“Your threats mean little at this point...Master.” Vader said without remorse, knowing he was right.
“Perhaps I’ve underestimated your resolve Lord Vader…?” Sidious trailed off the question staring blankly out across the Coruscanti landscape from his vantage atop the former Jedi temple.
“Come to the point.” Vader had no patience remaining, crossing his arms before his chest.
Sidious regarded him silently for a moment as his gaze followed a large transport making its way toward the sky lane far in the distance. Finally turning to face his apprentice he slipped his hands into the opposing sleeves of his robe. “I will disregard your insolence only because we run short on time….”
“No.” Vader dropped his arms to his sides, raising his right again only to point toward his Master, “You run short of time.” He felt the anger course through him like the rivers of fire on Mustafar, the rivers that took his body from him and the anger infuriated by the man that replaced it. “Far too long I’ve been led astray with empty promises and the song of a dualistic rule of the Empire.” He could see the anger building within Sidious to an equal ferocity, driving the man to steaming ire. ‘Good’ he thought, ‘precisely as intended.’
Sidious regarded him with veritable surprise, raging with anger, yes, but elated that his apprentice was finally showing the backbone he knew was there. “And you feel as though you’ve been nothing more than an enforcer, to heed my beck and call at my whim, is that it Lord Vader?”
“The Grand General was the final element. Placing me under his command was tantamount to betrayal.” He had more to say, he had much more to say, but relieving himself of that indignation in this very chamber was satisfying at the very least. “Do you not see that you are falling out of favor with the Dark Side?”
The question took Sidious by complete surprise, the building rage within evaporating in an instant, replaced by an emotion he had not felt in forty years. Fear gripped the Dark Lord, inexplicably and without warning. His flaring yellow eyes dying into a somber ochre in the fading light of Coruscant’s sun.
“I sense your fear master. Understand that what I speak is valid, that it is not a mirthless statement spoken out of turn. It is your reality.” Vader pounded the point home. “It would be my duty to strike you down where you stand. Stretch out to the Force around you master, feel the truth of it, then wallow in your broken shell as you find some solace in the fact that I will do nothing of the sort.” Vader said as his regulator betrayed his own emotion, charging and discharging vigorously to keep pace with his beating heart and damaged lungs.
Sidious remained silent, understanding that retaliation for the sake of retaliation would only augur his apprentices’ words. ‘Was there truth in them?’ Sidious thought as his apprentice remain motionless in the center of the chamber. The calling of the Force was ever present, responding to his very thoughts. No. ‘I am Sithari.’ He told himself and quietly consumed the thought, letting it flow throughout him just as quietly. Turning his gaze from the tiled floor to the rising view of the transport taking the space lane out of the planet’s atmosphere and finally from his sight completely. “It is not fear you sense Lord Vader, merely a product of your imagination. Perhaps you have deluded your senses to the point of unsalvageability.” He said without turning to face his apprentice.
Vader was prepared for the slight, “Perhaps, but it is not I that have allowed emotion to cloud my judgment.”
Sidious spun to face him, “and in such an instance the rule of two is quite clear...apprentice.” The anger returned to his core with vengeance, waiting to be unleashed.
“And then what my master?” Vader said, surprising Sidious by taking a few steps toward him, “you strike me down and begin anew? Take on another worthy apprentice only to withhold the knowledge of the Dark Side yet again?” Vader closed the distance between them to an arm’s length, easily within striking distance of the sabers should either choose to ignite them. “I think not master. To dabble in foolishness is beyond our scope.” He uttered with an aire of finality, taking a few more steps to pass by the Dark Lord and take in the view beyond the transparisteel with his arms crossed before him once again.
Sidious was bursting from within, his rage boiling past the point of sanity and into unknown depths of his own depravity. But, Vader was right, wasn’t he?
The sonorous inhale and exhale of Vader’s suit echoed lonesome through the chamber, what was left of Anakin within the Dark Lord internally laughing at the irony. “But as I’ve said, your threats mean little. Either get to the point or do as you will and end your conflict within master.” Again, he refused to turn around, offering only his enormous back to his master’s view.
Sidious felt the pangs of a secondary wave of realization slam into him. His apprentice had invoked fear, and now had bested him in the one arena he had once held grand sway. How had he let this happen? How had he let Vader back him into a verbal corner from which there was no escape. A silent laughter filtered its way through the chaos of anger and erupting emotion had conjured, the same sickly yet bellicose laughter that had been haunting his meditations. The laughter quickly transforming itself from a mild irritation to a mocking decree of indignation as Bane would see his soul crushed. He needed to be rid of both his apprentice and the haunting spirit, sowing doubt where non should exist. He had stamped out the impossible and the improbable ages ago, hadn’t he? With a final clamp of thumb and forefinger he had ended any of his doubts when Plagueis exhaled his final breath, why then would this one-time scrappy slave boy from a dirty world best him in arenas he had conquered so long ago? “Because it is your fate to die at his hands.” Bane answered his thought with a shrill mocking laugh. Sidious could only listen to the voice that would not give him a moment of peace as he stared at the frame of his apprentice before the grand view beyond.
“Do not misunderstand me. I will remain loyal to you, to our partnership, only so long as you prove useful to me. There will come a time when you do not.” Vader intoned, his regulator smooth and methodic and suddenly spun around to face Sidious outstretching a gloved finger pointed at the man’s chest, “and on that day I will destroy you.”
The pangs of fear returned once again to the Dark Lord, inexplicably. He wasn’t prepared the first time it happened, this time it nearly took him from his feet. Had his apprentice read his mind? Was that now too something he had to be wary of? There was too much doubt edging its way into his mind to engineer a suitable path of resolution now. He was blankly aware of Darth Vader brushing past him yet again on his way to the turbo lift access port but recovered in time to see his apprentice turn his form yet again. He was speaking.
“For the last time, what do you need?” Vader boomed throughout the chamber, vibrating what wasn’t attached to the tiled floor.
“Go to Ambria and retrieve Thana, I need her back...alive.” Sidious mouthed, trying in vain to regain composure.
Vader turned and approached the opening lift doorway, casting his head back over his shoulder. “It will be done.” He said as he entered the lift, the door hissing closed behind him.
Sidious glared at the closed turbolift doorway for some time, doing his best to eschew the confrontation that had taken place. Was he not as bold with his own master? Of course, he was, the same promises were made to the old Muun. Promises he did in fact follow through the completion. The promise from Vader felt like a threat to his ears and he knew it shouldn’t, it was merely the directive of a disciple of the Dark Side. Why then would it elicit something so strange to Sidious as fear? He, in fact, knew why, even before the crumbly voice broke through the fogginess in his mind, “because ‘boy.’ My promises to you were always met.” The manufactured voice of his own master thundered through the recesses of his mind. “I had given you everything Palpatine, everything. Withheld nothing.” Plagueis continued.
Sidious turned from the turbo lift to shuffle his way slowly to the view from the transparisteel once again as day was losing its battle with the encroaching night, shadows from the kilometers tall monads blanketing the vibrant city scape.
“You, on the other hand.” Plagueis’ voice began anew, “have done nothing but take everything from him.” Sidious felt as though the voice were laughing, although in memory he could never remember the Muun performing it. “He has nothing left to lose you fool. He doesn’t fear your threats thus they are empty because you can take nothing more from him.” Sidious could feel the contempt seeping through his own psyche, scalding his mind the way Mygeeto had scarred his flesh. He felt the urge to give in to the shame he had felt as an apprentice himself, wanting nothing more than to please the Muun, yet he knew he had not taken everything from his own apprentice.
“Will you do the galaxy a service and just remain dead?” Sidious spoke aloud for the first time since Vader had left the chamber.
The Muun’s laughter returned tenfold, severing Sidious’ connection with reality as his head screamed out in torment, “My boy….I only exist because you refuse to let me go. It is you that refuse me that rest.” His voice echoed painfully through his skull, slight trickles of blood running freely from Sidious’ ears. “A vengeance is forthcoming Sidious; one you cannot outrun. The Force will collect its bounty and there is nothing you can do.”
“Empty threats indeed...master.” Sidious said, defying his own impulse. Feet planted firmly on the floor despite the disorienting raucous in his mind.
“Oh…” The laughter renewed, subtle but filled with solemnity, “The Force is nature, apprentice, and nature is a serial killer.” Plagueis intoned with deliberate inflection. “You will be nothing more than a trophy for its appetite.”
Sidious let the words echo out of existence as he watched the final crest of the day’s sun fall below the horizon. The tiny form of a Lambda class shuttle bypassed the sky lanes completely as it blazed its way toward the ever night of space.
✦
Nara dared open the good eye slowly as the burning orange brilliance pierced the darkness in all directions. She spun her head slowly to view the chamber in the fresh light, identifying details she had missed thoroughly within the crimson illumination. She felt her focus involuntarily pull itself to the saber staff in her left hand, how light the item was in her grip. She couldn’t identify the housing’s alloy but shrugged off the failed inspection as the orange humming blades snapped with audible report. She passed it before her several times, feeling it take its own path through the open-air mesmerizing her senses with its hypnotic arcing melody. She could see gentle ribbons of unsettled dust drawn into the blade as she stopped her motions abruptly in front of her, the blades perpendicular to the ground at her feet. Glancing at the bottom blade she saw it was only a few centimeters from the stone floor with her grip naturally extended. She began to twirl the staff before her, working the melody of the electrical discharge to a fever pitch before stopping abruptly once again. The saber staff felt more natural to her than her original saber ever had.
Nara glanced at the still form of Zannah’ body, peaceful in its slumber. She could not register her immediate predicament through clear comprehension but did not feel the need to either. She looked around the small chamber once again as that reality began to involuntarily worm its way into the forefront of her consciousness and she brought her good eye to rest on the attempted incursion into the rock wall. She looked down to the saber in her hand and back at the wall momentarily before taking the four steps back to it and plunging the blade into the stone. Nara felt no resistance whatsoever, knowing the saber would sink in as far as she was willing to thrust it. Without thinking, she plunged the blade to its hilt and began swirling an expanding helix through the barricade. ‘Remnants will no longer be an issue.’ She thought as the slagging stone was reduced to flowing liquid under her efforts. She did discover an entirely new ‘issue’ through the process however and retrieved her arm before the skin began to blister from the intense heat. Stepping back, she examined her handiwork then herself, standing mostly naked, severely wounded, and only one good hand. Again, she looked to the cooling hole in the stone, knowing the endeavor would succeed only if she could survive the effort. Then a thought struck her, something she was hesitant to concede to but a solution, nonetheless. She spun her gaze back to Zannah’s body, eyeing the thick leather coat, the full-sleeved overshirt beneath it, the leather leggings, and tall boots. She even took in the cloth that had encapsulated the body. With reluctance she shrugged under the weight of the duty ahead of her and walked slowly to the body.
“I am sorry Zannah.” She whispered the words she knew only she could hear, before trading the body for the saber as she pulled it from the stone bier with the parts of her right hand that worked. As the body slumped to the floor she took care to rest the head gently to the ground, despite the pain shooting through her own limbs. Under the light of the saber staff above on the bier she commenced with the duty of stripping the body bare, noting how well the items fit as she put them on. She took a length of the cloth wrapping and tightly wound it around her head leaving a small opening for her left eye. She pulled on the right glove with a cracking sound that sent stabs of fiery pain up her arm, knowing she had only finished the job of breaking a bone completely. She pulled on the left glove with little effort then proceeded to tightly wrap the naked body on the floor, her foot kicking something against the wall in the process. The crystalline tinkle of resistance to rock alerted her to its location as she eyed the tiny cube’s resting form under the light of the saber staff, its geometry shimmering under the orange hue. She stepped over to grasp it with both hands as before, almost tossing it into the ceiling from her expectant efforts. The cube was weightless now she thought as she clasped her left fingers around it to keep it in her palm. ‘How?’ She thought, remembering the intense weight it had displayed earlier. Nara considered her objective, deciding to determine the impossibility of the cube’s physics when she was free of the tomb. Placing it into the pocket she returned to her efforts with Zannah’s body, finishing the tight wrapping around her head. She left a single strand that she doubled over and tied at the ends, tucking it into the crooks of the body’s elbows and slinging the remainder over her own head. Nara took a few seconds to analyze her work before deciding it wouldn’t get any better than it was currently. She turned fully toward the wall before her and began anew where she had left off. Although it was working, she felt the encumbrance of time and realized she couldn’t drag the body through the molten lines of slagged stone at her feet without consuming it in a final incendiary blaze. She backed up toward the beginning again and executed the same maneuver that had reduced the blade to a swirling blur of bright orange intensity, striking deep gouges through the stone that cooled almost instantly. She exhaled a breath as she calmed herself, forgetting the pains throughout her body, forgetting the impossibilities of her predicament, and forgetting the subtle but nagging hesitation that kept her from believing, fully, that she could succeed. In their place she inhaled the determination she knew she possessed, the will to push past her own limits and the resolve to make a liar out of that damn Iktochi. She spun the blade in her left hand as fast as she could, then pushed herself to spin it faster. She began to twirl it through a pattern of adjacent slashes, finding the effort worth it as it reduced the repeated action of her wrist keeping up with the tip of the blade in front of her. It also provided more room with which to operate as she pulled the body behind her through the smooth cooling stone beneath her.
Nara felt the gleam of positivity enhance her efforts, the workings of the Force at her disposal as it flowed freely through in and within her actions. The blade spun faster as she pushed her progress to a swift walking pace and felt the tinge of victory close at hand. A sharp ping of disturbed strata rocked through her skull, shaking her concentration momentarily. Nara was immediately aware then of the diminishing levels of breathable air, the increasingly hot stone at her sides and the encumbrance of the body she was pulling. Her mind told her those properties had always been present, she had just failed to recognize them. She closed her left eye for a second as she paused her slashing. Fortitude had brought her this far, but doubt had found its way into the process regardless. She was going to die and turn that Iktochi into a prophet after all.
“This is nonsense.” She said, the audio returning to her in odd reverberations. Another peeling crack of stone sent her to a knee as the echo in her skull threatened to implode her brain, the thundering rumble of the millions of tons of threatening stone above knocked her forward enough that she had to slam her right hand out to keep her face from smashing stone yet again. The pain of the broken fingers refreshing her hopelessness, Nara began to whimper in the solemnity of the space she had carved, feeling the weight of failure pressing in upon her from all possible angles. With tears soaking the wrapping around her eye she cast her head down, willing to accept her inevitable defeat. “Luminara.” She whimpered weakly. “Help me.” She said through choking emotion.
“Nara, I am always with you.” The soft whisper belonging to Unduli soothed her fragile sanity. “You’ve gotten yourself this far, why the doubt now?”
‘I don’t know.’ Nara thought her reply.
“Turn your gaze Nara, see how far you’ve come.” The whisper advised. Without thought Nara did, finding the carved length she had created disappear into the darkness beyond. “Your almost there Nara, use the Force.”
Nara returned to glare at the stone before her, wincing with fresh pain as she pushed herself from the hard rock at her feet, planting them wide and attempting to clear her mind.
“You will fail.” Sidious whispered.
“You’re already dead.” Vader advised.
“Accept your fate.” She told herself….no, that wasn’t her. Barriss told her.
“Your mind is too fragile.” Thana laughed.
For reasons beyond her immediate comprehension, the words of doubt began to fuel her resolve. She let them continue despite them garbling amongst themselves into a monotonous undertone of indescribable confusion. ‘Let them squabble.’ She thought over the noise in her own head. With a simple decision made she felt a renewal, a fresh burst of knowledge explode through her psyche, one that simply explained to her that she had already succeeded. Nara let the voices overlap in her mind as she began to spin the saber in her hand again, building up momentum as she squeezed her right hand beyond her threshold of pain. With a feverish shout that threatened to outdo the cracking and pinging of the stone around her she slashed with a precision and speed that felt out of place. Without thinking it through she pushed herself harder, pushed herself faster, then finally splayed the fingers of her right hand through the pain and drew upon the Force fully. It responded with an immediate grasp of her soul, charging internally as she continued to draw upon its power without reserve. Nara could sense the cooling stone at her sides flex outward in respect to the power beside them, a natural bow of regard as they prepared for their inevitable doom. She felt the surge of power threaten to tear her apart as she thrust her right hand out, focusing all the kinetic energy outward with it. The stone split before her as it parted in all directions but hers, a thunderous roar of destruction that made those earlier seem as whispers in her ears, yet she was unfazed by the aggressive onslaught. The light of day sparkled in the air above her through the remnants of stone rain bathing her surroundings with concussive force. Nara smiled inwardly as she stepped with absolute freedom of movement through the residual stone scree and pebbles that had decided not to join their arcing brethren through the morning sky above.
Nara finished marching through the crevasse and crater she had created, the body of Zannah now slung over her shoulder. As she stepped out onto the first sands and rocky crags the valley she had come to know offered, she saw her Mushi lying in wait. Nara gently placed the body on the ground as she fired a hand down toward the cat’s head, “Thank you.” She said to the animal bending forth to kiss its head, feeling it purr under her touch. Nara closed her eye and dropped to her knees before him, unwinding the cloth from her head as she blew out her exhaustion and raised a hand to wipe away the final tears she had shed. She felt the cat turn its head slightly as the sky continued to thunder with sounds of her efforts. She turned her head opening the eye to follow the cat’s movement before rising to her feet suddenly and dropping the saber to the ground. Before her was a canyon, ripped from the rock walls anew. Dust and smoke bellowing out from unseen flames at random intervals, siesmic shocks ripping down sections of newly formed wall.
Echoing booms continued to flood the valley with each section that came crashing down, sending clouds of sand, dust, and debris in every direction. Nara felt each pound her chest with a concussive force, yet her resolution kept her firmly in place, her mouth open staring with both pride and shock at what she had done.
“Welcome to your canyon, Nara of the Bendu.” Zannah’s spirit whispered between ear splitting cracks and bone shattering pings.
“I can’t believe I did that.” Nara said in return without turning, her eye still focused on falling rocks and belching dust.
“And that is why you almost failed.” Zannah replied.
“I thought I had moved past that Zannah.” Nara said, watching as the devastation continued to unfold.
“And now?”
Nara was silent for a moment as she turned slowly to face the valley extending toward lake Naath. “I have.”
“And of those that would argue the point?” Zannah asked.
“Buried.” Nara replied in earnest.
“Then you truly have been born anew Nara. You will forever be the only one capable of holding you back.”
Nara consumed the words and let them dance in her mind, understanding the importance of each syllable, basking in their truth as the last of the stone rain fell to the ground. “It almost broke me.”
“Considering your appearance, I’ll take that literally.” Zannah replied.
Nara looked down, remembering she was garbed in the spirit’s clothing, her saber lying on the ground beside her. “Sorry….oh...Sorry.” She fumbled with the words awkwardly.
“No, no Nara.” Zannah began, “They look good on you. Take up your saber and own it. They belong to you now.”
Nara felt the flush of embarrassment pass as quickly as it had assailed her, glowing from the response as she knelt to retrieve the saber hilt, she released an audible groan.
“Your hurt.” Zannah said.
Nara felt to respond with some form of wit but decided against it, “Quite, in fact.” She settled. “It will pass though. Not the first time I’ve been injured.” She finished as she heard rhythmic footfalls heading in her direction. She turned to her right to see both Quin and Eerie making their way toward her position.
“Thon.” She heard Zannah call out, as the animals neared her.
‘Thon?’ Nara questioned, wondering why she had called him as Quin slowed his canter and nuzzled her neck furiously upon approach, Eerie only two steps behind him.
“Strip.” Zannah commanded.
Fortunately, Nara had heard far stranger instructions and figured the day couldn’t get any worse anyway as she pulled the clothing from her blood stained, stone scrapped, damaged body with numerous winces and grunts of muscular protest. The two thumpers began licking at her skin, from head to toe and back again, knotting her hair with their saliva. Despite what she had been through she silently wondered if it was worth doing all over again instead of enduring what was now transpiring. Her stomach began to lurch, threatening a full upheaval of its empty contents, the tang of bile touching the back of her throat. Within seconds, however, she could feel the effects of their efforts. The swelling around her right eye diminished to the point that she could slightly open it, the bones in her right hand suddenly felt soothed and the lacerations of open wounds began to close. The pounding her head had endured since tumbling into the tomb was finally subsiding and she felt an inner warmth embrace her fully. She felt herself slipping into a partial catatonic state of bliss as Quin wrapped his jaws around her body and carefully laid her prone form across Eerie’s back. The thick fur felt magnificent, soft, and luxurious against her bare skin as the animal began to move slowly forward. Nara sensed her consciousness waver as the sum of the parts began to soothe her completely. She fluttered her eyes several times, vaguely aware of her forward progression seconds before the animal came to a halt. Nara could hear rushing water. Then Nara was cast unceremoniously into the rushing water, exsanguinating her blissful state in two seconds flat.
“Ahhhhhhh.” She screamed as the cold-water bit into every ounce of peace she had just felt. She wanted to belt out further protest but realized she had normal function in every extremity. The pain in her head was gone, her right hand was no longer broken, her eyes focusing in unison and the lacerations closed. Each had a protuberance of a scar it seemed as she inspected her injuries, but she didn’t care, realizing then that she had come full circle.