Private Metal Fist, Psychic Fangs

[Westenra Mina]

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Meleena said to @Bithia, clearly horrified at what had been done to this woman. "Extensive alterations have been made to the basic architectural structure, from what I can tell. This Messala must have pried her apart to understand her enough to create the body. My creator owes you a great debt in slaying the defiler of my copy. As do I."

Meleena decided to explain more of herself.

"The technology I am composed of is a sort of mass of organic nanomachines based on Shi'ido DNA and the DNA of...something else." Meleena said. "I go by many names. Today I am Meleena, a tertiary, fringe member of The Jedi, due to my design being sophisticated enough to mimic Force Powers. Tomorrow...who knows?"

A gold catsuit copy of Meleena began moving the unconscious bodies away from the steps.

Meleena decided to trust Bithia.

"My creator...my...Mother, is a member of The Knights Obsidian. A CIS Weapons Developer named Nine Lives, Matriarch of The Atrisian Royal House Li-Ves. I can tell you that given what you've said, my Creator will be more than understanding about your circumstances. She too was altered irrevocably. It took her a very long time to come to terms with what she was turned into."

One of her newly made copies called out, telling her that she was starting to sense the Psychic energy of others who were approaching...

"I envy you..." Meleena confessed to Bithia as she got out her lightsaber, hand signaling the other copies to get into various ambush positions.

"You got to know what it was like to be born and eat real food. You knew what it was like to live among normal people. I have only ever been able to touch the fringes of true Organic details like that. I was made in a lab. I wonder if I have a soul..." Meleena said distantly as she prepared. "I wish I had what you have. I wish I had someone like Nimdok. But its not easy for something like me to find love...but we can get all deep and philosophical later. Right now, lets just focus on hilariously resisting this siege..." the Android joked...

Meanwhile...

Meleena-2 listened to the cautious words of Starlin Rand .

"You are right..."

But what kind of Syd was she 'Way Back When? the Android thought privately.

"This is a lot to take in. If I seem concerned its only because I care for Julia greatly..." Meleena-2. "You seemed surprised. You expected to summon Julia?"

"Yes...the only reason it would summon you is if you were just as tied to my future as Julia is. Only Force Sensitives could use it successfully."

Meleena-2, having Meleena 1's memories, declined to mention the Stormtrooper. Or her own nature. But she did feel...slightly drained. Slightly.

"The magic used here can't be used to change the future. It won't let you say anything that could actively change it. At best, all it ensures is a stable time loop...its a sort of Flow Walking...you neither truly in the past, nor are you truly in your present. You are in an in-between state. True Time Travel, alteration of the future? That's impossible." Cidd explained.

"How did you come across this magic?" Meleena-2 asked.

"I took it from someone who didn't need it." Cidd answered. "Someone with way too much power, even in death."

Future You never seems to mention any of this. The Android thought to herself.

"How do you spell your name?" Meleena-2 asked.

"C-I-D-D."

"S-Y-D in our era." Meleena-2 replied.

(Cutaway of The Flame Geist deciding to call herself Syd for the very first time.)

"I see..." Cidd replied, disturbed, clearly wondering why she would respell her name.

"Wow..." Cidd said out loud. "I'm sorry, I'm just so...amazed and excited! I'll get your quarters arranged. Are you feeling well...wait...I...I never got your name."

"Meleena." Meleena answered. "So why do you want to talk to Julia so much? Who is she to you? Why do you love her?"

"After I was Knighted, about 007 months after...I started dreaming about this person. Skin was snow white, Hair like dusk. Eyes like slate. I began experiencing some of her memories through her eyes...felt her emotions...her fears...like they were mine. As I experienced more and more snippets of her life...I began to actually feel a connection...it haunts my sleep now. Always. I need her like you need water. Need to look upon her face and know I'm not insane, that I'm not imagining it all. But you're the best thing that could have happened, in a sense. Because now I 'know' I'm not crazy..." Cidd answered truthfully.

"Alright, Cidd. We'll get to the bottom of this. I don't understand how this connection formed...but I promise to be patient as I learn more."

Cidd nodded graciously.

Natalie watched on, clearly paying attention to everything that was said.

Later on.

Natalie handed Starlin mouthwash as well as digestive tablets to soothe his stomach. Natalie's apothecary was filled with rows of exotic plants and chemicals in transparent bottles.

"If we are not truly in the past, how is Starlin going to consume that?" Meleena-2 asked.

"Our Mistress enchanted everything in the Fortress. Everything. This whole Fortress is in the same inbetween state you are." Natalie answered, tending to some of the plants.

Meleena-2, like Westenra copies, bore the memories of her very first true fight. That had been with the Amalgam, who Westenra was forced to use an extremely brutal killing method to destroy her body (Not that it had helped--she had transferred her spirit to another alchemized Shi'ido body and brought ruin to Castagne.)

Laertia's heart had broken learning her master, Ursula had secretly been this beast. It had upended her entire world, culminating in Laertia's current circumstances. Meleena wondered if Laertia taking on the whole fething Galaxy wasn't some twisted form of therapy to deal with that. What could you say to somebody you care greatly for turning out to be so reprehensible?

(Cutaway of Darth Phyre burning a whole city down.)

The Amalgam was the source of all of Laertia's pain. Her former comrade Uri still was a psychological wreck over the reveal. Her schizophrenia had worsened.

Laertia was getting more and more determined to force the whole Galaxy on the Bryn'adul.

"And you're comfortable with all this?" Meleena-2 asked.

"Cidd's knowledge of magic is very extensive...more extensive than anyone's here..." Natalie answered. "We would have been crushed by The Atrisian Emperor a hundred times without it."

"What I meant was, how does summoning Julia benefit your order? All this effort just to get to her"

"Your Sister is a very powerful Force Adept." Natalie began, watering an exotic golden rose. "Our intent is to impart our knowledge to her."

"Why?"

Natalie stopped watering a plant, frowning.

"Master Cinndurr's use of Magic is what got her expelled from the Jedi Order. When the Atrisian Priestesses found her, she had been an exile in a state of deep psychological depression over her expulsion. The Atrisian Emperor is a cruel, vicious, sadistic tyrant. Cidd found purpose trying to free Atrisia from his rule, and taught the Priestesses her magic. She gained recruits like me along the way. We were appalled by his cruelty, and resolved to do something about it. So we have fostered rebellion against his rule. Extended rebellion. But...since the Emperor has turned to the Jedi for help...it hasn't gone well. We are losing."

"How does gifting Julia your knowledge help you?"

Natalie grew quietly somber.

"Cidd has always envisioned a free, democratic Atrisia, with no monarchy. No oppression. But in this era, with these resources, such a dream is all but impossible...If the Emperor wins, its likely we'll be scoured from history, murdered to the last. We wish to give what we know to her, so that she might carry our memory forward...and perhaps, rebuild us in some way, more powerful and wiser. More able than what we can be currently. We have almost no allies left. Many of them died in the resistance."

"So summoning her isn't just Cidd's idea of a fun time...its a desperation move." Meleena-2 trailed, feeling a strange empathy in spite of who she spoke to.

"She also believes she and Julia are destined to somehow battle a great evil together, in spite of being separated by time and space. Our teachings will play a great part in that if she is right." Natalie answered, going back to watering her exotic flowers.

"So, Starlin!" Natalie asked trying to smile again. "What did my Master teach you? I'm kinda eager to find out how it compares to my own training."

 

[Starlin Rand]

“Hilariously,” Bithia echoed in agreement. Holstering her stun pistol, she instead produced a disruptor rifle, evidently having decided not to pull any punches with the next round of NIO stormtroopers.

An entire legion awaited them, having been drawn there by the fight with the first wave. Bithia took aim while they were still at a distance, firing quick shots that vaporized half a dozen of them before they could rush forward and close the gap between them. She slung the weapon over her shoulder and unsheathed her katana, cutting into them in droves. Part of her had to admit she found this sort of thing fun…

***​

Natalie led them further into the temple, to her apothecary. Starlin took the mouthwash, gargled, and spat into a nearby sink, then swallowed some of the digestive tablets, all the while listening to Meleena-2 and Natalie’s conversation.

Meleena was good at hiding her emotions. So good, in fact, that Starlin could no longer tell she was the least bit bothered by Natalie. But he hadn’t forgotten that brief look of shock and horror on her face when she first laid eyes on the woman.

They were talking about gifting Laertia with all their knowledge, turning her into a kind of savior of Atrisia. Starlin wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, given what Laertia had become. These Fire Priestesses seemed well-meaning, and yet they had been rejected by the Jedi Order as heretics. Starlin had dismissed this as old-fashioned bigotry and fear of the unknown, but now he had to call that conclusion into question. If Laertia learned from them, gaining all these magical powers, what then? Would she use them to kill more Jedi?

He was afraid of what would happen, as Syd and Laertia grew closer and Laertia was pushed further and further down a dark path. It was a selfish fear, but he couldn’t help feeling it. Starlin looked down at his prosthetic hand, the one Laertia had made for him after Dantooine. He didn’t want to lose his master to someone who slaughtered people like him with abandon, all in the name of some misguided hope that doing so would forced the Jedi and the Sith to work together to fight the Bryn’adul...

“She could use some wisdom, more than anything,” he said, speaking up for the first time in several minutes. “Julia, I mean. In our time, things have been… rough. She wants to help, but she’s very… confused about what to do, what’s right.”

To Natalie’s question, he shrugged. “I’m a Jedi sorcerer,” he said. “The Jedi still don’t typically practice magic in our time, but they’re much more tolerant. As long as it works, and doesn’t hurt innocents, the more the merrier is the general attitude.”

To demonstrate, he held up his left hand, palm open, and produced a small flame that hovered over his thumb. The flame danced across his fingertips, leaping from digit to digit, before landing in the center of his palm, where it bloomed into a fire. The glow of the blaze shone across his face, turning his blue eyes a flickering orange.

“I can spit fire like a dragon, or hide myself in the flames. Then there’s bladework…” Putting the fire out, he reached for the lightsaber and shoto hooked to his belt, holding them up for Natalie to see. “She gave me this shoto, the lightsaber I made with her help. I’ve only really been in one duel so far…” With a Je’daii Master, a guilt-ridden part of his mind hissed. “But I still practice. Soresu and Makashi are my preferences. She taught me Juyo, too, but… I wasn’t much good at it.”

***​

Listening to the sounds of battle behind him, Nimdok ventured further into the tomb, his pace urgent. Along the way, he passed the artworks which Meleena and Starlin had found. He instantly recognized Syd’s likeness and paused, quite stunned by the implications.

“Fascinating…” Raising his comm to his mouth, he first tried to contact Starlin again. Getting nothing but static, he frowned, then called Bithia. “It seems we have come upon the tomb of Syd Celsius.”

“What?” Bithia replied, bewildered. He heard sounds of gunfire and clashing blades in the background, but she was still able to talk to him. “Syd Celsius is still alive, Errik. I hope you aren’t high on some cave fungus.”

“No, not high on anything. I’ve found reliefs and murals here depicting an unmistakably beautiful fiery-haired witch.” He paused, grimacing as he came upon the mural showing her grisly execution.

“Unmistakably beautiful, huh?” This was followed by the sound of her gutting a stormtrooper with her katana.

“Pretty as a sunset. But you know sunsets aren’t what gets me going, darling.” He felt a twinge of melancholy after he spoke. Almost a sense of loss or dread, as though what they had was doomed not to last. He hesitated before continuing, “This does create a bit of a conundrum on my end. I know she was once Darth Phyre, but I’m totally unfamiliar with this ‘Cidd Cinndurr’ persona. I’m going to keep going deeper, see if I can find anything to supplement it.”

Ending the call, he pulled out his archaeological tome, unlocked it, and began running a program that would translate the inscriptions on the walls into Basic. Within a few minutes, he was reading the story of Cidd, as told by her followers who had buried her here… and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. It seemed unlikely that Cidd was an ancestor of Syd. No, they were probably the same person, as crazy as it sounded. He recalled what Starlin had told him about Syd’s origins, how she had been trapped and experimented upon by the mysterious Man in White. It certainly wasn’t impossible that this was where she had been trapped, or that her spirit had been disturbed from its rest by the one who entrapped her.

Nimdok stumbled upon a time-worn book which had fallen on the floor at some point. He reached down to pick it up, and a wad of dust fell out, the pages having long since decayed. But one still remained mostly intact. He noticed immediately that the characters printed on the fragment were very different from the Atrisian script found on the inscriptions. It looked more like mathematics, in fact. A code, perhaps?

He fed the data into his tome. “Kolda-Bratha Calculus?” he read aloud, raising an eyebrow. Carefully wrapping the ruined book in protective film, he tucked it away and headed deeper into the tomb...

Westenra Mina​

 

[Westenra Mina]

Natalie seemed to grow interested as Starlin Rand gave his response.

"Cidd has had fragmented dreams of Julia in...deep distress. It keeps her up. Agitates her. She's been burdened with so much and the dreams haven't helped."

Natalie's eyes lowered to the floor for a moment, as if ashamed of something.

"You have obviously been trained very well...I can...feel that much from you at least." Natalie spoke. "Cidd taught me as much as she could too..."

Natalie then focused back on her plants.

"I have to get back to treating these plants, but I can lead you to your quarters..."

Natalie bid them to follow her and they soon were all walking through the ancient temple. Meleena-2 spotted more catsuit clad Witches training. Most had alchemized Jedi Katanas. Only a few possesed Lightsabers, either green or blue. Some were practicing flame spells taught by Cidd. Many of those flame spells looked like ones taught to Starlin by his master. (OOC: See Syd's bio on the skill section under "Magic" to get an idea, Starlin)

Natalie led them both to spacious quarters, filled with small paintings on the walls and plants decorating key parts.

"Neither of you have to stay here in this room if you don't want to. Feel free to explore the whole temple if you like..." Natalie said. "I have to go and help check on some of the ther Witches spellcasting practice. See you at dinner!"

Natalie left and Meleena-2 let out a string of quiet curses when she knew Natalie was out of earshot.

"Chit! Chitchitchitchit!" Meleena-2 hissed, the muscular blond pacing about in golden flesh.

"Starlin? That woman? She looks like Laertia's Arch-Enemy. A terrible Witch named The Amalgam." Meleena-2 explained.

"They have been enemies for years now, though with The Amalgam there's this creepy yandere attitude to Laertia. They have a really fethed up history...The Amalgam considers Laertia her daughter for reasons. Laertia rejects this notion."

Meleena-2 paced about, desperately trying to make sense of the whole situation.

"I have no idea what this means, Starlin. I really don't..." Meleena-2 said, clearly distressed. "But you...don't take your eye off Natalie for a hot second, Rand. ANY version of her is extremely dangerous..." The Android told him. "We obviously don't have the full story though. We keep quiet and look for clues. Since Natalie said we aren't restricted to our quarters, I say we take advantage of that. Lets really search this place..."

Meanwhile...

(Random Red Dead Redemption Music Plays)

Bithia and the Meleena copies rampaged on the NIO Stormtroopers rushing the temple in unison, each gold fleshed copy blindingly fast as they attacked in hand to hand, fists and legs targeting the head or the neck to snap it quickly. The Meleena next to Bithia drawing on the reserves of Psychic Energy in her body to create effects similar to a Force Whirlwind that temporarily ensnared Stormtroopers long enough for copies if her to get to and kill them, though since it wasn't a true Force Whirlwind, they were able to break free of the effects much sooner.

But there were a massive amount of Stormtroopers. They wanted this temple.

The Original Meleena charged into battle, her Saber slashing into white armor, moving as fast as she could, though, like her copies, she occasionally took a couple of hits and such, leaking glowing red blood as fist and legs crashed into bodies at high speed. Massive numbers of dead Stormtroopers littered the jungle ground, and the Troopers started to retreat. Meleena pursued with her clones.

"Bithia!" She called out. "Stay by the Professor! We have to prevent their escape!"

 

[Starlin Rand]

Once Natalie was gone, Meleena-2 grew agitated, pacing the floors and cursing. Starlin watched her move, and listened to her explanation in silence. The Amalgam. He knew of the name from reports of battles. Laertia had fought alongside her since Dantooine, along with the Cult of the Brain Demon, who were her followers. Laertia’s allegiance with them despite their brutality was part of what had convinced Starlin that something was seriously up with her, beyond madness or misguidedness. He had begun to suspect she was falling to the Dark Side.

“I’ll be careful,” he agreed. It was strange to think that Natalie, who seemed so friendly, gentle, and soft-spoken, was an evil murderess. Or at least, she was in their own time. Perhaps here, in the distant past, she was a very different person. He shrugged. “All right. Let’s go explore.”

***​

Bithia had obliterated several stormtroopers with her disruptors, vaporizing them instantly, but they kept coming. Finally, it seemed like they were starting to retreat, though Meleena and her copies gave chase, apparently not wanting to leave any witnesses.

Bithia was more than happy to follow orders and went back inside the tomb, reuniting with Nimdok. The professor raised his eyebrows at the sight of her; she did not appear fatigued, of course, but her flesh was covered in condensation from the jungle humidity, which smeared the dirt and blood which had splattered her during the massive firefight. Some of the blood was her own, glowing peachy-pink when bathed in the orange light of the lava crystal sconces.

“The others are chasing them down,” she explained, wiping some blood from her upper lip on the back of a gloved hand. “I’m here to guard you.” Her eyes flicked around the murals. “... I see what you meant.”

Nimdok had a strange expression on his face. “What’s wrong?” she asked, frowning.

“I’m concerned about Starlin,” he said. “I can’t seem to contact him. I just get static from his comm. But more than that, finding all this… it’s making me question my decision to send him to Syd for training. Clearly I don’t know as much about her as I thought I did…” He bit his lip, then sighed. “It’s a bit late to take things back. Five years too late.”

He stroked Bithia’s cheek, pushing a few stray strands of straight black hair from her face. She felt nothing at his touch, though she desperately wished she did. “I’m sure Starlin will be fine. He’s a good kid. You’re part of the reason why he’s good.”

Nimdok snorted. “I don’t know about that. I think he’s always had it in him. All we’ve done is unlock his goodness.” His mirth faded. “I’ve been deceiving him. I have my reasons, but… perhaps it’s time for the deceptions to end. He doesn’t need any more in his life.”

“Are you still vying with Syd over who has the most influence over him?” Bithia muttered.

“I don’t need to compete with her over something like that.”

“You sound like you’re lying.”

“You’d get a better psychoanalysis out of me if you were in your Psychologist configuration. You’d look better, too. Not that you aren’t already gorgeous like this, but the Psychologist is my favorite.”

Bithia rolled her eyes. He expected her to believe that a slightly plump Alderaanian woman in her late thirties revved his engines more than an Olivia Wilde expy? “All because that one looks like my original body, hm?”

“You always were an attractive woman, Bithia. Especially your eyes, and your smile.”

The urge to blush like a schoolgirl came over her, though she lacked the bodily processes to do so. “All right, enough of that, you old flirt.” She hefted her disruptor. “For now we just have to sit tight. And you need to get back to work, professor. Chop chop.”

Giving her a thumbs up and a smirk, he resumed his scanning of the murals, copying them into his tome, while she watched the door, waiting either for Meleena and her clones or more stormtroopers to arrive.

Westenra Mina​

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd stared at the strange set of swords she had retrieved from the statue in the strange statue.

They glimmered with flame magic. Extremely Ancient flame magic. Her body resonated with the blades.

Laertia had retrieved a set of swords of her own, these resonating strongly with Ice magic.

"What does it mean?" Laertia asked quietly, deeply troubled at how her own set of blades resonated with her.

"I...I'm not certain..." Syd confessed, setting the Alchemized Daisho next to a pillar.

"I know only that we were meant to receive these...but as to the why...even I couldn't say. They appear to be very old..."

"How old?" Laertia asked.

"Pre Great Hyperspace War...just before it, I'd wager..." She answered, the Archeologist in her coming out.

Laertia smiled as Syd rattled off the details of construction and style of the blades. She had a voice like velvet, and Laertia learned a lot every time Syd spoke on subjects like this, about ancient ruins and how to safely locate and retrieve ancient secrets.

It would be wonderful when Khemost was finally found. She would understand. They would finally have the resources they needed to go further in their efforts against the Bryn'adul.

Laertia had a vision. One of those inevitably made homeless and without family.

She would take them in, when they were at their lowest. She would do for them what had been done for her. She would make them like her.

She would be their Ursula Sandraven. But a sincere one. She would tell them the truth, and wouldn't abandon them. She would train them, care for them like they were her own blood. She would lead by example, for good and ill.

All the Refugees would be as Family. She just had to keep fighting, keep searching, for the lost Sith Treasure Planet. It would be glorious. Beyond glorious. All the hardship, the sweat, the labor, it would be worth it.

And Syd would be at her side for all of it. Every time she was away Laertia spent at least a half hour musing on her flame colored hair, longing to touch it, longing to hear her velvet voice, bask in the heat of her spirit. Longing to feel safe. Few people could make her feel truly safe. Her sisters were among them. Moya was another. But Syd made her feel complete. The refugees would need a powerful Sorceress to help protect them. Maybe two if she could get Syd and Amy to see Eye to Eye...

Laertia, at this point in time, still couldn't acknowledge just what Amy meant to her...

Laertia listened to every word, every syllable. She committed it to memory as Syd finished describing the swords.

"A fun crash course." Laertia said, drawing close to her, mismatched eyes staring into fiery orange.

"Perhaps we should leave this place. I sense it has nothing more to tell us..."

"You may be right about that...but we should take a look all the same..." Syd offered. "There must be a reason these...swords...resonate..."

Syd swooned, feeling a flash of her Ancient past come unbidden...

Laertia caught her. "What's wrong, Syd?" Laertia called out as Syd spasmed, Starlin Rand interfacing with the past in the unusual manner he was causing an echo through time that affected her...

Laertia opted that it was time to leave, teleporting them both along with both sets of swords back to her ship so she could recover.

Henry, a Model 1 Nuetralizer that had been accompanying her as her personal guard, hefted a 7.62x51mm battle rifle as Laertia carried Syd aboard in her arms.

"Mother? What's wrong with Syd?" Henry asked.

"Something in the temple is affecting her. At least...I think..." Laertia answered, carrying her to the bed in Laertia's quarters.

"Son, she's very precious to me...please watch over her...I need time to investigate that temple..."

"Anything that touches her that isn't you, my siblings, or a delightfully furry creature dies..." Henry replied.

Laertia reached out, running her fingers lovingly over the surface of his chrome skull.

"You're such a good son, Henry..." she said with all genuine sincerity, going to her armory to prepare. She didn't trust ancient temples not to have lethal defenses.

As she put on her recently repaired, scuffed, scratched black armor, she decided to ask about Starlin.

"He's on an uncharted planet, right?" Laertia asked.

"ExGal Alpha, last our spies reported. As a matter of fact the area he's at is swarming with NIO activity. Meleena has already repulsed an NIO incursion team."

Laertia was given pause at this.

"Contact any combat assets we have in the area. I'd hate for anything to happen to him. Syd would never forgive herself for not being there to help."

"A half legion of your sons and workers hired by Countess Belasko are close to the system, retrieving salvage from an old Golan 2 defense platform that was derelict at the edge of it. They say they found a lot of guns. E-11's, DC's, DLT's..." Henry answered.

"Dispatch a three sibling unit. Immediately."

Laertia finished suiting up, grabbing her Psychic Katana, a gift from her sisters, a pair of Frontier Pistols, and an SFOR Carbine, stopping once to check on Syd's condition.

She stroked her face as Syd's eyes fluttered...


Past-Atrisia...

Wearing: Cidd's Armor

Cidd Cinndurr was practically beside herself with the events of today!

She had met her own future apprentice! She felt overwhelmed. Even though he wasn't her beloved, this was still huge...

She was at something of a loss as to what to do about it.

On the one hand she wanted to sing in joy. On the other, she had thousands of butterflies in her stomach. What was she like in the future? Why had she changed her name? Had something happened. She simply couldn't imagine a reason for changing her name.

Cidd meditated in the quiet of her private chamber, it's interior studded with Lava Crystals to channel her power.

She was exhilarated and scared in the same time.

What should she pass on to an apprentice she had technically not trained yet?.

Finally, she had a idea...

She decided, that as long as he was here, he might as well learn alchemy basics by constructing a Force Imbued Sword.

Syd plucked some Lava Crystals from the wall around her otherwise utilitarian chamber., As well as three durasteel ingots, placing them all in a case as she went looking for Starlin.

Meanwhile...

Meleena-2 was leading the way as she explored the temple with Starlin, the blond, gold fleshed Android having smooth, too inhumanly precise movements as she moved that, while fluid gave away something was off.

The Android stopped by a large window, staring out upon a valley that bore a wrecked, ancient space battle ship that had seemed to be made mostly of a crystal like substance.

"I know this ship..." Meleena admitted, going by her own own databanks. "That's the Sacred Ancestor...it's one of the earliest true Battle Cruisers ever made..."

Meleena sighed.

"The Sacred Ancestor once threatened all of Atrisia with Annihilation. It's builder and creator had gone violently insane due to betrayal by the Emperor of the time which left her and her crew to die. They came back as Shadow Consuming Vampire's and laid waste to its ancient Capital, The Jade City. Only a Jedi Master, an Atrisian Prefect, a Dark Side Sorceress, and a Padawan who was the last of an Atrisian Royal House consisting of deadly warriors managed to prevent it's total destruction...the Padawan happened to be the daughter of the now insane Commander and was forced to kill her own mother in a vicious duel to put an end to the Madness, and then flee Atrisia due to how many she cut her way through, especially important people, to find the means to destroying the ship. She later came back to the planet as a Knight to stop it from succumbing to yet another vampire Plague. She sacrificed herself in the process. If that's here, we must be close to Mount Muspelheim..." Meleena explained.

The Android waited for Starlin to get an eye view of the wrecked ship (to get an idea of what it looked like in its prime, think the USS Cygnus from the Disney Film The Black Hole) and then turned and gestured him to follow her down the wide, expansive passages of the temple, coming across a chamber where Fire Priestesses were training with fire spells. Natalie was among them, smiling warmly and waving at them both. Natalie's Amalgam-Face still gave her the shivers. Laertia was playing with fire, partnering with that Beast.

Literally AND Metaphorically...

"Hey Starlin!" Natalie called out. "Wanna try and learn some spells?"

 

[Starlin Rand]

In the distant past, Starlin listened to Meleena-2’s history lesson. He was admittedly not all that interested in the story of the Sacred Ancestor and her mad commander. He wasn’t Atrisian, and Atrisian history had little effect on his life.

“Mount Muspelheim?” he echoed, the name sparking recognition in his mind. “That’s the place where my shoto came from. Or at least, the lava crystal inside it…”

The pieces were beginning to fit, but he hadn’t completed the whole puzzle. Fingering his comlink, he suppressed his instinct to call Nimdok and tell him everything. Communications weren’t working, presumably because, y’know, he had traveled through time.

He continued to follow Meleena-2 around, afraid of what might happen if they separated. He did not want to become trapped in the past, cut off from his friends and family and the galaxy he knew…

The sound of Natalie’s voice calling out to him startled Starlin. The Padawan whirled around to face her, and again he felt that sense of guilt for being wary of such a nice person. “Sure!” he replied. After all, why not?

Natalie just seemed so… good in this time period. Almost like a sweet, pretty schoolteacher whose pupils adored her. Starlin could see her starring in idyllic romantic daydreams, picnicking in a meadow. He couldn’t imagine her as a monster slaughtering innocents.

Meleena-2 hadn’t raised any objections yet, and Starlin could vaguely sense Syd—no, Cidd—approaching them. He hoped the biot wouldn’t leave him alone with these priestesses who, while beautiful, were both familiar and eerily strange.

***​

Meanwhile, in the present...

Bithia had found a perch on a fallen ancient pillar, and sat facing the exit with her disruptor rifle cradled in her arms. She was supposed to be watching the door, but her eyes kept drifting over to Nimdok, watching him work.

Every now and then, he would remark on the contents of the frescoes, statues, and stone reliefs, telling her about his findings. She would listen, committing the info to her impressive memory banks, but the subject held little interest for her. Years ago, she’d fallen in love with a history professor despite not caring much for the past. He knew that, but she suspected he needed something to keep his mind off of Starlin, so she let him talk without interruption.

During a particularly long period of silence between them, however, she decided to speak her mind. “Errik,” she said his name to catch his attention.

“Hm?”

“This Elise Ike woman,” she began, fingering her gun. “How did you meet her?”

He seemed to tense up at the mention of the other woman, but answered her truthfully. “Through my work. She’s an archaeologist and anthropologist—specializes in bones, mostly.”

“So you and her have the same work and the same interests,” Bithia murmured. “Do you love her?”

“Part of me does.” Nimdok hesitated, then added, “The part of me that is Arimanes Bosch is the one who fell in love with her. Since I’m in his body and in his mind, I can’t help but share his feelings. Nor can he help but share mine…” Laying a hand over his heart, he sighed. “I feel like a better person now because we’re together. It’s like I’m whole, where I was only two separate halves of a person before. It sounds silly, but Arimanes and Nimdok complete each other, I think.”

What does that mean for us? she thought, but didn’t ask. It sounded like her return into his life was threatening to tear him apart, destroying his happiness with Elise and upsetting the balance between his two halves. Nimdok had been at peace with the fact that he would never see Bithia again; it would be wrong to force Arimanes to give Elise up so that Nimdok could have Bithia back.

The obvious solution would’ve been to just share him with Elise. Maybe other people were fine with such an arrangement, but Bithia was not. Call her jealous, call her selfish; she couldn’t live that way. Not while knowing that Nimdok had gotten along fine without her.

I am the “other woman” in this situation, not Elise.

As she considered this, her head drooped forward, strands of her bobbed black hair falling in her face. “When we first got married, I ran through all these possibilities in my head,” she began. “All these worst case scenarios. If anything did happen to us, I wanted to have a plan.” She raised her head, meeting his gaze. “But this isn’t the sort of situation I ever could’ve prepared for. You died and came back, and you thought I was dead... but this isn’t even about you thinking you’d been widowed and moving on, is it?”

“It’s very complicated,” he agreed, walking over and sitting down beside her.

Pursing her lips, she asked the question she’d been dying to know the answer to, but was more afraid of hearing than anything else: “Do you still love me?”

“Yes,” he said. “Very much. But… only part of me can say that now.”

For a while they sat quietly together, each consumed by their own tangled thoughts and feelings.

Bithia was the one who broke the silence. “Didn’t you also say Elise was a former Sith, and a vampire?”

He nodded. “She gave up the Sith life long ago. As for her vampirism, she goes about it as ethically as she can. Certainly doesn’t leave a trail of bodies or anything like that.”

“Ah.” She had been vainly hoping that she could argue that Elise was immoral, and therefore he shouldn’t be involved with her. But nope—it sounded like she was fully reformed. “Has she ever bitten you?”

“I wish.”

Bithia blinked. “You actually want to get bitten?”

He blushed. “I mean—uh, I wouldn’t mind if she did…”

“Which of you is saying that?”

“Both. Well, I just—you know. Arimanes Bosch is into that sort of thing, while Errik Nimdok is just curious. As a scholar.”

There was a long, awkward pause.

“What if I bit you?” Bithia asked. “You know, I’m something of a vampire myself.”

“Really, Bithia, I don’t think—you already bit me once, remember?”

“Yes, because I needed to and—” She broke off. “You said you were ‘just curious’—but don’t you remember when I bit you? Didn’t that satisfy your curiosity?”

Nimdok just stared at her, his face growing more flushed by the second. When he tried to talk, he could only sputter in embarrassment. “Okay, yes, I admit I find it…” He made some vague gestures, unable to bring himself to finish the rest of his sentence. “But Elise considers it too dangerous. We haven’t done anything like that. Except for one occasion where I had been attacked by a spirit that drained me, so she transmitted some of her energy into me…” He trailed off, a dreamy look in his eyes.

“Well, that does sound rather intriguing,” Bithia said, smirking at his antics. Glancing toward the door, she stood up, set aside her rifle, and stood in front of him. “Unlike Elise, I don’t have to worry about it being too dangerous.”

“We really shouldn’t—” he started, but she had already dropped down on one knee. Her flesh wriggled and writhed as she shifted from one form to another.

Rising to her feet again, she stood before him in her Psychologist Form, the one with her original face and body: an Alderaanian woman with dark curly hair, beautiful brown eyes, and skin the color of toffee. No longer clad in armor, she instead wore a plum-colored satin dress.

“I can still fight like this, don’t worry.” She rested her hands on his shoulders and gently eased herself into his lap. “But you said this was your favorite form of mine...”

Nimdok swallowed. His arms instinctively reached out to hold her close, fingers caressing the smooth fabric of her gown. Yet as he touched her, he detected a tension in her body, a hesitation. “What is it?” he whispered.

She cupped his face, running her fingers through his hair. She wanted so badly for things to be the way they were. “I’ll tell you sometime soon, when we’re in a better place,” she said, kissing him softly. Her lips roamed along the edge of his jaw until they found his neck...

Westenra Mina​

 

[Syd Celsius]

Natalie smiled as Starlin Rand agreed to be shown a few spells.

"Meleena, do you have any objections to this?" Natalie asked.

The blond Biot shook her head, sitting on a nearby bench next to another witch.

Natalie beamed, and got in the middle of the chamber.

"The first spell we shall learn, Starlin, is meant to enchant nearly any flame you come across so that it heals instead of burns. It's an effective method of first aid when no kolto is available." she explained as a pair of Witches brought out a burning torch on a special holder for it.

Natalie focused and spoke the spell words.

"Ashla, let this flame mend instead of burn..."

The hot orange flame turned bright pink... One of the witches, who had self inflicted a cut on her arm, walked over and held it over the flame. The cut soon began to mend itself...

"That spell is specifically aligned with the light. You need a very calm mind to work it however." Natalie explained.

"Ummm... Natalie?" Meleena spoke. "I'm curious about something. Where did you learn these magics from?"

"Well...Cidd taught us. Almost all the flame magic we know comes from Cidd."

"Who taught Cidd?" Meleena asked.

Natalie shrugged. "She's never elaborated on it. But it's helped us resist the Atrisian Emperor."

"Hmmm..." Meleena mumbled.

Meanwhile, Cidd had arrived in the chamber, her Sauron-Like orange cat eyes watching passively as her top student demonstrated an important Light Side Spell to her future apprentice. She remained silent, as Natalie was prone to teaching what could help people and in particular enjoyed spreading the knowledge of how to heal others. It would almost be criminal to interrupt...

"The Light can mend flesh. On occasion, it can heal all but the most wounded minds. Healing is among the most moral approaches to Force Usage. You ask me, every Light Adept should engage in it as regularly as possible. It helps you not be separate from those you want to help..." Natalie continued.

Meanwhile, in the future...


Syd's eyes snapped open on the bed she looked up, spotting one of Laertia's sons standing over her.

"What the feth is going on?!" she asked herself quietly before rising up.

"Celsius. You're awake. Mother will be very happy at this development." Henry stated enthusiastically.

"Where is Laertia?"

"She was convinced your state of unconsciousness is linked to whatever happened at the temple you both explored..." Henry explained. "She went back to investigate and look for whatever might be causing it."

Syd immediately reached out to Laertia through her bond. No response. She couldn't feel her. She then reached out to Starlin through their bond. No response either.

"I'm going to go look for her. I can't feel her." Syd said, confused by the sudden rush of memories with Starlin, times and dates and places and faces she could almost recognize yet couldn't give names to.

"By the way, do you have any clue where Starlin is?"

"ExGal Alpha. Some sort of temple himself, with friends of his and one of Laertia's sisters. They've encountered hostile NIO personnel."

Panic ran through Syd. Her student, who she cared for like a son was in danger. Deep danger. But Laertia was also missing! She couldn't be in two places at once!

Technically, that is...

Syd thought about it a moment, then grabbed one of Laertia's knives for a ritual.

"Ooooo, what's the knife for?" Henry asked.

"Magic 'n' chit." Syd answered.

"Oh."

Syd headed out of the ship, cutting open her palm, glowing green blood trickling out. She spread it on the ground in a pentagram pattern before kneeling in front of it and chanting under her breath.

The flesh on her face started to bubble and warp, splitting off and detaching from her head, growing small little tendrils of muscle tissue that allowed it to crawl to the center of the Pentagram, while it's surface rippled with green lightning, it's countenance shifting from Syd's visage to that of the Sorceress of Ossus, it's mass rapidly expanding and bubbling as it grew within the pentagram. This was incredibly disgusting to witness. Henry kept to himself just how much her magic resembled that of the Brain Demon Cultists. He was forbidden from mentioning Laertia's Alliance with The Amalgam to Syd. It was on a strict, need to know basis. And Syd didn't need to know.

Still, as he watched Syd create a copy of the Sorceress from her own flesh, he was very glad he couldn't vomit at the sight.

The bulging, warping mass of flesh twisted itself into the nude figure of the Sorceress, on one knee, steam rising from sand colored skin, occasionally rippling and arcing with green lightning on occasion. Syd, having never dared let what she absorbed have a copy of its own body before, was very nervous at what she had created.

The Sorceress opened dark green eyes with red pupils at the center.

"Are you prepared to obey my commands?" Syd asked.

Fully independent, but not wanting her to realize that, and having every intent of remaining near Starlin to continue guiding him in the Light Side, The Sorceress nodded.

"I am yours to instruct. My flesh is derived from yours. Bound to your will." The Sorceress answered.

"Good. I'm going after Starlin. I sense grave danger for him. You will go to get Laertia. I have a spare suit on my ship. Pull this off, I might let you out more often..."

The Sorceress sighed but nodded, rising, flesh still rippling unnaturally on certain parts of her body. Syd's face immediately grew back and reformed over her exposed skull and glowing green muscle tissue, rising up, turning to face Henry.

"I need you to go with her."

"Her? Who the feth is she?" Henry wondered.

"Part of me." Syd answered.

"This magic of yours is confusing." Henry stated.

Syd shrugged.

"It is what it is..." Syd replied, both she and the nude Sorceress heading to her vessel. Five minutes later, The Sorceress of Ossus emerged, wearing Syd's skintight red and gold armor, while Syd's ship lifted off.

"Are you prepared to accompany me, Machine?" The blood Sorceress asked.

"The name is Henry..." Henry said crossly.

"A nice name. A strong name..." The Sorceress replied. "Let us go look for your mother..."

 

[Starlin Rand]

With no objections from Meleena, Starlin settled down to watch as Natalie demonstrated a healing spell. All of their magic seemed to revolve around fire—go figure, given that their group was fire-themed—which Meleena remarked upon, asking who had taught Cidd. Yet none of Cidd’s disciples knew the origins of their unique brand of sorcery.

Starlin kept one ear open for clues among their conversation, even as he focused on committing the new spell to memory and constructing a rhyme for it. Burn, turn, return, learn, earn, yearn… spurn?

Cidd herself arrived just as Natalie was imparting some surprising wisdom. Starlin looked at the woman who would one day become the Amalgam with a soft gaze. “Yes, you’re right,” he said. Turning toward another torch, he uttered the words of his version of the spell.

“Healing waters, the body spurns; Ashla, let this flame mend instead of burn…”

***​

Bithia and Nimdok sat together in the tomb, their entwined silhouettes awash in the orange glow of the lava crystals. It was getting dark outside, and they hadn’t heard from Starlin or Meleena in quite some time. Neither had any more NIO soldiers approached their position. The grave of Cidd Cinndurr was silent—for now.

“Errik…” Bithia whispered, as though afraid to disrupt the peace and quiet of the mausoleum. “What was it like, to die?”

Nimdok looked at her curiously, idly stroking her bare arm. “It was… hard to describe,” he began. “Frightening, at first, and exhilarating. I never knew how confining a physical body really was until I was free of it.” He reached up to smooth her dark curls. “I thought of you and Miri a great deal. I could see everything you did, all that happened to you, but I couldn’t do anything to influence your lives. I watched Miri grow without me, wishing I could’ve been there for her… and I saw the two of you kidnapped by that monster Messala. When the impostor Arimanes Bosch came to the Netherworld by chance, I saw my opportunity and seized it.”

“The afterlife must not have been that great a place,” she murmured.

“It was a paradise, in its own way,” he said. “But I had things to do. I couldn’t stand the powerlessness. I could let you or Miri suffer. That was all I wanted, Bithia, was to keep the two of you safe. Everything else that happened along the way was... unplanned.”

“Things rarely go the way we want them to.” She sighed. Her fingers delicately traced the puncture wounds she’d left in his neck. “Does this hurt?”

His face flushed. “A little more than a love bite should, yes.”

That made her smile. “Maybe I should get you some bacta—”

“Maybe you should bite me again,” he purred, winking. “Preferably in the nude.”

“Okay, that’s quite enough.” She laughed. “I never would’ve guessed you were into this…”

She retrieved a medkit from her gear, laying a small bacta-soaked bandage over the bite marks. As she was putting the kit back together, she heard a noise coming from somewhere outside. Nimdok also sat up. “More soldiers,” he whispered. “At least three dozen of them…”

“The more, the merrier,” she muttered, picking up her weapons and heading for the entrance…

Westenra Mina​

 

[Syd Celsius]

So he rhymes... Cidd thought.

Cidd watched with very keen interest as Starlin Rand performed the fire related healing spell, turning a flame bright pink. Natalie went over to test it, cutting her arm open and letting red blood flow out. She held it over the flame and the cut mended.

"Very well done, Starlin! Whatever my Master has taught, you have obviously taken it to heart!" Natalie exclaimed in good natured excitement...

Natalie called out to Cidd. "Welcome, Master! I was just about to show him another spell!"

Cidd smiled warmly. "Continue."

Natalie beamed and turned back to face Starlin, Meleena-2 doing her best to hide how she was assessing not just Natalie, but Cidd as well.

The Android honestly felt bad for Starlin. The boy clearly placed a lot of trust in those he considered friends. From what she could gather, all of this was news to him.

Either Syd didn't remember this...any of this...

...or she was lying...

Either way, Melee a definitely no longer trusted Syd Celsius.

She wondered if Starlin was beginning to have the same misgivings...

Natalie took another torch that burned brightly from a wall sconce.

"Magic can alter a flame so that the light it produces greatly weakens the effect of Neutral Force Powers. It's no Force Light. But if used correctly it can remove the bread and butter attacks of most Force Users as an option. Mind you, the effect only lasts as long as the flame isn't put out...

Natalie held her hand over the flame.

"Ashla, render the common flimsy."

The bright burning fire turned a curious shade of green.

"Obviously, we cannot test it here--" Natalie explained.

Just then, a Sorceress burst into the chambers.

"Mistress!!!" called out a dark skinned woman that looked like The Assembly, a deadly Witch Starlin and Syd fought during an early moment in his training, when uncovering the mystery of an ancient Force Based Weather Device.

"What is it, Lucille?" Cidd asked.

"One of our lookouts in the village spotted activity. It looks like the troops of the Emperor..."

OOC: Let's keep the next following posts in this particular time period, plz. I got ideas...

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin still didn’t know what to think. He assumed Syd didn’t remember her past life as Cidd Cinndurr, or else she would’ve mentioned it at some point. Even then, perhaps she had a good reason for withholding information about her past from him. After all, she hadn’t pressed for the details of his life story. She had no idea what he had been through before he came to her. Such matters were private, to be kept even from close friends…

For now, he was wholly focused on Natalie’s lessons. This fire magic stuff was really interesting. He never knew it was possible to do so much with just a flame and the words to a spell…

The only direct rhyme for flimsy he could think of was whimsy, which sorely limited his poetry. “I am not taken to flights of whimsy; Ashla, render the common flimsy.” Not his best rhyme, but functional. Maybe he could change it later, if he thought of something better…

The lessons were interrupted by the excited arrival of a beautiful—and instantly recognizable—woman. Starlin's gut twisted, both due to the jarring familiarity of Lucille's visage and the nature of her news. Troops arriving near the village, troops bearing the banners of an Emperor…

He instinctively glanced toward Cidd, the look in his blue eyes betraying his inner turmoil. Intellectually, he knew he shouldn’t try to interfere with the past. But while this woman might have a different history, a different name even, she was still Syd in another life. Could he really stand by and allow her to be brutally executed, as had been depicted on the walls of her tomb? He opened his mouth to speak…

Westenra Mina​