"Dev, you idiot." she thinks to herself. "Pull yourself back together this instant! Howling about it won't change what happened, and losing emotional control now... well, with your new connection to the power of the force, your empathy could kill someone who could not shield against your outburst."
Images in her mind of the people she cared about, writhing on the ground with their hands clamped around their heads, crying out..
"LOCK IT DOWN!!!" She says out loud to herself sternly.
Devia closes her eyes and takes several deep, meditative breaths, concentrating on reconstructing her barriers, ordering her thoughts.. she slowly opens her eyes, back under control. She pulls out her datapad again, tapping a few keys, it starts to record..
"I miss my children. I have had to adjust to how I hunt now, how I train. They used to watch my back, now they have to do it from the heavens." There's a long pause before she continues, "The Empire has removed all the licenses for Creature Handlers, no real reason given. As I said before, I'm not sure what they think they will gain from eliminating that profession. I never used my children when I had to go after Imperial targets. They would be recognized immediately because there really isn't any way to disguise them.."
She strokes the fur in her hands before she continues, "I should have relased all of you into the mountains of Talus. You would have been safe there, he would have helped protect you until I could have you walk openly by my side again... Why didn't I listen?" She closes her eyes for a moment, then continues, "Living in the wild would have at least given you a fighting chance... better than what actually happened to you."
She remembers the past...
Devia had been making her way back to Reilig Steppes after a hunting trip on Endor, landing at the Mining Outpost as she always had done. Stepping out of the hanger, Sand by her side.. the Imperial Stormtroopers stationed there quickly walked up to her, escorting Devia and Sand out of the outpost and behind one of the hills... out of view.
"By Imperial Order 11.15.05A, we hereby order you, Devia Darkrider, to hand over your license for the handling of creatures, as well as confiscating any and all pets you have. Thank you for your cooperation." Drones the Trooper.
Letting a feral snarl curl on her lips, Devia glares back at the Trooper. "The hell you will..." she growls, and lunges for the Trooper, going for his throat, knowing the weaknesses in the armor he wore, trying to tear his throat out with her bare hands. Sand, following his handler's lead, sprung to attack as well. The sound of a Carbine blast set for stun sends Devia sprawling to the ground, unconscious. The pained yelp from Sand indicates that the shot that hit him was leathal.. he falls to the ground.. never to move again.
Devia opens her eyes, squinting painfully into the sunlight.. her head pounding from the stun shot. She looks over and sees Sand lying motionless... she crawls over to the body, not feeling his presense in her head or feeling any life in his body, she buries her face into his neck and sobs uncontrollably. Suddenly, she feels all of her other children close by, and in an extreme state of panic...
She turns her comm on, whispers briefly into it... "oh my god... not my children... please not my children" echoes over the guild channel.. Various responses of "Dev??" "What's going on?" "Where are you??" ring out..
Sounds of evil and sadistic laughter... another carbine shot, then suddenly Behemoth's presense drops from Dev's mind... followed by 2 more shots... both fired at Deviasquall and Inego... both missing the fast creatures at first.. swearing... "I thought you could shoot better than that! Let me try!" echoes in her ringing ears... 2 more shots... then both Deviasquall and Inego suddenly vanish from her mindtouch..
Rage... anger... they fuel Devia to stagger to her feet, to try to protect her children.. "YOU BASTARDS" rings out both at the Troopers and over the open guild comm"...the butt of a rifle is suddenly applied to her head. She falls over, stunned, but not falling unconscious... several of the Troopers run over to where Dev lay, beating her over and over... bones are breaking... blood is flowing... and her children continue to be killed in front of her... one by one...
Sanity slipping... losing grasp on life... The Troopers walk away, leaving Devia a broken, bloody mess behind the Mining Outpost... all of her children lying lifeless... somehow, she manages to make it back to Reilig Steppes.. falls over as she steps off the shuttle...
Guild members find her... bring her back to the medical center... worried faces.. Devia's natural healing abilities are already at work, healing her wounds, assisted by the various medics that surround her.. She curls up in a fetal ball, only one thing going through her mind now... "let me die..."
The trauma, the loss of her children... everything that has transpired in the last week comes together... and her connection to the force surges forward, breaking the barrier... wild and out of control.. everything she was trying to achieve.. suddenly springing to life unbidden.. The people around Devia who were sensitive to the force are staggered, holding their heads... flares of the force... wild, uncontrolled...
*letmedie..letmedie..letmedie..letmedie..letmedie..letmedie..*
*What kind of talk is that Devia?* Noel's kind voice speaks gently into her mind.
*Noel? I didn't feel you approach?* She's stunned at his presence... "What's he doing here?" she thinks..
A warm hand holds on to hers... trying to guide her... to bring the flares under control..
*Devia listen to me, you can't remain like this.. people will hear you.. people who will try to take advantage of your new gifts... you need rest and to be able to get yourself under control.*
*I don't care... my children are gone.. Love is gone... I don't want to live anymore*
*Nonsense*
Noelyci shoos off the medics and the Jedi who have already gathered when they felt the raw surge in the force..
"Get away from her... she needs rest, and to get away from people while she heals." He picks Devia's limp body up in his arms, resting her head against his shoulders. "Kalila? Will you help me get her home and then sit with her for a while? That's what she needs most right now, and I need to take care of another emergency.."
Kalila nods quickly, helping Noel get Devia loaded into a speeder. They arrive and manage to get Devia upstairs into bed.. Dev's eyes open slightly to see the worried face of Kalila and the calm, but slightly twinged with concern face of Noel.. Devia studies Noel's eyes briefly... was there something more there that he was keeping hidden?
"Rest Devia... Kalila will be here to protect you." Noelyci says softly.
Nodding... Devia slips back into the arms of sleep...
This post is in loving memory of my dear pets... rest in peace.. a video tribute to Dev's Children can be found here:
