Chapter 210; Vox Populi
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Chapter 210;
Vox Populi
The people of Coruscant flanked the skyways as the Ion Crown skiff carried the Empress that had captured the hearts of the people within the barbed jaws of a trap. Antone watched as he scratched his fur, the job was a relatively simple one, and the location had been chosen carefully, the gala that had been hosted to celebrate the support of the Ion Crown in the Alderaanian civil war and bring those loyal to the Republic back to power presented an opportunity that her enemies had been waiting for.
Her security detachment was light, trying to convince people that she had faith in the Republic's ability to protect her. A misguided belief and she would have that assumption proven wrong shortly. He knew that he had another colleague in the towers with a trilight scope. His own weapon of choice was intended as a more practical solution.
He finished assembling the concussion rifle and set up in place behind the holographic blind. As the skiff settled the Empress marched off alone into the crowd. Beyond the reach of the shields on the skiff.
With a heavy finger he pulled and held down the trigger sending a salvo of fire at the Princess. Rewarded with the sight of her white dress and flesh being blasted apart by ...
A flash of light and Aisling stood in the middle of her skiff once more. A hologr... no... there was still blood and viscera. And more orbs appeared as they floated around and suddenly her voice was amplified. "See my friends, allies and colleagues. See how much they fear the idea of freedom. So much so that they attempted to take my life, and they succeeded." She leaned down and closed the eyes of her own deceased head, lifting her hand and facing it palm outwards to show them her own bright red blood.
"But the Ion Crown is not so easily stopped by assassins. I have no body double. Nobody to take the death in my place..." Another shot rang out and this time Aisling didn't stop, or perish, the secondary assassin had fired in desperate haste to silence her and the shot had rung into the shield of the skiff. "Even now they persist."
Atone felt the panic rise and retargeted holding down the trigger for the two seconds he continued to exist as a free man. The pain stick touching the back of his neck.
Her voice rang out as consciousness began to slip from Antone.
"Many claim you have but one life to give for a cause worth dying for. I stand here now, above my own corpse to tell you, those people are quitters!"
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Lana had intended to eat calmly and peacefully to convey an impression that she was not concerned. But this... this was... she wolfed it down like an Army Trooper given a chance to try officers rations after eight months in the trenches. And Delta chuckled. "It is a recipe that predated any of the universes I visited, though every single universe with a two-thousands Earth I visited has it. Spaghetti Bolognese."
"My compliments to the cook." She said after resisting putting in another mouthful so she could answer.
"You're welcome." Delta said as he continued to eat himself and his voice continued to come from a speaker in the room somewhere. "It is strange. For all my design and programming, I do actually enjoy cooking. And I don't know why." It paused, "We can maintain this conversation while we eat if you consent to psychic communication?"
She nodded as she had another mouthful of food. There was a strange sensation within her mind, like a thin film of thought brushing against the upper layers of her mind, a fraction of potential reached in and a spark fired in her mind.
Can you understand me.
The voice was strange, it was one voice, with the suggestion of so so many more behind it.
I can. It is strange...
It is, and has its own difficulties and challenges. Such as emotional content, it is difficult to separate thoughts from emotional content. At least for others. I find my machine nature allows me to split the neural patterns more easily than others.
Then you're doing a poor job of it. She thought back. And this time she noticed her own amusement in the thought.
I disagree. The thought was tinged with amusement. I am just choosing not to.
She dived into her own thoughts for a moment before coming back. I had not expected any of this. I've seen the Sith recovered from Dromund Kaas on Crematoria... Lana referred to the Io Moon that had been rebuilt as a prison facility intended for prisoners of war. I know exactly how prisoners we took would be treated, and yet... it almost feels like you're trying to change them.
A few more mouthfuls as she processed her thoughts.
So... why?
Why not? Delta's thought came back. Would you be more comfortable if I fed them through a blender? Or crucified them with the other slavers who attempted to kill people instead of giving up their ways? Because honestly. I don't feel like slaughtering the more reasonable people of a dark culture.
But... if I may ask... why? I just don't understand?
Because... like the unfolding of a flower Delta showed her. And she learned a new sense of horror. And loneliness. I could slay all of my enemies. And outlast them all, perhaps even outlast the stars themselves. Look at Darth Nihilus deep in your own past. What value lies in victory if you have nobody to share in it with?
How do I know this isn't some attempt to manipulate my mind into.... Ĭ̵͇ ̴̙͘H̶̙̓A̷̡̾V̸̰̄Ę̸̚ ̴̢͐N̵͎̚O̶̯̍ ̷͚̔I̸̹̅N̸̮̍T̵̒ͅE̵̳͐R̷̡̒Ẹ̴͛Š̵̺T̶̝̅ ̶͇̊I̴̘͝Ṅ̶̙ ̶͎̀S̴͖̋L̴̢͠Ǎ̷̼V̶͉̽E̸̻̿S̶̖̍.̶̈́ͅ Rage and disappointment filled her mind for a second, skin paling before the psychic contact was severed and Delta stood and marched from the chamber. The memory of his loneliness bubbled up within her. "Sithspit." She snarled to herself, appetite dimmed by the confrontation.
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Vloopodoorp felt the sun beating down on his skin as a light mist was sprayed at him. It was no Ahto city, but this Ion Crown had come with a great deal of interest in their planet, and yet to the shock of the Selkath, they appeared to have no interest whatsoever in the Kolto, declining any attempt to discuss trade for Kolto. What they wanted was to build a series of resorts, the Ion Beaches. The negotiations had been long-winded, but finally agreements had been come to and the Ion Crown erected vast force-fields in the oceans that prevented the passage of ocean life.
And Vloopodoorp had felt a good deal of concern at that, the idea that the Ion Crown were going to covertly exploit the Kolto... but they hadn't done anything to prevent the Selkath investigators and they had discovered why. The Ion Beaches was something called an Ark that had been landed in the ocean, and released their own flora and fauna into the ecosystem. Even the airborne giants had implants that would prevent them crossing the electron fencing protecting the entire area as an entire artificial island was build around the Ark, extending down to the crust of the planet. Riddling it with the environments that they needed.
A creature called a Moschops moved around the resort he was relaxing at with a specialised saddle carrying drinks to anyone who wanted one, with color-coded warnings for dietary restrictions. He had worried about that, but on visiting, the attendants had handed him a band with coloured stripes that identified what was safe for his own consumption... though they made no promises as to taste.
But then, they also didn't cost anything either. It was the one thing he couldn't figure out. The only conditions required to visit the Ion Beaches was that such holidays must be booked in advance, and that for the duration of a stay, the use of a temporary 'Phoenix implant' was mandated, though it would be removed when a visitor left the Ion Beaches.
There was little resistance to the idea, and more and more of the visitors seemed to be thrill-seekers wanting to take their adrenaline highs to new heights. Such as free-diving with the sharks they called Megalodons. Or trying to tame the Pteranodons that even now soared in the skies.
He saw the administrator of the site walking nearby and stood from his misting bed and walked over. The hunchbacked alien turned an armoured head to face him. "Honourable Kargesh, it is a wonderful resort you have here."
"It is nice. Lots of fish, I like fish you know." He said with a shrug as a blue woman with tentacles for hair rushed to catch up.
"I was just wondering how it remains profitable?" He asked and Kargesh frowned.
"Ah. That's more Oolala's department than mine." He said as he continued the heavy stomping towards a fishing boat with the name 'Presidium Fisher' on its aft. "Can you help him?"
"Of course. Your camera crew is on board, you're going after Moeder today?" A nod from Kargesh as he clambered on board and slapped the skirting board. As the engines roared Oolala turned to Vloopodoorp. "You were asking how we maintain a profit from the resort despite the fact you haven't had to pay anything?"
What was a Moeder? He wondered to himself before nodding, "Yes, as far as I can see you have tens of thousands of guests across the growing island, yet from what i'm told none of them are paying."
Oolala nodded as they headed up a stairwell towards the administrative building, "Quite honestly, we don't maintain a profit from this facility, though neither do we suffer any losses. But the economy of the Ion Crown is very different from that with which you would be familiar. All things ultimately stem from Delta and the Mass-Energy network. Though we have developed a bit of a secondary barter economy for things that don't come from Delta." She climbed into a lift and he joined her. It began to rise, the open glass side facing the bay. "We can provide seafoods, saur eggs and meat from some of our dinosaurs, in exchange we receive fruits, vegetables and grain for other meals, though we source some locally we don't intend to set up any farms. After all, this is a resort."
He blinked, "But how do you get paid in that case?"
She shrugged. "I don't, I can eat my fill, do what I like. I do this because I enjoy doing it and have to get out and do something."
Vloopodoorp look troubled. "I didn't realise you were so heavily exploited, I will have to..."
"We're not exploited Vloopodoorp, thats what I am trying to explain, our economy works very differently to those you are familiar with, I don't have to work at all. I could spend all my days at home eating and masturbating and nobody would question it, nor would I ever be in danger of being evicted, dying of starvation or thirst or any of that. I work, because I enjoy it. I would rather be here helping people than sitting at home playing with myself all day, it's more fun with two people anyway." She said and Vloop blinked... was betentacled woman flirting with him?
"So you don't get paid.. surely you get something more for putting in the effort?" He asked waving his arms at the island.
"Of course I do, I get to be here. See things nobody else has ever seen. The other day I was bitten in half by one of your native sharks, quite the experience." He was less certain she was sane now. A doubt that she clearly noticed, "You don't have to worry for my sanity, the implants prevent any fatality from sticking, you are functionally immortal so long as you have such an implant. I'd demonstrate, but the respawn pads are a good fifteen minute walk from here, and I may have the fit body of a Maiden commando, but I am well into my matronage and I am not going to sprint back here."
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SunkissedRodian19 ; By the force. The Ion Beaches are so good. Just look at these holos I took! -LINK to HoloGram.
DarkWingFuck66669 ; These Ion Crows are flocking everywhere. I've heard they even built a habitat on Bespin. Some sort of flying lizards.
Skydiver999 ; They did, the Ion Clouds Recreational Facility, is awesome. I went up with an experienced Ionian called Vetra on something called Tapejara, dived through the clouds it was so beautiful. And it didn't cost a single credit.
InterestedObserver22 ; What? How is that possible? I call sithspit.
SunkissedRodian19 ; Got to pay your own way to get there if you don't have a ship, but nothing cost anything. It was weird. I've never been so relaxed. And their medical stuff is incredible. I thought I died once to something they call a Megalosaurus, but woke up in a bed, a nurse grinning at me. Told me not to worry, i'd be fine and the Phoenix Implant saved me... though she also told me to avoid crossing any more Megas...
Skydiver999 ; Ouch, got any holos of it?
DarkWingFuck66669 ; Bantha shit, you guys actually buying these stories? Free resorts? Get your head out of it. They are colonising us. And want us to just happily join their collectivist commune before they tickle our cloacas.
Vox Populi
The people of Coruscant flanked the skyways as the Ion Crown skiff carried the Empress that had captured the hearts of the people within the barbed jaws of a trap. Antone watched as he scratched his fur, the job was a relatively simple one, and the location had been chosen carefully, the gala that had been hosted to celebrate the support of the Ion Crown in the Alderaanian civil war and bring those loyal to the Republic back to power presented an opportunity that her enemies had been waiting for.
Her security detachment was light, trying to convince people that she had faith in the Republic's ability to protect her. A misguided belief and she would have that assumption proven wrong shortly. He knew that he had another colleague in the towers with a trilight scope. His own weapon of choice was intended as a more practical solution.
He finished assembling the concussion rifle and set up in place behind the holographic blind. As the skiff settled the Empress marched off alone into the crowd. Beyond the reach of the shields on the skiff.
With a heavy finger he pulled and held down the trigger sending a salvo of fire at the Princess. Rewarded with the sight of her white dress and flesh being blasted apart by ...
A flash of light and Aisling stood in the middle of her skiff once more. A hologr... no... there was still blood and viscera. And more orbs appeared as they floated around and suddenly her voice was amplified. "See my friends, allies and colleagues. See how much they fear the idea of freedom. So much so that they attempted to take my life, and they succeeded." She leaned down and closed the eyes of her own deceased head, lifting her hand and facing it palm outwards to show them her own bright red blood.
"But the Ion Crown is not so easily stopped by assassins. I have no body double. Nobody to take the death in my place..." Another shot rang out and this time Aisling didn't stop, or perish, the secondary assassin had fired in desperate haste to silence her and the shot had rung into the shield of the skiff. "Even now they persist."
Atone felt the panic rise and retargeted holding down the trigger for the two seconds he continued to exist as a free man. The pain stick touching the back of his neck.
Her voice rang out as consciousness began to slip from Antone.
"Many claim you have but one life to give for a cause worth dying for. I stand here now, above my own corpse to tell you, those people are quitters!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lana had intended to eat calmly and peacefully to convey an impression that she was not concerned. But this... this was... she wolfed it down like an Army Trooper given a chance to try officers rations after eight months in the trenches. And Delta chuckled. "It is a recipe that predated any of the universes I visited, though every single universe with a two-thousands Earth I visited has it. Spaghetti Bolognese."
"My compliments to the cook." She said after resisting putting in another mouthful so she could answer.
"You're welcome." Delta said as he continued to eat himself and his voice continued to come from a speaker in the room somewhere. "It is strange. For all my design and programming, I do actually enjoy cooking. And I don't know why." It paused, "We can maintain this conversation while we eat if you consent to psychic communication?"
She nodded as she had another mouthful of food. There was a strange sensation within her mind, like a thin film of thought brushing against the upper layers of her mind, a fraction of potential reached in and a spark fired in her mind.
Can you understand me.
The voice was strange, it was one voice, with the suggestion of so so many more behind it.
I can. It is strange...
It is, and has its own difficulties and challenges. Such as emotional content, it is difficult to separate thoughts from emotional content. At least for others. I find my machine nature allows me to split the neural patterns more easily than others.
Then you're doing a poor job of it. She thought back. And this time she noticed her own amusement in the thought.
I disagree. The thought was tinged with amusement. I am just choosing not to.
She dived into her own thoughts for a moment before coming back. I had not expected any of this. I've seen the Sith recovered from Dromund Kaas on Crematoria... Lana referred to the Io Moon that had been rebuilt as a prison facility intended for prisoners of war. I know exactly how prisoners we took would be treated, and yet... it almost feels like you're trying to change them.
A few more mouthfuls as she processed her thoughts.
So... why?
Why not? Delta's thought came back. Would you be more comfortable if I fed them through a blender? Or crucified them with the other slavers who attempted to kill people instead of giving up their ways? Because honestly. I don't feel like slaughtering the more reasonable people of a dark culture.
But... if I may ask... why? I just don't understand?
Because... like the unfolding of a flower Delta showed her. And she learned a new sense of horror. And loneliness. I could slay all of my enemies. And outlast them all, perhaps even outlast the stars themselves. Look at Darth Nihilus deep in your own past. What value lies in victory if you have nobody to share in it with?
How do I know this isn't some attempt to manipulate my mind into.... Ĭ̵͇ ̴̙͘H̶̙̓A̷̡̾V̸̰̄Ę̸̚ ̴̢͐N̵͎̚O̶̯̍ ̷͚̔I̸̹̅N̸̮̍T̵̒ͅE̵̳͐R̷̡̒Ẹ̴͛Š̵̺T̶̝̅ ̶͇̊I̴̘͝Ṅ̶̙ ̶͎̀S̴͖̋L̴̢͠Ǎ̷̼V̶͉̽E̸̻̿S̶̖̍.̶̈́ͅ Rage and disappointment filled her mind for a second, skin paling before the psychic contact was severed and Delta stood and marched from the chamber. The memory of his loneliness bubbled up within her. "Sithspit." She snarled to herself, appetite dimmed by the confrontation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vloopodoorp felt the sun beating down on his skin as a light mist was sprayed at him. It was no Ahto city, but this Ion Crown had come with a great deal of interest in their planet, and yet to the shock of the Selkath, they appeared to have no interest whatsoever in the Kolto, declining any attempt to discuss trade for Kolto. What they wanted was to build a series of resorts, the Ion Beaches. The negotiations had been long-winded, but finally agreements had been come to and the Ion Crown erected vast force-fields in the oceans that prevented the passage of ocean life.
And Vloopodoorp had felt a good deal of concern at that, the idea that the Ion Crown were going to covertly exploit the Kolto... but they hadn't done anything to prevent the Selkath investigators and they had discovered why. The Ion Beaches was something called an Ark that had been landed in the ocean, and released their own flora and fauna into the ecosystem. Even the airborne giants had implants that would prevent them crossing the electron fencing protecting the entire area as an entire artificial island was build around the Ark, extending down to the crust of the planet. Riddling it with the environments that they needed.
A creature called a Moschops moved around the resort he was relaxing at with a specialised saddle carrying drinks to anyone who wanted one, with color-coded warnings for dietary restrictions. He had worried about that, but on visiting, the attendants had handed him a band with coloured stripes that identified what was safe for his own consumption... though they made no promises as to taste.
But then, they also didn't cost anything either. It was the one thing he couldn't figure out. The only conditions required to visit the Ion Beaches was that such holidays must be booked in advance, and that for the duration of a stay, the use of a temporary 'Phoenix implant' was mandated, though it would be removed when a visitor left the Ion Beaches.
There was little resistance to the idea, and more and more of the visitors seemed to be thrill-seekers wanting to take their adrenaline highs to new heights. Such as free-diving with the sharks they called Megalodons. Or trying to tame the Pteranodons that even now soared in the skies.
He saw the administrator of the site walking nearby and stood from his misting bed and walked over. The hunchbacked alien turned an armoured head to face him. "Honourable Kargesh, it is a wonderful resort you have here."
"It is nice. Lots of fish, I like fish you know." He said with a shrug as a blue woman with tentacles for hair rushed to catch up.
"I was just wondering how it remains profitable?" He asked and Kargesh frowned.
"Ah. That's more Oolala's department than mine." He said as he continued the heavy stomping towards a fishing boat with the name 'Presidium Fisher' on its aft. "Can you help him?"
"Of course. Your camera crew is on board, you're going after Moeder today?" A nod from Kargesh as he clambered on board and slapped the skirting board. As the engines roared Oolala turned to Vloopodoorp. "You were asking how we maintain a profit from the resort despite the fact you haven't had to pay anything?"
What was a Moeder? He wondered to himself before nodding, "Yes, as far as I can see you have tens of thousands of guests across the growing island, yet from what i'm told none of them are paying."
Oolala nodded as they headed up a stairwell towards the administrative building, "Quite honestly, we don't maintain a profit from this facility, though neither do we suffer any losses. But the economy of the Ion Crown is very different from that with which you would be familiar. All things ultimately stem from Delta and the Mass-Energy network. Though we have developed a bit of a secondary barter economy for things that don't come from Delta." She climbed into a lift and he joined her. It began to rise, the open glass side facing the bay. "We can provide seafoods, saur eggs and meat from some of our dinosaurs, in exchange we receive fruits, vegetables and grain for other meals, though we source some locally we don't intend to set up any farms. After all, this is a resort."
He blinked, "But how do you get paid in that case?"
She shrugged. "I don't, I can eat my fill, do what I like. I do this because I enjoy doing it and have to get out and do something."
Vloopodoorp look troubled. "I didn't realise you were so heavily exploited, I will have to..."
"We're not exploited Vloopodoorp, thats what I am trying to explain, our economy works very differently to those you are familiar with, I don't have to work at all. I could spend all my days at home eating and masturbating and nobody would question it, nor would I ever be in danger of being evicted, dying of starvation or thirst or any of that. I work, because I enjoy it. I would rather be here helping people than sitting at home playing with myself all day, it's more fun with two people anyway." She said and Vloop blinked... was betentacled woman flirting with him?
"So you don't get paid.. surely you get something more for putting in the effort?" He asked waving his arms at the island.
"Of course I do, I get to be here. See things nobody else has ever seen. The other day I was bitten in half by one of your native sharks, quite the experience." He was less certain she was sane now. A doubt that she clearly noticed, "You don't have to worry for my sanity, the implants prevent any fatality from sticking, you are functionally immortal so long as you have such an implant. I'd demonstrate, but the respawn pads are a good fifteen minute walk from here, and I may have the fit body of a Maiden commando, but I am well into my matronage and I am not going to sprint back here."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunkissedRodian19 ; By the force. The Ion Beaches are so good. Just look at these holos I took! -LINK to HoloGram.
DarkWingFuck66669 ; These Ion Crows are flocking everywhere. I've heard they even built a habitat on Bespin. Some sort of flying lizards.
Skydiver999 ; They did, the Ion Clouds Recreational Facility, is awesome. I went up with an experienced Ionian called Vetra on something called Tapejara, dived through the clouds it was so beautiful. And it didn't cost a single credit.
InterestedObserver22 ; What? How is that possible? I call sithspit.
SunkissedRodian19 ; Got to pay your own way to get there if you don't have a ship, but nothing cost anything. It was weird. I've never been so relaxed. And their medical stuff is incredible. I thought I died once to something they call a Megalosaurus, but woke up in a bed, a nurse grinning at me. Told me not to worry, i'd be fine and the Phoenix Implant saved me... though she also told me to avoid crossing any more Megas...
Skydiver999 ; Ouch, got any holos of it?
DarkWingFuck66669 ; Bantha shit, you guys actually buying these stories? Free resorts? Get your head out of it. They are colonising us. And want us to just happily join their collectivist commune before they tickle our cloacas.
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