Private Ghosts and Fallen Angels

[Alicio Organa]

JEDI TEMPLE, CORUSCANT
EVENING
​

Alicio wasn't about to bring a Dark Side artifact he didn't completely understand home to his children.

Alicio stood at a fountain near the Jedi Temple, sitting with his back to a spout of jetting water. He waited patiently there, perhaps every so often watching passing Jedi as they went to and fro, though he'd made sure to stay a healthy distance from them all. He wasn't a completely unfamiliar face, it paid to be married to a Council Member, so he was left to his own devices, at the edge of the grounds.

He'd asked Amani Serys to find a safe place for the kids, and meet him here. The reason was, unfortunately, her padawan. Eloise Dinn had handed Alicio an object reeking of the Dark Side. A small, copper disc, with the design of an eye printed on it. He didn't trust himself with it. So, he called the person he trusted most. Of course, he also wanted to talk with Amani about the rest of their conversation, and how the young Dinn certainly didn't like him, but that was best saved for later.

The item, according to Eloise, had the ability to let the user see alternate pasts, although the mechanics of it were lost on her. Whether it could actually see the past, or just preyed upon the emotions of the wielder, Alicio didn't know. He was curious, very curious, but he knew that curiosity would lead somewhere... dark. Still, he couldn't help but wonder at his past mistakes. All the deaths he hadn't been able to prevent.

What would have happened if...

Suddenly, Alicio seized, his eyes staring off into the middle distance, his vision hijacked by an outside source. The eye inside the cloth began to glow.

​

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani Sibwarra, Senator of Chaldea, waited outside the Assembly Hall, wringing her hands as she searched the crowd leaving the building with furtive eyes. She had sent Alicio an urgent message, but the situation was dire enough that she didn’t want to take any chances.

All around her, people were conversing as they walked. The mood was cordial, even pleasant. A popular bill had just been passed with minimal complications or controversy. The war with the Maw was long since over, and the Alliance was in a period of peace. In light of such prosperity, the problems of one little planet seemed inconsequential. But for Ishani, it was her world which hung in the balance.

She needed to talk to Alicio. If there was anyone in the Senate who could truly help her, it was him.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Senator Alicio Organa was off today.

He couldn't quite place it, as he walked down the steps of the Assembly Hall. He'd supported the bill passed in the senate, smiling faces were abound around him. It was a good day.

Then why did he feel so on-edge?

Perhaps it had something to do with Ishani's message. She'd seemed insistent, and the wording was enough to cause the Alderaanian alarm. If Ishani Sibwarra needed something, he'd always be there for her.

Finally escaping the confines of the building, Alicio's neck went on a swivel, searching for a familiar face. Finding it, Alicio walked through the crowd, seeming to ride the ebb and flow all the way to his fellow Senator. "Ishani," he said, offering her the tiniest of smiles. He couldn't do much more- he couldn't escape a bad taste in his mouth. "I'm here to help."

"What's going on?"

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani saw him through the crowd. They locked eyes. She could barely keep still as he walked toward her, her hands reaching out to clasp one of his between them.

"Ishani. I'm here to help."

The barest hint of a smile touched her lips. But then it faded as her gaze flicked past him, toward the white-haired young man who was always trailing behind Alicio. Kai Bamarri, his bodyguard—the calm eye around which the storm of her troubles revolved.

"What's going on?"

“A few Chaldeans have stirred up anti-refugee sentiments,” she said, keeping her voice low as she leaned toward him conspiratorially. “It started out slow, but things have picked up considerably in the past few weeks. Now they have an army, and are camped outside Calabiyau. My father is their leader; he has Eloise and Marcus under his sway. They believe that a prophecy will be fulfilled by committing genocide.” Fear and desperation twisted her soft features into a mask of anguish. “I don’t know what to do, Alicio. It’s my duty to stop them, but I don’t know if I can fight my own children.”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Hearing the plight of the Chaldeans, Alicio let his mouth twist into a grim frown. It sounded... dire. And... familiar?

Perhaps he'd sensed it in the Future. Shadows of what was to come, flitting at the corners of his eyes. He disregarded it, his eyes flooding with sympathy. "You won't have to," he promised, giving her hand a quick squeeze of comfort. "We'll stop it before that happens, I swear. Kai," he turned to his bodyguard, his eyes lingering on the boy's face a moment before speaking. "Gather what guards you can on short notice, and contact the Jedi. We're going on an emergency diplomatic mission."

He turned back to Ishani, clenching his jaw. "We're with you." Finally, he produced a datapad, tapping out a quick message to Amani, letting her know he would be missing dinner.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

The squeeze of his hand tethered her, keeping her feet on the ground. She looked into his eyes as he promised her that everything would be all right, and believed him completely.

As Kai turned away from them to call his security team, Ishani threw her arms around Alicio’s waist. “Thank you,” she breathed. Then, realizing that they were in public, she quickly pulled away. “Sorry,” she mumbled, cheeks reddening with shame. “Hopefully there are no reporters crouching in the bushes.” Her embarrassed little smile faded. “I’m just glad you’re here to help. You always seem to know exactly what to do, thanks to those future visions of yours…”

“We will have plenty of guards to keep both of you safe,” Kai said, interrupting the moment. “But you may need an army for this, Your Excellency.”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio perhaps was still a little averse to such an obvious display of affection as a hug in public, but he reciprocated as best he could. "Of course," he said, trying to keep the confidence in his tone. Truly... he wasn't sure what would happen. But leaving doubt in his mind wouldn't serve them. So, he simply chose to believe. He found the time for a brief smile. "Oh, I'm sure they are. But we'll manage."

Ishani's comment about his Future Sight banished the smile. Not always, he almost said, but he found he didn't have the words. The Force had yet to lead him astray. His sight was perfect. Not a friend lost, not a regret. He found a confident smile again. This would be no different.

What had he been so worried about?

Alicio seemed to check the Future, staring into what would be, before returning to the conversation. "Well, we should be enough. As long as we can talk with them."

"Do you have a Chaldean ship we can take? So we aren't blasted out of the sky on arrival?"

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“It will be enough,” Kai echoed with a boyish smile. This version of the Bamarri was still innocent, and trusted his employer and friend implicitly.

"Do you have a Chaldean ship we can take? So we aren't blasted out of the sky on arrival?"

“We can go in my ship,” Ishani offered. “There should be plenty of room…”

---

The Vixen landed in the city of Calabiyau, its crystalline hull sparkling in the light of the sun. Apart from a wandering loth-cat, the streets were deserted. The army camped out across the river must’ve frightened the townspeople into staying indoors.

Ishani descended the ramp of her ship. She had exchanged her senatorial gown for a simple black dress and tights, her golden hair blowing like wheat in the wind. “Should we talk to the Calabiyans first, or go straight to confronting the army?” she asked Alicio.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Calabiyau was abandoned.

At least, it seemed that way. Alicio tried to understand the energies in the air, the subtle tastes of the Future, but had difficulty parsing it all. Ishani's question was met by the closing of Alicio's eyes, and a quick dip into his infallible Future. "Mmm," he hummed, grey irises returning to the world. "We go to the camp first. Offer our terms."

Alicio turned to Kai, his voice sure. "Spare what people we can, have them make an evac point. Most refugees are in the center of town, within the old basilica. There should do." Alicio palmed his communication device. It was connected to what forces the Count could acquire on short notice: Alderaanian frigates, senate guard shuttles, even a few Jedi starfighters. It was a considerable force, waiting out of range of planetary scanners for his signal.

He turned to his two companions, a well of sudden unease twisting his gut. He'd seen what would happen. Why did he feel so... sick? "Alright. Let's go."

With that, Alicio walked alongside Ishani and Kai, out of the city, over the bridge, and towards the camp of enemies.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

While Kai relayed Alicio’s orders to the rest of his security team, Ishani turned her attention to the other side of the river. Her brow furrowed with sorrow as she thought of the twins. Were they in the camp now, preparing to march on the city?

She followed Alicio and his guards out of the city and over the bridge. But before they reached the camp, two riders on horseback spotted them. For a few moments no one dared move a muscle as the riders converged upon them, stopping right in front of the group’s path. Kai and the rest of Alicio’s security stood ready to defend the Count, while Ishani visibly tensed beside him.

Clad from head to toe in shining armor, both riders were indistinguishable from one another. Then, one reached up to remove their helmet. Out tumbled a mane of purple hair, falling forward over the petulant face of an angry teenage girl. It was Eloise.

“Hello, Mom,” she greeted Ishani nonchalantly, before her gaze flicked toward Alicio with a sneer. “I see you brought him.”

“Alicio has come to help me put a stop to this madness,” Ishani said. “Eloise, why are you and your brother here? Don’t you know what these people are going to do?”

“They’re going to take back Chaldea from the invaders,” Eloise replied.

“But these people aren’t some invading force,” Ishani argued with her daughter. “They’re civilians, women and children, with no other place to go! Would you slaughter them like animals?”

Eloise said nothing, while her horse agitatedly pounded the dirt with its front hooves. Her helmeted companion remained silent.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio got the sense that he should stay quiet.

It was clear from the purple-haired girl's reaction that he was not a popular face among the Chaldeans. Unless Eloise had any misgivings about him personally. Regardless, there was wisdom in knowing when it was time to proselytize, and when it was time to shut his mouth.

In this case, the Count let mother and daughter speak, stone grey eyes watching on inquisitively, until there was a moment of silence. He debated speaking for a moment, before opening his mouth. "Two days is all we ask. Then you will be free of these people." And them of Chaldea, he didn't say.

"They didn't want to come to Chaldea. They were forced here, chased from their homes by a true invading force. They have been through enough. You have been through enough. Stop this now, before the Alliance's hand is forced."

"Two days. Forty-eight hours."

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Eloise’s brow furrowed, clearly experiencing some inner conflict. After Alicio spoke, she shook her head. “It’s not for me to decide. I’m not the commander of the army. Toloth Threepwood is.”

“Then take us to him,” Ishani said. “There’s no time to waste.”

Eloise and her companion led the way to the camp, riding some distance ahead of them. While they trekked up the hill, Ishani slowly became more talkative, perhaps out of a need to vent her frustrations and sorrows to a sympathetic ear. “I knew it was my father,” she said. “He’s the one who poisoned their minds with these lies about the refugees. Him and his damned self-righteous bigotry… He was part of the reason why I ran away from home and joined the Sith. I wanted to rebel against his control, and the Sith philosophy promised total freedom.”

Despite shifting the blame onto Toloth—who had run against his daughter in the last Chaldean senatorial election and bitterly lost—it was clear that Ishani still felt guilty for her part in all this. It was present in her expression as she watched Eloise. She turned to Alicio then, looking at him as if she had a thousand more things she wanted to say, but couldn’t bear to utter a single word of them.

“My children need a father,” she muttered. “If their father were alive…” She sighed. “I was hoping someone else would come along, but no one ever did. So their grandfather filled that hole in their lives.”

At last, they arrived at the camp. Tents had been erected, along with flags and banners bearing the symbol of the Chaldean Potentium. Paladins and Mystics wore plate armor, but most of the army seemed to be little more than rabble. They were dressed in civilian clothes with elements of armor added, and seemed considerably more casual and undisciplined than the elite fighters.

Eloise led them to a particular tent which was larger than the others. She dismounted and disappeared inside, returning about a minute later. “He’ll talk to you alone,” she said, pointing to Alicio and Ishani. “The rest must stay outside.”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

He was glad to see that his words hadn't made things worse, at the very least. Eloise was... misguided. Not a monster.

As the troupe of delegates and soldiers marched through the camp, Alicio lingered closely to Ishani, sharing in a few quiet words. Alicio was silent, obviously musing. Pondering her unspoken thoughts. "It isn't your fault," he guessed, letting his eyes glance across the purple-haired girl. "Where they are, who they are, is the consequence of Toloth. Not you."

Alicio couldn't help but notice the varying degrees of soldier as they passed through the camp, ignoring the aggressive stares. Instead, he tasted the air, frowning deeply. "These people aren't evil," he said, his tone as neutral as he could manage. "They're... terrified."

As they got to the correct tent, Alicio nodded to the servant, turning to their guard. "Alert us if anything happens." The blue-plated soldier gave a gruff, if nervous, affirmative, letting the Count lay his attention back on his fellow politician. "After you, Senator."

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani seemed gratified by his assurance. But that didn’t stop the tears. She wept quietly all the rest of the way to the camp. Perhaps there were some sad truths which not even Alicio’s imagination could completely gloss over.

"These people aren't evil. They're... terrified."

“Of course they are,” Eloise said contemptuously. “We’re being invaded by foreigners.”

“It’s not an invasion—” Ishani began, but broke off. She wasn’t here to argue with her daughter over her beliefs.

Kai was very reluctant to let Alicio go alone, but he gave the Count a nod of acknowledgment. The guards would stay outside. Ishani accompanied Alicio into the tent, which was well-lit and comfortable. Real animal furs were spread across the ground, softening their steps.

Seated behind a wooden desk was Toloth, dressed in black robes. “My granddaughter tells me you’ve come to negotiate,” he said, looking up at them as they entered. “I’m quite tired of talking, but if you insist.” He gestured to the seats in front of him.

Upon his desk were a number of strange items. There was one in particular which radiated the Dark Side.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio was quiet, listening as Ishani quietly cried to herself. Wondering at what she was feeling. What she had to be going through, with her children twisted against the innocent, their father absent. He wrapped a quick arm around her shoulders, giving her a silent hug of support, before continuing his walk.

He didn't like seeing people in pain. Especially his friends.

Alicio stepped into the tent, observing the skins on the ground, the desk, the lighting, the strange device, the man. The Count observed the lines on Toloth's face, his vision pouring into every detail like water. "I'm sorry to exhaust you with our words, but I'm afraid I must."

"We've come to sue for time. There will be no need for what comes next, if you will allow it of us. Then you may rest."

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani gratefully accepted Alicio’s embrace, finding it comforting enough to dry her tears. If one of the great tragedies of his life was that the Count could never do or say or be enough for people, despite being driven by a need to help and protect others, then this alchemical fantasy had neatly taken care of that miserable conundrum. Here all his efforts were sufficient. No one was left wanting. If they harbored hidden desires, hungering for more than he could give, they remained unspoken.

Even as they entered the tent, uncertain of what would happen, there was a sense that everything would be all right. Alicio had come, like a hero out of myth, to save the day. Or he would, at the very least, delay the bad guys a little.

Why had things gone wrong here in the real world? Was it perhaps due to Jogerda’s youth, her bloodlust like an unquenched fire? She was two generations removed from the civil war which had ravaged Chaldea, changing its political landscape forever. Perhaps her notions of what it meant to fight for your country were too romantic, her visions full of vain glory and ecstatic fervor.

Toloth was an old man. A tired, bitter old man. The lighting inside the tent was dim enough that he could forego his ubiquitous sunglasses, looking upon them with the eerie gaze granted by his quarter-Umbaran heritage. Though thoroughly Chaldean, he had foreign blood—and he had fought in the last war. There was no romance in this for him.

At last, he sighed. “How much time do you require, Senators?”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

“How much time do you require, Senators?”

Alicio was about to answer, but something held his tongue. This shouldn't have been so simple. Why did he feel as if there was more to do? Why was he anticipating a battle? Why did he keep seeing the face of a young girl, the scorching light of dragon's breath?

Why was he feeling the most intense feeling of dissidence he'd ever experienced, as if he'd done this before?

Something was wrong. There was no more denying it.

After a moment, he answered, though it was obvious something was distracting him, as he stared into the corner of the room. "Two days."

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Toloth considered the deal only briefly before he shrugged. “I can give you two days to evacuate.”

Was that it? Ishani turned to Alicio, her surprise at the quickness of the meeting mirroring his. “You amassed an army to attack the city,” she said, facing her father again. “What will you do with them if there’s no enemy to fight?”

“There is an enemy,” Toloth replied. “It was prophesied that the dragons would attack us. If you had stayed in the Potentium, you would have seen the signs.”

“Yet you were going to waste time, resources, and men killing civilians?” Her voice rose to a shrill pitch out of anger.

“It is said that the dragons are angry with the ‘invaders’ because they do not respect the planet. They pollute and destroy the environment by living the same way they did on their homeworlds rather than adapting to our way of life, which respects nature. We have pressured them to leave before, but then where would they go?

"Now that the war is over, they have no excuse, yet they stubbornly remain. The Alliance is not particularly receptive to any request that may come across as rooted in racism, xenophobia, or general intolerance. They have an image to maintain, after all. To remove the cause of the dragons' ire and potentially avert an apocalypse, we had to make sure we caught your attention.” He rose from his chair, circling around them to raise the tent flap. “I have one condition to ask of you. Your Bamarri bodyguard can communicate with the dragons; they may listen to him. He may be our last hope. Would you be willing to part with him?”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio was slower to look back at Ishani, though the confusion was evident on his face. His confusion was of a slightly different variety, as he tried to piece together what he was feeling. Was the Future trying to tell him something? Had it already?

Furthermore, Alicio was surprised by the fact that he wasn't surprised by the idea of dragons. He suffered from a brief instance of deja vu, growing cold and silent. His brow furrowed deeply at Toloth's plan. He was just trying to get their attention? The Count broke his quiet, forgetting why he had been so uncomfortable a moment ago. "You could have just alerted us to the fact that the refugees weren't respecting their foster planet. I would have listened, Calabiyau is partially my responsibility. There were other steps before... this." He wanted to chew out the man more, but stayed his tongue. It wouldn't be helpful or productive dwelling on the past.

“I have one condition to ask of you. Your Bamarri bodyguard can communicate with the dragons; they may listen to him. He may be our last hope. Would you be willing to part with him?”

Again, Alicio remembered the flash of dragonfire. The burn of anxious panic caught his chest. "No, I will not part with him." He waited a moment, taking a breath. "Where he goes, I go. If he chooses to stay, I will not leave his side."

Alicio glanced towards the door, checking to see if it was okay before messaging Kai, and asking him to enter.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“Time is running short,” Toloth replied. “I’d rather not doom us all by waiting on bureaucracy. This has, as the expression goes, ‘lit a fire under your asses’.”

Alicio permitted Kai to stay, but he would have to stay with him. Ishani opened her mouth to speak, intending to plead with her friend to leave for his safety, but Toloth beat her to the punch. “Agreed. You there, Bamarri!”

Kai looked up from his datapad, where he had been reading the message sent to him. He approached the tent, passing between the flaps and standing before the trio. As Toloth explained the situation, the bodyguard focused on Alicio, his gaze oddly knowing.

“I will do it, my lord,” he said.

“Thank the Force,” Toloth muttered in relief. “Let’s go catch the dragons at their doorstep.”

"Alicio, I—" Ishani started to say something, but couldn't get the words out. Their meaning swam in her eyes, brimming with tears of a different kind than she had shed earlier. "Thank you."

Alicio Organa​