(Disclaimer: This story was initially created to make more sense of the IG romance between the player character and Arcann. But it became quickly out of control and a whole story was created, mostly following the in-game events but proposing "behind the scene" stories and some rewritten scenes. Be warned, this is a slow burn, but I promise that romance is coming at some point. ;)
English is not my first language. There might be a few mistakes.)

Arcann, hands joined in his back, was contemplating the forest spreading out of sight from one of the decks of the base.

Odessen.

Being here, on the very planet used by the Alliance as their Command Center in their former fight against him felt somewhat odd. Even more, knowing that he was not here as a conqueror or a prisoner, but had been welcomed by the Outlander herself as a new member of her Alliance. He had set foot on the planet just a couple of hours before. They had fled Zakuul together, and while he had helped her against the Knights and pledged his allegiance to her there, he was still not expecting to be free to roam around the base as anyone else.

Now, here he was, surrounded by dozens of people of all kinds who were not even trying to conceal their surprised and wary looks. Surrounded, but isolated just the same, as nobody did not dare approaching him. Which he understood and certainly appreciated as much. He, the former Emperor of Zakuul for the last six years, was anyway not really accustomed to proximity anymore.

He heard footsteps coming directly towards him, which was unexpected enough to make him turn around. The Outlander had traded the reinforced catsuit she had been wearing on Zakuul for a quite simple but formal black attire with geometrical silver accents. She was slightly smaller than him and thin, but he knew better than being fooled by her current inoffensive appearance. She was a fighter and a fierce one, he had had enough occasions to verify it at his own expense.

The light of the declining sun made her pale grey skin glow strangely and contrast strongly with her dark outfit and the black tattooed lines finely traced on her face and hairless head. Six years before, she had been the first member of the Rattataki species that had crossed his path, and after having frozen her in carbonite and seized the throne, he had spent some of the long hours sitting there to do some research about her home world. 'Know your enemy', they said.

The members of her species were known to be strong and deadly warriors, thanks to the constant wars that had shaped their planet and killed the weak. He had to admit that she had been worthy of the descriptions he had read. She had represented a real challenge for him, greater than the other fighters he had to face anytime during the campaigns he had led in the past. He wondered how a member of the Rattataki, a population which had been mostly killed or enslaved during the insurrection of one of the Darth Lords nearly 50 years before, had become, first a Sith Lord herself, then the central figure of a galactic alliance.

"Were you shown your room? I suppose that it does not go by the same standards than what you are accustomed to, but we cannot offer more for the time being." Her voice was softer and more relaxed than the one she had ever used before addressing him, but still rather formal. She was his host here, and behaving as such, even if he could notice that she tried to be as welcoming as possible.

"And you shouldn't, thank you. I am no special guest here. Even though… yes, I confess that I will have to get used to a rather different life than the one I had before." He had in fact had a hard time imagining how he could live in the windowless tiny three-rooms quarters that he was now meant to share with his mother on the base. Nevertheless, he had no right to complain, as he was not treated worse than any other around. So he had instead decided to do exactly what he was doing now, spend as much time outside as possible. Considering the important amount of time he had spent inside during the last years, it would probably not be so bad to change his habits anyway.

Habits… That was a word he could in any case remove from his vocabulary for now. The number of changes he had to go through was overwhelming. And exhausting. From the moment he had gotten conscious on Voss, lost, convinced that his mother had died to save him, he had understood that his old life was gone.

He had lost everything. Reached the bottom. The throne was not his anymore, his flagship had been destroyed with part of his possessions, and the other part was on a planet where he could probably not set foot anymore without being hunted. He might have been able to go back to Vaylin but he was not even sure that she would have welcomed him as her brother and not as a foe. And it would have felt wrong anyway. He did not feel anymore this anger which had driven him so far. When he had woken up, the rush of memories of all he had done in the past months, of all he was, had made him feel sick.

The Outlander had offered him to join her on Voss already, but he had only seen the shadow of his father behind her shoulder. It did not make sense in any case. Why would she want him to follow her if not simply to throw him in a cell or execute him publicly. Disoriented, he had done the very thing he thought that he would never do in his life, he had fled. Arcann had boarded the shuttle he vaguely remembered as being the one which had brought them there and the ship had taken off, driving him away from that preposterous reality.

The shuttle had taken him to the encampment of dissident Knights, hidden deep in the Endless Swamp of Zakuul, while a fake trail meant to lose potential trackers lead them to Tython then Dantooine. The Knights had welcomed him with caution but had eventually understood what had happened. He had apparently been there before, with his mother. The fever he had suffered from had left him unconscious most of the time and clouded his moments of consciousness, he barely remembered anything between the destruction of his flagship and his awakening on Voss, but they had helped him fill the blanks. More than that, they had sworn to follow him wherever he would go.

He had decided his next move a few days later, after having learnt that his mother was still alive and the Alliance was taking care of her. His sister had sided with a droid and declared herself Empress. She had publicly claimed that she wanted him, Senya and the Outlander hunted and everything related to them burnt to the ground. He had understood the only meaningful choice that was laid before him and had faced it, knowingly putting his fate in the hands of the Outlander.

And there he was now, standing in front of her as a freshly recruited ally. Odds sometimes were more uncontrollable than he would ever admit. But he was determined to proudly face everything his new life would bring him.

"I hope that you will soon feel comfortable here." She looked around, obviously noticing the glances that people were shooting at them. "They will get used to you, eventually… It will take some time before people understand that you are different from the emperor we were fighting against."

"As it will take some time for me to understand how I can make amends and contribute to your fight."

The way she was looking at him made him uncomfortable. It felt like her light grey eyes were probing his soul, even though he knew she could most probably not reach into his mind. Knowing that his father was dwelling inside her head was another thing he felt uneasy with. He could sense her own strength and her imprint in the Force, but he could feel as well the faint trace of Valkorion's presence. He looked away and let his eyes linger on the treetops to avoid her glance.

"Is my father here?"

"Not now. Or at least, not talking to me. I do not know if he hears everything… And I understand that it might bother you. The best I can do is to inform you whenever he says something. However, he addressed you directly on Zakuul, didn't he? I wonder what wicked game he is playing..."

Arcann answered bitterly, "oh, not much more than calling me weak as he always has. But I will not let him get hold on me anymore. Now that my mother..."

She nodded slightly, then added in a very soft and caring voice, "Senya… It must be hard for you to see her in that coma. We are doing the best we can to take good care of her, but I guess that only time can help, now… I just want to assure you. We do care."

"I know. And I thank you for that." He did not really want to talk about his mother's condition. She had now been unconscious for several weeks. After all he had done, he was not sure that he was worth the effort, and the potential loss. Another thing he would have to live with.

The Outlander was looking at him again with a piercing look, as if trying to measure him. "Will you be able to leave aside the fact that you are a former emperor, as well as the fact that your father still lives inside my head and follow my lead whenever I need you to?"

The question took him by surprise as she had just voiced the same concern that was forming in his mind. Could he be sure that she could not read his thoughts after all?

"I…. Think so… Commander." The word still did not feel natural when he uttered it. He had called her Outlander for years, but that word seemed misplaced in the current situation. He was in a good position to know what chain of command was and how he was supposed to address her. He had pledged allegiance, she was his superior now, as strange as it felt for someone who had been at the highest level for the last six years.

Arcann hesitated a moment then formulated the question he had wanted to ask from the very moment she had accepted his allegiance. "Why did you decide to welcome me here?"

She remained silent for a while before answering, as if trying to choose the right words. "On Voss, I decided to trust your mother's judgment and give you the second chance she thought you deserved. Following that, there was no point in not giving you shelter here. I am not one who gives with one hand and withdraws with the other one. So now, you are a member of the Alliance. You will have access to the Command Room, act as an advisor in our campaign against your sister, fight on our side. But you will still have to earn our trust, this part is not a given."

"I understand, Commander. And I'll do my best to help." He was actually impressed. This woman spoke as a leader and he could understand why people followed and respected her. It was not their first talk, they had had opportunities to… exchange a few points of view… when they were enemies, and he had already appreciated her charisma when she networked her message from Zakuul, but having her directly address to him as his new leader was a totally different thing. And while he wondered how much of that leadership was coming from his father, he decided to drive the thought away. "Give me any mission, I'll prove my loyalty to you."

Arcann was surprised by the genuine smile she addressed him following his words. "Very well, then. Welcome to Odessen." She nodded a goodbye and walked the way back to the main building, leaving him to his thoughts. It had been an uncomon day. And it was only the beginning of his new life…