Ask Like Calls

[Nicolae Locke]

They were coming through. The abominations set loose by Malacia's cult. But, even then, Nicolae's cool demeanor didn't collapse. He could sense her doubt. It crawled through her veins like a slow poison. She was on the edge of turning, of letting him in. She just needed a little push.

He didn't deny her charge. There was no need. She didn't really fear the legacies of Sidious and Vader. Nor was there any need to reverse her charges at her, to spell out the history of Jedi seeking power. This wasn't about the past, this wasn't about the ancient struggle between their orders. This was about them. About her, him. She wanted him to make it right, to give her permission to turn her back on the light.

And he was going to give it to her.

"What I want," Nicolae said, "is to create a galaxy where people like us are safe. The Republic, the Empire, the Alliance, the Sector Rangers. They're all the same. They don't understand us. So, they either seek to control us or kill us. Both, usually." He eyed the turbolift door, watched it bulge as the creatures within began to break through. "The two of us working together could change that. And I'm going to prove it to you."

For the first time since they had met, he drew his weapon and lit its bloodshine blade. He didn't call upon his usual Sith magics. They might be able to solve the problem quickly, but they could never prove what he intended to prove to her now. That he was stronger than her friends, that he could finish the mission if he had her with him, that together—light and dark—they could overcome any obstacle they wanted.

A metallic shriek shredded their silence, and the monsters poured through. @Feng Mian

 

[Lyra]

The threat of the Sith dissolved into nothing. Lyra only had eyes for the elevator doors, the pounding of claws against metal, the shrill cries and shrieks of the abominations behind it. Her fingers clenched on her lightsaber handle. A moment ago she’d never be caught dead so close to the Sith, but there she was, side by side, standing in his twisted shadow.

He looked completely unperturbed. Did he not care?

Lyra glanced up at him. She wouldn’t let herself be swayed by his honeyed words, but every syllable sounded genuine, heartfelt, like he truly believed what he was saying. Maybe he did. Maybe she’d been wrong to think of him as the grotesque villain in this story. Maybe the Jedi texts back in the archives had been wrong about their age-old enemies, and maybe there was more to them than death and ambition.

She said nothing. Didn’t nod. Lyra hardly breathed. All she could feel was uncertainty, and bleeding hope in her heart.

An arm broke through the doors. Slowly, talons began to rend them open. She released a shaky breath. I’m one with the Force, and the Force is with me. Lyra wouldn’t end up like Master Kell, like Lila. She still had a purpose in this galaxy.

Most of all, she was not alone.

The abominations poured inside, and Lyra was the first to strike.

 

[Nicolae Locke]

The girl's hinges were coming off. Not quickly, but they were coming. Nicolae could sense the light flickering in her. She wanted to free herself of her bonds, but her own self-doubt was holding her back. Silently, he cursed the Jedi Order. He could not hate the Jedi as his brethren did. Misguided as they were, they took in and protect Force-users. But their indoctrination crippled them. Weakened their potential. Sometimes permanently, though Nicolae had hope that the girl's hidden abilities could be spared.

He just needed time.

The first of the monsters tore free of the lift, and the girl struck out, the light inside her dancing like a candle flame just before it went out. The girl's blade bit into one of the monstrosity's shoulders, causing it to release a shriek of pain. But when Nicolae stepped in to support her, he cut its head clean off its shoulders. And here was her first lesson.

"The Force is not with you, girl," he said, as if sensing her thoughts. "Your friends' faith in it was not enough to save them from their fates. Yours will be no different. If you want to survive where they could not, you must learn to use the Force properly."

More creatures came. At a quick glance, Nicolae counted five of them. He summoned the Force, bending the energies to his will, until, in his mind, he was the universe's dark center. Then, with a mental push, he sent an invisible wall of energy towards the incoming predators. The batlike monsters wailed as they were thrown back into the wall, staggering them.

"You need to use it as a tool."

He let his words hang in the air and went back-to-back with her as one of the monsters, already recovered, began to crawl around their flank. For now, there was no more room for lessons. It was time to kill. @Feng Mian