To Sail Upon a Solar Wind

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Ophidia stared at the holographic illustration of the ship once known as Last Call. The translucent model spun casually, showing every nook and crevice of its legendary, fan-like form. The ship in question had belonged to the Dark Jedi, Asajj Ventress, once a resident of Rattatak, conqueror of several warlords and builder of Castle Ventress. Many on Rattatak still revered the persona of Ventress for the battles she fought and the city she built. With the vast information of the One Sith at her fingertips, how could Ophidia, a Rattataki, not look for any unclaimed souvenirs floating about?

It was a field-trip waiting to happen.

Last Call may have been destroyed, but there was a chance that a few Ginivex-class starfighters remained stored away in Castle Ventress. The ship was a good make, with a few modern tweaks it could even be magnificent. Furthermore, in this time of dubious loyalties, it would be good for her to get a ship of a more neutral image than the Fury or the Phasma-class ships she had utilised thus far.

Yet, the Rattataki was not alone in this venture. In her quest for information she had come in contact with another and was forced to share in the hunt. Hopefully, it would not come back to haunt her later. She did not know what to expect, nor if they would find anything. Would she be recognised? It was not every day she planned a visit to her birth-planet. In fact, it was the first time in her adult life that she did so. The concept of it brought strange feelings to her, feelings she tucked away for the moment.

Now, the Sith Lord sat in a ship bound for Rattatak, awaiting one [member="Cerita Sarova"]. Her droid, Darling, stacked away the many books that one littered the interior of the ship. There was very little fiction, a few notable classics perhaps, but the greater part were of instructional volumes on mathematics, physics, xenobiology, history, linguistics and grammar. A container of tea had been prepared for the trip and conserved for the arrival of their guest. Ophidia kept her eyes on the floating holoprojection of the ship, but by way of the Force she also kept watch over every entrance to the hangar.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Sometimes a person wished to take a break from the endless reading and learning, sometimes said person wished to practice in a more practical way all that she had learned before, rarely did this happen, but when it did? Well, Cerita Sarova was not content with just any sort of practice. It was rare that the books and literature of old could not keep her attention, that those strange scrolls loaned to her by her Master didn't intrigue her, and yet here she stood right now.

It was time to get her hands dirty, at least in a metaphorical sense.

She wasn't particularly interested in those ancient figures that most still hailed for some reason. Ventress, Yoda, Skywalker and the rest, they were all dust and ashes. Their ships, sabers and homes... well, someone might as well start collecting their dirty, old laundry, no?

But for some it still held value, apparently. And who was Cerita to judge them for their desire? Personally she was more interested in some of the datacrons and other archival information Ventress might have owned, not from her own make surely - the Rattataki had never been much of a scholar, but she assumed that just as she had things loaned to her by her Master, so would Ventress have loaned things from her Master.

And that was what brought her attention to Castle Ventress, and that was why Ophidia and her were operating together this time around.

Otherwise it would have been some messy race followed by backstabbery and some other nonsense. Cerita was too 'old' for that, in the metaphorical sense of the word (again), she really wasn't any older than maybe a decade according to her clone-state. But the experience she held in that mind of hers?

Different story altogether.

One entrance would suddenly light up as Cerita's presence in the Force magnified. Almost as if she hadn't been there before, but appeared right as she crossed the boundary. Impossible, of course, or perhaps improbable would be the better word.

The walk was short, but before long she would reach the ship that held her partner in crime.

And then they could get this party started.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Even if her companion in this venture had a different motive, Darth Ophidia remained suspicious. It was in the nature of her speciality to doubt the words of others until proven. Her suspicions were, however, deeply buried under a calm exterior and layers of mental protection. As [member="Cerita Sarova"] became apparent, the Rattataki's head shot towards the entrance. Her eyes, aglow with a dark orange ember, peered towards the approaching person of green colouration. The holoprojector snapped shut in her hand with a soft click, extinguishing the image of Last Call.

To an assassin of Ophidia's calibre, sudden appearances were not uncommon. She, herself, knew a number of abilities that could cause such an effect, and she was aware that her own collection of these techniques was not complete; not yet. However, she did make a mental note of it. Of course, it would be unlikely for Cerita to know of Ophidia's expertise in the art of stealth and the silent kill. There were very few things she let slip into the pool of public knowledge. To most, she was a Rattataki in the background; one of the Sith Lords with little claim to her name except the scent of blood on her hands.

Rising to her feet and tucking the holoprojector away, Ophidia observed Cerita coming closer. She made mental notes of how she walked and where she looked, whether she carried any arms and armour or not. One could tell a lot about a person from a mere glance, and even more with a trained eye. When Cerita came close, Ophidia stepped down the gangway of the ship to meet her. She extended a pair of hands in front of her, palms up in a greeting. One hand was ashen grey, the other black as ink. Essentially showing that she carried no weapons.

"Welcome."

There was a welcoming tone in her voice, but her eyes showed no kindness, rather she looked as though she was readng. Ophidia turned to gesture towards the gangway and lead Cerita on board. Her eyes darted around the bay one last time, taking note of the workers present.

"I made some tea if you should like."

Her head turned to the droid which was still packing away books.

"Darling, the tea."

The droid set down the books and shimmied over to pour the tea. Ophidia ran the black hand over the back of her head, where tendrils of scarred skin emerged from the collar of her tunic and grasped at the base of her skull.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Her armor was will, her weapon of choice the mind. No armor of beskar or phrik would avail her in battle, no huge bulking swords wearing her stamina down in a fight, just her... and a sleek outfit of leather. At least something that looked like leather. Contrary to Ophidia, Cerita - or Lady Cerbera, as her new partner would know her by, did not make a big secret of her specialty.

Everything and all alchemical.

The specifics of her skill was a different story altogether though. That was as much clouded in hearsay and rumor with stories ranging from: "She can freeze you on the spot." to "She poisoned that poor man with a touch of a finger!"

Amusing, really. She did little to dispel the rumors though.

It kept her actual abilities shrouded and made it less likely that a random Sithling would come up to her for a fight or two.

"Thank you." she answered simply, before following Ophidia into the belly of the proverbial beast. A few servants scuttled around here and there, heads down, eyes cast to the ground in an attempt to seem as small and insignificant as possible: one of the few layers of protections the common people had against the morbid boredom some Sith displayed at times. If you were a shadow on the wall... they might just not notice you and squash you like a bug, just for the hell of it.

Not that Cerita thought her current companion was of such quality, she did not know her well enough to make that assumption, yet. But it was a common enough trope to not take lightly.

"How delightful! What herbs did you use, if I may ask?"

The briefest of a genuine smile. Herbalism and the sort were somewhat of a hobby to her, which wasn't really that surprising considering she was a plant herself. Technically.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

No armours or weapons, Darth Ophidia was more on guard next to the unarmed than she was near the obvious soldier. Those who walked seemingly unarmed were certainly confident enough in their abilities, and the abilities were more difficult to discern with one who did not display them at their sleeve. Then again, the average Sith Marauder would not be interested in such a tame expedition as Ratttatak. Among those who studied the Force among the Sith, leathery substances were such a common material that Ophidia took next to no note.

"I made some contacts on Sakura. They got me a wonderful tea from an obscure plantation high in the mountains. The plants grow light blue, giving the tea quite an extraordinary hue. The fragrance- Well you will just have to sample it yourself."

She had a certain excitement in her voice while talking about tea. Though, her visits to the former Atrisian colony was for more than just tea, no matter how marvellous it was. This exact plantation once only served the imperial palace. It would seem the new emperors were less fond of expensive teas than their predecessors, an opportunity Darth Ophidia gladly exploited.

Darling's methodical brewing of tea was less visually impressive than the Atrisian ceremonies, but it made the tea to perfection. Soon, the proximity of the brewing process fumed with a delightfully sweet aroma. The potential awkwardness of serving boiled bits of dried plant to a sentient being whose species have origin in flora -as opposed to fauna- had occurred to the Rattataki, but she decided not to care. Which seemed to have been the correct path judging from Darth Cerbera's moment of enthusiastic questioning.

Behind them, the ship's bay closed and outside the workers scurried away from the proximity of the ship, not to be caught in the imminent movement. Once the tea was brewed, Darling took the pilot's position and initiated take-off. It was just one of the droid's many tasks aboard Ophidia's ship.

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Did enthusiastically sampling brews or food made from herbs make Cerita into some sort of cannibal? It was an interesting philosophical question and one that had occurred to her a few times before, but in the end the Alchemist had opted to simply… not care about it, because the taste and aroma was simply too good to live without.

Cerbera sipped at the tea a few times and enjoyed the silence and the sense of the tea, as it washed over her taste buds.

Some were very quick to compliment without actually tasting it.

But Sarova had no hurry or desire to share empty platitudes. Instead she took her time with it, humming a little bit to herself while the droid set them on the course to their destination.

Rattatak and the Castle Ventress itself.

"Delicious." She finally complimented while her thoughts went to Ventress. Ophidia did have something that reminded her of the pictures she had seen of Ventress. Curious, but perhaps that was why Ophi was so interested in exploring the castle. She herself had her own motives as well, of course.

One of which was the simple act of networking. Ophidia was a fairly high-ranked member of the One Sith, which was still a fairly powerful nation in the Galaxy.

Getting to know her and the other nation’s power players would be beneficial to her.

"You certainly must share the brewing method with me, my dear."

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Gravity shifted ever so slightly as the ship lifted off from the ground and moved from the hangar before steadily accelerating into the skies. When one visited many ships, one started to notice the slight difference between artificial and real gravity, not to mention the different gravitational settings from one ship to another. However, the difference was so minute it was hardly more than a curiosity. Ophidia had found that the right setting in the ship could prepare one for the gravitational weight of different planet by gradually transitioning to an approximated likeness. For someone such as her, that little edge was priceless.

The Rattataki sipped from her cup with a little slurping sound. It infused bubbles of air, bringing fragrance into the oral cavity and enticing the olfactory organs at the back of the throat. She half-closed her eyes as the fragrance and flavour played in her mouth, and the warmth of the liquid dispersed through her body.

"Oh, I am afraid I must refuse. Some secrets are better kept, and the method of this particular tea is mine."

Of course, the conversation did not just concern tea. Ophidia used the topic of conversation to examine Cerbera, catch a glimpse of her personality, or the persona she wished to project. Much like xenolinguists, she found that going into a topic of some common interest made the other lower their guard and thus told her more than a direct questioning. Everything from the way she drank the tea to the question she posed after gave Ophidia another thread toward the core of who Darth Cerbera was.

The droid chirped a string of binary to inform the two that they were about to enter hyperspace. Ophidia nodded in response. Even to one with a fluent understanding of droidspeak, Darling was a special case. He had Rattataki words infused in his vocabulary and translated to binary, thus making it far more difficult to decipher without proper knowledge of both languages.

"We will be going into lightspeed."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Truthfully Cerita didn’t need Ophidia to disclose the recipe for her tea. Mostly because through a minor application of Art of the Small, the focus on the brew and her experience with molecular structures, it was the simplest thing in the world to extrapolate the manner in which the brew was made in the first place.

But revealing that ability to her current partner in crime would have been rude. It would be best for the Assassin to think that she still had the upperhand in the art of tea brewing, but perhaps they could share notes at a later stadium.

"I understand completely," Cerbera assured with a smile, before exchanging a look in between the droid and the owner.

She didn’t know Rattataki, but neither did she sense any deception coming from Ophidia. So she simply nodded and took another sip from the tea, before sighing in delight.

"Truthfully, I am surprised. I heard tales and I had come to expect… a different standard from the One Sith and their Lords."

Murder, mayhem and lots of bloodshed.

Not that Cerbera was completely against it. Carefully applied violence had its own usage, as long as it was directed with skill and care.

But tea didn’t come into the equation of her expectations.

A pleasant surprise really.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Once again, gravity shifted as they entered hyperspace. Dots of light became elongated to streaks before near merging into a solid wall of light. However, the backdrop of the dark void was still present to see. The dark was always there, all-encompassing, undeniable, endless. Darth Ophidia smiled a little at Cerita's reflection on the One Sith's reputation for harbouring exceedingly brutal Lords.

"To some we are monsters; to others we are liberators. To our enemies, the standard you have heard is not untrue. You, however, are not my enemy."

Potential rival, perhaps an ally, but not an enemy. An enemy would have been ejected from the ship and doomed to float aimlessly in space, just out of reach. To their enemies, the One Sith were brutal. Many Lords revelled in the pain and bloodshed. Ophidia admittedly did so too, on occasion.

"Perhaps you will be, some day. Now, I share my tea with you."

She lifted her cup slightly before draining it and savouring the flavour. Her eyes ventured to the viewport and the odd visual experience that was hyperspace. It never seized to amaze her. Despite all the things she had read, Ophidia had never learned what created the beautiful effect. Some part of her did not want to know, fearing it would spoil the enjoyment.

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

"I wouldn’t look too closely, if I were you." Ceri had followed Ophidia’s gaze towards the viewport. Her own eyes were almost forged onto the scenery, but it was different for her, her mind could handle the euphoria and need to disappear in the face of the beauty. "I have seen cases of sentients’ minds twisting and breaking under the insurmountable pressure of the ripples of spacetime."

Not all species were prone to that, of course. Falleen for instance were far more resilient against those kind of effects. Even going so far as specifically staring into the depths of hypergems just for the fun of it.

Cerbera didn’t mention how she came across those cases. But there was just that little silence, the turn of the corner of her mouth sloping upwards and a twinkle in her eyes, that suggested, but only suggested that her scientific pursuits sometimes involved less practical and more esoteric research.

She sipped from her tea, sighing contently, before putting down her now empty cup.

"Why don’t you show me to my quarters? Rattatak is a fair distance away, and I haven’t had much sleep in the past few days."

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Ophidia kept her gaze upon the shades of blue through which they travelled, grading from the brightest white to the deepest blackness. Shapeless, seamless, endless. Blinking, she turned her eyes back to the green woman, a shrewd smile forming upon her lips as she picked up on the undertone of the silence.

"I am sure you have. Yet, I suppose, my ignorance on the matter is my shield from such harm. I know only what I see in this instance, though I cannot explain it."

She drained her cup and put it down to later be removed and cleaned. The ship, except for a few untidy spaces littered with tomes, scrolls, datapads and datacrons of all sorts. Ophidia had pilfered numerous libraries and copied down what she desired. Some of the times, the information made its way back to the library.

"Ah yes, your quarters. I apologise in advance for the rather simple accommodations."

The fluency in her rise made it almost look as though she was lifted rather than standing. The robe settled around her legs as she showed the way to a very simple room. Books were stacked up in a shelf on one of the walls; a small painting of Donadi origin, supposedly detailing emotions caught from the Battle of Contruum, broke the monotony of grey metal walls boxing them in. In the close, left corner, there was a record player with a disk of Nautolani jazz she had been recommended long ago on Glee Anselm

"But I am sure you will be comfortable."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Most of her attention was taken up by the bookcase filled with books in the corner.

True, books in itself were not all that special anymore when your entire life you were surrounded by it and perhaps she should have expected their presence after witnessing the plethora of papers, datacrons laying around the other room in the ship. But it was still a welcome surprise to her regardless.

"Well, well, well." Ceri responded while letting her hand brush the backs of the tomes collected. "The Outer Mysteries by Basalucho? Didn’t think there was another copy out there in the Galaxy."

A few more rare copies of very, very interesting books caught her eye, but she resolved herself to stay marginally calm and collected.

Because Ophidia was starting to look more and more attractive by the moment. From a purely intellectual sense, of course. It seemed that this trip would perhaps be more than just simple grunting, slaughtering and butchery.

An overall positive outcome.

"I think I am starting to like you."

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Books in their shape and purpose were objects of desire to Ophidia. She loved the texture, the care that was put into every page, and of course, the information inside. Ophidia recalled how she got the book Cerita mentioned; Onderon, during her second visit to the planet. She had pilfered it from the Queen's personal library.

"Ah yes, a ponderous read. Nearly cost me an arm and a leg."

It was amusing to the Rattataki, seeing as she did in fact almost lose limb or life on Onderon. Courtesy of the Princess Thalia. The jewel had sharper edges than anticipated and remained as one last living member of the family whose head she had not collected. One day.

"However, this one."

Quick footsteps carried her over to the bookcase and a gentle hand plucked a slender tome, bound in red leather, from the shelf. She handled it carefully as she turned the cover and gazed upon the black imprinted text on the front.

"It is the script to Corellian Nights by Raoch Amadeyes. First edition, signed by the author for the lead actor, his lover, Farren Falche."

As she traced her fingers over the paper-side of the book, she could feel the force-residue of the book's history. Seeped in violence, tragedy, and superstition as it was. There were not many works of fiction among the tomes, but the few she kept were carefully plucked.

"Not as rare as The Outer Mysteries perhaps, but it has history."

As the green woman expressed the budding emergence of a positive perception of the Sith Lord, she smirked.

"Famous last words, Lady Cerbera."

[member="Cerita Sarova"]