Private Korriban: Aftermath

[The Battalion]

Wearing: Naath Cowling (Custom Appearance, White Color)

Armed with: Elaine Tear's Lightsaber (Corrupted)

Current Objective: Visit Laertia


Aboard: The Blood of Sarka (Arquitens Cruiser)


The Battalion knelt in front of Xiphos's Bacta tank, surrounded by a circle of blood wards in a white, ceremonial gown as she chanted unholy things to help speed up the healing process.

They were out on the outer rim. Korriban had been preserved. Against all the odds Korriban still stood.

The Battalion was more powerful than ever. And she was using that power for all it was worth to knit back together her injured body.

Xiphos had grown more powerful as well. The Battalion could feel it. It made her thirst to have her.

Nuetralizer Model 1's stood guard over the Bacta Tank. Only they, she, and Xiphos's main Family members would be allowed to see her.

She didn't know all the details,but her duel with Coren Starchaser had been something fierce. Fierce enough that this was day three of her being in the tank. Cedric Grayson and his Ashlan Crusade had thought themselves greater than the heart and birthplace of all Sith Orders. Korriban had proved them wrong personally.

Epically.

Xiphos floated in the miracle fluids, twitching as she felt the Battalion's presence, comprised of the forcibly inverted soul of former Jedi Elaine Tear, and dozens of evil Witches inside her mind.

Xiphos's eyes, shielded by the all encompassing face mask, blinked open, spotted the Battalion chanting. The process was finished.

Slowly, the Bacta tank began to drain and her feet reached the bottom. The tank opened up and she ripped the mask off.

"Batty..." Xiphos said, blinking. "You stayed there, three days, chanting."

The Battalion smiled.

"Worth the expenditure..."

"Did we win? Does Korriban live?"

"Barely. But yes..."

"AIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!" Xiphos cried out, jumping up and down like a child and surprising both the Battalion and Xiphos's children, not to mention the Narrator.

"YES! YESYESYESYESYESYESOHHHHHH HAPPY DAY!" Xiphos cried (You need help, Harvey: 90XP), immediately going to the nearby shower stall to get the remaining Bacta off her.

The Battalion (and every Witch in her) struggled to hold back their laughter at the display as Xiphos showered.

"That's the first I've seen you smile in weeks."

"It's always a good day when a planet doesn't explode." Xiphos replied.

"Even if damn near everybody bought it on the surface?" The Battalion asked.

"It's no trouble. Neither one of us liked any of the people there. If the Maw bought it with The Ashlan's, well... that's just good business..."

"So Sith-Like, that sentiment."

"Isn't that what you want out of me?" Xiphos asked, drying off and putting on a set of dark blue robes.

The Battalion chuckled a bit, rising from her position in the Blood Circle.

"Well...not just that..." The Battalion said coyly.

Xiphos blinked. In the few seconds she stared, all she could think of was the Battalion.

"Errrr...heh..." Xiphos said. "Right now though, I'm hungry. Where are we?"

"Uncharted system. Two habitable planets...one tropical...as for breakfast..." The Battalion trailed, slinking up to the beautiful, snow skinned cyborg as she reconnected her cybernetic eye and arm.

"My treat..."

One hour later...


"A most intriguing world..." Xiphos remarked, still wearing her dark blue Norris Robes, aboard a stolen Upsilon Class Shuttle.

The ramp was down and Xiphos saw old ruins all around the semi-tropical settings. Great buildings, ruined skyscrapers, all jutting out of the ocean.

It had been an ancient, singular megacity of some kind, set partly in the ocean.

Xiphos ate the Fried Tip-Yip The Battalion served across from her, the wind blowing through her hair.

"I didn't know you cooked..."

"A skill from my days as Elaine..." The Battalion said. "You sound surprised. I did offer to make spaghetti the second time we ran into each other."

"A lot of people were trying to kill me. It didn't register..." Xiphos admitted.

"What do you think?"

Xiphos blinked...

"Best meal I've had in weeks. Months." Xiphos answered quietly. Xiphos was a terrible cook. After Moya had cut ties, her morale had dropped with consistently simple yet unsatisfying meals. Syd hadn't been good at cooking either: she had barely started to think like an organic by the time Starlin Rand had come to her tutelage. Their meals together were usually military rations. High quality on a good night.

The Battalion being able to cook...that hit all sorts of buttons Xiphos wasn't aware could still be hit.

And it was a Brain Demon Cultist doing it.

"It's been a while since I've cooked..." The Battalion admitted as she slid over the bowl of Fried Ice Cream.

Xiphos chuckled.

"Laying it on thick, are we?"

"There's another way to keep your armor from going up?" The Battalion asked.

Xiphos's hand reached across the folding table her sons had set up, stroking the Battalion's chin gently.

"I have no armor left..." Xiphos admitted, the stress of previous battles finally making her say it. "You've stripped it all from me..."

Just then a Model 1 approached them.

"Pardon the intrusion, Mother, but the cruiser detected a signal...it is approaching the planet quickly...

Caltin Vanagor

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...​

Location: en route to an old visiting home.

Spoiler: Lightsabers

"ELOAH" (Primary - Long Handle)

"ELOHAI" (Secondary - Long Handle)

Spoiler: GEAR

Comm-link, Rebreather, Custom Robes, Battle Armor,Toraynor-Henkan(mind crystal added)Advanced Jedi Utility Belt

Spoiler: STARSHIP/COMPANIONS

Starship: Starlight Sentinel, (Jedi Interceptor in landing bay, Dilorian and Bike both in cargo bay)
Companion: Astromech R01R - "Roller", Pilot droid Mu51c - "Music"

Tag: Laertia Io The Battalion

It had been a long time since Caltin had visited "The Ethereal Playne", it was the planet that Arestul(his brother n law at the time and Liram Angellus direct ancestor)1 grew up on and the former Supreme Commander of Republic wanted to show the young Jedi Knight (at the time) just how well he was raised and by whom. The planet may not have always been this way, but it was once fully inhabited by Mark I, II, III, and IV clones, and for those reading this, they can correctly assume that said clones were created from the same genetic material as a former Mandalorian Bounty Hunter by name of Jango Fett.

The backstory to this is long and arduous to tell, though may one day be revisited, maybe later, now though was different. The big guy was sitting in the cockpit wondering why the tracer beacon he set so long ago was finally going off. It probably was nothing, after all, it had been well over eight hundred years. The thing is though, it was going off now. Why now? Probably nothing, probably not even noticed by whoever initiated it, but still, the curiosity was there.

Besides, he had some free time on his hands.

The ship's approach to the planet was not one meant of stealth, he had nothing to hide and frankly, the massive JedI Master didn't know what he might be getting into anyway. However, Caltin never let anything like this stop him. the big guy just rode into the storm like he always did, even with the ship in orbit.

Interesting looking cruiser.

... YET THE DAWN ALWAYS COMES.

 

[Laertia Io]

Armed With: De Lifte Ankarres (Crossguard)

Throwing Card Knives (Incendiary): x 52

Explosive Throwing Knife: x 1

Poisoned Throwing Knife: x 1

Smoke Pellets: x 20

Wearing: Armorweave Robes

"Pull back." Xiphos ordered her sons "Do not engage. Whoever it is."

The Battalion sighed. "Just when we were finally melting that ice..."

"Whoever it is, we can't have them figuring out who we are too quickly..." Xiphos said, instantly snapping to business mode. "Batty, can you hide your presence?"

"Just because I don't like to sneak doesn't mean I can't..." The Battalion said, chanting something unholy under her breath afterward to reduce her presence in the Force to almost nothing.

Xiphos tensed, feeling a familiar presence. She had felt it at Sarka, where they had battled Tathra Khaeus together.

It had been a long time since those days. She had been merely a halfway point between Xiphos and Laertia Io back then. She had grown much more powerful since.

"Batty..." Xiphos said "I'll go meet this one. Keep the ship running and be prepared to evacuate."

"Who is it?"

"The only other person besides me and one other unfortunate soul who directly challenged The Warlord at Sarka..." Xiphos said.

"What are you going to do."

"Observe his reasons for being here. I doubt he expected to run into anyone." Xiphos answered.

"Would it not be better to just leave?" The Battalion asked.

"Y'know, I've never tried to actually flip a Jedi before...I wonder..." Xiphos said. "If he could be turned...he would be a powerful ally..."

"Can it be done?" The Battalion asked.

(Cutaway of J Jonah Jameson laughing uncontrollably.)

Xiphos blinked. Shrugged.

"Let's find out..."

Xiphos took relatively light amounts of Weaponry as she strode off through oceanic ruins, the waves crashing against ancient buildings and rusted hula of crashed clone wars vessels. The chunks of Caltin Vanagor 's past kept in seaweed and sunlight. She would see where Caltin would land. The others, in the meantime began to prepare for immediate departure.

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...​

Location: "The Ethereal Playne"

Spoiler: Lightsabers

"ELOAH" (Primary - Long Handle)

"ELOHAI" (Secondary - Long Handle)

Spoiler: GEAR

Comm-link, Rebreather, Custom Robes, Battle Armor,Toraynor-Henkan(mind crystal added)Advanced Jedi Utility Belt

Spoiler: STARSHIP/COMPANIONS

Starship: Starlight Sentinel, (Jedi Interceptor in landing bay, Dilorian and Bike both in cargo bay)
Companion: Astromech R01R - "Roller", Pilot droid Mu51c - "Music"

Tag: Laertia Io

As the ship settled into the sediment, the loading ramp descended, and out stepped Caltin as he looked around with a hint of remorse. The last time he was here the place was a buzz, teeming with life and full of happiness for here there was no war, no conflict, only peace. Now there was nothing but ruin and desolate decay that really, over the passage of time just took the entire soul of the planet with it. It was funny really, this was again proof that the only true constant in the universe was and is the passage of time. The soil even looked to be "dead" though there was foliage in the area, overgrowth really. It was a shame, though there was some odd shine by his foot.

Descending to one knee, the big guy found the source of the shimmer and picked it up, it was a crystal. The healing energy was immense and it was something he would examine further later, right now he just pocketed it. The tracer beacon wasn't far away, and the big guy realized, at least from the looks of the place, that he would just shut it off and leave, leave the planet alone to its own devices. That would have to wait though, as for some reason there was a woman watching him. She was of the Dark Side, he could feel it. Yet she was showing no aggression towards him. Interesting, it's not like he was hiding from her.

... YET THE DAWN ALWAYS COMES.

 

[Laertia Io]

Caltin Vanagor had spotted her.

Xiphos was unperturbed by this. Interacting with him was inevitable. As long as he didn't raise a blade, she would not either. But she anticipated it, and let's face it, Xiphos wanted the glory of testing herself against a Clone Wars era Jedi.

Xiphos teleported close, but not too close...

"Find what you're looking for in the shroud of the ancient past?" Xiphos asked calmly. "It has been a long time since Sarka, Master Vanagor. Yes, I know who you are. I have not forgotten your display of power against the Warlord. A shame neither of our displays was enough to stop him that day. I often wonder what would have happened if we had succeeded. Ah well. The bastards were halted at Sev Tok. For a while."

Xiphos looked out on the nearby ocean.

"Y'know...when I was younger...I used to dream of meeting a Clone Wars era Jedi. There were so many questions I had, like they thought of the modern hellscape the Galaxy is. I would have asked if they had doubts, asked if they ever believed the Jedi could ever crawl back to the position of top dog again. I'd have asked if there was anything they would have done differently, if they had known then what they had discovered now. And for a time, I even toyed with the idea of becoming just like them..."

She turned to stare at him again.

"But that was when I was younger. And now? Well, I'm sure you know..."

She removed her hood, revealing her pale, snow white skin and jet black hair to him, the wind rustled through her hair, partly exposing the horrific trench scar on her scalp.

"I didn't expect to encounter you here. Sightseeing? Trying to reconcile perception with reality?" she asked. "I've been doing that quite a bit, lately. There was a time when I would have fallen on my sword for the Jedi. But I can't anymore after what they did. You would refuse a bad order, wouldn't you? If you believed it was evil to obey it?"

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...​

Location: Optional

Spoiler: Lightsabers

"ELOAH" (Secondary - Long Handle)

"CONSERVATOR" (Primary - Long Handle)

Spoiler: GEAR

Comm-link, Rebreather, Custom Robes, Battle Armor,Toraynor-Henkan(mind crystal added)Advanced Jedi Utility Belt

Spoiler: STARSHIP/COMPANIONS

Starship: Starlight Sentinel, (Jedi Interceptor in landing bay, Dilorian and Bike both in cargo bay)
Companion: Astromech R01R - "Roller", Pilot droid Mu51c - "Music"

Tag: Laertia Io

There was something recognizable about her, but he could not put his finger on it. She could teleport, that was interesting, either way, whatever the woman wanted would come out soon enough. Right now Caltin was busy looking at the dilapidated structure that was once a central building for meets and greets. It was a time that he could really appreciate, but it was a time long gone, now just the stench of death and the remains of structures that were now nothing more than stories told over eons.

I was a part of this past. I guess that makes me ancient as well.

He scoffed with a bothered smirk at the observation. He remembered the day she brought up, that angry, evil destructive day. The very mention of it made his blood boil, and the massive Jedi Master did not bother to try to hide or suppress it. That day that changed Ala forever, the day that changed him forever, on multiple levels. This was not something he wanted to think about anymore, but it was there, and it might as well be addressed.

We may not have “stopped” him, but we slowed him down.

Then her comments, questions, and observations all that seemed to exist in one run-on sentence came out like a constipated Ronto finally passing their blockage...

Okay… that was gross…

… yeah, I have to agree with you there. Anyway, he stood silently, looking over what used to be a fountain as he processed what she said. Was she really so far gone that her outlook came to this? Did she ever truly understand what the Jedi were? The comparisons between the two times, she was not wrong on his initial assessment, not at all, however, he changed…

… and obviously so has she.

She was falling quickly and while that was her business, it was disturbing compared to the last time they shared a battleground. She was clearly holding a grudge of abandonment against the Jedi, and probably was looking for something from him. Would she get it? Well, that depended on her. His eyes never left the fountain as he looked at her out of their corner.

You know, when I was first awoken, one of the first gatherings I attended was a group of young Jedi attacking the namesake of one I once knew, you know him, it was Starchaser. Anyway, that day I saw that the Jedi are not those of the Order I was a part of and felt very disheartened towards the very thought. I felt that there were no true “Jedi”, just those who would besmirch the name, just like those who fell to the Dark Side claiming the name of a race as their own.

Putting his hands on his hips he exhaled.

That day I realized that both sides have it wrong and the Jedi were indeed gone. The Sith are nothing but a cheap imitation of what they once were, and I felt that I was indeed living on borrowed time. I’m not. I’m here because the Force brought me here. I’m here because there is a reason for me to be here. Maybe the Jedi need to be reminded of who they once were, maybe there just needs to be one more big guy in the galaxy, I don’t know.

Maybe I am “ancient”, but I do not consider myself a “Clone Wars Jedi”, or an “ancient Jedi” or anything but a “Jedi”. I don’t care if “we” are “top dog”, I don’t even care if there are those who “fell to the dark side”. I can do both.

I’m a Jedi, not because I have to be. I am a Jedi because I choose to be. As for bad orders, No matter what has happened, not matter what failing has fallen on the Order, I have not changed. I am my own man. I do not take orders from anyone. I make my own choices.

Now he was looking at her, and there was a bit of indignation in his gaze. She was trying to justify everything she had recently done to him. She would have to do a much better job.

... YET THE DAWN ALWAYS COMES.

 

[Laertia Io]

"They didn't feel like a cheap imitation killing them..." Xiphos replied to Caltin Vanagor .

"And you should care. Apathy is death. Worse than death, because even a rotting corpse feeds the beasts and insects." Xiphos asserted. "I am what I am because I chose this. Because the alternative disgusted me. In following the Jedi's decision to focus on the Sith, while the Bryn'adul burned world after world in a single year what the tenth empire could not inflict in five, that was my breaking point Vanagor. That and the hypocrisy of denouncing me for wanting to work with the Sith while they propped up something equally horrible in The NIO. All the Jedi were concerned with was victory over the Sith. A victory they will never have, just like the Sith will never fully obtain complete victory over the Jedi."

Xiphos took a step closer.

"I've heard so many try and justify their obsession with ending the Sith. All the Jedi had to do was wait. Wait until the Bryn'adul were defeated. And I would have happily continued working for the Jedi Order. I would have happily hunted the Sith with them. But the Order needed it's fix..." Xiphos said, saying the word 'fix' in as derogatory and demeaning a manner as possible. She was essentially calling the Jedi Order a bunch of Drug Addicts due to their need to fight the Sith to the exclusion of everything else.

"I have nightmares every night about the worms, those horrible worms destroying Nar Kreeta. Swallowing everything, including me. The Sith never caused those sorts of nightmares in me. Never. Not once. That was the Order's fight. It should have been. Even if it let the Sith recover. The Bryn'adul were a forest fire that had to be put out a year ago. Instead, billions are dead. I will never forgive the Order for allowing the Lobsters to run rampant so they could play hero. That's what you're enabling, Master Vanagor, by even continuing to work with them: You're enabling their callousness and apathy. Their corruption. You support the evil of their decision. Maybe you are content being just a 'Big Guy', a blunt instrument...but how is that any different from what you previously were in the Clone Wars?"

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...​

Location: Optional

Spoiler: Lightsabers

"ELOAH" (Secondary - Long Handle)

"CONSERVATOR" (Primary - Long Handle)

Spoiler: GEAR

Comm-link, Rebreather, Custom Robes, Battle Armor,Toraynor-Henkan(mind crystal added)Advanced Jedi Utility Belt

Spoiler: STARSHIP/COMPANIONS

Starship: Starlight Sentinel, (Jedi Interceptor in landing bay, Dilorian and Bike both in cargo bay)
Companion: Astromech R01R - "Roller", Pilot droid Mu51c - "Music"

Tag: Laertia Io

Since when are the Jedi supposed to be perfect? When are Jedi supposed to consider themselves perfect?

He held his outstretched arms out just as incredulously as he stepped around her as if asking anyone that would listen.

You’re so hung up on the Bryn’adul, to which you have every right to be, that you don’t bother to think about anything else. Who’s the hypocrite? This galaxy has become a fething (censored)hole but there are still Jedi… granted three thousand branches of them, or whatever, and forty-three hundred of their little groups of Sith. The point? JEDI AND SITH! The Eternal Empire come and go and come and go, the Yuszhan Vong come and go, the Bryn’adul come and go. The Jedi and the Sith are still around!

I know what I just said lends credence to your argument, but the Bryn were going South anyway.

Farseeing is a thing, yeah, but do you really want all available Jedi to be meditating on the possibility of what might happen with them? If they did, the galaxy would have fallen around them as they were busy trying to view visions that they cannot affix on anyway.

He picked up her “fix” assertion and let it go. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion, and if she was trying to bait him, then that was just sad. Then her absolution caught his ear and it soon became evident just what her argument was all about.

This is not about the Jedi’s failings, which are many historically to be sure, this is about your denouncement. There will always be threats to the galaxy. There will always be impossible choices that have to be made, the consequences of them have reared their ugly heads. We make our choices, and we live with them, good or bad. I’ve made mine. I can look at myself in the mirror, just as I’m sure you can.

Hands n his hips, he looked off in the distance.

Don’t get me started on “nightmares”, I can’t imagine what happened to Nar Kreeta, but I could tell you some stories.

... YET THE DAWN ALWAYS COMES.

 

[Laertia Io]

"The Jedi don't have to be perfect. They just had to fulfill their function, which was saving as many people, or trying to, as they possibly could, from evil." Xiphos hissed, organic fist clenching as Caltin Vanagor accused her of all this being about her own denouncing by the Jedi...

That was the only reason she had originally stayed in the Jedi. To help others. And she couldn't do it in such an organization that seemed dead set on shooting itself in the foot

"This was never about my own expulsion." she said slowly. "It was about the fact that no matter how many the Bryn'adul have murdered, the Jedi never got their chit together. If they had not been beaten at Sev Tok, the SJC would likely have been crushed..." Xiphos said. "Even afterward, the best the Jedi could do was some retaliation against Nar Kreeta...even when their faction was nearly destroyed by the Lobsters, they still wanted to destroy the Sith first. Does that sound rational at all to you, Vanagor? They were literal spitting distance from Kashyyyk...and still the Sith Lords came first ultimately. Even you couldn't help but concede my point a little. But tell me your nightmares, Vanagor. I'll listen. I have plenty, but I'd listen to yours first..."

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...​

Location: Ethereal Playne

Spoiler: Lightsabers

"ELOAH" (Secondary - Long Handle)

"CONSERVATOR" (Primary - Long Handle)

Spoiler: GEAR

Comm-link, Rebreather, Custom Robes, Battle Armor,Toraynor-Henkan(mind crystal added) Advanced Jedi Utility Belt

Spoiler: STARSHIP/COMPANIONS

Starship: Starlight Sentinel, (Jedi Interceptor in the landing bay, Dilorian, and Bike both in the cargo bay, the late Karki Eusith's Armor, Shield, Temple Guard Lightsaber mounted on the wall)
Companion: Astromech R01R - "Roller", Pilot droid Mu51c - "Music", "Aricsias" Wookiee Clan (pops in and out of posts)

Tag: Laertia Io

Caltin wanted to give the woman her chance to speak, he did. He wanted to listen to everything that she had to say and address them, but, it just didn't happen. He would not drop this heated conversation of opposing ideals into petty insults, and his vambrace beeped a confirmation from "Roller" that this was the woman who had repeatedly slaughtered Jedi, including a broadcast on the holonet. He had no plans to make a move or anything, she had not after all. It was when she yelled at him about how Jedi are supposed to save as many lives as they can he barked back at her.

What do you think that they're doing? Sitting at a casino playing Sabbacc?!

Composing himself, the big guy stopped and then went back to his point.

When I was Knighted, I wanted to take the fight to those who would do the galaxy harm. I wanted them to see that the Jedi were not as "weak" as they would like to jab. Over time, I started to be angered by Council and their "inaction" and how they were more interested in talking than doing. What I didn't realize is that I was turning into the very thing I wanted to fight. I was avoiding a lot of mirrors in those days.

You're right, the Silvers would have been crushed if the Bryn were not pushed back on Sev Tok. The thing is though, they were pushed back. Then after that, we took back Nar Kreeta. We showed them, and the galaxy that they were on the decline, and others took up the reigns and the mantle. As the phrase goes; "One Jedi can change the course of the war."

Hands-on his hips and looking outward at the decay, Caltin gave it a moment to look like he was finished before going back to his point again.

I'm sorry about what you went through when Nar Kreeta fell. I am, but your choices are your own. If you were mad about what happened, you should have come forward about it. If you did, you should have tried harder. I didn't stop in my quest for answers until I was granted the level of "Master", but I got the answers I was looking for. You want people to understand you by killing them. Good luck with that.

Finally turning to look her way, he offered one thing.

I will tell you this. If you pull another one of those stunts again. Make sure that I'm nowhere nearby.

... YET THE DAWN ALWAYS COMES.

 

[Laertia Io]

"The Order might as well have been on its ass playing Sabaac. Be honest with yourself, Caltin, does the situation look at all improved on your end of it?" Xiphos pressed. "Your anger towards your own Era's council was perfectly justified. Maybe you might have fallen, maybe not. But playing by their rules got you nowhere!"

Xiphos stepped forward, still not drawing her blade.

"They'd have arrested you, censured you to hell and back for manifesting that lightning at Sarka. Or do you think Yoda would have thrown your ass a parade?" she questioned. "You are a heretic Caltin, whether you will admit it or not. A man from yesterday, holding his mind together against the future shock by retreating into the persona of a 'Big Guy'. That lightning was because of your anger. You might be mature enough to admit you have anger, I'll concede you that much. But how many more times can you justify resorting to that anger in moments of desperation?" she questioned. "You got a real talent at Force Lightning, Master Vanagor. It threatens to escape you even now. I don't believe you for one second when you say you found the answers you were seeking. You might think you have. Maybe in your best moments you actually believe it. But you are a relic. A product of a broken system that collapsed on itself from the weight of its own sheer refusal to change.

Xiphos didn't blink at his warning. It was bluster, all bluster without the will to back it up.

"You think your Era's Jedi would have been anything but horrified at what's become of The Galaxy, of the Order? Everything you see around you today is the result of their failings. That Big Guy persona is nothing but a coping mechanism." she emphasized. "When seeking out personal truth, it's often the answers that one isn't looking for, and doesn't want that tend to be the most helpful. The most revealing, if nothing else..." she trailed, circling him, still not drawing her weapon. She would make no move unless he did.

"Just how well have you dealt with the fact you're a product of a bygone era, put in this hellhole of a future?" she questioned. "Chit...I probably would have preferred getting shot by a Fett Clone rather than have that happen to me. Does telling yourself you're still just the Big Guy quiet your sorrow? Do you worry at all that all you are passing on are the mistakes that killed your Jedi?" she asked Caltin Vanagor

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

“Courage is the resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.” - Mark Twain​

Stepping onto a fallen piece of debris; Caltin just let the woman go off on him. She had a lot to say and was clearly trying to get somewhere without a weapon so he could accept that. It was odd listening to her arguments as she was so vehemently passionate about them but the problem is her assumptions were categorically false. What was the basis for all of this? There was a pain in her words, almost as if she was truly hurt by the denouncement from Concord.

Was she looking for approval?

She believed he was a pariah. That was funny. He was the same person now as he was in his original time. What she did not understand was what she had seen from him was on his worst possible day. It was prudent to take as much information as she had; the fact is though that Lo was wrong in doing so. That still did not change her motivations for all of this. Was she trying to befriend him? Was she trying to recruit him?

It did not matter.

Who exactly do you think taught me how to use Electric Judgment? To control the elements? I learned rudimentary levels of each element, as well as “Lightning” from Master Yoda himself. Several of us did. That is neither here, nor there though. The matter at hand is that you are motivated in some… “unique” way to get me to agree with your opinion.

Caltin looked back at her for a moment.

I don’t.

Jumping off and pointing at everything around him.

It’s funny that you chose this planet to land on. This was a planet full of “Fett Clones”, all started by a Commando Team that did not follow Order 66. They hid from a galaxy ready to destroy them for having their own opinion. Yeah, I agree with you that the Order, the “New” Order, the Concord, all of them have their faults. For me though, they are all better than the alternative. That’s me. Do you want to live your life this way? Go for it. The way of the Sith is to “break the chains that bind you” and to “find your own path”.

Don’t expect others to follow you.

Pressing a button on his vambrace, Caltin brought up a holovid of her slaughter of Jedi.

Especially after this. All of your little attempts at mind games and turning things around on me like I am some simpleton. Do you really think that you are the first person to try to get in my head? Do you? Do you want to see what is in there so bad? Go ahead? Here?

He then reached out and projected his thoughts, as much as he could push out in a short amount of time. All of the loss, all of the pain, all of the fury. She would see everything that he dealt with on a daily basis. It was not for the faint of heart and though she may be able to handle it, this was not something she would be expecting.

If you can justify what you do as “what must be done” then that’s on you. Do not compare yourself to me though, you and I are nothing alike. You sit there and judge me with every word coming out of your mouth yet you have no idea what my life has consisted of. Do you make all of your assumptions of me based on Sarka? What about my other exploits? What about the lives I’ve saved? Hmm? Get your own house in order before you attack mine. I have been at this a lot longer than you, and getting the answers you are looking for does not mean you stop looking.

Holding up his right hand, the electricity crackled out of it.

You might be shocked at what you come across. You’re right. I have a natural affinity for this, I have an affinity for a few skills considered “dark”, anybody can learn them. It’s how I choose to use them that makes me who I am. I choose to be this way. What do you choose?


tag: Laertia Io