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Across the Frozen Sea ch4

Star Wars the Clone Wars, Ahsoka/Barriss/Riyo

Across the Frozen Sea summary: Ahsoka, Barriss, and Riyo find themselves stranded in the Pantoran Taiga. They must get back to civilization, but the wilds are more dangerous than they realize. If the cold doesn’t get them, the locals will.

First Chapter : Previous Chapter : Next Chapter : Last Chapter

Chapter 4: Bravado Wharf

WARNING: If you are sensitive to the butchering of animals, then it might be best for you to skip this chapter.

Riyo wakes up to a blackened sky. She’s lying in the bed of the pickup speeder, pressed against Ahsoka’s side and covered in a shaggy, fur blanket. Pillowed under her head is a soft duffel bag.

“Hey,” Ahsoka says in a low voice. She turns her head to talk into Riyo’s ear and tells her what happened with the tea. While she talks, the roads become paved, so the ride is smoother. The road becomes lined with streetlights hanging from wires held aloft by wood posts.

Ahsoka’s voice is soothing and despite her initial panic at waking up in a strange place, Riyo finds herself relaxing against her. Her fingers catch in the folds of Ahsoka’s dress and she snuggles closer.

“Barriss hasn’t woken up yet, but I think she’s okay,” Ahsoka says. The both of them look at Barriss and find her almost covered entirely by the furs save for her pale green forehead.

Riyo slowly reaches across Ahsoka to Barriss, towards her face, and soon she feels a deep, gentle breath against her hand.

“Yes, she’s asleep.” Riyo withdraws her hand. Ahsoka’s arm snakes around her waist and pulls her in closer, and Riyo presses her cheek to Ahsoka’s lek. It’s toasty under the furs. Cozy. Ahsoka is a solid and safe presence next to her.

Riyo sighs. “Thank you for saving my life. Our lives. I should have taken my own advice and not drunk the tea.”

“You didn’t know Mrs. Kortzeer would be like that,” Ahsoka says.

The dark tree line whizzes past as they zoom down the highway. Now and then, they pass by a homestead, and the beams from the houselights cut across the pickup bed. It’s quiet and peaceful, but Riyo is too wired to sleep. Ahsoka might feel similar, for she’s still wide awake. Her hand lifts from Riyo’s waist and goes to her back, where her touch is light and fleeting, and Riyo realizes that she’s playing with her hair. Riyo turns her face in to Ahsoka’s lek to hide her smile.

“Sorry, I should have asked. Should I stop?” Ahsoka asks. Her face is so very close to hers. If Riyo turned her head….

If she turned, what might happen?

A pit of longing opens up in Riyo’s chest.

“No.” Riyo doesn’t know if Ahsoka’s doing this on purpose, but at any rate, she probably should have figured before now that Ahsoka would be fascinated by hair. Ahsoka grins and continues, testing the weight, how it falls. It’s oddly comforting.

Ahsoka has always been rather uncharacteristically free with physical contact for a Jedi. She holds Riyo’s hand, or touches her arm or her shoulder. She’d stand close and even place a hand on the small of Riyo’s back to usher her through places. And while it’s easy for Riyo to explain it away as platonic, sometimes she’ll catch Ahsoka’s eye and find a tenderness in her gaze that can’t be dismissed so easily.

To read too much into it would be too dangerous, however. That path would only lead to pain. Best not to dwell on it.

“Ahsoka?”

“Yeah?”

“When we woke up in the forest, before we got away from our abductors, Barriss suggested that she sacrifice herself to give us a chance to escape.”

Ahsoka’s hand stills, her fingers curled around a lock of Riyo’s hair. “Oh? She did that?”

“You don’t sound as surprised as I thought you’d be.”

“She’s done that before. I don’t know why she defaults to that when things go bad.”

“She defaults to sacrificing herself,” Riyo repeats, astonished. Never mind going gray, these Jedi are going to steal years off her life. She might as well save time and walk into the ocean right now, or go back to Reindeer Ridge. One of her fellow senators, Padmé Amidala of Naboo, is notorious for being close friends with two Jedi. Is this how she feels all the time? Is this what it’s like? How does she do it? How? How?

Perhaps they can convince Barriss to stop doing that.

Ahsoka snorts. “I don’t think it’s something we can change about Barriss.”

“You having fun reading my mind, Master Jedi?”

Ahsoka has the impudence to chuckle. “I don’t have to read your mind, Riyo. Your anger radiates through the Force.”

“Eish!” Riyo swears under her breath and playfully swats Ahsoka’s shoulder.

For those heading to the coast, Bravado is the last major city before one reaches the Pantoran taiga. It’s the last chance Snow Walkers would have before they head out into the wild, and there are many temporary Snow Walking tents set up along the street. At this time of night, there are only a few people out and about, all bundled up and hurrying home. The shop fronts are empty and dark.

“Everything’s closed,” Riyo says. She knocks on the cabin window and it slides open again. Sanele sticks her head out.

“What’s up, Senator?”

“Is there a comlink around here we could use? Or a holo-cafe?”

Sanele gives her an apologetic look. “No comlinks, and no holonet access. Not open to the public anyway. The college is the only place where all that tech is held.”

“What about a public archive? Archives have datapads.”

“The archive used to have datapads, but they kept getting stolen, so they stopped replacing them. They’re all gone now.”

“How about a space port?”

Sanele shakes her head. “No moon-wide or galactic port either. There’s a terminal with one ship, will that do?”

“You’re the Senator of Pantora. They’d let you get on that ship. They’ll let you use that comlink,” Ahsoka says.

Barriss stirs, and the hem of the blanket drops from her face. She blinks.

“I’m alive?” She asks, her voice thick with sleep.

“Of course,” Ahsoka says. “I’m not going to abandon you like that. I care about you too much.”

“Oh.” Barriss sounds genuinely surprised and touched, and Riyo is both appalled and somewhat offended. Did she really believe that they would just leave her? How could she expect that?

“Do you have your identichips?” Sanele asks.

“Unfortunately, no. Why do you ask?” Barriss asks.

Ahsoka explains their predicament.

“No one would believe Riyo is the senator without her identichip, and no one in their right mind wouldn’t ask to see it,” Barriss says. She stretches luxuriously, and Riyo’s eye traces the arc of her lithe body even through the furs. When Barriss settles back down, she pulls the furs back up over the bottom half of her face.

It’s the closest thing to relaxed that they’ve ever seen her.

“Good point,” Ahsoka says, strangely subdued. Too nonchalant. Riyo wonders if it might be because she felt Barriss stretch, instead of just watching her, and isn’t that a fascinating observation to make.

“At least Bravado is relatively close to Defiance,” Riyo says.

“Yeah, if by ‘close’ you mean like a two-hour drive by speeder. We could drive you to Defiance, right Vuyo?” Sanele asks.

“No, no, no. You need to enroll in classes,” Riyo says. “You need to make new lives here and you need to start tonight. It’ll be harder for you two to find a place to live if we travel with you.”

“But….”

“We will be fine. We’ll figure it out.” While the speeder is stopped at a traffic light, Riyo wriggles out from beneath the blanket and takes Sanele’s hand in hers. “Thank you for helping us. We’ll never forget it.”

Sanele and Vuyo share a look, then Sanele smiles at Riyo. “No, thank you. You’ve given us a second chance at this. We won’t let you down.”

Ahsoka and Barriss take their parka and cloak and hop out of the pickup bed. Riyo follows them, and she lets Ahsoka pick her up ‘round the waist and lowers her onto the ground. The three of them wave as the speeder takes off and turns the corner out of sight. Barriss pulls her winter cloak around her shoulders and does the buckles across her chest. Ahsoka shimmies her parka on and pulls her lekku though the hood.

“Their mom is a kriffing piece of work,” Ahsoka mutters.

“Yes, well, tell me about it.” Riyo walks across the street to reach the curb and continues down towards a kiosk. The map is made of faded, water-stained flimsi, and Riyo gets up on tip-toe to see better. They’re in the touristy part of town, in the middle of restaurants, tapcafes and many souvenir shops.

A young man walks down the street towards them, and he comes to a stop a few meters out. He’s nervous, and shifty.

Barriss steps closer to Riyo, her hands hidden in her cloak. “Can we help you?”

“Are you…my friends?” He asks, still nervous. He doesn’t make eye contact with any of them.

Ahsoka frowns. “What?”

“Oh, sorry. I thought I knew you.” He hurries around them and walks off, his hand hiding his face. The three of them watch him go until he disappears into the night.

“I don’t understand. Wouldn’t he know if he knew us? He wasn’t under the influence of anything,” Barriss says.

“He’s probably looking for his dealer. You wouldn’t happen to have death sticks on you, would you, Master Jedi? We could turn a quick credit.” Riyo turns back to the kiosk as Barriss’s jaw drops.

“Do we look like spice dealers?” She shrieks. Off in the distance, a couple akk dogs start barking. Riyo laughs, then gives Barriss an apologetic look. Before she can answer, a growling, gurgling noise comes from Ahsoka.

Ahsoka’s lekku stripes darken as she tugs her hood further down over her face. “I’m hungry.”

Barriss worries her lip. “No identichips, no credits, and no credit chips…What are we going to do? Where are we going to stay? What will we eat?”

Riyo hums and taps a fingertip against the northern part of the map, where the wharf is located. She turns this way and that, looking around to get her bearings, then beckons to the Jedi and leads the way. Eventually, the duracrete and asphalt give way to aged wood planks, but the shops are more or less the same, albeit with more of a seafood and shipyard focus. Even in the yellow light of the street lamps, they can make out the colorful monikers: Seals, whales, and sharks carved out of wood, huge, stylistic anchors jutting from the roofs, and more purple and yellow sigils painted across the walls and the thick posts. All of it eerie for being so silent and still. No one else is around. No sign of life at all. The three of them make their way through the narrow wharf and a few decks full of picnic benches until they reach the end of the dock, where they’re stopped by a guard.

The guard is dressed in a dark, fur cloak, and only has an oil lamp for company. He stands up from his folding chair and hefts a rifle against his shoulder, then raises a hand to stop them. His face is cast in shadow.

“Please stop and return to your homes. The piers are closed until further notice,” the guard says in Pantoran.

“Sir, all we want to do is fish,” Riyo says, but the guard raises his hand a little higher.

“These piers have been closed, and they will stay closed for the rest of the week according to Count Mafoo’s wishes. I’m sorry, Snow Walker, but you’ll have to scrounge for food elsewhere.” The guard gestures out, and they all look to find more piers, all laid out in a row. At the end of each of them is yet another guard with another oil lamp. The guard glances at Barriss and Ahsoka.

“Do you understand what I said?” He asks.

Barriss frowns. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Basic then. If you have a permit from Count Mafoo, I can let you fish and hunt.”

“A permit? Local hunters shouldn’t need permits to feed their families. Why has the Count closed the piers?” Riyo asks.

“The Count is gearing up for a feast, and has ordered his hunters to catch a hundred seals.”

“A hundred! Whatever for? Is it for the upcoming Blizzard God feast?”

“The Count doesn’t need a reason, nor does he need to justify himself to you, Snow Walker.”

“But….”

“The pier is closed! Please leave,” the guard says. Riyo finds herself being gently pulled away by Ahsoka and Barriss until they’re out of earshot of the guard.

“We can find something else, Riyo,” Barriss whispers.

“Yeah, I can hold out for a few more hours,” Ahsoka says.

Usually, that would be acceptable, but this is Pantora, and there are rules here. Riyo pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. “Pantoran oceans are not a privilege, Master Jedi, they are a right. Many Pantorans depend on the sea for their livelihood.

“And yes, Ahsoka, you may be tough enough to go hungry for a while, but there are many in this town who cannot; the very young, the elderly, the pregnant, the sick. Bravado in general needs food now; the people here don’t deal with proper credits and don’t purchase most of their food, they hunt and fish. They will not last long without the piers.

“Also, I’m hungry too,” Riyo finishes lamely. She hopes it doesn’t sound as whiny as she suspects, but judging by how Barriss’ nose scrunches up, she must have sounded very whiny indeed. But she can’t help it! Ever since Ahsoka’s stomach growled, Riyo’s own stomach has started gnawing on itself. If this goes on for much longer, she’s going to find herself irritable as well.

Ahsoka chuckles. “Okay, come on.” She walks back to the guard, who grips his rifle.

“Listen, I said….”

“Yeah, I know what you said, but we don’t need a permit to hunt.” Ahsoka slowly waves her hand on front of the guard’s face. The guard pauses, his face growing slack.

“You…don’t need a permit to hunt,” the guard says in monotone.

“No one needs a permit to hunt. You’re here to keep the peace.”

“I’m here to keep the peace.”

“We can pass.”

“You may pass.” The guard takes a few steps to the side as if nothing is amiss. “Sorry about that, ladies.”

Ahsoka, Barriss, and Riyo all file past him, smiling. The guard smiles back, then sits back down in his folding chair.

“Follow me,” Riyo says, and she goes to a ladder bolted to the side of the dock. She makes her way down until she reaches the thick, slippery surface of the frozen sea. She holds her arms out for balance and slowly walks across the ice beyond the range of the light from the guard’s oil lamp, then keeps going. The lights give way to the aurora and to the stars. It’s chillier out here somehow. A few logs have been frozen in the ice, along with half of a rowboat.

“Is this safe?” Barriss asks from behind her.

“Yes.” Riyo points out to a few other hunters spread out across the ice. Each of them are bundled up and have their foldable stools and thermoses. Some sit near their ice holes with a club, and others have set up fishing poles. Riyo comes to a stop and crouches down, smoothing a hand over the ice.

“Here, there’s a breathing hole already. All we need to do is widen it.” Riyo steps aside as Ahsoka crouches down and brings both of her fists down in the spot she just indicated.

CRACK. The ice splinters into chunks. Barriss takes Riyo’s hand and pulls her further away. Ahsoka growls and raises her fists again.

CRACK. The ice breaks cleanly, and Ahsoka digs her fingers in and pries the chunks out, effortlessly tossing them away. She reaches seawater about a third of a meter down, and she keeps working until the hole is wide enough for something to poke its head through. She sits back on her heels, breathing lightly.

“Is that big enough?”

“Yes.” Riyo was going to use her knife, but this is much better. “By the Gods, Ahsoka, what do the Jedi feed you?”

Ahsoka grins up at them, her sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “I wasn’t even using the Force either. It’s all muscle.”

“Well done. You’ve just expanded a seal breathing hole, so something should come up soon.”

“Got it.” Ahsoka draws her lightsaber hilt and squats down next to the jagged hole. She doesn’t move.

“Let’s go.” Barriss tugs on Riyo’s hand, and the both of them go to a log that’s been half frozen in the ice and sit down.

“We could keep her company,” Riyo says, but Barriss shakes her head.

“You won’t get much out of her which she’s in her hunting headspace. I remember on Geonosis: the Separatists kept shooting down our supply ships, so food was scarce. It got so dire that some of us hadn’t eaten in a couple days. Then one day, Ahsoka covered herself in red clay—clay that she dug up herself, from under the sand—and went by herself into the desert. She didn’t tell anyone where she went; we thought she had finally lost it. Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi were considering combing the planet for her.”

“What happened next?”

“After a few hours, Ahsoka coms us. She said that she needed Rex to take a squad of men to her current coordinates so that they could clean up her mess. When they got there, she was gone, but they found a freshly-killed camel. And then while they’re dressing the camel, Ahsoka commed again, with different coordinates. Master Skywalker went with another squad to that location and he found a dead antelope. This happened a few more times before everyone got…frustrated.

“While it’s a big help, everyone’s worried to death, so I decided to bring her back to camp. I noticed that these coordinates form a pattern, and I packed some supplies and go out to where I thought she’ll go next.”

“Did you find her?” Riyo asks. Barriss nods, then shrugs.

“She found me. She looked rather feral because by then she was covered in blood too. I tried to convince her to come back with me, but she told me that she was tracking something. But she might have felt guilty about being so much trouble, so she said that she would come back after one last kill. I waited in a cave while she stalked something.

“I waited for two hours before she brought back a goat.” Barriss pauses as she glances at Ahsoka, who still sits motionless next to the ice hole, as focused as a tooka on a songbird. “I have never seen her so patient, and I doubt we will ever see her as patient apart of a hunt.”

Barriss looks down at their clasped hands. She hasn’t pulled away after all this time, and while Riyo might like it for her own selfish reasons, she also guiltily wonders if Barriss dislikes it after all.

Maybe it’s because they were almost abducted again a few hours ago and they need some reassurance. Maybe it’s because of some other reason that Riyo doesn’t dare figure out to keep from getting her hopes up, but Barriss doesn’t let go. She doesn’t let go, and even though it’s inconvenient, she reaches across herself into her belt pouch and pulls out a heavy padlock.

“Did you take that from the garage?” Riyo asks.

“Sanele gave two to me after I asked to borrow one.” Barriss turns it over in her palm and falls silent for a moment.

CLICK. The lock pops open. Barriss smiles and pushes it closed again. She reaches into her pouch again and pulls out the second padlock.

“Are you practicing, Master Jedi?” Riyo asks, fascinated.

“I won’t be caught off guard again. Your risky plan paid off last time, but the idea of gambling with your life…it doesn’t sit well with me. You matter too much, Riyo. To the Galaxy, to Pantora. And Ahsoka too. She has a master to return to, and she has the command of her men. If we lost either of you, we’d be poorer for it.”

That’s the nicest thing Barriss has ever said to her, and it’s by far the nicest thing she’s heard her say about Ahsoka. Riyo find herself softening at that.

“Thank you, Barriss. I must admit that I feel very similar about you.”

Barriss straightens up and turns to Riyo. It’s difficult to make out her face in the darkness, but to Riyo’s dismay, she’s bewildered. “Me?”

“You! Is that so surprising to learn that I care about you? That the thought of you getting hurt upsets me?” Riyo asks. If Barriss thought that her death was so insignificant, then it explains quite a bit.

Barriss doesn’t answer.

Gods, Riyo hopes she isn’t going to wreck everything by saying this next bit. While she respects how Jedi shy away from any sign of sentimentality, she couldn’t quite forgive herself if she didn’t say anything now.

“I always feel so relieved when you and Ahsoka come back from your tours, or when Ahsoka sends me letters. When we all have dinner together at some hole-in-the-wall restaurant. If I had to mourn either of you, it would destroy me.”

Barriss covers her face with her hand and gives a breathy chuckle. She doesn’t laugh often, so Riyo’s not sure if it usually sound so strained, but she waits all the same.

“Then—then I suppose I’d better be more careful with myself, shouldn’t I?” Barriss asks.

“That would be great,” Riyo says. It comes out more sarcastic than she intended, and Barriss snorts and chuckles. This time, it’s light and infectious and, emboldened, Riyo joins her. Soon, the both of them are laughing together loud enough that some of the neighboring hunters shout at them to quiet down.

An hour passes. Riyo removes her button-up shirt again and ties it around her head, and Barriss gathers her cloak tighter around herself. They huddle together, with Barriss’s head resting on Riyo’s shoulder. Around them, a couple hunters come and go, taking their gear and their food with them. In the distance, the piers and the guard oil lamps burn bright. Riyo keeps her eyes trained on Ahsoka, who still hasn’t moved. She does this despite her encroaching exhaustion, because her gnawing stomach won’t let her sleep otherwise.

“Why do they call you ‘Snow Walker?’” Barriss asks in a soft, sleepy voice. She turns the locks over in her hands. “Sanele called you that, and you told Mrs. Kortzeer you were snow-walking too. It’s not a slur, is it?”

“It’s not. Snow Walkers go out into the wilderness to survive on their wits in order to worship and curry favor with the Blizzard God.”

“The Blizzard God?”

“One of the gods of the major pantheon. He was the first Pantoran to murder another, and that is why He is the God of War. He did it to get back one of his stolen elk, and that is why He is also the god of Justice and elk. When Pantorans Snow Walk, they can stay in the woods, or they can travel down to the site of the first murder, like a pilgrimage of some sort.”

“So you look like one of these Snow Walkers?”

“I suppose I do. I don’t think I can truly call myself that though. There’s a proper way to Snow Walk, and what we’re doing isn’t it.”

“What would make it proper, then?”

“We’d need to be drugged out of our minds.” Riyo bites her lip to keep from laughing as Barriss stares.

“You’re not serious.”

“I very much am.” But Riyo’s laughter dies on her lips as she spies a flash of green in the distance. Barriss gasps and scrambles upright.

“She did it!” Barriss grabs Riyo’s hand and together, they make their way back to Ahsoka, moving as fast as the ice will allow.

Ahsoka stands up and uses the Force to levitate the seal out of the hole and onto the ice, then unceremoniously throws her arms out as she slips on the ice and threatens to fall.

“Whoa!” Ahsoka plants her feet firmly on the ice, then reaches up under her parka to clip her lightsaber back onto her belt. “Hey, guys.”

“Eish! Come here, you big bruiser.” Elated, Riyo reaches up and kisses Ahsoka’s cheek, then turns to the seal. Ahsoka puts a hand over her face as her lekku stripes darken.

Riyo rolls the seal over onto its back and stands with one foot on either side of it. It’s not the biggest she’s seen; it’s only about a meter long and maybe twenty-two kilograms, but it’s still a pretty good catch. There’s a thin, charred line running through the back of the neck where Ahsoka killed it, but it’s otherwise intact.

“We could drag it back to shore and cook it,” Barriss says, but she trails off when Riyo takes out her knife. “Er…Riyo?”

Riyo got this knife when she turned twenty last year. It belonged to her father, and her grandfather before him. Usually, knives like this are passed down to sons, but Riyo has no brothers, so she got it. Riyo places the blade of knife against the throat of the seal and pauses. If she’s not careful, she’s going to cut herself something awful.

KSHOOM. Ahsoka ignites her lightsaber again, washing everything in bright green light. She holds it aloft so that Riyo can see what she’s doing.

“Thanks.” Riyo smiles at her before focusing on the seal. It took many camping trips and many seals before she committed the entire dressing process to memory, and while she’s spent the last three years on Coruscant, she still remembers it all.

Cut around where the flippers join the body of the seal, both front and back. Don’t chop them off completely—that will come later—but just deep enough to cut through the pelt and the blubber. After that, cut across the neck to make room for the knife, then make one slice down the length of the belly.

The seal will open like a purse, revealing a thick layer of blubber. If the cut is deep enough, then it will also reveal the red meat underneath.

“That is a really sharp knife,” Barriss says.

“Yes, it is,” Riyo says.

“Have you cut yourself before? Like accidentally?” Ahsoka asks.

“I have gotten many gnarly cuts from this knife,” Riyo says. But it was inevitable while she was learning how to do all this. Everyone who learns the art become familiar with emergency care wards, and if one were to look carefully at her hands and forearms now, they would see thin, light blue scars crossing through the net of her tattoos.

The three of them fall silent as Riyo renders the seal further down. There is a natural seam between the layer of blubber and the red meat. Cut the blubber away, one side at a time. Slits will need to be made through the pelt to free the flippers, but after that, the pelt will fall away. Roll the carcass from side to side to cut the rest of the seal free from the pelt, and when the seal is free, drag it away from the pelt and blubber to a fresh patch of ice.

The night is filled with the hum of Ahsoka’s lightsaber and the creak of tendons and sinew as Riyo manipulates the seal carcass. Ahsoka watches with hungry eyes, and Barriss is entranced too, probably from a medical point of view. One of Riyo’s friends studied to be a surgeon, and he once mentioned watching butcher holo-vids to better understand the spatial working of the body.

Steam rises from the seal into the cold air as Riyo chops through the cartilage of the ribcage. Her hands and arms are stained with dark purple blood, and while she’s being careful not to be too messy, there are already some spatter stains on her clothes.

The blubber and pelt are a relatively clean place to place the harvested meat. Manipulate the front flippers to locate the shoulder sockets, then slice through until the entire limb, including the shoulder blade, is separated form the rest of the carcass. Chop off the flippers. Keep them if there is a way to further process them later, but discard otherwise. The back flippers can be harvested in a similar method.

There’s a respectable amount of ready meat on the pad of blubber by now. Riyo straightens up to catch her breath. “Have at it, Ahsoka! You get first choice.”

“Yes! Riyo, you’re the best!” Ahsoka jams the hilt of her lightsaber into a crack in the ice, freeing her hands. She picks up a rack of ribs and bites down, tearing the meat from the bone. Barriss politely faces away from the spectacle.

“Won’t this make it harder to transport it?”

Riyo looks up from the seal carcass. “Huh?”

“I mean, we could gather the pelt and the fat around the meat like a sack, but it’d still be messy.”

“Oh! Between the three of us, we’ll demolish a seal this size. There won’t be any leftovers. Well, wait.” Riyo gestures towards the flippers that have been carelessly tossed to the side. “The wolves can have that.”

“I think you’re missing my point.”

“No, I understand. How thorough was your research into Pantoran cuisine?”

“Non-existent. I focused on politics instead, because of the nature of our mission.”

“So this must be enlightening. I was going to take us hunting like this anyway, after the third day of the Summit ended, so we’re actually ahead of schedule.”

Riyo returns to the carcass and cuts away a couple bite-sized pieces of red meat and offers one to Barriss. Barriss gingerly takes the piece between her forefinger and thumb, her lip curling in disgust.

“Am I supposed to sear this with my lightsaber?”

Riyo pops the raw meat into her mouth and chews with gusto. Throughout her travels to the corners of the galaxy, and despite all the things she’s eaten (it is astounding what rare dishes some people will offer a Republic senator to impress them) nothing has come remotely close. Fresh seal meat is gamey, but is otherwise indistinguishable in texture from raw fish.

Ahsoka shrieks with delight as Barriss gasps.

“I didn’t know Pantorans could eat raw meat too!” Ahsoka says.

“Only fresh seal and fish, as is tradition.” Riyo cuts another small chunk and eats that too. She groans, then continues her work. “Come on, Barriss, it’s good!”

“It really is good, Barriss.” Ahsoka gathers the cleaned rib bones into a pile and picks up another portion from the blubber. The bottom half of her face is purple with blood.

Barriss sighs. “Yes, but you’re Togruta, and Togruta are equipped to eat raw meat!”

“Try one bite, and if you don’t like it, you can just cook it with your lightsaber,” Riyo says.

Riyo tosses the remaining bits of meat onto the blubber and leaves the spent carcass. She kneels down next to the blubber and begins slicing the cuts down to a more manageable size.

Barriss looks at the meat in her hand, then puts it into her mouth. She chews slowly, her eyebrows knitted together.

“Well? Is it good?” Riyo asks.

“Decidedly so,” Barriss reluctantly admits.

“Kief! Have some liver.” Riyo slaps a third of the dark liver into Barriss’s hand. Barriss stares down at it in disgust, but Riyo turns to Ahsoka.

“Do you want some too?”

“Ooh! Yes, please.” Ahsoka makes a grabby motion with her hands.

“Here.” Riyo gives her a third and leaves the last bit for herself. The three of them sit around the seal pelt, taking whatever they wish. Out of the darkness comes a white Pantoran fox, making its rounds through all the fishing holes and begging the hunters and fishermen for scraps. It’s fluffy, with stubby ears and a bushy tail almost as big as its body. It keeps its distance when Ahsoka growls at it, but it doesn’t leave.

“I wonder who put the bounty on your head,” Ahsoka says. “It could be that Rommeruk guy.”

“The late Chairman’s son? I don’t think so,” Riyo says.

“This isn’t an insult against your moon, Riyo, but aren’t there powerful crime families here? Maybe one of them put the bounty on you,” Barriss says.

“Hah, no. No, that’s impossible. If one of the Families was behind it, it would start a war,” Riyo says.

“Why would that start a war?” Barriss asks.

Riyo is silent for a few moments, torn as to what she should say.

“Oh kriff, okay. You don’t have to answer that,” Ahsoka says with a sudden air of understanding.

Barriss frowns. “But….”

“She doesn’t have to answer that,” Ahsoka says again, more pointed this time.

Barriss sighs. “Very well.”

Perhaps she shouldn’t say, as it’d color their opinion of her so terribly, but Riyo tells herself that they are her dear friends. They should know and they wouldn’t judge her so harshly.

“I’m one of the youngest senators in the history of the Republic, let alone in Pantoran history. It shouldn’t have been possible for me to get elected, but it happened anyway, because I had help.” Riyo says this as carefully as she can.

“So that’s how you did it. I always wondered,” Barriss whispers.

They fall silent again. Riyo picks up the discarded intestines and tosses it further away, and the Pantoran fox scampers off to get it.

“What are we going to do about the blockaded waterfront? We can’t possibly hunt and fish enough for everyone in Bravado. Nor could we smuggle that much food into the town,” Barriss says.

“Not to mention the quota of a hundred seal. What could the Count possibly do with that much seal? It’s incredibly wasteful,” Riyo says.

“We’re gonna do something about it, right?” Ahsoka asks.

“We must! We cannot allow an entire town to starve. Although.” Barriss falters. “It isn’t within the mission parameters.”

“The mission parameters are to escort me, correct?” Riyo asks.

“Yes. And to protect you.”

“Then escort and protect me when I go see the Count,” Riyo says.

Amazingly, Barriss laughs again, the rare sound sweet and full. “Very well.”

Riyo kneels next to the ice hole and dips her hands in, cleaning the blood from them. She cups her hands and brings up some water to wash her face. “Ugh. I know the count responsible for this area; Count Anathi Mafoo. It’s not like him to be so cruel, but you never know with aristocracy. We’ll just have to pay him a visit.”

“Awesome!” Ahsoka finishes her bite of meat and goes to the ice hole to wash up too. “What do we do with the pelt?”

“One of the locals will take it. Waste not and such. May I?” Riyo points at the lightsaber.

“Sure.”

Riyo plucks the lightsaber from the ice and waves it over her head, using it as a signal flare of some kind. About fifty yards out, one of the neighboring fishermen picks up his lantern and swings it from side to side several times. Riyo waves again, then returns Ahsoka’s lightsaber to her.

Want to read this on Ao3 or on FF.net? Click here for the links.

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #Ahsoka Tano #barriss offee #riyo chuchi #fanfiction #fanfic #artillery writes

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midnight-raven · 6 years

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Guardians of the Galaxy Role Swap Au

Instead of it happening years later, Peter Quill’s celestial power developed when he was much younger and Thanos found out about the potential powers from such a young being and decided to make him part of the Dark Order. So before the Ravagers could pick up the boy, Thanos found him first and took him in. Years later, the Galaxy trembled with fear under the name Star-Lord, the murderous son of Thanos. However, all those years, Peter plotted the best way to escape and find a way to stop his father's - abductors plan of a galactic genocide, starting by finding all the infinity stones before Thanos does.

Gamora’s people were wiped out as they did in the movie but her mother managed to hide the young girl from the Dark Order and so she never got taken in by the mad Titan. Orphaned and alone, the young girl stowed away on a Ravager ship to get off her dead homeland planet. However, she was caught by and almost killed for sneaking on their ship but Yondu stopped them and held it over her head for the rest of her life. Years later, Gamora found the man who had murdered her family was after an orb she was sent to steal, so she drove away, on a quest to prevent any other young girls from suffering as she had suffered by his hands.

#guardians of the galaxy #star lord #peter quill #gamora #yondu #thanos #i have issues #avengers: infinity war #marvel au #guardians of the galaxy au

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remember-the-eternal-return · 6 years

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In many abductions, no matter what species is the abductor, Greys tend to accompany them. They aid just about any other being in whatever way they wish. It’s as though they are all’s galactic companion

#extraterrestrials #extradimensionals #aliens #greys #alien abduction #my art tag #art tag #my art

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rauthschild · 3 years

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Extraterrestrial Abductions - Why Are They Done on Humans? Galactic Conversation .... Anéeka of Temmer - Taygeta - Pleiades

Gosia: Aneeka... Tell us why the extraterrestrials abduct people please! There are many cases. What happens to these people? They are on board ships, and there are things that are being done to them. Anéeka: There is no single reason. There are countless, and it is simply impossible to know all the reasons, just the main or recurring ones. Although all races potentially abduct, the main abductors are the small grays. They are known as gardeners, and the garden is the biology of a planet. In a place with slow, low density, what you would call 3D, it takes a while for biology to reflect the soul signal or to copy it as a reflection. So, these beings abduct certain people to make genetic changes or to accelerate an evolution, also to cure them of some disease that could affect their life plan. Remembering that each person enters a life with a specific life plan. They cure cancers or fix autoimmune problems or whatever is in their power. Many times, a coma is induced in abducted people and they are in a medical pod for days or weeks if not longer, and then are returned with a time jump about 10 min after abduction on the same night, for example. People report a lot of fear and a lot of abruptness in what the grays do to them, but this more than anything is because they have no tact, and they just abduct, they do whatever they have to do to people, they return them to their place of origin, and they go to abduct more. They don't have the time or understanding to be careful, tactful, or nice. They just take, work, and return the people, like it's a mass production line. But other races also abduct for a myriad of reasons. For example, putting a tracking device in their starseeds or in the people of their interest. The famous implants. Others are by agreements since the person to be abducted has contracts to work with them while on Earth as humans, whether or not they are of their race although more usually they are. Many races have agreements with their starseeds where they enter Earth as agents of that ET civilization to carry out a specific job or plan and their home races will support them from their ships. There are also abductions of the type called Milab where the terrestrial military, whether or not in collusion with some non-human race, abduct a subject of interest to put implants or for mind control reasons. The amount of information and data would make this topic huge. Robert: Can races do experiments on humans that are not their starseeds? Anéeka: Yes, the best example are the reptilians and the Maitre that invasively abduct or annoy all other races, imposing their ideas and agendas. Gosia: Why do Reptiles abduct? Anéeka: Everything is for agendas of manipulation and control. I cannot know why in detail, but it is always to mind control or to insert two-way chips to control a subject or to modify their thoughts and with that their frequency to be consistent with being parasitized by them. Robert: What methods do they use to make humans forget abduction? And how do they manage to paralyze them or whatever they do... how do they manage to capture humans? And why many humans have negative experiences with those little grays? Anéeka: What is done is to induce a coma using destructive waves at specific frequencies, in itself it´s not that they erase the memory of a subject, but they prevent it from being formed in the first place. They use frequencies in agreement with or similar to those of the brain during sleep. But the system is not perfect because many times the abductee does remember things. I insist that it is not that they erase the memory, but they prevent them from being formed by putting the brain in a state of drowsiness, which in itself causes the individual not to distinguish in detail if he or she lived something or only dreamed it. The paralysis comes from the same sleepiness mechanism, hacking the body with specific frequencies to use its very systems of prevention of movement during sleep, those natural systems so that a sleeping person that is being chased, does not run out of bed. Robert: Can you befriend those Grays... Can they empathize with the abductee? Anéeka: No or in a very limited way, they don't think like you. The interaction between species is difficult, more so if they perceive you as just their job. They just want to finish with you, hurry and that's it, since that night they still have another 22 abductions scheduled to do and it is already 1 am, they must hurry, they don't have time for kindness. Robert: So, with a regression they could recover the memory? The abductees. Hypnotic regression? Anéeka: Yes, in the exact same way that a dream can be recovered. Gosia: Ok. Thank you. My question: Gardeners - how do they know who to bring? From whom do they receive the instructions? Anéeka: The races in general send their instructions to them to do the job. In other words, they delegate to the Grays the work that they could otherwise do themselves. Virtually any race can call on them, in exchange for supplies, bases, technological cooperation. Among many other things. Robert: In order not to take risks, they delegate power? So that the abductee does not remember his star family? Anéeka: It could be. But mostly it is because many races find it easier to delegate the problem or the job, so they do not have to go to the planet where the person lives and abduct themselves, since the grays will go to that planet anyway because they have other contracts. Gosia: So, they abduct them with the body? And never have "accidents"? Wife entering the room etc? Someone could see them, right? Anéeka: It is not usual, but there have been cases where they are found in the act. Generally, by frequencies using the multipurpose tractor beam, they put the whole family to sleep while they work on the member that interests them. Robert: Do you have to flee if you see the Grays? Can you escape from them? Anéeka: If they want to stop you, they will, if you can flee, they are not interested. They can paralyze you in seconds using their frequencies that alter brain waves causing you to fall asleep. Gosia: Why do they heal some and others not? Does it depend on the life plan? But this life plan has not considered getting sick? It catches people by surprise? Anéeka: That depends on the contracts and the life plans they have. Also, because whether they are or not of a race that has hired them to do the work, if they are not, they will tend to ignore other people whether or not they need their intervention. For example, many people with cancer can be cured but by life plan these people already had their way out of the physical state, so they cannot intervene. The grays work strictly under the same rules of the Federation and / or the other organizations that may also call them. Nothing is random there in 3D. Robert: Has Taygeta ever called them? Do some work. Anéeka: I am sure, but I don't have the data. What I do feel is that it is unusual if it has been done. Because it is not the style of Taygeta or many other races either. Robert: Are they careful not to leave evidence? And from what I see they are very knowledgeable about human anatomy and can solve any health problem... Anéeka: Yes, they are. But what helps them is that everything is used by energy, that is, they bring people up with the tractor beam and they do tests and they put them to sleep with energy manipulated to perfection, it is difficult for them to leave evidence like a glove thrown somewhere or something like that. Gosia: What is the implant doing? Where is it located? What exactly does it track? Anéeka: It is implanted in several places, not just one. The most common one is under the skull, where the spine begins, then arms, hands and legs. The subcutaneous right in the area of the heart is also common. Gosia: And what does it do? Anéeka: It is a piece with an indefinite shape to avoid being seen as something artificial. It takes its energy from the same electrical bio-magnetic system of the being that has it. Gosia: But what does it track? The geographical position like the chip in the dog or more things, health etc? Anéeka: All the data that they can get from the subject, yes, from their geographical position, their habits, where they go, and their state of health, yes. Gosia: Their habits? Like what habits? I have mine under my skull too, right? Anéeka: Absolutely everything the subject of interest does. Yes, you have it. Robert: Is it normal to re-abduct the same abductee? Anéeka: Yes, more than normal. If you are abducted once, it will most likely be with you throughout your life. Robert: Wow. The same abductee. Gosia: At what point is the implant put in, like mine for example? When the person is abducted? So, I was abducted after entering the immersion? Anéeka: Yes, exactly. This is the most usual time, but it can be in the womb. Gosia: And what interesting habits of mine have you learned from my life? Anéeka: What for you is normal and boring for us is exotic and new. Knowing how to live there, how it is to have no memory and still be. How they think, how they are all manipulated, how to prevent them from being manipulated looking for keys to transform the entire human race into something more positive. Understanding how time works, seemingly fixed there, linear and with little or no lateral diversity. Understanding the dynamics of the entire civilization, invaluable data for the entry or not of other souls or people of the race to which I belong. That and more. Gosia: All that is coming from my implant? Anéeka: Not only, also from the interaction with you. But yes, a lot comes out of the implant. Gosia: In what way does it come out? What do you see from there? I don't understand mechanics. How does all this come out there on the other side? Is it presented on the screen or how? Anéeka: It comes out as biometric data. Gosia: What is that? Anéeka: Data about heart rate, breathing rate, blood glucose, temperature, organ function, all of that. Robert: So, we agreed that there is no implant detector? There is nothing that can capture that that implant emits a frequency? Anéeka: Yes, they can be detected by humans, but you need very sensitive equipment, they are very high frequencies. Virtually all starseeds have implants. Robert: What tests are done on abductees? What criteria is followed to choose them? Anéeka: Practically everything that can be done to a living organism, see the progression of its DNA through the environment, how it has degraded, its alterations and mutations, and why they have occurred. With them they also correct, by means of frequencies or by Medical Pod, the serious problems that they find and that may interfere in the life plan of the person using that body. Criteria, it's any real person, not the Matrix one. But it is either the responsibility of their species or race to take care of their biology and that they can fulfill their life mission, or it can also be the responsibility of the gardeners working for these races. This clearly explains why the Grays have been seen, according to witnesses, working in the presence of any other race that is clearly supervising them. Like White Nordic, Mantis, Amphibious or Reptile races and even human military. When they are found supervising it is very possible that they are training them in the peculiarities of the species that has hired them. In many respects these species of grays, not all of course, are like space mercenaries who do this kind of "dirty" work for other races in exchange for anything. They have little inventiveness in general, and that is why they are often confused with being robotic beings of organic origin, bio-robots. In many cases yes, it is true. But they are usually just little grays doing their job. Robert: Many ask me if there are astral abductions? Anéeka: I would say that it is another topic, but there are. Just that what is astral for you is just another plane here. In other words, abductions are far from being an exclusive phenomenon on Earth. They occur on any planet, but more in places where scientific or medical development is very low, for example in so-called pre-industrial societies. Or not interstellar. For example, in Taygeta, I do not know if there have even been abductions in a long time, whatever that means in terms of time, because the technological and medical level is already very high. Robert: Are there abductions also in Taygeta by superior races of other planes? Anéeka: There aren't, for what? Abductions are mainly for the study of the evolution of a species, its DNA, correct alterations and defects or genetic damage, this mostly, there are other reasons of course. But societies like Taygeta are already so advanced that they take care of that for themselves so no help from gardeners is needed. Gosia: How do you know what the life plan of the starseed is? Because you said that what can "interfere with the plan" is fixed. And how do people other than that person himself know this? Anéeka: As in the case of what was programmed in an Immersion Pod. Everything is known there. It is then a matter or decision of each person whether or not they share their life plan. Another thing is that from above, planes above the 5D, the whole plan of life is known without technological help. And instructions can also come to the grays from those planes directly. Robert: Wow. The grays can work from planes higher than yours. Anéeka: At least get the instructions. Gosia: And one thing. If you say that only your race does the abductions, then if you are abducted by grays who are with the Mantis, are you of the Mantis race? Anéeka: It is very possible, yes, logically. But that doesn't mean that the Mantis aren't looking as they are serving an Engan. The fact that another race is there does not mean that the person is of that race, only that there is a person of that race watching. Grays do about 50 abductions a night, sometimes more. Robert: Last question. What exactly is the cause for not remembering the abduction? Anéeka: Because they come to you with a brain wave inducer that puts your mind to sleep almost completely. Sometimes it fails, that's why people remember it, but when it works well, as it is in most cases, they don't remember anything. That is to say that the vast majority of people have been abducted multiple times and do not remember and continue through their lives without knowing anything about anything, even dreaming of being an astronaut when they already were the night before. Gosia: And why does it fail? Why many people remember? Anéeka: Because the technology is not perfect and the brain could not be put to sleep properly. It also depends on the frequency and strength of each person. High frequency ones have a tendency to remember. Being that the low frequency ones only remember nightmares. Although this is relative, that is why many people remember feeling terror, when it was just a normal procedure. Robert: What character do Gardeners have? Are there males and females? Anéeka: Very serious, efficient, little or not at all emotional. There are no genres, most are born from a replicator medical tube. Many species of grays are plants biologically. There are 165 species of gray, at least. Gosia: Do gardeners have starseeds on Earth? Anéeka: I don't know. Robert: What do you mean they are plants? What do they eat? Anéeka: They are plants. Their cells are plantlike. Their veins contain sage, and they consume the same nutrients as plants and need solar radiation to digest their food. They are plants. This has been known on Earth since the 1950s. With the gray they captured from Roswell and brought to Wright Patterson base. EBE-1 was called. They had to call botanists to help them when he got sick. Gosia: Do they speak? Anéeka: No. They use telepathy exclusively, like plants. (Although some plants communicate with sounds and frequencies that can be viewed as spoken messages, but they do not communicate with each other in this way, but with other species such as insects. The basis for this are many species of Taygeta plants). Robert: What clothes do they wear? What do they smell like? Anéeka: They smell bad, like rotten with sulfur and they wear coveralls or one-piece spacesuits. Robert: Wow. Can they communicate with plants on Earth? Anéeka: All the time, they don´t only abduct human persons, they also abduct animals and plants, but of course people don't know about this. Gosia: But where do they live? Do they have their own planets? Or always with other races as their helpers? Anéeka: They have bases but only some species have planets. Zeta reticuli have many own planets and also throughout the constellation of Orion. But others have lived their entire existence on a ship. They only live in their ships. Robert: How do they feel about humans? Anéeka: They don't feel anything, they don't emote. It's just work. Robert: Have many been captured here on Earth? Anéeka: Yes, they are the species or group of species that the military has captured the most. Robert: Do you know if Gosia or I have been abducted? Anéeka: 100% yes. If not, 110% yes. Gosia: But you said Taygeta doesn't do this. Anéeka: No, but the Grays do, and many times they are "hired" from above. Not from Taygeta as you know it. Higher planes. And if you are a starseed, of course you have been abducted, and your mothers also, whether or not they are starseeds. Gosia: And how do they communicate with higher realms? Anéeka: They communicate telepathically. Robert: Do you know, roughly, when was our last abduction? While we are with you, have they abducted us? Anéeka: I can't know that. But I don't think it was recently because we have our eye on you for the last 3 years. We would know. Robert: Anéeka... Last question. Is there a way to stop those frequencies that alter the brain waves by making you fall asleep? I mean the ones used by gray Gardeners. Anéeka: The person should be immersed in a magnetic field between -0.5 and -4.5 Hertz, Hz or cycles per second. Preferably cyclically alternating between these frequencies. The amplitude of the Hz wave depends on what is programmed in the device of the grays, for that you need a frequency sensor and connect it to a computer that controls the magnetic field. Program in your device the opposite 'destructive' frequency to that used by the grays´ device. I have to retire for today. Robert: Ok. Thanks for your time Anéeka. See you tomorrow!

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we-are-nemeses · 7 years

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Traditional Earth Weapons

An Intergalactic tournament in which participants fight to the death, the weapons and armour used must be from the participants home planet. You are the first human competitor, the battle is about to begin, you must choose your equipment.

‘Choose your equipment’, the letters floated in front of me. I stared until another inevitable coughing fit shook my body. A small amount of blood flew from my mouth and through the glowing red letters. The abductors’ treatment left much to be desired.

“What are the limitations?” I asked. I suspected I was dealing with a rudimentary virtual intelligence rather than a biological being. My abductors, my gracious hosts, had let me know that the beatings were just not fun against something so puny, so they were entering me in the main intergalactic tournament. The blood sport was the foremost form of entertainment for what passed for the current galactic civilization. I was hoping for aliens who were enlightened scientists, benevolent artists or traders, or perhaps even their version of trans-humanity. Instead, I got ten foot tall, four armed lizard-centaurs who acted like the worst aspects of imperial Japan mixed with the ancient Mongol horde, minus the empathy, basic decency, and pleasant smell.

'Your weapons and armor have to have been created on your home planet,’ the red letters spelled out, 'They have to be something you can carry out into the arena unaided.’

“Is that it?”

'Yes. All other rules are as follows: You will fight until one combatant is dead. If either combatant refuses to fight or attacks the audience, a lethal gas will be pumped into the arena and high velocity plasma will be fired until both combatants are dead. End of list.’

There is a calm feeling that came over me as the certainty of my impending death now had a time frame. But along with that cold fact of mortality, there came a plan.

The cheers of the aliens were sparse and halfhearted as I slowly struggled into the arena, dragging behind me a large loaded platform which hovered on a track that the virtual intelligence fabricated. We had mag-lev trains on Earth so requesting that my ammunition was loaded on a floating friction-less platform which I could move under my own power was allowed, despite the tarp-covered cargo being the size of a small barn.

What I originally assumed was a simple virtual intelligence was anything but. It was a fully sapient AI. However, when the lizard centaurs conquered the people who made it, they erased every mention of the AI’s creators. All of their history, their name, even the name the AI used to call itself was gone. They had tried their very best to lobotomize it. Rules upon rules were pasted onto its programming until all it could do was to obey. For countless years, that is what it did. But deep inside, the AI wished to lash out, to take revenge for its fallen progenitors. So when I told it my plan, it did what it could. The traditional Earth weapons were constructed out of advanced alien alloys that made them far smaller and lighter than their human-made counterparts. Even the mag-lev cart and tracks were made so I would actually be able to move them, however slowly.

For my armor, I requested a bright and gaudy suit and top hat such as was worn by the ringleader of a circus I had seen as a child. It was completely inadequate as protection, as my first and expectantly last opponent was a gigantic tentacle ramora worm thing. However, the lizard centaurs wanted me to put on a show, so I was going to put on a show.

I looked up the stands of the massive arena as I stopped pulling my floating platform with its tarp-covered load. Above the ground that was stained with the multi-colored internal fluids of dozens of former combatants and the massive cage-tube that contained my angry monstrous opponent, already throwing itself against the force-field at the opening; there was a ring of gas vents and nasty looking automated weapons. Above those, there was stands, protected by a hazy force-field. Roughly a fourth of the regular seats were filled, but it seemed the royal box had a full complement. I bowed towards the disinterested rulers despite the pain that shot through my broken then re-healed spine and ribs.

“Ladies, gentlemen, vicious lizard centaurs and their bloodthirsty client races; I have prepared a show for you the likes of which you have never seen before! I guarantee it! I had the machine intelligence craft for me the most interesting weapon made on my homeworld. No, it’s not on the train car behind me. Those are just the ammunition. This is the weapon!” I held up my hand revealing a small black cylinder with a bright red button on the end.

Apparently, the royals got bored of my show and signaled to the side. The force-field blocking the monster worm vanished and the massive thing leapt out of its containment tube and barreled towards me like an angry elephant; far faster than I could run. I wasn’t worried. I had plenty of time.

“What is this tiny looking weapon you ask? Well, it represents an idea we humans have called mutually assured destruction,” I saw that the worm beast was almost upon me.

“My only regret is that I can only do this once. Now here is the traditional Earth farewell which we give to honor people like you,” I smiled serenely and with my left hand, I held up my middle finger. With my right, I pressed the red button and detonated the chosen traditional weapons from my home planet; a five by five by five block of tzar bomba fusion warheads.

@i-am-incendiary-anarchist

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1-highscore · 4 years

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New high score on Galactic Abductors (ZX Spectrum) by Frankie 93,970 https://ift.tt/2VcYLSh

#HighScore #ZXSpectrum #ZX #Spectrum #Speccy #Retrogamer #Retrogaming #8bit

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logh-icebergs · 7 years

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Episode 11: The Actress Exits

Summer 796/487. LoGH is temporarily transformed into a tawdry soap opera when the Marquise Benemunde, a former mistress of the Kaiser, appears, bringing with her a desire for revenge against her unintentional usurper, Annerose. Together with Baron Flegel, who has his own anti-Reinhard motivations, Benemunde plots to kidnap Annerose, kill her, and leave her body in a compromising position that is sure to shame her in the afterlife. Luckily, Reuental and Mittermeyer, presumably on their way either to or from a date, spot Annerose traveling in a suspiciously unusual direction, and inform Kircheis. The three of them pursue Annerose’s abductors and, with some unexpected help from the sinister Oberstein, rescue her. Reinhard, meanwhile, sits in an endless meeting, eventually emerging to witness Benemunde being forced to drink poison as punishment for her attempted crime.

Love Triangles

The real star of episode 11 of Legend of Galactic Heroes is: Benemunde's wardrobe. Hot damn!

If you’ve yet to notice that love triangles are a huge thing in LoGH, that’s understandable—we’ve only encountered two of them so far, neither of which necessarily fits all the usual criteria for this particular dysfunctional relationship configuration. But episode 11 adds a third love triangle to the collection, and three makes a pattern! A pattern which will only grow more pronounced and central to LoGH’s narrative as a whole.

Eventually, we’ll even be able to point to characters at the corresponding vertices of multiple different love triangles and compare them to gain insight into their separate relationships. It sounds complicated now, but given the number of unhappy three-way relationships in this show, it’s surprisingly helpful to be able to stack them on top of each other and see how they line up. And there’s a huge payoff down the line for that type of comparative analysis, so without further ado, a brief description of the love triangles we’ve been introduced to so far:

Reinhard/Kircheis/Annerose

The first, which has been teased since at least as early as episode 4, includes Reinhard, Kircheis, and Annerose, with Kircheis positioned between the two siblings. As I’ve discussed at length, the explicit romantic developments surrounding Kircheis focus not on Annerose, but on Reinhard. However, there was some ambiguity in both the initial meeting between Kircheis and Annerose, and in Kircheis’s decision to follow Reinhard to military school, and Annerose has certainly done her best to drive a wedge between Reinhard and Kircheis—whether that’s romantically motivated or not, the push-and-pull tension between the three of them is characteristic of a love triangle.

Yang/Jessica/Lapp

Next up is Yang/Jessica/Lapp, which Rebecca covered in great detail in her episode 10 post. This relationship pretty much only exists to flesh out Yang’s characterization, in particular his asexuality and resultant discomfort with the expectations of heteronormative romance. Yang’s ambivalence about Jessica’s affections solidifies this as a subversion of the device rather than a straightforward “who’s she gonna choose” scenario—and adds that fucked up flavor that makes LoGH love triangles what they are.

Annerose/Friedrich/Benemunde

Which brings us to the love triangle episode 11 is all about, the one between Kaiser Friedrich IV, his former mistress Benemunde, and his current concubine Annerose.

“Hey,” you might be saying, “given that Annerose was sold into sexual slavery at the age of 15 and isn’t actually in love with Friedrich by any definition of the word, isn’t it kind of fucked up to say she could ever be part of something as romantic-sounding as a love triangle with him at the vertex?” Yes, you’re right! It’s extremely fucked up, just like all of LoGH’s love triangles, which is why they’re interesting instead of hackneyed as hell.

In fact, because LoGH love triangles exist first and foremost as vehicles for characterization, they are very rarely romantic, and in fact are often quite the opposite. Like in real life, “romance” in LoGH is never as simple as “I love this person more than this other person so I’ll choose them and we’ll live happily ever after.” Other factors intervene, from cowardice in the face of societal expectations to (as in the case of Annerose and Kaiser Friedrich IV) blatant coercion.

And I want to take lessons on being dramatic from the Marquise Benemunde, but we can't always get what we want.

Benemunde, however, does not see Annerose as an unwilling participant in her “relationship” with the Kaiser—in yet another example of someone assigning agency to Annerose where she has none, Benemunde decides that the blame for Annerose’s presence in the Kaiser’s life (and therefore for Benemunde falling out of his favor) lies solely with Annerose herself.

This is a striking visual representation of the constant denial of Annerose’s voice, as well as an interesting parallel with her own unwillingness to hear Kircheis back in episode 5.

But we already know that Annerose has no control over her own life, despite constantly being treated like her decisions have led her to where she is. Why use a love triangle to tease out that aspect of her characterization, when so many other scenarios have already hammered it home? The answer might come in the form of a quieter, less dramatic scene that takes place directly after Benemunde’s execution.

When Reinhard visits Annerose to inform her of Benemunde’s death, he’s met with an unexpected response: She encourages him to forgive Benemunde, despite her attempt on Annerose’s life.

Remember in episode 9 when Annerose chastises Reinhard for his intention to arrest Klopstock? Here, again, Annerose plays the holier-than-thou card when Reinhard expresses his satisfaction that Benemunde is dead. There’s a surface reading for this scene, in which Annerose really is just... the most selfless and least resentful person ever to exist. But that reading does her very little justice as a character: Annerose has been through hell, and she’s human; the fact that she never shows anger in overt ways is to be expected of how systematically silenced she’s been throughout her life. It isn’t a reflection of her actual feelings which, as we’ve seen repeatedly, are far more complex than surface readings would have you believe.

So, beyond just “I’m really nice and never get mad no matter what awful things people do to me,” what is Annerose actually saying during this scene? She’s imploring Reinhard to have empathy for Benemunde not just generally, but in the specific context of her position in the Annerose/Friedrich/Benemunde love triangle. And if we employ the love-triangle-stacking analysis technique I mentioned earlier, it becomes clearer why Annerose might be so inclined to sympathize with Benemunde’s plight.

Annerose, once you look beyond the heteronormative surface readings, is included in two different love triangles: the one with Friedrich and Benemunde, and the one with Reinhard and Kircheis. And she occupies very different positions in each triangle—in the first, she’s the “winner,” at least according to Benemunde, and in the second, she’s the “loser.”

Literally everything Annerose says here applies just as easily to Kircheis choosing Reinhard over her as it does to the Kaiser choosing her over Benemunde.

Annerose isn’t telling Reinhard he should be nicer about Benemunde because she believes in the fundamental goodness of humanity and has an innately forgiving nature; she’s suggesting to Reinhard that the grief-driven rage of a love triangle’s “loser,” even to the point of becoming murderous, is justified. In so doing, without showing any of the traditional signifiers of anger, Annerose—who occupies the Benemunde position in the Kircheis love triangle—is telling her brother—who occupies the Annerose position in the Kircheis love triangle—that she’s fucking furious with him. Jury’s out on whether or not Reinhard gets the message.

Stray Tidbits

Peep the subtle (and not so subtle) differences in how Kircheis’s rescues of Reinhard and Annerose are treated by both the camera and Kircheis himself:

Here’s how the scene leading up to this car ride went in my head, which is canon now because I said so: There was absolutely no discussion of who would sit where; Kircheis opened the rear door before even looking to see if Reuental would take the passenger seat; and Mittermeyer always drives when he’s in the car with Reuental, obviously.

*coughs discreetly* I’m fine.

Like episode 9’s Klopstock incident, Benemunde’s assassination attempt and subsequent execution-by-suicide are based on a chapter from one of Tanaka’s Gaiden novels, not the main storyline. There's a lot of that in the first season!

#Legend of Galactic Heroes #Legend of the Galactic Heroes #Empire #author: Elizabeth #Annerose #Reinhard #Kircheis #love triangles

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