Journal Entry #2¶

          STAR WARS: THE COLD WAR
          EPISODE II:  CONSPIRACY

Vicious rivalry is afoot. The ruthless DARTH THANATON has learned of JA-NU's theft of a mysterious artifact from the IMPERIAL mining outpost near NAR SHADDAA, and can only assume that NOX is to blame.

DARTH NOX plots with her crew to end THANATON's tyranny once and for all, preparing for a civil war within the SITH EMPIRE, and seeking a seat upon the DARK COUNCIL.

THANATON loyalists from across the galaxy come to his aid as he seeks the same seat, and NOX's crew rally the few allies they have for a decisive strike...

Prologue¶

Ja-Nu had somewhat reluctantly agreed to pilot Darth Nox's Fury-class Imperial Interceptor — the Fury, for short — and aid her on her travels for a standard galactic month. He flew them to several planets to unfold her plans, and helped them with several missions and encounters along the way. While he supported neither the Republic, nor the Empire, he knew this would pay well if the mining outpost job was anything to go by.

During their hyperspace travels, Ja-Nu learned of Nox's rivalry with someone she considered a scourge of the Dark Council of the Sith, Darth Thanaton, as well as her conspiracy to dethrone him with the support of a Dark Council member, Darth Marr.

"Thanaton's sickeningly traditional behaviours are rotting the Empire from the inside and leading the galaxy to war. I want galactic order, not another war. Darth Marr stands beside me. And while I am considered a Sith by others, I care not for such labels in my heart. Ashara, my apprentice, stands with me here: upon both sides of the Force."

— Darth Nox

She introduced him to her crew: the intimidating Dashade, Khem Val, the charming pirate, Andronikos Revel, the conflicted Jedi Padawan, Ashara Zavros, and the polite Imperial Reclamation Officer, Talos Drellik.

And who could forget the butler-styled factotum droid, 2V-R8?

"Such a delight!" said Toovee upon first meeting Ja-Nu and shaking his hand enthusiastically. "Another talented individual to join Master's crew. Such adventure ahead of us!"

The Private Chamber¶

Ja-Nu flew Nox and her crew to Dromund Kaas.

Due to his nervousness approaching Dromund Kaas, capital of the Sith Empire, Ja-Nu temporarily tripped the Fury's primary power regulator, causing minor damages to the component. Nox was disappointed with her first journey with the Tiss'shar, and the repair costs would be deducted from his payment.

"Perhaps my faith in your piloting skills was misguided?" she remarked. It was a disappointment she'd soon forget, however.

He accompanied Nox and Ashara to Darth Thanaton's private meditation chamber. Towards the end of their journey, the trio eliminated several Sith Acolytes loyal to Darth Thanaton that defended the chamber's entrance. Ja-Nu adeptly ended several of them with the element of surprise, dashing towards them with extreme haste and slicing open their abdomens with his tech-blade before they could swing their lightsabers. Nox and Ashara's jaws dropped.

"Well, well", clapped Nox. "Wasn't that kriffing impressive?"

"Language, master!" exclaimed Ashara, somehow delicately. "But, truly, I did not understand why Zyra had brought you into the fold until now."

Ja-Nu could sense the sincerity of their respect, though to him it was just another job.

After arriving at the private chamber, Ja-Nu and Ashara witnessed Nox's duel with Darth Thanaton.

"The apprentice of a disobedient Sith must die," said Thanaton. "Let us do our solemn duty."

"I've learned a few tricks since we last met," said Nox, a ghostly purple energy bursting suddenly from her body.

Ja-Nu was unsettled by the ghosts that he glimpsed, and the thunderous lightning that Nox poured into the room. The power of the ghosts within her threatened to drive the young Sith insane, and with a final burst of light she fell to the ground. She had lost the duel, but her crew came to her aid after Thanaton fled in fear of her power. Ja-Nu personally helped to carry her, with her arm slung over his shoulder, as she limped wordlessly to a speeder that took them back to Fury.

Before departing from Dromund Kaas, Nox took Ja-Nu aside on a couch in the main hold of the Fury to better explain what he'd stolen from the mining facility.

"Thank you, Jon," she said. "I am weakened, vulnerable. But only momentarily. Help me, and I will return stronger. Thanaton hopes to reclaim the artifact you stole and seize my rightful seat on the Dark Council before I can earn it. I will stop him."

The mere mention of the word "artifact" caused Talos to appear from a corridor behind the couch.

"Ah, yes!" he began. "It was Thanaton's first successful attempt at recreating a fragment of the Infinite Engine, which possesses remarkable self-replicating qualities. With enough time and fuel, such technology is capable of creating entire galaxies; far beyond just repairing and replicating itself. It feeds on the deceased to create absolutely anything you can possibly imagine. Anything. All it needs is time, instructions... and flesh."

As disconcerting as it sounded, Talos merely looked into the distance as he pondered such a "wondrous" concept.

"How?" said Ja-Nu in disbelief. "A tiny piece of junk can create an entire galaxy? I'm sorry, but how the fuck is that even possible?"

Nox cocked her head at the unfamiliar word, though noticed its similarity with "fark".

"The original machine was Rakatan technology," explained Nox. "The Rakata ruled over the galaxy millennia ago, enslaving all species using the Dark side of the Force. Technology, powered by the Dark side."

"Absolutely," interjected Talos, to a stern look from Nox. "A fragment of the greatest known Rakatan device, the Star Forge, fell into the hands of a powerful Sith lord a few hundred years ago. This fragment was known as the Infinite Engine."

"Brilliant," said Ja-nu. "More extravagant religious magic, but mixed with tech? If it were up to me, it would be jettisoned into the burning sun of Tiss'sharl." He paused, not sure whether he was speaking out of line. "You're going to destroy this thing, right?" he asked, confidently.

Nox leaned into her fist pensively and brushed a hand over the seat for comfort.

"At first, I thought the Empire, or at least my crew, would be able to use it responsibly," she said. "But the more I think about it, the more I think you're right, Jon. I want peace and order, and any risk of the Infinite Engine falling into the wrong hands threatens that."

The Mother Machine¶

Ja-Nu flew Nox and her crew to Belsavis and joined her as she embarked on her mission to withstand the physical strain of binding multiple Sith ghosts to her body.

He was challenged when flying through the narrow, rocky valleys that lead to the ancient facility that was their destination, but did so without a hitch, highly impressing Nox and Andronikos. "That's more like it," said Nox. "I've only visited Belsavis once before, and I certainly wasn't expecting tight valleys like these."

"Not bad, really," chimed in Andronikos. "Even I've had a rough time in valleys like these." Andronikos was the ship's designated pilot until Nox had other missions lined up for him, primarily acquiring various underworld goods from the lower levels of Corsucant and Nar Shadda once they'd been sourced. It was also suddenly very clear that he and Nox had something going on.

"I can think of some other valleys that give you a rough time," said Nox playfully, Andronikos chuckling nervously. Even Ja-Nu smirked a little while making his best effort to maintain professionalism as he landed the ship.

Ja-Nu, Ashara, and Nox fought their way through several Rakata guards on their way to the ancient facility that Nox needed to visit.

The facility contained The Mother Machine, an ancient artificial intelligence who preferred to be called Ashaa. She claimed to be the mother of the Twi'lek, Zabrak, and Esh'kha species. Ja-Nu and Ashara provided samples of Nox's DNA to Ashaa, and disabled her imprisoning safeguards, in exchange for the AI to recreate Nox's body and allow her to withstand the Sith ghosts surging within her.

Ashaa expressed her sincere gratitude for her freedom, then set about taking control of Belsavis, killing any Rakata she found in vengeance of her imprisonment.

Ja-Nu received a personal holocommunication from Ashaa as the crew exited the atmosphere of Belsavis. "I felt your touch as you freed me, Tiss'shar. I am no mother of your species, but I wish I had been. Your kindness will be remembered." After his holocomm blinked off, Ja-Nu noticed the stark contrast between the Rakatan guards' screaming to keep the "cold, heartless machine" imprisoned, versus her seemingly very real empathy. Most of all, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the countless Rakata he'd inadvertently doomed.

"My lord," said Talos Drellik as he politely entered the cockpit, standing to attention. "Ja-Nu," he nodded, with a smile.

"Do tell," said Nox, practically twirling her thumbs in her chair.

"I've discovered the location of your... missing ghosts." He worked with Ja-Nu to plot a course on the ship's holomap.

The Veil¶

Darth Nox received a holocall from Moff Valion Pyron, who offered to ally with the young Sith against Thanaton. He explained that they needed to prove that Nox is more worthy of leading the Empire than her rival. His solution was a fleet-killing superweapon, codename Silencer.

Ja-Nu was tasked with returning to Nar Shaddaa and retrieving a CN-12 chip, the last piece of technology required to complete the Silencer's construction. He travelled the vertical city to a sector in the lower levels, where he met Nox's eccentric Cult of the Screaming Blade. They informed him that the chip had been stolen from them by a cyborg gang-leader called "the Veil", and that they only wished to speak with the Sith.

Ja-Nu and Nox met with the cyborg gang in a deeper industrial sector of Nar Shaddaa, where Nox's patience grew very thin. She cocked an eyebrow at Ja-Nu as three cyborgs presented themselves from behind some whirring industrial machines. They would have looked human if it weren't for their visual implants and other cybernetics decorating their faces.

"Which one of you is the Veil?" asked Ja-Nu. One at a time, they each claimed to be the Veil.

"I am the Veil."

"And I am the veil."

"No, I am the veil."

Immediately tired of their riddles, Nox started counting.

"One," said Nox. She shocked the first cyborg to his death using the Force.

"The Veil is omnipresent. You can't–"

"Two," said Ja-Nu. He spun his short pistol on his finger from its holster and hip-blasted a superheated plasma bolt clean through the second cyborg's chest. The smoke from the blaster's barrel trailed into the already-industrial atmosphere.

Nox used a ghostly power to read the CN-12 chip's location from the mind of the third, and left Ja-Nu to finish him.

"Three," said Nox.

After returning to the ship, the main holoterminal in the ship's lobby fizzed on. Greeting them once more was Moff Pyron.

"My lord," the Moff said briskly. "I have been informed that Thanaton has ascended to the Dark Council. His predecessor died under... mysterious circumstances."

"Useful information," Nox said opaquely. "That will be all." She knew that killing Thanaton would now earn her ascension to the Dark Council herself, just as she'd planned with her crew and allies.

Ashara approached Nox, reminding her Master that she cannot face Thanaton with the ghosts out of control, and suggested they go to Voss as per Talos' prior discovery.

Force walking¶

Ja-Nu flew Nox and her crew to Voss, a newly discovered planet, where Nox hoped to commune with and regain control over the ghosts she had lost on Dromund Kaas the last time she dueled Lord Thanaton.

On their way to Voss, the crew of Fury were approached by a small flight of Republic starfighters and threatened to leave. "Oh, no," Nox said firmly. "We've come too far. A few Republic pilots are not going to stand in our way."

Ja-Nu understood and, with a nod, began to adeptly circle their assailants with the Fury-class Imperial Interceptor; toying with them. He boosted the ship into a nearby asteroid field, testing the limits of the sublight thrusters. The Republic fighters followed and the extremely tight turns knocked the entire crew off their feet in the cockpit.

"Drellik, port! Revel, starboard!" she commanded. Talos and Andronikos dived from the bridge, through the main hold, to the gunner seats in the wings of the ship.

The rest of the crew swiftly strapped into seating to observe his calm, collected grasp of the ship's controls. Green blaster cannon fire illuminated the cockpit and the Republic starfighters received relentless impact. They spun spun out of control, vaporised and torn asunder. They weren't given a moment to retaliate.

After landing on Voss, the entire crew breathed in the serene, autumnal beauty of the planet. It was clearly a utopia, though Ja-Nu couldn't help feeling somewhat unsettled.

Khem started to speak, but not with his usual, deep-voiced alien tongue. Instead, Ja-Nu heard a woman's voice.

"The Voss Mystics rule this place. The Voss perceive the Force as a conduit of healing and visions, my apprentice," she said. "Though, healing rituals are rare and often forbidden here, and–" she was cut off as Khem shook his head and seemingly regained control of his body. "Filthy, traitorous Sith," he growled in his usual intimidating tone.

"What happened to Khem?" asked Ja-Nu.

"My former master," said Nox. "Trapped in a Dashade's body, I know. Khem's body of all things. It's complicated."

Ja-Nu and Talos accompanied Nox to an Imperial embassy not far from the landing platform, where an Imperial officer suggested that they avoid upsetting the Voss due to the fragility of their relationship with the Empire. Nox explained her plight, and the officer suggested that the crew seek the outcast dream-walker cult. She left the embassy, Ja-Nu and Talos in tow.

They waited a standard hour or two outside the caves of the mystic cult while Nox spent some time with them. When she returned, she proclaimed to have learned how to "Force walk" or "dream walk", though that meant little to the two of them, even Talos.

After arriving back at the landing platform, Nox gestured Talos into the ship, but began walking towards the trees in the fields nearby.

"This way," she said, barely glancing back to address Ja-Nu. "I've something to teach you."

Nox meditated lightly with Ja-Nu amidst the soothing amber grass fields of Voss. They listened intently to the trees swaying in the breeze, centering themselves. She taught Ja-Nu how to capitalise on what she believed to be a very subtle sensitivity to the Force, though she did not speak it aloud, and did not know for sure whether he was. She challenged him to reach her, a good distance from one tree to another, faster than she herself could unclip and activate her own lightsaber. She was very well trained to do so as efficiently as possible, so this was no easy feat.

At first, it seemed impossible. The challenge permitted him to move the instant he saw her hand reach for the hilt of the weapon at her side, but no matter how sharp his reactions felt, his remarkably dextrous dashes towards her were always short by a second or two.

"We meditated earlier for a reason, Jon," said Nox. "You must truly sense the life around you. Let the sounds, sights, and sensations reach deeply within you, no matter how subtle. They'll empower you with a sharper knowledge than you've ever known."

Taking a moment to regain his bearings in such utopian, autumnal surroundings, Ja-Nu placed down his ever-present wide briefcase onto Voss' golden grass. He gracefully unsheathed his elegant tech-blade and, eyes closed, pointed it to the sky with his grip to his torso.

With some patience, he heard a whisper through the wind in his native tongue. It was as though something had told him what would happen mere seconds into the future. Following nothing but instinct, he whipped his blade behind him and darted forwards, his free arm held front of him. Perhaps half a second had passed, and he heard a hissing lightsaber ignite right next to him.

"Remarkable," said Nox. "You surely must be..." she trailed off in thought, but was interrupted by a blink of her holocomm. "Let's save your congratulations for later. We need to leave for Korriban."

The Kaggath¶

After a brief trip to Korriban, Nox returned to the Fury with a second apprentice, Xalek. Once aboard, he first greeted Ja-Nu. "Greetings, warrior. I sense great fire in you."

"I'm no warrior, friend," responded Ja-Nu. "Just a Tiss making his way in the galaxy."

Nox gathered the crew around the Intercom table in Fury's conference room to explain the situation.

"Thanaton has challenged me to an ancient duel called the Kaggath on the surface of Corellia," Nox explained. "I have accepted."

A Kaggath was an ancient challenge from one Sith to another that pitted them and their forces unto humiliation and death, without any external aid other than their own forces. A contest of mutual annihilation. Willing to play along to get what she wants, and not one to turn down a challenge, she agreed. Besides, had she forfeit, she would have been a disgrace to the Sith Order.

"I have a fleet at my command that will join us not long after we land," she continued, "and it will bombard Thanaton's armies from orbit after refuelling on the surface."

"Tulak Hord fought a Kaggath against his rival for fifteen years," rumbled Khem, in his alien language. "A feast of souls. I never lacked for Force. Thanaton is a foolish little Sith. You will crush him."

"Corellia's all-out war right now," said Andronikos. "Imperial-held, Republic-challenged, and loads of resistance." It sounded like Thanaton was looking to start a war. "Sounds to me like Thanaton's trying to beat you and the Republic at the same time."

"Murder and mayhem await!" said Nox, grinning menacingly.

"There's the Sith Lord I signed up with," Andronikos chuckled. "Crazy as a monkey-lizard."

"Break him down," said Khem. "Steal his glory and devour him."

"Oh, this is going to be fun," said Ja-Nu.

Ja-Nu flew Nox and her crew to Corellia to face Lord Thanaton and his forces.

Nox emerged from her captain's quarters donning an intimidating battle suit, and pale, fractured skin that hardly resembled her usual vibrant red. No one dared ask.

Moff Pyron met the crew on the surface of Corellia at an Imperial outpost. He informed them that the fuel refinery intended to refuel their fleet was under attack by Thanaton and his apprentice Lord Skar.

"If he's allowed to destroy the refinery, you might as well surrender the Kaggath now," said Pyron.

"I have no intention of letting Thanaton get the upper hand," said Nox. "Prepare the field commandos. They'll be working under Ja-Nu's command." She nodded to Ja-Nu, who nodded confidently in return. He'd not led commandos before, but knew he'd have a good time doing so.

"They're currently stationed at an Imperial outpost at these coordinates, near the refinery," said Pyron. Ja-Nu and Nox travelled by hover train through Corellia's towering city sectors to reach the fuel refinery.

From a distance, Ja-Nu and his commandos used blaster rifles to dispatch the the two Imperial guardsmen in front of the thick blast door. The squad approached, and Darth Nox attempted to use the Force to pull the door open, but simply dented it and dislodged a lot of dust from the door's inner mechanisms.

"We didn't bring a slicer," she said. "Why didn't we bring a slicer?"

"Step aside," said Ja-Nu. He kneeled beside an electronics panel that he could see wired to the door's controls. He pulled it open and used a couple of thin, screwdriver-like tools to rearrange some wires and capacitors inside. After a loud clank, and a moment of anticipation, the thick blast doors began to slowly hiss and growl their way open.

"Bravo," said Nox.

As they entered the oddly formal lobby of the refinery, they spotted Lord Skar standing alone in a doorway at the back of the room. Skar wordlessly commanded combat droids into the center of the room. The fight was on.

Nox took cover behind a bannister atop a stairwell as Ja-Nu lead his field commandos into the building. They were met by the combat droids below, but Ja-Nu's team made quick work of them as he dashed forward with his tech-blade and vibro-dagger, covered by the field commando's blaster fire as he'd instructed them. His blades carved the droids legs while the commandos shots pelted their heads and torsos, their chassis' crumbling to the floor.

Nox made short work of Lord Skar and his accompanying Imperial troopers, sparing his life in exchange for information about Thanaton's plans. She and Ja-Nu now knew exactly were he was: the fuel silos.

"I loathe his traditions as much as you do," said Skar, injured on the floor but grateful to be alive. "Finish him. For all our sakes."

"Defense protocol six!" screamed Thanaton through a nearby holoterminal. "Now. Now!" The Sith Lord was clearly terrified as the hologram flickered out of existence.

A deadly assassin droid dropped from the ceiling and made a small crater in the center of the room as it landed into a crouch, right next to Ja-Nu and the dismembered combat droids. The field commandos dove for cover; they knew what was coming. The droid stood up menacingly, towering over the Tiss'shar and drawing back the sharp blade attached to its forearm before slicing it straight towards him.

He just barely rose his blades quickly enough to prevent the assassin from dismembering his arm, but stifled a yell of pain as he felt the droid's vibro-blade, and his own tech-blade, push into the flesh of his upper left arm, slicing it open in multiple places.

"Jon!" Nox's voice boomed supernaturally throughout the room, turning heads. Her eyes burst into a purple glow as she used the Force to pull Jon backwards across the floor to safety. He leaned against a wall, wincing as he held his injury.

Nox leapt into combat with the assassin droid, her piercing-red dual-bladed lightsaber thrumming and clashing against the resistant metal blades. With some deft manoeuvres, and a twirl of her saber, she dismembered its hands. The droid retaliated with a swift arm-mounted blade that nearly managed to cut her face, but instead cut her lightsaber in half and sent it flying across the lobby. With little time to react, she just about managed to twirl behind the droid and grapple it by the neck at an angle that left it an open target.

"Now!" she screamed urgently. "Make it spicy!"

Ja-Nu groaned as he used his bloodied hand to unholster his short pistol. He carefully lined up a shot as Nox struggled to keep the droid under control, its heavy armored feet stomping loudly as it tried to free itself. But for Ja-Nu, the room went silent. He closed his eyes and briefly recalled the voice of a former teacher as he took a deep breath. His eyes opened, his pistol sizzled, and he fired. The sheer recoil of the tiny cannon flung it from his hand.

A searing hot bolt of ionized plasma flew across the room and pierced through the assassin droid's head like bantha butter, the metal melting onto its chassis as it slumped inanimately.

Nox yelled in anger as she pushed the droid's body to the side with a loud and heavy clunk. "Karking droids!" She made her way over to Ja-Nu. Catching her eye, he could tell how worried she was.

"We're not done yet," she said, reaching out an arm. "One last stretch." Ja-Nu grabbed her hand with his bloody one. As he did, he felt an unnatural warmth run from his arm through his entire body. The pain from the wound swiftly faded.

"This is not an ability I'm particularly experienced with," said Nox, "so it won't last long. But it should help ease the pain for a while." She smiled reassuringly in a way Ja-Nu had never seen before; in a way he'd never have expected from a Sith Lord.

Her skin slowly faded back to its usual vibrant red as she let out a sigh of relief, and she slumped off her heavy armour attachments. "Carry these." She slung the armour attachments over his good shoulder.

She pulled the two halves of her lightsaber to her hands and winced with anticipation as she turned them on, the familiar red glow comforting her deeply. "I was worried about you for a moment," she said, close to caressing the vibrant blades. "Oh, and you too, Jon. Of course!"

The duo and their commandos snuck threw the high streets of Corellia, avoiding combat with Republic soldiers and Thanaton's acolytes alike. Turrets and blaster fire could be seen and heard in distance in all directions. As they snuck from one street to the next, Nox found a way to attach the two halves of her lightsaber. They made their way to the back of the fuel refinery, into a lower entrance that would lead them to Thanaton more quickly.

They found him alone, planting explosives on the fuel silos in the industrial, dark copper storage room. Nox immediately used the Force to intricately detach and disassemble the explosives, rendering them useless. Thanaton glanced over to the fierce-looking squad.

"Not bad, but not good enough. Now everyone sees your weakness." He used a burst of Force lightning to propel himself to the upper level of the room. Nox ignited her lightsaber and tried to follow, but it was no use. "The show will be at the government plaza. Everyone will be there. Don't miss it." And with that, he fled.

On their way to the plaza, Moff Pyron got in touch via holocomm to inform Nox about her fleet's arrival. "They're in orbit now, my lord. On your command."

"Fire," she said without emotion, blinking off the holocomm. Enormous Imperial capital ships could be seen behind the sky above as the squad left the fuel depot, cannon fire plummeting upon Darth Thanaton's base of operations. With the mission a success, they departed, and thanked Ja-Nu and Nox for keeping them alive. "My lords," they nodded as they left.

"Look at that," said Nox as they walked away in formation. "You're a Lord now." Ja-Nu grinned through the pain.

They reached the lobby of the government plaza. Several Republic soldiers stood around tending to damages, tilting their helmets to acknowledge the pair as they approached the plaza, but showing no intent to attack. Perhaps just a silent wish that they could.

Entering the enormous almost arena-like plaza, they were met by a multitude of Sith and Imperial bystanders and observers. Giant Imperial flags decorated the corners of the room, and raised platforms held many Corellian citizens at a safe distance, watching intently. Large statues of former Corellian leaders stared down onto the crowds.

Ja-Nu let out a sigh of relief as he leaned against the plaza entrance behind everyone, noticing a hooded Ashara amongst the crowd. "This had better be worth it."

Nox let out a guttural growl as her body tensed and her skin turned pale in front of everyone, black veins reaching across her face. The armour attachments suddenly flew from Ja-Nu's shoulders and snapped onto her body, and she stepped forward into the space the crowd had made for her.

"Yes, finally," announced Thanaton from a podium on a round platform in the center of the room. "Sith, Imperials. The challenger has arrived. The Kaggath ends here. I've gathered you here to watch me wipe this degenerate from the face of the Empire. She calls herself Sith, but she is slave to a corrupt master. Zash is now dead and all who served her must die as well."

"You know so little, Thanaton," said Nox. She turned to address the Sith and Imperial crowd. "Are you free people or are you slaves? If you are slaves, by all means, let Thanaton and his kind intimidate you into mindless obedience. But if you believe we are born to be masters of our own galaxy, shout to deafen Thanaton and his kind: 'I will not serve!'"

"Look where that attitude has gotten you," remarked Thanaton. "You've done well keeping your allies, but I have friends of my own. Darth Achelon. Kill her!"

"No," said the grizzly Sith warrior, stepping forward from the crowd. "This one saved my life on Korriban. I will not repay her with bloodshed."

"Fine," said Thanaton. "Your principles are noble, if misplaced. But you are far from my only acolyte. Darth Kallous!"

A masked Sith warrior wearing intricately decorated metal armour and long red robes stepped from behind a pillar, lightning bursting across his arms.

Kallous sent the lightning beaming towards Nox in the crowd. Screams and lightsabers ignited across the board, and even Ja-Nu, further behind them, was briefly jostled before leaning back comfortably against the wall, inspecting his wounds. "Huh," he mused. "These Sith love their drama."

After the Nox absorbed the lightning as much as she could, she pushed Kallous across the entire length of the room using the Force, his back slamming into a wall. She vanished, and moments later reappeared behind Kallous as he stood up. A bright red lightsaber pierced through his chest from behind. Withdrawing the blade elegantly, Nox didn't need to watch as Kallous slumped to the plaza floor.

"Impressive, but not enough," said Thanaton.

Two cyborg bodyguards entered the plaza and approached Darth Nox, their purple lightsabers ignited.

Nox elegantly twirled her double-bladed lightsaber as she staved off their frighteningly aggressive strikes, searching for their weaknesses. Like Ja-Nu, she took a deep cut to the upper arm that slowed her down, but the pain only made her stronger as she spun her saberstaff and swiftly decapitated the cyborg that injured her, followed by a sweeping strike that dismembered the metallic legs of the other. The crowd cheered, and Ashara leapt to Nox's aid, healing her wounds through the Force. "Take it easy," she said. But Nox's gaze was locked on her rival.

"It looks like it's just the two of us now, Thanaton", she said.

"Peace is a lie," he said. "There is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, power. Through power, victory!"

"Through victory, my chains are broken," said Nox. "The Force shall free me."

"I wish it hadn't come to this," said Thanaton. His arms outstretched, he began to summon a storm of purple lightning, crackling from the ceiling and piercing down the plaza floor. Ashara leapt back to safety in the crowd.

In the blink of an eye, Nox dashed past Thanaton with her lightsaber and left a clean cut on the side of his torso. He fell to his knees.

"Enough of this," said Thanaton, holding his wound. "I am a Dark Council member! You do not have the strength, or the authority, to defeat me." He propelled himself to the higher levels of the plaza and fled.

"He's escaping, the coward!" shouted Ashara.

"Do not let him escape this planet!" commanded Nox.

"He's gone to seek the support of the Dark Council on Korriban," said Lord Skar, the Sith Lord that Nox and Ja-Nu had spared earlier in the day. "That was always his plan if this thing backfired. Be careful, my lord. Thanaton will be among allies."

The crew returned to the Fury, and Nox ensured that 2V-R8 saw to Ja-Nu's wounds immediately.

"Use the remains of our kolto supply if you have to," she said. "He fought bravely and didn't deserve such an injury from a coward like Thanaton."

"Post-haste, master!" said Toovee as he whisked to the medical supplies.

"I'll wear it proudly," said Ja-Nu, relatively comfortable on the ship's medical bed. "Any chance I could get a sling?"

Darth Nox¶

Ja-Nu flew Nox and her crew to Korriban to end the Kaggath with Thanaton in the presence of the Dark Council.

The crew were met with many curious and judgemental glares from various Sith as they climbed the wide sandstone steps and entered the enormous temple. Led by Nox, they wasted no time winding through the angular corridors that lead to the chambers of the Dark Council.

Before reaching the main entrance of the chambers, a Sith Lord and his two hooded, armoured acolytes stepped in front of Nox and stopped the crew in their tracks.

"Stop right there," said the Lord. "Surrender your weapons."

"I have an ancient Sith duel to complete, Enraj," said Nox firmly. "I will do no such thing."

"Thanaton is making his statement before the Dark Council," Lord Enraj insisted. "You will not interfere, or I and my apprentices will have something to say about it."

"That's precisely what I'll be doing," said Nox. "Thanaton has tried to kill me for the last time. It's getting ever so boring to watch him try."

"Just because he has failed doesn't mean I will," said the Lord. After a moment of disbelief in what he'd said, Nox laughed at him with her crew.

"This guy," said Ja-Nu, almost laughing at Enraj's overconfidence.

"Gentlemen," said Enraj, addressing his apprentices. "If you would: kill them."

Nox needn't have moved. Ja-Nu, Andronikos, and Talos were all far too quick to the draw, blasting the apprentice on the right square in his chest and sending him soaring back into a corridor wall. Ashara ignited one of her twin blue lightsabers with one hand and lifted the left apprentice with the other using the Force, pinning him to the ceiling. Everyone present could hear his bones beginning to crunch. Khem Val merely observed from the back of the crowd, exhibiting subtle growls as he enjoyed the violence.

"You were saying?" said Nox, arms crossed, more confident than ever.

Without another word, Lord Enraj fled through the corridor, and the ceiling-bound apprentice fell to the floor unconscious. The crew strutted toward the chambers entrance.

The two elegantly-armored guards at the door, stomping their long pikes skyward into the ground. They silently indicated that Nox's crew were permitted to observe from near the main door, but no further. She proceeded forward after briefly glancing back at them with a confident wink. As they entered together, they could hear Thanaton addressing the Council.

"My lords, her master was corrupt," he pleaded. "She is corrupt. Without Sith traditions, we are nothing!" He addressed the nine other members of the Dark Council as he paced around the centre of the spacious, dark, ceremonial looking hall. Five thrones stood on either side of the room, and some of the Council members were attending via holotransmission, their visages represented relatively clearly by the familiar blue scanline holograms that sat upon their respective seats.

"And what are you suggesting we do about it?" responded Darth Marr. His voice was modulated slightly through his mask, and his wiry plate armour flexed around his bulging muscles as he sat comfortably in his throne. He was surprisingly calm and well spoken for someone so apparently intimidating.

"You know what the situation requires," said Thanaton. "Order must be preserved. Punishment meted out. If we are to conquer our enemies, Zash's former apprentice must die."

"I'm flattered you talk about me to all your friends, Darth Thanaton," said Nox as she strolled onto the main floor.

"Our talk concerns the future of the Sith Order," said Thanaton. "A future without you."

"Then why haven't you killed her yet?" said Darth Ravage, his minimal facial cybernetics twitching as he grew impatient on his throne.

"You know as well as I do, these things require the proper rites," said Thanaton.

"The Kaggath is a playground game, Thanaton," said Ravage. "Murder has no rules."

"The Kaggath is an honored tradition of the Sith," said Thanaton. "Tulak Hord competed. Marka Ragnos! Ludo Kressh!"

"The question stands," said Darth Marr. "Why has this apprentice — this child — proved impossible for you to kill?"

"He's had ample opportunity to kill me," said Darth Nox. "He lacks the strength to finish the job."

"I am a member of the Dark Council!" Darth Thanaton squirmed. "I am your superior!"

"I swear, if you don't silence Thanaton, I will," said Darth Ravage to the nearby council members.

"I will not be betrayed, I will not die, and when I've killed this slave," said Thanaton as he ignited his red lightsaber, "you will all answer for it."

Thanaton thought his lightning storms would bring him victory, but he hadn't learned his lesson. Nox deflected many of his small bursts of lightning into the surrounding walls, but was eventually caught within an electric whirlwind of Thanaton's making. She survived his onslaught of devastating Force power, and the Master of the Dead responded with the power of the dead.

Four ghostly figures stood behind her as she brought Thanaton to his knees using nothing but her willpower through the Force, and she left him crawling on the chambers floor, close to death.

Due to breaking the rules of the ritual with an attempt to ask for help, he was executed by Darth Mortis of the Dark Council.

"I'm sorry, Thanaton," said Mortis, before snapping Thanaton's neck with a wave of his hand.

"Good riddance to him," said Darth Ravage.

"He was a better Sith than you give him credit for," said Darth Marr.

Zyranomi was officially anointed Darth Nox by her coconspirator in Thanaton's downfall, Darth Marr. She was elevated to a seat on the Dark Council as Head of the Pyramid of Ancient Knowledge, and charged with keeping the mystical knowledge of the Sith and guarding the secrets of their order.

Nox had achieved her first major goal, but noticed Ja-Nu's apathy towards assisting the Empire, and especially the Sith, as they left the temple on Korriban.

"Regarding your payment," said Nox, "did I say fifty, before? I meant fifteen," she winked. "And then there's the damage to Fury... so, minus repairs, that's ten."

Ja-Nu didn't look impressed. He had been promised more when he agreed to work for her when they first met on Nar Shaddaa.

"Unless you'd like to negotiate?" she grinned, fingers twitching subtly near the hilt of the lightsaber holstered to her belt. She saw no hint of a response, and so swiped her sleek-fit wristpad. With few bleeps the credits were accredited to Ja-Nu's account.

"Come on now," she said. "This alone is probably more than you've seen in years, right?"

"You're not far off," grumbled Ja-Nu.

"Where I'm taking you, you'll find plenty of work," she grinned.

Epilogue¶

Darth Nox landed the Fury on the planet Rishi, a haven for pirates, gangs, and other such scoundrels. She had goals of her own there, but assumed that Ja-Nu would follow his own path now that a month had passed.

The crew bid Ja-Nu farewell from below the Fury's boarding ramp as they stood atop a wooden platform above a shallow ocean, large rocky pillars interrupting their view of the horizon. 2V-R8 tended to a minor leakage from his visual receptors as he waved emotionally.

"Your expertise has been invaluable," said Darth Nox as she stepped up to him.

"I think it's a few thousand credits off, actually," said Ja-Nu, only half joking. Nox laughed it off, awkwardly started to approach him for a hug, and ended up patting him on the shoulder.

"If you ever end up desperate to work for the Dark Council, or even if you need a favour, don't hesitate to contact me," she said. "You have Talos' details." She paused a moment, looking into his weary, yet fierce, Tiss'shar eyes. "But I sense that you'll be just fine on your own out there." She turned around with a smile and walked commandingly back to her ship. "Talos, Khem, the crates. We're going to need them partially unpacked here, and the rest when we get to the tomb..."

Her voice trailed off as the rest of her crew went inside with her. Ashara lingered for a moment, though.

"I'll never again underestimate a Tiss'shar. May the Force guide you," she said with a gentle, sincere smile. She headed back into the ship.

Ja-Nu left the landing platform, slowly strolling towards the entrance of a town with his left arm hanging comfortably in a loose sling. He passed by a main wall, which revealed ragged buildings of all kinds of shapes and sizes. The trading port of Raider's Cove was built on wooden platforms that were supported atop the coast of the tropical Horizon Island. It looked like it could collapse at any moment, like it was only held together by its quirky charm. He saw a great variety of species going about their business, but notably a species he'd never seen in person before: the Rishii. Bird-like people that were native to the planet.

Behind the various markets of the trading port, he could see a northern district that was more sturdily built, where a thick stone wall surrounded polished, modern, taller buildings. Luscious rising mountains and forests tempted him in the distance behind the town.

"I could get used to this," he said to himself.