Pink is the New Red [LA2]

[Moyr Ahaya]

The Red Wraith waited hidden in one of a remote corners of the spaceport that still allowed to observe the way out that interested her.

LA2. Waiting Hidden at Vantage Point. Stealth.: 2eP+1eA+1eB+2eD 2 successes, 2 advantage

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr, after finalizing the last details for the Starcross, left the ship and started to head out of the port.

[Moyr Ahaya]

A shred of metal fell clanking on the floor before her as she turned to one of the side corridors.

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr stopped as she heard the noise. A small frown as she saw the metal sheet, her curiosity getting the better of her as she moved over to it.

[Moyr Ahaya]

"Don't chase the tool, but grip the hand that wields it." The voice came from above.

[Aphr Ahaya]

That voice!

Aphr looked up, trying to see where the woman was hiding.

[Moyr Ahaya]

She was crouching behind a loosened ceiling panel, at the verge of metal installation, near a broken hololight.

"We were meant to meet again. This is your opportunity. You can follow me to my ship or go your way. The choice is yours."

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr had already started working out how to follow her when a thought came to mind.

"Will your friend be joining us?" Aphr asked

[Moyr Ahaya]

"That would be against my wish and precaution. And friend is the last word I'd describe her with." The Lethan Sith quietly slipped into the corridor by the shaded wall, leaning against it. The Red Mask flickered bloodily in the vibrating light.

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr hesitated for only a few moments more, before following along after the Twi'lek, curiosity getting the better of her.

[Moyr Ahaya]

[Additional success from Stealth to cover Aphr's passage to the Bitch.]

The Sith said nothing, just guided the other Twi'lek across the docking bay until they reached one of the many shaded hangars. The code was transferred, the lock opened, and soon they were climbing up the ramp of an odd freighter that looked Corellian and Mandalorian at the same time. There was an imposing battle droid guarding the cargo load, unmoving but a single red eye indicated it was active. A small maintenance once was sweeping the floors around, buzzing like a cockroach.

"It's all right, Gunnie."

The woman said to someone who may have been watching, then led Aphr up the railing toward one of the cabins. Once they were alone, she took a stand opposite to her guest.

"Do you know who I am, Aphr?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr was silent in her movement, following the Lethan Sith to her ship. She listened carefully, and watched the droid. Eventually they were alone, and the silence reigned for a few moments before that question was asked.

That is the question, isn't it...

She remained quiet for a few moments, just looking at the masked woman. Eventually she spoke.

"I think I knew right away, but didn't believe it. After all, it's been too long..." she paused, then spoke more firmly "Moyr."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"A lifetime in more sense than one." The elder sister replied throwing the hood away, and finally removing the mask, then weighing it in her hand, fingers dug in the eye slots. Her golden orbs were both like and unlike what Aphr could remember. They belonged to the same girl but whatever ruthless, cruel and defiant qualities there had been in them before, they were much stronger now, dominant. And yet at the same time all the things that Aphr could have looked up to were stronger as well, unyielding and undeterred. She had been called a witch, but she was one now. "So you got out of the hellhole and have led a galactic life for a time."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Getting out would imply I left by my own accord" Aphr replied, looking at her sister for a few long moments before she walked over to Moyr. "You always did manage to find your way out of trouble better than me after all, why would that change after leaving Ryloth?"

She stopped in front of Moyr, putting her hand on her own hip.

"Hope you've not gotten too big and serious, because I'm going to give you a hug" there was a smile on her lips "to make up for the years where I couldn't."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"Only because I have always believed that it's better to be dead than enslaved, and I have always been passionate about my beliefs." She sighed and reluctantly put the mask away, then put the hand on her sister's arm. "Through the tendrils of the Dark Side, even now my enemies are watching, Aphr. If I show weakness now, it will be exploited. The true sisterly reunion we must earn. We are not setting the terms now, and this must change. Our names were broken, our lives were broken. There is a hole between now and then. I suffered, and I imagine you suffered too. There is no way back from that. But there can be a new beginning, through who you and I truly are, who our family has feared and abhorred: chosen by the Force."

She smiled a crooked smile.

"Witches."

[Aphr Ahaya]

Witches.

The word alone brought pause.

"I remember how our parents used to speak that word. How they hated all that used powers. Yet now...one of us uses the force and the other has learnt that they can use it. Ironic."

She puts her hand on Moyrs.

"However, for someone who ran from enslavement, you seem more trapped now than I am. Unable to show what you call weakness, forced to attack your own sister by one mad woman. I don't understand it, are you really free? Or did you go from one ownership to another?"

She shook her head.

"I worry, dear sister, if merely having a happy renunion with your sister can cause your death. What...what does your path give you?"

[Moyr Ahaya]

"I didn't run, Aphr. I killed the Hutt that tried to ferry me to my doom. Whatever troubles I have, can you compare them to what Zhorrid would have done to you yesterday had I not altered the situation?" Moyr let their fingers interlaced into a grip, and her lekku waved in stalwart defiance.

"I told you, you will have no peace. For those chosen by the Force, there is only strife. If you don't take charge of your destiny, someone else will." She smiled.

"The breaking of chains takes time and effort. Persistence and passion. Those who want to enslave you are more powerful than you only until they are not. I am already more powerful than many of those who would like to objectify me."

Moyr reached out to stroke Aphr's cheek.

"Merely, dear? If I were not who I've become, there would be no reunion ever."

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr closed her eyes, keeping her first reply bottled inside. She didn't want to spoil the moment. She instead said "your words at least are closer to realistic than the Jedi knight who spoke to me yesterday" a small smile, as she opened her eyes to look at her sister again.

"Zhorrid is her name then? The one who orders you around. At least I have a name for her, a fitting one too."

She sighed.

"I'm happy that you managed to free yourself. My enslavement was barely a fraction of how bad it could have been for you or I. I just...I'm trying to understand everything that has been dropped in front of me. It's a lot to register all at once; the force, the dreams...you could never do anything the quiet way" threre was a chuckle "I still admire you for your strength, but I worry if you're dedicating yourself to a life where you are either the target or the targeter. Can you not free yourself from all this?"

A pause.

"And where do I fit in? The dreams are daily now, as is the draw towards Nal Hutta "

[Moyr Ahaya]

"To get rid of those who oppress you is at the core of being Sith. Those who claim to be your master in particular..." Moyr smiled faintly. "You must have heard of Darth Hoshi, the scourge of slavery across the Outer Rim. She's a Twi'lek, and she now sits among the most powerful Darths on the Dark Council. To be Sith is to carve out your own destiny until you accomplish freedom, and not ever be detracted from the path you consider right. And as you attain victory on your path, the chains fall apart. The Jedi vilify us because they don't want anything to change, they want the cosy hypocrisy that allows their privilege to last across centuries on the back of the corrupt regime inhabiting the Core."

She sighed, looking into her sister's eyes.

"In moments of life and death, it is the Force that makes the difference, Aphr. My awakening came on the brink of my unmaking, the Force let me pull away from the brink, and so did my further revelations. The fear of unknown in you, it can be harnessed, mastered. You know yourself by what you fear, and it fuels you. My passion is my strength, Aphr, so what you really admire is my drive to be free, my rejection of being objectified and helpless, my... love of what deserves to be loved, and loathing of what deserves to be loathed. The Jedi teach that there is no passion."

She raised her lekku slightly at the revelation of the Nal Hutta's call.

"It is not Nal Hutta that calls you, the toxic wasteland the Hutts made as they do to everything they touch. It is Evocar, the planet that was. The home of Black Witches in ancient times, chosen by the Force. Is there a particular place on the planet that attracts you?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

Unlike the Jedi the previous day who had preached a code of cutting yourself from the world, Moyr's words had stuck a code with Aphr. She wasn't badly treated by Xierreau and the Starcross crew, and she had a lot more freedom than most slaves, but it wasn't the same as pure freedom.

"Sounds like you discovered quite a lot about yourself in five years" Aphr said quietly, processing all the information "to create a freedom for oneself...that is very you" and me? she smiled "the Sith have their own code, right? Like the Jedi code."

She paused, remembering what Galen said to her.

"What about those that call on the force that choose neither side? Bound by no master?"

She took a moment to think back to the nightmares, trying to remember any more information, but she shook her head.

"I don't know where on Nal...on Evocar" she corrected "Xero said about going there before, to see if that causes more reaction. It's linked to you though, and to Evocar. Why would you be going there?"

[Moyr Ahaya]

Moyr smiled gently. "Yes, there is. And you have already been taught its lesson." She looked Aphr in the eyes, connecting through Force.

"Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength.
Through Strength I gain Power.
Through Power I gain Victory.
Through Victory my chains are Broken.
The Force shall free me."

Then, her grip gently pulled their hands down together as hers slipped off Aphr's shoulder.

"The Force has the Light Side and the Dark Side. Those who try to obfuscate this reality either fool themselves or others, and are in fact hidden users of one of them, or they risk living in constant conflict with themselves, having no clear path forward. I know of the Jedi who rebelled agains their Code and turned to the Dark Side, and of the Sith who in his travels through the Force chose the Light. There were probably even those who shifted more than once. But as my associate Jo'ren Rath says, a Sith chooses their own path, their own destiny. The Jedi discourage this choice. You can guess who has a better chance to become bound by no master."

She sighed.

"As for what is hidden on Evocar, I have only suspicions. But even those are better not shared with someone without training in the Force. I will learn the truth before I risk exposing you to it. Know that those may be visions sent to you by one called Darth Zash. Like Zhorrid, but smarter and more powerful. She wants me to suffer for defying her."

[Aphr Ahaya]

Something in that made Aphr frown. Does Galen just use one side or the other, and feigns not being either? "The force is confusing" she commented after a moment "but your words make far more sense than the Jedi code. I don't understand their code at all, it seems...conflicting. However, it doesn't sound like either code is truly binding if there are some who have shifted between the two."

A thoughtful pause before she added "the force is the force, and how you use it defined who you are?"

Then she continued, and Aphr fell into silence. Slowly, a smile grew until she laughed. "You haven't changed! If I ever had doubts, not that I did, your managing to cause those in positions of responsibiltiy to dislike you shows your nature hasn't change at least. You've never been one to like being controlled" she smirked "so you won't tell me, or shouldn't tell me. I'm ok with this. However, that someone might put it in my mind...the Jedi said the force sometimes shows us things so we can intercept them, or because we are supposed to be a part of them. Would this...Sith know to give me these nightmares though, without there being reason for me to know them? I'm not sure..."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"And who you are defines how you use it. It works both ways. The Force is an extension of you, not something outside of you. It is in your blood and in your breath. In your thought and in your grip. In your will and in your need." Moyr smiled a crooked smile that hinted on approval. "When you use the Force you don't connect with some outside power, at least not exclusively. It is yourself that you discover, extend and employ. The journey through the Force is in fact attaining the mastery of self. Those who see the Force as some bogus religion simply don't understand it. Even though there are great Sith Lords of the past whose legacy casts a long shadow, sites permeated by vergence of the Force, and powerful Force creatures inhabiting the galaxy, in the end there are no false gods. There is you."

Moyr pulled Aphr's hand for them both to sit.

"Hence I am myself, dear, like you've noticed. Just more of myself. And yes, my strength is measured by the power of my enemies. Zash is a foul creature that must die, but I am not alone in this quest. I have close associates who want the same thing. But her actions can be insidious. She has put herself in my head before, even tormented me over great distances. But I have not yielded to her, and I won't."

She smiled thoughtfully.

"It is important for you to know that the Force is also like an abyss. If you look into it, it looks back. And those who inhabit it may have their eyes set on you. Hence the Sith don't allow those sensitive with the Force to linger untrained. Otherwise you're just an easy prey the moment your instincts lead you to submerge in your intrinsic power. This is what happened in the Yellow Viper. I had my presence in the Force shrouded, untraceable for those who would like to follow my actions. It is you who unwittingly sent summons to Zhorrid. And likely vindicated the bet Zash made on us being connected."

Moyr squeezed her sister's hand.

"So as you see, there is much to do for you and I."

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr sits also, listening to her sisters every word. "The force as an extension of yourself sounds more believable than the force as some kind of religion. At the same time, I can see why people would see what a force user can do and believe it to be some kind of gods-given power until told otherwise."

She frowned, and looked down.

"I hadn't intended to call on the force...or anything. I felt you arrive at the Cantina, a shiver down my spine and blood on my hands. I had intended to look with my eyes, but the force had other ideas it seems. Or it wasn't the force, and instead this Zash?"

She sighed, looking back at Aphr with a half-smile.

"Makes a change then, for me to get you into trouble, huh?" a small laugh, before she looked serious again. "What now? We have to play this little game? I don't like it. I also don't want to keep giving myself away all the time. How do you hide yourself?"

[Moyr Ahaya]

"It was probably both the Force and Zash. She's the master of abusing the Force residual in others." Moyr exhaled. "I'll be alright, don't worry. Worry about yourself, for this is a difficult time for you, of both learning and vulnerability. Usually Force-Sensitives are initially treated with some lenience during training, the pressure is stepped up as the education in the Force progresses. Or at least this is how things were on Korriban. We're not on Korriban, however, and as you already know there are some of those whose gloves are already off."

Moyr thoughtfully traced the shades in colouration of her sister's skin by the lekku with her finger.

"The ability to go off the radar when cruising through the Force is not something you'll learn soon. We'll need to start with the basics. You may have the predilection to sensing things, or to foresight. Maybe others. We'll need to determine how to channel the powers you already possess into a discipline that would give you a real advantage."