Writing is for Nerds.

Agent says I'm supposed to do this. ((IC SWTOR Hololog for Ixor'semo of the Ebon Hawk server. ))

[ixorsemo]

Gross.

DATA TEXT TRANSCRIPTION ENTRY

PASSWORD REQUIRED

\***********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

ENCRYPTION CODE REQUIRED

\**********************

ENCRYPTION CODE ACCEPTED

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

  Obisen somehow got let go from Intelligence, moped around for a few days, then decided to join the military.

The damn military.

I don't like it, I don't like any part of it, he's probably just going to go and get killed or something. Suppose I could just order him not to go, or pull strings and make it fall through, but I'm pretty sure he'd know and he'd be pissed.

He's all excited about it.

I'm not.

It's stupid, joining the military in the middle of a losing war.

SAVE FILE? Y

END TRANSCRIPTION

[obisen]

Ixor,

I know you claim you’ll be bored whilst I’m gone, but if you wish, I’ve left a list of things for you to do! 

Clean up the kitchen. (Don’t burn it down this time. Ha!)  No.

Make sure to take Tes for a walk each morning and evening. Make sure he wears the harness so he doesn’t run off. Yard has fence, just let sleen outside.

Do the wash. PLEASE make sure to separate the lights from the darks. And the bed set as well, please. Get Obisen's mom to do this. Feign inability.

Have lunch with mum and her friends. They keep asking about you. Constantly.

Water the plants. Put plants outside.

M1NDR’s speakers sound a bit—tinny. Can you look at those for me?

Find a bunch of new recipes for us to try when I get home. I will want some of your amazing cooking when I get back, I am sure of it.

Find some new holos for us to watch as well! You pick. We’ll have a marathon when I return home.

Eat lots of things I hate!   Do that anyway.

There is a stack of datasticks in my office. Go through those when you have time. You’ll like what’s on them.

Enjoy yourself!

Don’t worry so much, love. I’m only gone for a short while and whilst the intel is still classified, I know it won’t be somewhere too dangerous and I won’t be on the front lines. I’ll be home before you know it.

I love you,

-O

[ixorsemo]

[[ This datapad's list has clearly undergone some editing. ]]

[ixorsemo]

Voice entry. Must be lazy.

A whole mess of stuff happened today! Good stuff! Mostly, aside from Obisen gettin' his datapad busted and gettin' shocked by Laz'ab by 'accident'--wasn't a damned accident though, that Twi'lek completely lost his damn mind. Started rantin' and ravin' about spooks always pullin' that kinda stuff in terms of appearnce changes or some other nonsense.

Anyway!

Laz'ab agreed to help me test out a buncha prototype interrogation droids, so that's why I ended up trackin' him down. Been workin' for some time on tryin' to get ones that stood up to bad tempered Inquisitors a little better. Problem is, I stink when it comes to usin' lightning.

That guy's good with it, 'least, that's the impression I always got. Plus, I keep an ear to the ground in regards to Inquisitors; always good to know who you're workin' for, even in a general sense.

For the most part, he blasted through the droids without much difficulty. Couple droids stood up to it longer than most of 'em, but nothin' successful. 

Guess, around that point, Doctor Twi'lek got bored and started talkin' to Obisen and tryin' to patch up some minor burn from one of them 'accidental' misfires that came outta Laz'ab.

Turns out, the crazy one don't like Doctor Twi'lek payin' attention to anyone else. He kinda--it ain't even snapped, it was more like a big, loud, electric, "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!". Got my attention, if nothin' else, but it was mostly on the droids. The ones left were fallin' left and right and when Laz'ab ran outta steam, one of 'em was still hovering like nothin' had happened!

Pretty sure that woulda pissed Laz'ab off if he'd had any energy left; guy looked like he just wanted to curl up and nap right on the floor, and that ain't right. Weird as hell is what it is, but, anyway, Doctor Twi'lek said he'd make sure his weird little patient was alright and kept tellin' me to make Obisen see a med droid or whatever, like he was thinkin' Obisen ain't never been hit with Force lightning before.

Figure I'll call this new little droid model the IT-L. Told Laz'ab he could have the prototype once I got a few more workin'; dunno if he even fully processed that statement, he was kinda out of it.

Now, I just gotta figure out a cheaper way to get the materials I gotta get to make that alloy again.

Obisen's fine, though we gotta get him a new datapad. Got the data off of the fried one, but it's in two pieces and that ain't repairable.

[ixorsemo]

Other Sith.

I like messin' with other Sith.

I really do.

Some of 'em take themselves so damn seriously, or think they can get away with maskin' aggression and dumb behavior as strength.

So, on Korriban a coupla nights ago, I was there with Keid'ece and a group of--pretty sure it was a mix of humans and Purebloods--were pissin' and moanin' about Twi'lek and Zabrak specifically.

Funny who damn quick they stopped talkin' about Twi'lek after Keid'ece introduced me as a Darth.

After they dropped that posturin', they started messin' with Acolytes in one of them ways that just made 'em look stupid instead of like they were testin' the Acolytes.

Group called 'em over, then started shoutin' at 'em for daring to approach a group of Sith Lords, demandin' to know why they thought they had the right to approach, and ordered 'em to go away.

So, the Acolytes, obviously confused, bow and turn to leave, and these idiots start yellin' at 'em for "daring" to walk away from a group of Sith Lords.

Dumber than a herd of nerfs, I swear, and I told 'em I thought so. Best part is they didn't have a damn thing to say about it, hemmed and hawed for a couple minutes, then suddenly 'had better things to do'.

I can't figure out how they can be so clueless about how dense their own behavior makes 'em look; for all they wanna bitch about aliens ruinin' everything ever, at least I ain't seen a group of Twi'lek or Zabrak Sith sittin' around doin' dumb shit like that to Acolytes.

[ixorsemo]

Stuff!

Too much annoyin' junk's been goin' on lately. Had to get in Obisen's face about his whole, "I'm totally embarrassed to be seen with you in public if you don't look like an obvious Sith" thing. Again. Only this time, I didn't let him get away with the, "I have work to do we'll talk about it later" then later never actually happenin'.

He was kinda pissed at me for awhile, even more after I told him he was just pissed 'cause I was makin' him look at somethin' he wasn't comfortable dealin' with.

So,  he's been workin' on that; some of the stuff he's doin' is kinda ridiculous, but, whatever, he's thinkin' it helps so if I have to sit and listen to him go over parts of some weird books and 'roleplay' conversations, I guess it ain't bad. Plus, he has been gettin' a little better about not bein' an unintentional bantha's ass toward non-humans.

That aside, I guess his dad got killed in some fightin'. Military junk, dunno, wasn't really payin' attention. That pissed off Bi'ev 'cause Obisen asked for time off to get affairs in order. Imp military funerals are boring, just as a note. 

He's been lookin' into the death report, and don't like how it's worded. Guess some of the wording is Intel code for, "backsassed a Sith one too many times" or somethin' to that effect, so now he wants to find out who did it and why.

That ain't strictly the best idea I've ever heard, dunno if it's some apprentice or someone higher up on the food chain but, either way, it's kind of a dangerous thing to be diggin' around in.

All that aside, still workin' with the saberstaff. A lot better with it now, I've actually been takin' it out into proper combat instead of just easy junk that I could probably  manage with a long stick. Still don't like it as much as two single blade sabers, but it's got its uses. Been gettin' a bit better with usin' Force tricks, but I'm still complete crap with lightning. I can make it work, but only in short bursts.

Bi'ev's been...okay...about showin' me how the thing works, more or less.  Gotta admit, he's pretty good with a saberstaff, and he's a lot quicker than he looks. Wouldn't figure--well, no, that's dumb, older Sith don't get older 'cause they're shit at what they do. I swear, he can predict almost three moves ahead of whatever it is I'm doin', though.

Lessee...oh yeah, Esk's takin' off from Imp space again. Dunno when she'll be back. Pretty sure the akk dog's finally done growin', monkey-lizard spends most of its time not destroyin' my workshop, and that supposedly dwarf lylek ain't any bigger than it was when I got it, so I'm guessin' that means I won't have a city gate smasher on my hands in a few years.

That'd be kinda cool, though.

[ixorsemo]

ESK IS BACK IN IMP SPACE!

For a few days, anyway; got to spend some time with her and that Rasejj hunter on Vaiken. Obisen was there too, but most of what he was doin' was talkin' on the comm to some woman who he's goin' to the opera with tonight.

I think.

I dunno, he's had two or three ask him to take them. Better them than me; I'll sit through it 'cause he likes goin' to those things, but, damn, they are boring. 'Course, he thinks the same of a lot of what I like doin' for fun. Maybe not boring, but--not fun or low-brow or somethin'.

Either way, me and Esk and Rasejj were kinda monopolizin' the conversation and Obisen was just standin' there lookin' like my akk dog looks when I'm eatin' something it wants me to share. Ducked out early to give him some time to spend with those two without me bein' there and accidentlaly takin' over conversation. I know he gets along with Esk pretty well anyway. Not sure about the other one.

Saberstaff work's been comin' along good. I can actually use it and look like I know whatt he hell I'm doin' with it. Still prefer two separate sabers though. Much easier to work with and that damn saberstaff has some pretty obvious defensive flaws to it. Findin' its main strength is the fact that it looks imposing and a lotta people have no idea how to fight against it 'cause all they focus on is the fact that it's got two blades, so y'can use that plus a bit of speed and fancy footwork to make them not even notice that it's got a pretty big strike zone open for 'em if they bothered to look. 

And it looks cool.

Twirlin' that big thing around my head and movin' just right to keep the lekku--uh--and the rest of my limbs and body--out of the way of the blades is pretty impressive to watch.

Still not talkin' to Tholgeth. He won't tell me why he cut through my ship--well, no, he'll give me stupid stories, but still ain't tellin' me why he actually did it. Even if he flat out said, "I did it because I hate you" fine. That's at least a legit reason.

More legit than, "My nexu are on fire." anyway.

[ixorsemo]

Yep.

Been busy.

Working with a lot of the saberstaff training. It's goin' pretty well, haven't lopped anything off yet, though I've nicked myself a coupla times.

Been practicin' more in actual combat instead of just with a dummy, and I ain't dead and they are so I'm assumin' that means I'm pretty good at it now.

Obisen's gettin' all off in the head again, startin' to look at all the stupid shit Sith get to pull without question. Guess he was pissed that Tholgeth and Bi'ev slightly roughed up that uppity Donna woman. Ain't like I care, she was only puttin' on her nice face after she got my title.

Before she knew I outranked her she was a snotty little bitch, so I ain't buyin' the 'nice face'. About time someone made her 'nice face' less nice lookin'.

Can't say that, of course, it'll just upset Obisen more.

Makin' him take a few days off from work; he's got some intern that can cover the stupid data junk he does. No datapads, other than his personal one, and I'm watchin' that to make sure he ain't tryin' to sneak work in.

At some point, I ain't gonna be able to distract him and he's not gonna be able to bury himself in all that obvious propaganda. Don't think he'll completely crack or nothin', but he's gonna be miserable and I'm not going to like that either.

Suppose we'll have to deal with that when it happens.

For NOW, though, I'm on a long weekend with Obisen and--the sleen. He wouldn't go without takin' Tes for some reason.

[ixorsemo]

Well, who can blame them? I am pretty hot.

In the past couple weeks, I've had at least for times when someone's told me that my sexuality's been a damn topic of debate and discussion on the open comm channel.

Like, I'll head off onto comm silence or sleep or somethin', and someone pipes up with a variant of, "Does anyone know if Ixor is into women or men?" and a small debate happens.

Thing is, I monitor the channel; I got agents, I got friends, I got apprentices, and whenever I ask about it in the channel, someone'll tell me what went on.

Knee jerk reaction's always, "Why? You interested or somethin'?"

Can't exactly answer and mention Obisen, despite that bein' public record, it'll still paint a big target on him for anyone listenin' that wants to take a swipe at me, so he's married to his job and I'm too busy with apprentices to bother with a distraction like that. So the answer, since I can't mention Obisen, usually runs along the lines of, "Ask Esk'a--oh wait, you can't, she's on a hunt. Anyway, Rattataki  are hot. So are Twi'lek." Usually add in a bit about Echani, even though I ain't never seen one; guess Obisen looks like one or somethin', so it's a sneaky way to get him mentioned. Suppose, if I'm thinkin' like I'm single, it's not somethin' that ever occurred to me; if I was havin' a good time with someone, I was havin' a good time with someone.

It ain't the questions or debate or whatever that creeps me out though, it's the fact that it's apparently such a damned interesting topic that warrants repeated discussion or debate. I mean, damn, I know I"m pretty easy on the eyes and all, but it's gettin' kind of strange.

[ixorsemo]

Sort-of-but-not kidnapping Doctor Twi'lek.

DATA VOICE TRANSCRIPTION ENTRY

PASSWORD REQUIRED

\***********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

ENCRYPTION CODE REQUIRED

\**********************

ENCRYPTION CODE ACCEPTED

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

Been awhile since I'd heard from either Doctor Twi'lek or Lord Laz'ab, and since I ain't suicidal enough to try talkin' to that crazy one without the guy who holds the vials of sedatives or whatever, I fired off an invite to Doctor Twi'lek.

In retrospect, I probably didn't word it all that good, somethin' like, "Hey, meet me at the busted sandcrawler by the overrun Czerka facility in the middle of nowhere on Tatooine. Don't worry, I ain't gonna shank you or nothin'."

Surprised he showed up after that; he figured I'd found datacrons or somethin', 'cause we talked about that briefly once before Lord Laz'ab got all twitchy 'bout the topic. I DO remember where some are out there, nobody takes 'em, they just kinda leave 'em there, but I just wanted to drag the old guy outta his workspace and get him some time away from work, sick people, injured people, dyin' people, or completely crazy people. 

Also kinda surprised he made the jump onto the balloon. Easy to forget that guy's Sith sometimes. Anyway, a couple other people were there too, some Jedi who said he was an archivist for the Order, and some military grunt.

They were friendly enough, or, at least, friendly to the point that nobody had sabers drawn and I didn't have a gun at my head.

Once we got out away to where Doctor Twi'lek couldn't jump off and escape, I started tellin' him of all the weird shit that I got to see or overhear for the past couple weeks; he figures the tribal zabrak princess lady just has some kinda mental illness or somethin'. Probably spot on there. Talked about other oddities, mostly safe small talk stuff, 'cause of the Jedi and Pub trooper. They hopped off at the second busted sandcrawler. Azil'mort and I stayed on the balloon for, like, a few more hours. Must've made three more circles around before we hopped off.

Once you can get him talkin', he's good company; even smiled a few times, and not that smarmy fake one I've seen him do. That one that's got the feel of, "Oh, you poor, stupid thing, let me humor you." to it. Talked about Jedi and attachments for awhile, and I remembered some of the stuff that little green one's gone on about on the Huttnet frequency, so--I think I actually explained it sorta clearly to him! Dunno if that's good or not, but it's somethin'. Talked about how the Empire's treatment of non-humans is a pain in the ass and is only gonna hold them back long term.

I asked him a buncha questions about how Sith use the Force to heal, then mentioned a coupla times I got stuck bein' patched up by a Jedi--'least he didn't ask for details on that. Guess he uses mostly conventional methods for patchin' people up, 'less they ask him to use the Force stuff.  He likes hangin' out in the tea houses in Voss-ka; suggested maybe he invite Obisen sometime, since Obisen's been doin' a lot with medical work  and they might find that sorta conversation interesting. 

Plus, Obisen likes tea.

And tea houses.

Also asked him a little bit about Lord Laz'ab, without comin' right out and askin' what the hell was wrong with that one. Not my business anyway, all I gotta know is that it's bad enough to keep a distnce and to not go off alone with him anywhere; came up 'cause droids came up, and I started goin' on about how I was workin'on makin' interrogation droids with shells that were resistant to Force lightning. Damn things'd last longer if they were; I got a few that stand up to bein' whacked with a lightsaber, but the lightning still fries 'em.

Kinda wanted to see if Lord Laz'ab'd want to test some of 'em out since I'm thinkin' he'd give 'em an accurate testing and not some half assed zap. Doctor Twi'lek said he'd bring it up sometime and see what kinda reaction it got. I did tell him there was no way in hell I was gonna do any testin' like that (or anything ever) alone with that guy; he seemed to agree that that was probably pretty prudent, and said he'd make sure he was there as well.

Um--lessee--oh! Told him about what happened to Worms gettin' yanked by the base of her lekku and how screwy she is now 'cause of that injury. Forgot to ask if he thought it'd help to take a look at her, though. Should probably do that.

After a few trips, Doctor Twi'lek said he had to get back to Voss, but, thing is, he was pretty relaxed by the end! He was actually smilin' and laughed a few times; that guy's gotta get out regularly so he don't end up turnin' into a surly pain in the ass to everyone, and he's kinda fun once you get him talkin'. Said he was gonna see about gettin' Lord Laz'ab to ride on the balloon since he found the whole thing kinda nice and a good way to unwind.

All I can think of is that guy flippin' once he figures out he's 'trapped' in the basket and can't get out for another half hour, but maybe it wouldn't bother him if Doctor Twi'lek were there.

Good mornin' and a good afternoon, actually. I like spendin' time with other Twi'lek, 'specially once they realize I ain't a big bag of dumb. Plus, only other Sith mender I've met that wasn't a complete creep is Taz'hezyst, and he don't do that anymore--and he just uses the Force stuff, not actual medical equipment.

END TRANSCRIPTION

PROGRAM CLOSING

[ixorsemo]

No words, just...none.

DATA VOICE TRANSCRIPTION ENTRY

PASSWORD REQUIRED

\***********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

ENCRYPTION CODE REQUIRED

\**********************

ENCRYPTION CODE ACCEPTED

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

  I don't even got words for the amount of hilarious shit I got to overhear tonight.

It was so bizarre and out-there-crazy that it stopped me and Tholgeth snarlin' at each other!

I'm gonna leave it at "tribal Zabrak princess" and a group of people thinkin' it was a great idea to talk about murderin' a buncha Sith in the middle of Kaas City. I DID overhear one of 'em tryin' to indicate that maybe, y'know, the capitol city of the Empire was kind of a dumb place to be talkin' about that sorta thing, but nobody was listenin' to them.

Tholgeth and Kairien tried droppin' a few credit chips off the bridge to kinda let the group of 'em know that other people could, in fact, hear them, but they either didn't notice or didn't care.

  Usually gotta go to Vaiken for that kinda entertainment.

It takes a pretty special kind of stupid to openly talk about murderin' Sith and plantin' false Intel, AND usin' your names out loud in the middle of Kaas City. I can't even call it ballsy, it's just suicidally dense.

Later on, bunch of us went back to my ship and, I guess Tholgeth hit his quota of actin' like a rational, sane individual at some point, 'cause he got real quiet' blurted out somethin' about his nexu cats bein' on fire, ignited his saber, cut a hole THROUGH THE DAMN FLOOR AND HULL OF MY SHIP, and left.

It's a damn good thing we were docked and not in orbit, but what the HELL? I JUST finished repairing the armoring and now I can't even fly the damn thing 'cause it's missin' a fat Darth sized chunk of the hull! I don't even know how bad he screwed up the electrical system yet--eh--whatever, I'll deal with that tomorrow.

Met up with the clumsy blue Twi'lek from Tatooine again, Vestelan; he wanted to meet Tobennas. Kairien was with us too, but he's so quiet, it's eerie. If he weren't Achai's apprentice I'd swear he was just spyin'. Buncha small talk, speculatin' about what the hell go tinto Tholgeth, some weird guy wandered by a couple times and was talkin' to himself, headed back to Obisen's flat in the city to spend the night.

He's off dustin' or somethin'. I'm just layin' on the couch waitin' for him to finish dustin' shit that ain't dust covered to begin with...and now he's givin' me a look 'cause my dumb ass is doin' voice transcription 'cause all them extra brains I got apparently don't always make me have a lotta common sense.

...figure since he's tryin' not to laugh now that he ain't pissed so, yeah, puttin' this thing down now.

END TRANSCRIPTION

PROGRAM CLOSING

[ixorsemo]

Laughin' at Darth Stereotype

DATA VOICE TRANSCRIPTION ENTRY

PASSWORD REQUIRED

\***********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

ENCRYPTION CODE REQUIRED

\**********************

ENCRYPTION CODE ACCEPTED

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

Last night, one of Trayna's old clingers decided to start runnin' his mouth about how he thought I wasn't 'worthy' of my title or some other bantha shit.

Big words comin' from a guy who acts like he read some Jedi horror story about Sith used to scare little kids, and thought it was accurate instead of a buncha laughable stereotypes. I ain't even jokin', all this guy does, literally, is wander around Vaiken's big cantina brayin' about how much he gets off on torturin' and killin' people as a way to impress drunk girls who'd probably go with him anyway if he just threw around the word "Sith" without all the laughable stereotypes that literally no decent Sith even does. Pretty sure he's just an idiot.

Apparently the ass thinks I don't deserve my title 'cause I ain't trainin' Inquisitors or somethin'. He was ramblin' on and on about how my newest apprentice meant I was a failure 'cause he ain't big on torture for the sake of amusement and don't have much interest in it in general; yeah, I suck 'cause I'm able to recognize my students' strengths and work on enhancin' those rather than force 'em into doin' something they ain't gonna be good at anyway.

He started goin' on about how I "party all the time", which is funny as hell considerin' I think he lives in Vaiken's cantina.

But, bottom line, I remember when Geno had his nose so far up Trayna's ass his entire face was brown, and if that's what he considers the epitome of Sith he deserves to be the laughin' stock that he don't even realize he is.

Not to mention, I've done more in the past ten years than he's probably done his entire life, and if he thinks I didn't earn my title he can kiss my tattooed, blue ass; if he's lucky, he might not get kicked in the face while he's down there.

Also, I'm pretty sure that dumb-as-rocks boyfriend of Crezelle's kicked his ass more than once; yeah, some powerful Darth, gettin' his ass handed to him repeatedly by apprentices and Bounty Hunters.

So, movin' on, met up with some other lady--Anyanna? Somethin' like that. Had a lotta n's, a's, and a y in it. Met her outside Intel while I was signin' a bunch of stuff Obisen had for me. Chatted with her for awhile, managed to possibly get Kaz a job outta the conversation--OH! Kaz showed up! In Kaas City! Ain't gonna complain about that.

Achai was there for a bit too, but no Vith; ain't seen either of them in awhile, but I ain't gonna get pushy about it either.

Went to the Nexus room with Kaz, Tobennas, Obisen, and--I'm pretty sure it's Anyanna. It's close if it ain't that. Had a few drinks, buncha small talk, Kaz and I were teasin' Tobennas and Obisen a bit 'cause they're so alike, called it a night.

Oh, right, and a couple days ago I met some Rutian Twi'lek that looks a lot like Taz'hezyst without the boring personality, face branding, or fashion sense. Took a ride around the balloon on Tatooine, discovered that guy was kinda  clumsy when he fell off of one of the sandcrawlers, had some decent conversation.

Overall, good coupla days.

END TRANSCRIPTION

PROGRAM CLOSING

[ixorsemo]

DATA TEXT TRANSCRIPTION ENTRY

PASSWORD REQUIRED

\***********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

ENCRYPTION CODE REQUIRED

\**********************

ENCRYPTION CODE ACCEPTED

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

  Bi'ev had Obisen head to one of those factories on Nar Shaddaa. He said the thing wasn't performing at peak efficiency, and he had a credit stake in it, so he wanted Obisen to go in and get the thing humming again. I can't believe, for one second, that Obisen didn't know those things existed. It's not exactly like the Empire makes its policy of genocide of alien species that don't make good slaves or servants something that's hidden.

Maybe hidden from the general public, but not from the SIth or from Intel. I bet he's just been ignoring it. The whole thing seemed to--not really break him, but it's really rattled him. He goes between thinking his entire life has been a brainwashed lie, to reassuring himself it's "only corrupt officials and Sith" doing it, to flat out talking about how he despises the Empire, to falling back into that weird, robotic spook thing that most Intel people have on while they're working. Today, he's doing that last thing.

I'm not even sure what the issue is, considering even I knew those factories were operational. For awhile, he was talking about doing something to undermine and alert the Republic but--yeah, no. Not worth getting killed over, especially since it wouldn't halt anything. It'd be a completely worthless death.

So, now, I don't know what's going on, I'm just keenly aware that he's not happy.

And that bothers me, because I don't know how to fix it. 

Maybe I'll go out and get some more practice with that double-bladed saber.  Nobody will miss a few dozen sand people.

Well, except the other sand people, but I'm not entirely convinced that they're people to begin with.

[ixorsemo]

Okay, then.

Figured, if I can use a saber in each hand and do it without comin' off a clumsy oaf, that a double-bladed saber shouldn't be much more difficult.

Yep.

Wrong about that.

It's mostly a one handed deal, despite havin' two blades; my right arm's tired and more than a bit sore.

I gotta watch my lekku differently, 'cause I can't move with the blades on in the same way and not risk loppin' the end off of one or both of 'em.

I gotta watch what the hell I'm doin' with my free arm for the same reason, and it's almost like I gotta dance with the damn saber as opposed to just swingin' the thing around.

There isn't a--hrm--a blank space between sabers with it, and it trips me up. Sometimes literally. Good thing I've been practicin' where nobody can watch, 'cause it's embarrassing. I'm pretty agile, but this thing's got a learning curve and I gotta forget a lot of what I know about combat with two single blades as opposed to one hilt with two blades.

Still.

It's fun.

In retrospect, I probably shoulda started out with a long stick or somethin' else that wouldn't be capable of cutting off body parts from myself.

[ixorsemo]

Things and stuff.

Empire's public frequency is full of whiny kids and uppity Mandos lately.

Kinda like it when they think addin', "It's just my opinion!" somehow makes 'em exempt from things like laws and social norms.

Dunno why that's' botherin' me, but it's just irritating lately.

Eh, anyway, apparently Thogleth got into some kind of fight over somethin' that was probably just as dumb as he is.  Heard it had somethin' to do with some guy screwin' some girl Tholgeth didn't approve of and I got no damned idea why it matters.

Guess he's pissed he's about the only one in the Empire not gettin' laid.

OH! Speakin' of Mandos. Crezelle sent me some beskarhwatever. Guess some random guy left 'em in her room after stuff I don't want to think about it.

Wanted to test it for better plating on interrogation droids; those things take a beating when Inquisitors get pissed off. Probably better to just go with Ultrachrome anyway. That Mando stuff's pretty good for deflecting lightsabers, but a pissed off Inquisitor tends to use lighting, and it appears to not be as resistant to that as it is to the sabers.

Obisen's dad got kicked up a notch in rank, so Obisen was gone for a couple of weeks to go visit him. I got invited for this 'ceremony' which was really just some other military guy saying, "Congrats, here's your new rank and a pin." but it meant a lot to Obisen so--put up with a few days of a big ship's crew starin' at me but bein' too scared to talk to me. Guess that's fine, saved me from lots and lots and lots of small talk. Obisen's dad was actually civil to me the whole time. Not that forced thing he's been doin' for years, more in that, "Okay, fine, so I'll acknowledge you as a person and not some sort of animal" way.

[ixorsemo]

Yep.

Obisen's going to see his dad on whatever Destroyer he's stationed on. I got two weeks to either do everything or do nothin' at all.

Not sure which option I'll pick yet. Maybe I'll just hit Nar Shaddaa for awhile and not have to worry that the people I'm with hate the place and want to leave.

I could make a lotta junk food, and spend two weeks watchin' Huttball and stupid daytime holos, assumin' I wake up early enough to catch any of 'em.

Could mess with a couple of busted interrogation droids, see if I can get 'em ramped up a bit (not to mention make them a little more resistant to an angry Inquisitor's tantrums). Could also fix up some of the not-fixed-up speeders in the yard.

Maybe I should track down that apprentice of mine and see how he's doin'. That might mean going to Balmorra again, and nobody wants to go there on purpose.

Y'know--I wonder if beskar'gam plating on an interrogation droid'd help make it be less prone to being wrecked by a pissed off Inquisitor. The stuff's damn near lightsaber proof,  maybe it resists Force lighting as well.

Now I just gotta figure out how to get some beskar'gam without bein' a Mando. Maybe I can find a dead one somewhere.

[ixorsemo]

Order? What's Order?

DATA VOICE TRANSCRIPTION ENTRY

PASSWORD REQUIRED

\***********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

ENCRYPTION CODE REQUIRED

\**********************

ENCRYPTION CODE ACCEPTED

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

Went to Balmorra with a few people that I don't even know, got my rebreather busted by a droid, screwed up my lip in the process--nothin' disfiguring, just got a big gash on the lower one--anyway, there were some not-droids left behind in that damned resistance supplyin' little factory. Felt 'em get snuffed out with the explosion.

Good.

So, that aside, I've been tryin' to take the whole Sith thing more serious-like since managing to scrape a Darth title out. Figured I was supposed to be less--dunno what, less not-Sithlike? Casual, maybe? Been tryin' to do that for awhile now and, yeah, don't like it much.

Started to become too easy to get pissed off, and it was never about anything that'd warrant gettin' pissed off over to begin with. I don't wanna end up one of them bag of bantha cocks in a cafe screamin' at a serving droid over a drink 'cause I forgot how to have rational responses to minor inconveniences.

I get that the whole usin' anger, fear, whatever while out hackin' shit down works, and works well. It's one hell of an amplifier, whether it's internally generated or whether I'm absorbin' it off of someone else.

Short temper cuts into the social life otherwise though, 'specially considering most other Sith make me realize why Sith like to kill other Sith for reasons that sometimes don't go beyond, "because I can and the opportunity was there."

Most not-Sith people don't get how that all works and just see me bein' a snappy little pain in the ass that they can't talk back to if they don't wanna end up with a saber through a vital organ.

That, and the more absorbed I got with all that dark-whatever, and that all started long before I hit Darth, the more edgy and short tempered I started noticin' I was getting. All of that kinda scared Obisen, even if he ain't gonna admit it.

At some point, I started workin' on getting some damn balance back, and that's harder than you'd think. Once that stuff's got a good grip it's worse than tryin' to drop a spice habit. Got back to where I think I was before I had the bright idea of thinkin' I could start down that path entirely and  not turn into the same kinda cacklin', bad tempered morons I usually laugh at in cantinas.

Ran into a bit of, "You're a Darth now, Ixor, you have to act like a proper one!"

But, then, I started thinkin' if Darths can mostly do whatever the hell Darths want to do if it's not screwin' things up for Sith in general, and I'm a Darth, then if I don't wanna swish around in a black dress and be a constant ball of snappy anger, I probably don't gotta do that.

Okay, well figure I'll do it when I'm workin'.  Swishin' around in a black dress and half a droid face tends to creep people out, doubly so with the lightsabers. I get the feelin' that half of what people fear about the Sith is that we look like we've all lost our damn minds given how most of us dress.

Plus, masks're creepy anyway. 

'Specially masks made out of most of a droid's face. Figure if a rebreather kept me from losin' a lower jaw, maybe I'd be better off havin' a mask that covers most of my face to avoid a higher possiblity of losin' most of my face.

And, all of that aside, it don't matter if I'm textbook perfect Darth, I still ain't human or "pureblood", and still ain't gonna be good enough for them to consider me an equal or anything other than an inconvenient anomaly that's gotta be tolerated until someone can manage to kill it. Suppose I could squash my lekku up into a mask and hood or somethin' so people didn't know what I was, but that just seems dumb and I don't got aspirations to be the next Emperor or nothin', so why bother?

So.

Yep.

Don't really care anymore; all I gotta do is avoid 'treason' and avoid givin' Darth Skinny a reason to decide I'm bein' embarrassing--given how Tholgeth's actin' lately, that shouldn't be too hard to avoid--, and I'm good. Should probably make a few apologies to people I got snarly with when they didn't actually do anything to deserve it.

The ones who did shit to deserve it, well, deserved it.

Oh yeah, and I kinda want to take Obisen to Kala'uun. They got that big, weird plant store there.

END TRANSCRIPTION

PROGRAM CLOSING

[ixorsemo]

Obisen finally agrees!

DATA VOICE TRANSCRIPTION ENTRY

PASSWORD REQUIRED

\***********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

ENCRYPTION CODE REQUIRED

\**********************

ENCRYPTION CODE ACCEPTED

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

Well, to start, Obisen don't think I was overreacting in terms of Lord Laz'ab anymore. I think he got startled a few times.

I'm--not exactly sure what I think of him anymore. The guy's obviously dangerous in the sense that he's prone to wild mood, violent mood swings that don't seem t'have any sort of specific trigger. One second he's talkin' nicely and you'd mistake him for someone normal, the next he's this ball of teeth and claws and panic that's spittin' threats and takin' swipes. Either way, I always get this weird overview of fear, confusion, and anger stemmin' from the first two, but it ain't focused like it should be, it's just kinda chaotic.

Ended up talkin' interrogation droids with him for awhile, as well as other sorts of droids. That went mostly well, until his lekku started twitchin'.

I kept pickin' up half-words, but it was mostly somethin' like, "fmslfu8dinrsxevernlkslfhellowieemsoagojwemFMLSFLGSFLS!" He didn't seem aware  he was doin' it and got all weird when I asked him if he was tryin' to say somethin'. Seemed like a mix of confusion and panic and he just kept lookin' at Doctor Twi'lek for either an answer or for help.

Doctor Twi'lek told me Lord Laz'ab don't speak with his lekku, and Lord Laz'ab seemed confused by the concept in general. Dunno if he was never taught or if he was muzzled as a slave, he didn't say, but it's usually muzzled. Mentionin' that set him off as well, but in retrospect it was kinda stupid to ask him if he'd been muzzled.

Doctor Twi'lek also brought up relics and smugglers a few times, but no. Nope, I remember how twitchy the other one got the LAST time relics were bein' talked about.

Oh! Heh, when I ran into Doctor Twi'lek I was doin' work-related stuff, so I looked proper Sith. Don't think he recognized me at first.

Anyway, Obisen and me got away without Lord Crazypants zappin' either of us (or biting, he looks like he might bite) and Obisen went scoutin' for things to hunt with me. I'm markin' stuff down for whenever Kaz gets back into Imp space. We found a little nest of these massive, red vorantikus things!

Talked Obisen into takin' one down with me, and he actually enjoyed himself, probably 'cause it wasn't attackin' him. Maybe I can get him to go huntin' things with me when Kaz ain't around. 

Oh, and yesterday, I got to eat a whole mess of fried AND live collypods. Don't remember much else besides all the collypods and standin' in the rain with Obisen for awhile earlier in the day.

That many collypods're great enough to eclipse all other good memories. Or weird ones, I do remember Tholgeth and some weird Chiss bein' around.

END TRANSCRIPTION

PROGRAM CLOSING