The First Part

[Rose Kuhn]

Mechis III – Southern Hemisphere

A single sleek black silhouette stood at the edge of a small smoke stacked building, its black form reflecting a certain amount of light, and consuming all else.

It stood there, calmly, still as a statue. It's form did not move, its hands did not quiver, its entire being seemed to be completely still. It waited. What it waited for was impossible to say. A light swept passed it, moving an inch at a time on the ground before it, sweeping in a massively arrayed circle to reveal the ground within the industrial smog that surrounded this entire world.

The light swept passed the foot of the Humanoid, missing it by half a millimeter.

For a second the figure remained in place, the search light moving passed at a slow creeping crawl. A human heartbeat would pass, and then suddenly the figure would break out into a sprint. It was so sudden, so quick that most would have questioned if the thing was human, or any other type of organic being.

They would have been right to do so.

This thing. This sleek inky black humanoid was not at all human. It was something else. A fallacy of misrepresented genius. A cheap copy of what an organic being was, and could be.

Yet it moved fast, within the blink of an eye, rushing through open space and breaking through smog filled air, acid rain beginning to spike down onto the surface of the planet as it suddenly came to a stop against another wall. Beyond solid duracrete the sound of industrialization could be heard. Massive machines stamping, molten durasteel pouring, new droids marching off the line.

The silhouette waited as another light passed.

 

[Kira Talith]

“Hey, whoa !! Kai! Don’t go running off okay!” Kira’s voice would ring out after her daughter. This was by far the most dreary type of family trip ever.

EVER.

Well, to be fair, the idea was to try and catch up with HK-36, former Lord Protector and a friend of Kira’s from her time in the Protectorate. She was one of the few that knew that the droid had established a small area here to get in touch with his past versions of himself.

The question was, was he even here?

He had disappeared after stepping down from the Lord Protector seat, and in that she had also received a small message that could only come from the HK droid himself.

Seeing as they were within the area -- they had stopped on the way to Abregado-rae - all that was required was just a trip north.

So, acid rain and a rather dreary climate later, Kira was practically second guessing her decision. Memory served that there was a small production facility close by, and to be frank, they did need the fuel to top off.

So… here they were, Mechis III Southern Hemisphere. The short stack blonde Jedi Master with her kids.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Kaili Talith]

There was a problem with eight year olds. For every step they took it would seem that ever so slightly the amount of sass that could be contained within a single body increased and as such selective hearing was very much a preferred alternative to listening. Not because Kaili wanted to get into trouble, but because the excuse “I thought you said...” worked a lot better in a lot of different situations.

So her mother’s warning had instead become ‘Kai! -- Go running off okay!’ and what kind of kid would she be if she didn’t do as she was told? By her mother’s request she set off for the nearest pile of trash. The rain didn’t bother her much, at least not as much as it should have. What was a kid if not prone to some acid rain? It was no big deal, mother could help her with these things if things got real bad.

Besides, kids were invincible. They were! It was in the rulebook of nature right next to the paragraph about cooties. At least so her friends told her and they were the smartest people she knew. Except for mother, father, Aela and Maleah, of course.

“Don’t we have one of these at home?” Kaili would poke her head up from the pile of droid heads. [member="Kira Talith"] was nowhere to be seen. With a shrug the kid went back to work. “No, I think... Hmm, no.”

Was it a 3P0 or not? The rust made it hard to tell. Was this one of the parts that mother had mentioned before or was this just a pile of trash? There were so many questions. Like why they went to this place of all places, it wasn’t exactly Borleias.

Micah was probably on the beach right now. His loss, Kail was on an adventure with mother!

[ [member="Leto"] ]​

 

[Dani Ticon]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Two very large eyes focused on the little girl from afar deep inside a pile of trash, it's deep sea green feline peepers staring at the child intently. Oh this was superb, fresh people here on this planet. It had been so long since the creature had felt the touch of anything remotely human, especially not that of a child. So young, innocent, naive and trusting. She was the perfect mark and soon it would be all over the child and a burden like no other would be placed upon her shoulders.

The eyes widened and soon a grin of razor sharp teeth opened up Into a very inhuman smile. Small pieces of rain flickered against the figure and soon it disappeared from sight vanishing completely. After a few seconds it reappeared closer to the girl, eyes and teeth staring at the child with dubious intentions. A long pink tongue licked against the creature's teeth and soon it vanished once again only to come closer to the child, a silent predator stalking it's prey, an ancient killer of men.

And then, it struck.

Bounding out of the shadows and into the rain a very fat and chubby malk (large cat) jumped out of a trash pile and near the little girl's feet. It was here for one thing, and one thing only. Petting, lots and lots of petting. The large kitty cat looked up at the girl and slowly moved forward in a apprehensive style before reaching her and starting to purr around her legs, vibrations moving against skin and acidic rain that didn't bother the fat cat one bit. But if the child was at all force sensitive there was something off about the cat, a smell to it of sulfur and smoke, though that could be chopped up to the planet they were on.

 

[Rose Kuhn]

It stayed in place, statuesque.

There was no need for it to move, not for another three or four seconds. The lights that shimmied about the foundry were still looking, still searching. The ink black silhouette stayed in place, its fingers curling slightly against the dark wall.

The lights passed again, and it moved.

Like liquid its body seemed to shift and shimmer, its legs stretching and its arms remaining in a tight controlled posture about its torso. It moved around a corner, then another, then between the two buildings. Two blocks over there was activity, life, a rare thing here on Mechis III. The Strange Silhouette didn't know about them of course.

It had no sensors. No advanced functions that facilitated such knowledge, not yet anyway.

It reached a door.

Thick durasteel painted in a deep black, a single window lining its center. Through the pale glass the Silhouette could see the foundry beyond, the mass of droid parts and the huge armies of protocol droids that were being built within.

It's head cocked to the side, its hand reaching for the panel besides the door.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Kai!" it was a tone only a mother could replicate, echoing and bouncing off the various piles of scrap metal and the like. Frustration would line her brow, the fall of acid rain lightly pelting her dark blue cloak.

The Jedi Master would appear much like a child herself, what with being only 1.54 meters tall. Having her hair up in a ponytail at the crown of her head didn't help matters, only adding to the illusion of youth. None would be the wiser that the woman was a mother of four unless they would take a closer look. There, observation would catch the tiny laugh lines at the corners of her eyes and along her mouth.

She might be pushing her late thirties, but being so in tune with the Lightside of the Force, that zest and zeal the Lorrdian had would radiate a younger impression. One whose visage was etched with a manner of growing exasperation for her exploring loving child.

 

[Micah Talith]

Much like Kai was wont to have an imagination that could rival her mother's, nine year old Micah was in fact not enjoying the beach. He was instead, also moving along as quietly as he could -- someone had to keep an eye on his wandering sister!

While the Garhoon traits were far more inherent to Maleah, Micah's tendency for deft movements, agility, and growing affinity in stealthy movements far surpassed that of his other siblings. He had a knack at tracking and keeping up with his sisters once his father had helped him focus internally; there after, what had once been difficult for him had unleashed a dam.

One that the young Shamalain Talith certainly enjoyed exploiting. There was seemingly no hiding from Micah.

Right now, the twin amber suns of his eyes would narrow upon the latest vistor that would plop in front of his sister's path. It was so big. And fat.

Too fat and pudgy. One may even call it.. fluffy?

Oh great this was going to get interesting.


___________________________

@Leto @Furfur @Kaili Talith

 

[Rose Kuhn]

It's hand reached out.

Black ink seemed to cover the electronic panel completely, surrounding it in an abyss. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, then the silhouette shifted its head once more, cocking it to the other side. A spark flew from the panel, lighting up the dark alleyway.

The silhouette did not flinch, it simply stood still as another spark came from the panel. A few more seconds, and suddenly the heavy durasteel door fell to the side, opening into the wall. The rumblings of automation could be heard. Steel pouring, presses pounding, droids marching. The sound of a thousand machines working in tandem to build more machines. It was beautiful, hypnotizing, almost welcoming. For a moment the silhouette lingered.

It's hand fell to its side.

The panel on the wall revealed itself, a black scorch mark in the shape of a hand emblazoned over it, small sparks still flying. A micro-second passed, and the black silhouette slipped into the foundry with the same odd liquid movements.

 

[Kaili Talith]

No sooner than she had returned to her treasure hunt did something else come and try to take her attention away. A cat, a very strange cat with an aura like... The Kha’merron. It wasn’t as strong, but it was there. The unease of the dark and the burning smell of sulphur. Mother knew how to pick places in which Kai could get lost!

“Hey kitty.” Kai backed off. “You’re a fluffy little thing, aren’t you?”

No, the nightmares had taught her to be wary of this feeling. Cute kitty or not something didn’t feel right and Kai knew better than to ignore what her mind told her. Backing far away she eventually bumped into her brother by accident.

“Oh hey... You.” Nope, Kai wasn’t going to joke. “I see you got your head off your pillow.” Psyche!

“Keep your eyes open, something... Something don’t feel right here, Micah.”

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Leto"] [member="Furfur"]

 

[Dani Ticon]

[member="Kira Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Leto"] [member="Micah Talith"]

Furfur frowned in disappointment as the child walked away, it was so rare to find people on this planet. But it had seemed that these children had found him out, he was a manifestation of the darkside after all. Though that didn't necessarily mean he was evil, incapable of understanding things like morality and humanity sure, but evil? Certainly not, kind of, maybe only a little. But regardless of alignment the cat was disappointed in not receiving it's love and affection by the hands of the two force sensitive children.

So the cat let out a very human sounding sigh, an expression of deep disappointment. Afterwards the fat cat cleared it's throat in another sound that was all but impossible for felines to make and spoke in a low deep intelligent oxford British accent.

"I don't suppose I could at least trouble you for a scratch behind the ear? It's been so long since I've had company and you see it gets rather lonely." the malk said in it's deep voice.

Afterwards the cat began to stalk forward through the darkness, heavy thick smog kept the sunlight from breeching poisonous clouds above. So the malk was at home here in the shadows, in the poison and filth. Though he did prefer the more luxurious things mortals created. Items such as powdered milk, oh how the cat loved the idea of dehydrated items you simply added water to. There was some form of symbolism in there about life and death but who really cared about that right now. But a single name radiated around him, "Kai" and it was probably the spawns mother that said it.

"Oh Kai, what a wonderful name for such a sweet little girl. And who might you be little one? Is this your brother Kai? I do love the idea of family. Strangers you are forced to love, I never quite fully understood it but I suppose it's a mortal thing." the fat cat came within seven feet of the children then plopped down on it's large butt.

"Run along children, mother calls."

 

[Kaili Talith]

The kid looked at the cat with a face that slowly turned from worry to curiosity. A talking cat, it was like something out of a book. How curious. Her eyebrow perked, her jaw dropping slightly in awe. A quick look between [member="Micah Talith"] and [member="Furfur"] was enough to broadcast her intentions. The cat just wanted to be petted, there was no harm in that.

“Just a tiny scratch behind the ear.” She knelt down by the cat and patted away. “I am sure mother can wait, she’s used to this.”

Which wasn’t really a good thing, but Kai would never stop exploring new places, and Mechis III was about as new as it could get. It was different than home. Here there were no nice beaches and there were no beds as comfy as the one she had in her room, but the rest of the galaxy seemed so full of things to see that quite frankly the girl almost had a hard time deciding what to do.

Perhaps not here with the acid rain, but she certainly wasn’t going to let this fine opportunity to mingle with the local population a bit. Explorers did that all the time, and Kaili was the best explorer there was.

“How long have you been here?”

 

[Kira Talith]

"I'm going to be hearing about this," came Kira's low mutter, the mother of four already wondering just what her husband would have to say about this extracurricular field trip to Mechis III.

Then again, he also had his own lessons he would keep from his wife already. Stepping off the ramp, the petite Jedi Master would commence her search.

HK-36 was a unique droid, and while rumor had it that he could very well be here, the sight that beheld her of the vast salvage yard like arena in front of her made her heart sink. The acid rain was a great cherry on top. A thought came to her that perhaps this would be the best time to teach Micah and Kai detox poison while in the environment itself.

That is if she could find them to begin with.

"Kai?" came the call of her voice. "Micah!" slowly, the Jedi Master would start down a small path. One that would wind on towards the manufacturing facility with the dark plumes of smoke rising on top of it.



______________
[member="Micah Talith"] @Furfur @Kaili Talith [member="Leto"]

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah, being older and the sole male child of Soliael and Kira Talith was a bit more suspicious than his younger sister. In his father's absence, the boy would take it upon himself to be the man of the house.

Even if the only potential concern was a big fat cat.

An expression of growing exasperation would cross over his lightly freckled face. Leave it to Kai to go on and pet whatever came her way. She was a bit too naive; granted had it been [member="Maleah Talith"], he bet his twin would already be rolling around in the mud and the rain with it.

However, he had yet to ever come across a talking cat. Whatever it was, neither of the Talith spawn had ever come across such a thing. Which of course, only ignited another level of curiosity.

Bright orange eyes would narrow upon the fluffy black and blue cat, and needless to say, instead of petting it like his sister was doing, he instead decided to nudge at it with the toe of his boot.

"Just what are you?" he'd ask, figuring that was a more pertinent question. The call of his mother would come floating over, a bit distant. It would be a while before she'd find them, unless she really put her mind to it.

"Never figured a cat could be able to talk." his brow would furrow, the Force flaring as if trying to bring a measure of sense on what it was. there was something dark there. Muted. Was it a species of sapient? Nothing in his studies could be recalled of it.

If Aela were here, she'd do better, he'd muse with a rather annoyed expression.

The know it all.



_____________________

[member="Kira Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"] @Furfur @Leto

 

[Dani Ticon]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Kira Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"]

The cat let out a low rumbling purr as the little girl scratched behind his ear. It felt heavenly, it was something he had craved for quite some time now. After spending time with a pirate crew and a Mandalorian it was safe to assume he wasn't wracking it up big in the cuddles department. But then the mortals had to go on asking questions and wanting information from him, but he did owe the girl that much, she did take it upon herself to pet him. So the fat malk cleared it's throat again and spoke in it's rich accent.

"Time child, you and I perceive it quite differently I'm afraid. You see for beings like yourself you have a finite amount, while myself it's endless. So I could of been here for a week of two hundred years, though what's the difference?" the cat said with a little chuckle followed by another purr.

"But if I had to take a whack at it I'd say perhaps, three years?" the cat said with a small amount of uncertainty.

But then the other child nudged his paw and asked him a very important question, oh how children loved their questions. But before he could play his little game the sound of the children's names were whistling through the air, the spawn's mother grew closer it seemed, but there was no rush.

So the fat cat's lips parted to show rows of razor sharp teeth, a grin that stretched literally ear to ear. The cat was excited to be playing his little games again, perhaps he could even get these children to sell their souls in good time.

"What am I? Well wouldn't you like to know Micah. Have you ever heard the phrase knowledge is power? You seem like a smart little lad, and as such you would know knowledge isn't free." the cat stood up from it's large rear and began to flick it's bushy tail back and forth.

"What could you possibly have that I want? The secrets I have child, the knowledge I posses." the cat grinned again and as he could feel the force from the boy trying to read him.

The boy would be able to feel an overwhelming sense of the darkside, but not just that but the taint of the sith. The smell of burnt sulfur and smoke would penetrate the boys nostrils and there was a depth to the cat that was ancient. Whatever it was it was something that had been around for a very very very long time.

 

[Rose Kuhn]

It moved quickly, liquid ink flowing into the Foundry.

At first it didn't seem to have an objective, it didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular. It simply moved and echoed through the room, its head swiveling from time to time, its face stopping to state at one machine or another.

Time passed.

Minutes. Seconds. Perhaps an hour.

It was difficult to tell with how the droid moved, lingering and staring, watching. Finally it seemed to make a decision. It flowed towards one of the plasma torches, tight welding arcs slicing into droid parts and cutting them to shape. For a moment it stood and stared at the torch, it's inky black hand twitching slightly at its side.

Slowly its odd abyssal skin began to peel. It etched its way upwards, thinning upon its palm to reveal a hand of gray and white meta, black rubber padding its fingers and palm. For a second it remained motionless, its ink black skin rolling back to its forearm, revealing more of the odd gray and white metal.

The hand reached up, slowly, tentatively its fingers curled around the plasma torch machine. For half a second the machine stopped, lagging suddenly, the assembly line grinding to a halt.

Deep red lines formed through the machine, and suddenly the droid jerked its arm to the side. The plasma torched snapped from its housing, sparking brightly as electricity courses from its now torn wires. The silhouette simply stood, tearing the torch completely free as bright red flames erupted.

[member="Kira Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Furfur"] [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Remaining hunched by the cat she listened as it conversed with [member="Micah Talith"].

“You sound like Aela.” She smiled and began scratching the cat on it’s back. “All like ‘Kaili, knowledge is power’ and ‘GET OUT OF MY ROOM, KAILI.’”

Because more often than not had the youth taken their turns to investigate and/or snoop on their elder sister. Notes in diaries, books with people kissing each other on the cover. There were a lot of treasures to be found, but none of them were all that exciting. Half the fun was after all the part where they might get caught and the ‘Grumpus’ would toss them out of her room.

“She knows a lot of things.” Kaili nodded as she patted away at the kitty’s head. “What do you know?”

[member="Leto"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Furfur"]

 

[Kira Talith]

"Micah?" came Kira's call.

"Kaili!?" and again, this time with a notable touch of weary exasperation. Well, more like begrudging acceptance. Her hands would come to her hips, and a frown would cross her face.

"I swear Sol, they act a bit more like you everyday," she'd mutter with a sigh, pushing the damp locks of hair away from her face. She might have jokingly blamed her husband for their children's wandering ways, but to be fair, a healthy dose came from her as well. She hadn't been the Master of Shadows and a Jedi Investigator for the Jedi Order just for kicks and giggles.

Okay, so maybe there were some kicks and giggles, but that was beside the point!

Her wanderings would take her along a path that was scattered with various parts and droids. Her nose would wrinkle, almost like that of a bunny. Something caught her eye. Maybe it was the light, but it prompted her to narrow her gaze upon it.

"Hmm..." she'd wonder, then began to shift through the salvage wreck to get a closer look.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] @Leto @Furfur

Yep, not liking this guy one bit.

Maybe it was because Kai was all to eager to keep petting the fat thing like some silly little girl. Which, okay to be fair, she was, but still. Knowledge is power? Well he learned quite a bit from his dad's side of the family, and that wasn't even including his uncle.

Knowledge is power. HAH!

He gave a frown, then he nudged at the cat some more with the tip of his toe. "You're definitely not just a typical cat," his mind would begin to race, going through as much of what he could remember from his studies.

Force senses would blaze, and he'd peer inquisitively at the fat cat as if he were a bug. He definitely had a taint in him; like a dark fetid pool of ooze.

Tainted.

"Kai, quit petting the thing like he was Toufless!" he'd add, wanting to get a closer look. Maybe if he picked him up and started to check and see if there was anything else that would give an indication of what it was.

Supposedly long lived.

Could be a changeling, he supposed.

 

[Dani Ticon]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Kira Talith"] [member="Leto"] [member="Micah Talith"]

Furfur continued to purr delightfully as the girl stroked him lovingly across the back. It was so nice to have some company to converse with and get pettings from, the fat malk had hit the jackpot today and now he had these kids like butter in the palms of his... well little bumpy parts of his paws. But anatomy aside he was where they wanted to be in terms of manipulating these children into whatever it was his plans were.

"I know many things child, I know of the great wars, the dark ages, he who walked behind and he who walked before. And some things most people would consider..."

"Unnatural." he said with another wide smile of white teeth that stretched ear to ear.

Then he heard the names growing closer, and he could feel the power thrumming from the mother of the children. Whoever or whatever she was, he couldn't fight her. On Furfur's best day he could take a knight or two in single combat but what approached him now was certainly something he couldn't handle. So he remained calm and kept up his guile.

"I suppose I am more than just a cat. And I suppose you could stop tapping me like that lest you wish to remain a happy little camper." he said in his rich sophisticated voice still before cocking his head to the little girl.

"Well I do prefer you more child, and I'm so gracious of your petting I will allow you one question to anything. Whatever it is you want I shall answer." he set the bait and hoped he had enough time to catch the fish.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili was many things. Young, dumb and mischievous. She liked her siblings friendly but annoyed and when it came to threatening them? Well, that wasn’t to be taken lightly. She quite liked being a happy camper, her brother too. On her brother’s command she got up from the ground and placed herself by him.

“Toufless don’t have the same softness to him.” She looked at the cat. A question. Any question at all. “I should ask a question...”

She was at a loss. Her mind had been so set on looking for cool electronics to play with. Now here she was with a cat asking her to ask question. What was a good way to transfer electricity between two points without the need for cables? How many fingers would she hold up? Where was that candy bar she forgot about last week? The important stuff.

“I don’t know...” Kaili would begin. “There’s more than just one question.”

She turned to her brother. “You should have my question. I can’t think of anything cool to ask.”

[member="Furfur"] [member="Micah Talith"]