Private Lorrdian Trepidations

[Anet Raine]

The Pathfinder-class dropped out of Hyperspace into the Lorrd System. Anet was already busy in the cockpit when their ship was hailed.

"Shey Tapani vessel, registered 'LUMINOUS' - this is Lorrdian Port Authority. We weren't expecting you. Were you supposed to be scheduled?"

Thankfully, she had turned on the transponder this time.

"Hey, LPA. No - this is... unexpected business." She replied.

"Aha! Miss Raine? Fancy hearing your voice again. Not a problem... You may approach docking bay five. Welcome to Lorrd City, LUMINOUS."

Anet sighed in relief, then flicked the comms back on. "Thank you, LPA, always a pleasure."

After she turned them off again, the scholar looked down at Anathemous. An uneasy feeling hung in the air. This entire trip had been perplexingly eventful, and the near-human wasn't sure what the Sith had in store with the Zeffo, but she had come too far to back out. The universe had given her the sense of purpose she had longed for.

She muttered quietly to herself. "Without conflict, I do not grow.... Without struggle... I deny the universe."

Her voice picked up. "We're here, My Lord. It would be best if you follow my lead... Lorrd can be demanding of outsiders."

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

Anathemous found it difficult to meditate on the journey to Lordd.

She'd spent most of the last twenty minutes cleaning her robes of caf and other grime she'd found on the ship. And thinking about the peculiar moments she and the historian had leading up to the incident.

The comms stirred her from contemplation, looking up from the blackened nails dragged across her lips to her pilot in the chair behind her.

Her voice picked up. "We're here, My Lord. It would be best if you follow my lead... Lorrd can be demanding of outsiders."

The dark lord stared at her for a moment, curious what her newest servant had been muttering.

"Very well," she said, soft, but not yielding.

Her boots hit the deck as she slid from her seat, departing the cockpit with that familiar, heavy gait.

"I will allow you to guide me."

She was very particular about her words.

Gloves were slid over blackened fingers, hiding the divinely blasphemous markings from the mundane world outside as the pair left that little ship, hood pulled over her curled hair, fingers threaded behind her back in the usual posture while they walked.

"Miss Raine?" she hummed, eyes both curious and glowing glanced sidelong.

"Popular among the university, are we?"

​

 

[Anet Raine]

"There are few experts in my field."

And she would leave it at that. She would also fail to mention that her father happened to be one of the largest private donors to educational institutions within the galaxy.

The Luminous was brought into dock, landing soundly in docking bay five, where service droids quickly went to work and refueled the starship. Anet stepped off the loading ramp with an unusual pep in her step, given earlier events. The spaceport belonged to the university, one of several within Lorrd City, and only a short walk from the main campus. The university itself was among the largest in the galaxy, dwarfing Shey Tapani. Impressive for a world so far from the galactic core.

Lorrd was a cold desert world, though most of the cities were located in places with pleasant temperatures year-round. Dry, but pleasant. As for the Lorrdians, they carried themselves with academic sophistication. Perhaps most well-known was their complex and difficult-to-read 'gestural' language, which consisted of subtle gestures, postural changes, and even facial expressions.

Anet leaned close to Anathemous so they might whisper.

"Etiquette is everything here. Do not be terribly expressive with your eyes or mouth - keep your back straight, and hands at your side or clasped behind your back... hidden in your robes is fine, too."

She spoke as they walked towards the School of Pangalactic Cultural Studies.

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

"Then I picked well." she intoned.

Anet was a strange one, but she'd piqued the young Darth's curiosity and that was a very good position to be in.

Lorrd too earned her attention. Cold wind whipped her dark robes and rendered her fair skin a more lively color, but the sith seemed to savor that harsh change, taking a deep breath of that fresh, crisp air. A relieved sigh passed through those lips, either because she was off that ship or perhaps something more.

The historian's advice drew her from thought, with another sidelong glance, and a curious tilt of her hooded head.

"Sounds dreadfully similar to the Imperial Assembly." she sighed.

And yet she fell naturally into that mask, posture adopted already, face settling easily into that dour but observant neutrality behind which she'd hidden her intentions for years.

If anything, perhaps these Lorddians would take more kindly to her demeanor than most.

Her eyes rose to that magnificent University then, suppressed brows raised the barest inch. The size of their library, she imagined, must be incredible. She only looked away as they passed an old poster, detailing some sort of fencing championship. It depicted a girl, named there as one "Taeli Rae." That face reminded her so much of Taeli Raaf ...

She had to wonder.

"Has the University been sought out by other Sith, in your time?"

​

 

[Anet Raine]

'Imperial Assembly.'

Anet didn't like the twin words... they reminded her of everything she felt wrong with the current Sith Order, and Orders of late. A topic she would tuck away for a later time when the Dark Lord was in a giving mood.

She eyed Anathemous's posture and expression. Anet wore a subtle smirk of satisfaction - it felt good to see her advice heeded.

"Has the University been sought out by other Sith, in your time?"

The near-human tossed a sideward glance at the Sith.

"Not that I know of personally..." She trailed off.

Her expression suddenly shifted, and the Force swirled unpleasantly around her. She was anxious. There was something she didn't say.

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

"Hm." that was all.

She continued studying the university from a distance, theorizing the contents of every spire, the lectures in every hall. But then she felt it again, that twinge of something wrong permeated the air around Anet.

A glance told her all she needed to know.

"I built my career on knowing when my master's apprentices were hiding things from me, you know." she softly warned.

Eyes ahead once more, she didn't even look at her when she ordered;

"Speak, acolyte."

​

 

[Anet Raine]

Anet bowed her head as they walked.

"I am sorry, My Lord, it is only an assumption...

"But... Many decades ago, this Sector was under the influence of a Dark Side cult called the Primeval. I do not know to what extent their influence touched Lorrd. However, it is known that they were considered great allies of the One Sith...

"I suspect many of their kind may have visited this region of the galaxy."

By the time she finished, the two had reached the main campus grounds. The streets and courtyards were spacious enough that neither felt crowded, though hundreds of students and teachers roamed the exterior, and far more were likely to be found inside.

The historian tilted her head towards the Dark Lord as they approached the main entrance and entered.

"The library is this way," she led.

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

Anathemous was silent for a few paces.

"I have met survivors of both." she said.

"The Primeval seem... strange. The One Sith, quite powerful... malevolent, even..."

Another few paces, another bout of silence as they walked, broken only by inhuman footfalls. She ducked into the library after Anet, golden eyes searching the bookcases and labels while they walked.

"In the future, I think it prudent you speak such thoughts aloud. The more I know, the more I will teach in kind."

A brief pause.

"Why do you hesitate?"

​

 

[Anet Raine]

"I do not wish to distract My Lord with assumptions - that's all."

It was a quiet insistence. Perhaps there was more to be said or asked, but it would have to wait, for the two reached the entrance to the main archive in short order. In many ways, it was not unlike a Jedi Archive or other hololibrary in the galaxy. There were physical records and copies of older things, but most had been digitized.

Anet showed her deep familiarity with this place as she led them perfectly to the section they were looking for.

Past a couple of graduate students getting to know each other a little more... closely, where they felt no one would look.

However, before they could approach the computer, an older man interrupted them both.

"O-ho! Miss Raine? I didn't know you were out this far. I trust your father received our thanks for his generous donation."

A happy surprise, it seemed. However, his attention jumped immediately to the robed woman.

"Who might this one be?"

The historian bowed and offered a curt nod. A standard Lorrdian greeting. She kept her hands folded. In the Force was another story. Anet was anxious, embarrassed, and shy.

"A colleague," she answered.

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

"Assumptions can save your life." she said.

Then exchanged a glance.

"...so can honesty."

Those eyes wandered the library then, soaking in the sight like water. There was parchment here, real parchment, she could smell it. Not much, but enough to know this was a true place of learning. Perhaps she'd keep Anet busy here awhile, browse their collection at her own pace.

The old man stole the sith from her thoughts. Another friend of 'Miss Raine' perhaps?

"O-ho! Miss Raine? I didn't know you were out this far. I trust your father received our thanks for his generous donation."

A brow rose, almost imperceptibly. If her father could throw his money around, why was she living out of a box with no doors on a backwater station? Questions she'd press in due time.

"Who might this one be?"

"A colleague,"

She blinked, maintaining that dour expression.

"...Kaila..." she said, returning the nod but not a bow.

Never a bow.

"Formerly of the 'Hanna Institute of Antiquities' on Chandrila, before the... Invasion."

​

 

[Anet Raine]

Kaila?

It was strange... It wasn't that Anet had a history of sensing deceptions, but something inside of her heart told her the Dark Lord might've been truthful.

"Yes," she stared at Anathemous with an almost predatory intensity, "Kaila..."

She looked back at the man. "Proctor Riggon... Kaila and I are here for personal reasons... trying to settle a debate about the history of the Zeffonians."

A lie with a hint of truth.

Riggon grinned widely. A Lorrdian expression about surprise rather than happiness.

"The Zeffo, huh? I am surprised, Miss Raine. Aren't you excavating the Cache of Sorzu--"

The Force rippled again, this time surrounding Anet with an almost lethal energy. She directed a violent impulse towards the Proctor, who appeared to experience a flash of pain and dropped his datapad.

"I am so sorry," he practically grovled in embarrassment.

Anet's anger was soothed by pleasure. Though she was unaware that she caused it.

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

She returned the stare. Sharp, uncompromising.

"Yes... A debate... one I am sure to win."

Proctor Riggon's response surprised and intrigued the sith, talk of a "cache" especially. Had she discovered something belonging to Sorzus Syn? Useful and ambitious both, Anet seemed quite the find.

Her lips twitched, almost imperceptibly.

Until the man collapsed, and her eyes narrowed. She felt a spike of dark energy, the kind that tingled skin, made hairs stand upon the neck. Anet was delighted by pain, she had to wonder if she were it's origin somehow, or pleasantly surprised by coincidence. The woman had teeth, and though Anathemous rarely found pleasure in sadism, something about the historian growing into her darker self, her truest self, pleased the Dark Lord.

"Quite alright, Proctor... perhaps you should rest."

She circled around Anet, passing so close their shoulders nearly brushed, giving her the faintest smile only they could see.

"Come along, Miss Raine, we've so much to talk about."

​

 

[Anet Raine]

She also wore a hint of a smile, hers directed at the man's incident.

It wasn't until Anathemous brushed shoulders that Anet snapped out of it, surprised at the words which followed.

Does she know? The half-pantoran wondered.

"Yes, My--... Of course, Kaila."

Her heart skipped a beat.

The Proctor excused himself and left the two alone. Anet's footsteps were painfully slow. She dragged them like a child on their way to be scolded - stretching the time between now and then.

In a whisper-like voice, "Let us find your ruin, yes?" So eager to move on.

So eager to keep the Dark Lord busy on the future, rather than raise questions in the present.

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

Oh, that near slip gave her a rush.

Not even a day and 'My Lord' had already become habit.

Anet dragged her feet and Anathemous slowed to her pace, steps languid, almost indulgent. When her historian whispered, the sith did not answer at first. A simple nod, but nothing more. Time taken to gather her thoughts.

"Where to begin..."

Her gaze was cast skyward.

"Sorzus Syn, perhaps?" she hummed.

"Your father...?"

Finally, a sidelong glance, a piqued brow.

A low murmur as indulgent as it was probing.

"The way you relished in his pain... for telling your secrets~?"

Those words rolled off her tongue, an accusation and praise both.

​

 

[Anet Raine]

Anet quite disliked being read.

When Anathemous uttered her name, the historian nearly tripped on her own feet.

"It's not--"

Then it was the mention of him.

"Listen... My Lord, I--"

"The way you relished in his pain... for telling your secrets~?"

She stopped beside the computer and glanced at her. "Well it's not my fault he's clumsy!" She protested in a harsh whisper.

It wasn't clear to Anet that she was the cause of it. She was angry, he had an accident, and she felt satisfied. The other topics, though, those were ones she could hardly bring herself to speak.

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

"Hmh."

She didn't know? Anathemous chewed on that thought for a few more paces.

"That... may not be true..."

"I felt a surge of dark power shortly before he fell, not unlike your little caf disaster."

"hm." a contemplative little hum while they walked.

Her brows creased the faintest bit, eyes distant while revisiting memories for clues. The way Anet seemed "unaffected" by the artifacts in her workshop, which likely drove others away, even thieves. The first incident, on the ship, and how there were "so few experts" in her field.

"It could be mere anger... or you've latent potential." a sidelong glance.

And the ghost of a smirk.

"We shall test this in time, you and I."

​

 

[Anet Raine]

Anet wasn't fool enough to miss the truth in what Kaila said.

She knew very well how Sith and Dark Jedi drew their power, that on top of her past... all it took was the words. The Caf incident. Now, with the proctor, and there was that other time--

"Latent potential?"

The historian perked up at the phrase and found herself flustered by what followed.

Tested? Anet grinned.

Anet went to work on the computer. Accessing Zeffo data was simple enough - locations and records appeared on the viewscreen. She sifted through until she found a promising list.

EXTREME HAZARD

The following data is considered extremely dangerous. Proctor Access required.

"Is that so?" She muttered quietly.

Then, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a small chit, inserted it into the computer, and sliced the records. The viewscreens flashed briefly, and suddenly the data was visible. There were only a few sites on the list, but one of them was nearby... and promising.

Autonomous defenses remain active. Caution advised.

"Here!"

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

"Quite." she returned with her own faint smile.

Anet's enthusiasm was electrifying. It told her that though she was actively pushing her down the path of a Sith, it is what she wanted. And so Anathemous would continue to push, she decided, step by step.

Autonomous defenses remain active. Caution advised.

"Here!"

"Mm?" she leaned over Anet's shoulder.

Close enough to see the almost inhuman way she processed details in rapid succession, Golden eyes darting from text to coord-strings, soaking up every detail. Even her expression had changed, eyes wide, a focused frown, right up until she'd catalogued everything there was to see.

That smiled returned, toothier than before.

"Good."

She stood straighter, pulling her sleeve away to reveal a Beskar gauntlet, with which she quickly scanned the computer screen until an identical photo was produced on her wrist-computer.

"You know, I've never actually fought Zeffo guardians before. I'm told they're quite dangerous."

"I'm looking forward to this."

​

 

[Anet Raine]

The glove struck her as quite odd, though its purpose had been divined quickly, given how the Sith used the device.

"Our pursuit is scholarship, Kaila." Anet teased. "It would be... unwise... to seek out danger, don't you think?"

With the data in hand, there wasn't anything left to be gained from the library, unless the Dark Lord had other uses for the vast knowledge on display.

Proctor Riggon nodded at the two as he passed them by - the kissers from before in tow with shy looks that suggested they were scolded. The half-arkanian stifled a giggle.

She turned to Anathemous. "Shall we depart--" and in the quietest voice "--My Lord?"

Darth Anathemous

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Wearing: Robes
Tag: Anet Raine

"Do you question me, Anet?" she intoned.

But she couldn't keep that smirk at bay for long. 'Miss Raine' was simply too fun to torment.

Gauntlets tucked into her sleeves, she turned to depart the library with her companion, giving Proctor Riggon a slight nod to keep up appearances, and a sidelong glance to the lovers. A shame that, she'd been rooting for them.

It made her think about-

"Shall we depart--" and in the quietest voice "--My Lord?"

The smirk returned.

"If we've the supplies for such a journey, yes."

"We could take my ship." she hummed.

"Swap vessels elsewhere. no need to buy extra rations or archeological tools."

"Lounge in leather seats."

​