The cold chill of the northern winter winds battered the mountains and swept into the crash site of what could be called an ancient relic in these modern times. The very last pair of apprentices and masters from the days of the old empire stared each other down as the air rushed between them. The Force shifted and slanted as the apprentice started her way down the ramp to the only ship capable of taking them off world.
"Is the part where you blow it up in some defiant last stand to prove some point." The man that proclaimed himself as Revan's heir and future Emperor of the Galaxy asked with a bored sigh. On the surface he looked completely calm and even a little disinterested from everything happening around him. But that was about as far from how he truly felt, she could see it. Though it was different than what she expected. That lingering questioning fear that festered in his heart had changed in iron clad conviction. The doubt was gone. He didn't need her anymore and was ready for anything she chose.
"You'd like that wouldn't you? Give you a reason to stay around here longer and spend time with those two hybrids you have under your thumb." She mocked him as she pulled out her dual sided lightsaber. The buzz of it lighting up and extending out of its hilt snapped through the crashed clearing. She watched him carefully as he barely made any reaction to this threatening move. Mildly irritated she started walking toward him, picking up her speed as she eventually built into a full sprint. An annoying smirk formed across his face as she came closer.
"Oh. So you're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?" He laughed smugly as he opened his arms and two lightsaber hilts were pulled from a hatch in his leg into his hands. She knew he was trying to be funny, she didn't know how that was funny but the fact he found it funny was all the more annoying. And fueling all that irritation and frustration she had for him, all that bubbling and boiling emotion she leapt up into the air. And with a rage filled scream she lunged down, ready to strike down her master as so many other Sith had done before… only to stop at his neck. The plasma of the lightsaber actually touches his skin and burns through his Mask to reveal his true ivory skin. "Aw… you didn't strike me down, now I can't become stronger than you could possibly know."
"You're making jokes, you keep making jokes I don't understand." Jaesa said as she turned off her lightsaber and dropped it to the ground. She looked up and saw the true face of her Master, now with a different man behind it. She very rarely saw this form and he knew it. If they were going to speak now, it would be with a new face she was unused to. "I don't understand you and that's what makes this exciting and terrifying. You're the unknown and I can't possibly begin to understand what's going on in your head. I keep thinking what my master is thinking and if I try to guess I know it will be wrong."
"Humans fear the unknown and yet me, this unknown, is making you all wet." He smirked again and Jaesa was ready to scream that he was fucking right it was making her wet. And what's more, was that he accepted that and even enjoyed it. "So… are we done with this? Can we move on with our lives now?" He wasn't afraid of what she really was, a crazy psychopath that loved killing and debasing herself in any way possible. Not a single moment since he first became who he was had he told her to change. But rather than just say any of this and ruin the mood, she decided to surprise him by knocking him off his feet with a sudden swiping kick to the legs. He dropped to snowy ground, completely taken by surprise. But then found himself straddled by Jaesa and her lips on his own.
"Oh no… this was just a bit of foreplay." She whispered as she slowly moved from his lips to his ear.
"Well isn't this a… fucking damnit Jaesa!" He cursed as she moved along his jaw and then bit his earlobe clean off.
She jumped off of him laughing, then spat out the bloody piece of flesh onto the snow. It was the most wonderful shade of red she had ever seen. Watching as he clenched his ear with one hand and stood back up with the other. Her laugh still rung across the field of battle as he glared at her with total fury in his eyes and with a single finger slammed her into the dirt. She could feel the entire weight of his power break several of her bones. But they weren't done yet. From under the massive gravity of his attack she reached out and with a flick of her hand turned her dropped lightsaber on, aiming just so that it pierced his cybernetic leg. He grunted in shock and frustration as he dropped to one knee.
Now free, Jaesa jumped back up and pulled her dagger from her boot. Speeding toward her fallen opponent she was ready for anything he could throw at her, only for the ground to rumble and crack under her feet. She jumped between the rising spikes of earth that were forced by his power up at her. Using all her acrobatic training to flip, jump, dodge that incoming ruptures in the ground. She slammed down where he had been standing with a forceful crash imbued with the Force. Creating a small shockwave that sent him stumbling back on his feet. But Jaesa watched as the earth below his feet swept up and grabbed ahold of his legs. She then watched as the ground swelled and pulled him high into the air, holding him just over her.
"Looks like you've been busy in the last year!" She shouted with a wide smile as she was witness to Force powers rarely used by Sith and Jedi. Mastery over the elements of nature was seen as an extremely rare talent. Power over fire was considered among the Sith as a stepping stone to Force Lightning and she had practiced many times under the Jedi using water to help in the healing process of beings that had much of their body made of the same liquid. But to control the earth in this manner was unheard of, and yet he was already using it so fluidly to be effective in battle.
"I didn't just sit on my ass, watch over some brats, and shack up with beautiful women." He said as he held a hand up and closed all her fingers but one. She furrowed her brow at the gesture until she watched a thin line of pure purple energy. "Gonna hafta change my color scheme a bit, but sorta happy with it. Black and purple is boss as fuck." With that he flicked down his finger and Jaesa barely had any time to think before dodging out of the way. A flare of a screeching blast echoed around them, Jaesa began shaking a bit as she looked back up from where she had dove out of the way to see a sharp slice in the ground where she had been standing. Then she watched as her opponent in this fight dropped down from the air and slowly began walking toward her.
It was time to get serious and so she pulled out her dagger from her boot and quickly she had her Force Needles between her fingers. He chuckled at the gesture but she smirked as he only thought he knew what they could do. She scrambled to get up and began throwing as many of her needles as she could. All of them missed him as he moved between each and every one of them in a fluid display of Force Precognition. The Sith Assasssin ducked behind one of the many spikes of earth that he had created in his previous attack but this proved useless as he just stomped on the ground and pulled the dirt back into the earth. Caught off guard by the still newness of this power, she quickly felt the force grab hold of her body and pulled her across the distance between them. Finding herself in his arms, Jaesa snaked herself out and under his legs, taking the opportunity to get a cop a feel before she slid out and stood back up behind him.
She tried to deliver a few strikes to his sides, maybe to his liver and get him on the ground but that didn't pan out. He dodged and blocked every strike of her fist and ignored her attempts at tricking him with her needles. He knew that they would just pass right through him. And they did, but not the needles that surprised him and struck his back. The pain of the attack broke his consternation and caused his Force assisted leg to buckle. Jaesa smirked as she had him totally at her mercy now but when she looked down at him all he did was smile.
"You're making another joke don't you?" Jaesa sighed as that seemed to be his message here. He didn't need to fight her seriously and could beat her all while making jokes she didn't understand the reference to.
"Really wish I had some smut I could be reading while we did this… would tie this all so nicely." He said before the ground opened up and swallowed him whole. Thrown off by his words and the strangeness of just the ground opening up and closing like that, Jaesa's reaction of firing off several arcs of Force Lightning was delayed somewhat. But then she blinked and felt a hand reach around her ankle. Before she could even look down, a yelp came from her lips as she was pulled down into the dirt and swapped places with her opponent. She now was nothing more than a head sticking out from the ground and he stood over her victoriously. "Are you done? Or are we going to bring in the peanut gallery in for this?"
"I don't know what that means!" Jaesa shouted as she tried to move a muscle only to find it useless. She wasn't so good in the Force to properly move things with her mind without the assistance of the mental muscle memory aide of a physical action to invoke the power. It was a crutch that many Jedi and Sith used early in their lives and slowly diluted as they mastered the Force. People like the smug bastard standing over her now no longer needed to move a hand or make any motion to move something around them with the Force but she still needed that.
"Means do you want to bring in the Tsân?" He slowly lowered himself so he could sit down and not lord his victory over her. That was nice and a way of telling her that this was indeed over.
"No… Macha is bad when blood starts flowing. Won't stop until its all spilled."
"Yes… it's a very Blood for Blood God Skulls for the Skull Throne type of being isn't it." She really hoped that there was a Skull Throne somewhere out there. That was a fucking awesome concept to her. "But this didn't really answer my question? You were sending some pretty mixed signals there." He said as Jaesa pouted at her loss, she didn't even really get to drag the fight out for long enough for her to slice his shirt off. That was why she considered this a loss. She knew it would have been impossible to actually kill or even hurt him, the goal was just to get him sweaty and shirtless. But…
"Take your top off and I'll tell you my answer." Jaesa said and he did as asked without even a moment of hesitation. "Mmm~" Jaesa hummed very pleased with seeing his body, looking like it had been sculpted from a giant chunk of ivory and threaded with veins of obsidian. She had always wanted to shamelessly ogle his true body but every time that he would go into Force Sleep Vette would ban her from seeing him.
"Okay, sex me up with your eyes. Now what's your answer." He said mildly impatiently, not because he was half naked. No, Jaesa knew he just really wanted to know what she was going to do. But she didn't answer, she wanted to get as much memory of this glorious sight as she could while it lasted. "Ey!" He said as he ripped her out of the ground and set her in front of him.
"Okay-okay… calm down sexy." Jaesa pouted as she could tell he was starting to get anxious about her choice. Her previous horny/happy mood was soured by the seriousness of the decision that she had spent a year debating on. In the end the answer came to her in the first couple of days. That she couldn't decide until she found the real truth. Until she saw him after so long and saw him for who he really was. She would trust the only thing that had ever given her only truth. "When I first met Master Rhyhall and he beat Master Karr, he asked me to look into his soul to see what kind of man he really was. I then looked at Master Rhyhall and saw that he knew what he was and didn't shun his true self like Master Karr did. It was his confidence in what he was that was at the top of the list of things I admired about him. Because I had never had that in myself before then."
"You should, despite what many others would say about you, Jaesa, you deserve to love yourself." He said and Jaesa could feel her chest tighten at how easily that came to him. Believing in her was something he always did, and that had been part of the problem. He believed more in her than in himself.
"But you didn't share in that. You didn't have the same confidence that Master had. You didn't believe in yourself. You doubted your ability to control the Dark Side and felt the need to apologize to the Light for being more inclined to the Dark. You maintained the Balance but it was a chore. You also tried to put up an image of yourself, you tried to play Naraiz Rhyhall. Be a actor in a role." Jaesa said before she once again looked at him, her eyes shining a bit as she looked into his soul. It was so different than it was a year ago. Gone was the friction between the new and old, now there was just a whole. Now he was just content with himself, the urge to play something he wasn't was no longer there. The confidence she admired so much with her old master was there and renewed. "Past tense by the way there. Now you're just a whole new slab of sexy that I can't wait to get ahold of." Jaesa said as she licked her lips and then jumped up in an attempt to tackle the new Naraiz but was instead caught by his power and just floated in the air.
"Tut-tut my darling apprentice, if you think I'm as big a slut as you are you are sadly mistaken." He said with a shaming finger wag. Jaesa however was too busy being turned on by the teasing show of power and minor humiliation he was doling out. "I need to hear you say it, I want to hear you beg me to take you back." There it was, she would have been disappointed if it had been that easy to get him back. She was dropped onto the ground and she quickly crawled up to his sitting lap, rubbing herself all along his body as she slithered into him.
"Please master, please take this filthy slut back. I promise to be the most bloodthirsty and nasty killer, the most devious and cutthroat spy, and the most depraved whore all for you and no one else." She begged with the insane mix of puppy dog eyes and sultry voice she knew drove her old master wild. And from the hardening tool under her she could feel it was doing something similar to her new one.
"Mmm… with an offer like that, how could I say no." The two quickly locked lips and pressed into each other. He was already shirtless and Jaesa's top was a loose collection of sashes. Skin pressed to skin as Jaesa was pushed back onto the ground, the feeling of a master dominating her mouth and about to utterly claim her in every way possible was a surge of pleasure in of itself. And just as she felt his hands roam under her top…
"Hey, I'm still here!"
"Macha! Go and ki-" Jaesa quickly found her mouth covered before she could finish the order to kill Vette. Fuck that little goodie-goodie for blue-balling her like this.
"You lost your points when you skipped out on me, Vette's been spending the last year stocking up hers." Naraiz said as he pulled Jaesa up on her feet and pulled her over to the ship where Vette was still waiting. "And also you know I hate having sex in the dirt."
"Hey Jaesa, how's it feel to be bottom bitch?" Vette stuck her tongue out in a childish display of superiority. Feeling perfectly entitled to ruin moments for the two of them since Jaesa did it more than a fair number of times when it was back with her and the Old Naraiz. Payback was as big a bitch as Jaesa was. Jaesa just started a death glare while growling under Naraiz' hand, she didn't care for the score that Vette had to settle, only that she hadn't gotten laid in a year and was looking forward to some good dicking. But then she was pushed forward into Vette, happy at the sudden closeness she had with her target Jaesa was all set to violently murder her in the most bloody way possible but then found herself, along with Vette, shoved down to the ground by her master's power.
"I'll say this once, cattiness I can tolerate… that's just the natural state between you two." Naraiz said sternly as he pushed both of the women down on their knees, their foreheads locked to the ground in a submissive and shamed position. "But real animosity is something I don't ever want to see. You both have fought in battle and lived with each other for years. You've both come to the conclusion that you want to be with me, and you've both come to understand that you're going to need to share. Act like it." He said as his power faded and both women felt their bodies freed of the restraint that they had been put in.
"Truce?" Vette offered as she really hated being talked down to like that and more so being trapped by the Force like that. Jaesa pouted a bit more but grumbled an agreement to coexist. Vette knew that she was just horny and wanted to get laid.
"It's time for us to leave this world for now, I want to figure out just where we are in the galaxy and get back to Anoat." The two women stood back up as he walked past them and into their ship. Both of them quickly followed behind as Vette was very much in the same opinion to get back to a more familiar setting and Jaesa was just following behind Naraiz in the hopes of getting some as soon as possible.
The droids from Valyria had done their best to repair the damage the crash did. The ship was space worthy, at least for the time being. It was far from completely repaired and the work that had been done was patchwork at best. The entire weapon system had been cannibalized as had several other extra parts that were needed for anything to do with flight, life support, or basic comms. This ship was a far cry from the highly advanced star fighter and mobile base that the Empire's Wrath had once used. But it would do until they found themselves a port willing to take them or just get themselves to Anoat.
Naraiz, Vette, and Jaesa all walked into the hull of their second home and all felt a bit of their hearts sink at the poor state it was in. Even for someone like Naraiz who had yet to personally live in this ship for any extended period of time, or Jaesa who wasn't at all sentimental to things, both still felt for the bare bones state their Fury was in. The three quickly moved to the cockpit and took their seats, with Vette taking the pilot seat and Naraiz sitting right next to her, Jaesa meanwhile stood ready at the comms station.
"Hey boss… you think that we're going to find something up there? Like… I can't wrap my head around the whole weird seasons this world has. There's got to be a reason for it and I got a gut feeling it's up there." Vette said as she went through the familiar motions of getting the ship started up. She and Quinn both knew this ship inside and out, how to get it going and how to get the most out of it. So being back here in the pilot seat and flicking switches and having her hands on the controls felt incredibly comforting.
When she didn't get an answer from her leader and lover, Vette looked back to see his eyes closed and his face focused. She rolled her eyes and knew that he was lost in the Force, hopefully her worries got through to him but with how Force-Sensitives were it was hard to know. The engines and thrusters began to hum to life and those hums turned to roars as the entire ship began to lift off the ground. Vette had a giant smile spread across her face as she could see the ground began to leave her. She shouted in glee as she turned the ship and it began its accent into the sky. But then the whole ship began to shake at the atmosphere and gravity of the planet fighting the Fury's attempt to leave the world. But the droids had done their work and the ship held together, Vette still felt a bead of sweat form on her forehead as she continued to hear rattling all over the cockpit.
"Turn left now!" It was only thanks to years of taking orders from that voice and a lifetime of split second instincts that Vette was able to maneuver the ship before it collided with a massive plate of metal. She had no idea what was happening as she flew past the highest clouds and now was weaving through giant holes in various plates of some unknown machine. "It's a Dyson Sphere, one covering the entire planet." She heard Naraiz say but Vette was too focused on moving between the layers of rings and plates connected to rings that captured the world they had been living on.
"Could you use a little more help boss, have any idea of how to get out of this mess?" Vette shouted out even if he was right next to her. She frowned at hearing him chuckle but then he began calling out directions for her to take. This eventually led them through the maze of machinery that made up the outer atmosphere of the world. They finally breathed a sigh of relief as they shot out of the last layer of rings and plates and found themselves in the emptiness of space. "What… the absolute fuck… was that?" Vette panted as the stress of dodging all that bullshit caught up with her in an instant. She then moved the Fury's frontal window around so they could look at the world they had just escaped.
"Fascinating, that explains the years long winters and summers." Naraiz mumbled as they all looked at the world before them. It was covered in bronze like shining metal, only with large continent sized holes in its shape. But what gave them their answer was how they could see all those plates move and realign themselves. Providing small cracks into those places that were covered and the suns blocked away. They could see that this was very much needed as the world was placed in the middle of five stars, all of them belting out large flares and massive amounts of heat. It was only by luck that the Fury had been spit out not close enough to any of the suns to cause damage to the hull.
"Uh… master… I think that's way more fascinating than the planet." Jaesa said after gulping as she noticed another oddity about the system they were in. Naraiz looked back to his apprentice and followed her gaze, right to a massive space station that was starting to come out from behind one of the massive stars. "That looks a lot like CenterPoint Station."
"Well, I already have to deal with one space god… what's another or a few more."
Master Fay reeled back as she was granted another Force Vision. This one follows another spike in the Force felt by many in the Coruscant Temple. About fifteen minutes ago every Force Sensitive in the Jedi felt a massive presence appear in the Force and then immediately veil itself. It was like nothing anyone had ever felt, not since the first Hutt War and Grand Master Yoda had to take to the Battlefield of Randon.
The Guardians here all claimed that a Anicet Sith Lord had awoken from slumber and was coming to eat the republic's young or something scary like that. She hadn't been paying attention much as it was all more warmongering and scare tactics to get the politicians into giving them more funds and relax more on the research laws into new and more morally questionable tech. Fay really wished that whatever it was that was doing these new things in the Force would have been more subtly about it. Even if it was a Sith she really wished that it would figure out the concept of stealth. Giving the Guardians more excuses to buy more overcompensating guns and ships wasn't good for anyone.
But soon after she had entered the temple hangers to go out for a bit of a drive and clear her head. She got a vision. Suddenly a very clear one that was obviously the Force doing its best to shove her face at a map and say go here. She saw the northern edge of the galaxy, past the Corporate Sector and then past the Mytus system. The Force showed her a system of five stars all surrounding a sole world. That was all she saw, and before she could pull any more information out of the Force she was thrust back into reality like a child being told they had enough and to figure it out from there. It was very unlike the normal Force Visions, which made her doubt the validity of it. It was not unheard of for some powerful Sith in the past to trick a Jedi into thinking their visions from the Force were real only to lead them into a trap.
Master Fay could not however allow this chance to slip past her. The source of the recent rumblings in the Force were too far reaching in their impact. They either needed to stop or be contained. The threat of the Guardians further using these as boogiemen was too great. She looked around and saw that she was still being largely ignored by both her peers in the Jedi and the many military officers that scuttled about in the temple hanger. Fay composed herself as best she could and continued on as if nothing had happened. Finding her ship was no trouble, checking for any sabotage was just something she always did when coming to the Coruscant Temple. But while she was checking her ship she sensed someone approaching her.
"You seem to be in a hurry to leave us, I feel I must once again apologize for that." She turned to see a rare friendly face among the capital Jedi.
"Hello Sharad, you don't have to apologize… again." She chuckled as the human did as well. She considered Sharad Hett a friend and fellow seeker of peace. Even if he was technically a part of the Guardian Faction. He however was considered a moderate due to his youth. Though Fay suspected he just wanted the tone to be a bit more lax as there were whispers that he might try to leave the Order. He had a look of someone who was tired of life itself but wished to keep on living. There was a hope in Fay that he would be able to just have that quiet exit that he longed for but doubted that it would come. "But yes, I am leaving for a short time. I do have a duty to the Grand Master after all."
"Ah yes, you hover over him like a protective Hawk-bat mother." He joked but Fay frowned a bit at the jab. So what if she wanted to make sure that these war hungry monsters didn't try anything to the wise and peaceful Grand Master of the Jedi. "Don't worry, I promise that none of the nasty and evil Guardians sink their claws into the little green one." He said with a humorous warmth but all Fay did was mildly glare at him to take his oath seriously. "Do you want me to feed him as well?"
"Wouldn't hurt." She responded back before she began climbing up into her ship.
"Much rather have dinner with you than an old fossil like the GrandMaster."
"I'm sure you would." She said with a tone of finality before the hiss of her compartment sounded as it closed shut. She huffed a bit as she began her initial start up routine. Like she had time for men or dinner with men or… anything else. Relationships like that weren't outright banned but they were heavily frowned upon unless you had a very good reason. She looked out her cockpit and saw Sharad warmly smiling and waving her goodbye, making her frown and pout a little more and begin counting the many many reasons why it was a bad idea to wave back.
"Why did we have to be so far from Anoat?" I groaned as Hyperspace zipped on by in front of me. Vader was right, it was soothing. I don't understand why normies and Naraiz ever thought it was confusing or headache inducing. Jaesa and Vette were both behind me and deliberately not looking at the clear window into Hyperspace. "On the other side of the Galaxy… well… at least the trip between Imperial Space and Terra will be short."
"Terra?" Vette asked as she worked the back terminals trying to go through the caches of data we picked up from the Holo-Net. It had been a quick jump through Hyperspace, guided by me charting a path through empty space very old-school style, to the Mytus System. There we were able to connect to the wider galaxy via the Holo-Net and then to the publicly known Hyperspace lanes. It would be a little over a week before reaching Anoat. Meaning to keep my promise this would be our one trip before heading back.
"Yup, gotta give that world a name and Planetos is getting old. Terra is a name from my reality, basically a more badass version of Earth." I said with a shrug but then instantly felt a chill run down my spine as I realized I shouldn't have said that. I could feel two pairs of eyes locked on my back, hungry for answers. "No."
"Come on! How the fuck are we supposed to-" Jaesa started to rant but then stopped, my guess was that it was Vette's doing.
"Don't bother, I've been trying for a year to get him to open up about his old life and he won't budge. I've tried every trick in the book to get him to talk and nothing. The only stuff he does tell me is anything about his old reality that doesn't involve his life." That was the past, I had no intention of ever bringing more than the fun stuff from earth to this reality. The old me died and this was the new me. If I had it my way then Jaesa would have never learned anything about the old me, even with all the growth I've gone through as a person I still wish that was the one thing that hadn't come out of it.
"Every trick? Did you try getting it out of him while sucking him off, that works more than you would think." Jaesa suggested and I smirked, yeah… she tried that. And I won that little fight.
"Did that, just made him more smug about how long he can go." Again, I felt two pairs of eyes locked onto me from behind, this time only one I could feel was miffed while the other pair was Jaesa… the longer I tease her the better it will be. Working her up is so fun. "But I'm pretty sure with us working together…" Damn sure that all Jaesa heard from that was a double tit-job but whatever… yheeeee. "… we can get through to him."
"Right, come on master! Let's get to bed and me and Vette will start working harder." Jaesa shouted as she bounced out of her seat and threw her arms around my chair and started pulling at my robes. But as fun as this was and could be so ever more, I didn't want them thinking it would ever happen. So I didn't react to Jaesa's groping and instead lightly pushed her back with the Force. I stood up from my seat as the blinders on the frontal window closed.
"If at all possible I'd like for you two to drop this subject forever. I don't talk about your pasts, Jaesa I know you despise your past and Vette… think clearly on exactly why you are the last person to go digging into other people's pasts now." I said and Vette opened her mouth to protest this but then her crimson skin turned several shades lighter and her mood turned far more somber. Yeah, now she got it. Her sister and all of her friends were all gone. Thousands of years had passed since they died. "Good, we understand each other now. You two will be the only ones to ever know the truth and that's only because it was impossible for Jaesa to not figure out that something had changed." I said leaving the discussion on my past closed, I'm sure their natural curiosity will get the better of them but hopefully now they will not actively seek my past out.
"Fine… but can we still fuck?" Jaesa said clearly not really caring about my past as much as Vette did.
"You know… I haven't gone to Force Sleep in years." I really wanted to work Jaesa up, just to the point of her tracking me down and tying me to a bed.
Rathari was overseeing the opening of the third large scale industrial clothing factory. Unlike when he needed to look like Darth Nagash when the smelting factory was brought to the public, this wasn't a celebration that needed the lord's attention. The industry of Harrenhal was beginning to draw mass attention from the kingdoms. Plans and designs had been sent to the Starks because of the relationship the Sith had with them, but others had been lacking in their responses from the Sith. Textiles and high quality metal goods would be produced by Harrenhal while wood and lumber goods would be produced by Winterfell, the Wolfswood was a massive forest and if taken care of it could last long enough to create such a massive boom to the North's capital.
He knew that many others would want to copy the Sith's industrial success. He had already been getting reports from the Seekers about major cities investing into creating brand new districts to place large scale manufacturing infrastructure. Which was exactly what his lord wanted. He wanted Westeros to develop a wide reaching industrial revolution. Rathari saw it as a brilliant move as it would take power away from the two largest rivals to the Sith. The nobility and the Established Church. The merchant class were the ones that were already seeing the potential of this and were mostly funding this with some investment from the nobility, that was how things were progressing outside of Harrenhal. So long as the Sith set the precedent, they would be the trend settings, they would be the one that would be in control.
But as he was talking pleasantries with the new manager of the factory, he felt the Holo-communicator in his vest vibrate. Making a quick excuse and finding himself a secluded spot away from the crowds and masses. He pulled the device out and the bleu glow of the image lit up the dark corner he found for himself.
"-My lord.-" The Tactical Droid that currently oversaw Valyria spoke in its deep menacing voice. Rathari knew that the Empire liked a certain theme and the Droid certainly carried it. "-I have identified a signature in the system, it does not match my database of known signals Empire, Republic or otherwise.-"
"Have they attempted to hail us?" Rathari supposed that this could be Darth Nagash in a new vessel.
"-No my lord.-" That caught the Sith's attention. It was one vessel, not a fleet. Were they explorers? Pirates? So many possibilities came through that worried him. He had received the data-package from his lord before Darth Nagash left the system so he understood that this system wasn't a normal one. It was a system that had been crafted by the mysterious Ones, or at least that's what Darth Nagash had put in the notes of the data-package. So the idea that this system could be found by accident was doubtful.
"Hail them and put them through to me." Rathari watched as the Droid nodded and he waited for any type of response. This needed to be brought under control. If it was just some random person getting lucky then he would invite them down and kill them. If it was something more… well then that would require more effort on his part. He watched as the Holo-communicator sprung back to life and he saw a woman sitting in a cockpit. Instantly he threw Jedi robes and a general Light Side aura gave it away. "Jedi, come to invade this holy world of the Force. Scouting for your fleets so they may have an easier time of bombing this world to dust?" He asked hoping to get some sort of reaction from the woman. The goal was to get her down here, there he could contain the threat. Goading her seemed to be the best option… and he really hated Jedi.
"-I would do no such thing to a stranger. The Force led me to this world and I would see it come to no harm. However, I question what a Sith is doing protecting a world such as this.-" She countered and he guessed that he did look quite Sith like. Black robes and yellow eyes. Though he had found Balance he still bore the marks of his time in the Dark Side just as his lord did, though not as extensive as his lord.
"Purely by the unseen hand of the Force was I brought here. And I am no evil Dark Side fallen fool bent on all the power I can amass if that is all you think I am." Rathari said with a snort at the mere idea that he could be even close to what the stereotype of a Sith was. He had been that and was no longer, to imply he was anything like that was an insult. "If not to cleanse then what have you come here for?"
"-Recently shifts in the Force have caused many in the Jedi order to act rashly. I believe that this world houses the source of these shifts. Investigating them is my only goal here.-" Rathari hated dealing with people like this, he preferred in person as then at least he could read them to a degree. Even if that was a Jedi and they were trying to keep such intrusions out of their mind. From what she spoke about Rathari could guess exactly what she was speaking about, the first shift in the Force would be when Darth Nagash spoke the new creed of the Balance… the second Rathari hadn't actually felt but suspected that his lord caused that too.
"If you truthfully have come here alone as you have said…"
"-I have.-"
"… then I will send you the means to enter the world safely and the location for a meeting." Rathari said already picking out a place nearby that he could use to throw the Jedi off. The Isle of Faces was a beacon of the Light Side and not some place that a Jedi would expect a Sith to come willingly let alone suggest in the first place. She stared at him and dragged out her answer, Rathari could tell she was experienced in negotiating.
"-Very well. I accept those terms Sith.-" She was not doing this because she was pleased to do so. Her back was against a wall and she was desperate. That was good, he could use that to further push her into complying. Getting her to ground and trapping her was key, either she would be killed on this world or be brought into their fold. Rathari knew that she had to understand this, walking right into this obvious trap.
The Sith sent the data-package concerning safely traveling onto the world's surface. Which amounted to finding a spot in the world that was currently experiencing a Summer period. There the plates that covered the skies were far more open than those in a Winter period. The plates that blocked the various suns opened and closed in such a way that created these years long sessions. Discovering the exact pattern by which they did this would be key in understanding what their purpose was. But that was for later, for now they acted as a good defense measure.
Rathari then vanished from Harrenhal, people would wonder where the Sith went off to as none saw him for the rest of the day. But he had as fast as he could traveled to the Isle of Faces. Arriving a half hour before he watched an unfamiliar ship sour through the sky and come to a stop, hovering above the Weirwood trees before slowly landing in the small clearing that Rathari was waiting in. It would seem that the Republic was leaning ever more to the Mon Cal design focus if by judging by the look of his vessel. Or it just might be her personal preference.
The ship's cockpit hissed open once it had landed down in the forest of Weirwoods. Rathari held back the smirk at the shocked and flustered look on the Jedi woman's face as she was hit with the power of the Weirwood trees. The strange foci of the Light Side still baffled Rathari and his lord, they still could not understand them but they would help push the idea across to the Jedi that he was not some unhinged Dark Side user. He watched as she needed a moment to collect herself before dropping to the grass… she wore no shoes… Rathari disliked the uncivilized ones.
"Strange place to set for us to meet Sith? But at the same time a perfect place for an assassin to hide among the trees." She was right, Shâsot was waiting nearby. The fact a Tsân was invisible to a Force User's extended senses made them the perfect means to sneak up on one. "These trees… what are they?"
"The locals claim that they hold a connection to nature gods simply called the Old Gods. Their faces are carved by the mythical Children of the Forest. Beyond that, we know little else other than they seem to radiate the Light Side of the Force." Rathari explained as the Jedi slowly walked away from her ship and towards him. Stopping at a perfect distance to call it respectable while at the same time distant enough to be a good point of counter attack. "You have no reason to fear me Jedi, I have no lightsaber, this place is bathed in the Light Side, and I have no intention of killing you. Your guard mustn't keep you from hearing the truth."
"Then why do I feel like a snake is slithering around me?" She asked and Rathari gave no visible reaction to this comment. True, he had no lightsaber but his Force Blade was nearby and Shâsot was ready to intervene at any moment. The Light Side was strong here but unlike any Sith she might be familiar with this was no hindrance to him. And lastly while he didn't want to kill her, he would if she proved to be uncooperative.
"Regardless of how you feel, you have come to this world and claim it to be on a mission given to you from the Force. A claim that I have doubts about." It was odd, normally the Force wasn't so… blunt. Mystery and double meaning were common in Force Visions but direct coordinates of a Force laden world was rare. Rathari then began circling the Jedi woman. She wasn't a warrior or at least not an obvious one. She didn't wear armor but robes, which didn't make her any less of a threat but it spoke to a mindset. Hadn't drawn any weapon yet so he knew that she was intent on discussion. All good signs but she would need more than a good start to get out of this alive. He had no means to know of how powerful she was but with his advantages of being Balanced in the Force and his Tsân, Rathari believed that he could win any battle between them.
"Doubt it if you like but that's what brought me. I ask you the same question? How does a Sith like yourself escape the Jedi and the Republic's watchful eye and find this world. Or is this where you've always been hiding?" She asked and frowned as Rathari chuckled at that statement.
"You're more right than wrong but not quite exact." He smiled at her fumbling in the dark. "I am the Sith Lord Rathari. I serve Darth Nagash, formerly the Empire's Wrath of the Old Sith Empire. I have lived on this world since the Fall of the Old Sith Empire after escaping with many others. Our ship's hyperdrive malfunctioned and deposited us here on this world… violently." Rathari explained and it had not been lost on him or Darth Nagash that the odds of that happening to both of them to the same world were far too high. The idea that something was manipulating events was high on their list of explanations. But at the moment they would let this unseen puppet master have their way until they slipped up and revealed themselves.
"The Old Sith Empire died out thousands of years ago, do you really expect me to believe a human like you could have lived that long." It was hard to believe, Rathari admitted. A powerful human Force User could naturally live for a few centuries if they were powerful enough. A Sith skilled in Alchemy could extend that further at mild to extreme costs. Then there were those like the previous Darth Nox and the old Sith Emperor who committed deep taboos in order to live far beyond their means.
"I don't. But at the same time I don't need to prove anything to you." Rathari said as he stopped his circling and stopped in front of the Jedi woman. "Truths are something Jedi have always been very selective on. You don't want to hear something that doesn't conform to what you already believe."
"I… you have me there." Rathari raised an eyebrow at her, grumbling her agreement to his verbal barb. "Even if it is impossible, if what you say is true, the Jedi are very different from what they once were back during the Old Republic era. The ones leading it, their vision is far from what I would call a perfect galaxy." The woman said and Rathari heard an escaped emotion in her voice, fear. Something that a Sith would normally love to hear in a Jedi. Fear was the root of countless falls into the Dark Side. But here Rathari wasn't looking to corrupt this woman, but to turn her away from the Jedi and Republic. "I fear they are turning into little better than droids at this point. They have taken the Jedi Code and twisted it into something cold and unfeeling."
"Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force. That is the Jedi Code is it not?" Rathari asked and it was the woman's turn to chuckle at his ignorance.
"Your information is certainly several millennia out of date. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. That is what we are currently taught, in fact the older version is seen in a poor light as it is thought to be more susceptible to the Dark Side." She explained and Rathari could see what his lord had at times ranted about. Long ago back in the old days, he and a Jedi hero by the name of Rulud would fight constantly not just on the battlefield but also over ideals. While Naraiz would push for Balance for both Orders, Rulud would say that the Light was an Absolute and everyone must find it to find peace. It looked like Rulud's influence was very strong on the current day Jedi. "Truthfully I find less and less solace in either in these recent days."
"Will is the steel that controls our Minds. Strength is the resolve that embraces our Bodies. Passion is the fire that fuels our Soul." Rathari began the first section of the Balance's Creed. The Force hummed with a slight buzz as the words were spoken. In a place as bathed in the power of the Force like the Isle of Faces it was of little wonder why a reaction would come. "Clarity is the true path to Victory. Upon this path of Dark and Light we find the dawn of the Force." As he finished, the wind rustled the trees and leaves. There was a palpable feeling of change in the air, and the ground ever so slightly shifted as the Force grew appeased. "That is the Code that my lord wrote into the very fabric of the Force. It is the Code I now live by."
"Then it appears that I have found what the Force had wanted me to find." She said seemingly unfazed by what had just happened before her. Rathari did not care if she was or not. In the end, she didn't matter. She could be useful if she allowed it but they did not need her.
"Are you now going to report back to your fellow Jedi? Tell them about this world and what you have found?" Rathari asked and he could tell she understood the outcomes of each answer.
"No. Because they wouldn't listen. The second I say the word Sith they'll send all the firepower they could muster to destroy all but the slimmest trace and then use that last bit of evidence as propaganda." She sighed as Rathari felt a wave of irritation come off her, she wasn't even trying to hide it so it was quite potent to his senses. "I would like to meet this Darth Nagash. Hear the sermons from the prophet himself."
"I wouldn't say that to his face. He dislikes religiosity in all forms, especially when it puts him in a prophet or god standing." Rathari warned before he reached out and pulled his Force Blade out from the forest. The woman smirked as he sheathed his weapon. "But you will have to wait, he is out in the galaxy on a mission. He will return in the next several cycles of this world. You can wait with me at our keep. Understand that the human population is in a Feudal state. Your appearance is human enough to not draw too much attention. But try to stay out of the public eye." Rathari turned back and began walking back to the small boat that he had arrived on the island. He heard her huff a bit as she began after him.
"You never even asked my name, It's Fay by the way."
"I didn't ask because I never cared. You are merely a small stepping stone in my life long struggles. I don't need to know the name of every difficulty." He retorted and could feel the Jedi Fay fume behind him at his dismissiveness toward her. As he just said, he didn't not care.
"Home sweet home. There it is… Anoat." I looked out of the forward window. We had just dropped out of hyperspace and Vette woke me up from Force Sleep. Fucking damn did I need that, I feel a hundred times better when I didn't even know I felt like shit. I need to remember to do that more often. And it didn't even feel like a long sleep, just closed my eyes and then opened them as Vette tried to stab my eye out. It was stupid the only way I knew how to wake up early was to sense immediate danger to my body.
"Doesn't look like it changed all that much." Vette said as we all watched the white smoky ash storms that raged across the planet do what they did. The surface of the planet was mostly made up of mountains and semi-active volcanoes. The largest of said volcanos would most just pump out plumes of ash and little else, it was only the smaller ones that actually erupted at any point in time. The entire planet was covered in ash and while it was possible to live in it, a gasmask was highly recommended for living longer than a few more years. This was where I had made my secret home. My public ones on Dromund Kaas and even Nar Shaddaa were still mine and I took great care of them but they were mostly for show and a place to stay when in the area.
"Was kinda expecting the Republic to find it." Jaesa mused and while I was very confident in the measures taken by Naraiz to keep this place secure… given how the Republic was now and the time that passed by it was a little shocking that it looked to be intact. But that was the world, I still needed to see my home. A place that Naraiz had created both as his secret base and a monument for when he did eventually die. A place that if he failed to live up to Revan's wishes would house everything a believer in the Balance would need to jump start a new order. All the knowledge, a massive Force Enhanced droid army, and a totally self sufficient temple complex.
"Doesn't matter if they found it or… hold up." I said as we approached the world and then saw something come around the edges of the world's horizon. I directed Vette to fly us closer and once what I had seen came into view we all figured out why this place wasn't in Republic custody. An entire fleet of ships were all floating in space, a graveyard of destroyed vessels. They looked to be more akin to the Republic ships of the era we knew so this wasn't a recent battle. Likely part of the Empire cleanup efforts. As we all stared at the mess of ruined ships our communication equipment started going off.
"-Warning, you have entered a Code H quarantine zone. For your own safety please vacate the system and return to the security of Republic Space.-" This started on a loop but we quickly shut it off as I didn't want to listen to the smug republic voice telling me what to do. So the Republic did try to capture this place, but I doubt they knew the extent of the Sith presence here. If they knew that the Empire's Wrath had a base here, let alone his primary home, they wouldn't stop at anything to destroy it. Never mind just putting up a quarantine and leaving it forever.
Ignoring all this we push forward. Sure enough we get several threatening hails from Imperial systems. I put in my own codes, both Imperial and personal skeleton key to the defenses… only to hear a droid scream at me telling me it won't be tricked by Republic dogs. That… wasn't supposed to happen. Vette panicked and started pulling the ship away before the inevitable barrage of laser fire started railing hell on us. Only for that to never come. If they're going to say they're going to do something then do it damn instead of giving me five heart attacks all at once.
So with that done and giving me an even bigger headache than I should be getting coming home, we descended down carefully. The ship rattled as it did as we left Terra, the ash storms not being any better than the Dyson Sphere that covered the previous planet. But our Fury held together soon enough we dipped under the ash storms and were flying through the relatively clear skies of Anoat… stressing the word relatively. But Vette was used to flying in this type of weather, having done it many times even if that with the Fury being in much better shape. The sight of a large sharp spire tower sticking out of the side of one of the main volcanoes made me breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ah… we're finally back home. Can't wait to take a dip in a real bath for a change." Jaesa sighed and I could tell she was looking forward to that. It was prioritized over me fucking her in our bed. Though… given how long it's been I doubt the bed was still there.
"We're only staying long enough for the Droids to fully repair the ship. A few days at most if they have all the materials and are still working. If not… we'll have to stop by Bespin and steal a working ship." I really didn't want it to have to come to that. The Fury had memories and a lot of sentimental value to me and the rest of the crew. But given the shouting droid on the comms I would think that things were at least somewhat functional… though the lack of flack in the air countered that.
We flew through the air and soon landed on a outcropped landing platform at the base of the spire. The Imperial architecture surrounding me quickly built a false sense of nostalgia and safety. The high slopes and sharp angles of the surrounding building was all common in the style of the Empire, something that was being incorporated into Harrenhal. But this was at its finest. The entire spire looked to be a thinner and taller version of the capitol building on Dromund Kaas. It acted mostly as a force field projector to keep most of the ash away from the structure. Most if not all of the actual complex was at its base or underground. As I stood at the exit to the ship, a loud creek echoed in the hall and just like that the landing gear gave out and the unloading ramp slammed down with a great clang. The Fury had done its duty and delivered its master home one last time. Honorable Machine Spirit, I thank you.
"Uggg… fucking piece of junk!" Jaesa shouted, having been thrown into a wall and then had Vette slammed into her when the landing gear gave out. I however clung to the floor, effortlessly locking my steps to the surface with the Force. Oh that nap did wonders for my reflexes.
"Come you two, the Droids will carry the Fury inside and see if they can repair it. If not then we have other ships here to use in the meantime." I started walking down the slanted unloading ramp while the women grumbled a bit. As I walked out I could see that very little had changed on the outside of my home. But one thing that did change was the greeting party.
"Oh my word, thank heavens that you have arrived Master Rhyhall." Why is the Empire equivalent of C3-P0 coming out to greet me instead of my masterwork of Sith Alchemy BI-6? My glorious overseeing Super Tactical Droid and Robo waifu that is also basically the liquid metal terminator! That was one of Naraiz's coolest creations and I was sooo looking forward to seeing it! Instead I get this shit. I feel tempted to toss this fucker of the ledge because I'm so pissed. "Mistress BI-6 has made quite the mess since you last returned to us. I dare say she has quite a number of circuits loose."
"She doesn't… not now… not now." I groaned as I began trying to steady my breath. BI-6 was the last and final product in Naraiz's attempt to create a Droid made out of Force Created Living metal. She was perfect, able to change into any form she needed, hyper intelligent… for a Droid. And she was in no way an attempt by Naraiz to prove that he could create a better Droid than SCORPIO. Nope. Not at all. "HY-89, tell me exactly what is happening." And so it did, the stupid protocol droid began explaining that several years after the Battle of Naboo and my disappearance the droids of Anoat began awaiting protocols.
They were supposed to simply maintain the Libraries and temple sections of the base while locking away more personal sections of my home. Essentially to begin waiting for one day someone to find the base and start down my path for them. To become a powerful Force User and begin Revan's work once again in the galaxy. It started out as it should have, but then the Republic found the world and BI-6… got angry. In grief over the loss of her creator she lashed out against the Republic fleet and destroyed it with the anti-orbital defenses that she had with her. Then she began to cannibalize other systems and stuff to make bigger and bigger guns to shoot at each and every ship that came into range. Didn't matter if they were Republic or not, she thought they were and was so pissed at them apparently killing me that she just blindly destroyed them.
Good girl, I approve. Until she started taking chunks of the temple to further this goal. Any and all building resources she could use were taken to the defense batteries to be converted into more guns. All expect my stuff, which she enshrined and made sure that no one but her ever had access to. Thankfully that included the library and my personal collection of ships and speeders. I then asked why we didn't get shot down and HY-89 told me that several of the droids here responded to my skeleton key and recognized that it was me after so long. Or at least it was someone with my key. But they knew they had to keep up appearances so or BI-6 would see to itself that we were shot down. So they blasted the threats and fired the guns that weren't aimed in our direction. It fooled BI-6… until the Fury broke down and created all that noise.
"So why isn't the crazy droid bitch here?" Jaesa asked as she and Vette quickly arrived near the start of HY-89's story.
"She has locked herself in the central chambers of the base, she intends to detonate the reactors and destroy the entire base." The droid explained and I glanced up at the alarms around the landing pad. There was no sign that the self-destruct protocol was starting up. "I do not believe that Mistress BI-6 remembers that she ordered us to dismantle that system five hundred and thirty nine years ago."
"Yup… she's really gone off the deep end." I sighed as I ran my hand down my face. This is just great. I come home and find my Roomba trying to destroy it instead of keeping it clean.
Deep under the forest of Weirwoods on the Isle of Faces. The ground and dirt shifts as the Force reverberates with power. The invocation of the Balance echoes in the earth, soil that was locked in place by deep reaching roots of the holy trees. These roots grew far and deep into the ground, twisting and knotting within the earth. But eventually ending in a great cavern deep under the God's Eye lake.
Down from the ceiling these roots flowed down to a singular point. A raised plateau in the middle of a empty underground lake. In the top of it was a sole person, what appeared to be a woman. Her body hanging by her arms locked in the tying roots of the Weirwood trees. The rest of her body snaked with more roots, preventing the slightest bit of movement. She was beautiful, pure and angelic. A tattered white dress covered her body, not that anyone had seen her in countless ages. Her entire being had a faint white glow, it flickered and dimmed constantly.
She did nothing as the tips of the roots dug into her skin. Draining her of her power and Light. Ages had been passed since she moved and even more since she struggled against the bounds that kept her here. But then she did move. She felt a vibration in the Force, it was small and faint but it was there. At a snail's crawl she lifted her head against the aged roots that twisted around her neck. A glazed over eye slowly opened, and then as her body caught up with her mind some fire and light returned to the black and gold eyes. Something was happening above her, things were changing.
"That old hag… did she finally bring someone here to free us?" Her voice, even if it hadn't been used in millennia, still maintained a melody and purity that any lovely maiden would kill for.