The Crimson Lady

Author: Devi (mathura108@yahoo.de)

Rating: R

Category: SW spook story with an erotic touch

Characters: Tel'dar Chibi (original character: male human), the ghost of Ysanne Isard

Summary: Someone newly serving on the SSD Lusankya (during the time when she was an NR vessel) learns that the ship is... haunted! *mwahahahaha*

Disclaimer & stuff: I own zero, zilch, nada; Lucasfilm owns everything. Lieutenant Chibi is my own original character. Please don't use him for your own fics without my permission. Otherwise, everything that this little story is based on was created by George Lucas and Michael A. Stackpole, to whom I hereby humbly bow. I'm not making any money from this; I'm just a fan having fun.

Archive: Sith Chicks, Imperial Women. Everyone else who wants to archive it - just ask!

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"Do you think she will end up haunting this place?" - Corran Horn in "Isard's Revenge"

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Lieutenant Tel'dar Chibi was sitting in front of his computer terminal in one of the Lusankya's many, many rooms. He had only just been transferred to the Super Star Destroyer, and he had already formed the opinion that those who called the Lusankya the crest jewel of the NR fleet hadn't exaggerated. Chibi had felt truly awed when he had gotten his first glimpse of the vessel from the shuttle in which he had arrived. Eight klicks long from stern to bow, shaped like a sharp dagger, with huge New Republic crests painted on the gray hull, the Lusankya was an impressive sight to say the least. He was truly proud that he had been assigned to serve on that ship.

Since it was late at night, Chibi (who always claimed that he could work best at night time) was the only one in the room. Of course, in a vessel floating in deep space, terms like "day" and "night" had little actual meaning; but according to Coordinated Galactic Time, which was the time frame that was used on the Lusankya for the sake of practicality, it was night, and all the lights had been dimmed down.

Tel'dar rubbed his eyes, struggling to make sense of the numbers on his screen that represented the minor, but pesky problem he was just trying to solve, when he suddenly felt the air in the room turn cold. "What the..." he mumbled irritatedly, his breath forming a cloud in front of his mouth. He quickly stroked a few keys, making the readouts for the ship's environmental controls appear on his screen. They were working perfectly normal. And even if the temperature control was not working properly, he realized, it should have taken more time for the room to cool off. Weird, he thought. Almost as weird as this feeling of being watched from behind...

He turned around and saw two glowing indicator lights, a red and a bright blue one, on the control board behind him. Funny, he didn't remember those lights being there in that spot. Perhaps he had to make himself more familiar with his workplace. Strange, though, that those lights reminded him of a mismatched pair of eyes. He stood up and stepped closer to the board. The two lights vanished. Not "went out", but "vanished". Chibi's face formed a puzzled expression. Perhaps it's time I went to bed. I'm already starting to see things that aren't there.

Shaking his head, he nevertheless sat back down in front of his terminal. He didn't want to let such a minor abnormality bother him. And besides, it wasn't that cold, he told himself. Perhaps he had only imagined the whole thing. He had continued his work for a while when he saw from the corner of his right eye that someone laid a hand on the control board that was adjacent to his terminal. He turned his head to to the right and saw a slender, pallid female hand. Feathery ice-flowers formed on the control board, spreading out from the spot where the hand was lying as if it was the source of the cold. Looking up, he beheld the two mysterious indicator lights again. Tel'dar blinked confusedly. What was before his eyes now took a more distinct shape, and he saw that the lights were indeed eyes, one of them resembling a sea of molten lava mixed with flashes of golden fire, the other a light blue tone that seemed as cold as liquid helium. The face in which they were set was that of a human female; pale, but beautiful, with graceful, aristocratic features. He was sure he had never before encountered the person it belonged to, yet he also had the feeling that he knew that face - from a holo, perhaps? But he was too puzzled to sift through his memories. All he knew at the moment was that that person shouldn't be where she was; he knew all the crew members who were authorized to enter the area he worked in.

"Hey, Miss..." he said. The woman blinked, as if startled by his addressing her, then vanished. Simply vanished. At the same moment, Tel'dar realized that he hadn't seen her body, only that face and hand manifesting from the air. "What the hell!" he exclaimed. Things were definitely getting too weird for his taste. Tel'dar Chibi knew that he was not the type to have Jedi visions - as far as he knew, he was about as Force sensitive as a bale of straw. He decided that he was suffering from the effects of lack of sleep, and should go to bed right away. He got up, left the room, and walked through a corridor in the direction that lead to his quarters.

While making his way through the long, empty corridor that was lit by dim, yellow lights, he felt a creepy feeling built inside of him; even though normally, he was not the type to be afraid of being alone at night. Again, he had that eerie feeling of being watched. He felt a movement in the air, like someone breathing down his neck - only that it was a very cold breath, like a waft of air from Hoth. Turning around again, he saw that mysterious lady from before right next to him; but this time, he was able to see her whole form. She was tall and slender, clad in what looked like an Imperial officer's uniform, though the color of the garment was a bright crimson - the color of fresh blood, as Tel'Dar involuntarily thought. Her pallid face was framed by silvery-white hair; but from the color of her eyebrows, Chibi was able to tell that it had once been black as night. The lady was indeed beautiful, but it was a chilling kind of beauty. She had the kind of elusive, haughty air about her which, in combination with her regal poise, reminded Tel'dar of a typical Coruscanti upper class woman. The expression on her face was haughty, too, with a hint of cruelty; but also told of a weary bitterness, as if she had experienced a crushing defeat.

None of that caught Chibi's attention, though. What did was the fact that the woman's body and face seemed somewhat translucent, and were surrounded by an eerie, bluish glow. At the same moment, he realized that he hadn't heard her steps as she had followed him, even though she was wearing boots. In fact, looking closer, he wasn't too sure whether her feet were touching the ground at all. How's that for freaky? he thought, but resolved that he would not let the sight intimidate him. "Hey, Miss...Madam," he said, "You're not supposed to be here. How did you get here, anyhow?"

The woman formed a chilling smile and arched a brow over her frosty blue eye before she spoke to him for the first time. "Telling me where I'm allowed to go on my ship. Now that's amusing."

"Your ship?"

Her smile broadened. It was a smug expression, with a hint of hostility thrown in for good measure. "Yes, mine. Given to me by the man I loved and served." She spread one of her hands to the side, as if she wanted to say "Lo and behold." Suddenly, the lights brightened. The corridor was no longer empty, but filled with stormtroopers in pristine white armor who flanked the woman - or rather, a younger version of her, with only two narrow white streaks marking her shiny black hair. She's showing me the past! a dumbfounded Chibi thought. Of course! The Lusankya used to be an Imperial vessel. And she - she has something to do with the past of this ship. He furrowed his brows, trying to figure out who the woman was and what she had to do with the Lusankya, but was too bewildered to think clearly.

The next moment, the lights had faded, and the vision - or whatever it had been - had vanished. The mysterious lady, however, stood next too him as before. Chibi started to get annoyed. As far as he was concerned, he'd had enough weird stuff for a night. "Well, no matter who you are, Madam, you don't belong here," he said.

The woman gave him a taunting look. "And what will you do if I don't leave? Shoot me?"

"If I have to," Tel'dar said firmly, determined not to let the strange woman intimidate him. He let his hand rest on his blaster - just in case - but didn't draw or fire it. But nevertheless, to his great shock and disbelief, he heard the unmistakable sound of a blaster shot scream through the air and saw the woman crashing into the wall behind her. No matter what species she is, that must have hurt, he thought. He crouched down beside the lady, who had slid down the wall. Her jacket was smoking and rapidly getting wet with blood. "Oh, dear! That looks like a hell of a mess." Tel'dar tried to pry away the woman's hand which she had pressed against her stomach (for that was where the shot that no one - and certainly not him - had fired had hit her) in order to have a look at her wound. The hand felt ice-cold, and strangely insubstantial, as if the next moment, the lady would vanish into thin air once again. But even though it gave him the creeps, he didn't let go of her - yet.

He did let go, and jump backwards, when her eyes suddenly widened and flared up. That was the only word that was appropriate. They weren't human eyes anymore, just two blazes of fiery ice and icy fire. "Don't touch me, Rebel scum!" she spat. Tel'dar pressed against the opposite wall, terrified by the inhuman fury that the woman exhibited even though she was dying. Or at least, she seemed to be. A few rasping gasps came from her opened mouth, then her limp tongue slid out, accompanied by a gush of blood. The two icy blazes flickered out; and in their place, there was just a pair of glassy, dead human eyes. Then the woman's body started to decompose before Chibi's eyes in fast forward motion. The flesh fell from her bones, and the bones crumbled into dust.

Then even as he stood and stared, the dust vanished; leaving nothing, not even the smell of decay, just a squeaky clean, predominately white Star Destroyer corridor. Somehow, that was what frightened Chibi the most. Am I going crazy? The last time he had seen something so weird, he had been on bad spice; but he had kicked the habit years ago. Tel'dar shook his head. Hell, I really need to go and get some sleep.

~*~

He was inside his small quarters and had just crawled into his bunk when the door slid open. Tel'dar Chibi knew immediately that this was another thing that shouldn't be. As it was common on military vessels, practically all the doors on the Lusankya had code-protected locks, and he was sure that the person who had just stepped in didn't have the code for his door. If she was a person in the usual sense, which was something he doubted even more than before. The strange, crimson-clad woman with the fire-and-ice eyes was standing there in a playful stance that complemented the slightly impish look on her beautiful face, with one foot forward and her body bent at the hip, waist, and neck. Again, there was that strange glow around her form. She smiled at Chibi. This time, her smile was not icy, but seductive, which didn't make it any less chilling. Tel'dar stared at her with widened eyes. The woman came closer. Chibi hardly managed to force out a "What...do... you want?"

"Just to keep warm," she said in an eerie imitation of a girlish voice. "I've been alone in the cold for so long."

'Cold' I can understand, Tel'dar thought. She seems to carry her own cold with her. Indeed, the air in the room had turned frosty the moment the crimson-clad woman had entered. But 'alone'? On a ship housing thousands and thousands of crew members? But then, perhaps she was situated on a plane of existence from where she wasn't able to see the people that surrounded her. This thought was almost confirmed when the woman continued in a plaintive tone, "All alone in the cold, in the darkness..." But then, how come she can see me?

"Let me slip under your blanket and warm myself a bit, yes?" Before Tel'dar could react, she had proceeded to do just that, but not without opening the front of her crimson jacket first, and the front of her pants as well, revealing that she wasn't wearing anything underneath. Tel'dar swallowed. Even without him wanting it, his eyes wandered from her well-shaped breasts over her stomach to her small tuft of black pubic hair, and he felt arousal mix into his fear and bafflement. The mixture was disturbing enough to make him freeze with shock, so his eyes remained the only thing he moved. The lady flung one of her long legs over him and straddled him, then ran her fingers over his chest. Her touch was so cold it hurt, but in a strange way, it also excited him against his will as her fingernails lightly scratched his skin. Tel'dar wanted to escape, or at least push her away, but found that he was no longer able to move, as if the strange woman's touch had paralysed him. Now he felt truly frightened, and the only thing that kept him from screaming was the fact that he was no longer able to make a sound, as if his vocal cords had been paralyzed as well.

The lady leaned forward, brushing his lips with her soft, but icy ones. "I used to share the Emperor's bed, you know," she said in a husky whisper. "To those who didn't know better, he seemed like an old man, but the Dark Side made him strong whenever he wished." She sighed, as if remembering pleasures of times past. "He always wanted us to look into each other's eyes when we did it. His eyes were like no one else's; like bright yellow flames that touched my very soul, seeing all I was and all I ever would be." The woman lowered her voice further, indicating that she was telling a cherished, intimate secret. "And sometimes, he told me he liked my eyes, too." As she said that, the cauldron of fire and the chasm of ice that made up her eyes seemed to gain in brightness, and the aura of feral power that exuded from them was enticing and fearsome at the same time.

She stroked Tel'dar's face, then drew her tongue horizontally over his lips, parting them. The man was still unable to move; only his heart fluttered like a trapped bird as the lady let her fingers explore his body as she pleased, all the while continuing to kiss him. When her tongue played around the rim of his ear while her fingertips roughly tweaked his nipples, the mixture of pleasure and pain stirred up a strange kind of excitement within him that scared him out of his wits. And yet, the strange intruder had only started her game. Lower, she wandered now, her daring, demanding tongue exploring the hollow over his collarbones; then caressing his bare chest with her fragile fingers and her icy lips and tongue; causing his nipples to harden. Still lower she went, drawing intricate, circular patterns across his stomach with her nimble tongue. Then she pulled down his pajama pants with demanding, expert fingers to get access to what she really wanted. Finding himself hardening in her hand, then in her mouth, Tel'dar realized that there was one part of his body that was still very much able to move and react, but given the circumstances, he did not know whether that should please him or freak him out. Stars, the late Emperor's dead lover is making love to me!

Having stimulated him for as long as she deemed necessary, the strange woman interrupted her ministrations to wriggle out of her crimson pants. Under the pale light, her long, shapely legs were the color of bones. She straddled him again, then lowered herself onto him, engulfing him in the core of her womanhood. He did not know what happened then, for the unbearable mixture of terrifying lust and exciting fear overwhelmed him, tearing his consciousness apart and catapulting him into darkness.

~*~

When he woke, he was alone, lying on his bunk. He opened his eyes and wriggled his fingers; and finding that he was able to do so, he realized that he was not dead after all, which was certainly a plus. He got up and went into the refresher. Gazing into the mirror above the sink brought him further solace, for the familiar sight of his own face gave him the sense of reality he had lost the previous night. The only unfamilar thing were the tiny ice crystals that clung to his hair, but as he brushed them away, they melted as they should. Perhaps they had never been there. Perhaps it had all been no more than a bad dream.

The day was spend with routine work, making him forget about the night's experience until he had time for a talk with his immediate superior, Lt. Commander Tham Goku, a man he regarded as a friend. Goku formed a knowing smile when Tel'dar Chibi told him his story. "Ah, you've met the Madam Director!"

"You mean, that was..." Tel'dar's jaw dropped as he suddenly realized who he had spend the night with.

"...Iceheart," Goku confirmed in a solemn whisper, as if uttering the name of a deity he feared to invoke in her own domain. Then he added in his normal voice, "But those who are here for longer than a few weeks just call her the "Crimson Lady". Because of what she wears, you know."

"Do you mean to say that others have seen her, too?"

Goku nodded. "Yes. See, the Lusankya used to belong to her; and in her own strange way, she also belonged to the Lusankya. So when she died, she remained right here."

"I think I know how she died," Tel'dar Chibi said with a shudder.

"Yes. A shot in the stomach. She showed it to you, didn't she?"

Tel'dar just nodded. Goku smiled again. "That's the way she is. When new people come to serve on this ship, the Crimson Lady likes to scare them a little. I figure that's the only fun she has left in her life - in her death, I mean. But she never does any real harm. In fact," his voice took on an awed tone, "some believe that she is the guardian spirit of the Lusankya, watching over this ship to keep her safe."

Tel'dar Chibi pondered over Goku's words for moment, then asked, "When she comes to scare the newcomers... does she give everyone some nookie?"

"Nookie? You mean, she...? You and her...?"

Chibi blushed and nodded again.

"No, not with everyone. Seems like she likes you. - Or perhaps she was just lonely, or bored. Let's face it, it was hard to tell what was going on in her head even while she was alive."

~*~ THE END ~*~