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WARNING: minor spoilers
Part 2
...Zendius's victory on Balmorra has earned him a new apprentice, Aozo'ra, whom he calls Zora for short. Zora now faces the hardest struggle of her life. She must prove herself worthy of his trust… or die. Her new master is a strict, powerful man. His lessons are harsh, and he has much to teach her before he will fully accept her as his apprentice. First, however, he needed to break her. Only then would she fully succumb to the dark side of the force.
So he takes her to Tatooine for training. There was a training ground for young jedi padawans there, who were learning basic desert survival skills. Children, perhaps just a few years younger than Zora, who were heavily guarded by well-trained jedi. Zendius brought her to just a few klicks away from the training grounds and then pointed in the direction of the camp. She could just barely see tents off in the distance.
"Go. Kill them. Leave no survivors." Zendius ordered harshly, handing her the new lightsaber he'd made for her. It was a simple single-bladed light saber, with a red crystal rather than her favored blue. She still wore her padawan uniform, as she had refused to part with it, but Zendius knew she would gladly wear whatever he chose for her after this day was done. Just seeing the padawan uniform would likely haunt her from this day forward.
Zora knew what was out there. She, herself, had trained at this camp only a few years ago. A thought drifted through her mind. She could possibly escape this way… call for help… but one look at her new master and she knew it was hopeless. He would know the instant she tried to run away. Even if she managed to escape somehow, he would track her down and, most likely, kill her. Her only chance at surviving was to do as he said…
Several hours later, as the planet's two suns were beginning to set, Zendius looked up from his perch on a boulder to see a female silhouette approaching him slowly. His grin was cruel and amused as he watched his apprentice walk ever closer to him. Soon she was close enough for him to see her clearly. Blood was splattered all over her body, some of it on her face. Her eyes were darker than usual and empty, and her face held no emotion. She walked slowly, as if in a trance, her bloodied saber hanging limply in her hand. She finally stopped just in front of him.
"My, my… what took so long, my apprentice?" Zendius chuckled, very pleased with himself. This was perfect. She was vulnerable, weak… easy to break… All it would take now is a few words. Chuckling, he stood and began pacing around his young apprentice, looking her over. "Look at you, all covered blood. The blood of innocent children. You killed them all, didn't you, my apprentice? Every. Last. One." He paused, looking to gauge her expression. She looked horrified with herself. She was shaking, and she stared down at her bloody hands in horror. He grinned behind his mask as he continued circling her like prey. "How can you ever hope to go back to that life now? The jedi order would never accept you back. No, they would kill you, instead, because of what you are."
"What I… am?" her voice was soft and shaky as she kept staring at her hands. Zendius stopped just behind her and removed his mask as he bent to whisper in her ear.
"A murderer." At that word Zora passed out. Zendius just chuckled darkly to himself as he caught her. Perfect. She was broken.
Four years of training passed by quickly for Zora. Once she finally gave in to the dark side and learned to obey her master, her training went much easier. Soon enough she had her master's trust, and with his trust came freedom. She was able to do things she would have never been allowed to do as a jedi, and she was loving it.
Zendius led his apprentice through the Imperial Fleet. The commoners and soldiers all parted for them to pass. In just four years Zendius had gone from a Lord to a Darth. He was the talk of the Empire, the emperor's new favorite, and now a member of the Dark Council. He was one person you did not want to screw with, and his apprentice was right up there with him.
"Master, why must we be here? There are too many people; it's annoying." Zora huffed as she followed her master through the parting crowds.
"Patience, apprentice. You should know by now that there's a reason for everything I do." Zendius chuckled, leading her to the fleet's bar. Just as they were sitting down in a private booth, Zendius got a call on his holo. His grin told Zora that he was expecting this call. She watched with interest as he answered. "Ah, what a pleasure. It is not every day I receive a call from the Emperor, himself." He spoke in his most pleasant tone.
"I am in no mood for your false flattery, boy." The emperor scolded. "There is a matter I need you to deal with immediately. Had you done your job correctly on Balmorra we would not have this problem." The emperor huffed.
"What seems to be the problem, my liege?" Zendius inquired.
"That jedi you killed on Balmorra all those years ago. He was a member of the Greys, a group of force users who consist of both jedi and sith. The Greys want nothing more than to destroy my empire. They were only a minor threat at the time of you Balmorran invasion, but after you killed their leader they grew to be a serious threat. Had you handled this properly a soldier would not have escaped to report that a sith had killed their leader. You are responsible for this group. Destroy them!" the emperor disconnected at that point.
Zendius only chuckled and put his holo away. He turned to his apprentice, then frowned upon seeing her in a trance-like state. He snapped his fingers in front of her face, watching as she blinked back to the present.
"I saw… my old master… alive." Zora mumbled out. "But how?"
"Your jedi master is dead, of that I'm sure." Zendius told her. "Now, come along. We have an organization to take down."
The pair set a course for Nar Shaddaa, the last known location of the Greys. As they exited the spaceport, Zora looked up at her master. "Why are we doing this, master? I thought you took orders from nobody. Why do we obey the emperor's every demand?"
"It is all part of my plan." Zendius chuckled. "I obey now but, when the time is right, I will strike. Then I shall be the emperor, the most powerful being in the universe." Zora merely nodded; she'd heard it all before but her master had yet to make a move for the throne at any point in the last four years. She wondered just how long his plan would take. "There." Her master's voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see what looked like a sith take a taxi, but not just any taxi… a republic taxi. "Quickly." Zendius ordered, and they hurried after him. After tracking him to a private room in the Starcluster Casino they quickly discovered a small group of jedi and sith conversing in relative peace.
"M-master!" Zora gasped, her eyes widening as she saw her former teacher in the center of the room. "My vision, it was right!"
"Hush." Zendius shushed her, observing the room. Yes, that was the jedi he had killed before acquiring his new apprentice… He never forgot a face. Glancing around, Zendius counted six other men, jedi and sith, all armed with lightsabers but wearing light armor. They were not expecting an attack. How foolish of them. "Stay put, apprentice. Do not move." His tone left no room to argue, so Zora just nodded and watched as her master calmly strode into the room as if he owned it.
Zora's old master was the first to react, drawing his lightsaber. The sound of the saber activating alerted the others in the room to danger, and they quickly drew theirs as well. Zendius just stood there calmly, chuckling. The leader, Zora's previous master, stared him down for a second before speaking.
"It's you… the man who took my hand from me, gave me this scar, and killed my padawan." He spoke angrily. Zendius only chuckled.
"It's not often people survive an encounter with me. Tell me, how did you do it?" he grinned, though his metal mask hid it.
"Under all that rubble, I thought I was going to die. I was certain of it. But the ghost of my master, Orgus Din, showed me the way out." The jedi frowned. "Really, I should thank you. Without you I wouldn't have this." He held up his hand that had been cut off. Now there was a robotic hand in its place. "This hand has greatly improved my light saber skills, and because of it I have become strong enough to defeat you." Zendius just laughed.
"Oh, really? Then prove it." He laughed, shooting lightning at the jedi. Everyone in the room attacked but Zendius killed the weaker ones with ease, leaving only Zora's former master to face down. The two clashed, and were evenly matched for a long time, but the jedi had more brute strength, whereas Zendius was more of a distance fighter. When it came down to close contact fighting, the jedi had the upper hand. After a long fight Zendius found himself unable to defend properly anymore. He was weakened, and things were not looking good for him.
"Know this, sith scum." The jedi declared as he prepared to make the killing blow. "You were slain by the Jedi Knight Rykanda!" He swung his blade down, only to be blocked by another crimson blade. Rykanda's eyes widened in shock as he stared into the ocean blue eyes that belonged to his former padawan… who was still alive and… siding with his enemy?! He is shocked by this, which left him vulnerable enough for Zora to kick him away from her new master.
Rykanda recovered quickly and summoned backup into the room. Soon enough fifteen jedi were filling the room, surrounding the two sith. The odds were bad for the apprentice and her weakened master, but a stroke of lucky befell them then. Crashing through the ceiling, a heavily armored woman came flying in, spraying bullets and shooting flames in all directions. The jedi quickly retreated and Rykanda escaped, but the two sith were alive… and that's all that mattered at that moment.
Zora quickly tended to her master's wounds once the danger was over. After a few seconds she looked up at the woman who had saved them, a bounty hunter in camo armor. The bounty hunter watched them for just a second before sighing. "How do I always get involved in sith affairs? Darn, Mako, stop getting me into these messes." She grumbled to herself before sighing and turning to Zora and Zendius, who was just managing to sit up.
"Hunter, do not take my words lightly… but I thank you." Zendius sighed, removing his mask. "Without you, we would all be dead."
"Che. Whatever. My target is that Jedi, anyways." She shrugged, then extended her hand. "The name's Luccii. I'll do anything, for the right price. My info." She flipped out a little disc and handed it to him after shaking his hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I've got some hunting to do. Give me a call if you need something only a bounty hunter can handle." That said, she took off in her jet pack.
It was long after Zendius and Zora got back to their ship when the Emperor called them from the ship's holoterminal. His anger was obvious and his orders were clear. They were to meet him at once at his Flagship. Zora flew the ship while Zendius jumped into a kolto tank to heal from his fight. Soon enough they were docked and boarding the emperor's private ship.
"Apprentice." Zendius stopped Zora just before they entered the emperor's personal chambers. He removed his mask and looked her dead in the eye. "The time is now." He said seriously. "No matter the outcome, do not move from where I tell you to stand." He was dead serious, and Zora knew what was about to happen. Her master was going to overthrow the emperor today.
A few seconds later they entered the throne room. Zendius had Zora stop only a few paces from the door, and then he approached the emperor. Zora watched as they talked for a while about matters she wasn't really privy to yet. She watched the emperor pace back and forth. And then… then he let his guard down. He turned away from Zendius… and Zendius took his chance to strike. The next thing anyone knew, the emperor had been impaled with a lightsaber… Zendius's light saber…
"Why… Zendiuis…" the emperor choked out his last words. "You were so… loyal…"
"Wrong." Zendius laughed evilly. "I was never loyal. I was merely biding my time until I could kill you." He withdrew his blade and laughed maniacally as the emperor fell to a heap on the ground, his blood pooling around him. He turned to the guards that were just staring at the scene in shock. "Hear this, worms! You have a new emperor! Let the galaxy know, Emperor Zendius has taken the throne!"
Pt. 3 coming soon.
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SWTOR server Ebon Hawk
Zendius's characters: Zendius, Rykanda
Zora's characters: Aozo-ra, Luccii
