Tentacle Covered Chaos 14

Tentacle Covered Chaos

Chapter 14: Plots, Plans, and Histories

<<<Poppy>>>

The Witches weren’t the nicest of people, what with how men were enslaved and reconditioned into seeing women as their superior. That said, if you were a woman and actually kin to them, they were pretty hospitable and pleasant. But if you were a woman and an outsider… Well, that’s when things got a little iffy. They might treat you perfectly fine, but keep you at an arm's distance.

Or one could do what Poppy did and get dragged off for interrogation for knowing things that only the Witches should have known. And even there, there was still a very good chance that they might ‘deal’ with you in a terminal fashion.

So there she was, sitting in a cell, waiting for her inevitable interrogation. Could she escape? Easily enough. But it’d be the height of foolishness to do it, especially on a planet that was REALLY suspicious of outsiders. But at least her gender prevented her from being tossed into a hole and forgotten about for days on end.

After all, food deprivation was a valid form of torture.

“You know darlings, I’m not exactly going to resist, consciously, attempts to divine if my words are true from my perspective!” She called out, “Putting me in a cell helps no one!” Sure, they were probably getting some ritual or other prepared, but did they have to put her in the dampest cell they had?

“Maybe mouthing off to their equivalent of an aristocrat was a bad idea, but they were being stupid…” Poppy sighed, she needed to get a better stress response than snarks and jokes.

“Something to consider, outsider,” An aristocratic voice said from the otherside of the cell, “My daughter tells me you know things you shouldn’t.”

“The galaxy holds few secrets I’m not privy to,” Poppy replied, “And I’ve gotten tired of the big player in the galaxy trying to drag me around by the throat, so I’m more than willing to share. I was willing to just play my little role, do my little job, and survive but I’m apparently not allowed to do that, so fuck it. May the galaxy burn.”

She was only slightly bitter.

The bounty hunter? That she understood, a test of some kind. The kidnapping? That deserved retaliation.

“Hmm, so you desire to shake up the entire galaxy out of pure spite?” The voice laughed lightly, “You would do well here, for a while at least. But do you know what the most dangerous thing in the galaxy is?”

“A Sith that embodies the Dark Side more than any other in history having his personal attention on you?” Poppy ventured, “I’m not sure what can beat that, but I’d love to hear it. Well, I know what does but saying her name would be a really bad idea.”

“Very,” The voice said dryly, “But ignoring the Force, the most dangerous thing any sentient can have is hope. It’s like a hiltless sword, it can save you, but will cause you relentless grief if it burns wildly.”

“I disagree,” Poppy replied, “I think the most dangerous thing to feel is Despair. The loss of all hope, all love, all joy. For what does a man feeling it have to lose? His morals? His friends? All disposable to one so deep in hell.” As Anakin could attest in another timeline. “Hope is the one candle flame that can keep aloft a world. What is your name, stranger? You aren’t Mother Talzin.”

“Observant,” Mother Talzin said before she entered the cell and sat across from Poppy, somehow looking powerful despite the damp surroundings.

“I’m not getting that answer, am I?” Poppy asked with a snort. “Thanks for the compliment, might I offer my own? You keep a strong order here, even if I find distaste in how things are done.”

Mother Talzin shrugged, “It is the way things have been done here for centuries,” She said, “How it came to be this way, I couldn’t say. And yes, but in this galaxy many refuse to hope lest they get burned.”

Poppy sighed and sat on her meager bedding before shaking her head and saying, “Not refuse, they just don’t know how. Do you know who the last true Sith is right now?” She asked, assuming the woman didn’t know.

“Hmm, agree to disagree then,” Mother Talzin said before her lips twisted in distaste, “I know of Darth Plagueis, but he died years ago. But I do not know his Apprentice.”

“His apprentice currently controls the republic senate,” Poppy said with a shrug, “It’s a distinct problem, particularly with your world technically being allied with the republic.”

Mother Talzin went silent for a few moments before she shook her head, “Of course… and now that the foolish Apprentice fully took power, they’ll make war on the galaxy,” She said quietly.

“He already has,” She replied, “The Confederates are controlled by him as well, it’s a strategy to weaken the Republic and the Jedi together.

“Plans within plans within plans,” Mother Talzin said, “The Republic has been ailing for a long time before now, and the Jedi are but pale shadows of what they once were. Tell me, outsider. How is it that you know what you know?”

“I can only assume the Force took me from another world, or gave me a particularly vivid vision, where this world was a story, though there have been some differences so far,” She replied with a shrug, “I’m not clear on the specifics, really.”

Mother Talzin just hummed for a moment, “Odder things have happened when the Force wills it,” She admitted with a faint amused smile, “My sisters wanted your interrogation to be thorough, your every secret and thought laid out before us. But… that won’t be necessary now will it?”

“Not particularly,” Poppy replied, “I’ll answer willingly any question that I can answer, and you’re one of the few I’d trust with that, but I can’t answer every question. The Mother’s location, as an example, is a secret that needs to be kept alongside how to release her.” She didn’t need to deal with Abeloth and Palpatine together. If she could have, she’d have liked to deal with neither. “The Son and Daughter, I think you have different names for them, are also in conflict; guess who’s to blame for that and the first two don’t count.”

Mother Talzin snorted softly, “Sassy thing, aren’t you?” She shook her head, “The Balance has been broken, and a new equilibrium will have to be found.”

“Impressively so,” Poppy replied, voice dry before she turned serious, “Palpatine needs to die and no one on this planet is strong enough. A team of Jedi Masters could do it, but outside of that… I don’t want to die, Mother Talzin. The Dark must lose this conflict or billions will suffer and die.”

Mother Talzin nodded. “Indeed,” She said, “But because the Jedi have become so entwined with the Senate, having them act is a challenge.”

“Quite. And if they failed to kill him, and fail to give proof he is a sith to the people, things would go south quickly,” Poppy agreed, “Worse, the CIS would stop holding back because make no mistake, Palpatine is making them hold back.”

“Trapped between a rock and a hard place…” Mother Talzzin mused.

Poppy’s hands went wide as she leaned against the wall. “You see my problem then. I can prepare the Jedi all I want, but I have limited true options. Your lost clan member, however, provides me options. She’s powerful, and connected to the Confederates more importantly. I can help her become stronger, but I need her complete cooperation,” She offered, “I also need her to learn your people’s secrets, both sides of them. The Winged Goddess and the Fanged God.”

“Hmm, you wish for her to usurp control of the Confederates?” Mother Talzin chuckled, “It is well within her abilities, especially with our teachings. But how do you know my daughter won’t bring war to the Republic regardless?” She asked curiously.

“She was originally saved by a Jedi,” Poppy replied, “It was a Sith plot that saw her savior dead, not the Jedi abandoning him as she was told.”

“But if we agree to this… audacious plan of yours, what would we see in return?” Mother Talzin, “We have no love for the Republic, the alliance is mostly to keep them out of our business.”

“You won’t have to worry about them coming down on you for using the Dark Side,” Poppy replied, “And Palpatine won’t be able to come down to destroy each and every last one of you. Hell, Dooku could do that. From orbit if he really wanted to spite you.”

“... Touche…” Mother Talzin said with a faint chuckle before she stood up, “Well, come along… let’s get you some more comfortable quarters.”

Poppy bowed as she stood. “My diet is… rather unusual, I should warn you,” She said as she followed, “I require the sexual stimulation of others, something force related I think; though I told the Jedi that it’s likely hormones I’m eating.”

That got the woman to pause and look at her in confusion. “I wasn’t aware you were connected to the Force in that way…”

“I can shoot lasers from my tentacles,” She replied with a shrug, one of them leaving her back to wave around and glow. “Can you think of an explanation that isn’t Force related?”

“You’d be surprised how often people don’t think of the Force,” Mother Talzin said dryly, “Now, follow me; I’m sure there are some that wouldn’t mind helping you with your particular diet.”

Poppy snorted, more tentacles slipping free from her body. “Just find someone kinky, otherwise you might hear screams that are… less than happy.”

Mother Talzin gave a quiet laugh, “Oh, some of the sisters will want to keep you here, I can already tell.” 

“I’m a bit of a dom,” She warned, “So best to keep that in mind…”

Mother Talzin just continued to chuckle as she led Poppy to her new quarters.

[hr][/hr]

Poppy lounged atop the naked and still moaning witches that had volunteered to be her meal. “Delicious,~” She purred, “But not particularly satisfying… I might have an addiction to emotional connections.”

One of the witches grumbled something in a dialect Poppy wasn’t familiar with, but she wasn’t sure if it was complimentary or not. The tone suggested it was, but with the witches you could never really tell. Or perhaps that was her bias or preconceptions shining through? But regardless, she was thankful… it was the only reason she wasn’t having herself a tenth helping of the witches wiles.

Though one of the witches that wasn’t completely insensate did respond, and in words Poppy could actually understand!

“Not unusual in emotivores,” She said, making no effort to hide her own exhaustion or satisfaction, “Something about genuine emotional connections just enriches the emotions.  A fascinating subject, but at that moment I really couldn’t be bothered to take extensive notes.”

Poppy snickered. “I can’t imagine why,~” She said, “Though I’m surprised you’re even talking to me.”

The witch scoffed. “I’m not a native,” She said, “I actually ran away to escape my job on Coruscant. The pay was amazing but the duties and expectations were killer,” She added.

“... And yet you have the capacity to use the force?” Poppy asked with a blink, “I’m surprised the Jedi didn’t snap you up.”

“I was ‘too old’ when I first started showing signs.” The witch asked with a derisive sneer, “I lacked the potential to fight, but I made up for it in my talent in precognition and other subtle forms of Force manipulation. And years later my former employer noticed me and decided to take me under his… guidance…”

“... Palpatine?” Poppy asked, voice tentative as she readied herself to kill the woman.

“Unfortunately,” She admitted, “I honestly thought at first he genuinely wanted to help. But eventually I started to realize he was using my talents to twist things. I’ve arranged the downfalls of men and women who were doing good for the Republic, but he made it seem like I was helping… and one day I just couldn’t continue. It was either run away or throat a blaster and pull the trigger.”

Poppy relaxed, it sounded truthful enough at least. “Yes, that sounds like him. Did he reveal his own powers to you? I assume not.”

“He didn’t have to,” The witch said, “I was around him so much, I could just… feel something was off. After a session of training I would feel so… dirty like I’d bathed in raw sewage. Also the man always seemed so disappointed in me, even though he hid it. Maybe because I was ‘too nice’ or something.”

“That was the Dark Side,” Poppy said, standing up and slowly walking out of the pile, “You’ve felt it with some of the magicks here too, haven’t you?”

“I have,” The witch said as she too got up but didn’t leave the bed, “But the magicks here? They’re Dark… but his Darkness? It felt like… senseless malice.”

Poppy nodded, gesturing for the girl to walk with her. “Let’s get some fresh air and I’ll tell you some secrets, ancient history as a matter of fact.”

“Sounds like a plan,” The witch said as she extracted herself from the pile, “And my name is Sera Fallan,” She added as she went over to her.

“Mine is Poppy,” She replied with a nod, “There are, in theory, three sources for Dark Side force connections,” She explained as she stepped out of the room, walking backwards as she did (though she formed a few eyes on her back to still see). “The Brother, Historical Trauma, and The Mother. The first and last are equivalent to divines, the second was caused by the Rakatan.”

“Fucking Rakatan…” Poppy quirked a brow at that, getting a snort in response, “My hobby is studying history and uncovering lost records,” She answered with a shrug.

“Tracks. Now, the Nightsisters here use The Brother, worshipping him as a god. The Fanged God, if you’ve heard the term. This is then filtered by the world’s ichor and results in the magic you’ve learned,” Poppy explained, “This is known to you. Now, Palpatine uses the second source, he practically embodies it, emboldens it, and plans to make it stronger. His ideal would lead to the Nightsisters being killed to make the Dark Side only that second source; I’m unsure if he knows of the Mother, an eldritch abomination that sought immortality to be with her family forever and… damned herself. Utterly. Do not search for Her, she will know.”

Sera shuddered, “Sounds like I didn’t really get away from my old boss, not really…” She muttered, not that Poppy could blame her.

“You’ve done better than most, but you should have gone farther,” Poppy sighed, “The Unknown Regions have some civilizations you could find shelter in, the Chiss Empire as a key example. Though… the risk is that you end up in a place you don’t want to be. There’s a psychic species of sapient evil bacteria, or maybe fungus, that really enjoys torturing people and trying to get off the planet to infect the galaxy.” Poppy shuddered, disgust flowing through her. “If a planet ever promises knowledge of history to you, don’t believe it.”

 “... And I thought what I learned was bad.” Though she sounded irritated Poppy could tell it wasn’t aimed at her, “The galaxy is so much more fucked up than I ever assumed…”

“Just a tad,” Poppy agreed, “It’s actually why The Ones created the first hyperspace barrier around the Unknown Regions. The second one, the one around the galaxy, was created by them to deal with a different threat; but that won’t be relevant for a few more decades… almost a century, really.”

“... As much as I’d love to squeeze every secret you have out of you, I imagine you and Mother Talzin have some sort of plan?” Sera asked.

Poppy snorted. “A bit of one, but it’s bare bones at the moment. We did only just start plotting, after all. I could always use more help, however.”

“I don’t know how I could help,” Sera said, “My talents lay in precognition and manipulation. I lack the necessary… killer instinct to use the more aggressive magicks.”

She laughed, head shaking in amusement. “Oh darling, the most powerful thing one can do is precognition and manipulation. You don’t need to kill someone to defeat or destroy them, you should have learned that from what Palpatine had you do.”

“... I do believe I’ve been around my sisters too long…” Her voice was so bone dry it just put a smile on Poppy’s face.

“No, I need to find a planet,” She said, “Ruusan. I need the Valley of the Jedi.”

“I’ll help as much as I can,” Sera said, “But, well, despite being accepted as a daughter I’m still an outsider despite everything. So, I’m not privy to many secrets. But… I do know that Mother Talzin has access to a large repository of lore.”

“The location of the Valley was hidden and disguised over five thousand years ago,” Poppy retorted, “It needs to be found through the force and through manipulation. It just so happens that the Confederates have a base near the planet.”

 “... Well, you don’t ask for much do you?” Sera asked.

“Palpatine plans to build a planet-killing weapon, if he gets his way billions, trillions, will suffer and die,” She said, voice dead, “I need to ask a lot of all of my allies, if I don’t my ideas and plans may not work.”

“That’s more than fair,” Sera responded, now pale as well, “I think I could find the planet. Near a Confederate base, right?”

“Yes, it will be destroyed in battle, the Valley itself is a large force nexus, the largest in the galaxy, and was made by the most powerful Dark Side ritual to ever be cast, a screaming vortex of souls,” Poppy described, “I need to find it to disarm a weapon that Palpatine hopes to use.”

“Okay… that isn’t horrifying,” Sera said, “Fortunately there aren’t many locations like that. I can meditate and try to find it, but well… I just want you to be aware that despite its uniqueness the galaxy is a big place. Also I want to exchange details with you, it’s so good to talk to someone that isn’t a witch,” She added with a faint, if awkward, smile.

“Happily, though I’m hardly a normal specimen,” She replied with a grin, “But you just like me because I know my history.~”

“What is ‘normal’ in this galaxy? You just told me of force-sensitive bacteria that torture people,” She retorted, “And yes this is true, and you are kinda cute.”

“It might not be force sensitive,” Poppy clarified, “Just psychic. And thank you! You’re cute yourself. We’ll have to work closely together some time, an archeology expedition, perhaps?”

“I know you’re seducing me, and it's working,” Sera quipped with a giggle.

Poppy stopped moving for a moment to let Sera get closer before stroking her face. “Oh no darling, if I was seducing you I’d be much more… forward,” Sher said, voice in a low purr, “And it wouldn’t be our first meeting, I like to take my time.~”

“Trying to steal one of my sisters now?” Ventress’s arrival broke what tension had built, earning a grin from Poppy and a strong blush and cough from Sera. “Not surprised that the Jedi and Padawan aren’t enough for you!” She jeered.

“Oh, my darling Ventress… you know I could never be sated with just one Nightsister,~” She purred, looking at the woman. “I could do with another…”

Ventress just glared at her, “You can forget it. You already have a sister that’ll happily throat your tentacles!” She hissed, “Besides I’m still considering gutting you on principle!”

“Relationships aren’t all about sex, darling,” Poppy replied, “That’s just a bonus. Of course, I’m not going to force anything, just know that I could give you even more power than you already have if you do lay with me and… not submit, but respect me.”

Power, yes, but since she’d have full control over the resulting creature that would be bonded to the girl… it would also serve as a leash, just in case.

“But it’s your choice, in the end. I assume Mother Talzin wants to see me?” Poppy asked, getting an annoyed nod from Ventress, “I’ll head there now then, I’d hate to make her wait longer than necessary. We’ll talk more later, Ventress, Sera.”

With a small bow, she left; walking towards Talzin’s throne. She couldn’t reveal all of the plans she was developing to the woman, but she was needed for a few of them so it was best to be polite, direct, and open. She didn’t need all of her plans to work to survive.

Just enough of them to make Palpatine’s life hell.