Chapter 6

Ritual Chamber, Twinspire Keep

They were all dead. All the guards he had recalled to defend the central chamber - none of them still drew breath.

Rend felt like his heart was trying to leap out of his throat. His mind raced in a thousand directions, attempting to find truth where only speculation could possibly lie.

With Lethe backing him up, he stepped into the ritual chamber; they moved like cats, careful not to make a sound in case Ruinate still stalked the room, ears straining to catch any sign of life. It was difficult to see anything through the banners hanging from the ceiling; they fluttered lightly. Somehow the windows had been smashed to pieces, and a cool breeze now circulated through the chamber.

They reached the raised dais in the center of the room, the spot where Siphon had undergone the battle meditation. Only a body remained wearing Siphon's tattered robes, slumped over and unmoving. Dead. Slain by a single stab wound from a lightsaber. Rend could see through the hole in the corpse's back to the cold stone beneath it.

Dread swallowed his entire body; he had failed. He had lost. Orthas had won.

And then Lord Lethe turned the body over. " … Ruinate?"

Ruinate. The treacherous Sith had been slain … but how? And where was their master?

Suddenly, a form revealed itself from the shadows. "Lord Rend. Lord Lethe. How kind of you to join me at last."

Rend glanced at Lethe, expression doubtlessly covered with bewilderment. Lethe remained her usual stoic self.

"You'll excuse the minor deception, my apprentices," said Siphon lightheartedly as she retrieved her robes from Ruinate's body. "I was concerned that more of Orthas' allies might have come to aid Ruinate in his cowardly plot."

Something felt different about Siphon … but Rend could not place it. He fell to his knees, prostrating himself before his master. "Forgive me, my lord. I should never have left your side."

Darth Siphon laughed. "Mm. No, you shouldn't have," mused Rend's master. "But I'm sure you had a good reason. And as it turns out, I handled Darth Ruinate quite nicely, if I do say so myself."

Something was strange. The Siphon standing before Rend seemed simultaneously familiar and yet unfamiliar. She wore Siphon's mask, shouldered Siphon's robes deftly and comfortably, her modulated voice sounded the same … and yet her mannerisms, her speech patterns, the way she carried herself … they seemed off.

Forgiveness and mercy were not traits he had come to know in his master.

"Impressive, my lord," said Lethe. "Darth Ruinate is - was - a renowned assassin. To have slain him so easily …"

"Yes, my dear. None can deny my power now." Rend could almost hear the smile forming behind his master's mask.

"Come on, get up," Siphon directed to Rend. "There is still work to be done. General Ravain has been broadcasting that Orthas has withdrawn his forces for now? My efforts to respond have sadly been thwarted."

Rend nodded, trying to contain his confusion. "The command center was attacked … my lord, I regret I must inform you that Vandal Pike somehow survived. He infiltrated this fortress and –"

The buzz of a holocommunicator interrupted Rend's report, but the sith lords soon realized it wasn't any of theirs: it was Ruinate's. Immediately after, Agent Quen's voice rang out over the intercom. "Communications are back up, my lords."

"Good," replied the Darth. "Agent, I want you to record the holocall being transmitted into the ritual chamber and prepare to broadcast on Lord Rend's signal."

"My lord?"

"Just do it, my dear." Siphon said, voice filled with amusement before he answered the holocall. "Hello again, Orthas."

Rend could tell the pureblood was surprised, though Orthas did his best to hide it. "Well, well. You have Ruinate's communicator. I suppose that means he failed in his task."

"Did you really think I would be defeated by the likes of him?"

Orthas smirked. "You are already defeated, scum. How many of your false Sith have I stripped from your ranks? Miro. Ruinate. Hysteria. Cerber. The names of your dead grow beyond the counting, while my followers' numbers swell."

"Pawns in a game," countered Siphon. "You strike at them because you know you cannot strike at me."

"A challenge, Siphon? Have you finally found your courage?"

Siphon laughed, cold and chilling. "A child could see through your strategies, Orthas."

"Is that so?"

"You fight to preserve my resources so that if you achieve victory, my powerbase can be added to your own. That is why you strike at my apprentices and not my armed forces. That is why you send assassins and do not risk your own worthless hide."

Siphon gave a subtle nod to Rend. He immediately activated his comlink. "Now, agent."

"Let us put an end to this, Orthas," Siphon continued. "Single combat: Darth against Darth. The winner shall be declared the victor of the Kaggath with all of its spoils and privileges, all of its glory."

Orthas scoffed. "I have the advantage. What makes you think I would accept your ridiculous proposal?"

"You have always claimed that only the Pureblood deserve the title of Sith, Orthas. I suspect you would not wish to seem afraid to face me in battle, a pretender in your eyes. If you do not accept my challenge, Orthas, you will prove yourself a hypocrite."

"And," Siphon continued. " … my agents are now broadcasting our communication over the entire battlefield. Refuse, and both our forces will know your cowardice."

Right on cue, the exterior holoprojectors began a playback of the two Darth's conversation. Rend thought he could hear Orthas seethe even through the communicator.

Finally, Orthas responded. "You have your duel, then, Siphon. As you say, I would not want to further damage what shall soon be a new contingent and stronghold of my forces. I will return in a week's time … that should be enough time for you to put your affairs in order. And when I return, you will rue the day you ever thought you could challenge me."

"It is you who will know the depths of your folly," replied Siphon, before sending a surge of force lightning into Ruinate's communicator, utterly destroying it.

Operations Command Center, Twinspire Keep

"Communications are restored for the most part, my lord," said Hallie, struggling wearily to not keel over in her ruined command center in front of her Darth. "Casualties were heavy. I've lost over half my –"

Siphon cut her off. "Vandal Pike did all this?"

Though the Darth still wore her mask, Hallie could sense the fury grow stronger in Siphon. Behind her, Lord Rend inched back just a step. Lord Lethe had been dispatched to the courtyard to oversee the enemy's withdrawal; Hallie couldn't help but wish that the female lord was present rather than Rend.

"Yes, my lord." She glanced to Rend, whose face now bore an unmistakable streak of guilt. She felt it herself; she had confirmed the man's death, after all. How had the bounty hunter survived? What's more, how had he swapped a corpse with the same genetic identity as his own?

Hallie's lips trembled slightly as she spoke next. She was unsure how Siphon was taking the news. "I swear, my lord, the genetic verification was accurate. There was no way we could have known he had –"

"The fault is mine, Darth Siphon," interjected Rend. "It was my mission to eliminate him in the first place. I should have done as I was tasked, I should h–"

"Should have? There is no 'should have'. There is only stark, naked failure." Lightning poured from Siphon's hands to swallow Rend in a cacophony of agonized screams. When the Darth was done, the Lord could barely get to his knees. Hallie winced. In essence, Rend had taken the blame from her - she could not help but feel as though she might've been the one left charred and on her knees had lord not stepped in to shoulder the blame.

"You let a simple bounty hunter get away, Rend" continued Siphon, "and he returned to inflict this much damage upon us. Darth Cerber, dead. Andora in critical condition, again. Quen's team all but obliterated."

"We will make it right," volunteered Hallie, before she could stop herself. What are you doing, you idiot? "We'll track him down and eliminate him once and for all, my lord. We won't fail you again."

"See that you don't. I want him found and brought back to me before Orthas returns for our duel. Alive. I won't risk allowing him to roam free while Orthas still draws breath."

Hallie gulped. Three days. That wasn't a lot of time … "You're really going to go through with it, my lord? Single combat with Darth Orthas?"

"You doubt my ability, Agent?" Siphon's voice was dangerously quiet.

"N-n-not at all, my lord! It's just that, they say Darth Orthas could have joined the Dark Council were it not for his … radical views."

There was a long pause, as Hallie felt the air thicken with tension. She kept her head bowed, and face pointed firmly at Siphon's feet, daring not to look up. It was not until she heard Siphon's quiet laughter that she dared to sneak a peek.

"Let me worry about Orthas, my lovely agent Quen. You should focus on your new task with Lord Rend. Lives could depend upon it, after all."

Siphon left without another robe, long robes sweeping the floor after her as she headed towards the courtyard. Hallie rushed to help Lord Rend up, only for her hands to be slapped away. Hallie decided to forgive his rudeness; he looked like he regretted rejecting her offer of aid immediately.

"Are you alright, my lord?"

He nodded. "I'll be fine. Thank you." The words sounded unnatural rolling off his tongue, as though he had not said them in a very long time.

The silence was long and awkward; Hallie struggled to make sense of everything that had happened over the day. The last thing Vandal Pike had said before Rend and Lethe had forced him to retreat resonated in her mind. Darth Orthas' apprentice - whose death had spurred the declaration of the Kaggath - had been Siphon's lover. But why would Siphon kill her lover? Could it be that Orthas' Kaggath had not just been for the death of his apprentice, but for – for what? What did it all mean?

"Agent Quen?" Rend's voice broke her train of thought.

"Oh. Sorry, my lord. And … call me Hallie."

"Hallie." From Rend's mouth, her name sounded even more awkward than his thank you, but at least his tone didn't seem as hostile as it usually did. "It seems we've a new mission. Any ideas where to start?"

" … A few, actually. I think your initial reaction was right; he faked his own death, but to do that, there had to be a paper trail. Bounty Hunters like him have got to have a nice inheritance waiting for their next of kin - maybe it's time we take a page out of his book and followed the credits."

Rend nodded, looking exhausted but determined. "Just tell me where to go."

"Head to the shuttle bay. I'll have coordinates transmitted there." She paused. "And … my lord?"

"Yes?"

Hallie contemplated telling Rend about her other plan - her plan to investigate Siphon's true connection with Darth Orthas' apprentice and what could cause their master to kill a lover out of the blue. Something just didn't add up and Hallie was determined to find out what. She would need all the help she could get to do it …

But Rend was devoted to Siphon. Hallie couldn't risk her investigation getting back to their mutual master, not now. It was too soon. Rend had saved her life and possibly some pain, but she couldn't trust him with this. Not yet.

"Just …may the Force be with you."

End of Part Two