There have been far too many times in Cassian's life when he thought of killing his father. This arrogant lordling is a staunch follower of every single Chiss tradition, no matter how archaic and damaging. A man who was considered powerful and influential yet became horrified at the mere thought of using force instead of denying and rejecting it. A man who chose those traditions over his own son, and if that wasn't enough, sided with a faction that sought to kill Cassian.
There were times when he was afraid and wanted to let go, but he did not anymore. His wrath was too strong to hold back. The anticipation of this moment was all he could focus on as his and Vaylin's ship approached Copero.
"So, are we landing right near the estate?" Vaylin asked, taking Cassian out of his trance.
"Yes. This ship is small enough; I can land it, and something tells me that if we try a spaceport, that slimy bastard will have his agents tell him about us, and he'll have time to prepare." Cassian clenched his teeth in anger. "I'm sure he'd love to have the upper hand over me…But I'd rather die than fall into any of his traps!"
"Oof…You really hate your dad, don't you?" Vaylin said with a playful yet curious smile.
"Surely you know how it feels."
"Oh, I do, just teasing you. Judging by what you told me, your father is a huge piece of trash."
"That's putting it mildly."
"He tried to control your power, right?" Vaylin wondered. "To snuff the force out of you…"
"Yes." Cassian sighed.
"Honestly, you shouldn't have let go." Vaylin pointed out as she sat by the Sith's side. "Freaks like him never change. They just hate seeing their children be better than them. You know what my father did when he realized that I'm more powerful than he can ever be. Ah, the look on his face when I made him kneel…"
"For what it's worth, I learned from my mistakes," Cassian said decisively. "This time, I'll make him kneel and beg for mercy…And he won't get any. Not him, not mother, not anyone else."
"Oh, by the way, you never told me much about your mother." Vaylin quickly spoke up. "Is she a walking waste of air, too?"
"It's…Complicated." Cassian took a deep breath. He wished he could forget the sugary sound of her voice, her songs, and reassurance, her warm embrace, and that disgusting, manipulative, and yet still convincing facade of kindness. "My mother…Demawre she was different from her father. She was always there to console me after whatever humiliation Father forced me to endure."
"But she never stepped in and protected you from him…Right?" Vaylin's voice grew quieter and lost any trace of sarcasm or playfulness, just understanding and perhaps even kindness.
"Yes. Always told me it was necessary…She said she doesn't blame me for being angry at my father, but that one day I'll 'understand and forgive. '" He didn't question or reject her back in those days. After all, Demawre was the only light in the all-consuming darkness of his negligent and abusive household.
"What a bitch." Vaylin said with disgust.
"Here I am, years later, and somehow I still don't want to forgive…I suppose I at least understand. But it doesn't make it any easier."
"My old hag said stuff like this at first, too," Vaylin said with disdain. "You know, trying to convince me that father would teach me self-control and all that nonsense."
"To be fair, at least she acknowledged her mistake." Cassian said, thinking of crushing guilt and remorse in Senya's voice eve try time she spoke of her children.
"Too little, too late." Vaylin retaliated.
"Indeed." The Chiss sighed. "I told her what I thought back when she told me about the family. A weak-willed coward who ran away from her responsibility." Cassian knew that it was a harsh judgment, but when it came to people he held dear, he would never stop fighting for their safety. After every loss, he would rise again and continue his struggle, no matter how hard it was at the time. He would always try again, and fighting for his friends made the battle worth winning. "She died knowing how much she had failed."
"What were her last words?"
"'I never fought hard enough'." Cassian recounted, once again seeing Senya exhaust her last breath in his mind.
"Finally, she got it. Took her long enough." Vaylin chuckled. "Hope she suffered, at least."
"Considering she failed to save both of her children, I'd say so. Not sure whether she deserved this or not…" Cassian sighed. "But I don't regret my decision."
"No, she doesn't deserve that…She deserves worse!" Vaylin spoke in a bitter tone. "You killed her quickly; I would've made it slow. Tear her limb by limb as she begs for me to stop and to forgive her… I'd bring her back to life just to…" Vaylin took a deep breath and stopped herself, noticing Cassian's concerned look. "Alright, alright, I know there's no point ranting about the dead, but you still stole my kill, you know that?"
"Want me to apologize for being quicker?" Cassian allowed a smirk to creep on his face.
"Ugh, it's all because of SCORPIO, she told me not to lead the charge myself. I should've scrapped her before she betrayed me…Hey, hold on, you killed her too! What's up with you sucking out all the fun out of my life!" Vaylin pouted.
"I'm taking you to a family reunion, which is going to get bloody, and you call that boring? "Cassian raised an eyebrow. "If sitting in a cell is more up your alley, I can always arrange that."
"Point taken…But you still owe me. I'll forgive you, SCORPIO, but Mother should've been mine!" Vaylin said angrily.
"You have anyone specific in mind?"
"Hm…After what Jadus did to me on Alderaan, I'd love to crush the life out of his body."
"He killed one of my closest friends," Cassian responded grimly. "Do you think I don't want to repay? "
"Tough luck, you owe me."
"Let's make it a contest, then. Whoever gets to him first gets to have all the fun."
"Hm…"
"You don't think you'd lose, do you?"
"No way!" Vaylin snapped. "You don't stand a chance if we do a fair contest! Fine, let's have it your way."
"Deal. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, first we need to pay my parents a visit." Cassian said just before their ship left hyperspace on the orbit of the lush world of Copero. Cassian spent so many years away from his home and now he returned three times in a span of about one year. This will hopefully be the last one.
"Have to say, this was a nice enough world," Vaylin said. "I heard you, Chiss, have some exotic fruits in your cuisine…"
"We can take some from the estate if you want. Their owners won't need their food once they're dead."
"So we're basically pillaging? No mercy…Ooh, I like that."
Yes, this was the plan. Cassian didn't care to give his parents any more chances to leave him alone. This time, he will make sure they will never return.
…
Raina knew that sooner or later, all hell would break loose, but she didn't anticipate it to happen so quickly. Lana warned her that they might have to separate rather quickly, but this attack proved to be a shock for most on the Odessen base. Ki Sazen dead and Jadus gravely wounded, all thanks to a strike team of three powerful force-users that almost succeeded…Almost. Jacques Elias and Lana had to escape while Jadus murdered Kira Carsen and imprisoned Lord Scourge. With the former wrath pacified, one of the few who could challenge Jadus and emerge victorious has fallen, making Raina's Hope even fainter.
However, she was not willing to let go of it yet. Lana and Jac escaped, while Cassian and Vaylin still evaded Jadus's claws. If they were somehow to join forces and challenge Jadus, not even the Voidcaller would save the Archon. Even so, Jadus didn't seem too concerned with the possibility; he treated it just like another challenge. Raina hoped for an opportunity to spy on him, but Jadus and Atiel left Odessen before she got the chance. They left some of their lieutenants behind, but without their presence, the base started to feel considerably safer. Now was the perfect time to plan something and prepare for the enemy's next moves. Alas, without Lana, Raina's closest ally on Odessen was a somewhat easygoing Twi'lek slicer. The two of them met in the cantina the moment an opportunity arose.
"You feel it too, right?" Vette wondered as she took a sip of grape juice she ordered. "Now that Mr. Gloomy left, it's suddenly not as cold here." The woman said semi-jokingly, but it was clear in her voice that she felt genuine relief, no matter how temporary.
"I wish it lasted. He'll return soon, and if he doesn't…Something tells me that's somehow even worse."
"Remind me to slap Lana for abandoning us when she comes back."
"If she stayed, they'd kill her and Jacques. It would've been worse."
"Could've taken us with her without forcing us to deal with this mess…" Vette said, noticing Raina's stiff look. "Fine, I know what you're gonna say, no point in complaining. Know where Jadus went?"
"Not sure." Raina sighed. "But if we ignore the delay that happened beside of Jac, him leaning coincides with Eckard perfecting the Voidcaller."
"Think it's connected?"
"Our best bet."
"I saw them take Scourge, as well," Vette said in a fearful voice. "Don't even want to think what they'll do to him. He's not the friendliest guy, but no one deserves to be with Jadus."
"It's too late for us to help him."
"Yeah, I get it, but what can we do?"
"Gather more allies while we can. Cassian's crew is a safe bet; we talked it over with them, but what about others. Do you think Gault would join us?"
"Nah…I think his plan was to escape Odessen the first chance he gets and disappear into Wild Space or something. Major Jorgan, on the other hand… He's a loyal fellow. Maybe…"
Before Vette finished, both her and Raina noticed a man approaching their table. He smiled and seemed easygoing enough, though the sheer sight of him led to both Raina and Vette feeling uneasy.
"Apologies, I hope I'm not interrupting." Eckard Lokin said with caution as he looked over both women.
"Not really," Raina said, noticing the spark in Lokin's eyes. He wanted to talk.
"Wonderful! Mind if I join?"
"Eh, hold on," Vette interjected. "This table is restricted. People who didn't create poisonous weapons of mass destruction only."
"You're a bold one." Lokin chuckled though there was no malice in his voice.
"But to be honest, that's exactly what I came to talk about." He looked at Raina, making her realize that this was the first time he came to her to discuss the Voidcaller and not the other way around, this must have been very important.
"Let's hear him out, Vette."
"I considered your words very carefully, Raina, and along with seeing what Jadus and his lackeys have been doing…I have to reconsider my association." Lokin admitted with a heavy heart, making Raina freeze in shock. After so many attempts to convince him on her part, all of her attempts to talk it out, she finally made a breakthrough…Assuming he spoke the truth, of course.
"Really, now? "Vette raised an eyebrow. "So now you suddenly feel bad about the Voidcaller? How are we supposed to trust you?"
"I admit, I underestimated Jadus," Eckard explained as he took a seat beside Vette and Raina. "Mostly because I paid him no mind. My debt was to Atiel, even if she only saved me on her master's orders. In a way, I felt nostalgic about the old days of serving on Cipher Nine's side. I knew she was loyal to Jadus even back then, so it didn't seem like much of a change. However, the more time I spent with her master and saw his schemes unfold…I started doubting him. He always aimed for big prizes, just like with his eradicator gambit, but I always saw it as a ploy to increase his power in the Dark Council and all this ideological talk of fear as just part of a 'role' he played. I expected Voidcaller to be the same, something he would use to threaten or bring down the rest of the dark council to claim the Imperial throne. And at this point, I didn't think it mattered. Sith always replaces one another. Their political games are their business…But I was utterly wrong. He does not care for political power or status; he's different from most other Sith. He is unafraid to use the Voidcaller as a weapon of utmost destruction, to share it with unhinged maniacs like Sazen. And I also learned that he overtook the Alliance outpost on Iokath. He's preparing some sort of weapon there…"
"Is this where they went?" Raina wondered.
"Most likely, but they never told me. I guess I'm not as trustworthy to them anymore."
"I am grateful to Atiel for saving my life, but I also need a galaxy to live it out. I always worked under the assumption that whatever Jadus does, there would still be a future for all of us. I was wrong, and I admit it. So let me help you undo my mistakes."
"Hold on a moment," Vette said with distrust. "So you perfected the Voidcaller, basically gave Jadus his weapon on a silver platter, and now you want to stop all of it? What are you going to do, erase the formula?"
"I can and will do that, yes, but Jadus already has a copy."
"Yeah, exactly." Vette sighed. "Sounds like it's too late to change anything."
"That's not the only thing I can do." Lokin shook his head. "I'm still a part of Jadus's and Atiel's inner circle and have considerable authority on this base, especially in their absence…As reckless as it was, Jacques's breach inspired me to partake in something like that myself. Lana Beniko didn't have nearly enough influence as I do, and she still played her part to perfection. I'm sure she and Jacques will come back here, and when they do, I'll do everything I can to make it smooth."
"Hm, this could work…" Raina said quietly. "I hope you understand how much of a risk we're taking by confiding in you."
"Of course. Never trust a member of Intelligence, but I will prove myself in due time." Lokin reassured Raina and Vette. "Jadus's forces are impressive but by no means insurmountable. His greatest weapon, apart from the Voidcaller, is the element of surprise, which he has now lost. I'm sure he put his plans in motion already, hoping that by the time anyone gathers forces strong enough to stop him, it will be too late. We can prove him wrong."