It was quite an impressive sight to see processions of Imperial officers disembarking from their private transports. Accompanying each group was a Sith sorcerer, escorted by their two apprentices. They in turn were guarding the brigadiers who commanded each of the thirteen other destroyers under General Morgak himself.

Seeing it for herself didn't change the fact that knowing their forces were in such a terrible state was truly infuriating.

"Master, should we not be down there with Darth Rak'Sakar?"

Masaka twisted her head with a violent snap, grinning wickedly to her new apprentice. "The lizard never invited me. So, we will show up at the meeting at a time of my choosing." She slid back down the awning to where Varga was waiting. "It's all boring greetings from uptight officers who have a vastly inflated idea of their importance. Your power with the Force, limited as it is, makes you superior to all of them."

She slid back down the massive awning they were hiding on right into his waiting arms. An unnecessary precaution of course, but it certainly ensured that his lust remained sufficiently strong. And he was already showing improvements in skill since their first lesson.

"What now then?"

"We wait for them to assemble in the conference hall, then let ourselves in along with the other sorcerers. Rak'Sakar will have a hard time kicking us out in front of all those generals curious about Lasidia's little pet." Quick to her feet, she took hold of Varga's wrist to drag him along behind her, giggling in the most childish way.

Her brisk walk through the vessel eventually brought them to a common room near the conference hall. A glare was all she needed to empty it of the few enlisted officers who were off-duty at that hour.

With the room to herself, she approached the nearest table. With barely a breath, she flipped her body up to walk across the table balanced on her palms. "Still don't feel like giving this a go? It's really quite relaxing." She lifted a hand up to scratch her nose, maintaining perfect balance on the other. "But then, I need the extra blood in my head."

By then, Varga had seen her maintain the posture enough times that it was no longer surprising whenever she went into it.

What he hadn't seen was just how extensive her flexibility had become. By that point, her feet were nearly level with her neck in front of and behind her body. He couldn't help noticing the grin that appeared on her face as they made eye contact again.

"This get you interested again?" She lifted her legs halfway back up and twirled around on the spot before flipping back over onto her feet at last. The grin grew wider as she slid herself onto Varga's lap, staring right into his rich blue eyes. "Just think for a moment. Think of all the things you could do with that kind of freedom."

Varga was thinking about it for a long while as she bounced around on his knees. There was a fine line between the desire to take her, and fear over the fact that she could tear his face off at any moment if she decided to on a whim.

A general announcement went out throughout the ship before anything further occurred. The conference was just about to start.

"Chin up apprentice. And look smart, we have some very important people to put on edge."


To the great satisfaction of Morgak, there were virtually no incidents as each of the brigadiers took their seats at the table arch to his right, while the sorcerers took their seats to Rak'Sakar's left. The central seat reserved for Lasidia was of course empty, as both of the people allowed to sit there were absent.

More importantly, there was no sign of the Twi'lek.

"I am glad civility endures in the Empire." The smile of confidence remained as Morgak turned to his left. "With your permission, Lord Rak'Sakar, we can begin the meeting."

A nod came from the Sith.

"Very good. Now, first and foremost-"

"Is a long winded speech about how he is going behind the back of his woman."

Morgak's smile changed into a scowl while turning to the doorway. Masaka was striding in with no shortage of arrogance to be found. The apprentice followed behind in a far more neutral manner. Just over his shoulder, he could hear deep hissing.

Hysterical laughter echoed around from Masaka herself. So much hate from the two of them alone for her to revel in. The officers feared her, and as expected, the other Sith had questions abundant. She was ready to take a seat in the gap between the two ends of the table.

"Get out Masaka. You do not belong here."

Her grin remained as she glared back at Morgak. To spite him even more, she kicked her feet up onto the officer's side of the table. "Wrong answer General. As the only actual Sith Lord in the galaxy at this moment, this is exactly where I belong."

A few murmurs began to circle between the sorcerers, quickly silenced when Rak'Sakar slammed his fist down.

"Darth Lasidia is not here to protect you, little girl. You have already overstepped your bounds significantly."

Masaka made an obscene gesture at him before looking to Silent on his left. Unlike the other sorcerers, he was giving her a very discouraging stare. He was probably the only person in the room who actually thought of her as something other than a freak in some way, aside from Varga of course.

She toned back her arrogance just a bit, but remained comfortably in her seat. "You've had me here for two months. I'm sure our guests want some long overdue answers about the little Twi'lek girl with three Sith Lords in her head." A thrilling chill went through her body upon hearing the growl from the lizard. Such raw hatred that nearly came close to what she felt for Maarani.

One of the sorcerers finally spoke up, a heavily tattooed human man. "We do have questions yes, but they are not the reason we were summoned. I think we can all agree that this Twi'lek is a matter for Sith alone."

Uncomfortable mutterings went around the officers.

Again they were silenced by Rak'Sakar, still growling at Masaka's blatant defiance. "Enough. Masaka, if you speak out of turn again, we will put you back in the nullification chamber. Understood?"

"Perfectly. My ears haven't been cut off yet."

Morgak's lips remained in a tight line. However much he wanted to object to her presence, he didn't have the actual authority to throw her out. "As I was about to say, the primary reason for this meeting is quite simple. Darth Lasidia and Kiarna have both taken absence to pursue other concerns. Darth Rak'Sakar and I have agreed that in their absence, we must resume our assault on Republic forces. A new method for achieving that is what we must discuss."

He gestured to the centre of the room, activating a holographic display of their quadrant of the galaxy, and the current battle lines. "We have lost all three of our dreadnoughts in these border assaults since the war began. Nothing has come close to those catastrophic losses in regards to hampering our efforts." With another gesture, several worlds behind their lines were highlighted in red, a few on the other side in green.

"The attack on Lantillies was not nearly as crippling as our calculations predicted to the Republic navy. They still outnumber us in weight-to-weight by three to one, and we can all be certain that their dreadnought will be ready to deploy well before we can launch any attack on Foerost." The map moved back out towards the red marked planets, zooming down on one of them to provide a detailed view of it.

"Lianna. By no means a significant planet to the Republic, but for our purposes, it could prove to be invaluable."

This time, the murmuring was present on both sides of the room. It was on the sprawling edge of their front line after all.

One of the few female brigadiers was first to speak up. "General, I assume you have a plan that will allow us to hold Lianna with the limited forces we have already. Taking that world puts us dangerously close to Mon Calamari, something Darth Lasidia herself declared to be too high a risk."

At that, Morgak's smile finally returned. "Oh, I would not worry about the fish-faces. With any luck, we will not be firing a single shot to take Lianna and her shipyards. Not counting the inevitable executions of course." He returned the projection to a view of the galaxy, marking out a line across the various hyperspace lanes that connected Lianna to the galaxy. "Very soon now, they are going to undergo a military coup, and as worthy soldiers of the Imperial army, we will step in to maintain order before civilian casualties skyrocket. The Senate will be tripping over themselves so much that we will have more than enough time to fortify the planet and surrounding space."

He waved the line away then leaned forward, resting both hands on the table before him. "This is just the first step in our new offensive. I want target locations, suggestions for points of attack, potential ambush lines, anything you fine officers have to offer me. Once we hold and secure at least five worlds, we will have enough forces to fully reinstate the Imperial Navy and Starfighters. I am sure you are all tired of wearing Army uniforms by now."

"Tired is one way of putting it, General." The woman from earlier stood up as well, looking to the other officers before continuing. "Waiting around for a Jedi strike team to 'liberate' a prisoner nearly handed to them on a platter is not what any of us were trained for. And launching attacks on tribal worlds and running at the first sign of a Hammerhead cruiser doesn't build experience. Such a drastic shift in strategy could very well backfire."

Silent finally spoke up at that point. "That is why your troops will have far greater support from the Sith in these operations. Training acolytes to operate as battle mages in ground and space engagements is progressing well."

"Word has spread of your failure to produce good acolytes, Silent. Do not lie to us."

He glanced to his far left at the Echani who had spoken up. Jarrik, rather unsurprisingly one of his competitors for the place at Lasidia's side he occupied. "Like Darth Lasidia, I believe squandering potential with needless executions and culling is a terrible method of training. There are bound to be poor batches of slaves for training."

Jarrik openly scoffed at the excuse, to the amusement of some of his fellow sorcerers. "This open species policy of hers has spread far beyond the realm of removing simple racism. Sith are high and mighty, we do not accept any and all into our ranks."

"I was a cowering wreck when I was brought before her, Jarrik." Rak'Sakar's decision to speak in defence of Silent was surprising to almost all of the other room occupants. Save for the one directly opposite him. "I do not disagree that there are problems with some of the newest initiates. But Silent is right in that the executions are needless. Sending them out as the first wave in battle is a far more productive way of disposing with them."

Morgak gestured to the galaxy map again, this time highlighting a specific sector of planets. "On that note, I would suggest prioritizing some droid manufacturing facilities. Tracking down the production lines for the HK-50 and HK-51 droids that are rightfully ours to begin with would be invaluable to war efforts. Intelligence believes they are originating from this sector."

The map once again returned to the galactic view while he sat down. As expected, there was further discussion between the others that went on for a while longer. All he noticed was the surprisingly patient look from Masaka.

Once the discussions had settled, Rak'Sakar took his turn to stand and speak. "In the meantime, I want every bit of information there is to be uncovered about this 'Following'. The main group and their apparent dissidents. I do not want another group of my best initiates to be wiped out by an enemy we know nothing about."

This time, one of the Sith women spoke up, her black veil shimmering as she turned her head to him. "My scryers and I have had little success in that regard. Something is shielding them from outside view through the Force. It was not dark or light in power. Just… ancient."

Since all of the attention was on the Miraluka seer, no-one noticed the shiver that went through Masaka's body upon hearing her words.

"Then we will find answers through direct means. When they strike next, I want every single one of our agents and Sith ready to capture them by any means. I would like to see this ancient shield of theirs defend them from our might."

At that, Masaka began clapping slowly to ensure she got full attention. When they all finally turned to her, she got up out of her chair and waved the map out of her face. "This is the Sith Empire I've wanted to see since becoming house-guest to our ancestral leaders. Total arrogance, blind stupidity, and stumbling about the galaxy chasing after literal ghosts."

"I warned you Masaka…"

"And I listened patiently throughout." She began walking around the inside of the table, dragging her finger along the edge. An icy trail was left behind by the tip. "I thought you were smarter than this. Lasidia and Kiarna think my sister is some sort of threat, and now you're viewing a cult supposedly following her as one too?"

Jarrik and many of the other sorcerers sat up at that moment, looking to Rak'Sakar. None of them had been told that there was an actual connection between all of the recent developments.

Masaka pushed the advantage right in. "Oh, so none of you thought to tell the others? I don't blame you. Admitting that the greatest threat to the Empire is a pathetic woman with no power over the Force whatsoever would clearly have been too embarrassing. I suppose the only order from Lasidia you intend to follow is to stay away from her. Everything else you are free to defy at will!"

In a moment so fast even she couldn't comprehend it, Rak'Sakar's clawed hand wrapped around her throat. The highly sharpened tips were digging right into the flesh of her neck.

Even then, she wasn't ready to relent. "Go ahead. Destroy the only mind in the galaxy who can operate Rakatan technology safely. Do it you stupid scaleface."

A low chuckle came from Jarrik, who took his turn with the slow applause. "Brave for a Twi'lek rat. Brave." When she was finally dropped to the ground, blood seeping from her neck, he leaned over the table to look down at her. "I would like to know more about this 'little girl'. When she has cleaned her neck up. Maybe she can dance for us too!"

The Miraluka took hold of his arm, pulling him back into his seat. "Watch your tongue, Jarrik. Even in her crippled state, she outmatches every one of us."

She and a few others sat back a bit when Masaka's bloodied hand gripped onto the table. Her efforts to close the punctures in her neck had not been all that effective.

"She's right, y'know. Just be glad the lizard is here to protect you all from me." Her hands were shaking as she forced herself to stand upright. A quick nod to Varga for help brought him right over. With him to lean on, it was a lot easier to make her departure from the room, leaving more blood smeared across the floor as she left.

There was a thick silence after she left. Rak'Sakar was still standing throughout, fixated on the blood glistening over his claws. Eventually, the appeal of the fresh scent wore off, and he sat back down in his seat. "Masaka needs to be reminded of her place. You will all have the chance to ask your questions soon."

His attention went to the Miraluka at that. "Your perception is stronger than that of any other. We will need you to ensure that she does not deceive us."

The black painted lips below the veil formed a slight smile. "Everything she just said is what she believes to be the truth, I can say with certainty." Her smile faded away again upon noting yet another growl from Rak'Sakar. Now was not the time to take pride in successfully exposing a weakness.

"Then it remains to be seen who is right. Lasidia and Kiarna, or this little Twi'lek. Shame that we only have one side to answer for themselves." Jarrik shoved himself away from the table to leave his chair. A brief glare was directed at Silent as he too made his departure. At the doorway, he paused for one final word. "If you have kept more secrets from us, we will find out. Remember that the two of you would never have gotten this far without our support."

One by one, the other sorcerers left the room after him, until Silent and the Miraluka remained. Rak'Sakar merely looked to each in silence.

"The others will never be convinced of the threat that looms over us all without real evidence. They cannot fully appreciate the danger that something closed off to the Force presents." She left immediately after that without a further word.

Every one of the Imperial officers had been quite silent throughout the whole exchange. Even Morgak was hesitant to break the cold mood by clearing his throat.

"I think that went about as well as we could have expected. By your leave, the officers and myself have further strategies to discuss."

All he received in response was a disparaging wave. Rak'Sakar's mood was even worse than he had guessed. It served as good encouragement to collect the datapads laid out in front of him. The other officers were equally eager to leave, all following him out in a close line.

Silent was left as the only human in the room. Unlike just about everyone else who had left before him, he was in no rush to leave. Circumstances were already stacking down against him without adding any further remark to it.

Rak'Sakar eventually left in silence as well, leaving behind a distinct cold zone in his wake. The hatred that fuelled his influence over the Force had never reached such heights until that meeting.