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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Before - Legends Sith Politics: Fun and Games

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by PlanetSmasher, Apr 15, 2017.

  1. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    Thank you. I'm glad to hear (actually read) that.

    (Go to the bottom of page two in this thread to read the latest chapter, which I just posted, right before this post, here.)
     
  2. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    Gambler's Luck​
    2V-R8 returned to Nox's offices and found Andronikos Revel sitting in the reception room.

    2V-R8 greeted him, "Hello, Master Andronikos! It is good to see you again! I trust you are in good health?"

    Andronikos replied glumly, "I'm in good health, for now anyway. Let's see how long my good health stays that way after I meet with the boss."

    2V-R8, trying to be helpful but failing miserably, replied, "Then I'll announce you to the Dark Lord, and I'll hope you will continue to function after you've met with him."

    As 2V-R8′s form vanished behind the closing door to Nox's office, Andronikos mumbled gloomily, "Yeah, let's hope..."

    Andronikos, alone in the reception lobby, had been pondering his fate.

    He thought to himself, "I ain't got nothing to be afraid of. I got his ship back in a month and a half instead of three months, or four months."

    Yet, he couldn't help but wonder if Nox would have anything to say about the final price tag of his new ship.

    2V-R8 opened the door and welcomed Andronikos into Nox's office. Andronikos walked into Nox's office exuding confidence and pride, but inside he felt fear and doubt about what might happen, especially in light of what happened to Nox's kids. He had painted Nox as a monster who didn't care about losing his kids to those union workers, but he knew that although Nox wasn't that sort of monster, Nox was in fact, still a monster.

    Andronikos had learned painfully, some years before, not to get too close to Nox without his permission when in this office.

    So, he stopped about half way into Nox's office and said, "Hello, Boss! I got your ship back in record time! And she's a beaut! I can't wait for you to have a look at her."

    Nox thought amusingly of Andronikos, "There isn't another being in the entire galaxy that would speak so flippantly to me." Then he remembered Khem Val, and thought, "Oh, that's right. There's Khem."

    Nox waved Andronikos to a chair he had 2V-R8 place in front of his desk and said, "Sit."

    Andronikos walked the remaining sixty meters to Nox's desk and sat. Nox began the conversation.

    "Two billion credits, Andronikos? Really?"

    Andronikos corrected his boss, pointing out that it was, "One billion nine hundred fifty million credits, give or take, Boss."

    Nox pointedly replied, "Two billion credits. And the Navy has sent me a memo asking I pay them two and a half billion for their ship. Why are they asking this of me, Andronikos?"

    Andronikos' heart beat hard as he took on an air of indignation.

    He effected being offended and said to Nox, "They ought to be proud to present you with such a fine gift, Boss! I'll talk to them about it - straighten them out."

    Darth Nox looked Andronikos straight in the eyes. He could feel the dread and fear pouring from the pirate, but Andronikos' outer shell displayed nothing but pride and confidence. He didn't even sweat.

    Nox thought of Andronikos, "If it weren't for The Force, I'd never know what you truly felt. You are strong, Pirate!"

    Finally, Nox acquiesced, deciding that he really didn't want to deal with the Navy.

    Nox told Andronikos, "Fine. I'll leave the Navy to you then...,"

    But Nox wanted to know about the crazy expenses on top of what the Navy claimed they had to pay for a ship they did not receive.

    He asked, "What about the other two billion credits? Why did I have to pay two billion, if the Navy already paid for the ship? What's that about?"

    Andronikos' years of experience as a reckless pirate allowed him to present a swaggering and cocky facade, that has gotten him out of so many tight spots in his long and violent career. He spoke to the dark lord as though he were selling him a brand new, second hand speeder.

    Smiling broadly, Andronikos said, "I had your - brand new ship - modified and upgraded with the bleeding edge of the technological marvels the Empire could produce, and had it fitted with the finest amenities those with the most exacting tastes would demand. You're really going to like your new ship, Boss. You'll see."

    Nox was unmoved.

    Then with a more sober expression Andronikos added, "I had to grease a lot of wheels to get the damned union workers to put in the hours and to pick up the pace." He shook his head and grinned admiringly, adding, "Damn! Their union is good!"

    Andronikos could see on his face that he was having trouble selling Nox on the expense.

    He pointed out, "Hey! It got a four month job done in under two weeks! I really think it was worth it. On top of the delays, I got your ship back in a month and a half, instead of three or four months."

    Darth Nox decided not to ask Andronikos how much of his sphere of influence's two billion credits he'd pocketed.

    Nox also thought the obvious, "No matter how you slice it, four and a half billion is too much to spend on a ship. You could buy two ships at that price!"

    In the end, however, Darth Nox was just glad to have a ship again.

    He decided to let it all slide and told the pirate, "Go to the conference room down the hall. You'll see two men there, Darth Eviscerous and Moff Pyron."

    Andronikos thought to himself, "That's it? Really?"

    Andronikos waited quietly to hear what Nox wanted him to do with those men.

    Nox told him, "They are planning my attack against Acina. Join them, tell them you are piloting the ship that will carry me and my servants into battle. I want an entry point away from the main fighting that will get me in close to where Acina is likeliest to be hiding in that station."

    Hiding his great relief that the mess about Nox's ship seemed to be behind him, Andronikos replied, "You got it, Boss."

    As Andronikos got up to leave, he, being the pirate that he was, got greedy.

    He asked Nox, "You're not just gonna leave me with the ship, eh? I get to go out and kill some nerf turds for you? I get to grab some loot, yeah?"

    Nox smiled and said, "I'll let you off the ship to loot and pillage to your heart's content, but stay out of the vaults. Those belong to the Emperor."

    Andronikos' eyes bugged open. He blurted, "You're raiding something that belongs to the Emperor?!"

    Nox corrected Andronikos, telling him, "Raiding? No. Invading and conquering."

    Nox enjoyed watching Andronikos' demeanor become sober.

    He added warningly, "As long as we stay out of the vaults, I don't think the Emperor will mind, too much. Remember that."

    Andronikos realized this was going to be the greatest raid he'd ever took part in, in all of his career as a pirate.

    He acknowledged, "Understood, Boss. Stay the hell out of the vaults, everything else is fair game."

    After a pause, he asked, "By the way, Boss. Who's Acina?"

    Nox's countenance darkened as he replied, "Someone whom I will kill."

    Feeling Nox's anger rising, Andronikos decided not to ask anymore questions.

    He merely replied, "Right. If you don't mind, I'll get to work now."

    Nox nodded and waved Andronikos away.

    Andronikos exited Nox's office and marveled at his gambler's luck. As he made his way out of the reception area, he noticed a female Sith sitting quietly, waiting. He quickly forgot about her as he made his way down the corridor.

    He mentally kicked himself, thinking, "Damn! I could have gotten away with pocketing half a billion credits! Why did I stop at only a measly hundred million?!"

    He made a note in his datapad to remind himself to call Lord Calaverous about the Navy giving Nox trouble about their ship.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    2V-R8 approached Nox and reported, "A Sith has come to seek an audience with you, Master. She asked me not to identify her to you. She believes you will send her away without hearing her out. Shall I send her away?"

    Nox wondered if it was one of Acina's assassins.

    He thought to himself, "If this one is as brazen as to actually walk into my offices and wait politely outside for me, she might actually be strong."

    Nox considered calling security forces, but he feared she would easily overcome them and somehow stumble into Pyron and Eviscerous and learn of his plans. Nox decided to take her on himself and destroy her in his office.

    He told 2V-R8, "Send her in and get out of the way."

    Nox hid his shocked surprise when she entered.

    Walking hurriedly to the halfway point of his office, she stopped and dropped to her hands and knees. Her forehead touched his one hundred square meter hand-woven rug. The rug, with it's intricate patterns and sharp yellow and black colors, was a prize of war from a noble's home on Alderaan.

    He stepped from behind his desk, his anger quickly building.

    Darth Nox shouted at her, "You lived?! You survived my wrath, and you dared return into my presence?! I'll simply kill you again, Shahn!"

    Shahn shouted pleadingly, "Use me, Dark Lord! I am your servant! Use me!"

    Nox shouted furiously at her, "You defied me once! You defied me, and then tried to extract Zash into Juuldis' body of your own accord! You could have bungled that, and in the process lost Zash forever!"

    Shahn replied in desperation, "There is nothing in the galaxy worth living for; there is nothing worth my efforts, unless it is in your service, Dark Lord!"

    Nox reached out his hand and was about to unleash such a torrent of Force Lightning, but at the last possible instant, he held back. Slowly, his hand came back down to his side.

    He thought aloud, "She certainly does not lack for courage. I can't deny that. Or is she utterly stupid?"

    The silence stretched, but Shahn didn't know if she should reply. Instead, she remained silent for a few more heartbeats.

    Shahn didn't know what Nox was thinking, but all fear and doubt left her as she took a gamble, declaring, "I will defy you no longer, Dark Lord! I am a skilled archaeologist, finding artifacts of power for your study and use. I am an expert duelist, send me against your foes! I am whatever you wish me to be, Dark Lord! I only wish to remain useful to you.

    "There is great power with you, and I have everything to gain if I am allowed to return to you. But if you will cast me aside, then kill me now, Dark Lord!"

    Shahn waited to die.

    Nox, whispered to himself in considerable surprise, "She survived my wrath..."

    Shahn remained silent. The silence stretched as Nox searched deep within himself. He debated with himself about what to do with such a rebellious and troublesome apprentice. In the end, he yielded to pragmatism.

    He observed, "You are strong, Shahn. I cannot deny that fact. I see it now. I should make use of your strength. You also show great fearlessness, returning into my presence in the face of my fury..."

    Nox paused to think. The office fell into silence.

    After a moment, the dark lord announced, "Because of your fearlessness, I shall elevate you to Lord of the Sith. You are now, Shahn, Lord of The Sith! I will make good use of your power! I will use you until you are broken and dead!

    "Go to the Offices of The Sphere of Technology and kill any Sith you find there and anyone else that gets in your way. Do this until there are no Sith left to kill, or until you are dead!"

    Shahn, tears of triumph gushing from her eyes and her forehead still on the rug, declared, "My life for yours! I serve the Dark Lord of The Sith, Darth Nox, until my death!"

    Nox ordered her, "Get out of my sight!"

    He turned to return to his desk. Shahn quietly rose to her feet, turned quickly and fled, running from his presence, lest he change his mind.
     
  3. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Shahn has moxie, I'll give her that.
     
  4. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    That New Ship Smell!​
    As Nox approached his ship, he could already see the differences between this new ship from his old one.

    The freshness of the exterior paint and the polish of the chrome work, the lack of scratches, dings and dents from the impacts of micro-meteoroids in space, and the lack of scorch marks from atmospheric friction and corrosion from weather all told him this ship was indeed brand spanking new and steaming hot off the assembly lines of the Tandankin Shipyards that had built it.

    Otherwise, it didn't seem any different from his old ship. However, as he ascended the ramp, even before passing through the airlock, he could see how different the interior was.

    Everything about the interior was completely different from what he'd been accustomed to, from the soft padded leather bulkheads with red wood trim, to the highly polished hardwood decks. The overhead was of a material that matched the taupe color of the padded leather bulkheads and had a texture which was eye pleasing.

    The hidden lighting was evenly defused throughout the common crew space. Nox couldn't tell where the light fixtures had been installed.

    The seats were all of exquisite craftsmanship, upholstered in soft and supple leather. Nox could tell, just from looking, that one could sink into the chairs and probably instantly fall asleep in them. He noticed immediately that the intra-galactic holo-terminal was missing from its place at the center of the common crew space.

    He turned around to see a proudly smiling Andronikos. Andronikos was pleased by Nox's reaction to the splendor of his new ship's interior. Nox hadn't realized, but he wore an expression of deep appreciation for what he saw.

    However, Nox had observed, "The holo-terminal is missing, Andronikos. How do I hold intra-galactic conferences in deep space if I don't have one?"

    Andronikos' smile only became brighter as he replied, "The holo-terminal is built under the deck, and the projectors come out from small hidden panels to project the holo-image right in front of you, wherever you're standing in the ship."

    Nox, impressed, arched his eyebrows and nodded his head as he returned to inspecting his new ship. Indeed, Nox was deeply pleased. He pointed to the bulkhead, nearest him, and then to the plush furniture in the crew lounge, which was situated near the control bridge entrance.

    He asked, "The red wood trim on the walls and on the furnishings, are they real greel wood?"

    Greel wood was naturally ruby red in color and had a very unique grain pattern that was naturally black. All it required was a clear coat of varnish to give it a nice glossy finish. It was extraordinarily difficult to obtain, and very, very expensive.

    Andronikos proudly confirmed, "Imported from Pii IV, and the flooring is real vweilu wood with a red stain. The wall panels and the seats are made from real Corelian leather - from real traladon hide. The materials used for the padding, in the wall panels and the cushioning in the seats, are all very high quality resilient synthetic fibers."

    Despite his excitement, Nox was determined to remain practical.

    He asked, "What if there's a fire? These materials do burn, you know?"

    Andronikos, not to be out-done in the practicality department, pointed excitedly at Nox and proclaimed proudly, "Ah ha! Already thought of that, Boss!"

    Pointing at the same padded bulkhead, he described its safety features, telling Nox, "Behind each of the wall panels is a two kilogram packet of flame suppressant powder. The instant one of these packets senses an instant rise in temperature exceeding a thousand degrees, it will discharge its flame suppressant powder, in whatever space the fire is detected. There's enough powder in one of the packets to suck all of the oxygen out of the crew space, instantly snuffing out the flames."

    He saw concern enter Nox's eyes when he said that about the oxygen, but he quickly went on.

    "Once the temperature sensors detect a drop in temperature below four hundred degrees, another system will pump the crew space full of another chemical which will break down the flame suppressant powder and release the oxygen back into the air. It all takes place in less than thirty seconds, so there's no danger of suffocation.

    "The air cleaners will scrub the resulting gas out of circulation, as the gas reacts to the cleaners' activated carbon elements in the filters. That takes about ten minutes. Change out the air filters at the next maintenance cycle, and we're golden! Each section of the ship has the same fire suppression system in place."

    Nox couldn't help but grin at Andronikos' own excitement. He complimented him, saying, "Good job on building my new ship."

    Andronikos, nodding and beaming a proud smile said, "I knew you'd like it, Boss."

    Anxious to get moving, Nox asked Andronikos, "Is everyone aboard?"

    Andronikos, becoming business-like answered, "I haven't checked. I just got here with you, Boss. I wanted to see your reaction to your new ship, first hand."

    Just then, Khem Val entered the common crew space from his personal quarters. He'd heard Nox's question, and Andronikos' reply, and came out to inform his master.

    "Master, your apprentices, I, and the pirate are aboard."

    Turning to face Andronikos, Khem, grumpy as always, said to him, "Pirate, for the first time, I find my quarters adequate."

    Andronikos, was put off by Khem Val's seeming ingratitude, and repeated, "Adequate, eh?"

    Khem nodded, and said, "For the first time I do not need to squeeze into a coffin to use the fresher, and my feet do not hang over the end of the bed. Because of this, when the day comes that I sever my bonds to my master, I shall not eat you, too."

    Andronikos burst into laughter.

    He said to Khem, still laughing, "I'm glad you liked your quarters, Khem!" Still laughing, he thought to himself, "Coming from Khem, getting a promise that I won't get eaten is a big vote of thanks, in my book!"

    Getting back to business, Khem Val pointed at Andronikos' chest and said, "There is another matter."
    Andronikos stopped laughing and said, "Uh, oh..."

    Khem asked, "Why did you allow those scum to board our master's ship? They are a security risk and a blight that must be removed from before his presence."

    Nox's good humor, from the moment of levity between Khem and Andronikos, began to sour as he turned to face Andronikos. It was obvious Nox was expecting an explanation. Andronikos gave him that explanation.

    "They're my crew. I hired them so that we could plunder. You said it was alight for me to plunder, but if you want them gone, I'll tell them to get off the ship now, Boss."

    Nox, feeling magnanimous towards Andronikos, said, "I'll allow it, but if even one of them gets out of line, kill them all."

    Andronikos, was relieved Nox gave him a pass on his hired guns being on the ship.

    He said to Nox, "Thanks, Boss. They won't get out of line. These guys are pros. They know how to behave themselves around Sith."

    Nox, accepting Andronikos' voucher for his hired thugs, said, "Very well, but do they know where we're going?"

    Again, Andronikos assured Nox, "No Boss. I only told them that while you was out wreaking death and destruction, that we was gonna pick up the pieces and make a killing off of what we sell."

    Nodding his satisfaction at Andronikos' assurances, Nox moved on, ordering, "If everyone is aboard, then get us into space. We need to join up with Darth Eviscerous' 3027th Naval Task Force."

    He then turned and walked to his quarters, leaving Andronikos, Khem Val, and the ship droid behind.

    2V-R8, who'd been following Nox and Andronikos the entire time, had already linked with the ship's central controls and had updated his information database on the new ship he would maintain and care for. There were quite a large number of changes. The droid also took inventory of all of the ship's supplies, the food stores, as well as its missile magazines and fuel levels. All were adequately stocked. Andronikos had taken care of it all before arriving to Dromund Kaas.

    2V-R8, anticipating his coming orders, asked Andronikos, "Shall I begin preflight operations and launch the ship, Captain?"

    As Khem Val returned to his own quarters, Andronikos replied to the droid, "Aye. Then, when you get us into orbit, locate, contact, and then ask for permission to rendezvous with the 3027th Naval Task Force. When permission is granted, join up with the naval task force and take up our position within the formation which they indicate."

    2V-R8 had already, remotely, completed preflight operations by the time Andronikos finished issuing his orders.

    He reported, "Preflight operations are completed, Captain. I will now commence launch operations."

    Andronikos could already hear the ship engines winding up, distantly, through the sound insulation, as he followed 2V-R8 into the command bridge. There, he saw the petite female Sith from before, in Nox's reception area outside his office. He hadn't known that Nox had taken on a new apprentice.

    He introduced himself, "Hello, Sith. I'm Andronikos Revel. I command this ship for Darth Nox, and I don't like anyone on the command bridge during launch, landing, and navigation operations. So, could you leave the command deck until we complete launch maneuvers? Then you can come back, if you'd like. You get a really nice view of the galaxy from here. I'm sure you'll like it."

    He expected her to display her superiority and to try to teach him a lesson, but he was ready to explain to her that if she had an issue with his policies, to take it up with Darth Nox. To his shock and surprise, however, she quietly rose from the pilot's seat, and left the command bridge without so much as a glance in his direction. Andronikos knew right then that he'd better watch his back at all times whenever she was around.

    He thought to himself, "I better be nice to her..."

    He'd never met a Sith that took orders from a non-sith without getting bent all out of shape over it.

    2V-R8 sat in the seat she had vacated while Andronikos sat in the navigator's seat. The droid lifted the ship off the launch pad and retracted the landing struts while pivoting the ship to face the hanger entryway which was opening to allow the ship to exit the hanger. The droid slid the ship forward slowly into the launch aperture. Once in the aperture, 2V-R8 lifted the ship strait up until it was outside of the Dromund Kaas Spaceport structure.

    Andronikos sat quietly, monitoring every move the droid put the ship through. He kept a critical eye on the telemetry readouts that reported the ship's systems' performance, as 2V-R8 smoothly accelerated the ship and rotated it's angle of attack to almost 90 degrees.

    Inside the ship, the artificial gravity systems made it feel as though the ship was standing still and level, but Andronikos knew the ship was flying almost straight up as he watched the stars fade into view. They became brighter as the azure sky darkened to cobalt blue, and then faded to deep black as the ship exited Dromund Kaas' atmosphere and entered the vacuum of space.

    Andronikos supervised the ship droid's handling of the ship as 2V-R8 corrected their course, heading, and trajectory. 2V-R8 was directly linked to the ship's communications systems, so Andronikos did not hear 2V-R8 request the 3027th Naval Task Force for permission to rendezvous. He did however, see an IFF indicator light come on, which meant that his ship had just been recognized and accepted into the formation. Andronikos put on his headphones to listen to the comm chatter.

    Low orbit was always crowded with traffic. Ships of every description and class were entering or leaving orbit, to or from the planet's surface. All ships, not of the Imperial Navy, had to stop for customs inspections while in orbit. It's one of the things that made traveling to and from Dromund Kaas very hectic.

    Fortunately for him, he was in an Imperial Navy corvette, a Fury Class Interceptor. So, he didn't need to go through customs. Nox's ship was administratively listed as a military VIP transport from Moff Pyron's fleet, directly attached to The Office of The Sphere of Ancient Knowledge. That helped a lot with getting past checkpoints and with takeoffs and landings anywhere within the Sith Empire.

    Looking out of the main canopy at the thousands of ships stuck in orbit, and queued up for customs inspections, made Andronikos think, "It's times like these that make me glad I'm captain of the Boss' ship."

    The 3027th Naval Task Force was already accelerating and going into higher orbit when Nox's ship finally took its place in the formation. The ship settled into its spot ten kilometers to the side of Moff Pyron's own Fury Class Interceptor, two hundred kilometers behind the lead Terminus Class destroyer and two hundred kilometers in front of the dreadnought, Carnage.

    Two hundred kilometers behind the Carnage, were the three Gage class troop transports. Each were two hundred kilometers apart from the other, in a reverse triangle formation, with two transport ships towards the front (behind the Carnage), and one transport behind the other two. Finally, two hundred kilometers behind the rearmost Gage class transport were the remaining two Terminous class destroyers of Eviscerous' task force. Those destroyers were four hundred kilometers apart from each other.

    Around the outer perimeter of the large ships, including above and below the formation, were the sixteen Fury class interceptors, acting as picket ships and scouts. The interceptors formed a rough spherical shell around the train of the seven gigantic ships, and Nox's ship, within. Eight of the interceptors formed an octagonal perimeter around the horizontal plain of the task force, while the remaining eight interceptors formed into two square formations, one above and one below the task force.

    The whole task force formation was fourteen hundred kilometers across at the time Nox's ship joined them, but the ships were gradually spreading further apart as they got higher into orbit. Eventually, when they'd finally achieved their optimum patrol positions, just before their first hyperspace jump, Task Force 3027: Reinforced was going to be fourteen thousand kilometers across.

    Andronikos ordered the ship droid, "R8, switch on the automatic controls and link our auto-nav computer to the Carnage's command nav system."

    2V-R8 complied and verified completion of the task. Now the ship could fly itself and stay in formation while making course corrections from instructions given to it by the Carnage's command navigation system.

    When Andronikos confirmed that the droid had carried out its orders, he told the droid, "Remain at your seat and monitor the ship's systems. Make note of any anomalies and prepare recommendations for recalibration and systems tuning."

    2V-R8 replied, "Acknowledged, Captain."

    Andronikos left his navigator's seat and exited the bridge. Upon entering the common crew space, he saw the petite female Sith from before, and another, much taller female Sith he hadn't seen before. The two women were seated in the crew lounge.

    The petite woman wore a black hooded robe with the hood pulled back. Under the robe, she wore black flexible armor with bright red accents. Andronikos noted that there were an awful lot of repair patch jobs on her robes and armor.

    Andronikos thought, "She must be a feisty little girl."

    He noted that the taller woman wore a black hooded cloak with flexible armor underneath. Her under armor was a medium light grey with black and red markings on it. She also wore her hood pulled back.

    The taller woman, with jet black hair, addressed him in a most familiar manner, and complimented him, saying, "Well, Andronikos, you're as handsome as ever. You really out-did yourself designing this ship's interior. It's not exactly my taste, but it is rather nice."

    She smiled flirtatiously at him. Andronikos was taken off guard. He racked his brain trying to remember if he'd met her somewhere before. For the life of him, he could not.

    Smiling back at her, Andronikos said to the tall beauty, "Darth Nox must have told you all about me. Or have I met you somewhere before?"

    The Sith laughed, and clapped her hands lightly in front of her bosom.

    She said, "That's right! You weren't on Taris where Darth Nox found us. Isn't that right?"
    Andronikos stepped to one of the lounge chairs and sank into its luxuriously soft and supple embrace. He spoke in a friendly tone.

    "Alright, I suppose we should all introduce ourselves. You already know my name, but in case you didn't know, I'm captain of this ship, and I do some of the Boss' dirty work, when he don't want to attract attention to himself. Since you're both new to the Boss' crew, why don't you tell me who you both are?"

    Andronikos realized he hadn't yet seen Xalek, but Xalek was quite an austere personality. He tended to keep to himself, and only came out of his quarters when he had business outside of his room. He also hadn't seen Talos, but Darth Nox had explained that Talos wasn't needed for this operation, so he left him behind to study some artifact they'd found on Taris.

    The flirtatious woman said, "My identity is a secret. So, you mustn't tell anyone. Darth Nox would be terribly displeased if the secret got out."

    Andronikos drew his thumb and forefinger across his lips as though zipping them shut. Then he waited for her to reveal her secret.

    The woman said, "I'm Zash."

    Andronikos looked blankly at her.

    Amused by Andronikos' lack of reaction, Zash asked, "Surely you haven't forgotten me?"

    Andronikos' brow wrinkled slightly as he replied, "Well... So much for introductions."

    He rose from his seat, and started to walk off to the engineering spaces. He wanted to inspect the new engines' performance levels.

    Zash laughed delightedly at Andronikos' reaction, but Shahn finally spoke.

    "The dark lord found her mind trap, and then put Zash's mind into this body which once belonged to a Jedi."

    Andronikos froze in his tracks. He slowly turned to face the two women. Zash was eying Shahn with quite a bit of displeasure showing in her cold eyes. She was having fun playing with Andronikos, and Shahn went and ruined it for her.

    Shahn had done it because, somehow, she found that she didn't like Zash, and she took delight in seeing Zash's displeasure painted all over her face. Zash could feel Shahn's gleeful laughter, hidden beneath her stone calm facade.

    She thought to herself, "So, Little girl, you want to play games with the adults? Then I'll play with you. And we'll see if you'll still find it fun."

    Andronikos, disbelief and amazement in his tone, pointed at her and asked, "You mean to tell me, the boss got your mind out of that box and put it in this body?!"

    Zash, returning her gaze to him, and resuming her playful facade, said teasingly, "That's it, exactly! You're so clever!"

    Andronikos swallowed to clear his throat and asked, "What happened to the..."

    Zash cut him off, answering his unfinished question, "The poor Jedi is in that horrible prison. I truly feel sorry for her, but I'm so glad to be out of there."

    Andronikos shook his head in disbelief. He was about to ask why it was that Khem hadn't tried to kill her if it were true, but wisely decided against it.

    Instead, he said with great uncertainty in his tone, "Welcome back, I suppose?"

    Laughing at Andronikos' unsure welcome, Zash flirted with him, "Would you like to help me try out my new body? I'm curious to find out how it all feels..."

    He laughed in surprise at what she suggested, but hiding his revulsion to the idea, replied self-depreciatingly, "Sith are way too complicated for me to get involved with in that way, but uh... I'm honored you asked."

    Zash laughed with great amusement at his reply, and at his response to her proposition. Although she did feel slightly disappointed with the revulsion she felt within him.

    She asked in a hurt tone, "Why? Don't you find me attractive?"

    Andronikos, told her the truth, "I like your new looks just fine. But you've had three different looks so far, and I just can't get my mind past that idea. You know what I mean?"

    Shaking her head in disappointment, Zash said, "Your loss, Andronikos."

    Andronikos, nodded sheepishly, and said, "I'm a simple man. What can I say?" Then, turning to Shahn, he asked her, "What about you? What's your name?" And then, "You're not using someone else' body, too, eh?"

    That made Zash explode in laughter.

    Shahn had to hold back a smirk on hearing that, too.

    Then she replied, "I'm Shahn Lunn."

    She then fell silent, saying nothing more about herself.

    Seeing that Shahn wasn't going to say any more than that, he said to her, politely, "Nice to meet you, Shahn." He started to turn away, and then stopped as he remembered to add, "If you want to look at the stars, the control bridge is open to visitors, now."

    Then he turned and walked to the engineering spaces. Andronikos decided that he really needed to have a look at those engines.

    He thought to himself, "Damn! This is the second body she took over! First she takes up a corner in Khem's body, and plays tug-of-war with him for control of his body, and now this! She takes over a Jedi's body!"

    His body shook involuntarily. The thought of making out with a 'possessed body' gave him the heebie-jeebies. Andronikos concentrated on the task ahead, to keep from having to think of all of that weird Sith stuff. But the funny way that minds work, conspired against him as his mind flashed an image of him in Khem Val's loving embrace. Andronikos' body shook involuntarily, again.

    He grossed himself out, and nearly shouted, "Yuck! Oh, that's just gross!"

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    Meanwhile, Moff Pyron had concluded his final report to Darth Nox and said to his benefactor, "Dark Lord, may The Force be with you on your own endeavors. I look forward to laughing in the faces of my colleagues who doubted you, and to watch them squirm when I ask them if they still want Acina to be their benefactor."

    Nox, anticipating the coming battle and craving her death, told Pyron, "Be ready to be vindicated in the face of your rivals, Pyron."

    Nox cut the transmission.

    Pyron then ordered his ship commander to break formation with the 3027th Naval Task Force. Later, his ship rejoined his two Terminous class destroyers, still in lower orbit.

    Less than an hour later, with the 3027th already gone, Pyron's small detachment of destroyers and his ship left the Dromund star system on their way to Pyron's naval group, hidden somewhere in deep space.
     
  5. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    I want to gradually develop her into a strong character. Her "moxie" comes from her thirst for real power. Remember, she is/was an officer in the Imperial Reclamation service, and she is a Sith. She has come across many Sith and Jedi artifacts. She has been learning some of the same secrets of the Sith as Darth Nox. She just happens to be more humble right now.
     
  6. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    This made me laugh so hard!

    I probably wouldn't read it myself, because I really don't go in for slash, but I see a crack ship here.
     
  7. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    Invasion and Occupation​
    Acina was in a very dark and bitter mood. She'd just destroyed the droid that had been sent to deliver an oral report to her. The day before, Nox's apprentices had raided her research and development facilities throughout Dromund Kaas and had killed most of her top ranking Sith within her powerbase.

    Acina, in disbelief, thought to herself, "Four Darths, dead!"

    The eight apprentices, killed alongside their four Darth masters, barely flicked through her thoughts.

    Worse than the news of the loss of her four Darth subordinates, was that her top administrators, all Sith, who oversaw the inner workings of her sphere of influence within The Citadel, were massacred by Nox's apprentices as well. Although none of them were Darths, there were three Lords of Sith among the eighteen Sith that were murdered.

    Had she not destroyed her droid messenger, upon hearing of the massacre at The Citadel, she would have learned that her four Darth subordinates' bodies had been mutilated. There were signs that large pieces of their corpses seemed to have been eaten. Their half eaten severed limbs were found scattered at each location of their murders.

    Acina would also have learned that the Sith and Imperial soldiers at her offices of her sphere of influence, were mostly killed without warning and in such a way that showed they offered very little resistance, if any resistance at all. It was as though they just fell in heaps onto the floor and just died in place.

    Very few that were killed showed signs of lightsaber burns. Their bodies had been found scattered throughout the many offices and corridors of Acina's head offices. The alarm had not been sounded for quite some time, until a slave returning from her master's errand, found her master dead, at his desk, from no apparent cause.

    Acina thought aloud, "All of this slaughter! All on the same day!" Acina shook her head in disbelief as she thought, "In one day, thirty of my most important leaders within my powerbase, were murdered?! And they were all slaughtered by only two of Nox's apprentices?!"

    Acina decided that there had to be some kind of error in the report.

    She thought, "That can't be right."

    The report had said that it was only one of Nox's Sith servants that had rampaged through her offices in The Citadel, but she refused to believe that a single Sith could wipe out eighteen Sith and forty three Imperial soldiers.

    In a report she received, via holo-transmitter the day before, the day of the massacre, her spies reported that Nox had left Dromund Kaas with two apprentices, the Dashade, and ten Mandalorian mercenaries. There was no information about where they were going. Her spies reported they were unable to get a ship quickly enough to trail Nox's ship. There was no mention in their report of the slaughter of her people.

    She surmised that her spies were not aware of the massacres. According to her spies' report, the time Nox boarded his ship was about an hour after the time of the slaughter at The Citadel, the other murders having occurred over a period of several hours throughout the day. She wondered if those apprentices with Nox were the ones from the report delivered to her by the droid.

    Acina cut another piece from her exquisitely prepared Alderaanian style broiled nerf steak. She lifted the piece of succulent meat to her mouth and began chewing. Her mind was far from her dinner table, and so she did not enjoy the wonderful flavor of the perfectly seasoned and broiled steak. She washed it down with a sip of Corellian Merlot. The wonderful mix of flavors went unnoticed by Acina.

    A small bump from her table and the rattle of her dinner ware brought Acina out of her far away thoughts. Looking around, she saw nothing that could have jostled her table. Then her entire dining room shook, rattled, and swayed as though from a major ground quake, except that she was on board the Arcanum in deep space. She cursed the imbecile researcher that had probably bungled an experiment, thus causing mayhem aboard the station with one of the Emperor's exotic artifacts.

    The alarm sounded and an announcement was made.

    "All hands to battle stations! All hands to battle stations! Unknown enemy force is attacking! Unknown enemy force is attacking! Stand by for further information and further orders! Stand by for further information and further orders!"

    The station stopped shaking as the station defense group switched from cloaking shields to anti-blast shields.

    Acina thought to herself, "How would anyone know where the Arcanum is located, and how could they know where to aim?! Didn't the station have its cloaking shields up? It should have been invisible to the eye and to electronic scanners!"

    Acina got to her knees, beside her dinner table, and closed her eyes as she meditated. She reached out with The Force, and found nothing.

    She thought to herself, "If there are Jedi among them, then they are carefully concealing their presence."

    Ten minutes had passed when a droid entered Acina's private quarters.

    The droid reported, "Dark Lord, the attackers are Imperial military forces comprising the dreadnought Carnage and its Task Force Group. The commander of the raid force is Darth Eviscerous. He has ordered all hands aboard the station to surrender. General Iissak issued a counter order, demanding in reply, quote: 'You are attacking The Emperor's space station, cease your attacks and report yourselves to Imperial High Command for disciplinary action.' End quote."

    Acina was deeply shocked. She shouted her question at the droid.

    "Imperial?! Imperial forces?!"

    The droid answered and then continued its report.

    "Yes, Imperial forces, Dark Lord. Darth Eviscerous' reply to General Iissak's demand was as follows: quote: 'You've had your chance, now you will all die.' End quote."

    Acina ordered the droid, "Leave me!"

    The droid left as ordered. Acina contacted the commander of the space station and asked, "Who is Darth Eviscerous?"

    General Iissak replied, "The dreadnought is the Carnage. Command of the Carnage went to Lord Kirnon when he defeated Darth Achelon. I'm inclined to believe that Darth Eviscerous is Lord Kirnon's new name and title, Dark Lord."

    A cold lump of icy dread began to fill the pit of her stomach as Acina asked rhetorically, "Lord Kirnon is now Darth Eviscerous?"

    The truth of that statement led her to conclude the worst.

    She thought aloud, "Then Darth Nox is behind this attack." After a pause she ordered the general, "Stay on the alert for Darth Nox. He is likely participating in this raid. Advise me as soon as he is spotted."

    She cut the transmission and began pacing back and forth in her private quarters. The station rocked gently and rattled slightly as the Carnage's blaster cannon fire impacted it's outer hull through the weakening anti-blast shields.

    Fear and rage battled for control of Acina's state of mind. Rage had gotten the upper hand as Acina donned her battle armor.

    As she tightened the straps of her cuirass, she wondered to herself, "How in damnation did he find this station?!"

    Suddenly, the Arcanum was rocked by a massive blast that shook the station like a giant ground quake. Acina was knocked off of her feet and onto her buttocks. She got back onto her feet and was knocked right back down again as the station shook violently from a second powerful blast. Acina scrambled to her feet and rushed to her desk.

    There, she contacted General Iissak and demanded, "What just happened?!"

    General Iissak compressed his lips before he replied, "The Southern and Western space docks have had their force shields blasted out of commission. They are landing huge numbers of troops, equipment and supplies into the space docks."

    He paused as he thought on how best to report the worst of the news.

    Acina noticed his hesitation, and blasted her demand at him, "Tell me what's happening, damn you!"

    General Iissak immediately replied, "They have three Gage Class troop transporters, and the Imperial forces landing are Shock Troops. Based on their behavior and the number of troop carriers ferrying troops and supplies to the station, I'm inclined to believe we are facing a force that is three divisions in strength.

    "The heavy war droids accompanying the shock troops, and the deliberate manner in which they are making their way deeper into the station all points to invasion and occupation. This isn't a simple raid, Dark Lord. They have come to stay."

    General Iissak went out on a limb, risking his life, and said, "Dark Lord, forgive me, but I must report that we do not have the numbers to repel this invasion. Please, escape while you can."

    Acina bristled and shouted, "Do you think I'm some kind of coward?! I will not flee! You will do whatever is needed to throw them back out into space!" She was incredulous and couldn't believe she actually had to explain to the general, "This is the Emperor's space station! Do you understand what failure will mean?! The station cannot fall into anyone's hands! Now, FIGHT!"

    Acina cut the transmission as fear began to assert itself again.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    Andronikos sat in the conference room at the side of the long conference table, two seats down from where Nox would sit at the head of the table. From there, he watched as first Zash and then Shahn entered the conference room, one right after the other. They entered from the opposite end of the conference room from where he sat.

    Andronikos' Mandalorian team leader sat in the chair next to his, further down from Nox's seat. Khem Val, as usual, walked in right behind Darth Nox.

    Andronikos chuckled under his breath as he thought of Khem Val for the umpteenth time, "Damn! He's a paranoid one. Even on board ship he's guarding the boss."

    Then he remembered Zash was aboard this time.

    Nox took his place at the head of the conference table. Khem stood behind and to the right of Nox's chair, where he could get a clear shot at Zash with his vibrosword, if she threatened his master.

    Nox quickly scanned the table with his eyes, then said, "Everyone's here, so let's begin."

    Andronikos corrected, "Uh..., Boss, Xalek ain't here yet."

    Everyone looked at Andronikos.

    Khem laughed, "Ha! Ha!"

    He remained silent after that.

    Shahn, sitting across from the Mandalorian, looked pained and turned her face away from Andronikos.

    Zash, sitting across from Andronikos, looked at Nox and asked, "Shall I tell him?"

    Nox said to Andronikos, who sat at the dark lord's left, "Xalek was killed by a Jedi Master on Taris."

    Andronikos was shocked by what he'd heard. He could never imagine Xalek falling to anyone except to Nox. Andronikos knew, Xalek was that good.

    He asked rhetorically, "Xalek died? I can't believe it."

    Nox added a few details, "Darth Xalek and Lord Shahn fought against two Jedi. Xalek killed his opponent, and Shahn's opponent, somehow, got a shot in on Xalek and killed him.

    Andronikos turned to look at Shahn and said with suspicion in his tone, "Shahn becomes an apprentice of Darth Nox, and then Xalek dies... Convenient."

    Zash began laughing at his observation, but quickly stifled her laughter.

    It wasn't just Khem Val, but Zash knew that Nox was still upset about losing, first Ashara, and then Xalek. There was no need to antagonize the dark lord unnecessarily by laughing about his losses, seemed to be the unspoken consensus between Khem and Zash.

    However, Shahn shot Andronikos a furious look. Andronikos immediately began to feel his vitality draining rapidly, and felt his mind fogging up.

    Nox rebuked Shahn sharply, "Stop that, Shahn!"

    Shahn immediately halted her attack and hastily replied to her master, fear in her voice, "My apologies, Dark Lord. Forgive me!"

    Andronikos thought to himself, "Sometimes it's best to keep my damned mouth shut, but when am I ever gonna learn that, after I'm dead?" After a moment to think, he laughed inwardly at himself as he concluded, "Heh! Yeah, that's when I'll learn!"

    Shahn bowed her head, gluing her eyes to a spot on the conference table before her. She remained that way and kept silent thereafter. She didn't want to do nor say anything else to anger her master.

    Andronikos, breathing hard and shaking his head to clear the fog that clouded his mind after Shahn's attack, asked, "Well..., what else... went... wrong... since I've been... gone?"

    Nox said flatly, "That can wait. Talk to Khem later to get the details." Then with only a tiny pause to take in air, he launched into his briefing, saying, "Pay attention, everyone. The section of the station we will enter is far from the support of my forces. We will be alone."

    Nox activated the holo-projector in the center of the conference table and brought up a real-time holo-projection of the scene playing out, just outside the space station. He began explaining what they were seeing, using a telescoping pointer to indicate what each element in the holographic representation was.

    Darth Nox said, "Two Gage class troop transports have successfully docked with the external docking rings on the station's outer ring, below the main space docks. One transport docked at the one hundred eighty degree position, and the other docked at the two hundred seventy degree position of the space station."

    Nox pointed out the two giant transport ships parked sideways and physically linked to the space station.

    He said, "The third Gage-class transport is ferrying troops, equipment, and supplies into the main space docks a few levels above the main invasion points, around the two hundred and twenty fifth degree position of the space station. They are setting up in a defensive posture to be positioned as reinforcements in the reserve, as needed. Our forces have the initiative and their initial momentum has carried the shock troops deep into the space station."

    Nox changed the view to the interior of the space station.

    The interior levels and circular corridors were highlighted in different colors. Red areas with black outlines were areas controlled by Nox's forces. Whereas areas still in Acina's control were blue with white outlines. The vaults were marked white with green outlines.

    Andronikos whistled, and asked incredulously, "It's only been an hour, and we've already got control of over a third of the station?!"

    Nox nodded and said, "That's thanks to Acina keeping a light security presence on board. The fool has learned absolutely nothing from that raid a year ago." Nox shook his head, thinking derisively of Acina, "Stupid wench! How did you manage to win The Hand's favor and get the responsibility of guarding the Emperor's treasures?!"

    Forcing those thoughts out of his mind and returning to the matter at hand, Nox zoomed to a section of the space station, a central spire that towered high above the domed upper hull of the station.

    Nox pointed to a section of the spire and said, "Our electronic warfare specialists say that there is a lot of command and control communications coming and going to this area here. All orders and communications to all enemy forces are coming from the central hub at the bottom of the spire, but there is also a steady stream of communications going from the hub to this point, high in the spire."

    Nox said, "I believe that's Acina's private quarters. There is a private space dock below this point. That's where we will enter. We will fight our way up, however many levels there are, between the space dock and her lair. The schematics say it's four levels in total, but there are some discrepancies with these schematics. We shall confront Acina somewhere in there. Any questions?"

    The Mandalorian mercenary whispered into Andronikos' ear.

    Andronikos quipped, "You Mandalorians really hate the easy jobs, huh?"

    The Mando reminded him, "We want the combat bonus you provisioned in our contract."

    Turning to Nox, Andronikos asked, "Is there anything particular you want me and my hired guns to do? Or can we really just do our own thing and loot the place, Boss?"

    Deciding on the spot, Nox replied, "I have decided to use your Mando mercenaries to augment my power. You will cover my rear and clear any rooms I bypass as I and my group plunge forward. After we have destroyed Acina, and wiped out any resistance that remains, you may loot and plunder all that you wish. Just remember to stay out of the vaults."

    Andronikos said, "You got it, Boss."

    Nox told his team, "We will move for the private space dock in ten minutes. Get yourselves ready for battle. Today, I slay my enemy! Today, my power shall be recognized, and I shall be feared by all!"

    The mercenary was particularly moved by Nox's speech. He pounded the table with his armored fist and stomped his armored boot onto the beautifully polished hardwood floor, leaving an ugly mark on the wood surface. Then he shouted something in the Mandalorian tongue.

    Andronikos turned to the mercenary and said, "Yeah, the boss makes good speeches. Eh? Just wait until you see him fight. It'll get your blood boiling."

    The mercenary smiled, nodding his approval.

    Nox, wanting to get going, nearly shouted, "Enough wasting time! Get moving, everyone!"

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    Acina contacted the commander of the Imperial Guard and said, "I need your forces to join the regular troops to help repel the invaders."

    The Imperial Guard commander, General Frah-iim, a Human, replied, "With all due respect, Dark Lord, the enemy has shown no sign of entering the vaults. As long as the vaults remain shut with my forces locked within each vault, there is no reason for me to open the vaults to let my forces out."

    Acina argued, "If the station falls, the vaults are next."

    General Frah-iim produced a datapad and said, "This is from Darth Eviscerous, Dark Lord." Then he read the message, "My lord, Darth Nox, Dark Lord of The Sith, is locked in a duel with Darth Acina. The two are conducting a Kaggath. Darth Nox has strictly instructed all of his forces to stay out of the vaults.

    "Darth Nox's only objective is to embarrass and to kill Darth Acina. He will return control of the station to the Imperial Guard when he has completed his objectives. None of the Emperor's treasures shall be harmed, nor examined."

    General Frah-iim looked up from reading the message on his datapad, and said, "So far, Dark Lord, Darth Nox's forces have held true and have not so much as looked at the vault doors, and they control well over half of the station."

    Then he said something Acina was completely unprepared for.

    "I will consult with General Iissak and recommend that he surrender. With that, the damage to the station will be limited. I suggest you leave the station now. With the fighting halted, it will be easy for Darth Nox and his servants to reach your quarters."

    Acina screamed at the Imperial Guard commander, "You traitor! Coward! Filth! You call yourself an Imperial Guardsman? Fight and defend the station!"

    General Frah-iim said, "As a reminder, I only answer to my chain of command up to the Emperor, and you are not in my chain of command. Also, by ending the fighting sooner, I am protecting the station and the vaults. It is your fault, that your Kaggath involved the station.

    "You should not have hidden here. It was inevitable that Darth Nox would have hunted you down, and brought the fight to you, here. It is your actions that have endangered the station and the Emperor's treasures. I shall send a report to The Hand and advise them of the situation."

    Acina cut the transmission. There was nothing else she could do or say. She finally saw the truth of the situation. She had lost the station to Nox.

    Just over a year ago, she had withdrawn to the space station with her apprentices while she consolidated her position as the new Dark Councilor overseeing The Office of The Sphere of Technology. However, one of her apprentices betrayed her when he led a raid to steal artifacts from the Emperor's vaults.

    This time, none of her apprentices were aboard. Now that she needed them at her side to face Nox, they were not available. She cursed Nox. She cursed her failed attempts to weaken him, and she cursed The Force for leading her down this path.

    Fear defeated rage and took control of her actions. She contacted her droids and ordered them to ready her ship for immediate departure. Before departing her quarters for her ship, she gave a device and special instructions to one of her droids. Then she made her way down, three levels, to her private space dock and her ship.
     
  8. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    The Quarry Escapes​
    Andronikos piloted the Fury Interceptor himself, maneuvering wildly to avoid the blaster cannon fire pouring at the ship from several batteries on the spire.

    As he made his final approach to the private space dock, he shouted into the ship's public address system, "All hands brace for impact! I'm going in hot and heavy!"

    Securely strapped in the commander's seat, Nox noticed that the Phantom X-70B, which Acina was known to favor, was not in its hanger bay. She had acquired the ship from the Imperial Intelligence Service when the agency had been dissolved a year before. He began to wonder if she had fled the station and the battle, or if she had intended to board one of his warships to commandeer it from him. Perversely, he had hoped it was the latter, because he wanted her to give him a good fight before he finished her off.

    Nox brought up a holo image of the private hanger, and though the image was tiny and taken from a very bad angle, the image was clear. The nose end of her ship could be seen inside the private space dock. Nox contacted Admiral Thane.

    Admiral Thane had survived being thrown by Darth Achelon at Eviscerous, when he was known as Kirnon. He had also made a full recovery, and as such continued serving as the executive officer of the task force under Eviscerous' command. Admiral Henness Thane had been left in command of the 3027th Naval Task Force, by Darth Eviscerous, so that the Sith lord could board the station to lead his shock troop divisions in the conquest of the Arcanum.

    The admiral responded to Darth Nox' summons, "Admiral Henness Thane here. What are your orders, Dark Lord?"

    Nox reported the situation, telling him, "Admiral Thane, alert the task force of the possibility that Darth Acina has boarded one of your ships to wreak havoc with the task force. Her ship is no longer in its docking bay."

    Admiral Thane replied, "Right away, Dark Lord. Please excuse me, Dark Lord."

    Admiral Thane cut the connection.

    Andronikos turned the ship one hundred eighty degrees on it's axis, facing the ship away from the private space dock. He then fired the main thrusters to brake the ship. When the ship had slowed to a crawl, he cut the main engines and turned the ship about again and eased the ship, nose first, into the hanger bay.

    He announced, "The force field is down, so the hanger bay is in vacuum. All hands will need to don space suits to exit the ship."

    Nox told Andronikos, "Go out and see if you can get the shield back up and the hanger bay repressurized."

    Andronikos replied, "I'm right on it, Boss. I'll take the mercs out with me to clear the hanger bay. We'll make sure no bad guys are out there waiting for us."

    Andronikos was busy piloting the ship, so he did not see Nox nod his approval.

    Darth Nox didn't want to wear his space suit if he could help it, which was why he'd ordered Andronikos to go out to see if anything could be done about it. A short while later, Andronikos went out with his crew of eleven Mandalorian mercenaries. While the mercenaries cleared the hanger bay, Andronikos looked over the hanger bay controls.

    Andronikos reported back in less than five minutes after exiting the ship.

    "Sorry, Boss. The controls have been destroyed. I can't even get it done manually from here." He continued his report, saying, "My crew checked out the dock. It's clear. No ambush in the hanger bay. They must be waiting for us on the other side of the blast door going into the station."

    Nox acknowledged, "Very well."

    Then he got out of the Commander's seat and walked to his private quarters to prepare to don his space suit.

    Ten minutes later, 2V-R8 inspected Nox's, Zash's, and Shahn's space suits, in preparation for Nox and his apprentices to exit the ship.

    Khem Val shoved the droid away, and told it, "Out of my way, or I shall use you for spare parts!"

    2V-R8 replied, "There are plenty of spare parts available in the ship's stores. There is no need to cannibalize my chassis for parts, Master Khem."

    Khem shook his head inside his space helmet, amused by the droid's reply. He gave a laugh as he left his, now spacious quarters, and walked into the common crew section.

    Khem Val contacted Andronikos and asked, "Pirate, have you found an airlock into the station? The blast door will let the station atmosphere out, and we shall all be blown into space."

    Andronikos replied flippantly, "I sure did, Captain Obvious. I'm checking it out, now. It looks good, so far. I'll have it all checked out by the time you guys come out. You got any other suggestions for me, Captain Obvious?"

    Khem replied testily, "Yes, stay out of the path of my vibrosword."

    Andronikos smirked, because he knew he'd just pushed one of Khem's buttons. Then he replied, "Whoa! That's great advice! I'll be sure to do exactly that!"

    Khem knew this could go on, and on. So, he resolved to remain silent.

    Nox was about to tell the two to focus on the mission, when 2V-R8 reported to Nox, "Admiral Thane is attempting to contact you, Master. Shall I accept the transmission?"

    Nox, standing at the hatch of his personal quarters, and forgetting about Khem Val and Andronikos Revel, said to the droid, "Put it through."

    Nox took a half step towards the center of the common crew space, but jerked to a stop. He was surprised that Admiral Thane's holo-image appeared in front of him, right where he stood, instead of in the center of the common crew space where the holo-transmitter terminal used to be.

    Admiral Thane's image snapped to attention and reported, "Dark Lord, all ships have inspected all landing bays. No ships, foreign to this task force, has been found. Additionally, there have been no reports of enemy raiders aboard any of the task force's ships. All ships' crews remain on high alert against the possibility of hostile boarders."

    Nox replied, "Very well, Admiral. Carry on."

    The admiral replied, "As you say, Dark Lord." Nox cut the transmission.

    He shook his head and thought disgustedly, "She ran away! The coward!"

    He was disappointed that she was not going to give him the fight that he wanted. However, he realized that he was getting ahead of himself. He still actually needed to capture the station.

    Despite knowing this, he thought gleefully, "She has abandoned the Emperor's station to me! I have won!"

    Darth Nox, along with everyone else, had to carry their battle armor separately, because the armor didn't fit inside their space suits. Andronikos waved everyone into the airlock. Once it was pressurized, everyone changed out of their space suits and into their battle armor.

    Ten minutes later, the Mandalorian mercenaries, taking point, arranged themselves in two rows of five. The front row knelt, and the back row stood, as they readied themselves to blast their way into the station. Andronikos took his place behind his mercenaries and next to their leader. Behind the former pirate stood Khem Val, then Shahn and Zash, with Nox bring up the rear. He didn't feel comfortable with Zash standing behind him, so Nox made sure he was in back.

    Andronikos gave the command, "Shields up, everyone!" Then to the Mandalorian team leader, he ordered, "Open it."

    Andronikos' pirate blood boiled with excitement. It had been a while since he'd conducted a raid for plunder and profit. He was filled with nostalgia for his wild and rough pirate days before he'd met Nox. The circular airlock door pushed into the airlock with a hiss of air, before rolling into it's recess.

    As expected, they were greeted by a storm of blaster fire. The mercenaries opened up with a mixed volley of high explosive grenades, EMP grenades, and armor piercing mini-rocket fire. They then immediately followed that up with a storm of blaster fire from their overpowered assault rifles. In seconds, the light and medium grade security droids were decimated.

    The Mando mercenaries rushed out and swept the passage way in both directions in teams of five. Andronikos, the Mando team leader, and Khem Val took up positions just outside of the airlock entrance looking at the action in either direction of the small passage way, with the Mando team leader shouting commands to his men. Immediately after silence had returned, Khem signaled Nox to exit.

    The three Sith came out of the airlock. Nox and his apprentices turned right and paused in the passageway near the airlock, while Nox consulted a three dimensional holographic diagram. Since they didn't enter through the blast doors, their orientation had changed and a new route to Acina's quarters had to be plotted.

    Darth Nox, his apprentices, Khem Val, Andronikos Revel and his mercenary team leader studied it carefully and listened as Nox explained the new route they would take to Acina's quarters. Andronikos and his mercenaries would add their firepower to Nox's team, covering the rear as Nox's group advanced. With all the bases covered, Nox gave the go ahead. Khem lead the charge ahead of Nox, with Shahn and Zash covering Nox's flanks on either side of him.

    Khem Val, leading the attack, walked at a brisk pace. After their initial encounter at the airlock, there seemed to be no further resistance as they made their way through the passage ways and broad staircases leading up the spire to her private quarters. The rooms Nox bypassed, and the Mandalorian mercenaries searched and cleared, all seemed to be set up for private social gatherings, small, large, and grand. Only a very few of the rooms seemed to have any official purpose.

    Nox wondered to himself, "To whom has she been playing hostess? This is suppose to be a secret station housing the Emperor's personal treasures."

    Nox's assault group finally made it to Acina's private quarters. Aside from the initial confrontation from the security droids at the airlock, they'd only passed a few protocol droids on their way to her quarters. Acina's quarters were also empty, except for two protocol droids.

    One of the droids approached and announced itself, "Greetings, esteemed guests. I am protocol droid, 9T-M8. On behalf of the dark lord, Darth Acina, I welcome you to her home away from home. I have been tasked with delivering a message to you, Dark Lord. Would you like to hear it?"

    Darth Nox, wanting clues as to where Acina might have escaped, said, "I'll hear it."

    The droid produced a device from a utility compartment in its chassis. It was about to push a button on it, when Khem Val's vibrosword came down on its arms, severing both arms and causing the droid's hands, parts of both of its forearms and the device to fall to the floor. Khem Val gave the protocol droid a vicious kick to it's chest and sent the machine stumbling backwards until it finally stabilized itself.

    The droid said, "I apologize if I have said or done something to have caused you offense, Dark Lord. I shall endeavor to improve my services. If you'll excuse me, I must report to the droid maintenance facility. I have sustained damage to my chassis."

    Nox, surprised by Khem's sudden vicious attack on the droid, only managed to say, "Then go."

    The droid turned about and left Acina's quarters.

    Khem Val, kneeling, scanned the device on the floor where it had fallen.

    He then stated, as he stood again, "It is a bomb, Master."

    Nox, shook his head, as a chill ran up and down his entire being.

    He said, "Khem, your instincts are strong. Once again, you've saved me from my own blunders."

    As Khem bent down again, to neutralize the device, Nox turned to face the remaining droid and began to interrogate it, "Where is Darth Acina?"

    The droid replied, "Darth Acina has left the space station. I was not advised as to her destination."

    Nox asked, "Why did she abandon the station? Why did she leave?"

    The droid responded, "The dark lord left under the advice of General Frah-iim, commander of the Imperial Guard stationed here."

    Nox asked, "Why did he advise her to leave?"

    The droid replied, "The general believed that the station would suffer heavy damage and that the Emperor's artifacts and devices would become endangered. He intended to consult with General Iissak about surrendering in order to mitigate further damage. General Frah-iim believed Darth Acina would be endangered after the Station had been surrendered."

    Nox took out his holo-transmitter from it's compartment in his utility belt and contacted Darth Eviscerous. There was a delay of a few minutes before Eviscerous finally answered Nox's call. When Eviscerous' image appeared, he was already kneeling on one knee.

    He apologized, saying, "Forgive the delay in my answering, Dark Lord. I was in the midst of a vicious fight for a passage way leading to a bank of turbolifts. I'm almost to the command hub, and my forces have control of over three quarters of the station.

    "We have overwhelmed them, Dark Lord. Their forces were scattered, but as we push them back, their lines become more concentrated. They seem to be pulling back in order to strengthen their numbers by consolidating their forces, but this strategy will avail them of nothing, Dark Lord. Your victory is assured."

    Nox replied to Eviscerous' report, "Very good." Then he asked, "Has anyone contacted you about surrender?"

    Eviscerous answered succinctly, "No, Dark Lord."

    Nox ordered him, "Give them a call and offer them terms for surrender. I'm not after their heads. I just want this station."

    Darth Eviscerous objected, "They may betray us and launch a sneak attack, Dark Lord. We should finish them off."

    Nox reiterated his order, reminding him, "Remember my final objective. I plan to relinquish the station once we reach Korriban. There is no need to finish them off."

    Darth Eviscerous replied, "As you say, Dark Lord. I will contact you with the results of my negotiations with them."

    Nox simply replied, "Good."

    Then he cut the transmission.

    Turning to face Andronikos, Nox ordered, "Sweep these quarters carefully for hidden assassins, booby traps, and spying devices. These quarters will become my headquarters on this station until our arrival to Korriban. Take whatever you wish from the station, but remember to stay out of the vaults."

    Andronikos nodded, and smiling in anticipation of booty and plunder, replied to his employer, "Understood, Boss."

    He signaled the Mandalorian team leader to follow him as he left Acina's private quarters.

    Nox addressed the remaining droid, "Droid, listen to me."

    The droid replied, "Yes, Dark Lord."

    Nox told it, "Get every droid remaining in these private quarters and in the levels below, including the private hanger deck, and report to the droid maintenance section. There are to be no droids of any kind left anywhere in these four levels. Understood?"

    The droid replied. "Yes, Dark Lord. I'll see to it now."

    The droid departed to carry out its assignment.

    Zash approached Darth Nox and said, "Dark Lord, you didn't seem very surprised that Acina wasn't here."

    Nox said, out of the blue, "Call me, Master."

    Zash became instantly livid upon hearing Nox's command, and her face showed it plainly. Khem Val, seeing her fury rise, grasped the hilt of his vibrosword and readied himself to strike Zash down. Shahn bowed her head towards Darth Nox and, stepping away from Zash, grasped the hilt of her sabrestaff in preparation to strike Zash down as well.

    Zash, looking around at Khem Val and at Shahn, realized that she would not prevail. She pulled in the reins of her fury and of her pride.

    Then, bowing her head towards Nox, she spoke through clenched teeth, saying, "Master, you seem to have anticipated Acina's absence."

    Nox replied, as if nothing were amiss, "In the intelligence briefing, when I was told about high level communications to this area, I could see the nose of her ship in the holo-image of the hanger bay. However, as we approached for our assault, the ship was gone. I suspected that she'd fled."

    Zash, her voice quavering with fury, replied, "I see," she hesitated a split second before grudgingly adding, "Master."

    Nox then gave out his next set of orders, "Lord Shahn, Zash, find Darth Eviscerous and lend him your power to finish this fight, in case General Iissak refuses to surrender."

    Shahn, without hesitation replied, "Yes, Master."

    Zash also, without hesitation replied, but her voice was barely audible. She'd realized that Nox had called Shahn, Lord Shahn, but only called her by her name without her title. It had finally dawned on her, that not once had Nox ever called her name with her title, since he'd gotten her out of her prison. She realized at last, that Nox had stripped her of her title, Darth.

    She asked herself, "Can he do that? He can't do that! Can he?"

    Nox said, in a calm voice, that did not hide the warning in his eyes, "I didn't hear you, Zash."

    Zash had finally mastered her fury, and replied, "Yes, Master."

    There was no irony, nor resentment, in her tone when she answered him that time, but Nox knew she was furious.

    Darth Nox, smiling wryly, said, "Good. Then go."

    Shahn and Zash left Nox's presence to accomplish their task.
     
  9. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    Korriban​
    After the conquest of the Arcanum space station, Nox ordered the station's crew to move it into orbit over Korriban. However, it wasn't just a matter of simply pushing a button. The navigator had to determine what orbital speeds applied to Korriban for a given altitude above the planet's surface. Then the station had to be accelerated to that specific speed.

    As it was, when the order was given, the Arcanum had been anchored, dead still, in deep black space. It was parked in a starless, dust filled region between two spiral arms near the outer rim of the galaxy. The navigator had to plot precisely where over Korriban the station would exit hyperspace and re-enter normal space.

    The Arcanum space station was massive. It couldn't just show up unannounced out of nowhere and park itself into orbit. The navigator had to be sure there would be no space traffic, nor satellites, in the space he intended to occupy. So, he had to coordinate with traffic control officers in orbit over Korriban to clear a section of space for the station.

    Once the station achieved orbital speed, and once it's gigantic hyperdrive engine was ready to expend the enormous amount of energy needed to move the massive station into hyperspace - without breaking the station into pieces, the order was finally given - to push the button. The whole affair took sixteen hours, from the time Nox issued the order to move, until the actual execution of his order to get going was accomplished.

    Since the time that the button had been pushed, the station had been in hyperspace traveling for two days before it had finally exited hyperspace, had finally reentered normal space, and then, had finally established its orbit over Korriban. Nox had an entire day, before the Dark Council held its meeting, to proclaim his audacious victory over Acina to all of the Sith Empire. He made good use of that time, essentially telling the whole galaxy of his military operations to capture the Arcanum, and of Acina's cowardly flight from battle, to avoid facing him.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    This news was carried, faster than light could travel, throughout the Sith Empire. It was broadcast over the hyper-wave relay transmitters scattered throughout, in deep space. Even the Republic news agencies picked up on the Imperial news broadcasts and rebroadcast the story throughout the Galactic Republic, albeit with their own spin on it.

    Valion Pyron was seated at a conference table with three other moffs in attendance, as they listened to the news announcer giving an account of Nox's crushing victory over Acina. They watched the holo-video of the giant space station, clearly visible over the skies of Korriban, as the space station orbited the planet.

    Darth Nox was extraordinarily careful not to mention the Emperor, and made sure that the news agencies all reported that the station was a secret research and development facility hidden in deep space operated by 'The Offices of The Sphere of Technology.' Everyone knew that was Darth Acina's Sphere of Influence. Every account of the story broadcast, reported the fictitious name for the station that Nox had fed them, 'The Technocratium.'

    No mention, at all, of the Emperor nor of his treasures aboard the station had been uttered. Nox didn't want to embarrass the Emperor. The only ones who knew the truth were Darth Nox and his people, Darth Acina and her people, all of the Dark Councilors and whoever they told among their own people - and The Emperor. Yes, Vitiate knew, too.

    As the news man spoke of Nox's daring conquest of the space station, Valion Pyron looked at each of his colleagues in turn, a tiny hint of a smug smile colored his skeletal features, as the other moffs knotted their brows with worry. They all knew that Darth Nox had heard of their gossip about his coming demise, and that the dark lord would have something to say about it to them.

    Pyron saw that his benefactor had hid the fact that it was the Emperor's space station, so he made no mention of it to his peers. He played along with the fiction that the station belonged to Acina.

    Moff Pyron enjoyed watching the other moffs squirm in their seats when he commented, "Tomorrow is the Dark Council meeting. I think they'll ask Acina to report on the progress of her research projects aboard that space station."

    He chuckled at his joke, and let his grin widen as the moffs watching the broadcast with him, shook their heads in disappointment at Acina's failure, and in regret that they'd backed her against Nox.

    Pyron knew what they were thinking. He could see it in their eyes.

    He asked them, "What gifts do you think will appease him, I wonder?"

    Upon hearing that, his three colleagues realized that he would not be appeased so very easily. They had spoken ill of him publicly. Darth Nox would likely make their lives very difficult, if the dark lord didn't order their deaths, outright.

    Their own benefactor on the Dark Council, Darth Acina, had been dealt a crushing blow. She had been terribly weakened in the eyes of the Dark Council, and all of Sithdom. Now the moffs had no one to shield them against Darth Nox's wrath, should he choose to unleash it on them. The three moffs realized they'd have to bear the consequences of backing the wrong dark councilor in their power struggle.

    Moff Pyron suggested, "I could say something to my benefactor, Darth Nox, on your behalf. But what would I get out of that?"

    Moff Pyron, twisting their arms, and holding the specter of near certain death over their heads, negotiated his way to the top of the chain of command of the war effort, second only to Darth Marr who was on Korriban preparing to attend the Dark Council meeting. Thus, Moff Valion Pyron removed his three greatest rivals, vying for the next posting for Grand Moff, when Grand Moff Regis decided to retire. Pyron had guaranteed himself the post, when it opened.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    In Acina's abandoned quarters, Darth Nox listened to after action reports from Darth Eviscerous.

    Darth Eviscerous reported, "General Iissak did not initially accept my terms for surrender, because the general was waiting for orders from The Emperor's Hand whether to surrender. When The Hand had given their consent, General Iissak immediately contacted me to accept my terms for surrender. Immediately after surrendering, General Iissak issued orders to his security forces to cease firing and to lay down their weapons where they stood, and to await further orders."

    Eviscerous went into the details of how he had the prisoners rounded up and confined to their barracks, until their arrival over Korriban.

    He then reported, "Upon reaching orbit over Korriban, I started the process of withdrawing my forces from the Arcanum. I've also ordered what's left of the Arcanum's security forces to re-arm themselves and to return to their normal duties.

    "Strangely, for some reason, the station security forces are reporting missing several hundred weapons, and many, many dozens of crates of various munitions and explosives. Dark Lord, I have already investigated the anomaly, and can confidently assure you that the missing equipment is not a result of misdeeds committed by my forces."

    Darth Nox kept a neutral expression, but he thought to himself, "I wonder if Eviscerous knows that it is my people's doing?"

    Finally, Eviscerous told Nox, "All of my forces will be gone from the Arcanum within the next three hours, Dark Lord."

    Eviscerous, seated at the conference table in Acina's private suites, along with Lord Shahn and Zash, concluded his report by offering praise and adulation to Nox.

    "Congratulations on your complete and utter victory over your vile enemy, Dark Lord! I am proud to be in your service. You have returned honor and glory to yourself, and to all of your servants who have faithfully remained at your side!"

    After thanking Eviscerous, Nox replied, "The real battle starts tomorrow, in the Dark Council chambers. I expect I'll meet with The Emperor's Hand and The Emperor's Wrath, there."

    Zash commented, "No kidding! If The Wrath doesn't kill you, you will emerge as the supreme power on the Dark Council to be feared. You'll have your hands full with Darth Marr, though."

    Nox waited quietly, looking pointedly at Zash, until she acquiesced and belatedly added, "Master," to the end of her statement.

    Then Nox replied, "I have plans for dealing with Darth Marr, but it is Darths Vowrawn and Rictus I need to be careful of. They won't like being left out of what I have in mind."

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    The following morning, Nox and his entourage came down to Korriban's surface from the Arcanum in his new ship. Andronikos had piloted the ship to it's landing in a tiny spaceport that was no more than a single dust covered, windblown landing pad on the outskirts of the Sith Academy grounds. Nox and his followers boarded speeders, driven by Imperial Guardsmen, that had been waiting for their arrival. They left the landing pad behind and began their long trek, through the red rock strewn sands of Korriban, to the Sith Academy.

    Andronikos got off the ship to stretch his legs, as it were. He just wanted to be able to say that he had walked on Korriban. As he walked around the launch pad, he saw graffiti scratched onto a corner of the tiny spaceport landing pad.

    "Yehw'reh'nomai, Mandalore bounty hunter, was here. I captured my bounty head, here!"

    Andronikos looked around carefully, making sure no one was around to see. Then he took out his vibroknife and carved his name onto the landing pad, too.

    "Andronikos Revel, the meanest, most audacious pirate that ever navigated the hyperspace lanes was here, too. Be glad I wasn't here, when you was, to kill your crew and steal your haul!"

    Andronikos had a good laugh at what he'd written, and then wondered, "Damn! How long will it be before the next non-Sith sets foot here to see what I scribbled?" Then it occurred to him, "Damn! That Yehw'reh'nomai guy could have scrawled that a hundred years ago!"

    A closer inspection of Yehw'reh'nomai's graffiti revealed to him that it was done quite recently. Andronikos had enough fun on Korriban. He got back in his ship, and launched it back into space. He would remain in orbit to await Nox's call for his return to the planet's surface.

    Andronikos got out of the pilot's seat and told 2V-R8, "Take over the controls and maintain our orbit. Report any anomalies."

    2V-R8 moved to go sit in the Pilot's seat, as it replied, "Yes, Captain."

    Andronikos sat in the navigator's seat and stared out the canopy at Korriban's red curved horizon contrasted against the blackness of space. He started thinking about what would happen next.

    Andronikos figured, "When Nox returns to the ship, he'll want to go back to Dromund Kaas. Then maybe, after dropping Nox off there, if the Boss doesn't have another job for me, I might be able to take my crew to Nar Shaddaa, to sell off our loot."

    He and his hired cohorts had plundered the station, starting with Acina's private quarters. They looted priceless art - over a thousand years old and thought to be lost! Among the other items looted, also from Acina's quarters, were exquisitely crafted jewelry, priceless, enormous uncut gem stones, a few were almost as big as his fist!

    They also took antique furniture. Most of the pieces of furniture were between three hundred and five hundred years old, while three of the pieces were well over seven hundred years old. The antiques were all in serviceable condition. He and his mercenaries had looted much, much more from Acina's quarters.

    When he and his Mando crew had ventured out from Acina's quarters, however, they had to go down a twenty minute turbolift ride to the central hub of the station, and then through the station's command center, before reaching the rings of corridors and spaces in the station's main levels.

    Wandering the wide, battle damaged corridors, they'd also come across several hundred blaster rifles and dozens of crates of various ordnance. Those were left scattered throughout the station, when Acina's security forces had surrendered and left everything lying around, unguarded.

    Before the station had gone into hyperspace, Andronikos returned alone to Acina's quarters. He went back to move the ship from Acina's private hanger, while the Mandalorian mercenaries gathered the weapons and ordnance they had stolen, taking them to a hanger the pirate and the mercenaries had agreed to ahead of time. The Mandalorian mercenaries readied the looted military hardware, packing them in crates to be loaded onto the ship.

    Forty minutes later, Andronikos arrived with the ship to the hanger bay. This made loading the weapons and ordnance onto the ship a whole lot easier than hauling it all through the station, and then back up that spire with that ridiculously long turbolift ride.

    The force shield for Acina's private dock was placed under repairs by the space stations' facilities maintenance crews and their droids. They worked around the clock to have it ready for Nox's departure from the station. He didn't want to don his space suit again, and he didn't want to take a hideously long turbolift ride down from Acina's quarters, to the main decks of the space station.

    Darth Nox certainly would have balked had he known he would also have to follow up the long turbolift ride with a long ride of several tens of kilometers, on one of the station's slow wheeled taxi droids, just to reach the hanger bay which the mercenaries had chosen to stage their loot - just to board his ship!

    When the space station came out of hyperspace and established its orbit over Korriban, Andronikos piloted the ship back to Acina's private hanger bay. On the next morning, Darth Nox boarded his ship for his descent to Korriban's surface. He complained loudly about the ship's spaces being overfilled with crates, but Andronikos assuaged the dark lord's anger.

    Andronikos told the dark lord, "Just wait 'til you see your cut of the take, Boss. It's just a little discomfort, but when you see the credits, it'll make it all worth it. I promise."

    Nox's own quarters aboard the ship was the only space that didn't have stacks of crates filled with loot in it. So that's where the dark lord stayed until the ship touched down on Korriban. Khem Val had also complained and groused at Andronikos about the crates filling his quarters.

    He growled at Andronikos, "Pirate! Why is all of this trash in my way?! Where are my spacious quarters?!"

    Andronikos promised, "Khem, it'll all be gone when we take it all to Nar Shaddaa."

    Another problem facing Andronikos was the wood floors. He hoped that the dark lord would not notice, but they had become terribly marred by all of the crates and medium duty droids that had been commandeered to load the ship.

    Andronikos would have to have the floors reconditioned, and then have some sort of durable scratch resistant transparent cover put on top to protect the floors from further damage. He figured it wouldn't cost too much to get that done. He decided he'd better eat the cost and pay for it from his cut of the haul. Andronikos didn't want to draw Nox's attention to this.

    His cut was going to be forty percent, the mercenaries were also getting forty percent. The remaining twenty percent was going to Darth Nox, as tribute. Nox always got a cut of whatever business Andronikos drummed up.

    With Darth Nox, his apprentices, and the Dashade on Korriban, Andronikos was free to get some work done. He'd been busy making calls, lining up buyers to take part in an auction of the loot. A firm date for the auction had yet to be set, but it didn't hurt to advertise.

    It was during one of those calls when the potential bidder told him about the Galactic Republic Chancellor's assassination at the hands of a female Chiss bounty hunter.

    Andronikos blurted out, "Yeah. Darth Nox didn't like the Chancellor laughing at him with the whole galaxy watching. So, he had him taken out."

    He mentally kicked himself, "Dammit! When am I gonna learn not to let my mouth run away on me?!" Then he tried covering up the lie, telling the potential bidder, "That's just the gossip that's going around. Don't go putting too much stock into that."

    However, the damage had already been done. It would become wildly reported that Darth Nox had ordered the assassination of the Republic Chancellor.

    It had been some hours since he finished his calls. He just needed to take his cargo and crew to Nar Shaddaa to unload his haul and to start taking bids. For now, though, he had to wait in orbit over Korriban for Darth Nox to summon him. Andronikos, sitting in the Navigator's seat and looking at red Korriban's curved horizon, thought of the dark lord, down on the planet.

    "If the boss gets killed today, I retire from my government job and get a beautiful new ship as my retirement bonus!"

    He smirked at his own joke about his service to Nox, "Government job, eh?"

    In the back of his mind, though, Andronikos was hoping all would turn out well for the dark lord. If Nox's bid for vengeance and power ended in disaster, Andronikos knew that he'd have to live the rest of his days in Hutt controlled space. Life in Hutt space was rough. You could run out of money and friends fast in Hutt controlled space.

    He'd done a lot of business in Hutt space, but he never stayed longer than it took to complete a deal, so he'd managed not to get any Hutts mad at him. In the end, running to Hutt space was a viable choice for him.

    Before his pirating days, Andronikos was an officer in the Republic Army. He had deserted and turned to piracy in a most spectacular fashion. He'd organized a mutiny on his base, killed anyone that got in his way, plundered the base armory and munitions depot, and then took off in a stolen Republic military starship. So, yeah. There was a price on his head in Republic space.

    Ever since he'd met Nox, back when Nox was Kallig, he'd done a lot of jobs for the Sith lord. Over time, Andronikos made a name for himself. So, in Imperial space, he became a well known agent of Darth Nox. He had organized and carried out numerous acts of sabotage, political assassinations, and blackmail through his network of thugs and gangsters, all in Nox's name.

    If the dark lord lost, then Nox's enemies would hunt Andronikos down. He figured it would be his own network of thugs that would turn on him for whatever price would be put on his head.

    Sitting in the Navigator's seat and considering the consequences, he said aloud to himself, "I'd be hunted down in Republic or Imperial space the rest of my days. Nowhere else to go but Hutt space."

    2V-R8, in the Pilot's seat, asked, "Where in Hutt space shall I pilot the ship, Captain?"

    Andronikos, startled into the realization that he'd been thinking out loud, nearly shouted, "Never mind that! Just maintain orbit as I had instructed before!"

    The droid replied, "Yes, Captain."
     
  10. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    Power Struggle In The Council Chamber!​
    Darth Nox walked with Darth Eviscerous at his side. Lord Shahn, and the very bitter and title-less Zash walked behind Nox and Eviscerous. Eviscerous' three apprentices walked behind Zash and Shahn. Finally, Khem Val walked behind the whole procession of Sith in the hallowed ancient red stone halls of the Sith Academy on their way to the dark council chambers and its antechamber.

    The antechamber had been separated from the dark council chamber with a durasteel wall some time in the distant past, but it was thousands of years after the pyramid had been carved from the mountain. The council chamber doors were set into the metal wall.

    Upon arriving to the antechamber and stopping before the dark council chamber doors, Nox turned to face his servants and expressed his most fervent desire.

    "I hope she's here. I want to kill her so very badly."

    Khem Val asked his master, "When you draw your saber to strike her down, may I fight by your side?"

    Nox told him, "I'm Sorry, Khem. Only dark councilors are allowed in the council chambers for this meeting. However, this time I've been given special permission to bring Juuldis in with me." Then with a wry grin on his face, he promised Khem Val, "But do not worry, I'll be sure to bring out Acina's carcass, so that you may feast."

    Khem Val nodded his head and said, "Thank you, my master. I look forward to devouring that one."

    There were other apprentices and followers, standing or sitting in the antechamber. They clustered in groups waiting for their masters - the other dark lords already inside the council chamber. These apprentices and followers had heard what Nox had said, and Khem Val's reply.

    Some were repulsed by the thought of the Dashade feasting on a dead human, while others found it darkly humorous. There were a few, however, who carefully minded their thoughts, lest their thoughts betrayed them, but they exuded fear instead. Darth Nox felt their sudden anxiety.

    Khem eyed Zash and warned her, "If you betray my master and side with his enemy, I shall devour you before you have had time to enjoy your treachery."

    Zash replied angrily, "Silence, beast! I tire of your disrespect!"

    Before Khem Val could reply, Nox said to him, "Do not worry about it, Khem. Juuldis will not betray me. She fears me, as she should."

    Zash's fury twisted face was already hidden by her black hood, which she wore up, to conceal her features. She also labored to conceal her black emotions from Nox. Zash looked down at her feet and willed herself not to rage.

    She knew she could not stand against Nox, Eviscerous, and Shahn together. Zash knew Khem would happily snack on her arm, too. It took a great effort, but she succeeded in keeping silent and remained still. Darth Nox knew she had to have become enraged, but she masked her emotions with The Force, just as well as she hid her face with the hood of her black cloak.

    Zash gave Nox nothing to criticize. Instead, he scanned the antechamber and saw a few whom he thought might be Acina's remaining top ranking Sith servants and apprentices. They stank of fear, and it caught his attention. They huddled together, their hoods up to conceal their faces. Nox could sense their anguishing fear peak, as he turned to look their way.

    He told Eviscerous, loud enough to be heard by all in the antechamber, "Don't start any trouble with Acina's people while you're here waiting for me to come out. However, should they start trouble with you, be sure to utterly crush them."

    Eviscerous, looking at the group of Sith Nox had eyed, replied so that he too could be heard, "We will not bring shame to your name, Dark Lord. We shall scatter their innards all over the floor and pin their carcasses onto the walls."

    Turning to Zash, Nox said flatly, "Come with me, Juuldis."

    Zash followed Nox silently into the council chambers. The two Imperial guardsmen, guarding the entrance to the dark council chambers, opened the doors for the two to enter. Nox proceeded through the doors with Zash following closely behind.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    Nox marched across the large open floor to his seat. His seat was at the far end of the council chamber, opposite from the doors he'd entered. His seat was the second to last on the row of seats on the left side of the council chamber.

    Nox looked across the chamber as he strode the length of the huge floor to his seat. There, on the very last seat of the row on the right side of the council chamber, he saw Acina. She sat eying him with a hate filled scowl.

    Nox thought, excitedly, "Here in the flesh and not by holo! So, those pathetic fear drenched losers were her apprentices after all."

    As he climbed up the dais to his seat, he told Zash, "Stand beside my seat on the left side of it and await my instructions."

    Zash bowed her head and replied, "As you say, Dark Lord."

    She didn't want to call him Master, allowing herself that bit of defiance.

    The seat to the left of his was vacant. It had belonged to Darth Jadus and later to his daughter, Darth Zhorrid. They were the overseers of The Sphere of Sith Intelligence before their downfall and the dissolution of Imperial Intelligence.

    The Dark Council was housed in a chamber at the apex of the huge mountain sized, red stone pyramid that was the main structure of the Sith Academy. Its ancient chamber walls were made up of huge, red stone slabs arranged vertically, with ancient texts carved into the surface of the stone slabs, written in the dead language of the ancient Sith. Polished dark grey durasteel plates made up the flooring that covered the worn and chipped stone blocks that used to be the original floor. Polished durasteel girders along the walls, and the corners of the dark council chamber, reinforced the stone slabs that held up the single ancient stone slab ceiling.

    The Dark Council, which met in this hallowed chamber, was made up of twelve powerful Sith who ruled the Sith Empire in accordance to the Sith Emperor's will. Their twelve seats were arranged six seats facing the other six, with each row of seats in a slight curve, like parenthesis, so that the dark councilors could look at each other without turning their heads too much.

    Nox eyed Acina across the great open floor of the council chambers.

    Nox thought to himself, "It would be so easy to leap across and impale her with my sabrestaff!"

    Zash felt, and easily fended off, a few of the dark councilors' attempts to penetrate the barriers she had set up to protect herself, to protect her mind, and to conceal her true identity from everyone there.

    She whispered gleefully to Nox, "They can't wait to learn who I am!"

    Nox had felt it too, and a tiny curl lifted at the left corner of his lips. Nox moved his head subtly, looking at the dark lords in turn as he tried to determine which of them had attempted to pierce Zash's mind.

    As Nox scanned the council chamber with his eyes and with very slight head movements, he also took note of who'd shown up in person and who'd attended via holo. Across the great chamber floor from him he saw that the seat next to Acina was also vacant. Darth Ravage was present in his seat, two seats down from Acina. Darth Mortis sat next to Ravage, and next to Mortis, was another vacant seat.

    On the opposite end of the row from Acina was Darth Aruk, appearing via holo. He feared Nox greatly, and regretted his earlier involvement with Acina's failed plan to discredit Nox. He didn't know whether Nox knew of his earlier involvement, thus his appearance via holo.

    On Nox's row of seats, besides the empty seat to his left, on his right was Darth Rictus, an old but very powerful and wise Sith. He was both feared and respected by all of the dark councilors. Even Nox, as reckless as he was, was cautious when dealing with Rictus.

    Next to Rictus sat Darth Marr. He had taken over leading the Sith Empire's war effort against the Galactic Republic when Darth Vengean, the dark councilor who had initiated the war against the Galactic Republic and had led the Empire to a great string of victories over the Republic, had been assassinated. Next to Marr was another vacant seat.

    A little concerned, Nox thought to himself, "Four dead dark lords, and no one to replace them, yet? How is the Empire being led?"

    Forgetting the danger to the Empire, he added with venom in his thoughts, "Acina will be the fifth dark councilor killed, and her seat, too, shall become vacant!"

    On the opposite end from Nox was Darth Vowrawn. He was the second oldest among the dark councilors. He was also revered, as well as thoroughly feared.

    Nox thought to himself, almost in awe of Rictus and Vowrawn, "You don't live to be ninety years or almost eighty years of age and remain on the Dark Council, unless you are terribly powerful and fearfully ruthless."

    With that, Nox wondered for the umpteenth time, if either Rictus or Vowrawn were actually pulling Marr's strings. However, that thought quickly evaporated from Nox's mind as it had each time he'd thought it. Darth Marr was Darth Marr.

    He was both powerful and enigmatic. Marr, despite the tendencies of the Dark Council to be fragmented in its leadership of the Empire, kept the council together, and actually led them. Nox envied that power. That's what he wanted, to be the one who led!

    Darth Marr finally spoke, "With all dark councilors present, or attending via holo, let us call the Dark Council meeting to order."

    Darth Mortis said, "Seconded."

    Marr said, "If there is no dissent, the meeting is called into order."

    Marr paused briefly, looking around the council chamber for dissenters.

    Then he continued, "The first order of business is a special introduction of Darth Nox's new apprentice. If there are no dissenters, then..."

    To Nox's displeasure and disgust, Acina spoke out, "I dissent."

    Marr asked, "What reason have you for your objection?"

    Acina, wanting very much to ruin whatever it was Nox intended to accomplish, spoke as though it was a phenomenal waste of time.

    "We all have acquired apprentices that we've felt were special. There is no need to spend our precious time on such a frivolous matter. Let us not waste it, pandering to some cretin's ego."

    A few of the dark lords chortled, while others quietly rolled their eyes, at Acina's blatant attempt at provocation. Nox did not allow himself to be baited, remaining silent.

    Darth Ravage, speaking over the giggles, countered and admitted, "Frankly, I'm curious. I want to see what's so special about this apprentice that Nox would even dare think to ask the introduction be added to our agenda."

    Vowrawn, looking to his left past both Marr and Rictus, and eying Nox speculatively, said, "If I'd come across a new apprentice that was as spectacular as that, I would have hidden him from view of my rivals. Instead, it seems Darth Nox feels it is to his advantage to let us all see who his apprentice is. I second Darth Ravage's motion to go forward with the introduction. I too am curious."

    Darth Marr, facing Acina, seated across the open floor from him to his left, spoke flatly, "Darth Acina, your dissent has been noted, but Darth Ravage and Darth Vowrawn have moved to go forward with the introduction, and there appear to be no others to support your view."

    After pausing to scan the other dark lords for additional dissenters, Marr turned to Nox, on his left, and said just as flatly, "Darth Nox, you have the floor."

    Darth Nox turned his head left to look down at Zash, who stood below him next to his dais, and said in a low voice to her, "Do not disappoint me. Go to the chamber floor and impress them."

    Zash did not reply to Nox. She merely made her way down a few steps to the expansive chamber floor as Nox raised his voice to introduce her to the dark councilors.

    "Allow me to introduce my old master, and now my newest apprentice, Darth Zash."

    Nox carefully watched as some of the dark lords leaned forward in their seats. Acina's face was filled with utter disgust, but she could not help but keep her eyes on Nox's apprentice as she walked to the center of the council chamber floor.

    Acina wondered, "Is she the one who slaughtered my people? I'll kill her after she finishes her introduction, then I'll Kill her master!"

    The dark councilors all had varying takes on a different line of thought, however.

    They all thought to themselves, "What nonsense is this?!" Or, "What does he hope to accomplish with this foolishness?" Or, "He will pay for this insult!"

    Darth Marr instantly regretted letting Nox have his way with this foolishness. His anger was rising, as was Ravage's.

    Vowrawn simply thought of Nox, "He's lost his mind."

    Acina, was too focused on her fury and hatred of Nox to understand the implications of what was about to unfold in the dark council chambers. She simply laughed at what she, too, perceived as Nox's folly. Her light laughter could be heard, barely audible throughout the council chamber.

    Acina, looking at the faces of the other dark lords, was enjoying the disgusted feelings radiating from her fellow dark lords. She enjoyed their looks of disgust, all of it aimed at Nox. She decided to stay in her seat and not kill Nox's apprentice, so that he could stew in his monumentally embarrassing blunder, as she had thought of it.

    Zash took note of the incredulity and rising tensions among the dark lords as she made her way to the center of the dark council chamber floor. She began to imagine all of the mischief she could wreak, and the damage to Nox's reputation, if she rendered a performance that would make him look the fool. However, she had decided that she wanted to rock them to their very core, if only to see what came of it. Zash also understood that she could gain a great deal from this parlor trick herself, if she played her cards right.

    Zash dropped the barrier that hid her presence and allowed her aura to radiate from her mind unhindered as she addressed the dark councilors in her most charming manner.

    "Dark lords, I am awed by the representation of such power collected here in one place! The rulers of all of the Sith Empire, and the most powerful Sith anywhere! I feel privileged to be re-introduced to you all!"

    As she spoke, she had to turn around to make eye contact with the dark councilors who sat on Nox's side of the chamber floor.

    "Please allow me to serve the Sith Empire, as I had done once - before my untimely departure from the world of the living - at the hands of my old apprentice."

    Zash took delight in Nox's displeasure displayed in his features as he eyed her menacingly. Not only did she not call him 'master,' but she referred to him as her old apprentice.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    The dark councilors there were all familiar with Zash, except for one. They were all present when Darth Thanaton still lived and held a seat on the Dark Council, except for one. Some of them stood from their seats in shocked disbelief. The others who'd remained seated, only leaned forward in their seats, but they were also in a state of deep disbelief.

    These dark lords were there when Thanaton brought her forward to be tried for the high crime of murdering a Darth, her rival, Darth Skotia. They were there, laughing at Thanaton, when she proved her innocence to them, thus embarrassing Thanaton. They were the one's who conferred the title, 'Darth,' onto Lord Zash, humiliating Thanaton even further. All but one of them was there.

    These same dark lords all knew that Nox, then known as Lord Kallig, murdered his master, Darth Zash, in the Dark Temple - claiming self defense. They were present when Lord Kallig later defeated Thanaton in the very same chamber in which they sat now.

    They observed as Darth Marr conferred Lord Kallig with his new title, witnessing his becoming Darth Nox and witnessing his ascension to the Dark Council. They were present when he took Thanaton's place as Dark Lord over The Sphere of Ancient Knowledge.

    The dark councilors were present for all of this, except one. She did not see any of this, nor did she know of any of this. Acina came after all of this. They were all deeply aware of Nox's ever growing power, his ever growing influence, his ever growing reach across the galaxy. Acina did not grasp the significance of Nox's rise in power.

    Now, what was once thought of as impossible had come to pass, in their minds. Nox had somehow crossed into the realm of the gods and had brought back a long dead Sith lord from beyond The Force! Acina did not understand the sudden change in their emotions. The dark councilors' feelings of disgust and anger against Darth Nox, had changed into fear and awe, in an instant!

    The proof of Darth Nox's god-like power stood before them all. Darth Zash's spirit was obviously occupying a different body, but they all knew there was absolutely no way it could have been anyone else. It was Zash's aura, her presence, that told the dark lords that without any doubt, the woman standing in their chambers was indeed Zash!

    Ravage, Mortis, Marr, and Vowrawn left their seats and approached her where she stood. Rictus, who had remained seated, turned his head to carefully regard Nox.

    A tiny smile spread across his face as he thought, "First the Emperor's space station, and now this? How long before you think yourself ready to face the Emperor, Darth Nox?"

    The others carefully examined Zash using The Force to search for deception, and to verify that she was indeed Zash and not some well trained impostor.

    Darth Vowrawn accepted the truth of what The Force screamed at him, "This is Darth Zash!"

    He turned to return to his seat, walking unsteadily. The shock of what he had witnessed was too great. As he walked, he turned his head to carefully regard Nox. Nox had on a smirk. His smugness told Vowrawn that this was the exact reaction Nox had anticipated from the dark lords.

    Then his next thought was, "How has he managed to bring back the dead? What does he intend to do with this power?! Has he also learned to become immortal?! Will he challenge the Emperor?!"

    Acina was lost. She'd only heard of Zash, through gossip, years before. Acina had never met her personally. She had heard only bits and pieces of Zash from conversations with various Sith lords, over the years, before her own ascension to the Dark Council a little over a year ago.

    But now, it was painfully obvious to her that the dark lords, who'd rushed forward to examine Zash more closely, were deeply impressed. Acina could see that Nox had managed to get the Dark Council to eat from his hand. However, the significance of Darth Zash's presence only hit her when she heard Mortis' question to Marr.

    "Has Nox learned to defeat death? Has he really brought back a long dead Sith Lord?"

    Fear gripped Acina's heart when she heard Mortis' query. For the first time Acina understood why the others were thrown into such chaotic fear and admiration for Nox.

    She asked herself, disbelievingly, "Zash was dead?"

    Darth Marr didn't answer Darth Mortis' question. How could he? He didn't know the answer either. Instead, Marr focused on the significance of what had just transpired in the dark council chambers.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    It was an open secret that Nox envied Marr's influence over the Dark Council. Nox had made many subtle, and a few not so subtle, attempts to insinuate his will over the Dark Council, defying Marr each time. However, each time, Marr maintained his leadership over the Dark Council, successfully keeping Nox in his place with pressure from the other dark lords.

    Marr had guessed that Acina had probably incorrectly interpreted Nox's repeated failure to stand over the Dark Council as weakness, and that it was probably why Acina had blundered when she thought she could elevate herself by further embarrassing Nox. Instead, she only ended up becoming an object lesson that demonstrated the extent of Nox's true power. Nox had taken a planet and a space station from her possession, and he had nearly killed off all of her powerbase.

    "All killed in a single day!" Marr thought to himself.

    Marr surmised that it was very likely she would die this day, in the dark council chambers. Her Kaggath with Nox was decidedly a one sided blood fued.

    So, when Acina had arrived for the meeting, he wondered to himself, "Does she not see the danger to her own life?"

    However, for the first time, Marr had to consider that Nox's meteoric rise in power, both politically and in The Force, truly threatened his own position. He considered Nox's loud and flamboyant ruthlessness. The manner in which he'd disposed of both Achelon and Harkun was still the talk of the day among the Sith everywhere in the galaxy. Now, news of Nox's conquest of a space station, under Acina's stewardship, was spreading like a fire through dry brush pushed by a hot dry wind in a drought stricken prairie.

    Marr thought of Nox's military prowess, "He had doused the smoldering flames of rebellion on Taris with his own lightsaber, and conquered a space station with his forces!" Marr marveled, "He found a single cloaked space station hidden in darkness and dust somewhere in the galaxy, led a small navy to it, invaded it with a small army, and conquered it. All in less than three days!"

    Everyone on the Dark Council knew when Nox had left Dromund Kaas. The day of the slaughter of Acina's powerbase marked his departure from Dromund Kaas. Everyone on the Dark Council also new when Nox had arrived on Korriban. The day a space station suddenly appeared in orbit over Korriban marked his arrival.

    Marr repeated to himself, "All in less than three days!" Marr also considered Nox's unbridled fearlessness. "Does he not fear the Emperor? He took the Emperor's space station! Surely, Nox had to know that the Emperor would have something to say about that?!" Finally, Marr saw before him Nox's latest feat and thought, "Nox has defeated Death, itself."

    For the first time in Marr's long tenure on the Dark Council, he began to fear another dark councilor. Marr had to acknowledge that Nox could very well displace him as the de facto head of the Dark Council. Add to that an encrypted message he received the day before, a few hours after the space station appeared over the skies of Korriban.

    The cryptic message simply read, "Moff Dolus has stepped down as second in command of Imperial Offensive Operations against the Galactic Republic. Moff Pyron has been appointed as second in command of Imperial Offensive Operations against the Galactic Republic."

    There was no explanation as to why the change in command had occurred, but he reminded himself that Pyron was Nox's Vassal, on loan to him for the war effort against the Galactic Republic. Nox's grip on even Marr's own domain, The Sphere of Imperial Defense, had become evident to him.

    He thought, "Having Zash as his apprentice makes Nox almost unbeatable!"

    Marr decided that he had to do something about it, and quickly.

    He said to his fellow dark lords on the floor gawking at Zash, "Let us return to our seats. We can question Darth Nox as to his methods."

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    As everyone returned to their seats, realization of what Nox had accomplished crashed into Acina's mind like a berserk rancor that had had its thick hide poked with a stick. Real fear began to fill her being.

    Acina thought to herself, "Nox is now in a position to rule over the Dark Council! They all fear him!"

    She knew, however, something that none of the other dark councilors knew. It was her last hope. The Hand and The Wrath were on their way to the council chambers to confront Nox.

    Darth Mortis began to ask Nox, "How did you..."

    Nox cut him off and said brusquely, "I will not divulge my secrets. Do not ask."

    Ravage shouted angrily, "Damn you, Nox! You show us this power, this ability to bring back the dead! Now you won't share this knowledge?! We could use this power to bring back our fallen! It could bolster our numbers which, by the way, shrinks by the day!"

    Ravage, pointing at the empty seat next to his, was flummoxed by Nox's unwillingness to share this knowledge, but no one else was. They had expected Nox to greedily hold on to his secrets. In his place, they would have done the same, they knew.

    Marr, although expecting it from Nox, said with some frustration, "It is enough! Darth Nox has the prerogative of whether to share."

    Darth Nox commanded Zash, "Darth Zash, leave the council chambers and wait for me with the others."

    Zash bowed to Nox and thought, "At least I get my title back." Nox had called her 'Darth,' in the presence of the Dark Council.

    However, Darth Marr was not finished and made his move. He called to her.

    "Darth Zash. Wait."

    She stopped and turned to face him.

    Nox, with an expression of deep displeasure, said, "Darth Zash's introduction is over. We've used up more than the allotted five minutes. It is time to move to the next item on..."

    Marr cut Nox off, and said, "Another matter has come up. It may involve Darth Zash."

    Nox raised his voice, and with incredulity in his tone, asked Marr, "I've just now re-introduced her to the Dark Council. How can a matter come up that involves someone you had no idea was back from the grave?!"

    Marr surprised Nox and got many heads in the Dark Council to turn sharply to look at him as he addressed the Dark Council in his reply.

    "Darth Acina has shown a terrible lack of judgment, starting a blood feud she could not win. She has mismanaged the reconstruction of Taris, exposing the Empire to possible untold humiliation before the Galactic Republic. She has lost most, if not all, of her powerbase in her Kaggath with Darth Nox. She is incapable. She is weak. She is unfit to remain on the Dark Council."

    Acina was deeply shaken. She did not see that coming at all. The other council members had varied reactions from surprised gasps, to low chuckles.

    Vowrawn was quick to understand what Marr had in mind and chimed in, "She's even shown her inability to protect the Emperor's property. She lost The Arcanum, with all of the Emperor's treasures in it to Darth Nox." He turned to Acina and asked, "Didn't The Hand entrust its safe keeping to you?"

    Acina kept silent. She was at a complete loss as to what to do or say. At that moment, Acina knew her time had come to an end. She shook her head, thoughts of recrimination and disgust roiling through her mind.

    Ravage was still furious at Nox's unwillingness to share.

    Pointing at Acina, he asked, with disgust tinging his tone, "Nox, why couldn't you kill someone so pathetically weak as she?"

    At first, Nox bristled at Ravage's dig at him, but he quickly recovered and said, "I wanted to completely and utterly humiliate her. I wanted to completely destroy her entire powerbase. Now the time has come for me to kill her. It was pure luck that brought Acina here to me, in the council chambers. It has saved me the hassle of looking for her."

    Marr said pointedly to Nox, "Killing Acina to end your Kaggath will have to wait."

    Nox turned his head angrily at Marr's comment, but his demeanor quickly changed when he heard what Marr said next.

    "I move that we vote to remove Acina from her post on the Dark Council."

    Even as an idea of what Marr was up to began to take shape in his mind, Nox shouted, "Seconded!"

    Marr polled the councilors.

    "All in favor?"

    Everyone except Acina voted, shouting, "Aye!"

    Marr said, "Seven votes for Acina's removal from her post. The motion is carried, and is effective upon the end of the council session today."

    Acina was too deep in shock to realize that Aruk had also voted to have her removed.

    Then Marr shocked everyone except Vowrawn, who'd been waiting to see the look on Nox's face with what Marr said next.

    "The seat for The Sphere of Technology will become open at the end of today's dark council session. Since Acina's powerbase is destroyed and scattered, she has none that can ascend to her post."

    Nox, finally understood what Marr was up to. He started to shake his head in the negative and started to speak but Marr continued, ignoring Nox's attempts to protest.

    "Therefore, I nominate Darth Zash for the council seat."

    Nox bolted to his feet to protest, shouting, "No!"

    However, Vowrawn, using The Force, outshouted Nox, declaring, "I SECOND IT!"

    Mortis added his voice to the fray, shouting, "Let us vote on the matter, now!"

    Nox, standing on the dais in front of his seat and facing Marr, said with deep fury in his voice, "Do not interfere with my powerbase, Marr! She is my apprentice, and I will not let you have her!"

    Darth Rictus spoke in a low tone so that not everyone in the council chamber could hear.

    "Darth Nox, you will lose your apprentice, but if you are thoughtful about this, you may find an opportunity to gain a powerful ally."

    Nox spoke again, ignoring Rictus' counsel, "I will not tolerate the Dark Council meddling with my powerbase!"

    Darth Vowrawn then spoke, "Darth Nox, Darth Marr is actually doing you a favor. Even if you keep your apprentice, it will not be long before she finds an opportunity to kill you. You cannot contain her power forever. You have to sleep – sometime."

    Furiously, Nox turned away from facing Rictus, Marr, and Vowrawn. He ended up facing Zash on the council chamber floor.

    Zash was astonished! She laughed gleefully, clapping her hands together near her bosom during the exchange between Nox, Rictus, and Vowrawn. Then she looked at Nox, who'd been eying her with deep anger and frustration. She made a face at him. He could only shake his head in furious disbelief as he resumed his seat.

    Marr polled the dark councilors.

    "All those in favor of bringing Darth Zash into the Dark Council as the head of The Sphere of Technology, say Aye."

    The councilors voted almost unanimously, shouting out their vote.

    "Aye!"

    Marr counted and said, "Six votes for Darth Zash's elevation to the Dark Council. The motion is carried. Darth Zash's term is to begin at the close of the dark council session, today."

    Vowrawn was the first to congratulate Zash, followed by Marr, and then Mortis. Nox's countenance was filled with the vile rage he felt for Marr as he shook his head while looking at Zash. He was out maneuvered by Marr at the zenith of his triumph! He had his most powerful apprentice taken from him, mere moments after introducing her!

    Nox, furious that he had been outmaneuvered and blindsided by Marr, could only manage to turn his head towards Darth Marr to say, "Do not interfere with my powerbase again, Marr. It was the same mistake that Acina committed that started this whole mess she's found herself in today."

    Marr replied, as he reasoned with Nox, "The best, and the brightest among us are needed to lead the Empire. With Darth Acina's removal, a need for new and competent leadership has been presented, and with Darth Zash's return, this need for new and competent leadership has been met. I am sorry, Darth Nox, but it was a necessary step to ensure the stability of the Sith Empire."

    Marr was not at all sorry, and Nox knew it. Nox said nothing as he turned his head to face forward. He saw Zash looking at Acina, still occupying her dark council seat.

    Not wanting his kill taken from him too, Nox turned to Marr again and spoke in a voice loud enough for Marr to hear but not loud enough to reach across the council chamber floor.

    "I'm going to kill Acina now. Don't get in my way."

    With that, Nox used The Force to leap from his side of the dark council chamber to the other side, where Acina sat. Both ends of his sabrestaff ignited as he leapt.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    Acina had locked eyes with Darth Zash. She had resolved to herself, "If Zash wants this seat, then let her kill me for it!"

    She was taken by surprise, yet again, as she just barely caught sight of Nox suddenly leaping into the air, deep red beams growing from both ends of the hilt of his sabrestaff in one hand, and electricity arcing between his fingers on his other hand.

    Acina jumped down from her seat on the dais and dashed across the chamber floor, grabbing her lightsaber and igniting it as she ran. She turned just in time to see Nox land on the dais in front of her seat. She quickly reached towards Nox with her free hand and issued forth a terrible torrent of Force lightning at him.

    Nox used his sabrestaff to deflect the lighting, stabbing one end of his sabrestaff into the dais to ground his weapon and channel the electrical energy into the metal plated floor of the council Chamber. Then he dashed forward to close the distance to Acina. He thrust his sabrestaff at her as he charged in the attack.

    Acina used The Force to knock Nox back. He tumbled end over end as he flew backwards. He used The Force to balance himself and landed on his feet, and then immediately stretched both hands towards her.

    Acina prepared to deflect his lightning attack with her saber, but instead felt her life energy quickly draining from her being. She staggered, losing her balance, as she used The Force to break Nox's grasp on her life-force. When she regained her footing, she returned her eyes to Nox and saw that Nox had healed some of his injuries caused by her Force Push attack.

    While Acina guarded herself against another such attack from Nox, he used The Force to pull her towards him. Acina found herself flying towards Nox as he, again, thrust his saber to skewer her with it. However, Acina acted quickly and used The Force to push herself up and over Nox's head - out of reach of his sabrestaff.

    As Acina sailed over his head, tumbling, Nox spun around and leapt into the air as Acina came down. He viciously kicked her exposed back, amplifying the power of his kick with The Force. He tried to break her back, but failed.

    Acina had guarded against his attack again, but she screamed from the pain to her back and grunted when she slammed onto the chamber floor near her seat on the dais. Nox landed on his feet, several meters from where Acina slammed onto the arena-like floor, face down.

    Acina concentrated on The Force and used it to block out her pain. She sprang into the air, and as she flipped about to face Nox, used a Force technique that caused Nox to collapse onto the floor in agony. He felt his heart being crushed. Acina landed on her feet and approached Nox.

    With each step that she ran towards him, the crushing pressure on his heart and now his lungs increased. Nox ignored the pain in his chest, concentrating on The Force in the first seconds that Acina began her counter attack, and broke her crushing grip on his heart and lungs. Scrambling to his knees, Nox reached to Acina and used the Dark Force healing ritual, again, to drain her life force and to heal the damage done to his heart and his lungs.

    Acina, feeling her energy draining rapidly again, tried to break free from his grasp. Nox had already changed his attack, however, and used The Force to pull her towards him, but as she flew towards him, he flung her away, towards the far end of the council chamber. As she tumbled in the air past him, he executed a powerful Force Push against her.

    As he had done in the forests on Taris, which had caused medium sized tree trunks to snap in two, and large boughs to sheer away from the larger trees, Nox's push had such force that it broke Acina's left femur, and over extended her right shoulder, as her arm was blown backwards at subsonic speeds. Her broken leg bent in a funny angle as she tumbled away in the air, screaming.

    Some of the dark lords had to use The Force to shield themselves from Nox's blast wave of Force energy, as it swept through the council chamber. Her lightsaber flew out of her hand and was sent hurtling, twirling in the air towards Darth Rictus. He sat still, with his arms on the armrests. With a flick of his left index finger, the lightsaber came to a sudden stop in front of him. It turned off, and then gently landed on the armrest beside his left arm.

    Acina smashed into the metal wall, above the doors, at the far end of the council chamber. The chamber echoed with the resounding boom of Acina's impact.

    In the antechamber, the apprentices waiting for their masters were surprised and startled by the loud thud on the wall above the doors behind the two Imperial Guardsmen keeping watch of the doors. They all became alarmed and went on guard, clutching their lightsaber hilts, but leaving them still attached to their belts. Everyone eyed everyone else, tensely, with suspicion.

    Inside the council chamber, Acina had rebounded off the wall. The wind had been knocked out of her, and she landed with a loud smack onto the metal plated floor. Nox didn't wait to give Acina a chance to regain her feet. He just wanted her dead.

    He poured forth such a storm of Force Lightning that her clothing caught fire, and her flesh and armor smoldered with thick grey smoke pouring off of her. Acina screamed from the agony of it. The stench of burnt flesh and the stench of the burning materials of her clothing and armor began wafting throughout the council chambers.

    Nox kept at it, pouring forth his terrible wrath and hatred in the form of Force Lightning at Acina. His face contorted with the terrible rage he felt, as the image of the two red lights on either side of the single blue light flooded his mind. His fury rose higher still, as did the voltage and amperage of his Force Lightning attack.

    Darth Mortis nodded his head soberly, as he bore witness to Nox's considerable command of the Dark Side of The Force and the power it gave him. His eyes flicked to Marr across the chamber floor. Darth Marr, his face hidden behind his cybernetic mask, sat as still as a stone carving, as he observed the end of Nox's and Acina's Kaggath.

    Out of utter rage, Nox used The Force to lift her high off the floor and sent her hurtling through the air to the other end of the council chamber. She crashed onto the floor on her side, and slid several meters before coming to a stop - facing Nox's council seat. Nox walked away from the doors to the opposite end of the council chamber, where she lay.

    Acina's broken leg was sticking out from her in a bad angle, and her torso was twisted in a bad way. He stepped in front of her and stood before her broken form, so that his back was to his dark council seat several meters away. At that moment however, a few of the dark lords had their attention taken from the duel between Nox and the woefully outmatched Acina. Their attention went to the council chamber doors, as three Sith walked into the council chambers.

    Darth Ravage's eyes widened as he whispered to himself, "The Hand. And The Wrath!"

    Darth Acina watched, helpless, as Darth Nox stepped in front of her smoldering body. She tried to will herself to move. She tried to use The Force to make her body move, but she had sustained too many major injuries.

    The pain of her injured back, broken leg, over extended shoulder, and the terrible lightning burns were too intense. She could not stand the agony, and all she could manage were low moans of anguished misery.

    Nox's voice shook with the rage that he felt, as he told his mortal enemy, "Acina. You've tried to take everything from me and have failed over and again. You've corrupted two of my servants, turning them against me. I found the traitors, Achelon and Harkun, and destroyed them both and eradicated their followers. I thought I had taught you a lesson when I took two of your servants, and took Taris from you...," Nox paused to take in a breath, and then screamed out in utter fury, "BUT THEN YOU MURDERED MY CHILDREN!"

    Thinking of his dead children threatened to break his heart with grief and take him out of his fury. Nox paused, struggling to hold back his tears, as he pushed their memory out of his thoughts. The dark lords, watching from their seats, could clearly feel the pressure of Nox's oppressively monstrous aura. The Dark Side energy emanating from him was immense, and it gave a few of the dark councilors pause as they were forced to consider that perhaps they were no match for him, either.

    When Nox had settled down a bit, he focused on his hated enemy again. His wrath and hatred burned furiously again.

    He returned his attention to Acina's twisted and now unconscious form on the floor.

    He told her, "I had resolved to utterly ruin you. I crushed your powerbase. I took the Arcanum from you, and I have caused your fall from the Dark Council! Now, too, I shall be the cause of YOUR DEATH!"

    Nox, holding the hilt of his weapon in both hands, raised his sabrestaff vertically. Just as he was about to thrust it downward, to impale her through the side of her rib cage, he caught sight of a red flicker of light in the corner of his right eye. Nox leapt straight up into the air, and used the force to push himself backwards. As he backward somersaulted through the air towards his seat, he saw the bright red lightsaber as it twirled horizontally back to its owner's hand.

    Nox thought to himself, exclaiming in his mind, "The Emperor's Wrath!"

    Nox landed on his feet and looked intently at The Emperor's Wrath, as The Wrath gazed upon Nox, seemingly emotionless. Nox deactivated his sabrestaff and returned it to it's holder on his utility belt. The Wrath kept his weapon ablaze.

    Nox bowed his head politely, and asked, "Are you here about the Arcanum?"

    Darth Vowrawn's jaw dropped at Nox's nonchalant audacity, as a tiny smirk spread on Rictus' lips. No one else on the Dark Council moved. The two Sith known as The Emperor's Hand stepped forward and spoke to Nox.

    One demanded of Nox, "What has possessed you to act so foolishly? Did you actually believe you could steal the Emperor's treasurers for yourself?!"

    The other commented, "No! No treasures, but he took! From the Emperor, he took!"

    Nox, still breathing hard from the exertions of battle, and still suffering from the pain in his chest, replied as calmly as his broiling emotions would allow him.

    "I was consumed by deep unquenchable rage at Darth Acina. She sought to corrupt my powerbase, and she murdered my children. I sought only to humiliate her. I sought to expose her weakness. And I sought vengeance. I have accomplished all three.

    "I have had no desire to avail myself of the Emperor's treasures. Please, take back the Emperor's station. It is his."

    The Wrath pointed his saber at Nox and exploded in utter fury, "YOU THINK THAT IS ENOUGH?!"

    He looked as though he would attack, but The Hand both whispered something to The Wrath, which no one else could hear.

    Then a little more coolly, but still furious, he added, "A simple, 'Ooops! I was only mad at Acina? Here's the Emperor's station back?' Is that it?!"

    Nox's chest still burned with pain, and he still breathed hard, but it was excitement and not exhaustion that was the cause of his breathlessness. His emotions, already at a rapid boil, now flashed into superheated steam. Nox was as ready as he could be to battle the Emperor's Wrath.

    He tried to reply calmly, but his fury and excitement managed to percolate to the surface.

    He answered tersely, succinctly, "Yes. That is it, entirely!"

    Nox had the presence of mind to add a lie which had some truth in it, saying, "It is Acina's fault for involving the Emperor's station in our kaggath. She ran to it to hide from my fury after she'd killed my children. I simply followed her there."

    It was true that Acina had run to the Arcanum to hide from Nox's inevitable retaliation, but Nox hadn't known that. He had decided on his own to capture the Arcanum. Acina's presence aboard the Arcanum was an added bonus.

    The Wrath walked to within ten feet of where Nox stood, still pointing his saber at Nox. Nox readied himself to dodge and then to strike at The Wrath. However, The Wrath unexpectedly deactivated his saber and lowered his weapon.

    His explosive fury had abated, but his anger still seethed and smoldered just beneath the surface. Nox was deeply impressed by the sheer power of The Force that radiated from The Wrath, like the heat from a durasteel foundry against his face.

    Nox thought, "His power is immense! Yet, the Emperor's power is orders of magnitude greater than his!"

    The Wrath shouted at Nox, "My hatred of you is matched only by my fury at you!"

    He pointed a finger at Nox's face and said, "Your only salvation was in not violating any of the vaults, and in pointing out Acina's cowardly foolishness in leading you to the Arcanum."

    He turned away from Nox and walked towards Acina. He stopped halfway and turned to face Nox again.

    He added, "I was going to kill you. You live, simply at the whim of the Emperor. It seems you have attracted his interest. Now I'll be taking his property back from you, thief!" Pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Acina, he added, "and I'll be retrieving this pile of filth, too! He wants to have a word with her."

    The Wrath turned and walked to where Acina had managed to sit up. She had regained consciousness and summoned the strength to administer several doses of Kolto to herself. Her pain began to become manageable – somewhat.

    Then, without warning, Acina used The Force to brace her broken leg and sped past The Wrath and lunged at Nox with both hands free. Nox ignited his sabrestaff and prepared to cut her down. He began feeling his life draining from his body.

    He used The Force to break free of her attack, and thrust his sabrestaff to pierce her heart, but The Wrath used The Force to pull Acina back to him. He caught Acina with one hand, and then threw her onto the floor with such force, that her impact could be felt in the seats of the dark councilors who watched. Her impact had caused a slight dent on the floor.

    Acina had not died, however. The Hand, anticipating The Wrath's rough handling of Acina, used a Dark Force ritual that kept her alive despite the massive trauma her body had suffered.

    The Wrath picked Acina up and tossed her onto his heavy armored pauldron like a sack of grain.

    As he walked out of the council chambers with Acina over his shoulder, The Hand both turned to Face Nox and spoke to him.

    One Sith, amusement in his tone, said, "The Emperor has his eyes on you, Darth Nox. You have attracted his notice."

    The second Sith, also amused, said, "Calling back the dead? How curious!"

    The first Sith continued, "He will watch you closely. Your fate is unclear, Darth Nox."

    The second Sith confirmed, "Your path is obscured, Life Bringer."

    The Emperor's Hand turned to follow The Emperor's Wrath out of the dark council chambers. The doors closed shut behind them.

    Nox turned to look at Acina's vacated seat but was robbed of the satisfaction when he saw Zash seated in it. A mocking smile lit her face when Nox had turned to look her way. Nox merely turned about to return to his own seat.

    As he climbed up the dais to his seat, he tried hiding his need to catch his breath. He needed time to recover from what Acina had done to him, especially that last sneak attack, but he hid his weakened state from his dark lord rivals - that is, from everyone on the Dark Council.
     
  11. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    After The Smoke Has Cleared​
    As soon as Nox resumed his seat, Darth Marr said, "The next item on the agenda..."

    Darth Ravage began to applaud. He'd been truly impressed with Darth Nox's prowess in single combat against Acina. Each clap of his hands was slow and measured, loud and echoing throughout the council chambers. Soon he was joined by Mortis, then Rictus.

    When Rictus began to applaud, the rest of the dark councilors joined in. To Nox's astonishment Zash stood in ovation, followed by Vowrawn. Soon all of his fellow dark lords stood in ovation, all except Marr. He sat still and silent as stone.

    Nox rather enjoyed the attention.

    He nodded his thanks and waved his hand at a few of the councilors as he thought, "This! This marks the beginning of my dominion over them!"

    He didn't get to kill her, but he thoroughly trounced Acina before the Dark Council.

    More importantly, Nox survived the fury of the Emperor. Even more importantly than that, the Emperor had acknowledged Nox's power, though it was a ruse. The Emperor's acknowledgment had given him even greater credibility with his fellow dark lords. He hadn't expected that from the Emperor.

    He thought, "I hope he's not the jealous type, or I won't last long."

    Nox knew perfectly well the Sith Emperor was the jealous type. He resolved to move carefully and to not give the Emperor any excuse that would allow him to act against him.

    Thinking to goad him, Nox turned to Marr and said, "It's not everyday one can survive the Emperor's anger and receive the adulation of one's rivals for one's victory over a hated enemy."

    Marr replied in a flat tone, "Enjoy it while it lasts."

    Nox's tone hardened as he warned Marr, "I will not forget your meddling with my powerbase, Marr. A time will come when you will have to stand aside to let me lead. You are stale and slow. I will throw our empire forward, where you have kept us stagnant."

    Marr merely kept silent. Nox felt nothing from him, but he knew Marr had to have been rankled by Nox's pointed words.

    Nox turned his attention to Zash, carefully watching her as the dark councilors ended their applause and resumed their seats. He knew Zash would not have stood in ovation if there wasn't something she wanted. He knew everything she ever did was after careful calculation.

    She saw an opportunity in the occasion and acted. Still, Nox felt it was a nice touch, her standing in ovation. It actually led the others to fully acknowledge his power in a way he knew they would hate, by giving him adulation. Losing her as an apprentice in the manner that he did still stung him hard, but he decided to hear her out later after the council meeting had adjourned.

    Marr resumed the Dark Council's business, announcing, "The next item on the agenda is whether to grant dominion over Taris to Darth Nox."

    Laughter erupted from some of the dark councilors and it proved to be contagious as other dark lords joined in the laughter.

    Mortis said to Marr, "The planet is already his. Let us move on to the next order of business."

    Marr stubbornly persisted, announcing, "If there are no objections, then the motion is carried and Taris is now officially within the dominion of Darth Nox."

    Nox decided to tear down the two apartment buildings he had resided in while on Taris, in Settlement Number Three, and to build in their place a sprawling mansion and villa all over the top of that hill. He decided it would have swimming pools and lush gardens, and a gymnasium.

    He wondered to himself, "What have they renamed that settlement to, I wonder?" Nox decided, as he continued his line of thought, "I'll name it, Ashara."

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    The Dark Council had adjourned many hours later. The matter Acina had brought forward, namely Nox's unfitness to remain on the Dark Council, was struck from the agenda. Nox had proved through his actions, beyond any doubt, his absolute fitness to rule on the Dark Council with the rest of them.

    With all of the official business completed and the Dark Council adjourned, the doors to the council chambers opened, and the dark lords began to exit. The nervously waiting apprentices joined their dark lords, with relief that nothing had befallen their masters, as the dark councilors left the antechamber on their way out of the Sith Academy.

    Nox came out of the council chambers and approached his entourage. Shahn Lunn, Eviscerous and his apprentices all approached Nox. Khem Val on the other hand approached Acina's apprentices.

    He stood before them and commanded, "Bow now before Darth Nox, the conqueror of Balmora and Corelia, the Lord of Taris, and the ruiner of Acina!"

    Acina's apprentices counted themselves lucky not to have been killed by The Wrath as he took their master away to answer to the Emperor for her shameful failures. She was draped over his shoulder like the carcass of a game animal that had been hunted and killed, though she still lived.

    The Hand had stopped to tell them, as one of them pointed to Acina's utterly defeated form, "That is the handy work of Darth Nox. Not The Wrath. Your master was defeated by her rival."

    The other Sith said, "Acina will answer to him."

    Everyone who'd heard that could only surmise that 'him' was The Emperor. The Hand turned and left the master-less and shamed apprentices unharmed as well. After seeing their master so shamefully taken away, they resolved to stay for the specific purpose of asking Nox's mercy. They bowed before Nox and groveled at his feet.

    "Great and terrible Dark Lord, send us away! You shall never see us again!"

    Zash shouted, as she emerged from the council chambers, "Do not bow to Darth Nox! Bow to me, instead! I am your new master!"

    Khem Val drew his vibrosword and leapt into the attack against Zash. To Khem Val's astonishment, however, Darth Nox used The Force to pull Khem Val back to him. Khem Val landed in front of his master, staggering backwards a bit, but regaining his footing.

    He turned to face Nox, and said in bewilderment, "Master, your slithering servant defies you! She must pay with her life!"

    Nox told Khem Val, "She is no longer my slithering servant, Khem. She is now my equal on the Dark Council. You may not raise your weapon against her."

    Khem Val was shocked into astonishment. Astonishment gave way to absolute fury, but he perfectly understood there was Sith politics at play. Khem resolved not to bring shame to his master.

    He kept silent as he deactivated his vibrosword and returned it to its bracket on the back of his body armor. Shahn Lunn, Eviscerous and his three apprentices, were also shocked to hear of this turn of events. It was most certainly unexpected.

    When Zash saw that Khem Val had been contained, she turned to the bewildered and befuddled apprentices and told them, "You serve me, now. As weak and pathetic as you all are. You are all that is left that knows anything about the operations of The Sphere of Technology. Be thankful that you still serve a purpose. Earn your privilege to live and to continue in my service."

    One of the remaining four apprentices stood and said, "But you're just a former Jedi, how can you..."

    Zash, smiling in her most charming manner, placed her hand gently on the apprentice's shoulder and said, "My dear, it seems you didn't understand me."

    Before he could reply, he instantly died, collapsing to the floor in a heap.

    She said to the last of Acina's Sith followers, "I forgot to tell you. I am Darth Zash, whom Darth Nox has brought back from beyond The Force. My spirit is simply in a new body. He and I are the only ones who know how to perform this ritual, by the way."

    Nox said nothing. He realized that at the very least, she would keep the secret safe. However, Vowrawn had been exiting the council chambers at that very moment and overheard what she'd said.

    Nox realized that Zash had just elevated herself in Vowrawn's view, as someone as fearful and equally dangerous as Nox, and Vowrawn was a very powerful and influential dark councilor after Rictus and Marr. Nox said nothing. He realized that any plans he had to force the Dark Council to submit to his leadership would have to take her into account. With that in mind, he figured that he knew what Zash might want from him.

    Remembering Rictus' counsel, and sensing that Zash was after something, Nox said to her, "Darth Zash, let us find a conference room to discuss terms for our new alliance."

    Zash turned to face Nox, a flirtatious smile lighting her face, and said, "Darth Nox, you are so forward! But you've read my mind."

    Nox admitted, to himself, that he'd need her influence to help him with his own designs over the Dark Council, but he also realized that she would likely begin planning his assassination as soon as she consolidated her power. He resolved to be the one to strike first.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    A triumphant Darth Eviscerous and his victorious apprentices, a quietly proud and powerful Lord Shahn, and the brooding monster, Khem Val, stood in the red stone slab corridor on one side of the conference room door. On the other side of the polished durasteel door in the corridor, stood the surviving three apprentices, formally Acina's, but now servants of Zash. The three survivors were filled with recrimination, self loathing, and untold shame. They looked how they felt, broken.

    Eviscerous said, "I almost pity you three. If I were you, I'd go somewhere to be alone, so that I may end my miserable existence."

    His apprentices chuckled at the barb.

    Shahn was meditating and didn't here the barb. She was taking a huge risk, eaves dropping on her master, but she wanted to know what the two were plotting. Using The Force, she projected her consciousness into the conference room to listen in.

    Khem Val merely stared off into space.

    He sighed and said with quite some frustration, "Cruel fate has taken my greatest enemy and has lifted her high above my reach!"

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    Nox and Zash sat on either side of the conference table, at the end furthest from the polished metal automatic sliding door. They spoke in low tones to ensure no one outside the door would overhear what they had to say to one another.

    Zash began the negotiations, demanding of Nox, "I want unfettered access to the archives and libraries of the Imperial Reclamation Service."

    Nox countered, flatly rejecting her demands, "You'll get normal access of the Library of Ancient Knowledge, as any dark lord would. Nothing more." Then he warned her, saying, "If I catch you overstepping your bounds, and infringing my domain - including conducting archaeological digs, I shall bring it up to the Dark Council to have you sanctioned."

    Ignoring Nox's warning, Zash simply moved on.

    She demanded, "I want any ancient technology that you discover, so that we may reverse engineer it, and if needed reproduce it for the use of the Empire."

    Nox blinked, and leaned back in his chair.

    He said, "That's reasonable, however, I will not give you any of the Rakata mind traps, nor any other technologies associated with it. Those technologies I shall keep in our vaults. Those shall remain secret."

    Zash began to object, but Nox cut her off, spelling it out for her, "If that tech gets out, our secret will be found out. We'll lose quite a bit of influence, and perhaps gain new enemies, enemies that we do not need to have."

    Zash remembered that the Emperor had also been taken in by their subterfuge.

    Moving on, Zash demanded, "I want Shahn Lunn."

    Nox flatly rejected her demands again, telling her, "No. She is my apprentice. I see her potential, as I'm sure you have."

    Zash complained, "Our alliance is going to fizzle into nothing if I don't get something worthwhile out of it."

    Nox finally made his play, "I'll include you in my plans to supplant Marr as head of the Dark Council."

    Intrigued by Nox's tendency to think big, Zash asked, excitedly, "What? How?"

    Nox outlined the basic points of his plan to her.

    "I planned to woo Mortis and Ravage into joining me into coercing Marr to form a quartet power sharing leadership structure over the rest of the Dark Council. Instead of Ravage, I'll let you in on it."

    Zash thought carefully. It had potential, but in the end she declined. Nox was surprised and quite a bit offended. It was a chance to gain more power over the Dark Council and over the Empire, and she turned her nose at it.

    Nox chided her, heatedly, "You said you wanted something of real value for our alliance, and I offered you a place in my new power structure. That isn't good enough?!"

    Zash thought carefully.

    "I could let him go ahead with his plans, and let him find himself destroyed, but I still need Nox alive - for a little while, anyway."

    She spoke to Nox, as though giving her apprentice her final lecture.

    "I'll give you one last bit of counsel. Think of it as a sincere gift to you for bringing me out of that prison."

    Nox leaned back and prepared to listen.

    Zash told him, "Kallig, you have done what none other has ever done in all of the history of the Sith Empire, since Dark Lord Vitiate became Emperor over fourteen hundred years ago. You took something from him. Even if you gave it back. You made him look weak.

    "I am quite surprised that The Wrath didn't kill you. So is everyone else on the Dark Council. The Hand told you, you're being watched. They were not in the council chamber when we played our little prank, but somehow they learned about it.

    "The Emperor has been taken in by our ruse, Nox. And he has acknowledged your power! He did that in the presence of the Dark Council. That, more than anything, is what will give you untold influence over the Dark Council."

    Nox took on a thoughtful expression as Zash continued speaking.

    "If you try to change the structure of the Dark Council, don't you think the Emperor will perceive it as a grab for power, from him? Especially now, since it seems to him that you've taken a step towards learning the secret to immortality. As it is now, I think you're on very, very thin ice, as far as Emperor Vitiate is concerned."

    Nox thought to himself, "Scrapped. One grand plan to elevate myself over the Dark Council."

    Nox thought carefully before saying, "I'll create a special account with privileges granting you limited access to a select portion of my most prized archaeological discoveries."

    That's what Zash wanted, but she asked, "How limited?"

    Nox said pointedly, "Quite limited, but worlds more valuable than anything anyone else on the Dark Council gets access to."

    Satisfied, Zash made her offer, "Then I will work with you to increase your influence, as you work to increase mine. Without changing the structure of the Dark Council, we shall both supplant Marr as the de facto leadership of the Dark Council."

    Nox nodded, and said, "That works for me, but you haven't heard what I want in exchange."

    Then he surprised Zash, telling her, "Your predecessor destroyed one of my estates, filled with some of my greatest treasures. As her successor, you owe me, fifteen trillion credits."

    Zash burst into laughter, and then laughed even harder, when she realized that Nox was serious.

    When she had stopped laughing, Nox said, "I'll accept the title and deed to her estate at the top of Kaas City Palace Tower - all three levels. I want all of the furnishings, art, and other treasures, trophies, etc. that she has in that estate as fair and just compensation."

    Zash countered, "Your servant, Andronikos, already looted her treasures in the space station...,"

    Nox interrupted, "Zash, a lot of that stuff was hundreds of years old, and thought to be missing. That was the Emperor's stuff, not hers."

    Zash had on a look of astonishment, then asked quite seriously, "Why didn't you stop him? If you knew it was the Emperor's, why didn't you stop him?"

    Nox replied, "The Emperor doesn't care about baubles and trinkets, Zash. If Acina could rummage through those items and play with them, then Vitiate didn't care about them."

    Zash shook her head in disbelief, and said, "You truly are most reckless, Darth Nox."

    Zash said, "You're asking for too much."

    Nox replied, asking dryly, "Then you really don't want access to parts of my secret library?"

    Zash, shaking her head angrily, realized she had no choice but to accept Nox's counter demand.

    She said, "You had better give me access to the good stuff, Nox."

    He said, "I swear, you'll be amazed and thrilled by what I'll give you access to."

    Zash, sealing the deal, said, "Then it's a bargain. I'll give you the title deed to all three levels of Kaas City Palace Tower, and all of the property contained therein."

    Nox said, "Then it's a bargain. I'll give you access to a select portion of my secret library. You will be most impressed, Zash." He added, "Together, we shall work to elevate each other over the other dark lords, supplanting Marr as the leader - without changing the structure of the Dark Council."

    Zash concurred, telling Nox, "Agreed."

    Changing the subject, out of nowhere, Nox asked, "How did you do that? That thing where you tapped him on the shoulder and he dropped dead. I rather was impressed with that."

    Zash, smirking, asked as she reached her hand towards Nox, "Would you like me to demonstrate?"

    Nox looked at Zash as the prankster she was and said, "Fine. Don't tell me."

    Zash laughed as she leaned back in her chair, and told him anyway.

    Nox knew how to use that technique. He knew how to detect when it was about to be used, and he knew how to defend against it. However, he wanted Zash to explain it. He'd sensed Shahn's presence in the conference room, and he wanted to set a trap to test Shahn's loyalty to him.

    Zash had also sensed Shahn's presence, but to her it was an opportunity to eventually set into motion a plot for Nox's assassination. Zash took the opportunity to show Shahn how to kill Nox.

    Nox reminded himself that Zash was the master of manipulation and ruses.

    He thought to himself, "She hasn't even introduced herself to her new servants and minions, and she's already setting into motion plots and subplots to have me killed. And here I am, helping her do it." He said aloud, "I think our business here is concluded."

    With that, Zash stood from the table to leave, but she hesitated when Nox did not rise to his feet.
    Nox told her, "Go on without me, I have some thinking to do."

    Zash left her seat and walked to the far end of the conference table. Then she opened the door and exited the conference room.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________​

    Zash exited the conference room alone and immediately turned right, walking down the corridor. Her three shame filled minions dejectedly followed their new master as she left. Eviscerous quickly stuck his head in the door and saw Nox, sitting at the far end of the conference table, unharmed. He pulled back and let the door slide shut.

    Khem Val didn't think to look after Nox. Instead, he looked hungrily at Zash, as she walked by him, without even turning her head to glance at him. He didn't want to shame his master, so he let Zash pass without incident.

    Nox came out a while later. He'd been thinking on his latest agreement with Zash, and about her words of warning. He'd also reflected on his encounter with The Emperor's Wrath.

    He thought, "If that is the Wrath's power, how will I ever contend with The Emperor, himself?!"

    As soon as he'd come out of the conference room, Khem Val told his master, "My master, one day my bond to you shall be severed, and when that day comes, I shall not be shackled by restraint. On that day, I shall rip the flesh off the bones of that witch! I shall savor the vibrations of her screams in her throat as I sink my teeth into her flesh! I will let her die slowly as I dine on her entrails!"

    Nox feeling a pang of regret and frustration from Marr's interference, said to him, "Khem, I completely understand how you feel."

    Nox sighed and shook his head. He'd never imagined that things would end up the way they did.

    Khem Val was touched by Nox's commiseration with him and declared, "My master, I stand at your side, ready to slay your foes and conquer your rivals! Command me, and I shall slay worlds!"

    Nox replied without any irony, "I know I can count on you, Khem. For now, contact Andronikos and tell him I am ready to depart."

    Khem Val replied, "As you say, Master."

    While Khem Val fiddled with his portable holo-transmitter, Nox turned to face Eviscerous and regarded him.

    He told him, "The name Eviscerous has had a good blooding! Now go out there and spread fear of my power to all of my minions. Let them know that Darth Nox is to be feared. There is nowhere in the galaxy that I cannot reach. There is nowhere to hide from my fury."

    Looking intently into Eviscerous' eyes, Nox counseled him, "While you're at it, I won't mind if you become famous in your own right. Become stronger! Increase your power! The stronger my followers become, the greater my influence over the Dark Council becomes, the greater my potential for even greater heights becomes!"

    Darth Eviscerous was taken aback by what Darth Nox had implied.

    He asked himself in amazement, "The dark lord has reached to Death and has defeated it. Will the dark lord reach even for the Emperor's own throne?! If he can defeat Death, can he defeat The Immortal?!"

    Deciding at that moment to follow his dark lord to that end, Darth Eviscerous knelt on one knee and declared loudly, "My life for yours, Dark Lord! I will follow you to the very end! May I see it with my own eyes, Dark Lord!"

    Nox smiled broadly, deeply pleased that his follower understood his final goal, and that his servant had pledged himself to follow him to that end.

    Eviscerous' apprentices also quickly knelt and repeated their master's oath, "My life for yours, Dark Lord!"

    Nox nodded, smiling in approval of their subservience to him, and said to Eviscerous, "Return the shock troop divisions and troop ships to Moff Pyron. Send my commendations to him for his part in my victory. Tell him I will contact him myself, in a few weeks, to present him his reward."

    Eviscerous reported to his lord, "The plan to return his Gage class transports with his troops is ready to be set into motion, Dark Lord. They only await my return to the Carnage."

    Nox ordered, "Then go."

    Eviscerous stood, bowed his head, then turned to walk down the corridor with his apprentices following. Nox hadn't known, but while he and Zash held their negotiations, Shahn Lunn had told Eviscerous, his apprentices, and Zash's broken followers, Nox's fiction.

    Zash's apprentices, followed their new master with great fear and trepidation, believing she had returned from the dead. And Eviscerous and his followers departed, having an elevated and reverent opinion of Nox, believing that he'd brought back the dead. Only Shahn, Khem Val, Andronikos, and Zash knew the truth.

    Shahn thought to herself, "If everyone starts to believe that Darth Nox had brought back the dead, then I as his apprentice shall enjoy even greater prestige. They'll think that one day, I shall be taught the ritual."

    Nox turned around and found Shahn, kneeling on one knee, with her fist planted on the red stone floor of the ancient corridor.

    Nox thought to himself, "Well, Shahn. Let's see how long you can last without trying to kill me."

    Aloud he told her, "You have done well Lord Shahn. Continue to bring glory to my name, and I shall reward you well. Even as I have punished you severely for your failures and your disobedience, I shall reward you grandly for your loyalty and successes. To prove this, I confer the title 'Darth' onto you."

    Shahn was taken completely by surprise. She did not expect this honor, but she hid her emotions as best as she could. Nox noted a bit of excitement from her, but it quickly vanished, though not completely.

    He thought to himself, as he found it had become difficult but not impossible to read her feelings, "Good, she's learning to hide her emotions."

    Nox continued with his impromptu ceremony.

    "As virulent as a plague, and as deadly as a pox, you shall spread fear and dread to my foes, and shall expand my dominion throughout the galaxy. Rise, Darth Virulous!"

    Nox had opted to choose her new name. He felt that it fit her subdued but insidious manner.

    Shahn rose to her feet and said, truthfully, "Dark Lord, my life for yours! I will not fail you again!"

    Nox nodded and said, "For now Darth Virulous, we shall return to my ship, and return to Dromund Kaas. There I shall begin planning for your release into the galaxy. There are many who must feel the withering heat of my vengeance. The Exchange Pirates..."

    Virulous bowed her head and said, "As my master decrees."

    As Nox walked passed her, he thought to himself, "I hope I won't have to kill her too soon. She really shows promise."

    She fell in, beside Nox, as he walked past her. Khem Val brought up the rear, his eyes glued onto Shahn's back. He'd already begun to suspect her of treachery.

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    The end.​
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    I hope you enjoyed my story, but I really want to hear your thoughts.
     
  12. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    Would anyone be interested in a sequel?
     
  13. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Um, yes!

    To waste the plots and schemes that you set up in the end of this by not elaborating on them in a further story would be absolutely shameful. And also cruel to your readers, who you have definitely left wanting more!
     
  14. gizkaspice

    gizkaspice Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 27, 2013
    I am still reading through to give a more detailed comment, but I think a sequel would be great :)
     
  15. gizkaspice

    gizkaspice Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 27, 2013
    Nice!-- the story fits its title.

    Nox seems an interesting and complex character— he is Sith and obviously dark, but on the other hand he mourns his wife and her reminiscences haunt him until her Force ghost visits him—just a good break from the typical Sith we usually get.

    The diversity of characters is interesting too—the addition of the Dashade is very fitting.
    Really like the bits about the Rakatan mindtrap and Zash’s reactions as well.

    Shahn seems to have much potential for more development in a future sequel and ultimately her true motives and goals.
     
  16. PlanetSmasher

    PlanetSmasher Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2017
    I'm glad you liked it gizkaspice. Like I PM'd Cowgirl Jedi, I was actually working on the sequel, but the lack of feedback was kind of discouraging. I know I took a risk writing such a dark and violent story. The sequel is even more violent, and reaches a very dark place in one scene, which is necessary to develop one of the characters, and I expanded the story of two other characters, to develop those characters.

    Sith Politics: Fun and Games averaged around fifty views each time I posted a chapter, not earth shattering by any stretch, but I know I had hooked at least 50 readers, which I am grateful for, and Cowgirl Jedi was my biggest fan. Thank you, Cowgirl Jedi! Your comments were encouraging.

    I hope to see you guys when I post the first chapter of the sequel in a few months.
     
  17. gizkaspice

    gizkaspice Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 27, 2013
    I think, when it comes to stories and such, you should continue writing not because of feedback but because of your own personal enjoyment of developing your stories and characters. That's the most important part. I hope that was at least a bit helpful :)