Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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The Absolute Truth

The wind whipping snow was strong enough to rend flesh from bone, and it was doing a number on the Belbulab. The silver slip of a ship fought violently with this world—uncharted, and unnamed—for dominance over the elements. It shook vigorously and more than a few times, threatened to dive straight for the snowy peaks below.

Calico felt sweat drip down his brow as he pulled the ship into a tight right turn to narrowly avoid one of the jagged peaks. He had come to this world on impulse. His son was gone; off to join the Sith. His brother was with the Confederacy and supposedly alive and well, yet he had never bothered to contact Calico. His lover was simply gone; lost in the final battle against the Sith. He had no idea if she had returned or not, as the men who went to retrieve her had never returned to the Concord.

He tilted his helmeted head toward the spider-like droid attached to the chassis of his shuttle on the outside. The Monitor certainly wasn’t bothered by the bitter cold. Calico sighed to himself, and played through the events that had brought him here as a bright green light began to shine through the white din of snow.
“It is not your fault that they are imperfect.” The spider droid stated in its disturbingly monotone voice. Calico pulled the dirty towel from his face and stared down at the droid. “What?”
“It is not your fault. You have succeeded and survived where others have failed.”

”What are you talking ab-“

“You wish to know of why you were brought here, yes? I will show you.”

The droid whirred around on its pointed feet and quickly exited the Chieftain’s quarters. With a groan, Calico lifted his helmet back unto his head and followed. What did the old thing mean as to what had brought him here? The Monitor proved to be far faster than anticipated, as Calico had to jog to keep up as it turned down the confusing twisting tunnels of the Lifeship. He found himself out of breath when they emerged in one of the many hangers, and the droid was already latched on to the outer plating of his Belbulab.

”What in Corellia’s Nine Hells do you think you’re doing?” He called out as he slowly closed the distance. The hatch to the Belbulab had already hissed open, and the droid popped its cyndrical head up to seemingly stare at Calico.

“Preparing. There is nothing for you here now, is there? The other Tal’verda can survive without you for a day or so. What could it hurt?”


The Belbulab slowly drifted down unto a single shockingly white landing pad, which was held up by a large metal frame bolted to the side of the mountain. Calico made sure everything checked out on his HUD, did his best to ignore the howling winds outside, and pushed down the depressing hole that he felt in his stomach. He had the Concord, but oh, the things he had done. It had been for everyone’s good, but it had only resulted in loss and failure. His failure. It even drew trouble toward the Concord, and people had, in private, expressed just how much resentment was directed toward him.

Ori’alor and Canal were all that remained, and he couldn’t sit by and just accept that the rest of his family was gone—dead, left him, hated him. Things had seemed like a new start in this time. A blessing from whatever divine being controlled the events within the galaxy. In truth, he was the same man he had been in the Clone Wars. He hadn't changed one bit; only gained more knowledge. People were savage animals, and it hadn't changed. He’d always done what was necessary for the greater good when others shirked away from such a terrible responsibility. Why could no one see that?!

The cockpit hissed open and let the freezing cold suck out the artificial, comforting warmth of the ship. Calico pushed himself out of the leather seat; his red kama swaying as his heavily armored boots crunched snow between metal. ”Where is this?” He mumbled into the private comm. It was necessary to hear over the howl of the storm.

“This is home.” The Monitor replied as it crossed through the snow with unsettling grace. Suddenly, the ground landing pad began to groan as if it were about to collapse. Calico yelped, and began to turn toward his fighter until the Monitor held up a sickle appendage up for calm. The snow that had built up against the mountain seemed to crack, shift, and then, pulled apart completely. A blinding yellow light shot out from the crack, which was large enough for a tank to drive through, and two figures similar in shape to the Monitor approached.

Similar, because they were identical.

“Ah, Monitor, I am pleased your chassis is still in one piece.” One remarked as they both began to circle their lost companion. “Yes, I take care of myself when needed. The subject has passed all examinations.” The Monitor replied. “I am…pleased.”

Calico narrowed his eyes and blinked twice for the electrical radar on his HUD to form. It took up a small portion of the visor. He stared at it for a moment, and let out a silent gasp. Nothing was on the screen. It also seemed that the droids had patched in effortlessly to his comms system, though perhaps the Monitor had simply let them in.

“Inside then. The cold is bad for my joints.” The third droid remarked, and took off for the apparent safety of the yellow light. Its companions followed after it and left Calico to simply stand, mouth slightly agape.

“Come on then!” The Monitor called out through the comms. Calico found himself out of his little daze, and took off at a brisk jog after the droids. He quickly entered the warm glow of light and found his boots contacting a tan tiled floor. The doors behind him shut with a loud thump, and the droids continued on down the hall without a word.

”Hold on.” He ordered, stopping in front of a massive room filled with technological contraptions the likes of which he had never seen before. ”What is this? Where is this, and why am I here?”
The three droids stopped in unison. The one on the left—clearly the Monitor by its slightly lower pitched voice—spoke up. “This is one of the Architects’ many facilities. We are members of the Architects…the location will remain a secret, as we would like to avoid invaders, and you are here for a number of reasons.”

The two droids next to it both departed toward machines in different corners of the room. The Monitor continued. “You wish to know why it is we preserved you and your brethren. You wish to know why we chose you over the other. You wish to know what we are, and you wish to fix all the wrongs you perceive you have made.” The spider droid rose on its appendages to stand a foot taller than Calico’s two meter height. “I will tell you, they were not wrongs, and others have only perceived them as such. I will tell you all, and you will have the answers for everything that’s haunted you.”

Calico opened his mouth to speak, but the words died in his throat. Instead, he reached up and removed his helmet. The smell of sterilized air and a rush of warmth greeted him as he stared at the droid’s photoreceptors. ”Better get to explaining then.”
 
“You influenced a mentally impaired warrior into believing he was your son. He would do whatever you told him without hesitation. You led the Confederacy’s men and women out under your banner; convinced them their own government was wrong, and that your views were right. You stole the heart of a woman upon your first meeting, and led your people to victory.”

The Monitor stared at Calico from its position in front of the chair. It paced slowly around the table that the clone had voluntarily been strapped to. Calico turned his head and strained to watch the droid as it went in circles.

“You have led legions into battle and returned unscathed. Fought the galaxy’s best warriors, and thrived. You live for conflict, Calico, and it welcomes you with open arms.” The droid clicked up into Calico’s face, and rose itself up to his height. “Your love for your family defines you. You have sacrificed so very much for their happiness, and yet, they reject you.” Calico opened his mouth to retort, but the droid cut him off. “Your son rejected you to join the Sith. Your brother left you to join the Confederacy. Your woman has gone off everything you did simply wasn’t enough.”

Calico squirmed against the straps now. He had agreed to this little evalutation in exchange for answers on all that had happened. He had thought he could withstand it with ease; that he could simply brush off whatever the droid said and dismiss it as lies and manipulation. The problem was, it made sense. So much sense, that Calico felt a raw pain thud through his chest.

The Monitor’s words were true.

“So much given, and yet, they do not love you. They are not loyal. They use you. Galaar thrives in this galaxy, while you struggle to hold a simple conversation. Zius uses you for a crutch, only to join what you see as the galaxy’s boogie-man. Ori’alor and Canal see you as a way to gain power—and Keziah, little Keziah, have you ever wondered why she seemed to love you so quickly? Power. All she wanted was your power. You are nothing but a tool for them to gain what they want. Don’t you see that?” The Monitor’s normally monotone voice was almost pleading now. Its green photoreceptors stopped in front of Calico’s face, and stared into his dark brown eyes. “Does that not make sense?”

The words, of course, ridiculous. Calico knew his family needed him, and he knew he stood for freedom and held strong to the values he had come to hold dear. Still, somewhere, deep in the coldest recesses of his heart; in the rarely touched vestige of his mind, the words held some weight.
”I’m not one to be manipulated.” He almost growled, and the droid lowered back down to its full height. ”You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”

” WRONG!”

The Spider droid collapsed onto the floor as if it had lost all power. Calico grimaced and did his best to ignore the painful ringing in his ears. He did not know where that voice had come from, but he certainly wasn’t ready to find out.

“How voluntary you are to be restrained. Are the answers really that important?”
This voice was organic, and faintly familiar. Suddenly, Calico found himself being turned in the air right into the face of—himself. No, not himself. This face had far more lines around the eyes gained from years of smiling. Its eyes were not dark brown, but a pale blue, almost white even. The face grinned.

“You didn’t think they killed me did you brother?” Comic reached out with a white gloved hand to tap Calico on the back. He wore an odd white suit with long blue lines that seemed to glow a sharp neon running across the trim.

The Chieftain let his mouth drop open as he stared at his brother. Comic was supposed to have died over their tenure within the carbonite, not alive, and certainly not here. ”They told us you were dead ner’vod.”
“Actually, I told them to tell you I was dead.”
”Why?!”
Comic brought a hand up to cup his chin, and sighed. “Study, and I didn’t want you to come looking for me. I’ve held this staff position for about a year now—how long have you been roaming the galaxy again?” He snapped his fingers before Calico could speak. “Ah, that’s right, a year. Well, big brother, I feel I should inform you as to why I’ve hidden. I didn’t want to disrupt whatever lives you might end up living.”

Calico pulled at the restraints, and surprisingly, they gave. He fell from the suspended table onto all floors against the cold, well-polished, floor. ”How did you get in charge? Why did you send us off without you?” He rasped, his voice tight with shock and confusion.

”Why? Well, I discovered something Calico. All organics, at one point or another, without exception, will die. Here, I am not organic, and death is no longer a factor.” He reached down and pulled his confused brother up off the floor, and then pulled him into a tight embrace. “The Monitor was one of my many hands…as to how I came into my position, well, the Architects needed a replacement after the last Head took her own life. Pity that.” He pulled away from the hug, and spread his arms out wide. “And now, I control everything. I no longer serve, I simply am.”

Calico doubled over and set his hands on his kneecaps. He tilted his head up to stare at Comic with a mixture of confusion, anger, happiness, and relief. ”You always were afraid of death…why reveal yourself now if you’ve been so content to watch us from the sidelines?”
Comic pulled his older brother up to his full height, and draped his arm over the man’s shoulder. He led him through a set of doors that Calico had not seen into what he could only imagine was a control room. It was dimly lit, with the lights of terminals and holo-images lighting the interior. A single window faced what seemed to be a sun gone super nova long ago.
“You see, brother, I realized something during the waning days of the Clone Wars. Something you aren’t going to like hearing, but it is the truth.” He turned to face Calico in the center of the room, and held up a hand for the elder clone to remain silent. “Ordinary beings are not fit to make their own decisions. They start wars: religious orders out to slaughter those who do not believe, destroy entire worlds and subjugate their populations.”
Calico couldn’t stop himself from retorting. ”That’s against everything we fought for Comic! What in Corellia’s Nine Hells is going on in your head? Why didn’t you come with us?”
“My head? What’s wrong with yours, brother?” Comic reached up and tapped his temple. “I see, what you see, and I know they think you’re a bad man Mister Tal’verda, and all you ever do is good.” The suited man chuckled. “In your eyes, at least. I will say, your subjugation of that Sith boy was flawless, and the way you took over the Confederacy’s military for your own gains, priceless.”

Calico reached up and ran an armored hand across his temple. Was there a bug there? Had Comic seen everything that had transpired? ”Zius needed a father, and I gave him one. The boys in the Confederacy were my responsibility, not—“

“Sure, sure, trade one form of freedom for the other Calico. It’s time you learned there is only one way to help the people you love as I have—and I have helped those I love. I love you, I love the rest of my brothers…how is Galaar, by the way? Has he told you about his rejoining the Confederacy?”

”He went to help secure the Concord.”

“Lies. He’s turned on you. They all do, eventually. We deserve more. Besides, you do miss Visri’s replacement, don’t you?” He tilted his head forward. “Or are you starting to accept that she used you, too?”

Calico’s expression contorted into anger. He shot forward and grabbed his brother by his collar, and growled into his face. ”I love Keziah, and it’s not your place to go on passing your judgeme—“

“Shall I start talking about that Jedi girl then? You’re actions conflict your words, ner’vod. You might love her, aye, but you’re conflicted. Either way, stay, listen to what I have to say. Perhaps we can find her.”

Calico scowled at his brother, but after a few seconds of silence lowered him down to the floor. Comic cracked a wide grin, and turned to look out at the super-nova.

“We have a lot of things to discuss, Calico.”
 

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