Baras has left me no way out of this. I look ahead towards her, possibly for the last time and sigh. I have dreaded this day for weeks. All of my planning, my calculations and hard work should be correct. If not, death will surely come, if not from Baras for my failure, from Verra for my betrayal.
I feel another headache coming on. Ever since Baras contacted me, my mind has been at war with itself. Part of me fears Baras hurting my wife. He knows how to get what he wants and will do anything to get it. But the other half knows betraying her is wrong and knows she will destroy him. But I fear Baras hurting her more.
Then the moment has arrived. We walk through the durasteel doors and she stops to survey the room. I continue ahead of her and stop when I reach the center. I take a breath to calm myself before I turn around to address her.
"My Lord, I regret that our path must diverge. Out of respect, I wanted to be here to witness your fate." I say, not making eye contact. It pains me that it has come to this.
"Malavai, what are you talking about?" I hear her ask cautiously. "This better not be what I think this is."
"Your senses have always been keen." I pause and turn to face her. "It pains me, but this entire scenario is a ruse. There isn't any martial law, no special signal emitter."
Her face shows no sign of pain or confusion, only her strong will and stubbornness. But her eyes, her eyes show hurt. She knows what's about to happen. It's sinking in now.
"Baras is my true master. He had me lure you here to have you killed."
"And I thought you loved me." She says, her voice strong and proud.
Her statement throws me off for a second.
"I didn't want to choose between the two of you. But he's forced my hand and I must side with him." I turn away from her, not able to look into her eyes anymore.
"Once you're gone, your crew will either join Baras with me, or be killed." I look back at her, avoiding her eyes.
"You know I serve the Emperor directly, Captain. Baras is a liar and a coward. If you choose to stand with him, then so be it. You are a fool to follow him." Venom laces her words. Her brows are furrowed as the anger sets in.
"I'll show you how smart I am." I retort back. "After months of observing you in battle, I have calculated and noted all of your strengths and weaknesses." On cue, the blast doors open across the bay and my droids appear. "These wars droids have been programmed specifically to combat you. I have calculated a near zero chance of their failure."
I take a chance and look at her eyes. All the hurt and confusion is gone now. Instead, anger is all I can see. I spike of fear goes through my mind. What if the droids do fail? I've miscalculated her chances before. What if it happens again?
"If this is how it is then fine. This is just another test Baras has placed before me." She ignites her lightsabers, ready to attack.
"And if I'm right, you're last." I reply, grabbing my blaster. "I'm sorry it's come to this, my Lord."
With a feral roar, she charges over me to attack the first droid. I start firing on her as she hacks the first droid to pieces. In my heart, I know this is wrong. I'm firing upon my wife, the one woman who can stop Baras. But my mind tells me I owe Baras everything. He is the true Voice of the Emperor. With the conflict within myself, my shots miss her, but not by much. The first droid is now a smoking heap of spare parts. She glare at the second one and leaps over to it, impaling it with one lightsaber. She pulls it out and starts savagely attacking it, denting then eventually destroying the hull. With one final groan of metal being forcefully bent, the droid breaks and falls to the floor. Verraqui turns to look at me, her green eyes gone, replaced by a shade of yellow. I try to fire on her and back away. She marches towards me, blocking the shots from my blaster. I'm not sure who would administer the worst punishment, Baras or the woman coming towards me, a fire ablaze in her eyes.
She is close enough now, I lash out with my knife, cutting across the exposed part of her arm. In reaction, she strikes my left side with one of her lightsabers. I cry out in pain, immediately clutching where her saber made contact. She stops herself before swinging again, the fire suddenly gone from her eyes, replaced with a look of worry and concern.
"I should have known." I say, defeated. "I thought I'd programmed the perfect killing machine for you. I was painstakingly precise."
"Your droids did push my limits. It was a valiant, foolish, but valiant attempt." She replies. Her lightsabers have been stowed away. I fear she is going to use the Force to kill me.
"That's little consolation. I have betrayed you, conspired with your most hated enemy." I wonder why she is holding off on killing me. She has clearly won.
"I know it is meaningless to express my deep regret. I don't expect your mercy." I say in an attempt to apologize.
"You forget my roots. I was raised to show mercy, give others a second chance. I understand you weren't the one behind this. The coward Baras is to blame. He can be very, persuasive." She pauses to take a breath. "I forgive you, Quinn."
My mind is in shock. I never would have expected her to say that, even with her upbringing with the smuggler.
"My lord, I am deeply grateful. Darth Baras would never have offered me the same forgiveness." I look at her and now I truly can see that she will destroy Baras. I never should have doubted her abilities. For the first time in weeks, I feel a glimmer of hope.
"I you will permit me to stay in your charge, my dedication to you will never come into question again."
"Trust is difficult to rebuild, Quinn, especially from ones close to the heart. But I'm willing to try." She says. I can still see some hurt in her eyes. I could possibly have ruined our marriage. My heart aches at the thought.
"I understand if things will be different for a while. This interruption has delayed you enough. I'm eager to return to the ship and put this behind us."
Without a word, she turns and walks back to the ship. I follow silently behind her, tending to my side as I walk. I'm reminded of her injury when I hear a muffled groan from her.
"My lord, please. Allow me to tend to that." I tenderly grab her arm with one hand and reaching into my field med kit with the other.
"It's fine. Just a small scratch." She pulls her arm out of my grasp, not making eye contact with me.
I sigh, knowing it will be a long time before she completely trusts me again.
Upon reaching the door to the ship, she stops and turns to face me.
"The ship is in there. Prepare for departure, I'll return shortly." Her voice is even, not showing any emotion behind it.
"Of course, my lord. One thing though. Do you plan on telling the others what happened?" I'm curious what she plans on doing.
"What happened here is between you and I. If the others know, it could potentially undermine your authority."
"I appreciate it, my lord. I will see you back at the ship." I nod and walk through the doors.