Chapter 13: The Padawan
"LOOK OUT!"
The armored transport clipped the side of a building before it swerved back into the skyway. The vehicle almost flipped on its side as it banked hard.
Between the glancing crash and the sudden change in direction, Avaryss nearly lost her lightsaber, not to mention her footing.
If she had…it would have been a long way down. The people moving on the walkways below looked like insects. They were several hundred feet up, easily. Even the Force would not be able to save someone if they fell from such a height.
The Sith cursed as she came down hard, cursing, and simply trying to hang on.
The dark lord snarled angrily.
So much for this being an easy job!
The transport, a military speeder, juked again, only this time, Avaryss had been ready, or rather, thought she had been.
The Force screamed as the vehicle dove into incoming traffic, its armored hull protecting it from being destroyed in any head on crash…
Anyone else…well…tough luck for them.
Air speeders scattered trying to avoid the transport, several crashed into the surrounding towers, or clipped each other, causing them to spiral down in flames.
Chaos reigned, and Avaryss was in no position to take advantage.
At the moment, she was simply trying to hang on.
She reached out with the Force, reached out to her comrades, Fenn and Temmin were still there, not that she should have been surprised. She knew her dream friend's talents, and the boy was both his student, and of the old Sith blood…he could not be underestimated, or shouldn't have been…
We will not fail, she thought with a determined frown.
The prize will be ours.
Avaryss' earpiece crackled, despite the wind and noise, Temmin's voice came through clearly.
"Master, I can't reach the other team. They could be in trouble!"
"Focus, padawan, we have a job to do, and so do they. Keep your thoughts on the here and now, where they belong."
Wise words, Avaryss thought.
The dark lord said nothing, there was no need. From the degree of command in her dream friend's voice, it was clear that he was no longer a green Jedi student.
It would make his conversion a bit more of a challenge, but that was okay…
…she liked a challenge.
The transport juked again, and again she was almost thrown off. If this kept up someone would fall off, and that would not serve her plans.
Enough of this!
Avaryss scrambled forward, she needed to reach the speeder's cab, once the pilots had been dealt with, they would be able to handle this matter at their leisure.
They could finally deal with the target's entourage, and get out.
The Force offered no guidance, matters were moving too quickly, plus the presence of other Force users made any form of precognition difficult, they were blocking any attempt to see if the prize was here or not.
A simple job, she thought irritably.
Thanks, colonel.
IOI
Colonel Krys Capistan had planned the op, the information he used had come from two sources. The Jedi smuggler Tru Halcyon, and Jas' old friend Captain Gabe Cooper.
Avaryss could still not kill the rage she felt when she looked at the old man. A smuggler chieftain of some renown, and a very close friend of Jas Dar Bynn.
And…I thirst for his blood? Why?
The Sith Lord shrugged.
Irrelevant, in the end, for now he was useful.
So, she wanted to kill him, it was not the first time she had felt that desire. She tried to ignore those emotions, to simply let them flow, and bask in the power of the hatred.
If what she had heard in the briefing was true…she would need it.
Veldora, or Vel as it was known to most travelers. Was a small out of the way world on the fringe of wild space. Discovered during the Republic's expansion period, it had been believed that Vel would serve as a shortcut for one of the major hyperspace lanes. Sadly, that had not occurred, the hyperspace path that would have linked it to the major trade routes had been blocked by a cluster of forming stars, making any further passage impossible. Normally, that would have been the end of the story, and the planet forgotten, except for the fact that the planet, its locales, climate, and foodstuffs appealed greatly to human travelers; casinos and resorts sprung up almost overnight. Now, over a hundred years after its discovery Vel had become a resort world, a place of frolic and hedonism for the people of the Republic. Easily reached from the Republic, but isolated from the galaxy's problems.
The planet had avoided the first Sith conquest, there had been no need to take it, the Sith war machine had been more focused on seizing worlds of high value, production centers and shipyards. Vel had been considered a soft target, a waste of resources in securing.
Unsurprisingly, the war had greatly hurt tourism in the Republic, the planet had fallen into obscurity, for a time, but that had not meant that Vel was forgotten. Once the Sith advance had slowed, and even been pushed back in some sectors, senators and Republic businessmen had started to use the planet to seek refuge from the demands and losses of war, increasing its defenses without effecting the planets beauty, and, as the tide started to swing back in the Republic's favor, more people returned to sample Vel's distractions.
It would have been a morale victory to secure it, Avaryss realized, even better had they been able to take it and capture the various VIPs that had been in attendance; alas, that had never come to pass. Veldora had escaped Sith notice.
Yes, the Sith had all but ignored it, the Zakuul…not so much.
Vel was the type of world the Eternal Empire wanted, a place for their human citizens to experience the wonders of their newly conquered territories. The citizens of Zakuul lived a life of leisure, their needs tended to by their many droids. Arcann's Empire had secured the world easily. The Eternal fleet had overwhelmed Vel's defenses and soon the world had been one of the first true hubs for the invaders within Republic space.
The Zakuul were comfortable here, their people took to this world. It was not surprising that they would build an enclave, and equally unsurprising that they would use such an enclave as the interrogation site of some high value target that they had come across during one of their security sweeps.
Neither Cooper nor Halcyon could say who this target was, but communications that they had intercepted suggested high-level interest in the invaders' government.
"Why not perform the interrogation within their own space?" Agony had inquired during the briefing.
"If I had to guess, someone within the Eternal Empire is playing games," the Colonel had replied, "Perhaps this is something they don't wish Arcann to see. All we know, is that security is tight, a full company of Zakuul knights are escorting our target."
The news had not pleased any of survivor squad. The knights, with their sky trooper droid back up, had quickly swept away Republic defenders during the early days of the invasion. Avaryss had experienced their skill herself when the invaders had taken Pholis from her.
Even now she could feel the frigid water closing around her like a vice, its grip cutting into her sides like thousands of knives.
The memory of that battle still ate at her. The twin conquerors had led the attack personally, she had engaged one of them in lightsaber combat, and had nearly died when their troopers had interrupted the duel resulting her almost drowning in the frozen sea of the Pho home world.
The dark lord hated to lose, and the memory still burned, fueling her desire to destroy the invaders, down to the last child.
Revenge…the desire for it was an incredible motivator.
She had volunteered to help on this mission without hesitation.
The plan that Capistan came up with was simple and straight forward. The soldiers would provide a distraction, while the survivors' Force user allies recovered the target. According to Tru Halcyon's intel, their VIP was to be moved in two weeks' time in one of two military grade speeder transports, one actual transport, and one decoy. Knights would be present on both, so Force users would be needed for both strikes. After that, they split into teams. Shyra, their new Rodian ally, and Agony were the first team. Fenn agreed to take team two, choosing her and Temmin. Shyra Viel had argued against putting Avaryss with Fenn, but both he and Master Jas overruled her concern.
Jas knew that Avaryss could work with Fenn, and Shyra would be needed to lead the second team, without distraction.
So, the pairings had been agreed to. Through his many friends in low places, Captain Cooper had arranged for the Survivors to be smuggled onto Vel. They travelled as refugees, or wealthy collaborators. Avaryss and Fenn had arrived together, masquerading as a newly married couple. They met up with Temmin at the Spaceport, their fake docs easily getting them through customs.
Clothing, documents, and transport, all of this had been provided by the smuggler chieftain, he had even arranged to set them up in a building not far from the transport's route, allowing them to move quickly when word had come down that it was on its way.
Avaryss was impressed.
Despite her feelings at their first meeting, Captain Cooper was proving to be a useful resource. Considering that Tru Halcyon's findings had agreed with his, Avaryss had given the man the benefit of the doubt.
Halcyon had proven to be a strong foe. Her contacts were second to few, or none.
Avaryss accepted what she had given them at face value. The woman was too useful to deny.
Fifteen minutes ago, they had leapt from one of the buildings, the Force guiding them down onto the speeder.
…and now…here they were.
IOI
Yes, Avaryss thought as the speeder continued to juke and weave through the city.
Here…they…were.
The transport dove again, this time dipping beneath a pedestrian walkway. Avaryss hit the deck hard, as they passed beneath the bridge, she could feel the steel and permacrete barely an eyelash from her body, any higher and she would have been scraped off the transport like a bug beneath a boot.
They cleared the bridge, Avaryss sighed with relief, only to sense something amiss.
"MASTER!"
Temmin's scream drew her attention, and horror!
She looked back and saw that Fenn was gone, only she and the Padawan remained.
No, she thought.
NO!
IT CANNOT BE!
She reached out with the Force desperately questing for he dream friend. Fenn…he…he couldn't…she…
I'm fine.
The words sang out to her through the Force, and with them…a sense of relief.
Through their connection, she got a sense of what had happened, that…and Fenn Shadowstone's frustration.
He had not reacted quick enough when the transport had dipped, the section he was on, there had been no space between the bridge and him, he would have been smashed against the bridge like a bug on a windshield.
Fenn had had no choice; he had been forced to jump. The Force, ever a powerful ally, had offered its strength, allowing him to land on the walkway, and quickly blend in with the crowd.
Despite his annoyance at being force to abandon his role in the mission, he was happy to sense that the rest of his team were still in the game, Avaryss felt that much.
Stay on mission, she heard through the Force, Fenn's voice filling her mind.
You still have a job to do.
The Dark Lord nodded.
He was right, they would need to link up again at the rendezvous…
…there was nothing they could do at the moment. Fenn was out, and they were still in, they needed to finish the job.
And keep Temmin safe.
She glanced over at the boy, he looked…confused…lost without his master.
She realized she needed to step in.
"We need to reach the pilots, end this," she said over the commlink.
"We're still on mission."
The boy looked up at her, she saw the briefest of hesitation, but then…he nodded.
She didn't blame him.
Temmin Tagge didn't like the Sith. Avaryss didn't know all the details, but she did know that the boy's father and grandfather had abandoned the Empire, or been forced to abandon it. That incident, and being raised by a Republic mother, had tilted the boy's opinions away from the Empire, or anyone who lived for its continued growth.
It was a shame, he was of the old blood, he could have been more than what he was now.
He could have been…so much more.
The speeder evened out, and it began to slow, slow enough that Temmin and Avaryss could finally hear each other without the need for comms.
"What is happening," the boy asked, "Are they giving up?"
The dark lord's eyes narrowed.
"No," she said.
Not a chance.
She didn't need to the Force to know that.
The vehicle's rear hatch hissed open, and four armored warriors swung up to meet Avaryss and the Padawan, their golden armor catching the neon lights of the city scape, sending rainbow streaks flashing across their bodies.
The Dark Lord hissed.
The Knights of Zakuul.
Seeing that golden armor, seeing those golden bladed light pikes…it took Avaryss back, back to Pholis, legions of sky troopers dropping from orbit, overwhelming the frozen world's defenses. Knights forming up, pushing back Sith forces, and at the head of their army, two young men, one in white and one in black…
The emperor's sons…the twin conquerors!
The memory…it brought shame…shame…and hatred, and an all-annihilating RAGE!
They…THEY…the two wretches had stolen from the Empire…they had stolen from HER!
The world turned red, and Avaryss smiled. Her Sith eyes glowed as golden as the blades of her foes.
"Look Temmin," she purred, "Walking, talking, corpses."
The boy drew his lightsaber, the blue blade shining in the neon filled night.
The knights were not impressed.
"Surrender, Jedi," the lead warrior called out, "Surrender, or face the Emperor's judgment!"
Avaryss began to giggle.
She was just going to kill them, but for THAT insult, for daring to call her a Jedi…
Well, some people just needed to die in agony!
"Stay behind me," she ordered Temmin, and then, she raised her right hand, gesturing. She had not gotten a chance to use her sorcery on Pholis; or at all since joining the council. She had grown too used to her position, or lightsaber, being enough to bring an adversary to his knees.
She had been foolish…
She had not understood the enemy…yet, not then, but now…the lesson had been learned, and now…now…
She was most eager to see how it worked.
She wanted to test the limits of the knights, see just how good they were. Plus, magic was safer, a moving speeder wasn't the best location for a lightsaber duel. It was not wide enough to truly enjoy herself, there was only enough room for two people to walk side by side.
She tried to get into the knights' minds, she could feel their wills, their dedication to their empire and their duty was strong, but so was the fear of their emperor, and his sister…
It was a way in.
She could not bring their nightmares to full bloom, but that was fine, she could still touch them, distort their perceptions. She made them see three more of her and the boy. Now they saw eight enemies instead of two.
She had thought to discourage them, to make them fear, but the Zakuul were not easily daunted.
They attacked.
The two in front lunged while their two allies stayed back waiting to see what was trickery and what was real. The first knight's light pike pierced the first Avaryss they saw, revealing it to be only an illusion. Time seemed to slow down as the four advanced on their targets.
The dark lord had to give them credit, a smart move, but it was not smart enough. Illusion and her lightsaber were not her only weapons.
Avaryss wailed, the strength of her Force-scream rattling windows in the buildings as they passed by. Her crimson lightsaber sprang to life, and with her, her rage.
She attacked.
The lead knight had not recovered from her attack, his blade was out of position, and so, she caught him; her saber cut him across the waist splitting him in two. The second tried a Force push, but her shield held, it had been a glancing blow, his real target had been the illusion to her left.
Fool, she thought.
To foolish to live!
She struck with the swiftness of a pit viper.
Their blades crossed two, three…four times, but it was still not enough.
The man's helmet went flying and on its first bounce, his head fell away and down into incoming traffic.
Avaryss was pleased, two down, and…
There was a flash of yellow light to her left…the Force screamed a warning.
VMMMM!
Avaryss lost her footing, and almost…her head.
Two more knights had emerged from the hatch in the speeder's cab. Now they had enemies on both sides!
Temmin crossed swords with one, but the other had Avaryss on her back, the Zakuul had her pinned, his blade hammering her, not giving her a chance to regain her feet, barely giving her a chance to think.
She blocked and dodged, she let the Force control her movement, thought, at that moment, would only distract her, and bring about her death.
She lashed out with her foot, hoping to catch her enemy in the knee, he sidestepped her blow, but it did give her a chance to roll, and regain her feet…
…she almost fell off the speeder, she was a mere breath from the edge when she spun around and regained her footing.
Three golden clad fighters stood before her, the one on the far left lunged, looking to stab her with his pike.
She spun away with the grace of a Twi'lek veil dancer, off-balance, she Force pushed the knight, he lost his footing and fell over the edge. He crashed through the wind screen of an oncoming speeder that veered off and quickly vanished from view.
Avaryss grinned. Her heart was pounding, adrenalin pumped through her veins.
Another down.
GLORIOUS!
She threw Force lightning as the two remaining knights tried to attack her at once. Left caught the blast with his blade, while right tried to cut her across the shoulder. She…
RARRRRRRRRRH!
The shout came from behind the remaining knights, they didn't have a chance to turn, they were still engaged with the dark lord.
They paid for that.
A blue blade punched through the back of left, he barely made a sound as Temmin Tagge ended the Zakuul's life. Before he even had a chance to fall the boy had withdrawn his weapon and was now focused on the remaining knight.
Avaryss held back, she kept her blade at the ready, but for the moment, it was not needed.
Avaryss watched with a surprised look on her face.
Her lips curled up into a slight smile.
Interesting.
Of all of Survivor Squad, Avaryss had had the least respect for Temmin Tagge. The boy knew nothing of his people, and had no respect for either her or his own heritage. In truth, she had not expected him to survive his first real engagement, Zakuul knights were dangerous; they may not have understood the true nature of the Force, but they could still kill a Jedi or Sith if they attacked in numbers.
The boy should have been killed when they had been attacked from behind, Avaryss had barely survived herself, but now…now…
A shiver of excitement ran down her spine.
Wow.
Look at that.
The boy was not only holdings his own against the Zakuul, he was starting to dominate him. She had not seen him deal with his original foe, but considering what she was seeing now, it was clear that the boy was skilled. He switched almost effortlessly between the forms of Djem so, and Makashi, but it wasn't just his skill with a blade that was giving him an edge.
It was his fear and anger.
Avaryss shivered, and basked in it, it radiated like the heat from a star.
Wonderous!
The padawan pushed the knight back effortlessly, stripped of his allies, the Zakuul was no match for the half blood padawan. Anger and the old blood had made the boy both powerful and dangerous.
Only once did Temmin miss a step, and the knight tried to take advantage. The Padawan's blade was out of position; it was only for a moment, but that was all it took. The Zakuul cut at his right side, the boy would have lost a limb…
He needn't have worried.
She was there.
Avaryss intervened.
A blast of Force lightning struck the Zakuul's saber staff, the weapon flew from his hand, and he had no time to recall it with the Force.
Temmin was there before he had a chance to recover. Two quick slashes, one across the left arm and the right thigh.
The knight fell to his knees…beaten.
The boy stood over him, panting, his golden eyes glowing with anger.
The Zakuul looked up, his shields gone, his eyes wide with disbelief and fear.
"Mercy, outlander," the knight called out holding up his hands.
"Mercy."
The boy stood before his beaten foe, his blade at the ready.
Time seemed to slow down, almost like it was holding its breath.
The Dark Lord watched, eager for what came next.
Go on, Avaryss thought, licking her lips, hungrily.
You know what must be done.
Kill him…kill him now!
The boy didn't act, he stood before his foe, his hands tight around his weapon, but he made no aggressive movements.
The dogma of the Jedi was holding him back.
The dark lord frowned.
How…disappointing.
"What are you waiting for?" she asked.
The boy shook his head.
"I…I can't…"
It was all the chance the knight needed.
He moved with the swiftness of the Force.
A dagger was in the Zakuul's hand, it appeared in less than a second, it had been hidden in his boot. Almost a foot of cold metal vibroblade plunged forward.
Temmin hadn't had time to move or think, fortunately, for him, he was not alone.
Avaryss had felt it, she sensed what was coming.
She chose to act.
The vibroblade stopped, but only just, it had pierced Temmin's coat and shirt, and would have gone deeper. The boy flinched, feeling the kiss of metal, of the death that had almost claimed him.
Avaryss sneered.
So much potential, she thought, so much waste.
The knight struggled, trying to drive the blade home.
Avaryss held it in the Force, it was frozen, only a breath from ending the padawan's life.
She sighed.
Foolish child.
You still have so much to learn.
"That would have pierced your heart, boy," she informed him.
Temmin blinked, still unsure of himself. The Sith would have preferred he acted, did what needed to be done, but recognized the fact that he would not.
Avaryss sighed.
She didn't hesitate.
She held the blade at easily with the Force, shaped it with her left hand, and, then at the same time, she raised her right hand, it formed into a claw, and she slowly began to close it.
The knight gasped as his helmet began to constrict. The metal squeezing around his face, he made no attempt to block the attack, he had put the last of his strength into his attempt to kill the boy.
Temmin could only watch, shocked by his near death, he looked back and forth between the blade and his would-be killer.
Avaryss shook her head.
"You mustn't hesitate before a foe. If you must strike, strike, you can't hesitate, or show mercy." the Sith said coldly, as she continued to crush the man's skull, he gulped and gurgled as the metal began to crush bone.
The pain was enough that the man didn't respond. He stood like an animal caught in a speeder's headlights, not so different from his would-be victim.
Avaryss glared at the boy, he needed to understand.
"Hesitation…," she told him, "…kills."
She released her victim, his pain was no longer amusing.
Enough of this.
She didn't bother ending the man's life, the knight was in agony, that was enough. She kicked him; sending his body flying off the slow-moving speeder, off and down to the distant streets far below.
She stayed with him, enjoying every last moment…and then…nothing…as he struck the ground.
She shivered, savoring the pain and the hopelessness that the Zakuul felt in his final moments.
Delicious!
Temmin looked at her, still in shock, he no doubt realized how close he had come to death.
She gave him a sad smile.
"I promised your master I would look out for you, and now…that is done. Come, we still have a mission to complete."
To his credit, the boy didn't question her, or chastise her for the death of the knight. He turned and made for the hatch near the speeder's cab.
It was locked, of course, but that was no problem. Temmin slashed it open with his lightsaber.
He leapt down into the speeder, Avaryss held back, listening for any surprises, any traps that the enemy might have prepared.
"All clear!"
Temmin's voice drew her down, she leapt without further thought.
The boy sat at the controls of the speeder, two pilot droids lay beheaded next to controls.
The dark lord nodded.
Finally, he had done something right.
"Well done," she told Fenn's padawan.
The boy didn't bother respond to her praise, he remained focused on the sky lane, that…and their prize.
"Check the back," he ordered, "See if our prisoner is here."
Avaryss smiled.
Normally, she would have punished another for daring to command her, but at the moment, she was feeling…generous.
The boy had saved her life, that bought him a little leeway.
She obeyed his order, in truth, she was as curious as he to see who it was that the Zakuul thought so important to send a full company of knights to escort them.
The hatch to the passenger area was sealed, but that was no problem, the door, like most things, yielded to the heat of a lightsaber.
Avaryss stepped inside, she was not sure…
She stopped her golden eyes widened, and then…a smile blossomed on her pale face.
"Well, well," she purred, "What have we here?"
It seemed they had drawn well, the prisoner sat chained in a small cell before her, Shyra's group must have gotten the decoy, how sad for them.
"The prisoner looked up at her, he was a small man, balding and pale skinned. Hie eyes flickered weakly with the power of the dark side.
"Archivist Cuur," she said, "It has been a while."
Archivist Cuur, once servant and record keeper to Darth Marr raised his head, he blinked his dull yellow eyes.
"Who…who are you?" he demanded, "What is this, how do you know me?"
Avaryss almost laughed.
She knew the man, and he had known her, or rather, he knew Darth Avaryss, a hooded and masked Sith that typically sided with his master at council meetings.
Now, she understood why he was here, and why the Zakuul wanted him.
Cuur was not the prize, but he knew where to find it, the one thing she desired more than anything.
The Keys of Darth Hecaetus.
The power to reshape the very galaxy.
And now…he was here, he was hers.
The thought made her laugh.
The Jedi and their allies had given her exactly what she needed, them, Captain Cooper, and Tru Halcyon.
The key to the final victory of the Sith.
The key…to annihilation!
Finally, she thought grinning.
The first step.