Author's Note: As a reminder, this is written by an American and a New Zealander. Color vs. Colour. With that said, please forgive any inconsistencies of this nature and enjoy the chapter!
Nathrrya looked back at the ship she and Vader had departed from as they made their way towards the old Jedi Temple. She shivered, and not because she was cold. It had dawned more thoroughly on her that she was walking on Coruscant and now entering the Jedi Temple… which was now housing the Imperial Palace. As she walked through the halls she could still feel the echoes of the fallen Jedi Order. It made her sick to her stomach to think about and to feel the remnants of the pain and anger that resided in the walls. She glanced to her side at the behemoth walking beside her, the only other sound in the halls coming from his mechanical breathing. It was eerie as it mingled with the echoes of their boots on the stone floor.
The Force allowed her to get flashes of past memories if it were strong enough in any one location. Considering what had happened within these very walls there were bits and pieces of a strapping young man – bold and adventurous and a little prideful. Nathrrya was clever enough to connect the dots. She was looking at bits and pieces of Vader's former life before he was put into the support suit. She was looking at what remained of a fallen Jedi Knight going by the blue blade he'd once used. Even with these little snippets the Force had shown her there was still a deeper mystery under that suit and Nathrrya intended to solve it, one way or another.
They turned a corner and Vader's cloak swished in the air, cutting through it in such a way that made Nathrrya frown. She put more attention on his suit as they walked, her mind churning and thinking. The suit he wore was very similar to others in her own time. The only difference was that they were built better, with much better equipment. The cyborgs she knew took great pride in their suits and kept them as impeccable as possible – it's what kept them alive. The suit Vader had was not made by him, or for him. It was of poor quality and the little pain she sensed from the man under the black armour was enough for her to figure that the Emperor had it made, and to keep Vader weak. Vitiate wasn't even that bad of an emperor, unless you counted his plan to consume the galaxy... Her emperor welcomed the challenge. Palpatine doesn't.
She and Tara could, and would, change that. Vader had a good head on his shoulders and he proved that to her and Tara. Nathrrya was always willing to give someone a chance, and Vader seemed to have some small amount of regret on his past actions and he hid it well. Just seeing him move through the Temple with her showed as much but that would be all she'd get from the man without him being careful about it. The emperor would have to be dealt with at some point down the road. It may be years down the line but Nathrrya was patient and would wait for the right moment. Tara on the other hand…
Nathrrya had to get through the meeting with Palpatine, Galactic Emperor. She let out a quiet snort of dissertation – Self-absorbed much? she thought.
Tara glared at Nathrrya's back as she watched the redhead follow Darth Vader off their shuttle to meet with the Emperor. Had it not been for the nagging presence of Starkiller Tara would have actually been okay with staying as far away from Coruscant as she possibly could. The one and only time she had ever came to this planet was to follow up on an attack that led her to Tython, the home world of the Jedi Order.
She looked over at Starkiller, who was just as grumpy being on babysitting detail, and then back out the viewing port to the planet. She opened her senses to the Force and looked at the surface. It was red, and the Dark Side was quite prominent on it than it had been when she was last there. She frowned. "That's so not right…"
Outwardly, Starkiller may have been projecting his disdain but the truth of the matter was that he was left with a Force-strong beautiful woman. It wasn't all bad in his books. Both Sith women were intriguing to him in different ways and for different reasons. The redhead, Darth Avarice, stood up to Lord Vader and didn't back down on anything. She refused to be bullied by him and made it known and that alone was impressive to Starkiller. He'd never seen anyone have as much guts to do such a thing and when Avarice was only a head shorter it was that much more impressive.
During the trip to the Imperial Centre both women had flatly refused to call it that and proceeded to call it Coruscant, despite the number of times he and Vader called it the former. It was damn near infuriating to him and Starkiller could only imagine how his master was taking it. The trip had become a battle of wills between all four of them and eventually the two more senior Sith finally hit some kind of understanding between them. For Starkiller and Tara, not so much.
When it came to Tara, though, she was a mystery wrapped in an enigma to the younger man. Avarice's apprentice was bold and beautiful and that mystery was not something Starkiller was in a hurry to figure out. He had to be honest that he wasn't attracted to the brunette any more than he was actually interested in learning her ways in the Force, and why she does what she does – whatever that may be. Starkiller was aware of Juno's growing affections towards him, and his pilot was attractive and strong as well in her own way. To say he wasn't interested in the blond would be a lie. And because of that he wasn't going to risk this with her.
But having a Force sensitive woman, good looking, and near his own age in his vicinity? This was a plus. He'd be happy to learn anything he could about Tara and Avarice.
"What do you mean?" he asked her, curious. He looked over at her and saw that she was sitting on the chair in the shuttle with her knees up to her chest. She was staring out at the planet with an obviously mal-contented frown on her features. He made the quick notation on how… no. He wasn't going there.
Tara was trying to ignore him but it wasn't working. All she could do was stare at the redness that the planet was emanating. She finally gave in. She had no reason to be mean or rude to Starkiller and the least she could do was try to be sociable. That didn't mean she had to like it.
"Your so-called Imperial Centre never used to be like this," she said. "I've only ever been here once and I was the commander of ten troops assigned to level the Temple and right after we were sent to Tython to do the same with their home world." She pointed out the window. "The Dark Side has permeated this planet almost to its core. It's sickening to see."
Starkiller cocked his head a little as he processed the information. "Interesting. I've… never known it to be any different." Wait a moment. "Tython? As in the ancient Jedi planet where they trained and—"
"The very one."
He had trouble believing this. That was well over three thousand years ago in the records and there was barely anything left on it. The brunette was more and more confusing and interesting. He turned his attention to the window and furrowed his brow.
"Do you think it would change if the Emperor… died suddenly?" He said it idly, not wanting to come across as anything other than thoughtful about the theory. He wanted to see her reaction. And because it was hypothetical at best he didn't even know if the girl would say anything in response. Like he thought, Tara didn't say anything but only turned her head to look at him for a very long, drawn-out moment before she turned her chair completely in the opposite direction, effectively turning her back to him.
She turned back around after a moment. She had to steel herself for what she was about to day because the stupidity of his question was too much for her. Tara didn't know whether she wanted to hit the guy or laugh at him.
"Vader's not training you very well if you asked such a thing," she said, her voice a little bitter and almost malicious. "The permeation of the Dark Side is far too deep to just 'go away' when the source is dead. It's been around a long time and from what little I know, and since that was a Jedi temple, it's near impossible for them to have not sensed it. It'll take decades for the taint to lift itself, if it will at all."
She raised an eyebrow then. "You've never met the emperor, have you?"
Starkiller cocked his head and smiled thinly. "Never. I'm technically a secret, so the shriveled prune doesn't know – or shouldn't know – that I even exist. If I ever met him, then I wouldn't be a secret, now would I?"
"How the hell does that make sense?" Tara asked, rolling her eyes. "He shouldn't know about you?"
"Don't misunderstand me because I'm pretty sure he knows about me but isn't saying anything. It's much the same with Lord Vader knowing about the emperor's Force-sensitive assassins. He calls them the Hands…"
Tara sobered quickly at the mention of the Hand. She shuddered visibly at the recollection of her and Nathrrya's encounter with a few of them back in her own time. Chances are the current Hand couldn't be as bad as they were then. She made a mental note to speak to Nathrrya about this when they connected up again.
"… and I've only ever managed to identify a red head… okay, maybe more orange… named Mara Jade." Starkiller swiveled in the chair a bit in thought. "She's probably about your age."
Tara scoffed. "I doubt it, Sparklestar. I'm a little older than you think."
Starkiller's feathers were ruffled and Tara could see it. He grit his teeth and cracked his neck joints. "Anyway – Vader knows there are others since he keeps track of them. He's fairly certain that there are less than ten."
"There's twelve," Tara said. "And that's assuming your emperor kept it the same as the ages passed. If not, then it's likely there are far less."
"Whatever. As far as I'm concerned as long as Vader and Palpatine don't openly acknowledge the secrets of the other then we have business as usual." Starkiller gave Tara an apprising glance that made her frown. "The arrival of you and your master is going to change some things. I have no idea how, but I do know that the emperor will want control of the two of you."
"Fat chance of that!"
"Well, yeah. People he can't control scare him. Seeing what your master did to stand up to mine is proof enough of that. It's going to be interesting."
