Ziare Dyarron | Keilara Kala'myr | Mercy | Freedom
Mongrel's Shadow and his widow; Matriarch of the Scar Hounds Tribe; Guardian of Mongrel's armour and sword
Objective: Try to contact Manifold and ask his help.
Location: Ancient ruins, Selvaris
Equipment:
FS-18-UP2 Assault Rifle | 2x
Sunfury Pistol |
Light Armour |
Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | 2x
Vibrodagger | 2x
Riftblades |
Promise of Freedom |
Ring of Wishes and Dreams ||
Cloaking Device | 5x
ASBF Probe Droid ||
OPBC-01m
Writing With:
The Manifold
,
Tu'teggacha
,
The Mongrel
and Kallan | Closed
[ Come back… ]
"Galactic Basic" | ~ Telepathic communication ~ | << comm. channel >>
~ Mercy ~ (few days earlier)
Exegol again; ever since Tu'teggacha came back secretly with the twins, I knew I had to come to this place again if I wanted to or not. I arrived back before the first wave of the attack, only to sink back into the swamp of memories. I was in the building that used to be my home, where Asher and I lived. Me, secretly, of course, because we kept it all in secret. "Sanctuary of The Mongrel"; from where he controlled the Scar Hounds Tribe. Unlike Thomas, he was rather here, on Exegol. Now for the attack, no Scar Hounds members will be here except me. But I'm not here to help either.
I came early to have time to record a message to be sent to
Thomas Barran
on the final day. So I set about recording the message.
<< Once you get this message, you won't be able to stop it. I know, I promised that I'm trying to stay strong, I'm trying to fight, but I can't anymore. It doesn't work, not without him. It's time to say goodbye, Thomas, we won't see each other again. I don't know how today will end, whether I will survive or not. Whatever the outcome, I will not be going back to Mar Zambul again. Either way, I'll be with Asher, with my husband.
You can find the sword you made for him in my apartment, I didn't bring it with me, I won't take it to him. It's yours, you're the leader of the tribe. I'm currently here on Exegol, I found someone to help me free the twins and then take me to the Netherworld to find my husband. I contacted Manifold not so long ago, he will help me with this. I didn't initiate you because I didn't want to put you in danger. Thank you for everything you have given me since his death.
Don't worry, I won't kill your father, I won't go after him. I don't care anymore. Nothing in this world means anything anymore. I find no joy in anything, everything just reminds me of him and that Asher is no longer with me. The pain and the void caused by his absence is not getting better, it's just getting more painful and worse every day. I love him, Thomas, and I can't live without him. I tried it but it didn't work…
I… I let him down, him and the Tribe again. I'm sorry! And as a farewell, I owe you one more confession that you never wanted to hear. About him. On the day of his death, you asked me to preserve his memory for the Tribe, I asked if you want to hear the reality or the myth. You wanted the myth, but today I will also tell you the reality. I don't care if you turn off the recording at this point because what you are going to hear will be too painful.
He died for me, he died because he wanted me to be free and wanted me happy, and he thought that as long as he was alive it wouldn't happen. It was our dream, we yearned for it, to leave the Maw, to go away from war, death and everything and live somewhere in peace, maybe even start a family somehow. On one of the previous missions, years before, he suffered severe brain damage and lost his body. No one cared about him, and he, locked in the tank, lost all faith, since the Maw did not let him die, they always saved him. He just wanted to die, before we got to know each other better.
At first it was just an addiction, like a drug addict, he longed to be able to feel again, feel the world through my telepathic power, and I was attracted by his rank and success. However, we started getting to know each other, it turned out that we have more and more things in common. We began to enjoy each other's company outside the battlefield. We wanted to give more and more to each other, we became friends, confidants from simple and twisted lovers, then we fell in love with each other, and became soul mates.
He shared all his secrets with me because he knew I was the only one who didn't want to gain power through him, who didn't want to use him. I never asked him to promote me or give me power. That's why I've always been in the shadows. I watched over him and the Scar Hounds from the shadows. I took care of him, trained his mind, which slowly began to heal. His joie de vivre, his cheerfulness returned. And the man behind the Warlord's guise was a completely different person.
We were just like any other couple. We secretly had joint programs, we watched movies and series. Through MANIAC, we went to exhibitions and read about mechanical innovations. There were times when we would just walk and talk for hours, while everyone thought I was just reporting to him; as his best agent. We installed and fixed machines together. He has a very good sense of humour, is polite, kind, gentle but a strong leader. In our minds, where he was in his old form, we actually lived together. Everything was like in reality, the mind palace gave me a great opportunity for this, and the fact that I have such abilities. We had a normal life in secret.
As his mind healed, he began to dream of a future with me. We have often dreamed of what life would be like outside the Maw. With the healing, he was able to learn telepathic things and tricks and was able to take on a normal physical form in our common mind palace. Our minds melded and a relationship was formed like the Force dyad, only without the Force. As he strengthened and healed, the work of Taskmaster and the Heathen priests weakened. After they captured him, they tried to kill and erase his old personality, but this personality also began to recover. Kallan, that's what they used to call him, before the Maw… and Kallan also woke up. But Kallan was a simple speeder mechanic, he couldn't stand what Asher was doing…
I kept the two personalities separate for a long time so they wouldn't fight each other. During Kallan, he fell in love with Keilara, my original personality. There were four of us, two couples each. The acts of Taskmaster and Heathen Priests are reversible. We ended up getting married, me to Asher and Kallan to Keilara. But Asher couldn't stop, he would have found everything so pointless. I asked him to run away, to make everyone believe that he died on Tython, but he didn't…
He went to Tython to die and save me. At that point, he was no longer interested in the Maw, the Avatars, or the Scar Hounds. The Mongrel died before our fleet reached Tython, only Asher was there when we landed. And your father killed him… he killed him who no longer wanted war, only a peaceful life with me. He wouldn't let them draw the runes on me… he saved me as much as he could. And I saved him as much as I could as well. I broke the runes on his armour, in the Force, although I am not Force user or sensitive, and ripped him out of the ritual. He died a free man, who regretted not listening to me, who didn't want to die in the end, but to go and run away and live with me. He died a free man, no longer bound by the Maw or the Avatars.
And I failed again, I couldn't save him. I was able to save Kallan from his mind, he is still alive, here in my mind with Keilara. But I didn't have enough time to save Asher. In the last moments, we created an alternate life, a life that would have happened if he had listened to me. We spent sixty years together in that life, a long, happy life, with the twins, with a family, before he disappeared from my mind, leaving only emptiness and pain behind. "I am all yours!" These were the last thoughts and feelings he conveyed to me…
This is the truth about him, he is the meaning of my life, the other half of my soul. I hope this makes it easier to understand why I have been the way I am since his death. You wanted his legacy to live on. From now, not only do I know what kind of person he really was, but so do you. He was a good and decent man who was forced to do many atrocities by the chains and brainwashing of the Maw and he is the perfect example of how to break free from the captivity and chains of the Maw and the Avatars. They didn't get him… he was free. And I will seek him, to be with him.
Farewell Thomas, take care of yourself!
Mercy out! >>
During my words, the tears flowed down my face anyway, but after that I fell to the ground sobbing loudly from the pain...
~ Keilara ~ (few days earlier)
I know the darkness grew deeper and deeper in Kallan as we approached the ominous day. I tried to support and help him so that it wouldn't consume him. I was worried that he would be consumed by this and become like Asher on his own. I could understand if you might want to kill the Taskmaster, if you wanted to get revenge on him. But I didn't want this to change him. I know how much he had to sacrifice to keep me and Mercy alive. The last period, since Tython, was especially not easy for him.
But today can be about light and happiness. Because Mercy finally got the ring, the arrival of which she and I were really looking forward to. I hoped that this would make Kallan feel better about finally being back in his own body after nearly a decade and a half. Even if in a very complicated way. I tried to practise a lot so that I would be able to physically be there by the time this day comes, it went well and I succeeded for a longer or shorter time. And today the day has come.
We were already in Exegol, Asher's former sanctuary. Mercy, as always, went to bed early, so this was the time for Kallan to practise body control. It wasn't easy because Mercy was pregnant before and suffered from anorexia after giving birth. Our bodies were never too heavy, but now every bone was visible and it barely reached forty kilograms. I think he ate most when Kallan had something to eat. Mercy, if she could, she would have slept the whole time. I hoped it would get better soon. But back to the present. After Mercy escaped into her dreams and Kallan took control over the body, after a longer concentration I appeared in physical form not so far from him.
It was still so strange that I had to look at myself and not at him. I was very confident that the ring would work and finally, after so many long years, we could finally have our first real physical meeting. I smiled sweetly at him. I was so excited, if I had an actual body, my heart probably would have been pounding strongly with excitement. To finally see him in reality, to touch him, to embrace him, and not my own body, but his. This seemed unthinkable a few years ago. And now it might be a reality in a few minutes.
A small step towards our shared dream, to one day walk hand in hand on Serenno, at Azure Lake, which was our home in the mind palace. I still wanted to show him that it would be our home one day. Although that probably won't happen because it looks very much like the Netherworld will be the final destination. Although even from there we can come back at any time. Maybe there will be an easier solution than the one Mercy just came up with. It was still strange every time I could comment with words and not with thoughts. It was true only a few moments before, I hoped that now the ring would extend the time of sustainability of the astral projection for me as well.
"Put on the ring, I can't wait to finally see you in your own body, here in reality." I told him excitedly, with an almost girlish voice and excitement.
Like a young girl preparing for her first date with the first love of her life. In fact, he was my first and only love, and in reality this will be our first meeting. I smiled at him encouragingly, even though I didn't have a heart, I could still feel the intense beating. I couldn't wait to finally see him, really him, here in reality, which is ordinary for others, but for us...
... will be one of the greatest miracles.
~ Mercy ~ (present)
I woke up to MANIAC sending a message that the attack had begun. Hopefully this was the last day I had to wake up alone, the last day I could only be with him in my dreams. With his imprint, with what was left when our minds merged. I've been here the whole time for the last few days, I haven't been going anywhere. Apart from a few droids, there was nothing and no one in this place. The former dreaded warlord's home has become a crypt. I didn't mind, at least I could escape to my memories, our shared memories. What was once shiny was now covered in a thick layer of dust.
Chisels, pliers, wrenches, screwdrivers. Some semi-disassembled or assembled devices. On some, only Asher worked alone, but some were things that we assembled and repaired together. Weapon, armour, speeder. Everything here has such deep memories. When I looked at some of the smaller tools, they were mine. I used some of them when I repaired his armour and his body after he suffered minor or major injuries. Or just a cloth with which I wiped the blood off him, other people's blood. Some old datapads that still had the reports I sent him.
The places from where we watched movies or just talked for long nights. Where he embraced me or we just belonged to each other, where we didn't need to deceive others and hide. When I looked at these places, at these objects, I saw in my mind's eye the past, as the things that happened here happened. I sobbed again, I couldn't take this emptiness and pain anymore. He was the first and only, the first person I loved. He was the first to treat me like a human being, tenderly, despite the fact that his mechanical body was designed to cause as much destruction as possible.
But he was more than that, much, much more, and no one but me knew it. That is, Keilara and Kallan know, but they weren't really in a position to tell anyone about it. And the twins know it too. And they will have to learn in history lessons that their father was a monster. Not true, it was the Maw, the brainwashing and chains of the Maw dragged him and forced him to do this. And they took my husband from me, their father from my children...
"Today I will be with you… one way or another, but I will be with you… my love." I whispered in the empty room.
I looked around once more, it was time to start what we were here for. It was time for Tu'teggacha to pay for his crimes and suffer at least as much as we suffered from him. I sat in the middle of the bed and got up a few minutes later and walked to the door. I remembered the first time he invited me here and the last time I left. My chest was tight, it still hurt and tears were streaming down my face. I couldn't take his absence any longer. Another thing I disappointed him in, let him down.
~ MANIAC, send
Thomas Barran
the message I recorded a few days ago. ~ I instructed him in my mind.
~ The message has been sent, the recipient has received the recording. ~ the answer came within a few moments.
That's great! One less thing. There was only one thing left. Message to Manifold. I went over to the lobby with all my gear. I will probably never come here again. I activated the transmitter in the hall. As I promised him, I only looked for him now, not before. The day our revenge takes place. After activation, I even sent him a message.
<< Come to this coordinate, Manifold, where I am now. I'm on Exegol, the place we're going to is also here. Taskmaster came back here thinking he was safe, he was wrong. I'm waiting for you here! >> I told him.
Then, now I have to wait again, not long now. We will soon be at Tu'teggacha's secret base. The shadow war will be over and we will be together with Asher… we will be a family. And he can finally see his children. That was the only thing floating in front of my eyes, I didn't care anymore if I couldn't take revenge on Barran or Taskmaster. I just wanted to be with him…
~ Keilara ~ (present)
~ It will soon be over and the era of peace will come. ~ I whispered to Kallan.
The children were still sleeping, but I told them the day before that we would come to get them soon. Unfortunately, I could not ask them to prepare yet, because they could only do so here in the mind palace. They were still too young to do anything worthwhile in reality. I squeezed Kallan's hand and embraced him again with my mental and astral power. Now only here, in the mind palace, not in reality. Now Mercy is in charge, she controls the body, not Kallan. And the most critical hour has approached, which will bring either our salvation or our destruction.
~ Hold on a little longer, my love. We don't have to defy the darkness for much longer. ~ I beseech him.
Soon we can have a life that is common and ordinary for others, but not for us. It's special to us. We will continue to be a very strange family, souls, personalities in another body, consciousness, one of the four of us is a ghost or Nether being and the twins, who are also special. In the worst case, all four of us will be ghosts or Nether beings and the twins will be there too. I didn't know what to expect, but I tried to stay optimistic and strong. At least now, for the last time. I had to; I had to keep Kallan away from the darkness. He had to remain himself, the Taskmaster couldn't win, not in this last hour.
~ What would be the first thing you want to do when this is over and we can finally start our normal lives?~ I asked him.
I tried to distract him from thinking about what was going to happen outside, what would be the final act of the shadow war. Rather, he should think about what will happen afterwards. When we are safe, when the twins are with us. Because of the ring, he will now be able to…
~ Are you waiting to hold the twins in your arms?~ I asked softly, smiling as I stroked his cheek gently.
~ Imagine how we will finally be able to play with them. We can stand hand in hand at their cradle, walk together, hand in hand. Or just… we can do anything that other people can do. ~ I pleaded with him to imagine these.
Strangely, I wasn't afraid before, but now I am. Not from the outcome of events, or from death. But from the fact that Kallan will not be himself, that the darkness and possible anger and hatred will consume him. That he will want revenge on Taskmaster at all costs for what that green monster did to him and Asher. I understood if he might want to do that, but I was afraid of losing him. And I knew I would feel the same way Mercy did. I would have helped Kallan to be himself again, selflessly, without a second thought. But I didn't want him to suffer, I didn't want to see him in pain and suffering.
I was afraid of losing him the way he'd lost me on Tython. As I thought of these, I felt myself trembling. I tried to clench my fists and not collapse in these moments. I wanted to be in our bed, in his shirt, as he pulls me back into bed, so we can laze around a bit like Tython. I would not have wanted to leave now. I just wanted that happy life again and this time forever. That minute, or something like it, never passes away. That he knows that I belong to him, that I love him and that he can always count on me.
~ Don't go, please! Stay with me and hold me close! ~ I whispered to Kallan in a hoarse voice due to the fear.
~ I don't want to lose you, I don't want the darkness to swallow and consume you. ~
In the end, I just told him what my big fear was and I was dreading what the day would bring…