Chapter Sixteen – Temple of Darkness
"I cannot break him!"
Vette balked, suppressing a wince as Baras's scream echoed down the corridor, a grim testament to his unbridled, impotent, rage. His fury tore through the Force and Aindri frowned before turning to her companion.
"Remain here." This was not something the Twi'lek would wish to see.
"Yeah, I'll wait," Vette looked nervously down the empty hall at their destination. Baras must be really pissed because whilst walking here everyone, even Sith, had been avoiding the vicinity like the Rakghoul virus, "Thanks."
Aindri nodded and turned away, black cloak stroking the floor and armoured boots clicking against metal as she entered Baras's personal interrogation chamber.
The sharp smell of ozone saturated the chamber, burn marks scoring walls. The creature strapped to the interrogation table, barely resembled the Republic agent defrosted from a block of carbonite. Dried black blood, trailed from dozens of cuts on his body, fabric from his shredded uniform imbedded in his wounds. A hand was gone, as was the agents' nose.
"Master."
"Mind your tongue or I will cut it out!" Baras roared his anger pushing his voice to overcome the screech of rending durasteel, "This is impossible. This Republic agent is the key to unlocking the threat we face. But he resists everything!"
Baras drove a gloved hand into the prisoners' stomach just below the ribs, the agent coughing up fetid yellow bile that dribbled down his chin.
"Some unknown power must be shielding this man," Baras growled, "And it defies me!"
"Trust your feelings master."
Baras laughed mirthlessly, a trickle of amusement breaking through his rage, "The minion advises the master. Very good, you demonstrate your progress."
He turned to face his apprentice, perhaps she could clear up another mystery, "Word has spread Lord Grathan is incensed at the slaying of his secret son while Ba'al has missed his scheduled communication," He paused, arching a brow though none could see it through his mask, "Let me guess, he gave you trouble, did he?"
"None, master."
She didn't bother to hide her true meaning, Baras likely not caring about the loss of an apprentice. A Sith, is expected to orchestrate their own promotion, Ba'al simply tried and failed in securing one. It was one of their many occupational hazards.
Baras chuckled at her reply, given without hesitation and with a hint of satisfaction, "I can sense the truth behind your words, apprentice. But no matter Ba'al can be replaced. Now, back to my prisoner."
"There's one last possibility to break him. I though it impossible, but perhaps there's a small chance you could pull it off. You are aware of the Dark Temple I presume?"
Aindri inclined her head, glancing at the chambers west wall behind which she sensed the endless flow of darkness several miles distant. An epicentre of dark Force energy even more potent than some of Korriban's tombs. She heard many tales of that place, none of them were pleasant.
"Over a millennium past, the Emperor conducted horrifying experiments in the bowels of the temple, draining the knowledge and life essence from the greatest Sith Lords of the time," Baras glided over to an interface panel, bring up an image of a simple metal diadem, "He created a device called the Ravager which ate his victims' minds and delivered to him their greatest secrets. Nothing and no one could with stand the Ravager's intrusion."
She eyed the display, such a tool would be powerful in any arsenal and she wondered, what was the price? "You wish for me to retrieve it."
"Indeed, apprentice. It can be found in the Dark Temple, which in the Emperor's absence, become a death trap."
"Only the Dark Council and the Emperor may enter the Temple."
Baras switched off the holodisplay, clasping his hands behind his back as he began to pace, "Under normal circumstances you are correct apprentice. However, Darth Arctis sent an archaeological expedition a few months ago. What remains of the expedition was driven insane and attacks on sight. With the chaos surrounding the temple and the city regarding the recent terrorist attack you will be able to enter unnoticed."
Baras stopped pacing, turning his helmeted head on her, "Legends describe a secret chamber in the depths of the Dark Temple where the Ravager was encased. You'll know the device by its inscription," She narrowed her eyes as her masters presence in the Force grew, his voice darkening, "This is worth your life to me apprentice. Be swift."
She gave a shallow bow as Baras left, disappearing through a subtly hidden door leading to his office, turquoise robes stained with droplets of blood billowing behind him.
She gave the battered a feebly moaning Republic agent a last look before sweeping from the room, throwing her hood back up over her mask. She walked towards Vette who was leaning against the wall, fiddling with the lekku nervously and asked, "How much did you hear?"
"Mostly lots of angry yelling," Vette answered as they departed, "So… Baras give you anything to do or?"
"We must retrieve something from the Dark Temple. A, device, invented by the Emperor."
Vette blanched, "Err, I really don't like the sound of that. And you sound worried. I've never heard you sound worried."
"The Temple was sealed for a reason." Aindri admitted with a frown.
"Great," Vette deadpanned and looked at her with puppy dog eyes, "Can I stay here? Please?"
Aindri cocked her head in thought before giving a small shake, "I will need assistance."
Vette groaned and Aindri fixed her with a sardonic smirk, which while hidden by her mask could be heard through her voice, "You're not afraid of ghosts are you Vette?"
"Course not!" The Twi'lek replied indignantly, "Long-dead Sith can't possible any scarier than the live ones," Vette then registered the amusement and challenge in the Siths voice. Now she couldn't say no without sounding like a coward, which she wasn't, and she wanted to prove to this Sith she wasn't.
Yep, she fell for it hook line and sinker.
"Oh, alright fine," Vette grumbled, "But if I die I reserve the right to haunt you."
They returned to the apartment for supplies, enough to last them a full day, before heading down to the garage and taking out a pair of speeders. Vette salivated when Aindri tossed her a key card for a dark blue Aratech speeder, shifting around in the comfortable leather seat.
Turns out she wouldn't need to hot-wire a speeder after all.
Aindri swung a leg over her own Aratech Nightscythe, straddling her favourite sleek black speeder bike. Flipping a switch, the HUD readout flickered to life in a bright blue glow, pressing it with her fingertip. She briefly closed her eyes, savouring the gruttle purr as the engines cycled to life, before nudging the speeder out of its space.
Garage doors slid open upon passing over its motion sensor a metre or so away and Aindri pulled back on the handlebars and pressed down with the balls of her feet. Vette following close behind her as they cruised into Kass City streets, leaving the city through its western entrance.
They passed through the expansion district just outside the city limits before coming into the jungle. Clear of pedestrians and speeder traffic, Aindri revved her engines, accelerating so she was slaloming around trunks and rocky outcroppings with an ease born of Force-sensitivity at high speed with a wide carefree smile on her face.
Vette waved at her from between the trees and swung her speeder, so it cut across her path and then slowed to come alongside her with a grin of her own. She could feel the Twi'leks joy radiating through the Force and if Vette were Force sensitive she would sense her own.
"We've been travelling a good couple of hours now. So… we there yet?"
Aindri closed her eyes and stretched her senses to feel out the shadows, the Dark Temple calling out with its seductive pull and nodded towards the mountains, "Other side."
"So, we go in higher or low?"
"Through then around. We will avoid most IRS officers and slaves."
"IRS?" Vette asked in confusion.
"Imperial Reclamation service. A division of the military who's mandated to protect and discovery Sith relics," She explained, understanding dawn on the Twi'leks face, and throttled her engine, "Come. The quicker we get this done, the quicker we leave."
"Do need to tell me twice," Replied Vette, gunning her own accelerator and to race after her.
Passing beneath a towering obelisk, carving of an all-seeing eye at its apex, Aindri could feel them, the spirits of the Sith Lords the moment she entered the temple, its slanted sides topped by horn like pillars. They drifted, like froth on a stormy sea, on the dark currents in the Force, alternating between activity and dormancy.
Lilting whispers brushed her ear with promises of power and corruption, only getting worse the further they ventured into the tomb, forcing Aindri to reinforce and redouble her mental shields.
It was a testament to Vette's own mental strength the Twi'lek wasn't succumbing to the temples effects, though more than once, she had to stop Vette from reaching out and grabbing anything which looked remotely valuable.
Vette thought she'd learned her lesson on Korriban to not touch Sith artefacts unwittingly, but it had taken a slave, who'd somehow managed to stay sane, touching a spherical object and becoming possessed for the lesson to finally sink into her skull. She walked through the temple more warily, only touching what Aindri gave permission to touch.
Though when looking back, Vette was pretty sure it had been the temples influence which made her want to pick-up these objects in the first place.
Branching off the temple's main hall were long passageways and they searched each before finding the Ravager in a dimly lit chamber at the end of a south-eastern passage.
"Force." The Ravager was missing parts, and from the looks of thing they were probably important ones.
If Aindri had to guess she'd say it was a slave who dismantled it, an IRS officer would know better than to do so, particularly without precautions. It was likely recent as well, an artefact this ancient would have been covered in dust but there was none.
"What more work?" Vette asked as she stepped around her to peer into the stone chest where the ravage had been stored, she'd never heard the Sith saying anything remotely close to swearing before.
"We will have to reclaim the pieces in order to repair it," She informed her and the Twi'lek groaned.
"Great. Cause I so want to stay longer in a place that's ultra-dark and ultra-creepy," Vette shivered, "I mean seriously, I feel eyes on me everywhere but there's nothing there."
Aindri sent a pulse of reassurance through the Force to Vette who relaxed and gave her a grateful nod, before they head back down the dimly lit passage, expansive cobwebs hanging from its ceiling. They exited into a large hall lit by dim greenish light, its floor paved in grey stone with ornamental insets.
High ceiling and ornately carved walls, towering statues of bowed slaves stood in front of whole and broken pillars, in the centre of the main hall, buttresses connecting them to the second floor. Furthest from where they stood, at the northern end of the hall was a towering sculpture of a Sith pureblood its arms outstretched in reverence, gazing up in worship to an unseen god.
She was right in it was slaves who'd taken the Ravager parts, finding them hidden in their clothing. She'd was near the pureblood sculpture collecting the final piece from the corpse of a slave, when a clear and calm voice cut through the sea of malevolent whispers.
"Come child. It's okay to be afraid."
Vette was looking around, hands on her blasters as she kept watch, giving no indication, she'd heard the voice. Straightening Aindri closed her eyes, reaching out with the Force to find the voices source, hitting on a soothing presence, an inherent sense of light surrounding it.
"A holocron?" She murmured in surprise as she identified the prism resting at the base of statue.
Hesitating only for a second, she picked up holocron, feeling the power coursing through the object as she turned it around slowly in her hands. She had found another ancient holocron during one of her forays into one of the tombs on Korriban, but there was a difference in the way the power felt and flowed between that and the one she now held in her hand.
"Hello stranger," A ghostly image of a Sith wearing red, black and charcoal grey coloured robes with large pauldrons, like those Baras wore, jutting out past his arms, horn like appendages doing the same from his headdress, "My internal chronometer tells me it has been exactly 951 years since this holocron was made. Have the Sith truly lived in fear of me for so long?"
Aindri frowned, "Why would the Sith fear you?" She didn't recognise him, not from her studies at the academy of before. Locked in the Dark Temple, he may have been an enemy of the Emperor, but it wouldn't explain other Sith would be afraid.
"It is what Sith do. Their passions, their fear especially feed their power, a power that inspires yet more fear. Like so many before me, I challenged the Emperor and was buried in this temple. Fortunately, I made this holocron, to transmit my secrets and knowledge to whomever is bold enough to learn."
"I am willing to learn whatever you have to teach." She replied after a brief pause, curious as to the kind of secrets which would inspire fear in her follow Sith.
"Have patience and everything will become clear. The way of the Sith lies in challenging the Force using powerful emotions. Fear is the chief of these. The Sith feed on palpable dread."
She remembered her first few months on Dromund Kass, scared of the constant crashing thunder and her self-loathing. She was training to be Sith, she shouldn't be afraid but using fear against others, they created fear.
"But it's a lie. Fear is a lie, passion is a lie. Fear gives temporary power and passion is easily manipulated. Real strength in the Force comes when one is no longer afraid. And one can purge fear when one stops grasping for power, after things, after life itself and allows the Force to guide him. There is only the Force."
Four Months Ago.
I swung my vibrosword in a downwards slash, whirling round when the door to the training room slid open with a near silent hiss, reinforcing my blade with the Force to block my uncles strike. Disengaging, I brought my blade around in a horizontal slash. He danced to the side and I was thrown off-balance, ducking to roll under his next struck and springing to my feet. Turning sharply on my heel I once again meet his strike, gritting my teeth and digging my heels in to stop my self-sliding back. I blinked at the rare serious expression on Ari's normally smiling face.
"Ari?" I asked, uncertain and curious.
"It's time for your final lesson Woyunoks." He pushed harder and I jumped back to put distance between us, cocking my head to show I was listening.
"You are strong Woyunoks, perhaps the strongest I have seen in decades but there is one thing you must learn. And that is conviction and resolve," He nodded to my blade and I looked down at it briefly before returning my gaze to him, "When you dodge you can't be afraid of getting killed, when you attack you can't be afraid of killing. When you protect someone, you can't be afraid they will die."
Shooting forward in a blur, he swung his saber and I dodged the strike, "When you dodge, 'I won't let them cut me'."
I narrowed my eyes, raising my blade to block as he moved his lightsaber to deliver a lethal slash at my chest, "When you protect someone, 'I won't let them die'."
Batting aside his saber I thrust my own blade at his throat, "If you attack, 'I will kill them'."
My vibrosword passed his neck as leaned his head to the side and I jumped over his feet as he tried to trip me, "Every time we have sparred have you noticed? The resolve to kill you in my sword?"
I stood there panting with the vibrosword held out in front of me in Niman's high-guard stance. How could I not have noticed his intent to kill? It felt like a snake coiling around my body, restricting my movements. The first time I was paralysed. The second I ran away. The third time was when I first attempted to fight. He looked so proud of me then even though I lost within seconds.
I close my eyes and breathe deeply, relaxing my tense muscles. When I open them again there is a small smile on Ari's still serious face and I darted forward, dodging my uncles' strike which whistled over my head close enough that I could feel his lightsabers heat on my scalp.
"More than anger, more than hate." I blocked his strike and pushed his blade away.
"More than fear, your resolve, your conviction and your passion in your beliefs are the true key to winning any battle." Ari's lightsaber clattered onto the floor a few metres away, my blade hovering against his throat.
"Abandon your fear. Face forward and advance. Don't give an inch. Retreat and you will age. Be afraid and you will die," Ari smiled, a true genuine smile, not the one only those closest to him knew was fake, "After this Woyunks I have nothing left to teach you."
It was the first time she'd ever beaten her uncle in a spar and she carved his final lesson into her heart. If she remembered nothing else she would always remember those words, her resolve, her conviction and her passion.
"Sith philosophy claims to break its followers' chains, but instead traps them in their own fear," Spoke the Sith drawing back her wandering mind from her memories, "What I learned only lives on through this device. Yet I am one with the Force, eternal and at peace. Take this holocron and my teachings. You will find power here but a different power, one of light not darkness."
"Hey… hey!" She blinked, the Sith's phantom visage gone, and turned her head towards Vette who breathed a sigh of relief, worry draining from her features.
"There you are. You were completely spacing out. I was starting to get worried."
"My apologies Vette.
The Twi'lek blinked before grinning, "Oh its fine, just please don't do it again," Cocking her head at the holocron resting in her palm "So what did ya find? Is it something Sithy? I bet it's something Sithy."
"Something interesting." She replied not elaborating further as she slipped into her robes, she would examine it in detail later.
"Fine," Vette huffed, "I guess if it's something Sithy I probably wouldn't want to know anyway. So, we heading back to the creepy chamber with the floating stone?"
Backtracking to the chamber and entering the passageway, the atmosphere shifted, both Sith and Twi'lek feeling uneasy. They found out why when nearing the threshold of the chamber where the Ravager had been stored, a tall and stocky slave flanked by two others.
"It was foolish of you to return here." His voice was filled with power and from their time spent in the temple she recognised the signs of possession.
"Why is it every time I'm out with you, we're fighting for our lives?" Vette quipped as drew her blasters, preparing for the fight on their hands.
"Those pieces you took from my minions belong to me!" The slave growled, "They will enable me to exact my revenge on Lord Pharshol. I am Lord Vacuus. The conqueror of Begeren. The killer of Garatak the Singed. Return what you have stolen or burn!"
Aindri arched a brow and unclipped her lightsaber from her belt, crimson blade flaring to life, splashing her mask with an ominous light, "I choose burn."
She swung her lightsaber up, slashing the possessed slave across the chest, Vette taking down his followers with two quick shots to the temple. The Sith spirit drawing on the Force to reduce her strikes power, but it wasn't enough, and her blow was fatal. An enraged scream rent the air and she ducked, shoving Vette's head down as a black gaseous substance rushed them, disappearing down the passageway. The darkness and uneasy lessened as the presence of the spirit faded, even the murmuring voices quietened, and Vette breathed a relieved sigh.
Glancing at her companion, she motioned towards the archway and Vette nodded before taking up a position facing the passage with her blasters raised.
No longer in danger of being ambushed from behind, she approached the stone chest and withdrew the Ravager components. Replacing the lid, she spread out the pieces taking a moment to inspect them for damage before beginning to repair the dismantled relic. Using the Force to judge what fitted where, she brought the Ravager to completion piece by piece with nimble fingers. Clicking the final part into place, she weighed the Ravager in her hand, shivering slightly at the pure dark side energy coursing through the object.
Storing the relic in an inner pocket of her cloak, she walked up to Vette who stowed her blasters and asked, "All done?" Sighing in relief when she nodded, "Well in that case can we get going. I know I've said it before, but this place gives me the creeps. I've had enough of angry Sithy ghosts and possession to last me a lifetime."
Aindri inwardly agreed and upped her pace as they walked back through the temple, back to their speeders and back to Kass City.
The first thing Vette noted was the complete and utter resounding silence. Every time she'd been here, which thankfully wasn't very often as Aindri normally let her stay at the quiet apartment where the noise of Kass city became a distant memory, there'd been screaming. She really didn't believe it when the Sith told her Baras had been working over the same guy all this time.
How the republic agent was still alive was anyone's guess.
Aindri turned her masked head to her and Vette shook her head at the silent question, "I'll stick with you this time."
Even though she knew she'd likely regret it and the Sith, bless her heart, regarded her for a few seconds before nodding and continuing forward. She followed, only slightly hesitant into the room, keeping her eyes pinned on her employers back and away from the walls, ceiling and floor.
Baras had sensed his apprentice the moment she'd entered the Citadel, the city already abuzz with news of her trip to the temple. Every task or mission, she was surpassing his expectations and she'd been doing so since the Academy.
When he'd first arrived on Korriban, he thought Vemrin would have been perfectly acceptable as his new apprentice, but with the completion of two of her trials and the praise she received from other overseers he lost his lustre. She had both raw power and less of a tendency to fly off the handle when a new threat appeared, her interactions with Vemrin showing a level headiness rare in a Sith.
Taking her in, mind intact and Ravager in hand he knew he'd made the right choice, "When I sent you into the Dark Temple for the Ravager, I thought it might be the last time I saw you, apprentice."
He took the device from her, turning it over in his palm before facing the republic agent, satisfaction at finally breaking him coursing through his veins, "There's no time to spare, the prisoner grows weaker by the minute. Stand back and bear witness."
"You're wasting … your time," The agent spat as Baras reached out and placed the device on his head, the claws beneath its surface digging into his flesh as they clamped down on his skull, "I … will … not … ahh!"
Vette closed her eyes and turned away her head as the agent shouted in pain, the device they'd retrieved from the temple and his eyes glowing an ominous red.
"Yes. The Ravager has seized his mind. Excellent! In his condition we don't have long before the ordeal liquefies all brain matter. I endured his defiance for so long. His torment is a sight for angered eyes."
Vette fought down her desire to be sick, at the pleasure in his voice. She glanced at Aindri, her expression hidden by her mask and her body language indecipherable. She hated that about the mask, unable to tell the Sith's thoughts and feelings when she was wearing it, though she supposed it was the point. She was getting better at reading her body language but at times like these it was difficult. It did, however, give her a bit of peace of mind such times usually occurred when she was unhappy.
"Republic worm, you have the information I desire. Tell me everything."
"I am … Republic … Information Service … on special assignment to verify … possible Imperial spy … on Nar Shaddaa,"
Aindri gave Vette a brief glance before returning her gaze to the agent, still pushing out his words as fought the Ravagers influence, "Commissioned by … Jedi Council … acting on suspicions provided by … Master Nomen Karr…"
"Nomen Karr. That's a name I grow tired of hearing." Baras growled, the Force flaring around him in agitation.
"An enemy?" Aindri asked curiously, from the cold fury in her masters' voice there was history between the two.
"My oldest and most hated enemy," He snarled turning his back on the Republic agent, "And an old wound that continues to fester. Nomen Karr is a Jedi Master who infiltrated the Sith. I rooted him out, then he nearly destroyed me and fled. He's dedicated himself to proving that the Sith have spites imbedded within Republic and Jedi ranks. I've thwarted him at every turn. But he is tenacious," Baras bit out.
Rounding on the agent, Baras restrained the urge to lash out with the Force and his temper. He still needed information, primarily, "How did Nomen Karr come to suspect my spy on Nar Shaddaa? Tell me, Republic wretch – what alerted him?"
"Master Nomen Karr has … a new … Padawan," Baras narrowed his eyes. Why would a Padawan, not even a full Jedi unlike an apprentice who was fully Sith, lead to Karr to discover his spy, "She seems to … know any being's … true nature. She senses … hidden darkness … and … untapped purity. When Master Nomen Karr brought her to Nar Shaddaa … this Padawan sensed … darkness in your spy … simply by … seeing him. Karr … believes his Padawan's … ability … is fool proof … but the Jedi Council is … sceptical. I was … to provide the proof … but … I wasn't … able … to report my findings …"
"Astonishing," He mused, even as his mind considered the implications of such a power, "I've never heard of the Force granting such a gift."
Aindri's own brow furrowed. She knew there were cases of individuals being born who expanded the frontier of what Force users could achieve and it seemed this mysterious Padawan was one such individual. While it would be beneficial to attempt to turn such a person, and subsequently their power, to their own side they were also dangerous to them if left unchecked, "This is a serious threat."
"Yes, my apprentice. It is the doom I felt – the disruption in the Force," Baras agreed, his thoughts somewhat mirroring his apprentice's own, "If this young Padawan can see through deception, a disguise, with such little effort, she threatens everything I have worked for. Such a threat must not wander the galaxy unchecked."
He growled at the agent, knowing their time was increasingly running short, "Who is this Padawan, you Republic pest? Tell me everything you know about her."
"She was found … on Alderaan …! Her power … first emerged … training on … Tatooine. And … Jedi sent another … agent … to investigate someone she suspected on Balmorra."
"He's fading," Baras cursed, absently noting the black substance leaking from his prisoners' nose and mouth, the agent was fading and faster than he anticipated, "Is she human or one of the Jedi's cursed aliens? Where can I find her? What is her name?"
"I … have … nothing … no … thing … mo … mo!" Vette hid a wince as the republic agent screamed in pain, his whole body spasming violently before finally falling still. The red glow fade and he looked at the room with glassy eyes, all life extinguished.
"The Ravager has emptied his mind. That is all we have to go on, a few random places within the greater galaxy where Nomen Karr and his Padawan have been." Baras's voice built in pitch as he spoke, metal groaning and restraints snapping, "Karr is a relentless crusader, and this Padawan and her unprecedented power threaten everything I have achieved," The bloodied corpse hit the stained floor with a wet thud no longer held by the red bands of light restraining it against a now crumpling interrogation table.
"It is a start master," Said Aindri, his apprentice's voice cutting through the red fog of his building rage, "We have leads to follow."
"You are correct apprentice," Baras acknowledge, reigning in his anger and striding for his officer, apprentice following obediently, waiting in front of his desk as he sat behind it, observing her over steepled fingers, "And I trust no others with this task. I have calls to make, people to inform. You will rest and recuperate then return here tomorrow morning," He smiled a cold smile, the Force coiling around him, menacing and deadly, "It is then I will unleash upon the galaxy."
Aindri sketched a short bow and swept from the room, Vette walking as fast as she could without running to both keep up and leave as fast as possible, leaving her master sitting and plotting in shadow.