Private House Io: The Peace Gesture

[Agatha Io]

Wearing: Medic Shroud (Armorweave Catsuit)

Armed with: Nothing

Objective: Tend to patients, see to the Jedi.

Location: Type 1 Planet (Unnamed, Arid)

"Leonard Trimble's mission was not to kill his enemies but to shatter their lives. To keep them alive. To suffer the pain that he felt. To see the view from his wheelchair."

--Fox Mulder, X-Files, "The Walk", Season 3, Episode 007




So many suffered from the aftermath of the battle of Tython. Especially The House.

Countless numbers had died in space and on the surface of the planet. The rest who came back, Organic or Artificial, all came back broken in some way.

There were many who accused Laertia within the House of having led the House directly into a military disaster, with so many of their most powerful and advanced ships lost, with countless personnel on each.

And then there was her bloody action orchestrating an attack on The Silver Rest.

Some in the House were starting to say it was time for Laertia to step down and take House Io in a new direction. One that didn't involve violently attacking and resisting nearly every major factions. But Laertia would never stop trying to attack the Jedi over what she viewed as ignoring the Bryn'adul until it was too late.

But Agatha's only concern right now was her patients.

She strode down clean white halls, heels clicking on a Durasteel floor as she busily headed to the surgical theater for her fourth brain surgery.

She picked up the sounds of moaning and suffering everywhere. So many had lost new family and friends, to defend the planet of an enemy, being attacked by another enemy. Laertia's reasoning about the Superweapon eventually being used on them barely held water. And though the Maw had suffered a critical defeat, it hardly benefited the House to lose nearly a whole Battle Group.

So many had been taken here as an emergency measure, a facility where other Nuetralizers of her Model were trained. In another few minutes, she was about to have an entire class silently observing her work a brain back to viability...

She strode into the theater, eager fresh examples of her own model, dressed in armorweave silver gowns, observing in the booths above.

"Alright class, listen closely, make sure your Organic Photoreceptors are recording everything. There will be no repeats of any gesture." Agatha announced crisply, picking up a scalpel.

"Now...first, we begin by making an incision here..." Agatha added, cutting into the scalp...

Xiphos was also present at this facility, though no one was supposed to know that.

After an hour in surgery she was finished and out, washing her hands, the fair skinned blonde was then approached by an Organic Citizen, as she was one of the facility instructors, having been among the first of the Medical Nuetralizers activated.

An unknown ship was approaching the planet, she had been informed.

Agatha frowned. This wasn't part of the facility schedule. There wasn't supposed to be visitors for another several days.

"I'll handle things..." Agatha said. "Initiate lockdown procedures, arm every patient that can still fire. We may be about to have contact.

Agatha be was then quietly but quickly going for the nearest comm terminal , located in her own office suite.

"Attention, unidentified vessel, this is a private facility, please state your intentions..." she called out, reclining in the seat of her office...

Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Lightsabers x 2
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

It was probably a bad idea, but, Mi'la didn't see much of a choice. Coming out of Lightspeed near the undocumented planet, she had it under good authority this was a good route to meet with members of House Io. Now if that was, she hadn't a clue, but Mi'la had told the council she would try if nothing else. Taking a moment to calm herself, she was nearly about to open up a comm, when she heard an unknown voice reach her. She sighed to herself, at least content with the fact she hadn't activated the Stealth Drive on the N-Wing, it might have made things even worse.

Her intentions of course, were noble and honest, she only hoped those who spoke to her were willing to listen.

"My name is Mi'la Undari, of the Silver Jedi Concord. I've come to talk with Laertia Io, and seek a peaceful end to our current conflict." She said calmly, slowing her speed and keeping her weapons powered down, not wanting to risk conflict. "I come on behalf of all living things in the galaxy, that we seek a peace to end it, least we follow in the mistakes of those from the past. Please, I mean no ill will, and will surrender myself and vessel if it is of any relief to you." Unless told otherwise, she would continue towards the facility she could make out up ahead, hoping that a scrabbling of star fighters wouldn't be the first thing she'd see.

Now was the moment of truth.

 

[Agatha Io]

Agatha checked her weapons, a Type 5 Energy Sword, and a Dashade Sonic Disruptor Pistol in the comfort of her office, as the transmission came through. Xiphos was not yet available, locked away in her private quarters for an experiment.

Agatha had been told to meet the Jedi momentarily in place of Xiphos herself.

Agatha was aghast. She had never had to actually meet a Jedi before. Her combat programs were top of the line, and her reflexes, strength, and speed were double that of an ordinary human. She could even heal from injuries that would be outright fatal to others. But none of that were guarantees of victory. Especially not against a Jedi.

Still. There was the offer to surrender a vessel. And the offer of surrender itself.

Agatha thought a moment.

"SJC Vessel, you are cleared to land at these coordinates. Any sign of treachery will be swiftly punished..."

Agatha composed herself, petted her adopted Gizka, and strode through a facility on full alert.

Upon the N-Wing's arrival, Agatha would be waiting on the docking pad in the night time desert, her dark blue catsuit so skintight it might as well have been painted on, reflecting all around it due to its metallic texture.

Agatha would take a slight bow once Mi'la Undari was out of the ship.

"Jedi, my name is Agatha. Xiphos will be along shortly. Until then you are to wait and be brought under guard into this hospital. Any attempt to wander, any attempt to resist any instructions given, will be met with lethal Force." Agatha said crisply and professionally, though she hid how deeply afraid she was for her patients.

House Io was an avowed enemy of Jedi, it's membership composed of the Organics who watched their worlds get destroyed by The Bryn'adul while the Jedi were busy fighting the Sith, and the lethal sapient Droids created to fight them. But this was a hospital. Yet it wasn't like she had room to complain. Had not her own House viciously destroyed the Silver Rest, killing thousands?

A fight here would be bloody, and Agatha knew it. So she dreaded the Jedi's presence, for she could only do much against such a powerful opponent. She was no Chaplain. She was, first and foremost, a Doctor.

"Will you accompany me?" Agatha asked softly, even as her combat databases formulated potential directions of attack. Despite her beauty, her nature as an HRD showed, in her too precise muscle movements and twitches, the unnatural smoothness of her skin.

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Lightsabers x 2
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

To Mi'la's relief, she was allowed to continue on, putting in a course for landing at the station, throttling back on her engines, and steadying herself for what was to come. She wasn't scared, not really, after all the Force had brought her here. She was acting in place of the Force, so, whatever was to come was meant to be. She had no control, only to stay the course. If House Io was to kill her here, then that was how things were to be.

With the N-Wing settling down, Mi'la rose from her ship, and paused at the woman who seemingly was waiting for her arrival. Mi'a returned the polite bow in kind, rising an eyebrow at the statement of being met with violence. "Agatha, I promise to do no harm, so long as harm is not brought upon me in kind. I simply wish to speak." She nearly thought to surrender her weapons, but given how Io worked, she felt that might be a death wish.

It probably didn't help that these were the same people who had killed hundreds of jedi, and thousands of followers. None of which she was overly fond of, but again, that was why the Force had called her here. The void in the Force that encircled the jedi began to grow, as Mi'la allowed herself to relax and stretch out, following into step behind the woman. "Of course Agatha, how are you by the way? You're...a doctor? Administrator?" She asked, simply trying to make pleasant talk, as she kept her hands away from the belt of which her sabers hung from. She might have been on unfriendly soil, but there was no reason to not be civil.

 

[Agatha Io]

"I am doing just fine, thank you." Agatha said formally. "And to answer your question, yes, I am a Doctor, as well as the chief administrator."

Agatha began walking back into the medium sized facility, and Mi'la Undari would get an eyeful of the Medical Nuetralizers scurrying about in silver catsuits, tending to the terribly wounded, pulling sheets over some. One could be seen removing a glove to secrete a mysterious, thick green enzyme from the palm of her hand into a severe leg cut, watching it immediately start to heal. One's flesh could be seen shuddering unnaturally everywhere as it absorbed the immense amount of Radiation a victim had been exposed to. Another could be observed giving a blood transfusion to an entirely Organic patient.

Every. Single. One of those Nuetralizers with their fair skin and blonde hair turned to face the Jedi. The whole area where patients were being treated went deathly quiet.

Agatha held up her hand. They went back to what they were doing.

"I will host you in my office until Xiphos informs me she is ready to speak to you. Your presence here could only agitate the patients. Most of them hate Jedi."

Agatha would lead Mi'la to her office, which was large and spacious, filled with diagrams of several humanoid species internal organ systems. Her pet Gizka rested, snoring in the corner. On the walls were photos of Agatha standing in front of the facility staff, hands behind her back. Others depicted what few friends Agatha had made in the House in the rare moments she was off duty.

Agatha bid Mi'la take a seat, and then took on herself behind a desk. Mi'la's face was reflected cleanly and clearly on the surface of her catsuit, as was everything else in the room.

"Sundari, I must confess, I am not certain what you hope to accomplish here. House Io holds your Order directly responsible for the Bryn'adul being allowed to ravage the world's of those who became our citizens. The only reason we were even present at Tython was to fowl up the Maw's plans, not help the Jedi."

Agatha fidgeted, idly spinning a pen between her fingers.

"Frankly, many of the people dying in these beds prefer death over peace with the Order."

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Lightsabers x 2
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

Her face flinched at the woman's words, feeling that perhaps she was just going to be killed regardless of her attempts. At least she could try. "Well, that's good. We need more healers in this galaxy." She said calmly, trying to not linger on the negative sentiment laid upon her. Following the woman and being exposed, she laid eyes upon the neutralizer droids, and was a bit confused at how they were constructed. She was frankly baffled at the operations, but said little about that which she didn't understand. "Right, understandable so." She nodded, knowing all too well how many people wanted to kill jedi. It was a never ending battle it seemed, trying to not be hated by people you didn't even know.

Taking a seat in the office, Mi'la gave a look around, and suppressed the desire to compliment it. She felt that everything she said would be used against her now, given the hostility she was receiving. It wasn't a great feeling frankly. Hearing the words brought upon her, Mi'la held an unamused expression, wondering how the hypocrisy was lost here. "Which is exactly why I must try. Hold us responsible all you wish, but by becoming a force of destruction, you have become that which you claim to oppose. I come here to save the lives, so that a cycle of violence does not ensue." She sighs, head dropping a tad.

She might have indeed signed her death warrant here, but again, she needed to try and save lives. "I would think as a doctor, you would seek to save life, rather than destroy it. A life spent in hate and rage does little to cultivate a full life. If they wish to hate us, fine, but attacking jedi worlds to hurt jedi only ignores the innocents who have no part in this feud. Do you understand why I have come here, to ask for peace?" She tried not to sound desperate, but she had the impression if she dropped dead here and now, this woman wouldn't bat an eye.

 

[Agatha Io]

"A Force of Destruction? Or Retribution?" Agatha asked Mi'la Undari . "Destruction is Csilla. Destruction is what virtually every refugee who came to us experienced. Taking out one temple? One? I may be a Doctor...but I am also a Citizen of this House, Jedi Undari. I've had to help tend to the very real and very serious physical and psychological wounds the refugees come to us with. People who saw lovers and family blown apart by molten bullets. Systematically tortured. Experimented on."

Agatha sighed, and clasped her hands together.

"I am not... callous...to your desire. Or unsympathetic." Agatha said calmly. "My Patients however, are people who lost everything. Their cities torched. Glassed. And no help from the Jedi Order, even when they begged. On their knees." Agatha explained.

"They came to us, as they did to you, with nothing." Agatha said with a sudden chill to her tone. "Unlike your refugees, however, the ones who came to us were unwilling to ignore the role your Order played in the Bryn'adul and Maw's ability to roam freely and pillage and kill and grow. I don't know personally who it was that set up the device that destroyed the Silver Rest. But let me assure you of this much..." Agatha said quietly, leaning forward slightly.

"The one who did it was very much a monster of your Order's own making. As are the rest of these patients. I do not personally intend to stop you from attempting to appeal to a peaceful outcome...I don't personally want my patients to suffer. But I'm afraid you don't understand how much the Order lives rent free in the heads of the citizens here. Hatred is a poor word to describe what they feel towards Jedi. Xiphos does not poison the minds of refugees, in spite of what the Order might believe. They come to us with their decision made."

Agatha closed her eyes.

"I understand why you are here. But you need to understand that from their perspective, you losing a temple is barely a quarter-drop in the bucket." she explained in a much softer voice.

Suddenly one of the Medical Nuetralizers ran in.

"Agatha, we have a problem!" she called out.

"What is it?"

"Patient 832 is rejecting the transplant."

Agatha stood up.

"Please accompany me, Mi'la." Agatha requested.

The Biot walked down a sterile white passage, making sure Mi'la was following.

She entered into a room where a patient was thrashing in pain on a medical bed.

Agatha immediately got out a medical scanner as she was handed a datapad containing his information.

"I don't understand. He was screened. We even gave him the precautionary anti rejection meds..." one of the blonde biots noted.

Agatha scanned the data, then him.

"This man needs to be put into stasis immediately and prepped for surgery. His nervous system is displaying very subtle exposure to a delayed effect Toxin."

"Our stasis pods are all occupied. And they won't be emptied in time." another Medical Nuetralizer said grimly. "We need to conduct emergency surgery now."

Agatha's hands went to her hips.

"Very well. Prep him. Do we have any Lung Prosthetics remaining?" Agatha asked.

"Running Low." was the answer.

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

Ah, that was the heart of it. Indoctrination. Listening to the woman's words, Mi'la was pained by how truly hollow and detached they sounded. Did she honestly think she had just come here because she of the temple itself? Not the horror that would unfold if this was not stopped? She wasn't angry, no, there was no reason to be angry at a misunderstanding. She was hopeful, that perhaps they would see her point trying to be made. "Then you do not understand. When you destroyed the temple, you killed innocents, not just jedi, but civillians, thousands of wookies who called the planet home died. But, that's not why I have come here. I have come here to ask it stop there, before this becomes a norm, how many thousands need to die to sate a rage against a by gone foe? It is senseless. You say you have not been corrupted by these words, but listen to yourself, you cast aside the deaths of how many to follow a creed against not just a group, but thousands of like minded, living beings. When does it stop, Agatha? Not everyone bears hate within their hearts, and not all hate jedi. Do you plan on killing them as well when they reach out and beg for it to stop?" She kept her voice calm, trying to remain a touch of the diplomacy that Master Sakadi had held during her campaign on Nar Shaddaa. "Victims they might be, but time and again when violence is occurred, do you expect the victims who arrive from it to be sympathetic to your cause? Hate begets hate, and feeding that hate with promises of vengeance, merely makes one a tool for a wicked deed. Please, you value life, I ask you to consider this so we can begin to heal this galaxy. I ask not as a jedi, but as a Twi'lek born and saved from slavery, I ask this of you to view it as that, and nothing more." She wanted to be understood, but doubted it would be so.

No one understood her, well, maybe aside from Millia. But this woman was not Millia. Though to be fair, hardly anyone was like Millia Korraay . Pushing the lovely woman from her thoughts, Mi'la found herself interrupted by another woman, and wanted to object to being asked to follow. "But you said they don't like my typ-" Seeing as how she didn't have much more of a say in this, Mi'la removed her robes, leaving her sabers with them, and followed Agatha. If it came to being attacked, she wouldn't need her weapons, she had come here for peace, not war.

Following, Mi'la kept her hands folded at her front, and bore witness to the man that seemingly was reacting negatively to whatever surgery he was undergoing. Frowning, Mi'la looked between the two, feeling the ripples of pain, she rather wanted to assist, but a concern made earlier made her question this would only be met with hostilities. "Agatha, with your permission, I might be able to assist. If you wish it." She offered politely. The entity before her was indeed a droid, but her own experience had taught her that the Force had a way of flowing though every living thing; droids included. This droids being bio-organic helped as well, but she had a sinking feeling that she might be requested to leave this patient be.

 

[Agatha Io]

As she and the other droids sought to stabilize him him and keep him alive long enough to get a surgery room prepped, Agatha stewed on the response Mi'la Undari had given her in the office.

Could House Io really afford the cycle of violence. It's members seemed to think the cost worth it. Her own programming said to be wary and mistrustful at all times of Jedi.

And yet...

...her programming also said House Io was her family. Her programming told her she should do everything possible to ease their suffering, Droid or Organic, whenever Possible.

She couldn't ignore the fact her family suffered.

Mi'la offered to help. Her programming was in conflict. Mi'la could stabilize the patient much more quickly.

But it would mean accepting help from an enemy.

Besides, how would it look politically?

He was starting to go critical. One Medical Nuetralizer injected him full of the enzyme that came out of their bodies but she could read the signs...it would buy him maybe seven minutes more at best.

Her programming was in very deep conflict at this point.

"I...I'm afraid I cannot allow you to..." Agatha replied, her own feelings screaming at the wrongness of it. "No true citizen of this house could stomach owing their life to a Jedi."

There. She knew she might be condemning him to death. And she didn't like it. At all.

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

Mi'la looked to the woman, then to the dying man, unsure why this was even an issue. A life wasn't worth a political position, no matter how devout it might be. Truthfully, she thought that Agatha would change her mind, even if she was a jedi, she could help. She wanted to help. But even as much as she wanted to help, she knew all to well how unwelcome assistance can turn some sour, and here? Well, it'd probably destroy her entire position she was struggling to create. Why did it have to be so difficult?

Hands folded together, she couldn't exactly read Agatha's emotions like a normal being, but the face of the woman said it all. She was conflicted over Mi'la just offering to help. The Twi'lek's lips tightened, straining to suppress the frown she wanted to show. She watched the man struggling, a medical droid moving to inject him with a stabilizing agent, but Mi'la could already feel the traces of death within the man's body; this was a futile gesture.

Being told she couldn't be allowed simply because she was a jedi, Mi'la felt her heart sink. She couldn't merely accept that, not so easily. "Then I renounce my oath to the Jedi Order. Can I assist now?" She asked, a bit impatient in her tone, but given there was a life at stake that wasn't important. "He won't owe me anything. Preserving life is sacred. I thought we could have agreed on that. If you want to, kill me after I assist him, but neither of us want him to die." Mi'la realized that perhaps what she had said was a tad idiotic, but she felt she had to do something, even if it put her life at risk. Hopefully the Force had planned for this, or she might have just put herself in a tough spot.

 

[Agatha Io]

Upon hearing that, Agatha's situation was made a million times easier where Mi'la Undari was concerned.

Plus, it might make Xiphos more hesitant to dispatch the hopelessly optimistic woman. Xiphos was very particular, very exact in her hatreds. She didn't hate Light Side Users as a whole. Just Jedi. Xiphos had infamously kept sparing Light Adepts from other Force Traditions that tried to bring her to justice not just to emphasize how pissed she was at the Order, but to keep any possible bridge she might have to those traditions open, however scant the possibility.

Plus, it's an incredible Feth You gesture to the Order.

Agatha was relieved, because her programming had been in serious conflict a few seconds before.

"Do what you can..." Agatha said softly to Mi'la. "But...you may find it difficult. I have seen Adepts heal before. Us Organic Nuetralizers were made to be somewhat difficult to affect with the Force in certain ways. I'm not sure how much success you will have using us as conduits for whatever if is you do."

"Agatha, he's critical!" another Medical Nuetralizer called out.

Agatha injected him with an emergency stabilizing agent as she waited for Mi'la to do whatever she intended to do.

But she was right: No one wanted him to die here.

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

The moment she was given permission, Mi’la was already reaching to the Force, moving to the man’s side. “I felt as much as we’ve been walking through here, but so long as there is something living, I can work with it.” She wasn’t a fully trained healer, she mostly dealt in using the force to still and remove pain, but there were other methods one could use the force for; such as heart beat regulation, breathing control, etc. Frankly it was harder to say what one couldn’t do with the Force rather than could do.

There was one trick Mi’la had learned about things like this. While non organic beings were a bit difficult to use the force on, it worked rather well using a force bond to conduit it through. Eyes closed, she felt the man’s vitals jumping, surging even, but the knight remained calm. A ripple would be felt by any force user near by, as Mi’la drew inwards, then outwards, as she encompassed the man with the Force.

Taking hold of him now, she encompassed the energy around his lungs and heart, gentle and secure, letting the Force into the organs, and synching it up to her own body functions. Taking slow breaths, she stimulated the man’s organs to match her own, though it was difficult at first, she continued to work the Force trying to slow the other organs, taking the stress off the man’s other functions to simply keep him in a stable loop; at least until medical aid could be better rendered. She didn’t say it, but she was intensely focused on this motion.

She only hoped Agatha and her personal had a plan. She couldn’t do this the entire day.

 

[Agatha Io]

His vitals vegan stabilizing and the Nuetralizers began to work with astounding efficiency, applying anesthesia and then expertly cutting into his body with miniscule bloodloss, suction tubes and cleaners whirring. The delayed effect toxin had damaged the replacement stomach they had given him. He needed a new one. Under normal circumstances he would have been placed in stasis. But they absolutely could afford no delays. The Toxin had caused the body to start rejecting the transplant. But Mi'la Undari had bought more time, allowing for the contents of an Antidote Kit to be applied, flushing the toxin from his system in minutes. But it was too late to do anything for the stomach, even with the healing enzymes.

Thankfully, one of the biots still had their blood and organs customized to his specifications and she went on a gurney as it was brought in, and quickly opened up, removing her customized stomach and transplanting it into his body, while another secreted the green enzyme from their flesh in fat drops directly into his organs to help heal up any lingering damage from the toxin. Sealing him up took only a few minutes, the enzyme from their bodies being dripped onto the scar.

Agatha spared Mi'la a glance...

"I thank you for your assistance, kind light sider..." Agatha said quietly but with sincerity.

Just then, a buzzsaw a Medical Nuetralizer was putting away blew a circuit, the saw flying off towards Mi'la's neck.

Agatha's superhuman reflexes allowed her to place her hand in the saw's path, catching it, but one of its edges brushed a finger, drawing open the skin, and dark green blood flowed down her palm in a small trickle.

Agatha sealed the wound up with a bandage.

"I don't think we have any more pressing emergencies currently. None that require your abilities anyway."

The Biot walked up to her.

"Please, let's go back to my office, shall we, I am certain Xiphos will be along shortly."

Ten minutes later...

"I do so apologize for putting you through that..." Agatha said, pouring Stim tea for Mi'la into a pink colored tea cup.

"But my programming was in serious conflict. The odds are high you will renounce your renouncement...but thank you." Agatha said.

"Normally our transplants go off without a hitch. We Medical Nuetralizers can customize our blood and tissues from patient to patient, serving as near universal donors. But even we miss things."

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

She was relieved to find that her efforts were not in vain, Agatha’s aids administered the care that the man needed. She would stand by assisting until the process was done, but once she felt the situation had been mended, she allowed herself to step back, a bit winded from the ordeal.

Mi’la’s danger sense flared for a split second, the knight moving her head back as she felt an incoming danger, and found that Agatha had caught the blade in her hand. Concern came to her mind, as she moved to inspect the woman’s wound, a bit surprised at her reaction time. “Are you okay? Force almighty, I’m sorry, if I was more alert I could have stopped that.” It was partly true, in combat her senses might have been up to par, but this was no combat scenario, and even if she had avoided it someone else might have been injured. Perhaps it was for the best, and given how quickly Agatha seemed to recover, she merely accepted what the Force handed down to her.

Collecting herself, she took in a breath. “You can just call me Mi’la, like I said, view me as just a Twi’lek with quirks.” She flashed an amused smile, before nodding as she was told her abilities were no longer needed. Seeing she was being beckoned away, she followed, content that she had done a bit of good today.


Sitting back within the office, Mi’la gave a thanks as she was offered tea, giving it an experimental sip to get a feel for the flavor. She was rather naive of such things, usually her Jedi lifestyle made her rather frugal. “Officially I need to declare it infront of a council or Jedi master for it to be official, so I’ll leave it as an unofficial resignation for the time being. Makes it easier for the two of us, yes?”

Nodding at the explanation, Mi’la held her cup, idly fiddling with and sipping it as she listened. “Everything breaks down eventually, droids and organics both, it happens.” She shrugged, smiling once more. “Not everyone is made the same, inside we all have unique qualities tailored to our being. Though I am impressed with your medical facilities, reminds me that I need to focus on healing techniques more often.”

Another reminder that she needed to better get a grasp on her force capabilities.

 

[Agatha Io]

Agatha smiled.

"Yes, it does..." The Biot said, sitting down.

It was so strange, Agatha thought privately. With her renouncing the Order, Agatha was able to look at her without the Programming...

Is this really the sort of person House Io wants to go out of its way to kill?

Was this the sort of person Agatha would want to kill, if Mother ordered it?

"In House Io..." Agatha said softly. "Everyone is Family. The people out there are my patients at the same time they are my family. Refusing you the first time was like an axe to my heart."

Agatha looked up at Mi'la.

"I am a sane Android that was forced to make an horrid decision because of my creator's programming. I...am still trying to process it..."

She sat back.

"I honestly have no influence Mi'la. I'm just the one running the med ward. To the Nuetralizers, we are the children of Xiphos. A race of machines, both Mechanical and Synthetic, like myself. All Warriors. Joined with any Organic who would claim us as kin, all to put down threats like the Maw."

Agatha then went still.

"It's Xiphos. Mother would like me to take you to her."



Ten Minutes prior to Mi'la's arrival to the planet...



Darth Xiphos floated in the field Bacta tank, which rested on golden, spidery mechanical legs.

The Medical Nuetralizer looked at her grimly in her armored dress, her wife, The Battalion close by, clad in a skintight red armorweave catsuit.

"You paid dearly teleporting nukes through a reality rip at Tython into the Avatar Reactor. The latent Brain Damage has started to accelerate in degredation. Coupled with hemorrhaging in multiple parts of your Internal Organs, the damage is severe enough to your body that constant immersion in Bacta or our Enzyme is the best chance you have of even reversing the damage. But it's a stopgap, ultimately. As you worsen, your ability to control yourself emotionally, and your ability to solve problems, will gradually start to slip. It's why you have been having more and more difficulty recreating our Technology and adapting it to newer generations. It wasn't just this one incident. You've forced a damaged brain to operate under combat conditions for years through constant use of brainwave regulators in your helmets. Your therapy may last years. Decades. You will gradually lose the ability to walk when out of your armor for more than 48 hours. You'll need to be in your various Armors almost constantly to operate."

The Battalion felt her lover screaming mentally, and both sympathized yet took joy in her suffering. She took it into herself, drinking it in, caressing a now confirmed worsening mind.

The Battalion turned to the Nuetralizer. "Leave us for now, young one. Your Mother is very distraught."

"The damage can be reversed to some extent, but it's going to take years--"

"Thank you. Your expertise has been noted. But right now I need to talk to your Mother..." The Battalion repeated softly.

The Nuetralizer nodded and departed.

The Battalion felt her lover's distress, her fear.

And while she wanted to comfort her, genuinely wanted to...

...it would be irresponsible as her Master not to advance her.

"Julia..." The Battalion called out to Xiphos, who couldn't stop screaming mentally.

"Calm down."

Xiphos forced herself to be still. Some of her worst nightmares were coming true.

"All this means is we need to make adjustments going forward. I can feel your anger. Your sorry at the losses at Tython.

Darth Themis, her adoptive grandmother, had warned Xiphos about seven months prior this would come to pass. Xiphos had also been told the only way to advance her own plans for the Cult would be to risk her sanity and soul. And then Xiphos had agreed to... something...she couldn't quite remember at the moment with Themis...and now she was here, suffering beyond what words could describe.

But she was ready, and however much her own anger and pain were genuine, she ultimately was not going to let the Cult have the final word. Xiphos's reckoning for them would come, and it would result in either their complete reformation...

...or their destruction...

Xiphos's plan for them, ultimately, was still on track, and remarkably intact. She had made a few changes to that plan, giving into the desire to make the Battalion her Wife, but it was still on track.

But part of her, she admitted to herself, also wanted to see why the Cult saw things the way they did.

"We will have to start showing you how to really use the Force to compensate for your injuries. Your pain and anger have never been greater. If you can master it, than the failings of this crude Matter surrounding who I love shall be inconsequential." The Battalion explained, running her fingers against the surface of the tank. "We will avenge our House."

Xiphos wanted to scream, wanted to remind herself it was part of the plan.

But right now, more than anything...

...she wanted to be embraced, and couldn't...

Mi'la's arrival almost hadn't prompted Xiphos to react. One lone Jedi wanting to talk peace was a joke to her right now, and she had been content to observe from the security feed as Undari's appeals smashed against House Io's grudges...

...but then Undari had renounced her oaths to save a life, and that had caught Xiphos's attention...and The Battalion's...

"She came here on what she had to have suspected was a Suicide Mission and then renounces her ties verbally just to save a life. Brazen." The Battalion remarked. "I sense a powerful wound in her. Will you kill her?"

"No..." Xiphos answered through the portable tank's comm unit. "We might be savages but we don't kill diplomats or messengers. I want to hear her pitch, just to say I heard it."

"You've heard these arguments before." The Battalion pointed out.

"But not from one so brazen." Xiphos replied. "Agatha seems to be giving us an in. We can't kill every Jedi who willingly walks into our den. Prepare my Armor."

Minutes later, the wounded, in pain Xiphos was in a sterilized body glove, slid into her dark blue Bio Armor . Picking up one of her most reliable weapons, she clipped it to her armor.

"Elaine, I've got an idea..."


Present...

Agatha strode in escorting Mi'la. Xiphos's back was to them, staring out of a viewport to the desert beyond. The Battalion was not present. She was gone, somewhere...

"Hello, Mother. I've brought Miss Undari as you requested."

"Thank you, Daughter. I hope you don't mind, but I would like to speak to our guest alone."

As an afterthought, she decided to diffuse any concerns Agatha may have had.

"I promise, no harm will come to her."

Agatha nodded to her Mother, than to Mi'la, before she departed the room, which was utilitarian in feature, save for the portable Bacta tank with the spider legs in one corner, and various medical equipment about. It was part apartment, part med bay, and part research lab, built to be taken down and packed quickly.

Four Model 1 units colored Dark Blue and holding Electrostaves all stared at her.

"I will admit, it's been a long, long time since I've seen a Jedi act that humble. Verbally casting aside one's oaths, even to get what you want, is no small act. Even if the motive is selfless..." Xiphos said, before turning to face her.

"It's the same problem I faced, once upon a time. A version of me, anyway. Do I stick it out despite my misgivings? Or do I call the Order on its crap and rebel? We both know what I chose. Alright, "Not-Jedi", you're not a member of the Order at the moment on the most hilariously flimsy of reasonings. You've caught my ear. For a few minutes anyway...and the promise to allow you to leave alive is good. So speak."


Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Agatha Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

Mi'la kept her smile, nodding to the doctor. They had a respect for life, though it seemed Agatha had a blind spot when it came to who could and couldn't be allowed to live. Mi'la could understand that entirely; sort of. "As I said before, for jedi, it is a similar concept when our own are killed. Many are parts of our family, as are those who aid us. Using that logic, can you see why I wish for our families to stop fighting?" She took another sip, hoping she was making her point clear, but she didn't like to assume things. "Take all the time you need. I'd love to stay and answer any questions you have, but I have a feeling that I might not be allowed to stay here for long."

Her smile faded as Agatha admitted how little influence she had. Though Mi'la merely nodded. "I know, well, that you have little influence here. That's why I came to speak with her. Though truthfully Agatha, I don't expect to leave here alive. But like you, I value all life, so I must try, even if it kills me." Her smile did return, but far more grim that it had been before. Eyeing the woman, tilting her head to the side. "And hopefully it won't be by your hands either. That would be rather distressing."

It was too bad. Perhaps in another situation, they might have become friends, but war had a habit of doing these things; keeping people apart.

When she was to be summoned to meet with Xiphos however, that made all expression of emotion fade. Taking in a breath, Mi'la set the tea cup down, and collected herself to expect the worst. 'Mother' as she seemed to go by here had a low tolerance for her sort, and as comfortable with her abilities as she was, she had known from Sakadi just how dangerous Xiphos is. It wasn't a fight she relished in experiencing, nor did she plan for.

She moved in silence, focusing on what she would say, and how she could try and work this out; so far it wasn't going great. Entering into the room, she saw Xiphos back, and with a bow, placed herself into a meditative pose. Legs underneath her, hands folded in her lap, she closed her eyes and kept her head bowed. She surrendered herself up to the Force for how this exchange would play out, though she was entirely aware of the occupants of the room, and Agatha seemingly trying to protect her.

She remained silently, wishing she could have spoken something reassuring to Agatha, but more concerned with feeling out the course she had plotted ahead. She wasn't exactly feeling good about it. With the doctor departed, and Xiphos speaking to her, Mi'la waited for the Darth to finish before she spoke. Raising her head, eyes open to address her directly, though she remained in her pose. "I come to request a peace between our sides. There has been too much bloodshed between our groups, and millions are now dead, or dying, just as with the Bryn. The cycle is going full circle, and I wish for it to end before any more need die." Her intentions and motives now stated, Mi'la awaited an answer, though she felt within her being that this could be the end of things. At least for her.

 

[Laertia Io]

"You think to ask for peace. Peace may not be a lie...but it's not worth it with the Jedi Order." Xiphos replied. "I don't care about what side of the Force is stronger. Your Order had a chance...a golden chance...to prevent billions of deaths. Billions! Everything I thought Jedi were supposed to do, and you all let the Bryn'adul roam unopposed. You threw in with those New Imperials. A tidal wave of bloodshed, worse than anything that happened at the Silver Rest...instead of all of you recognizing you needed to temporarily set aside your feuds."

Xiphos turned to Mi'la Undari Her veiny, Dark Blue Bio Armor obscured her features, her face concealed by a luminescent blue visor.

She stared at Mi'la, disturbed at how her purple skinned, Twi'lek features reminded her of Ursula Sandraven, the False Persona The Amalgam had used to train her as a teenager, to her ignorance.

Her words reminded her of the sort of person Laertia Io had hoped once that her time in the SJC would turn her into.

How they had disappointed her. Xiphos sighed.

"Don't think I don't understand your motives are sincere. But the Order didn't want peace when it would have been convenient for those in the Bryn'adul and Maw's path...why should we want peace when it would be convenient for the Order to have it?" Xiphos asked getting closer to the currently not a Jedi. "The Jedi Order deserves no breaks. Let them get little reminders like that, of how they screwed the people who came to me for help over. Let them run their mouths all they like about how I've fallen and become a butcher. The number of people I've killed?" she asked rhetorically, Mi'la's face reflected in her blue visor, disturbing her more for it's similarities to the face of a woman that had never really existed.

"As large and awful as that number is, it's nothing compared to the billions dead for the Order's mindless obsession with all things Sith. They want to go after Sith so much? Run with it at this point. And if people want to protect them well...dunno what you want me to say, Undari. We aren't trying to win over anyone that can't stop believing in the Jedi."

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Laertia Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

Mi’la withstood the woman’s words, understanding that emotion and retribution seemed to cloud the mind of this one. It related to stray ideals Mi’la herself had at one point in her life. This Darth had been injured in more ways than one, and not entirely physical. The Order had indeed made mistakes, that much could not be denied, but she had to hope Laertia could see the irony in her words. Mi’la needed to trend with caution, though she was wary of irking the woman with what was to follow. “When the Jedi failed you in defending the Bryn, what number was it that tipped your thoughts on the war. Was it the first death, the twentieth? A million? How many deaths occurred, before the situation was seen as neglect? I ask, because so too this situation may grow out of hand, and House Io risks becoming the very thing it sought to stop. If you seek to drive this conflict into a conclusion, you will kill untold billions to achieve this. Many of them not Jedi, but victims of your desire for revenge. As I told Agatha, I tell you as well, stop this violence before you become the enemy you sought to destroy. How many non Jedi will you be okay with killing just to fill the numbness within yourself? Because though you may think of a number, it will never end. Hate will make corpses of us all, so please, for the sake of all life, I ask you reconsider.”

Mi’la went silent once again, unsure what was going to follow her bold words.

 

[Laertia Io]

"The situation was neglect at Yurb." Xiphos replied in a hiss at Mi'la Undari . "And Yurb was a victory."

Neither Laertia or the thing that had eventually become Darth Xiphos within Laertia had understood the Order's attitude after the disaster at Nar Kreeta. Nearly the whole population was slaughtered by the Bryn'adul and their city-destroying worms and still all they could think about was crushing the Sith Empire.

"And where was this sentiment of The Order when the Order was helping the Alliance and the Imperials AND those damned Ashlan's invade all those planets, kill all those people yourselves? You guys can help armies topple governments whenever you get damn good and ready but Gods forbid someone tries to do the same to you in turn. Those are arguments of convenience, Undari. It's convenient for the Jedi Order to hold that opinion since they "won" that conflict. I'm sure a lot of Sith Citizens were just ecstatic at seeing the Alliance and Jedi kick down the door to their worlds to "liberate" them." Xiphos sneered, remembering it all. Every mealy-mouthed reasoning the Jedi gave for why they were ignoring The Bryn'adul. But in the end, no matter what, it almost always boiled down to the sentiment of 'they just aren't that important compared to the threat of the Dark Side.'

Xiphos had despised that sentiment. Laertia had been exposed to a million evils from a million sources before she was twelve in Nar Shaddaa's alleys. None of them had need a Dark Nexus or Sith incantations for their potency. She had thought The Jedi's obsession with The Dark Side and it's practitioners even somewhat limited in the face of so many other evils out there, but she hadn't been complaining back then. All she had seen herself as was a form of high grade pest control.

It had been a happy life back then.

"Your Order sought this conflict with Sith. So I'm gonna give them exactly what they wanted. They sought to drive it to its conclusion in the third Imperial Civil War, and they were perfectly comfortable killing untold numbers of people on the other side to get their way! People who had families too. Children. Homes. Property. Your Order was perfectly comfortable with taking all that away, smashing it to pieces for the sake of putting an end to the ones that ruled them. No matter how many died in the process. If you want to be whalers mindlessly pursuing a seabeast for an old injury when it comes to the Sith, who you will never, ever be rid of, why do you complain when someone makes the Order their seabeast? How many corpses has The Order's hatreds made?" Xiphos asked accusingly, pointing at her.

"You want an answer with how many I'm comfy killing? As many as your own Order decided it could live with when it came to overthrowing the tenth Sith Empire." she spat. "If your Order has the right to go after Sith, than House Io has the right to punish The Order for what going after the Sith enabled The Bryn'adul to get away with. Hate might make corpses of us all...but that's a risk your own Order is perfectly willing to live with, if not expressing it with word, than certainly with actions. And your Order's actions betray the thinking of a corrupt, scurrilous, self serving organization more concerned with holding on to its crumbling system that's already gotten millions who didn't need to die killed than it is with actually doing good and making a difference. You fought harder at Jedha and Tython, which didn't have a tenth of Coruscant's population, than you did at Coruscant. At Csilla! Because those were your home bases. They mattered!" she snapped, fists clenching but keeping patient. She had promised her daughter she would not kill this naive woman. She would keep that promise. "Your Order has no grounds to look down upon someone like me, when they have behaved a hundred times more abominably than I ever could have hoped to match!"

 

[Mi'la Undari]

The Peace Gesture
​

Location: Unnamed Planet
Tags: Laertia Io

Spoiler: Currently Equipped

Tython Sentinel Robes
Omi-Tool Arm (Right Arm)
Prosthetic Lekku
Numa Class Headdress

Mi'la winced at the words that were unloaded upon her, feeling like she was being turned into a symbol of blame now; something she rather did not appreciate. She listened however, though she found the woman's words to slowly start to dissolve into something more fitting of a rant. This woman couldn't be serious, could she? It was seeming more and more likely that Mi'la had walked into a trap, though Agatha had promised nothing bad would happen to her. She forced herself to relax, taking in a breath, and expelling it. "Then by this logic, you can be held accountable for the MAW by contributing to their victories against the Jedi Order, in a sense, the destruction of Csilla is on your hands as well using your own basis of an argument." She said softly, hands together tightly. "I am not the Jedi Order. I am Mi'la Undari, a member of the order yes, but I am not the body of their sins and mistakes. If you wish to debate and argue on their mistakes, then that is not an issue I can mend. As I have asked before, and ask again now, please let these past conflicts lie, so that new peace can be made. If you value life as much as I, you must see the pain and damage your actions hold. We can fix these issues, we can work towards correcting the problems, but not while we are busy killing and slaughtering one another."

Mi'la made an effort to rise, if allowed so, though she kept to holding her hands before her in a disciplined manner. "I took no joy in combating the Sith, but if you merely think they can exist in peace without attempting to kill their own, destroy their own worlds, then I ask you look at the various histories of Sith lead worlds. Korriban, desolate and lifeless. Exegol, desolate and lifeless. Dromannd Kaas, an overrun swamp land filled with vile and dangerous monsters. Need I say more of Malachor, or of Teth? There is a balance we must walk in life, and trying to take and become the aggressors of a conflict is in direct violation of this balance. Have the jedi failed in this, at times, yes, but that does not mean you should play the foil to them. You need not be the villain in this story, Laertia. We can bring change, but first we need to bring an end to the war." She brought both hands against her chest, pleading for all that she could, and feeling that she might receive a strike across the face for it.