The past speaks to us in a thousand voices, warning and comforting, animating and stirring to action.
—Felix Adler
The Heirs of Mizra is the twenty-fourth installment in the Untitled New Sith Wars series by Sakaros. In the wake of the Battle of Allanteen, Raina and Raven Kaivalt struggle to find their place in the Force, while the Sith Empire plots revenge.
Opening Crawl[]
Excerpt[]
| Source: The Heirs of Mizra | Attribution: Sakaros |
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Raven wandered through the forest for an hour or two, but every time he sat to meditate, it felt wrong, and he got up and meandered on. He wanted to be alone, and yet he didn't; he yearned for Raina's aid, yet he suspected, like Tirien, Narasi, Zaella, and Jirdo, they could hurt each other as easily as they helped. When he returned to Inimă Eserzennae, he could not stop his eyes lingering on the spot between the house and the tree line where they had built Gaebrean's pyre; some of the ash still marked the ground. The meditation room in the manor's basement proved as fruitless as the grounds, and the last thing Raven needed was to lie on his bed, staring at the ceiling he had nearly memorized the last few nights. In the end, he had only one option left. Renata would likely be in the library, so Raven entered the secret passages through the door concealed behind a painting in the art gallery. Climbing up to the high tower, he left his boots on the mat and entered the Kaivalt family shrine. The basement vault might hold jewels and heirlooms, but here the Kaivalts kept their greatest treasure. "What would you have done?" he asked as he knelt before the corae. "You were the greatest Jedi Master of your age; if Tirien could beat Gasald, you could've. Would you have gone, or…?" He trailed off, and as the silence dragged on, his shoulders slumped. It had been hitting him in waves since the Second Chance had limped back from Allanteen, but the initial chaos had been followed by Gaebrean's funeral, and Tirien's Barash vow this morning had trailed that by mere days. But now Uncle Vinton, Aunt Cyndobel, Kaelora, and Cesylee had returned to their manse in Pelagar, Tirien and the others were off who knew where, and Vinton and Miklato were dealing with House Pelagia's sudden power vacuum, and there was no buffer between Raven Kaivalt and the fallout of Allanteen. Would the Order cast him out for breaking his oath to the High Council? Would House Pelagia exile him for that same delict—for imperiling the House's vaunted reputation for honorable dealings and fidelity to its word? And if the Pelagia forgave him, did he merit that forgiveness, or was it no better than the Privy Council's odious public story that Lezascan Wisté and Kobold Baliss had died with honor as the other Tapani on the strike team had—that they had died as Jedi. And was there any solution that could set his and Raina's consciences at ease at once—that could bridge that chasm? Raven blinked as the wall sconces glowed; he had been so lost in his own mind he hadn't noticed it growing dark through the tower's arrow slits, though his knees ached as he shifted his weight. Raina appeared at the top of the ladder, and the hesitation on her face stung. "When you didn't come to dinner, I thought…" She trailed off. "Do you want to be alone?" "It's…all right." Raven knew it wasn't an answer to the question she had asked, but then, he wasn't sure what the answer was. She frowned, then went back down the ladder without another word. Left alone, he stared at the corae until long after the lights went down again, sank into the Force, even took out the venerable lightsaber to hold it in hand, but in the end, there was no revelation. No epiphany. There was only cold, ancient steel, and the fading echo of a memory long fallen silent. | |
Segments[]
Appearances[]
| Characters | Creatures | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
Dramatis personae
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Other characters
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Creatures
Droid models
Events
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Locations
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Organizations and titles
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Sentient species
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Vehicles and vessels
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Weapons and technology
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Miscellanea
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Plot Summary[]
On Surcaris, Darth Alecto, Nillan Deys'lro, and Zurgharjhen have survived another battle under the command of Darth Shakelli. Though maintaining an appearance of cold confidence to the world, Alecto is still suffering over the death of Nevya Khiyali and her need for vengeance. She is summoned to a council with the Empire's greatest assassins and assassin masters, along with Lord Ko Davad and one of the Council of Five, to devise a strategy for responding to the apparent death of Vedya Gasald at Allanteen.
Raven and Raina Kaivalt are struggling with the fallout of that mission—Raven for breaking his oath of fealty to the Jedi Council in order to go, and Raina for abandoning her opposition to it and arranging military reinforcements to protect Raven. When their father, Miklato, becomes High Lord of House Pelagia, they finally talk out their difficulties, and decide together to seek guidance and inspiration at Mizra, the site of a catastrophic defeat for the Republic eight decades prior, where their great-grandfather died. Unable to talk them out of it, Miklato sends Bernius, Donarius's battle companion droid, with them, while Raina's Padawan Renata remains on Pelagon. Kaelora Kaivalt, still grieving the loss of her fiance Amaani at Allanteen, is shaken out of her grief by Raina and Raven's decision.
When Darth Alecto receives the go order against the Kaivalts, she reluctantly accepts Darth Hokhtan's command to take Darth Shakelli with her. The teams unite on Shakelli's Daring Deed—Alecto, Megaera, Shrizzzqadl, Keshthel, and Voshkis, and Shakelli, Caiphus Syde, and Nale Dokuj. As the twins and Bernius arrive on Mizra, the Sith work to contain their competing egos and clashing personalities.
Raven, Raina, and Bernius journey to the Mizra badlands—all that is left of the devastated battlescape. Both twins experience visions of the past, including Donarius's last stand, before they are attacked by a force of Hashniajid. Meanwhile, the Sith arrive on Pelagon and attack Inimă Eserzennae. Shakelli and Alecto duel and defeat Miklato and Vinton Kaivalt, and Megaera overcomes Renata. After Vinton is executed, Miklato reveals some of the participants in the Allanteen operation to protect Renata. Shakelli kills him as well, but though Alecto orders Inimă Eserzennae burned, she stops Caiphus from raping Renata, and cuts out his eye when he defies her.
The twins return to Pelagon and are horrified by the devastation, but Kaelora encourages them to continue on their path. As a reward for their success, Darth Hokhtan promises Shakelli command of the eventual siege of Obroa-skai, and grants Alecto's request for vengeance against Arodion.
On Coruscant, the twins renew their commitment to the Jedi Order. Raina is appointed Jedi Watchman of the Tapani sector, while Raven joins Master Gavhys Narfulk's fleet, fighting Darth Hokhtan for control of the Perlemian.
Behind the Scenes[]
The Heirs of Mizra endured the most changes throughout; apart from the fact that it was originally titled Shadows of Mizra, the flashbacks were added only when Sakaros had all but completed Chapter 14, and Chapters 7 (Kaelora emerging from her grief) and 25 (Renata's reactions to the Jedi Temple) were added only when the rest of the narrative was complete.
Shout-outs:
- In Alecto's conference call with Ko Davad and one of the Five, of the six masters of assassins present, two-thirds (Alecto, Darth Nicodeme, Ley Kho'saka, and Teyjean) are female, along with Vorugeo and an unnamed male Anx, a stealth reference to Metal Gear Solid, wherein Sniper Wolf notes "two-thirds of the world's greatest assassins are women".
- Shakelli refers to Sar-hent as "sorcerer supreme", an epithet of Doctor Strange.
- Alecto says of the Scourge, "No ship this small has a cloaking device," a play on Captain Needa's line in The Empire Strikes Back.