The Death of Geist Weiss

[Dmitri]

OOC: Sequel to The Riots of Skagrit and conclusion of the Legends of Sacul.​

...an open field resting between a river and forest...

...Sith strangers standing in the field...

Arn approached the aliens...

...stun bolt struck Arn in the face...

The children ran, stuck down, one by one...

...Della Frey ran and ran, Eber chasing her...

...and Geist raised his gun and fired...

Della fell down, the lush grass the last she would see of her planet for a long, long time...

Geist Weiss stood in the grass of a field nestled between a river and a forest. The place it all began. And the place where it would all end. Geist's ship had jumped out of hyperspace in the wrong part of the galaxy on a trip to Chiss Space. Instead, he found himself sectors away in a damaged ship. Urgently requiring repairs, the ship crash-landed into the field streaking fire behind it, a metal meteor. Only by the blessings of the Force and the skills of the pilot had the ship managed to survive in decent shape. The planet was a mystery, an enigma to the galaxy. Gears turned in Geist's mind as ideas and plans propagated. The planet was untouched by the galaxy. An immaculate world. He could feel the life of the planet. Bountiful. Lush. It was a virgin planet.

A saying goes that curiosity kills the cat. For the people of the hare, luck allows them an alternative. A warren of children were attracted to the morning star falling to earth. One boy, whom the Sith would later learn bore the name Arn, approached the group, to see who they were. Geist never was quite sure how the children actually saw the Sith. Angels of salvations? Fallen angels? Demons? The beasts that roam under one's bed? A faceless man who wanders the forests and kidnaps children? Geist drew his stun gun as Arn approached and shot the boy in the head. The children scattered before Arn's limp body fell on the ground. One by one, the children fell. Last of them was a naive and scared little girl. A girl who would change everything.

Already grass was claiming the unburied dirt the ship had propagated. His boots left imprints in the dirt, damp from the morning's dew. A day had passed since the riots had savaged the capital city Skagrit. Reichtum's forces had been decimated, the false-king slain by the hands of the righteous. Only one Sith remained on the planet. Geist Weiss. Again, just as he had been since Truth's savagery, he was alone. Alone on the world. Alone in the galaxy. No one who understood him.

Geist had wanted to see this spot just one last time before the end. Here he had doomed the fate of a planet in hopes of saving a galaxy. Oh how he had failed. The roads to damnation was paved with good intentions. And now that path took him here. Much had changed since his last time here. Della Frey had changed, and perhaps he too had changed.

His eyes, masked by his typical illusion, his signature, wandered to a stone curiously placed on the edge of the forest that met the Caerban Plains. A perfectly shaped stone absent from his memory. It was a memorial, in place of the missing children. No doubt the work of Elle Frey and the other parents who lost their children from Geist's schemes to study the children and unlock the secrets of the planet. He wasn't even sure of how many families he had hurt, collateral damage.

The Sith Lord felt as if the memorial deserved a flower. Though Della and Arn had both been reunited with their families, many others did not share that happiness. Many children had died under the training of Eber and the experiments of Reichtum. His own hands were red. However, he had no flowers to impart. The plains lavished in beauty, yet void of flowers. The Illusionist knelt down and cupped stones nearby into his hand. He bled the Force into them and altered their form, the blessing of alchemy. Heat and force forged his machination. Where once stood stones ravished from weather a flower erected, taken from his memories of Korriban. A flower created by a gifted girl who befriended Andraste and obtained the approval of Darth Vereor. Andelka's flower. Andelka was dead, yet it seemed amazing how memories of those gone could still find their ways into one's mind.

Geist placed the glass flower on the pedestal of the memorial.

 

[TweedPawn]

She had followed him somehow. She fought exhaustion, weather, and even her own kind to reach this place. She had only rested to regain her strength for the run. She was always running. She was like the wind. She had waited so long to run free across those golden fields with her kinsmen. She longed for the feel of their feet striking the ground like lightning.

All she could think of now was the conclusion to her journey. She knew already that she could never return to the life she had before. In some ways, Della Frey died the night she was stolen. She would find moments of happiness again. But she couldn't be like others of her kind. She has seen more than they could. Her world seemed tiny now.

The dust kicked up under her feet. The sky was dry and blue. It seemed so much thinner, so frail to hold back the galaxy over it. Fyston and Lain would eventually catch up, but they could never match Della's stamina or speed.Could they ever belong here? Would they go back? Della wasn't sure if she could follow them. She wasn't sure if she could stay. For the first time, Della wasn't sure if she belonged home.

She sensed Geist Weiss close by. What was he doing out here? This was the same field where Della had been taken. She knew it anywhere. It was a familiar to her as the temples of Tython. She saw the clearing where the monument had been made by the town she once was a part of. Della could not bring herself to read the names on it. It was like looking at her own tombstone.

She also saw the Sith there. She stared hard at him. Why was he here? He seemed solemn though. Even respectful of this marker. Did he really understand what he had done? Why had it taken him ten years to reach this point? She could strike him down. She was faster. More agile. Yet, she could never bring herself to kill another. She would not lose that about herself.

"I remember the moment I woke up inside of your ship. I tried to fight back." Della said. Indeed, the first days on that vessel she had been willful and courageous. She bit, scratched, and kicked like a wild horse. When they pulled, she pulled back. Until, they started to break her down by forcing her to run on those machines. She became too exhausted to fight anymore.

"And I remember the first time I saw out of a window and could only see stars. I remember the electrocution. The wires. I remember that room you put me in; it had been the very first time I was ever alone in my life. I begged in my language for why you had come and what you were looking for."

In those days, Geist responded only by writing something on a device. He procured a puzzle of some sort. He had placed it in front of Della. She glared at him. She felt so much hate and fear towards him in those days.

"Now, here I am. I'm home again. " There was sorrow in her voice. She had lost so much. Her grief would be easily sensed. She had so many regrets. She saw the glass flower at the base of the monument. Did Geist even have the right to come here? Della felt she couldn't even make that call.

"And you ended up being right. I am a stranger to my own people..."

 

[Dmitri]

Geist found himself surprised by Della's words. He hadn't felt her approach. His defenses had fallen without him realizing it. Or may he had done it on purpose, he reflected, subconsciously hoping someone would come. To come and end his suffering.

The Sith Lord stood silently as he listened to Della, every painstaking word. He took a deep breath. "That is one thing we have in common." Eyes closed, he reflected on the memories the Black Hound had forced him to relive and Della to observe. "I am one of the seven most powerful people on Empress Teta, yet it feels foreign to me. Its people. The buildings. All of it alien. The difference is that I was to blame for both of our alienations." Geist turned around to face Della Frey.

"Have you come to finish me?"

 

[TweedPawn]

"Finish you?" Della replied. She looked at her hand. It held her lightsaber. She had retrieved it from one of the protesters. Its case was stained with charmarks. Gears were exposed. Della ignited the blade, The Phoenix glowed a bright orange.

"This is the blade my master made, that he willed to me when he passed away. He never killed a single creature with this blade. " Della reflected on the teachings of the Jedi, but even more she knew her own nature. The sith before her was the reason so many had died. Della knew how dangerously close she had been to becoming like him. She couldn't forgive him, though. There was too much he had done.

The blade retracted.

"I will honor him."

She shined like silver in the sun, though Geist would be able to sense her loneliness. She walked closer to the monument. From her pocket, she produced ash from burnt wheat. She smeared it on the edges of the monument. Her people were free again, and she would find joy again as long as that remained so.

" But you will be dead to my people. You will leave, and never return. You will tell no others of this place. " Della would remain on Sacul to protect it. Though, the thought of her ever belonging to the Galaxy or Sacul was becoming more like a dream.

"Should Snamreg ever go into the galaxy, it will be of their accord."

 

[Dmitri]

So much loneliness in one small woman. Though she was now in the company of her people and among friends, it seemed like her loneliness was greater. They had both been right. She was a stranger here. But he was the enemy. Her words rang with the truth. He considered what she said.

"I have no intention of returning to Sacul," said Geist. "However," Geist raised a finger, "there is a catch. I will keep this planet a secret and prevent the Sith from coming to Sacul. You must do the same. The Jedi can never come to Sacul, to use it as a place to hide. If they do, our agreement is null and void, and the Sith will rain down upon this world. But you have my word that I shall not reveal Sacul to the galaxy, to anyone." And when he gave his word, he meant it. It was his binding agreement. Giving his word was law. He was an illusionist, swimming in deception, so a way to keep truth was vital for one's sanity. And he imparted it to a woman who had managed to vex him for months.

Della may not believe him fully, though. As a way to prove his honesty, he revealed a secret he had hidden from Reichtum and Eber. "Do you remember the station you and Laine had encountered me at? That led to our fight on the train? Go back to that spot. If you use the Force wisely, you will be able to discover a bolt-hole twenty feet from where Kugelschrieber's train had been. It's called The Lock. It has a simple HoloNet transceiver. It cannot pick up messages and was designed to be only to be able to send one single message: the coordinates of Sacul. It was my fail-safe for Reichtum and Eber, in case they thought to try to betray me. It is set to transmit if I do not enter a code every week. I entered the code last right before I encountered Elle Frey." He reconsidered mentioning having met her mother. He wasn't sure if Della had been aware Geist had encountered her. "That gives you four days to shut down the system. Don't worry, as I had only installed it not too long ago, it lacks any any anti-tampering contingencies. Smash it enough and you'll be fine." Truth was he hoped it would be destroyed rather than disabled. Though it could not send long-range transmissions, it could reach into the system, which was how Geist had been able to keep in touch with Gnaij without Reichtum knowing.

Geist turned to look at the memorial once more. A tear began to coalesce. He wondered who it was really for. Was it for the children lost to his scheme? Della Frey? Himself? Or was it for the one person who had ever mattered to him. "Della, at least tell me this. How did you overcome your grief? Over losing your friends. It's been decades since Geister died, and yet I still haven't been able to let him go."

 

[TweedPawn]

"I accept." She said. She kept her eyes on the monument. She said nothing about Geist's mention of the Lock. But it was silently understood that she would take care of it. Too much had happened to fixate on moments during the uprising. Della was surprised that her mother and Geist ever met. In the past, the Sith had lied about such things to provoke Della. The mood of their meeting was now much more somber, more respectful.

"I tried to make some good come from my loss. In the end, I had to accept that I could not change what was done to me. But I could help others move through their pain. I found moments where I was happy, even amongst the Jedi. So, I showed that others could find happiness as well."

Della looked at the glass flower.

"You're still an artist. Perhaps you should make a trade from it. I think you would enjoy it."

 

[Dmitri]

Two words set the fate of an entire world. For better or for worse, Della Frey had chosen a future for her world.

Geist had hoped an answer to his question might bring some comfort. Alas, none came. He looked mournfully at the memorial. "I couldn't accept my loss. Deep down, I felt it was my fault that we had been there when Truth attacked. That it was my fault he died. It's irrational, I recognize that, yet that didn't stop me from feeling it. I thought... I thought that if I could let Geister live through me, that it could somehow make up for it. I abandoned the name Meist Weiss and began to call myself Geist Weiss. I began to fixate on the one goal my brother always had: order. I thought if I could achieve that, that it could forgive my sins." A hollow chuckle escaped his lips. "So wrong I was. In my attempt for redemption, I expounded my sins. This... This is the result of my 'order'." The memorial felt as if it was laughing at him, a cairn taunt.

The Sith glanced at Della. "To be an artist, one must know one's self. I don't even know who I am anymore." Geist explored his metallic illusion with his hand, as if feeling something foreign. "Geist and I are -were- identical twins. We were mirror images of each other. And why I continue to age, he never will." The metal surface rippled. "It's why I created this illusion, to hide my appearance. I was not hiding from others, but rather myself. To hide my image. To hide Geist's, the image he'll never be." He could feel the tears swelling up in his eyes and the hints of cracking in his voice, but tried to hide them. He knew he wasn't exactly succeeding though.

 

[TweedPawn]

He needed acceptance. He needed someone who took him for what he was, even if that man was the one who destroyed her life. It was strange that he was requiring comfort from her.

"From what I have seen you may have tried to live as your brother, but you still became your own person. " She could hear his voice cracking. Her sympathy welled up in her. What could she say? Wasn't it the job of Jedi to bring comfort to others? Della was doing a terrible job, but she was still trying.

"It'll be okay." she said. Who could know that better than her? She didn't try to fake a smile. But she allowed her own sorrow to be seen. She wanted to let him know that he didn't have to feel alone.

"You can still create a new path. It's not too late. Don't focus on your past sins, you can't change them now. I'm not entirely sure where I will go from here either, but I have a plan that might help." She turned to the golden fields.

"I'll live my life out here. Maybe have children of my own someday. Live as humbly as I can. It feels right. Maybe you could also try to restart simply? It could help." The life of the planet flowed through them both. Della found it calming. It reminded her of the comforting places on Tython.

"I wish I knew what more to say to you. But you are still an enigma, even after what I have seen."

 

[Dmitri]

Geist couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "I'm an enigma even to myself." He paused, reflecting. "You're right. I need to let go of the past. Live my own life." The Sith fished a patch from his cloak and tossed it at Della's feet. "It's a Bacta patch. For Lain. Once I leave, she and I will never have to worry about each other. Did you know she broke into my place to steal data for the Jedi? Almost got me executed. I narrowly avoided that. Probably why I resent her so much, that she was allowed to live when she almost cost me mine."

The Sith Lord began to walk away from the memorial, past Della. His pace directed him toward the river. He stopped halfway. "Thank you, Della Frey. I know I am the last person you deserve to have say that, but I speak it truthfully nevertheless. I've ruined your life. That changes here. As long as you live your life here, you and Sacul will be left alone." Continuing his pace, he began to let the Force flow through him. The river's surface began to bubble and disperse. Eventually a Birikad-class shuttle rose from the muddy depth. The same shuttle that had transported Della off the planet, a trip that changed her forever. Now it would fly Geist out of her life forever, or so the story goes.

"I may be able to forgive myself, but to restart is never simple. You yourself will learn that as the years go by. I've tried and failed. It never works. Instead, do what I failed to do. Confront it, recognize it, accept it. It cannot be something taken away, only accepted. Have you fairy tale ending, Della Frey. May we never meet again." Geist stepped on board the shuttle. Entering the cockpit and activated a self-diagnostic system, Geist was ready. The shuttle ascended from the ground and flew away. The devil of the stars was returning home.