Creator of Life
Jedi Master Satele Shan and two other Jedi councilors were in attendance in the conference room, while three others attended via holo. The six Jedi councilors listened in stony faced silence to the sole survivor of the raid on Korriban.
Jeras Rendon Cal had been on the run for weeks. The young Jedi escaped the horrifically powerful and terribly cruel petite Sith Lord who'd almost caught him despite his two minute head start. He watched her incredibly fast approach as the ramp went up crawlingly slow.
She'd leapt and caught the end of the ramp, planted her feet, upside-down, against the bottom of the starship and tried to pry the ramp open. The ramp slowed to a stop, but it would not open. To his enormous relief, she gave up and the ramp instantly snapped shut with a very loud metallic clamp. Rendon smacked the contact, which started the airlock to shut closed and seal tight. He ran to the bridge where he started up the engines and got the ship airborne, skipping most of the preflight procedures.
As the starship climbed to the upper atmosphere he programmed random coordinates for a hyperspace jump, hoping he wouldn't end up in the middle of a star. However, the Imperial Navy gave chase. Somehow, they were able to track his starship.
The Jedi found it difficult to evade the Imperial Navy's Baleful-class frigates, which were somehow able to figure out where in hyperspace he was and where he was going to exit into normal space. The two frigates guided six Fury-class interceptors to their target – his starship. The Fury-class warships were small, very fast, very agile and, although not heavily armored, they carried the firepower of light destroyers!
He finally gave them the slip, in Hutt space, after several weeks of hot pursuit. Hutt naval forces didn't challenge the Imperial forces with combat, but they doggedly followed the Imperial ships around, continually hailing them and ordering them out of Hutt space. They also used their signal jammers which severely hampered the Imperial warships' search efforts, allowing the Jedi fugitive to finally escape.
Now the newly minted Jedi Knight stood before the remaining six members of the Jedi Council in a conference room which had been booked in a hotel in the town of Minalto, a midsized town in the next valley over to the north of where the Jedi Temple lay in ruins.
He told them of how Nox had killed sixty Republic troops in a corridor in the upper Sith Academy. How that he and Ostoni Hahn escaped the Dark Force attack and fled into the turbolift and to the Dark Council chamber high at the apex of the pyramid.
"When Darth Nox entered the council chamber, he repeated the attack. We tried to protect the troops that were with us, but he killed many of them. Then Nox's people went and finished off the ones we saved," Jeras recounted, grimly, "I've never heard, much less seen Force techniques like that," he confessed, then asked, "Masters, have any of you?"
"It is forbidden knowledge," Tol Braga explained, "It was kept locked away, hidden, so that it would never see the light of day again."
"Continue your report, Knight Jeras," Satele Shan instructed the young Jedi Knight.
"Jedi Master Kendii told me to report that Darth Nox is reviving the old Sith sorcery. He said that Darth Nox was not keeping the knowledge to himself, like the Sith Emperor had, but that Nox is spreading his knowledge to other Sith lords.
"Darth Nox afflicted Master Kendii with some other kind of Dark Force technique. It caused his body to rot even though he was still alive. The rot spread quickly. In a few moments, it went from a painful bruise in his side to a massive rotting bruise that spread through most of his body by the time I left him on the pyramid," Jeras added in his own defense, "I wanted to carry him back to the starship, to help him escape with me, but he ordered me to leave him and to escape on my own so that I could make this report."
"It's not your fault, Knight Jeras," Satele Shan told the newly promoted Jedi Knight, "Jedi Master Kendii Noh was right. We needed to hear this information, and you made the right choice to escape to bring us this news."
"Our worst fears are coming to reality," Jedi Master Sahn Ho, on holo, said, adding, "If only we hadn't lost control of Korriban. If only the Jedi Council, all of those centuries ago, had chosen to destroy those libraries when they captured Korriban from the Sith. Instead, the libraries of dark knowledge had been left intact for the Sith to reclaim with the re-capture of their ancient world twenty years ago."
"Dwelling on past mistakes doesn't help us here," Satele said.
"Yes, I suppose dwelling on our past decision to conduct this raid would be pointless, too," Jedi Master Deran Soo, a male Zabrak sitting a few seats to her left said, matter-of-factly, then adding dryly, "The loss of forty thousand men and women, and nearly thirty Jedi shouldn't weigh heavy on our minds."
Satele kept an impassive facade as she turned her face slightly to regard him.
"At least the loss of all of those lives was worth the information we got," he said, dryly, adding, "which we probably could have obtained in a much less costly manner."
"The Force was clear," Satele told, Deran, "but somehow we failed to understand what it was trying to tell us."
"Doesn't that argue the point that The Force wasn't clear enough?!" Deran Soo asked more tersely than he'd intended.
He'd become frustrated with Satele's ever imperturbable front, but he continued speaking.
"Somehow we've been misdirected to go after Darth Arkous, when we should have been targeting Darth Nox," he said, calmly, after regaining his composure, telling Satele, "When The Force gave you that revelation, it should have directed you at Nox, but it allowed us to focus on Arkous," Deran concluded, shaking his head in heavy disappointment.
Jedi Master Viira Saatahni, a female Human, cut in.
"And what have we got to show for it," she asked almost bitterly, "besides the massacre of forty thousand ground forces, the loss of Republic ships and their crews, and the loss of twenty nine Jedi?" answering her own question, she said, "We gained the deaths of sixty trillion Corellians! We got the destruction of our own ancient temple on Tython, and we got a reinvigorated Sith Empire sweeping through Galactic Republic space, capturing dozens of worlds. And, as if we didn't already know, we got information that Darth Nox is a dangerous Sith lord!"
Jedi Master Bela Kiwiiks spoke calmly, but the words she gave revealed her displeasure. Via holo, she spoke, reminding her peers.
"Do not forget, that it was the Galactic Republic SIS who came to us for help with this mission. We gave them the outline of the raid operation, and they took it upon themselves to add, to our outline, the destruction of all of the Sith's sacred tombs, statuary and iconography."
"Recriminations are beneath us," Gnost-Dural, on holo, said gently.
Bela Kiwiiks countered gently.
"The Empire had long been planning their re-emergence. Their renewed assault across Galactic Republic space was no accident or coincidence. The Republic was simply not prepared for it. This is their own fault and not ours."
Satele became subdued as she spoke.
"The SIS asked us to help them take out Arkous," the Jedi Grand Master said, "However, it was The Force which guided us to strike on Korriban. If we had not struck at Arkous, then the Republic would be nearly gone by now. Taking Arkous out, means the Republic will lose much fewer worlds and have a chance to recover after ending the war with the Sith Empire. This is why we struck on Korriban. The pain we are suffering is great, but we shall recover from it in the long run."
In the emergency Jedi Council session, the six Jedi Masters gave themselves over to introspective reflection. After some time had passed, Satele spoke again.
"As to the unmistakable fact that The Force led us to act on Korriban, we must meditate to understand what was the purpose for that wanton destruction. Notice that both Sith and Jedi temples have been destroyed. What is the meaning of that? What will result from it? Is this the end for both Jedi and Sith? We must meditate to understand why The Force did not warn us of what would follow."
"Perhaps The Force didn't think we needed to be warned," Viira Saatahni said, with obvious sarcasm, "The Force probably overestimated our ability to figure out what the consequences would be for ourselves."
Jeras Rendon Cal found himself disappointed, listening to the bitterness coming out of those who were supposed to be the ultimate masters of their emotions. They were supposed to be the ultimate paragons of reason and logic, the ones most closely in tune with The Force. Instead, he found himself the witness of poor examples of what a Jedi Master was supposed to be. Knight Jeras kept his face passive, concealing his feelings on the matter and hoping he would soon be dismissed from the proceedings.
Admiral of The Navy Jatteran Haastal sat quietly, listening to Leontyne Saresh, the supreme chancellor of the Galactic Republic, as she laid out her strategy for ending the war. He didn't like what he was hearing, but he could see no path to victory. All he could see was a slow, many years long, grinding down to ruination for the Republic, if the war were to continue.
The Empire seemed to have anticipated his plan to move fleets from unpopulated worlds and organize them into a large fighting force to challenge Nox's naval battle group. Darth Nox deployed several additional army groups onto the planet surfaces of the eighty contested worlds, and sped up operations, crushing the Republic armies on those worlds. And although the Imperial Navy suffered increased losses, they willingly sacrificed their warships to remain in low orbit over those worlds to conduct their bombardment campaigns.
Despite losing several warships, the Empire withstood their losses, fighting a battle of attrition with Republic naval forces who desperately fought to protect their allies on the ground.
Destroyed on the ground bombardments were army logistical support units and ground forces held in reserve, which were not yet engaged in the fight. Manufacturing centers supplying material support for Republic forces on the ground were also getting obliterated, but this also meant that several mid to large sized cities, where the factories were located, were also suffering incredible damage and whole sale slaughter.
The Imperial Navy had chosen to engage in a reckless strategy of attrition warfare, and since they had the numbers, they were successful in driving Republic naval forces out of the operational zones to the outer regions of the contested star systems. Without naval support, Republic ground forces were ravaged by Imperial naval gunfire and overwhelming enemy ground forces.
Then Darth Marr's naval battle groups arrived, relieving Nox's forces in the field to mop up and complete the conquests as Nox moved on, attacking another forty worlds.
Jatteran Haastal wanted to fight and to win, but the Republic had lost eighty worlds and were on track to lose another forty star systems. His navy was outnumbered, and without Corellia he had no way to replenish his fleets with fresh ships.
Jatteran seethed as he listened to Saresh cede a hundred and twenty worlds to the Sith Empire in order to preserve the Galactic Republic. In her mind, sacrificing 'a few worlds' to end the war would allow the government to rebuild the Republic's economy, to prepare for the next war.
However, he saw no path to victory. He could not present a proposal to the supreme chancellor that would lead to victory. Therefor he sat quietly next to General Marshal of The Army Pellon Matts, who also sat quietly, listening to the plan for surrender.
"At least, she recognizes that the Sith Empire would not be satisfied with their conquests," he thought, barely reining in his contempt.
His contempt for the supreme chancellor's cowardly surrender was equal to the contempt he held for himself and his fellow high command officers, who had failed miserably to detect and destroy the vulnerable Imperial fleet while it hid, out of fuel and unable to fight.
He knew the Sith Empire would not end the wars and be satisfied with their considerable conquests, and listening to Supreme Chancellor Saresh explain her long term strategy, he knew she knew it, too.
"They will come back for more," he told himself, and admitted to himself, "She knows they'll be back, too. She's not in denial."
He understood that, in her mind, the supreme chancellor was setting the ground work for rebuilding and recovering their economy so that it could support a massive military buildup, especially a buildup of their navy. She wanted to prepare for the next war, he understood. However, there were questions which needed to be asked, but weren't.
"How long will the Sith sit still and let us build ourselves back up? Will the Sith Empire rebuild their economy and strengthen their military and attack before we're ready?"
However, the thing that bothered Admiral Jatteran Haastal the most, was that, first, he would have to swallow the terribly bitter pill of surrender and defeat, and that, second, he was being asked to lead the Galactic Republic military to that surrender and preside over their defeat.
"I can't believe it! 'Win a battle,' the supreme chancellor tells me. Not to defeat the enemy, but to set up conditions that will allow her envoys to have favorable talks with the Sith to end the war…," he thought, morosely.
Ciiru Nomuro was sitting in a small office, in a midsized town, which was surrounded by family owned farms. The town of Minalto, and the farming community around it, were situated in a broad valley which was north of a ridge of tall craggy mountains.
He was busily typing away, filing his tenth report of the day. Ciiru had skipped lunch to get as much work done as he could. In his report, he detailed the recovery effort underway on the other side of the ridge of mountains to the south of town.
In the valley to the south of Minalto, they were still finding bodies under the rubble of the ruined temple and other structures of the temple complex. They were also finding pieces of bodies flung far out, scattered over the surrounding mountain sides on either side of the valley, and over the crests of the jagged peaks. The wild life hadn't eaten any of those pieces, because all of the wildlife in the valley had been killed, and many of the trees on either side of the valley were splintered and burned to ash during the orbital bombardment.
It was well that the Jedi temple complex was situated in the next valley over to the south of the midsized town. The mountains, in between the temple and the town, had shielded the small but bustling community from the blast effects of the naval bombardment which completely destroyed the Jedi temple complex.
The tall mountains also shielded the town, and the surrounding farming communities were spared, from the enormous pieces of megalithic stone work, which had been sent flying many tens of kilometers in all directions. The mountains, however, stopped most of the largest fragments, some the size of two story buildings, thus saving the town from the worst of the falling debris.
The town still suffered damage, however. Thousands of the much smaller pieces of rock, from the temple stone work, had been flung high enough into the air by the force of the blasts to clear the tall ridge of mountains. Most of those landed on the northern faces of those mountains, but a few landed on the southern edge of the town, causing minor damage to many properties and speeders. Two townsfolk were unlucky and were killed by the falling rubble. Thankfully there were no other injuries reported.
From Ciiru's point of view the level of destruction south of the mountains was a manifestation of the Sith lords' clear and unmistakable expression of rage, hatred, and of their somewhat justified craving for vengeance against the Jedi.
After what the Jedi had done to their temple on Korriban, Ciiru was having trouble blaming the Sith lords for the retaliatory action they took on Tython, but he was heartsick at what they had done to Corellia. He could not excuse that.
There was no cause for such wholesale slaughter. Even now, emergency rescue services from several thousand planets, throughout the Galactic Republic, had dispatched rescue crews to Corellia to search for survivors. Amazingly, there were survivors, many hundreds of millions of them out of the nearly seventy trillion who'd been slaughtered.
Ciiru's holo-transceiver chimed. He saved the work of his report, before answering the call.
"Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan, I am honored to receive your call. How may I be of service?"
"Jedi Knight Ciiru Nomuro, how is your health?" Satele asked.
It was less a friendly solicitous inquiry, and more a need to determine if she could send him on a mission, but he did not realize this.
"I am well, Grand Master," Ciiru replied, believing that she thought him addled.
"Are you still having the… nightmares?" she inquired.
Ciiru noticed the hesitation, and decided that the Jedi grand master believed his mind was going, but that wasn't what Satele Shan was thinking at all.
"I still am," Ciiru answered, calmly, truthfully, "but they no longer have the effect they once had before. I am able to stay centered, and remain calm. I have made progress making out the ill-defined and twisted shapes that are spawned from the Dark Side of The Force," he told her.
"Oh?" Satele asked, "What can you tell me about them?"
"I believe I am seeing literal interpretations of what they are," he said, then elaborated, "It is strange to think this, but I get the impression those twisted shapes are actually what they are and that they are enslaved to the will of their creator, Vitiate."
Satele Shan was gladdened by what she heard the Jedi Knight say. It meant he was closer to realizing the truth of what he'd seen.
"Soon, he will understand that it isn't Vitiate." she told herself.
In the meantime, now that the Galactic Republic seemed to be preparing itself to surrender, Satele had to make a decision about how the Jedi Order was going to proceed against Darth Nox and the Sith Order. Admiral of The Navy Jatteran Haastal had confided in a Jedi Knight with whom he had worked closely for many years and detailed his discussions with the supreme chancellor. The problem tumbling within Satele's mind was how to draw Darth Nox out into the open, so that the Jedi could get a chance to destroy him.
Over a month before, a thirty strong Jedi strike team assembled, and the Republic had supplied a huge military force to conduct the raid. Unfortunately, in the eyes of many, it was all wasted on the wrong target, Darth Arkous. The enormous effort and wasted assets had left a very foul taste in the mouths of politicians, military officers, and the civilian population as a whole.
The news services were still giving nearly unending coverage of the Corellian catastrophe. Many blamed not only the military, but the Jedi too, for so foolishly provoking the Sith into perpetrating a near extinction level attack on a once glorious world. Corellia, one of the jewels of the Galactic Republic, was seemingly forever destroyed.
Other commentators tried to paint the catastrophe in another light, giving a dire warning of what might lay ahead.
"The Sith Empire committed an extinction level attack on Taris three hundred years ago, and now they've attacked Corellia in the same way. Why have we been deluding ourselves into believing that we are safe on Coruscant?" one particularly outspoken news commentator asked his audience of billions.
The telling factor of the commentary circulating the holo-net was that none of them were critical of the rumors of talk of surrender emanating from the Office of the Supreme Chancellor.
"Why did The Force misdirect us?" Satele asked herself, "Why did it guide us into attacking Darth Arkous instead of Darth Nox?"
She already knew the answer to that, Darth Arkous would have completely destroyed the Galactic Republic, but the danger that Darth Nox presented was in orders of magnitude greater than the danger Arkous posed.
Arkous' victories would, over centuries, be reversed in rebellions and in civil wars. However, Nox's reign of Darkness would engulf the entire galaxy in the foul dark sorceries of the Sith for untold millennia as the dark practices became common knowledge.
Unbidden to her conscious mind was a waking dream. In her vision, Nox had heard her question, he laughed uproariously in her face and told her, "The Force misdirected you because The Force is with me and not with you! You are weak, but I am strong!"
The vision was over. Satele's mind was returned to the here and now, and she had her answer.
"Is he directing the natural flow of The Force?" Satele asked herself, then quickly answering her own question, "No. That's not possible. Not even Vitiate could do that, but perhaps Nox might be having some small influence which can be corrected with his absence from the galaxy," the Jedi grand master hoped.
Ciiru Nomuro took her moments of silence as her doubts about his ability to perform his duties and to overcome the dead emperor's continued echoing influence over his state of mind.
"What are my instructions, Jedi Grand Master?" Ciiru asked, thinking she would condemn him to remain on Tython, typing reports for the rest of his days.
"Travel to Coruscant. Go to the consulate and meet with Jedi Master Sahn Ho. He will give you your mission."
"Very well, Grand Master Satele," Ciiru said, bowing his head, solemnly, hiding his deep surprise.
He was amazed, never expecting that he would be allowed to leave Tython ever again.
All this time he believed that Satele Shan had been losing faith in him. He thought that she believed that he was losing his sanity, because of the dreams he'd been having.
Darth Nox found himself in a foul mood again, having passed by the toppled colossal statues and obelisks in front of the pyramidal temple. He stepped out from the back, passenger side, seat of the military VIP transport, a four door sedan speeder driven by an army sergeant and a corporal assistant driver. Darth Virulous had stepped out from the back seat on the driver's side.
The driver and his assistant driver swung the doors shut, then snapped into attention and saluted, as the two Sith lords walked towards the main entrance of the temple. Inside the grand entry chamber, the damaged lighting had been replaced and all of the portable lighting units had been removed. General Yennis' headquarters cubical office spaces were in the same spot at a corner of the chamber.
There were no classes in session; the overseers and their acolytes had all been killed in battle or slaughtered like a heard of nerfs. Combat engineers, and their contracted construction specialists occupied most spaces of the pyramid temple, making many repairs, and even a few modernizations.
All new electrical wiring, plumbing, air conditioning and heating had been installed. The lighting had been updated, and the battle damage done to the stone surfaces had been repaired. The holes and pockmarks had all been repaired. If Nox hadn't been here during the fighting, to see it for himself, he would never have believed any accounts of the damage that had been done to the red stone surfaces.
In fact, the work was too good. The shallow ruts worn into the floors and the steps of the stairs, the passageways and the many chambers had all been repaired. The floors looked and felt like natural newly cut and smoothed stone surfaces. Nearly ten thousand years of foot traffic worn into the temple floors was all gone now, erased.
"Dark Lord," General Riiy'enni'sansa called out to Nox, "It is a great honor that you pay me, visiting me at my temporary headquarters. As you can see, the repairs to the internal structures are nearly complete. Very soon, the temple and academy will be ready for occupancy and use.
"The special work, which you indicated, on the turbolifts has been completed. You will be pleased to experience a much faster turbo lift ride up to the Dark Council chamber and the adjoining offices."
"Has the special work in the Dark Council chamber been completed," Nox asked.
"It has, Dark Lord. Please, feel free to inspect the work. I am confident that it will meet with your specifications. Also, as you have requested, the opening at the top of the pyramid has been expanded, and a much larger version of the stained glass pyramidal cap has been installed. Much more natural day light enters the chamber, giving a brighter glow in the chamber as you had anticipated, Dark Lord."
"Good," Nox said, "I'll go take a look."
Nox turned to make his way to the back of the grand entry chamber. Virulous immediately fell in behind the dark lord.
The Chiss general promised to the dark lord's retreating form, "I'm confident you will find it all to your liking, Dark Lord," Nox smiled, but did not respond, as the Chiss general added, in a low voice, "future emperor."
The Chiss general was thrilled. The moment he laid eyes on the schematics Nox had provided him for the Dark Council chamber, he knew what Nox had intended. His heart pounded in his ears, knowing that a monumental shift in the balance of power was about to take place, and that he had a small part in it. Yennis, kept his council and betrayed nothing of what he thought to anyone, however. Sith politics were none of his business.
As promised, the turbolift ride was much faster. It was obvious that the older system had been completely replaced, including the lift cars themselves. The lighting in the antichamber was much brighter. The metal sliding doors to the council chamber and their mechanisms had been replaced with brand new doors and machinery.
One thing that Nox found immediately apparent was that the original stainless brushed door scheme had been changed to red stained, specially textured metal doors. The red stain, and the texture, was such a close match to the color and texture of the stone walls that Nox had to walk up close to the doors and touch them to determine that they were indeed metal and not stone.
Nox touched the contact which caused the doors to silently slide open. Immediately, he could tell the difference in the Dark Council chamber. The chamber was much brighter. The stone had been carved down at the apex, bringing down the ceiling height and enlarging the opening above. The stained glass pyramid cap was much broader at the base and more pleasing to the eye. He noticed that although more sunlight entered the chamber, it was not uncomfortably warm. The climate control system kept the space at a very comfortable temperature. The durasteel plate flooring was gone, replaced with a repaired red stone floor.
"My lord," Virulous called from outside the doors, "May I enter, or shall I wait outside?"
"You shall wait outside," Nox said, to her disappointment, "but look at what is at the far end of the chamber."
Virulous looked to where Nox had indicated, and found a thirteenth dais, larger, grander, and taller than the original twelve. She also noticed that the original twelve daises were not set like parenthesis, but in two straight lines, closer together near the entrance of the chamber, and further apart at the far end.
Each dais was turned slightly to face towards the thirteenth, lone dais at the far end, and they were also spaced closer together, slightly bunched towards the entrance, leaving a large space between the last two daises and the thirteenth dais at the far end.
Nox could see the light of understanding come to Virulous as her eyes changed.
"Today I shall become emperor," he told his follower, adding, "or you and I shall both die. Stay by my side, waiting in the antichamber or leave me alone and denounce me."
Virulous was stunned with his declaration. She stared dumbly at her master until he asked, "What is your decision?"
Virulous immediately bent to both of her hands and knees, her forehead touching the reconditioned red stone floor.
"I serve my emperor!" she declared vehemently, "I serve Emperor Nox!"
"Rise, Darth Virulous," Nox commanded. As she rose, he further instructed her, "Keep silent about what you have seen here. The dark councilors shall enter and shall see the changes and know what it is all about, but their followers shall remain ignorant until this session of the Dark Council has concluded."
Darth Marr, his followers and Darth Zash and her followers had ridden the turbo lift together. Zash was remarking at what a difference the new turbolift had made.
"As bad as the whole episode was, Darth Marr, getting the new turbolifts has become a boon for us."
Marr said nothing in response.
"The lighting in the temple is much better. I already like what they did to the floors! Everything seems so new!"
Again Marr said nothing, ignoring Zash's incessant prattling, "She is intentionally trying to provoke me into shouting at her," Marr realized. He promised to himself, "I will not let her get under my skin!"
Virulous watched as Marr and Zash walked past her. Zash spared barely a second to give her a disdainful glare as she passed, before continuing her inane prattling at Marr's side.
Marr's and Zash's followers dropped back from their respective masters, each group moving off to sit at the sides of the antichamber, paying no particular attention to the tiny female form clothed in black robes.
Virulous wore the hood of her black robes pulled back, her armored mask was attached to her utility belt. She wore her still growing black hair in a single short braid that reached down just below the nape of her neck. At her request, the physicians on Manaan had manipulated her hair follicles so that the grey and white hairs would never again appear.
"I love what they did with the doors!" Zash exclaimed with false excitement.
If one had never met her that one would have fallen for her act and would truly believe that she was actually interested in the decor and that she was a ditz.
As annoyed as Marr was at her never ending chatter, her apprentices knew that beneath the apparent fluff, was a deadly viper, coiled and ready to strike. However, unlike most vipers, when Zash struck her victims, none would never even know it was coming, nor that it had already happened.
Her victims would already be dead. Only the survivors around her victims would see the scowl of utter hatred she had concealed from her deceased prey after she'd struck. With each passing moment, Marr grew increasingly disdainful of the chatty fluff-headed wench, taking her less and less seriously.
"It looks like real stone, and almost feels real!" Zash said in apparent amazement.
Virulous' heart beat hard because she knew what was about to transpire. She kept her eyes on Marr and Zash, as the doors slid silently apart. Her stomach lurched when she saw the reaction of the two dark lords.
"I wonder what improvements have been made inside the….." Zash was saying, but fell into shocked silence.
Both Marr and Zash came to a dead stop in their tracks and stood silent for a moment before finally entering the Dark Council chamber, the new doors silently sliding shut behind them.
"So, it has begun," Virulous thought anxiously to herself.
Turning her eyes to the powerful followers of her master's rivals, she stole herself, resolved to kill everyone in the antechamber. Or, if it came to it, to take as many with her before dying by their combined power.
Thinking of her dark lord and her master, Virulous couldn't help but ask herself, "Is he strong enough to force the Dark Council to kneel before him?"
Virulous knew that Nox was strong, but she knew that the dark councilors were all strong, and their combined might could possibly undo her dark lord and her lover.
Inside the Dark Council Chamber, Marr walked wordlessly to his dais, in its new place, and stood in front of it, refusing to climb up it, much less to sit on its seat. Zash walked to her dais, she thought to climb up to her seat at the top of it, but decided to follow Marr's example, instead.
She realized that if she had done so, and that if the Dark Council had accepted his claim, that would put her in a bad light with, "him," Zash refused to even think of the word emperor.
Marr had only one thought.
"You will be emperor, Nox, or you will die."
Marr's strategy to get the other dark lords to work cooperatively with him in administering the empire had failed. His leadership was not strong enough to keep the Dark Council unified. He realized that he would not be effective as emperor.
Marr had only one thing he wanted to do, and that was to lead massive forces in enormous combat operations against Galactic Republic forces. His one desire was to pit his tactical and strategic abilities against the best military minds in the Republic. He was content when Vitiate ruled, because he could give his full focus to the prosecution of the war.
His defensive strategies were quite effective. When Darth Vengean began hostilities against their hated enemy, opening with a series of lightning fast offensive strikes on several Republic worlds, the Galactic Republic tried to counter attack. However, Marr's defensive strategies and tactics kept the Galactic Republic off balance. Marr not only denied the enemy any openings against the Sith Empire, but his leadership resulted in the crushing of several Republic naval groups.
Darth Vengean was assassinated by unknown actors. There was never any evidence, but he had always suspected Darth Baras. Baras ascended the Dark Council succeeding Vengean. Baras also claimed to be the new Voice of The Emperor. The original Voice had gone silent for a long time, and The Hand did not raise any objections to Baras' claim. In fact, The Hand was itself missing, in action.
Then, out of nowhere, Darth Baras' apprentice, who was thought to be dead, stormed into the Dark Council Chamber with The Hand accompanying him. The hand proclaimed Baras' apprentice as The Wrath, and a short while later, Baras was dead. Leaving none to lead the Sphere of Military Offense.
The Wrath admonished the Dark Council that if any one of them ever defied the Emperor again, that the entire Dark Council would be utterly destroyed. Marr remembered the terrible power of The Wrath that time. Marr had never felt such raw power from any Sith lord. It was as though a durasteel foundry was operating at full blast, right in the council chamber.
The Wrath declined to take the seat on the Dark Council, so after he had gone, Marr had been elected to lead both his Sphere of Military Defense, and the Sphere of Military Offense. Since then, Marr discovered how shortsighted Vengean's plans had been. How many weaknesses he had exposed the Empire to.
Marr had to turn to others on the Dark Council for aid. The one who answered his call was Nox. Nox proved what a fearsome conqueror he was, when he conquered Balmora, Taris, and Corellia. Even with his own personal weapon, he destroyed a rebellion on Taris, and with a tiny force he conquered a world, Makeb, with nothing but wit and subterfuge. It was Nox, who then split Marr's massive military force and took a part of it to lead the Empire's offensive against the Republic, conquering a hundred and forty star systems.
Marr had received intelligence reports suggesting that the Galactic Republic was considering an end to hostilities, which meant they were about to cede the planets to the Empire. Nox led the Empire to Victory, not Marr.
Marr, staring at the red stone floor at his feet where he stood, seethed with great fury. "He outmaneuvered me, stole a third of my forces, and won the victory over the Republic!"
Raising his head to regard Nox, standing before the thirteenth dais, he thought of Emperor Vitiate's reaction to Nox in the Dark Council Chamber. The Wrath had stormed into the Dark Council chamber, just before Nox delivered the killing blow to Acina.
The blast furnace of raw Force power radiated from him hotter than ever. The heavily armored Wrath stomped across the council floor, which at the time was a metal plate deck because the stone floor had been worn uneven with ruts from thousands of years of wear. The Wrath inexorably neared to where Nox stood, passively watching The Wrath's final approach.
Nox had stolen the Emperor's space station and parked it in orbit over Korriban at the end of his Kaggath with Acina. Acina had been charged by the Emperor for its protection, but Nox took it from her to humiliate her. To Marr, it was another display of Nox's military prowess. Nox had found the unfindable, and with a small force, conquered it and brought it back to Korriban, all within three days.
At the time, Marr was certain that he was about to see the death of Nox. Instead, he found himself amazed that Vitiate had recognized Nox's power. Just before his duel with Acina, Nox had revealed that he had brought Darth Zash back from beyond The Force. Marr considered Nox a nuisance – until Nox reintroduced Darth Zash to the Dark Council. Since that time, Marr realized how terribly he'd underestimated his rival.
When the Sith Emperor stayed his hand against Nox. Marr knew that Nox's thirst for power would only grow, after that.
When Vitiate was defeated by the Jedi, he feared that a divided Dark Council would see its members recall their military vassals, stripping him of his massive navy and army groups.
He realized that if he could keep the Dark Council unified, he would be able to keep the massive military forces under his command to prosecute the war. However, he found his attention constantly being drawn to Dark Council affairs, away from the war, and found himself having to do more and more as he struggled to keep the Council from fragmenting.
Both a bane and a boon, to Marr, was Darth Nox's influence. He could not keep the Dark Council together without Nox, but it was also Nox who threatened to plunge the Dark Council into chaos with his constant claims to the throne. Considering Nox's war record, and his extraordinary ruthlessness towards his enemies and his rivals, Marr had no doubt that Nox could rule. The question was…,
"Can he force us to submit? Will we submit to him?"
From Marr's point of view, if Nox could rule, it would free his hands to give his full attention to the war effort. The new, red stained doors slid open. Marr turned just in time to see who was entering. The utter surprise on their faces reflected his initial shock when he first entered some moments before.
After their initial shock, Ravage, Mortis and Aruk finally forced their legs to move and entered the Dark Council chamber. Aruk and Mortis quickly wiped the shock from their facades, but Ravage wore a sneer as he stomped his way, in his heavy armor, to his seat. Following Marr's example, they stood in front of their daises.
Next, in walked Vowrawn, who let out a startled, "Ha!" before stifling the rest of his laughter and making his way to his dais. Finally, Rictus entered. He didn't even seem fazed as he made his way to his dais. Rictus stopped before his dais, turning to face Nox.
Without preamble, Rictus spoke, "I thank you for the courtesy you paid us in standing on the floor, before the imperial throne, and not ascending it, undeserved."
Nox responded, coolly.
"I lay claim to the Imperial Throne," he said, looking each dark lord in the eye, adding, "Aside from Darth Marr, I alone waged war against our mortal enemy. I conquered many worlds. I didn't lose the worlds we conquered," he added, looking pointedly at Marr as he spoke those scathing words.
"I responded to Korriban to eject the Jedi and their Galactic Republic allies as they desecrated our most holy world. Darth Zash came with me after I told her about it, but none of the rest of you bothered to show up. It's not as though you didn't get a report from your aids about the raid. You could have come to fight, but you didn't."
"We didn't all need to be there!" Ravage answered, hotly, "You and Zash were enough!"
"There were thirty Jedi, Darth Arkous and all of the Sith at the temple were murdered by those vile scum," Nox said, adding in a snarling tone, "I'm glad to see that you had enough confidence in me to succeed where Arkous, and the other Sith there, had failed. The fact remains, you failed to come to the defense of our holy world and our temple."
Those words left Ravage and the others with a vile feeling in the pits of their stomachs.
"At least, you gave me credit for my part," Zash said, snarling her disdain at Nox.
"My entire career has been spent, fighting for the empire," Nox said, "and winning!" he added, again looking pointedly at Marr, who shifted his weight on his feet as a great wave of agitation swept over him.
"Vitiate humiliated us, revealing just how weak he was when he allowed the Jedi to defeat him!" Nox reminded his rivals, adding the obvious, "We don't need anyone so damned weak as he to rule over us. It is obvious that if the Jedi could beat him, so could I. If he wants the throne back, then let him take if from me."
"It's not yours!" Zash angrily shouted! You are out of line, redesigning the Dark Council chambers and proclaiming yourself emperor!"
"Then come!" Nox challenged, "Stop me!"
Zash balked on hearing the challenge, she'd already seen his power, but Ravage stepped forward without hesitation and leaped into the attack. Mortis was surprised by Ravage's sudden action. He turned to look across the floor to Darth Marr and was even more surprised by Marr's inaction.
Mortis remembered Nox's battle with Acina and the Emperor's forbearance, when Vitiate acknowledged Nox's power. He realized that his friend, Ravage was probably outmatched.
Nox used Force Push, stopping Ravage's leap in midair. The dark lord, most notable for his violent savagery, dropped straight down, tumbling out of control.
Nox used The Force to rush into the attack. Just as Ravage struck the newly paved stone floor, Nox reached down and lightly touched the back of Ravage's armor.
Nox stood and, looking around the council chamber, asked in a patently false calm tone, "Who's next?"
Nox mentally kicked himself for accidentally killing Ravage. Meanwhile, the others in the chamber were in shocked outrage.
"Did you have to kill him?!" Mortis asked, fury straining his voice.
"He dared to raise his hand against the Emperor!" Nox shouted back, then asked, "What did you expect?"
Nox looked around the chamber floor at the others a second time, realizing that he could no longer hold back. He was surrounded by very powerful Sith lords. They could easily overpower him and destroy him, if he didn't give it his all.
Nox called on all of the power he could muster, allowing his dark and vile aura to flood the Dark Council Chamber.
Virulous suddenly doubled over, her stomach twisting in a vile wave of nausea. She retched several times, and had to fight to keep her mind from running away with her. She looked around in the antichamber and was relieved to see that she was not alone in this. The others in the antichamber were also in various states of convulsions or retching onto the newly repaired red stone floor.
She called on all of her concentration to call on The Force to shield her mind from the vile aura radiating from within the Dark Council chamber. "It has begun," she whispered to herself, "The struggle for the throne has begun."
Nox could tell that he had an effect on his peers on the Dark Council, but they seemed to have recovered from his onslaught of darkness. He was disappointed, that his best could only affect them for such a short time.
"They are strong!" Nox thought, worriedly, "I should have had Khem Val, Eviscerous and Virulous in here with me!" Nox worried that he had made his final blunder. This would be his end.
Nox turned to make his way back to the Imperial dais and the throne, as the others finally recovered, having shielded themselves from his vile darkness. This time, everyone present knew that he was going to ascend the dais and take the seat.
"How does he have this power?! How does he have this great power?!" Rictus wondered, in great shock.
Zash stepped forward as though to intercept Nox. She stopped short, however, fighting the fear threatening to take control of her emotions, and told him, in a rather weak voice, "We have to vote on whether you can call yourself Emperor. We haven't recognized your claim, yet."
"Yet?!" Zash thought disgustedly, "I said, yet?!"
Nox turned to look her way, and she flew off her feet, crashing loudly into her dais. She lay moaning on the floor. Mortis stepped forward and spoke disapprovingly at Marr.
"Aren't you going to stop him, Darth Marr?!"
"No. I am not," was his resolute and unexpected answer.
"What?! Why not?!" Mortis asked, in deep shock, despite the fear he felt at the power that Nox had just demonstrated.
"I will not contribute to the weakening of our combined power!" Marr bellowed at Mortis. We've just grown weaker, by one!" he shouted, pointing at Ravage's corps. Then, in a subdued voice as though ashamed to admit it, he added, "and he has proven himself."
Mortis turned just in time to watch Nox reach the top of the dais and stop in front of the throne. He stood looking at it, but did not sit in it. It was as though Nox knew it wasn't quite his, yet. Mortis grew to respect Nox a little for that.
The usurper turned about to face the Dark Council, to address it.
"I know that you have all worked hard within your own spheres of influences, but how many of you can lay claim to being a conqueror, both of enemies and of rivals?" he asked the other members of the Dark Council, reminding them that he had destroyed, not only Jedi, but that he had crushed Darths Zash, Thanaton, Acina, and he'd just effortlessly destroyed Ravage before their eyes, and if that wasn't enough, he'd brought Zash back from beyond The Force.
Pointing at Zash, who was just starting to regain her feet after administering two doses of kolto, Nox declared, "I survived Darth Zash's attempt to kill me in one of her experimental rituals," then balefully eyeing, her, he added, "and I brought her back from beyond The Force."
Zash knew that wasn't true, but she could not reveal their secret; it would reveal her own fraudulent participation in the ruse. All she could do was scowl at Nox, but she feared to look him in the eye. At that instant she had an epiphany.
"My former apprentice has far surpassed me in deceit, manipulation, coercion, blackmail, and Dark Force techniques," she thought, turning her eyes to the dead body of Darth Ravage on the chamber floor. Returning her scornful gaze at her former apprentice, she confessed to herself, "He has painted me into a corner that I can't get out of. I can't expose him without destroying myself, too."
Nox had been speaking.
"Vitiate recognized my power, restraining his Wrath and his Hand when they wanted to confront me."
No one knew why Vitiate held back that day when Nox ended his Kaggath with Acina, but after the former emperor's defeat at the hands of the Jedi, the others on the Dark Council could only conclude that Vitiate feared Nox.
"What if Nox had defeated The Wrath?" Mortis asked himself, "Would he have declared his right to the throne then? Would he have gone after the Emperor himself?"
"None of you have the power or the will or the vision or the drive to be emperor, to rule over the powerful, with even greater power, to rule the ruthless, with even greater viciousness. I alone have those qualities," Nox proclaimed, almost mocking the others, as though they were weak.
"Careful!" Nox cautioned himself, "Don't go overboard and provoke them! I have to bluff them into submission!"
"There is one thing that I demand from all of you before I take my seat on the Imperial Throne," he told them, and then growled out, "You must kneel before me, and proclaim your fealty to me!"
Zash's hopes to destroy her former apprentice had been dashed when she heard Mortis' and Marr's exchange a bit earlier. She was sure that the Dark Council had been nerfed and would not move to take him down. To her continued dismay, no one moved against him as they stood dumbfounded, listening to Nox's proclamations.
It greatly surprised her, therefore, when the ever cautious and quiet Aruk stepped forward to speak.
"I do not recognize your claim!" he shouted shrilly, his fury surprising all in the chamber, "You are nothing more than a trickster and a usurper! I don't know how you did it, but that woman is not Darth Zash! She is nothing more than an impostor! You have no real power! It is all a sham!"
He drew his weapon and ignited it.
"Darth Zash," Nox said, amusement tinting his tone, despite the dread and fear that threatened to make his voice quaver, "Darth Aruk says you are an impostor. Heh… Heh… What do you say to that?"
"Darth Aruk, you fool!" Zash blasted at him, "This man will chew you up and spit you out, if you underestimate him! And I really am Zash, you imbecile! Here we are struggling over the power of the Imperial Throne, and you're focused on whether I'm Zash or not Zash?!"
Mortis, and Vowrawn stepped out to join him in their defiance of Nox's historic claim.
"Blast!" Nox cursed to himself, "I've lost! I'm finished," he told himself, resigned to his fate.
"Darth Aruk," Vowrawn said, "I know without a doubt that this is indeed, Darth Zash. Do not delude yourself with doubts, and do not take your eyes off of Darth Nox, or you will fail to guard against his attack when it comes."
In over thirteen hundred years, over the long reign of Vitiate, there has never been a procedure or a tradition for succession to the throne. Nox was forging ahead, on his own, making his own claim in defiance of the will of the Dark Council. The others realized how much power they would each lose, if they allowed his ascension.
Despite his great power, he had to be challenged. Perhaps, in this way, they might be able to negotiate to keep some power for themselves – if they could survive.
Again, Zash stepped out onto the open chamber floor, joining the others in their efforts to bring Nox down. Nox expected resistance, but he didn't expect such hesitancy and fear from them. He could see it in their slow and over cautious approach.
"Perhaps there is still a chance to bluff them," Nox though, hoping against hope.
"If you will not kneel of your own accord, THEN I WILL MAKE YOU KNEEL UNDER THE WEIGHT OF MY POWER!"
Nox allowed himself to be filled with utter fury and hatred, quickly filling himself with the power of the Dark Side. Considering that he was facing very powerful Sith lords, he knew that he could not hold anything back. He had to give it everything that he had and hope that most of them would be impressed with his display.
Nox hoped that if he could kill one more, that it would nerf the others. He didn't want them all dead. He still needed their power to rule the empire, but he needed them subservient to his rule. He knew it was a mistake to kill Ravage. However, in hindsight, Nox realized that it was probably for the best that Ravage had stupidly attacked with so many openings that it made it ridiculously easy for Nox to accidentally kill him.
"Well, at least they'll think I'm that much more powerful," Nox thought.
The would be Sith Emperor watched his rebelling subjects advance hesitantly as one. Having the advantage of height, Nox decided to keep his position on the Imperial dais. Marr and Rictus kept their positions at the base of their own daises, quietly observing the rebellion.
The others could feel the force of his vile aura, and incredibly, it was rising in power! When he had blasted them with it, earlier, it was terrible, but now his aura was much worse! Nox became impatient for their attack and raised his arms, pointing his hands, fingers like talons, at the rebels.
Rictus had to squint and shield his eyes from the blinding light accompanied by a single deafening crack. He was deeply impressed that he could feel the heat of that lighting attack from where he stood. Darth Marr's cybernetic mask allowed him to see each of the four bolts of Force Lightning that struck at the four dark lords arrayed against Nox.
Zash and Mortis were the quickest, bringing up their lightsabers to intercept and deflect the Force Lightning attack. Vowrawn and Aruk were too slow, but they had managed to reroute the worst of the power into the red stone floor. The attack was such, however, that the two were knocked off of their feet, twitching and trembling with the effects of the surge of electrical energy that coursed through them in an instant.
The power cell in Zash's lightsaber shorted out. The hilt of her lightsaber began to glow red from the overheated and destroyed power cell, within. She immediately cast it aside and reached for and retrieved Aruk's dropped weapon, using The Force and then igniting it.
"What a piece of junk!" was her initial impression with Aruk's weapon, before an observation came back to her, unbidden, "Yours was the one that shorted out..."
"You still will not kneel?" Nox asked, darkly, his rage and hatred escalating at their defiance.
"Blast!" Nox cursed at himself, "That attack was not enough! I only phased two of them, and the other two are untouched!"
In desperation, Nox reached for Ravage's lifeless corps. Mortis and Zash stopped in their tracks, and watched as his dead body writhed and twisted, not as though it were moving under its own power, but as though it were a rag doll, being manipulated.
To everyone's horror in the chamber, Ravage's body was torn to pieces. Legs, arms, head, all torn from the torso, blood gushing and spraying everywhere. The pieces all dropped to the bloodied floor, but did not stop moving.
Zash watched in morbid fascination as the pieces continued to writhe and twist. They began to change their shape and mature, Mortis, began to back away from one of the pieces as an eyestalk began searching about.
It seemed to have poor vision, since it didn't see him initially, but it finally found him. The creature struggled to wriggle out of the armored pieces from the left leg and boot. When it had freed itself, it began to crawl clumsily towards him, but with each movement, it improved and even began to develop legs.
Zash was deeply shocked to see with her own eyes that which she had only read about in ancient, dusty, encrypted and vague writings.
"Sith spawn…," she whispered to herself, "The ultimate in Sith alchemy."
Vowrawn and Aruk had both recovered, but had withdrawn to their daises, leaning against the raised platforms, and hoping that Nox would not finish them off.
"What is this?!" Mortis asked, horrified at what he was witnessing.
"I have the power to bring back the dead," Nox lied, "Why wouldn't I have the power to create life and have it do my bidding?" Then suddenly, with utter savagery in his voice he shouted in a strange tongue none of them, save Zash and Rictus understood.
"Grath' hareth!" Feast on their flesh!
Marr caught movement at the edge of his cybernetic vision and turned his head to look. It was Rictus moving adroitly to the back of his dais. Rictus caught Marr looking at him.
"Don't let those things touch you, Darth Marr. You will become one of those things if they so much as get a nibble off of you," the wizened old Sith lord explained.
"Stop!" Zash screamed, her terror beginning to mount, "Stop! I yield! I yield!"
"Ju'tehg rehar na!" Do not eat that one! Nox commanded in that strange language again.
Mortis was still backing away from the one that had spotted him, when he realized that all of the ones that were after Zash had all turned to go after him, instead. Mortis raised his hands at the twisted abominations and let loose a powerful storm of Force Lightning, blasting them for several seconds. The creatures writhed and screamed in absolute agony, but after a moment, the strange twisted creatures continued after their prey.
"They screamed," Mortis thought amazed and terrified, "They have voices and they screamed!"
"Darth Mortis!" Marr shouted, his booming baritone echoing slightly in the council chamber, "Do you really think you can contend with this unknown power?!"
Mortis looked and found Marr standing at front of his dais, and Rictus hidden behind his.
"Even Rictus hides?!"
Mortis deactivated his weapon, bowed his head in defeat and shouted, "I yield!"
"That was too easy," Nox thought, disgustedly, "They had me! They didn't even try."
Nox had gotten used to holding back and gotten used to giving himself handicaps. He'd forgotten how much power the accumulated power of four Force ghosts and his own power really was, and he'd gone all out.
"Assemble before me and kneel," Nox ordered, then roared out, "Declare me your emperor!"
Marr felt the shame and regret building in and tearing at the pit of his stomach, as he forced himself to stomp his way to the open blood splattered floor of the chamber before Nox's throne. Then he tasted the bitterness of his shame as the bile reached his mouth, when he knelt before Nox.
Rictus was behind him, looking a bit dazed as he muttered something under his breath. Marr barely heard him, "He has revived the dead arts. He has brought back the old power… But how? How did he obtain this knowledge? Vitiate hid it all..."
Zash turned her attention from Marr and Rictus and turned her gaze towards Nox, and found him pointedly eyeing her, a look of pure hatred and contempt seemingly cast from stone on his face.
She willed herself to move. Adrenaline and fear still coursing through her veins, she walked haltingly to the open floor before the throne.
Aruk wore a look of disbelief as he looked about at the twisted creatures, silently watching him walk past them. He fought his fear, and his urge to run out of the Dark Council chamber, and made his way with the others.
Mortis feeling bitter sorrow for the death of his ally and friendly rival, Ravage, also made his way forward to kneel, but as he walked past the twisted fiends that were once pieces of his dead friend, his heart sank, and he thought, "We shall be ruled by a fiend of unreasoning darkness."
Vowrawn was deeply shaken. He'd only read legendary tales of the ancient power of the Sith of old. He believed those tales to be nothing more than exaggerated myths, but Nox had just demonstrated the truth of those myths.
The five dark lords of Sith lined up, several meters from Nox's dais, afraid to get any closer than where Marr had already stopped to kneel. The six surviving dark lords knelt before him, and in imperfect unison, made their declarations.
"Darth Nox, Dark Lord of The Sith is Emperor of the Sith Empire."
It wasn't fancy, but it was a declaration.
Darth Rictus spoke.
"Darth Nox, Dark Lord of The Sith is elevated to Emperor Noxsious, Emperor of the Sith."
Nox took his seat, making it official. Noxsious didn't like his new name, but considering that it was Rictus who'd named him, he thought it was significant.
"I don't know how, but somehow I pulled it off," the emperor thought, somewhat disgusted at himself. Aloud, he commanded, "Make it known throughout the empire, my ascension to the throne. This session of the Dark Council is concluded. You are dismissed."
"As you co… command, my emperor," Marr said, nearly choking on his words.
The dark lords filed out towards the new, red stained metal sliding doors.
Darth Virulous' heart leapt in her chest as the doors, nearly silent, slid open. In the antichamber, she was the only one aware of what was transpiring inside. She watched the procession of dark lords exit the Dark Council chamber.
In the antichamber, she could feel how much worse his vile aura had become. She realized that as long as she could feel that wretched vile feeling, that her dark lord was still alive. When the doors slid open, with the Dark Councilors filing out, Virulous realized that her dark lord probably succeeded.
First in line to exit was her nemesis. She briefly made eye contact with Zash, who quickly turned her eyes away and rushed to exit the antichamber, her followers sprang to their feet to pursue their master to the turbolifts.
"How very uncharacteristic of her," Virulous observed.
Missing from the procession were Darths Ravage and Nox.
Darth Rictus spoke, making the announcement.
"Darth Ravage is dead," there were many gasps from the shocked responses of the servants of the dark lords who were now assembled in the antichamber.
The announcement was a complete surprise to them all, even Virulous was somewhat taken aback, though not necessarily surprised that a dark lord had died.
One of Ravage's followers shot to his feet and blurted, "What did you say?!" He was so surprised that he belatedly had to add, "Uh, Dark Lord, forgive my outburst, but could you repeat yourself?"
"He was killed in a duel with the Emperor," Rictus said by way of explanation. Shaking his head, slowly, in amazement, he added, "We were witnesses to the end of a very long era, and we are now witnesses to the beginning of a new very dark era. Darth Nox is now Emperor Noxsious." To himself, the wizened old Sith lord, asked, "How long before he loses his mind, and what will become of us all, now that the darkness has been unleashed?"
When it became apparent that Rictus was done speaking, Marr added, "See to it that this news is spread throughout the galaxy. The Sith Empire has a new emperor, and we are unified under his rule! Our power is not divided! We are unified and shall stand against the enemies of the empire as one!"
Virulous fought hard to keep from smiling and struggled to keep from showing her excitement. She also took note that the looks she'd been getting from her counterparts, sitting in the antichamber waiting for their respective dark lord masters along with her, had changed markedly.
Before, she was getting sidelong glances of disdain, or outright contempt. Now her counterparts regarded her with fear. Their expressive facades of disrespect had become blank, expressionless masks, hiding their fear. She was the apprentice of the one who was the source of that vile putrid dark crippling aura.
Marr stopped before her and said, "Emperor Noxsious sits on his throne, in the Dark Council chamber. Go to him and see to it his first edicts are transmitted and carried out."
Virulous stood, and stopped herself from bowing to the tall, heavily muscled, cybernetically enhanced, and heavily armored dark lord. Instead, she silently turned and made her way to the Dark Council chamber.
Upon entering the Dark Council chamber, Virulous immediately saw the bloody masses of dead flesh at the foot of the Imperial dais and knelt before Nox and, bowing her head, wondered, "What sort of Dark Force technique did the dark lor… EMPEROR use to defeat his enemy?" Aloud she said, "Congratulations on achieving your ambition, my lord emperor!"
She was met with silence.
After a time, Virulous looked up and found Noxsious with a faraway look on his face. The emperor was lost in thought. Virulous lowered her head again and waited.
Another stretch of time had passed and she looked up again, this time he had on a sour look, as though dissatisfied over something, even shaking his head discontentedly.
Noxsious, finally bringing himself to the here and now, noticed Virulous quietly kneeling ten meters from the foot of his dais.
"It was entirely too easy," he told her, his distaste evident, "They didn't try hard enough to stop me. No, wait," Noxsious corrected himself again, "I have grown accustomed to holding back. I have forgotten what my full power is like, even when I call on the power of the four Sith lords imprisoned within me."
Noxsious refused to consider that the dark lords were overcome with fear of his incredible dark power in The Force. He forgot to account for the fact that, as much as he respected their power, he had the power of five powerful Force users, counting himself, and that now his power was magnified by his dark knowledge.
As much as he experimented, secretly, reviving the lost dark arts of the ancient Sith lords, from an almost mythical era in the all but forgotten past. He did not appreciate well enough, that the others around him had been kept ignorant of those lost dark arts.
In the eyes of his former peers, he was beyond their ken. In their view, he was another Vitiate, a modern day version of the masters of the lost dark arts, so fantastical as to leave one thinking it was all tales told by the superstitious and ignorant.
Noxsious couldn't understand that he quite literally could have overwhelmed them without trying as hard as he had. He was still having difficulty coming to understand that in terms of power, they were not his equals. He was having difficulty realizing that he was the most powerful Force user in the galaxy, even more powerful than Vitiate at the time when the Jedi defeated him – if Vitiate yet lived.
"They just gave in without really putting up a fight," Nox said, disgustedly, "and that fool, Ravage," Nox continued, waving a hand at the malformed chunks of flesh at the foot of his dais, "attacking half-assedly! He left himself with so many stupid openings!" He shook his head in disgust, explaining, "So many openings, that even holding back, I ended up killing him."
"I completely overestimated their power," Nox said disgustedly, to Virulous, but quickly corrected himself, "No! That's not right. These are all very powerful Sith lords." He asked himself, "Have I been grossly underestimating my own power?"
Noxious sighed heavily and spoke as though confessing a critical error to an over demanding taskmaster, "I'm much more powerful than I ever thought I was." After saying it, Noxsious shook his head as though rejecting a fanciful thought.
Noxious stepped down from the Imperial dais and walked past Virulous a few steps, before she stood to turn to follow the newly ascended emperor. As she did, Virulous got a better look at the pieces of the dead Sith lord. That's when she saw the teeth in the malformed maws, and the claws on the misshapened appendages.
"My dark lord, Emperor Nox?" she called to him.
"Yes? What is it? And they're calling me Noxsious, now."
"Those are Sith spawn," she said, though it was more a question than a statement.
Noxsious turned about to face his follower, asking, "You know of those?"
"Arus' memories are with me, my emperor," Virulous replied, "She had never actually seen one but she had read ancient texts about them. She had also heard rumors of Sith lords of her time experimenting with the creation of dark fiendish beasts, before Vitiate killed them."
Virulous had walked up to the dead creatures, their twisted forms bore the marks of dozens of terrible electrical burns, worse than the ones she'd gotten when he'd nearly killed her.
"Dark… Emperor," she corrected herself, almost calling him Dark Lord, "were you holding back on Korriban, too?"
"If I hadn't, I wouldn't have enjoyed myself as much as I did," Noxious said, mostly boasting.
However, sifting through Arus' memories, Virulous realized that Noxious was in possession of the lost dark arts. During the life and times of Arus, it was said that any Sith capable of creating life, such as these Sith spawn lying dead on the chamber floor, was indeed at the pinnacle of knowledge and power.
"What are you thinking, Darth Virulous?" the Sith Emperor demanded.
Virulous turned about to face Noxsious, and bent to both knees and both hands, touching her head to the cold stone floor.
"My emperor," she intoned, almost worshipful, "You are more powerful than I had ever imagined. You have created life!"
Noxious shrugged, thinking, "Meh… It's sloppy workmanship. I still need to do more work to improve in that area."
From his point of view, the poor quality and utter weakness of those pitiful creatures were an embarrassment to him, but he didn't want to appear weak, so he kept his own counsel about it.
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