Tossed in the Wake (Cerita Sarova)

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

FORT ELSA
KELSIER
WILD SPACE

"You should not be here, Mara Merrill."

The view from Kelsier's surface, even on a cloudless night, was like a misty sunrise. The world spun within a toroid of dust, major radius over one astronomical unit, minor radius about half a one. The sun, in daytime, was a washed-out disc surrounded by fire; at night the stars were pinpoints through a fog that went on for millions of miles. She broke away from the view and focused on what she'd been trying to ignore: the cold, and the qo'saarai tuk'ata. Eight feet tall, vaguely humanoid, the qo'saarai had a predator's head and shoulders, and a long dark tail. Everything else was covered in cold-weather gear as thick as hers. Vividly, she recalled that the qo'saarai had been made from creatures native to the desert worlds of Korriban and Tash-Taral. Maybe her aunt had made them here so that they would have nowhere to go, preserving her balance with the Kelsieri Echani whose cloaked ships controlled this system.

"Why not?" she demanded, fists clenched inside her mittens. The wind shifted, and the poor shelter of her Tachyon-class freighter vanished entirely. Snow kept accumulating in the creases of her hooded coat. The qo'saarai, hoodless, had to be freezing -- but qo'saarai were a tough breed.

"Because," he said, "you are not ready."

"I found this place again, didn't I? I'm a Merrill, aren't I?"

"You are a child. You would not understand."

"What's there to understand that I didn't see last time?"

The qo'saarai grunted. "Your former visit was with the Creator, under her supervision. You were too young to see. Now you are old enough to see but not to understand entirely."

Mara forced herself to shrug. Feth, it was cold. "Who is? Supervise me if you want, but I'm coming in. It's cold, and I've come a long way to figure out why she did what she did. So open the dang door."

***​

​

Inside, Fort Elsa was your average iceball subterranean facility. Out of the wind and the driving snow, but still clad in her parka, she was just barely warm enough for comfort. The qo'saarai was a silent presence at her back; he didn't attempt to guide her.

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

It had been a few years since Rave had pulled her last trick, vanishing from the face of the universe and leaving everything she had created behind. These days she was being trained by Dissero, mostly Alchemy- inorganically focused versus the organical things, but that didn’t stop Cerita from experimenting on her own.

In a lot of ways she was like her former Master.

“Pass me the thermaducler klux capacitor, Zibzy.” she addressed the burly Qo'saarai who was scowling close to her, chest riddled with scars and one eye burned out the uplifted Tuk’ata was positively intimidating in his presence.

Cerita didn’t seem to notice, and eventually Zibeti, roughly translated as Star in the Sith language, sighed to himself and passed over one of the many instruments that riddled the table. Today they were studying the mysterious substance that every Polydroxol was made up.

Such fascinating entities.

“Cerita Serova, we have a visitor.”

A different Qo’saarai was leaning against the doorpost, for those who knew how to disconcern the expressions of their faces? It would seem as if he was smirking at Zibeti.

“On my way, on my way. Almost done here anyway.”

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

Fort Elsa was underground save for the hangar. L-shaped, with four levels, it boasted every kind of genetic and medical equipment known to human. It was, Mara recalled, an uplift facility, built to let the tuk'ata realize their potential as members of the galactic community. Or not -- that was their choice, and some uplifted tuk'ata just went to the preserve and town on Tash-Taral. Others worked on the Tion Trade Nexus, she knew, and she'd run across a few of them elsewhere. Fort Elsa had been operational for years now, self-sustaining even after Rave's disappearance. The whole place smelled like antiseptics and wet dog, which she very carefully did not say. She peeked inside operating theatres, AEI armories, Spaarti chambers and gene banks with growing curiosity. Qo'saarai, battle droids and human security staff passed her in the halls.

She paused in front of a big crystallographic lab, where purple shards were being pieced together by synthesis machines she couldn't name. Bins of the tiny, dirty crystals entered washing machines, then sorting lines manned by qo'saarai. What a way to practice with your new thumbs. Faded memory took on new context, and with a curse she remembered her father's engagement against rogue Kelsieri in cloaked ships. Did this place have stygium? Was that what Rave and the qo'saarai had been prospecting this long, gleaning the leftovers while the Kelsieri monopolized whatever large crystals might be around?

Nose against the window, she watched them turn shards into larger crystals. To cloak even a personal transport took something like twenty crystals the size of her leg -- expensive stuff, and even more so now that Aeten and Maramere were mined out. For no reason she could name, Mara suppressed a shiver.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

“Skai.” she would address the Tuk’ata over her datapad, even while walking she was doing her best to read up on some of the homework her Master had given to her. Sometimes that meant bumping into a wall or two, but today she was doing remarkably fine in the walking-compartment. At any rate, she looked up from her datapad and studied where they were heading for, which brought a frown on her expression.

“The refineries? Peculiar destination for a tour.”

The Tuk’ata just grunted, he had never really enjoyed playing guardian for Sarova, which didn’t stop him from being amused whenever she fussed about the creation of Merrill. In some ways she had adopted them as much as they had adopted her.

That and punching Zibzy straight on the nose that one time… had made things clear where she stood.

Finally they would reach their destination, Skaidrus standing at her right shoulder and Cerita studying the girl who was currently pressing her nose against the windows.

She seemed fascinated by the process and that would have usually prompted Sarova to grant her some closer inspection, but Dissero was rubbing off on her a bit.

Caution, don’t forget yourself.

“Miss Merrill?” Cerita would venture, verbally poking her for attention.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

Mara pushed away from the smudged window and concentrated on Zeltron telempathic senses. Where the qo'saara felt driven, focused, and mildly wary, this green woman felt...inquisitive? Maybe a little peeved at having something interrupted? Ohhh...this is Cerita. The one Fable mentioned. Another clone like Fable. Means she's been here a while, but I'm thinking she's not in charge. "Hi there," she said after a moment. "That's me, yeah."

She glanced back through the smudges at the stygium -- what a boat I could make with this crap -- and offered the green woman a belated smile. "Just came to look over the place. It's been a good while since I was here. I'd..." It wasn't as colloquial as she'd planned on being, but she shrugged and went for it. "I wanted to find a clue here about why she left."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

She definitely wasn’t in charge of the facility here, not that Sarova would have been interested in that kind of job description anyway. In her experience jobs like that only made it harder to study and experiment at your leisure, too much paperwork which got in the way of the good things in life. Like the vivisection of-

But perhaps that was a discussion for a different time.

“Well, a welcome is in order then, I suppose.” she would reply to that, before her smile grew a little bit awkward and she shrugged a little bit helplessly. “Welcome?”

She could still be a little bit awkward around people she didn’t know. Perhaps that would pass eventually.

Her departure, now wasn’t that the discussion of a century. It had been laid out pretty clearly in her Will, so either Mara hadn’t read it or she was thinking there was more to it than what Rave had spelled out.

Which wasn’t a strange thought.

Rave had always been a closed-off person.

“Perhaps I could help with your clue-searching?” the offer came with a little smile. “She used to train me, so I might be able to provide you with some insight.”

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

"All right," said Mara promptly. She could feel, almost taste, Cerita's awkwardness -- but if Cerita had been Rave's apprentice, well, that put a whole new spin on her. "I guess I've got questions, then. Why'd she do it? What was it she did? What did she tell you before she left? This place -- is it self-sustaining, or did she just leave it to rot?" That came out a little more acrimonious than she'd intended. Abandonment did that to you.

"And I mean...all these people?" She looked around at the tuk'ata. "All of you just been sitting here waiting for her to come back or something? Or just keeping everything secret? All the stygium and the surgeries and her trophies and stuff -- or is there more to this place than I'm seeing?"

One tuk'ata growled faintly, but said nothing. Mara refocused on Cerita. "Is this place legal? Is it Sith? Tion? What?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

There was one specific detail about Cerita Serova that could never be forgotten.

She was only awkward in a social environment with people she didn’t yet know all that much, kids, adults, royalty or worker, in the end it matter little to her. But once you go into work, into the details and nitty gritty of her profession?

Things turned differently, it didn’t take a socially intelligent girl to spot that Mara was upset about Rave’s disappearance, and to a degree Cerita knew how she felt. But to a different degree… at least Cerita had been given a personalized message from her.

Even if it was a slap on the wrist. - I love you.

So Serova stepped up next to her, leaning against the wall and glass, looking at the mechanical wonders of the stygium refinery. Not too close to make it awkward for her or Mara, not too far away to make it impersonal.

“A lot of questions.” she would finally muse, before giving the lightest of shrugs to indicate she would try as best as she could.

“Rave Merrill was a complicated individual with a complicated childhood. That is overstating it, because she never really had a childhood.” neither did I. “It had been taken from her, and that influenced her entire life from then on out.”

A ponder, followed by those green eyes taking note of one of the machines not working at acceptable efficiency, she made a mental note of that for later. It would have to be addressed.

“So Rave Merrill did what Rave Merrill does. She analyzed the problem and she attempted to fix it with her skill in Alchemy.” a pointed look at Mara was cast. “If you want me to go into the details of the how, tell me, but putting that aside? She basically went back in time. All in an attempt to stop those that had taken her childhood from her all those years ago.”

Cerita shrugged again, this time a more heavy gesture.

“She told me nothing substantial before leaving.” after she had tried to evacuate Elsa… she told me she loved me. “Self-sustaining, as you can see, miss Merrill. We have been able to keep most operations running, to a degree.”

A smile followed.

“No, we are not waiting on her. At least… I am not, I have made my peace with her departure some time ago. I am simply here to conduct more research, learn as much as I can about the world, the Galaxy, everything that’s around me. Perhaps one day I will be as accomplished as she was.” Cerita raised an eyebrow at Skai, which made him stop his needless grunting.

Sometimes he was such a child.

“We are affiliated to nobody but ourselves, miss Merrill. That was Rave’s wish. Freedom to make our own choices in life, to study- if we wished it so, to experience perhaps. So that’s what we are doing.”

Then she looked up, eyebrow slightly raised still.

“More questions, Mara?”

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

Her responses were, simultaneously, good and totally insufficient. Alchemy was for swords. To alchemize time...she couldn't remember Rave even hinting about that. Not that she'd had much time with her aunt that she could recall, apart from family dinners and basic training.

"Yeah, I've got more questions," she half-growled, and tried to think of some. "Where does all this stygium go? Who's in charge here -- you or him?" She gestured at the nearest qo'saarai. "Did you have anything to do with the cloaked ship that attacked my dad a couple months back? What species are you? Are you a Darksider? How much did she teach you?"

She tried to think of more; nothing was coming to mind. Oh yeah-

"Was she seriously that unhappy with us and everything?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

She patiently listened to the questions, all of them, until silence finally came. But the socially awkward woman knew a silence before the storm, when she felt it and so Cerita braced herself for whatever would come.

And came it did.

During the entire conversation Sarova held the feeling that Mara was still coping with the loss of her aunt and this was expressed, underlined when her last question burst out. For a moment she wasn’t sure what to do.

What can you do when the person you love leaves you?

When it had happened to Cerita there hadn’t been anyone for her, no one to tell her that everything would be alright, just a single note and a knapsack, before a lonely trip away from her home to whatever the stars would bring for her.

It turned out alright, of course. [member="Dissero"] was a sweetheart in that regard and she had turned out fine because of it.

So Sarova did the one thing that nobody had done for her, she attempted to pull Mara into an embrace and would simply pet her back. Awkwardly.

“She loved us all, Mara.” the Apprentice would reply to her question, in her own way. “Of that you can be sure.”

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

Hugging a Sith, even one that didn't feel terribly Dark, was generally considered to be a bad idea. But between Zeltron telempathy and the premises and flows of the conversation, she opted to just go with it. Cerita hugged her, she let Cerita hug her, and she broke away as soon as human/Zeltronly polite. Her eyes prickled embarrassingly.

"I don't think she knew what love was," she said, a little shakily, thinking of Fable. "I've met her other projects. Girls she took in and taught and -- like you and me. She was trying to live through us." Vicariously was the word, but she couldn't remember how to pronounce it.

"So what'll you all do? Just...sit here and do little things? Didn't she make you all to do more? She sure tried with me." And Rave had, inarguably, succeeded. Not in making Mara someone who could make a difference, but in nurturing the desire to make a difference.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Sarova wouldn’t comment on the first part, perhaps it was wishful thinking, perhaps she simply needed to keep the idea of a Rave loving her in her mind. She didn’t know and honestly? She was more than okay with that, she had learned to deal with her problems in her own way.

Pondering about what Rave may or may not have felt wouldn’t do her any good, which didn’t even bring to mind the reasons why she might have been incapable of- Right, they were ignoring that portion of what had been said.

Instead Cerita pulled away, giving the girl some space and leaned back against the wall. It wasn’t entirely strange for her to be uncomfortable.

The Darkside ain’t no joke.

“She trained me.” Sarova replied with a little shrug, before looking back at the refinery. There was something oddly relaxed at the image of the crystals being processed for further export, something peaceful and casual in the automatization. “In some ways I have become her heir, I suppose. Though I doubt I turned out the way she wanted me to.”

All the curiosity and inquisitiveness, but where is the killer instinct?

“The Qo'saarai? They train theirs, mine the stygium and generally keep this facility in order.”

Me?

“I learn and train, find out new things about the Galaxy.” she shrugged. “I am not always here, but the Qo’saarai mostly don’t mind my presence.”