Hoth: Blood and Ice

Tethys's eyebrows twitch up. So far, not one Sith she's spoken with on Hoth has had a single positive thing to say about their Empire as a system of government. That's... certainly interesting. Do they all think like that? If so, she has to wonder, even more than before, how the hell the whole thing functions even at the level it does. By any logic, a galactic state in that situation ought to have splintered long since.

With an effort, she makes herself consider the practicalities of their immediate situation rather than the mysteries of the bigger picture. Yes, an unknown empire may be planning to invade the known galaxy in the name of subjugation and assimilation. Yes, the Sith emperor might still be out there, out of body, and so might this Valkorian, and the ways of the Force suggest the two are more probably connected somehow than not. However, right now an incredibly powerful and deeply unstable Force user is on Hoth and wants to find her mother, probably with violence, and that mother is standing in front of Tethys at this very moment.

"How can we protect you from your daughter, Senya?" she asks, after a spell of thought. "If we can get you off planet, can you hide yourself? Or is it too late for that? Is there any hope of negotiating with her?"

"I am curious as to how you came to be here." Galen spoke up again. "Were you traveling with Lana?"

“Lana has been helping me, ever since we crossed paths, some time ago. I came here with the crew of the Turtle, I thought it would be out of the way, but obviously not. This day was always coming, and I am tired of running,” she said.

Senya turned to Tethys and said, “Vaylin does not negotiate, she… I am not sure what she has endured but she cares nothing for anyone besides her brothers. You can’t trust her, and even if she does find me there is no guarantee she will stop there. My guess is she wants me to come to her, which can buy us some time but not much.”

"I imagine there would be less bloodshed if she didn't have to come here for you" Aphr commented "not that either is a good option for yourself of course. Fleeing the planet wouldn't stop her coming here to kill everyone until she found out you left if she is as you say. Going to face her is likely suicide...unless you faced her down with others who could take her on, but going by all of this I would say the amount of people here that could face her on an even footing may be slim to none."

Tethys shakes her head, the gesture echoing some of the sentiment behind Aphr's remarks--albeit probably from a somewhat different angle. "You might buy us time, but at the cost of your own safety. That's not a cost we should pay if we can find any alternative. And time for what? Would she turn around and leave after she finds you? Time won't help us if we don't have a plan." She's frowning in thought, brows drawn together. "We can't fight her head-on. You say she won't negotiate, but... everyone has something they want. Even if they themselves don't know what it is."

"I don't know, Vaylin is twisted, Valkorian... Emperor Valkorian. Look when Vaylin was young even before she was born she could move things in the womb, objects... my bed. She was always gifted in the Force. I had seen what he had done to our sons, I didn't want that for her but it was a secret that could not be kept forever. But..." she sighed heavily trying to find the words.

"She was too strong, maybe too powerful, uncontrollable, he did something to her to bring her in line with whatever his vision was. I tried to stop it, even went against my Emperor but I was too late and the girl I had birthed was gone."

"There doesn't seem to be a lot of options" Aphr commented, perhaps less surprised than the others at hearing the strength of this woman but still surprised "really I can't think of any that don't end in deaths if she is hellbent on this path."

She looked to Tethys.

"Well...perhaps one, but it would carry a huge amount of risk and a lot of deceit, and would still lead to death eventually anyway. If she could be convinced that you had fled already and where to that would buy some time but she'd still be out there. Hmm..."

"She's my daughter, I do owe her a chance at least, failing that maybe we can set a trap to apprehend her... maybe?" she offered.

"Honestly, if every option seems impossible, we might as well pursue the one that would end most favorably for eveyone." Galen said. "If there is a way to capture her, or even bring out a better version of her, we might as well try. It sounds like things will be difficult and dangerous regardless."

"I don't think she'll be deceived that simply, Ms. Aphr." Tethys looks grim. "Last night, the disturbance in the Force around midnight--that's when I became aware of her. She searched my mind, and the mind of another Jedi who is not an easy target either. I doubt we were the only ones. It was--easy, for her. Trivial. From who knows how far away--it didn't feel close, not physically. She could have been on the other side of the planet, or even in orbit or across the system, I think."

She rubs the bridge of her nose as if to drive away the threat of a headache--or the memory of one.

"I wonder what Valkorian did to her. I wonder if undoing it would... help." A child, even a powerful child, shouldn't have been penned in and... and altered, like livestock or a lab animal. The idea is wrong enough to turn her stomach and stir anger in the back of her chest.

"How can we trap someone so strong in the Force?" Senya's suggestion surprises Tethys.

"I don't know, but maybe we start with what Valkorian did to her, I know where it happened," she said thinking.

"It's far from here, but maybe through the Force we can see it, live it? There has to be something."

"That would certainly help." he nodded. "If we could manage it."

"If you'll lead us to the place in your memories, it might be possible," Tethys agrees. "The past, the future--the Force connects us to both of them. I think it's worth the attempt." She's already thinking over how they might try it, how much time they might need to prepare, her expression becoming a bit abstract for a moment.

Quickly, though, her focus returns to Senya.

"What was done to your daughter... isn't her fault. If there's still some way to help her, I will."

--
OOC: That doesn't sound like any specific Force Power effect, so I'm guessing it's meant to be something more free-form rather than a matter of figuring out if anyone has the right power on their sheet?

"I'll continue to look to the Force. With a name perhaps that will let me narrow down my focus, although I usually see the future rather than the past I have seen the past at times also."

There was a more thoughtful expression.

"A combined effort through the Force with a guide to see the past may be possible once the link is found. Although I would say it would need both a small group and a group strong in the Force. It would be an interesting experiment. Likely risky but far less risky than the other options."

She said, "Then I think we have a direction, a dangerous one."

"For now I think I need to think, alone."

/scene with screen wipe?