Hoth: Blood and Ice

Zeno sat and focused. Not inward, but outward. Not on the disturbing sensation that was ever present, but on a presence he'd not felt for a while.

Where oh where are you? he thinks in a playful voice. If you didn't want to be felt you wouldn't have. And I think I am the only one who did... which meant you were trying to get my attention specifically.

He reached as far as he could, trying to be a beacon.

I takes a moment and then her presence is felt. She sits up as she was lying in bed, or at least it felt as much and she said, “Zeno, as I live and breathe.”

"Come now, you can't really be surprised. I could sense you, which means you must have sensed me. But it has been a while," he says, his eyes closed and mind open.

"I do hope you are well though. Have you been keeping yourself busy?"

"Busy? I suppose, time has no real meaning in that aspect, but I don't try to stay idle," she responded. "You?"

"I've been training and learning among some non-standard traditions. Trying to understand the force minus the trappings of religion," he replies.

"I imagine you have been feeling the sensation in the force?" he asks. "I figured that was why I was sensing you."

"I have not explored the Force much since I left Imperial space," she responded. "Have you found any new understandings in your journeys?"

"I have. I've been trying to infuse my essence with the force enough that it helps guide most of my actions. I've also been studying the art of battle meditation. In addition to strengthening my connection to it."

He pauses for a moment. "So you have grown so powerful that gaining more power is boring then?"

"I have seen what fanatic devotion to gaining power can do to a person, and to what end? To simply gain more power?" she said.

"It has no end."

"Usually ends when you find someone more obsessed I would think," Zeno replied. "My fanatic devotion is to protect my family at this point. As long as I can do that I don't need much more."

"Have you figured out what is approaching? I'm not sure if anyone here has other than visions of war."

"Figured it out, no, but I have suspicions," she replied. "What about you?"

"I'm hearing Vitiate's name being tossed around, folks saying that he might not be truly gone. Nobody can point to a cause or the parties of the war. The Empire and Republic were simultaneously ambushed. So I get the sense that it is a non-Sith or Jedi force that is trying to instigate war. Probably not Hutts, maybe a new play by the Star Cabal, possibly something entirely unknown to the Republic or Empire."

Zeno doesn't seem stressed about it, more curious. "If it's a hidden threat that is revealing itself I would not know."

“Vitiate is dead, or as dead as something like him could be. Even the late Sith Emperor was merely one of many vessels, but Vitiate is dead. This isn’t optimism. What lingers is merely an echo a ghost seeking relevance. It is powerful but it is not Vitiate, or any other name he has chosen over the ages. It is a wound that festers and seeks to corrupt anything it can.”

She finished with, “I suspect this shadow threat in the Force is a legacy of our departed Emperor.”

"So it likely wants a new vessel and will probably corrupt or devour anyone that gets in it's way? And we'll need to find a way to weaken or repair the wound," he thinks out loud.

"Know anything about closing wounds, or should I ask Layne about it?"

"I could sus' out the mechanics, but she does have practical knowledge," she replied.

"I'll need to ask her then. I'm guessing you are not too far away if communication is not too difficult? So are you actually near here to observe or participate in the impending disaster? Or maybe you just like the weather on Hoth?"

"I didn't come here to do anything, I was already here. But the Force tends to arrange such coincidences," she responded.

"It does do that. Well, this is certainly a threat that needs handling. I'll be doing what I can. Not sure how much that is really, but it is what I am doing. I'd welcome any assistance in the task if you want to eliminate the threat as well," Zeno says.

"I have not decided yet," she responded.

"Well, I'm not one to turn down assistance. And while neither side of this line probably trusts me much, they all probably distrust me less than they trust each other. So maybe I can help get these fools organized," he hopes out loud.

"Let me know if you come to a decision and need a ride, or just want to share some input or knowledge you figure out about the threat."

"I am sure you will manage, as you did on Alderaan," she responded.

"Hopefully," he replies. "I imagine you have been wandering the galaxy, meeting new people, and being cryptic with them to drive them crazy? Not much else to do once you have all the power you would ever want I would guess."

"I have no power, none that I care to lord over anyone," she responded.

"Which I am not really surprised about. If I had to guess you probably experimented in some of the same ways I have. When I was still early in my time on Alderaan I spent a good half a year only relying on the light. And I realized that while they do influence your emotions and mindset, there's not really any difference in what the light and dark can accomplish. You can often use wealth and political power to accomplish the same ends. Once you realize how easy it can truly be, it really does make the universe a simpler place with simpler joys."

"You have matured," she responded.

"You have helped with that, as have others. You are a different person as well, as much as a person can really be different. Have you been taking care of yourself?" he asks, possibly surprising that a man that had stated in the past to her face that he had intended to kill her one day. The Sith way of life is so... strange sometimes.