Stoked to announce we'll be playing with Friendship again at Bannermans Bar thanks to @scapegoat.tv ! We'll be making a racket along with our buddies in @endlessswarm , as well as Kurokuma and Somaesthesia before heading down for @dreadfestuk. EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/2391852271030650/ #friendship #scapegoattv #endlessswarm #kurokuma #somaesthesia #insufferable #grindcore #powerviolence #noisegrind #sludge #diy #edinburgh #punk #livemusic (at Bannermans Bar) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4lF4nnJFU_/?igshid=1pma1xsikkchs
Once Riftstalker had given Jocelyn a clean bill of health - at least physically - she had him send out messages to both Kaldaras and Ragious to rendezvous with her at the Arren estate.
Ragious to his credit arrived first, seating himself in the parlor. He wasn't even wearing his armor or robes, just the simple black pants and tunic he had become so accustomed to since his time with Aittera began. When his sister arrived he stood and offered her a smile but there was something held back, something beneath the surface. He knew his wife had come here, had done battle on the estate and that his sister had encountered her. He was very much wanting to set right in with his questions but he waited.
Jocelyn was standing near the balcony doors when Ragious walked in, and her expression when she turned to see him arrive was almost immediately conflicted. Nevertheless, she had approached him on steady footsteps and embraced him warmly. "Thank you for coming, M---my...hmm..." she began, finally settling on "Kol. Thank you for coming, Kol."
Kaldaras was late, something he never would have been months before. Where Ragious dressed simply Kal dressed like a Sith, black and silver armor under black robes. It was a true reversal of the brothers demeanor and whether it would last remained to be seen.
Jocelyn smiled affectionately at him and moved to embrace him much more easily than she had with Ragious. "I'm so glad to see you, Kalloo. I missed you."
Whereas when Ragious embraced his sister, he offered her a kiss on the cheek that wasn't at all awkward or conflicted, Kaldaras was rather cold, embracing her quickly and moving to sit. "Yes, I would imagine you did, especially since you made it so that I was returning to a house filled only with servants."
His brother's coldness took even Ragious by surprise, but he did and said nothing preferring to sit back and watch the two of them for now.
Jocelyn looked so stricken at Kal's response, he may as well have struck her outright. "I'm...sure you both have questions," she started unevenly, choosing a place to sit somewhere between the two men that was equally distant - or close, depending on how one looked at it.
"I'd like to start by apologiz---" she seemed to cut herself off with an irritated expression, tilting her head. "-No-," she resumed assertively. "I want to start by telling you both that the danger is not wholly past. The device that was used to begin this was not unique in its origin."
Ragious spoke first, "Would that be the device that I now have locked in a stasis chest and guarded by seven non force sensitive shock troops at all times?"
Kaldaras just continued to sit and fume. He had questions but at the moment he appeared as if he truly did wish to hit his sister.
The reversal of demeanor in each of her brothers was becoming more distracting by the moment. She glanced between them one more time before a guileless smile jumped to her lips with her response to Ragious. "Yes, and that was an excellent idea, Mas---Kol!"
With a little chuckle, Jocelyn reached for the wine that had been poured for her by a servant when she'd arrived. "Hmm...this is trickier than I thought." Once she'd taken a deep drink of the thick ruby liquid, she continued. "-I- think it's important to note first that there is a credit account that you can use to find Dels'taron, Kaldaras. It was set up some time ago separate from House Arren's accounts in case of emergency, and I gave it to her so that when she was no longer in danger, you or I could track her down."
"Do you think I needed a credit account to find my fiance? I have already located her, along with her altered memory and the surprising message that I would no longer be marrying her. A message that by the way sent her on a journey that may have that very effect. Now, of the three of us, which one has the abilities that would implant such a message while leaving her unable to recall clearly who delivered it?" He kept his voice in check but his presence in the force was screaming at her. He wasn't just angry - he felt betrayed by the woman he loved second most in the galaxy.
Ragious, however, noticed his sister's slip when referring to him, filing it away for later. "That artifact nearly cost Qel'rend her life, and for my part it had a strange attractiveness. I am guessing one of the three of you can explain it."
Jocelyn's hand rose as if to halt Kal's accusation or perhaps the fury that all but hurled itself in her direction before a blush highlighted her cheeks as she suppressed an embarrassed smile in Kol's direction. "Why don't I just start at the beginning instead? I think you'll both find enough answers there to...maybe hold off the desire to lynch someone! Sheesh! Force save me from Sith tempers."
Despite this final rather amused gentle exclamation, another look of irritation crossed her face, and she fell silent for several moments as she stared hard down at the glass of wine clasped in her lap. Both brothers were aware of the unique circumstances that had led to their sister being used as a vessel for an ancient Sith spirit. In claiming Kalista's body for her own, Mistanis had used Ragious's apprentice, Temivi, in the process, but in the end, she had been unable to wholly expunge either of the other two presences completely. The result had been Jocelyn Arren, and Kol and Kaldaras had come to accept her in the new persona.
Kal sat back in his chair folding his arms, but he continued to stare daggers at his sister. Kol was the opposite moving just ever so much closer and leaning forward to listen. "Please, continue Kalista."
When Kol spoke, she lifted her eyes to gaze at him with a note of surprise and suspicion. "Alright. Kiabe came to the house. She had contacted me a few weeks before that day concerning you and Khor, and it seemed like this was to be some kind of follow up - to see if I was going to help her in whatever she'd decided to do. I know you two liked your games, but I honestly never cared for them. Still, she has a lot of influence with Khor, so I always tried to at least make her feel like I was willing to help her.
“We met in the arboretum, and I could tell that she was up to something, but I let her play out the conversation in her own way. She broke the glass of wine that she was holding, and before I had a chance to react, she reached across the table and grabbed my hand to cut it. That's how she activated the device."
"So it did want blood. Qel thought the same but I wasn't going to feed it." Kol had listened intently to what she was saying. "I honestly never thought she would come after you. I am guessing that the reason she was set on her rampage and eventually went to attempt to murder Aittera was the effect of the artifact? I saw what it did to Qel, and I didn't put them together til just now."
Jocelyn nodded, her hand moving a few inches along her lap in his direction seemingly of its own accord. "It wanted blood. I don't know how she came by the device, but I think she believed it to be what it was disguised as - a holocron. Knowing your wife, she probably hoped that it would contain something powerful enough to use to influence you somehow. If she had trusted me enough to show it to me beforehand..."
She drew herself up to sit straighter and continued a little more stiffly. "We fought until I realized what she'd pressed my palm to. Unfortunately, by the time I recognized it, I was already being affected by it as well. I knew I had little time, so I did everything I could to minimize the potential damage. I---"
She seemingly cut herself off again, but this time, the shift between personalities was much more obvious. She leaned forward and snatched Kol's hand wrapping her own around it. "I hate that phrase - 'minimize potential damage'. Mistanis told you both that she had achieved 'cohesion' between the different essences distilled into this vessel, but it's crap, Master Ragious! She would have you all believe that hers is the only true spirit left, but what she did tore Kalista's spirit - it didn't leave her body willingly, so expelling it was violent. And when she left my---Temivi's body, she took part of her spirit with her! She didn't achieve 'cohesion'! She took control!"
"I know." It was Ragious that spoke first, Kaldaras regarding him with his usual suspicion. "I've long suspected it at least, and I have had the scholars and scientists loyal to me researching what could possibly be done to fix it, including separating the additional essences, meaning Temivi, and if she behaves herself Mistanis, into separate cloned bodies. Temivi's would be far easier though, as I remained in control of DNA samples she...no you, I know that's you I'm speaking to, provided when she first became my apprentice."
"No." It was Kaldaras who spoke this time. "You're not going to perform some weird experiment that could endanger Kalista all over again just because you're sad that your apprentice, that you abandoned, was killed and you want her back. Boo hoo Kol, grow up and be Sith. You used to be so good at it, and now all you do is mope. Waah, my wife is dead, waah my mistress ran off, waah I want Temivi back."
Ragious stared at Kal, and it was obvious that if he hadn't been holding Jocelyn's hand, his own would likely have gone to his lightsaber, "It's not weird, and it isn't just Temivi. I want my sister back."
Jocelyn leveled her gaze on Kaldaras next, but there was no malice or ill will in it as she squeezed Ragious's hand and spoke sternly, but somehow kindly. "We could say the same about you, you know! Dels'taron is alive because of us! If I hadn't seen her on the surveillance displays when I did, she would have walked right into the slaughter that was going on here. Kiabe wasn't killing randomly, you know. She wasn't just going after the aliens! We could feel it. Anyone either of you even so much as looked at longingly was being targeted too!
“Khor's half-sister? The one whose identity you kept hidden? I found her first, pulled her into a hiding place. And the redhead girl from the kitchen staff that made your favorite soup? Mistanis grabbed her and locked her in the walk-in cooler just one minute before Kiabe reached the kitchens.
“I don't know which one of us told Dels'taron to leave, but the entire goal of it was to keep her as far away from Kiabe's reach as possible before that device's effects could overwhelm us. So, yeah, maybe we did things a little dirty and a bit disorganized with three spirits fighting for control, but Mistanis's son did horrific things before he finally died, and we -had- to get away from everything you and I held dear. "
"Khor's half sister?" It was Ragious who was speaking, his gaze leveling at Kal, "You kept one of -my- children as a servant?" His voice took on a dangerous edge. "She is to be released to House Eirndeth at once, and when this threat to our family has passed, brother mine, we are going to discuss what you are going to do to apologize."
Kal scoffed, but his attention was on his sister, some of the hurt washing away, but not all. He was obviously still upset due to the circumstances of not being able to marry Dels'taron when he returned as he had desired. When Ragious pounded his free hand on the table to draw Kal's attention back, he only turned his head and stared at Ragious with a look of steel, nodding slowly.
Ragious still wouldn't release the hand he held. It was like he was using it to keep himself centered, to keep him from losing control of his anger. When he was a child, his sister never would have had that kind of calming effect, but this was a new Kol Arren and Darth Ragious - his experiences of the past month since his return bringing the man he wanted to be with Aittera and the Sith he was more into balance.
"If I've come to understand Kaldaras half as well as I think I have, he thought he was protecting her, and he had good reasons for doing so. Don't forget that what brought us all together is still here, Mast---KOL." She passed a sheepish look up at him - something that looked very strange on the usually composed Jocelyn's face. "I'm not used to being the one that speaks. We only agreed this morning on how to address you both and how to refer to our--myself...to avoid sounding crazy."
"And how would you prefer to be addressed?" Kol looked over at her, apologetic for dragging the conversation off the topic she had asked them to gather to speak about.
"Jocelyn. General consensus says Jocelyn is still correct. None of our spirits are whole anymore, and while your idea is a thoughtful one, I'm afraid what you'd create would be three incomplete people. I think it's best we remain as we are now that we know Mistanis survived."
"So what happened after Kiabe's assault here? I know she went to Nar Shaddaa. I also know that something has happened with my powers, where before I could feel the link between Aittera and myself so fully, I can't even find her now. I never thought that would be possible?" While Kol spoke, Kaldaras remained silent. He had the details he needed. At this point, it was yet another set of artifacts to be recovered, something he did very well.
If seeing the sheepish look on her face a few minutes before had been uncharacteristic, the confusion and guilt that now painted itself there was downright disturbing. "I think I did that too," she admitted apologetically in a softer tone. "Everything after leaving here is...disjointed....but I remember Aittera. There was some argument about whether or not we should protect her and the Jedi. Things are harder to keep track of. I don't even remember how I ended up where my agent finally found me."
"Did what exactly? You are a powerful Sith, but I don't think you could diminish my powers without being in the same room."
She frowned as she tried to sort through her memories (as well as consult those of the other two spirits), shaking her head. "Mistanis didn't want to waste time...Kalista and I were fighting to get to Nar Shaddaa, but...I think we were also fighting about what to do once we got to her. I remember being in a room...on a freighter...and Aittera was tied to a chair....and...."
Jocelyn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will the memory forward, then shook her head. "We were all losing time by then, and we were getting sicker faster like a snowball rolling downhill?"
Kol nodded at her, and at this point even Kaldaras seemed to be listening as he interjected, "You cut her off from him, in some way. You didn't do anything to his ability to use the force, you did something to her ability to be affected by it. It's why he can't find her now. Can you find her, Jocelyn?"
She looked to Kaldaras, nodding slowly. "That makes sense. One of Kalista's ideas was to prompt her into hiding somehow, and Mistanis's counter was that all Kiabe would have to do would be to follow Kol."
She drew back to sort of sag against the chair she was in with a look of defeat and dropped her free hand over her eyes. "I remember a lot of paranoia while I was on Nar Shaddaa - Mistanis was so terrified...She - I mean -I- knew I was dying."
I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make this up to you both. I'm so very sorry."
"No, you're going to spend the rest of your life being our sister, regardless of how many of you are in there." Ragious told her, comforting Jocelyn with another squeeze of her hand in his. "You see, I have few regrets in my life. Temivi knows me in ways few others do, the few regrets I do harbor involve both her and Kalista so tremendously that I could never make up for them."
He paused before continuing, "I won't pretend that I am a better person now, I don't believe I am. But I do know that I am not angry with you for any of this. Kiabe's jealousy drove her to this, I knew it would happen one day, though admittedly, I thought it would be me she attacked directly. I still loved her, even with what I was doing with Aittera, and believe me the temptation to ONLY be with Aittera was strong, but in the end, I was not going to leave my wife. I still need Aittera though, and that's a hard thing for me to admit. It was hard when I told her. So yes, if there is any way for you to find her, please, tell me."
When he squeezed her hand, Jocelyn moved to slide into his lap much like Temivi had often done in the past when she sought to comfort her Master. "I'll try. I think Kaldaras is right. I think whatever I did, shielding her mind from yours was part of it."
It was so natural a thing, his memory of Temivi so clear as he moved an arm around her to hold Jocelyn against him as he had done with Temivi so many times before. That the body was different didn't matter. He didn't even lose a step, the act being so familiar. "If she's shielded from my mind, then it's another mind needed to seek her. I can still feel what it felt like to touch her mind, perhaps that feeling could be used?"
She settled into his lap like a child into a parent's embrace and nodded. "Yes, maybe. But distance might play a role as well. I'll research it."
"Thank you, Jocelyn." It was Kal that had spoken up this time, and he seemed a bit unnerved by his sibling's new found closeness, realizing how much of his brother's former apprentice was bleeding through. "These artifacts. I remember a passing note in the family archives, there was one for Mistanis and each of her children were there not?"
"Yes. Two of her children were meant to be targeted, as well as herself. It's how her son died," she answered with a frown, looking across to Kal. "Her husband knew of her research into immortality, and he was angry that she hadn't planned to use it for him as well. They...didn't get along very well."
"So three total, and we know the location of one. Assuming he doesn't lose it." It was a cheap jab at Ragious, which normally would have provoked a fight.
Kol simply chuckled. "Yes, I'm probably going to leave it in the jungle with so many other of my lost toys. Wait, no, that was you," he continued, giving Jocelyn's hand another gentle squeeze, her presence truly comforting him. "I could send it into a sun. That way it could never be used against us again. Then we can do the same when we find the other two."
"The other one,” she corrected him. “The one that killed her son went dormant once it had infected him. I think the only reason I survived was because Kiabe found the one intended for the daughter, and Rift found me in time to reverse the physical damage that was done."
"So the one remaining is the one that can effect you the most." Kol shifted as he spoke, it was a protective motion. "When it is found we need to destroy it, immediately. Whatever means it takes. It can not come near you."
Jocelyn nodded, looking down at Kol's protective arms around her and then up again with a fleeting expression of...discomfort? "Right. And if the one you took from the arboretum is still active, no Sith should go near it at all. I think it's safe to say that it will continue to lash out until it finds its intended victim."
"He did at least have the sense to lock it in stasis, and have it guarded by non Sith. Does his idea of shooting it into a sun have merit? Holocrons can be fragile, after all." Kaldaras noticed the look, catching on to what was happening, but saying nothing. The personalities had shifted again, and whichever spirit had now asserted control, she was not nearly as comfortable as Temivi had been.
"Well, they aren't true holocrons, but I think it's definitely worth a try. Mistanis admits she hadn't thought of it," she answered, looking across to Kaldaras. "I think we should send a team of non-Sith to do it."
"You're welcome to come up to the Avenger and watch it be done. I can have the shock troopers already guarding it load it onto a shuttle and send it into the sun."
Jocelyn slid from Ragious's lap to get to her feet. "If it's all the same to you, I don't think I ever want to see the damn thing again.”
Jocelyn stirred after several hours of sleep with a soft moan that was part ache, part contentment for the warmth and comfort of the bed that she had been moved to after her stay in the medical bay. Rift was sitting nearby with a datapad, going through several reports. When she stirred, he looked over at her with a concerned smile. "You actually slept for a few hours without waking, I think you're on the road to recovery."
She looked over sleepily at the datapad, then up at him, without moving from the comfortable position. "Of course, I am. I'm Sith after all," she quipped with a small smirk. "What about you? Did you sleep?"
"No, I'm trained to resist sleep for days if necessary. I will sleep when I know you are fully out of danger from your injuries." He keyed off the holo. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," she answered with a slight nod. "Physically, at least. My connection with the Force is still...odd."
"Could it have something to do with the personalities at war inside you? Or do you think it's whatever was affecting you?"
"We're not...'at war'. Or at least, that is not how I would describe it," she corrected him. "I think this is what is left of the device's effects...or perhaps, the recovery from them."
"What exactly was the device? What were you after when it started to affect you?"
"I'm not sure what you mean by that - what I was after. I wasn't after anything. Kiabe was the one who activated it. I tried to warn her, but by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late," she frowned. "I...me...those words aren't accurate, but are. It's very confusing."
"I'm trying to understand the circumstances that led us here. Maybe it would be best for me to let you tell them. I've been trying to piece it all together, but your slaves were not very helpful."
Another frown. "Servants."
"Apologies. I was under the impression that House Arren's servants were slaves."
"Some are, but not by my choice, and certainly not by my hand."
He gave her a smile as she described it. He had never really had a strong opinion of the Imperial practice of slavery, but he enjoyed the fact that she did have an opinion that would make her correct him.
She drew herself up into a sitting position. "If you let me have some caf, I will tell you everything I remember," she offered with a coy smile.
A few minutes later, they both held steaming cups of caf, and she began her explanation.
"The device was never supposed to be found. There were five in total - one meant for Mistanis and the others for each of her children. Kiabe didn't mention where she found it."
"What do you mean by 'meant for?' I'm vaguely familiar with the way holocrons work, do you mean they were being crafted to record from those particular Sith?"
"I mean that these were not true holocrons - three of them weren't. They were crafted for the purpose of destroying three particular Sith - or more specifically, their spirits." She took another sip from her mug, letting that sink in for a moment.
"Crafted by who?"
"I'm not sure, but if Mistanis's husband didn't craft them himself, she never sought out their true creator. She had them scattered and hidden so that they could never be used."
"So, there are potentially two more of them still out there?"
"One."
"So you can account for two of them?"
She nodded and took another sip of her caff without looking at him. "Mistanis's husband left each of them a holocron among their inheritances. They all assumed they must contain personal messages or knowledge that he intended them to have as a part of his legacy passed on to them. Mistanis was alerted to the danger when her youngest son activated his."
He seemed to consider this for a moment. "If three of them were corrupted, what was contained on the other two?"
"The other two were, in fact, personal messages admonishing the two eldest sons to continue to build the Arren legacy, and abolish weakness from the lineage as he had taken steps to do; and they contained a lovely complete history up until that point of the Arren house, including its origins."
"So, the youngest son was the only one to fall victim to the holocron, what exactly did it to do him?"
"It infected his spirit with a Force sickness. By the time anyone realized what had happened to him, he was very mad and very physically ill. He didn't recover," she answered in a cool, detached manner. "Mistanis found the source and realized what had happened, and she thought it best to try to have the devices destroyed. Unfortunately, that proved more difficult than one might think, so she asked a trusted servant to take the other two as far away as possible and hide them in places they were unlikely to be found."
"Apparently they didn't take it far enough if Kiabe was able to find one. A pity she's dead and can't tell us where hers came from."
"Yes, though I fail to see how it could possibly have killed her. The magics involved were very specific in their focus," she frowned.
"What if she died because of the Holocron's influence? Something it caused her to do? You said you fought her, and I have met Kiabe Eirndeth. She allowed you to become engaged to her son. I do not believe she would then turn and attack House Arren when her alliance to it strengthens her own house."
"It's very likely. Once she activated the device, she flew into a rage. Temivi did what she could to minimize the carnage, but it was difficult to maintain control. While the focus of the illness that was conferred is very specific, once it's active, it seems to affect anyone with an affinity for wielding the Force who comes in contact with it."
Rift mused with a grin and a laugh. "It made Ragious more polite, almost heroic even."
This took her by surprise, and she looked at him as though he'd just uttered something impossible to comprehend. "That's difficult to believe."
"I have it on first hand authority from one of your servants, and no I will not tell you which, he was ever so protective of Lady Qel'rend after whatever happened in the Arboretum, and he was even polite to the House Servants, they thought he was possessed."
She scowled slightly into her caf. "It's probably some kind of trick. In any case, I believe the device Kiabe found was meant to destroy Mistanis's daughter. That is the only reason I am still alive."
"Perhaps. And that it wasn't the one meant for Mistanis has me very grateful. Though it also means that an even great danger is still out there." He looked over at her, and she could see the slight bit of fear invade his features, something he quickly quashed.
If she shared that fear, it was not evident in her own expression or the bond they shared as she nodded agreement. "And it would be safest to take a team that is not made up of Sith to retrieve it. Or, at least, Sith not from the Arren bloodline. Kiabe only needed a few drops of my blood to activate it."
The fewer people who are aware of the existence of this, the better. I was livid when I found out about these devices, but I see the wisdom in Mistanis's decision to keep them a secret. This would be best handled by a few trusted individuals."
"Agreed. I am curious about something, are you going to tell your brother's about what you know?" He looked over at her, a genuine curiosity on his face. "I would imagine that Kaldaras needs to be told, his penchant for seeking holocrons out could be dangerous if he found this one."
She nodded. "I should at least tell Kaldaras, and since Ragious may be affected already, it's probably better to tell him -" She couldn't help a wicked twist of her lips - "eventually...before it becomes dangerous. Lady Qel'rend should know as well, from what you've told me."
"Before he brings ruin to House Arren by dedicating it to the Republic you mean?" He teased with a poke to her side. "I wish we could question Kiabe on where she acquired the device. It would have given us clues to where the other may be."
"Yes, but by the time Mistanis was aware of what it was, Kiabe was not exactly in the mood to chat over tea." She pursed her lips. "When she first arrived, she said one of her agents had brought her something he claimed was from the Unknown Regions. That is the only thing she said about its origins."
"It is a start. And I assume the Arren archives can give us some information on the time frame. Then it is only a matter of searching a not small number of archives in the region for signs of Mistanis servant's passing."
The Phantom Class starship landed on the embattled planet of Ord Radama, near the city of New Raido - an unlikely place to find a Sith in hiding with the amount of Republic (and specifically Jedi) forces encamped there. However, from the moment he landed on the planet, the agent known simply by the handle 'Riftstalker' had become certain that he was closer to Jocelyn Arren's presence than he had been in months.
That sense of her was jumbled, however. One moment, it was clear, succinct, almost like a beacon, and the next, it was muddled, muted, as though wrapped in heavy gauze. Progress was slow, and it would take days to track down the warehouse on the outer edge of the city.
The warehouse itself had been an early victim of a bombardment from one side or the other in the ongoing conflict, and it had been abandoned since. It had been a shipping company, exporting fine wines that, curiously enough, included one of Jocelyn's preferred reds. There wasn't much left of the hangars and loading areas, but a small administrative area still remained on an upper level, overlooking what had once been the main work space where racks of wine bottles were carefully packed into large crates and secured for shipping.
Rift took his time, scouting the exterior of the warehouse. Sure there were no traps on the outside, he didn't even bother with his stealth field as he climbed through a hole that had formed in the wall from the bombing. He was - as usual these days - wrapped in his carbon black armor, so the shadows allowed him to blend just fine as he made his way through the building, inspecting any left behind crates, and stashing any undamaged bottles in his gear bag.
"I know you're here somewhere. We usually do this the other way with me seeing how close I can get to you, but after so much searching, I'm not really in a game playing mood." He was lying, of course. This was all just another facet of some game he was playing. It was how he got through life.
The closer he got to the side of the building where that administrative area overlooked the bulk of the warehouse from above, the stronger his sense of her through the jumbled, shifting shades of clarity. For the most part, the interior was long undisturbed, dust and debris everywhere, but the thick layer of dust on the bottom-most stair had been disturbed - by a single, small footprint. It was too small for the woman he was seeking, obviously made by a child - one not wearing any shoes.
The rest of the stairs had a uniform layer of dust that the keen agent discerned was too uniform, too even.
Rift's cyborg implants took a scan of the footprint, filing it away for later use if necessary. Then began to scan the rest of the stairs, trying to see if there was anything further that his implants could detect through the very well crafted deception before he began his ascent.
His scan revealed that some of the stairs themselves had been shored up to prevent breakage, the repairs having most likely taken place after the bombing that weakened the structure of the warehouse itself.
Upstairs, the anterior chamber of the management area still held a desk - most likely a receptionist's station - and a couch that might have once been plush and comfortable, but was now missing a leg and all of its seat cushions. The moment he stepped into this room, his physical vision blurred, his thoughts were suddenly confused with a sense of fear and that not-right feeling that often comes from instinctual self-protection in a dangerous situation. Unbidden, thoughts of turning back swam into his mind, but beneath it all, that sense of the Sith Lord's presence became stronger than it had ever been.
There was a closed door opposite the one by which he'd entered, and even as it seemed to become the most terrifying element in the immediate area, the understanding that the woman he sought was behind it came to him in quiet certainty. The question was whether he could overcome the overwhelming fear and desire to turn around and leave.
Ever a professional Rift refused to show the fear that was permeating his being. He had been around Sith all of his life and had even stood face to face with a few just below the Dark Council in terms of power. He would not let this woman's power turn him back.
Stepping forward, he gripped the door closure and pushed it forward to step in, and in doing so, he suddenly pondered that he had never unslung his rifle from his shoulder nor drawn one of his knives. He truly could not bring himself to fear Jocelyn Arren.
The office itself was completely empty save for another couch at the far side of the room. It was in better repair than the one in the antechamber, it's missing cushions shoved haphazardly amid this couch's own.
It looked as though someone had piled black rags in a heap on the right side of the couch, and a growing sense of dread permeated the atmosphere. To part of his mind, death and darkness were represented in that jumble of inky black material. However, for that part of him that could sense the proximity of the Lady of the Sith that he had sworn himself to, this was where his search ended. Jocelyn - or what was left of her - was in this room.
Rift moved directly to the pile of black material on the couch reaching out to search through it. Needing to find something more than another false alarm of her presence.
Before his hand made contact with the material, there was movement, and as his blurred vision cleared, so did the illusion. Curled into a tight ball, tucked under a dark, coarse blanket, Jocelyn Arren bore little resemblance to the fierce, dynamic woman she once was. Her skin was pallid and sickly, and she was feverish to the touch. Her cheeks were gaunt, and her eyes were sunken from malnutrition and starvation.
As he scooped her up from the couch, he could feel her trembling. She was lighter than she should have been, and though she stirred, she didn't seem to wake. One word slipped from her cracked lips in a hoarse whisper, though. It was his real name. She was aware on some level of his presence.
Realizing the state she was in, he wasted no time. His path was the quickest back to his speeder and then back to his ship. He had come under fire from Republic troops during the return trip, and he hadn't even paused a moment; just barreled past until he was able to get her to the one secure location he trusted at the moment.
Once on his ship, he set about diagnosing her, immediately looking to get some fluids into her to deal with the biggest dangers.
The diagnostic program returned grim results. The analysis revealed severe dehydration and starvation. She had a serious infection that likely had stemmed from a weakened immune system, and she was on the verge of multiple organ failure.
The scan of her mind, however, was perhaps more disturbing. Synaptic activity was erratic, and there was significant evidence of deep tissue damage. Immediate restorative treatment was advised.
Though she remained unconscious, he could sense awareness through their Force bond. She knew he was there with her.
With his scans complete Rift set about saving her. He began the intravenous fluids as his droids began to prep the medbay for emergency surgery. His previous specialty in interrogation had necessitated training as both a doctor and a surgeon. He moved to a terminal and began preparing a stim injection for revitalizing and reversing her organ failure. With that finished and injected, it was the issues with her mind that he was now most concerned with.
Leaning down beside her, he whispered into her ear, "If you die on me, I will never forgive you."
Then his droids were wheeling over the equipment that would allow him to correct the physical damage in her mind.
As Rift worked, he could feel her presence gaining purchase through their bond, holding fast to his determination to keep her alive. Throughout his vigil after he completed the surgery, that sense of her remained with him, cementing the bond between them.
It would be nearly a day before her eyes would twitch and slowly draw open, a quiet groan parting her lips as she regained consciousness.
Rift was at her bedside the entire time monitoring vitals and keeping his silent vigil with his only interruptions being to use the fresher. When she finally let out her groan he gave her a smirk and quipped, "About time you woke up, I was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep the entire way back to Kaas."
Another groan when she tried to turn her head toward the sound of his voice. Wincing, she spoke very, very softly. "How long?"
"I found you nearly two days ago." Satisfied with his scanners latest results, he reached over and began removing the diagnostic pads from her skin.
She tried to shake her head, stopped with a wince. "Since Kaas."
"Months."
The pain that filled her countenance had nothing to do with the post-operative ache in her head.
"What exactly happened? You've been missing, Kiabe Eirndeth is dead. Kaldaras hasn't checked in and Ragious is running the Offensive now."
Jocelyn pressed her eyes tightly closed and gingerly lifted a hand to her forehead. "Kiabe is dead?"
"According to Agonar, and if anyone is likely to know, he would."
"Did he say how?"
"No. I do not believe he knows."
"You said Kalloo is missing?"
"Not missing just not checking in. Last I knew he was still chasing that holocron."
Her eyes flew wide as she tried to sit up, panic not only in her voice but permeating the air around her, flowing to him through their connection through the Force. "Which holocron? Where did he go?"
Rift shook off the panic. "I don't know the name, some Jedi relic he read about. Was lost on Taris about 300 years ago when Darth Malak bombarded the planet."
Too weak to actually finish sitting up without causing damage, she wound up leaning on her side, facing him, and reached for his shoulder with the expectation that he would help her stand. The answer, however, brought enough clarity with it to help arrest the rising panic. "Jedi relic...thank the Force..."
Rift kept her from getting up too far, gently holding her down to keep her in the recovery bed, "Are you going to tell me what all that was? And where you've been for the past few months? I've chased you halfway around the galaxy and back."
The expression on her face was response enough. She had no idea where she'd been or what had happened. She let him push her back onto the bed and closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. "Are you the only one here?"
"Other than the droids, yes." When he was certain she wasn't going to try to get up again he took his seat back beside the bed.
She was silent while she tried to organize her thoughts, sort through the haze of what she could recall. When she finally spoke again, there was a glimpse of the composure she was once so adept at summoning. "The first thing I must ask you to do is contact House Arren. Tell them to stay away from the arboretum."
"No need, Lady Qel'rend and Ragious already pacified that problem. Your servants really do not particularly like Ragious, and were quite open lipped."
There was a surge of concern as she opened her eyes to look at him again. "Are they alive?"
"Unfortunately." This time he was definitely teasing her. There was no love lost between himself and Ragious, but he was rather fond of Qel'rend, and he would even begrudgingly admit that Ragious was good for the Empire.
The corners of Jocelyn's mouth tugged upward in what might have turned into a smile had the subject been about anything else. "They found the device?"
"They found something. Ragious took a stasis box with him when he left the estate after pacifying whatever was in the arboretum."
Relief. "We'll need to find the others."
"What do you mean the others?"
"There were three altogether."
"Datacrons? In House Arren?"
"House Arren stores hundreds of archives, but these were never part of that collection. Mistanis wanted them destroyed, but they couldn't be, so she had them buried, scattered."
"I suppose we're not going back to Kaas right away then?"
When Aittera came to, she was seated in a chair in the small room that served as a medbay on the Hope, and when she attempted to raise her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes, she found them bound to the chair's arms. A feminine figure cloaked in black stood opposite her, and as her blue gaze settled on the smooth black helmet, recognition accompanied the memory of her final moment of consciousness before.
“You're Somaesthesia.” Her voice was thick, and the words sounded slurred as she forced them past her lips. It was as though she was emerging from a haze, and it required effort to pull each coherent thought from that haze. “You're the sister that was possessed by the spirit of Kol's ancestor.”
The dark figure nodded, and the voice that erupted from the helmet's speaker was mechanical and distorted. “I have given you a gift.”
“I don't recall asking for one.” That's right, Aittera. Piss off the Sith chick while you're tied up and at her mercy.
“While I am unable to fully erase the illusions bestowed upon you by Darth Ragious to lure you into his service, I was able to successfully shield your mind from him further. You are no longer under his sway, and I am allowing you to live on the condition that you swear on your life that you will not seek him out and continue to honor the truce you negotiated with his son.” The cloaked woman paused to allow Aittera a moment to process the offer.
“Wait...” Aittera's mind whirled as she realized that the Sith sorcerer had not only been inside her mind, but had just said what she'd experienced was--- “What do you mean 'illusions'? Are you saying what happened wasn't real?”
Another nod. “Do you accept my terms?”
“Do I have a choice?” Despite Somaesthesia's claims, Aittera tried to mentally 'reach' for Kol as she'd so often done before, but there was no answering tug, no spectral appearance, and no sense that he was watching from just out of sight.
“I could end your life.” The answer was cold, simple, and matter-of-fact.
“Wouldn't that have been easier? Don't you Sith just kill anyone anymore?”
“Darth Ragious may have found a loophole in the terms you negotiated in your truce with Khor, but I would prefer to honor that agreement on behalf of House Arren,” the metallic voice explained with a note of pride. “You did not act against our interests, therefore I am allowing you to live.”
Aittera's mind began to race as she tried to sort through her memories of what had transpired and weighed them against the possibility that she was being told the truth. Sith lied, after all, so it was just as plausible that the woman before her was the liar as it was that the last few months had been the lie that Kol – Ragious – had spun to do what he admitted that he couldn't do with brute force – bend her to his will. She was in love with someone who she could never really be with or that love was a lie.
Either way, she was bound to a chair, and there was a very dangerous woman standing across from her, waiting to either kill her or release her.
Jocelyn sat back in stunned silence, staring at the space her future mother-in-law's image had occupied moments ago. As she had gotten to know Kiabe, she had accepted many possibilities about the future of their relationship. She knew, for instance, that while they might always be polite with each other, there would always be an underlying tension and distrust that would demand they each put spies around the other. Of course, neither could afford to act against the other and risk Khor's wrath, but they would likely spend countless hours finding ways to undermine each other in his view in order to gain more influence with him.
Kiabe would have preferred someone she could exert complete control over at her son's side, but he had a knack for choosing those she could neither intimidate nor blackmail around himself – something Jocelyn herself had been rather impressed with when it came down to it. Of course, that also meant that -she- couldn't exert control over most of those people either, but she had felt that she was in the best position to at least influence him the most.
She hadn't foreseen the possibility that the pureblood noblewoman might sincerely ask her for help. It seemed that Kiabe had stumbled upon a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Ragious's most trusted servant. Moreover, upon investigation, she'd learned that she was, in fact, an identical twin sister given up at birth to the Jedi order. This presented a unique opportunity to create the perfect spy in the continuous struggle for supremacy between Kiabe and her husband, and Khor had been enlisted to help secure the twin.
An hour after speaking with her mother-in-law-to-be, Jocelyn was in the arboretum on the Arren estate, sitting in front of a portable holo-comm unit set on the black wrought iron table in a little clearing in the center of the structure. Khor's image shimmered into view, the holo-camera tight on him, not betraying where he was. Further, it was obvious a sound filter was in place.
Jocelyn gave her comm unit's camera lens an amused smile. "I just spoke to Kiabe at some length."
Khor returned her amused smile with one of his own. "I imagine she was upset?"
"Her exact words were 'I suggest you warn him that I will have no qualms in terminating this project altogether by ordering the deaths of both sisters if he doesn't return to me immediately.' and as thorough as my security is, I'm sure her spies will be watching me closely to see if we make contact."
"She can view this conversation all she wants, this line is completely untraceable, as is my location. In time she will accept that I made the only logical choice, and that my way was far better. Her way would have netted her a short term personal win, mine will net House Eirndeth a loyal servant."
"She claims that you are as obsessed with Renna as Ragious is with his new girlfriend and that we have both been betrayed."
He laughed. "Renna is special to me, there is no doubt of that. We have been bonded since I was young. This has nothing to do with any kind of obsession, it's to make sure neither of my parents get too far ahead of the other. If Ragious was doing something that would completely tip the balance between them I would be stepping in there as well."
"Khor, why not kill the Jedi and be done with this?"
"Because that would waste her potential. She's not truly a Jedi anymore, and she has already taken steps down the path to the Dark Side. I intend to fully turn her."
Jocelyn nodded thoughtfully. "Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Warn me if my mother's spies start watching the apartment too closely."
"You left her in the apartment, my love. I am already certain she has gone through it personally."
"I did not give her access to your half."
"I doubt that matters."
"Probably not. When we're able to meet face to face I'll explain why your areas of the apartment are important."
"Will that be anytime soon?"
"A few weeks. I'll contact you with coordinates."
"I'd like to go to Alderaan in the meantime. I'm tired of Kaas."
"Be careful. My mother's previous pet bounty hunter may think you're a way to get Willa back. Last I knew he had returned to the Rist estate on Alderaan."
"I will be a guest of House Thul, and I will make certain that help is never more than a thought away."
"You should take your apprentice. Make him earn all that he was given."
"I am capable of defending myself against a bounty hunter."
"I know, and I do not doubt your abilities, but you've read his file haven't you? He used to assassinate our kind when Ragious wanted to send a particularly humiliating message."
"I have put off my return long enough, and with you gone for a while, I have no interest in staying here tending to your mother's house while she tries to pit me against you and Kol."
"I find some entertainment in the fact that she would try."
"While I am not so naive as to take her at her word for anything, she certainly knows how to speak to me in such a way as to prod my doubts and stir Mistanis's paranoia. I would like to have something else to focus on."
"Alderaan will do you some good then. I may just join you there when I can."
"Oh no you will not! I do not want you on the same planet as that dress until the day. We can meet somewhere else nearby."
He laughed. "I am sure we can find somewhere nice to spend some time together."
Jocelyn smiled. "I will see you in a few weeks then."
"Be safe my love." He smiled at her as the transmission ended.
Alderaan held more than just a wedding dress, however, and as Jocelyn left the arboretum a few minutes later, she was already reaching out to her beloved consort through the connection they shared. She would decide how best to fulfill Kiabe's request later and how best to deal with any consequences that could possibly come from it.
