"Have fun exploring the ruins!" her total asshole of a Master shouts down. "Contact me when you've found something interesting!"

How about this extremely pointy collection of stones she's landed on? They've certainly grabbed her attention.

Probably her grumbled, muffled invective doesn't make it all the way up there, but her expression does a fine job.

"And the more interesting your find, the greater your reward will be."

Grrrr.

Sidious is lucky Salacis thinks she's so pretty.

Smirk.

"Remember what you've learned," she warns, still far too amused, and the ship begins lifting away from her apprentice.

Terrible. Horrible. Worst master ever.

Salacis starts wriggling free of her binds, then remembers that she has lightsabers. She summons one of her beskar-plated blades to her hand and snips through the connecting rope in a fuchsia blaze. Springing to her feet, she stretches out and starts looking around. (She's going to leave the gag in, just for fun.)

The area she's been dropped on is a red, dusty plain. There's ruins rising in the distance, the rubble of buildings of clay brick tumbled at the feet of an imposing black pyramid, so dark that it reflects none of the hazy light. It's not very tall - that feels odd, like this thing should dominate the landscape, the planet, not sit in a sea of clay dust.

There's not much else, especially not interesting. The scraggly outlines of what might be trees a good distance away from the ruins, some rock formations...

All right, well. That's probably a Clue. Not like she was dumped here randomly, after all. So something... inside the pyramid, probably. She's got some walking ahead of her.

She scoops up her other tonfa and heads pyramidwards.

The distance is farther (and hotter, and dustier) than it looks. Hopefully she remembers her training on pulling on the Force for endurance (or speed, even).

The ruins... Don't seem that interesting, really. Lots of crumbled bricks, some faded evidence of carvings in a script or with stylized motifs Salacis doesn't recognize, some small metal objects, fragments of broken pots... They're a bit weird, though. Like all the houses just folded in on themselves.

The pyramid doesn't have any glaringly obvious entrances, even once she gets closer.

Once it's clear how far she'll have to go, she does draw on the Force to get her there healthy and in good time. Free tanning session, given her lack of clothes.

She pokes idly at the ruins as she passes, memorizes a couple instances of the carvings just in case. She circles the base of the pyramid once, looking for doors. And if that doesn't yield results... she'll try climbing it.

No visible doors, no.

She's not really able to get purchase to climb it, though. It's pretty bizarrely smooth.

Hrrrmmm okay back to the base. Any kind of... carvings, suspicious indents, caves in the ground?

There's some differences in the rubble piles - and she gets a creeping sense of unease when she's exploring one particularly destroyed section, where it looks like the roads suffered a lot of damage, too, not just the buildings. The ground's uneven, almost sagging.

Hmmmm.

What if she back up a reasonable distance, levitates this handy chunk of rock over there and... drops it!

Thud!

And then there's a little shiver, a shake - and the ground starts collapsing.

She should maybe get a bit more distance. Maybe.

Yep! Back back back she is scrambling backwards.

The sinkhole stops eventually - and she gets clear of it.

That's a pretty massive hole, really. It goes straight to the edge of the pyramid, spreads most of the way along that edge, and then arcs out in a half circle. It looks deep, too - and she can see more of the pyramid now, though she can't see where the bottom of the edge of the sinkhole nearest her is, not when she's this far from it.

Ha! Just like she planned it. Time to see if there's anything more like a way in further down the hole.

Nothing in clear line of sight - but she can't see all the way to the bottom. She could jump in, though.

In she jumps!

She falls a very long way. (It's pretty lucky she just got a refresher on slowing herself with the Force, actually. That fall would've been fatal several times over otherwise.)

And the bottom is, of course, pitch black - she lands on a rough pile of clay dirt and shards of brick, going by the feel and also the sudden cloud of cloying dust.

That was probably predictable, given what was on the surface, now collapsed down here. Salacis coughs around her gag, waving the dust away from her face.

She spins her left-hand weapon around so the blade points away and ignites it, holding it high to use as a flashlight.

There's: a lot of rubble!

...And possibly an indent over there, at the base of the pyramid. Or the top of one; it's covered by rubble.

Perfect. Now all she has to do is clear enough rubble to get at it.

Which is, uh, a lot easier to say than do but there's no one to help but her so she'd best get to it.

The pile's pretty unsteady, and also extremely deep and contains a lot of small bits that look and feel like they should be more similar than they are, and every move sends up a cloud of clay dust. Her Master would probably call it a good exercise.

Salacis does, however, gradually get enough of the opening clear that she can see most of what's probably a set of double doors.

Are the doors the same kind of stone as the pyramid?

No - they don't absorb the light from her lightsaber nearly as much, and they seem more metallic than anything.

So probably she could cut through them? Clearing the rest of this is going to be tedious...

Well, she's gotten the pile mostly low enough she could squeeze through just the top.

Perfect. Here goes, then.

The top of the door fortunately provides no resistance to her lightsaber. There's a drop beyond that - again pretty far, but not nearly as bad as her fall onto the rubble, and this time she hits a smooth floor. There's no dust in here, too, except what she brought with her, and it's cold.

The walls look like they're made of the same dull material as the door, and have carvings in them - different from the ones on the surface. They look like potential star charts, actually, just not any Salacis immediately recognizes.

She's at one end of a long hallway, and her lightsaber's glow doesn't go far. She doesn't see any hazards right now, but - that doesn't mean there aren't any, and the hairs on the back of her neck are rising for some reason.

Brrrr. Chilly.

Hand navigation isn't her strongest point, but she knows the most common references for each sector. She takes a moment to see if anything looks even vaguely familiar. Making sure to keep half an eye open for zombies or mummies or terentateks, of course.

Hmmm...

Sort of? This looks vaguely like the charts for this sector, actually - with either a very inaccurate artist or minus at least a few hundred thousand years. 

...Huh. That's. Extremely odd.

Not quite interesting enough, though, not without a full explanation for why it's here, Salacis thinks. Which means she's gotta head further into the dark.

She gets a sense of creeping, impending doom when she's about a hundred feet down the corridor...

Yeeeeaaaah okay she's gonna stop. Pause, back up, take stock, try to triangulate to source of the doom more precisely.

It's ahead of her! Seems to be something about the corridor itself - at least, it isn't getting bigger or smaller or more or less urgent on its own. 

That's... less than ideal. Probably some kind of trap.

She doesn't have any of the equipment Kayra, her Mandalorian mentor, taught her to use, but she does have the Force. So maybe she can- set off the trap remotely?

Hmm... Maybe. She'll need to poke it a lot more - she isn't sure exactly where it is, and her sense of the hallway slips through her fingers like ink. 

Can she just... push with the Force like she's walking and move that pressure down the hall?

She successfully creates a strong gust of air! She possibly was not actually trying to do that. 

She also successfully sets off a pressure plate - but nothing immediately happens, except her sense of dread getting a little bit worse. 

Welp.

Probably okay for her to walk down the hall herself, then.

That doesn't seem to present any new problems, though it's a bit hard to differentiate possible causes of Impending Doom.

She hits a massive room before the doom catches up to her - her hallway lets out onto a walkway around a deep pit. The ceiling and floor and other walls are all outside of what her saber illuminates, but she can see the murky outlines of walkways on other levels and crossing the pit.

This place is pretty spooky.

Are there any other entrances on her level?

Not that she can see. 

Right.

She'll have to pick a level to jump to, then. Let's try... going up, for a change.

The sense of danger suddenly gets very high while she's mid-air - and there's a bright flash as blaster bolts fly at her from numerous directions. 

Eep!

She twists, tucks in, spins her blades to ward off as many bolts as she can- fortunately her weapon of choice is well-suited to this sort of defensive action. She lands in a roll on the level below the one she was aiming at, lightly scorched.

There's a moment of breathing room, a loud hum - and then another barrage.

She's slightly better set to handle this one, and there are fewer angles she needs to cover.

It doesn't really let up entirely while she's standing there, though there's regular pauses - staggered between the sources of the bolts - probably to let the cannons cool down.

Once she catches the pattern, she starts using the pauses to maneuver herself towards an exit, out of this room.

She can find another hallway!

As long as a) there are no blasters in the hallway and b) it doesn't lead her back to the Big Black Pit of Death, she's all right with refocusing her explorations here.

It seems to lead to barracks, mostly, and a small access staircase in a back corner - heading one floor up, or five down.

Sigh. Last time she went up, she started getting shot out, so she guess she'll surrender to the inevitable and try the staircase down, paying attention to her her Sense of Doom when it gets extremely strong and imminent, but otherwise basically just moving forward.

This doesn't get her shot at! Immediately. 

She has to navigate - and sometimes just fight - several other apparently automated systems, but she makes it through. She gets very deep by the time she comes to an enormous, egg-shaped room built around a strange pod.

The pod is different from the rest of the pyramid or the settlement outside - there's strange symbols traced on its surface, flares of color, and it's otherwise crystalline and mostly clear, though the image of a naked human woman curled into a fetal position inside is distorted by the numerous prisms.

...Whoa.

This definitely counts as interesting. Probably more interesting if Salacis can get her out of the pod... Is there a control panel or something?

She doesn't see one. 

But the pod feels very weird to more than just Salacis's mundane senses. (Like potential, almost.)

Hum. Yeah.

The question is how to bring that potential forth...

(She pokes the pod where one of the pretty patterns coverges.)

There's a chime, felt more in the Force than in her ears. It sends shivers through Salacis's body, and the pod doesn't change visibly, but... That potential feels more imminent. Like a wave about to crash.

That did something.

Let's try another poke.

A deeper chime, and another and another each time she pokes -

And then the pod starts to glow.

She steps back a bit. To give it room to glow.

It shimmers and - unravels, almost, unfolding in an eerily perfect harmony, and the woman inside unfolds herself, stepping out of the egg and then rising to her full height, facing Salacis.

She's still naked, and, also, incredibly tall. Easily two feet taller than Salacis, actually.

Salacis looks up (and up and up) at the woman.

"Wow," she says, or tries to. It comes out more like "Aaoah". She forgot she still has the gag in.

She steps towards Salacis (who is, actually, at exactly the right height that the woman's breasts could easily rest on the top of her head), and then reaches up and touches the strap of the gag, tilting her head curiously.

"Is this traditional clothing in your culture?" she asks, voice strong and crystalline.

...Blush!!

"Uhuh. Urmh." She makes to gather the presence of mind to reach up and loosen the gag to let it slip out of her mouth, hanging around her neck. "Um. No. It isn't."

"Oh? Does it indicate something, then?"

"...That I'm a brat who's too loud for her own good?"

Hum. "You were very insistent in waking me from standby mode."

"Aheh. Um. Sorry about that."

"I hardly mind," she says, "So long as you can take me for a ride out of here."

"I can do that. Give you a ride. Out, I mean. Off the planet. We'll have to get out of this pyramid first."

Nod.

"I don't recognize this place..." she says, then turns back to her pod and begins folding it up smaller.

"It wasn't like this when you, uh, landed?"

She turns back to Salacis and shakes her head. "No. There was a deep valley here - a river valley, surrounded by green mountains."

"You've been inside a while, then. There's no more river. Or green. Or mountains, really."

"Yes, my sensors are indicating such..."

"You have sensors?"

"Yes," she says. "That is how I know your language - some of the sensors I left in assorted systems have kept up with periodically sampling transmissions, though updates to me are by necessity intermittent."

"Oh. That makes sense." Wait no it doesn't she's not in her pod anymore so how is she getting updates about what her sensors are indicating? "Are you like, a droid or something?"

Hum. "The definitions of your galaxy do not account for what I am particularly well. I am not an organic as you would understand the term, however, but I am not a droid either, I would say."

"A something, then."

"Quite something."

"Oh for sure."

"Uh, about getting out of here... I can get us off-planet but there are some defense systems in the building that I may have um, provoked a little bit."

"How dangerous are they?"

"Depends on how vulnerable to blasters you are."

"Not exceptionally so."

"It might be fine, then. There are a lot of blasters but not much else."

"I can protect you," she says, "If you're vulnerable."

She holds up her tonfa. "I managed to get in, didn't I? I've got my lightsabers."

She nods, eyeing the lightsaber with interest.

"Good," she says. "Lead the way."

Time to retrace her footsteps. Salacis makes sure to mention when they're about to hit a location with a trap she's tripped before.

Exceptionally helpful.

Getting out is much easier than getting in was - the woman does in fact seem immune to blaster bolts. She also, apparently, has an energy weapon embedded in her left forearm, which she uses to very precisely take out anything firing on them. 

Of course, getting out of the pit once they've exited the pyramid is a bit more complicated. 

"...How good are you at jumping?"

She looks up... And up... And up...

"Not that good," she says, wryly.

"I should be able to give you a lift up."

"How good are you at jumping?"

"I wouldn't go all the way at once, but..." she traces a path out by pointing. "There to there to there, then to the top." (Her indicated footholds probably wouldn't hold someone very much bigger than her. And some she'll still be balancing on one foot.)

"I'll be in your capable hands, then."

"So to speak."

Salacis takes a moment to concentrate, gathering her power, then reaches out with a lifting gesture and begins raising the other woman up through the air to the top of the pit.

She holds fairly still! Though she looks around - and down - with clear interest.

Fortunately, using the dark side means Salacis can channel her appreciation of the view directly into her efforts, rather than it being a distraction.

Once her passenger is safely out of the pit, she gathers her energy around her again and begins hopping up to join her.

She backs up a good distance from the edge. And, once Salacis has landed on firm ground again: "Impressive."

"I am, yeah!"

Small grin. "And where's our ride out?"

"I'll have to call her. Give me a moment."

Salacis isn't great at this, so she kneels down to meditate on her connection with Sidious.

Fortunately, Sidious is almost terrifyingly good at this, and once Salacis makes that first tentative connection, she reaches back - encouraging Salacis's efforts, guiding her in reaching out -

'Have you found something, Apprentice?'

'Yes, Master. A sleeping woman, from far away and a very long time ago. I think the pyramid might have been constructed around her-' she sends over a mental impression to add to her description.

Salacis gets a silent, warm glow of pride in return.

'Return to where I dropped you off, Apprentice,' she commands.

'Yes, Master.'

She cuts off the connection and stands, dusting her knees. "We've got a bit of a walk to meet our ride," she says.

She nods.

"I didn't sense any transmissions," she notes, tone curious.

"I used the Force."

"Fascinating." She smiles. "Perhaps you could tell me about how that works on our walk."

"I'm no expert, but I'll try. We're headed that way," she points.

"One doesn't need to be an expert to have interesting ideas," she teases as she starts walking.

Off!

"'Interesting ideas' and 'explaining how it works' isn't always the same thing."

"But both are rewarding to learn."

"As long as you pick the right teacher."

"I have good judgment, fortunately."

Giggle. "That's useful."

"One of many useful skills I have, yes."

"What are some others? Oh, and do you have a name?"

"I'm Rodanthe," she says. "And I'll show you mine if you show me yours - starting with your name, of course."

"Darth Salacis. Darth is a title."

"Salacis," she says, testing out the sound of it in her mouth. "A very lovely name."

Heee.

"Thanks. Rodanthe's pretty, too."

"Thank you," she says. "I chose it."

"Nice."

Grin.

Now, Salacis had said she would explain the Force...?

Well, she'll do her best. The Force is hard to explain.

It's like this... mystical energy pervading the galaxy that some people can manipulate. Her master sometimes talks like it's alive, like it has thoughts and desires. Salacis wouldn't go so far as to say it can talk, but... sometimes it kinda feels like it's poking you? Making you notice stuff you might not otherwise or drawing attention to certain details.

Fascinating... The greatest power she's known is the Maker, who is both like and unlike that - a intense and powerful will, and a source and embodiment of energy, but one singularly driven...

Salacis has never heard of anything like that.

"I traveled from another galaxy, originally," she says. "Much here is strange."

"...I don't think anyone's every come from another galaxy before. Or left this one."

"I'm special, then."

"Very."

"You're very special, too."

"Others have tried to wake me. You are the first to succeed."

"I guess we have a connection of destiny."

She laughs. "An interesting way to look at it."

"It's romantic, really, if you think about it. You, the mysterious and powerful stranger adrift in time and space, locked sleeping in an ancient prison until I, the young and beautiful waif pass through many trials and dangers to arrive at your boudoir and awaken you with true love's first, uh, poke at a pretty pattern."

She laughs. "Is that a classic romance tale, here?"

"The general arc. Maybe not the specific details."

"Oh, good. I'd hate to be unoriginal."

Giggle. "It's classic."

"An original twist on the classics is acceptable."

"We've got that, no problem."

"Excellent."

"Destiny is something the Force does too, kinda. Visions of the future, or, like, possible futures. I'm only really good at using that for immediate danger type stuff, though. Like knowing where the blaster bolt is gonna be before it hits me so I can block it. One of my, um, mentors is better, she can see stuff that's years away when she tries."

"The Maker has plans," she says, "But they're not always predictive."

"The Force sounds very useful."

"Yeah. There's physical stuff too, like you can use it to be faster and stronger, heal more quickly..."

"How strong?"

"Stronger than I look. I bet I could carry you around."

"I'd like to see that."

"Now?"

"Seems a convenient time."

"Here goes, then."

She scoops Rodanthe up, one arm beneath her legs and the other supporting her back.

The balance is a little awkward given Rodanthe's sheer size - and she's significantly heavier than she should be, too, just from looking at her.

Salacis staggers a little, but keeps her footing and starts walking again.

"How do you like it?"

Entirely unhelpful languid sprawl. "You're very strong, yes."

"I think for longer distances we'd have to come up with a better position, though."

"It could use some refining," she says, "Which is quite fortunately also a skill of mine."

"Oh, good."

She's starting to breathe more heavily.

Amused smirk.

Salacis makes it a little further before setting Rodanthe back down.

"A good first attempt."

"You'll have to help me improve for the next one."

"I intend to."

"I can't wait."

"Good."

(Sadly, it seems they'll be waiting for Salacis's Master - she's not there yet when the two arrive at the pick up location.)

"Looks like we have some time to kill."

"With more pleasant company than before."

"And more range of motion than afforded by a stasis pod."

"An opportunity for a wider variety of new experiences."

"What sort of experiences are you thinking about exploring?"

"Well... My first trip did give me a chance to test all of my sensors except the ones for physical direct contact..."

"Does that mean you want me to touch you?"

"Yes." Then, teasingly: "It'd be very helpful."

"I'm nothing if not helpful," she giggles.

"You've done me two great services already."

"I'd like to do you a couple more..." She steps closer.

She closes the rest of the gap, looming over Salacis but not quite touching, not yet. "Oh?"

She reaches out to lightly run her hands up Rodanthe's side, from her thighs to her breasts.

Deep hum. "Light touch sensors there seem to be functional... Try firmer now."

Salacis steps into Rodanthe and wraps her arms around her tight.

"Very good girl..." She runs her own hands down Salacis's back, exploring the play of her muscles, the feeling of her ribs...

(Rodanthe doesn't feel quite human to the touch. Too cool, her skin too perfectly smooth, and she very clearly doesn't have true ribs.)

Oooh.

Salacis plants a kiss on Rodanthe's sternum.

Pleased noise. (She tastes odd, too. Sharp, almost like copper.)

Interesting... Clearly, further experimental kisses are required.

The space near what would be joints on a human taste a little bit different - and get more appreciative noises.

Noises are good.

Nibble nibble.

She laughs, and scrapes her fingernails down Salacis's side. 

This provokes a significant amount of wiggling!

Harder, this time (her nails turn sharper and stronger).

"Yessss...."

It sadly isn't that much longer before Salacis hears her Master's ship approaching. 

Mrrr maybe if she pretends she doesn't hear it they can keep going a little longer.

The ship gets closer... And closer... And then: "Having fun without me, Apprentice?"

"Lots."

"Well, if you want a ride out... You may have to share."

Salacis is definitely in no way, shape, or form opposed to that thought.

"You'd have to ask her," she giggles. "Um, Master, this is Rodanthe, the one I found. Rodanthe, this is my master, Darth Sidious."

"Hello."

"Hello to you, too."

She gestures negligently behind her, and the ship lands. She hums, then. "You're interesting."

"And fun, apparently."

"My idea of fun is a bit different than my Apprentice's. Not cognitive."

"Something I can appreciate."

"Good."

"Welcome aboard." Then, to Salacis: "Show our guest to a bunk, Apprentice."

"Yes, master."

To Rodanthe, "You can have the one next to mine."

"If it's designed for you, will it be tall enough for me?" she teases, stepping up behind Salacis and lightly draping her arms over her shoulders. (Which, given her elbows are about even with Salacis's shoulders...)

"It's not designed specifically for me. But, uh, you're going to be a bit of a squeeze..."

"I can curl up."

"You might have to."

"We'll see." To the bunks, then? 

To the bunks!

Salacis's is decorated with little glittery blaster stickers. Rodanthe will indeed need to curl up to fit into any of ones available.

"I like your decorations," she says. 

"Thanks. Gotta mark what's mine, you know?"

"Is that traditional, here?"

"Nope! I am a trend-setter."

"It'd be an interesting tradition to develop."

"Some things might need something different than stickers..."

Considering hum. "Are there ways to permanently fix images into your species' skin?"

Nodnod. "Yeah, they're called tattoos. Ink injected below the skin."

"Interesting. Does it feel like anything?"

"Not once you've got it? But it hurts while you're getting it done and while it's healing."

"Interesting, certainly. And I'd be tempted to investigate more exotic substances than ink..."

"There's like, e-ink tattoos, that can glow and change shape..."

"Do they hurt more?"

"I don't know."

"Something to research, or perhaps experiment with..."

"Maybe! It's a pretty permanent thing to experiment with, though."

"I'd need a willing volunteer."

Giggle. "I suppose you would."

"Do you know where I'd find one?"

"Mmmaaaybe. Might have to devote a little more effort to the search, though."

"I see."

"I hope you do." She strikes a little pose.

She steps in and kisses Salacis.

Kiss!! It's very hard to refuse someone of Rodanthe's stature when they want a kiss. Salacis likes that.

Good, because Rodanthe likes how helpless Salacis is here...

They fit together well.

Like a key in a lock.

Rodanthe can get Salacis's tumblers to click any time.

Well, Salacis did start something earlier...

Ooh, is she gonna get held to her promises?

Yes. Rodanthe always takes what she's owed.

Good to know.

Demanding kiss!

Kiss!!

Maybe Salacis should climb up Rodanthe a little to make kisses easier...

If she puts her legs around Rodanthe's waist, she ends up at the exact right height for some very enthusiastic kissing.

Just as planned.

Rodanthe very helpfully pushes her against the wall - adds some stability - hard enough Salacis is being a little bit squished.

Squeak!

Nibble!

Whine!

A sound that clearly begs for a harder bite.

Judging by the wiggles, yep.

Fortunately, Rodanthe is fully capable of biting hard enough to draw blood.

That elicits a pleased gasp.

Mmm... And since she isn't using her hands to hold up Salacis... That frees them to tug hair, or drag unnaturally sharp nails down Salacis's side (drawing only a stinging hairline of blood, at first).

"Aahh- Mmm- Moooorrrre!"

More, like Rodanthe's lips and teeth and fingers all heating up? 

If that's what it takes!

The real question is if that's enough? 

Depends how hot those points of contact get.

Hot enough to burn, if Salacis continues reacting well.

Perfect.

Hopefully Salacis's Master has enough medical supplies to keep up. 

It'll be good practice for Salacis's healing trances.

Well, since Salacis is helping Rodanthe test her skin sensitivity, it's only fair that Rodanthe gives her chances to practice her skills in return...

It's mutually beneficial.

A fair trade. 

Yep!

Which sadly must eventually come to an end, as a summons to meet her Master - and bring Rodanthe - comes in Salacis's mind. 

"Mm." She pats Rodanthe on the cheek. "Gotta go see Sidious now..."

"Alright." Kiss! "Let's get cleaned up, then?"

"Yeah."

'Just a minute,' she sends back to Sidious.

'I'll be waiting.'

Once she and Rodanthe are somewhat presentable they can go see her, then.

"I had some questions," she says, "About what my Apprentice experienced on the planet, and about you, Rodanthe."

"Fortunately, I have questions as well."

"I'll let you two ask the questions, and if I have any answers I'll give them."

"Fair enough."

"Stick to our strengths, right?"

Smile. "I'll add 'asking questions' to your lesson list, then."

"Yes, master."

She hums and turns to Rodanthe. "Where are you from, originally?"

"A different galaxy," she says. "I could point it out on a star chart, but I doubt you would recognize our name for it."

"A very interesting woman, then."

"Why did you come here?"

Light shrug. "Scientific curiosity."

"A powerful curiosity, then, to come this far."

"Would none of your scholars travel to another galaxy if given the chance?"

"They would."

"A being like me doesn't easily die or grow bored, so the only barrier becomes fuel."

"It's supposedly impossible to cross the galactic boundary through hyperspace."

"Yes. I am not nearly as vulnerable to the physical or mental degradations of time as an organic, fortunately."

"You traveled in sublight?"

"For a way, at least."

"The distance between true galaxies is immense, however. More than even complex minds can easily comprehend. If this ship traveled to my galaxy - crossing your galaxy's boundary in sublight wouldn't even double your travel time."

"You must be- really old."

"Depends on your frame of reference."

"How about the frame of someone who hasn't lived to see mountains die?"

She laughs. "The collapse on the planet? That happened faster than this sort of thing normally does, I think..."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen years standard."

"How long is a standard year, compared to - hm, the year length on that planet?"

"It's about the same? I think just a little longer."

"Very young, then."

"Precocious for my age."

"An outright prodigy."

Giggle.

Sidious is keeping a straight face, but she feels amused to Salacis. 

To Rodanthe again: "How aware have you been of the outside galaxy, while you were beneath the pyramid?"

Hum. "Not particularly actively. Though I've learned your language, of course."

"Do you have sensors off-planet?"

"There's a few I laid during my journey in. Drones set to monitoring the behavior of singularities over time and the like. They're likely not all still functional, though."

Mmhmm. "What are your intentions here?"

"I'm not the vanguard of an invasion or anything," she says. "I'm genuinely here on a scientific mission. If there's threats to my home galaxy, I'll address those - but given the distances involved, it seems unlikely."

"Would you ever take sides in local conflicts?"

"It depends, but likely not - I won't reveal you to your enemies, if something like that comes up. I have no reason to. However, I will not easily abandon my mission, and most local conflicts would be distractions."

Hm.

"My Apprentice needs practice and experience with investigation and exploration. Would you accept an escort on your mission?"

"Perhaps for a time."

"It wouldn't be that long to you, probably."

"A good point."

"I think it would be fun."

"It might be a good break in the routine, too. And a native guide is often helpful."

"I can be very natively helpful. Guideful."

"I've already noticed the helpfulness."

"Those keen powers of observation must be why you were sent."

"It was a central requirement."

Hee.

"What sorts of things would you want to investigate?"

"The Force seems the most different thing here at first glance..."

"Yeah. But there's not really any, like, place you can go to get a better view of it..."

"Surely there's places to investigate existing knowledge of it? Especially historical."

"There's old temples and such..."

"That would be interesting."

"We can start there, then."

"If it's alright with your Master...?"

"It is."

"Do we need to steal a ship to start off or are you going to be nice this time?" Salacis asks Sidious.

"I'd be remiss not to provide our first intergalactic visitor with a way to get around."

"Yesss." That means it'll be a nicer ship than anything she could easily steal.

"Be careful with it, Apprentice."

"I'm always careful."

"Perhaps this mission will be a chance for you to practice effective care, as well."

"Maybe!"

"So long as the ship returns to me undamaged..."

"It'll be fine, master."

"If you say so."

"I'm very trustworthy."

"You are." A genuine fondness flows across their bond.

Grin!!

"I trust you'll represent our galaxy well."

"Absolutely!"

"I'll provide you a list of places to investigate, too."

"Cool. That'll help get started."

"Though you'll need to continue on your own."

"As always."

"Never let it be said I've held you back."

"Except for all those times you tied me up."

"I was providing you with valuable experience."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"You don't get anything from it, then?"

"Apart from the sneaking suspicion you do it more for your benefit than mine?"

"I can act towards multiple goals at once, Apprentice."

She sticks her tongue out at Sidious.

"Brat."

"Mhm."

There isn't much more of interest after that, though Sidious successfully prods at Rodanthe for some details. Not many, though, and little she or Salacis wouldn't have already guessed. 

She reaches out into Salacis's mind that night: 'I want you to learn more about her. Whatever you can.'

'I'll make friends.'

'Your specialty.'

'People like me, what can I say?'

'I've never met anyone more likeable.'

'If you ever do, I want to meet them immediately.'

'I'll keep that in mind.'