Eclipstica: Shade of the Past

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan tilted his head as he got the word from Romeo and shrugged making a quick gesture as he looked at his second in command. "The Dragoon will move in a spiral outward from the Hyuk's location. Have the Devastators and Dire class work in an opposite spiral from the outside of the system in. Also Devastator's are to take up a net level positioning." His orders were relayed as the young man turned and sat in his command throne cross his legs as he started to mediate reaching out with the force as he did.

[member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Romeo Sin"]

 

[The Red of Sinner]

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

And then more tapping.

Romeo never moved from his spot as Alicia threatened his life, even going as far as to pull out her own weapon. The Vahla shook his head as he tapped his finger, Blackheart at his side, and a few other tricks up his sleeve. Yes, Romeo still held the upper hand here, and he planned to keep it that way.

"Instead of threatening me, you ever thought maybe an alliance would work better for you?"

His finger stopped tapping due to his arms crossing across his chest.

"Alicia, instead of fighting, let's talk. My life is far beyond what's on the line here, you and I both know this. If you kill me, you'll never know where the ship is."

[member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Romeo Sin"] | [member="Darth Raijin"] |

Although Darth Ayra's signal of intent was clear, she had yet to activate her lightsaber and that was important to note, because if she did ignite her blade, then it ruined any chance of further talks between both her side and his. Eyes still fixated upon Romeo, the Sith Lord said: "It is good that you have finally begun to listen. I'll say it again, Romeo."

"Give me access to the Bogan's Beauty. Allow myself and Mara to speak to it's AI, without interruption from you and your people. In return, I shall placate to your request for an alliance." Before Romeo could interrupt her with questions such as, 'What would I get from this alliance?', Darth Ayra lifted her free hand to silence him. "The opportunity to become allied to me is a rare thing. I do not make the offer lightly. If you choose to accept, then you will benefit from the infrastructure I have built across the galaxy. To have a Sith Lord owe you something comes once in a life time."

Bearing her teeth, showcasing how angry the entire exchange had made her, Darth Ayra took a menacing step forward, leaning her frame towards Romeo as if readying herself to pounce and attack him. "GIVE ME THE DAMN SHIP, SIN!"

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Darth Ayra"]
[member="Aedan Miles"]
[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Darkness ensued around them as Romeo drew on it, commanded it to bend to his whim. Her presence of uneasiness did not intimidate him, nothing about this woman scared him, not anymore. As her voice echoed throughout bridge, the crew stood by, watching her every movement. When it was all done, and suddenly she took a aggressive stance, roaring out like an idiot...Romeo did nothing. His posture, his face, nothing changed about him. He never touched his weapons, instead, he began to applaud her.
"Yes, there's that Sith stature, that infamous impatience they are known for. Whoever taught you the darkside...taught you wrong."
He made a gesture with his head, and the lights went out on the bridge. Romeo then activated the light absorbing cell web on his hilt, drowning him in a new type of darkness. Nothing could see in, nothing could see out...until Romeo placed his mask on and the heat signature HUD raised up. His weapon gave off it's own signature, though, his signature presence in the Force. It was easy to find him...until he began to expand his presence all around the bridge.
"YOU DO NOT THREATEN ME ON MY OWN SHIP ALICIA!!"

Red energy flung from his finger tips, out of his bubble of darkness, crawling all around the bridge, draining everyone and everything other than Romeo, feeding him power. Drain life was Romeo's only power he hated using...it was an evil power...it did bad things, but...Sith needed a taste of their own medicine.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Romeo Sin"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Darth Raijin"] |

Darth Ayra held her posture, thumb itching to ignite and sever this man before he knew what hit him. But she would give him a chance. This was a life changing decision. To make a Sith Lord your enemy rarely ended well for you. But to make one your ally? Such a decision could lead to a many great benefits. Of course, becoming an ally of a Sith never fitted into the normal meaning behind the relationship. It was more like servitude to the Sith and their machinations, with the only added incentive that you received rewards for your efforts.

Perhaps it was ego that blinded Romeo to what was the correct decision was. If anything could be taken from his monologue, he obviously had a poor perspective of the Sith and their doctrines. Or maybe he was just confident that he held all the cards in that moment. But Darth Ayra regarded him poorly. The vision of a Dark Jedi was limited. It paled in comparison to the broader view that the Sith had learned and subsequently adopted. Your limitations have cost you now, she thought, as the bridge was submerged into darkness. And the consequences shall be dire, I assure you.

Maintaining her stance, expecting Romeo to attack as soon as he shouted, Darth Ayra observed a unique and unexpected maneuver. Her enemy disappeared completely. One moment he was there and the next he was not. Yet, through the Force, Darth Ayra could feel Romeo everywhere. It was a unique trick, she admitted. But tricks also had their limitations and the Sith were the most deceptive of all.

Raising a Force Shield to protect herself from Romeo's Force Drain, the Dark Lord of the Sith observed his crew- his people- begin to succumb to the effects of his attack. She watched, protected from the effects of the drain as the life essence of Ryuk's crew was drawn into Romeo, empowering him and his abilities. To have sacrificed your own crew to destroy me... You would have been a worthy Sith. Feeding on the death caused by Romeo's technique, Darth Ayra felt rejuvenated by a surge of dark side power. Behind the veil of invisible protection, created by the Force Shield that surrounded her, she allowed herself to tap into the flow of the Force.

Upon Romeo's HUD, he would see the Sith Lord succumb to the effects of the Force Drain. He would observe her collapse to the floor, after struggling to stay up right. He would hear her scream, yell and roar- as a Sith Lord would- as she fought to cling onto her expiring life. Collapsing at Romeo's feet, the Sith Lord he knew as Alicia Drey fell to his mercy, overcome by his technique. This illusion- this facade created out of the Force- was borne out of the White Current, of which Darth Ayra had learned to use and consequentially became an adept of under the tutelage of her late Sith Master, Darth Pandeima.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Romeo Sin"] [member="Aedan Miles"]

“Cronau contact,” said Mukami at long-range sensors. “The new arrivals have split. Designating Group Aurek, Group Besh. Group Aurek is in-system, approaching the unknown Star Destroyer. Group Besh appears to be starting a sweep of the outer system. They’re looking for us, starting about sixty degrees away on the ecliptic.”

“They are in league with the destroyer,” said Kolatta. The Zahat’n’iran commando fidgeted at the tactical console.

“Probably, yeah.” Mara squinted at the long-range sensors, which offered the faintest possible image of the hunter ships -- mostly based on drive glows. She could assume they had similar sensor gear or better, but her vessel was much smaller and running dark -- no acceleration, no weapons fire, no shields, just an obscene amount of empty space for defense. “It would take them, or us, weeks to get to the planet at sublight from this far out. A sweep like they’re doing will take months to cover the system, and days at minimum to get a sensor image of us. They’re trying to spook us into revealing ourselves.”

“Stupid move,” Styr grunted, “to assume we’re that dumb.”

Mara shook her head. “We are that dumb. Sooner or later, the situation with our friend will get resolved one way or another. We might be called upon to play getaway car or provide cover fire -- or just leave as fast as possible. All three options will require a hyperspace jump, either a precision microjump or the real thing. As soon as we make one of those moves, especially if it’s insystem, I’m betting they’ll be on us like cognitive dissonance on a Jedi. There’s only so many routes out of this system; if they know this region better, they might catch up in a few jumps.” She sucked her teeth. “Any suggestions?”
All quiet for a second.

“How about a Reverse Dameron?” said Kolatta. “I saw your father pull that once off Ord Mantell.”

“Yeah. Yeah, Mom told me. I’ve pulled a hyperbrake before, but never, you know, in hostile territory, with friends’ lives at stake.” After a moment, Mara shrugged. “A Reverse Dameron sounds like a plan to me. After we jump and get where we’re going, Mukami, I’m going to need you to be ready to hold us steady if I get distracted. I’ll be reaching out to our associate to let her know we haven’t abandoned her.”

She fired up the engines and spun the Bullet Time to point out of the system. Right now, the faraway searcher ships would be detecting her engines at full burn, allowing them to notice her location. They’d also notice the Cronau radiation when she jumped to hyperspace, which she did now.

At which point she disengaged certain navicomputer protocols and flew through hyperspace by instinct. She U-turned across half a light-year, warping her course to anticipate and avoid the mass shadows of whatever might be in the way -- Strigari nomads, rubble, brown dwarfs. Instinctive astrogation was her stock in trade, as it was her father’s. A hyperspace maneuver like this was trademark Merrill.

“Braking...now.”

With Force-guided precision, she adjusted the hyperdrive field, and the torrential blue-white of hyperspace slowed somewhat. Their position relative to the sidereal universe had just frozen; she held them steady with expert precision. And if she’d done it right, if they were to decant from hyperspace to realspace, they’d be right beside the unknown Star Destroyer and half the newcomer flotilla. Not a healthy place to be, if the Bullet Time reverted.

But no sensor known to man could tell ships in realspace that her little ship was parked in hyperspace nearby. And being in a whole other universe, telepathic proximity wouldn’t auto-warn them of where she was. To be safe, she’d dulled her presence.

So far as the searchers were concerned, they’d flushed her out. So far as they were concerned, she’d revealed herself lurking on the edge of the system, then jumped to hyperspace and left the system behind.
Gently, she reached out through the tiny and wary bond that connected her and Ayra.

-Ready for pickup if needed. They just saw me leave-

 

[The Red of Sinner]

Romeo had faced many Sith, and other powerful force users in the past, he knew attempting to get close was not an option. His body wasn't meant to take a beating, broken bones were always the outcome of his attempts to get in close, and personal. Just ask Darren Shaw, the man nearly killed him with just his fists...though...he did poke him with his sabers multiple times. Apart from that, Romeo was certain what he was seeing, wasn't real. Mind games were something Romeo was very aware of, and Alicia was smarter than to just suddenly be effected by this power. It wasn't Romeo's strong point. It didn't matter though, energy uplifted in Romeo, a new surge of power swelled in Romeo. When would Sith learn that he wasn't a Sith Slayer for no reason, that his attack on Coruscant had not been without a completed goal in itself.

They did not take him as serious as they should.

Backing away on his attack, Romeo sat down, and allowed new found power and energy to boil inside him. An idea came to mind as he ran to a chair, strapped himself in, and grabbed a rebreather for if the windows were to be cracked, or any seals were broken. It had enough air to last for an hour. He focused on the windows themselves, and began to call on the force to begin cracking the windows still they shattered, sucking everything not bolted to the ground out into the void.

[member="Darth Ayra"]
[member="Aedan Miles"]
[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan Miles tilted his head seeing the ship jump to hyperspace he hummed to himself thoughtfully. There were various routes they could take but odds were they would be back one way or another. Sighing he shrugged and pressed a button on the control panel. "All ships are to return to the Hyuk I am going to get in a fighter and check something out. All other fighters and the Dire-class are to set up a perimeter around the Hyuk might as well see if Sin has heard of any new places to hit." Standing Aedan spun on his heel and started to walk away retracting his presence in the force within himself the young man hummed absently. He hadn't gotten a chance to pilot in quite some time he looked forward to it now. Walking into the hangar he saw a covered ship left to the side walking over to it he gently touched the revealed nose where a large section was covered with his personal kill count. Smiling he patted the nose of the ship whispering. "Let us go old friend." Climb in he opened a channel to the Hyuk calmly stating a simple phrase that Romeo had heard him use many times before. "Snakes in the grass and vipers ready to strike." He climbed into his personal fighter and took off the Devastator soaring out of the Dragoon artfully as he slipped through space towards the Hyuk.

[member="Romeo Sin"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Romeo Sin"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Darth Raijin"] |

Laying before the Slayer of Sith, the crumpled body of Darth Ayra was sucked out into the void of space, cast out of the Ryuk and away from every troubling Romeo and his ilk again. However, under the disguise of the White Current, Darth Ayra stood a yard from where her 'body' had lain before Romeo, feeling a surge as the bridge of the Ryuk was exposed suddenly by the former's machinations.

Steadying herself upon a nearby console, Darth Ayra felt her lower body begin to rise and pull towards the opening that had been made. She struggled, keeping hold onto the console so that she wasn't pulled outside. Maintaining the White Current in this state was next to impossible. But there was no need to maintain the illusion, for the facade itself had been ripped out of the Ryuk's ship and out into space. For all pretense and purposes, Romeo Sin had just killed her and that was precisely what the Dark Lord wanted him to think.

She didn't know where Romeo was, for his weapon still kept him invisible to her eyes. But she could feel him on the bridge and was beginning to get a fix on exactly where he was via her Force senses. Reaching out and draining the lives of every bridge officer, coupled with the breakage of the transparisteel panels of the bridge, required enormous concentration and attention of what they were doing. So, the ability to mask his presence across the entire bridge- rather than letting Ayra feel where he was exactly- was negligible now.

With the bridge exposed to the vacuum of space, the nearby consoles and so forth become increasingly cold. Darth Ayra was aware of this, her mind summarizing what was happening around her and so she came up with a plan. Maneuvering her body behind a console, she moved to hide herself from Romeo's line of sight. She couldn't know that he was wearing a HUD that was tracking her heat signals, but the console provided protection by hiding her seat signature, due to the freezing temperatures that it had just been exposed to. This effect would only last a few minutes, inevitably revealing where the Dark Lord was now hidden. Coupled with the use of the White Current before hand, Romeo hadn't yet seen the Sith Lord, except for the illusion of her body, that had just been pulled out into space.

As quickly as the bridge had been exposed, the emergency blast doors activated to seal the exposed sections from the vacuum. The cold pull of space ceased and the wind that had followed it die. Knelt behind the nearby computer console, Darth Ayra waited to see if her trick had worked, kneeling down and waiting for the perfect moment to strike, when the opportunity came. Masking her presence with the White Current again, Darth Ayra used her ultimate weapon- patience- to undo Romeo for his attacks.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Romeo Sin"]

Mara likewise waited. The Bullet Time hovered in hyperspace right next to the unknown Star Destroyer. At a moment's notice, the miniature blockade runner could revert, drop eighteen kinds of nope, and bail again. With a high-precision hyperspace compass and other instrumentation, the Bullet Time had more than enough information to calculate a jump from here. Calculations began, overseen by Styr; Mara was busy holding the ship steady against the turbulence of the nearby mass shadow. They were still in high orbit over Eclipstica, after all, though gravity didn't work quite the same way in hyperspace. As she fine-tuned their hyperspace location, Mara continued to blanket her presence and stretch out to the Force through her instincts. She needed those instincts, not just for astrogation but to know the right moment and angle for reversion.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Darth Ayra"]
[member="Darth Raijin"]
[member="Aedan Miles"]
[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

The body went sailing out the broken windows, only for the emergency shutters to activate, and seal the breach. Romeo sighed to himself, no way was that enough, Alicia was a survivor, something they both had in common. It aggravated Romeo to the highest degree that this woman would think him stupid enough to keep pressing the attack, what was worse, he could not feel the woman in the force...which meant...he may have killed her. Removing the rebeather, the Dark Jedi called out:

"Alicia...this is pointless. I dont have the ship anymore. I don't even want to fight you."

Romeo turned to the controls, turned off the webbing, and turned the lights back on within the bridge. Drakons were now breaching the door, and filing in, each a trained elite of war, and battle.

"It's fine."

He called out to them. They lowered their weapons.

"Ya' know something...I think she's scared..."

Romeo said more to himself than anything else.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Romeo Sin"] | [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] |

Listening to Romeo's call, Darth Ayra thought about what she would do next. For all pretense and purposes, she was now dead to this man. He had effectively won the contest, through sheer cool intellect and a surprise attack that she hadn't been prepared for. Based on his mannerisms, behaviour and ego, it shouldn't be beyond him to believe that he was her better, and because of that fact alone, she hadn't stood a chance.

Several options were available to her. She could sneak out of the bridge, hijack one of the ships on board the Ryuk and rendezvous with Mara at another system. She could catch Romeo unaware and run her lightsaber right through his back, piercing his heat and causing an instant death. That seemed almost poetic and just. To snatch away his life when he had been lured into the false sense of victory. She could accomplish more. She could spike her way into the Ryuk's memory banks and download everything that was on there. Then, when she recovered the Initium, she could analyze the data, without the need for Mara's help. Theoretically, she could deceive Rave Merrill's niece into thinking that she had been killed by Romeo as well. There were many options for the Dark Lord to take.

But she decided to take none of them. She would reserve all of those options. Instead of revealing herself to Romeo, Mara or the Drakons that had just entered the bridge, Darth Ayra remained hidden behind her console, concealed by the White Current, and more importantly, concealed from the founder of the Shadow Dynasty, his technology and his goons.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Darth Raijin"]

As he sat there watching the bridge, Romeo began to tap his finger against the console as he awaited some form of answer.

Tap
Tap
Tap

The sound seemed to echo throughout the room, each one a little louder than the last. As this point, Romeo was unsure what to do, so instead of trying to be anymore violent then he was already had been, the man sighed.

"Begin broadcasting a message; The Fringe Lords. The woman's not dead...when she picks it up, she'll know what I am talking about. Till then, someone set a jump out of this system. Get us out of here."

With this, a Drakon began to set up a message, played it a few times, then set some random coordinates out of the Shadow Realm system.

"We are ready to jump sir."

The Drakon announced as he awaited the okay. A few moments later, Romeo again spoke.

"Jump."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Romeo Sin"] [member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Aedan Miles"]

Hyperspace warped for a moment as the Star Destroyer jumped, narrowly missing the Bullet Time. There and gone in an instant. Still in hyperspace, Mara faced a split-second choice. She opted not to revert. She couldn't sense Ayra anymore, though the SIth Lord might simply be hiding her presence by one means or another; it felt indistinguishable from death, after all. On the assumption that Ayra would still be aboard, though, dead or alive -- and considering the Star Destroyer was their best chance of finding Romeo Sin -- Mara followed the larger ship. Ships couldn't follow each other in hyperspace, not like this; it took instinctive astrogation with a high level of expertise, and frankly, it pushed her abilities to the limit. The intensely precise Reverse Dameron maneuver had already taken a lot out of her. On the plus side, though, hyperspace navigation sensors weren't designed to pick up nearby ships in hyperspace, so at least she wouldn't be detected until reversion. She hadn't decided yet whether to revert or just hover in hyperspace once instinct told her to stop. She'd have to trust her gut on that.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Romeo Sin"] |

Darth Ayra remained silent and ever vigilant of her situation. She overheard Romeo as he spoke, frowning at his words. She contemplated the meaning behind them. Who was he contacting? Was it about her? She did not know. Perhaps Romeo had been speaking about Mara. After all, she had just died, hadn't she? Contemplating over her situation, Darth Ayra knew that she couldn't remain here for an indefinite amount of time. She would begin to tire from the use of the White Current, and the more she waited, the more she lost her advantage over Romeo and the crew of the Ryuk. It was inevitable that new bridge officers would be assigned to replace the ones that Romeo had killed. If she continued to wait here, one was bound to notice something, despite her invisibility.

Standing up, Darth Ayra's eyes scanned the bridge. She saw the guards that Romeo had called her and then spotted the man himself, sat in the middle of the bridge. She now regretted saving his life all those years about, when the two had been trapped on the Bogan's Beauty. When both of them had cleared Omega Protectorate space, and set course for Gromas, she should have ended her allegiance to him then and there, turning her blade on him and taking the ship for herself. But she had been naive. Undisciplined. Too focused on the Sith Abattar that she had looted, rather than seeing the larger picture.

The mistakes of Darth Pandeima's apprenticeship continued to limit Darth Ayra, even to this day. Rave Merrill's niece held a loose over her neck. Her one time ally, had now betrayed her. She was no closer to discover the cache of artifacts and knowledge that Velok's prodigy had stored on the vault ship. Wasn't she the Dark Lord of the Sith? It was her divine right to control all eventualities and the circumstances she founded herself in. Power was the ability to manipulate all environments to the will of the powerful and she was the most powerful being on the Ryuk.

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Darth Ayra begun to make her way out of the bridge. K'tara was a martial art that she had learned under her time with Pandeima. It was a discipline that allowed the user to attack and move without making much noise. The decibels in which Darth Ayra then sneaked through the bridge of the Ryuk was minuscule, and under the White Current, she continued to be invisible to the eye and Force sense of Romeo and his people. Eyes vigilant so as to not bump into a guard or hit something that would gain attention, the Dark Lord made it to the exit of the bridge. Slipping out, Darth Ayra entered the adjoining hallway and begun to make her way down it, in search of a console that she could use to access the Ryuk's records and make contact with Mara.

With the Initium left stranded above Eclipsticia, and no other alternative means of leaving the Ryuk, Darth Ayra knew that her only escape was in the hands of Mara and the Bullet Time. When she had what she wanted, she would then devise a way in which she would somehow end up on Mara's ship and the two would high tail it away from the Ryuk and out of Romeo Sin's life for good.