VC Deception - Infiltration

INTRODUCTION

    The images blurred through Val’s mind. That day, that hour, that minute as his crimson essence was drawn from his body, into the shimmering tube that would bring the sleeping girl known as Isis out of her eternal darkness. The medical staff had found the cure, found the very element that would break the Killian’s spell upon the sleeping figure in the lower decks of the VT medical wing. As Val glanced away from the needles and towards the curvaceous blonde figure, eyes shut upon the medical bed, his mind swarmed with light.

Light that severed, that sent sparks flying, seared metal to a bubbling ooze of lava, lave flowing down into the recesses, into the darkness of Tibannopolis’s depths. Yes, Val remembered the horned demon that was sent to distract and to intimidate him, to unleash his dark side potential…

Lord Efface…..

He had succeeded and Val had to live with the guilt, the nagging feeling that if it was not for his rage, for his hatred from seeing the girl Isis, the golden haired beauty in so much peril and utter innocent danger…he might not have defeated Lord Efface. Efface was exceptional in skill, at forty-five Val wasn’t ready for the fight after turning his back on the world, and Efface proved that legends cannot fade away, they cannot disappear nor step aside in the current society that the galaxy was now set upon…

Isis needed him, his company needed him…Lance needed him…

They all needed Val to return, to defend, to guard, to take command and set things straight…

And return he did, with a feral passion…

From his riveting pep talk to his VT staff, to taking back his company from the hands of those who would care more about money then about the safety and moral of its employees, Val took back his company from damnation, he was the CEO and his power was restored, it was earned by pure willpower and a tireless dedication to his honor…

But….

Where was Val’s honor now? Sure to everyone who gazed upon him with astounded faces, he fought the never ceasing battle within his mind. He still had to know, was it rage, was it anger, was it the dark side that allowed him to walk away from the titanic struggle within the fiery orange interiors of Tibannopolis? Was it the dark side that swirled through his veins, was it this power that seduced and granted him back his legacy, his place...his raw endurance…

The image of his blank stare ripped through his soul like the wind to a sailing ships sails, each time he could see the shocked expression Efface made with widened eyes as Val rose like a phoenix into the air, the fire of his blue lightsaber blade echoing his silhouette as the searing heat of bubbling metal awoke from the dirty, weakened metallic walls…

And the sound of metal shearing metal and light severing flesh….

Efface’s flesh, the clang of his two lightsabers hitting the metallic grid of the floor, the twin thumps of his severed corpse hitting the metallic surface….

All this, captured Val’s mental thoughts, swarmed around him.

Surely his kill was justified, he saved the girl…he took back his company, he gave Lance Jade hope as his new VP, but at what cost? Had he forgotten his closest friend Malcom so easily? Was anyone so easily replaced because of his detachment to anyone he knew? That nagging shadow of “The Curse” as he called it.

Death had followed his family from even before he emerged into the light of the world, while he was in infantile darkness, his family forged a battle all their own, as “The Curse” destroyed his family as time went on, his mother, his father, his friends.

“The Curse” took them all from Valaryc Versai, and the final straw that sent him into the obscured realms of the dark side was ironically attached to the traits of the Jedi…

Love…

What was the cost of love? Gen’s body hit the floor in pools of blood, the same as Efface, as Cire, as anyone Val encountered…

In his dreams “The Curse” constantly bothers him, he can hear its many voices, see its many forms…yet no one around him can sense it, no one can feel it….

It has no body it has no single element.

It simply…is.

Now was the question posed upon Valaryc Versai, was it the dark side that led his new found life now, or was it his true honor? What of “The Curse”?

It was clear Val had chosen Isis as his “sign” to make his return to the society he despised, it was an attraction he couldn’t explain, for some reason he had felt more of a dedication to protect her then any other…almost as strong a instinct as it was with Gen Zeridian.

Val’s eyes watched her sleep, the medical machines clicking and buzzing, beeping with a fluidic melody of noises and clicks, yet Val knew that today was the day…it was estimated his contribution to her “cure” was all the staff had needed.

The secret though, ah yes the secret you see is what also dawns upon Val’s mental struggle, as long as he could breath he would not let “The Curse” claim another, not Isis, not anyone…

Could he tame the rage that filled his body though? Could Val control his anger towards fate, his dark side towards this “Quillion” and towards The Killain for dragging him from his own peaceful world of existence?

To the core, Val was noble, his dedication to the Versai Creed was unmatched and because of his noble ways he saved the lives of many. He had allowed the children of the future to blossom, saving lives from extinction allowed faces he had never known to forge the paths throughout the galaxy, change the political spectrums for the best…and the worst.

Val was legendary in both his honor and his perseverance, what Val did not realize was that the society he had hated, he had turned his back upon was only part of a greater whole. The other side of society adored him, worshiped him, to them Valaryc Versai was a legend he was a hero and a role model.

Children wanted to be him, the best fighters wanted to beat him, the scum of the universe wanted to kill him, they all loved him, hated him, but then never forgot him. Val was as sought after as Han to Jabba the Hutt. The very fact that Val had disappeared from existence had produced countless memorabilia and books written from authors who thought they KNEW him….

No one could truly know what it was to be Valaryc Versai. No one knew how much integrity it took for Val to wake up and face the world, to not seep into the dark side contained within his veins, or cease his life to rejoin his lover Gen Zeridian. With all of these tragedies and painful memories, Val carried on through every fight, every obstacle, every moment he could surrender, he would fight on against immeasurable odds and still overcome them.

Val was not a quitter…

It wasn’t in his bloodline it wasn’t in his vocabulary…

This is the reason Val must struggle with his anger, with his darker side…to give in to darkness is to lose his honor, which is to lose his control…the give up on nobility and embrace power…

To be seduced by the dark side…

But was he now being seduced? He had indeed struck down Efface with anger, with rage gathered at one pivotal moment…he had survived the battle, he had taken down every adversary within Mos Espa, and he had unleashed his potential upon the “gauntlet” of skilled Killain Warriors…

Maligna, Deceit…they fell.

As you are about to discover, within the safe walls of Versai Tech, within his mind Val struggles with his dark side, with his honor, with his attraction, with his trust…

And above all you will now understand that no one….

NO ONE…

Is safe from…

Infiltration…
 
 

VC Deception – Chapter VI - Infiltration
 

INTERIOR – VERSAI TECH – VAL’S OFFICE

Within Val’s lavish office, the lights are dimmed, as the figure of Val lies asleep on his desk. Within one hand he holds the file of “Isis Surul” gingerly lying upon the table, while his right hand lies limp with its fingers curled along the left side of his desk, his eyes closed but it is clear as we gaze closer there again is that battle that rages, for through the closed shades of Val’s eyelids, movement can be detected as the balls of his eyes sway back and forth, often violently from the movements of the skin laid across their shimmering surface, his fingers now clutching the folder and the desk in almost balls of anger.
 

~DREAM SEQUENCE~
 

INTERIOR DARK JEDI ACADEMY – COUNCIL ROOM

As the familiar scene of the Dark Jedi Council unfolds into view, the same figure of Draconis pointing his fingers at the accused, and bound Valaryc Versai, Val himself again watches his younger, bound image struggle within the bindings, countering Cire’s accusations knowing that before the night is over…everyone in the room will meet their destiny, but strangely as Val observes, the images fade away into a dark void.

Suddenly Val is grabbed from behind by chains, snaking out at him like wild serpents they wrap their metallic jawed, clamps around his wrists and ankles, his body slammed against a “X” shaped chair, latching him to the cold hard steeled surface as a dark robed figure approaches him, adorned with a Judge’s wig, and long flowing black cloak, Val’s body is turned up completely vertical and held in place by the menacing chair behind him. The figure dressed as a judge approaches him. Val can make out the grisly details of taught skin along the Judge’s hands. The skin is stretched tight like rubber and the structure of bones from under its frame can be seen, rising to the surface giving this ominous figure the appearance of a specter, and that is exactly what “it” is.
 

INTERIOR: DARK VOID – VAL’S DREAM

The figure doesn’t speak, he only gazes towards the flickering candles as they begin to draw closer to each other, each color of the fires they emit shifting to different hues of red, blue, purple, orange, green, every color in the spectrum, varying in intensity and depths until they begin to form moving shadows… moving images…

The first of which is the office of Admiral Krevlin. He can see the two figures, one is himself and the other is Krevlin pressed against the wall, reaching for a button before the image of Val is plastered by blaster fire…but we know Val wasn’t killed, it was an illusion…a trick taught to him by Gen Zeridian, a evasive tactic used only in the gravest of need…

As Val reveals this, slamming the dagger Cire used to kill his lover Gen Zeridian into Krevlin’ shoulder and explains his impossible challenge, the focus blurs upon Krevlin’s desk…

The structure was plastered with carbon scoring but it was in tact…Krevlin’s desk was made for two reasons…service and protection. The bound figure of Val glances towards the specter then towards the screen of flicking candles, shifting so quickly they form a fluidic quilt of color akin to a television screen as the scene plays on…but again, the focus then intensifies a glow around Krevlin’s desk before the image shifts to that device Val affixed to the wall…

00:02…00:01…

The counter reaches zero as the massive, yet controlled explosion tears apart the contents of Krevlin’s office, but there is a new image…The image is that of Cire’s dagger, laid upon the floor shortly before the detonation and a trail of blood leading towards

The overturned desk…

Before Val can speak, the candles all blow out simultaneously, leaving him in the darkness of the room, into the void of opaque mystique…his eyes wandering, trying to find the specter once more, to find something but only a voice…a sadistic, cold voice is whispered into his ear.

Val can’t see who it is, but he knows the tone…the tone all too well.

The arrogant, cold tones match those of Admiral Krevlin’s wicked speech and the voice whispers to him words that make his blood curl…

“All is not as you have perceived…”

Val speaks to the voice, in a shaky reply

VAL - (shaky) Wha……what do you me…..mean?

VOICE : All is not as you perceive….

VAL - I KNOW THAT! WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH YOU!

VOICE – Everything…All is not as you have perceived…

Before Val can speak, the candles ignite in a furry of flames, revealing as they dim to their single pixels of light, the battle between Val and Cire, the flames raging from Val’s anger setting the walls afire, as well as Cire’s last words, “You’re living without her is my eternal vengeance!”

VAL – Why! Why are you showing me this!

VOICE  (Cire) – Because All is not as you have perceived…

Val watches his actions unfold, Gen Zeridian’s limp corpse clutched within his bleeding hands, having been sliced from the battle and the bindings that held him, he can see Cire’s flaming remains collect upon the floor into a smoldering heap as he walks away from the scene, pacing towards freedom, despite his students battling Ras Krueger’s death squads sent into purge the Dark Jedi Academy of any potential threats to Ras and Palpatine’s empire.

VAL – THESE ARE RERUNS! I ALREADY KNOW THIS!

VOICE – No! THIS IS WHY YOU SUFFER VERSAI!

VAL – I KNOW……….wha? (blinks)

VOICE – (unknown) Do you wonder why you cannot sleep at night, do you wonder why you can never rest in peace, why fate will not let you retire, will not let you forget?

VAL – Yes! YES! I do, I want to know!

VOICE – Are you prepared to listen…To listen to that voice you deny within yourself? The voice of truth…will you trust it? Will you surrender to it for the truth?

VAL – What...voice, I’m not a fool…there is always a price.

The images upon the fire filled screen zoom in on the fallen bones of Cire, then in a split screen effect they show Krevlin’s desk and Cire’s remains surrounded by flames, zooming in closer and closer as both fade away suddenly, returning now to the battle with Lord Efface, Val and Efface during the closing curtains of the struggle through the turbo lifts, down on the floor with the gases spewing from the floor, and the orange and red hues bathing the walls around them…as bright as Efface’s twin saber blades, clashing with the iconic blue hues of Obi Wan’s lightsaber.

The darkness that surrounds Val illuminates with the candles not forming the pictures, as he can see the figure wrapped in the robe leaning near his ear whispering, pointing with a sickly, slender finger the bones protruding from the knuckles to the tip whispering to him.

VOICE – (looks to screen) Will you surrender to the voice that gave you life?

VAL – What? I fought him on my own! I saved my life through skill and thought! Not this “voice”

VOICE – Is that so?

The figure flicks its fingers and the image of Isis being poisoned shows, as Val can see himself looking on in utter shock and anger.

VOICE – (seductive tone) Did you save the girl?

VAL – Yes! I’ve even cured her…

VOICE – That’s not the question, LOOK! You failed to save her in the first place didn’t you!

VAL – I couldn’t stop it!

VOICE – You assumed you could, you assumed you had the power to save anyone.

The figure snaps its fingers as Devon appears, shortly before a blaster bolt passes through his brain, then the image of Malcom before his ship explodes, all fading upon the flickering veil of light before Val’s eyes.

VOICE – Could you save them Versai? Could you have lived without me?

VAL – What the hell…Who are you!

VOICE – I am your destiny, the destiny you have denied, locked away…the future you could have had but have denied, the power you could have had but have cast aside, locked away…the passion that you could have enjoyed but you constantly spurn.

VOICE – (shifts to Gen) I am the wife you could have pleasured night after night if you had been strong enough Val, if you had only listened to the voice….I am now.

Val’s eyes try to shut out the images, but the figures words have torn away the protective veil he had thrown over his darker tendencies, his denied lusts, desires, passions, hunger…the things that he could easily have but had forsaken for his creed…

It was…his dark side…

He knew the voice’s name now, and he knew what it wanted…

VOICE – (smooth, masculine) Ah, now you have begun to understand haven’t you “noble” one. Perhaps in the darkness of your Mansion, in your five-year sabbatical from the world around you, you should have spent more time listening to me, rather then fighting me…

I want to help you Versai….

VAL – (angered) NO! NEVER! I will never listen to you, I don’t want your help I don’t want the easy path! If I must suffer to reach my goals I will do so on my OWN! Not with your power or your gifts.

VOICE – (Gen’s voice) Was I so bad when you took away my innocence lover? Did you deny the feral hungers in your body when you saw me bare and spread before you? Did you hold your honor to the duty of your position or to the position of my naked form upon the bed hmm?

VAL – (grits his teeth) That’s not going to work…

VOICE – Oh but once was all you needed my lover, one time inside my temple and you wanted nothing but my mind, my body, my soul and I your own…and I’ve taken it haven’t I? Every time you see another curvaceous figure, an offer presents itself, you belong to me don’t you baby? My fighter my love…my husband that could have been. Why would you deny me now? Why would you deny my voice Mr. Winters?

VAL – (remorseful) Gen…I….

VOICE – (Gen’s voice) So many years my love, so many years you have suffered without me, you have called but I cannot answer you, you have yearned but I cannot come to you. Night after night your haunted by my passing, wishing things could be different, wishing things could have came out another way, another future another realm…another path.

VAL – (sobs silently) I tried Gen…I miss you…so…much…

VOICE – (Cire’s voice) But you failed didn’t you Val! You let me win! You let me haunt you! Control you! Limit you! CONQURE YOU!

VAL – (blinks) Wha? NO! YOU’RE DEAD! I KILLED YOU!

VOICE – Am I Versai? Am I really? I have been given life “Teacher” and you know how Val? Do you really want to know HOW I LIVE?

VAL – Yes….

VOICE – Because your guilt, your fear, your living without her…gives me POWER to remain in your memory, twisting your dreams into overwhelming nightmares…a curse you cannot move beyond, your love for Gen has doomed you to a eternity of dealing with that which you hate most…ME.

VAL – That can be forgotten Cire, you have no power over me…you may live only in my nightmares and my mind but like anything I can bind you, lock you away and throw away the key as I’ve done before time and time again…

VOICE – Can you really??? Have you forgotten?

The images of Krevlin’s terrified face, Cire’s screams of pain, Gen’s expression of shock, and Efface’s look of surprise all play on the candlelit screen in four blended sections, side by side…as Val hears the voice shift back to its cold and collected tone…

VOICE – All is not as you have perceived….

Val struggles against the bindings as he watches, growing angered he begins to try and close the images from his mind, but even as his eyes close he sees the screen regardless, and their screams now turning to laughter and mocking tones fuel his anger further, until he breaks his hands free of the bindings and shouts at the top of his lungs.

VAL – NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

As Val shouts, the entire image of the candles shatter like glass as the figure which speaks to him steps in front of him, igniting a purple lightsaber. Val now standing free of the binding device, reaches for his lightsaber but as he leads his fingers down…he is unarmed.

This is when Val understands the symbolic nature of the figure before him and what the figure is trying to reveal to him…in ITS hand is Gen Zeridian’s lightsaber, and in Val’s own hand…there is nothing.

VOICE – Yes, you are beginning to listen now aren’t you Versai?

The figure strokes the elegant hilt of Gen Zeridian’s lightsaber, then glances up towards Val stepping closer towards him, stopping short with its saber blade humming, illuminating Val’s face in purple light.

VOICE – Your failure has given me your most prized possessions…Gen’s life, Gen’s saber, and I have so much more to collect don’t I Val? Perhaps I’ll take Isis’s soul next…or your company you hold so dear!

VAL – OVER MY DEAD BODY!

VOICE – (shifts his eyes towards Val, unseen behind the hood) If that is your destiny…

VAL – ENOUGH OF THIS! I’m tired of the riddles, tired of the games!

VOICE – Oh? Will you listen to me then? Will you allow yourself to succumb to the knowledge I can give you? The power I can lend you? Will you stop fighting and listen to me?
VAL – But I can’t do that…Don’t you understand! I CANNOT!

VOICE – I’ve heard this before, from others far stronger then you…I have heard the fight but you intrigue me most Versai, you are not so easily seduced by the death of your mother, your father, your lover…you resist even in the greatest of tragedy, so it is tragedy that I no longer wish to inflict upon you…if you will listen to me…I can give you much.

VAL – You offer so much, yet you still speak in riddles…you are very persuasive but I know your name and I know your toll for help, for knowledge…

VOICE – Then name me, give me the power of recognition and I will tell you the answer to my riddle, to the knowledge you lust for…the truths that evade you…but you must trust, you must surrender…you must travel down my path…together we must walk, talk, and consort.

VAL – NO! I WILL NOT GIVE IN TO YOUR TEMPTATIONS! I AM VALARYC VERSAI AND I DO NOT NEED ANY HELP FROM YOU! YOU WHO HAVE CURRUPTED SO MANY! YOU WHO HAVE LIED, STOLEN. CHEATED. AND KILLED THOSE WHO TRAVEL WITH YOU!

VOICE – Simply name me…and I will reveal to you what you wish to know, without cost without further payment all I ask is you name me…you acknowledge me…

VAL – What power do you gain from such things? Why do you need to be named?

VOICE – Because by naming me, you accept I exist within your soul and whether you want my help or not…your vision will be broader then you have allowed it to become.

VAL – (sighs) I cannot name you! I CANNOT GIVE IN!

Voice – All is not as you have perceived…and you will never know…now…why.

The figure begins to pace away, but Val cries out for it to stop as it turns back towards him. For this moment of time, this instant, Val lets himself slip…as he has done before, perhaps it is his doubt or his guilt that has led him down the path but no matter which to understand the enemy, he had to know the enemy.

VAL – (low) You are…the Dark Side.

VOICE – (approaches slowly) Thank you…at last you have listened, you have finally come to terms with your curse…now my friend, welcome home…

VAL – (sad tone) I am not “home” I am simply a visitor on this path…now you owe me in return, do you not?

VOICE – Ah yes, indeed I do owe you, and I will tell you the answer to the riddle my prodigal son…All is not as you have perceived because everything you think you know, everything you thought you had trusted with your eyes…is a lie.

VAL – What? How! If I cannot trust my eyes what can I trust?

VOICE – You can trust me, to open your cone of vision to a grander scale…think boy, think of the images upon the candles of your memory…the visions, of their connections, their symbolic nature.

VAL – You’re speaking in riddles again!

VOICE – No, I am speaking in truth…it is you who perceives them as riddles. I have given you the answers you have sought after, and you like countless others…are now…mine.

VAL – I said I was a VISITOR, there is always a way back! You have no power over me, all you have done is given me POWER to see that which I have not known, things I needed to know that now I have come to terms to understand need further attention.

VOICE – No power you say? Listen to your own words Valaryc, listen to what you are saying and you will see that the chain of events has already begun to come into focus. By surrendering to me for just that fraction of a second you’ve given in to my power…now you use it, and in time you WILL come to depend upon it…like it or not…you are no different.

VAL – NO! You’re wrong, if I am no different how is it that I have not turned to your clutches all these years! How is it that I have evaded your pain, your seduction time and time again! How is it that I defend the innocent and free the enslaved! EXPLAIN IT!

Voice – (cranes its hooded head) Simple…because in your denial, in your years of evasion, you STILL give yourself over to me in small incriminates, from your fight with Cire, to Krevlin, to Efface, each time you awake, each time you are faced with a choice, you DO take the easy path! YOU KNOW THIS VERSAI YOU KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE! YOU COULD NOT DEFEAT LORD EFFACE, YOU COULD NOT DEFEAT KREVLIN, AND YOU COULD NOT DEFEAT CRYMSON VACHON!

The images flare to life in a 360 degree screen around Val, showing all his battles, and various points in his past from his parents death, to Malcolm’s ship exploding, to his fights with Foe Raker, to his battles with Cire, Krevlin, Crymson, Efface, Bane, Maligna, Deceit.

VOICE – (spins around pointing to the screens) IN EVER FIGHT YOU HAD A INCRIMENT OF SUBMISSON TO MY GIFTS! YOU DENY THE TRUTH WITH YOUR CREED BUT YOU STILL CALL UPON MY ASSISTANCE WHEN YOU ARE FACED WITH DOUBT THAT YOU NEED TO BE UNBEATABLE! YOU NEED TO FEEL YOU ARE THE BEST BECAUSE IN YOUR NIGHTMARES AND YOUR VISIONS AND DEEP DOWN IN THE CHAMBERS OF YOUR MIND YOU CANNOT ACCEPT DEFEAT!

VAL – NO! I cannot accept defeat because my missions in life are not yet complete!

VOICE – Ah, but your price has been paid each and every time you evoke my assistance to you Versai, you paid with your student’s lives to destroy Cire, you paid with Gen’s life to destroy him, you paid with injury, with blood, with innocents so you could win, you had to take life to keep it.

VAL – (sighs) As twisted as your views are you forget the code of the warrior that if one is willing to take your life, they have already forfeited their own.

VOICE – Exactly! This is why you are a DARK JEDI master, redemption isn’t in your blood with your enemies is it Val? Oh no, that’s a JEDI trait.

VAL – THAT’S WHY I’M NOT A TREE HUGGING HIPPIE MORON!

VOICE – YES! YOU ADMIT IT! Because you need to use power to live, to win…and you need MY power to survive, shall I show you the future you denied yourself Val? Oh yes I think I shall!

VAL – What? NO! I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR OFFERS! I’M GETTING THE HELL OFF THIS PATH

Val turns to run away but as he beings to dash away from the path he’s on, the images on the screen are provocative and he stops dead in his tracks to watch them.

Upon the screen is the image of two figures moving within silken sheets in the troughs of lovemaking, the girl’s purple locks cascade along the smooth inviting curves of her body, while the male’s brown hair slides long his neck, the two figures sharing their passion with one another as the women moans in passionate purrs and echoes of pleasure, while the male whispers into her ear as the image moves closer we can see his face…and her own…

It is Valaryc and Gen Zeridian…Versai…

From the look of the bedroom and the blazing fireplace, the white wedding dress and crumpled heap of groom’s clothing strewn about the floor it is the honeymoon that Val had longed for, and within his grasp, his flesh within her temple, is his loving wife, the object of his desire, or his passion…Gen Zeridian Versai…

His wife…

The image flickers to a raging battle now. Gen and Val are at the age of forty five as they fight off a invasion of Imperial troopers, all firing blasters but missing as Gen’s purple saber deflects the beams, as well as Val’s golden yellow saber, each dancing a rhythmic stride of death and destruction as the figure of Val clad in crimson red and gold armor hacks, and severs any figure that comes near him, while Gen in purple body armor does the same…

Hundreds of troopers and mixed within, blood soaked brown tunics lie at their feet…for in this alternate future…Gen Zeridian Versai and Valaryc Winters Versai are the Emperor and Empress of the galaxy, and before them lays the last remnants of the threat to their power…

The Empire…the Jedi…The Sith…

Only the Dark Jedi prevailed….

But weaved within the bloodshed, as Val grabs Gen and kisses her passionately are women, young men and women, friends…butchered, slaughtered so that Gen and Val could rule and it dawns upon the other figure of Val that watches on from the path…

This was the future he wanted…and denied…

But also, there was the price…for his wife, his lover, his power, and his dominance…

Death…

It’s then that Val discovers the truth he’s been denying for so many years…that the only difference between his future and the future he could have had is that Gen was dead…but the death remained.

VOICE – (soothing) Ah yes…hurts doesn’t it Val?

VAL – (shocked, awestruck) I…I…I…

VOICE – (paces towards Val and stops) Hurts to know that you’ve led the same path to your future, but there is no Empress at your side is there? There is no sweet honeymoon to enjoy and remember is there?

VAL – But I’ve tried to hard to avoid this future! And yet…it’s the same.

VOICE – Oh yes, and what’s really going to bother you is that you see whom you are speaking to, whom I am, whom you named “The Dark Side” is none other then….

YOU!

The figure rips off its hood to reveal Val’s own face, withered and aged from the uses of the Dark Side, taking their tolls on his body, Val’s eyes widening in utter horror as the candles behind flare the 360 degree of images back into his mind, to burn it into his psyche as the images of Cire, Krevlin, Gen, and the others play through in a flurry of images, Krevlin’s desk afire, Cire’s body aflame…and the figure before him dressed in the same battle attire he has in the future laughing at him.

VOICE – (Val’s own voice) YOU ARE THE DARK SIDE VAL! NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU DENY IT HOW MUCH YOU TRY TO ESCAPE IT YOU ARE THE DARK SIDE! YOUR NOT VADER YOU’RE NOT PALPATINE YOU ARE THE NEW BREED! THE NEW BREED OF DARK SIDE MASTERS, ONE WHO MANIPULATES THE INNOCENT AND THE ONE EVERYONE WANTS TO BECOME! YOU HAVE GROWN THOUSANDS OF SOULS FOR ME TO LEAD! ONE DAY YOU WILL COME TO REALIZE THIS AND ON THAT DAY YOU WILL BECOME ALL THATYOU FEAR!

ALL IS NOT AS YOU HAVE PERCIVED VAL! LOOK AROUND YOU! YOU ARE ALREADY MINE WITH EACH PASSING DAY! YOU MAY BE NOBLE YOU MAY BE HONORABLE BUT IN THE END YOU AND I ARE THE SAME!

YOUR LIFE! YOUR CREED IS ONLY AN ILLUSION FOR THE REAL SOURCE OF YOUR DETERMINATION! POWER, STRENGTH, PRIDE!

WOULD YOU DIE FOR THEM VAL! WOULD YOU LOSE FOR THEM? WOULD YOU SACRAFICE YOUR LIFE FOR THEIR OWN???

The figure narrows its eyes and locks his gaze with Val’s own widened stare, his lip trembling in utter terror and caustic shock.

FIGURE – Can you afford to lose Val? Can you afford to die? Will you die for them? Will you give up all to be with them?

VAL – THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE!!!!!!!! THAT’S NOT WHO I AM!!!!!!

FIGURE – Answer the question…there is no maybe, no possibility; there is only a yes or a no.

VAL – (narrows his eyes) Yes….yes I would die for them, I would sacrifice all I am for the better of the others…

FIGURE – (growls) WE SHALL SEE THEN WON’T WE VAL! THE LEGIONS OF DEATH COME FOR YOU ONCE MORE VERSAI! BE READY!

SOON…very soon, you and I will be THE SAME….

There is no place you can run, no place you can hide that will save you from your own fears, your own doubts and one day, you will have to choose between the lives of those around you…or your own.

Then…your dreams will be reality and I, will live within you…through you, through your children, through your friends, through your fans…and you will bring about a great revival of darkness…

I HAVE SEEN YOUR FUTURE, and…I am in it…

VAL – NO!!!!!!!!! NEVER, I’LL NEVER BE YOU!
 

~END OF DREAM SEQUENCE~
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – VAL’S OFFICE

Val screams from his desk, as an explosion rips through his ears, startled awake by the thudding of metal being twisted and strewn across the lower decks of VT, the blaring of alarms screaming in his ears as his eyes focus upon his office…no longer in his dream. A VT staff member comes bursting through the door, as Val’s eyes blink into focus, leaping back from his chair to stand.

VT REP – SIR! COME QUICKLY THERE’S BEEN AN EXPLOSION!

VAL – WHAT! WHERE!

VT REP – VICE PRESIDENT JADE’S QUARTERS AND DATHAN HAWKYN’S STATE ROOM!

VAL – (dashes from the room, down the hall) HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!

Val and the VT Rep, whom is revealed now to be Adam Durlock from the research department decks race down a series of corridors and weaving turbolifts until the approach the scene of the crime, first being Lance Jade’s quarters.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH - HALLWAY

As Val and Adam slowly walk towards the scene, the damage is noticed instantly as metal bubbles along the heavily damaged iron panels of the wall units. The entrance door to Lance’s quarters is ripped from the hinges and folded in on itself, proving that the blast came from within his quarters and fanned out, like a backdraft. The strange thing about the blast radius is that it is in a straight vertical line, there are objects blown apart, melted with oozing plastic, and fiery embers…piles of ash and debris but out of the pathway, everything is untouched. Only a line leading from Lance’s bed to the door is noticed, proving that this blast was both premeditated and professional…intended to ignite and devastate in a certain direction. Grabbing his wrist, Val contacts the other damage crew at Dathan’s quarters, finding that the damage there is identical…a pattern has emerged.

Val’s eyes close, then slowly open as he tries to grasp the here and now, still suffering from the effects of his nightmare…so real he can almost feel the heat from the candles surrounding him and that figure…that figure which claims to be his future. The heat he felt was actually from the smoldering embers of the blast site that was formally Lance Jade’s quarters, Val’s eyes glazed over as images of Krevlin’s desk played over and over within his mental theater.

Adam gazes over to Val then raises an eyebrow, having been trained in psychological patterns and medical procedures he recognizes Val was “blanking out”, knowing the CEO is elsewhere then his body at the moment, snapping is fingers in front of Val’s eyes, trying to break the spell.

VAL – (blinks) Huh? Wha? Oh yes…Where is Vice President Jade now?

Adam speaks into his comm., as he looks towards Val, then the damage nodding his head slowly.

ADAM – He’s on his way here now, apparently Mr. Jade was training in the war room and wasn’t in the room when the blast was set off.

VAL – What of the other guy? Dathan was it?

ADAM – (speaks into his comm.)  He’s nowhere to be found at the moment.

VAL – Oh is that so? I want him found now…

ADAM – Yes Sir, we’re working on it. Vice President Jade should be coming up the lift momentarily.

Like clockwork, Lance appears dressed in karate like robe; all purple with the VT logo affixed the left breast as sweat pours from his brow. Along his back, fastened are two holders where his DL-44s would be stored; his look is complete shock, having just noticed the damage to his quarters…obviously completely unaware of the attempt on his life.

LANCE – WHAT IN THE HELL???

VAL – That was my first response…(smirks)

LANCE – WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED HERE???

VAL – We’re investigating that now…rest assured the incident is under a full investigation as we speak.

ADAM – (nudges Val’s shoulder) Sir…they’ve found him.

VAL – Good…tell them both Lance and I will be down momentarily.

ADAM –   Very well Sir.
 

INTERIOR: HALLWAY – OUTSIDE DATHAN’S QUARTERS

Val and Lance both pace down the hallways to the second floor of VT, pacing through swarms of people rushing to conduct a full investigation into the pyro attack forged upon Versai Tech’s leading staff. They round a few more hallways, as the lights from the floor and ceiling whiz but them, coming to a figure slumped on the floor, with medical personal surrounding him.

The figure lies still, but is conscious. His green eyes flicker with a slight sheen as he looks up to Val, his shoulder being wrapped up in bandages where the signs show that of a struggle. Alongside him there is another body, with an opaque plastic sheath over him, only the boots show…

Val glances to the body, then to the injured man, stooping to one knee before fastening his eyes upon him.

VAL – I take it you are Dathan Hawkyn’s?

DATHAN – (nods slowly) Yes Sir…that is correct…

Val looks up to Jade then down to Dathan before continuing his talk with the injured Dathan.

VAL – What happened exactly?

Dathan blinks for a moment before taking a deep breath, glancing to Lance for a few minutes…speechless, before shifting his gaze to Val, rolling his eyes back then forward searching for the words to say.

DATHAN – Well sir, you see I was pacing down the hall to retire to my stateroom for a quick nap before our big board meeting and I slide my fingers along the access port…The door, the door slide open and there was this man there, and he ran from the room in a hurry…

Dathan points towards the figure in the body bag like material, before roaming his gaze slow, and steady along the floor to the carbon scored frame, where his room once stood.

VAL – (comforting) Continue…

DATHAN – He ran into me and tried to stab me with a knife, but with my former war training I evaded his attack, when he tried again, I moved and his knife lodged into the wall there…

Dathan points to the knife still lodged into the surface of the wall, made of a clearly durable material it sheared clean through the metallic paneling, which severed a row of lights leading down the hallway that curves towards the left, the hall now only half lit.

DATHAN – He tried to run and I threw him back into the door as it was closing…then there was this massive explosion…fire, blood, heat!

VAL – (nods slowly) Continue…

Lance Jade looks over to the body in the bag, then down towards Dathan and his injuries…Lance wanted to know much more then what this man had to say because to him…something didn’t quite add up about his story, there was some element missing…and why? Why were only he and Dathan the sole targets? Who was the figure in the bag?

Lance started to approach the bag, drawing back a Velcro seal, seeing the seared lines of flesh and singed fabrics but as he drew the seal deeper down, the outfit began to present itself into the flickering light of the halls as each member, including Val and Dathan drew their eyes on the assassin…

The assassin…was Killian.

Dathan’s voice creaked as he continued to explain the details of his story to Val and now a very interested Lance Jade.

DATHAN – (slow words) There was a flash, heat…I was on fire and slammed into the wall behind me, I managed to avoid the handle of the blade in the wall and felt my body break, but next to me…INCHES from me the door blew off its hinges and slammed into the wall, and his body…his body impacted within the mangled steel…

VAL – (closes his eyes trying to picture the scene)  So then, you came back towards your room, you opened the door and saw this intruder who was apparently seeking to sabotage your stateroom, and assassinate you?

What rank are you Dathan?

 Dathan slowly straightens himself against the wall presenting his hand to Val.

DATHAN – I am Dathan Hawkyn’s, Senior Member of the Board of Directors for Versai Tech.

VAL – (quirks a brow) Are you aware of whom I am?

DATHAN – Yes, I know you very well…you, if you don’t mind me saying sir are a legend in this company, and this galaxy, it is my deepest honor to meet the CEO of VT, the Valaryc Versai.

Val takes Dathan’s hand and clasps his fingers around it, but suddenly shrinks his hand back away from Dathan with a shocked look on his face.

VAL – Geez man your hand is like ice!

DATHAN – (lowers his hand) I apologize sir, if you will check my records you will see that I’ve lost my right hand during my old squadron days.

Val’s eyes wander over Dathan then over to Lance, standing to his full 6’1 height. Walking over to the body of the Killain assassin.

The body of the Killain warrior is badly burned, oozing with blisters and seared flesh, it is clearly visible that this warrior’s body had absorbed the full brunt of the blast he was intending for an unsuspecting Dathan, no doubt it was being rigged to set off once the scanner to the door release was initiated.

Having drawn this conclusion, Val stood to his feet and waved Lance closer to him.

VAL – (looking to Dathan) You are very brave sir…I’ll make it a note of your courage. This is Vice President Jade. I’m sure you and he will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming meetings. If memory serves me right, you are directly below him.

Dathan’s eyes wander over Lance, and then his gaze narrows a bit, extending his left hand out to him.

DATHAN – So you are Vice President Jade? I’ve heard about your exploits with Val, and I’m confident you will fit nicely in Malcolm’s shoes.

LANCE- (raises an eyebrow) I didn’t come to replace him, I only came to help out any way I could. Val and I go way back to The Krath War. I’m thankful his grace and humble ways have given this ol pirate another chance to make a difference again.

DATHAN – (lowers his gaze) Nonetheless…it is a pleasure to meet you, sorry it couldn’t have been under more formal circumstances…things beyond my control you know.

LANCE – (glances to the damage) Not a problem…it’s not like I’m properly dressed for a formal introduction anyway right? (laughs)

Dathan nods, then slowly tries to get back to his feet, propped against a safer portion of the wall before speaking to Val once more.

DATHAN – If I’m the Senior Board Rep, and Lance is the VP. Does this mean that someone is trying to take down Versai Tech from the inside out?

VAL – (thinks a moment) Yes…it appears no one is safe…but these people haven’t been seen in months! Why do they emerge now?

LANCE – (points to the dead Killian) Because we didn’t expect it…we didn’t see it coming, but for that purpose would they want to assassinate Dathan and me? What is their motive?

VAL – I don’t know that right now…I don’t know a lot of things I should…I’ve ordered a full scale investigation into this incident, until then lets not make any conclusions.

Val paces to Dathan, helping him to his feet, smiling to him with a friendly nod, then towards Lance.

VAL – For the time being I think its best we find out who this person managed to get into the grounds in the first place…It’s apparent that The Mole is still alive and kicking…which means that no place is safe from infiltration now doesn’t it?

LANCE – Yes, that looks to be the case…

VAL – (narrows his eyes) I need to think…sort this out. We’ll let time tell us the answers we need Lance, until then you and Dathan move to the secured quarters on my floor, there’s plenty of security there…not even a womp rat could get through undetected up there.

Lance and Dathan nod slowly, as Val paces from the room. Inside his head still burns with the images of Cire’s flaming bones and Krevlin’s desk…and that future figure of himself, so evil…so calculated and the binding element between his dreams and his reality.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH - TURBOSHAFT

Fire…

It was the fires of uncertainty, of the possibility of danger. The wildfires had spread to his office now! His business was under fire! How could anyone dare invade VT Headquarters! How could they possibly know where it was! The building was uncharted! Yet The Killain waltz right in and blew up the place!

Val’s mind teemed with rage, but remembering his future specter’s words he kept it under wraps, rounding the main turbolift to his office he headed back towards the higher levels of the multi decked Versai Tech building, but suddenly he changes his focus, clicking the switch for the Medical floor, he has a feeling some of the answers he seeks lie with Isis…

Isis Surul, a girl who’s past is shrouded in a scattered mystery, what she knows and what she thinks conflicting with one another…her dreams so vivid so real dominate her visions of her father Ras Krueger…and mixed within Quillion’s menacing silver mask…staring into her soul, the evil aura surrounding her, making her feel suffocated.

Isis had been cured and she knew not just how…but Valaryc knew, he was the key the medical staff needed to break the spell over her body…over her mind. Yes Val sensed the girl could provide much help with his unanswered question and that drawing factor…that bond he forged with her over the past couple weeks since her recovery…nursing her back to health, staying by her side via holonetworking.

Val gained her trust…and he knew that time reveals all…all that is required is the patience to wait and let the answers he so desperately needed present themselves…as Val steps from the turbolift towards Isis’s recovery room, he wonders exactly what to say to her…how to ask her, and yet not make her feel she’s a criminal…sure her past acts were directly linked to the enemy, but her family turned on her…the family she loved was whipped out, Val had come to learn of Ras Krueger and Quillion’s “new order”, his acts against Ras to take over the Obsidian Order…Isis too felt this bond, she felt as if when she peered into Val’s deep brown eyes, she could confide in him…and she did.
 

INTERIOR – VERSAI MEDICAL DECK – ISIS’S QUARTERS

As Val paced into the more vibrant hues of Isis’s recovery room, he found her standing with her back towards him. Her long blonde locks cascaded down the small of her back like a elegant waterfall, while her medical outfit, not a crude paper gown but a form fitting gray suit hugged the curves of her body, each clinging to every rise and crevasse of her succulent form…Isis was as beautiful as she was deadly.

Her shimmering emerald gaze fastened upon the more somber expressional side of Val approaching her. From the moment he entered her room she could sense the conflict, some battle raging within his mind before he even spoke, she already knew that his less cheerful side was present…something bothered him and she could discern through her Force abilities, without even evoking them that he needed help, more then answers but support…comfort.

VAL - Hello Isis…how are you doing today?

ISIS – I’m…well, but you…you are not are you Val?

VAL – (raises an eyebrow) What makes you say that?

ISIS – (smirks) Because Mr. Versai, you didn’t knock before entering a lady’s quarters.

VAL – (stunned) Oh? Sorry I didn’t realiz…

ISIS – It’s ok Val, you know there’s nothing I have that you haven’t seen before is there?

Isis winks towards Val, then slides along the rise of her patient bed, clasping her hands along her lap, slowly craning her head back towards Val…her jaded eyes meeting his own.

ISIS – Talk to me Val…what is it that you REALLY came here for?

VAL – (swallows) Isis I don’t want you to think I’m using you, or that I think you’re a criminal but…

ISIS – Yes?

VAL – Well, your former friends have sent a welcome wagon at our doorstep.

ISIS – (shocked) You mean? You mean they’re here?

VAL – In a way yes…and no.

ISIS – But you said, you said they haven’t been seen in over a month! You said this place was safe! That they couldn’t find me here! Val what is going on???

Val moves to comfort Isis, sliding his arms around her as she lowers her head, trying to suppress her fears and her tears…a flooding of memories of her time in The Killain Citadel filling her memory, the pain, the suffering of others, the abuse…she didn’t want it again…she could never go back and she knew if The Killain ever had the chance they would come for her…in massive numbers.

This fear subsided as she felt Val’s fingers along her, she felt comfort in his arms as she nuzzled his neck a bit…there was something about Val that attracted her, they had only met briefly before back on Tibannopolis…but just that fraction of time there was a bond there, which was mutually beneficial because Val had kept a close eye on her, every night of her sleep when the cure was found and implemented, he had watched over he like a hawk…she knew he felt comfort in her arms and she in his…but there was something else, something she could not seem to breach, there were sides to Val that no one could infiltrate…as much as Val cared, he kept himself distant

She didn’t know exactly why but she vowed to one day find out, for the moment enjoying the close embrace as his words flow into her ears like a smoothly transitioned symphony, unintentionally she doesn’t recognize the words, only the tones as Val stops suddenly.

VAL – Isis? Did you hear me correctly? I said two of my staff has had attempts made on their lives!

ISIS- Huh wha? Oh that’s terrible…how did it happen?

VAL – A Killian assassin breached Versai Tech security and tried to incinerate both Lance Jade and Dathan Hawkyn’s. He used some sort of explosive device and he tried to stab Dathan but he fell victim to his own trap.

ISIS – (sighs) I thought you said this place was safe…

VAL – I thought it was, I have all the high-end security money can buy…

ISIS – And its doing a bang up job isn’t it Val? What of the assassin?

VAL – We can’t make a call on him yet, he’s defiantly a crispy critter and he died for his efforts…which is what he deserved…but other then that the only thing we know is that he was the only one in the building and somehow he avoided detection long enough to try and carry out his mission, which failed…

ISIS – (curls in Val’s arms) I can’t do it again Val, I can’t fight them…there’s so many, and Quillion is ruthless…some say unbeatable, everyone who challenges him dies…I couldn’t even stop him from killing my father…I wasn’t fast enough…

Val strokes Isis’s bangs from her eyes, cradling her, whispering in her ear.

VAL – (soothing voice) No Isis, don’t blame yourself…there are just things in this life we cannot control, we cannot change…I can sympathize with not being fast enough, or strong enough but the real reason Isis is that there are certain aspects beyond our control…

ISIS – (sobs) But I tried to avenge him, I tried to fight Quillion…I failed!

Val’s mind teems with the images of himself bound, trying to free himself shortly before the dagger emerges through Gen Zeridian’s chest, trying to shake them…knowing in that moment, in that second he was neither strong enough or fast enough to defy his destiny…fallen victim to it.

Val’s fingers trace the contours of Isis’s long flowing hair, having seen such splendorous strands before they almost reminded him of the picture inside his locket…the very locket Val had fought and bleed for to take back from Cire, the locket baring the inscription, “Before victory comes humility, before duty comes family.”, that his father Russel had inscribed. Isis’s hair almost paralleled the hues of Kathryn Versai’s hair; perhaps this was the connection Val drew between Isis and Kathryn…the reason for his bond. This girl among countless others had breached his personal defenses faster then any other, it wasn’t her beauty either or her innocence it was her…heart.

Val’s eyes wandered back towards a blank spot in the wall, as his memory flashed the same haunting picture show of his nightmare, that look in his double’s face…pure evil, lust, rage…a cold, calculated stare only seen before by his own eyes upon his own features at his biggest and most tragic battles…it was there when he incinerated Cire, it was there when he halved Efface…it was there before he paced from Krevlin’s office down the halls of The Death Star.

Was this evil…this sinister quality really possible to emerge from him? His eyes closed softly as he spoke to Isis slowly.

VAL – Isis I need to know a few things…I need to know more about The Killian.

Isis slowly withdraws from Val’s arms and pulls a chair next to him, looking into his glazed eyes with her innocent pools of emerald before speaking to him, further of her past exploits.

ISIS – What exactly is it that you need to know?

VAL – Tell me about Quillion…about The Killain weapons, tactics, and technology.

ISIS – (Takes a deep breath) Quillion’s face was never been gazed upon by anyone other then Crymson Vachon and his victims. He believes that when one has seen his face, they steal his power…his only solution is to kill those who steal his power, to him a unknown enemy is the most dangerous and since he remains unseen, he could walk anywhere, be anywhere and no one would know who he really is.

Quillion uses a green bladed lightsaber; the hilt is fashioned from elegant, yet clearly masculine designs. The bottom has a jet black vice grip like pattern, while in the center there are discs of silver, leading to a mocking layout of the Jedi Temple that was on Coruscaunt, from the pieces of metal protruding from a ring, in the center is the emitter shroud which to him is a symbolic reference to his Citadel.

Isis takes a slow breath before continuing.

ISIS – Quillion’s attire is more lavish then all of the others whom are required to wear only a certain uniform, which you know as the “Killain” style. The outfits are made of blast dampening fabric and are essentially blaster-proof. They are tight but they allow us maximum range of movement and protection from fire and other caustic materials.

Our technology is advanced, even into gene manipulation and cloning advancement, stolen from The Empire and other sources, though we rarely use it and only Quillion has the authority to use such technology. As you have noticed we carry lightsabers and use various technical weapons, small in scale and undetectable by all forms of scanners and detectors. The material is similar to stealth technology. This would probably explain how your assassin was able to sneak into the building unprotected…

VAL – Yes but that doesn’t explain how he evaded the cameras…

ISIS – (sighs) Unfortunately…there is more you need to know Val.

VAL – Oh? Continue…

Isis draws her feet back, tucking them behind the legs of her chair as if ashamed, as she gathers the right words to tell Val.

ISIS – We have stealth technology and through sources, we have a mass network of stolen technical plans to many, many, facilities…everything from surveillance to weapons systems. The Killain have spies everywhere, both electronic and breathing.

The reason your assassin would not have been detected by your surveillance cameras is because The Killain have invented a device that shields their body from the infrared and radio waves of surveillance equipment…in other words Val, when we have the device active…we look like and appear…as ghosts.

VAL – (stunned) How is that possible?

ISIS – Quillion believes that information is power…we have the information and as you can tell The Killain have attained power from it…the power to disappear, to invade, to assassinate and to disappear.

VAL – (takes a deep breath) Would The Killian risk detection by rigging explosives?

ISIS – No….Quillion would be outraged…the less people know the more powerful he feels he and his group have become.

VAL – Then what are you saying? That the assassin that invaded tonight wasn’t out to kill Lance and Dathan? He was here for another purpose?

ISIS – If he is a true member of The Killian, he would be here to carry out a simple mission, The Killian are rarely confrontational unless hired to kill. We are the shadows…we strike without detection and we disappear.

Though lately Quillion has been getting sloppy (smirks)

VAL – Yes, your survival proves that much…what do you suppose the assassin was here for then? What would you guess his mission was?

ISIS – If I were on the mission, it would be to locate the base, check security then report my findings. In his case…since he set up traps I would say to send a message to you.

VAL – What message?

ISIS – (slides her fingers along Val’s chin, gazing into his eyes)

That you’re not untouchable…

ISIS – Val! Quillion is ruthless; he’s obsessed with you. He has countless artifacts from your history, he sits alone in his throne room brooding over you, every speech he makes he has reference to you. I’d say be might even want to BE you. No one knows exactly what his motives are in pursuing you, many of The Killian wonders the same things but no one dares to question him…

Val blinks a moment, adjusting his suit coat, before lifting his eyes toward Isis, then staring away towards the blank wall again.

VAL – I don’t understand it Isis. If this Quillion wants to kill me, why the games? If he wants a shot at the title why would he constantly send his minions after me, rather then face me himself?

ISIS – Val, it’s intimidation…He wants to find your weaknesses and exploit them, he wants to make you break before he’ll fight you, he needs an advantage…he needs power over you before he’ll face you. He hates you and he loves you…All of us sense that he has a fascination with you that’s that of anger, rage, and yet he holds himself back because there has to be something between you and he, that blocks him from destroying you…some connection holds his wrath back.

VAL – But how? I’ve fought countless opponents, none are as obsessive as he is…none went after my friends, my family, my possessions!

ISIS – Quillion is your most formidable enemy Val, he will use anything he can against you…I assume this “peaceful” time was to allow you to lower your guards before he struck…you can bet that this attack was only the beginning to something on a grander scale…

VAL – What kind of scale?

ISIS – I don’t know, I can’t read his mind but he can read mine, he can read anyone’s mind…this is his power Val, he knows a opponents strengths and weaknesses, he exploits them…tears them down, this is how he wins his battles, on both a psychological battleground as well as physical.

Val slides to his feet, then slips one hand behind his back, letting the other hang loose along his side as he paces around the medical room, as if he has something to tell Isis but knows not the words to present it. The images still thundering in his mind from his double…and the double’s eerie words that are indeed infiltrating his reality…

VOICE – Your failure has given me your most prized possessions…Gen’s life, Gen’s saber, and I have so much more to collect don’t I Val? Perhaps I’ll take Isis’s soul next…or your company you hold so dear!

The eerie tone echoed through Val’s mind and Isis could sense it, over the time she spent with Val since her recovery she knew that glazed over look…that single, slightly opened mouth expression when Val was not in the same room in mind, sure his body was there but his attention…his focus was elsewhere.

ISIS – (touches Val’s shoulder) Val? Val are you there??? I need you…come back to me…

VAL – (snaps out of it) Huh? Oh…I’m here Isis.

ISIS – (quirks a brow) What is it Val? What is it that captures your attention?

Val looks away from Isis, as she now stands behind him, her slender hand on his shoulder as he stands tall, his head slightly turned down as his medium length brown locks cascade down his neck, his eyes narrowed to a emotionless, trance like gaze.

VAL – (turns his eyes only to Isis) I can’t tell you…I can’t involve you Isis.

ISIS – Why? What is it you’re afraid of! Why won’t you let me near Val? What are you scared of?

VAL – (paces towards the door to Isis Quarters) Myself…

Before Isis can respond, Val paces from the room back up the turbolift heading towards his office. Isis stands shocked and stunned by this display…never in her recovery had she seen Val grow so close and yet so momentarily and suddenly so distant he slipped from her embrace…something was bothering her savior, her protector and she felt powerless to stop it. She wanted to help, she told him what he needed to aid his fight, because she cared for him deeply…as deeply as a wife would have for her husband…a sister for a sibling…that bond was there but it was threatened…Isis wouldn’t allow whatever it was, whatever fear it was, it was coming between them and that bridge they had built was in danger of being devastated.

Isis knew Val needed time alone to think, so she did not pursue him. She also know that deep down Val cared for her most so then he let on, she knew that he would never come to hurt her, and whatever fear he had…his choice to leave was with good reason. Laying back in her bed, Isis drifted off to sleep where she had the same dream as before…the ship, the troopers, the explosion…the discovery…then her father Ras Krueger being struck down by Quillion…her memories of her father pouring through her dreamscape, painting scenes from her early age to adulthood.

There was a new element though…something occurred to her that presented itself in her dreams…if she saw a ship and an explosion…then nothing but her Father…what came before it?

What came before…

Ras Krueger?
 

INTERIOR – VERSAI TECH – VAL’S OFFICE

As Val enters the turbolift, heading to his office floor he can feel the force signature of an intruder inside his office…before he’s even exited the turbolift, the Force was everywhere…he knew someone was inside his office as he listened to the hum of the turbolift mechanisms carrying his body higher and higher to the top of the VT Headquarters.

Within Val’s office, a figure moves quickly from one computer consul to the next. Slender fingers fling through folders scattered along Val’s desk, thumbing through Isis’s file, The Killian, files and other classified information. Her eyes, a deep brown flicker as she drinks into the information that VT personnel have gathered on the events of the past couple months.

The girl was the mysterious Adna. She was inside the CEO’s office without permission and clearly she was searching for information forbidden to her access. Perhaps she had learned of Val’s position then took the opportunity to search his office for whatever it was she was looking for.

Her eyes suddenly went wide as she heard the double doors leading into Val’s office part. As the doors opened, her eyes shifted as she ducked behind the desk, hearing the footsteps of a figure pacing along the ground.

The footsteps drew closer and closer, and then suddenly they stopped. Adna’s ears strained to hear any signs of movement, any signs of the figure, not hearing a single rustle of clothing, a impact of a shoe upon the lush carpet…she assumed the figure was gone.

As Adna backed away from the desk, smoothing out her uniform, her eyes grew wide feeling her backside press against the same material as her own…another figure was behind her. She figured she better come up with a story ASAP, but she could not fool the man behind her, nor could she wish to bargain with him.

Adna slowly craned her head around, and fell back against the desk in fright, as her eyes met the cold, fixed gaze of Valaryc Versai looming towards her. Val’s gaze was cold and transfixed, he said no words but his orbs, his stiff posture said all he needed to say to her…

"What are you doing here?"

His body language showed the words to Adna, and her lip quivered at the tall, masculine, foreboding body before her. Not a single muscle tensed in Val’s body, his eyes didn’t even blink. He was just standing there, perhaps in shock, perhaps in anger…you really couldn’t tell, all Adna knew is that she had better come up with some answers and FAST.

ADNA – (nervous) VAL! I oh my god, this is so embarrassing, you see I came in here to look for my access card to my consul and….

VAL – (raises his hand up, palm facing her in a “stop” motion)

ADNA – Val you must believe me…I saved your life remember? It’s Adna, one of your loyal employees?

VAL – (takes a deep breath) Oh Adna, it sure appears you were accessing something in my office, but is sure, as HELL was NOT your console. This act is inexcusable…I do not, nor will I ever tolerate espionage in my company…

ADNA – But Val if you will let me explain I can…

VAL – (shakes his head) Let you explain? Explain what? What are you going to tell me next? You accidentally dropped your contacts on the way in? Weren’t your eyes GREEN last time I saw you?

ADNA – SH!T…Val wait, if you will only give me a chance to explain I’m sure you’ll see the misunderstanding here, I was just…

Val’s eyes narrow as his lips curl in anger, his gaze fastens to Adna and before she can react he flings her against the wall and just as she thinks he would surely kill her…Val does something completely unexpected…

He kisses her…

As his lips contact her own, Val’s mental gates are flooded with her memories, mixed with his own…his skin contacts her soul through her lips, just as Gen’s lips had given him the gift to see another’s memories through the oral contact, he could see everything Adna truly was, from her cruel Imperial Father sending swarms of bounty hunters to kill her, to her time in the Imperial academy to the blasters and training she wielded…her spy missions, her secrets, her lies, her true form…Val quickly flung himself from his grip upon her lips as he stared at her in disbelief.

Adna didn’t know what to feel either; all she knew was Val had just kissed her full on the lips! It wasn’t a kiss of passion it was s kiss of discovery, he kissed her for a purpose she didn’t yet see and she could only gather from Val’s awkward expression upon his tired and wide eyed face, that he found what he was looking for… he knew exactly who she REALLY was…

Val took a deep breath, wiping his lips as his rigid appearance soon faded into a arched, defensive stance…as if he had just been attacked, but mentally…as if he had seen some sort of ghost from his past or some long lost, long forgotten figure…

It was her, the girl he met in the Mos Eisley Cantina, the girl…the dancer that caught his eye…her black pearls adorning her hair as her yellow and black dress hugged her curves, almost exposing her breasts…tantalizing and seductive…but her eyes were BROWN then, her hair was BROWN with cowlicks, not this hair color she had now…he had saved her life…he told her to “Get down”, shortly before his assassins came after him…and later he found her again…

He fought side by side this woman against a legion of stormtroopers. During his flechette pistol wielding days and her, she bore her blasters and both, side by side like two long lost friends they fought against the odds and prevailed against the invaders…

But she had to leave before he could truly know her, obviously she was put in his path for a reason, for meeting on more then one occasion, she had a purpose…he saved her life twice, she saved his life once…but now his fear, his doubt, his anger melted away and he gathered his words carefully, barely audible he spoke to her…from his soul.

VAL – Corrie?

Adna’s eyes widened, as she understood now his “gift” that he used on her, the tactic, the kiss, the connection it was all clear that her cover was blown. He knew who she was, he called her by her REAL name now…she couldn’t hide any longer and she responded with only a single nod, her eyes filled with tears, yet unreleased as the lights cast off the shimmering depths.

Val was flabbergasted as he watched her, the memories of their friendship streaming through his memory as he stood up and adjusted his suit coat, slowly smoothing his fingers back through his hair, re-composing himself walking towards her.

VAL – Why the deceptions…Corerilla Dublon.

CORRIE – It was necessary Val…it was my job.

VAL – For what purpose? Why have you and my company deceived me! Why wasn’t I told of this!

CORRIE – Because Val, we needed you to act as if nothing was going on, as if everything aside from your current troubles with The Killain…it was necessary.

VAL – WHY! WHAT POSSIBLE PURPOSE!

Corrie leans closer to Val, wrapping her arms around him, before stepping back to face him.

CORRIE – Two reasons Val…

VAL – (calm voice) They are?

CORRIE – First off all…I now owe you “one” not two…and this was the only way to find out of the rumors of your return were true…to know if you are truly THE legitimate Valaryc Versai.

VAL – (sighs) That’s why they invented DNA testing dearest…and the second?

CORRIE – You already know don’t you? Haven’t you figured it out?

VAL – What?

CORRIE – First of all I work for you, but not as s programming assistant or your guardian…

VAL – Then whom do you work for?

CORRIE – I work for Versai Tech…Internal Affairs…

VAL – If you’re looking for the leak, he was Devon Troy.

CORRIE – No…according to the investigation into the bombing attempts Val.

VAL – Yes? (raises an eyebrow, sliding his fingers along the base of his chin)

CORRIE – There is another…

Val walks over to his desk, and his nightmare replays in front of his eyes, almost obscuring Corrie’s image and her words as he stands up and grabs his head, trying to push them out…but this time, this time he remembers the words his evil doppelganger spoke to him, and this time…

He listens…

Corrie rushes over to Val as she sees his vulnerable side coming through his brown locks, that same blank expression spreading along his facial regions…as if he had seen a ghost, the expression was as rare as diamonds in reality, it was total…shock.

CORRIE – VAL! What’s wrong? Val I’m sorry about the deceptions but…what is it? Val for the love of yoda, wake up! Speak to me!

Val’s gaze wonders to his desk as the images from his dream plague his mind, playing over and over again…that unifying element, the fire…the deadly, yet seductive form of energy that surrounded his past and now it seems his future and it is then that something finally dawns to him, as his fingers trace the contours of his desk…the same material that Krevlin’s was forged over, his eyes going wide as he almost collapses, stumbling into Corrie’s arms, who is flung against the wall as Val’s eyes flicker, barely in consciousious he understands the riddle…he understands the Dark Side’s message...it has finally become clear to him and he drifts in and out of consciousness, looking up towards Corrie, supported in his arms as his heart races with irregular, throbbing pumps, his blood racing through his veins.

Val’s lips parted, as his eyes, glazed slowly craned up, struggling to meet Corrie’s own brown orbs.

VAL – That’s it…that’s the meaning…he’s…he’s…

CORRIE – (concerned) What? What is it Val? What meaning?

Val struggles with the words, barely between unconsciousness and reality, moving across that thin line as he murmurs…

VAL – (barely audible) The desk…the fire… the explosions…he’s, not…he isn’t…

CORRIE – What? Who isn’t what about the desk? I don’t see a fire!

Corrie tries to bring Val back into consciousness as she shakes his body violently, the frame now limp in her grasp…she knew fear and dread but never the likes of this from the Valaryc Versai, like a tiny child afraid of the boogeyman, Val was shaken, he was toppled and his next words were all one needed to understand just why…
 

CONCLUSION

After all his planning, all his years of closure, after sealing the vault of vengeance in his mind, and avenging his parents deaths, his lovers death…he realized that the Admiral’s desk was practically INVULNERBLE and the OVERTURNED image given to him by his nightmares revealed to him, from the bloody dagger on the floor…NOT in the wall like the one from the assassin against Dathan…

Krevlin…

Had survived…