Private Get In

[Alina Tremiru]

Living in fear had been her default for.. Months. Ever since fleeing the Sith, Alina couldn't get over that constant fear. Of retribution from those she'd fought against under the Sith banner. Of the Sith she betrayed. Of the hate of her own family. Fear left her hollow. Fear left her alone. Fear left her unable to move forward. She tried, once, to get past it. To accept her fear and try to do something more. But all she ended up doing was pretending she wasn't afraid. She joined the Obsidians for that reason. She'd run there after the love of her life, but it wasn't her. She'd do anything for Quinn Varanin , but she also needed to find herself again.

Her own path.

The Sith Empire's former worlds were destabilizing further. Warlords ran rampant, trying to make their own mini empires and grasp desperately for power. All the while groups such as the Ashlan Crusade and New Imperials were rounding up these Sith, any Sith, and giving them punishment. For some, they were spared. But others who, like her, were lost in the Dark and just scared were cut down when they put up opposition. Being free of the Sith wasn't an easy thing to achieve. Even now Alina wasn't sure she'd ever truly be free of the grip her family had on her.

But she could still make good of that evil. The Vampiress stood outside a small diner on a world of no importance. It was far removed from the scheming of the Sith. The wars of the Empire and the savagery of the Maw. A place to hide, the sort of place Alina would have gone to if she hadn't had Quinn to save her. Her glowing orange eyes flickered as rain fell from the sky above. It was her turn to try and save others. Dressed in little more than a simple black tshirt and jeans she didn't really scream Sith. The only part that did were her eyes. Corruption never faded, and her immortal body was forever unchanging.

She went right towards the counter, standing beside one who was already sitting there.

"Jesryn Lei'ra. We need to talk.

Jesryn Lei'ra

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... Let's cut the crap and fast forward to where one lonely deserted Sith Lady was already sitting at the bar. She did not really favor the spot in such a narrow and crowded diner but simply because it was the emptiest spot in the house, plus sitting alone at a table would certainly look more miserable than she already was. There were several empty glasses in front of her besides the crow-shaped helmet resting on the bar. She had plenty of time to spare, so she was really enjoying herself with many drinks before she would probably head to another bar and repeat the same course of action again.

Not long ago, she was still a maleficent Sith Lady, a merciless assassin who slaughtered and converted countless Jedi without slightest of hesitant, and a Valkyrie who walked the very land of Netherworld and returned alive, but it was then that things changed, after seeing her beloved Ewan again, well, in her spirit form. Her faith in Sith had been wavered ever since, and her feeling uncertain. At this moment, she did not even know if her name was Darth Raiden, or Jesryn Lei'ra, until someone from behind decided for her and called her by the latter.

She saw a lady standing besides her, blonde hair and much taller than her, with a muscular build too. She knew the stranger wasn't just a nobody, especially that she just called out her name, and that kinda shocked her for a second there. She replied to Alina Tremiru , "Lower your voice, I wear a helmet for a reason and I don't wanna be exposed by somebody who just said my name out loud."

She took a sip from the half-empty glass of beer before she continued, "What do you want?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Oh.

Alina blinked. Of course Jesryn Lei'ra didn't want her named said aloud. That was the whole point in hiding. The ex Sith took a seat beside her, nodding to the bartender to get a drink. What, didn't matter. The Vampiress couldn't get drunk any more, so whatever would work. Just something for her to sip at as she set about speaking to the once Valkyrie. "You ran from the Sith, just as I did." Well, there was no beating around the bush.

The woman reached down to her drink, lifting it up to start sipping. A whisky. Tasty at least, though she felt no burn or buzz. "Why did you run?"

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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The half-sober girl turned her head to the blonde adult who took a seat right besides her, ordering a drink before she told Jesryn that she was just like her, who had escaped the Sith as well. She would not really be surprised since the Sith Empire was rumored to be invaded by way too many factions, eventually taken down by… It didn’t matter, she did not care anyway, what did matter was she knew there must be numberless Sith who managed to slip away from their enemies at desperate times like this, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

Whiskey? Bold lady, she thought, before she was asked why she ran.

“Probably the same reason why you left. Or how about, you tell me yours first before I tell you mine, hmm?” Jesryn raised her glass of beer at Alina Tremiru before finishing up the whole thing. She was tempted to leave but something within her managed to convince her to stay and listen to what the sudden stranger had to say.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"That seems fair." Alina flashed a fanged smile before taking a longer sip of the amber liquid. She didn't finish her drink off, instead setting down the half filled glass to instead lean comfortably against the counter. Share a story to get a story. "The woman I love was almost killed because of us being Sith. So, her and I ran before the Empire fell. We.. I couldn't bare the thought of her dying, especially since she only came to the Sith to be with me."

There was far more to the story than just that, but it was the shortest and most direct answer she figured was appropriate to share. "Now you, mm?" The smile remained, though it seemed far more dangerous than initially intended. There was a danger about the once Sith. She was taking a chance talking to Jesryn Lei'ra . An assassin, a Valkyrie. Despite the calm tone of her voice, a closer look would show Alina was completely ready for a fight.

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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Her eyes locked on the empty glass she last finished on the bar table as she listened to the story told by the unnamed girl, her every word pulled Jesryn deeper into the bittersweet memories that she had with her lover, oh how she wanted to relive the old times all over again. She could not help as everything sounded way too similar to her background, except that hers had a bad ending that eventually led her here and that it was the other way around of the story she was just told.

Jesryn was dragged back into reality by the fanged smile of the athletic lady, her sharp perception sensing a faint intention of the smiling lady being ready to fight her, but the half-awake girl really did not have the intention of starting one as there was no reason whatsoever to begin with. The stories of the infamous Darth Raiden, the Sith assassin and the Valkyrie were in the past now and Jesryn would prefer them to stay that way. Looking into Alina Tremiru 's yellowish eyes, she replied perfunctorily, “You could say the same thing happened to me, but with a more tragic ending that’s all. My lover’s death was the cause of why I turned.”

Taken I see, that’s unfortunate.

“Also don’t you think it’s not fair that you know my name but I don’t?” Jesryn said, still hadn’t figured why the stranger would know her real name, especially that she had long abandoned that name ever since the death of Ewan, and took on the Sith name of Darth Raiden.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I'm sorry." There were no other words to say at that, and even those felt hollow. This was a reality that Alina was fortunate enough to avoid. If Quinn had died.. Things would have gone vastly different for the young looking woman. Already that made Jesryn Lei'ra a better person than she was. Where Alina likely would've gone on a rampage, this woman left. The Vampiress slowly lifted her glass again, taking a much longer sip.

Thoughts about Quinn dying were upsetting enough. At this point she really wished she could get drunk.

"Alina Tremiru. Pleasure." Right, her name. She nearly laughed into her drink as the other woman brought up that she hadn't introduced herself. Had she always been this bad at social interactions? Or was it just because of her time hiding away that she'd forgotten basic etiquette? She'd have to figure it out at some point.

"I have a proposition for you. Mm.. No. More like a request for help." The glass was set down, and the fanged smile completely faded. Business mode activated. "I want to try and save as many people stuck in the Sith as I can. You know what it's like to be recruited to the Sith, and I'm sure you spent time bringing people to them, Valkyrie. It's not always a choice. Help me get those who don't want that life out. Those too afraid to run on their own."

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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Alina Tremiru , such a familiar name… Where did I hear it before?

Jesryn had a rough idea of who she might be now, but she decided not to uncover her real identity in the bar house, especially that both of them were once servants of the Sith. Alina was not wrong about her conversions of many Jedi to the dark side though, having persuaded numerous followers of the light side to devote themselves to the Sith after she defeated them, but there were some others who were too persistent that she failed to invite, who would rather choose death than the great power bestowed by the Dark Force. She was one of the best headhunters among the Valkyries nonetheless, not to mention she even handpicked a handful of elite Valkyries who only served under her dark will when she was still Darth Raiden.

Grabbing her helmet from the table, Jesryn stepped down from the stool and walked towards the main exit after tossing some local coins to the bar as payment for the beers. Her pace was slightly uncoordinated after all the alcohol she had, but she managed to stand up so walking in a straight line should not be too difficult for her. She left a word before she walked away from the lady, “Look, Miss Alina, I don’t know how you found me, but why me? I’m just a nobody now and I’m not gonna go back to that shithole after I have just escaped from there. You are definitely looking at the wrong girl.”

Although she seemed to have turned down the request for help from Alina in the bar, she was still hesitant as she was responsible for part of the problem mentioned by Alina. Perhaps she would agree to help if Alina actually followed her out to the more empty street under a quiet night and asked her again, and then she may not be able to resist herself again.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Because, leaving the Sith isn't something either of us truly have done." Alina answered the question, but made no move to stop Jesryn Lei'ra from leaving. Instead, her yellow eyes just watched, patient and understanding. This life, the things they did whether they were made to or not, it left scars. Scars that they could never forget, no matter how much time had passed or how much distance they put between themselves and it.

The Vampiress stayed where she was, lifting up her glass to finish her drink. She'd paid money for it, and well. She liked to be dramatic. If her words stuck with the other woman enough, she figured she'd be able to catch up soon enough. Once the amber liquid was finished, she got up, paid for the drink, and turned to leave. Alina had no intention of giving up. Jesryn was someone she needed in order to do this.

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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It could never be so true, that neither of them ever actually left the Sith. They might appear to have escaped far away from the Asha'Kurat but they never truly let go of their yearning desires. There was darkness in their nature, and Jesryn would never know if this darkness could ever be cleansed. She could not deny that it was still gradually growing inside her by feeding on her anxiety over the days, that she feared that it was her only destiny to return to the Sith Empire one day and join them once again, which was why she wanted nothing to do with the lady’s proposition in the first place.

However, she knew she won't know the answer for that if she did not even try, so she stopped in the middle of the street just outside the diner, and seemed to be more awake than she was a minute ago. She was determined to help Alina Tremiru for whatever she needed so she just stayed at the same spot until the lady walked out from the bar. She asked, with a sober voice under the flickering light of a worn-out neon bulb sign above them, “So what’s your plan?”

She turned around and faced the lady, her resolution strong enough to charge the bulb sign so bright it lightened the furthest distance it could reach, before it exploded into blackness that veiled the entire street, “I assume that scary yellowish eyes of yours have night vision?”

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Use your knowledge to find the Sith who can be saved, then go in and give them an escape. Beat in their freedom, if necessary. Any end up being like me, and they'll certainly need some sense slapped into them." Sure enough, Jesryn Lei'ra was waiting for her just outside. It brought a smile to the Vampiress's lips, though a slight laugh did escape her as the girl mentioned her eyes. Alina nodded. There was no point in hiding her abilities from someone who could be an ally.

"One of many handy abilities I have, I suppose. An effect of what I am, not the Sith though."

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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“And so I figured, you were also one among the Sith Lords, Darth Sanguis.” Jesryn replied, after Alina Tremiru admitted her night vision ability from being a Sangnir, a rare blood-drinking species. She had only heard about the space vampires from tall tales spread far and wide in the vast galaxy, feared by many species because of their strange fetish. Unafraid of the vampiric lady in front of her, Jesryn rubbed her chin with her cold cybernetic fingers as she began to propose what she had in mind, “Perhaps we should start from where we- I used to send the converted to, the rookies’ training ground.”

She paused for a second before she continued, "The Sith Academy.”

While many acolytes scattered across the galaxy following their masters, most tended to be gathered at temples of the Sith to train in the dark arts on various planets. So if this plan needs its first destination, it would certainly be one of those academies where they could rescue a great number of the Sith students. Uncertain of the plan’s success probability, Jesryn looked at the vampire and asked her with doubtful eyes, “Are you sure this is gonna work? It is only two of us against the entire temple if we must.”

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"After the Empire fell, the Sith Academies within were ransacked and looted. By Jedi, these New Sith within the Maw, and even the very Sith meant to protect them. In truth I don't think there's anyone left." Her own home had a similar destruction when the Empire fell and she left. Just how much was left of the Tremiru estate? A question for a different time, she figured. Instead, she flashed Jesryn Lei'ra another smile.

"But if I were one of those students, I'd not know of any other place to go. If there is anyone at the academies, they're likely just the type of people that need help. I take it this means you're in, though?"

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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“I wouldn’t be standing here discussing the matter with you if I didn’t want in, wouldn’t I?” Jesryn responded to the question with a scornful smile.

Was it not obvious? She thought for a second before she took everything the vampire lady said into a more thoughtful consideration, and threw some questions to Alina Tremiru that first came into her head, “So now we assume that there are apprentices who are left behind after the war, where exactly is the closest Sith temple from here that they could possibly be staying? And how do we get there?”

While Jesryn has a fast ship docked on the outskirts of the town, she doubted there was enough fuel for it to fly them to the destination, or even worse. Her funds were running dangerously low at the time as well, so refueling the ship was certainly not an eligible option for her. She was definitely not going to tell Alina that, as that would be too embarrassing, so she only hoped that Alina would propose to take her own ship for the mission.

She must have a ship, she thought, or else how'd she come so far and find me?

“Will there possibly be any kind of... payment for this job?” She was in desperate need of some credits for living, and the meals she had these several days were through stealing from the local market, which she was extremely good at because of her extraordinary agility and stealth. Once an infamous assassin, now reduced to a nameless thief who steals from civilians just to fill her stomach and live another day like a street rat.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"When I could get drunk I'd talk about all sorts of things and entertain ideas I'd never follow through. Just making sure you're of sound mind. What I'm asking is going to put a target on your back again." Not that either of them had ever truly gotten rid of the targets already on them. But there was something about the threat in your face versus the one out of sight. Grant it, Jesryn Lei'ra 's next question put a stop to the cogs turning in Alina's mind. She didn't have her own ship, not anymore. The one her master had gifted to her was burned so the Sith couldn't track her.

She got here hopping shuttles.

Money though, that was easy.

"I can pay you plenty, if that's what you need. Money is certainly no issue." She might of fled from her family, but she was sure to get as much credits as she could. The last thing she wanted was to mooch off the Echani Princess that had saved her any more than she already would have been. The Vampiress let out a nervous laugh after a moment, rubbing at the back of her neck. Now came the hard part, at least to someone as prideful as she was.

"A ship though. Uh, if you don't have one, we'll probably have to buy one."

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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Buying a new ship!? The sudden suggestion by Alina Tremiru left Jesryn in a total shock. It was unexpected of her that this lady did not own a spacecraft at all, despite her generosity for agreeing to pay her well without hesitation. Her disturbed expression delayed for a moment before she came to be honest with the lady with an embarrassed smile, "Ah, about that. The good thing is you don't have to worry about transportation."

"We can take my ship, which is docked just outside the town, but the bad news is... it has run out of fuel and I don't have the money to refuel it." Her metal fingers brushed through her hair as a gesture of her embarrassment, her face blushed redder from being bashful along with the high alcohol sensitivity. However, her consciousness was clear enough to understand the situation.

The ship was personally bought by Jesryn back when she still worked for the Empire, when money was never her concern. She was always a big fan of fast vehicles with high speed and acceleration, but the Empire-issued vehicles were mostly unqualified for her standard, and her need for speed. Therefore, she purchased her own collection of a ship and a super-speeder bike, which fortunately never had a Sith tracker installed on them so they could not track her at all. Trying to think of a quick solution, she knew only a few ways to get liquid metal fuel for her ship at night like this- Oh… I have an idea. Why didn't I think of it before?

"You know what? Give me half an hour and I will handle the fuel. Wait here." Jesryn spoke with full confidence, before she ran into an alley around the street. The next minute she came out riding her jumpspeeder and headed somewhere else in a hurry.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Ah, good. Jesryn Lei'ra had her own ship! The relief was immediate on Alina's face, though she did raise a brow at the Valkyrie's blush. Was running out of fuel that truly embarrassing? Or maybe she was still drunk. Either way, she shrugged. They'd come to an agreement, and a large part of it was trust on what Alina was saying. Saving the acolytes. Infiltrating the Sith Academy alone could be a trap.

She crossed her arms over her chest, closing her eyes. "Well I'm not going anywhere. Just, don't keep me waiting too long mm?"

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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It only took Jesryn 20 minutes to deliver two full cans of liquid metal fuel on a hovering cargo cart pulled behind her speeding speeder, which she arrived outside the diner 10 minutes earlier than the time she promised to the lady. However, she was not alone when she returned, as there were some approaching, angry-sounding noises just around the corner from the direction where she came riding the jumpspeeder.

Yep, they are very pissed.

“Hop on, quick. I will explain later.” Jesryn braked hard right beside the waiting lady with crossed arms, as she hurriedly told Alina Tremiru to get on her bike with a steady yet tense voice. A problem solved, another came right after. A hover truck and two speeder bikes of one man each appeared out of the corner, their headlights illuminated the street with the two women on it, and they seemed to be chasing after them, “Now or never, m’lady.”

 

[Jesryn Lei'ra]

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Shortly after, the men in the vehicles in pursuit began shooting their blasters at them, attempting to hunt them down for what Jesryn did — stealing their fuels. However, the two were considered lucky that the aggressive strangers were still quite a distance away from them, thus missing all their shots at the two and mostly importantly, the fuel cans. It was never a good idea to have somebody shooting at you while you carry some easily flammable and explosive supplies.

Jesryn was already hitting accelerator pedal to the extent where her speeder was roaring loud and powerful like a beast, yet her hands were still holding the brake firmly, awaiting the vampire to mount the bike with her before she could unleash the beast's full power to charge it forward. She was certain that her jumpspeeder was much faster than their enemies', so it was no doubt that she could possibly outrun them.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

There was momentary confusion in Alina's gaze as Jesryn Lei'ra rolled up as fast as she had. They weren't in a hurry, right? Not right. The Vampiress turned her gaze down the path towards the approaching vehicles and she laughed. So that's what was happening? She hopped on immediately, taking hold of one of the bars to throw herself into the speeder as Jesryn sped off from the incoming angry people.

"Well, I guess it makes to kick this off with a bit of thievery." She chuckled, glancing back to the fuel tanks.

"I could have just bought some fuel if you needed gas. This is far more fun though."