Loyalty/Part 9

Darth Alecto watched the glimmer of her ship's engine drive fading into the sky, and the adepts watched Darth Alecto. Most days, her thoughts were inscrutable, but once in a long while, Megaera could catch flashes—more insights than images or words, and scattered ones at that—and now was one of those times. A sliver of not sure that could have been worry, distrust…even fear, if Darth Alecto had been capable of that emotion. A touch of heat that closed the petals of two flowers near Megaera's left eye…that could have been anything from poorly-concealed mild annoyance to almost-covered blinding rage. Megaera would've given a lot for a real insight into her master's mind, but in her two months on Lisal, she'd never gotten more than these flashes.

Her fellow adepts, on the other hand, weren't hard to read, though at the moment it helped that they were all thinking seven variations of the same thing: Why?

Darth Alecto turned, and her violet eyes raced over them. Was it Megaera's imagination, or did that cool gaze linger on her just a little longer?

"Come with me."

Some thoughts resolved as they fell into a gaggle behind Darth Alecto and followed her through the construction site. Zurgharjhen was getting past bafflement and making his way around to annoyance again; he should have been chosen in the first place, but if Darth Alecto would absent herself, why send the Anzat instead? Varriben was excited by the prospect of learning something secret—something so important Darth Alecto had opted to stay on Lisal to share it with them. Crile was baffled, but in that confident way of his—as if no challenge that could present itself would be equal to his Korriban training, as long as he focused hard enough. Little Rewz and Fruuna were tense, Rewz's reptilian brain and Fruuna's feline instincts telling them the same thing—greater danger, as yet unknown.

Lukurt…Megaera had trouble with Lukurt sometimes, too. Not like Dolre, whose mind was almost as fluid as his body, nor like Darth Alecto, who was a blank slate in the Force. Lukurt's mind buzzed with activity, but it was activity so humdrum and monotonous that Megaera felt like she could fall asleep listening to it. He recited old stories, thought about the enjoyment of certain battles, ran through technical specifications, worked through complex hypothetical conversations on boring subjects…Megaera's mind automatically drifted away from his.

Nillan appeared at her side and whispered, "What do you think?"

What does she think? Nillan was the opposite of Lukurt and Darth Alecto; even without knowing him, Megaera had gotten his thoughts loud and clear from the first day. If anything, she had gotten more attuned to him in the time since. Years on Dromund Kaas had taught Megaera that Sith could never have real friends—her last master had seen to it that any friendships that formed never lasted—but to the extent that she could have a friend, Nillan was her best one, and from time to time she considered working with him to shore up his mental defenses.

She always hesitated, though. Eweyni had been her closest friend on Dromund Kaas, right up until she had tried to stop Megaera from escaping—nothing ended a friendship quite like a lightsaber to the face. There was always the possibility Darth Alecto's experiment would fail, and someday she would have to defend herself against Nillan or any of the others. She knew she wasn't the fastest or the most skillful, and she'd never be the strongest, so she had to hang on to any advantage she had.

Besides, sometimes Nillan had thoughts that made the flowers around her face bloom, and she enjoyed comparing his fantasies to hers to see how they matched up.

She shook her head. "Why wait until the last second to tell us?"

Maybe she doesn't trust us, he thought. Or maybe she doesn't trust them. ''No, she trusts Lady Khiyali, at least. Maybe it's not important enough for her to go? But then, why was she planning to go in the first place?''

"I dunno."

Trying and failing to contain a smirk, Megaera bumped him with the shoulder Zurgharjhen had broken in their first days on Lisal. Bacta was not the miracle liquid for the Sylphe that it was for other species, but it had still sped up her healing, and plenty of sunlight and fresh water had gotten her sorted out quickly. In all, she thought she had gotten the sunnier side of the garden on that whole transaction; the finger Darth Alecto had severed from Zurgharjhen's hand would not grow back. Every once in a while, she sensed his toxic thoughts in her direction—usually while sparring, since he had to adjust his technique—but most of the time he both treated her and thought of her as beneath his notice.

The touch of her shoulder sent his imagination spinning off, but he refocused before he could really get going, and Megaera saw why. Waving construction droids out of her way, Darth Alecto led them down into the underground sections of her fortress, where no one but Lady Khiyali and Darth Alecto herself had yet been permitted to go. A buzz went through the minds around her; she even felt Lukurt's surprise. Some of them suspected a trap, while others imagined they were about to be entrusted with some special responsibility, but no one hesitated to follow.

The construction droids had hewn rough steps into the dirt and stone, and pressed sheets of metal against the walls to hide the soil layers. Megaera wrinkled her nose; being inside never felt comfortable on the best days, but it was always worse when people insisted on cutting out anything that might even remind them of nature. She didn't bother trying to reach into the minds around her; even if the other adepts wouldn't have resented the intrusion, there wasn't much to see in the winding passages beyond dull metal and mining lights…until Darth Alecto led them to the hall.

When it was finished, Megaera thought, this would be Darth Alecto's throne room. It had to be at least a third the length of the plateau, and probably half as wide. Some earth smell remained, but mostly it smelled like metal shavings and duracrete. Construction droids were still at work, though they powered down with a wave of Darth Alecto's hand. In the sudden silence, the shadows of their frozen shells in the amber mining light stretched across the room, and Megaera felt some of the petals around her cheeks closings; it looked like the antechamber to the Seedless Waste of her people's ancient mythology. She hoped it would be better lit when it was done, but knowing her master, she couldn't be sure.

"Sit," Darth Alecto commanded, turning to face them. Hopping up onto a crate her own height and sitting where she could see them all, she said, "You're curious, and understandably so. Sometimes I'm going to do things you won't understand, and you'll just have to live with your curiosity.  But this time you need to know, because all the training you've been going through this last month hasn't just been for the strike team."

Megaera could feel the excitement around her, but she had trouble joining in. The mission to Commenor had come down from the Council of Five themselves; what could possibly be so terrible that it was worthier of Darth Alecto's time?

"I think you all remember, the second day you were here, we got some visitors from offworld."

Nillan, Crile, Fruuna, and Rewz all looked at her, and Megaera was pretty sure it wasn't just their great memories. Was her sudden fear on her face, or just so loud in her mind that her telepathy was working the other way for a change?

Darth Alecto looked at her too; one of the lights shadowed most of her face, but another caught her eyes at an angle and made them gleam in a way that sent chills down Megaera's spine. "As it turns out, Lady Basrasht didn't take that too well. Somehow, she's learned about Commenor, too, so she's coming here in what she thinks is my absence—"

Megaera's fear spiked to terror, sending her hemochlorophyll racing through her veins and wilting all the flowers on her head. No…

"—to pluck a flower from my little garden…"

No, no, not here, she can't be, I got away, I was safe here…

"Oh, and to kill all of you, too," Darth Alecto added as an afterthought.

Rewz hissed. "What did we do?!"

Darth Alecto shrugged. "You serve me. Taking Megaera back and torturing her was the goal last time; killing all of you is to punish me for there being a second time."

Zurgharjhen growled as the Kubaz, Varriben, squeaked, "But…but the Council's law—"

"—protects me, not you," said Darth Alecto. "Lady Basrasht can't kill me, nor I her. But there's no law to stop her slaughtering all of you, and she thinks I'm not going to be here to get in her way."

"Would the Council or Darth Hokhtan tolerate this insult, Master?" Lukurt growled.

"They might, or they might not," Darth Alecto answered. "But if I had to guess, I'd bet she's counting on me not telling them. Imagine you're the Sith Overlord, Lukurt, and one of your lords comes to you to tell you another anointed Sith Lord just wiped out all her disciples, and she had no idea it was coming and did nothing to prevent it.  What do you think, Lord Kreen—how much faith are you going to have in that lord going forward?"

Lukurt half-smiled—the part of Megaera's mind that wasn't paralyzed with fear suspected he liked the sound of Lord Kreen—but he nodded. "I understand, Master. But you are here."

"And Lady Basrasht doesn't know that…which gives us the chance to turn the tables."

Crile Craetor stood. "So we fight, then, right? We fight to protect one of our own.  And ourselves, of course."

The lethal frost spreading through Megaera's guts warmed just a little. Nillan nodded, and Megaera sensed him gathering his courage to seize an opportunity before he put a hand on her shoulder and called, "Yeah. If she's coming for one of us, she's gotta go through all of us."

The others were less enthusiastic—they would fight in self-preservation, Megaera thought, but none of them were likely to go to blades for her alone. She was stunned, then, when Zurgharjhen got to his feet, which was a lot more impressive than when Crile did it—Zurgharjhen looked like a monster even without the deep shadows and eerie light. Baring his fangs, he snarled, "If those Sith Acolytes would kill me, let them try. I'll bring you their bones, Master!"

Megaera realized Zurgharjhen didn't care about her either—he was just overjoyed to be allowed to fight somebody.

"Megaera." Darth Alecto's voice caught her attention and refused to let it go. "Whose bones will Zurgharjhen be bringing me?"

"M-Master?"

"Basrasht," she said more sharply. "Who's in her service? Tell us about the threat we're facing."

"Er…well, she has…she has three Acolytes." Megaera remembered, hating them all and how they had made her fear them. "You met two of them—Azeykus Nonzi and Neun-Jai Vertec. They're more…I guess 'physical'?  Marauder types.  Caiacan Duliys—she's the third one—she's more like Lady Basrasht."

"How so?" Lukurt asked.

"Lady Basrasht likes to fight from more of a distance. She uses a lot of Sith sorcery, and fighting with the Force.  I think she knows some alchemy too; I heard her mention Kai Latra sometimes, and isn't he…?"

"Lord Latra," Darth Alecto corrected, but without any lash on her tongue. Megaera didn't know what to make of her master's suddenly in-turned expression, but Darth Alecto shook it off quickly. "And adepts?"

Megaera tried to remember the cavalcade of faces over the years. "It changes. A couple she might raise to Acolytes, but most she keeps just to…to use, and use up.  Azeykus was the last adept to become an Acolyte, and that was…I hadn't been there long, so it must've been at least four years ago."

"How many?" asked Fruuna.

"That changes too. Never less than six or seven, but I don't think ever more than ten."

"Thirteen adepts and Acolytes, plus a Sith Lord?" Crile said. He looked less optimistic now.

"If you're worthy of becoming Sith someday, numbers are meaningless." Darth Alecto said. "And if some scared, second-string cannon fodder with lightsabers can bring you down, then you deserve to die. But if she hasn't invested any training in them, then you all have the advantage.  And you don't have to worry about Basrasht; I'll deal with her."

Megaera sensed Crile working very hard to keep his face clear of emotion. "Are…you going to kill her, Master?"

Megaera hoped so…and yet, in a way, she didn't. She wanted Basrasht gone; she wanted the pall lifted off her for good and all. If that meant breaking rules, laws, or the fundamental principles that bound the universe together, fine. Megaera had broken some rules just getting to Lisal; she wasn't going to stop anybody else. But at the same time, without the sanction of an Overlord or the excuse of self-defense, Darth Alecto couldn't kill Basrasht without earning the Council's death mark herself. If it came down to it and Megaera had to choose, she would let Darth Alecto die to save her, but if there was any other way, no matter how risky, she'd try it instead.

…she would let Darth Alecto die for her, wouldn't she?

"No," Darth Alecto said. "Darth Saleej told me often that 'the Council's way is the only way', and he was right. Without the law, we'll fall into the same infighting that's wrecked the Sith a dozen times in the past—half of them in these wars alone.  We can't let that happen, especially not now, when the Core is finally in sight.

"But if I can't kill Basrasht, she can't kill me either. I'll get in her way and keep her busy while the seven of you deal with her minions.  Then, once they're all dead, Lady Basrasht can go crawling back to Lord Oruval to beg for more disciples—if she even has the courage to tell him what happened," Darth Alecto said with a glance at Lukurt. Surveying them all in the darkness, her face turned darker still. "And she can tell any other Sith who thinks she can come to my world what happens to those who threaten me—or mine."

Megaera got another rare burst of insight. Mine was possessive—a predator defending her territory—but protective too, and proud in a way. Though she had worked harder the last two months than she ever had before, Megaera thanked the dark side for liberating her from Dromund Kass and seeing her safe to Lisal and Darth Alecto. The Force shall free me.

Nillan's head swiveled left and right, and Megaera sensed him counting. "There are eight of us, Master."

"Basrasht is coming here for Megaera—if she's with you, you might have Basrasht to contend with, and that complicates things. No, seven will have to be enough." Megaera felt her master's gaze more than she saw it. "I have something special in mind for you, Little Flower."