Many thanks to those who've continued to review. With this story completed, and the editing for AoM concluded, one would think I was brimming with ideas for Project: Raven's Flight, codename for my original work, but for the life of me I keep getting new fanfic ideas intermixed with the glory that it what I desire to write. Almost amusing if it wasn't interfering I guess. But still, things progress, and I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter! ~F
Chapter Twenty Six
Blades of Treachery
Kelrek couldn't believe the extreme difficulty that had arisen in trying to capture the rebel leader. Srilis was dead, and even Jenah was being battled to her limit by a mere machine! The massive suit of armor seemed to be more than capable of fighting back and protecting the rebel from any attempts of capture.
At least the assassins that Diábolis had sent were working hard to keep the rest of the Jedi and rebels occupied, allowing Kelrek to observe and try to find a weakness in the machine preventing them.
Granted, it was a true wonder of technomancy, and it was difficult for him to find a possible weakness in the machine. Lightning was the obvious answer, but Kelrek suspected that the suit was already protected from that clear weakness for metal-made electronics.
Still, even a resistant metal could be overloaded given enough power, and Kelrek was not the most gifted Sorcerer in the Empire for nothing.
Withdrawing from the direct melee, Kelrek bought himself the space needed to start gathering the Force around him, allowing his anger to well up and spill over in the force of electricity.
From the corner of his eye, Kelrek spotted the irritating Bothan charging at him, eager to stop whatever he was planning. Luckily, the assassins were more than able to keep up and hamper the Jedi's ability to interfere.
Rising off the ground to reduce the lightning discharging off of him, Kelrek felt his power peak. Extending both hands outward, Kelrek focused his hatred on his obstacle. Blue-white bolts shot out in all directions, leaping over surfaces and seeking its target.
As he expected, the robotic suit was heavily resistant to the electric blast, but he was pleased to find that it did stun the suit for a short moment. It wasn't much, just long enough for Jenah to slip out from under it, where she had been pinned by an overwhelming double attack from the lightsaber blades the suit produced.
Leaping forward as well, Kelrek allowed the Force to flow through his hands, keeping up a steady assault of electric bursts. The suit seemed to fall back momentarily, but as he drew closer, Kelrek paused. The woman within the clear dome over the command section of the suit was smirking at him.
Kelrek tried to retreat, but small hooks shot out of the chest of the suit, catching in his robes and lacerating his arms. That prevented him from escaping the heavy metal arm as it swung at him, knocking him flying and showing how foolish he was to try and exploit an obvious weakness. Why he had tried that even thinking that it wouldn't work, Kelrek had no idea.
The suit leapt at him when he skidded to a halt nearer to a shuttle, the twin yellow blades aimed to impale him on the ground, and as Kelrek tried to lift his own weapon, his felt the waves of agony shoot through his as he realized his sword-arm was shattered.
He was going to die here, Kelrek realized, and in that moment, he felt true fear.
"NO!" someone yelled, and the world slowed around Kelrek as Jenah threw herself in front of him, taking the massive energy weapons in the torso. The sight of the woman throwing her life away for him strangely angered Kelrek, showing him the weakness that had flooded through the Empire. The Marauder had allowed her personal feeling and love to cloud her pursuit of power, and it had cost her life.
The Marauder, in her death throes, swung one of her own sabers with all her strength, crashing the crimson blade into the arm of the droid, carving through it through sheer willpower and physical strength backed up by the pain of her death through the Dark Side.
Once she fell, and Kelrek saw past her into the exposed wiring of the suit that the armor plating had protected, he saw an opportunity. His good hand spewed forth more lightning, striking the exposed electronics and wiring that Jenah had sacrificed herself to carve away.
The result was far more effective. The arm exploded, rocketing the entire suit backward, and clearing the way fro Kelrek to claw himself to his feet. The shattered arm hung lifelessly at his side, and blood dripped from a large chunk of metal that had pierced him. at the least it was not in a vital location, even though Kelrek felt blood on his lips from internal bleeding, he was able to soldier through the pain and advance on the downed suit.
It had clearly overloaded, and the rebel had been forced to eject from the command section. She held a blaster, and aimed at Kelrek as he approached. With a snarl he flung it aside from her with the Force, and seized her. "Enough games, we are leaving, and you will serve my master well…" he hissed, the Force singing in his agony and giving him the strength to drag the woman back to a shuttle.
"No!" several of the Jedi shouted, trying to fight their way through the assassins and resurging troopers, but the oncoming rebel troopers, their faces masked, turned on their allies and started firing.
In the chaos, Kelrek boarded the shuttle and kicked it into autopilot, before flinging the woman into the cargo hold and sealing it shut. Hopefully that was enough to hold her until they reached the nearest allied ship.
Dragging himself to the medical station of the small shuttle, a hypostim injector quickly found its way into Kelrek's body, numbing the screaming pain in his arm and allowing him to do what was needed to splint and set the arm in a position to transport to a more adequate facility.
The intense banging coming from the cargo hold was infuriating, but Kelrek forced himself to plot their course and get as far away from the battle as possible. Diábolis had stated that there would be a ship nearby for extraction of things went south, and the Sorcerer intended to make use of it.
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There was a shockwave sent through the Force as the shuttle jumped to Hyperspace away from the battle, and Ist felt it like a knife through her chest. The assassins fled in an instant, leaving their dead behind even as Meteor and Havoc Squad charged in, shooting a pair of rebel troopers and turning on them completely.
Ist was caught off guard, and only a figure throwing himself at her saved her from being shot by the newfound traitors. Shade was there, grasping the lightsaber hilt of the fallen Dark Adept, "the Director is gone," Ist said quickly, activating her blade and rising swiftly.
"And I suppose we know who the traitor and spy for the Empire is…" Shade replied, one crimson blade activating as he dashed toward Meteor.
Ist was surprised that Shade could wield a Lightsaber effectively, but what shocked her more was Meteor drawing his own red blade and clashing against Shade forcefully.
"I had thought we might find you during this endeavor, traitor!" Meteor said snidely as he fought with Shade. Ist was distracted from this by the clear indications that both masked figures were fighting with obvious training with the weapon, and specialization in Juyo.
"Well, now you have, but can you stop me?" Shade replied angrily, hammering the defenses of Meteor and pushing the other man back. Shade seemed to be in the position of advantage, and even as Ist had to turn and deal with the rest of Havoc Squad, deflecting blaster bolts away from herself and the remaining Jedi, the Operative landed a heavy blow on the helmet of Meteor, scoring it deeply and knocking it from the head of the former Republic commander.
The traitor's face contorted with rage as he parried another attack and actually used the Force on Shade. The telekinetic attack shot through Ist's senses like a erupting volcano. There was no possible way that the man could have hid his Force sensitivity from every Jedi in the rebellion for so long…
Then again, as Ist dispatched another trooper, she recalled that Shade too had that particular ability. Even as he flew backward and crashed into a pillar, his mask was dislodged completely. Ist was confused. Both Meteor and Shade looked identical.
Slowly, realization dawned. They were both members of the Emperor Black Guard; the Arcanamach. Suddenly everything came crashing into place for the Jedi Knight. That was why they were both so effective at their assignments. Meteor was a loyal plant in the rebellion, and Shade was a defector that had inside knowledge and the right face to get anything that he needed.
Meteor bore down on Shade, his saber raised, and Ist leapt through the air, planting herself between them and deflecting the oncoming saber. That bought Shade the time he needed to rise and brandish the saber he had plucked from the battle.
"You timing is excellent, my young Jedi friend," Shade said, even as the mirror of the man's face sneered across from them.
"Well, in these troubled times, we have to keep true allies close," Ist replied, smirking back at Meteor, before advancing to attack. From what she had learned, the Imperial Black Guards were the most elite of all Force users in the Empire, barring the Sith themselves, and within a few short moments she came to one conclusion. Having been undercover for so long had reduced both Shade and Meteor's skills with the blade, but they were still extremely deadly with the weapon, and their strength in the force was surprisingly great.
Ist had to utilize every amount of her training in order to dodge, parry, attack, and counter-block Meteor's strikes. The heavy-handed Juyo strikes shattered through her Makashi parries, and Ist was forced to switch to a stronger Soresu defense.
It was a simple enough switch, as Shade's attacks were more than enough to cover Ist's total defense. They fell into a tandem quickly, Ist intercepting and parrying off Meteor's blade while Shade counterattacked and pushed the other man back.
"You think that this small victory will mean anything?" Meteor taunted, "My master has great plans for your precious leader, and you've already failed to stop it."
"So long as we draw breath," Ist shouted, lunging forward and stabbing at the traitor with her saber, "we will always have the ability to stop villains like you!"
He parried, "bold words for one so small, but utterly irrelevant," the man taunted, extending a hand and allowing lightning to flow through it.
Shade appeared, deflecting the deadly energy with his weapon, "Veneficus is using us all, can't you see that?" he retorted, obvious hinting at something that was specific for the pair of them, although Ist was unaware of the context.
"I have already severed my ties to the Emperor," Meteor said, bringing his saber to bear and slapping away Shade's, "my master will topple the head of the Empire and take his rightful place as the new leader of the Empire in due time. Your precious director will help bring the final piece of the grand design to fruition!"
"Unfortunately for you, this plan requires you all to die!" Meteor continued, backing away from them. "How better than with a self destructing ship," he added, turning swiftly and plunging his blade into the controls for the fuel tanks that they had edged toward over the course of their battle.
"Look out!" Shade shouted, throwing Ist with the Force out of the blast radius even as the tank ruptured.
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Hermione threw herself at the door once again, making sure that the madman on the other side knew of her displeasure. In truth, she was already working on a more refined plan to escape. The fool had picked one of her shuttles to steal, and while it would function just fine in trying to get away, but there was a flaw in the man's plan.
Hermione was in control of this ship, regardless of what he would like or desire. Finding a small console in the cargo hold, Hermione drew her wand swiftly and started probing the panels, loosening the metal plate and exposing the wiring and components within.
She had spent hours designing these shuttles, and knew them inside and out. Each console was perfectly capable of controlling all major systems, if you had the administrator bypass key that Hermione wore around her neck at all times.
Inserting the key into the special port for it, Hermione looked at the screen as it changed from being locked down to displaying all command functions, and then some.
"Let's see how you like it when I take control…" Hermione muttered, activating camera in the main cabin. The Dark Adept was there, struggling to doctor his shattered arm. Hermione felt no remorse for inflicting that on the man, but she wouldn't mind making things a bit harder for him.
Quickly checking their trajectory and destination of their Hyperspace jump, Hermione realized that whatever she wanted to do, she had a very limited window of time. So much so in fact that she wouldn't be able to stop their arrival. So instead of wasting time there, she locked down the cockpit and disabled all controls from that end aside from piloting. Following that she tapped into the long range communication, and encrypted a direct message back to Bakura.
Finally, she wiped the logs of all known locations and disabled the stored charms that would allow the shuttle to bypass their Fidelius Charms. If they were planning to try and use her to find Sanctuary they had another thing coming. Hermione would not allow herself to be used by Veneficus again. She would die first.
The ship pulled out of Hyperspace, and was targeted by a tractor beam by the massive cruiser that they approached, which nullified her attempts to delay their boarding of the larger vessel.
Still, she typed away furiously, sending out what information she could and making sure that the shuttle was a lifeless hulk of metal by the time that the Empire got their hands on it. She wouldn't permit them to misuse her technology any longer.
Her heard metallic footsteps approaching, troopers on the other side of the door, and she magnetically sealed it to hinder them. Just for added benefit, she tossed a few charms to reinforce the door from her wand, and quickly punched in the code to destroy all information and records on this shuttle, wiping it clean.
She pulled out her master key and stuffed it into her mouth, swallowing the metal with a small grimace. They would have to kill her to get it, and then it would be equally useless to them. And if she survived, there would be ways for her to retrieve the key with minimal invasive surgery, or pain.
Leveling her wand at the door, she squinted at the sparks that started to fly as the troopers cut their way through. The moment a hole appeared, she rapidly shot stunners and cutting hexes through, wishing to cause as much damage as possible to those who would try to take her away again.
She was not prepared for the lightning that poured through in response to her barrage, and fell to the deck in pain, crying out and releasing hold of her wand. The doors slammed open at that, and she was surrounded. "Treat her gently," a voice said, but she was unable to focus her eyes. "Take her below and put her in a holding cell. Watch her close, and prepare for the rendezvous with Lord Diábolis."
She knew that name, the apprentice of the Emperor. It was as bad as Hermione feared. She struggled, but the armored hands that held her were vice-like. "Stop struggling, you'll injure yourself," a voice said, and she was somewhat confused as to why the Empire would care about her wellbeing, unless it was the Emperor's direct command that she arrive unharmed.
Therefore, she snarled back and fought harder, but when her eyes refocused, there was a gloved hand in her face, and she felt the mental assault before going limp.
"That will hold her for a while, but her mind is strong." The voice continued, and Hermione was able to see the Dark Adept that had captured her speaking with the other troopers, "take her quickly, and get us out of here. I have no doubts that she transmitted out location to her allies in the attempt to stage a rescue."
Hermione smirked. She had done far more than that. She had taken the signature ID of the ship and broadcasted it on all rebel frequencies, so that they knew exactly what ship had her. The likelihood of them escaping without a retaliatory assault was slim. Every faction loyal to their cause would know where they were at all times, and who was on board.
"The sooner she's handed over to the Sith Lord, the better." A trooper said, even as they started to drag her away. "Apparently she is some sort of genius, and the rebel leader…" another replied after they turned the corner and was out of earshot of the Dark Adept.
"Well, given what we learned about the war, I wouldn't be surprised, she looks like she was once armed to the teeth, Lord Kelrek must have made a monumental effort to capture this one…
"Did you see him though, she must have put up quite the fight…" the first trooper said.
Hermione could already feel sensation coming back to her limbs, but she still couldn't move in any meaningful way until they arrived at the prison block, and she was dumped unceremoniously into a cell. The energy field sprang up over the doorway as he rose. Dusting off her lab coat, she looked for anything she could use, but the room was bare.
"No wand, no blaster…" she muttered, checking every pocket of her coat, including the ones that were unseen. Wire, plating, some preserved food… nothing she could use on its own to escape. It appeared that she was trapped for the time being, and had to rely on others to come for her.
The guards were just outside the door, and she hammered on the panel next to it to get their attention. "If it's not too much trouble, something to read would be appreciated," she said, and the guards look at each other, wondering if they were supposed to cater to her wishes or not…
Hermione huffed when they refused her. It was going to be a long, boring time before she was rescued.
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Filius Flitwick saw the ships fleeing from the captured cruiser, and while he was intently interested in what was going on down there, he had other things to worry about. Two more fleets worth of ships had arrived, and were pushing the Pursuit of Justice to its limits.
"Fighters closing in fast!" one of the officers said.
"I hope that we can get away with this quickly," Filius said to himself, watching the readouts of their shield closely. They had been taking a great deal of punishment, covering the other ship with their own. They prevented them from returning fire as effectively as they could.
"It may be time to use Operation Exodus," Filius announced, even as their shields dipped below forty percent.
The entire command crew went silent. Operation Exodus was still a prototype, and Director Granger warned them that it was only to be used in extreme emergencies. It was a mass Hyperspace Generator, supposed able to warp an entire section of space to a destination of their choice.
There were many uncertainties in this new technology, and therefore if they were going to go through and use it, they ran the risk of destroying one or more of the ships around them. Nevertheless, the command crew understood the need for them to keep their technology away from the Empire, and started to preparations for the mass Hyperspace Generator.
"Open communications to our forces on the imperial craft," Filius called, "and start the countdown for the localized jump!"
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Ist slowly came to as an irritating beeping in her ear. The heat on her face helped rouse her as he leapt back to her feet. Most of the hangar was on fire, and the rest of the Jedi and troopers were trying to put out of the fires.
"T…this is Knight Ist, what is going on?" she said hesitantly, her head pounding as he answered the comlink chimes.
"This is Commander Flitwick," the voice on the other end replied, "You had all better hold onto something, we're activate the Mass Hyperspace Generator."
Ist's eyes widened, and she snapped back to full alertness. If they were planning on using that device, then things outside the ship were bad.
"The Director has been taken hostage, and is no longer here," she said quickly, hoping to stall them so that they could locate where the Dark Adept had fled with her.
"There is no time, it's already preparing." The commander replied, sorrow in his tone, "We'll have to retrace our steps and find her after we survive this."
'If we survive this,' she thought, even as she scrambled for something to secure herself with.
The world around her shifted, and the ship shuddered, jumping forcefully to lightspeed as the Pursuit of Justice activated its mass generator.
Loose debris started falling and paneling from the ship were pried loose from the radical and abrupt change in velocity. Many of the troopers were thrown about at the sudden movement, but the Jedi were able to hold themselves down with the Force.
As quickly as it started, the movement ended. They must have only jumped a short way, to separate themselves from the forces attacking them so that they could finish with the ship they were on, and take control completely. Although, without the Director and her device to control the virus, they had to take control the old fashioned way.
Still somewhat confounded from the explosion, Ist was sure that there was something important that she was forgetting, but there was too much that they had to attend to for her to focus on what it was she was forgetting.
Rallying the Jedi and troopers, she started to organize them into teams to go and take control of vital systems throughout the ship, leaving herself to coordinate and assist the team going to the bridge.
They were short several groups that she would want to use, and therefore they could only assault the life support, shield generator, engine and bridge, but it would have to do for the time being until reinforcements from the Pursuit of Justice arrived.
They started off, and Ist lagged behind to try and clear her head of the fog that had been there since she awoke.
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Fury couldn't believe his eyes.
Even as they started to close in on their enemies, they pulled from their assortment of tricks something altogether new, and jump an entire section of the battle into Hyperspace at the same time, a large number of said ships not even facing the correction direction to be pulled into light speed.
It baffled the mind on how that was even possible, "Calculate their trajectory, I want them found now!" he shouted, his mechanical arm leaving dents in the metal railing that he was clasping angrily.
But even as the being in charge of following through on his commands rushed to obey, Fury was certain that it was too late. By the time they discovered where the rebels had fled to and pursued, they would already be gone with their prize intact.
At least he could be satisfied that Diábolis did not make an appearance, nor did he seem to get a hold of anything that would aid him in defying the Emperor.
"Sir, we found the coordinates, as well as several others from fleeing shuttles," the officer in charge replied minutes later. Fury quickly took the data and scanned the trajectories. They all seemed to in the same direction away from the battle, and toward where it was suspected that the Rebels were hiding in the Galaxy.
That being noted however, there was one glaring exception. A single shuttle had taken a staggeringly different vector away from the battle, toward Imperial space, and from what records they could pull up, there was a fleet there in that exact location. How or why a rebel shuttle would go toward an Imperial fleet meant only one thing for Fury.
There had been a traitor in the rebel's midst, and they likely were serving Diábolis. "Follow that shuttle there," he ordered, showing the vector to the entire bridge, "that is where the greatest priority will lie."
"But sir, the main rebel force went…" an officer started to complain, but a stern glare from the Marauder silenced the fool. They all knew the price for standing in Fury's way, and while his body count was not high in the realm of direct killing of his subordinates, there was still a long line of death in Fury's wake when it came to those that displeased him.
Silently, the other went back to their assigned duties, and started plotting the course to jump to the location of the rogue shuttle. Fury monitored them until they entered light speed, then departed for his personal chambers. He needed to figure out what this rebel attack had to do with aiding the Sith Apprentice, and what it was that he could do to stop this planned action against the will of the Emperor.
Only when he was securely alone did Fury allow his frustration to vent. Roaring in rage, the Force reacted, throwing small objects in all direction and warping the metal of the deck beneath his feet.
Diábolis was one step ahead still! Fury had thought that he upper hand with his discovery of the plan here, but the blasted Sith Lord slipped through his metal fingers when he was momentary distracted by the rebels.
Now they were playing catch-up once again, trying to discover what was going on while Diábolis had his way with the unknown things he had acquired. Calming himself with great effort, Fury thought about the situation rationally.
They would be able to pursue the shuttle, and the corresponding fleet it had fled to through Hyperspace for a long time, and in that process they might find another breakthrough that will get them a step closer, or even as step ahead.
"You may be strong, and well positioned," Fury said to the thought of Diábolis in his mind, "but you will make a mistake eventually, and I will be there to bring the blade of the Emperor's wrath to your throat when it happens…"
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Filius breathed a sigh of relief when the communication finally came through that the Imperial craft was fully under their control. Apparently there had been many losses in the process of this attack, and while no other Imperial ships were coming after them, they had little choice but to limp back to Bakura and tend their wounds.
The loss of Director Granger weighed heavily on them all, and even though there was an emergency beacon calling out coordinates for them, they had no forces capable to immediately go and seek her out.
Or at least, that was what he had initially thought. "We will go," the voice of the brave Bothan Jedi Knight said when the distress beacon was mentioned.
"I do not think that it is wise to send so few…" Filius started to object, but the Jedi overruled him.
"There is no time, if we wait the Empire will know that this ship is compromised, and we will lose the element of surprise. We know where they are, and where they might be going." Ist replied, her stubborn resolve showing strongly through.
Filius knew that he had no room to object. "We will send you every available member of personnel we have to help you in this rescue operation."
"Thank you Commander," Ist said at last, the sincerity in her eyes tangible. "Return to base, and rally all the support you can and come after us, I have a suspicion we will need every available ship possible to escape from this mess alive."
"Commander," Admiral Weasley said, approaching him across the bridge, "I would like to request leading the forces on the Imperial ship. They'll need all the tactical help that they can get, and I know you can lead the ship just as well without me."
"Permission granted," Filius replied, knowing that the red haired younger man spoke the truth. And his brilliance with strategy would be useful to the young Jedi strike force that was so eager to go after the Director.
It took less than an hour for supplies and forces to transfer across to the imperial ship, several prisoners had been taken, and Filius happily had them in his holding cells. There would be means of getting information from them back on Bakura, before wiping their minds and releasing them back into the Galaxy once again.
But even as the majority of his command staff, troopers, friends and allies jumped to Hyperspace in the stolen ship, bound toward the Imperial Core, he worried. There was a very clear likelihood that, if they crossed the wrong group in the Empire's stronghold there might be nothing left to rescue by the time Filius was ready to go after them.
"Be safe…" he said to himself, watching the empty area of space where they vanished from.
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Kelrek hissed as the medical droid went about putting his arm back together. The damage that the Rebel leader had done to him was quite extensive, and it was equally likely that his arm would never be the same again, despite the work being put into healing it, including bacta-soaked patches being applied.
If Diábolis hadn't specifically demanded that the woman be brought to him alive and unharmed, Kelrek would have taken great pleasure in breaking her will himself, and shattering her brilliant mind into pieces.
Alas, that was not an option, so he would make sure that Diábolis got exactly what he needed, and perhaps once he was done with the Mage-born, then Kelrek could have the pleasure of eliminating for the Sith Apprentice.
His arm in a sling as the Bacta did the work that it needed, mending tissue and tendons back together, Kelrek went to inform the Sith Lord that they were en route to the coordinates given previously where they were to meet.
As he waited for the signal to be established, Kelrek let his mind wander to the other consequences of following the orders of Diábolis. Srilis dead, Jenah left behind and presumed dead as well. The Trio was dissolved and Kelrek felt nothing regarding it. The power of the Dark Side was at his fingertips, and soon he would ascend well beyond any Dark Adept in the history of the Empire.
"This is Diábolis," came the voice of the Devaronian Sith Lord.
"My Lord," Kelrek said with a small bow, "We have the prisoner you requested, and will be arriving soon at the rendezvous point."
"Good…" Diábolis said, his red eyes seeming to glance swiftly over Kelrek's form, "I see she put up something of a struggle."
"The strange power of the Mage-born caught me off guard, but I managed to prevail in the end." Kelrek admitted, inwardly seething at having his weakness pointed out.
"Hmm," the Devaronian said noncommittally, "I will have people meet you there for the transition of the prisoner, and you would do well to keep a low profile afterward. The Emperor is sure to become aware of the attack and battle, and your involvement would be most problematic for him to discover."
"I understand, my Lord," Kelrek said, "we will disappear into the background…"
"I'm sure you will," Diábolis said, smirking as the communication ended.
Kelrek sighed as his arm twanged in pain again, and took to meditating in order to channel the pain into strength as well as pass the time.
Soon enough, he was disturbed by the door guard, informing him that they were exiting Hyperspace, and there was a ship already waiting for them. Kelrek's arm was numb and useless, but at least did not hamper him as he walked to the main hangar, where a shuttle to transfer the prisoner was arriving shortly. There was no formal precession, no fanfare or other pomp to this meeting. The less who knew about it the better and Kelrek wanted it that way.
Just a few guards to restrain the prisoner and a commanding officer aside from himself were present. Even the maintenance workers and fighter pilots were excused from the hangar for the time of the meeting, in order to make absolutely sure that only those involved were aware of the transaction.
The shuttle landed gracefully, and the ramp descended. Kelrek expected some elite troopers or a few other Dark Adepts at the worst, but the strangely clad women were a surprise. The stepped forward swiftly and extricated the prisoner from his troopers, and a few retreated with the woman back into the shuttle.
"I trust Lord Diábolis will know the full details of this perfect operation?" Kelrek asked.
"Most assuredly," the lead woman said, and Kelrek had a scarce moment to react before she drew daggers and plunged them into the officer at his side.
Cursing the treachery of the Sith, Kelrek ignited his saber, cradling the weapon in his offhand. He was at a severe disadvantage at this moment, with painkillers in his system and unable to use his normal weapon arm.
The assassins made quick work of the troopers and encircled him. "Lord Diábolis sends his condolences," the leader said scathingly, "but he has to think of the future, and a weak-minded fool does not make a good apprentice."
"We shall see about that!" Kelrek shouted, allowing a shockwave of the Force to erupt around him. He hoped to scatter the group of assassins and start picking them off a few at a time, but they all leapt as over the telekinetic blast, and pounced upon him.
He swung his saber as well as his offhand could, but he had never had much skill in the use of his other hand, and therefore was far slower and less refined than he would have liked. The lack of his other hand also prevented him from using much of his skill in the Force, and with a jolt of surprise, Kelrek knew that Diábolis had planned for this.
He had selected that woman because he knew she would put up the most fight and injure Kelrek in the process, weakening him just enough for these assassins to do their job right. The first blade to enter his body was numbing to him, but the second was like a hot tongue of fire.
He lashed out, throwing his saber and killing at least one of his assailants, but they were already trying to drag him to the ground with the two blades in him. Lightning and other arcane Force abilities flowed from him in his hatred, but Kelrek could sense the poison in their blades already weakening his ability to channel the Force.
Foregoing all sense of constraint, he tried to use his healing arm and attack with both hands, but they drove another blade through the bandages and mending bone and into his side, pinning the limb and sending jolts of pain through Kelrek's body.
He staggered at that, and the assassins flowing around him, layering lacerations and punctures on his frame, even as he started to see everything in as fuzzy, grey outline.
Focusing all the remaining willpower that he had, Kelrek tried to retreat, but his legs refused to cooperate any longer. The strain of the attack and the poison running through him were too much, and he sank slowly to his knees.
Silently raging, Kelrek looked with narrow beams of vision up to the outline of space beyond the energy field. If he had the strength he would have deactivated the field and killed them all in the vacuum of space. Not even a Force user could survive the lifeless expanse, but he simple fell to the deck. He had lost, and Diábolis, the traitorous devil that he was, had succeeded in using him to his own gain. Kelrek lost consciousness and perished under the blade of betrayal.