A Scream in the Night

[Blair]

Night on Naboo tended to be the same as anywhere else. Of course the people of Naboo were a little old fashioned, often having dimly lite lights to evoke an almost Gothic atmosphere. While an interesting sense of fashion for the planet it was not the most ideal. It had provided too many darker areas. Too many places where things could go wrong. ​

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A small group of people had exited one of the town restaurants after enjoying a fine get together and a fine meal. All of them were older and seemed the richer half of the Naboo populace. They stood around and laughed at one anothers joke or recalling old times. The entire conversation had been watched by a figure in the distance across the courtyard where they stood. Cloaked in a dark hood and robe that helped them blend into the shadows. One of the men, a rather fat gentlemen, had caught their eyes. ​

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The entire time the figure looked at him images seemed to spark out. ​

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Lights flashing...​

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Figures standing over her....​

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Fire...​

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A fat figure holding a device and bringing it closer to her eye....​

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Screaming...​

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Pain....​

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She wanted them to stop. Perhaps by killing this man would help end all of it. Perhaps it would make everything go away. She waited until he left from the others, accompanied only by a woman who was likely his wife. As they traveled the figure shadowed them, remaining out of sight while slowly coming closer and closer to her goal. They turned heading into one of the darker alleys to make a quick short cut.​

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A moment later the painful scream of death was heard...​

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[member="Taeli Raaf"]​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

Taeli had been enjoying her trip to Naboo, she hadn't been here in quite awhile, but it was nice to be back. A stroll along the Theed riverfront at night was always a breath-taking and relaxing time, especially after a good meal. She was in just a nice blue dress, but her old University of Lorrd satchel was over her shoulder, and jostling around inside was her lightsaber and several books.

One of these days she hoped that Naboo might be safe from such threats as the Sith, or at least would be in Republic space since the Omega Protectorate was retreating in upon itself. The protection they had afforded had once again been replaced by the Royal Naboo Guard and their security volunteers, but the place was peaceful enough. Maybe she would find a nice spot to sit by the water and read ... and then the scream split the air nearby and she felt two lives being attacked and then silenced.

Great, time to actually go do something. Good-bye vacation.

Her lightsaber snapped into her hand and she ran towards the murder site, fully expecting to see a Sith or something unpleasant. What she found instead was a young girl with claws, standing over the corpses of two people, man and woman. Her mind quickly read the situation ... and realized something about the girl. Her Force signature was all out of wack, almost as if ... she had been subjected to a Shaping.

"Stop right there and let me see your hands," Taeli said, walking forward slowly.

 

[Blair]

The screaming was over. She'd only wanted to kill the man but the woman tried to stop her. It was an accident but one she did not fully understand. She stood there looking over both of them before seeing the blood leaking over the floor. Her hands were covered in blood. and so were the horrible things sticking out of them. They were worse than before. They always brought back those same horrible images. They were connected, the memories and the claws. It never made any sense to her. She never found the right way to put them together. She never even knew what she was anymore. ​

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A voice called out to her. She turned only to see a woman carrying a lightsaber. Something clicked in her mind again. The sight of that weapon was some indicator. She did not know why but seeing it meant this woman was an enemy. She growled as she threw her cloak away, revealing the rest of her underneath. Skinny but strong body underneath a patchwork of clothing she found. ​

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Her hands were rasied and her claws pointed before she roared and charged at her, attacking with swipes and swings. When they would meet the woman would find the girls claws resistant to the lightsaber. ​

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[member="Taeli Raaf"]​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

Oh great, definitely was subject to a Vong experiment, Taeli thought as the girl growled and then moved to attack her with a roar, swiping and swinging her claws as she closed the distance. Amethyst light erupted, bathing its light across the alley as Taeli met the claws and deflected the attacks. Definitely Vong Fighting Claws to hold up against a lightsaber, oh this just got better and better.

Her attacks were wild and designed to maximize carnage, and her sudden attack told Taeli that the girl had been programmed to be a weapon against Jedi. In a way, she wasn't responsible for her actions, the programming in her head was. The memories implanted or removed or twisted. She knew how the Vong worked from her Sith days, and it seemed the experiments that had started on Yavin IV centuries ago had continued.

"Stop and listen to me, you need to calm down," Taeli said, her lightsaber in a defensive position. "I can help you."

 

[Blair]

She didn't listen. She wasn't bothering to. All she did was continue to attack [member="Taeli Raaf"] with a barrage of sweeps and strikes. She was skilled, nimble while also harsh in her attacks. She locked blades with her and showed her eyes fluctuating with eye colors. Another Vong graft that showed they'd done more than just the claws. She'd endured a lot and now all that was left was this monster of a girl that seemed too bloodthirsty to control. An unshackled beast with no one to hold the leash. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

Well this wasn't working, Taeli thought as she stayed on the defensive. The girl was good with those claws and her eyes had been tampered with in some way. A Vong biot or just the Vong playing with her DNA like a cat with a ball of string? An assassin project maybe? Would make sense if the color change for her eyes could be controlled, and the claws could be hidden.

Deflecting and redirecting more attacks, Taeli continued her defensive action while she learned more about the girl. The more she saw, the more pity she felt for her. The girl had been subjected to something that could break even the strongest of beings, let along a teenager. The Vong had wanted a monster to set loose on their enemies, and they appeared to have succeeded. But ... she wasn't going to let this girl wallow in the state she was in, she just needed to knock her unconscious and maybe she could get her mind in better shape and eliminate her programming to attack Jedi.

With that thought, Taeli shifted her stance ever so slightly and began a slow offensive that was more designed to keep the girl a bit off balance as attacks came at weird angles that still would let her defend.

 

[Blair]

The change in tactics had taken the girl off-balance for a moment. She found herself needing to bring her claws up and defend with one slice after another. The disadvantage she had was the reach between herself and [member="Taeli Raaf"] given that she had the lightsaber as a weapon. Crossing claws she caught Taeli's saber before realizing something. The distant sound of people starting to come, if not from the sound of the screams from earlier then the obvious sound of fighting between a mad girl and a Jedi. She needed to act fast. She could not be seen. Instinct had taken over and she felt the need to run.​

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She pushed away from Taeli to break away from her. After that she looked around, seeing a ladder going up. She shot a glare back at Taeli before running for it and trying to climb up and away. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

"Oh no you don't," Taeli said, shaking her head as the girl tried to run towards a ladder. As the girl reached it, Taeli went to grab the girl in the Force and pull her back to the Jedi Master. People were coming, the sirens indicating the Naboo Security forces were about to arrive. This girl needed someone to get her out of this mess, to help fix her up.

If she grabbed the girl, she would place a shimmering barrier of Force energy around her like an energy cage, containing her in place.

 

[Blair]

Blair felt herself yanked away from the ladder oh so suddenly. Before she knew it she was encased in the force. She tried to break it with her own powers but, against a master level like [member="Taeli Raaf"] , it was useless. That didn't stop her from struggling, trying to break out of her prison. Her feet kicked out before, suddenly, two claws from each foot popped from the front of her shoes. More fighting claws added by the Vong into her. And even more evidence that she had endured a lot of pain before becoming what she was. Her eyes still fluctuated but it was clear she was angry as she tried to attack Taeli to no avail. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"What happened here, Master Jedi?" a security captain said as he and several officers arrived, blasters drawn. "Who is this?"

"I'm not sure, Captain," Taeli replied, keeping the barrier up and observing the second set of Fighting Claws. "It would appear this young woman murdered those two ... but I don't think she's in complete control of herself. Those are Yuuzhan Vong fighting claws."

"Are you saying the Vong sent this girl to kill these people?" the captain asked, holstering his weapon as he could see the barrier wasn't going anywhere soon.

"Possibly, or she could have escaped whatever place they were keeping her in," Taeli answered. "I think they were Shaping her into something and she wasn't through the process yet. Maybe sort of assassin against the Jedi, sent by Vong loyal to the Sith? I'm not sure."

[member="Blair"]

 

[Blair]

With everyone else arriving the girl had a defeated look on her face. She hung her head down before her claws started to retract. As they did she was crying, angry tears rolling down her eyes. She was caught. She did not know if they would but she feared what would come next. She feared they would send her back to the ones that did this to her. Words like 'Vong' kept springing up and she remembered what it meant. She remembered a lot of things, but most others were hard to tell. Her memory was altered after they picked at her brain. When she lowered her head enough her hair parted around the back of her neck to reveal a scar in the shape of a x. An implant buried deep in the girl's skull. ​

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[member="Taeli Raaf"]​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

"If I may, Captain, I'd like to take the girl back to the Jedi to try and help her," Taeli said, turning off her lightsaber and putting it back in her satchel. "Her mind needs healed from the programming they put her through."

"What about the murders? I can't let her go without facing charges or a severe punishment," the Captain said stubbornly. Taeli knew he was just doing his job though, so she understood his position.

"Captain, I don't think you have a facility that could hold her," Taeli said. "On top of whatever was done to her, she is also Force Sensitive. She's the Order's responsibility to deal with, and I can guarantee that she will never set foot on Naboo again. Any damages or any compensation the victims want in return for what happened, I will personally send to the Naboo government."

"As long as she never comes back to Naboo, she can go with you," the Captain answered finally after several long moments. "She turns up here again, she will be arrested and tried for the murders."

"Of course," Taeli replied, dropping the barrier to just encase the girl's hands like a pair of bindings. "Can you walk?" she asked the girl.

 

[Blair]

The girl perked when [member="Taeli Raaf"] had said she would take her to the Jedi. The word Jedi ringed in her head as loud as the word Sith. She did not know if it was good or bad, but apparently it was what was needed to keep her alive. The captain made it clear she would not be allowed to come back after the killings she committed, she looking back to the dead bodies nearby. She'd almost forgotten. She nearly didn't realize that it was her fault. Finally she felt the bindings go around her hands, allowing her to walk. When the Jedi asked she answered by started a few steps forward. At least she understood that. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

"Okay, good first step," Taeli said, looking at the girl as she responded by taking a few steps forward. "Captain, I shall take my leave now and make sure she doesn't return to Naboo for the rest of her life.

Gesturing at the girl, Taeli placed a string of Force energy on her so if she tried to run away into the crowd, she would be tugged back to Taeli. No point in her running away and causing more pain. Leading her back towards the place where her ship was docked, Taeli took her glasses out of her pocket and placed them on her face. Once they were at her ship, she would need to get a full analysis of the girl to see what she could do to help her.

 

[Blair]

The girl said nothing the entire time, as before. Even when they were away from everyone she only glanced back a little. She knew they didn't want her back, and she could understand why. She had done something wrong but she could not fully understand how or why. Everything was a mess inside her mind. As they entered the ship she only sat down and flinched when [member="Taeli Raaf"] came towards her. As she realized she wasn't going to hurt her, especially since she'd have done so by now, she calmed a little Her eyes, however, kept a constant watch on the Jedi. Those green eyes that looked ready to strike if need be. While examining her the one thing Taeli would find was a necklace with a dog-tag.​

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"Subject 23. Blair."​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

"Subject 23. Blair." Taeli read, looking at the girl's dog-tags. So she truly was an experiment by the Yuuzhan Vong shapes in creating the perfect assassin to strike their foes.

"So," Taeli said, sitting down across from the girl, thinking maybe she could get her to start talking. See if she had that ability left to her. She assumed so since the Vong hadn't sown her mouth shut like another experiment she knew about. Apparently the subject had talked too much and the Vong got annoyed.

"Your name is Blair?" Taeli asked, being friendly even though the girl had killed some people and attacked her. Taeli's ship was set to autopilot and they would be on their way to Ossus soon.

 

[Blair]

The girl, Blair, look up to her when she called her by name. She almost seemed surprised by it. While [member="Taeli Raaf"] didn't know Blair had never been called by her original name while under the control of the Vong. It was always Subject 23, or some other designation that had for her. Hearing her name spoken but such a kind voice had taken her back a bit. She seemed ready to speak but recoiled and only nodded her answer to Taeli. Apparently speaking was something she either wasn't ready for, or was afraid of. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Blair"]

"It's okay, I promise to not hurt you," Taeli said, a small smile on her face and her hands empty and palm up to show she didn't have any weapons on her currently. "I want to help you Blair, you seem like you need help anyways."

The young girl must have been through quite a traumatic experience to reduce her to what she was right now. It was a good thing Taeli had studied mnemotherapy under the Theran Listeners. If she was allowed to by the girl, she might be able to help rebuild the memories the girl had lost and lessen the experience her torment had left her with.

"Do you know of a planet called Ossus?" she asked, still smiling. "It's a Jedi world, the Jedi world come to think of it, and we might be able to help you recover from your ordeal there."

 

[Blair]

Blair looked down at her hands, seeing they were empty, but still had a weary look. She knew [member="Taeli Raaf"] was also a force user, which meant she could attack her without her hands if she wanted. But she only leaned back and sighed, more out of distress than anything else. It was clear she was uncomfortable. But when Taeli told her they were going to a Jedi planet she seemed even more upset, almost afraid. She stood and walked around, giving little whimpers and trying to rub her hair despite her bound hands. The way she moved and the way she looked indicated she wanted to say something but couldn't. She wound up dropping to her knees with her back to Taeli, revealing the x mark on the back of her neck again. ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Is that where they..." Taeli's voice trailed off as she got closer to observe the x-shaped scar. Back of the neck would give easy access to the central nervous system, easy way for the Vong to map and manipulate her mind. She had noted the girl seemed afraid, tense even, about going to a Jedi world, but it was going to be for the best to help her. Then again, maybe another Jedi world might be a better idea. She would need to think about it.

"What you must have gone through," Taeli sighed, using the Force to gently look over the girl's current presence in it and her emotions. It was muted but there, those Vong implants hindering her ability to use her natural gifts. "Do you want something to eat or drink?"