Chapter 29: Sending a Message
Jaesa tossed and turned in her sleep. Her dreams a turbulent storm of emotion.
"Break..."
She awoke with a start, covered in a layer of sweat. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. Pain flashed through her body, yet when she looked down she saw no marks on her skin. There was no physical source, just a vague sense of agony.
"Break your..."
That voice again, it was familiar, but she couldn't remember where she knew it from. Jaesa closed her eyes and focused, "Who are you? What do you want?"
This wasn't from her power, she knew that much. The sensation was completely different. Whenever she used her power, Jaesa felt that person's identity and personality. It washed over her, telling Jaesa everything about them. This wasn't that. It was just pain, pure unadulterated agony.
"Break your chai..."
A sharp burst of pain struck Jaesa. She fell to her knees, screaming in pain. Holding her jaw, it felt as though someone had broken it.
Master Karr sprinted into the room, panic fixed on his face. "Jaesa, what's happening? Is it your power?"
Of course that was his first concern. Her power. Her so-called gift. Sometimes she truly hated it.
"Break your chains, Jaesa."
Jaesa's eyes widened in horror. She knew that voice. Though this time it wasn't distorted by a holo. The dark amusement it held, and something else beyond that. It sounded like encouragement, in some strange bizzare way.
"Arkunov," Jaesa whispered, causing Karr's face to fix in an expression of what seemed like... anger. "Master Yonlach... Arkunov found him. He's dead! The Sith found Master Yonlach and he killed him!"
Arkunov stepped through the hole in the wall, covered in blood. None of it his own.
Eyes flicking across the room, he saw that Vette was climbing to her feet. Rubbing her head.
"Ugh, well the rumours are true. Being paralyzed is a blast," she groaned. As she got up, Vette's eyes widened as she finally noticed the blood on Arkunov. "So... I'm guessing you put on quite a show."
"You could say that."
"Okay... I'm going to take a wild guess and say that I probably don't want to hear the details."
"You're right about that."
"I thought so," she shuddered. "So back to the ship now?"
"Yes."
"Great. Can't wait to get off this sandy inferno. Any longer and it will ruin my complexion."
They left the hut, stepping out of the door and not the hole in the wall. As they left, Vette made certain to keep her gaze fixed straight ahead. Ignoring the pile of blood and bones, that had once been the Jedi Master Yonlach.
"So," she said, trying to distract herself. "Want to go and see Sharack before we leave? Maybe rub it in her face that we actually survived out here? Because let me tell you, I sure to do feel smug right now."
Arkunov's only response was a slight smile.
Eventually, the pair of them reached an Imperial outpost. The same one that they had collected the dewbacks from. They had made good time, with the fierce pace Arkunov had set.
Arkunov chose to spend the night at the outpost, something that Vette was grateful for. The next morning, Arkunov contacted Quinn and updated the captain on their progress.
"Captain Quinn, contact Darth Baras and inform him that Master Yonlach is dead. Also inform him that we have a name for the Padawan. Jaesa Willsaam. That should make his enquiries on Alderaan more fruitful."
"Congratulations, my Lord," Quinn replied, bowing slightly. "I will inform Lord Baras forthwith. Is there anything else you require of me?"
Arkunov shook his head, "No, Captain. I will be returning to Mos Ila by days end. Only contact me if Darth Baras has any orders."
"Understood, my Lord."
Arkunov disconnected the call and went to requisition transport back to the spaceport.
Quinn put down his holocom and moved into the main room. Activating the central holoterminal, he punched in Darth Baras' frequency. He paused for a moment, hesitating ever so slightly.
His eyes flicked towards the corner, spotting 2V-R8 standing there. The protocol droid fixed it's glowing red photoreceptors on him. "Captain Quinn, is something the matter? Is there anything that I can do for you?"
"No. No thank you, Toovee." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote. A click later and Toovee's head dropped, his eyes going dark. Quinn sighed, and turned back to the holoterminal. That would buy him almost ten minutes, and the droid would not remember anything from the five minutes preceding it.
Punching in the final number, Quinn contacted Darth Baras. Quinn fell to one knee as the masked dark lord flickered into existence.
"Report, Captain."
"Lord Baras, I have just received word from your apprentice that Master Yonlach is dead. He has also provided me with the name of the Padawan. Her name is Jaesa Willsaam."
"That is excellent news, Captain. Is there anything else you can tell me about her?"
Quinn shook his head, "I'm afraid not, my Lord. I understand, that the Jedi... expired before Lord Arkunov was able to learn anymore."
"I see," Baras replied, his voice filled with ice. "No matter, I am certain my minions on Alderaan shall find something. And if not, I am certain that my apprentice will handle things. Now, about that other matter we discussed?"
Quinn hesitated for a long moment, before eventually saying, "I have done as you ordered, Lord Baras. After careful deliberation, I have found a way to monitor Lord Arkunov's abilities. Recently, your apprentice allowed me to perform maintenance on his training droids. I installed a program that will record and adapt to his lightsaber techniques. This can be used to eliminate Lord Arkunov, should you require it."
Baras paused for a moment, before eventually saying, "Very good. Continue with your program. You may deploy it at your own discretion. When it becomes necessary."
"Thank you, my Lord. Do you have any further instructions for me?"
"Continue observing my apprentice. Assist him in his current mission, however, if he should betray me act as necessary."
"Of course, my Lord," Quinn replied, after a long moment of hesitation.
"Have Arkunov contact me when you reach Alderaan, Baras out."
The holo flickered out of existence.
Quinn sighed in resignation and rubbed his temples, trying to stop a headache from coming on.
Once he had disconnected from the Captain, Darth Baras keyed in another holofrequncey.
A moment later, a small weaselly man in fine robes appeared.
"Duke Kendoh," Baras began, "this is Darth Baras. I trust that you have not forgotten me?"
It was phrased as a question, but was clearly not to be taken as such.
"Lord Baras, of course. How could I forget you? After your time on Alderaan ten years ago?" The Duke replied, "What can I do for you, my Lord?"
Behind his mask, Baras wrinkled his nose in disgust. The oily quality of the man's voice had not gotten any more bearable over the course of ten years.
"You will find out everything you can about a young girl called Jaesa Willsaam. She left Alderaan with a Jedi a handful of years ago. I want to know everything about her. Family. Friends. Acquaintances. I will send an agent to collect the information from you."
"Of course, Darth Baras," Kendoh replied, distractedly. He turned to look over his shoulder, out of Baras' line of sight. "What is it FimmRess?"
Baras frowned, as Kendoh remained silent, listening to whatever FimmRess was saying. His frown deepened, Baras despised not having all the information.
Kendoh's face twisted in anger, "What! What are those fools thinking? I'll deal with this myself!"
The Duke stormed out of view a tall musclebound Sith bodyguard following behind him, ignoring Baras as he called, "Kendoh get back here now!"
Another Sith stepped into view, giving a deep vow to Baras.
"My lord, forgive me. The Duke is rather impetuous. I'll bring him back immediate..."
He never finished the sentence. Suddenly, the Sith reached for his throat. Gasping desperately for air. A few seconds later he was dead.
The connection disconnected. Baras was left alone, in his chambers on Dromund Kaas. A scream of rage escaped Baras' throat. Crushing the holoterminal in a burst of darkside fury.
Jaesa's eyes darted across the room, making sure that she was completely alone.
She had to make certain that Master Karr wasn't about to burst in, he would definitely not approve of what she was about to do. Jaesa shuffled back and forth for a moment, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was nervous, more so that she would admit to herself. Even though she had practiced for well over an hour, she now had what she wanted to say perfectly memorised.
Forcing a confident posture and taking a deep breath she began, "Arkunov, I'm Jaesa Willsaam. My Master, Nomen Karr, has no idea I'm sending this message. Let's be real, we both know this isn't about us. Our master's pretend otherwise, but this is personal." She paused for a second, making sure that Arkunov would have time to absorb her words. She continued, "You and I are only pawns caught in their private war. And those I care about are caught in the middle. It has to stop. I appreciate directness, your brutal actions have my attention. But this passive-aggressive foolishness is intolerable. This message includes coordinates where I'll be waiting, alone. Let's end this, face-to-face. No more nonsense."
Jaesa let out a deep breath, relieved that it was over. Deactivating the holocam she ejected the card. It would be difficult to transmit the recording, especially without Karr noticing. But she knew when her master slept and that he had Arkunov's holofrequncey. As such, it hadn't been hard to get what she needed.
She wasn't sure why the Jedi Master had Arkunov's holofrequncey. Probably to call him out if it became necessary. Jaesa snorted, as far as she was concerned, they had passed necessary months ago.
Jaesa turned to leave the room, but froze when she her Master standing in the doorway, a thunderous look on his face.
"Jaesa, what are you doing?" Nomen Karr snarled, with barely restrained fury.
He didn't wait for an answer, he stormed forward and ripped the card from Jaesa's hand. Karr glared down at the card and growled, "What were you thinking? That monster will tear you apart! You are not ready to fight a Sith!"
Jaesa's horror was written across her face. This was not the way a Jedi was supposed to act, they weren't supposed to get angry. They were supposed to be calm. No emotion, only peace.
Karr's expression softened, finally noticing the effect his rage was having on his Padawan. When he spoke again, the Jedi master was calmer. Yet Jaesa couldn't forget the anger. She would never forget that.
"Jaesa, please understand, it takes years to prepare to fight a Sith. You simply aren't ready yet. Trust me, I can handle this Sith."
"Like all the other Jedi you sent against him? Maybe this would be over if you had trained me properly." Jaesa thought, bitterly. She almost spoke the words, yet she held them back, as she always did. Outloud she said, "Of course, Master. But please, tell me, how will you stop Arkunov?"
Karr's lip curled slightly at the Sith's name, yet he concealed it quickly. "I have sent Master Volryder to Alderaan, he will protect your parents. I promise you. As for this," he said, looking at the message in his hand, "I'm sure that I can find some use for this."
A few hours later, once Jaesa had calmed down and gone to sleep, Karr put in a call to Tython.
After a few moments the line connected and a protocol droid appeared. "Oh hello, Master Karr. How may I be of service?"
"Please contact Jedi Knights, Ulldin and Zylixx. I require their assistance."
"One moment please," the droid replied, before vanishing.
A few moments later, it was replaced by a pair of young Jedi Knights.
"Master Karr," the larger of the two, Ulldin said, "what can we do for you?"
"Ulldin, Zylixx. I have a mission for the two of you. There is a Sith I need you to ki... defeat."
"My favourite kind of mission," Zylixx replied, with a cocky smirk on his face.
Okay, another chapter done. More of a set-up one for the rest of the story, but I felt it had to be done.
Alderaan will be coming next.
Hopefully this will be one of the most interesting parts of the story. Should be good for setting up Jaesa becoming Sith.
Not sure how long Alderaan will take, but hopefully not too long. Want to get onto the final confrontation between Karr and Arkunov as soon as I can. As it is one of my favourite parts of the Sith Warrior story.
Also I should now have a poll up on my profile. It will decide the next interlude, which will come out after I have finished confrontation between Arkunov and Karr. It will be about one of these:
1) Dannark (Bounty Hunter)- Title: Sith Politics
2) Windrral (Imperial Agent)- Title: Asset Assessment
3) Dethree (Sith Inquisitor)- Title: Early Lessons