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NABOO

"The farmhouse," Isani repeats dryly, with unconcealed contempt. "So this is what you have become." From her sitting position she still manages to stare this addle-brained Sam down and now she's sure that it's pity stirring in her heart. As serene as this simple life might be for Sam, it's downright pathetic.

Before she can say something else scathing, Isani guards her tongue and stands, spreading her hands beseechingly. "I set off all the wrong instincts, I'm sure," she tells Sam lazily. "But I am trying to help. Amnesia and I are old friends, and I know how unsettling it can be. I'll return to the farmhouse with you, and we can begin there. As I said, you have much to learn." Spending half her life with no memory of her childhood and part of it with no memory of her years as a Sith, Isani had enjoyed the past five years with a complete set of memories intact (at least, she thought they were. She suspects there were some that were lost forever, but those were probably the insignificant ones.)

Don't forget me.

And some of those memories she would have liked to have forgotten, though she knows she never could and never would. (Grief joins pity, briefly, twisting her heart.)

"You can trust me - for now."

Malachor V Space/ Shaow Prison

Several things seemed to come to the Grand Master while he allowed himself to meditate on his way to the Shadow Prison. Emotions that ran the gambit of ranges from grief to sorrow, anger and frustration, and a few cheery and content thoughts lingered ever so slightly within the confines of the force. Two notable feelings stuck with him though, one he had not expected to sense and the other he had hoped he would not.

The ladder was the more disturbing for it was fear and panic and it seemed to be focused at the Jedi and Republic. It was something that had floated among the common galactic people for a time, and Ronyo had watched the ideas and feelings grow and begin to take more practical shape. It had been something he had tried to deal with during the Brood relief efforts the Jedi were undertaking with the Republic. It seemed like someone was trying to push the idea over the edge and into a greater scheme.

The other almost caused Ronyo to come out of his meditative state, for it seemed centered around a signature that while feint was all too familiar to the Jedi. The signature was distorted a bit though making a positive match hard to think of but it seemed like a distortion that could be fixed. In years past Ronyo would have raced towards the signature without a moment’s thought but he had obligations he had to take care of first.

The computer came on at that time and gave the Grand Master the news that they had arrived at the asteroid field and would begin maneuvers to reach the prison. It was something that required an active pilot to help the computer during the tricky flight. Ronyo stood up and gave a long exhale as he knew he would come back to the matters that came to him in time. For now it was time for the Jedi to face someone he had to be focused towards in order to confront.

*****

Ronyo’s old world ship touched down inside the hanger of the Shadow Prison. Four Mandalorian Commandos meet him at the boarding ramp and gave a small salute. The forces from the old Nexus had all but been scattered to the four winds but a handful of warriors had wished to remain with the Jedi, an odd act in itself given the Mandalorian and Jedi past but it was a good sign of positive changes. The few that had stayed on now manly comprised the armed guard presence at the prison. With such a powerful resident it required the best to be on watch.

Ronyo gave a salute back and followed the commandos to the checking station where Ronyo was scanned for identity and for foreign objects that could have been planted on the Jedi without his knowing. He placed his lightsabers in a holding container and was escorted to the entrance to the main viewing room. Ronyo himself had helped design the security network and so he made sure he was treated as anyone else should they come to visit the prisoner.

Ronyo entered the small room that looked in on the Sith’s main room in her cell. The Jedi sat down with legs crossed and flipped a small switch that allowed for the two-way communication devices to power on. The Jedi smiled as he always did when he visited the woman as he was bound and determined to understand and possibly even help her if he could. He was still trying to find some way to allow her some small measure of substance that would not lead to someone dying or a possible escape attempt.

“Hello Mabysyn, how have you been?” It was a stupid question given the woman’s situation but he had started all their conversation that way and it had become almost habit now.

[ ORD LITHONE ]

"Oh, is that what her name was?" Rikka asked with mock surprise. Grinning wickedly, apparently entirely unafraid (her black ops men are on her tail, no doubt) she added, "She never really had time to tell me, between her screams."

Tossing her cloak to the side, Rikka found her saber at her hip. Drawing and igniting it in a single fluid movement, she reset her stance and beckoned to Eccen arrogantly with one hand. "Come on, then, Eccen. I hear you've gotten rusty these past few years, with nothing but bounty hunter competition."

The Corruo - ???

The dream, it seemed to last forever. Eternally plummeting through the vasts of space, her mind jumbled as if at the point of suddenly snapping awake, but that moment never came. Deep down, she had known. She wasn't sleeping. This wasn't a dream. This was hell.
Everything around her seemed to burn, as if her very being was torn apart over and over again, never a moment of clear conscience. Only moments of an excruciating existence of simply feeling.

The pain never ended...
It merely thrived on her continued existence as it went on...

And on...

And...

A bright flash of light took her by surprise. For a moment she imagined she could feel her muscles spasm in reaction, then an aching feeling began to burn within her, hurting her more by the second. A desperate need filled her and instinctively she opened her mouth to fulfill it.

A large amount of foul liquid poured down her lungs against her body's expectations. Her body spasmed and convulsed in panic, finding her movement impaired by the thick gel she floated in. With an instinctive push of the force, the glass tube was damaged enough to collapse under the pressure of the heavy liquid it was filled with, spilling out the girl along with it.

As the girl lay blindly on the ground, crawling around on broken glass, coughing and desperate for every breath of air she could take in as she emptied her lungs, flashes of light continued to torment her vision. Shivering and whimpering, she cut her arms and legs on the glass as she moved about, crying out as she placed her hand on an upright shard, falling on it with her full weight.

Covered in cuts, bruises and blood, the woman managed to find her way to the wall to rest her back against. She gritted her teeth, holding back the urge to scream as she pulled the shard from her hand and violently cast it aside. Her breathing was heavy and fast, fueled with adrenalin from both fear and pain.

Where was she? What had happened? How did she get here and.. who was she?

Irella.

She knew who she was. Knowing just that, and the fact that nothing else had happened after falling out that container of goo, managed to calm her mind somewhat, to a degree. Whatever that liquid had been, it had not been bacta. The taste of it was closer to chlorine than it being overly sweet. She wished she had something to make that taste go away.

Her muscles felt weak and they trembled heavily in her first attempt to try and stand up resulting in landing down hard on her rear. When she did, taking a sharp breath from the impact, another blinding flash of light filled her vision.

Suddenly she came to the realization that it happened when she tried to blink. It hadn't been any weird obstruction of the Force sight she had gotten so used to, it had been her actual eyes. Forcing them open, she shielded them against the source of the light with her hands to the best of her ability, until at last, shapes began to form before her.

Her eyes were tearing up from the sudden exposure to light, but they slowly adapted as she got used to it, blinking a few more times until at last she could define what was in front of her.

Across from her lay the shattered glass along with the tank that had held her. The gel like substance had an odd pinkish red color, she had no idea what it could be. There were more things like that around the room. Weird potions and devices, crude and primitive looking medical equipment lay around the room in an orderly fashion. It all looked like a very neatly and cleaned up torture chamber to her, judging from the items she saw. Of most she had no desire to even know what they were for or how they were used and yet, she was the one that had woken up here.

Taking a second glance around the room, mostly trying to ignore the presence of those horrifying looking devices, she also noted a large collections of scrolls and books. They looked old, strange marks engraved on their backs and covers.
Sith alchemy, her subconscious told her, before she could even think about it.

A second attempt to get on her feet proved more successful. Her legs still trembling, but for now she managed to remain on her feet. The floor was cold, but that feeling was not nearly as uncomfortable as the idea of staying in this room any longer.

Slowly making her way towards the door, still shivering, her stumble came to a short pause as noticed a large decorative flag with the Sith Empire logo emblazoned on it in a deep red color. Reaching for it, she pulled it down from the wall in order to wrap the fabric around herself for warmth. It was then that she noticed the small layer of dust around the other items before her. Another glance around the room proved it to be the same for everything else, as if no-one had been in here for a very long time. Why had she been left behind in this room? Why had she been in here in the first place? She took one last glance behind her back as she nearly reached the door, a shiver running down her spine as her eyes once more fell on the syringes, the scalpels and other questionable equipment, encouraging her to quickly turn back to the door again.

As she reached for the controls of the door, a small mirror caught her eye on the table right near the door, as something about her appearance drew her attention. Her hair had been cut short and jagged, much shorter than she remembered it ever being in the back and as her trembling hand moved over the scar across her eye, for just a moment, her expression seemed to gaze of into nothing as she softly whispered his name. 'Master Raven...'

Blinking twice, she suddenly seemed to snap out of it, as if embarrassed, she swiftly looked back to the door as if she suddenly remembered what she was doing. Her hand moved down on the controls, as with an affirmative beep, the door slid open, welcoming her to a pitch dark hallway.
No. It wasn't completely dark, as upon looking more carefully, there was a thin stroke of light noticeable at the very end and she was quick to stumble towards it.

Something in the hallway felt uncomfortable, as if the darkness of it itself kept a close watch on her, tried to influence her, but it felt too distant and weak to have any effect. Approaching the end of the hall, the walls opened automatically before her as she got near, revealing the room beyond for her to see.

As the wall of the secret passage way closed behind her, she dropped to her knees with an audible gasp. Gazing at the sight of the Sith throne before her caused images and memories to flood back to her mind as she finally knew where she was.
The Corruo's Throne room.

[ ORD LITHONE ]

Rikka let the Force Push knock her off-balance, rolling as she hit the ground. The modified Force Burst came mere moments later, and Rikka felt it pass over her. Jumping to her feet as soon as it's safe, she gathered in the Force and prepared to send it Eccen's way in the form of a powerful Push, deliberately letting Eccen sense her intent -- but it was a feint.

She pulled instead, and leapt forward to bat at both of Eccen's sabers before darting back with a grin. "Green, hm? I hear that crystal belonged to our dear little Ali," Rikka taunted. "You know, we have a mutual acquaintance who wants that crystal back."

[ ORD LITHONE ]

A piece of permacrete tumbles, catching Rikka's shoulder as another landed on her foot. Grimacing, she threw up a quick Force Barrier to ward away the rest of the falling rocks. Saber to the side now, not even in a low guard position, she grit her teeth through the pain and still managed to sound unaffected. "Ah, but who owned the crystal before your indisputable claim?" Rikka purred, deliberately vague. She knew everyone who knew Isani believed her dead -- but they believed Ali dead, too. They had supposedly died together, after all. Rikka hoped Eccen would assume she was speaking of Ali and not Isani. "She's a bit put-off. She wants it back."

The Sith Knight didn't actually know if Isani wanted it back. All the Sith Master had requested from Rikka was information; what she chose to do with it was none of Rikka's concern, though it was of interest to her.

There was movement behind Eccen in the alleyway, and Rikka felt the minds through her Force connection at her back as well. Knowing full well all blasters would be pointed at Eccen, she grinned.

"You should probably surrender, now. I'd hate to have to kill you - our 'mutual acquaintance' probably wants to do that herself."

[ SPACE ]

"Send a comminuqé to my dear friend," Rikka ordered lazily, back in her chair onboard high-tech vessel that looked quite nondescript on the outside. It even had some boring transport ship ID tags and everything.

She and her (surviving--she had time to save herself, and those caught in the crumbling building had been left behind) black ops squads had made it back to the docking bay and space without incident after Eccen ran. "Tell him E. has made a... tactical retreat - oh that is a great phrase, isn't it? - and I am in pursuit. For fun."