Chapter 74: Ignition
The Scimitar slips out of hyperspace and engages stealth within the second.
Siri stares out at the red dust-ball she's steering towards and... her eyebrows furrow. She flicks the intercom. "Kenobi, Jinzler, push down your presences and raise your shields all the way. Do not drop your shields until we are done here under any circumstances."
There is far to much darkness oozing from around that planet to be from one person (Sidious not counted), C'Baoth couldn't emanate that, so... there were far more than one darksider on the planet. Siri had suspected... but... how did C'Baoth manage it? How did he get all those who followed him into the Schism to fall without a peep? She'd ask why they were so many gathered on this planet, but she has an idea of what role Sidious desired of her. Get captured along with Kenobi and Jinzler, force the Jedi and the Republic to act and take on the Clone Army, have the first battle igniting the war to be on this planet. Jedi VS fallen Jedi, Clones VS droids, a pure and utter bloodbath.
Shame if something would happen to that plan.
Though... Sidious knows she can use Sith Sorcery, should know she is skilled with illusions and masking herself if he has any eyes within the Jedi Temple (which he definitely had), so expecting her to be captured is... foolish. Sidious isn't foolish, arrogant perhaps, but not foolish. But then again, he wins either way, doesn't he? If she takes Gunray, the Confederacy will use that as an excuse to start a conflict anyway. The caught method would be preferred for him obviously, more bloody that way and more dead Jedi.
She'll admit, either way, she looks forward to testing herself...
Against her supposed replacement.
She remembers when she faced off against him and Jinzler years ago. C'Baoth is powerful in the Force, strong enough to overwhelm her with his almost one-hundred years on her. She's relatively stagnated since then, while he has delved into the Dark Side. If she faces him head on then she loses almost certainly. Of course, why would she do something so stupid? She is fairly certain she could dance around C'Baoth so long as Sidious didn't give him any advice, gifts, or teachings in how to counter her abilities. There is the possibility he did, but there is also the possibility this could serve as a test for C'Baoth.
Of course, she doesn't honestly believe C'Baoth is a true apprentice either, not when he's older than dirt and likely to die in the next decade, probably. The man serves a purpose in the Grand Plan, little else. She can see that, and if C'Baoth can't, he deserves to be discarded by Sidious when the time comes. Though, speaking of C'Baoth, she needs to inform the Jedi that they are staying put. Jinzler stepping foot on the same planet as her former master is a death sentence, and Kenobi doesn't have her powers nor subtly. They'd both give themselves (and her) away and get them all killed.
When she informs them of such, Kenobi raises a single eyebrow. "Then what will we be doing?"
"Keeping my ship warm and ready, the moment I call for you, you come and pick me up," she ordered, "No communications, no Force, and neither of you are to leave the ship under any circumstance."
"Even if you're captured?" asked Jinzler.
Siri smiled slyly, "Especially if I'm supposedly captured."
"Illusions?" asked Jinzler dryly.
"If they even figure out I'm there to begin with, I'll have a little fun," was Siri's only response.
"How long do you believe your infiltration will last?" inquired Obi-Wan.
Siri shrugged. "Depends how long it takes to find Gunray, and find an opportunity to nab him," he head tilts towards the planet, "I'm not going to risk exposure to do so, but I might look into a few things that have drawn my interest. No less than an hour at minimum, hopefully no more than a day at most. If its longer, then its longer."
She pushes past and opens one of the storage compartments, searching through for a few things. While she has the Dark Side to sustain herself, she slips a few nutri-bars and a canteen into her robes to be on the safe side. Then she starts going through her restocked goodies then Black Sun had refilled her on when she finally got her ship back. A silenced blaster because a lightsaber was a very noticeable thing, and using the Force with so many Force Sensitives there was risky. A single explosive charge if she needed a loud distraction, or as a backup hole-maker if something happened to her lightsaber. Then... the Force nudges her towards a recorder, she frowns, but obliges, checking its battery then slipping it carefully into her robes.
Its not that she doesn't get the use of it, she just doesn't see herself caring about whats going on here.
She hears the snickering of the Dark Hound, red gleaming eyes peering around a crate.
"Whats so funny," she mutters to herself.
She has the sense the Force is mocking her attitude towards the upcoming mission. It earns a scowl from her as she rises to her feet, leaves, and not-so-accidentally closes the door in the hound's face. Of course the damn manifestation just phases through it. Siri sighs in exasperation, ignoring the looks from the Jedi and leaves for the cockpit. She wonders sometimes when she got so used to this thing. It used to be a rarity, back during her apprenticeship, to see the hound outside of when she let the Dark take her, let it direct her around, and even then it was rarely as a manifestation even in her mind. Now... it comes without prompt, and she wonders why, she doesn't recall Sidious ever mentioning something like this.
The trotting stops, and the Force goes still.
Siri stops walking.
Slowly, she turns and stares at the hound.
The hound raises its muzzle and slowly grins. 'Why indeed.'
Siri opens her mouth to speak... then she's gusted away.
She finds herself watching her stupid younger self sitting at a campfire with Siolo Ur Manka, and it twists her stomach to see it.
"When I reach for the light, I remember it once feeling like a friend, taking my hand and leading the way," the younger Siri said softly, a minor tone of old longing in her voice, "But the dark... it's like a hound, it snaps at its master and pulls on it's leash. It will turn and bite you if you don't dominate it. It's far more literal than you might think, if I don't control the Dark Side, and try to let it guide me like the Light would have, it feels like being pulled in so many directions that I'm being physically ripped apart."
Its gone in a second, and she's back in the hallway, hand pressed against the wall for support. "Whats the point? I've viewed the dark as a wild, primal animal for a long while now."
The hound waits, it has a desire, a conclusion it wants her to draw, but...
"I don't really have time for this, if there is a point to be made, then make it," she snapped.
The Hound snorts, turns, and trots away, the stillness to the Force fading. Siri bristles in indignation and being so casually dismissed. Whatever the Force had been trying to pound into her skull was important, she just didn't know why nor have the time to figure it out. She yanks at Kenobi's presence down the bond and summons him to the cockpit. He gives her an offended pulse down the Force, but comes.
"I will give you a brief overview of piloting my baby," she said, "If you crash her, I will break far more than your nose."
"Its a ship," he deadpans, "I know how to pilot."
"Its a ship stained with the Dark Side, are you sure you can fly properly with it clawing at you while you're trying to focus?" she said pointedly.
"We should have taken another ship," he mutters.
"Ah yes, because the Republic has plenty of ships with a stealth field generator to hand out," she deadpanned, "Get in the bloody seat Kenobi."
"It better not literally be bloody."
"Was that a prod at me being female Kenobi? Tsk tsk didn't think you were sexist," she said coyly, "I did get my shot recently, so I don't need to worry about leaks anytime soon."
He gives her a sour look. "Must you?"
"I must."
He sighed and sits down. "It was more along the lines of wondering if anyone had been murdered in this seat."
"Beats me," she said, "Not during my apprenticeship, can't speak of previous owners though. Now, take her for a spin."
Thirty minutes later, she's satisfied and watching him fly along the rocky planet's surface. Though both of their attentions aren't really on flying, its on the incredible amount of large ships scattered on the surface...
"I thought the Trade Federation was dismantled," said Obi-Wan slowly.
"They were, though in reality, that just meant their ships and goods were passed onto whatever took their place," said Siri, eyes flickering.
She obeys the prompting of the Force and pulls out the recorder, thumbing it on. "Do another pass, don't get too close, we might be cloaked, but some sensors might sense an air disruption if we are within range."
When she's satisfied, she turns it off. "Find a place to park."
He nods, a frown plastered on his face. "I don't like this, I think this may be over our heads for a single team."
She doesn't acknowledge his concern. If it was a Jedi infiltration she'd agree, but she has the Dark Side and her Sorcery, she'll be fine. She leaves under the cloak of sunset, a soft chanting escaping her lips. Her physical form fades away, leave a small blurry distortion someone would have to be staring right at to see, and even then they might not notice without really paying attention. She does another spell to mask sound and scent, just incase. She sticks along rocky outcrops as a matter of principle, so she doesn't get accidentally hit if a speeder zoomed pass. Not that one comes by the time she reaches an entrance...
She pauses.
Is that Ki-Adi-Mundi?
The cone-headed former Jedi stands by an entrance, cold eyes flickered with yellow in them, staring off into the distance. He's dressed in a dark tunic and pants similar to her own. A lightsaber hangs at his belt, and she has the hunch its certainly not blue anymore. But... why is he just standing there? Does a former council member really just serve as a guard or patrol?
Then, as she draws closer to him... his head tilts in her direction and she swears her heart stops for a moment. His voice is low, "C'Baoth is an arrogant fool, Siri Tachi, in that, you are fortunate. Do not unmask yourself."
She's not stupid, but she does let go of maintaining her silence over sound. "How, and why?"
Ki-Adi-Mundi gives a thin, grim smile. "There are few things in my life I regret as I do my volunteering to infiltrate and keep an eye on C'Baoth's supposed new Jedi Order. It was a trap from the start."
He slowly reaches into his robes and pulls out... a mask?
He flicks it in her direction, and she catches it. She frowns down at it. It reeks of the Dark Side, of pain and suffering. "What is it?"
"I'm surprised you don't know," admits Mundi, "Its a Sith Torture Mask. I was told it was modified and altered for mass production by Nightsister Witches as part of some kind of exchange between them and the Sith. Its apparently worse than the original model, made for quicker and harsher falls. It blocks access to the Light Side of the Force, constantly assaults your mind with sound and thoughts and notions, preventing you from concentrating and pushing you into using the Dark. If anyone asks where you got it, you found it during your infiltration and discerned its purpose on your own."
She nods, pocketing it within her rob. She really doesn't like the notion of the Nightsisters and Sidious having some kind of deal going. She might need to see if Mighella is willing to take a trip to her homeworld and investigate on her behalf. "So that's how he turned you all then."
"Indeed," grumbled Mundi, "But... just because I am fallen, does not mean I am some subservient pawn."
The anger in his voice and presence throws her for a moment, if only because of how different it is to what she remembers of him. It... disturbs her, personally. The Dark may not care, may be delighted by another in its thrall, but Siri still stands by her notion that you should only be dark if you chose it. "We could get you out of here. Take you with us when we go. Anakin could probably yank you out of the Dark Side."
Mundi shakes his head sharply, and then smiles in her direction with malice so unfamiliar to a Jedi it throws her again. "No. I will not be denied my revenge. C'Baoth will pay for his treachery and betrayal a thousand times over in a thousand small and spiteful different ways. I, and several others still true to ourselves, will see to this."
Well... Darth Bane was certainly right in implementing the Rule of Two if this was an indicator of anything. "How did you sense me?"
"The Sith... C'Baoth and Darth Sidious... have been manipulating the Veil of the Dark Side, experimenting with it," said Mundi, "Rather than just shrouding the Force and blocking the Jedi, they've been using the Dark Side dominance it has placed over the whole of the Force to enhance their abilities... and to inhibit our own in certain ways."
Oh Siri really doesn't like this.
"Sidious holds the reigns of it, and C'Baoth is given scraps to use," said Mundi mockingly, "So drunk and arrogant on power he does not deserve..."
She cuts the rant off before it begins. "How is it used to perceive me?"
"Its not perceiving you, its perceiving the use of the Dark Side itself," explained Mundi, "It is... a choke-hold, an awareness, that gives the Sith an advantage over any other factions that use the Dark Side. Your typical methods of Force Clouding or Shrouding will not work, and when close enough it is evident it still works to detect your sorcery."
Siri gritted her teeth. "Kriff."
It was obvious why that had been developed, the Sith had never needed that before Siri went rogue. The schism had merely enforced that need. "Is there a way around it?"
"We have only found one manner that works somewhat for us, and its not something you'd recognize," said fallen Jedi, a touch of arrogance in his tone towards her.
She holds back her bite and merely says. "Explain."
"We have been experimenting with methods to buck C'Baoth's grip," said Mundi, "And the only method we've found testing against one another is, in essence, pushing down our presence within the Force as small as we can manage rather than cloaking it, along with releasing our hold on the Force, which is not something easily done while Dark."
Siri frowned. "...releasing your hold?"
"To cut ourselves off from its passive benefits, such as enhanced hearing, sight, movement, and the like," said Mundi, "We become smaller in the Force, a part of the current it flows through."
She considers the idea, yet frowns. This isn't a complex idea, she literally told the Jedi to push their presences down as it is, its... well... the point. Its used in most methods to hide one's self. "That's a natural part of clouding yourself."
Mundi snarls in impatience. "Yes, to a degree, but not enough, Tyrosus! Its not enough! Its paired with the clouding, but for this, you must push down more!"
Siri startled at the address. "...why do you call me that?"
"It is your Sith title, is it not?" said Mundi.
Siri doesn't answer that point. "There's got to be more to it than that, because that won't stop normal forms of detection like, oh I don't know, staring at me."
Mundi growled. "We've not had a great deal of time to work on it. Its useful for doing subtle work that deceives others while hiding from C'Baoth's notice. It works for us, you will have to make it work for yourself, and, you will not be entering here until you can successfully move passed me without me noticing."
Siri smiles coyly. She's more than capable of killing him, but that would announce her presence. "Fair enough."
"Finally, there is a price for this information I have given you," said Mundi, eyes boring towards her, "C'Baoth's life is to be claimed by one he has betrayed, not by you. We will not be denied our revenge, am I clear?"
"Perfectly," she answered, considering him for a moment, "How did you even know I would come this way?"
"The Dark Side told me that if I desired my revenge, part of it would be to be here," said Mundi, shoulders rolling uncomfortably, "Being directed by the Dark Side is... vastly different than the light."
"Not nearly so gentle," agreed Siri, "Now... care to explain how to do your method?"
"Trying to explain it doesn't work quite as well as showing," he informs her and then...
He doesn't combine his method with shrouding himself, as that'd counter him teaching her. Yet, what she senses from him in the next second makes no sense to her. She recognizes pulling one's presence back into one's self, to hide it beneath the skin to shroud it in the Force. Yet he is pulling deeper still. How? It feels like a quarter of his body doesn't even have the Force in it. Is that safe? Or is it merely fooling her senses?
"I'm going to need to meditate on this," she says before stepping back and turning away.
She falls back a distance and finds herself a small cave. She takes a knife out of her robe and etches a few Sith symbols into the walls of the cave, and with a spell, shrouds the entire area. Then, she unmasks her physical cloaking, and smell, sitting down in the center of the cave. She is not so arrogant as to not realize she is so very lucky. If she had stumbled into there still assuming her normal methods worked...
She cuts off the line of thought and merely muses, "Treachery is the way of the Sith."
She closes her eyes and falls into meditation, concentrating on pushing down her presence. Cloaking herself is easy when she takes up less space within the Force, and yet apparently that's not enough. She has to be so small, so tiny, that even the blight that is the Veil of the Dark Side can't perceive her. But... how? How does she push down her presence more than withdrawing it beneath her skin as Mundi did? Even more important, how does she pair that with physically hiding herself? Thirdly, her earlier thought, is it safe to do so? Or does that depend on how far one could suppress their presence?
Just how far could one do it anyway? He showed her far more than what she was used to, but it begged the question, just how small could someone compress their presence? Half of their body? Down to the size of her little pinkie-toe? Into a single kriffing cell? The notion is strange, but... if she can figure it out, it could have far reaching impact, so long as Sidious never learns of it anyway. Regardless, she thinks that mastering this rather than just getting it up to par is going to be a very long term commitment. So for now...
It takes hours of meditation to make any noticeable improvement, which is then lost the moment she tries to gauge herself from the outside in. She growls in frustration, yanking at her hair. "I don't have time for this."
Yes, the Jedi can sit for a few days on the ship if it comes down to it, but she's not sure she trusts them to actually do so without poking their nose into this mess and getting it bit off. She needs a shortcut, yet her usual tools of using the Dark Side or her Sorcery will draw attention if she is to close. She could try to dance and dodge through the complex, but there is no guarantee she won't draw to close to a Dark Jedi or C'Baoth himself. She rubs her chin in thought... then considers that perhaps her sorcery can still be of use, she merely has to try shaping it differently to adjust for this new variable.
She begins drawing gylphs in the dusty stone, not for actual sorcery, but as a soundboard. She's never actually made up her own incantation before, crafted her own spellwork. She's used what she's been taught, from Zannah, from Nadd's Scriptures, but perhaps its time to craft her own. She writes and erases words in the Sith Language over and over again, considering how they would be phrased paired with her intent. Because she needs to hide herself from, dare she say, the Dark Side itself, or at least those who have mastery over the Veil. It takes her another few hours to have composed a satisfying verse, which, ironically, is the opposite of what Mundi suggested.
Which, she supposes is offset by the fact she'd have preferred to have the entire mission done in the duration this effort took. She's not even sure Mundi will be there to test herself against, but... no risk no reward.
She pushes herself up off the ground, smothering the symbols written in the dust with her foot. Then, she exhales. Her intent is not to hide in plain sight, but to hide as part of the Force, within it rather than from it.
"Nu aukoti ja've kia tave Jen' Garthaz," slips past her lips with barely a thought.
She empties her mind, and lets her presence truly free for the first time in... perhaps forever. She's not sure she's fully lowered her mental shields and let her presence spill out into the Force at any point in her life. The Jedi teach themselves containment as a matter of respect, control, and not bothering others. The Sith keep themselves contained to hide, only revealing themselves at the right moment. If not for the glyphs she etched into the cave, she's fairly certain most Force Sensitives on the planet would have felt ripples.
"Nuyak akiva, tirji je'as tu'iea mudasoki," she recites.
The Dark Side accepts her offering, and its... odd. Its like her presence spills out of her and embeds into the air.
She offers the next mouthful. "Odacon is tu'iea tnoa pras ziurti iv edoui kuris valia rixik prasasja kia savas j'us."
Her vision spins, her head is throbbing, she feels... she senses... herself dissipating into the darkness clouding the planet. There but not there.
"Atitrazi tu'iea naudot jorath galez ziur jorath galez girdeti jorath galez gofi rak uosti," she manages to gasp out word by word.
Her body appears to dissapate into thin air, if not for the fact she could feel herself she'd say she'd vanished. It takes effort, great effort, to finish the incantation:
"Tik j'us, tik visaz j'us, oer re tita buti dary."
She closes her eyes, inhales, exhales, and feels... wind on her face? She opens her eyes to find everything has gone... grayish, hardly a spec of color in sight. Yet there are... currents, its the best she can describe it as. Traces in the air as if something is flowing, even through the rocky cave itself as if the stone were not there. She steps outside, and lets out a soft, soundless gasp. The currents are everywhere, its wonderous, and yet... something claws at the edges of her vision, a shadow. She turns her head, but its gone, or rather, moved to the edge of her vision again. Its...
She yelps when something nudges her, spinning to find...
She stares at the Dark Hound, looking oh so very solid. She hesitates, reaches out... and her hand touches its muzzle. She kneels down in baffled wonder, scratching under a chin that feels real. It gives a huff and jerks its head off in the direction of the entrance. Right, she has a job to do... and she's not sure if it is wise to stay like this for an extended period of time.
The hound grins. 'Not unless you wish to leave yourself behind to stay here permanently.'
Right.
She's evidently delved into something over her head.
She walks to the entrance, finds a different Dark Jedi there waiting, and walks passed without a hint of being noticed. Though... her eyes flicker back, perceiving within skin, a core of light, strangled by the dark, losing ground. Its... odd to see it rather than feel it. Its as if everything has a level of transparency to it now. She moves through rocky sculpted architecture, past a few large humanoid bugs, probably the natural inhabitants of the planet. Then... then she comes to a balcony, and she stares down over a absolutely massive production area of droids. She is uneasily reminded of the facility on Kamino.
She purses her lips, pulls out the recording device, and clicks it on as she moves through the place. The upper levels are mostly mass producing the standard B1 Battle Droid, worthless trash not worth the credits to make them if she was honest. The lower she got however... what was this silvery model? Taller, armored, with... wrist blasters. Oh that's clever. Jedi cant yank blasters from their hands if their hands are the blasters. Though some of those had what looked like single-use rockets as well, that was a nasty surprise waiting to happen. There were a few variant models that had only a single production line, thicker armor, some had what looked like jet packs embedded on their backs.
She doesn't like this, she doesn't like this at all. She knew war was coming, but knowing wasn't the same as perceiving and understanding...
The Hound trots at her side, sniffing in derision at the droids, it nips at her, growling in warning. She gets the message, clicks off the recorder, and starts getting on with her actual mission, heading down and deeper into the facility. Its funny how easy it is to hone in on Gunray, his pathetic, slimy, cowardly presence is like a disgusting beacon. Though the winding caverns and hallways and staircases are annoying to navigate. Eventually, she ends up on an overhead balcony looking down on a very large meeting room. She clicks on her recorder once more and settles in to wait.
C'Baoth sits at the head of the table, a Geonosian to his right, Gunray to his left. She recognizes San Hill of the Banking Clan. Wat Tambor of the Techno Union. Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild. A few others she doesn't know by name, but she faintly recognizes certain logo's such as the Hyper-Communications Cartel, the Quarren Isolation League. There is a lot of money at this table... she makes sure to hit them all with her recorder.
She doesn't know who the Holwuff is, but chalks it up to that planet being Confederate. She recognizes Grevious from all those videos about the Huk, his rifle strapped across his caped back. She didn't have a further chance to keep identifying people, as someone spoke up... wait, was that Ramsis Dendup of Onderon? She hadn't heard of Onderon joining the Confederacy.
"And is starting a war truly in our best interests, Jorus?" posed Ramsis dryly, and Siri hears the familiarity of the voice, the pair knew eachother, "All of this talk of marching droids makes me question my agreement. The Republic is horrifically corrupt, there is no doubt, but us being the aggressors of this conflict..."
C'Baoth shook his head. "You would think so my friend, but the truth of the matter is that the Republic have already begun preperations for domination. They were preparing to subdue the entire galaxy before we even existed."
"They already control most of the galaxy," voiced a Umbaran male, and Siri is faintly sure based on the clothing thats the senator of the planet, "Or did. You are implying what exactly?"
C'Baoth presses a button, and a holodisplay springs to life... of Kamino. Oh hell.
"Spies have informed me that the Jedi Order, yes, the Jedi Order, ordered a Clone Army on behalf of the Republic almost a decade ago, tell me my friends, what enemy did the Republic have back then, hmm?" posed C'Baoth, "The Sith were still relatively unknown, the Seperatist movement hadn't started, the Hutts were content to sit in their hole. The Mandalorians are still suffering from internal strife. Not a peep from the Unknown Regions. There are of course plenty of independent systems within our known galaxy, but hardly a threat. So I ask, what threats needed this army but to use on their own people?"
Siri has to hand it to Sidious, this was played so well. He'd get his war, and the start of it could potentially be pinned on the Jedi since they supposedly ordered the army.
"Their army is ready," said C'Baoth firmly, "All that's left is for it to be claimed, and my eyes within informed me only this morning that a ship fielding two Jedi and a republic representative touched down there recently. How curious that this representative is the Sith Apprentice Siri Tachi. What does it say about the Republic that they would employ the Sith?"
A image of the Scimitar sprung up, with the faint but recognizable forms of Kenobi and Jinzler along with her.
So.
Kriffing.
Well.
Played.
Siri hates, oh how she hates, that she walked right into this role, as much as she can appreciate how neatly it was all set up.
"I was under the impression that the Sith Apprentice had disavowed her master?" posed one of the Council Members, "I had heard that she had apparently recently destroyed a slaver group or something to that effect? I had only given the article a brief pass over."
C'Baoth sniffed. "Disavowed him does not mean disavowing her Order, and if you recall the holo-news report, the Jedi were horrified to even be near the ship, so tainted as it was. She had merely chosen an outlet for her dark ways upon that wouldn't upset the public, that would deceive and woo them. She is a symptom of the taint in the Republic, and seeks to usurp her foul master and take the Republic for her own."
The Council nods along, and Siri's lips peel back in distaste on how easily they are led along.
"Our time is short, and we must strike soon my friends, before the Republic has a chance to mobilize their army," said C'Baoth firmly, "I plan to present this information to the Confederate Senate by the morning. With all of your ratification behind me, we will declare war on this monstrous blight the Republic has become, and save the Galaxy from the oppression of the future Sith Empire to be."
The irony of his words isn't lost on her. The less greedy of the council, the idealistic fools, would eat that up. Would believe that they were in the right. Its actually kind of sad to say, that if the Confederacy hadn't been corrupted and deceived from the ground up by C'Baoth and Sidious they could have actually stood in opposition to the Sith Empire C'Baoth is paving the way for. They think themselves the defenders preventing the rise of the Sith, when in reality they are helping to usher in Sidious's Empire...
Before she can continue her thoughts, her vision shifts in a sharp spike of pain. Grayness flaring, the currents flowing through the air gain a pull that starts to tug on her. Dark murmurs begin to fill her ears. A craving flickers on the edge of her awareness, a craving for her. The gray in the air begins to tint darker at a slow pace. The darkness at the edges of her vision starts slowly seeping further into her view. She feels... a disconnect forming, between her body and the Force she has given herself to. She grits her teeth and takes in quiet, sharp breaths. She's running out of time to finish this.
"Jorus, is something wrong?"
Siri refocuses in time to see C'Baoth looking around the room, a frown on his face. "I thought I felt something..."
He shakes his head. "Regardless, my friends, are you with me?"
Siri watches impatiently as one by one, a pad is passed around, those in the meeting signing their names...
The Dark Hound growls behind her. She glances back, then follows its eyes towards the ceiling... which is blackening in her vision. She swears she sees something in the Dark moving, formless shapes clawing on the wall, down towards her as it spread. What the hell is that?
"We are adjured then," comes C'Baoth's voice.
Siri pushes away from the balcony and turns to leave in preparation for following Gunray, yet its like she is wading through sand, worse, she feels the Force tugging her backwards, and not in a guiding manner. She gave herself to the Dark, waded in so deeply in a manner she wasn't even close to certain of, now it feels like its trying to pull her in and drown her.
'If you stay much longer, not all of you will come back,' the Dark Hound speaks to her, 'Or perhaps worse, something else will return with you.'
She staggers down the steps, but its like the walls and steps have sticky goop trying to keep her in place.
"Siri, what the hell are you doing!?" comes Rain's raised voice.
Kriff, not now!
The gatekeeper materializes in front of her, and the child form looks terrified. "Cut it, cut it now!"
"I'll... be revealed..." gasped out Siri staring at Rain...
From several different angles?
Its like shes in multiple places perceiving...
Oh kriff.
"I shield you for the moment as best I can, drop whatever spell that is now!" said Rain sharply.
Siri tries to pull herself back, but the Dark has her presence scattered through it, and it does not want to yield her now that she gave so much to it for so long. Dark twisted laughter, so much more twisted and vile than she's used to, rings in her ears and she knows, oh how she knows, she went in to deep. She shivers when she feels hands on her, reaching into her, trying to tug and pry apart what threads connects her to her flesh. She closes her eyes, daring not to look behind her, and focuses on what is most important to her.
Obi-Wan.
Zannah.
Supernova.
Killing Sidious.
Her desires, ranging from large to small.
Everything that makes her who she is.
It is a struggle, oh how its a struggle, to pry them back to her. Its a viscous fight, a flare in the Force...
Then Rain... no... Zannah's possessive presence latches onto her, snarling into the Force her claim. She feels the flare of her bond to her kyber crystal in her lightsaber. Siri grabs them both and with do-or-die effort, jerks herself out of the embrace of her spell. Instantly everything snaps back into place, the world returning to normal. Siri stumbles down a circle set of stone steps, landing hard on her side, before she curls into a ball and screams into her legs in an attempt to both muffle the sound and outlet the agony.
"This is not the place for this, Siri," snapped Zannah, her older Sith form looming over her, "Shunt it away and pull yourself together."
Siri chokes back any further screams, jaw clenched tight, head pounding. Her entire body hurt. The Force is one giant throb, everything is so bright and loud. She hadn't felt this sensitive, this overloaded, since after she got out of the Force Suppressant Cell and oh she doesn't miss the sensation even if the source is rather reversed from that. She knows its going to hurt, but she reaches for the Force and blankets it over her in a normal shroud...
She retches at the sensation of the Dark Side after being so entrenched into whatever the hell that had been.
"I don't know what the hell you did Siri," hissed Zannah, "But do not ever do it again. Am I clear?"
"Perfectly," rasped out Siri, forcing herself to her feet as Zannah drops her own shaky cloaking over them.
The gatekeeper sags from the effort, older form returning to the younger form of Rain. "Finish what you came here to do and get out. You need to meditate and fix any damages that stunt did to you."
Rain vanishes, and Siri takes one step after another down the hallway. She uses the pain as fuel to keep herself going. All the while she is counting down in her head. She only has up until she runs into the first Dark Jedi paying attention to catch her shrouding. Then shit hits the fan. Worse yet, she senses the wariness leaking through the Force, her tussle with the Dark Side had kicked up something in the Force. Those in the facility were on guard. She is also not sure how long she can maintain her shrouding with the pain of touching the force. She legs it down the hallway, drawing up her hood as she went. She drops her physical illusion, as her clothing lets her blend in just fine considering what the Dark Jedi wear, and its less of a strain.
She spots the miserable worm Gunray and an aid walking down the hallway, a few droids as his guard escort, speaking with San Hill as they walked.
Kriff it.
It was time for the Galaxy to burn.
It was going to anyway.
She flicks her wrist, the droids crumple, San Hill and the aid are thrown into a wall hard enough to knock them out. "Hello Gunray, did you miss me?"
The Neimodian chokes and glances over his shoulder at her, terrified. "No! Not you!"
Siri lifts him with the Force and chokes him unconscious. She sprints forward, grabs him before he can fall, and throws him on her shoulder without breaking pace. She rushes down the hallways, following the running form of the Dark Hound to guide her. It only takes a moment for a sharp brush against her mental shields, a flicker of surprise then dark delight from C'Baoth. Alarms start blaring a minute later.
She hits her comlink and bites out a quick. "Kenobi, get your ass ready to go we are going to be leaving HOT! I'm sending you coordinates, be there!" before thumbing it off.
She thumbs in what she had noted the entrance she came in as and runs. Droids and bug-people start spilling out of the woodworks. Siri uses the Dark with grim abandon, flinging most out of the way. A quick jolt of lightning to stutter the droids. Its only when the blasterbolts start flying she draws her lightsaber and activates one end, because apparently they don't care if Gunray dies. Siri really wouldn't mind destroying everything in her path, but if she stops, she knows she's dead. There has to be who knows how many thousands of droids, and at least a few dozen Dark Jedi scattered through the building along with C'Baoth himself making his way towards her.
She slashes a doorway control and shuts a hallway behind her, buying time. She forces herself to boldly leap onto a construction belt. She leaps up to another, than another, bypassing a great deal of opposition, until she's back on where she originally viewed the assembly...
Then she promptly dumps Gunray and raises her lightsaber to block a red one. A cloaked Dark Jedi presses in, trying to overpower her. So she lets him, letting herself fall backwards, lashing out with her foot and kicking out their foot, causing them to stumble forward before shoving out with the Force and throwing them overhead off the balcony and down into the assembly below. She grabs Gunray, hefts him over her shoulder, and sprints out.
The ship isn't there yet.
Kriff what was taking him?!
Snap hiss.
"If it isn't the Sith Apprentice herself," comes a mocking voice, "How gracious that you come to save us the effort of killing you later."
Siri glances behind her to see Pong Krell, two Dark Jedi, and a squad of those silvery droids begin to spill out behind her. Siri grits her teeth, grimaces in pain, but reaches out with the Dark Side, not for them, but for the opening. She clenches her fist, and the walls crack and crumple. The Dark Jedi throw themselves out of the way, and half of the droid squad is caught in the collapse. Siri forces a sleep compulsion into Gunray's unconscious mind to be on the safe side, and moves to set him down before stepping away, activating the other end of her lightsaber.
"Spread out and surround her," Krell ordered, "As a unit, triangle formation, do not overlap efforts. Droids, you are to only fire if she begins to overwhelm one of us and force her back until we recover."
"Roger roger."
"The problem with that," said Siri mildly, "Is that I have a thing for messing up plans for me."
She throws a hand forward and unleashes a harsh barrage of lightning. Krell activates twin red dual-bladed lightsabers and catches it. "I am so much more than I was last time we fought, Sith. This time, I will TRIUMPH!"
He thrusts his lightsabers forward, and her lightning crackles back with a rebound. Siri cancels out the power and shields herself from the brief backlash, but that's all the time Krell needs. Dark robes are shed, and he is upon her, red blades arching through the air. Siri falls back as they fight, trying to keep Krell between her and the other Dark Jedi. He may have offered a sound strategy, but she feels the bloodlust taking him, the arrogant desire to crush her. She can sense he is used to dominating and getting his way.
Were she in top form, she's pretty sure she could take him, hell, him, the other two, and the droids.
She is nowhere near that at the moment.
The second Dark Jedi leaps overhead, trying to get into position to pincer her. Siri lashes out with the Force and shoves Krell back midswing, then backflips as the Dark Jedi touches down, going right for him and...
She barely gets a swing in before blasterfire starts for her. She sidesteps, trying to put the Dark Jedi in the line of fire, but he matches her footwork, she's forced to block blaster bolts between swings, and then it cuts out as Krell rejoins the fight, the third Dark Jedi running around them to get into position.
"You we're saying?" mocked Krell.
Siri grinned tilted her chin up. "Duck."
"D..."
The Scimitar roars into existence, cloaking fading as laser cannons open fire and demolish the droids.
Krell snarls, "Keep ontop of the Sith and the ship can't fire without killing her!"
Siri twirls her lightsaber overhead, the two Dark Jedi take a step back, unsure of where she'll strike, but Krell comes right for her, forcing her to block one of his sabers, and then leaping up as he swings the other. She lands behind him and pushes with the Force, throwing him forward and onto his face. The other two Dark Jedi come for her, and she falls back, Soresu blocking every strike without hesitation.
She briefly glances to the side to see the Scimitar setting down, the loading ramp lowering. She sights Jinzler gunning out for Gunray. Good, smart choice. Siri refocuses as the Dark Jedi come for her. All she needs to do is stall till Jinzler gets him on the ship, then run to it herself. Krell stands, snarling as he sights Jinzler. He starts towards her, but Siri lashes out, raising her lightsaber to catch both attackers swinging overhead, while reaching out with a fist and clenching the Force around Krell's throat. The Besalisk chokes briefly before warding off her attempt with a flare of the Force, but its enough to buy Jinzler a few seconds, the young woman grabs Gunray and starts running...
Then the entryway back into the facility explodes open with a powerful burst of the Force, enough to send everyone staggering offbalanced.
"Ah, padawan, I was hoping to see you again," comes C'Baoth's voice as he steps out of the dust.
He holds out a hand and clenches it. Jinzler chokes, dropping Gunray and clawing at her throat.
"Put her down Jorus, PUT HER DOWN!" comes Obi-Wan's voice.
C'Baoth, surprisingly, drops her, glancing over to see Obi-Wan descending from the ramp. A slow, malevolent smile spreads across his face. "Ah, Knight Kenobi. But of course. I suppose it is proper after all, if you want the padawan, make sure the master is dead first, that is how the saying goes, is it not? And I have yet to display my displeasure with you for your theft of my padawan."
Obi-Wan activates his lightsaber. "You lost the right to call her your padawan a long time ago."
Siri doesn't have time to watch any longer as Krell decides he wants a piece of her. Lightsabers sweep in from both sides, making to cleave Siri in half. She leaps over the swing and plants her foot right into his ugly face, sending him staggering back. The two Dark Jedi come to cover him, one swings at her, she blocks, the other comes...
Rain materializes right in front of him. "Hello Jedi."
The Dark Jedi startles and reflexively swings at her, his lightsaber passing harmlessly through the gatekeeper. Siri disengages from the first Dark Jedi and launches herself at the offbalanced other. The Dark Jedi doesn't have a chance to bring his out of position saber back around before Siri cleaves through him at the shoulders.
"How nice of you to help," said Siri dryly as the corpse drops.
"Always happy to help kill Jedi, fallen or otherwise," said the Gatekeeper, a dark smile on her face, "There's no reason not to anymore. The end, the Revenge of the Sith, has begun after all, its time to play."
"Ignore the Holocron," snarled Krell, "Its a mere illusionary image!"
The Dark Jedi launches himself at Siri, and she falls back, raising her lightsaber to block...
Only for the dead Dark Jedi's lightsaber to fly through the air, activate, and bisect the charging Dark Jedi. Rain mocks out, "Oops, apparently I can throw things around too! Who'd have thought?"
Krell glowers. "Worthless, the lot of them."
The Besalisk growls, sizing up Siri and the child form of Rain. He flexes his grip on his lightsabers. "You will die upon this pathetic world, and your death will earn my ascension to..."
"Force, this Jedi likes to hear himself talk, doesn't he?" mocked Rain loudly.
"I am no Jedi!" snapped Krell, "I am something so much more, and will become something even greater still!"
Rain cocks her head, smiling mockingly. "What you are, little Jedi, is expendable. Siri dear, do kill him slo..."
Siri and Krell both are knocked flat on their ass, Rain's gatekeeper dissipating as it withdraws and shields its holocron, by a massive surge of the Force. Obi-Wan cries out in pain, and Siri rolls, springing up and turning to see...
Obi-Wan levitates in the middle of the air, stuck in C'Baoth's grasp.
The elderly would-be Sith smiles a mocking smile.
He clenches his fist.
Obi-Wan's body gives an awful crack as it begins to crumple in on itself.
His presence winking out...
Siri blinks, and Obi-Wan is levitating there midair, whole, struggling in C'Baoth's grasp. Time slows for Siri as the premonition filters though her mind. A single thought echoes through her head.
Obi-Wan is going to die.
Siri deactivates her lightsaber.
She steps forward.
She throws her hands out.
She screams through the Force as lightning rips out of her hands.
The Force Scream hits first, throwing C'Baoth offbalanced and dropping Kenobi. Then the lightning slams into him, carries him back, and impacts him into the wall. Siri doesn't stop, kriff her word to Mundi, C'Baoth would have killed Obi-Wan. HE HAS TO DIE! She savors her pain as a feedback loop, drawing more from the Force as it hurts her yet empowers her. C'Baoth struggles and writhes, he slowly brings his hands forward and attempts to catch the lightning within them. Siri grits her teeth, takes another step forward, and opens her mouth to begin a spell to disrupt his concentration...
Two red lightsabers erupt through her body from behind, one through each lung. Krell's head leans over her shoulder and whispers, "Your attachment was your downfall, you pathetic excuse for a Sith."
He pulls his lightsabers out and kicks her back. She loses her lightning, staggers forward and to a knee. She laughs, she laughs an agonized laugh. She could have died there. She should have died there. But Krell was an arrogant idiot. "And not... aiming for my head... was yours."
She cocks a fist as she rises and turns, thrusting out and literally punching him through the Force fueled by the agony of being kriffing stabbed, sending him rocketing back. She pushes the Dark through her body, taking rapid painful breaths that likely lose more air than they gain. She can sustain herself for a time, she's read about Sith who literally kept themselves together though worse injuries than this, but has little experience in doing so herself. She doubts she can keep it for long, if she can get to her ship...
Obi-Wan is there seconds later, pulling an arm over his shoulder and hauling her towards the Scimitar.
"Leaving... so soon?" rasped out C'Baoth, his body smoking, but still standing.
Dammit!
He starts towards them, then pauses as Jinzler shouts through the Force. 'Hey Master!"
He looks to the ship, and his eyes go wide as the laser canons aim at him and fire. He snarls and holds out his hands and...
Holy.
Kriffing.
Shit.
He stops the lasers midair. She knew he was strong in the Force, but... she had badly underestimated his skill and control if he could pull this off. Stupid of her. He is older than dirt. She wonders though if Sidious knows just how capable C'Baoth actually is. Because that is beyond threat worthy level to her.
"Out," rasps Siri, "Out of here now."
C'Baoth gives them no attention, his entire focus on holding back the rapidly accumulating wall of red death building in front of him. Obi-Wan lugs her onto the ramp as the sound of droid ships screaming through the air head their way. It closes as laser fire begins to impact on the Scimitar's shields.
"Do you have anything to use as an emergence sealant?" pressed Obi-Wan.
"Storage," she rasps out, "Have better... wont like though."
They stagger as Jinzler takes off and tries to evade fire.
Kenobi slams a fist onto the storage control. "Where?"
She shakes her head, pulls her arm off him. "Back... get back..."
She remembers the Jedi's last reaction to them, she does not want puke all over her if he can't contain his reaction. She reaches for the familiar feel of her sorcery and unshrouds her container of healing talismans. Instantly Obi-Wan gags and staggers away. The ship lurches, Jinzler evidently affected too. Siri pulls the lid off, reaches down, grabs one, presses it to her chest, and focuses...
Its pure bliss...
Almost orgasmic for her if she's honest.
...as rejuvenating energy fills her. The essence in the talisman screams as its bled out, its life used to mend her body, flesh knitted and made anew. She shudders, gripping the container for stability as jolts roll down her spine. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and forces her focus back to the here and now. She puts the lid back on, chants a quick basic masking spell over the crate, and closes the door. She walks passed the revolted Kenobi, to the cockpit.
"Evasive dive then get out of my seat," she snaps at Jinzler.
Jinzler obeys, the ship lurching down from its previous trajectory spacebound before the Jedi scrambles out of the chair. Siri gets in, grips the controls, and comes out of the dive, hitting the stealth controls. The droid fighters begin firing everywhere, trying to hit them. A few shots get lucky and hit the shields, but they hold. Siri skims along the ground for a bit, until the droids are behind them, then shoots upwards to the atmosphere. They hit it, exit it, she calculates a jump to make their way towards Coruscant, and they vanish into hyperspace...
Translation:
Nu aukoti ja've kia tave Jen' Garthaz = I give myself to the Dark Side
Nuyak akiva, tirji je'as tu'iea mudasoki = my presence, cast into your wind
Odacon is tu'iea tnoa pras ziurti iv edoui kuris valia rixik prasasja kia savas j'us = Hidden in your currents beyond sight of those who would dare claim to own you
Atitrazi tu'iea naudot jorath galez ziur jorath galez girdeti jorath galez gofi rak uosti = Within your embrace none may see none may hear none may touch nor smell
Tik j'us, tik visaz j'us, oer re tita buti dary = Only you, only ever you, until our deed is done.