Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Baesal Zyn]

To say the Star Moth was unique was an understatement.

The exterior was unusual but the interior pass the cargo bay...was downright alien. The ship looked like the interior of a living hive except that the chitin, sinew and wax were replaced by chromed metals, white polymers and blueish silvery crystals.

And the Force...reverberated...in it's corridors. It was like walking into an instrument.

The architect of the starbound abode was waiting patiently beside the iris door, the skin of hexagons already peeled.

[Darth Bellious]

"I don't know what to make of it." Moyr stopped to regard the whole thing with a mixture of bemusement and amazement. "It looks like you've been very bored, very creative, or both."

[Baesal Zyn]

''Well'' she rose to greet he guest ''I was never one to settle for the ordinary, I prefer to push the boundaries of what is thought to be possible.''

She joined her hand in front of her

''It is good to see you Moyr.'' she breathed ''I have missed you.''

[Darth Bellious]

"I suppose pushing the boundries as modus vivendi has always been something we share, dear. I've missed you too." Moyr lay a hand on Baes' shoulder when they came to stand in the ship's shadow. "See what partisan divisions do to people. Well over a decade..."

[Baesal Zyn]

''It's been too long...and I suspect we both have been kept busy in our own way'' the iris door opened with a wave of her hand ''Come on in, the common room is ready.''

[Darth Bellious]

Moyr followed her. As soon as they were alone, she reached out to Baes to pull her into an embrace, her lekku stretching toward the montrals.

"I promised you a real hug." She said quietly.

[Baesal Zyn]

Moyr followed her. As soon as they were alone, she reached out to Baes to pull her into an embrace, her lekku stretching toward the montrals.

"I promised you a real hug." She said quietly.

Baesal knew that some truths are best shared alone, she just did not expect it to be this sudden.

It truly had been a long time

The embrace was reciprocate in full and the cold only made the blood rushing through her veins that much more real.

''You always were the shy one'' she teased

[Darth Bellious]

"Pffft. I don't remember it that way." Moyr chuckled, pinching the montrals slightly. "I remember getting us both in all kinds of troubles all the time."

[Baesal Zyn]

Baes gently caressed the intertwining lekkus with her artificial hand

''Good trouble, bad trouble. We did a lot did'nt we?'' Her other hand held firm as her eyes were raised to meet the twilek's ''How much trouble are we getting in now, I wonder?''

[Darth Bellious]

"Too much, I guess. But it can't be helped." Moyr moved her palm along the metal arm.

[Baesal Zyn]

''Is there truly such thing as too much trouble for Moyr to handle?'' she mused, moving her hand to meet the carmine one.

[Darth Bellious]

"Sometimes. It's not the point to handle it all singlehandedly." She entwined her fingers with Baes'. "I'd rather leave some trouble for the others to do with as they please."

[Baesal Zyn]

She was silent for a brief moment, the sliding of lekku on lekku bridging the short gap. Her smile remained but there was a nuanced change, sadness trickled in.

''In more ways then one, I suppose.'' she mused ''Are you free now, Moyr Ahaya?''

[Darth Bellious]

"I am, Baes. In those subtextual meanings as well. My chains have been broken. We don't need to debate it any more. I am not going to question your ways precisely because mine have worked for me. You may of course lament what my freedom means for others and the rest of the universe, but this is another issue altogether. I can tell you when I am keen on doing with my freedom if you are interested."

[Baesal Zyn]

She understood...and accepted. She had known of Moyr's actions, reading her chaos over the years like one would read letters of correspondence. She had just hoped that she had found what she was looking for.

''Tell me''

[Darth Bellious]

"I want sentience to leave its comfort zone and scatter beyond its current confines. Sadly or not, this can only be done by fomenting strife, an unabated conflict between oppression and rebellion against it. The powers that be take care of oppression well enough, so I am taking care of the rebellion. It of course offers a chance to be free, not a guarantee, so it takes a toll. Those who survive the ordeal, however, will be stronger for it, and will carry the spark into the darkness of void. For starters, hopefully into the Unknown Regions, but perhaps into another galaxy at some point. This way, I hope, sentience en masse will outpace every calamity that can end it, including every domineering autocrat that wants to bind the universe to their will. The universe I envisage retains the promise of liberation for those who dare risk it and pay the price. Like I did." Moyr calmly explained, but her passion for this vision was smouldering in her eyes.

[Baesal Zyn]

She listened. One could see her eyes squint, open an close in various degrees just as her eyebrow would raise, furrow or frown at different intervals.

She was listening, taking thing into accounts, making calculations.

She was thinking things through

''Interesting'' she began ''But...'' she raised an eyebrow, looking her straight in the eyes ''...it's flawed.''

[Darth Bellious]

"At no point have I said it is not, Baes. Nothing that has the ambition to produce a future is flawless. But if you want to elaborate, I will listen to your insights."

[Baesal Zyn]

She nods

''Firstly...are you not the first to be comfortable?'' she mused

[Darth Bellious]

"What do you mean?"

[Baesal Zyn]

''You are a Darth, yes?'' she began ''Powerful and beautiful like twilight. You command like a queen and people will obey. You have the ressources of small kingdoms and are powerful in the Force.''

She muses

''Does these things not bring comfort? Are these things not useful shields against the mass of worries the common man needs to toil against?''

[Darth Bellious]

"Ah, this angle. Oh my, Baes. Of all people, you know where I started and if I am where I am, it is only a proof that it is possible. Among trillions in the galaxy that are in plight, some will succeed in breaking their chains even if the majority never will. But never did I say I care about a proverbial common man. Let Jedi do it. For me, a sentient being is only worth as much as their successful effort to stop being common."

Moyr sighed. "Point is, I don't want to win any battle of ideologies. All the debates what's better and why are of no interest to me any more. Each mindset will persist throughout millennia regardless of our effort. Sentience is diverse that way. But what I can do is to impel and compel populations to certain actions that can bring outcomes I want. Sometimes by winning hearts and minds. Sometimes by agitation, instigation, provocation, and manipulation. It's all good to me as long as it ends in upheaval, raising new freedom-seekers."

She sat and extended her legs.

"As a tangent, I am not comfortable. I choose discomfort in the way I live, and power I exercise has nothing to do with it. If the fact that I can make a choice on this is enviable, then I would tell anyone envious: act on it."

[Baesal Zyn]

She tilts her head and sits as well

''This is not a debate Moyr, not really. I know I cannot quite change your mind. I do wonder, however what makes a man common or uncommon?''

[Darth Bellious]

"It's not for me to tell, but for each of them to make a call and act on it. The more the universe is in a state that limits choiceless mediocrity as a viable life option, the better."

[Baesal Zyn]

''But what is choiceless mediocrity? How is it limiting?''