Chapter 40: A New Sith
After evening meal the Sith met in Avaryss quarters within Survivor Base.
The dark lord led the way, with Zay following close behind. The younger girl moving far more swiftly than she once had.
Avaryss considered what that meant, another question her new apprentice would need to answer.
Apprentice.
Thinking the word sent a chill down her spine.
She had had students before, yes, but this felt entirely different. Xen and Necris had both been former Jedi, they had come to her with many skills and abilities ready for her use. All she had needed to do with them was show them how to adapt those powers to draw on the dark side. Dym, despite his recent failure, had been a graduate of the academy system, and Korriban, he had already understood the dark side, and its teachings.
Training Zay, making her Sith, would be a challenge. She had no idea what talents with the Force the girl possessed. Was she a sorcerer, did her talents lead her towards the marauder's path, or was her skill more subtle, assassin or the powers of the mind?
Zay likely would not have the same talents as her master. Avaryss was a throwback to the dark lords of the old Empire, skilled in the spells and secrets of the forgotten age. Plus, her ability to manipulate energy was second to none. Life drain, pyro-kinesis, electro-kinesis, such skills came so easy to her. Though she could not influence the mind, she could stomp on it with the Force. She could make nightmares a reality and wrap her victims in their own despair, crushing their wills with a wave of a hand, driving them insane or putting them in a permanent coma.
Powers she had mastered in almost a decade of study and training, but…
…What if Zay's talents lay in an entirely different direction?
A daunting thought, that.
How to choose, how best to decide, and…what if the girl's skill set lay outside my own knowledge and experience?
Again, daunting.
Then you will need to seek out the knowledge, my child, Feer whispered in her mind.
You can't afford to screw this up. You saw the girl's raw potential. You must train her well, after all…
She will technically be my granddaughter.
And you are dead, she thought bitterly, her connection to you matters little.
Avaryss sneered.
She was not Necris, she cared nothing for the will of the dead.
Zay, her powers, whatever they are, will serve me, and only me.
Again she felt a shiver of excitement.
All…mine.
The Force, alone, was not enough. She would also need to evaluate her student's physical skills and decide how best to proceed with her teachings. Her damaged foot would be a problem, Avaryss would need to find a work around. She would need to show the girl the sequences and drills of the lightsaber, teaching her from scratch the combat techniques of the order.
Basic footwork would be a problem for Zay, she would need to think on everything she knew about the forms of lightsaber combat. The girl would not be able to use Makashi, her foot would limit her with that style, and she didn't have the size and power for Djem So. Hell, even the basics of Shi Cho would be hard to master, all required footwork.
Avaryss frowned.
Zay's training would be difficult.
An eager untrained student, for a powerful, yet, unready master, but together, perhaps…they could find the way.
Yes, there was no risk without reward, and wasn't it the job of a master to learn from her student, just as much as it was for the student to learn from the master.
See your weakness through the eyes of your apprentice, just as you see their weaknesses. Together you grow to overcome them, that is the bond of the master and the apprentice.
All true, but for a Sith, there was another element, a more lethal one.
Beware your master, beware your apprentice.
Right now, Zay was all potential, but in a year, two, or even three, she would become something more.
Darth Feer had trained her, his own killer. The fact that Zay would have the same potential was daunting to say the least.
Train my own murderer, but in that one singular act, the Sith grew stronger. If she is foolish, attacks me too soon, I will destroy her, and then…start again with a new student.
So it was with the Sith.
No. she would not be weak or cowardly. That way led to failure. She would do her best to turn Zay into a lethal killing machine. A Sith with a singular mastery of not only her own talents, but the dark side.
If that machine eventually turned on her, so be it.
That was simply the way the game was played.
It was the nature of the dark side.
She glanced over her shoulder; she could feel Zay's excitement. Eager to claim her place at the side of her master.
You can't make it too easy for her, Feer whispered.
You still need to be sure she is ready to join us.
Test her, see if her commitment is as strong as you need it to be.
Avaryss nodded.
Yes, one final test was called for.
Zay had survived her trial of blood.
Avaryss needed details, and from there, her training would truly begin.
She opened the door with the Force. Xen and Agony waited inside. She held up her hand for silence as she and Zay stepped inside. As the door closed, she gestured, a pulse of electricity swept the room. If there were any listening devices in here, they would be disabled for a time. Despite her growing respect for the survivors, it was better to take precautions.
As for anyone listening at the door, the spell she had cast around their quarters still held firm. For the mundanes here at Survivor Base, they were filled with a sense of unease around Avaryss' quarters, not enough to do anything, but more than enough that they avoided it. As for their Jedi friends…well…they seemed to respect the Sith's privacy. Foolish of them, yes, but appreciated all this same.
It may have seemed like overkill, but better safe than sorry.
Dym had fooled her once already.
She would not make that mistake again.
Zay looked at the other Sith, Xen and Agony. Her eyes narrowed with anger at the former, at the latter, she winced.
"Master Agony," she gasped, "Your eye!"
Darth Agony shrugged.
"It will heal, kid," she said lifting the black patch she was wearing. The yellow orb was milky, with a bit of blood around the iris.
Both Zay and Avaryss winced.
The blonde Sith lowered the eye patch. Despite everything her mood remained…upbeat.
"Besides, it is just an eye," she said with a shrug, "I have an another."
"Do not worry about us, girl," Avaryss growled looking down at her former slave.
"Brought me something?"
Zay smiled eagerly unzipping the coverall she wore, pulling it down revealing a white tank top beneath.
She turned the arm of the coverall inside out. Avaryss noticed the small stitching inside.
She smiled as the girl ripped into it, revealing a pocket she had made. Zay reached in and pulled out a small data card.
She handed it to her master, a cruel smile playing across the girl's lips.
"Mission accomplished, my master."
Avaryss touched the card's surface, stroking it like it was some lethal pet. A hungry grin coming to her lips.
Yes.
Dark Lords of the Sith and the watchers of Imperial Intelligence had spent years searching for the location of Survivor base. The outlaw militia had always been so careful, blocking their attempts at every turn.
Now, it was in her hands, brought to her by a girl with no formal training, and an undying ambition.
Ironic, that a mere hopeful could do more than a lord, but that was what had made this so perfect.
At this moment, who would suspect Zay?
The former serving girl was beaming, waiting for her master's praise.
Avaryss handed the card to Agony.
"Check it," she ordered.
Lord Agony took it, plugging it into a data pad. Xen watched over her shoulder as she worked.
Avaryss could see the images flashing across her old ally's face, star maps flashing by in green and black light, changing as they followed the hyperspace route from Cooper's hidden base to here.
A final beep signaled the maps end, Agony looked at her, a cruel smile on her face.
"It is complete," she purred.
"WE have the location."
Avaryss nodded.
Most excellent!
Xen cackled.
"Master Sy spent years looking for this place," She murmured, "Jas Dar Bynn refused to share it location with him, with us."
"I wonder why," Avaryss said dryly.
Xen smirked.
"It drove my former master crazy. Many Senators had wanted a direct line to the Survivors, to influence their missions. They came to him, hoping that he could talk his brother into revealing the location. It would have brought my old master great prestige in the Republic government."
"And revealed this place to Sith spies," the dark lord added, "Many of those Senators had interests with the Sith during the cold war, and if they didn't, members of their staff were likely Sith spies.
The former Jedi nodded.
"I asked him about that once, wasn't it for the good of the Republic that the base remain hidden. He said that I needed to trust in the Force, and that if the base was found by the Sith and destroyed because others knew, that it was the will of the Force that it happened, just it was that if the base stayed safe."
Xen shook her head.
"Sy Dar Bynn could convince himself of anything."
Avaryss sneered remembering Xen's former master, and how pathetically he died. He had been a fallen Jedi, but was too frightened of his own ambition to embrace it, and realize that he had drifted towards becoming a Sith.
Pathetic.
"Your Jedi Master did have a short-sighted view of the galaxy, didn't he?"
Xen laughed.
"He certainly didn't see me putting my blade through his back."
She turned to Avaryss a hungry look in her golden eyes.
"You have done it, master," she crowed, "Finally, we can leave this warren and return to the Empire in glory! The fleet will level this place, the threat of the Survivors will be no more! The name of Darth Avaryss will be hailed as a hero, once more. We will all be heroes. The dark council will honor you, all that was once yours will be restored!"
Avaryss sneered.
Fool girl.
Is that what she believed her master wanted?!
Xen painted a pretty picture, but it didn't take the Zakuul into account, the empire still had Arcann's boot on its throat.
What did destroying Survivor Base matter in the face of that. No, first they needed to finish gathering Hecaetus' keys. Once that was done, and the work on Death Knell was finished at Sanctuary Base, only then would Avaryss return to the Sith and Dromund Kaas. Not as a hero, but as a conqueror. Acina and her lapdogs would be swept away.
It was the only way. Returning now would only give Acina a chance to eliminate her rival, but Xen was too petty and arrogant to see it.
Idiot.
Agony rolled her eyes.
"You actually think it would be that easy?" she asked the fallen Jedi.
"Why not? Xen demanded.
The blonde sighed.
"Oh, Acina will be very happy if we bring this back, but the Empire itself will never hear of our deeds. The Empress will send the full might of their forces against us. Our success would be a liability to her, and whatever Dark Council still remains. They are too busy fawning, and hoping that the waiting game they are playing with the Eternal Throne pays off. We would be a liability to that plan. They would execute Avy as a traitor, and us for having stood with her. We will die quickly and painfully, even as this place is destroyed by what ships the empire has left. The only honor we will receive, if any, is a state funeral, and Acina will continue to rule as the Zakuul's puppet."
Agony glared at the other Sith.
"Use your brain, Xen."
The former Jedi hissed angrily, but stopped in her tracks at a cold glare from her master.
She bowed her head in submission.
Avaryss nodded, pleased.
She turned her attention back to Zay, the reason they had this information.
One last test, she thought.
Let's see how the girl reacts.
"You have done well," Avaryss informed her, "You are forgiven for your trespass against me, and may return to your former duties."
She turned away, dismissing the girl.
She didn't need to see to imagine the shock and hurt in the former serving girl's eyes. She could sense it.
"Master…I…"
"You are dismissed, servant."
She paused, readying herself, preparing to gather her strength if the girl tried something crazy.
Zay stood rail straight, her lip quivering, her eyes wide.
Xen laughed at her.
"Perhaps you should find your way to the kitchens, slave. You can get an early start on our breakfast."
Avaryss waited, eager to hear the girl's response.
Trust Xen Loor to kick someone when they were down. The fallen Jedi did love to twist the knife after she stuck it in.
Images flashed in Avaryss' mind, or rather Zay was broadcasting them. Scenes of blood and death, of hands around her throat, and finger nails digging into her face.
The girl shuddered with rage, the dark side burning within her.
Avaryss expected an explosion, a demand of reward.
Zay didn't do that.
She…she started to giggle.
Avaryss turned around, the girl had tears in her cold dead eyes.
"Did Xen say something amusing, girl?"
She continued to laugh, wiping at the angry tears with her sleeve.
"I," another fit of giggles, "I…was just thinking of the last people I made food for, master. The family that offered to take me off Nar Shadda."
"Family," Avaryss said, "But Cooper said…"
She paused.
Oh…
Ah…
She smiled.
The girl had lied to Cooper.
Oh Zay.
What did you do?
Zay turned to her, anger flashing in those large green eyes.
"The Celchu family dismissed me too. I was a payday on some labor world, no better than a common slave! They thought they could treat me like I was nothing! So, I served them the meal they deserved. It was a meal that all the weak mundanes deserve."
"They found it disagreeable, I take it?" Agony said,
Zay smiled cruelly.
"To say the least, Master Agony," Zay said.
She turned to Avaryss, fury pulsing in her every look.
"It is funny, some people just can't hold their hyperdrive coolant."
Avaryss' eyes widened.
Damn!
Wow!
Xen blinked.
"You…you vicious little kath-hound!"
"I…I did what was necessary," Zay said looking away. She looked down on her hands, wiping at blood that was no longer there, but…still was.
Xen sneered.
"You poisoned the people that took you off the smuggler's moon."
Zay nodded, though her eyes never left her feet.
Guilt, Avaryss sensed. Despite her actions, what the girl was saying, besides doing what was needed. Zay had had feelings for these people, and not just the rage she had told them about.
It was…understandable, but the end she had done what was needed.
Commendable.
"They gave me no choice," Zay muttered.
She turned to Avaryss, her eyes cold and demanding.
"Master…I…I did it for YOU. To complete YOUR mission, to prove myself worthy of YOUR teachings."
Words spilled out of the girl quickly, flowing with the anger and guilt the girl was drowning in.
"I…I killed…I murdered four people for YOU. At Cooper's…I…I arranged the death of a fifth. That was bad, but…but it wasn't like Johun. I…he… the stupid fool! He…he didn't eat the stew I made…I…I had to deal with him, with MY hands, my hands…and…and a kitchen knife."
Avaryss nodded.
That part of the story was true, at least.
The boy had made the girl work for it. Again, the dark lord could sense remorse, but even now she could feel it changing, becoming resentment, and hate for the weak fool that had given her no choice.
The girl's actions taking shape in her mind.
Killing that boy, hiding the bodies of his family, framing him as a kidnapper. In that moment, Zay had embraced the dark side, or fallen to it, as a Jedi might say. No longer was there any question of which side she would come down on.
She had made her choice, and now…she belonged to Avaryss…body and soul.
The dark lord couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
She had deceived Cooper, and the people who had taken her off Nar Shadda. The former she had tricked and the latter had been murdered.
Brutal.
Effective.
Brilliant.
She looked on the girl with new eyes.
Zay was not the same girl she had found on the Bogden moon.
Devious, cunning, ruthless, and treacherous, the girl showed all the signs.
Avaryss nodded slightly, thinking of Darth Feer.
There you are, master, she thought.
I think that is proof enough.
Zay sniffled, she looked on the verge of more tears, but her rage was burning now, the little spark ignited, threatening to turn into an inferno.
"I didn't do this so that I could return to my old life! To being a common slave! You promised me. YOU PROMISED! You would show me how to use my gifts! I did this for YOU!"
"No," Avaryss said coldly, shaking her head.
"Do not lie to yourself. You did this for YOU. You did this because you want POWER! The power of the Sith. The power of the dark side."
The girl glared at her.
"Am I wrong, Zay?"
Again, she didn't answer.
"Am…I…wrong?"
Zay was breathing hard, her green eyes cold and dead.
"Yessss," she hissed, admitting it to herself and the others.
She took another shuddering breath.
"I…want…power."
The girl's hands were curled into angry fits, the dark side flowing almost unchecked through her now.
Avaryss recognized that this had gone far enough, she had no desire for Zay to lose control as she had in the cafeteria. She reached out with the Force, seeking to sooth the angry young woman.
"Calm yourself, Acolyte," she said.
"Everything will be okay."
"Calm," Zay almost shouted, "CALM? Don't you understand what I did? How it hurts? I…I…"
She froze, despite her anger, her mind was still working, she was not losing herself to mindless fury.
That was good, too.
Avaryss understood that a Sith needed to control that rage, to guide it, and not let It guide her. Again, Zay showed her potential.
This one does have the potential to be a lord. If she survives the training.
Zay looked at her master.
"Wha…what did you call me?
The dark lord smiled.
"I called you…acolyte. That is what we call a hopeful who has been accepted fully into the Sith Order. You have passed your first trial, young student. Now…you are ready to be trained."
Zay wiped at her eyes, again.
"But what you said, that I was going to return to my old life?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Were you making fun of me?"
"I was testing you," Avaryss clarified, "You must understand my reasons. You were born in bondage, my dear. Those chains are hard to shake off. During your trial you found passion, passion that you were forced to deny for years to keep yourself safe and alive. Passion that gave you what was needed to destroy those that stood in your way. You did well, after all…"
"The weak deserve their fate," Zay said.
"Yes, just so."
Avaryss touched the girl's cheek. Wiping away the single tear that had fallen.
"I needed to be sure. I had to see if you could hold onto your passion, or if you would cast it away meekly, accepting your place as my servant, once more. Yet, you didn't. I can feel your anger, guilt and…yes, even rage. Your passions refuse to be caged again, and now…I know you are ready to learn.
Avaryss closed her eyes and sighed, basking in the heat of the young girl's rage.
It was…intoxicating.
Zay nodded.
"Through passion…I gain strength," she muttered.
"Exactly," her master replied.
Zay looked up at her, again, that manic flash of excitement was there, shining in her green eyes.
She giggled.
"You…you will teach me?"
"Yes."
She squealed with delight.
"I am now your apprentice."
"Whoa there," Agony said, "Slow down there, girl. To be made a Darth's apprentice isn't so easy. You've won great prestige by bringing us this information. The Sith are a true meritocracy, you have done much, but to be made a Darth's heir, that takes much more."
Avaryss realized her friend was right, but not necessarily what she desired.
The girl WILL be my apprentice. I have foreseen it, but the game still had to played by the rules.
She could not afford to jump ahead either.
"You are an acolyte of the Sith. As Sith Masters, it is our duty to train you and prepare you for your new life within the Sith Order. Continue to succeed as you have today, and you WILL be named apprentice, but first, you must be trained. We must see what type of Sith you are."
Again, Zay giggled excitedly, she looked between her fellows.
"I…I will not fail, my lords. I will prove myself worthy."
Avaryss looked at her fellows. Darth Agony seemed happy about this. Given her friend's skill with a lightsaber, the dark lord would benefit from her being here. She would serve well as a blade master for their new student. Avaryss was primarily focused on her styles, but Agony had trained further, adapting bits of Ataru, and the other forms. Together they would come up with a style that would fit Zay, giving her what she needed to become a warrior for the Sith.
Sadly, Xen didn't seem to share their enthusiasm.
She shook her head.
"The Jedi will not allow this, my master. They will not allow you to train this girl, to corrupt her, and even if they did it will take months to get her combat ready. Do we really have that kind of time?"
"We have time," Avaryss assured her, "We still need to find the three remaining keys, and set up the Survivors for our endgame. Zay will be ready by then, I think."
Xen Loor remained unconvinced.
"So how do you intend to train her, it is not something you can keep secret. They will feel her power and skill growing. They will seek to protect the girl, not understanding what she has become."
"Again, you miss the whole point, Xen," her master purred, "I have no intention of hiding the fact that Zay is being trained. In fact, she will tell all of our Jedi friends about it, and they will say nothing to stop it."
"I think you underestimate, Master Jas, Shyra Viel, even Fenn…"
Xen's eyes narrowed.
"Just because you're sharing his bed, doesn't mean that he will forget his duty. Fenn will…"
A cold deadly glare from the Sith Lord stopped her underling in her tracks. Xen snapped her mouth shut. Realizing that she had gone too far.
Fenn was…a topic that Avaryss would not discuss with her.
Such a discussion could prove lethal.
"As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted. The Jedi nothing about Zay's training, because it proves that I'm remaining true to what I promised them. Zay will be, in their eyes, the first of a new kind of Sith. She will be committed to the galaxy they believe I will build. An empire that respects that the Republic, and the Jedi, have a right to exist. Who knows, they may even offer up some wisdom and training if they think it is in their best interest."
Xen considered that, silently.
"They will believe it, because they want to believe it," Agony nodded, "It…it could work."
"It WILL work," Avaryss said smirking.
"Trust me."
"Master, there is one more thing you need to know," Zay said.
"Yes, and that is?"
The girl took a deep breath, mustering her courage.
"Captain Cooper approached me before we left. He asked me to spy on you, for the Survivors. He thinks you are up to something."
The dark lord almost laughed.
Well, he was right about that, at least.
Zay smiled eagerly.
"I thought we could use that somehow, turn the tables on the others. Lure them into…something…I don't know."
Xen sneered at her.
"You're sure the captain Cooper isn't setting you up, setting us all up with this?"
Zay gave her a dirty look.
"I don't believe so. It didn't seem that he was lying. Captain Cooper was nice to me, he bought everything I said, even his wife believed me, and I've heard Zeltrons can read minds."
Avaryss closed her eyes and shuddered.
The grinning face of Kimora Cooper sprang into her head. An image that made her see red.
"How is the whore of Zeltros doing, Zay? She still trying to play the lady of the house?"
Agony blinked.
"You know this woman, Avy?"
Before Avaryss could respond, she paused, she was about to say yes, but…
But…
What?
She had never met Cooper's wife. She didn't even know that she was a Zeltron, but at the same time, hearing her name. It sparked…something…
She rubbed the bridge of her nose.
She felt a headache coming on.
"The smuggler doesn't matter," Xen reminded them, "We have another problem we need to deal with."
"What is that?" Agony asked.
"Temmin, the little half breed. I heard one of the soldiers say that he attacked Master Avaryss.
"We can't let that go unanswered, can we?"
The dark lord nodded, but at the same time, she recognized the need for caution.
Temm was Fenn's padawan, she had no desire to lose everything she had gained with him the last few weeks. At the same time, though, Fenn, in mourning for the loss of his student, might be more open to her advances, not to mention the call of the dark side.
Hm?
It was something to think about at least.
"He didn't attack me," she told her former student, "He was protecting Zay, and lashed out at me, because of that."
"Then Zay should go and talk to him," Agony suggested.
Zay blinked.
"Me?"
The blonde Sith Lord nodded.
"This might actually work out in our favor, Avy. If Zay here can convince Temm that joining the Sith is the right idea, it might go a long way to convincing the other Jedi not to intervene."
Avaryss nodded.
Again, her old friend had a good idea.
She turned to Zay with a cunning smile.
"I think this is how we will handle this," she said, "I take it you are up for this, Acolyte?"
Zay nodded, though she was blushing almost scarlet, her face almost as red as a Sith pure blood.
"What…what do I say to him?"
"Who says you have to say anything," Xen suggested, "He is a teenage boy, you are a teenage girl, use your imagination. I'm sure you can come up with something to put him at ease."
That comment made the girl blush even more.
"Ignore her, kid," Agony advised, "Use what is between your ears, not what is between your legs. Temmin is a Jedi, he won't respond to…suggestive stuff."
Avaryss smiled slightly, after the way the boy reacted when she threatened Zay. Well…she wasn't so sure."
"Do whatever you must to keep him…pacified," her new master advised. "But above all else have fun, relax, and help him relax. Enjoy yourself tonight, and tomorrow. We will begin your training in two days. Until then, consider yourself free, a reward for your success in finding your way back here."
Zay smiled.
"Thank you, master," she said opening the door and backing out through it. Eager to go speak with Temm, her little heart racing like that of a bird.
"I will do what is needed."
"I'm sure you will," Avaryss nodded, "Now go, leave us."
Zay bowed, closing the door behind her.
The dark lord smiled to herself.
She now had a new apprentice, and the coordinates to Survivor base. The former was hers, while the latter would have to be sent out in encoded transmission. Likely in a message to Holli in her guise as Lana Beniko.
Avaryss could not help but feel excited with how this was all going.
Her relationship with Fenn was progressing nicely, and with Zay at her side, soon she would add yet another powerful weapon to her arsenal.
She was most pleased.
Xen rolled her eyes.
"I don't trust that girl," she growled, "The trial you sent her on has made her unpredictable. She is devious, a liar, and too ambitious."
Agony chuckled at that.
"Sounds like a proper Sith student to me."
Xen shook her head. She remained unconvinced.
She frowned. Her golden eyes worried.
"That girl will be the death of us, and all your plans, master. Mark my words."
The dark lord chuckled.
"Your objection is noted, Xen, and…ignored."
The Sith warrior sniffed and left the room. Clearly not happy with her master's choices, but unwilling to act, less her child, still under the care of HK Sigma three suffer.
Xen was no fool, she would not act against Zay again, not in a way that would put her back in her master's crosshairs.
All in all, things were progressing well for them here.
Again, she considered how best to start Zay's training. She wanted the girl to fully unlock her potential, but to do it, Avaryss would need more. She would need to consult her holocron, and also see if she could talk Major Locke into helping her locate any materials that might speed up Zay's training.
It would be dangerous, true, but her apprentice was worth it. The power she offered her new master was worth it.
Still, she thought about what Xen had said…
That girl will be the death of us.
Perhaps, Xen was right, but her master was willing to risk it.
Zay had the potential to surpass her, she felt it.
It was dangerous sure, but if the girl fully embraced the dark side, unlocking her full potential.
There was no limit to what she might accomplish, and how her master would profit from it would become the stuff of legends.
It was like her first teacher back at Fury 9 had once said.
No risk, no reward.
And was Zay worth it?
Yes.
She was.
She was too powerful to let slip through her master's fingers.
And soon that power would belong to the only one fit to wield it.
Zay might possess the power, but in the end…
….it would belong to Avaryss.
In the end, she thought…
…it would be all…mine.
A/N: Zay's conversation with Temm will take place in Grim Tales, and in the next chapter, the training of the new Sith begins. Until next time, dear readers.
DG
