Last time: Dracul reclaimed his Empire and the Jedi made their next plan.

Now: An unlikely alliance is about to occur.

Chapter 2- Enemy of My Enemy

There was an insistent pounding at her door which annoyed her. She got up, out of her meditative pose, and moved to open it. Still in a rage at the fact that her power had been usurped from her. Whoever it was at the door had better tread lightly.

The door slid open and Kopesh was standing there, back on his feet after spending the last week in the med bay recovering from his various wounds. Cien just looked at him in askance, staring at the very last person in the galaxy she wanted to deal with.

"What?" She asked, venom in her voice.

"We need to talk." Kopesh stated, glancing down the corridor.

She just glared at him.

"Please, Cien?" He said, evidently angry he was reduced to begging her. But he reeked of a desperation she had never felt in him before.

After a moment she stepped aside, wary that he might try to kill her himself after Dracul had refused to earlier. She kept her distance from him, and they stayed in the antechamber to the rest of her suite. This was the first time he had been allowed past her door.

"Speak." She commanded. "Quickly." She added.

He glared at her and looked downward as he gathered the meager thoughts that ran through his mind. "Neither of us wants to be here."

"You think we're safe talking about this?" Cien responded.

"You think we're safe at all?" Kopesh asked with a raised eyebrow.

Cien conceded the point with a roll of her eyes and a snort.

"We have been at eachothers throats for years, that has not changed. What has changed is that we almost got away, to not be under that lunatic's thumb." Kopesh continued. "Neither of us wants to be here, at least not with him." Kopesh growled, "And we know at least some of what his plans are, what they've always been. We're nothing to him, we have no place at his side, he's just using us until he can bring about his apocalypse, and then he'll dispose of us just like his other apprentices."

Cien looked at him, he was speaking the truth, and she had no particular response.

That angered Kopesh. "Don't you get it? He's going to kill us."

"Perhaps my ears deceived me, weren't you the one that shouted 'you're not going to kill her?' last week when he came back? Aren't you the one who brought him back?" She sneered at him. "Having second thoughts?" She said.

"I didn't bring him back, he got himself out and summoned me because I was the only ride he could rely on." He sneered back.

Cien glanced away. Dracul had the power to open the portals, then. That had been his goal for so many years; acquiring that knowledge so he could go into that void and enact… whatever the rest of his plan was. Of which they had only caught a few glimpses. And he had that long sought after ability now, so he was preparing for his final move. And he knew he could not trust Cien, she had thought that maybe Kopesh had found him, and maybe found another cavern, like what Sasha had done, and opened the portal with instructions. But if he had broken free and not reached out to Cien, that solidified her knowledge that he truly knew what she had done, that she had betrayed him. So why was he playing with her like this?

It was a true expression of the desperation she found herself in that she uttered the following words. "What are you suggesting, then?"

It was a true expression of the desperation that they both found themselves in that Kopesh answered; "That we work together."

They both looked at each other from across the small room, digesting this moment.

"I don't want to end up like his other fifty apprentices -" Kopesh started.

"Fifty-six." Cien corrected him quietly.

"Whatever. Point is, whatever happened to them, I don't want it to happen to me." Kopesh growled.

Cien looked up at him, "You don't know what happened to them?" She asked confused, "I guess you were recruited after me." She reminded herself with a snort of derision. "He didn't have anyone to demonstrate his disappointment on for you."

"I didn't get the full orientation pamphlet like you." He rolled his eyes. "And I've gotten a good demonstration of what his disappointment means over the years." He said with a sneer.

"No, you haven't." She stated, her eyes distant as she remembered the silent screaming of that trapped soul that day on Korriban.

"Well I guess the question of who his favorite is is finally settled." He said with another roll of his eyes. "Neither of us can take him alone. Together we might have a chance."

She stared at him for a moment, pitying the depth of his complete misunderstanding. The two of them stood no chance against that monster. He wasn't a Sith Lord, he was more a force of nature. Kopesh's skills were paltry, at best, more suited for scaring thugs in dark alleys than taking on Force users. He thought since he could stand toe-to-toe with a few Jedi Masters that he could stand a chance against Dracul. The utter fool.

He was a little slow to understand what she was thinking. "I won't double cross you." He promised. "What's the old saying? 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'?" He commented, thinking that she was simply against working with him. Which was also true.

But he had a point; The enemy of my enemy is my friend. She had already taken a step down that road, to try to sic Sasha and her cohort against Dracul as one last defiant act before her forestalled death in the hope they might inadvertently make Dracul pay for crossing her. Dracul was playing his games against her, she might as well play her move as well.

"Fine." She finally said. "But we must be patient, and strike at the opportune moment." Which would probably never come, she didn't add. "He is too strong in the dark side to face head on, we have to be patient." She reinforced, she didn't want him rushing into some fool hardy confrontation and tipping things off too early.

"Sure." He said, "But we must act quickly."

"Yes." She said, "But not foolishly." She added, trying to reinforce the point. If she could get more details from Dracul and pass them on, then maybe she, the Jedi, and this dog before her might stand a chance if they could find some moment to strike him.

"Very well." Kopesh said, his desperation tinged with a slight hint of mollification as he moved towards the door. He exited without saying anything more, and after a furtive glance down the corridor to make sure he was not seen exiting her room.

He was such a fool. He would probably get them killed, and the rest of the galaxy along with it. But he had an idea that presented at least some hope of promise. She moved back into her meditation chamber, the thought ringing in her mind; The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

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