Sianid Ascendant: Chapter 3

"Yes, my Lord?" came a voice through the speaker.

"The device has been activated. Note the time along with our position, and start searching the holonets for messages encrypted using the Starlight code."

"Yes, Sir!" he replied, sounding excited. If there was one thing that got Talos Drellik fired up, it was hunting for things that were not supposed to be found. And he had also learned to be an expert at steganography from his master, the science of hiding information inside other information in such a way that you wouldn't know it was there unless you KNEW it was there, and how to extract and decode it.

About two hours later, there was a knock on the door to Zarvell's quarters. Not wanting to move, he reached out with the Force to gently pull the door open a few inches--just enough to communicate "come in" without disturbing his meditation.

Talos entered slowly, and seeing Zarvell in mid-meditation, kept his voice to a whisper. "My Lord, I have found 3 hidden messages from your 'friends', and combined with our own data, I've been able to triangulate the signals..."

"Tython." Zarvell said, cutting Talos off.

"Yes, Sir. How did you...?"

"Simple logic, my friend. The Jedi are nothing if not reliably predictable. And, unfortunately for us, it is one of the few places we cannot go."

"So . . . what's our next move, then?"

"We need to find out what's happened, or is about to happen. For that, we'll need to hear from one of three sources. With luck, we'll get a message from Fallen Angel. Barring that, watch out for a report from one of the Starlight Sith. If we are unlucky, it will be another message from Gabriel."

Since receiving the first 'Code Angel' message a couple of weeks ago, Zarvell had decided to reveal the details of the "Angel" project to Talos Drellik, one of Zarvell's most closely-guarded secrets.

In it's simplest form, the Angel Project is Zarvell's long-term covert operation to protect Dianiss (his "Angel") from the Sith in general and from Lady Sianid in particular. The most secretive parts of it all are the protocols and encryption methods that he developed so that he could contact--or be contacted by--the Jedi. If it became known that a Sith was assisting the Jedi in any way, it would be a death sentence. That's why the decryption codes are triple-keyed (to his voice, handprint, and a passphrase) so that only HE could receive those messages.

He also made extensive use of code names for security. Thus "Angel" referred to Dianiss herself, just as "ArchAngel" referred to Zarvell him, "Succubus" referred to Lady Sianid, and "Gabriel" referred to Jedi Master Satele Shan (or the Jedi in general). There were a few others, such as "Fallen Angel" and "Angel of Death" whose identities were kept secret for their own protection.

Communicating in this way--via virtual dead-drops and occasionally physical couriers--was slow and inexact. But it was secure.

And Talos--in his capacity as "Seraphim" now--went to work.

--

"Khem, this . . . is . . . glorious!" Sianid shouted out, while calling down another storm of lightning from the sky. Like a child with a new toy, she couldn't suppress the laughter as she tried using the Force in every way she could think of, and seeing the results magnified . . . doubled . . . almost tripled . . . as she got more and more accustomed to using it. Even a few new things she didn't normally do, like create earthquakes, seemed to come naturally.

"Yes, Little Sith."

As she continued testing the limits of her abilities, she could feel the waves of power flowing over her like a fire that burned inside her skin, barely contained. The sensation was dramatic--even a little bit painful--but that pain just fueled her willpower as the dark side flowed through her. The effect was a little intoxicating.

In fact, it even started to make her feel a little dizzy, like she might faint. She decided to stop and catch her breath. There were things to do.

"Khem? Where ARE we? It's certainly nice and green, but it *feels* like Tattooine. The distinct lack of sand leads me to rule out that we are there."

"I do not know where we are, Little Sith."

"Well, wherever 'here' is, she must have gotten here somehow, so we should find her ship. As much as I'd love to create a little murder and mayhem, I'm more interested in taking this power permanently, and time is limited." she said, while undoing a couple of buttons from her blouse. "How are you doing with the Trandoshan?"

"He is no concern. He knows nothing of fighting for control of his body. I know how to fight him. He is weak."

"Good. See to it that you maintain control. I knew you'd be . . . uniquely qualified . . . for this task."

Reaching down to touch the ground with her hand, she also reached out with the Force and generated a series of pulses of electricity going into the ground from her fingertips, each stronger than the previous one. She visualized the bolts traveling through the ground in all directions, trying to feel where they were only meeting resistance and where they could find a place that would attract them . . . like a large metal object sitting on the ground.

It took a few minutes of probing, but at last, her electrical pulses were able to ground themselves out onto two such objects to the north of their location. "There." she said. "Our ticket home. Follow me."

--

Lt. Iresso was watching the path to the south through high-powered binoculars. Their landing spot was a few clicks away from where they'd dropped off the three Jedi and Qyzen, so that no one else would be nearby--and so that they'd have a clear view of anyone approaching.

From the scans they took before the drop-off, the only other people for miles were the crew of Dianiss' ship, the Pure Light, and Kari'arra. Kari brought her own ship, the Scoundrel's Vacation, to the landing site too, in case of an emergency. But in reality, she was just worried about her friend.

"I see her. And Qyzen's with her." he said.

Kari ran up and got out her own binoculars to see for herself. Sure enough, Dianiss and Qyzen were approaching. But something was . . . off.

"That's not her." she blurted out.

"What do you mean 'That's not her'? I'm looking right at her." he replied.

"It's not her. Her walk, her expression, her . . . I don't know . . . attitude. It's not right."

"I suppose Qyzen is all wrong, too? And her cat . . . he definitely looks suspicious."

"When you say 'suspicious', do you really mean to say 'smarter than I am'? Because that's what I'm hearing." She turned her attention to Qyzen. "Well, I gotta admit, Qyzen looks okay. But I'm telling you that's not her. Something's happened, and we need to take off."

"I think I would know if something weren't right with her. We've been . . . together . . . you know."

"Yeah, and that makes you about as 'special' as a Jedi Master with a blue lightsaber. Color me unimpressed." And as soon as the words came out of her mouth, she mentally kicked herself for missing the obvious.

"Okay, smart guy, where are the Jedi Masters then? Shouldn't they be with her?"

Iresso scanned up and down the path and saw that Masters Annanya and Casei were nowhere to be seen. And if they were trailing behind, they'd have had plenty of time to catch up while he and Kari had been arguing. He let out a sigh of resignation. "So what do you suggest?"

"Something's wrong. That's not her. So we need to contain her. We take off now, and leave her here. We find the Jedi Masters, we report in. If I'm wrong, Dianiss enjoys a few hours of a pleasant spring day on Tython until we come back for her."

"Okay, that's bad." Iresso interrupted.

"What?" Kari quickly went back to watching them approach in her binoculars.

"She just . . . she just shot a lightning bolt . . . from her hand . . ."

"No!"

". . . at the cat."

Kari's sudden gasp was audible.

"It's okay. I think it actually hit Qyzen."

Kari let out a sigh of relief.

"He looks okay, too, by the way."

A voice on Kari's commlink crackled to life. It was Master Casei. "Captain Kariharra? Are you there? Please come in."

"I'm here, Master Casei." she responded. "Where are you?"

"Dianiss has been taken over by . . . a Sith. She is very dangerous and needs to be contained. If she's coming your way, get clear."

Kari couldn't help but roll her eyes. Oh, how the Jedi love their secrets. She knew full well that it was Dianiss' mother. She knew it back in the Council chamber and they wouldn't admit to it then, either.

"Acknowledged. Do you need extraction?"

"Your first priority is containment. We can't let her leave Tython."

"Roger that." Kari adjusted the settings and spoke into the commlink again. "Okay, everybody, did you all get that? We're boosting for black, now.

Another voice came on the commlink. "I have the shot."

"Zenith, if you shoot her, I will jam your tchun down your throat and your tchin up your behind so far that they touch each other in your stomach. Got me?"

After a brief pause, he simply said "Acknowledged."

"Hey Cedrax!"

"Yes?" Tharan responded.

"Once we're up, I'm gonna need you to do something."

--

As Sianid approached the grounded starships, she heard the sound of engines coming to life. Sure enough, one of the ships soon took off and flew overhead, heading back in the direction from which she and Khem had just come. She could sense that the second ship was still there, and that all of the people who were just there had left. The second ship obviously would be disabled in some way.

Walking up the ship's entry ramp, she was startled to hear a loud and all-too-cheery voice greeting her from the top of the ramp.

"Welcome home, Master. I hope you find your vessel a model of efficiency, convenience and comfort."

She ignored the ship's steward droid and turned straight toward the bridge. As expected, all the controls were locked out. "You there!" she called out. "I wish to take off immediately. Can you unlock the controls?"

"I'm no security droid, Master, but I can begin attempting all possible lockout codes at once!" C2-N2 responded.

"Then do it. Let me know when we can take off."

"Of course, Master. It is my highest ple..."

"SHUT UP AND DO IT!!!"

--

"My Lord! I believe I have found a coded message from our friend Fallen Angel. I'll need your authorization to decode it."

"Excellent news, Drellik. I'll be right there." Zarvell came directly to the communications console where Talos was waiting. Laying his hand on the bio-sensor, he spoke his passphrase aloud for the voice-recognition test: "She will never be a weapon." When the controls changed from red to green, he pressed the playback button, to be greeted by a short text-only message. But as he read it, he got visibly more and more angry.

AA,
S has found a way to control A at inter-stellar distance.
Made use of TH attack combined with protective relic, weakening A enough to make Force possession possible.
Range of attack extended to inter-stellar by initiating from within Gree gate-transit-space.
Current location indeterminable.
KV also controlling QF through different technique.
Expect S to take A back to DK to use deviant Force Walking technique to take life force.
Possession by S is temporary and S is vulnerable while controlling A.
-FA

"HOW did she put this together?!? HOW?!?" Zarvell shouted, pounding his fist on the console. "She's dangerous, make no mistake, but this is clearly beyond her! I've kept her in check for over 20 YEARS, and NOW suddenly she is able to succeed?!?"

"She does sit on the Dark Council now, My Lord. Perhaps she is getting assistance." Talos responded, trying to keep his voice calm . . . and hoping that Zarvell would do the same. It was rare--and unsettling--to see Zarvell angry like this.

"Unlikely. She has always kept the truth about Dianiss a secret, lest some other--and more capable--Sith attempt to take her instead. And Sith don't 'help' each other in any case, especially not the Darths. She's been on the Council less than a month; she couldn't have forged workable alliances in so short a time. If anything, the other Darths will be maneuvering into position to use HER, not the other way around." The mental exercise of playing out the various possibilities in his mind was actually helping him to calm down, and regain his composure.

Talos tried again. "Still, she has access to resources now that she did not have before. The Sphere of Ancient Knowledge is most certainly where records of something like Tulak Hord's Deathstrike Ritual could have been found."

Zarvell paused, not responding, still deep in thought. "Drellik, remind me never to underestimate you. Clearly you are correct on both counts."

"Sir?"

"Our 'Darth Nox' is getting help . . . and making use of the resources of the Sphere to do it. We'll be needing access to those same resources in order to undo this."

Talos' eyes went wide. "My Lord, are you suggesting...?"

"Yes, Talos. It looks as though I'm going to need to become a Darth."

"Sir! Do you realize what you are saying? There has NEVER been a Starlight Sith rise to the rank of Darth since the order was formed. It's far too dangerous. You'll be found out."

"Well, my friend, there must be a first before there can be a second." Zarvell fixed a stern gaze at Talos. "And I will do ANYTHING to protect her."

--

Aboard the Pure Light, Sianid had turned the air conditioning up to maximum and was rummaging through Dianiss' closet. She had already kicked off Dianiss' sandals and was finding that the cold air and floor on her bare legs and feet felt much better than the oppressive heat outside.

"No.  No.  No.  Maybe.  No.  So much white!  No.  No.  AH-HA! Finally!"
She found a black dress that at least resembled the ones she normally wore.

Meanwhile, Khem had been rummaging through the other cargo areas, and came in to show her what he'd found. In his right hand he held out to her a partly-disassembled lightsaber whose crystal was exposed. In his left hand, at his side, he held a small box of cat food that she didn't notice.

"Ah, thank you, Khem." she said as she took the saber and examined it. "Excellent!" she said. "This will do nicely." The saber was clearly taken from some powerful Sith that Dianiss had defeated. She had evidently removed some of its components for use elsewhere, leaving it non-functioning.

No matter, it was the crystal that Sianid wanted. At first glance, it was the synthetic red that the Sith favor, but on closer inspection, she could sense the strong presence of the dark side in the crystal's core, giving it an opaque black interior.

C2-N2's voice startled her again. "Master? It is my pleasure to inform you that I believe I can partially unlock the ship's controls now."

"Partially?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Explain yourself."

"I am now able to launch the ship and fly it manually into space."

"I'm sensing that there's a 'but' coming . . . ?"

"I'm sorry, Master, but at this time the navigation computer will not accept any new coordinates. We will still be able to travel anywhere the ship has already been."

"Has this ship ever been to Dromund Kaas?"

"No, Master."

"Korriban?"

"No, Master."

"The Vaiken Spacedock?"

"Oh definitely not, Master."

"What is the most common destination?"

"Nar Shadda, Master."

"Lovely . . . but Hutt space will not be helpful. What about Ilum?"

"Yes, Master, those coordinates are available."

"Then set course for Ilum at once."

"Yes, Master."

She felt the engines start up, followed by the familiar disruption in the ship's gravity that indicated they were taking off.

"Khem?"

"Yes, Little Sith."

"I'm going to need to release her and return to OUR ship to rest. You are to stay here and and guard her body. She should remain unconscious, but restrain her anyway and DO NOT harm her. Do you understand?"

"I will watch over her until you return."

And with that assurance, Sianid went over to the bed and sat down. She closed her eyes and reached out over the great distance to touch her own body, and sever the connection. And in doing so, Dianiss collapsed on the bed, her pulse, breathing, and body temperature reduced to the bare minimum.

--

For a Jedi Master, Satele Shan looked awfully angry. It looked especially out of place here in the Council Chamber. "You did WHAT?!?"

Casei spoke up. "I specifically told you that we can't let her leave Tython."

"True . . .", Kari responded, "but before that you said that containing her is the first priority."

"And to do that, you gave her passage off the planet? How is that 'containing' her?" Casei responded.

"You REALLY don't get it, do you?" Kari challenged. "She's not a Padawan anymore! You keep her here, it's war. Oh, sure, you'll get the best of her eventually, but how many Padawans and Masters will get killed in the process?" She paused. "How many of the Twi'lek from the village? They don't stand a chance, and you know it! Hell, she injured me dozens of times when we were kids and she was trying hard not to!" She paused again to let the argument sink in. "And do you really think you're going to take her down without hurting her? Without killing her?"

"So instead, you've unleashed her on the entire galaxy!" Annanya said. The ever-present kind look on her face was strangely absent. "You had no right!"

Kari stopped trying to keep the contempt out her voice. "I-UN-LEASHED-HER . . . onto the interior of a big metal box, surrounded by nothing but hard vacuum. It's the perfect holding cell for a Jedi. I mean, I know you guys are all-powerful and everything..."

She waved her hands in the air in a mocking gesture of fear.

"...but you still have to breathe." She stared Master Shan right in the eye and added "Dontcha?"

The Jedi love their secrets, and how to stop one...or how to kill one...is one you'll never get them to reveal. For Kari to have spoken out loud one way to do it was an affront, all right, but she didn't care. Bigger things were at stake. And as she suspected, their initial, visceral reaction was as if they had been attacked, too, followed by the slow realization that she had done the right thing, mixed with the embarrassment of not having thought of it themselves. She could almost hear the choruses of 'There is no emotion, there is peace.' going through their minds.

"You wanted containment. I gave it to you."

It felt a little good to remind the Jedi of their own weaknesses. After all, they worked so hard to project the image of being invulnerable. But Kari knew better. She'd grown up around them, and been the best friend and confidant to one of their most powerful. She knew the Jedi like no other. And while their kindness and selflessness knew no bounds, sometimes their pride did as well.

"She's not going anywhere, we've seen to that. Anywhere she does go, she goes slow enough that we can track it and get there first."

Now Kari looked Master Casei in the eye. "Oh, and while we were at it, we gave her the illusion of being able to go wherever she wants--so she won't feel like she's trapped." The color drained from Casei's face. "You thought she never knew, didn't you?"

"We did what we did to protect her." Casei whispered, defensively.

"Well, I'm glad to FINALLY hear that that's important to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get my friend back. Either help me, or get out my way."

Kari pushed her way through the assembled Jedi toward the door. Without looking back, she shouted out "Darth Nox IS HER MOTHER!", and slammed the door behind her.

--

Sianid opened her eyes to see the familiar surroundings of her room on her own Fury-class ship. Sitting up, she saw Ashara sitting at the computer terminal watching over her.

"Welcome back, Master. How do you feel?"

She felt positively drained, and a little cold. That part was a welcome change.

"I am well, but I require rest now. Khem is still unconscious, correct?"

"Um, not exactly."