Shattered Mirror

[Zark San Tekka]

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The images collide...collapse ​

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A swirling mass of nearly forgotten experiences and half-formed intent..​

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Of plans gone awry and of triumphant marches​

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Infinite facets, each one a doorway to eternity..​

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The Light. The Dark.​

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The Force​

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His eyes opened.

That same dream again, Zark cursed silently. It had plagued him for weeks now. In many ways it felt oddly mundane, as if he was just dreaming about living his life, only while he could never recall any of the details there was a persistent, uncomfortable sensation that something...no, everything was wrong. It was a difficult feeling to describe, a sort of unfocused malaise. Sometimes he woke up shouting in a panic, drenched in sweat and wide eyed, as if something about the dream had disturbed him so deeply it must have felt like a nightmare. But whenever he tried to remember the specific cause of distress it simply faded away, until nothing about the vague recollection of the dream seemed different from any other part.

Groggily, the Jedi Knight and Commodore of Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet swung his legs over the edge of the bed, more of a cot really, and as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he began his morning routine of dumbly surveying the spartan quarters that had been assigned to him during his extended stay in Byllurun. Zark had a usual, slightly homier looking place in the capital he kept on retainer, but for as long as the hearings were ongoing High Command wanted him here, billeted closer to Sullust Base and more easily observable.

The hearings...

These moments of half-awareness in the mornings were one of the precious few in which he could allow himself to forget all about the veritable military tribunal levied against him in the aftermath of their opening conflict with the First Order. Commodore Pulsar had been present at Atrisia, which was enough to make him a black sheep among some of the High Command already, and his disregard for the spirit of the Triumvirate Council's orders concerning Kaeshana and efforts by elements within the Sullustan Council to maintain diplomatic ties with the civilian leadership, if they could truly be called such, within their expansionist neighbors to the southwest.

Those efforts, spearheaded by the Council's President, had come to nothing in the end but a public embarrassment for the Federation. And as Jaius Sovv had been hoisted on his own petard for his failure and rendered into political obscurity, it seemed as though Zark's once burgeoning if always a little controversial career in the Defense Fleet was about to come to a crashing conclusion simply through association. Of all the things the human had thought would bring him down in the end, listening to the mad plan of some peacenik Sullustan elder statesman had most definitely not been on the list.

Its always the shot you don't see coming, he mused to himself, perhaps the first cogent thought he had had so far this morning.

The Jedi sensed him before his comm buzzed or the alert unit on his quarters' door chimed. Like clockwork.

"In a few moments, Lieutenant Commander!" he shouted hoarsely but loud enough to be heard from the hallway beyond.

Wincing as he stood finally and stretched the servo-motors in his prosthetic arm, Zark tried not to think too hard about those his choices these past few months would also effect. Despite the controversies swirling around his name after Atrisia, he had still hoped to have retained enough political favor to manage a commendation and maybe even a promotion for the polar Mon Cal executive officer, given enough time and distance from the incident. With Kaeshana, any chances of that had pretty much evaporated. Since before the hearings, he had given the young man multiple opportunities to distance himself from his superior with assurances of the Commodore's support, but the same sense of honor and duty that had brought him into Zark's service would not seem to allow for it.

Once had splashes some water on his face and ran his hands through unruly locks of hair in the fresher, Zark dressed as he did in his own unique duty uniform. Perhaps it would have been to better political play to acquiesce to High Command's wishes for him to don something a little more formal and less battle ready, but the Commodore held little hope for staving off disgrace, and wearing what was effectively a suit of armor to the proceedings was at the very least a little intimidating. If these bureaucrats were going to tear him down, he might as well make them squirm while they did it.

So attired, he punched the controls to the chamber's hatch and came face to face with Lieutenant Commander Bashir, executive officer of the ANS Hereafter.

"Ready to go, sir?" the Mon Cal officer asked, attempting to inject for joviality into his tone than he really felt.

As hard as the past few days had been on him, Zark knew, they must have been worse for Bashir by an order of magnitude. The young Dac native was a proud man, and the Jedi Knight could see grief written all over his expression. Next to his sense of duty, his pride in himself and in his family's good name were driving factors in his life. They didn't discuss their families with each other overmuch, they had not served together nearly long enough, but the human knew that his executive officer came from an old and highly esteemed family among the polar Mon Cals. Standing by his commanding officer had severely impacted Bashir's personal life, and it was still difficult for the Commodore to accept that he could not talk the other man out of such a sacrifice.

"Lets stop quickly for some iced caf," he grunted simply. It would do no good for the Lieutenant Commander's spirits for him to show any more signs of defeat, "Its going to be sweltering in that Base, like always."

Bashir nodded, and the two left the federally owned tenement building and stepped out onto the bustling streets of Pinyumb. By no means the largest city on the Federation capital of Sullust, the subterranean township still boasted more than modest traffic due to its relative convenience to Sullust Base nestled deep in the heart of the nearby mountain chains. While the capital of Byllurun, seat of power for the Sullustan Council and galactic headquarters of the planet spanning SoroSuub Corporation, was only a relatively short airspeeder or underground maglev ride away, Pinyumb still catered to more than its fair share of visiting dignitaries and personnel who wished for greater access to the seat of Alliance High Command.

The Alliance officers walked to Bashir's airspeeder, and once their had acquired their caffeinated beverages, they were off through a service tunnel and up into Sullust's mostly toxic but still undeniably beautiful surface atmosphere. Like all speeders rated for use on the volcanic world, the vacuum seal and limited environmental systems would protect them from any danger or discomfort. As the Mon Cal adjusted his course in compliance with Pinyumb airspace regulations towards the distant mountains, the two sat in relative silence, and slowly the routine of a trip he had taken many times before sent Zark drifting into a fugue.

In those precious moments, the Other surged forward. Confident it could reveal itself without risking scrutiny, it gazed through the eyes of its host, and sought to learn as much as it possibly could about this strange new world.

 

[Zark San Tekka]

His eyes opened.

That same dream again, Zarek cursed silently. It had plagued him for weeks now. In many ways it felt oddly mundane, as if he was just dreaming about living his life, only while he could never recall any of the details there was a persistent, uncomfortable sensation that something...no, everything was wrong. It was a difficult feeling to describe, a sort of unfocused malaise. Sometimes he woke up shouting in a panic, drenched in sweat and wide eyed, as if something about the dream had disturbed him so deeply it must have felt like a nightmare. But whenever he tried to remember the specific cause of distress it simply faded away, until nothing about the vague recollection of the dream seemed different from any other part.

Groggily, the Sith Knight and Director of the Imperial Metascientific Institute swung his legs over the bed, more of an ostentatious shrine really, and as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he began his morning routine of lashing his scarred, naked back with the cat o nine tails resting within reach of the massive bedframe. Surrounded by the palatial opulence of his sizeable Imperial Center estate, Zarek relied on the fresh and biting pain of the heavy lash strikes against his now raw and bleeding skin to fuel his anger for the morning. When you had reached a place of such status as he had within the glorious Eternal Empire, allowing oneself any measure of complacency was as good as a death sentence. And with the hour of his Ascension growing ever nearer, it would not do to lose his edge so close to his hour of ultimate triumph.

His Ascension...

The thought alone was enough to banish any remaining specters of exhaustion the cat o nine tails had not already flayed away. Draping a silken robe across fresh lacerations and relishing the tender agony as his nerve endings chafed against the sensitive material, Zarek moved to the bar overlooking his grand view of busiest city world in the galaxy. When Aeterno had grown confident enough in his prototype hyperdrive's design to actually trust one of his teams to build, he had known he had been on to something truly special, but while he may have held secret hopes he truly had never expected all of this. To be declared a Grand Knight of the Eternal Empire...to visit the Imperial Palace itself. The true stroke of genius on his part, the Sith believed, was arranging to have each member of the engineering team killed upon completion of the first successful test.

That was the kind of thinking that had gotten him to Coruscant.

There was a rapping on his door that genuinely surprised him. Logic, not the Force, reasoned that it must be his Mandalorian escort. The warrior race had long ago proven their worth through both their might and utility to be worthy of a place in the Sith Empire, and over the centuries the Emperor had seen fit to grant a chosen few secret teachings that could, among other things, allow them to shield their thoughts from all but the Dark Council and the most elite of Sith Lords. One day, the Mando'ade would not unnerve Zarek so, but until then it was always a discomforting sensation to be always taken so unawares by such a potentially capable foe.

"Come," he called simply, downing his glass and beginning to mix another.

Determined not to show weakness in front of the honor guard, Aterno kept is back turned as the mercenary slinked into the room unsensed like a jungle cat. It would not matter much if the Mandalorian had been sent here with orders to kill him whether Zarek survived the encounter anyway. The Emperor would have the Sith Knight hunted down and executed in the end, one way or another. So he would play the pay laid out for him instead, the part of the fearless Grand Knight.

"The Dark Council awaits," were the only words Captain Beff Pike offered, voice mechanical as if he had suffered an injury to the chords or throat in the past.

Aeterno turned and nodded silently, solemnly. Occasions such as these were almost religious, certainly spiritual in nature. There was something to be said for treating them with the appropriate gravitas. For Pike's part, the unmoving traditional visor showed no signs of approval or disapproval one way or the other. Casting aside the silken garment unbashfully in front of the statuesque figure and donned his ceremonial robes of the Sith Order and batteplate. When he had finished, the Captain fell into step behind him as the two stepped out of the estate, down a turbolift, and out onto the bustling streets of the upper levels of the ecumenopolis.

The Mandalorian led him to a specially marked government airspeeder, with the traffic around it cleared for a could ten or fifteen meters, a minor miracle of opulence in and of itself in a city like Coruscant. Stepping into the back seat, he could not help but notice his pulse begin to race slightly as Pike circled around to the driver's side as the reality of what was about to happen actually began to set in for him. Zarek had seen the gathered Council before at ceremonial events and large gatherings, even held a brief private audience with one of their still current number, but soon he would be brought before them to be sworn into the highest echelons of the Sith Order and Imperial cult.

Far below them, Aeterno knew, wretched xenos and other undesirables toiled away in obscurity and squalor far from the light of the open sky, as was their proper place. But up here, at the highest levels of Imperial Center society, it was for the most part a picture of the Emperor's ideal society. The streets and walkways mostly filled with humans, or those near enough to pass for them, there was the occasional smattering of red in more varied shapes and sizes as those xenos with such a palette were allowed to pass unmolested, as it was considered to some extent a holy color. There were still degrees among these, however, as those red skinned species who looked the most humanoid were treated most similarly to humans themselves, while the more exotic of their number were more or less politely shunned.

And roaming amongst them all, clearly visible due to the sea of bodies desperate to hurl themselves aside so as not to be caught in their path and slow them down, were Sith. Such unlucky souls, no matter the color of the skin or quality of their bloodline, tended to pay dearly for such misfortune as so inconveniencing these demigods of the Empire. And next to the most powerful Sith Lords in the Empire, none were so feared as the Emperor's Grand Knights. An honor bestowed on those Knights of the Order who had shown great potential or offered a great service to their Empire while still so young, Aeterno alone among his peers would have the honor to study at the Imperial Palace for a brief time, even perhaps learning from the Emperor himself.

The airspeeder had not gone far when their destination, the Palace itself, came into view. And quickly began to fill it. Almost as staggering an architectural project as the planet itself, the structure that was the Emperor's Palace took up a not insignificant percentage of the planet's surface. Already massive when it had been built hundreds of thousands of years ago, the shrine to the Greatest Power in the galaxy had been added onto and onto over centuries upon centuries of Sith rule. Even now, Aeterno believed, an additional wing was being added that would bring the fortress manse that much closer to the southern pole. The Sith Knight could not begin to conceive of even a fraction of a fraction of the terrible and awesome secrets held within those endless halls.

As they passed the threshold of the Palace, an unseen, unfelt, Unspoken presence studied the occupants of the speeder with awful, incomprehensible intent.