Onith
Character
The silence broke as a lone figure knelt before the view-dome of a transport. The entry hatch slid open behind her, and the cacophony of sound that ran through a ship afforded entry into her place of solace. The blaring voice of the captain spewed out of the intercoms through the open doorway, "...leaving in ten minutes, just as soon as the tankers are finished fueling us up." The collection of noise broke her concentration and, with an artisitic wave through the air, the kneeling figure brought her hand around and slipped the cover of her satchel closed with a faint click.
The interloper breathed loudly as he stepped further into the space. The durasteel doors slid shut on hissing, unseen mechanisms, closing out the sounds of the rest of ship as completely as if it weren't even there. Without the covering sounds, the quite tells of a ship became evident. The metal beneath their feet settled with groans and every now and again the engine's deep thrum or striated retch could be felt and heard reverberating below. However, though the original person returned to a closed expression, eyes shut and face placcid, the newcomer seemed to fear the sudden silence he experienced.
"The insulation's really good on these doors huh? Can't hear anything from the halls." His voice seemed to shatter the still mending silence of the place.
Shoulders slumping in annoyance, the kneeling figure replied simply, "Indeed." Her voice sounded metallic and monotone as the translator unit over her lips automatically transposed her word into basic.
The silence returned for but a moment, the man shifting awkwardly until, as if driven to find some comfort in conversation, he spoke again, "Nice to get away from it all, the stars are pretty out here. Reminds me of home, how about you?"
An artificially mangled sigh escaped her lips and in a quiet, thought filled tone the first replied as her gaze lifted to the dome and its stellar appearance, "These stars are... different. They are not as I remember them."
"Ah, yeah, they aren't in the same place for me either, I'm from a little bit to the east from here. Usually the bright red one there, Ulamar's Eye I think it's called, is to the right of that blue one." As he spoke the man gestulated animatedly as he explained, "How about you? Where are you from?"
It took her a moment to respond and she seemed somewhat saddened by the query, "Not from here. That star is new to me." Indeed the light of that particular star had not yet reached the galaxy when her masters had walked the galaxy and she had served them.
"Oh, huh. So what you doing all the way out here then? Going somewhere?" The question sounded somewhat uncertain, as if the man was swiftly running through what conversational material he had prepared. This woman's insistance on limited answers was killing conversations to quickly for his liking.
Recognizing the simplistic question for its wearying attempts at pleasant talk, the quiet one turned her scarlet eyes to her companion. "Indeed, I seek someone. And you? Why is it that you are here?"
A proud smile broke his clouded face and he said with a simple glee, "I'm a planetary surveyor, or I want to be one anyways. I'm heading to the Unknown Regions to start work with a small-time company looking to expand to new planets. I've specialized in biospheres so I try to help people make informed decisions about the safety of different planets."
"Fascinating."
Whether the deadpan expression was actually as emotionless as it sounded was beyond his guess but he chose to take it as positive one and continued. "Yeah, been hoping to start for a few years now, but it's kind of a hard business to get into. This is my big break though, I can feel it."
The woman was about to respond when something changed. Her demeanor disappeared behind a jaded visage. She felt something too. "Something... has happened."
"What?"
Repeating herself she began to rise from her feet, "Something is happening, growing." Eyes that did not see the physical world for the moment turned to look past the viewport and the distance steadfast stars. In her eyes, the being saw the glowing light of a great power. The tumultous sea of the Force, wild and impossible to navigate for her, was suddenly penetrated as if by a distant beacon. The light grew for a moment, no doubt shining across the galaxy to those that could sense such things.
"What is it?"
"Unknown." She answered plainly, feeling drawn to continue she amended, "Something beautiful."
---------
Several months later, Onith found herself in the depths of space. The trail of this strange phenomenon had just about reached its conclusion. News of the occurence on the planet Panatha had traveled on the gale winds of the HoloNet, yet the actual cause and events that led up to the planet's destruction had been shrouded in mystery and likely lost to the censoring. The Sith had travelled to the world, just one more visitor to a planetary graveyard and disaster site. As with all others, she had been turned away, sent packing with a stern warning about breaking the exclusion zone.
Of course, Onith had not cared to actually get anywhere near the world. The echo in the Force was still strong to her. Though the worst of the cataclysm had passed, the tear in reality had left its mark, like a wound as yet unclotted. She had felt such an echo only once before, too long ago. The homeworld of her masters, the Builders of the Infinite Empire, had once housed a great engine powered by the Force. A veritable nexus of Force energy, the darkness and despair had shone out in a similar manner and left its mark on the galaxy. Like most scars though, theirs had healed and almost disappeared with time. This was fresh. This was something she could find. The echo was itself deafening to her senses, such was to be expected when the very nature of reality had almost been utterly destroyed and the two distinct worlds of the physical and the Force had almost been brought together.
This did not fool Onith however; she recognized that the source of this effect was not to be found here. There was nothing of power that remained to dwarf the aftershocks of the moment. Instead, like a predator with its catch, there was a trail within the Force. An entity, the source of the occurrence, had moved from this place. Although it wearied her to spend extended periods in the trance-like state necessary to sense the gentle eddies in the Force left in the wake of the thing's passage, Onith found it well recompensed.
Her hopes, to be dashed long before they could see fruition, had stuck fast to the idea that this might be some vestige of the Infinite Empire that had in some strange way found itself in the present. She had made the journey and she was but a lowly servant, she assumed that the mightiest of the Rakata could no doubt accomplish a similar feat if they so desired.
That was how she had found her way to this moment, in the vast and empty depths of space she had followed her destiny until at last she found herself truly alone, in the dark shadows between star systems where all light was but distant and uncaring pinpricks of light. There was nothing out here, the ship she had borrowed revealed nothing in the physical plane and her senses had at last reached their limit. The trail was cold and still, the Force's natural flow overtaking the unnatural streams. Nothing more remained for her to do, yet the hound was loathe to forsake her hunt and so she waited. Yet, she did not remain idle in her stillness. Instead, nursing what strength she had in the Force and channeling what little remained in the artifacts she had acquired in her adventures in this modern galaxy, Onith sent out pulses of her own presense into the void, hoping against all odds to attract the object of her desire.
Kyrel Ren
The interloper breathed loudly as he stepped further into the space. The durasteel doors slid shut on hissing, unseen mechanisms, closing out the sounds of the rest of ship as completely as if it weren't even there. Without the covering sounds, the quite tells of a ship became evident. The metal beneath their feet settled with groans and every now and again the engine's deep thrum or striated retch could be felt and heard reverberating below. However, though the original person returned to a closed expression, eyes shut and face placcid, the newcomer seemed to fear the sudden silence he experienced.
"The insulation's really good on these doors huh? Can't hear anything from the halls." His voice seemed to shatter the still mending silence of the place.
Shoulders slumping in annoyance, the kneeling figure replied simply, "Indeed." Her voice sounded metallic and monotone as the translator unit over her lips automatically transposed her word into basic.
The silence returned for but a moment, the man shifting awkwardly until, as if driven to find some comfort in conversation, he spoke again, "Nice to get away from it all, the stars are pretty out here. Reminds me of home, how about you?"
An artificially mangled sigh escaped her lips and in a quiet, thought filled tone the first replied as her gaze lifted to the dome and its stellar appearance, "These stars are... different. They are not as I remember them."
"Ah, yeah, they aren't in the same place for me either, I'm from a little bit to the east from here. Usually the bright red one there, Ulamar's Eye I think it's called, is to the right of that blue one." As he spoke the man gestulated animatedly as he explained, "How about you? Where are you from?"
It took her a moment to respond and she seemed somewhat saddened by the query, "Not from here. That star is new to me." Indeed the light of that particular star had not yet reached the galaxy when her masters had walked the galaxy and she had served them.
"Oh, huh. So what you doing all the way out here then? Going somewhere?" The question sounded somewhat uncertain, as if the man was swiftly running through what conversational material he had prepared. This woman's insistance on limited answers was killing conversations to quickly for his liking.
Recognizing the simplistic question for its wearying attempts at pleasant talk, the quiet one turned her scarlet eyes to her companion. "Indeed, I seek someone. And you? Why is it that you are here?"
A proud smile broke his clouded face and he said with a simple glee, "I'm a planetary surveyor, or I want to be one anyways. I'm heading to the Unknown Regions to start work with a small-time company looking to expand to new planets. I've specialized in biospheres so I try to help people make informed decisions about the safety of different planets."
"Fascinating."
Whether the deadpan expression was actually as emotionless as it sounded was beyond his guess but he chose to take it as positive one and continued. "Yeah, been hoping to start for a few years now, but it's kind of a hard business to get into. This is my big break though, I can feel it."
The woman was about to respond when something changed. Her demeanor disappeared behind a jaded visage. She felt something too. "Something... has happened."
"What?"
Repeating herself she began to rise from her feet, "Something is happening, growing." Eyes that did not see the physical world for the moment turned to look past the viewport and the distance steadfast stars. In her eyes, the being saw the glowing light of a great power. The tumultous sea of the Force, wild and impossible to navigate for her, was suddenly penetrated as if by a distant beacon. The light grew for a moment, no doubt shining across the galaxy to those that could sense such things.
"What is it?"
"Unknown." She answered plainly, feeling drawn to continue she amended, "Something beautiful."
---------
Several months later, Onith found herself in the depths of space. The trail of this strange phenomenon had just about reached its conclusion. News of the occurence on the planet Panatha had traveled on the gale winds of the HoloNet, yet the actual cause and events that led up to the planet's destruction had been shrouded in mystery and likely lost to the censoring. The Sith had travelled to the world, just one more visitor to a planetary graveyard and disaster site. As with all others, she had been turned away, sent packing with a stern warning about breaking the exclusion zone.
Of course, Onith had not cared to actually get anywhere near the world. The echo in the Force was still strong to her. Though the worst of the cataclysm had passed, the tear in reality had left its mark, like a wound as yet unclotted. She had felt such an echo only once before, too long ago. The homeworld of her masters, the Builders of the Infinite Empire, had once housed a great engine powered by the Force. A veritable nexus of Force energy, the darkness and despair had shone out in a similar manner and left its mark on the galaxy. Like most scars though, theirs had healed and almost disappeared with time. This was fresh. This was something she could find. The echo was itself deafening to her senses, such was to be expected when the very nature of reality had almost been utterly destroyed and the two distinct worlds of the physical and the Force had almost been brought together.
This did not fool Onith however; she recognized that the source of this effect was not to be found here. There was nothing of power that remained to dwarf the aftershocks of the moment. Instead, like a predator with its catch, there was a trail within the Force. An entity, the source of the occurrence, had moved from this place. Although it wearied her to spend extended periods in the trance-like state necessary to sense the gentle eddies in the Force left in the wake of the thing's passage, Onith found it well recompensed.
Her hopes, to be dashed long before they could see fruition, had stuck fast to the idea that this might be some vestige of the Infinite Empire that had in some strange way found itself in the present. She had made the journey and she was but a lowly servant, she assumed that the mightiest of the Rakata could no doubt accomplish a similar feat if they so desired.
That was how she had found her way to this moment, in the vast and empty depths of space she had followed her destiny until at last she found herself truly alone, in the dark shadows between star systems where all light was but distant and uncaring pinpricks of light. There was nothing out here, the ship she had borrowed revealed nothing in the physical plane and her senses had at last reached their limit. The trail was cold and still, the Force's natural flow overtaking the unnatural streams. Nothing more remained for her to do, yet the hound was loathe to forsake her hunt and so she waited. Yet, she did not remain idle in her stillness. Instead, nursing what strength she had in the Force and channeling what little remained in the artifacts she had acquired in her adventures in this modern galaxy, Onith sent out pulses of her own presense into the void, hoping against all odds to attract the object of her desire.
Kyrel Ren
