Weeks later, I still felt like I'd been waiting my whole life to kill Skotia. Lady Zash had sent me and Khem with instructions to hide in one of the large storage pods against the back of hangar. She had made arrangements for the holocams to be briefly turned off, but we were still in danger of being spotted by anybody with eyes or optical sensors, so as soon as Khem and I had entered the hangar, we'd noticed how strangely deserted it felt, vacant except for the sleek personal starship waiting for me and my servant to "board and depart" Drommund Kaas. None of the droid or human personnel were at their regular posts. The customs station was unmanned, and the office was dark and silent.
As we had watched, the starship engines began to spin and whine, and eventually it gently lifted off the ground and moved smoothly into the air as the aperture above opened to allow the pilot access to the sky. The ship had disappeared from view, and the ceiling closed behind it. The bright hangar lights had switched off, leaving only the dim access lights to guide us to the stack of containers. My lightsaber had served us well, for I hadn't thought to clip my light to my belt for a task that was entirely indoors. We had checked each one until we found the one that was unlocked. Inside, a rough camp had been set up; a portable toilet, two bedrolls, and a large stack of ration packs were all that I saw. It was lit with flat, harsh fluorescent lights, and although it didn't have windows, the slightest movement of air on my fur told me that somewhere, a vent was circulating the oxygen. It was noticeably smaller than the size of our quarters on the Black Talon. Inwardly, I groaned. Khem's restlessness was going to be a nightmare.
"Oh look, Khem, more rations!" I had said in a faux cheerful, singsong sort of voice. He'd merely scowled at me.
"Someday I will devour you, little Sith," he had said, his favorite thing to say to me. At the time, I'd scoffed and rolled my eyes.
Days later, though, I was the one who was about to pop from sheer miserable restlessness. Khem had decided to prove he was better than I was by flinging himself into meditation and reading, devouring histories in languages that I didn't even recognize. Spite drove him to sit hours in perfect stillness, which was contrasted by my ever-increasing fidgeting. I had my schoolwork to study, as well as my own meditation and force studies, but being unable to leave the cell-like room was stifling. I found myself humming tunelessly, gnawing on my datapad stylus, or even picking at my fur. Outside, we heard starships come and go at all hours of the day and night with no discernable pattern, so reluctantly, in order to stay hidden, we stayed in our little prison, passing every miserable minute together.
At long last, on the 18th day, Lady Zash commed me. I didn't bother getting up when I answered. "Apprentice, there you are!"
"Finally! I was beginning to think you'd forgotten me," I said rudely.
"I've got news for you," she continued as if I hadn't spoken. "I just got confirmation! Skotia left Korriban an hour ago."
"You can't mean that I have to wait any longer in this force-forsaken hole!" I protested, the desperation in my voice quite real.
"This puts him arriving on Dromund Kaas in a little under 5 days," my master said implacably. "In preparation for his arrival, I will schedule the removal of your shipping container in 4 days, so you'll need to vacate the container and hide yourselves somewhere else using the stealth field generators I provided," she said.
"Anything else I can do for you?" I said sarcastically. "Maybe we can do your washing while we're at it?"
"Oh, oh, you're teasing me, apprentice!" she laughed. "We're so very close. I'll ping you again when Skotia's ship is detected entering the system. Don't lose your focus." She hung up and I dropped my head back onto my mattress with a groan.
"I hung in stasis for over a thousand years," growled Khem, not opening his eyes from where he knelt in meditation. "You are breaking after two weeks."
"You weren't conscious, and you know it, Khem," I snarled back, feeling my claws extend in my fury. "And then you became my slave and cried over the dead Sith Lord that locked you away."
"I would have served Tulak Hord until the Sun died away," he said, sorrow abruptly replacing his anger. I had failed to provoke him. "I would have slain Death itself to defend him!"
"And I thought I was crazy," I muttered, my anger morphing into irritation. I knew what was coming next, and sure enough, Khem began a chant that I knew far too well, beating his head into the ground. Apparently, Dashades mourned by smashing their ugly faces into the floor and babbling until they felt better. I lay back, once again turning to my datapad and headset to distract me from his ritual. It didn't help much, of course, but I had to do something!
The fourth day, Khem and I were ready and concealed behind the mobile refueler which was parked in a corner of the hangar, when the lights powered on, the ceiling opened, and a small cargo hauler landed. A small crew of colorfully painted droids efficiently piled out of the spacecraft, and the young male Rodian leading them took his datapad over to the shipping containers and began scanning them to identify his cargo.
"Of course it's on the bottom," he complained, typing something into his datapad. "Alright, boys." They beeped and whistled cheerfully in response. There was a large hoist by the wall, and with the help of his droids, cables were attached to the stacked containers, and then the stack was shifted, one by one, until the hideout that I'd just spent 3 weeks living in was lifted off the ground.
"Load 'er up!" he ordered. The droids rolled it carefully over to the ship, where the magnetic claws clamped it tightly. "Okay, everything back in the pile." The crew restacked the other shipping containers and left; Khem and I relaxed again as the hanger descended into semidarkness. Not much longer now. I felt the burn of anticipation in my stomach; it was because of Skotia I was stuck here. He was the reason I had been so miserable. He'd tried to have me killed, and he was standing in my way. I wanted him dead so badly, I could almost taste my hatred. Khem watched me pacing back and forth, seething in my fury and drawing the dark side closer, tighter around me.
My comm dinged as Lady Zash sent me a message. I'm at my party now, it read, and I can't wait to see you when you get back to Drommund Kaas. I expect to see you very soon. Meet me at the Nexus Cantina.
"It's almost time, Khem," I said. We took our chosen spot at the entrance of the hangar, where Skotia would have to get past both of us to leave. The lights began to click on, and above their electronic hum, the grinding sound of the ceiling doors opening made us activate our stealth field generators. My palms were sweating, and I wiped them on my robes. I couldn't see Khem, but I knew he was there.
We waited, silent in our stillness. Skotia's ship descended slowly and delicately set down on the floor; the ramp descended and the two Trandoshan bodyguards came out, weapons ready. They sniffed the air and looked around suspiciously. The Darth himself followed them closely, striding purposefully towards the exit and forcing them to rush to be at his side. Three steps from the anti-cyborg field, one of the aliens stopped their master.
"Someone lurks unseen," it growled, sniffing the air. Skotia paused, and his one human eye narrowed as I felt the force swell sharply around him. It felt like a cloud of knives, lunging out and cutting any defenses that I might've raised through the force. He knew I was there, so I sneered and let the stealth field drop. Khem remained hidden, and I sensed him inch away from me, although I couldn't quite pinpoint him through the force, resistant as he was to its effects.
"It is the soft-skinned toy of Zash," one of the Trandoshans said. "What shall we do with her, Master?"
"Nothing yet," Skotia declared. The Trandoshans had their weapons out, searching for Khem and any other threats with all of their senses. "What makes you so bold as to meet me here, Slave?"
"I've been asked to kill you," I said idly, feeling my fangs grow and my claws extend. The dark side was boiling over inside of me now, and I was almost giddy with anticipation, too far gone to be afraid. "And I hate to disappoint."
Skotia laughed, and the indicator lights on his cybernetic implants began to blink and flash faster. "Skeesk," he said, indicating one of the Trandoshans. "Kill her."
"Just a moment," I said, drawing their attention to their sacred stone relic. I held it up with one arm, hoping that it wouldn't break if I was forced to drop it to defend myself. "Recognize this?"
"It has the tablet!" said one bodyguard. "What to do brother?"
"We must obey," murmured the other, and both bowed deeply at the waist to me, holding their bows.
"Clever," said Skotia, applauding mockingly. "Zash must've stayed up late to think of that one." He dusted his gloves. Then like a viper, he slammed one hand out in a powerful force push that sent one Trandoshan sprawling against the far wall. As the second was turning to attack, he clenched his fist and the beast began to strangle, held up by the force grip to suffocate. "But the bodyguards are nothing. Just show."
Khem leapt from within his invisibility to attack, his weapon descending behind Skotia. The stealth generator disguised smooth, gradual movements, and it completely failed as the Dashade flung himself into battle with a finesse that I'd never seen before, but the Darth managed to ignite his lightsaber and block just in time, though he had to drop the Trandoshan to do it. I'd watched as Khem tested himself against beasts and apprentices, but Skotia was a veteran warrior and was a talented bladesman and held his ground with moderate effort. The Trandoshan almost seemed to be impeding their combat. Skotia pushed him away and then launched himself backwards, towards me, with a spiraling twist of his body that helped him avoid a quick swipe of Khem's blade. I only had time for one quick squeak of terror. I'd barely begun to fumble for my lightsaber (I let the stone tablet fall, which didn't shatter as it narrowly missed my foot but definitely lost a few pieces) when Skotia passed through the doorway in front of me.
The instant he stepped into the field, his metal feet were frozen to the durasteel flooring, Skotia had the presence of mind to deactivate his lightsaber as he fell, shouting in bewilderment. The rotating magnetic field targeted him, and I watched as his body twisted at unnatural angles to accommodate the powerful, unrelenting pull. The device's emp abilities kicked in, and his wiring sparked and caught fire in places as everything briefly overloaded. His life support stuttered and failed, and the indicator lights in his eye went dark and smoke trickled out of the socket.
"What is this?" he cried. Khem kept well back. The Trandoshan stood there, bewildered, and my Dashade neatly beheaded him in his distraction. One less thing to worry about. "Did you...Zash!" he bellowed. I was impressed he could gather enough air to shout, but already he was gasping harder and his voice was quieting. "Zash, you've killed me!"
"She's not here," I snapped. "This is all me."
"Mind...less," he stuttered, his speech growing more and more labored. "You don't...know what Zash...can do. Think! Think of how...long she must have...plotted my death. She will ...kill you...like she's...killed me."
"If that day comes, I'll be ready for her," I snarled, and I shocked him with lightning. He gasped, but he seemed to already be so near death or so overwhelmed by pain already that it didn't have the debilitating effect that it usually did. Held firmly by the anti-droid field, he couldn't convulse or rip himself free. I let it end and he sagged. His one eye was bloodshot and unfocused as it stared in my direction.
"Mind...less," he repeated, no longer able to maintain the strength of force or body to stay upright. He collapsed down to the ground, his mechanical arms also trapped there in the magnetic field. "Zash. Zash!"
"How dare you say another woman's name while I'm killing you!" I snapped, actually angry that he was dying at my hand and didn't even acknowledge me! He bared his teeth at me, which was surprisingly intimidating, considering he had a human mouth and was literally on the cusp of death. I sent one long, continuous stream of lightning at his body, watching as it traveled along his various cybernetic parts and pieces, melting flesh and twisting metal until it was a steaming mess. He died cursing Zash's name. It disgusted me, but I admired the way he fought his death until the end.
I felt very unsatisfied.
Khem and I waited a couple more minutes until the anti-cyborg device ran out of power before trying to approach the body. As tempting as it was to take something as a little token of my defeat of a Darth, I knew better. I told myself it was because I didn't want to risk blowing my cover by being discovered with a piece of dead cyborg, but the real reason was that I knew he had been right.
I hadn't killed him; Zash had. Skotia had died because of the plans she'd laid, the preparation she'd made, and the stratagem she'd employed. I was merely the weapon she'd used to take him down, but I was under no delusions that I was essential to this process. I knew that if it hadn't been for the lockdown, impeding the movements of all non-sith, she would've used assassins or mercs to kill him. And I hadn't done some grand feat in killing this man; I'd stood idly by, not even drawing my lightsaber, and while I had used lightning on him, he'd have died without it as the emp blast had destroyed his life support.
Khem had checked the Trandoshan lying limply by the hangar wall; it was dead, so there was no reason for us to linger any longer. We made our way over to the hangar maintenance access tunnels, which were barely large enough for Khem to slip into. Presumably they'd been built to accommodate slaves or droids of various types; I could walk almost normally, while Khem had to turn sideways and occasionally crouch, but that was enough. As before, all holocams were deactivated and dead in their sockets as we passed.
We waited in the next hangar over for another hour. Every second made me nervous that somebody would somehow discover Skotia's body and our cover would be blown, but everything went seamlessly. I felt empty, like all the tension had wrung me up and tied me in knots, leaving no room for victory. The spaceship from weeks before came and landed in the hangar; Khem and I waited a few minutes, then made our way back up and out of the spaceport. Nobody stopped us. Nobody screamed about the murder of a darth. We got in a speeder, and we left.