CHAPTER FORTY NINE
THE FOUNDRY
Mako had left the control room, her mind trying to wrap around all the differing thoughts on just what her brother-in-law was going to do. Necrolis had actually smiled at her. Any time that man smiled it meant he was about to come up with some insane plan. Face it girl, Mako thought, they usually tend to work out pretty well too. Given the recent attack, their present circumstances, and the still unresolved issues of their origins, this was not some simple fight against the Jedi or Republic forces. Unnerved and burdened by what she knew and could not talk about, Mako let her steps carry her to the upper levels of the foundry to the observation deck. Entering the large space, Mako looked up and smiled, watching the stars shine down back at her, asteroids floating by and rotating about.
"Looks like this is the place to be." A voice stated, startling Mako.
Asha Lightstar smiled from where she leaned on the rail that ran about the edge of the observation deck. Beside her, Mako noted the republic medic, Elara. Seems I'm not the only one wanting a quiet corner to think, Mako thought as she smiled and waved to the other women and moved to join them.
"Seems so." Mako said to the jedi as she reached them, moving to lean on the rail herself.
"Sometimes misery just loves company." Elara added and winked to Mako. "You look like you have a lot on your mind there."
Mako nodded to the woman and shrugged. There was little she could really say, sworn to keep quiet as she was. Necrolis was clearly playing things close to the vest. Looking at the other two women, Mako let her thoughts turn to what was bothering both of them. With Asha, it was a likely guess it had to do with the desire to avenge Kyl'thanis. After their fight with the recent group of bounty hunters, Asha had escorted them off the Foundry, but Mako wondered if something more had happened during the fighting with the jedi. With Elara, Mako knew little about the woman and had no idea.
"Just the usual. I feel tired by it all, frustrated." Mako finally responded to Elara.
"I can understand that. This constant threat is starting to wear us out." Asha remarked, frowning and then letting out a heavy sigh.
"Kamthar was banged up pretty bad this time around." Elara said, looking at each of the women before turning her gaze up to the view overhead. "Sooner or later our luck is going to run out."
Asha scowled at the woman's words, though she knew Elara was absolutely correct. They had been pretty fortunate right from the start. With the means at his disposal, and forces that he could bring to bear on them, Darth Marr sooner or later would have his way. Worse, Asha suspected that if what they had learned leaked out, they might well be facing being silenced by the Republic as well. In the end they were all expendable after all.
"We need to end this, somehow, some way." Asha stated quietly.
Mako nodded in agreement to the jedi's words. Absently she chewed on her lip, the comment once again making her wonder just what Necrolis was up to. It was a shared sentiment, one he was acting on, even if he was keeping it very quiet from the others.
"I need a drink." Elara finally blurted out making them all grin and chuckle.
"I hear you there on that one!" Asha answered back.
"You both are going to have to have a few for me as well." Mako remarked, hand patting her swollen belly lightly, causing Asha to laugh again.
"Come on, let's go find that drink and unwind for the time being."
KORRIBAN
Pyrannus sat comfortably in the chair, legs outstretched and crossed, her feet resting on the small table before her. The light beige eyes of the cathar slowly tracked the pacing of her sister, a bemused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. They had met with Darth Marr and returned to Pumirra's quarters, after which they had discovered Blackheart was missing and the weight of their master's words pressing to the fore of their thoughts. For Pyrannus it was simple. The fight was coming; worrying over it would do nothing to change the wait until the moment arrived.
Pumirra had taken the news their enemies were coming to them with a hint of trepidation. When Blackheart was not in the room, and with no idea where he had gotten off to, she had only become more agitated. She had, after all told the zabrak to stay close by. Pacing across the lush carpeted floor, the cathar growled and provided her sister with a measure of amusement.
"Your plaything will be back soon enough, sister." Pyrannus finally said hand waving dismissively as she spoke. "I think he's enamoured of fucking you."
Pumirra growled deeper and lower as she stopped mid-step and turned to glare at her sister. Even as she went to speak, Pyrannus threw up both her hands to ward off the angry retort.
"Oh don't get yourself so worked up. You'd think you were in love with him the way you are carrying on."
Pumirra gave a sharp snort of derision and resumed pacing, intentionally turning away from her sister. The last of her words had hit too close to home for her liking. Pyrannus was always guarded, always keeping everyone at arms length. To her, sex and intimacy were not at all the same. Sex was something she would indulge in, but intimacy and letting someone get that close, it would never be allowed. To her it was nothing more than a weakness and foolishness. Pumirra knew all too well her sister would mock her, use it against her, and likely try and even ruin things in the name of helping her. Pumirra knew such, just as she knew that she was in fact in love with Blackheart.
"Do stop pacing." Pyrannus yawned and shook her head as her sister kept the steady steps coming.
"I'm thinking, it helps." Pumirra grumbled back, but after a moment more she stopped and moved over to sit on the table edge.
"About what?"
"You know what." Pumirra frowned at her sister. "I don't like this at all. They can't be that stupid to come here to do what? A frontal assault? To take down the Council or just Marr?"
"Does it matter?" Pyrannus asked of the other cathar.
"Yes, and it should to you as well." Pumirra rose to her feet, turning to lean on the table and look hard at Pyrannus. "I think we are being played, sister."
Pyrannus laughed at her sister's words. She was partly pleased her sister had been paying attention enough to notice the facts, but also amused with the fact she was so outraged at being a pawn. They had always known they were such. It came with being sith, the mecanations and games, the lies spun to get what you want. Have we not been lying about being Marr's loyal little pet cathars to get ourselves ahead all this time, she thought?
"Of course we are. We are but pawns in the greater scheme." Pyrannus answered locking her gaze with her sister. "And while others play their games, we play ours."
Pumirra nodded at her sister's words, rising back up and still frowning. A thought forced its way into the fore of her mind and she studied her sister carefully. All she knew of her, the desire for power and station, the strength and deviousness of her, could she really trust her at all? Another thought followed quickly as Pumirra also then wondered if she could really trust Blackheart either.
"Do you have my back, sister?" Pumirra finally asked.
"Just like you have mine." Pyrannus answered without hesitation, watching as Pumirra nodded.
The academy holding area was dimly lit, the lighting having been dimmed through the night. There was no need to waste power on prisoners, and few would be present at such an hour anyways. Raistlis did not mind at all, and given he was the sole prisoner being held there, nobody else was about to complain. There had been others, but they had been quickly ushered out. Anyone resisting quickly became the victim of a jolt through the shock collars they had all been fitted with.
"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." Raistlis murmured to himself as he sat in his cell.
"The Force shall free me."
The sudden completion by a strange voice made Raistlis head come up and cast a look about. He had thought he was alone, as he had mostly been. Only a brief visit by Blackheart had broken up the isolation he had been enduring. Squinting in the low light, Raistlis located the speaker. Taking in the figure he noted the black and red armour, the large spikes that came off the shoulders, the drawn up cowl over the helmeted head. He knew who it was, there was no mistaking the Dark Council member.
"Lord Marr." Raistlis greeted, dipping his head towards the figure to be polite.
"An interesting way to pass the time, reciting the sith code." Marr commented as he moved closer to the cage and the young sith within. "You surprise me. It does not happen often."
Marr looked upon the sith in the cage with mixed feeling. On one hand he was a means to an end, a pawn in a greater game that might need be sacrificed for the greater good. On the other he could see the young one had great potential, and his lineage alone made him worthy to stand among his peers. What Marr could not know, was where his loyalties would lead him. Marr, as he always was, was well informed about Blackheart's earlier visit. Curiosity had brought Marr to speak with the prisoner, and that curiosity was now peaked further by overhearing him.
"You recite the words, but do you understand them young one?" Marr asked.
Raistlis eyed the man with a wary glance. This man was dangerous, he knew. A Dark Lord of the Sith, with power and station, one who could well manipulate and use people to whatever purpose best served him. He was behind everything, Raistlis knew. Loun had warned him all about Marr and he had not forgotten. With care he thought about how he might answer the question, taking his time even as Marr stood unmoving and silent, waiting for that answer.
"I understand well enough, to know to be true to who I am, what I am. To draw strength from pain, adversity, to nurture my hate." Raistlis finally said. "As I grow my strength I overcome what stands in my path, and in doing so, free myself of such petty things."
Marr listened and weighed the young sith's answer. It was not wrong, though narrow in focus. There was also no missing the underlying tone to his words that bespoke of what he was enduring and going through. Yes, Marr thought, he is being patient and holding in the anger and rage, fuelling himself for some future time to attempt his freedom.
"You have skill, and you have learned to temper your emotions to serve you." Marr noted aloud, watching the young man before him. "It is a shame you have been mislead and left to this end."
"I know who to blame and who put me here."
"Do you now?" Marr asked, a small smile tugging at his lips behind the metal of his helmet that hid his visage from view. "You think I am to blame. That you are stuck in this cell because of me?"
Raistlis frowned even as he nodded affirmatively, unsure if he should even say anything further to the man. There was something strange in the way Marr spoke, what he asked of him. It felt like he was probing for something, a weakness perhaps that he could exploit. Why was he even here, Raistlis wondered, knowing it could not be common at all for Marr to take such an interest in a mere prisoner, even one he deemed to be of some importance?
"I see." Marr answered seeing the nod from the man. "Shall I clear the air and relieve you of that notion? Or do you fear even talking to me?"
"I do not fear." Raistlis responded pointedly, giving the Dark Lord a hard stare.
Marr grinned and nodded, holding up a hand to wave away the angry response and look from the young sith. "You should not fear me, so this is good.
It is true I sought to capture and hold you and Blackheart both. Loun, against my wishes, worked with elements who could well damage or even destroy the Empire. Understand what is happening has that weight to it, young one. Loun aided enemies of the Empire, and in doing so was a traitor."
"So she is dead?" Raistlis said, voice low though he did his best to not show any emotion in asking such.
"No. Though in truth I am sure she wishes she were." Marr answered and shrugged. "Do you have any notion as to your importance, young one? Why Loun would be so foolish and cost herself dearly on your behalf?"
"What do you want?" Raistlis asked, cutting to the chase, sensing Marr was still angling towards something. "What are you after?"
Marr nodded at the questions that were returned to him. He is indeed quick of mind, Marr thought. Too much so, and very much like his father. The thoughts were not comforting, though it again showed why Marr should have taken an interest in the young sith. Follies of youth aside, if he could reach him, Raistlis could be nurtured into a great force for the Empire, he knew.
"What I want is what I always want, child." Marr answered. "I want to see the Empire not just survive, but flourish and grow. I want to continue to safeguard her against any and all enemies, even if it is from the very people who make up the Empire. And that is why all this is happening."
"What does that have to do with me, with my importance to you?" Raistlis asked.
"It concerns you greatly, Raistlis." Marr said, clasping his hands before him and standing and studying the sith, watching for how he would react. " It concerns you, as the son of the Emperor's Wrath, as the child of Necrolis Darkstar, and part of the Darkstar family that threatens us all."
Raistlis frowned and looked at the Dark Council member, shaking his head as he tried to grasp what had just been said. He knew Necrolis had stepped forward to sponsor him. Loun had told him it was because she had pushed and asked for a favour from a former student she had seen rise up the ranks. Shaking his head, Raistlis knew he could not believe a word he was being told. Marr would say anything to use him. Yet even as he thought such, it felt wrong to him. Marr can't honestly be telling the truth, could he?
"I see the doubt and questions in you." Marr said. "You are the son of Necrolis and Loun, Raistlis Darkstar. And I implore you to weigh and consider what I have told you. I do not lie, do not hide such from you. I merely ask you consider if your loyalty is not better served to the Empire instead of those who keep you in the dark about your own self."
"It can't be true." Raistlis whispered, shaking his head still as he thought about it and knew somehow deep inside what Marr had told him was the truth.
"Contemplate on such." Marr said turning to leave but stopping to glance back over his shoulder to the young sith prisoner. "I will return again and speak more with you."
THE FOUNDRY
Necrolis Darkstar left the control center, heading back to his quarters. He barely was focused on where he was walking, and almost got himself turned around twice before reaching where he wanted to go. Vette would be waiting for him, he knew. The thought of his wife made him sigh. Who would have guessed I'd fall in love and marry her, Necrolis thought and could not help but smile. It really did seem like another lifetime ago when his former master Baras had tossed the captured thief to him as a means to and end. Baras had even said to do with her as he pleased, keep her or kill her, the man could have cared less. Bet he regretted that when she put a blaster bolt in his ass, Necrolis grinned with the thought once more.
Standing outside his quarters, Necrolis stared at the dark greyish metal door, mind wandering to thoughts not just of Vette but his whole crew. His apprentice turned full sith, Jaesa Willsaam, Malavai Quinn who had put his own life on the line for him and paid a heavy price for it, Broonmark the big furry killing machine, Pierce the hardened trooper. They were as much family as any of the Darkstar line. They mattered to him. While he knew it left an opening and means to attack him, something Baras himself had tried through his other apprentice, Draagh, there was no way Necrolis would have changed such. Knowing that, he also knew there was nothing he would not do in order to protect them all.
Pressing the control, Necrolis walked in, feeling the weight of the moment on him and suddenly feeling drained. Moving in quickly, he went over to flop down in one of the chairs in their quarters, fingers finding and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Vette smiled seeing him, wondering what was happening that he looked drained so.
"Hey there." Vette said, rising from where she had been lounging on the bed, moving over to swing behind the chair, wrapping slender arms about Necrolis and nuzzling the side of his neck with her face.
"Mmm.. hey right back, beautiful." Necrolis said.
"Was starting to get worried, where'd you get off to?" Vette asked, moving about and sliding herself into Necrolis' lap, getting herself comfortable as she enjoyed the closeness of him.
"Just taking care of things." Necrolis said. "Trying to sort out what to do to end this."
Vette smiled softly and nodded at such. It was nothing out of the ordinary there, she knew. Necrolis would have shouldered the whole burden if he could have removed them all from the line of fire. He would fight, and if necessary die for the Empire and for those close to him. Not that she liked to dwell on the thought of Necrolis dying. If she had learned anything though it was not to worry about that, he wasn't that easy to get rid of.
"Well maybe what you need is to forget about it." Vette said, leaning in to let the breath caress over his cheek and neck as she spoke. "And I think maybe we can come up with something to occupy your time far better, no?"
Necrolis gave a low growl and winked at the blue skinned twi'lek before rising, grabbing his wife and carrying her over to the bed. Vette squealed and clung to him, afraid he might decide to toss her. Necrolis made to do just that only to find Vette had a firm grip about his neck and was not letting go. Arching an eyebrow he looked at her in slight confusion.
"Easy there, my lord." Vette leaned in and whispered in his ear as way of explanation. " Cant have you tossing me about in my.. fragile state!"
