Populate Outbound Flight: The Darkness Within [THR Populate of Adras]

[Dominic Praxon]

Her voice cut through the oppressive, damning static in his head. Dominic felt a stillness wash over him.

But the name lingered in the air between them longer than any other word she had spoken. Bastila.

For a moment the docking bay seemed to shrink around him. The distant groan of the station’s metal skeleton echoed through the hull like something ancient shifting in its sleep, but Dominic heard none of it. His attention had narrowed to the single, impossible realization now unraveling in his mind.

She knew her. Not as rumour or passing acquaintance. Quinn knew Bastila. The softness in Quinn’s voice when she spoke the Jedi’s name betrayed familiarity. Worse than familiarity. Something warmer. Something dangerously close to affection.

Dominic’s thoughts twisted into sharp and uncomfortable shapes.

Bastila had always lingered at the edge of his life like a star that refused to dim, no matter how many times he turned away from it. Three times he had refused her. Three times she had returned with that same earnest hope that made refusal feel almost like cruelty. It had become an unspoken certainty in the back of his mind, an arrogant little truth he had never voiced aloud.

She would always be there. A constant. An option. And now that confidence cracked.

Had she spent enough time near a Sith that the woman spoke of her like this? Had Bastila allowed herself to drift so close to the shadow that someone like Quinn could speak her name with quiet fondness? Or worse. Had Bastila chosen it?

The thought struck Dominic with a sudden, irrational sharpness. A flash of something almost childish in its possessiveness coiled in his chest before he could smother it. Ridiculous.

And yet the fear lingered.

He became dimly aware of Quinn’s presence closer now, the faint brush of the Force moving across his thoughts like cool water against fevered skin. The suffocating pressure at the edges of his mind retreated just enough for him to breathe again. Dominic exhaled slowly.

For the first time since the shuttle had arrived, the darkness pressing against the corners of his awareness loosened its grip. Quinn’s presence acted against whatever malevolence sought his downfall. It was dangerous, but necessary.

His gaze shifted toward her at last, the sharp tension in his posture easing by the smallest degree. “She…will have to be a conversation for another time,” he said quietly, the name Bastila left unspoken but hanging unmistakably in the space between them.

He needed something rational, and largely free of tumult on which to cling. Her question about the databases offered exactly that.

Dominic turned back toward the console beside the viewport, fingers moving across its surface with renewed purpose.

“The financial registries,” he said, his voice steadier now, “I need to see the trade manifests, ownership transfers, subsidiary filings…anything that cause someone official to start looking into our dealings.”

The gas giant beyond the glass churned slowly, a vast crimson storm turning silently in the void.

“If your assurances prove correct,” Dominic continued, forcing his thoughts into the familiar architecture of political analysis, “we will have taken a step in the right direction towards something...similar...to trust.”

Quinn Varanin​

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Dominic Praxon //:
//: Attire //:

Unfortunately for Dominic, Quinn could feel it. She could feel the frustration and the emotions that tightened in his chest. There was something there that she had feared, but didn't want to acknowledge. While he perhaps wanted to know more, Quinn wanted to know nothing. She wanted to remain ignorant of what occurred and why this man felt the way he did.

She could feel his eyes on her for the moment, searching for an answer. Somehow, Quinn had left too much on the table — in her hopes of comforting him in this horrid environment, she created a bigger mess, potentially doing the opposite of what she wanted to do. Her lips pursed, trying to ensure that she said nothing more in particular about the Jedi acquaintance they both shared.

His stubbornness made it hard to protect him, but she allowed more of her focus to linger on protecting his mind. Whatever this entity was, she would endure; she was always able to endure. Exhaling softly, she felt his tension ease momentarily, enough to hear him mention once more about Bastila… without saying her name.

Quinn paused. She thought about removing the memory. His mind was open to her; she had access, and he wouldn't feel a thing. It would just be a few minutes lost. It would protect Bastila, it would protect whatever they had between them. Even further… she could make him forget, erase, everything…

Her eyes shut quickly, no. She couldn't do something like that — even if what she was feeling from him felt ill towards the Jedi, she could never take that away from someone. He would be watched and carefully stepped around. Bastila's words echoed quietly in her mind…

“Quinn…I can’t…not here.”

“You’re not what I expected,” she admitted quietly. “Sith aren’t supposed to… to smile like that.”

So many small moments, but they held something for the Echani. Maybe she was the foolish one, hoping for something — hoping for someone to save her from herself.

“I want…You have no idea how much. But not now.”

She opened her eyes, and for a brief moment, Dominic was not there, and she was looking at the woman's chestnut hair, carefully braided, intricate. She smiled as she whispered once more, as a pain bloomed in her chest.

“The financial registries,” he said, his voice steadier now, “I need to see the trade manifests, ownership transfers, subsidiary filings…anything that cause someone official to start looking into our dealings.”

Then his words cut through the small fantasy, and the sudden pain subsided as she cleared her throat.

"I don't know who you're referring to…" she responded in the same quiet tone as he did.

He continued, the conversation shifting back to the documentation he needed to verify. Quinn grew annoyed, but she welcomed the distraction in the mundane. She looked at her device, searching for the information he needed.

“You’re trying very hard to hold back.”

Suddenly, a flash of violet light from the corner of her eye made her look up and over her shoulder. Nothing, but what followed was the heat again, the flames from her childhood licked at the back of her neck.

It's an illusion, it's not real… ignore it…

She focused again and flicked her finger a few times to send the information to the console he worked at.

"It's all there, verify it, and we can move on… learning to trust each other…" She ran her fingers carefully through her blonde hair, each strand falling away like silk as she waited.

"I want you to make note, I kept my word, and I am protecting your mind… but you should get some rest, Senator… you seem strained."

 

[Tatiana Sah]

Tatiana strode along the catwalk with her helmed head slowly swung from one side to the next. "Curious. There is almost a pattern to the waves of frequencies. This chamber would seem to amplify their effect. Perhaps even channel it. Though the design does not appear to support such a function." There might be more mechanisms within the wall itself. Or perhaps an element or material blended into its construction?

"Optical illusions," Knight Sah said, though the observations made behind her probably hadn't been meant for her.

Or so she believed. Tatiana suddenly stopped and pivoted ninety degrees with her blue eyes directed at a specific spot on the chamber wall. Though no one would probably know it, her attention was directed back at the ship where others awaited word from the expedition.

"The effect is being amplified, but directed outward. Away from the machine," she remarked suddenly. There was a telepathic echo or quality to it, or perhaps in the way it interacted with the minds of those elsewhere. Whatever the case, Tatiana could feel it. But what was its purpose?

Her head snapped to the side to stare at the Machine once more. How could they make contact with it? Perhaps if she interfaced with it physically.

Sela Basran | Corazona von Ascania | Caelian Tane | Luke Montann | Kaia Starchaser

 

[Dominic Praxon]

The console chimed softly as the files arrived, cascading across the display in orderly columns of trade registries, manifests, and corporate shells that nested within one another. Dominic stared at them, but his attention lingered somewhere else entirely.

The pressure in his skull had eased. Not vanished, but noticeably diminished. The planet still loomed beyond the viewport like a bleeding wound in the cosmos, its crimson storms roiling with silent menace. The sensation that something watched him remained. But the fog that had wrapped itself around his thoughts had thinned.

He noticed it the way a drowning man notices the sudden absence of water in his lungs.

Slowly, Dominic exhaled. His eyes lifted from the console and drifted toward Quinn. A look of surprise, confusion and even...gratitude.

Curious. He thought.

For a moment he said nothing, studying her with the same careful scrutiny he reserved for hostile senate committees. His fingers rested on the console edge, unmoving. Then a quiet breath of something almost like dry amusement escaped him.

Dominic leaned back slightly, folding one arm across his chest in a passive, unconscious check on his heart rate. "The last place I expected to feel...safer," he continued quietly, "was in the presence of Sith royalty."

A faint crease formed between his brows, as if the sentence itself offended his lifelong assumptions. "And yet." His eyes flicked once more toward the swirling red world outside. "Here we are."

The irony hung in the air.

His attention returned to the console, finally saving the incoming data so he could later give it the scrutiny it deserved. He scanned the opening registries, his mind slipping easily back into the comfortable machinery of finance and logistics.

Numbers were honest things. They lied often, but always in ways that could be proven.

After a few moments he nodded once, almost to himself. "This will help," he said. There was genuine appreciation in the words, though his tone remained measured.

"A night's rest," he continued, "and putting several million kilometers between ourselves and this world would likely improve my disposition considerably."

He pulled himself together, with a tug on his stiff tunic. His fingers tapped the console once more, closing several of the files.

"For the record," he added calmly, glancing toward her, "I do appreciate that you kept your word." The admission sounded like it had passed through several layers of stubborn pride before reaching the air.

The question of Bastila still lingered in the air, his lips parting with the thought of her on the breath that escaped. But he closed his mouth, and his mind to the possibility of discussing it further. She was a terrorist's daughter...after all. It should not matter to him where she wandered, and with whom.

Quinn Varanin​

 

[Elian Abrantes]

Mechanical Room- Somewhere
@Open
​

"This guy has a death wish, even more so than I do." Elian mused as he rerouted some eletrical wiring that had long been charred and was causing issues to this level of the Outbound Flight. "The problem is, this requires routine maintenance, not just a simple come check on it once a month. If this proceeded any further we would have to replace this whole system, panel included."

Elian didn't really pay attention to their response, there was a few technical personnel there with him. Far older than he was, yet the seventeen year old was doing their job better than the four of them combined. He let out a small sigh as he closed the panel and then rerouted the power back.

"There, done and done. May the power protect you, or force be with you. Or however in the hell that saying goes."

​

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Dominic Praxon //:
//: Objective I //:

Maybe Quinn should have accepted the carefully crafted compliment. But she was used to things being said to her like that; she was used to the way he looked at her — all of them expecting her to sprout demonic wings and eat their souls. She sighed softly under her breath as she let him continue to speak. It wasn't a good feeling to be studied in a way that those who had their assumptions did.

It was a reminder that no matter how much she tried, she could never outrun the spots she was born with.

He seemed pleased, which meant that everything was in order. His little, clean, and pristine image was clear of the nasty Sith stain that she was. Quinn, of course, kept the comment to herself; there was no reason to rock the boat of this mild understanding between them.

She looked elsewhere, avoiding his gaze as she hated the way most looked at her. Though she sought to defend herself somewhat.

"Well, not all of us are monsters…" Quinn murmured, trying to find the humor in it. Deep down, she knew what she was; she was no better than the Sith that killed because they could. Often, she could feel the churn of the phobis device. As she became older, it grew stronger. A part of her wondered if it fed off of her, which is why the insatiable Force of hunger always lingered.

Her eyes closed at the thought; thinking about it only made it more obvious. After a few moments and some more words from the man, she nodded.

"We are business partners, even if I'm in the shadows." Another nod as she looked towards the world he had brought attention to. The Force pulsed, and she felt it, that darkness crawling up her spine, latching around her throat.

Whispers of doubt and thoughts of how she could fix all of this shift its trajectory. She didn't listen. Mostly because she could recognize the dark voices. They were the same ones who talked to her when she was at her lowest, when they wanted control…

When she needed their power.

Quinn looked away and pinched the bridge of her nose. "How much longer are you scheduled to remain here?" She wanted to leave right away, but her gut told her otherwise. The last thing either of them needed was for the Senator to lose his mind to whatever was haunting them and tell all their secrets.

Tell her secrets, any of the ones he had gleaned from their connection. Thankfully, she figured she was safe. Despite not looking, she never thought he was sensitive.

Even if he didn't say it, she could feel it in the air around them. He wanted to talk about Bastila; he wanted to dig into the essence of their relationship. Quinn didn't give him anything, her back slowly turning towards him as she suddenly felt the warmth of the woman's lips against hers — even if briefly. A hand rested for a moment, touching lightly against her red-stained lips.

Quinn dropped her hand and returned to looking at the world they were near.

Whatever this thing was, it was starting to annoy her.

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Her droid was doing a lot of the work right now. The Starchaser was more than happy to have her droid around, and while Drifter was a decent co-pilot and stored too much navigation data for a probe, his/its programming was more for this type of exploration. Looking at the gathered team, she was more than happy to be working with like minded beings.

“Something is here, yeah, but we can’t let that scare us off, of the adventure!”

She was more chipper when she wasn’t planetside. She preferred to be among the stars. Sure, there was something amiss here, but she was more worried about not seeing what this thing was all about. As Sah spoke, Kaia returned a nod and looked up. Drifter twirled and tweeted positively as it literally drifted ahead.

“Stay safe…” She ordered the droid as she turned to the other Forcer, wasn’t she from one of the other outlying Enclaves?

“Its an odd feeling, but interesting. Something to find and seek.” Warden of the Sky over Jedi, obviously.

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Objective II
Aboard the Vel'serenne | Diplomtich Naboo Vessel
Directly: Aurelian Veruna
Indirectly: Feel free to comm any updates to us! Sela Basran Tatiana Sah

Aurelian did not mention Cassian.

Maybe that was deliberate. Or maybe that was just his way of trying to comfort in the only way he knew how -- by distracting her with his sass and commentary regarding the looming problem in front of them, as though focus alone might make the rest of it… bearable.

And to his credit, it was what they should be doing.

It was just that Sibylla simply had never been particularly good at should when it came to the people she loved.

Was this all a setup for Cassian to go undercover again? Could it be related to his work? To Thessay? No, Aurelian would have made mention of it if he'd noticed anything regarding his sister. That he had instead cracked a comment regarding Senator Praxton and another ancient relic told her that Thessaly, at least, wasn't the case in Cassian's disappearance.

Her attention rose to him despite herself, her gaze settling upon him with a quiet, treacherous familiarity. It traced over the sharp lines of his face, the ease of his posture, the dark forelocks that refused to stay put and fell just slightly across his brow. She recalled how he used to slick them back, keeping them neatly in place during his time as Senator of Plooroid III, all polish and presentation as he climbed toward power.

Now…now he let it fall as it pleased. More him. Had he changed his routine?

Not that she minded, for she found herself running her fingers through it more often than naught.

Focus, she told herself, as she dragged her attention firmly and deliberately back to the matter at hand.

"The Republic needs resources," Sibylla said, clearing her throat before continuing. "Raw materials. Power. Something that ensures we are not forever reacting to the next crisis but capable of meeting at our borders -- much like that artifact you found on Naboo. Any updates on that?"

Once again, for a few seconds, her thoughts threatened to fracture again, rolling over the fact that Cassian was missing, Elian was wounded, and at every turn, it seemed as if the galaxy was refusing to give her even a single moment of peace.

"If this artifact offers anything resembling defensive capability," she continued a bit more quietly now, "it would be… advantageous."

Then in a softer tone threaded with dry, exhausted wit:

"…though I would prefer, this time, that it not come with an accompanying pantheon of gods to negotiate with."

Sibylla brought her fingers up and pressed briefly to her brow, feeling the weight of it all, before she gave an exhale and straightened her shoulders. With a subtle gesture, the holographic array bloomed to life between them in blue light, scattering across her features and catching in the intricate braids woven back from her face.

"The current team includes both Jedi and scientific specialists," she said, tone returning to that precise, diplomatic cadence she wore like armor.

A map of what had been charted so far was in the center, but to the right were the team names, gently scrolling in quiet procession.

She did not point to the obvious. She did not need to, because she knew the moment Aurelian's gaze would catch Jedi Knight Corazona von Ascania , odds were he would have something to say about it.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Sibylla Abrantes

Aurelian watched her track the lines of his face. He didn't look away, instead leaning into the scrutiny with a practiced, effortless posture. He knew the effect he had on her, and he played the part well, flicking a stray lock of dark hair away from his brow as she lingered.

When she finally tore her gaze back to the holograms to talk of resources and power, he offered a sharp, knowing smile. He let her drone on about the Republic's needs, nodding along with a performative gravity that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"The Veruna Artifact," he corrected, his grin turning into something decidedly more smug. He had named the relic after himself, a fact he knew probably grated on her nerves in the best possible way.

"Testing is underway. It's proving quite intriguing. It has a knack for shutting down technology across a wide radius. Even better, it seems to strip the Force away from anyone trying to pull a Jedi trick. Imagine it. A galaxy where those mystics can't lean on their invisible crutches."

He relished the thought of leveling the playing field, but the satisfaction dimmed as he watched Sibylla. She was present, yet her mind was clearly fraying at the edges, likely snagged on the inevitable disasters involving her siblings. She was burying herself in the mission because the alternative was falling apart. Aurelian stayed silent, letting her retreat into the safety of diplomatic cadences and scrolling data.

The holographic array flickered, casting a cool blue light over the room. His eyes caught the name. He rolled his eyes, a heavy, theatrical gesture. He had plenty of opinions on Cora's involvement and her uncanny ability to find trouble, but he bit back the commentary. There were more pressing cracks in the armor right now.

Aurelian pushed off and moved around the table. He didn't ask for permission as he reached out, catching her arm and pulling her firmly into his space. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand resting on the back of her head to guide her face against his chest. The sass evaporated.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice losing its dry edge.

​

 

[Dominic Praxon]

Dominic watched her from the console for a moment longer than he intended. It was not the wary observation of a senator measuring an adversary, nor the guarded scrutiny he might reserve for a Sith whose reputation preceded them. Something else had slipped into his thoughts. It was harder to categorize.

She had turned away. Her hand had risen to her lips without thinking. The movement was small, fleeting. The sort of gesture a person made when memory brushed too close to the surface. Someone occupied her thoughts. The realisation settled into Dominic’s mind with the slow certainty of a puzzle piece sliding into place. Bastila.

He did not need the Force to see it.

For a moment Dominic said nothing. The oppressive weight of the world outside pressed against the viewport like a living thing, whispering its quiet madness into the silence between them. And yet the pressure in his thoughts remained distant. Because she was there. His lips pressed together faintly as the irony settled.

She had said not all of them were monsters. Dominic had not answered then.

Now, watching her standing there with that quiet, private grief she clearly did not wish him to see, he felt the first faint fracture in the tidy political categories that had organised his thinking for most of his life. Sith. Republic. Enemy. Ally. The lines blurred slightly when faced with something as inconvenient as humanity.

His gaze drifted back toward the viewport for a moment. And his mind began to calculate.

It was second nature to think in poll numbers, leverage and optics. The instinct of a Praxon heir raised in aristocracy where every conversation was a quiet battle fought with courtesy and implication. If Quinn defected…

The possibilities unfolded quickly. A Sith royal crossing into Republic protection would be an extraordinary victory. The intelligence value alone would shake half the committees in the Senate. It would place Dominic at the centre of something historic.

It would also solve the rather delicate problem of him currently conducting business with a Sith. A defector could be explained. A partnership with one could not. It would save his reputation. Potentially his career. And quite possibly his life.

His jaw tightened faintly as the calculations continued their silent march. There was another piece to it. Bastila. Always...Bastila.

Dominic’s gaze lowered slightly, the thought arriving with uncomfortable clarity. If Quinn left the Sith…if she came to the Republic…if she were free… The connection between the two women would not have to remain blurred by the confines of their respective codes.

A small, unwelcome voice echoed in the quiet corners of his memory. A much younger voice. A boy standing stubbornly at the edge of a landing platform. Go away, Bastila. The words landed harder than he expected.

Dominic exhaled slowly through his nose. How many times had he done that? Pushed her away. Dismissed the concern in her voice. Turned aside the warmth she had offered him again and again. And here he was now, contemplating whether or not he should deny her something else.

His eyes slowly lifted toward Quinn.

She stood with her back to him, framed by the terrible red glow of the planet outside, a figure of composure that only barely concealed the weight she carried.

He could see why Bastila might have been drawn to her. The thought came with a hint of jealousy. There was strength there. But also something wounded. Something lonely.

Dominic rubbed a thumb absently against the edge of the console as the last of his calculations ran their course. For a moment he almost chose the selfish path. Almost decided to say nothing. Let Quinn remain where she was. Let Bastila remain distant. Let the galaxy continue in its comfortable, divided order. The words nearly died in his throat before they ever reached the air.

Then Dominic straightened slightly. And chose otherwise.

“Quinn.” His voice was taut.

“You know…” he began slowly, "I could help you defect..."

Quinn Varanin​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Objective II
Aboard the Vel'serenne | Diplomtich Naboo Vessel
Directly: Aurelian Veruna
Indirectly: Feel free to comm any updates to us! Sela Basran Tatiana Sah

"The Veruna Artifact?"

The words escaped her before she could quite contain them, accompanied by the faintest huff of disbelief. For a brief moment, a flicker of amusement softened the tension over her heart-shaped face as her gaze returned to him.

"Why am I not surprised..." She added dryly, thinking there it was. That familiar, infuriating, entirely him sort of decision.

But the humor didn't linger long. No, her attention shifted back to the data and the implications of what he was describing, and the lightness faded as quickly as it had come.

Truth be told, she found herself latching onto the reassurance that, at least for now, there did not seem to be anything more to the artifact. Well… nothing that they knew of yet.

It felt as though more and more objects were surfacing across the galaxy, as if the galaxy now had the habit of presenting them with relics capable of saving entire worlds… or undoing them just as easily. And it begged the question: were they doing the right thing by interacting with them at all?

An artifact that could shut down technology across a wide radius… or seemingly strip the Force away, preventing even the use of Jedi mind tricks -- what more might it be capable of?

Did that mean anything tied to the Force could be affected? And would it impact everyone equally? If so, then it would not only hinder enemies, but also the very Jedi and Force-sensitives who stood as their allies. The same concern lingered with its effect on technology.

Was it, in the end, nothing more than a double-edged vibroblade at that?

Sibylla's lips parted slightly, as though she might speak, but the questions tangled faster than she could give them voice. There were too many. Too many variables, too many consequences spiraling outward from something they barely understood.

And still beneath it all was Cassian, Elian, Ace, and Quinn all tumbling round and round in a quiet, relentless pull of everything else that she was trying not to feel.

She did not even fully register his movement toward her. Not until his hand caught her arm. Not until the world tilted and narrowed and she was suddenly there, drawn into him, into warmth and solidity and real.

Just like that, her breath caught.

For a fraction of a second, she was still, before the tension in her finally fractured along the weakest seams of her cracks.

The trembling came first subtly, barely perceptible, but there. And then everything she had been holding so carefully in place began to slip through.

Dark inky lashes fell closed as Sibylla brought her forehead down to rest against him, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat start to settle her in a way nothing else had managed to. The scent of him, the warmth of his arms, the quiet certainty in the way he held her -- none of it asked anything of her. It simply… was.

"...No," she finally admitted, the word barely more than a breath and honest in a way she rarely allowed herself to be. She brought her hands up, fingers curling faintly against him, anchoring herself there as she let out a slow, unsteady breath.

"I am worried," Sibylla admitted, her voice edged with a subtle tremor despite her best efforts. "About Cassian. About Elian. About whether any of this is connected to Thessaly… or if we're looking at something else entirely."

She drew another breath and then huffed out in a humorless half-laugh.

"I'm still --" She faltered as the words caught, splintering. "Ace…"

Her jaw tightened then, lips pursing as the rest was left unfinished.

"…after everything, he still chose this," she continued, the frustration coated the pained woven together. "And I do not know if we could have done anything differently... or should have."

That, perhaps, was the worst of it.

The not knowing.

Her grip shifted slightly, as though bracing herself against the weight of her own thoughts. That wasn't even including what was going on after Moorja and Quinn.

"Part of me keeps thinking there must be something I can do," she confessed. "Something I should be doing now, before it becomes worse. And another…"

She hesitated, the admission reluctant.

"...only wishes to return to Parrlay. To shut it all out, if only for a moment....and I find myself all the more selfish for wanting it."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Sibylla Abrantes

Aurelian felt the tension bleed out of her as she collapsed against him. The weight of her grief and the tremor in her voice stirred a genuine ache in his chest. It would be too much for anyone, let alone someone carrying the expectations of a galaxy. He tightened his hold, resting his chin atop her head.

He watched the siblings pull her into the pits of their own making time and again. Elian with his recklessness, Cassian with his misplaced sense of honor, and Acier finally embracing the darkness. They were supposed to be her family and friends, yet they only served to anchor her to their disasters.

In his eyes, they didn't deserve her. She was far too pure for the mess they created. If he had his way, he'd whisk her off to Parrlay and lock the gates. They could leave the names Abrantes and Veruna behind and simply exist. But reality was a cruel master, and their stations didn't permit the luxury of hiding.

He remained silent for a long moment, listening to her talk about her brother's choices and her own perceived selfishness. He didn't offer an "I told you so" about Acier, though the urge was there. She didn't need his foresight right now. She needed his comfort.

"I know," he murmured. "I know." He smoothed a hand over her hair, feeling the intricate braids beneath his palm. "There is nothing you can do about their choices, Sibylla. And if a moment comes where we can intervene, we'll handle it together. You aren't selfish for wanting peace. No one can carry the weight of everything at the same time."

He pulled back just enough to look at her, his expression softening into something uncharacteristically gentle. He needed to bridge the gap between her heavy heart and the mission at hand. "We handle one thing at a time. First, we deal with this artifact. We make sure the Dowager Princess of Ukatis actually makes it back to Lucy in one piece. Focus on what's in front of us. We'll handle the rest as it comes."

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Objective II
Aboard the Vel'serenne | Diplomtich Naboo Vessel
Directly: Aurelian Veruna
Indirectly: Feel free to comm any updates to us! Sela Basran Tatiana Sah

Sibylla felt a quiet gratitude for the way Aurelian could draw her out of her own overthinking and the flood of her emotions. It didn't erase the worry or the concern, but he never dismissed what she felt. Instead, he reminded her that he was there and that they could face it together.

Yes, there were important matters to attend to. Yes, other people's decisions and choices were not her fault. And yes, it was not selfish to want a measure of peace.

How was it that he could pluck her from drifting so easily now?

A small, wobbly smile found its way to her lips, followed by a soft huff of a laugh as some of the tension finally eased from her shoulders. Hazel eyes met amber and there was something unmistakably grateful in them.

Not because he told her everything would be alright, because she knew it wouldn't. That would be a lie. What mattered to her was that he stayed.

"I know…" she murmured, her voice gentler now. "You are right."

She drew in another breath, trying to steady herself and regain her bearing.

"I know my father is doing everything he can for Cassian. And Elian… he is recuperating with the Mandalorians." And while she didn't mention him, Ace still lingered in her mind, but she let it rest where it was for now.

Feeling a bit more clear-headed, Sibylla took another breath and proceeded with what needed to be dealt with in front of him. The Veruna Artifact and the one that the Jedi and Scientist-led team was walking into.

"Does the artifact affect everyone?" Sibylla asked, her tone returning to one that she used when she was moving into work mode, thinking through how this artifact could work and what other aspects to test for. "Or is it possible to limit its effects to a specific population? Otherwise, we will have to relay the information to the Jedi Order so they are not caught unaware and remain defenseless without the Force. I am not certain how capable they are when they do not have to depend on it."

The brunette gave a slight tilt of her head, already turning the problem over with renewed clarity, looking over the holoarray and what was displayed, but not processing the data as much as musing through her own thoughts.

"And in terms of technology… what exactly is it disrupting? Materials, their properties, the mechanics -- or all of it?"

Those hazel eyes set upon Aurelian once again.

"I imagine testing is still ongoing… but we will need those answers sooner rather than later."

 

[Tatiana Sah]

"Odd," Tatiana echoed as she strode along the catwalk. The polish surface of her opaque faceplate reflected the scant, yet piercing rays of light that ebbed and flowed about the artifact. "My people have no concept of odd feelings. I understand it to mean one you cannot put into words and that leaves you unsettled, uncertain, or wary."

Soon the Knight's feet left the catwalk and she floated forward much as Kaia Starchaser 's droid did.

"This was made for a purpose. I can feel it." She extended a silvery hand out toward the alien geom. "We should secure it for study." It needed to be studied. Understood. It was a mystery whose very design could yield new ideas and data. Tatiana wanted to know more about it and who made it. Perhaps her kind and theirs might understand one another. This artifact was so unlike anything else in the galaxy that it held the Galactic Outsider's interest; it almost appeared as though it didn't belong in this galaxy at all. Which might just be the case, and did nothing to diminish her interest.

Sela Basran | Corazona von Ascania | Caelian Tane | Luke Montann

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Dominic Praxon //:

He remained quiet. It made her anxious. When men stood silent and still, she couldn't read them; she couldn't anticipate their next move. The way he looked at her, studied her, made the Eshan Queen hold her breath. What was he thinking about? She did everything not to pry; if she did, it would only open his mind further for the darkness to bleed through.

No, Quinn had to wait. His face disappeared, replaced with another from her youth. The dark smile, the claims that his friendship with her was a debt. He wanted his payment, again and again. The memory played out behind her eyes as she watched him; Dominic returned to sight, and she was reminded that it was all nothing.

Still, she didn't relax, but her eyes moved away from him. No longer was she staring through him; instead, she looked away past him towards the looming celestial body. Whatever was there didn't like them being close, or maybe it did. If it was anything like her Phobis Device, it craved for connection only to corrupt.

When he said her name… her emerald eyes flickered towards him. She wondered if anyone ever looked close enough at her like this. She never had the sickening yellow corruption, nor were her eyes black. Quinn was as she always had been.

There was something in the way he said her name and the pause. That same fear lingered at the nape of her neck, making the small, nearly invisible hairs stand on end. His lips continued, saying words that she had never fathomed…

Until now…

Quinn looked at him. She looked at him, probably the longest she had ever looked at a man without flinching. The Queen of Eshan didn't blink; she didn't rise in anger…

She just looked at him.

The tension in the air was palpable. Her throat was dry, her lips pressed tightly together. She had hoped for these words to come from Bastila, but there was something that told her it would have taken time, time that probably neither of them had.

She sighed, her breath hitching and struggling to escape her lungs as she finally blinked.

"Defect…?" Quinn echoed, trying to make the word real… or something she could fully comprehend.

"As in leave the Order? Leave the Sith?" Her mind rolled over what this would mean… she'd abandon her family, the home she had only known, and those who do care about her. She'd abandon everything she had worked for… everything that she knew.

That wasn't what she was doing already? She was in Republic Space or Mandalorian Space more than she was in Sith Space. Though if she defected… she'd lose her cousin… her throne…

But maybe, she could be with…

"I can't." Her voice was small as she let the war inside of her rage on. The battle of duty and desire, she could hear Sibylla, she could hear her Mother… all of them fighting for what she should do.

In the end, Quinn heard the Phobis Device; she could hear the dreadful king's clawing at the edge… she was darkness incarnate, and trying to abandon that would only mean certain death.

"As much…" she sighed softly, her eyes pulling away from him as she inhaled deeply before releasing it. Her mind swirled with one name, one face, as she wished.

"As much as I want to, I can't. They'd hunt me, kill me — I'd lose everything." She waved a hand slightly. Even though she said no, her mind, her heart screamed, yes.

"I was not born to be on the side of the light, I wasn't raised to be," she laughed softly, the irony of it all. Quinn had always tried to do what was right, what would make her a good person, but in the end, she was always born evil.

"I can hope, but deep down, Dominic, I know what anchors me to this life… would only burn in the light."

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

OBJ II | Caelian Tane Tatiana Sah Kaia Starchaser Sela Basran Luke Montann
​

Cora lifted her thumb and forefinger to her chin as she considered Caelian's question.

“I’ve felt many unsettling things,” she considered, “but none quite like this. A few months ago, the Republic encountered a strange device that could dampen the influence of the Force and anything technological." She frowned. "It swallowed two Jedi, who were catatonic when recovered. We still don't know what happened to them."

Technopathy was not a skill that came easily to Cora so she watched Knight Sah closely. Looked where she looked. Moved when she moved, albeit with caution, and lingering at a distance.

“What do you need us to do?” she called out.

 

[Tatiana Sah]

Tatiana's head tilted slight to the side as she stood studying the geometry and physical design of the artifact while she sought to establish contact with it on another level. There had to be a way to communicate with it. To interface. Instruct it even.

As Cora called out behind her, the silvery Jedi began to float off to the side and orbit its circumference. All the while her face plate was directed toward its 'odd' makeup as if watchful for some means of connection. "Observe. Record. You see and feel on levels different from my own." Superior. Inferior. It didn't matter how any one facet of their own makeups compared to the other. They had means of measuring and understanding at their disposable that could provide a larger picture of what this construct was designed to do. Data was data no matter whether it came from or how it was obtained.

Perhaps there was a key? "If you find any writings or depictions, call them out." Tatiana was trying to find something on the surfaces of the artifact itself that might give a clue as to its intent. There had to be something there even if their sensory capabilities weren't equipped to comprehend it. Something left behind that said why it existed and what it was for. Why else would it have been made if not to be used? How could it be used if no one knew how to interact with it?

Corazona von Ascania | Caelian Tane | Kaia Starchaser | Sela Basran | Luke Montann

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Watching the others, Kaia was more nervous than she should be now. People couldn’t tell what was going on? They couldn’t feel that in the Force? She was a Starchaser, and it was hard to remove the Force from her. She’d had it happen before, and she was lost. Couldn’t navigate, couldn’t sense her way through anything. But when she knew something was off, and could put it in a certain direction? It was easier to deal with when she knew something was coming. Looking to Sah, she gave a confused look.

“Wait, you don’t… Don’t you use the Force?” Everyone had their own thing, she was a navigator, and her father was a warrior.

“Do we have something that can get it back to the ship?” The Mirialan started following along, keeping balance. Looking around, her eyes tracked the walls. “A cipher and code, for a key?”

Spacers had their own language, a Spacers Cant, and perhaps other Wardens had come through here… A deep breath in and she was looking, trying to sense the psychometry of the place.

Tatiana Sah Sela Basran Corazona von Ascania Caelian Tane Luke Montann

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Sibylla Abrantes

Aurelian felt a wave of relief as the sharp edge of her anxiety finally softened. She tried to carry the weight of the galaxy on her own, forgetting she had a village at her back, or at least a very capable Veruna. He didn't want her lingering in the dark corners of her mind. When she pivoted back to the artifact, he seized the opening, glad to trade heavy emotions for a bit of intellectual sparring.

"Are you asking me to reveal state secrets, Sibylla?" He leaned back, crossing his arms with a teasing glint in his eyes. "I'm not sure you have the clearance for this kind of data. You ask an awful lot of questions. Maybe I should just stick you on the research team and be done with it." He let the silence hang for a moment, idly swiping through the holographic displays to keep her waiting before he finally relented.

"The Veruna Artifact affects some more than others," he admitted, intentionally vague. He had no desire to share these findings with the Jedi. In his mind, the Order would only find a way to suppress or misuse a tool that finally put them on equal footing with everyone else. He kept that cynicism to himself, knowing she'd only jump to their defense.

"Testing is still in the early stages. It seems to alter the behavior of whoever holds it, and the range is truly remarkable. But a lab can only tell us so much. We can only throw so many variables at it before we need to see how it operates. Field testing will be the real trial."

He closed the distance between them again, invading her personal space with a confident, knowing smirk. "Will that satisfy your curiosity for now, or do I need to prepare a full briefing?"

​

 

[Tatiana Sah]

"What is The Force but a pervasive energy field certain lifeforms are able to manipulate to localize effect?" Tatiana didn't turn to look at Kaia Starchaser as she respond to the woman's question. As she slowly floated about the artifact, no response was given to call attention to whether she did or did not actually utilize the Force. It would seem self-evident. Then again, it had seemed just as evident it was a quantifiable quantum energy field. Her people were not completely convinced the Force was in fact not such a thing -- that they might have been right and utilized it, but not understood the full scope of how it could manifest at scale.

"Do you not feel anything from it? The micro-stutters in your movements. The hesitation. A slight tremor to your vocalization. A dilation of your pupils. Is this an empty chamber occupied by an inanimate object worth no more attention than a curiously sculpted rock in an open field? Or do you sense there is more?" Tatiana sought to probe the device telepathically, but had no made contact yet. "There must be more." Why, she couldn't say. Nothing had suggested it was more than a sculpture. Nothing gave her reason to think something would happen if only the right trigger was found. But, for some reason, she felt it must be so. Needed to be so.

"We should not remove it from this place until we know what it does. Moving it may damage its connection to this chamber." She reached out with a silvery hand to touch the device.

Sela Basran | Corazona von Ascania | Caelian Tane | Luke Montann