Chapter 32: Seduction
The girl's screams rang out through the abandoned warehouse.
Avaryss stood back, admiring the fruits of her labor. Quenya Sai Malloc thrashed wildly, the nightmares that the young Sith's spells had summoned assaulted the Devish girl's mind, likely doing far more damage than the array of blades and bludgeons that Captain Torve had supplied her with.
Physical pain had its uses; she had studied the art of interrogation during her time on both Butcher's Clearing and Korriban. She knew what it took to get a confession out of someone, but this was not about a confession, she already knew everything that she needed to know.
She was testing the girl; see if she broke, her Jedi techniques had shielded her from the pain inflicted by Torve's interrogators. Avaryss had watched the two men bumble through until finally she could not take it anymore.
Amateurs, she thought to herself, she had gone in, dismissed the two soldiers and immediately got to work with her spells. The first one assaulted the body, and the girl resisted, glaring at her silently, Avaryss could sense the anger in her, the sense of betrayal.
Good she thought, those emotions are just what you need, but it was time to take things a little bit farther.
She went on the attack assaulting the girl's mind, using her anger as a doorway in.
The Padawan had no defense against that.
Her screams filled the young Sith's ears.
"Scream all you want," she murmured, "With everything that has happened, no one will hear you."
The Jedi Padawan did not respond; she was beyond that at that moment.
Avaryss nodded.
Pain was only the first step; others would need to be taken before they were finished.
According to Darth Hecaetus' writings this was how one began, his writings had been filled with his mirth and joy in these early moments, though, personally, Avaryss' pleasure in this was…muted.
Once she had reveled in torture, seeing a person break was proof of her superiority.
Personal experience had robbed her of much of the joy she once would have felt.
It may have been the first step, but she hoped to move quickly past it.
Torture, she thought with a shake of her head.
It was a tool, useful, but she used it begrudgingly.
She had nearly been tortured to death herself, if not for her master's intervention, she would have died on Korriban, the experience had left her broken, forced to rely on a respirator mask to survive.
She still had nightmares about that mask, the taste of Kolto in her mouth, the heavy sensation on her jaw, and not to mention the steady in and out of artificially enhanced breathing.
She had feared she would need to wear the damn thing for the rest of her life, she remembered the elation she had felt when she had finally been able to tear it off, when she…
STOP IT!
The darkness roiled inside of her.
That is the past, focus on the future!
Yes, she thought, the future…
…and it belonged to her.
She pushed the thoughts of her own pain and fear to the back of her mind, despite her feelings. This was the first step.
She watched as the alien girl thrashed against her bonds, begging and pleading for help.
"Help yourself, girl," Avaryss growled under her breath, sickened by the girl's begging.
They had only just begun.
IOI
She stayed until the girl finally lost consciousness.
She left her under guard, with word to report to her if and when the girl awoke, and finally sought out some sustenance; she had neither eaten nor slept since returning from the raid. Perhaps she would meditate for a few hours; that would restore her flagging strength. Food might be a good idea too. She…
"Why is that thing still alive?"
She paused, turning, she smiled at her brother.
Beric did not understand.
She intended to make him.
"That thing has a name," she reminded him, "You should consider using it; she will be joining us, provided she survives the next few tests I have for her."
Hearing that made him stop short, his response to her defense of the girl died on his lips.
"Joining us?"
She nodded.
"I intend to bring her over, set her on the path to the dark side.
She grinned wickedly.
"She will serve me well."
Beric scratched his chin, thoughtfully, clearly he did not agree with her choice.
"So….you want the girl for what exactly? Is she to be a trophy? Are you taking her on as a new pet?"
Her brother grinned.
"You have Rink; I thought one stray would be enough for you."
"If she does turn, I would not be so quick to say such things around her brother. An acolyte of the dark side is not someone you should take lightly, and certainly not someone who should be the butt of a joke."
He snorted.
"She betrayed her own. "You actually want someone like that fighting at your side?"
"She thought that she was helping someone, that, and she saw the chance for advancement, for recognition. She wanted it so much that she did not tell her masters about our meeting, It is that ambition that I want, it marks her as useful."
Avaryss' expression turned thoughtful.
"Of course, she will have to survive the next few days. She has to make the choice; I cannot make it for her."
"And if she doesn't?" her brother asked.
"Then my desires will be moot," she shrugged,
She will either survive, or she won't."
"That is the way of the dark side, the way of the Sith. It is survive or perish, my brother.
"Survive or perish."
IOI
A few hours later, Avaryss once again found herself facing her would be acolyte. The girl had managed to emerge from her nightmares, and seemed no less for it.
The invigorated young Sith smiled.
A bit of food and rest had done her a world of good; she was prepared to take the next step with the Jedi girl.
Now they would see if the girl was able to follow.
"Despite being bound and tortured, the girl did not seem broken. She was frightened, yes, afraid of what next horror the Sith would inflict, but she seemed to have control of that fear.
"What are you wanting with me, Sith," she demanded, her yellow eyes narrowing.
"Is it not being enough that you have ruined my life?"
Avaryss chuckled.
"Did I ruin your life? I don't seem to remember me using the Force to compel you to hide our little deal from your masters? You did that all on your own.
The Devish growled low in the back of her throat, but she did look away, Avaryss felt a wave of shame off the girl, an emotion she quickly tried to dismiss."
"Do not turn away from your emotions," Avaryss advised, "Let the guilt, the pain, let it nourish you, let it restore your strength."
She smiled.
"We still have a ways to go."
The girl looked confused, unsure why the Sith would say such a thing.
She truly did have much to learn.
'what are you wanting with me?" the Padawan demanded, "Why am I still being alive?"
"Oh this is not about me," Avaryss said admiring the various torture tools that Torve's fools had left behind. She glanced down at them, and then back at her "guest."
Quenya Sai Malloc quailed, she almost hid it, almost, but Avaryss saw it.
She thought that Avaryss was going to start hurting her again, that was not her plan.
She would not hurt the girl, unless the girl made her.
"Let us play a game," the Sith said, "You want to find out my desires, you get to ask me questions. If you get it wrong, I hurt you. If you get it right, I answer. If you win…"
"You will not be letting me go," the girl spat, "I will not be believing your lies anymore."
"Oh you will be free to go," she says, "I swear it on the name of my great Emperor."
Her expression turned playful.
"I won't lie to you, not here. The Truth is far more fun. So you may ask away, get it right, and you are free to go. It is not a bad deal is it? A chance of escape is better than no chance, is it not?"
Quenya pursed her lips, considering her words.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Avaryss snarled; she leapt forward with a scalpel from the table.
She slashed the alien girl's arm, the Padawan hissed, blood ran freely down her arm.
"WRONG QUESTION," the Sith spat, "This is not about me. Try again."
The Padawan struggled, blood flowing freely down her arm. Avaryss brought the blade to her neck.
The girl's thrashing stopped, one false move and the Sith would open up her throat.
"Try again," Avaryss said, "Try or die."
Her prisoner's eyes widened, again Avaryss felt that frisson of fear, and again the girl held it back.
The Jedi swallowed hard.
"This is not being about you that is what you said, yes?"
"It is," Avaryss said moving the blade slightly from the girl's neck.
"Who is it being for then?" the girl asked, "Your Empire? Your order?"
"Technically wrong answers," Avaryss replied, "But I'm willing to give you a break because it is clear that you are probing for the right answer, and right on the cusp of it."
The Sith's merry smile returned.
"It is not about the Empire or the Sith Order as a whole, try again?"
She could see that the girl was confused, but the blade at her throat was a motivator, she was seeking what Avaryss was looking for.
It took her only a few moments, but she finally figured it out.
"Me," she said. "This questioning, it is being about me? It is being about what I want?"
Avaryss removed the scalpel from her neck.
"Correct," she said. The Sith returned the tool to the table. She found a medical pack near where the torture tools had been set. She found something to tend to the girl's cut arm.
"Why am I being important?" the Devish asked.
"Because you have value," Avaryss replied, "And you don't understand everything…not yet."
She looked up at her prisoner.
"You will though, I promise…"
"You will."
She went to the table and began tending the girl's wound, it was not deep, but would likely leave a scar. The girl flinched when she first touched her, but when she realized that the Sith did not mean her any harm, she relaxed.
"You have value," Avaryss repeated, "Can you honestly say that your masters ever said those words to you?"
The girl winced, but that might have been from the kolto based medicine Avaryss had applied to her slashed arm.
"A Malloc must be doing better," the Padawan said morosely, "That is what the masters were always saying to me. I was…was not living up to their expectations."
Avaryss sniffed.
"…Because of who your family was? I've read your files."
Quenya nodded.
Avaryss sniffed again.
"Your masters wanted you to be more instead of focusing on making you the best that you could be. They wanted you to be like your ancestors."
She shook her head.
"I simply want you to be you. I want to see what you can do. Your ancestors are gone, dust and bone. Their accomplishments will never be yours."
She finished cleaning the girl's wound, and applied a kolto patch.
"A Force user must follow her own star."
The girl nodded, it was probably the first time in her life anyone had told her those words, it had been a failing on the Jedi' part.
The Devish girl's eyes widened.
"The Masters, the Enclave," she said quickly, "What has become of them?"
"Gone," Avaryss said blandly.
"Gone?" the girl said blinking.
"Yes, a gas line exploded under the street, the city's power systems did not detect it until it was too late. The enclave, and half the block around it is now gone, burning."
The Sith grinned.
"It was a tragic accident."
The alien girl's eyes narrowed.
"You killed them all, the people in the Enclave, the masters?"
"Yes," Avaryss admitted.
"I did."
They had caught the Enclave almost completely unaware, the Sith troopers descended on it like a tidal wave, blasting down all in their path. They went for the Jedi first, sealing off the sections that might have allowed someone inside to try and call for help.
The girl's fellow Padawans had died first.
They had been sleeping, but sensed the danger and rose. They walked into the waiting arms of the Sith troopers. There had been four of them, their masters having left them there while they tended to whatever mission the conspiracy had sent them on.
Two had been gunned down before they had even gotten to raise their lightsabers.
Avaryss had dealt with the rest; she had proved more than a match for a pair of unprepared Jedi Padawans. Her lightsaber ended their lives.
The masters they found had been more diverting.
A knight she did not know attacked her. He had killed several of their soldiers when she finally fell upon him. He had been wounded, but still put up a decent fight.
She gave him a quick death.
Quenya's master Darzu fell next, the human Jedi had not believed that the Sith could have penetrated their vaunted security. She let him know what happened before the end; that his Padawan had let them in.
He died cursing the girl for a fool. Avaryss had made mental note to let her see that recording later, she was pretty sure she was in a chamber where the Sith had access to the Enclave's cameras.
He died just as the Cathar Jedi Pondar had shown up.
It was then that the fun had truly begun.
The Cathar were a hot-blooded species, the feline-like Jedi had fallen on her like a storm, his mastery of Ataru, the acrobatic style of lightsaber combat had been terrifying. He moved with a speed that even gave her pause, it took all of her talent with Soresu just to keep from losing her head.
The Jedi yowled and snarled as he pressed his attack, to the unenlightened the two likely looked like two shadows moving far too fast for the eye to keep track, their lightsabers just swirling patterns of blue and ruby light. Avaryss had taunted the Jedi as the two of them danced back and forth, confronting him with what she knew of the conspiracy.
The beast had growled. He spat back how the Empire was doomed, that despite what happened here, she would not save the Empire, that the Sith would finally answer for all the Jedi they had slain when the Temple on Coruscant had fell years ago.
His words had given her just the push she had needed, and in the end helped seal the Jedi Master's fate.
These conspirators held a grudge for the destruction of their precious temple. They horded that hate like a Hutt hoarded its credits. Despite their dedication to the light, that grudge, that hate ensured their defeat. As the battle continued and Master Pondar failed to slay the young Sith his anger and frustration grew.
The light side of the Force withered under such conditions, his connection to it sputtered as his anger continued to grow. Meanwhile, Avaryss grew stronger as she drew on the hate and despair that continued to grow as her forces continued to clear the enclave.
The Jedi's aggression may not have been as overt as a straight up attack, but it was still aggression. This whole conspiracy had set the Jedi involved on a course towards the darkness. They would likely never admit it, but it was a weakness.
It had been a weakness that Avaryss had been more than willing to exploit.
The Jedi Master's shield sputtered as his rage grew, he could hear the darkness' call, but still resisted, still tried to hang on to the light, to deny how much his actions had changed him.
The hypocrite, Avaryss thought, anger and fear were not to be feared.
Wasn't Master Pondar a little old to be afraid of the dark?
His unwillingness to take that final step had been her step to victory.
She reached out with the dark side, attacking with the spells of the ancient Sith. The Jedi's tenuous grip on the light faltered, he tried to strengthen his shields, but his own anger and desire for vengeance poisoned that connection.
His own fears consumed him.
As he slashed at phantoms, her lightsaber took his hand, sending the weapon flying away. She followed up that attack by driving the tip of her blade through the Jedi's heart, he gasped, his cat-like eyes widened in disbelief.
She could have ended it right there, but instead chose to twist the blade, make his end hurt even more.
"I will end your conspiracy," she hissed in the dying master's ear.
"I will end you all."
She deactivated her blade, but before he could fall, she reached out took him in her arms and kissed him. His eyes widened in surprise, but that surprise quickly turned to terror and horror. She would not simply let him slip into death.
She conjured a life drain spell, as she held him in her arms, his body withered and turned to dust, dry fur blew away, flesh and bone turned brittle and crumbled.
When the spell was done, all that was left was the Cathar's skull, a dusty relic of Avaryss' victory.
She reveled in his end, drinking deep of his failure and death, but still she was not done.
It took the Sith another twenty minutes or so to finish clearing out the enclave, killing the last of the servants. It took Holli another twenty minutes to finish downloading their files, but by then they were cutting things quite close, who knew how long they had until someone at the Republic garrison noticed something amiss.
Avaryss did not give them a chance to respond.
She found Torve and Beric, they were done here. It was time to cover their tracks.
"Set the charges," she ordered, "Destroy the entire block, leave no evidence of our being here."
The accident angle had been Captain Torve's idea, it seemed that the presence of a Sith and the taste of a long denied victory was just what the man had needed.
Their losses had been minimal ten soldiers had fallen as they had cleared the Enclave while the Jedi suffered a total loss.
The explosion made sure that no evidence would get back to the rest of the Jedi conspiracy. Beric had been a bit hesitant to destroy an entire city block, but it had been necessary.
Avaryss had weighed the lives of the downtrodden citizens of that block against the future of the Empire, a few hundred dead was a worthy trade off to ensure that the Sith Empire continued to thrive.
She had not hesitated.
The destruction had been as complete as it had been glorious!
Once she would have mourned those innocents that had been caught up in the scheme, but not anymore.
The weak deserved their fate.
Those people were nothing, expendable.
She was more than happy to expend them.
IOI
"You killed them," Quenya gasped, her eyes wide with horror, "An entire block of people!?"
"They were nothing," the Sith replied, "Their deaths will ensure that my work can continue."
The Devish snarled, she struggled against her bonds, furious at what she thought was Avaryss atrocity.
Good, the Sith thought.
She lets her anger flow; she does not hide from it.
Good.
"You want to stop me?" she inquired.
"Yess," the alien girl hissed.
"You wish me dead."
"You are being a monster!"
Avaryss laughed.
"That depends entirely on your point of view."
The girl fell silent; she continued to glare into her enemy's eyes.
"It is your people's conspiracy that drew me here," Avaryss said, "Had your masters not broken the treaty, there would have been no cause of bloodshed."
She told the girl about her investigation, how the Jedi and Republic SIS had been trying to set the dark lords against each other. She told the girl of Taris and Tatooine, she told her of the Wreck and Alderaan.
She showed her the evidence she had collected, it was damning, even without what they had collected from the Enclave here.
Still the alien resisted.
"LIES," the Jedi spat, "You Sith are all being liars!"
"I told you I would not lie to you in this, and I meant that," Avaryss said, "Now, Quenya Sai Malloc, I ask you again, what is it that you want?"
The girl shuddered, Avaryss could feel her hate. The girl blamed her not only for the death of all those people and Jedi, but for tricking her in the first place.
She wondered how much responsibility the girl took for her own actions. If she had told her masters what was going on, the Sith would never have gotten this far.
"This must end," the Padawan said.
"Then help me end it," Avaryss declared, "Your master and his friends violated the treaty, had they not; I would not have come here. Help me stop this before anymore innocents have to die in the crossfire."
"You care nothing for the death of innocents."
"But you do," the Sith reminded her, "As I said, I care nothing for your fathers or their lineage. I want to see what you can do. Help me end this before it gets any worse."
The Devish shook her head.
"I am not being dark side. I am not being Sith."
"The Jedi will blame you for what happened here. You will be a criminal in their eyes, a rogue Force user."
Avaryss grinned.
"Come with me; help me; let me show you what the Force is truly capable of. Together we can end this conflict and bring order to the galaxy! The Republic will never see you as nothing but a criminal, but you can still save lives, you can still be a hero."
Avaryss put her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"You can be a Hero of the Empire."
Avaryss knew that she had won; she could see it in the girl's eyes feel it in her soul. She sensed the confusion falling away, the girl's fear pushing her towards the darkness, towards Avaryss.
"I am not being dark side," the Devish repeated.
"And I am not yet a master," the Sith confessed, "Not yet, but I can be a guide, I can show you the way, if you let me."
Avaryss stood back she picked up the controller that would either electrify the table, or unlatch the Padawan, the former Padawan's restraints.
"Please," Avaryss said, "Let me help you. Let us help the galaxy."
The Devish girl sighed.
"You…you will not be hurting anymore innocents?"
"You can be there to stop me," Avaryss promised, "You will have your weapon, and if you don't like the way things are going, you will be free to try and strike me down. As I said I'm offering you your desires. I will not yield willingly to death, but you will have a chance to try and stop me if that is your desire."
The Force roiled around the girl. She would not admit it, but she hated Avaryss, the thought of killing her new enemy excited her, perhaps even enough that she would be willing to wait, to lay in wait until the time was right.
"Master Pondar was being wrong," Quenya said, "Master Darzu was wrong. If all that you are saying is true, then they are the enemies of the Republic, not me."
Avaryss shrugged.
"when this is done, you will be free to make that choice," she promised, "If you decide to return to the Republic and face judgment for what happened here, I will not stop you, we will not stop you."
"As I said, this will be your choice."
The Devish girl shuddered, a wave of pain and guilt washed over her, she knew what she wanted, the choice she had to make, but her Jedi training was getting in the way.
Avaryss stepped closer again, the girl needed one final push out of the light.
"Rise above the pain and guilt, stand back from it, imagine it is far below you; look at it with both your mind and the Force. You will find it is not so painful when you step back and look at the larger picture."
The girl closed her eyes, Avaryss could feel the shift, her reasoning had got through, the girl did not want to see herself as a criminal, she let go of her self-righteousness and guilt. She finally stopped denying the pain and started feeling it.
When she opened her eyes, she looked different changed, the scared animal look in her eyes were gone.
"I want to help you end this," she said, "I will not be going to the dark side, but I will be helping you. Together we will be ending this nightmare, no more will be dying because of my former masters' hypocrisy.
Of course," Avaryss said, "You will be in control, for the first time in your life; it will be your choice."
"Yes," the alien girl hissed, cold smile now on her lips.
"My choice."
Avaryss shivered with delight.
"I will not be going to the dark side," the girl had said.
The Sith almost laughed.
She had already crossed over to the dark. She simply did not recognize it, not yet.
She would learn.
The former Padawan nodded.
"I want to be off this table," she said.
"As you wish," Avaryss said.
She disengaged the restraints.
Quenya Sai Malloc was free.
She dropped from the table, falling to her knees for a few moments, but then rose, unsteady, but still standing.
"I will be needing my lightsaber," she said, "If I am to be aiding you, I will need my weapon."
"That can be arranged," Avaryss promised.
The Devish girl grinned.
The darkness was blooming inside like a flower after the spring rain.
"I can be helping you in decrypting the master's files. We can be finding where to go next."
"I would welcome your help," the Sith agreed.
"Thank you, my lord," the girl said.
"Let us be finding who was giving Master Pondar his orders. Let us be dealing with him, once and for all."
"I could not agree more, my friend," Avaryss purred.
Quenya Sai Malloc laughed.
"Then let us be getting his done," she declared.
"Let us be being…heroes."
As you wish, Quenya," Avaryss said feeling the darkness within, reveling in the power of the girl's conversion.
"As you wish."