Balance Reborn

[Vechlin Alltemi]

Surrounded

This was a reoccurring theme for the final master of the long deceased Shadow Order. He scoffed to himself and reluctantly let down the hatch. He was immediately overwhelmed by an unwelcoming bright artificial light that contrast heavily against the darkness of his own cabin, to the extent that he cowered slightly, retreating a step back into his ship. He was careful not to reveal his weapon as he buried his face behind the vibroshield. The situation gave him flashbacks of his capture by Kal Strife, which was a painful yet uncomfortably hospitable encounter with Imperials.

"Listen, I know how these things go. I'm a nobody...I have no family, no friends... no affiliation. All I have is this ship and what I'm wearing. Attempt to murder me or take these things and it will be a painful experience for all of us," he said sharply. As he regained composure, he lowered the shield from his face, revealing a haunting gaze to the woman of black and silver hair. The man who loosely resembled his Capasite origin, Xavius Bain, began to laugh maniacally. He knew he was outclassed.

"I take that back."

[Lady Kota]

"You clearly don't know who you deal with.." Tann began to say. Her hand came up to stop him, he looked like Xavius, but he wasn't. "Vechlin?" She said, it was a slight question. She was certain that all the Shadows outside Xavius and herself had been slain. Here he was however, standing before her and her crew, there was a slight smile on her face.

"I don't think your threat holds any value on my ship. My crew is highly trained against force users, if you some how got through all 150 of them, there is still the matters of how you intend to get through myself and then fly this vessel. Of course there is Xavius you'd have to deal with, he would be extremely unhappy with you." She said as she moved towards him. Kota wasn't afraid of him, though she wasn't sure what he was doing out here.

[Xavius Bain]

Xavius continued to sip his drink, until a man walked in that caught the lock of the Shadow Lord’s stare. He was human, short, and middle aged. The clothing suggested lower middle class, flaunting nothing but mediocrity and a comfortable average. Unnoticed by anyone else, he walked up to the corner table.

The Shadow sat, his stare causing the man to hesitate for a moment, before sitting down at the table directly in front of him. With shaky hands, he put a holopad in front of the hooded warrior in front of him, sweat dropping from his brow. A pouch filled with credits levitated from the table, and pushed its way into reach of the man, who nodded, snatched the pouch and left the Cantina even quicker than he had entered.

The stare then moved to the holopad, its glow reflecting in the Shadow Lord’s firey eyes. He revealed a list for a moment, until deactivating the pad and placing it into his cloak. He paid for his drinks, and calmly exited the Cantina.

[Vechlin Alltemi]

Lady Death

He hadn't seen or heard from anyone in years, let alone a Shadow. It wasn't just any Shadow, but THE mother of all Shadows respectively. This encounter was huge, but rational thinking seemed to elude the Shadow, and he had many questions. He pushed outward into the force with his mind and attempted to speak telepathically,

"Where have you been? Xavius is alive?! Are these crewmembers Shadow refugees?"

He also started to speak aloud in response, "I don't mean harm, only to defend myself. Lest we got off on the wrong foot, yes, I am Vechlin." It was good to be addressed by his actual name. He lowered his shield in good gesture and removed his hand from his lightweapon, letting his cloak fall over it at his side. He then turned his body toward them, facing in a far more relaxing posture, eyes still fixated on the guards and weapons drawn in his direction.

"Rest easy. With that ghost of a woman here, I pose no threat to any of you"

[Lady Kota]

Ooc: There was actually a discussion about telepath only short sentences with those who have some sort of attachment.

Ic: She moved her hand for them to return their posts. They all moved to put their weapons away and return to business aboard, all but the Grand Admiral and herself. "They are simply my crew, here to run this ship, they have loyal to me for years, among protecting things, so you'll excuse them for being as they are." She said. "Vun'csio'cisv ror ei" (Check on things) Kota then dismissed Tann as well.

"The shadows have long been slain by the Sith. Xavius and I are all that remain of them or so we thought." She said. It had been so many years since, she had seen him she didn't know quite what to think. "I can get in contact with Xavius tell him this good news. I'm sure it won't take us long to reach him." She said. 'Besides I am sure Nyria will want to see her father.' She thought.

[Xavius Bain]

“Transmission from Lady Kota.”

The mechanical voice of Xavius’s Assassin droid vibrated in the Shadow Lord’s ear. He was already on his way to the ship, so Xavius didn’t respond to his companion. He moved at a brisk pace, until his ship, The Grey, was in plain view.

The walk over gave him a moment to reflect on recent events. He hadn’t seen Kota since before he formed a business relationship with the new Magister of Zonama Sekot. Since his battle with Tormentous. He had lost many students in that ship, and while he came out victorious in the fight, Xavius lost far more than any Sith did on that day. The majority of his top students short of Kole had been slain, and he hadn’t been back to the academy, or to see Lady Kota in quite some time.

Or, the girl.

The Shadow lord often thought of the girl, but his lack of understanding for emotional needs meant the thoughts were simply those. He felt no connection to his daughter, and though logically he understood that he was her father, he also knew that Kota had essentially constructed her out of her and Xavius. Whether or not Kota believed it, the girl was a weapon in its infancy. The Shadow lord was sure about that.

He could feel the familiar hums and hisses of The Grey as he entered, his Assassin already prepping for take off.

It seemed he was going on a detour.

[Vechlin Alltemi]

Vechlin abruptly questioned,
"The Sith?!"

Anger started swelling within him. The last he knew, the Sith and Shadow were working together against the Empire. It wasn't surprising to him though, since betrayal seemed to be a common diplomatic conduct throughout the galaxy. The Shadows themselves were almost always self serving.

"I am glad to hear Xavius is alive," he paused letting word of the Sith sink in further. Regardless of his expectation, the move to work with the Sith was obviously a move in the wrong direction.

Perhaps they had me join their rank and file to blind me of their intentions?


"Was Churs or Daragon involved in their slaughter? I have been experiencing the deaths of Shadow warriors in my dreams." He asked. Death's words only confirmed his dream. The order of Shadows was gone forever.

Vechlin tossed his shield behind him onto the ramp of his ship and stepped forward, hands raised. Death would see that Vechlin had endured the losing battle as his mechanical plasteel arm was exposed and extended.

[Lady Kota]

Names she had not heard in a long time, she had once been friends with Lady Daragon and knew Rani well. "Neither to my knowledge, but I was in seclusion at the time, might want to ask Xavius. He might know more than I. (She noticed his arm and shakes it) We all have scars in some ways more than others." She said. She still had scars on her legs from the vongs torture, but had deeper scars from other things she was trying to heal.

Kota offered to walk with him. "You'll find much has changed in the galaxy, since you vanished. Oh I nearly forgotten, since Xavius is coming you'll have to meet them." She said. Kota pushed a few buttons on her com, a signal for Ragar to come up as well as someone else. She seemed happy to have another shadow around.

[Xavius Bain]

The trip to the coordinates carried out in silence, as many of his trips do. Though his Assassin droid was Xavius’s primary companion, the two rarely needed to speak, as neither found it necessary. The droid was modified and designed by Xavius Bain, which meant the average of one of the shadow’s creations: It was a lethal machine.

“This is The Grey, requesting permission to board.”

The Shadow Lord’s serpent-like voice hissed through the comm. His permission was granted, and he took in the vast, familiar ship. He hadn’t seen Kota in quite some time now, and though he knew logically that he had distanced himself from them as of late, logic rarely had a factor with this one aspect of his life. The cold, calculating warrior still had some strange affection towards the woman that he would never truly understand with his limitations on traditional emotion. During Xavius Bain’s inception, his mind was the primary alteration. They had already created a lethal warrior in the version before him, but Zaviere was not easy to control. The remedied that by altering Xavius’s brain composition, and while it worked for a long time, the Shadow Lord had overcome his limitations and become something close to human. Each experiment failed, but none failed as highly as Xavius Bain, Capastie: Project 4. Xavius had hunted down the ones responsible and ended their lives without a hint of remorse. Though emotion may be buried deep in his limited humanity, he would never truly be human.

The Grey landed, and the Shadow Lord exited the ship, his droid in tow. Fully geared, the hooded warrior’s silent but quick steps took him past the crew, which Xavius always noticed kept a watchful eye on him. Xavius was aware that average sentients often felt uncomfortable around him, but he did not concern himself with being ‘liked’. Only respected.

[Vechlin Alltemi]

Things have changed, Vechlin thought. Set aside that no one had seen him in years, it was still rare for the Shadow to smile genuinely, but he did when he witnessed a small child enter the room, escorted by one of Death's crew. It all seemed to happen pretty quickly, but the guards began to ease into a more comfortable stature due to Death's actions.


"This is truly a blessing, and our lives have been lacking in those," Vechlin stated blankly, trying not to freak the little girl out with his enigmatic appearance, though she didn't quite seem as uncomfortable as he was expecting.