"Homeless"

Note: Malavai returned before KOTET.

Note #2: The story takes place after Chapter 2 of KOTET.

Note #3: THIS is why one size doesn't fit all (same KOTET story for all classes)!

Attira was standing by the Fury, looking at the landscape of mountains. Malavai approached her, and saw something on her face he had seen only once before: on the worst day of their lives. Back then he had been the cause. Now? He didn’t know.

“They treated me like a stranger,” she said. “Like I didn’t belong.” Another tear rolled down her pale cheek. She looked up at him. “We build a home on Dromund Kaas. We got married on Dromund Kaas. I gave birth to Nil’awr on Dromund Kaas. We planned future on Dromund Kaas. Yet they treated me as if I was there the first time; a short-time visitor.”

She silenced for a moment. He couldn’t find any words.

“I’ve been rejected, again,” she whispered. He knew what she meant: her parents had abandoned her like a stranger. Now the Empire treated her like a stranger, too. Her own words. “I am not seen as a Sith. Or someone from the Empire. I’m treated like a separate entity. Like a potential enemy, who could become an ally for a while.”

Another tear slid down her cheek. His heart was breaking at her pain. He wished there was something he could do, but he had no idea what that could be.

She turned to him; her tears of sorrow turning into tears of anger. “Is that what I have to suffer?” she barked. “Five years of my life stolen. And now I’ve been thrown out of my own home! Why? Due to my absence?”

“They see you as a head of another state, my lord,” he said quietly.

She snorted. “I don’t want another state! I want to defeat the enemy, and then go home!” She turned away to look at the mountains again. “This is not some kind of empire I’m building here,” she growled. “This is a bunch of deserters and defectors from the Empire and the Republic. Nothing more. Once the common enemy is gone, we go back to fighting each other. The Jedi will return to their goal of total Sith annihilation. What will I do then, hmm?” She looked at him again. “Where will I go? Where will you go? You’re still Imperial. I’m — apparently — not any more. Even Vowraun treats me like a stranger, and addressed me ‘commander’. Vowraun! The Sith I consider the closest thing to my master!”

Malavai wasn’t sure she was more furious or more morose. He knew for certain she was hurting, but had no idea how to help alleviate her pain. It was as if her parents abandoned her again, but this time it was the Sith Empire. It pained him. She had done so much for the Empire; she deserved more than this.

On the other hand he knew it was not lack of respect towards her. It was because Acinia saw her as equal, not a servant.

Malavai smiled slightly. His very own Sith always considered herself to be in service of the Empire. She thought of it as her duty. Now she was...homeless. Duty-less. His smile faded away. He knew all she wanted was to be done with Valkorion and his insane offspring, only to return home to start rebuilding it. She just had learnt that home didn’t want her back. That she had no home.

That also meant he didn’t either.

“Maybe you can build a new home,” he suggested quietly.

The look she gave him made him take a step back. “Not you too!” she shouted, gesturing angrily. “I don’t want to hear any more word about that nonsense of destiny and taking that foul seat! You hear me?!”

“Yes, my lord, forgive me,” he said but his words were drowned by her rage.

“I want the enemy destroyed! Utterly and completely annihilated, so that they aren’t a threat any longer. I want them to burn. I don’t want their disgusting throne or worthless empire of people who wait drooling for their droids to wipe their bottoms or narrow-minded cretins praying to a serpent! You hear me?!”

She suddenly silenced, eyeing him suspiciously. “If I’m rejected as a citizen of the Empire, and not allowed to return, what will you do? Where will you go?”

The question gave him a pause. His place was by her side. He was her husband. It was his duty to stand by her, and serve her.

But his service was first and foremost to the Empire. All his life, and it had never changed. For years, serving her and serving the Empire was one and the same. Would he face a choice of serving either his wife, or his Empire?

As he stood there opening his mouth, closing it, opening again, and still not finding words to answer her question, her suspicious look first turned into furious, and then sullen.

“Betrayed again,” she whispered dramatically, leaning on the railing, and looking back at the mountains.

“Never,” he said firmly with conviction. “Never!” he repeated, shaking his head.

“If they force me to do what I don’t want to do, and if they don’t let me go home, you will have to make a choice,” she said dryly, not looking at him.

“My duty is where I am sent. But my home...my home is where you are.”

She pushed away from the railing, straightened, and walked away slowly, not looking at him. He knew he had blown it, but he had no idea how to fix it. Instead of support, all he gave her was one more stab in her already severely pierced in many places heart.

Calling himself an idiot, he thought he should understand better what she felt. He’d feel the same if he was not considered Imperial any more, and treated as a temporary guest in the city he had grown up in.

He wanted to fix it. He had to fix it.

He had no idea how to fix it.

He watched her tiny figure walk away, feeling he had failed her.

Again.

She stopped by the plank to the Fury, turned, and seemed to wait for him. He quickly walked toward her. Her eyes were dry; her face was resolute and expressed confidence. When he was a step away, she grabbed the strap on his chest, pulled him close, and said softly, “I’m sorry,” before giving him a passionate kiss.

He hugged her, and returned the kiss. Then he whispered, “You are the Wrath, my love, everything will be exactly as you wish.”

She gave him ‘you’re right about that’ smile.

This is how he liked her.

SwtorFamily Guild Meets the Eyeless

This story is a result of @TheTheronShan’s absentmindedly thrown “you must write a 1000-word essay” somewhere in the guild chat when we failing to take the Eyeless down.

All named characters used with written (in the chat) permission of their owners.

Cast:

Trîbbles — @TheTheronShan

Ungolia — @JLSigman

Ayy Amersu — @ethuiliel

Aenyssa — @celyntheraven

Sanne Amare — @Sanne_leetz

Mike Quinn — @ruminspector

and others.

The stench was vomit-inducing.

“Someone please remind me why we agreed to do this?” Nayel growled.

Aeny giggled behind him, simultaneously generously placing everyone in purple bubbles.

“Because no one else can,” Trîbbles answered.

The unmistakeable rasp clicking of rakghouls surrounded them. They were everywhere. Little disgusting creatures that could easily turn you into one of their own with one small scratch you’d barely notice.

Belatedly, Nayel realised he hadn’t any vaccines on his person. “Healer, heal thyself,” he muttered under his breath.

Someone coughed behind him.

The monstrosity was in the middle of the cave, pacing slowly back and forth. For a moment Nayel wondered what kind of senses this animal had not to walk into walls, and then why it didn’t have eyes. After all, the cave was not pitch black, so there was no reason for—

Never mind. There was no reason in all this at all. Not evolutionary, anyway.

Glowy, fluorescent plants growing all around the place gave enough light to see clearly. It could be even considered pretty with luminescent flora, lamp-like mushrooms, if it only didn’t stink here so badly. A few dark corners undoubtedly hid more yukky, and Nayel was certain sooner or later — sooner most likely — they’d have a stinky pleasure of meeting yukky face to face, claws to claws.

Someone charged the Eyeless. Nayel missed who, but he was certain it was Trîbbles. That hothead was always the first one, and required more work to keep her alive. Not that Sanne wanted to give up on grabbing the title “Sith that is the Sorcerer’s greatest PITA”, as became obvious very quickly.

For the first few seconds everything seemed to go smoothly, but soon after that went down the road straight to a disaster. The Eyeless started spitting all over the place, often placing his foul green goo right on his targets. No bubbles in the galaxy would help anyone with that.

As if pools of slippery snot wasn’t bad enough, hordes of loud rakghouls dug their way up from the ground, and attacked everyone at random. Nayel tried to ignore them, having faith in his team mates to take them down before he would succumb to their attacks. A kolto probe hovered around him. Mike bravely spread his attention between killing and healing.

Nayel felt his heals help little to none, as everyone’s was under constant attack. Mike passed by him again, leaving another kolto probe behind before proceeding to stab the big foot where it hurt most.

Not that the creature seemed to be bothered by any of this.

Ungolia’s furious growl drew his attention to the Eyeless. “Oh, blast,” he muttered. The creature seemed like be ready to just...yup! Jump!

Everyone spread not to be crushed by the massive weight of the mutant.

“Why do they always grow so huge?” Ayy Amersu asked no one in particular.

“What? You don’t appreciate your face in their butts?” Nayel laughed, drawing dark force to heal her wounds.

“Not my favourite thing to look at, no.”

“Sorry, don’t have a heal for that.”

“Stop hitting on her, and get back to work!” Aeny shouted toward them.

‘Twi’leks,’ he thought, ‘jealous of one another.’ “I can do both!” he protested, eyeing them both.

Sanne fell unconscious before he finished his sentence. Aeny’s look told him better than any words could what she thought.

Embarrassed, he concentrated on his work.

However, concentration wasn’t enough. Between constant attacks of underground rakghouls, and glue-like spittle, Nayel spent as much time running around avoiding pools of disease, fending off little stinky nuances, and trying to stay in one piece, as attempting to keep the remaining standing team on their legs. Not that many of them still were.

A sudden attack of cough paralysed him completely. Unable to breathe, he felt like his lungs were just about to be coughed out of his chest. He barely registered Ungolia falling next to him not to stand back up. Aeny was down too. Looking around to check who was still up, he noticed foul, green, pulsing warts or growths on his shoulder. He barely regained his balance, when another attack of vicious cough immobilised him. ‘I’m useless in this condition,’ he thought.

The Eyeless suddenly lost interest in the team. They were all down, so maybe the monstrosity was unable to detect them any longer. Did it find its way — and pray — by sensing movement?

Helping each other, then managed to drag their bums to a safe place in the cave far from any rakghouls.

“Ugh,” Nayel blurted, looking at his shoulder. “I need to get some vaccines.”

“Want mine? I have a spare,” Sanne offered, trying to clean mud off her outfit.

“Thanks, but you’ll need it later. I’ll just —” A cough attack interrupted him. “ — get some myself at the medical post at the entrance to the tunnels.”

He headed toward the brighter exit, but stopped again, as another wave of spit-out-lungs cough enveloped him. He fell to the ground, supporting himself with on hand, holding the other to his mouth.

Somehow he managed to drag himself to the medic. The vaccine immediately removed the annoying effects of infection. He bought a few more for others.

He pressed his communicator. “I’m all set, returning.”

“We’ll do it another day,” Trîbbles replied.

“What? Why?”

“We need to prepare better,” Aeny added.

He felt like tearing his ear piece out of his ear, throwing it on the ground, and smashing with his heel. He didn’t like giving up. However, he swallowed his disappointment.

The end