Private Unkindled Flame Amid Haunted Sands

[Revna Marr]

Location: In Orbit Above Korriban

Tag: Hasuras Na-Gerra ​

Even after the brutal skirmish on Fiviune was said and done, Revna couldn’t chase away the memory, the spoken words, that had been delivered into her mind while she’d been fighting against Nefaron’s forces. Try as she might, she could not forget them, could not ignore them - and it echoed in her dreams as she slept as well as during her waking hours.

Eventually, sometime after the events on Fiviune, Revna could no longer ignore or push the memory aside. She had to figure out just who this ‘Hasuras na-Gerra’ was - and why he had called her what he had: daughter of fire. How had he found her? How had he managed to reach into her mind to deliver his message? These and a dozen more thoughts circled through her mind endlessly.

Of course, Revna wasn’t going in completely blind. She had sourced up some information about the warlord that commanded a pirate fleet, of all things. Of course, she had put herself in debt to a fething pirate lord, of all people. That was something she did not tell her Father; the Sith Lord would have been furious with her and no doubt subjected her to one of His infamously long rants, considering that pirates were often the target of Wonosan forces. And now she was trying to find a way to reach one, to speak to him, perhaps even work with him and his crew - should the Force will it.

But mostly, she had questions she wanted answered, and no one was going to stop her from getting those answers. Not her Master, not her Apprentices, not her lover and King. Not even the Sith Empress herself.

Revna figured that finding Hasuras na-Gerra would prove to be a bit of a challenge, but it seemed that the mysterious ways of the Force already knew what was coming and made the pathway towards knowledge and understanding a bit easier for her. The Pirate Lord and his fleet hovered beyond Korriban’s atmosphere, within the Blackwall - easy for her to access, and when she learned of this she wasted no more time. She took a ship from Vardin’s shipyards and flew the vessel herself; no one dared to stop or impede her way - at least until she reached striking distance of the fleet in orbit above the Tomb World. Now they could certainly impede her path forward, if they so desired.

When she was well within communications range, Revna pinged the largest ship of the fleet - a hail with a curt and direct message that cut straight to the matter at hand:

-"This is Revna of House Marr, I seek admittance to board your vessel. I have business with a certain Hasuras na-Gerra."-

With her message delivered, Revna set the ship into idle to wait for a response and kicked her feet back. She may have been preparing to become Queen of the red planet that drifted through space beyond her ship, but that did not give her the authority to just waltz aboard anyone’s ship. And so Revna waited with the patience of an assassin, eyes like twin hot coals watching the ships beyond her viewport.

Any time now…​

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

"Permission granted."

The terse reply and lack of activity from the Sabaoth destroyer, Scourge, might have been construed as hostile. Not so. They simply awaited the arrival of a long lost daughter. For lo, amid the docking bay there did await a reception of many Vahla warriors, resplendent in the stolen wealth of a dozen and more sacked worlds. Gold glittered in their hair and upon their hands and about their waists. Swords and blasters hung at ease, stuffed through sashes or worn in the most obscene manner. For were these not the children of Vahl, goddess of destruction? Death awaited each of them. There was but the manner of choosing. Glory, or ignominy.

Amidst his warriors, standing taller than almost all, stood the gene-warrior Hasuras na-Gerra. Born from a vat and modified to exhibit the traits most desired among his people, he was a specimen of prodigious size and brutal strength. He wore only loose robes of rich red and gold, a hammer in a beltloop at his waist.

His arms were crossed and he simply stood, awaiting the arrival of the one called Revna Marr, whom he granted a boon to in her hour of need. Not for any price save being kith and kin.

Revna Marr

 

[Revna Marr]

Location: Aboard the Vahlan vessel, Scourge

Tag: Hasuras Na-Gerra ​

Revna arched a silvered-black eyebrow at the terse response she received only moments later, before guiding her ship towards the vessel, Scourge, setting her own down within the designated docking bay. Beyond the viewport, she could see a gathering of individuals, though her gaze lingered a moment longer on the taller individual amongst their number. There was a slight pang of anxiousness within her heart, an emotion she shoved aside and replaced with a steely resolve. She had no idea how her interaction with these individuals was going to turn out, and so before she stepped off her ship she ensured her hidden shikkar blade was attached and in its place, as was her lightsaber. Truthfully, she didn’t need her physical weapons to still be dangerous in a fight - but it was a comfort to know they were there.

The young woman stepped free from the belly of her ship, her red and golden stitched black cloak kissing the ground as she faced the gathered warriors and stepped forward, an awfully cold aura of Darkness emanating from her as she stepped closer. Her burning gaze settled upon those that had gathered, taking in every detail at a moment’s notice: the gold adornments, the weapons shoved into sashes wrapped around waists, the very air and presence that they carried around themselves. This was a group who lived and died for the glory of the fight, who had no fear within their hearts and faced any challenge as if it was their last.

Likewise, Revna approached them without fear as well, though there was a touch of respect in her for them - from one warrior to another. She stopped a few paces away from the front most line of warriors, casting her gaze over them once more before locking them onto the tallest and largest of their group. Normally she would have bowed her head in a sign of respect or deference, but she did not know this individual, not yet - and he had not earned such a gesture of respect from her.

Revna took a moment to take him in, to study him: he sported ashen skin, fiery red hair, and a molten gaze; he stood with his arms crossed over a muscle bound chest, his body draped in crimson and gold robes. He was easily two or three feet taller than she was and, perhaps at any other point in time, she might have been intimidated by his large and imposing size but she had spent months within the company of the likes of Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis. She had long since adjusted to being in the presence of giants.

“I would inquire as to who amongst you would be this Hasuras na-Gerra…” Revna said in a clear and purposefully neutral toned voice after a moment of silence, still keeping her gaze on the tallest man, “ - but I believe I have my answer already. I take it that you are the one who saw fit to intrude upon my mind and offer your aid to me?”

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

Lo there she stood, arrogant as was her birthright though short of stature. Gerra looked upon her and found her form pleasing to behold. Dark of hair was she, streaked with silver, though no wrinkle touched a caramel face made lean by athleticism.

Her words came clear and confident and unfazed by the appearance of his vagabond crew. She addressed him, for he stood foremost and tallest, and she was right to do so.

“I am he,” answered Gerra. And his voice was like unto the rumbling of a volcano, deep and tectonic and possessed of a fire that simmered below the surface. Though that surface proved smooth and rich as obsidian.

He said no more. Made no boasts. Nor did he deride her with eyes and tone. He simply was who he was and cared little for the reception.

Revna Marr

 

[Revna Marr]

Tag: Hasuras Na-Gerra ​

A very deep voice emanated from the taller warrior, echoing across the space to drape itself over her senses. The sound of it rumbled against her chest, vibrating the very air currents around her as he confirmed to her who he was. It was all that he said to her in the moment and she appreciated the bluntness. There was no frilly fluffiness to his announcement, no bravado or grandiose gestures and words. None of his worries moved or spoke either, and she ignored them for the moment.

She wasn’t there for them, but for him.

Her gaze glimmered faintly, their fiery hue brightening with some sort of emotion as she crossed her arms over her chest. Was it amusement? Scorn? Intrigue? Something else? It was hard to say for sure for it was gone as quickly as it had come.

“You have my gratitude for your offered aid on Alvaria.” Revna said after a moment’s pause. “That said, I have questions and you have answers to my questions. So, shall we do this here or elsewhere? I have no issue standing in your landing bay in present company but I would rather have this conversation in private.”

She tilted her head to one side slightly, the glimmer having returned to her gaze as a small smile curled at the edges of her kohl dabbed lips. “Do you object to such a thing, Hasuras na-Gerra?”

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

“No. I do not.”

He let his arms fall and the sea of corsairs parted as a school of minnows before fast-swimming shark. Heavy footfalls beat a slow, methodical tattoo against the deck as he led her from the hangar bay and through a corridor. No sterile hall this, but lined with the art and furs and chandeliers of so many looted ships and cities. Painted in all manner and fashion by idle crew in murals from beautiful to outrageously graphic.

At last they arrived at his cabin at the end of the hall. The door hissed open then closed behind them. A massive rug carpeted the ground. The heads of many animals adorned the walls, including the skull of a Terentatek. On a work table and bench sat a disassembled series of rings and gemstones. In the far corner stood an immense four poster bed of some lavish wroshyr wood.

Gerra turned to regard her now that they stood alone.

“It is just Gerra,” he said to her, his words neither unkind nor obsequious in nature. “Speak your questions and I will answer.”

Revna Marr

 

[Revna Marr]

Location: Private Quarters

Tag: Hasuras Na-Gerra ​

Thankfully, the pirate lord didn’t object to her suggestion that they speak alone. He didn’t have to issue a command to his crew - they scattered and went their own directions as soon as his arms dropped and he turned to walk away from the landing bay. Revna took that as her cue to follow him, and so she did.

The warrior had a great stride, his footfalls heavy with weight and presence. Revna, being much smaller than he was, had to move a bit faster to keep pace with him, but she managed without too much issue. She was guided into a corridor, and almost instantly her eyes widened somewhat at what she beheld.

This was no ordinary and plain ship corridor, that was for sure. There were chandeliers hanging with glittery crystals, furs of every kind and texture, and artwork that drew the eye in or made the jaw drop open with wonder or shock. The little Sith woman viewed it all with appreciation; she was no stranger to finery such as this - her home away from home was the Palace Vardin, and she had spent quite some time within the Palace on Alvaria - a place that was ransacked and destroyed now. She was thankful that her Master, Darth Strosius, wasn’t present to see any of it. She could already hear the venomous and disgusted words spewing from his mask about it all. He had always found riches and the expression of such, distasteful.

Eventually, the corridor ended at a cabin door which opened to admit the two of them, before it closed behind her with an audible hiss. Revna took a moment to truly take in her surroundings, noticing instantly that the behemoth of a man had brought her into his personal chambers, given the massive bed that sat in a corner of the room.

She had asked to speak to him in a place of privacy, and he had certainly delivered.

The little woman let her gaze touch everything she could see, memorizing the location of every little bit and bauble. She eyed the mounted trophies on the wall with deep appreciation, especially the Terentatek skull which appeared to be a centerpiece of his display. She idly wondered if he had been the one to slay all the creatures…or if he had simply stolen them from others.

Her gaze snapped towards the man when he turned to face her more directly. He bid her to simply call him ‘Gerra’, and told her to speak her questions and he would answer them, his voice still deep but it wasn’t unkind. There was a very subtle shift to her posture; she seemed to relax a bit, inhaling a deep breath to release it, along with some tension that had built up over the last little while.

Now, all that burned in her eyes was the light of wary curiosity, the longing to understand things that were still a mystery to her.

“I have replayed your words spoken into my mind, over and over again, trying to understand. How did you sense me? How did you even find me to begin with? There are so many others in this Bogan-damned galaxy, how were you able to single me out amongst the rest of them? Who even are you...?” Revna stared at the man, Gerra, for a moment in silence, before she spoke again, her voice dropping to a tone that was somewhat bewildered:

"...and why would you be willing to offer your aid to someone you've never seen or met before, and not demand anything in return?"

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

“Hm.”

Gerra turned from her to stare at a tapestry hanging on the wall, stolen from a Hapan noble’s home. It depicted the moons and gardens of that world, the Hapan homeworld. But they too had been pirates once, like the Vahla.

“Do you ever stare into fire and see visions?” He answered her questions with a question. “Glimpses of the future. Of the past. Of what was and what might be. The Seers of the Vahla can. We see the binding threads of the universe writ in the flame. It is like…”

He held up a hand, “Seeing every bone and every vein and fine muscle holding your hand together. I searched for others with Vahla blood, to unite us. And so I sensed you when you unleashed your presence.”

Eyes like twin suns regarded her, burning with intensity.

“I am the leader of this tribe of the Vahla, the Hasuras. Our people. We ply the stars, calling no planet home as we seek our lost world of Vahl. This is ever our way, that of the starship nomad. And we do not deny aid to our kin.”

He reached out, immense hand surprisingly gentle as he placed a knuckle beneath her chin to tilt up her face so he might look fully into her eyes, for they stood with but an arm span between them.

“You have the blood of Vahla in your veins.”

Revna Marr

 

[Revna Marr]

Tag: Hasuras Na-Gerra ​

Her giant host was quiet for a moment as he seemed to regard some piece of artwork on the wall. Revna waited with her usual patience; there were things one couldn’t rush, and she would not press the man for answers. He would respond when he wanted to, that much she could sense just from her brief study of the man.

When Gerra did speak, he did so by returning her questions with a question of his own - one that made her head tilt a little further as she listened intently. Her eyes drifted for a moment, locking onto nothing as she repeated his question in her mind, about seeing visions in fire, and cycled through her memories to see if she could ever recall a time where such a thing had happened to her. Her gaze flickered back to him, however, when he explained that the ‘Seers of Vahl’ could see such things - past, present, even future snippets of events to come.

And it was through this ability that allowed him to sense her presence that day on Fiviune.

Gerra returned his attention to her as he divulged who he was; her suspicions or instincts had been right in feeling that he was the leader of this group of individuals. He mentioned that they were not only his people, but their people - and her frown deepened as she tried to make sense of it all, tried to grasp what he was saying. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his words - it was more or less the fact that she’d never considered that she belonged to any one group of individuals. She hesitated on even believing him, certain that he was mistaken. He had to be. She’d been alive for 30 standard years - why would this happen now instead of earlier on in her life?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt warm skin touch her chin, her eyes refocusing sharply to find a giant hand had reached out to lift her chin so that they could look each other directly in the eyes as he told her that the blood of his people, the Vahla, swam in her veins too. Gerra was close - closer than she probably should have allowed him to be, but she didn’t step away and neither did she push him away. It would be clear to him at least, that she was disturbed by the revelation - though if in a good or bad way wasn’t clear at the moment.

Several long moments passed as Revna weighed the information that was dropped in her lap; she wanted to challenge him on it, tell him it wasn’t possible - but she hesitated. What if he was right? What was she to do with that information if that was the case?

“I…I have seen and sensed things…but not in or through flame - just through the web that is the Force. Though...I never honestly tried…never thought to.” She said in response towards his initial question. Part of her suddenly wanted to try to see if she could see visions through fire, just to know if it was something she could even do, and give credibility to what Gerra told her.

Revna shook her head after a moment, still struggling to accept what he had said. “If you are right about this...which I am struggling to believe - then why reveal it to me now? I’ve been alive for thirty years and no one has told me about this, not even my own mother before she died and surely she knew. If you could have sensed me, then surely other Vahla would have too? Why…why was it you who reached out to me and not someone else? Could it be because I am a half-blood?”

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

"Why not indeed..." Gerra rumbled. "Some might call it destiny."

His hand beneath her chin didst move, fingers scarred by battle and scalded by forge fire tracing an errant lock of black and silver hair to tuck it back behind her ear, fingertips rough and calloused as they grazed cheek and ear with passage.

"I believe you forge your own fate."

The looming giant made no ploys of his words, not seeking to convince her or philosophize as might the denizens of the Empyrean court. Nor did he seek to grind her into some form of submission like the Kainate. Among the Vahla, the Sith tenets held true because their chains were broken. They freely traversed the stars, beholden to none but themselves. Their hierarchy was loose and one based on merit and honor, not on foolish bloodlines and rigid caste ranks. They might take slaves of those they sacked, but always these captives were first given the choice to join the crew. Many did.

"I and my tribe are from the Firefist. That is where I was born, upon one of our great ships. Only of late have we returned to the wider galaxy. I cannot speak for why the Vahla not of my fleet did not seek you out. Did not tell you of the truth. Perhaps they never looked. Or perhaps they have forgotten our ways and content themselves upon the worlds of the Sith, no more to ply the stars."

Gerra shrugged, one muscle-knotted shoulder rising and falling in dismissal.

"But that is the past. You know now. All that matters is what you do from this point forward."

Revna Marr

 

[Revna Marr]

Tag: Hasuras Na-Gerra ​

“Hmm. Destiny…” Revna murmured, still choosing not to move even as the giant of a man played with a lock of slightly wavy black and silvered hair that he tucked behind one of her ears, knuckles grazing cheek and ear alike. A coil of tension, like a loaded spring, tightened her muscles throughout her body as she became a bit more alert, a flicker of fire shining in her ember hued gaze. A faint smirk, one that perhaps could be seen as toying or coy, touched her lips as she stepped away, turning to gaze more fully upon the items that adorned his private chamber.

Revna pondered his statement about forging one’s own fate for a moment; she’d seen and experienced the mysteries of the Force moving of their own design, carrying her along with its current - but she had defied its chosen fate for her a time or two. She recalled with cold clarity the moment she had very nearly died in her Father’s arms, that terrible day on Dromund Kaas. The Force had seemed to wish her dead - but she fought back and made her own fate that day.

And now here she was, far more powerful than she’d ever been - and just now learning of her Vahlan heritage from a stranger that somehow seemed to elicit familiarity within her. That was a mystery she hoped to dive into...once her plethora of questions was answered and her curiosity satisfied.

Revna paused to glance over her shoulder at the giant Vahla warlord as he shared where he and his people had come from, and explained that he had no answer for why no one reached out to her before this point in time. She wasn’t disturbed or angered by his response, as she expected it.

"But that is the past. You know now. All that matters is what you do from this point forward." Gerra rumbled with a shrug. Revna was thoughtful and quiet once more as she let her eyes roam - first over her host, then back around at his lavishly adorned room.

“Hmm, yes…now I know…” Her ember eyes settled upon the desk with the disassembled jewelry and she stepped towards it to get a closer look at the loose gems, her eyes narrowing with a critical eye to find any imperfections within the various stones cut into different shapes and sizes. She did not reach out to touch any of them, though the temptation to do so was strong. She would just look, for now.

After another long moment, she returned her attention to Gerra, the light of curiosity burning in her eyes and upon her face. “Tell me more, Gerra. What customs do the Vahla have? Their culture? What do they take pride in…what angers them? You said the ancient homeworld was lost…how? What happened?”

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

“You seek for me to explain five thousand years of culture in but a matter of breaths,” he grunted.

Gerra stood still, the impassive mountain to her questing and curious wind as she perused his chambers.

He watched as she looked upon the disassembled rings and their gemstones. He waved a hand.

“Look. Touch. An unfinished project for my brother. Rings alchemized and imbued with the Force. They are but baubles yet. See the imperfections in rubies and the sapphires? It is folly to seek perfection. All things are flawed. But there is a beauty in such flaws.”

His eyes lingered, but not upon the gemstones.

“You have many questions. I will summarize. We do not know why we lost our world. Perhaps we angered our goddess of destruction, Vahl. Who can say? Some say we are swift to anger. I say we are like the fires of the goddess. We burn brightly, with passion and fury. And we do not fear death, so long as it is a good and glorious death.”

His footsteps shifted and he loomed behind her.

“We live. We love. We reave. We are wildfire. Our heat burns, but it can also warm. We value our freedom. And though we spy the future, we live like there is no tomorrow. For the flames can deceive you…”

Gerra picked up a gold band of metal and held it before her.

“Perhaps I shall make you a gift of gold as well. Do you value such trinkets?”

He called them thus, but they were hardly trinkets or baubles. They were his creation, forged by his expert hands to be the pinnacle of alchemical craftsmanship.

Revna Marr