The Ryun Chronicles - Memories of Pain

Aska Ryun

Character
Independent
Rank
Legend

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OOC
Tulos
Joined
Mar 24, 2020
Messages
459
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Lying in bed, Aska tossed and turned as she pulled a pillow in tightly to her chest with such a grip that it was nearly about to tear apart at the seams. Sweat began to bead along her forehead, a scowling expression dominating her face as the images danced in her mind… But they were more than just images. More than just dreams. She could feel it in her heart that these were memories, only not ones of her own making…



Fire and carnage surrounded her as she walked along the dusty surface of the what ever world it was that she happened to be on. That much was not yet made clear. Armoured troops raced around her as they screamed for medical supplies or reinforcements to their defensive line. Blaster fire raced over head while the odd bolt zipped directly passed the woman’s face. Suddenly cringing in pain, it became clear that she had been burned by one of the passing beams of scorching energy. Scowling, she pushed through and stood tall once more. In the distance, a trio of explosions were heard as the blast further lit up the night sky briefly before immediately fading back into darkness. Where was she? What was going on? And why wasn’t she afraid? It was obvious that this was a full scale invasion of some distant Outer Rim world, that much she knew. That much was all she knew.

“Lady, what are we to do?” a voice called out to her, causing her to spin around and see a young Lieutenant begging for orders, fear plastered across his face just as it was covered in blood. His own perhaps?

“Bring the heavy tanks forward and force the offensive! I don’t want you losing any more ground, Lieutenant!” the orders came from her, but she had not chosen the words. The voice, however, that was the same one she had grown accustomed too over her life.

“Lady, forgive me, but our men… We’re on our last leg. This effort has been –“ But the officer’s words were cut short as she out stretched her hand, closing her fingers in a grip around nothing but empty space. Still, the young man who had just questioned orders was now dangling in the air with his toes scraping the dusty surface below while he tried to tear away some sort of invisible grasp around his neck. He continued to desperately pull air into his lungs but was met with failure. Aska could feel such a rage growing within her with this man, like this was not his first failure in her eyes.

”I am sick of you and your excuses, boy. Perhaps your replacement will know better than to raise unwanted opinions on the battlefield,” As she finished her words, the space between her slowly closing fist diminished and was met with a sickening crack as the Lieutenant dropped to the ground with a severed spine.



Once again, the scene changed. No longer was she on the battlefield but instead in a place… a place she recognized. Slaves worked tirelessly around her in the dark and damp cave, the sounds of thunder and the flashes of lightning coming from the opening a few dozen meters away. As the servants carved away the rock and debris, the woman who was serving as Aska’s guide walked slowly down the freshly carved corridor until coming to a stop at a giant stone monolith, awash with a red glow as luminous crystals were being implanted into the crag ceiling. The monolith confirmed Aska’s suspicions. This was the cave from Onderon. The same one where she and Fiach had chased down the Mirialan girl who had obtained the holocron of her dead ancestor.

”Now you see, don’t you my child?” the voice was once again her own, but someone else had spoken the words.

”What… What is going on?” Aska panicked.

”The power I once wielded… The power that you may yet claim for yourself. Yet you insist on parading around the galaxy searching for your next buzz, your next job… Just as I once had,”

”I don’t want this!”
Aska exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. ”I just want to live my own life!”

”Destiny is greater than the things you want, child. Recognize this. Recognize that your path lies with me, accepting me,”



The cave soon vanished, twisting into darkness as Aska was left alone in the black void. Soon, a light began to appear. Dim at first but growing in both size and brightness at a rapid rate before it suddenly hit her like a wall and brought her into what seemed to be a medical frigate. She could see herself lying on a table, exhausted and covered in sweat. But… she was happy. At her side, a young boy. No more than three, giddy as he clung to the blanket that hung over the version of Aska that soon extended her arms outward. A young baby was placed in them and she was brought close to her mother’s chest as she showed the child to what must have been her older brother.

“Is this my sister, mum?”

”Yes, Tren. This is your sister. Say hello to Tari,” Aska couldn’t help but notice the sincere joy and delight that the second version of herself expressed with her children.

“Hi Tari,” the boy said with a wide smile as he tenderly touched the infant with the tip of his finger. “Mum?”

”What is it?”

“I miss dad. I wish dad was here to meet her,” the boy suddenly grew solemn and Aska could feel the pain that suddenly lurched forward in herself.

”So do I, son,” The scene suddenly grew still, the second version of Aska turning her attention towards her directly. ”My children meant everything to me, you know. And when I met you in the Onderonian cave, I finally knew that I too, meant everything to them,”

”Because you asked them to find a way for you to return before you died…” As she softly spoke the words, a dawning realisation began to loom over her. ”I was proof that they honored their word to you,” The new mother slowly nodded her head.

”Yes. For generations, my family honored their commitment. Thousands of years and finally, the fruit of our entire family’s efforts were compounded into one single person. You,”



The woman faded away once more, leaving Aska alone in darkness. Waves of guilt and pain surged over her as the young boy’s look of despair over the loss of his father haunted her. The anguish the mother felt from losing her lover. That was a pain Aska knew all too well.

”Ah yes… The Togrutan girl from Nar Shaddaa. I feel your sorrow, child. What was her name?” the voice echoed around her, coming from no specific source but instead blaring from every direction.

”Quinri,” Aska replied, somber in her tone. ”Her name was Quinri,” As she said her name, Quinri’s smiling face began to manifest before her.

”Loss is a common curse for everyone, child. You know this. Yet you dwell on her memory as though you are the only one to lose someone of importance… She, like my husband, was taken away. Except I did not dwell in sadness. Instead, I reacted,”

Without warning, Aska began to fall. The speed grew exponentially until finally, she landed in a cloud of whispy black smoke. Another battlefield, it seemed. Except this time, the battle was over. All that remained was the form of Aska in dark robes while brandishing a crimson lightsaber much like her own. A few meters away, a middle aged man. A Jedi, evident from his blue blade as it hummed in a downward position.

”Why?! Why did you kill him?!” the woman screamed as she leaned in for an aggressive attack, all of her anger boiling over, unchecked. The man brought his blade up to defend himself but it soon became clear he was already extensively wounded.

“I did not want to kill him! He was like a son to me! He betrayed both the Jedi and the Republic! He was lost!”

”He was my husband! He was my children’s father!” Aska cried out again before delivering another heavy blow that dropped the Jedi to his knees. She brought the blade back upward and grabbed the Jedi’s wrist that held his own hilt before searing through his palm with her weapon. As the Jedi cringed in pain, he dropped to his last remaining hand, clutching his wound tightly to his chest.

“I am so sorry… But killing me will not bring him back,” The Jedi knew he was defeated. She could see he was embracing his final moments. “Tren was my Padawan. I loved him. I was broken when he abandoned us,”

”You are broken now, old man,” Aska spat as she held the tip of her crimson blade at his chin.

“Indeed. Never to see him again, I’m afraid. Nor shall you. And I am truly sorry,” Aska could tell the Sith woman was no longer listening. She was no longer even in control. Her anger had taken over as fire danced behind amber eyes. She pulled the blade back and with all her might, thrust forward in a downward slice before separating the man’s head from his body.



Aska remained silent as the scene played out before her. She was numb, just as she had been the day everyone she had known was taken in a single moment. On a single order. Zugg’s order.

”Revenge did not bring my husband back… But it did avenge his death,” the voice returned.

”Quinri… Deskar… They wouldn’t want that of me…” Aska replied softly, unsure of the words even as they left her lips.

]”Wouldn’t they?” the voice asked, before she finally materialized before her. The same Sith woman who had only moments ago killed the Jedi that had taken her husband. The resemblance between Aska and this woman was uncanny. Identical to almost every degree, only scars of past battles distinguishing them apart. ”And what about you? Do you not seek revenge?”

Aska thought on this for a moment. She did want to make Zugg pay for his actions. She had known this since the moment she watched the life fade from Quinri’s eyes.

”No,” she lied.

”Oh, dear girl,” the Sith woman cooed, gentling placing the fingers of a single hand below Aska’s chin. ”You cannot deceive me. You’re only lying to yourself,” The woman soon developed a sinister stare as she tenderly wiped a tear from Aska’s cheek.

”I just want to be left alone…” Aska pleaded, unable to meet the Sith woman’s gaze. ”I just want to live my life,”

]”It is not your life! It is our life!” the Sith barked, suddenly and without warning. ”You and I will be one!” she continued. Soon, an ear piercing scream was heard and the Sith vanished into a cloud of dark smoke, soaring through the air. Aska watched as the cloud circled above her, fear once again swelling within. Faster, faster the cloud moved before turning towards her directly and slamming into her chest, knocking her from her feet.



Jolted awake, Aska shot upwards in the bed with rapid, uneven breathes. The bed around her was soaked in her sweat as she leaned back on her hands. It seemed as though she was back in reality as she scanned the room, soon seeing the glowing lights of the city Elysium. She was once again on Zeltros. Or rather, she had never left but been taken on a journey in nothing more than her mind. The feelings of pain, fear, sorrow, they lingered within her as she struggled to regain her composure.

”What is happening to me?” Aska pleaded quietly to herself, dropping her head into her hands. A soft touch turned her attention to her side, seeing the crimson skin of a Zeltron woman tenderly touching her arm.

”Aska, what is it?” Pintalli asked softly as she batted the sleep from her eyes. Forcing a smile, Aska laid back down in the bed beside her.

”Nothing. It was nothing. Go back to sleep,” Pintalli smirked at the young woman before rolling over and going back to her own slumber. But tonight sleep would elude Aska. It was time to get back on schedule… It was time to silence these dreams once and for all.
 
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