Valaryc Versai, walks down the ramp of his Marauder Corvette, "Assailant," pacing toward the entrance to his fortress, deep within the lush, green forests of Ithor. His mind races with the events that have unfolded, swift...fast like the hands of time, how quickly things can change in an instant, years can be lost, hard battles fought forgotten. In short all that he had was gone....

      Val  slowly enters the vast halls of his fortress, his shimmering black boots gliding along the floor with each step that he takes. Hiis eyes show great fatigue from countless hours of sleep deprivation as he makes his way to his master bedroom. Internally Val thinks of everything he has accomplished in his lifetime as of yet, the many battles of honor fought, the many injuries he's sustained to uphold his Creed and for what? To be slapped in the face and then stabbed in the back by countless individuals...each thought gathering one after another into his mind. His eyes fixated in a deep  trance-like state as he desperately searches for someway, somehow to continue the fight, to escape his "destiny" life has delt to him, his reasons for the epic struggle he has battled to avoid for years beginning to fade fast.

He passes one of his favorite rooms. His room he calls his "Room of Valor", not hesitating much, he paces inside.
The room cast in dark shadows, has tiny twinkles of light, like stars peering through the darkness of night, the source of them emanating from his many medals and various pins, and honors this noble fighter has attained for his dedication.

      Val has fought many years on the side of good, always stepping to conflict evil and helping those in need time and time again, while never asking anything in return. As Val stands in the room, he steps to the center, his eyes trained on every accomplishment he's ever received, the brilliant white attire of his Rebel Alliance Commander Jacket that Princess Leia had gave him to the cold dark gray hue of the NIR Minister attire along side it. The two side by side a symbol that those dark can make a choice, a stand and fight to change their own curse fate deals them and stand strong. Val gazes to the outfits, his eyes wandering to his old suit of armor, mixed of both Madalorian and Scout trooper accessories, plates, and various weaponry, looking to the Scout trooper armor he recalls the anger he had towards his parents for leaving him behind, as a boy he looked up to see their ship the Stargazer fly off...alone, like now he is alone...

Holding back his sadness he sees images of his mother, her vibrant blue eyes, long flowing hair and sweet smile that could tame even the most evil wills of men. He remembers the joy he felt when she found him many years later within the city of Mos Eisley, her form walking into the cantina, Val's mind at the time remembering ever detail of her attire, wrapped in dark black robes lik, midnight, flowing around her figure smoothly enhancing every detail, her stride in the room visibly reflecting her sadness from within, losing her son...hoping, praying that she would meet him again.

Val recalls the overwhelming feeling of utter happiness that rushed through him at that moment, when he gazed into her vibrant, radiant, pools of blue that were her eyes, with his own deep brown ones, clouded by tears, held back so long...tears welled up released his control, flowing freely to her and her alone. As his mind focuses on that joy a slight smile spreads across his lips, but the image of a darker individual overshadowing his joy, the face all too clear, yes the dark sadistic, heartless killer known as Admiral Krevlin. He recalls every detail of  when he drove the dagger into Krevlin's shoulder, the feeling of revenge consuming him as he controls the anger, almost a carnal sadistic joy to see the one who made his life hell fall under his hand. The weakness and pain the man showed to him, the terror in his eyes as he felt what real unbridled rage was...knowing he was going to die. Val having experienced death all around him since he was separated, had no compassion for Krevlin...walking away letting him hang there, having seen his lover Gen Zeridian struck down before his eyes, he always blamed himself for not being able to help her...he was at that moment blinded to his sources of compassion, or guilt..for what was right, and what was noble, he faded back to his darker tendencies in that moment, only blinded by a lust for revenge...at last with Krevlin defeated he had it...and he loved it.

Val closed his eyes, his mind opening to images long buried of when he was a boy...when he was abandoned by his family a recurring memory that has haunted his dreams every night, burning into his very soul, despised by his own father who wished for a daughter, the anger swelling deep within Val's consciousness, buried long and deep...forced low where no one can reach it. a silent pain now released...erupting within him, his very soul so guarded by light, by good exposed to it. He refocuses now upon the present...venturing within the dimly like room to another uniform slipping from his thoughts,mixed with both blue and white with traces of RA signature red...the pain intensifies within him, feeling the back stabbing for his many years of exhausting dedication to the ones he cared for, the ones he trusted...glancing along the folds of the jacket to the vibrant pin on the lapel.

The letters "NAR" shine upon it, one time standing for the "New Allied Republic"...a joke now, but at one time he believed strongly in the possibility of all the lightside factions standing together, having only been betrayed for his patience, his trust shattered when the NAR fell toThe Krath.

      His eyes began swell, tears forming...again, his mind desperately searching for a way to hold on, to keep fighting the destiny set before him, the years of torment that he's kept buried deep from just about everyone around him. His gaze slowly moving to yet another uniform, bathed in hues of deep blue and vibrant purple, the pin attached baring the letters VRA, "Val's Rebel Alliance", His eyes closes once more as his mind focuses how he once held the RA together after the NAR fell, his passion to keep the fight, setting up his retirement to gather in secret and strike back, tears streaming down his cheeks, hitting the floor like fiery packets of hellfire that were dropped on the NAR by The Krath, shattering to pools of wetness along the floor, absorbing into the surface as Val has absorbed everything that life has given to him. Val's eyes darting around the room, realizing for once everything he's done had been in failure...as if there is no way to stay on the side of light, to fight the future and become one of those who refuse to give in and be swallowed by the darkness.

Desperate, shattered, and questioning his own moralities and his own personal accomplishments and successes he walks away, out of the room...out of the pain, out of the past. Val takes refuge within his master bedroom, his head lowered to the floor, eyes trained in deep thought as his long black sleeveless trench coat billows around his form, moving in rhythm with his emotions it would seem, slow and silent to the world, embracing his slender frame.

Val places his hand on the scanner;  the DNA reader then quickly opens his quarters with a slight hiss of hydraulics. Val wastes no time, heading instantly to his bed, collapsing across it...not moving, not caring...just listening to the thoughts that torment him mentally from the inside, no one has defeated him in battle from the outside, but slowly, very slowly he knows he's losing the fight from the one who knows him most...himself.

      As he closes his eyes he is transported through his mind to a place he once knew, a vast forest bathed in lush shades of green, plants, trees stretching to the heavens, then his gaze turning to the solid, jagged wall of stone, the hidden panel which he alone knows peering to him, the place he studied as a Force user, learning the nature of powers he never understood...the Dark Jedi Academy under the grounds of Endor...his home...

      Val turns his back from the scene, looking to the door open slowly, the dimly light halls covered in imperial insignias and various pictures and statues of the cold one known as Palpatine and the ominous figure of the Dark Lord, Lord Vader...gracing the halls. The place seems to call for him to enter, to give in and embrace his past...to come back to where he used to be, what he used to lead, where he had the only thing he knew...the closest thing to a family...

      Slowly however, Val walks away, his will is strong and his stubborn attitude prominent.  He recalls the death he faced here, seeing countless Jedi destroyed, struck down simply for just that, being a Jedi. He alone experiencing this, the echoes of death ripping though his mind as he stood heartless and cold over them by his lover Gen Zeridian, who revealed so much to him no other cared to teach him. Sharing his first experience of love within her dark, depths and her alone,  his will would strike down any person who would dare harm her, his Master...his lover

...A voice echoes from within the temple to him.

      The voice is dark, yet seductive, a sweet sound embedded with dark tendencies, the voice is that of the fallen Dark Jedi Master, Gen herself...She calls to him...from the shadows, unseen but well heard.

"Val, Val don't fight anymore love, look to your friends, look to where you chose to go, every lightside attempt you have strived to reform had crumbled at your feet, honey come home, come back to me...come back to the destiny you know you cannot avoid, you cannot fight."

Val's eyes widen at her words, he knows she's dead, yet her words pierce through every defense he has, emotion overpowers his sense of right and wrong, his sense of Light and Dark clouded by feelings he's buried deep...he speaks to Gen, to a ghost...with utter shock...,

"Gen...you're dead, I couldn't save you...I could do nothing, don't you understand? I incinerated the entire council, the entire temple, I fried Cire to ashes...but nothing none of it can bring you back to me, I stood with the light and found only darkness buried within it. I cannot go back to my evil ways...I have to fight, don't you understand I CANNOT!"

Gen's voice seductively replies to Val,

"But dear, honey, love...look around you, what is there left to turn to? Darkness invades everything you touch, everywhere you go, the more you fight the more you hurt others, the more they fall...give up, come home...stop fighting the future and embrace it, you are more that what you've allowed yourself to be come, you hold more power than you allow yourself, you could rule worlds, you could have anyone you wished, but you deny yourself...why?"

Val's voice shaky and riddled with indecision replies...

"Because I believe that good will win, it will prevail no matter what, I have done everything to ensure it, but you are right.... *sighs* I cannot keep fighting alone, I'm tired...tired of the countess attempts to win, only to lose...but regardless I cannot have you back...I hate the Empire and the Darkside for taking you away from me, I gave countess hours to my studies of weaponry, training, dueling, and mastering both arts...for nothing, with all that you still fell and I could do nothing! How can you blame me? How can you judge me!"

Gen's voice does not shake, but grows from cold to soothing replying to Val smoothly,

" I do not judge you lover, I died for my love for you...like you I defied my fate, my destiny and I paid for it. You my love need not make yourself suffer, you don't deserve too, with your family and all your pain you have every right to embrace the darkness within you, I do not judge you or blame you love, I just want to put your mind at rest...quit fighting, there's nothing left to fight for is there? Is there really? Answer me one thing that would prove me wrong."

      Val's eyes water with tears, searching through his mind through every event looking for something, anything to reply back with...he finds nothing...Gen's voice calm and soothing fades away, the imagery of the room in his mind fades back as the surroundings of his master bedroom sweep back, was he sleeping? Was he talking to his own thoughts? Before his questions are answered a slight glow appears in the middle of his room. Val's eyes widen at the figure before him bathed in a blue radiance.

The figure wrapped in a long black trench coat with a vibrant yellow strip along the collar to the tips touching the floor, her pants deep gray, as her shirt too continues the gray pattern, streaking to each custom made latch, pointed in triangular shaped, beveled like daggers holding her lush shirt closed across her ample chest, her long vibrant purple hair spilling across her shoulders her dazzling purple eyes, radiant as they gaze to him, her long knee high shiny black boots
almost identical to the ones he wears sans the golden "V" etched on his boots...the trim form of the figure and breathtaking features mean the figure cold only be one person, the one person Val has missed the most in his life..Gen Zeridian herself.

      His mouth drops in silent wonder, as he slowly seems to gaze into his past, emerging through the image of Gen before him, his hands almost reaching to touch her, but holding back. Gen's eyes look deep to Val's , as if staring straight to his very soul, her ample, lush red lips part to speak to him once more...

"Valaryc Versai my love, take my hand dear...come back home, stop denying yourself, your destiny."

Val's eyes still filled with shock still gaze to Gen's glowing form, as his lips part slowly, drawing his breath to reply to her saying...

"I...I can't...you're dead, it will change nothing...I must fight the future life has delt me, I can't give in...giving into the darkness will only cause me to fall like so many others."

 Gen's lips curl seductively in a almost carnal glee her words very soft yet firm,

"Honey you were always the stubborn one, I refused your advances but you didn't care, you had to have me and you took me as your own...so then it is with this fate you fight, your stubborn nature causes you to suffer time and time again as people fall around you, you cannot save everybody dear, but you are wrong...you are more than you let. yourself become, you are not unmatched in battle because you're a lightsider or your skills, no you are cause your will is strong, you refuse to give in to death, taking every ounce of damage you receive to draw strength from it and fight back harder than before, think dear, think about how you can use that energy for something productive...you can help those who need it, yes you may never turn evil and cold like I was, you changed me, your persuasive nature is uncanny, but regardless I see your faith in what is "right" fading as you follow your code, and see others ignore you, deny you...refuse to listen, I know you are tired lover, I  know that you long for relief, for release...."

"Let go dear...come home, please...just embrace your fate, don't fight your destiny any longer, I do not blame you for my death, we all are responsible for our fates...I have watched you go through many relationships to fall, to be hurt...taken advantage of, let it go dear...I know you love your "Kitten", would you let people strike her down? Would you allow the same fate you suffered with me repeat itself? Teach her lover, embrace her and embrace your destiny...they do not care anymore, I do."

    Val searches for the words to say, the words to fight gazing deep, images of his past flooding his mind, images of when  Kitty fell to a dark figure in the shadows, his family falling to the evil tendencies of others...no more, his mind is clear...if he must give in to his fate he will not do it for evil, not for gain, but for love to embrace his family and protect them...Gen's hand reaches out in support to Val, beconing him to take it within his own. Val looks to the outstretched hand, swallowing deep...his eyes stained with tears from countless nights of hidden pain and agony none have seen...looking around the room to the loneliness within it, to the indentation on his jacket where a RA Leadership pin once stood proud...a void now left behind, his accomplishements...gone.

      His eyes close slowly then reopen as his mind becomes silent...the messages to his brain and his senses dimmed, he stands to his feet his eyes trained on Gen's glowing form...her eyes staring back with nothing but invitation within them, a feeling of "embrace me", Gen's words to echo to Val again whispering...

"Val lover, come home...take my hand."

Val's eyes again wander along Gen's form, his feet rise, and walk slowly towards the shimmering apparition, one foot after another till they meet in front of Gen...his hand stretches out, rather his whole form as his arms open, collapsing into Gen's form...Val's mind at that point a peace...he's taken the step and has embraced the darkness, the destiny he's dodged, fought, and buried deep for so long. As Val embraces Gen she in turn embraces him, both of the two separated by undying love together again in this moment...no logic remains here as the figure of Gen runs her delicate fingers through is hair, his energy spent, not wanting to move or leave her arms...she whispers to him

"Love, I'm not here just to relieve you, I'm here to tell you...after so long, so many years of separation, I have found a way to return to you."

      Val's lips part into a silent gasp, as his tears flow down his cheeks...not wanting to let go, not wanting to be alone anymore...grasping his whole being into his lovers arms...the only place he's felt true peace...as she fades away,  leaving him there alone in the darkness on his knees, alone with his tears, fears, words, and her last pasting words drilled into his memory "you are more than you have become" and "I have found a way to return to you."

With those last words,  the one who has fought so long, fought hand suffered so hard and dodged his own destiny...surrenders to it....

Valaryc Versai, returns to the darkness that has been with him since the beginning.. his purposes clear, and his path set now...
 

      "Even the strong cry, even the strong suffer, even the strong must face their destiny...even the strong can fall." So it begins anew.......