Loyalty/Part 8

Zeff reached for his helmet, but no sooner had he taken the hard metal in hand than he looked at Nevya, threw it aside, and slammed her into the wall. She caught his jaw with one hand, black eyes flashing in the subdued lights, but her other hand seized the back of his breastplate while she hooked one of her legs around his hip, and after a second she pulled his mouth to hers with almost brutal intensity. He clawed his fingers down her back until she hissed against his lips, then pressed his hands to her face as he kissed her. She took sharp, deep breaths through her nose—far more than necessary for a woman who did not need to breathe—and Zeff felt her cheeks quivering against his palms. So close to his Force powers, but checked from tasting them, she moaned against his lips, and Zeff pressed his body to hers…

She struck his chest with both hands, and their lips popped as they exploded apart. His armor made the blow little more than a thump, but it still propelled him off his feet and back onto his bed; he bounced on the mattress and almost fell to the floor.

Propping himself up on one elbow, he grinned. "If you wanted me back here, all you had to—"

"She's waiting for you," Nevya rasped, her fingers curling into claws.

"When I get back?" he pressed. Without his helmet's vocoder, his voice was nothing more than a whisper even in this replica of his native environment, but he knew her sharp ears wouldn't miss it.

Her eyes raked his body hungrily, and though she didn't reply, he thought at least some of that hunger was the kind he was looking for. She slipped one bare foot under his fallen helmet, kicked it up into her hands, and tossed it to him. She had left her bandolier of throwing knives at the foot of the bed, so he picked it up to return the favor. One knife had come loose in its sheath, and Zeff slid it back in, careful not to touch the blade. Putting on her boots and weapons as he sealed his gloves around his wrists, she led the way out through the airlock. Zeff slipped on his goggles, donned and sealed his helmet, and pulled his lightsaber to his grip with the Force. Fully armed and secure against the oxygen-bloated atmosphere beyond, he grabbed his pack and followed Nevya out onto Lisal.

To Zeff's surprise, Darth Alecto had assembled all the adepts. Perhaps she planned to give them some final instructions, but Zeff wasn't sure it was wise to give an official announcement the second they were no longer being observed. Nevya would be here, at least; Zeff hoped Zurgharjhen didn't give her any trouble. Convalescing from any wounds he dealt her would doubtless delay their pleasurable reunion, and Zeff thought Darth Alecto would insist on skinning the Irrukiine wolfman herself rather than giving him the pleasure.

Shrizzzqadl carried a bell in one hand and a prayer wheel in the other, and wore purple and gold mystic's robes marked with strange sigils to conceal his snug bodysuit and weapons; he and Darth Alecto had concluded that, since there was no way he would not be noticed among Humans and similar species, it was best to take refuge in audacity rather than try to blend in. Dolre, by contrast, looked so unremarkably Human Zeff almost overlooked him even in a crowd of a dozen. Darth Alecto wore black fighting attire, which struck Zeff as another odd choice. Then again, the Scourge was her ship, and he knew she kept all manner of disguise and clothing aboard.

"Good," she said when she saw him. "Now then, you understand the plan?"

Zeff frowned. He understood the plan perfectly, but why would she choose to go over it with the adepts waiting, when they could easily discuss it on Commenor? Just to taunt the adepts who hadn't been chosen with the fact they were stuck on Lisal? It had a certain Sith appeal to it, he supposed, but it wasn't really her style…

"Yes Master," Shrizzzqadl hissed.

"Yes Master," Dolre echoed; his adopted Human voice was deeper than his natural one.

"Yes Master." Unfailing as ever, Zeff's vocoder caught his whispers and projected them to the world at full volume, though it made him sound like a droid.

Nevya added something in Anzat that Zeff couldn't translate; even when they found time for sentences longer than "Yes, like that" and "Wrong kind of pain!", Nevya had refused to teach him any of her harsh native tongue. It was annoying, but it fit the pattern. He had never given more than idle thought to joining the Brotherhood of Shadows himself, but whenever conversation with Nevya or Darth Alecto had so much as meandered that way, they had made plain that the door was closed.

"Show the Jedi no mercy, but remember what your mission is—and what it isn't," Darth Alecto continued. Zeff could see in the faces around him he was no longer the only one confused. "Return in success or not at all."

Then Nevya drew her short sword, knelt at Darth Alecto's feet, and held the blade out on her hands as she spoke in Anzat. Darth Alecto laid a hand on her head and replied in the same language, and at last Zeff understood.

As Nevya rose and sheathed her sword, Darth Alecto said, "A change of plans. Nevya will go to Commenor in my place."

Several of the Sith voiced their confusion and surprise in tones too low to make out, and they all felt of blank, baffled astonishment in the Force; it took Zeff a moment to put the lid back on his own emotions. Shrizzzqadl twitched in agitation, and his bell tinkled; it would have been comical under any other circumstances. Dolre was the first to articulate words, albeit few and non-sequential words. "But…Master…why…how…?"

"Nothing's changed but one element of the team," Darth Alecto said briskly. "Take the Scourge to Commenor, kill the targets, and deal with the Jedi as needed. Nevya has command of the mission—obey her as you would me."

"But the targets?" asked Shrizzzqadl.

"Nevya knows them, and she has holos of all of them."

Zeff was moving past bewilderment to annoyance. Darth Alecto had trusted her senior Anzat with the details of a Sith mission, but not her senior Sith? Had he not secured her trust in the month since the adepts had arrived? Had he failed in any way to follow her commands?

Darth Alecto waved a hand. "Go. May the Force serve you well."

Nevya started toward the Scourge without a backward glance. Shrizzzqadl was the first to unfreeze, and his long strides caught him up to Nevya in seconds. Dolre hesitated, but when Darth Alecto looked at him, he darted in pursuit. Soon Zeff was alone among the adepts.

"A problem, Zeff?"

Shaking his helmeted head, Zeff said, "Master, why—"

"I have my reasons. Go."

What are they? he wanted to demand, but Zeff saw danger in her narrowing violet eyes. Could she sense his obstinacy? He worked to freeze his emotions over, but even as he started the exercise, he remembered Megaera and saw her only a few meters from Darth Alecto, watching the whole situation unfold, her floral green eyes wide and wary. He did not know whether she could project her thoughts into others' heads, but the last thing he needed was a telepathic tattletale…

"Now."

Gritting his teeth, Zeff bowed and jogged after Nevya and the others. Dolre and Shrizzzqadl stared around the Scourge ' s hold, but though Zeff sensed their interest, they stood so immobile that he was sure Nevya had commanded them not to touch anything. He had traveled aboard his master's ship a few times, so he tossed his bag on a spare bunk and went to the cockpit only to find Nevya had sealed the door against him. Galled anew, he leaned against a bulkhead as the ship knifed through the atmosphere and lurched into hyperspace.

Part of him wondered if Nevya would remain in the cockpit as a gesture of superiority, but she emerged a moment later, her hair tied up and out of the way. Without preamble or any sign of acknowledgment to Zeff, she launched into the details Darth Alecto had kept from them. Zeff listened to her describe the Commenori Economic Roundtable and the list of delegates, then looked at the holo her imagecaster produced.

"These are the primary targets," she said. "Satir and Galera Solo."

Committing their faces to memory, he asked, "So the Forceless bodyguards…CorSec?"

Nevya nodded. "Somehow the Republic talked Corellia into using its own Jedi, not theirs, but Corellia would not hand over all responsibilities. You're familiar with Corellia?"

"I used to serve in Lady Gasald's domain, remember?"

Corellia was the grand prize at the end of the hyperlane. All the Sith Lords had made their Acolytes learn about Corellia; Zeff was not sure how many of them thought they would take it in this lifetime, but it would have made them look good in front of Lady Gasald if she ever condescended to ask. After Eriadu, though, maybe it would really happen…

Was that the goal—destabilize and demoralize Corellia from one side to weaken the target for Gasald's onslaught? Such an order could only have come from the Council of Five, Zeff thought; Darth Alecto had been honest about that much. Darth Hokhtan would never do Lady Gasald such a favor, especially not after her triumph at Eriadu; she hardly seemed to need the help.

"These CorSec," Nevya said, refocusing him. "I have not faced them before. Are you familiar with their capabilities?"

Zeff shrugged. "They're law enforcement. Some more talented than others; they have tactical teams, but mostly built around police actions and smuggling interdiction.  They're not soldiers, and they'll be no match for us.  And they're Forceless; if any of them could be Jedi, either the Order or the Corellian Jedi would've claimed them."

"I am 'Forceless'," Nevya said. "Could I be a match for you?"

Suddenly conscious of Shrizzzqadl and Dolre watching him, Zeff did not back down, but he chose his words carefully. "You might not be strong enough in the Force to become a Sith, but all Anzati have Forceful gifts these CorSec will lack. I've seen the lightsabers hanging over the fire in the Temple of Shadows—how many did you put there?"

Nevya's eyes darted to the adepts, and Zeff knew he had succeeded in forcing her back on defense; Zeff might not be allowed to join the Brotherhood, but both Darth Alecto and the Anzati kept even the details he had seen on Anzat from the adepts. "More than one. I doubt they would be a threat to me either, but we must act with discretion.  Commenori law enforcement, perhaps even the local Republic Army garrison will respond if we're incautious in executing this mission."

Shrizzzqadl crossed his lanky arms. "So? We jam communications, kill the Jedi, and wipe out these negotiators."

"The Jedi are not the targets," Nevya reminded him.

Shrizzzqadl hissed through his teeth. "These Solos are royalty, aren't they? And the others are important to the Corellians.  If the Republic's picked up security, they can't afford to fail.  The Jedi will be close."

"If there are three Jedi, and only four of us…" Zeff started.

Nevya flicked a hand. "It's better this way. I can smell all your luck already; more of you and even the Jedi would sense you.  They'll find my presence harder to pin down, so that works to our advantage.  And since we have one to spare, I have a plan."

Zeff did not know whether he and Nevya had spent enough time together that they understood one another's thoughts well enough, or if the Force nudged them all toward realization, or if it was just the obvious truth when he thought of which of them he'd want beside him in a duel. But as one, Zeff, Nevya, and Shrizzzqadl all turned to Dolre.