Chapter 8. Love Terminated

Lothal

Upon her return Darth Syren contacts her agents and spies, then she buys a mansion on the planet Lothal. She hires a staff and leaves baby Trystan their care. Then she buys a second mansion on Telos. It is on Telos that she waits out her own pregnancy for the next seven months. The day finally comes when Syren gives birth to a baby boy. She names him Gyllan after his father.

"I owe him that much…" She says holding baby Gyllan. When Syren feels Gyllan return from the deep Core she leaves Telos and heads for Dxun and the old Sith Fortress used by Darth Cognus.

Darth Atlas

When he emerges from hyperspace Darth Atlas heads for the castle on Ambria. Darth Syrem had agreed to meet on Ambria upon returning to the outer-rim. Atlas is sitting in a chair while the ship is piloted by his droid Beebo. That is when Atlas feels a disturbance in the force and sees the birth of his son in a vision.

"I'm a father." He says in a whisper.

"Did you say something Master?" He doesn't respond, instead Darth Atlas reaches out with mind and senses to find his Master/lover Darth Syren. "Master?"

"Beebo set course for Dxun…"

"Yes Master…" According to the rule of Two, it was up to Darth Atlas to prove he is worthy of the Sith Throne by killing his Master. Because of their love Darth Atlas didn't think she would do anything to him and he certainly wouldn't try to kill her. Now he would fight her and force her to submit to him and they would build a dynasty. "I will try to make her see reason first…" He says to himself. In his mind he and Darth Syren were evenly matched in force power and strength. So it would come down to who was the better fighter. Darth Atlas is proficient with lightsabers and how to defend against exotic weapons.

Darth Syren – Dxun

The closer her lover and apprentice got to the planet the stronger the connection between them got. But it is time to sever that connection, Darth Syren had to kill her apprentice as he is not worthy to sit on the Sith Throne. If he managed to defeat her Syren had made arrangements for Atlas to find their son. She waits for him in the throne room watching his movements via a holosceen. The doors to the throne room open and he crosses the marble floor. "Bow before your Master!" She commands.

"I did not come here as your apprentice, but as the man who loves you…"

"You are my apprentice first; my lover second."

"Were you even going to tell me about our son…" She doesn't answer, "I love you! And you love me!"

"I do love you…but that love has become a liability…We have a child…yes…"

He takes a step closer and interrupts, "The beginning of a dynasty…"

She shakes her head, "The Sith are meant to be ruled by the strongest and the most powerful Sith…Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" When he takes another step she grabs him in the force and shoves him back. "You will come no further!"

Darth Atlas had hit the floor and slid three feet. He stands up and looks at her, "There is no law that says we cannot change the rule of two…Our children can rule as two…"

She huffs uncoiling her lightwhip, "Enough words, bow or fight."

He starts to go down and Syran smiles, but her smile quickly vanishes as Atlas raises his hands and unleashes a lightening storm at her. Syren had coiled her whip, she drops it and blocks the attack with her hands. Bolts of lightening strike the walls, bounce off the floor and the ceiling. In anger Syren Syren pushes the energy bolts up and shatter the ceiling she calls her whip to her hand and slowly walks down the steps.

The debris fills the throne room along with a dust cloud. She senses that he is still alive and leaves via a secret passage. Syren emerges from the passage in the training arena. "I know you love and if you wanted to kill me I would be dead…I sense much conflict within you…Come and be with me…"

Syren smirks, "If you think I am conflicted you are sadly mistaken…"

She uncoils her whip and strikes at him. Atlas ignites his lightsaber at the last minute and deflects the whip. She slashes her whip again and again Atlas glances it off his blade and takes a step closer. With each attack he closes the distance between them. Then her lightwhip is coiled around his lightsaber. They struggle back and forth, but eventually he rips the weapon from her hand and leaps at Syren. Syren unleashes a force shout at him. With his hand extended out Atlas forces his way through the sonic attack. He lands on top of her and pins Syren to the ground.

"Yield! You are beaten!"

She stares at him, "Never!"

They start wrestling for his lightsaber, "I love you stop this!" Atlas screams. Eventually she stops fighting and does the one thing she never taught him or allowed him to see her do. Darth Syren closes her eyes." Look at me!" He commands, but she ignores him as a tear slides down her cheek. Darth Atlas roars as a force spirit rips his force essence from his body. As his body goes limp she shoves him away with the force and curls up into the fetal position. After several hours Darth Syren stands up and walks to Darth Atlas' lifeless body. She drops to her knees and starts crying, then she screams into the air in pain.

Eventually Syren summons the servants to mummify Darth Atlas' body. Then Syren takes a shuttle to the Sith temple of Two on the Rakatan home world. She lays his body in a sarcophagus at the feet of a statue erected to Darth Atlas. She cradles his lightsaber and decides to give it to her son. "Seal it…" She commands to the droids. "Farewell my apprentice…I did love you…"

Over the next few months Darth Syren keeps herself distracted from depression by pouring herself into her work. The seeds planted by Darth Bane over five hundred years ago need a lot of attention. Slowly but surely the Sith influence in the senate and the courts grows stronger with passing each year.