Alone, but not

Aittera sulked in the back booth of another dimly lit cantina somewhere in one of the seedier neighborhoods of Nar Shaddaa, plowing her way through a bottle of whiskey as she played the previous night's visit over again in her mind.

It had been a week since the day Ragious had appeared to her, chiding her for thinking about him too loudly, claiming to be the closest thing she had to a best friend. He might be right, now. The only real friend she had on the moon was now lying in a coma, and even he had been too busy to really talk much beyond the afternoon they'd spent trying to salvage what friendship they could from the past they'd shared. She had thought about calling Selus, but there was so much that she needed to say to him, and once she began, she wasn't sure he'd be inclined to just sweep it all aside or forgive her.

Ragious had admitted that this time it had been his thoughts that had drawn their minds together, but it hadn't been the simple matter of his image appearing next to her or stalking toward her. He'd been in her dream, and that dream had followed her into consciousness. Unlike the two dreams she'd shared with Jheryth, there was no sense of clarity, and when she woke up, she wasn't even sure of more than a few details. It wasn't really until the Sith's image appeared in her room and told her that the dream had unintentionally been his doing that she'd even known that he'd been the man in it.

Now, though...

Now, she recalled every detail.

Aliyobi

The Dark Lord Returns

(( My heartfelt gratitude to the player of Darth Ragious, as ever. ))

Aittera stepped out of her as yet unfurnished flat to head toward the nearest taxi stand. It had been a couple of weeks since her meeting with Khor to discuss the terms of surrender the truce between herself and Darth Ragious.

She'd been establishing new contacts while looking at job possibilities locally with security firms and privately owned companies. Not that she'd take a job like that, of course, she told herself. Something about a security job felt too normal or safe to really consider seriously. But it made her feel busy enough to justify whittling away at her savings and kept her mind off of Selus during his increasingly prolonged absence. Look for a job, talk to someone, drink, sleep, repeat.

She was trying not to think of exactly these things when Ragious came to her thoughts, as if the image of his face leaning forward towards her had just been waiting for this moment to remind her that so much else in her life had gone awry since they first met.

As if summoned by her thoughts, his force image appeared beside her at the taxi stand, dressed in the same plain black tunic, pants and boots he'd worn during their last encounter.  "You know, when you call out for me that loudly, it is very hard to ignore you."

Aittera nearly jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to look at the force image after a quick glance around to see if anyone was looking in her direction. She spoke quietly to keep from being overheard by potential passersby. "I didn't call. Go away!"

"I'm not the one that was thinking at me.  And rather loudly.  So instead of fighting, why don't we talk things through so that you can go back to ignoring that I exist."

She moved away from the taxi stand to a railing so she could talk to him without looking like a totally crazy person by putting her back to the very public space she'd been standing in. He moved with her, walking through a passing Nautilan who remained completely oblivious to the Sith's projected image. "I just...thought about you. I don't know why."

"Because with all the other upheaval in your life, I'm a constant."

"A constant annoyance?" she replied with a smirk, joking as much as not. "It's probably because you started it by blowing up the other constant in my life."

"Face it, I'm the closest thing you have to a best friend right now.  And why haven't you just bought another ship?  You could have done that instead of buying that flat."

"I'm renting the flat. I can't just buy any other ship. I want my ship. It's what it turned into that I can't seem to---Why am I trying to explain this to you?" She was more irritated with herself than anything else by the way she'd almost admitted to her worst enemy of all people. He wasn't her friend, and she just didn't open up like this to anyone, and yet, she found herself saying, "I can't even figure out how I'm going to explain this to him."

"Then why not buy another ship and make it into your ship.  Or, you could ask nicely for me to give you one of the freighters I've confiscated for you to remake it your own."

"It's not the same. It's about what that ship represented." The internal debate she's had several times with herself over the subject returned, clouding her blue eyes with a storm of emotion as she looked out over the horizon of floating buildings above Nar Shaddaa.

"I didn't even name it right away. It was just a ship." She wasn't speaking to Darth Ragious anymore, and his voice almost startled her all over again when he spoke once more.

"What was the ship's name anyway? We never salvaged it." He seemed to be doing two things at once, but something in the way he was looking at her made it seem as though he was treating her as his priority.

"The Devious Hope."

"That seems like a fitting name for your ship."

A dark smirk on her lips. "I bought it to be a coffin."

"Is some part of you upset that you didn't die in the attack?"

Aittera scoffed, and a breath later, she was chuckling. "No. No, this...one has nothing to do with the other. I bought the Hope with my bereavement pay and wrongful death settlement payout."

"I was going to say.  You must have realized by now that regardless of any threats I made, I was never going to kill you."

She looked over at his image with a short nod, drawing herself out of the past and back to the present. "Just turn me into another Renn'a?"

"You've been listening to the Alderaanian's lies again.  I do not know why everyone uses her as some kind of insult.  Renn'a is a beautiful, intelligent, cunning, sexy woman.  She and I share something that is both special and meaningful and the way you all choose to denigrate her, it is...angering."

Aittera smirked at him. "Pisses me off every time you call Selus my Cathar like he's my pet."

Ragious gave her a deadpan stare. "Like he wouldn't put on a collar for you."

"What makes you think that's not what I was referring to when I mentioned her?"

His image shrugged. "So have you told him you moved out on him yet?"

Her good humor dissolved. "What makes you think the flat isn't for both of us?"

"You would have furnished it if it was."

"I could be waiting for him to help--" She sighed with an irritated scowl. "I just need my own space."

"There, was telling the truth so hard?  I don't know why you always insist on fighting me.  All I want is to be good to you."

"No, you want me to be one of your women, and I don't belong to anyone."

"If it was only about you being one of my women, I'd just take you again.  You know I probably could after all."

"Then, what is it?" She found herself genuinely curious, though later, she'd ask herself what the hell she was thinking by asking.

"If I said what I suspected, you'd go back to fighting me.  And I'd rather keep up the illusion of friendliness between us."

Suspicion clouded her features as she studied the image of his face. "I'm not even sure why I am talking to you." But she did know. Much as she hated him, she at least knew where she stood with him and how she felt about him. That was more than she knew when it came to anyone else these days - especially the too-long-absent Selus.

"I should go. I'm meeting a friend for lunch."

"You're such a liar.  But I suppose I should get back to the attack I'm overseeing."

Aittera bristled, trying to push away thoughts of dying Republic soldiers. "I'll try to think quieter."

"You have only but to think of me and I'll be there for you, Aittera."  His image gave her a bow and disappeared, leaving her alone with the thoughts she'd been working so hard to avoid.

Resentment

Aittera sat curled up in a booth in the back of a cantina somewhere in the red light district, glaring at the bottle she'd been plowing her way through. The seedy little dive was relatively quiet in the dimly lit back corner where she'd taken refuge, and even without the aid of Force abilities, she'd managed to convey the message that she was not worth interrupting on her way in.

"So you do plan to fight me after all then?"

She had been tempted - oh so very tempted - by that little seductive whisper Khor had breathed into her ear. Hell, a year ago, she'd have tumbled right into the bastard's bed without a second thought. He was charming, damned attractive, and that confidence....

A year ago. 

Before Selus chased her down and forced her to reinvest in her life. 

Back in the days she ran from anyone who could make her feel like she wasn't a walking corpse with a dead husk of what was once a heart in her chest. 

"I've been resenting the hell out of him lately, and sleeping with someone else - even if he never knows about it - would be some kind of....I don't know. Punishment?"

What she'd said echoed in her ears as she played out the rest of her meeting with Khor in her mind, and she began to wonder how she hadn't seen it before that moment. It wasn't just the way Selus had pushed for the truce, invoking what he knew about her past to know exactly how to make her give in, and the more she let her mind sift back through everything that had happened since the Devious Hope had been destroyed, the more she found to resent.

She loved him though. She would love him forever if he walked into the cantina right that second and stabbed her in the heart. She would move planets for him. So, she would have to find a way to make things right between them.

Somehow.

Surrender

(( Huge, huge thanks to the player of Untruth for this awesome scene! You always make me look so good. ))

Aittera stepped up to the door of the penthouse suite and knocked. She hadn't called first or told anyone what she intended to do. Selus would have wanted her to wait until he returned from the business that had taken him away from the moon, but it was bad enough he'd made her agree to let her vendetta against Ragious go in the first place, so damned if she was going to do this with him holding her hand like some obedient little girlfriend. Her pride was already stretched far too thin.

Khor answered the door once more in his workout attire, his chest bared.  His lightsabers hung from his belt, and he seemed to have been practicing at a high level, judging by the sweat that glistened on his skin.  "Aittera, this is a surprise."

She quirked an eyebrow when she saw him, unable to help the suggestive smirk that came to play on her lips. In truth, red was never all that attractive in members of the opposite sex, but his chiseled chest and muscular arms were impressive, and she couldn't help the sultry note in her tone. "Is this a bad time?"

"Not at all, you merely caught me in the midst of a workout.  Please come in."  He stepped aside to allow her entrance, closing the door behind her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I'm here to take you up on your offer," she answered simply, slipping the trenchcoat from her shoulders to hand to him before sauntering toward the seating area, hips swaying. Alright, this was a little much, she knew, but the way he'd smiled at her when he'd first opened the door was inspiration to flirt if ever she'd seen it. Besides, she wasn't above a little feminine manipulation to smooth negotiations.

Khor moved to the closet near the door and hung her coat inside, his eyes tracking her movement, glad to be able to use his already somewhat heated state to hide the arousal he was beginning to feel. "I rather expected to meet with you and Selus.  And to have Ali with me when we did.  What changed?"

He sat in one of the chairs opposite her.

"I've had the chance to really think about what this will cost me, and I think you're right. No matter how this goes, the price I or Selus will have to pay is too much." You can take the liar out of SIS...or however that's supposed to go, she thought with a glance toward the liquor cabinet. "Do you have anything other than Chimbak?"

"Of course, I'm sure you can find something you would enjoy, please make yourself whatever you would like."  He stayed seated, contemplating what she had said and wondering what could have changed her mind after the reluctance he'd sensed in her during their last meeting.

"Some host you are," she chided, getting up to stroll over to the liquor cabinet.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure you would agree to my offer.  I sort of had you pegged as so set on revenge that regardless of what I said it wouldn't be enough."

"You were right. There was nothing you could've said. Selus was the one who said it." Aittera located the Whyren's and retrieved two glasses to bring back to the chair with her. After opening the bottle, she poured them each a drink and handed one of the glasses to him.

He gave her a grin as he took the offered drink then held the glass up to her. "Forgive me, I wanted an excuse to watch you walk again.  You are quite enticing you know. I'm sure you have some terms you'd like to discuss?"

The compliment elicited a coy smile, and she tapped her glass against his before knocking back the contents in one go. "He doesn't go near Selus, and nothing Jheryth Chrystopher does comes back on me and mine. That bastard's been trying to get me to help him, and now that he knows I won't, I'm sure he'll concoct some hair-brained plan to frame me to keep Ragious from looking in his direction."

"Why not cut Jheryth off at the knees, then?  Work with my family against him?"  Khor seemed to be thinking aloud. "It would be the last thing he and my father expect, and you can be certain that my father would consider himself greatly in your debt."

Aittera gave a quick shake of her head that sent thick waves of red into motion as she refilled her glass. "I won't act against him either, and I don't work with Sith. You're on your own when it comes to Jheryth. Consider the news that your father isn't the only person he's after as a gift for helping me make this grudge war go away."

"That's unfortunate, I rather think you and I could have got on quite well."  He gave her another grin before taking a long drink from the glass. "I can make what you ask happen.  But I would like to know why Jheryth is once again plaguing my family."

"Oh come now, Khor'deth, I think we're getting on very well right now," she flirts before addressing Jheryth. "I really couldn't say. When we spoke, he went on and on about how your father broke Renn'a. Apparently, before he became obsessed with me, he was obsessed with her."

"Actually, I believe it was at the same time.  And Renn'a is not broken.  If he continues to speak such nonsense my father will be the least of his worries."  Khor seemed genuinely upset at the characterization of his father's pet, and for the first time in her presence, his usual even temperament gave way to a tone that she could easily associate with a Sith's rage.

Aittera remained passive as she waited for him to take another drink to collect himself, keeping her thoughts focused on the task at hand and as far away from the subject of Jheryth's interests in Renn'a and her sister as possible.

When he continued, he returned to the friendly nature he'd begun the conversation with. "And I agree, we are getting on quite well, but I am ever the optimist for better relations."

"Maybe he just has a thing for redheads," she offered coyly as though the temporary loss of control didn't happen at all, and finished the second glassful of amber liquid.

"Yes, well, I hope that anyone that admires him will still be able to do so when he becomes about a foot shorter. Though I can't imagine that is any great number of people."

"I doubt anyone admires him nearly as much as he does."

"Well, I guess he wins after all if he persists on his current path, because his head will be in a much better position to admire the rest of his body."

Laughing, she leaned forward to pour herself another glassful of the whiskey. "Well, regardless, I've washed my hands of him." Once the glass was full, she looked up at him with a serious light in the depths of her cool blue eyes, leaving the subject of Jheryth behind. "I also want Skyka to be left alone. She's been through enough."

"As I previously mentioned, my father has found other places for his Twi'lek interests anyway.  But I will be sure to mention her to him."

Aittera sat back to watch him over the rim of her glass. "Then, we have a deal?"

"We always did, Aittera."

"Are you in frequent contact with him?"

"My father?  Not really.  I mostly pass messages through his adjutant, but for this I will make the trek back to the homeworld in person."

"I would tell you to give him my best, but we both know that'd be a pile of bantha dung," she joked, taking a sip from her glass as her gaze remained fixed on his face.

"There is one small matter though.  You will probably still feel some presence from my father, it works both ways if I understand it correctly, and isn't a conscious act.  My father mentioned that it may even be a side effect of Skyka's well intentioned, but not so...effective...shielding attempt."

"Will he stop showing up in my damn bedroom or any room in which I'm not completely dressed? A girl tends to appreciate her privacy."

"I'm sure he will. That part is something he can control."

Aittera smirked - albeit more good-naturedly than cynically. "It'd be nice if he started excersizing that control."

"I will do all I can to impress upon him the importance of it."  He returned the smirk.

She leaned forward to extend her hand toward him. "Then, I am finished trying to make him pay for what he's done to me."

Khor stood and moved to take the hand, holding it in less of a handshake and more as one would hold a ladies hand.  He bowed, bringing it to his lips. "I am glad that we were able to find a way to achieve peace, Aittera.  And I hope that this will not be the only thing we ever meet to discuss."

She stood when he did, regarding the gesture with an amused grin. "I appreciate that you're a gentleman, Khor, but I was hoping to shake hands on reaching agreeable terms," she chided playfully with a little glint in her eye. "Of course, if you're that eager to get rid of me, I can go, and you can put this all in writing and send it to me."

Laughing, he gave her the handshake she teased about before moving to sit again, this time in the chair next to her. "I was actually hoping you'd want to stay a while."

Aittera looked down at the half empty glass in her other hand, then back to him. "Oh? Why is that?"

"Why would a handsome man want a beautiful woman to continue to keep him company?  I'm wondering if it wouldn't be quicker to list the number of reasons why he wouldn't."

Despite her better judgement, she sat back down, chuckling. "Well, keep flattering me, and I'll stay as long as you like."

Khor turned to look at her, his knee touching hers. "If you're not careful I'll attempt to flatter you into never leaving."

She turned in her chair so they could talk face to face, inadvertently sliding her knee against his, and studied his face for a moment with a curious smile. "It's uncanny."

He gave her a rather charming smile as he moved his hand along the back of the chair behind her, "What is?"

"You have your mother's eyes and your father's smile, but beyond the physical, you're nothing like either of them. How did that happen?" She finished the contents of her glass, aware of the shift in his interest - as well as the placement of his hand and the open body language - knowing that she should put an end to it before it could go any further.

Khor took a drink to finish his glass and leaned over to place it on the table in front of the chair.  When he returned his gaze to her, she found his smile still there, mixed with some curiosity of his own. "They say we're products of how we were raised.  I was brought up to value education, and I hope you won't find me arrogant when I say that I am quite a bit smarter than most.  I can see the pitfalls of the traditional Sith attitudes and way of things.  Don't get me wrong, I don't advocate any kind of peace with the Republic that requires any concession on our part.  I know what happened in the last war, how we were hunted."

"I have decided to walk a path that let's me be Sith, without being like either of my parents, and I believe I am doing quite well for myself on it."

Aittera dropped her gaze to the glass in her hand thoughtfully, and the light, playful nature evaporated as she spoke a part of the thought his answer has evoked. "I hope for your sake that you don't lose that vision then."

"I hope it does not frighten you when I say that I can be every bit as ruthless as my father when it is required, and I am every bit as cunning as my mother.  I simply have...a gift for seeing when I need to employ those particular tools."

Normally, she'd return with a quip about not being afraid of anything, but instead, she simply looked up at him again and nodded with a small smile. "Now, if you could just convince the rest of the Empire."

"The Empire is what it is for it's very survival.  I'm afforded the ability to walk the path I do not in spite of the Empire's reputation, but because of it.  I could show you histories Aittera, and not just Imperial, but histories of the Jedi Order that they've tried to cover up that shows just how big of hypocrites they are when it comes to what they would do to us if given a chance."

"Do you think that there would be no war if the Jedi weren't involved?"

"That depends on what you're asking.  If the Jedi never existed, there never would have been Sith."

"I'm not sure what I'm asking at this point. To be honest, I think I'd like to go back to the decision I made in the first place to sit out the rest of the war. I signed a lease on a flat above the Promenade a few days ago."

Khor moved his hand from the back of the chair to brush along her upper back through the fabric of her top - something almost unconscious as his fingertips lightly rubbed against her shirt. "I think that is a good decision, I would hate for you and I to ever find ourselves on opposing sides of a battle."

The touch brought the coy smile back to her lips, banishing the serious contemplation and along with it, the shadow that had cast itself over her features. "Oh, I can put up one hell of a fight."

He laughed. "Of that I am quite certain, but I imagine sometimes there are much better ways to go about something than fighting."

"Heh. Yeah, but none that I'm good at."

That's right. I'm pulling out the damn Disney.

Because certain characters aren't listening to me!

Aliyobi

Riukii

Big surprise. It's a 'dat ass' song. :P

Drama (OOC Rant)

All I really want to do is just rp. It's the most de-stressing activity I have. It gets me out of my own convoluted emotionally fucked up screwed up head where I'm very aware that I once had a genius IQ and a rock solid memory and real potential to be someone but am now defined by a mental illness that makes me “that crazy woman” no one can rely on. It helps me fend off paranoid thoughts, hopeless thoughts, irrational fears, unbearable memories. It's my greatest coping mechanism, gives vent to what creativity hasn't been burned out of me by years of medications and other soul-crushing experiences that, quite frankly, are none of your damn business, so, no, I won't go into detail about them here.


It's an escape. It's fantasy. It's better than a movie or even a good book. It's a game of pretend and make believe. It's a safe place to be.


Now, imagine that I'm in this safe space, relaxed, guard down, and it's invaded with ooc whispers/messages about how Person A is pissed with me or Person B is mad at Person C or how someone thinks I'm a bad person for whatever reason. It chases me out of that safe space and back into a reality where I'm a bundle of insecurities and irrational, where my uncontrollable emotional reactions are waiting to take over. It feels like an attack. It's drama with a capital D. It makes me want to flee, which I often do quite readily.


This is a game. This is supposed to be where I go to have fun. Logically, it would seem to me that if I'm not having fun, then I should go elsewhere. I have enough stress in my real life. I have enough real drama to deal with. I have real problems in the real world.


Let me be clear here. If you choose to yell at me, the player, for what my character does, be sure it's for an RP faux paus and not a character flaw. Be sure you know that what my character does is NOT what I would do in a similar situation. For example, if you met Alan Rickman tomorrow in a grocery store, would you yell at him about what his character, Hans Gruber, did in Die Hard? Would you get into a screaming match with Roderick Thorp (the novelist who wrote the book) about how evil the character he wrote is?

If you can't separate IC from OOC well enough that you have an emotional reaction that makes you yell at me in ooc tells about my character's actions, you will be ignored. If you have a problem with someone else that I'm friends with, don't bring it to me, go talk to them, and stop trying to put me in the middle! I can talk things out rationally if you talk to me rationally, but I'm not the villain in your little personal melodrama.


I'm done being sent into tears every time someone wants to yell at me about how to play my characters. I'm not your whipping post. If you need to vent about something, fine, but don't bring me your issues with someone else and expect me to solve them or stop being friends with someone else on your behalf. I don't do that.


So, back the hell off.

Aittera

Riukii

Aittera

Veeh'ra Bio

Char Name: Veeh'ra Starbreaker

Age: 19

Eye Color: Pale blue cybernetic implants

Identifying marks: Extensive scarring over her scalp

Background:

Severe head trauma caused by crushing damage in a "training incident" (that wasn't her fault), so her entire skull had to be rebuilt. Cyborg tech was used to restore 100% of her motor functions and 75% of the rest of the damage to her brain. This made for a total personality change from the dedicated and good-natured soldier she used to be to a calculating, cold, fearless warrior without a moral compass. She follows her orders completely without regard to right or wrong. She is actually a better fighter than she was before the incident, the cybernetics enhancing her combat skills and abilities. She's blunt and sometimes crude. Her blaster rifle is named Jayne, and it is her most favorite piece of weaponry in the whole universe.

For Lei and Kraxys

Haven't RP'd them in a while, but still...I hear this and immediately think of them.

Aliyobi's bio

Name: Aliyobi

Age: 27

Race: Rattataki

Gender: Female

Ship: Vice Hound

Rank: First Mate

Background:

Born to the first mate and ship mechanic of a pirate ship known as the Ravage, Aliyobi grew up surrounded by a close knit crew that raised her as their own, even after losing her parents in a raid when she was about five or so. While she'll claim to know a little about everything after bouncing around a ship her entire life, her true talents rest in the blasters on her hips, and by the time she was sixteen, she was providing back-up fire in boarding parties and was developing a sharp eye for detail that would make her useful in finding those little hidden niches that were likely to be hiding something of value.

Ali believed her entire life would be spent on the Ravage's crew until the ship was attacked by a mysterious Sith Darth. While waiting at a rendevous point with "cargo" recently aquired on a raid targetted against a transport ship registered in the Republic, the unidentified Sith cripled and boarded, slaughtering the entire crew save for the rattataki. All she remembers of the attack is his approach toward her defensive position, then darkness.

When she woke up, Ali found herself on an escape pod, looking out of the tiny porthole at the wreckage that was left of the only home she'd ever known. A day later, she was rescued by a passing frieghter, the captain of which was kind enough to take her to Carrick station with no questions asked. There, she was sort of 'adopted' by a former Jedi named Skyka, who helped her get on her feet and began an unofficial investigation into the attack on the Ravage.

Wait...there's one more, you say?

(( The following is converted from RP that took place on 5/1. My eternal gratitude to the player of Darth Ragious for helping me torment one of my most favorite characters in TOR. ))

Darth Ragious waited until it was early morning on Nar Shaddaa before settling into his secured private office aboard the shipyard where his new flagship and it's sister were currently being built.  He'd left orders with his adjutant that if he was disturbed by anything other than an all out assault on the shipyard that she would pay a heavy price.  

Entering a deep state of meditation, he began to project himself across the vastness of space, zeroing in on Aittera, still able to "feel" her through the Force. Even though the Twi'lek witch's meddling prevented him from hopping directly into her mind, he was able to make an image of himself appear in her room, clad in the simple black robes he had taken to wearing lately.  He knew she would be sleeping, so he settled in to watch her until she woke.

When she stirred on the sleeping pallet that was substituting for a bed until she furnished the little one bedroom apartment, it was with a weary groan as consciousness brought the reminder that functional alcoholism only went so far, and she had been drinking too much lately. The headache wasn't as bad as it could be, though, and she pulled herself up into a sitting position to look around the empty room, carefully stretching. 

When she saw the projection of the man who'd held her captive and continued to pursue her after her rescue, she drew the light blanket pooled in her lap up toward her stomach. She wasn't nude, of course, but the light shirt and panties she slept in suddenly felt woefully lacking, considering the unwelcome visitor's piercing gaze. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you to awaken so that we could have a conversation.  I would have holo'd, but I had a feeling you would ignore the call."  

Ragious gave her a smile as the image of him leaned forward in the projection of a chair. "You've met my son, and he did something rather interesting, did he not?  He offered you a chance to end the hostilities between us, and to keep both you and your Cathar alive."

Aittera narrowed her gaze at the ghostly vision. "And?"

"I'm here to make you a far better and more direct offer than Khor ever could."

A bitter laugh erupted from the redhead, her response drenched in sarcasm. "Because I can trust you more than I can trust him."

"This isn't about trust.  This is about both of us getting something we desire."

"What makes you think you know what I desire?"

"I think you and I both know the other more than either of us wants to admit, Aittera."

Her fists clenched the material of the blanket with a rush of anger that was reflected in her gaze. If he started in on that crud he'd tried to put in her head a few months earlier, she might just put a blaster bolt into her temple. "Say what you came to say, then go."

"I have no desire to continue to fight with you.  I have no plans to escalate our conflict further.  Believe what you will, but I know when enough is enough.  You and I will fight this until we burn everything we hold dear if we continue down this path, and that is something I have no desire to force you to do.  The truth is, I wanted you, I desired you when I saw you, and I overreached. I had someone that was able to resist my power for the first time in I can't even remember, and that alone makes you someone I want to preserve."

"So, that's it? I'm supposed to believe that your son is a reasonable peaceful being and you have suddenly changed?" If this was supposed to be as convincing as Khor'deth's performance, it was falling much father short for the redhead.

"I have recently learned something that has caused me to rethink things, Aittera."

"What's that?"

"That someone I thought dead and lost to me was alive. It has made me look at my past mistakes with new eyes."

It was an answer she wasn't prepared for, and a recent conversation with Jean Schramme about second chances came to mind. "What the hell is in the water you Sith are drinking lately?"

"I want you to understand, I am a patriot, Aittera.  I won't stop fighting my Empire's war against the Republic, because I understand that it is a war for the very survival of my species. This offer I am about to make, I want to stay between us.  I would prefer you cloak it in something else when you tell your Cathar about my visit, but I understand if you have no desire to lie to him."

Aittera rubbed her eyes as a heavy sigh left her. Could this whole situation get anymore unreal? "Wouldn't be the first secret I'd be keeping from him these days, I guess." 

"I will limit my engagements to military targets only, unless a group of civilians decides to attack me in which I will take measured actions against only those responsible whenever possible.  I will take the dirty out of my fighting.  In exchange, I expect you to cease attacking my ships, and I have a job I want to hire you for."

Apparently, unreal was just beginning, and she furrowed her brow as she looked back to the image's face. "I don't work for Sith."

"But you do work against them, do you not?"

"Whenever I get the chance."

"Then consider this a chance.  I simply wish you to find out why Jheryth Chrystopher has renewed his interest in me and my pet.  I thought the matter settled years ago, but apparently I should have beheaded him then."

Aittera cursed. "Is there some reason the two of you are so intent on trying to drag me into things between you like this? Is this how things started with Renn'a?"

"I don't want to put you in the middle, I just want information.  And would you not fight if someone tried to take Selus from you?"  As if to drive home the point, he used the Cathar's name for the first time when referring to him. 

"Selus isn't a slave or a toy. Your comparison is an insult."

"Renn'a isn't either of those things.  That may be the twisted impression that he has decided to portray her as, but she knows exactly how much she means to me."

"Yeah, well...I'm sure you have a lovely relationship, but I won't put an innoc--" She bit the word off with a grimace, chiding herself for not being more careful. Under better circumstances, Aittera would never have let her tongue get so far ahead of her thoughts that she'd even let such volatile intel as Will'a's existence enter her mind. 

She'd been trained in ways to conceal her thoughts from Force users in her SIS days, and yet, she wasn't employing a single tactic she'd learned. Hell, part of her was ready to buy the utter crap he was peddling. Let them all go kill each other and leave her and her hangover alone. "No deal."

"You think Jheryth is innocent?  Really I thought you knew better."

"I think you'd both burn the universe down for your own interests and to hell with the rest of us who might get caught in the blaze."

"Aittera, what do you need me to do to show you that I can be trusted not to misuse what you tell me.  I only wish to know why after years of staying off my radar he tried to hire pirates of all people to take me on.  I could have easily swept them aside, one of them even owed me their life, why would he out of the blue do that?  If you want an example of people potentially caught in the blaze, it is he who is dragging others in."

"Then, why don't you ask your wife!" she growled back through gritted teeth. Screw it. If she'd already flubbed by nearly mentioning what she knew, she might as well make it count for something. Hopefully, Ragious and Kiabe would start fighting, and somehow, Jheryth could use the distraction to kill at least one of them. Hell, if all three of them killed each other, at least they would stop visiting her dreams and bedroom and brain and...damn, she needed a drink.

He seemed to find meaning in her words, whether that was her intent or not, and nodded. "I will, thank you Aittera."  

The apparition stood, and the chair it had been sitting in dissipated into nothingness. "Are the other terms of my offer agreeable?"

She glared at the apparition. "If you touch one civilian without provocation, I will make it my life's work not just to stop you, but to kill every damn person you ever even looked at longingly."

Ragious bowed to her and disappeared.

Aittera fell back onto her pillow to glare up at the ceiling, retreating into her natural state of dark sarcasm. "I think I liked it better when he was mucking around in my head."

Because there aren't enough men telling her what to do...

(( Thanks to the player of Jheryth Chrystopher for always being a fun collaborator when it comes to mucking up my characters' lives and just being an all around great husband. :P ))

The crowded pleasure barge hummed with conversation as music throbbed from the speakers and seemingly through the guests who were dancing. The party was in full swing, as the saying goes, and the stunning redhead who cut a path through the throng seemed to gleam from within in her white strapless evening gown. She was searching for someone, and now that she'd spotted her quarry, she made her way toward where he stood at the railing with his back to her.

Jheryth Chrystopher rested his full weight against the railing, one hand propping up his chin, the other holding a glass of brandy that was balancing  precariously on the edge of the railing. The occasional breeze tossed his hair back and forth across his back, revealing how thick and long it really was. As another gust of wind played by, he took a deep breath, catching the scent of the light, distinctive perfume she always wore.  His head turned slightly to the side, the well tailored black suit shifting effortlessly with the motion. Turning back, he rested his arm down on the railing, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I knew it was only a matter of time until you returned.” 

The assault of noises coming from the party seemed to bend away from his voice, making his words heard clearly.

The raucous party-goers faded from the corners of Aittera's vision, and the music died away. She knew without looking back that the barge was now empty save for herself and the white-haired man before her. She stepped to the railing beside him with a wry chuckle and took the glass from his hand to take a sip. "I suppose it makes a certain kind of sense - dreaming about you again after seeing you at a couple of these parties."

As the glass slipped from between his fingers, he turned to face her. That green energy flashed across his eyes, revealing an intense seriousness that the wry grin on his face did not reflect. “This must be of your doing. I would not dream you in such a place.” 

He moved his hand away from the railing, motioning down the length of her body before falling to rest at his side, “You wear that halo of yours very well.”

She looked down to take in the beaded, shimmering white material that wrapped around the curvature of her voluptuous form and lifted a reproachful glance back to Jheryth's face. "If the party barge is my doing, this dress is obviously yours," she chided, and a sudden thought occurred to her. "The green dress in the woods - that was you too. Just how long have you been stalking me in my sleep?"

His eyes flashed again, and he turned away from her, staring out over the skyline, “Of course I must be the monster. How else could you absolve yourself if it were you who sought out my company?”

Aittera smirked. "Aww...feeling the martyrdom vibe, are we?" She was not about to let him play the victim card with her. It was beneath both of them. "So, if you're not doing this, and I'm not...who or what is?"

He spun around to face her, his face set, growling, “I DON'T KNOW!” He took a breath, avoiding her eyes, looking around at the surroundings, his right hand clenched. “What we do know of already, it would seem we both are.”

She flashed him an angry look. "Don't be melodramatic. What the hell are you yelling at?"

Jheryth looked back at her, pain written on his face. “I have a lot to be angry about! How dare you presume to know what I'm feeling?” He glared at her. “I am glad to see that your time with him has hardly broken your stride!”

Aittera rolled her eyes at him. "You have a lot of nerve! It's not my fault we're in each other's dreams! Why the hell are you yelling at me?"

"It is amazing how lucky you are. You saunter in here like you haven't a care in the world. Tell me, did you enjoy your stay with Lord Ragious? Because you do not even have a scratch to show for it!”

That hit a nerve. The storm that suddenly shook the air around them in the dreamscape dumped buckets on them as she threw a fist toward his face in a sudden rush of anger.

He rolled his head back with the punch, avoiding a broken jaw, thrusting an open palm towards her rib cage.

Thankfully, the rain had already rendered the beaded evening gown slick, and Jheryth's palm slid over it, reducing the impact and propelling his hand off toward her side. It slowed her momentum though, diminishing the power she put into a follow-up jab to his gut. 

He let out a grunt as her fist landed, the drenched suit offering no protection. He swung his fist under her extended arm, aiming for her kidney, but the telegraphed punch was easily avoided with a quick step to his side, where Aittera sent a kick into the back of his knee.

He felt his knee give way, and he let himself drop down to both knees, Force reflexes already bringing his hands up to meet her swing, aiming both hands to grab hold of her arm. Trying to throw the matted hair out of his eyes with a flick of his head as he looked up at her, he raised his voice over the rush of wind and rain. “Aittera! Look at me!”

She was about to wrench her arm from Jheryth's grasp, but stopped to shoot a look of pure rage at his face. Blinking the rain from his eyes, his hair was a tangled, dripping mess, some of it plastered to his face. He kept a firm grip on her arm, keeping his senses alert for another attack. “He were are, fighting each other – and he's out there, laughing at us! I did not lie when I said you got off easy. I've watched him utterly destroy someone I care about. Twisted her mind, broken her, made her a true pet. Complete with her own cage, whoring her out. She's so broken now, she's just accepted that's who she is!”

The rain was gone as quickly as it had come, though the storm clouds remained, and she was backing away from him with the look of someone begrudgingly conceding a point. "You mean the slave."

He let go of her arm, picking himself off of the ground, "Her name was Renn'a. She was someone I care about. He destroyed that person when I abandoned her to save her sister. And what she went through was far worse than what you or Renn'a had to endure."

"You know there's no record of a sister, right?"

Jheryth nodded. "I am very much aware of that. I have been trying to look into it, but have made no headway. Without ever having met, they share the same last name."

Aittera fixed him with a dubious expression. "Dawes is not an uncommon last name. Sounds like you're reaching."

He smiled calmly back. "That would be a valid point if they were not identical. She believes Kiabe intended to use that fact to replace Renn'a with her to spy on Ragious."

"Wait. Back up. I think I'm missing a few puzzle pieces. Twins? And what does Kiabe have to do with any of this?"

His eyes sparkled with a soft green glow and he folded his arms across his chest. "Of course you are. Until last week, the only two people who knew Will'a existed were Kiabe and myself, and I worked very hard to keep her identity a secret." He looked down at his soaked clothing.

"I guess it's time to start talking then. Who is Will'a to Kiabe?"

Jheryth closed his eyes, concentrating as he lowered his arms to his side. After a few moments his suit melted away, being replaced by a green terry cloth robe. He opened his eyes and looked at her, smiling in satisfaction. "That's better."

Aittera rolled her eyes and stalked back to the railing, folding her arms to rest against it, looking up at the storm clouds. In spite of the rain that had poured on them earlier, she was completely dry, her dress unaffected. Dream or psychotic break, it wasn't her that needed to put on a show. "Are you going to give me a straight answer, or do I need to wake up and hunt you down?"

He sighed as he joined her at the railing. "Of course, Aittera." He looked out at the horizon as he spoke, keeping his face passive. "As I understand, Will'a would have been a tool for Kiabe to use. Allow me to expound on the question. Will'a had been a guest of Kiabe's torture room for about a year before I rescued her."

A hushed expletive left her lips with a look of disgust. "How did you find out about her?"

Jheryth continued to keep his face passive as he spoke. "Completely by accident actually. I was summoned to Kiabe's estate for business. I do not believe she expected me to find out about her. When I happened to see her on a security monitor, I destroyed anyone who attempted to keep me from leaving with her. Leaving Renn'a where she was, and keeping off Ragious and Kiabe's radar was the only way to keep them both safe."

"That explains why you disappeared for so long, I suppose. Why is she wandering around Nar, asking my boyfriend to arrange a meeting with Renn'a if you're trying to keep her off the radar?"

"Because she asked me to give her the truth about her imprisonment, not because she was fully ready, but because Kiabe has found her. I told her it was unwise to seek out her sister, but she is determined."

Aittera nodded with a slight scowl. "That'll be a disappointing family reunion for her."

"I am inclined to agree with you. I am also certain that should she accomplish that, then Ragious will learn of her existence."

"You think he'll decide he wants a pair?" She smirked at her own double entendre.

"As sick and twisted as he is, how could he resist?"

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

Jheryth turned to her with an evil glint in his eyes. "Kill them both."

"Good luck with that." 

"I despise everything they are. For all that power they have, they pervert themselves by preying on the weak. They use dirty, underhanded tactics to get what they want. They have hurt people that I care about. Even Will'a understands that the only way to be safe is to kill them. That is my stake in this. You at least deserve the truth, though I'm willing to bet you do not want to hear the rest of it."

Aittera's expression became hardened, and she kept her gaze fixed to a point on the horizon. "I don't care."

"Only one of us is going to speak the truth. I do not blame you. I had hoped I earned at least that much."

Had he? She supposed she owed him something for giving Selus the security codes to the Avenger. "The truth is I can't help you."

Jheryth looked at her with tenderness. "The truth is you would rather run than stay and fight. It does not matter how many others he hurts, as long as it is not you. If that is your position, at least have the courage to admit it."

Aittera growled low, clenching her fists where they rested on the railing. "It's not. My hands are tied. If this was my call, I'd still be going after him like gangbusters until the bastard is dead."

"I truly apologize. If I had not given him the means to rescue you, perhaps this conversation would have gone differently."

"Oh sure. You'd be having this conversation with a dead woman. I bet that'd be useful."

"You misunderstand. I had intended to get you out myself. I chose to give that information to Selus instead."

"You'll understand if my confidence in Selus's abilities overwhelms any I might have in your own."

"His confidence in your abilities seems lacking."

"Kriff you." Aittera spun to face him, the storm raging in her deep blue gaze as intensely as it had assaulted the dreamscape around them. "Do you really think that coming to me with this self-righteous spin on things is going to sway me or get me to help you? You really think I'm so blind as to not see that you're just as selfish and self-serving as you ever were? You saw a girl who looked like the one you lost to your rival on a security monitor and ran to her rescue. What if she'd been a common soldier or a captured Jedi you had no personal stake in? You were already doing business with a damn Sith known for her cruelty and viciousness, Jheryth! I may have shed my ideals for a more realistic view of the universe, but at least I don't pretend to be something I'm not!"

He met her gaze without flinching. "That is why I gave the information to Selus."

"Exactly. That's exactly why I didn't choose to walk away from my partner and best friend for you, and it's why you don't get to criticize him or his influence in my damn life. You forget that I have as much intel on you as I do on Ragious, and all I see are similarities. The only loyalty either of you have is to yourselves and your own self interests. The idea of putting someone else's interests ahead of your own for no other reason than loyalty or honor is a foreign concept." 

She cast about for a way to end the dream, finally settling for walking toward the pleasure barge's exit without waiting for a response. 

Moments later, she was seething as she sat up in the still unfamiliar surroundings of her new flat on Nar Shaddaa.  

Ali's new pet sleen

Talk about a pet who looks just like its owner. :P

Back on the Wanderer

(( The following is converted from RP that took place on 4/18. As always, my eternal gratitude goes to the player of Selus for being so much fun to RP with. ))

Selus found Aittera waiting in the cockpit when he returned to the Wanderer. He walked over to her, bending down to kiss her cheek, then put a bottle of Corellian Whiskey on a nearby table. "Gift from Renn'a's sister of all people."

She looked up at him with that look that said she was sure she was losing her mind. "Renn'a has a sister?"

"Apparently so.  Got my name from a Black Sun contact.  Just met with her.  Wanted me...or us really, to facilitate a meeting with her sister, and also whatever information we had on Kiabe.  Told her we didn't have much on the wife."

"She expects us to just put in a holocall---" Aittera stopped mid-sentence as a thought occurred to her. "Does Ragious know about this sister?" She was on her feet in a heartbeat, though there was no room to really pace in the cockpit. She found herself walking to the viewport window instead as she contemplated the ways this new information could be used against her enemy. She wouldn't actually put the woman at risk, of course, but the potential of using Renna's sister to either compromise the slave's loyalties or even tempt the Darth into a vulnerable position was too much not to consider.

"No.  Kiabe did.  Will'a was apparently her guest for a time.  I tried to explain how loyal Renn'a is to her master, but she still wants to meet her.  Not our concern though, after speaking to me she decided that she didn't want our help after all."

"What?" She wheeled around to look at him. "Why not?"

"Because she understood how full we already have our hands."

Aittera opened her mouth to form a protest, but stopped short with a scowl, realizing that she'd be arguing with a person who wasn't even present. A sense of impotent rage had been building since she'd left Khor'deth's lavish hotel room with the feeling that she'd somehow been conned, and now, it had formed a full head of steam. Rubbing three fingers against her forehead, she stomped past him and out of the cockpit, heading for the liquor cabinet. 

Selus followed her, carrying the bottle of whiskey he'd brought back.  "How was whatever you were doing?"

She had already pulled a bottle from the cabinet when she spied the one in his hand and remembered its existence. With a frustrated sigh, she rocked her head back to roll her eyes at herself and the obsessive swirl of jumbled thoughts that were plaguing her. When she looked back to him, it was with a charmingly sheepish grin and held out the bottle in her hand. "Trade you?"

He handed over the bottle to her and took the one in her hand. "I am guessing that it went okay if you're that distracted."

"I am waiting for risk analysis projections for Ragious's activities from an old friend who owed me a favor." She opened the bottle he'd handed her and took a deep drink as she walked over to the couch. "I met Khor'deth."

The cathar paused when she mentioned Ragious's son, stopping in his tracks for a moment. "How did that go?"  He recovered quickly and moved to join her, plopping down next to her to slide an arm onto the back of the couch behind her shoulders.

"Weird," she scowled. "I don't know what to think of him."

"What does your gut tell you?"

"It doesn't. That's part of the problem." She took another hefty drink from the bottle, then shook her head. "If he wasn't a pureblood and a Sith, I might actually like him."

He looked over at her with a shocked expression that quickly formed into a grin. "That's some high praise coming from you."

Aittera smirked, giving him that look that said she could either kiss him or smack him. "Ran into someone I haven't seen since my SIS days at the party. Apparently, he's a pirate now."

Selus grumbled something about pirates. "I hope he's at least going to be a useful pirate."

"If he's not, I'll shoot him."

"Oh!  Can I help?"

She laughed. "If you're really good."

He gave her a grin. "I promise."  Laughing, he leaned over to kiss her cheek again. "What about the pureblood though?  Is he like Ragious?"

The question wiped the grin from her face, prompting another long, deep drink before she answered. "Nothing like him. He's charming, rational, even-tempered and eloquent."

"That is...a surprise.  Truly.  I don't think I've ever heard of an even-tempered prueblood.  Charming sure, rational, even eloquent, but I didn't think even-tempered was possible for any Sith."

"If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't believe it."

"Guess I really do learn something new every day."  Selus once again looked over, this time with another grin. "What the hell did he say to get you so riled?"

"He offered to broker a truce."

"Come again, I don't think I heard you right."

Aittera took another drink, glaring straight ahead as she watched the conversation in her mind yet again, having been replaying it in such a way several times since she'd left the casino. "He would be more than willing to help me cease the hostilities. His words."

"Do you believe him?  Do you think he can do that? If so Aittera, I want you to take his offer."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You're joking."

"Not even a little.  Angel Girl, you and I are too smart to not know how this ends.  Even if we kill Ragious and somehow both manage to survive, which isn't very likely, we then deal with Kiabe, and then someone else, and someone else.  I'd rather just go back to living our lives without dealing with the Sith."

She stared at him for a long, silent minute. When she finally spoke, there was an edge to her otherwise quiet voice. "Even if he's telling the truth, what happens if we're in a firefight and realize that it's Ragious's ships we're fighting? Do we tuck tail and run and leave the Republic with two---" She corrected herself with a bitter note--"one less ship working in its defense, or risk breaking whatever treaty we've negotiated?"

"That is why we negotiate.  No more personal vendetta."

"He made it personal when he raped me."

"I know, and he deserves to die for that, but not if it means killing ourselves."

"I don't care if it kills me."

"I care.  Don't you see that, I don't know how to live without you."

That broke through her stubborn demeanor so easily, it left her with a stricken expression, forcing her to look away from him and down at the bottle in her hand. She almost hated him for saying it and for knowing that it was the one thing he could say that could cut as deeply as it did. The Aittera that walked away from the SIS hadn't survived Davin's death, and Selus knew that.

"What if it is me, Angel Girl?  What if it is my life you have to trade to kill him?"

"I wouldn't let that happen."

"But we can't know for certain that it wouldn't.  We have an opportunity to end this.  Now.  We negotiate an end to hostilities, we go back to this being only about the Republic and Empire's war, and get the personal crap out of it."

"Until the next time one of us is captured? In the meantime, he's one of the most effective leaders they have. Think of how many people we could save if we stop his campaigns." Every argument sounded weak in the wake of his statement, and she knew it. 'He's already won,' she thought, and for a moment, she really did hate him.

"As I said, we negotiate.  We cease the personal vendetta, not our defense of the Republic. I don't want to take away from the hurt he caused you.  It was bad, we both know exactly how much, and what came after.  But if we can stop this here and now, with both of us alive, then I think we win."

"He won't see it that way. I'm not sure I can either."

Selus sighed. "I won't make you do this.  I couldn't even if I wanted to, but I can't see any downside Aittera."

She took another drink as she contemplated just how much it felt like he was making her give in. "No. No downside at all." The fight drained completely from her, leaving her glaring resentfully down at the bottle in her lap as she gave in. "I'll set up the meeting. You'll want to be there." Defeat number two.

He nodded, cautiously reaching over to take her hand. "I know this isn't the outcome you wanted, but it is the outcome that keeps you safe."

She didn't look at him as he took her hand. "Right."

The Star Cluster Casino Penthouse

(( The following is converted from RP that took place on 4/17 just after Krayt/Invicta's party on Nar Shaddaa. As always, my eternal gratitude goes to the player of Untruth for being such a great RP'er. ))

Lord Khor'deth Arren opened the door, clad in exactly what he wore to the party minus the vest; his black boots, black pants and black shirt hugging his body and showing off his muscular chest and arms. "Aittera Timm, I wondered when you would find your way to my door."

The redheaded spacer smiled politely at the tall pureblood, the slightest note of curiosity in her otherwise even tone. "I had a feeling you might be expecting me. Your holopictures don't do you justice, Khor'deth."

He stepped aside to allow her entrance, motioning toward the sitting area. "Would you like a drink?  I just opened a bottle of Chimbak wine, though admittedly you weren't the guest I was expecting to drink it with."

She stepped through the door to move toward the indicated area. "I hope it won't be an insult if I decline. I was never a fan of Chimbak." She took a seat in what she could best surmise was the opposite of where he was likely to have been sitting, preferring to keep enough distance between them in case the need for a hasty exit was necessary.

He took the seat opposite her, scooping his glass from the table next to the chair. "No insult at all, I was merely being a proper host."  He raised his glass to his lips for a drink, staring across at her. "Now, what exactly are you here for?  I can't imagine it is to attempt kill me, though I have to say the aftermath of that may be quite fun.  I suspect you're here to see just how much like my parents I am."

She lifted her chin with an appraising smile, her blue eyes sharp as she read his body language, listening for any subtle inferences. "I thought that would be a good place to start. You're aware of my feelings about your father, obviously. Are you aware of the circumstances that led to them?"

He nodded. "I am.  You and your Cathar destroyed some of his fighters, and he responded in the only way he knows how."

"I suppose that is a fair assessment. You could say I responded in kind myself for what he took from me."

"He did love that ship."  Khor seemed to be living up to his even tempered reputation. "While I don't agree with his actions, and would have taken a different approach, there are many Sith that would not only applaud what he did to you, but would have done far worse."

Aittera seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself and the conversation. "I'm aware of the latter. What would you have done differently?"

"I wouldn't have started out abusing you.  I would have only done that as a last resort.  I hope you don't think me arrogant, but I have no doubt that had I been the one to capture you, I would have made you forget all about your Cathar, and the Republic."

She chuckled - though not in an unpleasant or disdainful way - and gave a simple shake of her hair, sending the cascading scarlet waves into motion against her back. "That might be a little arrogant," she teased. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and call it confidence though."

He gave her an open armed shrugging gesture, a smile on his lips. "Come now, I see you looking at me, that shake of your head to show off your hair just the right way, you're already flirting, Aittera.  The question is, are you doing it on accident, or deliberately?"

"That would be telling, Khor'deth," she answered with a charming smile of her own. Truthfully, she had, of course, been aware she'd done it. It was an instinctive reaction to the inference that she could be so easily conquered. Bring it on. He wouldn't be the first to find out how wrong he was. "So, I guess the most pressing question has to be: will you be getting in my way?"

"That would be telling."  He gave her a grin as he leaned back. "Why are you escalating your conflict with my father?  You killed his men, he punished you, you blew up his ship.  Why not just end it?  I would be more than willing to help you cease the hostilities."

Her expression grew serious, but he'd gained her respect already, so she spoke candidly rather than continuing the charade of 'playing nice'. "His punishment didn't end when Selus took me off of that ship."

"Allow me to help you then, Aittera.  The way I see this ending is bad for both of you.  It puts in danger everyone dear to you both.  I know you and my father can never be allies, but you and I have no bad blood between us.  Let me stop this for you before it goes somewhere that you don't want it to.  Let me be your ally, your friend and help you move past what was done to you."  Khor was either the best liar and actor she had ever seen, or the concern he was showing for her was genuine, and everything in any training she has had on body language was telling her that he was showing true concern.

His reaction caught her off guard, making her bristle with a sudden discomfort. "Why would you want to do that?" she asked, just barely keeping the suspicion from her voice.

"Because I do not wish to see your family, or my family destroyed when I could have prevented it.  I do not come at this completely unselfishly. What you and Selus did to the Avenger took a lot of bravery, and intelligence to pull off, and gaining you as an ally is much more appealing to me than having you as an enemy."

"I couldn't do anything that might lend itself to hurting the Republic down the road."

"I would never ask an ally to betray their ideals, Aittera. The Empire has enemies beyond the Republic."

"As long as he's acting against the Republic, he's a threat."

"We're at war, Aittera, at this point I'm a threat to the Republic.  Are you going to draw one of your pistols and shoot me?"

He stood, and removed his belt, letting it and his sabers fall to the floor before opening his arms. "If you truly feel that way then you should shoot me now."

She watched his belt fall to the floor, then looked up at him, truly perplexed. Why did men continue to insist on telling her to shoot them? "You're nothing like I expected."

"Everyone seems to say that."  He continued to stand there like the perfect target.

It was damned unnerving to her. This entire conversation. She finally stood from her own seat, shaking her head in a futile attempt to reconcile what she was experiencing with everything she believed before she walked in the door. "What do you think you can do for..." She shrugged, a hand gesturing outward, palm up. "...making this go away."

"Quite a lot.  I was the one that kept him and the Armada from coming to blows after Jheryth Chrystopher tried to set them against each other.  I give you my word that as long as you do not attempt any further escalation of your conflict that my father will forget you ever existed."

"What about Sky?"

"My father's interest in her waned when he met Katina."

"You're just going to snap your fingers and make everything go away?"

"Not exactly.  I am heir to two Sith households, Aittera.  Both my father's house, that he has no claim to, and my mother's which she allows him a large amount of control over.  Due to the deal I negotiated with Krayt, I have been given much leeway in speaking for him.  He would never dare go against any deal I have made, because of the power I am able to bring.  Making this deal with you will strain my relationship with him for a long time to come, but it is that or watch you and he destroy each other.  Because I tell you this with certainty, if you were to continue on the path you are on, either you or Selus would have to sacrifice your life to end my father's."

She considered this in silence for several minutes, weighing her desire for revenge, the nightmares she still had, the sense that still came to her - even with the protection Sky had given her mind - of Ragious's presence. In fact, it was almost as though she forgot Khor was standing there at all as she turned to pace in the open space beyond the seating area.

Khor sat there in silence as she paced, allowing her her deliberations for the time being, hoping his last words sunk in because of everything he has just told her, he is most certain that the destruction of his father will come at the cost of her or Selus' life, everything he can read from the force having told him so.  Finally, after several moments of silence, he spoke up again. "I promise you, whatever way you are thinking he will still use to circumvent me and get to you, I will stop him.  While you don't know a lot about me, when I give my word it actually means something, and I will give you my word that you will never have to worry about my father again."

Aittera finally stopped pacing, her back to the strange enigma born of two of the most violent Sith she'd ever run across. Her voice was quiet, contemplative. "I need to speak to Selus about this. He's just as involved as I am. It wouldn't be fair not to include him in my decision." She was waiting for her gut to weigh in, starting to wonder if Khor was having some kind of influence beyond simple conversation that she just couldn't detect. Damned Force users.

"Of course.  When you are ready to give me your decision then you know where to find me.  I have this room permanently reserved for the foreseeable future.  It comes with comped chips for the casino, and I would invite both you and Selus to take advantage of them as I myself do not do my gambling with games of chance."

She took a further moment to pull her thoughts back to the immediate, then turned to face him with a nod, extending her hand to him. "I'll be in touch. Thank you."

Khor stood and moved to take the hand as he bowed to her, once more giving her an open and undefended target should she choose to shoot him. At that point, it would have just been cathartic to shoot someone. Negotiation was not one of her stronger qualities unless one counted her ability to out-drink most people she met.

She gave him a slight smile. "You certainly have the distinction of being one of the most interesting men I've ever met." 

With that, she turned to head for the door.