#kisca starts negotiating with seperatist forces and dooku goes 'uh. beg pardon??????'

[starchivist]

warnings for below the cut: unintentional misgendering (a character that uses it/its is referred to by they/them), paralysis, mention of someone being eaten

“Commander,” the imposter says with a nod as they try to pass him by.

Fox has his blaster up and aimed before they can go anywhere. “Not another step,” he warns.

The imposter’s eyes flick from the muzzle of his blaster to the view of his helmet, burning gold set deep in unhealthily pale skin.

“In any direction?” they ask, eyes narrowing. Then, before he can answer, they frown and glance to the side. Footsteps, and accompanying voices; a Senator he recognizes (and hates), chatting with his aide and at another Guard. “Nevermind,” the imposter says, and Fox staggers back as a rush of cold, salty air blows around him.

“Breathe, Commander,” the imposter advises, brusque, and something metallic clangs as fog fills his vision.

“What,” Fox wheezes, “the kriff was that?” He goes to jerk his blaster up again, and a cold shiver runs down his spine when his arms won’t move. None of his limbs will move when he tells them to, stuck in place like they’ve been frozen in carbonite.

There’s a pause as Fox catches his breath. Then, incredulous, the imposter demands “‘Kriff’? What the fuck kind of expletive is that? No, don’t answer,” they dismiss, and heavy footsteps come closer. A pair of hands pull his helmet off, suprisingly gentle, and Fox glares blinkingly at the imposter as they step back out of his space. “Breathe,” they say again as they set his helmet by his feet. Straightening, they tug his blaster out of his hands and toss it carelessly through the window to the side. It lands with a muffled clatter. Apparently satisfied, they turn their eyes back to him as they lean against the metal bars.

“What did you do?” Fox demands, refusing to let the dread rising in his chest show on his face.

“Commander Fox,” the imposter says blandly, low and rasping like something is wrong with their throat, wiggling their fingers at him in a sarcastic half-wave. “My name is Kisca. When you’re asking what I did, you’re going to have to be more specific about which ‘what’ you mean. I’ve done a lot of shit.”

Great; he’s gotten a smartass. “Where are we?” He asks, still trying desperately to move. “What is this place?”

Kisca tilts their head. “We’re in my Domain ― so far the prevailing name for it is the Foghouse. The answer for what it is takes a bit more explaining than I think you want to be stuck for, so take the first answer at face value.”

Fox grits his teeth. “Fine,” he snaps. “Who are you and what have you done with the Chancellor?”

Kisca raises a thin eyebrow. Something about them ― changes. They stand away from the wall, hunched slightly with their shoulders rounded and sloping downwards, a kindly smile on their face. “Commander Fox, I am the Supreme Chancellor,” they say ― in Chancellor Palpatine’s voice. Fox didn’t even notice them fading the Chancellor’s voice out as they talked, but now that they’ve switched back it’s frighteningly obvious. If he wasn’t staring straight at them he would’ve thought he just heard the Chancellor himself.

“What the kark are you?” he asks, hard.

Kisca’s eyebrows go up as they lean back against the wall. “This place has some weird fucking expletives,” they say, rasping again. “What I am is rather a long story, Commander. For the sake of time, I’m skipping the whole exposition thing ― there are better choices for a narrator of that particular story, anyway. Going back to the second part of your question, what I did was eat him.”

For a moment, all Fox can do is stare in horror. “You ― what?”

“Ate him,” Kisca repeats, bland and creaking. “He would’ve been a better meal for Artemy, given how terrified he was of dying, but ― I’m the one who’s here, so I’m the one who ate him. It works out, in any case ― this way the Galactic Senate gets somebody who isn’t actively tearing it apart from the inside.”

#star wars #starchives crossover #character: Kisca #character: Commander Fox #pov: fox #posted: 23rd. october 2022 #i wanted to describe the foghouse in more detail but unfortunately the words would not cooperate #but yeah kisca totally did a not-them on palpatine #no idea if i'm gonna stick with fox being the one to go 'hey who the absolute fuck are you' #or if i'm gonna have it be someone else #atm my other top choice is mace #'cause of his shatterpoints thing #and also i kinda just wanna have two resting-bitch-face assholes (affectionate) snarking at each other #whether i keep fox or not i'm thinking i'm gonna have dooku be COMPLETELY fucking unaware #that this ain't actually the sith lord he's been serving for years #kisca starts negotiating with seperatist forces and dooku goes 'uh. beg pardon??????' #SHOOT I FORGOT SOME ORGANIZING TAGS #draft snippet #collective timeline emperor kisca