1600 hours
Japrael system, high orbit over planet Onderon
On board the medical frigate Halifax.
Statistically, this operation was an absolute disaster; an 80% casualty rate, and seven hundred million credits wasted in ruined equipment and material, most of that coming from the cost of the Vengeance. Still, for no more then he'd committed to the effort, they'd achieved quite a lot. No incarnation of the Sith Empire had ever succeeded in taking Onderon, but he had. There was probably something to be proud of in there, but Kre couldn't see it.
All he saw was the letters of condolence he was going to have to write out to the families of the men who'd died to secure the planet in the name of the Empire. Kre was certainly starting to understand why so many Sith Lords of his time preferred to go the route of selfishness and conceit, it would definitely be easier. The more portentous members of the populace might have called these first world problems, but he could certainly think of special place for those people.
Looking out from the bridge, the planet below seemed pristine. Their swift action had done a great deal to ensure that the planet would escape largely untouched. Still, Kre remained unconvinced that these non-traditional insurgencies had much of a place in his Empire. A straight up fight on an actual battlefield was the Empire's forte.
Kre continued pacing around the bridge, sipping on his cup of tea, and reading the after-action report. Amusingly, shadows would occasionally shift behind him, jumping from one area to another. Such amateurish technique for someone who thought they stood a chance at assassinating a Lord of the Sith, let alone the Lord of all Sith. Not that this soon-to-be dispatched sad sack of an assassin don't have at least some skill. They did, after all, manage to get on board this ship.
He started estimating the time it'd take for the assassin to make her move. No doubt she thought herself fairly capable, Force sensitive, and being cloaked as she was. "3...2...1." Kre unsheathed his blade and brought it behind his back. The assassin's lightsabers bounced off the metal. "You're going to have to do better than that, I'm afraid." She screamed, and lunged again. To a lesser Sith, or a high ranking Jedi, she might have been a formidable opponent. This assassin was quick, agile, and experienced.
Still, Kre was a defensive specialist, who'd survived his fair share of assassination attempts in his life. This wild cat had claws, but she was no match for him. He deflected blow after blow, smiling ever so slightly as he played with her. Kre even went so far as to back up a few steps, just to see if the assassin might change her tactics, believing she had the upper hand. Not surprisingly, she did, hooking the two blades together to form a saber staff.
There was just one problem with the way she was using it, and it was about to get very humiliating for her. She spun the weapon around in front her, a neat light show, but completely pointless. When she stopped twirling the blades to strike, he made his move. The assassin's two handed grip left a nice portion of the middle of her weapon open, a nice portion that he grabbed in a vice-like grip. Dumbstruck, she stared at it for a second.
Recovering her senses, she first tried pulling on the blade. She was strong, of that he had no doubt, but his cybernetic arm was stronger than her muscles could ever be. When pulling and tugging failed, she tried something drastic; electrifying the hilt. It would have been very effective, were it not for the fact that she had a- lacking understanding of how to properly control the ancient practice of Force Lightning.
Kre kept the current traveling across his body, out of his blade, and right back into her. He could keep it from burning his flesh and bone, but she had no idea of how to defend herself from the attack without her weapon.
"That just isn't fair," the assassin said. She was panting, and smoke was rising from her body.
"Life so rarely is." Kre said, as he swung the assassin across the room, still holding on to her weapon. "Interesting design you have here. Most Sith choose to specialize in either dual sabers, or staff sabers. Not very often you see someone who tries to master both. Wonder if it has anything to do with it being nearly impossible?"
"I didn't exactly come here to talk." The assassin said in her sultry voice.
"No, but I think it's pretty obvious your assassination attempt has failed." Kre pointed out. He levitated the deactivated weapon above his palm spinning it. "Judging but the curve on the hilts, I'm guessing you were trained by Count Dooku." He felt the assassin's anger spike at the name. "Bit of bad blood, I take it?"
"He abandoned me to the Jedi." She hissed. "Left me to die."
"Not at all unexpected. So, I think it's safe, then, to say he didn't order you here to kill me. Who did?" Kre asked.
"I'm not telling you anything." She snapped. Kre chuckled at the bravado.
"Let me explain the situation you're in-" he waved his hand, realizing he didn't know her name.
"Ventress."
"Ventress, right. Well, Ventress, as you may have noticed, my forces have conquered Onderon. In doing so, we had a little run in with your old pal Dooku. It didn't work out well for him."
"How so?" Ventress asked. Kre levitated a bloody sack over to him, and dumped it on the floor. "By the Force." She whispered, partly impressed, partly horrified.
"Now, I can close the gap, and your head can join his, in under a second. With that in mind, perhaps you'd be a little more willing to not be such a bitch. I could make it worth your while."
"What do you want to know?" Ventress took off her helmet, revealing a white face, with purple-gray stripes coming down from the corners of her mouth.
"Who hired you?" Was Kre's first question.
"Someone high up in the Separatist's chain of command put a massive bounty on your head. We never got specifics, the details just said to bring proof of the deed to the Separatist bounty office on Raxus."
"I see. How many of you are there?" Ventress hesitated before answering the question.
"No one, it's just me."
"Bollocks." Kre said. "There's no way it was just you. Lying isn't a good way to endear yourself to me, Ventress. Try again."
"There are maybe eight of us. Myself, Cad Bane, Boba Fett, Aurra Sing, Bossk, Dengar, Twazzi, and Latts Razzi. They're spread out all over."
"I see." Some of those names were familiar to him, they had been responsible for the deaths of many on Mirial. "What is my bounty, out of curiosity?"
"High." Was all she said.
"How high?" He pushed.
"Two hundred million." She squeaked.
"That's it? Frankly, I'm insulted. Tell me, was it going to be an even split?"
"It was going to be, with a sixteen percent bonus to whoever landed the killing blow."
"An eight way split would come out to about twenty-five million credits. A bonus of thirty-two million on top? You'd have been living the high life- for about five seconds when you all started killing each other." Which Kre felt to be an accurate statement of the average bounty hunter's personal code of ethics and honor. Statistically speaking, they weren't known to share well with others. Unless, of course, those others were a long-standing part of their team.
"Yes, well, I prefer to try and keep a positive outlook towards the future."
"Hm. I'm sure there's more to that positive outlook then- Ahsoka?" The young togruta leaned up against a wall just inside the bridge, barely able to stand.
"Kre, my babies-" Setress stammered.
"What are you doing out of bed? You're in no shape to be walking around." Kre peeled the injured apprentice from the wall, helping her over to the captain's seat.
"I didn't want to be alone." She grunted. A long row of stitches scared her abdomen where the beam had stuck through her.
"What's a Jedi whelp doing here? And what did she mean by 'babies'?" Ventress hissed.
"Ventress," Setress panted. "It's been a long time." His apprentice held up her hand, curling her fingers inward. Ventress was lifted off the ground, grasping at her throat. "I think a little pay back's in order."
"Setress, release her." Kre ordered. Setress looked up at her, desperate and questioning.
"She's tried to kill me in the past."
"And now she's going to help us. Isn't that right, Ventress?" The pale woman nodded furiously. It was clear that she'd never experienced this new side of Setress.
"Fine." Setress released her grip, letting the bounty hunter drop, coughing and gasping for air. "Kre, the doctors told me-"
"Setress, not here." Kre quickly said, cutting her off. She looked like she was about to cry, but stayed her tongue. He squeezed her shoulder to try and reassure her.
"Seems like I've missed some pretty big developments while I've been gone." Ventress sneered at the couple. "Is the little padawan all grown up, and fighting for the Dark Side?"
"Shut up." Kre snarled. "We have more important things to do then sit here and tolerate your quips and jabs."
"I'm not sure what else you could want from me." Ventress said with a shrug.
"I assume you and your team had a rendezvous point?" Ventress nodded. "Good. I want you to gather your little team there."
"Why?" She asked, getting defensive.
"The why is irrelevant, just do it." He gripped the hilt of his sword, reminding her of the precarious predicament she was in.
"Fine." She activated a comlink, holding it up to her mouth. "This is Ventress, it was a tough fight, but I got him. Meet me at the ship in two hours." Several people responded to the positive. "There, happy now?"
"Where is this meeting place?"
"In the hanger." Ventress responded.
"You mean of this ship. She nodded. "Well, that's convenient. Go wait down there."
"You're not my master." She spat.
"No, I'm the guy you couldn't even touch, and who is giving you a chance to live, and make something of yourself. Perhaps that was the wrong decision?" Ventress huffed at his statement and stormed out. "Attention all personnel," he said into his own comlink, playing over the ship's intercom. "We have a stowaway on board heading to the hanger, do not attempt to stop or detain her. That is all."
"You can't trust her, Kre." Setress said, wincing. "She'll betray you at the first opportunity."
"Probably, but I doubt she'll do so before at least hearing me out. If she does, well, I have ways of making people regret their poor choices in life." He crouched down next to her, taking her hand into his own. "How are you feeling?" Stupid question, no doubt about to receive stupid answer.
"I- I'm not sure I can do this." She said.
"What? What is it?"
"Kre, I- I was- I was carrying twins." She sobbed. "They're dead, still born." He couldn't come up with any words. "They took pictures, sonograms, ultra sounds, and x-rays. They tried to hide them, but I made them show me. They- my children- our children, had pureblood features."
"That can't be, it's impossible." He was lying, of course, and it hurt him so very much. Still, he hoped that it would at least ease her suffering.
"Don't patronize me!" She yelled. "And don't you dare lie to me, not now. How long have you known?"
"You're right, I did know. I'm sorry Setress, but I wasn't going to tell you until they were born."
"How long have you known?!" She yelled again.
"A couple of days."
"And you weren't going to tell me? You bastard." She slapped him, hard, leaving deep cuts in his cheek. He should have felt like lashing back, but he didn't. In fact, she was right, he was wrong to hide this from her.
"You weren't sure what you were wanting to do, Setress. Your first ultra sound was only a week or two away, I wanted it to be a surprise."
"And what if I had decided I want to get rid of them, before ever finding out? Or even after? Would you have been okay with that?"
"No." He said, frankly. "Abortion was never allowed in the Empire, and I agree with the law makers. It's a disgusting practice, most of the time, but I would have accepted it. What happened to you was unforgivable, and I wasn't going to tell you that you have one. Honestly, I have never wanted to be a father. Not until I saw that I was going to be one, that is."
"I can't believe this." She said, burying her face in her hands. "You know, I used to think that it was all Ana's fault for cheating on you. Now that I'm getting to see the real you, I'm starting to see things differently." That hit a button. He had to employ every ounce of self control not to reach out and hurt her.
No, no she didn't do anything to deserve getting hurt by him. "You're right, I have issues and problems. I've never denied that, however, I own my mistakes. I own my bad decisions and my bad calls. Ana told me that she found her way to another man's bed because I wasn't there enough. You know what, maybe I wasn't, but if you think a minor mistake is worth cheating on someone over; then you have no business being by my side, as my lover or apprentice. You don't even belong in this Empire."
"What?" Setress asked, reeling back from the verbal blow. "Are you breaking up with me, and exiling me?"
"Setress, what happens next is up to you. I suggest you go spend some time and really think about how you feel. In the mean time, I have to try and find a way to deal with my lover being injured, and basically telling me I deserve the humiliation and pain of adultery, my children never seeing the light of day, and finding an inspiring way to tell a lot of men that they're going to die soon."
"I- I- I-" Setress stammered. She shot up from her chair, and hobbled as fast as she could out of the bridge. Kre stared into the void of space, a lone on the bridge again. Alone. That's how he always seemed to end up, alone. Maybe he was always supposed to be alone, but how could anyone live their life that way? In a fit of rage, he tore a console from its bank, and threw it across the room.
"Fuck!" He swore. He had no idea what he'd just destroyed. It could have been navigation, for all he knew, which could send the ship hurtling into the planet. He slammed his hand down on the holocommunicator's activator. "Get me Grand Moff Kilran, now!"
The image of the Grand Moff shivered to life. "My lord, it's good you called, there are two ambassadors here who-"
"Save it for another time, Kilran. Marshal all our available forces. Call in reserves from the new acquisitions; prepare to hit Raxus."
"The Separatist capital, my lord?" Kilran said with hesitation.
"Yes, the Separatist capital." Kre said in a snide and mocking tone. "Get to it!" He slammed his hand down again, ending the call. Something yet his hand, looking down he small a small droplet of liquid. He looked up, to see if something was leaking from the roof. Nothing. Another drop hit his hand, and there was something yet on his face. Feeling it, a trail had begun to flow. He, Kre, Emperor of the Sith, and veteran of more battles then most historians could name, was crying.
"To hell with it." He whispered, falling into a heap on the cold and unmoving metal floor of the bridge. "To hell with everything."
