"Legally speaking, I am obligated to not get my allies killed."
You might be tempted to think a military installation under perpetual siege would have some exceptional defenses. Not just strong walls studded with guns and a solid web of air defenses, but also weapon emplacements inside those walls in case of an eventual breach.
Lord Grathan's manor had none of those.
Heck, it had not even had walls.
Instead, all it had were big anti-aircraft guns and frequent patrols consisting of his apprentices, mercenaries, and battle droids. And my newest ally of convenience was more than capable of tearing his way through them. The presence of his pet Force-resistant monster only trivialized matters further.
By the time we reached the research complex of the manor, we had encountered five patrols.
I had destroyed three droids.
"You're falling behind, Nestor!" the apprentice to Lord Zash called out from somewhere in front of me. The sound of blaster fire punctuated his statement, but that did little to dampen his enthusiasm. Or his ability to fight, if the persistent crackle of lighting was any indication.
"I'm wearing dress shoes!" I called back, jogging slightly to catch up. The lightsaber I had pilfered was held at a safe distance as I neared the cluster of chaos. One of the vaguely human-shaped droids fired a shot from a blaster pistol that I deflected back at its head, and it went down in a shower of sparks and staticky vocalizations. "These are not meant for running."
The Dashade, that most blood-thirsty creature, muttered something in his sibilant tongue that I had no hope of understanding.
"He's a diplomat, Khem, not a killer," the apprentice retorted, carving a pair of mercenaries in half at the waist. The boy didn't even sound out of breath from the effort. "Maybe he doesn't own proper footwear."
"My usual workday involves receptions, not receiving blaster bolts," I muttered. Then again, that had not been my usual workday since my master had died. Though I did not mourn his loss, I did mourn that workload. As much as it had pained me to shill for a morally detestable state, being agreeable and helpful was the kind of work I enjoyed doing. "And this is proper footwear."
Reaching out with the Force, I froze another mercenary in place. His limbs refused to move, trapped by immovable walls of invisible energy. I could see his eyes go wide a fraction of a second before Khem Val threw himself at the new target and quite literally tore them apart. Not limb from limb, no, but ribs from the rest of the torso.
He scared me, he really did.
Fortunately, he was my ally for now.
Unfortunately, he was my ally for now.
"The coast is clear," the apprentice declared a moment later. "There shouldn't be any more patrols until we're past the outer buildings."
With a bit of exertion, I expanded my consciousness to verify the truth of the apprentice's claims. Yes, he had been correct. There was nobody else around us to pose a threat. Or to have a conscious thought in their skulls for that matter. But there was an unmistakable ball of anger and hatred and violence rolling in from the direction of the entrance to the manor grounds.
Another Sith, no doubt.
Probably at least nominally friendly, or as close as unfamiliar Sith got to that concept. Not immediately hostile was probably a better term, all things considered.
"I suggest we hurry," I said at last. "There is another Sith heading in this general direction. They don't seem inclined to talk."
"Oh, her?" the apprentice remarked, quite casually. "The apprentice to Darth Baras. She's unlikely to interfere."
"You know her?" I asked, resisting the urge to have my turn accusing someone else of womanizing for a change. It was quite the feat, but one I managed through sheer willpower. Also, the Sith Warrior was a woman this time around. Good to know, I could panic about it later.
"We traveled to Dromund Kaas together," he revealed. "We got to know each other then."
The Dashade muttered something in that unintelligible tongue of his. I had no clue what the words meant, but previously iron willpower failed in that moment. I knew what had to be said, and potentially had been said by the walking war crime creature.
"As the foremost expert in having my statements taken out of context and reinterpreted, I strongly suggest you rephrase that," I said, my tone cold.
"We just fought together…" he started to say, clearly unaware that that statement would only make things significantly worse.
"Never say those words when cornered by the media," I cut him off, my tone still lacking any kind of levity. "They will never let you forget it. Scratch that, tell that to every camera you can find in Kaas City. Maybe they'll forget about me for a little while."
"Is this because I called you the Tabloid Sith?" he asked carefully as his pet monster chuckled darkly.
"You have not seen the depths of depravity a world full of tabloids and devoid of libel laws will stoop to," I said. Even then, weeks after my debut as a Sith, the 'artistic interpretations' of my first few chats with the Little Jedi that had been burned into my mind, those images still haunted me. And since my mind was a castle with an open gate and a broken sewage pipe, so did the apprentice.
And he visibly flinched.
"I see that I need to reevaluate my life choices," he muttered, his eyes wide.
"Good," I said as we resumed our forward progress. "Very good."
Soon, we reached the outer ring of the research complex. As expected, there were no further guards protecting the building the apprentice was leading us toward, but I could sense a significant concentration closer to the center of the complex. No doubt we would be charging in that direction in just a few minutes.
Before entering the small outbuilding, the apprentice froze in his tracks.
"Can you wait here?" he asked. That he asked rather than demanded was a promising sign, but no doubt he thought I was of a much higher status than I actually was. "I rather doubt my master intended for someone else to find out what she wants with some gadget from Lord Grathan's research team."
"By all means," I answered, taking up a position at the side of the door. The apprentice walked into the building and the Dashade gave me one last glare before following him. Leaving me to wait all on my own. Not for too long, thankfully, but it did give me enough time to think. And to verify that the Sith Warrior was not going to be rushing this way.
I did not want to gamble on her being the kind to ask questions before killing someone.
Soon enough, the apprentice returned.
"Did you get what you needed?" I asked.
"Yes. I-" The apprentice cut himself off before he could reveal too much more, but that was a waste of effort on his part. See, I knew a bit about the Pyramid of Ancient Knowledge, the sphere of influence to which Lord Zash belonged. Mostly because Lord Egatio had made me read a few Intelligence reports after meeting one of their apprentices and her web of allies in a bar, but also because I had played a game known as Star Wars: The Old Republic. And I was about to exploit every last ounce of knowledge for what it was worth. "I got what I came for."
"If your part's done, let's find us an armory," I said, setting off at a pace that could be described as ambling. "I figure that's the best place to find what I need. "
"It… yes, it's done," the apprentice admitted. As I knew he would admit. The purpose of this whole trip was supposed to be a secret. The thing he was going to retrieve was meant to be a secret. Otherwise, Lord Zash would not have gotten help from a scientist on the payroll of the most reclusive Sith Lord currently alive. The scientist directly, and not the Sith Lord himself.
Because I knew the apprentice had orders to kill the scientist once he had the device. And if I revealed that I knew, the apprentice would be obligated to try, and most likely succeed at, taking my life. Naturally, that outcome is to be avoided at all costs.
However, even if I survived the apprentice acquiring the device that would help him kill his master's master, that still left me with one small problem: said master's master's apprentice.
Or, as I knew her, Natia.
Oh, and there were those warring Sith Lords who were looking for me.
How could I forget?
Fortunately, I had a plan.
...
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