Tales of Devious Hope (Aittera's Journal Thread)

The door to the hotel room slid open, the lights came on, and a very tired redhead shed her coat and shoes on her way to drop unceremoniously onto the couch. She thought idly that there should be a bottle of something in her hand, but that would have involved getting back up – something she was not quite ready to do. Instead, she curled onto her side, propping her head up on the arm of the couch, and looked toward the large wall-length window that looked out on the Nar Shaddaa skyline.

She should leave.

She should go get the damned Hope out of the little hangar in the shadowport where it was hidden, and she should just keep flying until the Eternal Empire, the Republic, and the Sith Empire weren't even a thought. Jean Schramme's voice sounded in her head again, accusing her of running at the first sign of her emotional barriers...being breached? Falling? Kriffing soldier types and their need to turn every analogy into a battle thing.

She scoffed. What the hell did that even mean? Emotional barriers.

Patrek Waterfield had made himself a mark from the moment the two exchanged words that first night at Descent. It wasn't the flirting, either. It was the condescension. Zakuulan superiority. Whatever happened, he'd practically drawn a target on his chest that night, and she was prepared to take full advantage of that...of him.

It was an invitation that was so obvious to the former SIS agent that she just couldn't resist the opportunity. The sheer amount of hubris that dripped from so much of what he said broadcasted the exploitable weakness like the gaudiest neon on the Promenade. He was begging for it.

Blue had scolded her for taking the bait (and was probably right), sure, but to walk away from the perfect opportunity to either turn the man into an asset or at least get some usable intel while knocking him down a peg or three? From a selfish standpoint, it could be one last profitable venture to fund a damned nice get-away after all was said and done. Even if all she got was a way to protect the few idiot friends she had left who all seemed to be involved in some form of rebellion against Zakuul, it would be something.

When he wasn't being a haughty, superior ass spouting off in that way that made him sound like the tutting adult over the children's unfortunate misunderstanding that he and the other 'adults' really did know what was best, Patrek was intelligent, attentive, witty. She had enjoyed the flirty verbal sparring with the handsome, older officer, and the heat between them was...

Aittera heaved a conflicted sigh as she pushed herself up into a seated position and pulled her knees up to hug to against her chest. She liked him. She told herself that was a good thing in the end, because it made things easier when one liked their mark. In those moments where she spoke candidly with him, her smile came more easily, more naturally, because they were honest moments. She could be herself with him.

She ran two fingers absently over her lips, recalling another moment in which she'd felt far too honest with him, and her eyes slipped closed. There may have been something here she hadn't quite counted on.

“Just who is seducing who here?” she murmured to herself.

Tales of the Devious Hope (Aittera Journal Thread)

“I wish I could have come in person, and even began to, but I was argued out of it.  It's been a long time, but I still think of you, I still miss you.  That's really all I want to say...”

Aittera paused the holo-recording, ran it back, played it again.

" I wish I could have come in person, and even began to, but I was argued out of it.  It's been a long time, but I still think of you, I still miss you.  That's really all I want to say...”

Pause.

She watched the frozen holo-image of Kol's face for several long, quiet moments. Jean had been quick to point out her run and hide approach to life when they'd spoken earlier, and now, she mused over those final moments before saying goodbye to Kol when word of the first Zakuul attacks had reached them.

“Take the Hope, and get as far away as you can.”

She reached forward to change the holo-terminal settings to record a message and turned to the inset holo-camera's lens...and smiled.

“I miss you too. I've had long nights trying to convince myself that there must be some way to make things work...to make it possible to be together.” She paused, glancing down toward the floor as one or two of those arguments with herself briefly resurfaced in her thoughts. Finally, she looked back up and, this time, her smile was softer, affectionate. “I think we're well past that though, so let's just skip to the important parts...

“I'm okay. I'm not drowning myself in whiskey or hating my life. If nothing else, what happened between us has made me want to live again, honor that knowledge that you're out there, loving me, willing me to be happy. I hope you know I feel the same way.”

She drew herself up to stand more confidently, giving the camera a satisfied nod.

“Your people are right. Don't come to Nar. And do me a favor – ignore anything you hear about me in the next few months. You have your people to protect, and I have mine. We'll see where things stand when we're all on the other side of this thing.”

She placed the tips of her first two fingers over her lips, kissed them, then flicked them toward the camera before ending the recording.

SSDD

“What the hell were you thinkin'?”

“I was improvising!”

“Well, you improvised yerself right out o' keepin' yer head down.”

“I know.”

“This ain't what we agreed on.”

“I know.”

“Ya said two weeks so ya could make some contacts, send a message or two, an' that'd be it. If anyone connects you to me, an' if they think yer some kinda spy or somethin', I could lose the cantina.”

“I know!”

Aittera rubbed her forehead with two fingers as she continued to pace the tiny area behind the captain's chair where the blue-haired spacer's hands flew across control panels, holo-displays, and computer screens. They had never really gotten along to begin with. Aittera had seen the younger woman as a flibbertigibbet while Kelri had pegged Aittera as a mean-spirited bitch that couldn't be trusted.

In the eight or so years since they'd first encountered each other, a lot had changed. Kelri “Blue” Irris had gone from frivolous party girl to business owner and engineering graduate while Aittera had mellowed somewhat from the bitter, sarcastic woman who had lost everything after the death of her fiancee. To Blue's mind, the redhead's love affair with a Sith had gone a long way toward removing the stick from her ass.

“Anyway, finished workin' on the Hope. Upgraded that stealth tech Selus had installed, but I wouldn't push it when it comes to Zakuul sensors. Ya need to get the Hope some'ere safe. That alias won't hold under scrutiny.”

“Yeah,” Aittera nodded in agreement. “I just need a few more days.”

“Yer jokin',” Blue groaned.

“I got a message that I need to respond to, a couple more friends to look up.”

“Mm-hmm.” The diminutive spacer finished what she was doing with the Hope's systems and hopped out of the captain's chair. “No more hookin' up with Zakuul soldiers at my place. Hard 'nough to find safe places for resistance people to find each other on this moon.”

“Hey, I should get points for getting him to leave.”

Once Kelri was gone, Aittera sunk into the captain's chair and pulled up a holo-image taken from a message she'd recently been passed. It was Kol Arren, his face a bit more worn, a few scars long healed now visible on his face.  A hint of gray colored his sideburns, but he was every bit as handsome as he'd once been, and he was smiling in that way he would only have smiled for her.

In the years since the Zakuul invasion had separated them, there had been just four dreams shared between them. In two, by the time she'd realized what they were, they'd barely had time to exchange greetings before the dreams had evaporated for whatever reason. She hadn't expected him to find a way to send a more tangible message or that he'd know she was on Nar Shaddaa, so it had been a surprise to be approached.

She deactivated the holo-image and got up to stalk through the silent ship. Blue was right. She needed to leave as soon as she could. She had come to put out feelers to a few old contacts only to find most of those contacts dead. By the time she had gotten an opportunity to ask Major Eiss about Jean, she was sure the answer would be that he was dead too. She had never gotten a chance to ask where he could be found though.

And then, there was this Zakuul guy...Patrek Waterfield...rubbing elbows with the  rabble.

What to do about him...

Nerrix

It felt wrong.

Tree branches whipped at her face as she ran blindly through the dense forest, the sound of her heaving breaths filling her ears in the relative silence that surrounded her. Even the animals had fled, and the usual ambient sounds of nature that had once provided solace and a sense of consistency, of the ongoing cycle of life, were absent.

She should go back.

Finally, aching joints and numb limbs began to fail her, and she stumbled over a thick root she had not noticed soon enough. Her lungs burned as she felt the ground rush up to meet her, and though she needed to get back to her feet and move, she simply couldn't go another step. She'd been running for hours, and even as she rolled over onto her side with a hoarse groan, her chest heaving for breath, it felt as though she was still in motion.

Master Runa lay dead miles behind her, she'd felt it. His last admonition had been for her to run.

It still felt wrong.

She should have stayed. She should have fought by his side. She could have---

A presence interrupted the thought. It was unfamiliar, yet somehow comforting in its intimacy – its closeness. It was as though the mind that touched hers understood exactly how she was feeling, had experienced the warring emotions, the heartache of losing her mentor – a man who had been as much father to her as teacher.

The presence quieted her mind, gave her a sense of peace, urged her to rest, assured her safety.

Nerrix's breathing slowed as she succumbed and sleep overtook her.

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Story Conclusion)

The soft, insistent beep that permeated sleep came all too early, invading the sanctuary of the peaceful captain's quarters on the Devious Hope. They were still wrapped in each others arms, silken sheets tangled around them where they were haphazardly drawn into place in those final minutes before sleep filled with whispered promises and affections.

Turning to dig around on the floor for where his holocom unit had come to rest with his hastily removed clothing, he finally found it under buried with his belt under Aittera's top.  Setting it on the table next to the bed, he activated it and laid back down while he waited for the image of his apprentice to appear.

Aittera stirred with a soft moan when Kol moved, and as he settled back again, she drew her head up to look across at the holocom at the image of the Twi'lek flickering to life. Pria's head turned to look between the redhead and the Sith, her lekku twitching briefly.

"Apologies for disturbing you, Master," the apprentice began. "We have received an urgent message from Lord Somaesthesia."

"Put it through, please, Pria."  Ragious was ever respectful to his apprentice - he always had been. It had been much the same with Temivi before the events that led to his shameful abandonment of her - ever his greatest regret.  Many among the Sith questioned why he had taken not one, but two Twi'leks for his apprentices, when his fellows mostly took them as bed slaves.  Truth be told, while Ragious found their beauty intoxicating, the two he had taken had been destined for so much more than to simply share a bed.

Pria hesitated as her eyes shifted once more to Aittera, who had settled against Kol's side to rest her head on his chest and closed her eyes when she decided that she wasn't ready to let the rest of the universe back in just yet.

"I explained that you were unavailable," she began as she returned her gaze to Ragious. "She is requesting your immediate return to Dromund Kaas."

"Out of the question.  I've just found Aittera again, and we have a lot of catching up to do.  Tell my sister that if she wants to see me, she can come to Rishi."  He was annoyed that Jocelyn would pick this exact time to want to recall him.

"Master, the Imperial shipyards have been devastated and Korriban has fallen. There is every indication that Dromund Kaas will be besieged next." Despite the dire nature of the information she was conferring, the Twi'lek's voice remained steady, even calm.

Aittera's eyes flew open, and a moment later, she was upright. Despite the shock in her voice, there was a note of pride. She couldn't help it. "The Republic?"

"Couldn't have been, there is no way the Republic launched that scale of an attack without warning.  And if the Sith had been warned, they would have been ready."

"The incursion is not Republic. Our communications officer is still gathering what she can and will have a full report ready for you by the time you return." Pria left the unsaid 'which should be right away', though the urgency hung unspoken in the air.

"Were we the only ones attacked?"  He had sat upright when Aittera did, but the urgency in his apprentice's voice had him standing now, the light of the holo being used to locate his scattered clothing.

"A moment." The apprentice stepped out of view for a few moments, and when she returned, her usually stoic demeanor had given way to true apprehension. "It seems there are reports of attacks to Republic holdings as well."

Aittera was up and gathering her clothes too, and she turned a furrowed brow toward the holocom and the tiny image of the Twi'lek. "Who the hell has an army that big?"

"No one. The Hutt Cartel was gutted after Makeb, and the Revanites were destroyed.  This is something new, and I think that is the most terrifying thing about it."  Ragious was pulling on his clothing as he spoke. "Order the Avenger back to Kaas, I'll meet you there. Send word to House Eirndeth that all personnel are to prepare for evacuation. I want the entire house archive, everything of value packed up and ready for transport to the Avenger when you arrive."

Kol was right. The very idea that there was a new military force that was big enough and bold enough to strike at both Republic and Imperial holdings was terrifying. Aittera sat down on the edge of the bed, stunned, while he gave his apprentice orders.

Pria's holoimage gave a singular nod. "I shall await you there. Pria out."

His belt clicking into place around his waist was the last of his clothing in place as the image of his apprentice vanished.  He looked over to where the redhead sat on the edge of the bed. "Come with me, Aittera.  If both the Republic and the Empire are under attack, at my side on the Avenger is the safest place you could be."

She was just finishing pulling her second boot on. "You can't promise that - especially now. If whoever this is has it in for the Empire, running around in an Imperial dreadnought paints a target on your back."

Aittera stood and turned to look back at him as an idea suddenly occurred to her. "Come with me instead. We'll take the Hope in the opposite direction and just keep moving until both the Empire and the Republic are a distant memory."

"You know I can't.  I wish I could.  But I could never live with abandoning everything now.  If there was no threat, if I knew my family, all the people that rely on me were safe as well."  He smiled at her, but there was a sadness behind it.  He was no longer the man she had first met, or even the one he had been when their connection first developed. "Do one thing for me, Aittera?  If you can't come with me, at least do what you just asked me to do with you.  Take the Hope, and get as far away as you can.  If the fighting comes where you are, keep going further."

She raised a hand as she began to form an argument, but the reality of the situation hit her - truly hit her. She had known this moment would come, of course. He would have to return to his life - the one where she didn't quite fit - and she would have to walk away. The circumstances might be different, but the outcome would always be the same. They could never be together in any lasting way.

"Promise me you'll stay alive," she demanded with a quiet intensity, her cobalt gaze suddenly ablaze.

"I have to," He smiled a new smile at her - one that only she would ever see, "because I'm going to find you again.  I will never give up on being with you."

"I think at this point, we both know this is never going to work."

"Probably not, but I can't change the way I feel about you, Aittera, and I wouldn't want to if I could."

She stood silent for several moments as that declaration hung in the air, memorizing that smile, fighting the urge to do what he had first asked and leave with him. Finally, her lips curled into the old familiar wry smile that used to come so easily to her and had been absent for far too long. "Until next time then."

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Ongoing Story)

When Ragious's search took him to Rishi, it was meant to be a cursory look. There was no lead that took him there really. It was simply a part of a systematic check of worlds known for being beyond Republic or Imperial control or interest.

However, the moment the Sith Darth set foot on the planet itself, he sensed her - or rather, Jocelyn's mark on her. He immediately set off on a speeder, homing in on that sense with the force.  It was his first solid lead on her since he had begun his personal search, and he wasn't about to let Aittera slip away from him again.

He was led away from the spaceport and villages, and it would be at least a couple of hours before the sense would grow stronger. In fact, for a good while, it seemed as though he wasn't getting any closer - like traveling the desert toward a distant spot on an endless horizon that doesn't seem to be getting any closer.

Just as he started to feel that sense more clearly ahead and to the east, he caught sight of the Devious Hope to the west side of the nose of his speeder. He cut the engines, not wanting to risk that she might realize he was coming and bolt again.  Going the rest of the way on foot, he crossed the distance quickly.  Getting as close to the ship as he could, as fast as he could, before she would be alerted to his presence.

The ship was closed up, of course. The ramp to the entry hatch wasn't even extended. Near one of the landing struts, there was what looked from a distance like a pile of scrap metal.

Keeping his distance for the moment, he reached out with the force, using it to levitate the pile of scrap metal carefully.  If it was a trap for someone he didn't want to take the chance of it being sprung when he was too close, or of it going off and damaging Aittera's ship.

The battle droid activated as soon as he tried to levitate it, its limbs extending as it took shape. The main part of its chassis was insulated with cortosis, of course, to fortify it against lightsaber attacks. A klaxon sounded as its electronic voice loudly announced, "Intruder. This is private property. You have ten seconds to vacate the area before I shove a cannon up your ass."

"I'm not an intruder, I was invited here by your mistress, please contact her and tell her to lower the boarding ramp, I wish to come aboard."

The droid extended its cannons and pointed them directly at Ragious, moving into a battle-ready stance. "You have ten seconds to give the passcode. Ten..."

"Oh, kriff off."  Ragious called his lightsaber to his hand with the force, igniting the crimson blade and readying himself for the droid's worst.

The ship's engines roared to life as the droid continued its countdown. "Nine....Eight...."

Hearing the ship starting to come to life, he knew what he had to do.  He couldn't lose her again when he was so close. Reaching out with one hand, he felt in the force for the cabling that connected the engines to the ships power supply, pulling hard, he ripped them from their connections, making sure that she wouldn't be going anywhere until she could make repairs.  With the droid still counting down he decided to try something. "Davin."

The ship's engines died. "Seven....Six..."

"Kol Arren."

"Five...four..."

"Selus?"

"Three...two..."

"Nope, sticking with Kriff Off!"  He leapt at the droid, his lightsaber slashing at the weapon systems rather than the main body. He didn't know if Aittera was fond of it in some way, so rather than take a chance at angering her further (he knew she'd be pissed that he had wrecked her ship...again), he would simply make it unable to attack.

The droid turned out to be an easy target and even though the attack was directed at its cannon, its head wobbled and tumbled off onto the ground when it was struck. It had only been a distraction to give the ship time to take off.

With the droid disabled, he moved toward the boarding ramp.  "I know you know I am out here Aittera, don't make me cut my way in.  I don't want to damage the Hope any more than I have."

There was no immediate response or activity from the ship. The boarding ramp remained withdrawn. However, the sense he had been tracking through the Force became stronger to the west, presumably growing closer.

Ragious turned toward that sense, waiting.  While doing so, he attempted to reach out to feel for any presence on the ship and found none.

A speeder appeared on the horizon - a sleek little black thing - closing in fast, its rider concealed by a high windshield.

He stood his ground, waiting for the speeder, his lightsaber in hand but deactivated.  He reached out with the force to ascertain for certain whether it was Aittera or not.

It was definitely her, and he could feel cold rage mounting within her as she sped toward him. As soon as she was within range, a blaster appeared alongside the high windshield, angry red bolts firing in rapid succession on his location. For the speed with which she was moving (and the position of the pistol), her aim was surprisingly accurate.

The blade of his saber came alive as soon as the first bolt was loosed from her pistol.  He batted them away, careful not to send any back at her.  Reaching out with his other hand, he brought the speeder to a halt slowly, forcing the throttle on it down.  His voice boomed, amplified by the force to be clear to her even at a distance when in truth he spoke calmly at a level he would use if she were standing beside him. "Aittera, stop.  There is no need for us to fight."

When the speeder began to slow in spite of her efforts to push it to go faster, Aittera brought it to a full stop instead. Rolling from her perch atop it, she found cover behind a nearby tree before she resumed firing. From this distance, her responding shout might have been difficult to hear, but she was sure his super duper forcey crap could compensate. "Fine then! Just stand there and let me kill you!"

He continued to block her attempts to kill him, batting the blaster bolts away with his lightsaber.  "Why do you wish me dead?"

"Oh, you know...fool me once and all that."

"I never fooled you Aittera.  Everything we shared was genuine.  Everything I felt, I still feel."

"Of course, you do," she mumbled disbelievingly. She stopped firing though, realizing that she was only wasting ammunition at this point. "I'm not sure what the game is these days, but you should have left me alone."

"There is no game Aittera.  I came for you, and a part of you still believes it.  Your mind was altered by a Sith, but it wasn't me.  Everything we shared was real, and the day you left the Avenger was one of my worst days."

"Let's explore that for a moment," she said conversationally as she  began to sort through her kit - something she was smart enough to take in her hasty dismount from her speeder - between glances in the Sith's direction to make sure he was not approaching her position. "Why don't you tell me how miserable you've been. I really want to hear this."

"If you would come out and speak to me, let me attempt to fix what my sister did, I will be happy to catch you up on everything."

Aittera erupted into hysterical laughter, continuing to sort through her kit, pulling a few potentially useful items. "That's what this is all about! Like I need you people mucking around in my head any more than you already have! Are you really that arrogant, or do you just think I'm that stupid?"

"I never thought you were stupid, but stop and think, why would I waste all those resources, all of this time, why would I come myself to track you if this was all some game.  You know me Aittera, you know me better than anyone, why would I come here? And don't you dare say all you know is lies.  That is my sister's manipulation, fight it, don't be weak."

"Here's my theory..." she began, taking apart the timer of one of the two explosive charges she had pulled from her kit. "You had me there for a while. I was starting to fall for the whole romantic star-crossed lovers thing. I could write it into a holo-novel! Big, dangerous Sith's attempts to manipulate an enemy's mind get turned around on him by some unexpected complication or clash of Force hocus pocus, leading to tethering their minds together. They fall in love and run off together. It's a classic fairy tale, isn't it?

"Except, that's what it was, Kol. It was a fairy tale that I was stupid enough to start to buy into - just like you planned, right? You weren't succeeding in driving me crazy or asserting control over me in the beginning, so you took another tact and built an elaborate manipulation to gain control another way.

"In the process, you destroyed my life. You got me to leave Selus for you, and now, he's with that damn Twi'lek bitch. You got me to compromise my reputation by manipulating me into strutting around on your bridge in that uniform. And then, you sent your wife to kill me, but that didn't go quite the way you expected, right?

"Still...what's that old saying about it being the things you have to live through being worse than death? Hell of a plan that was. Worked great. I'm alone, wanted just about everywhere, and all I've got left is my damned ship."

Her refusal to be reasonable had started to wear on him. He charged the tree she was hiding behind, leaping the last twenty yards to land on the other side of it as he slid his lightsaber through the trunk, using the force to direct its fall away from her position. "Would you listen to what you are saying.  I did none of that.  Kiabe attacked you because of the effect of a booby-trapped holocron. She was literally acting on pure rage, directed at you because she knew how much I cared for you.  That my feelings for you were starting to rival my feelings for her.  Then, my kriffing sister made it worse by implanting in your head the idea that I had been lying, because one of the spirits in my sister's head didn't think you were good enough for me!"

The construction on her improvised grenade was only half complete, and she chucked the device aside to get her blasters back in hand before springing to her feet. "Wait...wait...So, this is supposed to sound more believable? Do you actually hear yourself?" she challenged, glaring at him.

"You know what I think? I think you did all of this so that you'd be the only person left that I could turn to, and when I didn't do that, you had to send out your agents to haul me back in! And since that didn't work, instead of just killing me, you're playing more mind games!"

He reached out with the force to knock her blasters away and deactivated his lightsaber, tossing it aside.  "I sent those agents to find you so that I could heal you.  You made the choice to murder them. They weren't meant to haul you back in, but merely to report your location so that I could come to you."

She should have expected that. Growling frustration, she took a step further away from him, mentally calculating her chances of reaching the speeder. "I don't believe you. Don't you get it? Even if I did believe all of this impossible, crazy bantha shit, the results are still the same! You ruined my life!"

"I don't believe that, and if I did, then let me start helping to fix it by healing you.  I think I can reverse what Mistanis did, but I need you to give me permission."

"Define 'healing', Kol. Whatever she did, at least my mind has been my own. What makes you think I'm going to let you take that away from me too?"

"That's the thing, Aittera.  She didn't give you your mind. She altered your way of thinking and sent you running."

This brought her up short, and she looked over at the speeder as she considered what he was saying.

"I think I can reverse what she did. She left her presence there in your head, and I believe I can remove it, fix the pathways she damaged."

Aittera cast a stubborn glare back up at him. "I don't feel damaged. In fact, since you've been gone, I've been abundantly clear."

"Yes, and all of that clarity toward me, it's all negative, correct?  Doesn't that seem odd?"

"It seems deserved."

"Only because she's reprogrammed your mind to think the worst of me.  You know I've done bad things, Aittera, bad things to you even, but ever since that first shared experience, we have been drawn ever closer.  That wasn't my doing, and I never expected to feel what I do about you, but I do.  If - when her influence on you is gone - you still feel nothing for me, I will walk away, it will be the hardest thing I have ever done, but I will do it."

She crossed her arms, considering his offer despite what she felt were her better instincts. "I didn't say I feel nothing," she grumbled.

"Yes, I know. You hate me, and you feel I ruined your life."

"Right." There was nothing convincing in that response at all.

He gave her a curious look, but then continued. "Trust me one more time, like you did on the Avenger."

"This isn't something you can have someone else do?"

"I wouldn't trust any other Sith to heal you, too many chances of them doing further damage."

"You realize what you're asking of me?" The edge was disappearing from her tone, but the stubborn defiance still shone brightly in her eyes, somehow intensified by the red curl that hung rebelliously loose from the severe bun the rest of her hair had been drawn back into.

He nodded, reaching out tentatively for that loose bit of hair, but then pulling his hand back. "I'm asking you to trust the part of you that still loves me."

She didn't flinch at the almost-touch, though close as they were now standing, the conflict of warring emotions within her was unmistakable. "If I let you do this, does this mean you'll be listening to my thoughts again? Showing up in my dreams?"

"I don't know.  I honestly don't know what comes out the other side of this."

"That's not very convincing," she murmured, pushing her gaze off to the side, because seeing his expression softening was too much, too painful somehow. It was impossible to hate him when he looked at her that way.

"Was it really so bad?"

She answered with an exasperated breath. "No, but that's beside the point."

"Then let's see what happens next, together."

"If I say no?" she asked quietly, still not able to bring herself to look back up at him.

"You won't.  I know you. You have to be certain as much as I do."

"That's not why I asked."

"I don't know what I would do, Aittera.  I can't stand that you hate me. Probably force my sister to hunt you down and undo what she did."

"I don't---" She cut herself off. "I hate that living without you is every bit as bad as watching my life crumble into pieces while I was with you."

"I wish you would have come back, Aittera.  I would fight the entire Republic if they came to take you."

"You think that's something I'd want?"

"I don't know.  I know you don't want to live in the Empire, but the Republic has made it impossible for you to live there."

"And there's no guarantee either will survive this war. What good is my loyalty anymore anyway, right?" she asks rhetorically, the fight having drained from at some point since he'd stepped around the tree. "I really don't have anything left but you."

"I promise you, Aittera, I won't ever give up fighting to be the person you deserve."  He moved his hands again, putting them to either of her cheeks, his fingers pressing against her temple as he leaned in to kiss her. Her eyes flickered up to meet his when he touched her, meeting the kiss with her lips in that achingly perfect way.

As he kissed her, his mind sought every bit of the residual effect of Mistanis' meddling, burning it away with the force, drawing the pathways of Aittera's mind back to how they originally should have been.  In the kiss, things started to become normal again. There were flashes of the two of them in different settings - alone in her quarters on the Hope, her laying on his chest as she kissed him deeply after they had made love.  Then on the Avenger, in the turbolift where he had kissed her so passionately before it stopped and they were interrupted.  Over and over they flashed to different places, both real and from their shared dreams, until finally he could no longer feel Jocelyn within Aittera's mind, but his connection to her was clear once more.

She melted against him as she slid her arms around his neck, threading her fingers into his hair, kissing him with increasing affection and passion until they both needed to come up for air, so to speak. Even so, she remained as close as possible, the heat of her breath falling heavily against his lips with a quiet chuckle. "Booby-trapped holocrons?"

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Ongoing Story)

The most recently dead agent's ship was found on the edge of Imperial space - left floating dormant and stripped of anything valuable, a hole blown in its hull (likely by pirates rather than by the smuggler). Its databanks held an encrypted recorded holo-message.

When Aittera Timm's image appeared in the holo-message, she was wearing a black evening gown that gave the impression that it could have been painted onto her curves with a neckline that plunged to her belly button, giving a generous glimpse of the curvature of each breast, the skirt slit up the side of one shapely leg. On most women, a dress like this might look tawdry or even slutty, but this was Aittera. On the redhead, it was stunning, elegant and breath-taking. Her once warm, vibrant blue eyes were ice.

"I'm beginning to feel a little hurt, Kol," she began in a sultry bedroom tone. "If I'm so important to you, why do you keep sending minions?"

As if to punctuate this question, she extended a hand to the side and dragged a woman into view by her hair. The agent was on her knees, hands bound behind her back, wearing 'street clothes' that one might see on any of a hundred civilized worlds.  She began with, "Forgive me, my lord---" but was cut off with a sharp jerk of her head and a vibroknife blade pressed to her neck.

"Stop sending these idiots to do your dirty work," Aittera continued. "You had no problems showing up to screw me. I'd think you'd jump at the chance to come kill me."

With a deft motion, she drew the blade across the agent's throat, sending blood spilling down over her chest. The message ended there.

When the recording was through, Ragious turned to his apprentice with a frown. "I really had hoped she would get over the delusion that Jocelyn implanted with time.  I think I am going to have to take a more hands on approach to the search.  That woman was one of my most loyal agents."

Pria's lekku swayed behind her as she looked at the space where Aittera's holo-image had just been. "It seems that delusion has taken hold. It's possible that there are other psychological factors at play as well. Her first message was a challenge. This was more like a twisted attempt at a seduction."

Ragious folded his arms across his chest, nodding at Pria. "Wrapped in a challenge.  She needs to be found, and I need to see what I can do to reverse what Jocelyn did.  This can't just be about my need for her anymore. I don't think it ever was.  I can sense it - even if I can't sense her, she is needing too."

The apprentice cast a carefully neutral glance in his direction. "Have your feelings for her changed?"

"No, if anything they've only intensified.  I miss her, Pria.  I didn't expect to, but I do."

"If you are able to successfully reverse the damage your sister did only to find that Captain Timm no longer feels the same way?"

"Then that is how things will be.  I do not know how she feels, but those messages both seem like she wants me to find her."

"So that she can kill you."

"It wouldn't be the first time she's tried that."

"Not to question your wisdom or experience in handling matters concerning her, but..." The twi'lek paused to consider her phrasing carefully. "...is it possible that what has kept her from moving on isn't the manipulation of her mind but your search for her?"

"All that happened to her is because of me Pria.  I have to make it right, if it means I lose her in the end, then I will accept that.  But the time Aittera and I spent together, I know she has the same feelings I do.  If it hadn't been for my sister meddling with her head, she wouldn't be running like she is.  She would have run to me."

The apprentice gave an understanding nod, the tips of her lekku twitching as she inclined her head respectfully. "I will do everything that I can to help you, of course, Master."

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Ongoing Story)

Over the following year, three more agents would turn up in a similar way - one sent to search Hutt Space, one sent to the Unknown Regions, and another sent into the Core. The first was returned in his ship - sent on auto-pilot for where the Avenger was still in the Outer Rim during Ragious's investigation.

The second produced a similar wild goose chase as the initial agent - returned in a shuttle, though none of his ship's components could be found. At least, not until the ship showed up carrying the third agent several months later.

Each time a new lead was found, Ragious would rely on his apprentice to chase it. He was frustrated with the lack of progress, but it became a sort of weird game to him. He continued sending Agents, even if she was going to keep killing them, refusing to allow Aittera forget him.  He would check in with Jocelyn every so often, hopeful her research had yielded something to help him get around what she had done to Aittera.

Over time, Jocelyn's disparate personalities moved past the internal struggle for control and began to work with each other to a point, allowing for the research into a technique to aid Ragious. She couldn't remove the block she'd placed on Aittera's mind, but she would eventually be able to teach him a method by which to detect the block's 'signature' in a manner of speaking. Proximity would stilll be an issue, of course, but if he could put himself on the same world that Aittera was on at the same time, he could theoretically locate her.

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Ongoing Story)

A shuttle was waiting for the Avenger when it dropped out of hyperspace on its return from its most recent assignment. The shuttle emitted a repeated signal for pick-up (as though it belonged to the dreadnought's contingent). A sensor sweep of the shuttle revealed that it was on auto-pilot and unmanned. Inside the shuttle's cockpit was a stasis chamber containing a dead agent - one of the dozen or so sent out to look for signs of Aittera Timm in the Outer Rim.

Ragious brought his senior adviser, who he had entrusted to handle the agents, to make the positive ID on the body. Then he asked her to give him a run down of where this Agent had been assigned, hoping it would give him insight into where Aittera may have gone.

The agent's last three reports had been filed more than two months previous, and she'd failed to check in ever since. The reports indicated that there had been no progress as yet, and the agent had been checking various systems near Hoth.

The tracking software for the agent's ship indicated the impossible position of being beneath the surface of a moon in another part of the Outer Rim altogether than the last system she'd checked in from. When Ragious's team investigated the moon, they found just the transponder in an underground cave, fastened to a stalactite. Weeks later, they would find evidence of other parts of the ship, sold in various places on several different planets, essentially strewn across different systems from one end of the Outer Rim to the other in no discernible pattern.

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Ongoing Story)

Ragious's personal comm frequency received a call that - according to the readout - came from a secure frequency designated "Nowhere".

He answered immediately. "You don't have to stay Nowhere, you know."

Aittera's image had the same hardened look she had worn in the holo-recording. However, something about her eyes betrayed a deep weariness...and not a small amount of alcohol consumption. "I don't have to be stunningly beautiful either," she retorted.

"You can't help that."  He gave her a wink. "Where are you?  You know we have alcohol in the Empire right?  Probably better than what you've been drinking."

"It's not the quality that matters, but the quantity, lover. If I drink enough, I forget for a little while," she explained bitterly, the upper half of her body - which is all that showed - shifting, suggesting that she was kicking her feet up on something. "Of course, these damn messages you keep leaving me are getting in the way of that."

"Kind of the point, you know.  Come back, so we can undo what my sister did."

"No."

"Why?  Aittera this isn't some trick.  I know what happened between you and Kiabe, and I know why."

"Well, you just figure you know everything, don't you?" she half-mocked, slurring her words a little. "I have a theory. Would you like to hear my theory?"

"Probably not, but yeah.  Let's hear your theory."

"My theory is this..." She paused to take a drink from a bottle that carried no visible label. "I am being punished. I forgot for a moment that Davin even existed, and for that, I am being punished. I'm a woman without citizenship now. I can't show my face in Republic space, because of that damned warrant. I can't come to Imperial space, because of your family. And I can't very well relax in Hutt space without well-meaning yet annoying friends making asinine suggestions about how to fix the life that is in shambles around me...or you showing up."

"My family is no threat to you.  You return to Imperial Space, and you will be welcomed.  Whatever assurances you need Aittera, whatever concessions I will give.  You killed Kiabe in combat. Do you realize what that means?  If I was to punish you for that, it would betray everything I have ever believed in.  Think about that. You know me.  You know there are some things I hold sacred, not many but this is one."

She laughed bitterly. "Dumb luck killed Kiabe. And don't you know me yet? I don't belong in the Empire anymore than I belong on the throne of Alderaan. Besides, there's this needling distrust in the back of my head that I realized I should've been listening to all along. You already promised I'd be safe from your family, and look at everything that's happened."

"That wasn't my fault.  You left.  And look at what happened, SIS made up some bullshit about you.  My sister wasn't in her right mind, not that she is now, but she's at least trying.  It wasn't a lie Aittera, we were not a lie."

"So...what you should have said was that you'd keep me safe from your family as long as what your family did wasn't your fault," she smirked and took another drink. "None of that disproves my theory though. I gave up too much for you. I gave up Davin for you, my guiding star, and now, I'm lost as all fuck."

"Aittera, he would have wanted you happy, and we were happy together, you and I.  You say you're lost, then let me find you.  I don't care about my family, I don't care about any of it, I care about you."

She stared at his image for a long, silent moment; the drunken sullen sneer evaporating. She was miserable, lonely, and perhaps even a little scared at how easily he was making her want-- no hope. Hope really was devious, wasn't it?

"Already said you were welcome to find me. Let's see how much you're willing to give up," she near-growled before disconnecting.

House Troubles (Ongoing Story)

Once Riftstalker had given Jocelyn a clean bill of health - at least physically - she had him send out messages to both Kaldaras and Ragious to rendezvous with her at the Arren estate.

Ragious to his credit arrived first, seating himself in the parlor. He wasn't even wearing his armor or robes, just the simple black pants and tunic he had become so accustomed to since his time with Aittera began. When his sister arrived he stood and offered her a smile but there was something held back, something beneath the surface. He knew his wife had come here, had done battle on the estate and that his sister had encountered her. He was very much wanting to set right in with his questions but he waited.

Jocelyn was standing near the balcony doors when Ragious walked in, and her expression when she turned to see him arrive was almost immediately conflicted. Nevertheless, she had approached him on steady footsteps and embraced him warmly. "Thank you for coming, M---my...hmm..." she began, finally settling on "Kol. Thank you for coming, Kol."

Kaldaras was late, something he never would have been months before. Where Ragious dressed simply Kal dressed like a Sith, black and silver armor under black robes. It was a true reversal of the brothers demeanor and whether it would last remained to be seen.

Jocelyn smiled affectionately at him and moved to embrace him much more easily than she had with Ragious. "I'm so glad to see you, Kalloo. I missed you."

Whereas when Ragious embraced his sister, he offered her a kiss on the cheek that wasn't at all awkward or conflicted, Kaldaras was rather cold, embracing her quickly and moving to sit. "Yes, I would imagine you did, especially since you made it so that I was returning to a house filled only with servants."

His brother's coldness took even Ragious by surprise, but he did and said nothing preferring to sit back and watch the two of them for now.

Jocelyn looked so stricken at Kal's response, he may as well have struck her outright. "I'm...sure you both have questions," she started unevenly, choosing a place to sit somewhere between the two men that was equally distant - or close, depending on how one looked at it.

"I'd like to start by apologiz---" she seemed to cut herself off with an irritated expression, tilting her head. "-No-," she resumed assertively. "I want to start by telling you both that the danger is not wholly past. The device that was used to begin this was not unique in its origin."

Ragious spoke first, "Would that be the device that I now have locked in a stasis chest and guarded by seven non force sensitive shock troops at all times?"

Kaldaras just continued to sit and fume. He had questions but at the moment he appeared as if he truly did wish to hit his sister.

The reversal of demeanor in each of her brothers was becoming more distracting by the moment. She glanced between them one more time before a guileless smile jumped to her lips with her response to Ragious. "Yes, and that was an excellent idea, Mas---Kol!"

With a little chuckle, Jocelyn reached for the wine that had been poured for her by a servant when she'd arrived. "Hmm...this is trickier than I thought." Once she'd taken a deep drink of the thick ruby liquid, she continued. "-I- think it's important to note first that there is a credit account that you can use to find Dels'taron, Kaldaras. It was set up some time ago separate from House Arren's accounts in case of emergency, and I gave it to her so that when she was no longer in danger, you or I could track her down."

"Do you think I needed a credit account to find my fiance? I have already located her, along with her altered memory and the surprising message that I would no longer be marrying her. A message that by the way sent her on a journey that may have that very effect. Now, of the three of us, which one has the abilities that would implant such a message while leaving her unable to recall clearly who delivered it?" He kept his voice in check but his presence in the force was screaming at her. He wasn't just angry - he felt betrayed by the woman he loved second most in the galaxy.

Ragious, however, noticed his sister's slip when referring to him, filing it away for later. "That artifact nearly cost Qel'rend her life, and for my part it had a strange attractiveness. I am guessing one of the three of you can explain it."

Jocelyn's hand rose as if to halt Kal's accusation or perhaps the fury that all but hurled itself in her direction before a blush highlighted her cheeks as she suppressed an embarrassed smile in Kol's direction. "Why don't I just start at the beginning instead? I think you'll both find enough answers there to...maybe hold off the desire to lynch someone! Sheesh! Force save me from Sith tempers."

Despite this final rather amused gentle exclamation, another look of irritation crossed her face, and she fell silent for several moments as she stared hard down at the glass of wine clasped in her lap. Both brothers were aware of the unique circumstances that had led to their sister being used as a vessel for an ancient Sith spirit. In claiming Kalista's body for her own, Mistanis had used Ragious's apprentice, Temivi, in the process, but in the end, she had been unable to wholly expunge either of the other two presences completely. The result had been Jocelyn Arren, and Kol and Kaldaras had come to accept her in the new persona.

Kal sat back in his chair folding his arms, but he continued to stare daggers at his sister. Kol was the opposite moving just ever so much closer and leaning forward to listen. "Please, continue Kalista."

When Kol spoke, she lifted her eyes to gaze at him with a note of surprise and suspicion. "Alright. Kiabe came to the house. She had contacted me a few weeks before that day concerning you and Khor, and it seemed like this was to be some kind of follow up - to see if I was going to help her in whatever she'd decided to do. I know you two liked your games, but I honestly never cared for them. Still, she has a lot of influence with Khor, so I always tried to at least make her feel like I was willing to help her.

“We met in the arboretum, and I could tell that she was up to something, but I let her play out the conversation in her own way. She broke the glass of wine that she was holding, and before I had a chance to react, she reached across the table and grabbed my hand to cut it. That's how she activated the device."

"So it did want blood. Qel thought the same but I wasn't going to feed it." Kol had listened intently to what she was saying. "I honestly never thought she would come after you. I am guessing that the reason she was set on her rampage and eventually went to attempt to murder Aittera was the effect of the artifact? I saw what it did to Qel, and I didn't put them together til just now."

Jocelyn nodded, her hand moving a few inches along her lap in his direction seemingly of its own accord. "It wanted blood. I don't know how she came by the device, but I think she believed it to be what it was disguised as - a holocron. Knowing your wife, she probably hoped that it would contain something powerful enough to use to influence you somehow. If she had trusted me enough to show it to me beforehand..."

She drew herself up to sit straighter and continued a little more stiffly. "We fought until I realized what she'd pressed my palm to. Unfortunately, by the time I recognized it, I was already being affected by it as well. I knew I had little time, so I did everything I could to minimize the potential damage. I---"

She seemingly cut herself off again, but this time, the shift between personalities was much more obvious. She leaned forward and snatched Kol's hand wrapping her own around it. "I hate that phrase - 'minimize potential damage'. Mistanis told you both that she had achieved 'cohesion' between the different essences distilled into this vessel, but it's crap, Master Ragious! She would have you all believe that hers is the only true spirit left, but what she did tore Kalista's spirit - it didn't leave her body willingly, so expelling it was violent. And when she left my---Temivi's body, she took part of her spirit with her! She didn't achieve 'cohesion'! She took control!"

"I know." It was Ragious that spoke first, Kaldaras regarding him with his usual suspicion. "I've long suspected it at least, and I have had the scholars and scientists loyal to me researching what could possibly be done to fix it, including separating the additional essences, meaning Temivi, and if she behaves herself Mistanis, into separate cloned bodies. Temivi's would be far easier though, as I remained in control of DNA samples she...no you, I know that's you I'm speaking to, provided when she first became my apprentice."

"No." It was Kaldaras who spoke this time. "You're not going to perform some weird experiment that could endanger Kalista all over again just because you're sad that your apprentice, that you abandoned, was killed and you want her back. Boo hoo Kol, grow up and be Sith. You used to be so good at it, and now all you do is mope. Waah, my wife is dead, waah my mistress ran off, waah I want Temivi back."

Ragious stared at Kal, and it was obvious that if he hadn't been holding Jocelyn's hand, his own would likely have gone to his lightsaber, "It's not weird, and it isn't just Temivi. I want my sister back."

Jocelyn leveled her gaze on Kaldaras next, but there was no malice or ill will in it as she squeezed Ragious's hand and spoke sternly, but somehow kindly. "We could say the same about you, you know! Dels'taron is alive because of us! If I hadn't seen her on the surveillance displays when I did, she would have walked right into the slaughter that was going on here. Kiabe wasn't killing randomly, you know. She wasn't just going after the aliens! We could feel it. Anyone either of you even so much as looked at longingly was being targeted too!

“Khor's half-sister? The one whose identity you kept hidden? I found her first, pulled her into a hiding place. And the redhead girl from the kitchen staff that made your favorite soup? Mistanis grabbed her and locked her in the walk-in cooler just one minute before Kiabe reached the kitchens.

“I don't know which one of us told Dels'taron to leave, but the entire goal of it was to keep her as far away from Kiabe's reach as possible before that device's effects could overwhelm us. So, yeah, maybe we did things a little dirty and a bit disorganized with three spirits fighting for control, but Mistanis's son did horrific things before he finally died, and we -had- to get away from everything you and I held dear. "

"Khor's half sister?" It was Ragious who was speaking, his gaze leveling at Kal, "You kept one of -my- children as a servant?" His voice took on a dangerous edge. "She is to be released to House Eirndeth at once, and when this threat to our family has passed, brother mine, we are going to discuss what you are going to do to apologize."

Kal scoffed, but his attention was on his sister, some of the hurt washing away, but not all. He was obviously still upset due to the circumstances of not being able to marry Dels'taron when he returned as he had desired. When Ragious pounded his free hand on the table to draw Kal's attention back, he only turned his head and stared at Ragious with a look of steel, nodding slowly.

Ragious still wouldn't release the hand he held. It was like he was using it to keep himself centered, to keep him from losing control of his anger. When he was a child, his sister never would have had that kind of calming effect, but this was a new Kol Arren and Darth Ragious - his experiences of the past month since his return bringing the man he wanted to be with Aittera and the Sith he was more into balance.

"If I've come to understand Kaldaras half as well as I think I have, he thought he was protecting her, and he had good reasons for doing so. Don't forget that what brought us all together is still here, Mast---KOL." She passed a sheepish look up at him - something that looked very strange on the usually composed Jocelyn's face. "I'm not used to being the one that speaks. We only agreed this morning on how to address you both and how to refer to our--myself...to avoid sounding crazy."

"And how would you prefer to be addressed?" Kol looked over at her, apologetic for dragging the conversation off the topic she had asked them to gather to speak about.

"Jocelyn. General consensus says Jocelyn is still correct. None of our spirits are whole anymore, and while your idea is a thoughtful one, I'm afraid what you'd create would be three incomplete people. I think it's best we remain as we are now that we know Mistanis survived."

"So what happened after Kiabe's assault here? I know she went to Nar Shaddaa. I also know that something has happened with my powers, where before I could feel the link between Aittera and myself so fully, I can't even find her now. I never thought that would be possible?" While Kol spoke, Kaldaras remained silent. He had the details he needed. At this point, it was yet another set of artifacts to be recovered, something he did very well.

If seeing the sheepish look on her face a few minutes before had been uncharacteristic, the confusion and guilt that now painted itself there was downright disturbing. "I think I did that too," she admitted apologetically in a softer tone. "Everything after leaving here is...disjointed....but I remember Aittera. There was some argument about whether or not we should protect her and the Jedi. Things are harder to keep track of. I don't even remember how I ended up where my agent finally found me."

"Did what exactly? You are a powerful Sith, but I don't think you could diminish my powers without being in the same room."

She frowned as she tried to sort through her memories (as well as consult those of the other two spirits), shaking her head. "Mistanis didn't want to waste time...Kalista and I were fighting to get to Nar Shaddaa, but...I think we were also fighting about what to do once we got to her. I remember being in a room...on a freighter...and Aittera was tied to a chair....and...."

Jocelyn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will the memory forward, then shook her head. "We were all losing time by then, and we were getting sicker faster like a snowball rolling downhill?"

Kol nodded at her, and at this point even Kaldaras seemed to be listening as he interjected, "You cut her off from him, in some way. You didn't do anything to his ability to use the force, you did something to her ability to be affected by it. It's why he can't find her now. Can you find her, Jocelyn?"

She looked to Kaldaras, nodding slowly. "That makes sense. One of Kalista's ideas was to prompt her into hiding somehow, and Mistanis's counter was that all Kiabe would have to do would be to follow Kol."

She drew back to sort of sag against the chair she was in with a look of defeat and dropped her free hand over her eyes. "I remember a lot of paranoia while I was on Nar Shaddaa - Mistanis was so terrified...She - I mean -I- knew I was dying."

I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make this up to you both. I'm so very sorry."

"No, you're going to spend the rest of your life being our sister, regardless of how many of you are in there." Ragious told her, comforting Jocelyn with another squeeze of her hand in his. "You see, I have few regrets in my life. Temivi knows me in ways few others do, the few regrets I do harbor involve both her and Kalista so tremendously that I could never make up for them."

He paused before continuing, "I won't pretend that I am a better person now, I don't believe I am. But I do know that I am not angry with you for any of this. Kiabe's jealousy drove her to this, I knew it would happen one day, though admittedly, I thought it would be me she attacked directly. I still loved her, even with what I was doing with Aittera, and believe me the temptation to ONLY be with Aittera was strong, but in the end, I was not going to leave my wife. I still need Aittera though, and that's a hard thing for me to admit. It was hard when I told her. So yes, if there is any way for you to find her, please, tell me."

When he squeezed her hand, Jocelyn moved to slide into his lap much like Temivi had often done in the past when she sought to comfort her Master. "I'll try. I think Kaldaras is right. I think whatever I did, shielding her mind from yours was part of it."

It was so natural a thing, his memory of Temivi so clear as he moved an arm around her to hold Jocelyn against him as he had done with Temivi so many times before. That the body was different didn't matter. He didn't even lose a step, the act being so familiar. "If she's shielded from my mind, then it's another mind needed to seek her. I can still feel what it felt like to touch her mind, perhaps that feeling could be used?"

She settled into his lap like a child into a parent's embrace and nodded. "Yes, maybe. But distance might play a role as well. I'll research it."

"Thank you, Jocelyn." It was Kal that had spoken up this time, and he seemed a bit unnerved by his sibling's new found closeness, realizing how much of his brother's former apprentice was bleeding through. "These artifacts. I remember a passing note in the family archives, there was one for Mistanis and each of her children were there not?"

"Yes. Two of her children were meant to be targeted, as well as herself. It's how her son died," she answered with a frown, looking across to Kal. "Her husband knew of her research into immortality, and he was angry that she hadn't planned to use it for him as well. They...didn't get along very well."

"So three total, and we know the location of one. Assuming he doesn't lose it." It was a cheap jab at Ragious, which normally would have provoked a fight.

Kol simply chuckled. "Yes, I'm probably going to leave it in the jungle with so many other of my lost toys. Wait, no, that was you," he continued, giving Jocelyn's hand another gentle squeeze, her presence truly comforting him. "I could send it into a sun. That way it could never be used against us again. Then we can do the same when we find the other two."

"The other one,” she corrected him. “The one that killed her son went dormant once it had infected him. I think the only reason I survived was because Kiabe found the one intended for the daughter, and Rift found me in time to reverse the physical damage that was done."

"So the one remaining is the one that can effect you the most." Kol shifted as he spoke, it was a protective motion. "When it is found we need to destroy it, immediately. Whatever means it takes. It can not come near you."

Jocelyn nodded, looking down at Kol's protective arms around her and then up again with a fleeting expression of...discomfort? "Right. And if the one you took from the arboretum is still active, no Sith should go near it at all. I think it's safe to say that it will continue to lash out until it finds its intended victim."

"He did at least have the sense to lock it in stasis, and have it guarded by non Sith. Does his idea of shooting it into a sun have merit? Holocrons can be fragile, after all." Kaldaras noticed the look, catching on to what was happening, but saying nothing. The personalities had shifted again, and whichever spirit had now asserted control, she was not nearly as comfortable as Temivi had been.

"Well, they aren't true holocrons, but I think it's definitely worth a try. Mistanis admits she hadn't thought of it," she answered, looking across to Kaldaras. "I think we should send a team of non-Sith to do it."

"You're welcome to come up to the Avenger and watch it be done. I can have the shock troopers already guarding it load it onto a shuttle and send it into the sun."

Jocelyn slid from Ragious's lap to get to her feet. "If it's all the same to you, I don't think I ever want to see the damn thing again.”

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Ongoing Story)

Another message, going out in bursts, hidden within background noise and set to broadcast at intervals.  She'd be able to see the changes in him. He was the Kol Arren he had been with her, but he was also Darth Ragious.  Even in the clothes he had become so familiar to her with - that simple black tunic with black pants and boots - she could see him being more of his old confident self.  And when the message, began she'd hear why.

"I now have more of the story.  It wasn't me that was screwed with. It was you.  Your mind was forced into believing that I had deceived you.  That none of what we shared was real, and that a threat was made on your life if you came near me.  I promise you, that threat is past, but there are others, threats that we can face together.  Send me your location, I will come to you."

House Troubles (Ongoing Story)

Jocelyn stirred after several hours of sleep with a soft moan that was part ache, part contentment for the warmth and comfort of the bed that she had been moved to after her stay in the medical bay. Rift was sitting nearby with a datapad,  going through several reports. When she stirred, he looked over at her with a concerned smile. "You actually slept for a few hours without waking, I think you're on the road to recovery."

She looked over sleepily at the datapad, then up at him, without moving from the comfortable position. "Of course, I am. I'm Sith after all," she quipped with a small smirk. "What about you? Did you sleep?"

"No, I'm trained to resist sleep for days if necessary. I will sleep when I know you are fully out of danger from your injuries." He keyed off the holo. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she answered with a slight nod. "Physically, at least. My connection with the Force is still...odd."

"Could it have something to do with the personalities at war inside you? Or do you think it's whatever was affecting you?"

"We're not...'at war'. Or at least, that is not how I would describe it," she corrected him. "I think this is what is left of the device's effects...or perhaps, the recovery from them."

"What exactly was the device? What were you after when it started to affect you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that - what I was after. I wasn't after anything. Kiabe was the one who activated it. I tried to warn her, but by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late," she frowned. "I...me...those words aren't accurate, but are. It's very confusing."

"I'm trying to understand the circumstances that led us here. Maybe it would be best for me to let you tell them. I've been trying to piece it all together, but your slaves were not very helpful."

Another frown. "Servants."

"Apologies. I was under the impression that House Arren's servants were slaves."

"Some are, but not by my choice, and certainly not by my hand."

He gave her a smile as she described it. He had never really had a strong opinion of the Imperial practice of slavery, but he enjoyed the fact that she did have an opinion that would make her correct him.

She drew herself up into a sitting position. "If you let me have some caf, I will tell you everything I remember," she offered with a coy smile.

A few minutes later, they both held steaming cups of caf, and she began her explanation.

"The device was never supposed to be found. There were five in total - one meant for Mistanis and the others for each of her children. Kiabe didn't mention where she found it."

"What do you mean by 'meant for?' I'm vaguely familiar with the way holocrons work, do you mean they were being crafted to record from those particular Sith?"

"I mean that these were not true holocrons - three of them weren't. They were crafted for the purpose of destroying three particular Sith - or more specifically, their spirits." She took another sip from her mug, letting that sink in for a moment.

"Crafted by who?"

"I'm not sure, but if Mistanis's husband didn't craft them himself, she never sought out their true creator. She had them scattered and hidden so that they could never be used."

"So, there are potentially two more of them still out there?"

"One."

"So you can account for two of them?"

She nodded and took another sip of her caff without looking at him. "Mistanis's husband left each of them a holocron among their inheritances. They all assumed they must contain personal messages or knowledge that he intended them to have as a part of his legacy passed on to them. Mistanis was alerted to the danger when her youngest son activated his."

He seemed to consider this for a moment. "If three of them were corrupted, what was contained on the other two?"

"The other two were, in fact, personal messages admonishing the two eldest sons to continue to build the Arren legacy, and abolish weakness from the lineage as he had taken steps to do; and they contained a lovely complete history up until that point of the Arren house, including its origins."

"So, the youngest son was the only one to fall victim to the holocron, what exactly did it to do him?"

"It infected his spirit with a Force sickness. By the time anyone realized what had happened to him, he was very mad and very physically ill. He didn't recover," she answered in a cool, detached manner. "Mistanis found the source and realized what had happened, and she thought it best to try to have the devices destroyed. Unfortunately, that proved more difficult than one might think, so she asked a trusted servant to take the other two as far away as possible and hide them in places they were unlikely to be found."

"Apparently they didn't take it far enough if Kiabe was able to find one. A pity she's dead and can't tell us where hers came from."

"Yes, though I fail to see how it could possibly have killed her. The magics involved were very specific in their focus," she frowned.

"What if she died because of the Holocron's influence? Something it caused her to do? You said you fought her, and I have met Kiabe Eirndeth. She allowed you to become engaged to her son. I do not believe she would then turn and attack House Arren when her alliance to it strengthens her own house."

"It's very likely. Once she activated the device, she flew into a rage. Temivi did what she could to minimize the carnage, but it was difficult to maintain control. While the focus of the illness that was conferred is very specific, once it's active, it seems to affect anyone with an affinity for wielding the Force who comes in contact with it."

Rift mused with a grin and a laugh. "It made Ragious more polite, almost heroic even."

This took her by surprise, and she looked at him as though he'd just uttered something impossible to comprehend. "That's difficult to believe."

"I have it on first hand authority from one of your servants, and no I will not tell you which, he was ever so protective of Lady Qel'rend after whatever happened in the Arboretum, and he was even polite to the House Servants, they thought he was possessed."

She scowled slightly into her caf. "It's probably some kind of trick. In any case, I believe the device Kiabe found was meant to destroy Mistanis's daughter. That is the only reason I am still alive."

"Perhaps. And that it wasn't the one meant for Mistanis has me very grateful. Though it also means that an even great danger is still out there." He looked over at her, and she could see the slight bit of fear invade his features, something he quickly quashed.

If she shared that fear, it was not evident in her own expression or the bond they shared as she nodded agreement. "And it would be safest to take a team that is not made up of Sith to retrieve it. Or, at least, Sith not from the Arren bloodline. Kiabe only needed a few drops of my blood to activate it."

The fewer people who are aware of the existence of this, the better. I was livid when I found out about these devices, but I see the wisdom in Mistanis's decision to keep them a secret. This would be best handled by a few trusted individuals."

"Agreed. I am curious about something, are you going to tell your brother's about what you know?" He looked over at her, a genuine curiosity on his face. "I would imagine that Kaldaras needs to be told, his penchant for seeking holocrons out could be dangerous if he found this one."

She nodded. "I should at least tell Kaldaras, and since Ragious may be affected already, it's probably better to tell him -" She couldn't help a wicked twist of her lips - "eventually...before it becomes dangerous. Lady Qel'rend should know as well, from what you've told me."

"Before he brings ruin to House Arren by dedicating it to the Republic you mean?" He teased with a poke to her side. "I wish we could question Kiabe on where she acquired the device. It would have given us clues to where the other may be."

"Yes, but by the time Mistanis was aware of what it was, Kiabe was not exactly in the mood to chat over tea." She pursed her lips. "When she first arrived, she said one of her agents had brought her something he claimed was from the Unknown Regions. That is the only thing she said about its origins."

"It is a start. And I assume the Arren archives can give us some information on the time frame. Then it is only a matter of searching a not small number of archives in the region for signs of Mistanis servant's passing."

Dumb Kriffing Luck (Ongoing Story)

The next email was bounced off of so many different servers in so many varied locations, it was virtually impossible to trace it back to its source.

This time, however, it was a holo-recording. Aittera, wearing a black shirt and red-brown vest with an ammunition belt and grenade belt criss-crossed over her torso, glared at the camera with a hardened look that might have reminded him of the days when she was his prisoner long ago.

"Find me," she challenged. "I'm done with your games."

House Troubles (Ongoing Story)

 The Phantom Class starship landed on the embattled planet of Ord Radama, near the city of New Raido - an unlikely place to find a Sith in hiding with the amount of Republic (and specifically Jedi) forces encamped there. However, from the moment he landed on the planet, the agent known simply by the handle 'Riftstalker' had become certain that he was closer to Jocelyn Arren's presence than he had been in months.

That sense of her was jumbled, however. One moment, it was clear, succinct, almost like a beacon, and the next, it was muddled, muted, as though wrapped in heavy gauze. Progress was slow, and it would take days to track down the warehouse on the outer edge of the city.

The warehouse itself had been an early victim of a bombardment from one side or the other in the ongoing conflict, and it had been abandoned since. It had been a shipping company, exporting fine wines that, curiously enough, included one of Jocelyn's preferred reds. There wasn't much left of the hangars and loading areas, but a small administrative area still remained on an upper level, overlooking what had once been the main work space where racks of wine bottles were carefully packed into large crates and secured for shipping.

Rift took his time, scouting the exterior of the warehouse. Sure there were no traps on the outside, he didn't even bother with his stealth field as he climbed through a hole that had formed in the wall from the bombing. He was - as usual these days - wrapped in his carbon black armor, so the shadows allowed him to blend just fine as he made his way through the building, inspecting any left behind crates, and stashing any undamaged bottles in his gear bag.

"I know you're here somewhere. We usually do this the other way with me seeing how close I can get to you, but after so much searching, I'm not really in a game playing mood." He was lying, of course. This was all just another facet of some game he was playing. It was how he got through life.

The closer he got to the side of the building where that administrative area overlooked the bulk of the warehouse from above, the stronger his sense of her through the jumbled, shifting shades of clarity. For the most part, the interior was long undisturbed, dust and debris everywhere, but the thick layer of dust on the bottom-most stair had been disturbed - by a single, small footprint. It was too small for the woman he was seeking, obviously made by a child - one not wearing any shoes.

The rest of the stairs had a uniform layer of dust that the keen agent discerned was too uniform, too even.

Rift's cyborg implants took a scan of the footprint, filing it away for later use if necessary. Then began to scan the rest of the stairs, trying to see if there was anything further that his implants could detect through the very well crafted deception before he began his ascent.

His scan revealed that some of the stairs themselves had been shored up to prevent breakage, the repairs having most likely taken place after the bombing that weakened the structure of the warehouse itself.

Upstairs, the anterior chamber of the management area still held a desk - most likely a receptionist's station - and a couch that might have once been plush and comfortable, but was now missing a leg and all of its seat cushions. The moment he stepped into this room, his physical vision blurred, his thoughts were suddenly confused with a sense of fear and that not-right feeling that often comes from instinctual self-protection in a dangerous situation. Unbidden, thoughts of turning back swam into his mind, but beneath it all, that sense of the Sith Lord's presence became stronger than it had ever been.

There was a closed door opposite the one by which he'd entered, and even as it seemed to become the most terrifying element in the immediate area, the understanding that the woman he sought was behind it came to him in quiet certainty. The question was whether he could overcome the overwhelming fear and desire to turn around and leave.

Ever a professional Rift refused to show the fear that was permeating his being. He had been around Sith all of his life and had even stood face to face with a few just below the Dark Council in terms of power. He would not let this woman's power turn him back.

Stepping forward, he gripped the door closure and pushed it forward to step in, and in doing so, he suddenly pondered that he had never unslung his rifle from his shoulder nor drawn one of his knives. He truly could not bring himself to fear Jocelyn Arren.

The office itself was completely empty save for another couch at the far side of the room. It was in better repair than the one in the antechamber, it's missing cushions shoved haphazardly amid this couch's own.

It looked as though someone had piled black rags in a heap on the right side of the couch, and a growing sense of dread permeated the atmosphere. To part of his mind, death and darkness were represented in that jumble of inky black material. However, for that part of him that could sense the proximity of the Lady of the Sith that he had sworn himself to, this was where his search ended. Jocelyn - or what was left of her - was in this room.

Rift moved directly to the pile of black material on the couch reaching out to search through it. Needing to find something more than another false alarm of her presence.

Before his hand made contact with the material, there was movement, and as his blurred vision cleared, so did the illusion. Curled into a tight ball, tucked under a dark, coarse blanket, Jocelyn Arren bore little resemblance to the fierce, dynamic woman she once was. Her skin was pallid and sickly, and she was feverish to the touch. Her cheeks were gaunt, and her eyes were sunken from malnutrition and starvation.

As he scooped her up from the couch, he could feel her trembling. She was lighter than she should have been, and though she stirred, she didn't seem to wake. One word slipped from her cracked lips in a hoarse whisper, though. It was his real name. She was aware on some level of his presence.

Realizing the state she was in, he wasted no time. His path was the quickest back to his speeder and then back to his ship. He had come under fire from Republic troops during the return trip, and he hadn't even paused a moment; just barreled past until he was able to get her to the one secure location he trusted at the moment.

Once on his ship, he set about diagnosing her, immediately looking to get some fluids into her to deal with the biggest dangers.

The diagnostic program returned grim results. The analysis revealed severe dehydration and starvation. She had a serious infection that likely had stemmed from a weakened immune system, and she was on the verge of multiple organ failure.

The scan of her mind, however, was perhaps more disturbing. Synaptic activity was erratic, and there was significant evidence of deep tissue damage. Immediate restorative treatment was advised.

Though she remained unconscious, he could sense awareness through their Force bond. She knew he was there with her.

With his scans complete Rift set about saving her. He began the intravenous fluids as his droids began to prep the medbay for emergency surgery. His previous specialty in interrogation had necessitated training as both a doctor and a surgeon. He moved to a terminal and began preparing a stim injection for revitalizing and reversing her organ failure. With that finished and injected, it was the issues with her mind that he was now most concerned with.

Leaning down beside her, he whispered into her ear, "If you die on me, I will never forgive you."

Then his droids were wheeling over the equipment that would allow him to correct the physical damage in her mind.

As Rift worked, he could feel her presence gaining purchase through their bond, holding fast to his determination to keep her alive. Throughout his vigil after he completed the surgery, that sense of her remained with him, cementing the bond between them.

It would be nearly a day before her eyes would twitch and slowly draw open, a quiet groan parting her lips as she regained consciousness.

Rift was at her bedside the entire time monitoring vitals and keeping his silent vigil with his only interruptions being to use the fresher. When she finally let out her groan he gave her a smirk and quipped, "About time you woke up, I was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep the entire way back to Kaas."

Another groan when she tried to turn her head toward the sound of his voice. Wincing, she spoke very, very softly. "How long?"

"I found you nearly two days ago." Satisfied with his scanners latest results, he reached over and began removing the diagnostic pads from her skin.

She tried to shake her head, stopped with a wince. "Since Kaas."

"Months."

The pain that filled her countenance had nothing to do with the post-operative ache in her head.

"What exactly happened? You've been missing, Kiabe Eirndeth is dead. Kaldaras hasn't checked in and Ragious is running the Offensive now."

Jocelyn pressed her eyes tightly closed and gingerly lifted a hand to her forehead. "Kiabe is dead?"

"According to Agonar, and if anyone is likely to know, he would."

"Did he say how?"

"No. I do not believe he knows."

"You said Kalloo is missing?"

"Not missing just not checking in. Last I knew he was still chasing that holocron."

Her eyes flew wide as she tried to sit up, panic not only in her voice but permeating the air around her, flowing to him through their connection through the Force. "Which holocron? Where did he go?"

Rift shook off the panic. "I don't know the name, some Jedi relic he read about. Was lost on Taris about 300 years ago when Darth Malak bombarded the planet."

Too weak to actually finish sitting up without causing damage, she wound up leaning on her side, facing him, and reached for his shoulder with the expectation that he would help her stand. The answer, however, brought enough clarity with it to help arrest the rising panic. "Jedi relic...thank the Force..."

Rift kept her from getting up too far, gently holding her down to keep her in the recovery bed, "Are you going to tell me what all that was? And where you've been for the past few months? I've chased you halfway around the galaxy and back."

The expression on her face was response enough. She had no idea where she'd been or what had happened. She let him push her back onto the bed and closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. "Are you the only one here?"

"Other than the droids, yes." When he was certain she wasn't going to try to get up again he took his seat back beside the bed.

She was silent while she tried to organize her thoughts, sort through the haze of what she could recall. When she finally spoke again, there was a glimpse of the composure she was once so adept at summoning. "The first thing I must ask you to do is contact House Arren. Tell them to stay away from the arboretum."

"No need, Lady Qel'rend and Ragious already pacified that problem. Your servants really do not particularly like Ragious, and were quite open lipped."

There was a surge of concern as she opened her eyes to look at him again. "Are they alive?"

"Unfortunately." This time he was definitely teasing her. There was no love lost between himself and Ragious, but he was rather fond of Qel'rend, and he would even begrudgingly admit that Ragious was good for the Empire.

The corners of Jocelyn's mouth tugged upward in what might have turned into a smile had the subject been about anything else. "They found the device?"

"They found something. Ragious took a stasis box with him when he left the estate after pacifying whatever was in the arboretum."

Relief. "We'll need to find the others."

"What do you mean the others?"

"There were three altogether."

"Datacrons? In House Arren?"

"House Arren stores hundreds of archives, but these were never part of that collection. Mistanis wanted them destroyed, but they couldn't be, so she had them buried, scattered."

"I suppose we're not going back to Kaas right away then?"

"We are. This will require assistance."