Part seven: Pursuing the Cult of Sith'ari

Daneel sat in meditation on the far side of the cave away from the door. He wrestled with his feelings as he contemplated just how close he had come to destroying the city full of innocents above. Her touch and her voice had stopped him, and the absence of the plague within her had granted him a momentary sense of clarity, but still lurking in the depths of his soul was the horror of what could have been. He struggled to purge the image of Demira transforming into a rakghoul from his mind, but the more he tried the harder it was to not see her change…and the despair he felt he would lose her still gripped his heart. Rationally he knew she was safe, she would not change, she was Demira the sin'dorei mage and not a creature mindless and diseased. He reached out further to the Force to calm his emotions, to push away the negative thoughts and fears, to allow his rationality to come to the forefront of his mind and to find the inner peace he knew was there…somewhere.

Closer to the huge hanger-sized door stood Demira. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach as she bit her lip in concentration. With eyes closed she stretched out through the Force as the jedi had taught her. Beyond the door she could sense six living beings. What they were or their sensitivity to the Force she could not tell, her abilities were just not strong enough to distinguish beyond they existed. Her brow furrowed as she tried to reach further. The base was enormous spanning almost as wide as the city. Ironically the dwarves and gnomes who built the tram from Stormwind to Ironforge had never found this base as they tunneled, but they had come close…very close. Had the engineers of that project dug twenty feet deeper they would have caved the roof on one side of the base. What she was looking for she just could not find. Surely there was another entrance to the base besides the giant door before her, but she could not sense any tunnel or indication of another entrance. She opened her eyes and sighed deeply. She just wasn't strong enough in her Force abilities to find what she was looking for. She turned her heard to look back at the jedi seated with his legs crossed and hands steepled before his chest. While she knew Daneel was more than capable of finding what she searched for, the last thing he needed was interruption of his meditation. Demira did not need to the Force to know he was still struggling with his emotions and the price he was willing to extract for his vengeance.

Kalecgos emerged from the tunnel entrance to her left drawing the mage's attention. He smiled politely and walked towards her. He had left after their initial conversation to check on the city above. While he was gone and before she had tried her Force search of the base, she had thought of sending the dragon away. Behind this door she was certain were technologies he had never seen. Although Daneel had never spoken such Demira was convinced Azeroth was not ready for any of the advanced tech the aliens possessed. This feeling she carried since that first day she and the jedi had found his wrecked ship. While she knew some of the tech, like nulentropy containers, would prove very beneficial, even the most seemingly benign technology in the wrong hands could lead to disastrous results. She knew it was why Daneel destroyed every lightsaber after he fought a green sith on this world. As the former blue Aspect drew closer she was still tempted to send him away from this place. As old and wise as the dragons were she wondered what he would do if faced with the wonders she knew lay inside the hidden base. Could he resist the temptation to use whatever he found? Could he keep secret the advanced technology from the rest of the world including his fellow dragons? She needed to be certain before she allowed him to accompany them into the base for she knew he would insist after all that had happened and what Daneel had revealed of the Cult of Sith'ari's plans for Azeroth. It was his world as much as it was hers, and he would naturally want to protect it from danger if possible. He walked up beside her and looked at the door. Demira frowned as she knew she would have to decide soon whether to let him stay or not.

"Things are somewhat returning to normal in the city," he said to her. "The only permanent damage I found was a small wall near one of the canals had collapsed, but otherwise nothing was damaged and nobody was hurt." He walked towards the door a few steps. "Some of the citizens are claiming the Horde is responsible for the tremors."

"Did you tell them anything?" Demira asked.

"No. They don't need to know what happened down here, nor do I think any would really believe me if I had told them the truth." He stopped after walking a couple more steps. He turned to face the mage. "I realize now I should never have doubted either of you before today. After all of my experiences with the younger species I still have much to learn about you. Just when I think I have seen everything you still surprise me with wonders I never thought possible from people so young."

"And if some of those wonders needed to remain secret?" she asked trying to feel how much the dragon would accept from younger species.

"I swear I will not tell anyone what happened here today. Daneel's reputation is safe with me," he replied with a nod towards the jedi still meditating.

"He has deeper concerns right now than his reputation," she said. "I mean…if you were to see even more wonders…some perhaps potentially dangerous…could you keep them secret? Could you refrain from telling even other dragons about such things?"

"What other things?" Kalecgos asked.

Demira walked past him towards the door. His gaze followed her as she stopped and placed her hand on it. She didn't turn to face him. "Behind this door I believe are marvels of technology I dare say you never imagined possible. Wonders…as you would call them…that could make life for people so much easier, but if fallen into the wrong hands could be the most deadly thing possible." She turned her head to look at him with her hand still on the door. "Could you keep such things secret? Could you resist even telling the other former Aspects of what you would see behind these doors?"

"If it poses a danger to Azeroth then I must tell them," he answered.

"That is not what I asked," she replied. "These technologies must be kept secret from everyone including the other former Aspects. I have seen wondrous things, Kalec." She nodded towards Daneel. "His people traveled from planet to planet in ships. They have the ability to store food in containers for indefinite periods of time without even the slightest worry of spoilage. His government ruled over millions of worlds like Azeroth…millions of worlds with trillions of people of all kinds of races and in harmony and peace for over a thousand years. Can you imagine that, Kalec? Can you imagine such a scale of existence?" He said nothing, but the expression on his face told her he had not. "Where he comes from they have such marvelous technology that life would seem simple, but it is not. With all the good technology they have they also live in tumultuous times. His people were at war, Kalec…a war that spanned all of those worlds and where millions of people died. Some of those planets were completely destroyed. Completely. You saw what happened to Theramore…you know what a single mana bomb can do." He nodded his response. "Now imagine if there had been ten of those at one time…or a hundred…or a thousand…or a million. His people have that kind of power, Kalec. The ability to not only kill every single living thing on a planet, but the power to reduce that planet to rubble. Can you…a dragon of immortality…a being of immense power …can you imagine power on that scale? I cannot and yet I have seen some of these things. He has shown them to me and me alone. That city-wide planet he talked about before? I tell you now that city does not exist. A single man wanted to kill another that was hiding in that city, and so to ensure he killed that one person he leveled the entire city…the entire planet…killed millions of people to get just one. Today that once great city is a wasteland. Can you imagine that, Kalec?"

"Why do you ask me these things" he asked quietly.

"Because I have to know if you can be trusted." She walked over to stand just in front of him. "I have to know that the technology inside that base will never reach the hands of a single individual on Azeroth. I have to know that no other person besides the three of us will ever know what lies in that base. Because if just one person with bad intentions ever gets their hands on that kind of power…" her voice trailed off. She looked down at the ground. "He has never asked me to hide this technology because he never had to. I know for a fact that if someone like Garrosh Hellscream could get hold of that kind of power…Theramore would seem small and insignificant next to what they could unleash." She looked back into Kalec's face. "I have to know…can you keep such things secret to keep Azeroth safe?"

After a moment the dragon looked at the mage, then at the door, then at her again. "I said before I should never have doubted you in the first place, Demira. I will not make that same mistake again. I swear to you that I will tell no one what I see here today…not even the other Aspects. What I see here today I will take to my grave whenever and wherever that may be."

She looked at him and squinted. She tried to read him through the Force but couldn't. She would have to accept his word or not. Demira took a deep breath. This decision was hers to make. If he insisted on going inside the base despite her intentions…should he break his promise…she was truly powerless to stop him. He was the quintessential being of arcane power. She cocked her head to the side. "If I asked you to leave…would you?" she finally asked. "Could you just leave after all I have told you?"

"I admit I would always be curious," he replied without hesitation. "But as I said I have come to not doubt you anymore. And with the conviction of what you tell me I believe that I must keep your secret. You are right in the kind of power you describe I would not believe possible from the younger species." He turned to look at the meditating jedi on the other side of the cavern. "But with what I have seen him do both in Dalaran and here…I cannot say the kind of power you describe is impossible." He looked back at the mage. "Yes, Demira…blood elf mage and friend of the jedi…I would leave if you asked me to. I would do that for the safety of Azeroth and all her people."

Demira studied him…his body language. After a moment she sighed. "I will not ask you to leave, Kalecgos. And…thank you…for believing me…believing in us."

"So…should we get him and go inside?" he asked as he started to step towards the jedi. Her arm on his stopped him and he turned to look at her.

"He needs this time alone," she said quietly looking at Daneel. "He…struggles…with what he almost did…with what he feels now." She looked at the dragon. "I can sense his pain still churning inside him."

"Sense?" Kalecgos asked. He looked at the mage then back at the jedi. "He has been teaching you…hasn't he. Teaching you to use this Force." She nodded. "That's why you don't visit the Sunwell. You use this Force."

"Most of the time," she admitted. "The Force is energy like arcane energy. I can harness and manipulate it most of the time just like the arcane before, but it's much more potent because it is generated by all living things. It's not limited in availability as arcane energies are…as long as there is life there is the Force. The same cannot be said of the arcane. I still use spells like any other mage, but I cannot conjure things, though, as with arcane energies." She looked at the jedi. "I also have learned some of the techniques he uses. I'm not near as proficient as he or even close to his power level, but I know enough to understand the struggle he faces now." Demira looked back at Kalecgos. "I'm no jedi nor will I ever be. And there are times I still use arcane energy. I can never use both at the same time, however. He seems to think most mages could learn to use the Force, but he believes few would even attempt to learn how because they are accustomed to arcane energies. And someone like you would never be able to use the Force."

"Because I am a blue dragon and thus part of my very essence is arcane?"

Demira nodded. "That green skinned sith in Dalaran could never have killed you with his Force attack. That arcane part of you would have repelled it no matter how much energy he put into the attack."

Kalec nodded and looked back at the jedi. "So how long do we wait?"

"Until he is ready," Demira replied.


Daneel stretched out to the Force allowing it to flow through him. His breathing was calm and steady. His body began to float inches above the ground as did rocks and pebbles around him. He thought back to his first teachings on Tython by his training masters. He tried to clear his mind of thought and emotion. He sensed the world around him. The cavern that existed deep under the city of Stormwind. On the other side of the cavern there stood Kalecgos talking to Demira. She was probing him…asking him questions that made both uncomfortable. He reached out further to the rooms beyond the doors. He felt the six lifeforms on the other side. He felt the Force flow around each one and each one coursing with arcane energies. Suddenly in his mind he found himself in a room. Twelve pureblood sith stood before an alter on the ship in orbit over Azeroth. Atop the alter was a golden amulet with red and green jewels in the center, and from each of the twelve mists of purple energy flowed from them to the jewels. They were chanting something in a language he did not understand. There was a flash and then he opened his eyes. He was back in the cavern for a blink and then he was on the ship high above in orbit. Before him as he stood on the bridge was the sun through the viewports. He heard them banging on the doors at the far end where there was a barricade. A shuttle streaked across the viewport. He felt her presence on the shuttle running for safety. The ship was heading towards the sun…and he was at peace knowing she would live and their world was safe. He focused on the mage as the vision ended. She was standing next to the dragon as they both looked at the door. He closed his inner eye to once again stretch out to the Force allowing it to flow through him. The vision had brought him clarity. He would tell her of the first part but not the second. He knew what he had seen, and he would spare her the pain of knowing what he now knew.


Kitali had greeted Zharn upon his return to Demira and Daneel's home. He told her all that happened with his trip with the gnome, Windi Weathergear, into space in her rocket and seeing what had to be the sith's ship high in orbit over Azeroth. Instead of being angry with the orc as he had feared, Kitali was proud of the man and embraced him. She told him all that had happened since he had departed. The strange creature at the base, the jedi's reaction and subsequent breakdown, and then the arrival of the former Aspect of the blue dragons made Zharn question just what they had gotten themselves into. He reiterated to Kitali he did not regret getting involved with their friends, but he was worried now the problems they were facing were greater than they had imagined. Using his observation and how Demira described the ship to her, Zharn and Kitali decided to scout for the possible base the cult was using with the ship. Kitali left a note for the couple on their hearth. The two climbed onto their mounts and left in search of what they hoped would be the secret Cult of Sith'ari base.

At the harbor north of Silvermoon they charted a goblin ship to Northrend. About a day out from the northern continent they happened across an uncharted island. It was small with a volcano near the eastern side. After coaxing the ship's captain to stop and investigate, which required several mentioning's of possible treasure and loot, the vessel set anchor about a half mile from the western shore. The couple climbed into a raft and rowed to shoreline hoping to find something. Except for some birds flying in the small timber near the base of the volcano there was very little sign of life. Zharn secured the raft to a fallen tree once they reached shore, and as he turned to say a word to Kitali the goblin ship exploded raining debris in all directions leaving little left of the vessel to actually sink into the waters. Both dove for cover in the tree line, and from above they heard a roaring whine. Looking up they saw a ship with fin-like protrusions from each side and the top. It flew over their heads, and as they watched it flew to the top of the volcano and then dropped inside. Kitali looked at the orc with a wide grin. They had found the base.


Demira stood before the giant door for what she felt was the hundredth time. Daneel had spent two days in deep mediation. During that time she had scoured every inch of the cavern trying to find a way into the base. The blue dragon had left after the first day, but returned just about an hour ago. He was looking at the door as well just as perplexed as she was. There just was no other way into the base, and she threw her hands up in desperation.

"How can anyone be so stupid as to build a base with only one way in or out?" she exclaimed.

"It's actually quite sound if they built this as a last refuge," Kalec said beside her. "Assuming they had enough supplies they could wait inside indefinitely."

"From what I have seen these sith are not that smart, Kalec," she retorted. "For starters they entered into a deal with Sargeras. Then they try to recreate some relic from their past and fail at it. The leader's daughter dies and drives him insane, so what do the rest of them do? Nothing! They hide out and after centuries decide to finally leave him. Centuries Kalec! It took them centuries to make any kind of decision! And when they do make a decision…it's to keep doing what they had been doing…hiding!" She turned and walked to the door to kick it. "Just what was their purpose here? I've known they can be powerful. Daneel mentioned they waged a war in his galaxy and brought his government to the brink of destruction. But these…these sith are nothing like he describes. They are not the schemers and thinkers that Daneel has dealt with. These couldn't even figure out how to fly their own ship that brought them here!"

"Then what about this Cult of Sith'ari?" the former Aspect asked behind her. "They sound to me like a very potent threat if we do nothing."

"It's led by a child born on this world," Daneel said behind them. Demira and Kalec turned to see the jedi walking towards them. She ran to him and embraced him. He hugged her back and looked at the dragon. "In my galaxy the survivors of the Great Hyperspace War found their homeworld that was lost for centuries. They rebuilt themselves with one goal in mind…revenge against the Republic and the Jedi. They prepared for over a thousand years until they were certain they were ready to enact their revenge." He looked at Demira. "These sith came from a time just after that war where they were running in fear for their existence. When Sargeras approached them they were already in hiding. Once they came here and things did not work as they had planned they resorted to what they knew…they returned to hiding as they had been when Sargeras found them. But their children born on this world…they never knew the fear of being hunted to extinction. The few that were aware of their heritage were free of that fear for they never had seen a jedi or been to other worlds. Azeroth is their home and always has been. I believe this cult leader possesses some pride of what the sith had been, and she is trying to recreate that glory on this world." He then told them of his vision of the twelve sith in ritual as they transferred a part of their essences into the amulet.

"So this amulet is the key to their plans," the dragon said after hearing the jedi's story. "We find this amulet and the danger should be over."

"Don't forget the ship," Demira reminded him. "If the clone did not get to the ship and the cult has it as we think they might, then it plays I think an even greater role in their plans. With the replication of these creatures they can still unleash an army even without the amulet. I mean…she's already created at least two rakghouls…who knows how many more she has?"

"But you killed at least one of them," Kalec countered.

"But if she has the ship and the cloning facilities she could already have many more," Demira replied.

Daneel walked to the right side of the door and stopped. He did not face the other two. "We do not yet know enough." He reached out and ran his hand along the edge of the door. "I think we might find some answers behind this door."

"But how do we…" Demira started. She stopped as the jedi withdrew his lightsaber and ignited it. He plunged the blade into the door and slowly cut a large rectangle from about just above his head to the floor and just wider than his shoulders. The metal glowed hot and melted where the green blade had cut. After he finished Daneel stood back from the door and extinguished the blade. Demira looked at him and then the door. "That didn't work," she said. "You cut the door, but not all of the way through. We still cannot get inside." His answer was only a smile, and then he reached out with one hand and pushed through the Force. The metal where he had cut strained and then flew into the base leaving a hole in the door. Demira shook her head and walked up next to the Jedi. "Show off," she said with a grin.

"Are you impressed?" Daneel asked with a smile.

"A little," she replied.

Kalec walked past them towards the hole. In passing he remarked, "If you two are done flirting I think we have a base to investigate." Then he walked through the door into the base. The mage and jedi quickly kissed and then followed the dragon. Inside they found the remains of a hanger with a shuttle wrecked into the far wall. The hull was scorched from blaster fire. The left side wall was cluttered with debris and wreckage apparently from when the shuttle had crashed into the hanger. On the right side was a door leading into another part of the base. Everything was covered in dust, but from their position by the door was a trail of footprints left by those they had sensed earlier. The trail led to the door on the right. Daneel held is lightsaber ready and led the way. Demira whispered to Kalec to erect an arcane barrier to protect him from what they might find inside. At the door Daneel paused and turned to face them. He brought his left hand to his face and indicated quiet. He walked through the doorway into a corridor about thirty feet long ending at a lift. They walked cautiously to it and stopped. About ten feet down the lift had jammed in the tube. It was tilted and had not seen use in years. To their left was an access ladder that ran down the length of the tube and out of their sight under the lift. The dust had been wiped clean from the rungs. Daneel swung his leg over and began to climb down. The others followed. The space by the lift was tight, and being that Kalec was larger than both Demira and Daneel he could not fit through the opening as the other two could. With a whisper he climbed back up and kept watch at the top. The mage and jedi continued to descend into the tube for another four levels after confirming each of the levels before had not been used…the dust was undisturbed. Below the fourth level the tube was submersed in water, and the couple concluded they would find nothing further. The entry to the fourth level was mostly blocked with debris, but the dust had been cleared by people climbing through a small opening barely tall enough for a gnome to walk upright. Daneel reached out through the Force. He sensed the six beings further in, and he turned to face Demira. He whispered for her to stay behind. She shook her head, and with a pleading expression he asked her again to stay behind. With a sigh she relented.

He turned and crawled further into the room. His feelings were still in too much turmoil to place the mage in danger so soon, and thankfully she relented hopefully realizing why he had asked her to stay behind. For twenty feet he crawled though a tunnel created by a fallen wall and broken chairs, cabinets, and tables. He came to a turn and crawled another thirty feet. He started to hear voices as he neared the end of the tunnel. There was a faint light flickering at the end where someone had erected a torchlight in the room beyond. He could smell the smoke from the fire.

"There's nothing here," he heard a gruff voice say in the room ahead of him. "The mistress told us to look for it here, but there is nothing here but garbage."

"Just keep looking," a woman replied. "It has to be here somewhere." He heard a couple additional voices grumbling indistinctively. "Hey! She said it's here so it must be. She hasn't been wrong so far."

"There is always a first time," the first voice replied. He saw the owner come close to the entrance. It was a goblin wearing a black hoodless robe. "I've always had a nose for this and I am telling you there is nothing here but junk." The being turned and left Daneel's view. "I say we leave and tell her we couldn't find anything here." He heard a couple of voices mumble agreement.

"We can't return without what she sent us for. You remember what happened to the last bunch that failed?" the woman responded. "I don't feel like dying because you developed a cough."

"It's dusty!"

"You'll be dusty when she finishes with you," the woman retorted. "And I won't let you leave. Any of us return empty handed all of us gets fried." There was more grumbling at that.

"Then I say we leave entirely. Why go back? We just leave and go back to where we came from"

"There is no going back to our old lives," the woman replied. "Once we joined up there is no leaving. We keep looking until we find it. That is the only option."

"Says you," the goblin said. "I'll take my chances."

Daneel heard a scream as light flashed near the end of the tunnel. Something sounded like a crash and then there were a few more flashes. He saw a sin'dorei collapse near the entrance of the tunnel and a few more screams. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and she looked at Daneel's face. She tried to point with a shaky, bloody finger, but a flash of lightning struck her in the back ending her life before she could say a word. There was another crashing sound and then the death gurgles of another being. After a few seconds of silence he heard small footfalls coming towards the fallen blood elf.

"Nobody tells me what I can and can't do," the goblin said. Daneel saw him step near the dead woman and kneel next to her body. "Especially you," the goblin said to the corpse. He looked towards the tunnel and spotted the jedi crouched a few feet from the entrance. "Shit!" the goblin exclaimed as he scampered from the tunnel.

Daneel quickly crawled from the tunnel into the room. He saw the goblin duck through a doorway at the other side. Littered on the floor were the bodies of a human man, two gnome women, and a male dwarf. With the sin'dorei woman near his feet that counted as five of the six he sensed in the base. The torchlight he thought he saw was actually a campfire set in the middle of the room. It had been ransacked with crates broken and their contents scattered along the floor. Some had documents, a few holocrons or datacrons, and data discs. Very little else remained in the room. He heard a door slam in the distance, and began walking to where the goblin had exited the room. He found a corridor about twenty meters long with several rooms to each side. The room at the end of the corridor was the only one with a shut door that he could see. He walked slowly knowing the goblin had closed himself in the last room. As he passed each room he noticed all had been ransacked similar to the first near the now non-functioning lift. As he got closer to the closed door he heard crashing coming from behind it.

"I won't go back," the goblin's muffled voice came through the door. "Tell her I'm dead…tell her I wasn't here…tell her anything!"

Daneel stopped before the door and stood to the side. "Tell who?" he said through the door.

"That night elf bitch!" the goblin shouted. "What she wants is not here! I won't go back! Just tell you found us all dead!"

"What's not here?" Daneel asked coolly.

"You know…the crystal," the goblin replied. "She wants it to fight that jedi that came here. But it's not here! There are no crystals, gems, or any jewels here! Just paper and words!"

"Why would she need a crystal to fight me?" Daneel asked more to himself.

"To…wait…you're the jedi?" the goblin queried behind the door. There was more crashing from the other side. "Shit! You are that guy? Oh fuck!" Daneel heard more crashing. "I am so fucked!" There was a moment of silence. "Um…Mr. Jedi…are you here to…to…kill us?" he heard the goblin ask just on the other side of the door.

"Why would you think I came here to kill you?" he asked.

"Because…because she told us that the jedi always want to kill sith. And you are the jedi she was talking about. So…um…are you…here to kill us?"

"You are a goblin not a sith," the jedi replied. "And what she refers to happened centuries ago."

"But I am sith," the frightened goblin said behind the closed door. "We said the words and she told us we were now sith. And the jedi are the enemies of the sith. They hate us for what we are."

"And what is a sith?" Daneel asked. He knew the goblin really didn't have the answer, but he wanted to find out what the cult leader was teaching her underlings. "What words did she make you say?"

"The words? Um…peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken," the goblin replied. There was silence.

"And those are all the words she had you say?" the jedi asked. He noticed there was no mention of the Force in this version of the sith code. The reply was more silence. "What do those words mean?"

"What do they mean?" the goblin repeated. "I…um…never wondered what they mean. I just know that when she has everything she needs then we will take over all of Azeroth and reward us who follow her with riches beyond our wildest dreams."

"I am guessing she rewards you well if you do not fail. Am I right? But what does she do to those that do fail her?" the jedi asked. "If you couldn't find this crystal she sent you here for then what would she do to you?"

"She unleashes lighting from her fingertips is what she does," the goblin replied. "But only two have ever failed her. The others who succeed have money, power, love slaves…everything they want."

"You have seen these riches yourself? Is that why you follow her?"

"I haven't seen them personally. No one has. Those who she deems successful she sends to her stronghold where they are forever safe from the jedi."

"What was this crystal she sent you here to find? Why does she think it will help her fight me?"

"She told us it's vital to making a weapon. A weapon which only she can wield against a jedi," the goblin answered. "But it's not here!"

Daneel turned from the door and began walking slowly back down the corridor to the lift. So the leader of the cult was looking for a crystal to construct a lightsaber. What the goblin described as punishment for failure was Force lightning, so the woman was Force sensitive. The fact that the code she made her cultists learn made no mention of the Force told the jedi she was either withholding that power for herself or she had not found any other Force sensitives. He leaned towards the latter. As he reached the door to the final room a blast of arcane energy struck him in the back. He turned around to face the goblin who had apparently regained his resolve. The mage stood looking at the jedi with his hands before him preparing another spell.

"If I kill you then she will reward me," the goblin said. "Even if I failed to find the crystal killing a jedi should more than prove my worth to her."

"She did not tell you everything about the jedi," Daneel replied taking his lightsaber from his belt. "Like how arcane magics have no effect on me." He ignited his blade. The green glow filled the dark corridor. The goblin stared at the blade humming at the jedi's side. "I assure you this is a battle you cannot win," Daneel continued. "Back away now and you will live."

"He won't live anyway," came a voice from the darkness of one of the side rooms. The goblin shrieked as lightning poured into his body. "The mistress does not reward failure of any kind."

The mage's body slumped to the floor. From the shadows emerged a woman with red skin. Daneel recognized her immediately. "You are dead," he said quietly. "Your body is at the base in Eversong Woods."

"There is a body there, yes," the clone of Selene replied. "But that one was a failure." She wielded no weapon. Daneel extinguished the blade of his lightsaber and placed it back on his belt. The woman scoffed. "Such noble jedi sentiments. Unwilling to fight me with your blade because I don't carry one?"

"I do not need one to face you," the jedi replied. He took a deep breath. "I see the cult has found the cloning facilities."

"Tareesha needed someone to keep these whelps in line," the clone replied with a scowl. She raised her arms towards the jedi. "And with you out of the way she can complete her plans to dominate this world.

Lightning sprouted from her fingertips towards the jedi. He raised his arms before him; hands open with thumbs and index fingers touching. The lightning arced to his fingers and dissipated into his hands. The clone looked at the jedi in bewilderment. She opened her mouth to speak when the lightning shot back at her from his hands. She writhed in agony as the electricity coursed through her body. She slumped to the floor as the counter-attack ended. Daneel walked over to his fallen foe; her body scorched from the rebounded attack. She looked at him with short rasping breaths.

"There are more of us," she said weakly. "You cannot stop us."

"What happened to the original Selene clone?" the jedi asked standing over her. "Did you kill her?"

The clone laughed with a cough. "Tareesha needed the ship," it replied before collapsing in death.

Daneel slumped back against the corridor wall. Events were unfolding with schemes he had not thought of. The sith child had harnessed the power of the cloning facilities aboard the ship in orbit. She was making an army of clones from the stored genetic material. He thought back to the room full of Jaina Proudmore clones, and he gasped. With the material of the native specimens Varok had collected this new sith could replace key members of Azerothian society. Proudmore was not the only person of notoriety the sith had been tracking. He stood and turned towards the room with the entrance to the lift. Standing a short distance away was Demira. She had climbed the rest of the way down the ladder and was looking at the body of the clone on the floor.

"She looks like the other one," Demira said quietly. She looked at Daneel. "I saw what she did to the goblin…how she attacked you. When you didn't come and didn't come I got nervous and decided to find you."

He walked to the mage and embraced her. "I did not mean to worry you."

She looked back at the clone's body on the floor. "Things just got really complicated…didn't they," she stated. She looked up at his face. The answer was written all over it.