[18 BBY]

[Eriadu Authority Republic Navy Venerable-class Star Destroyer Dark Lady, Task-force Outander, Republic 5th Fleet, In Orbit Rattatak, Guter Wade System, Trilon Sector, Outer Rim Territories]

She reveled under the hot water spraying down on her body, but only for a few more moments as Asajj finished washing the cleaning fluids out of her hair and turned off the shower. They had arrived over Rattatak, the hell she climbed to the top of, then free from, and announced her return...

Then left them to wait in dread and expectation of her return of course she mused with a smirk as she stepped out of the shower. One thing she had learned from her 'partner-in-crime' Daron Stormcrow was that presentation, and expectation, were important factors for ensuring they knew her as the terrifying and merciless, yet fair, Dark Lady come take rulership of the world below. So she had waited, relaxed, while her small fleet blockaded the world and silenced any attempt to communicate off-world.

Oh, and ran combat drills to...politely...remind her future subjects just what could happen if she decided to unleash the full fury of her flagship. Not that she would burn it to hellish bedrock of course...not without good reason at least. After all, how could she rule it, and therefore repeat the benefits of her new minions, if everyone was dead and everything on fire?

Dooku had somewhat over that lesson with her, probably deliberately, and rage burned inside her heart at what she'd been denied till now. Burned, but controlled, as simply grabbing the Dark Side and letting it Master her, than she it, merely turned her into a slave of a different sort. One she hadn't even realised she'd been till he had betrayed her, and she had gained access to the knowledge, and history, of both Jedi and Sith, let alone that of her people, the Nightsisters. So she merely held her arms out, commanding her droid attendants to dress her as she summoned her armour and lightsaber with the Force.

It was one of these new Republic uniforms, all whites, greys, and blacks, but modified and styled with a faint crimson trim on the armour, and a cape to go it, crimson on the inner side, and midnight black on the 'outer' side. She had to shower her superiority now as much as simply butcher the fools waiting to die on the world below, and not just for the world below. She had to show it for her crew, the nearby systems, and Daron to confirm she was his equal, not a lesser partner in this Reciprocal Mastership as he called it. So she brushed her hair as the armour clicked closed around her, then adjusted her cape to her liking before pressing her communicator.

"Captain Dylert, my shuttle and escort are prepared?"

The voice of the young male Solemite came back in an instant as she strode forward to exit her, still sparsely decorated, private quarters "Yes Commodore, everything has been prepared to your specifications, and I have had ground forces moved to their LAATs in readiness for your orders"

"Excellent Captain..." she replied as the doors opened, the armoured guards saluting her as she walked past them out into the dreary, mildly claustrophobic according to some, hallways of the Star Destroyer proper "...I am making my way to the shuttle as we speak. Announce my arrival to the world below, and do tell my challengers their deaths approach, but I am feeling merciful and they may flee assuming they wish to leave"

'Would you be proud of me now Master Narec, I wonder?' she mused silently stepping onto the turbolift and beginning the descent to the hangers while taking out that lightsaber and looking at it 'Or merely more upset that I have become a better Sith?'

It was curious the memories that came forth when not consumed with the rage, when she could look back at his death, and her vengeance on those that had taken that life from her. Strange how it been that it was only now she had begun to study the Jedi Code as he had so wanted, even at the end, when he recognised her power. Her old palace waited on the world below, but a message, as usual, needed to be sent, so her first stop would be to the gladiatorial pits. Where Dooku had recuited her for the Confederacy...for what she had thought to be her future as his Apprentice...

Rage was stored away for later use as she centred herself and adopted a dominating smirk as she exited onto the shuttle-bay, the crew saluting her as she passed by them. There was already a number of IG assassin droids on location, ensuring there wasn't a bomb or such waiting, or a larger ambush than she expected, and she merely motioned for her escort of assault troopers and Magna-guards aboard the shuttle. They were confident of course, in her abilities and the task at hand, so she simply sat and waited as the shuttle descended through the atmosphere escorted by two TIE fighters. At least till they got nearer the Pits, and she ended her pre-combat matukai meditation with a sigh as she opened her eyes.

"There is one, perhaps more, Jedi present below. Prepare for anti-Force user combat if they attempt to ambush us outside of my duel. Do try taking them alive, though severe injuries are acceptable if need be" she ordered them in a friendly tone. In many ways this was ideal as now any rebellion against her rule would be nice and obvious, and stomping down on Jedi, on holo-vid, would be good for projecting power. Unfortunately it would be bad to kill them, but if she could take this Jedi alive and send back as a...gift...to the Stormcrow's little band of tame idiot Jedi it would be amusing enough to see their faces...

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[18 BBY]

[Jedi Sanctuary, Executive Security Solutions Facility, Wassabach Northern Mountains, Solem, Solem System, Koradin Sector, Outer Rim Territories]

"He doesn't know who it is Adi..." Stass Allie told her kinswoman and fellow Jedi as their little group met outside on the roof of the restored castle, or maybe temple, of the native population "...Ventress having petty amusement at our expense. All I can is say just be glad, another of us yet lives and will soon be joining our ranks. Luminara is..."

"Stressed" Adi agreed as they both gazed out on the sun slowly sinking down over the snow and ice covered mountains that surrounded their home. Winter was falling, and it was already fairly cold in these parts; so they all stood in fur lined clothes, though it was pleasant to get out and walk in said mildly-cold air before the freezing night came. The inside of the restored set of old buildings that served as their sanctuary was fairly pleasant thanks to modern life-support systems setup across the structure, but it did give something of 'old starship' feel at times "As is Knight Swan, and I have to say Quinlan and Rahm refusing to join us, nor their younglings, isn't helping matters"

'Yes, and it would be easier if he wasn't cooperating with Daron and his masters on Eriadu instead of us' she could hear unsaid, but did not bring up. Knights Vos and Kota had always been something of renegades, and held back from true ranking as Masters due to such behaviour, and...really wasn't a surprise with how the war was going. Nor with the fact they were supposedly offering advice to the 'Eriadu Authority/Assembly', as some were calling the rump Tarkin backed Senate on that world, along with Daron, offering great encouragement. Not when everything coming down from there seemed to be a rollback of every Jedi privilege under Republic Law...

"Is...that a bad thing though?" Knight Tachi offered nervously from beside Adi, face hidden behind her hood as she looked over the battlements at the younglings playing in the snow in the courtyard "We are...Obi-wan and others are on Corellia, and others have gone..."

"Mad" Adi finished as Siri struggled to say the words of some of those that had survived Order Sixty-Six seemingly Falling to the Dark Side "Falling, and we risk seeing Jedi fighting Jedi on the battlefield as the Republic tears itself apart"

Stass watched her kinswoman, and fellow member of a now broken High Council sigh, breath coming out a fine mist on cold air "But you are likely correct Siri, much as I wish you were not in this situation. The Republic has fallen, and few trust us now, and even more hunt us. I don't see any good options, loath as I am to be see us divided like this, and dependant on someone who views us as walking the wrong path, and working with Darksiders. Sorry Stass"

"No offence taken Adi..." she replied honestly with a shrug "...but, he does think that, and will work with them, save he does it for a reason, good reasons, as our stasis revived Knight seemed to think. And let us be honest, he has supported us with credits, crystals, and training materials we would not have had either"

"Well I, for one, am quite content to remain here as part of the Stormcrow's Jedi harem..." Knight Tachi managed to make a weak joke, to which Stass chuckled to "...as I like having a warm bed and clothes on my back. That and saving me from Master Krell when he Fell and had me in that bacta bath, isolated from the Order"

Adi gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head "I'm blaming you Stass, and Kenobi, especially Kenobi, for corrupting my former Padawan! And yes, I have heard the bought and paid for one too, and yes, we can annoy Bultar and Luminara about it over drinks later"

"You're going all rebellious in your old age Adi. First your lightsaber, now self-depreciating jokes?" Stass teased back. Adi's first lightsaber had been used a synthetic red crystal, one she had abandoned when she become a Master and word of the return of the Sith had reached them from Master Jinn. In part it had been due to her elevation to the High Council and public perception Stass suspected, but now that the galaxy had fallen apart...that old lightsaber had reappeared. After her humiliations at the hands of Grievous, then by the Hutts, it, perhaps ironically, seemed a positive step in restoring the near shattered confidence of Adi.

"I think we need to hold true to who we are, and our ideals, and I don't have time to worry about a decision I made for, perhaps, flawed reasons. No, we are guardians of what is left of the Order, and I find the thoughts of trying to reunite it as overly ambitious...and likely to raise the hackles of those we cannot afford to offend unless we wish to flee to Corellia. Perhaps it is best that accept what we must and focus upon protecting and raising the younglings as proper Jedi rather than seeking out battles we failed at so far"

Stass paused, then nodded her head "Picking a side like that would be...bad I agree Adi. For all they would restrict us...it is better than being arrested or recruited by the Coruscant faction, arrested or executed by the Separatists, or killed or Fallen at the hands of the Sith. Luminara's wrong you know, about the situation with Daron and Knight Offee..."

Adi chuckled "Oh don't I know it, why Siri here and Kenobi..."

"Master! Myself and Obi-wan were..."

Stass gave a snort of amusement "Oh Siri don't be silly, just friends, yes-yes, we are Jedi not Droids, blind as we could be at times. Skywalker probably learned it from Kenobi. Honestly, having seen what we have seen in opinions of us in the Outer Rim the tendency for certain Jedi to not have attachments, but have relations, has led to long-term problems. Daron is correct in that, and Bariss Offee is...less likely to Fall with Daron nearer her, than not. Don't tell him I told you that of course. Nor that his, and yours Siri, Force-visions seem to have borne bitter fruit, but we have survived at the least"

"Are we..." Knight Tachi was back to being nervous "...forming a Sect? Isn't that..."

Stass sighed, looking out at the sinking sun as the moon rose and the dark of night approached "Yes, we are Siri, though I doubt we have any other choice, and no fault is on you or the others for this. Both myself and Adi are surviving members of the Council...most of the rest of whom are dead or in hiding, other than Grandmaster Yoda who is besieged on Kashyyyk, and Shaak Ti who is either being forced to serve that mad Sith, or has genuinely Fallen and joined this...Dark Council. We don't know who has survived, or what knowledge has been saved...so we do our best and inform the Acting Chancellor and his Senate that we are loyal, will obey the new laws, and will not interfere with the...religious beliefs..."

Force that was hard to say "...of others, unless they break the law of course. The Order has been Purged before, and we will endure as best we can..."

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