother's relationship with the Amalgam?" he asked.

Percival was aware of their shared history. The Amalgam had been Mother's master, her teacher, albeit under a different name. An assumed identity, Ursula Sandraven. Yet Mother had chosen to ally with someone who had deceived her so cruelly, placing her faith in someone so blatantly untrustworthy, because she had a plan. A plan which Percival (perhaps naively) presumed would result in the culling or altering of the Cult into something better suited to House Io's needs.

A plan which also involved the Battalion—or else Xiphos never would've married her. You don't bind yourself to someone you don't intend to have a future with.

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

"It's much more than just not having anyone to torture and kill. The Foolish Sith of the Maw do not realize their actions might bring about the Destruction of the Dark Side itself. They just want the pointless victory of smashing the Status Quo." The Battalion replied, smiling a little as Percival Io let slip what he really thought of her as her blades clashed.

"I suspect they don't even truly care if the paradise they are promised turns out to be a lie. Even if it could be proven to them only torment awaited them in a new universe they would still take it just to be able to smile and gloat about smashing the old universe even as the new one will probably make them literally eat their own feces as they gloat. Everything the Cult does is to make the Dark Side available to as many as possible. Do innocent people die? Yes. That is the Nature of it...even if certain... individuals take it farther than necessary. Farther than I, personally, would advocate," she added, as she barely evaded one of his incredibly well executed slashes.

The Battalion, Amy, and the rest of the cult couldn't help but be impressed by the Nuetralizers. They were the deadliest Droids the cult had ever encountered. The Battalion wouldn't be surprised if Droids like them were completely commonplace centuries from now. Percival was a sneak preview of the Force User's gradually eroding advantages as time and technology progressed.

At his insistence that the Cult brought shame to the House, The Battalion chuckled as he managed a cut on her arm, leaking white blood which dripped on the floor and started burning.

"My Blood is highly acidic to non Organic materials. Careful with your blade..." she cautioned.

(Cutaway of Yaphet Kotto sitting on an elegant couch in the afterlife.)

(Yaphet: It's got a wonderful defense mechanism. You don't dare kill it.)

(Narrator pays Yaphet Kotto's ghost imaginary internet money for Cameo)

"Laertia's crusade would have ended before it began without our support. Our backing." The Battalion countered. "The Nuetralizers would not exist, you would not exist, if Amy had felt nothing for your Mother. Who do you think partly financed her? Who do you think got Xiphos the ability to consistently operate in Sith Space during the war?" The Battalion asked as she struck for his weapon arm in a series of focused, deadly precise, but still restrained slashes to avoid truly injuring him, merely disarm him, but making her slash and stab patterns much more complex and unpredictable.

"You want to understand the nature of Amy's relationship with your Mother? You're absolutely correct: She's a perverse monster. But that Perverse Monster found your Mother when she was still just a street criminal, when your Mother had virtually nothing and taught her everything. Ask yourself, Percival, what sort of Monster risks being ostracized and discredited by other Sith to aid the heretic your Mother is in their eyes? What kind of Monster unfailingly gives support to one of the most wanted criminals in the Galaxy, when even being associated with Xiphos is potentially radioactive to a reputation?" The Battalion asked as she struck, faster and more unpredictably.

"This same Monster, who, I reiterate, you are absolutely correct to refer to as such, then spends the rest of the war using the Cult as a Intelligence and Terrorism unit for your Mother, not even really working that hard to try and turn Xiphos to the Dark Side, and when that same apprentice, who would be considered a failure and danger by the metric of any other Sith except Amy, sets up a Militant Democratic Oligarchy, whose beliefs about life are totally at odds with her Cult...she just goes along with it. And before you go, 'oh, Amy is just looking to fully corrupt her down the road', why allow Xiphos to deviate so heavily from Sith Ideology with little more than a chuckle to begin with? It's more than schemes and ideology for Amy." The Battalion explained as their blades locked. She tried to move to overpower him, shifting her footing slightly.


"Is it really so difficult to believe that Amy goes along with all this simply because she loves your Mother, but she is so divorced from typical sanity and morality that doing all that is the only way she can show it? To prove her love? I suppose the better question to ask, if you were in your Mother's sexy biker chick place, and some crazy lady was suddenly doing all that for you in spite of previous years of mutual antagonism--your Mother did actively hunt Amy in years previous in attempts to murder her--tell me, young Percival, how would you interpret all of it? Ask yourself that, look in your Mother's eyes whenever she speaks of Amy or looks at her. You'll have your answer then. I, however, have done all I could to explain it. And you might not buy it...but I have grown to love her."

 

[Percival Io]

Being a Chaplain, Percival couldn’t help but have an interest in religious doctrines and different forms of spirituality. The beliefs of the Cult of the Brain Demon, while repulsive, fell under that category. As far as he could tell, the Cult venerated the Dark Side, that part of the Force which reveled in suffering and destruction. Some believed the Dark Side wasn’t really part of the Force at all, but a corrupted, perverse version of it twisted by those who used it for evil. He filed away everything she said about the Cult, data to be analyzed at a later date.

For now, he was preoccupied with avoiding her acidic blood, as well as her blade. The Battalion continued to speak, ranting at him about the Cult, her movements faster and more unpredictable. She was trying to overwhelm him both physically and ideologically, asserting her power over him. Percival hadn’t been around long enough to have garnered the level of dueling skill and experience she possessed, but ideology was another matter. He was no Jedi fanatic or Imperial sycophant, someone she could sweep away with a grand speech.

Her energy sword burned into his right arm, cauterizing his flesh. Silver blood still leaked from the charred wound, trickling down to the floor like drops of mercury. He kept fighting, meeting her blow for blow, but he did not attempt to trick her or gain the upper hand. Once again their blades locked.

“The Amalgam has contributed much,” he said, voice low, almost a growl. “Perhaps she does it out of love for her former student. I have no trouble believing that. But it’s unrequited love. It has to be. Mother is using the Amalgam, as if she were little more than a—pardon the expression—sugar mommy, to finance a new society. When Xiphos no longer needs her—and that day will come—there will be a reckoning for the Amalgam and her Cult for all that they have done.” His green eyes narrowed. “Even if I’m wrong, and Mother does love the Amalgam, where does that leave you?”

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

"Are you so certain it's unrequited?" The Battalion asked as their blades locked. "If you had seen some of the recordings I have...I don't think you'd be so confident, asserting that."

She was actually starting to like Percival, no matter how much he openly despised her in turn. He had a conviction to his beliefs she suspected had very little to do with his actual programming.

"What real evidence do you have, Percival, that your Mother doesn't love The Amalgam? If you really stop and think, yes, Amy partly contributed, but it was Arianna, Nine Lives, Themis, who did most of the hefty lifting financially. I don't know if you were aware, but the original terms of Amy and Laertia teaming up were only until the Bryn'adul were dead or smashed as a Super Power. They are smashed, dying out. Yet Amy and the cult remains. As to where that leaves me...Well, they say Love is a Battlefield..."

Percival Io

 

[Percival Io]

"What real evidence do you have, Percival, that your Mother doesn't love The Amalgam?"

The Chaplain held their blades in a locked position, refusing to give way—though he was beginning to waver in his stance. His machine brain was struggling to understand the logic of this revelation. Mother loved the Amalgam? Mother loves the Amalgam…

“Then it is plainly an unhealthy, toxic relationship,” he replied at last, twisting their swords apart with a sweeping arc of his arm. “Your marriage to Mother does not concern me. You have been a… far more positive force in her life, providing her with a way to heal and move on after the treachery of the Flame Geist. But the Amalgam? Her influence is a blight upon our House.”

Yes, our House. That included the Battalion, as Mother’s Consort. He managed to wring out a few drops of praise for her, but that was as much as he was willing to offer in a single day.

Stepping away from her, he studied the Battalion, his sword held low at his side. “If love is a battlefield, do you mean to fight for Mother? Competing against the Amalgam for her affections?” Did she have plans to overthrow her and become the new head of the Cult, even? How deep did this rabbit hole go?...

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

Percival Io pulled back and to the Battalion's surprise, she actually felt a little bad for him, being in the position he was.

He never had a choice in the matter she thought to herself.

He also wasn't wrong in calling it out for exactly what it was, both in The Battalion's mind and that of the Narrator.

It absolutely was toxic. Nightmarishly toxic.

"I keep telling her that. And she knows I'm right. She also hates that fact. I know it doesn't make sense, but Organics can be ruled as much by emotion as brilliance. But you're right. She's a beast. And a beast of her level can only hold off her true nature for so long. As to whether I would fight her..."

The Battalion paced around a bit.

"She may be a Jester. A Troll. But there is a reason that Troll is still alive. And there is a reason that she produced such deadly warriors. I would need a damn good approach...and the other Witches might think I have gone soft..."

She was thinking about trying it, all right. The look in her eye as she said it spoke volumes.

"A single mistake, and she would emerge victorious." The Battalion added thoughtfully after a moment.

Then she looked at him.

"If there is anything I enjoy crushing with relish young Percival, it's competition."

 

[Percival Io]

Crushing the competition.

Percival continued to study the Battalion, poring over her face and figure for signs of treachery in her expressions and body language. Was she lying? Was she trying to manipulate him? Did she intend to use him as a pawn, someone she wouldn’t mind losing if things went wrong?

Ever since his trifurcation, Percival had become more acutely aware of his disposability. Now that he had two identical brothers running amok, maybe no one would mourn his loss if he were destroyed. After all, they had Percivals to spare.

Yet all the data he was picking up from her indicated that she was being truthful. Her gaze was filled with longing, as though she could already picture the moment when the Amalgam would be no more, nearly able to taste the sweetness of that victory. Her pacing was thoughtful, as though she were lost in her own head. Entangled in the gossamer of a dream.

A dream of assassination.

“Do you have any ideas for how you might accomplish this task?” Percival asked, his voice low and steady, like a snake in the grass. His face showed nothing. No relish, no joy in the thought of murdering the Amalgam. His eyes were like green glass. A lifeless doll's empty stare.

After all, what was there to enjoy about cutting off the head of a hydra when two more heads would grow in its place?

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

"A few. But each carries unique drawbacks." The Battalion answered, folding her arms. "Do not underestimate the danger of overplanning. It would have to happen spontaneously. As for the ideas themselves..."

She paused giving him a glance, not for one moment fooled by his neutral expression. Percival Io had let the mask slip, and revealed himself as taking a great deal after his Mother in her pre Sith days. It's why The Amalgam liked him.

"The simplest move is to attack her directly. But that carries with it extreme danger. Even if me and Xiphos AND Maple AND you attacked her at the same time we would be fighting for our lives. And if we fail, the Cult might decide all bets are off. But I'm getting the impression lately that certain other members of the Cult are...enamored by being in the House. You have to understand...the Cult has never attempted anything like this before. Being part of a rudimentary society has proved... strangely pleasing for some of us in ways we..."

The Battalion stopped, realizing she wanted House Io to thrive for reasons beyond it being created by her Lover.

"...in ways we didn't anticipate..." she finished. "I can think of one Witch who might be sympathetic to the idea. Her name is The Arena. Xiphos saved her life at Kerest. Her lover is a Model 1 named Isacc. He's the only Model 1 to ever take a Lover."

She paced some more, thinking.

"Another option is poison via Nullification Resin. Force Spawn like Amy and myself are lethally allergic to it. But Amy has had years to figure out how to purge poisons. Force Light is a dicey prospect also..."

"What about long range assassinations?" asked a voice from behind.

The Battalion spun around. Maple Harte sat on a bench in her frayed and tattered black biker leathers, playing with a Yo-Yo.

"If it was that simple, you would have done it years ago..." The Battalion said quietly but politely. "And if you didn't still love her in some way yourself you would have already attempted it."

Maple did tricks with the Yo-Yo.

"You shoot at the Devil, you best not miss."

"If you had bothered to aim, Maple, that saying wouldn't be at risk of applying to you." The Battalion countered.

"That's what I hate about you Batty. No tact." Maple grunted, looking impassively at her before her eyes, one sulphur, the other a bright wet green, which had been like this for years now, switched to Percival.

"Hi Percy. Sick of Amy's chit too, I take it?"

 

[Percival Io]

Xiphos agreeing to be part of the party of assassins seemed unlikely, given that she apparently loved the Amalgam. It was the same way with Maple. The two were more likely to either hesitate at the last moment, or perhaps even betray the other collaborators in order to save their old master.

“Perhaps if you could convince some of the other Witches to help, and I could enlist some of the Neutralizers, especially those programmed to kill Force Users…” His twin brothers would be particularly well-suited to the task, now that he considered it.

But all further discussion was brought to an abrupt end by the sudden appearance of Maple Harte herself. The madwoman was playing with a yo-yo, and seemed unsurprised that they were talking about killing her former master.

"Hi Percy. Sick of Amy's chit too, I take it?"

Percival glanced at the Battalion, one eyebrow raised, before answering. “My duty is to House Io, its upkeep and wellbeing. Any danger to the House must be dealt with, even a danger from within. The Amalgam, with her excessive depravity, is one such danger. Removing her would be no different than cutting out a cancer from an otherwise healthy body.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You may love the Amalgam in some way, but it seems to me that you wouldn’t rush to her defense if she were threatened. Am I right?”

The Battalion​

 

[The Battalion]

"You're right. I wouldn't..." Maple confirmed. "And you're right about her being a cancer..."

Maple stood up, still doing Yo-Yo tricks.

"One problem with your plan...your programming. All Nuetralizers have suspended Kill Orders for The Amalgam. But until that suspension is lifted, which can only be done by Laertia herself...you'll be stopped by that every. Single. Time."

"I'm not sure I believe the stories that a Nuetralizer can't be reprogrammed." The Battalion mentioned.

"It is a program embedded in the very physical and mental architecture of every single Nuetralizer in existence..." Maple said crossly, doing a walk the dog trick. "Whether Mechanical or Organic Nuetralizers, that programming is Neutron Star clad: Do not harm or betray Laertia and her allies. And The Amalgam, while still on suspended kill orders, is also designated an ally. But every single one of the Model 1's would like nothing more than to kill her. Of that, I am certain."

The Battalion stared at the lethal killer. Her Tank Rampage on Ziost (While Hallucinating that she was trying to save Isabella Scorupco from Ned Stark) had gotten her a place on the NIO and GA chitlist.

"You would be willing to aid us?"

Maple drew the Yo-Yo back and put it in her pocket.

"Willing? Yes. Should I? Maybe. Xiphos has her own plans for Amy. Plotting something. I'm not sure what. My, uh, memory tends to get jumbled. Not even all that sure if I'm talking to you both. Or if I'm back on my ship, wondering if my innards have been replaced by squirrels. My spine was made of candy and I was getting a serenade from James Earl Jones just five or 007 minutes ago."

Maple paused thoughtfully.

"I never miss." she concluded thoughtfully, like it was some sort of profound insight. (Dive! GUNSHOT : 90 XP)

The Battalion was silent, raising an eyebrow.

Maple paced about.

"I might know of an ally...at least, that's what all the scorpions in my head are claiming. Damn them, they blew my investment in the stock market! All that crypto down the fething toilet..." Maple snarled quietly.

"This ally...why would they help us?" The Battalion asked.

"Boredom. She bores easily. But she's... powerful...and she would have special cause to help take down Amy...once we explain the full details..." Maple answered.

"And who is this Ally?" The Battalion asked.

"Darth Maranon ." Maple answered.

The Battalion got the mother of 'Oh $#&+' looks crossing sculpted features.

"You know The Keeper of The Six Blasphemies?" The Battalion asked, clearly not believing it.

"We ran into each other...once..." Maple answered.

Percival Io

 

[Percival Io]

It was a relief to know that Maple overhearing their conversation wouldn’t cause problems. The madwoman would stay quiet and not try to interfere.

Moreover, she made a good point. Percival’s programming would prevent him from attacking the Amalgam, just as it had prevented him from dealing any lasting harm to the Battalion while they sparred. Sheathing his sword, Percival crossed his arms. “If we could convince Mother to remove the Amalgam from the list of House Io allies, like when the CEO of Omnicorp fired Dick Jones, I could pull a Robocop and shoot her out a window. That would make it easy, certainly. But if she loves the Amalgam in spite of everything she's done, it would be very unlikely she would agree to lift the suspension. It’s the same if we were to try and get the Amalgam to willingly betray House Io—she’d refuse.”

He tapped his chin. “Unless House Io moved to do something that clashed with her agenda… but even then, all she would have to do is go to Mother and convince her to change course.” He wondered how many decisions had been made under the Amalgam's "guidance" and "advice" to Mother...

Maple elaborated a little more, mentioning that Mother had a plan for the Amalgam. Percival was also aware of this, but he still believed they would all be better off without her. Much better off. As she spoke, Maple began to lapse into the “word salad” characteristic of schizophrenics. It was difficult to make sense of her, but they managed to extract the name of a potential ally: Darth Maranon.

Percival inclined his head to one side, observing the shocked reaction of the Battalion. The name was unfamiliar to him. The Keeper of the Six Blasphemies? “She sounds like she might be more trouble than she’s worth,” he muttered.

Green eyes flicked back to Maple as she revealed her connection to Maranon, his programming reading her face like an open book. He raised an eyebrow.

“Were you romantically involved with this Darth Maranon?”

The Battalion​

 

[Maple Harte]

"More trouble than she's worth? Percival, Maranon could kill your Mother AND Amy AND Me solo." The Battalion posited looking at Maple. "Bringing her into this? Are you insane?"

Maple looked at The Battalion with a deadpan expression.

The Battalion rolled her eyes. "Sorry. Stupid question."

Percival Io then asked if Maple had been romantically involved.

Now it was Maple's turn to roll her eyes.

"It was really brief, and she was a Jaime Murray expy. Sue me. Sue the squirrels. Blame Marc Alaimo, who played Gul Dukat. Wait...wait a fething minute! You broke the Fourth Wall earlier! How did you do that?!" Maple asked of Percival, jumping back as his previous statements filtered through. "You're not insane. How could you break the Fourth Wall?"

"Maple..." The Battalion interrupted, knowing how close Maple was to going off on another tangent.

"Bringing Maranon into this is a lethally stupid idea."

"She has no interest in ruling us. She's basically become a drifter. She could...help us get around needing clearance from Xiphos..." Maple explained. Then she paused.

"Ironic, isn't it? We're all plotting to betray Amy when she has no desire to betray us. The very fact she can feel anything even remotely close to actual love is what is making it so difficult to kill her directly..."

Maple began frowning at that realization and got quiet, sitting back down on the bench.

"I...I'll try and look for a loophole in the Nuetralizer programming. No system is foolproof. Not even a system as brilliantly made as yours." she said quietly, still deeply disturbed by the irony she had voiced out loud...

 

[Percival Io]

So there was, at the very least, an attraction between Maple and Maranon. Interesting.

Percival remained unflappable, merely listening to the exchange between the two women up until Maple asked him how he had broken the Fourth Wall. “I’ve had a difficult weekend. My brain was split into three pieces, each of which regenerated into a brand new copy of me. One of them is still stuck to a giant magnet. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m a little… off the wall today.”

The Battalion was convinced that Maranon would create more problems than she solved. Maple countered that Maranon could help them get the job done, at least. “It seems to me that Darth Maranon would need a reason to help us,” Percival remarked. “Some kind of incentive in line with her own goals, or at the very least a reward to sweeten the deal. What might she want out of it?” He glanced pointedly at Maple. "Or would she be willing to get involved just because she likes you?"

Maple also suggested that she might look for a way to alter the Neutralizers’ programming. “You are welcome to take a look at me or one of my copies,” Percival offered. “I am willing to do whatever it takes to remove the Amalgam from power, if not destroy her outright.”

The Battalion​