Private Zealots, Martyrs, and False Prophets

[Percival Io]

“It’s too late.”

Galahad dropped to his knees in the grass. Had the dart hit him in the arm or leg, he might’ve been able to cut off the infected limb before it had a chance to spread. But it had hit his torso.

The flesh of his back was blackening, organic cells dying. His green skin took on a sickly grayish pallor. There was an antidote—but the odds of a starport clinic having the cure for a long-vanished pathogen were slim to none, and trying to synthesize it would take time. Time which Galahad did not have.

“Why did you do it?” Galahad asked, the darkness creeping over his face. “Mother wouldn’t have wanted this...”

“You could never be happy out here, Galahad," Percival said. "It’s for the best.”

Percival let the tiny dart gun he had used fall from his grasp, then rolled over to face Alicio. His marred face held an unreadable expression. He said nothing as the Senator shot his legs.

There was nothing to be said. He had killed his brother. Percival eyed the Count, wondering if he would pick up the dart gun and finish him off. He made no attempt to plead for his life, insult him, or gloat. There was no point. He was resigned to the entire affair, watching Galahad shudder and die and liquify on the manicured green lawn.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Every time.

Every time Alicio showed an ounce of mercy, people were hurt. With Ishani on Empress Teta, with Free Lao-mon on Nar Shaddaa... it ended in ruin.

But this time, a friend was dying for his mercy. If he had taken the shot...

Alicio turned around once he realized Galahad was down, holding onto his hand for as long as he could. Perhaps if he was a better healer, if he knew Neutralizer anatomy, if he had been quicker, he could have done something. But it was too late for any of that now.

The Count stayed with the Chaplain as he died, only standing up after he was certain Galahad had passed. His demeanor had changed, as he turned towards Percival. His eyes, brimmed with tears, had gone emotionless and cold. There was anger there, something bottomless and all-consuming, without direction. There was no revenge in his heart, only hurt.

Using the Force, the dart gun found his hand. He pointed it at Percival, but he didn't fire. Instead, he kept it trained on the android, looking into the future for his next move. He wouldn't hesitate this time.

And he would stay there, until the authorities arrived.

"Do you feel justified?," was all he said.

- Percival Io -

 

[Percival Io]

“Yes,” Percival answered with equal stoicism. “If Mother wants him back, she can always recreate him. She can make sure he has no desire to run away, erase the glitch that caused his pacifism. Make sure he’s happy and content.” He glanced at the puddle of slime that had once been his brother. “This Galahad needed to be put out of his misery.”

Alicio had taken the dart gun, but he didn’t fire. He was weeping for Galahad. Percival would not allow himself to weep. Doing so might make the Count feel empathy. Might make him hesitate to kill him.

Percival wanted to die, but they kept preventing him. Stricter self-preservation programming hidden away in routine updates. A convenient rescue after he literally flung himself at the Sith Emperor. Loyal allies ordered to surround him with a wall of protection during battle. And of course, most wounds dealt to him would just regenerate. His blown out eye was growing back. He blinked, and his vision was back to normal. His blasted legs were healing too, shattered bones snapping back into place. Soon he would be ready to get back up and dance for them again. All while they were chipping at his mind, whittling away his sanity, trying to drive him mad.

Maybe he was already a bit of a lunatic. He looked at Alicio and saw a simpering fool who had lured Galahad away from home with impossible promises of something better. You took Galahad away from me, my only surviving brother. He wanted to take this shining example of all that he loathed and longed for out with him. Snap the Senator’s idealism in two like a twig beneath a booted heel. Make him want to kill and destroy for once.

The distant sound of sirens jolted him. He was running out of time.

“What the hell would you have done with him, anyway?” he scoffed. “I see those tears in your eyes. You cared about him, didn’t you? You thought you'd found a kindred spirit, hm? He was a droid designed to kill people like you. We all are. And we don’t have spirits or souls. When we die, we don’t get to become one with the Force. We just cease to exist.”

They would recreate Percival if he died here. A copy with different memories, maybe even edits to his programming to make him more docile, more useful. What did he care? His journey would end. The pain would stop.

“What are you going to do now, Alicio?” he asked coldly. “Wait for the cops to come and get me? As if they could possibly hold me. I'll escape. Why not stop me now? You’ll get no justice otherwise. Not unless you seize it for yourself.”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

A tear crawled freely down the Count's cheek, but it did so silently, and without so much as a move to wipe it away. "Your mother may design another Neutralizer. But Galahad will never again exist."

Alicio's voice had begun to quaver, if only slightly. A fact Alicio seemed to resent, as he paused to compose himself, giving Percival time to ask his question. What would he have done with Gal? The disregard for the Chaplain set Alicio's jaw. He sidestepped the query. "He wanted to be free. And you killed him, Percival."

It didn't seem like the andoid cared at all. Perhaps Alicio wanted to see if there was any regret. Any pain in that perfectly symmetrical face of his.

“What are you going to do now, Alicio? Wait for the cops to come and get me? As if they could possibly hold me. I'll escape. Why not stop me now? You’ll get no justice otherwise. Not unless you seize it for yourself.”

They were at another crossroads. One Alicio had stared down many times. He kept failing it, over and over again. And he would fail it one more time. Justice wouldn't bring back Galahad, as much as he may have wished it.

"We cannot change the past," he said, his expression hawk-like and severe. "Only live with our mistakes."

Alderaanian royal guard speeders swarmed from above, but Alicio kept his eyes trained on the android. It was the Neutralizer's last chance to try something.

His last chance to die.

- Percival Io -

 

[Percival Io]

“What is freedom for a droid designed to serve?” Percival retorted. “He would’ve had no purpose. He had no idea what he was asking for, what he was getting himself into…” A snarl crossed his expression, pain in the face of newfound agency. Unlike Galahad, Percival had tasted freedom. “Like I said, better off dead.”

He waited with (metaphorically) bated breath for the Count’s judgment…

"We cannot change the past. Only live with our mistakes."

Repulsor engines overhead. Police sirens. Time’s up.

“Yes. And do you know what they call it when you make the same mistake over and over again, expecting different results?” Percival slid down from the hood until his feet touched the ground. Once he was certain his legs could hold his weight, he took a step toward Alicio, then another. “They call it insanity. Remember that.”

He suddenly lunged forward, aiming a rather sharp punch at Alicio’s stomach.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

It was a small movement, the pulling of a trigger.

It only required one finger. A flex, a twitch. All it took was tensing the smallest of muscles, and a life ended.

Alicio didn't like killing. No one ever should. But he'd done it before. When there were people at his back, who needed him to stand up for them. He hated making that choice, though, so he made it with caution. He considered every option, hoped beyond hope there was another way.

He had plenty of time to think it over as he gazed into the future, watching Percival make his final, desperate act before he'd even stood up from the speeder. The Count weighed the android's life in his hands, looked for another way, another path through the future. But Alicio was given no choice. And, he thought with some amount of irony, perhaps Percival hadn't, either.

Perhaps the House Io droid thought he could catch Alicio off-guard with his haste. He would be proven wrong, as Alicio dipped around the protracting claw, passing like water until he was behind Percival. Alicio fired the dart gun quickly, not willing to give his enemy the chance to recover, from close range at Percivals back.

Where he had struck Galahad, not minutes ago.

"I can live with that," he said softly.

- Percival Io -

 

[Arlo Renard]

Percival gnashed his teeth as Alicio slipped away from him. He felt the dart hit his back, saw the warning signs screaming Alpha Red detected, but made no further attempts to injure the Count. Closing his eyes in surrender, he sank into oblivion...

---

Having hitched a ride on one of the Alderaanian police cruisers, Kai spotted Alicio and Percival from above. He watched as the latter lunged at the former, and found that he could no longer stand to wait any longer.

Leaping from the speeder, he fell a considerable distance down to earth, but hit the ground running. By the time he arrived on the scene, Percival was melting down into black goo as a result of the poison.

<Are you hurt?> he asked Alicio worriedly. Of course, he wished he had been there to help regardless, and was even a little exasperated with the Count for not telling him his plans sooner. He turned his puzzled gaze to the smear of sludge on the manicured park lawn which had been a humanoid shape only moments ago. <What exactly happened here?...>

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio didn't need to look back. He knew what had happened. Could sense the inevitable outcome, leaving Alicio the sole man standing, with Percival and Galahad nothing more than ooze on the ground. The Count didn't attempt to wipe away the tears from his eyes, either. Instead, he continued to stare ahead blankly, sadly, until a familiar taste lit his tongue.

Alicio wrenched his eyes away from the horizon of New Aldera as Kai appeared from the sky. The Count, uninjured from the battle, turned to the Sithspawn, something vacant in his eyes as he processed what had happened.

<Are you hurt?>

Alicio considered the question far longer than he should have. "I... no. Yes." Physically, he was fine. But... something within him had been wounded, though he couldn't say what.

At the question of what had happened, Alicio looked helplessly to Kai, anguish welling up at the corners of his eye. "I... showed mercy to an enemy. And he killed my friend." There was no further explanation forthcoming, as the young man finally swiped the tears from his eyes, sensing as police continued to swarm, securing the area.

Alicio covered his eyes, and smothered a sob.

- Arlo Renard -

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai furrowed his brow at Alicio’s conflicting answer. He didn’t see any blood or other signs of damage, but his cheeks were stained with tears. The Count tried to wipe them away, only to stifle a sob as he revealed what had occurred.

Mercy had led to the death of a friend. Kai’s eyes widened as he glanced at the dark sludge on the ground again, then back to Alicio. He didn’t know who had died here, but it was all too easy for Kai to think back to the death of a friend and remember how it hurt. That empathy, combined with the bitter sting of having failed to protect his charge, pricked the Doppelganger’s eyes.

<Don’t cry,> he said lamely, almost a whimper. Was he talking to Alicio, or to himself? It hurt him to watch the Count weep. Cautiously—he was used to people pushing him away—he reached out and wrapped his arms around Alicio, hugging him like a child.

The Alderaanian police, mainly consisting of no-nonsense droids, hovered around them, poised to ask questions. They wanted names and dates, facts and details, who had died, how it happened, and why. They wanted to open the case and shut it just as quickly.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio took what comfort he could from Kai's hug, squeezing him back with unashamed emotion. His mind was a thousand places, not many of them good. Was mercy truly weakness? Was Galahad's death avoidable? Had there been a way to save Percival, that he just hadn't seen?

Had Alicio killed them both?

The Count finally opened his now-distant eyes, pulling away from Kai with a heavy, tired frown as security droids secured the area, and began to question the Count. But he wasn't in a state to answer. Disregarding his vacant, mildly confused stare, the Force was moving... strangely, around Alicio. As if it were dripping from him, like a leaky faucet.

Alicio tried his best to answer questions from the droids, talking about everything that happened, who the two Neutralizers were, how one had contacted him about defection, and how they had both died. Alicio intentionally left out how he had first met Galahad. Perhaps they would have had more questions for the senator, were he not royalty of the planet, and in obvious distress. With promises to follow up on the investigation at a later date, and assured that the Count was in no further danger, Alicio and Kai were finally left alone.

"I'm... sorry, Kai. I'm sorry." The senator's voice was still vulnerable, his eyes still... somewhere else. "Can we... please go back to Coruscant?"

- Arlo Renard -

 

[Arlo Renard]

It seemed the Count didn’t have much to say about the incident. The police eventually backed off, leaving Kai with less to combat as he escorted Alicio into the waiting speeder.

“The starport,” he ordered the driver.

They set off. The ride was short and mostly silent. A few times Kai looked at Alicio like he wanted to say something, only to change his mind and turn away.

<You know you can always talk to me,> he finally said as they arrived at the starport. <I’m a good listener, and I won’t judge.>

The doors to the speeder slid open. Kai stepped out and then quickly walked around the vehicle. Now that he was here, he refused to leave Alicio’s side. <Your ship or mine?>

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

The pair of them stepped off the speeder into the spaceport, Alicio's hands hidden firmly within his pockets. He was closed off, distracted by something unseen, easily the least responsive Kai had likely ever seen the senator.

The second before Kai spoke in his mind, Alicio turned towards him, eyes finally focusing on the Sithspawn's face as he reached out emotionally. The surprise of Kai making such a gesture to him, rather than the other way around, was enough to bring Alicio back, if only for the moment. He offered the smallest "Your ship," before responding telepathically.

<I... I had the chance to shoot the assassin with a disruptor.> Alicio's face tilted down to the ground, walking alonside his bodyguard. His mind's voice was fractured, thin. <I didn't. Because my friend knew them. And I thought... I don't know what I was thinking...> The Count fought back a hacking sob, stopping it in his throat.

<Every time I hold out my hand to an enemy, dare to hope that everything will be okay... it isn't. It's only gotten worse and worse. And now... someone is dead, because I couldn't pull a damn trigger.>

<My mercy killed someone today, Kai. I killed two people today.>

- Arlo Renard -

 

[Arlo Renard]

The starport was busy as ever, crowds of sentients riding the current around them. Had Alicio been speaking aloud, his voice would have been drowned out by thousands of footsteps, the chimes of shuttles arriving and departing, and the murmur of announcements made in a jumble of languages. No one around them knew what had happened in the park only minutes earlier. Most would likely not have cared even if they were aware of the destruction of the two droids created by a known terrorist. Perhaps it was for the best that the discussion be limited to the private little world they shared.

It was a short walk to Kai’s ship, a secondhand freighter with no name. The Sithspawn led the way inside, going through the motions of preparing the ship for takeoff and punching in the coordinates for Coruscant as he listened to Alicio.

<Every time I hold out my hand to an enemy, dare to hope that everything will be okay... it isn't. It's only gotten worse and worse. And now... someone is dead, because I couldn't pull a damn trigger.>

<My mercy killed someone today, Kai. I killed two people today.>

The ship rose beyond the skies of Alderaan and jumped into hyperspace. Kai remained in the pilot’s chair, staring at the white lines out the window. <Your mind goes in circles, doesn’t it,> he said, more a statement of fact than a question. <Around and around, not sure if you did the right thing. Agonizing over every detail of every moment, wondering if you could’ve done it a different way, saved more lives…> There was a pause before he asked, <What do you think would’ve happened if you had pulled the trigger? If you hadn't been merciful?>

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

<Your mind goes in circles, doesn’t it.>

Alicio kept his eyes on the floor of the ship, though he found a guilty, ironic smile. Nothing else could have described so perfectly how the Count down-spiraled into self-doubt and self-destruction. He ran through the same event over and over and over, wondering what had gone wrong. What he hadn't seen in the future.

Kai's question brought a curious, downtrodden frown to Alicio's face. <Galahad would still be alive.> There was no certainty in his tone, however. Only grief, as the senator gazed out into the blurred lines of hyperspace. What could he had done differently? Was mercy... useless? Weakness?

- Arlo Renard -

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Then maybe you should have pulled the trigger,> Kai said. His tone was resigned. He had already grappled with this conundrum, and he understood the difficulty of it. How hard it was to swallow. <It’s different when it’s just you versus them. You can choose to risk your own life, but once other people are at stake… You can’t gamble them on the chance that the villain might have a change of heart.>

Letting the silence sit a little longer, he left the cockpit and headed to the ship’s little kitchenette. Minutes later he sought out Alicio to offer him a steaming mug. He may not have known the Count as well as others, but it was impossible not to notice how much the man loved tea.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Perhaps if the worst hadn't just happened, Alicio would have protested.

But he couldn't. Because he'd been proven wrong. Because he couldn't think straight. Because it wasn't wrong. For once, Alicio just... closed his mouth. Kept staring at the expanse of blue beyond the transparisteel, trying to accept the fact that his kindness had killed a friend.

Alicio barely noticed as a cup of tea was placed in his hands. He kept his eyes focused elsewhere, letting heat leech into his cold fingers.

"I..." The Count stopped himself, thinking twice about his words. He finally tested the drink, gripping the sides a little too hard.

"Thank you. For the tea."

- Arlo Renard -

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai bowed his head, and would’ve let the flow of conversation stop there. But there was one more thing.

<Nothing like this ever happened to you before?>

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

<Nothing like this ever->

<Once-...>

Alicio accidentally started speaking half-way through Kai's sentence, but stopped himself, to let the Sithspawn finish speaking. <Once, on Empress Teta, a former friend of mine. I healed her, after I nearly killed her. Then she almost killed me, and I had to...> He moved on, before he started bawling.

<Later, I staged a meeting with a group of assassins who'd tried to kill me, and... a friend of mine paid the price for it.> He left the thought intentionally vague. <So... yes, this has happened before. And I never learned my lesson. I kept... hoping that if I showed them kindness, trust, they would show it in return.>

<But... it's hopeless, isn't it?>

- Arlo Renard -

 

[Arlo Renard]

At the interruption, Kai canted his head to one side. <I thought you only looked into the future during combat,> he remarked. <You must be getting pretty good at it.>

Maybe someday soon he’d be able to see farther ahead than mere moments in time. Kai wondered what he’d see in his future.

Alicio’s answer was revealing. Kai looked away, busying himself with cleaning up. <Yes,> he eventually answered. <Most of the time people don’t change for the better. In Azrael, there were inmates who had been there before. Many, many times. They kept coming back, whether because they had lied their way into being released in the first place, or they couldn’t help but fall into their old habits again. After a certain point, you start to wonder if it might be better to just put them out of their misery. At least that way they couldn’t hurt themselves or anyone else ever again.>

After wiping the counter down, he leaned against it, glancing down at his reflection in the glossy surface. <I’m considered a successful redemption case, so I know it’s possible. But I won’t hesitate to neutralize a threat on the off chance that redemption might be possible for them somewhere down the line.> He straightened, a small smirk breaking through the dour mood. <Especially if it’s your life or theirs, boss.>

He still wished he had been there today. It was better for him to shoulder this burden rather than Alicio.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio was already putting on a dark, mildly concerned expression by the time Kai had finished his first thought. Whatever it was, he kept it to himself for a few moments longer, as he listened to the Sithspawn's continued thought.

And he saw the wisdom in it. The cold, pragmatic wisdom.

<After a certain point, you start to wonder if it might be better to just put them out of their misery.>

That got an unexpected rise from the Count. He turned away, biting his lip to hide a white-hot poke of anger. It was so antithetical to his very being, to punish anyone so severely, so totally. Maybe that's why he kept failing. But he didn't say as much. Alicio wasn't exactly in his right mind, so to speak.

Instead, he nodded. "That's... your call to make, Kai." There was a certain distance in his words, though. Like he was holding himself back from saying more.

Finally, Alicio rounded back, muttering quietly. "I... I can't stop it. Looking... ahead."

- Arlo Renard -