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On a world with no real day-night cycle years, weeks and days had little meaning, time was just a thing that passed by once in a while. The people of Malachor had taken that to an extreme, there wasn't even a official calendar for the world, and anyone who wanted to remember a specific date for some reason had to find a own way to do so. Malachors Cities were young by galactic standards, a frontier on a dead world lead by criminals, anarchists and general outcasts that had sought out the new civilization there in hope of leaving the societies that had forced to live by rules and laws behind. Yet the forces of order didn't even allowed them their little piece of freedom without resistance, as the recent small attack by the Imperial Remnant had shown. Only a handful of Deathtroopers came to the world for an extraction mission, but what could've easily been a surgical operation turned into a civilian massacre. Word of it had traveled fast trough the cities as well as video feed of the whole encounter, and over the course of a few days something began to rise inside the population.
Like so often the first spark was ignited in the Tainted City, when from one day to another a momentum was created that stood in defiance to those that meant to undermine everything the cities, the havens of Malachor stood for. A oversized picture painted on a wall in the Scrap Gallery, depicting the young girl who had been the first to openly resists the imperials that came to their world, with the words "Kark of Fascist Scum" written below it. Her picture, both the painting, and her real one had traveled through the cities, through the hearts and minds of the people and her death at the hands of the Remnant made a her into a symbol known by all that inhabited Malachor. Only hours later her picture could be found on numerous walls all around the city, along with any other symbol the people could think of to represent their freedom and independence. What followed could roughly be described as a festival, even if things on Malachor worked a bit different than on most other planets. Songs of resistance were sung. Speeches were given, firework was launched, drinks were shared and the people rallied in something that combined a city wide rave with a protest. They called it the "Day of the Free", and soon the Spires light turned into a dim red, instead of the bright white that normally illuminated the city.
The fire began spread, and soon the People of the Blessing began to celebrate the Day of the Free as well. Inside the city's center the people followed the lead of the Tainted City, and sculpture of the girl rose along with songs and celebrations. While the parties held all around the Tainted City shared the dark and gritty feel of the city itself, The Blessing picked a much more lighter tone. Street musicians played in the near tropical temperatures of what was undoubtedly the most friendly of the Free Cities, vendors shared their food and drinks for fractions of their normal price. The people held speeches in the streets, and even the farmers for the outskirts came to the center to share a day or two with the rest of the community. Boats moved throughout the water channels that marked the city, decorated with lamps and lanterns that filled the Blessing with light of all colors and intensities.
There wasn't much need to ignite a fire in the Spheres, marching for their freedom was something the Free Slaves of the lower city had done countless times before. In the Lower City "The Day of the Free" became "Cit bo ji Jemae", as the Twi'leks decided to have yet another march through the city, celebrating their independence on one side, while protesting against the injustice of the rich above them. All around the city they could be seen, as the kept the values and traditions of their culture alive, despite the circumstances that lead to their part of the city
In the upper city on the other hand, the slavers, hotel and casino owners, and all the other scum to rich to associate with the other criminals and outcasts of Malachor were quite diffident about the whole event, because they looked with disgust at those below them, and had no interest to share anything at all with them. Without the intervention of Darth Abyss, the man that was the unofficial ruler of this city, and all the others, they would've simply isolated themselves from the rest of Malachor for the time being, but a few very clearly formulated threats changed their mind. The official version was that the festival was "good for business", and all the clubs, bars, hotels and casinos opened their doors, even for a less exclusive crowd then normally.
Firewall, the city of Free Droids, as well as of those that were closer to them than to their biological counterparts had felt the fire as well, but there was no happiness in the Festivities held there. It had been the place where the attack had happened, and while the Remnant didn't killed a lot of them, they still loathed their loses. They shared a sense of community unseen through the Free Cities, and because of it almost anyone there felt a mix of anger, hate and sadness about those that were lost that day. Yet those that lost their lives t, be it natural or artifact, wouldn't be forgotten. Right below the hub, where the girl that had started all this found her end, now stood a symbol to mark her sacrifice for the years to come. A flower made out of metal and scarp, pieced together out of the people of Firewall themselves. Droid parts, cybernetics but also pieces of craftsmanship were added by those that passed by it, each a piece close to the heart of those that offered it to the monument.
"Where there is Booze, there will be Justice" --Unknown Soceras Poet
The Nestis Cora landed in the Tainted City with a soft hum. Out of the luxurious gunship James Justice swaggered flanked on either side by Katsumoto, Nobutada, and Bob, three warrior guards who worshiped war and served James like the god who was known to give it out. Above, the Angel's Glory waited, carrying the rest of the 200 Tatsubo Sensei in case things got too crazy.
The spacer adjusted his leather jacket and ran his fingers through his messy hair as he surveyed the city. There were a lot of nightclubs here, each one was a challenge for him to scale. There was booze to drink, women to flirt with, and he was sure a few men to beat the crap out of out there.
“Ye ready?” he asked looking to Katsumoto.
“Yes, my lord, after you.”
“Perfect,” James slapped the man’s shoulder with a seal of approval.
With the swagger in his step of a man who knew he controlled his destiny, James made his way through the streets. He found the nearest nightclub, the first one of his pilgrimage to this holy city of booze.
“A round on me for everyone!” the spacer shouted as he came through the doors.
A cheer of approval rang from the other patrons as James made his way to the bar to watch the light show.
The first time Antherion had seen Malachor V, it had been through a small window on the port of a ship passing through to a more promising world in the same system. He still remembered it vividly - it had called out to him. It called out to all. The whispers, the moaning, an audible and invisible scar marking the death of world, and none of it was as beautiful as the light.
Green light, flickering, like a star or a torchflame, like a shadow of madness or a diseased sun. That was the Malachor he had remembered.
Now? Malachor was alive - it was almost like Nar Shadda - people pulsed through the streets like blood coursing through flushed veins, voices rose in laughter, anger, in more languages than Antherion could understand, rising to merge into a wordless hum expressing a general sense of life and passion that had once been gone. That maybe, he had thought, would be gone forever from the once-solemn world.
To think that all this happened, just for a Sith's convenience. That was the truth of this galaxy, though - the image of a world dusting itself off, a community rising to power through sheer will, was a comforting illusion, a favorite of the Alliance. No, things happened by necessity here. And yet, it was a temptation to sink into this and become a part of things. Join with the traditions, the dance, the song, and be like the others.
That was not the way of the Sith. A Sith would float above the rest, like an island above the ocean..
Yet, he was more than just a Sith. When a star swam in the void, it was undiminished by the darkness around it - no, it was enhanced by its setting. Away, in a walled-off alley, he leaned back against the rough stone and bid paint bubble up and rise around him. He glanced from one floating sphere of pigment to another. Time to get to work.
"Lord Manah, you came to Malachor V with the prospects of harvesting orbalisks: yet, the merchants in the Free Cities of Malachor that sell orbalisks are in the red districts of the Tainted City. However, the orbalisk merchants will not sell those things to everybody. For them to sell us the orbalisks, we need to visit two out of the following prior to entering the Tainted City: the Spheres of Ash, Firewall City and The Blessing"
Yula was the only piloting instructor dark-sided willing to teach [member="Darth Manah"] about piloting, and much less about piloting attack craft to people that young. She knew that dark-siders willing to pilot attack craft were scarce, given their propensity to treat the short-range slugfest as the only way to fight. Their two-seater fighter, devoid of any ordnance, was underway all the way from Ziost, from which they traveled under cloak. For a while they were in straight, level flight around Malachor V, feeling that the embrace of the dark side is getting stronger until she finds a point where the embrace of the dark side is stronger than it would be everywhere else. It had to be one of the four locations on their pre-flight list. But Malachor being one of the core Sith worlds, Yula was just fine with wearing the Sith robes while she is out there covering the Day of the Free. She had just that: one local day to make it to all three locations. But she knew that getting closer to the first node of dark-side energy is soon forthcoming.
"Before you engage the autoland near the Spheres of Ash, pay close attention to the attitude indicator. You don't want the pitch to be too high: usually 3-5 degrees down is safe to engage autoland when close enough to the ground. Otherwise you will hear the TCAS say Pull up, terrain or Pull up, sinkrate. We will cover the weapons later"
Malachor had changed a lot since hi.. her day.
for one the red skinned fellows were all gone.
as were all the desolation.
" ahh i am afraid terms have changed since my days i assume [member="Yula Knezevic"] dose red light district still refer to a fetish market? "
to be honest the skills if piloting were well ingrained in to her. but this was a long time since her day and tech had long since changed.
so this was necessary. and keeping up the child like appearance had it's adsvantages
"Oh yes, what they call a red light district is a fetish market, just that Malachor V's red light district specializes in, let's say it, the more... sadistic kinds of fetishes, hence the orbalisks. From what I know only the most hardcore of those sell orbalisks"
Yula was surprised that [member="Darth Manah"] somehow knew where the autoland button was. Sure she might not know the controls for the weapons, but they landed near the Spheres of Ash's lower city. Here Twi'leks and other residents shouted a variety of slogans and wielded a variety of signs: today the protesting topic was about how they dislike the rich that try to force them back into slavery. The topic of slavery was on everyone's lips today: Yula was going to be covering the protests, and to jot down notes about what is about to transpire there today. Many of the protesters clamor for anti-slavery protections so that their freedoms will be equitable on Malachor V, and that's just one of the manifestations of the injustices of the rich, she thought. They march through the derelict city district shouting many, many different things, without realizing that some of the targets are ripe for broken windows. Yet the Hapan follows the march of the residents clamoring for the protection of fundamental freedoms, with a camera on her right shoulder, surrounded by social justice warriors. True, you can use the dark side and still be a social justice warrior, just that it will be difficult to be respected if one joins the ranks of the Sith and still harbor social justice hopes.
"This is Yula Knezevic, live from Malachor V, where a protest is taking place in the Spheres of Ash. The crowd is estimated to 25,000 protesters by early estimates"
" well i dont intend to have sex with them. " Manah joked
honestly the protests happening were over false news reports any one using rational thought could see that.
but well people liked to try to be better than every one else and holier than thou.
hopefully[member="Yula Knezevic"] and her new news would call out all that poodoo and get the facts straight.
" Protests are on thing. DOING something about the problem is different. i need to learn to pilot a ship. i learn how. these idiots demand the ship fly them"
"What exactly are the issues at hand here?" Yula asked a protester willing to pose in front of her camera.
"The rich threaten our freedoms! They should, at the very least, treat us with the respect they treat any other sentient; to some of them, we are just merchandise! They are trying to take our freedoms away and into slavery" a protester told in the camera.
"This is the Sith Inquisitor, live from Malachor V"
The protester is amazed by off-world media even being willing to cover what they perceive to be a strictly local issue, yet the Sith Inquisitor had to be active all around the Stygian Caldera, and Malachor has had its share of coverage in the SI as of late. What [member="Darth Manah"] calls false news reports in the Force were of many varieties and so were their falsehoods: they were often just as varied as the news outlets themselves. Some of that is due to the local media outlets operating in an anarchistic environment. However, in an anarchistic environment it would be more difficult to actually do something about the very problems their protest is about. And then the protest made a stop at some location they perceived to be a symbol of the rich, a symbol of big business: Yula quickly stepped away from the windows prone to being broken, and grabbed Darth Manah's hand, running with her, fearing for the worst, due to her feeling that she overstayed their welcome in this protest. However, in this throng of protesters, there should be some escape route for the two Sith to use... probably taking them into the Twi'lek quarters, the Upper City or something.
"Quick, we must get out of the lower city! Perhaps we can escape these protesters there and then go back to the craft once these protests have subsided"
"So many idiots making problems for themselves and others. " Manah admitted
honestly this was not what was the term? SJW. she had encountered them in the past. those were more self serving people using the suffering of others to make themselves look good.
it wasn't uncommon to see coruscanti nobles harking on about the slave trade in Taatooine while still owning slaves themselves.
or see Naboo students protest for Ugnaughts while the ugnaughts themselves simply rolled there eyes.
all in it was Virtue signaling.
this was Righteous indignation not as [member="Yula Knezevic"] described social justice.
still
" Lets go if you are quite finnished. "
Serenity was here for no other reason than to get food, and possibly cause some mischief, although that was a second priority.
She wasn't a local, but always did prior research before going on such excursions. The Dropout was a name that appeared on every search for the area she was in, familiar faces greeted her, or at least familiar enough for her to ask for a drink and not be punched into a wall. Approaching a rather odd looking human with no legs, was carried to a bar stool next to her and offered to buy her a drink.
5 shots later, Serenity had her arm around him and was dancing. She wasn't enjoying herself, but it always beat waiting for orders. 5 more shots later, she was fully intoxicated, for such a young girl, she shouldn't be drinking this much. But nobody was going to stop her.
Her gun still hoisted around her shoulder, a few individuals touched it but nobody else in the entire cantina had a weapon that could contest the social authority she had brought. She felt in charge, even if it was only minor.
I [member="Darth Manah"] I [member="Yula Knezevic"] I [member="Antherion"] I [member="James Justice"] I [member="Darth Abyss"]
"Our next stop in this journey will give us some peace and quiet, away from those... idiots that act based on righteous indignation" she tells Darth Manah while the camera isn't recording their escape.
They both ran away from what could result in broken windows and back to their craft, while at the same time avoiding the routes used by the protesters. With these considerations in mind, the escape route that took [member="Darth Manah"] and Yula out of the Lower City led them into a pedestrian street where traditional Twi'lek songs were sung by a local performer, surrounded by an audience comprising a few hundred Twi'leks of all age brackets: from the children to the elders. There, she puts her camera back online for a few seconds, while she makes a mental map back to the craft in the Force. Oh, sure, she realizes for a while that the Twi'leks that lived in some buffer zone between the Lower and Upper Cities could somehow restrain themselves from, despite that particular neighborhood being closer to the lower city than to the upper city. Luckily those protesters didn't try to close in on them; that protester filmed on camera earlier didn't realize that the Sith Inquisitor was a Commonwealth intelligence fixture but who nevertheless did journalism.
"But even in the Spheres of Ash, not everybody is out on the street to let their frustrations at the growing attempts to enslave the lower classes loose. Twi'leks, in particular, seem to have other ways to celebrate the Day of the Free"
After they filmed the street performance, Yula turns off the camera again, so that it can be stowed inside the cargo hatch of the craft once they are done running from the protesters and returned back to the craft, through tortuous detours forced on them in a desire to avoid the angry mob of protesters that stretched on for a few city blocks. Sure, the bomb bay was empty but they needed it for orbalisks, knowing that the procurement of orbalisks was the whole point of ending the trip in the red light district of the Tainted City. Once they arrived back at the craft, Darth Manah was seated in the front and Yula at the back.
"Before we take off again, as before, pay attention to your vertical speed indicator and the attitude indicator. You don't want a tailstrike so before the craft reaches an altitude higher than the length of the craft, about 5-7 degrees pitch up is recommended unless you use the repulsorlift. Speaking of repulsorlift, it may be required on some landing pads in urban areas"
" Do not misunderstand me Righteous indignation is a valuable feeling. and a valluable aspect to the darrkside both sides of the force even the Bendu could use it. it is what free's slaves from the yoke." she admitted
" these idiots are destroying there own homes. as if those higher up give a dam if a slum burns." she noted as right on cue a droid was tossed threw a window.
the instructions were slightly insulting she knew how to use a speeder but she needed to relearn a few things,
Once [member="Darth Manah"] boarded the craft, and took off with it, with the destination coordinates as being the input, the words of the diminutive Sith rings in her head: righteous indignation is a valuable feeling and valuable to a dark-sider. It was precisely what led her to betray the Sith Order on Yutan: she couldn't stand being associated with people who live only for butchery and explosions, were approaching combat irresponsibly, and she is still, to this day, considered a Commonwealth fixture, especially after the events on Alexandria. However, given the not-so-great distances between the settlements, low altitudes would do just fine, but given the perpetual state of twilight and darkness of the planet, they were flying under IFR conditions pretty much by default. While Darth Manah was still skilled enough to avoid the terrain, she had to get the final basic lesson in during the time it would take for them to fly to the Blessing. Not the most ideal conditions, but it will have to do.
"Perhaps the Yutan fighter is different from what you used to pilot but on the control stick, the trigger is to fire the hypervelocity cannons, the red button on the top left is to fire ordnance, the top right button is to lock on to a target"
[member="Yula Knezevic"]
" im used to things a little more primitive. " she admitted following the instructions.
she new no places here so the instructions were needed.
" Ok what is the plan? this is all new to me. "
As they flew northwest of the Spheres of Ash, [member="Darth Manah"] may know the controls of the fighter, but it was unwise to let her fight. Yula realized that she was a little out of her depth, upon realizing that the TCAS indicated that they are approaching an area called Project Rebirth; what she knew about Malachor V did not involve farmland. In her mind, this place was an oddity among the barren landscape of the planet. What kind of plants could grow in such horrible sunlight conditions? Away from the noisy crowds of either the Spheres of Ash or the Tainted City, the two of them would finally have a chance to get some peace and quiet on Malachor after what they saw in the Lower City: these idiots were about to break windows in an outburst of anger. Righteous indignation perhaps but she could see her own face raising in confusion when Yula initiates the landing sequence for the second stop in the journey, leading the fighter at the edge of the area earmarked under Project Rebirth.
[member="Yula Knezevic"]
Manah dpulled the ship to a small landing area.
" this is a lot different from my time. you are aware thay my current appearance is not my true one?" she admitted looking to her guide.
this was a lot different than her day. she never had any ties to crime. snr did'nt need too back then.
"Are you somehow using the Force to change your appearance and, moreover, the dark side?"
Once [member="Darth Manah"] successfully landed the fighter close to the edge of Project Rebirth, she could finally get those earworms from the protest out of her mind. Perhaps that's the calming effect to be away from the hustle and bustle of the Spheres of Ash and the noise of its resulting protests, as they see vast farming estates before them, growing plants that and livestock that could eat it. So, right next to the fighter, Yula starts meditating, in the lotus position, so that she can contemplate one of those few places on Malachor V where there is some peace and quiet available, and she didn't feel like boarding some boat or entering some arboretum, botanic garden or some other such thing. But she knew that Malachor sometimes could do that to people. We don't have that much time so we have to be quick and then get our orbalisks - or die trying, she thought. And, in every direction, nothing but the vastness of the plains.
"The Malachor V of your time was entirely barren, and that's often how it is depicted in history books"
" Ahhh [member="Yula Knezevic"] wouldn't you like to know? " Manah joked.
" to be honest this body is a clone and admitadly it is not.. entiarly perfect as you can see. "
she smiled letting a small amount of information out. not a lot just enough ro hold intrest .
Yula then took out the camera from the cargo hatch. "Project Rebirth on Malachor V: a miracle of land reclamation. It would appear that, for the first time in millenia, thanks to revolutionary land reclamation technology, Malachor V has arable land again, and Malachorian residents now have a place to grow those shade-friendly species in a tropical microclimate. This is Yula Knezevic for the Sith Inquisitor, in the Blessing, on Malachor V" with her camera activated.
The two dark-siders got significant time for themselves among the meadows of Project Rebirth. To Yula's eyes, Project Rebirth was a marvel of land reclamation technology, given the otherwise barren soils of Malachor V. She then promptly deactivated the camera, just as promptly as she took it out of the fighter's cargo hatch. Meanwhile, she began the pre-flight checks next to [member="Darth Manah"]; it paid to have her bases covered. And then she remembered the words uttered as she checked that the cargo hatch was working properly. Really, it was the only thing that was worth checking at this point that wasn't already checked prior to arriving to Malachor V for the Day of the Free. She knew that her co-pilot came there for the orbalisks, just that she trusted Darth Manah enough to fly the craft by her lonesome, provided of course that the coordinates to the field of shipwrecks called the Tainted City were in the navigational controls. The Hapan took up her seat onboard the craft before completing the pre-flight sequence:
"An imperfect clone, all right. Oh and I feel that we spent a lot of time meditating here. Our next and final stop is the Tainted City: they will sell the orbalisks, make no mistake, but orbalisks might be in dangerous areas. I hope you have your lightsabers: I will holster mine right now"
" I have them. i will keep them close to hand if nessesery. this clone body semes to gleam pleasure in the destruction of living beings. " she adnitted.
" well if anything it will be fun to explote this modern darkside varient see if you have garnered any new techniques. all u apear able to do is essence transferance due to tha blasted pool. " she admitted looking to [member="Yula Knezevic"] threw her bangs almosr expecting her to call her weak.
