Ch. 10
Malice's Throne Room
"You three have been selected for an important task, one where failure is not an option; you must find Jedi Master Balla Ropal, and kill him. He is the keeper of the Kyber Memory Crystal, which holds the name of every Force Sensitive child in the galaxy. Not only could this help us, but it will also deliver a major blow to the Jedi. Balla Ropal may be a Jedi, but the Council wouldn't give something like this to just anyone; Ropal will be very powerful, you will need the full power of the Dark Side if you three are to kill him. Do you understand?" Malice explained to Ahsoka, Barriss, and Ventress, who all kneeled before their dark Master.
"Yes, my lord." The three of them said, and Malice dismissed them, and they left the throne room and went to the hanger, where a Sith shuttle was waiting for them, along with a small squad of Sith troopers, about ten of them, all of them armed with sniper rifles, and two Shadow Guards as Ahsoka's escorts. They all got on board the shuttle, took off, and entered hyperspace, ready to kill the Jedi.
Sith Shuttle; en route to Rodia
Ahsoka was going over the map of the Rodian City Balla Ropal was stationed at, looking for ways to sneak in so they can assassinate the master and take the crystal.
"Why is Lord Malice sending us after the crystal, when we don't even have a holocron to use it?" Barriss asked, and Ahsoka looked up from her chair and glared at Barriss.
"He is having a holocron built especially for the purpose of reading the crystal. Once it is complete, his Agents will travel the galaxy and collect those children, where the will be trained at the academies once they're complete." Ahsoka said, and she continued studying the map, looking for an access point. "Okay, I think I found a way in; there's a power generator about a kilometer away from the city; it's an older model so there are giant tubes underground that lead to small power generators strategically positioned through out the city. Because it's an older model, it's out of date, so we don't have to worry about anyone seeing us. Troopers, I want you into split into five groups of two, and sneak your way through the city, and wait around the Republic command post, until I give my orders. Offee, Ventress, we'll continue to the command post and attack Ropal as soon as he reveals himself." Ahsoka said, and they nodded in agreement as the shuttle continued to fly towards Rodia.
Malice's Throne Room
"My Lord, may I speak with you?" Darth Phobis asked as he walked into the throne room.
"What troubles you, Darth Phobis?" Malice asked, and the Dark Council leader bowed before his Emperor.
"I am concerned that you sent Empress Ahsoka with Offee and Ventress with so little protection? What if they attempt a betrayal?" Phobis asked, and Malice stood from his throne and walked to the Inquisitor.
"I am aware of the possibility of a betrayal, and I have all the corners taken care of. Empress Ahsoka will be fine, she is well trained and very powerful, she can handle herself. Now tell me, what is the status of Dromund Kaas' defenses?" Malice asked, and Darth Phobis stood.
"All planetary defense guns are up and operation, and shield generators are placed in every major city. The fleet is ready for the attack, and dozens of orbital defense cannons are orbiting the planet; they have enough fire power to tear right through cruiser shields, and are accurate enough to hit a speeding blockade runner." Phobis explained, and Malice nodded.
"Good; my spies have told me that a large Separatist fleet is grouping near the border of Sith space." Malice said.
"My lord, if this is true, we should send the fleet to destroy them before they can attack." Phobis said.
"No…let the attack come; Grevious will run as soon as he's attacked, but if we can cut him off when he attacks, we can destroy him, and strike a major blow to Tyrannus and Sidious." Malice said, and he returned to his throne and sat down.
"As you wish, my Lord." Phobis said obediently, and he turned around and left the throne room.
Rodia; three hours later
Once the shuttle exited hyperspace, Ahsoka piloted the ship onto the planet's surface and landed at the power generator she mentioned, and they all made their way through the access tunnels until they finally reached the city. The snipers split into teams, like Ahsoka ordered, and made their way through the city until they found favorable sniping positions, as the three Sith continued walking through the tunnels until they reached the Republic command post, after which, they ran into an alley and waited for Ropal to walk out.
"Now we wait." Ahsoka said, but she quickly got an idea when she saw two Rodians, an elderly man and his wife, walking happily through the streets. "Sniper team Bravo, take out those two Rodians in the street." Ahsoka ordered, and a couple of seconds later, two blaster bolts flew through the air and went through the couples heads, killing them instantly. It wasn't long after that until several clone troopers, Rodian police officers, and Jedi Master Balla Ropal ran outside to investigate. The snipers then quickly shoot the troopers and officers, and Ahsoka, her Shadow Guard entourage, Offee, and Ventress appeared from the shadows and activated their lightsabers. "Prepare to die, Jedi scum!" Ahsoka yelled, and the Sith charged at Ropal, who activated his own lightsaber, and quickly blocked the multitude of strikes that were made at him. While Ahsoka swung at Ropal's head, Ventress tried to stick her blades through his chest, while Barriss tried to cut him in half. Ropal either blocked or dodged all the blades, and that's when all five Sith made a combined lightning attack, and Ropal wasn't fast enough to block it, and he was thrown into a nearby building, and went right through the wall of the building, and struggled to get up. Ahsoka stepped through the hole of the building, and lifted Ropal with the Force, and began throwing him around in the air, occasional making him break a bone as she him slammed into into more walls. Ropal, after getting thrown around like a rag doll, eventually found the strength to use the Force, and pushed Ahsoka out of the building and the Jedi struggled to walk back outside, and as soon as he did, he was immediately attacked by the Sith again, and this time, they were faster, stronger, and more determined to kill him.
You won't…defeat me…" Ropal struggled to say, but Ahsoka started to laugh coldly.
"This is just a glimpse of how your Jedi Order will fall; the Sith will march on the streets of Coruscant, and destroy that pathetic Temple, and the Council you call your leaders." Ahsoka said, and Ropal looked at his attacker, shocked to realize he recognized one of them as Barriss.
"Padawan…Offee, you're…alive? And you're…serving the…Sith? How could you betray us?" Ropal asked, but Barriss just growled.
"You Jedi betrayed me! You allowed my master to die! You knew we were under attack, and didn't even attempt to help us!" Barriss said, and she Force Pushed Ropal into a wall.
"So you joined the Sith?" Ropal asked, as he stood back up.
"They offered me a chance at revenge against the ones truly responsible for my Masters death, and the destruction of my home planet; the Jedi!" Barriss said, and she charged at Ropal and made several strong attacks at the Jedi hoping to break through his defenses. Ropal did his best to defend against the strikes, but Ahsoka and Ventress joined in the attacks, and the now weaker Ropal could hardly keep up with his Sith attackers, and thanks to Barriss hitting Ropal with Force Lightning, his defenses were opened, and Ahsoka was able to make a swing towards Ropal's neck, and the lightsaber blade made contact, and not even a second later, Ropal's head went flying and when it hit the ground, it started rolling, and stopped right at Ahsoka's feet.
"Good work." Ahsoka said, and she walked over to the now dead Jedi, and began searching through his robes until she felt something small and hard. Ahsoka put her hand in one of the Jedi robes pockets, and pulled out a small, blue, diamond shapped crystal. Ahsoka then smiled and activated her comm link and put in Malice's frequency. "Malice, this is Ahsoka; we got the crystal." Ahsoka said proudly as she admired the crystal.
"Very good. And the Jedi?" Malice asked.
"Dead, courtesy of my blade." Ahsoka said, smiling.
"Excellent; return to Dromund Kaas so that we may find our new academy students." Malice ordered.
"Yes, my lord." Ahsoka said, and she cut off the comm link and put the crystal inside her Sith robes and held up her hand in a fist, to order the snipers to return the ship. Ahsoka then headed back to the old maintenance tunnel, supposedly unaware that Barris and Ventress were placing their hands on their lightsabers. Ahsoka then gave her Shadow Guards a quick look, and they got behind Ahsoka and faced Barriss and Ventress, while Ahsoka opened the tunnel entrance, when suddenly, she heard three lightsabers activate, and Ahsoka activated hers and turned around just in time to block Barriss' red lightsaber blade from cutting Ahsoka in half. "And here I was, worried that I would only be able to kill the Jedi!" Ahsoka said, and she jumped back to break the block.
"Don't be so arrogant, your highness; your husband isn't here to protect you!" Barriss said, Ahsoka just laughed coldly.
"What makes you think I need his protection!" Ahsoka asked, and she raised her hands and shot Force Lightning at Barriss, but the acolyte blocked the attack with her lightsaber. However, the initial strength at which the lightning was being thrown was enough to throw Barriss back, and she got caught in the lightning anyway, and she screamed in pain as the lightning burned her entire body. Meanwhile, the Shadow Guards were keeping Ventress busy; although she tried to use her speed to get around them, they were much more powerful than what Ventress was expecting; they constantly tried to hit Ventress with Force Lightning and their lightsaber poles, and they showed no signs of exhaustion. Ventress continued trying to kill the Shadow Guard's, but they were proving to be too powerful for her with their combined strength. She tried to jump over them, but one of them grabbed her with the Force, and slammed Ventress to the ground, and when she hit the ground, the other Shadow Guard tried to impale Ventress, but she Force Pushed him away, and got back on her feet, but both Shadow Guard's hit Ventress with Force Lightning, stunning her. Ahsoka was still burning Barriss with Force Lightning, but Barriss eventually became angry enough to Force Push Ahsoka back and cut off her attack. With Ahsoka on the ground, Barriss jumped at the Empress and tried to impale her, but Ahsoka Force Pushed Barris, making her fly a few yards away, giving Ahsoka the opportunity to get back on her feet, and retrieve her lightsaber.
"You will not beat me! I will prove to his majesty that I am more worthy to be his bride than you!" Barriss said, but Ahsoka laughed coldly again.
"If the Emporer truly saw you more fit, he would have left me and married you instead, but he didn't; you're nothing more to him than an instrument to carry out his will, and you will be nothing more than that in his eyes. He knows you are pathetic; the only thing keeping you alive is your raw power!" Ahsoka said, and Barriss just growled and charged at Ahsoka again, and Ahsoka blocked every one of Barriss' attacks. Ahsoka kept on being on the defensive, waiting for Barriss to make a mistake, and she did; Barriss left herself open when she made a strong attack when she was in a too awkward position for the move to be executed properly, so Ahsoka took the opening, and slashed at Barriss' arms, but Barriss was able to step back fast enough to avoid getting her arms cut off, but Ahsoka's blade made contact with the hilt of Barriss' lightsaber, destroying it. Left unarmed, Barriss was defenseless against Ahsoka's sudden lightning attack, and this one was more powerful than the first one, and Ahsoka continued the attack even after Barriss passed out. Ventress wasn't doing any better than Barriss was; she was still being tortured by the Shadow Guard's, and it continued for several minutes, causing Ventress to scream in pain until the Shadow Guard's stopped the barrage, and Ventress was on her knees, trying to catch her breath, but the Shadow Guard's weren't going to give her the chance; they jumped at her, trying to impale her again, and Ventress was barely able to roll out of the way to avoid the blades. However, as soon as she got on her feet, one Shadow Guard Force Pushed Ventress, while the other three his lightsaber at her, grazing waist, causing Ventress to scream in pain as she hit the ground. The Shadow Guard's tried to impale Ventress again, and this time, Ventress was in too much shock to notice her attackers jumping towards, and by the time she did see them, it was too late; she already felt two lightsaber blades go through her back, and as Ventress tried to struggle for breath, Ahsoka walked over to the now dying Ventress, squatted down, and smiled evilly. "You should've know you couldn't beat me or my Shadow Guards, otherwise you wouldn't be dying right now." Ahsoka said coldly, and Ventress tried to say something, but the words never escaped her mouth as her body went limp, and the last of her life left her; she was dead. The Shadow Guard's removed their lightsabers and walked over to Barriss to finish her, but Ahsoka spoke up. "Wait! I have plans for her still; just drag her to the ship and get a Force Restraint collar ready." Ahsoka ordered, and the two nodded and began dragging the unconscious acolyte back to the shuttle.
Dromund Kaas, Kaas Palace Torture Chamber; a day later
When Barriss woke up, she was surprised to find that she was chained to a metal table and completely removed of her clothing. She tried to use the Force to remove her chains, but discovered that a Force Restraint collar was placed around her neck. Barriss then started to struggle, but found that it was useless. After giving up, Barriss just stayed still, waiting for something to happen, when Ahsoka walked into the room, smiling.
"So, you're finally awake…good." Ahsoka said, and Barriss tried struggling again, but it was still useless.
"What is the meaning of this!" Barriss demanded, and Ahsoka chuckled.
"You see, Offee, after my Shadow Guard's killed Ventress, they got ready to kill you too, but an idea popped into my head; why let your power go to waste? So, I had you spared." Ahsoka said.
"So, you're just going to brainwash me?" Barriss asked angrily, but Ahsoka shook her head.
"No; the punishment for treachery is death, and you will die…but not yet; first, you will have to give birth to a child to become my apprentice." Ahsoka said.
"And what makes you think I will get myself pregnant? And that I will let you take my child?" Barriss asked coldly, and Ahsoka chuckled.
"That's why you are in the state you are now; the most powerful Sith Warriors and Inquistiors have been chosen for this project; they will have their way with you, and will continue to have you, until you are pregnant and give birth to a proper child. After that, you will be executed." Ahsoka said, and Barriss growled.
"The Emperor will never approve of this!" Barriss yelled, and Ahsoka laughed.
"He was the one that chose the canidates for this project!" Ahsoka said, and she turned around and opened the door out of the room, and as she walked out, a Sith Warrior walked in, and looked at Barriss and smiled as Ahsoka shut the door.
Malice's Throne Room
"You did well Ahsoka; I am proud of you." Malice said, and Ahsoka smiled and bowed before her husband.
"Thank you, my love. And thank you for supporting this project with Offee." Ahsoka said, and she reached into her robes. "And now, my gift to you; I give you, the Kyber Crystal." Ahsoka said, and she showed Malice the crystal, and the Sith Emperor smiled as he took the crystal with the Force and looked at it.
"Very good." Malice said, and he pressed a button on his throne, and few seconds later, Darth Phobis walked in and bowed before his Emperor.
"You summoned me, my Lord?" Phobis asked, and Malice nodded.
"Yes; here is the Kyber Crystal. Put it with the holocron made especially for this, and have our Inquisitors take every child on this list." Malice ordered, and he gave Phobis the crystal, and the Dark Council Leader nodded and walked out of the room.
"What now, Malice?" Ahsoka asked, and Malice stood from his chair and walked to Ahsoka, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
"We wait." Malice said as he broke the kiss. "We have the Kyber Crystal, and the Academies are being built as we speak. And as the pieces fall in place, it is only a matter of time until we rule the galaxy." Malice said, and Ahsoka smiled at the thought of ruling the galaxy next to her beloved.
"And what Tyrannus? He has yet to send his fleet to attack us." Ahsoka said, and Malice smiled.
"We are ready for him; all there is to do is to be patient." Malice said, and Ahsoka's smile got even bigger.
"Well, come with me; I can think of something that will help us pass the time." Ahsoka said, as she led Malice to their bedroom.