Private You and what Battalion?

[Syd Celsius]

Wearing: 90 Suit

Armed With: Herself

Objective: Reunite with Starlin Rand , explore potential of acquired Battalion form at combatting Sith

The integration of the absorbed Battalion had been done piece meal. In Bytes, digested days apart from each other. Slowly, memories and knowledge filtered in. Memories of being Laertia's wife. Memories of her rare moments of humanity in House Io . Syd had wept for days at what she had done.

Even now, she couldn't stop destroying Laertia's life.

Only after each but of memory was carefully, strenuously digested, rewritten to reduce the risk of the true Battalion emerging as much as possible, Syd had fully integrated it, both The Battalion, and what she had stolen from Syd in the silence of her ship. Her face shuddering as it all came back, twisting from The Reflection back to her original face.

Phyre's face.

Then she had made the journey to Fondor and sent out a telepathic call to Starlin Rand, eager to see the closest person she had to a son as herself fully for the first time in years. She could use his insight...

But she would not tell him of the situation between her and Nathan. That was between them. It was just too personal to involve anyone else.

Syd thought of all the things she would say. All the things she wanted to say.

All the things she should have said before her fatal error.

Perhaps she had said enough when she had finally mastered him.

Syd had thrown on her most reliable gear of all her armor, the golden yellow and blue catsuit she had used when guiding him initially. Except now he needed no guidance from her.

She was glad for that. From all accounts, he had put his knowledge to noble use, which was all she had ever asked of him.

She waited on a landing pad situated on a rooftop, The Scorched Earth nearby. As she waited for Starlin to show, she remembered she had bought a Tea Set and thought to set some up for them, so she went back, wanting to surprise him when she stepped off the ramp.

She headed aboard her ship to the galley, and had just started to approach the cupboard when something invisible and unsensed by the Force seized her face.

Syd snarled as a smirking copy of The Amalgam decloaked in front of her, this copy's body morphed to look like she was wearing a copy of the actual Amalgam's infamous Flesh Colored Catsuit. Pig like Squeals escaped Syd's throat, eyes rolling into her head as the flesh on her face shuddered as The Amalgam's fingers fused with Syd's face.

"I bet you're wondering..." The Amalgam sneered quietly as Syd's body began to shudder and bubble violently.

"How long was I aboard? Does it matter?" The Amalgam asked, throwing the full weight of her evil hive mind into killing and absorbing Syd, whose body shuddered and bubbled violently more and more...

"Mind over muscle." The Amalgam said quietly.

Syd's body stopped bubbling as Syd's hand seized the Amalgam's face.

"Not this time." Syd snarled, driving the Amalgam's absorption attempt back and beginning to reverse the process, her eyes returning to their normal position as she began to forcibly absorb a now flailing and shrieking Amalgam, whose flesh bubbled and melted violently as The Amalgam copy was forcibly absorbed through Syd's suit, fingers fusing to Amy's face, Syd's face bubbling between Hers and Amy's until the flesh and muscle was stripped off the Copy's skeleton, Syd's body bulging and deforming violently as she successfully forcibly absorbed and integrated a now subverted copy of the woman who had helped destroy Syd 's life at a distance. Her body turning fully into The Amalgam's for a split second before warping back to Syd's. It was the ultimate Feth You. Amy had no doubt spent weeks watching, waiting. It would have worked...the Copy was legit strong...had Syd not absorbed the Battalion, and The Reflection before that...

Syd placed a spell on the Copy's bones, intending to do something with them later as she gathered them and stored them away.

Then she went back to making tea for her and Starlin, having an artfully decorated tea set waiting for him with her at a folding table outside of her ship as she slowly, slowly digested Amy into her subconscious, beginning once more the laborious process of rewriting her in key areas...

 

[Starlin Rand]

She said her name was Syreeta Ming.

“At least, that’s the name on this ID,” she added, showing him a card inside a tattered old wallet. “I don’t know if it’s my real name…”

Starlin found her at a space station near Peragus. She was wandering around aimlessly, begging passing travelers for credits or food. While the girls went shopping, he brought Syreeta to a local diner and bid her tell him her story over cheeseburgers.

“I woke up on a ship,” she explained in between taking voracious bites of her burger. “I was in the cargo hold. A crewmate found me. He left me here, said I was lucky he didn’t dump me out the airlock.”

“You don’t remember how you ended up on the ship?” Starlin asked, dipping his fries in sauce.

“No.” She took a sip of her soda, slurping through the straw. “I don’t remember anything from before then. Nothing. I tried to piece things together from what little I had on me when I woke up, but the only thing I was able to find was that name, Syreeta Ming.”

“It’s a pretty name,” he commented, gazing at her thoughtfully. Force, she’s gorgeous. Delicate Atrisian features, raven black hair, big dark eyes framed by long lashes, and full pink lips practically begging to be kissed. She might as well have stepped out of his dreams. “Where was the ship headed?”

She shrugged. “They wouldn’t tell me. I think they may have been pirates. Would explain their cruelty towards me.” Finished with her burger, she licked her fingers and reached for a napkin. “Thank you for the meal, mister.”

“Call me Starlin.” He smiled. “Hey, this might seem too good to be true, but I have a ship of my own with lots of room to spare…”

Ten minutes later, he led her aboard the Bright Knight, flicking on the lights. After giving her a cursory tour of the vessel, she turned to him, on the verge of tears. “I can’t remember the last time anyone’s shown me this much kindness,” she whispered. “I-I’ll find some way to pay you back, I promise.”

“There’s no need for that,” Starlin said. “I just can’t turn down someone in need of help.”

“Oh, Starlin.” She took a step toward him, arms outstretched. He accepted her embrace, burying his face in her soft hair… and pressed the emitter of his shoto against her, igniting the blade.

She gasped and staggered back, clutching at her stomach. Her flesh began to warp and writhe, reacting to the magic imbued within the shoto. He slashed at her again with the blade, a diagonal cut from her left hip to her right shoulder. Screaming in pain, her face began to change, uncontrollably morphing into the visages of other women she had killed and consumed. Her mouth opened unnaturally wide, those telltale metallic, piglike shrieks escaping her throat.

She was one of them.

“You must think I’m stupid to fall for a trick like this,” he muttered, advancing toward her. “A beautiful stranger with no memory, all alone and begging for help? Not the most original con.”

"You... almost did," she rasped. "I nearly had you. Your throat was bare beneath my hand! Only Syd would take a romantic fool like you for an apprentice!"

She fell on her back and began crawling away from him, her body melting and reshaping itself over and over again. There must’ve been dozens of personas inside the thing, all in a state of panic and vying for control. But she was weaker than he expected. Probably a copy of a copy. He kept wounding her with non-lethal strikes, pressing the attack, pushing her deeper into the ship, toward the medbay…

When Kyla and Lara returned from their shopping trip, they found Starlin sitting casually in the lounge, holding a glass of ice water. “What did you girls get up to?” he asked, as if he hadn’t just encountered a Force Spawn.

“We ate at Yum Bunnies,” Kyla replied, setting down her shopping bags. “Then we went to Ross, where I found this absolutely stunning dress…”

“I got these super cute shoes from Hiwalker, and some new perfume from Heartbeat House,” Lara added excitedly, showing him the fragrance packaging. “Just look at the bottle! Isn’t it charming?”

“There was even an antique mall, which of course Lara wanted to check out…”

While they went on cheerfully describing their day out, Starlin smiled at their escapades and sipped his water. “Syreeta Ming” was alive, but securely held in stasis inside a hidden room of the medbay. It was triple locked, warded, trapped and enchanted, just to be sure. Even then, he was starting to think maybe he should just dump her out the nearest airlock. It wasn’t worth endangering the twins.

He wasn’t even sure what he intended to do with her, only that he didn’t necessarily want her dead just yet. Over the years he had found himself questioning how her kind worked, wondering what their strengths and weaknesses were and how much they were capable of. His knowledge of Syd’s origins had left him curious. Was it possible to forcibly redeem a Cult Witch, similar to what his father had done to his master?

Syd’s telepathic summons reached him a couple hours later, after the girls had gone to their respective rooms. By then his mind was made up. He punched in the coordinates for Fondor, watched as the stars blurred into white lines, then headed back to the medbay, spending the majority of the trip through hyperspace there…

---

“Syd was my master,” Starlin explained to his twin apprentices. “She’s incredibly powerful, talented, kind, a great listener—just a wonderful person all around. I wish she knew that, but she’s had a hard life. These past few years have been especially brutal for her. She’s made a lot of well-intentioned mistakes which had terrible, far-reaching consequences. More than just her heart is broken.”

The girls gazed up at him with wide eyes. They had donned their Jedi robes at his request, though Kyla was wearing little heart-shaped corusca gem stud earrings and he could faintly smell Lara’s expensive new perfume. He didn’t think Syd would mind, but he didn’t want them to come across as completely spoiled.

“Oh, and if she starts shapeshifting, don’t worry. It just looks horrifying. Any questions?” Neither sister had any. “Okay. Let’s go.”

They had already arrived at the coordinates where Syd had indicated they should meet. Turns out it was a rooftop. “Nice view,” Starlin remarked as he descended the ramp of his ship. Turning around, he spotted Syd sitting at a foldout table, preparing tea with an ornate tea set. You can take a girl out of Atrisia, but you can’t take Atrisia out of the girl, he thought, smiling.

“Syd.” He said her name with such fondness. His real mother was dead now, having fallen victim to a heart attack at the age of fifty-four. She’d been clean for over a decade, but the years of substance abuse had taken their toll on her body. Nothing could replace Jen Rand, yet in her absence Starlin found himself thinking of Syd in a more motherly light than he had before, finally beginning to embrace the maternal feelings she had long had for him. It brought him a little comfort amid all his grief.

“I got your message. I hope you don’t mind that I brought some company.” Starlin gestured proudly to the twins. “These are my apprentices, Kyla and Lara Nimdok. They’re Miri’s kids—the professor’s granddaughters.”

Both girls bowed respectfully to Syd. “Pleased to meet you, Master Celsius.”

Syd Celsius​

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd, when she sensed Starlin Rand , every personality felt a wave of excitement and happiness. But she also grew curious as she sensed other life forms. She immediately set out other cups before they landed, and flew directly to Starlin and hugged him as she landed.

"I missed you!" She said, every memory of his time as her apprentice fully returned. She turned as he introduced the twins and her fiery orange eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Syd had always been a roiling tornado of power and flame in The Force when Starlin had been here Padawan. She had been a barely controlled hurricane of green storms after merging with the Reflection to survive her defeat at Korriban. But now that she was restored, now that she had absorbed not one , but two different super collectives, her presence came off like a solar flare of pure power.

She was way, way , way stronger now than she had been even when actively training him.

"Professor Nimdok's Grandchildren..." Syd trailed, before smiling. She gave a bow, her ultra reflective blue and gold catsuit reflecting everything around in her in a clear but distorted fun house mirror-like fashion.

"A pleasure to meet you both. Please, call me Syd..." she said gently before leading them all to the table, pouring her guests each a cup.

Her sensitivity to magic let her become aware of his prisoner, her eyes sliding to the ship for a split second then to him for less than a split second but otherwise gave nothing away. It was not for the ears of the twins.

"I knew your Grandfather to a limited degree. In fact, he was the one who originally directed Starlin to me for training. We first met on the world of Zeffo." Syd as she served her guests up. The twins were adorable and she had every intention of making Starlin's apprentices feel welcome.

"He was in over his head, going to Zeffo." Syd said in a mildly jesting way. "But! He also responded to my online multiplayer jokes. He also had one of the strongest Force Light manifestations that I had ever personally seen a novice demonstrate. He adapted to everything that day threw at him..."

And he didn't run away, when he realized I wasn't natural... she thought to herself. Starlin, in his quest to understand, would no doubt come to realize just how special that makes an ordinary individual to a given Spawn, Light OR Dark. The attachments Light Spawn develop towards the ones who don't run are complex, but intense.

"So what does he have you two studying?" she asked, breaking parts of the Amalgam Copy's surface thoughts into a slurry of mental glue that she would use when keeping that persona good and controlled.

She had no intention of interfering in his training process, she was simply curious to see where Starlin's path as a Jedi had taken him in his approach to it. Her time as his instructor had ended. His students were his own to guide, not hers.

She was simply near dizzy with happiness just having them all present...

 

[Starlin Rand]

Syd flew through the air and hugged Starlin as soon as his feet touched the landing pad. Laughing, Starlin returned her embrace. She was warm to the touch; even now, after having absorbed so many other personalities, her body still produced that signature Flame Geist heat. “It’s good to see you,” he said. “I’ve missed you too.”

Lara and Kyla looked on with curiosity as their Master was reunited with his Master. Syd was no doubt a strange being to them—they could sense her unnatural body, flush with power, though they didn’t understand what it was exactly that made her so unusual. Regardless, they were not afraid. Starlin had spoken of her fondly, and now he embraced her with open arms. Surely that meant she was safe.

They gathered together at the table and sat down as Syd poured their tea. Steam rose from the cups, fragrant and inviting, as she regaled them with the story of how Professor Nimdok led a young Starlin to Syd on Zeffo. Starlin was glad to see that Syd seemed much brighter than she had been at their last meeting, happy and smiling and enjoying their visit. There was no cloud of despair hanging over her anymore—or if there was, it had receded for the time being as she spent time with her apprentice and got to know his Padawans.

"So what does he have you two studying?"

“Oh, well… Typical Jedi stuff,” Lara answered shyly. “And some more unorthodox abilities as well.”

“He calls his teachings Jedi Sorcery,” Kyla, the more outspoken twin, said with a shrug. “A lot of it is pretty weird. Casting spells, using magic, saying phrases that rhyme…”

“I like the elementalist powers,” Lara piped up. “Especially the unusual ones, like magmakinesis and metallokinesis. Although they’re pretty hard to master.”

“My favorites are atmokinesis and pyrokinesis,” Kyla added. “And then there’s hematokinesis, where you use your own blood…” She shuddered. “It’s cool, but also pretty creepy.”

“I’ve never met any other Jedi who can fly like you can,” Lara commented, blushing. “Can you fly too, master?”

“Sure I can,” Starlin answered. “Only I don’t look as elegant and graceful when I do it.”

Something in Syd’s fiery gaze told him that she had already registered the presence of his prisoner, though he wouldn’t speak of it while the twins were within earshot. Still, he would have to discuss the little stowaway sooner or later…

---

Hours earlier...

Behind the reinforced and warded doors of the hidden chamber, Starlin floated in the lotus position. A massive chit-eating grin was plastered across his face as pure Light emanated from his very being.

The Witch he had captured writhed in pain within the stasis field. Her screams went unheard outside the room, the noise contained by the soundproof walls. “What are you smiling at?” she screeched, still attempting to taunt him even as she was wracked with agony. “You think this is funny? Are you laughing at my suffering?!”

“No.” Truth be told, he had put up a wall between him and her, distracting himself with the memories of funny stories and jokes so that her pain wouldn’t disturb him. His connection to the Light had always been tied to his sense of humor; he knew that he was strongest in the Force when he was in a good mood. If he was going to transform a creature of murderous sadism into a being of benevolent mercy, he would have to be firing on all cylinders. That meant he couldn’t allow himself to feel even the slightest bit of misguided empathy for the thing in the cage.

As Starlin hit her with wave after wave of Light Side energy, her body cycled uncontrollably between various different personas. He counted them all: there were five distinct faces. Unbeknownst to him, she was not one of the copies he had fought in the past—rather, this was a wannabe still in the early stages of becoming a Coven, lacking the power of even the most low-ranking cultists. Right now she was a nobody, a young upstart trying way too hard to impress her goddess. She had gone after Starlin, hoping to kill a hated enemy of the Cult, only to realize too late that she was punching far above her weight class.

“Which one of you is the dominant persona?” he asked.

The Witch’s body shapeshifted into the form of a dark-skinned woman in a white gown. “I am the Senate!” she snarled.

Starlin burst into laughter, his Light growing blindingly bright. The Witch shrieked, the Senate’s form rapidly losing cohesion, her skin and tissues foaming and bubbling disgustingly.

“Ah, that was a good one,” Starlin said, still chuckling. “But you’re trolling me. Who’s really in charge?”

The Witch struggled to reform herself. Faces swam over her skull, only to melt back into her boiling flesh. In such an incoherent state, it was nigh impossible for her to respond. “The… Flock,” she finally rasped. “We… are… the Flock.”

Starlin snorted. “That’s the worst name yet.” He leaned forward. “You birdies are going to tell me everything I want to know. Starting with how you became a cultist…”

Syd Celsius​

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd's mouth twitched upward in a smirk as the twins listed what they studied. Her Hive Mind collectively gushed at it, especially when Kyla added Pyrokinesis was among her favorites.

"Pyrokinesis is the ability I myself am the most skilled at. I admit though, Hematokinesis is pretty creepy to see in action."

Starlin would know. Syd took a sip of her tea.

"But I wish you all the best of the Force's guidance in your studies..." Syd said. "Errik Nimdok was a fine man who always knew what right and wrong ultimately were. He made mistakes like anyone. But the Galaxy was always poorer for his passing. I regret not having gotten to know him better. But I'm glad to meet his descendants. And gladder still that they are in the hands of a Jedi like Starlin."

Syd unexpectedly shifted into the primary architecture of her subconscious, the Sorceress of Zeffo, long ago integrated into Syd after the very mission she had recruited Starlin from. Integrating that persona while wearing Phyre's armor had turned her fully back into a Force Spawn, and The Zeffo Sorceress had basically become her conscience after a while... Syd's form bubbled and melted away involuntarily , replaced by a much older woman in her place, wearing her catsuit, sipping her tea. Her presence was still light sided, but felt completely different, less like a solar flare and more like a river of water rushing one way in an unstoppable mass.

"If you ever need a natural disaster suppressed. I am totally your gal..."

Another bubbling, distorted shifting, and The Reflection now sat there, a mysterious Force Spawn that had saved Syd's life by merging with her permanently. In another time period, Starlin had met a woman who looked much like her called Natalee, but it wasn't clear what the connection was. She looked like The Amalgam, but a red head, and her eyes were a lively, sparkling green. Her presence was not like Syd's or Zeffo's, instead like a swirling tornado of light firing off sparks in all directions.

"And so am I..." The Reflection said with a Coruscant accent, before her flesh and mind warped back into Syd, who took another sip of tea.

"So, what saber styles do you two find yourself favoring?" Syd asked...

In the past...

Starlin's brig.

The Flock's mass of flesh finally stabilized long enough to reveal the true host. Her flesh still shuddered.

The Flock chuckled.

"Sometimes The Unholy Spirit whispers to recruits in their sleep. Others, killed and absorbed. And still others are purpose made personas. I am the third category. All the others were real at one time or another. Don't expect all of us to have some sort of tragic origin..." she replied, half her face melting and then resetting.

But The Flock wasn't 'exactly' stupid. Sure, she had grossly underestimated Starlin, but she suspected something.

"But I don't think that's the question you actually wanted to ask, is it?" The Flock questioned. "You want to know more about my kind in general, don't you? What you're really asking about is Syd..."


The Flock chuckled. "I'd be 'happy' to answer your questions!" She said, morphing her mind and body to that of Syreeta Ming.

She instantly took on the demure countenance and agreeability of the Persona that had been used as a tool to try and murder him.

"I can tell you anything you want..." The Flock said with Ming's voice...


Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"But I wish you all the best of the Force's guidance in your studies..."

"Thank you," the twins said in unison.

They listened to her talk about their grandfather, a man who had died before they were born. But then, Syd's form began to change. The sisters were caught off guard by the gruesome body horror inherent to her shifting; Lara nearly spilled her tea. As Syd changed form a second time, Starlin laid a reassuring hand on either of their shoulders. "It's all right," he said gently. "Remember what I told you? It's nothing to be afraid of."

He had explained to them that Syd was... unique. But hearing about it and actually witnessing her transformations were entirely different experiences. Syd herself seemed unaware of her own strange nature, though she could see how her shapeshifting affected others by their reactions.

"So, what saber styles do you two find yourself favoring?"

"I... I like Soresu," Lara replied, carefully setting down her teacup with a trembling hand. "Though I'm not the best fighter, I admit..."

"Vaapad," Kyla answered simply, taking a long sip of her tea. "I'm good with a lightsaber."

"So good even I have a hard time finding ways to challenge you," Starlin remarked with a smile. "Lara, don't sell yourself short. Your connection to the Force is strong. There's nothing wrong with being more of a Consular than a Guardian..."

---

For a fleeting moment, the Flock's form seemed to stabilize. The face of the woman in front of him was older, with a mane of tangled black hair and cold blue eyes. She looked like a cackling witch straight out of a fairytale. Perhaps that was intentional.

"Sometimes The Unholy Spirit whispers to recruits in their sleep. Others, killed and absorbed. And still others are purpose made personas. I am the third category. All the others were real at one time or another. Don't expect all of us to have some sort of tragic origin..."

"For what purpose were you made?" Starlin pressed. "To kill me?" Maybe that was a little presumptuous of him, but if she hadn't been created to assassinate him, why had she gone through so much effort to try and ensnare him?

"I don't think that's the question you actually wanted to ask, is it? You want to know more about my kind in general, don't you? What you're really asking about is Syd..."

"There's a connection between her and your Cult, that much is obvious." He couldn't make his true intentions known, of course, though he was a little amazed that she had guessed his line of thought correctly. "But Syd doesn't pose a threat to me. Your kind do. You know the saying 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'? I'm just following that advice."

The Flock changed shape yet again, this time returning to the form of the woman he had met in the starport. Syreeta Ming. He wondered if the name was made up, or if this was all that remained of a real woman whom the Flock had forcibly absorbed. His hands balled into fists, yet his Light did not dim.

"Anything?" he echoed her with a smirk. "Tell me what the Brain Demon really is, where it came from, and how it absorbs personas."

Syd Celsius​

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd knew she had startled them with the shape shifting when Starlin Rand laid a hand on both their shoulders. She didn't hold it against them. Force Spawn had been feared for Millennia by hero and villain alike. To see her shift up close was a intensely disgusting experience.

"My apologies if I startled you. I am...not like you..." Syd admitted quietly, remorseful for having caused a Jerry Goldsmith moment for the pair.

"Soresu is a style I happened to specialize in after Makashi. Vaapaad is something I employ less often but I have seen some devastating practitioners of it..." Syd, taking another sip, thankful Starlin was around to help ease things.

"I myself was a Consular at the very absolute start of my career..." Syd said to Lara. "The lightsaber is only a symbol, and expression of your connection to what you serve..."

"It's not about being the best fighter though. It's about being good enough to survive. Focus on being good enough to survive first, and the rest will arrive naturally." Syd assured Lara and Kyla both. "And Soresu is all about facilitation of survival."

As if to illustrate her point she held up her palm and conjured small crude humanoid constructs of flame holding tiny swords, one construct fought in the Vaapaad style, while the other used Soresu. Syd ran through the combat sequence in her head as the constructs expertly attacked and defended against each other in those styles on the surface of her gold covered palm...and then defended against several other humanoid constructions in their size range who used the Form 1 style to attack them. She knew the Form 1 style intimately.

Form 1 was the preferred form of Laertia, who, when Syd had first met her, possessed a skill with it she legitimately felt rivalled that of Kit Fisto himself.

"Patience and the ability to turn an opponents strengths against them..." Syd trailed as the Vaapaad and Soresu-wielding constructs defeated all the Form 1 constructs.

"When you are farther along the path , those skills will make you both very formidable against a wide array of enemies." she said to the twins before finally dispersing the flame display. Soon the time would come before she would get to what she had originally asked Starlin here for. But right now she was happy to have such good company...

"Can I offer you two more tea?" Syd asked.

Hours prior...

Syreeta Ming gave that demure, feminine giggle that had so tried to enchant him earlier...

"Our purpose wasn't to kill 'you', specifically..." Syreeta replied. "But we are purpose-made to kill those 'like' you..."

It was obvious The Flock had NO issues about answering questions. This was often what made her kind so deadly in situations like this, even captured and restrained. The willingness to answer a question without dressing it up.

She laughed as he said there was a connection between Syd and the Cult.

She outright cackled.

"Connection?" Syreeta asked with a snort. "Motherfether, are you serious?! She 'founded' the Cult as Darth Phyre! A copy of her was the one secretly in control of The Amalgam! The one that took your eye at Krayiss Two! Are you 'sure' she doesn't pose a threat to you?" She asked tauntingly.

At the question of the Brain Demon, The Flock only laughed.

"The Brain Demon was mortal once. A high powered witch of the now-defunct Mandragora Cult. A Togruta, to be specific! She discovered a means to...ascend...stories abound about how she first showed up on Ryloth before the Plague...dropped right out of the Sky into a lake, the old stories say. And she doesn't absorb mere personas...she absorbs souls. Of those we sacrifice to her. They become one with her upon death. The only one who could tell you more is Syd herself...or Maple Harte. Maple is probably THE reason The Brain Demon exists at all. She's the one who sent The Demon's mortal self back in time to start with."

Then Syreeta's face disappeared under that of the main Host's.

"The Brain Demon's early acolytes were the ones who took the remains of the Jedi Surt'r...and infused them with the knowledge of the worst of the worst. We scavenged a Jedi led to an early grave from her obsession with someone who didn't exist at the time, and made a creature whose shadow you are 'still' under, even if you and Phyre never exactly met in the traditional sense. Whose actions still affect you, your father, and caused your mother to spend the rest of her life in hiding. Whose actions are still killing innocent people even now. Do you understand why Syd wants to destroy us so fervently?" The Flock asked. "Did you know? Did you know of all her crimes as Phyre? If you had met her back then, you'd hate her about as much as Nathan Bloodscrawl does... because he 'did' meet her back then. They know each other 'quite' well in fact..."

The Flock leaned forward.

"That man who saved your master's life at Korriban? He's Laertia's Father..." she said.

The Flock smirked. Starlin had her captive, but she had info. And matches to throw on piles of tinder...

 

[Starlin Rand]

"My apologies if I startled you. I am... not like you..."

"Lots of people aren't like us," Kyla remarked. "We've got pointed ears, and Starlin has antennapalps."

"Anyway, it's fine," Lara added, eager to smooth things over. "No need to apologize."

The conversation about lightsaber forms resumed as if nothing had happened. Syd offered her take on Soresu, and created crude humanoid constructs out of flame to demonstrate the different styles. Then, she offered them more tea. "Yes, please," Lara said. Kyla was still drinking her first cup. Starlin held out his for a refill. He wasn't sure why his old master had summoned him here, but he was willing to wait for her to tell him on her own time.

Eventually, the twins went back into the ship to do homework, leaving Starlin and Syd alone...

---

"Our purpose wasn't to kill 'you', specifically..." Syreeta replied. "But we are purpose-made to kill those 'like' you..."

"Jedi, you mean?" Starlin asked. "Or Light Siders in general?" It was clear that the Flock was willing to answer questions, but her answers were often vague. She was trying to control information, that much was clear. He needed to stay on his toes with this one.

She laughed at him when he mentioned Syd.

"Connection? Motherfether, are you serious?! She 'founded' the Cult as Darth Phyre! A copy of her was the one secretly in control of The Amalgam! The one that took your eye at Krayiss Two! Are you 'sure' she doesn't pose a threat to you?"

This wasn't exactly news to him. He had long suspected that Syd was Phyre. The holocron which Professor Nimdok had given to his late Padawan Eliphas Dune had fallen to Starlin upon Eliphas' death. Its gatekeeper had shown him Tammuz Hoole's encounter with Darth Phyre. And ever since he traveled back in time and met "Cidd Cinndurr" in the distant past, it had been a little hard to ignore the similarities between her, Syd, and Phyre.

Still, to hear it pronounced so clearly was a bit of a shock. Not enough to throw him off, though. "Let me ask you this," Starlin said. "Is Syd the real deal, the original Darth Phyre—or is she just another copy, like all the rest? Who even was Phyre? Cidd? T'sid? Somebody I haven't heard of yet?"

"The Brain Demon was mortal once. A high powered witch of the now-defunct Mandragora Cult. A Togruta, to be specific! She discovered a means to... ascend... stories abound about how she first showed up on Ryloth before the Plague... dropped right out of the Sky into a lake, the old stories say. And she doesn't absorb mere personas... she absorbs souls. Of those we sacrifice to her. They become one with her upon death. The only one who could tell you more is Syd herself...or Maple Harte. Maple is probably THE reason The Brain Demon exists at all. She's the one who sent The Demon's mortal self back in time to start with."

"Sounds like all I need to do to destroy the Cult is learn how to time travel," Starlin said with a sincere grin, folding his arms casually behind his head. He was deliberately being obnoxiously blasé about it. Of course, he had no idea how to time travel—though he was certainly willing to find out. He even had a pretty good idea of where to start: at the tomb where he and that copy of Meleena had gone back to meet Cidd, on a planet called ExGal Alpha.

"The Brain Demon's early acolytes were the ones who took the remains of the Jedi Surt'r... and infused them with the knowledge of the worst of the worst. We scavenged a Jedi led to an early grave from her obsession with someone who didn't exist at the time, and made a creature whose shadow you are 'still' under, even if you and Phyre never exactly met in the traditional sense. Whose actions still affect you, your father, and caused your mother to spend the rest of her life in hiding. Whose actions are still killing innocent people even now. Do you understand why Syd wants to destroy us so fervently?" The Flock asked. "Did you know? Did you know of all her crimes as Phyre?"

"I've got a pretty good idea," Starlin muttered, sounding bored. But she wasn't finished yet.

"If you had met her back then, you'd hate her about as much as Nathan Bloodscrawl does... because he 'did' meet her back then. They know each other 'quite' well in fact... That man who saved your master's life at Korriban? He's Laertia's Father..."

Starlin shrugged. "Okay." Did she think that particular piece of information was going to rattle him? Half the people on Korriban that day were related to Syd or Laertia in one way or another. "Nathan saved Syd's life. Why didn't he destroy her instead, after what she did to him and his family?"

If there was one thing he had learned from this interaction so far, it was that he would need outside help. Purification on the scale of what was done to Syd would require more than just waves of Force Light. He would likely need to call Dad and find out exactly how he had reformed and redeemed Starlin's master...

Syd Celsius​

 

[Syd Celsius]

They had enjoyed the second serving of tea, at least. And Syd sincerely appreciated the attempt to smooth things over. Soon however, they went the ship to do homework.

"I see you caught one..." she remarked. "Well done. We are difficult to take alive."

Syd set the tea down.

"I got it all back..." Syd began. "There was a fight. I attacked the Cult with assistance this time. And there was a war. House Io was torn in half..."

She hesitated...

"I went after the Battalion. And I got the knowledge back. But in the process...I broke her down and absorbed her, Starlin..." Syd said. "If I had killed her another way, her spirit could have fled and inhabited another nearby Cultist. The world was too strong with the darkness to go for even a limited wall of light...and she was so powerful at that point I didn't trust even a high power usage of Force Light could do the job. A dozen different things could have happened. Even with the people we brought, killing her was dicey as a prospect in of itself...so I absorbed her..." Syd said quietly.

"I spent weeks breaking down the persona, reprogramming it...it's just another face now..." Syd added, a deep frown crossing her face. She was deeply troubled over the event.

"But you can't tear someone apart like I was, glue them back together, and not expect changes...my physiology has mutated in ways I don't fully understand yet...and I originally asked you here for...help..." she said. "I need a place to test out The Battalion's capability now that I...rewrote her...I didn't know you were bringing the twins, so I postponed the request."

Syd set her tea down.

"I'm sorry to spring this on you. I tried...very hard to avoid involving you in this. But you know me best. And I know you best. Your presence will help me focus as I channel her. If you need to put up wards or protective spells to keep us contained while testing me, do whatever you need to. This is not a request you should undertake lightly..."

Hours prior...

"Light Side Users in general..." The Flock replied. "It doesn't pay to target just Jedi. Even 'you' know that."

The Flock did not fail to catch the subtle jolt of surprise at having it confirmed once and for all Syd was Phyre and the Cult's founder. She smiled at the next question, retaking the dark skinned face he had seen previously...

"Let me ask you this," Starlin said. "Is Syd the real deal, the original Darth Phyre—or is she just another copy, like all the rest? Who even was Phyre? Cidd? T'sid? Somebody I haven't heard of yet?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked. "Her being just another copy? Your own special version, with none of the weight or guilt of her old life? All of it belonging to 'someone else'? Well, 'love' to burst your bubble...no chance. She's the Original. Phyre never countenanced active copies of her during her original run. Even inert copies were extremely limited. It's an irony among us...the more powerful you are ..the riskier it is to make a copy..." she chuckled, morphing back to the main host.

"She is 'all' of them." The Flock said. "She truly 'is' a Force Spawn amongst Force Spawn. She's died multiple times. And each time she has resurrected more powerful. Phyre was actually something of an anomaly in her existence...all her previous incarnations were light siders of dubious value...Maybe there are copies of those versions yet undiscovered as a death mask somewhere." She finished.

"Sounds like all I need to do to destroy the Cult is learn how to time travel," Starlin said with a sincere grin, folding his arms casually behind his head.

"You're perfectly welcome to try!" The Flock giggled. "Of course, even if you succeeded, which, I very much doubt the universe would let you actively alter history, you would create, at the very least, a bunch of messy time and predestination paradox issues. And even if that 'didn't' happen... could a Jedi really assume the power of a God in changing history for billions of people, even if it's one tiny act?"

If the Flock treated his boast as serious, it was because she detected that maybe, just maybe, he might actually be ambitious enough to try it.

"And trying to mess with the laws of the universe is what got T'sid Surt'r blown apart by your father..."

"Nathan saved Syd's life. Why didn't he destroy her instead, after what she did to him and his family?"

Another chuckle.

"Take a look at the situation between 'us' and then ask yourself that question again." The Flock said. "From what I heard from the grapevine, he developed a nearly unbreakable Force Bond with her from the act of sparing her. And he cannot stand it...you'd think the two were 'meant' to be tied together..." she mused before grinning.

"God's, what's with these 'softball' questions? Any Cultist could have told you what I told you just now. The 'Amalgam' would have told you all that if you had simply thought to walk up to her and ask when she was on break!" The Flock openly complained. "Where's the really 'juicy' ones? Are you getting cold feet? You've been caught up in this echo of The Gulag Plague for how many years now? I could have told you so many other things! I could have told you how Laertia first partnered with the Cult. I could have told you about the origins of the Nuetralizer program. I could tell you just why Syd latched onto you. I could tell you why The Battalion never made a move on you after Korriban. I could tell you just how it was Laertia was able to make so many different types who would normally have tried to kill each other work together."

The Flock leaned forward.

"I could tell you the 'exact' moment Cidd Cinndurr began to concern the Jedi..."


Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"I see you caught one... Well done. We are difficult to take alive."

Starlin gave her a lopsided smile and lifted his cup as if in a toast. "I couldn't have done it without your training. And the shoto you gave me all those years ago certainly helped."

Starlin listened attentively to what Syd had to say. He watched as she set her tea down, picked it up again, then set it down once more. She was more on edge than he thought, though this was still a marked improvement over her state of mind the last time he had seen her. His eyebrows rose when she revealed that she had absorbed the Battalion, Laertia's Cultist wife. The explanation for why she had made the decision to do such a thing was sound, though it was hardly an ideal outcome. Nor was it without... complications.

"I spent weeks breaking down the persona, reprogramming it... it's just another face now... But you can't tear someone apart like I was, glue them back together, and not expect changes... my physiology has mutated in ways I don't fully understand yet... and I originally asked you here for... help... I need a place to test out The Battalion's capability now that I... rewrote her... I didn't know you were bringing the twins, so I postponed the request."

"That's all right," he murmured. What could he do but be kind to her, after all she'd been through? After all she'd done for him. Whatever mistakes she had made when training him, she had also given him priceless gifts: the knowledge and ability to defend himself against foes most Jedi had no idea how to handle.

"I'm sorry to spring this on you. I tried... very hard to avoid involving you in this. But you know me best. And I know you best. Your presence will help me focus as I channel her. If you need to put up wards or protective spells to keep us contained while testing me, do whatever you need to. This is not a request you should undertake lightly..."

"I want to help you, Syd," he said, after draining the last of his tea and setting his cup down. "No matter what. If it's the girls you're concerned about, I can always send them away for a few days while we're testing you. However long it takes." Or was she concerned about him?

---

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Her being just another copy? Your own special version, with none of the weight or guilt of her old life? All of it belonging to 'someone else'? Well, 'love' to burst your bubble... no chance. She's the Original."

The Flock likely expected that revelation to hit like a gut punch. Yet it didn't. The look on Starlin's face was satisfied, almost whimsical. Perhaps even... pleased. "Good," he said. "I was afraid she was just another Xerox. But the Original Phyre being the one who was redeemed, reformed, reprogrammed..." He smiled, proud of his master. "That's so much better."

"You're perfectly welcome to try!" The Flock giggled. "Of course, even if you succeeded, which, I very much doubt the universe would let you actively alter history, you would create, at the very least, a bunch of messy time and predestination paradox issues. And even if that 'didn't' happen... could a Jedi really assume the power of a God in changing history for billions of people, even if it's one tiny act?"

"History is full of tiny acts that changed the shape of the future," Starlin replied with a shrug. "You say Maple is responsible for creating the Brain Demon by sending a Togruta back in time. And I assume the Brain Demon is what corrupted Phyre, inducing her to create the Cult? I just want to make sure. This lore is a little confusing, you have to admit, what with all the time travel and reincarnated versions of people..."

"And trying to mess with the laws of the universe is what got T'sid Surt'r blown apart by your father..."

Starlin raised an eyebrow. Well, he supposed he'd have to convince Dad to go along with it, if it meant fixing everything...

"Take a look at the situation between 'us' and then ask yourself that question again. From what I heard from the grapevine, he developed a nearly unbreakable Force Bond with her from the act of sparing her. And he cannot stand it... you'd think the two were 'meant' to be tied together..."

"I could ship it," Starlin joked, unaware that Nathan was already married to someone else.

"Gods, what's with these 'softball' questions? Any Cultist could have told you what I told you just now. The 'Amalgam' would have told you all that if you had simply thought to walk up to her and ask when she was on break!" The Flock openly complained. "Where's the really 'juicy' ones? Are you getting cold feet? You've been caught up in this echo of The Gulag Plague for how many years now? I could have told you so many other things! I could have told you how Laertia first partnered with the Cult. I could have told you about the origins of the Nuetralizer program. I could tell you just why Syd latched onto you. I could tell you why The Battalion never made a move on you after Korriban. I could tell you just how it was Laertia was able to make so many different types who would normally have tried to kill each other work together."

The Flock leaned forward.

"I could tell you the 'exact' moment Cidd Cinndurr began to concern the Jedi..."

Starlin grinned. “I’m sure you could, baby, and it all sounds fascinating. But I don’t need to know all that stuff.” Not right now, anyway. Lowering himself back to his feet, he ended his meditation. "I'm getting sleepy. We'll pick this up again later. In the meantime..." Still radiating Light to the point where he was practically phosphorescent, he began adding extra wards and barriers in the Force, sealing the Flock deep within a cocoon of his bright power. "Enjoy your stay, birdie."

After leaving the hidden chamber, he checked again just to make sure the Flock was thoroughly contained. Then he took out his comms and called The Man in White ...

Syd Celsius​

 

[The Battalion]

The Flock only smirked at his confidence.

As he walked out of the chamber she had one final thing to say;

"Oh, dear Master Jedi, it would have been better for you if I had done nothing but try to lie and misdirect you like an ordinary Sith."

"Here's a lesson direct from The Dark Side ITSELF, Rand: When it's Servants tell the unvarnished truth without prompting? It's only because the truth will do FAR more damage than any lie or misdirection or omission EVER could at that point..."

The Flock burst into the cackling of her collected voices as the door shut.

Present:

Syd was worried about him, his father, AND the twins he was training. She was STILL digesting The Amalgam copy slowly.

"I think that would be best, yes..." Syd said, in regards to his suggestion. She wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to the twins just because she was in range.

"And...thanks again, Starlin...it's a relief to have you ...

A few days later...

Syd waited on the same rooftop, wearing something Starlin had not seen her wear since the day she had recruited him.

Phyre's armor gleaned, it's white and gold color distorting the world around its ultra-reflective surface in a fun house mirror type fashion. To better control The Battalion, she had been forced to compromise and wear a suit that would trigger instinctive association with the Cult, getting her into the proper 'mindset' for channelling her.

Starlin had met Syd back on the roof as agreed, Syd serving tea once more before she had allowed him to set up the protective wards and rituals with her in the center. It was enough room for him to move around and examine her and, if need be, disable her. She meditated, watching whatever manner he chose to approach it with. The Man in White , Zabka's father, had once again shown to assist, setting up back up spells. He was a more silent man since his ex had passed. He maintained constant contact with Starlin, and had finally started opening up a bit more about his time in the Plague as Syd's handler (More on that in the flash back to come).

"You sure about this, Syd?" Zabka asked. "You might be stuck as her for a while..."

"As sure as I can possibly be..." Syd replied, deeply nervous. Elaine Tear was one of the most powerful Spawn she had ever encountered. Seemingly everything about her had hooked Laertia from the go. Elaine had reminded Laertia of the fiery passion of Syd. She was a more controlled, restrained Amalgam, lacking the farmer's chaotic approach to drawing her to the Dark Side. Her aggression and thirst for direct fights was a mirror to Laertia's own.

As Syd digested Batty over the weeks and months, it had astounded her just how cunning Elaine really was at seducing Laertia. How expertly she had deduced what was really attractive to Laertia. What sort of stare could have her thinking of you for hours after, what sort of smile could haunt the scarred woman's sleep. The Key to Laertia was such; Be direct. Show interest from the word go. Flirt. Shamelessly flirt. Don't hide how much you genuinely lust for her. If not for The Battalion, The Amalgam might very well have failed at truly turning Laertia. The contribution Elaine had made to that effort was incalculable. Elaine had figured out Laertia was a Tsundere. Something The Amalgam/Phyre, a psychotic Yandere had also understood, but was too psycho to fully take advantage of. She liked killing too much to be a functional public face for House Io. She had needed Elaine to bridge a gap that, as much as Amalgam/Phyre may have desired to for themselves, simply could not. Not fully. The Amalgam only had seventy percent of what Laertia liked. Elaine had 98 percent.

Only Syd had been the full 100 for Laertia. The tragedy was that Laertia had wanted so, so badly deep down for that to be true of Amy. If Amy had been the full package, Syd wondered, laying awake in sleepless nights on her ship, would she have even spared Syd a glance?

Like Syd herself before her, part of the reason Elaine succeeded was that she was perceived as a safer alternative to The Amalgam.

Syd, whenever she asked those questions, started to immediately shout out the doubts.

She loved me! I know she did...I know she did... Syd found herself repeating in her head, in the dark as she lay in bed.

When Starlin gave the signal that everything was ready, only then did she stand up. She took a deep breath, and triggered the internal processes. She was armed with a Citizen Energy Sword. One of the many designs of House Io that had been deliberately flooded into the Black Market. They were so effective that some Mandalorians and, it was rumored, even some Jedi, kept them as Back-Up Weapons taken from slain Io Assassins that had been sent after them...a weapon was a weapon after all. Zabka himself had tested them and had called them one of the single best energy sword designs he had ever seen. Even Syd couldn't resist taking one once she had found it. Even Nathan considered the swords extremely well made.

It was one more example of the tragedy of wasted potential.

Syd's flesh bubbled and warped more violently than usual. She had been forced to edit the living chit out of Batty's persona to make it usable.

Red hair was replaced by a curly dark perm, exotic features replaced by sharper, more angled ones, bronze skin going pale. Eyes going from green to very dark brown, almost black irises.

The Battalion opened her eyes, her physique noticably more muscular than Syd's. Syd's aura changed to a fake, utterly false but hideously realistic Dark Side Aura that felt like rotting miasma. But it had no ability to influence. It was like a hologram of sensation projected outward to fool Dark Sided prey.

Her eyes locked onto Starlin.

"Your name..." she trailed suspiciously, face violently warping between hers and Syd's for a split second before settling on hers again.

"I...know...it..." she trailed. "Starlin...why...yes...Starlin...we're old friends, you and I..."

She began to walk around, flesh bubbling horribly and at random on her body every once in a while for a split second before resetting...

"Yes...you...you called me here right? You wanted me to assess your combat performance..." The Battalion said, growing more confident of the fiction Syd fed her.

The Battalion's energy sword flashed on.

"Well? You'll never learn if you just stand there..." she chided. "I have a reputation to uphold training bladesman. A loss on your part would be a mark against an otherwise stellar rep..." The Battalion proclaimed in an exaggerated, haughty manner as she gave a playful swish of the blade at The direction of Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

A few days after his arrival on Fondor, Starlin stood on the same rooftop, sprinkling white powder in a circle around Syd. He had sent the twins to Naboo, where they were staying with a trusted friend. He had called them that morning to check in; the two sisters were busy frolicking in the Lake Country and splurging on the latest fashions in Theed.

It was a far cry from what he was doing, that was for sure. He closed the circle, then snapped his fingers to produce a flame. He lit the powder on fire, watching as the flames spread all around.

He had noticed Syd’s outfit, but decided not to say anything. In fact, he had been studying her a lot lately, trying to figure out how she worked. He could sense the personas she had absorbed since they first met, but that had been the limit of his understanding… until now.

Zabka was worried about him. So was Syd. Starlin suspected they would both think he was naïve, that his attempt to redeem a Cult Witch was a fool’s errand. Syd’s story had inspired in him a stubborn belief in redemption. He even held out hope that Arcturus Dinn and Ishani would come to the Light, despite knowing that the Dark Side still had a firm grip on the couple.

And he was going to redeem the Flock—going to redeem Syreeta Ming. Nothing could convince him otherwise.

The Flock remained in a cocoon of Light aboard his ship, safely stowed away. Every night, he shone more of his Light into the cocoon, hoping that what emerged out the other end would be a new creation.

Casting a brief glance toward his father, who was setting up contingencies, Starlin uttered the words to an old favorite spell: "I walk in shadow and darkness; Ashla, shield me from wickedness…" Using the spell as scaffolding, he built the rest of his wards and protections around it, spitting rhymes like a rapper. His sorcery wove a web of Light around her, strong and elastic, designed to move with her and remain undetectable. When he was ready, he signaled to the others, taking a slight step back as Syd began to transform.

He had never encountered the Battalion before she was absorbed, so the face that emerged from her writhing flesh was that of a stranger. Despite that, he felt a pang of familiarity. Hers was a unique beauty, brown-eyed and somber, with sharp features softened by a head of dark curls. Then she spoke, and it hit him. Centuries after her conversion to the Cult, Elaine Tear still had a slight Essonian accent.

"Starlin... why... yes... Starlin... we're old friends, you and I..."

He felt an ache in his chest as memories of his time with the Crusade were dredged up. She reminded him of Dame Isolda, a Knight of the Sisters of Ashla. During that brief period after Dantooine when Syd had distanced herself from him out of shame, Starlin had found a new teacher in Cedric Grayson. He trained in the ways of the Crusaders, and even fought under their banners during their attempted annihilation of Korriban. And he fell in love with fair Isolda, though they couldn’t be together because he did not share her particular branch of the Ashlan faith.

"Very old friends," he agreed, unable to fully keep the emotion out of his voice. The fondness, the longing for a forbidden love. "It's good to see you. Been a long time."

"Yes...you...you called me here right? You wanted me to assess your combat performance..."

The energy sword in her hand flashed on. Starlin eyed the weapon, shared a reassuring glance with his father, then drew his lightsaber and shoto, falling into a battle-ready stance.

"Well? You'll never learn if you just stand there..." she chided. "I have a reputation to uphold training bladesman. A loss on your part would be a mark against an otherwise stellar rep..."

He parried the playful swish of her blade with ease before going on the offensive. With his lightsaber he blocked her sword, giving his shoto room to sneak in a few thrusts at her lower torso. She believed this was a playful spar with an old friend, so he kept his attacks from being too dishonorable or vicious. Syd seemed to be fully in control. So far, so good...

Syd Celsius​

 

[The Battalion]

Crisp. Practiced. Starlin Rand had always been an excellent student.

The Battalion countered his strikes with much more aggressive parries. Where Syd preferred Staff or dual wielded Makashi, The Battalion was more classical. There were noticeable differences in her approach. The Battalion used more frequent power attacks and swings in her variant of the Style and her thrusts possessed more strength and were potentially more difficult to counter. She was notably stronger physically in general as well, loathing to use deception for what she could achieve through pure power. Starlin may have been fighting with only one blade but she could still pick it out.

"Your style...it's very familiar..." She noticed, "It reminds me of someone I fought once... can't... can't quite recall who..."

Her face bubbled between hers and Syd's in an absolutely disgusting and unsettling manner before it settled back on hers as she fought.

"Have you been practicing at all how I showed you, Starlin?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she directed a cunning feint for his legs.

"You're much too loose. It's like I always told you, think thirty steps ahead in a dual. Less flash, more function." she critiqued mildly. "Always strive to dominate at opportune moments."

As Syd had explained it to Starlin in the days leading to this, in her own words;

"Elaine Tear was something else. She was so powerful I had to edit her traits severely. It's a tricky process. Stay too true to the text and there's a risk of Elaine coming back fully and assimilating this body. Stray too far from her character and you can't keep channeling her because at that point, it isn't The Battalion anymore. The best I could get was 'Wandering Dark Gray Sith'. Anti-Hero stuff. This is why she is dangerous. Even in this state she is very dominant when channeled. I'll have to keep a constant rein on her from within."

Her next attacks were swift, experienced and calculating, thrusts and sweeps directed for his torso at high speeds, upping the speed of the fight.

She noticed a man that felt very familiar in the distance, watching her with a serious gaze. She was discomforted. He looked familiar.

"I didn't know we were having spectators. Don't tell me he's a new teacher..." she muttered to Starlin Rand as she gave an aggressive but still friendly swipe to his torso. The Battalion was gradually getting faster, her attacks more complex.

Sys has to fight to constantly keep The Battalion's hunger for combat in check. She was at her finest in open battle, where she didn't hold back. Unlike here, visiting her friend.

"Do you remember when we first met? On Zeffo?" The Battalion asked, her severely edited memories making her think it had been her rather than Syd who had recruited and trained him. Syd had gone over the fiction with Starlin so he wouldn't be surprised by her recollection, which was a combination of action and horror films they had both watched together.

Syd, you see, had come up with some bizarre anime-type Samurai Duel for how they first met. In The New Battalion's memories, he had already been an experienced fighter who had used a sixty-caliber handgun in conjunction with a Katana, and they had fought two days straight before she had taken a liking to him and had taken him as a secret student. She was not allowed to question the absolutely gaping holes in the sanity and feasibility of this background. She was no longer capable of questioning her past. It simply was...

The Battalion's attacks grew more complex, with more power delivered yet balanced by strangely graceful movements and expert footwork to stay mobile...

 

[Starlin Rand]

This "Battalion" was strong, powerful, and aggressive. Starlin rose to meet her at her level, gradually amping up his offense as the duel progressed. While she focused on power, he channeled the Force to make him move faster, quickening his reaction time.

"Your style...it's very familiar... It reminds me of someone I fought once... can't... can't quite recall who..."

Their blades were locked in a bind. She stared at him with a furrowed brow, trying to remember, while he stared back, watching as Syd's visage briefly resurfaced. Then his master's face was gone, and the Battalion was feinting toward his legs.

He jumped out of the way, putting some distance between them as she critiqued his skill. "More like fifty steps ahead," he joked, stalking in a half-circle around her. "If anything, I'm getting a little stiff in my old age."

But he did as she suggested, taking advantage of the next opportunity to overwhelm her with rapid, merciless strikes. Or he tried to. It seemed she had picked up on his tricks from earlier, employing them against him now. Starlin was just beginning to strain under her rapid blows when she was suddenly distracted by his father's presence.

"I didn't know we were having spectators. Don't tell me he's a new teacher..."

"Nope!" Starlin narrowly evaded her swipe, dancing away from her blade. "He's just a... friend."

"Do you remember when we first met? On Zeffo?"

"How could I forget, S—Elaine?" Nice save. "Fighting in those ruins for two days straight..."

To ensure that she didn't try to recreate their (alleged) first meeting, he dialed up his attacks, pulling out all the stops as he attempted to dominate her, proving his prowess and concluding the duel in a manner that he hoped would satisfy her...

The Battalion​