Chapter 51: The Fist

The Terminus class destroyer had long been considered the work horse of the Imperial fleet. Faster than the Harrower series dreadnaught, it was also heavily armored, and more versatile. It was said that Lord Marr himself preferred to use the Terminus as his flagship during military engagements. The ship had both the speed and power to either work alone, or in the famous swarm attacks that had come to define the Sith navy.

Avaryss was most pleased; Marr could not have offered her a sounder vessel. It would serve her well as her mission entered its final stages.

The Vaiken's Fist, as the ship was known, was one of the finest vessel's to serve in Lord Marr's command. The fact that he had released it to her was proof of the trust he was placing in her in finally bringing these rogue Jedi and their conspiracy to an end.

Named for the first Grand Moff of the Empire, the ship's crew took great pride in their accomplishments; the ship itself had a storied history, serving in many engagements against both the Republic, and the Empire's enemies in the area of space that the Republic still referred to as the Unknown Regions.

And now…it is all mine, Avaryss thought with a smile.

It is all mine!

She made her way to the bridge with Beric at her side. He continued to serve as her bodyguard. HK might have served just as well, but given the reputation of the HK series, Avaryss thought it preferable that he remain onboard the Fury, awaiting the fight to come. The destroyer's crew made way for them as the two strode out onto the ship's command walkway. Through the viewports hyperspace swirled around them, the tunnel of twisting time and space carrying them off to their destination.

Avaryss looked up and into that spinning void. It was said that staring into hyperspace was dangerous, that if one stared for too long they could come down with hyper-rapture, a condition that could lead to madness.

Avaryss…happened to like staring into it. Looking out into hyperspace was to stare at the infinite, an infinity that the Sith had mastered. Thanks to their knowledge and technology, hyperspace was theirs to command.

Hyperspace travel was proof of their superiority, their mastery of time and space.

If they could master that, what else might they be able to accomplish?

As Avaryss made her way forward, she was met by the destroyer's captain, a career officer by the name of Tanis Brune. Brune was about ten years her senior, and had served the Empire since the age of sixteen. One of the youngest captain's in Darth Marr's command he was seen as something of a rising star, a man with a future.

"We are approaching our destination, my lord," he informed her, we will be emerging from hyperspace shortly."

Avaryss nodded.

"We are ahead of schedule," she said, "Your crew continues to impress."

"We are one of the finest vessels in the Empire, my lord, I've had a hand in training every one," he said with no small degree of pride. Then he glanced over at her and smiled.

"Trust me, my lord; there are many ways that I can…impress you."

Avaryss almost laughed. Despite his years of service, the Captain's desires were an open book to her.

When he spoke of …impressing her, it was not merely the ship and crew that he was referring to. She had sensed Brune's desire since he had first met her in the ship's hangar bay. She had felt desire, lust, and excitement. When she had offered him her hand, he had kissed her fingers chastely, but in that brief contact, his mental shields had been down, and she had caught a glimpse of a very…dark fantasy.

They had only just met, he had only just seen her, and yet, he imagined the two of them entwined in his quarters, envisioned the two of them in bed, giving in to both dark and delirious pleasures.

He wants me, she knew, and such a filthy mind.

Intriguing.

She glanced over at him sizing him up.

She was almost willing to let him try to…impress her.

It would be…fun.

Tanis Brune was a handsome man, tall, broad shouldered, and muscular. His short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes were both intimidating and enthralling. He could be called something of a poster boy for the Imperial navy, or likely had been ten years ago. Command had given the man an even more intimidating air. It was…exciting. Avaryss knew that the Captain was not without admirers, she had sensed that as well, several of the female crew on the ship harbored a hidden interest in the intense young captain. It was a desire that went beyond simply doing their duty.

Yet it was her that had caught his eye.

It was flattering to be sure.

Since that time she had come to enjoy teasing the dear captain. She had not worn a cloak since her arrival, and the bright red top she was wearing was open in back and slit deliciously down the front. True, it showed off the lightsaber scar across her upper back, but that did not deter Captain Brune, all he saw was a top that fit like it was painted on, pale skin, and the Sith tattoos that marked her as a person of power.

This one is attracted to power, she realized, according to ship's records, he had achieved his captaincy when The Fist's original commander had been slain in combat. He had only been third officer at the time, but had proved his superiority to his immediate superior, and replaced him.

This one was eager for advancement; he had jumped ahead of his rival to take command, and cemented it by his strength and skill. He had claimed this ship through force of will.

Of course, he would need more than mere ambition if he desired to claim her.

The path to a Lady Sith's bed was not an easy one, unless she wished it to be.

Beric, who had been at her side for most of the trip, saw what was going on. He did not like the man lusting after his little sister, despite her amusement with the game.

When she had stepped out of her quarters, he had been waiting for her; he had given her what some might call a…old fashion look. The look a disapproving father might give a daughter, one who was expressing herself as a woman for the first time, showing off a bit for the men around her.

Part of her still quailed under that look, Beric was almost the spitting image of their father and despite everything that she had done, all that she had endured; that small shard of light, that tiny piece of Keera Lylos remained alive inside her.

It could be a nuisance even at the best of times.

She tried to ignore it.

So what if he disapproved of her flirting with the handsome young captain, was she not a grown woman, was she not a Sith, one of the masters of their glorious empire? Besides, it was not like she was ignorant of men, she would have married Fehl had he lived, and she had had lovers since then.

She was no babe in the woods when it came to the pleasures of the flesh.

She chose to ignore those looks, just as she ignored that small bit of self-consciousness that was both a part of the light and of Keera Lylos. She would not let it spoil her fun.

She would not.

She stood beside the young captain, enjoying the emotions playing through him. Enjoying the fantasies that skipped across his mind, a lesser woman might have blushed at some of them, but she was no lesser woman, she was a Sith.

A Sith did not blush.

"We shall be leaving hyperspace shortly, my lord," he said, "Transition back to real space in three, two, one…"

The tunnel of light vanished, stars snapped from elongated lines back to pin pricks of light against the void.

She smiled slightly.

Nar Shadda floated serenely before them

Hello again, she thought.

Hopefully, you will be able to serve my needs again.

Though it was not unusual for a warship to visit Nal Hutta and the smuggler's moon, it was considered good form for to let the Hutts know you were coming first.

Avaryss had decided to show good form.

She had contacted Vogga the Hutt before they arrived, to make sure that the cartel was aware of their presence. The Hutt accepted their request to hold far orbit, provided they keep Nar Shadda between the warship and the Hutt homeworld. Such a request was standard procedure according to Captain Brune.

If we decide to break the peace, he had said, they would rather we slag Nar Shadda first, plus it would give the Hutts time to organize their own defense.

Since Avaryss had no intention of blasting Nal Hutta, she accepted.

Let the crime lords feel safe, she had no interest in their holdings, only in having a nice neutral spot to conduct her final business with the conspiracy.

That it was mattered to her.

She turned to Captain Brune.

"Have we heard anything from Major Forn's people," she asked, "Is he in position?"

Major Forn was the commander of The Fist's commando teams. Like Brune, he came with the full endorsement of Darth Marr. He was a career soldier who had seen almost twenty five years in the navy, carrying out many clan destine operations during both the last war, and the state of cold war that had come after the signing of the treaty of Coruscant. Neither she nor Beric had ever heard of the man, which when he was informed of this he laughed.

"Good," the Major had said, "I'm a black ops, trooper, if people have heard of me, then I'm not doing my job right."

Brune had assured her that the man knew his business, and would have everything ready by the time they reached their destination.

"We received a coded signal before we jumped," the young officer said nodding, "The Major and his team are in place, and awaiting your command."

Brune shook his head.

"If the pubs try anything, the Major and his men will be there to assist, though perhaps it would have been better to choose a different site for this meeting. Nar Shadda is too chaotic, if something goes wrong, anything could happen."

"There is a risk," Avaryss acknowledged, "But at least on Nar Shadda the Pubs are in the same position that we are, the odds are even.

In such a fight, I like my chances far better than the Jedi, they know little about me, but I've come to be quite familiar with their tactics and the way they view us."

"Here is where it will end, captain, here is where we will give the Dark Council exactly what it desires."

The officer beamed proudly.

"Then we shall be celebrating our victory soon," he said, once again letting his eyes drift over her form.

"I would be happy to celebrate that victory with you, my lord, perhaps over dinner?"

She smirked.

"Let us achieve victory first, Captain, then we will discuss…celebrating."

At her side Beric rolled his eyes, Avaryss chuckled in response.

My dear, sweet brother, she thought.

She was grateful for his presence.

Brune radiated a sense of disdain as he looked out as the smuggler's moon. Nar Shadda was not the most pleasant of places; that was true. When she had informed Brune of their destination he had voiced that opinion.

"Nar Shadda has its uses," she reminded him, "and it could have more with a little…adjustment.

"The only adjustment that I would make, my lord, is a full-fledged orbital bombardment."

She had laughed, amused by the thought, but unwilling to let the captain follow through on his desires.

The Hutts still had their uses.

They would not break treaty, not even out of a need to improve the local system.

Avaryss glanced over at the Captain, there was a tightness in his jaw, and she sensed…concern.

"Speak your mind, captain," she ordered, "Do you have any concerns about this plan of mine."

"You are a Sith, my lord, I would not seek to question your wisdom…"

She nodded thoughtfully, but at the same time she did not wish simple flattery, she wanted the truth.

"But…" she said.

"But," the officer sighed, "I'm concerned that this Jedi will do something…unexpected. The man that we are after, you claim he is most unpredictable."

"I think he prides himself on that," Avaryss said, "But…in that unpredictability he becomes predictable."

She smiled.

"I think I've found the perfect snare for this particular nerf."

"And if he tries something?" Brune asks, "I now you have Major Forn's people, but…"

"Oh he will try something," she replied, "Most definitely; everything that I've read about the man suggests that that will happen."

She grinned.

"Have no fear, captain; I know what I'm doing."

Less than a day after she first arrived onboard this destroyer, Darth Baras had finally gotten back in contact with her. The Jedi Sy Dar Bynn had gotten her challenge he assured her, and, as a favor from Darth Vengean, he had even provided her with a dossier on the politically connected and unpredictable Jedi master. It was an interesting read to be sure.

Sy Dar Bynn was seen by many as the perfect Jedi, completely committed to the Republic, and always in control of whatever situation he found himself in, or at least, that was how he was seen by his allies in the Senate.

The truth was a bit more…contradicting.

Master Sy had often sided with his allies in the Senate over his Jedi brothers and sisters. He had openly clashed several times with Satele Shan, the current Jedi Grand Master. In fact, according to Baras' agents, he had openly opposed Shan being named to the council in the first place, and had tried to use his contacts with the Republic government to pressure the council to seat him on it instead.

His gambit had not worked, and that was likely good for the Sith.

Had SY Dar Bynn had the support of the Jedi Council when he began his little conspiracy, things might be going far worse of the Empire. The man might have convinced the bulk of the Jedi Order to aid him; that could have been disastrous.

It was strange, Avaryss thought, from what she had come to know of Jas Dar Bynn, it was he that was seen as the rogue Jedi, the outside, while his twin was praised and considered the perfect example of the order.

Perhaps the Jedi were too close to see what was right in front of them? In her eyes, they had branded the wrong brother the rogue.

After his failed bid to join the council, Sy Dar Bynn had rededicated himself to his work within the Republic Senate. He had become a recruiter of sort in the last eight or nine years, drawing more and more Jedi into his plans…or perhaps the term schemes would be better.

Avaryss had smiled as she had read the report.

A plan had been forming in her mind since she had left that mining guild station, after he encounter with Sy Dar Bynn's Padawan.

She thought that she had found exactly what she needed, the perfect gambit to bring down the entire conspiracy with one swift stroke.

All that she needed to do now, was draw Sy Dar Bynn out of hiding, she needed to get the hypocritical Jedi away from his power base.

The challenge she had offered would do that, and with the Force as her ally, set up the endgame that she had planned.

Then they would see just how perfect of a Jedi that Sy Dar Bynn was.

As she stood beside the captain, her comlink crackled, she pulled it from her belt.

It is about time, she thought.

She wondered when this particular call was going to come in.

"Yes, Rink?" she asked.

"You got a call coming in for you, boss. Cant' trace the source, but it is close, probably on planet."

Avaryss nodded.

"Transfer it to the Captain's ready room on the bridge," she ordered, "I will speak with our quarry here."

"Gotcha, boss," Rink replied.

Avaryss excused herself and made for the ready room. Brune went to confer with one of his officers while Beric escorted her to the isolates section near the back of the bridge.

Avaryss tried to center herself as she prepared to address her long hidden enemy, and yes, she was certain that it was him. She had done everything in her power to rattle the Jedi's pride, to make sure that he understood that none of his underlings were safe as long as she continued to draw breath. She wanted him to think of this as a matter that only he could deal with, and deal with personally.

She pulled Master Venari's gold medallion out of a pouch on her leggings; she hung it around her neck, and smiled pleasantly.

Now Jedi, she thought, let us get this party started.

The hyper-comm was flashing, signaling that she had a call waiting.

She gestured with the Force, activating the comm unit and stood tall.

The image of Sy Dar Bynn shimmered before her.

He came, she thought with a tingle of excitement running down her spine.

Excellent!

The Jedi said nothing to her; he simply regarded her with a cool hard gaze. The effect felt…strange. She found herself thinking of the man's twin brother, his identical twin. Their features were the same, that was plain to see, the nose, the jaw, the haircut, but the eyes, Sy Dar Bynn's eyes were far different from that of his brother. They were as different as night was to day.

Jas Dar Bynn's eyes had been open; she had felt the resolve of a Jedi, but also a sense of compassion, a sentiment that would likely be the man's undoing one day. His brother did not feel like that. She could feel the power of the light within him, but it was not blinding, it felt filtered, controlled, as controlled as the light that no doubt shown down on the chambers of the galactic Senate on Coruscant.

Prideful and arrogant, she thought, normally she admired those traits, but not now, not in this man.

This Jedi was the same type of man that had no doubt convinced the Jedi order to launch the Sith Holocaust a millennia ago. Billions of innocent Sith Pure bloods had died, and all so the Republic's politicians could brag that they had protected their people. The common Sith had not been a threat to the Republic back then, at that time, only the Lords, those who had descended from the Dark Jedi of old had had reason to hate the Republic and the Jedi. If not for the holocaust, the remaining lords, the Emperor himself might not have found the support to rebuild in the aftermath of the so called Great Hyperspace War.

Perhaps the Jedi did us a favor back then, it taught all Sith, from lord to commoner to hate the Republic. Now, at long last, we sit on the very cusp of having our revenge.

She smiled pleasantly at the hologram.

"Master Sy Dar Bynn, I presume," she said, "This has been a meeting a long time coming."

"So," he said coldly, not even acknowledging her greeting, "You are the Sith that has been causing so many problems."

The Jedi shook his head.

"Years of good work, moving pieces across the board, finding the right contacts in your hateful empire, and how does the dark council choose to respond..?"

He chuckled.

"They send a child to oppose me."

Avaryss should have been insulted, but she wasn't.

She knew her worth, what she had done up until now.

He has been my enemy of a long time, she thought, over the last few months she had come to realize that the Padawan she had fought and killed back on Butcher's Clearing had likely been a part of this conspiracy, it had likely gone on that long, if not longer.

Long had she sought the master that the alien had referred to, the one that was going to bring down the Empire. She had readied herself for this moment for a long time, did he honestly think he could insult her into making a mistake, no.

Of course two could play that game.

She smirked.

"Brandol Venari said something similar to me," she said idly fingering the medallion around her neck. She could sense immediately when the Jedi recognized what it was.

His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"So it was you," he said flatly, "You murdered Master Venari."

"He was killed," she admitted, "Not by my hand, perhaps, but definitely because of my will."

She laughed dismissively.

"He was tough for an old bird. I doubt you will last half as long as he did."

Master Sy sneered at her.

"Are you trying to bait me, Sith? It will not work."

His eyes remained cold and hard.

"You murdered an old man, old and spent, a man who only wished to live out the rest of his days in seclusion. I will see you brought to justice for that."

"You will find me far more of a challenge."

Avaryss glared back at him.

"Before you go blaming me for all that befell your old teacher, let me remind you that if it wasn't for yours schemes, he would still be alive today. It was you that drew my attention with your failed and clumsy attempts to manipulate the Empire."

"Failed and clumsy," he spat.

"What else could you call them," She laughed coldly.

"We will see who gets brought to justice, Jedi."

His eyes narrowed.

"And what do you know about justice, girl? What do you know about loss? You and your fellows have no honor. You butchered innocents when you sacked the Jedi Temple. You killed millions when your fleet attacked Coruscant, and all of that was done under a banner of peace."

Avaryss shrugged. No doubt that story worked well to manipulate Master Sy's sheep when it came for them to attack the Empire, but personally, she was not buying it.

How many billions had died during the Sith Holocaust? Compare that to the military operation that was the battle of Coruscant. Besides, she was still a child when that battle occurred. She had not been with Lords Malgus and Angral when they brought fire to the skies of Coruscant.

She was not about to get into a blame game with this Jedi, he was her enemy.

She had come here for blood.

"The Dark Council did not see you worth their time in destroying, so they sent me," she informed him with cruel smile, "Your passive aggressive attacks against our lords' ends now, Jedi. No that if you refuse my challenge that I will not stop, I will continue to harass your operations, and kill your men. You want to save them and your plans; you will need to go through me."

She could feel the anger radiating beneath the surface of Sy Dar Bynn's Jedi calm, it was delicious, and but the first phase in her plan. Sy Dar Bynn saw himself as a model Jedi, but on some level he also saw himself as better than everyone else, that the Force and his history made him better. She had done everything to belittle him, make him feel small, small and unworthy. She wanted him angry. She wanted him not to be thinking clearly. It was the best way to get him to fall into her trap, a trap that when beyond mere killing. It was not enough to simply slay the Jedi; she could have hired an assassin to do that if that is what she wanted.

No, she wanted him broken.

Her plan, if everything went as she had foreseen, would see to that.

Sy Dar Bynn sneered.

You have bitten off more than you can chew this time, child," he hissed, "I'm sending coordinates, we will see who is unworthy before this day is through...

She looked at the numbers flashing below the Jedi's imagine.

Those are sector coordinates, how do you expect me to find you?"

"If you are as strong in the Force as you claim, then you will have no problem, "he said, "I will not simply walk into a trap Sith. I will face you one on one, you have my word on that."

Avaryss almost laughed.

The man's word was worth little. He was more politician than Jedi.

She knew what a politician's promises were worth.

He will have ample warning if I try something, but at the same time, so will I. Major Forn's people will have no doubt discovered his location by now.

Whatever the Jedi was planning, whatever trick he had in mind, would not work as easily as he expected.

He underestimates me, she realized, good, he still thought that this was going to be some kind of duel, some comedy of lightsabers where he, the golden hero triumphs over the sneering villain.

That was not how this story would go at all. She had her own tale to tell.

Her tale…would be his undoing.

"I will be there," she promised.

She felt a sense of grim satisfaction radiate from the Jedi, no doubt he was thinking of his fallen master, and his friends killed at both the temple so long ago, and at that Jedi Enclave she had sacked.

"Then this will all be over soon," he said, "I await your arrival Sith. The time has come to end this."

The hologram faded, Avaryss stood for a moment reveling in the anger and rage she had felt off the Jedi fool.

He has no idea, she thought.

Oh…this was going to be fun.

She smiled as she made her way back to Beric and the captain. She needed to prepare.

She had an arrogant Jedi Master to destroy.

She welcomed the opportunity.

Cut the head of the snake, and the body would die, but not all at once.

It was not enough to simply kill it; she wanted the peel the skin off first, while it was still alive.

And the Jedi had given her the perfect opportunity.

Her fist was coming down, and there was nothing the Jedi fool could do to stop it.

She was done playing games with this fool.

One last blow, she thought.

Then…it would be over.