Chapter 25: The Journey
Korriban, birth place of the Sith people, and a world of both darkness and mystery…
…As the shuttle dropped away from the belly of the Harrower class dreadnaught, the orange colored world finally came into view. Its moons moved in a serene orbit, while other dreadnaughts and support ships moved back and forth, forming a defensive screen, protecting both the academy below, and all the dark secrets hidden on the planet's surface.
Avaryss shuddered as she looked through the view port, even at a distance she could sense that something was different about Korriban. Even from orbit, the power and history of this world seemed to be reaching out to her, seeking to touch her very soul.
It calls to us, she realized, this world calls to those who have pledged themselves to the service of the dark side.
A shiver ran down her spine, that and a sense of extreme anticipation.
If one wished to become Sith, to truly take their place among the order, this was where that road ended. Whether you came from Fury, Lord's Reach, or Butcher's Clearing, all roads to power ended with Korriban.
It was here that one's journey to the dark side ended, one way, or another.
All conversation between the acolytes ceased when this world finally came into view. A sense of reverence took them over; the seriousness of what awaited them below finally became real.
Korriban was both a promise and a challenge, great power awaited an acolyte here, but only if they had the strength to grasp it. For the weak, only death was to be found, the Sith did not tolerate those that had come so far, only to trip when the final destination was in reach.
I will not fail, Avaryss thought, I've come to far…
Finally, she thought with a contented sigh, finally…I've truly come home.
IOI
The days leading up to her journey to Korriban had passed in a blur. The trio had remained Overseer Alaria's guests while they awaited the shuttle that would take them off world. During that time, the three girls had access to all the tower had to offer, whatever pleasures they might desire.
Avaryss did attempt to speak with the Overseer once, speak with her regarding what the fallen Padawan had said during the final moments of their duel. What he had said about his allies trying to bring down the Empire.
"I've heard this story," she said dismissively, "I didn't buy it. Jedi do not behave in this way, Acolyte, they do not scheme to bring people down that is our way. Still, you do not need to worry. I passed what I heard onto Imperial Intelligence, if there are Jedi out there plotting against us, the Imperials will find them, and let us know."
The young Acolyte nodded, she supposed that would have to do…for now.
Alaria smiled at her.
"Do not let the words of some dead Padawan distract you, young one, this is your time. Enjoy your last few days here, Korriban will offer you a whole new level of challenges once you arrive."
She tried to follow her Overseer's suggestion.
She tried to enjoy herself.
Avaryss had chosen solitude, after the constant struggle with the crowds in the Butcher's Block; she welcomed the quiet of her suite, especially when the servants had been told that she did not wish to be disturbed.
She used that time to reflect on what had happened, what she had faced since leaving Oridanna all those months ago. It had been almost a year since her family's murder, and in that time she had changed drastically, both physically, and mentally.
Keera Lylos' life seemed quite far away from her now. Sometimes it seemed like it had all been a dream. The challenge of rising through the ranks of the Sith had all but consumed her. What did Oridanna and what was happening there matter in the face of that?
Power is what matters, she had come to realize. The more she gathered, the easier it would be for achieve her goals. She still intended to seize control of Darth Feer's holdings, but once that was done; she would have a decision to make.
Would she maintain the status quo, or tear the whole sorry mess down. Both solutions had their merits; she would need to come to decision when the time came. What end would serve her best? How far was she willing to go to see the man who had destroyed her family punished?
She was not entirely sure yet, when the time came, she would need to be ready.
She also needed to come to a decision regarding her alliance with Nass and Taya. They had been useful towards reaching her goal, but as the overseer's lesson over dessert had shown, no alliance could last forever.
Taya had promised to stay out of her way once they reached Korriban, but Nass had made no such promise, and even if she had, there was no guarantee that either girl would be able to keep it. Once the overseers on Korriban heard about their alliance, it was only a matter of time until they tried to break it up.
In the end, a Sith always stood alone, that was the way of the dark side.
Was it not better that they end their alliance now, rather than risk one of the instructors on Korriban doing it for them?
Perhaps, but at the same time, she might end up needing her allies, it was safe to say she was walking into a hostile environment.
When word reached Korriban about what had happened here, Avaryss suspected that her success here would be the equivalent of drawing a target on her back.
It would be a good idea to try and maintain their alliance, at least for now. Once she had managed to impress the instructors on Korriban that would change, but for now…
She would do her best to keep their little band together.
To that end, she tried to spend time with her allies, maintain the illusion that everything was fine. The pleasures the tower offered were many, they were even better when not sampled alone. The three of them continued to take meals together. Nass continued her political education, and when not discussing imperial politics, they engaged in sword training together. It was quite easy for the overseer to arrange worthy opponents for the two girls.
It gave Avaryss a chance to see just how good the Inquisitor's daughter was with a blade. Like Avaryss, she preferred the single hilted blade to the double, and when the dark side was with her, Nass was as lethal as anyone else Avaryss had ever seen. Occasionally, Taya would join them, but the blonde's idea of fun did not involve sword play. Violence for her was only means to an end.
"If violence won't tempt you," Nass said one night, her arms draped around two very muscular pleasure slaves, "perhaps you might be interested in a bit of vice?"
She tried hard to convince them into making use of the overseer's pleasure slaves, use them as she did, but both of them declined, though Avaryss did eventually agree to get a massage from one, at Taya's insistence. It had felt strange at first, laying there, both undressed and unarmed, while some slave rubbed her back, legs, and shoulders. Of course, as all of her tension melted beneath those gentle fingers, she learned the value of letting go.
By the end of the session, she had been so relaxed, she had been almost purring like a felinx.
Apparently, there was something to world that Taya had been born into. Avaryss promised herself to keep a more open mind about it in the future.
Of course, all good things had to end eventually, and soon the three found themselves boarding a shuttle in the tower's docking bay. They left with little fanfare, but that was for the best.
While they had been enjoying the overseer's hospitality, there had apparently been several attempts by their fellow acolytes to breach the tower, and…punish the three of them for stealing the kill during the open hunt.
Alaria dealt with those attempts harshly, but made a point to tell the trio of what transpired.
Their success had awakened great jealousy in their peers, jealousy that was quickly turning to hatred. It furthered the other students training, but at same time invited attempts at revenge that were doomed to fail.
Nothing came of those attempts of course, but it was safe to say that it was good that the three were leaving Butcher's Clearing behind.
They had made no friends with their success.
They boarded the shuttle together; from there they were taken back to the orbital medical station they had stopped at on their way in. All three were quickly examined, to make sure they had not contracted anything dangerous on the surface, from there; they boarded the shuttle again, and eventually found their way back to the pleasure station that they had stopped at before beginning their trials in the Clearing.
It would not be a long stop over, they had been informed. A dreadnaught would be coming to take them to Korriban in twenty hours; they had little time to enjoy the stations revels.
Of course, that did not mean that they did not try.
As second level acolytes, the first levels were wise to get out of their way. When there was a line to get into any establishment, the first levels moved aside and let them enter first. Avaryss kept her head high as she passed. She could feel the envy from the first levels, but found that she couldn't care less. She was one of the chosen now, a student of the Korriban academy, before she had just been part of the crowd.
Now she stood above them, the first levels were smart to stay out of their way.
She hated to admit it, but she came to enjoy it.
She was starting to take pleasure in her new life.
Over drinks, the three discussed strategy, what they would likely face when they reached Korriban.
"There are only two overseers on Korriban that you need to worry about impressing, Farm Girl," Nass advised her. "Overseer Tremel and Harkun."
"I would not worry too much about Harkun, though," Taya added, "He usually is tasked with dealing with the more undesirable students, those who the dark lords typically ignore."
Avaryss frowned.
"Wouldn't that include me? I can't imagine that my training on Fury 9 will endure me to anyone."
"Before your victory over the Padawan, sure," Nass said with a shrug, "But with that win under your belt. Tremel wouldn't dare risk you falling through the cracks. He will take you on, I'm sure of it, if only to boost his own success rate."
Avaryss smiled slyly.
It was nice to know her victory continued to count for something.
"You will find that Korriban is much more structured than Butcher's Clearing," Taya said, "With so many students on the cusp of being full Sith, order must be maintained. You will find the training regimen much stricter than in the lower level academies."
Avaryss grinned.
Good.
The more structure, the better!
It had been too long since she had gotten to test herself in a dueling ring, and during her time in the Clearing, she had come to miss the library back on Fury 9. She suspected that any library on Korriban must contain items ten times more valuable than any she had found on Fury.
Having access to both would be good; it would also give her a chance to feel out her fellow acolytes, identify those who were a danger to her from the very beginning.
From there, it would be easy to start eliminating them, or at the very least seeking out ways to neutralize them, make sure they could not hinder her training.
She found herself growing more and more eager.
She could not wait to get to Korriban!
"You should try to gain the support of at least one of the Overseers," Nass advised, "I would suggest Tremel, he is a staunch traditionalist, but if you treat him with the respect that a full master deserves, you will do well."
"I agree," Taya added, "Harkun is an ass."
Taya shook her head with disgust.
"Mark my words, one of these days, some Dark Lord that Harkun trained is going to come back to Korriban and fry him for the way he treats his students."
Avaryss chuckled.
"Not a fan, I take it?"
The blonde frowned.
"I caught him staring at me during training, once," she said with a frown, "The look on his face, what I was sensing through the Force. If he wasn't an overseer, I would have popped his eyes out for such an affront."
Her response made both her allies giggle like school girls.
"Whoa, there Tay," Avaryss chuckled, "That is a little violent for you isn't it?"
"It is Korriban," the blonde shrugged, "Be prepared for violence, or prepare to be dead."
Her friend's words made her shudder.
Perhaps, Taya was not as light side as she thought, perhaps Korriban brought out the Sith in people.
She would have to watch her ally closely; this was a side of her she had never seen before.
"Anything else I need to worry about? Anyone else I need to watch out for?"
Her two allies looked at each other, their expression serious.
Nass sighed.
"Even if you manage to gain the support of one of the overseers, you still need to be careful. I'm not sure how things were done on Fury 9, but on Korriban, the overseers have a habit of picking out a favorite from among the students. Not surprising, this student rises through the ranks, and quickly becomes top dog."
"The overseers have a tendency to use their favorites to eliminate those they feel are weak, or a threat to the order as a whole. Tremel has done that in the past, or at least, people say he has, no one could prove it of course, if the favorite fails, they are dead, and no evidence remains to link back to him."
"I'm not surprised," Avaryss said, "It was not so different on Fury. Our overseers had their favorites as well, I should know…"
She grinned proudly.
"I was one of them."
"Then you know enough to be careful," Nass replied, "If one of the overseer's favorites comes after you, you won't have very good luck in trying to find help. If you do manage to eliminate that favorite, you will definitely get people to sit up and take notice, but you still have to be careful.
"The overseers don't like it when an acolyte breaks their toys."
"Most people with power don't," Avaryss said thoughtfully.
"Who was the top dog when you two left? Who did the overseers favor?"
"Ghuur," Taya said with a shudder.
"Yeah," Nass agreed, "Ghuur."
"Who is Ghuur?" Avaryss inquired.
"Tremel's most recent favorite, real nasty piece of work, the overseer loved him."
Taya shuddered.
"Nass tried to deal with him, before we left for Butcher's Clearing, but the plan fell through."
"Really," Avaryss said, her interest suddenly peaked.
"What happened," she asked her ally, "What did you do?"
The Inquisitor's daughter sighed.
"I convinced five novices to attack him, out in the Valley of the Dark Lords. I promised them my aid and patronage if they succeeded."
Avaryss gave her a wry smile.
"I take it they didn't?"
"No," Nass frowned, "they did not. Ghuur killed three of them, the fourth he maimed, cutting off his arms and legs. The fifth ended up in a coma, may never walk again."
Nass pouted.
"It was five on one. Five, and still they failed. At the very least they could have wounded him."
She snorted.
"I should have chosen a better quality of minion."
"Any chance of what happened getting back to the overseer," Avaryss inquired, "Any chance the two survivors might talk.
Nass gave her a wicked smile.
"None," she answered, "The one in the coma suffered brain damage, severe damage. if he lives it is doubtful he will remember his own name, let alone mine. The limbless wonder, well, I made sure to silence him before I left for Butcher's Clearing, just in case."
She shrugged.
"Can't have someone talking out of turn, can I?"
The story and how it ended gave Avaryss pause. She knew Nass could be ruthless, but…
She had never attempted anything so brazen in the Clearing, if anything; it showed how high the stakes were for the students on Korriban. Being willing to go that far, to take that kind of risk…it was dangerous true, but worthy of respect.
Avaryss smiled.
"Not at all," she said, "You did the right thing."
She laughed lightly.
"I guess good help is very hard to find these days."
"Thanks," Nass smirked, "That means a lot."
"Don't mention it," Avaryss said.
Her mind was already working, moving faster and faster.
It seemed that Korriban might just be more dangerous than Butcher's Clearing or Fury 9 combined.
She needed to be careful.
After that, talk turned to more pleasant topics. As the alcohol flowed, the girl's inhibitions began to fade.
Taya decided they needed to do something to mark the occasion, to celebrate their good fortune.
Her idea was to do something permanent.
She thought they should all get tattoos.
"Nothing stupid," she giggled, her voice slurring slightly, "Sith Tattoos, glyphs that will help us focus our powers.'
She grinned widely.
"Plus, they are pretty, status symbols."
Nass smirked and hiccupped.
"I'm game if the Farm Girl is."
Avaryss giggled.
"Why not," she said, "Let's do something fun!"
Somehow the three girls found their feet, managed to make it out of the establishment, and find the nearest tattoo artist.
Avaryss almost backed out when they stood outside the door; she suddenly thought she heard her mother's voice in her head.
No Keera! No tattoos!
Fortunately, she had friends to keep her on track.
"Come along, Farm Girl," Nass cackled, "Your skin is not that pretty!"
"Yeah Avy," Taya slurred, "Live in the now."
After that, things got a little fuzzy.
She woke up an hour before their ship was scheduled to leave, hung over, with an extremely itchy back.
She dared pull up her tunic and look in the mirror, what she saw surprised her.
From her shoulder blades, right below the neck and straight down to her tailbone ran a series of Sith glyphs. She could feel her power radiating from them; clearly these symbols were old and very powerful.
She could not remember their meaning, but perhaps that was for the best.
What happens on the pleasure station should stay on the pleasure station.
Taya had chosen only to get one on the small of her back. Nass on her forehead in the style most popular by the high lords of the past, she said it was the symbol of her family, that it marked her as the heir of a noble family.
Neither Taya nor Avaryss could say if that was true.
Despite their revels from the night before and the pain from their new markings the trio did manage to make their shuttle. It brought them to the Harrower class dreadnaught, The Fearsome; it would be their escort to Korriban.
Avaryss shivered as she stepped off the shuttle and onto the hangar deck.
There were Imperials everywhere, carrying out their duties, most helmeted and armored. She found herself thinking about her brother.
Was he on a ship like this? Did he know what happened to our family?
She brushed those thoughts aside; Beric Lylos was Keera's brother, not Avaryss'.
She needed to stop focusing on this. Whatever connection they had was fading. Once she was full Sith their blood ties would not matter.
The Sith would be her family, her brothers and sisters.
She tried to focus on that.
The Fearsome made good time, in no time at all; they were dropping out of hyperspace, and being escorted back to the shuttle by some nameless ensign.
Avaryss had been grateful to go.
She had been sensing something in the Force. She was not sure what it was, but it…it left her feeling…uneasy.
She was glad to be getting off. It was probably just nerves, but still…
She would be glad to be off this ship.
IOI
As the shuttle finally cut through the clouds, the surface of Korriban finally became visible.
Avaryss shivered with anticipation.
The planet appeared desolate, few lived on Korriban these days, only a small star port existed to service the needs of the Academy, and that was far from what a person could call civilization.
As the academy came into view, so too did the wind worn statues left by the Empire's founders. Great statues of bowing subjects led up to the Academy entrance, an entrance covered by anti-ship batteries.
As the shuttle made its final approach the sheer size of the pyramid that made up the academy left her spellbound. It was far wider that the tower on Butcher's Clearing, and nearly as tall. The modern Sith has made improvements of course, a landing pad and greeting area of some sort.
The shuttle touched down lightly. The three Acolytes gathered their few belongings and disembarked.
As soon as her feet touched the surface, Avaryss felt a sort of hum, the world sang of dark power, and secrets long hidden.
She smiled cruelly.
My future is here, she thought.
Whatever happens, my time here will shape everything to come. Everything!
She held her head high, and stepped forward. A man in a military style uniform was awaiting them; she could feel his power even from here.
It seemed they were expected.
Good.
It was time to get started.