"Violet, thank you again for your assistance." Zarvell said, as the two of them looked up the hill at the Sith Temple.

"I'm sure I can think of a way you can repay me . . . multiple times." she replied with a grin.

"Can you get to the Temple undetected?" he asked, ignoring her flirtation.

"I've done it before. Did you have a particular place in mind for our secret tryst?"

He called up a simple map on a datapad and pointed to a chamber near the top of the structure. "Here. There is an area where the stonework of the ceiling is broken, and you can take up a suitable position from the outside on top of the Temple. I'll mainly need you to use your weapon camera for continuous holo-recording. No matter what happens, DO NOT reveal your position."

"Mmmm, so you want me to be on top this time? If that's how you like it . . . ."

"Also, there is a high probability that you'll need this." He handed her an injection dart that looked like the right size and shape to be fired from her sniper rifle.

"Oh, so you're going to let me shoot her after all?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I'll be letting you shoot ME."

--

Inside the Sith Temple, Sianid and her companions arrived at the original site of Darth Zash's failed attempt to take Sianid's body. Qyzen/Khem carried Dianiss' unconscious body to the altar and laid her down gently. As a precaution, she'd been fitted with a shock collar and Sianid herself carried the controls.

Sianid took a moment to whisper to Zash. "Remember our agreement."

Zash quietly nodded in response.

--

Zedemm, Denevee, Galadina, Kariharra, and Talos Drellik were preparing to travel to the Sith Temple, gathering up things that they would need. Talos was being particularly careful with a backpack that contained some delicate artifacts. Kari was also repacking some of her weapons and gear into a backpack so that it would not look out of place being carried by a "slave".

"Master Zedemm?" Galadina asked. He looked at her disapprovingly, as he always did when she called him that, but otherwise said nothing in response. "What was it you were doing, from the spaceport until we got here? You've definitely never done that around me before. It was . . . unnerving."

"Well, to put it simply, I was embracing and channeling the Dark Side . . . as best I could."

Dina was astonished at his answer, so much so that she was completely at a loss for words.

"But . . . ah . . . why?" she stammered out.

"Well, Dina, we are on Dromund Kaas and I am a Sith. It is expected that I should . . . intimidate . . . the locals."

Dina found her center and was finally able to translate her thoughts into words again. "Zedemm, from the time we're Jedi Initiates--even BEFORE then--it is drilled into us over and over again how dangerous it is to flirt with the Dark Side. And you're doing it ON PURPOSE? Have you lost your mind?"

"Well, since you asked, I suppose the answer is quite literally 'yes' . . . or a part of it anyway."

Again, Dina was astonished at his answer.

"It's fortunate--for me, certainly--that you and I never met before I came to the Jedi. I was quite a different person then...not so stoic as today and certainly not so calm. When I was injured, I was left rather unable to FEEL things, emotionally. So continuing the path of a Sith Marauder was out of the question."

"But . . . now you can?" Dina asked. She was still confused.

"No." he replied. "To do so requires great effort and expenditure of will, and grants me somewhat the comparable power of a small child. This, it seems, is my legacy of my time as a Sith, and a large part of why the Jedi could actually put any sort of trust in me, given my past. I suppose that once I'm deceased, the Jedi will study my brain for years afterward."

Dina was starting to understand.

"So," he continued, "while it's certainly a very dangerous path for someone such as yourself to experiment with the Dark Side, for me it is uniquely without risk. I cannot fall to the Dark Side even if I were to try with all of my effort, which--incidentally--I was."

"So then, at the spaceport, you were projecting the Dark Side for that sickening physical effect it would have on those around you."

"Precisely. Did our Twi'lek friend not warn you?"

--

"Zarvell?  Violet'ence. I'm in position." she said into her transmitter. She knew he would not respond.

As she trained her rifle on the group below, the attached holo-recorder started picking up their images and sounds. She zoomed in on Sianid herself just in time to catch her whispering to Ashara.

"Remember our agreement."

"Yes, Master."

--

The preparations for Sianid's ritual were finally complete. She couldn't help but gloat a little.

"Khem, Zash, Ashara, my destiny is about to be fulfilled. I created this girl to be the flawless vessel for my ultimate power, power which I will now claim, the kind of power that will allow me to challenge the rest of the Dark Council or even the Emperor himself, should I choose it."

"THIS is my victory. And all of you will be rewarded--appropriately--for your roles in making it happen."

As she finished, Zarvell appeared out of his Force-initiated stealth at the entrance to the room. He looked Sianid directly in the eye.


"I wouldn't if I were you...."

Behind the Scenes:
* This chapter is shorter than previous ones (not including the very short ones), and this will probably be the new norm for the ones that follow. The pace at which they are written and posted should speed up, too.
* I did edit some of the text at the beginning to be more consistent with the actual in-game location.
* I also took the opportunity to explain Zedemm's condition in a little more detail than is in his bio.
Notes from the Future:
* Wow!  For once, I have nothing to add here.