Private The Winter God

[Ishani Dinn]

“Tell them that if they won’t do as I say, I’ll kill their firstborn,” Rhi said, rubbing her belly. “Oh, and while you’re up, would you mind getting me some sorbet? Uh, shuura flavored.”

The messenger departed, leaving her alone in her private suite. Well, she wasn’t alone for long. The High Priest Pushan arrived not long after, bowing low before her couch.

“Stand up,” she ordered. “Ooh, tell me you have good news.”

Pushan rose, gathering his robes around him. His horns were painted, and his aged face was marked by symbols carved into the very bone of his skull. “Forgive me, Goddess. Your scouts have returned with reports from the north. They say that Moroz has appeared there.”

“Moroz,” she echoed. “As in, the Winter God?”

Pushan nodded sadly. “I can think of no worse a time for him to return.”

He spoke with such graveness, Rhi couldn’t help but get serious. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“The Pantheon is in turmoil.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Rhi had been the cause of much of the turmoil, after all. “But what does that mean for Moroz?”

“It was prophesied that the Winter God would return to have his revenge upon the other gods. Especially the Autumn God, who dismembered him and scattered the pieces of his body across the north.”

“Lysius did that? What a little chit.”

“Well, to be fair, Moroz backstabbed Lysius first.” At a glare from Rhi, Pushan quickly got to the point. “Ever since then, we’ve had no snow or ice here in the south. But the prophecy foretold that the return of Moroz would bring with it a long, bitter, vengeful winter.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to go and see if this is the real Moroz.” Just then the messenger arrived with her shuura sorbet. “Thank you. Uh, don’t mention this whole Moroz thing to anyone else, Pushan. Don’t tell them where I’m going, either.”

“Of course, Goddess.”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

ZAATHRU
NORTHERN REACHES​

Moroz was as quiet as the dead of winter.

That was the first thing Rudro noticed, when he'd laid eyes on the god for the first time. The Shaal barely spotted him at first; short, slim, wrapped in layers of smooth black cloth. Fair skin, dark hair, icy eyes, no horns to speak of. Rudro had been otherwise occupied, standing side-by-side with his clan against a tall monster, it's form indescribably wrong.

Their warriors had been losing. The attacks were becoming more frequent, and their blade arms more tired. One by one, the Shaal fell, their broken bodies discarded and thrown to the snow, pools of silvery blood mirroring the dark clouds above. Rudro had resigned himself to that destiny too, for what Chieftain would shun the fate of his subjects? That was when he saw the god, stepping into the fray just as snow began to dust them all. That was when he noticed how quiet Moroz was.

And how quiet the mutated monstrosity became, once Moroz laid a hand on it, and frost spiderwebbed across it's skin, freezing it in a pose of permanent battle.

Rudro found himself looking at that monument to Moroz's power now, recollecting how frightened, how awestruck, he'd felt back then. But now, even after only a few short weeks, it was hard to imagine life without the Winter God in their village. Healing their wounded with merely the graze of a finger, leaving impressions of thoughts in their heads rather than speaking, and perfectly predicting the next monster attacks, leading the defense with a sword of burning ice. As tales began to spread, so too did other clans flock to theirs, to join against the growing monster attacks, and serve their cold master.

"What do you think he sees?" One of the Shaal's warriors stepped up beside him, flicking his burning eyes in the direction of Moroz. The deity was staring out over the expansive tundra, his burnished mask obscuring the features of his face. "When he looks at the heavens?"

Rudro grunted. "Who can know the mind of a god?" It wasn't his place to say, but if he had to guess...

Moroz seemed to look longingly towards the sky.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

As had become her habit whenever she traveled to another distant land, Rhi went in disguise. The talisman on her finger altered her appearance to that of a female Shaal, ordinary and unremarkable. She couldn’t bring along her Zaathri handmaidens; they would starve in the frozen, barren north. So Rhi bid farewell to them and instead brought along Dev Ossian as her lone companion.

“You know about the northern reaches, right?” Dev remarked as they began their journey. “Lots of snow and ice and twisted monsters? Not exactly a hot vacation spot.”

“I’m not planning on this being a vacation,” she said with an irritated grin. Yes, Rhi knew about the monsters. She had been meaning to mount an expedition to see where they were coming from, but matters at home had kept her preoccupied. “What about the people?” she asked. “Do they worship the Pantheon?”

“Of course. But you could say they feel more of a… kinship with Moroz than the other deities. The glaciers are supposedly the parts of his dismembered body, you know.”

Along the way, they passed by increasingly sparse fields and the occasional forlorn village. Then the landscape became blanketed with white, the snow crunching beneath the hooves of their mounts, and the air turned to fog when they breathed.

It was a long time before they reached another settlement, but this one was large. There were enough Shaal there to constitute a small city. Yet what few constructs there were had clearly been recently erected, and the people were not what she would call settled. It was as if several smaller clans and tribes had suddenly and inexplicably joined together under the same banners. It felt highly reminiscent of her own experience upon assuming the mantle of the goddess Adamanthea.

“Excuse me,” she said, catching the attention of a group of children playing together. “Is Moroz here?”

The children blinked up at her, then one of them pointed to a lone figure facing the tundra. His back was turned to her, his face obscured by a mask, and yet…

No way. No fething way!

Rhi dismounted and started toward him, determined to find out if it was really him. Behind her Dev struggled to keep up.

She didn’t get very far before a group of armed Shaal stopped her, demanding to know who she was and what her business with the Winter God was. Gritting her teeth in a snarl, she pushed them out of her way with the Force and continued forward.

“Alicio!” she exclaimed. “Is it really you?”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Though his nature was, in many ways, as close to divine as one could get, Kai Bamarri didn’t settle into the role of godhood nearly as well as the Count did. The natives had tried to identify him with one of the established gods in their Pantheon, but he defied all their classifications. Moreover, he seemed to resent any attempts to deify him. Eventually they took to calling him Apsara, which he understood was some sort of celestial servant to the Pantheon. Well, if Alicio was going to let them call him a god, Kai might as well be his angel.

Never mind that apsara were supposed to be female.

Great, Alicio. They think you’re a god and I’m a chick.

In the weeks since the crash, Kai busied himself making sure Alicio didn’t get himself killed. If combating mutated monsters to safeguard the Count by extension protected the locals, all the better. But it wasn’t as if he were warming up to these people, with their primitive, violent culture. He certainly didn’t intend to stay any longer than they had to, and he knew Alicio would jump at the first chance to return home to his wife and children.

<Something needs to be done about the monsters,> he told Alicio in private. <We won’t be here to fight them forever. They must be coming from somewhere. If we could find the source, we could—>

“Alicio!”

Kai’s head jerked toward the sound of the voice. It had come from a female Shaal, who was now rapidly approaching them, shoving bodies aside with the Force. Kai's hand instinctively reached for his lightsaber at his hip.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio didn't know what to make of... any of it.

One moment, he and Kai had been traveling to Lao-mon, to meet with former members of Maranatha, and see what support they could still offer a slowly-recovering Shi'ido people. The next, their ship was crashing into a frozen tundrascape. Searching for help with what scans their shuttle could still perform, the pair of them had happened upon a battle. It would have been smart to stay back, observe before acting.

But the Count couldn't let innocent people fall to an enormous beast. So he intervened.

Cryokinesis had been a natural progression of skills for Alicio- it felt nearly the same as Force Healing, except instead of giving energy, pushing it out of himself, he found it in others, and pulled. The first time he'd done it, laying a palm against the mutant, drawing the warmth from it, he'd felt so cold inside. But quickly, it had become easier and easier to control, maturing more quickly than his other skills had. Either he was growing in his connection to the Force, or something about the Shaal's belief strengthened the skill, or he'd easily made the leap from giving to taking. That last thought concerned him.

The following weeks had been... confusing, to say the least. What limited conversation they could make with the locals through telepathic connection revealed that the Count had been mistaken for a deity. Alicio had tried to protest, but the Shaal seemed unable to understand, or at least unwilling. Alicio didn't accept the role, but he tolerated it, though he'd had to stop a few ritual sacrifices and enslavement attempts 'in his honor' already. He did rather like the mask they'd made for him.

Kai was speaking to him in his head, but he would be able to tell the Count's mind was elsewhere. He was looking towards the horizon, absently listening, though the image of Amani, and his children, dominated his thoughts.

Until a familiar feeling stole his attention. Chilled him to the bone.

Literally. The air grew cold, dropping a few degrees as Alicio turned around, shock in his voice. She was wearing a disguise, but her signature was unmistakable. "Ishani...?"

Almost as if it had a mind of it's own, Alicio's hand found his lightsaber, and he activated it. He felt himself transported back to Empress Teta. The fear, the desperation, the sorrow.

"I killed you," he said simply.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"Ishani...?"

Halting a safe distance away from Alicio, Rhi stood up a little straighter. “Been a long time since anyone called me that,” she remarked with a wry smile. “The people of this planet call me Adamanthea, Goddess of the Skies. I hear they call you Moroz, the Winter God…”

It was all so strange, sensing him here. Seeing him wearing that native mask, surrounded by devotees worshiping him as their deity. Finally, she took notice of Alicio’s white-haired companion. “Say, do I know you from somewhere?”

“No,” Kai replied, not very convincingly. “But I know who you are. You used to be the Senator of Chaldea.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Ignoring him, she turned back to Alicio, who had activated his lightsaber. She glanced briefly at the weapon, before her corrupted green eyes met his gray. “Small galaxy, huh?”

"I killed you."

Rhi snorted contemptuously. “Yeah, after I was already declared dead at Tython and came back. What did you expect?” Suddenly she made a slashing motion in the air. “You know what? Feth it. Let bygones be bygones. I’m sure you just want to go home. I can get you a ship. You can leave this place peacefully, and forget you ever saw me.”

“What?!” Dev blurted. “You’re just going to let them go?”

“Sure, why not? Alicio here is a man of his word. Isn’t that right?” Her smiled dropped to a frown. "I'm not exactly menacing your territory these days. Why not leave me alone out here, where I can't hurt any of your people?"

Kai glanced toward the Count, the twist of his lips indicative of his doubts and misgivings about this whole situation. But he said nothing, remaining radio silent even on telepathic channels. The decision was up to Alicio.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio didn't immediately respond to Ishani's blasé faire, conversational tone, instead ripping off his mask, and placing it gently in the snow beneath. His expression beneath was befitting of the moniker thrust upon him by the locals.

Cold.

“You know what? Feth it. Let bygones be bygones. I’m sure you just want to go home. I can get you a ship. You can leave this place peacefully, and forget you ever saw me.”

Alicio's blinked once, registering the offer for a moment, suddenly feeling the pressure of decision weighing him down. It was... too much all at once. A moment before, he'd been yearning to escape Zaathru. And here was his escape, wearing the face of a former friend and ritual murderer. "It isn't that you hurt my people," Alicio breathed, though he didn't push the point far. It wasn't like he could make her see the error of her ways so confrontationally, if at all.

He risked a glance at the red-skinned Shaal behind Ishani, before reaching out his mind to Kai, seeking imput. Sensing none, he returned his attention to Adamanthea.

"I..."

The Count banished any conflict from his face, gesturing with his free hand towards the village behind them. Towards the gathering, cautious warriors, the children watching on with wide eyes. "I can't leave them yet. These people, they'd almost been overtaken by... creatures, coming from the north, when I arrived. I have to help them, until the attacks stop." The various clans around the area had overcome their differences to rally around him, as misguided as their beliefs were. It had allowed them to stand against the unknown threat, but if he left now, there was no guarantee that would continue. That things wouldn't get worse.

"I couldn't live with myself if I abandoned them to die."

<Sorry,> he sent Kai's way.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

<Sorry.>

Kai heaved an audible sigh, but still said nothing.

“Yeah, so I’ve heard,” Rhi said, casting her gaze out over the snow and ice. “Been meaning to do something about it. Things have been too hectic down south, though.” She turned back to Alicio. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to take my word for it that the problem will be taken care of?”

Who was she kidding—of course he wouldn’t trust her. Rhi didn’t exactly have a good track record when it came to civilians, and by her own admission the fate of the northern clans wasn’t her primary concern. He’d need more than her assurances before he’d willingly depart Zaathru.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to deal with it now. Together.” She inclined her head. “And then you’ll leave this planet and never come back. Agreed?”

<Can Amani and the twins wait a little longer?> Kai remarked, a faint voice in the back of Alicio’s mind.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to take my word for it that the problem will be taken care of?”

Alicio's quiet, deadpan stare was all the answer Ishani received.

Which turned into a distrustful gaze as she continued on, stating that they could work together to halt the attacks. He frowned, thinking hard. Trying to find the angle. Why was she so willing to help? After he'd killed her? What else was at play here?

"I... don't want to stay here. Not more than I need to." Alicio finally deactivated Introspect, replacing it into the folds of his layers of clothing. "If you help us ensure the safety of these people... then you can send me away."

His brow furrowed, lip twisted. "Given that we leave for the north now. And you don't contact anyone." He was worried about an ambush. Which he thought was an entirely reasonable concern, given the person he was talking to.

<Don't,> he shot back at Kai, the thought sharp with longing. <Please don't.>

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Kai straightened. His telepathic remark had been thoughtless. <Sorry, sir.>

Rhi was delighted by his agreement—and more than a little relieved. She was still disinclined to kill Alicio, perhaps now more than ever, but she wasn’t really sure what she would’ve done if he had refused to cooperate. Abandoning him to his fate didn’t sit well with her, either. What if he grew into the role of Moroz, as she had grown into the role of Adamanthea? She didn’t want the ancient prophecy to come true.

"Given that we leave for the north now. And you don't contact anyone."

“Did you think I would keep you waiting?” She smirked. “Don’t worry. No one will know you were ever here to begin with.”

Turning her attention to the gathered clans, who had watched their meeting fixedly, she reached for the talisman on her finger… then paused. Perhaps it was for the best that she waited to reveal herself to them. Her hands dropped back to her sides, gathering the folds of her fur coat around her. “Let’s get going, then.”

---

The clansmen and Alicio himself would have picked up on the fact that the monsters always came from the northeast. So the group set out in that direction, traveling through the snow astride wooly mounts.

There wasn’t much to talk about, so what minimal conversation there was between them stayed on the subject of the task at hand. Apart from one incident shortly before they found their quarry, that is.

“I’ve been out of the loop,” she began. “But I assume you aren’t, Alicio. How is Calabiyau these days?”

Kai visibly tensed at the mention of the refugee city’s name.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio wasn't what one might call chatty, during their ride northeast.

Holding the reins of his shaggy white toteru loosely, Alicio made sure to keep Ishani and her travelling companion at the corners of his perception. It was... difficult, traveling with her, knowing what he'd done, and who she was. He kept reminding himself that doing this, working with her, would help the Shaal that had fed and clothed him these past weeks, but her assistance still left a sour taste in his mouth.

Especially since he couldn't stop thinking of their time on Chaldea.

"How is Calabiyau these days?”

In tune with his bodyguard, Alicio noticed Kai's sudden tension, and sent him a questioning ripple through the Force, before turning his storm-grey eyes back on Ishani.

The Count was quick to grimace, alongside his guard. "It still stands," Alicio said, his voice unnaturally even. "With the Maw collapsing inward after the Battle of Exegol, and the Alliance retaking the Corridor, many of it's refugees were quick to return to their home planets, but... Calabiyau still stands." He emphasized the point, remembering what she'd said when they had fought on Teta.

"Was it truly nothing but a ploy, to you? To kill more refugees as the Maw expanded?"

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Kai hesitated before responding to Alicio’s telepathic query. <The Chaldean Potentium has been accused of mistreating the refugees who settled in Calabiyau. Forced conversions, reeducation camps… population control methods. The news just broke recently, but it’s apparently been going on for years.>

He hadn’t brought it up earlier because, well, they were a bit preoccupied at the moment with getting off of Zaathru. This was not the time to concern themselves with the affairs of other planets. Kai didn’t really know enough about the situation yet to advise Alicio on how to help, either. For all he knew, the stories he had heard could be false rumors or speculation. Though Chaldea was his homeworld, he hadn’t grown up there and he rarely visited. Were it not for his contact with Persis Solusar, he probably wouldn’t have known anything about what was going on.

"Was it truly nothing but a ploy, to you? To kill more refugees as the Maw expanded?"

Unaware of the mental conversation between the two, Rhi blinked in response to Alicio’s question. “Did I say that?” she asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember. For her, Teta had been several years, a marriage, a move across the galaxy, and five children ago.

“Hmmm… Sorry, I don’t remember.” She shrugged, then smirked. “Dying can leave gaps in the memory. I do know that I said a lot of chit to get under your skin. I was trying to distract you during our duel, maybe get you to slip up…” A pause. “Do you really still care that much? Even after all this time?”

Regardless of his answer, a bestial roar somewhere nearby put the rest of their conversation on hold.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio's mount grumbled uncomfortably as Alicio accidentally froze his grips on the reins, an expression of shock and fury on his face as he heard about the rumors of Calabiyau. If all of that was happening under his nose... if he had facilitated the mistreatment of refugees...

<If that is true, I will not let it stand.> His righteous anger was burning hot, even if the air around him had cooled a degree or two.

It was another reason to get off of Zaathru, as quickly as they could.

Ishani didn't seem to remember the most painful part of their interaction for Alicio that day. He simply nodded, clenching his jaw. Her continued explanation softened it, however. It would make sense that she would use refugees to try to unbalance him. It still unbalanced him to this day, evidently. But if she had truly cared about them at one point, maybe their friendship hadn't been a total lie, as he'd left that battle feeling.

“Do you really still care that much? Even after all this time?”

"Of..." Suddenly, Introspect jumped to Alicio's hand, shining a vibrant dark blue against the drab landscape and sky. Then, a familiar cry pierced the chilly air, one of the mutants he had become so familiar with in past weeks. Rolling off his toteru, Alicio let his boots strike hard-packed, windswept snow, and he peered into the tundra, searching.

Just as a ten-foot-long creature pounced from the side, unnaturally fast, aiming to dig it's claws into Rhiannon's body.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

All eyes turned to the creature that came barreling at them over the snow. Four lightsabers were swiftly ignited, hissing as their burning blades came into contact with the frigid air.

Rhi, who was the beast’s intended target, sliced its long arms with her green blade. Kai likewise leaped into the fray, slashing at the creature's flank.

Meanwhile Dev’s attention was drawn toward the area from which the monster had originated. Four more of the mutants were headed toward the group, loping across the fields of ice at rapid speed.

“More headed this way!” he exclaimed. “Not to worry, I’ve got them!”

With the Force, he seized a massive chunk of ice and threw it at them. The quartet scattered before the ice could hit them, leaving them uninjured but disorganized.

“You’ve got them,” Rhi muttered sarcastically.

<There's too many of them,> Kai warned the group. <We need to move to higher ground!>

By this he meant the mountains, upon one such slope stood a mysterious structure...

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Kai and Rhiannon were both nearly as quick to react as Alicio himself, avoiding harm from the monster, and scoring hits with their blades in turn. Alicio joined the battle as well, a well-placed stab piercing one of the creature's thighs. Under such a concentrated assault, the beast had no choice but to screech out a warning, and retreat, hissing and spitting all the way.

With the Shaal's (admittedly anticlimactic) distraction providing them some time to get ahead of the other creatures, Alicio nodded once to Kai, before hopping onto his shaggy mount once more. "Let's go!," he shouted, cracking the reins, and leading the charge into the unknown.

The structure didn't appear to have a door.

Which was mildly concerning, considering the mutated monstrosities were about to catch them.

Alicio had done what he could to slow them down, using the Force to trip their feet and momentarily fog the mind, but nothing seemed to shake them for long. They continued their unerring pursuit, climbing up sheer cliffs and dodging past projectiles like they were nothing. They were difficult enough to put down when there were only one or two of them. But four?

It meant they had to be getting close to the source.

Alicio rode up to the building, the sound of crunching snow transitioning to the harsh clang of hooves on metal. "Give me a second to figure this out," he breathed into the air, the pressure of the Force building around him as he jumped off his mount, and put a hand on the burnished gold exterior, and dove into the Future, looking for a way to get inside.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

The group made their way up the snowy slope, Kai using the Force to create a frozen barrier blocking the monsters from following them. But it was only a temporary respite, as the beasts began striking the ice violently, causing cracks to form.

<It won’t hold for long,> Kai warned. <Prepare yourselves.>

Rhi just smirked, planting her feet ready to defend herself. While Alicio worked on the door, the barrier continued to weaken, before it finally shattered, falling in chunks to the ground. The monsters surged forward—only to be met by a ring of blazing supernatural fire, which suddenly surrounded the four of them. Rhi’s smirk grew into a grin as they screamed, steam from the melting snow and smoke from burning flesh billowing up into the air.

The structure was surprisingly modern in appearance, and the symbols which appeared on the lock system were in familiar aurebesh. It was asking for a password.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio closed his eyes, letting the pressure of the Force subsume him. The tresses of his cloak began to ripple, his hair suddenly floating as if he were underwater. He was getting better at this- searching for answers within a sea of possibilities. It was still difficult, especially since he was facing the group's imminent death, were he to fail, but he managed.

Barely registering the wall of cold, and then heat that defended them, Alicio quickly realized that the undulating currents of the Future didn't hold the answers he needed, but the frozen expanse of the Past did. Outwardly, nothing changed in the Count, save for a growing dissatisfied frown.

A few tantalizing seconds of this passed, of Alicio simply staring into nothingness. before he tapped out a seemingly random set of letters into the lock.

W-D-R-W-D-R-W-D-R

A hidden seam in the wall creased into existence, and a doorway slid open. "Inside!," Alicio barked out, lightsaber raised to cover their retreat into the ominously dark space beyond.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Just when it seemed like the flames would not be enough, the door to the facility slid open. The others were already running in by the time Alicio opened his mouth to shout. Sharp claws scratched at the door as it slid shut, the opening too small for any of the creatures to pass through.

For a few nail-biting seconds, they were in total darkness. Then there was a low hum as power was redirected from the generators. The overhead lights flickered on, revealing a sterile white atrium with large windows along the sides. There were chairs and tables immaculately preserved, and a front desk behind which a broken protocol droid sat inert.

<That symbol up there,> Kai suddenly remarked, pointing to the wall behind the droid. <It’s the symbol of the Primyn Group.>

“That sounds familiar,” Rhi muttered.

<They were a group of Sith Alchemists founded by the late Darth Prospero. They would share research and fund each other’s projects—and they had several hidden “research centers” and “test sites” scattered across the most remote corners of the galaxy.>

As he spoke, Rhi turned to look at Kai, studying him from beneath a furrowed brow. Slowly, a smirk spread across her face. “Oh yes,” she said. “I remember now. Test Site Verdant Pasture, on Dahrtag. Located up at the north pole, just like this one.”

A tense silence followed her words, as she and Kai glared at each other. The staring contest was interrupted by Dev, who had been peering through the windows. “It looks like this place was attacked at some point. There’s all these holes in the walls, with carbon scoring like it was shot at by a turbolaser. If this is where the creatures are coming from, that would explain how they’ve managed to escape.”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Ushering the rest of the group inside, Alicio slammed the console on the other side of the doorway, sealing it shut, and locking them all in darkness. Thankfully, the dark didn't last long, as Alicio blinked the sudden fluorescent lights out of his eyes, staring at the scene made apparent before them all.

Most apparent to Kai, who was quick to rattle off some information about what he recognized. Alicio would've asked him more about how he'd come across the information, if they hadn't been in undesirable company. It seemed Ishani didn't have the same reservations, obviously needling some old wounds.

Once the Shaal broke the tense silence, Alicio produced a worried frown. "Which means there's a chance they can get back in," he surmised.

The Count walked over to Kai, resting a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Come help me with the front desk. I want to see if we can access any information in it's databanks." Stepping behind the front desk, Alicio gently pushed the inactive droid from where it was hunched over it's terminal, and began the process of booting up the computer.

Only for the droid to suddenly jerk to life, the lights of it's eyes flickering. //The masters have returned! Ha! it's been such a long time!// Alicio jumped back, hand on his lightsaber as the droid continued, the occasional jerky motion coming from it's body. //Oh... my ocular sensors appear to be malfunctioning. Apologies for my sorry state, it has been some time. State your name, so I may know which of my masters graces my presence.//

Alicio glanced around the room, hand still grasping his hilt. How did they want to play this?

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Arlo Renard]

"Hey. Come help me with the front desk. I want to see if we can access any information in it's databanks."

Somewhat reluctantly, Kai followed Alicio over to the desk. <I’m not that good with computers,> he admitted.

In trying to access the computer, the Count accidentally reactivated the droid. Kai was a bit less cautious, actually igniting his lightsaber in preparation to fight the machine, only for it to babble about its masters and make jerky, uncoordinated motions. Not very much of a threat.

//Oh... my ocular sensors appear to be malfunctioning. Apologies for my sorry state, it has been some time. State your name, so I may know which of my masters graces my presence.//

Kai deactivated his blade and relaxed his combat stance. Everyone seemed to look at each other, not sure what to do. At least, until Kai decided to answer the droid, altering his voice to imitate the posh Serennian accent and arrogant inflections of a long-dead Sith Lord: “Darth Prospero.”

The droid paused, processing his vocal profile. //Good evening, Darth Prospero. Your last recorded visit to this facility is: never.//

They all held their breath, not sure if the droid would see through the ruse. But no alarms went off, and the droid simply stood there, awaiting further commands.

“What is the status of this facility?”

//Very poor, master. Only four out of seven generators remain functioning. Repairs to the outer shell have yet to be completed. None of our staff have reported for work since 886 ABY. But I am happy to report that all automated operations are still in effect, including the cloning processes. There is plenty of material available for testing, should you wish to experiment.//

Alicio Organa​