Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Finn McLellan @saranadosfiction.com · 1h

#WIPSnips | penultimate

Not technically a synonym, but the best I've got (and technically the latter half of Viola's description *is* the penultimate bit of her journey, since she doesn't remember how she got up to the bedroom and into bed)

( saranadosfiction.com/2020/10/02/b... )

Somehow, Viola had missed the sleigh arriving back at the townhouse. She’d been awake through most of the first half of the journey through the moonlit streets – hard not to be, when every jolt of the runners over the half-iced backstreets send a shock of pain through her wounded leg – but by the time they’d reached the wide avenues and smoother snow of the richest quarter in the city, she’d slipped sideways into uneasy sleep, and her memories of the latter half of the trip were a blurred muddle of streetlamps and snowfall and the looming facades of half-familiar buildings glimpsed for a second through the orange-tinted fog.

She knew she’d been awake enough to get out when they’d stopped: she remembered the pressure of the splintered side of the sleigh against her palms as she’d tried to push herself up, and the warmth of Mortimer’s hand as he’d slid his arm under hers to help her get fully upright again. But as to how she’d got from there to the familiar patchwork blankets and furs of her own bed… well, that was apparently a complete and utter mystery and likely to remain so for the foreseeable.

She yawned, jaw opening wide enough to creak slightly, and rolled her shoulders, wincing at the aches and pains spiking down her spine from the movement. Whoever had got her into bed had piled the furs around her in such a way that they cushioned the worst of her bruises – which, while probably the reason she’d managed to actually get anything approaching a decent night’s sleep, was making the idea of trying to get out of bed deeply deeply unwelcome.

*If I didn’t know I had things to do today…*

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Rachel’s Memories @rachels-memories.bsky.social · 1h

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WIPSnips #traumamakesdrama

No penultimates here. Ultimate is the best I can do.

[from The Dreamer and the Dreamed]

It is not a minor thing. It is stunning, a sensorial assault, a thing that could break a facade and ruin a life. Yet still, he comes, as if he is the moth and she is the brightest of flames. And the moth is poised and ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to her brilliance.
Sweet Salazar and merciful Merlin, that is hackneyed and ham-handed, even for him.
But, wait. Is she — *angry*?
Oh, yes. She is indeed angry.
She's ranting at Weasley. She's raving at her classmates. She takes the floor in the arms of her Durmstrang date -
It would be trifling and silly if it weren't so wrenching and - *mesmerizing. *
Her anger is —
It's -
He can't —
He retreats to the courtyard. And waits. He doesn't wait long.

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1h

i had to go look this up because i’ve never heard of it before.

1

Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1h

full chapter can be found here: archiveofourown.org/works/705358...

family is more than blood - Chapter 2 - Wownomore - Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

archiveofourown.org

Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 18h

* got up to the 5th generation

1

Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 18h

full story can be found here: archiveofourown.org/works/705358...

family is more than blood - Wownomore - Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

archiveofourown.org

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 18h

I got burned out on the Star Wars, the old republic storyline, (Swtor)and I wasn’t happy where it was going, so I copied all of my characters over to Sims 4 and continued the legacy. I actually got up to the generation.
I may incorporate some of the legacy into my current storyline. #Sims4 #Swtor

the second generation —
Lord Borias Twin boys and Theron’s daughter
Aquilan Ankar-Wownomore
Jolimar Ankar-Wownomore
Brey’enne Ankar-Shan

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 20h

Vaylin wrestles with her inner demons

-Trail-Path-
#WIPSnips
#WriteSky #WritingCommunity
#AmWriting #StarWars #theOldRepublic
#OriginalStory
from “Family is more than blood”

Odessen, the Grey Temple - Outer Walkway
The temple's pale stone pillars gave way to the wild cliffs beyond, wind howling as Vaylin walked alone.
She moved quickly at first, her boots striking hard against the stone, but soon her pace slowed.
She pressed a hand to her lips, still faintly tingling.
What have I done?
Her golden eyes narrowed, not in anger but in fear.
She had fought warlords, shattered fleets, brought empires to their knees — but this, this unsettled her in ways she couldn't name.
Aquilan's words echoed in her mind: "You are free now. Remember that."
Free... The word made her chest ache.
Ten years of her life stolen on Nathema. The rest squandered in rage and emptiness. No chains now, but no map either. And then there was him - fearless, earnest, looking at her not as a monster, not as the Emperor's daughter, but as herself.
Vaylin stopped at the edge of the terrace, overlooking Odessen's endless forests.
For the first time in years, her lips curved into a small, genuine smile. The kind that felt dangerous because it was real.
But the smile faded as quickly as it came. Her arms folded tight across her chest, a shield against the gnawing thought in her mind:
If he keeps looking at me like that... I might start to believe him.
She found herself standing before the monument to Satele Shan, the great warrior captured in marble, her expression carved in calm determination.

The Jedi Grand Master gazed forever into the valley of Odessen, a silent sentinel carved in cold perfection.
The statue loomed above the valley, its gaze fixed on the alliance base below as if challenging fate itself.
The wind whispered through Vaylin's golden brown locks, carrying with it the weight of memory, of Nathema, of torture, manipulation, years spent fighting not enemies, but the chains in her own mind.
A lump rose in her throat as she spoke, voice brittle, almost drowned by the wind:
"The great warrior..." Vaylin murmured, her voice bitter on the wind. "but in the end, torn down by love."
Arcann had told her the story: how Satele had tried to resist, tried to fight, and was struck down; How she withdrew to Odessen, cloaking herself in shadows, even her own son never knowing she was there. And then — like Valkorion before her — she fell victim to Izax's whispers, caught in the snare of the god's lies.
Vaylin tilted her head, golden eyes narrowing on the cold stone face.
"You gave in to him, didn't you?"
Her voice was sharp now, echoing against the cliffs.
"Did he force you, the way my father did? Or did you just... surrender? Defeated and broken. Like me?"
The statue gave no answer. Only the wind replied, sweeping through the mesas, carrying her words away.
But yet, as she stood there, Vaylin understood. She understood the weakness, the temptation, the weight of chains one cannot see until it is too late.
"But you survived... until Izax finally broke you, too." She pressed trembling fingers to the statue's cold marble, as though anchoring herself to the memory of someone who'd also given everything she had for

$peace, only to lose herself in the shade of power and expectation. "Did you force yourself to live for others? Did you sacrifice what you needed so badly - freedom, joy, humanity itself? Vaylin's chest ached with grief and rage as she whispered her next words, not to the statue, but to herself: "You gave in to him, didn't you? Just like I did. Valkorion... Izax... they made me believe I was nothing without them. I just wish..." Her voice cracked. "Did you surrender? Defeated and broken... like me?" Silence deepened around her, pressing in with the weight of centuries. Tears, hot and unexpected, welled behind her golden eyes. She bit her lip, anger twisting into something more painful - shame at admitting weakness. But then, a spark of something bolder flickered. I won't be broken again. I am more than what they stole. I'm not Satele... I will not become her tragedy. Vaylin pushed away from the memorial, head held just a fraction higher than before. Her scars were still raw, her past still jagged. But in the silence, there was a clarity they've never seen - a promise. She whispered to the wind, more to the future than to the past: "I fought. I survived. And I choose me now." the wind whistled echoes of the past. Senya's voice whispered in her mind, soft, pleading: "Let me help you, heal your scars."$

"I have no scars!" Vaylin had screamed once, her fury echoing through the halls of memory.
But now, before the cold marble face of Satele Shan, the lie cracked. Her chest heaved as the words tore silently through her thoughts:
Yes... yes, I do. I've been blind, disillusioned for so long. Arrogant. Insecure. Damaged.
Another voice thundered, deeper, older - Valkorion's.
"Kneel! Kneel before the Dragon of Zakuul!"
The command reverberated inside her skull like a whip crack. Her golden eyes flared, tears spilling as she forced the words out between clenched teeth:
"No! You're gone. Father is destroyed. Izax is gone.
There is no one left to chain me. No one is left to manipulate me."
Her knees buckled, and she sank down into the dirt at her feet. Golden-brown locks fell forward, veiling her pale face as her fingers clawed into the soil, grounding herself in the pain of the moment.
The sobs came then, soft and broken, shaking her shoulders. Not the screams of rage the galaxy knew her for, but the raw release of a woman stripped bare
- daughter, weapon, prisoner, survivor.
For the first time since childhood, Vaylin allowed herself to weep….

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 20h

Trail as in to follow
#WIPSnips
#WriteSky #WritingCommunity
#AmWriting #StarWars #theOldRepublic
#OriginalStory
from “Family is more than blood”

3604bby Nar Shaddaa the Works
The cantina was loud with music and neon, but Brey'enne felt the weight of eyes on her as she sifted through the crowd. Her contact was late. Typical.
She turned toward the exit only to find a man blocking her path.
Cloaked, broad-shouldered, his presence steady but strange. A faint gleam of cybernetics caught the cantina lights where flesh met durasteel. His single eye studied her in silence for a moment before he spoke.
"You're Theron Shan's girl, aren't you?"
Brey'enne froze, every instinct snapping to alert. "Do I know you?"
The man gave a small, tired smile. "No. But I knew your father and Lord Borias and Ms Beniko. A long time ago."
There was something in his tone-part reverence, part bitterness-that made her straighten.
"Then who are you?"
He drew back his hood, revealing the lines of age and metal grafted into his features. "Arn Peralun. Jedi... or what's left of one."
"The Jedi don't say it out loud, but they never trusted me. Not really. Too much metal. Too much... bitterness." He flexed his cybernetic hand absently, the servos whirring faintly. "They call it discipline. I call it fear."
Brey'enne studied him, unsettled yet curious. "And you didn't prove them wrong?"
He huffed a laugh. "I stopped trying. Why fight for a place at a table that doesn't want you there? Better to make your own table. Even if it's in the shadows." Brey'enne froze as their target stumbled into the open, a data-slicer who'd been feeding information to the Imps. Her SIS orders had been clear: capture alive for questioning.
But before she could speak, Arn ignited his saber -

But before she could speak, Arn ignited his saber - and with a single strike, the slicer collapsed.
Brey'enne's eyes widened. "That wasn't the plan. He was supposed to..."
Arn cut her off, voice cold but calm. "Plans waste time.
He'd have cracked under interrogation, maybe. Or maybe he'd stall long enough to get rescued. Dead men don't leak information. The threat ends here."
She stared at him, torn between outrage and grudging understanding. "That's not how the Jedi would see it." Arn met her gaze without flinching. "Good thing I stopped caring what they see a long time ago."

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Jim the Vampire @jimthevampire.bsky.social · 1d

Had trail, using path instead to share a new bit. "Where is Alex?"

#WIPSnips
#WriteSky
#WritingCommunity
#WritingPrompts
#SciFiWriters
#sff

The shuttle sat on the deck, moisture condensing and steam pouring off of it as the warmer metallic air hit its space-cold shell. Ben felt goosebumps rise as cool water settled on his skin.
He was half way across the large bay when the hatch opened and a clonk of released restraining bars came from within.
Slowly people emerged.
From behind him, the inner lock cycled, Doctor Golgi raised a hand in acknowledgement. Ben returned the gesture, closing the now short distance to the shuttle.
Where was Alex?
Seven people left the shuttle. They looked understandably confused. A tall white man spread himself wide, blocking Ben’s path. In a deep voice, the man croaked; “What ship is this? Where is the Captain? I demand to see—”
Ben held up a hand. “The Captain is coming, you’ll see her soon.” He pointed back. “That man is our Doctor. Where is the pilot?”
The man squinted, looking Ben up and down. His wide red face showed anger. “There was no fucking pilot.” With that he pushed past Ben and started yelling at the Doctor

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Jared Goring 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 @jaredgoring.com · 20h

#WIPSnips "Trail" from FotF #2, Sink or Swim

Molly takes to the defence against accusations - of mind magic and thought control! Can they be used to inspire murder? She tries to prove as much by demonstrating that they can *not* prevent someone punching her in the face.

May or may not be true XD

Ebook screenshot from Flight of the Fates book two, Sink or Swim:
"She’d spun them all around, with her words, with her bows, with the way she heaped praise and appreciation on the executioner and goaded the shouter from the crowd, the way she led them through a trail of logic like stepping stones through a river.

It wasn’t necessarily true, of course. A fire could burn a page but couldn’t stop it from burning – just because something could or couldn’t do one thing didn’t mean anything for the opposite, but it seemed like it did to the crowd. They’d been led along the stepping stones one by one in a way that made them ignore all the rest that might’ve been there, left them ignorant of all the paths they could’ve taken because they were so focused on the one they were on."

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Andrew Halliwell @spike1967.bsky.social · 20h

The #WIPSnips word for November 5th is "trail" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

From book 5

After the red shift conversation, my MC decided to take s closer look at the meteorite by firing himself at it. It threw him out almost immediately but he did get to see it was still the same colour close up, confirming their fears, but how it threw him out became another major concern, one year into the past. He allowed himself to drift home, which fortunately also allowed him to drift forward meaning he didn't have to relive the whole year again. Three days later, lots of weird effects and property damage, along with injury and death.
Here, he discusses it with Captain Yates, someone from close to his original world who's been in contact over the radio for a while.

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

TL Matson @tlmatson.bsky.social · 20h

Today's #WIPSnips brought to you by Sibling Rivalry.

We trailed by one, and I was not going to lose to my brother. I absolutely refused, even in a charity game. My little bro was going down.

#booksky #romancereads #hockeyromance #writesky

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag @wipsnips.bsky.social · 1d

The #WIPSnips word for November 5th is "trail"

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#WIPSnips a bluesky writing community tag
November 3 - nice
Share a line from your WIP with the daily word for inspiration
Use #WIPSnips. Don't forget Alt Text for graphics
Synonyms, variation and vibes are fine.
Support others on the #WIPSnips tag!
Hosted by rosie-j-potter.bsky.social

The image behind the text is a border that is black with stars with a light blue rectangle highlighted by a fuchsia line. An illustrated caticorn holding a pencil and writing in a book with a rose behind one ear is in the lower right corner
#WIPSnips a bluesky writing community tag
November 5 - trail
Share a line from your WIP with the daily word for inspiration
Use #WIPSnips. Don't forget Alt Text for graphics
Synonyms, variation and vibes are fine.
Support others on the #WIPSnips tag!
Hosted by rosie-j-potter.bsky.social

The image behind the text is a border that is black with stars with a light blue rectangle highlighted by a fuchsia line. An illustrated caticorn holding a pencil and writing in a book with a rose behind one ear is in the lower right corner

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 20h

i got this on my AO3 today. it’s hilarious. Someone is totally oblivious to what Science Fiction and Fantasy are apparently.
This isn’t the real world dude. 😂
#ArchiveofOurOwn
#WritingCommunity

ReyAndor19 (Guest) on Chapter 4
Wed 05 Nov 2025 07:43AM EST
The intricate plotting, the rich thematic texture, and the undeniably strong emotional core of this
fanwork command admiration; it is a stunning piece of writing that deserves recognition, yet this high level of craft cannot, and must not, distract from the profound moral void at its center: the near-total exclusion of people of color characters from positions of narrative weight and agency, an exclusion so complete that it twists the entire fiction into a dangerous, subtly effective piece of anti-immigration rhetoric by promoting the deeply flawed and politically charged ideal of a successful, thriving, yet racially homogenous society.
Furthermore, the fictional enforcement of the world's boundary-the military checkpoint, the spiritual barrier, the automated defense system-is portrayed with such uncompromising, almost superhuman efficiency and brutality that it creates an idealized fantasy of perfect exclusion, one that utterly eclipses the real-world anti-immigration actions of ICE in its level of draconian

immigration actions of ICE in its level of draconian success, thereby normalizing and celebrating the concept of absolute, merciless state control over who is allowed to exist within the designated territory. I find myself at a point of desperation, moving from a humble, empathetic BEGGING for you to see the damage this narrative erasure causes, to an unyielding and immediate DEMAND that you halt production and completely restructure the cast to include central, dynamic, and ethnically diverse non-white characters, whose presence is integral to the plot's resolution and whose identities are clearly defined within the world-building, because if you fail to make this change, then the homogeneity of your fictional society cannot be seen as mere oversight, but as a political statement confirming an alignment with anti-immigration ideals, meaning your creative output is founded upon the same exclusionary, white-supremacist principles that underpin fascism and, yes, the vile ideology of the NAZI movement, a devastating critique that should be universally applied to any and all fanworks that fail to address the ethical imperative of global racial representation.

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 21h

Lord Borias, Theron Shan and now Lazulibleu are central to the story, though now the second generation will take over soon.
#AwesomeCharacters
#WritingCommunity
#Writesky #AmWriting
#StarWars #theOldRepublic

Charlie Delta @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

How many core characters does your story have?

How many of your cast would you consider central to the story, not side characters?

Are they usually together or does the story have multiple locations at once?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Charlie Delta @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 21h

November 5th – trail

Av’ry is off to make some new friends.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

“I guess it’s just you and me, then.” Av’ry smiled. “So, how about you tell me more about these ceremonies…”
His voice trailed off as they retreated into the distance. Fox shut the door behind them.
“He’s a real piece of work, isn’t he?” Mikiva observed. “What are the odds that he comes back sober?”
“Almost non-existent.” Fox laughed.
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“I mean, it's not fantastic for his health, but he’s an adult, he gets to…”
“No, I mean, it doesn’t bother you that even in a situation like this, he is just going to goof off for hours instead of doing anything actually helpful?”
“I forget you haven’t really known him that long. This is how he works best; you’ll get used to it.” Fox shrugged. “By the time he gets back, they’ll be the best of friends. It works better if I’m not there, though. I’m not very good at it, myself.”
“You two do this often?” Mikiva raised an eyebrow.
“A time or two,” Fox admitted. “You wouldn’t believe the things people will just tell him when he gets all chummy like that.”

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

ElfQuest - Fantasy with Teeth! @elfquest.bsky.social · 1d

The remastered edition of ElfQuest Book 4 drops two weeks from today!

Remastered edition of ElfQuest Book 4 by Wendy Pini and Richard Pini from Dark Horse Comics.

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Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · 1d

🧐 The Surprising Power of Letting Myself Be Silly 😜

I did a guest post on Jennifer L. Gadd's blog about my new book: We've Come for Your Eggs.

Check it out:

jenniferlgadd.wordpress.com/2025/10/29/g...

Thanks @jenniferlgadd.bsky.social 🤩

Book Cover (dragon flying across a sun and cloud) for We've Come for Your Eggs

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1d

new chapter here: archiveofourown.org/works/705358...

family is more than blood - Chapter 4 - Wownomore - Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

archiveofourown.org

2

Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1d

it’s funny how the writing process works. just when you think you’re done you get a brainstorming session, then come up with more.
I was kind of stuck on the 3rd part of the trilogy; Not sure where to go next and then , *poof* next thing you know, I got a whole chapter worked out.
#WritingCommunity

3

Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1d

a man with a beard and mustache is smiling and looking at the camera .

ALT: a man with a beard and mustache is smiling and looking at the camera .

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Rainbow Traveler

Charlie Delta @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 1d

November 4th – steel

Today we are in Anthropomorphic.

Ray visits the morgue for information about the latest victim (and also complimentary life advice).

CW: mention of dead bodies, drugs.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

“Sleep? Who needs sleep when you have a friend who can write prescriptions for amphetamines?” I waggled my eyebrows; joking, for the most part.
“If you need a prescription for anything, it would be sleeping pills.” Jessica snorted. She was always harassing me about my sleep schedule. Doctors could be so fussy.
“How about you just sign a blank script for me, and I’ll decide what I need when the time comes?”
Jessica rolled her eyes emphatically. “You need to start living better. You aren’t a twenty-something kid anymore.”
“Nope, I’m a thirty-something kid. And I can sleep when I’m dead.”
“Which will be very soon, if you keep this up.”
“Not as soon as our girl’s next victim, if I don’t find her first. You want another body like this on your table?”
Jessica looked down at the mutilated corpse and shook her head slowly.
“Exactly,” I said. “I’m going to hit the streets. Call me if you find anything else, alright?”
“Right, Ray. Good luck out there.”
“I’ll be back for that prescription.”
Jessica gave me a dirty look, and I hurried back out into the hallway, the stainless-steel doors swinging shut silently behind me.

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1d

full chapter here: archiveofourown.org/works/705358...

family is more than blood - Chapter 4 - Wownomore - Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

archiveofourown.org

2

Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1d

Steel-Metal-Machine-
#WIPSnips #WriteSky
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting
#StarWars #theOldRepublic #OriginalStory
from “Family is more than blood”

Nathema lower sanctum, beneath the catacombs
The chamber's heartbeat grew stronger - not the pulse of a living creature, but the mechanical thrum of something ancient trying to remember how to live.
Arn's mechanical eye flickered erratically as the readings flooded his internal sensors.
"No... no, this doesn't make sense."
Brey'enne frowned. "Care to share with the class before the creepy choir wakes up completely?"
"These signatures - they're identical to what the Gravestone emitted during its last activation cycle." He turned toward the spherical construct. "But the Gravestone was destroyed."
"Or so you thought," a voice said - low, resonant, carrying a tone that seemed to echo in both air and circuitry.
One of the figures stepped forward, its body a seamless fusion of molten metal and withered flesh.
The faint light behind its ribcage pulsed like a core reactor struggling to reignite.
Arn took an involuntary step back. "Zildrog."
The figure tilted its head. "Partly. I am what remains of the machine. What your kind once called God."
Brey'enne's blaster stayed trained on it. "You mean you're Izax."
The voice wavered - three tones overlapping, machine, human, and something deeper.

"Izax was one name. Zildrog another. The Gravestone our vessel. The cycle broken, our fragments scattered."
Arn's chest servo whined sharply as his sensors spiked. "The cycle of renewal..."
"Yes," the being said. "The son refused the father. The vessel was emptied. And so... we fell apart."
Brey'enne looked from Arn to the construct. "You're telling me the Emperor, the Gods, and that giant ship were all the same thing?"
Arn swallowed hard. "Different pieces of one entity.
Izax-the destroyer, Zildrog-the machine mind, the Gravestone-the heart."
The figure's light flared, burning gold for a moment.
"The heart still beats. It calls. Even now."
A deep vibration rolled through the cavern floor — a pulse that felt like thunder muffled in stone.
Arn turned, eyes wide. "That's the signal. It's coming from the surface."
"From the ship?" Brey'enne asked.
"No." He looked up toward the faint shafts of light breaking through the ceiling. "From the planet itself."
The golden glow brightened in the center of the sphere as more of the hybrid constructs stirred.
Zildrog's voice deepened, vibrating the walls.
"Nathema remembers. Medriaas breathes again. The machine and the flesh will reunite."
Brey'enne took a step back, muttering, "I'm starting

to see why Dad drinks."
Arn ignited his saber at last, the pale light cutting through the mist. "You're not reuniting with anything.
Not while I'm still functioning."
The chamber responded with another pulse — one that made every metal piece in Arn's body sing.
Zildrog's tone softened to a whisper.
"You already are."
Brey'enne blinked. "I should check in with dad. He knows about this stuff. He and Lord Borias dealt with all this already. "
As she was about to reach for her haloprojector, a shuffling noise came from behind them.
"I'm here kiddo. We followed your signal. We thought you would need backup."
she looked over his shoulder to find Lord Borias, Lord scourge, and Master Amethesta crowded behind him on the pathway.
A tall, hulking Chiss woman stood behind them. She was a full head taller than Lord Scourge, who was already an imposing figure at six and a half feet tall.
The fully buxom figure stood with her arms crossed, looking ahead at the strange creature that was standing there. "You just could not stay away, could you Izax?" Scyva's red eyes glared at it.
Theron stepped up beside his daughter, one hand still resting on the blaster holstered at his thigh. "You know, every time someone says they've got it handled, it usually ends like this."
"Dad..." Brey'enne started, exasperation flickering behind her gold eyes.
He gave her a lopsided grin. "What? I didn't say I wasn't proud of you. Just that you've inherited my terrible timing."

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Rainbow Traveler @theronshan3666.bsky.social · 1d

Brey’enne and Arn investigate a strange occurrence on Nathema.

-Steel-Metal-
#WIPSnips #WriteSky
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting
#StarWars #theOldRepublic #OriginalStory
from “Family is more than blood”

Nathema - the catacombs 3604bby
The tunnel walls had changed from rough-cut stone to something older - smooth, dark metal veined with pulsing veins of faint blue light.
Every few meters, the glow flickered, as though the power source was centuries past stable.
Arn's remaining eye glowed softly as he walked, his metal fingers brushing the wall. The faint hum that followed wasn't electrical; it was... responsive.
"Do you hear that?" he murmured.
Brey' enne shook her head. "Just the echo of your footsteps and whatever's leaking down here.

"No. It's-" he paused, fingertips tracing a symbol etched into the alloy. "It's speaking. Not in words, but... frequency. Like it's trying to synchronize."
"Synchronize with what?" she asked.
He glanced at her. "With me."
The air shimmered faintly around his hand — static crawling over his skin, spreading into the seams of his prosthetics. The blue veins in the wall brightened, pulsing in time with his internal power conduits.
"Okay, that's creepy," Brey'enne muttered.
"You're not about to merge with the wall, are you? Because I didn't bring a crowbar." Arn didn't answer. The light climbed higher up the wall, racing through the veins, illuminating glyphs buried beneath centuries of dust. Then the floor beneath them rumbled.
"Move!" Arn grabbed her arm, pulling her back as a section of the floor gave way. The tunnel split open, revealing a shaft that descended into a chamber below — vast, circular, and filled with the dull shimmer of dormant machinery.

Brey'enne's hand went to her blaster. "Uh, Arn?
Tell me that was just the air system waking up.
He shook his head slowly. "No. That was a heartbeat."
The sphere pulsed again, harder this time, and several of the containment pods hissed open — thin steam rolling across the lower deck.
Brey'enne and Arn froze. Figures began to stir within the mist.
Arn's voice dropped to a whisper. "They're not dead."
Brey'enne glanced at him. "Define they."
His single eye dimmed, the faint glow flickering with unease. "I think we just found what the Gods left behind."
The mist thinned, revealing the faint outline of humanoid shapes - skeletal frames of metal and sinew, faintly glowing veins of red energy running through them.
Brey'enne swallowed hard. "Well," she muttered, "this just got interesting.
Arn raised his saber but didn't ignite it.
"Interesting isn't the word I'd use."

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