She walked in front of them with naked pride. It was expected and perhaps even deserved, but Darth Kheykid did not like it. When most Sith stepped into this high-roofed vestibule chamber and looked at the heavy stone doors behind which the Dark Lord dreamed, they felt humbled by the power that seeped through. Not so Darth Saydel. The tall black-haired human lifted her head and took long strides as she paced back and forth across the red and black stone tiles. Darth Kheykid and Darth Maleth watched her but said nothing.
When the time came, the great stone doors creaked open. Darth Wyyrlok emerged from the chamber where Darth Krayt slept. There were no mechanical controls to those doors; they could only be opened and closed with the Force. Wyyrlok shut them behind her and stepped between Kheykid and Maleth, so all three Sith Lords could face Darth Saydel.
"Lord Wyyrlok." Saydel tilted her head at the other woman. "Thank you for inviting me."
"You were summoned. Not invited."
Saydel's calm, confident smile didn't falter. "As you say. Summoned, I hope, out of gratitude?"
"The One Sith owes much to your actions," Wyyrlok said. "Without you it would have been much more difficult to purge ourselves of the traitors whose ambition outstripped their loyalty to Lord Krayt's vision."
"I was only doing my duty to my fellow Sith," Saydel said.
Kheykid wondered; he knew Maleth did too. Saydel had only come to Wyyrlok days before the Battle of Orelon, explaining how she'd encouraged Darth Terrid's rebellion as a way to draw out treasonous Sith. The two had acted in conjunction to complete the purge, but it did not change that Darth Saydel was a prideful and power-hungry woman. Kheykid didn't know whether Saydel had planned to betray Terrid all along, or whether she'd played the Chiss and Chagrian both until picking a side at the end. If Wyyrlok knew, she wasn't telling.
"Your duty does not end here," the Chagrian told her. "We must stand together, now more than ever. If the Jedi did not know of our presence in the Hapes Cluster before, they do now. They won't sit idle. The Jedi Queen will try to usurp you."
Saydel snorted derisively. "Allana Djo is an old woman. Her followers are a handful of refugees and the Alliance is too cowardly to make a stand with her. I have an entire fleet that will do anything I ask."
Those last words gained a dark tone. The plan she'd hatched with Terrid had involved bombing Shedu Maad to rubble with an armada of Battle Dragons. Such an attack would have ruined the One Sith, and she didn't want them to forget.
"Allana Djo's strength was never in the vermin she commanded," Darth Maleth said, "All the armies and weapons in the galaxy are less powerful than the Force. Do not forget that, Darth Saydel, and don't forget that the Jedi outnumber us twenty to one."
"We must not be blind to any threat," Kheykid added. "We also know Darth Kroan escaped Orelon. He may also be a problem."
"According to our spies," Wyyrlok said, "A figure sounding similar to Kroan was with the Restorationists when the Empire besieged them at Kovix-589."
Kheykid hadn't heard that one. "He has Intruder. With that ship be could escape even a siege."
"Exactly. Kroan is out there. I suspect he will continue to meddle in the affairs of vermin. He receives an easy sense of power from it, but blinds himself to the Force's true potential." Wyyrlok looked pointedly at Saydel. "Do not emulate that which you've fought."
"I have always learned from the mistakes of others," the young woman said, and in that Kheykid believed her.
"Kroan may be a threat, but our true enemy, now as always, is the Jedi," Wyyrlok said. "I have consulted with Lord Krayt. In his dreams he sees shifting visions of the future. In purging the traitors we have brought the fruition of his dreams a step closer, but obstacles remain. The Jedi will not rest. Their queen will make an attempt for your throne."
Saydel's confidence wilted for the first time. "Do you know what for certain?"
"Lord Krayt has seen it."
"I see. What has he seen, specifically?"
Wyyrlok stared at her blankly. Kheykid knew from years of experience that when the Chagrian spoke of her master's dreams, she shared only what she selected. Either Saydel didn't understand that or didn't care.
"If I'm to defend my kingdom I need to know how," the human pressed. "For the benefit of us all."
"Lord Krayt's dreams, like the future, are always changing." Wyyrlok said stoically. "The Jedi will come to Hapes. Of that I'm certain. Likely they will come to Shedu Maad. We must be prepared."
"So that's all," Saydel said, faintly bitter. "Very well. I'll use my ships to fortify Hapes and Shedu Maad both. With the loyalists crushed I don't need to spread my fleets thin."
"When the Jedi come, the Force will be your greatest weapon," Maleth reminded.
"Oh, I know." She smiled, quite sourly. "But I prefer to use every one I can."
"This is as it should be," said Wyyrlok. "But in the end we are Sith. The Force is the means by which we wrest our will from the universe. Do not fall into the petty thinking of the vermin or the wasteful passivity of the Jedi. In trusting the Force we trust ourselves, and that will be our key to victory."
-{}-
The ship was like nothing Korosh Vull had ever seen before. The wide-stretched flying wing was just barely able to slip inside Oathkeeper's main hangar bay. Its hull was curved and smooth, without a right angle to be seen, and whatever black metal had been used for its hull was curiously non-reflective. Even the strong lights of the hangar seemed dull against it. Vull knew that, in generations past, stygium crystals had been used to power cloaking devices that could completely shroud ships from view. Stygium was impossible to find now, but this ship had clearly been designed as the next best thing.
Vull dragged Captain Leland and a squad of stormtroopers down with him. In the time since fleeing Kovix-589, the crew of Oathkeeper had fallen under his command almost pathetically fast. Their captain was young and inexperienced, and no one had any idea what to do. Just by acting like he had a clue, Vull had compelled their obedience. As he watched the black ship's landing ramp come down it occurred to him that Retor of Kuhvult- or Darth Kroan, or whatever his real name was- could just as easily force the Oathkeeper crew to obey him instead. He didn't have an official position among the Restorationists, not that Vull knew, but he was clearly a man who could get his way.
After all, Vull was here now, ready to greet a mysterious stranger with uncertain motives.
Only one man came down the landing ramp. He was just as Vull remembered from their brief encounter: a bald head darkened and ugly from burn scars and beneath that, formless flowing black. His robes were tattered, like he'd been in a fight. Those strange eyes, irises tinted red-gold, fixed on Vull.
He felt a shudder go down his body and resisted the urge to salute. This man was no officer and not his superior. That had to be made clear. Arms stiff at his sides, Vull said, "Welcome aboard the Oathkeeper."
The man stopped a meter away from him. Gold eyes roamed across the hangar before finally stopping on Vull. "Did any others escape?"
"I do not think so. We only escaped thanks to you. You have our gratitude."
"Can we speak privately, General Vull?"
"Of course. I'll lead the way."
He wasn't enthusiastic about facing this man without his stormtrooper squadron, but it was bad form to parlay on the hangar floor. He'd thought about asking Oathkeeper's crew to examine that strange ship while its owner was away but thought better of it. Its security systems were doubtless extensive and possibly lethal.
They walked in awkward silence until they reached the closest conference room. Vull and his visitor stepped inside. The door closed behind them and they were alone. Distant stars drifted out their viewport. Oathkeeper hung in space billions of miles from any star. Nowhere was the safest place for them to be.
"Your ship seems to be in good condition, General," the man said.
"Thank you, but it wasn't my ship. Oathkeeper pulled me from the battle after I was shot down."
"Ah, that's right. You took to your TIE fighter to battle the enemy directly. How… brave of you."
He said it like he knew the full story. He shouldn't have, but Vull believed he did. "You have quite a ship yourself. Did you use it to escape from Nemesis?"
"Yes, but only after the battle was lost to the Jedi. What do you plan to do now, General?"
"We're still assessing battle damage. Determining possibilities."
"You don't know, then."
"No," he admitted. "What are you going to do?"
The man gave a little sigh. "Our situations are more similar than you can realize. I came to Nemesis because I thought it was the last place left where I could accomplish what I wanted."
"And what is that?"
He ignored Vull's question. "Oathkeeper seems to last ship to carry the fire Veers and I started. A much more humble ship that Nemesis… But that can be a tool also."
"A tool for what?"
The man considered his reply for a long moment. Then he said, "Revenge."
Vull didn't revolt from the idea. Since the flight from Kovix-589 he'd had some long, grim hours to ponder his possible fate. Oathkeeper was one ship alone against the Empire. There were only three real options. One was to surrender and pathetically prostrate themselves before the mercy of Davek Fel and his Jedi masters. After barely escaping the battle, that option was frankly insulting to consider. A second option was to fly far from Imperial space and turn to piracy or mercenary work to survive. That would be an even greater insult to the Imperial legacy they'd fought to uphold. Doing so in a ship called Oathkeeper would be too bitter an irony to stand.
The third option was to do what Voidwalker and Grievous had done in their days: change history.
"What kind of revenge?" asked Vull.
"I thought that would be obvious. Against Davek Fel and the Jedi."
Vull looked at those gold eyes and knew he shouldn't trust this man. He'd appeared from nowhere, disappeared, then come again out of nothing to save them, but none of that made him trustworthy.
"Why Davek Fel?" Vull pressed. They might not be able to trust each other, but they could still use each other. "What has he done to you?"
"To me, personally?" The scarred man considered. "Far less than he's done to you. I've lost too much because of his brother, his wife, and his son. Revenge against the pretend-emperor is revenge against them. And frankly, General, I have few options left besides revenge."
Vull stared at that scarred face, the gold eyes. He believed what the man said. He still didn't trust him and never could, but he could at least know more. "You have to tell me something."
"What?"
"Who are you? Are your Retor of Kuhvult? Or are you this… Darth Kroan? Why are you even here after all this time? The whole galaxy thought you were dead."
The man's smile was bitter. "The galaxy was correct, in a way. I was Retor first but I became Darth Kroan. Do you know what that means, Darth?"
Vull knew Palpatine's executor had been Darth Vader. The similarity in names couldn't be mistaken, nor the fact that both these men were tall and dark, lethal and mysterious. They also said Vader had been a secret Jedi and that he'd murdered Palpatine in the end. All the more reason not to trust Kroan.
"Are you a Jedi?" Vull asked.
Still the bitter smile. "No. I am a Sith. Do you know that word?"
"Vaguely. They're the enemies of the Jedi, aren't they?"
"Palpatine himself was a Sith. He called himself Darth Sidious. Your beloved Empire was made to serve Sith ambition. Now it's become a vehicle for the Jedi. I cannot abide that."
It was an incredible claim, but Kroan said it so flatly, so simply, Vull found himself believing it.
"Revenge," Kroan added, "Is something the Sith value very highly."
"Are there… other Sith like you?"
"Like you, I am alone," Kroan said. It wasn't really an answer. "However, I believe you and I- you and this ship- can help each other accomplish what neither of us could alone."
"Revenge against Davek Fel."
"And changing the course of history."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Not yet. But I'm working on ideas. I need to know if your ship and crew will be part of them."
Vull looked at that scarred face, those yellow eyes, and knew he couldn't afford to trust this man. But they could use each other, and maybe even change history.
At this point, he didn't have a thing to lose.
"All right," Vull said. "Oathkeeper will help you."
"Thank you, General." His smile turned vicious. "You've done the legacy of Darth Sidious proud."