The Sanctuary of Regret

Chapter Seven

Asylum smelled like the inside of a slave transport. The yeasty stench of sweat and urine hung in the air, along with traces of cheap liquor and even cheaper blaster cartridges. The foggy atmosphere from the gas giant below was dense enough to hide the port but had the unfortunate side effect of trapping fumes and didn't allow much in the way of fresh air circulation.

The shadowport didn't lack for pirates, but it did lack the charm of a Port Nowhere or Rishi. The floating refuge was little more than a series of durasteel boxes fused together by bridges and platforms. There were no real or neon palm trees to brighten the landscape and no ramshackle towns to relax in. The refuge was utilitarian to a fault, designed solely to accommodate black market trade and those looking to escape the brutal fist of Zakuulan authority.

Senya entered a passcode into the keypad securing a deserted warehouse located on the easternmost corner of Asylum. The door clattered upward and jerked to a halt just high enough to allow Senya, Liatrix, and HK inside.

The women crossed the threshold first, HK trailing a couple of meters behind with his rifle laid casually over his arm. The droid's orange eyes flared, but before he could protest, he crumbled under an electromagnetic pulse.

Liatrix whirled on Senya. "You'd better not be responsible—it won't end well for you if you are."

"The droid can't be a part of what must happen here. You're free to go whenever you like, but if you want the help of my people, you'll stay and hear them out."

Liatrix's thumb grazed the activation switch on her lightsaber. Senya had fried HK, possibly beyond repair—trusting her was a risk. There was no telling what the former knight had in store.

Something in the older woman's eyes had troubled Liatrix ever since their first meeting—as if she'd seen them in another face, but the connection refused to form. The notion lingered like a forgotten word on the tip of the tongue.

Cutting Senya down was an option in light of what she'd pulled and yet Liatrix couldn't deny her curiosity. An old adage murmured warnings from the corner of her mind.

Curiosity killed the Manka cat…

Valkorion manifested at Liatrix's side and strolled alongside her like an old friend. "We've come all this way, let us see where it leads," he whispered conspiratorially.

Though the setup reeked of a trap, curiosity over-ruled her first impulses. She glanced up at Valkorion and quickened her pace to catch up to Senya. "Who are these people of yours? More knights?"

"No, they're Scions—visionaries who can see into the past and future. They believe in fate and act according to their visions. The Scions and the knights once protected Zakuul together, but the Scions no longer serve Arcann. Whether they choose to serve you, remains to be seen."

Liatrix strode further into the dimly lit warehouse and a robed silhouette emerged a few meters ahead of her, backlit by a pale white light just bright enough to obscure the source.

A crusty male voice came from the robed figure. "The Force whispers to us of fate—but you are a void. We must determine what role you will play in Arcann's downfall. Come closer, let me see you."

Liatrix strode toward the man and recognized him immediately. He had eyes the colour of pale moons, sharp enough to cut through his wilted visage and his brows were locked together from a lifetime of squinting through time.

He kept his distance and raised his hands to keep her at bay. "That's far enough." His eyes shifted as if he were reading her face like a book, but the frustrated twitch of his mouth suggested whatever was written on those pages was done in an ink he couldn't see.

"I remember you. You're the soothsayer Arcann was bickering with before my father was murdered."

"Yes. Even in shackles, you dared to challenge him. His encounter with you left him unsettled. It worried him then and worries him still. I am Heskal."

"What do you want from me?"

The Scion stepped aside to reveal the source of light behind him—a ghostly image of Arcann with his saber drawn. "You seek to remove him from the Eternal Throne. He stole years of your life, but he stole far more from the rest of us. His destiny is to fall, that much we have foreseen, but his fate remains unclear. When he's at your mercy, what will you do?"

"His fate is to die on my blade. There will be no mercy. See if you can find that in your crystal ball."

Senya stepped in front of her to face Heskal. "He will not escape justice for the lives he's taken."

"A thousand Scions lie dead because of him. Blood demands blood, do you not agree?" Heskal roared. "Answer me!"

Liatrix took a few steps back to put distance between them. Valkorion appeared by her side, "They question her devotion to them because they cannot see it. Ask yourself why."

"She's hesitating because Arcann means something to her. There's something off about her, it's been bothering me for a while." Liatrix mumbled under her breath. "Why is she protecting him?"

Valkorion chuckled, the sound low and dangerous and she suspected he already knew the answer.

Senya sidestepped Heskal's demand for vengeance and her evasiveness irritated the Scion. An army of Scions emerged from the dark perimeter. What was an ordinary warehouse became an arena. Lightsaber after lightsaber ignited to frame the oval with a red glow.

"If you are not with us, you stand against the tides of destiny! Arcann and Vaylin must die," Heskal challenged.

"And they will," Liatrix replied. "They sentenced themselves to death the day my father died. They will fall and with them, the Eternal Empire."

Senya ignited her blade and Liatrix glared at her.

Heskal's eyes glowed like white-hot beacons. "She tied her fate to yours when she agreed to bring you here. Fate must not remain uncertain." Despite her ready saber, Heskal backhanded Senya hard enough to drop her.

Arcann's image vanished in a fog and Heskal stormed toward Liatrix, his army of Scions at his back. "I will know your fate, even if I have to cut you open to see it."

Heskal's lightsaber came alive and Liatrix ignited hers to block the impact of his blow, but the impact never came. He stood before her, lightsaber poised to strike, but was caught in time's web along with his army.

Valkorion loomed over her. "His argument with you is pointless and destructive. I can end this with no further bloodshed, but you must accept the gift of my power."

"I'm getting bored of this. Offer accepted."

"As you wish," Valkorion drawled. He strode forward, his essence vanishing within her.

Liatrix flung her arms out, fingers splayed as Valkorion's power surged through her. Purple tinged smoke roiled around her body, building in force and speed like a tempest to lift her off her feet. Splinters of lightning leapt between her upturned palms and her eyes glowed violet.

The web holding the Scions frayed. Time resumed. Heskal's saber came down, slicing through empty air instead of gnashing against Liatrix's blade. The blazing light in his eyes faltered and returned to normal. His eyes held a tinge of blue in them and in that moment his brooding gave way to confusion and a vulnerability she didn't expect to see in the soothsayer.

His mouth fell open and his eyes grew wider still as if an epiphany had struck him. He stared at her face, the words finally taking shape in a mad stream—page after page filled by destiny's scribe and Heskal understood.

Liatrix released the volley of lightning building between her hands and Heskal swung his blade to block the incoming bolt. His lightsaber splintered in his hands and the resultant wave threw him and his army off their feet. Pieces of his unspooled weapon rolled and bounced between them like pearls tumbling free from a broken necklace.

She advanced on him and the Scion slowly pushed himself to a stand. He held his hands up in surrender. Liatrix leveled the tip of her lightsaber against his chest.

"Tell me, Heskal, have you foreseen the moment of your own death?" Liatrix purred.

Senya flipped to her feet. "Don't kill him, please," she pleaded. "We need the Scions."

"Like a hole in the head," Liatrix snarled. "Bet you didn't see that coming, did you?"

Heskal shook his head. "Not until this very moment."

Liatrix sneered. "I didn't think so. I have no use for any of you."

The Scion army recovered quickly. "The blood of Tyth flows through you," their commander began. "Don't make us spill it."

Liatrix sensed several others behind her—allies, not Scions. Her lip edged up at the corner.

"Stand down! Now!" Lana bellowed and stormed across the warehouse with Koth at her side.

"Tora found HK wandering around damaged and confused," Koth said. "Figured you might need an assist."

The hulking pirate, Lem, and HK arrived next and then Tora, the mangy engineer Liatrix had freed earlier. Three more of Koth's pirate crew fell in behind them, pistols at the ready.

Liatrix backed away from Heskal and moved closer to her allies. "I suggest you do as she says. Your lives mean nothing to me. Surrender, or they open fire."

Heskal nodded and his army retracted their weapons. "Every moment, even this one is predestined. Everyone here played the part fate demanded of them. I ask you this one last question: What future do you see for this galaxy, once Arcann is gone?"

"I've sacrificed my entire life, protecting and rescuing this galaxy. Maybe if I ran things, I wouldn't need to run myself ragged. I might actually get to have a life."

Valkorion whispered in her ear, "He will not stand in your way."

"I know now what it was blinding us to the future," Heskal announced. "Our Immortal Emperor lives—within you."

Liatrix shifted her gaze like a Sabacc cheat caught with an Idiot's array up her sleeve. "You're raving mad! You're a lunatic, nothing more than a seedy fortune teller. Your Emperor…is dead," she stammered. "I would know, I killed him. Remember?"

Heskal stood taller. "Valkorion's spirit lives within you. Behold, the Dragon of Zakuul! We rush to your service, great one."

The Scions knelt like servants to their monarch.

"No! That's not possible…" Lana blurted. "You should've told me. You had ample opportunity. Why didn't you say anything? I deserved to know."

"Why? So you could start digging around in my skull like you wanted to do to Master Surro? That's not going to happen."

Liatrix brandished her lightsaber and frowned. "Stay back, all of you." She pointed the blade at them in warning and took several steps backward to put distance between them.

"Don't come any closer, I'm warning you. You saw what I can do."

"Our time here has given me insight," Heskal said quietly. "You will destroy the Eternal throne but many will suffer and die before that victory."

"Your problem. Not mine. I don't believe in fate anymore," Liatrix growled and took several more steps back toward the exit.

"It's your destiny!" Heskal insisted.

"It doesn't matter, none of it matters, we've won," Koth announced. "If Emperor Valkorion lives inside this Outlander, there's hope for Zakuul. There's hope for all of us."

Liatrix shook her head incredulously. "Don't you get it? You're food. You're all food for him—and just like a herd of nerfs grazing in a field, you're oblivious! He's devoured trillions to fuel his immortality—and you think he's a great guy." She laughed ruefully. "Commandant Iven was right."

Koth shrugged for an explanation but didn't get one.

Lana approached Liatrix cautiously, patting the air in a gesture of calm. "She's right. The Emperor is a threat to all life everywhere. We need to figure out how to separate you from him."

"Good luck with that. It's more complicated than you think. We're done here." She shot a look at Heskal. "Join or don't. I don't care—but stay the hell out of my way. I'm leaving."

Liatrix backed away and as she was about to bolt, Senya called out.

"Wait—there is one more truth that must be told. I withheld the true reason I pledged myself to you in this trial. I wanted to understand the person who would kill Arcann and Vaylin—my son and daughter." Tears filled her eyes and she bowed her head.

Valkorion laughed and clapped his hands together. "She told. How delightful." Something like mirth lit his eyes and Liatrix glared at him.

"You could've told me that!" Her gaze locked with Lana's briefly and then she fled.

"Don't let her get away! Zakuul needs her!" Koth shouted and started to give chase.

"No, Koth. Let her go," Lana said, catching his elbow. "There are things she needs to work out first. She needs time and we have much to discuss."

Liatrix bolted headlong out of the building and squinted against the bright light outside. She hopped the railing to the level below and zigzagged through the crowds of refugees and pirates to get to the docks.

A fuelling droid drifted away from a shuttle it had just filled and she leapt high to clear a stack of shipping crates waiting to be loaded on board. The shuttle, named the Sky Princess II, was compact but appeared capable of long-distance travel.

Liatrix strode past the droids tending the vessel and crept up the boarding ramp to find the craft mercifully empty, save for the easily dispatched service droid, an old Two-Vee model.

She dropped into the state-of-the-art cockpit and flicked a line of overhead switches to retract the docking clamps. The star chart bloomed from the center console, casting a pale green glow over the console. The ship rose slowly enough to earn the attention of the owner.

The surly pirate drew his blaster and aimed for the thrusters to handicap the ship. "D'you have any idea who I am? When I catch you, I'm gonna break your teeth," he roared, shaking his fists.

Quinn emerged from the Gravestone to complete the refuel and resupply of the ship. The pirate's harsh gravelly voice carried across the din as he swore a blue streak and let off another round of blaster fire after his ship. Quinn glanced up at the sporty shuttle cutting through the foggy atmosphere and frowned, but quickly dismissed it.

Liatrix rolled the vessel to dodge the incoming shots and sped off. "Damn this thing can move," she marveled, as the pale blue atmosphere of the gas giant gave way to space. "Navicomputer—set a course for the Esstran sector…"

Lana, Koth and the others descended the shipping dock where the Gravestone was docked. Security droids and a small crowd had formed on the neighboring dock.

"Looks like we missed some excitement," Koth mumbled. "Tora…you wanna double check the exhaust manifold, I don't think it's hooked up to the converter properly."

"On it," Tora barked.

Quinn glanced up from his datapad. "It appears someone stole that pirate's shuttle—no doubt an everyday occurrence in a place like this." His gaze panned over the group. "Were there complications?"

Lana nodded. "You could say that. We have a lot to discuss—when you're finished here, kindly join us inside. We need to decide our next steps."

"Should we not wait for Darth Incarnal—I trust she will be along shortly?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Lana began. "I think she may have been the one who commandeered that shuttle."

"My lord?"

"It's complicated, I'll explain inside."

"Of course, my lord. The Gravestone has been cleaned, stocked and re-fueled. When Tora completes her inspection, we're ready for take-off."

"Good work," Lana murmured and started up the ramp into the belly of the ship. The bickering had already begun by the time she reached the bridge.

Koth threw his arms up. "You should've told us. You've been lying this whole time!"

"I'm not denying what Arcann and Vaylin have become. I will find a way to stop their bloodshed," Senya argued.

"How could you not see this coming?"

"Valkorion and I never agreed on how to raise the children and when I decided to leave, they chose him. I couldn't force them to leave their father."

"Huh. You give us this whole 'woe is me' story and expect us to trust you? You expect us to take your word for it?"

"Ask him yourself—if or when we find the Outlander. I never expected her to cut and run."

"We need to get her back. We need Valkorion back. He wasn't fixated on war," Koth said.

"Valkorion is a world devourer, but I do agree that we need to find Liatrix, the sooner the better," Lana added. "But where to start looking?"

"I'm gonna check on Tora. We'd better get moving." Koth shot a glare at Senya as he pushed past her.

"I'll be somewhere—meditating," Senya snapped.

Quinn took his station on the bridge. "I think I know where she may have gone."

Lana glanced up. "Any insight you have would be helpful, Major."

"Dromund Fels."

"You think she's gone to the site—where Scourge's settlement was?"

"It's understandable, that she would wish to see it for herself. If our positions were reversed, that's what I would do."

"I think you may be right. When we get the all-clear from Koth, set a course for Dromund Fels."

"As you wish, my lord."

Whorls of electric blue engulfed the Sky Princess II and Liatrix relaxed into the cushy captain's chair. Something poked into her outer thigh and she shifted to retrieve a leatheris folder. "Let's see who you belong to…Hmph—Andronikos Revel. Well, Captain Revel, you do have good taste in ships."

Valkorion manifested in the space between the captain and co-pilot's chairs. "You're wasting time. I fail to understand why you've chosen to abandon your destiny."

"You couldn't have mentioned Senya was the mother of your children? Liatrix snapped. "You could've at least told me that much."

"I did urge you to think and for a moment, I thought you might've guessed the truth. I wanted to see what she would do. Ultimately she chose to put her faith in you."

"No—you're wrong. That wasn't faith. She wants to save Arcann and Vaylin. I don't. She thinks by ingratiating herself to me, that I'll spare them. It's not faith driving her—it's a mother's love."

"How cynical of you, but if that's what you choose to believe, I cannot stop you."

"Let's talk about things we can stop—like you keeping secrets from me."

"It appears you've been keeping a few of your own. After all these years, I finally understand how your father was able to oblige me—defy me. I assigned one insurmountable task after another and yet he always succeeded. Survived the unsurvivable. It confounded me for years. Now I know the truth."

"You were a fool to kill him. He would've moved worlds and galaxies for the Empire."

Valkorion chuckled. "Now I know where you get your bravado—and how you were able to challenge me as no other has."

"Yeah, about that. Next time you decide to chow down on every living thing in sight, be careful who you invite to the feast, huh?"

"Interesting. And here I thought the two of you had some sort of understanding."

"He's a nuisance I could do without and you woke him up. Thanks for that," Liatrix said snidely.

"Instead of chiding me, you might try asking for my guidance."

"Like you're going to tell me how to get rid of him. What's to stop me from doing the same to you? Trust me, I'd like nothing more than to shut you both up—for good."

"We both know that I am no mere ghost. And unlike Hord,I'm here to see you succeed. Can he make such a boast? I've always given you the choice, have I not? We share a mutual respect."

"Right," she drawled. "So what would you suggest I do?"

"Long ago—a Lord Erghast attempted the ritual Hord perfected. He failed, but he discovered how to bind ghosts instead."

"And you're implying that anything bound, can be unbound?"

"Precisely."

"I'll think about it," Liatrix muttered nonchalantly. "We're dropping out of hyperspace and I want to be alone."

"Don't think too long—destiny waits for no one." Valkorion's voice hung in the air after he vanished.

The craft stuttered as it emerged into the Esstran sector, home to the Dromund system. She peered through the viewport as the craft approached the dusty world. The ship sank into a medial orbit and a sizeable crater came into view. Her fingers dug into the armrests until her knuckles turned white and she sprang out of the chair.

A vision of the Eternal Fleet flashed before her eyes, its cutting rays wounding the planet while she slumbered. An echo of the lives lost rippled through her and she reached out for the back of the chair to steady herself. She closed her eyes to clear her mind and when her vertigo faded, she bolted from the cockpit to the ship's tiny quarters.

The pirate owned a wide variety of extreme climate gear, including a set of coarsely woven tan and cream desert robes. She wrapped the turban like cowl around her head and pulled up the gauzy neckerchief over her mouth and nose.

The bright interior lights turned the viewport into a mirror and she stared at the robed being staring back at her. The sight compelled her to ignite the saber Lana had given her during their escape from Zakuul.

The vibrant blue lightsaber paired with the rough tawny robes carried her back in time. She could almost hear the younglings with their practice sabers, their giggles seeding tears in her eyes. She retracted the borrowed saber. "That's not who you are—it never was."

She returned to the bridge and took the Sky Princess II through the dust-filled atmosphere and landed several meters from the edge of the crater.

The winds whipped her robes and she tugged her goggles over her eyes as she disembarked.

Dust sifted over her boots with each step she took toward the crater. The surface was cooler than she remembered—much cooler. She shuffled alongside the perimeter of the maw and paused to look up at the muted sun. Decades would pass before the sun's rays would fully warm Dromund Fels again.

The cliffs beyond the crater rose up like a scar and by the amount of rubble and sift at the base, the blast had no doubt bred groundquakes and aftershocks for weeks after Arcann's attack.

Her robes shivered over her body as she walked, the wind feeding her momentum. It wasn't so long ago Scourge had brought her here. She remembered the broken down house, his mother's upturned cooking pot and his father's desiccated corpse and the day they'd buried it. All of these things had defied the centuries only to be destroyed by Arcann's tantrum.

Scourge had called this place home and like his family's enduring relics, he too was gone. Nothing remained, save for dust and bits of sand fused into glass. She knelt and scooped up a handful of the russet sand.

Arcann destroyed everything he touched and what he couldn't destroy he preserved, perhaps relying on time to do what he couldn't.

Her jaw clenched until her back teeth gritted and her hand closed into a fist around the dirt. She stared into the abyss. She expected to cry but no tears came and she wondered if she'd finally exhausted the supply. Perhaps she had finally cried enough and that time was past.

How like Heskal she was at this moment—peering into a void, searching it for meaning and finding none. Fate had given the old man the answers he sought. Her answers would be harder to find.

The sun sank below the horizon and plunged the world into a sandy twilight. Dust wafted across the beams of Sky Princess II's forward floodlights and the wind turned cold with the impending night. Whispers from the darker recesses of the world hissed their summons but she refused to indulge them.

"I won't be a slave to destiny," she muttered.

The thrusters of a descending vessel whipped the sand and dust into a series of whirlwinds. The behemoth darkened the horizon until a large searchlight blazed to life and panned over the surface.

Liatrix remained by the edge of the crater even as a set of footfalls crunched toward her. She didn't need to turn around to know who approached.

Lana stood beside her and both women stared into the seemingly bottomless maw for a long time.

"How did you know where to find me?" Liatrix said, finally breaking the silence.

"Major Quinn—he thought you might require the finality."

"He was right."

Lana held her hand up to shield her eyes. "I understand why you left."

"Do you?"

"I can see how it would be overwhelming—the Scions aren't exactly subtle and if this proves anything it's that secrets aren't healthy—for any of us. You shouldn't be dealing with Valkorion alone."

"That's not why I left. I left because I refuse to believe that fate or destiny control my life. I control my life. Not you, not anyone else and if you can't trust in that, then I guess this is goodbye."

"Nothing about this is ideal—but I trust the sincerity of your vengeance. Will you return to us?"

Liatrix nodded. "It's not as if I have anything better to do."

"Promise me one thing—you will tell me if Valkorion proves too much to handle?"

"It's not him that worries me—but yes, I'll tell you—so long as you don't lobotomize me in my sleep. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Let me reactivate the Sky Princess's service droid—and set the autopilot back to Asylum. Captain Revel was pretty ."

"Andronikos Revel?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"He was once involved with Darth Nox."

Liatrix quirked a brow. "I wonder whatever happened to her—if she's still alive."

"Oh, she's very much alive, she took over the Empire after Acina—she's Empress Nox now."

"Nox? What about Ravage and Vowrawn, Mortis?

"Ravage is dead."

"Can't say I'll miss him. Whatever happened, I hope it was painful."

"Regrettably, I don't know all the details, but I do know that Vowrawn and Nox were present when it happened. I suspect they had a role to play. Mortis continues to serve as Minister of Law and Justice."

"Then we should go home."

"We can't. Arcann has monitoring stations orbiting key worlds including Korriban and Dromund Kaas. He'll be searching for you and Imperial space is the first place he'll look—which is why we shouldn't linger."

Liatrix clutched the dirt in her fist more tightly. "If we're going to reclaim the galaxy, we need to do so in secret—and we'll need a base of operations."

"Agreed."

((to be continued…))