Ascension/Part 3

"We'll stop here for tonight," Darth Alecto called from below, and Nevya Khiyali looked down on the rocks to see how many of her master's new minions could still hear her.

They had stopped, as she and Darth Alecto had agreed, in the midst of a range of rock hills like miniature mountains, one- and two-hundred-meter slopes and screes dominated by jagged rock faces and spurs of stone, bracketing valleys covered with gravel, detritus, and the occasional boulder. As far as the eye could see, the bare, broken rock was marred only by patches of lichen leeched of their color in the darkness. The four-armed lupine creature, Zurgharjhen, was the closest, and the feline Trianii, the skeletal Zanibar, and Rogu were within a hundred meters. The rest were strewn over a kilometer back; the moon hid behind the clouds, but Nevya thought she saw the plant girl and the Phindian bringing up the rear. All of them bore cuts and bruises from the last hour among the rocks, and a few were still dripping from the river an hour before that, or had pine needles in their hair or fur from the forest in the hours before that…

Nevya picked her way down the slope as Darth Alecto added, "You can sleep here until I wake you in the morning. Tell the others."

"What about food, Master?" asked Fruuna, the Trianii.

"We'll hunt in the morning."

Nevya skipped down off a spit of rock and landed at her master's side. "I suppose that doesn't include me…"

The remark drew a laugh from Darth Alecto, as she had hoped it would. "I still need them all. Besides, I don't want to become Vandak."

"Vandak never shared his failures with us," Nevya groused. "He kept them all for himself, so he would be that much stronger."

"For all the good it did him, in the end," Darth Alecto offered. "The Titan of Anzat, slain by a pair of furball Jedi Padawans."

Nevya couldn't help smiling at the image, and Darth Alecto smirked back before she crossed her arms and looked down on her minions below. The stragglers were starting to creep into the jagged valley, many of them leaning hard on rock faces when they came to a halt. Nevya paced her own breathing, determined not to appear weak, but it required little effort; Anzati were hardier than most other sentients. Darth Alecto appeared unfazed as well, though she had a shallow scrape on one arm.

"What do you think of them?" Darth Alecto asked in slow but correct Anzat.

"Some of them have potential," Nevya answered at once; her master valued candor far more than Azeroth had, and demanded it from Nevya in particular. "The Clawdite and the Zanibar, and Rogu, of course. But the Irrukiine is dangerous; he doesn't respect you, and that disrespect may become disobedience or treachery.  And the Human-ish ones seem useless—the Korriban alumnus and the little boy from Jaguada.  The plant girl seems weak too."

"Do not count her out yet," Darth Alecto mused; she had learned more Anzat in a year than Nevya would have expected of an outsider, but contractions still eluded her. "A telepathic gift like that can answer for many weaknesses. Imagine one of the first-level brethren with the power to read and cloud minds."

All Anzati had some ability to cloud their victims' minds to begin with, but Nevya took the point in the spirit in which it was intended and nodded. "But the Irrukiine…if you wish, he could have an accident while hunting in the morning. Your hand would be invisible in it."

Darth Alecto shook her head. "Too soon. He may have potential yet.  His former master was an…an…"

She frowned and switched to Basic to ask, "'Idiot'?"

"Tazneish," Nevya supplied. "It's like 'fool', but with more derision."

"Tazneish. I'll remember that; I have a feeling I'll get some distance out of it," Darth Alecto said with a smirk, then continued in Anzat, "His former master was an idiot.  Once he gets out of that mindset, he may be salvageable."

Nevya disagreed, but she kept silent; she had raised her concerns, and the Irrukiine was not such a pressing threat that she was obliged to push her master on the subject. When she continued to frown, though, Darth Alecto asked, "What is it, Nevya?"

"These people come from throughout the Sith Empire, yes? Dispatched to you from many sources?"

"Yes."

"Master…is it possible they hope you will not succeed with them?"

Darth Alecto's eyes narrowed. "Explain."

Nevya gestured down into the valley. "They send you children, spies, survivors of beaten armies and vanquished lords…to say nothing of what even you have speculated about Rogu…"

Darth Alecto evaluated her for a long moment, and Nevya held herself steady and impassive with effort. The closer she grew in her master's confidence, the more she came to understand just how rare her position was—the right hand of a Sith Lord but not, herself, a Sith, or even a Force user. Of course, the Anzati were ancient when the Sith were young, but Nevya was not alive back then, and she sometimes felt out of her depth speaking to Sith business, as Darth Alecto not infrequently called her to do.

"It is not impossible," Darth Alecto conceded, "but I was not lying to boost their confidence before—I trust you know that is not me. They will not all serve the same purpose, but that does not make them useless.  That is why these next days are crucial.  I need to understand their capabilities, and how they react to different situations."

Nevya bowed her head, and as Darth Alecto looked back at her minions, she took the ensuing silence to check her comlink and discovered she had missed a vibration on the run. Decrypting the message took a moment, and when it was done she found Darth Alecto studying her.

"Word from Ikkyn," Nevya said. "The message has been delivered."

Darth Alecto nodded slowly, then turned her face toward the sky, though the thick clouds overhead concealed the stars. "And now it is a waiting game."

Covering a yawn, she added in Basic, "Speaking of waiting, take first watch while I sleep. Wake me when it's time."

"As you wish, Master."

Darth Alecto settled right onto the scree, kicking a few loose rocks away and wiggling her hips to dig herself a bit into the gravel. As the Sith Lord laced her arms together to form a pillow, Nevya felt a drop on her head and held out a hand. A few more raindrops splattered against her palm, and Darth Alecto gave a sleepy chuckle from the ground.

"If I start to drown in my sleep, kick me."

"Yes, Master."

Nevya sat on a rocky outcropping a few meters away from her master—a spot with a commanding view of the valley below but line of sight to the ridges above, too. She watched the would-be Sith sorting themselves out. Zurgharjhen shoved at an outcropping, and when it did not collapse under his four-armed pressure, he huddled under it, arms wrapped around his bare torso to conserve heat. The Clawdite reverted to his natural reptilian form—for the tougher hide, Nevya suspected—and took off his shirt, laying it over his head as he settled onto the ground. Fruuna, the feline Trianii, climbed up to the top of a ridge, surveying the area several times before she was satisfied enough to curl up there. As most of the others tried to find spots out of the mounting drizzle, Nevya saw the two Human-like recruits and the plant girl conferring. She monitored all her master's charges, but kept coming back to the trio long after the plant girl had ceased gathering the rain into her open mouth and laid down to sleep, leaving only Crile Craetor awake.

Hours later, as the rain continued, a thoroughly-drenched Nevya saw shadows moving atop the ridges—humanoid shapes creeping into the rock valley. She slipped across the scree and prodded Darth Alecto, whose eyes snapped open at once. Darth Alecto blinked the rainwater out of her eyes, then nodded and rolled silently to her feet.

"The plant girl is awake," Nevya breathed.

Darth Alecto looked down that way, then shrugged. "To her credit."

She studied the valley a moment, raised a hand, and snapped it down. The shadowy figures flitted down upon the sleeping Sith, drawing out single- and double-shafted electrostaves. At a signal Nevya suspected even Darth Alecto could not see, the Anzati activated their weapons and moved in to strike; at the same time the plant girl threw herself on Crile and Nillan, yelling at them urgently.

Zurgharjhen woke before he was struck, using a Force push to repel the first Anzat coming for him and surging out of his alcove before any of the others could touch him. Megaera, Crile, and Nillan all managed to evade the first attacks, though they made no effort to counterattack and just scrambled for space. Every other Sith woke in pain, roaring or screaming as electricity wrenched him or her back to consciousness, their damp bodies providing extra conduction. The Anzati attacked without remorse, slashing those scampering over the ground before they could get to their feet and striking from all directions.

Darth Alecto joined Nevya on her rock spur, watching the proceedings with a thoughtful expression. Only when Zurgharjhen levitated an Anzat with the Force, and the brother clawed at his chest and gasped in pain, did Darth Alecto finally intervene. She pointed, and Zurgharjhen lurched back, dropping his Forceful hold and patting his face as if it had been burned.

"Vatathnye, shagzabn!" Darth Alecto called.

The Anzati stopped their attacks, powered down their weapons, and stood like statues wherever they found themselves, a few adjusting their weight so as not to fall down the steep slopes. Some of the Sith had found their feet and more than one lurched to a halt mid-attack; though she lacked her master's Force empathy, Nevya could tell that the Sith were moving past fear to anger and wanted to retaliate, and that only a sense that Darth Alecto was in control of the situation held them at bay.

It appeared that Darth Alecto had come to the same conclusion, for she skipped down the rocks into the valley. Nevya followed, a hand on her sheathed short sword; she could feel the hostility behind the eyes on her.

Darth Alecto stopped, wearing a curious expression, and began pointing out her minions. "Eight, nine, ten…we're missing one. Oh, why of course.  Very clever, Dolre."

Nevya followed her gaze to an Anzat in tattered clothing. When the man stood, Nevya realized she he was unknown to her, nor had she ever seen a brother or sister wear attire like that; a few seconds later, the pale gray face, broad nose, and short hair gave way to the reptilian Clawdite. "Thank you, Master."

"Zurgharjhen, any burns?"

The four-armed brute's brown body stood out against the rocks even in the dark. "No."

"No Master," Darth Alecto corrected, her tone suddenly sharper. Nevya loosened her sword in its sheath.

There was a pause, but Zurgharjhen growled, "No, Master."

"Megaera," Darth Alecto called, shielding her eyes from the rain with one hand. "Couldn't sleep?"

"We set up a watch, Master," the sentient plant replied. Smart as the tactic was, Nevya could not get past the idea of sticking her in a corner and rotating her toward the light throughout the day.

"Your idea?"

Megaera looked at the Jaguadan boy. "Nillan's, Master."

"Part of Jaguada's military mindset, Nillan?"

"One of the first things they teach us, Master," Nillan said. "Never sleep without a watch."

"A pity our other training worlds didn't think to mention it." Darth Alecto looked back at the plant. "Megaera, did you feel the Anzati coming, or could you just read their thoughts when they got close enough?"

"A…bit of both, Master?"

"Whatever gets the job done," Darth Alecto said, but she dropped her voice and switched to Anzat to add, "Take note of that."

Nevya had, with disquiet. She had not failed to notice that the plant girl had no burns despite being the youngest present and having wasted time waking the two males. While Nevya had not watched her fighter in particular and could not dismiss the idea that she had heretofore unimagined combat skills, it seemed likelier the girl had used her telepathic powers to cloud the minds of her attackers, and anyone who could throw off trained Anzat killers like that needed to be monitored.

Darth Alecto had moved on. "Caught you napping, Zeff?"

Once she listened for it, Nevya could hear the faint plink-plink-plinks of raindrops on Zeff's helmet. "For a moment, Master."

The Ubese had an electrostaff in each hand, but none of the four Anzati surrounding him appeared to be harmed, though two of them were empty-handed. Nevya called in Anzat, "What happened?"

"His armor insulated him, Lady Khiyali," Rhyna answered. "Once he was awake he disarmed Rosyit and Dissaerae, but he recognized us and didn't attack."

Darth Alecto was looking at her, so Nevya repeated it more slowly. When she was done, Darth Alecto nodded, then reverted to Basic. "You understood what was happening when you got a look at them, Zeff?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good; the ability to analyze quickly in combat is important. But the ability to wake in the presence of danger is the difference between life and death.  Fix it."

"Yes, Master."

The others had come through the ambush with varying numbers of burns, and Darth Alecto gave them no specific commentary, though she eyed each one in turn to make the omission a point in itself. When she completed her survey, she said, "That's it. We have an early morning, get back to sleep…or don't."

Smirking to herself, she added in Anzat, "Thank you, brethren. Return to base."

Acknowledgments followed Darth Alecto and Nevya as they struggled back up the rain-slicked rocks. Stretching her neck, Darth Alecto said, "Well, that was diverting. Get some sleep, Nevya, I'll wake you in the morning."

But Nevya did not sleep. Instead, she sat down next to Darth Alecto and said in Basic, "May we speak first, Master."

The choice wasn't lost on Darth Alecto, and Nevya saw her eyes narrow in the dark. But she nodded. "We may. What is it?"

"The Abattoir, Master. We had discussed—"

Darth Alecto rolled her head back, staring at the clouded sky and loosing a sigh that was half a growl. "Haaaaaa. Nevya…"

"I'm past a century, Master," she pressed resolutely. "I have the right."

The Brotherhood's ranks were determined by the level at which each brother or sister had given up in the Abattoir—on which of the seven levels they had chosen to return to the Temple of Shadows rather than continue on. Darth Alecto, and Darth Vandak before her, had not yielded, passing instead through the Heart of the Abattoir and chosen by whatever lay in those untold depths, and so their rule over the Brotherhood was absolute. Between Vandak's fall into madness and Darth Alecto's rise, Azeroth had ruled by virtue of being the only brother to have triumphed over the sixth level. Nevya had obeyed all three faithfully, for all that was in accord with the Brotherhood's most ancient laws.

But when Darth Alecto had taken her seat on the throne that had once been Vandak's, she had chosen as her second-in-command not Qritzel Sheol—the aged master assassin who was the only one among the living brethren to have passed the fifth level—nor Katrijan Naveskatski, who had passed the fourth level. She had chosen Nevya instead—Nevya, who also had passed the fourth level, but both was younger than Katrijan and had served in the Brotherhood fewer years. The logic was inescapable—Qritzel had declined the job, and Katrijan had been the closest thing Azeroth had to a friend and confidante—but the defiance of tradition gnawed at some brothers' and sisters' minds. And Nevya had learned through painful experience that, when Darth Alecto was not there to command their obedience in person, Nevya could only stretch her shadow so far.

"You serve me, do you not?" Darth Alecto demanded. "I've made you my second, isn't that enough for you?"

"Of course, Master, but the brethren will hear my words more clearly in your absence if I have my own authority, not just what I borrow from you."

"I'm the Master of the Brotherhood," Darth Alecto snapped. "And I command them to obey you. If that isn't enough for someone, let him say it to my face."

"Let me re-try the Abattoir and avoid the need, Master."

A sister's passage through the Abattoir—or lack thereof—determined her rank, but there was a catch: once a century, a member of the Brotherhood could re-enter the Abattoir, dare its perils a second time and try for a higher rank. Many dared not—most were content with membership in the Brotherhood without competing for command, and few, having survived the horrors that nature and their ancestors had wrought, wished to risk their lives or sanity a second time. But knowing Qritzel should have been the second and dealing with Katrijan's specious obedience was becoming taxing, and Nevya could serve her master best with her own authority to silence the whispers in the ranks.

"Is this all to serve me, Lady Khiyali?" Darth Alecto asked. "Or are you simply planning for a future without me?"

Nevya controlled her face so no fear would show; she had her master's trust, but she understood how dangerous her master could be if she wished, even if the adepts on the rocks below did not, and that they were master and servant, not equals. "Without you I have nothing, Master," she admitted slowly. "And I have longevity you lack; I will serve the Brotherhood long after you are gone. But you have my loyalty, absolutely and without question, now and always."

Darth Alecto was silent for a moment, but Nevya saw the hardness around her eyes relax and knew she had chosen correctly. Darth Alecto valued candor.

"I'll consider it," she said at last. "And now, my lady, get some sleep."

"Thank you, Master," Nevya said. She lay on her flat rock, long hair pulled over her eyes to keep the rain out of them, and fell asleep to uneasy dreams of herself and Darth Alecto struggling through a swamp while the tentacles of eleven hungry sarlaccs reached out to them from the muck, lashing at their ankles and trying to drag them under.