Private Shadows Overhead

[Jespa Ordo]

The ship settled like a prowling cat on it's haunches on the small landing pad. Steam and recycling systems belched from vents along the hull as the boarding ramp slowly opened like a yawning dragon settled in upon its hoard. The steady ring of beskar boots on durasteel could be heard as the tall Mandalorian made her way slowly out into the sauna like air of Dagobah. She had tracked him here, Doramund Suul, wanted in 14 systems by local and sector authorities for various crimes from embezzlement to sentient trafficking. Most places wanted him alive but most places weren't here, and Jespa Ordo didn't like slavers.

Her Mandalorian heavy ripper rested snuggly against the heavy pauldron of her gold armor. She walked with a steadiness, that called to mind a queen walking through the halls of her own palace. Two other ships rested close by. No lifesigns showed on the scanners when she arrived, so she decided to set down and start hunting at the source. The swamp bugs moved in clouds over the murky waters just meters away. She wondered if her wayward father had ever wandered this desolate place. Maybe she would get to ask him someday.

Darth Feira

 

[Darth Feira]

For all his crimes, Doramund Suul had made an especially dull victim, he had been easy to lure into a trap, even easier to break. Even his pitiful screaming had brought her no joy and his soul had left her hungry. Still, he was not the true target, he was just an appetiser to the main course, one of many she intended to track down, half siblings.

Lesser beings.

The Seed of Rage melted into the shadows as Jespa's ship arrived, tapping into the natural nexus at Dagobah's core to fuel her power, making shadows longer, agitating the wildlife making their growls and clicks longer. She followed the mandalorian, bare feet silent on the swamp floor as she stalked her prey, extending for the woman's mind, drawing forth fear, searching her mind for trauma for ammunition, for everything Jespa avoided...

Jespa Ordo

 

[Jespa Ordo]

She checked the chrono on her HUD as she moved from the landing platform and into the trees. The swamp was darker than expected. Beast and crawling things roared and chattered near and far. She was not a skittish person, she had been raised to be strong by her mother and clan. But something was terribly wrong. Thoughts of her early years of seeing glimpses of her father on holonews feeds and the deep desire to meet him. To hear the pride in his voice as he said the words that would turn him from father to Buir. Her mother had been a strong woman. But that longing for both parents, that deep seated sense that something was just missing had driven her and the fear that he had left because he didn't want her stirred into a whirlpool of emotions that hadn't been this strong in nearly 30 years.

A loud crashing and a splash nearby made her flinch and crouch low. A slow scan across the water and inthe trees over the sights of her heavy ripper. Something felt very wrong. She could just wait by the ships, her droid could prepare to leave and she could just grab Suul before he could make it onto his bird and leave. Or she could keep walking through the swamp following the trail her HUD said was a few days old. She hadn't been this unsure of herself since the last time made her pick where to eat.

She continued on. A combat crouch. Weapon up and ready. She had to be getting close. Right?

Darth Feira

 

[Darth Feira]

Each step Feira took after Jespa, she left a doppelgänger of herself behind, each on flitting away into the shadows that stretched like fingers reaching for her half sister. She dug deeper, pulling her fear of abandonment closer to the surface the fear of not being wanted, pulling the images of Jasper Ordo from her mind.

He would appear before her, face twisted with disgust before turning and melting away into the shadows, there and gone so fast it couldn't have been more than her imagination. The ships, were drawing closer, the scene between them coming into view, Suul raised on a crucifix, nothing more than a husk, his mouth opened wide in a silent scream.

The shadows began to whisper.

Jespa...

Jespa Ordo

 

[Jespa Ordo]

Jespa...

She spun on her heels. A whispy form moved between trees nearby and she fought the urge to open fire. Her heavy ripper pressed to her shoulder tightly like a child clutching their comfort blanket against the encroaching dark. She turned slowly as the whisper of her name sounded again from behind. This place was haunted. He had heard stories but dismissed them as superstitious nonsense.

She picked up her pace. Her long powerful legs carried her effortlessly over the wet ground and thick roots of the world. From behind another form rushed at her likea pale wraith black fingered hands outstretched for her she fired her ripper backwards for a moment and the figure vanished before another identical one apeared near by. She was alone. Just like when she was a girl. A mother busy with life and a father was was too enamored with his own legend to come visit.

She stopped dead as a thick post appeared in the road as she stared behind herself. Her eyes followed the post up to emaciated feet and then farther still to a desiccated corpse that could be none other than Suul. She shivered at the naked mumified form of the man that by all account was a robust figure not 3 weeks ago. It was like something had sucked everything out of him leaving only tissue paper skin over thick bones.

She was next. Her family didn't even want her and she would die in this manda forsaken swamp without even a fight.

Her name again echoed and she no longer restrained herself as she fired and volly into the trees at another form of dread. She was going to die.

Darth Feira