Zealots

[Arage Bao]

FELUCIA​

[member="Darth Caecus"]​

​

They were gathering up camp.

It had taken a lot out of him to get her to actually sleep, but in the end she had submitted to the wisdom. For maybe three or four hours, before she jumped back up. It would have annoyed Luca. If not for the realization that Kith literally could not help herself. This was forced on her, some kind of... something that was ushering her on ever since the command of the Dark Lord woke something in her.

For some reason Thorne doubted that Carnifex had intended it.

It wasn't really the modus operandi of the Sith Empire to make them bleed. Strategic killings, yes, subjugation and sometimes ruthless conquest when it was called for.

But for the most part their way of doing things were clean. Overwhelming force only when it was asked for, when pragmatic diplomacy couldn't help them get their way. When economical pressure didn't break their opposition. When political maneuvering didn't reveal the preferred conclusion.

The smart way of governing an Empire.

"About five more minutes and we can head out, Kith." Luca called out over his shoulder, while packing up his bag. "I scouted out some kind of research facility fifteen clicks North. Researching the weird flora around here, I think." The trees and plants and flowers were weird and that was an understatement.

They shouldn't give off light like that.

Or be this big.

"Luca- transmission." Her voice still seemed tired, but Luca had done the best he could with what he had.

He came out and saw Kith already standing near the relay dish. Portable one, it was a heaven's send for them. He stepped up next to her and then the shimmer-static of the Dark Lord revealed itself.

"Lord Caecus." The shape rumbled and completely ignored Luca. That was all good and well, because right now Luca was eyeing "Lord Caecus" with a look. This was a look that she would not have seen from him yet. There was... astonishment, surprise, anxiety, confusion, a lot of confusion, then understanding and an expression that could not truly be written down in one word.

Something like: Ohmygodiamsuchanidiothowdidinot- fethfethfethfeth, carachisgoingtolaughhisassofffeth.

 

[Darth Caecus]

Looking down at the blue hologram of [member="Darth Carnifex"], Kith was very still. At least it seemed. But in truth there was a tremor that ran through her. The order he had given her, make them bleed, was one without a possible end. There was no 'completion' possible. She wanted, needed, to accomplish his order- but it was not possible. Already, managing to sleep for a couple hours had brought it from that itch inside of her skull to an inescapable pain. A maelstrom of mental wind comprised of nothing but the words make them bleed.

Something flickered in the background of the hologram. The tip of a feather? Kith didn't know, could barely concentrate on anything but the words starting to filter through.

"Lord Caecus. Consider your order fulfilled-"

There was more, but that was all Kith heard.

It was all she was able to hear.

There was a roaring between her ears. As if a thousand winds coiled together and then suddenly were stilled, leaving nothing but the yawning echo of silence.

For days, she had moved. Driven forward, scourged by those words. Make them bleed. There had been no escaping them, though with help she had found ways to put them off, from moment to moment. Even with Luca, she had not eaten nor slept enough to sustain someone who could not call on the Force, and even now, she had pressed far beyond her limits.

The silence was deafening. And then the darkness joined it and she crumbled. The Force left her, the only thing at this point keeping her going, and she slid into unconsciousness, her body revoking its permission for her to keep heaping abuse upon it. Somewhere, distant, she was aware that Luca caught her before she hit the ground.

And then, nothing.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

Arms wrapped itself around her as she fell and kept her from crashing down to the ground.

Luca eyed Carnifex for a fraction of a second, before inclining his head in respect. "My Lord. Our return will be imminent." There was more that he wanted to say. But at the end of the day the distance between power, strength and force commanded between the two of them? It made him realize that there was nothing to gain here. Angry words would not make these Sith see reason. Caecus. As the hologram disappeared and they were left alone once more Luca wasn't sure how to feel about this.

He carefully placed her against his large pack and then went to disassemble the rest of the camp.

Waste not, want not.

In the meantime his mind kept rotating around the revelation. It made sense now, every little hint suddenly revealing itself in force and making him... very stupid indeed. Carach would laugh his ass off, if Luca would decide to include this in their messages.

She can literally flay your mind, if you are a bit too rough.

Luca gulped. Better not to think about that.

It took him far longer to get back to their ship. Having to carry her, his pack, her pack, but at the very least there weren't any patrols anymore. The Silver Jedi had pulled out of their old territories, their once sprawling nation broken into pieces and left with nothing but a shade of what they once were. The soldier had no illusions, their work here hadn't caused it. But it might have increased the velocity of the inevitable trajectory. He carefully put Kith on her bed, tucking her in.

Caecus.

A Dark Lord of the Sith and here Luca was tucking her in. Part of it was too ridiculous to be true.

Luca sighed and went up to the cockpit. Time to get them out of this mess, back into another one.

 

[Darth Caecus]

She was unconscious for two days.

The programming had never been meant to be pushed as far as that. It had been a back up, a fail safe just in case. Her creator had hoped to never need it.... but he knew the history of the original, and it had been imperative that something was done. A last minute addition, to protect the investment.

Not the woman herself, merely the time and effort put into the project.

Awareness came on slowly. Kith hadn't dreamed, had no real concept of how much time had passed. The hard mattress of the bunk on the ship, sheets stiff but clean. She was exhausted, weak- she had barely eaten (just enough to keep Luca from the promise of forcing it down her throat if she didn't) in the days leading up to the collapse and another two unconscious had done her body no favors. The unconsciousness had been unrefreshing, but necessary. There had been no choice to sleep, her body and mind simply shutting down after it all.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking blearily up at the ceiling. Except it wasn't the ceiling she was blinking at.

Luca's face was clean, his own wounds patched and covered. Bruises were starting to turn that particular green around the edges.

"Two days?" She asked, her voice an alarmingly soft croak.

She didn't really remember the message itself. Certainly not the collapse. But the relief was a physical weight, pleasant and comfortable- no more itching, no more compulsion. Her actions were her own again, and there was room for anything else now besides those three, simple, words.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

Luca noted the croak in her voice and went to pour her some water.

Wasn't easy.

Arms too weak and Luca had to tip her chin up, softly letting her take one little sip after another, before he was completely satisfied. She didn't look too happy about it, but right now he was the one who was keeping this entire thing together. So, in truth he didn't much care about her opinion. Well. Until she decided to flay his mind with her mind anyway, that would probably make him care a fair amount. During. "Yeah, give or take a few hours here and there."

He settled down next to her in his seat.

Leaned back for a bit and allowed himself to stretch. This time it was him who had to remain on his legs for far too much time- someone had to make sure they didn't crash and actually got to Bastion. "How are you feeling right now?"

Alive at least.

Barely.

Her heart-rate had been far too slow for his liking, barely could have made out the beat. Her entire body shutting down to its most vital processes and even they had been lagging, hibernation mode, trying to recover some amount of energy that they had lost. A human wasn't meant to keep going for as long as she had. Not even with the Force. It was different for him, of course. Luca had been bred for this. Literally. But even he was starting to feel it.

A couple of more days and he would have gone through all his reserves.

Not that much good food on Felucia with enough energy in it.

"We are heading to Bastion. Got about three days, before we get there."

 

[Darth Caecus]

She remembered all of it. None of it was foggy or dreamlike. There was no disconnect or dissonance. She remembered the itch, the pain, the want- not to kill specifically but to obey. The knowledge that if she did, if she could manage to find the point where they had bled enough, she would know true satisfaction. She could look at it with distance now, see it for what it truly was, but in truth there was nothing to separate the manufactured emotion from reality.

Even now, it still felt normal.

She accepted the help without protest. No, she wasn't happy about it, but it was necessary.

If Luca hadn't been there.....

She was under no illusions. While the fighting itself would not have ended her (what real challenge had they come up against, after all?), the strain on her body would have worn her down to a point where what little opposition they had come against would have taken her down. If she had gone without sleep, as her inclination had been. Without food. Without water.

She remembered it all, and understood why he had acted the way he had acted. It would have been preferable, after all, to knocking her unconscious (if he'd been able to). She would have fought him to the last in that case, but instead he had worked with the limitations. Creatively, she might add.

Of course, it had been born of necessity, she realized. She frowned slightly, wondering if that should bother her more or if that slight pang was enough. It didn't matter, and she didn't observe it too closely. Honestly, she was too exhausted to.

She nodded, gaze a little distant.

"I had reasons for not telling you."

It was obvious what she was referring to. She didn't apologize- that would require her actually being sorry.

"They had nothing to do with you."

It was meant to be reassuring, but Kith had never been a particularly reassuring sort. Instead it could come across as dismissive, but fortunately Luca was not the sort to take casual offense. It was one of the things she appreciated about him.

"You handled all of that well."

Here she referred to Felucia. It was as long to a 'good job' she had ever offered. She rarely felt the need.

"Especially considering the suddenness. Thank you."

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

Now it was Luca's turn to nod.

She was right, he didn't take it personally. It was almost printed into his DNA to be the perfect killer, perfect soldier, perfect leader and team mate. You did not question your superiors and no matter what his personal interests were for *Kith*? Caecus was beyond doubt his superior and that would not change. Not unless she tried something like Felucia again.

"Your reasons are your own." Luca commented lightly with a little shrug. "It did not impede our missions together and knowing would not have done much for success rates." Which was to say that Luca didn't think it was relevant.

Still felt like an idiot though.

"You made it a challenge, not going to lie." A smirk now, lightly playing as he looked at her. "Thankfully the nights were... more than pleasing."

Eye contact. Fierce.

There was no doubt in either of their minds what Luca was referring to.

 

[Darth Caecus]

Kith blinked slowly at him, head tilting slightly to the side.

"Well, yes," she said, but mostly because, for once, Kith was left not really knowing what to say, and yet feeling as though something needed to be said.

Her brow furrowed slightly and for another moment, she just looked at him.

It wasn't that what he said was confusing. Just the opposite. It was incredibly straight forward. It was the surprise that he felt that way at all she was exhibiting. She had certainly enjoyed it as well, but that was as far as it went. And now that the need for it was gone? Well, she had assumed he would wish to return to the way it had been before- just perhaps without the lies now. That was clearly not the case.

The question was.... how she felt about it.

In truth, for the moment, the overwhelming emotion was exhaustion. There wasn't room for much else. For the moment, she decided to table it. Worry about it later. If there was even anything to worry about. Besides, there were certain things she needed to be sure of, in regard to him, before even the matter of his continued employment were considered, let alone anything more personal.

In the back of her head, however, inevitably, certain things lurked. And she did not like the implications.

"My reasons were my own yes, but now..... when I hired you, I was unaware of...." she paused, suddenly frustrated. The words simply wouldn't come.

You are not to tell anyone.

"Of certain things," she continued after a moment, her brow furrowing hard. "But there were things I did know, certain potential outcomes to simply existing."

Pausing, Kith looked levelly at him.

"This time, nothing permanent came of it. This time. I want to know that I can trust you to do what must be done if that ever changes."

She wasn't being deliberately coy. Something flashed across his face that she couldn't read. Again, she assumed.

"Cloning Force Users tends to end badly for everyone involved," she said quietly, but her tone was even and solid. "If I ever go the route that almost every one has gone before me, I expect you to not hesitate to put a bullet in my head, Luca. That is why I hired you."

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

He thought about it.

The fact she seemed to skirt around his earlier remark was noted, but filed away for later. Now was not the time to address it. Not when she dropped this thing on him right now. Unexpected, Luca had assumed she had hired him for his general mercenary skills and professionalism. Not because he had been trained from the beginning to be a force killer.

Could he kill her?

Yes, undoubtedly so.

It would probably bother him afterwards, because Luca enjoyed working with Kith and liked doing what they did. But once he ran the scenarios through his mind he realized that there wouldn't be much hesitation if the situation went that way.

"I was made to kill, Kith." Luca pointed out. "Specifically forcers, you know this." She should know that he wouldn't hesitate on the job. After all, even when they were karking at night and killing during the day, she wouldn't have had to worry about him somehow treating her differently. "If this is my job, I will execute it without any form of hesitation."

Head tilted.

"Unless I see a different path. If I can drop you without killing you, I will go that route."

Cards on the table. Luca was not the person to play games or stall situations, she would know what she could expect from him and she had been trusting his judgement since they started this.

 

[Darth Caecus]

She just watched him, her face the blank neutrality that had been closer to the norm before Felucia. But it lacked the air of detachment there had been before. The events that had just unfolded had left a mark, the question was only how deep did it run and what would it mean in the long term?

"You should know that when cloned Force Users go wrong, they go wrong, Luca," she said quietly. "There isn't a lot of room for anything but putting them down like rabid dogs, and about as much chance of pulling one out of it."

She had studied it. It was one of the few things outside of the Force and skills of the body she had focused on in the year between her creation and when she had started integrating with the Empire.

Kith looked him evenly in the eyes, blue-grey gaze heavy.

"Don't give me a chance to kill you. It wouldn't matter to me anymore if it reached that point, but...."

She trailed off, uncharacteristically at a loss for something to say and wishing she had better words than she currently did.

"Don't make a mistake because you think there might be a chance. Be hard. That's what I hired you for."

Not for this. Not for sitting by her bedside. Not for taking care of her, for following her on a deeply insane order that could have gotten them both killed for no reason. Not for the nights.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

Head tilted.

It was strange for him to be having this conversation.

In a million years he wouldn't have thought that this could happen- purely a job, a contract, a relationship of monetary value. When had that exactly changed? Luca still didn't consider this anything remotely to those legendary qualities of love and bonds. It was less than that.... and more. She was his unit. His team. It was only a unit of two, but that didn't matter to him. Part of Luca knew that it was just as much programming as it was physiological conditioning, but that didn't matter either.

After all.

Sentients were made of conditioning of one form or the other.

The fact that his had been etched into him from the day he had been 'born'? Irrelevant and in truth barely different from how other sentients existed. "Kith." He said her name. Not soft, not hard, but firm in a way of pay attention to what I say. "If you are beyond saving, I will end your life personally." Eye contact to hit home there was nothing to discuss here. It was obvious to him. "You have your programming, I have mine. In some ways we are similar, if not the same. I will watch over you and make sure you don't go off the deep-end."

A shrug followed, before he poured some more water in a cup and handed it over to her.

"If you do, I will do what needs to be done."

 

[Darth Caecus]

She hadn't realized the tension that had run through her body until that point. There however, once she was sure, slowly she relaxed back against the bunk. Her eyes closed in exhaustion and she nodded, all of the fight gone out of her now that she was certain.

"Good."

No thank you. There was nothing to thank him for. She was literally paying him to do this. There was no room for gratitude, when you were asking someone to put you down like a rabid animal if anything went wrong. Not if.

When.

As far as she was concerned, she's come out of that cloning creche with an expiration date. In fairness, everyone had one. But she assumed hers was shorter, that it could come at any time. It had made her ability to embrace the martial, the warrior, easy. She could pretend it was otherwise, but the fact that both things went hand in hand into death? Well. It only made it easier.

This was borrowed time.

Why then, was she so content to serve?

She opened her eyes again, regarding him.

There was no fight against the willingness to serve- she didn't know how much of that was programing, and how much of it was simply the nature of the original. There were no records from that time, about who she had been, what she had done. All she had were the glimpses she'd seen the once to go on.

She had not seemed the sort to bend a knee willingly. But then.... what did she know? Slices, fragments, moments. All of them hard.

So why make it any harder than it already had to be.

"The nights.... were good," she said finally, not really sure what else to say about it.

And then, she said something she hadn't yet. Because up until that, everything he'd done for her had been part of his job. Money traded for services. This..... while someone could argue that it was, that felt wrong.

"Thank you."

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

He studied her calmly after those last two words.

Glibness did not fit here, neither was sarcasm, because she was serious. The words thank you had never left her lips before, yet here they were. It seemed odd to him. Slightly off in the situation, because she had given him just as much as he had given her, had she not? But there was an imbalance in that situation. Because what Luca had given her... had saved her, in one way or another. Without his presence she would have fought until it killed her.

Not in the way of a thousand cuts, but in the way of a heart simply stopped beating when the Force within her burned out.

"They were." Luca finally agreed with a nod. He could feel her exhaustion though. The lines of tension around her neck and eyes, those same eyes fluttering close every so often before being pushed open by force once more.

This wasn't the time for this, was it?

But when would it be?

"Thank you too." It seemed the most obvious response. Acknowledge hers and offers his, because anything else would lead to a discussion. A discussion Luca did not think he was prepared for right now. A discussion Kith wasn't prepared for as far as he was concerned. "Now go get some rest. We still have a few days to go and we can brood in the same room together when you aren't trying to force your eyes open every second or so." It was his... doctor voice, Luca supposed.

Firm, strict, commanding.

It wasn't as strange as it should be.

This was Kith. The one he had shared those nights with. Caecus was a Dark Lord of the Sith... who he wouldn't be caught commanding in a thousand years.

The lights dimmed as he tuned them down, before halting at the doorstep and looking back. She was still studying him and his every move. In silence. "Sleep tight, Kith." A wink and the door slid shut behind him. His footsteps retreating ever so slightly.

 

[Darth Caecus]

A ghost of a smile flickered across her lips. She was exhausted. And yet, for some reason, that amused her.

"Very forceful, Luca. Go ahead, say something else."

But it was said without fire- not as though was usually something anyone would associate with the cool, expressionless, blonde woman. She watched him as he headed to the door.

"You get some rest to," she murmured, already letting the heaviness of her eyes drag lids to closed, the words barely making it out before sleep took her.

She wouldn't even remember saying it when she woke up.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

The next morning Luca still felt like a lump beaten to hell and back.

But at least his head didn't hurt anymore and the long, deep gash cutting through his back had stopped bleeding. He had just replaced the bandages and was slowly working on some breakfast for the both of them. Nothing special- they didn't really have much in the way of supplies. Most of it either wolved down on Felucia or really crappy stuff over its expiration date.

Luca hadn't been expecting them to leave the factory worlds so quickly after all.

The only thing that Kith had agreed to was refueling, because being stranded in the middle of the void of space did not seem the way to go. Not when you had a mission to accomplish.

That still annoyed Luca. It even made him a touch more forceful with his spatula as he turned over the egg in the frying pan. He had been led to believe that the Sith Empire was better than the nations come before it. Felucia left him with doubts- there had been no point there. No grand purpose of slaughtering all those people while killing themselves to death in the meantime.

Just spite.

Furious anger driven to lashing out rather than thinking it over. "Bah." Luca mumbled, before adding a snuff of salt to the mix. "Orders are orders." He didn't seem to believe in it himself.