This chapter includes spoilers for chapters two/three of the Sith Warrior storyline oops.
Chapter Two: Memories and Jedi Platitudes
After the course for Tython was set Aurelia called her crew to gather together, Scourge included. It would be a few hours until they reached the Jedi homeworld, and there was a lot to sort through. Her mind was trying to make sense of it all, trying to put all the memories in place, trying to remember what she couldn't... Doc, Kira, and Rusk sat at the table near the intercom as Scourge leaned against a far wall and Teeseven rolled up beside Aurelia. Nobody spoke for a few moments, and Aurelia couldn't look at her crew. Everything just felt so… weird. Partly due to Scourge's presence, probably, but she could feel that she was different too. And she hated it.
"How long was I out?" she asked softly, still refusing to look up.
"I'm - we don't know," Doc responded. "None of really know how long we were - "
"Six months," Scourge said.
"Six months?" Aurelia shook her head. "Master Orgus appeared to me... told me I did… things…"
"You don't remember?" Kira's voice was soft, hesitant. "Are you sure you want to know?"
She caught her former Padawan's blue eyes. "Was it that bad?"
Kira sighed but she didn't respond. Nobody responded, and Aurelia's heart started to pound.
"Please," she murmured. "I have to know."
"They trained you as Sith." Scourge straightened up from the wall, folding his thick, muscular arms across his chest. His voice was almost flat as he spoke. "The Emperor used you as propaganda - to prove that the dark side was indeed stronger than the light; the great Hero of Tython, fallen to him. You were his weapon, and he used you at his whim. You slaughtered acolytes and slaves, Imperial traitors, Republic prisoners of war - "
The more he spoke, the harder her heart pounded. Her stomach tightened into knots so taut she felt physically ill. Tears burned in her throat and her behind her eyes and her heart drummed in her ears and her hands shook and her body shook and -
"That's enough, Scourge," Kira spat.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
Aurelia took deep breaths, acutely aware of all eyes on her. Everything she'd spent her life fighting to get away from; everything she'd spent her life trying to not become. "I did all that?" Her voice shook.
"It wasn't you," Kira said immediately. "It was him."
It was so hard to breathe.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
"The Republic won't see it like that," she whispered. "The Council…"
"Jedi = good person," Teeseven chirped beside her.
"Thank you, Tee." But her voice still trembled.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
"We'll kill him," Kira said. "We can't let him hurt anyone else."
Aurelia shook her head, as if snapping from a trance. "We're not killing him."
"What?"
"You've got to be kidding, beautiful."
"It's the Emperor."
"Then what do you plan to do with him?" Scourge asked, steel in his voice. "You have no idea what he is capable of, Jedi. If you keep him alive - "
"He made me into the very thing I've been fighting my entire life," she said softly. "I can't be like that again. I won't."
No one spoke once more, and then Scourge scoffed softly, shaking his head. "I sincerely hope you change your mind," he said, "for the good of the galaxy."
Kira turned on him. "Why don't you just shut up? All you've done for the last hour or so is criticize and complain at Aurelia - she just spent the last six months under the Emperor's control, you jerk! Excuse her for being traumatized."
He looked at her levelly, calmly, his red face solemn despite the anger Aurelia could feel in him. But there was something else. Amusement? He smirked then, wryly, but he didn't respond.
"That's what I thought." Kira turned to sit right in her chair, then spat, "Son of a kath hound," under her breath.
Doc stifled a laugh.
"Please just… don't," Aurelia said softly. "We don't need to turn on each other right now." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Um, I have some, er, thinking to do. You're all free to go. Just, someone come let me know when we're near Tython." She left the room at that, feeling stress settling deep inside her bones as she headed for her quarters. She hadn't felt this way in so long - and she'd always hated it.
Once in her quarters, she allowed herself a nice, long cry. It'd been forever since she last cried, too (after defeating Darth Angral, remembering the way he'd struck down Master Orgus…), but it made her feel better. Then she got to her knees on the floor and meditated. She searched deep in her mind for every lost memory over the past six months. She forced herself to relive it all - except this time she felt each death as if it was her own. She saw her own lightsabers strike down a Sith acolyte. She saw her own gray crystals impale an Imperial traitor. She saw her own hand Force-choking a Republic soldier… and she saw herself behead a Padawan. The girl couldn't have been more than fourteen and a strangled cry wracked Aurelia's body as she felt the young woman's pain, felt the stab as the life left her body and she crumpled to the floor.
I...I did that. I murdered her. I murdered so many others… and all in his name…
Aurelia tried to fight the memories, tried to push them back.
You need to go through it, her mind argued. You need to remember all of it. It'll make you stronger.
By the time she finished she was sobbing and shaking. What had she done? A few deep breaths and recitations of the Code helped calm her (if someone had told her a year ago that she would find comfort in the Code she would've laughed in their face) and she sat on the floor for a few moments, staring off into nothing.
What have I done?
There was a knock on the closed door, and then she felt his presence. Yet she stood anyway and moved to open the door. Obviously it was important if Scourge would willingly risk Kira's wrath to talk to her. He looked at her strangely for a second and then asked, in that low, hard voice of his, "Do you have a moment? I wish to speak."
"Then speak." She folded her arms across her chest, hoping it wasn't obvious that she'd been crying.
He hesitated slightly, maybe to ask if they could be alone, and then he sighed, looking at her. "I want to thank you for your trust, Jedi. I might not have given mine so freely were our positions reversed."
That's because Sith are freaky paranoid. "I'll hear you out, but nothing more."
He smirked. "We work well together. In time you will believe me."
"Uh-huh."
That smirk grew a bit wider.
He's so arrogant.
"I will speak of my vision in detail to your Council. Suffice it to say," he sighed, "I have long opposed my lord Emperor. For a time, I worked with the greatest of your Jedi heroes - Revan, and the Exile."
Aurelia perked up at this. Wow.
"But they did not have the strength to complete their task."
And there it was - the inevitable insult. "You knew Revan? And the Exile?" she asked anyway, partially hating how excited she sounded.
"You will find no proof - I hid my association with them well. Nonetheless, I was their ally in the shadows, helping them oppose my lord Emperor."
A dark ally.
He described his vision to her, saying the Emperor even struck down Revan and the Exile. Not exactly confidence-boosting. "Then out of the shadows, one Jedi emerged to cut the Emperor down. That Jedi wore your face."
Aurelia wasn't impressed. Never having put much stock in visions before, this one sounded like a load of bantha fodder. "That's it?" she asked. "Doesn't give me much to go on."
"It is a vision, Jedi." He sounded tired. "Not a battle plan. In any case, I bowed to you and took a crown from the Emperor's head. The vision ended when you held his power in your hands."
"That's never going to happen - at least, not the last part."
Scourge smirked again but said nothing.
"Why do you do that? Smirk like that? It drives me crazy."
It widened and she rolled her eyes. "You are a rare breed of Jedi," he said softly. "No doubt from your childhood as a Sith."
She frowned. "You know - ?"
"Do not insult me. Of course I know. I remember when you were born. I remember your parents - Iovita and Lysander Antall. They were impressive warriors."
"Okay, that's creepy."
It was his turn to frown. "I am more than three hundred years old, Aurelia. There are many events I remember. Besides, your birth was celebrated on Dromund Kaas. You were the bright spot in the Great War - the first child of one of our greatest commanders."
"I know." She looked down, sighing, wishing he would take Kira's advice and just shut up.
And he did, for a moment, and she could feel his eyes on her. "You and I are a rare breed of Sith," he said finally.
"I am not - "
"You were born from two, no?"
Aurelia sighed and looked up at him again. "Do you have a point?"
"You and I are more alike than you care to admit. For starters, we are traitors."
"I don't consider the Empire my home," she spat. "I never have, and I never will."
"Ah, but you don't consider the Republic your home either."
He had a point, as much as she hated to admit it.
"We are not so different, and I only hope, for the good of the galaxy, you grow to trust me. Despite what you think, you have no reason not to."
Aurelia folded her arms across her chest again, frowning up at him. He was right - but she just wasn't ready. Having spent her entire life hating the Sith, to let one in now… "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"
He gave a curt nod.
"Fine. I'll come find you when we reach Tython." And the door slid shut. She leaned back against it, closing her eyes.
She didn't let anyone else in until they arrived at the orbital station - not even Doc. She couldn't face him right now, after everything she'd done. Of course, she kept arguing with herself - it wasn't you that did all those awful things. But she had done them. It'd been her own gray sabers. It was her. She and Scourge sat in silence on the shuttle to Tython's surface; she had nothing to say to him. Well, that wasn't true. There was a lot Aurelia wanted to ask him but she wasn't sure she would like his responses. She normally didn't. And as she sat next to him she was severely aware of their closeness (it wasn't hard, stars he was huge) and she was severely aware of the fact that he intrigued her. And she didn't know why.
"I have a question for you," she said softly. "If I won't like the answer, will you lie to me?"
"No."
She sighed. "Fine." Irritation suddenly melted into apprehension and she played with a loose thread on her leggings. "Have you heard… how's my sister?"
Scourge didn't say anything for a moment, and then, "You will not like what I have to say."
"Just tell me. I need to hear it."
"She was a Sith Lord," he murmured.
Aurelia's heart fell. No. "I thought - I thought Cassia got out. Wait - " She couldn't breathe. "Was?"
He sighed. "I heard her master had her killed."
"Why?"
"She was powerful, like you, and he felt threatened by her."
She fought against tears and anger. She hated the Sith. She hated them. Her dear, sweet sister was dead for something as petty as power? "Wouldn't I… I would've felt it."
"It happened a short time ago, while you were under the Emperor's control." Scourge looked away from her. "You didn't feel anything."
"When were you going to tell me?"
"I wasn't." His red eyes found hers. "And do not misplace your anger onto me. I am not the one to blame."
"Then who is?" she demanded through gritted teeth.
He looked on her for a few short moments. "This is not your main focus, Jedi. You knew your sister for a year when you were young and now she is dead. Do not let this sway you."
He was right. Kriff, he was right, and she hated it. She looked down at her leggings as tears threatened, however. "But Cassia was so… kind. She should've gotten out."
Scourge sighed, rising as the shuttle touched down. "We've arrived. Let's not waste our time."
How she wished Kira could be here instead. But she dried her eyes and led Scourge, stoically, to the Council chambers. She'd holo'd Master Satele just before leaving the Defender, and they were expected. And she had almost forgotten how comforting it could be to stand in the Council chambers. Even with Scourge there, she could feel peace and serenity. She soaked it in for a moment as the few Council members there gathered around her - Master Satele, Master Kiwiiks, and Master Kaeden. Their concern for her was almost overwhelming.
"It's been so long," Satele said softly. "We thought you were lost forever."
So did I. "You're not the only ones," Aurelia mumbled, and then with a clearer voice she spoke, "As I'm sure you well know the mission to seize the Emperor failed." The words tugged at her heart but she kept going. "He's more powerful than any of us realized. Master Braga, Leeha Narezz, and Warren Sedoru are still missing." Then she looked to Scourge for a moment, found him watching her. His eyes caught her off guard momentarily - he's so intense. "The Emperor's Wrath - Lord Scourge - helped us escape. He betrayed his master to join our side."
"Sith serve no one but themselves," Kaeden grumbled. "He must have an ulterior motive."
Aurelia was almost excited for her new companion's retort - his arrogance made for good banter, if she was being honest, and Kaeden's ridiculous devotion to the old ways and the old thinking had always bugged her.
"You mustn't be so close-minded," Scourge said, his voice barely above a derisive murmur. "It's unbecoming for a Jedi."
Kaeden almost snarled, and Aurelia bit back a slight smile.
"In any case, I altered my loyalties to avert a threat to myself - and you," Scourge said, his voice ever detached. "Jedi are not alone in seeing the future." He then told the masters of his vision, said that Aurelia was the only Jedi who could stop the destruction the Emperor had planned. She could feel the masters' apprehension, and she knew they felt the same way she had.
"I wasn't sure what to think either," she told them, "when he first told me. But I believe him." Then, "I don't see a reason why we shouldn't," she added, and saw him stand a little straighter out of the corner of her eye.
"The renewed war is merely a diversion to conceal the Emperor's designs. His true plans are already in motion across the galaxy." He looked Satele Shan in her eyes. "One by one, every star system will simply die. Trillions will perish."
"How does that benefit the Emperor?" she asked.
"He'll feed on those deaths to become more powerful than all the Jedi and Sith combined."
Sounds like the Emperor I know.
"An immortal being of unlimited power," Scourge finished.
"That's nice and all, but once everyone's dead, who will he rule over?" Aurelia asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She was trying to be fearless but it was proving to be pretty damn difficult, with everything he was telling her.
Scourge's eyes found hers. "Domination holds no appeal to him. Only power."
She took a trembling breath and looked back down. This was not good, nor was it getting any better.
Scourge then launched into an old tale describing the ritual the Emperor would use. As awful as it was, Aurelia wasn't much surprised by what she heard. Of course the Emperor would devour an entire world - what else would she expect from the monster that had waged war for decades, that had enslaved her mind and made her a weapon? Not only that, he had manipulated his own people into helping him devour that world. Nonetheless, her breathing didn't grow any steadier. "The Emperor has shaped events for centuries towards one goal," Scourge continued. "He will perform an even greater ritual that will destroy this galaxy. But the sacrifice requires a great sacrifice to begin - billions of simultaneous deaths. He seeks to carry out such a sacrifice on Belsavis; he will commit genocide there."
Kaedan's brown eyes went wide and he shook his head, disbelief clear on his old face. "That prison planet holds the worst filth ever captured by the Republic. Mass murderers, tyrants - even captured Sith Lords." He fixed Scourge with a pointed look, and Scourge held back a sigh. "We've kept its location secret for years. How did the Emperor find it?"
Master Kiwiiks turned away, her voice sad. "It doesn't matter. If the Emperor has found it, so has the rest of the Empire."
"Once the sacrifice occurs, the ritual cannot be stopped," Scourge said as he looked at Aurelia. "We must save Belsavis."
She heard the hiss and hum of Kaeden's lightsaber before she saw it. Scourge turned towards it, contempt in his eyes as he stared down the Jedi Master.
"We?" The older man scoffed. "Your role in this is over, Sith," and he spat the word. "Surrender, and we will be merciful. But if you force my hand - "
"Put away your weapon, Master Kaeden." Aurelia tried to keep her voice calm and cool - if it came to violence, she wasn't sure which side she'd be on. But Scourge would slaughter him. "Scourge is cooperating. He'll come with me. There's no need for violence."
"I know the Emperor's ways," Scourge said evenly, as if there wasn't a lightsaber pointed at his face. "Belsavis is not the only world in danger. We must find the others and I cannot help you from a prison cell. Like it or not, we need each other. You need me."
"He's right," Satele said softly, looking between the other two masters. "I can feel the truth. Without his help, we are all dead."
Kaeden put his lightsaber back at his hip but he still glowered at Scourge. Aurelia, however, could breathe again.
"The Council will concentrate on locating other worlds at risk - and finding our missing friends." She turned her kind eyes to Aurelia. "I'm counting on you to stop the Emperor's plans."
Because that worked out so well last time. "I know none of you like this - but this is our only chance. Scourge is our only hope."
"I'm not thrilled with placing my hopes in a Sith Lord," Kaeden griped.
"We know," Aurelia snapped, trying and failing to keep her irritation in check. "But it's the only choice we have so please, for the sake of the galaxy, get over yourself. This is how we're doing it - Scourge is coming with me and he's gonna help us and if you don't like it, Kaeden, I don't particularly give a flying womp rat's ass."
Nobody spoke, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Scourge's shoulders shaking silently, and she worked hard to keep her face serious. Even though she'd disagreed with the Council before (and definitely with Kaeden) she'd never been so outright disrespectful. He was glaring at her now and his anger was palpable and Aurelia knew she should probably apologize but she didn't want to. In the silence that followed her remark she looked to Scourge, found his red eyes, urging her silently. She turned back to the masters.
"Well if no one else has any opinions they'd like to voice, Scourge and I should leave."
The masters nodded; Kaeden's was a brusque dip of his head.
"May the Force be with you," Satele said quietly, blue eyes earnest.
"Actually, Master Satele, before we leave, I was hoping to speak to you." She glanced back at Scourge. "Alone."
Kiwiiks and Kaeden took this as a sign to leave, the latter muttering to himself as he went, and Scourge leaned against a far wall as Aurelia and the Grandmaster each sat in a chair surrounding the Council table.
"I don't know how much you've heard about, um, the last six months," Aurelia began, "but - "
"We heard everything," Satele murmured, "and none of it was your fault."
She looked down, away from the older woman's gentle, forgiving face. "I keep hearing that."
"Aurelia, you weren't yourself. You had no control over your actions - "
"I remember all of it." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I killed so many people."
Satele sighed heavily. "Do you remember when you and I first met? You told me killing that dark Jedi hadn't affected you."
Aurelia's chest tightened. Calef. "Master Satele, I - "
"Hold on. The fact that you regret what you did under the Emperor's control is telling enough - you have changed, and you are nothing like him. You know, as well as I, you would never willingly turn and you would never willingly kill those you did." She touched Aurelia's cheek briefly, offering a warm smile. "Do not fret, young one. Remember the Code. You are stronger than him. You can do this."
Aurelia nodded, tears burning her throat at the older woman's kindness. Satele had always been her favorite; she'd regarded her as a mother, almost. "Thank you, Master Satele."
The two women stood and Satele faced her. "Contact me when you reach Belsavis," she said, and then her eyes flicked back to Scourge as he approached them. "And don't rely too closely on your 'ally'."
Scourge smirked at Aurelia. "I'm disrupting the fabled Jedi calm," he teased with a stone face. Then he grew serious once more. "I suggest we depart."
She followed after him in silence as they made their way back to the shuttle. The flight to the orbital station went much the same. It wasn't until they reached the airlock that Scourge spoke.
"The Darth that killed your sister is named Baras," he said softly as he walked beside her. "If we survive this I can help you exact your revenge."
You are stronger than him. "I don't want revenge. But I appreciate the sentiment. I think."
Scourge made a noise between a snort and a scoff. "You could be so much more without those Jedi platitudes holding you back."
"Like what? The Emperor's executioner?"
"No. Like the woman I witnessed in the Council chambers, putting a Master in his place." Scourge looked upon her for what seemed like a minute or two. "You're too powerful to be kept down by any master, Jedi or Sith."
"Is that right?"
He nodded, and entered the ship.
Stars, this was going to be an interesting experience.