Chapter 67: Glory
The connection between teacher and pupil was strong.
In the past, Avaryss had been able to hide things from her master, actions that she did not want him to know about. Her taking over of TCS for example, that secret had led to the young apprentice to build a vast fortune since she had made her deal with the Late Sego Thun's servant droid.
This time, however, she had no defense; her master had used their connection to monitor her progress. He was likely even now meditating in his chamber aboard the Terror, reaching out to her through the bond they shared.
Her decision to defy his direct orders had not gone unnoticed, not this time.
Darth Feer was not pleased.
Her world had faded away, she could not move or see the real world; she had been pulled completely into the Force, into the connection she shared with her master.
Pain and fury awaited her there.
It was now…all she knew.
She could barely think; her mind was both afire and at the same time being squeezed like it was stuck in a vice.
All she could see was her master's face, his cold disapproving gaze.
She could not even look away.
"Why must I always be disappointed," Feer's voice echoed through her mind, his words were lashes stinging her thoughts, like a whip that in the real world would have cut her flesh.
"Why must those that I take as my first apprentice always disappoint me? Why must I be forced to always punish those who serve me?"
Avaryss tried to struggle, to draw on her rage and free herself. Unlike in the past, she was surprised to discover that Feer's grip was not as total as it once would have been, she was able to push back…some of the pain at least, enough to think again, if nothing else.
Feer did not see to acknowledge that, if he would even care. He thought he had her completely at his mercy.
Sadly, he had just enough.
She was stronger than she had been in the past, but still not strong enough!
The realization of that infuriated her.
I've given everything to you, she wanted to say, I've obeyed your orders and slain your enemies, but this time…you were wrong. We could not risk this weapon falling into the hands of our enemies, or being released in an uncontrolled environment, it could have meant the end of us all. It could have been the end of the Empire itself.
She wanted to say those words, but all that came out through their connection was…
UGHHHHHHHH!
Feer's gaze narrowed, she felt the vice tighten, she felt his grip growing stronger, threatening to push her mind down into the dark, into the place that he had sent before…the first time he had punished her.
Panic nearly robbed her of her resolve.
NO! PLEASE!
NOT AGAIN!
"I thought of you as a daughter," Feer continued, "I thought you worthy of carrying on my legacy! Is this how a child repays that love?! Is this how you reward your father?!
Hearing those words brought a snarl to Avaryss' lips.
A daughter?
A child?!
She knew what Feer had done to his real daughter; cast her aside like garbage when she did not have the Force potential he desired. She still intended to make use of that one day, and would if she survived this.
Once again his words gave her the fuel she needed; it fed her rage and hate. She continued to armor herself in the dark side, to push back her master's iron will.
I will not be whipped like a defenseless youngling, she thought.
I am Avaryss! I am…DARTH Avaryss!
I am not your child, my master!
I'm your future executioner!
She discovered that she could think again, she was still in great pain, but it was not enough to keep her thoughts from flowing, from her mind working.
She glared at her master's cruel visage.
Just a little more, she thought.
…Just…a little more hate!
"You will answer for this betrayal, apprentice! I will flay your mind! I will leave you an empty husk on the floor of that station! Let your Jedi friends see the power of Darth Feer. "
She sensed his dark amusement, his laughter.
"Will your little Jedi toy mourn your breaking? I…I could not feel it before, your…affection, your connection to this whelp. You masked it well, but now…now I see it. I can feel it.
The pain tried to increase, but Avaryss held it back, her own will and anger starting to shield her.
She hissed.
You will leave Fenn alone!
He is MINE!
She no longer felt helpless. She no longer felt lost.
She was angry, the darkside blazed around her, burning away her masters iron grip. She was not strong enough to free herself, but she was strong enough to resist.
She would not go into her punishment like an infant.
She would fight!
She would push back.
She WOULD endure!
"We will destroy the station," Feer said, "Your crew and those Jedi will die with you, but you will not be there to see it, your mind will be gone, lost in the darkness. You will be…"
Avaryss had heard enough.
She pushed back. She freed herself with her rage, her white hot hatred burning away the grip he had held her in.
In that place within the Force, that place where their connection was strongest. Darth Avaryss stood her ground.
She was not just angry.
She was rage.
FURY!
She stood before her master, not bowing like a frightened child, but as a lord of the Sith, unbent and proud. She was unyielding.
She was resistance itself.
She sneered.
SHUT UP!" she roared.
"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH OF YOUR CHILDISH PRATTLING!"
She sensed Feer's shock, his disbelief!
What?!
WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME!?
Her fingers curled into angry fists.
He would listen!
He would hear her!
"I've given everything to you," she spat back; "I've hunted your enemies, and destroyed their powerbases. I've served your agenda, even when I did not agree with your position. I was a good apprentice! I was loyal!"
Feer lashed her with his fury, but she remained unbowed, unbroken.
"You forget yourself girl! Who you were when I found you?!
"Keera Lylos is dead! I'm not her, not anymore."
"YOU ARE MINE!"
Her mind and soul twisted painfully, Avaryss nearly fell to knees, nearly buckled.
"YOUR LIFE IS MINE! I CAN END IT RIGHT NOW! I WILL END IT RIGHT NOW!
"Insolent child!"
She felt herself being pushed back again, but this time she stood firm, she did not simply allow herself to be swept way.
The pain was not just hurting her, not anymore, it was helping her focus, her rage and hate had a clear target, and she used that hate to hold her in this moment, to keep her safe and give her hope.
She smiled coldly.
Her hatred of Darth Feer had never faded; it had only grown over the months of her apprenticeship.
It was helping her now, shielding her.
He could hurt her, if he chose, but when he threatened her power, when he threatened Fenn.
That was too far, master, she thought.
YOU have gone too far this time.
Avaryss may have been his apprentice, his student, but she was also a Sith. She was a Dark Lord of the Sith.
A dark lord would not be caged or disciplined like some unruly child.
She was Darth Avaryss.
She would be free!
She would be unbound!
Go to hell you bastard! She wanted to shout.
Go and burn in eternal torment!
She wanted to say that to him, but she did not, she saw the way out of this, the way to return to her life and glory!
She laughed.
"GO AHEAD!" she shouted into the ether.
"KILL ME! GO RIGHT AHEAD!"
The smile she gave him was as cold and pitiless as the void of space.
"KILL ME…AND YOU WILL LOSE…EVERYTHING!"
She held her ground, resisted the gravity of his rage, resisted until…
She felt it lessen.
She felt Feer's mind again, their connection not simply a conduit of his fury, but of his thoughts.
It seemed that he had been listening after all.
His eyes appeared before her.
"What do you mean, girl? Speak plainly?"
She almost laughed.
Blind fool!
She laughed again.
"You stand at the door to your dreams, my master. Your apprentice hold the key, she is THE KEY!"
"I will retrieve the vaccine to the Fydon virus! I will kill Terrog's apprentice! I will OBILTERATE Terrog! I will return in victory, dripping in blood and glory, but it is YOU that will profit most from my success!"
She let the darkside carry her, no longer did Feer appear as just a pair of giant eyes before her, her rage and fury had cut him down to size, he now stood not as a colossus, but as her master, they stood together, if not as equals than simply teacher and student.
He would listen.
She would make him hear her!
"Marr sent me; he KNOWS that I will succeed! I will be the symbol of your skill. You trained a hero of the Empire! No one will doubt you, but if I die here, my crew will be left leaderless, rudderless. The Jedi may turn my two apprentices back to the light; my soldiers will be killed or captured.
She snarled at the mere thought of that last part.
She was Avaryss.
She did not surrender what was hers.
"Darth Marr WILL destroy the station. The Jedi may die, but if they don't, if they manage to escape with the vaccine…
She shook her head.
"What if Terrog has hidden a cache of the virus? What if he planned one last vengeful strike against his enemies?"
She gave her master a distasteful look.
"Do you want to be the one responsible for leaving us defenseless? Do you want to be the one responsible for the Empire to have to go before the Jedi council and Republic Senate and beg for the cure, to plead for mercy?!"
She sneered down on her master.
"Do not be any more a fool than you already are?"
Feer's rage returned at her words.
"How dare you speak to me that way, I AM YOU MASTER!"
"Then ACT like one!"
She shook her head.
"A master must be both teacher AND student. You must see the weakness in your student, and through their eyes see your own weaknesses. We are stronger together than we are apart my master."
She pushed her rage down for a moment, back into the simmering cauldron where it could be summoned again when she needed it.
She dropped to one knee.
"You are my master," she said, "Do not throw away everything we have worked for because you disagree with a single choice I've made. My victory will be OUR victory."
She gave him a seductive smile.
"You want a seat on the dark council, it will be yours. You want Terrog's holdings, they will be yours, but only if we remember the promise we made to each other back on Korriban. We need to stand together, an alliance of fear and avarice. Remember?"
She bowed her head submissively.
"Let me give you the galaxy, my master, say the word and it is yours."
She sighed, she knew what she had to say next, but it was not easy, it never was.
"What is thy bidding, my master?"
She could feel his cold regard, feel his anger at her insolence, but also a sense of…pride? Affection?
"What if you fail?" he asked.
"Then I will be dead, and you will be free of me. I will have proven myself unworthy of your training."
She looked up at him.
"Please…father," she said, "Let me give you the galaxy."
She sense her master's thoughts, his emotions, he was considering her offer, what she had said.
Finally, the pain she had been in stopped.
She stood at her master's side, he was grinning.
"Time and my training have made my apprentice wise beyond her years," he said with a good natured chuckle.
"Go forth, my child, bring me the galaxy."
"It will be done, my lord."
He nodded his expression stern.
"We will discuss your future upon your return. Your insolence will need to be answered for; the degree of your punishment will depend entirely on your success."
She smiled.
"Then I will endeavor for total success, my lord."
"Do so, my apprentice."
"Do so."
IOI
Avaryss blinked and stumbled, the sensation of coming back from the Force was…disorienting.
"Keera?" Fenn was at her side, holding her up.
"Are you okay?"
She shook her head and coughed.
Her hand went to her nose.
Blood had been running down it, but the flow seemed to have stopped.
She nodded.
Her master has left her with a not so subtle reminder of their future conversation.
"How long was I out?" she asked her dream friend.
"Out," he asked, sounding confused, "You just froze for a moment or two, are you okay?"
Avaryss almost chuckled.
So their conversation had taken no time at all. Yet it had seemed to redefine her entire life.
Ironic.
"We cannot stay here much longer, my master," Xen said looking out at the other walkways, Terrog forces could be seen on them, moving like angry ants.
Avaryss frowned.
No, they could not stay here any longer.
She looked at her engineer.
"Holli, could Terrog use this console to reverse what we just did?"
"He could, my lord, we should…"
Avaryss hissed in naked fury.
She drew her lightsaber.
Holli squeaked and leapt out of the way.
Avaryss took her weapon to the console, she howled as she slashed it to pieces, her anger at Feer's chastisement needed to be released.
This was as good a moment as any.
She did not stop until the blood faded from her eyes, until the console was smashed beyond repair.
She took a shuddering breath, as her blade vanished back into its hilt.
Shyra Viel rolled her eyes.
"Feeling better?" the mongrel asked dryly.
Avaryss' eyes narrowed.
Insolent beast, she thought.
Stay away from my man!
She cleared her throat and stood taller.
She pulled out her comlink.
She contacted Taya.
"Destroy that control room," she ordered, "Our enemy must not be able to send out any more of their plague bearers."
"It will be done, Avy," came back the response.
"The return to the ship, make sure that Rink and the others are still holding.
"It will be done."
Taya broke the connection
The Sith nodded.
She was pleased.
Now, she thought, onto the vaccine, and to take Terrog's head!
She smiled hungrily.
The former was business; the latter would be a pleasure, and a favor to the entire universe.
She could barely contain her excitement.
The group left the control room, they continued their ascent, following the Force, they could sense the darkness up ahead, Terrog and his apprentice.
Blaster bolts flashed from a nearby walkway, more Sith troopers, more traitors!"
Avaryss' blade flashed, she sent the blasts back into the faces of those that fired them, the beauty of Shien on display.
The bodies of her enemies fell off the walkway.
She felt the darkness surge within her again.
It was wonderful!
Delicious!
It was…
She paused.
Her mother's song filled her head again, the lullaby.
You have not made your final choice.
Not yet.
She blinked.
She did not have time for this now!
Terrog was still breathing.
Her enemy awaited.
More misshapen creatures emerged through a blast door from the level above them.
She grinned hungrily.
More victims to slaughter!
Xen was at her side, her cross guarded lightsaber flared to life, its blades rippling like an unrestrained inferno!
The two Sith lunged ahead of the Jedi, let them fight defensively.
The Sith way was aggression and naked fury!
Avaryss was eager to indulge herself.
She wanted glory.
She wanted blood!
She would have both.
The monsters tried to push them back, but the two Sith were not alone.
The Jedi were there too.
Fenn was there.
They were standing back to back now, the Force singing between them, not light or dark, but radically both!
Two sides of the same coin.
Two halves of a single whole!
Dark and light.
Man and woman.
"Try to control yourself," he said, "leave some for the rest of us."
She laughed.
"Try to lose control once and awhile," she advised, "It can be most liberating."
"I will take your word for it," he said.
She could sense his excitement through the Force.
He was enjoying this as much as she was.
She laughed again.
It felt good…the two of them together.
It felt right!
She noticed Master Jas watching them, how they moved as one.
What did the Jedi see when he saw that?
What did he think was happening?
He had told her once that he believed that peace between the Empire and the Republic was possible. He thought that the Sith just needed the right person in a place of power, someone to convince the others."
Did he think that person was her?
Did he actually believe the woman who had hunted his brother; that gave the order for his death was the one that would be the bridge that he sought?
Avaryss almost laughed.
Ridiculous!
She was no chosen one. She was NOT the Sithari.
She had heard the legend of course, the prophecy, the perfect Sith, the one that would lead the order to an era of unlimited power, the one whose plans would destroy the Jedi and conquer the Republic...
The one that would destroy the Sith as well, and see the order reborn in a new and unstoppable form!
The thought of doing that made her shake her head.
She was far from the perfect Sith. The light burned brightly in her still, a shard of it anyway. If anyone was the Sithari, it was likely the Emperor himself, he had destroyed the lords that had failed to prevent the Sith holocaust, had gained immortality from that act.
She could see the emperor as their chosen one, and she would do all in her power to see his empire grow stronger, and one day, when he chose to pass on, she would be willing to take up his mantle, to continue his glorious work.
It would be an honor and a privilege.
It would be a galaxy under the Sith, a galaxy of order and security, a galaxy that would one day bow to the Sith in humble gratitude. A galaxy free of the illusion of freedom, and the mockery that called itself the Republic.
She welcomed that day with open arms.
IOI
The station shook as the group entered the next section.
Avaryss looked up at the ceiling and nodded.
"Sounds like explosions on the surface," she said.
"The Republic fleet must have gotten through," Jas Dar Bynn said.
"Or the Sith fleet," Avaryss added.
She reached out with the Force trying to get a sense for what was going on.
What she sensed was chaos!
Terrog's forces had not fled when the droids had destroyed themselves. Despite the loss, they were not standing down. It seemed that they had chosen to fight to the death for their new master; or rather they knew that their lives were all forfeit.
A death in battle over one on the executioner's block, she could see the appeal.
She would have chosen battle herself.
Better to die on ones feet than on ones knees.
The section they found themselves in was more lab space and research rooms. Unlike the station up until now, this place seemed to have been altered to fit Sith standards, for someone who had grown up in the Empire.
Avaryss noticed many Sith glyphs; the machinery here was reproductions of a much older technology,
Sith alchemy, she thought, it seems that Terrog was not merely content to use Rakata tech.
She smiled.
How fortunate, for her.
She approached one of the machines, several foot long crystals connected by a metal frame.
She did not know what it did, and she did not care.
It was the crystals that matters.
She reached out and pulled one from its place in the frame.
She shuddered when she touched it. It seemed to sing with the dark side.
Glorious!
"What are you doing?"
Shyra Viel stood before her, looking suspicious.
Avaryss smiled.
"Merely taking a trophy," Avaryss lied, "Surely you would not forbid me taking a keepsake of this mission?"
The Jedi growled and continued on.
Avaryss smirked.
Foolish creature.
She looked down at the crystal. An idea was starting to take root in her mind, a plan for when she did finally face Darth Terrog.
She ran her finger down the length of the crystal, letting her finger drift to the end, the very sharp and pointed end.
The Sith nodded thoughtfully.
Perfect.
She was no alchemist, but she was a sorceress, crystals could be used in her area of study as well.
The spell she whispered now was very old, another gift from the scrolls she had found within the forgotten tomb where she had had her final trial on Korriban.
The ancient Sith buried there had been a sorceress too, the spells she had recorded were quite powerful, and perhaps even thought lost to time, until Avaryss had found the scrolls.
She had studied those spells in the months she had served her master, some she had not had materials necessary to use them, and this crystal offered her a unique opportunity. She would…
"My lord!"
Holli's words drew her out of her revelry, the engineer was up ahead; she had been plugged into another computer terminal.
She had a triumphant grin on her face.
"I've found it my lord," she declared, it is on this level!"
"What is?" she asked, though she suspected what it was the changeling had found.
She entered a command on her data pad.
The wall next to the Sith hissed opened.
Another series of lab equipment appeared before them, a strange milky white substance filled several large containers, several injection guns sat nearby
Avaryss reached out to the substance with the Force, it felt not of death, but of life, the continuance of it; a subtle change that made all the difference.
The Sith smiled.
They had found the vaccine to Darth Terrog's plague.
They had found the weapon that would make his work irrelevant.
The Sith was most pleased.
"This is the cure to the virus?" Fenn asked.
"It is a vaccine," Avaryss clarified, "It changes the body just enough to make sure that the virus cannot cause the mutations that strip the Force from those that can feel it."
"How do we know it works," Shyra asked, sniffing the air around it.
Avaryss almost laughed.
"Because Terrog used me as a test animal," she confessed, "His apprentice injected me back on Dromund Kaas. The virus had no effect on me after that. Of course, to protect a person it needs to be injected in its pure form. You can't simply harvest the vaccine from one who has been treated. Our scientists figured that out."
"And ours," Vey added. "A Jedi on one of the worlds that was attacked was also injected by one of Terrog's minions, he did not sicken."
Avaryss nodded, it made sense that Terrog would do so, to show the Republic that he had the means to vaccinate others.
Not that it mattered now.
The vaccine was theirs.
The prize was in their hands.
"Holli, ready the vaccine for transport. I need to get it out of here."
"I?" Jas Dar Bynn asked her.
She chuckled.
"We then," she said, "I assume that Darth Marr offered you a chance to claim a sample of the vaccine as well?"
"He did," Vey informed her, "He helped us sneak inside the blockade in exchange for our promise not to stop his agents from claiming a sample as well."
The Jedi smiled.
"I'm guessing that agent was you."
"I suppose so," Avaryss said.
She turned back to Holli.
Prepare two samples of the vaccine, she ordered, "The treaty and the promises of the council must be honored."
"Just like that?" Shyra asked, still suspicious of Avaryss' motives.
The Sith did not blame her.
She was only doing this to maintain the balance of power.
Neither side would need to fear Terrog or his virus after this.
The empire would be safe, Avaryss thought.
Fenn would be safe.
She cared nothing for his Republic, only him.
The boy will become your greatest weakness, the darkness whispered.
Perhaps, she thought.
But it was a weakness that she was more than willing to endure.
They were one.
She would not risk a part of herself, not if she did not have to.
It did not take long to prepare two cases for transport; the whole extraction process was automated. Soon the two groups had their respective prizes. The Jedi tended to theirs while Avaryss and her allies tended to theirs, made sure it was secure and ready for travel.
Avaryss gave hers to Xen; she motioned for Holli to join them.
"Get this back to the Fury," she ordered, "Guard it with your lives."
"Of course, master," Xen said grinning, "I will kill any that try to take it.
Holli blinked, realizing something.
"You are not coming back with us, my lord?"
Avaryss shook her head.
"Terrog and his apprentice are still here, the Force is with them."
"They must answer for their crimes, master," Xen said, "They cannot be allowed to escape."
"Escape is not their plan," Avaryss said with certainty.
Terrog has fallen too far to simply flee now, the battle may be turning against him, but who knows what weapons this station might possess, what other horrors that Terrog might have stored in its vaults.
They could not risk the dark lord surprising them, pulling out some surprise and destroying the fleet; he needed to be dealt with…now.
"I go to face him," Avaryss informed her allies, "alone."
Avaryss spun away her cloak billowing behind her.
She felt the darkness surging within her, the eagerness.
Terrog was up ahead, waiting, and at his side, stood Fehl.
She was ready.
She would destroy them both!
She had barely left the lab when she heard footsteps behind her.
She paused.
Really?
"Going somewhere, witch?"
She sighed and turned, Fenn and Shyra were both there.
"This is none of your concern," she said.
"This is Sith business."
"You are going after him, aren't you?" Fenn asked.
Avaryss nodded.
"We are coming to," he said.
"Don't you have a vaccine to see to safety?" Avaryss asked.
""The masters will handle its safe return to the True Heart," Shyra said with a growl.
The beast girl's eyes narrowed.
"Terrog is mine."
"You wish to pay him back for your creation do you?" Avaryss said, "To thank him for bringing you into this world a species of one?"
"I'm going to bring him to justice," the beast girl said."
Avaryss almost laughed.
"He is a Sith Lord. He does not care about your justice."
"If he resists, I will kill him."
Fenn chuckled.
"Wow," he said, "Lot of intensity in here right now."
He smiled at the two girls.
"Look I can sense that Terrog has hurt you, both of you. If you go in there all full of righteous fury you are going to die."
He sighed.
"Good thing that I'm coming along then, to keep you both balanced."
No, Avaryss almost shouted.
Terrog had already stolen Fehl from her.
She did not want to lose Fenn.
She couldn't!
"You should stay," Shyra said.
"It is too dangerous," Avaryss added.
Now he did laugh.
"Wow you two finally agree on something, amazing."
Shyra glared at Avaryss, who glared right back.
"You feel strange in the Force when this witch is around," the beast girl growled.
"I don't trust her around you."
Fenn gave her a soft smile.
"Thank you for your concern Shyra, but it doesn't change anything.
He looked at Avaryss.
"The Force is leading us to something; you feel it to, don't you?"
She nodded.
There was something coming, she did not know if this was it, or if this was simply another step on a longer journey.
The station shook again, this time they could hear the explosion outside.
"We don't have time to simply stand around," Fenn said, "This station is probably not long for the galaxy, it doesn't matter who blows it up, Republic or Empire."
Avaryss nodded.
"Terrog cannot be allowed to disappear in the flames, if he escapes…"
"He won't," Shyra said her hand on the hilt of her lightsaber.
"Then the path is clear. Our path is clear," Fenn said, drawing his own weapon, he ignited the blade, a beam of aqua colored fire pointed forward.
"After you ladies," he said.
Avaryss chuckled.
Few in the galaxy would call her a lady, she doubted the mongrel would be so addressed either.
Shyra smiled a wide mouth full of sharp teeth.
"You ready witch?" she asked.
Avaryss smirked.
"I was born ready, mongrel.
She ignited her lightsaber, bathing her face in crimson light.
"Let's finish this."