Private In The Depths Of Hell

[Alina Tremiru]

Death wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Asides from the fact that time had lost all meaning, it was all just dull. Boring. Blank. Devoid of substance. Empty. She didn't remember who she was, not anymore. It was all black here. No light, no substance. Only her thoughts to accompany her as she felt like she was just drifting. What was her name? Who was she? Did she have hands? Feet? Skin? There were so many questions she couldn't answer, but she did her best to answer them. Anything to occupy her mind in this expanse. Mental exercises were the only thing she could do. Explore different ways to describe the things she did remember. At one point she had remembered her name, repeated it every day so she wouldn't forget. Time saw to it that she would.

Death was just lonely and empty.

She could feel. Fingers. Counted them to make sure she had ten. Same with her toes. She had a face, eyes despite not being able to see, ears despite not being able to hear. Was she actually incapable of seeing or hearing, or was it just where she was? She knew she died. Knew there were other people. Not with her, but she remembered that there were other people. Friends. Family. Her hands ran through her hair, something to give some kind of comfort, before she felt her eyes close.

Sleep. Dream. They could at least give her something to do in this endless darkness.

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

Solace was found nowhere. Eshan, Korriban, not even Coruscant, she could find peace anywhere. Quinn scoured the galaxy trying to find a moment's respite from everything that has followed here till now. Days and nights blended into one existence and she felt as if everything abandoned her. She was alone in this universe, all of it slipping through her fingers.

Quinn tucked away a book, one that was written by her mother's mother. Old Dathomerian witchcraft, roots that her mother rarely delved into - but it was a last resort. Yet, like every other bit of the Force and magic, it had failed her. She couldn't communicate, summon or reach into the depths of the void to find who she wished for. Quinn left her study and headed to the living room, she stopped at the large window overlooking Coruscant.

"I can feel you, but I can't reach you." Quinn mumbled as she chewed on the tip of her finger. Shutting her eyes, she tried to focus on the familiar feeling. It was weak, but she needed to hold on to it.

Where are you Alina…

 

[Alina Tremiru]

With only memories, the void was empty. But time and boredom bred experimentation. Alive, she had long refused to just sit around and wait. It wasn't her life to be complacent. Should her death be the same? No, is what Alina had decided. If she couldn't see or do anything here normally, then she'd find her own way to exist. If this was all death had to offer her, she'd rip her way from it's clutches.

The lack of time was a blessing as much as a curse. Experimentation, finding what had been lost. Finding some sort of reality here in the void. Reality was, as she learned, what she wanted it to be. She had control here, if she focused. First came shape. Something simple. Square, circle, triangle. Flat at first, then more dimensions. It was her own little world, galaxy even, to make her own. When she finally learned how the control worked, she made herself something simple.

A room. The room. Home, at one point. Every detail she could remember filled the room, though it still paled in comparison to her memories. There were details she couldn't remember, small things that made the whole place seem.. Foreign. Wrong. But for a first try it wasn't too bad. And at least she could do more than just drift aimlessly. And yet, she was still endlessly alone.

Or so she thought. A feeling had been growing stronger by the moment, fast or slow she couldn't say, but as she found a spot to plop onto the bed she'd created, it was clear there now. Someone reaching for her. Not someone. She smiled, reaching towards the thread that tied her to the other and tugged just a little.

"Quinn."

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

Quinn could feel frustration building inside of her. It had become the usual pattern of her evening. She foolishly reaches out into the force by some means, sith magic, light sided force tricks, or dathomirian magic. When they failed time and again she became frustrated, then scream into the void. After it all, Quinn found herself hoping that the void would scream back giving her a sign to keep going or to give up. It was a futile journey, but the Echani pressed forward.

Today though, something reached back. She heard her name whispered in a voice she longed to hear. It took Quinn by surprise and she found herself not knowing what to do next. There was never any preparation for something like this. Was this thread really connected to who she was calling for? Quinn could feel every logical thought tell her to give up and that this was a terrible idea - a trap. But logic was the last thing she was going to listen to, she needed to know. If this was Alina, if there was a way she could communicate, it meant that there was a chance.

And that’s all she needed.

Quinn focused her mind on the small thread, fingers commanding the force to intertwine with it. Gently, invisible threads folded and encompassed the single strand she reached for. The force protected and pulled trying to do anything to keep the connection alive and strong. Quinn shut her eyes tightly, focusing on the moments the two shared and the longing desire to have Alina with her once more.

She could feel the guilt building in her chest, knowing that she had not been the greatest. “Not now.” She groaned to herself under her breath, thoughts like that only plagued the potential connection. “Alina” her mind spoke through the delicate connection.

“How can I find you?" ​

​

​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

“How can I find you?"

The voice was clear as day. Was it all in her head, though? Her imagination running rampant in her lack of sanity? .. No. She felt the pull through the Force. And.. Guilt. Frustration. Relief. Alina smiled softly, reaching her hand out to continue to pluck at the string that kept them bonded. Even through death. It was a sentiment that brought quite the smile to the dead Sith's face. "Follow the thread. The Netherworld is not hard to enter."

If that was indeed where Alina had ended up. The tales said it was the land of the dead, and she indeed saw many who had died in her own time traveling the hellish landscape. Yet she didn't see such a place for herself in this void.

"I'm afraid I don't know where I am otherwise."

Could Quinn even hear her in turn? Hear everything she was saying? It was possible she didn't. Perhaps she should've paid more attention to those classes at the academy. She sighed, lowering her hand to instead fall back against the bed and stare aimlessly at the ceiling she'd created.

"Forgive me."

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

Quinn held her breath as the words traveled through the waves of the force. Each sound caressed her ears, taking shape and forming the pictures in her mind of the task. Alina had died while Quinn chased a ghost. Quinn thought she was alone, but the bond they had shared transcended the finality of death.

The netherworld. Her former mentor had made mention of it, one of her mothers could be considered obsessed with it once. Quinn remembered the time Ashin had burned a hole through time and space to rescue her birth mother. Her lips tightened as she remembered watching Ashin carry her wife through the tears - willing to sacrifice their children for the woman she loved. Stray thoughts only hindered her focus and if Quinn lost her brief connection, she could lose Alina forever.

The force is like a web, intertwining all the living together, not one strand stands alone. ​

Quinn heard her mother's lesson echo in the back of her mind. This wasn't the only connection she had with Alina. There had to be several and enough to either rip open a hole to the netherworld. If she couldn't rip a hole large enough, then she could squeeze herself there.

"I'm afraid I don't know where I am otherwise. Forgive me"

A small smile twisted at the edge of her lips. It didn't matter where Alina was, she knew a way to get to her. "No need to apologize, I'll find you - I swear it." Quinn focused hard on their connection, their bond that only grew stronger the more they remained connected. Thoughts and memories formulated in her mind, remembering the rituals Ashin performed along with flashes of cherished moments with Alina. They were all Quinn needed. If Ashin could rip open the Netherworld, so could she.

Quinn held fast, her grip tightening around the binds of the force. She channeled everything she wanted to tear open the gates of the Netherworld if it was the last thing she ever did. She could feel the power surging through the force, it crumbled at her touch and began to fray. Quinn felt her body begin to give up, weakening faster than the gateway could open.

Suddenly time stopped and the ground beneath her crumbled. A bright flash of white blinded the young woman and silence drowned out the city that bustled outside of her window. She couldn't even hear her scream or the name she cried out for.

"Alina!"

Quinn felt herself falling freely, the force abandoning her at this moment she desperately needed it. Arms reached, but couldn't find where she ended and the rest of the galaxy began.

All she knew was silence and her descent.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"That's not what I'm sorry ab-"

Alina had, for the most part, been rather calm about all of this. Hearing Quinn's voice, speaking to her through this tether that they had discovered, it was a relief to just not be alone. And, perhaps, death had just tempered her emotions to a deadened degree. It wasn't something she had been thinking of, but as she felt a disturbance in the void she'd been living in all this time she couldn't stop the sudden rush of emotion that had ripped through her.

The emotion she'd felt through every moment she'd spent with Quinn. The annoyance and hate of their first meeting. The rivalry, the inadequacy. The want and comfort that had changed all of it in a single meeting. The pain and hurt as Quinn left for the pull of Vesta. It all came crashing down at once to leave Alina sunk to the floor. Too bewildered to even think. It was Quinn's doing, of course. The pull to find that web and rip even reality apart.

The next tremor came, and she felt this world she'd crafted herself fall apart into the nothingness it'd started as. No, not nothingness. She stared up at the sudden and blinding light given life to the void around her. And the figure that lingered within it. Fell?

"Alina!"

She reached up, pulling on those same threads with all her might. Shattered the black that had become her home to reach towards the familiar warmth. "I- I'm sorry! I ran, I got drunk on power, I got myself killed. I'm so sorry Quinn!" It all came bubbling out, all the emotion and regret. To have just left the letter she did before she left to the Sith, to have just died without seeing her again.

Light returned as she leapt, desperately reaching for the one who had not given up. Not as she had. "I'm here. I'm here!" Barely a form, though. She had no body, not anymore. Just a shade amongst the dead, locked in her own hell that she'd created for herself. She could see it clearer now, the endless fields of death around her where the other dead stayed locked and alone. Their truest punishment.

A shadowy hand reached for the light, the only one who did.

"I'm here!"

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

Did I die? ​

The falling felt without end. There was nothingness around her and yet she felt Alina everywhere. She heard her voice echoing in her mind and visions of their shared memories. Quinn felt her chest tighten with every breath. Was the air running out? Maybe she did die and now she was in her forever descent to the netherworld.

The voices grew louder and Quinn quickly recognized the words, they were Alina's. She felt her free fall slow and became focused as her eyes finally opened to the wasteland. Panic replaced confusion, she had been consumed by the netherworld. Where had she failed? Why was her mother able to tear open the hole and then leave without trouble?

Something moved towards her and instead of fear, Quinn could feel the familiarity with it. The shadow reached for her and Quinn reached back. Was this Alina? It didn't look like her, but it felt like her. That was enough for Quinn. If this truly was her end, she found peace with it knowing that she had found her way back to the woman. Her hand reached through the fall collapsing onto the shadow hand.

The warmth she hadn't felt in almost a lifetime caressed her palm. It was enough for her to correct her fall and land on her feet with only a stumble. The shadow in front of her, standing surrounded by the wasteland of death. No fear and Quinn refused to let go. "Alina?" She questioned, closing the gap between them. Her head tilted slightly, "Why don't you look like yourself?"

Quinn didn't remember this type of interaction between her parents. Why was this different? Her pale hand reached, caressing what would be Alina's face. Quinn focused on what the woman looked like and how she remembered her. It was another time, another life when she had been this close to the woman. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have chased my past, shouldn't have chased Vesta - I had everything I needed and wanted in front of me." Quinn remained close, "Can I take you with me?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

It was her. A beacon of life in all this death. Warmth in the chill. Alina took the hand that reached back, the red that acted as her eyes staring. It was real. It really was real. All of this was real. She tightened her grasp around the familiar sensation before nearly jumping at the touch of her cheek. It was still so foreign after all this time here that it caught her by surprise. A surprise that faded just as quick as she leaned into the touch and reached up to hold the hand closer.

"I don't have a body."

She could feel it now. The tether Quinn had to the living world, she didn't have it any more. No body, no connection. She'd frown if she had the face to do so. Frown, if she wasn't just pulling Quinn into a much firmer hug. "You have nothing to apologize for. You could always come back from that. I-" Could she come back? No, she could. She knew she could. So long as she was still conscious like this, she just needed a body, right?

"I need a body. I can't leave here without a body." That was the only limitation. She'd heard of the rumors of Carnifex and how he'd been able to cheat death. Nothing concrete, but he had new hosts.

"My family's labs. All Tremiru woman are just clones of the last altered to be more.. Perfect. I just a need a body made."

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

The moment was almost perfect. She had found Alina, but now she needed to take her away from this literal hell. All she wanted to do was hold the woman, find the safety that Alina provided, and to finally feel complete.

"A body." Quinn repeated. It was simple enough and she should have had a plan before ripping a hole into the Netherworld. There was always a way to escape death. The Jedi knew it and the Sith as well - in their world there was never a true death, unless one willed it. "I didn't prepare well for this." Quinn smiled slightly, embarrassed.

Good news, Alina had apparently already had a way to do this. Still, there was no way for Quinn to just magically have a body appear out of thin air. It wasn't just the body though, Quinn has no idea where Alina's family's lab was. What foolish endeavor this was. Once more she had acted on impulse. Quinn mulled over her choices.

"I don't know where any of that is Alina, nor do I think I would even be able to just waltz in there and have a body." She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought.

"Could you use me?" Quinn stared at the red orbs that seemed to be Alina's own eyes. "Is that possible? Because if you can leave with me now, inside of me - then we won't have to return to this place…ever." It was a risky option, two souls residing in one body. She was confident though, her own creation and birth was by the will of the Force - that had to help in some way.

"With you, using me - we could transfer your essence easier. You'd have an almost endless source of the Force to fuel the transfer, without any dangers of the Netherworld threatening us in potentially weakened states." Quinn nodded, hoping to add emphasis on her idea. Right now, not only did it seem like the best choice, but it was probably their only choice.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I.. Your body?"

The uncertainty was clear in her voice. She knew the danger. It was the same she faced just making her own contract with a long dead Sangnir. But for her to take control of Quinn's body, to live inside her even just for a short while, it could destroy Quinn. Erase her in a way worse than death had taken Alina. And yet, Quinn remained confident. The dark mass that was Alina watched on for a moment longer in silence before she sighed.

Quinn might have jumped into breaking a hole in reality, but she had to have thought through that offer more, right?

".. We can try. But if it becomes a threat to you, destroy my soul and keep yourself alive. I.. I don't want you to pay for my mistakes."

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

“Our mistakes,” Quinn corrected her quickly. “My actions did you no favors, so there’s no reason to blame yourself consistently.” Quinn smiled, wanting to ignore the thought of having to destroy Alina. “I can’t handle it, but fine if things get bad, I’ll do what I must - let’s move fast then so I don’t have to make that choice, my love.”

Quinn had grown within the force. She was far from the apprentice Alina had met when they rivaled for Taeli Raaf’s attention. The woman had become something akin to her mother, a presence that preceded her. Stepping back, Quinn pulled her hands reluctantly from the shadow. Taking a deep breath, she began to pull at the threads of the force once more. Quinn opened her mind’s defenses to allow Alina to connect with her.

“Once I’ve taken you in, I need you to focus as much as you can on your autonomy. It will keep your entity whole and avoid merging with mine for as long as possible.” With her mental preparations easily completed and a threaded Force bond present between them, Quinn said one last thing. “I love you,” She exhaled and waited, her body as prepared as it could be in such a short time frame.

All that was left was for Alina to accept the transfer and allow what was left of her to be absorbed.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I'll do what I must too, then."

She knew the real intention of those words. If they weren't in the land of the dead, she might've been more determined to convince Quinn of the importance of saving herself. But Alina was far from the first to long for life. The shadows around them had started to stir, pulled from their own endless hells by the promise of life. And the invitation of a host. She wanted to hesitate, to say something more.

"I love you too. I'll see you soon."

That's what she had to hope for. She untethered from the barely physical form she'd been reduced to and let herself fade into Quinn. Retreated to herself. It was a whole different feeling than what she expected. Devour, or be devoured. She could feel her thoughts scattering, her very essence being pulled apart as if she was being consumed. And yet, all this time here, all the control of trying to keep herself herself, turned out to be rather useful here.

She just needed to keep herself herself.

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

Quinn felt her body heavy since it had become the vessel for two souls. The shadow before her slowly dissipated. She waited for a moment allowing her existence to settle with the precious cargo. Suddenly, Quinn felt as if the entirety of the plane was staring at her. She watched as other shadows began to take shape and began to move eerily closer to her. "I think I've overstayed my welcome." She mumbled to herself. Turning on her heel, Quinn ran. She needed to buy herself time to try and find the weakness in the force's weave that she entered into. Standing there with the shadows only ensured she and Alina would be devoured.

Her mind quickly calculated what she could while she did her best to sense through the force the closest hole that would get her and Alina back to the plane of the living. As she ran, she could see from the corner of her eye the wave of black shadows growing. More of them wanted to leave, wanted to consume, or worse. Quinn scolded herself, knowing that this would have been smoother if she had taken a moment to plan. Curse her impulsiveness when it came to matters of the heart.

"Oh screw it." The Echani stopped running and dug her heels into the ground. If she couldn't just simply sense her path in, she would have to just make her way out. Just like before, she focused on each of the woven strands of the Force, her mind focused on them and her path home. The only difference was she didn't have an anchor like Alina to guide her. She could end up anywhere, but that was a risk she was willing to take. Was better than getting stuck in the Netherworld.

Body and mind strained against the brute attempt she was making. She couldn't stop, if she did she was going to die anyway. At least if she died trying to open the gate then it was on her efforts. Quinn could feel the shadows drawing closer, their tendrils nearly clawing at her neck. There wasn't much time left and with one last pull, she found herself falling once again. Her eyes widened as she watched the warped wasteland crumble under her feet. Focus, Focus on home, Focus on home, living room, couch, floor.

Something.

A loud thud echoed in the brightly lit room of her Coruscant apartment. Quinn landed on the floor and faced downward. The apartment was silent, except for the patter of toe beans against the hardwood floor. A black tabby wandered its way to the comatose woman. It purred gently, rubbing its face against Quinn's doing its best to wake her up. She stirred, groaning as a hand pushed back her white hair. "Don't worry about me Maul." Quinn smiled as the cat rubbed against her hand as she began to sit up. "I'm okay." Pausing, she focused inwardly hoping to feel Alina as well. "Alina?" She spoke out loud, unsure how they would even communicate. "You're still there right?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Worry and fear.

They were the only emotions that leaked from Alina as she set about keeping herself herself. Keeping Quinn separate. This wasn't going to be sustainable, that much was already clear. They needed to find her a true body, and soon. Not that she was completely aware of everything that was happening around her. The worry flared further as Alina did finally realize Quinn had no real plan on how to get back.

Worry, and amusement. Easily felt no less admist her attempts to stay centered and whole. It was very much like her, but to think she'd just have ripped her way into hell like this. Thankfully it seemed she did at least have the ability to leave.

Outside the nether the pressure she felt was lessened. No longer did it feel like her mind was being pulled in endless directions. And yet, she felt weaker. That was frustrating. "I'm here." Her voice was an echo. Disembodied. And only hearable by Quinn for the time being it seemed. "You made it out."

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

"Thank the Force I did." Quinn sighed with relief. Alina had made it out as well. She would be lying if she said she knew this was all going to work out. The entire endeavor was a risk, there was no planning and they were both lucky it panned out. Quinn leaned against the base of her couch, catching her breath as Maul decided to take advantage of the woman's lap. He curled up and purred happily and flopped over to expose his belly. Smiling, she rubbed the cat and exhaled heavily. "Okay, we need to get you back into a body - you think you could show me, tell me how to get to your family's lab?"

Leaning forward, she held her head. A headache was growing and she wondered if it was the strain of netherworld travel and the fact her body wanted to either eject or absorb Alina. This wasn't going to be something she could handle for long. Quinn stood and scooped Maul up with her. "Sorry bud, I have some things to take care of." She plopped the cat onto the couch, which didn't seem bothered to be placed somewhere comfy.

Quinn paused for a moment, drawing upon thoughts and memories. "I'm going to assume Dromund Kaas is where we're going." She didn't wait for an answer. There wasn't enough time to chit-chat, there was time for that after she got Alina to her body.

Preparations didn't take long. Quinn had learned to pilot since Alina had seen her. The estranged princess wasn't as pampered and useless as she was before. The ship took off quickly, leaving Coruscanti space behind it. Quinn held onto the controls tightly as she let her body sink into the chair. She was tired, but she couldn't let herself relax. A part of her was scared that if she relaxed either she or Alina would completely take over the other. Just as Alina was focusing on keeping her existence tight, Quinn needed to do the same.

One thing was hanging on Quinn's mind. "Alina? When we get you into your body - you'll remember everything, right? Will you also still be a Sangnir?" It was a concern, she doubted the bodies kept at the labs were properly nourished. A hand reached towards her neck, fingers lightly touching the faded scar.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Kaas, yes. I've spent a long time just excavating it after the death of my mother. It's.. Old." It wasn't one the family used in recent days, but it was still one of the most advanced. The memories came and went as Alina spoke of it. The entrance in the mountain on the estate lands, the hidden paths that the First had so the rest of the family couldn't use her notes. Alina had figured out many of them regardless, before the fall of the Empire at least.

".. You can fly now."

She hadn't expected that. Quinn, the princess that she was, handling her own ship and flying. She was impressed. Possibly more than she should've been, but it wasn't the thought she lingered on. The concern Quinn felt as the ship hurtled through hyperspace. How much of her was Sangnir? Was it just the body, or was it something more now? Before her death she'd ascended to something.. More.

"I.. Don't know if I'll remember. I don't know how this works. But I won't harm you. Not like that again."

Kaas came into view then, and it wasn't a long trip down to the surface. With her memories it was easy to land close to the entrance. Which had Alina still marveling. Some of the memories she could feel from Quinn of her time in death was.. Unbeleivable. The Ashlan's were not only dead, but the Sith had returned. They could land without having to sneak their way down.

That alone said a lot about just what changed.

"Deeper in. There should be.. I think there's already a few made. .. My mother spent so long wanting to solve what the First had been doing, but it was all there, just waiting just out of her sight." It was one of the memories she had mulled over in that hell of a void. And now it was flashing through her mind again. Their mind. She frowned, refocused her center. They needed to stay separate.

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

The pair walked as a single set of footprints through the passages that Alina had shown Quinn. "I know a little about the process. One of my parents was pretty skilled at it. Easily passing through bodies and retaining all her memories." Brief memories flashed in her mind, a montage of different faces holding a younger Quinn. Each face bore the same hellish yellow eyes, the only tell that the person was Ashin Varanin.

"Lucky for us, I learned a bit and was able to retain it, unlike my sister." Quinn quipped as she never let a chance pass to slight the current Eshan Queen. It was done all in fun, she loved her sister. "As for harming me, Alina I trust you, more than anything you know that." Quinn smiled, "And you know, if you need it I'm willing." She didn't need to explain more. It was unknown how the lab kept the host bodies nourished, or if it was just enough for them to continue living and growing.

Getting there and stepping in was less of a pain than Quinn thought. Maybe it helped having Alina's mind able to give her the necessary knowledge or maybe it was just that luck was on her side. Making her way through the passages, Quinn held her breath, until she stepped through a larger entranceway. The light was different and the sounds of tanks echoed in her ear. Her heels clicked lightly as she cautiously entered the room.

"I'm assuming we're here?" She paused to take a look, "Where exactly would you be? Or is this something that you can just pick whatever body you'd like" Quinn knew being picky was something they wouldn't be, but she hoped that something akin to what Alina looked like was close.

"Lead the way, I'm pretty lost here and we don't have much time - I also need to save some energy for the transfer."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I believe it's something you can do. I know I can't."

Or, perhaps, couldn't. If she learned now, would it be a skill she could use? She'd gotten so much stronger before she died, so much more connected to the Force. If she could smile, though, she would be. Even after all this time in death, Quinn still trusted her. It was at least obvious that the thought made her happy. Memories, flashes of the path that needed to be taken to find the lab deeper within.

It wasn't long until they made it to the chamber that had been visible in her mind. The main lab. Empty bodies floated in tanks within there, all a mirror of Alina. Of all Tremiru woman. "One of these will do. That one, specifically." The most recent, by comparison to the others especially. Alina had picked up where the First had left off. And her own body made for the prime choice for experimentation.

To imagine that she'd be taking over the body, rather than just fixing her own, was as humbling as death had been.

"What do we do?"

Quinn Varanin

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Alina Tremiru //:​

Alina's confidence in the Echani Princess made her smile. It had been some time since she even spoke to another living soul - she didn't know if this counted. Her whole world shattered into pieces multiple times over in the last handful of years causing her to recluse. It was worth it in the end. Quinn wondered if she hadn't, would she even be in this position now?

Quinn nodded and moved towards the direction of the cloned body that floated in the tube. She found herself staring as the face of Alina slept peacefully. There was morbid curiosity and she wondered if the body had a mind, a personality, a conscience and if they were about to snuff it out. In a futile attempt to ease her mind, Quinn placed her hand on the glass panel. Through the Force, she felt nothing beyond a life - one that held only one purpose, an empty vessel.

"Okay, Alina. For this to work and for you to retain a decent amount of your memories, I need you to focus on something. Something and anything that anchors you to who you are or what you want to be." Quinn began typing on the console next to the vat where the body was floating aimlessly. She began to quickly override some of the codes, each bit pulling from things that Alina had briefly shown her.

She pressed enter and waited, then was soon greeted with the hissing sound of the tube opening at the top. Quinn climbed the step ladder and stood above on the platform hovering over the opening. "I'm going to begin transferring you, you should be able to breathe and um," She knelt and rolled up her sleeves, "Don't panic when you enter the best you can - I'm going to pull you up as fast as possible out of the bacta liquid." Quinn laid down on her stomach allowing her arms to be long enough to wrap her hands around the head of the vessel. Thumbs pressed on the woman's brow and she inhaled deeply, locking her mind onto Alina's essence and binding it in the force. Quinn became the conduit, a guided path that Alina's soul could pass through into its new home.

It was good that the vessel didn't have a consciousness, if it did, the process would be longer and more straining on both of them. And if the conscious with strong Quinn would be putting herself in danger of losing her mind in the process. Currents of the Force pulsated through Quinn as she opened the mental and spiritual pathways for Alina to traverse.

Quickly.

One single word was all she could muster to help guide Alina through the event. The rest was up to the woman, all the strength that she had mustered in her previous life would be tested in this moment.

It was do or die (again).