Private Common Cause

[Skajin var Imret]

TO Laertia Io
FROM Skajin var Imret

Ms. Io,

The Draelvasier eradicated my species and torched our homeworld. I have spent the last few years evacuating refugees, fighting rearguard actions, and staying one step ahead of the Bryn'adul expansion.

I'm told that you're a kindred spirit with comparable motivation. Let me know if you wish to explore collaboration. If not, I understand.

Sava Skajin var Imret, formerly of the University of Kubindi

 

[Laertia Io]

Aboard: The Absolution of Loste

With: Syd Celsius

To: Skajin var Imret

From: Laertia Io

Mr. Imret,

You find yourself in most welcome company. My heart grieves at what you suffered. I lost my whole family as well to my enemies.

I would be delighted to collaborate. Please join me aboard my ship for tea. It will be in your vicinity in 007 hours.

Signed Laertia Io, Warrior of House Li-Ves



Laertia Io busied herself in the Armory after sending that message, carefully setting up the new holding station for The Sword of Surt'r, which was sealed in Nullification Resin before being brought aboard The Modified Gozanti Cruiser that served as her Base of Operations. She set it up next to her other most dangerous weapon, The Sword of Cinndurr which had similar devices...non lethal sonic det charges rigged with Anti-Handling devices, with a Force Field surrounding it. It took an hour, but soon the strange blade, which she had deemed too powerful to leave in the open after she saw what it did to her Force Doppelgangers, was encased in the containment system.

Seriously freaked out by whatever that 'Flow Walk' had been on Abraxas, Laertia had not yet decided how to confront Syd with the revelation she had experienced supposedly with a past version of her lover.

The idea that she was bonded to a Force Spawn wasn't what scared her. It was the idea they were destined to bond that scared her. To what end.

Maybe they were meant to fight a great evil. Maybe that fight was against The Bryn'adul.

Or maybe whoever that cat eyed creature was that wore Syd's face was simply misreading things.

Laertia wanted to trust. She could feel Syd had nothing but good intentions towards her...but yet...that past version...

"So there you are..."

Laertia whirled around. Her mouth fell open as she beheld Syd.

Syd was in green, stocking and garter style lingerie, black heels clicking across the floor, a seductive smile playing across her face.

Belly dancer gear was one thing. Lingerie was...quite another.

Laertia's damaged brain gurgled with pleasure at the sight, in spite of the ominous past few days since recovering that strange blade. She felt that loving warmth in Syd's spirit, which she could lose herself in, and had a few times in the past as they meditated together.

The recovery of T'sid Surt'r's blade (And spiked jacket) made Laertia remember there was so much they didn't know about each other. So much they knew the other was scared to reveal.

But Laertia knew Syd had clearly never recognized her when they met in Golbah City. It didn't make sense.

Syd gestured to the new addition in Laertia's arsenal.

"Another 'Last Resort'?" Syd asked, slinking up to the Black Knight, who was wearing her pitch black hooded Kimono.

"Yes..."

"What's it do?" Syd asked, clearly not recognizing it in any way, from what Laertia could observe. She felt curiosity, not familiarity.

"It...cuts ghosts...and it summons them..." Laertia answered, a strange part of her brain she was unfamiliar with indulging following every movement Syd made, wanting to tear the green giftwrap she wore off the red head.

She must have let her desires slip out a bit, because Syd floated to her instantly, arms wrapped around her shoulder.

"There's no need to hide 'that' desire, my love. Not today..." Syd whispered lustfully, her warm spirit enflamed with passion.

"I...I..." Laertia trailed, trying to think, only for Syd to plant her lips on her mid-speaking attempt.

The parts of her brain she didn't know how to really address when it came to romance made her sieze Syd by the waist, returning the kiss for a few precious seconds before her logic forced her away.

"Wait..." Laertia said, slowly pulling out of her grasp, and taking a seat near a workbench. "There are things we need to discuss..."

Syd sat on a seat next to Laertia, crossing long legs, Sharon Stone style.

"I'm all ears..."

Laertia's next question made Syd stand up.

"What is the Kolda-Bratha Calculus?"

Syd paused, then sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Remember when I said I wasn't always organic? For a long time, I was a being of living flame itself. Potent magic was required to enable my existence in such a state. The Kolda-Bratha Calculus allowed me to exist in that state of being..." She began, pacing about. What had her love found out?

"Its a magical mathematical formula that truly exists only outside our reality, except for what small fragments creep in via Divine Revelation. It controls aspects of Time, and Time related magic. The whole Formula is too vast to hold in one mind..."

"Could it be used to actually Time Travel?"

Syd shook her head. "To Time Travel, actually, physically Time Travel is a fragment of Calculus knowledge that has never actually been revealed...you could never 'fully' go back. Just like Flow Walking. Its a hard coded rule. It would make the universe itself crush you trying to truly Time Travel...it would put too much at stake. At best, you could manage a 'halfway state' You wouldn't be truly in the past. But you wouldn't truly be in the present either. It could only be done at fixed locations also. You would never be able to change history at all. Ever. You would always fail. Period. Are you...are you saying you have experienced something like this?"

Laertia hesitated.

Syd cupped her lovers face.

"Please don't shut me out. I can help. I want to. Whatever it is, you can trust me."

Laertia breathed slowly in and out. She pointed to the sealed up sword she had acquired.

"I found that in a chamber full of weird math formulas I never saw before. They whisked me to a place in ancient Coruscant...where I ran into the one who made it. She had your face, Syd. She claimed we were destined to meet. Destined to be together."

A stunned Syd could only step back.

"She didn't seem mean. Learned a few things from her. She called herself T'sid Surt'r ..."

Laertia stood up.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions. But I want answers..."

 

[Skajin var Imret]

7.5 HOURS LATER
THE ABSOLUTION OF LOSTE

As insurgent ships went, Laertia Io 's Gozanti took the cake. The heavily modified freighter had what looked like serious armor, even more serious surveillance gear, and a stealth package to boot. Skajin's shuttle by contrast, came off as cheap and innocuous. He tended to go through shuttles quickly. Such was the life of an enemy of the Bryn'adul.

The armored Kubaz buzzed with appreciation as he came through the airlock. "A gorgeouszz vesszel. I prezzume you're Captain Io?"

She had something of the Force about her - dark, but perhaps not as committed to the Dark Side as Skajin's hate had made him. And really, what was so evil about hating the Draelvasier?

 

[Syd Celsius]

007.5 hours prior...


"Okay..." Syd paused, still in her green lingerie.

How could she explain it to Laertia if she herself wasn't certain what was going on?

"Laertia...I have never heard of this...Surt'r..." Syd spoke. That was the truth.

"But that doesn't mean anything..." she continued. "You have to understand...I was a weapon, like you. But a weapon has parts, and those parts don't all come from the same place. I was put together. Pieced together and forced to exist, for reasons I am only barely starting to really understand. Maybe that 'was' a past version of me. I cannot confirm or deny without something more. But if it is me...I swear to you...I didn't know you beyond your dossier when we met at Golbah. Or at least...I don't really remember...What did this 'Past Version' of me say to you in the specific?"

"She said we were connected by a bond that defied time and space. That I was the frost to her flames. She...she knew things about me...things no one else does."

"Such as?'

"Such as the kind of stuff that it caused me to start finding 'some' of her statements credible...and very concerned. She claimed we were to unite, she and I, to oppose a great evil." Laertia answered, still studying Syd's reaction for any falsehoods.

"I confess, I have begun to believe this of us, recently. This Surt'r and I are of like minds, at least. You said she had helped you learn something?"

Laertia paused, took a deep breath to calm herself, and then took an empty durasteel bonding alloy, tossed it into the air and breathed blue flames from her mouth at it. The can was smothered in the blue flames, freezing solid in the second before it hit the ground, shattering.

Syd's eyes went wet with a mix of astonishment, fear, and burning joy. She composed herself.

"If you think I am a threat to you..." Syd spoke softly, not wanting to agitate her. "Then ask me, and I shall depart. Because if I really am a threat to you, then I would rather you be safe from me than be with me. I would die before hurting you. But these flames of yours...in spite of how they were received...I really do believe it is a sign. Maybe she is right..." Syd posited, floating closer to a silent, uncertain Laertia.

"Why should we fear that?" Syd asked in a whisper, faces close to each other.

"Will you help me find out who T'sid Surt'r was?" Laertia asked.

"Ask, and I'll begin the search with you this instant..." Syd, said, unable to hide how much deeper she had fallen in love with Laertia after seeing her blue freezing flames. Laertia felt this, felt her own spirit stir, reached out to clasp hers in spite of logic, and terrifying revelations, Syd having passed one hell of a speech check (The fact she looked like Nineties Tia Carrere didn't hurt either!).

"Of course..." Syd whispered as Laertia again siezed her by the waist, kissing her with a nigh animalistic intensity. "It would be an awful waste of all this nice Lingerie..."

"I concurr..." Laertia agreed, throwing caution to the wind completely as she teleported them both to her Quarters.

("Calendar Girl" by Neil Sedaka Plays)

(Well Rested Bonus Gained!)

Present Time.

The two horrifyingly lethal beings had showered and changed into different, simpler looking Kimonos, Laertia's blue, Syd's red, as they received their guest Skajin var Imret .

Laertia sensed the darkness in him, but given what he had been through, she didn't blame him. She wasn't here to lecture. She was here to help. Besides, she wasn't a Jedi anymore, and even if she had been, she wouldn't have had the energy for a philosophy debate.

His manner of speech reminded Laertia of the Speech Impediment that had haunted her whole life until Syd's help. It still brought her pain, emotionally.

"I am indeed. Welcome, Skajin. Join me in the lounge area. I had Kubaz foods prepared in case you were hungry...this is my associate, Syd Celsius..." Laertia gestured to Syd, who nodded, her flaming red hair hanging freely as she gave a slight bow to Skajin, beginning to walk and lead him to the lounge while Laertia walked alongside him.

"The more Alliances we make, the better off we all shall be. It is too late to save your planet but we can still make the Bryn'adul pay if we fight hard and smart enough..." Laertia mentioned as she walked with him. "Tell me about yourself...what fronts have you seen, how organized is your evac network? What about your utilization of guerilla warfare. Any frequently used assets?" Laertia inquired, secretly scared her family might eventually share the fate of his...

 

[Skajin var Imret]

Just seeing Laertia Io and Syd Celsius set the Kubaz academic on edge in exciting ways: through the Force, they felt dangerous, competent, unpredictable. Useful. He didn't believe in the will of the Force per se - it might exist, but he didn't trust it - and yet this connection had the touch of serendipity.

He followed them into the lounge, where, as promised, a selection of insect-based Kubaz foods awaited. He dug in gratefully, proboscis twitching.

"Forrgive my enthusziaszm - it'sz been a long couple of yearrsz on rration packsz." He remained on his feet, holding a plate of chitinous hors d'oeuvres. "Frrontz - in Basic, my faction isz called We Who Szurvive. We've staged evacuationsz and rrunning battlesz asz the Drraelvaszierr drrove usz szouthweszt, moszt rrescently paszt Barab. We sprread out asz much asz we can, moving rrefugeesz and rrecruiting guerrilla fighterrsz frrom erradicated szpeciesz. We would be morre orrganized than we arre, but we can't sztop to catch ourr brreath."

He eyed the two of them, then shrugged and opted for trust.

"A while back, we sztaged a larrge prrison brreak in the Outerr Planetsz Alliancze. We szecured many alliesz from szpeciesz who sharre ourr pain and ourr drrive to rresist the Brryn'adul."

 

[Laertia Io]

"Staged a Prison Break, huh?" Laertia asked, sipping tea. "You're definitely not afraid of authority figures. I like that."

Laertia sat, sipping tea next to Syd as they listened. This being had invaluable intel. There was much about the Bryn'adul she needed to understand if she was to beat them.

"I would be happy to assist in supply and organization efforts. I'm actually attempting to coordinate with the Belarac on outer rim defense, but its incredibly slow going at the moment. What we need are an idea of Draelvasir biological weakpoints, samples of their technology and weapons. Have your resistance members managed to secure any such samples? Any scientists among you?" Laertia asked.

"The fronts we fought on didn't give us a lot of time to adjust to their tactics...they hit like a freight train and keep going until you're dead or they are..." Syd admitted.

Laertia herself didn't fail to miss the irony, any more than Syd did. They had finally started to understand the annihilating terror they had brought to so many, in meeting a foe even more brutal and relentless than they were.

Then again, Laertia never attempted to destroy a whole planet. A whole species.

She was definitely going to attempt it with the Bryn'adul, for she saw no other way to stop them, realistically speaking. No one was gonna accept their re-education. Not after that many dead. The Jedi could play savior all they liked: The Bryn'adul had dug their own grave. You don't play the game the way those bastards did and think you could escape repercussions.

"What your guerillas need are mobile Forward Operating Bases. I have some ships I could donate for that purpose. High end fabricators, sensors...you'll also need better training. I sense The Dark Side in you. As I am no longer Jedi, I am not bound by their rules. You'll need more Force Adepts to help you hold or seize important locations, penetrate security. I know a great deal about that, and people who can advance your study of the Force, so that you can teach it to other guerillas. Speaking of which, what weapons and Force Abilities do you know?" The raven haired exile asked as the Kubaz feasted. He looked like he had been through pure hell. Laertia sympathized. She had lost her parents to the Sith. She would resume her war on them once the Bryn'adul were out of the way.

"How are your units deployed in these battles with our foe? What tactics have you found to be especially effective?" Syd asked Skajin var Imret , sipping more tea.

 

[Skajin var Imret]

"We have no szamplesz," Skajin said bluntly. "If everr we kill a Drrael, along come ten morre. The conszequensz of fighting an endlessz horrde."

He felt more at ease now, and not just because of the Kubaz food. These two struck him as exactly the sort of kindred spirits he'd hoped to find.

"But I live in hope. I'm a xenobiologiszt. I taught at the Universzity of Kubindi as a full Sava. If you orr I get any szamplesz, I'm morre than willing to analysze them. I'm not the only forrmerr academic among We Who Szurvive, eitherr - not by a long shot. I wouldn't szay we have 'units' though - juszt extemporraneousz crrewsz and autonomousz shipsz. Asz guerrillasz, we arre enthusziasztic amateursz.

"The szame goesz for my szkillsz in the Forcze. I have taught myszelf to szteal memoriesz or usze them to humiliate, intimidate, diszhearten, even awaken the conscience. By and larrge I do not know what I don't know. My weaponsz..." He displayed his armor's poison dart shooters. "Venom. I can give you data on szome toxins that worrk on our larrge frriendsz."

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

"I am prepared to provide you personal instruction..." Laertia said immediately. "On matters of both the Force and The Lightsaber. I am not a Dark Adept myself, and therefore have no secrets of the Dark Side. But I was a Jedi Shadow. Effectively I was one of their assassins. I shall give you much, if you would willingly be taught. How you use it after the Bryn'adul are dead and gone will be your responsibility."

This was crazy, she thought to herself. In the past, she would have never even considered teaching a Dark Adept. But the Bryn'adul made her ignore her hangups. All her hangups. Plus, his manner of speech and the loss of his family reminded her all too much of her own life story.

Laertia dreaded the idea that she would be training someone who might become a threat to the galaxy, that many innocents might die if she taught him.

But better a potential headache down the road than no access to his networks now. Every effort that could be coordinated to fight The Bryn'adul now had to be.

Maybe training Skajin var Imret wouldn't blow up in her face. There was always that possibility.

(Cutaway of J. Jonah Jameson laughing uncontrollably)

Great. He has mind powers. And now I'm offering to show him how to really tear someone apart.

Laertia smiled at his words.

"Enthusiasm. I can do great things with enthusiasm. Your offer of toxins is also welcome." Laertia said, "With your permission, I'd like to install a few clones of my adopted Sister Westenra Mina into your ranks to help them start making more organized assaults, and as a Force Multiplier in general. One for each of your most effective units. I've also recently acquired access to the Research and Development Labs of House Li-Ves, who develop unique forms of psychically fueled weapons and tech."

"Do you have any questions? Concerns?" Syd asked.

 

[Skajin var Imret]

"I'll grratefully accept yourr offer of szupport, rreszourrszesz, and trraining," Skajin buzzed grimly. "I'd hoped to learrn on my own, but prride hasz prroven an obsztacle. I only hope yourr asszasszin'sz artsz can be adapted to a middle-aged forrmerr academic."

He sold himself short. He'd been a field researcher most of his career, and the last few years had left him lean and mean and so forth under the Scarpyen armor. Speaking of-

He opened the reloading catch of the dart launcher on his left arm and handed over a pair of darts. "Venom from the scarpyen and the great ghost spiderr, both native to Kubindi and thusz nearrly exztinct. Both have prroven crripling orr lethal to the Drraelvasier."

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

Upon accepting her as his instructor, Laertia began an immediate assessment of his build and posture while nodding. Slight build. Wiry. Needed to train him to fight fast and think faster.

He handed her the darts. Laertia examined them before handing them to Syd for examination.

"I accept you as my Apprentice." Laertia spoke, the echoes of the pain consuming him resonating way too close for comfort. "I shall turn you into a weapon to crush the Draelvasir. You in turn shall train many more to be weapons. Gods willing, we shall rip and tear until it is done."

(BFG Division by Mick Gordon Plays for a few seconds)

(Cutaway of Laertia Io at a young age kneeling in front of "Ursula Sandraven")

(Cutaway of Batman and Robin shaking hands)

"As you are my student now, your training will commence tomorrow. For now though, let us spend a few pleasant hours here. A calm before the storm. I would like to know you better...an Instructor must know who they are teaching after all. It will help me tailor the lesson." Laertia explained, sitting next to Syd, who was nearly finished with her tea.

"Tell me about yourself, Skajin. You said before the Bryn'adul you were a Xenobiologist...what prompted you to take that field of study?" She asked Skajin var Imret .

"I was never an academic, but I think I might have enjoyed it if the opportunity had been made available. I did all my learning on the streets until I met my own...Master..." Laertia said hesitantly on that last bit, sipping tea.

Syd listened quietly. Laertia spoke of herself only as much as she had to, most times, and Syd had learned certain tid bits out loud from Laertia mentioning it to others that Laertia never spoke of in private until very, VERY recently. Like the last few hours before Skajin had arrived...

 

[Skajin var Imret]

In his heavily accented Basic, Skajin explained how he'd stumbled into xenobiology through a culinary elective. He'd become a leading expert in edible insectoids, and traveled widely, even deep into the Unknown Regions, to find stranger and tastier bugs. Kubaz were insectivores and his work had brought planet-wide prestige to the University. He'd held the rank of Sava - a full tenured professor with powerful research skills and resources.

His tone turned sad and angry. In many ways, academia had been his family. While he retained professional contacts abroad, the University of Kubindi - and the planet itself - had suffered the Draelvasier's judgment and been pronounced weak. The sentence was, of course, annihilation. He spoke fondly but distantly of someday returning to his studies. It was clear that he knew he could never go back to being an academic. He'd changed too much, found too much compelling purpose in the work he now faced.

He tried to turn the conversation back to Laertia Io . In a friendly way, he suggested continuing her studies if she ever had the chance. He still had deep faith in education.

He also tried to draw out the quieter Syd Celsius , of whom he pretty much only knew her name.

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd listened to the remains of the innocent person in Skajin var Imret talk of his life before his bitterness and entirely justified Hatred and Rage at what The Bryn'adul had taken from him subsumed it. It resonated with Laertia because of her own lost family at the hands of the Sith. It resonated with Syd because her Sith Self, Darth Phyre had done the same to hundreds of innocent people just like Skajin. Gleefully.

It wasn't easy for her to listen to it. Any of it. It reminded her too much of crimes she was still barely remembering.

Laertia smiled faintly as he suggested continuing her academic studies. It was a nice dream but Laertia knew she would never have the time any more than he could go back to being ordinary. She felt Laertia's slight envy of the normalcy Skajin had once enjoyed. He had friends. Family. He had grown up without people trying to kill him since he was a child. Laertia's family wasn't organic like she for the most part, consisting of intelligent killing machines just like she was. Laertia had had to acquire family on the go instead of having it just by virtue of growing up in normal settings...

When he tried to coax more out of her, Syd could only answer carefully out of shame.

"I was a weapon. A product of Heretical Magics..." Syd said. "I did..."

Syd paused, thought a moment.

"I did bad things..." was all she said on it after that moment. "Tried to work with the system...but it wasn't in the cards. The system wouldn't listen. Especially to the need to unite. So here I am. Helping Laertia fight her war."

Syd did not elaborate further on it than that.

"I'm fairly experienced at Sorcery...looking back I'm not sure its what I would have chosen to be good at if I could do it all again..." she added afterward, glancing away awkwardly once or twice.

"We're all killers here..." Laertia said after a second to break the silence. "And when I'm done with you, you'll be a better one."

Laertia winced as the migraine started.

"Excuse me a moment, Skajin..." she said. "I have to get something. I can't call myself your master without giving you proper equipment...I'll return shortly..."

Laertia rose and headed to the armory.

Syd spoke a little more.

"I was an archaeologist on the side. I loved finding relics...learning about other viewpoints through the pieces they left behind. But there's no time for that now. No time for any of it. The Bryn'adul are beasts who slay without regard for anyone. We'll probably have to kill all of them. And I do mean 'all' of them. Its the fate they have planned for everyone else. I don't 'want' to kill all of them. I 'know' it is wrong, that death of that sort creates wounds in The Force. But I see no other realistic alternatives than their total unconditional surrender or their total annihilation. I'll probably never have a chance to go exploring again, other than fight..."

Syd was clearly saddened at this prospect. She sipped the last of her tea. than poured some more.

"I threw what standing I had gained among the Jedi away to fight the Bryn'adul without committing to the Order's flawed strategy of trying to fight two enemies at once. I'm sort of adrift. So is Laertia. You have no idea how much it hurt her to oppose other Jedi at Dantooine...her parents were murdered by The Sith on that very planet...she wouldn't have turned away from them unless she really felt they were wrong...the same goes for me. But lives are more important than honor..."

Laertia soon returned with two cases, one a kit holding Lightsaber parts, handing him a red rubat with diagnostics for either a curved, or standard single bladed Lightsaber, the other a weapons case containing two deadly and destructive weapons...

(Zelda Acquisition Theme Plays)

(Skajin got new weapons and equipment!)

Weapon: SFOR CARBINE

Spoiler

Deadly energy carbine that sends out a destructive wave of energy to whatever its pointed at. Can be modified for Cryonic effects

Weapon: CRYOBAN RIFLE

Spoiler

Deadly Cryo Based Blaster Rifle. Can cause deadly freezing damage with enough shots.

Equipment: LIGHTSABER KIT

Spoiler

Contains parts to construct either a single standard Lightsaber or a curved hilt

"These are yours. While powerful weapons alone cannot defeat the enemy, they do help. Its better if you assemble the Lightsaber yourself. That way it truely will be your weapon." Laertia explained. "Your training starts tomorrow..."