Betrayal
Quo set the systems to minimum power, and let her drift out of the yard, tumbling end over end imitating a rogue piece of debris escaping the scrap yard. The sensors were in passive observation mode and would emit a warning tone should anything approach too close.
Dragging the final body to the airlock was a strain, even to the strong Zabrak. Blargo’s body was heavier than it looked. After a couple of failed attempts to heave the Besilisk, finally the hulking corpse was moving. Ten minutes struggle saw the mass of limbs crammed into the small chamber. Closing the door Quo cycled the decompression cycle before opening the outer door, the vacuum of space sucked the four bodies out, their momentum carrying them away from the cargo runner, towards the star at the system’s core. Now the detection problem should be negated thought Quo. Pity this heap of poodoo didn’t have a cloak. Once out of sight of the scrap yard he ignited the engines and set his course back to Seng Karash, where he would bring his prize to the Sith Lord Trayus.
He attached the interface unit to the comms, selecting the primary encryption protocol that his Master had selected for this mission, now he was secure. Checking the comms the message for the meeting was there, all the details were included. He sent a copy to Tasha’Vel. Within minutes there was a reply. “Well done my apprentice, you have done well. I knew I have high hopes for you my little Jedi Knight. I will see you on your return.” Jedi Knight? A smile crossed his lips, although not his eyes, he could feel the pull of power feeding him from the Dark Side. Hitting the hyperspace levers he made his way across the Galaxy to the Orion System.
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Finally back on firm ground Quo made his way to the Crypt below the Government building of Seng Karash on Aotheran. He had not been spotted on his approach as he had used the ancient tunnels beneath the city. Moving silently and cloaking himself against both visual interception, and his signature through the force he approached the designated meeting place. Designated by Lord Trayus. She was already manipulating the meeting to her own ends, but he had no choice.
Slowly, and carefully, he checked his equipment. His new lightsaber that he had constructed was hanging from his belt. Made from chromed metal, gold, and ivory, with plasgrip inserts it was a thing of beauty to him, and he felt more connected to it than his old armoury .. Satisfied he moved out of the confines of the tunnel into the entrance way to the the cavernous meeting place.
Arching over his head was a cathedral of stone, some twenty five meters high, and completely spherical. It was like being in a bubble of rock. Lord Trayus was waiting, with her back to him.
“Welcome young Sith,” she said, a slight cackle shaping her voice, “We have been expecting you.” Turning, she looked directly at Quo, even though he was cloaked. He dropped the illusion, no point in wasting energy and concentration on a lost cause. “You have done well young one,” with a hand gesture Quo’s lightsaber detached itself from his belt, flying to Trayus’ outstretched hand. She turned it slowly in her hand. “Very nice, excellent workmanship,” with a dismissive gesture it flew back across the chamber, into Quo’s left hand. He replaced it onto his belt. Looking at the human female standing over the other side, close to a flat topped altar of some kind. Her hooded robe covered most of her face, the eyes gleaming out similarly coloured to Quo’s own. She was short, very short, standing at a maximum of five feet, and stooped as though suffering from old age. Her hands were white, the blue veins standing out against the paleness of the skin, the fingers crabbed into semi claws.
Moving away from the altar she descended the three steps of it’s podium. “Now, the Holocron!!” Her words snapped across the distance, taking on a life of their own, becoming a weapon in their own right. The energy of them slammed into Quo, making him take a half step backwards before regaining his composure. His expression did not change one iota.
“I have it,” Quo almost whispered the reply, “although I haven’t played with it yet.”
“Give it to me!!” This time Quo was prepared for the force, standing his ground against the Sith Lord, “you have no idea how important it is. Give it to me so that I can complete my destiny” For someone with a bad back she covered the ground between them in an instant, her hands clawing out at him as she approached. Quo waited until the last moment before jinking away, staying out of reach.
” So why don’t you tell me, I would be interested to learn of such things.” The yellow of Quo’s eyes glinted at the thought of more power.
“You hold the secret holocron of Sheev Palpatine. It contains information pertaining to his time with Darth Plaguis the Wise, information that I must have,” she was wheeling her way towards the Sith Knight as she spoke, ”with this information I can be immortal, live forever. Imagine young Sith. Endless life, endless time to formulate our plans, endless potential for our plans to come to fruition”
Quo was watching her all the while, seeing the distance close between them again, now down to just three meters or so.
“That is all just myth, legends told to seduce younglings to the Dark Side.” Quo spat back at her, circling, wary of the old witch, his every step a master class in placement and balance. He knew any mistake could be his last, she was building to a crescendo, he could feel the Force building in the room.
“No! No myth!” Arms bent she was closing centimetre by centimetre, “Sheev was a great man, his ideas will live long in the archives, his guidance can still be felt within the force if you know where to look for it. Open your mind young Quo, seek him out, he can help you as he has instructed us.” Her eyes were wide open, Quo knew that she was quite mad.
The abruptness of the attack almost caught Quo off guard, the lightning erupting from the twisted woman’s fingertips dancing across the void between them. Quo’s lightsaber ignited, filling the room with a red tinge, a counterpoint to the lightning’s blue. Catching it on the edge of his blade he needed both hands to steady himself against the onslaught. “We would take you as our apprentice, teach you such things,” breaking her assault Quo was left grappling with thin air, “We could give you power and dominion over life and death, teach you such feats as I have demonstrated.....”
Quo’s left hand shot out, lightning crackling and fizzing it’s way towards the Dark Lord. With a soft gesture Trayus deflected the strike against her, absorbing the energy through her own fingers, seeming to physically grow as the power entered her body. Quo threw the saber in a circling arch towards the Sith, hoping that the lightning would distract her enough to allow the blade to strike home. The blade was closing in on her head, with a slide she stepped away from the crimson fire as it flew past her. Missing by mere millimetres the tip sliced through the hood, separating it from the robe she was wearing, revealing the face and head beneath.
She would once have been beautiful he guessed, but now she was hideously deformed. Her skull was elongated at the rear, with scars and open sores covering the bald pate. The right hand side of her face was wasted, as if through a stroke or palsy, the bones that supported it twisted grotesquely. The only thing that looked normal to the young Zabrak were the eyes, although sanity no longer resided there.
Calling his saber back to him he stood ready for the next attack.
“Ah, my young friend, the things we could have taught you.... No! We can’t! He attacked us!” He could see that there was no hope for salvation for this one, mad as a box of frogs! Leaping in the air towards him her saber ignited, from over her head, in a two handed grip, Quo knew that the strike would be augmented by the Force. Her blue blade coming down in an arc as her feet touched the ground before him. His own lightsaber deflected the blow away from his body, as he side stepped to the right, Trayus’ blade cutting a deep rut into the floor, white-blue sparks erupting from the place where Quo had just been standing. Continuing his movement Quo’s blade circled over his head, swooping around, targeting her left side. Her parry was clumsy, fuelled by her madness and hatred of this young pup that wouldn’t give her her prize. The two blades clashed with a fizz, stopping each other’s momentum. Quo reversed his direction, circling clockwise, using the locked blades as a pivoting point. Spinning on the balls of his feet his left hand drew his vibroblade, extending the arc of his movement with the glinting blade. Too late Trayus saw her mistake, Quo’s second blade entering her body just below the armpit, and exiting above the opposite hip. With a sigh the life left her twisted body. Quo reached down, picking up her lightsaber, job done he replaced his own weapons in their correct places.
Before leaving the cavern he had time to look at the holocron. Turning it in his fingers he wondered how much of the contained information was true? How much of the myth of Palpatine was true?
“I’ll take that if you don’t mind. It would be dangerous to let it fall into the wrong hands” Tasha’Vel stepped out of the tunnel, hand extended, waiting for the Sith to hand it over. A slight hesitation, before he knelt before her, handing the prize over to her.
“Yes, my Master,” his head bowed in contrition, “there is also this.” Reaching beneath his robe he drew out the Dark Lord’s saber, handing it to Tasha’Vel.
“You keep it my apprentice, as a memento of your first battle as a knight. Rise, my friend, rise”