Ask Nemesis Games

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Spoiler: Music OOC

...Stop…please…just…stop…punish...ing…me...
A girl is screaming. Poor girl. A girl is crying.
Didn’t mean to make mistakes. Not exactly.
Didn’t exist to break. To be broken. So silly.

“When will you listen? When will you learn?”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH”

“When will you see, hear, little purple bird?”

“MAAAAAAAAASTEEEEERRR”

“What does a Jedi see when in pain?”

“The light! THE LIGHT! THE LIGHT!”

“What does a Jedi feel, Leh’Min’Ayd?”

“CONTROL! OVER MY SOUL!”

“What does a Sith feel?”

“RAGE”

“Their eyes? What do they peel?”

“THE DARK SIDE”

“What is in between these feelings?”

“The in between, that circle, so round!”

Round, round, it rhymes with ouch!

“What makes a girl stand? Keeps her from kneeling?”

“THAT WHICH FIGHTS THE UPSIDE DOWN”

Down, down, it rhymes with oww!

“Who are you?”

“NO ONE”

“WHO ARE YOU?”

“NO OOOOOOOONNNNEEEE”

“What are you?”

Fly, fly, it rhymes with cry!

“WHAT. ARE. YOU?”

“A WEAPOOOOOOOOOOOOON”

She is being punished.
But Master won't listen.
Punished because of him.
...Because...she loves...Lin...

LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri / @Lin Queonkri)

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss listened to Cul, didn’t interrupt as he shared his opinion on what was really going on here. He voiced her thoughts out loud. That the weapons being created in this factory were not weapons, per se, but beings.

“Biological weapons. In the purest sense of the word.” Weapons that would not be able to be scanned with a detector. Autonomous weapons. Sort of.

How exciting. She only wished it was hers.

The only question that she cared about now was who owned it. If it had anything to do with that Force-user that Kayden had mentioned, the one she hadn’t encountered yet even this far down into Spero Station. Everything else he’d said had been true, except for that. She didn’t know how to feel about that.

She put the sword back where she’d found it, headed back into the hallway. The latter part was as empty as the first, though she found it slightly troubling that there were this many hybrid cells compared to animals and sentients. Just how large of a fighting force were they creating? How many had they already created?

Judging from what Cul had been saying and the tone of his voice… definitely at least one. She would have to keep that in mind.

@Die Shize

 

[Cul Laaster]

Spoiler: Music OOC

It was enthralling, if a Pyke is being honest with himself, and he always is. To Cheriss? That was different. Yet he was no mad scientist. What seduced him in that chamber wasn’t the macabre mutant but what it represented. Power. Profit.

“Somebody could easily make a fortune from you…”

Laaster whispered but, as soon as he did, as soon as he heard the words aloud to himself, that’s when he realized, he remembered, his spice.

He glimpsed it in this other chamber, violet and bright, in a container on one side along with a sign beside the mutant.

‘Project Tyrant’

Tyrant. A Pyke didn’t always grin. When he did, it meant something, one heck of a thing to witness.
Cruel and oppressive ruler. A simple definition. Cheriss would love this. As would any Sith or scientist.

This facility, this factory, was filled with mutants and monstrosities, abominations, weapons. Weapons.

Such violence. A Pyke delights in it.

These violent delights have violent ends.

Scientist. Sith. Pyke. Corporation. It happens.

Yet Cul Laaster focuses on the past as much as the future. He sees his spice. My spice. Remembers his shipments. His distributions. Wholesale purchases. His most major buyer. Just one person. No. Not a person. An organization. One lucrative buyer. The Daggers.

Funneling spice into Spero Station. One of the most, if not the, powerful criminal organizations in Gravenell City.

Funneling in. But who is funding it?

A private facility like Spero had to have been getting sponsored by a corporation if not the government. The Daggers were a start at least. They were connected to more than just badgers, hippos and elephants.

Time to see.

Cul Laaster turned toward the end of the corridor. He knew where it ended. He knew that it junctioned to the right, led to a door for Storage, and further ahead it connected with Cheriss’ corridor of Cells.

Time to leave.

However, a Pyke had since visited Security and so his destination was neither of those sections. Rather, Cul Laaster stopped his walk before he reached the end of his corridor, turned toward a door, and looked up at a sign above it.

‘RESTRICTED’

A word beneath that word.

‘IN BETWEEN’

Inserted the key he had taken from Security…opened the door…entered the corridor.

I’m in.

But he didn’t tell Cheriss.

@Sicadorito (@Cheriss Ktrame)

 

[Quin Leonkri]

With one hand of Vayla’s on his shoulder and the other on his chest, Quin looked into Master Mirror’s eyes. He heard her words, that Lemon was alive, that she wasn’t a weapon. Not a weapon just yet…

“I know, Master.” Quin sighed as Vayla stepped away. “I know.” They still had a chance. Lemon still had a chance. They would have to make the most of it, and he needed to be on his game. They wanted to call it Project Nemesis? Fine. The Jedi would be their nemesis. Quin eyes shifted into focus.

Emotion, yet peace.
Peace, yet emotion.

His gaze followed Vayla’s when she mentioned something else. Cells, labs, storage, and the In Between. It didn’t sound like something that belonged in a research facility, so vaguely named. Would the answers be in there?

“Let’s go. Now.” Quin didn’t have to be told twice.

LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN

We’re coming. Quin took in a sharp breath. Hold on a little longer, Lemon. Just a little longer.

He went with Master Mirror into the corridor, straight for the door that led to the In Between. It required a key card. They didn’t have one. So he cut the lock with his lightsaber, watched the door open, and stepped inside alongside Vayla.

Lemon…

@Die Shize

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

The hallway was as dim and silent as ever as Cheriss closed the door to the training room behind her. There was, however, one small break to this seemingly unending pattern of glass and concrete. Ahead was a single door. Restricted. Labeled the In Between.

In between what? Technically speaking, it was literally in between the parallel paths that Sith and Pyke had taken. However, “Labs” and “Cells” were clearly named, while the “In Between” was about as vague as something Kayden would say.

Speaking of Kayden. He’d said the Force user was in between. Neither Jedi or Sith. Hm.

Cheriss wouldn’t wait for long, however. She pulled out her key card, inserted it into the lock, and the door popped open. She entered the corridor, looked around.

She didn’t tell Cul, either.

@Die Shize

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music IC

It wasn’t a short corridor by any means. Yet the floor had been empty. No guards. No enemies. No cameras. No need for Vayla to tamper with computers or for Quin to knock someone unconscious again. No, that hallway in between two doors was as silent as space without its violence, without its conflict, without its…chaos…and the pair of Jedi Knights were quiet the whole way.

When they arrived at the other side of the corridor, Vayla Mirana paused, Quin Leonkri paused, but they didn’t necessarily hesitate. They weren’t waiting for the door to open by itself. Vayla wasn’t anyway. She was thinking of…something else. Someone else. Not herself. Not Quin. Not Leh’Min’Ayd. But…him. Whose presence, yet again, she could no longer sense.

Master…if you’re there…if you’re behind this door…if I actually gaze upon your face after all this time…what will I find besides old age..? The face of a Jedi? The face of a Sith? Or the face…of something…in…be…tween…

And the door opened. And the Jedi went in. Only Vayla wasn’t alone. No. She went in with Quin.

It was a room, not another corridor, but there was darkness from wall to wall, ceiling to floor. It was dimly lit but not completely dark. Even though she couldn’t see well in this, Vayla could sense that the walls were far apart from each other, which meant the same if there were two or more entrances, though she sensed no life signs. Not outright.

It was cold, not freezing, not so frigid, but there was a chill in the air like a breeze on a wintry morning, almost a welcome one as one sits on the porch with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. Only…this was an eerie feeling…a coldness in darkness like in the abyss, in some deep sea, where no one could hear you scream.

It was a large chamber, easily witnessed, because even amid shadows that blanketed the vicinity Vayla could see something that was in the center of this central chamber, the center of this facility’s level. The object, the target of her vision, was itself big.

Metallic, some kind of metal, grey, like the walls and the ceiling and the floor and the corridor before it. It had a shape. A circle. A circle so round. So great. Empty. Empty circle. A wall of metal. Yet…this chamber wasn’t silent. There wasn’t a voice. But there was noise.

Music. Coming from the ceiling. Was it? From the corner, maybe? Vayla turned into the dimness, and if Quin said something then maybe she didn’t listen to him, so distracted, so interested in where this music was coming from. There. There. The ceiling. Everywhere.

It wasn’t so loud. Its pitch was as harmonious as the lyrics. A female singer. A woman. She had a gorgeous voice, and the music sounded to Vayla as melancholic as it did blissfully nostalgic, and maybe that’s why she was distracted at the moment.

She didn’t recognize this music, had never heard the song before, whatever it was called, but it reminded her of…something. Her own past, maybe. Her heart beat, and she listened. Not pounding. Just not so steady. Adrenaline, maybe? Surely. The music felt so near. Maybe not, Vay. Maybe it’s simply…fear.

Whatever the case, there was no more time to waste. They had to get these lights on, had to see better and not just reach with their senses, had to investigate, couldn’t hesitate. Yet, just then, as Vayla moved to inspect the room, to find the lightswitch, which should take less than a minute, something happened the very next second.

The door opened. No, not the door from their corridor. Not a door on the wall, on the ceiling, on the floor. No, that’s wrong. It was on the floor. It was on the wall. It was the wall. On the chamber within the chamber. On the circle so round. Like a bacta tank, like some kind of capsule, the wall began to move, gently, as if humming to the music, and opened up.

Instead of metal, there was transparisteel. The interior was dimly lit at the front, darker at the back, total blackness, but in the center of this circular chamber, of not water but air, were shadows where the light met the darkness.

And…upon its floor…a bed. And…as instinct drew Vayla Mirana closer, as if it was subsconscious, just drawn in with Quin, she glimpsed it, she witnessed, the person on the bed. Soundless. Motionless. Eyes closed. Asleep, not awake. A Togruta.

“...Leh’Min’Ayd..?”

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri)

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Quin didn’t like how empty the hallway was.

Although it was easier to move around, he almost felt like it was too easy. In fact, now that he thought of it, he and Vayla hadn’t encountered any guards since they’d entered. This area was clearly restricted. There were no guards, however. It unnerved him. So he paused as Vayla paused, looked around, half-hoping for something to try and stop them. Nothing did.

He entered the room, following a step behind Master Mirror. It was darker, colder than the hallway. He felt a chill down his spine. A familiar presence lingered here, too, something that he couldn’t quite place his finger on. His breathing quickened as he looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

That was when he noticed the sound. It was a song, a melody so familiar he had to stop and think where he’d heard it before. A woman’s voice, so gentle and so sad. So fragile. So lost. Like she was missing something…

Lilium.

A song, a song so long…

A song so long on Sonos. So long ago.

It was only then he recognized the presence he’d felt from earlier. Lemon…? It couldn’t be. There was no one else in this room aside from him and Vayla. He reached out an uncertain hand into the empty air, but there was nothing to grab.

The room shivered then as the wall opened. So quiet. The circle. A capsule. A bed. A Togruta.

“Lemon.” Quin whispered as Vayla did. He walked slowly toward the chamber at first, but then broke into a run. As the song resonated ever so gently in the room, Quin put a hand on the transparisteel, got to his knees so he could see Lemon’s face. She was asleep.

“LEMON!” He hit the glass once with his palm. Twice, this time with his fist. Third time banged on it. “LEMON! Can you hear me?”

He tried to pry open the glass from the side. It didn’t work, so he hit it with both fists, trying desperately to break open this prison. His efforts left nothing behind on the transparisteel except for clouds of gray that melted in seconds as it stole the heat from his hands, his breath. “LEH’MIN’AYD!!!” Lilium’s voice seemed to get louder. So did his.

“LEMON! LEMON! Master, HELP ME! She’s stuck in here. She needs to get OUT! OUT!”

He hit the transparisteel until his hands were red and he was out of breath.

@Die Shize

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Spoiler: Music IC (Recurring)

A girl…a girl is a bird…sleeping sweetly…dreaming peacefully…thinking…When will he leave?...needing to breathe…thinking…What can I eat?...believing…maybe this isn’t reality…nah…it’s a fantasy…yah…doesn’t mean anything really…’cause a girl is asleep…but…a girl is a bird…a bird with wings…oya…she’s flying…

Spread ‘em! Spread them wings, Lemon!
Watch a girl fly! Look at how she moves!
No light in her eyes! No lies! Life! Truth!
A girl makes both lights twirl and whirl!

Lin…where are you…Lin..? I miss you.
My friend. I miss you. Man. So much.
Please, Lin. I sense you…you...move.
I feel you. Can you feel…my…love?

But a girl is silly. Ya she’s stupid, really. Even as she sleeps. ‘Specially when she’s awake. She knows she can’t have him. Can’t have her Lin. Hett, he isn’t even Lin to begin with. Never ever was, from his beginnin’ to this moment, up to the end. Nah, she knows it, she’s no idiot, she knows he isn’t Lin Queonkri.

He’s Quin Leonkri.

Just as she isn’t Lemonade.

She’s Leh’Min’Ayd.

And Leh’Min’Ayd…isn’t anything…

She’s No One. She's nobody.

I...am…a…weapon…

But a girl doesn’t wanna be a weapon! A weapon just wants to be a girl! Why won’t Master listen? Why this constant punishment? Why the lessons? Why the mistreatment? Why is he mean? Why doesn’t he love her like she loves him? Like she loves Lin?

Does Lin…does Lin…does Lin…love…love…Lem…on...Leh...Min..?

It’s an endless question. Agony. It burns between each heartbeat. Maybe that’s the lesson. The lesson Master is trying to teach her, his student, his weapon. That emotions, feelings like these, they hurt, they burn, they weren’t worth it, they were worthless.

But a weapon wants them. A Lemon needs them. To her, they are hers, she made them, those emotions in her heart. Master tried to tell her otherwise, that Jedi aren’t so emotional, a weapon is emotionless, but a girl…doesn’t…listen!

‘Cause a girl, in the end, a girl was just a kid.

“LEMON!”
Leh'Min.

She can hear him but she knows he doesn’t exist. He’s just in her head. In her sleep. Behind her eyelids. In her dream. A boy is of a girl’s dreams. So silly really. Isn’t it?

“LEMON! Can you hear me?”
I hear you, Lin.

Yet thoughts aren’t so telepathic. Not while she’s in between conscious and unconscious.

Not when the only thing she hears is the music, the kind if kind of melancholic violin, the lone strokes of a piano, the lyrics, of a woman, of a planet, of her memories, of her mission, her promise with him, the message, of a song in a forest, yes…a song so lost on Sonos.

“LEH’MIN’AYD!!!”
Lemonade.

“LEMON! LEMON!"
Lemon, Lemon, it rhymes with Lem and Lin.

"HELP"
Help, help, it rhymes with hell.

"OUT! OUT!"
Out, out, it rhymes with upside down.

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri / @Lin Queonkri)

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

She walked. Drawn onward. Toward the chamber. Toward that girl. Toward that Togruta. She didn’t know why, what really drew her, besides just the nature of her Jedi, of the light side burning within her, that fire.

It wasn’t just that though. It was deeper. It wasn’t just sympathy. It wasn’t just empathy. It wasn’t just some need to free her, that little purple bird in her cage, her little thin arms like wings, that poor thing. It was deeper. It was…she didn’t know what in that moment, and that moment didn’t last long.

Only as long as a whisper, as Quin whispered to her, not the name Leh’Min’Ayd, but Leh’Min, his Lemon, and Vayla knew he meant it, that their connection was as valid, had as much strength, as she had sensed back in the Gravenell Gardens.

For her…it was deeper in another way… Vayla didn’t know the point of it, but she heard a voice in her mind that moment, and wasn’t sure if it was her own or not, if it was the woman singing to her, or some girl, some daughter, some farmer on Pantora, but that’s what she heard, that’s what she saw, in that teenager on the bed, that bird in a cage, that Togruta.

Father…
Master…

One was real.
The other, fake.

Leh’Min’Ayd.

“LEH’MIN’AYD!!!”

Quin made those electric blue prosthetics blink faster than they had in so many moments. Snapped his Master Mirror back to attention. She spied him try to open the cage, open the circle, crack the egg, but it wouldn’t budge, and Leh’Min’Ayd wouldn’t listen.

“LEMON! LEMON! Master, HELP ME! She’s stuck in here. She needs to get OUT! OUT!”

“I know.”

And her fellow Jedi didn’t need to tell her twice.

“Stand back.”

No key, no card, no lights, no time, no patience, no hesitation, Knight Mirana, the Shadow, opened her hand and spread her arms.

-SNAP-HISS!-

Her blue lightsaber whirred to life and she attacked that glass like it was her first opponent when she was the girl, her worst enemy as a woman, a Sith before the Jedi, and she didn’t hold back.

And Vayla was thrown back.

Backward across the floor, not gliding on her feet but sliding on her back.

Her lightsaber had actually bounced off the transparisteel, the glass, whatever its material, thunder and lightning reverberating around in this strange chamber from that split-second connection, this in between, no matter the upside down.

Quickly back on her feet. Breathing. In. Out. Fine. Fine! If her lightsaber wouldn’t work, then the Knight would bite as the Shadow, her fingers curling as she stepped toward the circular chamber, the prison, the cage.

She did nothing straight away. The Force called upon, drawn on, summoned into her grip, ready to unleash it the next second. Electricity then. More like an electrical fire; blue light as blue as her electric eyes. In her fist. At her fingertips. She walked.

No shield can stop this sword… The sword of the JEDI!

The music stopped.

“L-...Lin..?”

And a girl opens her eyes!

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri)

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Quin heard the hum of Master Mirror’s blade as she approached the capsule, but his eyes were all on Lemon as he backed away. It was only when Vayla was thrown back that his gaze broke away, a kind of horrified realization as he discovered that the material was lightsaber proof.

The thunder was deafening. The lightning blinding.

“Are you okay?” Quin rushed over to Vayla, offered to help her up. She didn’t need it though, and she was back on her feet as quickly as she’d flown back. This time, Quin could see the determination in her eyes as she moved to try again, blue fire at her fingertips. That was new. Master Mirror was a woman of many surprises.

But so was Lemon. Expect the unexpected. He’d never learned his lesson, apparently, and Quin was rendered momentarily speechless when she opened her eyes.

“L-...Lin..?”

Quin took in a breath. Lemon walked toward the glass.

“Yes— yes, it’s me. It’s Lin.” He walked closer, placed a hand on the chamber, looked into her dark eyes. It’s her. There was certainly no doubt now, even if there hadn’t been earlier. “I’m here to get you out of here. Me and Master Mirror. We’re going to get you out.” He stared at her, hand on the glass. Even if it kills me.

@Die Shize

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Spoiler: Music OOC

A girl isn’t sure. Am I awake? Is she still asleep? Am I…dreaming…a dream…within…a dream?

Maybe it’s too late. Maybe she’s already dead. Maybe he’s already dead. Her music ended. It always ends when she wakes. So she never really hears it with her eyes open. It was lost. It was gone. A distant memory. Like a drop in an ocean.

A song. So. Lost. On. Sonos.

She walks. She doesn’t run. Isn’t so slow though. She squints. She blinks. A kid who just got out of bed, lazy, groggy. But, as her eyes make out his face, his eyes, as she sees him become more and more alive, each step she takes from the center of her stage to the window of her audience, each step is just a little bit quicker, like a bird learning to fly.

And she realizes…as she steps closer…as she senses his presence…and never mind the blue woman…the Pantoran…no…at this moment in time it’s just the Togruta, just the Human.

Just a boy. Just a girl.
Alone in all the world.

Kids.

“...Lin?”
"It’s Lin.”
“...Lin…”
It's...him.

At the window. At the glass. She places a hand on it. So does he. Hands on glass. Hand on hand. Eyes into eyes. His are bright. She knows hers are dark. Even though she stands on the light side of her chamber, out of the shadows at its center, away from the darkness at her back.

“I’m here to get you out of here. Me and Master Mirror. We’re going to get you out.”
“Out…out…it rhymes with…out…”

He said something. She just remembered. Master. Mirror. Did he mean the woman? Was that her name? It sounded great. If kinda lame?

“Lin…”

He really has her whole attention. He was her connection in this hole. This pit. This prison.

And she could feel his hand, his warm skin, through the glass.

“I m-...I mi-...I missed you…Lin…but you’re here, right? Don’t lie to me, Linny… Tell me it’s you… You’re alive… I’m alive… Please, Lin.”

Out, out, he said. They were here to get her out.

Get me out.

Get her out.

Let me out.

A voice. A circle so round.
A voice. It is upside…down.

“Leh’Min’Ayd?”

It’s the woman.
Master Mirror.

“My name is Vayla Mirana. Quin’s companion. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you, Leh’Min’Ayd. You’re safe. You’re going to be okay.”

Let me out!

She smiles at her, at Leh’Min, and her lips are genuine. It’s no grin. It isn’t twisted. It’s just…so honest…as Lemon is reminded. She is reminded of what a Jedi looks like. Padawan. Knight. Whatever. Whoever this Pantoran woman is, even without her own hand on the glass, that was a lightsaber in her hand, if not ignited, and that was sincerity on her face, in her voice. It wasn’t so upside down.

LET ME OUT.

“We’re going to find a way to get you out of there. Where is the door? Can you tell me if there is a keycard? A panel? A code to deactivate this…force field?” The woman, Vayla, looked around. “The lights. A lightswitch. A way to brighten this room somehow?”

Lights.

The light.

LET. ME. OUT.

THE LIGHT.
THE LIGHT.
THE LIGHT.

“I’m…I’m sorry, Lin…”

And a girl steps backward.

“I…I’m glad you came, Linny-Lin-Lin…but…I…”

A girl steps backward again.

“...I wish you didn’t…”

A girl bows her head. Hands on her eyes.

LET.
ME.
OUT.

Headache, headache, it rhymes with earthquake.

No.
NO.
NOO.

And a girl rushes forward, back toward him, back toward Lin!

“LIN!”

She slams her hands on the glass, knows he’ll meet her grip, hands on hands, eyes into eyes!

“I…I…I LOVE YOU, LIN! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!”

Pounds on it. That circle. So. Round.

And that tear in her eye?
Oh yeah a girl might cry.

But even if she does, it won’t matter anyway.
Because, the next moment, she goes away.
Yeah watch her Lin, Vay, watch her levitate.
Backward. Toward the center. By…Master.

“The circle is now complete.”
Spoke a voice. From darkness.
“When you left me, you were but a learner.”
Not from light. Not from shadows. Backward.
“Now you are a Knight, yes, not a Master though.
No. Not fitting for a Shadow. Right…Master Mirror?”

The soulless voice becomes a man, steps out from the darkness, from the back of the circular chamber, crosses the threshold, steps into the shadows, one hand raised, levitating the Leh’Min’Ayd.

A man in clothes, a man in armor, a man of age, of grey mane, dressed in white and black.

“Or should I say…a girl…yes…little Vayla Mirana?”

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri / @Lin Queonkri)

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Vayla knew better than to get in the way between these two friends. It was all she could do to stand in silence and watch, just listen, as the young man and the young woman reunited from their days as a boy and as a girl.

It was Quin’s hand on that glass, his pain, his rage, sustained but present all the same, simply over the fact that glass was separating his hand from his companion.

It was Leh'Min'Ayd's eyes Vayla saw. Tired. Troubled. Yet it’s no mistake. Amid this girl’s sadness, despite her agony, she is relieved, she is pleased, no, she is all too happy to see him, to see Quin.

It was an experience that Vayla elected to not share in, an emotion that she didn’t want to give into, even before she was a Shadow. It was forbidden once and, though Jedi were new like New Jedi, and things changed, and though she was always different, she held to some of old ways.

She loved, she had love, like for Quin, the son she never had, but she was never in love, would never be in love. This was not her way. But it’s hers. It’s Leh’Min’Ayd’s. Right there on her face plain as day. A weapon? Maybe. But a weapon with emotions.

It must be a maddening thing, she believed, to be reconnected after all this time, only to be separated by a sheet of transparent material, by a window that they could not break. It was a taunt, a tease, only a taste of what could be; of hands that could shake, arms that could embrace, even lips that could kiss.

Poor Quin…yet there she is…your Lemon.

As Quin mentioned Master Mirror, the word was not lost on her, though neither would know it. If this young Togruta was the student of her very own master, they were more like mirrors than windows. Leh’Min’Ayd…

“Leh’Min’Ayd? My name is Vayla Mirana. Quin’s companion. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you, Leh’Min’Ayd. You’re safe. You’re going to be okay.”

Smiling came naturally to Vayla as much as rigid lips in the face of her opponents. Yet it took no effort at the moment, being genuinely pleased to finally meet Leh’Min’Ayd, the tragedy of this story, yet Quin’s friend all the same, and to show her compassion that may not have shown in what must feel like an age under the circumstances.

“We’re going to find a way to get you out of there. Where is the door? Can you tell me if there is a keycard? A panel? A code to deactivate this…force field?” There must be something. Why are my senses so…challenged? Clouded? “The lights. A lightswitch. A way to brighten this room somehow?”

She just then noticed Leh’Min’Ayd stepping backwards. Toward the shadows. Shadows. A Shadow knows her own name. The Togruta rushed forward, slamming on the glass as if to bring it down, declaring her love for Quin, and the Pantoran knows it.

Yet her focus was on…something else. Her attention split. Again, she sensed it. That presence. Like at that prison. At her past. The next moment, as her fingers curled around her lightsaber hilt, she recognized it. Him. And the shadows opened. From the darkness, her master came.

It’s…him…

Time froze over as he spoke. An ocean erupted within the Pantoran. Drowning on the inside, over everything, over nothing. Speechless, just watching Leh’Min’Ayd levitate, just listening, as the Shadow became a ghost.

Cyrus. Orion.

“The circle is now complete. When you left me, you were but a learner. Now you are a Knight, yes, not a Master though.
No. Not fitting for a Shadow. Right…Master Mirror? Or should I say…a girl…yes…little Vayla Mirana?”

There was something about his outfit that Vayla could not quite pin. It was white. It was black. It was different even though it was basic and insignificant. Yet it reminded her of…what had Quin said about that one Sith he encountered on that planet? A Sith garbed in white, as if to mimic, as if to mock the light side. He was no lightsider. He was a monster.

For that matter, what was Vayla’s, and Leh’Min’Ayd’s, master?

Grey hair but no grey robe, no Grey Jedi per se, no, this was different, he was different. He always was. He always had a unique way about him, an unorthodox way of teaching. Cave… Yes. It may not be the same, but he trained her in a cave too, and said the same. Rage…against the dying light...

White. Black. They were separate garments, separate armor pieces, but united. Light. Darkness. Was this some kind of twisted balance? Or just nonsense? Cyrus…Orion…

“I never understood why you elected to choose such obvious prosthetics. You could have had any eyes implanted, cybernetic, organic, whatever, any color, but you want the universe to see your eyes are artificial. Why?”

“You said you would give me light, show me the light in the darkness, in the cave…” Vayla trailed off, catching that she had blurted out the answer, not thinking, not hesitating. “But all you gave me were shadows. All you gave me was blindness. I wear these false eyes to show that all you gave me were false ideas and madness.”

“I gave you shadows?” He harrumphed, a kind of proud smile on his countenance amid a disappointed frown somehow, while his former student just stared, just stood, in sustained rage. “I gave you windows to see, as one opens the door, for you were blind before you were ever blinded. I did what I must. Your eyes were deceiving you, Vayla Mirana, as your eyes still deceive you, as this one's do.”

Cyrus turned his attention to Quin.

“You think you love her? That she loves you? I should think not. No, I should hope not. Jedi have no time for love, for such pathetic fallacies as that. Illusions. Vagaries of perception. Distractions. I admit, the Jedi of old were arrogant, ignorant, elitist, yet at least they pretended to uphold the image. Yoda. Windu. Ancient legends. What surpassed the likes of them? And even Anakin? Rey Skywalker is the answer. And her proponents today. Sorry excuses of Jedi who achieve nothing, who let the Sith prowl freely throughout this galaxy while these Jedi are too busy drinking and eating and making merry within bedsheets. It sickens me.”

You were always sick to begin with...Cyrus...

Maybe Quin would say something, would attempt something, but he shouldn’t. One false move and it would take nothing to crack an elbow, to break a knee, like the arms of a bird, and his Lemon would scream. Vayla knew this. So she didn’t.

“The Jedi are weak. You are proof of this, Quin Leonkri. With your feelings for this one. Leh’Min’Ayd… Is that even her real name? Doesn’t matter anyway. She is the key. She is the weapon. She is the future, the gateway to a new order of Force-users to replace the Jedi, to rule over those who aren’t chosen as sensitive, to serve as the nemesis…to the…”

Cyrus wasn’t smiling. He was grinning, glancing toward a door.

“...Sith.”

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri)

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

The corridor of the in between led to a room, and Cheriss had opened up enough doors by now to know that there would be little to nothing in her way. So she opened this one the same as any other using her key card.

Only this time, she heard voices. So she stopped, quietly closed the door behind her, and watched, listened from the shadows. Darkness would be her cloak, for now.

“...Lin?”
"It’s Lin.”
“I m-...I mi-...I missed you…Lin…but you’re here, right? Don’t lie to me, Linny… Tell me it’s you… You’re alive… I’m alive… Please, Lin.”

My, oh my. Cheriss could recognize those voices. Though they looked older now, these were the two Jedi that she and Kayden had encountered on Thila, the two Padawans in love. Lemon and… Quin, was it? She almost scoffed just thinking about their last encounter, but she put her hands behind her back anyway, tilting her head just the slightest as she listened.

“Leh’Min’Ayd? My name is Vayla Mirana. Quin’s companion.” A new face, a Pantoran. One she didn’t recognize, but it didn’t take much deducing to figure out what exactly she was. Another Jedi. That made three.

“I…I…I LOVE YOU, LIN! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!” Oh, how precious. Cheriss smiled. This was getting interesting. This is not the place to be confessing such things, love.

Then a fourth voice, from a man clad in white and black. Though she didn’t know who he was, he was clearly the one in control here. As for whether he was a Jedi… maybe Kayden had been right after all.

“The circle is now complete.” He went on about the failures of the Jedi Order, taunted the Pantoran, the boy, and the girl. She saw the anger on the boy's face reflected on his companion's. The Togruta, unfortunately, had her back turned. Former Jedi? Cheriss couldn’t quite place her finger on what he was, but it was clear that he was no strict follower of that Order. Nor was he a member of hers, judging from what he was saying. The Force user in between.

Then, as he mentioned Sith, he looked at her. Straight at her, as if he’d known the whole time she was here. Hm. Having been called out, Cheriss stepped out of the shadows.

“Am I interrupting?” She looked at the man, then at the Jedi, then back. “I’d hate to spoil this… reunion.”

@Die Shize

 

[Cul Laaster]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Corridor. Door. Floor. Forward. Apparently one key functioned as much and more as the other anyway but, whatever, the key of this scene was Cul Laaster taking whatever came his way, claiming what the universe had promised him. As was his right. As a man. As a Pyke.

Inside the chamber, darkness, dimness, but not silence. He heard voices and, quickly if quietly, found cover. No opponents, no one attacking him, but the dialogue that was exchanged gave way to conflict. Whoever these individuals were, they did not all appear to be on the same side.

Side… Cul thought about that as he listened, licking his lips in anticipation, in genuine interest. One voice came from a void, that circular chamber, not muffled but clearly coming from a speaker. Trapped behind that glass.

She sounded desperate to get out. A captive. An experiment. A weapon. A girl who confessed her love for that boy. Infants. The woman beside him, the Pantoran, was no Cheriss. Jedi. That was a shiny silver lightsaber hilt in her hand. Perhaps that makes the young man her little Padawan.

There was another voice. Another man’s. Older than that young man. What he said was…peculiar…intriguing. Jedi. Sith. Whose side are you on? Thinking on it, Cul remembered where he was. Spero Station. A research facility on the surface. Beneath, a bioweapons factory, among other things. The side that knows no side. Remembered the sign. The In Between…

“Sith.”
“Am I interrupting? I’d hate to spoil this… reunion.”

No coincidence. Cul spotted Cheriss. Cheriss didn’t spot Cul or, if she did, if she sensed his presence, she didn’t immediately show it, and he didn’t immediately step out into the open. If he was hidden, he’d stay with it. If he wasn’t, so be it.

Then again, he wasn't Force-sensitive, but he had witnessed that the Force within this building, from floor to ceiling, laboratories and more, seemed to be...different.

Blaster at his hip, hiding behind a desk, with a computer on it, Cul Laaster listened, decided to bide his time. The computer was alive, a tiny green light, and a Pyke knew how to hide.

@Sicadorito (@Cheriss Ktrame)

 

[Quin Leonkri]

“I missed you too.” Quin could feel her hand, too. The only thing separating them was this steel, and the knight wished with all his heart that he could somehow break it. He knew, though, that they would have to wait. Find a different way. He just wished they didn’t have to. He wanted to free Lemon right here, right now, and wrap her in the biggest hug. Just like before.

Though the thought nearly broke him, Quin stepped aside when Master Mirror introduced herself to the Togruta. As she suggested potential ways to get her out, Quin searched Lemon’s face for any indication of recognition about anything Vayla said. Maybe, just maybe, this could be it. But instead, she backed away.

Said she wished he’d never come.

“Wh-what?” He stood there, frozen in his spot. But then Lemon ran back.

“LIN!”

“Lemon?” He pressed his hands against hers, stared into her eyes. He felt her passion through the glass, and his own heart started beating against his ribs. Trapped, like she was.

“I…I…I LOVE YOU, LIN! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!”

Quin didn’t know how to respond to that. His mouth moved, but no words came out. Even though he tried to say what he wanted to, the words just wouldn’t come out. “I… I…” I love you too! Say it! “I…”

He didn’t know what was stopping him. But it was too late now. Lemon was levitated away, and Quin could only stare. No…

“The circle is now complete.” There came the voice of a man, shifting Quin back somewhat into focus. Lemon. Black and white he saw. The shape of a man’s face. He was unfamiliar. For some reason, Quin’s hand went to his lightsaber. “When you left me, you were but a learner.” Quin turned to Vayla, disoriented. “Now you are a Knight, yes, not a Master though. No. Not fitting for a Shadow. Right…Master Mirror?”

Quin blinked. He looked at Vayla. Him? He couldn’t see it. He was your master?

Everything about this man made Quin distrust him. He was not at all like Vayla. When he started to criticize Master Mirror, Quin’s fingers only curled tighter around his lightsaber. Don’t talk to her like that. But he didn’t pull it out. The man had Lemon right there, and he knew that if he tried anything, he’d do something to her. So he forced himself to let go, flexing his fingers instead.

Then Cyrus Orion turned his attention to Quin. It took everything he had in him to not explode right then and there. What did this man know about love? He was just a monster. Maybe he was dressed in white, but so was that Sith back on Thila. In Quin’s eyes, there was no difference between these two men.

Before he could react, though, the man brought their attention to someone else in the room. Someone he hadn’t noticed. Someone he remembered. The Sith. He didn’t know her name and he didn’t care to know. All that he knew was that she, too, had hurt Lemon, and that meant that she was his enemy. Quin swallowed, nearly trembled with anger as she spoke with that faint smile on her lips. How could she be amused at all this? Sith really did have no heart.

“Shut up.” That was all he could manage through gritted teeth as his gaze shifted between Orion and the Sith. “You’re both monsters. Both of you.” This time, he couldn’t stop himself as he took out his lightsaber and ignited it.

@Die Shize

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Spoiler: Music OOC

A bird. A bird can fly. A girl. A girl can fight. A girl can cry. Even though she hides it. Though her eyes are closed. She’s crying. Like a little baby. Yeah a little dumb baby all over again. Mindlessly. Crybaby. This is mindless. She isn’t so vibrant. She’s so violent though. She knows it. She showed it. She’s open. She’s broken. Nobody.

No One

What did Master always say to her? Oh. Right. She’s no one. She’s nothing. She’s a weapon. Had to be. Has to be. Past tense. And present. He gave her everything, in the beginning, in the end. Took the orphan and gave her breakfast. A roof over her head. Taught her how to eat, how to sleep, how to live, how to fight against the anger in her mind.

Rage…

Not against what was right, no, not like Sith did. Sith were monstrous. Monsters. Pitiless. Like him. Like that bastard in white who tore that Trandoshan apart like he was nothing. Yeah that Trandoshan was just another monster, right, and probably had it coming, but morality and ethics didn’t factor into what Kayden Skyler did to him. Did to her.

Against…

If not for Quin, if the boy hadn’t saved the girl, where would she even be in this world? If he hadn’t rescued her, if she hadn’t left that factory with Lin, if Lemon hadn’t rested her head against his chest in that ship, maybe she’d be dead.

The dying…

Never meant to leave him. Didn’t meant to leave Lin! But she had to go back to her master… Had to get stronger… Had to get tougher… Had to get better… Like when you hone the edge of your weapon…yes…she has to fight…to fight them…the Sith!

LIGHT!

And a girl opens her eyes!

But she’s floating. She knows it. She gives into Master’s grip. Over and over. Always did. Yeah she can fight back, resist, but she doesn’t, she’s his, he’s hers. Master. He speaks with the others but she doesn’t listen.

Tears streaming down her cheeks the next moment, like rivulets, but they’re worthless, they make no sense. Yeah those tears are like tears in the rain. Nobody can see them anyway. Wait…can Lin? Can he see…the Lemonade?

“Leh’Min’Ayd? Is that even her real name?”

Leh’Min’Ayd…that’s my name…

“Sith.”

It’s…her…you…monster…

They fought before. Leh’Min had almost beaten her! That Sith Harlot! Not Cheriss the Champion! Cheriss the Sith Bitch! Electrocuted Leh’Min. Left her for Kayden.

You BITCH.

The Jedi sickened Master? The Sith sickened his student!

“Am I interrupting? I’d hate to spoil this… reunion.”

Yeah you’re interrupting. You’re ruining EVERYTHING.

“Shut up. You’re both monsters. Both of you.”

Lin…Lin…Lin…I…love…you

But…does Lin love Lem? Why didn’t he say it back?

Don’t…don’t you love me too…Lin?

Wait…of course not…nobody ever loved the Leh’Min’Ayd. After all…what kind of living person could ever love a dead weapon…

“Hm. Monster. You’re not wrong, child. About her. This one is a Sith, as you know. Cheriss Ktrame.”

She isn’t looking, because he stands behind her, but Leh’Min can sense his presence better than anyone, yes, maybe even better than this Vayla Mirana. He gives the Sith his attention.

“Are you interrupting? You and your precious Sith Order interrupt everything. Yet, you assumes a singular tense, but you aren’t so alone…” He tilted his head to the left without looking away from her. “...Are you?”

Alone, alone, it rhymes with No One.

“No, you have brought a wound in the Force with you, only he is not in this station. He is in a tank, but not like this chamber. His is filled with…liquid…there in the Gravenell Aquarium. He is Sith, but he isn’t. He is different, but not like me. There is no one like me…until there is.”

Riddle, riddle, it rhymes with little.

“Wounds. Force.” He looked between his audience. “Do any of you Force-users wonder why you never really sensed each other’s presence in this station? Whether you masked your signature or not, it is similar to why you cannot break this window.”

She can’t see him, but Leh’Min can feel his eyes begin to narrow into slits of darkness amid their greyness.

“I won’t permit it.”

Permission, permission, it rhymes with submission.

“You have witnessed the experiments,” he spoke to everyone, almost to no one, as if they could interrupt him any moment but he wouldn’t listen, he would just keep speaking as if they didn't even exist. “Have you asked the question? Why? Why any of this? Why were clones created, as sanctioned by the Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas before their elimination by the Sith Darth Sidious?”

A rhetorical question. They could answer but he wouldn’t listen.

“Why was the Anabolic Myohypertrophic Stimulator created? They exist in my experiments too. AMS subjects. Zombies, as some have taken to terming. Killiks, even. Hybrids. The ones in this station, they are all mine. Either I have taken them in or I have made them. With Force-imbued crystals I found in the mountains. With spice from the Pyke hiding in our midst. With control chips from corporations. With specimens of this species and that one. More or less. The answers are in the results, and data speaks, but what about the question?”

Question, question, it rhymes with Kayden, with Cheriss, with Lemon, and Lemon rhymes with Lin…

“Why? Why…to build an army, of course, as one builds an army of droids, of clones…for one purpose…”

Purpose, purpose, it rhymes with—

And the weapon is lifted.
Leh’Min’Ayd is levitated.

“War, and war never changes.”

Movement, metallic scraping, as the chamber begins to open, but not at the window, not on the wall, but the ceiling.

“Yet my war is just a means to an end, my friends. In its aftermath, Force-sensitives will rule this galaxy, will govern it, not as Jedi or Sith, but as…you guessed it…Force-sensitives. United. Those who aren’t, those mundanes, those insects who can’t live with themselves let alone each other, will be what brings us balance.”

BALANCE. BALANCE. IT RHYMES WITH IMBALANCE.

“But every war needs soldiers to fight it, and every soldier needs…”

The Leh’Min’Ayd flips, up and away from her chamber, lands on the floor behind Lin and Vayla, even Cheriss, a pair of lightsabers in her grip, unignited.

“...A weapon.”

-SNAP-HISS!-

Ignited, violet and vibrant and violent, and a girl can make both lights twirl and whirl.

And the ceiling over the chamber closes again, no it won’t open, as its floor begins to move, becomes an elevator, going down.

“Wait! WAIT!”

But he doesn’t listen. He doesn’t wait.

“If you go…Cyrus…” Master Mirror spoke. “You leave me with no choice…you leave us with no hope…”

“Oh, I will bring you hope, old friend, always, just not the Jedi or the Sith, no, not the mundanes,” he spoke as his floor shifted downward. “I only ask one thing in return: Don’t get in my way.”

Vayla Mirana slapped her hands on the glass.

“Damn it. DAMN IT.”

“We are the future, Vayla, not them…”

And the floor began to close over his head.

Going down, down, down.

Down from the in between, yes, upside down.

“They no longer matter.”

Leh’Min’Ayd, no, a weapon, yes, Nemesis, stood with her lightsabers brandished, eyes glowing brightly, darkly, gazing at her opponents.

“I serve…my master…now and…forever…”

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri)

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss tut-tutted, tilting her head at Jedi Knight Quin Leonkri. “Boy, you don’t know half of what a monster is.” Then she turned to the man in white and black as he spoke again, her gaze steadily meeting with his. What he said made her pause. Not because he called her a monster— she was quite used to that— but how did he know her name? When she remained silent at his question about being alone, he even knew that he had something with her.

Cameras was her first reaction. But she hadn’t seen any, at least not on this floor. No, she knew that there was something else he was drawing from. Cheriss didn’t like that she didn’t know what it was. Now her brows creased into a visible frown as she realized that he was not talking about Cul, but someone else. What he described was…

A tank. Liquid. Sith. But isn’t. Kayden. Skyler. Her gaze sharpened, but he had moved on. Talked about permission as if he could control the Force. That was a Sith creed, Cheriss noted, but yet he was not Sith. He spoke of clones, droids, AMS, spice, control chips, everything they’d seen today. A factory, this was, for war.

Hmph. This man certainly thought like a Sith considering he wasn’t one, but that didn’t mean that Cheriss had taken any liking to him. Neither did the Jedi, it seemed. As the Pantoran spoke and the man in white and black made his exit, the Sith turned her attention to the Togruta that had taken his place. Her purple lightsabers ignited, it was almost like Thila all over again.

This time, though, the girl was not fighting for her friend, but for her master. Cheriss could see that much from the look in her eyes.

“Do you?” Cheriss took a step closer. “Are you a slave, Leh’Min’Ayd?” Another step. “A slave to your master?” She extended a hand to the girl. “Join me, and I will free you.”

The Sith knew she would refuse, but she could see that the girl had promise—even as a Padawan, she’d held her own against a champion that day. If there was even a chance that the girl would turn…

“NO!”

Cheriss’ gaze would turn to the boy. He too had moved closer to the Togruta as she was speaking.

“You’ll never turn her. She’s a Jedi.” Stepping in front of the girl as if to protect her, Quin Leonkri pointed his green blade at the Sith instead. "You'll take her over my. Dead. Body." Cheriss sighed, and her right hand reached for her saber from the inside of her jacket.

“So be it.” Her blade snapped to life at her side, and red light reflected off the floor onto her.

@Die Shize

 

[Cul Laaster]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Strange things became stranger things. As curious as this character was, this Not!Jedi / Not!Sith, whatever he was, Cul Laaster was already losing interest in his speech.

He just sounded like another idealist. Or a lunatic. His spiel was indicative of the very Jedi and Sith he tended to mention. No, the Pyke was only interested in the science of it, in the potential.

An army. He’s creating an army? I can see it. What my very eyes glimpsed in those laboratories.

At first, Cul thought they were for the purpose of selling to others, as a business. After all, that would explain the involvement of the for-profit corporations that sponsored them as much as much as the criminal organizations like the Daggers.

Yes, selling organic and non-organic ‘weapons’ to other groups and individuals so they can wage their own wars, have their own private armies, for their own purposes of offense and defense. Yet, didn’t the alternative explanation make sense? Especially from yet another power-hungry Force-user.

Only this old man was wrong. Yes. This old Pyke would have his, if he had his way at the end of it. An army for the Pykes. For the underdogs of the underworld to rise up, to replace the Hutts…only I never even dreamed of replacing the Jedi and the Sith in the process.

Dream big, they say, and Cul Laaster had those dreamy eyes of his in his violets, or so they don’t say.

He wasn’t an idiot. He picked up a suggestion amid this man’s attention to this ‘wound in the Force’ being distant, that he might also be talking about the Pyke being hidden in this chamber. If he did, others did too, like Cheriss. Then again, their attention was on each other for the moment, not him.

So the Pyke stayed hidden, if not hiding on his knees, not any longer. Instead, he slowly rose, got behind the computer, accessed it, and used this opportunity to read. He came for data, after all, and there was bound to be a whole treasure trove in this chamber solely for a Pyke’s violet eyes to devour.

What did he find? So far, after cracking the system to the sounds of crackling lightsabers, the first thing he spied was a line about corporations who were involved with the machinations of Spero Station. He wasn’t sure to what extent, whether innocent research on the surface or what lurked in its depths.

However, he found two names that stood out.

Valt Ventures, headquartered in Gravenell City on Sevenmoon.
XiCorp, or Xiron Corporation, located on the planet Karazak.

Curious…

@Sicadorito (@Cheriss Ktrame | @Quin Leonkri)

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC (Recurring)

Vayla sighed, something tightening in her stomach, some pit that was emptied, filled, emptied again. She felt like she might vomit. Didn’t know why, really. Was it the prospect of Cyrus Orion leaving her presence again? Forever? As he descended into a whole other kind of pit, a floor beneath the floor beneath the floor?

For what purpose? Where are you going, Cyrus? What are you doing? What’s down there? What’s down there!?

She didn’t have long to think about it. She turned around to the humming of lightsabers. The Togruta’s. She sensed a troubled child in her. No, that was an understatement. Enslaved. Brainwashed. Manipulated. By Force? By a chip? By everything!?

Chaotic. That’s exactly what this was. However, a Jedi Knight, the Shadow, had only one objective at the moment: Prevent this Sith from doing any damage. Then get down into that pit, go after her former master, and make sure a sane Leh’Min’Ayd went with her and Quin in the process.

Violet lights.
Green light.
Red light.

“Sith.”

-VWMMMM!-

Blue light.

That ought to get her attention.

“You are out of your element. Sheathe your sword, surrender, and we do this the easy way.”

Though, if a Shadow was being honest as she began to pace away from Quin, in a kind of semicircle around the Sith, she knew the Sith wouldn’t listen. It was just a formality.

Hilt in her right hand, blade humming in this chorus of swords, tip pointing toward the floor, the Knight's countenance no longer smiling, neither grinning, her lips rigid, her eyes as electric as her blue light.

“I won’t say it twice.”

@Sicadorito (@Quin Leonkri | @Cheriss Ktrame)

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Cheriss Ktrame. So that was this Sith’s name, according to the man in black and white. Quin was soon reminded, though, that he was the greater threat than the Sith when he launched into his speech. It wasn’t proper for a Jedi, but Quin hated this man. He acted as if he knew everything, that he was better than them all, and worst of all, he had his dirty hands all over Lemon. She was like a puppet to him, and Quin hated that most of all.

You are the wound in the Force. He glanced at the Sith to see her reaction, but there was only a slight frown on her brow. So are you. Despite being an abomination in the Force, though, she was not the one who spoke of war. This man was.

When Lemon flipped out of her chamber, her lightsabers ignited, Quin’s heart nearly stopped.

“LEMON!” Quin’s eyes fixed on hers, but Lemon’s seemed distant. Her eyes were bright, yes, but there was something in them that he hadn’t seen before. He hardly noticed Vayla trying to speak with Orion, the thud her hands made as they slammed on the glass. Nor did he see his master’s master disappear. The only thing that mattered right now was Lemon.

“I serve…my master…now and…forever…”

“No… that’s not you.” Quin whispered, his lightsaber lowering. His attention was then drawn to the Sith as she attempted to get the Togruta’s attention. Quin stepped closer, closer to Lemon.

“Join me, and I will free you.” Quin’s hand clenched tight around his lightsaber.

“NO!” Quin stepped in front of Lemon, shielding her from the Sith. “You'll take her over my. Dead. Body." He pointed his lightsaber at Cheriss, his arm trembling with rage.

When the champion ignited her own, Quin heard Vayla’s voice. It seemed far away, though. He respected his master more than anyone else in the galaxy, but right now he did not want this Sith to surrender. He wanted her to feel pain. Just like what she’d given to Lemon that day. No, he was going to kill her, put an end to all this.

Wipe one more spot of darkness out of this galaxy.

Without waiting for the Sith or Vayla to say anything more, Quin would charge at Cheriss. As his blade met hers, he could only see red. He pressed harder. That was before a sudden push sent him flying back toward the wall. His back slammed into it, his lightsaber rolling out of his grip. He heard the Sith laugh. He opened his eyes, saw Lemon.

“Lemon— we have to get you out of here.” Despite the pain, he got back up to his feet. He summoned his lightsaber with the Force and extended his free hand to his friend. “Help me kill this Sith, and we’ll leave here together.”

@Die Shize