Private Had I Known You Were Listening...

[Darth Strosius]

The outer Tion Cluster was nothing too remarkable. On the edge of empires, just off of developed and often used hyperspace paths like the Daragon Trail and the Perlemian Trade Route, and home to only a handful of populated planets.

All in all, it was a perfect place for a travelling Sith Cult to stop for a little while.

Years of running from system to system had taken a toll on the moral of the Dark Wonosa Cult. The Jedi and New Imperials were only parts of the problem, pirates and scavengers were just as much of a nuisance for them. Any Sith Imperial ship had a target painted on it seemingly, given that there was no longer any Sith Empire to retaliate. Moving from station to station and only staying in one place for a limited time was difficult for many residents aboard the Altorius.

There were even a handful of children, albeit very young ones, that hadn't set foot on a planet at all. The closest that most of the residents got to leaving the ship anymore was at stations such as the one that they were at now, whenever they were docked and refueling. As such the moral and spirits had to be kept up by the leaders of the cult. Little festivals and celebrations were actually fairly common, one of the cargo holds had even been retrofitted entirely for recreational purposes, but most of all the cult enjoyed when they could all gather around their little church and listen to a sermon or two

. They were a cult for a reason after all.

Alisteri found himself sitting and trying to contain a proud smile as one such sermon was happening at the moment. The priest that was giving it was one of the newest additions to the priesthood aboard the Altorius, and said priest was doing a wonderful job of it.

Allowing the priests to have their own turns in the spotlight was crucial to maintaining a proper working hierarchy within the cult, one that could function whilst he was away, so he didn't mind sitting back and listening at all. His time would come soon anyway. "...And thus, most of all my friends, I give thanks to the leader of this gathering. He that saved us all from the fate of our empire, he that is blessed with the gift of the Force, our High Priest!"

The Acolyte suppressed a small chuckle as the priest turned back and gestured to him as the congregation clapped and let out a couple cheers in agreement. Finally the masked man stood and would take the priest's place at the makeshift pulpit, looking out over the dark 'church' that they had cobbled together in a spare cargo bay as the crowd quieted down. "Well that one was a tough act to follow, but let's see how I do hm?"

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Fear, panic. The Force was hunting her down. Alina had no doubt of that in her mind. What was she supposed to do? Where could she run? Even when she went to hide, she couldn't truly get away. Something seemed to have people find her. The will of the Force, or some shit she was tired of hearing. Then she heard about it. The Wonosa. Darth Strosius . News that his cult was actually still going was.. Surprising, to say the least. Curiosity, perhaps hope, brought her to the space station. To the crowd. To listen, watch.

She weaved into the group, black cloak and hood on to cover who she was. And just watched. They truly were a cult. People too weak to defend themselves always needed something to believe in. The Jedi, usually, fit that bill. But here, well. Did Alisteri actually believe all of this himself? Soon enough the familiar metal mask stepped out onto the stage.

".. He has a sense of humor now?" She was speaking to herself, though someone in the crowd glanced her way as she muttered. Her faintly glowing gaze focused on them, narrowed slightly. Spies? Enforcers?

 

[Darth Strosius]

"My friends, my family, here we have gathered once more to celebrate that which has allowed us to live on to this day. Our guide and savior, the breaker of chains and giver of gifts, the Dark Side." His mask reflected the dim light as he raised his hands to enunciate his message, many in the front of the crowd excitedly exchanging glances of reverence between their High Priest and their friends.

Most attention was centered on their leader as he spoke, as usual, but some had noticed a new presence among the congregation. Outsiders were hardly ever seen at on of their sermons, but Alisteri continued before any fuss or curious words could be started.

"Blessed are we that thrive amidst the galaxy that hates us. Against the galaxy that would see us brought to ruin and decay like it brought to our empires. For we are the children, the chosen, the inheritors of the Sith legacy. A legacy which has persevered throughout centuries of rule under Jedi and unfaithful heathens alike." His raised hands clenched into fists as his gaze turned to the crowd, gauging their reactions for a moment before he gripped the sides of the pulpit that he stood at.

"Are we not survivors? Have we not been saved and freed due to the generosity of the Dark Side? How many among you were like I once was, enslaved and chained before the Dark Side called me and blessed me with freedom?" The several shouts of agreement were music to his ears.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Oh.

Alina watched in amazement, really, as Darth Strosius delivered his sermon. Their time together, their time as Acolytes, he'd always been soft spoken. To himself, and certainly not confident. The years had changed him. For a moment she felt jealous. In the years, she hadn't changed in the slightest. Or perhaps she hadn't changed for the better. Her arms crossed over her chest as she listened further. Ignored the eyes on her.

She was, ultimately, here to watch.

 

[Darth Strosius]

He continued on without much pause, now confident in the mood that he had stirred within the crowd. "And as we have been freed to the Force so have we paid it the respect it has earned. For we have upheld the teachings of the Sith Code, for we have ever followed and spread the good word of the dark to all who would listen. In repayment for our freedom and livelihoods we have served the Force faithfully, as all Sith should!"

By now the masked man had began pacing by now, his red cloak occasionally billowing in his wake when it caught wind. "Where empires have fallen due to weak and corrupt leadership, when untold millions have been left to suffer under the rule of the faithless, we have remained. Strong. Resilient. And most of all..." Alisteri stopped center stage, back at the pulpit where he had began speaking. "We have remained united. Together we have struggled for our faith and for eachother. Our unity and our efforts have meant that the chance to survive granted to us by the Dark Side has not been wasted, for here we stand. Here we are, against all the odds."

Almost each and every one of the cult members had felt the collapse of the Sith Empire, the vast majority having been the original group that fled Dromund Kaas aboard the Altorius years ago. "We have thrown down the ultimatum that was thrust upon us, we have denied the dreadful fate that we would be suffering had we not fled from our homes. On our terms we live, by our rules we thrive, and by the grace of the dark we persevere."

"For the Sith we have suffered, and by our survival so have the Sith continued on. Pure and untainted by greed and lusts for power. We all remain true to our code and as such we all bear the title of Sith. For we are the blessed servants. Am I not right?"

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

That.. Wait. Alina's gaze narrowed slightly near the end of Darth Strosius 's speech. They were all Sith? What a blatant lie. The Sith, true Sith, wouldn't let that stand. These beliefs, they'd get these people killed if a Sith Lord came here. Common folk believing themselves worthy of such a title. Then she grimaced. Old habits die hard, then. Why was she even upset about it? She wasn't Sith any longer, so why would it matter?

But.. Still.

She stepped forward, through the crowd. Parting them with ease, much to their surprise.

"There is only one Sith here, and it is none of you."

 

[Darth Strosius]

The expected silence or nods of agreement to his question soon turned into something rather unexpected as someone stepped forward and actually disagreed with him. That was a new one. It threw him off for a moment, breaking his composure as he looked down at the mysterious figure quizzically. Something about their voice sounded familiar to him, but the hood obscured any view of the face. He didn't bother to think on the irony of that.

"Well then." The masked Acolyte straightened up a bit, mostly to put on a show for the off-put crowd that were just as confused by this outsider as he was. "Who are you to speak on matters of the Sith, stranger?"

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I've changed some, sure, but neither of us will ever truly look any different than we do now. I told you you should take off that mask." Alina crossed her arms over her chest. As familiar and near friendly as she spoke, her lips were still pulled into a frown. Her body still tense as if she was going to be attacked. Darth Strosius was still Sith. A path she abandoned. Did he hate her for it? Did he want to see her hurt? Questions she should have thought about sooner flashed in her mind, but there was no reason to go back now.

She was still stronger than him.

The Sangnir pulled back her hood, head held high as she looked at this high priest Alisteri had become. Sure enough, some things had changed. What little she could manipulate of her body so she didn't look the same as her sisters, her mother, grandmother and so on. Trying to break the chain of clones she'd learned her family was. Her glowing eyes narrowed as she stared him down.

"Why do you lie to these people?"

 

[Darth Strosius]

His gaze narrowed as the figure spoke again, running the voice through his mind and memory as it sounded more and more familiar. There was only one fit for that voice, and even the slightly chastising tone, that he could think of. But that couldn't be true, could it? It had to be fake, some sort of trick.

Alisteri held his head up high as the hood was pulled back, and immeidately his resolve crumbled upon seeing the face of Alina Tremiru .

He was taken aback, visible shocked as his breath caught in his throat and his eyes scanned over the face of a woman that had once been so close to him. She did admittedly look slightly different, likely just over the course of time and whatever else, but the thing that remained constant was her age. It looked as if a day had passed for her, just like he didn't look his own age.

A blessing, or curse, of the Sangnir.

But in his mind it couldn't be true. She was dead. She had been dead for years. And yet here she stood, defying a fact that he had assumed for so long. Her manor was still in ruins on Dromund Kaas, she hadn't made any contact until now, and yet here she was. He couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that she was- "A-Alina?"

It was a quiet, frightened and pathetic tone that shocked the cult. All eyes looked between the stranger and their beloved High Priest as he seemed to cower in uncertainty. All of a sudden the visage of High Priest was gone, and the scared and confused Acolyte was all that was left. "It...it can't be. You're-you died...how?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Her gaze shifted from Darth Strosius , now watching the cult. The people who'd been worshiping him. Their confusion, shock. As much as she disagreed with this belief, for them to claim to be Sith, seeing Alisteri's facade crumble just because of her reveal didn't sit right. So she moved, turned from the stage, the crowd. If they were going to talk about this, she wasn't going to do it in front of faces like these.

"I never died. I simply ran." Then she made her way through the crowd. They gave her a wide berth, once her glowing eyes caught theirs. Fear, that akin to prey staring at their predator. They knew to leave well enough alone. "Life has brought me back here, if only in passing. .. It's good to see you alive." That was all she could think to say as she left. Better to say something, right? Her brow knitted together regardless. Why had she bothered to come here?

 

[Darth Strosius]

Her response was almost as shocking as her appearance itself, leaving Alisteri with a mixture of confusion and even a hint of betrayal. She had just left? The time that he had spent searching scattered reports, Dromund Kaas, station after station and even a handful of other Sith-Imperial remnants had turned up nothing. Assuming death sometime in the war had just been natural, obvious even.

Her survival held far more questions than answers, none of which he wanted to learn in public. As he watched her walk away, still frozen by indecision and utter shock, he knew that he needed those answers.

"Wait!" The parted crowd remained that way as the masked Acolyte leapt from the stage and made his way through after her. Alina Tremiru had gotten away once, but he couldn't risk her leaving without some sort of explanation. For himself if nothing else. "High Priest!" He merely waved off the priest calling out to him, giving him and his cult a dismissive gesture. "Everyone back to yourselves. I will talk with our guest alone."

He followed after her almost desperately. "Alina! Please, I-I need to talk to you. Please come to my room, just for a few minutes even."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

She'd certainly done more harm than good, interrupting Darth Strosius 's sermon as she had. To the cult, and to him. .. She had left everyone behind without a word. Ishida, Rax, Alisteri. Just disappeared from the Sith. Were they all like this? Did they all feel this betrayed? But where she expected anger from him as he caught up, all he had was desperation. It's what had her stop.

Alina betrayed the Sith for herself, and it was a good choice. But the people she betrayed, they didn't deserve what she'd done to them. Her gaze turned back to the masked visage. And she nodded.

"A few minutes."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Even with the mask hiding his expression, one could recognize the hesitant excitement that filled him the moment she agreed to speak to him. A thousand questions ran through his mind, some curious and concerned, others relieved and even spiteful. To say his inner thoughts were mixed would be an understatement. But right now all that mattered was Alina Tremiru being alive and right in front of his eyes.

"Excellent! Follow me, don't mind the cult if they stare." He turned to lead her away from the cargo room turned church but paused to glance back at her again. "Oh and especially don't mind the Blooded-I mean the Sangnir if they stare. They're only used to me and themselves being....well you know."

With that he set off marching like he was going off to a war, idly noticing how the sermon crowd was slowly starting to disperse. Some of them that stayed to watch their leader were quickly shepherded away by the priests, thankfully. With any luck this whole incident could be worried about and swept away after his chat with their guest.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Bloodied? Oh. Oh. Alina frowned somewhat as she followed Darth Strosius . He made more of them. It was one thing to make them think they were Sith, but to make this curse they shared seem like a divine gift? .. No, that's not what she wanted to talk to him about. She nodded, turning her gaze off as they made their way through the crowd. When they were finally alone, she found a spot to sit, closing her eyes.

"So, ask away. I know you have questions."

 

[Darth Strosius]

The halls and passages of the frigate were fairly easy to navigate, given that the pair were given as wide of a berth as possible by whoever they went by along the way. Most paid them little mind other than moving out of the way and offering them a nod or even a bow.

Soon enough they arrived before his quarters, notably one meant for a ship's officer and not its captain, and he quickly hurried inside. The very first thing he did was to grab the glowing holocron from his desk, stuff it into a nearby crate, and close the lid on said crate before sitting atop it and nodding to Alina Tremiru .

"That would be an understatement, as I'm sure you could guess. But I suppose my first question is...what happened to you? When the Empire fell I couldn't find you anywhere."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I left before the fall. Ran away with Quinn, hid in her sister's palace on Eshan." That was the blunt truth of it. Alina shrugged her shoulders as she leaned back in her seat. Blunt truth was better than any lie she could think up to spare Darth Strosius 's feelings. "There I stayed, until I left. And you? Have you been running with this cult all this time? What happened to your master?"

 

[Darth Strosius]

His head inclined slightly as he listened, idly wondering if he had ever heard the name 'Quinn' before, and pondered on what she said. Alina Tremiru had been safe from the conflict it sounded like, at least. "Pretty much yes. Dromund Kaas fell into anarchy and warlordism pretty quick. Go figure." He shrugged and gestured to the wall of the ship.

"Thankfully we were able to secure this before everything collapsed, and get off world just before anyone found out how to operate the anti-air batteries. Running from the Crusaders and the New Imperials while trying to keep ourselves fed has been the main order since then."

There was a noticeable pause, as if he were hesitating, before he continued. "You know how distant my master always was. But thankfully she did contact me and I have been doing some...training as a result. Other than that I've just been waiting and surviving."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

He was there when Dromund Kaas fell? Concern flashed through her mind, but she didn't express it. That was years ago now. Darth Strosius survived, seemingly on his own. Kept these people alive. "Waiting for what? The only Sith active in the galaxy are the Maw. .. You don't have to keep following them. The Sith, you're just fodder. Your cult is just fodder."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Her words were a bit jarring, she had always been the one seeking to climb up the ranks and gain power after all, but he simply shook his head. Evidently Alina Tremiru wasn't aware of the rest of the Sith, where they had gone. He decided to withhold that for now. "The only Sith active and visible are the Maw yes, but I wouldn't call them Sith."

Alisteri leaned forward on his crate, taking off his mask and setting it on the floor as his yellow eyes met hers. He hadn't changed at all. "But I care little for the machinations of Sith who think themselves our betters. The Sith Empire fell because of the actions and atrocities of a few, and we were all punished for it. But they escaped."

He nearly growled the names as he spoke. "Carnifex. The Worm. Vulcanus. The list goes on. Their false ways and greed caused their downfall, but here the true Sith have remained and shall remain. Until the time is right."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

That.. Wasn't something she'd forgotten. The Sith Darth Strosius named were the same she once wanted to kill for the betterment of the Empire. Of the Sith. "Fighting them isn't something anyone in this cult can do. They'd be dead in a heartbeat. You and I both know that. And calling them Sith is only putting a target on their back. The Imperials, the Alliance. Those Sith you hate. They'll kill everyone."