Witch's Bestie

[The Amalgam]

Arrived to Aritria in: Crawling Flesh

Wearing: Resistance Epidermis

Armed with: Skin Shears (Purple, double bladed lightsaber.)


The Crawling Flesh, a courier class yacht drifted through space, damaged and sparking after the fall of The Eternal Empire, which had proven to be not-so-eternal after all. Perhaps it had been tempting fate to call it, or indeed any empire, eternal.

The Amalgam was naked, her body decayed. She had ordered The Royal Marines to disappear and await her signal. Five legions of Prosecutor Wardroids had been manufactured, though never deployed in battle, unfortunately. Part of being a survivor was being prepared. She had acquired many shadow functions in the short time she had been Kay's chief of intelligence. She wondered whether or not she had not suspected something like this might happen when sequestering away resources. Resources that would be needed in case her effort wasn't enough.

She had barely escaped being killed. She was quite thankful she had been careful to leave as little traces of her Amalgam persona in common with Kay as possible, only appearing in public with Kay as a Zabrak, and had never used her standard yacht, only her spare unless given no other choice.

She had not appeared in the Sith Empire, hopefully they had assumed her dead. If so, maybe a made up story about how she had been captured and brainwashed might work, or some other random chit like that.

The rotting creature stared at the capsule in the medbay, focusing on its hatred at The Galaxy.

For a moment...it had half dared to to believe it could go mainstream. Become legitimate. Maybe apply its knowledge of the dark to a great order of the dark, such as the Sith. But its true loyalty in the end, must be to the Brain Demon's goals.

This Shi'ido female had been captured fresh and put in stasis, prepped a month before. The Amalgam's moldy flesh rippled, then decayed completely as a purple light escaped a rapidly breaking down corpse leaking spoiled fat and bodily fluids before burning up in a purple blaze.

The prisoner inside thrashed about inside the capsule in a truly spiritual agony, her soul slowly murdered by The Amalgam's, rent to pieces and sent to chaos. The evil spirit relished the horrific, blasphemous act as it settled into the victim's alchemized skin, the capsul popping open and out jumped a revitalized Amalgam, who, having recovered from a week of being hunted relentlessly by Laertia Io decided to lay low, by going where she knew she would find a familiar face waiting...

[member="Kay Arenais"] , in spite of it all, was still her bestie. And with that newer darkness she had felt developing even back in The Graveyard, the Amalgam knew her bestie needed a shoulder to go cry on...as well as torture and murder alongside...

The Amalgam set course, knowing that with the weight of all her failures, now was possibly the best time to push Kay to the dark. Plus...it was a chance to hide from Io who, after her experience with her in the De Lifte Fortress, was more determined than ever to kill her.

How Io was tracking her still remained a mystery though...

But no matter. The Amalgam would figure it out. Even with Laertia relentlessly hunting her...

Her damaged ship was soon in the planetary system Kay resided in. The Amalgam suddenly got mixed feelings, once more intruding on a woman who probably only wanted to be left alone. Now she was just a civilian.

Registering the Crawling Flesh under a different name in orbit, The Amalgam was able to touch down on a landing pad close to where what remained of her nascent intel network. She took the form of a red skinned Twi'lek as she exited the craft, not dropping her cloaked presence, walking to Kay's teashop bearing goodies for her bestie...as well as a place to hide...

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay's tea shoppe had been doing well for the most part. It was her specialized tea and goodies that gave her an edge above the others. Besides the few customers that flitted in and out of the doors, businesses and corporations were buying her teas and goodies by the pallets. Not mere boxes, pallets of boxes. Of course the types of teas being purchased tended to fall very close to the illegal side of things. However fortunately for Kay, she resided and worked in an area that fell under no jurisdiction but it's own.

That left her alone to plot and plan her next moves to destroy her enemies completely.

Of course she had Lord Mayhem to help her. Due to her trauma from torture and near death due to crucifixion, her brain developed an old adversary as an imaginary 'friend' for her to pull herself through. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. They tended to argue a lot. But it was far better than going to the Jedi with her husband. She wanted to avoid people that she knew, if at all possible. That way she could avoid politucs. And she wanted to avoid the Sith as well. The Jedi were enemies of the Sith, whereas Altiria/Anarris wasn't even on their radar. She was more clearly out of their reach on this backwater planet.

As [member="The Amalgam"] entered the shop, Kay was busy reorganizing the teas behind the counter. Now instead of going by colour, she decided to put them in alphabetical order, taking stock of the inventory while she was at it. There were no bells or tones to indicate a customer, only the change in the air current that made the flames in the candles flicker. Kay had her hands full as she started filling up the top shelf with containers filled with tea bags, leaves and herbs. "I'll be right with you. You can have a seat if you'd like."

 

[Laertia Io]

Arrivex to Aritria in: Blessing of Loste (Dynamic Class Frieghter)

Wearing: Civilian clothing

Armed with: Sword Cane (Atrisian Shikomizue)

With: Moya (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/138583-alchemized-biot-moya-virtu/ )

Ever since the Eternal Empire of [member="Kay Arenais"] had died in the crib a lot of rats jumped ship in the chaos that followed. Her old, estranged comrade Maple had given her what intel she could provide but it had been enough. The Amalgam had been in conspiracy with the ex queen, made allies by their experience in The Graveyard as well as Maple's own hard edged attempt to kill them both.

The ex-Shadow lay on her bed in her pink and polka dot captain's quarters, petting one of her rabbits, Wintrium, staring at the star charts. It had taken weeks, but she had deduced The Amalgam's travel routes to and from Zakuul. She had not struck immediately, instead having her caretaker Moya, whose design rendered her incredibly difficult to sense with The Force, to plant a tracker The Amalgam's ship one one of off the route deep space refueling stations she preferred. That had been simple enough.

Then the stalking had begun. Laertia had not taken her prior approach on Canto Blight, driven by anger at Ursula's demise. Instead, she had at first commited to hit and run tactics. She had caught up to her on Alderaan, attempting to recruit a young, upcoming crime lord into her cult. She had waited until after the crime lord had been initiated, and then gunned her down in in the middle of the street with her shotgun in front of The Amalgam before fleeing the scene, deliberately refusing to attack her until seven days later, when she had sabotaged a dark ritual she had been conducting to corrupt a grove by firing a number of grenades from afar at the ritual site, again fleeing before she could be confronted.

She had struck two weeks later, in the dead of night, having located the hangar her ship had been staying in, teleporting in and attacking her just as she stepped off the ship. The Amalgam had suffered severe injuries, just like in their first duel, and had been forced to retreat after putting an innocent in danger. But it was clear Laertia had rattled her cage. The Amalgam was not nearly so above it all as she liked to pretend. But Laertia had failed to finish her off all the same.

The signal had actually cut off in the Aritrian system, and out of the way planet no one was currently interested in having for themselves. But the signal had cut off. This could have been due to failure of the tracker. They had no idea where the Amalgam was on Aritria, and certainly no idea where Kay was.

Moya, her medical programs on overdrive had all but begged Laertia to take a rest for a few days before resuming the hunt. Reluctantly, the cyborg magician agreed, and Moya had then piloted down to the planet, setting the ship down in one of the working class districts, where an old, beat up frieghter like hers would not draw notice, picking an old hangar to rent out. Her rabbit stirred as the ship landed, drawing the tall, pale skinned woman with a face covered in scars and a head covered by a shock of black hair clad in black jeans and a gray T-shirt out of her daze. Her gray eyes--one of them cybernetic, glancing down at her rabbit and stroking its head with her natural arm, and the rabbit snuggled and bumped its head against her wrist in response.

She sat up in her bed and carried her snuggling rabbit back to its pen in her cargo hold, placing it carefully within its little pen and feeding it a treat.

"Sweetie?"

Laertia turned to the gently calling out voice and smiled as Moya walked in. She was still in her pilot configuration, a tall, dark skinned woman with straight, dark red hair and brown eyes, clad in a black dress of Armorweave. She walked forward, black heels clicking against the deck plate. Laertia smiled at her only real friend. Without Moya she would be lost. Literally. Her medical condition made it impossible to fly her own ship legally unless it was the gravest of emergency. It also made it difficult to do many other things.

Moya wordlessly pulled out her migraine pills.

"I was looking around for a replacement for your typical medication and I came across this. Its still pretty powerful, but it should hurt your insides less..." Moya explained. "If it were up to me you'd still be in bed after that last fight you had with that witch."

Laertia took out a pill and popped it. She swooned and Moya caught her as she stumbled off balance, mouth numb, but growing headache gone.

The biot helped her to a nearby seat. Laertia coughed a little.

"Sweetie, we really should talk." Moya uttered gently as she steadied a woozy Laertia.

"Wut abowtz?" Laertia wondered, her own speech impediment like nails on chalkboard to her ears. She hated her voice, hated that her brain was wired such that it could be no different, hated how dumb it made her sound.

"This old rig...frankly, we need to upgrade it or even better, we need a bigger one. This place? Its cozy...but its also cramped."

Laertia got visibly uneasy. Did they have to do this now? Right now.

Laertia refused to entertain replacing her ship utterly. It had been her only shelter on the street, even before she got it running, when it had been nothing but an inoperative shell. She would have died many times being hunted on the street if she had not had this place to run to, like a scared little rabbit. She would never totally abandon it.

Moya took Laertia's hands into her own and sighed.

"I know the Blessing is your home...but since you got out of retirement and going after this witch? Its inadequacy for your task is rapidly catching up to you. Now if its just you on tour, this is more than fine, but you are in a war with a maniac. She has better weapons, better equipment, a better ship, certainly. We need our better stuff also."

"Weez cann upgwadez duh Blessin just fyne..." Laertia suggested.

"We could, but this is our home. We can't bring our home to war. We're endangering our rabbits. Our peace and quiet. A new ship would practically pay for itself, and then we could upgrade The Blessing at our leisure."

"Howw expennsyvez?" Laertia asked.

Moya smiled. "Give me an hour alone with a dealer and they'll beg to sell us something at a ninety percent discount."

Laertia smiled, the biot's hyper-pheremones already making her amiable to the suggestion, in addition to Moya gently explaining it to her. She knew the pheremones could influence practically anyone, including the one the biot was programmed to care for. It said much of Laertia that she cared so little about this fact. Moya only had her best interests at heart and she knew it. The pseudo-parental relationship she had developed with Moya (With Moya as a sort of Mother) was the Rancor in the room neither bothered speaking of.

"Well...wutz aboutz duh Blessing? We styllz needz a pilotz fer both shipz, annd yooz cantz bee in twoo placesz att wunce."

Moya shrugged. "We get a piloting droid for the other ship?"

"Are dhey cheepy-cheepz?"

"I will make it cheap." The biot responded confidently.

Laertia thought a moment. "Allrytez. Dooz ittz..."

Moya smiled and hugged her. "You won't regret this. But for now...lets just catch a breather. You should head outside with me. You've been on this ship too long as it is."

Laertia eagerly nodded, forgetting all about her blood feud with The Amalgam, who was almost a total mystery to her as well as Maple

Neither one of them could understand how that fiend could think of itself as their mother. It disgusted and horrified Laertia in particular that a Dark Adept could think of her in such familial terms, and brought up uncomfortable reminders of her Jedi lessons about Darth Vader. But at least Luke, at some point, had the benefit of understanding why Darth Vader thought of himself as Luke's father...he'd been birthed from the burned corpse of Anakin.

But where had the Amalgam been birthed from?

Laertia wanted to search her feelings for the answer but did not, deeply terrified she already knew it deep down, yet did not know it consciously. It was not something she could cut down with a shotgun or a lightsaber.

Laertia put it out of her mind, rising and going to the corner that held her sword cane, deciding not to take a lightsaber. Moya chuckled and waited for her to finish feeding her rabbits, before they both departed the ship, planning to be gone only two hours. Moya, as none of her other combat protocols could be accessed in her current form, took a Mandalorian Blaster and joined her as they began to wander the streets. Laertia looked awkward next to the ever beautiful biot, and balanced on her cane occasionally, still woozy from medication. They were in a bay area where they landed, and thus had an excellent view of the water as they walked in close to midday light, the sun contrasting Moya's current skin tone even further from Laertia, who looked nervous and uncertain as they walked. She avoided passers by. Most did not look at her, but at the android with the distracting curves.

"Y'know, maybe it would not be such a bad idea to set up shop somewhere more permanent..." Moya breached the subject

"Gotz too manny enuhmeez fer dhat."

Not necessarily on a known planet. We could go slumming on the Rim, find us an old abandoned space station, clear out the critters inside...the rim is practically lousy with those...and make that a more semi-permanent hideout. At best, all we would have to do is check on it once in a while..." Moya explained further as they walked. Laertia enjoyed these walks with the biot. Moya's presence, even without the hyperpheremones, was very peaceful.

Aritria was actually not half bad. Laertia could see why this place would stir the sentiment of a biot nearly always on a ship of some kind. Wide, fresh air, trees. Laertia had only used to see trees when she was child via books. Laertia felt her stomach growl. Moya heard it.

"Let's get you a snack..." Moya offered. Laertia nodded, eager to see Moya smile again. She got her wish, because the biot did so, grinning widely they crossed a few more streets, stopping when they spotted Kay's Tea Shop, just as a red skinned Twi'lek in a black combat bodyglove walked into it...

Meanwhile...

"Kay, dear, its me, your bestie..." the Amalgam whispered in her old voice while maintaining her Twi'lek guise. "I've come to visit you...and further your knowledge. How have you been? I tried to keep track of you, with what was left of what little network I had, but when...when the Empire fell...I had guns on me also..."

The Amalgam was cut off as two other women walked in. The Amalgam had to suppress her shock and surprise at seeing her daughter and Moya walk in.

"Hi! I'm new to this place and I'm not all that familiar with the Menu..." Moya confessed. "I don't suppose you sell snacks, do you?"

Laertia in the meantime, still woozy, balanced on her cane, not noticing the Amalgam, who had gone deathly quiet at her killing machine of a daughter's presence.

Laertia didn't look it, but she had killed thousands. The Amalgam had every reason to be afraid of a woman who had possibly an even higher body count than her own. Laertia had certainly put the fear of The Gods back into her recently with her relentless hunt.

If that woozy, quiet looking woman, who had once been called (with no small amount of fear or trepidation) The Black Knight of Nar Shaddaa was here, both her, and now possibly Kay were in danger. Kay needed to get more dangerous, fast, if they were to survive.

Fortunately, neither Laertia nor Moya were aware of who they were with...

 

[Kay-Larr]

The whispered voice startled her. [member="The Amalgam"] ? Her body froze in place for a moment before she slowly turned on her heel, looking to the disguise that her bestie had chosen. Relief crossed her features. As far as Kay was aware, all of her governmemt were assassinated by Tacitus' people. She had seen the heads of some of them when she was captured. Their deaths were later confirmed by [member="Veiere Arenais"] . But he didn't know about Amy. And that was probably a good thing.

Just as she was about to respond, two more women arrived. [member="Laertia Io"] looked a little more frail than Moya, but plenty of life experiences could result in that. It wasn't her place to judge. People came for different teas for different reasons. As long as they helped, that was all that mattered.

"Why yes. We have Darkside cookies, Lightside Fudge, and a variety of biscuits. Would you like a menu?" She made her way around the counter, picking up a couple of menus from the pile and handing them out. "Be sure to read these carefully." Some of her items, including the food, had side effects that were unique. And the variety of items were expanding. All of these were tests, made to gain trust before the final stages of her plans were going to take place. Kay had used the fact that most believe her to be dead in order to get things in motion. She was no leader anymore and never would be again. She 'divorced' her husband over the holo-net in order to save him from any responsibilities towards what she was going to do. No doubt his people and others would judge her harshly again and by extension judge him too. He deserved to be free of her. Everyone did. And inside her gut she knew that her time being alive was limited.

It was just better to go out on her own terms and with vengeance.

 

[Laertia Io]

"Lightside fudge...and Dark Side Cookies..." Moya trailed. "Oh dear...they found a way to put it in food."

Moya's programming as well as the fact she was a not easy to sense product of Alkahest of course knew the cookies were out of the question and her psych programming immediately opened a profile on the woman out of curiosity, only for Moya to shut it down. She didn't have the time, and the woman was running a shop.

"We'll take some fudge...and a cup of Sapir Tea..." Moya said, sliding her the credits.

While Moya got the order, Laertia accidentally made eye contact with the Twi'lek woman in the corner and got a shiver. But Laertia did her best to ignore her, to look as unassuming as possible. She didn't speak, and normally preferred not to when Moya was around. [member="Kay Arenais"] seemed very...withdrawn...

Laertia knew the type. Laertia was the type. She could not afford to trust anyone hardly, with the horribly high number of enemies she had made killing Sith. She was always on the lookout for enemies. They crawled out of the woodwork, looking for payback, knowing she was vulnerable. She killed everyone who came after her, but she knew she was going to have to upgrade her arsenal. And herself as well. She was already a cyborg. Her brain injuries were pretty serious. She should have been shelling for more surgery but being under the knife terrified her unless it was necessary where her brain was concerned. The temptation had come before but the thought of making all the problems she had with her brain even worse made her wake up in a cold sweat at night.

The smell of baking distracted Laertia. It smelled wonderful. She could not remember the last time she had anything but surplus rations and canned goods. It made her feel safe. But she knew the truth. She was not safe, and never truly would be. It was the price for making a mountain of corpses...occasionally, there are avalanches.

Laertia caught the red skinned Twi'lek staring, with a slight smile that made her nervous. She hid her emotion.

"First time on Aritria?" As the Twi'lek with a sultry voice.

"Oh! Errz...yeahz, I guezz..." Laertia admited.

"Mine also. It is rather a lovely place..." the Twi'lek said in reply, eyeing her. "Tourist?"

"Buzinezz..." Io replied casually.

"You don't look like the type for business."

"Off duteez ryte nowwz..." Laertia answered carefully.

"What kind of business, if I'm not prying?"

"Maagishunn..."

"Oh, you're a magician?! Can I see a trick?"

Laertia looked at her a second, then pulled out a deck of cards from her pocket, and then offered her a card. The Twi'lek took it, put it carefully back in her deck and watched as Laertia shuffled the deck without looking...

"Looke buhhynd yorr lekku..." Laertia said, noting how the lekku did not twitch like a normal Twi'lek's.

The red skinned woman picked up the card behind her head. She smiled, handing Laertia a hundred credits.

"Neat trick..." the woman said to her.

"Thankz..."

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be looking for work, would you?" The Twi'lek asked, leaning forward in interest.

"Duhpenndz onn whoze hyrinn'."

"My name is Ralith. I work for a business woman...a talent scout named Lucretia Lister who delights in finding unique forms of entertainment. She bores easily. I don't suppose you would be willing to to pay her a visit? She'll be here in two days.

Laertia handed her a business card and the woman smiled as she stared at the name on the embossed card.

"That's a pretty name..." The Twi'lek trailed. Laertia did not say anything, and turned back to Kay.

The red skinned woman ordered Sapir Tea. Laertia smiled as Moya sat down to wait for the order with her.

"I see you're making friends again..." the biot noted. "That's good. You usually stay quiet."

"Yeahz...uzuallyy..." Laertia admitted.

"You're a nice woman, Laertia. You should try it more..."

She knew Moya was right but the thought terrified her all the same. She did not know how to relate to normal people, or rather, people who did not kill other people.

"You'll get it eventually, Sweetie. You've made a lot of progress." Moya assured her.

She was about to relax when a man in a long brown coat walked in. He looked grungy, shifty looking, and this was proven when he produced a plasma projector, leveling it at Kay.

"Gimme your money! All your money!" He shouted.

Laertia looked at Moya with a glance that said 'You want this one?'

Moya politely declined with a discrete wave. Laertia nodded...and then vanished from the seat, reappearing five meters behind the man. She moved swiftly, throwing her cane forward, and smacking him hard on the skull. Not hard enough to crack it, but enough to give a concussion. The man swayed, than tumbled forward, out cold.

Laertia did not move, any further, instead looking at Kay.

"Arr yooz allryte?" Laertia asked the shop owner.

 

[Kay-Larr]

After reading all of the different side-effects, not everyone chose to trust what she had served. And that was fine. There were plenty of orders being taken on the holonet for pallets full of boxes of her wares. But Moya and [member="Laertia Io"] made their orders. Kay gave them a small smile in thanks and took their credits before heading to the back counter to fulfill it.

Hot water was already prepared. She needed to only get the Sapir leaves into the cups and pour the water overtop. The steeping process was easy, with the leaves dissolving once it was ready. As that was happening, she plated some of the fudge, making sure that everything looked dainty and pleasant, before taking all of it with her to the two ladies.

But that was when the wanna-be-robber came in. That caught Kay completely off guard. She had never had anyone try to steal anything from her, let alone credits. Yet there was little for her to worry about, however as the robber was taken care of in a blink of an eye.

Kay just stood there, tray in hand with an almost dumbfounded look on her face. "I--yeah, I'm fine. Thank you." Her brows furrowed as she continued over to the table where Moya sat, sliding the tray on top. "Anything else you need will be on the house." She stared down at the man. No doubt he could be useful. She looked over her shoulder to [member="The Amalgam"] . "Could you help me get him to the back? I've got a storeroom that I can put him in until the authorities arrive." Of course the notion of exactly WHEN she'd call the authorities was not yet decided.

 

[Laertia Io]

Laertia smiled a bit at [member="Kay Larr"], as she thanked her. She wasn't sure what it was but Kay seemed like a nice person, if a bit over worked and overstressed. If Laertia knew just how badly overstressed Kay was, she might have identified with her more.

Wanting to be of more help, Laertia hoisted the unconscious man up easily with one hand and hauling him over her shoulder. Moya noted with interest how the Twi'lek in the corner gulped a little at this feat of strength as Laertia carried the man to the back herself before going back to the table where her fudge awaited. Moya did not eat, as her design was not capable of that.

The fudge was delicious. Laertia rarely tasted anything this sweet. She took small bites, forgetting the previous violence had even occured. She was so used to violence that most instances of it had become almost indistinguishable from one another.

"Most impressive..." the Twi'lek woman remarked. ""Hell of a trick, teleporting like that."

"Its one of her gifts..." Moya said proudly.

"Where did you learn it?" The Amalgam asked out of genuine curiousity.

Laertia stopped eating mid bite.

They descended from the sky, green armored men and women riding green horses with multiple wings.

She was young, dressed in rags, clutching a spiked jacket she had found in a lowly alley on Nar Shaddaa. They called out with gemtle whispers in unison. The small girl was wondering if she was having some sort of religious experience...

"Julia...Julia Crownwraithe...you are worthy..."




"Itt wuddintz mayke sentz too yooz..." Laertia answered in a very quiet voice. She resumed eating a moment later

The Twi'lek woman hid her disappointment, instead ordering a bit of Sapir tea.

"Heyy, dhis iz reelee gudz!" Laertia exclaimed. "Letz orduh moorz tuh go, Moya!"

"Four more bags..." Moya said with a smile.

Laertia's smile got wide.

"Make that seven..." Moya added a second later.

Laertia's smile grew wider. The biot enjoyed spoiling her.

Laertia was so happy she forgot her awkwardness for a second.

"Say, uh, Miss..." Laertia said to Kay. "Weez gonna beez throwinz a small majic showw inn duh streetz tuhmarrowz. Yur..your innvitedz iff yoo wantz..."

Moya looked at her. "We are?"

Laertia nodded eagerly. "Nothin" crayzee. Carrd trix."

Moya nodded. "I'll make the arrangements with the locals."

Laertia gobbled another piece of fudge, finishing her tea.

Moya leaned forward. "That's new. Just inviting people to your show." She said slyly in a low voice.

"Shee seemz nyce..." Laertia answered simply.

"That's a sign. A good sign. You hardly ever reach out. You're making progress. I'm so proud of you."

Laertia only gave another little small smile at Moya's approval. She needed it like addicts need glitterstim.

As they waited for their secondary order (Laertia paid anyway in spite of Kay saying it was on the house) Laertia, out of the corner of her eye, caught the Twi'lek still glancing at her occasionally...

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay watched [member="Laertia Io"] pick up the man with far too much ease than was normal. Her jaw dropped slightly as the woman passed by. "This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger..." One of her teas had that side effect of super strength. It made her wonder how much stronger Laertia would be if she had it.

More orders were taken, one from [member="The Amalgam"] and the other from Moya. "Coming right up." It didn't take long to fulfill them. Kay could make Sapir tea in her sleep and the fudge; which came in boxes instead of bags; was merely counted. The tea was given to the disguided Amy first, while the fudge was delivered shortly thereafter.

"A magic show? I don't think that I've ever been to one before." After a second, she nodded. "Sure, I'd love to see it. Around what time? I'd hate to be late or miss it entirely."

 

[The Amalgam]

"It'yll beez arownndz noonz..." Laertia answered, after finishing the fudge [member="Kay Larr"] had given her. She soon rose as she and Moya had already paid.

"Yooz gotz a reel nyce shoppz, Mizz..." Laertia stopped, realized that in all the commotion, she had not actually gotten the woman's name...nor given out hers...

"Myy namez Io. Laertia Io."

(Clip of Bond Theme plays)

The Amalgam, who, rest assured, was quite insane, looked around for a second for the strange little chime only she had heard.

"What the feth was that?" The Twi'lek asked, looking around in confusion. "Any of you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Moya wondered, peering around.

"Never mind."

The Amalgam could not help but fixate on Laertia when she wasn't looking. It still surprised her at times, how utterly unlike a murderer Laertia resembled. Just a tired young woman running on fumes.

How she wanted to reach out into the addled killer's mind, whisper into it. Preach the Bogan to her very subconscious...but alas, Laertia was still too deeply depending on Ursula's memory.

The Amalgam felt a half second twinge of pity but quickly suppressed it. She had told Laertia she had eaten her master. She supposed it was true...

...from a certain point of view.

But she would tell the full truth eventually.

The Amalgam tried to remember the first time she had become aware of Laertia while she had been submerged...

"And I'm Virtu. Moya Virtu." Moya mentioned.

(Clip of Bond Theme plays)

"There it is again!! What is that?" The Amalgam whispered in confusion.

But in spite of this momentary distraction, The Amalgam again was fixated on Laertia. It was torture to the shapeshifter not to reveal herself so she could fight her again for the pure hell of it. To not be able to reach out to her daughter's mind when she got ready.

Again, she was drifting off to the first time she had become aware of her...really aware...



Many years ago...

It stirred. For what seemed like the first time in years it was able to look outward through the Lie's eyes than within.

The Lie had followed her, watched from a distance, watched as she trudged through the collapsed temple, clutching a lightsaber cane, this one a gift from her Master, Ursula. It had a very basic construction, a cortosis weave durasteel shaft with an opaque, spherical pommel. The emitter was at the bottom of the shaft.

The Lie watched, perched in its hiding spot, the distinct worry it felt stirring the monster within deep down from a long slumber.

When it finally made the tiring journey to just beneath the surface of the Lie's mind, it just stared at Laertia. What the Lie knew of her the monster soon did, which made it 'extremely' discomforting to the monster.

They had both started out in the same wretched conditions, the same kind of slums. The Monster's, when it had been a mortal called Leejun Forrwiirmeni, had the Underworks of Coruscant to drive her mad. Laertia's had been Nar Shaddaa.

But she had not gone mad.

This realization made the barely conscious Monster go very still in its small, dark prison within the Lie. Revulsion and...something else...

It decided to watch a bit more before making its decision.

Interesting...Laertia had picked a sabercane greatly similar to her own preferences. She figured out most melee weapons you gave her extremely quickly, even if she didn't master them. Because her Master used the Cane, Laertia had furiously worked herself to the bone to figure out the weapon in a matter of weeks just to impress her. Laertia lived to impress Ursula.

Laertia was not in her typical spiky biker wear, instead wearing a set of Jedi robes with a a green and white tunic, mostly armorweave. She was going up against multiple Sith enemies for the first time. It was a sign of how much she had advanced.

The Monster observed the look on Laertia's face in the distance. She had seemingly been born into the job. It would not be until many years later, when the Monster acquired her criminal record that she would understand why.

Laertia was conditioned to violence, almost since birth. Constant fighting had honed her reflexes and ability to judge a dangerous situation...and her ruthlessness in resolving it. Constantly scarce resources had forced her to improvise and learn discipline. All she had lacked was a cause to apply these strengths to. But once given a task, told she could be more, Laertia had thrown her soul into it.

The Monster started to wonder how to corrupt her...Laertia came from a stock normally considered "too bullied to be tempted to join other bullies". They also took perceived betrayals very poorly...

Laertia did not have the serene face of a padawan resting upon her tombstone-like pallor, covered by a shock of black hair that she was starting to grow very long, her gray eyes looking around the ruins for the ones conducting the profane ritual. The Monster withing The Lie shivered as it felt the presence of the Dark Side. Laertia didn't stress at its presence since Nar Shaddaa had surrounded her with its evils since she could hold a knife and fight. Both The Lie and The Monster noticed the Padawan had brought a bag that she dropped. Neither the Lie nor the Monster knew what she had planned. She had simply said she was going to get the man they were guarding. Laertia was a member of The Marksmen, and a Marksman must be worth twenty regular shadows. As The Monster stole more and more from the Lie's memories to update, it began to get more intrigued as it watched behind the Lie's eyes.

Laertia waited patiently, the tall, but somewhat muscular teen as pale as bleach preparing herself in the Force...or for it. At last the threats revealed itself. Sith Inquisitors, each clad in matching black armor and silver masks, blank and reflective, wielding ringed double bladed lightsabers.

There were three in all, their movements graceful, fluid. The Monster thought this unwise. It personally would not have put her through a trial like this for another two years. But Laertia believed herself ready.

"Look Sisters..." the leader of the Inquisitors cooed. "A young padawan, strong in the Force..."

"Her skin like whitest snow..." the second one which had a deeper voice growled.

"Her mind filled with the love for another, and powered by that love..." The last, which whispered added. "We shall have to work very hard to corrupt this one indeed..."

"Yooz gotz a fella I'mm lookinz fer, seez?" Laertia said in a low voice. "Silvuh Jehdie Duhfectuh. Handz himm ovuh."

"How adorable..." The Leader of the Triplets cooed.

"She thinks to order us around." The last two said in unison.

"Little one, we are Sith, and we do not take orders from Jedi weaklings. But you aren't like those weaklings. We...we smell blood on you. Sense it in your aura. You know the value of making your enemies fear you..." the husky one growled as she and the other Triplets circled her.

"Yet you take no pride or pleasure in the trail of corpses you've left behind. Disappointing." The Whisperer hissed.

"You have anger...you even know how to control it." The Leader noted, circling Laertia.

"Yet you do not use it..." The husky one sneered.

"You would become a powerful Sith Marauder...if you were to break your Jedi shackles..." The Whisperer postulated.

"Howaboutz I bweakz 'yoo'?" Laertia asked.

("Terminated" by Junkie XL plays)

Usually, if someone in the Jedi asks a question like this, it means they are no Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Jedi asking this kind of question comes from the Anakin Skywalker School of Jedi-dom.

There is only one maxim in this school, especially when Terminator music spontaneously manifests after such a menacing question is asked:

Rip and Tear, until it is Done.

"You think you and your little walking stick is a match for 'our' power?" The Leader taunted, though inwardly she had tensed, because even though none of them heard the Terminator music in character, that didn't mean their survival instincts were not starting to kick in after sensing the innate badassery backing up Laertia's low-key threat to murder them all.

"Affirmmativz."

The Leader laughed. Her blades activated, black cores with purple auras. They began to spin on their motorized track.

"Nice knowing you..." the Leader sneered and struck.

Laertia spun her cane expertly in her hand, deflecting the first four strikes. Then she shifted forward.

A flash of something, light reflecting off metal, and then it was gone. Laertia had moved past The Leader, who had gone still, dropping her weapon.

"Sister?!" The Whisperer called out.

The Leader cried out as her belly opened, spilling open her entrails, blood gushing out in torrents. Laertia turned around, the surviving members immediately going into a defensive stance, their blades identical to their fallen sisters. Laertia remained still, a purple bladed shoto sliding out of the bottom of the shaft.

The Monster fixed the Lie's eyes on the purple blade. It was the same hue as the blades on her own staff...wherever 'that' was. NOW Laertia had its undivided attention.

The husky one struck first, Laertia using a combination of cane fighting and Makashi to deflect swift, deadly slashes from the sister's blades as their assault drove her backward into the ruined alter guarding the door deeper into the complex.

Laertia was stone faced, black hair whipping around her as she twisted out of the way of a slash at her midsection, parrying the blades aimed at her neck. The Sisters backed away, one trying to choke her, the other trying to use Force Horror. Laertia focused as the attacks hit, and suddenly both sisters were straining with all their might as a blue field of energy enveloped their opponent. Laertia only winced a little at the effects of their attacks rushing forward at the husky one and bringing her cane down on the Sister's guard...who buckled in surprise trying to stop the young woman's extremely strong attack as it drove her to her knees, kicking the Whisperer so hard she cracked a stone wall as she hit.

The Monster watched in joy, trapped inside the Lie as it witnessed this. It wanted out. It 'had' to meet her...even as it was repelled by their similarities. It didn't know what it wanted.

The husky-voiced one backed away from the tombstone-skinned girl as the Whisperer rose.

"This one has been blessed..." The Whisperer realized out loud.

"This one has murdered many, many times..." The Husky growled.

"What do you 'gain' from serving the Jedi, Little One?"

Laertia did not answer, instead teleporting above The Whisperer, Her shoto aimed downward, but not at the Whisperer.

The cane landed in the loop of her foe's ringed staff, catching it mid spin.

There was a flash of light reflected off metal, and the Whisperer's neck erupted in a geyser of blood.

The Monster was beside itself. It momentarily got so strong it was able to make The Lie utter a word.

"Daughter..." a low whisper escaping the surface persona's lips.

Laertia ripped away her dead opponents weapon from the corpses grasp, deactivating it. She studied it a moment, before crushing it bare handed. In a pure intimidation move she held the crushed hilt out to the Husky voiced Sister, dropping it in pieces at her feet.

"Pruhpayrez tuh gitz madez wunz wit duh Foyce..." Laertia said with that cold edge to her voice she had always had in the back alleys of Nar Shaddaa.

The Monster was struggling to surface. Wanted to test her itself. It commanded the Lie to go to sleep temporarily so it could.

The Lie did not obey.

The Monster did not comprehend. It had to speak to her. It HAD TO. At the same time, it feared actually talking to a mirror of itself. What if interacting with her could shake her connection to the Dark. Was she not a dangerous weakness?

But the Lie still would not obey. The Monster grew enraged, screamed to be let out. It had to see her. They had so much in common, and they didn't know it. Oh it couldn't kill her, not after killing people like that. Who was the Monster kidding?

The Husky one dashed towards her, and Laertia switched to pure Makashi to defend herself. But the last was more cautious then the others, and switched off one, one side of the ring retracting into its casing.

"Indeed you are powerful." The Sith admitted.

"Wun chaynce. Givz upp."

"Do not be a slave to The Jedi. They will 'always' fear someone like you behind your back. And sometimes to your face. They may need you now...but when they don't? They'll cast you out." (An Agent of Chaos: 80 XP)

"Dhey'll allwayz needz summwunz lyke meez. Buhcuz dherez allwayz summwun lyke 'yoo'..." Laertia growled.

Laertia advanced, barely flinching at a Force Crush attempt, switching to Djem So and executing the Falling Avalanche. The Husky voiced one barely fended off the relentlessly powerful and fast attack, made worse because the tombstone-skinned woman seemed to be generating some sort of field around her that made it extremely difficult to move quickly. And the girl gave no quarter, fought without mercy, The Sith drawing on all her training just to deflect the vicious assault, Laertia smashing her cane down harder and harder, finally driving the Husky one to both knees, but Laertia's cane still came down against her foe's blade--

The Sister's blade deflected a strike, and managed to nick Laertia, who cried out in pain, but maintaining a two handed grip on her weapon from pure discipline, resuming her brutal attacks immediately, this time switching to a power assisted stab in one sequence of strikes, and the last Sister was no where near strong enough to turn the attack aside. So she simply flipped out of the way, kicking Laertia backward, but she righted herself...and was suddenly using her Soresu training to fend off the incredibly fast assault that came at diagonal angles from the final sister's blades.

"I know how you killed the others..." The husky one sneered.

"Knowinz wonn'tz sayvez yoo." Laertia stated back unfeelingly.

Laertia brought her cane down and it's shoto was caught by the Sister's blade, drawing on Force Rage to hold back brute strength.

The flash she had been expecting came, and her free hand caught Laertia's fast moving arm, the hidden short sword in the sabercane gleaming with dark blue metal.

"Atrisian Shikomizue..." The Sister sneered, forcing Laertia back an inch. "Clever, but--"

Laertia's eye twitched and her telekinesis triggered the gas powered mechanism in the secondary hilt.

The blade fired point blank out of the hilt into the Husky One's chest. Right into the heart. She fell back, dead.

Laertia reconnected the blade to her hilt, flicked the blood off the blade, and sheathed it, her shoto deactivating.

She did not rest however, as the door the sisters had been protecting opened and out poured a mess of Imperial Soldiers.

Laertia revealed the jury rigged B2 Battle Droid Blaster cannon set attached to her arm by way of a harness, spraying the entrance with cannon fire at a rapid pace, her other arm revealing a laser guided, wrist mounted rocket launcher, which fired at the same time.

Before the Monster could see more, it was unwillingly submerged...



The Amalgam snapped out of the memory, realizing Laertia and Moya had just left. She had zoned out on whatever exchange they had had.

"What did I miss?" The Amalgam asked.

 

[Kay-Larr]

"Noon? Sure, I'll be there." Laertia Io introduced herself, Kay bowed her head to her as she used to back when she was a politician and when she was of nobility. "Good to meet you. I'm--" Her words were cut off as The Amalgam interrupted. She looked around, wondering if she had heard anything. But no, she hadn't.

Kay gave Moya a bit of a smile and nod. "Some teas have...varied side effects that can affect other species differently. I'm Kay by the way." Her brows furrowed as Amy was once again hearing things. She needed to talk to her, find out what was going on.

It wasn't too long before the two women were gone and she was left alone with her friend. Or at the very least, left without those two around. Kay approached her with a light shrug of her shoulders and a small smile. "Nothing much. They invited me to a magic show. That should be fun. It's been a while since I've seen you. Are you alright? How did you find me?" Kay had done well to hide where she was. Or so she thought. But with the popularity of her shoppe growing, that wasn't going to be too easy.

 

[Laertia Io]

The Amalgam sighed and sat down, exhaling.

"That...was too close..." The Shapeshifter said.

"Oh, Tacitus's forces had me on the run for a while. And I always know where you are. The Royal Marine Corps I created survived. I have them shadowing you constantly." The Amalgam answered. "That woman you met...errrr...I have bad news..." The Amalgam confessed. "That's my first daughter you just ran into. She's just as much of a killing machine as my other daughter and she's been relentlessly hunting me ever since I fled the collapse of our mutual venture..." The Amalgam said delicately. She too was affected by the fall of their nascent empire, so quickly. A baby strangled in the crib.

"Good news is she doesn't know I'm here...and she clearly does not know who you are...we should keep it that way..."

The Amalgam then began to think.

"We must increase your knowledge, my friend...I sense the Force in your work here. Getting someone to actually injest The Bogan...wish I'd thought of it...imagine the pranks you could pull..."

The Amalgam began to wonder...this gave her an idea...

"Kay..." she trailed with a smile, fishing out some credits.

"Let me have a bag of those cookies...I'm going to do what's known on the holonet as a 'Pro Gamer Move'..."

She likely had the definition and the context with which to use it utterly incorrect but that didn't mean it didn't sound cool as feth saying it...

Meanwhile...

Laertia had started suffering seizures from the damage as they got home to the ship, Moya helping her stagger up the dynamic class freighter and helping her to her bed, covering her as the episode passed. Laertia shuddered, feeling cold everywhere, even in her bed. Moya cradled her, the pain in Laertia's skull barely receding as warmth returned to her body.

"Myy rabbitz...I wantz a rabbitz..." Laertia requested weakly.

Moya went to get one from the pen in the cargo hold. A black furred rabbit named Pyronium. The rabbit practically jumped out of Moya's hands when it spotted Laertia, hopping onto her bed and immediately snuggling with her. Laertia petted it, calming down as she hugged it gently.

"I'm gonna fyndz mee a curez for dhis fethinz hedz o myne. Wun ov dhese dayz..."

Moya ran her fingers through Laertia's hair as she petted the rabbit.

"Should I start the search for physicians again?"

Laertia shook her head. "Ain'tz no doctuh inn duh gallaxxy dhat cann solvez wut I gotz. I seez dhat nowwz. I gottaz...I gottaz knowz morez aboutz myy parentz. Mayybeez wun ov dhem pazzed dhis onn too meez..."

The Biots thumb glided over Laertia's forehead lovingly. Laertia rarely talked about her parents, and Moya was certain that their absence in Laertia's life was the locus of Laertia's deepest psychological wounds, the very wounds that compelled Laertia to constantly seek out a parental figure, even if they were terrible for her.

Finding those answers might help. Part of her programming was to act as Laertia's therapist. It was a protocol Laertia had consistently frustrated, opening up only as much as she could before her anxiety would cause her to clam up. Moya knew how delicate the patient was mentally in this regard and accepted the very slow progress on that front, as she knew it would be impossible to fully treat Laertia effectively given the sheer scope of some of her mental scars, but she took her victories when she could get them. But maybe she might finally make true progress on the deeper wounds.

"Where would we look?" Moya asked, hand now gently resting on Io's forehead. The rabbit was asleep in Laertia's arms.

Laertia grimaced...

"Wherez I wuz fyrstt foundz...Narr Shaddaaz..."

Moya stiffened as she heard the absolute hate in Laertia's words come out for that planet just speaking its name.

Nar Shaddaa had made Laertia who she was today.

"Sweetie...a-are you sure? You have to be sure about this. You still haven't found the Witch. I'm almost afraid to leave you on the ship alone because neither of us can sense when she is around."

"Shee duzzint wantz mee dedz..."

"She's obsessed with you...what's that Atrisian slang you used...oh, right, yandere... The Amalgam is yandere for you...but that doesn't mean she won't stick a knife in you."

"Shee holldz bak inn kombat...iff shee wantedz mee dedz, I'dz lookz alotz worrse aftuh a fyte wit hurr."

"Don't trust that." Moya warned, leaving for a second to retrieve Laertia's black helmet from her Jedi armor, the one with the purpose-built brainwave regulators, and put it on a still weakened Laertia's head. Her face concealed under a helm shaped to her head's figure, the eyes concealed by a green visor. Laertia turned it on, continuing to pet her rabbit while Moya sat at the edge of the bed.

"Laertia...are you holding back when you fight her?" Moya asked turning to her.

Laertia paused at petting her rabbit.

"I think the only reason this isn't over yet is you are hesitating. If she is holding back...that means you are also. Why..."

Laertia trembled. Moya took her hand from Pyronium, clasping it.

"You can tell me...I won't judge..."

"I'm skaredz dhat deepz downz I knowwz whoo shee iz. Butz...butz I'mm skaredz to evun assk duh kweschun ov whoo shee iz."

Moya's face twisted in sympathy.

"You should have said something...Laertia, the only way to resolve that problem is by working up the courage. The next time you fight her, look past the surface. See her, not just what she is capable of. It is the only way to know."

Laertia's face could not be seen, but Moya still felt the chill of dread in her pseudo-daughter.

"Who do you think she is?"

"I wyshh I knewwz...orr izzit wyllfull igznoranze?"

"Only you can answer that, Laertia. Listen, you get some rest, eat some of that fudge--I left it in the mess area--and in the meantime I will try to wrangle us a ship..."

"Gud lux..."

"No such thing as luck." Moya smiled, leaving the room.

Laertia began petting her rabbit again...



Two hours later...


Moya walked the streets, having used her android body's shapeshifter feature to reconfigure herself into a bodyguard form, that of a tall, muscular, green skinned, green eyed woman with dark green hair that fell in long curls. This form had the strongest pheremone output, strong enough to work against even a Force Adept, so she was fairly confident she could get a crazy good deal as she departed the vessel in a skin tight green chrome armorweave bodyglove, calmly walking to a used ship depo called Crazy Marko's Used Shipyard! A massive lot of ships in all sizes and shapes, some stored in underground hangars.

Moya walked into the office, instantly turning heads as the curvy android walked up to the glitzy suited sales rep and turned on the charm.

"Why hello!" She called out to him seductively, her walk taking on a slink to it.

"I'm in the market for a used military vessel. Nothing too modern, but I'm still looking to get a good deal for what I purchase..." she cooed.

(Sinister Latin Chanting)

The man swooned, the high strength pheremones she emitted hitting hard.

"R-right this way, miss..."


Kay-Larr

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay raised a brow slightly as The Amalgam let her know that she was being tailed constantly. Of course like any normal person, she eyed everyone in the shop carefully. Did she recognize any of them outside of the ordinary? It could be the familiarity that made her suspect people even less, which was probably the point.

She hung her head a little at the reminder of their fallen Empire. It happened so quickly. Perhaps if the Mandalorians and Jedi didn't have their war, things would've been better and she'd of had more support. But something inside of her told her that that wouldn't of happened either. Her own husband didn't approve. He just wanted her to hide herself away on Kashyyyk and perhaps stay out of trouble. But trouble always found her, even when she tried to do the right thing.

Just as it did here.

"Cookies? Sure." The very suggestion pulled her out of her thoughts. Kay headed off behind the counter and took out a paper bag before filling it with a dozen of her special Darkside cookies. Infused with the darker side of the Force, their effects lasted merely an hour. They didn't cause anyone to shoot bolts of lightning, or Force choke anyone to death, but they did make people bolder and more impulsive. She walked back around and handed the bag of cookies to her Bestie. "What are you going to do with them?"

 

[The Amalgam]

The Amalgam smiled at Kay, the future NPC Treasury , and gestured to follow her into the back of the shop.

Once inside, she took out a knife from a belt pouch and cut open her palm, white blood oozing out, smearing unpleasant looking runes on the door and walls, her blood visibly shuddering and wriggling within the runes.

"That should give us some privacy..." The Amalgam said. "No one can sense the darkness in this place as long as those runes remain."

The Amalgam took a seat next to the table, stopped hiding her rotting presence in The Force. She took the cookies Kay had given her and tried one. Her eyes widened.

"By the Bogan they're delicious..." she whispered. "Kay, you bake an absolutely divine cookie. I mean, I'm not normally into sweets, but...oh my...one more..."

The Amalgam gobbled it with all the dignity of that Rancor biting off the Gammorean's head in ROTJ.

"Laertia never liked sweets at all..." The Amalgam trailed quietly, taking out another cookie. "Laertia survived in the street off of military surplus she either acquired or stole. She always ate everything but the sweets in the Rations. It was a holdover from life in the depths of Nar Shaddaa. Sweets can be valuable currency in the right situations. Smuggling packages, in particular. You would be amazed at what people will pay for commodities in warzones, especially soldiers on the front line or prisoners in general. I should know. I did the same thing when I was...like her..."

The Amalgam ate another cookie, her demeanor changing, becoming more somber.

"I wasn't there for her the way I wanted to be. I was trapped by this Lie I had made of myself. I couldn't reach out to her. Had to stay hidden. I was a bad parent too...I played favorites. Uri is the apple of my eye. My dear. My darling in a shared madness. But Laertia is my first."

She compulsively ate another cookie. Ironically, Laertia hunting and trying to brutally murder her had been the most time she had managed to spend in a meaningful way with her first daughter in a long time. Just the two of them, The Shi'ido fending off attacks from all sides, evading shotgun blasts, Laertia's murderous intent growing more confused as each attempt was made, the part of her that was so messed up beyond words unsure how it felt about the body hopping abomination's adoration, scared to even admit how unsure it felt.

The Amalgam's smile had gradually faded by the time she had eaten the next cookie.

"She does not share in my madness as Uri does however. Her destiny is meant to be different. She is part of the plan but it is...different."

She had outright said it to Laertia at one point, during the previous attempt by Laertia to murder her:

"I love you, Daughter." she had said to her as their blades crashed together, and she had meant it, maliciously psychotic as she was, and even as she plotted to drive her to the Dark Side, she loved her, wanted to free her from the Ashla's horrid checks on her power. To make her soul beautiful with the Dark.

She remembered smiling psychotically as Laertia's face twisted in confusion during the blade lock they had been in, allowing the Amalgam to punch her.

She knew Laertia had not told the biot she played Happy Family with that part of their last fight. Definitely not. Smouldering jealousy erupted in the witch as she thought of the biot. She hated Moya.

"Laertia is among the deadliest Lightsaber Duelists in the Galaxy. Gods, her Shii-Cho, Kay. If you ever get a chance to see her Shii-Cho at a distance...just...watch it...its mesmerizing. She has slain masters of every other style. She's killed thousands for her Master Ursula Sandraven...who...kept her from me..."

The Amalgam ate another cookie, this time clearly out of anxiousness and maybe even mild depression. All the terrible things she would have to do to bring her daughters into the Dark began to weigh on her in a manner it would not have if she had never learned to love at all.

She took out another cookie, and instead of eating it, she sprinkled her white blood on it, whispering Dark Magic to warp it to look like a piece of Kay's Light Side Fudge.

"Loved and Hated my own Master. But I only loved Laertia. Almost stayed hidden for her. Almost."

The Monster watched from the darkness of the grove, watching the Teenage Laertia play with and feed her rabbits, unaware of The Monster's presence.

Laertia would hug and scratch each one's ears. The Monster did not understand the pain it felt as it stared. It had never felt pain like this before.

It had never felt shame at its own nature. Never felt the ache of seperation, did not understand the turmoil Laertia created in its devotion to the Bogan as Laertia fed and hugged each rabbit, leaning against a large tree under the shade.

It wanted to scream its love of her, of her savagery in battle, but did not wish to disrupt her time with her pets, who it knew were precious to her. It felt shame and disgust over its conflict. Its weakness. How it loved to watch her smile. But it could not emerge. Partly because it was not ready, and partly because it knew it would only be feared and shunned by its daughter.

The Monster dreaded the reaction it knew it would receive one day...

"We are going to give this to her, and open her to the Darkness..." The Amalgam said, snapping away from the memory in the grove, and how she wanted the memory of Laertia petting her rabbits to never end. She steeled herself now. It was all part of the plan.

"Present it as a free sample during her magic show tomorrow. Say its a new recipe. But for your lessons tonight however...what say I teach you some blood magic?" The Amalgam asked, getting some of her old joviality back once she managed to ignore the fact she was essentially going to mildly poison her daughter.

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay followed The Amalgam into the back room, raising a brow slightly as the woman seemed to ward off the room with blood. How such magics worked, she had no idea. But worked it did. Perhaps it was just as hocus pocus as the Force was to some? It was difficult to say. But one day she'd ask. Perhaps that was why many of her teas and baked goods sold so well, for some gave people Force-like abilities. And some numbed it out completely...

She smiled as Amy approved of her cookies. "I can show you how to make them someday. Then you could have as many as you want."

While Amy told her about Laertia Io and their past, Kay reflected on her own children. Did they hate her? Would they ever want her dead? Probably not. Outside of dessimating entire populations, she didn't think that any of her family would see her killed. Jailed, yes. But killed? No.

"Every parent holds regrets for how their children were raised. It's normal...I have plenty of regrets of my own. But it isn't anything that I could change." Without being able to change the past, that was about all that anyone could do.

"That's a devious little plan of yours. But...harmless too. We can try it." Kay knew how long the effects would be. So she didn't quite see the harm in it.

As for the offer for Blood Magic, Kay raised a brow slightly before nodding. "Let's give it a try. You'd be the best for me to learn from."

 

[Moya Virtu]

The now muscular, green skinned android in the skintight green chrome catsuit followed the Dealer through the massive yard of ships. He was utterly befuddled by her charm.

The Android with the body (and beauty) of an Olympian had an unnatural poise to her as she walked with the salesman to one ship in particular, raising an eyebrow.

"How in the Galaxy did you obtain this?" she asked, observing it in its docking struts.

"Theres old military surplus floating all over the galaxy due to the past eight hundred years. You find a good piece of salvage, refit it, you can still make a good ship and a profit. Intel Ships like this slip through the cracks more often than you think."

Moya paced about a few moments, dark green hair billowing in the wind. It was spacious and it had what every warrior like Laertia should want...a place to call a Fortress. One of Solitude.

(Superman Theme plays for a few seconds)

"I'll need a means of piloting it." Moya said simply.

"I also sell a number of used piloting droids and the like." The salesman added, befuddled by her great beauty as well as her maxed out pheremones.

"Be a good salesman and show me." She subtly flirted.

He immediately led her to an open air yard full of used droids and brand new ones.

"Most of these are pretty standard. But to fly that thing you will need something more specialized." He said, walking right past the licensed commercial models.

"Now, we carry a good selection of HRD's, but a lot of them are out of date. We caaaannnn however supply you with the special. These uh, got delivered to me by accident. Called the office, they told me not to worry about it."

Moya raised an eyebrow as she was led to what looked to be a transparent, rectangular converted bacta tank holding what looked to be the shredded, burnt remains of a corpse and another containing a humanoid figure with pale skin covering everything and giving no definition.

"What's the corpse?" Moya asked.

They are remains of some type of prototype android a scavenger found after The Mandalorians were driven from Eshan. Its highly sensitive to fire and barely survived being thrown to it but was still salvageable. The cells are alive but in a dormant state. Brain needs chips, body needs nutrient. Its a steal. You could practically do anything with its brain...I checked that, by the way...Its got massive amounts of legal programming, but it still needs chips to run it. Full disclosure, the guy that scavenged it had to get some Kaminoan to repair the brain and salvage the data. There might be glitches."

"Nothing I can't get around..." Moya trailed. "And the other?"

"Top of the Line, completely blank slate Mark Two Biot from Saotome." The Salesman explained. "They say its capable of using The Force. Space magic. You could program it for almost any sort of military duty. A real steal. Mark my words. Another three centuries and these kinds of machines will be more common than standard droids. Hell, they might even be more common than standard people."

"Machines will never outnumber the ones who built and rely on them." The Android stated quietly but matter-of-factly.

"Maybe. Who knows? So, interested? I can throw in a few positronic processors on the sly."

"Let's talk price...."

"Gozanti Cruiser is top of the line, same with the droids."

"The Cruiser is eight hundred years out of date."

"Its electronics are not. You can have it all for thirty million."

Moya smiled, muscular figure coiling as it slinked to him.

"Lower." She cooed gently.

(Sinister Latin Chanting.)

"Err, ummm...twenty five million."

Moya smirked.

"Lower." She repeated breathily.

"Fifteen million! Not a credit less..."

Moya smirked, circling him.

"Lower." She repeated as a whisper in his ear.

"Eight million!" The salesman exclaimed.

Moya shook her head.

"007 Million. That's 'my' final offer. And if its not asking too much, I'd like you to erase the transaction from record."

The Salesman caved, too bewitched to do anything else.

"Deal." He said.

Moya chuckled delightfully. "Let's start the paperwork."

Three hours later...

"Sweetie!" Moya called out excitedly as she stepped aboard the old frieghter. "You are never gonna guess what a steal I just got."

Moya found Laertia at the main hold, digging into the sweets she had bought earlier. The face of the brain damaged killer lit up the moment she spotted the Android. She had changed into a floor length blue dress with short sleeves. For the times she wished to pretend she was an ordinary person, with Moya helping her along.

"Wudja getz?" Laertia asked enthusiastically. This was how Laertia had often acted when retired: Not a thing like the hardened butcher she was seen as by others. Always friendly. Always helpful and considerate. This was the person Moya knew Laertia wanted to be, deep down.

Unfortunately she didn't want to be that way or know how to be that way, with hardly anyone but Moya. Laertia believed in protecting and aiding the innocent, but that was where it ended for her.

"You are now the proud owner of a retrofitted Gozanti Cruiser and...ummm..."

Moya trailed, wondering how to approach the subject.

"What?" Laertia asked gently.

"I also purchased two Androids, one new and one used."

Laertia looked stunned.

"Butz Moya..." Laertia trailed in incomprehension. "Wutz arr weez gonnaz dooz wit twoo morr anndroydz?"

"It was an impulse buy, admittedly, but I believe its for the best. You and I both know I have too many issues with my design. You need back-up. I need back-up." Moya explained, taking a seat next to her. "Look at it this way: It means you can afford to actually trust someone other than myself. We'll have a livelier household if nothing else."

Laertia seemed to be very quiet as she contemplated this.

Finally, she shrugged. "I trusstt yorr judgementtz." She said, beaming as Moya smiled back.

"Whennz doo dhey getz heerz?" Laertia asked her caretaker.

"Uh, two hours from now. One's some freak prototype developed for the Saotome Corporation. Its run by our friend, Matsu."

Laertia hid her distress at struggling to recall Matsu Ike due to brain damage before the memories poked through.

"Wellz...I trusst Matsu nott tuh maykez a crapp prawdukt. We'll seez. In duh meanntymez...letz cookz..."

Forty-Five minutes later...

Moya read peacefully across the table from where Laertia ate her grilled vegetables just as quietly. Moya didn't want to ruin it for her pseudo daughter. Her body posture was completely relaxed. Most of the time Laertia was almost always prepared to be attacked...and her instincts were usually correct. Moya had born witness to several assassination attempts by The Sith. Any mental relief was a chance for them both to breathe. Especially with her chasing The Amalgam.

Moya, who had gone back to her public configuration, clad in her typical black armorweave gown was particularly relieved the chase was being given a break. Psychologically, she knew it wasn't healthy Laertia wanted payback but after the things The Amalgam had put both of them through she would only be too happy to put a bolt in the witch herself.

"Wut arr yoo reedinz?" Laertia asked suddenly.

"Old Corellian Poetry. I'm on the one called 'The Swept Away Snake'."

"Wutz itz aboutz?"

Moya peered at the poem, got a puzzled look.

"I think its about the lengths we go to to find peace."

"Yooz don'tz souundz verri cerrtainz."

Moya shrugged in that ever unnaturally precise manner that betrayed her android status.

"I never was much of a poetry buff..."

"Neethuh wuz I. Don'tz sweatz itz." Laertia said, chewing on a piece of grilled carrot. It was her third plate of the stuff.

"So, what's the idea for tomorrow? I already arranged things so we'll be able to perform unimpeded...but What's the trick?"

"Duh Taung Konntwappshun."

Moya raised an eyebrow. "Been a while since we tried that."

"Itz nott duh onnlee rayre wun we'll bee doinz..."

Meanwhile...


"Blood magic is both its own discipline and a supplement to other magical disciplines." The Amalgam began to explain to NPC Treasury , pacing about in the back of the parlor.

"It can be used to enhance the strength of your potential in the Force, on either a momentary or permanent basis. I myself am a product of Blood Magic to some extant. And it has made me a Force to be reckoned with. It will make you yourself a Force to be reckoned with. But it often is the most dangerous kind of magic. Getting it wrong will kill you or put you in such a state as to wish for death."

The Amalgam then smiled at her friend, whose soul she was trying to save.

"Let's start with something simple. A blood spell."

The Amalgam handed her a knife.

"Cut your palm open, focus on the darkness within, and chant these words. "Unholy Spirit, Shield me from Inferiors." Done correctly, this should render you temporarily immune to Force Choke Attacks. Try it."

 

[NPC Treasury]

Wish for death.

Kay had wished for death a number of times, especially when she was being tortured or tormented by guilt. Both Veiere and her son had told her that she didn't need to suffer and hold onto it all. But she couldn't help it. Millions had died because of her choices. She was unable to stand up against the most powerful of her enemies.

Maybe she wasn't strong enough. Sometimes you had to fight fire with fire. Kay had a lot of potential, even her enemies saw it which was probably why they tried to control her and hold her under their sway.

But that wasn't how things were now. She was free to do whatever she wanted. And that included this...

Kay listened to The Amalgam give her instruction and then took the dagger in hand. "And my guess is, you're going to be right here to test if it worked? Right?" Of course she was. There wasn't exactly a line up of people around that wanted to Force Choke her.

She took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. Holding out her left palm, Kay quickly ran the sharp edge of the blade along the skin, being sure to not go deep enough to cut through the tendons. It took a second or two but the blood started to flow, and she focused on the pain and anger, recalling a number of torture sessions in which she had to endure cuts and beatings all over her. Kay felt the Darkness wanting to be released from her, to be used again as she had done a handful of times before. "Unholy Spirit, Shield me from Inferiors..." Her eyes moved from her bleeding palm to Amy, waiting to see whether or not it had worked.

 

[Laertia Io]

As expected, the flames lit up around NPC Treasury . The Amalgam smiled.

"Such a powerful manifestation on the first try my friend! This is highly encouraging!" The beast complimented. She then tried to Force Choke her. The attempt completely failed.

"Blood is power. Your blood is like a plant in meltdown...you've been so afraid of the Dark for so long Kay. Yet here it is, granting you the strength and power to defend yourself. Normally, you'd have been choked out in seconds. Now, we'll get to another lesson, but first, we must discuss something about tomorrow. I won't exactly be myself. I possess a special kind of Sorcery, Kay. I am capable of being many beings. Even thinking and believing myself to be a completely different person. This is to enable me to hide from the telepathic scans of Jedi in the long term. There are risks however. Sometimes the persona I assume becomes too strong and cannot be dispersed easily. I'm going to use this technique to ingratiate myself to her inner circle. This will be the perfect way to keep track of her movements without her realizing it. But if it becomes too strong the only way to snap me out if I don't have the power to resurface on my own is to use a spell to Force the Persona I created into slumber. But we'll cover that later. For now, here's a simpler spell."

The Amalgam spoke another set of words of power.

"Unholy Spirit, pour fourth my Hatred."

Purple Light erupted from the Amalgam's throat. She breathed it on her hand.

"The Spell of Psychic Fire. Non lethal, psychic-pyrokinesis. Demoralizes. Causes Despair in Victims. Channel all your hate and pain into speaking the words..."

Meanwhile...

Laertia had rehearsed the tricks with Moya before deciding to sleep for tomorrow. As she prepared to go to sleep in her quarters, her hand drew to a photo of Her and Ursula. It was just after midnight.

("What is Love?" By Haddaway Plays)

Her fingers traced over Ursula's face, feeling tears well up. She was under so much pressure. Not just to find all the pieces of the Shrodinger Box, but to avenge her Master's murder at The Amalgam's hands.

The pain of being seperated from Ursula hurt Laertia still and always would. Ursula had raised her up from poverty. She would be nothing without her.

She held the photo close to her and wept quietly for a minute and then placed the photo back on the shelf. She loved Ursula. No matter how much she had been seconded in the end. No matter how abandoned.

She would always love Ursula Sandraven.

Laertia went to sleep thinking about the time they had ventured into a Sith Empire Base together to bring a War Criminal to justice. She had stepped in front of a bullet meant for Ursula's heart and it had barely missed her own.

Ursula had personally cared for her for weeks after her recovery. That she had done that for her made it all the more painful and incomprehensible to Laertia that she had not been by her side again after her brain injuries. That's when it had finally hit her that it was over. The Marksmen were finished. But all she had wanted was Ursula's attention.

Laertia to this day wondered if her going up against that shuttle, when she could have easily fled wasn't a subconscious attempt at killing herself. It had half worked if it was...she was messed up for the rest of her life.

Laertia went to bed wondering how sure she was about her motivations, as she always did.

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay held her hand up above her heart to help slow the flow of blood. She was both surprised and not surprised at the fact that her shielding had worked. Yes she had Darkness within her. She wasn't either pure or innocent. But at the same time she didn't want to lose control either. Guilt helped with that; that pit in her stomach that dug down and dug deep with every reminder. One can only take it for so long before it was all that they could base theor decisions on.

She listened as The Amalgam spoke of shifting forms and and the dangers of her losing herself in that personna. And now the purpose of Amy needing her to learn these magics had become clear. Kay was needed to help bring Amy back to her own self. But first of course, she had to learn the basics.

At the sight of the next trick, Kay was quite confident that she'd do well. There was much guilt, grief, despair and anger within her to easily send off to someone else.

She focused on that pain and her own despair while she spoke. "Unholy Spirit, pour fourth my Hatred..." Letting others feel what she felt was very attractive to her. Then maybe they'd understand how and why things were the way that they were with her. And why she lived alone.

 

[The Amalgam]

The Amalgam smiled in joy as NPC Treasury managed to breath out the unholy dark side flames.

"Oh, this is much better than I expected! I was worried I'd have to spend all night teaching you that one. That spell will especially come in handy for the both of us...you can use it to force me out of The False Persona in case I cannot break it."

The Amalgam felt the darkness within Kay grow stronger, her soul more beautiful. Both her and the Persona of Darth Phyre that had secretly been in control of her for months were pleased. She would make a fine apprentice with enough honing.

"Those are two excellent lessons for now...it is time to move to the actual, difficult part. The False Persona Ritual itself..."

The Amalgam looked around, found a small piece of white satin fabric and traced runes into it, whispering. The fabric swelled and bubbled like her dark side infused flesh, expanding and reshaping into a dress. A gown to be specific. She then smeared another pentacle into the floor before standing in the middle.

"Avert your eyes...or don't..." the Amalgam joked, slipping off her catsuit. Her nude frame slipped on the gown and went into a meditative position, the pentacle of white blood around her developing unholy runes of their own accord.

"The False Persona's name is Lucretia Lister. She will believe you are a long time friend...which isn't incorrect, on one level. Just play along, and don't give away the surprise to her. After tomorrow, I start alternating between being her and being me, training you. May The Bogan serve you, Kay. Oh, and, uh, stash the catsuit..."

The Amalgam concentrated, whispering unholy things that almost electrified the air invisibly around her.

Her flesh shuddered, warping and melting, unnatural, pig like metallic squealing involuntarily escaping a melting mouth as the evil personality slowly buried itself in the mind of a fake like a trap door spider, flesh resetting her appearance into that of a taller, older woman with very tanned skin and short blond hair that curled slightly with blue eyes.

Lucretia Lister opened her eyes and blinked about in confusion before seeing her longtime friend Kay Arenais.

"Kay, I'm not sure about this meditation thing...I don't feel enlightened..." Lucretia spoke, rising up, smoothing her dress over, false memories already taken hold. If the question of how Laertia would not know The Amalgam was her "mother" was still a puzzle, this technique had been clearly a partial answer.

"Ah but thank you for having me over for tea. I hope you'll be at the magic show tomorrow." Lucretia said, voice a deeper contralto than The Amalgam's. The body language, facial expressions...everything was different.

"Ta, Kay!" Lucretia said, heading for the door, seemingly not noticing the blood, or rather, not being allowed to notice the blood. "I'll pick you up tomorrow! I'll buy breakfast!"

007 hours later...

Lucretia was back for Kay a little after sunrise. There was still a half hour before the show started. Lucretia had brought grilled ham and gourmet cheese on a toasted artisan bagel for the both of them to enjoy at their convenience.

Laertia had set up a stage in the park. She looked completely different than the pale skinned creature that first wandered into her shoppe. She had applied make up that hid the scars and her pale skin tone under an even, smooth tan. She was dressed in a purple tux that covered her subtly olympian figure along with a purple top hat with a green stripe, while Moya in her green skinned form wore a dark green leotard, heels, and a top hat. A crowd had gathered in the park.

"Welcome!" Moya announced, Laertia remaining mute as part of thd act. "For our first act, I need a volunteer. You!" Moya said, pointing to Kay. "How would you like to experience the wonder of stage magic?!"