Private So Uncivilized

[Inanna Harth]

The automaton finally took some damage as Cato exploited its exposed energy core. Inanna seized a jagged piece of metal debris and jammed it into the heart of the guardian.

An explosive reaction took place. Yellow light turned a blindingly bright white, and Inanna instinctively threw up a barrier to protect her and Cato from the blast.

When it was over, the automaton lay in smoking pieces on the floor. A door suddenly slid open ahead of them, as if by killing the guardian they had unlocked some new area of the city. Or perhaps, the city was deliberately guiding them.

Inanna peered inside. All she could see was a round, featureless chamber, lights dancing upon the walls. She glanced at Cato, a question in her gaze. Should they go in, or try to find another way?

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato’s work was enough for Inanna to follow-up with a finishing blow. The machine overloaded from damage to its core, creating an explosion that left it a smoking pile of scrap on the ground. And thanks to Inanna’s barrier, had little impact on them, “Nice one,” Cato complimented.

A door slid open behind its now defeated guard. Progress, at the cost of feeling even more like they were being watched. Cato’s lips twisted in ambivalent contemplation as they trekked onward. He offered little more than a shrug before entering the room. It’s not like they had any other sense of direction here.

“Think your family is gonna believe us when we spill the beans?” Ash and Pygar seemed reasonable enough; His question was more so regarding Inanna’s mother.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Thanks,” Inanna said with a grimacing smile. Her shoulder was still throbbing, the nexus interfering with her healing.

The open door looked weirdly inviting. Cato shrugged and headed in; Inanna followed, sticking close to him. “I dunno,” she replied. “I was hoping I’d find some sort of proof that I could bring back home with me…”

Not long after they passed through the door, she got the distinct impression that they were being… if not scanned, then read. The door slid shut behind them, sealing them inside the circular chamber. Then the luminous, undulating walls blanked out.

Inanna heard a kind of voice, though it didn’t speak so much as convey information directly into her mind, trampling its way through Cato’s shared mental resistances in the process. It promised her divine inspiration, the knowledge and creativity she needed to solve all her problems.

She would be lying if she tried to claim the offer wasn’t enticing. Inanna had never considered herself to be particularly smart, and she was certainly lacking in imagination. The things she could do with a little ingenuity—solve the problems plaguing her people, for one. Ah, but the voice was offering her so much more than that! She could fix the whole galaxy, if she just put her mind to it.

Of course, the steep cost was a bit of a dealbreaker. In exchange for spiritual enlightenment, the nexus needed a single life, to be sacrificed and fed to its fount of power. Just one life, it pressed, and she could forge a brighter future for everyone.

“Then why didn’t Samyaza become the savior of the galaxy?” she asked bitterly. To have killed his own brother for enlightenment, only to waste that boon on becoming a conqueror…

How do you know he didn’t? How do you know he isn’t doing it now? the voice reasoned. Genius works in mysterious ways. You trust the experts to know what they’re doing, even if you don’t understand it. No doubt his goals are beyond your comprehension. You do not possess the gift he has.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Cato shrugged. If not, they'd just have to take their word for it.

The room beckoned them inside, and an unseen presence wormed its way into their thoughts almost as soon as the threshold was crossed. It enticed with promises of knowledge. Enough knowledge to change everything. To fix everything. Just a taste would be enough. Cato, similarly, would be lying if he claimed there wasn't an appeal to it. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, trading one life for a galactic utopia? It made sense. An end to his otherwise endless struggle, and the struggles of everyone else.

But that price was far too much. And given the nature of this nexus, Cato could only assume the devil was in the details. Faustian bargains rarely worked out as intended, if stories were to be believed, "Sorry, it's just not gonna happen." He glanced at Inanna next, and smirked, "You're not gonna sacrifice me to the magic voice, are ya?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"You're not gonna sacrifice me to the magic voice, are ya?"

Inanna just looked at him, her gaze soft and warm as she shook her head. “Never.”

The voice was displeased. Inanna tensed, expecting violent retaliation. The room lurched suddenly, and she had the impression that they were moving rapidly through space. Then the walls of the chamber split along heretofore invisible seams, the panels separating and moving aside to reveal a cave. The very opening of a cave, to be exact. Sunlight poured through the gap just a few feet away, with desert visible beyond.

But within the shadows, Inanna saw corpses. Dozens of bodies, long since picked clean of flesh, littered the floor of the cavern. Scraps of clothing and armor still clung to the skeletal remains, along with weapons and other gear from various eras, species, and cultures. Adventurers, travelers, explorers, plunderers—they had all wound up here after falling victim either to the city’s mechanical guardians, or being betrayed by their own allies. Left to rot alongside trash and refuse.

Was Orcas’ body here? Inanna took a cautious step forward, half expecting to set off a trap, and winced when she felt something crunch under her feet. Cato would feel her stretching out with the Force, trying to find something that might feel familiar, though she didn’t have much to work with. She had never known Orcas and didn't know what to look for.

Despite this, she eventually stopped and bent down to pick something up. It was an old, rusted, beat up lightsaber.

Inanan ran her fingers over the hilt, wiping away dust. “You’re into lightsabers, right?” she asked, turning to Cato and holding out the saber to him. “Does this look a couple hundred years old to you?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

“Never.”

Though he never had a doubt, it was still pleasant to hear the affirmation aloud. The whisperings, were of course, unhappy about the denial from both of its latest visitors. The room felt as though it shifted, but thankfully, it seemed there was little else the darkness could or would do against them. A cave was revealed, littered with detritus from ages past. Cato frowned at the sight, and the implication.

Inanna stepped forward, and he was close behind, if just to make sure nothing sprang up between them. She then picked up the hilt of a saber, offering it to him. Cato weighed the weapon in his hand, shifting it around. More dirt and dust fell off, and something inside felt like it was loose, "At least," He shook it a moment, and tried to press the activator, "Why? Do you think...?" He asked cautiously.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

The lightsaber actually turned on, though its ignition was accompanied by the acrid smell of burning dust. But rather than producing light, the blade seemed to absorb all the light in its immediate vicinity, plunging their immediate area into an artificial night.

“Do you remember that crystal I gave you for our engagement?” Inanna asked. “It’s called a nightstone. They’re unique to Lao-mon. As betrothal gifts, they symbolize enduring love. And if you use them in lightsabers, they create a blade of darkness instead of light.”

The lightsaber was Orcas’. It had to be, unless other Shi’ido Jedi happened to have come to Zaathru and died here. Which wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility, but it seemed rather unlikely. Inanna’s sorrow was discernible through their bond, but so was her relief. This was the proof she needed, the closure she had been hoping for.

Something was indeed loose inside the hilt; the blade sputtered violently, winking between the blinding daylight of the desert and the cold darkness of shadow. Taking the hilt from Cato and deactivating it, Inanna headed for the mouth of the cave.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato blinked as the light seemed as if it were literally sucked out of the area around them. It's vague familiarity was made clear when Inanna mentioned the crystal she had given him, "Right. I remember," He'd always meant to do something with that, but never found the time. Being a dad and a crimefighting vigilante left little time for side projects. He smirked a bit, "You never told me it was a symbol of enduring love." It was a cherished gift nonetheless, but he found even more appreciation for it knowing the greater meaning it held.

Alas, the discovery of this particular weapon was bittersweet. It functioned as proof of Orcas' death, and Samyaza's fratricide. He could sense the ambivalence relaying between them, originating from Inanna. She might not have actually known her older brother, but the loss was still tangible. The ripple effect it had on her family and her upbringing as a whole. But there was peace to be found in closer.

Inanna took the saber, and he rested a hand on the small of her back, leading the way out, "Sure," They had what they needed. Now it was just a matter of ousting Samyaza and saving the family. After they, y'know, made the trip back, "Do you want me to, ah…?" He pointed at his head, offering to cut the mental link before it overstayed its welcome.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Must’ve slipped my mind.” Marriage proposals were pretty nerve-wracking even when you hadn’t just been given a newborn to raise on top of it all. She gave him a shrug and a smile. “You know it now, at least.” She felt like they had discovered a lot of things about each other over the course of this trip, and not just because they were telepathically linked.

His hand on the small of her back drew her out of her thoughts. The touch felt oddly intense. She turned to him, already knowing what he was going to say before he asked. Her first instinct was to say yes—to cut this off now, retreat back into the safety of herself, be alone again. But there was a lingering curiosity, too, and a vague wistful dread that she might miss him when he was gone.

“Just one more thing...” She cupped his cheek, feeling faint stubble against her hand, then leaned in and kissed him.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Mmmhm," Cato hummed as they walked out. Considering the circumstances surrounding this little trip: crash landing on a pre-industrial planet hosting a powerful dark side nexus that lured people into committing unthinkable sacrifices, things went pretty well. He thought so anyway. They even leaned a few things about themselves, and each other. Surprisingly, a nice break from some of their other responsibilities, even when things got a bit too exciting.

Cato searched her eyes as she thought on his offer, ready to break away at a moment's notice if she asked it. He knew that taking it this far was already a big ask for her. What he didn't expect was to be pulled in for a kiss. And he definitely didn't expect the… sensation. An extra surge of dopamine, a little more intensity to the pleasure, "Mm," He hummed again, this time with notable gratification as they pulled away, "That was… different. But like… a really good different."

"That wasn't just a me thing, right?" Cato was already connecting the dots, if the growing smirk was any indicator.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

She knew something would be different about the kiss, she just didn’t expect it to be like this. She could feel what Cato felt, and he could feel what she felt, and the two of them were like mirrors reflecting each other. The resulting rush was like a drug injected directly into her veins, overpowering in the best way possible.

Their lips parted, but Inanna did not pull away. Mainly because she felt a bit weak in the knees afterwards, but also because she didn’t really want to stop.

Eventually she snapped out of it and let go of Cato. “You need a shave,” she said, as if that was the only thing she’d noticed. Of course, he’d be able to see right through her—he’d shared the experience through their link, after all.

“Yeah, yeah. I had a theory and wanted to see what would happen.” Seeing his smirk, she blushed. “Come on, we need to get back to the bike before the natives take it apart or something,” she said.

Even as she spoke, she caught herself wondering if the speeder bike would be all that uncomfortable a place to, er, continue testing her theory…

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Just like that, Cato's brain was half of her, and half on math. His eyes darted around in complex thought, piecing together a theory of his own, "I mean, if we like- prolonged the exposure, then in theory it would basically just turn into a positive feedback loop…" Leave it to him to turn something like this into a science project. No reason he can't have fun with both right?

He ran a hand across his chin as if confirming the existence of the accumulated stubble with own senses, "It is kinda hot though, right? In a rugged sort of way?" Not that he'd keep it long term regardless.

"We should get back to the ship," Cato corrected with growing enthusiasm. They had to try it out further while they were still on their own, "Or at least find somewhere to camp…" The sky was beginning to darken ever so slightly. Perhaps it wouldn't be too long of a wait until nightfall gave them an excuse.

"C'mon," Cato grabbed her hand and picked up the pace back to their bike. Even that little interaction felt a bit stronger, as if they were subconsciously magnetizing together. The short jaunt back to their bike was unimpeded, as thankfully no natives seemed nearby enough to bother investigating the abandoned city. Shame, really. Part of Cato still wanted to spread the word and really give the slavers a piece of his mind. Not as literally as with Inanna, though. After a quick check, and with both of them on, he spun the bike around and launched out of the city proper, back out into the desert as if his life depended on it.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna found her brain abruptly filled with math. The horror she experienced as a result nearly prompted her to beg him to shut off their connection, though when she realized what he was calculating, she couldn’t help but laugh. “I see where you’re going with this, but just be careful what you wish for. Men and women don’t quite experience it the same—and don’t forget that I’m an alien, Cato.” Although knowing him, that would probably just make him even more curious.

Accordingly, he took her hand and quite literally ran to the speeder. “Well, it helps to hide that scar,” she replied to his question after she was seated behind him, tracing the faint outline of the long-healed slash on his left cheek with her fingertip. “Oh, what the hell. You can keep it. As long as Serena doesn’t mind.” Serena decided everything, after all.

Cato started the engine, and with that they sped off into the desert.

---

“Should probably come up with a plan for how we’re going to deal with Samyaza, but I don’t know how to outsmart a guy gifted with enlightenment.”

Inanna sat cross-legged in the co-pilot’s chair of the cockpit, a white shirt that probably belonged to Cato draped over her shoulders. Visible through the windows as they finally came out of hyperspace was Alderaan, looking much the same as they had left it days earlier.

“I can’t shake this feeling that he’s somehow two steps ahead of us.” She fiddled with her hair, twisting the white strands around her fingers. “We didn’t exactly try to hide that we were suspicious of him. He probably knows we went looking for answers. Maybe he’s set a trap for us. Or maybe he’s already done whatever he came here to do…” The latter remained a mystery, but she had spent much of the journey thinking up increasingly horrific possibilities.

Still, they had to try. “I could contact my family, ask them to meet us in a public place, and then we tell them the truth. They should be safe then, right? Or safer than they would be at home, at least.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"That's part of the excitement," Cato riposted, "And we're all aliens to each other. Heck I'm a bunch of aliens rolled into one," With Inanna in tow, they hopped onto the speeder and left town.

"We'll see," He said, rubbing a hand across the stubble. Cato's opinion seemed not to sway one particular way or the other. Inanna was right though; Serena was the final arbiter on most all household decisions. For now, he had plenty of other things to keep him distracted…

---

"Hard to say when we don't even know the extent of what he's been given," Enlightenment could mean a lot of things. Samyaza hadn't struck Cato as preternaturally sharp in their first encounter. But then again, it's not like that's the sort of conclusion one would immediately jump to in a conversation. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's at least suspicious. But- I don't think he's already moved forward with his plans. Not… that far, anyway," If simply for their own mental wellbeing, he had to believe they weren't too slow on the draw to stop him. Inanna's plan seemed sound enough for a start.

"Yeah. Do that. At the very least it'll be harder for him to try anything drastic in public."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, so it doesn’t take much to outwit me,” she muttered. “I wish I knew what he was even trying to do here…”

So Samyaza had been a conqueror and a false god for a few centuries. Why come home to his family all contrite? Did he intend to use them in some grand plan? Did he need the connections of his surviving relatives in order to accomplish some goal?

He couldn’t actually be seeking redemption, could he?

Inanna stood up and walked over to the hologram projector. She had already turned it on before she realized she was improperly dressed—wearing Cato’s shirt, and not much else. “Whoops,” she said, before quickly shifting to at least look like she was clothed.

Just in time for a little blue hologram of Samyaza to appear on the stand. “Hello?”

Something about seeing him now, knowing everything he had done, stopped Inanna in her tracks. For several moments she couldn’t even say anything. She just stood there and stared at the ghostly figure of her brother.

“Hi, it’s Inanna,” she finally said. “Is Mom there?”

“She is out at the moment.”

“What about Pygar?”

“He and Ashmedai went with her.”

“...Where did they go?”

“They said they had to run a few errands, but would be back shortly.”

“Well. In that case, I’ll come to you and wait for them.” Without bothering to say goodbye or wait for a response, she cut the projector, barely resisting the urge to punch the stand. “He better not have done anything,” she growled, hurrying back over to the co-pilot’s chair and strapping in. “He better not have…”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato gave Inanna a sympathetic look, as if silently arguing against her lack of intelligence, "He's got us all guessing right now," Samyaza had a few centuries to construct a plan, after all. Perhaps it was some grand scheme. Perhaps they were overthinking it. There were plenty of possibilities, but too few factors were concrete.

Inanna turned on the projector, and Cato's look shifted to amused confusion, until she shifted into a more presentable appearance. He stayed silent while the two of them spoke, doing his best to hide concern when Samyaza mentioned the rest of the family was inconveniently out. Inanna cut off the message, and he sighed. Not a good start to things. For all that meant, they could already be too late.

Cato shook those thoughts aside, and put on a brave face, "We'll make sure they're alright. One way or another Samyaza will answer for what he's done." Both to his brother, and to his supposed coming plans. Cato took the ship in to Maranatha for a quick landing, rushing to get to the house, possibly betraying some of his level-headedness, "You don't have any way to reach your mom or one of the other's separately, do you?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Already working on it,” Inanna said, whipping out her datapad. Her mother was old and resistant to new technology, so she tried to contact Pygar. He didn’t pick up the comms, nor did he respond to her messages.

By the time she moved on to Ash, only to receive the same radio silence, Inanna was nearly frantic. “I don’t know where they are, but I know where he is,” she said. “Whatever is going on here, we have to deal with Samyaza first.”

She led the way to the Hooles’ home. Half tempted to kick the door down, she looked to Cato for a more level-headed decision. “Should we break in, or knock?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Nothing from Pygar. Nothing from Ash. It was safely time to get a bit nervous. With everything they knew, everything possible, it was arguably the most rational assumption. But Cato, ever stalwart in his hopefulness, did his best to remain steady. "We'll figure it out. We'll make sure they're okay." As if his word choice alone was enough to keep their safety a reality.

Making their way quickly to the house, they stopped at the door. Cato looked at Inanna, then the lock, "…I've got a good middle ground," He pulled out a lock scrambler, making quick work of the standard home security. His slicing hobbies had their uses, "They'll understand, right?" After an explanation of everything they learned, they might even be flattered by the determination. Cato slid the door open and stepped in, "Hellooo?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

It was becoming increasingly difficult to believe in Cato’s reassurances. Inanna clung to the shreds of hope, but after all the loss she had experienced, expecting anything other than the worst seemed naïve.

He pulled out a lock scrambler and used it to open the door. Inanna instinctively positioned herself in front of him, shielding him with her body just in case.

The house was quiet. It seemed like nobody was around—or at least nobody living. But then, in response to the sound of the door opening and Cato’s call, Samyaza appeared from the living room.

“Oh, there you are. I didn’t know you had a key.”

Upon seeing him, something in her changed. As if a switch had been flipped, Inanna was suddenly furious. Her rage swiftly consumed her. Only her desperate fear for her family kept her from attacking him on sight, though her hands twitched at her sides, ready to rend him in two with telekinesis.

“Where are the others?” she asked.

“Still not back yet,” Samyaza replied, though he regarded her warily, sensing that something was wrong. Well, that and she was glaring at him murderously. “Is something the matter?”

“You tell me.” With that, Inanna flung Orcas’ lightsaber hilt down. It rolled across the floor, stopping at Samyaza’s feet.

He looked down at it, then heaved a sigh. “I see.”

“I’m going to ask you again,” Inanna demanded. “Where is my family?”

“And once again, they left to run some errands,” he replied. “I haven’t touched them. I came here to help all of you, not harm you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You killed your own brother! You’ve been a fething warlord for the past two hundred years! You lied to us!”

“What does it matter whether it took me two minutes or two hundred years to repent?” Samyaza shook his head. “Do you think our mother would’ve taken me back if I told her the truth? Let her live out the rest of her life believing something less painful, and with at least one of her sons returned to her alive.”

“That’s just the problem—I don’t believe you,” Inanna growled. “And we don’t need your help, either.”

“You do seem to have things well in hand.” The ghost of a smile flickered across Samyaza’s face. “Believe it or not, I don’t have any desire to fight you. If things are going to be this way, you could just let me leave. There’s no need for violence. I won’t come back.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Of course, the first sight then were met with was Samyaza. Cato inhaled, his chest puffing out and his posture straightening in response, then seemed to hold his breath there. He placed a hand on Inanna's shoulder, trying to keep her grounded. Any intent on dancing around the problem was quickly discarded, as she tossed Orcas' long lost saber on the ground.

Samyaza's feelings were still difficult to discern, as was his truthfulness. Even with the evidence flung at him, there was no definite proof that he was lying. At least, not about anything presently occurring. That said, Samyaza's insistence that deceiving his mother was the correct choice did little to win Cato 's favor, "She deserves to know the truth."

All the more perplexing was his offer to leave outright. Cato blinked, "Just like that? And go where?"

Inanna Harth​