Vakarian stood impatiently with his hands behind his back as he slowly waited for everyone present to assume their seats around the large, rectangular table that dominated the centre of the great room. There were many familiar faces, around him. Most of his companions were present naturally.
Talos stood nervously next to Darth Nox his hands fidgeting with themselves while he held a conversation with Ashara sitting to Vakarian's left.
Her mental conflict now over the Jedi could now maintain her focus much better. Ashara's face however displayed great unease at being in a room surrounded by so many sith. For their part the sith within the room continued to cast evil looks at her, whenever she met their eyes, she trailed off in her conversation with Talos and stared right back at them, not menacing but showing she was not at all afraid of them.
Khem Val stood behind his master, arms crossed over his chest forcing anyone to glance curiously at the dashade to quickly look away. More than once Khem had eyed a present sith with a very hungry look in his eye.
Xalek sat in his chair on the dark council member's right, clearly annoyed as his master at the amount of time it was now taking for everyone present to seat themselves. He did not fidget or appear restless at all though, just extremely impatient.
Andronikos had insisted to remain on the ship to guard it and also actually improve it rather than 2V-R8's 0.00008% power increases. He had convinced the sith to upgrade the shield generator and to install a power conversion module, so he spent his time ensuring it was installed correctly.
Some of the people slowly making there way to the seats Vakarian recognized. There were Moff's Pyron, Dolus and Graham all currently being holo-transmitted from their respective capital ships currently on deployment or on reserve. Their holos sat in the seats, leaning over and speaking softly to each other about current battle situations around the galaxy.
Vakarian's sith Overseer Darth Seek newly appointed to her position after the demise of Darth Varless, a devout follower of the former Darth Thanaton, as per Lord Nox's orders though all followers of Thanaton were purged from his power base and command structure. Darth Seek became promoted when Darth Nox discovered that she had spat and spoke out against Thanaton and his long-forgotten ancient ways, there was only one option Vakarian could see when he meet her, so she was promoted and instantly excelled under Vakarian's leadership, crushing all who opposed the empire and Vakarian himself. Her hatred of the Jedi fuelled her deep passions and had proved very successful in many imperial battles all over the galaxy; every glance at Ashara only stoked the ever burning fire, which was the Jedi, in her eyes.
The man sitting beside Lord Seek would be most accurately described as a very old brother of Talos. Operations Chief Colade, the head of all artefact reclamations under Darth Nox. Lord Nox being the sith lord of ancient knowledge caused most of the reclamation units to obey him. Colade was a small thin man like Talos and possessed the same insatiable hunger for artefacts and ancient knowledge. Unlike Talos however Colade's hair was grey due to his increasing age, it did not stop Colade from retiring anytime soon however. The operations Chief cared little for the work and plans of his sith masters; he was in position long before Thanaton and would probably outlast Darth Nox if he remained neutral.
The various other key sith and military personnel from within Vakarian's powerbase continued whispering and talking all around the room, completely oblivious to their dark lords growing impatience. Darth Seek, Xalek and Ashara could sense their lords growing impatience as it sent small trembles through the force and wisely halted their talking.
Khem Val growled his displeasure at the slow pace of time, clearly evident in his tone as he spoke.
"Silence now! Darth Nox impatiently awaits you." All talk ceased immediately followed by the sounds of many chairs scraping along the floor as those remaining standing seated themselves.
Vakarian remained standing behind his chair. He inhaled and began to speak very clearly.
"I have summoned you all here to announce something of stupendous importance." Vakarian paused ensuring he had everyone's undivided attention before continuing. Seeing that he did, he continued. "Firstly, Chief Colade," Vakarian turned to face the operations chief as did everyone else seated along the table. Colade looked at Darth Nox warily, unsure whether his lord was about to scold him or kill him. With a sith lord you could never know for certain. "Are you currently aware that one of your excavation teams on Korriban is missing?" Colade's eyes darted to the side of the room momentarily, not out of fear or nervousness but simply from habit.
"Yes I am my lord. Captain Sidias and his team were supposed to be exploring Freedon Nadd's tomb and were meant to check in at the sith academy days ago but so far we have heard nothing and we have been thus far unable to locate them." Colade spoke as quickly as his eyes remained unblinking. Throughout the operations chief explanation Vakarian simply nodded along with his words, already knowing most of what he said.
"I'm afraid to say Captain Sidias has been killed along with his entire team and escort while exploring an adjacent chamber to the tomb." Vakarian said his tone completely indifferent. Chief Colade's eye's blinked and his face slackened with sadness as Vakarian retold the tale of the newly promoted Captain Jerthia and the acquisition of a strange rock.
When Darth Nox finally finished retelling the story, Chief Colade simply slowly shook his head.
"I had known Sidias for 15 years my lord, he was a very devout servant of the sith." Colade's voice began to break with emotion a bit as he spoke. Darth Seek, sitting beside Operations Chief Colade, sneered and rolled her eyes at his over display of weakness and emotion.
"My lord I am sorry to interrupt you," Moff Pyron interjected "but the discovery of an ancient artefact no matter how old or valuable and the death of a single reclamations team does not require the attention of your entire fleet" the other Moff's and many soldiers and sith around the table held similar thoughts as to their involvement in this piece of news.
"Patience Moff Pyron, the tale is not yet completed." Vakarian replied silkily allowing amusement to subtly layer his voice. The amusement practically said 'I know something you don't.' Moff Pyron's holo sunk back into his chair clearly unsatisfied with Darth Nox's response, and that he withheld information from him on purpose. "Lieutenant Drellick if you would please enlighten everyone here." Vakarian motioned the former reclamations officer forward as he took his seat at the head of the table.
"My lords and ladies," Talos began remembering how he was trained to present accurate and through reports. "I was tasked by the dark council member Darth Nox to analyse and examine the stone discovered by Captain Sidias and his team on Korriban within an adjacent chamber to the dark lord Freedon Naad's tomb." Talos spoke clearly with excitement contained in every syllable he pronounced. Most sith seated, Darth Seek among them and more than a few soldiers listened very impatiently as Talos seemed to outline everything down to the position of a tiny rock at the back of the room. Chief Colade listened respectfully as Talos complied a very thorough report to which Colade listened intently. "I have been able to determine through various tests that the writings held on the rock date back to the arrival of the very first dark Jedi on Korriban."
Colade's eyes widened further at this information as did Ashara's. Darth Seek's expression did not change but she did lean in a little closer along with many other seated sith as they became more intrigued with this revelation. The Moff's and a large number of soldiers not always kept abreast of archaeological matters merely looked on with confusion.
"The writings according to my translations are from the first few dark Jedi that arrived on Korriban. The stone tells the story of the leader of these fallen Jedi one, Thevanld. It explains his training, his discovery of the dark side, the teaching of it to others, his expulsion from the Jedi order along with his followers. Now I will read a direct passage from the stone shortly after Thevanld and his acolytes were exiled from the Jedi order." Talos paused before speaking then continuing the recount of the dark Jedi's expulsion.
"Thevanld and his loyal followers having discovered their newfound power over their fellow force users were stripped of their positions and exiled from the Jedi order and republic space.
Thevanld and his fellow exiles left the Jedi on Coruscant and secretly travelled to the planet Tython which was revealed to the Thevanld in a vision granted by his newfound power's of the force. Seeking to further enhance their powers they travelled directly to the long-forgotten Jedi home world and attempted to corrupt the serene fountain of power that was there. However Thevanld and his exiles were unable to complete their corruption as the power of the light was too strong. Out of spite Thevanld ordered his followers to construct a hyperspace beacon and vowed that one day he and his exiles would return."
Talos finished and looked around the room his face alight with the absolute pure joy. There was not a single face that was not shocked. Sith, soldiers the Moff's and every one of Vakarian's companions besides Khem Val and Vakarian himself.
It was perhaps a full minute of complete silence. A sharp listener would have been able to hear the low breathing of everyone within the room or the hum of the transmitting Moff-holo's. Finally a sith towards the end of the table spoke her voice barely above a whisper.
"Tython, the Jedi home world. The very birthplace of the force itself." After this sith's statement there was a breakout of awed speaking as every sith and solider began to discuss with the person next to them what this truly meant, the death of the Jedi, the final absolute destruction of the republic. During this moment of disorganization Ashara stood up and left the chamber without saying a word. Vakarian frowned he had not thought of Ashara's reaction to this, he would definitely have to talk to her as soon as possible he sensed her emotions were deeply unsettled. Eventually with a bit of lightning and an influx of power through the force, Vakarian was able to restore order.
"Talos you are completely sure about this?" Colade asked the question but his eyes showed that he already knew Talos would not get it wrong. Many people around room held the same question ready to ask.
"Positive sir. I ran these writings through several language matrices, however it was Khem Val that finally provided the absolute proof." Talos said with a nod to the dashade behind Lord Nox's chair.
"These writings of the ancient dark Jedi were more commonly found in the time of Tulak Hord, many sith valued these writings above their own lives. Under Tulak Hord's leadership many were captured but my master did not bother so much with these things of the past." Khem Val stated.
"I'm sorry to interrupt could someone please clarify what a hyperspace beacon is?" all attention was drawn to Darth Seek who sat impatiently for her answer.
"Not at my lord Seek." Moff Dolus said calmly "A hyperspace beacon is a device that allows any ship, honed in on the beacon's signal, to commence a hyperspace jump directly to the beacon's location." Darth Seek dipped her head in gratitude towards Moff Dolus' holo. The mention of the hyperspace beacon sparked something in Vakarian's memory.
"I have encountered a hyperspace beacon before; on Balmorra the republic constructed one to jump ships directly into orbit above the planet." Vakarian reminisced remembering his fight through the newly deployed republic troops to Grand Marshal Cheketta, seemingly so long ago…
Moff Pyron finally spoke up after speaking off-holo with someone.
"My lord, I have just discussed this discovery with a member of imperial intelligence aboard my ship and it seems that our Imperial Intel places the Jedi planet of Tython within 2500 parsecs of the republic capital of Coruscant." Moff Pyron said
"Meaning that if we were to finally crush the pathetic Jedi we could immediately march on the capital afterwards and finish the republic forever." Darth Seek completed her eyes full of wonder.
"I can scarcely believe it." Moff Dolus spoke, shock coating his voice. Moff Graham beside Moff Dolus nodded in agreement.
"Of course all of this is physically unconfirmed." Silence filled the chamber as Moff Graham voiced this concern causing many soldiers to look nervously at Darth Nox expecting him to punish this insubordination. Moff Graham continued on looking apologetic towards his master. "I'm sorry my lord but if you were to present this information to the Dark council they would require quite substantial physical proof as well as the task of activating the beacon itself on Tython."
"And you will have to present this to the council my lord," Moff Pyron put in, his tactical mind already beginning to assess the strategies of attacking the planet. "If we were to attack this planet we will require thousands of sith and imperial soldiers alike to completely obliterate the Jedi." Vakarian sank back into his chair brooding as his advisors outlined the logistics, manpower and supplies required. There was no question he would need the support of the entire dark council to take Tython.
Then unexpectedly Xalek spoke up for the first time since seating himself.
"Master additionally if we were to engage these Jedi on their home planet they would fight to the death to defend it." The kaleesh's remark drew the attention of Darth Seek.
"The Kaleesh has a point my lord; we don't need another Bothawui to make the Jedi undying heroes." Seek conceded.
The mention of the infamous battle of Bothawui forced many angry mutterings around the table and more than a few curses directed at the Jedi.
"Silence." Vakarian thundered. All talk within the chamber ceased instantly. "We now posses the information to completely wipe the Jedi from the face of the galaxy I intend to make use of it."
"Moff Pyron, Graham and Dolus. I want a complete accounting of everything the empire itself has available for deployment. Use any favours, bribes and threats you need to, to get a full assessment of everything the empire has at its disposal from droids to soldiers, from ships down to the last thermal detonator. Put some pressure on Imperial Intelligence if you can without arousing suspicion." The Moff's were nodding in earnest eager to be apart of the final stand of the republic.
"Darth Seek, search for how many fully armed and capable sith we could have ready to besiege Tython. On Tython there will be any untold number of Jedi master, knights and apprentices. We will need the most powerful sith you can find." Seek's eyes were swimming with unimaginable glee.
"The assault may not occur for month's maybe years! But it will happen! The Jedi will pay for what they have done to the empire." Vakarian surveyed the room fierce determination burning inside him like a fire and the fire kindling in everyone's eyes sith and imperial solider alike. "I make a promise to you now brothers and sisters the empire WILL be victorious." Vakarian's eyes began to glow purple, his voice never shouting "This is where the end of the Republic begins!"
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Just a few things if anyone needs clarification on some things:
-Darth Seek merely watches over the sith that follow Vakarian similarly to how Thanaton watched over Darth Zash
-The early dark Jedi (Freedon Naad, Naga Sadow) did not create the title 'Darth' it wasn't until Revan and Malak returned from the sith empire that they created it. It literally means undying or immortal, thought you'd want to know
-The term 'sith' wasn't applied to users of the dark side until the dark Jedi breed with the native red-skinned species called sith on Korriban years after their exile
-According to the timeline's there is approximately 100 years between the dark Jedi's exile and their arrival on Korriban so what were they doing during that time…
-The hyper drive beacon on Tython is pretty much an ancient version of the one the republic used on Balmorra where the republic used it to fly ships directly to the planet and land
-I think it's pretty obvious that Ashara would be upset by this news she may be fighting against some Jedi but she still does follow them a bit to achieve peace.
-If you do not know what the battle of Bothawui is please view it .com/info/holonet/timeline
-Please if you haven't watch Bioware's timeline explaining the sith and Jedi they are extremely interesting.
-According to the Jedi on Tython the sith don't know where Tython is, its highly possible they know of Tython because of imperial intelligence but only Jedi and select soldiers make it onto the planet
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE PRIVATE MSG ME SO I CAN CLEAR IT UP
ALSO PLEASE REVIEW!