Ashes To Ashes

[Connor Harrison]

The answers to Asemir’s questions were already there and she had pride in her voice speaking them.

”The enemies of the Empire will never be gone, and so I will fight until I can’t fight anymore or I am killed. It’s that simple. And those who accuse my leaders of being corrupt are only showing their desperation to be looked on as worthy, and it will not work.”

She turned around again to face the ruins.

”You can’t just live without purpose, Asemir. I already am eclipsing you in that aspect, and you should be disappointed. You should have purpose and relevance in the galaxy. If you do not...” she span around to face him again, ”…then why are you still alive at all?”

She glared at him with those haunting eyes, and again prodded him in the chest.

”Stop holding on the memories of your dead woman and face up to a future you could make for yourself or else she will have been killed for nothing. Are you happy with that notion? Hm? Well?”

She hit him palm first in the chest.

”WELL?!”

Her rising emotion was accelerating her unbalanced genetics – the drive for violence was escalating.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

As Joon prodded him, Asemir felt his emotions boil. Irritation and frustration, and in a rare moment, he gave vent to them, if even just slightly. Glaring at her, he stood, slowly. Deliberately. Gone was the Asemir that was relaxed, casual, carefree. In its place stood the Asemir that had planned the invasion of Carver V, that had fought at Ashin Varanin's side when she made her bid for the throne of the Sith Empire. He was no longer Asemir the Bounty Hunter, but Asemir Lor'kora, Emperor's Fist. Dark Lord of the Sith. Ghost Commando. Witch Elder.

"You are mistaken, Joon, if you believe Nycha gave her life in vain. She died for the sole purpose that I might fulfill my destiny. I've done that, and more. I killed the Cult of Shadow, I've seen nations rise and fall. I've been the instrument of that rise and fall. I've fought beside and against the greatest Force Masters of the Galaxy. Do not mistake my lack of direction as my wasting my life away."

His eyes flashed dangerously, and he regarded her for a moment, sensing her rising emotion, and deciding whether or not he would have to catch her hand if she tried to hit him again.

"And do not question my memories of Nycha. They do not hold me back. I've accepted the past and have moved on. They have not been a hindrance. You will learn that the memories we hold dear are the few things that keep us human. You'll learn to treasure those memories, or you will learn to regret that you didn't treasure them."

There was a pause and Asemir smothered the emotion. Though his voice was still firm, his demeanor had returned to that of the Asemir Joon had first met.

"Joon, I am a sword, now sheathed in its scabbard. When the time is right, I will be redrawn and unleashed, I'm sure. But for the time being, I am sufficiently satisfied with where I am."

[member=Joon]

OOC:

This was a tough post to write since what I wanted to post contradicted what Asemir had just said a post earlier.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon was like an eager child looking at a fascinating giant in the sky. She was excited and scared and wanted to burst.

His tone was different and his stance changed, and he responded to her! Actually responded like she wanted. But it didn't last, and he calmed down. He subsided.

Joon frowned.

”How many time. I'm not human!”

She leant forward slowly and flicked his chest. And grinned.

”That was nice to feel, Asemir. I felt strength and darkness. I liked that.”

Cocking her head, she then crossed her arms and looked at him for a few moments, sussing him out.

”If I need your help, out there, with the Empire, would you fight beside me? The Asemir I saw, just then, not this one with big sad eyes.”

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]


OOC: I loved seeing that side to him! More please.

 

[Asemir]

"Humanness in the broadest of meanings, Joon," Asemir said with a hint of exasperation. "I'm not human either, but I think you catch what I'm trying to get at."

He let her flick him, deciding it wasn't worth causing some kind of incident by stopping her. Plus, her grin was contagious. He let the hint of one etch his features.

"You would have liked me two decades ago. Or perhaps even just five years ago. Or just whenever I'm all business. Strength and darkness, as you said. But don't mistake correlation for causation. There are many people who are strong but have no darkness. Or very little. Don't buy into the belief that only the Dark Side gives strength.

"And to answer your question, yes, I will fight beside you, but only for the right causes. Empire, Republic, whatever, they are all just organizations. Buried within them are both good and bad people. I will fight for the good, but I will not be used as a tool by the corrupt."

He watched her watching him, and wondered what Joon really had planned for her life. "You want to continue to serve the Empire. But to what end?" Asemir asked. " Where do you see yourself in ten years? Will I be calling you Empress?"

[member="Joon"]

OOC:

There will be more of that side! Asemir just needs to be properly motivated!

 

[Connor Harrison]

Empress? Joon frowned.

”What is an Empress? Is that a leader? Of an Empire? THE Empire?”

He scoffed, and patted him on the chest.

”If so, then I am not a leader and was not made to be, Asemir. I was made to serve the greater beings and to fight all my life – a warrior with the Force at their disposal to destroy the Jedi and eradicate their presence in the galaxy as best I can.”

She shifted her stance, to be a little more beside him now, as if lining up together.

”I will fight for what I believe in, and all I believe is that the Jedi are a disease and need to be contained. I know of the Sith, too, and if they help me, then I will fight with them. My loyalty is to the Empire but also those who side with them. I know my values are hard to understand for a…”

Stopping in mid-sentence, Joon turned and looked up at him.

”…you’re not a human? What are you?”

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"Empress. Yes, leader of the Empire. At the time, it was the Sith Empire. Ashin Varanin overthrew the Sith Emperor and took his throne."

Asemir nodded.

"Correct, I'm not human. I belong to the ingr'nysk race." He pointed to his eyes and then his hair. Or rather his tera, the fleshy appendages that made up the equivalent of human hair. "Human in physical shape and appearance, mostly, but that's about all the similarities we have. Denser bones, a faster metabolism. Our eyes glow and our skin color can actually change color depending on our emotions. That's something that many in my line of work have learned to control."

He shrugged.

"We hail from the Unknown Regions, from a bunch of star systems known as the Xedael Empire. There's not many of us who venture outside of our borders because the borders are kept so tight, but most people mistake us for Chiss."

Looking down at her, Asemir gave Joon a wink. His faced flushed, changing from its normal dull slate to a hue of green. A few seconds later, it faded. "One of the first things I was taught was to control that skin-color thing. If you can't control it, you can't lie properly and your cover will be immediately blown. The control is second nature now, so the color doesn't usually change at all.

"But you're right, I'm not human. But that won't stop me from talking about humanity."

The last sentence he added as a joke.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

For the first time in a while with Asemir, Joon looked shocked. She rested her fingers on her chin in thought as he explained his natural state, and he gazed at his features that were not human. Even more so when his colour changed, she recoiled and looked both angry and confused.

”My goodness…" she said.

Like a young child, she glared at Asemir and walked around him, looking at his limbs and stance, wondering what else he would have stored away from his natural state.

”You look very convincing," she said, pressing down on parts of his body gently. ”And the skin-colour is very…interesting."

She came back around and folded her arms, drumming the fingers on her arm.

”You’re more human than me, and you understand far more than I do about humanity. All I’ve seen of them is their compassion which makes them weak, or their devotion that makes them strong. There’s no middle ground."

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Asemir ignored Joon as she prodded his body. If he were honest, it was actually quite amusing to watch this woman who was trained as an Imperial killer react as if she were really a child. Amusing but a bit unsettling.

"More human? If you mean biologically, then no. I'm not even genetically related to homo sapien. You are human, genetically speaking. But if you're referring to the quality of being human? Sure, I suppose. But it's only because I've spent a lot of time around other people. "

The Forgotten gave Joon a look. "You are, what, thirty? Thirty-five? That's not a whole lot of time, especially when you've spent most of your life in an Imperial facility, and the rest under the tutelage of a Sith. You've not really experienced the galaxy, been with normal people. I think that's biased your view of what it means to be human or possess human emotional and relational traits. Those qualities take time to pick up and develop."

Asemir pointed at himself. "Guess how many years I've seen."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

There was a small amount of sadness in her eyes. She knew what sadness felt like, for it had been the most controlling emotion she had felt since leaving Duro.

”I don’t know my age. What you see is what I am. But, yes, maybe you are right. When Ayra took me away, I was on the edge of discovering so much about people, and humanity and feelings and emotions and places. It was so exciting, but then it stopped, and so I stopped, and I withdrew, and my development stopped."

With a dismissive look, Joon shifted her stance to put weight on her right leg, cocking her hip out and folding her arms.

”And you’re old," she scoffed. ”But a keen warrior. And not human. On that basis, I would say seventy years."

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"Quite close," Asemir said with genuine amazement. Most people weren't perceptive enough to guess an ingr'nysk's age, and even fewer would have been so accurate. "I'm a little over eighty. Many years to be sure, yet it doesn't feel that old."

He glanced at her. "You know, it isn't too late to go develop those interpersonal traits and skills. Just because your growth stopped while under Darth Arya's tutelage doesn't mean it has to stop period. You can always go back out there and discover people and places and everything. I'd be willing to help you if that's what you desire."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

”Eighty? That’s old. You’re a relic. But you look well."

With that, Joon turned and started to walk towards the ruins, back to her boulder she had been hiding behind the first time they had met for him to follow.

”Remember when you found me here? Hiding with my blaster rifle, scared of you and afraid of the outside world?"

She turned to him.

”You said you’d help me then, and you’ve said you’d help me now. So, I will accept your help. Prove you’re not a relic, Asemir Lor’kora."

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Asemir nodded.

"I am glad that you've accepted my help. How would you like me to prove myself? Please tell me I don't have to duel you or anything like that."

He really did not want to have to prove his martial prowess. Joon was probably expecting it, but it would be tedious and dangerous. He'd hold back, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't apply her full strength behind her attacks. Mistakes happen and that could end in injury or death.

Asemir's eyes narrowed. "And what help are you accepting? That I'll fight beside you? To show you the value of companionship, friendship? Something else?"

[member="Joon"]

OOC:
Sorry, short post. Work is heating up!

 

[Connor Harrison]

She frowned, but didn’t stop her innocent little smile rising up.

”Oh don’t act so scared. See, even now you’re holding back and being over-protective.”

Joon limbered up a little, stalking around and wiggling her fingers, the ground crunching under her boots.

”Fight with me. Show me moves, how to get out of situations. Show me how you’ve survived in battle so I can. And if I can’t, then I will call on you to break the faces of those who hurt me. Sound fair?”

Turning side on, she indicated her head to him and splayed her arms wide.

”Well? Are you going to stand around like you did with Nycha or what?”



OOC: No worries - please take your time and post when you can.

 

[Asemir]

Asemir sighed. So it would be a duel or sparring session. Some way to physically show Joon that he was capable of fighting and being of use to her.

"That sounds fair," he said. "You're right, I've got experience, and that makes me valuable to you. If I can impart some of that experience to you, then I'll consider the day a success."

The Forgotten rolled his shoulders to loosen them. "How would you like to begin?" he asked, but even as he did so, he wrapped the Force around Joon's ankles and yanked, intending to throw her to the ground.

It wasn't a fair start to any type of sparring match, but combat was scarcely ever fair.

[member=Joon]

OOC:
Okay, so, a jet lagged toddler is horrible. Worse than the first six months of life since at least during that time, the newborn would actually sleep for an hour at a time.

Accordingly, I may have to resort to some shorter posts than I'd like. Hope it's not a problem.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon nodded and shrugged off her fur robe to reveal the mis-match of leather and cloth garb. Black and tan layers wrapped around her body and arms and legs like some tribal warrior bearing flesh others would find hard to look away from. But to her, it was nothing.

”Ok, well…”

She gasped, and was on her back in a second, the air knocked out of her. Laying there, she gave a groan and rolled up to her side and stood.

”Nice.”

Wondering if that form – Soresu – could be used without a blade, she hopped on her feet and started to bounce around him.

”Come on then. Hand to hand. Weapons are so easy – show me what else you have, Asemir.”

She hopped on her left foot and sprung forward with her right leg out for a kick to the gut.


OOC: I told you - no problem at all. I'll be here.

 

[Asemir]

Asemir sensed the familiar sensation of time slowing down, of what he had taken to calling fight time. Whether it was Force driven, he wasn't sure, but he knew that many combat veterans spoke about its effects, and he considered "fight time" a dear friend and companion.

He watched warily as Joon bounded around him, and felt his own body reflexively settle into a flexible stance that afforded him both stability and also the ability to launch into a series of counterattacks. The force called a warning a nanosecond before his eyes caught the twist of her hips and feet as she shifted forward to deliver her kick.

Joon's right foot struck fast, the speed telling Asemir that she was trained well and not holding back her blows. His body reacted and stepped into her attack, pivoting just slightly to bring his center out of the direct line of her kick. At the same time, his right arm wind milled down to deflect her leg before rocketing forward in a short jab to her gut.

[member=Joon]

OOC:

If I'm taking too many liberties with the fight, please let me know and I will adjust accordingly!

 

[Connor Harrison]

The kick missed and she went forward at an angle, due to her momentum and his deflection, and ended up curled around his hand as it struck her. Her hands went out to grab his arm as she coughed, and groaned, and double over to get her breath.

”You…”

With a curse, she stretched and righted herself, and focused herself, eyes glaring at him. What had Ayra told her…it was another lifetime ago it felt, and she had been out of practice.

Jabbing out a couple of hits to work him, she kept her feet light. Two jabs with her right hand, and then a final strike with a purpose of missing to allow her to twist and spin around in a scissor kick to bat him twice with both legs as she span.

Landing on her feet would leave her ready to strike again, but if she was too slow and he broke her, she’d be back on the ground with a hard crunch on the gravel.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

He let her reset and attack again. After all, this was a friendly sparring match, not a fight to the death. Had Asemir really been trying to beat her, he would have pounced, not giving Joon a chance to recover from the jab to her abdomen, and killed her as she tried to catch her breath.

But, no, a friendly match.

And so, she snapped a couple of jabs at him, pushing him back a few steps. Her third jab, a feint, led into a series of kicks. He parried those expertly, and the force behind them put him on the defensive. But as she landed, he pushed off with his right foot, and using a bit of the Force to quicken his blows, threw a flurry of jabs at her face. His left fist snaked in to hammer her gut, just to break things up a bit.

"You're not fast enough," Asemir said as he pressed his attack. "Use the Force. Let it guide your attacks."

[member="Joon"]

OOC:
Posts may be a bit slow. Zelda was just released.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The kick missed, and then he was on her again.

She pulled back, not stopping to avoid those jabs, but walked right into another strike to the gut. Crunching over, her hands grasped out on his arm for stability as he legs buckled for a second, and she gapsed for air.

Resting her brown on his arm, shaking her head in annoyance, she eventually stood back up wincing.

Not fast enough. Use the Force. Damn the Force!

She yelped and went in again for attacks like a primal beast - jabbing high, kicking low, spinning around for a new angle. All the while aiming for the chest, and the throat, and the sides.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

She burrowed into him, pummeling him with a flurry of punches and kicks. Asemir blocked and parried and redirected her blows as best as he could, trusting on instinct and experience and the Force to help him avoid the more damaging blows. But even so, Joon managed to land a few kicks and punches from the sheer swiftness of her attacks. Her attacks were driven by her emotion and frustration, but he didn't sense a significant draw of the Force.

As Joon fell into a rhythm, Asemir smiled grimly to himself. He was impressed with her combat skill, especially with how self-reliant it was. She was trained well and learned quickly enough. Without relying much on the Force, she had managed to put him on the defensive, preventing him from breaking the flow of her attacks.

It was impressive, but Joon was surrendering her most potent tool: she wasn't using the Force to augment her attacks or to disrupt his defensives. She had asked him to teach her from his experience, and he was committed to that.

The first major lesson: In a fight, all tools were fair. There was no such thing as an unfair advantage.

Asemir focused the Force, letting his body react by muscle memory and training to dodge and block Joon's attacks, and drilled a heavy mass of doubt, hesitation, fear into Joon's mind. It wasn't too much, more like a prick than a spear, nothing that would scar her, but just enough to give her a taste. Just enough to slow her down, to break her rhythm, enough to let him slide from defense to offense.

OOC:

[member="Joon"]

I hope I read the "Damn the Force!" line correctly. I'm interpreting it as Joon scorning the Force and not wanting to rely on it heavily.

If I'm wrong, I will revise my post.