#richerd (OC)

[swtorramblings]

I Shall Save Myself-2: We Save Who We Can

Arcann comforting Senya by @fleeting-sanity​. Finally using it for what I got it for.

I Shall Save Myself Second Draft Chapter List

Empress Vaylin has fallen, her forces in disarray, but she may have dragged the Alliance Commander down with her. The Force wielders within the Alliance have mostly been incapacitated by an unknown event, a massive burst of power that occurred during the battle. Koth and Theron arrive on the scene to investigate.

Theron and Koth were the first on the scene during the surrender of Vaylin’s forces. The Eternal Fleet was still. Most of the Alliance’s Force sensitives were incapacitated, unconscious or at least suffering severe pain. Sana-Rae had stayed in the Enclave, and was somewhat protected there. She reported that there had been a massive release of energy where the Commander had confronted the Empress. No one was moving when they arrived. Vaylin and the Commander were side-by-side on the ground. She had been defeated, finally, but at heavy cost. Theron did not trust Koth with Senya or Arcann, but didn’t care much about Vaylin’s well-being, so said, “Koth, check the Commander. I’ll check the others.” Koth hesitated, looking at Vaylin, but still went to the Richerd’s side. Theron saw the damage to the wall, and passed a section of the ground that had been so heated that the stone melted. What in the world had happened here? A pained voice came over the com system. It was Lana. “Koth, Theron, report? What is happening out there?” Koth answered first. “The Commander is badly hurt, light saber wound, at least as bad as what the Prince did.” He still refused to call Arcann by name. “We need a medical team.” The other two were already stirring as Theron reached them. “Senya and Arcann look like they took a beating, but they’re already waking up.” He reached Senya and offered his hand, but she waved him off and stood, though not without effort. Arcann stood slowly, taking in the battlefield. “Mother?” “I’m all right, Son. It’s over.” Lana broke in again. “Has anyone checked Vaylin?” Other forces were arriving, a medical team first. They were preparing the Commander to be moved to facilities in the base. The healing that Valkorian had provided last time seemed to be absent. It was going to be touch and go for a while. Koth was helping the medical team. “She’s down, Lana, and looks badly hurt. I don’t think she survived whatever Richerd did, whatever it was you felt. No way to know for sure.” He looked at the mother and son. They both shook their heads. They had been out, also. “Our royals were both unconscious. We had no eyes on the fight.” Lana responded, “You’re assuming it was the Commander, it chould have been the Emperor or Vaylin. Until we know, we have to be careful. At this point, she raised her voice, ending each word sharply for emphasis. “Again: Has anyone checked Vaylin?” Senya nodded to Theron, knowing that no one else should have to risk it. Arcann walked with her. “Sorry, Lana, this is all a lot to take in. Senya is checking. We’ll keep our forces at a distance, just in case.” Senya knelt down next to her daughter, hesitant. She was not sure she wanted to know, to verify her fears. Vaylin had several minor saber wounds (they were never really minor), some of which her mother had inflicted. Nothing like what it seemed she had done to the Commander, but still potentially lethal. Arcann put his hands on her shoulders, and said to her, “It’s all right, Mother. We did what we had to.” Then she saw it. Her daughter was breathing, shallowly, raggedly. Senya put her hands to her mouth. She did not know for a moment what to do. But only for a moment. “She’s alive!” she shouted. She took one of her son’s hands, and whispered, “She’s alive.” Koth glanced over, a scowl on his face. “So? We’re not going to do anything to help her.” Theron didn’t care for the idea of not tending to a defeated enemy, but in this case, he found himself agreeing. However, he knew that the Commander would not approve. She was beaten. One of the rules was, we save who we can. “Koth, you know we have to.” “No! I had friends in the military, with the Knights! Do you know how many of them aren’t here now? Because of her? How does she get to live when they’re dead?” Before Theron or Lana could respond, to agree or otherwise, a deep, quiet voice ended the argument. “I’m afraid”, it said, “we must insist.” Arcann had taken a position between his sister and the armed troops, hand on his lightsaber. Their mother got to her feet and joined him. Koth glared at them, but eventually threw up his hands. “Fine, you want to save that monster, that’s your business. Not in our base. We don’t want her anywhere near the Commander. Or any of us.” He hadn’t asked, but no one voiced disagreement. “Get a ship, take her away from here, hopefully you’ll crash in the wild. I’m done here.” He followed the medical team inside. “Thank you, Son.” Theron walked to them. “He has a point, though. I know this is hard, but our wounds are too fresh.” He glanced at Arcann. “And a lot of our allies already have complaints. She won’t be safe here.” Senya had gone back to tending her daughter, so Arcann responded. “Understood. Give us a shuttle and a single medical droid. Kolto if you can spare it. We will take her into the surrounding wilderness while we plan for more permanent arrangements.” Theron nodded. “Good, we’ll do what we can here.” He looked over to Torian, added him to the tally of the dead she had caused, but also remembered the reports from Nathema. “We’ll find you your kolto. If the Commander dies, though, and she’s still alive, make sure you are off-world as soon as possible.” Arcann nodded. After the shuttle arrived, he checked it over (he trusted some members of the Alliance, but not all, especially now) while Senya tenderly carried the former Empress and placed her in the bed in the back and activated the medical droid. While she watched over Vaylin, Arcann flew the ship out until it was no longer in sight of the base. Theron stood on the platform, watching them go, making sure they were not easily followed. He sighed deeply. “Commander, I hope your rules aren’t the death of us. Or of you.” He turned and went back inside, deciding to walk to the war room. He needed time.

[ao3feed-buckybarnes]

Bonds

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/39WWuOU

by myscribblings

James "Bucky" Barnes finds himself traveling the Multiverse, and in his travels arrives a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Words: 7466, Chapters: 2/2, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Far Travels

Fandoms: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Vaylin, James "Bucky" Barnes, Richerd Pauers (OC)

Relationships: Bucky & Vaylin

Additional Tags: Crossover, Alternate Universe

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/39WWuOU

[swtorramblings]

Name: Richerd Class: Jedi Sage (formerly Seer, currently Telekinetics) Server: Star Forge Legacy: Ordannes

This one’s longer than usual, so it gets a cut.

Game role (my canon story for him): Former Alliance Commander, retired from that role after the events of Knights of the Eternal Throne and the second invasion of Odessen. While he understood that her history and her own choices may have doomed her no matter what he did, he never forgave himself for killing Vaylin. Not after listening so long to the monster that had made her what she was, not after using the techniques of that monster to control and humiliate her of his own free will. How had he expected her to react to that?

Was it his will? He is not truly sure. But, in that case, didn’t it mean he was too weak?

He may have been able to accept that. However sorry he felt for her, how many had she killed? How many more would she kill if allowed to continue? But then, with her death, with the urging of Valkorion and no attempt to take her alive, the Eternal Fleet went berserk, killing untold thousands, possibly millions. The final tally has still not been made.

And he was complicit in that horror, by provoking the Empress to bring her close in order to kill her, all according to Valkorion’s plans. It is what finally broke him.

He could not release his attachment. He could no longer be a Jedi, or the leader of the Alliance. He took the Throne, he freed Vaylin’s spirit at last, and together, he and Valkorion’s own family finally destroyed him. Having done what he could, he put down his lightsaber and rejected the Force. The Alliance he left in the hands of his advisers, who were always in charge anyway.

His sole order to the Fleet was to return to Iokath, to guard the riches and weapons he knew could be found there. He also hoped that, just perhaps, SCORPIO could return their free will once again.

After that, he lived in the Odessen wilderness for several years, wanting only to be left alone. Nothing bothered him, not predators, not people. His only contact was Lana Beniko, who insisted on bringing him supplies that she felt he would need and couldn’t acquire himself.

She had always cared for him, even when he did things that infuriated her Sith sensibilities, but perhaps there was more to it. Perhaps she blamed herself for putting a healer in charge of an army.

He kept a small farm there, and was reasonably content. Lana eventually stopped visiting. He was as safe as possible, she was busy, and she couldn’t stand seeing him give up any longer.

Eventually, though, things changed. It was not Lana that visited him that time, but his former Padawan, Nadia Grell. The Eternal Fleet was destroyed, the Alliance in tatters, Iokath was being fought over by fools. Beniko and Satele Shan had vanished. The best hope for the survival of the Jedi Order had been found by its enemies, which is what had brought Nadia to ask for the Alliance’s help, only to find they were in no condition to.

As he opened his mind again to the universe, he realized that, yes, he had made mistakes, he had been afraid, perhaps weak. He had taken the easy way and paid a steep price. That isolating himself had been one of those easy choices. How much of this would have changed if he’d stayed? He could never know.

But he is done shirking his responsibilities. He has let go of his guilt, but not the lessons. He cleared the cobwebs from his lightsaber, and the crystal sang in his mind again, a joyful song. With that, he and Nadia have returned to the eternal war.

May the Force be with them.

Stories I Shall Save Myself (2nd Draft): As in the canon story, again the Alliance Commander, but when he finally attempted to kill the Eternal Empress, she turned the tables and inflicted the very injury he had meant for her. Everything changes from that moment onward, including the fate of Senya and her two remaining children. The plan is for him to step down in that story, as well, but I’ve never gotten that chapter to work.

Bonds: The story where James Buchanan Barnes visits the Old Republic during KotFE/KotET, preventing the use of the command phrase on Vaylin and then guiding her to do certain things differently. Richerd is the Alliance Commander again, though in this story it is made very plain that he and much of the Alliance is being influenced by Vitiate lurking in his mind. He is likely to remain in that position after the Avengers arrive to help the Alliance take down Vitiate once and for all…

Relationships Richerd and Nadia were never a couple. He was her teacher, she was recovering from the murder of her father and her own barely controlled powers. Neither ever considered it. (Note: Yes, way back then I just went along with it, but I feel dirty now for having done so and I don’t want to go through the pain of the Lana breakup again if I can avoid it, anyway. I go through some effort now to make all the apprentice romance stories less awful, which, seriously, ALL FOUR Force sensitive classes?! And only the female characters? Ugh.)

His first official romance was with Lana, though it’s more than a bit rocky. Make no mistake, it doesn’t make sense to either of them, but war and trauma can make for strange relationships. Is it healthy? Neither of them are sure of that, either, but they are trying.

Felix is his best friend, and if Jarak weren’t already dead, he might have taken some time to hunt him down. He’s not entirely sure what would have happened.

Random Character Notes

He lost his healing powers soon after taking command of the Alliance. They just didn’t fit his new role, so his powers slowly shifted. He wishes he hadn’t changed so much, and is now trying to return to what he was in his connection to the Force. The galaxy doesn’t need more warriors, it needs healers.. (This is literally true, I changed him from Seer to Telekinetics either during the early stages of KotET or the later stages of SOR)

Random Other Notes This was my first character in SWTOR, way, way back when. And, yes, his specific story is informed by my feelings at the time when I played through those two expansions. I played him very little during the years since, pulling him out to get a few more tokens for the slots and things like that. Part of the point of the above longer-than-usual story is to explain his absence as I try to play him a bit more. For a while, every time I heard the male Consular voice, I kept hearing the smug, “Do your people know your… weakness?” It really left me turned off playing him.

I’d try to start his story off during happier times, but it’s been almost a decade since I played him through the class story, and the Knights stories are the ones that left their indelible imprint on me, so we start there.

He’s mostly based on an old Champions character, Richard Powers, the Sorcerer. I suppose he could have been Sith, but other than the name, he made more sense as a Jedi.

He’s also the closest I’ve ever made to a player insert, though it wasn’t really my intent at the start. He’s fitter and generally just better than me, sure, but I tried to make as much as a three choice system allowed the choices I approved most of, whether DS or LS or nothing. Not the ones I think I would actually make, since I’m not that good, but the ones I thought were right. I think that the fact that I couldn’t find any choices by the end of KotET contributed to whatever that was, along with the real life stuff I’ve alluded to before. I didn’t care for it.

Doing better now and would like to get him at least to Echoes of Oblivion, for reasons. My brain will keep chewing on this a little at a time until then, I think. Might also change him back to healing after that.

[swtorramblings]

I Shall Save Myself - 1: The Final Chain

Injured Vaylin by @fleeting-sanity​, with much thanks.

Re-working an old story, to clean it up, add pictures, and actually pick a Commander. I used my character Richerd (link to come). He was the first character I made, and the first character through KotET. I haven’t played him much since then, for reasons. I’m still disapproving enough to let him get roughed up.

I Shall Save Myself Second Draft Chapter List

Vaylin nears defeat in the second Battle of Odessen. Then, well-ordered Fate is suddenly disrupted.

The battle had gone their way, for a time. The power of Richerd Pauers, Barsen’thor and Alliance Commander, with Senya and Arcann at his side, had easily defeated Vaylin’s forces. And, while perhaps Vaylin was still more powerful than all of them combined, they were all experienced in war. Eventually, she was brought to her knees, pained by numerous small wounds, exhausted by their attack.

He felt for her, but knew she had to die. She was too broken and too powerful to live. Her crimes too great. It was the only way.

Wasn’t it?

------------

Vaylin was on her knees, again, gasping for breath, and then she heard his voice. Telling the Outlander, his favorite pet, how she was still dangerous.

How could he? Throwing them all aside for this upstart! None of them deserved this more! None of them had gone through the pain she had!

Well, they were going to now.

She mocked her father one last time, and then, finally, unleashed her full power. She realized then that she had, even now, been holding back.

Not any more.

Arcann and Senya were blasted off of their feet, unable to stand against the gale.

The wind she caused to rage around her was even strong enough to begin cracking thick walls of the Alliance base. Nothing living would stand against it.

The Outlander, though, somehow, did. He couldn’t be more powerful than her family, could he? He was struggling, but he pushed against the winds.

She gritted her teeth, let the power rage through her. No matter the cost, she would destroy this usurper. She could feel the ships overhead, even out in orbit. She began to drag them down. Even if she fell, they would still destroy everything the Outlander and his puppet master had created here.

If this was to be her last stand, at least it would be a glorious one. It would have to be enough.

-------------------

Richerd staggered forward. A few steps more and it would be over. He heard himself saying something to her as he reached for his lightsaber. He wasn’t sure what it was. The only sounds he heard now were the winds, and his followers over the com channels.

And the Empress Vaylin’s cries of pain and fear.

It had been unfair, his taunts. She really was a child, wasn’t she? Or, maybe had simply never had the chance to be.

But even if she had, she would still be a monster. She’d never had a chance. Her power had been too great and too early, and she’d needed to be controlled. And now she was free, and had decided on this.

As he ignited his weapon and prepared to end this, though, her expression changed. The winds suddenly stopped, and he staggered forward, surprised. Before he could recover, he suffered the fate he had planned for the broken woman before him.

-------------------

Part of her had accepted that she was about to die. Whatever she did, whatever she had tried, it only made everything worse. The day she lashed out at the Knights in the arena had revealed her power to her father. Her rage at her mother for leaving her that day had kept her from accepting help. Her time on the Throne meant all but her most loyal subjects hated her.

At least coming here at the Outlander’s taunting meant an end to her pain. Then she saw it. Her brief future. The way things were meant to be, had been arranged, probably even at the moment she was born. A single path that would put her power in the hands of the Eternal Emperor, her hated father.

That, she could not stand.

She pulled it all back to her at the last moment, causing the ships now unrestrained to surge upward and the Outlander to lose his balance.

Which let her end the fight, but on her terms.

She leaned close to him, whispered into his ear, “Did you really think it would be that easy, ‘Father’?”

She knew it almost had been. She just wouldn’t admit it to either of them.

She deactivated her lightsaber. She now understood it would do her no good against the real enemy here, the one that gave it to her in the first place.

Richerd’s power had always leaned towards healing. Even as he attempted to lift his lightsaber to defend himself, he was attempting to repair the wound as best he could.

Vaylin gestured, and he was slammed to the ground, knocking the air from his lungs, leaving him defenseless. Through the pain, he couldn’t focus well enough to resist her power.

She was swaying, a gash on her arm dripping blood to the ground, but she still smiled down at him, saying, “Now you’ll have a scar to go with the one my brother gave you.” Then she looked uncharacteristically thoughtful. “If you survive. He saved you before, didn’t he? He won’t be able to this time. I’ll make sure of that.”

Valkorion emerged as he had before, attempting to slow time, but she was having none of it, the glittering sphere shattering. “Kneel before the Dragon of Zakuul!” he shouted in desperation, as Richerd had while trying to save Torian.

“No, ‘Father’. Never again.”

“Daughter,” he began. Before the spirit could say any more, Senya shouted, “Vaylin, no!” She and Arcann draw their lightsabers as they charged forward.

They may as well not have bothered. Vaylin’s smile broadened as she looked away from the Outlander, saying in a light, almost sing-song voice, “Not now, Mother, I don’t think I have much time, and ‘Father’ and I must talk.”

Before they could reach her, she gestured, slamming both into the cracked wall. They fell to the ground, no longer moving.

She looked down at the Outlander, still clinging to consciousness. “What was it you said to me? That killing Father wouldn’t heal my scars?”

“You said you didn’t have any,” he replied, barely able to get the words out.

The smile disappeared, finally. “Idiot. My father caged me like a beast for my entire childhood. I endured countless experiments, cut off from my power, tormented by the world he killed. And then they came, tortured me, conditioned me, controlled me. I don’t have scars. All I have is rage.” She stood again, turning to the fallen. “And you come to me with your Jedi ‘wisdom’, your platitudes, your manipulation. Your taunting. No better than SCORPIO, or my brother. You were given my chains, and never hesitated to use them. So, no better than Father, either. What did you would happen? What I would say?” She gestured at Torian’s body. “What I would do?”

Valkorion had been silent, but now he said, haughtily, “You cannot blame us, Daughter. You brought yourself here. You killed the Mandalorian. I only tried to prevent all of this. To protect you from yourself.”

She ignored him, keeping her eyes on Richerd. “I do hate you. All of you. Still, I’m going to give you a chance, not because you’ve earned it. You’re just not that important. Maybe Father was holding your chains. I don’t know and I don’t have the time left to care what happens to you. It is over.”

Valkorion begins, lacking his usual smug tone, “Vaylin…”

She repeated, “No, ‘Father’.”

Lightning leaped from her hands and into the spirit of Valkorion, and he screamed. Richerd saw Vaylin through the almost blinding light of her power, at first straining, then smiling. Finally, she began to laugh, not the broken sound he had heard before, but something like joy. It was terrifying, but he had to admit, there was also beauty in that sound.

Soon, the lightning stopped. Where Valkorion had seemed to stand was only smoke and melted stone.

Vaylin was swaying where she stood, her breathing ragged, when she turned back to the Commander one last time.

They had won. She had won.

She looked down at him. He noticed that, oddly, her eyes were blue. He did not understand for a moment.

“You were wrong,” she said. “Sometimes, the only way to heal is to strike back.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be.”

She smiled then, not that predatory grin, but as though at a private joke. Then, her eyes closed and, with a sigh, her knees folded under her, and then she toppled to the ground. Moments later, the Commander followed her into the darkness.

[swtorramblings]

Bonds

Chapter 1: Eleven Words

Reposting because I’m going to continue the story, and for Tuesday. Thanks to the current @nomscareriders for the idea. I made a small change: originally, I referred to the arm having adamantium in it, it really should have been vibranium.

Plus, I just love the art. By @fleeting-sanity.

Richerd Pauers (now Ordannes due to a server move) is the first character I took through it. He has a lot to make up for.

Next (and last) chapter: Monsters

Sometimes, during the transition, he would dream. Or perhaps hallucinate, it didn’t really make a difference to him. This time, it was of his oldest friend. A time when they weren’t, when he was trying to kill a man who had been like a brother to him.

“Then finish it. Cause I’m with you to the end of the line.”

People talked about Steve’s powers. Most did not understand. Yes, he was strong, yes, he was fast. In combat, he was ingenious, cunning, quick witted. He had that amazing shield. None of those were his real power, the power that allowed him to beat enemies stronger, faster, or smarter than him. His real power, that he had all his life, was that he would never, ever give up.

He hadn’t given up on Bucky, and had nearly died for it.

Barnes opened his eyes on a new world. He wondered what had brought that memory to the surface.

The Tallus was speaking to him, as it usually did. Giving him his orders. Eleven words. Words he knew quite well. It wasn’t the first time the thing was cryptic, but this was ridiculous.

He heard a sound like two slabs of meat being slapped together. “You shouldn’t be here, little man. Now you’re going to pay.”

What, really? He turned and looked at the creature that had spoken, saw it slamming a fist into its palm. He was sure it wasn’t speaking English or any other language he knew or had even heard before. The Tallus must be translating for him. That was new.

It was taller than him and looked like a melting candle. He guessed that was its natural appearance. He thought he’d try to talk his way out of this. He didn’t know the situation. “Uhm, all right, but can you tell me first where I am? Who you are?”

“Huh. You’re getting a beating, anyway, so sure. You’re in Black Sun territory. My territory. I’m Skadge. Any other questions?”

He looked over the troops this Skadge had with him. One of them was pointing some kind of cannon his way. He smiled at them. “That’s a nice looking weapon. Mind if I take a look at it?”

This was the strangest world yet. For one thing, it wasn’t Earth. All the others had been since he’d been unstuck from his home. He was pretty sure that several of the people he fought weren’t human. He could be wrong, human didn’t always mean what he thought it did, but something told him they were alien. Humanoid, but not from his world. Still, hit them hard enough, fast enough, and they eventually stopped trying to kill him.

Plus, the tech. They were all carrying weapons that fired short bursts of energy. The tablets didn’t seem so strange, not these days, but were jammed with a lot more intel and were easier to use than anything he’d seen. He sat at the table reading up on the galaxy his latest trip had landed him in. He was interrupted once by a group of the gang members that saw the carnage and backed out of the room. Later, by a larger group. They backed off when he pointed the blaster cannon at them.

Well, maybe some shots were fired. He liked this thing.

The third interruption was just two men, one that looked entirely human, the other he found was called a Chagrian. They seemed interested in talking first, so he let them. Tallus didn’t complain, so at least it wasn’t off mission.

The Chagrain spoke first, looking at the bodies strewn everywhere, mostly unconscious. They had put up too much of a fight to take them all alive, though. “You do good work.”

“I get by.”

“Rusk.”

“What?”

“My name. You?”

Couldn’t hurt, really. “Barnes.”

Rusk turned to the human. “Well, Commander, looks like we’ve been freed up. I’ll have my people report for duty soon.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Rusk left the room, leaving the two of them alone to talk.

“Commander?”

“Richerd. Richerd Pauers. They just call me Commander.”

Barnes felt something off about this man. There was no reason for it, but he would be watching. “What brings you here?”

“Rusk is here to bring down this gang, I was here to recruit Rusk.”

“Recruit for what?”

“The Alliance.”

They looked at each other for a few moments. Richerd seemed to think he should know what that was.

“I’ve been out of touch.”

“Really? Well, it is a big galaxy, anything is possible. The Alliance to bring down a tyrant and conqueror, Emperor Arcann. We can always use more help.”

“What, just like that?”

“You brought down a cell of the Black Sun. It speaks well for your ability and conscience. And we need all the help we can get.”

Really, he didn’t have anything better to do until he understood his mission. It sounded like a good cause, and really, if it wasn’t, he needed to find that out, too.

“All right, where do I sign up?”

Over the subsequent months, the former Winter Soldier learned a great deal about this galaxy. Trillions of people, thousands of intelligent species. At least four religious orders, each with its own set of powers, all coming from a single source, what Richerd called the Force. He, himself, was one of these Jedi. Barnes had seen him heal the wounded. It was remarkable. It was a tragedy that he was in charge of a machine of war, no matter how much that war needed to be waged. Maybe that’s what he had felt when they first met, that this man should be filling another role, that he didn’t really fit what was being asked of him. He hoped that was all it was.

The war went as well as wars ever do. Arcann had been deposed, though the destruction he and the fleet had caused was horrific. The Alliance was struggling to make sure the worlds Zakuul had harmed received the help they needed, but at the same time had to deal with his much wilder and less predictable sister. She was much more willing to go into the field than he had been, wanted to cause hardship with her own hands. This was her main tactical blind spot. It meant that not only was she putting herself at more risk, her activities were more easily contained. Where he might send his troops to bomb five worlds, she wanted to be there, to see the defenses crumble, the people scream. She was terrible, but slightly easier to cope with.

That is, until the Commander, the Gravestone, the Empress, and SCORPIO disappeared for a time. Whey they came back, something had changed. Vaylin was more vicious than ever, and the Eternal Fleet more strictly under her control. Barnes was not told why, but it had been decided it had to be stopped, and a window had opened to allow it. A small team was being sent to deal with her once and for all. He had been sent to infiltrate Zakuul, since he was unknown to most of the world, and lend firepower when it was needed. Back into the shadows he went, along with the Spewmaster.

He hadn’t given the blaster cannon the name, but it had stuck.

Richerd stepped into the hall and began to speak to Empress Vaylin. As he did, the Tallus began speaking as well, after months of silence, repeating the only words Barnes had heard from it since reaching this strange universe. Words he knew very well. Eleven words. And, with some horror, he began to understand why.

Everything was happening too fast, and the words were blending together.

“Do your people…”

Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. “Know about…”

Dawn. Stove. Nine.

“Your weakness?”

Kind-hearted.

No. This couldn’t be right. The Commander was the hero here.

Homecoming.

Wasn’t he? She was a monster. Barnes had seen what she was capable of.

One.

Time seemed to slow. Vaylin had lifted a hand, was dragging the heavy decorations down to throw at the Commander.

“Kneel…”

Freight car.

“Before…”

Everything froze, including his blood. Then, he made his decision and time snapped into motion again.

“The Dragon…”

He knew what it was to be a monster, too.

A metal fist slammed Richerd in the gut, knocking the breath out of him, preventing him from finishing what he was saying. Shan shouted and drew his weapons, opening fire, but Barnes deflected the bolts of energy. A moment later, the spy was knocked to the ground by the thrown body of his commander. Barnes snapped one of Shan’s blasters out of the air and fired up at Vaylin, forcing her to defend herself rather than finish pulling death down from the ceiling.

Anything but put her through that, to put anyone through that. Even her. He prepared to pursue the Empress. She still had to be stopped. Suddenly, an apparition appeared in front of him, an imposing, menacing creature. He recognized him from the holos: Valkorion. This time, he was pretty sure that sensation of time slowing was real.

“You’ve only delayed the inevitable. Stop interfering and let Richerd do what needs to be done.”

Barnes pointed the stolen blaster at the thing, knowing it wouldn’t do any good but still game to try. “How are you here?”

The spirit, or whatever it was, chuckled. It made his skin crawl. “Oh, they never told you, did they? I am inside his mind.”

Finally, those misgivings about Richerd all made sense.

“That’s quite enough, ‘Father’!”

A blast of lightning from the balcony broke open the floor where Valkorion had been standing. He just smiled blandly at this and faded away. Barnes barely had time to snatch up his bag before he was dragged upward by the Empress.

Well, that couldn’t be good. At least the Tallus was finally quiet. He knew his mission wasn’t over, though, since he was still here.

He pulled the blaster cannon from the bag and opened fire on the balcony. Vaylin backed away, shouting, “Do you want me to drop you?”

He continued to fire, aiming mainly at the one holding the control that would drop the rebels into the pit. “I’ll live! Will you?”

The control fell from a limp hand. This was war, after all. He could see the Commander and Shan helping the rebels. There was too much commotion to use the trigger phrase. He could only hope that had been the right choice. He knew it was, though, even without the Tallus’ prompting.

Vaylin yanked him to her roughly, and looked surprised when he rolled to his feet and pointed the cannon at her face. She smiled. “I haven’t seen you before. But you’re not another of Father’s puppets, are you?”

They really were, weren’t they? He’d seen the records of the higher ups in the Alliance, the parts that were not classified. All of them, even Beniko, who was not above terrible things if she deemed them necessary, seemed off. That Valkorion was influencing them, sometimes subtly, at other times less so, made sense. “No, but this still has to end.”

Her grin grew more vicious. “And what makes you think you can stop me?” He heard buzzing sounds of those laser weapons being activated. She gestured at the chaos down below, and he heard them back away. The others could handle themselves, he hoped, even while not being sure of whose side he was on. “I don’t need them.”

She drew her lightsaber and he fired, to no effect. She lunged and cut down, he let the blaster drop for a moment and deflected the slash with his mechanical arm. She looked surprised by that, maybe angry that she couldn’t simply slice it off. “Cortosis?”

He had no idea what that was, but replied, “Vibranium.” He was so glad they’d upgraded his arm before the battle began.

“Fine.” She stepped back and was about to attempt to blast him with lightning when the windows up above shattered. Ship weapons were smashing the hall. She scowled but backed away through the open heavy blast doors while he chased after.

The running fight between Bucky and Vaylin had been a draw. She couldn’t just break him like she had so many others, he was better in close combat than she was, and he never gave her time to focus on lightning or telekinesis. He, on the other hand, was spending too much of his time keeping her from using her full power to end the fight. They were both exhausted when Arcann arrived.

Exhaustion didn’t stop her from shouting at him, “Did you know the sickness Father put in me?”

“Sister, he made us both weapons.”

Barnes stood up straighter and backed away slightly, but thought he shouldn’t let that stand. “Oh, you have a trigger phrase, too?”

They both looked at him. Arcann asked, “What?”

“A trigger phrase that lets someone else take control of you?”

“No…”

“Then it’s not really the same, is it, you asshole?”

He looked shocked, maybe a little confused by whatever “asshole” translated to. But before he could answer, Vaylin said, “Ten years tortured in a cage to do this to me, and you think we’re the same? Really, Brother?” By the end, she actually sounded more sad than angry. Still angry, though.

He sighed. “Perhaps not. But it doesn’t matter. You still need to be stopped. As I needed to be.”

She glanced over his shoulder. “Not until I’m free. And it looks like Father wants to speak to you.”

Tired as she still was, she threw one of those hoverbikes at her brother and chased it over the edge. Bucky ran to the edge and looked over just in time to see her riding the vehicle up towards him. As she threw a sneer over her shoulder at her brother and the others, he jumped just as she accelerated. He barely caught hold of the bike and lost the Spewmaster in the effort. He was going to miss that gun.

She glanced down at him and just shrugged as they flew off.

Vaylin landed the bike, and said to the guards that rushed to her side, “Guard him, but don’t hurt him. If you can’t do that, I’ll replace you.”

They did not want to be replaced. They knew what it meant. “Yes, Empress Vaylin.”

“What, no fighting for my life? No attempt to execute me?” Barnes said.

She looked up at him. “No, not yet. You stopped him. You’re my enemy. You want to take Throne from me, but you drew a line. I want to know why.”

“Because I know what it is.”

She stared at him for several seconds, then just said, “Bring him.”

He decided to go peacefully. He was sure he couldn’t defeat so many, especially with her there. He was hoping for a better solution, anyway.

They reached the bridge of the ship and watched as Arcann knelt to Richerd. They both claimed that Valkorion was not in control. Bucky was almost certain that was not true. He looked at the Empress, standing with her fists clenched at her sides, and wondered how much she was under his control, too.

She destroyed the viewer and shouted, “Bombard them!”

Before any of her people could act or object, he said, “Why?”

She spun and glared at him. “My brother has betrayed me! Again! My father is there! They have to die!”

“Did he, though? Betray you?”

“He protected Mother! He’s kneeling to Father! How dare you ask that?”

He hadn’t heard anything about Senya or what exactly had happened. Only that she was incapacitated and still being treated. He tried to be gentle. “He wanted to capture you alive. He wanted to stop you, but also help you. Your mother did, too, she sang about her regret.”

“What use is regret? She was too late!”

“Yes. But they tried. Why, do you think?” When she just stared at him, practically shaking with rage, he asked, “What would your father do?”

“He… he’d destroy it all. It can be rebuilt, and his enemies would be dead. No anger. No mercy, either. He wouldn’t care.” Her eyes were filled with tears. “He’d pretend he did, he’d pretend to be their protector, but no one was really safe from him. Not his people, not his family.”

“And do you want to be him?”

She finally turned away. “Fine. Let them go, it’s not worth it. We’ll find a way to eradicate Father later.”

Just her father, he thought to himself.

She had him brought to a room. Not a cell, though he was under heavy guard. He was so glad to have impressed her. She left to give orders, and he felt the lurch as the ship jumped to light speed. It was still so strange to him how casually the people here treated that. She joined him with several of her personal guard and a rather ostentatious but well-cushioned chair they brought for her. They sat across from one another.

“Since you seem interested, we are traveling to Nathema, where I was imprisoned and controlled. I am going to be freed of what they did to me.”

“Good. That’s good. How are they going to do that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve just seen the cost.”

“Cost?”

“The ones that were sacrificed to help me be free.”

He sighed. He felt for her, but he still knew what she was. Of course she put herself above these others. But was that her choice, or the result of what was done to her? “Who is helping you? You said this was where they hurt you. Are these the same people?”

That made her hesitate. “Yes, Jarak and his team.”

“And they worked for your father?”

“They worked for the Eternal Empire. They work for me, now.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am the Empress! They have to do what I say.”

“Yes, but will they ever do what you need?”

“Fine, what would you do?”

“Me? I would go in, find any information on what was done to you, find any research on how it might be reversed. Free any living prisoners. Then I would decide if it was worth it. How many died for it?”

“What? A hundred, a little more?”

“It wasn’t worth it, you know. I’ve seen this kind of ‘research’. It’s never worth it.”

“I need to be free. I need him destroyed, and can’t do it if I’m not free.”

“And?”

“It’s what he did. What he would do again.”

“You should have asked for help from people who cared about what happened to you, not from the ones that did this to you. Now, things are worse.”

Another pause. Then, she stood, and said, “Get this man a blaster cannon. He’ll be coming along. We are going to get what I need and then the Sanatorium will burn.”

Well, it was a start. And he would never give up. He’d learned that much.

[swtorramblings]

6, 11, 17, 18, 19, 30, 31 for the OC thing

OC ask game found here: link

Mostly keeping this to SWTOR, though my other gaming experiences do get mentioned because they’re relevant.

Long post. I suppose I should put in a cut.

6. Are there any other preexisting characters that inspired an OC?

Oh, lots. Like, lots. Names are generally linked to some relevant post.

Richerd is loosely based on my old Champions character, the Sorcerer, Dr. Richard Powers, who himself is loosely based on Marvel’s Dr. Strange. His abilities tended more towards healing than Strange’s, so I originally made him a Seer.

Z’lia is named for, but not really based on, a minor character in the Champions Universe, Zalia. There was a budding relationship between her and the Sorcerer which got interrupted when I had to move, and at one time, she had Richerd in the SWTOR family tree thing as her SO. She has veered from her original concept greatly.

Ag’nar is patterned after an old D&D character, Agnar the Silver, a 2nd Edition Mage, if I’m remembering the timing correctly. I randomly rolled the character’s appearance and he ended up being a very young man with white hair and silver eyes, and I thought I could name him as an homage to Gandalf the Grey/White.

I think I should almost count *redacted* and the Vayland characters as OC’s, but I don’t think I need to explain the character that inspired them. None of them are really like the character that inspired them any longer. Well, maybe a little.

Caz’zandra is inspired by the seer Cassandra, cursed to always know the future but to have nobody believe her.

Anasta’zia came about because, for reasons I don’t recall (probably for a game) I was researching Anastasia Romanov, and discovered that her personal name meant “resurrection”, so I introduced the new character to be brought back to life by a certain wandering spirit. A real person rather than a character, but I thought it counted since the link to the person is so tenuous.

Raykil, Cipher 34, is based on a supervillain/eventually somewhat “redeemed” time traveling agent working for the good guys of my own creation, Rachel Kildair.

Kara’kil randomly ended up being named after Marvel’s Purple Girl, Kara Killgrave. I created her to be the Jedi and Outlander in Commander Iresso, and described her as a Jedi Shadow due to her exceptional ability to influence minds. I then randomly created the appearance, and she happened to be a Togruta with purple skin, so I went with it. Names are hard.

Phares and V’lerian were both named for characters from the Champions Universe, Dark Seraph and Valerian Scarlet. Phares has a crown of horns that reminded me of Dark Seraph’s spiked crown, while V’lerian, well, she’s red? And kind of tending towards what lesser mortals would call evil?

That’s getting long, I think that’s enough.

11. Which character has been through the most design changes?

Possibly Richerd. He was fairly consistent in a lot of ways for a long time, though I have moved him across servers twice. I had some ideas for him that eventually got washed away fairly radically and made some significant changes with him. The change in view and such for him was sudden and pretty thorough.

Just as likely is Z’lia, who has evolved over time into a fairly different character than how I had viewed her at the start in more ways than just her relationships. However, it was a slower progression and I don’t know that I could point at any specific ways she changed over the nearly ten years I’ve had her.

17. Who is your favorite OC?

Z’lia.

18. Who is your least favorite OC?

Still Richerd, but I’m working on it.

19. Who is your most recent OC?

I’m going to say Eleema (link). I have newer characters, technically, but she’s the latest one I’ve actually started to develop.

30. Which OC has been the hardest to develop/design so far?

So far, Kara’kil. My own fault for creating a character based on her relationship with another character that’s not even mine, but I’ve stalled on developing her personality a bit, which has stalled other elements of the story. I should have known better.

31. Which OC do you wish you had more art of? (Recieved, making yourself, etc.)

Probably Z’lia, really, but any of the characters that appear in fics.

[swtorramblings]

Z’lia

Name: Z’lia Class:  Scoundrel Server: Star Forge Legacy: Ordannes

Game Role: Scoundrel. That was all she was willing to tell me, and she kept asking me if I was SiS. Unaccountably kept saying that I had to tell her if I was SiS. I think it was a joke.

Among her favorite things: Blaster pistols, because they have a stun setting.

Stories

Commander Thexan: Part of the invasion force lead by Darth Marr, which ended with disaster. Her whereabouts are currently unknown (revealed in Outlander)

Let Me Take Care of You: Ask and art from @fleeting-sanity​

Random notes:

Z’lia is my second oldest character, right after Richerd, and probably my most developed actual OC.

Various posts

Outfits

[swtorramblings]

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bucky & Vaylin Characters: Vaylin, James "Bucky" Barnes, Richerd Pauers (OC) Additional Tags: Crossover, Alternate Universe Series: Part 1 of Far Travels Summary:

James "Bucky" Barnes finds himself traveling the Multiverse, and in his travels arrives a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Split it into three chapters and cleaned it up again while working through Camp NaNoWriMo. My continued work on getting older work put up on Ao3. Mainly, I wanted to get High Justice League put up over there, and this was the lead-in to it, so here we are.

[swtorramblings]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic Characters: Lana Beniko, Richerd (OC), Theron Shan, Senya Tirall, Arcann (Star Wars), Koth Vortena, Vaylin Series: Part 3 of Vaylin Related One-Shots Summary:

The Alliance has defeated the threat on Iokath, but an older threat, thought finally destroyed, must be stopped.

Continuing the cross-posting, original posting: A Threat Renewed