Public Return From The Void

[Tiberius Vexus]

There was no comfort to be found within the darkness of Space. I knew that all too well, as I have spent perhaps centuries in and out of sleep. All the while the internal sounds of the Meditation Sphere often was the only company I had. I had spent countless lifetimes traveling beyond known space, and even longer going through the void. In all my travels I have yet to find any life. Of any sign of any Zeffo that had wandered far from the galaxy. Still, I've gained so much more with the power of the dark wind at my command, and even more so with the skills gained by the ones whom they called "Sith." Warriors capable of wielding the Dark Wind to even frightening degrees. I alone was bore witness to it by one they called "Sith Emperor." I remember that he had sent me back out into the void. This time in hopes of scouting for other galaxies, other worlds that had lurked beyond the void. I spent much time searching, only to come up empty handed.

Now I had eagerly returned on a long journey back. Dreams and Nightmares haunt me, with perhaps a shred of hope the Zeffo had managed to return. I can feel myself so close, and even more so as the sphere informed me that we were drifting in the Unknown Regions. Had we finally returned already? It felt like an eternity, but perhaps in this galaxy I could carve something more. I looked from the window of the Sphere, and all one could see out there was the darkness of space. Hardly a being, or a person in sight. "We are back huh? Any sign of the Sith??" I would ask the Sphere Inquisitively as my red eyes would blink from exhaustion, for how could one ever dare to sleep when one has been hounded by eternity.

"Yes, although one cannot detect the Sith here. At least to my scanners, for we should be at the point where Vitiate first sent us out." The Sphere had replied, which left me rather intrigued. I finally started to take control of what few controls they were. Already within my grasp I can feel great pain eat at my body. Age was catching up to me quickly, even as the dark energies have sustained me for so long. Slowly the Sphere would move deeper into the darkness of space taking scans, and even reaching out to see who lurked out there in the beyond. "See if anyone would respond to our signal... I am curious to see if we are alone, or if the regions are still as empty as I had mistakenly thought last time. " I say as the Ship responded by letting out a transponder of some kind. An ancient one that would try to seek out any lifeforms. Already I had felt as if there was something strange, something different about the galaxy he couldn't quite put his fingers on.

The Ancient Sith had returned home to a Galaxy that would look unrecognizable. The only question now was who or what was out there to greet him in the future of a galaxy long thought left behind.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

the Ship responded by letting out a transponder of some kind. An ancient one that would try to seek out any lifeforms.

A Sith meditation sphere was a rarity. Ashin had owned one, oh, many many decades back when she held the Sith Empire's throne. The unique signal pattern, when her comms warden played it for her, sparked bright clean memory of a time she'd largely forgotten. She found herself smiling there on the bridge of the Pomojema. The smile, not just the value and significance of the sphere, was what prompted her decision.

The mobile academy laid in a new course, using old Lords of the Fringe routes across this part of the Unknown Regions. Some of those routes had shifted; the astrogators did their best to compensate, but the Pomojema shuddered as it jumped, and again as it decanted to realspace some time later.

From the captain's chair, Ashin toggled the short-range subspace comms, matching the frequency of the meditation sphere's transponder.

<<Sith meditation sphere,>> she said in old high Sith, <<this is Captain Ashin Varanin of the academy vessel Pomojema. Who are you and what does your beacon signify?>>

 

[Tiberius Vexus]

I rested against the seat of the Meditation Sphere, even as there was a slight glow to my red eyes, I would look out and see nothing. Nothing, but the cold emptiness of space. How could one make it for so many centuries, when only the company you have is either an aging, and troubled mind, and that of the Ship's memory core constantly whispering teachings of the Sith to me. Much of the Sith themselves were not unlike my own kind, for there was many similarities to be had, but to say that I prefer the Sith over that of the Zeffo? Never. If only the Sith themselves I see as a means to an end. I wonder about the Emperor, or if he was still alive, for the travel between one galaxy and the next took millennia. Now, that I was back I wondered if anything had remotely changed.

The beacon would continue to transmit, although even I doubted that anyone would be listening. This far into space and even in the middle of nowhere I had hoped for some quiet solitude. My eyes felt heavy, and one by one I felt myself slowly lose strength. The gnawing pain in my limbs, my chest, and even in my brain had kept me awake longer than I cared to admit. It seemed that rest wouldn't come so easily, for all one knew I could be alone in this place, nothing but the company of the sphere and that of distant stars.

Suddenly, the pondering came to an end. I looked forward to hear a transmission in the old Sith language. Had it been someone out there after all? I blinked my multiple crimson eyes in astonishment. I was stunned, didn't know what to say before deciding to respond in kind. My voice was rough, having lost the need to speak after so many centuries, I could feel my own vocal chords slightly strain. "This is... Tiberius Vexus.... I am, or I was a scout... Attempting to chart beyond the void of this galaxy.... I have just returned from such a venture.... Tell me what year it is? I do not mean any harm, and wish to know of my surroundings." I said hearing just how alien I sounded within my rough tone. The High Sith language was still new to me, but I only hoped the captain of the vessel would understand the meaning being conveyed to her.

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin muted the call from her captain's chair. "Caul Schi, analysis."

The comms officer, an apostate Sunesi priest, replayed the transmission in his earpiece. "Not fluent," he said, "and species unknown. The lower harmonics sound close to a male Quermian or Sunesi."

"Not Ancient Sith or human?"

Caul Schi shook his head. "Massassi, maybe. Maybe."

Ashin toggled the comms again. << Tiberius Vexus , this is the year nine hundred by common calendar.>> The antiquity of that ship... <<Nine hundred years since the Battle of Yavin. By Sith reckoning, around twenty-eight hundred Korriban years since the death of Naga Sadow. You're in trackless territory called the Unknown Regions. We have comprehensive navigational data of the area. We'd be very interested in trading it for your complete navigational records. What languages do you speak most fluently?>>

 

[Tiberius Vexus]

I settled within the chair as I looked out to the ship before me. The design resembled nothing like the crude Sith starships of old. The design seemed more different, words hardly came to mind, advanced maybe? I wasn’t sure. My mouth fell slightly agape as I listened closely to the words of the being on the other side of the comm. She was saying how the year was nine hundred years, at first I could hardly comprehend that the journey back and forth between the void had taken much longer than previously thought. Slowly the realization came to me. I had been gone thousands of years longer than I originally thought. I was floating in the abyss for how many thousands of years, and now here I had returned.

I took a couple of my fingers, pensively rubbing them along the dark lines of my chin. It took a moment that I didn’t respond. It appeared as if I was in shock over how much time had passed. I exhaled slowly, before I would finally managed to respond. This time my speech switched from High Sith, to a gruff basic. “Basic will do just fine. My knowledge of languages in of itself is limited. My knowledge beyond the void is limited, and what I have seen is empty ruins. There is not much I can offer, for my craft wasn’t fitted with a hyperdrive. I drifted through the void… Much longer than I had previously thought.” I would say, the shock still evident in my tone.

Ashin Cardé Varanin

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin chewed on that surprising response, but not too long.

"I think we can be of benefit to each other, Vexus. Your sensor data is still of use to me, and I am still willing to trade nav maps for it. A second trade comes to mind: I'm sure you'd like to know the current state of affairs in the galaxy, and I'd like to know much more about the Sith of your era. If you'll accept these two bargains, you're free to use a small private docking bay and come aboard the Pomojema. We have limited comforts — but the food and drink, at least, will be better than you're used to."

 

[Tiberius Vexus]

My red eyes would narrow upon the words of the Captain of the vessel. It had been thousands of years since I had seen a face, and I knew very little of what had transpired throughout the galaxy. I had wished to get caught up on what has been happening of the galaxy, and in exchange this captain would want his navigation information. Of what use could she make of them? I wondered to myself. I didn’t say anything, thinking carefully I pondered the offer. I was in no position to outright refuse, and I come to the conclusion that no one could simply cross the threshold between galaxies so easily.

After a moment mulling it over, I decided to respond in kind to the transmission. “I see we can have some accord. I accept these terms, I do not have much to offer, nor how you could cross the void is beyond me, but very well. I do at least know of one world that could be of interest.” I said as I started to upload navigational charts and data. Specifically to a planet called “Peridia” along with other charts to said Sith craft. As I transmitted the data to the Pomojema I spoke again. “What I have found is limited, but perhaps you can make use of it.” I would say as I rested back into my seat awaiting for what response would come through. I only hoped that whatever knowledge of the what lord beyond the void may help in my favor.

Ashin Cardé Varanin