The Zabrak didn't lie; when Vaylin followed the direction he gave her, she discovered the manor in question. She immediately realized why that foolish Zabrak thought to mention it; the place's appearance was a flawless display of wealth and prosperity, a rare sight on Tython. Only a few lucky ones were able to go through her and Arcann's reign without some kind of major collapse and downfall, but it ended up being very fortunate for Vaylin.
A large building covered in yellow and crimson, surrounded by forests and remote hills untouched by technology or any kind of civilization. It made perfect sense as to why someone would want to live here; it is a blissful existence. At times Vaylin found herself tempted to get herself a residence like this on Alderaan, not like anyone would stop her during the years of Zakuul's reign. Alas, she could hardly rest knowing that her treacherous mother was still breathing and that her father was likely just waiting for another resurrection. There were reasons for Arcann deciding to put the Outlander in carbonate beyond making a trophy out of him. Now, she would be much more open to the idea of settling down somewhere far away now that she didn't have anyone to enact her vengeance again. Perhaps the Jedi that killed her…Vaylin didn't feel like she cared enough. Father was at the root of her every issue; all others were just fellow puppets, even Senya…
Either way, this will definitely not be the planet Vaylin would ever wish to live on, she had to leave soon, and this manor held the key to her freedom.
There were a few armed droids at the doors, silently maintaining their watch. The moment the redhead padawan emerged from her cover and walked towards them without a single display of hesitation, the two droids pointed their weapons at her.
"Halt!" One of them spoke in his mechanical voice. "You have entered the territory of the Aloy manor unsanctioned; this is private property."
"Oh, sorry…" Vaylin said in a playful voice while still continuing to walk toward them. "I just got lost, this planet is so large and uncharted, and I crash landed…Will you not help a poor woman out?"
"You are intruding. If you make another step, we will open fire and activate the alarm." The droid continued to speak according to his protocol, but he made Vaylin stop for a moment. This was going to be fun…
"How can you be so heartless?" Vaylin feigned a despairing voice, trying to think of how Senya sounded when she pleaded for Vaylin to leave with her. "I'm alone here, I have nowhere to go, and the people at the spaceport, they are…They're cruel, too!"
"Stay where you are."
"Fine, fine, you won't see me make another step…" Vaylin sighed and looked down. Moments later, however, she raised one of her arms and unleashed her ravenous force lightning at both droids. Before any of them could react, their heads popped like fragile balloons, and their bodies exploded, covering the remaining limbs in electrical stain, still dancing and scorching their last remnant. They didn't even have time to sound the alarm; how pathetic. Vaylin took another step. "Well, you didn't see it, right?" She chuckled and moved past them, slicing the door in two with her lightsaber.
She walked among the decorated halls, once again reminding Vaylin of the style many Alderaan nobles enjoyed. Perhaps they were descendants of one of the houses who decided to find a life away from politics and the field of endless strife. They weren't too different in that regard…Eventually, she reached the living room, a large one at the heart of the manor where multiple halls led to. They were remarkably empty, with a lot of space to breathe; Vaylin liked it.
However, she quickly noticed her subjects. A woman with dark blue hair sat on one of the orange sofas and talked to the nearby golden droid, the kind Vaylin sometimes saw work for Republicans.
"Would you like anything else, my lady?" The droid asked courteously.
"I've had my fill for today, I'd say…Well, maybe some juice is in order."
"Ahem." Vaylin coughed just loudly enough for the woman and the droid to notice.
"Intruder alert!" The droid let out as the lady looked at Vaylin and reflexively recoiled.
"What in the…Who are you supposed to be? What are you doing in my house?!" She was angry, but not the kind of righteous, unbound anger that powerful beings experience. It was a type of weaklings used to cover their own fear, a pretense that would often turn into outright pleading.
"I won't bother answering the first question as to what I want…I will take all your credits, and kill you and your husband. Or wife, whoever you have here, you get the point." Vaylin explained as if it was some child's game. "If you hand over your credits here and now, I'll make it quick; if not, it won't be so pretty. Won't even let you choose the limb that you'll lose first, so I don't recommend that."
"W…What…" Her lips quivered in fear; the droid was quick to stand between the lady and Vaylin.
"Ma'am, I have to request you leave the manor as soon as…"
"Oh, shut up." Vaylin scoffed and cut off the droid's head with her lightsaber, making the woman jump to the floor and scream in terror.
"Fabian!" The woman shouted as her entire body shook, likely calling out for her partner. Moments after, a tall man emerged from the nearby hall, he looked confident for a mere second, but after witnessing the scene, his disposition changed.
"Gaela…What is going on?" He was in shock for a few moments, but when it finally let him out of its grasp, the man rushed towards his wife and stood between her and Vaylin. The padawan could've already killed them both, but that would hardly be amusing. Fabian took out his blaster and pointed at Vaylin, pretending to be fearless when in truth, he was just as mortified as Gaela. "Who are you?!"
"Why are people always asking that question…Not like knowing it will change that you're in a very bad spot." Vaylin shrugged and pushed Fabian to the floor with force and shattered his blaster with a mere snap of her fingers. By this point, both husband and wife were at her mercy, completely defenseless and terrified.
"You're a Jedi? Why…We have done nothing wrong; we are law-abiding citizens; what do you want from us?" Fabian pleaded.
"No, I'm not a Jedi, and that shouldn't be your concern anyway. Give me all your credits now. I'm not in the mood to play a long game this time, sorry."
"But…We'll have nothing left!" Gaela pleaded as tears emerged in her eyes.
"First of all, do I look like I care? And second of all, I said you're dying today anyway."
"What?" Fabian looked up at Vaylin with eyes of fainting hope. "Please, don't kill us…"
"I beg of you!" Fabia added, unable to hold back her cries.
"It's not personal; I just don't want anyone to know it was me."
"Please, maybe we could reach an agreement…" Fabian begged. "We could pay you half of our credits; it's more than enough; just please, leave us alone!"
"No, half doesn't cut it."
"But…"
"No 'buts'!" Vaylin shouted in anger. This outburst caused her force to get unleashed, tossing the sofa before her up into the air and crashing right into the nearby wall. She enjoyed being so powerful, but having furniture fly every time she got a little angry was always annoying. Thought perhaps, this time, it could serve as a fitting display of her powers. "Perhaps you don't yet understand? Alright, let me show you." She raised her arms, overshadowing the cowering couple.
It all began with force lightning emerging out of Vaylin's fingers. The lighting immediately squandered the lights, quickly pushing the room towards darkness with only occasional stains still shining. Then, Vaylin pushed all the remaining furniture to the side. Chairs, tables, and all the cutlery and glasses on them got tossed toward the wall, most of it crashing almost immediately. The whole room descended into chaos, and Vaylin was at its helm with those poor folks ready to give away all their credits and dignity for a slim chance to survive the ordeal.
"See all of that?" Vaylin smiled. "I could easily turn it against you. I wonder for how long you will survive? A second? Maybe even two? I want to find that out…"
But before Vaylin could continue, she heard a quiet, scared voice echo to her right.
"M…Mommy? Daddy?" A little creature emerged from the shadows; a scared girl with blue eyes and long brown hair looked at her parents in shock, only occasionally allowing her body to shake with sharp and sudden movements. They had a child…Vaylin knew she shouldn't be surprised, but somehow the possibility did not even cross her mind. "What's going on? Who is this lady? Is she…Why…" She was about to burst into tears and crumble like a fragile flower.
"Lia! What are you doing here?" Fabian shouted. "I told you to stay behind!"
"You have a daughter…" Vaylin sighed with inevitable disappointment. That ruined all the fun.
"You're…" Gaela looked at Vaylin with desperate eyes. "You won't kill a child…Will you?"
"Kill?" Lia recoiled; now she would know exactly what was going on here, an absolute waste…
"Please, run!" The girl's mother shouted. "Don't let her catch you!"
Instead of running away, Lia charged forward to her parents, an act of simultaneous bravery and idiocy.
"Are you…Are you going to kill Mommy and…And Daddy?" The girl sniffed as her watery eyes looked up at Vaylin with fear and plea, both manifesting simultaneously.
"I…I was planning to, yes." How awkward.
"P…Please don't do it!" The girl fell on her knees; there was no pride for her to cling to, just a desire to stay with her parents, people who must have meant the world to the child. "Please, don't hurt them, please!" She was weeping at this point, quickly surrendering to what could only be described as a mental breakdown. "P…Please…"
There were some things Vaylin would avoid doing, and not because of any empathy or care, but because they brought back memories she always tried to bury…
"Dad…Why can't Mom come?"
"She would distract you from your training, my dear."
"Can I see her, at least? Can she stay with me? Will she…Will she visit?"
"When you finish the training, you will be free to do what you wish, but for now, focus…And let me introduce you to our family's close friend, Jarak…"
She remembered the day Valkorion took her from Senya and locked her into a 'sanitarium.' Vaylin always believed this to be the worst day of her life, though there wasn't really a point in highlighting one flash in a long nightmare. She didn't realize that her father lied until later, yet it was already terrifying back then. Having to say goodbye to mother, having to listen to her reassurance and promises that the moment something goes wrong, she will take her away. How she looked away and hid her tears, wanting to pretend like everything was fine, and there was no reason to be scared…She was there, on Nathema; she knew exactly how it felt to be cut off from the force, to be consigned to a dead world that eventually would drain all life from her. When Senya came, it was too late…Ever since that moment, every time Vaylin saw a child begging to let their parents live, it reminded her of a scared girl who once pleaded to stay with her mother while their bond got broken by a monster. And in doing so, she felt exactly like her father. Nothing was worse than this.
"You're ruining this for me!" Vaylin stomped in anger, feeling like throwing another fit. Thankfully, she came to her senses quickly enough and focused on the three weaklings before her. "Fine, I won't kill you!" Those words immediately made Gaela look up in disbelief.
"You…Won't?"
"Don't get too excited, or I might change my mind." Vaylin scoffed.
"T…Thank you…" The girl wiped away her tears, still unable to speak with confidence in her voice. She must have been shocked at such as the switch from Vaylin, as were her parents, but the padawan was earnest.
"Now listen carefully. I want half of your credits, first of all. Second of all…You will never tell anyone about me infiltrating your manor and making it a little messy, understand?"
"Will you…Really leave us alone?" Fabian asked.
"Do you understand?"
"Y…Yes."
"Good." Vaylin smiled again. "And if I ever, ever learn that you broke this promise…Well, let's say I'll return to make the number of members in your family a little more even."
…
As much as Cassian yearned for his time alone, he couldn't put something like a report from his two most trusted advisors on hold, especially when they had something to show. He followed Vette, expecting the findings to justify those endless distractions.
"Was there no hint at all in regards to what they found?"
"Nope, not a single one."
"Hm…Wouldn't expect such secrecy from Jacques; maybe Lana finally knocked some sense into him." Cassian chuckled. The Jedi battle master was a powerful ally, yet his dedication to all people of the galaxy led him to be rather impractical sometimes.
"Guess they didn't think I was supposed to know." Vette shrugged and spoke with slight sarcasm in her voice. "I mean, of course, I'm not; what would a 'simple' tech specialist know…"
"We'll see if they have their reasons."
"They were on Zakuul, right? I heard it was a diplomatic mission with some renegade knights."
"Diplomatic in name only," Cassian said dismissively. "Jacques wanted to try and solve it peacefully, but I know that particular group is not inclined to negotiate. I've sent Lana and her guard over in case the rebels would need to go through some diplomatic skull-crushing."
"You know, six years ago, I would've been freaked out by you gleefully talking about crushing skulls or something…" Vette said with a warm smile.
"And now?"
"Well…I'm still a little freaked out, but at least that means that those years didn't change you that much, and honestly, I like it that way."
"I wish they didn't…" Cassian sighed as the two of them approached the Alliance staging room, the one that housed Cassian's throne as the Emperor of the Eternal Alliance, restored after the ordeal on Nathema. It seemed grandiose back in the day, a show of power before the entire galaxy, but now Cassian couldn't look at it without reflexively cringing. He grew tired of this power, something no Sith was expected to feel, and after the Alliance lost the eternal fleet, the weakening amount of power they still held in the galaxy did not warrant a throne or a title. Cassian preferred to use this place to stage incoming operations, no more, no less. Lana, Theron, and Jacques expected him, already discussing something amidst them.
"I'd say give it to Oggurobb," Theron suggested. "Not like he needs an extra reason to work with a new formula, and we can focus on some other, more pressing matters."
"It is a pressing matter, Theron," Lana said sternly. "I know you can't feel it the same way I do, but the memories the aura of this 'specimen' invokes are concerning, to say the least."
"Lana is right." Jacques, a slim human man with pale skin and brown eyes, spoke up, once again trying to act as a mediator between them. Cassian has seen the Hero of Tython happen far too often during endless misadventures of their quartet ever since Rishi. "The renegades were very protective of this chemical; some of them gladly gave their life away so that we wouldn't lay our hands on it."
"Well, well, what do we have here…" Cassian's intrigued voice echoed through the room as Vette stayed behind him, causing the trio to turn their faces toward the Sith. "Seems like starting council meetings without me is becoming somewhat of a habit among you." He spoke sarcastically.
"You're just in time," Theron said. "I think I had enough lecturing about force-attuned chemicals thrown at me today; your turn to take over." That sounded intriguing, and there was no time to waste.
"How did your mission go?" Cassian looked towards Jac and Lana. "Was it as civilized as Jacques hoped it would be?" The Sith looked at the Jedi with playful eyes; a disappointed sigh from Jacques was enough to get a clear sense of what occurred.
"I tried my best." The Jedi said sternly.
"I'm sure you did, but here it's no different from trying to convince a Rancor not to eat you with words."
"To his credit, we were off to a good start," Lana interjected. "The knights agreed to negotiations and said they would like to explain their queries and take them to their leader. I dare say I began to get swayed by his arguments about violence being unnecessary…"
"But it ended up being a trap. They ambushed us in the lower city and attempted to cull every single Alliance envoy." Jacques clenched his fist in anger.
"How shocking…" Cassian sighed. "I assume you emerged victorious?"
"Yes." Lana nodded. "I was prepared for any trap or ambush and called our reinforcements in, it was a brutal battle, but we were sure to make it quick."
"They were rabid and furious in their dedication, even if we haven't yet learned what it is they want." Jacques sighed. "And even though we tried to capture at least a single prisoner, those that didn't escape fought to the bitter end."
"I'll send our soldiers in to scour the planet for them," Cassian reassured him before looking at Lana. There was something lying on the table by her side, a vial of the type that would usually be used for kolto, but instead, it was filled with a substance Cassian had never encountered before; it was colored violet and gave off a rotten, disgusting feeling… "I heard you discussing some chemical you found. Is this it?"
"Yes." Lana nodded as she and Jac stood aside, allowing Cassian to step in. "The knights guarded it with their lives, it's a miracle we even managed to secure a vial, and there were more than they took with them."
"And this is no ordinary chemical, either." The Jedi Knight said with concern.
"I can feel a disturbance in the force…" Cassian closed his eyes, trying to decipher the feeling being near this chemical gave him. "A substance attuned to the force itself? That is exceedingly rare…We should have it checked for midi-chlorians at once."
"As I said, just give it to Oggurobb, and he'll figure something out," Theron spoke up.
"This might be beyond his competency." Cassian shook his head.
"Is anything really beyond his competency? Don't think I've seen an example during our time here." Theron shrugged and garnered a response from Jacques.
"Creating substances and analyzing them is one thing, but this is akin to the blood of a Jedi or Sith; some connections cannot be deciphered with simple science, or else the force would've stopped being any kind of mystery before any of us were even born."
"And there is one more matter…" Lana turned towards Cassian. "I sensed something very familiar when it came to this substance, something that I shouldn't have, yet the presence was unmistakable. I was wondering if you could feel it, too."
"And what am I even supposed to feel?"
"I was wondering if we'd come to the same conclusion without me giving any of it away. We both know it's better for accurate testing."
That was true enough. Cassian closed his eyes, attempting to connect his own force with the essence of this violet substance. He expected to see something ephemeral, the type of image that the force would often unveil to those attuned to it. Whether it was that of light, darkness, or balance, Cassian grew used to them…But what he felt was none of that. Instead, it was the absence of force, not in a regular and commonly-accepted sense, but instead, the complete oblivion that purged any force near it, tearing it away from its own essence like some kind of plague. What it left was a void that lacked any life or power except that of corrosion. Somehow what seemed like a simple chemical turned into a threat that Cassian wouldn't want to unleash under any circumstances…And then it finally clicked in his mind.
"There is only one place where I felt something like this…Nathema before Valkorion's death." Cassian stated quietly as he looked at Lana.
"And here I hoped that I was paranoid…Just like when we came to the 'Sanitarium,' right?"
"That raises far too many questions," Cassian said, pretending like those questions worried him at this moment. Instead, all he felt when thinking of Asylum and Nathema, in general, was fury and spite. It forced him to think of Vitiate and his deeds yet again and realize that another opportunity will never arise…He wasn't sure for what, only that he desperately needed it.
"Do we want to know the answers?" Theron chuckled nervously. Before he could continue, however, they all realized that this was far from the end for today's surprises.
Cassian hears an explosion piercing the lower levels.
...
- I see...And how long did it take for her to overtake the manor?
- Mere minutes, my lord. I noticed rather considerable droid security guarding the manor, but Syl annihilated them quicker than most force-users I know would. She did not kill any of the human owners, however...
- An unwise move for someone that supposedly wants to cover her tracks.
- Yes, that's what I thought, too. Maybe she thinks that by the time those news spread, she would be off-world already. She's already on her way to the spaceport.
- I expected to discover as much as possible about the incident with Tenebrae, but discovering an enigma such as this exceeds all my expectations. Yet its existence correlates to the ripple in the force I sensed a few days ago, right when the Wrath ended the Emperor's life.
- Is that a good thing or not?
- That depends on what we discover about this 'Syl'. Considering what you've learned about the involvement from force ghosts, I assume that this body is currently being posessed by one of them.
- According to Shan's report, there were too many to even count, that still leaves a large pool.
- There might have been countless spirits that wanted to claim their vengeance against Vitiate, but there are only precious few among them that have the power to reanimate the dead.
- Revan was one of their key allies, perhaps it was him?
- I doubt there is any reason for the ancient Jedi to return to life, he has long become a twisted shell with a single purpose of destroying Vitiate. This must have been a relief for him.
- Then who do you suspect, my lord?
- Vitiate's children. They were there, too, correct?
- Yes... Reports mention all three and their mother, Senya Tirall. Vitiate tried to make their spirits sumbit, but it backfired against him.
- I met them during my unfortunate capture, it was not even an hour, but still more than enough to learn about what kind of people they are. Thirsty for domination and conquest, drunk on their own powers, so much so that they can barely control it. Each of them died before fulfilling their purpose as they saw it... It would be only natural for them to cling to life.
- I see... I remember the days Arcann and Vaylin were at the helm of Zakuul, they wouldn't give up their prize so easily.
- Exactly.
- What should I do next, my lord?
- Follow our suspect, but stay careful, their force is not something to toy with.
- I'll install a tracker on Syl's ship and see where she goes from where.
- Good... Report to me when her next actions become clear, Ninth Siren. Whether it is Arcann or Vaylin, both shared a same, fatal flaw that even the force potential could not compensate. A fragile, malleable mind of a child, driven by petty desires of vengenace and rebelliousness. If we can convince them that our cause is beneficial to them...
- We would have an ultimate weapon fighting right by our side.
- Do you have what it takes to sway them?
- I will not fail, my lord, I swear.