Chapter 9: Two Lessons

Nar Shadda.

The smuggler's Moon had long been known as a haven of lawlessness. The Hutt Cartel may have ruled here, but as long as you chose not to interfere with their business, you could do what you liked. It was anything goes.

Since the return of the Sith Empire, the Hutts had done all they could to maintain their neutrality treaties with both the Republic and the Empire, as a result, the slug lords that ruled from Nal Hutta, the Glorious Jewel, grew even more wealthy as the profited from the chaos that had spread throughout the galaxy. Even with the signing of the treaty of Coruscant, and the fragile peace that now reigned between the two super powers, the Hutt Cartel still found ways to profit from the conflict, the real war may have stopped ,but the resulting cold war had made the gangsters more powerful than ever.

From a ship coming in from orbit, Nar Shadda might have seemed to be a glamorous place; brightly lit signs illuminated the smoky skies, while air traffic of every kind wove its way in and out among the great structures of the smuggler's moon. Someone had once said that if you had a desire for anything, all you had to do was come to Nar Shadda, everything was for sale here, and all it would cost was both your credits and your innocence.

Avaryss had smiled when she heard that last part.

She had lost her innocence long ago.

Captain Slynn brought the Fury class interceptor down into one of the heaviest lanes of incoming traffic. All around them buzzed ships from a hundred different worlds. Through the Force, Avaryss could feel hum and whirl of the world below. It may have looked bright and festive with its many casinos and trading posts, but it was anything but…

To one skilled in the ways of the Force, Nar Shadda stank of desperation. What the Hutts conducted up here was the types of business they would rather not do down on their homeworld. Slavery, spice, gun running, the sins of the people of this place were many, as well as the cries of anguish of those that were often caught in the crossfire.

Avaryss felt nothing for those wailing masses. The weak existed to serve the strong, which was the way of the universe. Life was a constant struggle to survive; anyone who said otherwise was a fool, or simply trying to manipulate the masses.

Peace is a lie, there was only passion.

"We have our landing coordinates, my lord," Slynn informed her, "Lord Rathari has granted us the use of one of his hangars for the duration of our mission here.

She nodded.

She was still not sure she truly trusted the captain. When she sensed him through the Force all she felt was cold arrogance. True, an Imperial needed to believe in himself to succeed, but…

She would give him one last chance to prove himself, if he failed her here, she would make sure that he would not fail anyone ever again.

Deal with Slynn later, for now, stay focused on the mission.

She nodded to herself.

Yes, the mission had to come first.

Before sending her off, Darth Feer had contacted the Sith Lord trusted to look after Imperial interest here on Nar Shadda, Lord Rathari had been chosen by the dark council to handle any matters that benefited the Empire as a whole, and had been trusted with, eventually, finding a way to bring the Hutt clans into Imperial orbit. It was not enough to simply have a treaty with the slug-like gangsters, the Sith needed to own them, it was the only way that they could properly be brought to heel.

That task had fallen to Rathari, a difficult job to be sure, but for someone who considered himself a Sith on the way up, a necessary step in establishing himself as a dominate player in the game of Sith politics.

Like many Sith, Lord Rathari was more than eager to aid Lord Feer in carrying out his will, Gaining the favor of a Darth could be very useful to one hoping to move up in the Empire, and, according to Lord Feer, Rathari was a very ambitious man, indeed.

"The fool thinks he is a man of destiny," he had chuckled, "He took my attention as proof of that destiny. He will not hinder your search."

Avaryss had nodded, pleased with the news, but she did have a question.

"Does he not realize that he has invited our enemies to become his enemies? Why would he risk bringing Terrog and Baras down on his head?"

"Because he believes that he can handle it," her master had replied with a sneer, "If anything he will distract Baras and Terrog, especially if they already have people on the ground on Nar Shadda."

Her master smiled and lifted her chin; her crimson eyes looked into his golden ones.

"The stakes grow ever higher, my child. I hope you are ready for what is to come."

She had assured him that she was.

She sensed there was more going on here then what they could see.

She was eager to try and get to the bottom of it, and if anyone tried to get in her way, she would enjoy removing them from her path.

She would enjoy that very much.

The journey to the smuggler's moon proved to be most uneventful. Slynn had picked them up at the Feer estate, and they had left with no incident. Mister Rink was most impressed by the Interceptor; he looked upon it as it landed like one would look on a future lover. Once they were aboard and safely traveling at light speed, he divided his time between the engineering section and the bridge, spending his time asking Slynn and Holli questions about the Sith ship.

Avaryss did not discourage him, as long as he was busying himself with the crew, he was leaving her in peace, which was good, she spent the bulk of her time in her quarters, meditating and gathering her power for when they arrived on Nar Shadda. Only her new protocol droid had been allowed inside her chambers. He had not been available on her last mission, having been off ship receiving a series of new upgrades to enhance his performance, but now, he was all hers and she was free to do with him as she pleased. 2V-R9 was an older model servant droid programed to see to the day to day operations of her new vessel. Like most Sith droids, Toovee had been programmed with the idea that at any time his new master might decide to scrap him, as a result he lived in a state of constant programmed fear.

It amused her to tease the droid about his possible scraping, it would keep the droid settled on his duties while at the same time provide her with amusement on long voyages.

I should take my amusements where I can, she realized, what was to come will no doubt test my abilities, and in truth, she would not have it any other way.

She did not think for a moment that this would be easy. If Tatooine had taught her anything, it was clear that there were other players in this game, and that they knew far more than she did. House Feer was playing catch up, and that was never a good thing when it came to being a Sith.

Those that fell behind were left behind; she would not be one of them.

She could not help but think that what was happening here, that it was part of her destiny.

The thought made her smile.

The fact that her destiny might just hinge on a stolen droid head was amusing to say the least.

Whatever was so important about the thing, whatever knowledge it contained would be hers, hers and her masters.

From there, they would see where the future would lead.

Once they had landed, Avaryss took Mister Rink and got moving. She ordered Ensign Holli that, under no circumstances, was she to do anything that took their ship off line for any length of time. Avaryss was still not sure what welcome they had awaiting them here. She did not want to risk getting stranded on the Smuggler's Moon without a working hyper drive.

"Tell Slynn to be ready to leave on a moment's notice," she informed the young engineer, "I will be most displeased if we are not."

The girl grinned and bobbed her head.

"Have no fear, my lord; everything will be ready upon your return."

With that Avaryss and Rink had set out to retrieve the droid head. He informed her that it would be smarter and quicker to take a speeder to his little hidey hole.

"This whole area is under the control of Y'bann the Hutt," he informed her, "He will not be pleased that we took something of value from his sector, even if he finds out about it after the fact. Hutts will use any excuse to punish any slight, real or imagined."

"Then we must move quickly then," she said, "I will see about acquiring a speeder for us."

"Leave that to me, milady," he said grinning proudly, "I was boosting speeders since I was ten, and boosting whole starships since I was thirteen."

"We do not want to attract attention," she warned him, "Perhaps credits will serve us better than simply…borrowing a speeder."

Her eyes narrowed.

"And do not call me Milady," she growled, "I am Sith. You may call me, my lord."

His brow furrowed.

"But you are a lady, yes?"

She smiled.

"I'm female, yes, though few would call me a lady."

She laughed lightly.

"Sith do not bind themselves to gender based honorifics. A full Sith may be called Lord, regardless of gender. Lady is usually a title reserved for their wives."

"What do they call the female lord's husband?" he asked.

"They hold the title of High Consort, though it is rare that a female lord marries beneath her, typically her mate is a lord himself already. If both hold the title of dark lord, then they are honored equally, regardless of their gender."

She stepped forward giving him a cold smile.

"So remember your place, and my title, I will not ask again.

"Sure thing," he said smiling gamely, "You are the boss, boss."

Avaryss rolled her eyes. Boss wasn't…

No wait.

She smiled.

"Boss," she said nodding, "Yes, that works too; you may refer to me as such from now on."

"Gotcha," he said standing at attention and saluting her.

She shook her head.

Emperor give me strength.

It would not be easy to resist the urge to kill this man. He seemed eager to push her buttons.

She would have to resist temptation, at least until she had what she needed.

Then, she would be free to reevaluate their relationship.

"Lead on, Mister Rink," she said.

"Time is short."

IOI

The air speeder zipped from busy traffic lane to traffic lane. Avaryss sat in the passenger seat while Rink drove. She watched as they moved past the brightly lit signs and Hutt pleasure barges that filled the sky.

Avaryss frowned slightly.

She should have felt at home here, the dark side was quite strong in this place. Yet, she did not; the light side shard within her had begun to pulse irritatingly, the result being that her head was filling with weaker emotions and doubts.

She did her best to focus, and push such thoughts away. She would not be hobbled by this, not when she was coming so close to her goal.

She reached out with the Force, sensing the despair; it was a feeling that burned like a simmering fire beneath the greed and violence of this world. She found herself looking over at her companion. Rink had said little as he guided her towards where he had stashed his prize.

She frowned.

She found herself feeling…curious.

"So this is Nar Shadda," she said shaking her head, "I can't imagine that it was easy growing up here."

Rink glanced her way, she sensed surprise, perhaps he thought her indifferent to what this place was.

He shrugged slightly.

"You learn how to swim quickly here, or you drown," he replied, "That is the way it is in most places, I suppose."

Avaryss nodded.

"Were you born here?"

"No, I…I was born on Kuat. Dad use to work for the Drive Yards there, I was pretty young when they left but I remember that much. I think we came here because of a job offer. Companies are always opening up here, seeking to take advantage of the Hutts desire for credits and lack of regulation."

Rink laughed.

"I'm not sure what happened to my dad, but I remember my mom telling me one day that he was not coming home. She worked to try and support us, for a while, used to leave me with a neighbor while she was gone, one day, she did not come back either. The friendly neighbor did not keep me around long after that. I was taken to an orphanage, stayed there for a few years before I ran away."

"How old were you?"

"Eight or nine, I've been on my own ever since."

Avaryss pursed her lips.

The thought of a child living on his own on such a world boggled her mind, especially for a child with no one to turn to.

"I got lucky," he said, "Fell in with one of the gangs, took me in, fed me, and taught me how to survive. Could have been worse, believe me; slavers here are always on the lookout for kids. They fetch a fine price if they are found before something bad happens to them."

He glanced over at her.

"It wasn't some fancy estate on Dromund Kaas, but this place became a home of sorts. I did not have some wealthy master to supply everything I needed."

She frowned.

Was he actually looking down on her because of her station? Did he not think she knew what it was like to lose everything?!

She was tempted to punish him, but again the light inside her flared up.

She found herself talking rather than punishing.

"If you must know, I was not born on Dromund Kaas," she said defensively, "I come from a small farming world on the outskirts of the Empire. Everything I have, my place and power were all earned through struggle and hard work. No one gave me anything."

"Really," he said giving her an arched look, "Hey…look I did not mean to offend, just stating facts, but still…"

He smiled.

"A farm world, you say you were raised on a farm?"

"I was."

"When I look at you, I don't see some farm kid."

She smiled slightly.

"Good, because I've worked very hard to shed what I was, to kill everything that marked me as being from that life. If one is to survive on Dromund Kaas you need to embrace what it means to be a member of the Sith."

"We all have to grow up," he agreed, "You don't learn how to survive, you don't last long, not on places like this, or places like Dromund Kaas, am I right?"

"You are indeed, Mister Rink."

"You are indeed."

She sighed and shook her head.

Why she had felt the need to share this with him, she did not know. It was not like she needed his compassion or understanding, only the item that he had hidden.

Once she had it, she would decide what to do with him.

You will need to think hard on this, her conscience chided, it would certainly serve your master's needs to simply eliminate him, but what about yours. Remember the Jawas on Tatooine. They had the prestige they did by honoring their deals; people knew that they could be trusted within the limits of what they were.

Ruthlessness alone will not make you powerful; you need to temper that with cunning, and occasionally with generosity to your underlings. A master that abuses his hounds doesn't have hounds for very long, and sometimes they might even turn and bite him.

Think carefully before you simply throw something away. A bit of mercy may prove valuable in the long run.

She said nothing, but she did acknowledge the wisdom of that thought.

No Sith took power on her own, underlings were required.

She glanced over at Rink. He did have skills that might prove useful. Despite his insolence, and problems with authority, there was actually some value beneath all that swagger and attitude.

She would see what she could do to yoke that value.

"How long until we reach our destination?" she asked.

"Not long," he promised, "I hid what we are looking for in the industrial sector, not much down there, and the…smell alone has been known to keep the curious away."

She wrinkled her nose.

"The smell?"

He chuckled.

"It is not all brightly lit buildings and palaces on Nar Shadda, Boss. Sometimes the unpleasant things here can work to your advantage."

She sighed.

She was grateful that she had chosen to wear a full armored suit, and knee high boots. A hooded cloak hid most of her features, not that she would be here long to be recognized. She had no real idea what Rink meant when he said "unpleasant," but she did not think that she was going to like it.

Fortunately, you are not going to be here that long, find the droid, and get out.

She took a deep breath and began to gather her strength.

The Force began to simmer inside of her.

"Remember to watch your step around here," Rink cautioned as they began their descent into the industrial sector.

"This place can be a little rough."

She smiled gamely.

"Do not worry about me," she said, "I'm ready for anything."

Thirty minutes later, she began to question the validity of those words.

IOI

Rink led her through what could only be called a large sewer pipe. Her knee high boots proved to be a good choice as they trudged through sludge and grime. Her cloak was dragging through the muck.

Rink had been right about the smell of course, she could not imagine a reason that she would wish to remain in such a place for very long, no matter what prize might await down here.

She resisted the urge to breathe through her nose.

Most unpleasant, she thought.

It was most unpleasant indeed.

"Home sweet home," Rink chuckled as he splashed on ahead of her.

Avaryss frowned.

The desire to drown him in this sludge was increasing; she would try to hold back on it for a while longer.

He did not seem to understand exactly who he was dealing with. He seemed to enjoy teasing her, treating her like a peer rather than his master. If he was not careful, he would come to regret that decision.

Rink looked at her, and all he saw was a young girl, she was more than that, far more.

She was Sith.

If the street rat was not careful, he would likely learn exactly what that meant.

It would be fun to punish him, but that was not what she was here for.

They still had a prize to find.

She continued to restrain herself, for now.

"How much further," she asked.

"Not much," he said, "There is a maintenance room up ahead; that is where I hid the thing."

He laughed.

"When I think of how close I came to simply turning over the head to my fence, I have to laugh."

"It is a good thing that you didn't." she answered, "Your Republic friends probably would have killed you on the spot had they had in their hands in that moment."

"You are probably right. Now where is, ah there it is."

In the dim light, she saw Thranton step out of the water and onto a small ledge. She heard the sound of a key pad being activated, buttons being pressed.

A section of pipe to their right slid upward, revealing a door.

Avaryss sighed with relief.

It seemed that they had reached their destination.

Praise be to the Emperor!

She let him help her up onto a short metal walkway. Several cubby holes lined the walls, some with locked doors.

Rink walked up, and kneeled down before one.

"A few months ago," he said, "I stole a ship that had a genetic scanner on its entry system. The people I sold it to had no real interest in it, so I acquired it for my own personal use."

He gave her a proud smirk.

"That is why you needed me here. You would not have been able to open this safe without my genetic material."

Avaryss gave him a sly look.

"Oh…I don't know," she said, "All I would have needed was your hand. The rest of your could have stayed behind on Dromund Kaas."

"Whoa there," he replied, "that is a little dark for you isn't it?"

Her smile widened.

"Oh…Mister Rink, you have not seen dark yet."

He said nothing more, choosing to return to his work. She stood watch as he entered a code on keypad next to the shelves.

The door finally hissed open. She watched as he reached inside and pulled out a large black bundle, wrapped in a leather cloth. He opened it up to reveal a shiny chrome surface.

"Is It safe?" she asked him.

"Seems to be," he said turning the droid head over, she could see the leads where it had been removed from its body. It…

Avaryss frowned and looked up. The Force shifted slightly, and with it, the sound of splashing coming up from the way they had come.

She could sense several people approaching, Seven, maybe eight of them, she could feel both hostility and arrogance.

"Did anyone else know you used this place as a hideout," she asked Rink.

"Where it was exactly, no," he replied, "Of course, this wasn't the first time I hid something down here.

Avaryss cursed under her breath.

It seemed that they were about to have company.

Thranton slipped the prize into the duffel he had brought with them. He also pulled out a small hold out blaster from the hiding place as well.

Avaryss glared at him.

"Were you planning on using that on me?"

"Nope, we had a deal remember? You can't reward me if you're dead, and besides, hopefully…I will not even have to use this."

He put on his most welcoming smile and stepped before her.

"Let me do the talking," he suggested, "a few choice words might get us out of here faster than that nerf-sticker you are carrying."

"Nerf…sticker," she said, feeling mildly insulted.

A lightsaber was no mere "nerf-sticker."

She was about to say as much when the people she sensed came around the corner.

"Evening gentles," he said jovially, "What can I…?"

He paused mid-sentence.

Avaryss got her first real look at their uninvited guests.

They did not look friendly.

All were clad in black leather, and all had their faces painted bright red. A single symbol adorned their foreheads, the mark of their gang she supposed. There were three humans and four aliens in their group. She recognized two of them as Rodians, the third and fourth she thought were a Gotal and Aqualish respectively.

"Great," she heard Rink mutter under his breath.

"The Darths have found us."

Avaryss eyes narrowed.

Darths? Did these ruffians actually refer to themselves as Darths?

Her temper began to grow.

Such scum did not deserve to call themselves by that name.

A Darth was death itself, the dark side personified!

It was a title that was respected, it was not meant to be a lark for street scum!

"So the little rat finally returned to his whole," one of the gang members crowed.

"The boys and I were starting to wonder if we were gonna have to search this place ourselves."

"I'm sure we can come to an arrangement," Rink said, "There is no need for violence."

Several of the gang members giggled.

"Oh there is a great need for it," their leader said smiling, "It is kinda fun!"

Avaryss rolled her eyes. She could feel the hate rising inside of her; normally she simply let it flow through her, her body serving a conduit to feed the dark side.

Now, she let it build within her, feeling the power build. This scum was an insult to the Sith Empire, she had decided.

They would answer for that outrage.

"We've been paid to watch this place," the leader said with a wide toothy grin, "Anyone tries to take anything out of here, we take it from em. Of course, now that we have it, we can see how high we can push the price up, eh boys?"

His fellows nodded, a few giggled.

"A word to the wise," Rink said to them politely, "You don't want to do that, the people that want this thing, they play rough, trust me on that."

"The Darths aren't afraid of nuthin you little worm. We are…"

Avaryss had heard enough.

She started laughing.

That laughter drew the attention of everybody. Rink looked at her like she had gone mad. The gangsters looked insulted.

"What you laughing at?" the leader demanded.

Avaryss shook her head.

"At you," she admitted, "How little you truly understand."

She stepped before Mister Rink. What she had in mind was for him too. He needed to learn exactly who he was dealing with, and these fools would provide the perfect example.

She stepped forward, lowering her hood, letting their adversaries see her face.

The leader looked surprised, at first, a look that shifted into one of greed.

"Pretty lady," he said, "You will fetch us a pretty price with the Hutts."

"Oh I really don't think so," Avaryss answered, her mirth fading to a few giggles.

She looked up at them, her power continuing to build inside her. These "Darths" saw her as no threat. They still believed they were in control here.

They were about to learn a valuable lesson.

"You call yourselves Darths, but you do not understand the title. You make light of the Sith and what it means to be Sith. You do not understand the power of the dark side, you understand nothing."

She shook her head, her fury continued to build, the world around her was tinged with red, the tunnel around them seemed to lighten; a soft crimson light was building, despite the fact that she had not activated her lightsaber.

She felt a slight shift in some of the gang members. She felt confusion, anger at being challenged, and a bit of fear. The last part was bit hard to understand until she reached out and sensed the surface thoughts of them.

They were backing away because her red eyes were glowing, they did not know what to make of that.

Stick around, she thought; what happens next will be even more amazing!

"A Darth is death," she informed them, "It is the highest level of Sith, a name that inspires both fear and speaks of the lord's refinement."

The leader, probably the strongest of this lot still not get it, she felt his hostility building.

"What do you know about the Sith lady? You're just some shutta, you know nuthin!"

Avaryss sneered.

Here is how much I know," she purred.

She gestured with her right hand.

She unleashed the power that had been building inside of her. She cast the spell, and the dark side washed over these so called "Darths."

The result was quite impressive.

The screaming started first, shrieks of terror and howls of rage. In that moment the gang members forgot all about profit from the droid head and trying to sell Avaryss to the Hutts. They spun around and realized that they were surrounded by enemies.

They responded not with controlled violence, but with panic! They lashed out with their bare hands ignoring their weapons.

Avaryss and Rink stood there and watched as the gang tore into each other, attacking with fingers, teeth and claws.

They quite literally tore each other apart.

Avaryss reveled in the show.

It only took a few minutes. The hate and fury the gang members possessed was quite strong, her spell merely amplified what was inside of them, stripping them of any inhibitions. Soon the sludge at their feet turned red, and the cries of rage were replaced by gurgles cut short and then silence.

She waited until the very end, to see who was left.

Once again Sith's adage of the strong surviving proved true. Only the leader, the gang's spokesmen remained. Though he was quite beyond saying anything at that point, in that moment he was beyond almost anything.

He sat in the muck curled up in a fetal possession, whimpering pathetically, nursing a broken arm and sobbing, his eyes squeezed shut.

Avaryss stood triumphantly over him.

"You are no Darth," she said coldly, "A Darth would not have fallen so easily."

She looked over at Mister Rink; he looked pale, and a little green. His eyes were wide with disbelief, and perhaps a little horror.

She smiled at him.

"As you can see Mister Rink, I am more than my 'nerf-sticker' A Sith is far more than a laser sword. The ancient arts still live in me; the power of Sith sorcery is very much alive."

She stepped closer to him, so that they stood eye to eye.

"Let this be a lesson to you, two lessons actually, the first being that I am no mere girl."

He laughed nervously trying to put on a brave face.

"Um…sure boss, whatever you say."

She nodded pleased by his answer.

"And…um…ah…the second lesson, you said there were two."

"The second lesson is even easier to remember."

"Beware the dark side."

She took one final look around them, at the carnage she had wrought.

She found it good.

"Let us be off," she said, "These might not have been the only ones watching this place. We need to get back to the ship."

"Right behind you, Boss," he replied, trying to regain some of his swagger even as he stepped over the bodies of the gang members.

"Lead the way."

She smiled as she turned and made her way back down the sewer pipe.

Lead the way he had said.

Avaryss grinned triumphantly.

How could she do anything else?