To Slay A Betrayer

Virulous noticed something strange several hours into their flight back to Dromund Kaas. Aside from the acolyte, who'd been ordered to stay inside of his quarters, and Darth Nox, Virulous hadn't seen any of the others in the ship. She knew that Andronikos was aboard, he made announcements on the ship's public address system, from time to time.

However, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Dashade, although the Dashade species have no hair. Meanwhile, Darth Nox, who customarily locked himself away in his state room, was all over the ship performing various tasks, tasks that Andronikos or the ship droid normally performed.

She noted that the dark lord was deeply engrossed with the work and failed to notice her presence until she announced herself. Nox seemed to have been slightly startled, when she spoke.

"I beg your pardon, Dark Lord. I did not mean to cause you any trouble," she said, trying to be tactful.

"What is it?" Nox demanded, apparently annoyed with his apprentice.

"Forgive my curiosity, Master, but why are you doing these tasks instead of Andronikos or his droid?"

"2V-R8 is my droid, just as this is my ship, not his," Nox said, as though correcting a student who'd gotten a simple problem wrong. Then he told her, "Andronikos is quarantined in his quarters, and piloting the ship from there. He's contracted some sort of virus. I'll have him seen by our military doctors when we arrive to Dromund Kaas."

"Strange," she thought to herself, "I hope it's nothing contagious." Aloud, she asked, "Shouldn't 2V-R8 or Khem Val do these tasks, then, Dark Lord?"

Nox sighed, "I know this work is beneath me, but there isn't anyone else to do it. Andronikos had been tinkering with 2V-R8, when he came down with symptoms, so the droid is out of action and can't do it, and Khem Val begged for permission to go hunting on Korriban. I gave him a list of who not to eat and sent him on his way. If I had thought that you knew anything about running a starship, I'd have enlisted your help…," interrupting himself, he asked, "You don't know anything about running a starship. Do you?"

Virulous was mystified. The dark lord was behaving in such a familiar manor towards her.

"Does he desire a friendlier relationship with me?" Virulous asked herself.

"No Dark Lord. I know nothing of starships," she said, and then tried a joke, "But if you need one excavated at an archaeological dig, then I'm your Sith."

Nox expertly hid his fury, expertly forcing a warm smile and a light chuckle at her joke.

"She plans to kill me, and has the gall to tell jokes!" he fumed.

Virulous' smile widened, genuinely pleased, that he was indeed warming up to her.

"Why did I ever think he was trying to kill me?" she wondered anew.

The following day, Virulous had exited her quarters to go to the exercise room. She was dressed in her gym clothes and was passing through the common crew space. She stopped, dead in her tracks, shocked at what she saw.

Darth Nox was reclined, asleep in one of the luxurious overstuffed lounge chairs. He was dressed in very relaxing civilian clothes and barefoot. His sabrestaff was set on a caf table, two meters from where he slept. Her heart began to race, becoming excited by what she saw, and her breathing started to become heavy.

"Is this an invitation?" She wondered, hoping it was true, and then detailing the facts to herself as she understood them, "Andronikos is quarantined in his quarters, Khem Val was left behind on Korriban, and the boy is sequestered in his quarters. Effectively the dark lord and I are alone on his starship. Perhaps he is inviting me."

She couldn't help herself, his sleeveless shirt was unbuttoned, open at the front. Virulous found herself staring lustily at his well-defined musculature. His shorts ended a few centimeters above his knees, showing off his well-defined, powerfully built calves and the lower portions of his powerful thighs.

Virulous found herself inching closer to where he slumbered, peacefully. She halted her steps, remembering who he was and instead continued to the gymnasium.

Nox, feigning sleep, used The Force to monitor her slow and careful approach. He couldn't actually see her, but he could sense where she was and what she was doing. He could tell that her hands were empty. She was weaponless.

"Perhaps the idiot will go for my sabrestaff," Nox thought derisively of the traitorous apprentice.

However, his plan to be completely exposed, even to the point of not wearing his armor, as he always did, seemed to be the bait that was going to suck her into his trap. Nox's broken heart had already given way to his ever growing anger, as he sensed her making the approach to kill him.

"Stupid, Virulous!" Nox thought, reviling his apprentice, "You're going to throw everything away! Why couldn't you have waited for me to ascend the throne, so that I could elevate you to my vacated seat on the Dark Council?! Impatient, short-sighted dolt!"

She stopped in her tracks, making it clear to him that she was not going to go for his sabrestaff.

"Then will she try a Dark Force technique?"

Nox recalled that Virulous had been using The Force to eavesdrop on his private meeting with Darth Zash, right after Zash had been elevated to the Dark Council. He and Zash both sensed the intrusion, and he decided to lay a trap for his apprentice, asking Zash to tell him of her Dark Force technique which allowed her to instantly kill a disrespectful subordinate with a light touch on the subordinate's shoulder.

"Hasn't she figured out how easily that technique could be countered?! Fool!" he raged at her.

However, his face remained placid as he continued to feign sleep, ready to strike at her.

Yet, she did not approach him. In fact, she walked past him and left the common crew space.

Virulous was lost in wonder at how deep a sleeper her master was. She couldn't believe that she could get this close to him without being sensed by him.

"Wait! What?" Nox thought, confused, "What is she hesitating for?! I was wide open! She had her chance! Did she detect my trap?"

"I have to make a decision," he thought, thinking that she might have another plan in mind, "Should I wait, or strike now?!"

Nox decided to confront her. He rose from the luxurious chair and went to the gymnasium. There, he found Virulous conducting a series of stretches in preparation for her workout.

"So… You're a physical exercise enthusiast," he said, to get her attention.

Virulous saw her chance. With her master approaching and speaking so casually to her, she couldn't take his approach as anything but an invitation.

"Dark Lord, I have something I wish to say," she told him.

"I'm listening," Nox said, curious what his erstwhile betrayer would say.

"I have strong feelings for you. I… I love you, my lord," she said, her face blushing.

"Wait… What?!" the dark lord thought, thoroughly taken for a loop.

Virulous watched her master's face register his complete and utter shocked surprise, as she began to approach her lord.

"My lord," Virulous implored, in a tiny voice, "kiss me. Take me."

She had stopped mere centimeters in front of him, looking up expectantly into his eyes. Nox, in complete shock, found his hands already moving on their own. His broken heart rebelled against his mind, screaming that it was a trap, as it revived his hopes for love. He found himself, pulling her to him in an embrace, which she returned. Nox bent down to kiss his apprentice, and she stood on her toes, so that their lips could meet.

Over the next several days, almost two weeks, as the ship made its way through hyperspace on its way to the Dromund star system, the two had numerous encounters, until they were nearly spent.

Now, however, the ship, remotely piloted by Andronikos in his quarters, was in regular space and was just entering the Dromund Kaas inbound starship traffic pattern. Of course, being as to how this ship belonged to Darth Nox, Andronikos would ask for, and get, priority routing to the planet's surface, and would get a three hour permit, to land in Kaas City spaceport.

During the ship's descent into the planet's atmosphere, Nox finally gave Virulous her mission. The dark lord and his apprentice, now also his lover, sat in luxurious chairs on either side of a caf table in his state room. The two Sith lords were fully dressed in their Sith robes and armor.

"The time has come. Prepare to depart," Darth Nox told her, "When you are ready, you will travel to Yavin 4. On Yavin 4, two hundred twenty kilometers south of the old ruined temple, there is a Massassi village. They have a shrine, which they have built for a god whom they worship. It is the Force Ghost of a long dead Sith lord.

"I don't know which Sith lord it is, only that he performs miracles for his worshipers and they do his bidding. Even after death, he is immensely powerful. You will gain great power from him if you succeed, my apprentice.

"You will likely need to massacre much of the village just to get to the shrine. Take soldiers with you. You will need them." her master cautioned, "The Massassi are strong and are resistant to The Force, although not to the extent that Khem Val is, but they have enough of a resistance that relying on Force techniques and your lightsaber alone will run you into trouble.

"The ruined temple has been repaired and renovated for use by the Imperial Guard Academy. Your forces should be able to get the current information about that village. Be sure your troop commanders get the up to date information from the academy. I know how stubborn the Army can be about asking others for help.

"Guard your mind, Darth Virulous. The Force Ghost may be attracted to the chaos and may likely attack you to protect what's his. If the chaos does not attract his attention, then you'll have to draw him out in the manner I have outlined to you in my lecture," Darth Nox concluded.

"I will not fail you, my master," Virulous assured her lord, "I will come back stronger and more capable. I will be a weapon for your purposes, my dark lord."

Nox nodded his satisfaction.

"Go now, my apprentice. See it done," Nox said, dismissing her with a courteous wave towards the door of his state room.

The two Sith lords rose from their seats, and Nox walked Virulous to the door of his state room. The door slid open, Nox turned to face her and embraced his lover, then leaned over as she stood on her toes so that their lips could meet.

"Dark Lord," Virulous began, "Forgive me if I am too forward with you, but when I return, I would like to continue our…"

"Lord Virulous," Nox interrupted, passionately telling her, "I very much love you."

Nox had a terrible thought.

"What if I hadn't waited for her to strike first? I never would have known how she felt about me. She would be dead at my hands, just as Ashara has died, at my hands."

He held her tighter for a moment longer before finally letting go. However, Nox had another concern. He worried greatly that in her current state, she would not be able to draw power from the Dark Side as required.

"Lord Virulous," he began, carefully picking his words, "I want you to be victorious. I want you to return safely, to me. I worry, that…. Do not forget. You must hold nothing back, you must draw every gram of Dark Side potential when you battle this foe."

"I will not forget, my lord."

Virulous took a step back and bowed to her lord before turning to walk out of his stateroom. As Nox turned to walk to his desk, the door slid shut. When Virulous entered the common crew space, she was surprised to see Andronikos seated in one of the lounge chairs.

"What are you doing out of your quarters? Aren't you in quarantine?"

Andronikos seemed surprised.

"I thought you and the boss had already gotten off the ship," the semi-retired pirate said, trying to suppress a crooked smile.

"The dark lord said you were ill," she said, but it was more a question than a statement.

"I got plenty of rest and got better," he lied, "R8 nursed me back to health after I put him back together."

Originally, Nox had given him orders to disassemble 2V-R8, as if for maintenance, and to leave the pieces in the engineering department.

"Then I want you to remain in your quarters and pilot the ship from there. I'll tell Virulous that you've gotten some kind of virus, and are ill and in quarantine."

"Right, Boss."

"Then when she tries to kill, me, I'll take her out," he said.

Andronikos could see how difficult it was for his employer. He knew that his boss was going to be very angry and very unstable for a good long while after killing her. So, the pirate planned to take a few weeks off, to stay as far away from Nox as possible.

"It's too bad it turned out like this, Boss, but you gotta do what you gotta do."

"The fool!" Nox fumed at the thought of her plans for betrayal.

But the following afternoon, ship time, Nox had brought in 2V-R8's pieces and gave Andronikos new orders.

"Change of plans. Put 2V-R8 back together. The droid will bring you your meals. Stay in the room and don't come out until Virulous is off the ship."

"So, you're not gonna kill her, Boss?"

"It seems there was some kind of misunderstanding," Nox said, wearing a strangely goofy grin, "I think she likes me."

"No way!" Andronikos said, pleasantly surprised. "Wait! Did you two, uh…., do it?"

"It?"

"You know. Did you get some of her sugar?" Andronikos asked, suggestively.

"Oh! Yes. So, just stay here. Wait until she's off the ship before you come out."

Nox was stepping towards Andronikos' door, but stopped and turned back.

"Oh! Get in touch with Khem Val. Tell him he can't eat Virulous."

"I'll get right on it, Boss!" the pirate promised, laughing.

Nox, in his state room at his desk, was conflicted. He worried greatly for the safety of his apprentice and his new love. He also wanted her to succeed and attain great power. It would both elevate him in the eyes of his rivals and, as he had told her before, give him a very powerful ally who could credibly support his attempt to grasp the throne for himself.

Nox had another discrete issue to worry over. The Force Walking Ritual merged the mind of one being, with the mind of another being in order to absorb the victim's knowledge and their power in The Force. Nox was not at all the same man he was after he'd performed the ritual. He knew that Virulous was going to be a different woman when she returned to him.

"What if she doesn't like me anymore?" he sighed.

On the other hand, he could not afford to not use his assets. He knew that to attain his ultimate prize, the Imperial throne, he had to be prepared to lose his most important followers if need be. On that score, Nox hardened himself and his resolve not to hold back.

Virulous understood this perfectly well, but she was more astonished with the realization of how warmly Nox had actually been treating her over the past few months. She wondered what it was that drove her towards madness and complete paranoia.

"Why couldn't I see that he was being warm towards me, that he was treating me familiarly?" she asked herself, "Where was the misunderstanding?"

As she passed through the airlock and walked down the ramp of Nox's starship, Virulous realized she had a lot to think about.

"Was I going insane? Am I already a little insane?" After a moment the realization struck her, "The Dark Side of The Force is far more subtle in its destructiveness to its practitioners."

Virulous navigated the labyrinthine corridors and office suites on her way to a bank of turbolifts in The Citadel. As her first order of business, she was going to requisition military assets for her mission on Yavin 4.

She passed through the check points without any difficulty. She was well known. The security cameras had recorded her slaughter of many personnel in the domain of The Sphere of Technology, formally Darth Acina's domain. Now rumors were also spreading, amongst the military security forces, that it was she who was behind the deaths and injuries of several random civilians at a taxi kiosk in front of The Citadel recently.

Of course no law enforcement action had been taken against her in either case. Her first slaughterfest was under the orders of Darth Nox during his blood feud against his enemy Darth Acina. It was Sith politics. It was unfortunate that the soldiers she'd killed were caught in the middle of it, but there was nothing that could be done about it. As to why she'd killed the civilians was anyone's guess.

So, when she entered the headquarters of the Imperial Army, she was quickly ushered to the office of one of the moffs. She didn't even wait to be greeted. She immediately made her demands known.

"You will make available to me one regiment of heavy infantry reinforced with heavy and medium war droids. You will also coordinate with the Navy to make available to me one Terminus-class destroyer to transport them to my destination where I will conduct my mission."

"You honor us with your presence, my lord. Yes, Darth Virulous, we can get you those assets, but it will take some time to assemble them. Virtually everything we have is committed somewhere in the galaxy against Galactic Republic Forces," the moff said, seemingly unperturbed.

However, he hoped his subtle message would get through her thick skull.

"We have no forces to spare for your selfish needs without sacrificing another vital operation!"

The moff spoke, however, as though he were filling a simple order for a few blank data chips. However, as unflappable as he seemed at the moment, inwardly he railed at the stupid Sith lord.

"How can she make a demand for such scarce and precious resources at a time when the Empire is stretched so unbelievably thin?! She works for a dark lord! Doesn't she know that most of our forces are hidden somewhere in the galaxy on Darth Marr's orders?!"

"I should be ready to depart for my mission in three days. Have those assets ready for me by then," Virulous ordered.

She turned and made her way out of the moff's office without waiting for his reply. The door had slid firmly shut behind her. The moff stood in front of his desk for a few moments as his burning outrage at the unmitigated disrespect shown him dissipated.

When he had mastered his fury, the moff finally replied in a low dry tone, "As you say, my lord."

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