Almas

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus nodded. "That was indeed Rivan, who bound himself to this fortress millennia ago. He is the true head of the Alcazarins, and to appear to you so early shows that he has great faith in your potential," he said.

 

He seemed to study her as he always did with his steady gaze and emotionless mask that somehow seemed like it could give off an aura of thoughtfulness when he was pensive and imperiousness when he gave a command. "What you speak of is one of the greatest challenges of wielding the dark side, and an area in which the Sith have traditionally failed. They give themselves to their hubris and believe that they are invincible and unaccountable. Few would argue that they are incorrect--even the most revered of Sith Lords had their reigns cast down suddenly and violently, be it by Jedi, other Sith, or sometimes the most unlikely of foes.

 

"The Jedi believe that only through the suppression of their passion and other so-called 'negative emotions' can this madness be resisted. They fear the dark side and neuter themselves, denying their very essence and believing that they are righteous. But their exercise of temperance does indeed ward off the insanity, and I believe that by exercising moderation and self-control we can retain control of our power," he explained.

 

"I am powerful, Zutia Lavell. Jedi Masters have been slain by my hands. But so, too, have I been defeated by both Jedi and Sith, and there are many against which I have not been tested. I am neither immortal nor omnipotent. In humility I heed the instruction of Darth Rivan and recognize my own imperfection. In your apprenticeship it is easy for you to recognize your reliance upon my mentorship, but as Alcazarins we are called to acknowledge that there is no state we can attain where we evolve beyond our interdependence," Haphaestus continued. "The Sith plot against each other, each asserting their own power by destroying any whose station rests above their own. We must recognize that folly and unite in the knowledge that two allied can be much greater than one alone.

 

"You have easily grasped every technique I have taught you so far. If you understand this, then there is nothing more you need to bear the title of Alcazarin."

[Zutia Lavell]

“Then the only chance for creating a lasting Empire… relies on discarding some of the ritualistic baggage of the Sith Order.” Zutia sighed and lifted her eyebrows. That was a tall order, considering that the Sith Order was nearly as ancient as the Jedi Order and had been settling disputes of seniority for nearly as long. Perhaps it had been more stable when there were only two Sith Lords at any given moment—as there had been with Palpatine and Darth Vader—but that arrangement hardly allowed for development and possibly dangerous exploration of the more esoteric powers of the Force. After all, Palpatine was primarily a politician and deceiver, and Vader a powerful brute.

 

The enormity of the task began to sink in. “I can imagine that… when contact is made with the greater Sith Order and the Jedi, both orders would be very curious to discover my origins and who I was trained by. Is there any technique that I can use to camouflage my presence in the Force, or at least conceal myself until I’m ready to make the first move?”

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus nodded. "You understand," he said. The galaxy was rotting, the Galactic Alliance was unsuited for rule and the Sith were unsuited to replace them. It was a conundrum that could not be answered with anarchy nor apathy, for it could not be left to its own ends. There was no clear path. But the Alcazarins would continue to work; Haphastus and Rivan had no shortage of time. Eventually, the Sith would be reformed or made to aid the true cause unwittingly. Others, too, could be sculpted to their will.

 

"Such a technique exists," he said. "But you will find it limits your ability to call on the Force lest you draw attention to yourself. When you connect yourself to the energy field, use it to examine the world around you and exert your influence upon it, you expand your presence and become more easily detectable. If instead you do the opposite, and draw yourself inward, you can make yourself even more difficult to locate or examine through the Force than someone untrained in its arts.

 

"To accompany this you must learn to shield your mind. It is a technique not too dissimilar from physically warding yourself from harm. Even forceful intrusion can be repelled by one sufficiently experienced, and this will allow you to keep secrets even from the most skilled of attackers. I have limited my contact to the Sith since they rejected my lordship over them; I place it upon your judgment to know whether the source of your tutelage should be made known to them."

 

He shifted his stance slightly. "Allow me to demonstrate both techniques. Learn what you can, then reproduce them and I will attempt to foil you."

 

So saying, he drew himself in and put up some walls. He had had little reason to exercise these techniques against opponents in the past, but he had spent years practicing everything he knew about the dark side during periods of self-imposed exile. It would at least be enough for Zutia to get an idea and, if she was tenacious enough, she might just realize how radically different the structure of Haphaestus' mind was from most organics. Indeed, it would not be long before she discovered his secret, and he believed she would be better off for it.

[Emily]

The Shadow's Shine came out of hyperspace in the Cularin system, and Eris looked down at the chunks of rock with ambivalence. For some reason, it seemed like the Sith fell into two categories--those who preferred to live in luxury, and those who preferred to live on chunks of lifeless rock made habitable only by the Force. Sith temples and bases followed the same pattern. This was clearly built by one of the latter type. Her scanners showed the planet to be mostly barren save for some local plant life, which she assumed was the kaluthin that the Sith who had settled this planet eons ago had cultivated. It was that plant that made any of the planet habitable to oxygen-breathing lifeforms; but Emily wasn't going to take any chances. She made sure she had a rebreather ready to go, and placed a ward of the Force around Roe'gall. Not that the atmosphere would likely harm the tuk'ata--he showed strong resilience in almost every situation--but he wasn't invincible and she wasn't going to take any chances with him either.

 

As she approached Almas, she sent out her Sith ID and IFF codes to the temple that registered as the only settlement on the barren world. Unless this place had changed hands, which she thought unlikely, she shouldn't have any trouble being granted clearance to land. Even if the place was abandoned, which seemed likely, the system would be all computer-run anyway.

 

Her goal for coming here was to learn about a Sith sect she had recently discovered. They were called the Alcazarins, and she knew very little about their philosophy. Indeed, she found it curious that their existence hadn't been common knowledge among the Sith of the Order, which made her wonder where their viewpoints differed. She knew they couldn't be too far from the mold, since it had not taken any extraordinary work to dig up a list of those who had been Alcazarins in more recent history--Darth Nurgle being the most notable. Regardless, she hoped that the computers and databanks on Almas were still operational, and that she would be able to learn all about what these Alcazarins believed, and maybe even learn some new techniques.

 

She winked at Roe'gall, who had come padding into the cockpit. "Let's go see what's down there."

[Haphaestus]

Deep within his Master's fortress, Haphaestus stirred. Another being approached, and this one was not a member of the sect, nor was it Zutia.

 

No one came out here unless they were looking for him. He stood and with a telekinetic notion scattered the dust that had gathered on his cloak. He reached out his right hand and his darkstaff flew across the room to land solidly within his grasp. The approaching presence was not one that he would attribute to a Sith Lord, but neither was it a Jedi, despite being strong in the Force. He would have a look at this one.

[Emily]

The clearance came through, and Emily approached the fifth planet in the system. The nearer she flew, the stranger the planet was. It was mostly covered in grasslands, and the grass was phosphorescent, giving the planet a strange glow of it's own that didn't come from the system's twin stars. The signals indicated that the Sith temple was on the far side of the planet, and she brought her ship low to get a feel of the place. The grasslands were lovely in their own way. Now that she was closer, her scanners were reading that the atmosphere should be fine as long as she didn't spend too much time outside. There was a flash of something in the grass, and in that second, she thought she saw a dragon-like lizard creature that gave off a distinct impression in the Force. She raised an eyebrow. She might have to check those lizards out before she left.

 

However, once she approached the actual temple, the landscape changed drastically. The grasses stopped almost suddenly, giving way to a barren desert-like plain. There in the center of the desert was her destination. It was neither grand nor elegant, but sat rather as a fortress with thick walls, reflecting an ancient architectural style that fit with the history of the place, which was ancient by any definition of the word. In the Force, it radiated a coldness that Eris had expected from a Sith temple.

 

She brought the ship in, landing on a small landing pad inside the fortress walls. The ramp hissed open, and a moment later, she strode down, Roe'gall on her heels. She was wearing her favorite tabarded skirt, tall boots, and tight top with arm wraps. Her twin sabers were hooked to her criss-crossed belts, and her father's axe was sheathed on her back. Her throwing stars were hidden in their usual spot. She wasn't taking any chances--Sith temples were never safe places for anyone, and if this place was abandoned, she might run into some of those lizard things. Besides, she well remembered the first lesson Quietus had ever taught her: You must always be on your guard, even among the Sith.

 

The halls were dark and cool. Glowpanels flickered on at her arrival, and there was a hum of machinery coming out of sleep mode. She began to explore the temple, going in the rooms that seemed interesting. It was all fairly standard--training rooms, personal quarters, a mess hall. There was no sign of anyone about. The Force just exuded a typical dark coldness, and little else. Her visual inspection turned up nothing extraordinary on the Alcazarins.

 

With a flick of her mind, she set Roe'gall to guard her back and accessed a computer terminal. Hopefully there would still be data her to answer some of her questions.

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus had unlocked the fortress doors remotely, hiding himself in the Force and simply observing the intruder for now. This was not a public temple, and though its defenses were dated he suspected they could deny a single Force user entrance for quite some time had he willed it to be so. Instead he drifted through the corridors to intercept her only once she had entered and began exploring.

 

The Temple did not announce his presence when he came upon her accessing a computer terminal full of forbidden knowledge if only she could find it, and he had concealed himself so well that even her Tuk'ata could not pick him up in the Force. Still, the creature did seem to have detected something unusual by scent, although Hapahestus did not smell like most purely organic beings. He in many ways had taken up the scent of the fortress, his Force-imbued flesh not sweating like a human due to the fact that it clung to advanced temperature-moderated machinery of his own design, according to his gifts.

 

"What is it you are looking for, I wonder?" Haphaestus intoned, letting his staff's base touch the stone floor and revealing his dark presence in the Force. He was a tall, imperious figure shrouded in a black cloak and apparently wearing a silver metal mask. His staff was over 6 feet of solid metal and was thick enough that it had to have been heavy. His diction was measured and precise, careful in a way, as if he had scrutinized each syllable to optimize the effect of each word.

[Emily]

She wasn't having much luck with the terminal. She hadn't gotten very deep before it started asking her for passwords and usernames and retinal scans. It wasn't unexpected, but she had hoped to avoid hacking into the system.

 

But the Force had other ideas. Roe'gall issued a questioning growl; clearly he had smelled something strange. Emily glanced around. A moment later, a dark presence revealed itself in the Force, and a Sith stepped forward from the shadows, his silver face mask gleaming in the lights of the room. Eris didn't bother to hide her satisfaction at the sight of him. "For you, quite possibly," she replied to his question. "I came here seeking knowledge about the Sith sect called the Alcazarins. I wish to learn their philosophy and discover what they know of the Force."

 

Roe'gall growled again, this time a threatening noise. He was too well trained to attack the Sith without Eris' command, but he was ready to spring the moment she gave the word. He was already antsy from space flight. Eris didn't think a being like this Sith would be particularly intimidated by Roe'gall, even if the monstrous tuk'ata was the same height as him. But she also wasn't going to put Roe'gall at ease until she knew how this Sith would respond to her.

 

"My name is Darth Eris," she added. "Who are you?"

[Haphaestus]

"I am Haphaestus," he said, considering carefully how much to reveal and at what rate. "How do you even know the name of the Alcazarins, and to what end do you wish to learn about them?"

 

It certainly wasn't public knowledge. Eris must either have made contact with another member of the sect and been sent here, or had come upon some old Sith texts. As far as he knew, there was not a significant amount of literature on Darth Rivan or the events transpired here that Dominus had not collected. He did trust the others to reveal the name only when appropriate, however, which made him think that Eris was either a potential ally or harmless. But for now he would tread carefully. These secrets were not for just any ears.

 

And this woman didn't particularly feel like a Sith, so there was no guarantee she was who she said she was, Sith pet or not.

[Emily]

"Haphaestus?" Emily repeated, clearly surprised. "You were once the Dark Lord, were you not?" It was a rhetorical question; while she wasn't sure exactly when this man had ruled the Sith Order, she remembered the fact from her studies. "Well met, indeed."

 

She sensed mostly curiosity in him for the moment, and readily answered his question. "For some time now, I've been studying various Force sects. During my research, I stumbled across a mention of an ancient Sith Lord by the name of Darth Rivan. The reference was little more than a footnote, but it caught my interest. I did some digging, but still, all I found out was the name of the sect and the mention that Almas had been his stronghold. So I came here to seek out more information on the Alcazarins, to see what they believed and what they had learned about the Force. I wish to understand and to learn. But this exceeds my expectations. Are you an Alcazarin yourself? If so, will you teach me?"

 

She was reminded irrepressibly of when she had first asked Quietus to train her in the ways of the Sith. Emily had always been bold and determined, two traits she had inherited from her parents, and those traits had often served her well. However, she fully expected Haphaestus to have more questions for her, or even to test her. In the Sith Order, one usually had to prove herself worthy to learn things, and she didn't expect anything different in this case.

[Haphaestus]

"The Alcazarins are not appropriate subjects for idle curiosity," Haphaestus stated definitively. "But neither are we closed to initiates."

 

He prodded Eris in the Force, trying to get a read on her. There was something vaguely familiar about her, some imprint that reminded him of another Sith. He found himself for now unable to correlate the impression, but decided to ponder upon it further as he felt her draw upon the Force in the trial he was about to assign her.

 

"In the heart of this Temple there is a door. I suspect you shall know it when you find it," he said. "Beyond the door is an artifact of Darth Rivan. If you can bring it to me, I shall introduce to you his philosophy, and from there we may consider if you are suited to the path down which it leads."

[Emily]

Excellent, Eris thought. With a deep nod, she turned and headed deeper into the temple, wanting to waste no time now that she had an objective. There were several large doors in the temple, but none of them felt right until she stumbled across a particular one. It was large and made of stone, and it appeared that long ago there had been designs chiseled on it that time had worn away. The Force hummed quietly in the back of her mind as she cautiously approached it.

 

There was no sense of warning, so she reached out and placed her hand on the cold stone. Using the touch as an anchor, she sent tendrils of the Force shooting through to the other side, trying to get a sense of what to expect once she opened the door. She couldn't feel anything significant. The Force was as quiet as this old temple. Emily shrugged. Guess I'll just have to find out. With a gesture of the Force, she reached out to lift open the door.

 

It didn't budge.

 

Frowning, Emily poured more of the Force into the effort. It rumbled, and dirt fell off it, but it didn't lift free. She let off for a moment, and instead, used the Force to examine the door itself. If mere initiates were supposed to be able to accomplish this task, simply using more of the Force would not be the solution. After all, size and weight didn't matter to the Force. As she examined it, she slowly became more and more certain that there was something...missing. The door required something, something that Emily didn't possess. Some sort of key, although she didn't think it was something as mundane as a physical object.

 

Suddenly the answer came to her. Two are required to open this door. With the realization came the sense of an icy dagger plunging into her heart. She gritted her teeth. The ancient Sith rarely if ever worked alone; they always worked in pairs. In fact, the Rule of Two, as it had been called, had been the standard for many decades. A Sith during Darth Rivan's time would have had a master or an apprentice by her side. The thought was extremely painful, as were all thoughts that touched her memories of Quietus. For a split second, the pain threatened to overwhelm her, but as always, she quickly wrestled control over it. Perhaps the answer lies not in the past but in the future...perhaps I need a true apprentice of my own.

 

She filed the thought away for later. It wouldn't help her here and now. No, it appeared she had only two options. One was that she could try to trick the door into opening, and the other was to return to Haphaestus and ask for his help to open the door. The latter appealed to her more, but she didn't know how he would respond, and she didn't want to risk losing access to this knowledge. She shrugged. "Alright then," she said quietly to herself.

 

With a few words of the Sith language, she positioned Roe'gall on one side of the doorway while she stood on the other. Opening herself fully to the Force, she carefully divided the flow, sending some directly at the door, and some towards Roe'gall. Using the tuk'ata as a mirror, she 'bounced' the Force energy off of him, causing two separate 'streams' of the Force to hit the door. Then she let go of her perceptions, and simply lifted.

 

That was apparently good enough for the door. The energy coming from Roe'gall was wild and untamed from being emanated off of him, much like that of a new hopeful taking his first steps in the Force. The door lifted open, revealing another behind it. Eris repeated the process and stepped through into the antechamber behind, letting the doors fall closed as she did. The interior chamber was circular, dark and cool like the rest of the temple. In the center of the room was a pedestal, and on the pedestal sat...well, it was a pebble. Emily chuckled. So, the test was not the artifact, but rather the door itself.

 

Scooping up the pebble, she headed back out and made her way back to Haphaestus. When she got close, she held the pebble out to him. The trick with the door made her even more curious to learn about the Alcazarins; the Sith of today viewed teamwork as often pointless unless it allowed them to slaughter more Jedi. Emily disagreed--she felt it was always better to work together--and the nature of the test made her wonder if the Alcazarins felt the same.

[Haphaestus]

Throughout Eris' search, Haphaestus observed her closely within the Force, tracking her progress and her use of the energy field. When she used her Tuk'ata as a mirror to trick the door into thinking two people were accessing it, he had to admit he found the technique very inventive. There was no doubt that she was an excellent problem solver and a talented practitioner of the dark side.

 

When she returned, he accepted the pebble with a hand that wore mastercraft gauntlet made of thin black metal. "Most impressive," he commended her. "Few could overcome the door as you did. You are an exemplary Sith."

 

He gestured toward the door leading back out of the fortress. "But you are unfit for the teachings of the Alcazarins. Unless you have need of my services as a Sith, it is time for you to leave this place."

[Emily]

Emily almost laughed at his compliment. An exemplary Sith? I don't think I've ever been one of those in my life, she thought. Well, except for that one time. She sobered. Still, there was something reassuring about Haphaestus' comment. While she didn't agree with the Sith Order as a whole, they were nevertheless the closest thing to family she had, and while she didn't care much to view the Force solely through the lens of the dark side anymore, she still considered herself to be more a Sith than anything. If a former Dark Lord thought she seemed like Sith material, perhaps she fit in with them more than she thought. It was something to think on, anyway. For now, though, she appeared to be getting the brush-off.

 

She crossed her arms. "No. I'm not leaving yet. The Force didn't bring me here just to have a short conversation with you. It brought me here for a reason, and I intend to stay until I learn what that reason is. I did what you asked and brought you the relic, which was your requirement for introducing me to Darth Rivan's philosophy. You said you would do that before you determined whether or not I was suited to the path of the Alcazarins, so by your own rules, you owe me some answers to my questions."

 

It was a logical argument, one that she hoped Haphaestus would be open to. Many Sith Masters, however, were not ruled by logic, so she was unsure what his response would be. Even if he did try to force her to leave, she wanted to discover what she could, so before he could even get in a word edgewise, she slipped in her first question. "That door--it clearly was meant to be opened by two Force-users working together. Teamwork is not a particularly Sith value--is it an Alcazarin one?"

[Haphaestus]

"My statement was an offer, not a contract," Haphaestus told her. "I am in no circumstance obligated to share my Master's teachings."

 

And yet, his initial read on the woman may have been incorrect. He was willing to consider that the test may have been flawed, since she had been capable of thwarting it without the help of another. She hadn't solved it in the way that he considered correct to set her down the path, but neither had she worn herself out attempting to overcome or circumvent it alone for hours until it inevitably defeated her, as he might have expected from a Sith apprentice. And it seemed that she had correctly divined the purpose of the test, and so perhaps learned the lesson it had been intended to teach her.

 

"Your observations are not without merit, however, and you may have passed the spirit of the test," he finally said. The former Dark Lord gestured to her and started a slow walk through the fortress. Although he did not detest solitude, opportunities to hold intelligent discourse with another being were both stimulating and rather difficult to pursue while waiting in silence for a century to turn. "Although we do safeguard and pass down a small quantity of secret dark arts, the Alcazarins are foremost a brotherhood. We recognize the fatal flaw of the Sith and what has been its defeat in the past and will inevitably become such again -- their strict desire to become individually powerful at the expense of their doomed Order, and their willingness to lay aside sound judgment and integrity of mind in pursuit of that power."

 

His long, slow strides ceased for a moment and he turned to look at Eris. "Forgive me. Although the dark side is certainly within you, and indeed I detect fragments within you that remind me of a particular Sith Master, you do not feel as a Sith does," he said inquisitively. "I admit that I am curious as to how your study of other sects has influenced your view of the Force."

[Emily]

This Sith was quite changeable. One moment, he was telling her to leave, and in the next, it appeared she had passed the test after all. Emily was pleased with the result. It was good she had spoken up; it seemed that she had understood the point of the test after all, even if she hadn't passed it in the way Haphaestus had wanted or expected her to. He started to walk, and she followed him through the corridors of the temple.

 

What he had to say was interesting. Those things were indeed serious flaws in the Sith Order, but on the other hand, even when they were united, she still believed that other flaws would surface. She had seen it firsthand. "I certainly agree that that is a fatal flaw, but personally, I think that's more of a symptom of a deeper issue. Don't get me wrong--it's certainly a significant issue, and one that I believe the Sith Order needs to fix in order to have any chance at surviving, especially in these times."

 

Emily sighed at Haphaestus' question. "The short answer is it has affected me greatly. I was trained in the ways of the Sith by Darth Quietus; I'm sure it is his style and teachings that you are sensing in me. Although, it might also be one of my parents, who were Sith Masters of some reknown in the Order--John Skywalker and Sirvani Zsahra. It was my parents' wish that I not limit myself to the narrow view of the Force that both the Jedi and the Sith take, and they instilled in me a passion for knowledge from an early age. I spent much of my time as Quietus' apprentice studying the dark side, coming to know it intimately. But the cost of truly following it was not one I was willing to pay. From there, I began to study other Force sects. I spent a little time among the Jedi, but learned very little of their philosophy. I've studied the Voss mystics, the Baran Do sages, the Order of Shasa, the Teepo Paladins, the Blademasters...and the list goes on. Most of these are ancient Force-using traditions that have all but died out. However, the more I study, the more I believe in a philosophy of wholeness--the unified Force, many have called it in the past. Imposing labels such as 'light' and 'dark' on the Force, and utilizing it only in the way that the Sith or the Jedi utilize it, is, I believe narrow-minded and limiting. There is more power and more knowledge to be offered by the Force as a whole."

 

She paused, then shrugged. "I still consider myself to be a Sith. They are my family. But I answer to no one but myself in how I employ and access the Force."

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus considered what Eris had said. He was curious how it was that she had come upon information regarding the notoriously secretive Blademasters, and the Order of Shasa was a name he had not heard since the earliest days of his existence, patrolling his then-Master's citadel on Vjun as he had for millennia. Whatever else she was, Eris was proving to be well studied and resourceful. And yet he did not fully understand the true purpose of her travels.

 

"Tell me, then," he said. "To what cause do you hope to apply all that you have learned? Your philosophy will not win you favor with the Jedi or the Sith. Knowledge collected for merely the sake of gathering it in one place effects no change on any being but yourself."

 

The former Dark Lord may not have been like most Sith in that he was willing to work with others and exercise temperance, but there was no mistake -- power was the end goal. And yet surely with all the knowledge she had amassed he would have at least heard of Eris by now had she aspired to the mantle of Dark Lady as her Master Quietus had Dark Lord?

[Emily]

"Affect change?" Emily repeated, laughing. "I don't desire to affect change. The galaxy is a mess, and generations upon generations of Sith and Jedi alike have tried in their own way to shape it to their will. Every single one has ultimately failed. No, I'm not so naive as to think that I can affect lasting change on the galaxy. The Force is bigger and broader than that. We have some say in how our lives go, in how the galaxy goes, but very little in the ultimate scheme of things. No one is immune to the working of the Force. Many call it destiny or fate, but I've come to realize that we're all just players in the elaborate plan of the Force itself."

 

She tossed back her head. "In light of that, the only thing I truly desire is freedom. The freedom to act how I choose, to shape my life the way I want it as much as I can within the confines of my destiny. Power is a means to that end. So is knowledge. But it's a fine line, one that drove my father to madness in the end, and what, ultimately, cost him his life. I know it's a dangerous path, but to me, it's the only one worth walking."

 

She gave a wry smile. "Both sides of Force users understand pieces of this. The Jedi understand that you can't truly ever dominate the Force. The Sith, however, understand that 'through power, my chains are broken', and that that is what sets one free." She shrugged. "I think the Sith are probably closer to understanding, which is why I still consider myself dominantly a Sith, even if I don't often give myself fully to the dark side as many do. I feel like there is still more the Sith Order can teach me. My training was thorough, but...patchy, for several reasons. Darth Quietus was a superb master, almost infinitely knowledgeable. But our time was cut short by the workings of the Force itself, and I've had to continue on my own. I..."

 

She trailed off as a sudden thought occurred to her. "I need to become a master." It was funny how clear it suddenly was to her. She had never aspired to seek mastery, but now that she was here, it was very clear that this was the ultimate reason she had come. Learning of the Alcazarins was simply the bait to get her to follow the Force's guiding. It was not how she would have wanted it; she would have wanted Quietus to give her the master trials. But their time together had ended, and the Force had led her to one of the last remaining Sith Masters in the galaxy. "Will you give me the trials, Lord Haphaestus?"

 

The words were out of her mouth before she could really think about them, and as soon as she said them, she considered taking them back. Was this what she really wanted? It was going to be challenging; she'd have to dig deep and let Eris take control of her again. Was that something she was willing to risk? She took a deep breath. Yes, it was time. If Haphaestus agreed, she was ready.

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus' displeasure at her answer crept through the Force. "Surely in your studies you have come upon such names as Revan, Vitiate, Palpatine, Faust, and Starlisk? Do you truly believe that the galaxy would be the same if these Jedi and Sith had not lived, or if they had been content to allow themselves to fall into complacency rather than relentlessly assert their influence upon it?" he asked. "I find I am uncertain how you made it this long as a Sith lacking measurable ambition as you do. It seems to me a waste of your knowledge and power, and a trait that Quietus would have done well to eradicate during your training."

 

He looked away from her, turning his body perpendicular to hers. "The title of Sith Master does not hold any innate power, nor make known any secrets of the Force, new or old," he said. "It is a mantle borne by the exemplars of that Order, in recognition of their mastery of not only the dark side but of sound Sith philosophy. If you seek only vindication for your apostasy, however founded in your studies, you will not find it with me."

 

The creature of metal and flesh looked sideways at her. "I could offer you a trial of some variety to at least prove your strength, in order to assert yourself the Master of something new, perhaps," he began contemplatively before his voice took a note of finality. "But the Force serves the Sith. We are not its puppets, sovereignty is ours because we seize it. Until you embrace this axiom, I will never recognize you as a Sith Master."

[Emily]

Eris could sense his displeasure. "Of course the galaxy would not have been the same without those men. You misunderstand me. I'm not saying that they didn't have an influence on the galaxy; they certainly did, and a large one at that. But I believe that their influence was not due to their own desires or ambitions, as much as they might have said that it was their own will that was shaping the galaxy. It was the Force that determined that the time for change was nigh, and it used those men to accomplish it's will.

 

"I'm also not saying that our actions have no meaning; rather, we are molded into the person the Force desires to use. Ultimately, everyone fulfills their destiny. It's the reason why some beings go on to achieve greatness, while others, no matter how ambitious or powerful, don't end up initiating lasting change for themselves or others," she finished.

 

Haphaestus continued, insulting Quietus before turning the topic back to her request. Her eyes flashed, but she let him continue without interruption until he finished making his counteroffer. She let out air through her nose in a silent snort. "Then it is as I have held in the past: I am not a true Sith. I tried that way, to seize control of things, and in the end it only ended up costing everything that I cared about--and I still couldn't escape my destiny. It would be illogical for me to then continue to embrace the Sith tenants as you state them."

 

It felt momentous to her to say it. She had clung to the idea that while she didn't fully embrace the dark side anymore, she was still a Sith Lady. But now, she could no longer cling to that delusion. She was not a Sith anymore. She was...something else. It had been a long time coming. Looking back, she realized now that this was where she had been heading her whole life. Finally, she was the person her parents had wished her to be: a powerful Force-user who wasn't blinded by the philosophy of the major players in the galaxy.

 

She felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, but it was fleeting. Mostly, she just felt uncomfortable. It was as if she had cut her tether and was now free floating in deep space. She didn't know what would come next, but that was okay. She had chosen this path with her eyes wide open, and she would accept whatever consequences followed.

 

She had remained silent for a moment, digesting everything. Now, she turned back to the Sith Master before her. "I accept your offer," Emily said. "If you would offer me the trial, as much as is in your power, then I would be appreciative. Then I will leave you and pursue my own path."

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus stared down at her imperiously. "So be it," he said. He found her concept of inescapable destiny and how she spoke of the Force as though it were some deity to be heresy beyond recalcitrance. But by passing a trial she could perhaps prove that her path, apart from the Sith though it was, had led her into some power.

 

"This world is home to a sapient species called the Dark Tongues," he said. "You may have sensed them during your approach. They are offshoots of the Hssiss, so steeped in the dark side as to become barely recognizable as what they once were.

 

"Sixty kilometers west of here there lies a warren, a tunnel complex at the heart of which lies a rare creature -- a Dark Tongue queen. She is centuries old and powerful enough with the Force that she has reached out to me during my meditation on many occasions. What she has said has convinced me that she must be destroyed." His voice became a command, "You will do this, no matter how she may attempt to turn you away from that course."

 

And attempt to dissuade her the powerful being would, both through words and force.

[Emily]

Emily nodded. Most tests always sounded simple enough, but in reality never were. This sounded perfect. It was still a Sith-styled test; she had expected nothing else from a former Dark Lord. It would be the perfect opportunity for her to see just how far she had come, and where she still needed to grow.

 

With a deep nod, but without saying anything, she turned and headed back to the entrance of the fortress, Roe’gall as always padding behind her. Once back at her ship, she took off and headed west. As she drew nearer her destination, she could sense the queen stirring. No one had come here in a long time. The Force directed her to the entrance of the warren, and she set the Shadow’s Shine down on her struts with a hiss of compressed air.

 

Rising, she removed her overskirt, leaving her dressed in the tight jumpsuit and tall wrapped boots that would allow her to move freely in the underground tunnels. Then she grabbed a necklace she had purchased ages ago. It had a light dangling off it. She wouldn’t necessarily need her eyes, but sometimes it was nice to keep her senses focused on other things than walking blindly through the darkness.

 

Checking to make sure she still had all of her weapons, Eris strode down the ramp. Roe’gall whined, and for a moment, she considered leaving him behind. But the pleading look in his eyes was one she couldn’t ignore. “Come along, then,” she told him in the Sith language. He yipped with excitement and bounded after her.

 

Together, they entered the dark maze-like warren of the Dark Tongues.

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus returned to his meditations, reaching out with the dark side to both monitor Eris and the Dark Tongue Queen.

 

-----------------------

 

Meanwhile, the Queen sensed Eris' approach. What game are you playing at, Haphaestus, sending her here? she thought. All she will do is die. Her gaze in the Force was powerful, though, and it pierced the heart and mind of many younger beings. She knew that there was something to this young dark side adept. Best to see if she was worth her time, first.

 

The Queen was linked via the Force to her brood in a fashion that the Jedi and Sith might call Battle Meditation or a Battle Meld. With a notion she dispatched two of her warriors -- one of them would most likely get a tuka'ta for a snack. Meanwhile she spoke through the Force to Eris. "You are foolish to come here. Whatever errand that half-man sent you on was only intended to get you conveniently killed off."

[Emily]

Emily sensed the moment the queen's mind sensed her. At first, she seemed flippant, but then she spoke to Emily through the Force. Emily let out a small grin at the queen's words. "Perhaps coming here is foolish," she sent back. "But the Force has lead me here, and I have something to prove to myself. I will not be dissuaded." As she spoke, she could sense two of the lizards coming to investigate them.

 

She reached out to Roe'gall and merged their minds together. They had spent many hours practicing battle techniques together. Emily's tempered mind and strategic thinking combined with Roe'gall's bloodlust and ferocity; each made each other more effective. Consequently, Emily felt her heart begin to pound with the eagerness of battle about to commence. Clicking on her glowrod, she then unhooked and activated her lightsabers. "Come on, let's dance!" she called.

 

With a snarling roar, two of the lizards leapt forward. They had long tongues, fierce claws, and long trailing wings. Their dark black scales glittered in the light of her sabers and glowrod. All in all, they painted a fearsome picture, but Eris was not easily intimidated. Together, she and Roe'gall leapt forward to engage the lizards. The fight was intense, but didn't last long. Soon enough, the two dragons lay dead, one pierced in the brain by Eris' lightsaber, the other bitten behind the neck by Roe'gall. Roe'gall had gotten bit on his right rear flank, but the wound wasn't deep, and Emily knew he was so deep in his battle lust that he barely felt it. So they plowed forward, deeper into the recesses of the caverns, heading towards where Emily sensed the queen to be.

[Haphaestus]

The Dark Tongue Queen's curiosity rolled through the Force as Eris dispatched her two warriors. She had at least expected the Tuka'ta to die -- although the Sith hound was an impressive beast, it was nothing compared to the three meters of armored muscle that were each of her servants. But sending the warriors had been not only a test of Eris' strength, but also a chance to feel her open up in combat. The Queen had a way of snaking into the hearts and minds of others when they had their attention elsewhere.

 

"You fancy yourself a seeker of knowledge, and what you have gathered so far has made you at least competent," she hissed telepathically. "But you are young, and your philosophy has not had the time to fully mature. Perhaps you would be interested in learning the ways of the Dark Tongues, unlock the secret techniques which I have developed over millennia, including the very secret of how I have lived this long, so much longer than others of my race."

 

If Eris continued to live through the next few minutes, of course. The Queen sent four warriors this time. They seemed a bit hesitant given how small the promised morsel was, especially if they had to split it four ways, but they would never reject the orders of their Queen and sole ruler.

[Emily]

Predictably, slaying the lizard beasts drew more comments from the Queen. Emily smiled at her acknowledgement of her skills, and then her smile vanished at the Queen's offer. Of all things, extending her lifespan was the least desirable for Emily. Often times she felt she had already lived too long, lingering while those around her passed on into the void. She had little purpose, and no one who cared whether she lived or died, so why would she want to live longer than her allotted years? "Some knowledge," she sent back, "is not worth the pursuit. You have seen much, and you know much I'm sure. But why make pay the steep price you will no doubt require for a deal with you when I can take the knowledge from your mind when your head lies at the tip of my lightsaber?"

 

They continued through the caverns, and Emily estimated they were two-thirds of the way to their destination when the new warriors sprung their trap. Double the dragons meant double the danger, but Eris and Roe'gall were more than up to the challenge. Together they spun and attacked and dodged. They leapt and whirled and tore dragon flesh from dragon bone. At one point, Eris threw her father's axe, which implanted itself with a satisfying thunk in one dragon lizard's brain. But she refrained from pulling out her more impressive tricks. She knew the queen was watching her, so while she made sure she defeated the warriors, she nevertheless didn't let herself go completely.

 

Once all four beasts lay dead, Emily took stock of the situation. The longer they were here, the more warriors the queen could send at them. Roe'gall was nursing some cuts, and Emily herself had gotten nicked by one of the dragon's wings, leaving behind a gash on her cheek that she certainly hoped wouldn't scar. So after a moment, she turned to Roe'gall. "Let's get this over with." She hoisted herself up onto his back, and together they took off through the tunnels at a run, heading straight for the queen.

[Haphaestus]

The Queen laughed, her emotion rolling through the Force like a shockwave, equal parts amusement and malice. "Confident, aren't you, young one? If you kill me, my knowledge shall perish with me, and you cannot take it by force," she communicated authoritatively. "The price is perhaps not as great as you imagine. I demand no long, drawn-out servitude, I ask only for one simple task. Kill Haphaestus... and I will even teach you how to bring Quietus back to you."

 

She did send four more Dark Tongue warriors, but not to attack just yet. They would stand between Eris and the Queen if she still did not relent.

 

------------------

 

Haphaestus brooded in silence. Of course the Queen would try to turn Eris against him. She wanted him dead for the same reason he wanted her dead -- he had been developing the skillset that Nurgle had originally instilled upon him when he had been equipped to be his Master's general on the field of battle. Beast control and the mass coordination of troops in a theater of war, a technique often called Battle Meditation, had allowed him to compete with the Queen herself over control of her clutch of minions. She had been tireless in keeping him from seizing control permanently, but she was wearing down, and he was as immortal as she was.

 

Only when one of them lay dead would the ultimate victor be decided.

[Emily]

It was little surprise that the Queen had found Emily's weakness. She had been expecting Quietus to come up in some form or another ever since Haphaestus had mentioned she would try to dissuade Emily. Emily understood herself. And while part of her wished--oh, wished so desperately--for the Queen's words to be true, she knew better. Emily had done a lot of thinking since she had lost him, and she had come to understand that the only way she could ever truly get Quietus back was to go back in time. For, as much as she tried to deny or forget it, there had been that one time that he had come back...but had not been himself. The version of him that Emily had loved, and that had loved her back, was gone. If she were to bring him back, there was no guarantee that he would love her. And if the Force even made it so that he did, it would be a trick, a ploy. And...she'd rather live without him than with a pale reflection of himself. She had loved him in his entirety, down to the last flawed sinew, and anything less would be a travesty. As much as she missed him, there was no going back.

 

And there, racing through the dark tunnels full of dragons on Roe'gall's back, she finally acknowledged it to herself. Sorrow that had been weighing her down for years burst forth, but then was released. A tear slipped down her cheek, but then she nodded and smiled sadly to herself. She felt, for the first time in years, free. I will always love you, she thought privately, but it's time I lived my life. She took a deep breath and let it out. It was time to face the future without the past bogging her down.

 

For a moment, time seemed to slow, and her eyes were drawn to the path ahead.She could have sworn she saw a faint blue glow, and she heard a voice in her mind, faint but never forgotten. "You have done what I could not. I am so proud of you, my dearest Emily." Her mother's voice faded, disappearing as quickly as it had come. Emily smiled.

 

She was still smiling when Roe'gall burst into a large cavern, lit by glowing vats of lava from the planet's core. As soon as they entered, four warriors surrounded them, but Emily prevented Roe'gall from attacking immediately. She sensed they were more of guards, and would not attack until the Queen had said her piece. The Queen herself loomed before them. She was massive, a dragon in every sense of the word, proud and regal and ferocious. Emily knew what she should do, what any good Sith would do. But she was no Sith. So she walked forward, her hand on Roe'gall's black hide, and bowed to the Queen. "Your majesty," she said, speaking both with her tongue and with the Force. "At last we meet in person. I must say, it is a privilege. I have no reason to kill Haphaestus, and while it may be my task here, I have no reason to kill you. So what happens now?"

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus stood and headed for his ship, his anger hanging upon him like a thundercloud. It had been Eris who had asked him to present a trial. He was not yet certain whether she would emerge from the cave stained with the Queen's blood, but if the two reached some sort of agreement he could not allow it to stand. He would be waiting for her.

 

---------------------

 

The Queen gazed down on Eris with malevolent eyes that were bright in the darkness. "If you merely wished to talk you should not have slain my warriors," she said. The chamber had many offshoots, and from several of them even more of the Dark Tongues started to emerge in lines. There were easily two dozen of them, slowly creeping towards Eris and the head of their brood. It was too great a challenge for even the greatest Sith Master to take them all on.

 

"It is time you repay me in service for the lives you took!" Suddenly the Queen lunged at Eris telepathically, a powerful psychic attempt to dominate her mind and seize control over her body. The Dark Tongues snarled, standing ready to receive their new partner into the collective or tear her to pieces if she resisted.

[Emily]

Emily would have shaken her head had the Queen not attacked her in that instant. She had just enough time to feel a resigned indignation before the Queen’s mental probe caused all of her concentration to be focused on repelling her. The Queen’s mind was ancient and slippery, adept at winding its way into her mind. But the key to avoiding mental domination was to know oneself, and Emily knew herself better than most. Of course, that didn’t mean it was easy.

 

Thankfully, the Queen had underestimated her. Emily had spent hours upon hours training with Roe’gall. Their bond was deeper than just a master and a pet; they shared blood. So it was that the moment Emily was attacked mentally, Roe’gall knew what to do. The highly intelligent mutant tuk’ata immediately leapt up into the air, launching himself directly towards the dragon Queen’s neck. The Queen no doubt sensed the danger, but would have to choose between continuing to mentally attack Eris, or turning her attention to defending herself from Roe’gall. No master of the Force could do both simultaneously.

 

At this moment, several things happened simultaneously. Roe’gall’s razor sharp teeth clamped down on the back of the Queen’s neck, where her head met it. The scales at the base of her skull protected her for a moment, but Roe’gall hung on determinately. The pain threw off the Queen’s concentration, freeing Emily, who immediately turned to face the Queen’s warriors. The Queen was roaring and thrashing, but she couldn’t dislodge the tuk’ata. Her wings and tail took out several of her own warriors, tossing them into the lava pits or bisecting them with her spikes. Emily herself entered the center of the vortex of the Force, and became one with it. She leapt, sliced, and parried with her lightsabers, and sent out pulses of the Force to shove, impale, or disintegrate lizard warriors. One time she even let out a blast of fire from her fingertips to engulf several of them at once.

 

There was one last roar, and a mental cry that shook the cavern, sending an avalanche of rocks and dust tumbling down, and the Queen died. At this, the lizard warriors let out a unified howl and began to attack everything in a frenzy. Eris knew that they couldn’t stay any longer. She was bleeding profusely from several large gashes, and Roe’gall’s black hide was in tatters from the Queen’s attempts to kill him. She used the Force to leap over to him, then used her lightsaber to cut a spike off of the Queen’s back. Slipping the trophy in her tunic, she exerted herself through the Force again so that the lizards would no longer see or smell the two of them. This was a trick she had spent weeks practicing, haunting the halls of the Shadow’s Gambit, and was her favorite move. The lizards were in a frenzy anyway, attacking each other, and Eris used the confusion the slip the two of them out of the cavern. She headed back the way they had come, going as quickly as possible, but she was having to practically carry Roe’gall. The tuk’ata was no only very injured, but physically exhausted. Eventually, he passed out, and Emily was forced to use the Force to levitate him behind her as she stumbled through the tunnels.

 

Her Force-reliance was fast reaching its limit. Her vision was flickering, and she was starting to feel woozy from loss of blood. But she would keep going as long as she needed to. She was a Master; Haphaestus didn’t need to confirm it, for she felt it in her heart. None but a master would have survived this, and it had taken every ounce of her skill and knowledge to prevail.

 

After ten minutes, she found a short cut to the surface. As she stumbled towards her ship, she found Haphaestus waiting. She rose to her full height. “It’s done. I’m going now.”