Chiss Ascendancy
Sev'rance Tann stood on the bridge of Blackhawk, one of twenty corvettes gathered on the edge of the Kinoss system. She stared out the transparisteel viewport, watching as an interdictor cruiser transferred from Picket Group One to Picket Group Two. Her brows furrowed. She could not fathom why they would move the cruiser, since its position in any Picket Group would have covered the sole hyperspace advance to Kinoss from galactic west. Then again, what did it matter to her? She had been assigned to Picket Group Three, commanded by a fool who typically hid in the rear. Her lips pursed, thinking of the Chiss commander. He had gained the command thanks to his birth into one of the Nine Ruling Families.
Her gloved left hand opened and closed at her side. She should be in the front, waiting on the interloper. A shuttle of ancient designation had passed through the outermost layer of probes and defenses thirty-four hours prior, managing to slip past the patrol which happened to be in the right system at the right time.
Should have known Jance would muck it up, Sev'rance thought bitterly. She suspected Nighthawk's position within the fleet was due to Jance's failure to sweep up the interloper. Her connection to Jance was known, and Admiral A'lanari, for all her faults, could play politics better than most military personnel. Punishment for the connection, yet she recognized Sev'rance's command ability; odds were, Sev'rance would remain tied to the admiral until the woman ended her career twenty or thirty years in the future.
Then again, the admiral had decided to stage a fleet at Kinoss, drawing from fleets better off left elsewhere. The choice still mystified Sev'rance.
As if Kinoss needs reinforcements. The world could hold off an armada while awaiting relief. And the threat is a single shuttle with unreported weapon systems. What threat could it truly pose?
The Kinoss system was one of the two systems used by the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet for military staging, preparation, and storage purposes. Its home fleet was Picket Group Two; Picket Group One and Three had come from elsewhere, drawn together after the admiral decided to take an interest in the interloper's passing. Thanks to the command briefing, Sev'rance knew the ground forces on Kinoss remained ignorant of the gathered fleet's purpose. After all, Admiral A'lanari decided they were not required to handle the incoming interloper.
Yet Sev'rance imagined the lack of combat vessels larger than a corvette had to strike the older professionals as peculiar, given the number gathered—especially with the interdictor cruiser. She remained shocked they had not yet contacted the fleet. Perhaps in a few standard hours, but by then their purpose would be exposed—and whoever this interloper was would be made sorry for daring to scuttle about Chiss borders like the bugs of Ool's many great forests.
"Ma'am," a comms officer—some low-level member of a noble family barely worth his commission—said. "The interdictor just informed us—"
The officer's words were cut off by klaxons sounding through Blackhawk. Like the rest of the fleet, the sirens had been linked to the systems on Icespire, Picket One's—and thus Admiral A'lanari's—flagship. Sev'rance noted how the rest of the bridge crew flinched as the klaxon screeched. The deck glowed a sickly yellow. But not her. Oh no, not her. She had known a split second before the klaxons sounded that they would activate. It came to her the same way she trained a horde of Yresilini to follow orders. Some, including her fellow officers aboard Blackhawk, whispered that she could wield the Force like a Jedi.
Sev'rance would neither confirm nor deny that she could embrace the Force. She wanted to possess a Jedi's strength. And while she did not rely on it as a Jedi might, she trusted her feelings implicitly enough to understand when she realized something of her own volition and when the Force aided her.
Those klaxons… Knowing that was definitely the Force, she thought. Her red eyes narrowed as she spotted a shimmer of black glide across the star field, passing across the bow of the interdictor moving between Picket Groups One and Two.
The interloper.
Sev'rance turned to the comms officer. "Contact Bluehaven. Request a recording of the transmission between our new arrival and Icespire." At the comm officer's slight frown, she justified herself: "I'd like to know what they discussed. It'll affect the security of the Ascendancy."
"Yes, ma'am," the comms officer said. He turned to his console and fired off the transmission request Sev'rance desired.
She had no cause to believe the request would be honored. The staff of Bluehaven was old and set in their ways. Given half their firepower and an opportunity, Sev'rance would show every single fool on that bridge why their ways were fading amongst the young officer corps. Experienced they might be, but they did not adapt. Had the old ways not worked so effectively, they and their ilk would have long ago doomed Chiss space to domination by another power.
Her gaze flickered to where she presumed the shuttle floated amongst the swarming piranhas that were Picket Group Three. Whoever sat aboard the ancient vessel burned like magma in the Force. Sev'rance could feel her power; exposing herself to that power for more than a moment threatened to weaken her knees and fill her mouth with bile.
"Ma'am!" the comms officer suddenly shouted. Sev'rance turned, night-black hair flying around her face. " Bluehaven is linking us in right now! Why, I think the whole fleet will hear!"
"Then put it through!" she all but shouted, storming to where he sat.
A holoprojector activated near the bridge's center. On one side was Admiral A'lanari, tense and almost pained. On the other sat a human female, young and face marked with strange tattoos, whose eyes flickered before saying, "Why, I thought you wished our conversation to be private, Admiral. Or is deception another tool of the Chiss?"
Sev'rance froze, eyes widening. For a moment, she swore the human had made eye contact with her. Just my nervous mind, she decided. I only wish to be in the action, to know who this interloper is and where their ancient ship came from.
There's no way she noticed me. Not even with all her power.
Darth Gladiolus was unsurprised when she sensed her conversation with Admiral A'lanari become relayed to the rest of the Chiss fleet. She half expected upon reversion to real space for the Dearg Due to get dragged aboard a nearby capital ship via tractor beam before having troopers attempt to storm her shuttle before gassing her unconscious. It was what she would do to the pilot of a strange, ancient ship that managed to slip through a defensive net and reach what appeared to be a military installation world on the edge of her space.
But then, Gladiolus recognized that she projected her frustrations with the pitiful response to her trespass onto the admiral and her pitiful fleet. She had been annoyed to reach the first system within the boundaries of what Lord Salazar described as Chiss space in his star charts and discover nothing but asteroids and gas. She continued on, still trailing the route Lord Salazar once followed.
That had been three jumps ago. Admittedly, she had played cat and mouse with a patrol vessel between systems. They had been weak, unable to stop her. Gladiolus thought on their failure with an amused smirk. Yet here and now, she witnessed that the Chiss, the last gasp of civilization Lord Salazar encountered before his pitiful arrival on Earth, might possess the strength necessary to handle threats to their integrity.
But thirty ships just to handle me? How… excessive.
Gladiolus knew she had no ground to stand on when it came to 'excessive'. She rarely engaged in excessive acts or displays, though she was certainly capable of them. She had proved that the night she ascended to her powers as a Sith Lord, and then again when she reminded the British public how powerful she was by executing the rebels who dared rise against her.
A mind brushed against hers briefly. Her gaze drifted from Admiral A'lanari, who had begun to brag and bluster about the Chiss and their might. Gladiolus sensed the admiral's weakness: her inability to believe in herself and her strength. The woman would rather create the illusion of power than simply wield it, especially when she had a tremendous advantage: thirty corvettes and a strange cruiser with bulbous growths, all with sizeable crews, against a single shuttle with only one occupant.
Then again, I am the Dark Lord of the Sith. They stand no chance against me, even with their present numbers. They know not the power of the dark side of the Force.
"Admiral," Darth Gladiolus snapped, raising a hand. A'lanari froze; fear reeked off the admiral, even across the kilometers between their ships. "If I cared for your foppish opinions, I would have asked for them. I only desired to know if deception was a tool the Chiss wielded. Had I thought your fleet capable of even half of what you claim, then I would presume the answer to be a simple no.
"But your prattling convinces me the answer is yes—and that I should seek out someone else to speak with. I need to pass through your space, and I would like to forge an alliance between my people and yours before I depart."
"And who would your people be?" the admiral demanded.
Gladiolus almost lied, but she realized the truth would serve her better. "I come from a world of humans some distance from here, separated by wild space from all other traces of intelligent life. By chance, we were discovered by a solitary Sith Lord, drawn by the Force into our region of space."
"And why would your Force draw a Sith Lord so far?"
"To pave the way for me, naturally. A thousand years may have passed since his time, but the time for my people to step into the stars and claim our place amongst the rest has come. If you are interested, I could provide records of my homeworld's history. They will illuminate to you why an alliance with us would be most… beneficial."
"That sounds like a threat."
"Because it is." Gladiolus smiled thin and toothy. "You see, we have made an art of war. We happily slaughter thousands—tens of thousands—even millions—in our wars; over resources; over religion; over whether a border should be along one river or another." She leaned forward, undoubtedly growing the size of her holoprojection on Admiral A'lanari's flagship. "You must only decide whether you would work with a people of that nature, or if you would allow your people to be destroyed as the tide of history washes over them."
"I could seek out your world and destroy it," the admiral replied.
Gladiolus snorted. "I sense your lack of conviction. You can speak the words, but to see them through? I'm afraid you neither possess the willingness to seek out my homeworld nor to treat it as you claim." She leaned back, pleased with the distress rippling through the Force; the other Chiss firmly believed the implied threat leveled at their admiral. "It's pathetic. What fool permitted you a command?"
A'lanari's fury and frustration echoed through the Force. Gladiolus nearly smirked. The admiral was easily manipulated, guided toward whatever thoughts or feelings the Sith Lord wanted the Chiss to feel. Gladiolus almost found herself wondering how the Sith ever lost to the Jedi.
Now is not the time for such bold thoughts. How can I claim to handle a Jedi if I cannot yoke the Chiss and their Ascendancy as I wish?
"My position is quite simple, Admiral," Gladiolus continued. She had no cause to trouble with waiting on the admiral to respond to every word and probe. "You shall permit me to cross your space, untouched and unmolested by whatever forces you have beyond this system. My interest lies in the galaxy beyond your quaint corner, ignored and forgotten. While I would love to negotiate a treaty between our peoples, I can understand if you are… unwilling to aid me on that front. I could always continue on to… Csilla, yes? That is your people's homeworld. They are along my route, after all."
Gladiolus nearly cackled as Admiral A'lanari stiffened. Had the Chiss woman thought her mind safe from the Force? Perhaps she knew so little of its mighty power that she decided it would not matter if another poked or prodded her with its power. Regardless of which, Gladiolus would ensure A'lanari never forgot the power of the Sith.
Not as if she needed them to know the truth of the Chiss homeworld. Lord Salazar had passed through that system while en route to Earth.
"We… We could negotiate for the option to have you transported to Csilla. I cannot negotiate on their behalf, but I can request access to the homeworld."
A'lanari then withdrew from the holoprojector. Someone on her side was arguing about whether or not they should permit one like Darth Gladiolus access to their homeworld. She could not deny their fear and anxiety; it reeked from all but one of the thirty ships aligned against her.
All but one.
Gladiolus reached out with the Force, searching for the commander of the singular ship not overrun with fear and anxiety. The presence felt oddly similar, as though she had sensed them earlier—
Ah. So this is the mind that I sensed earlier. How fascinating; a shame she is untrained. Had she that, she could resist me as Lovegood had. She might even pose a threat to my interests.
And yet…
Thoughts of her failures on Earth left a bitter taste in her mouth. But Gladiolus would not dwell on that. She was weeks from home, sat on the doorstep of a galactic civilization that could crush or raise her people. And if there was one among their number who could be used to her advantage, then she could manipulate the Chiss species to acquire all the Sith Lord desired to strengthen her homeworld's position and to fashion an ally to one day eclipse.
Admiral A'lanari reappeared after several minutes. "I will permit you to come aboard the Icespire. You will then be escorted to a meeting room. We can discuss a potential transfer to Csilla there."
"I can accept that," Darth Gladiolus declared. "I will see you soon, Admiral." And with that, she cut the comm. She guided the Dearg Due toward the Icespire, all the while considering the Force-sensitive Chiss in the back of her mind. She, Gladiolus hoped, could be used to further her developing goals amongst the Chiss.
Sev'rance Tann allowed only the faintest twitch of her lips when her request to board the Icespire was confirmed. She had not expected the admiral to permit any officer to come aboard while the strange human woman landed. But her doubt was proven misplaced. She turned to her executive officer, said, "You have the command until my return," and stalked off the bridge. She took a turbolift down to the hangar, boarded the prepped shuttle, and claimed the first seat she reached. The pilot had them away shortly after. From there, a few minutes passed as they crossed from Picket Group Three to Picket Group One.
While in transit, Sev'rance pondered the interloper. Never had the Chiss suspected humans existed to their galactic west. While space existed in three dimensions, simple means of mapping the galaxy landed the Chiss in the northwest, especially when compared to the great expanses controlled, either directly or nominally, by the Republic. Given that humans were said to have originated on Coruscant over twenty thousand years ago, it could be possible a colony ship from long ago circumvented the Deep Core and discovered a hospitable world somewhere far and distant from "known" space.
I'll learn soon enough if they're truly related to the humans we know of, or if the Force can miraculously shape two species all but identical halfway across the galaxy from each other.
"We're coming aboard the Icespire, ma'am," the pilot reported as the white-hulled corvette filled the viewport. "The admiral sent men to escort you."
Sev'rance nodded. She had expected Admiral A'lanari to send an escort. After all, she was an officer commanding a corvette within the battle group. Sev'rance would not allow her chance to meet this foreign interloper to slip through her fingers. And while she could integrate herself into the admiral's staff, she could also use this strange human to propel her rise through Chiss ranks.
I will need to remain wary of her, though. She managed to touch my mind with alarming ease. Perhaps she is the reason the admiral agreed to my request. Other commanders must have requested permission to board Icespire. I cannot be the only one.
The shuttle landed softly. Sev'rance rose and descended the ramp as it descended to the hangar floor. She ignored the words tumbling the mouth of the ensign sent to escort her; she instead gestured to the turbolifts. A black craft off to the side caught her attention. Sev'rance nearly paused upon her first proper viewing of the interloping shuttle. The ensign finally gained her attention and said, "If you still wish to meet her, please follow me, Commander." They then crossed and entered the first available turbolift.
The ride to the admiral's deck passed slowly and silently. Sev'rance knew the ensign wanted to speak, but projected enough wariness of her cold expression to keep his lips shut. She suspected he desired to know why she received confirmation to come aboard Icespire and join the admiral's meeting with the interloper.
The turbolift doors hissed open. The ensign led her down a long, narrow corridor. The few Chiss officers on duty shot Sev'rance masked yet befuddled looks. They had not been informed a commanding officer from another Picket Group would be brought aboard to join the admiral. But then, what had they expected when the interloper was caught? Summary execution? She put those thoughts out of mind; Admiral A'lanari had already scuttled those possibilities when she decided to permit the interloper to board Icespire, and further when they agreed to a meeting.
Hopefully, this meeting won't be a disaster, she thought as they reached the conference room. The ensign plugged in a code and the door opened. He stepped aside, subtly gesturing Sev'rance Tann across the threshold.
She entered and blankly scanned the room before finding a pair of sulfuric eyes burrowing into her crimson gaze.
Darth Gladiolus watched the newcomer as the doors sealed shut. The officer crossed the room and slipped into the sole chair left open, situated near enough to the table's end to be easily ignored and forgotten. Gladiolus knew not who the woman was—Admiral A'lanari had failed to mention any absent members of her staff when their meeting began minutes ago—but she could sense her presence in the Force. Unlike the other Chiss, the newcomer was strong in the Force.
How fascinating. This is the one I sensed; the one perhaps most dangerous, yet most useable toward my aims. Does the admiral know what she has? Or is she ignorant of the potential that officer possesses?
Gladiolus would say nothing. If they decided to introduce the officer, then she would be free to make allusions to the power the woman possessed. The Sith Lord found their appearances to be fascinating; the cobalt sheen of their skin, the lacking pupils in their bloody crimson eyes, even the slight gossamer shine of their hair. The Chiss might have the same form and structure as a human, but they were anything but human. They were different. Not more nor less, as far as she could tell. Then again, she knew next to nothing about their people. Lord Salazar's records had been limited concerning the Chiss and their way of life. They were merely a people he encountered.
From all Gladiolus had witnessed and sensed, she would learn more about the Chiss from this meeting than she gathered from what Lord Salazar documented as he passed through their space. She would make detailed reports once returned to the Dearg Due—and she would carefully use the Force to sway minds amongst the admiral's staff if necessary. She already sensed some among their number were susceptible to the Force's influence.
"As I was saying," said Admiral A'lanari despite the fact Darth Gladiolus had been speaking before their interruption. "It is most unusual for a ship of your classification to enter our space from that direction. Why, we have seen nothing of its kind in a thousand years."
"I could have told you that myself," Gladiolus remarked, annoyed the admiral believed she could play silly games with a Sith Lord. "The previous owner passed through your space a thousand years ago. You cannot tell me that records from then have been so completely lost you know nothing of his passage."
The admiral's lips pinched tightly. "You have said before that your craft has passed through, yet we have no records of a 'Dearg Due' in our records. Trust me when I say I already had the archives checked."
Gladiolus suddenly wished she had the old transponder codes. They would confirm her claim. But she had decided while preparing for departure to replace the Dearg Due's transponder codes. Any identification system would not clock her shuttle as being the same one that crisscrossed the cosmos a thousand years ago. Perhaps she should have left the old codes installed for her jaunt through Chiss space, but she decided against that choice in the end. She would break with that past and embrace the future the rechristened shuttle represented.
" Dearg Due is the name I granted the shuttle; its transponder codes would have been different then. Yet you must possess record of Lord Salazar."
"We know nothing of Sith Lords from that era beyond those encountered on Thule long after when your alleged crossing would have occurred!" the admiral hissed. "Whoever this 'Lord Salazar' was, he does not exist in our records!"
Darth Gladiolus frowned slightly. She caught the admiral's gaze and focused her malice and wrath into a mental strike. The woman flinched away while the newcomer stiffened; the rest glanced around with confusion, unaware of the Force's influence. Those nearest Admiral A'lanari shifted in their seats awkwardly. If asked, she imagined they would complain about air scrubbers or artificial gravity.
They did not understand what they felt at a primal level was the true power of the Force, wielded by a fierce master of the dark side.
"Yet I do not believe you," Gladiolus said softly. She released her grasp on the dark side. A rush of air poured out of the admiral. "I know he passed through your space. I have the navigational logs to prove it; I can transmit them from my shuttle, should you prefer to analyze my documentation."
Admiral A'lanari scowled. "I have no cause to believe you, especially after that showing of your foul witchcraft." She turned to an officer. "Tharlen! Fetch—"
"Admiral," the late arrival suddenly said, interrupting her superior. Gladiolus glanced between her and A'lanari, trying to not smirk at the thick strain between them. "I think we should hear the interloper out. She could be of value to the Ascendancy. If not her, then her world. Think: an untouched world of humans, untainted by the Republic and the Jedi. If this woman does have the logs she claims to possess, then she will also have information about the systems she passed through to reach Kinoss."
The admiral scowled at her subordinate; her gaze settled on Gladiolus instead, her bright crimson eyes almost luminous. The Sith Lord sensed her intelligence—and the hint of something else. Something darker.
"You were invited aboard because I thought witnessing this meeting would do you some good, Commander Tann," the admiral said, unaware of what the Sith Lord present realized. "Your purpose was to observe—and only observe."
"Yet she recognizes the reality before her," Gladiolus remarked. The admiral stiffened, her gaze still held upon Commander Tann. "She senses the value you can acquire from aligning with me and mine, admiral. I cannot fault you for distrusting me; I cannot comment on those events you recorded from Thule so long ago, but I imagine that it left your people with bitter feelings concerning Sith Lords."
Admiral A'lanari grunted. Gladiolus suspected the admiral wanted the Sith Lord off the Icespire so she could address the commander and perhaps make an example of her.
"Your order is extinct," the admiral said dismissively. "The Jedi destroyed your kind at Ruusan. Any involvement with the Sith will remind the Jedi we still exist. The Ascendancy uses secrecy to protect ourselves from the malicious influence of Coruscant."
"The Seventh Battle," Lieutenant Tann supplied, meeting Gladiolus's wandering gaze. "Something strange occurred in the caves beneath the surface, and all on Ruusan—Jedi and Sith alike—perished."
Darth Gladiolus nodded. She would research this 'Seventh Battle of Ruusan' when she had time. Given what Commander Tann had said of that particular battle between the Sith and the Jedi, something truly bizarre had taken place. The true narrative might even be false, written because a secret victor desired one understanding of events to be accepted as reality over the truth.
Then again, Lord Salazar and the other founders finished establishing Hogwarts by the time events on Thule or at Ruusan played out. How fascinating that pivotal moments in Sith history occurred after he left Ziost behind. Perhaps I should awaken him from his slumber and demand the full story of his departure for Earth. He acknowledged the Force drew him, but his full purpose was never discussed. I only presume I am the final product of his destiny.
"Perhaps it is wise to keep me at arm's length if that is the history you are working with," Gladiolus began. The admiral's mouth opened, ready to claim the offered olive branch. "But how will the Jedi know of my presence if they're ignorant of your presence, Admiral? If they and their Republic knew of the Chiss Ascendancy, then why have you not been strong-armed into joining? Why are there no agents of the Republic inserted into your fleet, reporting to Coruscant that a Sith Lord has been discovered for the first time in a thousand years?"
"I… I cannot say."
"Then I would recommend you abandon your fear of the Jedi, else you learn too late I am the one you should fear, Admiral A'lanari. In the grand scheme, you are replaceable. Why, are you even related to one of the Nine Ruling Families?"
"I have been adopted—!"
"Only adopted?" Gladiolus drawled. "How disappointing. How… quaint."
Many Chiss stiffened with offense. But Commander Tann, who sat to the side oh so patiently, rippled with amusement and vicious approval. Gladiolus wondered if the woman knew how open and transparent her emotions were in the Force. Perhaps she did and did not care who noticed. Or perhaps she did not truly understand the Force, like any with power who lacked training.
"Now, Admiral," Gladiolus continued, preventing A'lanari from mentally regrouping. "This is how events will transpire moving forward. You will communicate to Csilla and confirm my claims about Lord Salazar and his passage through your people's territory. Once that is completed, I will pay a visit to Csilla myself. There I will negotiate a treaty between my people and yours, seeking benefit for us both.
"And do not doubt the Chiss will benefit from this alliance. Your people are stagnant; do not argue you are not. I can see it in your eyes, feel it in your moods. You think me lesser because I am human. Because my homeworld is primitive in your eyes. But you do not understand the power of the Force, whether it be the limitations the Jedi place upon themselves or the true power of a Sith Lord like myself.
"For once my business on Csilla is finished, I will depart the Ascendancy and pass into the Outer Rim. I have… tasks I wish to accomplish. They require I continue eastward through your space. There are worlds I wish to visit and explore. History to learn."
The conference room settled into a protracted silence. Gladiolus knew Admiral A'lanari waged an internal war. Her instinct screamed to fold and abide by the Sith Lord's demands. But her pride as a Chiss prevented her from folding to the will of an outsider. She would fold; it was inevitable, after all. But the admiral would do her damnedest to retain her dignity in the face of Gladiolus's aggression.
"I would sacrifice my own life before I'd allow a foreign dog like you to step on Csilla," Admiral A'lanari decided. "And even if I agreed, the Nine Ruling Families would skin me alive! Why, my own family would remove me from their number. I would be disinherited."
"Then embrace your fate. You know the right choice for your people. Do not let the Nine Ruling Families dictate your choice. You must think of the Chiss as a whole. You must think what will serve your people best a hundred years from now. Five hundred. A thousand."
"And you think your people are worth betting on?" the admiral asked, half her fury washed away by uncertainty. "You truly think it wise to align with you?"
"Naturally. Your Ruling Families may hate this choice, but they most of all will benefit. Reach out to Csilla. Propose this alliance. Know that my people went from animal to mechanical labor within a hundred years. If we can accomplish that, imagine how swiftly we can ascend to the stars—and how swiftly we shall dominate them."
Admiral A'lanari slipped into a thoughtful silence. Her command staff glanced between the admiral and the Sith Lord, unable to suppress their uncertainty. They expected Darth Gladiolus to be dismissed or imprisoned in the Icespire's brig. Only Commander Tann lacked for surprise, uncertainty, or confusion. She remained coolly calm; her emotions churned only with possibility. Tann would gladly accept Gladiolus's proposal. She would have only made a show of skepticism or doubt before reaching the right and proper decision.
"I fear they will seize all I have acquired," Admiral A'lanari admitted. "All my life I have pursued approval from the Ruling Families, especially my own. But what you propose… The Chiss have maintained our isolation for over a thousand years. We have kept to our own, and that policy has served the Ascendancy well. To embrace you and your people will alter our course, and likely end in war with the Republic and their Jedi." She leaned across the table between them. "They number ten thousand, from the Grandmaster to the youngest children."
"Children?" Darth Gladiolus asked, almost sneering. Her voice managed to not waver, even as her gut rolled with disgust. "How young do we speak?"
"Babes, freshly taken from their parents. That is what our spies report."
Darth Gladiolus nodded as she considered what she had learned. She understood that the Jedi practiced unnatural lives in order to maintain the 'peace' they pursued. But never had it crossed her mind they would steal away children. If what the admiral said was true, she could find children less than two years of age within their temple on Coruscant. The thought enraged her. Oh, how she would enjoy defiling their temple! But she was only one Sith Lord. Against ten thousand Jedi, her strength would eventually falter. She needed more—more Sith, more soldiers—if she were to punish the Jedi for their evils and relegate them to where they belonged: history.
I must handle them carefully. A few Jedi could be easily defeated. Even ten or twenty. But a hundred would require planning, plotting, and every trick and deception I know to slay them all.
She breathed out slowly before murmuring, "You should reach out to these Ruling Families, Admiral. The sooner you speak with them, the sooner we will know if they will happily welcome me to Csilla—or if they will dismiss my proposal."
Admiral A'lanari stared, resisting action. The words uttered sounded too akin to a command for her liking. Gladiolus sensed that underpinning the hesitancy. She waited until A'lanari sighed and turned to one of her officers before permitting a small smile to grace her lips.
"Contact Csilla and inform them of what has transpired here," Admiral A'lanari said, sounding pained. "We leave the matter in the hands of the Nine Ruling Families. They will know how to proceed—and what will serve the Ascendancy best."
The officer glanced at Gladiolus before saying, "As you command, admiral."
Darth Gladiolus watched the officer depart. She then turned not back to Admiral A'lanari, but to Commander Tann. "I wish to know more about you," the Sith Lord said, ignoring the truncated, offended hisses from the admiral's staff. How hilarious, the ease with which these Chiss took offense. "You have garnered my interest. I would be a fool to permit any intriguing figures amongst your people to slip away and vanish from my sight."
Commander Tann nodded; her emotions swirled, too muddled to be properly parsed. Gladiolus had wondered how best to manipulate the Chiss officer. Ego and pride, she hoped, would prove effective with the woman. After all, Admiral A'lanari seemed the kind to overlook those who threatened her position.
"Thank you for your interest…?"
"Lord Gladiolus."
The Chiss officer blinked. "Lord? I had been led to believe that your title would be 'Lady', assuming I was not deceived in my studies of Basic."
"You weren't," Gladiolus said. "That is merely the way of my order. There are no Sith Ladies. There are only Sith Lords."
"Fascinating," Commander Tann murmured. She leaned forward, crimson eyes gleaming. "Since we are speaking, I wish to know what drew your attention my way. I appreciate the interest, but I am suspicious of how I garnered it."
"Your presence in the Force. Unlike others, you… glimmer. There is a warmth that makes you difficult to ignore for one like myself."
"A Sith Lord."
"Force-sensitive," Lord Gladiolus corrected. "A Jedi would detect you all the same, though they would fear what you would do with training."
"You do not fear me?"
"I have no reason to fear you, Commander, especially as you are." She smiled wryly, as though she were about to tell a joke. "Not even if you were ordered to kill me—something I have no cause to believe shall come to pass. Why, I think our relationship may become very, very fruitful."
Commander Tann nodded. A pleased smile emerged on her face. Before she could respond, Admiral A'lanari began hissing at the commander in the Chiss tongue. Gladiolus sat back as they argued; she knew not what they said, but she sensed their feelings. Admiral A'lanari hated that Gladiolus would dare show preference to a lowly commander over her. Tann, for her part, defended the interest—and appeared to revel in any superiority she possessed over the admiral.
How fascinating that the same contest of ego and status play out in other races. No doubt some matters would confuse or surprise me, but much of what I see aligns with the ways many of my people use in pursuing their lives.
The Sith Lord leaned back and watched as the admiral and commander engaged in verbal sparring. She did not need to know their language to sense the flow of their fighting; and she knew, thanks to her power in the Force, that any result could only benefit her in the long run.
Days passed before a response returned from Csilla. Gladiolus was eventually shown to a quarter aboard Icespire. She suspected that had been on orders from Admiral A'lanari, who had been quick to send Commander Tann back to her command on Blackhawk, another of the thirty corvettes gathered at Kinoss. Gladiolus would wait for her next chance to further influence the commander. She already began influencing Tann thanks to their shared Force-sensitive nature. It would take time before her tendrils would completely sink in. But if Gladiolus were given the option of selecting which corvette would escort her and the Dearg Due from Kinoss to Csilla, she would select Tann and her Blackhawk.
She meditated through most of her wait. Her meditation allowed her to better sense and understand the eddies and flows within the Force; the dark side pulsed with great strength, concentrated not only back on Earth and in Sith Space, but deeper into the galaxy.
Near…
"Coruscant?" Gladiolus whispered. Her eyes fluttered open. She glanced at the door to her quarters as a Chiss officer approached. She rose to her feet and opened said door before the officer could raise their hand to call on her.
"Their message has arrived?" Gladiolus asked.
The officer hesitated before nodding. "They are sending a representative to negotiate passage. They will arrive in eleven hours."
Gladiolus nodded. "What do you know of the representative?"
"Very little, Lord Gladiolus. Only that they are one of the finest tactical and cunning minds amongst the Chiss, though… younger than the Admiral expected."
She smiled, all glinting sharp teeth. The Chiss barely shifted, despite the discomfort she sensed within. "I look forward to the meeting. And if possible, I'd like to have Commander Tann by my side for the meeting. I have a… growing interest in her."
The officer hesitated before saying, "I will speak with Admiral A'lanari about having the commander return for the meeting."
"Good." And with that, Darth Gladiolus closed the door. She needed to prepare.