Memories & Visions (Shaisha's interlogue)

[Shaisha Vreysk]

Epilogue

Ziost

Snow.
It was one of the first thing she could remember, watching the snow fall outside the panorama windows of the Vreysk stronghold. The cool feeling of the glass as she pressed her hands and face against it to get a better look at the outside world; her mother practising her lightsaber forms, the distant lights and towers of New Adasta, and the feeling as if the sky was falling down...
Gray snow falling down? No, not snow. Ash.

Shaisha snapped out of her reverie as she heard the comlink begin to spark with noise.
"We are in position," she heard the familiar voice of Agent Paz Venger.
"Acknowledged. Any sight of Lord Charr"
The comlink was silent for a moment before the response came.
"Negative. He's not been observed at the gathering yet."
"Great. Guess I will just have to get his attention then," Shaisha's grin was practically audible through the spoken communications.
"You do seem to have a talent to draw attention on the dancefloor," Paz replied back, his humor delivered with a more deadpan tone.
The female Sith rose from her spot on the rooftop that looked right down at the exquisite glass roof of Lord Charr's private estate, and to the party happening underneath it. Time to crash this party then, she thought with a playful smirk and leapt into the air.
Plummeting through the air, the thrill of the stunt increasing her heartbeat, Shaisha remarked briefly at how she was moving faster than the constant snowfall of Ziost, and as the glass roof rose up to meet her, she rolled into a ball and let the Force protect her from the impact. The glass shattered into great sharp snowflakes and Shaisha unrolled herself to dive into the fancy indoor swimming pool that had been mostly occupied by scantly clad slaves of various kinds. She was certain she heard some screams from those who were hit by the falling glass from above.
The initial shock of her dramatic entry bought her enough time to resurface from the water and step onto the now glass-littered floor. A quick scan of her surroundings let her knew that Charr didn't seem to be here, but there would still be company. The various guests pulled away as security stormed in, not wanting to get drawn into a fight that was not theirs... at least not yet.
"Fashionably late to the shindig, and this is my welcoming party?" Shaisha smirked as she looked over the guards. Not apprentices, just regular goons with electro-staffs and blasters. No match for her. I got their attention, Paz, work your magics.
Three of the goons with electro-staffs rushed forth, only to be met by her red lightsaber. She ducked with ease under the swing from the staff, changing the grip of the hilt in her hand to change the angle of her attack, allowing her to catch the second guard completely unawares and cutting him down. The third one was unable to see her lightsaber as she sidestepped around the still standing corpse of his companion, and with a thrust to his abdomen, she ended him as well. The first attacker had just managed to turn around to face her in the time it had taken her to eliminate his two compatriots, and she rewarded him with a push that sent him right into the pool. She managed to catch her breath in time right before the other guards opened up a volley of blaster bolts, and drawing her second lightsaber, Shaisha showed them all how dangerous it was to mess with a Sith trained in the defensive forms of Shien. The shots that didn't miss were reflected away harmlessly, and some of them found purchase right back at the one who fired it. Surrounded by broken glass and falling snow, the room broke into a cacophony of battle.

A muted silence dominated the ballroom, and a lightly winded Shaisha turned off her lightsabers.
"Paz, what's your status?" she inquired with a touch to her commlink.
"We're in. Seems like you put everything on high alert, but I imagine your lethal dancing kept most of them busy. We've met only minimum resistance."
"Flatterer," Shaisha smirked. "Give me the directions."
"We have the schematics of the entire place up, as well as control of all cameras and security. Ready to go?"
Shaisha noticed one of the guards groaning and rolling over, maybe reaching for a sidearm. He was awarded with a forceful stomp to the face. "Ready."

With the others taking care of securing exits, including their own, and she suspected Lord Charr's landing platform would soon be blown to smithereens thanks to her team, Shaisha opened the door to Lord Charr's inner sanctums that Paz had been guiding her through over the commlink as she had weaved her way through his estate and sowing destruction in her wake.
Inside the surroundings were opulent, almost overbearingly so... but having now spent time as the apprentice to one of the most deviant of Dark Lords for the last months, Shaisha recognized when she saw true decadance, and when it was just a clumsy facade like here. It wanted to give the impression of being that way, rather than actually being fashioned by someone who truly lived such a hedonistic life. Her target lounged lazily on one of the divans, eyeing her with a confident grin as she stepped towards him. A man of dark skin and shaved head, his eyes had a great intensity to them as he seemed to take in her every movement. She assumed he was probably armed in some way, and was most likely ready for her.
"The party downstairs wasn't to your liking?" he asked, sipping from a whiskey glass.
"I've seen better ones, and I missed your presence there, my Lord," Shaisha nearly purred as she stepped onto the low table and advanced on him slowly. She could tell by his smugness that he probably knew what had transpired there.
"Is that so? Being the apprentice of a Dark Lord must have its perks then. Though I promise you that this Corellian whiskey is better than anything that fop serves you."
Shaisha smirked. "Bold words. I will have to see if it is true then, if you will allow me a sample...?" Reaching out a hand for the glass, she waited for an opening.
Though it seemed he had similar thoughts, and as the glass was in the middle of its exchange, Shaisha's lightsaber flared to life just in time to clash with the man's cortosis-treated vibrosword when Charr leaped out of his seat. The fact that he had not drawn a lightsaber was not lost on her.
"I admit, you and your friends might've been able to take me today, had not a little bird whispered the truth to me. You might have stopped the Children of Revan today, but your Empire will be torn apart in the name of freedom. The Eagle will see all soar free from your tyranny!" Adding a touch of flair to his brief speech, his free hand pressed the button of a remote control. Almost instantly, they could feel the reverberations of several explosions going off inside the building.
And flashing her a smile, the man who had just revealed himself as The Eagle, turned and jumped through the glass window to their side. The sound of glass bursting and shattering couldn't even be heard through the backdrop of explosions.
"My lord!" Shaisha heard the voice of Paz over the commlink as she was about to dive after The Eagle. "What happened?!"
In that moment, she knew she had to make a decision. Fast. "We were set up, Paz. He knew we were coming. Get yourself and your people out of here. Now!"
"But the decrypti-" she heard one of the agents interject.
"That is an order, agent! The decryption doesn't matter if we're all buried alive."
"Understood, my lord. We're moving out," Paz replied with a surprisingly calm tone, and she heard him relay the order to the others.
Shaisha on the other hand began to run at a neckbreak speed for safety too.

---

"... And that concludes the latest news of Darth Marr's conquest of Tatooine. In domestic news, the recently founded anti-terrorist organization, known as Public Security Section IX, confirms that the latest attacks on the public peace of Ziost have been caused by the extremist group of terrorists calling themselves the Children of Revan," Helen Shaw reports in a serious tone.
"Yesterday, Public Security Section IX, alongside one of Darth Vowrawn's apprentices, raided the stronghold of Lord Charr on Ziost to root out the terrorists. Lord Charr was slain, and the stronghold was destroyed in a series of explosions. It is unknown if all members of this anarchist group were accounted for, but this will nevertheless send a powerful message to all those who oppose the Emperor and the Sith Empire; you will be found and death is the only penalty."

---

Shaisha hid around the corner, standing on top of a chair for more height, as she eagerly awaited her prey. The moment she had heard of his arrival, she had rushed to this spot where she would wait to ambush him. And now she could barely contain her excitement as she felt his presence drawing nearer.
The moment came and she leapt into action like a pouncing cat... right into her father's arms.
"I could sense you two floors down, Shaisha," he admonished her in his usual calm tone, though he smiled fondly at his daughter as well as he lifted her up. "You're growing taller."
"That's what kids do," she laughed back at him. "And soon I'll be bigger than you!"
"Perhaps," Scourge chuckled with an amused tone, and let her back down.
Shaisha smiled brightly and took his hand. "Let me show you what I've learned since last time."
She turned to pull him along, but then... something seemed wrong. The air grew cold all of a sudden.
"Father?" the child turned to look back.
This was no longer her home. It was outdoors; an open field, ripe with harvest, like she had never seen before. Her father stood with his back to her.
"Father?" she called again. There was a thick tension in the air, as if everything around was holding its collective breath.
And then, the air seemed to explode. Not in fire, but as if the very fabric of the universe unraveled as something tore through it.
It knocked her off her feet, and as she looked up, reality seemed to be disintigrated before her own eyes.
All color was drained from the sky, and like a wave, a great shadow rolled over the horizon, turning everything in its path to lifeless grey, as if it sucked the world dry of all life.
Her father stood perfectly still as the force of annihilation enveloped them, and he disappeared like snow in the wind on Ziost.
"Father!" she cried in panic and despair, and suddenly everything was still again. A perfect silence, even quieter than the vacuum of space. She was alone on this lifeless world now, except for the growing, foreboding presence that soon seemed to overwhelm her as she felt its mocking laughter.
Shaisha let out a cry for help, drowned out in the silence of the void...

That ringing sound?
Shaisha came to her senses on the floor next to her bed, her right foot still seeking to cling itself to the comforts of the matress.
That ringing sound again.
She looked around, and quickly saw her communicator flashing and blaring to get her attention. With no effort, she reached out with the Force and it came into her hand easily, and she sat up straight before accepting the call.
Much to her surprise, the unexpected caller was the Emperor's Wrath. She waited in silence to learn the reason for this call.
"You called me," he stated in a neutral voice.
Her head was still reeling from the nightmare. "What? No...?" At least she felt certain she had been awakened by the call.
"Through the Force, I felt you were calling to me. It was... quite powerful," he clarified, a lightly irritated scowl on his face.
Shaisha was silent, uncertain of how to explain the situation. At least he seemed to be waiting for her answer.
"I've been having bad dream... or visions. Of a lifeless world, barren and drained of all life. However, this time, it was the first time I saw it's... destruction," she began, shaking the fear of the ordeal that had come with the rather intense experience. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Lord Scourge's holo image looked at her in silence for a long moment, as if he seemed to be sharing the sentiment. "Be mindful of your visions." And with that, the call was ended.
Shaisha wasn't sure if his words were meant as a warning, a reprimand, or advice... or all three. Placing the communicator down, she stretched out as she tried to sort out her thoughts between the nightmare and the sudden call, and soon enough slipped into a light meditation. Perhaps only a few minutes had passed as suddenly a message ticked in on her communicator. The sender's identity was unknown, and even if she had a goof hunch who it could be, she didn't want say it for certain. The message in itself was... odd, and it took her a few moments to recognize that message to only be a simple set of astrogation-coordinates, but as she checked them out on her datapad, nothing came up on the official star-maps.
Seemed like she would be calling in that favor from Zeno sooner than she expected.