Sunspots

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=16pt]Coruscant [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] The small Atrisian woman folded her arms over her chest, tilting her head as she was wont to do when observing something particularly interesting. The droid at her side tapped relentlessly on a small holopad, uploading observational data and feedback on the subject’s vitals to the mainframe of Neuro-Saav Corporation. Said subject – blue-haired, thin, and pale – showed every physical sign of exhaustion, and yet kept throwing herself in to a rage as her mind waged war against itself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] “She’s recovered?” Matsu asked quietly, directing her question towards the medical droid keeping furious tabs on the woman walled off in the white room on the other side of the glass.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] “Almost completely. Her vitals have nearly returned to normal. When she has what we have decided to term an ‘episode’ her pulse reaches dangerously high levels. Myocardial infarction and cardiac arrest have been avoided but we will monitor her. She appears to be reaching a more stable state…in a physical sense.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] It did not escape Matsu that the droid – a creature devoid of its own thought, its own mind to form memories and hopes and fears and dreams and love and hate and pain – realized that mentally the woman they both watched so intently was not approaching anything close to stable. Had she any sort of conscience left that may have given her second thoughts. But instead she just wondered what it was about this woman that kept her alive when every other creature they’d tested had fallen. She refused to believe it was simply because of her species, though surely that had a hand in it. Any being that strong had endless potential.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] “Be sure to keep her alive. This one is special, and I intend to find out why.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]____________________________________[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=16pt]Naboo[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]Present Day[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Years later, and Matsu had her eyes trained on the same blue-haired girl, though this time it wasn’t through glass and the shock of bright hair was styled in to a Mohawk instead of the messy flop it’d been during her testing days. She hadn’t seen Gillian in so long.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] The Sith Lord had changed much since then – she was fluid, ever-changing and molding to her advantage. She’d left Neuro-Saav behind, but joined the One Sith and quickly settled herself among their hierarchy, taking Coruscant under her wing as their self-styled Empress. Katar would almost immediately recognize her despite the years, she was sure. The Atrisian dressed just as finely as ever, hair straight and nails manicured perfectly. Back then she’d still had one of her arms, but now both were sleek weavings of blackened plexisteel and phrik, twice as strong as the original and ten times as deadly. Her features were a little higher, a little sharper – a consequence of her use of sorcery, but well worth it. The sharpening worked for her. She looked demonic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] Her eyes used to be black. But now they were ringed with amber, perfect circles that glowed and made her unsettling.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] She leaned over the railing to watch the movement down in the arena deep within the heart of NastassTech, quiet and unseen, dampening her signature in the Force so as not to alert the woman sparring with a droid below. That rage was still there, that anger forced outward so as not to destroy herself – or at least that’s how Matsu had always interpreted it. As the blue-haired woman sheared the droid’s arm clear off its body, Matsu smiled.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] Opening her signature, she let her presence seep in to the room, calling down softly from the railing. “Long time, no see Gillian.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Gillian Katar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Gillian Katar]

“L̴̗̤͚͖̞̜̦͇̑̿́̀̋̄͆̕Ē̶̙̟͔͔͉̰͂͂̍̇̚̕̕ͅͅT̷͚̗͖̖̯͚̳̳̋͛̓̏̅́̊̓M̶̟͚̠͕͙̼͓̃͆̔͒̅͊̚͝ͅẼ̸̳̳̳̲͈͚̹̙͛̋͋̎͗̂͝Ö̸̫͇̮̪̙͖̪̱́̌͐̈̔̈́̀͝Ȕ̴͍͇̺̫̪͚͊̑͊̾̑̂́͜ͅŢ̷̛̦̱̠͉̤̳̬͂̏̌̆̾͘͠”​

​

Her voice wailed to no one. Her words used so loudly, so filled with the agony of emotion, of rage so completely concentrated it wracked her tiny body, it cracked her voice as it tried to reach decibels her cords couldn’t handle. Her hands beat bloody against the white walls, the windows the corners. Her body in so much agony she couldn’t stand.

But it was nothing to the anger the volatile hatred that wracked her body. Nothing to the gripping clawing poison that tore her apart, made the pain irrelevant. She couldn’t feel her heart struggle to keep beating under the strain, her brain firing off too many chemicals at once that made her howl and scream and roar in uncapped feral rage. This was the technology inside of her, this was inhumanity.
She was a crime against nature and her body was in so much pain.

I’MNOTHINGI’MNOTHING!

It was a fight, a soul clawing to grasp any remnants of control and failing, filled with so much torment, so much anger at what it was becoming. The creature howling wasn’t Icarii, it wasn’t humanoid anymore. The body could no longer shut off the internal duel with seizures, strokes and heart attacks.

The rage no longer had a focus, the animal in the white room only clawed at her own hair, punching walls and throwing whatever she would in a tirade while she screamed and howled and sobbed blood.

I’MNOTHINGI’MNOTHINGI’MNOTHING

Around her she was watched, faceless patrons, technicians. They watched suffering in its most purest of forms, they watch a soul get torn from its still beating body kicking and screaming.

Kicking and screaming….


~~~~~~


Harder, faster. Perry. Turn –poodoo poodoo.

Gillian kicked back from the ground as the droid’s blaster burned a hole at the floor where she had just stood, catching her footing. Her lips curled into a snarl, the thin cerulean light of her visor narrowed to a razors edge as she cursed herself for almost making such a stupid mistake. Careless, this thing was a pain in her ass since she hacked the training drone to actually make it a decent sparring partner.

The staff swung around her body, a humming blur on either side before she kicked back off the ground, a battle cry falling from her lips and fell into a barrage of unrelenting strikes. It was a dance she knew the choreography to. Gillian was a polished stone, her attacks flowing seamlessly together with barbaric grace. You could feel the heat, the sweat that ran from her brow as it echoed once more in her head.
Stance wide. Strike the throat, the wrist, the collar. Aim for the joints. She knocked the blaster away with a crunching hit. The loud strike of her staff hitting metal echoed like a vicious buzz throughout the training compound. The combo hitting before spinning up the other end, striking twice in the small circle that would be the solar plexus in a sharp jab, knocking the droid backwards as it dinged loudly to signal a solid strike had been delivered. A strike of the magnitude would have broken bone with her weapon,
It was a incapacitating blow.

Not good enough, it wasn’t good enough.

The final blow snapping to the shoulder and into the mechanics as the two devices screamed and grated against one another. Her staff ripped untold damage upon the intricacies of the robot’s inner workings before she snapped the Droid’s arm clean off. She pulled the staff back, moving to retaliate once more as though anything could react so quickly after being dismembered, but she stopped, the chime of victory echoing from a broken speaker somewhere on the droid.

<<:: Well done!:>>

If the droid had been anything organic it would have been dead. The anger evaporated from her body as she realized she won, the visor’s light widening and it seemed like Gillian took the first long breath she had since she started the training exorcise. Looking down to the battered droid before her arms went lax and she stood up straight. Damnit…she was going to have to fix that.

”Sorry Jiggs.” She mumbled to the Mechanical punching bag. The poor thing could only play the small victorious chimes on a broken fragmented loop. It's broken plea for mercy.

<<:Well done!:>>

<<:WeLl, DoNe!:>>

<<:WElL do-

She snapped the tip of her staff into the speaker, crushing it easily and silencing the victorious chimes for good. Yeah, she won the fight, she got that but it was starting to get annoying. Gillian made a mental note to take that annoying protocol out of his system during the repairs. In the fray she had barely noticed a presence above her until it was over, only as she was separating the staff back into its two Baton’s for storage. It was someone she hadn’t felt or seen in a long time.

Was she actually there? Looking up she brushed the blue hair from her visor to see the powerful lord gazing back at her, descending down the stairs wit a demonic grace. There was no anger, but an overwhelming sensation of ease, a familiar face in a sea of unfamiliar faces. Gillian didn’t need eyes to have a look of shock, and awe on her face. ”Matsu Xiangu.” She wiped her hands against the side of her pants, looking back to the crumpled Jiggs as the tips of her ears flamed in embarrassment. ”Oh, Sorry, I – can fix it.” The young woman rubbed the back of her neck, almost embarrassed by her presence. That wasn’t her best training exorcise, she had been sparring due to a particularly aggravating day.

To Gillian Katar, Matsu Xiangu was the woman responsible for her renewed life. It was no over exaggeration to say Gillian had a motherly respect for her. It was Matsu who saw the potential in her, it was Matsu who saved her from herself. This woman was responsible for her everything, the respect and trust she had for Matsu was palpable.

” Wow. I….Hi.” She was still panting a bit from the training. She had changed, I guess they both had. Matsu hadn’t seen her since the final stages of her implant reeducation. Gillian could only remember seeing her, speaking with her as she reworked what she needed to know to function properly in the world. Matsu was the constant memory in her life -her new life. Her presence was calming to the cyborg. And it had been the better part of a year since she had seen her! It was remarkable how much, and how little the woman had changed. ”How can I help you?”​

​

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]​

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=10pt] Gillian was a strange case. While Matsu was separated from much of her Sith ‘kind’ by her ability – and propensity – for affection towards those that had managed to win her admittedly difficult loyalty, she had not a stitch of maternal instinct anywhere in her. The thought of children in general made her nauseous. The thought of her own children was perhaps the only thing that truly terrified her. And yet in some odd sense, Matsu had created the woman that lived inside the body that had been born to someone named Nora. But until the girl proved herself strong Matsu reserved any sort of place of allegiance. She only brought the strong in to her circle.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] That the Icarii had known pain was undeniable. But it had been a while.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] Matsu waved her hand dismissively when Gillian assured she could fix the downed droid, shaking her head. “I’m not worried about it,” she answered. They were in a business dedicated to making the best and latest in technology, including droids. Even if the young woman couldn’t fix the droid it wasn’t as if there weren’t more prototypes for her to destroy. But unless something had changed very recently, the woman had always been good when it came to technology. “Besides, if he were a man it would just mean you won, wouldn’t it?” There was something of a smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth at that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The Sith Lady was used to the platitudes, to moments where others found the words – or, perhaps, weighed the danger of the words they’d already chosen – to say to her. Empress of Coruscant, Lady of the One Sith Council, Necromancer, one of the longest running sorceresses still alive in the Galaxy. And yet it all felt uncomfortable. Was she not just a black hole? Some faceless phenomena of space meant to destroy everything around it and survive and survive and survive? Balagoth, the old ways, some ancient force. (They call it an abomination, some death, some little pain, some quick endlessness. Silence. Forever.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] “You can show me if you’ve made any progress with the Force.” Reaching out, she lifted the droid’s severed arm and made it float over lazily in to her palm. Holding it out, she looked at Gillian expectantly, waiting for her to lift it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Gillian Katar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Gillian Katar]

There was still a moment when the young woman didn't know what to say. There was many reasons she should feel dwarfed by the aristocrat standing across from her, watching her with dark honey eyes but none of them really mattered. It was the personal interest in her that threw her off. She felt the need to be better than what she was, Matsu had invested time money and faith in her own construction and she didn't want to disappoint. So why was she here speaking to her now? Was this some form of mechanical audit? A drop in inspection she hadn't prepared for?

Gillian didn't look back to the mutilated robot, though she slid the baton into it's pouch, hugging her elbows casually. Why was she here? "Right. Well if winning was ripping him apart." Okay, she was nervous, but the petite grin barely flashing over the woman's lips put her at least a little at ease. Was she checking up on her mechanics? Was something wrong with the uploads? She had made it a habit to send out her vitals and brain activity for the day to the uploaded hard drive. Any and all information that passed through her body was charted, thrown through the data fields and shipped off just as she was supposed to.

Gillian didn't speak, instead only watching the Sith draw the limb from the shattered Jiggs and let it waft over to her awaiting palm. Oh.

She had been told at one point she could use the force easily, she had showed immense promise shown to her during the more chaotic Alpha phase of her mechanics, to which the collateral damage was immense. But it's actual control was difficult, with Matsu absent from her life there had been no one to teach her anything related to the Force. She was kept in the shadows from many other Sith and many in NastassTech didn't have much force affiliation at all let alone know how to use it. The Force had been quelled to a small stirring in her hands, something Gillian could dabble with in the privacy of her own room, trying to get one object to scoot across her desk, or allow her to give herself a heightened sense of awareness. She wanted to tell her that she hadn't had the training since she had last seen Matsu, that she probably couldn't do it. But something kept her silent and her vision turned to the arm hanging limp in the woman's outstretched palm.

She extended her own hand, outreached to the mechanical arm and she tried to grasp the invisible force that was the push and pull of the universe. All the sentimentalism that she heard and opened her mind previously closed. Like a wind around her body, a movement she needed to tap into, it was a balance of the soul and Gillian had nothing of the sort. Still she took a long, slow breath, she needed to calm herself. The limb shivered in Matsu's hand, pulling weakly from her palm, not quite with the strength to lift the whole metal limb from her arm just yet. So close, almost there and Gillian could draw from that force settled somewhere deep within her soul. Like a light switch that had been turned on the limb went rigid and still in Matsu's hand, seemingly weightless. But it was anchored in it's place, not hovering, not shifting but remaining completely fixed suspended about two inches above Matsu's open palm. It was promise, but once more not what Gillian was trying to accomplish. The force was still a unique and unpredictable force to Gillian. She was told it was because her soul needed to gain its foothold in the control once more.

It was the last remnants of Nora, that made the control difficult and unpredictable. It was the control of the force without the restraint or unpredictability that would show Gillian then had completely perfect control over her mind, body and soul. "I don't get much practice here. It's still difficult to tap into, once I do at least...it's not as explosive as it has been, so that's a plus." She flicked the limb, the object making nary a shudder between them, it wasn't going to drop anytime soon.​

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

There was a vast difference in being unable to use the Force to a strong degree, and simply not having control over it yet. From her perspective, from where she rested in the Force, someone having a weak connection felt like just that – an enormous struggle, like trying to lift something three times one’s weight, the strain before one gave up. But someone who had the power to do it, but just didn’t know how? That felt different.

That felt like the bottom had dropped out, like the ocean had pulled back to reveal an impossibly huge hole. From there it collapsed, threads spiraling outwards from the target ineffectually.

Gillian was in the second camp.

Matsu shook her head when Gillian explained away the fact that the show hadn’t been the spectacular fashion she was used to displaying. “That’s fine. I did not find what I was truly meant for until later.” (Meant for, meant for, she means those abominations shuffling with dry-dead skin under Coruscant’s concrete. She means those spells that rip people apart from the inside. She means those white-white-white rooms where she vivisects those she manipulated in to trusting her.) “Everyone views the Force differently. You will find your place.” At once encouragement and a threat.

You will. Or you are weak.

Matsu took control of the severed arm resting in her palm, her fingers moving delicately as she spun the metal in the air, dusting its fingers along Gillian’s cheek before placing it back at rest at the droid’s side for safe-keeping. “But there is something you can help me with. Have someone take care of this droid, and then meet me out on the landing pads.”

She turned then, her plans rotating over and over in her mind. It was Gillian’s choice to meet with her or refuse, but should she choose to follow Matsu, any road would be open to her.

[member="Gillian Katar"]​

 

[Gillian Katar]

There was such a stillness around her maker. As though other sounds seemed dwarfed and sucked into the darkness, that they were silent out of respect. Just tapping into that strange unique power left her heart beating faster against her rib cage and she felt lighter. She did well, gradually more and more she relaxed under the woman's appraising gaze, falling into the comfort of the odd eyes, oblivious to the haunting presence that lurked behind them. What she was meant for, her place in the universe was an endless and conflicting question that seemed like the answer was an impossible and unattainable thing. She was a voice shouting in a sea of voices to be ignored by the void. Any longer she tried to look at her own place in the world, the darker the stranger and more frightening the world became but it was the question you had to yearn for as you came into your own. It would be something she needed to find, something she told herself she would find.

she would find it. Her place in this life.

When Matsu said it, she almost believed her. An assurance that gave her hope, that quelled the uncertainly that lapped at her consciousness. The crushing thought of remaining aimless, pointless in the universe was not an option. Gillian barely moved as mechanical fingers twirled to brush her cold cheek. So easily the Sith lord could break her statis. The cyborg woman moved only slightly to avoid the eerie touch from the disembodied hand before it to drifted over to join the rest of its body in the scrap, dropping to Jigg’s lap like an offering to the shrine of the mutilated robot.

Gillian’s gaze followed the arm, turning back quickly to her matron as she spoke, her tone soft like smoke to her ears. Something she needed from her? [colod=deepskyblue]”Sure, sure anything.”[/color] Gillian answered her with a seriousness she didn’t question. She really would probably do anything for the woman in front of her, though there was the hint in her tone, she was still curious as to what it was [member="Matsu Xiangu"] wanted from her. How serious was her request? But none of these questions were asked, nor did she expect them to be answered. ”I will be there in just a few moments.” She answered her before turning back to look at the crumpled mess she had made.

Gillian didn’t want to keep the important woman waiting, snapping her fingers quickly she sent out a short message through her visor to tap into the nearest mechanics troop. Not many actual workers were around this hanger, it’s why she usually preferred it for training. Droids didn’t actually watch her fight, they got on with their endless and meaningless lives.

<<:roximity call. Any droid within thirty yards of this location respond.::>>

A handful of dings and responses flitted through her vision before she picked the nearest one out that had been coming out of standby. The binary dropping through the corner of her mind like a completely different language.

<<::Collect the parts of the training droid. Bring them back to my shop.::>>
She dropped the words into binary and waited for the robot’s response. This too came moments later before it entered the room, looking back to her before she pointing to the debris. No vocal words were spoken between the droids and the woman, like a robotic telekinesis that took far less time than hunting someone down and going through the hassle of verbal commands. It chirped out a harsh metallic answer and she followed in the shadow of the Sith to the landing pad. Above them the facility chugged along, gradually moving from the narrow engineering tunnels to the spacious halls with slick tiled floors that reflected the cleanliness and money this company sustained. Her boot heels tapped thickly against the pristine floors, shining as fresh light from the setting sun cast an amber glow on the high arched ceiling. It was a fortress of lavish existence, showing its elegant architecture without needing to flaunt its armored underbelly.

Stepping out onto the launch pad Gillian took a deep breath, smelling the sweet purified air out the outside as it pushed her hair back and swirled around them. This high up it would have been uncommon not to get any kind of wind. Odd, there was no ship though. Why did Matsu wish to speak with her up here?

”Did you want to watch the sunset?” she slid her hands into her pockets as she walked up to the woman once more, she knew that wasn’t the reason, but maintaining tension was still something she had trouble with.

​

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] She raised an eyebrow when she heard Gillian’s voice, even offering a light laugh though the smile that accompanied it would be hidden from the younger woman’s view until she drew even with Matsu’s side. The Atrisian was used to a planet of cities – steel and ships as far as the eye could see. She was an explorer by nature and had seen dozens of the ecosystems the galaxy had to offer, but there was nothing like Naboo’s beauty. Its people certainly did not take the bounty around them for granted. Even their buildings were reminiscent of the watery alcoves that filtered unseen through the vast system under the clear blue lakes. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “If you’d like. There’s nothing like Naboo, after all,” she offered, rolling her shoulders. She’d changed, a tight black bodysuit hugging every inch of her skin. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She didn’t turn her head from the sunset, deciding to play along with the joke for as long as she was explaining her plans. She took Gillian’s quick appearance as acquiescence. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “Darth Plagueis dabbled mostly in the science of prolonging life, of manipulating the Force through midichlorians. I have no wish to live forever, but it’s said that sorcery was part of the reason his discoveries were so monumental, and that interests me. I want to know what he knew. And it’s said that the secrets lie at the bottom of the water where he used to live,” she said, nodding to the lake below.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Handing Gillian a rebreather, she proceeded to zip her bodysuit up to the neck and move to the edge of the platform. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “It will be a very long swim, and no doubt there will be creatures between us and the prize. And whatever Plagueis left whomever came to steal his secrets. But I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s more fun than the sunset,” Matsu finished, turning her head to look over her shoulder with a wicked grin. Turning forward, she put the rebreather between her teeth and took one long, deep breath to make sure it was working before running forward and leaping from the edge.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She was one long, lithe shadow as she freefell, arms along her sides to ramp up the speed (medusa, hair whipping through the breeze, a predator intent on her prey lurking just beneath the surface). The sun glittered off her bodysuit, a scarab rolling through the air before bringing her hands up in front of her to cut through the surface and down in to the pressurized silence of the water, sinking down into deep blue and letting her eyes adjust.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Reaching out, she found Gillian’s signature in the Force, making her message simple so that Gillian might receive it with ease. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “We will have to speak telepathically. You know what I feel like in the Force. I will leave my mind open to you. Think what you want to say, and just imagine it appearing in my head.” The threat – what would happen should she overstep her boundaries and try to pry deeper in Matsu’s head – was unspoken, but obvious.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Gillian Katar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Gillian Katar]

Gillian’s gaze wasn’t on the picturesque horizon but on the woman who stood confidently beside her. Her attire changed and a small smile pulling at painting and impish lips that told her trials were in her future. The cyborg beside her said nothing during the few moments of silence that would be taken to absorb the world they lived in. Naboo truly was a beautiful city, but one she spent most of her time. Gillian had seen enough sunsets to have them lose their allure after the sixteenth time.

It is what she said that gradually made a rock form in her stomach, pleased that her visor masked much of the shock she tried to stifle, but unease gripped her palms and she remained still and silent. The bottom of the long aquifers that ran like a labyrinth through Naboo’s underbelly, were well known to Gillian but they were known to her as a place she never really wanted to go.

Matsu knew of Gillian’s issues with water, this had to be another test…bravery. She took the rebreather for a moment without reacting much to its implications. She had to be underwater? With her core density from the implants not only water long swims in water difficult but they hadn’t even field tested her technology in pressure that deep. The last time they worked with her water endurance it ended with the young woman being hauled out of the pool coughing up water, nearly drowning in the process.

Clawing at the viscus liquid, surrounding her, encasing her like a coffin of her own design, she was fighting the black around the edges of her vision, rebreather knocked loose in the fray as smaller and smaller bubbles left her lungs and chased the surface above her.

But her prior shortcomings weren’t even looked at, not approached. She just gazed to the rebreather, about to say something before Matsu walked to the edge and flashed her creation a crazy smile, the sort of smile that once more brought pause to Gillian and only watch her in a mixture of awe and intimidation.

And like a shadow, a droplet of water she was gone, falling perfectly through the sky without an ounce of the fear Gillian felt running cold through her veins. Oh damnit, there wasn’t going to be any discussion about this at all was there? She groaned in the back of her throat and bit down hard on the rebreather, sucking in a long breath before walking to the edge and looking down. There would be no dipping you toe in, feeling the temperature of the water. She could only see the ripple of where Matsu’s form hit the water with nary a splash and she held tight to her visor. There was at least fifty stories between this drop and the water, she was insane.

She was a goddess. But she was insane. And Gillian trusted her, she trusted in the woman’s assumptions of her. Don’t be weak, not in her eyes –live up to the potential she saw.

Most human’s never actually feel zero gravity, isn’t that a shame? Gillian loved it, the weightlessness feeling was something she learned to love quickly when she worked on space stations, she could break the gravity control in her rooms so the night could be spent sleeping and drifting aimlessly in her room, reading, simply existing without weight. There are people who say falling, freefalling is the closest man could get to feeling weightless.

It’s safe to say, falling is nothing NOTHING like being weightless. You could never feel heavier as you drop through the sky like a rock, the wind screaming at your ears like you just did the stupidest thing in your life, the world rushing up to meet you with the hard clap of reality as you hit the ground, the water that could be enough to knock the wind out of anyone. For Gillian she could only hold her visor to her face and smile against the rebreather, half the battle after all was jumping in the first place.


So they say.


Punching into the waters of Naboo made her gasp into the rebreather, catching sight of Matsu, her hair pulled back and flowing behind her like a whimsical tail. Her words whispering softly in her ear. There was a trust now, something that made the younger woman nod.

”I understand.”​

She tried to respond, imagining the words running through Matsu’s mind like the binary codes of her droids do for her. That same feeling, uploading and receiving. It was enough for her to be talking and breathing and swimming all at once, truly the thought of delving into Matsu’s mind, probing for information never once crossed her mind.

She didn’t need to, when Matsu had always been upfront with her about almost everything.

” So I will follow you so we can find…whatever it is that we hope to find.”​

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[member="Matsu Xiangu"]​