Still Much to Learn

[Hawkins Grime]

Her despair? Not mine?

Maybe De'Ville could not separate the two beings but Grime knew what it was like. A boy had grown up in the murky shadows of Nar Shadda, traveling with other children like a pack of dogs. And then that boy had been thrown into the Bloody Pits, where he was raised into manhood with dust and blood in his mouth every day. That manling had never known hope like they showed in the holovids but he did not seek such an optimistic future by the time he knew any different. The grunge of Nar Shadda turned that boy into a cold man who caught the eye of a Hutt Crime Boss and in turn, that cold man became a prince of murderers. That prince was prepared for his ascension until his subjects brought him down, condemned him to a death he wasn't meant to survive. That man didn't survive though. Just like that little girl. What came out of those ordeals was something else entirely. From that despair rose the monsters that people feared would come for them eventually.

His metal hand slid around De'Ville's wrist, her hand just a breath away from the metal plates of his shoulder where the dark gem rested beneath.

"I took the idea from that Tomb, just like I took the gems."

=======

Grime gasped for air in the dark. The masked man who exuded darkness and made Grime's flesh crawl had led the way into the darkness of what they had first thought was a Temple. It figured that such a structure, on the Demon Moon Dxun, was actually a Tomb. Lilaena was not far from where Grime stood and that other female, Razielle, or whatever her name was, probably stood in the masked man's shadow, following him around like some leashed pet.

Grime was kneeling beside a sarcophagus, one of two that stood sentinel on either side of the stair way that the masked man was walking up. His metal hands found the lip of the lid and lifted slowly, as quietly as possible. In fact the only noise he heard was his own pathetic breathing and his heart meagerly trying to pump what blood it could with the exoskeleton's help. The lid gave way and Hawkins eased it to the side, leaning it against the sarcophagus with a dull thud. He glanced behind him to see that De'Ville had only gone a bit further. Almost farther than he was comfortable with. His bloodshot eyes searched the darkness of the crypt as he waved his dim glow rod over what was inside.

The corpse inside was no human, humanoid maybe. It was of wicked intent, that was for sure, because Grime could see blades and all sorts of weapons implanted in and beneath the thing's flesh. Its teeth even looked like miniature daggers. Beyond the glimmer of metallic blades, the glow rod quickly caught Grime's attention as it revealed large gems embedded in the thing's flesh. One in each shoulder, and three in its chest.

"Grime!"

His metal fingers, with his pathetic degree of dexterity scrambled to remove the gems before he fell too far behind. This group had no patience for him as it was.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

His hand grasped her wrist, cold metal against warm flesh. De'Ville slid her eyes from his shoulder to his fingers, and then to his new face. "Interesting."

She pulled out of his hold, returning to her seat. "You seem to have a firm grasp on sensing pain, as you say. And you have the ability to inflict it, as you did yesterday." She nodded lightly toward her back. "Once you can reliably influence the emotions of others, then disciplines such as the Mind Trick will be the next step. But if all you can do is cause fear and pain, then your path to the higher mental powers will be cut short.

"You cannot convince a being that you are telling the truth, unless you can influence them in a positive manner."

[Hawkins Grime]

So, maybe there was a hope in the future that Grime might still be capable of telepathy beyond the projection of pain.

He leaned forward slowly, his metal elbows on his knees.

"I have not forgotten what I said when you... attempted to heal me back on the Wyvern. No one cares about the realtruth, Master. The people only know the truth as it is written by the hand of power. Like the Empire does now, or the Hutt syndicates... Or that masked man who led us on Dxun...

You've been with the terrorist alliance or whatever they're called for some time now. I've been training with the Mandalorians and gained their respect to some extent."

Grime looked at his metals hand, clenched and unclenched for a moment as his tasted his next words before speaking them.

"My Master... Is it not time you include me in our plans to tip the truth in our favor?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She canted her head and regarded him, her face impassive as she studied Hawkins and his new, expressive face. To wield him as a weapon, to lay waste to the Empire and carve the heart out of the new Empress... A half smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"The Mando'ade are an impressive group, even more so the ones that live here, untainted by centuries of cultural rot. They've been forced to rely entirely on the basic tenets of their civilization, and so they are a formidable group of warriors.

"We will take them to the stars, and give them what they want. War. With the Empire. With our enemies. With anyone who stands in our way." Her lips curved in a cruel smile. "And we will grow stronger than anyone else, Grime. For now Callidus believes me a leashed dog, to attack those he points me at. But it may not always be so."

She turned to the side, pressing two fingers against her skin near the deepest cut she had received on Terephon. The bacta gel had sealed it, and if she would stop reopening them it would be completely healed by morning. "For now my purposes align with his. Destroy - or take over - the Empire."

De'Ville straightened, looking at the sleek machine man who sat on the floor in front of her. Finally he seemed capable, not just willing, to be a weapon in her hand. "What would it take to get the Mando'ade ready for such a thing? I have my own thoughts, but I would hear yours."

[Hawkins Grime]

"They need a push in the right direction. They've been sitting here for too long. Clan or no, they've grown as comfortable as one possibly can in the Wilds. They need a catalyst. Us."

Hawkins clenched his right fist, the burning sensation in his arm grew as the anticipation of destruction rose.

"It might be bold to suggest, but I think that if the Wilds have turned them into hardened nomads, I'd like to see what the Demon Moon might do to them."

At the mention of the Demon Moon, the gem embedded in every sense of Grime's flesh seemed to reciprocate towards the idea of returning there.

"We start there and when established, turn on targets of opportunity. I'll use what connections I have with the Black Markets in Iziz to get them started. We'll go out of the system as to not draw any attention from Iziz or its... allies. I can use some of the events going on in the actual Mandalore system to our advantage as a further distraction, for them and any who might be overly interested in our affairs."

He leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Grime would let that sink in, let De'Ville think it over. This was something he had been thinking over for some time. The exoskeleton wrought by the Mandalorians' hands was only an example of their ingenuity towards the craft of war.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She nodded, slowly. "Establishing a foothold on the moon... a place to launch from and to prepare at... I like the idea. It sounds costly, though."

De'Ville ran a hand through her short hair. "I do not have many credits, but I am pretty good at making it appear like I do. Move money through enough accounts, the banks don't know whats going on before its too late. Between the two of us we should not have any problems getting what we need to get started."

[Hawkins Grime]

"It'll cost a bit more than just credits by the end of it."

He pushed himself up, his back sliding up the wall.

"That's the easy part though. What about Callidus?"

Hawkins was interested to hear what she had to say about this one. The man exuded power. The masked man was what De'Ville was to him, meaning Grime stood no chance by himself, new exoskeleton or not.

Grime had no great ambitions to simply usurp and rule in stead of the Empress, De'Ville, or Callidus. Grime wanted nothing of the sort. When he slept, the barely functional corpse inside the exoskeleton no longer dreamed of grandeur as he had in another life. He dreamed of a galaxy left in much of the same state as he was physically in now. Whole systems left like barren corpses. The gem in his shoulder almost hummed with agreement.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Callidus.

De'Ville considered the question. What about him? A means to an end, certainly, the end of the Empire. Callidus wanted power, wanted to rule it all - this giant anthill of a galaxy and him on top. To do that he needed the same thing she wanted. The death of the Empire.

Even as she thought it she had a feeling in the back of her head that perhaps that wasn't what he wanted at all. Perhaps he just let her believe what she wanted to be true.

She looked at her apprentice. "For now our purposes align. He wishes to use me to destroy his enemies, and at the moment that means the Empire. I will do that as I see fit. The more chaos we can create the better. He will not trouble us, and if he does I will deal with it."

De"Ville's green eyes glinted with amusement. "Perhaps we will destroy each other when it comes down to it. You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you."

[Hawkins Grime]

Grime let her see the smirk slide across his perfect, handsome, fake face.

"While I doubt I could be that lucky, Master, I would love to be there the moment when you destroy him."

=======

CENSORED stood in that same room, saying that exact same thing as his former self was saying but he took a few steps forward, closing that distance between them. De'Ville began to rise in defense.

"... I would love to be there when you destroy him, and..."

The flame that burst from CENSORED's right shoulder went relatively unnoticed as his hand closed around Lilaena's throat. Her skin was soft against his, and it melted like wax as he leaned in, grinning.

=======

Grime blinked or something similar to it, glancing down at his right hand, still feeling her soft skin between a grip that didn't exist. He had only taken but one step forward. The sarcastic smirk hadn't yet slipped from his face so Grime could judge that not even a moment had passed between that bizarre moment and this one.

"Don't worry, Master. I won't let him kill you..."

He took his steps forward with a grace like a nexu, a trait Hawkins had never been able to demonstrate while in his previous exoskeleton. He then knelt before where De'Ville sat, taking her hand, glancing up at her green eyes, and kissing the back of it with his colder than steel lips.

"I promise."

The gem hummed again and Grime could taste burnt flesh on his black tongue.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She regarded him impassively, resisting the urge to wrench her hand from his grasp. "Impressive. Quite convincing."

He released her hand, and stepped back, his exoskeleton silent and graceful.

"I almost believe you," De'Ville said, a wry twist to her lips. "If only because you feel you deserve the honor of killing me yourself." What a battle that would be, when the student believed himself fit to overthrow the master. Something she had never dreamed of doing to A'na Eldhil, yet now desired to be able to go back in time to destroy the woman, so far out of her grasp now.