Chapter 29: Shadow Dancing

"I'm sorry Sith, but this…it cannot be done."

Avaryss' eyes narrowed behind her new mask. The Alchemist had done a fine job fine tuning its effects to her powers; the red crystal built into the bracer on her wrist glowed with her growing anger.

The mask itself resembled her own face, except it was far more angular and harsh; the permanent scowl that it showed did much to suggest how great her anger could be…

…Anger that was growing, even as they spoke.

She leaned in closer bathing the slate grey surface in the crimson light of the hologram.

"I don't like words like "can't" Captain," she said coldly, "They tend to bring out the worst in me."

Captain Torve winced, he bowed his head slightly.

The show of weakness infuriated Avaryss.

We are on the edge of Republic space here, she thought to herself.

The officers posted out here should have a bit more fire in their bellies.

Myrnn 8 would never be considered an attractive place. The night sky may have been beautiful with the huge yellow gas giant Myrnn prime, filling much of the sky, but even that beauty was all but blocked from the smog and smoke rising from the many foundries that made up much of the moon's urban sprawl.

Though she had not yet been able to experience much the city, she could feel the sense of hopelessness that seemed to rise from the people living here. No doubt the Republic would not wish this place to be on their tourism guides.

Avaryss smiled slightly.

Such places were evidence enough of why the Republic needed to fall. The Sith were at least honest about possessing such worlds.

The Republic simply chose to ignore them, and the people that called such worlds their home.

The Sith forces stationed here were not the best. She got the feeling that duty on this rock was considered punishment. They were supposed to be operating a listening post, but from the fear she had sensed since her arrival, it was clear that they had not been doing their duty for quite some time. In fact, she saw a sign hanging above one of the doors, proclaiming this place as a "home for the Empire's forgotten ones."

These men were on the verge of becoming useless to the Empire, and Captain Hol Torve was the worst of all. He was a squirrely, balding man with watery eyes and yellowish skin, the kind of skin that one got from sitting before holo-screens for too long.

She only just stopped herself from sighing.

And this is all I have to work with on this mission, she thought.

Wonderful!

Even Beric wrinkled his nose at what they were seeing. Her brother was imperial army through and through, but even he was disgusted by these men.

Apathy was a disease here, and these men were on the verge of dying from it.

She suspected that it was for this reason that the Jedi and Republic SIS had had such free reign of movement here for so long. The Sith troopers stationed here were too lost in lamenting their lot rather than truly doing their duty.

The hopelessness of this world is infectious, she thought, she would need to keep her guard up, the prize she sought now was here.

She would not leave until she had acquired it.

She stared again at the hologram that Torve had provided for her, one of the few things the captain had done right. The holo was of a large security building in this city's southernmost tip.

It was here that the Jedi had built their enclave, and it was here that the answers she needed had likely been stored.

"It began as a payroll office for the mining guild," Torve had informed her, "When the Empire returned, the Jedi took it over as an enclave, using it as a base, and used it very well during the last war, launching raids against our forces as they advanced, none of those raids amounted to much in themselves, but they stung at our supply lines, and slowed down our advance."

Resulting in the stalemate that only ended after the sack of Coruscant, Avaryss thought with a frown.

They blocked us from absolute victory! They stung us like gnats until our advance stopped!

An annoying, yet apparently effective strategy, she had to admit.

"I'm surprised the Empire never destroyed this place," she growled, "The Jedi should never have had a beachhead this close to our territory."

The captain's frown deepened.

"As I said Sith, the Jedi were smart, they never did anything to draw too much attention to what they were doing. It has been a thorn in our side for years now, and since the treaty was signed we have been trying to find a way into this Enclave with little success."

He sighed heavily.

"Security is too tight, and any attempt at something overt would result in our discovery and destruction. As I said, I fear it cannot be done."

"I assume you have tried standard infiltration tactics," she said trying very hard not to let her disgust for the man show, "Surely a technician or servant could…"

"The Jedi bring in their own people, and keep them inside the enclave. Food and water are supplied by the Republic garrison here, and any problems are immediately reported to that garrison. My men and I number only a hundred; the Republic can field five times that, plus whatever Jedi are currently staying within the enclave.

"Have you tried knocking out communications," Beric asked, "Cause distractions in other districts to draw off Republic forces?"

"Any loss of communication or problem in the city results in the entire enclave going under lock down. The security measures installed by the Mining Guild remain intact; the Jedi did nothing to change them."

And you have the floor plans," Avaryss reminded him, "Surely you should have found a weakness by now."

Yes, we have the plans, but they were never classified because the security measures put in place were so tight.

The Captain gestured, showing a floor plan of the main entrance.

"Every one of these entrances are fitted with reinforced blast doors," he said pointing, "those blast doors are made of Mandalorean iron and reinforced with cortosis weave, nothing short of a capital ship's heavy battery will even scratch it."

He looked at Avaryss.

"Even your lightsaber would not be able to cut through before Republic reinforcements arrived."

Avaryss hissed under her breath.

Through the Force she could sense that she had found the place they were looking for, security was far tighter than anything the Jedi or the Republic normally used, at least from her limited experience in fighting them.

She was starting to see why Torve and his men had lost hope, all it took was one angry dark lord to look at this and either order them into a suicide attack, or to execute them for failing to accomplish their mission.

No wonder these men had all but given up.

She had not.

"Do you at least know how many Jedi are in the enclave at any one time? Guard rotations, training schedules, how often and when they communicate with their masters? Anything could help, Captain, anything."

Captain Torve frowned.

"They use standard Republic encryption for most of their transmissions. We broke those codes during the war, but it is safe to say that the Jedi are using something more subtle in their communications. As for the Jedi themselves there is usually no less than seven Jedi in the enclave at all times. We've observed Master Pondar interacting with them. Most do not stay long, but the number never drops below more than five."

"All knights I assume?" Avaryss said scratching her masked chin thoughtfully.

"They're at least three Padawans stationed here as well. They are students, we think, learning at feet of Master Pondar and his acolytes. Their master's bring them here, leave, and most of the time come back a few days later. Assuming that the Cathar has taught them what they need to know."

Avaryss considered that.

That was one interpretation, personally, she preferred her own.

So…they come here, Jedi working with the conspiracy, then they train for a bit with Master Pondar before receiving their marching orders from elsewhere. When going into Sith space, the master might choose to leave the apprentice behind, either to receive future orders, or maybe to hide the fact that the master is breaking treaty."

It made sense, considering what she had experienced in the past.

Again her mind drifted back to Butcher's Clearing, and the Nautolan Padawan she had slain.

Perhaps the order learned from that mistake.

Perhaps they were no longer so quick to throw their students into danger.

Something tickled in the back of Avaryss' mind, a slight shift in the Force.

She was getting closer.

"What about the access codes," Beric volunteered, if you have their communication."

"All codes are changed by Master Pondar, and all on a random basis. He never speaks of the pass codes during his transmissions, we surmise that they are disbursed verbally, and only when a Jedi needs to leave the conclave for some reason, and the Jedi do not venture out often."

Avaryss growled.

This was pointless!

What they were searching for was here, she was certain of it. Yet…they could not reach it. The Jedi recognize the threat they faced, they knew their enemy.

They were not likely to make some foolish mistake.

It was at that moment that Rink spoke up; he had stayed quiet up until now.

"Maybe we can just go up to the door and knock," he suggested, "I doubt they would expect a Sith to coming knocking to barrow a cup of tea."

Avaryss glared at the pilot.

His suggestion was not helping, it was…was…

Again the Force whispered in her ear, it was a slight thing, barely recognizable.

The young Sith smiled.

"That is not such a bad idea," she purred, her eyes flashing hungrily.

Yes, the more she thought about it the more she like the idea.

If they could not force their way in, or slip in undetected, perhaps they could get invited in.

It would be a challenge sure, but…

When was anything worth doing easy?

Both Beric and Captain Torve looked at her like she had lost her mind.

Perhaps she had.

She giggled.

That was the reason that this might just work.

Forgive me Sith," the Captain said, "I've seen Sith Masters do amazing things, but I fear this is even beyond even the greatest of your order."

""We will see," Avaryss purred.

"You think that the Cathar is simply going to open the door for you?" Beric said, "A Jedi is not some weak minded thug from Nar Shadda."

"Heeey," Rink piped in.

"I wasn't talking to you, street rat," her brother growled back.

"Peace," Avaryss said raising her hand, "both of you."

All three men fell silent.

She should have been feeling lost, but instead, Avaryss felt rejuvenated, excited even.

"You are right, Lieutenant," she said, "the Cathar would never willingly open the door for us, one of the Padawans however…"

Her grin turned shark like behind her mask.

"That is another story entirely."

"One of the students," Torve said, still sounding unsure.

"You think you might be able to turn one?"

Maybe," Avaryss thought, more and more she felt sure that this was indeed the way to go.

Yes, this was it.

Yes.

She found herself reflecting on the words of Darth Hecaetus, the Dark Lord who had been known as the corrupter. He had been quite skilled in seducing young or weak willed Jedi to the dark side; he considered it both his work and his greatest joy.

Tales of his exploits, his various conquests had been a source of inspiration to her during her training. Her first and most favored mentor, Master Adaz had been a student of Hecaetus, and charged Avaryss with continuing his grand work.

Perhaps the time had finally come to start doing exactly that.

"You said you have the Jedi's security cameras?" she asked Torve.

"Of course, Sith, but…"

"And I trust you have made recordings of the Jedi's training methods, their interaction with their students?"

"Of course, but…"

"Good," Avaryss said nodding; a shiver of excitement ran down her spine.

This…this was going to be fun!

"I will need to see those recordings, captain, all of them. I want to examine the Jedi' training methods for myself, and see how their students react to those methods. Hopefully we will get lucky."

Beric shot her a curious look.

"You hope to turn one of the Jedi to our cause?"

"I do," she replied.

"That is impossible, Sith," Torve said, "Jedi are incorruptible."

Avaryss almost laughed.

How little the Captain truly understood.

Whether they admitted it or not, the Jedi who were carrying out this conspiracy were playing very close to an abyss. They were shadow dancing, skating just on the edge of where Jedi ended and Sith began.

A senior master might be able to do that and not fall over that edge, but a student, a Padawan, especially one left angry by the death of their friends at the temple years ago…

They might just be what Avaryss needed to complete her mission, and take her next step on the dark path.

"I've heard that only a master can turn a Jedi to the dark," Beric said.

She turned to him.

"You doubt my abilities?"

"I think you might be biting off more than you can chew," he replied.

She laughed lightly.

"Do not underestimate me, or the power of the dark side."

She turned to the Captain.

"Ready your troops for a full force attack on the enclave. We will strike as soon as I have turned our pawn to my way of thinking."

The captain did not look convinced.

He shook his head again.

"I fear this will not work Sith. We should…ACK!"

Avaryss raised her hand, her fingers closing into a claw.

The Sith Captain gasped for breath, his eyes bulged.

Avaryss world suddenly took on a rosy glow, her new mask and bracer responding to her anger, and her lashing out at the cowardly captain.

Her red eyes narrowed.

"I'm about to make you a hero, captain," she informed him, "For too long, this enclave has been a source of embarrassment for the Empire. In a few days' time, you will be known as the Sith officer that finally cracked this problem, or…I can crack every bone in your neck right now."

She smiled coldly.

"Do you want to be a hero, or do you want to be a corpse? The choice is yours."

The man's face was starting to turn red; soon it would turn to blue, then purple, then black.

He croaked out an answer.

"What was that," she asked, "I cannot hear over the gurgling noises?"

"Her….hero," he managed to gasp, "A…a hero."

Avaryss grinned.

"As you wish."

She released her grip on him. The man flopped down heavily against the table, gulping in the air.

Beric shot her a dirty look, clearly he did not approve of her treatment of a fellow soldier, well…that was just too bad.

The weak existed to serve the strong, sometimes they needed to be reminded of that.

She had just…reminded him.

Avaryss went around so that she could whisper in the captain's ear. When she spoke her voice was a soft as velvet, but also dripping with venom.

"Make sure you don't…choke on your insecurities, captain."

The man nodded, still trying to catch his breath, he no longer met her gaze; he was completely and utterly cowed by her.

Excellent!

"Have every recording of the Padawans in that enclave sent to my quarters here," she said, "I need to find the one who will serve us best, and when I do, we will both be rewarded for this great victory."

"It…it will be done, my lord," the captain promised, "Everything will be as you ask."

"Good," she said turning her black cloak flaring behind her. Two of the captain's peon soldiers could not get out of the way quick enough as she passed.

Beneath her new mask she was grinning.

The thought of corrupting a Jedi to her side excited her, and, who knew, this Jedi may know exactly who was behind the conspiracy, which would not only shorten her path to glory, but build on the legend that was Avaryss.

Beware the corrupter, she thought, beware the rightful heir of Hecaetus.

She laughed.

Oh, how her enemies would tremble.