For the next three days they practiced using the Sith crystal. As with building their first sabers, attuning themselves to the red crystal took some time but once done, they were able to use the device to share and focus power without the boundaries between their emotions and memories collapsing. It was a completely different experience than the first time they used the Sith crystal.
Satisfied that the results were up to the task at hand Ty'karus had them both fashion an item of jewelry that would house the red crystal. They used only the force to form the item. Once completed both women were exhausted. They slept and Ty'karus spent his time in silence sitting on the floor in the room with them. Happy to listen to them breathe as he meditated and ran over his plan, again and again. He calculated as many variables as he could think of. Finally when all aligned in his mind he picked one and committed to it, casting all others aside. There was no fear no room for doubt. Everything hung in the balance and there was little room for error.
When they rose in the morning they could feel the determination in their master. Valenya and Akita woke him from his meditation and forced him to sleep. They showered and performed their daily routine of exercises.
Hours later the ships destination alarm sounded. Akita killed it immediately. She and Valenya had agreed to let him sleep for a few more hours before waking him. They organized the ship and checked on Kwiee. He was sitting in the lounge reading the news on a data pad. He ignored them as they sat and had breakfast.
Ty'karus entered the lounge looking rested. He had showered, shaved and now wore his black and red Sith garb. He did not speak, but smiled at both of them, gave them a kiss and grabbed a meal replacement bar from the kitchen then headed to the bridge. They followed leaving Kwiee alone with the news and his meal.
On the bridge Ty'karus was piloting the ship towards Nal Hutta's moon Nar Shaddaa. Sensing his mood and thoughts the women took the other seats. They sat in silence as the ship made its way through the void. Ty'karus watched the navigational computer readout. 'Just a few more minutes.' He thought.
The minute's ticked down and he activated the communication system and keyed in his code. A painful moment later the system confirmed remote connection established and he watched as his interceptor's computer acknowledged his code. The screen now presented him with his ship's log. There were a few messages but no boarding activity and the security system showed nominal across the board as did air supply and electricity. He had long ago learned that many intruders would have the skill and sense to slice the security system but very few were smart enough to top up the oxygen tanks or modify the life support sensors. In the event of an intrusion the life support systems would show that oxygen had been used and the airlock cycled.
He began the landing cycle and signaled for Akita to take the controls. He waved to Valenya and she followed him off the bridge. As soon as the door shut he slammed her against the wall and kissed her passionately, he let his hands caress her as he pushed himself against her. She responded and they stood there for several minutes locked in an embrace. He smiled at her.
"I wanted to apologize for the last few days. We have had almost no time together since..." He smiled at her, she smiled back. "...Since I first held you, felt your warm body against mine. Since we first joined." He kissed her again. "I promise if we live through this I will make time for you my love." She kissed him but said nothing. There was nothing she could say. She could feel his need to maintain focus, she knew that all their lives hung in the balance.
He let her go and left her standing in the hallway. The landing alert sounded and her stomach told her that the ship was decelerating. She returned to the bridge and stood next to Akita. Akita looked at her.
"Wow what was that, no don't tell me I know what that was." She giggled. Valenya blushed and watched as the ship entered the hangar. They were back on Nar Shaddaa.
Ty'karus insisted on going alone. He told his apprentices to stand by with this ship ready to go on a moment's notice.
"I will leave my comm unit open and broadcasting. If there is trouble you will take the ship and go. Head for a remote section of the republic and live your lives in peace." They had protested but he made them promise. Kwiee had never seen anything like it in his life, well not from a Sith. Somewhere in the back of his mind hope grew. 'Perhaps this Sith can be trusted.' He thought to himself.
Kwiee stood at the airlock. He was glad to see the Sith go. He was also happy to be back in clean clothes with a blaster strapped to his side. This Sith had given him hope that Weland may one day be free. They had only spent a few nights together and Kwiee knew it was possible it had meant more to him than Weland but he still wanted to see him free.
Valenya and Akita retracted the ramp and locked the airlock as soon as their master went out of view. The three of them headed for the bridge. They took their seats and prepared the ship for a hasty take off. Now there was nothing left to do but wait. They sat and listened to the comm noise coming from their master's wrist communicator.
They listened as he passed through customs unchallenged.
"Wait Sith aren't checked by Imperial customs? I should have known. If we make it through this we really should talk. There are some amazing financial opportunities you folks are missing out on." He chuckled. Both women gave him a look, recognizing it he sat quietly.
Minutes ticked away. They continued to listen as he passed through the port authority area and then into spaceports main area and then as he took the lift down to the hangar segregated for Sith traffic.
"Akita calm yourself it would not do to have your head explode." Valenya smiled. Akita exhaled loudly then closed her eyes. Valenya relaxed as she felt Akita's tension fade into the background.
There was a familiar sound on the comm, it was the interceptors ramp lowering. Then the door hissed open.
"Hello old girl. Did you miss me?" Ty'karus said out loud. Valenya and Akita were all ears.
"He's safely aboard." Akita said. They listened as he made his way to the bridge. Clicks, beeps and other computer sounds.
"Ok let's see if you have anything interesting to tell me." Kwiee looked at the two former Jedi and wondered how such power could reside in two beautiful and apparently high strung young women. 'Mysteries of the universe I guess.' he laughed to himself.
"All good here. I will prep for takeoff see you soon." The comm went dead. Valenya and Akita breathed a sigh of relief.
"I will takeoff as soon as you're out of the hangar." Kwiee took the command seat as soon as Akita vacated it. He watched the security panel, the monitor showed both women exit the hangar. He keyed the ramp, locked the doors and began his ascent. As soon as the ship cleared the atmosphere he relaxed. Kwiee keyed the communication panel, entered a coded frequency and waited. A moment later there was a response.
"I need to speak with Lord Mott, I have some information for him." Kwiee smiled.
Akita and Valenya exited the hangar, they each carried a pack with what few items they needed from the ship, not that either had brought much with them in the first place. They made their way through the hangar hallway to the lift and then across the public area to the Imperial hangars. They ignored the looks, the quiet and not so quiet comments from passersby.
They paused as the lift made its way to their location. The doors slid open and they stepped in. there were three imperial officers in the lift with them. Any initial leering came to an abrupt halt when they saw the marking on Akita's exposed shoulder and the lightsaber on Valenya's waist.
The lift opened and they waited, letting the officer's exit first. Akita was about to run but Valenya grabbed her by the wrist.
"Be mindful sister, there are eyes everywhere. We are Sith, we belong here, we don't run." She said quietly from between her teeth. Akita gave her an apologetic look and they sauntered the rest of the way.
The Hangar crew were onsite, apparently refueling the ship and checking the exposed landing gear. The two crewmen standing near the ramp fell back as the women approached. An imperial port officer walked down the ramp, he was conversing with a technician who followed behind him. The officer noticed them as they reached the base of the ramp and gave them a quick salute in passing.
They were both startled by a loud horn from a cargo droid. They turned to see the droid delivering a new load of missiles. They headed up the ramp and through the open door into the ships main area. They had to move to avoid the number of people moving through the ship. Ty'karus spotted them and waved them to the large table near the holo comms. He was looking over a set of schematics with a man in a suit, next to him was a woman in technical fatigues.
Valenya gave Akita a confused look.
"Don't look at me! I'm clueless." The look on her face was just as confused. They moved to the table taking up positions where they could see their master and the schematic at the same time.
He didn't look up. He pointed to the top sheet of the schematic.
"Akita for the remainder of the day you will review this material and oversee the external work and modifications. Valenya you will review this material." He pulled the top sheet back and pointed to the sections of the next sheet. "You will oversee the work for this section and those three. She gave them a glance and it was clear that her assigned areas dealt with most of the internals save the bridge and engine room.
"Yes master." They said in unison. The man and woman talked for a moment then the woman bowed before Akita and pointed toward the exit and they left together. The man turned to Valenya
"my lord if you will join me at the holo terminal we can review the options we can provide." Over the next few hours neither Akita nor Valenya had time to talk to each other or their master. They were too busy overseeing the changes and updates to the ship. Some five hours later Ty'karus gathered them up with a snap of his fingers. He left the hangar and headed to the lift without a word. From the hangar he proceeded at a quick pace to the closest luxury hotel. On Nar Shaddaa luxury was an art form.
The muscular and scantily clad male concierge showed them to their room and left them with a deep bow. The door shut behind them and Valenya let out an exhausted sigh, she threw up her hands and was about to say something when Akita grabbed her and kissed her hard on the mouth. Valenya's eyes went wide. Ty'karus found the data port he was looking for and quickly plugged the slicing device home. A moment later and the audio unit was in place. He signaled Akita with a cough and she let go of Valenya. Valenya stepped back speechless. Her face clearly showed surprise and before she could speak Ty'karus raised a hand.
"My fault all my fault." He had his hands out in mock surrender. Akita was clearly amused.
"What?! Did you tell her to do that?" Valenya blustered.
"I needed to get the surveillance gear in place before you said anything, Akita is familiar with the procedure but I failed to mention it to you before now. Akita was just being cautious, and giving the security techs something to smile at." He chuckled
Akita removed her robe and let it drop to the floor. She looked around the room and gave a low whistle. The suite was huge it had a large glass balcony that let the neon lights of Nar Shaddaa stream through. There was a large bar area and a sunken tub in one corner. The suite was open concept in that it had no separating walls or partitions save for the bathroom. On the other side of the bed there was an extra-large walk in shower with nine shower heads by Akita's count, situated in the roof and each side. The round bed was huge by any standard.
Valenya stood with her hands on her hips.
"Ok will one of you please tell me what's going on? And why we are not following Kwiee back to Drommund Kaas?" she fumed. Akita raised her hand.
"Oh and when you're done with her question I have one Master." She gave him a wicked smile.
Ty'karus sat down on one of the large chairs and pulled off his boots, as they hit the floor he gave a satisfied sigh.
"Kwiee sold me out the moment we left him alone with the ship's comm unit." He rubbed his feet. Valenya and Akita exchanged worried looks. Then Valenya smiled at him.
"You knew he was going to do that. In fact you set him up to think it was his only option." Ty'karus raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You flat out told him that given your profession there was nothing you could say that would allay his fears and then you told him to trust you." Valenya smiled, when he did not deny it, her expression clearly showing her satisfaction.
"But why?" Akita asked.
Ty'karus now in bare feet stood and pulled off his sash.
"Because the moment I reached this ship I contacted my master and his security chief." He pulled off his shirt and sat back down. Valenya and Akita exchanged looks then Akita smiled.
"You sold him out. You told them where to find the recording device that Kwiee planted." He gave her a smile and she sat back trying to puzzle out the rest.
"You implicated Volith at the same time didn't you?" Valenya asked. Ty'karus smile vanished, a look of genuine surprise replaced it.
"Bravo but what would make you jump to that conclusion." He was impressed but the inquisitor in him was sounding alarms. Two apprentices that know you this well is always a bad thing it was saying. He calmed himself.
Valenya finally took a seat and paused as she let her body sink in and enjoy it.
"The way you talked to Volith, you knew he was newly promoted within your master's household but you encouraged him to have thoughts of killing your master. You practically promised he would go unchallenged." Akita interrupted shouting
"You recorded the conversation." She smiled at him.
He frowned and sat quietly for a while.
"Most impressive, both of you." They both smiled. Valenya frowned a moment later.
"But what happens to Kwiee?" she asked. Ty'karus was surprised and encouraged by her concern.
"I told my master that it would be best if we kept his interrogation internal. Given how it would look if others found out that this had been allowed to happen in his house, he agreed. So for now Kwiee is locked up but alive. The security chief is most certainly dead by now." He said quietly.
"And the ship, all the work the changes?" Valenya asked quizzically.
"All immediately charged to my master. All very open. If he were planning my death he would simply have summoned me home. I am unable to decline after all. We will be here for three days, if I am not summoned home prior to the work being completed I can assume things are safe. Well as safe as they can be when we are talking about Sith apprentice and master." He said openly.
"So what's next?" Valenya asked. Akita wore a pout on her face and Ty'karus looked to her.
"Yes?" he asked, Aktia smiled
"My question was next." Akita offered, Ty'karus nodded. "When were you going to tell me Valenya was such a good kisser" Akita's smile threatened to split her face. Valenya gave her a look and was going to leave the room when she realized there was nowhere to go and hiding in the bathroom was a padawan reaction and beneath her. So she decided to take the high road and sat quietly. Ty'karus was laughing quietly to himself.
A moment later he stood and removed his remaining garments. Naked he stood and stretched, then headed to the walk in shower. He set the temp and stepped inside. The apprentice's watched him for a while then seeing his smile Akita joined him, Valenya was impressed with how fast Akita could remove her clothes.
Valenya sat and watched them for a while, she recalled the conversation she and Akita had shared. Part of her suggested that this was wrong and she should not have to share this man. It was the Chiss part of her she was sure, but it took a back seat to the part of her that knew the truth. They would never have normal lives, in fact it was possible that they would not have much of any kind of life. That they should be denied enjoyment, love, happiness because it did not fit in with what was normal, simply made no sense to her. That Akita acted like an adolescent sometimes infuriated her and that the man she loved encouraged it also vexed her. In the end it did not matter, what mattered is how she felt about him, how she cared for Akita and how nice it was to feel anything at all.
Valenya stood and slowly began removing her clothes, as she did she noticed that both Akita and her master were watching her from the shower, she took her time getting undressed. The last item sitting on the floor, she swayed her hips as she made the walk to the shower and joined them.
They spent the next three days in the suite enjoying time together, exploring feelings and the simple pleasures life has to offer. Ty'karus encouraged them with kind words and love. He also spent hours teaching them to think like a Sith without holding the dark side. It was easier for Akita but Valenya was learning and continued to make insightful observations.
Late on the third evening Ty'karus received notification that the work was completed and his ship was ready. They collected their gear, took a meal together, they talked and laughed. When it was time he gave them a look reminding them that from this point forward including the trip back. They were Sith. They would practice as if their lives hung in the balance, which they all knew was true.
This was to be the last quiet trip together or the beginning of a new life with possibilities. For that reason they needed to be focused from this point forward. There was little room for error. They stood by the door, they shared a last smile and left the room.
The imperial officers exited the lift and made casual conversation as they walked down the hallway. They noticed as one that something changed, something dark was nearby. They paused, hands flexed and instinctively moved to their sidearm. One of the suite doors opened, a man stepped out shuddered visibly and stepped hastily back in the room.
They came around the corner as one person, in step. A black and red clad Sith followed by two beautiful women, one a Twi'lek, the other Chiss. The officers slammed themselves up against the wall eyes locked on the opposing wall salutes in place. The Male Sith ignored them but the Chiss female gave them a sneer. Both men remained frozen in place until the lift door slid shut behind the three Sith.
"Whew, well that settles it I'm checking out and finding another hotel. You?" the other officer just nodded.