Private The Winter God

[Alicio Organa]

“Darth Prospero.”

Alicio glanced at Kai, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise, before focusing on the protocol droid once more. His breath caught in his throat, as he awaited the droid's response. If his ocular sensors turned on for just a second...

But no. Thankfully, the attendant was blissfully unaware of the ruse. Alicio listened to the state of the facility with a continually deteriorating mood. Hearing that the 'outer shell' was still damaged was all the confirmation the Count needed that those creatures could find their way in to maul the party.

But hearing the functionality of the building was all Alicio needed to hear. This must be where the beasts were coming from. Decommissioning this gasping Sith facility would put an end to the attacks.

"Hello, I am Darth Prospero's apprentice," Alicio offered with an imperious tone, hoping to give himself a bit of credibility. "Let us see the state of this laboratory."

- Kai Bamarri -

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Seeing Alicio’s startled reaction, Kai shrugged. Had he forgotten to mention that his Sithspawn body could shapeshift and mimic other voices? No wonder he kept waiting for the Count to ask him to be his decoy, to no avail…

The droid offered invaluable information about the facility, more or less confirming their suspicions. The creatures had originated here, and they were at risk of attack due to the breaches in the outer wall.

"Hello, I am Darth Prospero's apprentice. Let us see the state of this laboratory."

Kai’s eyes widened. Mimicking a voice was one thing; feigning a personal relationship was quite another. “My latest apprentice,” he quickly added, his lip curling in feigned disdain. “The last one proved ineffective.”

“He’s not the only one,” Rhi said, smirking. “Darth Prospero decided to increase his chances of success by increasing his number of students.”

“Indeed,” Kai said, barely resisting the urge to throttle her. “And yes, show us the laboratory.”

//I would be happy to, masters. But alas, my legs are no longer functioning. With your permission, I will take control of the comms and surveillance systems and lead you to the laboratory remotely.//

“Do so at once,” Kai ordered. <Now we have to figure out how to destroy this place,> he said to the others. <The generators are probably our best bet. If we can blow them up—>

A set of wall panels slid open, revealing a dimly lit corridor from which many, many animalistic noises emanated. //Right this way, masters,// the droid said, speaking through the facility’s comm system.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Kai's surprise, and mad scramble to cover his lie, caused Alicio to upturn an eyebrow at him. He figured the droid would ask questions about the others in the room- he was simply heading those thoughts off at the pass. Was it that unbelievable, that Prospero would've had apprentices?

Apparently, Rhiannon didn't seem to think so, as she seemed to push the boundary even further. Alicio stepped between the two, naturally playing negotiator as he gave her a stern look, and waited for the protocol droid's response. It seemed receptive to the idea, and began to guide them into the facility, taking a concerning amount of control over the walkways, and opening the path forward.

<Agreed,> the Count offered into their link, beginning the walk towards the laboratory, but letting Kai take the lead. He wasn't sure just how much vision the droid had while in the security system. <We can ask to make a stop there, as we leave. But how we're supposed to blow it up, I'm not quite sure.>

<Everyone stay on your toes.>

- Kai Bamarri -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Kai also took the possibility of security cameras into consideration. By the time he ventured into the hall with the others, the Sithspawn had changed form, adopting a passable imitation of the late Darth Prospero’s appearance. He was working from memory, so it was hardly a flawless replica, but it should have been enough to fool any surveillance systems. Hopefully.

Rhi stared at him, a slight smirk curling her lips. Oh, she remembered him now. This was the same boy who came to her and Arcturus all those years ago, begging for their help, only to turn on them at the eleventh hour. So much power wielded by such a small mind…

When the doors to the lab were opened, letting out a cacophony of bestial sounds, Rhi couldn’t help the little shiver of excitement that passed through her. It had been a long time since she had set foot in a Sith alchemist’s laboratory. She walked with a slight spring in her step, following the others inside. Kai had been given the lead; he was being far too slow and cautious for her liking, but that couldn’t be helped.

The lab was in disarray. Shards of shattered glass lay on the floor and tables and cold air blasted in through a hole in the ceiling, leaving a pile of snow at one end of the room. Creatures similar to the ones they had encountered outside, as well as strange new ones they had yet to meet, lay howling in energy cages or thrashed in tanks. Underneath the symphony of the monsters was the constant low hum of machinery, steadily working despite having no overseers left to manage things.

Rhi saw the remains of a disintegrator, probably used to dispose of unused specimens, but out of all the machinery in the room it was the one thing that appeared to be no longer functioning. Since the machines were still cranking out monstrosities, and there were only so many cages to hold them, either they were escaping or the system was thoughtlessly releasing them into the wild. Carcasses and bones lay strewn about, the remains of those that hadn’t made it.

Rhi took it all in with a smile. And to think Kai and Alicio just wanted to blow this place up. What small-minded fools! All they needed to do was put a stop to this mindless creation. She was already dreaming of fixing the place up, taking control of the systems and using it for her own ends. She’d always wanted a lab like this…

Her smile was swiftly wiped from her face when the cages abruptly opened, unleashing half a dozen furious, starving monsters upon them.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

As Alicio walked into the laboratory, feeling the sudden chill of the outdoors, he slowed his steps alongside Kai, cautious eyes flicking between containers and cages of beasts. A significant portion of him was saddened by what he saw- these poor creatures were created aimlessly, to be caged and left for years, or sent out into the cold to fend for themselves.

Alicio had to stomp out that sympathy- they had a job to do, and no good hid in these creatures. There wasn't room for pity. Especially when he had to make it back to Amani. To the kids.

There was a sudden warning from the future. A taste Alicio didn't like. He investigated it, and came to the right conclusion a second before it was too late. "We've been betrayed!," he barked out, lightsaber igniting as the cages hissed open, and furious, mindless monsters poured forth. There was no time for a mad retreat as before. They had to fight.

Alicio dodged the first arm headed for his temple, sliced off the limb of another, then grunted in pain as a third struck him in the chest. Forced back a step, Alicio was quick to riposte, ducking under the snapping maw of the beast that had whalloped him, and putting Introspect through it's ribcage. It still struggled, but the brushing of a hand against it's neck, and a feeling of chilly calm in Alicio's heart, froze it's brain stem and ceased it's scrabbling.

"Do we have an exit?," he shouted out, using the Force to tip the body towards another mutant monstrosity.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

All hell broke loose. Rhi brandished her lightsaber and called her sword from the Netherworld, hacking and slashing at the monsters. Dev joined in, using the Force to seize pieces of broken glass and flinging them at the creatures. They cut through flesh like razor blades.

Slicing off the numerous arms of a beast with several swings of his blade, Kai glimpsed the door to the lab sealing shut out of the corner of his eye. The momentary distraction allowed one of the abominations to get through his defense, swiping a claw upward. Kai was cut open from his side, across his chest, all the way up to his face, contorting in a grimace of pain as the deep gouges wept tainted blood.

He kept fighting, pushing the creatures back. But they were vicious beasts determined to survive…

"Do we have an exit?"

“Through the hole!” Rhi shouted back, gesturing to the gap torn open in the ceiling. She was the first to climb through it, staggering in the snow. Dev followed her. Kai stood back, making sure Alicio got through safely before he made his escape…

<We can’t let them destroy this place,> Rhi spoke telepathically to Dev, and Dev alone. <It’s far too valuable. The droid has to go, but no bombs. I’m claiming the Research Center for myself, and you are going to help me take it.>

Dev glanced toward the Count and his bodyguard. <Shouldn’t we just kill them now, then?> he asked.

<Not yet. We still need their help dealing with the monsters. And I don’t want you killing Alicio. The Sithspawn is another story.> Turning around, Rhi looked at their surroundings. They were on the roof of the facility. From this vantage point the damage dealt to the exterior was much more noticeable. “Now what?” she asked the others, as if she hadn’t just been plotting to betray them.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

With ghostly grace, Alicio used the Force to leap up through the hole, his cloaks billowing around him as he landed. Soon after him, Kai was able to climb up, and the Count was quick to attend to him.

<Are you okay?> Alicio spoke telepathically to Kai, and Kai alone. <I can heal you, if you need. Though... I'd like to conserve energy as much as I can.>

Alicio studied the Sithspawn's wound with a caring eye. If he needed to stop the bleeding, he'd be happy to, though a shapeshifter might be able to do that themselves. Alicio removed his glove, which had frozen over with his application of cryokinesis, and blew into his hand to warm it. It may have come easy, but his new wintry power exacted it's toll on him.

Turning to Rhiannon, Alicio twisted his lip. "That droid wouldn't have been able to open the cages unless it had access to a central computer. Which means there's like a control room somewhere. If we can take control of it, we can overload the generators." The Count looked around the roof, then glanced down into the hole, where angry beasts were beginning to snap at each other. Doing some mental math, the Count began to walk along the roof, boots crunching the soft snow. "The front desk has to have a map, or a blueprint for the lab. We find that, we find the control room, we find our metallic double-crosser."

After a little walking, Alicio seemed to nod to himself, and activated his lightsaber once more. "Help me cut an entrance?" He looked around the group. If his calculations were correct, they were right above the reception area.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<Are you okay?>

<Yeah,> Kai replied, though the stinging pain he felt was apparent even through their telepathic link. He was quick to refuse Alicio’s offer of healing. <No need.>

The lacerations were already beginning to knit themselves closed, though the black blood smeared over the site of the wounds made it hard to tell. Grunting, he caught Dev staring at him.

“I heard that some of those creatures have poison in their claws,” the Shaal remarked.

<That’s not a problem for me,> Kai said, wiping some of the blood from his face. I am a creature with poisonous claws, he thought but did not add.

At Alicio’s suggestion, he followed the Count over to the roof above the reception area and drew his lightsaber. The two of them working together were able to cut a hole in no time. Good timing, too, because some of the creatures were beginning to claw their way out of the lab.

<Watch the molten edges,> Kai warned, before jumping down ahead of the others.

//Masters!// the droid at the front desk exclaimed. //You disappeared from the surveillance feed and I—//

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio was quick to follow Kai down the hole, cloaks whipping around his neck, and billowing like unfurling wings as he landed. His chilly calm was interrupted, however, when he heard a voice he hadn't expected to.

//Masters! You disappeared from the surveillance feed and I—//

Gliding like water, Alicio was suddenly in front of the droid, his blade threatening the mechanical being's neck. His eyes were fierce, sheer and sharp like a glacier's edge, until he realized the implications. "It's still here..." the Count whispered, as he slowly pieced together the situation. "Someone else loosed the creatures on us."

He returned his thoughts to the droid ahead of him, his voice hardening like ice. "There isn't much time. Make us a copy of this facility's schematics. Now." He wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

"Is there anyone else here?" Alicio kept his blade steady, searching into the future for sudden movements or unexpected surprises.

- Kai Bamarri -

 

[Kai Bamarri]

While Alicio held the droid at lightsaber-point, Kai stepped forward. “Why did you unlock the cages?” he demanded.

//It is an automated process, master!// the droid cried. //I had no control over it. Production cannot be stopped, and there must be cages to hold the results!//

The Count, on the other hand, seemed convinced that there was someone else there acting against them. His companions all glanced toward him, their own private suspicions varying wildly.

The droid immediately got to work accomplishing what was asked of it, uploading schematics of the facility. Kai sighed, slipping back into the role of Dark Lord of the Sith. “This place is a mess,” he muttered. “You’ve run it into the ground. It just goes to show that if you want something done properly, you have to do it yourself.” He lifted his chin. “Where is the control room?”

//In the deepest part of the facility, master. Take the hall all the way to the end, the only way is down.//

"Is there anyone else here?"

//No, master. It has been very lonely here…//

“Well, consider your long, lonely vigil ended,” Rhi said, before telekinetically crushing the droid. Ignoring any dirty looks from the others, she started down the hall.

Kai was in a hurry, proceeding at a jogging pace. The facility felt eerily quiet now. When they reached the end of the corridor, they were greeted with an elevator. The doors stood open, waiting to take them deep underground.

<There’s no other way down,> Kai noted after checking the surrounding area. He was the first to enter the lift. Once all were inside, the doors closed and they plummeted into the earth.

Kai sensed the miasma of the Dark Side growing stronger as they dropped. It wasn’t like the aura of a person—it was too pervasive for that. The facility must’ve been sitting on top of a Dark Side nexus. That would explain how it was able to make Sithspawn with no Sith… though he still felt like they didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle.

When the doors finally opened, he was struck by an intense heat. An orange heat. Lava. They were inside an active volcano. Strange machinery spiderwebbed over the walls of rock, feeding upon the geothermal energy. And all around him, he felt the pressure of the Dark Side.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

The idea that the cages just so happened to open at the exact time they entered the room didn't sit well with Alicio. Sure, the Force seemed to have a will of it's own, a will that constantly put him and the people he cared for in danger, but it seemed... too deliberate. That suspicion fueled the Count's disdainful glare at the droid, even as the mechanical being's cries of ignorance seemed genuine.

But when the protocol droid mentioned it's loneliness, and Rhiannon responded by crushing it, he turned to the woman, a sharp look in his eyes. But he didn't even bother with a reprimand, as he deactivated his blade, replaced it at his hip, and regarded the holomap now uploaded to his datapad. With quick steps, he followed the Sith, until they reached an elevator. They all found their spots within the elevator, and Alicio closed his eyes for a minute, immersing himself in his visions, the tastes of the Force swirling around him.

As each second passed, the seer's face grew darker and darker. He sighed sadly, and opened his eyes.

The elevator opened, and Alicio was hit by a blast of scorching air. Alicio was quick to disembark behind Kai, Introspect back in his hand. The sickly sweet taste of the Force was nearly overwhelming down here, but he soldiered on.

Until an enormous, glowing maw broke through the side of the cavern, it's tentacles lashing towards the party, the rock turning to molten slag where they touched.

- Kai Bamarri -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Of all the things he was expecting to find, somehow a giant tentacled lava monster wasn’t one of them. In retrospect, after all the other beasts they had faced, he probably should’ve foreseen such an encounter. But alas, unlike his liege, Kai was no seer.

As the creature slashed at them, Kai leaped out of the way, instinctively pushing Alicio in the opposite direction with the Force. Rocks fell from the ceiling, burying the Doppelganger underneath a pile of superheated stone.

Rhi and Dev narrowly escaped being crushed through similar supernatural means, winding up on the other side of the barrier of rocks. She couldn’t believe her luck! Now all she had to do was deal with the Count.

But first, the monster had to be slain. “Alicio!” she called out. “Your cryokinesis! Can you use it against that thing?”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

"Kai!" Alicio barely choked out the warning as he was shoved telekinetically out of the way of danger, watching helplessly as the shapechanger was buried in rock. He tried to close the distance, as if he were going to dig out the former Jedi with his unprotected hands, but thought better of it, keeping a cautious eye on the hellion. He could save his friend after the threat was dealt with.

A part of him wondered whether the creature was a Sithspawn creation, an animal native to this planet, or a being corrupted by the dark energies surrounding the volcano. It didn't matter, in the end. What did matter was defeating it.

“Your cryokinesis! Can you use it against that thing?”

Alicio gave Ishani that same, sad look from the elevator, before shaking his head. "It's too hot!" The creature shook it's head around at the yelling, deciding to lunge at the Count, it's molten whiskers whipping dangerously in the air. He seemed to know just where to step to avoid the lashes of fire, retreating before pirouetting to the side, avoiding a strike from the creature's mouth. The sudden heat made the fabric of his cloak begin to smoulder.

"Do either of you have range?" It stung his eyes, even being this close to the beast.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"It's too hot!"

"Well, feth!"

Rhi continued to narrowly escape the lava monster's wrath, her wings beating against her back as she flew over its molten tentacles and dodged falling rocks. They needed to kill this thing, and fast. But how?

"Do either of you have range?"

"You mean like this?" As she shouted, she picked up the largest rock she could find and flung it at the beast with the Force. It probably wouldn't do much, but it was a ranged attack. If Alicio was hoping for blasters, he'd be sorely disappointed.

Or perhaps not. Dev Ossian suddenly pulled out a rather large weapon from seemingly out of nowhere, found a spot of reasonable safety from which to shoot at the creature, took aim and fired. Rhi didn't hear the sonic blast so much as feel it as the concentrated energy exploded on impact with the hellion's hide.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio managed to scurry to a safe distance as the creature was distracted by his other traveling companions, giving him a moment to think, and to watch as they took his suggestion.

Ishani threw a rock, which had the expected effect of not much. The beast shook it's head as it connected, before focusing retributively on the winged Sith. But then, the Count watched as her Shaal companion pulled out some kind of rocket launcher, and fired it at the beast.

The sound of a shattering thunderbolt, and the overwhelming taste of ozone on Alicio's tongue, had him clamping a hand over both his ear, and his mouth. The hellion seemed to take the worst of it, howling with the sound of stone grating against stone as chunks of lava fell from the impact zone, and retreating back into a hole in the wall, soon disappearing from view. The weapon had greatly wounded it, and they all could only hope the strike truly deterred it from trying again.

Alicio didn't waste a moment, rushing over to where Kai was buried, and pulling off his cloak to protect his hands from the burning rock. He began lifting what debris he could, determined to pull the shapeshifter out himself, if he had to.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

The hellion turned its wrath upon her for flinging a boulder its way, and for a few dreadful seconds, Rhi thought she was done for. But Dev’s sonic bazooka saved the day, sending the creature into retreat.

Breathing hard and covered in sweat, Rhi watched as Alicio rushed to unearth his buried friend. She couldn’t feel Kai’s presence in the Force—but then, it had been difficult to sense him all along. She assumed he was as good as dead after cooking for so long beneath the hot coals.

<It’s time,> she informed Dev telepathically. Activating her lightsaber, she pointed the blade at the Count. “This place belongs to me,” she said. “I won’t let you destroy it, Alicio. Surrender, and I’ll get you off this world and home to the ones you love.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure that Alicio probably wouldn’t come quietly, but Rhi’s willingness to give him the option was perhaps a testament to the faint, lingering respect she had for him and the friendship they had once shared.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio seemed to ignore the sudden illumination of green behind his back, continuing to shovel rocks out from where he'd seen Kai last.

"Surrender, and I’ll get you off this world and home to the ones you love.”

He stopped. But he didn't turn around. Didn't stand up. Only let the silence following Rhi's ultimatum stink the air.

"Do you remember... when we went drinking together?" The Count didn't sound surprised. His voice was colored by the same lingering sadness from the elevator. "You were teaching me how to detoxify my own blood. So I got wasted, and you had to talk me through how to heal myself."

"Do you remember?"

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"Do you remember?"

"Yes," Rhi replied. "You're stalling."

With a flick of her lightsaber, she aimed a slash at his right wrist. It was not a warning shot. She didn't want to kill Alicio, but she was not above trying to maim him.

"Don't be a fool, Alicio. What happens to this facility is none of your concern. All you really want is to go back to her... and the twins." She was skimming over his feelings, scanning the surface thoughts of his mind to gain some clairvoyance. To wear him down. "I had twins, too. Do you remember?"

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

She forced his hand.

Introspect, which had since found it's way to Alicio's hand, sprang to life, humming darkly as it clashed with Rhiannon's blade. In only a moment, Alicio was kneeling, facing his former friend, cloak gripped tightly in his free hand. But still, he didn't press the attack.

Not even when Ishani mentioned his family, although a fleeting dark thought swam across his mind as she did, plain for her to feel. A scan of his mind would reveal that he was feeling a deep sadness for the woman before him. A hope that, perhaps, if she remembered who she had been back then, she wouldn't go to these extremes now. Even if a little part of him knew that wouldn't happen. And, perhaps, a hope that Kai would miraculously appear to even the odds.

But there was a secret too. Something that Alicio was keeping well protected in his mind. The lava around them had started to steam, ever so slightly.

"Marcus and Eloise," the Alderaanian said, his voice quiet and clear. "They wore more cake than they ate. You were excited to show them to me."

"What do you mean, 'had'?" Gently, the Count brought his blade into a guard position, turning his head slightly to Dev.

Please be okay, Kai.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"What do you mean, 'had'?"

“I meant have,” Rhi replied irritably. Just another fumbling Rhiannon-ism.

Alicio parried her slash. So, they would have another duel. This time there was no second to come to his defense. Rhi could tell that he had been practicing, training—and so had she.

“Did it haunt you at night, believing that you had made two children motherless?” she asked, continuing to attack him with short cutting swings and shallow stabs. “Or did you think what a good deed you had accomplished, removing the Sith influence from their lives?”

Dev put away his big gun and instead took up his blade. He approached the two duelists slowly, almost casually sliding in, and with a fluid motion he attacked Alicio from the left. Rhi had given strict orders not to kill this one, so he went for the shoulder, hoping to (literally) disarm the Count.

Off to the side, the pile of rocks shifted ever so slightly, stones falling and rolling away.

Alicio Organa​