Chapter 35: Visions of the Future

Hm, I did not know that the human body could bend that way.

Avaryss tilted her head slightly as the prisoner continued to wail in agony.

For the briefest of moments, she felt an uncomfortable sensation, like her throat was trying to close up.

She rubbed at her neck, the memory of a long abandoned breathing mask that had once kept her alive filling her thoughts, that and the memory of the exquisite pain of a Sith interrogation.

She moved her hand away quickly, hoping that no one else would notice. It was never a good idea to suggest weakness in front of a fellow Sith.

You need to be strong, the darkness whispered.

You need to be cold and powerful!

She nodded grimly.

Yes.

She could do that.

Her master laughed as he continued his…questioning of their prisoner. It seemed to her that Lord Feer was getting lost in his work. He had not even tried asking a single question in the last five minutes.

Avaryss' eyes narrowed.

He needs to be careful, she thought.

The man can tell us nothing if he dies during the breaking phase of the interrogation, and we do need answers.

Our next target will not reveal itself, after all.

A fresh scream escaped the man's lips as her master switched tactics. Lord Feer's golden eyes blazed with dark pleasure as he switched between the torments that the dark side of the Force allowed him to inflict. Avaryss eyed the prisoner with an evaluating look, how much longer would he be able to resist?

Hopefully, she thought, not much longer.

It was kind of hard to answer a question when your mind had been flayed away.

She glanced at their three guests, her eyes focusing on the one of highest rank. He was the only full lord among them, with the exception of her master of course.

He looked a little green.

"Your master enjoys his work, youngster." he said.

Avaryss smiled.

"That he does, my lord," she agreed with a sly smile,

"That he does."

Lord Goss frowned. He did not seem to be enjoying the show any more than she was.

Surprising, she thought. The man stood only one step lower than her own master.

She was surprised to find him squeamish.

A slender man with short brown hair and a beard, Loss Goss' presence did not suggest that he was a Lord of the Sith. A long time member of the pyramid of knowledge, he was to be one of Darth Thanaton's most loyal supporters.

Yet here he was aiding us.

"Surely there are other ways to extract information" he said to himself, just low enough that she could hear, and Darth Feer would not.

Not that his comment would insult her master, not now.

He was currently lost in the dark side, lost in making the prisoner suffer.

The Emperor himself could walk in right now, and Feer would be hard pressed to acknowledge him.

A fatal mistake, that degree of distraction, she made note of it, for future reference.

Any advantage she could gain over her master would be worth it. When the time came…she intended to be ready.

Lord Feer finally stopped.

The prisoner slumped down against the table; he only remained upright thanks to his bounds.

"Are you still will us, my friend?" Feer asked, "I do hope that I'm not boring you."

Avaryss only just kept herself from rolling her eyes.

This was a side of her master she had never seen before, it surprised her.

She had always assumed to that Bael got his sadistic streak from his mother.

She was surprised to see her own master so eager to put it on display.

Both Bael and his mother were currently away, attending to some other matter for their house. Avaryss was grateful that they were gone.

Things were tense enough with their guests, they did not need Bael and Synestra making things worse.

She frowned slightly, her master's sadism shocked her. It showed a lack of control.

And this is the man who wishes to overthrow the Emperor, the dark voice within her whispered.

Avaryss frowned.

Perhaps…she had made a mistake.

When he had first made the suggestion that they work together to ascend to the height of Imperial power, she had agreed. She had been lost in the moment she supposed, the picture he had painted for her had been too good, too distracting.

She had not been thinking, but now her head was clear.

She was thinking now, and she did not like their chances.

Absent, or not, the Emperor was still the Emperor. He had ruled the Sith for a millennia! She doubted that Darth Feer was the first to think the old man vulnerable. One did not rise to the throne by being blind or foolish.

All it would take would be one wrong word, one hint of her master's desire, and that would be it. The Emperor's Wrath would descend upon House Feer. The master of them all kept a powerful warrior at his side, his wrath given form.

The Emperor's agent would not stop until all of House Feer was burned to ash. Their house torn down and destroyed, both root and stem.

She did not like their chances if that came to pass.

Though she possessed little talent for precognition, she had spent an evening in deep meditation, trying to probe the dark side, to try to get an idea of what might happen if they remained on this course. As she had meditated, she must have fallen asleep, and then… it had happened…

…In the deepest and darkest of moments she had seen something.

She had dreamed of herself as an old woman, small and hunched over, walking with the help of a cane, her aged body hidden by a heavy dark robe, but at the same time she felt the power of the dark side coursing through her. It was like an inferno in her blood. She was all powerful, perhaps even invincible.

She was the Emperor, and the galaxy was crushed beneath her heel.

The felling of it…the power of it…It was intoxicating!

She dreamed of a great space station, perhaps the mightiest ever built. Flanking by eight red robes royal guards, she made her way to her throne room. The journey was exhausting, her body was not what it had once been, but she was not discouraged.

She smiled.

The dark side was hers, and hers alone, her apprentice did not understand, he was useful, but that was all. He would never take her place, never rise any higher than she wished, and now…he had found someone new. She would test them both, and take the one that triumphed.

Beware your master, she thought.

The one lesson he had never learned.

She would remain the one true power in the universe, the dark side was hers.

She would never give it up.

She would rule the galaxy forever and…one day…the universe!

What enemy could stand against her? Who would dare oppose her mighty Empire?

She cackled to herself.

No one.

She had just settled into her throne when she saw an enemy fleet emerge from hyperspace. She frowned as her blood red eyes peered from beneath her dark cowl. She could feel the enemies' approach; feel their courage and their determination. They sought to destroy the station, to destroy the station and murder her.

She smiled.

They were in for a surprise.

Her spotted hand went to a button built into her throne.

"Fire at will, commander," she rasped, her aged voice still possessing some strength. She…

She…

She woke up.

Avaryss had sat up, her heart pounding in her ears. She could still feel the heaviness of old age about her, that and the burning power of the dark side.

What she had felt, it…it was amazing!

She had never known such power!

She had giggled, almost drunk on the memory.

I will be Emperor, she thought.

My blood will sit the Sith throne one day.

It was certain.

She could feel it.

It was for that reason she had said nothing about Darth Feer's plan. If it was her destiny to rule, perhaps this is how it would happen.

Perhaps he would win, perhaps he would become Emperor, and in time, she would destroy him. She would take his place.

Or perhaps you will stop him, the dark voice whispered; perhaps you will betray Feer to the Emperor.

Could she do that, she wondered.

Did she dare?

The Emperor would reward you well for knowledge of this treachery, and more to the point, if you ended it, any reward you asked for would likely be yours.

She could have herself named to the royal court, put herself in a position that she could challenge for the throne one day.

Possible futures had danced before the young Sith's eyes, too many to be sure which would lead her to where she wanted to go.

In the end, she decided to be patient…for now.

The Emperor was not going anywhere.

She still had time to come to a decision.

A fresh scream from her master's victim brought her back her back to the present, that and her master shifting his attention to her.

She stood at attention, awaiting his orders.

Darth Feer grinned.

"Would you like to take a turn, apprentice," he asked, "It has been a while since you questioned someone hasn't it?"

He chuckled.

"You do not want to get out of practice."

Avaryss smiled.

The memory of her torment on Korriban had spoiled the joy of information extraction. She would do it if she had to, but it no longer held any appeal beyond that.

No, she would not deny her master his pleasures.

"I would not wish to spoil your own fun, my master," she said offering a slight bow.

"Besides, I'm learning so much right now. It has been some time since I've been able to watch you work."

Feer sneered, if he accepted her praise at face value she could not say, his eyes fell on their guests.

"What about the rest of you," her master asked, "Would any of you like to take a turn?"

"Lord Goss coughed into a handkerchief, clearly trying to hide his distaste.

At his side stood Taya, his apprentice, Avaryss was a little surprised to find that her friend had been drawn into this. Men like Goss were usually beneath the notice of a Darth.

Taya said nothing; she did not want to appear over eager, not when her master clearly held reservations about this.

Their third guest had none.

Lady Tazia Dresco, Taya's mother, grinned sadistically.

"I will take a turn, my lord," she said, "It has been a while since I've been able to flex these particular muscles."

Darth Feer laughed, and motioned her forward.

"As you wish," he said," In fact, I find myself intrigued."

He chuckled.

"I've heard stories about you Milady. I'm eager to see if they are all true."

Taya's mother's eyes sparkled with predatory delight.

"You will find them quite true, my lord," she promised.

"You will see."

She went over to the small table near the prisoner, an array of chrome blades and bludgeons awaited her.

Avaryss shivered. She could feel Lady Tazia's pleasure through the Force.

Taya slid up close to her.

"Mother once dallied with someone in the Inquisitors," she whispered to her friend, "she grew quite fond of interrogations during their time together."

Avaryss shook her head.

Too bad for this poor fool, she thought.

The prisoners name was Tyber Ko; he was a smuggler by trade, active mostly in the Republic's outer rim.

He was also a former member of Republic SIS, he had left the service after the war, or most people thought. His name had come up several times in the decoded messages used by the Republic Conspiracy. While Avaryss had been dealing the Republic Enclave of Master Pondar, Lord Feer had placed a bounty on the smuggler. It had been high enough to attract the attention of a Mandalorean, and so the man had found himself captured and brought back to Dromund Kaas.

A fact he was likely regretting right now.

Her master had contacted Lord Goss because the smuggler had been operating in territories that he had interests in, Interests that involved House Dresco as well. That had brought Taya's mother and father into this. Baron Dresco was off world right now, but was well-represented by his wife and daughter.

Taya's mother picked up a rather nasty looking blade; it looked more like a butcher's tool than a surgical instrument.

Avaryss winced when the lady began her work.

Ouch, she thought, grateful that it was not she under the lady's tender care.

Taya looked a little green herself, despite what she had seen during their training, not that Avaryss blamed her.

Lady Tazia was clearly no mere amateur when it came to inflicting pain.

"Do not look away daughter," she said in between the man's screams, "This is part of your education, you must watch."

"Yes, mother," Taya said steeling herself.

Through the Force Avaryss could feel the lady's pleasure as she indulged herself.

Get used to it, the darkness within seemed to say, if you are to be Empress one day you will likely see a lot of this.

Yes, she thought resisting the revulsion that tried to rise up.

I will be strong.

This act is of the dark side, I must learn to draw strength from it.

The future is mine.

All I need to do is claim it.

IOI

Two very long hours later, the group retired to Lord Feer's solar, Warmaster Feore awaited them, ready to provide whatever information they needed of him, what was left of the prisoner was being dealt with by the cleaning droids.

Darth Feer chuckled as he wiped at some blood that had gotten on his hands.

"Hoth," he said jovially, turning to his apprentice.

"It seems you are going to Hoth, my apprentice."

Avaryss nodded.

She had never heard of this…Hoth before, but it did not matter. She would go where ever this conspiracy led, she would go, and destroy those involved.

"A terrible place," Lord Goss said pouring himself a glass of wine from her master's stores.

A frozen wasteland," Taya's mother added, "A wasteland that has become a graveyard since the last war ended."

Lord Goss shook his head.

"I can't imagine what the Republic would want there."

"According to my research," Warmaster Feore said, "The man Lady Tazia just…retired was well-known for his ability to get military contraband.

"Hoth would be a good place to acquire such things," Lady Tazia said, she was still glowing after the experience of extracting the information from their late prisoner.

'My Lord Husband has profited greatly from going through the wreckage there. The space battle that occurred during the last war has left many prizes upon that world's frozen surface."

Avaryss considered what she was hearing.

How would Imperial wreckage benefit the conspiracy?

Warmaster Feore provided the answer.

"If one were trying to frame a Sith House for this action or that, Hoth would be the perfect place to acquire tools to aid in such a scheme. Weapons, uniforms, and more importantly, technology that can be traced back to many a Sith House can be found among the dead that fell on that frozen world.

"And the cold would do much to preserve anything provocative," Feer said nodding.

"Yes," he agreed, "Hoth would be a most valuable resource for our enemies."

Lord Goss straightened.

"Dresco and I have holdings on Hoth. If you wish it my lord, my apprentice will go and acquire what you need. Taya is quite skilled."

"Your offer is appreciated Goss," Lord Feer said nodding, "But I would prefer my own apprentice handled this matter. Avaryss is a proven commodity, and she has a talent for locating and destroying the Empire's enemies."

Avaryss smiled slightly.

It was always nice to be acknowledged for ones skills.

Lord Goss, however, did not look pleased.

"Some of what my agents are doing on Hoth is a secret, my lord," he reminded her master, "I am hesitant to allow an outside such intimate access to my affairs."

Feer glared at him, about to put the lesser lord in his place for seeking to deny a Darth, and he would have, had Taya's mother not intervened.

"House Dresco also has interests on that world," she informed both men. "My husband's salvage operation would be more than able to accommodate both your apprentices. WE are more than capable of providing both a foot hold, and a base of operations for your missions there."

The two men regarded the older woman, and then looked at the girls.

Darth Feer smiled.

"Yes, he murmured, "yes, I think that will do just fine. You do not have a problem with this solution, do you, Goss?"

No," the other lord agreed, "If house Dresco is willing, I shall accept that this matter be made a joint operation as well."

Avaryss tried not to laugh.

A joint operation?

She did not think so...

Goss and Feer had no idea.

Taya was hers. She had been hers since their time on Korriban. Taya would say only what Avaryss told her, she knew where her future laid. Taya would do nothing to jeopardize Avaryss' success.

This is perfect she thought.

She would be able to work completely unfettered on this…Hoth.

"I shall accompany the girls, I think," Lady Tazia stated with a cool smile.

"It is has been far too long since I've tasted the blood of our enemies."

The statement surprised Avaryss, and from the look on her face, Taya too.

Avaryss shot her friend a questioning look, the blonde merely shrugged.

She clearly did not understand this either.

"I would hate to take you away from your business here, Lady Tazia," Feer said, clearly giving the woman and out.

Taya's mother did not accept.

"I've been meaning to visit my husband's Hoth operations. I find that things run better after such visits."

She smiled.

"It helps to remind our servants just who it is that they are serving, and in some cases, serves well to motivate their future efforts."

Avaryss glanced over at her master, hoping that he would intervene.

She had no need for a chaperone, and more to the point, she did not desire to see Taya distracted.

Her friend was almost hers, body and soul; she did not need her mother confusing the matter.

Sadly, she got no help from Darth Feer, not in this.

He shrugged.

"As you wish, milady," he informed the lady Tazia, "My apprentice and her crew will see you safely to Hoth, and once there, we can begin our operations.

He turned to Avaryss.

"Tyber Ko was a known associate of the Red Eclipse, a pirate gang, is that not correct Feore?"

The old Warmaster nodded.

"You will seek them out; find out if they have been selling any imperial contraband to Republic agents. If so get the name of those buyers, and their locations, and then…"

"Dispose of them," Avaryss said bowing, "It will be done, my master."

"Good," Feer said, "Most excellent, my child."

"With your leave then, my lord," Taya's mother said bowing slightly, "I shall inform my husband of what is happening, and prepare for the journey."

"My apprentice will be ready as well," Lord Goss promised.

Taya nodded, though Avaryss could sense her nervousness of going on this trip with her lady mother.

We will handle it, Avaryss thought.

We have come too far for anything else.

Before she could leave, Lord Feer stopped her, his hand on her arm.

"Do not let the lady intimidate you, my dear," he advised, "You know our destiny. You know what awaits us when we succeed.

She thought of herself on the throne. She imagined what kind of life she would lead when the throne was hers, what secrets would be unveiled to her.

It was worth the risk.

That future…was worth the risk.

"She smiled slyly.

"I know, my master." She said.

"The future…will be ours."