Private Into the Electric Castle

[Salamander]

Tintagel, Cophrigin V

It was a hot, humid summer day on Cophrigin, shortly after noon. Sitting in a shady patch of his gardens, Messala looked up at the sky, his gaze searching. He found what he was looking for: thick clouds foaming in the distance, growing dark and heavy with summer rain. A storm was brewing in the south. He welcomed it, knowing the rain would help to lift the oppressive midday heat.

In addition to the clouds, he glimpsed the shape of an approaching shuttle in the distance, too distinct to be mistaken for any native bird. “Ah, that must be our guest,” he remarked aloud, standing up from his perch.

Darth Xanesh was a fellow Archon of the Primyn Group. She had asked to visit him here in his home, and though they didn’t know each other well, he had been intrigued enough to accept her request. Or rather, their request. She was two women in one, after all—not unlike his father, who was two men in one.

As soon as Messala entered the house, he encountered Errol, his only organic servant. The Sith Changeling stood waiting by the door. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Messala replied, “I saw the shuttle. I will go out to meet her myself, as planned.”

Errol nodded and stepped aside. Though his head was bowed, Messala noticed that Errol's expression was pinched with concern. “Errol,” Messala spoke with the soft tones of a father reassuring an anxious child, resting his clawed hands on the Changeling’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. It'll be fine. These women have been around for thousands of years—I’m sure there’s very little that can surprise them anymore.”

“That’s not what I’m afraid of,” Errol replied, raising his head and meeting Messala’s eyes. “I’m afraid they might.... The other Changelings I’ve met...”

“...are a bunch of petty ingrates. Just because I haven’t chosen to mold my form into something else, and instead have stayed in the ugly one I was born with doesn’t make me a lesser being than them.” He chuckled. “Xanesh is different, I’m quite sure of it. She may not have seen me like this yet, but it will not change what she thinks of me. We are scientists, not supermodels.” Releasing his hold on the Changeling’s shoulders and turning to go, he added, “Besides, it’s too hot today to wear a heavy robe just for the purpose of hiding myself in it.”

“It’s not too hot for a holographic disguise suite!” Errol called after him, prompting another laugh from Messala as he walked away.

So it was that upon arriving at Tintagel, Xanesh would find Messala waiting for her on the landing pad, alone, unarmed and, for the first time in her presence, uncovered. His face was as mean as his life had been. “Good afternoon, Darth Xanesh,” he greeted her. “You honor me with your visit.”

Ardana Vorco​

 

[Ardana Vorco]

Benûwia Antares / Darth Xanesh / Ireria Antares
Sith sorcerer, alchemist, historian, Archon of the Primyn Group, Owner of UAAK and GBATS​

Location: Tintagel, Cophrigin V
Equipment: Tactical Turtleneck | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit undersuit | Red blade lightsaber (Benûwia) | Red blade lightsaber (Ireria) | Polyweave dress | Shield talisman | Empyrean gland | G1 OmniLink
Tag(s): Salamander

Xanesh spent most of her time on Dromund Kaas, or just one of the excavations where the university was doing such work. Now, however, she asked permission from one of Archon’s colleagues at the Primyn Group to talk to him in person. The man accepted the invitation and invited the woman, women, to the planet where he had the property. So Xanesh travelled here to speak with him in person this time.

She already knew most of the Archons, though she didn’t really talk to most of them in person, only through holo broadcasts. It was more comfortable, especially if everyone was working and creating on a different planet. It was easier for her to choose Dromund Kaas, on the one hand she lived here for a long time, on the other hand there were the headquarters of her companies and the place where she spent millennia trapped in the world of the living. On the way to Arrius’ planet, she also dealt with the affairs of the University, she had just read and evaluated some of the dissertations among the students’ work.

As for the looks, Xanesh really didn’t care what someone looked like, she never cared. That’s why she felt the best since Hush in this smoky shape she wore. There were benefits to having someone in the body of a shape-shifter. She was just humanoid, though because of the clothes, her face wasn't really visible either, only her dark skin, which was deep blue, and her glowing bluish eyes. In her hand is a long law-like stick. If someone didn’t like the look, she didn’t care.

The shuttle landed and she could get out. The heat was immediately felt, she didn't expect it. Xanesh really didn't see the man opposite her that way, but in the Force she knew the aura of the other. So she recognized him.

”Lord Arrius! We are grateful that you received. We are glad to finally get to know you personally. It’s always great to finally meet such an excellent scientist. Wondering about our other question, would you teach at our university?”

​

 

[Salamander]

Xanesh in harmony with her two halves took on a humanoid form swathed in gray smoke. She wore her cloak like a funerary shroud swathed around her body. Only the immediate lines of her face visible, and even then the features of her face were indistinct, androgynous. The little bit of exposed skin that he could see was dusky blue, and her eyes glowed like stars. She looked like a nocturnal sorceress. The staff she clutched in her left hand completed the picture.

One corner of Messala’s mouth curled upward when she addressed him as Lord, and he bowed his head, giving her an ample view of his horns in the process. Her final question took him only slightly by surprise; he was aware of her attempts at recruiting new teachers to the university she ran. “I’m afraid I don’t have an official license to teach, but if that is not required, I suppose I could consider it. But first, it’s far too hot out to discuss this here—please, come in.”

He turned toward the castle and began to walk forward across the field of grass, assuming that Xanesh would follow him.

Beyond the gate of the fence, which was not very tall and really only designed to keep wildlife out, they had to cross the courtyard. The courtyard was populated by dozens of strange bronze statues depicting creatures made up of parts from different species—sphinxes, griffins, centaurs, fauns. At least, they seemed like bronze statues at first glance. If Xanesh were to look closely, she would notice that their emerald-green eyes tracked her wherever she went. Otherwise, they did not move.

Messala reached the front door, opened it and gestured for Xanesh to enter first, as was only polite. If for whatever reason she refused to enter before him, he would shrug and go in first himself, eager to be out of the sun.

Within the castle, air conditioning reigned. It was much cooler and more comfortable inside than outside. Spacious, too—the ceiling of the main hall, the first room they stood in upon entering, was as tall as that of a cathedral. The sound of Messala’s hooves echoed in the vast open space wherever he walked.

“Much better,” he remarked aloud, still leading the way. “Would you like to see the library? We can talk more in there about the university.”

He figured a scholar would be most at ease in such a place, though she had no doubt seen larger and more exhaustive archives elsewhere. And he wanted his guest to be as at ease as possible.

Ardana Vorco​

 

[Ardana Vorco]

Benûwia Antares / Darth Xanesh / Ireria Antares
Sith sorcerer, alchemist, historian, Archon of the Primyn Group, Owner of UAAK and GBATS​

Location: Tintagel, Cophrigin V
Equipment: Tactical Turtleneck | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit undersuit | Red blade lightsaber (Benûwia) | Red blade lightsaber (Ireria) | Polyweave dress | Shield talisman | Empyrean gland | G1 OmniLink
Tag(s): Salamander

”Don’t worry if you don’t have a teaching qualification, most of our instructors are scientists, archaeologists, historians. None were made for a teacher. Your knowledge makes you stand out too. And thank you, we agree, it's very hot out here.”*

Xanesh replied calmly to the man's answer, and then she set off after Messala. As they walked, she watched with interest. On the one hand, its surroundings and, on the other, the more distant castle. Bronze “statues” in particular attracted her attention, which were of many different shapes. Because art and aesthetics interested the woman (both) in every way, she naturally looked at them thoroughly, even through the Force. After all, she came to visit a Sith who knows what to expect. As she watched them, Xanesh saw that emerald eyes were watching them, their movements.

”Fascinating!”

She said in an appreciative voice. In fact, she would have accepted some of these creatures for her own possession, too, because they looked impressive, not to mention that they looked quite antique. And antiques were her weaknesses. When they reached the castle she had no objection to entering the building first. And the weather there was much more pleasant there. And the place is also stunning in its dimensions and design.

”We have to say, Lord Messala, you have a very sophisticated taste. And yes, the library is perfect for us.”

She said, and if the man shows the way, she will follow him there, while looking further curiously to see if she can see other things she likes.

---
* I don’t know what the custom is in America, but most of our university teachers don’t have a teaching qualification. If you have a PhD, you can already teach (at university and college) and there are many subjects where seniors teach lower grades in internships. So I took that as a basis.

And sorry for the late reply, with 5 characters the 3 invasions are “a little” burdensome

​

 

[Salamander]

Messala guided Xanesh into the library. At least three stories tall, it dwarfed the foyer in its sheer size. More than that, the walls were covered floor to ceiling with books, data tapes, and other forms of preserving information. The smell of aging paper and ink filled the room, though it was not musty thanks to the droids which regularly cleaned the dust that gathered on the shelves in addition to keeping everything catalogued and organized.

Glancing periodically over his shoulder, Messala found Xanesh in awe of his sanctuary. Her fascination with all that she had seen so far was apparent just by observing the curious way she studied every new thing that crossed her path. What’s more, she seemed totally unafraid of him, utterly devoid of the perpetual paranoia he was used to seeing in his fellow Sith. He found it quite refreshing.

“Perhaps I should have said that I have little experience in teaching,” Messala said, turning around in order to face her. “Though I have taken on apprentices before, it isn’t quite the same as teaching in a classroom. And what would you like for me to teach, exactly? Alchemy? Necromancy? Philosophy? All of the above?”

Messala kept his tone light and friendly, crossing his burly, woolly arms over his chest. Though he didn’t voice them, he had plenty of reservations about accepting such a position. Among them was a reluctance to work for anyone other than himself. Becoming a teacher for the UAAK would mean he would be beholden to the principal, headmaster, or whoever was in charge of running things—in fact, wouldn’t he be taking orders from Xanesh herself then?—and his experiences of being under the thumb of another person had been… less than amiable.

Ardana Vorco​

 

[Ardana Vorco]

Benûwia Antares / Darth Xanesh / Ireria Antares
Sith sorcerer, alchemist, historian, Archon of the Primyn Group, Owner of UAAK and GBATS​

Location: Tintagel, Cophrigin V
Equipment: Tactical Turtleneck | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit undersuit | Red blade lightsaber (Benûwia) | Red blade lightsaber (Ireria) | Polyweave dress | Shield talisman | Empyrean gland | G1 OmniLink
Tag(s): Salamander

Xanesh was really impressed by what she saw. It was always refreshing to get to know such places, to see what was here. Although in truth she loved very old things, she acknowledged that there were many things in the present that were more useful than in her old life. Such were, say, better compression algorithms and procedures, although in most cases these tools were accompanied by more modern tools. More modern looks. The theatricality of the building was also refreshing. It’s big at the same time and yet not the usual ostentatious.

The smell of aging paper and ink filled the woman with rather nostalgic feelings. The sisters didn’t just write just one paper-based book or Codex in their lifetime. Because they lived a long time ago, a significant portion of these were lost, but some of them were seen in @Emperor Carnifex’s huge library when the Emperor showed them on Dromund Kaas. The day they were resurrected and met the Sith Lord in prison.

As for the paranoia, she had it just like every Sith has, but she didn’t overdo it. Last but not least, she learned to hide this. As for looking around, she didn’t do it all indecently, she was pretty discreet. Xanesh turned back to the man when the Sith Lord addressed her again. The woman nodded to the questions before answering.

”Most of the university’s students are not Force Users. Thus, the scientific approach is also perfect to see the science behind the magic. We believe that the individual point of view is also important, so is the philosophy of what you consider important in this, what you think young people should consider when dealing with such doctrines. To tell you the truth, we have a fairly extensive education, so we’re sure you’ll find the part you’d love to share with others. Of course, we are not asking you to reveal your secrets, but only general things.”

They were Sith, and the Sith have a lot of secrets that they certainly wouldn’t reveal to others, so she didn’t even want to ask the man that.

”Last but not least, it would have the benefit of being able to use the university’s resources for your research and employ students or doctoral students who would help you. But it’s not mandatory, we won’t ask you anymore if you say no. That's not why we're meeting today anyway.”

​

 

[Salamander]

“You have free rein to explore the library,” Messala told Xanesh, gesturing to a computer terminal in the center of the room. “The database is accessed there. Tell it what you want to see, and a droid will bring it to you.”

To demonstrate this, he strode over to the terminal, typed something in, and then looked up. A small droid which strongly resembled a bird emerged from a port in the wall, fluttered over to a shelf, and with its delicate silvery beak plucked a volume from a shelf high above them. The droid then glided down to where Messala stood and placed the tome in his hand. It was a copy of Sheev Palpatine’s The Creation of Monsters, bound in leather from a dubious source.

“A common enough book, especially in a Sith library,” Messala remarked. “But there are more rare works among the collection as well. Holocrons too.”

So, the university was much broader than he thought. That certainly sidestepped many issues… but then, wasn’t UAAK primarily aimed at studying archaeology and ancient knowledge? It was in the title. It sounded more like something The Shaper would take to, a chance to share his experience with eager young students… unless that old fossil balked at the idea of teaching men and women with no sensitivity to the Force to speak of...

“As I said, I will consider the offer,” he agreed. “I can see myself giving a lecture or two here and there. But I happen to know someone, a friend, who I think would be more interested. His name is Arctus Silmar —he recently joined the Primyn Group, in fact. His knowledge of the ancient Sith is certainly far deeper than mine, and I’m sure he would get along great with you two ladies.” From what he could tell, Arctus was as old, if not older than both of the women in Xanesh’s body. No doubt they would have plenty to talk about.

“Ah, but what are we meeting here for today?” he asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. His tone was almost a purr, or at least as much of an imitation as his ruined vocal chords could manage. “You didn’t mention why you wanted to visit me when you first asked to come, and far be it from me to jump to conclusions.”

Ardana Vorco

 

[Ardana Vorco]

Benûwia Antares / Darth Xanesh / Ireria Antares
Sith sorcerer, alchemist, historian, Archon of the Primyn Group, Owner of UAAK and GBATS​

Location: Tintagel, Cophrigin V
Equipment: Tactical Turtleneck | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit undersuit | Red blade lightsaber (Benûwia) | Red blade lightsaber (Ireria) | Polyweave dress | Shield talisman | Empyrean gland | G1 OmniLink
Tag(s): Salamander

”You honor us! Your solutions are truly unique and stunning!”

Xanesh said when the man offered to look around the library. They really liked the solution the search engine had. The little droid also provided a truly aesthetic look like a bird. Benûwia loved things like that, Ireria liked simplicity, but even she recognized the greatness and aesthetics of this place. Sheev Palpatine’s The Creation of Monsters book. Ever since she came back to life, she has had the good fortune to read and hear a lot about Darth Sidious, who once created the Galactic Empire.

”We haven’t managed to gather everything we had before, a lot of things have been lost, destroyed, or just fallen into the hands of others. And of course, we haven’t been able to read all the news yet. Well, yes, a lot of things are new to us.”

In this respect, they were old-fashioned, for them there was all the novelty that was made after their death. She nodded to the university, not wanting to push the subject any further. Arctus Silmar; his name was familiar, though she had never seen or spoken to the man before. However, what Messala said about it was very interesting.

”Thanks for the suggestion, we will definitely talk to Mr. Silmar sometime.”

Why did they come? It was a really great question. If only because there were so many topics to talk about. After all, quite a lot happened to the woman, but now they weren't really that important…

”Actually, we still have time for that. Tell us about this Arctus Silmar more if possible.”

​

 

[Salamander]

Talk to them more about Arctus Silmar … Now that was a tall order. Messala held the book against his chest, looking like an avid student on his way to the lecture hall.

“He calls himself ‘the Shaper’,” he began. “I don’t know exactly how old he is, but he is certainly ancient. He claims to have served under Ajunta Pall. His specialty is armor and weapons, which he alchemizes with great skill. And he wears a specially constructed crown inlaid with three gems as bright as stars.” Messala gestured to his own horned brow. “Whilstones, he calls them. Each one is imbued with its own power. One of them can shield his thoughts and greatly enhances his precognitive abilities…”

Even now, his envious desire for those beautiful crystals was very apparent. He had wanted them, especially the Whilstone of Acuity, ever since he met Arctus. At the same time, he knew the old Chaldean proverb “having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting” was at play here, and was content to pine for the Whilstones without developing his own… or taking Arctus’ for himself. For now, anyway.

Ardana Vorco

 

[Ardana Vorco]

Benûwia Antares / Darth Xanesh / Ireria Antares
Sith sorcerer, alchemist, historian, Archon of the Primyn Group, Owner of UAAK and GBATS​

Location: Tintagel, Cophrigin V
Equipment: Tactical Turtleneck | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit undersuit | Red blade lightsaber (Benûwia) | Red blade lightsaber (Ireria) | Polyweave dress | Shield talisman | Empyrean gland | G1 OmniLink
Tag(s): Salamander

Xanesh listened with interest as Messala spoke of this man, Arctus Silmar . Shaper; even the choice of name was quite special. Because that word had quite a lot of meanings. What did the man play? Did the Sith Lord want to transform himself as a shape-shifter, perhaps the Empire, or did he have even bigger plans? Maybe much smaller? Xanesh came from an age where the name also had meaning and people chose a certain name for a reason. She found it possible that this man too.

Driving Pall; the man was already a legend in the woman's life, an ancient person. It was certain that this Shaper was indeed very old. Let's say she knew that Pall had been "alive" for a very long time. Not so much physically, but his spirit had influenced the Galaxy for thousands of years, so the Shaper could live at any time between BBY 7000 and BBY 3956. The point was, the man was older than her. The mere fact of this made him interesting to the woman. Rarely did she have the opportunity to meet such an old person. Although it was a little unfortunate in her eyes that they didn’t come from exactly the same age. But nothing can be perfect.

The man's equipment really conformed to the Sith techniques, standard. In the past, both women wore similar equipment, altered by alchemy and magic, jewelry (this was mainly Benûwia), clothing, armour. But as far as she had seen since she was alive again, that hadn’t changed much among the Sith. However, when Messala arrived to mention the gems, it really piqued Xanesh’s interest there. The woman immediately saw that these artefacts were of interest to the other Sith Lord as well.

”Whilstones, yes, a very long time ago, as if we had heard legends about it, but we never found evidence that these crystals were things that existed. Although we haven’t heard legends about their maker, just about the subject. But it will be great to get to know him sometime.” she said measuredly. ”And turning to why we arrived is none other than Ishtar Biot. We find this to be the most impressive of your works.”

​

 

[Salamander]

“Oh, the Ishtar Biot?” Messala echoed. While he showed no outward sign of anger to his guest, he was biting back his annoyance at the mere mention of the Ishtar Biot. Or rather, Biots. He had made three of them and sent each one on a different mission, and so far one had been severely damaged by Ingrid L'lerim , another had been captured by Subject 73 Red , and the last one he had completely lost contact with, its fate unknown. Xanesh might consider it the greatest of his creations, but Messala considered it one of his biggest failures.

Ah, well. That’s what he got for plagiarizing someone else’s hard work.

“I’d be happy to show you how I made the Ishtar model, though I’m afraid you may find the answer a little disappointing. Come, I’ll take you down to the lab.”

He led her out of the library. The lab was underground, and getting there required the use of a lift in the main hall—Messala’s hooves made walking up and down stairs difficult and impractical. Once they reached the basement, the doors slid open.

The underground laboratory was surprisingly small. It was divided into two areas. The first and smallest of the two was the workplace; it included numerous scientific machines and devices, as well as tools and implements typical of a medical bay. The second area was long and more like a hallway than a room. The walls were lined with alcoves containing large blocks of beautiful solid amber, each one containing a prisoner. These were the Amber Prisons which Messala had designed to hold his enemies and those which he needed "out of the way" but couldn’t simply kill.

Passing by several of the prisons, he reached an alcove which was different. Instead of amber, this one had a more traditional stasis field. The device currently held what appeared to be a young woman clad in only a white hospital gown. A silver dagger jutted out from her chest; the physical contact with the pure silver had severely weakened her, but she had not died from the wound. Well, perhaps “died” wasn’t the proper world, given that she was never truly living to begin with. Indeed, to Xanesh and any other Force User, the “woman” was obviously some sort of droid, and her body was noticeably resistant to the Force, appearing as almost a void to their senses.

“My forces captured this one on Nar Shaddaa,” Messala explained. “It is a copy of Westenra Mina , a biot created by Nine Lives , a brilliant Atrisian scientist. This thing can regenerate itself from the tiniest scrap of genetic material back into a full-sized being again simply by bombarding the sample with radiation. It can shapeshift, feed off of memories, and in some of its forms it possesses superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes... It’s the most marvelously advanced and sophisticated technology I’ve ever encountered. And it’s highly illegal. So of course, I had to have it for myself.” He sighed. “I figured out how to make my own copies of it and modified them as I saw fit. But I was working in the dark, without a blueprint. My experiments were trial and error. I’m afraid the results were… less than ideal.”

He neglected to mention that he had decided to forego personality programming in favor of implanting an actual soul in the machine and enslaving it to his will. Judging by how the Ishtar models had behaved, even that ambitious decision had been a mistake.

Glancing at Xanesh, he looked ashamed. “I presume you heard about the one that was shut down on Zeltros? That whole fiasco was very embarrassing for me. I don’t know what went wrong with that one in particular, but based on the reports, it had been malfunctioning for some time before the Empress Ingrid put an end to it. I suppose Her Imperial Majesty was simply putting it out of its misery.”

Ardana Vorco​

 

[Ardana Vorco]

Benûwia Antares / Darth Xanesh / Ireria Antares
Sith sorcerer, alchemist, historian, Archon of the Primyn Group, Owner of UAAK and GBATS​

Location: Tintagel, Cophrigin V
Equipment: Tactical Turtleneck | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit undersuit | Red blade lightsaber (Benûwia) | Red blade lightsaber (Ireria) | Polyweave dress | Shield talisman | Empyrean gland | G1 OmniLink
Tag(s): Salamander

In fact, it was a matter of every point of view, one experienced something as a failure, another as a victory. at that time the members of the Sangnir died during their experiment, thanks to which Benûwia was later able to summon the Blood Demons. Another issue is that Xanesh later died and was created in collaboration with them. So yes, from her point of view, everything was just a matter of point of view.

”Who knows who will be inspired by this, Lord Messala!” she replied gently to the man.

It is true that she has seen disappointing things in her life, but she has appreciated talent and also that if someone has created and experimented. More than once she got bored of something, put it aside, and then someone else finished it because it had a good idea of it. Or they had just perfected her work, maybe Xanesh did this with others' work. The range of possibilities was endless. Of the two, Ireria was the less maximalist, so she had an easier time in this area. And last but not least, she was the one who used the Mechu-deru, for example, Benûwia did not. She followed the man to the lab where the Sith Lord led her.

She looked around the rooms in the lab and on the way there, not very intrusively, of course, only discreetly. Eventually, they arrived at the “something” Messala wanted to show her. Through the Force, she felt about the woman she saw what she was like. Xanesh glanced at the man to see if she could get closer to the woman. If she got the permission, she did, if not, she just watched and examined her from a distance. What she heard was truly astonishing and amazing, she understood why the man wanted such a thing for herself.

”Amazing piece of technology! There was no such thing in our time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but these are partly due to Yuuzhan Vong, right? We are also interested in this technology, to be precise, Ireira. She is the one who understands the machines very well and can control them, she also helped the Primyn group more than once in such a field, when such research came to the fore. Perhaps together we could make more progress in this area.”

She nodded, heard about the Zeltros’ case, of course, that was when she became aware of the existence of the biots. And L’lerim was mentioned again, and since the Eternal Emperor disappeared, her name has appeared more and more. Xanesh was also one of those who believed it was L’lerim who disappeared and killed her emperor.

”That woman is a mystery, almost nothing can be known about her. She is a public figure, but nothing can be known about her. I wouldn’t underestimate her, who knows what she learned on Darth Prospero’s side and where she developed…”

​