Little Bird
-
'You're from Dantooine?'
'Elek. I mean yes. Amun Steading.'
'Lyka Amun is head of that settlement, no?'
'Yes. She's my mother.'
After hours of questioning, Varys had finally been allowed to leave the starport. She had expected to be stopped, but nothing she had read had prepared her for the grilling she'd received.
Mandalorians were rarity in Sith territory these days, Varys had realised, even those from the clans loyal to the Sith. Worse, many had abandoned their culture, their language, and the tenets of the resol'nare to better fit the mould of their masters. With her beskar'gam proudly displayed and her thickly accented, stilted Basic, Varys stuck out like a sore thumb. To compound the problem, Varys soon realised there was another reason for all this extra attention. As the freighter she had bought her way onto descended to the rocky surface, a great fleet was circling above the city. The Sith home fleets, returning from Echnos, where Varys herself had recently been. They had stopped at Subterrel for supplies and repairs before they would make their way back to Jutrand. It was rather unfortunate timing for Varys.
This was a dry run. A sort of proof of concept for an idea that had percolated in Varys' head since the horrors on Echnos. If she could establish a consistent means of entering and living in Sith space, she could try to help the people who lived here, try to meet the tenets of the Butu'r be Ucara. She had selected Subterrel as a relatively quiet, industrial location for her to test out her plan. Now, it would be crawling with Sith. So far, Varys had not been caught. She had arrived on-planet safely and without compromise, but everything else had been a disaster.
Varys had thought she had known what she was doing taking on the Pillar of Sacrifice, and she had not made the decision lightly, but nothing could prepare her for the sheer isolation she felt. Varys' training wheels had been removed, only days after the worst horrors of her life so far. Though she was not excommunicated, she could no longer lean on the support of the clan, no longer lean on Clan Kryze's name and influence. That meant sourcing her own food, lodging, credits. That was not going well, and she spent most of her nights freezing in her tent, hungry and exhausted.
Ni ucara ner yaim'la. Varys thought to herself.
Varys stepped out of the shelter of the starport into the rain. Subterrel's main mining colony was not famed for its weather, and Varys' arrival on-planet had been heralded by a winter storm- a deluge of icy sleet, howling winds and low scudding clouds blocking out the pale sun. She looked around, unsure. Rain ran down her helmet, and mud caked her boots. She had no idea what she would eat, where she would sleep. In this weather even if she could find a quiet spot her tent would be washed away. Stars, this was miserable.
Last edited: