Private Acceptable Terms (The Worm Emperor)

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin had visited her share of dark rooms. This one had a scent she couldn't name, a thrill of fear, an undercurrent of rot and spice, and though she knew the dark well she couldn't discern any details. A friend of a friend had arranged this meeting. In theory it was a meeting of equals - she considered herself equal to any master of the Dark Side - but she had asked and she was coming to visit the other's home turf, and therefore this was an audience.

She'd dressed simply enough, civilian clothes, Jentaral strapped to her left hip. The short Sith sword was her calling card as a serious alchemist; to the right set of eyes and senses, it said as much as her reputation. Reputation was mutable, perishable. She preferred matters of substance.

She cleared her throat and squinted into the dark. "Your Majesty."

Darth Empyrean

 

[Aspect of Passion]

Unknown Planet, Sith Border Regions...​

864ABY​

​

As Ashin had noticed, the room was dark and musty; carrying with it the tones of fear, spice, rot - and in the center stood a massive figure. Three meters, five electrum masks, and a thousand whispers delicately dancing behind the sound of a fire in the middle of the room. He offered her no smile, no glance of the eye, nothing to imply he had seen her come in - but Ashin would feel his attention on her the moment she made herself known. There was a soft groan from the beast, and then a male voice struck up her greeting with his own -​

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"Ah, Ashin Varanin.", it offered in a gentle and noble bass.​

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"The Fallen Empress.", a woman instigated.​

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"Dethroned and dishonored.", a child chided.​

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The whispers grew for only a moment before settling as the main voice spoke once more -​

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"I understand you come to ask of me something. To make a deal. Please, present what is on your mind."​

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"The burning thought."​

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"What keeps you up at night?"​

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Ashin Cardé Varanin​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ascended monsters of the Dark Side never failed to spark fear, but also defiance. She'd faced Voracitos and Carnifex at their alchemized heights, fought Lotek'k itself, engaged with the servants of Akala - so the Worm Emperor scared her exactly the appropriate amount.

She took comfort in the knowledge that if she kept her wits about her, and if the moment required, tearing the Worm Emperor apart might give her all kinds of useful resources. She approached the huge figure without hesitation.

"The Sith Empire killed my wife, Spencer Varanin , and she's beyond my reach for reasons I can't quantify. I'm pursuing every possible angle to resurrect her. One of those angles is you. I understand you have a unique relationship with life and death."

Aspect of Passion

 

[Aspect of Passion]

Unknown Planet, Sith Border Regions...​

864ABY​

​

"A bold assumption.", the voice offered back as the massive figure shifted ever so slightly beneath the cloaks. The masks slowly moved to face her, settling on her in different moments, but they all held the same empty eyes.​

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"But a correct one. We are life."​

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"And we are death.", a woman who seemed to whimper in pain offered back. Her voice felt more like an itch in the skull than a true vocal impression.​

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"The Sith Empire has taken much from more than just you - they actively destroy the strength the Sith had; burn it through charity and preposterous demands of loyalty. Where you mourn your wife, I mourn us all."​

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"The death of a people."​

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"The death of a creed.", a deeper male voice said as though it were crying, mixed with teeth clenched anger.​

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"I can help you, Ashin; but know my help does not come free. You may have lost your throne -"​

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"Overtaken.", the child interjected.​

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"- but you carry knowledge. Experience. If I am to help you, I want you to help guide my Order when I am gone; and there will come a day when I am gone."​

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"Killed by belief."​

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"Murdered by my children."​

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Ashin Cardé Varanin​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Any price. Anything.

"If you succeed in bringing her back, your terms are acceptable. But I doubt you will. I'm here to ask for guidance, support, resources, information, power - whatever would make the difference. I feel you know what would help me best. In return, I'll offer my exclusive service for one year, under my own name."

Aspect of Passion

 

[Aspect of Passion]

Unknown Planet, Sith Border Regions...​

864ABY​

​

"Then so be it. Let it never be said I am not charitable...", The Worm Emperor offered as his form adjusted to face the fire. The flames rose as his many eyes settled on it, reflecting on his mask like dancers on the stage.​

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"However, I will not give you what you ask for so simply. You will fight for it."​

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"Bleed for it."​

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"Die for it."​

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"It is struggle that makes a Sith strong, what makes mortals appreciate what they gain. Hardship makes the iron strong.", he mused as the flames rose to nearly lick the roof of the ruins they stood in.​

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"Where once I came, where parts of me still remain, you will find what you seek. The chance to speak to what was lost, and what you hope to gain."​

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"An avenue to forgotten places."​

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"An army that waits."​

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Within the flames, a cave on Korriban showed itself; lost in the deserts of the world not found by any previous expedition yet. Far from the Valley of Kings, and the world of the Sith of old; rather a pit of sand that fell into a chasm that was never meant to be found. Faces in the flames, faces in the darkness, and none looked familiar.​

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"Survive, regain what was lost, and I will see you soon. Is this acceptable, Ashin?"​

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Ashin Cardé Varanin​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin bit back a snarl. While his approach had an edge of presumption, he was, after all, an emperor on home ground. And he had a point. In fact she shared the ideals he explained.

"They all think it's order versus chaos," she said quietly. "A false dichotomy. Too much order means a comfortable, largely predictable Sith career defined by aesthetics. Too much chaos is just as poor at producing disciplined will. The hidebound and the dissolute are equally weak."

She turned from the fire and looked up into the Worm Emperor's masked faces.

"I believe the same as you apparently preach. So how do you deal with the...constant disappointment intrinsic to having followers?"

Aspect of Passion

 

[Aspect of Passion]

Unknown Planet, Sith Border Regions...​

​

864ABY​

​

The flames began to fade as she spoke, and the Emperor's many masks turned to give her their full attention. One by one they settled until none moved, the last finding its place with heavy clink of metal. Whispers faded to ambient noise before the Worm replied;​

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"I see you are a philosopher as much as we are.", the primary voice mused.​

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"Philosophy is the foundations of actions."​

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"Worthless until proven.", the child's voice said sharply.​

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The main voice hummed ever so slightly at her words as he considered them - the whispers rising in his absence, but falling quiet once more as he spoke;​

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"There is no disappointment in followers, Ashin. Not as I believe; for all will receive what they are owed."​

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"What they take."​

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"If they kill me, then I shall be replaced by someone stronger - to carry the will of the Order forward. If they dissilusion themselves as the Empire has, then they will die a slow death among themselves.", the voice offered in a matter of fact tone. There was no hesitation or fluctuation in his conviction.​

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"The weak serve.", the woman dictated.​

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"Tell me, what do you consider dissapointment, Ashin?"​

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"Fallen Empress."​

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Ashin Cardé Varanin​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"To build real Sith and see them fall away into their own weakness and worthlessness through complacency or chaotic, aimless waste." It came out clipped, precise, without hesitation. "As a teacher I've had exactly one student who proved worthy. She's the one I mean to bring back. The weak may serve, but they serve unreliably. I would far rather build a core team of the competent when I can find them. That way there's a real hope of my successors being worthy as I think both you and I would define it."

Aspect of Passion

 

[Aspect of Passion]

Unknown Planet, Sith Border Regions...​

​

864ABY​

​

"Then it would seem bringing her back benefits me as well.", the Worm offered her in return.​

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"Do not mistake us, we ask you to join us for the same reason you mention. A strong foundation to guide the Sith once more, steer them back to the path they have swayed from."​

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"A ship lost in stormy waters."​

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"And yet, only one who truly embodies our ideals may kill me."​

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"Replace me."​

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"Start anew."​

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"When that day comes, the Order shall stand strong. They will struggle to hold power, until they day they are overtaken."​

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"Replaced."​

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"Start anew."​

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"The strong are replaced by the stronger, until the Sith can stand on their own once more. Not be led by those chosen through council, by false Gods who dictate themselves the beginning and end the Sith, or their nepotism laden politics.", the voice offered with scorn.​

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"Perhaps, Ashin, it is you who will kill me."​

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"If you are capable."​

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"If you are strong."​

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Ashin Cardé Varanin​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"I'm reasonably certain I could kill you today," said Ashin with no special airs or emphasis. "But you know as well as I do that being a genuine Sith is about overcoming every obstacle, breaking every chain, to achieve what you want most as you and you alone define it. You know my desire. Your continued existence is more likely than not to help me achieve it. If that changes-" She tapped Jentaral's pommel. "-perhaps I'll be the one to give you what you want after all."

 

[Aspect of Passion]

Unknown Planet, Sith Border Regions...​

​

864ABY​

​

For the first time, the Worm Emperor laughed - first alone, then joined by a growing cacophony of voices. Each laughing in a their own way, some crazed, some soft, each eminating from inside of the mind than without; yet it echo'ed against the walls, tickled the skin, and seemed central to the masks. The voices did not cease laughing, but slowly lowered in volume until only the Worm spoke;​

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"Confidence. More than I expected of an Empress once overthrown by those who now swear loyalty to the meek.", he mused.​

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"Laid low by the strong."​

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"The strong led by the weak."​

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"Do not let memories fill your heart with imaginations of glory, Ashin Varanin. There will come a day when you are ready - but that day is not today."​

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"A day when many will be ready."​

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"When you retrieve your lost, your student - please, bring her to me. If she is all you speak of, then we would love to make her acquaintance."​

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Ashin Cardé Varanin​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Your understanding of me is twenty-nine years obsolete."

Her tone could have frozen stars.

"Wearing new faces and names, I bled the Empire dry, and built or conquered more than they ever held. I grew far beyond the empress I was. Every dark lord and emperor in three decades has prayed to Typhojem each night that I won't crawl out from under the bed. I appreciate your guidance, and if it pays out I'll honor our bargain. I'll serve you with all due and public deference. But between us, don't make the serious mistake of considering yourself my superior."

 

[Aspect of Passion]

Unknown Planet, Sith Border Regions...​

​

864ABY​

​

The Worm Emperor's voice snapped back - a flurry of voices overlapping in a single unified tone. Harmonic anger, passion, a voice littered with what made Sith strong and dripping with Dark Energy nearly oozed from the masks;​

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"And your understanding of us is infantile."​

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"Do not take us for a child, a beast you have conquered, or an Emperor who cares of who you once were."​

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"You are a ghost who has abandoned the Sith to their rot, a shadow that demands respect she will not receive from me.", the voices snarled in unison.​

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"Do not mistake our manners for fear, for poorly placed pride, or for an act. We have conquered a thousand Sith, and we will conquer a thousand more - Now leave, collect what you could not protect and return to fulfill your end of the bargain."​

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With that, the masks twisted themselves forward with a harsh jerking motion before the Emperor moved back to the temporary seat he once had in the rubble, all the masks facing forward - and just as quickly, the attention she once garnered from the Worm would cease. She would feel nothing, notice nothing, and the Masks would revert to no more than a statue; awaiting the next to ask the Worm Emperor a favor.​

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Ashin Cardé Varanin​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

A sneer of excited anticipation bared her teeth. Someday, they would probably continue this conversation to its natural end. But a great deal had to happen between now and then, and she was anxious to get started.

With no particular ceremony, she left the dark room. The Worm Emperor was welcome to the last word.