Chapter 2
A Most Gracious Greeting
-Edge of Wild Space, The Wild Space Raiders Asteroid Station
A Devaronian pirate with his partner, a Gran are standing guard on a landing platform. "Rumor is Hondo hit another spice deal." Commented the Devaronian.
His Gran guard partner standing to his left, (In gran) "Yeah, blasted Hando's boys took it, killed every one, not a single one left alive. I'm joining them, want to come with?" he stands confused, watching his partner wondering off to the opposite side of the landing platform, the gran hurried alongside him.
"What is that?" asked the Devaronian pointing out in space at a glint.
A vail falls revealing an ancient Sith fleet; 2 capital ships side by side with 5 destroyers in protective positions.
-The Unchained Eclipse
"Reports coming in; primary systems are operational, still running diagnostic on secondary systems, all ships are accounted for. My Lady we did it." Excitedly stated the Twilek Lieutenant.
"Rejoicing is unwise my dear Lieutenant. The fates have not spoken, our future is uncertain." cautions Darth Nox
A Chiss Ensign exclaiming quickly "My Lady! I have what looks to be an asteroid station on scopes! Orders?!"
Darth Nox softly asks; "Identification?"
"No ma'am no emblems of any kind, I am reading life signs though." Reports the Chiss Ensign
Quinn chiming in "Probably pirates My Lady"
"Weapons operational?" asks Darth Nox
"Ready and aimed my lady just give the order!" exclaimed a rather enthusiastic Rattatki.
"Then give them our most gracious of greetings." Responded Darth Nox in a rather pleasant yet deathly cold and threating manner.
- The Wild Space Raiders asteroid station
"I think we're dead." The gran voices in a low solemn tone.
The Devaronian looking to his longtime partner in agreement, "t'was a good run."
The Gran looking back at his friend "It was, wasn't it?"
A hail of canon fire screaming toward the station, within seconds the station explodes.
The Unchained Eclipse
Disappointed the Rattatki whispered "4% miss and less power than I expected."
Darth Nox hearing the complaint, stared amusingly at the Rattatki for a moment. With a slight grin; "Your disappointment indicates a desire for perfection, a foolish unattainable goal. There will be other opportunities for you to improve your skill. Seek improvement not perfection, for perfection implies you have reached a limit. Your desire should be infinite. Inaction brings death."
Darth Nox turns abruptly leaving the bridge to make her way to the conference room.
The Rattatki in puzzlement watching Nox as she vanishes from the bridge, "She has a deathly cold focus, doesn't she?"
Quinn responding in a direct tone, "I suggest that you focus upon the message rather than delivery. Hone your skills. Reach to improve. The hardest thing to do as an Imperial is interpreting the Sith."
-Unchained Eclipse Conference Room
Gathered in the conference room are Wrath, Quinn, Xalek along with Cyrus sitting around a conference table discussing plans. Enters Darth Nox, slowly and gracefully she takes her place at the head of the table.
Darth Nox nods to Quinn to begin. He stands to address the group, his posture rigid in a relaxed stance of attention; his arms behind him with his hands clasped, his legs separated slightly, in a monotoned voice he begins; "My Lady and distinguished fellows; zero two hundred hours ago we awoke from stasis. After all ships reported in and primary systems were cleared, the cloaking field shut down. Upon cloaking field shut down, we spotted an unmarked asteroid station. By order of Darth Nox we fired upon and destroyed the station to maintain our secrecy, with the bonus of testing weapons." Quinn activates a halo projector showing the asteroid station wreckage, then continues; "The droids I dispatched to the wreckage have reported back to me. As expected, there was little to salvage. We obtained an updated chart, regretfully of Hut Space and Outer Rim territories only. Additionally, droids retrieved a data pad containing information on another pirate group known as the Ohnaka Gang. It appears they have been actively raiding everyone except the Huts. We've learned their base is located upon the planet, Florrum. This concludes the information we have obtained."
Quin looks toward Darth Nox, nodding his head as a sign of respect, to which she responds, "You may be seated."
"It's clear we need to obtain additional mapping information. My Lady, may I dispatch my agents to the charted planets in hope to obtain additional mapping?" ask Cyrus
"You may. Once additional mapping is received, deploy your agents to infiltrate and obtain information on the current affairs of the Republic and the state of the galaxy. Also, direct agents to discover who are the Ohnaka Gang. They may be of use."
Darth Nox glances toward Wrath noticing his apparent distraction; "My Dear, are you awake?" He fails to respond. Cyrus gives him an elbow to his right arm, jarring him into the present. Wrath shaken back, focuses himself upon the meeting, his eyes meet Darth Nox, the blank expression previously set upon his face replaced with one of true focus. Nox turns the corners of her mouth up in a bit of smirk. She continues "On the way here I reached out with the force searching for the Sith of this era. I have yet to sense them, but I did find a disturbance. The dark and light surround Tatooine. I wouldn't have sensed it if I wasn't seeking abnormalities, the force is hiding something there." Darth Nox gives everyone a moment to take it in; Quinn appeared unfazed or rather simply accepting that the force is beyond his understanding, Cyrus as usual remained calm waiting for the full report before saying anything, while Wrath seemed confused and taken aback.
"Why don't you come with me to Tatooine? While I search for what is this hidden, you can reflect on these past events, perhaps revisit the Oasis." Suggest Darth Nox
"You're asking?" The Wrath Inquired, curious as to why she is not ordering him. Darth Nox grind at the question, that same grin she wore when they first met, and she proposed they team up on Korriban. She would wear that grin many times after, whenever a scheme was forming in her mind, her enemies should fear that grin and surrender upon its sight.
"My dear, I know it must be hard for you to grasp this new reality of yours, you have no master to give you direction, no one to wield you. I remember that time on Korriban when you and I discussed our goals." She snickered "I was so childish then, I wanted power, but you wanted to be a weapon. You are free, you don't need to be anyone else's weapon but your own. This is your decision." Nox waited for a response.
Freedom, what does one do when they are free, what should he do? Pondered Wrath. He had honed himself into a fine weapon, to serve a master and bring their goals to fruition. He never had other desires not of power or glory, perhaps the Oasis could help him, the last time he was on Tatooine he ignored it. "Alright I will go with you.", answered Wrath.
"May I accompany you?" asks Cyrus. I'd like to check on a supply cache, if it's still intact, perhaps my others will be as well."
Nox quickly and with a hint of nostalgia replies; "Why not? It will be like old times, just the three of us."
"It will be good to travel with you again; we never had the chance to catch up while dealing with the reborn Revan, then the Emperor on Zoist. Don't get lost in the dessert again." Joked the Wrath.
"That was a one-time incident. I don't intend to hide in a crate to an unknown location this time." explained Cyrus.
Darth Nox taking back the meeting; "Lastly, Xalek I want you to accompany Cyrus's agent to Coruscant. While I may not have sensed the Sith, I feel something pivotal is going to happen there that the Sith have a hand in. In my vision I saw a Muun. Seek out the Muun Sith and bring him to me."
With everyone having their tasks the meeting adjourns for each to prepare. Though they separate their focus is as one, each a limb working in unison of a single being.
-Unchained Eclipse Main Hangar
The Wrath standing along the edge of the hangar looking out into space, his thoughts as deep and vast as space itself, his arms crossed, his legs set apart like a soldier standing at ease.
"Still lost in thought I see, be careful not to fall in to the void." said Darth Nox approaching from behind to stand upon his left. "The Oasis will help you, though your reflection may not be the same, I can scarcely imagine what it might be now, a lot has changed.
The Wrath turning to face her, "What do you mean?"
"The reflection if you recall is the opposite of your force alignment, last time you where there you reflected your master's dark side."
"I am still of the dark side."
She shacks her head, "My dear, you were never truly of the dark side, as a weapon you merely echoed the dark side of your wielder. Since you have been freed, I've sensed your connection with the dark side rapidly decline and now I hardly since anything at all. It's rather remarkable."
The Wrath seemed shocked at first, but once he looked within himself, he saw it as well, a void such as the space in front of him. "Last time the Oasis tried to bring me to the light."
"If you're worried that I would not accept you as an ally if you returned here with the light, then you must not know me, so long as it does not control you, than light there be." She sighed, "I think it time we give up this farce of ours, being Sith, it doesn't suit us."
"What are we if not Sith, or Jedi?"
"I don't know", she laughs in a carefree manner, "I'm sure we can come up with something else. Although, I will need a new name again. Since I joined the Sith, I've been renamed by the overseers, Zash and the dark council."
"Nul'Nath." The Wrath responds rather abruptly and matter of fact.
"That was my name before the Sith, when I was a salve."
"That's not what I remember, you told me it's the name your father gave you. I always liked that name, it fit you better than your others."
"Oh, you remember. Do you remember what it means?"
"When you were born in the slave pins you felt the fear of your Mother and Father. The force reacted and killed many of the guards. Your Father named you for that event. Nul meaning daughter and Nath being the Zabrack's mythological Reaper. Daughter of death, Nul'Nath. Perfectly you."
"And should I start calling you.." Wrath interrupts with a thoughtful tone
"No that's not me, but neither is the Wrath, perhaps we will discover a name on Tatooine."
"Oh no you don't! You chose my name, it's only fair that I choose yours. But don't worry, when you get back from the Oasis I'll have options for you."
Authors Note:
I apologize for the delay in this post. My previous computer decided to take a vacation over the holidays at a repair shop and never come back home. Took me a bit to get a new computer. Without my notes, I had to start from scratch, among a heap of other things.
I hope you are enjoying the story so far. We will be slowing down a bit with chapters being more detailed and focused upon one group at a time. With that said, I would like to let you know of the first big change you'll be seeing without giving too much of a spoiler; I'm bumping Anakin up to 13 years of age, 10 never worked for me, additionally, I will be changing his child attitude. I would enjoy hearing your opinions, as well as ideas for the story. When I begin to show characters from the movies let me know if you feel I am portraying them accurately, further explain what I may change.
This story is fluid, while I have a destination the journey is yet to be written. Feel free to make suggestions, I may ask for opinions on certain upcoming events. For example; we are not quite there yet but, I have a bit of a quandary; Qui Gon Jinn, should he live? I have several possible outcomes based upon his life or death. If you have a preference let me know. Let's consider this a interactive journey we will take together.
