From Velusia with love (complete)

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Coci Sinopi"]​

​

She looked from one to the other and nodded. She hesitated knowing what was down there back into the belly of the beast where the only way out was the way in. She did not move slowly she moved quickly from one place to the next looking ahead, listening hard soon the double doors into the lab appeared. Serena rather than pushing them with the force this time slowly pushed them peering around to see if there was anything they should be aware of.

"I know of one droid, but it would be more logical if there were more." Serena lead them to the wall that she had ran along, and then looked beyond the rows were neatly assembled and the lights blinked telling them nothing had changed.

"There, those containers" Serena looked back, "If there are no guards here, then it will only be a matter of moments before there are, I recommend speed for this" Serena moved silently.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Serena Bouie"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

Coci followed Serena, closely. Entering the area in which the tanks are assembled she walked along looking at each of them with disgust. Coci is against cloning, considering it a crime against nature and she doubted that who ever these are clones of did not give their permission let alone know of it. Coming to the final container, Coci stopped dead, her blood running cold and fear entered her heart. She backed away, not believing her own eyes, but could not tear them away from the being inside the container. She is looking at a replica of herself. That is what she had been sensing, that thing so familiar was herself.

For a moment, her mind was unable to process, total confusion reigned and she stopped breathing. Finally, however, she took breath and remained unable to speak. How many more are there? and of who?

Now she had a dilema, even though this is wrong in her eyes, it is still a life, regardless of the fact it is a copy of her. But the purpose of the clone is not good and probably manipulated through sith magic or alchemy or whatever those evils being do to another life. She turned abruptly and threw up, unable to sustain any form of control her body reacted violently. This and the realisation she would have to do something about it.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve, "Serena have you seen any more, any out of the containers?", she asked with difficulty. She found the courage to move back to the container and look down, looking at a face like in the mirror save for one thing, a sith tattoo.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor brought up the rear, passing by the tanks lining both sides of the corridors. Dark blue liquid, the odd bubble escaping, and pale bodies floating in them. It was an eerie sight, one that was not uncommon in the galaxy for those cloning soldiers or organs…but it was illegal, and immoral.

He slowed as they stopped, and Coci immediately lost her Force aura as she went cold, collating both their reactions as she guided Connors gaze, following hers, to the final thank and the harvesting body of…herself.

Connor was baffled, and just stared up at the naked torso of Coci, a clone. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, and his hand automatically went to her shoulder and he squeezed gently. It was mere seconds before she bolted, and vomited.

The Silver Jedi stood and pushed his hand to the tank, looking into the body that was not her own, but was her own.

”Why have they cloned Coci – they need her DNA for this. How have they got your DNA?”

He turned to her; she was leaning forward and looking shaken, and also angry. Connor helped her up, glancing around at the sounds of noise and general commotion in the corridors around them in this twisted facility.

”If they have Coci, what’s stopping them from cloning other Silver Jedi…if we have an insider. And the tattoo…look…a Sith mark.”

Connor looked at Coci, and then Serena.

”Get any data you can from these tanks and take pictures – we need to get out of here and report back to the others. This is far more serious than we could have expected. Coci…you’re in grave danger and we may have a leak inside our Order.”


[member="Coci Sinopi"] | [member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Serena Bouie"]

"My DNA could have come from Coruscant. There is record of it there when I was with the Republic and as you know, the Sith now hold that planet. But that does not mean we don't have an infiltrator in Silver Jedi". she said recovering somewhat, but still sick to the stomach.

"I have to deal with this .. now", she said taking in a long breath. "And who knows what or who else they have cloned here. They cannot be left to live Connor". She walked back over to the container and viewed the clone of herself once more, it may be her in body but not in soul, the cloners would have seen to that and no doubt there would be some form of genetic modification.

Her eyes looked over the container, and found the power supply and life support. Her saber ignited with the blade pointed to the floor. The very idea of this wrecked her soul, to kill a life that had not taken it's first breath, but it could not be allow. It is an abomination.

"It is not me", she whispered to herself but a monster. What rocked Coci's soul the most was she looked what she could be, a darksider, on the outside save for the tattoo it is her. Was the soul of this being any different? Was this just a different side of the same person? "So this is what I would look like", again to herself.

The saber blade pierced the container, the fluid within it spilling over the surface of the floor. The blade moved swiftly to cut all the cords connected to the container and the alarms went off. She took in a deep breath, just before plunging her saber through the heart of the clone.

Coci fell backward, shaking as if she had just ripped out her own heart.

 

[Connor Harrison]

”But why you…here…you were brought here…”

Connor mused to himself, quietly, looking around the chambers. Coci pulled away and became focused on one thing. He stepped back, glancing to Serena and motioning for her to step back, keeping his senses alert to give Coci the time needed.

She mused to herself how she would look as a Dark Side warrior, and Connor flicked between the Sith Coci and Jedi Coci, watching both, wondering what separated here from embracing not something mutated, but something the Force called her to. The purple blade ignited and he prepared himself.

She struck with purpose, and the glass shattered and the liquid gushed out, spilling onto the floor around their boots, and then the alarms flared up as the sparks flew; Coci took the life quickly, but soon enough she recoiled as she plunged the killing strike.

Connor moved to catch her, ready for some reprisal for these actions she had just committed. Her hilt deactivated and fell from her grip, a smouldering hole left in the body of the Sith Coci – still looking as lifeless as she did even when she was being fed live.

”Damn. Serena – call to arms – we have to get her out of here. Now. Watch our back and use that empathic calling of yours to feel any danger coming our way – I said you would need to use it in life or death situations away from the Temple, well, this is it.”

Connor called her Coci’s hilt to his hand as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, supporting her weight.

”It seems your destiny isn’t as black and white as you may have thought,” Connor said to her, frowning slightly and slightly moved at seeing the sight of a Dark Sider as Coci and what could be without her strings.

[member="Coci Sinopi"] | [member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Serena Bouie"]

She stood up with Connor's help. However, she would not go, taking his arm away from her she looked at them both. Her face void of emotion, but internally it is in confusion and sorrow. Her body still trembling she managed to speak in a low voice. "We cannot go", she said "We must find a way to destroy this lab and everything in it".

She looked around frantically, but found nothing in the lab which would be expected but there would be munitions in the parts for this cave. "Retrieve whatever data you can find, but we must blow this place up".

Coci walked back toward the door, her feet felt like lead but she pushed on to find explosives. "My life has never been black or white, I have always lived in the grey, in the shadows", and that was her safety zone and now more than ever she wanted to slip back to the shadows. But one thought entered her mind, one image of a face, [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]'s. Her guiding light.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Initially a little shocked at her pulling away, Connor then frowned at Coci.

”What?”

He pointed up to the stone and metal ceiling above, the room flooded with the red light and siren of the alarm, glass cracking under their feet with the water on the floor. Sith Coci hung lifeless before them.

”You want to go and find explosives and then set them off here, deep in a canyon, or wherever we are? You’ll bring it down on our heads, and you’re in no fit state to do that.”

Connor beckoned Serena over to them by the door out, surrounded by tanks.

”If we destroy this facility, there’ll be a dozen more to take it over. We need to get out with what we have and come back more prepared!”

Connor felt it. A tiny crack between them both in the Force.

[member="Coci Sinopi"] | [member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Serena Bouie"]

Her shoulders slumped. He is right of course.

She simply nodded her head in understanding, Coci is not in control of her emotions, or actions Connor will get them out she will follow his lead. Focus! she commanded herself. The realisation of what she had seen, what hung suspected in the container would be forever burned on her mind's eye. The realisation of what she had done even more so, it had to be done however, she could not walk away or to allow double of herself in the galaxy creating death and torment to others, she would never be able to live with that thought.

Coci knew what she was capable of, even her work in the name of the lightside is deemed questionable and if it was not illustrated today, in her actions today than no one would ever understand the duty of a Jedi Shadow. They are the poodoo kickers, take out the trash so to speak and do the work of those that don't have the stomach for it. It is this that bands the Shadows as one, they are the only beings in the galaxy that would understand what it all means.

Is it the right thing to do? is it justified in the name of the light side?, only judgement will answer that question. She thought about the alternatives if they did nothing, let the darkness prevail, win and change the lives of not only them but billions. Set to live in complete and absolute terror and torment forever. Her head began to ache.

Finally she spoke. "You are right", that was it for now.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor could feel her resentment of his choice, and her stubbornness was not usual. She either didn’t trust him or didn’t have faith in him. Eye contact was avoided, and defeat was evident in her body language.

”Serena – can you get us back to where we came, to get up and out of that vent and across the cliff face? We don’t stand a chance in our current situation,” he shot a glance to Coci, ”so we need to get out and quick.”

Connor ushered her to the door way, stopping her as he surveyed the dark stone corridor leading away, and then he looked back.

”This place will not go forgotten, Coci.”

He held out his hand.

”Trust me.”

The hand was there for her to take – if she took it, then the trust was there. If she didn’t, he would make sure they spoke on their return to Voss.

The facility was suddenly of great interest to the Silver, and he would return with or without her to delve deeper to the darkness that was being grown there.

[member="Coci Sinopi"] | [member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Coci Sinopi"]​

​

Serena could almost feel the breath of Connor and Coci on her neck as they made their way towards the containers. This was not a place that Serena had wanted to return to she had only looked into the first container, and it had a young male in it.

Whatever was in this one had taken the breath out of the Master, Serena could feel fear running in rivers from her, and such was the intensity that Coci had turned away sick to her stomach. What was in that container? Serena tried to take a step.

That same fear glued her feet to the floor making it hard for her to move. Trying to focus again she heard the question, "No I've only seen one, a male"

Connor began asking questions ones that Serena had not asked; she felt a lot of what they needed was in the stolen data pad that was tucked within her shirt. An insider within the ranks of the Jedi? It was not unheard of many had fallen to the wayside for whatever reason, usually power.

As Coci explained about how her DNA could have come to be here, Serena added, "DNA is taken from children and placed on file with the galactic database for identification in case of death, technically they could clone anyone, though a live donor is preferred to keep viable samples" Serena pulled out the data pad again, to show them she still had it.

"I think this has most of what we will need, updates on each of the subjects, as well charting, and missions from what I got out of it briefly." Serena had understood the danger the moment the droid had explained it was force users It was now sinking in to those that came to rescue her just how dangerous all of this truly was.

Connor sounded like he was yelling at her reminding her of what her skills were to be used for. She could only nod at him, opening herself up to everything around them. She could feel agony behind her, the clones were in agony one of their own was dead and they all felt it even in their sleep.

They may not be legal, they may not be the original but they all felt it. It was not their fault; it was those who created them.

Serena looked to Connor and Coci the debate on to destroy or come back. "They won't be here when we come back, they will have moved. We will have to find them." She looked at them, "They will know we've been here, and they will react. They will either come for us, well they are going to come for us"

Serena moved passed them, "This way, I can lead us back up." She kept the data pad in her shirt, sure not to let it fall, it now contained everything they needed. But the Sith would know they had it.

"Can you both run?" Serena was walking backwards looking at them, trying to move them along, just a little bit. "There are more troopers headed our way, and the sith from the surface" Serena paused their anger poured out, their hate was drowning her. "Are coming, we have to go..." pain vibrated in her voice if she could feel them, they might be able to feel her.

The sounds were closer of the troopers that were down Serena retrieved a blaster, she knew about them. her father had made sure they could all handle this type of weapon. Serena got on the other side of Coci, and together she and Connor could get her quickly to the vent.

They moved along Serena looking back even as the pain from her injuries and the connection filled her. She shook her head, images were now forming. "They are closer..." She felt her own disorientation in her stomach, but they were coming up on the vent, "There...you two go first..I'll watch for them" She did this because Connor needed to help Coci, and Serena well she was a padawan. She pulled the data pad from her shirt.

"Connor take this, it's everything." Just in case she wasn't quick enough, the data needed to go with them.

Serena was now flat against the wall, "Get going..." she smiled, nerves always made her smile.

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"]

The trio managed to evade the sith and their small army of troopers. What they had discovered would leave a lasting impression and it would mean coming back and it meant taking about everything in the datapad line by line to figure out what they were doing. If such information could be gleaned.

What was a fact was there were Silver Jedi walking the galaxy creating havoc and soon enough accusations would come to Voss. The Silvers would need to find the source, and elminate it before their order was destroyed, and before the galaxy suffered consequences.

The End

Coming soon :

Velusia II: Attack Of The Clones