Chapter Four: The Man Behind the Curtain

Davik was not looking forward to this call.

He'd checked dozens of different possible worlds and had no luck. He'd had long conversations with Daan and had less luck. They were confident they didn't need it. So now here he was, calling Vogga.

The screen flared to life, and Vogga appeared. The massive, bulbous slug alien lounged upon a chair with a pipe in his mouth. He blew a smoke ring and looked at him. "Davik, just what is it that brings you back here? Have you made the sale yet?" He said in his guttural language.

"Yes, that is just it, Vogga," said Davik. "There has been a… complication."

Vogga laughed. "Complication? I don't like complications; they mean I don't get paid on time. And when I don't get paid on time things get complicated."

"And none of us want things to get complicated, I assure you," said Davik, trying to stay in control. "See, the arms I was going to sell to Milenda Daan no longer have a market. The Jedi have arranged a truce."

"Jedi do that," said Vogga with a nod.

"Yes," said Davik. "Naturally, I am looking into alternative markets, or, failing that, a way to create one. However, I'd like to request an extension if you don't mind."

"Extensions are something I don't like giving," said Vogga. "Still, you've done some good work for me. I'll give you a few months, provided you can give me a down payment."

"That doesn't sound unreasonable. How much?" asked Davik.

"Ten-thousand. No less," said Vogga.

Davik flinched. "T-ten thousand?"

"Is that a problem?" asked Vogga with a smile.

Davik composed himself. "No, no Vogga. Of course not. I'll see if I can arrange it."

"I hope you can," said Vogga. "If you provide that much, I'll let you pay off your debt later. Failing that we'll look into alternatives."

Davik nodded. "I understand."

The channel was cut. Only then did Davik slam his fist against the console. "Son of a kath hound!

"Where the hell are we supposed to pull together that kind of money on short notice? Vogga might as well have signed our death warrants if we don't make that sale!" The door opened, and he saw his partner and last hope. "Visquis, what have you got?"

Visquis remained silent a moment. He sighed. "…Very little. The Jedi arranged several other truces. We could head to a different part of the galaxy and start over-"

"We don't have time for that," said Davik. "The Exchange would find us; they have eyes everywhere. No, no, we can't run from this. We'll have to do something.

"You said very little. What did you find?"

Viscious remained silent. "…Daan has offered us a contract."

"What kind of contract?" asked Davik.

"They want us to hijack a relief fleet from Dantooine," said Visquis. "It is carrying supplies which are going to be used to feed the populace of Milena. They don't want that. They want them starving so they can force bad terms on them."

"How does that count as an opportunity, Visquis?" asked Davik. "If the Jedi are sending a fleet, there will be Jedi manning it. I'm good with guns, but I'm not that good. And we don't have anyone working with us."

"It seems to be our only lifeline," noted Visquis. "Failing that, we could sell what information we have for witness protection."

Davik scowled at him, and Visquis flinched. "We're not going to snitch, Visquis. You disappoint me."

"You wanted me to give you our options." snapped Visquis. "If we seize the supplies, we may take Daan's payment. From there we can sell the foodstuffs to Milenda at inflated prices, giving us the money we need. We will have to improvise."

"So we do," said Davik, taking a breath and thinking. "Let me think. Alright, there is no way we'll be able to take out the Jedi. But that doesn't mean there isn't anyone who can. Hang on." He went to his console and starting searching through possible worlds. Then he hit one. "Ordo."

"What of it?" asked Viscious.

"It's a Mandalorian colony," said Davik. "Heavily fortified and the guys there are always looking for a fight. If we could direct them to Daan, we could negotiate a finders fee."

"Mandalorians don't fight for money," said Visquis. "They fight for honor."

"Yes, you're right," said Davik. "They'd regard working for us as an insult. Chances are they'd kill us once we outlived our usefulness."

"There are some Sith Academies in the outer regions," said Visquis. "Perhaps we could sell it to them?"

Davik scoffed. "The Sith are a joke. Even if they have the power they don't have the money to buy our stock. Even if they did, they'd kill us during the deal."

"If only there was a Sith Emperor secretly controlling them who we could sell to." muttered Visquis. "He'd use them to fight the Mandalorians."

And then Davik had an idea. The best idea he'd ever had. He sat up and smiled. "…Sith Emperor." He said for effect as he turned to Viscious. "Sith Emperor. Viscious, you are a genius. I have an idea that just might make all our dreams come true. It'll take some doing, but if we play our cards right, we'll get a sale and a longterm market."

Viscious blinked. "I don't understand."

"If we don't have a market, we just need to start a war," said Davik. "And who is better at starting wars than a Sith?"

"Davik, I do not think we have time to put a puppet King in charge of all the Sith," said Visquis, using the tone of one explaining to a madman that he could not fly.

"Oh, but Visquis, I'm not Davik Kang," said Davik. "I'm the Sith Emperor. A powerful master of darkness who wishes to use the Mandalorians to wage a proxy war on the Republic. Davik Kang is just the pawn I will use to supply the weapons.

"So, what do you think?"

Viscious looked at him flatly. "…I think you're insane."

Davik sighed. "Desperate times, Viscious. Get me a black robe and some makeup to make my skin pale."

Ordo was a volcanic, ashworld filled with lava flows and ash storms that could smother a man alive. There were only a few habitable places on it, mostly just as dangerous in other ways. Davik remembered why he hated Mandalorians.

"Here we are," said Davik, adjusting the stupid cloak. "Ordo."

"A volcanic planet like that will be difficult to navigate," said Visquis. "Why would anyone live here?"

"Mandalorians have a fixation on the strength of the individual," said Davik. "They pick all the worst places to live. It's a feature for them.

"Now remember, Visquis, I am Darth Vitiate. The Sith Emperor who is secretly pulling strings on everyone in the galaxy. You are Lord Scourge if anyone asks."

"Darth Vitiate?" asked Visquis incredulously.

"I combined some words off a medicine bottle," said Davik.

"It shows," said Visquis. "I doubt black robes will provide enough credibility."

"And that is why you're going and now me," said Davik.

"Me?" asked Visquis.

"It has to be you," said Davik. "If I go down there directly, the leader will just regard me as another human, Sith or no. No, you have to approach and introduce yourself as an emissary of the Sith Emperor.

"Then you give him this, and I talk to him over a voice changer."

"If they see this ship, they'll be anything but impressed," noted Visquis.

"Then we'll slip down real quietly," said Davik, fiddling with the controls. "Descending now. Quiet for a bit, I need to slip past their sensor net." He fiddled with his devices, moving as quickly as he could and activating the jammers. If they moved quietly enough, they should be able to slip through the weak sensor net.

It wouldn't work on more advanced types, but Davik doubted this hellhole had one of those.

"What if they shoot me?" asked Visquis as they landed. "Or if they doubt me being a Sith?"

"Then you use this," said Davik, removing an armband and handing it to him.

Visquis took it. "What is this?"

"A device I rigged up," said Davik. "It'll launch an electric shock that might make them think it Force Lightning. Put it on your wrist and use it to prove who you are if they ask."

"What if this doesn't work?" asked Visquis.

"Then I'll be just as dead in a few weeks as you will be in a few minutes," said Davik. "Good luck."


Canderous Ordo was a Mandalorian born and raised. In his career, he had hunted all manner of beasts and earned a position as a leader. He had clashed with pirates and mercenaries, laid waste to farming settlements. But though his victories were significant, he hungered for greater battles to come.

He was on watch that day, staring across the edge of the jungle and over the wastes. Then he saw something odd, a Quarren picking his way across the wastes. To Canderous' knowledge, there were no Quarrens in the Clan. So he raised his rifle and aimed downrange. It would be so easy to take him out. "Hold where you are, quarren! We've got a dozen blasters pointed at you as we speak. Who are you, and why shouldn't we pull the trigger?"

The quarian shuddered as he approached. "I am Lord Scourge of the Sith Empire."

Canderous blinked. "Sith Empire? There isn't a Sith Empire anymore."

"What you saw was only a proxy." said the Quarren. "A mere shadow of the true power that even now is rising in the darkness of the universe. I tell you now, my master is as a rancor when compared to the greatest of the Jedi who think themselves dominant."

"Nice speech," said Canderous, not believing a word of it. "Any reason you're trembling in fear?"

"Because my death would be meaningless to my master, and I do not want to die." said 'Lord Scourge.' "He knows well that you Mandalorians are not to be trifled with."

"In that case, he might be capable of intelligent thought," noted Canderous as he drew near. "What do you want? And how did you get past our sensors?"

"All things are possible with my master," said Lord Scourge. "As for what I want, he desires to speak with the leader of Clan Ordo."

"Does he?" asked Canderous. "Fine then." He looked to one of his men. "Jagi, go tell Aedal that there is a Lord Scourge who wants an audience."

"Canderous, do you really think this one is worth not shooting?" asked Jagi.

"I think it'll be good for a laugh if it's nonsense," said Canderous. "And anyway, you know Aedal doesn't like us making these kinds of decisions for ourselves."

Jagi nodded. "Right."

Then he moved off.

"Stand right there and wait," said Canderous, looking back to Scourge.

There they waited until eventually, Aedal came back. His black armor was especially well-polished today. The heavy repeating blaster of Clan Ordo was on his back. "Well, I'm in the middle of reading a nice book. Then I find out there is a Sith Emperor who has never before been heard of or mentioned before. I'm sure this will be disappointing, but I have a few spare minutes.

"Your master can meet with me when he's ready."

"He will speak with you on this," said Scourge, setting down a communicator.

"No, he won't, if the man is too much of a coward to meet me face to face, he isn't worth negotiating with," said Aedal. "I don't make deals with cowards."

"You misunderstand me," said Scourge. "My master is far beyond mortal comprehension. For him to appear before you in the flesh would destroy your minds.

"He must speak to you by proxy."

"Using a communicator," said Aedal in amusement. "Alright, I'm game. Hand it over."

The communicator flared to life before them, a blurry figure appeared, draped in darkess appeared. It was unclear if there was even a face beneath the hood. Or if it was a hood at all. "Greetings to you, Aedal of Clan Ordo." said a rasping, unholy sounding voice.

"And you would be the Sith Emperor that no one even heard a rumor about until five minutes ago," said Aedal in amusement. "As far as hoaxes go this is elaborate."

"Whether you believe in my power or not is irrelevant." said the figure. "I am Darth Vitiate and one day I mean to rule all creation. For now, I have a proposition for you."

"Are you begging for higher quality comlinks?" asked Aedal. "These ones' are a bit outdated." That got a laugh. Canderous even found himself cracking a smile.

"Appearances are everything," said Vitiate. "It serves my purposes for my servants to go clad in disguise as lowly smugglers. But enough, I have come to give you an opportunity to face Jedi in battle."

That… was actually a pretty good start. The Mandalorians had become the terror of the Outer Rim. But there was only so much glory that could be won fighting pirates and renegades. What they needed was a common enemy. The general consensus was that the Jedi would be the ultimate opponent.

"Face Jedi?" asked Aedal, voice more serious. "How many?"

"Many." said the Emperor. "Even as we speak they are dispatching a relief fleet to Milena Daan. It is a high profile mission, and there will be at least several Jedi present."

"Well, that does sound like a battle worth fighting," said Aedal. "Still, no sense in rushing to a battle if we don't stand anything to gain by it. What are you offering?"

"Daan desires that the shipment never arrive." said the Emperor. "They have plans to win their war by starving those they are negotiating with."

"A cowards tactic." scoffed Canderous. "I'm guessing none of them are man enough to do it themselves."

"Political concerns often master the weak." said the Emperor.

"So I've noticed," said Aedal. "What do you want, exactly?"

The Emperor laughed. "Me? I merely desire that you do this task on behalf of Daan. It is my hope that this battle will lead to many others like it. I mean to start the greatest war the galaxy has ever known. And I will need the greatest warriors.

"The conflict on Daan may create them."

There were murmurs among the men. The idea of a war, a true galactic war was the thing Mandalorian boys dreamed of. If this Emperor could give them that, it might be worth playing his game.

"Great," said Aedal flatly. "We'll pass. We don't have the weaponry to take on the Republic head-on."

"But you won't be taking them head-on." said the Emperor. "The Republic is soft and weak, rendered feeble by previous wars. Defeat them, and they will hesitate to target you again. No, you will have ample time to build up your strength, gaining resources. Meanwhile, the Republic will reorganize and grow stronger.

"Thus, the stage will be set for a war unlike any other. As for weapons, I have many contacts. I can direct you to one who is very desperate to sell his merchandise."

"So the Emperor is a spymaster now." laughed Aedal. "Alright, color me impressed. Fine, direct me to Daan and get me the weapons. We might just start a war for you."

"Will Mandalore approve of this, Aedal?" asked Jagi.

"We've been needing a common enemy for a while," said Aedal. "Besides, I'm tired of hunting pirates. This sound like it might be fun."

"You've made the right choice-" began the Emperor.

Then Aedal shot the communicator with his pistol. It exploded into a fiery plume then was extinguished. Scourge shuddered. "Head back to your Master, 'Lord Scourge.' And get off my planet."

"As you wish," said Scourge.

Then he bowed and walked off. Canderous watched him go before everyone looked to Aedal.

"Come on," said Jagi, "this guy isn't an Emperor. This has got to be a bluff."

"I think he's a Sith, at least," said Aedal. "The whole cult has been down on its luck since Exar Kun got wiped out. He's probably trying to pretend to be a lot stronger than he actually is to gather support. I used to do it.

"Ironically, it kind of worked. I probably would have shot him dead if he'd come here as a smuggler."

"So do you think there actually is some sort of all-powerful godlike being behind all this?" asked Jagi.

"Who cares?" asked Aedal. "Get the fleet and let's make arrangements to meet this contact. Then tell Mandalore what we're doing and ask for permission."

"Shouldn't we ask permission first?" asked Jagi.

"At this point," said Aedal, "permission is a mere formality."

And he walked off. Canderous sighed. "That settles. I knew something like this was going on."

"What do you mean, Canderous?" asked Jagi.

"We've been looking for a worthy enemy to fight for years now," said Canderous. "Pirates and militias are good for sharpening your skills. But they're not worthy of any kind of legend. The Republic is the obvious choice for getting one.

"Thing is, their industrial base is much stronger than ours. If we lost one fleet, it would be a horrific blow. If they lost one, they could build another in a week. Their population is higher, and their system of government is, in theory, more stable-"

"Canderous, get to the point," said Jagi. "Statistics don't interest me."

"Statistics are useful in winning battles," said Canderous. "They're not as much fun, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pay attention to them. Anyway, the point is that on paper, any war between us and the Republic would be a suicide mission.

"The catch is that the Republic lack our will or desire for battle. Aside from some peacekeeping missions, they haven't had a real war in years. They've cut the funding to their fleets, and the Senate is anything but good at running a war.

"The best army in the world will break to pieces if the men in that army don't have the guts for a real fight."

"Get. To. The. Point." said Jagi.

"It's a test," said Canderous. "Mandalore has been looking for an opportunity to see how we match up against the best of the Republic. If we can take on the Jedi, we can take on anyone. The catch is, that if we're not ready to fight the Jedi, starting something would be bad warfare.

"So, we act as mercenaries to Daan. Aedal acts without any official orders from Mandalore. We have a showdown with the Jedi. If Clan Ordo really screws thing up and all get killed, Mandalore can just say they acted contrary to his wishes. The Jedi will eat that up, and he can adjust his strategy.

"It is as Mandalore said. Politics is merely war conducted by other means."

"Meaning?" asked Jagi, obviously taking the point but feigning ignorance.

Canderous looked up. "Clan Ordo is going to draw first blood in the war that will end the Republic and the Jedi."

Jagi smiled. "Now you're talking like a Mandalorian. I'll make the call."

Business as usual.