Secrets of the Dark Side IV [Samka Derith]

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Samka Derith"] |

It was the forth night and Avedia was ready to enlighten the next Knight of Ren. She was expecting Samka Derith to meet with her on board the Secreto. The Star Destroyer was currently passing through the Trenwyth system, on patrol of the outer edges of the First Order's space. Avedia had met with the Captain earlier in the day, following a report of a disturbance on her deck three nights previously. No doubt, her encounter with [member="Darth Veles"] had caught the attention of the crew. She had explained that it was none of his business, and that the activities of the Order of Ren had nothing to do with him. She had left the Captain angry, and powerless. After all, he didn't have any business inquiring about the Knights of Ren, and what they were up to, even if he was in command of the Secreto.

The short meeting with the Captain had not been a complete waste of time. Avedia had used the opportunity to order a new cabinet, chairs and seats be allocated to her quarter. Most had been broken during the Lightsaber duel with Veles. She had watched the ensigns allocated to the job move out the broken furniture, and bring in their replacements. She felt their curiosity for the plinth that stood in the center of the room, but they had not asked what it was for. She approved of their fear.

The cowl of her robe raised over her head, Avedia was sat back at the edge of the bed, as she had been during the first and second night. As she had done with [member="Viktor DuSang"], the Sith Lord had her Lightsaber resting her lap. It was an open invitation, and easily understood by those who knew of the dark side. She wanted to intimidate Samka, and most of the other Knights she had met with.

 

[Samka Derith]

Samka had an unusual greeting when her shuttle docked on board The Secreto. Upon exiting the vehicle she was confronted by the ship's captain and several of his armed entourage as he demanded an explanation on just what was happening.
"It is not my place to say, Captain," Sam had told him dismissively as she marched towards the dark signature in the ship's core. "If you have a concern with a Sith on board your ship I understand and ask for your patience just a little longer." The Sith Order had a reputation for more mindless chaotic brutality than the Knights of Ren, Sam was always cautious about involving them in the First Order's affairs yet several times members of the Sith had proven useful allies and this offer had been verified by reliable sources within intelligence so it was not a chance she would miss.

"Of course if the problem is with me or other members of my order then perhaps I can bring it up with the Supreme Leader himself? I'm sure he'd listen to your concerns." At this the officer paled and shook his head. The Knights of Ren were secretive and rumours spread that each of them reported directly to the Supreme Leader. It wasn't actually true and Sam was not yet elite enough to speak with the Supreme Leader but the rumours were useful and the Ren did nothing to dispel them. "Good. Then return to your duties and do not bother me with frivolous concerns any more."

She sighed, shaking her head as she approached the quarters of [member="Avedia Lacroix"]. Before she'd had to interact with them on a near daily basis, she'd believed that officers in the military were all competent, respectful and level headed ladies and gentlemen. That was one of the nastier wake up calls the galaxy had for her.

Entering the room, Sam saw the figure of the Sith Lord sitting on the edge of her bed, a lightsaber on her lap. She appeared in meditation. Also in the room was a large obelisk like object in the centre. She eyed it hungrily, already feeling the power which was inside. But it would be rude, and dangerous, to take without permission, so instead she walked in front of the Sith woman and stood wordlessly before her. It was enough to sense the dark energy emitting from the woman to get a measure of her. Though they both walked the dark path, the feeling of a Sith was different to that of Ren in subtle ways she could not yet describe. Samka waited to see who would say the first word, her hands resting on the belt of her one-piece military tracksuit where her lightsaber lay, ready for the blade to be unsheathed in less than a second's notice.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Samka Derith"] |

Avedia's eyes opened, ending her meditation, as Samka entered her quarters. Immediately, the Sith Lord took notice of the woman. In the previous nights, where Avedia had met with the other Knights of Ren, she had been met with a sense of trepidation. Veles had wanted to figure her out first, before committing himself. Viktor had shown fealty. Wolf had been apprehensive. But Samka stood tall, wordless, eyeing the Sith Lord with hungry look. Her hand was edged near to her weapon, and Avedia could sense through the Force that Samka was always prepared to use her weapon, if it was necessary. She's different, Avedia concluded silently. I shall be wary around this one.

Instead of lowering the cowl of her robe, as she had done her previous meetings with the Knights of Ren, Avedia kept her hood raised, as if to physically shield herself from Samka's gaze. Raising her dominant hand to the plinth, the Sith Lord indicated for Samka to turn to it, as if granting permission for her to inspect what it was. The same sheet hung over a glass orb, which the Holocron hidden from view. Lowering her hand back down onto her knee, Avedia remained silent, watching Samka with an air of caution.

 

[Samka Derith]

Samka followed the Sith Lord's gesture back to the plinth and took the invitation to investigate further. The young Ren circled the object twice before extending her arm to touch it. The tips of her fingers slowly caressing the device, feeling the dark power inside throbbing to get out, to become one with her. Sam paused after another full circle, this time feeling the texture and physical power emitting from the object.

Keeping her eyes fixed to the dark artefact in front of her, Sam finally broke the silence. "Darth Revan." She began, "An extraordinary Sith Lord if legends are to be believed. If only Revan could see how the galaxy has laid down and allowed the Mandalorian brutes to reclaim their so-called glory, we could do with their strategic wisdom to set those thugs back in their place but alas, they're not the true threat for now. Of course that is if the legends are true. The tales are so far gone that there are some scholars who propose Revan could have been a woman, gender lost to history. I'd like that, if there was a chance this Dark Lord was female," Sam finally turned her eyes back to the Sith in the room, "Wouldn't you?"

[member="Avedia Lacroix"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Samka Derith"] |

Pride was the word that came to Avedia's mind as she listened to Samka. Pride in the immaterial. You have much to learn, still. It didn't matter to the Sith Lord what gender Darth Revan had been. It was immaterial to her. She was a woman, and, yet, she could make grown men bow to her whims. Next, the First Order. After that, the rest of the galaxy. Knights of Ren you might be. But you possess such a narrow point of view.

"It doesn't matter," replied Avedia, breaking her silence. "The natural state of the Mandalorian is to be at war. For they desire challenge. Complicated brutes, as they are. To put them in their place, I assume, is to return them to their farms, and beloved Mandalore. Which, I say, is to deny them their natural state, and thus, denies the very principles of what it is to understand the truth of the Force. For with conflict, the dark side surrounds and binds the weak, giving way to the strong."

I did not expect to be teaching. Impressive. Falling silent momentarily, Avedia decided to divert the conversation back onto why Samka was here. "Understanding of the dark side has been made available to you, Samka Derith. But you must be willing to pay the price for knowledge. Are you a killer?"

 

[Samka Derith]

Sam paced back over to the Sith as she spoke, drawing her attention back away from the dark artefact and to the other woman in the room.
"I care little for Mandalorian philosophy," she replied. "Yet your consideration on their role in the galaxy is wise. I approve. Given that they helped deal a death blow to the last 'great' Sith Empire active today, you would agree they are weak?" Sam made no effort to mask her disdain for the One Sith. Yet another attempt by a Sith Empire to conquer the galaxy, learning nothing from its ancient predecessors. Even as a child Sam had predicted their destruction. The topic would be useful to gauge the exact philosophy of the woman in front of her. Unlike the Ren, Sith these days had few united viewpoints from what she could tell, different Sith Empires and rules appearing by the dozen in recent years.

Sam smirked as the conversation returned to what she was here for. "Of course, you would never do something like this for free. Name your price and we shall if I find it acceptable." The question itself however gave the young girl more pause. "I have killed," she started slowly, "and I shall kill again but I am not a murderer. All is done within the law that I follow."

[member="Avedia Lacroix"]