Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Luth Khalan]

She was there to support Baras on this mission. It was time to meet with him before they arrived. There were a few things to discuss anyway... Like the ominous feeling stretching across the galaxy, and her visions.

Quiet steps took her to his doorway, where she waited.

[Darth Baras]

He waited inside as the door slid open and then closed behind her. He spoke calmly, “Apprentice, you feel troubled. Give voice to your emotions, do not suppress them.”

They were connected and she could feel his own thoughts. A subtle twinge of malice and perhaps jealousy.

[Luth Khalan]

"Yes, Master," she replied, entering, the door closing behind her. It wasn't a word she used commonly or lightly - her upbringing as a slave and experiment assured that. It had been a long road before she had uttered it at all instead of finding any other respectful term she possibly could to refer to him. A subtle response to what she sensed, perhaps.

Her own emotions are complex. Agitation primarily, stress, concern, and a quietly burning undercurrent of something that might be love or hate or both that never quite disappears.

"That... thing in the Force. I don't know what to call it. Like it's drawing in, or... arriving. It feels like I'm a tuning fork picking up every vibration." She began to pace, her internal agitation finding physical outlet. "During my meditations, I've seen a war. The core planets of the Empire and the Republic shattered. Three great lights, bright, dark, and with changing colors."

She frowned, crossing her arms and stopping. "Aral saw it, too, less coherently. He's already showing an affinity for foresight, similar to how it comes to me."

[Darth Baras]

“Good,” he said about the boy, “I expected nothing less.”

Baras then asked, “Others have mentioned similar feelings, even the Empress-Regent is concerned about this nameless threat. Do you feel this is a credible threat?”

[Luth Khalan]

"Nor would I deliver such." A small smile ghosted across her face before disappearing back into serious agitation.

"They're a credible threat. Either credible enough that the whole galaxy is singing it or they're powerful enough to transmit all that as though it was. I don't like either possibility."

"I'm going to meditate on it as we travel. Try and get a clearer picture of what might be at hand. The danger and the possibilities."

[Darth Baras]

“The late Emperor Vitiate was powerful beyond measure, apprentice. Destroying his corporeal form was a great act of will, but we always suspected that his essence would linger… perhaps waiting for a new suitable host to take root in. His secrets were many and beyond counting, if our late Emperor is planning his return,” he finished not willing to complete his thought.

“Our Legacy must be secured against all threats.”

[Luth Khalan]

"The three lights I saw... It makes me wonder if he's the only one at play," she replied darkly. "Would it be normal for things relating to him that there's no... color to the sense I'm getting? It's not light or dark."

"For now, our Legacy is as secure as it is possible to be without being immediately under my nose in a locked-down bunker," she assured. "On that subject, we are completely aligned. It's of primary importance."

[Darth Baras]

"As I said, he kept many secrets, we will have to endeavor to understand your vision," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "I entrust this task to you, Apprentice."

[Luth Khalan]

"I'll seek out whatever secrets there may be to wrest from these visions," she agreed, seeming confident as he placed the hand on her shoulder. "I will let you know immediately when I have some elaboration to offer."

She paused, considering whether to ask before soldiering forward. Nothing to be gained by hesitation. "Are there other concerns? I sensed... some emotion from you earlier." If he didn't want to answer, he wouldn't, and she was content to leave it at that.

[Darth Baras]

He brushed the back of his hand along her cheek, “Nothing that warrants your concern, Apprentice. Lord Draahg will be made available to you; he knows how important your wellbeing is to me.”

“How is my wayward, Apprentice, I am sure you two still converse out of earshot. Not that I would consider you to be plotting, but it does pique my curiosity. Anyone bold enough to try and murder me warrants at least some consideration.”

His hand remained on her cheek.

[Luth Khalan]

"Ah yes, I remember Lord Draahg. That's fine." She looked up toward him as his hand found her cheek curiously. "Considering one of that party is currently your apprentice, that seems accurate."

She shrugged and her tone was even as she spoke. She didn't miss the pause in the movement of his hand, though. 'Worth consideration' indeed. She didn't miss that she was among those bold enough to try and murder him. "He's a long-time ally and hasn't hidden his presence on this expedition from me, so yes, we've talked. We were mostly catching up, discussing the tension in the Force, that sort of thing. The only thing similar to plotting was discussing what to do if one or the other of us dies, and it came down to 'make sure the dead person's children are safe'."

[Darth Baras]

“One’s Legacy must be preserved,” he said with a deep timber of a chuckle.

“His hand moved to cup her chin softly but firmly, “I grant you much trust and leeway, my Apprentice, and you have yet to fail me. Quite the opposite, see that your devotion continues and the rewards will be great.”

She felt pressure building around her throat as he intoned, “You have the potential to be the best of my Apprentices; a true Masterwork, second to none. You know the cost of failure, and of the beings I value, only two surpass you.”

She felt herself float off the ground to his eye level, a finger balanced under her chin as he continued, “These long years have seen you become a powerful weapon in my arsenal. Nearly indispensable. Nearly.”

He caressed her cheek again and allowed her to land lightly on her feet. He turned his back to her and said over his shoulder, “Apprentice, should your devotion be rewarded?”

[Luth Khalan]

It was a moment when the physical differences in their heights couldn't be more apparent, she had to float more than a foot up to reach eye level. She listened, didn't shiver, didn't let the fear overtake her. She let herself feel it, but focused it. They were her emotions, her source of power. They did not control her. Her gaze was steady, even as she felt the pressure around her throat, the threat.

She let out a soft breath when she landed despite herself. Anything but honesty was an obvious risk right now. Things were... delicate.

"No one is indispensable. But your confidence in me as been well placed, Master, and I do look forward to reaching those heights. You have indulged me often over these years, and I have done my best for you, and will continue to do so."

She bowed her head toward him. "If you see a reward for that as fitting, I will gladly accept." She waited, tension through her body. Bracing herself for whatever outcome may arrive.

[Darth Baras]

“Then I name you Lord, Apprentice,” he responded. “A title well deserved.”

[Luth Khalan]

It had been inevitable if she had kept succeeding, of course. Apprentices in the Sith Empire eventually rose to Lords if they survived and succeeded. Even to Darths if they continued to do so.

That this series of events would ever apply to Luth Khalan had never occurred to her.

A whole life feeling like she had to prove herself for the right to exist. To be valuable to anyone. Making mistakes and losing everything more than once. Betraying... everyone, it felt like. Brutally killing her own father - who must be spinning in his grave. All of it just to try protect the people she cared about, even if they hated her now... That Luth. She was a Sith Lord. Lord Khalan was her title.

Her brain had derailed, crashed, and now she was watching the wailing survivors crawl from the wreckage as it burned merrily.

She said, in a slightly surprised and distant voice, "Thank you, Master."

[Darth Baras]

“Good, now leave me, Lord Khalan,” he commanded.

[Luth Khalan]

"Yes, Master." With that, she bowed and turned, leaving at a military clip as she attempted to process this new development. She had meditation to do, anyway. Those visions wouldn't follow themselves.

/exit