Private Under the Rain

[Kaila Irons]

"An absence..." She repeated quietly, eyes wandering distantly to the gray sky again.

"Just a word that came to me, It feels pained... empty"

"Maybe it's," Is he the one feeling this, or am I? "It's nothing"


"Your mind is not what I expected. So crowded, but so lonely. Everything is blurred together, it's hard to pick out the details"

Is this what her mind would have become had she not lost her memories? Or was his merely a product of circumstance? So many raw emotions had been inflicted upon him through means she wondered if he ever had a choice in.

The sound of credit sticks stole her away from those distant thoughts and she realized that he may not have enough to pay for the drinks he was attempting to order. Money wasn't much of an issue for Kaila, not when she could pass something off as a traveling expense at least. Even then her secretive work outside the purview of the Kainate was becoming quite lucrative. But, the choice to help or to continue on her way extended beyond mere credits. If she started now, she might not be able to stop.

Then again, it needn't be a one way street.

"I don't know if our meeting was by some design,"

They were both puzzles. She hated puzzles, but maybe that was because she was tired of solving them alone.

"But I think it's clear that we're both searching something"

She produced a few credit sticks from a change purse fastened to her belt, holding them out for Zhio to take.

"So let's help each other. You're a smuggler who can find things, I am sith and I know things"

They were symbolic of a much larger offer, but they would be enough to pay for his drink.

"I won't always be there, I have to admit that ahead of time. I am not an imperial by choice, and I am bound by beings far greater than either of us, nor anyone like us. I cannot control where He sends me, but-"

Her hands clasped together as if she were making a business pitch. Even so her tone was questioning, like she didn't know if this was even the correct choice to make, but she continued nonetheless.

"I am part of a collective that exists outside the purview of the larger Sith Order, and regardless of Imperial law. I have resources. You have skills. You think me evil, but must we really be to be friends to make a mutually beneficial arrangement?"


Spek Zhio

 

[Spek Zhio]

"That the nomad's lifestyle," he replied, gratefully accepting her credits. Zhio was not in real need of them, but if she was better off than him, he was not about to let the opportunity pass him by. That was also part of the nomad lifestyle.

Putting in his order, Spek added, "Well, I also know a thing or two. Like, for example, the fact that I don't agree with your interpretations of historical records. You mentioned earlier how the Je'daii gave rise to the SIth. Well, that's not at all accurate, as so much as some of their spiritual successors - the Jedi - were the ones who culturally appropriated some of the Sith's beliefs. The Sith being an actual bygone species, before their name began being used as the umbrella term for the several cults we have today."

Spek motioned with an outstretched finger towards the terminal, as if asking her if she also wanted to order another.

"Bottom line, the Je'daii did not create the Sith. Actually, they were gray, neither light nor dark-aligned. And besides, actual Sith - the species - were members of the ancient Je'daii order as well.

"I guess you could say that the Je'daii split into both Jedi and SIth."

He stretched out against the back of his seat.

"You see? I'm also a scholar of sorts," he joked with a sly smile.

"What I'm getting at is... It's true, we don't have to be friends in order to work together, but I won't help," he motioned towards her lightsaber, "that thing."

Time to rattle some cages. If they really were to work together, then they needed to be frank with each other. And that was all he was being, straightforward.

"Want to talk about it? I'm not one to victim blame but... you do know you're well past the point of helplessness now, don't you? At this point, you're willingly being exploited. I'd say it's past time you broke the cycle and lived for your own self.

"That thing... has been lying to you. Your so-called masters, have been lying to you. Pain is not the path towards strength. Just towards a vicious cycle of suffering. Both of receiving and inflicting it. Maybe, they're lying to themselves as well and know no better."

His temper was flaring and he did his best to suppress it. "Knowledge is true power. Their lies makes them weak. You buying into them, makes you weak!" Was it his or hers, though?

"The historian in you might appreciate this... Do you know why the Sith are usually on the wrong side of history? It's because power is a tool, not a goal.

"Resorting to..." He nodded towards her weapon," That... Only makes you weaker."

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

If it really was her anger that he was feeling, his way of expressing it back in her face did little to ease Kaila. Being called weak after so much sacrifice, after all she had endured, after all she showed him was as insolent as it was uncalled for.

But, There was something he didn't know. Something that brought an almost sadistic smile to those red lips, flashing grit teeth.

"You would be correct. If I had fallen for it's temptations."

Her voice was hushed, like a serpent hissing secrets at the smuggler. She clenched her fist around her saber, but her movements were deliberately slow as she held it in a reverse grip pointed towards herself as it was pulled from her belt. Then she set it on the table, pressing it between the table and a single finger as she slid it towards him, rotating it to point at the window now that it was no longer in her grasp. When her hands returned to her lap, the screws suddenly spun loose, rolling a short distance from the table. Next came the cover dropping aside with a clatter.

Zhio could easily see the inner workings of her saber. The modified cyclic array, the refined phobium emitter, the water proof casing and so many finely crafted and exotic parts that must have taken a great deal of time and care to locate let alone install into an already complete saber, adapting to challenges one by one.

But most importantly of all, the dark purple glow emanating from a peculiar crystal. The dark side energies radiating from it were ancient, potent as if it contained the knowledge and training of many powerful beings.

"Destroy it, if you wish" Kaila dared.

"Deny the ghost his— their vessel. It only means that if I die, they die with me. It doesn't matter, they have no power here"

She leaned forward slowly, palms flat against the table as she pressed her weight into it. She kept a thin smile, but her eyes glared daggers, the golden hue slowly growing brighter in the dimly lit cantina.

"You know things too, do you? Do you know force walking?"

Her eyes suddenly shone a dark but piercing violet, even grander than the now useless crystal laid bare between them. A second pair of radiant eyes burned into the air beside her, a faceless void spreading around it to fill an empty and translucent hood. The Ghost of Parasideus sat next to her, between herself and the wall so as to hide it's presence from the other patrons.

"You asked for my pain. But I have not shown you my power. My passions. My triumphs"

The ghost stared at Zhio, it's hunger for a body and ache for freedom so potent that both could feel it in the air. But when Kaila suddenly snapped her fingers, Parasideus vanished as if he were but a puff of smoke, and the feeling quickly became distant as her eyes slowly faded back to their golden hue.

"It took years of struggle and research, but the day I shackled Parasideus, the day I snatched his power by right of conquest, was the best day of my life"

Kaila realized that she had started gripping the table's edge with her gauntlet, the straining leather audible even as a backdrop to her voice. Her chest rose and fell, wrinkling and un-wrinkling her cloak with each heavy breath. Breathes she would begin to take deeply, closing her eyes for but a moment as she leaned back in her chair.

"But you are right... my master, my true master, has nothing good planned for me"

"But I am not weak. For it took a God to bind me, not a ghost" It pained her to admit that she was indeed bound to another, even if to something far more powerful than Parasideus.

"You may have seen him in my memories. Lord Carnifex. But you do not know him like I do. You have never seen his trophy room, with so many walls dedicated to shelving the skulls of Jedi knights. You have never seen the one dedicated to padawan braids. You have not seen the Mandalorians driven to near extinction, nor what he does those unfortunate enough to believe capture is a mercy. Not the way I have"

The anger was beginning to grow cold, fear steadily creeping in like rot as her speech quickened, heart racing for all new reasons.

"I am Sith because he will find me the moment I become anything less. And the slow death I might receive would be the kindest mercy that his black soul is capable of, but far more likely I would be made to suffer well beyond my lifespan

Think of my caution as weakness all you like, I do not care.

What I care about is stacking the cards in my favor so that if my some miracle I discover a way to escape, I have every possible method to do so. The higher I rise, the better my chances. I do what I must. I control syndicates, I bind ghosts, I may even work with enemies of the empire"

"With people like yourself..."

Kaila reached her hand out for him to take, staring him down in anticipation, knowing that that any moment they would either begin something that defied the odds or they would be left back where they started.

"Now, can we still help each other or not?"


Spek Zhio

 

[Spek Zhio]

Spek's eyes strayed over towards the crowded cantina, eyeing whether someone was looking their way, with a glance. The woman across the table from him, had just placed a very distinguishing weapon on top of it. Had it been a grenade launcher instead, there would have been less chance of it drawing attention towards them.

That she proceeded to make it disassemble itself, exposing its electronic bowels and crystal heart, only worsen their chances of maintaining a low profile.

The man certainly felt compelled to at least attempt to destroy the thing, that was pulsating through the Force like the fumes coming off of a trash compactor. A repulsive miasma to his Force sensitivity, as if something was rotten within.

"Is it not the order's sacred duty to eradicate practitioners of the dark such as myself?" the words bounced around in his head. And, with them, his fleeting moment of impulse became just that. Still, before he could say anything, Kaila went on, steadily growing more voracious and brash as she did. As if getting intoxicated on her own words. As for Zhio, he continued to imbibe her burgeoning emotions.

Of Force Walking, the once Padawan knew nothing about. But, given the very low probability of it being a non sequitur, he did not assume it was some manner by which handicapped Force users were able to walk again - that would still be telekinesis, anyway. Therefore, when the Force ghost came into sight, there was little question regarding what the term was in reference of, if still plenty of doubt concerning what exactly it was.

The credits remained forgotten on the table. Unspent.

Zhio waited for the conversation to naturally return to him, which came in the form of a question. "How exactly are you proposing that we help each other, though?" It seemed evident to him that, whatever it was that she required assistance with, it was related to 'stacking the cards' against her master. The Zeltron was not at all unfamiliar with games of chance - as card games usually went - but he preferred to shift the odds in his favor whenever possible. So the apropos metaphor was not lost on him.

"First of all, empire 'schmpire'. They can go screw themselves with their shiny helmed heads up their stinky rear-ends!" he spat on the unclean floor. "And the same goes for this so-called god of yours, whether they use a helmet or not," maybe it was part of their clique's formal attire, which would explain Kaila's. "The only Gods I've ever heard of are either dead or imaginary.

"What's he the Lord of, anyway? From what I could gather from your memories, tacky wall decorations and 'edgelordiness', most likely!" Spek jeered. Although, if Kaila would be willing to go to such lengths as to bind ancient Sith to her and even seek out the assistance of a smuggler such as him, then the threat was very much real. "Plus, feeling the need to decorate his walls with the remnants of vanquished foes, if that doesn't scream 'small dick energy' I don't know what does!"

The red-coated spacer let out a hearty laugh.

"Look, Kaila..." Spek continued, with a more serious tone. "The way I see it, the only thing you really need in order to sever whatever connection you have to that dude, is the willingness to accept the consequences. And I don't know how I can help you with that, unless you think I can summon a band of Jedi to kick his ass or something. Running away or hiding is always a possibility, I suppose. But then again, that's also accepting consequences.

"From where I'm sitting, it seems that you're not really a Sith as so much the victim of several. Your weakness lies in resigning yourself to that fact. I'm not saying you're weak in a broad sense, just that your allegiances are shackles, that crystal a crutch, and letting painful memories dictate how you operate could very well be your undoing.

"Trust me, I understand what it is like to know no other life than the one you've been given. But there's always time to change hyperlanes."

Spek spoke from experience. Nevertheless, had past events gone in a different direction, he might have stuck with his.

"You dared me to destroy that... thing," he motioned towards the eviscerated lightsaber. "I'm sure you did it out of confidence that I wouldn't be able to. You might be right, or you might be wrong. Thing is we'll never know because that's not mine to destroy."

Another quick glimpse and he noticed some patrons now stealing glances in their direction. Some, all on the same table, even fiddling with something behind the cover of their capes.

"From my point of view, the Sith are the ones who destroy that which they are ignorant of, while the Jedi elect to proclaim it taboo. I'm neither, so I believe that trying to bury knowledge is antithetical to enlightenment. While trying to destroy it, is a primitive response to fear. To weakness, if you will."

While continuing to talk, he nonchalantly leaned back, letting his left forearm rest on top of his midsection. The hand pointing towards his sword, propped against the wall.

Unconcerned, he went on, "Honestly, I do feel conflicted, for if any soul deserves to be bound and abused is that of a Sith. Not unlike yourself or your 'Edgelordy McLordypants', I suppose. But, I don't have the authority to decide that. Which is the point I've been making, pretty much since the start of this conversation. What I'm saying is that I believe we shouldn't be taking choices away from other people, just because we may have the power to do so."

The sudden sound of chairs hitting the floor, from people hastily standing up, came to his attention. Even drowned out by the corny cantina music - unbelievable to him how the song he had selected had still not started playing - the Zeltron's heightened senses easily picked up those sounds. The fact that he had been actively, if covertly, paying attention to the particular table from where they originated, made no difference in the matter.

Four individuals from a table, only a few meters away, were getting up and already shooting at them both, multiple times. Zhio was confident in Kaila's ability to avoid the bolts aimed at her so he only focused on his. With the aid of the Force, he swiftly pulled his sword into his left hand - The Kingfisher - and, with a couple of flourishes of the sheathed weapon, skillfully diverted the incoming blaster bolts towards the ceiling, thanks to the cortosis-weave of the scabbard.

Pieces of plaster fell down, from were the deflected blaster bolts had struck. But, before they had even reached the ground, Spek was already directing his right palm towards the attackers. Closing the hand in a fist as if pulling, he took away their weapons with Force telekinesis.

Casually standing up, the smuggler was aware of how many others among the crowded room were now drawing weapons as well. Unaffected, the cantina playlist skipped to the next track and, as it did, Spek turned his head to face Kaila.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "This is my song!"

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

"First of all, empire 'schmpire'. They can go screw themselves with their shiny helmed heads up their stinky rear-ends!" he spat on the unclean floor. "And the same goes for this so-called god of yours, whether they use a helmet or not,"

"Oh for-!" Kaila quickly withdrew her hand "I know he's not a literal god he's just... very close. It's like on of your eccentric analogies"

She began rubbing her temples while Zhio delivered some kind of speech, which was fair given her extended outburst not long ago, but she could never decide if he was legitimately trying to show her a better way or just insult her.

Though admittedly the suggestion that her master was compensating, while false, made it difficult to fight back a very brief smile.

Even so there were several moments where she was almost tempted to walk away. Because of the times she was implied to be weak and because he assumed she placed the crystal in front of him out of some misguided confidence instead of realizing that it was practically useless to her now or the ghost now, making the entire gesture a complete waste of time.

But then at some point he began pointing towards his sword and Kaila's attention became split. At first she simply glanced at it and then narrowed her eyes on him, but then it dawned on Kaila that in her anger, she had become distracted.

Closing her eyes for just a moment...

She could feel murderous intent, and it was not her own.

A pair of blaster bolts suddenly stopped not far from her, suspended in the air as it ominously hummed and violently jittered.

Kaila's jaw clenched and her eyes shot open, burning a bright gold. She stuffed the gutted lightsaber in a pocket and then stood, lifting her helmet up and over her head. It wasn't until she had stepped away from the table and Zhio disarmed their assailants that the blaster bolts resumed motion, slamming into the wall and seat where she had previously been with a violent shower of colored sparks.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "This is my song!"

"Congrats!" Kaila stopped just long enough to catch a few lyrics

"But we can't stay to finish it"

She stepped up to activate the door panel only for it open early, revealing another group of armed men. Several went flying back and knocked over their own people as kaila reached out, drawing a defensive shoto in the other hand as she stepped out of the building.

When it activated, it was not violet like the other.

But blood red.


Spek Zhio

 

[Spek Zhio]

How come I've never thought of that? Spek wondered to himself, observing how Kaila dealt with the blaster bolts heading her way. It's a different application of telekinesis but, with the proper training, shouldn't be impossible to master. Although, having to be on the receiving end of a gun barrel was not an inviting prospect.

He had noticed her getting annoyed, before. But she did not act on it, so maybe his pheromones were somewhat soothing her, after all? Either way, leave it to a Sith to deal in absolutes. He was pointing out what he considered to be a flaw, in the hope that she could improve on it. And there she was was acting as if he accused her of being flawed, in its entirety. Well, Sith gonna Sith, he concluded. In reality, Zhio half-expected her to go all murderous on their attackers. That she did not, surprised him. Apparently, not all Sith go Sith, all the time.

In fact, she was proposing that they escaped instead of facing down the attackers, which they could both do with ease. Even more astonished, the man then whined. "Awwww... Do we really have to leave so soon?" he held his open right palm towards the rest of the cantina, forming a Force barrier around them both, that effortlessly absorbed the low-caliber blaster bolts being shot. Not paying any attention to the people firing upon them, he went on complaining, "The music is just getting started, the really good part comes in a bit!"

Cantina Music

​

With a roll of his eyes, in a joking manner, Zhio followed her outside. He jumped over the assailants that she caused to go tumbling down like dominoes. A red beam, now that's more standard. If not for its length... He pondered about her lightsaber. Apparently, the woman still had plenty of surprises left.

"Fellas, fellas! We're so glad you're here!" Spek announced to those outside, that were still standing. "Please help us, we were just shot at, inside the cantina!" He looked over his shoulder, and saw the shooters exiting in pursuit. In the blink of an eye, the Force users were caught in the crossfire.

Quickly shortening the distance between those in front, battle meditation kicking in, Spek anticipated and dodged every incoming shot with ease. It was no different than deflecting them, and actually easier than doing so towards a specific point. "With aim like that, you might just hurt yourself," he said in jest, as he slipped past the group and, turning around, began brandishing the sheathed Kingfisher in front of him. Following a Soresu form, he deflected the bolts back to the weapons from which they came, destroying them in the process.

Half of the attackers were attempting to shake out the pain from their now empty hands, while the other half were looking around at each other, baffled. "Well, this was fun," he declared, noticing the arrival of reinforcements carrying heavy weaponry, "but we'll be taking our leave now."

Darting towards the spaceport, Zhio paid attention to the 'Purple Lotus' sign, this time around. Taking a quick right down the road, he could see the spaceport less than fifty meters ahead. He saw the wide gates of the loading area shutting down, and figured that their ships were probably being impounded at that exact moment. Those gates and whoever or whatever were guarding them, could not stop them. But, if there was a more peaceful way to get through them, Spek would opt to take it. Even if that way meant resorting to mental manipulation. Unfortunately, the customs agent at the door, was a Toydarian. Luckily, the Zeltron's bracelet was still dialed-up, so he could resort to his pheromones in lieu of Force mind tricks..

Reaching the man in a sprint, briefly looking over his shoulder at their pursuers, he greeted the alien, "Hey there, handsome! That's a really gorgeous... trunk, you have there!"

"The spaceport is on lock-down! Please, proceed..." they began, before suddenly shifting gears. "Oh! You think so too?"

"Well, of course," Zhio gave him a warm smile. Glancing back, he noticed the chasers gaining in on them, "I bet you get all sorts of action down here, working at the spaceport and all!..."

"Well... I do okay, I guess..." Was the blue Toydarian blushing? It was hard to tell.

"Nonsense! Look at those... beautiful yellow tusks! I can still see some of your last meal on them! I'm sure you do more than just okay!"

"Ah! Stop it! They're just cavities!" The agent giggled, with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Seriously, I'd love to hear all about your conquests, while staring down those deep, hazy, yellow-ish eyes. But alas, I have people waiting for me off-world and am in a bit of a hurry, so..." the spacer pointed towards the sky, "Rain check?"

"AH AH AH! Rain check! I get it! Very funny, very funny!" He touched his datapad a few times, and the single door to the spaceport began to open by itself. "Go right ahead then, both of you. We'll talk next time you're in town!"

Spek bolted through the door. "When will that be?" the Toydarian voice echoing through the corridor.

"Soon," Zhio yelled back.

"How soon?"

"Very soon!"

Very unlikely.

---

Amidst the turmoil of fleeing, Spek lost track of whenever it was that he got separated from Kaila. At some point they took different paths. He, towards the Azure Alcyone. She, towards her own ship, presumably.

"No Alcy, there's no problem at all," he told his ship, while entering through the port hangar bay doors, aft of the retrofitted YT-1930 transport. The onboard computer retorted with a series of blinking lights along the bay's walls. Inspecting the newly loaded goods headed for Tatooine there, before making his way towards the flight cabin, Zhio rebutted, "The lock-down? Totally unrelated! Some nice Toydarian just got us cleared for take-off."

Standing next to the cockpit, as the ship was automating the launch procedures, he wondered if he would ever know what Kaila was about to ask of him. How exactly it was that they could help each other. And, most importantly, why consider him, of all people.

"You're right, Alcy... It's not that I'm that bad of a liar. It's just that you know me too well..."

Alcyone blasted off through the atmosphere. Spek Zhio placed his coat on the back of the pilot seat and started to take his clothes off. The cold helped him concentrate on his astrogation. Heading back towards the frigid cargo bays, he turned his head to say one last thing.

"I'll tell you about it some other time..."

THE END

As requested, I concluded the thread