Prologue

Dromund Kaas – Citadel of the Council

3643 B.B.Y.

The dark halls of the Citadel echoed with the click of Kaliya Tosk's heels as she strode purposefully toward the meeting chamber. Around her, apprentices and masters, Marauders and Assassins, all turned and shifted to get a better look at the figure walking to her doom. The dimly lit halls offered the voyeurs cover to hide their gaze but Kaliya could feel it through the Force; the lust as men, and some women, gazed at her flawless features, and the jealousy of others whom every conceivable manipulation of the Force would not grant them what she naturally possessed. Kaliya didn't care. She was used to it. She had known she was beautiful since she was 10 years old and coerced one of her class mates to give her testing answers.

They had hardly known each other at the time, both new arrivals to the academy on Korriban, both taken from war-torn worlds that the Republic had abandoned to the conflicts' ravages, both chosen out of thousands to be worthy of Sith training. Still, it had taken only a bat of her eye-lashes and a turn of the head to get him to give up the answers that he had worked so hard to get, and that she hadn't spent a day worrying about. She never forgot the look on his face – the adoration and longing in his eyes – and had seen it many times since.

Now, at 24 galatic-standard seasons and standing 5'10", Kaliya had developed into an unparalleled beauty. Her thick dark hair, enriched with a slight shade of red – from her mother – cascaded in waves past her shoulders. Her red lips, a contrast to the pale skin of the rest of her face, and her deep blue eyes had been assets to her over the years. Beguiling to men and enraging to women, Kaliya's looks often disarmed her opponents into thinking she was soft – most didn't live to know differently. Her long limbs belied the strength underneath and her impressive height – a disadvantage to most women in saber fights – was actually a help to her and her dual-bladed lightsaber.

So the looks she received now were nothing new. Yet as she walked she realized that for the first time, the looks were not simply of lust or jealousy but of curiosity. She smiled to herself wryly, unsurprised. This day was different than all others than proceeded it. Only a week ago she had been an apprentice to a haggard old Sith Warrior on the backside of his prime. Now, she was masterless and summoned before the Sith Council – either to meet her doom, or her future. The last week had indeed been interesting.

Kaliya had been apprentice to Darth Onamu for nearly 3 years. She had learned little in that time, but had spent countless hours fending off the old man's sexual advances. She had refused him at every turn. At first she had been afraid of the letch, afraid if she didn't give in he would kill her. Soon she realized that she had the power to sway him with a look; to disarm him with a swing of her hips, or the slightest brush of her breasts against his arm. After that, she lost her fear, which, for a Sith, was the last thing a master wanted his apprentice to lose. Soon, she was doing her own research and missions and learning at the same exceptional pace that had vaulted her out the academy ahead of her peers. With prodigious skill she surpassed Darth Onamu's ability but kept her progress hidden for fear that he would find some way to kill her.

The end had come more swiftly than she had thought it would. She had come back from a mission with…different results that had been desired by the Council and Darth Onamu had borne the brunt of their wrath. Enraged at her supposed failure, Onamu had demanded her obedience, which, in his mind, meant sexual submissiveness. Her refusal sparked his attack. He drew his saber and went for the kill. It had taken Kaliya all of a second to draw her saber and decapitate the man. Thus had begun her ignominious rise to the attention of the Council. Now, a week later, they had summoned her to meet with them.

As she approached the massive doors that led to the chamber a tingle of fear gripped her and she stopped short. Two Marauders, dressed in black with masks, open the door with the Force and watched her, motionless. With purpose, she squashed the fear and strode into the room, the door closing behind her. All was dark save for nine ornate candles in a semicircle in front of her: four on her right, four on her left, one – for the ever absent Emperor – in front of her and raised above the rest.

"Stand in the circle, apprentice Tosk." This from one of the Lords behind the candles.

She moved forward to stand in the circle, right in the middle of the floor.

"Do you know why you have been summoned?" This one from a different Lord. Concern fidgeted in her. How should she answer? This must be about Darth Onamu, but she wasn't sure what they wanted. It could be that they wanted further explanation of her mission. Or perhaps they had another purpose. There were several possibilities. What was the truth here?

"No." She said, and meant it.

"No?" Came a female voice. "Do you mock us apprentice? Surely you understand the gravity of the situation before you?"

"If you refer to my former master's demise, then I defer to your opinion my Lords."

"Defer to our opinion she does!" A new voice; enraged. "You know nothing of our opinion girl! Our opinion may be to sever your head from your body or rip your soul from its flesh!"

"Tread carefully, apprentice Tosk." The female voice again.

Kaliya took a deep breath, "I am a servant of the Council's. Do with me as you wish. To clarify, I am confused as to my presence." It was the truth of the moment; the safest thing she had to offer right now.

"Tell us of your master's death." This one was quieter and to the far right of her. A deep gravelly voice.

"As you know, Lords, I recently returned from a mission in the Qorlath system and – ."

"A failed mission!" This from the angry one.

"Let her speak," said a different female voice, "continue, apprentice."

"Though I did not retrieve the Republic data core, as commanded, my mission was not a failure."

Three weeks ago Kaliya had been assigned to bring back a Republic data core on a derelict ship in the Qorlath system – a remote system in the void between Hutt space and the Tion cluster. The data core had allegedly contained encryption codes for the Republic fleet. She was ordered to bring them back. Kaliya had been suspicious of the mission from the very start. Why would the Republic leave such valuable information out in the middle of nowhere for just anyone to pick up? But her master insisted that it was of highest priority. So she complied. It had been a trap, of course, set up by space bandits. Onamu had not been pleased and had accused her of negligence, hypothesizing that the bandits had beaten her to the prize and outwitted her. Such was his report to the Council. But the respite he sought by shifting the blame on her was not to be found. The Council had seen her "failure" as a result of poor teaching and chastised him. He, in turn, had sought to chastise her and had, instead, met his end.

"How did your master die?" The gravelly voice again.

"I bested him in combat," Kaliya replied.

"Lies! Onamu was no fool and certainly not to be bested by you!" Again, the angry one.

"Perhaps it was treachery?" This time a new voice. Silky and vibrant it was like music in Kaliya's ears. "Or sorcery? Did you weaken him somehow, girl?"

"No."

"Perhaps it was something else that distracted him!" She felt a spike of joy. Apparently, the angry one took a certain delight in his attacks. "Perhaps the lure of your bed, which has been warmed by so many others!"

Kaliya felt the Council's collective glee in the Force and was surprised at how much that comment stung her. That the Council believed her to be a whore was the last thing she wanted. Kaliya was cognizant of her beauty and used it as a weapon against lesser foes but Onamu had never been to her bed. No one had. And reasons that greatly vexed her, Kaliya wanted the Council to know that.

She was about to reply when the Force went silent. A heavy coldness filled the room and pressed down upon her. The lights dimmed and her vision blurred. For a fleeting moment Kaliya thought the Council was doing this but realized that their Force-presence was quiet, demurred almost. Confused Kaliya fought back. She would not be taken without a fight. Her vision cleared but the heaviness continued.

"We know you Kaliya Tosk."

The voice had come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"We know the desires of your heart. We know your weaknesses. We know your strengths. And we feel your power."

The voice slinked around her through the darkness like a mist. What was this? Some sort of test? Was it an attack? Should she move to defend herself? Kaliya bit back a reply and sought patience. If there was one thing that Onamu had taught her it was patience. Patience, he had said, was a virtue that all Sith should master. Patience gave way to victory. Patience allowed passion to build and anger and resentment to feed. Patience was the greatest ally of the Dark Side. She smiled wryly to herself at the irony. He was right, despite the fact that his patience with her sexual promises had only brought about his death.

"You are proud of your accomplishments? We know this. We know your ambition. But have you the strength to take what is yours?"

A shiver rippled through her. What was this? Suddenly, creatures appeared from the ceiling. Long limbed and spider-like in appearance they moved with purpose towards her, mandibles twitching. Bile rose in her stomach as fear threatened to immobilize her. Though she had never seen these creatures before, their very existence made her want to run. As they advanced their eyes bored through her, lulling her to a quick and painless death. An end to the struggles of life. An end to the politics and social maneuvering implicit in the way of the Sith.

She shook herself from the trace and drew her weapon. If the Council wanted her dead so be it, but she would die a warrior and a Sith. Four of the creatures approached her and swiped across her mid-section with claws that tipped each leg, cleaving her in half. But she was already gone. Twisting in the air Kaliya let her anger at the betrayal fuel her power. Reaching out in mid-twist she found an outcropping of stone on the ceiling through the Force and ripped it from its place, hurling it at the spiders. They dance away, spitting some vile smelling liquid in her direction. She landed and vaulted instantly into a back flip as the fluid passed right by where she was.

It hit the ground and hissed violently, burning into the floor. Acid. So, these creatures had five vibroblade sharp claws for feet and could spit acid. She filed the information away in her brain for later use. Pirouetting on her feet she was confronted by three more of the spiders crawling along the walls. She ran for them, building speed with every step. Turning towards her as one they spit acid at her. At the last second she dropped to her knees and slid under the airborne projectile raising her half-lit saber and slicing at the spiders' legs. She got three of them. Unbalanced with the loss of limbs, two of the spiders fell to the ground while the other remained moored to the wall. It was this one she went for. Using the Force she grounded herself to the wall on which the spider hung and began to walk.

It was a technique she had learned from some old scrolls she encountered in the academy library on Korriban. They told of a battle where the fighters of one group scaled a sheer cliff to escape capture. It was unknown how they had done it but Kaliya had been intrigued and had set out to figure out the technique. Her class mates had ridiculed her for trying to learn such a useless tactic. It was a coward's technique. Sith didn't run. As she neared the spider she felt a twinge of vindication about her intuitions concerning this particular trick. But the spider didn't seem phased by her ability. It reared up on two of its remaining legs to slice at her with the other two.

She brought her saber up and sliced through the two limbs, activating the other side just as it lined up with the spiders torso. Acidic innards burst everywhere as the spider's volatile viscera exploded. Kaliya threw up a Force shield and launched herself sideways towards her first four attackers. She was enjoying herself now. A battle, even if it was her last, was always a good thing. The four whole spiders had arranged themselves in a battle pattern waiting for her to land. As she reached the apex of her jump she reached out with her left hand towards the spiders. Blue lighting arched towards them as she focused her fury through her hand. She caught two of the spiders with the lightning, charring them to a crisp.

She realized, too late, however, that she had miscalculated. The spiders had known that she would strike out with the Force and had sacrificed two of themselves to draw off her attention. The other two had spit acid at her which was now almost upon her. Too late to change her trajectory in the air, Kaliya reached out desperately in the Force for an answer. She would not be beaten by anything, much less a creature. Anger coursed through her and in the split second she had left Kaliya defiantly bellowed out a Force-imbued scream that echoed through the Council hall. The acid vanished before her eyes as did the spiders below.

Kaliya landed on the floor of the Council hall confused.

"Well done apprentice."

"She has skill."

"And adapts well."

"And more importantly, she is powerful."

"Wait. What's going on?" Confused, Kaliya had lost sense of where she was and who she was talking to. "What was that? Some sort of test?"

"Be silent, young one."

The disembodied voice had coalesced into a more tangible sound that came from in front of her. From the darkness a figure walked forward. Kaliya froze. Ice filled her veins and her breath caught in her throat. She kneeled as the figure approached, "Dread Lord," she said, "I am your servant."

The Emperor stood before her, eyes boring into the back of her bowed head. Few people ever spoke to the Sith Emperor and fewer still ever saw him. He was said to be immensely powerful and could kill with a thought. She had thought the tails mythical; designed to entice fear, but being in his presence now, Kaliya wondered.

"You have done well, Kaliya Tosk."

"Thank you, Dread Lord," Kaliya replied.

"Do you now know why you are here?"

"This was a test."

"Indeed. Very few people have bested their masters with such ease, as you did. This required a response. Some here would see you dead for your actions. Others wanted to see more of your abilities."

"And I passed?"

"Yes."

Kaliya sat silent. Now what? She wasn't sure what she should do next. Thank him? Rise? What did they expect from her? The snap-hiss of a lightsaber brought Kaliya's head up. Two Marauders stood by the Emperor's side sabers drawn. "Am I to die for my actions, Dread Lord?" But the Emperor wasn't listening. His head was drawn back, his pale face taut, his eyes glazed, searching for something. When he spoke his voice sounded distant. Deeper. As if the whole universe were being focused through his vocal cords.

"The future is fluid. Events move. Death rages. Pestilence destroys. The Force is not sated. We are Sith. We endure. This one shall be great. Her name will echo throughout the galaxy. Rise, Darth Malefice."

Kaliya stood, the gravity of the situation finally dawning on her. The Council had not brought her here to interrogate or punish her. They had tested her. He had tested her. The Emperor himself. And she was found worthy. Kaliya could hardly believe it. No, not Kaliya. Not anymore. Darth Malefice, the youngest Sith master in a century.