Hello everyone, here we are with chapter thirteen. Now, I got this comment here on FFN, someone asking me to divide up the paragraphs. I understand why someone would want that, however, the long paragraphs are a stylistic choice. I apologize if it can be hard to read, but maybe you can increase the text size or the spacing if that helps - I believe the text size and space are both bigger on AO3 than on FFN to begin with, if that helps - I hope you don't think of this as me rejecting constructive criticism. I accept that my writing doesn't appeal to everyone, I know, but it's also how I want to write.
Anyway, enjoy!
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act II.
The Heart of Darkness.
Chapter XIII.
Shadows of The Rule of Two.
I was walking through Castle Attam, dressed in a set of purple and black robes, purple eyes and red face sticking out from under the hood of my robe with the double-bladed lightsaber on my hip, looking more and more like a Sith by the day. I suppose it was inevitable, now that I knew I wasn't a Zeltron after all, I was a Sith half-blood, a mixture of a human and a Sith Pureblood - my father, whoever he was, was a creature similar to the terrifying Grand Duches - and, on top of everything, Voytana left me with the implication that the Jedi killed my father. I don't know why that news hurt me, I never knew my father or anyone else, I wasn't supposed to after all, the Jedi were raised to forget their parents and move beyond their attachments, I shouldn't have been affected by this news, I especially shouldn't have been mourning a Sith Lord. I said that, but I knew that wasn't true, I knew that I would mourn Phanza if anything happened to her, especially on top of the monumental loss that I've already experienced with Order 66. This left me in a concerned state, I look like a Sith, I am, by definition, at least half of a Sith, and now I'm even reading Sith philosophy, at what point do I stop being a Jedi? In this stressed out state of mind, I found Phanza rushing through the castle, clearly stressed out herself, something must have happened. I jogged up to Phanza, falling into step with her.
"What's going on?" I asked as Lady Attam and I headed towards Phanza's taxi, evidently whatever happened, we were heading out of the castle. I was trying to figure out what happened, it couldn't be an Imperial invasion, after all, the mobilization would be clear as day, with fighters, starships, and dreadnoughts taking off and heading to the outer systems, so, considering this just seemed to be Phanza, it wasn't anything quite that pressing. That didn't necessarily calm me down anymore, because Phanza was one of the highest ranking Sith in this whole Grand Duchy, there was a very realistic chance that she knew about an impending disaster long before it happened, especially considering her extensive spy network in the rest of the galaxy. Taaszon, in general, was hidden from the rest of galaxy while they are exposed to them, but Phanza was at a level even above that, she has spies within the Republic and within the separatists, likely explaining the aesthetic and technological between the Republic and Taaszon.
"I've lost contact with several of my spies on Coruscant, I suspect that they have been compromised. I've ordered the others on Coruscant to disperse, flee into the lower levels, and get off planet as soon as possible. The Empire has something capable of detecting our spies and dispatching them, I need to find out, but first, I need to report this to Grand Duchess Voytana." Phanza explained, revealing that her spies have been exposed and are very likely being hunted down, killed, or arrested. This is evidently something new, as these spies weren't found so easily in the days of the Republic - in retrospect, Phanza is hardly the worst person to be spying on the Republic, but it's shocking how easily the Sith were able to infiltrate Coruscant itself - though...I suppose I can't really call this shocking considering that Palpatine himself infiltrated Coruscant and took extreme power in front of the Jedi and the Republic. Now, that Palpatine was in complete control, he had a way of exposing and eliminating these spies with rapid and brutal efficiency...considering Taaszon's smaller population and isolated systems, the loss of these spies would destroy one of the few advantages and equalizing factors that Taaszon had.
Thus, with that established, Phanza and I took the taxi speeder from Castle Attam up to the citadel, where I would have to encounter the sickeningly crushing power of Grand Duchess Voytana again. I was not necessarily looking forward to that experience, nor was I looking forward to the prospect that these spy disappearances implied that conflict between the Empire and Taaszon was growing dangerously close, but I knew that this was a major event and I wanted to know everything that was going on. I also wanted to be in a position to prevent conflict, if that was in anyway possible. Now, that obviously did not mean that Palpatine could remain in control of the galaxy, but I knew that Taaszon couldn't possibly beat the Empire in a fair fight - Palpatine took over the Republic through subterfuge, scheming, and deception, now, the only way to force him out of power was to use the very same tactics - therefore, that is what I wanted to avoid. Of course, considering that the Empire represents the combined military might of the Republic and the separatists, as well as whatever other tricks Palpatine has hidden up his leaves, and that the Empire knows about Taaszon's outlying systems, avoiding a traditional conflict would be difficult to say the being said, I wouldn't necessarily put it past the Sith of Taaszon to abandon those worlds and then make an Imperial invasion a logistical nightmare via a deadly mixture of guerrilla and scorched earth tactics, but I didn't want it to come to that. Especially not after the Clone Wars already saw such conflicts occur on Ryloth and Onderon.
Phanza and I entered the throne room of Grand Duchess Voytana, already feeling the creeping, oppressive power of the Duchess wash over me. There wasn't even a malicious intent in her power yet, but the feeling already made me want to curl up and die...she had to be stronger than Palpatine, there is no way that the Chancellor turned Empire would have been able to hide all this raw power from the Jedi. This revelation didn't exactly help us though, even if Grand Duchess Voytana could defeat Palpatine, as I suspected, we would have an army of clones and planetary defenses between us and Coruscant. Yes, General Grievous was able to infiltrate this system and kidnap Palpatine, but, knowing that the Chancellor was in charge of the separatists as well, this incident was clearly staged, so I don't think that the Grand Duchy has the military power to actually reach Palpatine. There is also the ugly reality of what happens when Palpatine dies - there are still millions of clones throughout the galaxy, officers who would want to fill Palpatine's power vacuum rather than rebuild the Republic, and the fact that then, I would have to convince Voytana to surrender the galaxy when she just eliminated the main obstacle to Taaszon conquering it. This was all a very ugly theoretical and, Phanza, evidently feeling these thoughts bleeding over through our mysterious link in the Force, reached for my hand, giving it a squeeze as we faced the Grand Duchess. It was a small gesture, but one that meant very specific things in certain cultures, nevertheless, I found it comforting. I suppose Phanza may have as well, I'd imagine that, even for her, it's not easy to report a failure to Voytana, especially considering the implications of such a failure.
"My master, we have a problem." Phanza said as she bowed, I followed her lead "I have lost contact with a number of my spies on Coruscant, I suspect they have been compromised. I have told the others to begin extraction procedures, but I am concerned, these incidents happened with brutal speed and efficiency, we're never lost these many spies before, certainly not this quickly. I don't know how the Empire is doing this, and, as a side effect of that, I don't know how much information they'll be able to extract from these spies."
"Did any of them have wayfinders?" Voytana asked, suddenly very concerned at the possibility that the Empire may have gotten their hands on a device that will allow them to travel straight to Taaszon. This situation was already bad enough, but so long as the Empire couldn't actually attack the Grand Duchy's homeworld, we would be relatively safe. Yes, the Empire could attack the outlying systems, but what then? The Empire would need to send out probes and expeditions to discover Taaszon and its other systems before making an attack, that gives us time and a certain amount of safety.
"No, there are a number of intermediaries between my spies and Taaszon, the closest they could theoretically get to is the Star Cluster, but even that is unlikely - I don't hire talkative spies." Phanza explained, giving an answer that soothed and calmed down her master. I didn't fully understand what Phanza said, but I was relieved too, not only was Taaszon itself safe, but the Grand Duchy is not necessarily implicated. Palpatine could very well deduce this or speculate it, not to mention the fact that he will very likely aim to strike Taaszon sooner rather than later, but this spy ring bust may actually lead the Empire on a wild goose chase that could divert time and resources from any potential invasion of Taaszon.
"Good, but that still raises the question of - " Voytana stopped in the middle of her sentence, the Sith Pureblood woman who appeared so young and small in her giant throne - deceptive considering her inhuman power - paused as she realized something, as if she was so strong in the Force she sensed something that was utterly incomprehensible to Phanza or I, Voytana used the Force to pull up a hidden screen, explaining as it showed footage of the disfigured Palpatine speaking before the Senate, a massive, black armored hulking brute standing next to him, the terrifying, mechanical breathing of this creature's mask could be heard over Palpatine's speech, sending a chilling effect even here, far away from Coruscant and through a video monitor of the event "Palpatine is making an announcement before the Senate right now, I suspect that this involves our present situation."
"...scarred and deformed. The betrayal of the Jedi was not limited to merely the Republic, the struck out against their own, destroying all who would oppose this grand deception. The clones and I tried to bring order and save as many of these true Jedi as would, but we failed, only managing to save one, and only then after extensive burns and injuries. This is Lord Vader, the last of the true Jedi and the new guardian of order and peace in this galaxy. Lord Vader, already after recovering from his injuries, has unearthed a conspiracy to spy on and destabilize our new Galactic order! Lord Vader, assisted by an order of Inquisitors, will work to track down and disarm any potential threats to the peace and prosperity of the galaxy..."
"He has a new apprentice." Phanza deduced, seeing through Palpatine's various twists, spins, and lies about Order 66. This apprentice was clearly a former Jedi, based on Palpatine's story, but who could have possibly survived Order 66? Moreover, who could've possibly been corrupted by Palpatine into working for him despite all that he has done? Perhaps this suit was forced on a dying Jedi, now, forced to live in agony, struggle to breath, and constantly being at Palpatine's mercy, that Jedi has been left with no choice but to serve Palpatine. Perhaps, none of that is true, perhaps this individual was a Sith long before Order 66 and Palpatine is just making up a story for the public to accept this blatantly evil, hulking monstrosity and whatever these Inquisitors were. I could only imagine that, first and foremost, the purpose of Lord Vader and these Inquisitors was to hunt down any Jedi who survived Order 66, then, their second purpose will be to annihilate Taaszon, destroying these Sith before we can even become a thorn in Palpatine's side.
"I don't know who this could be...I can't imagine who would betray the Jedi, nor can I think of anyone surviving Order 66 for long enough to be corrupted by Emperor Palpatine." I answered the unspoken question that both Voytana and Phanza had, revealing that I truly didn't know who this Lord Vader could be, nor did I know anything about these Inquisitors. Were the Inquisitors Force-users as well? If so, were they former Jedi or were the evolutions of the Jedi Killers like Asajj Ventress that Count Dooku employed during the Clone Wars? If they were not Force-users, how were they equipped to support Vader against any potential Jedi or Sith threats? Was I even right about their purpose? I didn't like this, we were completely unaware of this new threat, this new tool that Palpatine would be deploying against us, already having hunted down our spies.
"We need to find out who this and what we're up against." Grand Duchess Voytana summarized, spelling out the challenge in front of us. The whole purpose of these spies was so that Taaszon could remain one step ahead of the Republic turned Empire, but now, with our spies on Coruscant gone, we were blind, and, worse than that, we weren't even fully sure of why we were blind. We know that Darth Vader is responsible, but we don't know the why, the who, or the what of this situation, that adds yet another disadvantage to a growing list of Taaszon's weaknesses against the Empire. I knew more about war than any sixteen year old should, and I know that Taaszon has no chance in a war against the Empire, especially if the Empire now had a fully fledged Sith apprentice openly hunting down our spies and our agents, doing what Palpatine could not do. Right now, Emperor Palpatine still had to appear as the former Chancellor who was betrayed by the Republic, not until his tyranny was absolute could he reveal he was a Sith, and even then, I don't think he will. There is no reason for Emperor Palpatine to reveal that he is the Dark Lord of the Sith, his current status in the galaxy could only be threatened by that information. That could have been somewhat of an advantage for us, but no, now there is Vader, this towering cyborg who has no such limitations or appearances to keep.
"Our spies are out of the equation and Zaliza doesn't know, I fear our only remaining option is to consult the underworld." Phanza sighed, her tone dripping with just how unsavory of an option that was, but it seemed the only option. I was sure that Phanza had more supplies in the Empire, not just on Coruscant, but, considering that her spies on the capital were just purged and a Force user, if not a group of Force users, were hunting them, perhaps it wasn't a good idea to contact them now, as trying to answer this question could potentially lead to the rest of Phanza's spy network being liquidated. I didn't know which Jedi Vader could be, if he ever was a Jedi to begin with - that left the underworld. The crime syndicates, slicers, and information brokers of the galaxy prided themselves on knowing anything and everything they could, especially if they weren't supposed to know it. These were criminals of the highest order and their information often came with a high price, but, even I had to admit, I didn't see any alternative right now.
The Republic had a mandate to fight the underworld, to stop these slavers, and to spread democracy wherever possible, but the Republic sacrificed these morals and overlooked the crimes of the Hutts, in a process which began long before the Clone Wars. The Republic, even before Palpatine, was ineffectual during the Trade Federation's invasion and occupation of Naboo, a blatantly illegal act that was allowed to happen thanks to corruption, bureaucracy, and, admittedly, Palpatine's influence, even as a Senator, played a role, but the point remains, the Republic was supposed to oppose the Hutts, not ally with them. I didn't want to work with the Hutts to begin with, but at very least the Grand Duchy of Taaszon had no obligation or purpose to fight the Hutts or any other crime syndicate. I know that seems like a small distinction, but it is a matter of principles and purpose - for better or worse, the Grand Duchy of Taaszon does exactly what they set out to do - survive, remain hidden, and spy on the galaxy while attempting to gain strength and numbers. At the end, neither the Republic, nor the Jedi, were doing what they were supposed to, and perhaps that is why we're so vulnerable to Palpatine.
"Very well, go to Nar Shaddaa and meet with our contacts. I don't need to tell you to be wise and be discrete." Grand Duchess Voytana ordered before Phanza and I bowed once again, Lady Attam pulling me out of the room by our still conjoined hand. I only released Phanza's hand once we were out of the throne room, I didn't know what it meant that I was comforted by a Sith, though considering that I wanted to be comforted in the presence of a Dark Lord of the Sith, I suppose I could be in a worse scenario. It didn't really help that anyone else that could comfort me in such a situation was dead, thanks to Palpatine no less, a man who, while powerhungry and deceptive, I assumed was basically harmless. A threat to democracy? Sure, corrupt? Quite possibly, but an existential threat to the Jedi? Not even the most cynical of us could have predicted that. Of course, that alone was enough for Phanza to pressure me to kill Palpatine, and, perhaps in retrospect, that would've been the right thing to do, but neither of us knew that back then. Even when Phanza told me about the clones being Palpatine's favorite executioners, which I initially assumed were the Jedi, we couldn't predict the scale of Order 66. Perhaps the Temple bombing should have served as a warning, when Ahsoka Tano was being hunted down and tracked for a crime she didn't actually commit...the Jedi didn't seem to learn much of anything from that grand embarrassment.
"Come on, we need to get you a disguise. A Jedi isn't going to meet with the criminals and syndicates of the galaxy." Phanza explained, spelling out the fact that we would never be safe in the galaxy at large again, we would always be hunted by the Empire and by anyone willing to collaborate with them. Even on a brief, illegal, and hidden trip like this, I couldn't show up as Zaliza Vyvan, the last of the Jedi Padawans, I needed to be disguised, I needed to lie, deceive, and hide just to stay alive if I ever left Taaszon. I didn't mind Lady Attam and I had to admit that Castle Attam was a beautiful place to live, but even then, I couldn't imagine myself living in Taaszon for the rest of my life, but what other alternative was there? I had to be disguised, even on a lawless world like Nar Shaddaa, where even scum like Exiim Abarghe and Dalenda the Hutt were able to live out openly, I had to hide the fact that I was a Jedi. Phanza would have to be disguised as well, considering she too was a rival Force user, but I suspected she already had a plan to disguise herself when meeting with the underworld - similar to how Phanza's spies often don't actually know about Taaszon - I suppose we're all entering an age of obfuscations and lies.
In the end, it was a brown leather jacket over a white top, I wore white leggings tucked into black boots, with a pair of twin holsters on my thighs. My hair was tied back into a bun and I wore contacts to make my eyes appear pink, rather than purple, all of this was in an attempt to make me look like a Zeltron bodyguard Phanza had taken on, rather than as a former Jedi. Lady Attam was very thorough with this ruse, not only did we buy a pair of blasters to fill my holsters, but we had them illegally modified in a fashion that was typical of high end criminals. I didn't look nor feel quite like my usual self, but, as we traveled to Phanza's hanger, the Sith Lord insisted that was the point, stressing that she would be changing into her own disguise as well. Curiously enough, we continued past the hangar holding the Ultimate, heading to yet another hangar that I haven't seen yet. Phanza and I rounded the corner and entered the new hangar, revealing a luxurious, asymmetrical chrome pleasure craft. The craft started out simple enough, with a long, split nose design with two long, flowing, almost blade like protrusions framing the cockpit, however, past the cockpit, the asymmetry began. On the right side - relative to the cockpit - the blade design swept back into a traditional wing, however, on the left side, another, smaller split blade design, mimicking the main structure of the ship, was arranged vertically, one side below the main structure of the ship, the other side above it. A somewhat short stabilizer fin aligned with the cockpit completed the design, the rear of the ship simply made up of two wide, trapezoidal opening, the actual thrusters hidden inside of them.
I hadn't thought of this, but it makes sense, Palpatine no doubt knows the design of Phanza's personal ship, in fact, he probably even knows the Ultimate by name, of course we would need a different ship for this. I just didn't take Phanza's extreme preparation into account, yet here we are, the woman not only has disguises, but she has a starship to go along with the disguises. For all we know, Phanza has been to Coruscant countless times before deliberately revealing herself to receive an audience. I wonder how many times this ship has been caught on the Republic radar and allowed through, the officers responsible having no idea what they were truly dealing with. Of course, I was happy that Phanza was still alive, as weird as that is to say about a Sith, but, at the same time, between her activities and the tragic coup that Palpatine managed, I can't help but think of how useless the Republic and the Jedi were revealed to be. We have all these laws, oaths, and creeds saying we must fight the Sith and stop them from conquering the galaxy but, as two high profile Sith have revealed recently, we're not very good at it after all. Though I suppose we shouldn't be, after all, we were supposed to be keepers of justice, arbiters of peace, and defenders of the defenseless, but...it was also so difficult. It was almost a paradoxical set of failures that led to the massacre of the Jedi - we were too warlike and lost sight of our values, however, we did not go far enough in fighting the Sith, at the same time however, an outright purge on the Sith would also defy our original values - and I couldn't pretend to have all the right answers this time.
"This is the Chancellery, the personal starship of Zapnha Tamat, Nautolan stateswoman, galactic information broker, owner the Star Cluster casino on Nar Shaddaa, and Grandmistress of the New Order of Revan." Phanza explained, showing off the ship. I rolled my eyes when realizing her cover identity was an anagram for her actual name - I was expecting something a bit more clever and thought out, to be honest - however, considering we live in a galaxy of trillions of people, and the fact that, as I later found out, Zapnha and Tamat are actual, fairly common names in the Outer Rim, I suppose that it was possible for two individuals to have names which are anagrams for each others. That being said, I hope that Phanza had a good disguise and a way of covering up those tattoos, because, while an anagram alone may not be incriminating, an anagram, matching distinctive tattoos, and a companion the same species as Jedi who wasn't verified dead...that would not slip past Palpatine's radar quite as easily. In any case, I now had my answer of what the Star Cluster was, a casino that was, covertly, owned by the Sith of Taaszon and used as a front for many of their activities in the wider galaxy. As for what the New Order of Revan was, that raised some questions - especially considering that the Jedi still have records of the Sith Empire and Republic having to make a brief truce to battle the original Order of Revan.
"You're the Grandmistress of a cult that doesn't even worship you?" I quipped, fishing for an answer but not trying to make it seem like I was interrogating the Nautolan. Any humor that my remark could have had was drained out like a vacuum upon the realization that I really didn't want to offend or hurt Phanza, the Sith was the last person I had left, the last reminder of life before Order 66. Without her, everyone that I knew from the Republic was either dead or had betrayed its ideals and defected to Palpatine's vile and evil Empire. The death that hurt most was, of course, the loss of my master. I saw Palpatine send the message to Commander Warlock, that meant that Master Avdune and I had more warning of Order 66 than any Jedi in the galaxy, we survived their ambush, we even survived a sniper bolt before fleeing into Count Dooku's former sanctum, we were so close to escaping it, so close to a miraculous survival, but then she had to sacrifice herself so that I could escape. Ullara never gave me the chance to try and see if we could escape together, by the skin of our teeth, escaping to Taaszon, but no, she's dead, now, here I am, alive, with no one else but a Sith, granted, an exceptionally peculiar one, but a Sith nonetheless.
"Well in retrospect, perhaps Zapnha should have founded the Cult of Phanza Attam, having a cult would be so much fun - I could order them around and use them for cannon fodder." Phanza replied, her own wit having a noticeably darker twist to it, likely a result of her Sith background, despite her otherwise nice, if occasionally biting and brutally critical, personality. The Nautolan, sensing both that her joke didn't quite go over well and that my thoughts had gone down a dark path, decided to distract me with an answer while we boarded the Chancellery "The New Order of Revan was founded when my predecessors, agents of Taaszon operating under pseudonyms in the larger galaxy, wanted to create a partner organization loyal to our cause without openly being affiliated with the Sith. Thus, Revan, who had been a Sith, though, more significantly, a Jedi before and after that, was the obvious figure to frame this organization around. The organization still operates in the shadows, obviously, however, having members exposed was not automatically a death sentence under the Republic, though now...perhaps things are different. In any case, my role with the Order of Revan is one of my ways of coordinating spies, contacting the criminal underworld, and opening doors in places you may never expect. Essentially, it's a means to an end, though don't let the Neo-Revanites know that, to them, it's practically a religion."
"Wow...that is incredibly pragmatic and cynical." I admitted as Phanza showed me to my room - the ship had the captain's master bedroom, plus a somewhat smaller, though still ostentatious, second bedroom. This all fit with the image, after all, it wouldn't make sense for a pleasure craft to have a military style crew quarters, however, I was sure that the Chancellery had a star cruiser's worth of hidden weaponry, though even that was not necessarily out of line for such pleasure craft. I mean, just a few years ago, Senator Amidala's body double was killed in a bombing attack on her ship as it landed on Coruscant. Speaking of, I hope that the Senator is okay, the woman was always a friend of the Jedi and a champion of democracy in the Senate, now, both of those things would likely make her an enemy of Palpatine, if the Sith Lord hadn't already killed her, that is. I tried to shake these thoughts away, if I was ever going to fall asleep on the journey to Nar Shaddaa, I had to get my mind off of such tragedies. I needed to be well rested, especially if our questioning of the underworld is going to involve the likes of the Hutts. I didn't even know if I had the patience to face one of those awful slavers, now that Thonna Ai'sunn was doubtlessly killed.
My admittedly light sleep came to a shift end as the Chancellery lightly lurched out of hyperspace, over Nar Shaddaa, Nal Hutta floating below its urbanized moon. Nal Hutta, with its factories, refineries, pollution, and swamps, is the true face of the Hutts, but the gaudy, seedy, and towering cityscape of Nar Shaddaa is what they want to present to the rest of the galaxy. I wasn't exactly looking forward to this, however, I knew that we needed to depend on unconventional sources of information to stay ahead of the Empire - first it was Phanza's spies, but, considering that isn't an option right now, we need to consult the underworld, seeing what they know - if this worked, it would be rather concerning, considering that criminals and lowlifes had a great deal of information on the Empire, which means that they had just as much knowledge, if not more so, on the Republic.
I stepped out of my room to see Phanza, dressed in an elegant black dress with a red sash, applying red makeup over her tattoos, masking her face and the head tails, a black, silver, and red tiara sitting on the table in front of her, ready to go on once her tattoos were covered. This, I had to admit, was a much better way of hiding her identity than calling herself Zapnha Tamat, so that filled me with a little more confidence of us remaining hidden. I was sure that Phanza was intelligent enough to manage a better name, but perhaps it was easier to play it simple, more memorable, and it left the potential for Phanza to switch to a more advanced identity should this one ever get compromised.
"I hate doing this, you know." Phanza began, talking about covering up her tattoos "Darth Imperius, an ancient Sith, was a red-skinned Twi'Lek, a former slave who became a Sith, and on her face and Lekku she wore these exact types of black tattoos, they became somewhat of a symbol of her. Imperius was also the beginning of a line of masters and apprentices that extends all the way to Grand Duchess Voytana and myself. These tattoos represent who I am, the next figure in a lineage that has shaped Taaszon more than even the hereditary line of the Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses, yet I have to cover them up now. I'll have to cover them up a lot going forward I fear, avoiding the Empire. I'd imagine that's what Palpatine wants though, a suppression of identity - there is no place for a lineage that rose from slaves to the Dark Council in a single generation, a lineage that remained at the top of the Sith Empire's society until the very end, and a lineage that has been instrumental in the creation of Taaszon - no, not even his own lineage matters to Palpatine, all that matters is his own power."
I listened as Phanza ranted, knowing that she didn't mean a lineage in the conventional sense, rather she meant a lineage as in the line of masters and apprentices tracing back to Darth Imperius - presumably the individual that Imperius Prime is named after - and I actually liked this idea of lineage. It was certainly a lot easier being a Jedi thinking of myself as the continuation of Ullara's lineage, rather than that of some mysterious Sith who operated out in the galaxy sixteen years ago. A Sith-Human hybrid then, I always thought of myself as an alien, but I'm half-human, and the other half is a specie that was just as dominant and oppressive as humans have ever been, if not more so. I was never a Zeltron, my bloodline doesn't come from aliens, it comes from oppressors and conquerors...yes, a Jedi lineage would be much preferable to that. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but find it ironic that I was the Jedi product of a Sith bloodline while Phanza was the Sith product of an alien bloodline, and even the Sith lineage she connects herself to originates with an alien.
"I know how you feel, I have just as much to hide as you do." I sighed, feeling uncomfortable without my lightsaber on my hip - it would remain hidden onboard this ship, Phanza insisted that was the safest place to keep it - however, now, seeing her dress, I couldn't help but be drawn to the black, red, and silver scabbard at her hip, and the curved hilt of her lightsaber emerging from it. First of all, this was a very odd way of keeping a lightsaber, a which which Phanza had never previously carried her weapon, second of all, she was going to carry a lightsaber out there, on her hip, despite the fact the Empire was hunting us and everything else. I couldn't help but question this, it seemed like such a bad idea and so anathema to the effort she was putting into hiding her tattoos "You're going to carry your lightsaber out there? How are you going to explain that one away?"
"The idea is that it is a war trophy. The fact that I, an ordinary woman as far as they know, somehow has a lightsaber, creates a difficult question in the mind of any criminal or rival who encounters Zapnha Tamat - how did she get this lightsaber? Did she kill a Jedi? Does she know how to use it? - and, in turn, the mere existence of this weapon keeps me safe from anyone who would try anything against me. Combine that with your presence, we won't have any trouble, even as we meet with some of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy." Phanza explained as she finished covering up her tattoos, washed the red makeup off of her hands, applied a glossy coat of black lipstick to her lips, and put on the tiara, the luxury headpiece settling just before were head tails began, filling up the expanse of her forehead which looked rather blank without the black angular designs extending around her face from their origin at the tip of her head tails. Evidently, these tattoos have their origin in Twi'lek slave culture in the ancient Sith Empire, however, the Phanza wears them due to their links to Sith culture, rather than out of any sort of alien camaraderie between Nautolans and Twi'lek - as far as I know, nothing links those species beyond the usual coexistence in the larger galaxy. In any case, having calmed my fears, Phanza headed to the cockpit to oversee the landing, I joined her there, despite the fact that neither of us were necessarily pilots. The autopilot handled the landing largely autonomously as Phanza and I sat on either side of the hidden console containing the Chancellery's wayfinder.
I followed Phanza as we walked through the extravagant, neon decor of the Star Cluster casino - long, purple lights framed the main section of the dome over the gambling floor, and between those two purple light strips framed a fabulous, beautiful, starry sky, a fictional one, but a wonderful one, filled with colorful nebula and, fittingly, beautiful star clusters, and all of it rotated slowly, to add to the impression that this is a real sky. the top of the dome contained the actual lighting, painting the room in such a way that was both bright and dim, all designed to make it impossible to tell what time it truly was. The Star Cluster, like all casinos, fed into compulsive gambling, keeping people on the floor for as long as possible. I couldn't help but take in my surrounding, but Phanza welcomed it actually, telling me that, so long as I kept an attentive scowl on my face, it would simply look like I was a suspicious bodyguard, feeding into my cover. Phanza, meanwhile, naturally stepped into the identity of Zapnha Tamat, throwing an extra sway into her hips as the galactic femme fatale type strolling through the casino like she owns the place, the fact that she actually does almost seemed irrelevant to the fact.
Dripping with her own confidence and guiding me through the casino, Zapnha barged unannounced into a conference room, a wave of blasters were aimed at as she strolled into a room filled with Nar Shaddaa's greatest criminals. I, playing the part I was given, merely raised an eyebrow with my hand on my belt, a deadly mix of casual confidence and reaching for one of my twin blaster pistols. The criminals lowered their guns before before the double doors closed behind us, knowing they were in Zapnha's casino and not wanting to test how dangerous the woman is, nor knowing what to expect from me, her new bodyguard. I took a quick survey of the room, Dalenda was here, however, the Hutt Lieutenant, either out of stupidity or a Hutt disdain for other species in general, didn't recognize me, and the incident with Exiim Abarghe evidently hurt his reputation, as Dalenda wasn't here alone, accompanied by - and seemingly subservient to - a larger, older Hutt with a cybernetic arm and a matching eye implant, allowing that Hutt to access their most sensitive of records at will. Other than the Hutts and their Gamorrean bodyguards, the Exchange was represented by a green skinned Twi'lek dancer and two other dancers which served as her bodyguards, a collection of IG series assassin droids filled one corner of the table, and, opposite of them, sat a diverse set of hunters, representing the Bounty Hunters guild. A human dressed ridiculously in goggles and a longcoat sat next to them as an independent slicer, and, finally, a number of independent Pykes - evidently having somehow escaped Maul's subjugation of the Pyke Syndicate for his Shadow Collective - completed this unruly set.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Zapnha began, speaking with a standard Republic accept rather than her typical posh one, she circled the meeting table, trying to make this jump of criminals as uncomfortable as possible, even stepping on Dalenda's tail - she didn't do that to the Hutt who was truly in charge - as she made her way around, brushing her cold fingers across the bare shoulders of the green skinned Twi'lek in such a way I didn't like, for reason I didn't quite understand. In any case, as Phanza circled around and tormented these criminals meeting in her own casino, she made her speech "I'm sure whatever business you were preciously discussing was very important, but I'm not going to let a brain trust like this into my casino without extracting a little toll. Bribes and favor are all well and good, but information is a valuable resource. Palpatine has a six and a half foot tall Jedi bodyguard in a black armored suit. All the other Jedi supposedly betrayed the Republic and were killed by the Clones. I want to know who this enforcer is, how did he survive, and whether or not he's going to be a threat to my businesses and operations throughout the galaxy. I know you paranoid bunch of freaks have been looking into him, tell me what you know."
Phanza settled at the head of the table, taking a demanding stance, and I circled the room, settling next to her, watching the table and watching the entrance closely...between the uncomfortable feeling in this room, my own uncertainty in the disguise, and the tense feeling of impending doom that I've been struggling with ever since Order 66...I had a bad feeling about this.
"I don't know anything Zapnha, I lost contact with the Exchange branch on Coruscant and, all of a sudden, I see the news reports of Palpatine's conference with Darth Vader." the Twi'lek woman revealed, a sentiment that was echoed by the Hutts, Pykes, slicers, and bounty hunters...the situation was worse than any of us thought, it wasn't a simple targeting of our spy network, Palpatine used Vader to eliminate any threat to him on Coruscant. This wasn't a coordinated strike on our spies, this was Vader wreaking havoc on anyone he could reach that wasn't loyal to Palpatine's new order. All of the flaws and weaknesses in the Republic were intentional, every slicer that ever accessed the Republic database was a deliberate oversight so that Palpatine could justify the existence of a brutal faction of Inquisitors and a chief enforcer in the form of Vader, and now, those new living weapons would be deployed against any surviving Jedi, the Sith of Taaszon, the criminal underworld, any planetary resistance movements, and anyone else that would dare oppose Palpatine.
"We remember what happened last time the Pykes did business with the Sith. Perhaps you should let sleeping dogs lie, Lady Tamat." the leader of this faction of the Pykes warned, reminding everyone of all the resources and lives wasted when the Pyke Syndicate was forced to go along with Maul's occupation of Mandalore, which, in retrospect, was probably part of Palpatine's plan as well. Palpatine's plan. That little thought filled my head like an alarm klaxon as I could sense a number of presences in the Force entering the Star Cluster casino, two of which were strong in the Force. Phanza felt it too, based on the subtle change in her body language, but she wasn't quite as panicked as I was, because I sensed something else with these two presences. I couldn't quite identify who just yet, but I knew I sensed these two figures before, I knew they were former Jedi, and I knew that they couldn't be Palpatine. The Chancellor hid his presence in the Force, I didn't know what his presence felt like, nor did Phanza, so that meant Vader and...who? One of those inquisitors?
A breaching torch lit up the door as Phanza and I knew we were about to find out. Joining an unlikely alliance of assassin droids, Hutts, gangsters, bounty hunters, and a slicer, I readied my unfortunate loadout of two blasters and Phanza dropped any semblance of unfamiliarity with her lightsaber. The time for hiding who we were was over, we were compromised anyway. This was now a matter of survival.
Cliffhanger, I know, but we'll pick up with the next chapter in two weeks time.
Ciao!
