Elrond: “ Maybe, but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.”
―J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Vendetta II: Felinx and Rodus is the thirtieth installment in the Untitled New Sith Wars series by Sakaros and the second part of The Vendetta Trilogy. With Darth Alecto absent, her Sith disciples and Anzat followers struggle to defend themselves against charges that she conspired to assassinate Darth Hokhtan.
Opening Crawl[]
Excerpt[]
| Source: Vendetta II: Felinx and Rodus | Attribution: Sakaros |
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Decades of travel aboard spacefaring vessels told Darth Hokhtan his shuttle had reverted to realspace; his internal chrono knew the time it would take them to reach the Council of Five, and told him it was too soon; and the Force told him something was wrong. And that was before the pilots' fear hit him. Holding out his arms for stability as the shuttle's artificial gravity struggled to keep up with the maneuvers the pilots were executing, Hokhtan reached the end of the cabin and palmed the panel that opened the cockpit door. Neither pilot so much as glanced at him—a grim enough sign by itself—and the copilot said, "Son of a bitch, watch our four!" "I see them!" the pilot snapped. "Configure shields, I'll see if we can outrun them." "Status?" Hokhtan asked calmly. He had been in grim naval situations before—on one memorable occasion, a crew station on the bridge had exploded, killed its crewer, and started a fire—and he understood the critical role a commander played in keeping his crew focused. "Republic light cruiser," the pilot reported as he sent the shuttle into a diving turn; Hokhtan braced himself in the cockpit door frame. "It must have a gravity mine, it pulled us out of hyperspace." "Deployed fighters, too," the copilot added. Hokhtan sensed his bodyguards behind him, and he slipped into the cockpit and took one of the cabin crew chairs. "How many squadrons?" "One," the copilot answered. "Republic Aureks." "And they're already scrambled?" asked Tritok, one of Hokhtan's bodyguards, his face covered by a red lacquered mask but his attire—somewhere between black fatigues and Sith combat gear—snug enough to hint at his athleticism while loose enough for him to serve his purpose. He glanced down at Hokhtan and said, "This wasn't a coincidence, this was a trap. For us." | |
Segments[]
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BOOK I: THE HUNTED |
BOOK II: BARGAINS |
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
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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[]
At Orleon, the shuttle of Darth Hokhtan, Sith Overlord of the Perlemian and master of many Sith, including Darth Alecto, is drawn out of hyperspace and attacked by a Republic light cruiser. The shuttles pilots flee the attack, but crash on nearby Orleon.
Book I[]
Days later, when Hokhtan's Sith Lords still aboard the Unquenchable Fire receive a coded Republic transmission sent into the Empire discussing the attack, suspicion for the betrayal falls on Darth Alecto. Darth Shakelli seeks to counter the trend, but ultimately consents to send forces to Lisal and Anzat to interrogate her servants. Chy Karibadi, foremost subordinate of the council lord Targere, leads Hashniajid into Lisal's capital, Cundassa, but Governor Monox Dacaliad, forewarned of the invasion, refuses to betray Alecto's disciples and is arrested. Lukurt Kreen leads those left on Lisal into the forests, fleeing the Hashniajid; at the Temple of Shadows on Anzat, Zeff Rogu and Shrizzzqadl plan to aid Katrijan Naveskatsi in its defense; and Dekkia Laytrok, Crile Craetor, Dolre Thyle, and Zurgharjhen, returning from Korriban, land outside town. Shakelli, deducing that a conspiracy is afoot but unsure who to blame, sends his senior Acolyte, Zil Sed, to Lisal to help.
The Anzati Rosyit and Rhyna are killed in the forest pursuit, while Nillan Deys'lro is injured. Just as Lukurt and his colleagues are about to be overrun, Zil comes to their aid. Dekkia and Crile break into Cundassa's prison to rescue Dacaliad, but he is too maimed to flee with them; at his request, they, Zurgharjhen, and Crile rescue his family from house arrest instead. On Anzat, the Temple of Shadows comes under attack, and Katrijan agrees to hand over Zeff and Shrizzzqadl in exchange for Imperial withdrawal. Zil and Fruuna link up with Zurgharjhen at the Scourge, but the ship is detained by Karibadi's forces.
Book II[]
Jedi Knight Coldos Tosyn leads a six-Jedi team across perpetually rainy, mud-slicked Orleon, pursuing Darth Hokhtan. Each of the Jedi on the mission prepares for the clash in his or her own way, but many have reservations. Hokhtan's own Sith guards are equally committed to protecting him.
Darth Alecto has stowed away on ships to secretly reach Columex, the site of Imperial Intelligence headquarters. Recruiting a pair of Ryn children, she breaks into the building and confronts Lord Rhutizh'chal'safan, Overlord of Intelligence, to obtain the datacron of the Sith assassin Nymoros, which Rhutizh took from Korriban. She is horrified when Rhutizh reveals the plot against Hokhtan and her, but goes to Hokhtan's aid with Rhutizh's help, and convinces him to part with the datacron as well. Hokhtan reports the entire matter to the Council of Five, which authorizes the Masked One to intervene by a 3-2 vote.
The Jedi finally catch up with Hokhtan, but Alecto arrives and comes to Hokhtan's aid, followed shortly by the Masked One and a force of Black Knights. Intuiting that they are too outnumbered to prevail, Wastin Quoi Force-pushes Raven Kaivalt into a river to save him from death, then goes down fighting the Masked One himself. Hokhtan agrees to accompany Alecto back to Lisal, where he withdraws the occupation force; Karibadi flees rather than face judgment, while Targere kills fellow conspirator Ta'azin to cover his own involvement.
Alecto pledges medical and financial support for the Dacaliads as she sentences Monox's torturers to death, then repays her debts to Shakelli and Zil by arranging for Shakelli to have the right-hand chair at Darth Hokhtan's council and for Zil to be anointed a Sith Lord. As she lays Rosyit and Rhyna's bones to rest on Anzat, Alecto is confronted by Ko Davad, Lord of the Furies. After a tense standoff, she convinces him to let her keep Nymoros's datacron, which she hopes will finally give her the tools she needs to assassinate Jedi Master Nawsa Arodion.
Months later, on Orleon, an Orleoni fisherman, who has nursed a man he called "Ruvvum" back to health after a fall into a nearby river, escorts Ruvvum to town, where they part ways, with Ruvvum headed to the spaceport to escape Imperial space.
Behind the Scenes[]
Vendetta II was originally in strictly chronological order, but Sakaros felt it became too confusing, with too many factions in play. He then drew inspiration from The Return of the King and reorganized the novel into its current form: Book I, which follows a few settings up to a certain point, then Book II, which follows the other settings up through the end time of Book I and reunites everyone in the conclusion.
The initial concept for Alecto's infiltration of Imperial Intelligence HQ did not include Fermata and Vilya, but Sakaros rewatched Iron Man 3 shortly before drafting that chapter, and was inspired by the Tony-and-Harley dynamic. Vilya shares her name with one of the three elven rings in The Lord of the Rings; Sakaros can not recall whether this was intentional or cryptomnesia. Fermata, by contrast, was very intentionally named for Fermata13, one of Sakaros's RP writing partners and best friends.
Shout-outs include:
- Wastin quotes "self-knowledge is the gateway to freedom", a line from The Middleman.
- Targere tells Karibadi, "What is comfortable is rarely profitable." The full quote, by American investor Robert D. Arnott, is "In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable." Sakaros chose this to highlight Targere's economic mindset.
- Targere also commands, "There's no need to report to me until you have something to report," a take on Nute Gunray's similar line to Rune Haako in The Phantom Menace.
- While passing through Cundassa's wastewater treatment plant, Crile comments, "What an incredible smell you've discovered," Han Solo's line in the Death Star's garbage compactor in A New Hope.
- In a second Phantom Menace reference, Vilya identifies Alecto as a Sith because, "I saw your laser sword. Only Siths carry that kind of weapon."
- Alecto and Vilya's "Can you keep a secret?" / "Sure!" / "Me too" exchange comes from Clue.
- Rhutizh worries that supporting Alecto against Hokhtan would be feeding a krayt in hopes that it would eat him last; Winston Churchill defined an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."
- The Seeing One says of Darth Hokhtan, "the paths that lead to life grow narrower and fewer, while broad and many roads lead to his destruction", a reference to Matthew 7:13-14.
- In the Temple of Shadows, Qritzel passes by a disused fane, which was named for a dungeon in Diablo II.
- Katrijan offers Dohrac a ten-second head start and adds confidently, "It makes the chase more interesting. For me." Both are homages to the confrontation between Mowgli and Shere Khan in The Jungle Book.
- In the course of rescuing Zeff, Qritzel says, "Come with me if you want to live."
- Quatra, Juhani's Jedi Master in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, is listed as one of Nymoros's victims.
- When Alecto calls the Masked One "Darth Saleej", he replies, "That name no longer has any meaning for me," Darth Vader's line from Return of the Jedi.
- Alecto separating Ceviste and Tessru to extract each one's (false) story was inspired by the story of Susanna in the Book of Daniel.
- Alecto thinking of "leaving symbols to the symbol-minded" is a reference to a George Carlin routine.
Darth Alecto and her disciples comment on or employ all ten of the written Moscow Rules from the International Spy Museum:
- Assume nothing. – Dekkia cautions Crile not to count on the depth of his Sith skills.
- Never go against your gut. – Alecto gives Fermata this advice.
- Everyone is potentially under opposition control. – Alecto reflects on the potential ubiquity of Imperial spies on Columex and telepathically assessing more than one person.
- Do not look back; you are never completely alone. – Alecto is too smart to look back obviously, though she finds pretexts to do so.
- Go with the flow, blend in. – Fermata actually sings for credits while planting Alecto's EMP bombs; Alecto praises her ingenuity.
- Vary your pattern and stay within your cover. – With some timely help from Dekkia, Crile stays within cover even when he encounters Charri Chekmariji in the Cundassa Detention Center.
- Lull them into a sense of complacency. – Dekkia and Crile do not break cover in the Cundassa Detention Center, and Darth Alecto plays dumbs in the electronics store to allay suspicion about the components she is purchasing.
- Do not harass the opposition. – On Lukurt's orders, the group fleeing Darth Alecto's fortress leaves no booby traps for the occupation force. Darth Alecto also makes a point not to kill any Imperial personnel or residents on Columex.
- Pick the time and place for action. – Alecto deliberately plans out identifying and infiltrating Intelligence HQ. That said…
- Keep your options open. – On the spur of the moment, Alecto also decides to recruit Fermata and Vilya as a modification to her original plan.
Coldos's death poem is based on Japanese jisei, with the 5-7-5-7-7 tanka structure.
The sounds of Anzat in the final section are based on Sanskrit and Akkadian phonemes, as Sakaros felt Anzat was a similarly ancient language.
The only characters with multiple POV chapters are Darth Alecto (5), Darth Hokhtan (2), Rhutizh (2), and Qritzel (2). Once he realized how the narrative was evolving, Sakaros initially intended for only Alecto to have more than one, but discovered Hokhtan's and Rhutizh's second chapters only worked well from their perspective, and split one of Qritzel's in half.
| The Vendetta Trilogy The Tuk'ata's Den | Felinx and Rodus | The Void |