Private Wrath of The Amalgam, Part One

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Karlie had left her father's office, but not before turning and embracing him like she had done so many countless times growing up.
He were her rock, the stone upon which she had built her new foundation when that of her mother's crumbled to the ground. Her father saved her. He always seemed to be saving her.

Karlie were grown up now, as far as she could despite some mental implanted blocks by which her mother had planted before her demise. These implants were like physical scars. Scars which were meant for Karlie to abstain from sexual contact. Her wicked mother in order to assure her daughter (which by the way was being primed as a new vessel for her to take over) would not break the cycle of her genetic continuity had somehow implanted blocks in Karlie and all of the previous daughter/sisters. These blocks were essential for her to continue to obtain immortality. Darth Rigor had to take possession of her daughter/sisters before they could be inseminated.
If any of her sister/daughters ever became pregnant before she took over their body, the cycle of her own immortality would be broken, as the vessel (daughter/sister) could only produce one exact match for Rigor to slip into. This unauthorized new spawn would not have the complete DNA match for Rigor to slip into. Rigor had to have taken possession of her sister/daughter's body first, before it could reproduce to create a new vessel (daughter/sister). A second insemination, even if Rigor later took over would not produce a complete sister /daughter match and that would end the curse.

"Karlie..." he hugged his daughter. "...my child, my dear child. You are not your mother. By far, not your mother..."

Karlie were feeling it, as she once felt it. Her father had adored her mother. She remembered. Could only really remember the good times, as her mother in priming her for possession, was by all accounts lovable... caring... inspiring. But that were to assure her daughter/sister's vessel (body) would easily accept her possession of it when Karlie reached of age.
Only that Karlie now were past that age by 7 or so years already. Rigor was desperate now as it were a kind of now or never, should Karlie get inseminated and give birth without her in possession. Darth Rigor who had at her cycle taken the name Karla had, as in the previous countless generation cycles put a block on all her sister/daughters to abstain them from having sex before she took over their bodies. It were an ancient contingency plan. And with this generation (Karlie), it proved its worth.
Still, Rigor were running out of time, for Karlie's own clock had started ticking feverishly. And we're talking at 25 and still a virgin, that clock was primed to detonate at any time.

"I really needed to hear that from you, father." She replied before the two broke their embrace. Looking into her father's eyes, Karlie could see a good portion of herself in the and he just as well himself in hers.


Tour of duty...

She were within the compound. That much Karlie surmised without asking specifics, as she made her way through the bureau of the IBI.
"Major..." Karlie acknowledged a passerby. She had remained formal for the most part since she came planet side. Sure, she had been quite a hothead not six or so months ago when she thought she ruled the universe around her. But that was before Melida/Dan and that minute confrontation with the Vicelord before he lit up that system's metropolis. It had an adverse affect and opened her eyes as to the absolute power one can yield if given...or taken as it were with siths. And she knew all too well of siths, for her blood had once course it's fire like the breath of dragons. But she were young at the time and quite naive when her mother were exposed and felled by her father Tarssin...

Karlie shook those memories off. It did little good rehashing what she still didn't fully understand. Yes, she were set on stopping her mother/sister. But the memories of her youth when her mother were priming her...they were based on the powerful emotion of 'love'... a mother's love.

Karlie stepped up to her dura-glass office door which opened sensing her presence. it were keyed to her biometrics...much like the secret hidden lab they had discovered in her own home estate. It were when she had thought Vera had died for her. And in a manner, she had, or proved that she would.
"Come on Karlie...stop it.." She urged herself as she entered her domain.
Her office seemed untouched. But she knew better. The bureaus had gone over it with a fine tooth comb upon her disappearance. Most likely ordered by her father. No, she couldn't blame him. Any father would tear a world apart for their daughter, right? well, her father certainly seemed he would.

A quick log in and she opened up the bureaus main frame files.
Yes...
Yes, she were here, here on Castagne. Karlie stared at the running file and bio-metrics of the biot that the bureau had been allowed to secure on the biot. It were Nine's primary directives, Karlie figured to have her daughters trust Castagne. Karlie nodded to herself. Yes, she too trusted nine. Nine had saved her life. nine had given her Vera...

Karlie stared, biting the corner of her lower lip... so she were in Rom's guise. Had been in Rom's guise since Karlie had left Castagne. It were in the files.
Karlie didn't know what she wanted more... to see Vera or Rom. Berkana (God) it were so conflicting; karlie's emotions.
In one hand, she knew she loved Vera, despite her being an electric dream..a desire. On the other hand, Rom evoked feelings of a close and missed friend. Why in Heavens name were they the same people?..er...biots rather....er... no, no, intelligent viable life forms...
"...oh frak me" She sighed, closing the files. She had updated enough on what had been transpiring through the weeks. She had promised herself to stop riding it.
Karlie had returned to Castagne, to defeat her so called wicked mother/sister, rescue Nine, and...and...sigh, and come to terms with her relationship concerning Vera/Rom. if Vera/Rom would come to forgive her.
She missed Vera/Rom, and Westenra too. But Karlie had been so hurt, so deceived that after foregoing the shock of finding Vera/Rom were alive, that she then freaked the frak out on Vera/Rom for all the lies, the deceptions, the stupid games-

No.
No, she was wrong. Karlie knew it had been her own faults which had blinded her. For someone as intelligent as she were, she had been blinded by her own emotions and desires.

"Wait a second..." her photographic memory just now flagged something she had gone over and not picked up before.

Karlie logged back in and quickly scrolled to the point that had suddenly flashed in her mind.
"Who the frak are these three?" She asked herself, now going over the details of a Maple Harte Moya Virtu Laertia Io ... what the-
"Shoot Ian, what the hell are you up too with this motley bunch?"
Damn that Colonel. "You couldn't find yourself some battle scared bunch of hags, could you? No, you have to surround your ass with pretties all around you. Damn you, Ian!" and she slapped the laptop down.



20 minutes later....

Karlie had changed into her IBI field uniform. She be damned if she showed up in the Colonel's get together in civis. Although the uniform was for actual field work and not a requirement really. But she needed to look official...and ... and well, capable, if not tough looking as the motley crew that Ian had assembled.
Damn that Harte woman was going to be some good competition...
"Ok...ready?...breathe Karlie. " She said to herself upon coming up to the conference room door.
"One , two, three..."

The doors opened and in stepped Karlie.

"Gentleman..." Ian obviously.
"...ladies, hope I'm not too late for this meeting." No, she definitely had enough self control to not make any extended amount of eye contact with Rom, than with anyone else.
...not to mention the damn Colonel had a holo-deck thingy going on with grass, trees and...
damn him! Was this a picnic or a serious meeting going on?

 

[The Amalgam]

Nine screeched in shock as ice cold water was dumped on her by The Amalgam's soldiers. The chamber they were in was a bright, sterile white.

"Good morning, Lady No." The Amalgam purred, sitting in a white, throne-like seat across from the chained, stripped naked vampiress, her head shaven, covered in bruises from the daily beatings. It had been near round the clock torture from the moment she had arrived here.

Nine coughed.

"Get any rest?" The Amalgam asked, looking at herself in a hand mirror and smoothing out her hair.

"YOU WILL BE GUTTED AND YOUR ENTRAILS CAST INTO THE INFERNO OF MOUNT MUSPELHEIM!" Nine screeched at her, only enraged by weeks of torture, rather than broken.

"My, my you really 'are' a badass, aren't you? All this torture and you still are screaming mutilation promises. Such a turn-on."

"I WILL OVERSEE YOUR HEINOUS, HEINOUS TORTURE MYSELF! FETH YOU! FETH YOU 'AND' YOUR STUPID CYBERPUNK FETISH WEAR! FETH YOU!!! FETH YOU!!!"

Nine screamed as The Amalgam blasted her casually with lightning.

"It's not fetish wear. Its a catsuit for aspiring supervillains." The Amalgam sneered, getting up from her throne and kicking Nine square in the ribs, breaking one.

"Don't make it harder on yourself..." the Shi'ido whispered, before grinning. "Oh, who am I kidding? It'll make breaking you all the sweeter..."

"I have survived Darth Shojo. And frankly? She was a ton more creative..."

"I've only been softening you up the past 007 weeks..." The Amalgam taunted, snatching Nine by her cheeks. "And now that my daughters are finally on there way for the big super special family reunion I've simply got to find a way to make Uri and Julia want to stay. Particularly Uri. I knowww..."

The beast pulled out a datapad with a remote camera feed.

Nine's puffy, bruised eyes saw Sawa Ike and Elise Ike on the moon, with their security.

The Amalgam's comlink was out.

"Capture them alive...it will be easy..." she whispered.

The soldiers had to hold Nine down as she tried to leap for the witch, tasing her and beating her to a pulp.

The Witch cut open her palm after pulling off a glove. White, bubbling blood leaked out and she smeared a spell on Nine's head, whispering as the quivering, veaten woman was unable to move.

"This should hopefully transmit your pain to your ex...her yandereness is strong for you...can you hear me, Sawa?" The Amalgam whispered into Nine's ear, hoping Sawa would catch the words through what remained of her link with Nine.

"I've got your girl...and I am deriving immense pleasure from hurting her like the weak filth she is..." the beast whispered. "If you hurry, maybe you can save her..."

The witch left the crippled vampire broken and bleeding on the floor.

"Brian!" She called out to one soldier, who immediately stood at attention.

"I checked with the smugglers. They're ready to move NPC Treasury here. Send her the sign to meet at her designated pick-up. So much is about to happen..."

 

[Boriskno Fel Set]

The Castan SD-Technor remained on the outskirt of the Castan Solar system, logging in the expected ships.

Bo were a General in the Castan Navy, specifically the Marines. He had been the one whom had first intersected Karlie upon her return.The new carrier she had brought to Castagne had impressed him. Not for it's armaments, but because it were designed and commissioned by Karlie herself. How she had been able to pull it off without even the ICI knowing about it was impressive enough. But how in Hell's fiery inferno had she managed to get Mandal Arms to build it for her was something else.
lest not mentioning the 6k battle-droids she managed to acquire from a notorious sith lord, Darth Tacitus was beyond his comprehension.
Yes, his little boot-camp trainee had not only grown up, but put a smile on his face. Ok, maybe not a smile per say, a smirk.

"Transmission from the cabinetry coming in sir." the communication's ensign reported. "Should I forward it the conference room, sir?"

"Negative, initiate the hologram here."

It were Tarssin Destat, Head of the Cabinet, Viceroy for Castagne according to said standing treaty with the CIS.
"All initial invitee's and ships have been cleared through, Viceroy." Bo immediately went on to report.

"Good, good." the Viceroy seemed quite satisfied with a good demeanor. No doubt Tarssin was relieved somewhat to see his daughter planet side. Still, the fate of his daughter Bo could not yet ascertain.
"I'll be forwarding your new away orders as soon as Colonel (Ian) Sade coordinates a viable plan with the coalition. Till then, continue watch at our borders."

"As you wish, Viceroy..." Bo replied, seemingly hesitating a second.
It were obvious he had something on his mind to ask of his Viceroy.
"Sir, would this coalition include the new carrier?" He were asking in a round about way if it included Karlie, the Viceroy's daughter. Bo weren't certain if the spunky blonde were re-instated with the IBI, incarcerated or plainly just getting grounded at home for eternity.

"General Fel... you will be notified of our coalition strengths and weaknesses when the time comes."

"Understood sir." His eyes fell for a second.
He knew the blondes strengths and weaknesses. Her strengths outweighed the few personal glitches that faulted her. Bo had personal experience with Karlie, as he had been put in charge of her training when she had entered Marine boot camp. That training was a prerequisite for her to be inducted into the IBI Bureau. Bo had not broken Karlie at boot camp, but honed her to be one of his best female graduates. It was by all means not an easy climb for both. She tested his patience, while he tested her capabilities. Karlie graduated being the best she could be and in top physical form.
Ok, so Bo easily noticed she got a little soft around the edges since she graduated 7 years earlier. But Hell that, the girl made up what she lacked in physical strength with intelligence.

"General... thank you for your support." Tarssin then said before he closed the channel.

Bo nodded following the holo-projection dissipating. he understood what Tarssin had relayed to him. Bo, along with Ian had persuaded Karlie's father to give his daughter some time, that they were certain that she would return and return with more than she left. Neither Ian nor Bo had any clue as to Karlie's commissioning a droid troop carrier from the Mandos, let alone obtaining the amount of battle droids she came back with.

"Major Dulass...." Bo had opened up an internal channel. "...you can commence battle station drills."
They were to remain on the outskirts of the Castan Solar system, they least make good use of the opportunity to go through some battle drill...

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple's focus on Ian was broken by the arrival of Karlie Lynn Destat .

To quote Keanu: Whoa the Bounty Hunter thought, her weakness for blonds taking hold a moment, while her illness allowed her to make an internal OOC reference. Such an amazing beauty.

Maple jumped out of her seat because "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer started playing very loudly which startled her, though only she could hear it and no one else.

Knowing full well thanks to her schizophrenia that nothing she had done at the moment warranted Robert Palmer singing OOC, awesome as it was, she slowly turned a momentarily completely insane gaze to the rest, trying not to freak out as she hallucinated Darth Maul in one corner of the room lipsynching to Mr. Palmer's lyrics while Padme, Shaak Ti, and Aayla Secura danced behind him with guitars, and finally realized why the damn music had triggered.

Vera had honed in on Karlie's presence from the moment she had detected Karlie's scent. She was clearly on the verge of salivating at the sight of the blond.

What the hell...the murderous, bloodthirsty Artificial Vampire had a crush?!

Maple glanced back at Karlie. Not that she could blame Vera.

"You aren't late! You're just in time!" Westenra called out enthusiastically, waving at Karlie.

"H-Hello...Karlie..." Vera said, a hint of actual nervousness in her voice. She knew how sensitive it was between them. One wrong word now...

Maple shook off her encroaching madness.

"Doctor Destat..." Maple spoke curtly, pushing aside Karlie's femme fatale looks. "My name is Maple Harte and the woman in the spiky jacket is Laertia Io. If anyone can be said to be the arch-enemies of The Amalgam its me and her. We'll do everything we can to help bring that Beast that attacked your planet to justice, but I need you to tell me everything you experienced while in Rigor's captivity. You may know something without realizing it."

"Could you tell us anything about The Amalgam's state of mind? Rigor's?" Moya asked. "We've all had run ins with her. You are the latest. As far as we can tell, you're one of the few non-Force Users to survive an encounter with her. Impressive, all things considered."

Maple rubbed her eyes, blinking the stress back.

"She's not stupid. She's going to anticipate attack. If there is a plan, our execution must be flawless."

(Cutaway of Vaako failing to kill The Lord Marshal)

"Weez arr plottinz tuh assassynaytez dhem botth..." Laertia said quietly after Maple, dark gray eyes unable to make contact with Karlie's due to her Brain Damage suddenly giving her what she called 'Stage Fright'.

"What's this Darth Rigor's interest in you anyway?" Maple asked.

Vera spoke up at that point.

"Rigor's her mother. She wants Karlie's body for habitation."

Maple AND Laertia both got a chill at how similar their situation was to Karlie's.

Maple sat back down.

"So one beast that thinks itself my mother, and another beast that actually is someone's mother. Ohhhh, I'm in for some good therapy sessions..." Maple muttered to herself.

NPC Treasury

Alwine Daye

Sawa Ike and Elise Ike , I will continue your part in a seperate post with The Amalgam

 

[Elise Ike]

Perhaps some warmer clothing would have been nice but the force took the brunt of the hard winter winds as the skiff rode out into the icy desert. Her eyes facing forwards, feeling around as the group silently skimmed across the frozen floor, ignoring Sawa for the time being, knowing full well her grandmother was keeping a very close eye on her. Elise just had to make sure the older Ike directed her rage at a different target then her, all the more incentive to find this kidnapper. Just because they were capable of living several thousand years didn't equate to having mild patients, "so, mind filling me in on who this Amagawhatcha ma call it person is? All I know so far is that they stole your partner but that is more or less it".

Sawa Ike
Maple Harte

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

The Amalgam...
The Amalgam were no more a threat to Karlie than any of a gazillion villains popping up like dandelions vying for center stage across this chaotic galaxy.
Her only real concern were that abomination of her so called mother. And THAT had somehow turned into a love/hate of mommy dearest. But were it really her mother/sister Karla, or something this Amalgam with her over exemplified over the top botox injected lips had conjured up or reanimated for some insane reason or other. Like...like there weren't enough super villains in the galaxy already?

Karlie stayed her eyes from rolling, as Maple....yes, she had read the girl's rap sheet... went about introducing herself, then the rest of the motley crew. Karlie took what Maple had to claim like a grain of salt. So Ok, they had a common enemy.
Did this make them friends?
The only real friends she thought she had once, had lied to her. Well Ok, the two had been really one. Oh how cruel it were played...so, so cruel. Karlie's heart had been broken not once, but twice by the same entity...or AI

Still.... her heart; broken or not, still beat for what was lost.
"Karlie..." She corrected Maple. "You can call me Karlie, if you don't wish to be called Miss Harte."

One by one, her eyes faced those whom had enough interest to look over to her.
"Laertia..Io, is it?" Of course it were. Karlie had heard right. But it procrastinated the current form of intro. That is until she took a long but shallow breath so as to not make it seem obvious that meeting up with those blues of Rom could well have the power to stop her heart right there and then. But aside from a skip, it continued to pump vital oxygen to her brain.
"Rom....I believe we've met before...." Seriously?
"West...chipper as always." She smiled at the other android. It were true. Westenra had no ulterior motives...had not lied, nor disguised her true identity from the beginning. Karlie had no reason to believe it had been in league with Rom and it's other half. Both whom Karlie had cried herself to sleep over on too many nights. "It's good to see you." She were focused on Westenra when she spoke the latter.

"Ahem.." Clearing her throat...
"As far as the Amalgam is concerned..." She thought on it a second, as she moved away, looking over to Maple.
"There is not much I can tell you on a first hand basis, other than her interest in me were on behalf of that abomination Darth Rigor." Oh how she had to say those words out loud to remind her to keep out of the honey trap...Karlie still loved the idea of the mother she once knew as a child. The hate/love she had of her own mother/sister.

"You see..." She walked toward the Colonel, being he were next to Westenra, the only two she weren't intimidated by. Yes, Rom/Vera still had her heart clenched tightly in its fist. But she weren't going to let them know that. "...upon my own tactical analysis of the attack Castagne experienced a month ago, we, or rather the population of Castagne should have fared as bad if not worse than what was disclosed on Melida/Dan. The virus on both systems had a common denominator...Darth Rigor. Both shared the same aggressive RNA transcriptions. They were designed by the same maker.
Only the devastation on Melida/Dan just being an airborne contagion was a precursor, an trial run for the attack on Castagne. But Castagne didn't suffer the full devastation that Malida/Dan did-" Karlie, as she were talking and pacing about, hadn't realized she inadvertently had come face to face with Rom.

At that instant, her breathing became shallow, yet...yet she couldn't tear her eyes from Rom's. Vera was in there with her. She were certain vera was staring behind those of Rom. Nevertheless, Karlie did sever that connection, taking a few steps on over to maple and Io.
"Castagne, having been their primary target, was abandoned. I was abandoned." Karlie were now facing Maple.
"Darth Rigor had me.
Had me drugged and bound under her scalpel. And what did she do? She gave me a trim, and left me the scalpel.
So all that had transpired with Melida/Dan and Castagne was to get a lock of my hair?
That's bull fodder!" Oh she were mad just thinking about it. Mad enough to wind up face to face with Rom. Eyeing Rom intensely for a moment. It were obvious Karlie had some personal issues yet unsolved with the Chiss.
It weren't till the Colonel cleared his throat that Karlie recomposed herself and took a step back... however, still eyeballing Rom till she started speaking again.

"As I was saying...
The entire tribulation that both systems suffered were orchestrated for the sole purpose of exacting some age old vendetta against Nine Lives . The Amalgam only obsession was the capturing of Nine in the most over the top villainous manner.
Darth Rigor was for the most part only resurrected as an elaborate diversion, a mere side kick to this villain the Amalgam. Only..." Karlie paused another second for a more dramatic effect.

"Only that this apparition the Amalgam resurrected, reanimated, reconstructed, whatever... has in fact become the unexpected epitome in her own elaborate opus.
This Darth Rigor, if in fact is the resurrection of Karla Linnet Deepgaze won't be expecting me to be seeking her out. I've run from her nearly all my life.
The last thing she expects is me coming at her at full force.
Our objective should be to divide their combined strength." Karlie could feel some skepticism...basically stemming from Sade. She knew for the most part what he were thinking...her droid army. It was a weak force in his eyes. Rom had demonstrated that right in front of Karlie.

"I've got something besides my diversion of droids. And that's what they are really, a diversion. The Amalgam has spawned and cloned a collective hive of soldiers. My droids will even that playing field. They will be not only our initial diversion, but also our means of capturing some of these spawned abominations she created. All I require is to capture one alive...and that 'ONE' will cause her lair, her house to crumble before her very eyes."
Karlie knew if Nine were here, she'd know exactly what she were getting at.

"One could say that would be like poetic justice. Something this over the top villain the Amalgam, would recognize as such before her demise." This little blonde bombshell not only came dressed to kill in her IBI uniform, but had some kind of underlying secret weapon.


Laertia Io / Vera Mina as Rom Jin

 

[The Amalgam]

The Amalgam meditated within her inner sanctum, drawing on the power of the Dark Side as she watched Nine be burned with pokers. The Vampire's screams brought shudders of delight from the gorgeous humanoid abomination.

Nine only continued to stare at The Amalgam in a state of near-psychotic hatred as the cattle prods hit her.

"I cannot wait until they both get here. I've missed many birthdays of theirs. You're a mother, Ni-Ne. Would it tear at you to miss a birthday?"

"Such sentiments expressed from such an indiscriminate slayer of the innocent are inherently false and poisonous." Nine gasped. "You're a monster."

"Oooo, somebody's been catching up on their pop culture references." The beast joked, opening her eyes.

The next question from Nine, during a pause in the cattle prod torture made The Amalgam scowl.

"How are they your daughters? You've said that constantly. But they don't even know who you really are. So who the hell are you?! Why do you torment these two so vindictively?"

The Amalgam simply smiled. She got up from her meditative position, walked over and whispered the answer into her ear.

When Nine heard the answer, her own hate filled scowl turned to one of sorrow.

My mother's curse repeats itself...the Vampire thought as The Amalgam walked away with a self satisfied smirk.

"No real mother could ever do what you are doing, Fiend." Nine snarled. "You desire possession. You think they are yours, and that gives you the right to turn a magnifying lens on them until they burn. Is that your plan. You hope to break them once they fully understand?"

"Very astute!" The Amalgam chirped, getting back into her meditative position."

Nine snorted mockingly. "I think you are a victim of your own success, Beast. Maple is more resiliant than you know. And from what you have told me of this other, it sounds like she developed her code of ethics in spite of you trying to subvert her."

"Speaking of Laertia..." the Amalgam smiled sadistically. "I know something about her that may interest you..."

Nine narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"She shares a common ancestry with you through her mother. She's the last remaining descendant of The Li-Ves. And I'm going to make her like me, Ni-Ne. I'm going to makes her feast on the souls of every innocent she can get her hands on. I'm going to teach her to like it. To crave it. I'lI teach them both to crave ripping the flesh off. To wear it."

The Amalgam closed her eyes as Ni-Ne tried to lunge from her five point restraints with an inhuman snarl, knowing The Amalgam was not lying. It was pointless. She was too weak.

"Continue." she signalled to her torturers. Nine began screaming in agony again. She got out her com-link.

"Brian, any news on NPC Treasury ?"

"Agents should be reaching her shop right now to deliver the message."

"Good. And Sawa Ike and Elise Ike ?"

"We're about to spring the trap."

"Good. You're a dear, Brian, did I ever tell you that?" The Amalgam asked politely.

"All the time." Brian assured her on the other end.

"Ah, well...good. Call me when they are unconscious. Hurt them badly. But keep them intact. And pick me up a little plate of the scones you and the others enjoy so much. You know the ones I like--" the Amalgam stopped a moment to address the torturers.

"Guys, time out a sec. Let her breath a moment. Brian, you still there?" she asked over the link as the torturers ceased, gagging the screaming Nine.

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"Anyway, you know the little scones I like? The ones covered in the dark chocolate, bring up a plate of those. Guys? Hey, guys!" The Amalgam called out to the torturers as one of them started punching Nine in the face. They stopped, facing their instructor.

"Brian's bringing scones. You two want anything?" The murderous fiend asked.

"I could go for some water and nasal blockers. The captive will have to be cleaned soon."

"Stuart wants bottled water. Clark?" She politely asked the other torturer.

"They still got cheeseburger rations in the storage?" Clark The Torturer asked.

The Amalgam spoke into the link. "Clark wants to know if there are still cheeseburger rations."

"You kidding? We got two crates left full of the stuff."

"Varieties?" She asked.

"One with bacon. One with steak chop."

"Steak Chop!" Clark called out excitedly.

"Second that!" The Amalgam said just as enthusiastically into the link.

"Got ya." Brian confirmed, cutting communication.

She waved her hand.

"Continue." She said, smiling at Nine's screams.

Meanwhile...

Other skiffs, which had been trailing Sawa and Elise's skiff while cloaked, suddenly unveiled, speeding up rapidly, the minds of its soldiers hidden due to extreme discipline.

They began to fire stun weapons, knockout gas, and ion weapons to disable both them and their vehicle. The gas worked on skin contact...

OOC

Karlie Lynn Destat how about we move the timeline up by a day or so to get to the actual mission planning?

Alwine Daye , feel free to have yourself at the IBI compound to meet with Maple and Laertia and the others.

 

[NPC Treasury]

It had been a while since Kay had heard from The Amalgam . But it wasn't as though she was counting the days at all. She was very much used to visits with people that she knew to be few and far between. Yet that was to be expected, given that she was in exile on a backwater planet far from the goings on in the rest of the Galaxy. She kept herself busy with her tea shoppe, hardly even risking a glance at the holonews or holonet lest she find herself concerned about something. And right now she didn't want that.

The Galaxy cared little for her, so there was no reason that she should care for it. Not anymore. As far as the Force was concerned, she was bitter towards it. There wasn't a lot of times in her life in which she had benefited from it. She wasn't like her late husband. But even then, the Force did little to help him either.

Kay stood waiting at the rendezvous point, satchel hung on one of her shoulders. There was tea within it of course, extra clothing, as well as some delicious treats which included her Darkside cookies. Amy loved those, so she wouldn't dream of paying her Bestie a visit without some of them on hand.

It wasn't often nowadays that she would travel, especially now that she no longer had a ship. So it was curious to know of just where she'd end up. Yet nothing was more curious than how Amy and herself had become Besties to begin with. They were enemies at first, yet a visit to the Graveyard and eachother saving their lives changed all that. They grew a respect for one another, despite their differences. And they cared for eachother as any friends would. It was an unusual pairing, but that was probably what made it all the more enduring.

Kay just couldn't help but wonder just what it was that Amy was up to these days. No doubt she needed her for something.

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

She weren't mad.
She were scorned. Karlie had run, had taken to flee. It weren't so much the deception, but the loss of another deep attachment she had given herself to. The emotional pain had been too much to bear that moment. It were the same..the abandonment of perception...of being loved as she loved. There never seemed to be the same return.
And like the hate/love she had for her mother (the love from memory being her cursed secret) it now carried on over to Vera. Only Vera was in a different skin. In the likeness of her friend. A friend whom had stood by her till she were sliced, diced and blasted to pieces: Rom. Rom was still her best friend...if she could separate the two.
Oh, how she had loved Vera.

"I'm not late in the game, Colonel." Karlie shot back.
Two days following her return and she were back to square one with the knuckle head. Of course 'Knuckle Head' was what she called him when he opposed her ideas. This time, it were his lack of confidence that she had enough resources behind her to continue to be part of the covert coalition. An operation that would take them into sith territories. The CIS of course had no knowledge of their ensuing plan in rescuing Nine Lives whom were in sith controlled space.
This little interlude were in Karlie's IBI office between her and Ian, following some abrasions they were having concerning her role. or the role Ian thought she should cover, which wasn't up to par with Karlie's own plans and ambitions.

"On the contrary, I were in the front line of this entire contention...this so called dissonance or whatever you want to call it." Her arguments were based on known facts. Melida/Dan was the fuse that lead to the entire keg blowing up in their faces...right under their very nose. Darth Rigor was back in the fold. Only this time, she had brought with her an unknown element in the equation, the Amalgam.
Whether Rigor had returned, been resurrected or was perhaps only a pawn, a doppelganger created by this amalgam; THAT was still unclear. Unclear at least to the ICI, Colonel Sade and most of her own IBI directors.
Her father Tarssin Destat seemed to be her only supporter, as the majority of his Cabinet were not convinced that the Rigorof Castagne's past could have returned.
History has a way of repeating itself. It's man's irony to do so, over and over despite all of it's past failures. This round, it were all different. The means of Rigor's recent return was what divided them. Rigor had always returned alone.
All said and done, there was enough party and Cabinet support to back Tarssin to form this coalition. Or as our blonde still referred to it at the 'Motley Crew'. This of course was partly due to the newcomers like Maple Harte and Laertia Io not to mention her disposition with Rom Jin who had been Vera all along-
Arrrg.... Karlie could explode thinking about it, the way she did...

She took a breather, a moment to pipe up while Sade continued on his rant about it best she keep to the sidelines until they formulated a working plan.
"Look, I admit I ran. " She had to explain how she had come to terms with leaving Castagne the way she did...especially after the attack.
"I was not in a good place at the time" Oh yes she was, as it had been her beach house. She just couldn't handle her emotions as they had gone on overload.

"But I am back now. Back and stronger than ever." This of course was Karlie's own evaluation of herself, due to the fact that Vera had not emerged once, giving the blonde the satisfaction that maybe, just maybe Vera was genuinely remorseful and suffering because of it. And Vera should be suffering emotionally, as she had.

"I didn't come back to rehash old wounds." Karlie had been skating around the form of Rom, the version she still considered friend for the past two days. Of course Rom staying in 'blueberry' form greatly aided Karlie in keeping Vera separated in her mind. The blonde by the way had no problems with Westenra Mina other than coming to terms that she had been too blind to put two and two together... Mina and Westenra having the same surname 'Mina'.
Love could be so blinding sometimes...

"I've come across a few breakthroughs...and I'm not just meaning the droids.
I'll have you know I've stumbled upon a few discoveries, and developments during what you've been referring to as my sabbatical. And speaking of such, a sabbatical was for all intent and purposes what I truly needed...so you know. Sometimes one has to step back and reset.
I sulked for awhile, sure. Maybe....maybe for a couple of days. I was besides myself..." Karlie slowly walked away from Ian, as she recalled her emotional state at the time (and still now, if Ian didn't know better).

"Yes, I can admit now I had fallen hard for Vera." She turned, facing Ian. Karlie bore no shame in that, only the scars of the deception.
Ian brought up the fact that Rom was the distraction he were talking about. The very fact that he needed Rom, Westenra and Nine's entire infrastructure to make this rescue work was the reason he thought Karlie was their weakest link. Yes, their plan called for Karlie as a distraction. But that was all he wanted Karlie to do.

"NO!
You can't arbitrarily just call the shots over on me, Ian! I'm still a viable executive agent of the IBI. When it comes to Castagne's sovereignty at stake here, both our bureaus got equal powers. It's part of out Constitution of checks and balances.
You say you need me in some scope, yet you're limiting me." Oh, she were getting mad at him, this knuckle head.

"I've upgraded these new battle droids with programming. Programs inspired by Nine's own-" She suddenly stopped, realizing her over excitement. Quickly pulling back, Karlie resumed her professional posture. It was cute the way she did it, only Ian were still not sold.
"Anyway, they are an independent force... a collective entity to be reckoned with." She weren't about to go into details he could not understand, as knuckle head wasn't taking her serious. "You can evaluate one...just DON'T destroy it in the process. They...they have consciousness. They will be diversion enough...and then some." Of course they would, for she took what she learned of Nine's creations...allowing them independent thinking, and severing their direct command links to her person while keeping their primary directives much like Nine's daughters. She had labored over their programming for many days and nights. They didn't posses the same processors as Nine's daughters, but enhanced hardware that gave them near processing abilities of independent Castan marines.
Ahem..of course, they had yet to be tried in real battle situations...

"You know my research into of viral engineering. Well, with what I was trying to convey to you and your
Motley crew two days prior, is that I've broken her code, Ian. Broken Rigor's code. Her entire scope of RNA sequences. And I've got a doozy, waiting for mother's creations that'll curl her toes twice over. " She said with focused intent. Yes, Karlie had imagined getting the upper hand on her mother/sister, Darth Rigor. Had replayed many scenarios where her mother Karla would get a good scolding from her. Of course the woman would be restrained, Karlie was no fool...



Hours later... after wearing the colonel down.

"We're not late. You are. You could have conceded to my terms over an hour ago, Colonel" Karlie shot back as she and Ian made haste to the scheduled planning session.

Again, just before they got to the doors, Karlie stopped for a moment. But not before grabbing Ian's arm. "Shush you...I just need to take a breath s'all." And a deep breath she took.

"Ok, come on, don't stand there like a cheese stick. Lets go!." And with that, she stepped forward ahead of the Colonel and entered...confident, focused-
Shoot...where in hell is Rom- Ahh... Karlie's eyes gave her away a moment, before she resumed her posture.

"Ladies... apologies if I'm late. Had to dress the colonel in big boy's clothes."

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple Harte and the others were in a round table, debating the best course of action. Holograms of The Amalgam and Darth Rigor were in full view, extrapolated from footage the Castle Morpheus A.I. had captured of her them as they fought Nine Lives.

One thing from the fight in the hangar had revealed a weakness...Nine had stabbed her with a spike of Nullification Resin, and the Witch had nearly crumpled. Plus, The Amalgam had been outmatched in a pure duel for the most part...but then again, the Amalgam clearly hadn't wanted her dead or Maple suspected the fight would have been a tad more even.

Maple still hadn't figured out a way to kill the Witch up close--she was too fast, too strong physically. Too strong with the Dark Side. If the Beast didn't like playing games and didn't want her alive, Maple knew she would be dead. She knew it. It would not even be a question. Even Laertia, skilled as she was, was likely just being toyed with also.

Maple was prepared to die to stop The Amalgam permanently. That filth had lived long enough and it was time to make sure she stayed dead this time. Between all of them there had to be a solution to killing the Witch, and that wasn't even considering Rigor.

Maple beheld Darth Rigor, saw an older Karlie Lynn Destat in her. Laertia had a laser focus on only the Amalgam: Maple got the idea Laertia considered Rigor to be beneath her consideration. It was The Amalgam who needed to die.

"If she is Sith Spawn, if they are both Sith Spawn, then let's simply pack a box full of purified artifacts each and go kill them with holy relics..." Westenra suggested.

"Itt'z nott dhat simplez. Wyth The Amalgam, itz nevuh iz..." Laertia spoke quietly, staring with a death gaze on the Shi'ido's image. (And Here. We. Go.: 90XP)

"She's right. She's not prone to the usual failings of most Sith Spawn. She will do whatever she has to to win, to become more powerful in The Dark Side, no matter how morally repugnant. If you think she won't rig a mountain to come down on you, you're kidding yourself..." Maple agreed. "Stealth and surprise and magic are our best option. We don't spring the attack until we are right at their throats."

"We still don't have enough data on Rigor. From what I saw of the footage...The Amalgam doesn't seem to be in full control of her." Westenra noted.

"Darth Rigor was a very powerful Sith Sorceress. Even a Witch as strong with The Dark Side as The Amalgam would have great difficulty controlling her." Maple explained. "From what little my Master Ursula told me of Rigor, I got the impression she was not someone you control: She's someone you place as many safeguards against as you can and hope they don't fail."

"How do we kill her then?" the Android Vampire asked.

"Shotguns, Flame Throwers, Bio-Assault Spray..." Maple trailed. "Part of a balanced breakfast."

Westenra sighed. "I wish I could have breakfast..."

"You 'had' breakfast. This morning, in fact." Vera noted.

Laertia looked at Westenra in fascination, ignorant of the fact her new friend was a hyper lethal, shapeshifting, Android Vampire Mercenary CEO Psychologist Thief Spy Femme Fatale. (Yeah, try and put that chit on a business card.)

"Yoo eaat?"

Westenra smiled.

"From a certain point of view..."

(Cutaway of Westenra feeding on an imperial officer.)

(Cutaway of Westenra feeding on a Corellian Circus Clown last week, the poor bastard.)

(Cutaway of Westenra lustfully chewing on a photo of Ian while resting on her bed.)

(Cutaway of Westenra feeding on multiple Atrisians in the wake of Mythos's invasion.)

"Have you figured out why The Amalgam considers you her daughter?" Vera asked Maple in annoyed fashion, looking at her nails as she manipulated a vibroknife with the other hand.

Maple shook her head. "No."

"Seems kinda like a major question why such a vile, unrepentant murderer would consider you that." Westenra noted.

"I figured it out..." Vera said, smirking, after collating the data on her files within seconds after asking. It was testament to the accuracy of her programming that her answer was the correct one.

Maple and Laertia looked up.

"I'm not going to say anything. I want to see your reactions..." Vera said with a smile.

"Iff yoo knowwz summthinz, yoo shudd tellz uss..." Laertia demanded.

Vera sighed. Then, she smiled, red eyes staring into Laertia's.

"It really is a wonder how blind to the truth the both of you are..." the Android mocked. "I don't want to spoil the surprise. This is too juicy to ruin by revealing at a conference table. It deserves to be deep! Dark! Dramatic!"

"Sister, any ham out of you is too much, even for my taste." Westenra muttered before spotting Karlie, walking in with Ian Sade and his nineties heart throb looks, explaining she had to dress him. Vera's eyes were instantly locked onto Karlie, while Westenra's had instantly locked onto Ian.

Maple was not distracted.

"Colonel Sade, Doctor Destat..." Maple said brusquely, switching to images smuggled out of the Empire at great risk. They depicted the White Pyramid The Amalgam was hiding in.

"Many Bothans died to bring us this information." the Bounty Hunter spoke. "Starfighter coverage. Dozens upon dozens of choke and ambush points before even getting to the Pyramid itself. I suggest we take Laertia's Gozanti Cruiser, The Absolution of Loste . Its Stealth equipped. Could easily get us into and out of Sith Space undetected.

"We still have yet to decide on a method of defeating her. Or Rigor. We know little of Rigor's full capability..." 'Rom' noted, crimson eyes glancing at Karlie occasionally.

"I do know I want Alwine scouting the perimeter once we reach it..." Maple said in reference to her old friend Alwine Daye .

"Duh Amalgam wyll sentz hurr..." Laertia worried, not wanting even a one time companion to come to harm.

"So we show her how to hide herself." Maple replied smoothly. "Unless Destat and Sade have some killer app..."

Meanwhile...

A sterile white Lambda Shuttle set down at the Rendezvous point for NPC Treasury .

Red Armored Soldiers, once Kay's personal Royal Guard on Zakkuul, still sworn to guard her even after the fall of her Eternal Empire, filed out, bowing, holding out a holoprojector in his hand.

A small image of The Amalgam flickered into existence on the emitter plate.

"Kay! Bestie! Always nice to have you over. I'm having a little reunion with my daughters...and I see an opportunity for you to become...more...I'll tell you more once you're here. OMGArethosecookies?" The Amalgam hissed quickly, her putrid insides quivering with delight at the thought of tasting anothe Dark Side infused Cookie. It didn't sate her quite like feeding on the suffering and agonizing death of an entire capital city full of innocents like Castagne, but the way the sweetness gurgled in the vile beast's belly was a feeling she had never forgotten. Not ever.

The Amalgam smiled. "I sensemany great possibilities in your future. Step aboard to begin your journey to catch a glimpse..."

Sawa Ike and Elise Ike , I will cover your half in another post.

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Bothans....

Yes, she knew who they were.
Karlie had come upon the Imperial profiling of that species. They were mentioned quite a few times in the military journals that were now in Castagne's old archives. Records of a time, when her system had a hand in the forming of the Galactic Empire...namely supporting Chancellor Palpatine's rise.
Not a proud history Karlie had expected to unfold before her when she were indoctrinated into the IBI and having access to their dark historical past. But one must know of the past, so as not to repeat it again...or so the saying goes.

Rigor... her sister/mother's reign over Castagne at the time the Republic first fell had plunged Castagne into a darkness that took centuries to undo.
Yes, she knew Bothans all right. A Millenium ago, they had died fighting against Castagne's armed forces when her world were part of the Galactic Empire.
Now...
Now they died in an effort to help Castagne. Karlie didn't know why...but her heart sank upon this revelation. She had never given much thought to those species...now...Now the sins of the mother suddenly hit the daughter. She swallowed. Swallowed it hard, the death of these Bothans whom now had sacrificed their lives for her country. Karlie lowered her eyes a moment in reflection.

Then she heard her speak again.
Laertia... that were her name right?
The woman's speech. How sad, she thought. So she did hear her right the first time they met. Only she had been too wrapped up in her own pathetic shiet to take notice. Were it a speech impairment? Perhaps some kind of neuromuscular degeneracy... Karlie's attention were drawn to Laertia Io as she spoke.
No, the blonde were not looking over the girl like she had two heads sitting on the same torso, no.
You see, Karlie had a doctorate...a medical degree in bio-engineering. She couldn't help but try to diagnose as to why the slurred speech.
Then of course, empathy. Her mother had it once too...a long time ago before- ...before she fell from grace.
Karlie although had yet to fall.

Karlie wondered as to why it had not been taken care of. Hell, she could snip, stitch... even tighten up those vocal cords if it were as simple as that. maybe even if it were neurological... she could help her. She so wanted to. But. But what if it were the norm for the girl? If she asked, maybe Laertia would get insulted and think-
No.
Best not say anything, least of all ask, Karlie were figuring for now. There would be a better time for that. if any of them, including herself survived.

Speaking of surviving....
Rom...
Her eyes then trailed back to Rom Jin. Karlie had seen her fight, and she had seen her die too. Both times (as Vera too) on her account.
Yep, Karlie were back thinking of Rom again,. trying to keep the Vera aspect of the biot at a distance for now till she were ready to confront her.
Rom... Rom she could come to terms with. She had too.
Karlie didn't want a choice, nor conditions. Rom was her friend and THAT would remain always.

"Huh...what?" Karlie looked over to Ian then back over to Maple. She had missed what the bounty hunter said, only picking up her name when mentioned.
The Colonel lightly elbowed her, leaning over, and in an undertone repeated Maple's question.
"Oh..
No...no app Miss Harte." her eyes met Maple's a moment. She could see it on her face... although that was prolly not true, as it were Karlie's assumption... that the bounty hunter thought her a liability in this coalition.

Damn it! She had to settle this matter with Rom and Vera. Otherwise she'd be the weakest link, as she felt Maple were thinking of her in the operation. Karlie knew she were better than that.
And no, she weren't going to apologize for not paying attention either.
Damn it....damn it..damn it. She were not going to be left behind. Not if she could help Nine.

Taking a deep breath, she looked over her two friends... Rom and West were more like sisters really, by the way they put themselves in the line of fire for her. Karlie's only chance to stay in the game were to separate Vera from Rom. It were the only way this debauchery.... were ever going to work.
Especially if she wanted to be part of this fold, this operation. Karlie knew they were all here for the right reasons.... and so were she.

The holo-gram images were cycling as Maple continued to assert their strengths and ideas. Nothing seemed to be set in stone, so to say. The hired gun were leaving it open for all. She were no 'my way of the airlock'
Interesting, thought Karlie. She were picking up the other blonde's tactical proposals and open assertions.
Against her better judgement, Karlie were taking to this bounty hunter. And here she had always thought all bounty hunters were...low-lives living off the misfortunes of those they pursued. She'd have to dig in deeper into the woman...find out what made her tick as she demonstrated. Hell, everyone had something which made them tick, right. Karlie had V--
Gah...Enough!

" Miss Harte." Karlie slightly raised her hand to get her attention back.
"Exploiting an enemy's weakness is fundamental in the design of their destruction." Ok, that was from some ancient Castan art of war that she had come upon during her history tour of the past.
But it nevertheless educated the girl in tactics.

"Rigor's first and second attempt at taking Castagne actually goes back Millenniums. I'm meaning she were here many time beforehand..before my father dispatched her with that 'Grave Robber's End. And then more recently what we just experienced.
This system seems to have been her home for quite some time in the past, and like some spawn, she always returns to it. Don't know why yet, but she can't let go of Castagne for some reason." Ok, so now they were looking at her like she was the one with two heads.

"Hear me out.
Her attempts at cloning my person have resulted in unsatisfactory vessels for her to recover. Meaning, she didn't harm but a few strands of my hair before she abandoned the station. She needs me. And I think she needs to return to Castagne sooner or later. There are two viable conditions she seems to require for existence.
She may not need to return anytime soon to Castagne... but she nevertheless needs me. Maybe her attack on Castagne this time were triggered by my presence. If any of these factors are true, then we have two shots at getting Rigor.
One is for me to be used as bait abroad.
If we are are unsuccessful in capturing her and she captures me....I believe she must then take me here...back to Castagne to complete her ritual in possessing me." No, she weren't conceded. Not like that at least. She knew her worth to her mother/sister. And she had put a few things together about her beloved mommy dearest.

"Seriously... I hear talk of witches, artifacts and whatnot from all of you..." her eyes made sure to tag all present, even the Colonel.
"...so tell me, why does Rigor always keep showing up through the ages here on Castagne? Maybe she can't make the transformation anywhere else..." Ok, so that was one possible witch's weakness, if that was at all the real Rigor.

But time and time again through the history of Castagne, Rigor appeared, reigned for a generation or three then would faded away for one, two or more generations before reappearing again. It were these gaps that allowed the planet to settle, rebuild and even forget. Karlie had pieced it all together; Rigor's existence weaved throughout Castan history.

"So you know, Castagne wasn't always as you see her today..."

 

[The Amalgam]

The Amalgam, of course, had always been a monstrosity. Even being Kay's friend sincerely could not change that.

NPC Treasury did not understand how lucky she was. Nearly anyone else in Kay's position would have been murdered by The Amalgam on a whim.

A number of factors went into it: When Kay had first encountered The Amalgam, The Witch had still been relatively awake only for a short time. There were gaps. Holes. A good chunk of the evil personalities within her had still been in a half slumber. The part of The Amalgam that was still the fallen street thief Leejun Forrwiirmeni had had a little more leeway than usual. It was likely that fragment of Leejun Kay had made such an impression on that had stayed the beast's hand. That and Kay was reasonably powerful enough to be considered worth the effort of turning.

She was Kay's friend on one level. But on every other level she was still The Amalgam, and The Amalgam was eager to turn Kay to the darkness, corrupt her utterly until in the end, she was as much of a corrupt, civilian slaughtering piece of sentient waste as The Amalgam was.

The other Witches inside her had entertained the idea of killing her, but the part that was Leejun was firm and dead set against it, due to having genuinely struggled alongside Kay during their Short lived empire and having tried to be genuinely loyal. For now. But The Dark Side, The Amalgam realized, would always have a final say.

Kay could not see where the Amalgam was at on her end. On the Amalgam's, her private chamber was surrounded by the bones of the innocent, of people she had recently drained the life out of, devouring their soul, each witch inside her getting a tasy little morsel of screaming, despairing agony and life as each innocent civilian was ripped apart inside and divided amongst the evil community inside her equally, with Leejun getting the largest morsels.

Had Kay seen this horror, there is very little doubt on the Narrator's part that it would have been the point the fallen Royalty would have decided "Alright, you need to die." metaphorically speaking.

But she had not seen it. Not yet, and The Amalgam was very cautious where she was concerned, partitioning that part of her existence off from Kay until she was confident Kay would decide she wanted that existence for herself.

"You look gorgeous by the way." The Amalgam spoke. "I can't wait to have you here. This family reunion of mine has been a long time coming and I wanted my Bestie present for all of it. The soldiers will provide you whatever you request. They are as much your protection as they are mine. I got a room reserved and everything. I even found you new...'recipes'..."

The Amalgam certainly had alright. Right from her own spellbook.

Ohhhhh this was gonna be so fun!

A comm message from Brian put her on alert.

"We are very close to capturing Sawa Ike amd Elise Ike . In the next fifteen they should be ours."

"Keep me updated." she spoke into her own link before turning back to Kay's hologram.

"Sooooo...hows the shop going. Read any interesting news?" The Amalgam inquired, looking at the wanted poster the CIS had put up of her for helping slaughter a good chunk of the population of Castagne's capitol. Omelettes and egg breaking and all that fine stuff...

 

[Sawa Ike]

Elise Ike The Amalgam

Sawa was looking at Elise and she moved them towards the structure that she could see. The energy vampire was looking at it and she allowed the wind to bite into her face as she stood there. Her rage simmering and she knew the heat was there.. the steam rising off of her face. She looked at and motione dot Elise for them to bto go in as her hand came out and she brought the flames to her hand. The red turning cherry first and then blue before finally going white as it sliced into the walls for them to go through. She let her breath come out for a moment motioning for Elise to strike the wall andd push it intwards so they could have some small element of surprise... no need to go through a door when you cna make one.

 

[Boriskno Fel Set]

Current vessels merging:
Castan SD Tecknor
B-1 Carrier



. . . . . . .

600 million kilometres from Castange at the outskirt of the Castan solar system the SD Tecknor were on their final countdown to their jump...

....9...8...7.... Buzzzzz...buzzzz...Buzzzz... the emergency breakthrough from the Cabinetry came through.

"Halt!" Bo immediately called for a stay in the jump.
Sure, the Technor could have jumped and received the transmission, but if it were an emergency back on Castagne, to jump, then abort and return would have eaten up precious moments that would have otherwise been needed to get back on time.

"Keep us on stand-by" He then said as he opened up the incoming transmission.

Ian Sade took form just a few feet in front of him.
"Colonel...what do I owe the pleasure?..." The general leaned forward on his command chair. The jump they were just about to take had already been coordinated with the ICI... namely Ian himself. For the colonel to break in as the Technor were about to jump meant something had abruptly changed in the plan.

~ ~ ~bla... bla... bla... skipping to the point.
Ian were en route to the Technor as they spoke. He were to accompany the general and the two biots in the assault on the Amalgam.
And they'd have other company soon. The Cabinetry were sending over a battle droid carrier, the Castan B-1 with a full garrison of battle droids. They were planned on being deployed to engage the expected ground defense forces of the Amalgam.

"And what exactly am I to do with the horde?...drop them down like dead weights on their heads?" No, Bo weren't too keen on taking charge of droids, much less incorporate them among the boots that were going to hit landfall. There was no plan in softening their target with aerial bombardments, as the exact location of Nine Lives had not been confirmed.
Bo was a marine, a Castan Marine general. He knew his men, their resolve, their conditioning. He knew what to expect of them.
Droids on the other hand, they were on/off devices to him much like ordinances. Sure he used drones, but for delivering ordinances and surveillance. Machines unlike men were built to be expendable. They were always designed with that aspect in mind. As such, they were easily backdoor hacked if not have sleeper counter-active programs and were just easily subjected to EMF scrambling, Marines in his regime had none of those faults.
His only use for so called battle droids were as diversions, much like a lot of dropped ordinances were. Expecting anything more from cookie cutout droids would compromise his men and missions.

"Colonel... I were placed in command here on the Tecknor with one purpose in mind, and that is to assure the outcome of this mission would be in our favor."
As it stood, Ian an ICI operative, outranked Gerneal Fel. 'Colonel' were just a title which stuck on Ian and not a rank at all, for he were an executive in the ICI. Ian had achieve the rank of Colonel in the Castan Navy, a marine himself, before he were inducted into the ICI. His last title rank kind of stuck with him.
Nevertheless, there wasn't much room for a debate and Bo knew that. Besides, he and the Colonel went way back..too far back to doubt the man. If Ian wanted him to take on a legion of so called battle droids, then he would....with some reservations of course.

"Alright Colonel... sold." Bo finally relented. Besides, this was no place to debate. Not on the bridge at least.
"I'll assign a few of my top-" But before he could finish the Colonel cut him off.
Ian informed him that the carrier were en route to rendezvous with the SD Technor in the hour...give or take.

"Primary director?" Bo leaned back on his command chair. That was a new on on him. When did they form to give anyone such a title? It sounded like it were coming out from one of the agencies.
"This here primary director... it wouldn't by any chance be a she?... The Spitfire?... that's who the director is on that carrier as we speak?" He asked with a smirk.

Yes, he had guessed it right.
His little fireplug, incidentally a former boot (Karlie had been trained under Bo in marine boot camp) pulled it off and got the Cabinetry (especially her father Tarssin), to let her come and play was something he'd enjoy hearing right from the source.

"Very well..." He motioned with his hand to the navigation crew to abort the jump altogether as he continued to talk with the Colonel.
"...we'll hold here on the outskirts till the director gets here."
Bo looked over to one of the main holo displays. Sure enough, the very same vessel he had met a few days prior were making headway toward his position at sub-light. On the other hand, just as he closed the channel, Ian popped out of hyperspace.
The Colonel asked upon docking as to where the carrier was, as it should have arrived before him. What could be the hold up, for they were about to converge as a coalition with the Morpheus and the Absolution... Maple Harte 's vessel.

"Hahaha...you're asking me?" Bo laughed.
"Ensign.. what's the ETA on the carrier?"

The ETA was reported at 42 minutes as the carrier was heading toward them at sub-light.
Ian demanded to know as to the hold up.

"Hey... I'm not the director commanding that tanker.." Bo replied to the colonel, just before Ian came up to the bridge.

Bo put his hands up before he directed Ian over to the short range monitor. Sure enough the B-1 carrier was inching along at sub-light to their position on the outskirt of their solar system.

Current ETA now: 40 minutes.

"You can't make this stuff up..." Bo chuckled.

 

[Elise Ike]

Elise stretched her hands around, limbering up like someone would before a game, taking a firm stance as Sawa cut away at the structure. Perhaps making a loud entrance such as this wasn't for the best but she was confident in her grandmothers ability to kill everything that moved within a 100 meter radius. She could only guess how much power or how crazy this Amalgam person was to try and steal that women away from her.

Once the cutting finished Elise quickly sent a strong force push into the wall, the metal creaking before finally snapping away giving them a nice entrance to the complex. "Age before beauty"? Her hand waving to her grandmother to step in first, she wasn't exactly willing to put her neck out just yet.

Sawa Ike
The Amalgam

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay recognized the guard that exited the ship. They were once her own and fortunately were able to escape the slaughter by an old enemy. She bowed her head to them and then looked upon the holo-projector with interest.

The Amalgam popped into view and Kay couldn't help but laugh at how excited she got when she saw the Darkside Cookies. It was always rumoured that the Darkside had cookies. But there weren't any to be found. Until she created them, that is. Of course she also created Lightside Fudge to add the balance needed in her goods. And to appease some of her other customers.

"Yes I just couldn't pop by without your favourite treats. And a reuinion with your daughters? I hope it goes better than the last one did." Of course she was referring to Graveyard and Maple Harte wanting to kill them both. It was horrible, especially as Amy helped her out more than anything.

"The shoppe's doing well for itself. And no, I haven't done much reading these days. The shoppe keeps me busy. By closing time I'm about ready for bed. But I look forward to seeing these new recipies of yours. So I'll see you soon, okay?"

Kay didn't need to pay attention to politics anyways. She only ruled over her shoppe. She had no influence or power over anyone. She only had customers to serve.

After turning off the holo-projector, Kay walked past the guard and into Amy's vessell. She still didn't like the sterile white interior, but at least there was a nice room available for her. And it didn't take long for her to get herself comfortable. She'll be quick to make her tea once the vessell had reached hyperspace.

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

'Karlie we have another HP (High Priority) message coming from the Technor'..... her ship's AI informed her again.

"Play it out" Karlie replied laying on her bed looking over data/analysis and whatnot pertaining to their current mission.

It was a message from the commander of the Technor, Boriskno Fel Set ... for short; General Fel again.
Why the slow limp over? Karlie's personal ship the Castan LCX-3 was capable of 0.3 hyperdrive , along with the B-1 Carrier having a standard Class1 drive just 2 km to her port, both doing sub-light toward the Technor. Was she exsperiencing a drive malfunction in one of the vessels, he were asking this time round.

Karlie just sighed, shaking her head after listening to pretty much the same message from the general since he were informed that she were heading out to meet him.

'Do you wish to acknowledge the message and reply, Karlie?' the AI surround sound asked.

"No, do nothing... we'll arrive there in what now?..." Karlie replied.

'ETA in 23min-42 seconds to rendezvous with Castan SD-Technor' it responded.

"That's right.
Don't see why the need for a 2 sec jump. men always seem to be in a hurry. It's not like we are to lead the attack a few days ahead of the rest." Karlie reasoned before flipping on her back and continued to update herself on the data files. The holopad lighting her features now from above.

'Understood, Karlie' it replied before a second later... 'HP message coming in from your father, Karlie. '

"Shoot!.." Karlie quickly sat up and opened up the channel.



~ ~ ~ ~ 47 seconds later...

Both the LCX-3 and the B-1 carrier popped out of hyperspace.

"General Fel... " Karlie greeted the holo projection image of the Technor's commander.
"...my apologizes if i-...heh..." Karlie dramatized her surprise, lifting a brow ( and a well defined brow, by the way)....
"You seem a little shorter than I had anticipated." She said of the 6 inch projection of the General over her holopad.

He nearly chuckled...she clearly picked up on his smirk. Karlie always toyed with her former instructor. They had always been close. Bo had at one time been her father's head estate security personnel. He had been the one to snatch Karlie from Rigor once the shiet hit the fan...
But the General gave it right back to Karlie, stating that on his end; her head was cut off in the SD's open bridge by her humongous projection-

"OK! Ok...got it!" Karlie shut him up as she flipped his image on her end to life size.

"Say Bo... why aren't the Technor's main hangar doors open?" She then asked as she were piloting her LCX-3 toward the bottom hangar doors of the Technor.

She hadn't asked for permission, that was why...

"Say what?..you serious?"

Yes, Bo was serious.

"Sigh..." She now felt she didn't have time for this as it were being played on her. "Bo, can you open the hangar doors?..."

Nope. She didn't use the magic word.

"Bo... can you...please open up the hangar doors.?"

Nope, still not hitting the magic word.

"W...T...F, Fel...I said 'please!" Oh she were getting pissed off now...

Ahhh...but she didn't say general...

~
~
2 minutes of silence with her staring up at the sealed hangar doors passed...

"Agent Lynn to General Fel of the Technor...asking permission to board your vessel." Karlie calmly and professionally addressed the commander of the looming SD over her tiny ship.

The lower main hangar doors of the Technor opened, welcoming her and her ship to be drawn inside.
The B-1 carrier remained on the Technor's starboard 20km distant.

 

[Maple Harte]

Aboard The Absolution of Loste ....

After the debate, plans had been settled and now everyone was gearing up for the mission, taking a little time to contemplate what mattered. Westenra had made arrangements for the Stealth Eqipped Gozanti Cruiser to rendzvous near the Technor. The Castle Morpheus was also to rendezvous with the Technor by this point. Damage was still apparant, but was considered serviceable enough to operate the mission. They'd really pulled a miracle with the repair shifts quintupled. Most of the clans of Psy-Pires sent new members with engineering backgrounds to assist. Soon The Gozanti would start ferrying Castagne Marines aboard via the The Shadow Bride, some nightmarish Murder-Ship Laertia had acquired. Maple's own Silent Erika was docked aboard, and would soon also be ferrying as many Marines as it could aboard as well. The Erika would be depositing a strike force consisting of herself, Laertia, and hopefully Alwine Daye along with a large squad of Castagne Marines and Morpheus Knights led by Terry, their head of security. Westenra and Vera would be on Karlie and Ian Sade 's end of things, part of their own assault plans. The Erika would land them on the actual surface, with the cruiser held in reserve. A massive amount was being commited to the operation to assassinate The Amalgam for her crimes on Castagne and rescue Nine Lives, but after the theories Karlie Lynn Destat had posited, about Rigor's weaknesses, and about the possible need to position her as bait (Though Maple's stomach clenched with horror at the thought of using an ordinary person with no Force Powers in such a manner to catch a foe like Rigor.), or possibly seperate Rigor from The Amalgam, possibly kill them both, Maple could not help but admit that in perhaps ressurecting Rigor the vile beast had over played her hand...she clearly wasn't under The Amalgam's full control, even as powerful in the Dark as The Amalgam adnittedly was.

Rigor could very well be more powerful than The Amalgam. But by how much? Maple didn't think the power levels between the two were that terribly high (Though Maple had noticed the Amalgam had a weakness at telekinetics. In none of the fights they had so far fought had Maple ever seen The Amalgam use telekinesis powers beyond choke.).

Maple dreaded what condition she would find the vampire in. The Amalgam had had weeks to work her over...

Moya had taken The Blessing of Loste back to Atrisia, along with the bunnies, to be as safe as possible.

Maple was wearing her black and white Hooded Armor as she inspected her weapons: The Zealot's Eye, a weapon that had once belonged to her mentor Ursula, a weapon of her own design, codenamed The Shadow Proclamation Pistol, and a Lightsaber Cane, Each were geared to a vicious purpose. Maple had also secured bullets with liquid nullification resin, specifically for The Amalgam.

Maple was itching for payback on the Beast that had murdered nearly all her old friends in the Marksmen. When The Amalgam was finally dead she would then be free and could at last finish going crazy in peace and quiet and never pick up a weapon again.

The Bounty Hunter felt something in the Force through her madness. Difficult to latch onto. Then she recognized it.

Laertia's signature. She approached, clad in a black bodyglove as she prepared to slip into one of the Power Armors she had seen.

"Yooz readiez fer dhis?"

Maple turned to face her former comrade.

"Yes. The Amalgam will die. Then we shall have peace."

"Izz itt truu?"

"Is what true?"

"Moya dyeaggnozed yooz az skittzofrennik."

Maple froze. She turned.

"When?"

"Att Golbah Cittee."

"Oh."

"Izz it truu?"

"Yes. It's Shrodinger's Syndrome. It cannot be cured. I must kill The Amalgam while I am still coherent enough to do so."

"I wonn'tz sayz annytingz too duh othuhz."

"Thank You, Laertia."

"Whyyz wuzz ittz yooz Uri?" Laertia asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Maple asked, putting down her tools, staring at her.

"Whyyz diddz Ursy luvvz yooz morr dhen meez? I wuz foyst. Foyst. I wuzz dhere lonngurr dhenn yooz evuh werrz." Laertia responded. "I cannotz fer duh lyfe ov meez fygurez ittz outz...wutt diddz I doo wronggz dhat maydez her pushh meez awayyz annd fokuss onnz yooz?"

Maple could tell this question had been on her mind for years.

"I don't think it was anything you did. Ursula...was Ursula. She had already sculpted you into a Masterpiece of Death (A gift of Iron Soldiers: 2000 XP). Now she wanted to sculpt another."

Maple sat at a nearby bench.

"I never wanted your thunder, Laertia." Maple said, clasping her hands together, looking at the floor. "I never wanted to steal Ursula's attention. I don't know why I became the favorite. I truly do not. Just like I am truly sorry for all the pain that caused you..."

Laertia sat next to her after a moment.

"Yoo tinkz weez werr evuh mennt fer summthin differenntz?"

Maple turned her head slightly.

"Lyke...mayybe...mayybeez weez wuz nevuh suppozzed tuh beez killuhz...att leest...not Ursy's..."

Maple's eyes widened.

"What the hell has gotten into you, Io? You've never questioned your training so openly before."

"I lernnedz tingz reecenntleez onn Atrisia..."

(Cutaway of Laertia Io, Darth Themis and Alyosha Drutin fighting a Kaiju on Atrisia.)

"Must have been quite a lot."

"Itt wuzz."

"Do you still want to avenge Ursula?"

"Yess."

"But what about afterward. You still got a chance. I don't. I'd quit afterward, if I were in your place."

"Fytinz fer duh Lytez iz myy callingz, Uri. I cann'tz turrnnz myy bax onn dhat."

"Even you must know killing The Amalgam will not bring you peace."

Laertia shrugged.

"Peaace wuz nevuh ann oppshunnz." (Frankenstein's Monster: 90 XP)

"Story of our lives." Maple muttered. "Hey, Laertia?"

"Wut?"

"The Amalgam's obsessed with me. Thinks I'm central to her plans for some type of Godhood. If we fail here and you think it could seriously hinder The Amalgam...kill me."

Laertia turned and stared at Maple.

"We have to be prepared to give up everything to stop The Amalgam. I don't want it to come to that but we might not have a choice." Maple explained. "Use a Disruptor. That way she can't ressurrect me."

"Yoo shudda nevuh lefft duh Jehdie, Uri. Duh worrldz ov bounntee hunnturz duzzint duhserrvez yooz."

"Nice sentiment..."

Maple clasped her hands together.

"But I've found myself much happier outside the Order than inside. Please, Laertia, at least 'consider' retiring again once The Amalgam is dead. If you die...who takes care of the rabbits? Moya? What if she dies too?"

"I havv beenz purrsueedz by assassinnz evuh synce I leftt duh Orrderrz. Evennz whennz I wuzz dooingz majic showwz, I wuzz allwayzz worrieddz abboutz assassinnzz. Tyredz ov worryingz. Tyredz ov runningz. Ratthuh jusst fayce 'emmz."

"Heard you officially announced yourself as back on the table at Atrisia. With a chainsaw."

"Ohhh, herrdz abboutz dhat, huh?" Laertia asked nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, chit got outta hanndz dhere..."

(Cutaway of Laertia and Westenra atop a pile of the dead, cutting down sith special forces on Atrisia.)

"Be mindful Laertia. Your passion does you credit. But it can also lead to your downfall..." Maple advised standing up. "But everyone decides what side of the Force they serve eventually."

Maple then left to prepare to receive the marines.

Meanwhile...

Aboard The Technor, Vera and Westenra had finished coordinating every plan with the Castagne Military once they were at Kar Shian. All that was left was the lull before the storm.

Vera was clad in her white combat dress her pearlescent white katana sheathed and at her side, in her chiss mercenary configuration. Westenra was in her Gladiator Armor along with matching configuration, her own katana at the ready.

They were already at the hangar when Karlie's ship was brought aboard. Vera was so visibly nervous she was squirming.

"Relax, Sister. She's mad at 'Vera' not 'Rom'. Classic dissociation." Westenra assured as the ship set down.

Rom headed over to the hatch and when Karlie ran out Westenra let out a squee of delight at seeing her.

"Karlie! Ready to kick some ass?!" Westenra asked.

"Hello, Karlie." Vera said also, hesitantly taking a step forward. Westenra watched with great interest the muscle movements indicating stress around Rom's mouth as she spoke.

"We are ready to fight. All preparations on our end are made." Rom added, before producing a steel box and opening it.

Careful to keep up with the blonde scientist's current preference to keep Vera and Rom seperate in her brain, Vera presented the obsidian hilt with a silvery defensive guard.

"It was recovered before the attack on Castagne. You-Know-Who had been planning to give it to you as a surprise. But with everything that has happened, there just was not any time. It belonged to your mother. Before she became a Sith.

The hilt vibrated in Karlie's presence, her aura so in resonance with the now long forgotten Jedi Knight who had built it that it thought it 'was' her. Rom and Westenra backed away in surprise as it floated out of the box to her, its thin icy blue beam of energy lancing out of the emitter, waiting for her to take it, the gentle whispers of Karla's Jedi essence going forth to Karlie's Brain...

Meanwhile...

As Elise Ike and Sawa Ike prepared to strike, so did The Amalgam's forces.

As soon as they entered, the marines were already moving to intercept, to fire nearly every non-lethal anti force use weapon possible, which consisted of sonic bolts and skin-contact nerve gas, along with flashbangs, tranquilizers, the works.

They would not strike until they were well inside though, but once they were, unholy hell would be brought down on these two for violating a sanctim of the Darkness.

The Amalgam watched Elise and Sawa enter from a security cam in her quarters, covered top to bottom, even on the ceiling and the floor with photos of Uri and Laertia, but mostly of Uri.

"Initiate strike...now..." she whispered over the link, heading over to the hangar to receive NPC Treasury , which was just due to land any minute now. Once there, the street theif in her suppressed the corrupt urges of the others inside her smiling as the shuttle came down, the guards flanking its sides as the Amalgam waited, arms held out.

"Kay, my old friend! Its so good to see you!" The abomination in the guise of a beautiful woman said, walking up and hugging her.

"Come, lets get you some foid. We have a while before my daughters arrive...how was the trip?" she asked.

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Tap, tap, tap... her fingers nervously drummed away on her pilot's armrest.

Her ship engines had just powered down, yet she hadn't moved since had spotted both West and Rom.
"You can do this..." Karlie told herself

A moment earlier, Karlie's craft had entered the main belly hangar of the Technor. As her ship rose and the deck came up to eye level, Karlie's eyes immediately picked up on the long slender boots, leading up to Rom. For a moment they were both at eye level with one another. Time had seemed to pause as did her heartbeat.

Then as her ship continued to rise, leveling off with the deck, she was above them...Rom and Westenra.
"...you can do this. It's Rom...
Rom." Karlie then took a deep breath and rose.

"West..." Karlie were relieved she were the one to first greet her, giving her friend a good reassuring hug before the storm. Actually the blonde needed the hug, the reassurance from her friend in the worst way.
Sure, Karlie had played her little game just a day or two ago which included West and definitely her sister. But as the countdown to raising hell was now quickly approaching. War was at hand and it were no game.

Karlie was indeed nervous on two counts...three actually.
One was that she were going to confront her mother, bringing lots of hurt'n her way with an army of men and machines. Yea, yea, yea...and some other women too, like the Harte girl and her associates. Whoopy-do.
She thought the blonde smuggler didn't think much of her. After all the word was that Karlie had gone AWOL after the Heretic Station attack. Hell, Karlie herself had reservations. maybe the smuggler had picked it up.
Two; Rom.
Rom was also Vera. Karlie had wrestled that fact and her attachment to both..to all of Nine's daughters for well over a month. Karlie knew first hand as to what Rom were capable of. She had witnessed it.
Witnessed both Rom/Vera fighting to the last inch of their existence for her. As did West.
West, whom she were embracing at the moment.

"I've brought the goods (her battle-droids)..." She replied to her readiness to kick some ass. Of course, they were by no means anywhere close as to West and her sisters. "Figured on them doing the hurt'n...hehe.." Not too confident a laughter, as Karlie remembered what Rom had done to the earlier batches of droids she used.

Speaking of Rom...

"Rom..." Karlie acknowledged her other friend, as she un-braced Westenra. Her eyes drawing over to Rom. Karlie wanted to hug her, embrace her again as tightly as she had on Castagne...after discovering she and Vera were alive. Only she had thought she beat the living snot out of her friend (gave the biot a white nose bleed). Well, that had been her intention during a fit of rage.
Then she had hugged her so tightly, one would have thought Karlie were trying to squeeze the biot into her self. Then of course what followed was Karlie pushing herself off Rom and taking off like she did..leaving the system altogether.

"Huh huh...yes, I've been briefed." she replied to Rom about the preparations at hand.
It were small talk...an attempt to keep things civil. They all knew the plan, their resources and what was expected of them and of their enemy.
Which brings us to three. The third reason for her being nervous.
She never was in a real battlefield.
Aherm... At least not one where she commanded so many real units. Give her mock battles and scenarios and she were a flawless tactician. The blonde was book smart. Although trained alongside Castan marines, she never saw

Still, at this moment, she wanted so bad to press up against Rom as tightly as she had done before scurrying off. This time, never, never letting go. But that were her just one aspect of Karlie's emotional self. The other half wanted Vera again...if just for a moment... to hug Vera as she had hugged Rom at the time. It would have said a monument of things.

But war was just a jump away. Karlie understood her need to keep personal desires and needs aside for the greater picture.
her eyes then fell upon the box. Vera were presenting her with another gift? Karlie almost shook her head' no', before the box were opened. At first, Karlie didn't even know what it were she were looking at, much less guess.
"W...what?" She did a double take between the item and Rom. Despite what Rom were saying it was called, it didn't register for anything. That is until it was said to belong to her mother.
"This was my mo-" But before she could finish, the item seemed to draw itself out of the box and come to life...at least the plasma blade. It were a light saber.

Karlie much like the audience around her in the hangar were surprised. A few marine detachments suddenly readying their weapons. no one knew as to why the saber was activated, much less that it activated on it's own.
Karlie looked back over to Rom, then West.
THEY hadn't expected for the saber to come out of the box on it's own either.

"Aherm...
M...my mother's..." She repeated, clearing that lump in her throat... letting it sink in the right way.
No. no she didn't know much at all of her mother's history as a Jedi. A Jedi of all things...
Yes. Yes sure...why not? A Jedi...
This changed everything.
It made sense.

No, actually it didn't. But in Karlie's mind it did. It were like a revelation. It gave her a new perspective on her mother. A Jedi....
Her mother had been a Jedi...

"Huh?..what?" Karlie broke out of her thoughts, seeing Rom and West backing away. So much was churning now inside that cranium of hers that Karlie seemed to have experienced a kind of tunnel vision for a moment.... transfixed on the hovering blade.

"Heh... haha..." She finally laughed nervously.
"Ok, yea that's awesome...really, who's doing that?" She finally asked, gesturing to the two.

So seriously, who was dramatizing the significance of her mother's blade with theatrics?...making it hover like that?...West?
Hopefully it were not Rom, as that would be a distasteful joke coming from her...being that Karlie had opened up to Vera about her mother, when she were a child....

Vera Mina

 

[Elise Ike]

Elise wasn't one for combat, not that she was afraid or unskilled or afraid in any ways, on the contrary Elise had been quite a fearsome opponent in her youth. Her main problem at the moment was a lack of equipment, being rusty from years of isolation and just generally not expecting a fight the moment their troop had entered. She would need to talk with mother or her daughter some time about training and getting back into shape because as of now her main weapon on had was the force, not always the most useful tool when the people you are meant to be fighting are prepared for just that.

So she was very content in staying behind and in cover while her grandmother and retainers took the lead. If she had to fight, she'd fight, but until that point her ass would be at the back. "I shall be on hand if you need me, after all this is your girlfriend, only makes sense that you be taking the lead". After so many years it was also possible that Ni Ne wouldn't be recognizable to Elise.

Karlie Lynn Destat Sawa Ike The Amalgam NPC Treasury Maple Harte