(( OOC Post )) On the issue of 'Active' vs. 'Inactive' Characters

I wanted to write something up here to clarify what I mean by 'Active' and 'Inactive' when referring to my characters. Basically, I make the distinction so people who are looking for me know who to look for me on when they don't care which of my characters they're interacting with or just need to find me in game. That's really all there is to it. I have a note to myself to glance at the list twice a month, adjust as needed, and republish if anything's changed.

Several things go into labelling a character as 'Active'. Mostly, it's who I've been RP'ing of late, who I'm focusing on writing for (not that I won't write whatever comes into my head for any character), who people are asking me to log in, or people who are involved in something going on in RP (like the Dheroveer plot). I generally have chosen one or two 'default' characters to log in to go hang out in open RP settings (usually the cantina at the Slopes or on Fleet or where ever people are gathering) who are likely to blend in or interact in a way that makes sense for those types of settings.

'Inactive' characters are simply characters that I haven't RP'd for one reason or another in a while. I'm happy to get them involved in things, bring them out to RP with a specific player's character in private, or even bring them to a social function they were specifically invited to.

That's it. That's all. That's the big distinction.

So, if you haven't seen me on a character in a while, it's not that I don't want to RP them. It's because I have nothing for them to RP. If you want to see me drag them off the shelf, I'm happy as hell to do it! Give me something to do with them!

Luck

There is an elusive element to life that no one can truly prepare for. No matter how much one plans, no matter how many contingencies one considers, no matter how much control a person tries to assert over every aspect of their existence, there is an unknown mechanic in the universe that can somehow affect it all. Sometimes it was for a better outcome, sometimes worse. Some called it fate; others, destiny. Some attributed it to gods or the Force. If Aittera were asked to put a name to it, she would call it luck.

Aittera had woken up to find herself blinking wearily into the face of an unfamiliar Mirialan. A feeling of warmth and comfort had seemed to flood her body, soothing away the worst of the pain that came most predominantly from the vicinity of her stomach. The familiar voice of Tes'ara, Jean's second at Agamar Risk Control Services, had been next. Relief and grief had flooded her conscious thought simultaneously.

Not dead.

Her apartment's security system had activated third-party alert protocol, alerting Jean Schramme when Kiabe destroyed her door. It was a change that Aittera had made just days ago, when he had come to talk about Sheridan Zila. She had realized only hours before that unplanned, unexpected meeting that Selus's frequency was still listed in the protocol, and asking Jean if he would mind allowing her to use his contact information instead was simply good timing. She needed someone she could rely on, and he was the one person left in the universe who still might have her back.

Should be dead.

Aittera was in a medcenter on the Upper Promenade, and the Mirialan was a Jedi healer who she would come to realize later had never given her name. As the events of the attack came back to her, Aittera was dumbfounded at the sheer impossibility of what had occurred. Jean and Tes'ara explained that the pureblood had bled out by the time they'd reached her apartment. The knife she'd used was something she never really gave much thought to anymore. It was simply part of getting ready to go somewhere, like an extension of getting dressed – blasters at her hips, knife in her boot or under her belt. The choice to stow it at her back on the day of the attack had been nothing more than a matter of convenience.

I'm not dead.

Further, they had disposed of Kiabe's body, and from what she was able to understand from the conversation between the Jean and his second, by the time Tes'ara was finished, there would be no trace of the Sith Lord's visit. She was profoundly grateful. They had insulated her against retaliation as best they could. Turned out the good guys were far more scary in their efficiency than any criminals she'd ever met.

Why aren't I dead?

Aittera would also come to learn from Jean that he had called Cartel Security to provide an escort to the medcenter, and she would marvel at her old friend for how easily he went so far above and beyond for the people he cared about. When the medical staff quit fussing over her, she asked to move to the Hope's medbay to recover. The Promenade's medcenter gleamed too bright, too metallic, and felt far too open and exposed.

Dumb kriffing luck.

When asked a few days later what was next, Aittera honestly had no idea what the answer should be. After all, she should be dead. As much as she might have told herself she wanted to die just a few days before, that instinct to survive, to fight, was as strong as it ever had been. Whatever was to come next, she was alive. Let it come.

(( I want to take a moment to once again thank the players behind Jean, Tes'ara, Evander, Radwan, and Zabess for the awesome RP that went into helping me finish this story. I'm humbled and so very, very grateful.))

Confrontation

Aittera's gut was screaming at her as she stepped into the tiny apartment and looked around as the lights came up. Something was very wrong. Something had been wrong ever since she'd left the bodega a few blocks away that she'd just come from, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. She never shrugged off that vibrating, sinking sensation that warned her of imminent danger, and it had never been wrong once in her life. It had been a constant for as long as she could remember, since the day it drove her to her feet to run toward a building that was about to erupt in an explosion in a vain attempt to save her fiance.

Warily listening for any small sound that might be out of place, she turned to key the lock to the door before setting the bag of groceries on the nearby table. She reached down to thumb the security straps loose from the holsters holding her blasters in case she needed to draw them fast as she moved toward the only part of the place she couldn't see readily from the door – the bedroom. For just a hint of a moment as she stepped across the threshold, there was an irrational hope that Kol would be standing there beside the bed, giving her that charming smile, asking her if she missed him. But the room was as empty as the rest of the apartment, and she scowled as she turned to walk back toward the little dining area.

That was when a flash of red energy drew her attention back to the front door where sparks were beginning to fling themselves away from the computerized locking mechanism onto the floor. Aittera barely had time to recognize what she was seeing as the tip of a lightsaber before the door was loosened and forced to the side where it crumbled against the inside of the doorway. Darth Ragious's formidable pureblood wife came striding toward her.

Lord Kiabe Eirndeth stood just a few inches taller than Aittera, her muscular frame bound in form-fitting armor that seemed to the observer's mind to refuse to reflect or even acknowledge light. Her black hair was pulled back in short thick braids to frame her serpentine face and seemingly glowing yellow eyes which locked onto the redhead's face as she growled battle lust and rage. Without a word, she stalked toward her prey with purpose, effortlessly deflecting each shot Aittera fired at her with her lightsaber.

“Obviously, you're not here to talk,” the smuggler quipped as she continued to fire, mentally cataloging her surroundings as she tried to see some kind of escape route as she was inevitably driven back into the living room. She knew she was no match for a Sith warrior, and she wasn't stupid or arrogant enough to try.

Kiabe leapt the small distance between them in an instant, bringing her blade down in a sweeping arc that sent white hot agony through Aittera's left arm, severing her hand from her body, catching her by the throat to shove her against the wall with an angry sneer. “No. I'm here to make you pay.”

Aittera's scream was choked short by the fingers closing around her throat, her blue eyes wide with fear and pain as she clutched her arm to her chest. As she felt her feet begin to leave the floor, she knew she was about to die. Frantically, she fought to draw in breath, and her mind suddenly seized on the feeling at her lower back like there was something pinned between herself and the wall. Darkness crept at the edges of her vision as she puzzled for a moment what the familiar shape was, her thoughts racing the inevitable. This was important. This had to be important.

She didn't have time enough to think it through. She reached back with her off hand to tug the object free, only recognizing in that moment the knife she nearly always carried on her – something most often stuck in her boot, but on occasion kept beneath her trenchcoat at the back of her waist as it was now. In the next impossible moment, the vibroblade was protruding from the pureblood's neck and blood was pouring from her jugular. Kiabe's grip on her throat loosened as she fell back, instinct bringing her lightsaber swinging toward Aittera in one final attack in the last moments of her life.

Relief was cut short by fresh pain in the redhead's side, and she crumbled to the floor against the wall, clutching at her side where she found a hole burnt into her jacket before she lost consciousness.

Giving Up

There was a familiar low groan almost like a growl coming from nearby, the sound of pain and muted frustration. It took more than a minute to realize it was coming from herself, and as Aittera tried to push herself slowly up into a sitting position, the dull throb where her head was supposed to be forced her to lie right back down.

“Too much. Drank too much. I've got to stop trying to make up for lost time.” she murmured to the empty bedroom. That's not what you were doing, and you know it. She knew it, but she wasn't ready to admit it, not even to an empty room.

It had been two weeks of utter, ongoing frustration since her return to Nar Shaddaa. The visit from Somaesthesia had seemed itself to be more something she'd imagined than had actually happened, but after two days of doing everything she could to reach out to Kol - from taking a sedative in hopes of inducing one of their shared dreams to simply standing in the cockpit of the Hope, screaming his name to the rafters until she was hoarse – she had begun to wrestle with the possibility that it really had all been some kind of sick mind game.

Teach had shown up at the hangar with a Jedi named Zero. Well, technically a former Jedi, but to Aittera, Force wielders were pretty much Sith or Jedi, and she could not care less about the nuances they used to differentiate themselves. It had taken a lot of convincing to keep them from taking her into custody or detaining her, and in the end, she'd agreed to give Zero her tracking beacon's frequency to keep her from putting her idea of fusing the Hope's landing gear to the hangar deck into action. By the time the two had left, she was furious with her fellow former SIS agent for bringing yet another damned Force user into her situation. She was fairly furious with herself for her convoluted explanations in response to his accusations as well.

She'd promised to stay on Nar Shaddaa while Zero investigated her claim to innocence, though, so she'd finally left the Hope behind to go back to her apartment. That was a better place to begin looking into things on her own in any case, she'd reasoned - until she'd walked in, of course. From the moment she'd stepped inside, she was assaulted with the memory of the time she and Kol had spent in the tiny abode, and the question of whether it could all be a lie was renewed with vigor.

Aittera solicited the help of a slicer named Sheridan Zila that she had relied on in the past to try to track down the evidence the SIS had against her. It seemed to boil down to this security footage Rallyn had informed her of, but a few days after the slicer had answered confidently that she could find where exactly the file had come from, Aittera had a visit from Jean Shcramme informing her that -her- slicer was one of -his- people and wouldn't be working for her any longer.

If she didn't love and respect her old friend so much, she might have decked him. Of course, she understood. She couldn't even imagine how to begin to slice her way into SIS databases and networks without tripping an unimaginable number of alerts and security along the way, and if his agent was compromised, his company's integrity would be compromised along with her. She understood. She just didn't have to like it.

I didn't have to break down in front of him either.

Yes, that had been the most humiliating moment of all – spilling salt into his shoulder as she finally admitted aloud for the first time that what she had experienced had very likely been an illusion. After all, Kol – Ragious, damnit – had said that he had realized he couldn't conquer her by force, and hadn't Khor all but said that he thought seduction would gain her trust more successfully?

Aittera reached for the bottle of bourbon on the table beside her bed, chasing her hangover with the proverbial hair of the dog. Clearing her name seemed less important now. Doing anything seemed less important really. Eventually, she might track down the slicer Jean had offered as an alternative and see if they could get her any closer to some answers, but for now, she no longer saw the point. There was no fight left in her.   

Homecoming

She knew something was off before she'd finished keying in the security code, and by the time the maintenance door of the private hangar had slid open, her blasters were in hand. Her eyes scanned the interior as she hesitated a moment to assess the feeling in her gut that danger was waiting for her to step over the threshold. While the automatic lights kicked on, illuminating the Devious Hope and the neatly kept hangar space around it, she examined every crate and piece of machinery for any sign of movement as her mind ran through possible ambush points, quickly running through the scenarios she would choose if her target were someone with her particular skills.

She was a sharpshooter, so distance would give her target the advantage. She would probably choose to wait just inside the door so that her target would have a blaster barrel at their temple before they could raise a weapon. It risked exposing her blaster arm to attack, but the bet would be that she could get a shot off in that moment it took her target to realize she was there and react. Either side of the door would work, of course, so Aittera had a fifty fifty chance of keeping her head. Fun odds, those.

Left. Step and pivot, blaster raised.

Aittera found herself face to face with a woman about an inch or two taller than herself with black hair pulled back into a tight bun, giving her hawkish face a stern severity that belied her natural beauty. Recognition took a milisecond, but it was the tension that kept her blaster arm extended.

“Rallyn?” she began simply.

“Yes, Aittera?” Rallyn's voice was as low and cool as her own.

“Mind telling me why your blaster is in my face?”

“I was trying to get the drop on you,” Rallyn explained flatly.

“And how is that working out for you?”

The two women stood in silence for a moment longer, each with a blaster pointed at the other, until Rallyn's grim expression dissolved into a cautious smirk, and she holstered her weapon. Once Aittera followed suit with a smug look of her own, the two clasped hands, though the tension in the air between them never quite dissipated wholly. This obviously wasn't a social call.

“So, what are you doing here? I didn't contact you.” Aittera wasn't much for social niceties, and Rallyn knew that. Besides, it was a better approach than demanding to know why the SIS agent had broken into her hangar and was essentially lying in wait.

“I wish you had. I might have been able to get ahead of this.” Rallyn pulled a piece of flimsiplast from a pocket and handed it over. “Security footage of you in an Imperial Intelligence uniform turned up in a data drop that is used by some of our deep cover agents.”

Aittera studied the arrest order with a growing frown. “At least they were kind enough to specify that I should be brought in alive beside the allegations of sedition and treason.”

“What the hell, Aittera? Please tell me you were investigating something independently or...I don't know....rescuing someone?” Caution gave way to genuine concern in her friend's tone, making her wince.

“No, it's more complicated than that,” she began, handing the flimsiplast back to Rallyn. “It's not what it looks like.”

“Well, that's a relief, because I did a little digging. Between this and an unconfirmed incident I tracked the Hope back to involving the Hutt Cartel and some blockade, it is starting to look like you and this Sith, Darth Ragious – whose dreadnought that footage was from – are working together.” The undertone of accusation didn't escape Aittera's notice.

“It wasn't like---yes, he was working with me on the Hope, but it wasn't—I never aided in any actions against the Republic. This was personal. I was a guest on the Avenger. That's all,” she found herself sputtering defensively.

“A guest? A guest!” Rallyn was incredulous. “Well, I'll just go back to headquarters and explain that you were just a guest on the flagship of a Sith Darth's fleet. I'm sure they'll understand. Hell, we get invited to come inspect Imperial vessels all the time!”

Aittera's defensiveness gave way to irritation. “I'm sleeping with him!”

She regretted the admission the moment it left her lips, and one look at Rallyn's appalled expression reinforced that feeling.

“If Davin were alive---” she began, but Aittera was quick to cut the sentence off before the dagger in her heart could be twisted.

“Davin's not alive,” she reminded her old friend coldly.

“Thank the stars,” Rallyn spit back.

“We're done here.” Aittera turned away from the brunette and stalked toward the Hope.

“The moment the Devious Hope tries to dock on any Republic world, you'll be arrested. I can't make this go away,” her oldest and once dearest living friend called out. “Watch your back!”

A slender figure shrouded in black and cloaked in the Force watched the two women converse, waiting until her target turned to stride toward the light freighter known as The Devious Hope before silently moving into position. It wasn't until Aittera had keyed in her security code and stepped into her ship's corridor before she was aware that she was still not alone, but it was already too late. Lightning erupted seemingly from nowhere, violently striking her body to send it crumpling to the floor. The last thing the redheaded smuggler was aware of before she lost consciousness was the smooth black helmet that hovered just in front of her waning vision and the accompanying recognition of the small crimson crest etched into it. 

Time to Go

“I want you to authorize a shuttle. I'm going back to Nar Shaddaa.”

Kol's smile dissolved as he halted his approach to kiss the fiery redhead who had just stepped into his private quarters. “I know you're unhappy with what happened, but if you---”

“What? Stop and think? That's all I've been doing since the briefing – thinking.” Aittera shook her head in that slow, incredulous way she had when she felt like she was completely out of her depth. “I don't belong here.”

“Aittera,” he implored as he took the final step to bring himself to stand before her, his voice softening as he touched her cheek. “Yes, you do. You belong here with me, at my side. We've been through this. I did what was necessary. As Darth Ragious, I cannot be seen as weak, and I cannot allow two of my commanders to conspire against me.”

“You executed them without any evidence,” she asserted, not quite making eye contact. Her stomach was still churning in spite of how thoroughly she'd emptied it in the privacy of her own room.

“I told you. I have no doubt in your assessment.”

“I didn't know I was sentencing them to death by sharing an observation!” Now she did lift her eyes to meet his, and he saw the guilt he was already feeling from her.

“You were trained as an assassin for SIS, Aittera. You've killed people before.”

“I followed orders given to me that were based on extensive assessment of threats to the Republic. By killing a handful of people, I saved hundreds, possibly thousands of lives. Two months with you, and I'm stabbing mercenaries in the neck and watching you cut off the heads of people I point at.” She stepped past Kol to pace the room with a pained expression.

“People who would have tried to kill me and, very likely, you as well,” he reminded her.

“Maybe,” Aittera acknowledged with a nod. “Or, maybe they would have realized what they were up against and changed their minds, altered their plans. It's one thing to anticipate and defend against an attack, and it's another to outright kill someone for the way they look at you in a briefing.”

Kol bristled as he watched her walk the small strip of floor between the door and the couch. “Would you have preferred that I wait for him to attack you? I saw the way he looked at you! Sith can sense emotion, and the moment he realized you suspected him, he had reason enough to kill you. I'm not going to apologize for acting first!”

She stopped her pacing to glower at him. “I'm not asking you to! I'm just---Damnit, Kol, I shouldn't have been here in the first place! Hell, they were both Sith! I am standing here, feeling horrible about causing the death of two SITH! I'm so out of my element at this moment, I'm beginning to wonder which way is up!”

Groaning, Aittera sank onto the couch and rubbed a hand over her face, the fight draining from her as quickly as it had come. “I don't belong here. I can't live like this – constantly looking over my shoulder for which member of your family is going to come after me or which of your men are going to use me as proof that Darth Ragious's head should be the next one rolling across the floor. I can't be responsible for the death of someone's father or son, just because I---”

Kol took a seat beside her on the couch to put an arm around her. “You're not. I made that decision, not you. As for looking over your shoulder, can you honestly say you weren't already doing that before, when we were enemies?”

“You were easier to spot,” she joked darkly as she let him pull her against his side. “Still, this is where I need to step off and get some space. I don't recognize myself anymore. It's not forever, and I'm not...walking away from whatever this---we---are. You know where to find me.”

Daytrip (Skyka and Kisi Go Visiting)

(( A little something I had the great honor and privilege of writing with the player of Skyka a couple of weeks ago. We hope you like it. ))

Skyka hit a couple of the buttons on her defender class starship. She was flying better than she ever had, but still had not gotten around to actually naming her ship - something that Selus constantly wanted her to do. As she landed in the space sport, she could almost feel the tension in the air and she rolled her shoulders trying to get rid of it.

The Twi'lek looked at the long purple trench coat that she wore to hide her saber from most people. She had thrown that idea out of the window the other night, and looked down at her shoulder where the blaster had grazed it. She pursed her lips and decided to forgo the coat, and not hide anything. She had a feeling Kisi was nervous about this visit. She grabbed a headwrap, wrapping it around her forehead and around the base of her Lekku, giving her a more formal appearance.

Kisi waited impatiently at the hangar's entrance in Coruscant's spaceport for Skyka to arrive. She'd sent a message for the Twi'lek to meet her there to go and visit with her mother since she was due for a visit herself. Her monkey-lizard, Ukee, was perched on her arm and shoulder as usual, trying to soothe her by giving her hair little pats and cooing gently at her. He knew better than anyone how these visits affected her. Sharing one with her new found friend was a huge step.

Skyka smiled when she saw Kisi and Ukee, flexing her lekku and the tip of her right one made a bit of a come here motion to the monkey-lizard so that she might pet him.

Kisi greeted her with her rogue-like grin as Ukee scrambled down to run ahead of her to Sky. In spite of the sharpness of his claws and the exposed skin left by the Twi'lek’s tube top, the little monkey-lizard's paws were barely felt as he bounded up her side to hug on her arm. "See? Now, that's weird. He won't even go to Kel'ri like that. I might be jealous."

The Cathar stepped forward to hug Sky, if a bit awkwardly. She wasn't used to the practice, but for some reason, Ukee's willingness to allow her friend to hold him made Kisi feel that tug toward the woman's maternal nature more distinctly - especially with the afternoon that was ahead of them.

Skyka smiled and hugged Kisi back using her free arm to reach out and give her a scratch behind her ears; and then lifted the arm Ukee was on to give him a little headbutt.

"Hmm.. I have lots of pets myself, and I love each and everyone one of them. He probably knows that." She winked at the monkey-lizard as he bounded off her arm and back onto Kisi's shoulder.

Skyka smiled slightly, hardly showing her 73 galactic years, and tilted her head slightly. "Is there anything I need to know before we go and see your mother?" she asked softly, knowing the little Cathar was nervous.

Ukee nuzzled the Kisi's ear as she answered. "Uh...she doesn't talk much," was all she would say as she turned around to lead Skyka to the taxi stand so she wouldn't have to look at her. There was more, but a lump had formed in her throat much like before when Skyka had first asked to meet her mother.

The speeder took them deep into the city's lower levels, and they disembarked in a little run down neighborhood that still showed signs from the Sacking. In fact, looking around the debris-strewn street Kisi led them down, it was almost hard to believe that this was the same planet where the senate tower gleamed in the sunlight somewhere above.

As they turned onto another street about four blocks down, Ukee began to chitter excitedly, and he thrust his paw into one of the Cathar's pockets to pull a little bag free before suddenly launching from her shoulder and bounding away toward a group of children playing together further down the street. This didn't seem to faze Kisi at all, and it seemed as though she had expected it, as watching him run off prompted a small grin.

The gathering of younglings was predominantly alien with two human boys among them. By the time Kisi and Skyka had caught up to the monkey-lizard, he was surrounded by the children, handing out candy from the bag in his paws as they all talked to him and scritched his ears. Most of them waved at Kisi, though a few of the younger ones were still obviously shy around the older girl - a smart instinct considering the neighborhood.

Skyka walked silently behind Kisi and her lekku flexed as if they had a mind of their own as she took in her surroundings. The area was dark and dingy, and the feelings of the people around assaulted her through the force. There was mistrust, anger, and mostly desperation. She resisted the tears that came to her eyes when she saw the children. She looked at them, and they gave her a wary look full of mistrust even though she was with someone they knew. She gave them a wink and wave of her hand, sending out good feelings towards them, and they all smiled back. She was glad that she could give them a little bit of relief in this dismal area. She was beginning to see why Kisi had always dodged the question of her mother. While they walked, Skyka was already working out a plan to take the woman out of here and help her.

Kisi told the younglings a corny joke about a spacer and a nerf, prompting giggles among them, then introduced Sky. They waved at her, and after admonishing them to stay out of trouble, the Cathar bid them farewell. By the time they reached their destination at the end of the street, Ukee was perched in his usual place, emitting little reassuring sounds once again as though trying to help give her strength.

It was a clinic, and as rundown as the exterior was, the interior was clean and sterile. Kisi led Skyka through the crowded waiting area and stepped past the intake desk to a side corridor that took them to a series of patient rooms, stopping just outside of one to turn back to look at the Twi'lek for the first time since they'd left the speeder at the taxi stand. "Uh...so, she's been sick for a while, and she doesn't always know where she is. So, Ukee and me got a few posters and bits of furniture to make it look like the room is a hotel room on a beach. So...if you don't mind...could you pretend it's the beach if she's awake?"

Skyka raised an eyebrow slightly when she heard Kisi's explanation. She had heard of this condition while she was in the academy and learning her healing practices - people whose minds tended to falter and they forgot who and what they were. She nodded solemnly, unsure of what to say in a situation like this. She was already tossing any idea out of her head about getting the woman out of the dismal area, and decided to just wait and see and go from there.

With a nod, Kisi turned to open the door, transforming from her solemn state to one of almost adolescent optimism, smiling as she stepped in and walked to the side of the bed in the tiny room that had obviously once been intended as an examination room in the clinic's earlier days. The young Cathar didn't just pretend to be happy; she believed herself into the person she knew her mother needed to see.

The weathered face of the older Cathar in the bed bore a deep scar along one cheek that defied the growth of fur in a long white line amid white fur with black markings that were the very mirror of her daughter's. Her graying hair was pulled back in a loose braid that was pulled over one shoulder, and her ears twitched and flicked back at the sight of Kisi as she reached out to take her hand and pull her close in greeting. "Dahro zhara, Svetlobi!"

Kisi bumped her head gently against her mother's. "Greetings. I brought a friend to meet you. Her name is Skyka."

The woman smiled weakly at the Twi'lek as she looked over at her and bowed her head in greeting. "Greetings, Skyka. Please, come in."

Skyka smiled at the transformation in Kisi and realized she had a great love for her mother. She walked further into the room and bowed her head in return to the Cathar, standing on the opposite side of the bed. "Greetings. You are looking quite beautiful. I've always wondered what it was like to have such beautiful fur. We Twi'leks are without any hair. "Even our eyebrows are tattooed on." She wiggled hers to emphasize the point.

The elder Cathar chuckled softly, interrupted by a cough that prompted Kisi to seek out a cup of water and insist that she take a sip before continuing. "And I have always wondered at how nice it might be not to have to spend so much time keeping it clean. I am Ferssenx. Are you here to take Kisi to Coruscant? I want her to begin school on time, but I don't want to leave until Gaver comes back."

There was a ghost of worry in Kisi's eyes for just a moment, and unseen to her mother where he was hiding behind her, Ukee patted the girl's hair at the back of her head. "Yes, Mama. Sky is going to take me to Coruscant, and I will wait for you there. So, you don't have to worry, okay?"

Skyka smiled and nodded at the older woman. "Aye, that is right. Kisi thought you would want to meet me before I took her to Coruscant. I will make sure that sure that she gets there on time. However, I personally love the beach and would never want to leave. It's so wonderful here!"

Skyka pulled up a chair and sat down next to the older woman. "What is Gaver like?" Skyka asked, looking to turn the woman's attention away from Kisi and school and something that obviously would not happen. She looked intently into Ferssenx's eyes showing supreme interest.

The query disturbed Kisi, who set about cleaning the little table beside the bed and fussed over her mother's fur and pajamas, making certain the nurses had been doing their jobs.

Ferssenx's smile, however, was telling. "He is very brave. If it weren't for him, Kisi would never have been born. He is as tall and broad as he is handsome, and we're going to go live in the Republic and raise our family together."

​Skyka smiled and only glanced at Kisi as she fussed around. She felt the nervous tension coming off the little Cathar, but she couldn't mistake the smile on the older Cathar.

"That sounds wonderful. I, myself, love a Cathar man. He's rather stubborn, and not the straightest edge, but he loves me, and I him, and that is what matters most."

"Oh, Gaver isn't a Cathar. He's human," Ferssenx corrected her, looking around distractedly until she saw one of the posters on the wall that looked most like watching the beach through a window. It was a self-reassurance of sorts, and she smiled wearily as she reached over to pat one of Sky's arms. "You'll see, Svetlobi. Once he leaves his clan, we shall create our own clan, and we will go somewhere safe."

Skyka rested her arms on the bed, then rested her head on her arms. "The republic is a nice place, especially Coruscant, but it's so busy...with all the buildings and cars and everything. The beach is so nice and quiet."

Kisi's ears flicked and twitched in her unspoken agitation, and she leaned over to kiss her mother's forehead. "Okay, Mama. You get some rest, and when you wake up, Papa will be here waiting."

She gestured toward the Twi'lek and headed for the door.

Skyka nodded and leaned over to kiss the forehead of the older Cathar as well. Her big heart already had fallen in love with the older woman. She saw Kisi's agitation and figured she was probably going to get an earful, but the older woman had smiled and looked so in love that it was worth it to Skyka.

When Skyka stepped outside, she looked at Kisi straight on. "If you didn't want me to talk about something.. should've said something before hand." She raised one of her tattooed eyebrows at the little Cathar waiting for her response.

Kisi looked at the Twi'lek with a touch of confusion, then shook her head as she understood what her friend was referring to. Her smile had disappeared the moment the door had closed behind them, and Ukee was once more leaning over her shoulder, nuzzling her ear. The weight of the burden that these visits brought was evident in her blue eyes. "No, you were really nice with her. Thank you."

She turned to walk with Skyka back down the hall, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "She gets confused easy, and whenever she brings him up, I just want to run out of the room and scream my head off."

Skyka nodded slowly and tilted her head as she walked with her. "Well I have a couple of solutions if you want to hear them... " She looked over at Kisi with and raised eyebrow.

"I didn't bring you to ask for a handout or anything. I just thought it might help to - - -" She couldn't voice the rest of the sentence. Pride kept her from admitting that these visits seemed harder every time. "What kind of solutions?"

Skyka smiled and put her hand on Kisi's shoulder. "We could actually get her to a safer neighborhood, and then there is where I go into her mind, and see if I can actually fix anything, but that part is dangerous."

"Yeah, Kel wanted to move her too. Thing is, everyone in the neighborhood loves her, and if we move her, they can't visit so easy." Kisi stopped as a dark-haired human woman in a doctor's coat approached with a kind smile. They exchanged greetings, and the Cathar passed the doctor a credit stick as she explained that she couldn't stop to talk, saying she would call later. During this brief exchange, Ukee looked over at Sky, wiggled his eyebrows impishly, and reached out to take a lolli from the doctor's pocket.

Skyka clucked her tongue at the monkey-lizard, but had gotten used to his wild antics. "Ok then, if you want her to stay here we can..... what about my other option. I have experience and knowledge inside the mind. However, I want to warn you that being in someone's mind and in their memories is extremely difficult and I can't guarantee I will make her better. In truth, there is a slight possibility I'll make her worse."

Kisi shook her head as the monkey-lizard tugged the wrapper off of his prize and stuck it in his mouth. "Maybe if I'd met you before they tried to fix the aneurysm, but when that went wrong, she had a bunch of strokes. So, now, it's not just her head, it's her heart, I think."

Once they stepped back out onto the street, she led Sky to an apartment complex nearby, and over the next couple of hours, they visited with several occupants - Kisi's old neighbors. She'd introduced the Twi'lek to each one, passed them a credit stick, asked them about family members or how they were; and each one was, in turn, happy to invite them in, grateful for the help she gave, and eager to talk to both of them. In each case, she promised to be back in a few weeks, reassuring them that they could count on her. Every visit seemed to put more confidence and strength back into the Cathar, and by the time they were on the walk back to the taxi stand, she was much more like the girl Sky had come to know before the day had begun.

"I saved just enough for lunch. Where would you like to go?" she asked brightly.

Skyka was smiling wide by then. She'd enjoyed speaking with everyone she'd been introduced to and seeing this new side of the young Cathar.

She looked at Kisi and gave her a wink. "I know just the place, and put your credits away. It's my treat this time. Also.. I think we need to do some shopping." She grinned impishly.

Kisi grinned wide and bobbed up and down before getting into the speeder. "Oooh! Where are we going, and are there nerf burgers involved?"

Ukee chittered a few syllables, and the Cathar added, "And citrus wraps," sounding as though she was repeating what the monkey-lizard said word for word.

Skyka chuckled slightly and nodded.

OOC Rant Regarding Asshole Characters

I have no issues with asshole characters. A lot of us have characters who can be considered assholes or bitches or downright unpleasant and/or evil. I RP with a few characters who fit this description without incident. However, here's some food for thought...

When you play a character like this, your ooc communication and your IC/OOC separation must be that much more clear to distinguish yourself as a competent RP'er and not an utter jackass yourself.

Using "Well, my character is an asshole" as an excuse to be offensive in OOC communications, to refuse to negotiate an OOC method of resolution to adjudicate an IC altercation - especially with players who have no experience RP'ing with you personally, to justify auto-hits...this makes you someone no one wants to RP with. Using "Welcome to RP'ing with people from my guild" will tell other RP'ers to avoid you and your guildies at all costs.

This is a sure fire drama-maker people, and it will not be accepted anywhere near me. Further, I encourage my fellow RP'ers to make this distinction as well to send a clear message that this kind of OOC behavior is unacceptable in this or any RP community.

Thank you for your time.

Dels'taron (Background, part 2)

As Dels'taron's speeder approached the Arren Estate, her thoughts turned to the man who waited inside for her. Kaldaras would likely greet her with a warm smile, apologizing for having been called away, and ask if she'd enjoyed the rest of the ball. Though his reputation as a Darth was as formidable as one might expect of the patriarch of a Sith house, he had been charming and affectionate from the moment they'd met. For every misery she'd suffered at Kothe's hand, Kaldaras had shown her only kindness. 

On the night they'd first met, she was playing the role of dutiful wife, arm candy to the esteemed General Kothe at a grand affair of state. While her husband spoke to a small group of party-goers who were as eager to be seen with the right people as he was, Dels'taron's ruby gaze had drifted across the dining hall to a pair of silly socialites whispering to each other and casting not-so-well-hidden glances toward a large muscular human in Sith armor near the entrance.  He stood well over six feet and carried himself confidently as he walked toward a servant carrying a tray full of drinks, and though his dark brown gaze swept briefly in the women's direction, it continued by as though noticing nothing of consequence until it reached the Chiss. 

At first, she had averted her gaze as she'd been taught was appropriate in the etiquette training Kothe had sent her to upon her arrival to Kaas. She tried to follow the conversation her husband was having with the others around them, but to no avail. She had no use for social politics or the latest gossip among the social elite on Kaas. 

Dels'taron was certain the entire room must have been able to see the way the towering Sith continued to stare at her as though she was the only other person in the room, and finally, she felt she had no choice but to look back. In that moment, a silent gauntlet was thrown, and she knew that she could either risk waiting for him to cross the room to her (and be noticed by the general – something she would most definitely pay for later in private) or she could excuse herself and find a safer place to be approached. 

She chose the latter, explaining that she needed some fresh air and slipping away to a quiet balcony that was partially obscured from the view of the party-goers by a heavy brocade tapestry. Barely a moment had passed before Kaldaras was beside her, introducing himself, vowing to steal her away from her prison of a marriage to be his personal attache. Not once during that first meeting did she dare to hope those moonlit promises were more than the fleeting interest in a pretty alien girl, of course, but she indulged the fantasy anyway, enjoying the handsome man's attentions.

She was a widow within a month, and now, she belonged to Darth Kaldaras Arren. She was even engaged again, despite the protests raised by everyone around him (including herself) about protecting his bloodline and his duty to produce Sith heirs. She cared about him deeply, of course. He was her savior and protector, and she would readily serve him until the day he died, but the likelihood that she could give him a force sensitive child was remote. He refused to listen, stubbornly digging in his heels, naming his nephew his heir instead to end the argument.

However, she would never really belong to House Arren quite the way it felt for that fleeting moment during the celebration she'd just left. In that setting, Dels'taron hadn't been the alien or the outsider, and she marveled at the way that sense of belonging had beckoned to her. 

Drawing Lines

When Kol stepped into his quarters, he found Aittera pacing impatiently with an air of worry about her. “What happened?”

She halted mid-step and turned to face him. "I just ran into Thalkyr."

Kol crossed his arms. "What did that child do?"

She waved a dismissive hand with a shake of her head. "I can handle him. It's Kiabe I'm worried about. He says she knows about us."

That seemed to have the same effect on him that it had on her when she'd found out, and his arms fell to his sides as his shoulders slumped. "I guess I knew she would find out. Even with ordering the ship not to contact anyone during the shakedown, it wasn't like we were being sneaky on Nar Shaddaa or anything. Nor did we have reason to."

Aittera nodded as she sank onto the couch. "I'm not a ch--well, I guess now I am a cheater."

Kol moved to sit beside her on the couch, sliding an arm around her. "No, it's not cheating if there is an understanding, and that has always been something Kiabe and I have,” he said, trying to reassure her. "Yes, this time it's...different. The feelings are different, and much more intense."

She let him draw her close, leaning against his side as she noted to herself that they were back to having 'feelings' in spite of the declarations of love they had been prone to before they'd left Nar Shaddaa. "Do you think she knows that? Because, I'm betting that makes your little agreement less...well, agreeable."

"When it comes to my wife, I always assume she knows everything."

"So, what's she going to do?"

"I don't know, this is completely new territory. You're not someone she can manipulate or intimidate. I..." Kol trailed off as he let his mind work through the possibilities. His expression spoke volumes for him though. He couldn't think of any real kind of solution, and as she was about to voice her lack of confidence, he grasped for a far flung straw. "You know what? I think I know how to completely throw her."

Aittera waited for him to elaborate.

"Befriend her." A grin slowly grew on his lips. “Befriend my wife. She'll never see it coming."

Aittera gave him a look of utter disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? You want your - well, for lack of a better term - mistress to befriend your wife?"

“It's not uncommon among Sith. And she's pragmatic enough to know that having you as an friend - even a begrudging one - is better than having you as an enemy."

"You're insane,” she scoffed. “I don't want to be her friend. I don't want her in your life, period."

"She's my wife, Aittera. I don't know what else I can do."

"You can choo--" she bites off the rest of that word and gets up to walk across to the liquor cabinet. "Yeah, I know. She was here first."

"It's not that. It was never that. Just because I love you, doesn't mean I stop loving her."

"One of the very good reasons I had not to do this with you to begin with."

She didn't have to turn around to hear the impact her biting comment had. She heard it in his voice. “Aittera...you have to admit this has been good, for both of us."

She poured a glassful of Vosh from his thankfully well-stocked liquor cabinet. "Yeah, and I admit it. I have been happy - really and truly - for the first time in..." She stopped to take a drink from the glass and hissed through her teeth as the burn followed the alcohol down her throat. "But I'm not Kiabe. I don't share, and I'm not built to be the 'other woman'. I tried to tell you that."

"I can't just stop loving my wife, or you. I admit, there are times when I could see myself just staying with you, but there is always a part of me saying that it wouldn't last, that I couldn't just commit myself to one person forever. It's not in me."

"Right. That takes trust."

"What about you? Have you ever even seriously considered staying here with me?"

Aittera took another drink before answering, keeping her back turned to him. She knew that admitting the thoughts she'd had on the subject would make her feel more vulnerable if she voiced them, and now, she realized just how much of her belonged to him no matter what was going to come next. Too late to hold back now, right?

"I keep trying not to. I'm so stupid! I have these fantasies about us...that somehow, I'm the wife that everyone's terrified of, except I'm next to you, on the bridge of the Avenger...on Kaas...in my apartment." She hung her head with a bitter chuckle at how she sounded to herself.

"Then why can't that be the reality? You can be all those things."

"How?" she sighed with another shake of her head. "I mean...do you even hear yourself? Go make friends with Kiabe. 'Yes, Kiabe, I think you're a lovely woman. Please divorce Kol so I can have him. Still friends? Great!' Why don't I see it as that simple?"

He rubbed at his forehead. "Yeah, I know, it was a stupid suggestion. It's..." His turn to sigh. "If you could just...if you could just accept that I love you, and that just because I love someone else doesn't diminish that. If you could accept that part of me, and be with me, why does any of the rest have to matter? I can handle Kiabe. Suggesting the two of you be friends was stupid of me. But if you are serious, if you actually do desire what you just shared, Aittera, we can make it work."

"It's not about accepting that you love me. I accept that just fine. But it isn't enough to just love me, Kol. That's not---" She broke off to turn and look at him. "If we were together like this, there wouldn't be room for anyone else. At all. It's not about loving or not loving someone else. It's about being so consumed with love for one person that you don't have time or interest in doing anything about loving those other people."

"Then marry me. Show me."

The sound of shattering glass filling the room told her that her drink had slipped from her grasp. A heartbeat. She countered. "Divorce her."

His turn. "Renounce the Republic for all times, and captain this ship."

"Swear to me that I'll be the only woman in your bed!"

"I can't swear to that, because I never want to be dishonest with you! I'd never ask you to make that promise. All I can swear is to love you."

There it was. "And all I can swear to you is to be who I am and love you. Don't ask me to be something I'm not, and I won't ask it of you."

"Then we stay what we are, and both be happy with that?"

Aittera blinked, not even really sure if this had been a fight or just the moment they had each drawn their respective line in the sand. It wasn't as though they didn't know any of this about each other already, and they had each agreed not to try to force the other to change. "Right."

Kol offered her a smile as he stood to walk to her, his boots crunching glass, and took her hands into his. "I do love you, I hope I never give you reason to question that much at least."

"I wasn't questioning that." She didn't quite smile back, but her hands slid easily into his when he took them, setting off the pang in her heart that reminded her how right that simple gesture felt.

He brought her fingers to his lips to kiss them. "I meant, in the future."

Aittera's eyes slipped closed as she leaned toward him, letting him wrap his arms around her. "I doubt that will be what ends this, Kol."

He hugged her against his chest. "If I get my way, and you know I usually do, this will never end."

She chuckled darkly, the sound of it so alien in her ears, she could almost believe it must be coming from someone else. “If I get my way, you might want it to."


(( I especially want to thank the player of Ragious/Kol for this scene. It had this surprisingly crisp, clear shorthand that fit the characters so well, and I enjoyed writing my side of it! ))

Thalkyr

Aittera turned into a corridor on her way to meet Ragious in his quarters and caught sight of his younger son, Thalkyr, speaking in hushed tones with one of the bridge officers. It appeared they'd just finished sparring; his force pike was held across his back by a simple leather strap draped over his shoulder, his hand was clasped with the pretty blonde's, and they were both in loose workout clothing. The woman leaned up to kiss the Pureblood with a finger on his chest and turned to leave, nodding politely to Aittera as she passed her.

Aittera had been keeping to herself for the most part on the rare occasions like now that she was not at Kol's side - if only to minimize the chance that she might cause unneeded issues between him and his subordinates - and now, she intended to continue on her way with a simple nod of acknowledgment should Thalkyr even look in her direction at all. As she reached him, however, it became quickly apparent that he was not about to allow the opportunity to speak with her alone pass so easily. He slipped the force pike from his shoulder and held it across her path to block her progress.

"Why are you here?"

An amused smile crossed the spacer's lips before she could stop it as the gesture reminded her of the proverbial bully trying to intimidate the new kid. Aittera looked at him with sharp blue eyes that readily met his yellow gaze with confidence and challenge. "Hello, Thalkyr. How nice to run into you again."

"I wasn't sure it would happen with how you and my father can't seem to leave each others presence for more than a moment or two at a time."

"You couldn't just join us for lunch some time?"

"To do so would validate your presence here. Don't misunderstand - I am sure you are a lovely person, and that my father is interested in more than your ample breasts and large hips, but your very presence is an insult to my family."

Ah, so that was it. She took a step to turn to face him more fully in what she hoped was a show of respect, resisting the urge to look down at her hips and make a joke. This was obviously the time for diplomacy. "I was hoping you might view it as a sign of good faith. I made a deal with your brother to end hostilities between myself and your family. I'm here at your father's invitation."

"My brother is a soft idiot, and my father treating you the way he does is a betrayal of my mother. So I ask again, why are you here, Aittera? Do you think you and my father have some future?"

"Why do you think I'm here, Thalkyr?"

"Considering your last two trips to a ship named the Avenger ended in disaster - once for you, and once for the ship - I wouldn't want to wager a guess."

Aittera merely grinned. She was never really good at being a diplomat anyway. "It does seem to be a fifty-fifty shot when you put it that way, doesn't it? Whatever will you put your credits on?"

With that, she ducked under his Force pike to continue down the corridor, putting a little unneeded emphasis on the sway of her supposedly sizable hips.

"Just remember, my father won't protect you forever. And my mother knows where you two have been, and what you have been doing."

She didn't break stride or look back, but Thalkyr's parting words were enough to give Aittera the emotional equivalent of a punch to the gut. She had been operating under the assumption that Kol was making sure the nature of their relationship would not be getting back to Kiabe anytime soon while they worked out....what exactly? This was quickly moving further than she'd thought it would back when they'd agreed to spend a little time in each others worlds.

Walking in His World

Kol picked up the uniform jacket from the bed and held it for Aittera as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. Then, he held out the black leather gloves for her. "Truly magnificent, you look like that was made for you."

She took the gloves from him and began to tug the first on, smiling up at him. "Don't get too used to it."

Still...when Aittera walked over to examine herself in the mirror before pulling her loose tangle of curls up into some semblance of a ponytail, she had to admit to herself that the uniform seemed cut just for her. Her mind drifted to the dream in which another kind of Imperial uniform hung by a set of polished Sith armor.

"I wouldn't dream of it...well, we both know that is a lie." He gave her a wink as he retrieved the simple black tunic, pants, and boots he had had the droid bring over from his quarters and slipped them on. "Even you have to admit, you like what you see in that reflection."

Kol stepped behind her, looking at both their reflections as he fastened his belt with his lightsaber around his waist before slipping a hand around her stomach. "I know I certainly do."

She leaned back against his chest, her eyes drifting to his face in the mirror. "Now I do."

He kissed her on the cheek, giving her a smile in the mirror. "What would you like to see next Aittera? Besides me naked again, of course."

"Well, if you're going to give me a real tour of an actual Imperial dreadnought, I'd say let's start with the bridge, of course," she replied as though it was the obvious answer. "We can get to the parts I'll want to plant charges in later."

"Don't even think about it. Losing the last one was hard enough. You blow up this one after Kiabe funded it, and she'll be the one coming after you." He was probably not joking. Nonetheless he gave her a wink before heading toward the door.

She laughed as she followed Kol out into the brightly lit corridor. "Alright, some spray paint then. I can tag a few walls in the engine room, maybe write my name on a few of your fighters."

"If you wanted a hangar technician uniform, you could have just asked," he teased her as they stepped onto the lift and he pressed the control for the bridge.

Aittera tapped the uniform jacket. "Hey, I'm Intelligence. We go where we want, you know."

He laughed. "Well, just remember if you order anyone to do anything, imply bad things will happen to their families if they don't do as you say."

Aittera smirked at him. "In SIS, we just told them we knew how to make people disappear."

"We're a much more thorough people." Kol winked at her as the lift door opened, and they stepped out onto the expansive bridge of the dreadnought.

The captain, a blonde woman who appeared to be about a decade older than Aittera, walked toward them from one of the command stations and saluted Ragious with an arm across her chest. "Welcome home, my Lord. It is as always a pleasure to have you on the bridge of your flagship. When it is convenient, I would like to review the Avenger's performance report."

He nodded to the captain before he turned back to Aittera with a wink. "Look around, I'm sure you've been dying for the opportunity to get a look at secrets you can ransom to me later."

"You know me so well," she replied with a nod, watching him walk away from her before turning to look across the banks of computers that lined the perimeter of the dreadnought's vast bridge. Though her experience with larger warships was certainly limited, she wasn't as out of her depth as one might expect. Between her work with SIS and some rather thorough study sessions with Selus before their attack on this ship's predecessor, she found the layout and the ship's systems familiar enough that she could identify what each station was meant for.

Ragious only half paid attention to the captain as he kept glancing in Aittera's direction, noting the way the male (and quite a few female) members of his ship's crew also watch her. When the captain finally finished her report, he strode across the deck to rejoin Aittera near the front viewport, looking down over the ship's long arrowhead shape. "This is my favorite view of the ship. I could stand here for hours and look out on it."

He found her lost in thought, staring out over the bow into the vast inky darkness beyond. If someone had told her a few months ago that she would be a standing on the bridge of an Imperial warship as a guest, she'd have branded them insane, but after the last month with Kol on Nar Shaddaa and the Hope, she was no longer constantly asking herself what she was doing. She was well aware of what she was doing. She was tempting fate.

She smiled easily as she looked up at Kol and nodded. "It's a beautiful view."

Leaning in close, he whispered to her, "Still want to graffiti her?"

Aittera chuckled and whispered back, "I think I've moved on to wanting to steal her."

He laughed, causing a few nearby crew members to jump in surprise. "I don't think she would be a good fit for you, you need to feel the controls and the ship respond as you fly through space."

"You're probably right," she grinned, looking back out of the viewport. Apparently, he'd watched her more closely than she'd realized in their time on her freighter. "Besides, think of the docking fees for something this big."

Kol laughed again, and the crew exchanged looks with each other, wondering who the agent was that put their Lord so at ease. "It doesn't exactly dock, that's what all those shuttles are for."

"Something a captain should probably already know."

"We could always get you into some classes at the Imperial Academy," he teased, leading her back toward the lift. "Or command school classes."

"Oooh! Only if you go with me. We can pass notes during class, and think of the fun of tormenting our instructors with that thing you do with the Force." Aittera held a hand out before her in imitation of the gesture he usually made when using the Force to move something.

"It's a deal. We leave tomorrow." The lift door opened, and Kol stepped in before she could respond, turning and giving her a grin before letting her in too.

Aittera stepped into the lift with a smile that rivaled his own, and once the door closed behind her, she gave him that knowing look he was learning all too well. "You do realize that was not Darth Ragious on the bridge just now?"

"And for that, I am sure my crew is grateful for your presence. Otherwise three or four would be in the morgue just for staring at your ass."

Dels'taron (Background, part 1)

Dels'taron leaned back in the passenger seat of the private speeder, sorting through a myriad of thoughts. Never had she seen so many Chiss in one place, and never had she felt the kind of longing to belong to something greater than herself as she had during the Red Flame ceremony. While her current position within House Arren was one of favor and she was valued highly by Darth Kaldaras, she still felt very much like the outsider who was to be shoehorned into a family she had no real place in.

When she was a child, she'd never thought to ask her parents how they'd come to live among the various alien species that made up the labor force on Au'Daxu or why they were the only Chiss family among their neighbors. It might have occurred to her that they were different if it hadn't been for the circumstances that bound them all together, creating a community among the men and women who were forced to work in the mines. They had all felt the oppressive boot of the Imperial guards equally, and they were all identified with the same terms.

Alien. Scum. Akk dog.

Even years later, the terms could send an internal shudder of rage through her when she wasn't prepared to hear them. By the time she had found herself counted among the rebellious group of youth who were griefing the guards who ran the labor camp, she had already been in trouble half a dozen times for minor offenses ranging from rude gestures to stolen rations.

That's when she had met Colonel Chadwick Kothe, who had been sent to deal with the dangerous rebel uprising that basically consisted of a group of bored, angry children with too much time on their hands while their absentee parents were working twelve hour days in the mines. Dels'taron had the misfortune of being the most recently detained member of the gang of miscreants, and while none of them were really afraid of the guards – having grown up around them and known them for years – the newly-arrived older human in his crisp uniform merely had to level his authoritative brown eyes at the Chiss teenager to make her nervous. It was immediately clear that he would not be as lenient or as forgiving.

Once he had her attention, he knew exactly how to walk the fine line between intimidation and manipulation. She found herself turning on her friends and their families, believing somehow that she was doing what was best for the community as a whole and safeguarding her parents. While she would come to realize years later that she truly had no choice but to comply with the formidable Colonel, she was convinced at the time that she chose willingly to betray everyone she knew, causing the deaths of nearly twenty of the community’s young people before he felt that the 'lesson' had been learned.

Kothe wasn't finished with Dels'taron. Leveraging her willing compliance, he convinced her that it would be in her best interest to go back to Kaas with him, assuring her that he would find her a place in Imperial service. Within the next year, she was also his wife – the pretty blue young alien on the social climbing middle-aged Colonel's arm at every official function – and a different kind of slave.

Best Wishes

For anyone who has met Ukee (Kisi's companion) yet, this is the character I based him off of...

And, just for the record, if you haven't seen 'The Croods', you're missing out on a cute little movie filled with silliness that is just a fun little hour and a half. :)

Poor Timing

Because the best time to hash out your issues with your ex is while you're being rescued and trying to sneak off a ship...

Non-rp related post - What's going on

Update (12/21): Thanks to help from family, we will be able to stay where we're at through December. We're not out of the woods, but we're not homeless! :)

So, to recap what most of you already know, right after Thanksgiving, we moved out of our two bedroom apartment to an extended stay motel to reduce our cost of living expenses and close out our utility bills which were severely overdue, letting our deposits cover the outstanding late payments.

The move was supposed to be helpful. It put us five minutes away from Mike's job, and with the car acting up and money tight, it guaranteed that even if he couldn't drive to work, he could walk there. Our son is leaving for basic training in the Air Force on January 6th, so he moved in with my parents earlier in the month so that they could take care of him until he leaves.

Then, of course, everything went wrong. A week after we moved, Mike got fired, and my parents kicked my son out on the same day. Mike has managed to get a lower paying job that, ironically, is closer to our old apartment than here. It wouldn't be enough to really do more than continue to pay for our stay here (not including food or gas), but it would be something. My son moved in with us into our tiny little room, and we have spent the last couple of weeks adjusting and getting as much help as family could manage to give.

And now, today. Today, Mike's old boss was supposed to give him his last week's pay plus vacation pay. It would have helped us get through to his first paycheck from the new job, which pays bi-weekly but holds back the first check for a delay. Mike's old boss got together with his CPA and managed to whittle what should have been an 800 dollar paycheck down to less than 400. Basically, what this boils down to is that the money that was supposed to get us food and at least one more week's rent here will do one, but not the other, and that doesn't even take into consideration gas money for the car if we can continue to limp it along without the repairs it needs. (If any of you knows a good mechanic, you know that the one car that is always breaking down on him is his own, because God has a sense of humor.)

Mike and I have no idea what we'll do. We're flying by the seat of our pants here, folks, and our pants are unraveling or...ripping...or...whatever works for that metaphor.

I'm fighting anxiety symptoms and panic attacks, and emotionally, I'm all over the place. I haven't been on meds in the two years since my Baker Act emergency hospital thing, and there are moments when it shows, and I apologize for that if it affects you somehow.

RP and writing are a huge coping mechanism for me, so I'll be trying to immerse myself in those things to try to keep the crazy mental health demons at bay.

Now, I'm not going to waste whatever time you and I have for RP or hanging out in game to discuss this. You know I don't like to do that. If I'm directing you here, it's because you've asked what's wrong. This is my IRL these days. Send a positive thought out or a prayer or whatever you do on my behalf, give me a virtual hug, and just get in character with me, please.

OOC - Riding off into the sunset...

Kel'ri has been retired. The player of Varr'o (her husband) and I have discussed an IC happily ever after of sorts, and the two are considered to have taken up permanent residence on their home planet of Chandrila as they await the birth of their first child.

Should you want your character to be able to find this information out ICly and/or keep tabs on them, feel free to friend my alt Rismaa, who is Kel's cousin and will be taking full leadership of her charities.

I had a blast playing the blue-haired little freak, and I want to thank everyone who ever had a character that interacted with her ICly. She was probably one of my most favorite (and most popular) RP characters ever.

My new alt, Kisi, will start to crop up here and there, and I hope you'll like her at least half as much.

OOC Post - Ask Prompt: Player-Character 9

-Asks for the Character-

L) What is something you hate doing?

Sheri'dan: "Thinking about going home. After my dishonorable discharge, it was made clear to me that I never can."

Rismaa: "As much as I love working for HHN and helping the kids involved, I hate that moment when it's time to say goodbye. You know they're going to be alright now - because you're leaving them with people who will help them - and you know they're finally safe, but it's letting of that awesome kid you just got to know and got through to, knowing you probably won't see them again."

Aittera: "Thinking about the past. I avoid it as much as I can."

M) If you could change anything about yourself, what would you change?

Tholata would be bigger and stronger so no one could ever hurt her again, though she'd never voice that.

Somaesthesia: "I'd be taller."

Rismaa: "I wouldn't be Force sensitive. It ruined everything."

OOC Post - Ask Prompt: Player-Character 7

-Asks for the Character- 

F) What do you think one of your worst traits is?

Aliyobi: "I guess I trust the wrong people. Every time I tell myself I won't let it happen again, it does, and I find myself swearing off another person."

Kiabe'deth: "That is an asinine question." *force chokes*

Aittera: "I never know when to stop. I just don't have it in me to quit, so once I am in, I'm in until the end, no matter what that brings or how it comes about. You would think that would be a good quality, but you'd be surprised how often someone should quit while they're ahead."

G) What do you look for in a friend or partner? 

Riukii: "Someone who doesn't try to control me."

Aliyobi: "Loyalty."

Somaesthesia: "Mutual gain. I'm a businesswoman as much as anything else, and in society, friendships are more about mutual benefits. I know it sounds cold, but I like to think of it as a practical application of one's social standing."


H) If you could have anything in the world, what would you want?

Aittera: "Before Kol, I would have answered Davin without hesitation. Now...now, I guess I just want a galaxy where Kol and I could be together without everything that is likely to get in the way of that in this one."

Riukii: "More places to see for my first time. More universe to explore. There should always be more to do and see and experience."

Aliyobi: "Who says I can't have anything I want?"