Junction Sun & Starlight [ME][TSO][THR][TSC] | [Empty Hex][Dahrtag][Iphigin][Phu]

[Taiia Locke]

//: Allyson Locke //:​

Taiia's smile lingered as Allyson admitted she could never quite keep herself out of trouble. She simply nodded, the expression on her face making it abundantly clear that this was hardly new information. "No," she agreed with quiet amusement. "You really can't."

The kiss to her hand drew another smile, though it softened as Allyson spoke about the places she had been, about how they would have been better together. "I think you still would have found trouble," she replied gently. "I simply would have been there to help you find your way back out of it." Her thumb brushed absentmindedly across the back of Allyson's hand as they continued their slow walk along the shoreline, the waves rolling lazily onto the sand beside them.

"...despite wanting a family..."

Taiia's steps slowed almost imperceptibly as her green eyes lifted to Allyson's face. For a long moment, she said nothing at all. She had spent years wondering what might have been, imagining countless versions of the life they had lost. Somehow, despite all of that, it had never once occurred to her that Allyson might have been imagining the same thing. "You wanted children." The words escaped almost as a realization rather than a question. Something warm settled quietly in her chest. For so long, she had assumed the family she built had been something Allyson watched from a distance, believing it belonged to Taiia alone, not meant for her. She had never stopped to consider that Allyson might have wanted that life just as desperately.

"I wish I had known that." Her fingers laced a little more firmly through Allyson's. "I think you would have been wonderful." The answer came without hesitation. "You would have worried over every little scrape and bruise." A smile tugged gently at her lips. "You would have insisted you weren't worrying, and then somehow convinced yourself every scraped knee was a galactic emergency." A quiet laugh escaped her before Allyson's question settled between them.

Could they really have raised children while living the lives they had? Taiia considered it for a moment, her gaze drifting toward the sea. "I don't think we would have dragged toddlers through half the things we've survived." She smiled to herself, already picturing the conversation. "I think somewhere along the way, one of us would have looked at the other and realized we'd become completely unreasonable." Her eyes found Allyson's again. "I think we would have stopped."

The words were gentle, spoken with the quiet certainty that had always defined her. "I know you don't believe that." Her thumb brushed lightly across Allyson's hand. "But you've already proven you can." There was just the quiet honesty of one who knew Allyson Locke all too well. "You came home." The smile that followed was soft enough to rival the morning itself. "I think we would have found our way home then, too."

​

 

[Aselia Verd]

Wearing: [X]

The corner of Aselia's mouth lifted a little more as she caught the look lingering on her. Months ago, she might have let it pass without comment, convincing herself she'd imagined it. Now she knew better; there was still something wonderfully disarming about realizing Adelle was looking at her that way. "I think I can manage that," she replied, her voice carrying an easy warmth as she shifted slightly in the lounger, turning just enough that she was facing Adelle a little more directly.

Her eyes drifted over the beach before returning to Adelle. "First, the track. Then drinks. Then dancing." She gave a small, thoughtful nod as though carefully reviewing the evidence. "Now a beach." A soft laugh escaped her. "I'm beginning to think you're trying to spoil me." She let the teasing linger for a moment before settling comfortably back into the lounger, the ocean breeze stirring a few loose strands of hair across her shoulder that she tucked behind her ear without much thought, her attention drifting out toward the waves.

"You know..." she said after a while, her voice quieter now. "For someone who usually needs to be doing something..." She trailed off, watching another wave roll onto the sand before it quietly disappeared back into the sea. "...I'm surprisingly content just sitting here." It was only the quiet realization of someone noticing something about herself she hadn't before. The smile that returned was smaller than before but somehow more genuine. "Maybe we should do this more often." Her eyes found Adelle again for just a moment before returning to the horizon.

TAG: Adelle Bastiel
​

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Taiia Locke //:

Allyson looked at Taiia when the words that she had spoken finally settled in the woman's heart. She understood the surprise. Allyson's lifestyle didn't scream family-oriented, nor did it allow her to even fathom the thought. But with Taiia, she had always wondered in the back of her mind if they even could.

It was a thought she had, one of the last before she had left the note she did when she walked out. In her mind, for Taiia to have everything —a marriage, love, and a family—she needed to leave her. The way Taiia's life unfolded in front of her only proved her right. Allyson often dreamt the children were hers, wishing with every fiber of her being that she could just step forward to have the one thing she had always wanted.

A family and a home with Taiia.

She listened, smiling softly the entire time, letting the woman work through the what-if scenarios that Allyson had dreamed of every night. As their eyes met, Allyson could see the same story that Taiia was telling. They would have stopped, settled down, and begun their quiet life.

Her grin widened only when Taiia pointed out what the Corellian was already thinking. There was always someone who pulled at the Spy's leash, dragging her into conflicts, missions that were necessary for her skill craft. Could she have walked away from everything? Abandoned the way of life she had known for decades?

She could have, yes.

"It took me thirty years to come home through Taiia. I couldn't leave you with children for that long — alone." She continued to smile gently.

Allyson wondered if she would have made even more deals with the devil to protect Taiia and their children, if this story had played out. Maybe it was for the better that they didn't have them; there was only so much of the Corellian's soul that she could barter with.

"I've always figured family and a marriage was something only I could dream about; it was never something that made sense for me to have."

Allyson shrugged.

"Even though they weren't mine, I wished they were. I remember there was a time I had come to visit after one of my particularly draining missions." Allyson let her gaze wander back towards the water as she stood, closer to Taiia.

"Caelan had decided to try and jump over to one of the rocks in the middle of the river. The water was flowing quickly, spring was just coming into bloom, and the snow from the mountains was melting."

It always surprised Allyson how the memories surrounding Taiia had always remained vivid in her mind. Too often, she found herself struggling to remember things and to organize thoughts that were part of her life, not a persona's.

Yet, these simple memories always lingered at the forefront of her memory.

"Seris wanted no part of it. You looked so tired; I wondered how much trouble they had been giving you. But Caelan, despite his sister's warnings, decided to jump. He made it, but scraped up his knee and shin. I could tell he was trying not to cry… I wanted to help him, do something to stop the bleeding."

She didn't, though; Allyson remained close, but still far enough to not interfere. In the memory, Taiia had eventually realized what the twins were up to and scolded them after making sure Caelan was alright.
Allyson huffed with amusement.

"But you are right, I'd have made something so small into something big."

She leaned forward and kissed her wife's cheek. "I'm sorry I never told you before, but I feared that if we had tried, I would have only brought you and our children danger."

Staying close, Allyson brought Taiia closer into an embrace, her cheek resting against Taiia's as she sighed softly.

"Forgive me."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Aselia Verd
Wearing: [X]

Adelle rolled onto her side and propped herself up on an elbow, her mismatched eyes glittering with a touch of mischief. The quiet affection in Aselia’s voice did more to set her heart racing than the little black bikini, and soothed the worry that she annoyed her girlfriend with everything about herself. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she had warned Aselia that her myriad of medical conditions were a lot. And with their respective jobs, they had precious few opportunities to be in each other’s space for extended periods of time. She’d lived with Na’an and Leigh for a couple years, and both had started running out of patience with her.

"First, the track. Then drinks. Then dancing." She gave a small, thoughtful nod as though carefully reviewing the evidence. "Now a beach." A soft laugh escaped her. "I'm beginning to think you're trying to spoil me."

“Are you complaining?” Adelle asked with a grin. She hadn’t thought the times she’d invited Aselia to things had been anything special; they’d all just been things she enjoyed and wanted to share. But it was good to know Aselia had also thoroughly enjoyed them. Adelle would be lying if she’d said the Verd name didn’t intimidate her.

They lapsed into silence, Aselia’s gaze on the expansive ocean as Adelle watched her absently tuck windblown locks back. Not for the first time, she wondered how had she managed to catch Aselia’s attention when there had probably been multiple options for her.

"You know..." she said after a while, her voice quieter now. "For someone who usually needs to be doing something..." She trailed off, watching another wave roll onto the sand before it quietly disappeared back into the sea. "...I'm surprisingly content just sitting here."

She looked back at the waves, roaring as they rolled in and hissing as they washed out. The ocean had always soothed, always eased whatever burden Adelle had carried. It had always felt like home. The times she actually got to enjoy it, however, were few and far between.

The smile that returned was smaller than before but somehow more genuine. "Maybe we should do this more often." Her eyes found Adelle again for just a moment before returning to the horizon.

“I’d like that.” Adelle looked back at Aselia and the small smile she found made her heart skip a beat. It was real in a way that didn’t happen often. She followed her girlfriend’s gaze back out to the cerulean waters, a stark contrast to the black sand on the beach. Idly, Adelle wondered what the shore might look like if the beach had been one of the famously rare Black Gold beaches of Corellia.

“I know a place,” she said softly. She didn’t take many people there—her mom had been the one to find it and share it with her. “There’s not many that know about it so it’s nice and quiet. The water’s not as pretty but it has its own merits.”

She looked back at Aselia, looking for her reaction. “Say the word and I’ll tell the galaxy to kriff off for a few days.”

 

[Taiia Locke]

//: Allyson Locke //:​

Taiia's fingers tightened around Allyson's hand. It was a small, almost unconscious gesture, but enough that their slow walk along the shoreline came to a gentle stop. For a long moment, she simply stood there as the waves continued to roll lazily onto the sand, but she scarcely heard them anymore. Everything Allyson had shared settled over her all at once. Of course, she had known about the visits and had known Allyson came back whenever she could, lingering just long enough to convince herself Taiia was safe before disappearing once more. She had always believed those visits were because Allyson missed her. She had never imagined...

Her grip tightened again. "...you wanted all of it." The words escaped before she could stop them, barely more than a whisper. Not just her. The home. The family. The quiet mornings, and even the difficult days when everything felt like too much. Allyson had wanted all of it; worse yet, she never noticed.

She stepped toward Allyson and turned until she was standing in front of her, still holding her hand as though letting go had become impossible. Her green eyes searched the Corellian's face, but whatever she had meant to say never came. Instead, tears welled without warning. "Oh... My Love..." Her free hand rose to Allyson's cheek, trembling just enough that Allyson would, of course, notice. "I didn't know," her voice broke as it left her. "I didn't know..." She shook her head helplessly, another tear slipping free.

For all the years she had spent wondering whether Allyson was safe, whether she had somewhere warm to sleep, whether she was still alive, never once had it crossed her mind that every visit carried another kind of grief. That Allyson wasn't simply coming back to see the woman she loved. She was coming back to see the life she wished she could have shared with her.

She stepped forward without thinking, closing the last of the distance between them. One hand never released Allyson's while the other slipped behind her neck, drawing her into an embrace that lacked all of her usual composure. Taiia tucked her head gently against the Corellian's shoulder. There was nothing graceful about it. She simply held her as tightly as she could. "Why didn't you tell me?" The question was barely audible against Allyson's shoulder. "You carried that all by yourself..." Taiia's voice failed her again. She buried her face against Allyson for a moment, trying to steady a heart that no longer seemed interested in listening. "I would have wanted to know." Another breath caught in her throat. "I would have come to you..."

When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were red with tears, but there was only love in them. "You never had to dream by yourself." Her thumb brushed gently across Allyson's cheek. Without another word, she buried her head against Allyson's shoulder once again and closed her eyes.

​

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun

"Bony?!"

Mercy smirked at her reply. It had been the obvious quip, considering Windrun from the neck down was entirely a cyborg and Mercy was pretty sure her head at this point was mostly cybernetic too.

Crazy stuff, really.

She wondered how long it would be until the only organic part of Arris would be the brain in her skull.

“You heard what I said.” Then again a swig from the bottle before leaning into the unfolded chair with a heavy sigh. “You know, we should make this a habit. Do some murder and mayhem, then go to a beach and get shit-faced. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Humbarine was already a distant memory to Mercy.

A messy messy memory that had left her healing for weeks. Not something that the large woman wished to have a repeat of.

“How are you holding up since then?”

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy
​

Arris rolled her eyes. “Have you considered we can skip the murder and mayhem? Y’know, we’re loaded enough that we can prolly just fuck off to some backwater by now.”

Humbarine had reminded her exactly what happened when the Sith got out of control. She had set out to achieve a clean coup. Dead imperials, sure, but when were they people to her eyes? Those brainwashed idiots practically signed up for the deaths they received. It made it easier - no, it made it feel good when she was ordering their executions en masse after Coruscant.

Arris snatched the bottle back, taking a swig of her own. Dry as the sandy beach.

“I’m…” She trailed off, actually giving the question some consideration instead of just slinging a cheap answer. Then, with a shrug, she was honest. “Terrible. But you don’t wanna hear that. You want us to get drunk and get into some trouble, yeah?”

She looked around. The others seemed busy with their own ‘fun’ or had headed off towards the gala. As far as she was concerned, the beach was theirs now.

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun

She looked up from her bottle.

“Fuck off to some backwater to do what exactly?” Mercy responded in surprise. It was not often she got blindsided these days, but Arris managed it in one sentence. The idea of this being a temporary gig did not even occur to her.

They’d do this until they died as far as Mercy was concerned.

This thing they were doing wouldn’t last, of course. Another Empire would come up, or rival Sith, or the Jedi would get off their arse, something would make sure to destroy what they had forged in the Core.

That was fine. That was right. That was the way the Galaxy worked.

But walking away from it before that could occur?

She held her tongue as Arris spilled some truth. Mercy’s eyebrow raised as she plucked a cigarette box from her chest pocket and offered it to her.

“Terrible, huh? What’s got you in a twist, darling, spill.”

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy
​

Arris snatched that cigarette real quick - as always. Preferred it over alcohol any day. Besides, even great liquor tasted like swill lately.

“You were there!” She got a little snappy and took a drag. “Another storm. Crazed civilians. Collapsing towers. A giant lizard?! Portals to hell popping open in space???” She listed it off like a struggling writer throwing darts at the wall for their next holoflick.

But that was when she went back to Mercy’s first question.

“I dunno, Merce… I’m tired.” Another drag.

The only thing that kept her going right now. Okay, only two things were as follows:

One - taking down the High Republic.

Two - protecting her few people of interest in the Covenant.

That fun they used to have? It was pretty much gone the moment she realized Mercy was willing to go to such lengths for the game. Yeah, Arris had gotten over it emotionally, to an extent. Accepted that she was a genocidal war criminal responsible for two, now three, atrocities.

But what was there left to gain? What more could they do? It’s not like they were going to exhume the legacy of a dead empire and claim it as their own, ushering in a new era of Dark Side imperialism the likes of which this galaxy hasn’t seen in tens of thousands of years.

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun

“You were there!” She got a little snappy and took a drag. “Another storm. Crazed civilians. Collapsing towers. A giant lizard?! Portals to hell popping open in space???”

Sharp predatory teeth were exposed in the grin escaping Mercy’s expression when Arris numbered out the shenanigans that had occurred on Humbarine. To Mercy it had been wonderful, up to the point that she almost had gotten herself killed, protecting Srina.

“Come on, those were the best parts.”

The death part didn’t bother her. It was the long recovery time from the almost dying. Death would have been glorious, but having to waddle around with a cane while your half-melted face was regrowing was just disgusting.

She took out a cigarette herself while studying Arris.

“Tired, really?” She stretched as she put one between her teeth and leaned in, so that Arris could lit it up for her.

“It’s all going so well. The old is crumbling, the new is coming in. Isn’t that exactly what we wanted from the start? Show those entrenched and decrepit what fear means?”

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy
​

She pulled the lighter back after igniting Mercy’s smoke. Of course she enjoyed the chaos. That didn’t surprise her one bit.

“Yeah…” She began, dryly. “I think we’re too hands off. I think some of our people are starting to get lost. Unable to find out why they’re here, and what the Sith Covenant is actually supposed to mean to them.”

Nilira. Kirie. Acier… who was long gone, a complicated sort of story, too. But she was starting to see the cracks in the others, too. As much as Arris hated to admit it, the Triumvirate was lost without someone like Vestra Tane . They needed an anchor. Guidance. But more than that.

“We need purpose. We need meat to dangle. And as far as I’m concerned, you’ve been running off too often, leaving me to figure this shit out.”

She had finally met Srina Talon on her own terms, so Arris kind of got it now, but how were you supposed to be Empress of the Core when you constantly vanished to play best friends in the Holy Worlds or who knows where else?

The cyborg offered the bottle back. She was done with it.

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun

She drank heavily from the bottle with a happy sigh, while trying to process what Arris was saying. It was difficult for her to wrap her mind around. Because her mind was a literal, straightforward and blunt thing at the best of times.

The consideration that people needed guidance from others to do things was a hilarious prospect. They were Sith, weren’t they? Not Jedi chattel. It was the latter that needed to be told to go where and why, but they were supposed to be in the business of making Lords.

Creatures of self-determination who looked forward and seized what they desired. All the while overthrowing the established order.

“They are here to become powerful and carve their own reality out of the flesh of those that oppose us. What more do they need?” But Mercy’s eyes were calculating, thoughtful. Even if her words seemed dismissive, Windrun knew her long enough to know she was contemplating.

“We need purpose. We need meat to dangle. And as far as I’m concerned, you’ve been running off too often, leaving me to figure this shit out.”

She had finally met Srina Talon Srina Talon on her own terms, so Arris kind of got it now, but how were you supposed to be Empress of the Core when you constantly vanished to play best friends in the Holy Worlds or who knows where else?

Mercy rolled her eyes.

“What I am doing is building bridges, you prissy little shit. Sure, having fun along with it, but if it weren’t for me we wouldn’t have had half the support on Humbarine and before that on Coruscant from the Sith Order.” Her eyes met Arris’.

“You know how rare it is what we have right now? Two Sith groups active in the Galaxy and neither one of them is gunning to kill the other one off. You don’t get that without me… running off as you say.”

But she was explaining herself.

Arris knew that meant she herself also considered her absence to be an issue, even if it had given them boons for the near-future. But she was too proud to come out and acknowledge it.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy
​

Arris plucked the cigarette between two fingers and laughed the rest of the smoke out of her lungs.

“No,” she admitted. “I don’t actually know. I’m thirty-three, and until a few years ago when we started this shindig, I didn’t know what the fuck a Sith was beyond some kind of monster.”

She gestured vaguely to the world around them. “But look at us now. You’re right,” her arms fell. “You’re the face - that’s what you’re good at. I believe you. You’re out there being the putty that holds it all together. But I’m Arris Windrun,” she pointed index finger and thumb up, then leveled it at Mercy. “I’m the gun.”

The cyborg chuckled again, bringing the smoke back to her lips. Her tone got a little more serious.

“So, if you want me to keep shooting straight, then you’re gonna start listening, ‘kay? Because I spend my time around this lot more than you do. I know what goes on in their heads, Merce. I know what drives them… You have your ways of crawling into people, and so do I… I think it’s time you started to admit you’ve let the reins slack a little, yeah?”

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Taiia Locke //:

All Allyson could do at this moment was offer her wife a sheepish smile. As much as she had always known about this desire — she purposely kept it hidden from Taiia.

While she knew she couldn't lie to the woman, Allyson had learned to hide things such as this. It had always hurt to hide things, but she knew if Taiia had known Allyson had wanted everything she did — it would have been too hard to walk away.

As Taiia made the realization, Allyson stood beside her. She didn't interrupt or try to explain everything away. This was something that was going to eventually happen. Allyson wrapped her arms gently around the woman that she had loved longer than anything else and held her tightly.

Her face nestled into the mess of red hair, which now held the ocean breeze mixed with their home back on Odessen. Allyson kept her close, listening to the moments, the words that brought the heartbreak to the surface. For Allyson, the choices she made were right; the pain that lingered from them was deserved. She had chosen that path and maintained it as long as she could.

All of it, it was what she was trained to do, and yet Taiia had always been what broke that training. As she held her wife, Allyson thought quietly to her younger days and the constant training. Drills that reminded her that she was a soldier and nothing more.

Hopes and dreams were for the privileged; she was not that — she was chosen to protect the Alliance and the Light's purity.

A Deniable Asset…

No family, no friends, no connection to this life or the next.

She was a ghost.

"I would have come to you..."

The words broke Allyson. It was the one thing Taiia didn't do when she left; she didn't chase her. She didn't follow; she didn't reach out. She let Allyson do what Allyson did best and disappear. A part of the Spy wanted the woman to chase, to prove like the others that Allyson was wanted — but that would make Taiia something she wasn't.

Taiia wasn't like the other girls…

Still, to know that there was an inkling… the potential, that as and would always be enough for Allyson.

Quietly Allyson whispered into the woman's ears over the gentle sobs.

"Min Larel, you weren't ever supposed to know…" She let her face rise, and with a gentle touch, calloused fingers brushed aside her tears.

"I didn't want you to know, because when I left I didn't want you to hold on to me… but I'm happy you did. I'm glad my idea didn't work." She leaned forward to kiss her love's forehead gently, if only to accentuate her words.

"Taiia, I was never meant to want any of this; I'm not supposed to. But..." Allyson smiled softly.

"I wanted it because of you." Allyson cupped the Eldorai woman's face softly, making her look at her in the eye.

"Everything is because I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. I wanted all of those things with only you."

Another gentle kiss.

"Taiia, I wanted a family with you, children with you… I wanted to grow old by your side… I still do, and I always will want this. You are the love of my life; nothing and no one will ever change that."

Allyson wrapped Taiia into another tight embrace. She held her knowing that despite their wants, Allyson had been unfair. They could have discussed things, talked about them and made everything work out for the better. It would have allowed them the time they needed…

Quietly, Allyson nestled her face near Taiia's, her voice low, meant for only the two of them.

"I'm sorry I took the choice of our future away from you… It was selfish of me…"

 

[Vaux Gred]

Tag: Reina Daival

Vaux looked, nodding a little. But it soon became a bit of a chuckle. “Not sure you’d like where I’m from then. Not exactly a lot of room for being alone…. And definitely no beaches.” Vaux followed Reina’s gaze to the horizon. She took a slow breath. Somehow growing up on a planet had been replaced with living in the black. It how its own sights, sure, but nothing like this.

Vaux looked down at the sand, deciding to grab a shell and look at it. If there was nothing against it maybe she’d take it with her. Seemed nice enough. She then looked over. “Vaux, by the way. Vaux Gred.”

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun

She watched her for a moment longer. The hand gesture, the laughter, and it struck Mercy that she didn’t really know Arris anymore. It had been bubbling ever since she came back to find the little shindig blown up, because one Triumvir executed the other, and their remains got shipped off to Chandrila. The Arris she had known before wouldn’t have killed Vestra and then made a joke about it.

But she had been correct in her assessment too. This was Mercy’s philosophy. The strong persevered and the weak either obeyed or were demolished in their way.

Was it Mercy’s influence that had made Arris into this? Maybe. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“It’s not what I expected it to be.” Mercy finally said, drawing in some smoke and blowing it out again, as she finally stopped searching for something in the foreign face that belonged to one of her best friends.

“I thought we would come in like a wrecking ball and then… we would continue to be the wrecking ball.”

Her free hand squeezed, golden, eldritch, terrible, without her input.

“Instead we set up camp. I took the Throne.” Because of course I did. “And here we are.” She grimaced there and inclined her head. The only admission that Windrun would get that Mercy acknowledged it. That, yes, she had let the reins slack.

Because she loathed every moment of being the Empress of the Core. But she was far too stubborn and arrogant to ever willingly part with a title she had carved out of reality. Even if said title was pissing her off every moment of the day.

“What do you need from me?” Mercy finally asked. “You say the children of the Covenant don’t have direction. Purpose, meat, fine. We are in a target-rich environment, we can’t go two steps without stumbling over yet another opportunity to ruin someone’s day. Right?”

 

[Taiia Locke]

//: Allyson Locke //:​

Taiia's breath caught as Allyson's fingers gently brushed away the last of her tears, lifting her chin until their eyes met once more. For a long moment, she simply looked at her. The world beyond them seemed to fade into little more than the distant rhythm of the surf. There were still tears clinging to her lashes, her cheeks still warm from crying, but all she could see was Allyson. A fragile smile found its way onto her lips despite herself.

"Min Larel..."

The words were scarcely more than a whisper. Her hand rose to Allyson's cheek, her thumb brushing gently across her skin as though reassuring herself that she truly could.

"You have never seen yourself the way I have."

She fell silent again as Allyson continued, every confession settling somewhere deeper than the last. The family. The children. The life they had both wanted. It was almost unfair how much love a single heart could be asked to hold all at once. When Allyson drew her back into another embrace, Taiia melted into it willingly. The tension simply left her as she rested once more against the Corellian's shoulder, a slow breath escaping her. There was nowhere else in the galaxy she wanted to be.

Then came the apology.

"I'm sorry I took the choice of our future away from you… It was selfish of me…"

Taiia closed her eyes. For a long moment, she said nothing. Her fingers tightened ever so slightly against Allyson's back as another quiet breath escaped her.

"Oh... my love... You have always found the hardest road."

Her hand slipped gently down until it found Allyson's once more, their fingers naturally intertwining. A faint smile touched her lips, softened by the last of her tears. She remained exactly where she was, her cheek resting against Allyson's as the sound of the waves drifted quietly around them. Her fingers gave Allyson's hand the slightest squeeze.

"I would rather walk the difficult road with you... than walk one without you.."

​

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy
Down & Out
​

The cyborg stood there, tapping her foot in the sand as Mercy spoke. Arris knew her well enough to catch the weak acknowledgement. Then finally, her commentary turned to a question. Something actionable.

Finally, she plopped down into the sand and sprawled back, eyes to the sky.

“That ain’t what these Sith are, Merce.” She said. “They want to watch you swing around - wear that crown, sit in the box, and be the vessel that they board.”

Whether Mercy wanted to admit it, what these Sith wanted was an Emperor or an Empress who did a damn thing. Who had the ego, that self-absorbed nature that they could leech off of. They wanted to go all-in with the Covenant and be handed their reward, rather than claim it. It was a strange thing… But Arris didn’t see the snakes and the thugs and the traitors that Sith were made out to be. What the Sith Covenant was, was a kind of messed-up family.

And if she were to bet on one thing, it was that the more Mercy lived up to her title, her power, and the privileges, and used it as a lure, the more and more the Sith would flock to the Core.

“They need their games. And the games need their master.” Arris glanced Mercy’s way. “That’s you,” and yet another drag. “Do that for me… And I will continue to set up the board for you, and all you have to do is show up for the fun part. It’ll all be worth it.”

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun

She didn’t like to hear that.

What Mercy had described was her ideal version of a Sith. The perfect shape. Ambitious, hungry, always grasping for more. Whose eyes were full of the future and they were not afraid to take it. To be told that these aren’t that kind of Sith, that they need to see Mercy be the vessel of their ambition before they will follow in lock-step?

It disappointed Mercy.

But luckily for everyone involved at this point Mercy was used to disappointments. The Throne had been one, the crown and the empire. Before that, the Kaggath. The Graspborn were always a walking disappointment.

A sigh and finally nodding.

“Fine. I dragged you into this mess, you would have been content as a crime lord in Hutt Space, but I yanked you right along with me. So I suppose I have a responsibility to you.” It made her nose wrinkle to even say it.

Then Mercy pulled her cigarette out from between her teeth and used it to point at Arris.

“I want no bitching from you when I start to assert myself more. Like you said, I have been playing it loose handed so far. You can eye roll in silence, but if you want me to play the Sith’ari, I will be the Sith'ari.”

A title that made even Mercy roll her eyes. One claimed by the previous Emperor in the Core. Since Mercy had claimed victory in the Kaggath and conquered his Empire, his titles belonged to her too.

But she had never claimed the title of Sith'ari before.

Curious, most Sith would have fallen over themselves to lay claim to it.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy
​

Arris still couldn’t help but snicker at the title. Hadn’t they all joked about the last one who had claimed it while sharing drinks behind closed doors?

But Mercy was different.

Even Arris, who hated what the Sith were becoming, could see what Mercy could be. One of the many reasons she sent Acier away. He wasn’t cut out for this, but Arris? She would stay in the race, doing everything she could to curb their worst excesses, but…

Deep down she knew.

She was starting to love it, too.

Everything from Tapani to the Conquest of the Core was her supporting Mercy - her best friend - in her Kaggath against Solipsis. All of it was part of the board, and her sacrifices were moves. Of course, in the aftermath, she realized the personal shame and grief it had cost her. When she confronted Mercy about it, the Titan dismissed her because - in her eyes - all Arris had done was spare the Covenant losses on the way to an inevitable outcome. Kudos to Arris, basically.

That had left the cyborg sorta wavering until she could finally answer a very important question: “Why am I a Sith?”

Arris was a Sith because being a Sith was the only way someone like her could ever end up powerful and part of the ‘ruling class’ in the Core. But it was the game every Nabooan noble, every entrenched Senator, every wealthy tycoon got to play. Being a Sith just allowed Arris to break the rules and ‘buy-in’ when she was never supposed to.

Someone like Aurelian Veruna could offer amnesty, titles, and immunity to someone like Arris Windrun - hell, he even tried. Just to remove her from the board.

But without her power… without violence… Arris could never give even the people she loved such opportunities that these entrenched a-holes could hand out with the flick of a wrist.

That was why she hated the Republic. And why she was hellbent on seeing it collapse in on itself. Because it represented the illusion that some people deserved to play, and others deserved to be pawns.

When Arris looked up at Mercy again, there was an almost idolization. Not the brainwashed kind you saw in her hollowed-out Grapsborn, but the kind from a street rat who once again saw the way the galaxy really worked.

Mercy was proof that the only true separator was power. And will.

“You got it, boss.”