Private Progenitor's Call

[Nine Lives]

Wearing: Progenitor's Robes

Armed With: Hundred Handed Giant

Objective: Get in touch with Thelma Goth

Westenra Mina , better known as Lynda, The Demon of Jedha in the GA, walked the remains of an ancient temple in an Atrisian forest, wearing only a simple shirt, shorts, and boots. It was the place where Laertia's then-Mother, Moya, had been held captive after the Sith under Mythos had invaded. It was a decrepit ruin now, but she still remembered her and Laertia and the help of one other, a man named Taiden Keth.

It had all seemed so very simple back then.

It was after Exegol. Maw gone pretty much. No purpose. She had avenged the ones murdered at Coruscant, and how she had been buried alive. But especially, she had made the bastards pay for killing her pet rabbit and pet turtle.

She still felt hollow and empty. Her madness for Maw blood had at last quieted. But was not gone. But it was quiet enough she could think about something other than killing.

So she had gone back here. To where it had began for her...or a version of her. Hadn't she died a couple of times before Coruscant? She didn't remember anymore.

She might as well have been there. Her love for Laertia, and her pain at Laertia's treachery lingered no matter which version of "Westenra" she was.

Lynda felt herself crying, red tears of blood sliding down her cheeks, getting reabsorbed into the skin. She dropped to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably in the ruins.

She had to kill her. She had to kill her Sister.

"It seems my calculations were correct..."

Lynda turned, scowled with bloodshot eyes at her older sister, Vera Mina , looking immaculate as usual in her signature white dress...

"Hello, Sister."

"What do you want?"

"Can't I check up on my own Sister in person?" Vera asked.

"There is always an ulterior motive with you. Always..." Lynda snapped

"Why, West, you wound me..." Vera replied smoothly, gliding across over grown grass like a curvy wraith.

"I could have sent someone instead of me to collect you. But I show up in person, and instead of greetings I get suspicion."

"Because you're one of the few deadly enough to bring me in against my will."

"True." Vera said with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean I don't care for you."

"You barely understand the meaning of the term care outside the context of your blond girl-toy, Karlie."

"I'm getting better at it..." Vera replied in a huff. "What more do you want?"

"I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME SOME FETHIN' EMPATHY FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE LIFE!" Lynda shouted.

"You've been outright defying your own empathy programming." Vera replied coldly, retreating into her prosecutor voice she used for court. "The old you would have been horrified by what you have done, what you've become. And you have not done anything I myself wouldn't have if someone had murdered Karlie. And you did all that ripping and tearing to avenge a primitive mammal and a reptile." she finished with a sneer. "So not only have you turned out to be as violent as I am, you've turned out to be even more petty. You have no grounds to call me out on anything, anymore."

"I WENT TO LAERTIA FOR LOVE BECAUSE I COULDN'T GET IT FROM YOU!!!" Lynda shrieked in resentment, the truth finally tumbling out of her after all these years.

Vera went uncharacteristically quiet, oddly expressionless, stepping back a little.

"OF ALL MY SISTERS, I LOVED YOU THE MOST!!!" Lynda cried out, tears of blood running down her face.

This made Vera's lips tremble.

"I related to you in a way I never could with Magnus or Meier! You know why?" Lynda asked, dropping to her knees at Vera's feet, unable to stop her tears from falling. "Because you were a masterpiece like I was! The heralds of a new age of artificial personhood! Strong and Beautiful! Wise! Almost able to escape the clutches of death itself! But did you embrace me? No. You thought I was your replacement! You treated me as coldly as you treated your other sisters. Magnus and Meier because they were nowhere near as advanced. And me because I was only slightly more advanced!"

In this, Vera had no counter argument. As much as it was an affront to her pride to admit, West really was the more advanced of the pair, at least in some ways.

"You know what drew me to Laertia though?!" Lynda asked with clenched teeth. "She had everything you had! But she was desperate for love! For Family! She wanted a family! She wanted a sibling. She didn't want to be a selfish killer who delighted in harming the innocent! She wanted to do something meaningful with the power she had!"

"How did that work out, Sister?" Vera asked, in a weak attempt at being contrary for it's own sake.

"She was your sister, too!" Lynda spat in rage, tears still flowing. "I couldn't help her because I didn't understand the level of pain she was in mentally! Even with my psychology database!"

"That she was..." Vera admitted in a rare moment of introspection.

"For all our amazing abilities, we still didn't understand people! We're abominations in the guise of demi-goddesses! Laertia couldn't have had worse siblings if she tried!" Lynda wept. "But at least I tried to help her! Did you?"

"No. Not really..." Vera admitted. "I...I wasn't capable of giving you or her what you both needed. My mind still enjoys the feeling of blood splashing against skin. Of viscera being torn. I...knew she needed to be institutionalized...that she was too ambitious. That her deeply hidden sense of pride would eclipse what little self control or rationality I observed. I...wanted to see what would happen. For my own... admittedly cruel curiosity." Vera said taking a step closer, struggling to actually reach out to Lynda on an emotional level.

"You were so convinced she could be a Force for Good. I saw only yet another rival to me taking over the House when Mother stepped down. To me being one of a kind. And I couldn't understand why you doted on her. It...threatened me. It made me want to prove you wrong."

"Congratulations..." Lynda replied cynically through heartbroken sobs. "You succeeded. I hope it was worth it."

Vera knelt down.

"It wasn't." Vera admitted softly, hand gently touching her emotionally destroyed Sister's shoulder. Lynda flinched, pulling out of her reach.

"I was wrong to give you no help. I was wrong to be so obsessed with proving my own superiority. I have been a bad sister. For that I am sorry..." Vera said, though it made her stomach lurch to apologize for anything, due to her Senate Rotunda-sized ego. But she was ignoring her pride, because West's pain had changed something in Vera upon witnessing it on full display.

It was Vera's first ever My God, what have I done? moment. It had come almost two decades too late.

"Oh Vera..." Lynda said, reaching out to Vera's cheek, fingertips running against.

"I wish I could believe you..."

Vera winced as Lynda grinded her fingernails down Vera's cheek, drawing gray blood. Vera staggered back, not in pain because she normally couldn't feel physical pain, but more that she realized Lynda had violated every last one of her own programming safeguards just to express her loathing of her older Sister.

"But I've had ten years to understand that you are and remain and always will be nothing but a scheming, self serving snake." Lynda hissed, rising. "Don't bother trying to change your scales now."

"I'm telling the truth!" Vera said with uncharacteristic pleading in her tone as Lynda walked away. The cuts on her cheek were already starting to heal. Yet Vera felt as though they were still fresh. Still unhealed.

Lynda stopped, turned to her.

"Even if you are...I absolutely do not care at this point." Lynda snarled. "Now stop with this farce of yours and take me to Mother. I know that's why you're here. I can smell her on you."

Lynda walked away from the ruins, Vera now touching the completely healed cheek and still feeling the cuts.

Later on...

Atrisian Hotel (The Sunrise Dogma)

"Chit. You need a weekend at Canto Blight...couple of Twi'lek dancers will turn that frown upside down..." Nine joked nervously, wearing her dark green hooded Kimono with white rose print. Her features were obscured, only the glint of purple at the center of her eyes visible as she sat across her estranged daughter at the dining table. She had captured one of Lynda's favorite kinds of victim to feast off of, a Final Dawn Stormtrooper. Nine herself was feasting on an ordinary Pizza Delivery Man, because he had cheated her in a card game. She wasn't going to kill him. But he was gonna lose a few of his happier birthdays. He was tied up and drugged into a state of unconsciousness. Nine had tied up and paralyzed the Stormtrooper, but not rendered him unconscious, as she knew Lynda preferred Stormtroopers to be conscious while feasting off them, as she despised stormtroopers and wanted them to be terrified during the experience, even if they wouldn't remember it afterward.

The room had a restrained splendor to it. The finest materials and silks. Nine lived comfortably, whatever else could be said.

"I trust your head is...a tad more clear, now that their are hardly any Maw left to fight?" Nine asked as Lynda fed on the gagged stormtrooper, who screamed a muffled scream through the gag.

"For better or worse..." Lynda replied, taking black metallic fangs out of his neck.

"It is good to see you again. I've been very worried about you."

"Translation, you're afraid my recklessness would get too much heat and they would discover Clan Li-Ves' part in backing House Io."

"That's not fair..."

"But it is the truth..." Lynda countered.

"Only part of the truth. You have never stopped being my daughter."

"What were you thinking?!" Lynda snapped in accusation.

"Excuse me?"

"What were you thinking, continuing to back House Io, even after she started killing Jedi? Even after she became wanted by every single major factions dead or alive, except the Eternal Empire and the CIS, and even the CIS kicked her ass out!"

"I had good reasons for supporting her." Nine said. "She was one of the most vocal in opposing the Bryn'adul. She was one of the most passionate about defeating that menace. Maybe the most passionate. All the factions that stood the most to gain from defeating them instead were all at each other's throats. And the Jedi couldn't be bothered if the Bryn'adul weren't spelled S-I-T-H. No matter how many the Lobsters were wiping out, the Sith came first. I was almost as disgusted by the Order's behavior as she was. Even you were at one point. Or has your memory become that self serving?" Nine asked.

Lynda glowered at her.

Nine sighed.

"But I made a terrible mistake. And once I realized how badly I had screwed up with supporting her little blood feud with the Jedi, I saw no way out but forward. Besides, they don't mind killing someone to fulfil their vision when it suits them. Turn about is fair play. I tried to use Maple to kill the bad influence, not understanding that the Amalgam didn't need to influence her. That she wasn't influencing her all that much. That bile came from within. But I'll not be beholden to her any longer. She must be stopped. I must save--and redeem--my House. I need your help to do that..."

"Maybe House Li-Ves deserves to perish for what it's done. What it took part in." Lynda replied somberly.

"If anyone deserves to perish it is me. But let it end with me." Nine replied fiercely.

"Nice, easy and convenient..." Lynda snapped, clenching her fists in anguish. "Why did you make me this way? Why have you never tried to create a daughter who wasn't a monster on some level?"

"Because I am a monster..." Nine admitted. "But even monsters need company. Monsters who can relate--"

"I would give up all my gifts here and now, on the spot, if it would help me earn the love of an ordinary person." Lynda hissed as a single glowing red tear slid down her face, the flesh reabsorbing it. "I have lived my entire life surrounded by monsters with pleasing faces and gorgeous figures. Admittedly, a few of them meant well more than others did. But there is something missing in those like us!" Lynda insisted. "Something essential... something...natural...that would let us understand... understand why our attempts to solve problems backfire...why we can't live amongst them without hurting some of them all of the time..."

Nine snorted at this.

"Oh please. You act like being ordinary is some great thing. Like they're so much better than us, because of their supposedly static, limited manner of affecting the world around them." Nine retorted, biting on the neck of her meal and eating his fourteenth birthday before removing her fangs.

"Give seven out of any ten ordinary people your level of gifts and they would shock even The Amalgam at the depths of the treachery and corruption they would exhibit." Nine retorted, pulling back from her meal. "Laertia and I are not so different, my daughter. At, least, our stories aren't. Like her, I too chafed under the Laws of the Jedi. I too found myself at a crossroads between obeying them and doing what I knew was right. And here was my 'reward' for it. To share the fate of my Mother...who was turned into a monster with a pleasant face by the treachery of one person's paranoia and his jealousy."

Nine bit into her meal again, eating a memory of an afternoon walking his dog in the park.

"Don't put 'Ordinary' on a pedestal, Daughter. Normal people have no special insight. Normal people allowed the Bryn'adul and the Maw to get so bad to begin with. It took monsters to put both those societies in their graves... because normal people on their own couldn't. Normal people take advantage of monsters in their midst all the time. Their rate of creating problems, creating headaches, is even higher than that of a monster."

She bit her meal again, this time eating a memory of him eating pizza last week. Lynda was silent, considering her mother's words.

"Ordinary people commit massacres, genocide, terrorism...yet you envy them because their flesh doesn't shudder or move when they engage in their bloodlust." Nine muttered cynically.


"What do you call what happened on Exegol, hmmm? A picnic day? It was a planned, systematic slaughter. Payback for every last thing the Maw had done. And they definitely deserved it. And that slaughter was planned by perfectly ordinary people." Nine continued with a snort of contempt. "The CIS condemned her for Rhand. I watched their leader order a midnight exigent on an infected zone on the world of Melida. I'm sure plenty of innocents died in both cases. And if you are going to sit here and tell me the Galaxy wasn't served by the Destruction of that Worldship, that it did nothing to significantly weaken the Maw, to that I say 'feth you'."

Lynda stared down at her struggling still screaming meal and casually strangled him with one hand to the point of unconsciousness.

"Laertia destroyed their birthplace, their cradle. A tactical Military asset coordinating thousands of slaving operations and who knows how many military efforts. A critical asset and symbol. Was she forgiven for making a hard decision? No! She was sacrificed on the altar of public relations." Nine snarled.


"I can guarantee you if someone like, say, Srina Talon had ordered the destruction of the world ship, she'd have been insulated from all criticism. Hell...they might have even found a way to somberly praise the snow haired little schutta for it. Laertia came back to help them even after they exiled her." Nine finished acidly, sliding her unconscious meal away from her across the table. "So no, daughter. I flatly and categorically reject your assertion that ordinary people have some insight cute monsters like us lack. Our existence may not be perfect, and can lead to tragedy, but at least we have the blessing of being able to do what they themselves would if given our abilities. At least most of us have the blessing of not having to sugarcoat the ugliness of it. At least a monster will--most of the time, anyway--own up to if confronted with their own evils."

"If being a monster is so preferable, why are you trying to use me as a diplomat so the GA or the Jedi doesn't try to exterminate our House?" Lynda asked.

"An excellent question. Let me ask you this: What would you prefer: a life where a monster like us can still do some good with what we are given, or a world where a monster like us is out only for ourselves?" Nine questioned, head twitching like a bird as she observed her.

"Whatever else, we know which side of that equation Laertia falls under..." Lynda replied, wincing at a happy memory of her.

"I made a terrible mistake with Laertia. I admit that. I'll go to my grave lamenting my failure with my last blood descendant. Because it's gonna end with her the way it ended with my mother, and I, fool that I am, failed to realize that pattern was repeating until it was too late. And I am sorry for the pain my failure and short-sightedness caused you, personally." Nine said gently, rising up and gliding over to her.

Lynda flinched as Nine grasped her shoulders but didn't pull away.

"I love you, West. And I am sorry for sticking you in the middle of this. I'm sorry for not being all that great of a Mother. But you still have a family, however flawed, and you might be one of the only people who can save us from my mistakes. If you want to wring my neck afterwards, I won't stop you. I probably have it coming. But then again, we all have it coming, kid. Even you..."

(Cutaway of Clint shooting Gene in the Saloon.)

"What must I do?" Lynda asked in a broken voice, pushing her meal away.

"As it so happens, we have a diplomatic in. One of our distant sires is a member of the Jedi Order. Coven was wiped out a while back. Been trying to figure out who did it so I could have them assassinated by Vera. But she is one of us. I want you to go to the Jedi temple on Coruscant, where she is, and request she meet with us."

"You think she'll accept?"

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the reason she was born the way she was. Pretty good chance she will accept." Nine answered, pulling back. "I won't order you to do it. This must be your choice, West. I won't think less of you for refusing."

Lynda was silent a moment.

"When do I leave?" she asked quietly.

"Preferably ASAP. And would you mind wearing something nice? We don't want to scare her from having a relative show up looking ready to start some chit." Nine answered.

Present...

Lynda walked up to the front entrance of the temple dressed in something the old her would have preferred.

One of the temple guards recognized her...and was shocked at how regal she seemed. Gone was the blood splattered Warrior who made sport of the Maw.

But the horrifying, bloodshot eyes remained.

"What...what are you doing here?" he asked in suspicion.

"I am here in a mission of peace. I request to speak to a member of yours. A woman named Thelma Goth." Lynda answered quietly. "I will wait here if I must. But I must speak with her. Please."

 

[Thelma Goth]

A knock on the door silenced the whirr of Thelma's sewing machine. Glancing over her shoulder, she frowned. These days she was used to people showing up at all times of the day (and sometimes at odd hours of the night) to request her services as a seamstress, but this presence didn't feel like her usual clientele.

She got up and opened the door, revealing two Temple guards and her master, Maxim Koschei.

"There is a woman standing outside the Temple demanding to speak to you," Max said. "She is known to us as the Demon of Jedha, an independent mercenary known for her brutality against the Maw. But she claims to be here on a mission of peace."

Thelma blinked, taken aback at the news. "I've... heard of this Demon, but I thought she was just a myth." Or at least, she was a real person about whom highly exaggerated stories had been told. "I've never met her or spoken to her. I don't know why she wants to talk to me."

"She says she won't leave until you do," one of the guards said.

This earned him a withering glare from Max. "You don't have to speak to her. I won't force you to."

<But I suspect she is one of us,> Max added telepathically.

"I will talk to her," Thelma said. "If she's so insistent, it must be something important."

"I will accompany you," Max said. Turning to the guards, he added, "Return to your posts. We will handle this matter."

Max walked with her to the gates. Upon catching her first glimpse of the Demon of Jedha, Thelma was surprised by her appearance. The woman was clad in an elegant pink satin dress, the sort of thing one would wear to a formal dinner or gala. Her black hair had been combed back, revealing delicate white earrings dangling on either side of her exquisitely beautiful face. Yet there was something distinctly unnatural and too-perfect about her beauty—to say nothing of her strange presence in the Force. No, Thelma suspected this woman was not really a living being at all, but some sort of highly advanced android.

Glancing briefly toward her master, Thelma stepped forward. She was much smaller than the Demon, practically craning her neck to meet her gaze. It was then that she noticed the bloodshot eyes. A strange trait for a droid to have... "I am Thelma Goth," she said. "This is Master Maxim Koschei. You wanted to speak to me?"

Nine Lives​

 

[Nine Lives]

Bloodshot eyes locked on to those of Thelma Goth

"Greetings, Sire Goth..." Lynda said formally and politely, the traditional method of address from older Psy-Pires to younger ones. If her Coven knew anything at all about the origins of their vampirism, then using that term would immediately identify Lynda as someone who knew a lot of things about Psy-Pires.

Lynda sniffed the air about Thelma subtly, nostrils moving only a micron. Malnourished, but managing it somehow. She sniffed the air even more subtly about her master, Max. Another one? Most interesting...

Dots of purple light were at the center of bloodshot eyes, focusing on both.

"I apologize for disturbing you...both... I recognize this must all seem quite strange. But I come bearing an invitation from my Mother...The Progenitor."

Progenitor only ever referred to one thing among regular Psy-Pires.

Nine Lives. Mother of all Psy-Pires. Jedi Consular mutated against her will. Savior of Atrisia in its Ancient Past from the Battle Cruiser known as the Sacred Ancestor. Saved it again from an energy Vampire infestation, at the cost of her humanity afterwards.

"Your people need your help. Your presence is requested at a Hotel in Atrisia within three days. All expenses paid for the trip, under my personal protection and assurance you will be delivered back to the Jedi unharmed, regardless of your eventual decision. You are being asked to function in a purely diplomatic capacity. Given your instructor, he would be permitted to accompany you as well."

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Greetings, Sire Goth..."

As the Demon began to speak, Thelma's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She had indeed been taught that her mother's people, the Psy-Pires, were descended from an Atrisian Jedi. But she had assumed that the mysterious Progenitor of the species was long dead, or that perhaps the entire story had been a myth concocted to explain their origins. But the Demon was claiming to be the Progenitor's daughter, and as Thelma studied her more closely, she saw the pinpoints of purple light at the center of the woman's pupils. Not a droid, then... but not truly human, either.

She glanced toward Max. He stood stone-faced, his arms crossed over his chest. No doubt he was equally as surprised as she was, though he was better at hiding his emotions.

"I will go," he said. "My apprentice may accompany me if she wishes."

"I'll come too," Thelma said quickly. Turning to the Demon, she asked, "What is your name?"

Nine Lives​

 

[Nine Lives]

"I am Lynda." Lynda answered. "Since you are both in the know, there is no need to delay. I could take you both immediately, if you wish. I have a 327 Nubian waiting nearby. Legally purchased of course. I will be at these landing coordinates when you gather what you need for the trip." she added, handing them a note that listed the landing pad she was on.

Lynda tilted her head.

"It's been a long time since I have spoken to a member of my people who were not direct relatives for lack of a better word. I admit, I find it... refreshing..." she confessed. "I must usually be so guarded working amongst the GADF. I am sure you both undergo similar stresses in your chosen profession. We may talk more freely when we are aboard my vessel."

Lynda promptly turned and headed to her yacht to await them, oddly elated at speaking to vampires who were not her mother or her sister.

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Yes, I suppose we should leave at once," Max said, looking down at the note. "I will make the necessary arrangements. It shouldn't take long." He turned to Thelma, who nodded her head in agreement. Their absence from the Temple wouldn't cause a stir, provided they excused themselves rather than just taking off without any warning or explanation.

Of course, the presence of the Demon of Jedha at the Temple and their connection to her was sure to cause a stir. If all else failed, more... dire measures might have to be taken to ensure no secrets were uncovered.

"It has been a long time since we met anyone like us as well," Thelma said sadly.

"Much less the beautiful daughter of the Progenitor," Max murmured. Thelma shot him an amused glance, smirking to herself.

They bid Lynda farewell before heading back inside, where they spoke in hushed tones.

"What do you think this is about?" Thelma asked.

"Diplomacy, clearly." When Thelma frowned at him, clearly wanting a better answer, he added, "Perhaps they want to bargain with the Jedi, and we are their most obvious link to the NJO."

"How did they even know we were here?"

"The Progenitor is said to pay close attention to the whereabouts of all her children. Even little half-breeds like you."

She laughed at that. "Are you mad that they didn't ask for you instead of me?"

"Not at all. You've been here longer and established yourself, whereas I was presumed dead up until recently. But I'm sure she will be pleased to see me alive."

The two parted ways, going to prepare for the trip. Thelma went to her room and began packing a suitcase. It was only for three days, but she tended to overprepare, wanting to be ready for anything. She also needed just the right clothes for the occasion...

Roughly an hour later, Thelma and Max both converged upon the landing pad, boarding the yacht as soon as Lynda permitted them entry...

Nine Lives

 

[Nine Lives]

Lynda was waiting for both at the landing pad. She bid them welcome and signalled the B1 Pilot Droids to take off.

A delicate Atrisian peppermint tea was prepared by servant droids for them in a dining area. Lynda sat across from them both.

"We have eyes and ears everywhere. Unfortunately, a few slip through the cracks. Your coven, Sires, was one such slip. Our ability to walk amongst normal people without suspicion is key to our survival." Lynda spoke quietly. "Ideally, a Psy-Pire will leave as few corpses as possible. It is the mixed blessing of the Progenitor...as much as our nature makes us outcasts, our form of vampirism is among the tamest kinds. We must still feed, but the one we feed on can still walk away with their lives, sparing the Psy-Pire a lifelong trail of dead in their wake unlike other variants of vampire."

Her lips trembled as they went to Hyperspace. They would be there soon.

"But...my mother... and...and I...we..."

Her face fell, bloodshot eyes downcast. She looked elegant, refined, but her expression was one of absolute misery.

"We made a horrible mistake. A terrible, awful mistake that has cost the lives of many an innocent. It was born of hubris...and fear...it is a mistake more than a decade old now..."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

For Thelma, who didn't even own her own ship, the yacht was much more luxurious than the traveling accommodations she was used to. Taking everything in, she appeared distracted as she followed Max and Lynda to a dining area, where they were served tea by droids. At the mention of their coven's destruction, however, she began paying attention to the conversation more.

"You might say that our coven was... unique," Max explained. "We had members of many different vampiric species. Psy-Pires, energy vampires, and Sanguinius Vampirika to name a few—though we tended to automatically deny any Anzati from joining our ranks. We were all united by a common desire for community and to live in peace alongside mortals. Unfortunately, that dream was... lost, due to the unfortunate actions of one of our kin."

"My mother," Thelma said softly. "She consumed so many memories, she lost herself in other people's lives and was driven mad. When she escaped, she killed a child in a nearby village. It was the villagers that retaliated against us."

"But that is all in the past now." Max rested his hands, palms facing down, on the table. "We took care of those responsible."

That's one way of putting it, Thelma thought dismally, staring down into her cup.

Lynda's manner grew miserable as the topic shifted to her mother. She alluded to a mistake made more than a decade ago, but seemed to be keeping the details vague. That wasn't going to stop Max from fishing for more information. "What exactly was this mistake?" he asked.

Nine Lives

 

[Nine Lives]

Lynda looked at Thelma Goth , deeply saddened at that reveal. For it now meant they had something in common...an insane relative.

"I am...truly sorry to hear that Thelma. I know what it's like to lose someone to...madness...also. Even our form of vampirism is not completely free of that risk."

When Max pressed her for more details, she sighed.

"Our mistake began with me, during a long ago invasion of Atrisia by the Sith Lord known as Mythos. I was a freshly created prototype from my Mother's labs... hadn't yet acquired any...baggage..." she began.

"I dunno if you've heard the stories of that invasion, but everything was decided on the ground. There were horrors the Sith deployed there that you've likely only recently gotten a taste of."

She frowned, tapped the table a bit with her hands out of anxiety.

"I acquitted myself well there. Killed countless Warriors to defend my Mother's home planet. But there was another Warrior I met there. Someone whose swordsmanship stunned me. She killed far, far, more than I did, and we bonded during the battle, having to work together and watch each other's backs. She made many difficult, bloody decisions to halt the nearly overwhelming enemy advance. We survived the battle, and I, having grown quite fond of her, felt she would be an excellent member of my Mother's clan, so I adopted her into it as my Sister. One of our first acts as siblings together was rescuing her Mother. And for a time after. It was... good."

Her bloodshot, heartbroken eyes snapped to Max.

"I want that known. She was a good woman...once. Brave. Heroic. I was proud to have her for a Sister...and she was a woman seeking a family. She got her family, alright..."

Lynda's head dropped, face betraying mental and emotional exhaustion, mingled with fear and guilt.

"I speak of Laertia Io...last descendant of my Mother's human bloodline...now something else that is much worse..."

 

[Thelma Goth]

"I am... truly sorry to hear that Thelma. I know what it's like to lose someone to... madness... also. Even our form of vampirism is not completely free of that risk."

Thelma nodded her head, but didn't say anything. Certainly she would have preferred to discuss something else, but more than that, there was little else that she could say on the matter. Nothing more could be done about her mother's madness, the loss of her coven, or the other ones responsible. She was grateful that Max at least had survived the carnage.

Lynda began to tell her story. At the mention of Laertia Io, Max stiffened noticeably. Thelma, on the other hand, was bewildered. "Who is Laertia Io?" she asked.

"A former Jedi turned Sith terrorist," Max said, endeavoring to explain in the quickest, simplest terms. "She and her followers are a truly vile and malicious lot. They've tortured and maimed and murdered thousands." Turning to Lynda, his expression was stern. "Are you intending to use us as diplomats in a meeting with Laertia Io?"

Nine Lives

 

[Nine Lives]

"No." Lynda replied immediately. "We want your Order's help killing or capturing her. There can be no negotiating with her at this point. She and the Cult she has assumed control of must be destroyed."

She clasped her hands together.

"Like I said. We made a terrible mistake with her. After I helped rescue her Mother, she helped rescue mine. Mother had been captured by the Leader of The Cult. A Sadist known as The Amalgam. She baited Laertia and a mentally ill Bounty Hunter, also a Former Jedi, who suffers from an incurable, degenerative form of Schizophrenia known as Shrodinger's Syndrome. Her name was Maple Harte. One thing led to another, and in the process of that battle, Laertia and Maple learned the Amalgam had spent years prior masquerading as a Jedi. The Jedi who happened to be their own teacher.

Lynda blinked back glowing red tears.

"She tried to commit suicide after finding out. Stuck a shotgun in her mouth and she was only barely convinced not to. Maybe it would have been better if she had. Because what happened after..."

Lynda stopped, grief choking her.

"I'm sorry..." she said. "This...this is all very difficult for me to recall. There's so much the Jedi don't know...about the specifics that led up to her rebelling. They just saw the surface. Not the factors that motivated it. And Mother...Mother wanted the chance to cultivate her last actual descendant. You wanna know how Laertia got so good at making Droids. Mother taught her her science. And I...I gave her the secrets of my own flesh years ago. It took her about that long to understand how to make her own Organic Droids."

Lynda choked back more tears.

"No, Sires...I'm bringing you to my Mother to save my people, and my clan, from the consequences of my own short-sightedness as well as that of my Mother's...and the only way I can redeem myself, personally, is to kill her. We are prepared to tell you everything we know about her."


Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

"If it is difficult to recall the past, then you needn't speak of it," Thelma said. "Let us focus on the present and plan for the future."

But Lynda was quite insistent. She and her family intended to give the Jedi all their information about Laertia Io, apparently in hopes of finding something they could use to kill her.

Max's frown had deepened, the creases in his brow growing more numerous. "First of all," he began. "The Jedi are not as ignorant as you might think. The late Professor Errik Nimdok interviewed Laertia, researched her background extensively, and published his findings. He also led multiple attempts to neutralizer her and her faction while he was with the Silver Jedi. All of them failed, and Nimdok resigned from the Silver Council in disgrace. I remember watching it happen.

"Second of all, if you want to gain the attention of the NJO, why not arrange a meeting with Master Valery Noble , Kahlil Noble , Asmundr Varobalder , or some other high-ranking member of the Council? My apprentice and I are new to the Order and lack the influence this task requires. At the most, we might be able to request an inquiry, but..." He shrugged. "We are loyal to the Progenitor, that is true. And we want to help you. But it may not be within our power to do so."

Thelma's lips parted to speak, but then she hesitated, changing course at the last second. "I do have an 'in', Master," she said. "I was Kahlil's apprentice for a little while, and I know Valery. I could speak to them on the Progenitor's behalf."

Nine Lives

 

[Nine Lives]

Lynda sighed at the mention of Nimdok's Biography.

"The late professor knew his chit, I'll give him credit. Met him once. A version of me did, anyway...and yes, what he managed to uncover about her was a large chunk. But there is so, so much more he didn't know. Even with as much as he learned...there were still major, massive gaps. He knew nothing of the initial development of the Nuetralizers, how Laertia recruited each of her closest supporters and when, weapons and tech development, thought process on some of her more violent actions in later campaigns, or even the history of some of her more powerful supporters. Just take mother as an example...or that creature wearing the face of Arianna Belasko . Did you know the real Arianna's been dead for decades?"

Lynda grew more visibly agitated.

"It's strange. In a lot of ways... Laertia is like an evil version of my Mother."

A glowing red tear fell from her eyes and onto the table, where it burnt up in a wisp of red flame.

"Please believe us...we never meant for it to go so badly. The Bryn'adul were rampaging and killing everyone in their path. And we were afraid our own faction of choice would be next. They were already nipping at the feet of the dying Sith Empire, who the Jedi were focused on in a way that horrified and disgusted a ton of people. Since Laertia wanted to destroy the fething brutes seemingly more than anyone else...we taught her to create a race of warriors, who's philosophy was based on the methods of the human version of my Mother's clan... Mother's ancestors were extremely savage fighters, feared for their cruelty."

At Max's insistence that others were better suited, Lynda shook her head.

"Don't you see? It had to be you two. You are both at a waypoint between their world and mine. If anyone was going to be able to help us, it had to be someone who could be living proof that not all our people are beyond reason. That our people are capable of contribution...that we are willing to negotiate."

Lynda sat back.

"We were also afraid that after the Jedi finished off the empire, they would turn their attention to the CIS, which was also run by a Sith. Laertia functioned knowingly as a lightning rod, attempting to disrupt Jedi operations however possible to slow down the destruction of the empire, so that both the GA and the then-New Imperial Order would exhaust themselves so much that even after they conquered the empire, they would still be at a disadvantage due to how much they had hurt themselves to end the Sith. And if nothing else, by the time the fall of the Empire did occur, the Bryn'adul threat would be so severe the GA would simply have no choice but to focus their resources on them, however much they might want to take down yet another Darth. But we were in so deep at that point that with as many people as Laertia had succeeded in pissing off we knew no mercy would be shown to those who had aided her.

A servant Droid came by, offering more tea.

"Mother...naively, and desperate to try and salvage her last descendant...tried to handle the matter internally...tried to have the Amalgam assassinated. Then...the Silver Rest happened, and Mother was forced to accept that she couldn't be salvaged. She anonymously betrayed Laertia to an SJC strike team and severed all remaining ties." Lynda added. "I spent the rest of the Bryn'adul Wars and the Second Great Hyperspace War trying to forget my mistake. I failed."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma watched the fallen teardrop burn upon the surface of the table, her eyebrows raised in sympathy.

Max was less kind. “I would never dare to speak ill of the Progenitor or her descendants,” he said. “But you remained Laertia’s ally for far longer than you ever should have, family or not. You have made the Jedi your enemy for years, as you said, and only now you are trying to make amends? Because she has fallen under the influence of this Cult whom you hate?”

"Don't you see? It had to be you two. You are both at a waypoint between their world and mine. If anyone was going to be able to help us, it had to be someone who could be living proof that not all our people are beyond reason. That our people are capable of contribution… that we are willing to negotiate."

“The Jedi don’t even know what we are,” Max pointed out. “We have hidden our nature from them. Would you have us risk everything—” He broke off suddenly. Because that was what they were asking of Max and Thelma, wasn’t it? For them to risk their lives and livelihood for the sake of House Li-Ves, to reconcile them to the New Jedi Order. The Progenitor herself would no doubt command this of them, and Max’s sense of honor and duty demanded that he obey her. Besides, sacrifice was the nature of diplomacy.

Thelma seemed to come to a similar realization, staring gravely at Lynda as the woman continued to speak. By the end of the story, the young vampiress was not feeling well. Hunger gnawed at her, and though she drained more than one cup of the peppermint tea, it did little to fill her empty belly. “I think we had better wait to discuss this further with the Progenitor herself,” she said. “When will dinner be served?”

Nine Lives​

 

[Nine Lives]

"None of us wanted to be the Jedi Order's Enemy! Not even Laertia at first. But why should the whole Galaxy have to suffer because the Jedi Order had a fething vendetta they refused to set aside?" Lynda replied bitterly.

Lynda stood up pacing, clearly agitated.

"The Refugees Laertia recruited are all people who were forced to watch their entire world's burn. The history of their entire civilization blotted out, and hardly any Jedi to even offer a token resistance because they were mostly busy fighting the red blades! People hated Jedi for that! People still hate you all for that!"

Her pacing grew more frantic, the perfect recall of her databases allowing her to relive it all like it had happened seconds prior. She started hyperventilating, and leaned against a wall, experiencing the Droid equivalent of PTSD.

"That and a not insignificant number of refugees also were taken in by our House, with similar stories as the ones who joined Laertia. Mother was disgusted with The Order. She visited the Scar Worlds after the Bryn'adul fell at Laertia's insistence. She was horrified. As was I!"

She eventually got her breathing under control.

"Yet you ask how we could wait so long." Lynda said quietly to Max.

She rubbed her eyes.

"I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that rant, Sire. I'm sorry for my failure with her. I'm sorry for putting you both in this position."

She sat back down.

"The Cult was never the problem. Not truly. It was her. Totally, completely unstable, to a depth neither I nor my Mother could comprehend, whatever her other positive traits. She tried to be loyal at first. But Nar Kreeta...and learning the truth about her teacher of course...but Nar Kreeta especially...it brought out the worst in her."

Thelma Goth asked about dinner. Lynda nodded and snapped her fingers.

The Servant Droids brought out a platter of Atrisian foods. Yakitori Grilled Chicken, Battered Shrimp, Sashimi, and Black Tea. Flame Grilled Fish. All high energy foods.

"I've already...eaten..." Lynda said...

Later on.

The Yacht landed on the world of Atrisia in the sunset, in a forested area where the Luxury Hotel Nine owned waited. It touched down on a private landing pad, and Lynda stepped down, was surprised to find two twin women in skintight golden catsuits awaiting her. They were armed with Katanas

"Greetings, Lady Mina. We welcome you and your guests. Please follow us."

Lynda raised an eyebrow.

"Biots. Combat Model. Mother's work." Lynda said as she led Max and Thelma, herself following the biots through a lavish interior, up a turbolift.

The biots led the way into a lavish suite, where Nine Lives awaited, wearing a scarlet kimono, raven hair in a tight braid. She was tall, her eyes two pools of black with pinpoints of purple light at the center. Her skin had a mild olive tone.

She was very beautiful. But noticeably troubled as she waited at the other side of a circular oak table with intricate carvings of Yovshin Swordsman etched into the surface.

"Mother? I've brought Thelma Goth as you asked..." Lynda announced. "Turns out her Master is of our people also.

The Arch Psy-Pire rose, fingers twitching slightly, head moving almost like a bird as she approached, the Kimono disguising the movement of her legs so it seemed she was gliding to them rather than walking.

"Welcome, my children..." Nine said.

"I am Nine Lives. All that is left of the Jedi Consular Ni-Ne Li-Ves. There is much we must speak of, and difficult decisions must be made. I imagine My Daughter told you what I seek and why. I am more than aware you are likely not at all pleased."

Her expression softened.

"Laertia was my mistake. Mine ultimately. I take full responsibility for my part in her uprising against the Order."

 

[Thelma Goth]

"None of us wanted to be the Jedi Order's Enemy! Not even Laertia at first."

“I disagree,” Max replied, refusing to budge. “I have watched Laertia Io’s career with great interest. Putting aside the question of whether or not her education at the hands of Ursula Sandraven could even be considered Jedi training—and I, for one, do not believe it can be called such—Laertia behaved as if she had simply been waiting for a reason to antagonize them. Sandraven’s deception ensured that she never felt like she belonged among their ranks. Her entire life has been orchestrated by people who have lied to and manipulated her to suit their own ends. It’s no wonder she rebelled in the only way she could—against the Jedi.

“As for you and the rest of your house, you have already admitted that you placed your loyalty to family above any lingering sense of affinity with the Jedi, whom the Progenitor walked away from long ago. When it came down to it, House Li-Ves would rather have made an enemy of the Order than abandon their last surviving descendant.”

He listened to Lynda’s rant in silence, folding his hands on the table in front of him. After she apologized, Max shook his head. “I don’t begrudge you for that. I know that I sound critical—and in some ways I am, but we are all entitled to our opinions. My apprentice and I have already agreed to help you. I am simply trying to shed light on all the obstacles we will face in fostering diplomacy between House Li-Ves and the NJO. We certainly have our work cut out for us.”

It was then that Thelma interrupted to ask about dinner. Lynda immediately summoned a sumptuous feast. While Thelma dug into the meal with relish, Max, who had not restrained himself to the same strict diet as his apprentice, ate more for pleasure than for nourishment.

---

The yacht arrived at the Atrisian hotel some time later. Thelma, anticipating that they would be brought before the Progenitor straightaway, had garbed herself in one of her finest handmade gowns and spent nearly an hour arranging her hair. Max wore his fine blue Atrisian silks, but the Sakiyan had no hair to style.

As soon as they exited the ship, they were greeted by a pair of identical women whom Lynda explained were combat units designed by her mother. The twins bid them follow. “Catsuits?” Thelma whispered to Max as they walked into the opulent hotel lobby.

“Yes. What about it?” he muttered back.

“It seems so uncomfortable and dehumanizing, even if they aren’t really women. Why not have them wear something else?” Thelma’s thoughts, never far from sewing, turned to imagining what she would clothe her servants in were she the Progenitor. “Can you imagine if they wore elegant evening gowns? Or cocktail dresses? Or, since we’re on Atrisia, why not cheongsams?...”

She babbled on out of nervousness, but swiftly fell silent once they entered the luxurious suite and laid eyes on the Progenitor herself. Nine Lives was indeed beautiful, though very strange and eerie in her movements and expressions. She seemed troubled, perhaps even distracted.

"Mother? I've brought Thelma Goth as you asked..." Lynda announced. "Turns out her Master is of our people also."

“I am Maxim Koschei, Progenitor,” Max introduced himself with a deep, respectful bow. “Many centuries ago I became one of your Children at the hands of a woman whose name I never knew. She abandoned me not long after siring me. After so many years spent wandering, I am honored to finally meet you.”

Thelma curtsied in the Dahrtagian style. “Lynda has told us what you want,” she said. “But what are the ‘difficult decisions’ you speak of?”

Nine Lives​

 

[Nine Lives]

"The decision to fully reveal my own involvement to the Jedi Order and give up every last available scrap of intel I have on her and her allies... likely followed by turning myself in to avoid destruction to my house. Plus, I know something about her the Jedi Order definitely doesn't..." Nine spoke to Thelma Goth , gliding back to her seat.

"You must understand...at the time the Bryn'adul invaded...there was a lot of fear in the CIS. They were not the Sith. Everything not Bryn'adul was exterminated by the selfish brutes. The CIS was pursuing it's Confederacy First Policy. A stop gap measure. Buying time. War would come to the doorstep sooner or later...and Laertia was absolutely enraged by the fact the Jedi Order was so focused on fighting the Sith. I was not fond of that decision either. I regarded it as selfish, short sighted, and still do. The harm that decision caused was far out of porportion to any goals that were achieved. But it's not as personal for me as it has obviously become for Io and her followers. Or even some of my own more recent children in the past decade..." Nine said. "Perhaps Lynda has spoken on this, but a good portion of House Li-Ves contains Refugees, just like House Io does, who are not at all sympathetic to what the Jedi have experienced at House Io's hands. Many of them despise Jedi and still do, and think you all deserve whatever you receive at her hands."

Nine's expression grew weary, and she leaned back, betraying signs of mental exhaustion.

"But Laertia's methods don't have goals to them anymore. She swore to spend the rest of her life making the Order pay for what happened in the Bryn'adul conflicts. She'll take any chance she can get to torture and kill Jedi, even to the point of forgoing a chance to attack another enemy."

Nine tapped her fingers.

"Almost all of her technology is based on mine..." Nine spoke.

Her expression grew more grim as the seconds passed by.

"I am so sorry for what my actions have led to." Nine spoke. "I didn't become this way by choice you know. I was experimented on. I had assumed for years my human bloodline had long ago been wiped out during an attempt to destroy Atrisia. I was wrong. When I first encountered Laertia, and learned who she was..."

Nine fidgeted.

"I love my children...all of my children...but it was like I got a portion of my humanity back, all the same. I tutored her... before her rebellion. She was a smart girl...picked up the science on instinct. Someone had genetically modified her at birth, it turned out. She was faster than others. Stronger...smarter. but I didn't care. She really did try to escape that monster's grasp at first. But Nar Kreeta...Nar Kreeta helped change her mind. And her feelings regarding the Amalgam were deeply toxic, unhealthy, and complex. She told me some of what she was feeling...and I confess, I had absolutely no idea how to help her in that department. I couldn't begin to explain to you how she could love that monstrosity, in spite of everything...But I have holo records of our conversations. You might glean something from it..."

Servant Droids brought in more tea.

"Much of what I did, I did to stop the Bryn'adul. I believed in her mission. Her passion to destroy them by any means necessary. I probably hate the Bryn'adul more than even Laertia did... because if it hadn't been for them...I really do believe Laertia would never have turned on the Order, even with her being as fethed up as she was over The Amalgam. I knew her closely...she wanted to help the Galaxy."

Nine's head lowered slightly in regret as the tea was poured.

"Once." she added. "But she had the same flaws that my own mother possessed. 'Justice' without compassion. A willingness to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I'm not absolving myself, mind you, because my mistakes absolutely played into the tragedies that have occured. Many of her worst crimes were only possible because of the knowledge I provided."

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Perhaps Lynda has spoken on this, but a good portion of House Li-Ves contains Refugees, just like House Io does, who are not at all sympathetic to what the Jedi have experienced at House Io's hands. Many of them despise Jedi and still do, and think you all deserve whatever you receive at her hands."

“An eye for an eye, and the whole galaxy would be blind,” Max muttered. “Repaying evil with evil has gotten us nowhere. In the end, the Bryn’adul collapsed, while the Sith Empire dragged on for years after. Now both are gone… but the Sith are rising again in the southwest. In the end, would you conclude that it was all for naught? Or do you intend to cling to your grudges?”

“A Jedi’s life is sacrifice,” Thelma said. “We know that the cycle of violence will never end. All we can do is fight evil wherever we find it, defend the innocent wherever they are threatened.”

Max gazed at his apprentice in silent approval, before his eyes snapped back to the Progenitor. Nine spoke of her regrets, Laertia, and even the origins of the Psy-Pires. Both Max and Thelma listened with rapt attention, though Thelma couldn’t help but feel that they were talking in circles. Beating around the bush. Delaying the inevitable.

“We will deliver your records to the Jedi for study,” Thelma said. “Do you truly intend to turn yourself in?”

Nine Lives​

 

[Nine Lives]

"The cycle of revenge has never solved anything." Nine told Maxim firmly. "I have no grudges left to cling to."

Nine then stared as Thelma Goth asked her question. Then stared at Lynda.

"Daughter, please leave us."

Lynda glowered at Nine with bloodshot eyes but complied and left.

"Yes. I do. But the onus of these events will fall entirely upon me, do you understand?" Nine said. "Lynda nor any of my other children are to be mentioned. Lynda loved Laertia like a Sister. Her treachery broke Lynda's heart...and my own failings as a Mother did not help matters. I suspect that heartbreak fueled at least some of her brutality towards the Maw."

Nine rubbed her eyes.

"There is a world Laertia controls. I don't know it's exact coordinates. My ship computers were tied into hers following her there, and the coordinates were deleted afterwards, and so thoroughly even the best computer forensics specialist couldn't hope to reconstruct the data. But I know it's name. It's called Khemost..." Nine explained. "Some sort of lost Sith Treasury Planet. Covered in snow are cities of gold. She spent most of the Bryn'adul war looking for it. She found it..."

Nine began walking, leading them to a set of holoprojectors. She switched them on and images of Laertia's most prominent allies appeared.

"That one..." Nine said, pointing to the image of The Battalion , clad in an all white catsuit. "She's Laertia's wife. Master Lightsaber Duelist."

She then turned to the image of a sultry looking blonde woman.

"Arianna Belasko. Her adoptive Mother. This Arianna is a fake though. The real one was assassinated over a decade ago by Laertia, who then put someone else in her place to imitate her. I'm sure the therapists would have a fething field day trying to figure out why she would make someone act like a person she murdered, while acting like their Mother also." Nine said with a shake of her head. But she seemed to grow extremely sad as she stared at the image of a young looking woman.

"Maple Harte. Now Darth Strelok, Laertia's top Assassin. If there's anyone in this group worth saving, it's her. Her judgement is severely compromised by a form of degenerative Schizophrenia called Shrodinger's Syndrome. I was unable to locate a cure for it, despite my best efforts. But all research points to the fact that the only thing that has significantly halted the progression of the disease is The Dark Side. All attempts to cure it using the Light fail."

Nine sighed, staring at the image.

"She was a good friend, once." Nine added very quietly. "House Io's leadership is basically a Matriarchy. Almost all the top positions are governed by women. Laertia based this structure off that of my own House. Our House's are mirrors of one another."

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma watched Lynda depart, whereas Max kept his eyes riveted upon the Progenitor. “Rest assured, Great Ancestor,” he said. “No one will know about your children. You have my word.”

“And mine as well,” Thelma added.

They listened with rapt attention as she gave out information even Max had not yet heard, about a planet called Khemost with cities of gold buried beneath snow. Then they were treated to a powerpoint presentation detailing all of Laertia’s closest allies and known associates.

“And these people are all confirmed members of House Io?” Max asked. “Do you have enough evidence to indict each of them?”

Nine Lives​