Chapter 0.4: Blizz and Vaylin
Walking out of the armory Mace saw that Ayillh had disappeared again, probably to the front of the ship. Not paying it any mind he turned left at the first door entering the engine room. The hum of the engine was a sound not easily forgotten.
Since he had been on the ship the engine room had been changed many times, being upgraded as needed by the people at the alliance and then even more by Blizz when he got his hands on it. Speaking of Blizz he was at one of the consoles fiddling with something in his hands. Over to the side were an assortment of different parts and bobbles.
Blizz was a Jawa with an uncanny way of taking scrap and making it into something amazing. Wearing the usual Jawa brown robes the only thing you could see of his person were his yellow eyes. His robe had multiple pockets for tools and spare things he found lying around.
Turning around as Mace entered the room he started to speak excitedly. "Big Sith come visit, Blizz have surprise for Big sith. Look at this panel here." Speaking in his native language thankfully Mace new a plethora of languages and understood the meaning. Raising an eyebrow but used to the way the Jawa talked after spending some time with him, he moved over to look at the consol.
Unsure with what he was seeing, as he wasn't the best when it came to engineering or starships for that matter, Blizz spoke up from the side. "Blizz, reduced power needed for the engines to work. Blizz rerouted power to other systems for better performance." Mace gave a nod as he started to understand the readings he was seeing, though he did have to wonder how Blizz had accessed the power distribution of the ship from engineering, he had learned a while ago not to ask.
"Thanks Blizz, good work as always." Blizz nodded excitedly at the praise as he started to ramble. "Blizz no need thanks, Blizz doing favor for Boss, Big Sith helped Boss and repayment due. Blizz going back to Boss after mission, this Blizz's going away present."
Giving a nod in thanks Mace thought about the 'Boss' Blizz was talking about, one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, he had somehow survived and prospered when the eternal empire had risen to power.
Being one of the only people to accept bounties on Zakuul knights and commanders, he was in high demand for a lot of people while they were in power. Because of this fact he was hunter down for more than 5 years, being the number one most wanted before Mace woke up of course.
Mace had known the bounty hunter for many years before he was put on ice, whenever they would meet during missions, or when the empire hired out help, they usually went to him. He and his wife Mako were a great team, not to mention the rest of the people on board his ship.
Last Mace heard he was about to have a child, and might actually stop taking bounties for a short while. 'Married life can really change a person's Though he was sure he would get back to it after a few years off.
It wasn't about the money with him; it was about the hunt, about the honor. Probably one of the reasons he had never taken up a bounty on Mace's head, they had too much respect for each other. As he was about to settle down he had loaned out Blizz for a short while, which had been an enormous help to the alliance.
Sadly all good things had to come to an end at some point and Blizz was going to be leaving when they got back, same as Xalek. Now that they had control of Zakuul and had essentially won the war, they wouldn't be needed, not for a time being anyways.
Mace had a feeling that the Jedi and Sith wouldn't sit idly by for much longer, it was inevitable that they would start fighting again, it was just a matter of time.
Spending a bit of time with Blizz talking about all the upgrades he had done to this ship, it was closing in on 20 minutes before they would reach Odessen, he still had one last person to talk to. Walking out the door, Blizz got back to work.
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Mace walked slowly towards one of the two bedrooms situated in the back of the ship. The bedroom at the front was Ayillh's bedroom and sometimes doubled as his. The two at the back rotated who used them, but usually one was for Ashara or Xalek.
Because Vaylin had come along for the mission it was decided that it would be better if she had her own Bedroom. Walking up to the door, he pressed the button to the side.
*Hiss* The door slid open and he walked in instantly looking at the person sitting on the bed. Her eyes were open and already looking at him. They had a yellow glow to them that held traces of red, but it wasn't that bad, yet.
She had a peaceful expression on her face as she starred at him entering; yes she was calm at that moment. To most sith or Jedi that would be a surprise as the dull yellow glow told of her connection to the dark side.
But Vaylin was very unique. Being the daughter of Valkorion, The Emperor, she had an unprecedented connection to the force. A connection that was manipulated and twisted by the emperor. Set down the dark path at a young age, in her normal state her eyes would shine an almost orange to red color. When she was angry it would get even worse.
Not to mention how her powers would go out of control in such a state. She wasn't trained properly by Valkorion and instead treated as a weapon to be controlled and used at leisure, programming implanted in her mind to be used if she ever got out of control.
Because she was never properly taught her emotions would run rampant in the force multiple times, something that was being worked on. Mace was in the process of teaching he how to control herself in the force, something almost laughable for a Darth of the sith, but wholly necessary.
Uncontrolled power was not the sith way, you had to control it, master it, tame it.
"Outlander." The words almost hard to say, but so familiar coming from her. But where they used to contain uncontrollable hatred and malice, it was now just a normal greeting. Her hair had been cut short since the last time he had seen her.
'When did that happen?' She used to have long brown hair that stopped just past her shoulders, but it had now been cut shorter. With 3 small bumps on her head natural to her species, she wore her usual empress robes.
There were some things she didn't want to leave behind; especially not her past, exactly like Senya who still wore her knight gear whenever they met, or Arcann with his combat robes. He was lucky he had been able to talk her down before she killed Vette on Odessen, it had been so close Mace still remembered it from time to time.
"Vaylin how have you been settling in?" Vaylin's eyes didn't waver as she stared right into his, trying to read him; it took her a few seconds to respond. "It hasn't been too bad." Motioning for him to sit down, he moved over and took a seat.
"Was there a reason you wanted to talk to me, Outlander?" Mace shook his head as he flashed her a smile. "No I just wanted to talk, see how things were." She gave a small nod; the concept of just talking seemed a bit foreign for her.
She had talked to her family a lot, but those around her feared her and didn't want to get to know her. Her social skills and mentality were less developed than a child. Since she had been talked down and surrendered, there were a few that wanted her to be killed for all the things she had done, but Mace has stopped them.
Mace felt a strong bout of pity for the force user, pity and remorse. She was such a strong force user, but she had been reduced to what she had become. She could have been more powerful than imagined if she had proper training from a young age, but instead she had been repressed.
He appreciated the power that she could wield, but was sad that it had been wasted. After learning about her back story, the conditioning that had been placed in her, how the emperor had been too scared to let her flourish, he had decided to recruit her.
Decided that if anyone was going to train her, let her become a true power of the force, it was going to be him. That was why he had tried at every turn to convince her to stand down, to let go of the title of empress, an empty title which wasn't important compared to what she could become.
Finally at the battle of Odessen when she was about to kill Vette, when he had to fight her, defeat her, to show her that she could become more powerful, it was only then that she had given up on the title, her false ambitions.
And the first step along the long path to make her reach her potential had been to teach her properly. He had started out by teaching her some Jedi techniques. He had picked up many from fallen Jedi; as they say know thy enemy.
He hated to admit it but some of their teachings had become useful to him, funnily enough their techniques to suppress their emotions proved useful in many fights. Once you let lose those emotions that were bottled up the power would double sometimes even triple if used correctly.
It was after she started learning to control her emotions that he had let her view the darker techniques that he possessed. She was an untapped well of the force that had just been letting it flow out of her. He was trying to make her gain control of what she already possessed.
What she had been doing when he walked in was a meditation technique that Nadia had begrudgingly given up, it took a lot of convincing before it was imparted to Vaylin. As one of the calming techniques of the legendary Barsen'thor its efficiency was nearly unmatched.
Both of them talked for a little while, Mace starting most of the conversations to get the ball rolling, Vaylin needed more interactions to develop a proper emotional spectrum and develop cognitive responses. Once those were established she could better utilize her powers.
But it was still hard for her to talk to people so he would speak regularly with her. After a while they both decided to train in the force. Sitting across from each other they attuned themselves to the force. Feeling the ship around them, expanding further to the space they were traveling, before finally moving towards the wider galaxy.
There weren't many that could sense the galaxy as a whole, especially with a war going on, but if they were powerful enough they could sense the greater extent of the galaxy. Vaylin and Mace were two of those such people.
Stretching their senses out they started to look around the galaxy, sensing the balance that the force was trying to preserve, the light side of the force that fought the dark, the screaming of that clash reverberating everywhere.
When Zakuul had been introduced into the fight the force had been thrown out of balance alerting most force sensitive's that something was wrong. It was also thrown out when other important moments happen in the galaxy.
For instance the day that Vaylin had been on Odessen the force had gathered, it had become a storm that swept the planet and the system around as the force knew that an important decision had to be made. And when she had decided to surrender the force had quaked, it had trembled and sent a shockwave outwards to the rest of the universe.
It was one of the things he will never forget the feeling of, the force as it concentrated itself on him in such a way. He had looked at it before, compared to others he knew that it congregated around him more often, compared to others it was like a comparing a star to a light bulb. It was possible that it had been there since the very start, accompanying him on his journey from apprentice to lord, to wrath, to outlander, to alliance commander, to Darth.
It always followed him around, it was only later that he could see it, make use of it. There were others like him, like his late wife who it also gathered around, and when they found companions, people to share their journey with, they too would be touched by the force, strengthened by it.
Mace had let his mind wonder as he felt the galaxy around, he could feel Vaylin's presence next to him doing the same, feeling the force in its beauty and vast reaches.
And that was when it suddenly changed. The balance was thrown out of sorts as it madly gathered towards them. Both their eyes snapped open as they felt the massive wave that outstripped any starship that was rushing towards them.
Their heart rates sped up as the force constricted around them, the other force sensitive's in the ship also felt this new pressure and sense of foreboding, sending them into agitation.
The ship rocked as if physically hit throwing most of them off their feet, but the ship remained in hyperspace. Mace concentrated his mind as he tried to feel the force, to feel what was happening. Trying to figure a way out of their predicament.
But it was too late, he didn't have enough time. He could only feel the force as it gathered above the ship and screamed in his ear.
*BANG*
The force exploded out and then everything went white.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Zevren
Zevren Notes
Speaking: "..."
Thoughts: '...'
Sounds/effects: *...*
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone