This is set just after the Makeb arc and describes the first time that all of the siblings are able to gather together. They could only meet in a secure location, totally neutral from either the Empire or the Republic. This doesn't negate any of the myriad times the siblings have met or been together at various times prior. But before this particular meeting, it's always been intermittent and two or three of them at a time, rather. It's only that meetings involving all of them together will always be exceptional events.
This particular one-shot is the absolute result of a piece of commissioned work I asked for from an artist nearby - on instagram: bos_artnstuff - and if you're interested in seeing the image that includes all of the siblings together check out the link in my profile and on my Facebook.
Risha waited. Patiently. She was determined, that everyone who saw her waiting would say she waited patiently. She wouldn't tap her foot against the floor, she wouldn't frown or snarl at the closed airlock door. And she most certainly would not fidget. Not for a single second. Not even the smallest moment. Not even … "And there it is. Ship approaching now." The Neimodian engineer looked up from the datapad he was tapping his slender fingers over, his great big buggy eyes reflecting the light from the surrounding circuitry. He rumbled at her, "You sure that ship's okay to dock with us, princess? Definitely Sith. Yep, all the markings are … Sith."
Risha sighed. Why did Gaibriel make it such a point, to have every worker, researcher, engineer – hells, even the Twi'lek dancers in the damn cantina on Port Nowhere called her that! She imagined kicking him straight in the ass, thought he deserved one of those great big blue and black bruises on one of those sweet ass cheeks she enjoyed watching flex and pull as he ran in front of her. Hey, she was allowed to watch, at least! But now she just ground her teeth solidly back and forth, rather deliberately, and snarled. "Don't call me Princess, Brun. And yes. Get the airlock ready for the ship to dock."
"Sure thing, princess. I'm on it." Brun turned away from her quick enough he missed the telling flash in Risha's brown eyes. Lucky her, she thought. Although he was still muttering as he continued inputting varied commands into the Nowhere's docking arrays, "Never really met a Sith. Saw one once, back on Nar Shaddaa. Was a big fellow … human, I think. He had one of those lightsaber things, at least. Oh, and he could make people fly around through the air, without even touching them…!"
Risha sniffed. "You won't be meeting this Sith, Brun. Just stay out of her way, rather. Better for everyone that way, I think." Gods forbid, that too many people appreciate the actual purpose of this visit, or the relationships that so defined the Voidhound. How carefully he straddled lines that divided so many others. No, let the masses remain as blithely stupid as possible, Risha figured.
Brun grunted something under his breath, ducking down behind one of the columns where a blinking light seemed worthy of his attention. But there was no blaring alarm, so Risha ignored his temperamental efforts to prepare for the ship's arrival and concentrated on waiting patiently some more. At least the ship was arriving, she thought. Brun came back when the clanging of the airlock doors started sounding through the space, although he maintained a respectful position behind Risha at least. She patiently ignored the way he tried standing on his toes to see better from over her shoulder. Especially when she knew good and well the rest of the personnel moving in and around the docking corridor were trying so gamely to ignore the both of them standing there. It certainly wasn't every day Risha came down here, anyway.
They all knew who owned Port Nowhere. Just as they knew who ran it for him. Most of the smugglers and lowlifes who used Port Nowhere as a station treated her with the respect the Voidhound had earned when he claimed the damn name. Because like a hound, Gaibriel would stubbornly grab onto you and bring you down no matter how long it took or how far you tried running, and he had Risha running Port Nowhere. As Brun would say, "That's plain enough for me, at least." Few people even bothered her, simply to avoid nabbing Gaib's attention.
But Risha's eyes did fly wide when the doors finally flew open, the loud bang echoing through the corridor. So she was curious as every one of the Correllian hells. Sue me, Risha thought, snorting quietly to herself as she gazed at Gaibriel's oldest sister for several longer than average moments. She blinked, she knew she was blinking like an idiot, just knew it! Risha was startled enough she said the first thing that came to mind, inanely sounding, "You're so much smaller than I imagined …"
Lusiel's dark eyes glinted softly with humor. For just that smallest moment, she looked so much like Gaib's twin, that Risha's lips parted with the softest surprised breath. Then Lusiel's brow slanted upwards as she stared back at Risha so arrogantly imperious it could only be manufactured an expression. Yep, she looked Sithy right then. Like one of those cold, hardened figures Risha most typically avoided like the plague. Lusiel murmured, "I always appreciate catching my opponents off-guard, in fact. They never imagine what hellish power I can bring to bear against them. Works rather well in my favor."
Risha blinked owlishly at her again. "You consider me an opponent?"
That's when the Imperial officer behind the Sith Lord cleared his throat loudly, drawing everyone's attention. Risha turned her gaze towards Quinn, almost grateful there was someone in the small group following the Sith that she recognized at least. And he'd hardly changed, even. His tone was still as nasally snotty as the last time he'd made some point to visit the Nowhere and meet with Gaibriel. He always reminded her of one of those oh-so-arrogant dignitaries from Dubrillion. The ones who always thought they could get her to do or say whatever it is they wanted. Annoying shits.
Quinn harped out, "Everyone is a potential opponent. Only fools forget that chance, and find themselves dead on the floor before the confrontation's done."
Risha frowned at him, maintaining the show for everyone watching. "Make the Hound an opponent, and then we'll have issues, Quinn. Don't forget that. Not here." Brun snickered from behind her shoulder, and Risha was pretty certain news of her temerity would flow from one end of Port Nowhere to the other before the hour was out. Then some smartass would most likely tell the story over the holonet, as well. That, and the absolute gem of information, that a real-life Sith Lord had visited the Voidhound, and what could she have wanted from the underworld figure and did she actually need something from him and was he gonna take down another one of the Empire's warriors … The rumors would be glorious, Risha considered. And not one of them would have a single basis in fact.
Lusiel smiled tightly, then. "I certainly didn't come here to antagonize someone of such exceptional capability. You will show me the way to meeting him, rather." And that was pretty much how Risha managed to find herself moving through the corridors of Port Nowhere, escorting a Sith Lord and her entourage of husband and soldiers as every dirty, scruffy-looking scoundrel, not some few criminals, and at least a half dozen real lowlifes ducked and weaved from out of their way. Risha didn't even have to snarl or push a single person aside, they practically jumped out of sight at the mere sound of stomping boots through the place, rather. Any other time, Risha would've perhaps thrilled at the sight of so many tough characters acting so damn dainty-faced and anxious at the sight of one small black-haired female. But today, she was only anxious what this particular Sith was really intent on, when she announced she wanted to meet Gaibriel and the others, here.
It's why Risha stopped outside the requisite door, stopped right there in the middle of the walkway and stared at the closed door for a single long moment. Bowdaar snuffled at her, lifting his chin as he continued standing there next to the doorway dangerously waving away the more curious onlookers. But Risha just looked sideways at Lusiel. And of course Lusiel looked exactly as patient as Risha had planned to look, damn it to hells.
Risha muttered, "He's my best friend, you know."
Lusiel slowly glided her gaze towards Risha, her dark eyes going even darker as she considered her. Then she tilted her chin down, the smallest hint of a smile curling against her lips. "Oh, yes. Show me that. You show me anything else, and I will absolutely destroy you, Risha Drayen. Mark my words, here." Because Lusiel Phyre was Sith, and Gaibriel Duncan was her own brother. Half or not, it didn't matter. She called him her own and so he was, and to every Void with anyone who would try taking him from her. Lusiel's meaning quavered there in the air between her and Risha, silent and unspoken thought it was. And Risha actually shivered as she considered the hells Lusiel could visit on those who threatened one of her own. Gaibriel himself had no doubt of it, shrugged when he told her, "I once watched Khy shred a man's throat into little slices, just because the guy made that mark on my tummy once upon a time. But the woman who threw me to that guy? That woman was broken apart by my Sithy sister. Don't you fuck with her, Risha."
Now Lusiel ignored Bowdaar's growls as she approached the door into Gaibriel's private rooms on the Nowhere. Risha tried gesturing at the Wookiee, tried grabbing his attention in time. But Lusiel only waved one of her small, slender hands through the air in front of her first, and poor Bowdaar was sent spinning wildly from out of her way. Risha's eyebrows went high up on her forehead. Not because the Sith was able to shove Bowdaar so forcefully, with little but some small wave of her pretty hand. But that her control was great enough, that the Wookiee only tumbled down onto his furred ass there on the floor before literally spinning in a perfect circle like some child's toy. What did control like that really hint at, other than how fucking powerful the Sith really was, mind you?
Lusiel pushed her way through the door right then, though. And Risha actually leaped after her, almost stumbling into Quinn's back as he quickly followed his wife. At least the door slid closed behind them all, hiding the group gathered inside the private rooms from anymore consideration by the Nowhere's denizens. But Quinn was scolding her for running into his back and over all of it, over the entire din and Risha glaring at the Imperial snot of an officer through narrowed brown eyes – Risha could still hear Gaibriel crowing loudly over it all, there in the room. Of course he crowed, the idiot! Risha turned her attention over towards the small crowd there in the center of the room, all of them gathered around the table.
All of them in one room together, for perhaps the first time ever in their lives. All five of them, there. Even Camiel calmly raised up her chin in briefest consideration as she watched her sister come inside the room. Everything she did was calm, though. Like the stillest water you were afraid of disturbing, was Camiel. It didn't matter how much Gaib shrugged, telling her that Camiel was more like him than any of them knew. Risha always marveled at the very Jedi-ness of his twin.
Gaibriel was still cheering as he danced up on very center of the table, swinging his hips back and forth as he pumped his hands over his head. Probably a blatant attempt to needle his brother's sensibilities, actually. The two men spent so much time gamely prodding each other, as if feeling out each other's vulnerabilities and capabilities at every turn. Risha might have told Khyriel the smuggler did it to everyone, that it was how Gaib felt best in control of his own place around other people. But she knew Khyriel's manipulative tendencies, knew he was far more methodical and deliberate in taking control of the people around him than Gaibriel would ever be. She even shivered as she recalled Khyriel's better manipulations of her, sniffed when she noted Khyriel glancing at her now. She turned her head away when he softly winked towards her and smiled. Both Gaibriel and Khyriel preferred to be in control, of everything, everyone. It was a trait they shared, probably inherited from their daddy if she had to make any particular guess.
But Khyriel's control was always harder and colder a thing, and it scared her more than any words she could've used to say so.
Now Khyriel blatantly ignored his brother's dancing antics, glancing over at Lusiel with his mouth turned up in only the most superficial of smiles. As if he suffered some tremendous headache and was gamely hiding it from them all. So it was Kastiel that loudly threatened her younger brother to stop, "Damn it, Gaib! If you make me spill this netra'gal, I will bust your ass! You've got no idea how hard it was to get Artus to give me some from his own stock!" Risha shook her head at Kastiel's easy use of the Mandalore's given name. So few were able to really throw it out there like that. But the one he called daughter would have to be that bold, of course. Risha still wasn't sure she could imagine Kastiel being afraid of anything, ever. Boldness lined her every single curve, along with the glint of possible darkness that sometimes reminded her of Khyriel, actually. Those two were close as two little peas in a pod could be, though, so maybe it was just some of his nature was rubbing off on his sister. Risha wasn't exactly sure, either way.
But with Khyriel there … Risha slowly leaned sideways to better scan the small group gathered off to the side, to catch sight of her favorite guy among them. Vector was Khyriel's best friend and he was rarely far apart from the agent whenever Khyriel was moving around, so she'd eagerly anticipated his coming when it was only possible. But it took the glint of the hooked staff he carried on his back, there in the low red gleam of light that came in through the viewscreens from the star the Nowhere was passing right then, that helped Risha finally find him. Rather than lose him in the relaxed crowd of companions that so typically followed the siblings all over the place. Risha found him and she sighed happily, then. And damn her if she wasn't getting good enough to gauge his emotions even past the inky blackness of his eyes, she thought to herself, satisfied. But then Vector proffered a small smile in her direction, too, and she knew it was probably deliberate, that he was sharing his emotions with her in that buggy way of his. Stupid pheromones.
Then Lusiel canted her head sideways, tucking both her fists against her hips as she looked at her younger siblings. At all of them, and she announced slowly in the way only a Sith could seem to manage, "Well, I'm glad you're all quite capable of doing as I say, at least. And you showed yourselves, here." Oh, ho! Some declaration of authority! The eldest has spoken! Risha almost laughed outloud, wondering how her favorite captain would respond. Whatever it was, it'd be good, she knew. And of course, on cue Gaibriel stopped dancing to stand straight right there on the tabletop, and Risha bit her tongue at the frowning expression he gave Lusiel right then. Gaib so rarely frowned, anyway. It didn't sit easily there on his face, and he typically looked funny as shit when he frowned at people. Like now.
Gaibriel snorted like some damn equine beast. "Oh, fuck that! No one orders me around! I just figured this was prime chance to get you all here for pictures, is all. Rather than onesies and twosies here and there. Come on! Let's blow people's minds! Because who'd imagine us all in here together at one time! Seetoo! Now, Seetoo!" And Risha ducked around the ensuing rush of movement among the siblings, the growling complaint from Khyriel and the exasperated sigh from Lusiel and the laughter from all ofthem. So she could amble over towards their best and most favorite people. The ones they trusted, fought for and beside, and otherwise depended on. The ones they loved, even. She tucked herself up against Vector's side, listened to the rumble of happy sound that came from him right then, and basked in the sheer belonging.
And she turned to watch as Gaibriel yanked and pulled in every one of his siblings for their first ever group holo-image.
