Seven Devils

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Golden Nautolan - Nar Shaddaa​

​

Chiasa sat in her office, legs crossed, eyes flicking over a screen No more armour, she was back to dressing as she pleased. Couldn't for the life of her imagine what she'd let convince her she had to wear armour in her own territory for so long..

She was engaged in the usual tasks it took to run an operation like the Ravens. On her screen numbers, information, percentages. Credits danced. Profit came in here and then was laundered here. Invested, put back into overhead costs, spent on more daring endevours. Antecedents orbital shipyards were being upgraded, the cloning facility had in fact required a new power grid be put in, the latest bill from Skolnick and the scientists Kazen had lent her had come in. That was the easy part of her job. She liked the numbers, could move and juggle them like nobodies business. It was more of a game than anything now. There was no more scrabbling, she aimed for more and higher profits only because she could, not because she in any was needed to.

Then there were all the requests and demands. The I-wants and you-can't. You-can't were easy. Laugh and do it anyway. The I-want's were more tiresome and took a larger chunk of her time. If it was from a Raven there was a fairly good chance she would indulge them if the request was reasonable. If it was not then she had to figure out who it was from and if there could be a profit, and advantage in it for her. Perhaps she'd get more done in the day if she just deleted these off-hand, but you never knew.

Always take advantage of the chances you were given. Be smart enough to see an opportunity and grab it when it sat in front of you. This was just common sense after all.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

A woman had sensed him back on Geonosis, it was the distinction between having a shotgun shoved up your ass and being able to mentalize a door- you feel the difference immediately. It had made her noted to him, which didn’t really mean all that much these days, a lot of people were noted, but only a few were worthy of getting a visit from him.

Just simple logistics, of course. Appearing at multiple locations at the same time was exhausting and shouldn’t be done all that many times, Ovmar knew what he was thinking about. In the end causality and the time continuum warped around the room, there turned into here.

That was the main problem with matter transfer.

It was so easy once you shifted the paradigm and realized that the difference between there and here could be quantified by a single digit. And it was always easier to remove a digit than to change the entire meaning of the word, no?

In the end this all came together towards the manifestation of a silhouette in the chair opposite to the dearest Chiasa.

Miss Kritivaas, looking gorgeous again.

The vibrations of his voice would traverse the room, circle around her head and finally pour themselves into her ears.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Here and there not withstanding, the Twi'lek had a finely tuned sense of danger. Once upon a time it had been instinct alone, now paying attention to her surroundings with all her senses was nearly second nature. She had a goal to work towards after all, and it required that she pay attention to the whispers and the vibrations of the universe. That she know what was going on around her at all times. She wasn't there yet, and for the most part her range was still poor, but she was getting there.

Of course you didn't need the force or to be a genius to note when the shade of a person suddenly appears in the chair on the other side of your desk.

The Twi'lek froze, yellow eyes pinned on the not-quite-there. This was not fear, for she was not afraid. It was not even shock, though she was well and truly surprised. It was that she'd not yet decided what the correct reaction was. Screaming and throwing the holopad at it was definitely not befitting of her station.

She was glad of that control when the voice reached her ears. These were not the words of an attacker, but they left her uneasy all the same. Not the least because his, and the voice was certainly male, voice didn't seem to be reaching her quite the way it ought to, the way it was expected to. But then she'd never had a shadow hold a conversation with her, so what would she know.

Still, bluff, always bluff. Never appear weak. First relax. This is our office, we are in control, regardless of how it appears. The Twi'lek straightened slightly, widened eyes losing some of their intensity, amused half smile appearing on her lips and one brow raising slightly.

"Thank you, though I fear I do not recall the first time."

She did not recognize his voice. Extending herself slightly she tried to get the measure of him through the Force to see if he could be matched to a past encounter.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

It ain’t no lie that the Force was a strange thing, laddy. Most of the times it’s a mesmerizing pool of certain ‘stuff’ and it were the Jeedai and the Sith who were able to manipulate said ‘stuff’ to garner this effect or that. Some folk were specialists though, they managed to find some kind of niche within the stuff, do things that most others can’t because of generalization issues. Fact of the matter was that whilst Chiasa had her specialization, I had my own.

Most of which came down to the simple matters of manipulating the ‘stuff’ to change reality in one way or another. Some would say it was illusionary in nature, and to that I could only say one thing. They ain’t knowledgeable on all the facts. Walk the various paths I walked, witness the birth of stars and the evolutionary cycle of an ancient civilization in a different dimension. Do all of this and then come back to me, and speak as much as you want.

Point being, I ain’t the same man I once was. And more importantly? I ain’t the same man I was during the Geonosis Invasion. In fact? I ain’t the same man I was two seconds ago, hell I doubted I was actually a man these days.

Not something I like talking about though.

So in the grand scheme of things, she would get a feeling of foreign...nessness? Unknown, uncatchable, untraceable. As her metaphorical essence tried to poke into my being, tried to pry into what made me tick and what I was, she would slowly get pulled in.

Not enough to be consumed, but just enough to have the distinct feeling that if she tried to poke a bit longer? That she would be lost forever.

I wouldn’t advise you to do that, darlin’

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Advice taken."

Came the response through nearly gritted teeth as the Twi'lek pulled back within her own mind quicker than a scalded cat. Part of her was curious. Curious and bold and almost believing her own lies. The lies that said she was strong, untouchable, invincible. Wanted to probe a little farther, go into this other that was so beyond any other mind or essence that it might well be beyond her ability to comprehend. Partially out of curiosity, and partially because she did not like things that she could not do. Did not like limitations. Do no put your hand in this fire, you will be burned. But not if I put my hand through quickly enough. Not if I manipulate it with the force. Not if I wear a heat proof material. There was always a work around. Always a way in, and a way out.

But the Twi'lek was careful of her mind. Careful of that one thing that had always been hers and hers alone. Vornskr had ripped through it once, starting the paranoia, the building of mental walls. Krius had been through it again, though apparently that was on her command. Still. When you'd been raised as an object, conditioned to accept that your body was not your own, that things were never yours, the place you could retreat to where no one could ever touch you or affect you became something highly prized. Until of course you found out that people, or more particularly force-users, could.

So she drew back and back, within herself and closed the metaphorical doors behind her.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Regain control.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

Curiosity.

Came the purr of my voice as an answer, it had been so many ages that I had really been able to play this game, the exchange of words, wit brandished upon cutted wit. A war that dealt in syllables and intonation in speech, it was a thing that only a few others thing could match in sheer pleasure.

But what was I curious about? Which part of this little twi’lek made me wonder and ponder?

Had it been the way she made note of me the moment I stepped onto the planet proper? No, there were many who claimed that bold statement, there was more to it than that. Did she remind me of a once loved woman, another twi’lek- skin red as the dawn, yet just as fierce?

Perhaps I saw an inkling of Anaya in her, the Anaya that could have been had she not been taken as an apprentice to the Dreadlord.

Who are you, Chiasa Kritivaas, Daughter of Sahmin and Hasna.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Daughter of Sahmin and Hasna. That came as a blow to the Twi'lek, though she covered it fairly well.

She barely remembered her parents, they who had chosen to sell her, as so many parents on Ryloth did. With her markings she likely brought them a fine price, if they'd been smart enough to demand it. Still their names brought back memories she'd rather had been left unearthed. She remembered crying, silently after she learned that disturbing the others would be met with reprisal of one kind or another, at nights, remembering her parents, wishing they would come and get her, save her, and she remembered when she realized that they never would, that for a fistful of credits they'd sold her and thrown away any familial bond that was meant to exist. She'd decided to be as done with them as they apparently had been with her when that had sunk in. There were whispers of memories from before that of course. Of soothing voices, a woman singing and a small orange hand held safe inside a larger roughened yellow one. They were pushed away. She had no time for those memories.

They'd been the first to teach her that in the end you were alone in the Galaxy. That you could never depend on anyone to be there for you. Had started the road to independence, to manipulation and clawing. At first glance for power, though that wasn't her true motivation.

"It sounds as if you already know who I am. More than most. What more do you want? You know where I came from, you know where I am.."

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

A click and the distinct feeling of disappointment would be sensed by her. Involuntary radiation of emotions, or was it an exchange of information and feelings which transcended mere words? Perhaps she would never know, perhaps she already did know. But the fact of the matter was that she would realize that she hadn’t given him what he wanted with her response.

Who are you?

The question was repeated, a slight hum started to vibrate through the air. Collection of power or the boredom of an entity who was about to lose interest?

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Ksst, yes, repeat an inane question and have the other party do all the work. I am sure you're a hit at parties.

A rolling of the eyes was repressed. Whatever he was, he'd still managed to just show up without warning and he still stank of powers she didn't understand. Best not to get too mouthy.

"I am Chiasa Kritivaas. Born to Sahmin and Hasna, sold to be a dancer, emancipator of my own damned self, survivor of the Bright Lands, she who walked in and pretended to be a Raven and now leads them. I am the one who defies all the powers of the Universe, the one who lives when by all rights she should be dead. I will tell you the same thing I told the last ancient entity who decided they'd like to have an uninvited visit. I am not life or death, I am the striving. I do not make nor break, I bend. I am as I am, until I am not. I play the games and change the rules. I call myself a Raven, and they warn me not to fly too close to the sun. They are too blind to see that I am the Starbird. That is who I am."

She flared within the Force, defiance and daring. Let him gather his power. There was always a way, if you were smart enough to see it, if you were bold enough to grab it.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

The hum stopped and instead a throaty laughter pervaded through the room, it was not entirely human, but neither was it entirely too foreign. A mixture of past versus presence, there versus here and all other metaphysical ‘stuff’ that came together in me sitting in front of her, cloaked in shadows and dreams, wondering what to do with this little Raven.

Spitfire, no? I have decided that I like you, Chiasa Kritivaas, Bender of Fate and Starbird to all but the blind.

The laughter stopped and she would get the distinct feeling that she was being sized up.

Are you ready to receive my boon?

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Oh good."

Well. It was probably better to have ancient alien shadow folk deciding that they liked you than deciding that they didn't. As much as she seemed to make a living on odds that even a Corellian would turn down, and if one more of those told her how they felt about odds she might punch them in the nose, contrary to popular opinion she didn't actually go out of her way to put herself in suicidal situations. They just happened. If they could be avoided, good.

The sudden feeling of being looked over, weighed and measured was a bit disconcerting, particularly when paired with the question that followed. This was a tricky one. A mysterious entity asks if you're ready for his boon. Ignoring the fact that the boon might be entirely unfavourable, would she then be considered indebted to him? Still, he could be a threat, and it seemed that he favoured boldness so. Bold she would be.

"Of course."

Chin high, as if this was ever in question. She was always ready.

This is likely going to hurt isn't it? Don't flinch..

...You know, that actually sounded a bit like a line from a bad skinflick.. 'Are you ready to receive my boon'. Eheheheh. I suppose terrifying shadow people don't watch them, so he'd not know any better.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

When it came, it came as the crashing of an ocean barely held back by a little dam. A force wrapped itself around her mind, it was not so much painful as it was a surprise of the sudden intensity. Many a people thought that they somehow needed to power themselves up, some spending hours just to collect some kind of stuff out of the air… photosynthesis? Just to be able to execute a fatality move, but this wasn’t a game.

There was no need for combo button presses to get an execution move. There were no stamina or mana pools to think about.

The only thing that exists is you and the Force.

Power wrapped itself around her and her mind, as said before, his presence seeping in through her barriers and metaphorical doors.

Two became one, became two again.

You are on a crossroads.

The Ravens, supposed moral superiority.

And power. True power unrestricted by moral quandaries experienced by the lesser.

This conversation had been experienced once before, in a different time, a different world. The Sith Lord in him had further corrupted and pushed the sweet, sweet Evelynn into darkness. But was this about that? Or was this the reinforcement of strength that hid itself within the Twi’lek?

I can set you free.​

Do you want to be free?

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Vornskr was nothing compared to this. Her defences were less than nothing before him.

That said the Twi'lek was a crafty beast. She had learned from Vornskr. She had even learned from Disciple, much more than he thought she had, when he'd taken her on their little jaunt, and as this being decided to meld with her, to make them one for however short an instant, she learned from him too. Not all of it could be digested and sorted immediately, but she learned all the same, taking and hoarding for later. If she was being forced until this union, if she could not prevent it, then she might as well profit from it.

Quite frankly the Twi'lek did not feel as if she was currently lacking in freedom, and though she did not know there was a difference, after Krius' rough mental surgery there were far fewer morals holding her back. After all, there was no longer anyone's judgment or opinion she concerned herself about or feared, and lessons had been lost.

"No, I love sitting in a cage, blindfolded and bound, it's my sole goal in life. Of course I want to be free."

This was something of a pattern, experience something too far beyond her comfort zone and her mouth tended to get away with her. Diplomacy lost as she struggled to cope. Again, like the offer of a boon to start with, she did not understand what he was offering her, and so distrusted it, but what would she be if she did not dare? Not Chiasa, not Starbird, and she could only be who she was, until she was not.

~Show me.~

Bordering on a command. Trusting that as she'd done before, though she couldn't recall the specifics anymore, she would be able to reject, to rid herself of other is he pushed beyond what she was willing to tolerate.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]