Circle of Life

[Nisha Decrilla]

[SIZE=14.6667px]It’s funny really, how history repeats itself. How time and time again, we make the same mistakes….mistakes like believing that love could change us. I was raised a slave to men, reborn a slave to the darkside. I clawed my way through the ranks of an Empire, devoted...enslaved by their ways. I thought freedom would grant me something, a new outlook on life, that love would set me free... The truth is, I was born a slave...and forever I will remain a slave....to him. Because in reality, I don’t know what it is to be without a master, what it is to be without someone to tell me where to use my gifts.[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=14.6667px]But perhaps she can. [/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=14.6667px]Perhaps she can break free of the chains I couldn’t.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=14.6667px]The familiar click of her heel resonated down the facilities corridor, the crisp smell of sterilized corridors burning her nose. Kaminoans seemed to pay little notice of her as she walked a familiar path down to Bay 87. There were watching though...always keeping a close eye on her. They’d been asked to after all.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]She passed beneath panelled ceilings dotted with white lights adding to the sterility of the corridor before entering a transparisteel tunnel that granted a wide view of the facilities workings. Thousands of clones linked to nutrient tubes, ranging from the size of a fetus to that of a full grown man, ready to be awakened. She might have paid attention to it once, pausing to observe its breathtaking magnitude, but after the first...hundred perhaps, times. It lost its awe factor and simply became an eyesore in the background. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]He was there to greet her on the otherside, tall and elegant Taun Wa bowed deeply and fell in step next to her, one stride to her two. “It is an honour, to once again be in your presence my lady.” She shot him cold glance but did not respond. “I can assure you your frequent visits are not necessary, in fact if anything, they are…” he seemed to be hesitant to finish his sentence, eyeing the volatile twi’lek. “...damaging.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“Do you have any children, Taun Wa?” she countered. He shook his head slowly in response, bowing it sadly as they walked, fearing that once again he was to be met with a torrent of abuse. “Would you trust a stranger, with the life of your only child, based on his word when He is only a hairsbreadth away?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“Perhaps not, My Lady, but your ritual visits are drawing attention.” he paused again as they reached a secure door, slender finger tucking into his robe to reveal and access card that he swiped with ease. The doors parted, and Anaya’s frustration with the Taun ebbed away as she stepped into the room. Suspended in fluid that made her hair float around her like a halo, Calina’s eyes were shut, a mask covered her mouth a tube running from it that provided her with food and air.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Anaya Fen raised her fingers to the glass, a softness appearing around her features, that reminded Taun why he did what he did. He did not believe that such gentleness had been revealed to anyone else. Anaya Fen had placed great trust in him to keep this project a secret, great trust to protect her only child, albeit one grown in a tank.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“My lady…” he stepped forward, moving to rest slender fingers upon her shoulders. “The board of directors is placing great pressure on me to reveal the nature of this project. Your presence has been noted by them...and by Him.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“Do you think I am unfair in keeping this from Him? Denying him the right to take part...the opportunity to ruin me over and over...to ruin her?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“I think, that you are afraid, My Lady. I help you, because no one should be afraid of people like Him.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Anaya smiled, bringing her forehead to rest against the glass and closing her eyes, reaching out to her daughter in the force. “You are a good friend, Taun Wa.” she breathed before stepping away and facing him. “But i will not hesitate to kill you.”[/SIZE]

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Have I ever told you what the definition of insanity is?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It is doing the same thing over and over again, but still expect things to turn out differently. A cliche perhaps, but that was what I felt Anaya Fen was doing every single time. You would think that she would learn by now, that you can’t hide, can’t run - at least not for long and that at the end of the day… I [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]always[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] get what I want.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Truth to be told? I never lost her in the first place. She was always there, at the back of my head, a constant buzzing nuisance; an itch that I could barely scratch, a vice that could never be fully experienced.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She completed me. By the Force, I hate her for that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]I kept silent watch over her and the child: [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]our[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] child, how… pedestrian. Never thought I’d have a child of my own, in the beginning it was all about the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]who[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] and in the end it was all about the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]how[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] - didn’t even consider just splicing my DNA with hers, never even popped up in my mind. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Shows that at the end of the day even Anaya could think of something that blinds me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She was [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]there[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] again, talking to one of the scientists. Their whispers pressed against my psyche… they feared me. It was the scent that gave it away, even when they tried to block it out with anger and fury, it was still there.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“You can’t hide from me, my dear.” [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]I reached out without even realizing it, my presence wrapping around her mind. It was as easy as breathing… after all these years there was no place where she was out of reach.[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“You can’t hide [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]her[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] from me.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She felt it in the base of her skull, a tremor that ran across her mind manifesting itself physically in a shudder that stopped Taun in his tracks. His large blue eyes assessed the suddenly tense twi’lek. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“My lady, are you-”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I’m fine.” she snapped, mind reeling. How could he know? She’d been so careful, right under his nose yet she’d chosen her allies carefully, funded it anonymously. Perhaps she’d taken too much of a risk using his facility, but she’d been unable to resist the urge to stick her middle finger up at him, to do something so dramatic under the nose of the great and powerful Jared Ovmar.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“You will never touch her. Never see her. Never know her. She will be free from you.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]But would she? Would she be free from her biological father so long as her mother remained? Taun was looking at her expectantly. “What?!” she snapped again. He must have asked her a question...curse him for distracting her. Taun Wa knew better than to try again, instead he watched her silently as she began to pace before the tank.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Last we spoke, you said the board were putting pressure on you...why? Why would they have any interest in a private parties project? Doesn’t make any sense.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Taun Wa shifted uncomfortably and Anaya knew whatever would come out of his mouth next would be a lie.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I’ll kill you if you come near her, Jared.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I am eternal.” [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]and the sheer foreignity of his tone… it was as if nothing human remained any longer, that he truly believed that statement. And perhaps he did. Perhaps it was even true, because who really knew what Ovmar’s limits were these days? After everything he had seen, everything he had experienced and the things he had [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]done[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] - sacrifices had been made towards a goal unseen. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I will have what I am due, and you cannot stop me.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Taun Wa, on the other hand, seemed very, very anxious all of a sudden, because he started to really think about the situation they were currently in. Why [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]would[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] the board put pressure on him when the project they were working on was nothing out of the ordinary?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The thought arrived a moment later.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Unless someone above the board was pulling the strings… and did they know, who always. Always had strings to pull?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“There could be the issue…” Wa coughed awkwardly, realizing that his next few words could mean the difference between living or dying.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“You are due NOTHING. I owe you NOTHING.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“He knows.” Anaya stated, seeing Taun relax slightly. “Did he always know?” she turned accusing eyes from the black haired child floating in her tank to the tall kaminoan. Fear flickered across his face. It made no difference what he said, whether he pleaded innocence or admitted guilt, he would die today regardless.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Wake her.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“My lady, that would be ill advised.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“WAKE HER!”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The cool cylinder rested in her palms, her lightsaber always found its home in her hand when death was close, when tensions ran high. “I’m sorry, my child, this was not how I hoped it to be.” she spoke softly, fingers touching the glass as the fluid began to drain away, all the while Taun giving nervous updates on her vitals.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“All things must end. Nothing is eternal.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Laughter would fill her ears.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“You owe me everything.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]And then his presence was gone, but she would be left with a singular impression.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]He was coming.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]There was a low hiss as the front of the tube slid aside and Calina toppled forward into Anaya’s arms. She ripped away her feeding tube and breath apparatus, oblivious to Taun’s panicked protests. With trembling fingers she brushed a damp lock from the girl's forehead as her eyes fluttered open. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Calina,” she breathed a smile creasing the corners of her eyes. She blinked against tears, cradling the child in her arms. Emotion roiled through her, glee at the success of her creation, despair and fear that he was coming and fury. Fury that he would dare to take this moment from her. Claina’s hand moved to her mother's cheek, catching a stray tear.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Taun appeared at her elbow with a blanket which she took from him to wrap about Calina’s small shoulders, sliding her from her lap. “Calina, my sweet, close your eyes and put your hands over your ears.” Confused as she looked, Calina obeyed. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya rose, calling the lightsaber back to her hand. Still kneeling before the child Taun Wa looked up as confused as she, only to glimpse a flash of red before her saber cleaved his head from his shoulders. It rolled to bounce against Calina’s toes. “Keep them shut, Calina.” Anaya said, her voice more commanding this time.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya turned her attention the the console in the centre of the room. Taun Wa had selected this bay because it allowed complete privacy, its computer was not linked to the company's main systems, allowing complete isolation. Stretching her fingers ahead of her, she bathed it in force lightning. The lights flickered around them, the stink of melting plastic and fried wires rose up to meet her nostrils and behind her Calina screamed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][Credit to [member="Samael Rekali"] for his big part in this post][/SIZE]

 

[Mia Monroe]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Eyes wide and filled with terror as the lifeless face of Taun stared up at her from her feet. She kicked the head away viscously watching it at it rolled, its eyes still fixing on her as it rolled away. Ahead and to her left, her mother stood bathed in a red glow as lightning danced from her fingers. She was both terrifying to behold and incredibly beautiful.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina took a deep breath and pulled her blanket around her a little tighter, missing the warmth and security of the tank. She’d been aware for quite some time, listening to the conversations beyond the hum off her tank, responding in kind as Anaya Fen reached out to her, she reached back in turn. She’d been raised… no grown… to have basic knowledge expected of a twelve year old. Not a completely blank slate, but something with good grounding from where to begin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The light show ended and Anaya was back at her side. “I told you to keep your eye’s shut.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I’m sorry.” She whispered, the noise so small in comparison to her scream. “I wanted to know.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Taun, looking back at Calina with no hint of regret in her face. “And now you do. Can you stand?” she helped her to her feet, her legs trembling beneath her, threatening to give way at any moment. Alarms began to scream above them, a delayed reaction to the fire in the computer. Calina clasped her hands over her ears at the vile noise, burying her face in Anaya’s chest.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Strong arms looped around her scooping her from the ground. “This was not how I planned it, Calina, and for that I am sorry. But we have to go.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I want to walk.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya set her down again, the softness ebbing from her face as she cast nervous glances about them room, careful to support Calina in her first steps out of the bay and into the long tunnel. Firefighting droids whizzed past them, paying them no heed as they reached the far end of the tunnel. The noise was unbearable in the transparisteel tunnel, the screeching alarms made her eardrums vibrate violently, she stopped walking letting out a whimpering sound.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She felt Anaya lift her once more, moving them rapidly across the tunnel and back beneath white paneled ceilings. They passed in a blur and it took a moment to realise her mother was running. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“What are you running from?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Him.” was her only reply.[/SIZE]

 

[Mia Monroe]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She looks insane. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It was the subtlest of touches, barely detectable by even the greatest of mentalists, but for a young girl who had little to no experience with the ways of the Force - even [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]his[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] daughter? It was impossible for her to know where the thought actually came from. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Any time Calina would look at her mother she would [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]see[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] the fragile psyche state. The unraveling of everything that made Anaya: in a lot of ways the twi’lek Sith Lord might have been insane, but this was pronounced, underlined by an exterior power that the girl was too young to understand. It was a feeling welling up inside of her, telling her to tread lightly around her, to be careful, to never completely trust anything Anaya said. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Not all at once, of course, instead it would follow sporadic fragments within her. Scattered thoughts suitable to a twelve-year old’s perspective, to a girl who has just seen her oldest caretaker executed for no reason at all.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]He didn’t deserve that. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]That thought would solidify itself within Calina’s mind, a foundation for what was to come.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It came with a sense of fear as a hundred questions danced across her mind. Fear told her to remain silent, not just her own, but the glimmer of fear in her mother's eyes. They’d moved through a maze of corridors so quickly Calina hadn’t been able to keep track. It was only once they’d come to a standstill in a turbolift that Anaya finally set her down on her feet again. Calina looked as her toes, curling them against the tiles momentarily enjoying the little squeak they made until a hand moved under her chin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya’s eyes were dark, curling slightly at the edges as she smiled. “Are you okay, little one?” Calina nodded, shivering slightly despite the blanket about her shoulders. Anaya removed her own cloak and added another layer to keep her warm. “We’ll get you some clothes on the ship.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Clania’s bottom lip shot out suddenly. “Why are we leaving? Who is He? And...why…” she trailed off, the warmth had gone from Anaya’s eyes and Calina leant back slightly despite herself as red glimmered in her mother’s iris’.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“He…” Anaya licked her lips and the young girl tried to be patient. “He is a man who claims to be your father. He wants to take you from me, to keep you as his own… like a pet. We are leaving because he is coming, and I will never let him touch you.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]There was something in the way she said never that made Calina believe her… and fear her. There was another question there, one that would be burnt to her memory whether she asked it or not,. one that had crept up on her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Taun Wa used to sing through the glass to her when they were alone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Taun Wa was gentle.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Taun Wa was dead.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina’s bottom lip trembled and she let out a small sob.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]thanks[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] again to [member="Samael Rekali"]][/SIZE]

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Poor Taun Wa… he didn’t deserve that.” [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]a soft voice purred across her ear, before going silent again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya was at a loss as Calina broke into tears before her, sobbing so violently her delicate frame shook beneath her hands… at least… until something changed in her demeanor, it was a subtle shift, her head tilting slightly, before sniffing one more time and then setting her jaw.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]As if the little girl decided to be [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]strong[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px], as if something had whispered to her about what it meant to be an [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]Ovmar[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya, brushed the last of Calina’s tears away, almost afraid to breath, afraid to pause and ask herself just how Calina had calmed so quickly. “I’m sorry, my child. Taun Wa… he would have led Him to us, willingly or unwillingly.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Lying already, Anaya? How drole - will she ever truly trust you?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“One day, you will understand. We can trust no one. Even those who seem to be our friends, those who seem to care for us can turn against us… can destroy us…”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“She is my daughter. She will trust no one, least of all me. And that, my love, is the whole point.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Yet the only thing she received in reply… was a feeling of smugness, overwhelming her extrasensory perception.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya lifted the oversized hood of her cloak over Calina’s head as the turbolift door opened, trying desperately not to vomit at his arrogance - but perhaps that was the entire point, keeping her unbalanced and unable to keep up with every new development that came. Clasping her tiny hand firmly in her own and walking calmly with her towards the hangar bay. A security detail passed them by, boots hammering with urgency to get to the scene of the crime.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]One step at a time, one hurdle at a time. She could not think ahead, he was not allowing her to. Two things mattered - she had five minutes before they’d reach Taun Wa’s body, perhaps another two before they try to stop her from leaving - she had to get a ship in that time.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]They passed beneath the belly of a medical freighter, disappearing for a moment into the shadow, emerging the other side, her skin tingling the red and black colours were gone, she’d taken on a green skin tone. She glanced down at Calina and placed a finger to her lips in warning as the child opened and closed her mouth in surprise.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya made a mental note to send a gift of gratitude to [member="Valik"] for Glamour. She was losing count of the tight corners it had saved her from.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]If only Glamour changed the way her mind worked, if only it changed the basic principles of operation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]But what could he do, so far away? By the time he got here, she’d be gone. Always a step behind. That was the way she intended to keep it. Once upon a time, Jared Ovmar had been beneath her, she could keep ahead of him. A small transport ship caught her eye and she steered them towards it. Freelance, moving medical supplies. A smuggler making and honest run.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6667px]Just what she needed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][Thanks [member="Samael Rekali"]][/SIZE]

 

[Mia Monroe]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina had managed to close her mouth by the time they reached the landing ramp, though she repeatedly glanced up at her mother, awestruck, still by the sudden shift in her appearance. Her mother placed one boot upon the ramp and a man appeared at the top of the ramp peering down at the with grey eyes. “Can I help you, ma’am?” His eyes flicked up and down her figure, gaining a glint of hunger in them that unnerved Calina. She inched behind Anaya, peering at him from behind as his grey gaze settle on her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I’m looking for passage.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The grey eyed man blinked his eyes narrowing. “Where to?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Away.” Anaya replied.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The man snorted and began to walk away shaking his head. Anaya advanced up the ramp, pulling Calina along much to her distaste. She noticed her mother reaching for her lightsaber at the small of her back. “I can pay.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“The hell you can,” he snapped rounding on her “with what?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina dug her nails into her mother's hand, and received no reaction. She didn’t like him, didn’t like his eyes, didn’t like the way he looked at them both. He made her feel sick, made her want to run away like a scared little lamb. “What would you like?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Why was she negotiating? She killed Taun Wa and yet she’d let this man live? He’d come closer, close enough for her to pick up the lingering odour of cigars and something else that made her nose wrinkle in disgust. His hand slid about Anaya’s waist and he pulled her, and inevitably Calina, close. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Entertainment for my trip across the galaxy. Got a long and lonely run from here to The Wheel.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya’s eyes would narrow, her head tilting a little bit as if she was listening to something unhearable. Then she smiled a smile that seemed to sell it all to the man. “I’d be happy to oblige.” Calina made a noise of disgust and the grey eyed beast looked down at her, seizing her under her chin and lowering his face to hers. “If you’re lucky kid, I’ll let you watch.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]A few moments passed, nothing seemed to happen, tick… tick, tick. Then the scene changed, the man’s eyes - first so hungry with lust and desire, they suddenly unfocused; almost as if something entirely else was seen by him. From his lips a soft whine escaped him, the squeal of a little piglet.[/SIZE]

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya reacted to the noise first, releasing Calina’s hand. And seizing him by the front of his clothes. Pushing him rapidly up the ramp and out of sight, clamping a hand over his mouth before the squeal could mount into a scream. “Calina!” she barked and the girl appeared half a beat later at the top of the ramp. “Switch on the left of the ramp, use it.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]As she did, the soft whine of mechanics drowned out the noise of the muffled screams beneath her hands. She recognised the signs all too well, a muscle beside her eye twitched as she did her utmost not to relive the very pain he was going through.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Whats wrong with him?” Calina asked as the landing ramp shut behind her securing them on the ship. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Ovmar was playing with him, twisting his mind in on itself, his own fury at the way he’d handled Calina matching hers. She could feel it as if it was her own. She couldn’t answer Calina, not now not when all she wanted to do was kill the man in front of her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Snap hiss[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The saber extended into his gut and up towards his heart. A mercy, to kill him now rather than let Jared’s show continue. A mercy he didn’t deserve, but one way or another he was going to die anyway.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“To hell with you, Ovmar.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Mother?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Those two syllables froze Anaya where she was. It took the wind out of her sails, settle the storm of anger as she turned to regard Calina. the saber deactivated in her hand and she went down on one knee extending her arms to Calina. She hesitated, before stepping forward and looping her arms about Anaya’s next. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Hot tears burned down Anaya’s cheeks as she picked Calina up and walked quietly with her to the cockpit. Mother… she was a mother… she had a child, someone who would love her no matter what. Someone she would protect and defend no matter what. She settled Calina into the co pilot’s chair and moved silently about running through pre-flight checks.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“You shouldn’t have done that. You should have let me handle it. But like always you believe you know best.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Mother,” Calina repeated after a few quiet moments. “Why did you kill him? What was wrong with him?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“It was a mercy. Someone…” she hesitated, turning to look at Calina. “The man who claims to be your father is a powerful mentalist, he was playing with the man's mind.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“He was protecting me?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“So it would seem.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Then why are we running from him?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Because, Jared Ovmar only does things that benefit him. He is selfish and given the opportunity would enslave you to him. He will dazzle you with charm, promise you love and protection, all the while securing chains about your ankles. Simply so he can claim to be a wonderful father, simply to add another title to his collection.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I hate you.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“You love me.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She turned back to the controls and settled into the pilot's seat. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I don’t understand…” Came Calina’s quiet reply.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya sighed “In time, my child, you will.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Are you certain?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“More than either of us ever will.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Time will show if she is our daughter in earnest, I suppose.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Where [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]are[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] we going?” Anaya smiled as authorization for departure displayed across the panel on her left and she brought the ships engines to life.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Away Calina. Far away.”[/SIZE]

 

[Mia Monroe]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Three Standard Years Later[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6667px]Space above Devaron[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina circled her mother who stood in the centre of the training mat, her saber unactivated in her hand watching Calina with that mocking smile. The smile that teased her, that dared her to allow her irritation at it to overcome a logical attack. She could feel herself getting angry, feel it coursing through her, raising her heartbeat, urging her to attack.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She licked her lips, marked a figurative ‘X’ on Anaya’s chest and sprung forward striking… Anaya suddenly wasn’t there, she was on her left, her elbow coming down hard against the side of her head. Calina staggered, stars lighting up her vision.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Your over thinking, over analyzing your attack. I can see where you're going to strike because you look first. Don’t look, don’t think, just act.” Calina shook the stars from her vision and moved again, striking low this time, the sound of her mother's lightsaber activating brought a moment of triumph to her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Yet there would always be that [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]feeling[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]. That hunch at the back of her head that told her to be careful, cautious, to analyze a threat first - [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]to know your enemy, before striking[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]. And that when you do strike… that it be with full determination and merciless.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Short lived as a fist caught her in the side, so hard she was certain she’d cracked a rib. “No!” snapped Anaya. Calina could feel her mother's anger and knew to tread carefully. This could go either way, Anaya could maintain control and shift from furious to simply disappointed, or she could receive the beating of a life time (again) and find herself locked in the cargo hold for a week.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina clutched her side, glaring at her mother and breathing hard, finger testing where she’d hit her, wincing as she did. “Again.” Anaya said.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“We’ve been at this for hours-”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Again.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Why? I’m clearly not getting it. Can we just do something else?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“No. Don’t argue with me. Again, attack.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Assess the situation, notice the weaknesses she displays and the ones she tries to hide. Use them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina was in dangerous territory, she knew it, but she was so angry, so fed up of the bruises of the unrelenting training Anaya was putting her through.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Why should I? Being such a swordswoman didn’t get you very far in life did it?!”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Feth. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Oh, dear. Now you have done it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]For a moment, Anaya simply rocked back slightly, as if Calina’s words had physically punched her, then her expression shifted from controlled anger, to wild fury and she flew towards Calina, both ends of her staff lighting up as she rained down a barrage of fast strikes the Calina could barely keep at bay. She was going to kill her this time, she was actually going to remove Calina limb from limb.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I’m sorry.” she managed between breaths as she skipped free of an attack.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Don’t grovel, you are better than that - see past the anger, use it against her. It makes her [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]weak[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Think, Calina. She tried to take stock of what was around them, of what she could use before Anaya jumped at her again. Calina scored a kick that brought her mother to one knee before leaping over her head and coming to rest a few feet away. Spinning quickly, knowing she wouldn’t stay down for long she let out a blast of force energy that made her mother greet the wall with her face.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Calina laughed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Dun Möch, use it sparingly. Before it becomes a crutch.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Understanding settled over her and she stored the information away for later, but her moment of triumph was to be snatched from her again as Anaya ripped her saber away with the force. She’d lost that wild animal look, but Calina was unsure which anger was worse. Fear rose in her gut, fixing her to the spot as Anaya walked towards her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Better.” Anaya said, though she was not happy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She opened her palm to offer Calina’s saber back to her, and that hateful word rolled out of her mouth.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Again.”[/SIZE]

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Hours Later…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]I know you’re there… I know you’re helping her…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Silence reigned.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Dun Möch. So like you…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Silence continued to reign.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya pinched the bridge of her nose and sunk deeper into the recliner, the iced drink in her hand clinking slightly as she did. Calina was growing fast, in more ways than one. Without Anaya’s help she was showing signs that her father had shown, signs of potential to be greater, potential to be dangerous.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Afraid she will turn on you, my love?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Unlike you, I was raised a sith.” she spoke aloud. “I expect her to turn on me.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]How barbaric and utterly pedestrian.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya smiled. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]So like me, yes?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Perhaps. Did you know… she has a mantra? Every night and every morning… one name on her lips.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6667px]Taun Wa. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]She never forgot.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]There it was, there was that little bit of fear creeping into her facade. She took a long sip of her drink, willing the burning liquid to wash away the feeling.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]I deserve all that comes for me. All that she brings upon me. I am no fool, Ovmar. Insane, yes, but not a fool.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]As always you are missing the point, my dear. Your actions have planted a seed of compassion within her - killing Wa was foolish and influenced her profoundly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya smiled again. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]And once again, my love, you assume that this was not the plan.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]A snort would resonate within her, it was almost as if Ovmar was there with her, sitting by her side, and they were scheming and plotting like in the old days. She could almost see him, almost smell him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Compassion has its merits, but it was only my influence that kept it from growing out of control… or was that, too, your plan, my dear?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Anaya finished the drink and forced herself to sit up, moving to the long window the overlooked the training room. Calina was still there, pitched against four training droids. Whatever she did, whatever she planned to do, he would be there giving her little nudges in the direction he wanted. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Coiling chains about her already.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Don’t act surprised, this outcome was inevitable.[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] A ghost finger would trace a line across her skin, passing through the fabric, in its wake erupted a sensation of fire… and [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]pleasure[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]Hmmm, but I am not sure yet who has the greater potential, her… or her [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]brother[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It was Anaya’s turn to snort. “You’re unbelievable sometimes, do you know that? Get out of my head and go and play with your son.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Our son, my love. But as you wish.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“May the best child, win.”[/SIZE]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Calina ignored her mother's eyes as she stepped into an upward slice the split the final droid into two. She was immersed in the moment, engulfed by the power of the force and acutely aware of everything around her. Closing her eyes, she could feel every cell in her body vibrating with power, she could feel the steady vibrations of the ship's engines, hear the crew bustling about their daily duties, throughout the ship. They all seemed calm on the surface, but there was a portion that felt fear, a portion who cast nervous glances over their shoulders.

She opened her eyes, and looked up at her mother, her saber deactivating with a hiss as she met her gaze.

This is your fault. It is your fault they are afraid.

Anaya Fen turned away and disappeared out of sight, a clear sign that she was dismissed and free to roam the ship. She tucked the saber away from her belt and padded across the training mat, idly kicking the droid pieces as she passed. She go back to her quarters, shower and wander in the hope of finding someone other than her mother to talk to. She would find the same results as every time before that. Her mother induced fear in people that worked for her, and so, naturally, this fear filtered down to Calina.

She didn’t bother with a shower, choosing instead to fall face first onto her bed and let out a scream of frustration, muffled by the crumpled sheets. She lay there unmoving for a few minutes, forcing herself to calm down and slowing her breathing. Slowly she rolled onto her back and kicked off her boots, shuffling up the bed to rest her back against the wall.

“It’s not fair.”

A snort sounded through the room. It wasn’t a sound that seemed to be entirely there, fading in and out of existence at random intervals the more it echoed and bounced wall by wall. But eventually it faded away and his voice sounded.

“That’s now how an Ovmar speaks, child.”

Calina was up on her feet, lightsaber in her hand and her heart in her throat. She was alone...no she was never alone. Not really, but she’d never heard it this clearly. She rotated slowly on the spot “Who are you?”

“Please. You are better than that. Who am I?”

She dropped the saber on her bedside table and sat back on the edge of her bed. “Jared Ovmar. The man who induces fear in my mother like I’ve never seen before, and …” she shook her head “My father.”

A smile would be felt. Radiating bright and hot and pleasant, the presence was pleased by her articulation of fact and reason.

“Quite.” silence continued for a moment longer, before a humorless chuckle would sound. “She is fairly paranoid, your dearest mother.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” Calina quipped, smiling to herself. “She has her reasons. You, mostly, but there's more to it than that. I just wish...I just want her to trust me, to let me have friends.” She let out a small laugh “Instead I’m talking to you, wherever you are. Funny how she’s just made it worse for herself. Is there any reason you are here...or not here...whatever…”

“You are my daughter… and I admit I get this perverse satisfaction from undermining your mother, not that I really need to. She does a good job of that without my intervention.” the spirit paused, before shrugging to himself.

“I could show myself, if that would please you.”

“Beats talking to thin air.”

“At least you didn’t inherit her humor.” before a man appeared in a chair in one of the corners of the room. That chair hadn’t been there before, but that was a meaningless detail really.

“So when are you going to push back?”

Calina laughed again. “You’re kidding, right? She can kick my ass from one side of the galaxy to the other without breaking a sweat. When I can beat her, I’ll push back.”

“Boring. She cannot kill you without my permission. Change the game. There is waiting and then there is… sitting in your room and moping.”

“Your permission? Like you have anything to do with anything around here! And I wasn’t moping!”

“My permission. Even half a Galaxy away your mother cannot run from my influence. You were sitting on your bed and mumbling about how it wasn’t fair. What would you like to call it?”

Calina went quiet, almost dangerously so, her bright eyes mirrored her father's a she fixed her gaze on him. Something clicked into place, an understanding of the two parties she was caught between. Anaya feared him, because he was terrifying. Not because he could kill her, but because he got into her head. Where Anaya saw danger, Calina saw a smug old man who’d lived for too long.

“I would call it being a teenager.” she narrowed her eyes “What would you have me do?”

“You are an Ovmar. At your age I was conquering planets in the Unknown Regions. You have my blood, my eyes, my power. Be creative and solve the problem. If you can’t face her head-on, avoid a physical confrontation.”

He really hoped she inherited his mind and not her mother’s. Otherwise this would be a very short struggle indeed.

Calina fell silent again, chewing the inside of her cheek. She could tackle the problem from a distance. Or simple escape the ship itself without her knowledge.

“Nope.” his voice snapped out and cut right through her process. “You never run, then you become her. Endlessly hounded by a phantom in the dark. You either solve your problem permanently or not at all.”

“She’s hardly a phantom.” Calina snorted. “I am not you, I’ve not been taught the lessons you learnt…”

“She can be quiet when she wants to, my dear. What she shows you is what she wants you to see. She might be unhinged and unstable, but don’t underestimate the cunning Anaya can display when she stops bashing her face into the problem and starts to tackle it from a different angle.” Ovmar sighed and then shrugged.

“I can help you, but I’d rather have you solve this yourself. I won’t be around for too much longer and you will have to learn to tackle these kind of problems on your own. At least, until your brother is ready…”

Calina tensed. “...I don’t have a brother.” she replied rather indignantly and regretted her childishness almost instantly.

A smile was all she got.

“Nor can I wait for one.”

“On that we can agree. So what are you going to do about it?”

Calina let out an almighty sigh of frustration and flopped backwards onto the bed. “You’re so bloody infuriating. I don’t know. OK? I don’t fething know!” she sat up again and snatched her lightsaber from her bedside table again. “But you can be damn sure I’m not going to sit here and do nothing.”

She got up and headed for the door. “I’ll just try talking to her.”

Now that got a snort out of him. Said snort turned into a chuckle and before long the chuckle was an avalanche of laughter that almost made him tear up.

“Let me know how that goes for ya.” the Lord of the Fringe replied, before standing up himself. He wanted to pace, wanted to do more, but there was only so much pushing and tugging a man could do before the little mouse would get flustered and flee back into its cage. No, this was her path and he wouldn’t try to force her to a more intelligent choice.

“Well, my time here is up. I will stay in touch, probably.”

A snap of his fingers and suddenly no Ovmar in sight anymore.

“Bastard!” Calina shouted after him, wrenching her door open she stomped angrily down the corridor, chuntering under her breath until she reached the end.

“A small hint, my dear. Handling Anaya Fen is like handling a ticking time bomb. Put pressure on her and she might explode… or she will clamp you down even harder. To get what you want… make her think it’s her idea in the first place.”

“Manipulate a manipulator. Right.”

“How do you think you were conceived?”

Calina turned right, after a moment's pause, away from the hangar bays and towards the bridge where Anaya would surely be. “I’m not interested in what games you played with each other. You both tell me you had the upper hand, and quite frankly, I don’t care. I just don’t want to be caught in the middle of it.”

“You already are, my dear. Don’t ignore the truth in front of you. This whole thing is one big game.”

“Oh feth off will you!” Calina snapped, a passing guard raised an eyebrow at her. “What?!” she snapped at him.

Only laughter came after her.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya could feel Calina’s agitation long before she stepped onto the bridge, it was a pulsing in the force the sort that might’ve given a young and inexperienced Spencer Jacob’s a migraine. “Calina, my child,” she said without looking up from the console. “If you’ve come here to start another argument I suggest you turn around.”

The young teenager didn’t respond, she simply flopped into a chair next to Anaya and pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a series of what could only be considered as ‘huffs’. Anaya ignored her, pointedly. If she was going to come in here stomping and looking for attention, she had to earn it in a better way.

“I’m bored.” Calina said finally.

Anaya smiled to herself. “So find something to study.”

“Why can’t you teach me something?”

“I’m done teaching you today, Calina. Your attitude is far too exhausting, even for me.”

Calina fell silent, she even stopped huffing and puffing. Anaya chanced a glance to find her staring with glazed eyes out of the viewscreen. She was meditating in a way Anaya had never been able to, by being still. Anaya sat back and watched her with a steady gaze, until she finally turned to meet her. There was something new in those bright blue eyes, something that reminded her of...no.

“I’m sorry, mother. For my outburst in the training room, and for the manner in which I’ve come here. It was uncouth of me.”

Anaya responded with an accepting nod and invited the girl to continue with whatever she had to say.

“It’s just… I’ve no one to vent my frustrations at not really, not openly.”

“There are plenty of people here for you to talk to Calina.”

“All in their thirties and beyond and utterly terrified that if they say something wrong, you’ll shove them out the nearest airlock.”

“Ah.” Anaya said rising from her chair. She kept Calina away from other youngsters her age for good reason. Young children, and teenagers made wonderful spies, they had keener eyes and nine times out of ten, they’d no idea what they were seeing.

“You want to have a friend, someone you can talk to?”

“Yes.”

Anaya sighed, “Calina, my child, you know I cannot do that for you.” she paused moving to the viewscreen and watching the stars for a moment “Unless...Perhaps we could build you a friend.”

“You mean a droid.” An all too familiar huff followed the statement. “Great idea, mum. That way you can monitor my every move.” Even Anaya couldn't pretend she hadn't heard sarcasm in that one. She bit her tongue and counted very slowly to ten in her head before responding.

“I understand your natural desire to rebel against your parent, Calina, but you are not a normal teenager and we are not in normal circumstances-”

“AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?!”

Whatever control Anaya had managed to maintain over her anger was gone in an instance. She closed the gap between her and her daughter in the blink of an eye, fingers coiling tightly around her upper arms. “How dare you?!” She hissed, gone from her eyes was any sign of sympathy, there was a mad fury there something that came from being contained for too long. Anaya wasn’t made for this, she wasn’t made for hiding for so long, but she did and she did it for Calina.

“How dare you ask me that question when you know the answer well enough.” There were tears of pain in Calina’s eyes but the young girl stuck out her chin in defiance nonetheless.

“He's been manipulating you from the start you stupid ARGHHHHHH!” Lightning danced across Calina’s body, reflected in the fury of Anaya’s eyes. She let the girl go, watching her collapse into a sobbing heap on the floor.

Anaya stepped back, her chest tight, struggling to breathe as fear and anger closed about her. Why would she say something like that? Why would she even think that? She was trying so hard to keep her away from Jared but even far across the galaxy he seemed to reach out and corrupt her. She wanted to be able to see him, to take her fury out on him, but instead all she had was the mess he was making of her little girl.

Anaya drew in a deep breath and stepped forward again, striking the girl hard on the side of the head as she looked up and silencing her. The silence carried across the bridge of the ship and she felt eyes on her. She snapped away from what was tearing her heart apart and turned her attention to the nearest security officer. “Lock her in her room.”

She turned away from the unconscious form on the floor and to the rest of the crew, who felt the need to return to work no sooner as she’d looked at them. “Captain, set a course for Panatha.”

She needed a new angle, and Calina needed to learn to appreciate what she had.

 

[Mia Monroe]

10 months later
*~Garn~*

Garn was as desolate as her research promised, a dead planet its surface torn at by harsh winds the only stopped to beat against the side of mountains. Calina tried to imagine what it must have been like before it had been decimated, but she couldn't comprehend it beyond the sharp rocks that jutted from its surface below them as they swept across it. Her pilot cast her a sideways glance and flashed a grin but she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice.

She'd come across the planet and the artifact in mind by pure chance. Freed from Kaine's care, she had returned to the Femme Fatal, though her home seemed some much smaller and confining after spending months living in a palace, with a planets beyond the walls to explore. She had itchy feet within hours, and yet there was something comforting about the hum of the engines and the lighter gravity. There had been a great deal of fuss over her return, Anaya as always putting on a dramatic show of caring, but Calina saw past it all. Saw past the lies and remembered what she had promised herself she would do.

She spent several weeks speaking to the crew, taking it upon herself to learn their names, understand their roles on the ship. The pilot, Luke, had been the most outgoing. able to see her and her mother as separate entities. She'd spent a bit of time with him helping with work on the ship's, anything really, just to keep busy. When she wasn't working on the ship she buried herself in research.

The broken file hadn't given a great deal away, but it was enough to warrant investigating. What she could gather was this: There had been a battle, a rift between one cult of Jedi and another that had resulted in a war that decimated this planet. There was mention of something capable of trapping souls and the name Rur. She convinced Luke to bring her here, trusting in her instincts and believing that there was a key here to her success over Anaya Fen.

"Did you have a location in mind, or are we gonna burn all the fuel flying over this hell hole?"

Calina smiled, snapping her attention back to the present. "What? Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you kid, but we're on borrowed time here, and i'd rather your Master didn't remove my head just yet."

"Don't worry about her." She reassured him, closing her eyes she reached out in the force looking for something, a sign of some description. She found it, a pool of darkness tugging at her heart, calling her towards it. She reached for the controls in front of her and Luke relinquished his. She followed the feeling, the Aleph class shuttle sweeping over the barren terrain. "Watch your altitude." Luke warned, fingers itching to take back control. Calina clicked her tongue in response, but checked herself all the same. She pulled the shuttle into a sudden halt before a great line of mountains that stretch over the horizon. They'd flown over many like it, but this one felt different.

"Run a sweep will you, look for anything unnatural."

"Seriously?" His eyes were alight with laughter. Calina merely responded with a glare. Shrugging and shaking his head, he did as she asked. "I'm telling you kid, there's nothing out there. Just rocks, rocks and-"

"Rubble." Calina cut across his mockery, her finger stretched to point to a section of mountain a few clicks to their east. Anyone passing through would have missed it, but she could see the great carving in the mountain side where the structure had once stood, at its base she could mark out pieces of pillar among the rocks, and maybe, just maybe what seemed to be the smoothed edge of a pyramids top stack.

"Huh." was all her pilot could say for himself for a moment. "We're going down there."

"We are." she replied, guiding the shuttle slowly towards it and descending as slow as only a learner could.

"Then what?"

"You're going to stay with the ship, while I investigate."

"Dare I argue?" he asked as the landing gears connected with solid ground with more of a bump than she would have liked. A momentary pout flashed across her face, to be replaced by determination as she unbuckled herself and got to her feet, scooping her satchel off the back of her chair and slinging it over her neck and shoulder. "That," she replied looking back at him "depends on whether you would like to see just how much like my Master I am."

For a moment he said nothing and Calina took it as her cue to leave, smiling slightly as he heard him mutter "I'd rather not."

 

[Mia Monroe]

Dust kicked up by the wind bit at exposed skin. Pulling her scarf tighter over her nose she squinted instinctively through goggle protected eyes against the onslaught. Eager to get out of the wind she jogged to the ruins, pausing at their foot to glance upward. It had been magnificent once, if she concentrated hard enough she could see the lines etched deep into the rock face where the structure had once stood. There was power here too, not as great as a nexus but and old faded throb of darkness. Smiling beneath her scarf, Calina relished for a moment in her discovery before beginning the dangerous scramble over the fallen rocks.

"Why are you so interested in these rocks?" Luke's voice cut sharply through her focus and she cursed colourfully, steadying herself in a niche in the rocks. She had forgotten the comm-link was in her ear. Shooting a glare towards the ship she scanned the rubble from a slightly higher vantage point. "Tell me something Luke, as a friend, not a superior, do you enjoy working for Anaya Fen?" He was quiet for a moment, and Calina took the opportunity to ascend further, hooking her fingers into a crevice and pulling herself upwards, she made her way over the remains. This close it was harder to determine what was simply rock and what had been part of the structure.

"I enjoy my job, I'm a mechanic and a pilot. What's not to like?"

Calina rolled her eyes at his response, eyeing the lip above her she jumped, catching the edge and scrambling up to pull her belly onto possibly the only flat surface. The rocks surface was decorated with its intricate carvings that spoke volumes about how beautiful this would have once been. "Oh I don't know," she responded not bothering to hide the sarcasm in her voice. "How about the constant threat that the wrong look might end your life far sooner than you planned." She in her forward across the flat, eyes taking over the carving, looking for some sort of sign. "Everyone dies before they planned. We live in a war torn Galaxy, premature death is a risk of life."

Calina snorted, turning to look back towards the ship. "Stop evading the question." Luke sighed in response, leaning forward he could see her up high. She moved quickly, and she had some of her masters traits engrained into her but she wasn't a bad kid. He pursed his lips and responded. "No, I don't like working for a murderer and a psychopath."

Calina turned away smiling broadly to herself steeping further into the middle of the rock "Good, because--" she was cut short as series of deep twangs echoed across the ruins. Calina's eyes widened as the rock face cracked and caved beneath her feet, dropping her down a narrow shaft. She scrambled for purchase, something to prevent her fall. Something caught her temple, and the world went black.

 

[Mia Monroe]

The world was hazy when Calina opened her eyes, light reached down from above, attempting to pierce the gloom around her and she was certain she could hear Luke in both ears...

"Calina? Kid!? Can you hear me?" She blinked away the fuzz at the edge of her vision and looked up, aware of a shadow being cast above her. Silhouetted against the sky above, She couldn't quite make out his face.

"Ow." Came her reply, and a Luke tittered in response.

"Stars, kid! You have me a hell of a fright, you ok?"

Was she? She couldn't feel any serious pain, some brushing perhaps and a nasty headache. She climbed unsteadily to her feet. A wave a nausea made her vision swim and she promptly emptied the contents of her stomach. Above her Luke swore.

"I'll get a rope, haul you out of there. Feth, that red skinned queen is gonna skin me alive for this."

"Kark her." Came Calina's sharp response, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "Get a rope, get a medkit and sit fething tight. I'm not leaving yet."

"You're joking right?" She couldn't see his face, but she recognised the exasperated tone. She formed the sweetest smile she could, flashed it towards him and took her first steps into the gloomy tunnel ahead, fingers running along the coarse surface of the wall for guidance.

 

[Mia Monroe]

The sunlight from above only permeated so much of the tunnel ahead as Calina inched her way forward. She'd heard tales of sith tombs laden with traps to deter treasure hunters and test the strength and abilities of the next generation smart enough to track them down. The thought brought her to a standstill, heart hammering in her chest. For a brief moment she allowed the fear of what ifs to wash over her, closing her eyes against the dark.

Why had she come here? Was she really ready for what lay ahead? She had started down a path from which she couldn't return. She recalled Kaine'a dedication to his cause, the corruption it had wreaked over his body and mind, no longer a man, but a shadow built of hate and anger. And her mother, the great Anaya Fen, a manipulator who had crossed too many lines, her corruption was wrought havoc in her mind, instability led to destruction of all she had worked to build. Was she to follow in their footsteps?

"No!"

Opening her eyes, she reached into the satchel at her hip, pulling free a glow rod, she snapped it over her knee, shaking it to life and relaxing as the darkness retreated from it. This path was not like theirs, all she did, all she planned to do, was for the sake of her sanity. She fought for her freedom, and once Anaya was gone? Well, only time would give her the answers to that.

"Luke, are you still with me?"

"Every step of the way, kid."

Reassured by his calm response and her own fierce determination, she pressed on, stepping cautiously so as not to trigger traps. She walked for what seemed like an age before the crunch of diet beneath her feet have way for smooth stone steps. Down she went, the air around her dropping rapidly in temperature as she went, torch brackets rested empty along the walls, still as new as when they'd first been placed. Their was no moisture down here to aid the rusting process.

At the foot of the steps, rested a great stone wall, it's surface etched with carvings. She moved closer, raising the glow rod above her head to see it clearly. A great dais took centre stage, upon it rested what she could only dea one as a computer, a great motherboard and in the middle of it, a face contorted with rage. The floor about the dais was littered with crystals, some carved, others were embedded in the wall. A few had faces in them, others simply had silhouettes, shadows of what might have been there. Around it, there were warriors, in battle with great beast, some were standing there ground, others impaled on long claws or decapitated by powerful jaws. Realisation began to dawn and Calina allowed herself a laughter of triumph.

"Rur." She whispered, activating the comm in her ear. "Luke, I think I've found something."

Silence answered her, after a moment.

"Is that so?" Anaya's purr was unmistakable and Calina's stomach filled with ice.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

The cylinder felt cold in her hands, fingers worked at rotating it slowly in her grasp as it rested at her side. Luke Hawkens was on his knees, the barrels of four guns held him in a steady aim, faces of the bearers concealed by helmets providing cover from the dust storm kicking up around them. Blood trickled from his nose and congealed in his hair, she could taste his fear as much as she could see it. The force shield around her made the dust kick away from her at odd angles. She crouched in front of him, eyes void of any emotion.

"Your service on my ship was to pay off a debt, Mr Hawkens. Three months of service left and you would have been free. Tell me why you chose to help my apprentice."

His jaw tightened, despite the fear in his eyes, he remained resolute in maintaining his silence. It didn't matter, she offered a cold smile and rose, turning her eyes to the ruins above them as Calina's form appeared at their top. Her daughter wasted no time scrambling from up high, chosing instead to jump, landing sprawled like a cat the fury in her eyes unmistakeable as she cast her azure gaze across the scene in front of her.

"Luke-" she began.

"His fate is sealed, Calina. Do not waste your words on him."

Calina rose with intent, taking two bold steps towards Anaya, hand rummaging in the satchel at her hip, no doubt going for her lightsaber. Anaya seized her in the force, lifting her clean off the ground and slamming her into the rocks behind. "Your insolence, knows no bounds child. I have tried to make you understand, tried to help you see the error of your ways and still you insist on disobeying me! Your time with Kaine taught you nothing, time I paid for dearly."

The girl struggled to her feet, fearful eyes meeting Luke's and then settling on Anaya. "I never wanted to go there. You dragged me there and for why? So he could teach obedience that you failed to?! My whole life you have told me that you are protecting me from slavery to my father, yet here I stand a slave to you. Obedience follows respect, and you have none of mine, nor will you ever have it. My first memory of you, dear mother-"

"Mother?!" Luke breathed.

"-was of you decapitating the one thing I believed to be family. A constant beyond the interior of my tank. You have refused me, time and again to have freedom. So I will take it from you."

Anaya closed her eyes, fury rising up in her like never before, whispers in the back of her mind cackled, mocking her failure to see what was before her all along. Her hand twitched, the snap-hiss of her saber coming to life, she cast it towards the guards, eyes on Calina as it cut through them like they were nothing. Because they were nothing to Anaya. A means to an end. A tool in her journey to see Calina take steps towards a greatness she could never achieve, for the shackles she was born with. They had heard the truth, and for that, their lives forfeit.

She padded towards Luke, catching the saber as she did, standing behind him, she seized the hair and yanked his head back. Calina took a step forward, fury gone, panic replacing the fire that burned in her eyes.

"Mother....please...please don't kill him."

"There are consequences for your actions. You will suffer them."

The saber exploded through his chest.

 

[Mia Monroe]

The scream of despair that burst from Calina's lips sounded like it was worlds away. She forgot the pain that wracked her body, closing the distance in three bounds, she dropped to her knees catching him as he tipped forward. "Nononononono, Luke...Please gods, I am so sorry." She cradled his head in the crook of her arm, rocking back and forth on her haunches. His eyes were wide with fear, searching her face for something. She could offer him no comfort, no solution to his pain. All she could give him in response were sobs that rattled through her chest.

His hand found the collar of her clothes, clutching at her in the hopes of retrieving some life. "I'm so sorry." she whispered. His finger slipped from her, a death rattle passing between his lips as the light faded from his eyes. She stared down at him, shock numbing everything, her breaths coming in short sharp gasps.

Anaya knelt in her peripheral, just out of arm's reach. "You will bury all of them. And you will do so without the aid of the force. Then you will come home and we will not speak of this again. You will come home and you will obey me. You go nowhere without my say so, you speak to no one without my permission and you will remember your place."

"I hate you." she turned her tear stained face towards Anaya. "I HATE YOU!" she screamed.

For a split second, there was sorrow in her mother's face, like her words had slapped her, but it was gone faster than it had appeared. "You are mine. You will obey." Anaya Fen rose, walking away from the child and back to her ship. Calina couldn't move, even as the transported kicked dust into her face, she remained frozen watching the ship fade into the sky. Only when it had gone did she look back at the man in her arms.

Horror made her drop him, scrambling backwards she stared helpless at the carnage before her, Anaya's words echoing in her ears. She brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. She was alone in the universe, there was no one that could help her, no one to tell her that everything would be alright. It was in that moment she understood that this would be her life. So long as Anaya lived, she would be alone.

It should have broken her, it should have shattered her spirit but it only served to harden her resolve. Getting unsteadily to her feet, she padded back to transport she and Luke had brought, returning moments later with a spade. She picked a spot where the earth seemed softest, though in truth, there was no such thing. She dug well into the night, dragging the guards into a large grave. She was more gentle with Luke, laying him atop the bodies of the others, taking care to close his eyes.

"I promise you, I will avenge you. I will break these chains, even if I have to wait till I'm strong enough."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

*~The Femme Fatal~*

The sounds of her boots rebounded off the corridor, her HUD guard fell into step beside her, a clone of Parla Vos, another child that chose to go against her. She began reeling off reports, a message sent out from Merrill, a call for aid to rebuild Coruscant. The mandalorian Isley Verd had renounced his calima and a new sole ruler had risien, Kaine's rebellion was ongoing, business was changing hands on Nar Shadda, criminals choosing alternative headquarters.

She heard none of it.

It was only when Anaya stepped into her quarters and slid the door closed in Parla's face did the HUD recognise that perhaps, now was not the time. Recognising distress in the twi'lek was hardly the easiest thing to do. For a moment, Anaya simply stood there, the solitude of her quarters pressing against her from all sides. Eyes darting rapidly around as if she expected something to burst from the shadows and kill her.

That went well.

There it was, there was what she had felt bubbling under the surface. There was the source of the mocking laughter in her head. She seized a pedestal close to her, launching it across the room with a scream of fury.

Temper, temper.

The voice was mocking. It had always been mocking. She'd contained it so well since escaping Jared, but as her hold on Calina slipped away from her, as she failed to do the one thing she thought she could, she could feel the repairs in her psyche beginning the crumble. She moved across the room, stepping into a mirrored antechamber. Her reflection smirked back at her from every angle. "This was not supposed to happen."

Of course not. It purred back at her with an almost bored tone.

"This was not how I planned it."

When have our plans ever gone right where love is concerned? Ashin spurned us for Spencer. Mikhail never had any interest in us. Sarge saw us as an object of pleasure. Qae died before he could ever have a chance at redeeming us. We obsessed. We provided what we thought they wanted, never for a moment taking into consideration for a second that it wasn't us.

"She hates me."

We've killed everyone she ever knew. Of course she does. It was laughing as it spoke. Oh don't look at yourself like that, it's not like we didn't enjoy it.

Anaya sank to her knees, willing tears to come, but she had none to shed. It wasn't because she was heartless, or because she didn't care. In her heart she had always known that this would happen. She wanted so badly to be able to love and to love in return. Her vindictive and jealous nature would always prevail in the end.

Look on the bright side, we won this fight.

A wave of energy rippled out from her in the force, the mirrors shattered, glass etching small cuts in an already scarred body.

***

When she finally emerged from her quarters, descending to the bridge, Captain Alastair Crowley stood waiting for her. If he had an concerns about her appearance, he did not voice them before the crew. "My Lady." he bowed deeply and Anaya felt a wave of disgust towards him. Her most loyal servant, utterly devoted to her. The only person in the galaxy to show her any kind of love. In that moment, she despised him for it.

"Sensors show she is returning. I trust all went well?"

Anaya did not respond, sweeping past him she took up her chair, set above the crew, it was the closest she would ever get to a throne. "What news?"

"Mara De'Lessio Merrill has sent out a plea to any and all who can help in the rebuilding of Coruscant. Would you like to respond?"

"Feth no, Coruscant was meant to burn. It can rot for all I care."

"My Lady," he began cautiously "we had assets-"

"Had, being the key word here, Captain. I said no."

She held up a hand to any further protest, cocking her head slightly as she felt Calina's presence approaching. She waved him away as the door to the bridge slid open. Calina's feet were heavy, leaving clumps of dirt in her wake. A few dared sidelong glances at her and for a moment it seemed like the whole crew held its breath. Anaya didn't look round, waiting for Calina to appear before her. She was a mess, dust had congealed with tears on her face as the dried, leaving dirty tracks over her cheeks. Even as she stood still, dust from the planets surface dropped off her.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other, Anaya acutely aware of her increasing heart rate.

Then Calina lowered herself to one knee, and bowed her head and Anaya's heart soared. Tears of joy pricked her eyes and she sat forward. "I am yours to command, Master." The words were hollow, broken, even. Anaya reached forward, cupping Calina's chin in her hand and lifting it gently. A soft smile spread across her lips.

"There's my girl." she whispered. "Go, cleanse yourself and rest. We will speak once you have slept."