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Star wars: Selfish virtue.
Chapter 19: The Calm

Chapter 19: The Calm

Three days later, Dauntless.

Sev' was having a very peculiar experience. She was a prisoner that wasn't chained, the only two things they'd told her not to do was try and damage the ship or approach this 'Coda's room. She at one point tried hacking into the ship's systems only to find out that the language and coding language was vastly different from anything she'd seen before. It had been quite scary as she didn't notice Beatrix sneaking up on her.

She'd simply been asked if she understood the futility of trying that before she had walked away. No torture, no reprimand, nothing. They had even not bothered to hide their destination or even bar her from entering the bridge, it was all quite surreal. She'd been trying to piece together where they were going before they just told her. Apparently they were heading towards an uninhibited system close to Endor to rejoin their flagship.

A building pressure could be felt on the ship as well since last night, it's origin seemed to be this Coda. Fighting wars and battles was something she was quite good at, but this was all so surreal she wasn't quite sure how to proceed. She was in the hangar right now watching the woman known as Trilla train in lightsaber forms, she wasn't sure what they intend to do with her so she just decided to wait for now.

As she was observing Trilla train in the hangar she noticed Beatrix walk in towards Trilla.

"Lady Trilla, He's awake. He's asked if you and Miss Tann would join him for dinner." Beatrix informed her.

Stopping her practice she turned off her saber before using a nearby towel to wipe off her sweat. Looking over at Beatrix she nodded. "Sure, I'll head towards my room for a shower then I'll join him. Where are we eating?"

"War room." She answered simply.

"Understood. Miss Tann, follow Lady Beatrix if you intend to join us." She explained with a soft voice before she walked off. If I intend?! Aren't I a fucking prisoner here?!

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Coda opened his eyes. He felt he'd been sleeping for days as his body was quite stiff, sitting up he noticed his usual choice of clothes on a recliner. A small smile on his face he sat in a lotus position and put his arms together. Soon a flow of power started up from his hilts as it clashed together behind him, slowly forming into an orb that was perfectly half orange and half silver.

His smile grew wider as he felt balanced for the first time since he arrived in this universe. Soon it all dissipated as he spoke up. "Excellent." Standing up, he dressed up in his suit again as he ran his sense over the entire ship. Hmmm? So she's awake.

Attaching his pad to his left arm he pinged Beatrix. It didn't take her long before showing up. "My Lord, It's good to see you awake. How do you feel?"

Still sporting a wide smile he gave a hearty laugh. "Like myself. Also, hungry. Order some food made and send it to the War room, I can listen to your reports there." He was about to start walking before he remembered to pick up his hilts. "Ah yeah! Invite the girls as well."

"Understood my Lord." She gave a half-bow and left the room.

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Sev' soon found herself to the door leading into the war room. She could feel it clearly, he was inside. Her pride didn't allow her to not enter the room even though she felt quite unsettled by what she had felt a couple of days earlier.

Having made up her mind she entered the room, she saw Coda leaning back in a chair with his eyes closed. Looking at the silver-haired man she soon spotted two sabers sitting on the table. Her eyes furrowed. Is he simply being careless... A trap maybe? Well, whatever, it's the chance I've been waiting for!

Right as she made her mind to go for the hilts, Coda spoke up. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You cannot use them even if you got your hands on them."

Opening his eyes he saw her looking shocked and angry. "You don't believe me?" He shrugged and used the force to throw his orange saber towards her.

Going from shock to confusion as the hilt came flying her way she caught it on instinct. It was only then she realized she had made a terrible mistake as a flare of overpowering fury came off the hilt. As she dropped the hilt she looked up again only to find herself in a different location, everywhere she looked she could see destroyed skyscrapers and ruined vehicles. The sky was on fire as everything was covered with an orange smog. Soon she heard a child's laughter all around her.

"FINALLY! Bwahahahahaha! I get someone to play with!" Turning towards the voice she saw a blurry figure sitting on a ruined car. What little she could make of him it seemed to be a small boy. "Now stay still you deluded bitch! I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart, one piece at a time!" A mad gleeful smile could be seen through the blur that surrounded the figure as a wave of deep red-orange magma approached her from all sides.

"Enough." A deep calm voice sounded as she suddenly found herself standing in the war room again, Coda had just picked up his hilt from her hand. She fell back and scrambled to get distance from him. She was panting as fear ran rampant inside her head.

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A smug smile came over Coda's face. "Now do you understand? They are my burdens to carry, and I choose who to share them with." He said, returning to his seat.

This... Thing! Is a monster! As she was about to spiral further Trilla walked into the room. Stopping herself as she saw that Sev' was sitting on the floor in what she could only assume to be fear she turned to Coda. "What happened here?"

He only shrugged. "She tried playing with my toys. In my defense, I did warn her." Trilla sighed lightly before walking over to Sev' to help her stand up.

"Do not take it personally, he can be a little much sometimes." Trilla said in a soft voice.

Sev' looked up at Trilla as she helped her up while Coda could be heard in the background. "Trilla! You wound me!" He said in an overdramatic tone.

"Now please sit down, food is on its way and I am famished!" Coda said cheerfully.

Sev' and Trilla both sat down while Sev' chose the opposite side of the table from Coda. He sighed before speaking. "It isn't overly pleasant being looked at with such fear, seeing that you did that to yourself."

"What was that creature?" Sev' asked.

Trilla's eyebrow shot up as Coda answered. "You mean that foul-mouthed little brat?" The hilt started vibrating on the table as he answered, making Coda wave his hand so it calmed again.

Sev's eyes widened slightly. "So you know him?"

A strange smile could be seen on his face as he answered. "Of course I know him. He's me. Or at least, a part of me."

Sev's mouth was hanging open after hearing the answer as Trilla just looked confused. Who? Sev' rubbed her temple as she tried getting over the fact that nothing this person was saying made any fucking sense.

Clapping his hands Coda spoke up again. "Moral of the story, don't touch my stuff. Now, where is the food already?"

Sev' just ignored him as Trilla looked at him with a sigh. Shrugging he just laid back again and waited for the food. I'm perfectly fine with silence too. Thankfully they didn't need to wait long until they were brought their meals.

As they were eating Coda spoke up. "Beatrix, just report while we eat."

Bowing slightly she answered. "Understood my Lord. Pong Krell has been terminated, they expect that it will not be trackable to them." Coda nodded. "The Prometheus is on standby passed Endor, a short jump from a space station known as Watchpoint. It also suffered from two attacks traveling there, most attacking vessels have been seized and have secured prisoners as well as slaves they were carrying."

Coda's brows furrowed as he nodded slowly. "Won't we need extra supplies if we have so many people on board?"

"Yes my Lord. That's why I suggest we visit Watchpoint as it's a last stop for explorers in the region, at least on the surface. They should have ample supplies we can either purchase or appropriate." She explained in a neutral tone.

Coda's brow shot up. "On the surface? Elaborate."

"Of course. The leader of one of the fleets seems to be from a noble house based in Hutt space, they also control Watchpoint. Thus I have concluded the likelihood that it is used to smuggle narcotics, slaves, and that it may even be a deployment post for assassins based in the area is quite high." She stated.

Distaste now showed quite easily on Coda's face. "What was the status of the slaves that they recovered?"

Beatrix shook her head slightly as she spoke again. "Not good. Some of them have died already due to an oversight on our part. Some among them seem to have been forced to use narcotics and we simply do not have the necessary pharmaceuticals on hand to treat them. Two of those who died were children, after questioning both the slaves and prisoners we have ascertained that they were forced to consume them before they were used for... less than savory reasons."

Sev' didn't consider herself a good person per se but what she was hearing disgusted her. Trilla in the meanwhile held her hand to her mouth in disbelief.

Coda spoke up in a soft but extremely cold tone. "How far away from Watchpoint is the Prometheus?"

"They can get there in just under two hours My lord." She answered.

"How far out are we?"

"Six hours, give or take fifteen minutes."

Coda pushed his plate away and stood up before turning to Beatrix. "Have them head there now, when they get there they are to broadcast a warning that any ship that tries to leave will be destroyed without mercy. Ready as many RG's as we need to be able to search that station from top to bottom and tell them to wait for us."

Beatrix bowed deeply. "Of course my Lord. Is there anything else?"

Nodding slowly Coda spoke with barely contained anger. "Have them record everything they see once we enter the station. I also want to know everything there is about this so-called noble house, and I mean fucking everything."

Trilla at this point spoke up. "I'm coming with you."

Turning his head towards her, she and Sev' could see his eyes looked like they were being licked by flames from the inside as they air simmered around him. "As long as you stay out of my way."

Trilla felt surprised at the aggressive answer but nodded anyway as Coda turned to face Sev'. "You will stay on the ship, if I find you do anything other then absolutely nothing while we are away. I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Sev' felt cold sweat run down her back as she answered in a quiet tone. "I understand."

"Good." He said succinctly before his two hilts shot of the table into his hands. Sev' glanced over at the table after Coda exited the room and saw a molten puddle where they had been lying.

Sev' turned to Trilla and asked. "Is he usually so... temperamental?"

Shaking her head she responded. "I've seen him lose control but those circumstances were special."

Standing up she looked at the door Coda exited from. "This... This is something different."