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anchanted-one · 4 years

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A, C, F, I, L, O, S, U for fanfic asks 😄

A: How did you come up with the title to Eternal War? >Arro, sadly, thinks that the Sith have a point. Peace is a lie in that it doesn’t last. In the early days he wrestled with this realization, even considering quitting several times during his career. But shortly after the Shadow of Revan incident—and especially Ziost—he decided to pursue a different solution; to try and foster in a peace that would last at least a generation, one which would allow the galaxy to recover and know some regrowth before the next round of Star Wars got started. Eternal War starts with the Eternal Throne conflict, but is supposed to go a lot further. The Alliance, in particular. This is from an IRL reason: I thought that the question of what happens to the Alliance after KOTET deserved some thinking about. Do they just... go back to the Republic or Empire? Have they all gotten hopeful about a real, lasting peace with the other side now that they’ve worked together? I want to make them a peacekeeping force—peacekeeping in a different sense, they serve as an example of a workable unity. So they don’t necessarily seek out and extinguish the fires of war wherever they spring up; they lay the groundwork for trade and commerce and cooperation between Republic, Empire, and Zakuul. I also have an idea of how long this peace lasts—till Arro and Lana’s Apprentice’s Apprentice, and even how it ends. But I don’t have any plans on writing those stories yet.

C: What member do you identify with most? >Hmmm the answer was Arro in the initial stages... but he became too god-tier. This is also why I don’t write as often from his perspective as the chapters go on. The one I identify with most right now is Koth; in that he has started questioning his worth, and is trying to find his part in the big world again. He’s a good man and loves his home. He is capable of great loyalty to his comrades so long as they aren’t psychopaths. He loves a woman he knows he can’t be with, but after some initial downward spin he starts moving forward again. He’s reckless, but an everyman hero. As I write him more and more I start to see why an unromanced Lana might possibly end up falling in love with him.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it. >I think it’s the entirety of Chapters 20: Fog and 21: the Mirror from Book II: Mission Scorpion. They show Lana’s guile and skill; she’s sitting right in front of one of the galaxy’s deadliest Sith, impersonating someone he worked with for longer than she has been alive, and he doesn’t even realize it. She gets him to spill his guts. Fog also had my own headcanon of Agent blowing Hunter out of the water in her own game and in his own home territory. I enjoyed writing that scene where Hunter is utterly dumbfounded by how badly the Cabal have been beaten, and I was deeply satisfied with Nine’s final blow: “Keyword: Checkmate!” In 21: the Mirror I wanted Lana to confront her inner self, which has been a little shaken after she spent a little time resurrecting her old and buried life. This chapter was one I planned out to my complete satisfaction. It has a special place in my heart.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)? > Powerful heroes whose conflicts aren’t the enemy in front of them, but their own inner demons. I’m starting to like the idea of heroes who won’t have much character growth in their stories—or at least relatively less growth—because they’re already war vets and know themselves quite well. Now their struggle is how they see and deal with current events with these established characters as their lenses. Not to worry though, they won’t all be ridiculously OP monsters. And I’m also looking at adding in Arro’s missteps and failures through flashbacks and short stories because I’m doing him too much of a disservice ignoring his true growth chapters.

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? > Usually review them twice or thrice at best.

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters? > Hmmm this is a tough one but I think characters take precedence. As I said, I’m writing a troupe of war veterans and survivors who have been through the works. They won’t be changing *that* much as I write the story, so it’s important I know them well beforehand.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist? >running gags mostly. “Three minutes,” or crashed shuttles. Damn I really wanted to go with the broke Jedi too but can’t believably fit it in since that one mention in Early Book I. White Knights are the class I enjoy best; moral paragons who protect entire civilizations in their shadows, but backed up by comrades and loved ones they trust their souls and dreams with. Writing tropes: I always add descriptors or verbs in twos and threes (like “ And so Baras sweated and paced”, “ He attempted violently to free himself from the heavy shackles on his wrists, shrieking and roaring like a mad beast.” “ his enemy’s body language hummed a different tune; it was warming up. Toying with him. And relishing in the skewed mismatch.”). A bit embarrassing but I think this little piggy’s here to stay.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much. >This is really tough coz there’s so many! I’m going to have to add six instead of three because I cannot decide between these. In no specific order: @kunstpause and @elveny who function as one single writer sometimes but do just as well solo. Their flagship fic—The Precipice of Change—is about their twin Hawkes, Adrienne and Cassia, and the humans behind the title “Champions of Kirkwall”. They deal with themes like addiction, depression, oppressive regimes, and communication failure between two people who love each other to bits (the twins that is) and their effects on both women. @captainderyn, whose characters are so dear to me. She has written them very compellingly. @nusaran whose Skyrim fic has a very fantastic character arc, and whose ‘Marr the Outlander’ fic is equally brilliant. @inyri. She basically inspired me to write, and was kind enough to help my first, shaky steps. Her current story—and the one I read as soon as I see a new update— is about Nine. And finally but not least, @chubbyooo, whose Zandar legacy is full of the most lovable kids I have ever read. Their fic is full of action, laughs, and a very real, strong story-driven plot.

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keldae · 5 years

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Tumblr Game

Every answer must start with the first letter of your first name.

(Thanks for the tag, @elveny! ^_^)

WEAR: armwraps

DRINK: apple juice

FOOD: avocado

ANIMAL: aardvark

PROFESSION: artist

SOMETHING IN YOUR HOME: armchair

BODY PART: ankle

Tagging @kunoichi-ume @andveryginger @cinlat @inyri @corey-067 @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond

#thanks for the tag!#Tumblr games

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actiasteeth · 5 years

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CHARACTER PROFILE — AERITH LYLIN

BASIC DETAILS

full name | aerith idiian lylin.

reason or meaning of name |

aerith — soul, spirit. name of his mother’s late mentor.

idiian — only, lone.

lylin — to thrive. family name of his father, vale.

nickname(s) / alias(es) | aer, aeri(th) lorus, valin avalor / valin kano / idiian kano.

how'd they get it? |

aer — a shortening of his name. given to him and used by his friend and traveling partner, vestir kano.

aeri(th) lorus — the name used shortly after birth to age 15 (and occasionally onward), to protect his father’s position within the jedi order. lylin was readopted purely out of spite when his father left.

valin avalor / valin kano / idiian kano — valin avalor was an alias commonly used from 3956 to 3954bby; simply a combination of his parents’ names. avalor was traded for kano, in memoriam, when he thought vestir kano dead. and valin would later be traded for idiian, his middle name.

age | varies depending on point in timeline.

date of birth | month 10, day 11, 3978bby.

zodiac | libra sun, pisces moon, cancer rising.

species | force-sensitive human.

gender | cis male, though largely unattached to “traditionally masculine” gender roles and gender presentation.

sexual orientation | undefined, open to all genders.

when did they realize this? | his sexuality wasn’t something he ever “realized”; it just was what it was.

nationality | jedhan.

hometown | nijedha, jedha, jedha system.

current residence | vestir kano’s ship.

work history / occupation |

caretaker for the temple of the kyber.

for how long? | from 3963 to 3956.

did they like their job? | it was alright. there were some enjoyable aspects but it was also a lot of strenuous work on one end and long hours of doing nothing on the other. in the end he just wanted something else, a change of pace.

salary | dirt, basically. but meals and shelter and other necessities were provided.

independent gardener / merchant.

for how long? | several months in 3955.

did they like their job? | yes.

salary | it wasn’t lucrative by any means, but it was enough to at least help out a bit and take some of the pressure off of vestir.

ABILITIES

if they had an element, what would it be? | water—turbulent, but adaptable.

can they use it? | no.

what animal best represents them? | knobby white spider. hardly an animal, but still. its life cycle is something that resonates with him.

hand-to-hand capability | low to average, but he’s working on it. can win maybe 40% of fights of this nature.

when did they start learning? | as a child. had about 8 years of training before falling out of practice for a solid 7.

who taught them? | his instructors at the temple. he began to retrain himself at the age of 22, with the help of vestir.

weapons training | extremely proficient with a lightbow and reasonably capable with other ranged weapons. melee skill is lacking but effective occasionally.

when did they start learning? | see above.

who taught them? | see above.

physical strength | moderate.

speed | moderate.

planning | virtually nonexistent. relies heavily on instinct.

powers | moderate force-sensitivity.

weapon of choice | lightbow.

FAMILY

any significant ancestors? | none that he’s aware of.

grandparents | unknown / no relationship.

aunts/uncles | unknown / no relationship.

parents | avadrie lorus (guardian of the whills, deceased), vale lylin (jedi master, living).

are they still together? | no. but they were on-and-off from the time aerith was born, through to avadrie’s passing.

birth order | first and last.

siblings | n / a.

nieces / nephews | n / a.

children | n / a.

are all children with the same partner? | n / a.

is their relationship with their children important to the character? | n / a.

grandchildren | n / a.

what is the character's family life like? | his father was always distant to the point of more or less pretending like he didn’t exist, but up until her passing, he was very close with his mother. she was his main mentor when he was training as a guardian, and was extremely patient and supportive of him. and while that very well could have been enough for him if he’d let it be, aerith was still always striving for his father’s approval—or even just his acknowledgment—only to be constantly sidelined and ignored in favor of his father’s padawan.

what does their family love most about them? | his father is the only remaining family member that he has any connection to, and it’s safe to conclude there’s not a single thing vale loves about his son.

hate? | he is a reminder, is evidence of his father’s shortcomings.

does the family have a specific set of values? | naturally, there was a heavily ingrained respect for the force and an aim to always trust it and follow its light. this was the root of everything avadrie did and said and encouraged in him.

what would their family be described like by another person? | at one point, they might have seen a single mother raising her son well, and a healthy and flourishing relationship there. the second you introduce vale back into the equation, there is constant conflict and neglect and heartache.

have they ever had any pets? | none. he would often feed the birds in the temple courtyard, but that’s about it.

what happened to them? | n / a.

RELATIONSHIPS

are they a virgin? | no.

how did they lose it? | at 19. to zhorin vandreen, a disciple who’d found their path to guardianship and began training at the temple. it was a fairly short-lived affair that was, like, 70% physical. they messed around a few times before distancing themselves from each other.

have they ever cheated on a partner? | no. he’s never had an official partner to cheat on, anyway. but in any case, he wouldn’t.

has a partner ever cheated on them? | see previous answer.

how did they react? | n / a.

who was their first crush? | when he was 13, a fellow acolyte a level above him, kaida lissiri.

first love? | vestir kano. as unfortunate as that is for everyone involved.

have they ever been married? | no.

divorced? | n / a.

how many times have they been married / divorced? | n / a.

are they in any kind of romantic relationship? | no, but yes.

how serious / relaxed is it? | it’s completely unofficial; he’s just pining so deeply, he’s unavailable to any prospective sexual or romantic partners who aren’t vestir.

describe the relationship with their current partner | they aren’t exactly a thing, but everyone else can see it, honestly. it’s fairly safe to say they’re never going to arrive at a point where they’re honest enough with themselves or each other to give their dynamic a name. they’re a certified disaster.

how did they meet? | in 3960bby, aerith harbored vestir in his room for a short period of time, under the pretense he was on a pilgrimage and seeking shelter. they later reconnected in 3956bby when vestir returned to check on a stash of credits previously hidden in aerith’s room.

who made the first move? | aerith, unsuccessfully. every subsequent move has also proven unsuccessful.

how does your character truly feel about their partner? | aerith is vestir’s ride-or-die. there’s nowhere vestir can go that aerith won’t follow, so long as vestir will have him. he will kill for him, will die for him. aerith is deeply in love with him—though he’s tried to resist as, for all he knows, the feelings are unrequited. but they always come rushing back no matter what.

when did they realize this? | just shy of a couple years into them traveling together.

who is your characters closest friend? | it’s vestir.

how did they meet? | see above.

why do they get along so well? | a deep sense of trust built on going through so many harrowing experiences together.

describe their relationship with any other significant friends |

liora virai — took aerith in when he was separated from vestir for the span of several months.

inyri silthen — master guardian inyri more or less took on the role of aerith’s guardian after the passing of his mother and the departure of his father.

FAVORITES

favorite foods | anything with a complex flavor profile. he likes things that don’t seem like they’d work together, but somehow do.

least favorite food | any and all things with a remotely slimy texture. would sooner eat sand.

favorite colors | green. despite the amount of red he wears.

least favorite color | he doesn’t have one. thinks all colors have pleasant shades to offer.

music | he’s drawn to the music of singing bowls and string instruments mostly, though he does favor some wind instruments, as well. he likes music with a soothing quality.

literature | he hated everything he ever read from the temple library. so he has yet to discover his favorites.

smell | the smell before rain.

feeling | collapsing into bed at the end of a long day.

season | spring. specifically early spring when there’s still a lot of rain and the plants are thriving.

place | he absolutely lost his mind over felucia.

favorite sport(s) | swoop racing.

possession this character values most | his kyber crystal—a jagged-edged white crystal that spans the width of his palm.

why is it so important to them? | he’s had it since he was a small child. it called to him and bound itself to him through the force. holding it in times of stress or pain or anxiety has always helped to calm him to some extent.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

height | 5’9 / 175cm.

weight | 135lbs / 61kg.

body build | slender, well-toned.

eye color | dark brown.

glasses or contact lenses? | no.

hair color | black / dark brown.

type of hair | straight, coarse.

hairstyle | generally overgrown and messy; usually keeps it tied back if it hasn’t been cut in a while. when it gets quite long, he might braid small charms / pendants into his hair or wear other ornamental accessories.

complexion and skin tone | fair to somewhat golden, depending on time of year and where he’s been; warm toned.

any particular blemishes? | jagged scarring framing the outer corner of his right eye, cutting through his eyebrow and over the top of his cheekbone, fainter as it crosses the bridge of his nose; jagged scarring down the right side of his neck, expanding to his shoulder and partway down his back; hands are covered in lesser scars, especially at his knuckles; scarring of a large gash on his left arm.

tattoos? | n / a.

piercings? | earlobes twice and helix on his left ear.

clothing style | deep reds are a near constant; a lot of layering and a lot of excess material. is wearing at least ten bracelets at any given time.

other distinguishing features | can occasionally be found wearing red pigments, kohl, and kyber dust—generally around his eyes, though prone to wearing sigils anywhere from his throat to his arms.

voice | sits right in the middle of high and low. will fluctuate slightly up or down depending on the mood of the conversation or his personal mood.

what are their nervous tics? | nail biting. picking at scabs. messing with his hair. turning his crystal over in his hands.

how do they walk? | he walks quite fast by default, but will slow down to match the pace of others or if he’s tired.

usual body posture | he tends to shrink into himself a bit; has to remind himself to stand / sit up straight.

do they have any disabilities? | nothing that largely affects the way he goes through life, but he does have chronic pain.

speech patterns | he speaks at an average pace. quite casual in his tone and vocabulary in most instances. pauses a lot in conversations that are more serious, as he likes to think his words through first. when he gets highly emotional or is inebriated, however, he stumbles over his words a lot.

INTELLECTUAL / MENTAL / PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES AND ATTITUDES

did they go to school? | not in the traditional sense of the word, no.

where? | he trained at the temple of the kyber until age 15.

what did they learn? | hand-to-hand combat training, weapons training (ranged and melee), weapons crafting, meditation, first aid, ceremonial practices, history of the force and force entities.

did they complete the curriculum? | no. he’d just completed his third duan a few weeks before giving up his position.

what were their grades like? | he was a diligent student who showed promise.

native language | galactic basic (jedhan dialect).

do they know any other languages? | he’s picked up some phrases in various others, but displays virtually no fluency whatsoever.

any mental illnesses? | ptsd, generalized anxiety disorder, clinical depression.

character's short-term goals in life | keeping his plants on the ship alive. making sure vestir stays alive. getting more proficient with fighting.

character's long-term goals in life | he would like to get some sense of closure when it comes to vestir and how aerith feels about him. he’d also eventually he’d like to find somewhere to “settle down” (not that he wants to stop traveling anytime soon, he just thinks it’d be nice to have somewhere to return to after a long trip once in a while, and space is cold).

how does your character see themselves? | he likes to think he has something to offer.

how does your character believe they are perceived by others? | he thinks people underestimate him. he knows he’s not the most skilled person in any area at all, but he can do more than people give him credit for.

how self-confident is your character? | his self-confidence is on the lower end of the spectrum, but the air he gives off makes it seem somewhat higher than it actually is.

what makes their self-confidence waver? | failure to accomplish tasks he thought himself capable of. failure to accomplish tasks he promised someone else he was capable of. not receiving the level or type of attention he craves.

what would embarrass your character the most? | his failed advances.

how does your character feel about love? | inconvenient. but he lives here.

about crime? | depends on the crime, depends on the circumstances. sometimes people do what they must and he understands this. he’s not above crimes, personally. he’ll go as far as killing someone if there’s purpose behind it.

politics? | often they find their way into spaces they don’t belong. he always felt uneasy about the jedi order’s level of involvement with the republic—especially their place in the military. he felt it made the temple unsafe, and sure enough, it did. he prefers to stay out of politics.

people of a different sexuality? | doesn’t affect the way he sees someone.

different nationality / race? | doesn’t affect the way he sees someone.

how does your character show affection / love? | for the most part, physically. but he also likes to give gifts when he can, and is also big on acts of service.

how does your character handle grief? | depends on how pressing the cause of his grief is. there are situations that call for an immediate response—typically anger or depression. but in other cases, he doesn’t handle it at all, really. he lets it live inside of him and he learns to live like that. he is rarely vocal about deeper feelings like this, and often the only time he speaks on them is when they inevitably overwhelm him and just come pouring out.

what are they like when they cry? | most times he’s more of a silent crier. will hold in like 9 out of 10 sobs. usually doesn’t attempt to talk through it at all. if it’s bad, he trembles.

what can make them cry? | traumatic situations and otherwise close-calls. physical pain, if it’s bad enough. loss. believing he is at fault for ruining things.

how does your character handle physical pain? | his pain tolerance is fairly high. he suffers from chronic pain in bones throughout his whole body due to overuse, strenuous work, and previous injuries that never healed quite right, so he’s more or less just used to it. most times, you’ll see it in his expression or the way he’s moving before he says anything about it.

emotional pain? | depends on the situation, whether it errs more on the side of anger or sadness. he’ll either snap and make a big deal about it or shut down and isolate himself.

is your character typically a leader or a follower? | follower until it’s inconvenient.

are they 'big picture' or 'little details'? | he thinks there’s importance in both, but is more prone to focusing on the smaller details.

what kind of energy level does your character typically display? | low to moderate.

describe their sense of humor | equal parts teasing and self-deprecating. no stranger to sarcasm. he’s a bit of flirt by nature and this bleeds into his humor on occasion.

hobbies | gardening, ceremonial makeup.

talents | being a pain in the ass.

extremely unskilled at | staying out of trouble.

if any, what musical instruments can they play? | n / a. jizz-box

EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

how does the character relate to others? | he listens. if people will tell him, he listens and will try his best to understand where they’re coming from.

how does the character deal with anger? | will lash out and say hurtful things if pushed far enough. might get physical in very heated arguments or if he perceives a threat.

with sadness? | he’ll either want to be left alone or want to be close to someone who can comfort him. it depends on the nature of the situation.

with conflict? | removes himself from the conversation and isolates himself, sometimes for up to several days.

with change? | he’s very susceptible and easily adapts to change, so long as it’s not the result of an unfavorable situation.

with loss? | he dwells on it. with quite hard-hitting losses, to the point that it affects his health.

what does your character want out of life? | new experiences. to find the beauty left in a galaxy torn apart by war.

what would your character like to change in their life? | the attack on the temple is the biggest thing for him. he feels like it triggered this sort of downward spiral for him, of losing himself, of trying to rediscover himself. of course that means he likely never would have taken off with vestir, and he likes their arrangement for the most part. wishes he hadn’t developed feelings for him like he did, though.

what motivates your character? | being useful, being needed.

what frightens your character? | he startles at loud noises. and he’s not exactly dying to run into any sith.

are they afraid of the dark? | no.

death? | not so much death itself, but the thought of dying alone and in pain. but he will charge straight into a fight and risk everything if he knows it’s for someone.

what makes your character happy? | seeing new places and their flora. sharing tea with vestir before they go to bed.

sad? | when his plants die. being under the impression that he’s let someone down.

angry? | threats against his well-being. being kept in the dark about things.

aroused? | kiss him with any sense of resolve and he’s gone. it’s been a while, so it honestly doesn’t take much.

annoyed? | not being taken seriously.

guilty? | when he says things that go too far. when vestir doesn’t accept his advances.

is your character judgmental of others? | not necessarily in the way that he judges people’s choices—so long as they’re not hurting anyone—but more in the way that he thinks literally everyone is suspicious.

is your character generous or stingy? | he’s generous when he can afford to be.

is your character generally polite or rude? | depends on the way he’s being treated. is polite by default because he doesn’t want to cause problems, but that only goes so far. if someone mistreats him, he doesn’t lie down and take it.

optimistic or pessimistic? | pessimistic. he always assumes the worst.

introvert or extrovert? | slight leaning towards extroversion.

daredevil or cautious? | 50 / 50. he’s an anxious soul, but he throws caution to the wind in a heartbeat when it comes time to act.

logical or emotional? | emotional. he might consider the logical option at least, if given the time to do so, but follows his heart and his instincts in the end.

disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? | organized mess.

would they rather be working or relaxing? | he doesn’t mind working as long as it doesn’t leave him feeling drained. he prefers doing at least something to just lying around doing nothing and waiting for time to pass.

how do they feel about animals? | he appreciates them from a distance, mostly. he’s never wanted the responsibility of keeping a pet or anything.

they are most at ease when | he and vestir are in bed together.

ill at ease when | unaware of vestir’s status and / or whereabouts.

what is their best quality? | his patience has always served him well.

what is their biggest flaw? | his lack of direction.

SPIRITUAL CHARACTERISTICS

do they consider themselves religious? | formerly. still believes in the force and will acknowledge it, but doesn’t really care what it can do for him.

what religion? | disciple of the whills.

what entities do they believe in? | the force, the ancient order of the whills, the force priestesses, the ones.

why do they believe as they do? | it’s what he was raised into from the day he was born.

how prominent is this in their life? | it isn’t. he renounced his position and his faith at age 15. that doesn’t mean he doesn’t occasionally call back to ideologies or practices of his religion. he is still very much a disciple in the way he dresses, if nothing else.

how far would they go in the name of their beliefs? | will speak up for someone else’s faith, but won’t, like, hurt people in the name of it unless it’s a matter of protection.

how strictly do they follow the rules of their religion? | it’s not strict to begin with. there are basic morals, but it’s more about knowing the force deeply.

are there any things they do specifically they aren't supposed to? | wishing harm upon people that hurt him or people close to him is generally frowned upon. questioning the will of the force is another.

MISCELLANEOUS

additional notes on this character | n / a.

theme song | what’s wrong by pvris.

#this was rly truly just #So Much #jokes on me if i think i'm gonna get this done for more than like three characters #c: aerith lylin #v: sidereal #.chrpr

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maryellencarter · 5 years

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Character asks: Mon Mothma, Gavin Darklighter, Inyri Forge, Grarik "Face" Loran

Wow, that’s a lot of people, anon! Most of whom I don’t have nearly as many opinions on. ^_^

Mon Mothma:

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life (Gotta respect those powerful ladies. And she is very good at politics. I just don’t know a hell of a lot about her. Given the varying levels of consistency in Legends, I’m not sure anybody does. I understand she has a role in Rogue One, which I still haven’t seen due to low tolerance for everybody dying.)hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang (I keep choosing these “neutral tending toward yes” answers for her. I don’t have strong feelings about Mon Mothma but what feelings I have toward her are positive?)hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (Uh. No fucking idea.)best quality: Ability to do politics on a super-high level in a very complicated galaxy.worst quality: *pulls hair* This is not going to come out right. Setting off Legends/EU writers’ tendencies toward misogyny? Like, that sounds like I’m saying her worst quality is that she’s a woman, which it isn’t. It’s that I don’t know what, if any, bad qualities she has that aren’t “She’s a powerful woman in politics and somebody didn’t know how to write that sympathetically”.ship them with: I don’t, really. @drinkupthesunrise writes some rather adorable Wedge/Mon, but mostly it’s kind of... Mon Mothma/The New Republic. She might be aroace in some part of my head. It’s not a strong enough feeling to put me off Amanda’s fic but I think it’s there.brotp them with: Leia and Wedge, definitely. SO MUCH RIGHTEOUS IDEALISM! :Dneeds to stay away from: Borsk Fey’lya, but doesn’t everybody? ^_^misc. thoughts: I really like her hair. Her iconic dress confuses me, I think because I expect drapey shoulder-necklace things like that to be big heavy Elizabethan chains of office, not... rope.

Gavin Darklighter

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (I went back and forth, because in my head “Gryffindor” is approximately “idealist” and “Hufflepuff” is approximately “absolute sweetheart”, but I think he’s a little bit more of a Gryffindor. He is so idealistic and driven to make the galaxy a better place.)best quality: Gavin is a good boy. He tries so hard.worst quality: Uh. He starts out a bit naive, I guess? I don’t know, I’m not terribly familiar with him. (Also I’m too damn nice. I hate saying bad things about most characters. XD)ship them with: I mean I guess he and Asyr were cute? Other than the absolutely horrifying circumstances of their first meeting, which I try to ignore as “these characters do not deserve my hatred just because they were badly written”.brotp them with: Corran. They really are good together, even though Corran Horn would not be my first choice for a role model for anybody... but somehow it works.needs to stay away from: Facial hair.misc. thoughts: Gavin is a good kid and I really don’t have much grasp of his personality.

Inyri Forge

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life (The thing with Inyri is that I like her a whole lot better in theory than in practice. The character concept has a fuckton of potential; the execution could have been a lot better. Bear in mind that I didn’t even warm up to Tycho until Heath sort of dragged us all by the hair into acknowledging his awesomeness. Mike Stackpole’s writing does not click with me.)hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Inyri is smart. She’s the one who comes up with most of the Millennium Falsehood plan to bait Zsinj into a trap. worst quality: That time she hooked up with a weirdo crimelord because her sister was The Good One? Relatable as hell, but there are better ways to rebel against your parents. I guess that would boil down to “doesn’t have great taste in men”.ship them with: Nobody, really. Shalla, Inyri, Mon Mothma, and Dorset Konnair are the only unattached women in the Legendsverse that I can remember, and I haven’t seen any compelling reason to change that. (Granted, Wes and Hobbie are about the only officially unattached dudes in the Legendsverse, which makes it a lot more gender-equal than most fictional universes where all the ladies wind up in het relationships.)brotp them with: Hm. I feel like I had an answer for this. Inyri and Hobbie are the two Rogues who contribute significantly to the conversation about the Millennium Falsehood; I feel like they might work well together. I really don’t remember enough about Inyri’s appearances in the Stackpole books to have any other ideas.needs to stay away from: Zekka Thyne.misc. thoughts: Due to the thing I mentioned earlier where Shalla, Inyri, Wes, and Hobbie are some of the very few people in Legends without official endgame relationships, it used to be custom back in the day (when slash was much more frowned upon and had to be hidden behind passwords) to ship Shalla and Inyri with Wes and Hobbie in some combination. So I’m always sort of eyeing the concept of shipping Inyri with either of those two, which probably distorts how I see her as a character on her own. :P

Garik “Face” Loran

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life (Finally, somebody I’m actually familiar with! XD)hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang (Face is like canonically hot but also very much not my type. Although if he’s played by John Cho, as @tigerkat24 suggested recently, all bets are off. ^_^)hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (All the best spymasters are. Took him some time to grow into it, though.)best quality: His sense of humor.worst quality: The whole guilt thing.ship them with: Ton, Dia.brotp them with: Ton.needs to stay away from: That’s a good question, really. Face can walk in and out of situations that would kill most other people, because he’s just that good of a spy (eventually). Maybe Castin Donn? :Pmisc. thoughts: I really, really love that Face’s reaction to the Yuuzhan Vong war was to start learning to speak the language so he could go undercover as a Yuuzhan Vong if necessary. That is so fucking Face.

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reallystellacadente · 5 years

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Tagged by @riajade01. I’ve been awful about answering asks recently so let me get this quick one out of the way. Thanks for the nudge!

This is for the spy!AU which is taking me forever to finish ... thinking I might just say fuckitall and start publishing it serially and if I fuck up a plot point, fixing it and seeing who notices, lol. [Spy!AU is where my canon Sith Warrior and her crew are spies; it’s an original story built from canon components.]

Rules: List 10 words/phrases that have something to do with your work(s) in progress and then tag 10 people (or however many) to do the same.

Tagging: @sunsetofdoom, @kunoichi-ume, @lyrishadow, @inyri, and @darth-khal and as always, anyone else who wants to do this.

And I promise I’ll get to the couple of asks languishing in my drafts folder. I think my 18-month brain fog might be lifting.

#swtor #ask meme #torture won't be graphic #sadly neither will the sex

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ruffboijuliaburnsides · 6 years

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playin cipher 9 and i let watcher x go and covered for him bc i need that data he’s willing to give up. something hinky’s going on - more than just “spy stuff” - and Inyri needs answers.

alas, Kaliyo now thinks Inyri is a “cowardly piece of shit”. grow up, Kaliyo, honestly.

#swtor #inyri kildarn

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inyri · 2 years

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Equivalent Exchange (a SWTOR story): Chapter 40: Swords of Damocles

Equivalent Exchange by inyri

Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic Characters: Female Imperial Agent (Cipher Nine)/Theron Shan Rating: E (this chapter: M. Trigger warning: graphic violence.) Summary: If one wishes to gain something, one must offer something of equal value. In spycraft, it’s easy. Applying it to a relationship is another matter entirely. F!Agent/Theron Shan. (Spoilers for Shadow of Revan and Knights of the Fallen Empire/Knights of the Eternal Throne.)

Comments are always appreciated! Visit me at:

Archive of Our Own

Fanfiction Dot Net

(Two moves- India and now the Middle East, COVID, work, COVID at work, toddler parenthood and a partridge in a pear tree. I forgot how to word for a while, I think.

And then, one day, they came back.)

Chapter Forty: Swords of Damocles

Void, she’s tired.

Only tired, she tells herself as she lowers herself to the floor to sit beside the now-snoring ‘Pub. Only tired. She’ll be fine. It isn’t that much blood, really. She’s had worse.

The door slides open and SCORPIO stands silhouetted in the dim light from the corridor, eyes glowing yellow and a sturdy black canvas bag dangling from one metallic hand. “Commander. As requested.”

“You’re certain this is the only attacker, SCORPIO?” Lana’s still half-hidden behind the doorframe. “I know you’re still monitoring but-” she peers around the droid and must be able to see her now, the way her eyebrow just disappeared somewhere between her hairline and the stratosphere- “oh, for fuck’s sake, Nine-”

“Blame him.” Head tilted toward her assailant as they surround her, Lana at her right hand and Doctor Lokin at her left, she makes a face at Lana even as they’re all pulling supplies out of Lokin’s bag. “He started it.”

(She’s hoarser than she’d thought, or perhaps she can hear better as the echo of the flashbang fades from her ears.

She’s had worse.)

Lana crouches down beside her, easing her down to lie flat on the debris-studded ground. “And you finished it, I see. I’m surprised he’s still breathing. Do we know who he is?”

“Best guess? Trying to call in the death mark. And of course he’s still breathing- he can’t answer questions if he’s dead. Now stop fussing over me and get those restraints on him. I don’t know-” she clears her throat, hissing as Lokin shifts position and something sharp pricks the side of her neck- “I don’t know how long the sedatives will hold him. If he gets loose again he’ll go straight for the target and he clearly doesn’t care about collateral damage. He could-”

SCORPIO drops the duffel bag and draws out a set of stun cuffs. “You may wish to see to this, Doctor, or he may not survive long enough to question.” The droid prods at the wound in the man’s thigh even as she snaps one cuff closed around his wrist, pulls his other arm roughly behind his back and fastens the other cuff; he groans, head lolling to one side. “That would be a shame. I do so enjoy interrogations.”

Lana wrinkles her nose when she thinks no one is looking, quickly shifting back into neutrality when Nine glances in her direction. “With all of this, you don’t think you were his target?”

“SCORPIO didn’t brief you?”

“Too many ears in the corridor,” the droid murmurs, “including Agent Shan. Brevity was required.”

She tries and fails to sit upright, one of Lokin’s hands on her forehead holding her down against the floor. “I told you to keep him occupied. If there’s a second agent-”

SCORPIO’s eyes flicker briefly; if she didn’t know better she’d swear that was an approximation of an eyeroll. “He is with Doctor Oggurobb now-” another flicker, this time almost certainly hooking into the surveillance mainframe. She’s lost track of the number of times she’s told her not to do that but it does have its uses- “discussing requisitions requests. He is well-guarded.”

“Theron clearly wasn’t the only target.” Lana frowns, tracing the curve of her neck with one careful fingertip. “Any other wounds we should know about?”

“Not for lack of trying. He’s armored-”

“I meant on you, you- Nine.” Lana catches herself just in time. “Or is all that blood from him?”

Bacta gel now, cool and viscous and sharp-smelling as Lokin clicks his tongue and readies another injector. “Nearly all hers, I think. Quite unlike you to end up on the wrong side of a knife, Commander.”

“He got the drop on me,” she murmurs, closing her eyes, “and it was a garotte. ‘s different.”

Only silence for a moment, punctuated by another, sharper groan from her assailant- she smiles a bit at that despite herself; she’s never had any particular illusion that SCORPIO saw her as anything other than an ally of convenience, but that might be the closest the droid will ever come to sentiment- before Lana clears her throat. “Yes. Of course.” Another pause, and then- “Where are we going to put him? We aren’t equipped to maintain prisoners.”

“I don’t plan on keeping him here long-term. As soon as he’s fit to talk, he talks and we get rid of him.”

“In a technical sense, or a literal sense?”

She shrugs. “That depends on him. And his employer. SCORPIO, search him and get access to any communications devices he has. If he’s anywhere near as sloppy as his counterpart I may not need him to talk at all.”

“I’ll allow the use of my laboratory, in the short term,” Lokin murmurs. “He does require some degree of medical care, and the room itself is quite secure. And well soundproofed.” For a moment she thinks of Alderaan and she can feel the memory of his growl in her bones, imagines the sharp tips of claws like so many needles in her wire-bitten skin. “Not precisely the eventuality it was planned for, but it would serve as a temporary prison.”

“Fine.” Lana’s hand rests against her forehead. “We can move the Commander to-”

“I can move myself, thank you very much. My legs are perfectly functional-” she wiggles her feet by way of proof- “no assistance required. Just point me toward a ‘fresher to rinse this mess off and I’ll meet you in the lab.”

Lokin chuckles as he starts to shift away from her. “I think not. Run program six on your shipboard tank for two hours and I’ll be by to check on you. That should be sufficient to-”

Oh, she is so tired of that Force-damned tank.

“Absolutely not.” Forcing herself to sit up (the room spins as her eyes open, but only for a moment; she can work with that for now), she shakes her head irritably. “There’s already far too much to do before we leave for Voss without this idiot added to the mix. I don’t have two hours to spare.”

This time the claws are decidedly unimaginary, a clenched hand holding her still. “That wasn’t a suggestion, Commander. You requested my skills-” for him, she protests half-heartedly until he grips hard enough to pierce flesh- “and that is my assessment. More to the point, you’re going to have some significant explaining to do unless you plan to conduct the remainder of your meetings today from stealth.”

All right. Perhaps he has a point.

She scowls. “One hour.”

“Ninety minutes.” He relaxes his hold. “Lord Beniko, please see that she reaches her ship without incident. I will need SCORPIO to transport our guest.”

Lana nods.

A thud, next, followed by a very loud grunt, a second thud and the sound of a zipper being fastened: when she turns to look SCORPIO’s already standing with an overladen and faintly snoring duffel bag held over one shoulder. “Cargo secured. After you.”

When they are alone Lana sits down heavily beside her, legs bent and elbows resting on knees and head in hands. “You could have waited for me, you know. No one’s asking you to do everything on your own, and if he’d managed to-”

“No,” she sighs. “I couldn’t. Any longer and he’d have assumed Theron wasn’t taking the bait and either gone to ground or done something particularly reckless-” her shirt’s going sticky now, clinging and uncomfortable and too warm and she pulls at the collar of her armor peevishly- “and it very likely would have been the latter. And now it’s handled.”

“Why are you so certain he wasn’t after you? You’re still alive, but not for apparent lack of trying on his part. Or did Valk-”

The words come out unbidden, hissed through gritted teeth. “Don’t say it, he’ll hear you.” Lana winces and covers her mouth as Nine braces herself, waits for him to push his way forward again but it’s quiet; if Valkorion heard his name spoken, for once he doesn’t seem to care. “No, nothing like that this time. SCORPIO was ignoring orders and intercepted a message in mid-transmission that-”

“I thought we’d agreed she isn’t supposed to have that level of network access.”

“She isn’t, but you know she does as she pleases. I’ll see to it. In any case,” she continues, “it was good luck that she did. It was exactly the sort of thing that would have had Theron running right down here to investigate, and I don’t know if-” she swallows. She doesn’t want to think about that and-

(-and there it is, image after image after image like flashbulbs going off inside her head of Theron on the floor of the storeroom, still and silent, throat laid open and the bright spark gone from his eyes.

She knows how it would have gone. She knows. But there is knowing and there is seeing it.)

When she comes back to herself Lana’s a little nearer, one hand just next to hers on a clean patch on the floor and the angle of her head a silent question.

She nods, and shudders. “I don’t know if he’d have walked back out. Trant trains his people well.”

“Not well enough.” Lana’s lips pull back from her teeth. “You’re certain he’s Republic?”

“It’s not as though they wear insignias. So no, I can’t be absolutely certain. But he called me Cipher, and he- frankly, I can’t think of anyone else Theron would have pissed off badly enough to risk infiltrating our base to kill him, can you?”

“He made enemies on Zakuul, but no more than any of the rest of us did, and I’ve yet to see Arcann send a Force-blind assassin. He relies almost entirely on his skytroopers and his Knights, and they’ve all the subtlety of a boulder to the face.” With a sigh, she shifts her weight to one hip. “Come on, Nine. Let’s get you into kolto and I’ll fetch you a change of clothes.”

She briefly considers, as Lana rises once more and extends a hand to help her to her feet, simply refusing to move. She’s probably too heavy for her to carry unless she-

“You aren’t,” Lana murmurs. “Ask Koth. Now turn your generator on.”

***

When she opens her eyes and spits out a mouthful of kolto the medbay’s empty.

That isn’t a surprise. The folded pile of clothing on the examination table means Lana’s gone and returned and probably gone again to take over the meeting that she’s missing- not one that included Theron, thank fuck, there’d have been no way to talk around that. The one after’s meant for all of them, though, and she’ll need to be on time.

Or better early- she can intercept him that way. If their intel failed this badly once it very well might have failed a second time: they might have another mole and-

Her mind races as she exits the tank, gathers up the clothes and makes her way to the ‘fresher. Even beneath the kolto she can still smell blood on her skin and when she looks down at her chest it’s smeared dark red along one collarbone and the strap line from her undershirt. Out of the corner of her eye she catches a sliver of her reflection in the cabinet mirror, skin chalk-white and hair tangled, face smeared with the remnants of makeup and ribs bruised and neck and chest like an abattoir floor.

Stars, what a fucking mess.

Deliberately she lets the water heat up until the mirror’s completely fogged over and, cleaning-cloth in hand, steps into the shower cubicle. Better not to look too closely now. Better to get clean first. It only looks worse than it is, doesn’t it, with all the blood?

(And what was it you said about vanity, my dear?

She sticks her head under the water until the roar drowns out his voice.)

The blood smears are gone and her skin’s scrubbed pink by the time he’s stopped his prattling and when she calls out to the ship for a time check another ten minutes have passed and- oh, damn it all, her commpad’s chiming from where she left it in the infirmary. Grabbing garments from the pile in both hands, she pulls on underclothes and trousers (definitely hers, from the drawer in the captain’s quarters) and a high-necked sweater (definitely not hers and snug in the bust- probably one of Lana’s own if she had to hazard a guess). It was a good thought on Lana’s part but she doubts she needs it, really; an hour and a half in kolto should have been more than enough to fade the wire line around her neck. She pulls at the fabric, exposing her throat as she turns to the cabinet, checking her reflection more carefully in its mirrored door.

That-

That’s definitely a problem.

There’s a tube of bacta gel in here, or ought to be; her hand closes around it, behind her hairbrush and pushed to the back of the middle shelf, and she slathers a generous coat onto the faint but still clearly-visible gouge before she tugs the neck of the sweater up beneath her chin. A few more hours in kolto would fade it into nothing but she doesn’t have a few more hours to waste, not with a mission to finish planning and an erstwhile assassin to break and bag (metaphorically speaking. Probably. She makes a mental note to see if Renzi and Xessa are still hanging around the Core. They were always good for deliveries on ‘special cargo.’) She’ll have to hope the bacta works more quickly and figure out a way to keep Theron distracted until it’s properly gone. If she wears her jacket too, maybe he won’t notice- but then she needs to clean it now and still have to find a way to sneak into the tank while they’re in transit. Her wrist is a viable excuse, of course, but-

The brush catches on a knot in her hair. She pulls harder, peevish, until it tears free and a dozen strands of hair pull away with it and she almost misses the soft chime of the external door alert beneath a half-stifled hiss of pain. But no, there it is again.

“Lana?” She calls out softly as her fingers brush over the panel behind the sink, searching for the edge and prying it loose with one fingernail. “Lana, is that you?”

It oughtn’t be Lana. Lana ought to be in a meeting now, and no one else but Eckard and SCORPIO should know to find her here. The panel comes open; her hand closes around the little knife in the hidden compartment.

“Hello?” She steps out of the ‘fresher, blade raised at throat height, edge out. Not a mistake she’ll make twice. Not a mistake she’d survive twice.

Her quarters are empty, the door between room and corridor still closed. With back to the wall and knife hand leading she moves toward the corridor, a pause after each step but the only sound the soft brush of her own bare footfalls on the cool durasteel floor. Closer to the opening- closer- closer- the door slides open and she looks right-left-up-down and then left again, a flicker at the furthest edge of her peripheral vision but it’s only the little cleaning droid sweeping a few fragments of leaves near the conference room door.

Ah. Another messy one, then. Tsk, tsk.

The war terminal was locked down properly when she’d left it last. That might not hold for too long against an SIS slicer, though, and the last thing she needs with the timeline on Voss already tight is a compromised agenda or worse, more of Trant’s hounds on their scent.

(They used to joke, back in the days where it was easy to joke about the people that would likely as not be the ones who’d kill you someday when the alternative was actually considering your own mortality, and call them puppies : half-blind, toothless, barely trained little things that couldn’t hunt worth a damn, held back by their master by the scruff of their necks until given a scent to follow-

But this last pup had fangs.)

Nine crosses the common room swiftly, muting the noise of her movement in the whirr of the droid’s spinning brush. Most likely the intruder’s still at the terminal, back to the door and at an angle that should hide her behind the table if she comes in low. Should. If she’s wrong, she’ll have perhaps a second to land a hit or two.

Long enough.

Crouched at the door, she touches the panel and the moment the door’s open to shoulder width she’s in, a diving roll putting her behind the long table as she readies her knife for one good punch to the kidney, maybe, or if he turns- he, yes, a man’s boots and frame in her peripheral vision, not at the terminal but at the near side of the table- fuck, wrong way wrong way wrong WAY and the only option’s to launch herself up and over the top of the table, blade out and-

She pulls her strike short by a finger’s breadth as Theron blinks and tips his head, convor-like, to one side.

“I know I said I needed some combat practice,” he says slowly, leaning backward from the blade ever-so-slightly with a faintly amused smile, “but if I don’t make this call before we leave I’m pretty sure Hylo’s going to confiscate our entire next shipment of caf and whiskey so, um-”

All her coiled-spring tension releases in a single breath and she falls out of stance, sitting down heavy on the tabletop with what feels like a datapad under her right thigh. “You-” turning the little knife in her hand, she tucks it away behind her back- “Theron, what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be-”

“The secure holo in the War Room’s down for repairs, so I thought I’d-” he starts to reach for the datapad and then his head tilts, ever so slowly, in the opposite direction. “I know you don’t like anyone poking around the ‘shrike, but you gave me the external security codes last week, remember?”

“That’s not what I meant. SCORPIO promised you’d be safe in-” Fuck. Too much.

“I didn’t realize she cared.”

He looks at her then, really properly looks at her, at her too-pale scrubbed-clean face and still-damp hair and borrowed sweater and the smell of bacta heavy in the air; she doesn’t move, doesn’t blink but she sees it in his face at the exact moment he figures it halfway out, eyes narrowed and smile gone and the subtle shift of his jaw as his back teeth clench.

“Zakuul?”

“No.” A noise at the door- just the cleaning droid again, but- “Theron, did you reset the locks behind you when you came in?”

He shakes his head. “I wasn’t planning to stay more than a few minutes, so I didn’t-”

She misses the last part of the sentence, off the table and out the door again and back down the corridor to the security panel. It only takes a few seconds to lock the ship down again and oh, she could strangle Theron except that’d be counterproductive- he’d promised to follow protocol when she gave him the codes but they’ve all become a little sloppy on Odessen, the one place where they thought they were safe. She ought to have known better than that, of course. They were never truly safe anywhere, not with the Republic and Empire still with their teeth in each other’s throats and Arcann always hunting, a step closer each day, and now this-

Her commpad chimes again.

“That isn’t me,” he says from somewhere behind her. “Should I grab it for you, or-” oh, no- “oh, for fuck’s sake, Nine, what-”

(Oh, Cipher. Valkorion clicks his tongue and for a moment his voice, malice wrapped in mirth, sounds just like Hunter’s and she sees herself back in the safehouse on Nar Shaddaa, black and blue and bleeding and down on hands and knees, scrub brush scraping the floor. You really must learn to clean up your messes.)

Theron had probably meant to follow her. But now when she comes back around the corner he’s standing halfway inside the medbay and she follows his sightline: the kolto tank due for cycling, her knife- Lana must have found it in the storeroom during cleanup- next to her belt on the exam table, her armor in a bloody pile on the floor.

“Tell me that’s someone else’s blood.”

She inhales, considering her next words cautiously, but he doesn’t bother to wait for her to lie. Instead he reaches out quicker than she dodges and hooks two fingers into the high collar of her sweater, pulling it down abruptly before she can twist away out of reach.

There’s no point in moving now. She keeps still instead as his fingertips trace the wire’s path from one side to the other and for a moment she can’t tell if the subtle tremor in the movement is his hand shaking or her pulse gone haywire or maybe it’s both, she thinks-

“Tell me,” he says again, quieter, “that’s someone else’s blood, Nine. Tell me whose.”

“Some of it, yes. But I don’t know-“ at that he opens his mouth in disbelief as she makes a face to silence him- “I don’t know his name , I mean. He didn’t exactly introduce himself. He-“

Better to just say it.

“I got in his way. I put myself in his way deliberately and yes, I know I should have been more careful and yes, I fully admit I fucked it up. I don’t know who he is. But I think,” she swallows hard, her voice turned hoarse again, “that maybe you might.”

That’s definitely his hand shaking now. His fingers curl into a fist, tight enough she hears his knuckles crack, and he turns away from her abruptly to walk further into the medbay. Opening one of the upper cabinets, he pulls out a bottle of sanitizing spray and a packet of cleaning-cloths and before she can stop him he bends down, lifting her jacket by its collar onto the examination table and tearing open the packet.

“Don’t worry about that now. I’ll clean it later,” she says, crossing the room toward him even as he starts to scrub and the first cloth turns pink. “It needs to-“

He pulls out a second cloth.

“Theron, stop.” She reaches out, locks her fingers around his wrist to hold him still.

“No.”

He twists his hand abruptly and pulls away, breaking her grip as she staggers off-balance. She reaches out for him with her other hand, then, trying to brace herself and rein him back all at once. “Yes.”

“No,” he says again. “No. I asked you- I told you not to do this, Nine. I told you not to go and fight my battles for me and then literally the next thing you do-“ he’s facing her again now and oh, Void, he’s furious, his mouth a pale thin line - “is almost get yourself killed?” He drops the cleaning-cloth and grabs her by both shoulders. “What if you’d died?”

“But I didn’t. I’m fine.”

He glances down at the armor again, at the smears on the floor where it had lain, at the pink-stained kolto in the tank. “You’re not fine, and you’re avoiding the question. What if you’d died?”

She squirms a little in his grip; he’s holding her tighter than she thinks he means to. “I didn’t-“

“Would you just listen to me?“ Theron’s voice wavers and then breaks, his breath ragged. “If he’d killed you, I don’t know what I- I asked you not to do this.” Another break, the word caught in his throat. “And you did it anyway.”

Nine lifts her chin, baring a strip of skin above the top edge of her collar. “I told you I’d do what I had to, Theron, and I meant it. I sprang a trap meant for you and got this-“ another half-centimeter higher, for emphasis- “for my trouble. If I had died, which I didn’t, he’d have come after you next. Most likely we’d both be dead.”

“That’s not what I-“ he sighs. “And I can handle myself! Do you really think I couldn’t have-“

“Don’t be absurd. I know perfectly well what you’re capable of, and I’m telling you that this time-“

His teeth sink into his lip as he cuts her off, hand pressed over her mouth (how dare he, she’s got a half a mind to bite him)- “Do you? I don’t even know what happened - were you even going to tell me? Or were you just going to scrub this place clean, throw the body in a canyon somewhere and pretend everything’s fine?”

That-

-is a good question.

“I don’t know,” she mutters against his fingers after a moment. “I hadn’t quite gotten that far, to be honest. And there isn’t a body.”

Theron closes his eyes and lowers his hand. “But you’re sure I was the target. And he got away. Force-”

“He didn’t get away. You know me better than that.”

“Then where-”

Her commpad sounds a third time, its message still unread, and she reaches across the table for it. “Unconscious in a sack, last I saw him, but-” what do you mean, in a sack, Theron says as she scans the screen- “oh. Good. That solves that problem.”

“I’m not following.”

“SCORPIO sliced his holo- everything but the retinal scan. Between Eckard, Lana and I we’d probably have gotten him talking eventually, but all I need now is his eyeball and-”

He blanches. “You’re not seriously suggesting we just-” two fingers moving in the air, open and shut, open and shut. “I know he tried to kill you- us- but that’s- I feel like that’s crossing a line.”

Nine sighs. “You have entirely too many scruples. But no, for Void’s sake, I'm not going to cut his eye out. I’m not a sadist.” She shoves the commpad into her pocket. “What I am going to do is find out whether this idiot ignored the call to stand down or if Marcus Trant’s a fucking liar.” Her voice gives out on the last word and she snarls and even that is silent, nearly slamming her fists down on the tabletop before she thinks better of it and pulls back short; the last thing she needs is to hurt that wrist again. Instead she exhales and lets her spine curl, lets her head fall forward until her cheek rests against its surface.

“Or maybe I’ve just got more enemies than we thought? It’s been a long few wars.” He means it as a joke, she thinks, but there’s no humor in his voice. “Here. Sit down before you fall over, okay?” His hands rest on her hips, guiding her back toward the chair that’s suddenly behind her.

“I need to deal with this first.” She pushes the chair away with her foot. “And quickly. If we’re late getting to Voss, the whole damned plan falls apart.”

The seat edge hits the back of her knee as Theron slides it back again. “So what if it does? The last Exarch almost killed you-” ( a broken wrist, she mutters as he lifts her off her feet entirely and sets her in the chair, and a little concussion, hardly almost killed)- “ and you weren’t running on half your blood volume then. You need to rest, Nine. You can’t keep doing this. We’ll get another chance at it.”

“No, we won’t. The Gormak’s visions-”

“What a coincidence,” Theron snaps, “that they suddenly need you right away when the news about Nar Shaddaa hits the ‘net. Maybe Lana and I can handle an Exarch or two on our own, but Arcann? Vaylin? How do they think this war ever ends if you die?”

( An interesting question. Valkorion smiles over steepled fingers. Rhetorically speaking.)

“You say that as if I stand a chance against Arcann.”

He blinks. “Of course you-”

“Do I?” She grabs the edge of the table once more, pulling herself upright. “All of you got me out of carbonite and made me commander in a war I have no hope of winning without far more allies than we currently have, against a maniac who’d have killed me at least twice already except for the delightful coincidence of having his immortal father burrowed into my brain like some sort of metaphysical fucking tapeworm. But if I die- assuming I can die- he will burn everyone and everything I’ve ever touched to the ground from here to the Core and back.” Chin up. Shoulders back. Don’t let them see you bleed. “So I fight. What other choice do I have?”

“So you just- what? Push through it and try not to die? Nine, please. I’m serious.”

She shrugs, twisting her hair into a knot at the nape of her neck, jamming a stray pen through to hold it in place. “It worked for you on Rishi, didn’t it?”

“No. You saved me on Rishi, but you know that.” Theron adjusts her collar, very carefully not touching the marks beneath. Out of sight, out of mind. “And here, again, but you know that too.”

“Only halfway.” Belt on next and then- damn it, where are her boots? She can’t walk across the base with bare feet, and they aren’t- ah, there, next to the kolto tank. Slipping out of his grasp again even as he huffs in frustration, trying and failing to keep her still, she retrieves them and stoops to pull them on. “Stay here until I can send someone for you. He might not have been the only one after you, and-”

“Absolutely not. If you’re going anywhere,” he says sharply, “I’m going with you.”

She closes the top buckle of her boot shut so hard it nearly snaps in two. “No. You’re staying here where it’s safe. That’s an order.”

“Noted.” Theron closes the gap between them in two swift steps, unclips her backup stealth generator and hooks it next to his holster before she can swat his hand away. “Write me up for insubordination when we’re done, then, Commander -” a dare if she ever heard one because of course he knows she never would, damn him to all the hells and back- “because I think I deserve to hear what happens next with my own ears. I deserve to know if I can ever breathe again without worrying where the next shot’s coming from. Don’t I?”

She sighs.

He isn’t wrong.

One finger over the generator’s switch, he waits.

“I will only ask this once, Theron Shan.” She has to look up to meet his eyes; he tilts his head a fraction of a degree. Whatever he expected her to say, it clearly wasn’t that. “If Trant truly is behind this, you are not going to like what I am about to do. Are you going to try to stop me?”

(On Manaan he would have said yes, she thinks. On Rishi and on Yavin IV and probably even a month ago he would have said yes because she saw the way he looked at his father at that last meeting on Coruscant, a lost little boy so desperate for approval he would have done anything- no, almost anything, anything but that- for the smallest scraps of praise-

-and Marcus Trant might have been more of a father to him than Jace ever was.

But that was before, and there are few things that cut deeper than watching your heroes fall.)

“No,” he says.

“Do you promise?”

“Yes.”

She thumbs the switch of her own generator. “Then follow me. Three, two, one-”

#equivalent exchange #swtor fanfiction #cipher nine #theron shan #imperial agent/theron shan #inyri writes #i had to rewrite the last part a dozen times #because they kept trying to fuck their way out of the argument #and we need to use our words this time

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