Friends And Foes (Alexandra)

[Ak'lya]

In a world without pride, we could have been friends

Alderaan had been such a beautiful planet. He wasn't sure what exactly the One Sith had been thinking, but the world was a shell of what it had been. There were stripmines near some of the major spaceports, and the infrastructure was massively changed. He heard the name Krayt Industries here or there. He had known that Sabrina had mines here, but not to that extent. And that was just the easy to see damage.

In the once serene forests, the Vong had done their perversions, transforming them into thick, monstrous jungles. Strask shuttered as he stepped through the trees. He had never liked Vong, and after the attack on Bothuwai and the reinstatement of Ar'krai, his disposition towards them and the monsters they made was only worsened. He wondered for a moment if it would be better to burn the whole thing down and start over. Wait, they did that already.

He had heard rumors from the locals of a hermit woman living in the jungles. He and Nat had cross-referenced them with the information from their file on the woman, and it made sence for her to be here.

It was time for the old Bothan to settle his debts. He was in his fiftys, and it was high time for him to settle down, and maybe start a company. But he needed to resolve some things first. Twisting the ring on his finger so the stone faced inwards, he stepped further into the jungle.

[member="Alexandra Feanor"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Strask Ak'lya"]

Alexandra yawned as she laid on the stone in the river that passed near her home. She had been lucky enough in which Taeli had kept the old place from being over come with the vong forming and the lightside nexus that emanated from her garden also helped. It was one of the few places on Alderaan that had survived the perversion of the planet's beauty and for that fact she would need to thank Taeli one of these days. She has been a good friend.

Gone was the old days though to her, her clothing now in a kimono like style and her hair ebony instead of the silver those who knew the old her would be familiar with. Her body was younger and the tail it produced curled around her midsection like a belt. She at times hated this body because of who had decided to put her into it yet there were the benefits it provided in terms of mobility and strength. It was strange to her but it was something she had come to live with. That knowledge that for now atleast she was left alone and could meditate and sleep peacefully without much to worry about these days.

 

[Ak'lya]

Strask walked here with marked unease. The person he was here to see wasn't exactly likely to be friendly. After all, he had tried to kill her years ago. But working on his own and away from his people for so long had given the man some perspective. He should have picked a better target. Too late now.

She had tried to kill him as well, of course. A rocket, fired over ling distance, into his apartment. He had to admit that it was well planned. But the problem was, he knew he was a marked man. She wasn't the only one after him at that point, and he had been taking precautions. It had cost him the closest thing he had had to a friend. Five years ago, he would have said it saved him the trouble of cleaning him up after Operation Curtains. Sighing, he stepped into the clearing where the old temple of the grey stood. The local plants seemed less... demonic here. Interesting. That meant something here was resisting the vongforming. Probably had something to do with the Force. If he survived this, he would have to look into that.

He heard [member="Alexandra Feanor"] yawn nearby. He was close, at least. Pulling the trench coat tighter around him and adjusting the sling on his rifle, he stepped closer, trying his best to do so silently.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Strask Ak'lya"]

The woman Strask would come to find would look miles different from the Alexandra he knew, her body was relaxed as she laid there in her kimono like robes. The water crashing around her actually clear and untainted as the ebony colored hair was like flowing cloth. A tail curled around her waist that came with the Zorren body she had been forced into. It was a body that to Strask might even make him question who this woman was that he had thought would be Alexandra and to most all but one it would be hard to even know this was alexandra after meeting her. It had been a long time since she had been the woman Strask knew, death and pain had shaped her away from that violent and erratic being into one that even as he came closer she knew something was there.

Yet she moved not, she felt his hostility and simply laid where she was with her eyes closed and her breath contained. Her sabers resting on the stone beside her on both sides and she made no effort to even reach out for them. And most of all her breath remained held in her throat. Waiting to see just what her newcomer truly planned to do and if the hostility she felt would show itself.

 

[Ak'lya]

There was a stillness to the grove that Strask almost envied. Stillness and silence were things rare in this galaxy. The Hundred World's war, the entire Republic situation with the Coup, and the Mandolorians at Roshe. He understood almost every side, to an extent. Well, almost. The Sith still confused him. They were fighting for order, but had so far been the most destabilizing force in the galaxy. Still, any government that consisted of mostly Force Users was bound to cause instability. Karking Force Users.

She had to know he was here by now. He knew Force Users could sense that kind of thing. It was the one reason he liked to have Force-using agents; If they were trained right, and knew what they were doing, they could hide themselves. There were other ways around it, but none he was willing to use, as most all of them would require the use of Vongtech. And that was a line he would not cross.

He paused for a moment, closing his eyes and letting the Familiar circling overhead give him a bird's eye view. The woman in front of him was not the same person who he had nearly killed all those years ago. His eyes snapped open, and one word came out of his mouth.

"Alexandra"

[member="Alexandra Feanor"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Strask Ak'lya"]

"Yes dear Bothan? How long are you going to stand there? I mean after we both did our best to kill eachother, you didn't think i would forget what you felt like?" Her head finally turned in his direction. Not so much hearing her name, not that she needed too seeing as Daeda heard it for her, but rather knowing that the being recognized her even with the physical changes. "Mind coming over here instead of making me stare at you through the force. As much as i enjoy practicing, i had been meaning to use today as a day for relaxation."

She knew he was probably here to remove a threat but as the man had grown in time, so had she and for her own growth it was at a rate she owed a few variables to. Granted, the newest of those was a bit frustrating but alas this body was useful. She had already had Daeda move away from her, the pure white wolf darting from her kimono-like robes and bounding over each stone as its small body looked more catlike than wolf as it moved. Only when it landed on the bank and stopped would its canine features truly show.

"Well?"

 

[Ak'lya]

"Why would I do something that would make it easier for you to attack me." He watched the blur of white move towards him, Some sort of Sithspawn? Just a type of species he hadn't seen before? He guessed the latter. Sithspawn were becoming rarer and rarer. He frowned at it, opening his eyes to study the creature in front of him. Small, wolf-like. Probably had some connection to the Force. Odd. He'd have to look into that. Could be useful. Focusing back on Alexandra, he tilted his head to one side. "Believe it or not, I came to ask you a question." He slowly moved to place the rifle on the ground. He may be able to get to it if need be. If not, then he'd probably regret that move. "Everything else is just Insurance." He stood back up, studying the wolf. "You did try to kill me, after all.

[member="Alexandra Feanor"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Strask Ak'lya"]

"You know, I seem to remember being the first to get hurt by our little back and forth of attempted murder sessions. In fact, I still have that bill from the hospital thanks to you that day." She smiled as the man had been one of the few who broken her, granted she was not an impressive warrior back then and still was sure that the man could take her down if prepared, but she was interested to know his capabilities these days anyways. "But if you must ask me a question, go ahead and ask me your question.

It had been a while since the two had seen each other, the last time she had tried to blow him to bits with a missile and even that long ago, most of the events she remembered without a problem normally. This was one of the few events that she didn't quite remember with as much clarity to it. In fact the woman had a few specific moments where this was the case and one such moment was that of the attack on Naboo back when Murr had turned her life around. She only remembered the ship blowing up and Murr saving her life, but not how she had gotten there or why her ship had been destroyed escaped her. It was strange.

 

[Ak'lya]

"If we're comparing bills, I know of a landlord who'd like to be repaid for the repairs on his building. Not to mention the hospital bills of the three injured." He paused for a moment. "Or the two dead." He frowned, tucking his hands behind his back, and stepped forward. "That's the problem with Missiles. Lots of flair, lots of power. Lots of death." He tilted his head to one side. "But you only tried once. You left, ran. Never tried to finish the job." He squatted down next to the riverbank. "Why not?"

He stood, pacing there for a moment. "I doubt you didn't have a contingency plan. That girl, your... daughter? You wouldn't have brought her along if she wasn't useful." Another pause. "And she could kill security cameras." He frowned. He hadn't understood that. Maybe some weird Force power? He had heard about things like that. "But you never used them. Why not?"

[member="Alexandra Feanor"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

She looked at the man before her, eyes running over every inch of [member="Strask Ak'lya"] and making sure that she understood the man. She was ashamed of the death she had caused, still not sure what she had been thinking that day, her hands rubbing together before the right one started to scratch at her left forearm. She was a murderer for all intents and purposes and she didn't really understand where that need for revenge had come from, but in the end it had all happened.

"To tell the truth, I don't remember most of that day. It is like living it, knowing that it happened, but your body and mind had been on autopilot during it to the point where you forget the reason that you were there in the first place. As for Eve, she is actually an AI I created who inhabits a clone of mine, can live a life similar to yourself and mine as she experiences what it is like to be human... She was my atonement for so much death I had caused, the ability to give life to a machine..." She knew the words would not make up for what she did. "Is that why you came, to find out why I did not try again? Because I don't know why I tried the first time."