All That Remains: Full Disclosure

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

There were some things to be said for the metabolism that she possessed, and now more than ever Loklorien s'Ilancy was thankful for the fact that - with the help of James - she was on her feet not soon after they'd left Hoth aboard Sol Iman's ship, Exodus. Her stride was still shaky, and her motions stuttering, but the Lupine was determined to drive herself forward; drive herself to complete the task that she had set before herself. In her eye shone not a desire for redemption, but rather a glint of protection. Abarai Loki had once called her a protector, and s'Il was now in her element in just that capacity. The arrangements and plans that she'd begun before were only just now coming to pass, and she knew that any future triumph rested on the shoulders of so many. So many that she had trusted.

She stood now, at the utilitarian medical cot that Zem Vymes lay upon, looking down at him as one hand went out to brush through the hair along the side of his head, slender fingertips passing smoothly through his brown locks. Still not a note of grey, she inwardly observed with a ghostly smile.

Zem shifted then, his slumbers taking him to places that she could not imagine, and the Lupine let her hand fall back to her side as she turned to look up at the towering figure of Sol Iman at her side. Her eye went from his face to the arm that he'd lost, and the remembrance caused heartache to write itself across her features for a short moment. Her brow furrowed, and she found herself unable to look at him for any longer amount of time.

She let her gaze fall to the far wall.

"I have done so much evil," she finally whispered.

It was a statement intended to illuminate the driving force behind her desire to make right in at least some capacity, the wrongs that she had committed.

[Rev Solomon]

"So you have."

Solomon's voice was as quiet as hers, but it rumbled deep like thunder on the mountains, rising just above the steady hum of the hyperdrive. A look to the left through the hatch to the cockpit, and you'd see the pinwheeling tunnel they carved through hyperspace on a mad dash to defeat whatever foul scheme the Sith Lord Decepis had in play. But they were sectors away from their destination, and for the present there was little to do but wait, and endure the calm before the coming storm.

The preacher turned to look for his old friend's eyes, but she did not look back. "So did I, in my time."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

That caused her to pause, and s'Il blinked, staring into a distance that it seemed only she could perceive before finally dipping her head. She licked dry lips, hands moving to clasp before her. There was so much to process, so much to understand. The heartbreak that she had caused, the terrible acts that she had committed... it was almost too much for her mind to take in, and the aching emotions that each horrid action brought with it was like another stab into her heart.

Finally, she turned to look up at him, meeting his gaze.

"What you did," she found herself almost unable to continue, but pressed on regardless, "... how did you atone for your acts... ?"

[Rev Solomon]

"I didn't."

He watched as her eyes filled with questions and doubts, and it pained him, but he stood resolute on his convictions.

"If I had a thousand lifetimes to live and die, I could not undo what I have done in this one. I stand before God and man as a sinner. But as a sinner forgiven and set free."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

His words were enough to cause her to pause, thoughts frozen in a brief moment of panic before he finished.

It was all still so foreign to her, this thought of an all-encompassing maker, and the Lupine furrowed her brow as she scoured her memories, sought some sort of parallel in her own people's ways. She could find none. It wasn't so much a perplexing realization as it was something she simply accepted.

"My people have a maker, but he is long dead."

She let her gaze fall once more, and sighed.

"And the dead care little for what those that come after do."

Her clasped hands seemed to grip tighter, and the lines at the far corners of her eyes grew stern.

"I care, however."

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon nodded gravely. "Then there is much you can still do for the sake of those who come after you," he said. "But you do so as a new creation, as one who has been redeemed."

He turned and laid his hand on her shoulder. "There will be a time to reckon with your sins, Lok. But we have an enemy to defeat first. Do not leave him any foothold on your passions, or he will use your shame to destroy you."

[Byl Laprovik]

James slept soundly, a rest well-deserved as she'd pushed herself to the limit to bring Loklorien s'Ilancy back from the brink. Her innate healing powers defied medical convention, doing the impossible, and Byl could only lay beside her and look in awe at the person sleeping so serenely next to him.

She didn't deserve him.

It was the gnawing feeling he'd felt the moment he'd returned from whatever dreamscape he'd found the lupine within. The moment all his questions were answered so terribly. Who was Byl Laprovik? A Monster. Murderer. Terrorist. Criminal. And the worst of it all was that the only pain he felt was knowing how James would feel if she knew the truth.

[James Prent]

She was dreaming. Chasing a shadowy figure down a dim hallway, running toward a bright light that swallowed them both. James jerked awake, Byl's name on her lips. The momentary panic subsided as she looked up at him looking down at her.

She wrinkled her nose, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Starin' at me while I'm sleepin'? I wasn't drooling, was I?" James wiped at her mouth just in case.

[Byl Laprovik]

"You're more peaceful than that."

He ran a hand along James' face, lingering on her cheek as if he could somehow use her healing power to fix what a broken person he was, and to do right by her.

"How do you feel?"

[James Prent]

"Fine," she said, turning her head and biting his fingers gently before releasing them. The look on his face was full of hurt and regret. Was he... no. She tried to banish the thought from her head but it had already gained a foothold and began gnawing at her insides like a granite slug.

"I'd ask what's on your mind, but I'm afraid t' know," James said honestly, sitting up a little.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl's hand went from her face, down to find James' own hand. Fingers interlaced, and he held on like she was a lifeline.

"Have you ever wanted something so badly that you build it up in your mind to such a great height, that can never be met once you find it?"

He was speaking in riddles, and realized there was no use at all in trying to be cryptic about a matter she already knew he was discussing.

"I think I've made a mistake. I wanted to know who I was. Now, I do."

[James Prent]

James smiled a little nervously, and squeezed his hand between both of hers. "At least y' didn't forget me," she said huskily. "I thought... y' might. Like we'd never even happened."

[Byl Laprovik]

He shook his head.

"Never. I could never forget you."

But of course, there hadn't been a way to be sure, was there? The possibility that he would be robbed of his memory of life on the lam had been a very real one. Now, James endured as the bright spot in the center of his soul's galaxy.

"You're the only good in my life. The only thing worth it all. Worth far more than that."

He shook his head, fears coming alive.

"I wish I could forget again. Forget and never wish to look back."

[James Prent]

James snuggled up against his chest, breathing slowly. "I know who you are, Byl. Who you were has no relevance to me, other than our fear of why this was done to you." She drew back, and looked up at him. "Do we know that now? Why... why did Lok take your past from you?"

[Byl Laprovik]

"I got close."

It was more than that, and the Alliance Agent looked beyond to see if the Lupine was near.

"Too close. I was there when it happened, James. When she...fell."

[James Prent]

She was silent for a while after that, not sure she knew how to process all that she'd been told. Loklorien had fallen to the Dark side of the Force and done... well, James didn't know what she'd done. Bad things, she supposed. Zem and Solomon had not really spent any time talking to her, and Byl was only just beginning to find his voice again after Hoth. James hadn't tried talking to Lok yet, giving the woman space to heal up and do...whatever.

"Ssh," she said finally, as he opened his mouth again to talk. "You don't hafta talk about it. An' I don't care about your past, I never have. You know that. What matters is now, what you do with your life from this point on. Whatever the consequences are for your past, we can deal with those. But you aren't that guy anymore, and haven't been for a long time." Perhaps the same would be true for Lok.

[Byl Laprovik]

"Maybe I'm not." Byl agreed in turn, although not nearly as convinced of the point of view. It wasn't just the memories that were coming back. It was the justifications. What he must have told himself to allow him to pull that trigger. The ever-convenient greater good. He hadn't acted under a delusion that he was noble. He'd done everything with eyes wide open, knowing that he could live with the despicable.

Not even Jane Starborn knows. It was everything he could do to resist mentally cataloging every bit of evil he'd done in the shadow of that shining greater good. Evil they could deny, because most of them had no idea.

"So, what about you? Does this mean you're..."

Byl deflected, but for a cause. He needed to know where James felt the winds blowing.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Even before Sol had spoken of working to battle the evil that was so very real to them all now, s'Il felt her body turning away from the introspection of her own dark deeds. So much was still left to be done, and some things still hung so delicately in balance, dependent on others to carry out tasks that called for a testing of loyalty and friendship and trust. Called for each one involved to step beyond and face together a greater threat. She knew what she had to do, indeed she had known for some time; knew the weight of those many safeguards that she had scrambled to put into place. Desperation had fueled much of her actions back then. It had been a dangerous game that she'd played, and it was one that'd so very nearly taken her life. There was still much to answer for. Still so much to account for. So much of what she had done would be unforgivable, and s'Il quietly accepted that.

Taking a step back from Zem's bed, she gave a sideways look up to Sol before moving away.

"My shame is for me to bear, and in the future I will carry that burden without complaint."

Her voice was low, but firm all the same.

"Now though... now I must protect."

Partially turning away, the Lupine made her way to James and Byl.

Blood stained the leather she wore, and though her blonde locks had been brushed back, the Lupine cut a still rather haggard appearance. Even her hands, which she clasp together at the small of her back did little to convey the air of command that she had once held. And yet, it was still there, in her eye and posture.

It was enough to be a surprisingly effective silent interruption as she looked down at Byl. He looked up at her, and she spoke.

"We have business."

[James Prent]

Interrupted by Loklorien, James just tightened her grip on his hand. "Haven't you done enough?" She regretted the harshness as soon as she said it, but they were in bed for frell's sake. Interruptions made her grumpy.

[Byl Laprovik]

He didn't want to hear that from the Jedi. Not now. He wanted to simply say our business is finished and close this chapter of his life and move on. But of all his memories that returned, there was the important one they both shared. He didn't have to read minds to know what was on the Jedi's thoughts. Byl turned to James, placing his other hand over their entwined grasp.

"I'll be right back."

A kiss made so very little right, but it was all he had to give her, and so Byl carefully got out of bed and walked with the Jedi to hear her words.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

While there was no outward reaction to James' words, s'Il felt a small amount of inner sadness at a situation that could not be helped. She doubted that when all of this was done, there would be anything that she could say to the other woman which would smooth over the emotions she was now feeling.

Moving with Byl, the Lupine kept her hands interlocked behind her. Her gaze was kept ahead, and she blinked once before beginning.

"There is a message that I must send, but I need a secure channel."

There were many that were slated to receive the information that the elder Lupine needed to deliver, but there was one that she would not be able to reach without Byl's help.

"I also need Jane Starborn's number."

[Byl Laprovik]

"My link is HoloNet-capable." Byl replied, the airtight nature of such a link not needing to be explained. The other request, however, was a different matter.

"As for Starborn, I can get you in touch with her. Let's just say the number is unlisted, and trusting you is going to take time."

It was probably overkill, but the operative still wasn't sure what kind of game the Lupine was even playing. She had, after all, been a Dark Lord of the Sith earlier in the day. He glanced to a far corner of the ship, further away from prying eyes, and gestured in that direction with his head, queuing up Starborn's frequency on his wrist comm as he did so. The feed connected, showing an active comm. Text only, it would afford the ability to send a message in confidence. Byl unstrapped the device from his wrist, handing it over to Lok.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Taking the comm, s'Il kept her eye on Byl for a moment longer.

"I don't need you to trust me, because we were both there, on Schwartzweld, when it happened. You more than anyone else will know the truth of it all because you saw."

She turned her gaze down to the device she held in her hand.

"Perhaps that simply makes you unlucky," a less than consoling thing to say, but she didn't have time to mull over the different ways to smooth out her message. "... But, you were in the right place at the right time."

There was more to say, but she would have to speak of it later. Her fingers moved quickly to key in her short message.



The Sith is moving. Trust no one under his command.
File s'Ilancy-271 in Alliance High Command database. Execute access code 573-HND-9.
All information regarding Dan Thrule's movements and activities will be found in that file.


There was a short pause as the Lupine looked up. She met Byl's eyes.

And in the next instant, she pressed the 'send' button.