Chapter 40: Past and Future
Ruby lights filled the chamber.
Darth Avaryss, Dark Lord of the Sith, knelt before her holocron in the library annex of her apartment in the royal palace. The Crystaline pyramid at her feet pulsed with light as images of past memories emerged from the keystone. The gatekeeper, a holographic representation of its creator spoke as she observed.
The voice, so much like her own spoke the words that she had placed into the device almost ten years ago now.
"Once there was a girl named Keera Lylos, and then, one day, she lost everything she loved."
Avaryss pursed her lips.
Had she really said that?
Had she really been so melodramatic at such a young age?
She shook her head.
Yes.
She had indeed.
She watched as the memory played out, of young Keera Lylos climbing the collection tower on her home world of Oridanna. She had climbed up normally, but then, on the way down gave herself over to the Force, used it to free climb down the tower itself, culminating with a backflip from the tower, many feet in the air, and coming down unharmed.
Avaryss shook her head.
Fool girl, she thought.
Why had she been so foolish?
The girl had been using the Force without even realizing it. She had embraced the light in her calm, and simple joy of doing her duty.
Foolish, and naïve, the Dark Lord thought.
It was amazing that she survived as long as she had.
As the images of THAT long ago day played, the Dark Lord reflected on what had come before, reflected, and frowned.
This story had been the first thing she had recorded into her holocron. She had wanted to make sure that her rise was fully known and understood by those that came after her. So many of the holocrons she had explored over the years had never spoken of their creator's rise to power. Those ancient dark lords had preferred for everyone to see them at their height, with no understanding, or explanation, of how they got there.
Avaryss had thought such behavior as childish.
And the ancients had not been alone in this lack of openness.
She thought of her own master, Darth Feer had not been willing to share much of his history with her. She knew he had attended one of the Fury academies as a boy, and she knew that he had either seduced or been seduced by his future wife Synestra, and that the two of them had conspired to, and succeeded, in murdering his father, thus claiming his title and wealth.
Beyond that, she knew nothing.
The thought intrigued her.
Who had been the boy that had become Feer? What were his dreams, and desires? Had he always lusted after the power of his father, or had there been affection between them once?
So many questions, and now those answers were lost to time.
She wanted to make sure that those that followed her bloodline had no questions when it came to her rise. She wanted them to understand how she came from nothing, and through cunning, and the aid of the dark side had gained everything.
That was the lesson she wished to impart above all. The holocron itself had an inscription at its base, written in the old tongue.
That inscription was simple…
Greed…was eternal.
Not that Keera's early years showed that, the girl had lacked vision and understanding during her formative years.
She had given freely to the empire, far TOO freely.
Avaryss shook her head.
Fool girl.
Naïve girl.
Though she had come to despise Keera's innocence and naivety over the years. She couldn't deny that it was her pain and rage that had given birth to the powerful Sith that now had the galaxy in the palm of her hand.
The girl's sacrifices needed to be honored, if for nothing else, to understand why Avaryss had reached such heights. She would not destroy her past, and the essence of her ascension. Such information would be valuable to the future members of her bloodline. She had no desire to see them turn into the elitist snobs that had sought to deny her when she rose to the dark council.
No, her heirs would understand, and accept, that it was through her own power and cunning that they now stood atop the empire.
Yes, they WOULD understand.
Those old fools, she thought, remembering the council meetings she had attended.
Old…and arrogant.
Her time on the dark council had not been a profitable one. She understood now that, despite their so-called unity, her fellow councilors had looked down upon her. The peasant in their midst. Even Darth Nox, who had begun as a pleasure slave, saw her as a lesser because of his connection to the ancient House of Kallig. Darth Marr had done his best to manipulate her, and she had fallen into that trap, mainly because she had feared his power early on, and even as she surpassed him, she didn't reevaluate her decisions.
A foolish move that, made even more foolish by the fact that she had taken a harder line with her fellows after her recovery, after she had gained new life by taking a new body.
Again, it had been foolish.
She had come to suspect that the other councilors knew she was sick during those early meetings, that they were watching her, circling around her like Tukata, waiting for her to die so they could claim the knowledge and wealth she had collected. When she cured herself, and returned to them as a healthy young woman, that had caused further intrigue.
Their spies likely found out about the ritual, she suspected, and no doubt, someone talked about her holocron. Darth Marr himself had even come before her, insisting, as her ally and patron, that she turn over her holocron to the citadel, for storage in the vaults of the Sith, so that all in the Empire could benefit from her discoveries.
He had tried to play on her patriotism, a few years earlier, it would have worked, but Avaryss had grown a lot since those early days.
No, her power was hers, and hers alone, it would only go to her heirs, those strong enough to rip it from her dying grasp.
That was the way things should be, that…was the way of the dark side, the way of the Sith…
…her way.
In those days, after her return, when she had taken Tru Halcyon's body as her own, several of her fellow councilors sought her out. Even that shutta Acina, pretending friendship and concern, no doubt hoping that Avaryss might be feeling generous after her taking her new body, that her return to health meant that she would let her guard down.
That had not happened, and that is when the council began isolating her, blocking her motions, and shoving her to the back of the line.
Then had come the last straw, when they had denied her reinforcements on Pholis. Her brother and sister Sith had literally left her to die. She had survived, but in the process had lost her place of power. Avaryss had had no choice but to flee, flee and plan her revenge. Revenge…that was finally, on the verge of being carried out.
The council's many slights had only fueled her desire to proceed with Hecaetus' plan, and now that that plan was so close to fruition. She felt the surge of power she should have had long ago.
Finally, she was a Dark Lord to be feared. She was an empress in the making!
They would pay for what they had done!
They would ALL pay!
That is why she did this every few months, reexamined her past. To remind herself of where she had come from, and what had been tossed aside over the years. Keera had been foolish, potential unrealized…
…now…that potential had been fulfilled.
Avaryss…was now…perfect!
She watched as the girl's family was obliterated by Darth Feer's enforcer, watched the rage build in the girl, and be unleashed. The dark side claiming her for its own.
Despite having seen this, and on a small level, still feeling the pain of having lived it. Avaryss felt something in her recoil from the images, a ghost of the past wailing in pain.
The dark lord's brow furrowed.
Or…was something else going on?
She had been…off these last few days. She had felt something, an echo of light through the darkness she had embraced. It felt like, something had been torn away, and that for a brief moment the light had blazed on her tattered spirit, and the remains of Keera Lylos. Causing old weaknesses to stir.
She had reached out with the Force, tried to sense it, but it was gone, but it had left an echo behind, a very disturbing echo.
She was not sure what to make of that, and in the end, it had left a sense of unease in her mind.
Had it something to do with Fenn, she wondered, had he found some way to break what she had done years ago?
Again, she dismissed such thoughts.
Fenn was hers. He couldn't escape what was done. She understood the Jedi mindset too well. None would risk tainting themselves with the dark side to help him. A Jedi would need to establish the most intimate of links to be a part of the shadow she had cast her lover down into, and none would risk going down into that hole.
No Jedi would DARE to go that far. Their innate fear of emotion would make sure that they would never make the attempt. They wouldn't risk being corrupted themselves. No, in the eyes of the Jedi, her dear Fenn was a pariah, and deserving of his fate.
He would find no help from his former peers. He would have no choice to seek her out.
Yes.
He was hers, and soon…he would return to her.
She was certain of it.
She felt it.
It WOULD come to pass.
The images changed as the holocron focused on her training, the gatekeeper reappeared briefly, not as the dark lord, but as a young Sith Acolyte in a breathing mask. Avaryss had chosen these changes to reflect the various parts of her reign. The gatekeeper would appear as the hopeful for her early history. The dark lord wearing a hood and mask for lessons, and the wounded Sith wearing a breathing mask for her time as an acolyte and apprenticeship.
Seeing all these sides of her transformation kept her grounded, or so she believed. Forgetting the past would not change it.
No, she accepted what she was, and what had been done, all of it.
Her heirs would need to do the same.
That thought gave her pause.
Thinking of her heirs, one day, one of them would claim this holocron for their own. Her knowledge, philosophy and wisdom would be theirs to pass on to their apprentices. The secrets gleaned from so many sources, including the lost scrolls in the forgotten tomb, would be theirs. All the spells and rituals she had collected, including the rites of essence transfer, had all been stored here. She had destroyed the hard copy records after, further enhancing the value of her holocron.
Everything she had learned, both of the old empire, and her new philosophies were stored here. The holocron was a record of everything she possessed, and offered that knowledge to the worthy.
Now, all that was missing was that one worthy Sith, the one who would continue her rule.
She had always assumed it would be Rain that took possession of the device, but her recent failures gave her master pause.
Rain is powerful, and valuable to my plans, but does she had the skill and cunning to free herself from the heart drinker? As the creatures' creator, Avaryss could remove it, but she hoped that her student would realize that she could rid herself of it quite easily. It was just a matter of understanding how the creature worked.
Was Rain that cunning, or was she too lost in her own guilt and self-doubt to find her way free?
Avaryss would be curious to see what happened in the coming weeks.
As for her remaining heirs, they had not proved themselves worthy either. Jeer was becoming too much like his father. He was cruel and arrogant, which was why he and Abominus worked so well together.
She pitied House Avaryss if Jeer rose to the title of dark lord, but again, she was willing to let matters play out. Jeer was her blood, and he had surprised her in the past, perhaps the boy could move beyond his appetites and embrace true power.
Blyss was growing more ambitious by the day. Avaryss approved, but she seemed almost too eager to provoke a confrontation between herself and Rain. Her youth and cunning were making the girl arrogant, that could be a weakness that Rain exploited, if the girl moved against her too quickly…
…Well, Avaryss could do nothing about that. If Blyss was foolish and tried to strike at Rain before she was ready…well…
…the weak deserved their fate, and such arrogance was a weakness.
Which of course, brought her to her final heir, her dear sweet Andur.
The Dark Lord frowned.
She feared her perspective was a bit off on him, he was her sweet baby, her darling boy.
It was not possible to distance herself from her feelings as a mother. The memory of the medical droids placing him in her arms after the birthing, the surge of love despite the exhaustion and the pain.
She could not deny that love. It was part of her, he was part of her, made by her and Fenn. That understanding changed everything, it changed her. So, she proceeded carefully in his early instruction.
She had let him experience the holocron once, he had been playing in her study when she opened it.
The boy had recoiled from what he sensed. What had he called it?
The bad light! No BAD LIGHT!
The power of the holocron had scared him, and he had run away in tears. She had gone to him, comforted him.
That was the last time she used the holocron in his presence.
That was the first and only time she had used it in his presence.
He doesn't have perspective yet, she realized, not blaming him for his reaction. The holocron was a powerful item of the dark side, and she had kept her son isolated from its power. In time, and with experience, he would learn to covet the device, and the knowledge it contained.
There was plenty of time for him to come into his craving for power. For now, she was content to let him be her son, and to play the role of loving mother.
He and little Anj were fast friends, and growing closer, and why not? She was his half sister after all. In time that friendship would grow into loyalty, just as Taya was loyal to her, so would her daughter be loyal to Andur.
The two even shared an imaginary friend, a playmate that they called the Sad Man. Avaryss had heard them speaking of him.
Cute, she thought.
They were just two children being children, and that…was good.
She leaned back as the holocron's images switched again, this time showing Darth Feer. The breathing-masked acolyte that Avaryss had been told of her early missions, and the early tortures inflicted by Feer on his young apprentice.
Avaryss sneered.
What would you think of me now, master? I stand on the cusp of absolute victory! My house will soon rule a unified galaxy. A galaxy unified in order and security, all those that laughed at us, and looked down upon us will be swept away.
Would you be pleased with my success, master?
She stared at the image of herself as Feer's apprentice. She still remembered all those early tests and insults. She remembered the punishment inflicted by Feer the first time she had tried to rise against him before she was ready.
They had been necessary lessons, but pain of them remained.
He could have handled things differently, she thought, I have learned from his mistakes.
Staring at the apprentice she had been, she shivered, it was not easy to look into a mirror and be real. She reflected on what came before, and what she had endured.
She remembered her apprenticeship quite well, unlike the time before she became a Sith. Keera's memories had faded with the passing of time, until they were now barely remembered dreams. The only day she remembered from that girl's life was the day that life had ended with the death of her family.
Maybe that was why she had recorded it in such intimate detail within her holocron, and why she returned to every couple of weeks.
She chose to look at what happened, endure it as she had as a girl, and remember why she was doing this, and why the galaxy needed to fall.
"Never again," she murmured.
Never again would someone have the power that Feer had had over her. She would make sure all obeyed her will. One day, people would know war as just a story, and they would thank her for making the choice for them, for destroying free will.
Yes, one day, they would all thank her.
"Master?"
The mewling voice drew her from her meditations, she gestured, shutting down the holocron.
The shadows behind her parted revealing one of her hunters.
Her eyes narrowed at the creature.
Atta Caz, the one that had become the de-facto leader of the hunters.
"You should not be here," Avaryss hissed, "I didn't summon you."
"My apologies, master," the creature said bowing its head, "I thought you wished to know that five more nobles have joined our ranks. Their transformation into beings like me are well underway, and the charges have been set in three more cities."
Avaryss nodded, her expression turning less hostile.
These new recruits, the change is proceeding without problem?"
Atta nodded.
"Who would guess that a bite could do so much so quickly. Those first effected turned in a matter of weeks.
The Dark Lord nodded.
She had hoped as much.
The process that had created the hunters had come as much from science as it had from sorcery. Beric's work on using the Rakghoul plague as a delivery system had been easily adapted to the creation of the hunters.
The creatures were a living plague, but unlike the Rakghouls of Taris, they had both intelligence and purpose. They were loyal to Avaryss, and soon that plague would sweep over her enemies.
She was pleased.
"Well done, Atta. You and your fellows will be well rewarded once my plans are finished."
The beast-woman smiled hungrily. She was most eager to seize those prizes.
Avaryss grinned.
She was curious if Atta and her fellows truly understood what was going to happen.
"You realize that many of your people will die when the final ritual begins," she said with a look of wicked glee.
The beast cackled.
"I'm not one of them anymore. I'm yours, my master. We are not Bann, but a new race, the race that will inherit Bantoon once you have scoured away those that came before."
"And what of your family," the dark lord asked, "Do you not feel anything for them?"
"As I said, they are not like me anymore. I thought of offering them the gift you have given me, but decided against it."
"Really. Why?"
"Because they are not worthy of it. They left me sidelined for years, denied me the wealth and privilege that should have been mine."
The beast's eyes narrowed.
"No, they deserve to burn with the rest of nobles. Let this world be scoured clean so the hunters will have a place of their own to roam."
Avaryss nodded.
She was most pleased.
Atta and the other hunters might not realize it, but the changes she had subjected them to went beyond the physical. Their feelings, their very minds had been altered, and with that alteration, Avaryss had become the creator of a new race, the species that would replace humans here on Bantoon.
She regarded the creature before her.
Unlike her fellows, Avaryss didn't feel the sense of unease around them that Rain and the others had described, their powers had no effect on her.
Curious.
Was it because her magic had been what changed them? Were they bound to her on a more personal level? If so, that was good, it meant that she could surround herself with them, and be protected from other Force wielders. She would be free to be at her best while others suffered. Her children, her hunters would shield her from those unable to grasp the true scope of her plans.
Delicious, she thought.
Most delicious!
By profaning these people, turning them into creatures she took further revenge on Jas Dar Bynn, and soon she would destroy his home. The final flowering of her revenge, and the most intimate form of it.
She had known when she began this work that Bantoon would need to be destroyed, its human population sacrificed to fuel the final ritual that would make the galaxy here. She had not told her followers about that; she didn't want to risk them telling the nobles. Some of them had become far too entangled in this world. She didn't want their feelings to get in the way. This world had to die, that was simply the way it was.
Of course, she could not carry out that destruction alone, she needed help, which is why she had sought to create a new species here on Bantoon. The hunters were that species. Once the ritual was complete, they would serve as the guardians of the temple, and build a new world from the ashes of this one.
It would be…glorious.
"Is that all, Atta, or do you have more for me?"
"One thing more, mistress. You asked us to investigate the nobles, and see if we could find anything out about the resistance that has been harming your efforts in recent weeks."
"Yes. What have you discovered?"
"Whispers mostly. We have found no link to the Paladina and the attacks on your person. The Rumors we have heard have dealt with off world players. Players likely linked to the criminal element on the moons, possibly even your own Sith as well."
Avaryss nodded, that revelation didn't surprise her.
She had long suspected that some of her allies had turned against her, or were hoping to steal her success as she had gotten so close to the finish line.
"I need more than rumors," she told her servant, "I need proof, and names."
"We will get them for you," the hunter promised, "Among what we have heard, two words have been mentioned in multiple conversations, perhaps my master would understand what they mean."
"And what words might those be?"
"Oridanna, and a name: Wyles, Willas, or something like that."
Avaryss frowned.
"Wilkes?"
Atta nodded.
"Yes, that is the name. Does my master know it?"
Avaryss' eyes narrowed.
Wilkes? As in Roan Wilkes?
That…that was not possible.
Ro was dead, he was a part of her now. His life energy one of the thousand that helped her rebirth.
She shook her head.
What did her former lover have to do with anything? Her dead lover…
…she had assured that bridge had been burnt years ago, how could her enemies cross it now?
Curious.
"The name of a dead man, and a place that no longer matters," she told her hunter, "Keep listening, but bring what you hear to me and me alone."
"As the master commands," the creature said with a bow.
It was at that moment that her commlink beeped. She held up her hand for silence. The hunter alpha obeyed.
"Yes," Avaryss growled.
"Glasc, here, my lord. We have received two transmissions…"
"And?"
"The first is a data feed from HK-Sigma 3, on an emergency band."
Avaryss frowned.
A date feed from HK could mean only one thing. That the droid was unable to return itself. That its body had been too damaged to return, or been destroyed.
She hissed.
Failure!
Her loyal droid had failed her!
"I will examine the data feed immediately, transfer it to my private quarters. What of the second transmission?"
"This one was routed through our criminal contacts. It is from the bounty hunter Kalo Nord."
"What does he have for me?"
Avaryss felt a tingle down her spine.
Had Kalo done what her allies could not?
Had he captured Bayla Istillo? It was possible. He had spent some time on Bantoon in his youth, she knew that from the memories she had inherited from Tru.
Had the dark side given him the strength to hunt someone he knew, or was this some more cunning game he was playing?
"He requests an audience with you," Glasc continued, "He says he has something you want, and will negotiate for it only in person."
Avaryss considered that.
Such a meeting would be risky.
She had worked with Kalo in the past, he was skilled and dangerous, but that was before her change.
He was also the brother of Tru Halcyon. The body she now inhabited.
Would he hold a grudge? Was this request for an audience part of some revenge scheme?
"Did he say what he has that is so valuable?"
"He claims to have captured one of Survivor Squad, a bounty hunter known as Merrit Fallenstar."
"I know no such person."
"Kalo claims that you knew him by another name. Fallenstar is an alias for the fallen Jedi Fenn Shadowstone."
Avaryss blinked.
Fenn?
He…he had turned bounty hunter?
"My lord? Are you there?"
She shook her head, and smiled.
"Send word to Kalo that I will meet him at a neutral site."
"I anticipated that, my lord, he insists that he meet you here, on Bantoon. That if you do not agree, he will take his merchandise elsewhere."
She snarled.
How dare he dictate terms to her. She was to be an Empress! She…
She took a shuddering breath, and calmed herself.
He claimed to have Fenn, if he was not lying…
Was this how it would happen? Was this the will of the dark side?
Was this how her love returned to her.
Finally she nodded.
"Provide him with the proper clearance. I will meet with him at Sanctuary Base."
"As ordered, my lord," the imperial said, "Glasc out."
She lowered the commlink, and stared into the shadows of her darkened chamber.
Atta remained where she was, her eyes cooly observing her master.
"Is there something wrong, my lord?"
Avaryss shook her head.
No, she didn't think so.
She…she had not expected for Fenn to return this way, but perhaps this was the only way. Did that explain the tremor she felt in the Force? Had the light finally given up on Fenn?
If so, perfect!
He would be here, she could see that now. He was coming, but coming to her as a prisoner. He would have no choice to accept her, accept what had been done had been done for the right reason.
She smiled.
Her body stirring at the thought of seeing her old lover again.
"No, Atta," she said, "All is right with the galaxy."
She almost laughed.
Fenn.
My love.
Finally, you return to me, and right at the end as well.
Right as victory is mine.
The dark side truly loved her…
…and soon so would Fenn…a new Sith in her service, and her bed.
How could it end any other way?
The future was hers.
All was hers.
It was inevitable.
It was the will of the dark side.
Her will…and…
Her will be done.