Within the halls of the Sith academy, the remaining Korriban Council was gathered in their chambers. Four members were all the remained. Darth Nyra, Darth Scylla, Lord Koryx, and Lord Thyer stood in the center of the chamber. They suspected a distraction by the Mandalorians. They thought they were ready.
"All forces have moved to the front and balconies, my Lord." Lord Koryx informed Darth Nyra. Darth Nyra stared down Koryx. Nyra had never liked Koryx but she could not deny he was a skilled warrior. Scylla and Thyer watched the exchange with limited interest. Scylla was the youngest of the 4 council members at the age of 20 years and she had risen to prominence quickly. Scylla was one of the main council members on Korriban and the only one who was not sure about toppling the current ways of the Sith Empire.
Scylla stood about 5 foot 3 inches with waist-length white and grey hair. She was not a physically imposing figure but her presence in the Force surpassed anything many of the others had experienced. When she spoke, she spoke with a quiet authority that unsettled even the more potent of Sith. Her voice was quiet and soothing. She could worm her way in and calm the most feral of opponents. She would then dispatch them with her double-bladed saber. "Do not be so sure of victory, Koryx" Scylla commented, her voice barely above a whisper. "These are Mandalorians. They are not the weak Jedi we are used to."
Koryx turned to Scylla. "And your ability to get inside someone's head will not work on them either." he spat. Koryx did not like being passed up for leadership. As the oldest member of the Academy Council, he despised Scylla. He was the only one to oppose her openly. He knew others did not like the young leading the experienced but everyone else feared her. Only Lord Thyer backed her. No one knew why either. She came in and he defended her every time. Whenever she was around, he was not far behind.
"Careful Koryx. You do not want to push boundaries." Thyer told Koryx. He stood 6 foot 6 with broad shoulders and was built like a battering ram. His voice was deep and horse. Like Scylla, he spoke softly but carried the authority of an elder council member himself. Like Thyer, he was one of the more experienced members of the Korriban Council. What kept Koryx in check was that Thyer was more than a skilled warrior. He had the brains and tactics of a general as well. Koryx knew he could not easily dispose of Scylla without removing Thyer as well.
Nyra was the silent observer during all of this. She was not a fan of Scylla and Thyer. She was even less of a fan of their friendship. Nyra was not going to expose anything though. She kept what she knew to herself. She felt she could use it later. Nyra was about to speak up when an explosion rocked the academy. "That was not from the central corridor. That was from the west wing!" Nyra all but yelled. Koryx let a glimpse of panic enter his face. He had sent all soldiers to the front of the academy. There were very few between the west wing and the council chamber.
Another explosion rocked the academy and the alarms began to sound signaling the entrance had been breached. Koryx and Nyra looked stunned. Scylla and Thyer readied for battle.
Rezin and his strike team breached the west wing and made quick work of what little forces were there. They quickly scanned the large data room and bolted to the entrance. In the hallway, they dispatched three more soldiers and one Sith warrior. Within a matter of seconds, three Sith and seven soldiers had been dropped by Rezin and his team. Once through the data room and into the hallway, they paused for a brief second. As Revan scanned the area around them, Lyd noticed the council elevator. She directed the others' attention to it and they sprinted for it. The lift was powered down. Instead of trying to power it up, they force-jumped to the top. There were two more guards up to. Alli jumped into action and cut them down in seconds. Rezin led his team down the winding passageways until they found the council chamber doors. Rezin paused. He could feel power building on the other side. Revan came and stood beside him.
"There are four presences in the room. One is extremely powerful." Revan told his former apprentice. Rezin stood and thought for a brief moment. He then summoned a mini explosion within the Force to knock the door open. His companions were caught off guard but recovered quickly. Using the Force to locate the strongest presence, he lept through the doorway and ignited his double blades. He hadn't noticed that Lyd had kept up with him and was right at his side, blade-locked with an extremely tall Sith. He didn't have time to see where Revan and Alli had ended up. He looked at his opponent for the first time and noticed she was barely 5 feet tall. Her hair was long and almost completely white. Then she spoke.
"You must be the leader of the Mandalorians." His voice was a purr in his ears. He recognized the ability. He smiled behind his helmet.
"I am Manda'lor the Throne Breaker. You would be wise to surrender." Rezin replied. He knew he could not match her ability with words and persuasion. He also knew she was no match for his full power in lightsaber combat. He wasted no more time. Rezin swung his right hand containing his main greenish-silver double blade and forced the Sith girl to block. He then swung his left hand in a sweeping motion to drive her back further. She jumped over the blade swing and brought her own blade down on his head. He didn't even bother to raise a blade to block. He used the Force to deflect the attack. He was testing this girl. He attached his handles to his gauntlets and began the dance of death. He pushed this sith girl back again and again all the while trying to figure out where her power came from. Someone with this amount of power should be a better fighter than this, he thought. He felt an attack coming in from behind. He ducked and raised a blade to deflect the attack. The tall Sith had shoved Lyd to the ground and jumped the Sith girl's defense. That is when it hit Rezin. She had never had to fight a true melee combatant before. Not like this. She was too young. She cannot be any older than Lyd, he realized. His attention focused on the male Sith. He was the stronger warrior. Rezin shifted his death dance and began to attack relentlessly. Both of their blades were a blur of motion and power. Rezin spun and sliced. His blades never connected with the Sith's blades for more than a fraction of a second before he was on to the next swing. During all of this, Lyd made it to his side and began to launch her series of pokes and stabs.
It wasn't until Rezin felt a powerful pull from the Force that he stopped his dance. He shoved all combatants away from him while pulling Lyd close. He then released his double-blades and used the Force to control their spin. As he did so, a powerful blast of Force Lightning ripped towards them. The Sith girl had built up the energy. Rezin began to spin his blades in a defensive shield. He deflected the lighting away. It created a cone that engulfed the Sith girl. She had not been expecting this. She shifted to avoid her rebounded blast and pressed the attack. Rezin felt Lyd go down as she was hit by a stray blast. He also felt the tall Sith go down to the same result. Rezin stood over his apprentice and continued to shield them, the speed of his sabers increasing.
I have to break him! Scylla screamed inwardly. She knew she could beat him. She had to. She put all of her power into her attack. Then it hit her. Two simultaneous deaths in the Force. She felt Koryx be cut down by Revan. The initial shockwave caused Nyra to be disposed of by Alli. The shockwaves collided with her and she dropped to the ground, screaming in pain.
Scylla knew she was powerful. She knew many hated her and feared her for her power. She also knew she was inexperienced in combat. She relied heavily upon the Force for her attacks. When it came to close combat, she would connect herself through the Force to her peers and use their experience to fight. With two of her peers gone in sudden succession, the void within the Force tore at her. It was as if she died with them. As if she died twice in a matter of seconds. As she tried to refocus on the fight, she saw a green blade at her throat.
Rezin walked over to the Sith girl and held his saber at her throat. Alli walked over and showed Rezin the disc. She had the data. Rezin's helmet hid his smile and relief. He made sure it did not flood into the Force either.
"What is your name?" He asked the Sith girl.
She was caught completely off guard. She had never had an opponent ask her anything besides to surrender. "Darth Scylla" she responded. As she looked around, she noticed for the first time that Lord Thyer had not made it to her side. For the first time in her life, she panicked. "Where is Lord Thyer?"
"Lord Thyer?" Rezin was confused. "Do you mean him?" Rezin pointed toward the far wall to the crumpled man on the floor. Scylla looked at him and fear struck her face. Rezin was taken aback by the show of emotion from the Sith girl. He couldn't help but to reach out to her through the Force. He felt something he did not expect. She was his daughter. He could feel the kinship connection. Lyd, Alli, and Revan all looked over to see what was going on. They had felt the panic. Alli went to check on Lord Thyer. Rezin kept Scylla at saber point.
"He is hurt badly. He needs medical attention." Alli reported. Scylla looked back at Rezin. He expected her to scream or yell at him. He expected to see anger and hate in her eyes. What he saw was fear. He saw a girl who was afraid to lose someone close to her.
She may be a council member, but she is still young, he thought. "Stand up." He ordered. She obeyed. "We will take them both to the Skyline. He will be treated and you will give us all the information that you have on your people's plans and movements." Rezin placed Scylla is binders and walked her to Thyer. "Alli, do what you can for him. Keep him stable until we get transport down here."
His comm beeped. Before he could answer, he heard Garn say they had breached the entrance and were storming the upper levels. "We will have the academy in moments, Manda'lor."
"Good work Mando'ade. Send a medic to the council chamber. We have an injured prisoner here." Manda'lor commanded.
Garn took a minute to respond. "I thought we weren't taking prisoners, sir."
"Change in plans, Garn. Please hurry." Rezin shut his comm off. He reached out to Valkyria to let her know all was well. He felt relief flood to him and then she was off again. She had her tasks to do.
"Now for you." Rezin turned back to Darth Scylla. "What do we do with you?" He asked to himself more than anyone.
"Do whatever you want with me. Just make sure he is ok." She responded and nodded toward Lord Thyer.
"Why is a Sith so worried about her father? I have rarely seen this. Ever." Rezin said. Scylla couldn't respond. She was confused as to how he knew. Rezin responded as if reading her mind. "I can feel the connection between you two. Your fear and panic were clear as day when you saw him hurt." Scylla simply looked away. She did not want to give this Mando any more leverage over her than he already had.
The medic came and Manda'lor ordered him to do everything within his power to help Thyer. Scylla was confused but said nothing. Manda'lor then activated his comm and contacted the Skyline. "Have Darth Nox and Ashara Zavros transported to the academy. It's time he see the truth."