They got a reaction.
Not long after sunrise the next morning, a recorded transmission was sent to their ship and forwarded to Sanguis' personal holo. She woke the others immediately and they reviewed it together. It was from the Padawan.
"Sith, I'm Jaesa Willsaam. My Master, Nomen Karr, has no idea I'm sending this message. Let's be real - we both know this isn't about us. Our masters pretend otherwise, but this is personal. You and I are only pawns in their private war, and those I care about are caught in the middle. It has to stop. I appreciate directness, and as merciful as your actions have been, it's time you stopped this passive-aggressive campaign. This message includes coordinates where I'll be waiting in my ship. Let's discuss this face-to-face. No more nonsense." It ended and the image of the dark-haired young woman disappeared.
Vette had been only half-awake when the message started, but she was fully awake now. "Wow, gotta give it to her - she's sure got guts."
"It could be a trap, my lord." Quinn had been fully awake from the start and was much less impressed. "Nomen Karr could have put her up to it."
"Hey, don't listen to Captain Paranoid here. I don't think it's a trap. I trust her."
"You trust easily, then, Vette," Sanguis said. "But it makes little difference. Captain, send a copy of the message to Darth Baras and prepare to depart for the coordinates given."
Quinn was already moving. "Yes, my lord. Right away."
The journey didn't take long; Jaesa's ship was sitting about halfway between Republic and Hutt space, right in a hyperspace lane, not even a day from Alderaan. It seemed to be empty, but Sanguis immediately knew it was not. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing they'd soon find out.
No one met them at the airlock. No one was in the halls they walked slowly, heading for the bridge. Not until they were about to open the bridge door itself did they finally hear a voice behind them. It wasn't a woman's voice.
"Well, well, we're going to have to thank Nomen Karr after all. The Sith showed." Two young men approached them, one tall, dark and heavily-built, the other slimmer, with red hair. It was the red-head who had spoken first.
"Stand down, Sith," said the other. "The Padawan you seek is not here. Master Karr discovered her plan and talked her out of it."
"It's not your day. You were expecting one lowly little Padawan to crush, and instead you get us." The red-head seemed quite gleeful about the whole situation; his companion was much more controlled.
Sanguis turned on them slowly. She was not in the mood to be merciful to Jedi today. But simple violence wouldn't satisfy her - no, not this time. She didn't want to kill someone. She wanted to break them. "Two Jedi instead of one. I see." She focused immediately on the red-head.
"I am Ulldin, this is Zylixx. We are fully trained Jedi Knights, and more than your match. You should submit," the taller one continued calmly.
"Of course," said Zylixx, "we have yet to encounter a Sith who had the sense to surrender. You all seem bent on having us destroy you."
Sanguis kept her gaze fastened on Zylixx. "Admit it, you'd be disappointed if I gave up."
"Not at all. We don't go around picking fights." She transferred her attention to Ulldin.
"Then why are you here, Jedi, demanding my surrender? I have no quarrel with you." That seemed to give the taller one pause, but Zylixx pushed on.
"I wouldn't trust it if the Sith surrendered. I prefer the sureness of death." That earned him a warning glance from his companion.
"Indeed? What an odd attitude for a Jedi. But it is exactly what I would expect from a Sith. Perhaps we two have more in common than you do with your friend here."
"Shut. Your. Mouth." The red-head moved forward menacingly.
"Zylixx, remain calm. The Sith is just trying to unbalance you. Don't let this get under your skin."
Sanguis kept pushing. "Of the two of us, it is clear that I am the more serene, the more grounded. The better Jedi."
Zylixx was starting to fume. "No... you won't goad me like this, Sith. I... I can control my emotions."
"Yes, stuff down your feelings, deny your true nature. It's a ticking time bomb."
"I will be calm when you're dead!" the Jedi shouted.
"Zylixx, get a hold of yourself." Even Ulldin was starting to sound alarmed.
Sanguis maintained the barrage. "He knows the truth. I think he wants to fall."
"Liar! I'm not weak like you. We simply meet force with force!"
"Force with force?" Sanguis sounded amused. "I was invited here and came in good faith, seeking only conversation. You are the ones who turned to violence."
Ulldin was looking more and more uncertain. "Zylixx, we assumed the Sith would engage, as all others we've faced have. If that's not the case..."
"No! This Sith will hunt Nomen Karr and his Padawan to the ends of the galaxy unless we stop her! It is for the greater good!"
Sanguis crossed her arms. "I refuse to strike the first blow. What will you do now, Jedi?"
Ulldin looked back and forth between the Sith and his increasingly unbalanced companion. "I... will go," he said at last, reluctantly. "Farewell, Sith. Come, Zylixx, before you do something you will regret." He turned and walked away. Zylixx cursed him as he went and Sanguis laughed.
"You are my brother. We are the same. Give in to your anger. Attack and let me see your true colors."
"No! No more talk. You die, Sith!"
He went after her with blind, unbridled fury. He was easy prey. She had him disarmed and on the ground in less than a minute. He backed away from her desperately, holding a hand out in front of him in a gesture of surrender.
"I yield! I yield to you! Blast Ulldin for leaving me to face you alone."
Sanguis stopped. She looked at the Jedi for a long moment, then put her lightsabers away. "You can't count on anyone who follows the Jedi Code," she said, almost pityingly.
"You are right. It's infuriating." Zylixx sat there, breathing heavily. "Your strength is undeniable. Is there such power in the dark side?"
"I leave you to ponder your future," is all the reply he got. They turned and left him there, alone.
When they called Darth Baras to tell him what had happened, he answered immediately - an unusual occurrence. Sanguis gave him a short report but he was much more interested in his own news.
"Apprentice, the timing of this call is fortuitous. I was just about to contact you with news. Not long after you received a transmission from the Padawan, I received one from the Master - calling me out, if you will. Challenging me to face him to the death." Baras sounded as if he found this very, very amusing. "Our enemy has become desperate. Your efforts to disrupt his precious Padawan have unnerved him. He seeks to turn the tides. Karr fails to understand - I have outgrown our personal dispute. He expects me to jump at the chance of strangling him. He will be unprepared for you."
Sanguis bowed. "You honor me, my lord. Where shall I go?"
"The duel is to happen on Hutta, at the site of Nomen Karr's betrayal so long ago. A fitting place for this to end. Defeat him, but do not kill him. His torment will reach out to his Padawan. He will be the bait that brings her to you. I have foreseen it."
"I will see it done."
And so they set out on the last leg of their very long journey. Hutta was several days away from their current location - normally not a problem, but this time, for Vette at least, it was a rather tortuous experience. The other two had gotten very quiet. At first she thought it was because of their unsettling encounter with the two Jedi, but she soon realized there was more to it than that. Quinn refused to talk to Vette at all; he wouldn't even engage in their usual arguments. Sanguis spent all her time practicing. Concentrating. It took Vette almost the entire three days to finally catch her in a quiet moment, but when the moment came, she pounced on it.
"What happened between you two?"
"Hmm?" Sanguis dragged her eyes away from the hilt she was cleaning.
"Y'know, you and him. The professional fun-killer back there. I mean, one minute you were like this." She moved her hands in close circles around each other. "Now, suddenly, you're like this." She threw her hands as far apart as they could go. "What happened?"
Sanguis sighed and set the hilt down. "I don't know. I'm still trying to understand him." She put her hands together and rested her chin thoughtfully on her interlaced fingers. "He has endless confidence in himself within his accustomed spheres, but none outside them. And whenever I draw him out a little he seems to think that he's... failing the Empire. Perhaps he believes that giving less than one hundred percent of himself to his work - dedicating even one percent of his life to anyone or anything else - is unforgivable."
"But doesn't the Empire want - I mean, isn't it important to have a lot of little future Imperials running around, if you know what I mean?"
"I do." She laughed ruefully. "And if all I wanted were children, he might, for the sake of the Empire, actually be willing to give them to me."
"What?! That's weird. You know that, right?" Vette shook her head in disgust. "Seriously, you Imperials are- never mind. Forget about him. He'd never love you more than the Empire anyway."
"Vette, I don't want him to love me more than the Empire. I am one woman. The Empire is millions. I just want..." she paused for a long time, then sighed. "I don't know. I just want... him."
The Twi'lek groaned. "Don't tell me you've fallen for that stuffy, puffed up Imperial bag of wind."
"Would it matter? It's all in the past now." Sanguis brought out her blades again. "Time to look ahead. Hutta, and whatever comes after."