Chapter 53: The Spell

She was caught between the waking and the dreaming. The past and the present rose up twisted together and became jumbled. One moment she was having a picnic back on Oridanna with Fehl. The next moment saw her running the course back on Fury 9, with Nass and Taya at her side, and then she found herself dueling her father beside the river back on Butcher's Clearing…

Finally, there was Fenn, strong handsome Fenn; the two of them lay entwined together in the shadowy tomb of Ajunta Pal. His lips and fingers moved over her body, making her gasp and shudder with pleasure.

Avaryss groaned and shook her head.

Nothing made sense.

She could feel herself being dragged along, in the distance she thought she could hear Beric shouting at their captors, warning them to be careful with her, not to hurt her, but then…everything changed.

She found herself in the arms of a droid. HK-Sigma 3 moved quickly and silently over the broken terrain. The assassin droid said nothing, its optics focused only on a single goal, a goal that she could not see.

Why was the droid carrying her she wondered, had she been wounded, or was she just obsessing on the memory of the droid they had seen on their way through the factories, either answer might be true.

I gave the droid orders, she remembered, but in that moment, she could not remember what those orders had been, between the spell and the stun blasts, her mind had been left jumbled.

Not that it mattered right now she supposed, despite all her planning, despite all that she had done to avoid Jedi treachery, they had still fallen into a trap.

She might have cursed herself for a fool had she not prepared her spell before leaving the ship. Once it was unleashed…perhaps…she would have the chance to turn the tide back in their favor.

Hopefully.

She must have lost consciousness again, because the next time she opened her eyes, she was lying on a cold dirty factory floor. Her helmet and cloak had been removed, and her arms had been bound tightly behind her back.

She shook her head again, she was still feeling disoriented, but at least the world was starting to make sense again, things were starting to fall back into their proper order inside her head.

Through the Force, she could make out five Jedi standing around her, now that they were in close proximity, not even the strange miasma of this place could hide them. She glanced over to find Quenya and Beric in a similar state, on their knees with their hands bound. The Devish's nose was broken and her eye was blackened. The Jedi must have realized who she was and decided to take…liberties with Avaryss' acolyte.

Foolish, she thought, if they were wise, they would have killed her. By choosing to simply hurt her, all they were doing was fueling the girl's anger.

Such rage would be very useful, Avaryss could use that. It would only further bind the girl to the dark side and the Sith.

Hm?

Speaking of the dark side…

Avaryss tried to call on it to free herself, but found she could not focus, she could feel the light reaching out to her, slowing her actions, making her thoughts and emotions, harder to touch.

She glanced up to the right, and saw the reason for that. One of the Jedi, a large headed Bith was kneeling on the floor behind the others. The creature breathed in and out slowly, deep in a meditative trance. She could feel the light stretching out from the creature, forming a bubble around the Jedi and their prisoners, cutting those in touch with the dark off from its full might.

Cute, Avaryss thought with a frown, but not unexpected.

She had wondered what trick Sy Dar Bynn would pull to try and contain them, but that was okay.

She could be cute too.

"I still cannot believe that you murdered Master Venari," a familiar voice called out from the shadows.

She looked up to see Sy Dar Bynn entered the chamber. The Jedi Master's features were all but identical to that of his twin brother, but at the same time, were far colder and more…imperious.

Despite her situation Avaryss smiled.

Sy Dar Bynn, she thought, at last.

The Jedi stepped around her, looking down at her like some insect under a magnifying glass, he radiated a cold disdain. For someone whose order was supposed to reject strong emotion, Master Sy did not seem to care that he let his own emotions flow during this meeting.

"I always knew the Sith would find out what I was doing eventually," he said, "Though I never thought that they would choose to send a little girl to try and deal with me."

She laughed lightly.

"Excellence knows no age, Master Jedi," she said confidently, "Your former master underestimated me, look what happened to him."

The kick caught her in the side of the head, sending stars blasting across her eyes. Beric cried out angrily, but could do nothing, his restraints preventing him from even being able to rise.

Avaryss shook her head again, moving her jaw, making sure it had not been damaged, feeling blood running over her lips, she could not tell if her nose had been broken, but it certainly was bleeding.

Master Sy snorted.

"That was uncalled for Xen," he told his apprentice, "This girl is no longer a threat to us."

He stared over her smiling triumphantly.

"Your plan has failed, Sith. Even as we speak, SIS commandos are dealing with the soldiers that preceded you here. By now they are either dead or in custody.

He stood a little straighter.

"You have lost."

"Have I?" she said with a bloody smirk.

"We will see."

The Jedi Padawan glared down at her; Avaryss could feel her rage roiling inside her, twisting her into knots.

"This one kills without thought or remorse, Master," the Padawan replied, "How many brave men and women have died because of her, because she has opposed your grand vision."

"Peace, Padawan," her master said, "This one will be dealt with soon enough.

Avaryss sneered at that.

"I'm not so easy to deal with, Jedi, and as for those brave men and women as you call them, they were all slain while performing actions that were violating the treaty that your Republic signed in good faith, and by doing so, how many innocents within the Empire have been killed? Do their lives mean nothing to you?"

Xen Loor barked out a cold laugh.

"There are no innocents in your hateful Empire. Your people get what they deserve."

"Really," Avaryss said in a silky voice, "So you don't consider the farmers and laborers that live on Sith worlds to be innocent? Yes, they were born into the Empire, but many of them have never taken up arms against your Republic. Then there are the slaves, are they your enemy too?"

The girl did not respond, not that Avaryss expected her to.

"Do not let this filth confuse you, Xen," her master said warmly, "We cannot afford to be timid, the Sith Empire is the greatest threat the Republic has ever known."

"We must do everything in our power to prevent its further expansion."

Avaryss listened to those words, the honeyed poison that Sy Dar Bynn poured into his followers' ears.

She did not buy it. She had lived in the Empire her whole life; she knew when an ambitious man was feeding lines to his flock.

Sy Dar Bynn had his own reasons for attacking the Empire, and she doubted it was for the common good.

"We should take this one back with us master," A green skinned Rodian Jedi said, "She has admitted to the murder of Master Brandol Venari."

The alien pinned her with a look from his blue shiny eyes.

"She should stand trial for that murder."

"Yes," Quenya piped in, "If we are being guilty as you believe, we must stand trial."

Sy Dar Bynn gave her a cold look.

"A trial would not serve you well, Quenya Sai Malloc," he said.

The Devish blinked; surprised that she had been recognized by such a well-known Jedi...

The Jedi Master smirked.

"Yes, he said, "I know your name, there was a time, given your history, I thought you would have supported what we were doing, that you would have been as brave as your storied ancestors. Now…I know different, the fact that you are here, and did not perish with our fellows at our Enclave on Myrnn, it is safe to say that we now know what happened there, don't we?"

The alien girl's lip quivered.

"It…it was not what you think, Master Sy. I was being…"

"You're a traitor," Xen spat, "and you will burn with this Sith and her lackey."

Quenya fell silent; she hung her head, no longer knowing what to say.

Avaryss did her best to hide her amusement.

So much for the vaunted concept of Jedi mercy, not that she expected any from these rogues.

"Save your breath, Quen," Beric said sullenly, "There was never any chance of us having a trial. We know too much about these people and their operations, their illegal operation.

The soldier shook his head.

They can't have us taking. What would their superiors say?"

Avaryss did not bother adding anything, her brother had the right of it, she thought.

There was never any chance of them standing trial if they failed, but they hadn't failed…not yet.

She still had one card left to play.

The Rodian said something in his native tongue, something she did not understand. Master Sy shook his head, unconvinced by the alien's words.

The master remained silent, but his Padawan was anything but…

She regarded their prisoners coldly; clearly she knew what had to be done.

"What is the point of a trial," Xen exclaimed, "As you said, Pendo, she has already admitted her crime."

Avaryss could sense the eagerness radiating off the Padawan.

"Let us end this creature now."

The Rodian looked up at the girl, his tiny ear twitched atop his head.

"You do not mean that, Xen," he said, "Killing an unarmed prisoner is a violation of the Jedi code."

Avaryss laughed when she heard that.

The Jedi Code?

Really?

"You have already violated your precious code," she spat, "All of you have violated it. The moment you decided to attack the Empire, you chose to become aggressors, and that is something that your order is never supposed to be, is it?"

She glared up at Sy Dar Bynn.

"I don't have to guess how you drew these people into your web, do I? I suppose these are all survivors of Lord Malgus' raid on your precious temple? Am I right? You chose these particular Jedi because they all desired revenge against the Sith for what we did that day?"

Sy Dar Bynn sneered down at her, he laughed haughtily.

"A Jedi does not seek revenge," he said.

Avaryss grinned, the blood from her nose turning her teeth pink.

"Liar," she spat.

For the briefest of moments, she felt something from the man; it was as if a cloud has passed over the sun on a hot summer day. In that brief moment, Avaryss sensed what the Jedi had worked so hard to keep hidden all this time.

She sensed his rage, rage at being called on his lies. Rage for all of his allies that she had slain, and…most important of all.

Rage…at himself, the Jedi was no fool; he clearly knew what he was doing, and what he had asked of his followers.

He knew perfectly well that he had violated his precious code, and he knew something else as well…

Avaryss grinned.

Sy Dar Bynn did not care.

"At least the Sith are honest," she growled, "When we seek revenge, we do not quibble over what we call it. We do not try to wrap it up in some cloak of righteousness. A Sith does not deny what we are, and what we seek. We do not hide our desires. For that reason, Master Jedi…I call you a liar."

Sy Dar Bynn sneered at her.

"You certainly have a mouth on you Sith, especially considering where are you are. If we were as corrupt as you claim…I would think that a prisoner such as you would be smart enough to hold your tongue."

"A prisoner? Is that what I am?"

Avaryss shook her head.

"I know very well what I am Master Jedi. I'm a liability to your plans. If you were to arrest me, to bring me back in chains, to let me stand before your council, what might I say to them? Would they approve of what you have done? It is one thing to turn a blind eye to something when it could be true, and quite another when the answer stands before you."

The young Sith shook her head.

"You can't let me walk out of here alive. I know that, but the question is…what about these that stand with you?"

Avaryss grinned.

"Are they willing to take that next step and what will you all become when you do?"

Avaryss watched them all, these Jedi that had come so far.

Would they take the next logical step, or would they continue to deny what they had given into, what they had awoken within themselves.

She could sense doubt; even if she had no connection to the Force she would have seen it. Sy Dar Bynn continued to radiate contempt, but the others, those he had trusted, those that served him.

That was something else…entirely.

The Rodian was clearly uncomfortable with what she had said. The other Jedi, a dark skinned human, glanced back and forth between Avaryss and Sy Dar Bynn, perhaps considering what she had said, no doubt debating what she had said. The Bith remained lost in its meditative state; the creature probably had not even heard her words. That left only Xen Loor, Sy Dar Bynn's Padawan…

She had clearly made her choice.

The girl radiated darkness. She could not believe that the other Jedi could not sense it. Fear, anger, hate, the girl's emotions were like a hyper-reactor on the verge of having a meltdown. Only her choice to hold onto the Jedi teachings held that at bay, she clung to her Jedi training like it was a piece of driftwood, the only thing keeping her from drowning in a sea of darkness.

Avaryss almost laughed.

The girl was almost Sith already, all she had to do was let go of her inhibitions, accept her emotions and she would be more powerful than any of these combined.

She wants to let go, Avaryss thought, all she needs now is the will to do so, or perhaps…permission to stop pretending, to finally accept what she is.

Avaryss grinned at her.

"When this is done, Xen Loor," she said, "Please give my best to Fenn Shadowstone."

The girl blinked.

"Fenn," she said, "How…how…how do you know Fenn?"

"We've…met," Avaryss replied, "I know a little bit about what you and your…Padawan Pack was it, endured during your time in Coruscant's lower levels. He gave me a…taste of the feelings you took out of that place, the betrayal you had to learn to endure."

The Padawan glared at her.

"You know nothing of what we faced!"

"You might be surprised," Avaryss said.

"Do not let her distract you Padawan," Sy Dar Bynn said quickly, cutting Avaryss off, "I told you when we began this mission that I would give you the chance to bring Sith to justice, remain focused on that."

The master scratched his chin lightly.

"You know Fenn, hmm? I always knew my brother moved in places that a Jedi should not. Perhaps I will need to take a closer look at Fenn and my dear brother.

Xen looked up at her master; Avaryss could sense the shock she was feeling.

Despite all that has happened, Xen still has a soft spot for Fenn, probably for all of her fellow pack members.

If she thinks her dear master is threatening him?

Avaryss could have used the spell in that moment, she could have unleashed its power, but…she held back.

She wanted to see where this might lead. She wanted to see what Xen Loor was made of.

"He is using you girl," Avaryss spat back, "He sees your future, he knows your power, and that is all he cares about, that and the prestige of having a member of the vaunted Padawan Pack as his servant, his slave."

"Shut up," Xen growled under her breath.

Avaryss did not. She had found something useful.

She would not abandon it now.

"He can try to blame me all he wants for what happened at your temple, but the truth is that I was not there, I was a child when that battle occurred. I can only imagine what you have endured since. I felt something similar, once, the man that would become my master, his agents, burned my home, destroyed my family while I watched."

"This Sith betray each other," Xen said, "Everyone knows that."

"But I wasn't Sith then, not yet, I became this way, joined the order to find my own peace, my own…justice. It was something that no court in the Empire would offer. I've learned to stand on my own two feet, just as you and your friends did as you travelled through the lower levels of Coruscant."

"SHUT UP ABOUT THAT!" Xen snarled.

"Do not let her bait you Padawan," Sy Dar Bynn said dismissively, "The Sith is trying to manipulate you."

"Calm down, Xen," the Rodian said, "Breathe, remember, there is no emotion…there is peace."

Avaryss continued to smile.

"They do not understand you," she said, "How could they. While you struggled to stay alive, to protect the younglings in your charge, they were giving up. They were accepting the peace treaty that the Emperor forced down their throats. They gave up on you and yours. They abandoned you in darkness. Tell me Xen Loor…are these creatures truly worthy of loyalty, or do you want something more?"

The girl shook her head.

"There is no emotion," she said, "There is peace."

Avaryss giggled.

"That is it, girl, hide behind empty words, and false promises. I can sense what you want. I know what you need."

She looked down at the girl's lightsaber.

"Take your weapon, use it, I'm unarmed, strike me down, and you will know true freedom."

Both Quenya and Beric were shocked by her words.

"Master?" the Devish murmured.

"Sister?" Beric whispered.

No one, but Avaryss heard them, the Jedi were too focused on what was going on between the Padawan and the Sith apprentice.

"You can't bait me Sith," the girl growled.

"I'm not baiting you. I'm offering you a choice. You don't have to live in a world where you are constantly in pain, hiding what you are, pretending that you are calm and serene. I can see it in your eyes, this is not you."

"Silence Sith," the Rodian said.

Avaryss ignored him.

"You want to kill Sith? You want to avenge your friends, do it; do it now. One quick stroke of your lightsaber and the deed will be done."

"Shut up," Xen hissed, "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

"Padawan," Sy Dar Bynn said, he looked confused, perhaps he had been around Xen too long, misjudged how deep her anger truly went.

He was about to find out.

It was at that moment that Avaryss would have normally triggered the implant in her wrist, a gift from Major Forn and his people. It would activate a tracking beacon and bring the commandos here, but if Sy Dar Bynn had not been lying about his own troops intercepting them…

…No matter.

Avaryss murmured under her breath, the final incantation for the spell she had begun back on the Fury.

A shudder went down her spine.

Finally, she thought, it was time.

She felt herself beginning to slip away, or rather, back where she belonged.

She smiled wickedly.

Here is where the fun begins!

"I know your little secret, Xen Loor," she said in a taunting voice, "You don't need to pretend any more. Go ahead; you know you want to…strike me down."

The Padawan took a step towards her, and then another.

"Xen?" the Rodian asked.

"Go ahead," Avaryss said leaning forward.

"Do it!"

The girl shuddered, she was sweating. She looked like she was on the verge of total mental collapse. Avaryss could feel her confusion, her anger and her doubt.

"I…" she murmured, "I…"

"Padawan," Sy Dar Bynn's voice was like the crack of a whip.

"Yessss," she whispered.

"Step away, you are sworn to serve me."

Avaryss smirked.

"By all means, Xen, step away, just like the good little slave you are. Step away and…"

That did it.

Avaryss felt it, even with her senses slipping away, even as she found herself fading. She felt something snap in Xen Loor.

One moment she was standing motionless over her prisoner and the next her lightsaber was lit and raised overhead.

"SHUT UP!"

The blue blade came down. Avaryss moved, she twisted her body away from the enraged girl's attack, her flesh flowed like water, her fingers slid back into her hands, and her wrists became thin as ropes…

The binders fell away. She slipped out of her boots and arched her back over, flipping as easily as another person might have walked, none of the Jedi tried to stop her, they were too busy dealing with Xen.

They were having little luck.

The Rodian managed to get his blade up, prevent the girl from skewering their prisoner. Sy Dar Bynn's Padawan snarled; the look she gave him was one of pure rage!

"STOP GIRL!" he shouted, "There is no need to…"

Xen whirled around and attacked him. The alien tried to block, but in that moment the rage had made Xen not only fast, but extremely strong as well.

Her blade cut him from his waist to his right shoulder, his weapon fell away, as his body came apart in two pieces.

"NO!" Sy Dar Bynn shouted, he raised his hand and flung his Padawan back she struck the crumbling wall behind her hard, and slumped over, stunned.

The Jedi Master turned to Avaryss, his face a mask of anger.

"What have you done," he shouted, but fell silent as he looked at her hands or rather the whips that had were now her arms.

"What are you Sith?"

Avaryss laughed, or would have if she could, there was so little of her left, the spell had all but worn off.

"Oh, I'm not a Sith," she said, "My name is Holli, I'm a member of the Imperial engineering corps…"

The thing that had been Avaryss grinned.

"And you have just fallen into our trap."

It was with those words that everything went dark. The last thing she heard was a blaster shot and the sound of a body falling.

Avaryss opened her eyes; she awoke to the sound of blaster fire.

She was lying against the back wall of a crumbling tower. HK-Sigma 3 had its sniper rifle out, firing down into one of the abandoned factory, the one that Sy Dar Bynn had chosen for his base.

Avaryss grinned.

Her spell had worked perfectly.

Like many of the ancient magics it had fallen out of use over the last few centuries, but there was a time that the dark lords had used it with impunity. The trick was to create a mental link with one of your subjects, a connection so strong that for a time, the one you were linked to was unaware of who they truly were. Their body became a shell, a proxy form that a Sith could not only move, but also see and hear through, the perfect means to address ones followers when you couldn't afford to be away from your holdings.

The spell worked best when cast on another Force sensitive, but could be used on a mundane if needed. Holli had been perfect, she may not have been Force sensitive, but her natural speed and ability to shape shift had made her the perfect proxy.

Though…she doubted that the engineer would be happy when she realized that Avaryss had been daring Sy Dar Bynn's Padawan to kill her, Holli may have bene loyal, but had she been wrong, had Xen been faster...?

Oh well, she thought.

You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

She rose from where HK had left her, stretched and drew a lightsaber from her belt.

"Report HK," she said.

"Answer: Two Meatbags are down, master," the droid said between shots. "The Meatbag that attacked her fellows appears to be unconscious, but I can't determine that for sure unless I get closer. The Jedi Master and his remaining servant are now trying to escape, but the auto guns this unit has planted is keeping them pinned down.

The droid fired again, and then looked up at her.

"Query: Are you not proud of me, master?"

The young Sith grinned.

"You did good HK," she said, "I'm most pleased."

She looked down at the factory, her crimson eyes glowing with anticipation.

She could sense Holli, Beric and Quenya. They were still alive, for the moment.

She lit the lightsaber in her hand. it was not the usual one she used, that one had been on Holli's belt at the start of all this, but it would serve.

"Cover me HK," she ordered.

"Things are about to get bloody."

She leapt out the window, in two leaps she would be inside the factory.

As her full powers returned, she caught what the droid had said while she had leapt away.

"Statement: It is so good to have a master who understands the joy of wanton slaughter."

She almost laughed.

Joy? She thought. I don't think I would go that far…still…

…I do love my work.