Public When the Cards All Fold (Kaeshana/Invite)

[Hevana Martin]

"I'm not sure assassination techniques will help, but I suppose a few droids won't hurt," Hevana said to HK. Besides, she had no qualms about sending droids to their doom. Not if it could save the lives of a few soldiers.

"As for the academy... is it even still standing? Pretty sure that planet did not even exist eight-hundred years ago and if someone rebuilt it for Force knows what reason how could they restore the academy? Even then, why would the Silver Jedi let such a thing remain after taking up shop?" Not that she trusted any Jedi organization to be able to even wipe themselves without laser guided toilet paper and a crack team of experts. Working for the Empire had given her a slightly jaded appreciation of Jedi abilities... with a few exceptions anyway.

"I suppose we'll find out for sure upon arrival. Shall we start preparations?"

@HK-36 @Siobhan Kerrigan

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"]

It was at this point that Phylis (and this writer) ran into a basic question. Where was Coryth? Mention had been made of the Villa, a ship and a hospital, but not where it was.

And so, Phylis, puzzled, sat in space. “Acknowledged…but land where?” she asked.

It wasn’t a good sign for the all-powerful Jedi to be so confused…but Kaeshana and environs was big!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Phylis Alince"]


"Space magic, Hevana. Alderaan was blown to micro particles by the death star, somehow it was...magically rebuilt four hundred years ago. So apparently Malachor exists as well. If the Silver Jedi are worth anything, they'd have razed Trayus and Force Lighted the place, but that's the bunch that has a war criminal like Matsu Ike in its ranks and refuses to help against the One Sith because of 'Republic corruption'."


Fun fact, an alternate version of Siobhan Kerrigan had been the Sith Lord of Malachor in a parallel universe. Until she got killed by some blind chick. It was probably quite accurate to say that Siobhan did not like the Silver Jedi much. In all likelihood she would agree with Aurelia Saelari that they were 'cowards and traitors'. One of the very few things those two would ever agree on.


"Start preparations. And summon your copies, HK," she gave the droid a nod and her comm beeped as she received a transmission. "Phylis has arrived. She'll be here momentarily."

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Phylis Alince"]


The librarian had yet to learn about the power of handwavium. Also of force teleportation. She was a Jedi Master, so she should be able to teleport herself into wherever Coryth was. That's how Sith won their battles after all.


Anyhow, she would receive a transmission directing her to the Firemane Hospital. The one next to the Firemane Headquarters. Hopefully she would find the right way, for festival season was about to start on Kaeshana and if she took the wrong turn she might find herself being invited to festiviites held in the honour of the Goddess Ardarvia. As for Kaida Taldir, she was enjoying a cup of starcaf, since she had no interest in Literacy Modules.


Well, because she was feeling helpful she directed some minion to meet Phylis at the Firemane hangars and show her the way.

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], @HK-35, [member="Hevana Martin"]

And so the Jedi Master finally landed, having still not learned quantum tunnelling. This, like commlink grade telepathy eluded her and ensured she’d never be one of the galaxy’s great conquerors.

Having landed, she left G69 onboard and headed into the hospital’s docking bay. There she discovered the minions Kaida had sent. They were human fortunately, so no accusations of the regrettable incident at the palace would be brought up.

Shown through to where Siobhan was waiting with the others, she nodded.
“Good…uhh…morning? Yes. Where’s Coryth…what’s her condition? Also, hello.”
Well, that was awkward.

 

[Hevana Martin]

"Space magic," Hevana grumbled. "What a lousy invention."

At the mention of Phylis arriving Hevana's eye widened a bit in surprise. "Already? Well that was a fast two days. I'm going to head to the hospital to check on Coryth then. It will not take me long to ready my gear, most of it is still ready from the last mission."

With a nod Hevana excused herself and made her way to the hospital, which was a bit away from where Siobhan and them has been talking. Truth be told Hevana liked hospitals just as little as Coryth, having spent enough time in them. Still, she at least recognized their importance. And luckily she did not have to worry about forgetting the way to the room. Once she arrived, Hevana took a seat and watched Coryth while she waited.

[member="Phylis Alince"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Phylis Alince"], [member="HK-36"]


Apparently two days had already passed. Had Siobhan spent forty-eight hours standing in the hospital talking then? Surely she had gotten...stress relief at some point. Anyhow, on with the plot. This one thought they were at the hospital, but no matter. Anyhow, Sio's favourite Jedi librarian was there and so Siobhan gave the badass bookworm a quick hug before leading her to Coryth's room.


"She's asleep at present. We managed to find a partial cure for the Sith Poison to keep her from dying and I killed the Sith Lord who tormented her, but she's still sick. All sorts of weird purple marks have spread across her body and she's receiving visions from a box. A Sith artefact trying to whisper into her mind and drag her to Malachor," Siobhan explained as she led Phylis to wherever the short stack of fire was.


Since plenty of time had passed by now Siobhan had put all the shiny toys she had taken from Xerxes' lab to her villa and put them under lock and key. Best not to let Phylis know with what sort of stuff she and Mirien may be playing with soon. Dark is not evil dark side is bad blahblahblah...

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Back in the hospital, Coryth had been sleeping for much of the time that she'd been on Kaeshana. The Force exhaustion, on top of the exhaustion that the poison brought as it spread through her body, demanded rest, and a ton of it. It helped that one of the doctors had been smart enough to make sure there was a sedative drip going for quite a while, keeping the little Redhead resting whether she liked it or not. After all, these folks had heard of her redhead rage, and her yelling at Siobhan. So, they took no chances.

But even with the drip, there was only so long one could stay asleep. Coryth's eyes fluttered slowly as she groggily came to. The dark lines were still spreading across her body, through her scars unchecked for the most part. Her stomach, chest and arms all now carried the dark lines within her scars. It was now slowly working it's way down the scars on her thighs.

In a few places Coryth had to be bandaged as the darkness broke through her skin and slowly oozed out in a mixture with her blood. But even groggy as the drugs might have made her, she seemed stronger than she had since the events had started. The woman was only tired now, and still in a fair amount of pain, but did her best not to let it show as she drew upon the force to ease the aches.

A soft sigh came as she glanced to the IV bags hanging above her, and took note of the sedative. That was when she reached over with a bit of effort and shut off that particular line, after all, she needed to be awake. Or so she thought in all her divine wisdom. There was a reason people said doctors and healers were the worst kind of patient. Redheads, doubly so.

The sedative did have one benefit the redhead hadn't noticed. It made it more difficult for the box to speak to her, though she still heard it's soft whisperings at least it wasn't screaming at her. But that was bound to change as the drugs wore off.

"Well hello..." Coryth said softly, as more people joined her in her room. She noticed Hevana at her side first, then Siobhan and .... Phylis? Yes, it was Phylis who had saved her life and bought her precious time back on Coruscant. She knew that now. "Did someone plan a party, and not tell me?" She asked, at least her being snarky and moderately attempting humor was a slight improvement from the last few days.

[member="Hevana Martin"] [member="Phylis Alince"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"]

This writer feels that this thread is long enough to not need even more filler posts about such fascinating topics as ‘Phylis sleeps for 9 hours on her ship in hyperspace’ or ‘Phylis stops her new Jester eating her biscuits’. Especially as this writer is going on LOA very soon, and thus cannot be relied on to do Phylis posts for a fortnight.

Regardless, now she was present, Phylis returned the hug from Siobhan a bit awkwardly, then went to see Coryth.
The explanation.

“Malachor, hmm?” Phylis asked curiously. She examined the marks on Coryth’s body for a moment.
“What sort of box? Tell me everything about this. A Sith artefact I’m assuming, trying to drag her to Malachor…but why? Clearly a trap, hmmph…and these lines. I’ve seen them before. Hmm…. Also, hello, Coryth. Nice to see you again, of course, not in this current state....”
Phylis trailed off. Fetching a small pair of tweezers she gently scraped across the lines, aiming to get a sample for study.

 

[Hevana Martin]

"Good morning dear," Hevana said with a smile and doing a good job of hiding her worry. Or at least she thought she was. "How are you feeling?"

[member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"],

"I also have a secret weapon, I will make sure my copies will bring it to me for this battle."

The droid would add to Siobhan before welcoming Coryth from her sleep with others, he would watch her silently, listening to the rest, as much as he wanted to embrace her and ask how she was doing, apologize for getting lost from others in the labs and not being to help so directly at the climax of the battle, others have already moved to her side, calculating that there would be no sense in repeating others' questions or crowding the healing girl, HK was again left to watch from the side-lines, regretting he was not quicker to be by her.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"Feeling? Like a starship decided I was cannon fodder to throw at some distant black hole. Horrible would be an understatement, but at least I can breath again unimpeded." Coryth sighed softly as much as she didn't want to be in the hospital, to not be a patient who needed to be looked after, and looked over, she knew she had to be there. Her body was in bad shape and unfortunately extremely frail.

"Yes, Malachor. I don't know why..." She said quietly. "Other than it's a remote location, far from large factions' reach. No doubt it's a trap, that you are right on." Her voice trembling a little with her exhaustion still clinging on. "It's good to see you too, Phylis. I just wished the circumstances were better."

"It's a golden box. Covered in strange symbols and shapes that seem familiar but I'm not sure how or why. It's deja vu. In some ways it reminds me of a holocron, but it pulses with darkside power. It calls to me, telling me it has the cure for what ails me. That it's the only thing that can save me..." A thought that truly frightened her. What if it was the only thing that could cure her? What then? It wasn't a thought she really wanted to entertain

"It's constantly pulling at my mind, constantly speaking to me, whispering dark things trying to tempt me to give in. It seems to want to take root in my mind, drive me insane. And it's doing a fine job of it." She said as the sedatives slowly where wearing off, and Coryth was beginning to feel the voice of the box come back into her mind. Reaching up she rubbed at her forehead, trying to ease the pain she felt with it entering her mind again.

"It hurts so much..." She finally admitted, as Phylis took a sample from one of the oozing wounds.

[member="Hevana Martin"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Phylis Alince"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Phylis Alince"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Hevana Martin"]


Siobhan approached Coryth and ran a gentle hand over the redhead's forehead, then gave her hand a soft squeeze. At least she could try to offer some comfort, though her expression was grim.


"Whatever that box is telling is a lie. Like that ancient Sith who was ghosting around in my head once. Otherwise it wouldn't cause you pain like that," she said softly before turning to Phylis.


"It being a trap's obvious. Regardless we have to go there. The box has to be a tool for some Sith group, whether it's connected ti the Sith Lord who tormented her or not. Malachor was taken over by the Silver Jedi a while ago, though doubt that sorry lot being even remotely competent at rooting Sithies out. If the box is of the dark side, Force Light should be able to fry it, right? Can you try to stabilise her for now?"

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="HK-36"]

“Hmm, yes, listening to talking boxes is unwise,” Phylis said, working on the oozing substance. “Well, mainly I guess. Listen to my holocron. Hmmph, better than some which you see these days.”

“Whilst I appreciate the need to go to Malachor eventually, I don’t think a sudden onset is wise. I appreciate that Coryth is suffering…but I have a way to help I believe.”

“This dark substance coming from her skin, it is the same as what I examined on first meeting Coryth again and calling on the Force to repel the darkness trying to consume her. At the time I wondered about this, and I determined that the link between Coryth and her tormentor could be interrupted, even broken.”

“I won’t go into too much detail as it’s rather arcane, but there are two ways to do this. The first is to use Force sensitive objects to present a barrier around her, a fixed location like this room…or part anyway. Create a barrier of light, smother the darkness trying to get to her. The second is to cut the Force off entirely within it. Siobhan, I know you have Ysilimari somewhere. That is an option. Break her connection to the Force, break the meddling box’s ability to get to her.”

“Long-term we will have to sort out Malachor, but it should be a time of our choosing, not the enemy’s…and we should sow confusion in the enemy by deliberately confounding their plans. As for the wounds…hmm…I believe that either of the above options will help, but I have some other ideas once she is stable. Thoughts?”

 

[Kaida Taldir]

It may be of interest to find out what Kaida was doing while this took place. Well, probably not, but her writer is still posting for some reason because this rather grim thread could use some levity. Anyhow, everyone's favourite cryomancer, who may or may not be a wee bit frigid and antisocial, was dealing with some of the most fascinating duties that came with being an officer.


Paperwork! It was boring, it was tedious and downright annoying, yet she had to deal with it. Fortunately, the amount of desk work she was expected to do as a mere Captain had its limits, but even she could not escape it. There were training drills, reports on the progress on the work being done on the fortifications at the Citadel of Dusk, and many petty details such as the usual disturbances that happened when soldiers were on leave.


As she put a datapad aside that contained nothing even remotely exciting, Force Plot decided to intervene and suddenly an Eldorai soldier with the rank of Wing Leader, which corresponded to Corporal, entered the room, giving the Captain a crisp salute in the traditional style of the Eldorai.


"The post was just here and left this for you, ma'am," she reported crisply as Kaida returned the salute. It took the Captain a moment to realise that the grunt was carrying...lots and lots of mail. Lots of letters with shiny ribbons.


"What is that?" Kaida, for once completely at a loss of what to say and feeling very irritable.


"I believe the human monkeighs would use the term 'fanmail', ma'am."


Kaida was so perplexed by this that she did not even lecture the soldier about the fact that you should not call the humans monkeighs anymore since everything was PC these days.


"Fanmail?"


"Yes, ma'am. There's also this," and with that the Wing Leader suddenly produced a bouquet of flowers. Red roses, as a matter of fact. There was also a note that contained the words 'For a brave and beaufitul soldier. From an admirer. Lady Caerys."


"I see," for a moment Kaida went absolutely silent then she shook her head. She found herself once again coming to the conclusion that some people really needed to get a life.


"Thank you, Wing Leader. Throw them away."


"All of them, ma'am? There's even more outside. Even a packet of chocolates."


"Yes. I'll chuck the...'fanmail' away myself. You can keep the chocolates."

 

[Hevana Martin]

Hevana squeezed Coryth's arm gently avoiding any of the black laced scars. "We'll get you better. And yes, please don't listen to the evil voices of doom. Evil voices of doom tend to be not very nice people."

Listening to Phylis as she spoke, Hevana had to jump in as she heard the options. "Uh-uh, no cutting off of the Force. That would spell baaaaad juju for Coryth. That first option might work, Coryth would know better." Looking over at the redhead, Hevana gave a quizzical look.

[member="Phylis Alince"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="HK-36"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth nodded to the talk of not listening to talking boxes. "I know..." She said quietly as she squeezed Siobhan's hand in return. "I'm trying, truly. It's not getting any easier though. Just harder." The woman was trying her best, but as her defenses were weakening, it was getting harder and harder to do. But that wasn't a secret at this point in the adventure.

Her eyes widened when Phylis mentioned not going to Malachor immediately. "But ...." She started to protest but stopped herself. The redhead was an impatient lady when it came to such matters. She feared the worst happening and didn't want to give the box any more time to latch on tighter in her mind and gain a greater foothold there.

Keeping quiet, she waited, listening as Phylis went on. There was hope in the woman's words. A chance that she might gain a reprieve from all that was tormenting her. But then she couldn't stay quiet forever not when talk of cutting her off from the force came up.

"No ysalamiri! No!" She cried as a bit of panic overwhelmed her. The last time she'd experienced those buggers, she'd been brutally tortured and raped. The thought right now, pained the little redhead greatly, bringing tears to her eyes at the memory. "Please, please .... not that. Anything but that..." She took in a deep breath to calm herself but the memories where still right there for her, painfully close to the surface. "I can't go through that again. Not after the.." She bit her lip, not finishing the thought. Not wanting to either... After all that was a terribly painful time in her life, and she'd already been reminded too much of that recently.

Another deep breath, to calm herself. "Let's go for the first option. Cutting me off from the force leaves me especially vulnerable being a natural empath. The force just enhances that gift and allows for me to protect myself from the emotions and pains of others. That, is something I can't deal with right now. I need those guards and defenses up. Plus, if I have no guards, you'll all feel exactly what I do as my emotions will bleed over to all nearby people. And I'm pretty sure none of you want to feel that right now."

[member="Hevana Martin"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Phylis Alince"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Coryth Elaris"],

"Plus, if I have no guards, you'll all feel exactly what I do as my emotions will bleed over to all nearby people. And I'm pretty sure none of you want to feel that right now."

HK would slowly raise his hand at that,

"I think there is a one assassin-droid shaped hole in that general statement."

He would chip in,


"Do not get me wrong, if you can make me feel then I would love to see how that is like."
.
.
.
"Just feel anything at all."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Phylis Alince"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


It was such a sweet but also sad moment when the droid confessed his desire to feel...anything. Unfortunately, Siobhan was not a nice person and had to get back to business. Naturally this meant bossing other people around.


"We'll go with the barrier of light. Just make sure I don't get accidentally zapped by it. Make your preparations, Phylis, then get started," Siobhan liked her Dark Side Force connection just fine the way it was. Dark Is Not Evil...no once you start down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny!


"I'll get in touch with COAS and see what intel they can drum up on recent Sith activities on Malachor and whether this box rings any bells." After all, Firemane's head of intel had once led a secret police that specialised in hunting force-users. Besides, she had to go see Mirien and give her some gifts anyway. The woman could use some cheering up. "HK, even if it's dated, I'd appreciate any intel you have on Malachor, layout of the Trayus Academy, hazards and such."

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="HK-36"]

Phylis was a bit taken aback by the reaction, and flustered by it too. “Oh, well, I see. Option one then,” she said lamely.
“Hmm, okay, leaving aside our droid friend’s quest for sensation and other matters, I’ll get to work.”

She walked around the room quizzically, peering at the floor and occasionally prodding it with her foot.
“Right, well, we’ll need to move this bed out into a place with space around it so I can do this properly.”
She turned to Siobhan. “Hmm, what I need is crystals, Force receptive ones. I know the Eldorai have them in some of their caves – I saw some that time we were here. I need four ones about 15 centimetres long, and smaller ones I can grind up.”
Next to Hevana. “Ms Martin, can I prevail on you to get me some glue or adhesive of some form? It’s very necessary to help Coryth. Thank you.”
Last to HK-36. “You are a droid of refinement and precision. Please draw me a diamond around the bed in chalk…or anything else which is permanent enough to last a few days. Try to make it as precise as possible.”

Her orders allocated, Phylis bustled from the room to get her equipment from her ship.