A/N: The previous chapter marked the conclusion of part one of this story. Part two begins now, one year after the events on Telos.
Fifteen
Dark Council Chambers, Korriban
14 ATC
"We are in agreement, then," Darth Marr said. "The leadership of the Sphere of Imperial Intelligence is hereby given to Darth Nox."
Nox, lounging in the thronelike chair to Marr's right with calculated nonchalance, allowed her usual half-smile to develop into a full smirk.
"Have you all lost your minds?" Darth Ravage demanded from across the room. "How can you tolerate this outrage—support it, even!"
"I am no happier about it than you," the holoimage of Darth Rictus said. "But these are more desperate times than any of us care to admit."
"We are not so desperate that we need to compromise our own structure just to give her more power!" Ravage glared at Nox.
"Are you speaking out in defense of tradition, Ravage?" Darth Mortis asked with thinly veiled amusement.
Ravage shifted the focus of his glare. "I didn't hear you object."
"On the contrary," Mortis murmured, "I believe this to be in all of our best interests."
"What hold does she have on you that you all agreed to this travesty? What sorcery has she used to ensnare you? We could have given that sphere to anyone. Anyone! And you fools just handed it to her!"
"Calm down, Ravage," Marr rumbled. In the Force, Nox caught a note of spiteful joy before it was quickly and ruthlessly suppressed.
Ravage ignored Marr, turning instead to Nox. "I'm sure you find all of this very amusing."
She covered her mouth with one hand and giggled. "You know me so well."
"If you expect me to sit idly by and allow this—"
"There is nothing to allow," Marr interrupted. "The Council has already agreed."
"The Council?" Ravage made a show of looking around the room. "There are only five of us here, Marr, not including her. And where the hell is Vowrawn? I would expect him to be chuckling over this spectacle of fools."
"He's plotting something, no doubt," Mortis said.
Seated beside Ravage, Darth A'tro, the Emperor's Wrath, spoke up for the first time since the argument had started. "The war has taken its toll on our numbers. Perhaps it is wise to consolidate power among our strongest members."
"Oh, that's a fine idea," Ravage retorted. He didn't usually argue with the Wrath, but it seemed he was angry enough to make an exception. "And do you know how that ends? Some fool declares himself emperor, and then everyone loses."
A'tro smiled broadly at him, showing pointed teeth. "Maybe you lose."
Ravage's mouth tightened into a grim line, and he receded silently into his chair.
Nox rather liked the Wrath. She had style, and a degree of integrity that was rare among Sith. The Empire needed more like her. They lost as many men every day to infighting as they did to the Republic.
"Gentlemen," Nox declared, winking at A'tro, "it is my honor to accept the responsibility you have seen fit to bestow upon me."
"It was your bloody idea," Ravage grumbled.
Nox ignored him. "Rest assured that under my control, Sith Intelligence will grow and flourish far beyond its former self. Our enemies will have no secrets that we cannot learn, no weaknesses we cannot exploit, no strategy we cannot anticipate. The Republic and its pitiful Strategic Information Service will be left floundering in the darkness—a darkness of the Empire's making."
"Well," Mortis said into the ensuing silence, "she certainly has passion."
Nox folded her hands neatly in her lap. Sometimes a little drama was necessary to get the point across.
"How very eloquent," Ravage said acidly. "Would someone care to explain to me how a former slave is supposed to run an intelligence agency without running it into the ground?"
That earned him several frowns; mentioning one's pre-Council history was considered a fairly severe breach of etiquette. Of course, if Nox had learned anything over the past two years, it was that Ravage didn't give a damn about etiquette or anything else.
"Would you prefer we attempted to continue operating with the sham of an organization we have now?" A'tro inquired. "I've been on the front lines. It's a mess."
"I have also been on the front lines, and I know very well that we need Intelligence restored to its former strength," Ravage replied. "We can do better, however, than Nox."
Nox smiled.
"Then perhaps you shouldn't have killed the only other Darth who was willing to take the spot," A'tro pointed out.
Ravage shrugged. "If he was smart enough to do his job, he wouldn't have picked a fight with me. I did us all a favor."
"The fact remains," A'tro said. "Nox is our only option."
Under normal circumstances, every time a seat on the Dark Council opened, there would be dozens of Sith clamoring for the Council's favor, hoping to be appointed. However, the Sphere of Intelligence had been previously held by Darth Jadus—and while he had not been seen in three years, there was no evidence that he was dead. Given Jadus' tendency to vanish and reappear, and especially given what had happened last time, no Sith was willing to risk his ire should he return and find his position on the Council filled by someone else.
No one except Nox.
Ravage continued to complain. "If it's Nox or no one, I think I'd rather—"
The door to the Council chamber opened.
A human woman in light Sith battle armor took a few steps inside, flanked by two Dark Honor Guards with their weapons drawn. Nox recognized her after a moment: Elaedrin Myn, a former Jedi Ravage had acquired a few months ago. Like most of his apprentices, she was in her mid-twenties and quite pretty.
"My lords, I beg your pardon for this interruption," Elaedrin said. She had kept her Republic accent, which Nox personally thought was a wise choice; most dark Jedi who tried to sound Imperial did a very poor job of it.
Elaedrin tried to move farther into the chamber, but the Dark Honor Guards stopped her.
"Shall we remove her, Lord Marr?" one of them asked.
Marr's mask turned toward Ravage. "I expect this to be good."
Ravage scowled. "Elaedrin, you have ten seconds to explain this before I let the Honor Guards kill you."
Elaedrin's eyes went wide. "Darth Vowrawn is dead."
"Wonderful. Now we have to replace him, too," Nox sighed.
"Ravage," Marr said ominously.
"It wasn't me," Ravage snapped. "This is the first I've heard of this, I swear."
"And yet one of your apprentices has announced it."
"If I could claim credit for dispatching that pompous windbag, I would."
"Your lack of respect for your betters will be your undoing someday," Marr said grimly. "I will be there to see it."
Ravage casually let one hand fall to his side where his lightsaber rested on his belt. "Why wait any longer?"
Nox leaned forward eagerly. The feud between Ravage and Marr had been a mainstay of Council politics ever since she'd been there. If things were about to heat up… She did love to watch men fight.
"I have no time to waste on trivial matters," Marr said with crushing indifference. "Vowrawn was on the Council for a very long time, and he kept himself in power with great cunning and strategy. Killing him was no mean feat."
Nox watched Ravage carefully for a reaction, but her discerning eye and Force senses detected nothing at all. Intriguing and disappointing in equal measure.
"The Republic," Darth Rictus' holo said. "One of their Jedi Shadows."
"He was killed by a lightsaber, my lord," Elaedrin said, daring to speak up again.
"So it was a Jedi or a Sith," Nox drawled. "That doesn't particularly narrow down the possibilities."
"If a Republic assassin managed to reach Vowrawn, then we are all at risk," Marr said. "I suggest we end this meeting and consult our own defenses. The Council cannot afford to lose more members."
There were various nods and murmurings of agreement.
Nox was suspicious. The average tenure of a Dark Council member was lower than ever these days, but most of the ones doing the dying were relatively new, not veterans like Vowrawn. She had a feeling there was more going on than a power grab or a Republic operation.
And as the new leader of Sith Intelligence, who better than she to find out the truth?
