Chapter 7 – No Good, Horrible, Very Bad News

"Master!" cried Toovee, shaking behind Khem Val, its finger pointed accusatorily towards the dirty astromech. "That—that's the droid who attacked me!"

Louise turned to the droid, blinking confused as to how it was possible for it to stutter, but quickly turned her attention to the astromech. Cautiously, her hand drifted to her lightsaber, ready in case the droid was hostile—it may only stand up to her waist, but Louise knew well enough not to underestimate the unknown, especially after Dxun.

The droid, for its part, rolled back, beeping frantically. «Nihl = comes in peace / Nihl = means no harm»

"Does anyone understand a word the droid is saying?" Ludo drawled, watching the events unfold with obvious amusement.

"Don't look to me," replied Aloysius coolly. "I never liked the contraptions…"

Louise ignored the dead Sith, focusing instead on the conundrum before her, locking eyes with its sole photoreceptor. "Who are you and why are you here?" she questioned.

Before the droid could reply, Toovee decided to interrupt and answer for it. "Master, it obviously snuck aboard when it deactivated me!"

Resisting the urge to growl in annoyance, Louise turned to Toovee and glared. "Toovee?" she asked.

"Yes, master?" Toovee asked hopefully.

"Shut up."

"Yes, master," Toovee answered quietly, looking at the floor thoroughly chastised.

Ludo chuckled.

"Now," Louise began, turning back to the astromech, "I am going to ask you again, hopefully without any other interruptions—" she quickly shot Toovee another glare before continuing— "Who are you and what are you doing on my ship?"

«Serial number = T3O0 / Primary designation = Lord Nihl of the Sith, former apprentice of Desolus»

"Ah…" was the only thing Louise could say in response as she stared blankly at the droid before her, trying to understand what the droid meant by its beeps. Meanwhile, the peanut gallery grew restless being removed from half the conversation and decided to join—though how Toovee perked up told her that he heard exactly what the droid had said.

"Translation," asked Ludo staring at the droid curiously.

"It—it told me that its name is… um… 'Lord Nihl of the Sith, former apprentice of Desolus…'" Louise explained, trailing off, unsure of what else to add to the already odd situation. Briefly, her eyes looked to her bed, wishing she could just collapse onto it and ignore everything until hours later.

Those around her, however, had more diverse reactions, to say the least. Lord Kressh appeared to be having a ball with this new-found knowledge, howling with laughter at the scene before him. Khem, much to Louise's unease, joined the dead Sith Lord, his laugh booming heartily around the room. Aloysius, on the other hand, simply stared stoically at the droid—shock could be felt through the bond they shared. And then there was Toovee, who seemed to take offence at the astromech's proclamation.

"How dare you claim to be a Lord of the Sith!" he shouted, moving out from behind Khem as he advanced, quite threateningly, towards the T3 unit. "This is most appalling, abhorrent, heinous! You dare—"

Whatever Toovee was to say was replaced with the artificial approximation of a scream as a blast of pale blue lightning shot from the astromech, slamming into Toovee's chassis. It only took a few seconds before the factotum droid fell to the ground, seemingly dead.

Confusion and mirth was quickly replaced by shock and a hint of anger as the remaining four turned to face the astromech who quickly tried to defend itself. «2V-R8 = annoying / 2V-R8 = disabled, not destroyed»

While everyone else might not have understood a word it said, both Khem and Ludo quickly burst back into laughter, harder than before. Khem even found himself needing the door frame to support himself as he struggled to say, "Master, can we keep it?"

Louise felt as if she had just aged fifty or so years in that single moment. Is this what mother was like when we were being rowdy? She thought, hating the fact that she, a woman of eighteen years, was even thinking that. Once again, the urge just to sleep returned and Louise found herself having to resist the urge to just kick everyone out. But she knew she could not, so instead, she opted to rub her temples, trying to stave off what could only be a headache approaching. "So, you're the servant of—"

«Nihl = former servant»

"—former servant of Desolus," she reiterated with a growl, "but this doesn't tell me why you're on my ship."

«Previous directive = sabotage Fury-class Interceptor designated L'Inquisiteur de Vide / Primary directive = learn about the Reconstituted 'true' Sith Empire / Primary directive = beneficial to Sith» the droid answered, it's beeping shifting, sounding more disciplined than it did before.

However, Louise had long since stopped listening to the beeping and booping of the droid, her mind halting upon hearing its 'previous directive'.

"You… sabotaged my ship?" she asked, deathly silent.

The droid wheeled back, seemingly sensing danger, once again beeping frantically. «Desolus = commanded Nihl / Nihl = no longer subservient / Nihl = had no choice / Sith = new master»

Louise ignored its excuses, advancing menacingly towards the droid. "What did you do to my ship!?" she demanded.

«Desolus = commanded Nihl to disable L'Inquisiteur du Vide in any way / Nihl = only disabled 2V-R8 / Nihl ≠ disabled or sabotage any systems on the L'Inquisiteur de Vide»

Louise nodded along, not believing that the droid was being truthful in the slightest—neither Khem nor the Jedi found any issue with the ship, but she did not believe that the droid's intentions were entirely peaceful. But being unable to do anything about it either way, she could not do much other than question it. "And the reason you're not avenging your former master is…?"

«Sith Desolus / Nihl = wishes to learn the ways of the 'true' Sith»

Louise groaned, her head pounding with the weight of a massive headache. She did not want to deal with this, to deal with any of this—she was only a measly apprentice!—yet, it was not like she could simply destroy the droid, banish the ghosts and be done with it. Once again, she looked at her bed, her desire to strip to her shirt and smallclothes and leap into bed coming back with a vengeance.

Sighing, she turned back to the T3 unit. "Right now, I just want to get changed, lay down and sleep, okay?" she told the droid simply, "but there is so much I've still to do. So, right now, I would like you to go wait in the cargo hold. You—" she stabbed a finger towards Khem— "take Toovee and reboot him, and make sure the droid doesn't… splice our systems or… poison our food supply." Louise took a deep calming breath. "Now, please, just go—get out of my room."

Surprisingly, the droid obeyed the order without question, quickly rolling past her and out of the door, only to be followed moments later by Khem—who had hoisted Toovee over his shoulder as he left.

Now alone, Louise walked over to her bed and finally collapsed onto it, relishing in the cool touch of her sheets and bed covers… only to groan as she realised that she still had things to do. It's just my luck…

Another groan left her as she pulled herself up to a sitting position on her bed, her eyes locking onto the spectral forms of Ludo Kressh and Aloysius Kallig—the former reclining on her desk like some child who did not understand how chairs worked, while the latter lurked, leaning against the walls as if he actually needed to be propped up or something.

"Now that I've dealt with the stowaway, why, pray tell, are you two here?" she asked tiredly, looking at the two with resignation.

After sharing a quick look to Aloysius, Ludo answered. "I'm here because of you, of course."

"What do you mean?" Louise replied, crossing her arms as she prepared for another headache.

"Well, six—or was it seven?—Never mind. A week ago," he began, scratching his elongated chin… "I was enjoying toying with the various interlopers in my tomb when I felt the strangest disturbance—no, it was almost like a tremor in the Force…"

"Get to the point…"

"Why, how rude!" cried out Ludo, smirking playfully. "No respect for the former Dark Lord of the Sith nor even for the dead?"

"First off," Louise said, irate, "I have exhausted my supplies of karks to give. Secondly, you were only a Dark Lord to your followers—the rest of the Old Empire never acknowledged your rule, probably because we were being bent over by the Republic!"

"Kids these days… how crass," Ludo tisked. "I am here because I felt a tremor in the Force and I wished to investigate, and low and behold, I found you, half-dead, surrounded by Jedi and dead sithspawn." He paused, his smile resuming. "You really are an intriguing little Sith…"

Louise looked at the spectre queerly for a moment. "What do you mean, 'tremor'?"

At this, Aloysius spoke, "Blood of my blood, the spell you cast left quite the impact upon the Force. I would not be surprised if the four corners of the galaxy felt the tremor your spell left in its wake."

Louise blinked owlishly. "My… spell?"

"Yes," he answered. "I remembered how it felt when you cast the summoning ritual, but it was different this time… stronger… stranger. Twisted."

Before Louise could press the point, Ludo cut in. "Lord Kallig, have you been hiding things from me? What kind of magic could cause such a tremor?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Lord Kressh…" Aloysius replied coldly.

"Well, nevertheless…" Ludo said disjointedly, obviously incensed by Kallig's words. "I would count yourself quite fortunate that you were unconsciousness after…" he cast a brief side-long glare at Aloysius who remained stoic, before continuing, "whatever it was you did. I'd imagine that you would have found yourself overwhelmed by some of the nosier spirits."

"Aren't you the nosy spirit?" Louise asked, growing more and more tired of the conversation as the seconds passed.

Kressh raised an eyebrow at her cheek but did not otherwise address it. "Did you really think we're the only two who decided to investigate the strange, unusual disturbance in the Force? You should have seen it! That last time I saw such a congregation of the dead was roughly one thousand years ago…"

Louise did not answer at first, contemplating what he had said and whether it was good or not. The conclusion she came to was that this was ultimately, not good. Feeling as if she had aged several decades, she shook her head and continued with the more pressing matter, "Well, you've investigated. What more do you want?"

"Simple: Answers," Ludo said. "While I know I'm not going to get much in the way of what you did, there is quite a bit that I still wish to know. Why was such a young Sith travelling with Jedi? What business did she have with Freedon Nadd's Temple? Things like that, really."

Louise sighed. "Who I was travelling with and what I was doing there is none of your concern."

"It might not be my concerned, but I am interested nonetheless," replied Kressh.

After closing her eyes and counting down from ten, Louise growled but otherwise caved in and answered his questions, deeming it easier to deal with than a snubbed ghost. "I was with the Jedi because our goals aligned, and I'd much rather not go into an ancient temple filled with monstrous abominations that wish to dine on my flesh without others acting as large meat shields."

"Not sure of your own power?" Ludo prodded curiously.

"No, I'm not a karking idiot nor suicidal!" Louise snapped. "The odds of two against a couple hundred are not good odds, especially as most of those things were Force-Sensitive. That, combined with the fact I had no idea—"

"Calm, I was simply concerned with your attachment with the Jedi, though it amuses me to watch the Jedi of all people fight for you against the Onderon government's insatiable desire to see you in chains," Ludo said offhandedly.

"The Jedi helped in the end," Louise said. "If it weren't for them, I would have died." Aloysius snorted, though the reason escaped her.

"You remind me much of Sadow, though I can actually stand being around you," he continued. "He would have thought of something similar to you; play the part of the innocent diplomat and use the Jedi to your advantage. Though, it's evident that you are not plagued by his overconfidence."

"We can blame her upbringing for that," Aloysius sneered distastefully.

"it's no matter," Ludo said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That is all I wanted, so for now, I bid you both farewell, Lord Kallig—" He bowed to Aloysius, then turned to Louise where he bowed once again— "Heiress Kallig... I will be watching your career with great interest." And with that, the spectre vanished from sight.

Once sure that Ludo was gone, Louise collapsed back onto her bed with a groan, longing for the cool embrace of sleep—but it was not meant to be.

"Are you alright?" Aloysius asked, pushing himself from the wall as he made his way towards his descendant, worry tinging his voice.

"I'm fine…" Louise sighed.

"Flesh of my flesh, seven days ago you nearly died," Aloysius stressed, reminding Louise much of her father when he was chastising her. "While medical sciences have improved since my time, I do not trust the Republic to have done their jobs correctly—especially as you're Sith. I would advise you take the next few days resting; no strenuous activities, whether it be training or anything else."

"I feel fine, Aloysius," Louise said more forcefully than before, her annoyance growing.

"If it weren't for me, you would have died!" Aloysius cried. "Even with the Jedi assisting you, you would have bled out and died from the internal damage that abomination caused you. No matter how many generations we are apart, you are the last piece of family I have left, and I do not like seeing you risking yourself like that!"

Louise could not help but sneer at Aloysius' final comment. "I wouldn't have died had you not sent me here."

"I can understand your anger, flesh of my flesh, and I have regretted my actions since then and have worked tirelessly to try and make amends—" he tried to say, but before he could continue Louise pushed herself off her bed, glaring at the Sith who claimed to care about her.

"Then when were you when I was a slave?" she spat. "When were you when I was being tortured in Kressh's tomb?" She threw her hand out, gesturing to where Ludo once stood. "If you were trying so hard to help me, then why the Hel did you not show yourself like you are now!?"

Aloysius stood as still as a statue, his expression completely unreadable under his skull-like mask. "What did you expect of me to do?" he asked, his voice quiet and hard. "You could not even conceive how weak I was after pulling you here. I could barely manifest myself in your dreams, to manifest myself like I am now, it would have destroyed me before I could even aid you—and by the time I could, you were well on your way here. By the Immortal Gods of the Sith—" he continued, his body tensing in frustration— "the only reason I could even keep you alive on Dxun was because the entire planet is seeping in the Dark Side. Even then, Louise, you must learn to take responsibility for your own actions. It was you who decided to enter the temple unawares; it was you who decided to challenge that Sith pretender instead of thinking up a plan—"

Louise gritted her teeth, wanting to scream and shout at the Sith Lord before her. "How dare you! I was only completing my mission for my master!" she screamed, "A master I would not have had you not ripped me from my home and family! You stole me! You tore me from my sisters, my mother, my father! They could be worried sick, they may think me dead! But no! You forced me into this life, you made me what I am and forced me into this position. I almost died!" Tears began to fall from her face as her mind caught up with what she had said. "I—I almost died! And, and it's your fault! You ripped me from my home and now I am paying the—"

"Silence!" Aloysius shouted, his voice reverberating throughout the entire ship. "You think I haven't hated myself for what I've done? You don't think I wished I had acted differently? You don't think I wished I could have waited longer to get a better picture of what was going on? You can blame me as much as you wish—I surely do—but do not pretend that your free will was revoked because of my actions. You have always had a choice, flesh of my flesh—" He paused, seemingly taking a break. When he spoke next, his voice was softer, calmer— "the help I can give is limited, but I have always tried my best to aid you in any way I can, teaching you while your master would prefer you be weak. I didn't ask for forgiveness, I know my actions are unforgivable, I understand that. I only ask that you accept my aid."

Louise stared at Aloysius, hating, loathing, that she could not see beyond his spectral mask. Anger burned like a blazing fire within, but it could not help but dampen as she considered his words—she would never know how many times he saved her, how many times he risked his hold on the physical plane for her. Anger simmered as exhaustion took hold once again. "I'm tired, Aloysius…"

"I understand, but before I go… I wanted to say…" he paused, seemingly unsure whether he should say it or not. "I wanted to say that I'm proud of you, blood of my blood."

And like that, she was alone.

Louise continued to stare at where Aloysius once stood, keenly aware of Khem's skulking presence in the hall just outside her room—but she did not care.

She screamed, frustrated and angry. Turning, she latched onto the flag of the Empire which hung above the head of her bed, tearing it from its mount on the wall before throwing it to the floor with a snarl.

Urges, sadistic and cruel, surfaced to the forefront of her mind; the desire to punch, stab, torture just so she could have an outlet to release her burning rage. Yet, there was nobody, nothing to take it out on but furniture and her own ship.

So, with nowhere for it to go, it dissipated into the aether, soon replaced with fear—terror—and hurt. She fell to her bed, curling up into a ball as if to protect herself from the outside world, and cried, howling like a wounded animal, desperate for someone, anyone, to hold her like her sister had so long ago—like Lyira had.

Her bedroom door hissed open; someone had entered her room, but Louise did not acknowledge them. At first, they did not move, but soon, the sounds of heavy footfalls against the metal floors of her ship were heard coming closer and closer.

A large weight settled on her bed, and then, hesitantly, she felt a large three-clawed hand rest upon her shoulder, unsure but comforting.

Louise did not think, she acted. She pushed herself from where she was, her arms wrapping around the Dashade in a desperate embrace. Khem froze, uncertain on how to act, but eventually settled his arm back down on the Sith who cried into him.

"Master, are you alright?" he asked, his voice reverberating throughout his body, sounding far deeper than usual.

"No," she replied quietly.

"Do you wish for me to devour the spirit if it returns?" he grumbled, slightly rubbing her shoulder as he spoke.

"What? No—I don't, I'm not—I'm just…" she tried to say before growling in frustration. "Just please, don't kill him. I'm just tired."

"You are strong, master," Khem said softly, "very strong. As much as I loathe to admit, not even the great Tulak Hord would have done as you did." He paused, humming in thought. "Did I ever tell you about how Tulak Hord and I met?"

"No."

"He came to Urkupp aboard his flagship, the Burning Skies…" Khem went on describing his first encounter with the soon-to-be Dark Lord of the Sith. How, before Khem became Hord's servant, he fought side by side with the famed Sith Lord during a campaign against dissenters within the Auril sector. In the end, the dissenters were routed and Tulak found himself impressed with Khem's performance during the battle, challenging the Dashade to an honour duel, soon claiming victory and a new servant.

"Why did you tell me this?" she asked once he had finished his tale.

"You are no longer crying," he replied matter-of-factly. "Get some rest, master." Khem left soon after.

Pulling herself from her bed, Louise walked to her wardrobe and got changed into her nightclothes. After, she crawled from her bed and tried to rest. Yet, try as she might, sleep would not come to her. She lay in bed, twisting and turning, finding the sheets now too warm to cover her, but the room too cold to go without—and then, it started. At first, it was little more than a thum, like the subtle beat of a heart resounding throughout the room.

Louise sat up almost instantly, ready to call upon the Force to defend herself from any dangers, but what she found confused her. Upon her desk sat the holocron from Dxun, but it was not like she last saw it—it was glowing a dim sickly green that pulsed in time with every thum. Chills crawled up her arms and spine as she felt as if the artefact was calling for her.

Slowly, Louise pulled herself from her bed, moving cautiously towards the holocron, anticipating something, anything to go wrong. Soon, she stood within arm's reach of the ancient artefact, her hands hesitant to pick it up.

Summoning the powers of the Force, she carefully sent a mental probe to prod the artefact, using the Force like she had many times before to open the crystalline devices.

At once, she felt it, like a change in the air.

Green mist burst from the holocron's tip, quickly pouring out, surrounding the artefact and covering her desk. Louise backpedalled, summoning one of her trophies to hand—Lord Ogathu's lightsaber—and ignited the purple blade, unsure of what was happening. No other holocron had even acted in such a fashion, which was worrying, especially considering it came from Desolus' chambers.

The mist ebbed and flowed as if it were affected by some unknown breeze before swirling around the holocron towards the tip where it began to condense into a pale figure. It stood no taller than her forearm was long, swathed in a dark robe of some sort, and from what she could see, it was a male Sith Pureblood, but it looked… stranger than the ones she had seen, different from the other Sith she had seen; for one, its cheek tendrils were far longer, reaching well past his shoulders. However, it was more than that, it's face was gaunt with high cheekbones she had only seen on the likes of Sasha the Elf, with a wide mouth that sat under a small nose.

"You are not the presence who stole away my holocron," the gatekeeper said, speaking with an odd accent as he stared at her with his beady unreadable eyes—its tendrils twitching in weird ways. "State your name," he demanded.

At once, Louise answered the gatekeeper, addressing him as if he were any other Lord of the Sith. "I am Louise of the Sith, apprentice to Darth Zash, my lord."

The gatekeeper narrowed his eyes, briefly gazing around the room as if he were looking for something. His tendrils twitched once again, curling oddly. "Darth Zash…" he said, testing the name upon his lips. "He was the one who defeated Desolus and claimed this holocron?"

Louise looked at the gatekeeper queerly, confused as to where he got that idea from. "No, my lord. I killed Desolus, but—"

"You killed him?" he asked, sounding sceptical. "I find that hard to believe, especially for an apprentice." He paused, staring at Louise intently. "Tell me, what year is this?"

"It's 1337 AEA, my lord," she answered dutifully.

He stroked his tendrils, humming thoughtfully. "I do not recognise this dating system."

Louise mentally slapped herself in the head. Of course he wouldn't know! He's been stuck in Nadd's temple for centuries. Shaking her hands, she clarified. "It's been thirteen-thousand and thirty-seven years after the Sith Emperor ascended to the Imperial throne, my lord—twenty years after the end of the Great Hyperspace War."

The gatekeeper considered her words. "The Great Hyperspace War… yes, I've heard of this, however, I was lead to believe the Sith died out after the war only for my people's way of life to be 'resurrected' by Exar Kun and later Revan and the other so-called Dark Lords."

"The words of ignorance," Louise replied contemptuously, galled that someone could even conceive that the likes of Exar Kun had resurrected the Sith culture. "Emperor Vitiate gathered the remnants of the Old Empire and saved our people from genocide. We have been living in secret for millennia since, only returning to the wider galaxy forty or so years ago."

"So, my people still live on?" he asked, sounding as if he were asking the most important question in the galaxy.

"Yes, my lord," Louise could only reply. "Though they could only number in the billions, the Sith species still remain strong."

He smiled, wide. His tendrils wiggling like worms.

Louise shifted awkwardly, pleased that the gatekeeper was pleased that the Sith lived on, but desiring to know more about the holocron. "My lord, if I may ask, who are you?"

The gatekeeper blinked, looking at Louise strangely for a moment before saying, "You stand before the gatekeeper of the great King Adas, the Sith'ari who united the tribes and nations of the Sith. The one who rallied our armies and fought back against the Infinite Empire and who brought our people into a new age of prosperity," he answered with a dramatic flourish of his hand.

Louise stared, stunned at the gatekeeper for a few seconds, trying to comprehend the identity of the holocron before her. Adas…? King Adas….? Confusion soon vanished as excitement bubbled within her like a volcano ready to burst. I have King Adas' holocron. She thought, a wide smile breaking out on her lips. I have King Adas' holocron! Her mind raced, filling with euphoria as she thought of the tantalising possibilities she could achieve with his holocron. Ancient Sith lore, rituals and spells, a wellspring of knowledge about the Sith before the Ancient Empire!

"My lord… my king," Louise began, "I ask you to impart your knowledge onto me," she asked, barely containing her excitement.

"No," Adas answered simply, and like a slap in the face, Louise was brought low. "I do not waste my teachings on the weak, and I do not know enough about you to make such a judgement."

"My lord, what do you mean?" Louise asked, confused.

"Prove to me you are strong, prove to me that you're worthy of my knowledge and I will share with you what I know," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That is all I will say on the subject."

"I defeated Desolus in single combat," Louise said with a furrowed brow, "is that not enough?"

"To some it might, but I do not know whether you won meeting his strength with yours," he said, "or through some other, more underhanded means. Not only that, but there is more to proving you're your worth than just a simple show of strength."

"What of the Sith?" she asked. "Will you not share with me the history and culture of the Sith before your Empire?"

"You wish to learn about that?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Louise looked at him as if it were obvious. "I may be interested in learning your knowledge with the Force," she said, "but there is more I want to know. Do you have any idea how helpful this would be for the Empire? Our history of the Old Empire grows with each tomb we unearth, every temple found, but since the Jen'jidai conquered the Sith, our knowledge of the Sith before your time is next to nothing. But… but with you, I could start filling the gaps in our knowledge, teaching the Empire about our roots!"

Adas hummed softly, looking deep into her eyes. "Not many who access my holocron wish me to regale them with the ways of the ancient Sith… some have, but in recent memory, most have only craved the knowledge hidden in these lattices." He paused as if considering her words. "Your goal is noble; I will aid you in this endeavour."

The next day, Louise awoke feeling just as she was the day before. Yet, instead of just curling up and going back to sleep like she so desperately wanted, she tore herself from her bed as one would a leech from an arm, glaring at everything around her with tired eyes.

Louise was not really sure what she would be doing today—even deciding to forgo actually getting changed from her nightclothes because of it. Should she continue dictating all the knowledge she could compile of the time before the Ancient Empire? Perhaps, but she certainly did not want a repeat of yesterday with her hands cramping from all the typing. No, she wanted to take a break from all that, perhaps just take a break from doing anything Sith-related entirely, at least for today. Yes, that was it, today would be a day of relaxing.

With this in mind, Louise moved into the lounge, blindly barking an order at Toovee—wherever he was in the ship—for some breakfast, before slumping at the conference table, quickly booting up the built-in computer where she began to catch up on galactic news.

Twenty or so minutes later, along with one bowl of some strange name brand Onderonian cereal, and Louise found herself urgently calling Lyira on her ship's holocommunicator, hoping beyond hope that her girlfriend was alright. Time passed as the call-back tone rang through the lounge, each second agonising, grating on her nerves.

Finally, the call went through, and as the holoprojector bloomed with a bright cyan light, Louise could not help but feel relieved—until she saw who had answered her call. It was not Lyira who's face she saw, but a droid who bore a striking resemblance to Toovee. "Greetings, ma'am, I am 2V-X0," the droid introduced, "factotum droid under the command of my master, Lyira Arren of the most auspicious house of Arren and apprentice to Darth Baras of the Sphere of Military Offence. To whom am I speaking?"

"Louise of the Sith, apprentice of Darth Zash of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge," Louise replied in kind, anxious for the formalities to end.

"Ah, you must be my master's consort, are you not?" the droid asked, the vague sense of judgement lacing its robotic tone.

Louise furrowed her brow, confused. "Yes?" she said, not really knowing if that was the correct answer or not. "Just tell me if I can speak to my girlfriend."

"I do apologise ma'am, but my master is out at the moment on important business," the droid said politely. "Would you like to leave a message?"

Louise shook her head, unease getting the better of her. "Do you know when she'll be back? Where is she?"

"My master is currently with the Governor of Balmorra, Darth Lachris of the Sphere of Military Defence," the droid answered. "As for when she will return, I do not know. From what I heard, she was on a mission of critical importance."

Louise was unsure if she should be relieved or not that Lyira was working with the former apprentice of Darth Marr himself. On the one hand, Darth Marr was a nigh-legendary figure in the Sith, being one of the most long-lived Councillors sitting on the Dark Council; on the other, Lyira was in the middle of a war zone.

"Please, when you see her next, tell her that I wish to speak with her soon," she implored the droid.

"I will relay that when she returns, ma'am," the droid said. "Is there anything else you wished?"

"No, thank you." The hologram died, leaving the still warrior Sith behind.

Louise slumped her shoulders; Balmorra was not doing well. The resistance was fighting tooth and nail to rid themselves of the Empire, and the reports of the war escalating were worrying, especially with the tactics used on both sides. She had seen the holos from the Sacking of Coruscant and had walked the surface of Korriban enough times to know that warfare in this galaxy was far worse than anything her homeworld had ever experienced.

Louise shook her head once again, she needed a distraction. Perhaps a drink, but the Jedi did not stock any drinkable alcohol.

Turning back to the conference table, Louise was about to try and drown her worries in whatever degeneracy she might find on the holonet, only to pause as she caught something slinking in her peripheral.

There, in the port hallway, was T3-O0, looking at her with its single crimson photoreceptor. She looked around, searching for Toovee who was supposed to be watching the droid, making sure it was docile, but the factotum droid was nowhere to be found. Her face pinched as she could not help but curse the incompetence of her droid.

Marching up to the droid, she opened her mouth to demand where her droid was and what it was doing, but before she could even make a noise, the astromech spoke. «Nihl = greetings»

Louise hesitated, whatever steam built up dissipating in a flash. "Um… where is Toovee?"

«2V-R8 = distracted by inventory»

Taking a calming breath, Louise considered whether or not Toovee would serve better as spare parts than as a factotum droid as well as whether she should just get a better one or not. Shaking her head, she pressed the astromech further. "And what are you doing here?"

«Nihl = looking for Sith» the droid replied, its photoreceptor focusing in on her.

Louise blinked. "Looking for Sith?" she echoed confused.

«Sith = you / Sith = would deal with Nihl after rest»

Sighing, she gestured for the droid to follow, taking it over to the Dejarik table where she collapsed into the acceleration couch, finding the comfortable leather really nice to sit on. Sitting up straighter, she readied herself to hear whatever strange and questionable thing the droid would say next. After all, what was she to expect from the droid who thought itself Sith? "You said you wanted to learn about the Sith," she asked, beginning what she hoped was a short conversation. "Why?"

«Nihl = taught by Desolus / Desolus ≠ 'true' Sith / Nihl = wish to learn the true Sith» The droid paused, contemplative. «Nihl = curious»

Louise nodded her head slowly. She, herself, understood the desire to learn more and more, especially when magic or the Force came into it. Nevertheless, this gave another question to her growing stockpile. "How did you come to learn about the true Sith."

«Holonet = wellspring of knowledge»

Ah, that makes sense. She thought. Without anything more to ask from this line of questioning, she moved on to one of the stranger aspects of the droid. "So… you called yourself Desolus' apprentice; how did that work?"

«Desolus = twisted followers into sithspawn / Nihl = only one who could resist Desolus / Desolus Nihl = obvious conclusion» the droid explained, and Louise could not help but snort. Of course the droid would be unaffected by Desolus' alchemy—he was a droid, not organic.

Nevertheless, her question was not fully answered. "But how can you call yourself Sith without a connection to the Force?"

«Sith = more than Force» the droid replied simply.

Louise raised an eyebrow at the droid's words—er… beeps. It was correct in that regard, but to hear such a thing say that, especially considering its former allegiance, it was surprising. "So, you only wish to learn the ways of the Sith?"

«Sith = correct»

"And how are you going to accomplish this?" she asked.

«Nihl = will learn from Sith»

Louise raised an eyebrow. "Me?" she asked. "You want me to teach you?"

«Sith = correct»

"I don't think that's how it works…" Louise replied, unsure of what else to say.

«Sith Desolus / Nihl = still join Sith»

"Okay," she sighed rubbing the side of her face, "but how will I know you won't stab me in the back? You belong to Desolus, how will I know you won't try to kill me or something?"

The droid was silent for a time as if computing an answer. «Nihl = no proof»

Louise stared at the droid, contemplative. At the moment, she had no idea what to do with it, whether she should keep it, scrap it or just get rid of it at the next available point in time. The first option was not really an option as the droid had done little—aside from disabling Toovee—to deserve the latter two, but at the same time, she did not feel safe knowing a droid who worked for the abomination who nearly killed her was rolling around on her ship. Deciding once again to deal with the pressing matter at another date, she told the droid, "Go back to Toovee. I will… meditate on what I shall do with you later."

And just like that, the droid obeyed.

Five long and stressful days followed her failed attempt to contact her girlfriend, and her holocommunicator was infuriatingly quiet. Part of her wondered if she should just call again, but she felt uncomfortable doing so—Lyira was alive and that was the most she knew. At least, she hoped. Throughout the week, she had tried contacting her girlfriend through the Force bond they shared, but the bond was… numb. What that meant, she had no idea, but it was certainly nothing good.

So, she tried her best to distract herself from the situation on Balmorra, focusing on doing a wide variety of things, whether it be practising her Sith sorcery, filling out digital documents with the knowledge Adas would share, and surfacing the holonet; part of her hoping to see any news from Balmorra. However, it was only on the fifth day she heard anything.

Just as she had in the days prior, she checked the front page of the Emperor's Vision News Network's holosite—the only major news agency in the Empire—only to find herself met by a large headline proclaiming an important announcement regarding the Balmorran resistance.

'Balmorran Resistance, Crushed!
For 11 years our men and women on Balmorra have fought tooth and nail to fend off the barbaric resistance fighters, but now the people of Balmorra bend the knee to their rightful rulers.'

She read through the rest of the remarkably short article, not really absorbing what she was seeing, but scanning for a mention of names, Sith who were involved, key players, anything like that, but what she found was little. Not too many details were mentioned save for an embedded holovid and a few other links to other holonet pages: some regarding the history of the Balmorran Occupation, others to profiles on major players in the war—such as Governor Lachris—and finally, a link to the necrology. Yet… no mention of Lyira.

Frowning, she hovered her cursor over the link to the necrology. A simple click would lead her to all those listed dead, but she could not bring herself to do it. At least not yet. She moved the cursor over to the holovid and clicked, soon being greeted by two human news anchors, one a male Sith Lord, and the other, a female Imperial. The former was dressed in what looked to be a mix of traditional Sith robes and contemporary casual wear, while the latter was wearing a nice, but plain dress of rose and onyx.

"Hello, I am Lord Platius," introduced the Sith with barely contained excitement.

"And I am Lieutenant Vosier," the Imperial continued, looking far more composed than her compatriot, "and welcome back to the Emperor's Vision News Network."

"Today, we have some exciting news from the Republic Colonies," Lord Platius said, then paused, for seeming dramatic effect. "Balmorra has fallen. As those who have kept up with news from our vassal states, you would know that since the Invasion of Balmorra, we have been fighting to reign Balmorra under our control and today, we have finally achieved victory!"

"However, more so than this, we've struck a blow against the Republic. Soon after the fall of Balmorra, a vid was released to the holonet directly from a high-ranking Republic officer. For those of you who have not seen it, here it is." The scene shifted, the two news anchors being replaced by a scarred, tall dark-skinned man dressed in ornate Republic armour. He stood tall and proud, but his expression betrayed whatever sense of composure he tried to hold.

"I am Grand Marshal Cheketta of the Republic Military," he introduced solemnly, "And it is with a heavy heart that I make this confession; the Republic has broken the Treaty."

It was no surprise to Louise, it was one of the Republic's worst kept secrets, but to hear it confessed on the holonet—and especially by someone so high up in the Republic—was shocking.

"Balmorra, as many of you may know, has been a war zone since the War," he continued. "When the Empire came, they tried to conquer Balmorra, but the Republic and its people held them off for as long as possible. Then, the Treaty was signed and the Republic was forced to abandon Balmorra to the Empire; but the fighting never stopped there. During the decade following the War, the Empire found themselves under attack by resistance fighters, Balmorrans who, regardless of what the Treaty dictated, fought back against the Empire's rule." Chekatta took a deep, calming breath. "All of that was a lie.'

"The Republic may have officially relinquished Balmorra to the Empire, but an underground force of Republic soldiers were left behind to aid the resistance; I know this because I was their leader." He paused. "Publicly, we rebelled against the Republic to help the resistance, but everything we had done was done under orders from the Senate itself. We knowingly and illegally attacked Imperial targets, received supplies, weapons, ships and intel from the Military and Navy; we freed Balmorran prisoners, known rapists, murderers and thieves, giving them weapons and training to use against the Empire. Yet, despite this, Balmorra fell.'

"I apologise to the people of Balmorra for all these years of war. We sacrificed hundreds of thousands and put many more in danger, just so we could lose the one thing we were fighting so hard for. Worse than that, we broke the Treaty that keeps our worlds safe and whole, and for that, I apologise to all the citizens of the galaxy.'

"I hope the Sith Emperor decides to show as much mercy to the Republic as the conquerors of Balmorra have been with me and mine."

The vid ended, vanishing in a digitally-generated transition revealing the two anchors once again. "No comment from the Dark Council has been made so far, however, I think I speak for the entire Empire when I say that we must not let this stand!" Lord Platius said, eyes burning with Imperial pride. "The Republic must pay for this transgression."

The two anchors continued, saying what this meant for the Empire and what would be next in light of this fiasco. A mention of the many dead came next, their voices going from righteous indignation turning to sorrow and pride as they said that those lost had not died in vain—that they finally broke the stubborn planet. Yet, Louise could not help but ignore these words, focusing on keeping an ear out for Lyira as she went back through the article, desperately hoping that she might have missed a mention of her girlfriend being alive and well. But still nothing.

Then she saw the link to the necrology once again. Reluctantly, she clicked the link, finding herself met with a small disclaimer sitting above a list of names. It read that the list was of all the confirmed dead since the beginning of the Balmorran invasion listed in alphabetical order by last name. Scrolling down, she tried to find Lyira's name, but quickly she found that the list would just not end.

Names, names, hundreds of names, thousands, millions of names. She continued scrolling and scrolling, constantly scrolling. It was as if the list was just getting longer and longer, and what was worse, was the fact she had not left the list of names starting with A.

Soon, she entered the names starting with 'Ar,' the two letters repeating on and on in her mind. Ar, ar, ar— —arr, arr, arr— —arre, arre! She thought desperately. Please, please don't be listed.

Then, 'As'. There were no more names starting with 'Ar,' but still, Louise was not satisfied. She scrolled and scrolled up and down between 'Ar' and 'As,' to make sure Lyira was not listed, but the name was not there.

Louise did not whether to be relieved or what. Lyira was not confirmed dead, but at the same time, they mighthave not found the body. She collapsed onto the chair, numbness spreading throughout her body. She could still feel their bond through the Force, but it was still mute, and she was still lost as to what that meant.

AN: First, I must confess my absolute loathing for University and the shite going down in my life at the mo. This chapter should have been released sooner—and what's worse is this is only half as I decided to split it, once again, into two parts. Also, vassal state is Imperial for puppet state.