Ask Shadow of the Past

[Thel Xeros]

Galpos II

Thel’s ship gently touched down on the barren surface of Galpos II. The latest stop in his search for his former apprentice, Param. He felt compelled to track her down and speak with her again. Things needed to be settled between them. In the past, he wouldn’t have felt this way. His time away had changed that. He had reflected on the things he had done and the way he had treated people.

Jumping down from the ship, he landed with a soft thud. His appearance remained the same as always; some things hadn’t changed during his absence.

Finding Param had proven extremely difficult. There was no trace to be found. He had become aware that she no longer had any connections on Troiken, the place where he had trained her. When all looked lost, it was a story he heard in a cantina that gave him a lead to follow. A force sensitive had been hunting and killing slavers. He was aware of Param’s distaste for slavery. There was a possibility, admittedly a remote one, that she could be the force sensitive in question. It was worth a try, in the absence of anything else.

He had followed the trail to Galpos II. Each stop along the way had resulted in failure to find the force sensitive. He was dubious that this planet would be any different, but he had to keep looking. He wouldn’t give up now.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param was already in the underground facility. Vee was tracking her progress through the corridors from a control terminal, guiding her through low beeps and whirs through her EZPods. From the lobby where the elevators brought all new comers, down a corridor behind the “front” desk, a trail of dead and dying in their various colored blood was left- a wake of justice.

The wanderer had tracked the thalassian slavers to this nest, using rumors and mental Force tricks to find her way here. First she had cut off their communications so they couldn’t call out for help. Then she held the receptionist at blade point until Vee had gotten into the system and confirmed there were slaves being kept in the facility.

Her face a deadpan of focus, she steadily walked down the corridor, her echani war sword cutting down each and every slaver in her path. Each and every room was searched by Vee, and if needed, cleared by Param. Her tan, hooded poncho was already covered thelassian blood. Her long-sleeve, black shirt and tight, brown leather pants were covered in the ichor and viscera of the reptilians that couldn’t hide from her.

Vee chirped in her ear. A ship had landed, and he was going into hiding. Param was coming up on the power supply. The moment the door slid open, four thelassians turned toward her, caught in surprise. She was a blur of movement, using the Force to dash to the first and slicing horizontally under the reptile’s chest armor across his hips. The second fared no better with Param impaling his throat with the sword.

She slashed to the right, ripping the blade from the reptile’s neck slicing across the third’s open jaw. The fourth gave a guttural groan of panic, beginning to run only to find that Param was already behind him and driving her blade down through his spine from between his shoulders.

Param flicked her wrist to get the blood of the sword, sheathing it back into the scabbard at her left hip. If she could disable the power to the facility before the new arrival was able to enter the facility, she could breath easy. Unfortunately there was no switch to be found, and ripping the generator out with the Force was well within her capabilities but would leave her drained.

“I can’t seem to cut power, Vee. Can you stay in hiding? Let me know who or what walks out of those elevators.”

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Trudging across the surface of the planet was a tedious task. He didn’t know if the coordinates of the hideout he had been told about were accurate. He had bribed a smuggler for the information. In the past he would have taken the information by force, but he felt more uncomfortable with such a course of action now. Such violence seemed so pointless. Even using the force to forcibly pull the information from their mind made him uneasy.

Reaching the location, he spotted a cave entrance a short distance away, as the smuggler had described. If it was a slaver organisation’s hideout, no doubt he would encounter some sort of resistance; unless the force user he was chasing down was indeed there and had dispatched of the slavers inside. He approached the cave entrance cautiously and remained vigilant as he entered. His senses were still sharp and he could defend himself if necessary. Squinting in the darkness, he noticed something different about the wall ahead and ignited his lightsaber. The crimson light revealed an elevator door. A gesture of his hand activated the switch, calling the elevator up. Entering the elevator, he felt slightly apprehensive. An ambush waiting for him, perhaps? Or something else? He kept his hand on the hilt of his saber, which he had clipped back to his belt.

Preparing himself as the doors began to slide open, he anticipated resistance. Instead he was greeted by an empty room. Some sort of reception area. Stepping out of the elevator he glanced around. Nothing there. Stepping towards the empty front desk to investigate, he could sense something was wrong. This became apparent when he leaned over the desk to find the dead body of what he assumed was a receptionist. Moving towards the nearest corridor, he was greeted by a gruesome sight. More bodies, Thalassians it seemed, left in a horrible state. Blood decorated the walls and floor. Whoever did this certainly had an immense violent streak.

In the past, he wouldn’t have batted an eyelid about the bodies. Now though, looking upon them, he sighed. Such killings were pointless. He remembered the things he had done during his acension through the Sith Order and that they had ultimately served no purpose. He had nothing to show for the things he had done. Violence achieved nothing.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param did another search for anything to shut power down, but a low, slow whir came through her EZPod from Vee. Who ever had landed was already stepping off the elevator. Vee wasn't able to get a good look outside of the person was wearing dark robes. There were a lot of dark robe wearers in the galaxy, but Param couldn't help the lurching in her stomach. Dark robes, and coming to a slaving facility? It screamed Sith. Hiding would do no good. If a Sith was here, they would be taking the slaves with them most likely, and Param would not let that happen while she was alive.

"When they pass, can you lock the remaining doors? We should keep the slavers shut in the rooms they're in," she said, stepping out into the corridor. "And can you please let me know if they start killing the slaves? I'll handle the uninvited guest." A small beep of acknowledgement was all she got in return, and she could hear the magnetic locks down the hall engaging a couple of seconds later.

Param was ready when the guest would come around a bend in the corridor, both hands on her sword and scabbard ready to quick draw. Her grip tightened as the first dark boot came into her view, and then everything began to melt as the rest of the man revealed itself. She lost her tense, ready to fight composure, her body confused in whether to fight or fly. Breaths became ragged as her bottom lip quivered.

"You..." She said through a shaky voice. Standing before her was her former Master; the man she resented for so long when she was a Sith because he was able to just... walk away. And here he was once again walking back into her life, looking the same as when he had left. Param's skin had been tanned, her hair dyed brown and braided into a crown around her head. Her clothes were no longer monochrome. There was nothing about her aside from the carnage she wrought that the man would recognize, but one look into her silver eyes and he would know.

"You walked away." It had been a long time since Param had to fight tears. She blinked to keep her vision clear, but they came back to sting her again. Why here? Why now? He was supposed to be gone. Dead.

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Thel moved carefully through the corridors, avoiding the corpses of slaughtered slavers along the way. Maybe he was too late and the one responsible had been and gone. He kept his hand near his lightsaber, ready to defend himself if necessary.

Then it happened.

As he stepped around the corner, he saw her. Not that he recognised her at first. Almost nothing about the person in front of him looked like his former apprentice. Her complexion, hair and clothing; everything was different. But one thing hadn’t changed: her eyes. The sound of her voice offered further confirmation. This was Param. He had actually found her.

“Hello Param,” he said, his voice hushed. He held one hand out slightly, assuming an almost submissive posture. She looked uncertain; perhaps even vulnerable. Her words confirmed what he knew. His disappearance had consequences that he would need to address. “I know I did, Param. I’ve been looking for you. I just want to talk.” Whilst he didn’t look any different, Param might be able to notice a slightly different demeanour from her former master.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param's body shuddered when he spoke her name. When he held a hand out, even with a submissive posture, her grips on her sword and scabbard tightened. It was trained instinct; one that she had to learn on her own in order to survive. Blasters, swords, and even lightsabers she could handle with a relaxed posture, but Sith? Not just any Sith, either; her old Master. The one that honed her into a blade for his will, the one that ultimately taught her the lesson of being able to cut people off and out.

"T-talk?" Sith never wanted to just talk. There was always an agenda. Always a plan to enact their will over others. But if there was one thing Param was good at, it was determining intent. Her former Master didn't intend any harm, not at the moment anyway. Param straightened her back, drawing her sword but turning away from the man. After a deep breath the stinging tears building in her eyes were forced back down where they had come from and her demeanor steeled itself. "When I'm done." She came here to do a job, and she was going to finish it.

Param wouldn't wait for a response, turning to move down the corridor again. Noticing her moving again, Vee opened the doors to let a flood of thelassian slavers out of the rooms they were kept in. They were panicked from being locked in, and were rushing down the corridor and toward Param to get out. Thel would get to see the weapon he helped create in Param. in action once more; the married fighting style of echani martial arts with the brutality of Sith fighting styles.

With a fluid combination of single-handed and two-handed slashes and thrusts, Param broke the tide of slavers like a rock protruding from a river, the Force speeding and powering her movements so that flesh, armor, and bone were as thin as paper for her. In a matter of seconds, only three slavers remained, their reptiallian slit eyes widened in terror as Param sauntered toward them covered in their former comrades' blood. They threw up their claws hands, and Param stopped. Her silver eyes bore into each individual thelassian, her mind rifling through theirs with the Force, making sure she would forever remember the three upon a glance.

"If I ever see any of you in the slaving industry again..." she said, trailing off. There was no need to finish the sentence. She jerked her head toward her shoulder. The thelassians took the hint and scrambled around her, hesitating before approaching Thel and moving to go around him. Param continued into the large room at the end of the corridor. Finding no more enemies, she flicked the blood off of her sword and sheathed it back on her left hip. Slaves of various ages, sizes, and species lined the walls in single occupant prison cells. Param raised her hand, using the Force on the control terminal to release them all at once. "Vee, can you call for a rescue party? The prisoners are on their way."

A few stopped to say their thanks, but most just rushed out of the room, leaving Param and Thel alone again. Param turned to him, watching what he would do as the would-be slaves passed by him. If he was here to pick them up, there was no doubt he would stop his merchandise from leaving, but if he was here to find her and talk as he had said, they would go by unharmed. But the more she held her gaze on him, the more the stinging tears began to well up in her eyes again, and her hands began to shake.

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Thel waited for her response. He could feel the tension. She might attack him, but that was a risk he was willing to take. He tensed up slightly as she pulled her sword. Fortunately, she turned away to move down the corridor. He exhaled as she confirmed she was willing to talk. Good.

He quietly followed her and watched on as she attacked the slavers, butchering them mercilessly. He recognised aspects of her fighting style; things he had taught her. Was this his legacy? His contribution to the galaxy? She may have been doing something good in ridding the galaxy of slavers, but his only contribution had been fashioning her into a weapon; an instrument of violence.

The few Param had allowed to live quickly retreated, looking warily at Thel as they fled. He continued to follow his former apprentice, entering a large holding room. Cells containing slaves lined the walls around them. With a gesture of her hand, the cells were open and they were free. Thel watched as they filed out of the room, until it was left empty except for himself and Param. He could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes and felt it better to try and ease the tension. “I’ve been following your trail for some time. I must say, your effort to free slaves is commendable,” he said, raising a slight smile.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Praise? Param’s bottom lip began to quiver again, her demeanor falling back into the vulnerable state of shock she had been in before resolving to complete her mission. Her grip on the scabbard of her sword tightened, the other caught in shaking limbo of whether to draw or not. Praise from her former Master was hard to come by, and almost always came at a price. All the missions she had taken point in for his gain- all the training she had gone above and beyond in to try to impress him, and this is what she gets praise for now?

“I-it’s my atonement. For the things I had to do after…” she trailed off, the tears biting her eyes and making her blink. A few drops rolled down her cheeks. The tan didn’t streak, showing that it was real and not just some fake thing she reapplied every week. He had missed a crucial period for her in the Sith, and while she didn’t regret a single thing that led to her eventual freedom, having the man that had started that era for her standing before her sent ripples through her core.

“The things I did to try to fit in,” Param said through grit teeth. How many of her own rule and morals had she broken to play the part of Sith? How many times had she stood up to fight when all she wanted to do was run and leave everything alone? She was unguided and unprepared for the culture of the Order proper, and by the time she tried to separate herself from it to do her own thing it was already too late.

Even while she whispered dreams of leaving to Kai, feeling safe and secure in his arms all that time ago, she was bringing worlds to their knees for an Order she hated. Tea laced with nerfscourge pollen to punish dissenters by causing massive nervous system damage to entire towns and villages, getting a planets hooked on spice, rigging elections so that the Sith were seen as heroes while they slaughtered the political opposition behind closed doors. Her hands were practically submerged in a river of blood caused by them, and all to pretend to be something she truly hated.

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Thel was still uncomfortable dealing with emotionally charged situations. Choosing his words carefully was important. Saying the wrong thing could have bad consequences and he remained wary of the weapon she carried.

Atonement

The same thing that motivated him to seek her out. He felt safe in assuming that she wanted to atone for the things she had done as a Sith.

“You want to expiate your actions. The things you did when you were a Sith. I can understand. I did use you to do all manner of bad things. I want to apologise for that.”

It did feel strange to apologise. This wasn’t a false apology. It was genuine. He did feel a slight weight lift off his shoulders. Even if she didn’t accept it, he had at least told her.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

He... apologized? Param tilted her head, the hairs standing on the back of her neck. She was getting over the churning rock in her stomach. The shock of seeing someone who was supposed to be gone was waning, and in its place was the intuition of survival that Param had come to rely on. Apologizing was one thing, but returning to the Sith with the knowledge of her being alive, AND what she was doing, was another. It was her heart that wanted to talk, not her mind.

"Being used is apart of the game," Param said. She took a deep breath, and blinked most of the tears away. The few that decided to stay rolled down her cheeks unchecked. In the end, she couldn't fault him for leaving- it was something she had decided to do long before he ever did. She also couldn't fault him for being what he was, especially in that time. Param was never truly a Sith, and it was her fault for not just running when she had the chance before ever being trained.

"Is that all you tracked me down for?" Param asked, her resolve returning a little bit at a time. While her hands still shook, her expression had become more piercing and narrowed, and her lips more determined. "I'm supposed to be dead. I can't be dead if you've talked with me."

Her former Master's apology was genuine, but there was no telling if he was still a Sith or not. If he returned to the Order, he would return with knowledge of her whereabouts and state of living. He could give them all the information they needed to hunt her down. She wouldn't be able to do what she did to Cyu on him, wipe the memory of her from his mind- not unless he let her. He'd always been powerful as a Sith Master, maybe he would hold the secret. Or maybe he wouldn't return to the Sith at all.

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Her response wasn’t what Thel expected, but it wasn’t untrue. It was necessary to use people to survive as a Sith.

He raised an eyebrow at her question. “Yes, that was all I wanted to do. I felt that I needed to apologise to you, whether you accepted it or not.” He noticed the narrowing of her eyes and the more serious expression on her face.

A threat? This isn’t what he wanted.

“I’m also supposed to be dead. As far as I’m aware. I don’t want the Sith to learn that isn’t the case. I’m sure you also don’t want the Sith learning that you’re alive. So, when we part ways, we can forget that this conversation ever took place.”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Small pitter patters of metallic feet echoed down the corridor until finally Vee came scurrying into the room with them. He ran right by Thel and leaped up onto Param's left shoulder where he made his perch. His optical sensor turned to Thel, doing a droid double-take with a high pitched series of beeps. Param's expression softened as she turned to Vee and patted his head.

"It's okay, Vee. I don't think he's lying about just wanting to talk," she said. Even through the use and abuse, Thel had never lied to her. Even the teachings that she hadn't understood at the time had slowly become truths over time. Her silver eyes turned back to him, keeping the softened, warm expression that she had given Vee. "I accept your apology." She wanted to be mad at him, but found that there was just more pain there than anger. Being choked and hit with lightning, or being used to gather assets, was nothing compared to being left alone in an Order she did not have the proper mindset to be in. If anything she would have rather had him be the one to make the Sith think she was dead.

"Looks like we're both liabilities to each other now," she said. A smile spread across her lips as she chuckled quietly. "Still holding onto the assets and liabilities lesson, now?" It was a joke of course. If the Sith thought he was dead, and he had no desire to let them know otherwise, she could lighten up on him. She wouldn't be any part of who she was today without him. "If you mean what you say, then I don't want to forget that you're still alive. I'd rather get to know the you that you become outside of the Order."

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Despite Thel’s focus on Param, he couldn’t help but hear the faint tip-tap sound coming from the corridor outside. Turning his head slightly, he was greeted with a familiar sight as Param’s droid came scampering into the room. Shuffling past him, the droid perched itself on Param’s shoulder.

When his former apprentice did respond, her words were a relief. He hadn’t expected her to accept his apology, but it was nice that she had. “Thank you. I appreciate that,” he replied, briefly smiling.

He smirked, having found Param’s comment mildly amusing. Though his face quickly became more serious again as he thought about the comment. The lesson about assets and liabilities still rang true to him. It made him question how much he had changed. Maybe, deep down, he hadn’t changed at all; that was an unpleasant thought.

“Get to know me? I don’t know if I’ve changed that much, as hard as I try. I find myself directionless, Param. I am without a purpose.”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

The smirk he gave was one of the first upward curls of his lips that Param had ever seen.All too long had he kept a frown and told her that she'd done a good job. Now there was something physical to see, something tangible. There was feeling- emotion. It was completely unlike the Master Thel that she knew. How many times had she shown the man her true self only to be met with a frown? So much that she was tearing up at the sight of him giving her a mere smirk.

"That's the best part about being free, Master," she said a warm smile spreading across her lips. He couldn't sense any hostile intent from him, and he seemed more... reserved in terms of intensity than he once was. "You get to figure out who you are without the rules and religion. There's no Master you never see to bow to, no laws that one should know based on an ancient culture. The galaxy is what you make of it, and that's the best part."

Param was still searching for who exactly she was. In the mean time she had come into contact with so many people she wouldn't have as a Sith. Arla of Apex, Hauron and Hokaan of Rancor Squadron, and even the Deucalians. Sometimes she thought being a wanderer was what she was truly meant to do. Just wander from place to place, helping people- lifting people up. Planting a garden of hope and freedom wherever she walked.

"I haven't just been ending slaving rings; I've been trying to find myself too," she said, looking back to Vee. He'd been with her every step of the way. He was her one and only best friend. "I don't know who or what to belong to, and sometimes I don't think I should belong to anyone or thing. Making sure that as many kids don't suffere the same life as mine is enough for me for now." She turned her silver gaze back to Thel.

"What were you like before the Sith?"

@DMCK
[abox4]

 

[Thel Xeros]

That’s the best part? Thel found the idea of remaining in his current state an uninviting one. When he had been a Sith champion, he spent much time wandering the outer rim of the galaxy. But he had been certain of what he was then. As a Sith master he had clear goals. Now, everything was uncertain. “Yes, Param,” he replied. What difference could he make to the galaxy? A few small acts of kindness on his travels seemed so futile.

He listened as Param spoke about finding herself and her desire to ensure others didn’t suffer in the same way she did. Unfortunately, slavery was a fact of life in the galaxy. There would always be a business for it. As for the Sith Order, even at its weakest it was a relentless machine. There would be others drawn to it, who were willing to do terrible things on its behalf.

Param’s question slightly caught him off guard. He didn’t often think about his early life. “Before the Sith? I truthfully can’t remember, Param. My master took me when I was just a boy. You wouldn’t have liked him,” Thel stated, a slight scowl on his face. He hated his old master and he could remember the pleasure he took in killing them. “What became of the Sith Order after I left?”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param knew how hard it was to focus on anything in front of you without a direction and purpose. In the first days of hiding on Eshan, she sat around and cried mostly. It was the only thing she could do, or had the strength to do. The slow unraveling of her previous life leaving her more open to the future with every passing day and encounter. It wasn't until a slaving ring on Eshan had appeared and started taking refugee children that she'd decided to be a hand of freedom. In slavery's pursuit, she'd met some interesting and amazing people. He would come to learn that purpose is what you made of it in time.

"I don't think I would have," Param said, scrunching her nose for a second. Being taken as a boy sounded a lot like being taken as a slave to her. While she had been an actual slave, a young Thel would have had a lot more freedoms than she had, if she had to guess. The torture he would had to receive to become the Sith that he had been caused her to wince. No one, especially a child, deserved that.

"I wish I could tell you," she answered to his question about the Order. "I never really fit in to the Order proper, so I stayed on Troiken mostly. Any time I did anything with other Champions, I would either say something wrong or something bad would happen. Eventually one of those Champions came to Troiken and burned everything." Param shrugged. She had come to grips with what had happened- it did give her her freedom, after all.

"It's become more powerful, from the whispers I hear on the trade lanes, but so have a lot of their enemies," Param said, turning to Vee again and rubbing his metallic head. "I'm in a different war of shadows now." Meeting new and interesting people was always a good reason to wander, but with so much darkness in the galaxy it wasn't hard to find slavers all over. If Thel had been able to track her down, it was clear she was making ripples.

"Master, have you ever done anything because it was the right thing to do? Or because it was good," she asked, turning a silver, serious gaze to him. It was easy to fall back into the same routine; much harder to swim against the current

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Param’s mention of Troiken brought back memories. Things had been very different back then. It didn’t surprise him that Param had struggled to fit in. He hadn’t taught her about Sith customs or how to blend in with the order. Despite using her as a weapon, he had encouraged her to think for herself and not be tied to the ancient Sith teachings.

Even though he had let go of what he had built as a Sith, it did slightly displease him that a Sith champion had dismantled what he and Param built on Troiken. A waste. The Sith Order growing in power didn’t surprise him, even though it hadn’t been in the best condition at the time he left.

He didn’t need much time to think, when answering Param’s question. “No, I haven’t.” Straight to the point, but true. “You are a better person than I am, Param. There’s no hiding from it.” He glanced around the room at the now empty cells, that once contained slaves. “Tell me, do you need any assistance with your efforts to combat slavery?”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param tilted her head at his response. She was only a better person because she had always tried to be. Even as a Sith she was nice first. She had been naive, clueless to how the galaxy and even the Sith Order actually worked, and being nice put her at a disadvantage but she did it anyway. Now with freedom, she had kept that same energy, finding that being better than what an Order prescribes on her had been nothing but an advantage. Her former master could have the same if he tried.

"You should try, Master," Param said. "You'll never know how better of a person you can be until you try." She visibly relaxed, keeping her left hand lazily on the scabbard of her sword, thumb pressing against the guard to break the seal and quick draw if needed. Param wasn't worried about Thel trying anything- Thelassians were crafty reptillians, and she wouldn't put it past a few of them to stow away for a late ambush. She started walking toward the door and the corridor beyond at a much slower pace than her original run down it.

"This nest is clear, but there's probably more on the planet. Vee can run a scan when we get back to my ship," Param said. Her silver eyes flashed over to her former master. "I won't ask you to get involved directly, Master- I won't ask you to put yourself in harms way for me." She turned back to the corridor, shifting her focus from torn body to body. Her face didn't show a hint of being bothered by the sight. Some of the Mandalorians she'd been hanging around had described her as a rain of blood. As long as it was raining for the right reasons, Param was okay.

"I guess there isn't much choice though, for now," She added, pursing her lips. "If you want to help me clear out a nest or two here, and identify where the rest are, I wouln't say no to the help. Long term it would be really helpful to have someone listening in the channels I don't have access to. I work off of rumors and whispers along the trade lanes, right now. Would you like to do that?"

@DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Thel pondered Param’s words. Was he any different deep down? He had always been entirely self-interested. If he were to genuinely change, it would take some effort.

He watched as Param moved towards the corridor. Listening to her words, it seemed she would prefer him to help; even if she was giving him the chance to turn down her offer. Having spent so much time trying to find her, he wouldn’t turn down the offer. The slavers wouldn’t present too much of a challenge. He had kept himself in practice whilst in hiding.

“I would be glad to help you. Just instruct me as to what you want me to do, and I will do it. Also, Param, you do not need to call me master. You are no longer my apprentice. You can call me Thel.”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

"You could have had me searching the galaxy for assets under threat of death, or working the mines of Troiken to work off the debt I accumulated with your money. Instead you gave me a shop revolving entire around what I loved at the time," Param explained, noticing his pondering. Thel was rather emotionless on the outside, but Param had spent a lot of time with the man. "I think you'll find it easier than you think to do a good deed or two once in a while."

She gave him a smiling nod as he agreed to help. Vee gave an excited chirp on her shoulder. All they needed was a squad of Xexto mercenaries and it would almost be like old times. No, this time there were be no helping hands or canon fodder for them; just them. And for once Param will be transporting Thel, and not the other way around. Param still used the ship that Thel had given her as an Acolyte, and he never once stepped inside it.

"Yes Ma-" Param caught herself and cleared her throat. "Okay, Thel." She gave him a warm smile. Calling him by his name to his face would take some getting used to. There was a time she was filled with rage and anxiety that she would spit his name without his title- but that seemed like a lifetime ago. Her ship was the last remaining piece of an era past. And with the lack of ambushes to take care of on the way, it wasn't more than a few minutes that they were walking up the ramp into light freighter.

Vee immediately hopped off of Param's shoulder and scurried toward the cockpit to get things ready. The main room was a circular lounge. Next to the kitchen lay a small, single row garden of herbs laid into the wall. A holoscrean hung on the wall to the right where the entire lounge could see. On the opposite end, the wall was lined with Echani swords, with her Force Forged sword at the top. Param walked over the wall, grabbing a small bottle of oil and a cloth sitting on a small drawer. She wet the cloth with the oil, unsheathed the sword at her hip, and cleaned the blade with a few wipes.

"Can I ask where you went?" Param asked, still focused on cleaning the blade. The engines were starting to whine and roar. There wouldnt' be much of a need to be in the cockpit until they were airborne.

@DMCK