Private The Heir To The Snake

[Vazz]

Vazz stared rather blankly for a moment before barking out a surprised laugh. "You sound like a man possessed, you know. That's rather entertaining. I don't need a history lesson, though. Your Master took some of the Assassins to create the Tsis'kar and abandon our way, but we still exist, here and there."

As interested as he was in what information Malum had, he didn't need a history lesson of the order he still worked for. He turned his gaze ahead, sighing. A soft, sad sigh at that. "The heads have been empty, though. It is a sad thing."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Possession was certainly not an inaccurate term for what was occurring, even if it seemed strangely too specific for all that the entity within him had done. Its objective was to possess him, certainly, but it almost seemed as if that was only the optimistic goal as if need be, it would be more than willing to accept some sort of middle ground. It had also done far more than what could be tamely referred to as possession, abilities that had not been his, memories that had not been his either, aid in battle which he had not expected.

Sometimes it felt as much like a protector, as a frustration.

And the worrying thing was, he was not sure if those thoughts were his or not.

"I take it you did not approve of my Mistresses' way, what exactly did she do to lose your loyalty, she was the leader of the Assassins after all, you owed her fealty, no?" He noted down the admission that the Defel was one of the Assassins, so one of the Sith that survived the fall of the One Sith, that was... rather prominent.

He smirked up at the end of the Defel's words, "I did always picture myself wearing a red hood... or perhaps black would suit me more," Anything but pale.

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

"Our duty as Sith is to ensure that, no matter what happens, the Sith teachings survive. We're not to rule, but to nudge things along from the shadows. Fix problems before or after they arrise subtly, internally or externally."

The Defel frowned rather deeply, his red eyes turned back to gaze down at the Sith before hin.

"The Pale abandoned the shadows and chose to become Empress. That is not our way. If anything, it goes directly against it. She exposed everything and would have brought everything down." Then, he barked out a laugh. A grin took over his expression, his eyes flashing just for a moment.

"War or Famine. Interesting choices for you, Darth Malum."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"The Sith Order has stood for nearly 8,000 years, even longer if records of the Legions of Lettow and the Je'daii followers of Bogan are true, and we consider them precursors of what Ajunta Pall founded upon Korriban." The Defel whether he had desired it or not, had caught onto one of Malum's few loves, history, and now he would support a full discussion, "In those 8,000 years, great Sith have come and gone, adding their contribution to what it meant to be Sith, and even rewriting what was once considered proper practice, from the Empires of Revan and Vitiate to the Rule by the Strong of Skeere Khan's Brotherhood, the Rule of Two by Bane, the Rule of One by Sidious, the other Rule of One by Krayt, and to now, Carnifex's Eternal Rule," There were many more examples he was missing, the smaller changes made by lesser known Sith as well, the practices of other Sith that the mainstream Sith mayhaps should have considered adopting, but never had, "What is Orthodoxy, what is truth, what is the Sith, amongst this chaos of reform and change?" The question was rhetorical, even if he opened it for an answer from the Defel.

"You are right, we must be the force that maintains no matter what that Sith teachings survive, all of them, heresy or not, for it is only through an understanding of where we were 8,000 years ago, that we can know we will survive another 8,000 years," Malum was likely biased in that regard, all too eager to wish history to be the key to all things, for it was what he loved so dearly, "We are to keep the Sith Orthodoxy, we are to keep the Sith on the right path, but there is no clear answer of that is Lord Vazz , what my mistress understood, above all else was that these objectives are a mere method, mere saying, it was always our decision to decide what was orthodox, what was the right path."

His voice was beginning to grow the undertone of a voice that was not his, an echo from the past.

"The Shadows... would remain our domain, but for the Sith to remain true and orthodox, it is for us to look to the past, and find what that truth and orthodoxy is, nudge toward it from the shadows, fix subtly" His eyes blazed in passion, as idealistic dreams warred with the reality of where they were, "To enact the will of the Sith. My Mistress... failed, but she was so close... I will not fail. I cannot."

The whispers at the undertone of his voice disappeared, as the glimmer in his eyes faded, coughing, realising he had spoken for far longer than he had thought he would have.

"Death, Famine, War, and Conquest, it would certainly be grand to have once again those who would inhabit those oh-so-wonderous traits, perhaps one day, we will again. As for War and Famine... to kill quickly and bloodily, or to quick slowly and wither them away. Both will bring empires to their knees." Yet his mind no longer imagined himself with red or black, but the pale hood that somehow seemed so familiar.

 

[Vazz]

"You need only to look at our creed."

There could be an endless debate on just what the Sith Code meant, but that was the point. The Defel never cared who was right, or which as the true, perfect Sith. Only that the creed wasn't forgotten or twisted into something that was not, in fact, Sith. "You misunderstand my intentions, my duty. I am not here to enact the will of the Sith, as you put it. Only to ensure that it remains Sith. I care not to decide with path is the right one."

Vazz paused. Glanced once more to Malum with a brow raised.

"You should do something about that possession, before you loose yourself to it."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"Our creed is words that are meant to describe and explain something far greater, it has stood for centuries, millennia, for countless Sith to learn, consider, and interpret." A tinge of annoyance crept into his words, at the pure reductiveness of his explanation, "Each has taken away their own unique belief from the Creed, they might consider themselves as part of a greater group or party, but each and every single one has slight difference from another."

He was claiming to be some arbiter of what it was to be Sith when such a question had never been truly adequately answered, which was the very point that his Mistress had realised, some judgement needed to be made, from the depths of knowledge and history, some orthodoxy of the Sith had to be realised to be the ideology which was protected, cherished, and championed, "And what is it to remain Sith? If you questioned any Sith, they might be able to recite the creed, but is that enough? If you asked them further what the creed meant, do you believe they could give you a satisfactory answer?" He pressed further, "Or does the issue return to the true point, that their answers will contrast to your interpretation of the Creed?"

For to cite the Creed was easy enough, but to find agreement from it, was entirely different.

He offered a smirk at the end, "Trust, I have theories, and plans in place, but of course, it does not like me considering such things," Malum winced, a rather clear explanation of what he meant.

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

"I don't care if they bend the creed to whatever purpose they want to justify themselves with. That's what it means to be Sith. But if they choose to break the creed, that is when they are a problem."

Vazz shrugged indifferently. Malum was certainly trying to make it more of a debate than the Defel had. It was far simpler to him. A Sith that broke the creed was a Sith no longer. That made them a threat, and one he had no issue with taking care of.

"You should know better than to ask a Sith to trust."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

That was... hm.

He disagreed with how reductive the Defel was being, how circular the argument was, but at the end of the day, he supposed it would do. There was something to be said about dogs, and their willingness to follow orders, and though it was an unfortunate irony, for Lord Vazz to have such a relatively simple ideology, meant that it could be used.

If Malum could convince him, that he and the Tsis'Kaar still adhered to such beliefs, even with their greater relative complexity.

"Well then I will admit my curiosity, you came here with the expectation that you might slay me, I suspect, so what part of the creed did you believe I had broken?" It was a guarded question, Malum was well aware regardless of the goings on, their strange reproachment, they could fling themselves into battle rather quickly, "And do you believe anyone in the current Order is actively in violation of the Creed?" This was more curiosity, to know who he considered was foe, which would be useful in convincing him, assuming, they were in alignment.

He chuckled at the end, "Oh I know, yet in the end, I hope anyway, in a galaxy where all are against us on pure principle if we are to triumph, we must trust each other to some degree... it will not be an army of individuals which cracks Coruscant in half."

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

"There were rumors."

His hesitation to kill his master. His kindness to the Jedi that had been brought by Lord Nwul into Sith space, only to be allowed to leave unharmed and even given a ship to head back home and to the Jedi, with who knew what secrets in her possession. Weakness had been shown, and Vazz wanted to see it for himself.

He saw no such thing here, though.

"They are false. Though, cracking Coruscant? Most Sith want to simply sit and rule from there, not destroy the world."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"No doubt, after all I and Darth Strosius are perhaps the most distrusted men in the Empire," Oh they all distrusted each other, such was their nature. Any of them would trample on another if it meant even an inch of advancement, yet that was to a degree the point, if they all distrusted each other mutually, it would be individuals or groups of individuals working against individuals or groups of individuals. Both the sons of the snakes were different, known traitors, known betrayers, it had only been through a threat of mutual annihilation alongside a willingness to work within the Empire, subordinate to the Emperor, that had saved their hides.

Yet such considerations did not change what they were known to be, individuals with outsized influence and power, yet without the true support of the powers that be. Thus, they were among the few Sith whom every other Sith could find some unity in acting against. Such was what he was mainly concerned with these last few weeks, skirmishing on the frontier of his invisible empire with those who attempted to defect, and those who were more than willing to risk conflict with the Tsis'Kaar in their severely weakened state.

In their Mistresses' time, none would have dared.

But it would take more than betraying and killing her to prove their loyalty or their ability.

He winced, closing an eye, as a mental knife struck through his brain, before disappearing, as soon as it came. Even having her presence close at hand, would prove nothing, indeed, make their situation worse.

He smirked, "Coruscant is a disease upon the centre of the galaxy, how many times have we tried to rule it, how many times have we been thrown off of it? No... I believe its destruction would send a message across the galaxy that not even Aldeeran's destruction had accomplished. Like Darth Malgus' strike upon the Jedi Temple there crippled the Republic, and threw fear into their hearts, will the destruction of Coruscant, the beating heart of their Republics, or Alliances, whatever they rally around, finally break them entirely." Or so the theory went. He did not fully believe it himself, it would cripple them certainly, yet another planet could be found, with just as much history, and symbolism to rally Jedi and other bureaucrats and politicians alike. But he could not fully remove himself from the symbolism of it all, Coruscant's destruction, that fixture at the centre of the galaxy that had stood for thousands of years, would send ripples that would be felt for all time. It would be such a collective trauma for all of them, that their descendants would feel it forever, that emptiness, that utter cruelty.

The Sith had done horrid things in the history of their time, some for survival, others for plain cruelty. He had disagreed with much of it.

Yet this.

This breaking of the heart of their very order.

He was willing to countenance, even if it earned him a place in Chaos.

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

"It would certainly be a scar they couldn't ignore."

Vazz hummed in amusement. It would be an ideal blow against the Jedi and their foes, one that would leave them disorganized and broken for the coming tide of the Sith as they once more took over the Galaxy once again. It would happen, at some point. That was the tide of light and dark after all.

"Though, assassins aren't the type to blow up a world you know."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"You know what they say about cutting off the heads of snakes," He darkly chuckled, by now their duel moonlight walk had finally brought them back to the immediate grounds of the Palace, members of the Guard had spotted them leagues off, but his instructions had been followed, apart from curious looks, they did nothing, as their young master was accompanied by a large and tall wolf man. Malum led the Defel through a side entrance, through winding corridors, through a building that seemed somehow medieval and modern, as was the necessity of rebuilding and remodelling a building that had sections destroyed several times, rebuilt several more times, and then sat long abandoned as during the era of warlords, no one wanted the target on their back that occupying the old imperial palace would give them.

Where old dusty art lay hung, the opposite would have a new glass pane, as across the place the evident signs of construction were rampant, "My apologies for the mess, who knew rebuilding and renovating such a place would take so much time and effort?" He said with a rhetorical smile, before finally leading them both into a sitting room, a fireplace blaring away, two seats available to them, and in the centre a table with a decanter and two glasses, over to the side though, was a rather large cabinet, seeming to be overflowing with liquid courage of various types and courage, turning back to the Defel, he offered a knowing look, "As promised, would you prefer wine or something else?" He gestured, toward the cabinet, as he took a seat, and poured himself a crystalline glass of red.

"You are right, it shall likely not be us who deals the killing blow," A bald-faced lie, Malum would certainly do everything he could to be amongst those responsible for this, "But we will be willing participants, it will be us that weaken their defences in their backlines, it will be us who discover where their strength is, and it will be us who will cause chaos. All for the Sith to march forward, forevermore." A leg was over the other, and with drink in hand, Malum was feeling back in his rightful place.

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

"Oh I know about the mess."

He'd done his research. An Assassin didn't go after a target without some background checks here and there. He raised a hand, gladly taking one of the bottles of wine. The whole bottle, of course, pulled over to his palm by a tug of the Force as he popped the cork and poured himself a glass. He took a sip before letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Who exactly is 'us'? You seem to think I'm going to be following you or something already."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

His chuckle took a much lighter tone, "You would, wouldn't you?" Malum spoke, it was strange how amiable the air was between what in every other circumstance been the confrontation between assassin and victim. What would have been the situation, if they had not devolved into words, rather than blades.

He finally took a sip of the burgundy red, swirling about his goblet, sweet, with a hint of tartness, it was a well-appreciated improvement from the cold of the outside. Or that may very well have been the roaring fire, at the peripherals of his sight. He was always impressed by his servant's abilities to tend to his needs, even when he had not communicated them across, sometimes it felt as if they had a direct connection to his mind.

He sorely hoped they did not, there were enough voices up there, and he would not wish his madness upon anyone.

As for his question... that would be a tightrope walk.

"Us, as Assassins, while I would not be remiss to have you join my ranks, I would not be so arrogant to assume it guaranteed either, yet the question remains, you evidently did not approve of my Mistresses' handling of the Tsis'Kaar, yet it is the evolution of the Assassins you joined, and are seemingly still part of," Strangely enough, a rare occurrence where the fragment had not struck at the mention of that name, "Well, new blood, new leadership, aren't you the slightest bit curious, of where it will lead?" There was a glimmer in his eye as he spoke, in any other circumstance he may have gone about this more subtly, yet in their conversation, he had the vaguest notion that the Defel would prefer the direct approach.

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

The Defel swirled his drink in his cup, idly staring at the red liquid before he took another, longer sip of the wine. "The Sith live for evolution. The young succeed the old, the new take place of the original. But only of the new is successful in it's attempts. What can you say about the Tsis'kar? Did they truly make something new that was worthy of taking over where the Assassins had been? Did your Mistress make something that could stand against her own death?"

A genuine question, and one he was very curious of the answer to.

"The only thing I'm curious about is if it is genuinely something that can take over, especially now that so many are dead and buried as traitors. The coup failed, but can the tsis'kar live?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"She spoke heavily of stagnation through all the time I knew her," She still spoke of it quite often after all the time he had not, "In this current Order, on one hand, we have two no doubt immensely powerful figures, yet they are every representation of the past, you cannot look through our recent histories without finding Kaine, and what can be said of Empyrean, a walking corpse, with what is rumoured to be the entirety of the history of the Sith Order embodying him." It was in the privacy of his home where he felt more comfortable speaking candidly, oh he had every belief that the Defel might inform on him, but hearsay likely would not land him in any trouble, considering what had already been said about Malum.

Inside his home, there was less risk of any other invisible Defels about as well.

"It has only been the Tsis'Kaar, and the Assassins before them, that evolved forward, that grew weaker in strife, and in their pure will to survive did whatever was necessary to claw themselves back into the fore, stronger, greater, better. What evolution demands of the Sith, what our creed declares is our purpose," It was simply his turn, to take the reins of that evolution, to drive the Tsis'Kaar through this crisis, to excise what weakness remained in their ranks, and rebuild with greater elements, to enhance what they currently had, and create something greater. The last evolution, if he had it his way, "We were defeated in battle, but the war is not over yet, even without my Mistress, even with our losses, we still stand in the shadows, and we will continue to, rebuilding, growing, moving forward, that is survival, that is how we will thrive marching into the future."

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

"Stagnation means little if the new cannot overcome the old. They are not a blight, but a hurdle. And one you failed to overcome. I am curious to see if you might succeed, but I will not say I shall serve you. Not until I've spoken to the other heir, at least." He hummed in thought, pouring more of the glass before swallowing another mouthful of wine.

"What do you think of Lord Strosius?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

His breath hitched, as he winced, the Defel was not in the mood to mince his words it seemed, though admittedly nothing he had said so far had seemed to imply that he was one to do so. Unfortunately, the entity is far from the mood to accept baseless insult, even if it to the rest of the Order, it was simply a fact.

Only two in the empire after all knew the true origins of the Ouroboros Crisis, something that continued to whirl him around in feelings of guilt and anguish, that his Mistress would be remembered with such a black tear on her successful career and life.

Betrayal seemingly was the route in which the greatest of Sith would fall, and no matter how much he tried to learn from their example, he knew if they would fall victim to it, all of them could. It was deeply unfair, and such unfairness was all it took for his eyes to shift, a fire ignited.

"My mistress might have failed to overthrow the powers that be," One soul resisted the lie that the other peddled, for a second it almost seemed as if one of his eyes turned a flaming orange, his voice taking once again the quality of singular with a ghostly echo, "Yet, we overthrew her, where the Eternalists and Kainites will fall without their monolithic leadership, their cults of personality entrenched so deep, we fell upon the final hurdle, but stood back up, and when the hurdle comes again, we will clear it." He hissed out, closing his eyes, breathing slowly, attempting to settle himself.

It seemed the Defel had purposefully or not set off two different triggers, both the possibility of his Mistresses' failure and of course, Al- Darth Strosius.

He opened his eyes as he spoke the next words, "A fine blade, and a finer friend, if you wish to join his service, it would be a loss for me, but, you could not choose a finer man," A finer traitor, a finer betrayer, a finer turncoat.

A finer brother.

He let out a groan, as a hand moved to palm his head, "My apologies, it would seem the cold air has set off a headache," The Defel would not believe it, the Defel knew what it was, but one did not so easily admit to their weakness, and such was the way of good conversation, it would be a faux pas to accuse him otherwise.

That was certainly something the Defel would do though, something rather... not intriguing, but it was enough for Malum to find him amiable enough.

Even if the fragment was far more concerned with both drowning Malum's mind and setting it on fire simultaneously.

Vazz

 

[Vazz]

"Your master failed, and her own acolytes were the ones to bring her down. It's not a very good look for the legacy of the Snake, is it? She couldn't even survive her own students after her failure. Does that mean her acolytes are stronger? Or was she just weaker than people assumed?"

Vazz knew the truth of it, of course. But there were rumors. And those rumors bred more rumors, and would continue to do so until something else was focused on or they were proven false. Until then, though, rumors were just as sharp as any blade. The right kind of rumor could bring down an Empire. "The spirits of the dead should remain dead, you know. If they are going to haunt you like this, then you have failed in killing your master. Which, really, only makes it harder to believe in the strength of the Tsis'kar."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"We have transcended the Banite Creed, but even if it ultimately failed, are you so quick to judge the strength and tenacity of the masters that fell to their apprentices, and their apprentices turned masters which fell to their apprentices, and on and on the cycle span? Are you so quick to judge the closest our Order was to felling the Jedi entirely?" Bane, Zannah, Cognus, Millenial, Gean, Tenebrous, Plagueis, and of course, Sidious, Tyrannus, Vader, even those that fell to the wayside, Gravid, Venamis, Maul. There were many more names, most forgotten, all necessary, the Banite Creed failed that much was true, Malum himself found himself aligned most with the Rule by the Strong of Kaan, the Rule of One of Krayt, but he could not deny that the Banites had evolved the Sith at a faster rate than any before them, and after them too.

The fact that they were the closest to exterminating the Jedi, could not be coincidence.

It was that need for evolution, for progress, for success at the price of death, which was why they stood here, better than their Mistress, yet with their Mistress still swimming about in their mind. The final transfer of knowledge and power, even in defeat, for the future of the Sith. A new Worm.

"You make swift and harsh judgements, something of a pattern I suppose," Malum offered a weak smirk, his hand moving to grasp around his amulet to give him a dull relief from the antics within his brain, "Let us just say it is our Mistresses' final test, one which we will both inevitably overcome, if not a test, then proof, that we will be beyond her, a perfection of the deep flaw of the Banite creed, all her knowledge, all her power, will be ours, as those who killed her."

As long as she was not able to surmount both their wills and have two flesh puppets, to return a third and fourth time.

To call it a test, was not exactly an incorrect notion then.

Vazz