#aldryc

You are most assuredly strong enough to overcome this.  Nothing is insurmountable when the Force is on our side.Perkele brushed blackened fingers through Aldryc's hair and settled herself down in a nearby chair.  She was surprised when the door to the room opened slowly and a short, lithe figure walked through.  A smile pulled at her lips.

Perkele to Maleeq, publically:

Privately:

Perkele to Aldryc, publically:

Privately:

Lifeday was a confusing holiday for Aldryc. The year before he’d forgotten about it completely until the cascade of gifts from his new family began. It wasn’t something he’d gotten to celebrate during his years of slavery and once he’d reached the academy he’d never had a family to go home to.

This year he was determined to figure out how gifts and celebrations were supposed to work. This year he wanted to surprise his wonderful boys, Lauritz and Talvasian. He wanted to see them happy. Perkele and Hanneke treated him like family - a feeling he’d never had before - and he wanted to return the favor for them as well.

He knew what would be right for Talvasian.

He never met Tal or Lauritz at the estate. He rarely went there himself since Perkele had provided him the much smaller and more comfortable apartment in the city. The old family estate was foreign to him with its towering statues, paintings on the walls, and room after room of mysteries. He sometimes wondered how he hadn’t lost himself in there when he was a toddler, when his family had lived there. He nearly lost himself there sometimes now.

But the Abendroth estate had one of the most impressive libraries on Kaas. Their family was nobility back further than anyone could remember. And while that didn’t matter to Aldryc, who’d grown up in chains and couldn’t remember the apparent life of luxury his infancy had held, he’d done what he could to explore and make note of the items there. There were books on warfare, galaxy maps, biographies of famous generals, warriors, and warlords he’d devoured in his spare time. Then there were the books and holocrons that sent shivers up his spine.

When he’d held Aydiin captive here, Aydiin had told him that their older brothers had loved sorcery, that the library was filled with books and holocrons in dozens of languages detailing archaic rituals and techniques Aldryc knew he had no hope of ever understanding. And no desire to understand. He left such things to Talvasian, sorcery at that depth gave him the creeps.

But Tal loved that sort of obscure material. He could make use of it like Aldryc knew he never could. And he didn’t have any plans to have an heir to leave the estate or all of its mysteries to. So he carefully collected every book that was not about a war or the act of war and battle, every holocron he hesitated to touch, and organized them in a separate room than the main library. Some of them were in languages he didn’t understand, many he suspected were in the old Sith tongue. Talvasian was intelligent, he would figure them out.

When he had them all arranged nicely he called Tal to meet him at the estate. “I have a gift for you,” he explained.

I wrapped my arms around her midsection, spreading both hands across her stomach. I could feel the movement inside and I laughed delightedly. She was radiant in her condition. There was a glow to her perfect red skin. Her sleepy expression was endearing. I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “A girl,” I muttered into her hair, “can you imagine? I don’t think anyone even remembers the last time there was a girl in my family. Poor thing, she’ll never have a date. Five older brothers, all Sith.”

She laughed. “And an over protective father with an army at his back.”

I turned her to face me and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Let’s get some rest. You look exhausted. Why don’t I take the boys with me tomorrow? You can have a day to relax, no children involved. AJ can spend the day training with the guys, he loves that. Tikh can look after the twins and I’ll keep an eye on Aydiin and Aldryc at my office.”

When she laid her head against my chest I melted. It had been ten years since I married her and every day I loved her more.   “You spoil me.” She accused.

“No! Spoiling you would be if food and flowers mysteriously appeared here tomorrow. Or if you were carried off to a spa for a massage, or if while you were being carried off for a massage a beautiful – way too big – bath with jets was installed in the refresher downstairs… which are not at all things I already have set up for you of course, not at all.” I grinned at her.

“You,” she pressed her lips to my chest, “have gone mad,” another kiss, “with power.”

I shrugged, “What is the use in being one of the most powerful men in the Empire if you can’t spoil your wonderful wife?”

I took her hand and we went to bed together, both exhausted.

I woke screaming with pain. My hands and lips burned and from them the burning spread through my veins. Instinctively, I reached out for Salomi but drew my hands back wet with blood. Panic overcame me, dulling the pain. I drew back our blankets to find our bed soaked in her blood, a hole through her round stomach. Choking back tears I gazed up at the figure standing over us. It was cloaked in shadow and wielded a lightsaber such a deep red it was nearly black. I snatched my own red saber from the bedside table and lunged, the pain in my body made even more vivid now by my anger and heartache.

I passed through the figure. When I looked back it was gone.

From down the hall came a cry. The children.

It was to A.J’s room I ran. It had been his voice I heard, I was sure of it. I reached the door but could not pass through it. Some invisible barrier kept me from my oldest son. I threw my body and my rage against it but could not pass. I watched in horror. Inside the room I saw him, his training saber in hand; all calculated fury and disciplined style. He was my young warrior. He would conquer worlds one day. He had all the strength I hadn’t had when I was young, the strength I hoped I showed now. His battle with the shadow figure was brutal. Had it been anything else I would have been so proud. But it was no training. My son faced death and I could not reach him. My body burned and my mind screamed. “Alyxss!” I cried out, “A.J!”

The figure carried a deadly weapon. My son fought him only with a training blade. Still he fought the figure nearly to a standstill. I watched him raise the blade to strike what I knew would be a damaging, if not fatal, blow. I nearly cheered. He had done it. Then I saw his eyes widen. His fingers loosened around the hilt of the blade and it tumbled to the floor. A burning hole, as if from a blaster, emerged in the center of his forehead. After a long silent moment he fell limp to the floor.

I screamed, tearing at the barrier with my hands, wild with fury and pain. But it was useless. He was dead and still I could not reach him. I could not save him. But maybe I could help the other children, before the shadow beast reached them.

I met another barrier at the room Arin and Aleksandr shared. They insisted on keeping their rooms together, their twin-bond in the force was so strong they rarely liked to be separated. My mischievous boys. They were naturally powerful and easy going. They were my wild children. There was no battle to see this time. The twins stood in the center of the room, their small hands grasping each other. Flames licked their bodies. Lightning flashed from them. I could hear them shouting. They did not look afraid or in pain. Anger was on their faces. Still, they burned. I beat at the barrier. I swung my lightsaber at it. I threw the force against it. Nothing broke through. Eventually I fell to my knees and cried, unable to tear my eyes away. Until all that was left of my twins were ashes.

I knew without knowing why that it was Aydiin who was next. It took all my will to drag my weakening body from the floor. The pain was nearly overwhelming now. My veins burned. My chest burned.

No barrier stood in the doorway to Aydiin’s room. I didn’t consider why that might be before I plunged into the room to find him. The shadowed figure was already there. He stood far from Aydiin. The boy stood calmly, wreathed in white light. He watched the dark figure without fear, but also without anger. His face was serene. When the figure tried to approaching him it was repelled. It could not touch the light that surrounded him without being thrown back. The shadow made no sound but I could see that it was howling with rage. I moved to grab Aydiin, to get him far from the beast that had killed his brothers and mother. But I could get no closer than the shadow had. As soon as I reached the light around him I was thrown back away. The boy turned his attention from the enemy to me and shook his head, his face still an emotionless mask. Then he was gone.

I knew that my family was lost. I knew they would all be taken from me. And still I moved towards Aldryc’s room. My youngest boy I knew was lost to me. But I had to try to do something. I had to try to stop the force destroying my family.

I had been prepared for death, as much as one could be. I was not prepared for what I saw. The black figure held Aldryc’s small form. The boy squirmed in its grasp. I raised my blade and went into the room. Then in a swirl of shadow they were both gone.

The screaming began as soon as they were out of my sight. Screaming such as I had never heard before. My child’s voice was shrill with absolute terror. Pain such as I could not imagine rang out around me. The room echoed with his cries. It wouldn’t stop. I heard his small voice sobbing, begging. I collapsed to the floor, pressing my hands over my ears.  I could not bear the screams. I could not hear that kind of pain. I was Sith. I had fought wars. I had killed countless men and watched many more die. And this pain, this sound, I could not bear.

I pressed my hands tighter over my ears. I could feel my mouth move, begging, “No more. Please, no more.”

“Alyxss?” Salomi’s voice broke through, “Alyxss! Wake up, Alyxss! Please.”

I didn’t expect that the devaronian would be difficult to crack but he had certainly been difficult to track down. Paper trails decades old tended to end up at trash heaps and memories were notoriously selective. My contacts network was now large enough that the search for him had finally produced a name. After that things were easy.

His lip was split and blood poured from his nose. He no longer struggled against the ties binding him to the chair in my ship’s cargo hold. I took the images I had found in his belongings and fanned them out in front of his face. Three women, a wife and two teenage daughters. “You’ll answer my questions. If you do, these three women live. If you do not, they die.”

“I don’t know what you want!”

“You were a slaver. Your kind are disgusting but that isn’t the point. I want to know about some slaves you sold.”

“That was years ago,” he looked terrified, “I can’t remember specific slaves.”

“I think you will remember these. Two boys, purebloods. Identical twins. Incredibly Force sensitive, you probably had to find special restraints for them. Does that sound familiar?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!”

I let myself smile like Lhur had smiled. “Which of these girls is your favorite? I want to tell her she gets to die first because daddy liked her best.”

“No. Stay away from them. Please. I remember, I do! We bought them from some pirates. They cost a small fortune. I remember cause we thought we’d get big money for them but we took a loss on them when a buyer recognized them and we realized how screwed we were if we got caught with them.”

“Oh?” I prompted, so whoever had bought them knew who they were.

“Yeah, they were some dead Darth’s sons. They recognized one of our regular customers, a Darth Sith guy. He bought them from us discounted in return for not turning us in as having them cause he said we’d probably take the fall for the dead Darth. The kids seemed happy to go with him, they did I swear! They weren’t scared of him at all. I thought he might have been a friend of their dad.”

“Did this Sith have a name?” I felt certain I already knew.

“Yeah, yeah. Um… Darth uh… M! It started with an M. Its been years please just… Maarvolo! That was it. Darth Maarvolo.”

“Thank you for your time.” I drew my lightsaber and quickly removed his head. I had promised that his family would live if he talked, I’d never promised that he would.

I spent a long time sitting in my ship considering the best course of action. I was angry and hurt at the idea that Perkele may have lied to me to protect her mad scientist. I was angry that someone who had known Alyxss, my father, had killed my brothers or at least allowed them to die, instead of bringing them to the attention of the Empire they had a place in. At last I came to what I thought would be the best way to handle the situation. My brothers were nothing to me, Aydiin had proven that to me. And I still loved Perkele and owed her a large debt. I would not go after Maleeq. But I wouldn’t stay silent either. I picked up my comlink and called a number I never thought I would call.

The beep of the comlink brought me quickly out of sleep. Why would Tikh be calling this late at night? He was the only one anymore who knew how to get in touch with us and still bothered to. I picked up the device and stared at it for a second. “Its Aldryc,” I whispered to Salomi when I felt her stirring beside me.

I answered it and looked into a face I hadn’t thought I would see again. “Sorry, we were sleeping. Can I help you with anything?” Anything at all, anything you ever want, anything within my power for the only the son I really had left.

I reached behind me to nudge Salomi in case she wasn’t fully awake. She’d be upset if she missed the only communication we had had from him since he’d walked away from us.

“I’ll keep this short. I have information that may be of interest to you. I won’t be doing anything about it, I’m staying out of it due to conflicts of interest, but I thought it might be something you would want to know,” I hesitated, “I found out who the scientist was that bought Arin and Aleksandr. I don’t know how they died, I don’t have any more information. Just a name.”

My breath caught. The person who had kept my boys as slaves. The person who had somehow let them die. Aldryc had taken the revenge against Tafarii Lhur that I could not. But this was someone tangible, someone revenge could be taken from. “Who?”

“Darth Maleeq Maarvolo. Do what you will with that information. Goodbye, Alyxss.” I turned the comlink off before I could see anything else. I sighed and lifted the comlink again, this time only for a message in text. I would break if I spoke to her, I'd give in and give up fighting about it, I always did. I typed my message out carefully.