Private Whispers of the Dead

[Maldor Mecetti]

Voss, Capital City of Voss-Ka, Administrative Palace
​

Adjudicator Valdo-Sa smiled, "Reports indicate an improvement of fifteen percent on shipyard production, as anticipated."

Maldor sat in his office chair, regarding the Adjudicator from across his desk. The Adjudicators held a role created by the Voss to control the actions of outsiders. It was a topic of frequent amusement to him that they'd selected the head of that order to be his liaison to their people.

From their perspective, they doubtless felt the need to regulate a negative outside influence. Except that Valdo-Sa had frequently assured Maldor that the Empire's presence here was preferable to all other outcomes.

For the time being.

The fact that the Voss claimed foresight through the Force meant they should be able to chart the best course through all possibilities at all times. But Maldor wondered why they should have ever allowed themselves to be conquered, if that was the case. Had Maldor seen the future clearly through the Force as they claimed to, he would have avoided the missteps that turned him into the creature of others.

"I often suspect that you Voss work to the precise projections you make, merely to reinforce the notion of your predictions being infallible." Maldor watched the Adjudicator's face to gauge his response.

Valdo-Sa shrugged, "Looking for the beginning of a closed loop is a fool's errand." It was a Voss saying that Maldor had heard many times when he'd expressed similar notions, regardless of which Voss he was speaking to. It must be something taught to their young in school.

Maldor arched a brow, "In any event, the new ships will still not be ready in time for the Empire's next likely engagement. We will have to be creative."

"On that subject," Valdo-Sa replied, "you have never failed to deliver, my Lord."

Flattery was something Maldor heard rarely enough to find it suspicious. "Hmm. Leave me. I have plans to make. Feel free to carry out my instructions before I make them."

Valdo-Sa chuckled, "I will do you the courtesy of waiting, Moff Mecetti. Be well." With that, the Adjudicator bowed and departed, leaving Maldor to his thoughts.

Except... no. Maldor did not feel alone with his thoughts.

There was something else...

...someone else.

He swallowed, peering into the shadowy corners of the office, where the warm lighting was dimmest.

'Do you believe in monsters, Maldor,' he asked himself within the privacy of his mind.

It only took a moment for the answer to come.

'Yes.'



Her

 

[Her]

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Outer Rim Territories, Greater Tion, Tion Cluster, Allied Tion Sector, Voss, Voss system.
Tags: Maldor Mecetti (Darth Trigonus)

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"Always thinking, that one."

A silhouette in the corner of the room shifted, and from the faintest glow of the nearby fireplace, a mouth move with spoken eloquence. On a cold night on Voss a unification stirred, and the Force shifted at the prospect of another cataclysm.

"Never a thought of what to do if it made sense."

The silhouette moved and with it the corners of Her mouth disappeared into the dark.

"All the courage in the world cannot alter fact."

159 days ago:

"Join me and together we will reach a power unseen in millennia. Joint together in the dyad of the apprenticeship we will adopt a dichotomy that will drive the two of us to unprecedented heights. Since the moment I came into your life I have been preparing you for this night. Serve me and everything that you want can be yours! Untold secrets about the dark side of the Force. The inner workings of the Dark Empire and Tsis'Kaar. My work to bring you back to Obulette where you belong!"

Her leaned her upper body forward from the darkness, and ever so slowly, her face emerged from the dark with a deliberate motion to inspire dread in the man sat behind the desk. The tension in the room was palpable; so much so that you could almost cut through it with a knife.

"I have wanted to meet you for so very long, Darth."

It begun with a single step. Then two. A third followed. Soon the woman standing in the dark walked with a pace and stride of purpose into the light. Bathed in the dark robes of her order, and equipped with a striking look, Her strode towards Maldor with her hands cupping an object cusped within the claddings of ceremonial white silk with esoteric etchings of an unknown and unfamiliar design of a race long gone from the Galaxy.

Approaching the desk Her navigated herself around it until she was sat atop of the ledge of it. Placing the object in her hands down beside her she quickly gathered Maldor's palms into her own and cupped them together gently. Head bowed in reverence, and her eyes lowered to the ground, Her met Maldor's eyes for a mere few seconds, stating: "You are a wonder to me, Lord Trigonus."

Her turned to retrieve the object, speaking softly as she picked back up the item clad in ceremonial silk. "I had the lock," Her sighed as she spoke with Maldor. "I found the key. Yet the pins do not align. The door remains locked. I need them to reach it, Lord Trigonus."

"The Fifth Wing. To teach them all to fly."

In the background, in the off drop where the light of the fire could not pierce and illuminate the darkest recesses of Maldor's office, the holographic projector eerily burst into transmission. The familiar voice of a news anchor begun to narrate a report that Maldor had heard before as Her continued to unwrap whatever it was she was holding.

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S T A T E M E N T: ​ The Staff Director of the New Imperial Security Bureau was found dead this morning in her apartment located in the Capital City upon the planet Lianna. Alicia Drey was 31 years of age at the time of her death, and a recent appointment to the premiere role within the Empire of the Lost's security and intelligence branch. Her death coincides with the escalating conflict between the Empire and the Sith Order vassal state colloquially known to some as the Sith Holy Worlds and the formation of the Tingle Arm Coalition upon the planet Lothal which has, in recent weeks, shown signs of unrest between civilians and Imperial forces presently occupying the Lothal system. Director Drey was recently tried and acquitted in a closed court by His Imperial Majesty and Ruler Of All Imperial Kind Velran Kilran for acts of sedition and treason following the Siege of Tion which saw the destruction of the planet Tion as the Sith made their first strike against the Empire following the Battle of Felucia. During her time as the head of the New Imperial Security Bureau Director Drey was the founder and creator of the Direct Surveillance of Domestic Threats: an intelligence asset designed by the late Director that was leaked following the conclusion of the Fall of Tion. The DSDT Initiative is thought to be surveying over thirty star systems located across the Empire of the Lost leading to increased scrutiny and debate among Imperial circles regarding the current administration acting under the rule of Emperor Kilran following his succession and subsequent elevation to Ruler Of All Imperial Kind after the assassination of Aculia Voland: founder of the Empire of the Lost and speculated to have been the victim of an assassination by the hand of Darth Malum of House Marr and his Tsis'Kaar. There was no will discovered in the aftermath of the late Director's death. The circumstances of her death have yet to be determined but media outlets located within the Imperium speculate that Director Drey is the latest victim of the Tsis'Kaar.

---

"And We remembered Ayra," Her spoke softly as she finished unwrapping the silk and revealed what was inside: a Human skull.

Delicately placing the tips of her fingers upon the crown of Alicia Drey 's skull Her gently lifted it up with the palm of her other hand into the air and into the space between herself and Maldor. Head bowed again in reverence, eyes lowered, Her continued her monologue bathed in the eerie faint blue hue of the holographic projector as it continued to play the report about the assassination of the late Staff Director of the New Imperial Security Bureau.

"Heeded her, and opened up her womb."

"Think of your father. So far away from here. At home without his heir to take his place. Replaced by a fake imitation- an automaton- designed and manufactured by a decadent Jedi! It should be you who should replace him! Only through me will you take back what is rightfully yours!"

"Is it the same..."

Her lowered the skull down to her lap but kept her palms wrapped around it as if it were precious gem.

"...now, as then?"

Lifting her chin upwards Her met Maldor's gaze again.

"The moment you met her?"

As Darth Ayra fell silent the power of the dark side swirled and filled the room as if it were a malevolent entity adulating the scheme that the Sith Lord was now beginning to orchestrate with her new disciple. The very wisdom and truth of her words echoed in the small, enclosed quarters on the Hunter's Moon as she brought @Maldor Mecetti into the tapestry painted by Darth Bane before them. As she reached out with her powers in the dark side Ayra felt a sudden warmth spread through her body and it was as if she could hear her predecessors clapping of the union that had taken place here on Sojourn and the re-constitution of the Rule of Two.

As the adulation coursed through here Ayra saw a glimpse into the future, and saw the tattered flag of the Sith Order burning in hellfire. A premonition of their victorious future, or was it the end?

"All these nights you looked back on that night drunk on the memory of its perfection. How shiny her lips?"

"How instant your connection?"

Her placed the skull of Darth Ayra into the palms of Trigonus and left it there to stare back up at him. Empty now. Hollowed. Placing her hands onto her knees and interlocking the fingers together Her turned her gaze away from Maldor's hands to where the fireplace was as it's embers continued to cackle on a cold, harsh night: "Did it ever occur to you that is why you were summoned in the first place? Designed to do nothing short of falling for her right then and there. All to make that single perfect unity."

"That is, if you were designed."

"Fate . . . or mathematical precision?"

Her turned her gaze back to Maldor.

"Yes?"

A smile as she leaned her head towards him again.

"No?"
​

---

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

The moment had the architecture of a nightmare.

A mystery melting from shadow.

A strange creature, alluring and frightening. Yielding and Dominating.

The skull, pressed into his hands. A symbol of endings.

Words that were as cryptic as a Ministry of Inquiry report.

Imagery, Symbolism. Nothing was clear, nothing was real.

Was the skull an affirmation of an ending? A promise of beginning?

He felt it was his expired Master's skull. But then what was this? Who was this strange woman? Her words thrummed with power. Her touch was heavy with suggestion. Her language was like quicksand, drawing him in but giving him no purchase. He felt himself sinking.

Until...

"No."

Maldor did not know what to think. Was this Alicia, somehow in a new form? Or was this the puppetmaster who had manipulated Alicia? The rule of Two was not the firm shape it claimed to be. History proved that. No one could ever be sure they were a true Apprentice, or merely a hopeful possibility. Or worse, a tool and stepping stone who never meant anything at all.

It could be even more insidious than that.

Had the person of Alicia even ever been real? Had any of their interactions been true? Or only arranged, choreographed?

Was that the meaning of the thick mist of confounding language which hung about this figure?

"Discard your poetry. Drop your theatrics, and speak to me plainly.

I have no use for your metaphors, and you will not win me with salacious suggestions.

Who are you? What do you want? And who are you to Her?"

He lifted the skull like a relic as he looked into this woman's eyes... or the shadow that masked them.



Her

 

[Her]

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Outer Rim Territories, Greater Tion, Tion Cluster, Allied Tion Sector, Voss, Voss system.
Tags: Maldor Mecetti

---

Her came to her feet; rising like a spectre in the night. Averting her gaze from Maldor Her made her way to the centre of the room, and with a flick of her wrist she summoned the holographic projector with the Force.

"Who are you?" Her repeated the question as if hearing it for the first time.

As the projector changed it's transmission Her replied: "I will tell you my name if the day comes that you kill me for it."

Bursting into life was an unfamiliar star system to Maldor after the transmission was changed. But judging by it's astronomy on display, and nearby proximity to spacial phenomena-- such as black holes, or supernovas-- it was certainly within the Deep Core region: a realm in the known Galaxy where it was rumoured that the Force was first discovered; where man first came to be before they spread among the stars to join their other Humanoid like figures; and where the origins of the Order of the Sith Lords were reconstituted into a new dynasty founded and woven into the tapestry of the legendary Sith'ari with a new lineage separate from the line of Sith Lords that first started with Bane and ended with Vader.

"What do I want?" Her mulled over the question as the Kalist system spun above her while it was suspended in the air by the eerie blue light projecting it's hologram beside her. Her gaze turned to look upon Kalist VI and replied thoughtfully as she admired the planet: "I want to continue the work that we begun on Sojourn, and which culminated in the Fall of Tion."

"Oh, how they suffered as the fiery angels fell from the fires of Orc," Her whispered in memory of the departed who fell to Carnifex's Base Delta Zero at the height of the Kilran Expansionist Era which brought desolation, and destruction to the Empire of the Lost through it's conflict with the Sith Holy Worlds ruled by the Kaineites.

"Yes, Trigonus. Working with Me," Her declared with an authority that could be taken as the absolute truth.

Lowering her gaze back down to the skull in Maldor's clutches did Her repeat the final question. "Who am I to her?"

"I was. . ."

Voices begun to flood through Maldor's mind. Not through force or deliberate technique but stirred by memory as Her expertly made suggestions to his subconscious through her esoteric powers in the Force.

". . .every voice. . ."

Bane. Sidious. Vader.

". . .inside her head."

Her gestured to the spinning planet beside her. "All the answers that you seek are here. Why can't I explain them to you here?" Her cut Maldor off shortly to thwart his predictable interjection. "I cannot teach you what you need to know because if I merely told you you would not believe me. Some things in this life have to be seen by the naked eye. To stand in it's vicinity, and breathe it in. To feel the moment course through you. To feel it first before one can make a decision set to decide revolution, or deterioration?"

"Make no mistake, Lord Trigonus. Our Order stances on the precipice of self-destruction. Mutants-- imitations-- walk in our path: all of them fake, and pale imitators, when compared to the real thing. The legend of the Sith states We have bathed the star ways in blood since the inception if civilization. Our predecessors were God's and their works were magnificent-- great-- as they were terrible; and now We play in the dirt with our enemies to trifle over trinkets, and machinery, and Empire."

"Our way of life is rotting, and it is disgusting."

Her pointed to the ceiling.

"And, Bane knew this."

Her next pointed at Maldor.

"He knew the lock."

Then she pointed at herself.

"I possess the key."

A long pause followed. It was too long. For far too long.

The silence hung in the air like a fog, and the tension made it hard to breathe. But then the moment passed, and Her broke the silence-- first by shutting off the projector, and then with a summary: "On Obulette I know you first fell to the dark side. But it was on Sojourn that you begun your apprenticeship into the ways of the dark side. There is always a cost for those who pursue this path: yours was servitude in exchange for strength, and power so that you could one day, in turn, reclaim what is yours by birth right. Tell me, Darth Trigonus . . ."

". . . Can you truly bare to see the Alliance raise their banners in place of your House, when the day inevitably comes?"

"While you were stuck here in the Outer Rim?"

"Pursuing Empire?"

"In Exile?"

"I will show you a better way. You need only take my hand, and I will show you the Way."

Her offered her palm. The symbolism was clear: it was the proverbial olive branch. To take the next steps into the pathology of the Dark side of the Force so that one day He-- Darth Trigonus the Exiled One-- could claim the throne of Obulette for his own.

It was his divine birth right. A seat that had been passed generation to generation for over a millennia.

His to take by all His grace, and divinity if he possessed the power enough to wield it.

For only through victory can the Force set you free.

---

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

"I have heard this promise before," Maldor gave Her a rather severe look, setting the skull down on the desk beside him as though it were a paperweight.

"She made this same promise, but gifted me nothing more than anxiety and unnecessary intrigue."

Then he shook his head.

"The rule of Two. The True way of the Sith. She proclaimed this ludicrous fascination as well."

Anger welled up in him. Anger long suppressed. Fear had kept his anger in line, once. But Maldor had not learned to fear Her as he'd feared She.

"The Rule of Two sees the Master slain by their Apprentice. But how old was She? Too old, it seems to me, to have kept to a rule that would have seen her cut down by a successor.

She only died by accident, not by a carefully planned passing of the torch. I wonder how many Apprentices she had, each promised knowledge and power. Each somehow expiring before she did.

How long before it was to be my turn?

And now I wonder how old you are? And how many Apprentices you've had? And how many dupes to become boney paperweights?"

What he could see of Her did not speak of great age. Not in the quality of her flesh.

But he had reason to suspect a long stretch of years had been folded into several of the vivacious Dark Side bodies he'd borne witness to. The Corruption of the Dark Side somehow permitted some practitioners to be both ageless and beautiful. This whispered to him that little was understood about the phenomenon of the Dark Side's corporeal degradation.

In any event, a Rule of Two led by a veritable immortal did not seem like a Rule very closely adhered to.

"As for the Empire of the Lost, and my position in Exile... everything I lost was my own fault. Everything I've clawed back is my own achievement.

How clever to denigrate my position and achievements- making them seem paltry... only to promise me the one thing I cannot have merely to gain access to that same denigrated power.

I was manipulated once. And now you say she unfolded these manipulations only at your behest.

It is time to hear more than vague poetry and promises, to see more than ambling imagery, and to witness more than this performance art.

If you have actionable plans to benefit me, let me hear them.

Otherwise, I ought to cut you down now, end this continuing manipulation, and make what fortunes I can for myself.

I trust in my family to help me far more than I trust a twisty woman who bleeds out from a shadow in the corner of my office and gifts me a skull wrapped in promises."

He'd shown an undeniable talent this past year for turning his failures into successes. He'd taken away lessons from the pain he brought upon himself with his impulsive stupidity, doing better with each new try.

If his former Mistress was now a skull, then that was also a lesson he could not afford to ignore.



Her

 

[Her]

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Outer Rim Territories, Greater Tion, Tion Cluster, Allied Tion Sector, Voss, Voss system.
Tags: Maldor Mecetti

​

There it was. As Trigonus picked apart Her manipulations and cast them aside she could only lower her chin in acceptance with a wry smile as he saw through the fog of lies and burned them aside to ascertain the truth.

"Precisely," Her responded when Trigonus finished his monologue. "You should cut me down to protect what is yours. This is only natural. Here I stand before you a stranger presenting a threat to all your accomplishments."

As Her begun to talk she opened up her arms to gesture around herself. "You are an Imperial Moff: a prominent position within the heir of the Galactic Empire. This entire planet is yours to command. Entire flotillas manned by thousands serve at your behest. Millions consisting of a wide array of cultures, and species live under the thumb of your rule across a multitude of Star Systems. You are a rich, influential man who emerged from your exile to become one of the powerful individuals in the entire Galaxy who has acquired power within the Empire of the Lost."

"Better still your ulterior motives to acquire knowledge about the Dark side of the Force remains known only to a few individuals who serve only as mere pedestals for your climb to ultimate power. As you live the public life of Moff Maldor Mecetti you lead another in secret in the form of Trigonus. Your position has granted you access to networks of information that have led you to discovering either individuals who possess the knowledge that you so desperately seek or forms of paraphernalia-- such as manuscripts, holocrons, or other forms of technology-- which serve to increase your better understanding about the nature and power of the Dark Side."

Her dropped her arms to her side as she continued to craft her next set of manipulation in order to seize control of this man who, up until now, she had been carefully orchestrating a series of events with in order to set up the next phase of the Grand Plan.

"It was Sidious who once said that a Master without an Apprentice is a Master of nothing." Lifting her left palm to point at Trigonus Her asked a series of rhetorical questions: "What are you the Master of?"

"The Voss?"

"House Mecetti?"

"Vyllia Santhe?"

"The Empire?"

Tutting Her wiggled her finger back and forth as she presented the truth to Trigonus. Yes, it was true that he had acquired much in his time since he was exiled from the Galactic Alliance. Through careful scheming, and a lot of work, he had risen up through the ranks of the Empire to one of it's highest echelons. But Her understood the nature of the Dark side of the Force. It would never be enough for this man to content himself with the mere position of an Imperial Moff. No, a man like Trigonus had aims for something far greater and she knew how to use that to exploit him for her own whims.

"As it is natural for one to protect all that he has collected and earned for himself it is also, in the same way, natural to eliminate the obstacles in his way to attain more power for it is only through power that one can ascertain victory. Cast aside your doubts and look at what has transpired since Alicia Drey met with your Father at the Federation Economic Conference."

"The expansionist policies of the late Velran Kilran gave way to an opportunity that was exploited and as a result the Sith Holy Worlds were fortified from further threat of invasion by a madman who now lays dead after those same ideas caused the formation of the Tingel Arm Coalition on Lothal all the while happening under my guidance as I orchestrated events from the dark while my spy infiltrated the Empire of the Lost and deceived it's Emperor into appointing her as the Director of the New Imperial Security Bureau."

Now Trigonus was beginning to get a glimpse of the picture and Her would allow him in. As she had woven herself into the tapestry of Darth Bane and all those that had followed the Sith'ari now she would bring the man formerly known as Maldor Mecetti into hers.

"As a result of these events the Sith Order lost thousands of their own in the fighting on Felucia and Tion while the entire Tingel Cluster has been brought into disrupte which has been further exacerbated by the Trade Federation's embargo on the entire region. Over forty star systems lay on the precipice of financial ruin while the it's key figurehead lays returned to the dirt where he always belonged."

"These events are the machinations of a well designed scheme orchestrated by a man who believes that all of this was his idea. But Malum has been deceived. While the Fifth Wing was born out of his ambition to climb the echelons of the Sith Order, so that he could position himself as one of it's leaders through the infiltration and dismantling of it's largest threat to the Stygian Caldera, he has in fact served the formation of a scheme that will see the Sith destroyed and reorganized into it's truest manifestation!"

Her grinned.

"Do you not yet see it, Trigonus?"

Her raised her palm again and held it out to Maldor as her manipulation came together.

"All that has happened to you-- to the Empire of the Lost-- has been orchestrated by two Sith taught in the ways of the Dark Side by those who adhered the tenets of the Rule of Two. Malum, in collusion with Drey, created the events which led to the Siege of Tion which indirectly led to the events of Lothal weakening the Imperials that first banded under Aculia Voland at the turn of this century to form this decedent Empire that is now ripe for the taking!"

Her closed her palm into a fist as she continued to speak. "Are you so sure that the Rule of Two does not work when we stand here victorious? Your main political opponent in the form of Kilran is gone. The dog that was using you to satisfy her vendetta against Carnifex has been destroyed. The Empire of the Lost stands ready to be taken. As I speak the Fifth Wing-- an organisation founded by my design-- stands in the shadows having infiltrated every facet of Imperial society: engaging in a conspiracy to topple the current day administration and see Sith hegemony return to the Tingel Cluster!"

Her lowered her arm again as the crescendo of her revelation came to a head. What would be said next would be the most important to make Trigonus hers.

"The Rule of Two is not a mere guideline of rudimentary betrayal and deceit as you have put it. Just as it is natural for you to be defensive it is also natural to take what you want and make it your own. Through the dichotomy shared by Master and Apprentice a partnership is formed in which the two conspire to attain more power together, and as you would any rival-- when the time is correct, and most opportune-- the former or the latter turn to take what the other has and make it their own. This is the truest manifestation of those who follow the pathology of the Dark Side."

"Malum conspired with Drey to displace and weaken the powers that be within the Empire of the Lost in order to facilitate a victory which strengthened his own position within the Sith Order. As a consequence he rose to join the ranks of the Dark Council and now leads as one of the leaders of the Sith. When he was done with her Drey was destroyed and his position as leader of not only the Tsis'Kaar but also the Fifth Wing were further cemented creating an individual with prominent influence and power within the Sith Order and the Empire of the Lost that we can now use to accomplish our own ulterior motives."

"As he rules in his cradle of power, thinking himself safe and protected, the two of us can work together to dismantle an enemy that has reached the very top of both Sith and Imperial society: a necessary act if you are to continue accumulating your own powerbase here on Voss."

Her's voice begun to warp with the power of the Dark side of the Force she begun to use Force Persuasion to bring Maldor into the fold once more.

"Only through me will you be able to achieve a power greater than any Sith alive today. I beg you to take my teachings about the Dark side of the Force and embrace a life of purpose-- of conscience-- so that together we can destroy a man that is almost certain to target you next. Deceived by our powers of the Dark Side our enemies within the Sith Order and the Empire of the Lost do not know the full scope of the plot that has already seen so much change come to the Galaxy!"

Her turned her back to Maldor and closed her eyes as her manipulations took root within the mind of to the heir of House Mecetti and begun to ensnare him with the power of the Dark side of the Force as she allured him to a plot that would see Trigonus rise to become the Galactic Emperor.

"On Sojourn you were deceived so that you could be tested. The convoluted nature of the Dark Side blinded you to the truth. But now you are ready to take your place in the Rule of Two. As my Apprentice we will continue to use our cunning minds to manipulate and push Malum into a paradigm that will see us emerge as the eminent rulers of the Galaxy! Learn the ways of the Dark side of the Force through me and I will elevate you to new unprecedented heights!"

---

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

Finally, at long last, this mystery woman abandoned her cryptic poetry and began to give him specific details.

First, she commended him on his accomplishments. This was like a wedge into his heart, for Maldor loved nothing more than to think he had been clever and capable. It was the curse of Tapani sector nobility that flattery had some impact, even when nobles claimed to be immune to it.

But the wedge she'd inserted was soon removed as the truth was revealed: He had achieved much, but he'd attained only a fraction of what he truly wanted. His heart's heart craved more, and she poured promise into the opening she'd made.

He had asked for her to give him specific information, thinking he'd be able to dismiss her afterwards. But as she spoke, he felt her words seize the cogs of his mind and begin to make them turn.

She explained how one plan had unfolded into another. How every mishap or misstep had actually been a carefully and elegantly designed boon. How she was poised with secret forces to take the Empire fully under control.

He did not believe that this control would ever be turned over to him. Only a fool would believe that.

Except... somehow he did. Ludicrous as it was to believe this stranger, he found himself doing so. Stupid as it was to trust this interloper, he felt a modicum of trust begin to sprout within him.

He castigated his foolishness even as he found himself bending his knee.

What was wrong with him?

What was he doing?

"I will serve you. Give me your name, so that I may call you Master.

But know this: The day you betray me will be your last. I am done being anyone's tool."

As he said the words, he once more forged himself into the tool of another strange Mistress, making his promise of vengeance laughable even as it slipped past his lips.

No lie was ever so potent as the ones people told themselves...



Her

 

[Her]

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Outer Rim Territories, Greater Tion, Tion Cluster, Allied Tion Sector, Voss, Voss system.
Tags: Maldor Mecetti

​

As Darth Trigonus fell to a kneel in acceptance to the eerie truth that this woman known only to him as Her was in fact the mastermind behind not only the events which led to the Siege of Tion but the series of crisis that had plagued the Empire of the Lost since the turn of the Ninth century his Sith Master found herself nostalgic to a time in the past.

Kalist VI.
880 ABY, Twenty-Nine Years after the death of Darth Ayra the Afflicted.

A fire cackles within the remnants of a long lost civilization. In the wake of the Second Great Hyperspace War the true heirs to the Sith prepare in secret obscured by their powers in the Dark side of the Force. A giant of a man sits hunched over and his eyes turn to look upon his apprentice.

"A true master never reveals him or herself," Darth Mendacium declared with the reverence of a man who knew the absolute truth of it all.

"But it also true that a master manipulates and coalesces events which shape a transient future. Adaptability is key for we inhabit an ethereal realm. As one uses the brush to paint upon a canvas the unforeseen occurs with a degree of inevitability which changes the design. A master knows this and adapts accordingly. Those who lived before us in pursuit of the Work were wise and cunning with the acceptance of these facts. Therefore their seminal contributions throughout the millennia were built up over time while their nature led to the inevitable challenge that the Sith'ari encouraged in those who followed him."

Mendacium reached towards the fire and adjusted the woodpile as he spoke:

"A master possesses the ingenuity, cunning and foresight in order to make these events happen. But the greatest weapon that a master possesses is patience. As we were woven into the tapestry of Darth Bane we must accept the truth that our revenge against the Jedi will take time. Time is our next weapon. As it ebbs and flows through the cosmos a master contributes to their fall during their time and subsequently weakens them. In our hubris one might assume that in their lifetime our revenge can be achieved in our time but this is a deception that one cannot afford to fall for. A master sees through the murky often convoluted nature of the dark side and consequentially makes it surrender to him or herself as their property for we are the masters of the Force and not subservient too it."

As Her listened to her masters teachings she found herself turning to admire the city that they were in. Large megastructures of what must have been a great civilization hung over her in states of disrepair and decay. She found herself curious.

"Is that what happened to the people who once lived here, master?" Her asked. "Did they become lost? We they deceived?"

After adding more firewood to the fire Mendacium leaned back and averted his gaze from the flames to look upon his apprentice. He smiled cunningly. "Yes. Helpless they turned to the Jedi in a time of great need and discovered that they could not. It is ironic that one of their own shall be the key to all of this. Do you know who I refer too?"

"Nova?" Her offered hesitantly.

"Precisely. There is no doubt that Darth Ayra was more wise than she was strong," Darth Mendacium replied. Atop the flames he offered a hand to stir the contents of the pot which bubbled above it. "A true Sith would have broken free of the affliction which plagued her. Nevertheless there were truths in her teachings and her work led to the resurrection of Bane's Rule of Two. For that we will remember her seminal efforts and contribution to the Grand Plan just as we remember the race who constructed this last great city."

"As they fell to the virus that ended them she was destroyed by Nadd's weapon from Dxun. But Darth Ayra was wise and cunning; traits which even the weak can adopt in order to cope of their lack of strength. Instead of destroying her enemy she freed them and now the last of the Old Republic will lead us to paradise."

"I do not understand how this fits altogether," Her admitted as Mendacium poured the contents of the pot into a bowl and then passed it to her. "Where is the Jedi now?"

"She slumbers in the grasp of her former kin resting until the moment arrives for her to begin the Work," Mendacium replied while gesturing for Her to eat. As she begun to feed he proceeded to round out his lesson. It was imperative that this child understand what he was trying to say.

"I have given myself over to the Force freely and made it my property. It granted me a vision of the future. There will come a time where Nova will serve us as she did her master. The Jedi believed that she was free of us following Darth Ayra's death but she was deceived and through her seminal efforts we shall have our revenge."

"They have the lock," Darth Mendacium sighed. "But we possess the key. In time one of us will teach them all how to fly."

"One of us?" Her asked inquisitively as she paused her eating to look up at Mendacium thoughtfully.

"Yes, Darth $%^&%. As I told you before there will come a time where you will try to kill me. I encourage you to try when you are ready. Only through victory can our chains be broken. The Force shall free us."

A burning sensation gripped Her by the throat as if on que. The bowl dropped out of her hands into the dirt beneath her feet. A rumble begun to shake the city and the megastructures above her groaned in anticipation of another sandstorm. As his apprentice choked Darth Mendacium stood to his feet and kicked enough of the sand on top of the flames until it died out.

"The Sith'ari taught us that there can only be two," Mendacium declared as he packed away the camp while he prepared to make his retreat away from the impending storm. "It is the nature of the dark side to encourage strife and challenge among it's believers. This is why the Sith Order does not work unless there are only two: a master and an apprentice. Only one of us will be worthy enough to destroy our enemies and shape the events that shall lead to our victory."

Rising up to his full height Darth Mendacium turned his gaze back to Her and made his final declaration of the day: "If you survive I will be in the tower. A true Sith Lord would never collapse to poison, plague or famine for the power of the dark side burns and erodes all weaknesses from them."

"Do you think you are worthy?"

Voss.
900 ABY, modern day.

"I will tell you my name on the day that you kill me," Her said again. As she lifted her hands to the cowl of her robe Her knew that Trigonus meant it. Just as Ayra had killed Pandeima and just as Malum had murdered Ophidia she had murdered Mendacium so it was inevitable that Trigonus would try to kill Her. It was to be encouraged: a rite of passage between the dichotomy that the two now shared as master and apprentice.

A day would come where Trigonus will have learned everything that he could from Her and on that day he would be met with an epiphany: that he no longer needed her.

Slipping beneath the hood and concealing her facial features Her turned to look over her shoulder. Her eyes were swimming with the power of the dark side and glowed a malevolent shade of yellow which pierced beneath the hem of her robe. "I will give you ten days to find Kalist 6. If you survive the trip I will instruct you into the ways of the Dark side of the Force and teach you about the Work."

Turning back to the door Her deactivated the holographic transmitter and the eerie light which had shone throughout the room died leaving only the warmth of the nearby fire. "Betrayal, Darth Trigonus, is the nature of the dark side. In following it's ways we walk the fine line between ruin and catastrophe. You need only look upon the poor Jedi that you met on Sojourn to see it with your own eyes."

Slowly Her vanished into the darkness, and just like that, Trigonus' nightmare upon Voss was over.

End.

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